#‘Master Xehanort’s keyblade is the most ancient’

[greetings-inferiors]

WHAT WHAT HOLY SHIT NO WAY HOLY SHIT OH MY GOD AAAAAA WHAT MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE HELL OH MY FUCKING GOD HOLY SHIT WHAAAAAAAT WHAT WHAT

[sailforvalinor]

Unhinged thoughts I've had recently about Ienzo/Zexion in no particular order:

We learn from Even in BBS that Ienzo was adopted by Ansem the Wise at a young age after something happened to his parents and he was orphaned. However, for Ienzo's parents to even be mentioned here is really Odd for Kingdom Hearts--we've never seen a canonical appearance of a character's parent in any of the games, and there are only a handful of times they've even been mentioned (Riku mentions that Sora's dad usually takes them out on the boats in BBS, Terra calls Eraqus his father but is not related to him by blood, Sora's mom notoriously calls him in to dinner in KH1, and Kairi had a grandmother in Radiant Garden if you want to count that). The only time we've ever seen the canonical appearance of a parent in the games is Xehanort's mother in KHUX/Dark Road, and that was extremely recent and considered very abnormal. Kingdom Hearts, up until KHUX, was always very unconcerned with the concept of blood family, so the fact that this bit of dialogue was included about Ienzo feels way too out of place not to be deliberate, especially since no other Organization member's parents are ever discussed (even though Lea and Isa were also kids). Given that Nomura seems particularly intent on exploring bloodlines in his current and future KH projects, I wonder if this detail will turn out to be something significant.

The scene in KHII Final Mix where Xigbar interrogates Zexion about what Xemnas is up to in the Chamber of Repose rings especially strange now that we know that Xigbar is actually Luxu (and additionally because the scene was not originally in the game and added to Final Mix, though probably this was to set up plotlines for BBS). What did Luxu think Zexion knew? He doesn't appear to actually glean any information from him--it's Zexion who gets information in this scene, he learns that Xemnas is looking for Ventus. Additionally, if Luxu already knew that Xemnas was looking for the Chamber of Waking to find Ven, he definitely knew that he was talking to Aqua in some way in the Chamber of Repose--my guess is that he was trying to learn from Zexion whether Xemnas had actually captured Aqua herself. (Luxu's ultimate goal here, remember, is to get Xehanort to act as the "scapegoat" and recreate the Keyblade War, and he's trying to keep as close of tabs on his progress as possible. Xemnas was trying to track down more ancient Keyblade wielders at this point--Luxu having just recruited Lauriam--and he likely wanted to know if he had managed to turn Aqua to their cause.) However, as Luxu is almost as inscrutable as MoM himself and his motives are extremely difficult to read, it is possible there's something else that he was trying to learn from him. If this is the case, I'd say that it was probably something that Zexion didn't even know he knew, or else he probably would have told Sora in KH3 if he had deemed it important.

Additionally, this exchange makes one question why Luxu would go to Zexion for this information in the first place, as he had already instated himself as Xemnas' right-hand man and is the person Xemnas would be most likely to tell this information. Nomura has stated in the past that Xemnas and Zexion shared a sort of "master-servant or teacher-student" relationship, which would likely explain this. This also explains why Saix believed that he was a threat to his rise to prominence within the Organization, even though he was a lesser number than him, and had Axel eliminate him in Castle Oblivion. It's kind of a shame that we never got to see this dynamic.

It does seem odd that Xemnas would deliberately mentor Zexion, a non-Keyblade wielder, if he was deliberately looking for Keyblade wielders of old to be his vessels. However, since Ienzo was only around eight or nine years old when he was manipulated into becoming a Nobody (which, side note, that's messed up), it's possible that he believed he might grow to have this potential--or, more likely, he knows what happened to his parents and believes him to have some connection to or be descended from a Keyblade wielder of old.

Zexion is the only Nobody besides Roxas and Namine to have a complete opposite personality to their recompleted self--while Zexion is reserved, terse, manipulative, and delights in cruelty and deception, Ienzo is warm, helpful, and borderline extroverted. While his lack of evil intent and fanatical devotion to the Organization's goals can be chalked up to his being recompleted, just as the other recompleted Organization members are no longer evil, it can't be denied that the difference between Ienzo and Zexion is like night and day. (Take Axel and Aeleus, for example--though they are no longer Nobodies and their goals are different, their personalities remain the same for all intents and purposes.) Ienzo mentions to Sora that they are no longer evil because they were out from under Xemnas's influence, so it's possible that we could ascribe this personality shift to that, especially as we know that he and Xemnas had a mentor-student relationship, and because we know that Ienzo was lied to as a child and made to believe that Ansem the Wise (his guardian) had gone mad and abandoned them (he says that "they" told him this, but it seems likely that this was Xehanort himself, which might be why he became closer to him rather than Vexen). However, as Ienzo does not learn that this information was false until late in KH3, this seems unlikely--and honestly, that drastic of a personality shift still seems unlikely in the short amount of time (at least, to him) between his being killed in CoM and recompleted in DDD. This makes me wonder if, like Roxas and Namine, his transformation from a human into a Nobody was somehow abnormal, though in what way I'm not sure.

Zexion's lexicon is called "The Book of Retribution," and I'm desperate to know why. Retribution for what? His guardian abandoning him?

[endlessskymaster]

It's funny how this cutscene is overlooked, with most assuming Ava is just gone.

Keyblade Masters possess the power to extract their hearts and those of others, a capability not limited to Luxu and Xehanort. In the same pivotal scene, Ava, like Luxu, had a crucial and lengthy role to fulfill, and she was tasked with another task after completing her initial role. Luxu himself explains Ava's conspicuous absence from the Kingdom Hearts 3 epilogue.

When Luxu summoned the Foretellers to the Keyblade Graveyard, he did not need to call Ava, as she had been there all along, just like him. Rather than simply reuniting with the other Foretellers and Luxu, Ava had to carry out her second role - explaining her absence. Based on Luxu's knowing smile after Gula asked about Ava's whereabouts, my theory is that Ava's second role is likely Sora-related, and Luxu is aware that she has already begun carrying it out like Luxu told Gula.

Ava may have shapeshifted or done the same as Luxu. We'll need another game after KH3 Remind and Melody of Memory to confirm this. This, if proven, is canon.

Ava’s likely been doing the same thing Luxu’s been doing.

The other Foretellers, including even Luxu to an extent, would not have recognized Ava's form. Ira could only identify the cloaked figure as Luxu due to “No Name”. Invi remained uncertain until Luxu himself confirmed his own identity.

In Kingdom Hearts Union χ, Ava impersonated the Foreteller of the Player's chosen Union, successfully deceiving the Player, Chirithy, and Skuld, until she eventually unveiled her true identity.

Ava, not being in a form everyone recognizes her in, isn't too farfetched remember Riku-Ansem. Riku spent a significant portion of Kingdom Hearts 2 as Ansem, not regaining his original form until the end of the game.

The Master of Masters' cryptic reference to “and then after that” implies that Ava's role like Luxu's is extremely long. What lengths would one have to go to? Luxu isn't the only ancient one.

[theskylarkin]

KH OC Week Day 5 - Abilities

As all my OCs are keyblade wielders apprenticed to Scalan masters who aren’t Xehanort, I think the answer to today’s original prompt is a little too obvious. (Some characters are more susceptible to darkness than others, but that’s spoiler territory…) So here’s my OCs’ keyblades finally illustrated as well as their associated formchanges and shotlocks instead.

Detailed info on individual keyblades

More info on individual fighting styles

Ferrum

Weapon Illustrations Here

Keyblade: Taenite

Primary Formchange: Hammerscale

The most common formchange of Ferrum’s keyblade is a war hammer. It’s about as large as his normal keyblade length-wise, but the smaller impact surface of the weapon allows for more precise hits and greater damage against armored foes. Just like the normal keyblade form, the “window” in the center of the hammerhead can be lit up in dark spaces and glows when he’s charging an attack.

(Hammerscale - the byproduct of the process in which iron ore is refined and forged.)

Unique Shotlock: Ironside

This shotlock lets Ferrum become immune to all physical and magical damage for a period of time (which lasts for ten additional seconds after the shotlock ends) and rush targets repeatedly for non-elemental damage. (Bonus - Extra input causes the last target to be flung into the air, potentially setting up an aerial combo.)

The most useful aspect of this move is the brief damage immunity/I-frames it grants.

(Ironside - A person of “great strength or bravery” according to Merriam-Webster)

Sophia

Weapon Illustrations Here

Keyblade: Paradigm Shift

Primary Formchange: Episteme

The most common formchange of Sophia’s keyblade is a double-ended naginata. This form gives her more melee attack power and range than the normal, magic-focused keyblade. However, due to the differences between wielding a keyblade and a polearm, it took Sophia quite some time to learn how to use it effectively.

(Episteme - refers to a principal system of understanding/knowledge in Ancient Greek philosophy)

Unique Shotlock: Demiurge

This shotlock allows Sophia to lock on to a single enemy and fire crystal-shaped projectiles at them. These crystals surround the target, growing in size as they leach HP/MP/Focus from them before violently exploding into tiny shards. The resulting blast hits not only the initial target but any other enemy in their vicinity with non-elemental damage while Sophia harvests the rewards. (Bonus - Extra input speeds up the crystals’ growth.)

The most useful aspect of this move is the leaching effect, as that is unblockable whereas the final explosion is (by the initial target only, the splash damage can’t be blocked).

Brandr

Weapon Illustrations Here

Keyblade: Firebrand

Primary Formchange: Crossfire

Form 1: The most common formchange of Brandr’s keyblade has two stages of transformation. The initial form is a pair of double-barrel wheellock pistols. To continue with the Bloodborne reference, these guns don’t use traditional ammunition (and therefore don’t need gunpowder or reloading) but every shot fired takes away a bit of Brandr’s health. So he can’t just start blasting away indiscriminately, or there will be consequences:

Brandr, weakly: “R… for… r-resuscitation—” *flatlines*

Form 2: In the second stage of the transformation, the two double-barrel pistols combine to form a single four-barrel blunderbuss. This gun is impractical, unwieldy, and can only be fired once before a very long cooldown period (as it still has the same life-leaching effect, but doubled). However, that one shot is very powerful. Brandr only uses this form in dire emergencies because of the Gazing Eye embedded into the weapon is whole in this state, rather than split like it is between the two pistols.

(Crossfire - “Firing… from two or more points so the lines of fire cross” or a “rapid or heated exchange of words” according to Merriam-Webster. *coughIjustwantedapun*)

Unique Shotlock: Muspell

This shotlock allows Brandr to launch several salvos of tracking fireballs all at once, which deal additional damage over time after the initial hit (like the status effect Ignite) even when the target is otherwise immune to fire damage. (Bonus - Extra input causes projectiles to explode on impact for extra damage.)

The most useful aspect of the move is as a source of non-elemental damage since most of Brandr’s other attacks are fire-based.

(Muspell - another name for Muspelheim, the realm of fire in Norse mythology.)

Nemus

Weapon Illustrations Here

Keyblade: Rootstock

Primary Formchange: Severed Scion

The most common formchange of Nemus’ keyblade is a pair of hand claws. They give him an extra edge in close-quarters combat, which he doesn’t see very often and needs all the help he can get in those situations. They also allow him to finally have the one cat-like trait he never got from Dr. Moto and her team, but he does dislike how even this form of his weapon is still branded by the Morpho Biotech logo.

(Scion - Can be either the part of the plant that is attached to the rootstock during the grafting process or an heir to a powerful family, which Nemus pretends he is.)

Unique Shotlock: Heart Rot

This shotlock allows Nemus to lock on to a single enemy and summon roots up out of the ground to temporarily bind them, causing non-elemental damage. When the roots finally loosen their grip, the victim will be left with at least two of these status ailments: Confuse, Poison, Blind, Silence, Sleep, and Slow. (Bonus - Extra input will add a rare chance to also inflict Doom on the target.)

The most useful aspect of the move is temporarily freezing the enemy in place, giving Nemus a chance to reposition himself if needed.

(Heart Rot - A fungal disease that targets the center of a tree trunk, known as the heartwood, causing it to decay internally.)

Virdandi

Weapon Illustrations Here

Keyblade: Norna Dómr

Primary Formchange: Ýdalir

The most common formchange of Virdandi’s keyblade is a bow that shoots arrows made of pure energy. This form was brought about by her accepting that *sigh* fine, she really needs some form of ranged attack in her arsenal. However, her opinion on the bow changed dramatically once she got the hang of sliding past attacking enemies and shooting arrows into their backs before they could turn around.

(Ýdalir - in Norse mythology, this is the realm of Ullr, a god associated with yew trees and bows.)

Unique Shotlock: Bifröst

This shotlock lets Virdandi cloak herself in dazzling, iridescent light and then rush at targets repeatedly, dealing non-elemental damage on contact. (Something like a fusion of Prism Rain and Lightning Ray. Bonus - Extra input causes tracking light orbs to stream off of her, further damaging their targets.)

Despite the light show, the most useful aspect of this move is the I-frames it grants.

(Bifröst - in Norse mythology, this is the burning rainbow bridge connecting Earth with the realm of the gods.)

@khoc-week

[super-hero-confessions]

Since I now discovered the submit feature, it’s time to expand on an earlier confession about Kingdom Hearts; how Disney is the only interesting aspect about it and how the original concept stopped being interesting after 358/2 Days.   So the first game was mostly a “Disney” game. Sure there was a protagonist keyblade wielder, a comatose vague love interest (who was inside the hero the whole time…) and an a-hole who was easily tricked by the main baddies Maleficent and Ansem, but for the most part it was going through various nostalgic Disney movies while there’s this plot about Maleficent kidnapping princesses and destroying worlds with a band of Disney Villains. The plot could have been better (half the villains were entirely inconsequential) but for the most part it did a good job balancing Disney and original content.  Then there’s Chain of Memories and KH2 which… while not doing a good job of balancing the Disney and original content, the OCS that were there were actually pretty strong. Organization XIII, especially in COM, is a very intriguing and menacing council of bad guys with cool powers and discernible personalities save a few bad eggs like Lexaeus and Demyx (the latter moreso suffering from being ENTIRELY USELESS rather than boring). Roxas was a great tragic hero, and it was even better when his story was shown in 358/2 Days and it’s devastating gut-wrenching conclusion. Xion was a little hard to swallow considering she wasn’t mentioned in the other games but in the end it made sense.   But then came Birth By Sleep and the revelation that the TRUE main villain Xehanort was actually a result of an elderly keyblade master possessing a teenager’s body and the NEW Xehanort became Ansem and Xemnas (rather than simply some narcissist scientist trying to play god), and that Sora got his keyblade powers from harnessing Ventus’s heart in his own (which is why Roxas resembled Ven). In addition it’s implied that Master Xehanort played Maleficent like a fiddle right from the start as opposed to simply pulling a Ganon in the first game. This ruined the series lore and made it comic book levels of convoluted. Not to mention a lot of it was generic anime fluff. Many would say Dream Drop Distance ruined the series by making Maleficent even more of a joke and the whole time travel scheme (and of course the stupid 13 Xehanorts), but that was just adding what was already shown in BBS.  And if that wasn’t enough, then came Union across which was basically the Eternals movie before that became a thing, and then KHIII presented this new version called the REAL Organization XIII which despite reusing many of the old members felt a LOT less menacing compared to the ones in COM and KH2, and THEN not only was Xehanort revealed to be a good guy all along but then suddenly his right hand man Xigbar was actually LUXU, an ancient keyblade wielder who’s part of a group called the Fortunetellers (AKA THE Eternals as mentioned before) and NOW it’s revealed that this was ALL according to some master plan by this OTHER new baddie called the Master of Masters… ugh.   Notice I said Disney is the only interesting part of KH now. That doesn’t mean it wasn't poorly written like the rest of KH. There’s a reason people think KH should remove Disney content, and that is the fact that after KH1 but especially starting with the otherwise good 358/2 Days, the Disney aspects have been entirely irrelevant. They don’t advance or even tie into the main plot at all, Maleficent’s role in KH2 about acquiring Xemnas headquarters goes freakin nowhere after that game, and they’re incredibly out of place with the original OCS.   But it’s STILL more interesting than everything else after 358/2 Days, with this bullshit about some master plan by some new bad guy that should have been saved for after Xehanort is axed off.

[atomic-taco-muffin]

The Legend of Hana Chapter 135

Warnings: You guessed it. More angst. We’re not seeing fluff for a LONG time

Rating: SFW

In the Multitude of stars twinkling in the shimmering sky over Yen Sid’s Mysterious Tower, Kairi, Xigbar, Luna, the Foretellers, the Nort brothers and their families met with Mickey and the sorcerer himself. 

“Hana and Lily went missing?! Oh no! This is terrible!” Mickey said. 

“Them being missing is very bad. Very bad indeed,” Master Yen Sid said. 

“Especially since the man that has them is the most dangerous person in the world,” Mukuro added, making Mickey and Master Yen Sid confused. 

“He calls himself the Master of Masters. The fact that he’s still around is worrisome,” Ira explained. Master Yen Sid sighed and stroked his beard. 

“We must try and stay calm. We have never faced something like this before,” he said. 

“Yeah, it’s really hard to be calm right now, old man!” Xigbar said, angrily as he paced back and forth. 

“Xig, calm down! You’re scaring Sage!” Luna scolded as she tried to calm her crying son. Xigbar sighed and went to hold his son. 

“Sorry. It’s just that the bastard has our daughters. You know what he’s done,” he said to Luna. 

“I know. But you heard Master Yen Sid. We have to remain calm.” Xigbar hesitantly nodded and turned back to listen to the sorcerer. 

“Kairi. This information you have brought us, it comes from Xehanort during his time as a researcher?” the old master asked. 

“Yes,” Kairi responded. 

“Then that means he must have been aware of this other world for quite some time.” 

“But I worked with the bastard. We were somewhat close. I would’ve known about another world,” Xigbar said and the sorcerer mused for a moment. 

“When I was still serving as a Keyblade Master, it was known that the ancient masters had crossed over into another world. I surmise that Xehanort looked more deeply into that world,” he said. 

“The ancient Keyblade Masters…” Invi whispered. 

“It can’t be us. Do you think it had something to do with Ava’s role?” Gula said. Hearing Ava’s name made Xigbar miss her. Even more than he already did. 

“For now, we must reach out to those in Radiant Garden, The Land of Departure, and Japan--” the sorcerer started. 

“I’m sorry, did you say Japan?” Luna asked. 

“Yes.” 

“That’s where my aunt Yuuko lives. Are you asking me to search for her?” 

“I am tasking you and the Spirits to speak with her. Perhaps she has the answers we are looking for.” 

“Yes, sir!” Luna and the other Spirits said.

“And Kairi, will you continue your training as you were before?” 

“Actually, I’d like to study under Master Aqua,” Kairi said. 

“I would love to train you, Kairi,” Aqua said with a smile. 

“Thank you.” 

“Mickey, Vanitas,” Yen Sid said, turning his head toward them. 

“Yes,” the two said as they stood up at attention. 

“I task the two of you with the investigation of this new world and how it is related to the ancient Keyblade Masters.” 

“But how?” Vanitas asked. 

“You’ll begin…in the world of Scala ad Caelum. You, Vanitas, know more about that world than Mickey. I trust you to be his guide.” Vanitas nodded and with that, everyone headed out to find some answers.

                                                          ☽✧☽✧

Meanwhile in Quadratum, Sora and Strelitzia were discussing about the world they were currently in and how to get home. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find any way to get home. It was getting to the point where Sora was starting to get frustrated. 

“I should probably tell you that things are different here,” Strelitzia said. 

“How so?” Sora asked her. 

“Well for example, magic won’t work here. But Keyblades will work.” Sora was shocked. She could wield a Keyblade? Strelitzia saw Sora’s shocked face and summoned her Keyblade, surprising him even more. 

“Woah…” he gasped. 

“Yeah. Just no summoning it in the apartment. Unless it’s to check if you can still summon it,” Strelitzia said, dispelling her Keyblade. 

“Understood.” Silence fell over them as they went back to figuring out ways out of Quadratum. Sora started thinking of Hana and pulled out his phone to look at a picture of the two together. At the ball before the Keyblade War. Strelitzia noticed him and became curious. 

“Wow, technology has really gotten better since I was alive,” she said. 

“Yeah…” Sora replied, not really paying attention. 

“Soo, who’s that?” 

“Hana. My girlfriend.” 

“She’s beautiful. Hey, I’m getting hungry. Wanna order a pizza?” Sora didn’t answer and kept looking at the photo, wondering if Hana was looking for him. “Sora? You good?” 

“U-um, I-I need a moment to myself, if that’s okay,” Sora said. 

“Okay.” Sora headed to the balcony where he began to cry, missing Hana and his friends.

“I’m such an idiot! Why didn’t I listen to Chirithy and Monomi,” he sobbed. He continued to cry, until he saw something whiz by him. He couldn’t tell what it was it went by that fast. He looked around but shrugged and was about to head inside when he was tackled down by something. Or somethings. Sora looked over and found Hana’s imps on top of him. 

“Huh?!” he exclaimed. 

                                                         ☽✧☽✧

Meanwhile, Luna and the girls had arrived in the streets of Japan. It was way more beautiful than they could ever imagine. But it was also busier than they thought. 

“Stay close,” Luna told them. The girls followed Luna through the busy streets till they arrived at what looked like an old shop. 

“This is where your Aunt Yuuko lives? It looks abandoned,” Yui commented. 

“Well, she doesn’t really get a lot of visitors. Besides, this isn’t any ordinary shop,” Luna winked, leaving the girls confused. “You’ll see soon enough.” 

The girls walk into the shop but not even a few seconds in, Luna was attacked by two rabbit like creatures. One was white with a ruby at the top of its head while the other was black and had a sapphire at the top of its head. 

“Luna!” Mukuro exclaimed and helped Luna up. The girls heard footsteps and found a young man, no older than Rumi, running up to them. He had short black hair, blue and dark green eyes, and seemed to be wearing a school uniform. He also had on a pair of glasses. 

“Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! These guys are hard to get control of- wait, I know you! You’re Luna! Yuuko’s goddaughter!” the man said. 

“That’s correct. You’re Kimihiro, right?” Luna asked. 

“Y-yes. Kimihiro Watanuki. Is there a reason you’re here?” 

“There is. And it’s very important that we see Yuuko. Is she around?” Kimihiro nodded and showed the girls to Yuuko’s office. He knocked on the door and she let him and the girls in. When they walked in, they were met with a young, tall, slender woman with pale skin and black hair that went down to her knees. She had red eyes, which seemed to match her long red kimono. She sat kind of in a lounging position, holding a cigarette holder in her hand. When she noticed Luna, she smiled at her. 

“Luna! My beautiful goddaughter!” she said as she stood up. “How are you?” 

“I wish I could say I was doing well,” Luna said as she hugged Yuuko. 

“Oh. Please have a seat. Explain everything to me.” Luna and the girls sat down and Luna began to explain everything. How the Master of Masters had come back and had taken Hana and Lily. 

“I knew it was a mistake for my husband to take that boy in,” Yuuko muttered to herself. 

“What was that, auntie?” Luna asked. Yuuko sighed and looked at Kimihiro. 

“Leave us,” she said. Kimihiro nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, Yuuko looked at the girls with a serious look on her face. 

“It’s time I tell you the truth about myself. Along with you and your daughters, Luna,” she said.

To be continued…

[autumn-may]

@blazernot Don’t think you realize how funny these tags are because I mean, this is canon, we do know that Eraqus taught Xehanort how to play (there’s this one quote where eraqus says he’s lost the most because Xehanorts older, and Xehanort counters this by saying Eraqus has been playing the longest)

honestly I bet that’s just how they both play. It’s just one really really long elaborate role play like two seven year old girls playing w/Barbie’s

‘i make ALLL your pieces get hit by heartless and they all die and also they don’t dodge it’ ‘NO’ ‘yes I’m fulfilling the prophecy from a hundred years ago’ ‘wellll then, MYYYYY main guy actually is protected from dying by THIS one*holds up Kairis piece* and he BRINGS back ALL of them’ ‘YOU CANT DO THAT’ ‘yes I can, also when he comes back the ancient keyblade masters *puts seven more chess pieces on the board* come back and they defeat ALLLL the heartless’ ‘I hate you’

thinking about the chess game in kh3 and yes I know it’s symbolism but honestly what the frick even was that. Imagine you’re playing chess with your bestie and after you beat him he just says ‘there’s more to light than meets the eye 😈’ and takes his king and moves it back to the beginning??? And puts seven more pieces on the board?? And Xehanorts just like cool with it???? Honestly if I was Xehanort and Eraqus did that to me I wouldn’t even have waited 64 years I would have taken him out right then and there

[iloveluxu]

Thinking about how Baldr called Xehanort “Lucky 13″ got me thinking about how the 13th member of a group in kh always got what they were after, or always got their goals, or was considered “the luckiest” or the most special in their groups. And obviously, this applies to Xehanort and him being the “Lucky 13″ from Baldr’s 13 targets because he lives the longest, but also he ends up fulfilling his goals in one timeline, even if it was short-lived. But also, Roxas, as the 13th member of the first Organization 13 was regarded as special by being the only true keyblader, as well as the first one to declare his own person hood. Xion, if you consider her the 13th member of the real Organization 13, was guided by Saix and eventually was able to re-become her own person following her battle, being the only real survivor of the 13, excluding Xigbar ofc. Then there’s the darkness that hid itself in Ventus who would later become Vanitas, the only darkness out of the ancient 13 that managed to escape Daybreak Town.

but thats not all. going along with theme, there’s such thing as an “Unlucky 7″, the 7th member of a group of seven that spells out the downfall of the group or themselves. Out of the lost masters, luxu, the 7th, happens to be the traitor. if you include the player and/or Elrena as part of the ‘seven’ from the Data Daybreak Town, then Ventus could be considered the unlucky 7th, after all he held the darkness inside of him that killed Strelitzia. Then there’s Baldr, the 7th classmate, who went along to kill the upperclassmen and his fellow classmates. There’s Terranort, who ended up killing his fellow apprentices and banishing Ansem. If you squinted, you could even make a case for Saix being an unlucky 7, as the mastermind behind the “betraying the organization” plot he and Axel were planning in order to save their friend, and cementing his place as the catalyst for Xion to come back in kh3 + part of the true organization’s downfall. And finally, Kairi, both as a princess of heart and as a 7th light, her death is what would have led to the keyblade of people’s hearts being completed, and kingdom hearts actually being opened.

just a fun little thing i realized.

[goldensunset]

ya ever think about how kairi is THE current most recent link in the chain of the scala keyblade legacy? aka generations of masters taught students who then grew up to become masters of their own and teach students of their own etc etc. as far as characters we know for certain we’ve got a line going from odin to eraqus to aqua to kairi

and obviously we know that everyone else at that (probably prestigious) scala school died young without ever achieving their dreams. like given that odin apparently just straight up retired after dark road it seems those two classes were the only ones and there weren’t any other keyblade trainees in scala. (unless there was another school in a different part of town but even if there was, those guys are probably all long gone by now. would be a killer side plot though.)

meaning it was all up to xehanort and eraqus to keep up the legacy. and xehanort obviously said ‘screw that i’m gonna do my own thing and cause problems instead’ meaning it was literally all up to eraqus. who for whatever reason didn’t even stay in town and went to hang out in the middle of nowhere (i need this story so badly. why was scala abandoned. where did he even find terra and aqua.) and he only named one of his students a keyblade master before he died.

so now it’s all up to aqua to carry the legacy. although i am curious to see what’s gonna happen with terra and ven bc they need someone to officially recognize them as masters, or at least they’d probably appreciate it. but then it might be kind of embarrassing to begin studying under their former peer, if not downright painful as a reminder of all that they lost in bbs. maybe aqua would be nice and just outright hand them the title instantly. or she might be a stickler and force them to do arbitrary extra work bc that’s how these guys are.

in any case, we at least know kairi intends to train under aqua. which is huge for her because that means these guys are single-handedly keeping the ancient scala tradition alive. quadratum kairi this quadratum kairi that. where is the fanart of her in traditional scala ad caelum swag. we all KNOW they had absolutely fire fashion sense can we please get an outfit like that for kairi. get her one of those charms. c’mon would that not be insanely cool. and also maybe herald some super fun narrative implications

[beastenraged]

I have a very dumb idea:

Ephemer hopping bodies the way luxu does (just more polite), and kairi is his most recent vessel. (Brought to you by me remembering all keyblade masters can do the heart hop thing, and also Mr wishing that kairi had gotten more development in canon)

"What did you look like when you were alive?"

"Well...I had silver hair, blue eyes and was a little taller than you."

"So you looked like Riku."

"...I had a scarf?"

-

Kairi isn’t sure exactly when Ephemer started talking to her in her head, but it was definitely after she woke up to Sora...stabbing himself. 

Not right after. Not until they were separated and she forgot and she remembered again. 

Then she heard from Ephemer. 

He’s quiet mostly. Provides advice when she asks for it. Freaked out a lot when Axel was chasing them down. 

But Kairi likes him. He gives her answers, for one thing. Not all the time, not when it’s clear that it hurts him to remember, but Ephemer answers questions for her that Yen Sid and Mickey won’t. 

And that’s good. She likes that. 

-

Ephemer watches her friends through her eyes and occasionally comments about them.

Sora, she knows, reminds him of someone. Someone that makes him sad and happy at the same time, the more he watches. 

Riku...Riku makes him nervous. Especially with the Darkness her friend uses. Ephemer warns to keep an eye out. She does without complaining, only because she gets why he’s afraid. That there’s people like Xemnas and Saix running around, that use Darkness like Riku does but doesn’t. 

Even though Riku would never. Kairi knows him too well. 

(Would it hurt more, if Kairi knew that person Ephemer sees in both Riku and Sora is the same one?)

-

“It’s almost unfair that your first Keyblade was a unique one.”

“What, Destiny’s Embrace?”

“Yes, everyone I knew had the same first Keyblade including me. It was called the Starlight.”

“Oh, what did it look like?”

-

Kairi doesn’t know exactly how to use a Keyblade and Merlin isn’t very good at teaching her how.

Everything she knows she learns from Ephemer, patiently teaching her from inside her skull. 

Well, and Axel. Who is Lea now, and nice. He teaches her fire and lots of it, the best ways to raise heat in a room and how to identify the most flammables objects and very handy things. 

Ephemer likes Lea, Kairi can tell. There’s a happy buzzing in his head at the sight of the man. 

When she asks him what specifically he likes, Ephemer doesn’t have an answer outside of ‘he reminds me of another person I knew. A good friend of mine, whose name was Skuld.’

Ephemer gets reminded by so many things, he must truly be ancient. Maybe older than Xehanort. What a thought!

She writes letters to Namine, but she also writes letters to Ephemer. Maybe one day he will have a different body to read them himself, just like Namine. 

-

“No, Kairi...I won’t let you do this to her! Not again, Darkness! Never again!”

[valorxdrive]

Was it in the name of an ancient feud they'd come to embody? In another, more morbid sense, were they possibly destined to find something together which they couldn't separately?

Somehow he couldn't find peace in these possibilities. That wouldn't change the sense of duty that's bloomed into a brilliant flame within his chest. In a way, there's a sense of alien comfort in knowing the opposition before him, rather than a new, writing unknown whether by a maddened mind or the primordial forces of darkness itself.

Right now, they were the wanderers of that very Forbidden Path.

It was a scale in which reality felt as if it was failing to keep its anchor upon him. Defying those ancient, lost rules introduced conditions that would shake even the most resilient of Hearts. What Xehanort said about freeing succeeds in hitting a little too close to home. It'd be an idle hint, but the fact Sora gave a glance towards his hand was a hint that he witnessed effects.

"Almost like my wish came true a bit too good. To see any and every place out there, I never could've known it'd go this far." He admits, soon turning his gaze back towards who could be considered a lost master.

Surrounding them would be a scintillating view, blooming with beauty yet etched with grief. A land of ocean and sky, a place where remnants of past locales could reflect upon the very waters they tread, revealing teasing hints of either the past or what's to come. The souls of the lost and the intention filled would hold a hollow glimmer, never quite releasing their brand of hope.

Sora has lost count in how far he's traveled here, in what trials he's come to see. Somehow the essence of fighting couldn't even escape this place.

"But I have, and it's a choice I'd make each and every time again if I must. Even if there's so little I know about it now." Soon, his hands knitted into fists, containing that bundle of anxiety that wanted to bloom brighter, he'd keep it contained.

"Is freedom like this really worth it? Xehanort, it feels like time can't even get a grip on us, much less anything else. Have keyblade wielders always been bound to this possibility?"

Despite being a Trailblazer of a new direction, there's only so much his own ingenuity can bring him, there were undeniable benefits to depending on the past.

For all he's come to introduce into his life as strife, in the same vein, this was the one undeniable, true teacher to his growth all the same. Sora's Heart felt like it needs to count on that a bit more.

It seemed spooky to say the least. For what purpose did it continue to happen ..? Thoughts prickled at the back of Xehanort's own mind, trying to think on the possibilities lay ahead.

Silently studying the other, he kept note of the resilience within the other's hues - finding it to be amusing to say the least. The boy was keeping up with everything, not that it had been unexpected. In a way, he had been enjoying the other's presence, not even once thinking of attempting to pull off malicious for once. He probably couldn't anyways - something told him this wasn't the time. No, something different was meant to be here.

''It's strange, isn't it?'' he decided to voice his exact thoughts. ''Why did the threads of fate pull us here? Surely it's something new - perhaps we are meant to usher a new chapter, but who knows?" It was hard to say - not when there wasn't something to guide them along.

He hummed, taking a look around their surroundings, not exactly sure what to make of them. But he knew, yes, he had been here before, on way or another. ''It appears .. very deep, it seems. Don't lose your sense of self through it - though travel through the 'layers' of reality do carry such a risk." He smirked.

''I have, yes. You've remembered. Yet, you've taken the risk anyways, haven't you?" He shook his head.

''Not many have .. But I have found a good, at least, handful of people have dared to walk this very path we are now."

He snorted. ''In a way, it's frightening, is it not? However, at the same time, it feels .. relieving. Freeing."

[fangirlynjunk]

I’ve had time to think about it and I need to

Speculate

About kh again because of the KHUx finale

I’m sorry I’m on mobile and there doesn’t seem to be a trick to adding a line break so I’ll do my best to make this brief

1. Holy shit the Masters motivations

This is what I’ve been waiting for. To have any idea why he’s been doing what he’s doing. Yes, there is a decent chance he is lying but if he isn’t then holy shit that’s dark. Hell even if he’s lying it’s dark. From what I understand he needs the hearts of his apprentices and himself to trap the 7 strongest original darknesses and 6 people for the weaker ones. Then he plans to ??? Kill them all? From what I understand. He says it’s not about sacrifice but idk how else to take that other then as sacrifice. And he only told Luxu this to ensure Luxu would betray him in the end like this asshole is so damn manipulative

But more importantly is that this proves even if he has ‘good intentions’ he’s the villain. He’s planned this all to kill 13 darknesses, and it’s lead to every bad thing that happened to Sora and co. Not to mention the thousands of dead keyblade wielders from the war.

2. The thirteen darknesses

We know there are 12 more of these guys who aren’t Vanitas, but Vanitas does seem to be one of them. I’m more interested in how I don’t think what Vanitas says above can possibly be true, or at least not the way he framed it. He also seemed content to return to Ventus but his current form was kind of a shit show of pain if the birth by sleep light novel is correct. Also interested if he comes back into play as the only of the 13 darknesses to seemingly be now completely separated and who had his own form for a while. I also feel that since MoMs motivations are so dark and not really for the best for anyone just kind of for revenge, we might see some of these darknesses on our side. I’m not saying for sure Vanitas redemption arc but he’s the most likely as the only darkness who we know

3. Braig might be more Okay then I originally thought

I kind of expected Luxu to be absolutely wrecking lives as he went but he did seem to orchestrate Brains return in at Scala, years after Ephemer likely died of old age there. Which is already showing us that compared to MoM that luxu cares about people’s lives. So there might be hope for the original braig yet, but I’m not super counting on it.

4. Skuld, Strelitzia, Subject X, Ava and the “true dandelion”

So Skuld is almost assuredly Subject X, the only thing stopping me from saying it is is that we’re not sure what Ava looks like under her mask.

My real question is who is Luxu’s real dandelion and how do they come into play? Currently it seems likely to me that it’s either Strelizia or Ava herself, but at the same time trying to figure out when he’d have time to grab them seems hard to guess. Ava he’d have to lure her from the war and knock her out, ans Strelizia he’d have to grab her heart before it faded and it seemed like he had a body in his arms. He did tell Ava the masters full plan so he might be hinging on her help.

Not to mention the chance that someone else we aren’t thinking about has the potential to be this dandelion.

5. Who the hell are you Demyx

Now I’m going to say here I have a decent reason I 100% don’t think he’s the MoM but that does leave me wondering who he is and what keyblade legacy he was a part of. We know he can’t be a random survivor who escaped the data city because of what happened to everyone ( tag ur key kid im a pink meow wow). So is he from Scala? Ancient Scala? Why is he so averted to fighting? Is he traumatized? Why is he traumatized against fighting if so? It’s not like He doesn’t want to help people, he Just doesn’t want to fight to do that.

6. Is Sigurd important or nah? Why does that generation of keyblade wielders have blood born outfits? Why does that part of scala look so much more oppressive then the scala we see from Xehanort’s memories?

[destiny-islanders]

So I haven't been on the kingdom hearts side of the internet since KH3 came out (minus looking at some fan art occasionally) and I feel like I've missed something but I don't know it's it's a whole game or like a dlc or what so what exactly has happened since KH3? (Plot wise or game release wise works, I can just Google the other if I have a starting point)

Let’s seeeeee...

KH Re:Mind explains how Sora used person-disappearing time travel (?) to save Kairi 

Using his friends’ hearts as points to jump through space and time, Sora witnesses his allies’ battles with various members of Organization XIII (enduring combat where Cure is assigned to the triangle button, an offense most egregious)

He eventually finds a way to save Kairi... at the cost of. Y’know. Having A Corporeal Form

Fast-forward one year into a Sora-less future. Everyone’s trying to find Sora. Donald and Goofy are on a world tour to see if he’s popped up anywhere. Riku’s visiting the Radiant Garden crew to see if they can be of any help. Kairi is sleeping. So. Everyone’s contributing on brand.

Cid is hoping that through analysis of data of Organization XIII’s members, the group may be able to uncover some clues about where to find Sora. The method of analysis: Data Sora must engage in data battles that are almost prohibitively hard if you’re playing on any difficulty above Standard mode. (So, again. On brand.)

After hundreds of attempts and Data Sora bodies getting scraped off of the floor with a Keyblade-shaped spatula, the day is won.

Jump over to disappeared Sora, who’s stuck walking on water in the moonlight. A figure walks towards him in the darkness. No, Destiny, it’s not Noctis like you let yourself get worked up over when you heard his voice in the trailer. It’s Yozora, the main character of Verum Rex from Toy Box and decidedly not voiced by Ray Chase. And he wants to kill you. Suddenly they’re on the roof of a skyscraper in the middle of a busy town that looks like Shibuya but it isn’t, shut up, nerd.

Unless you have the skills of a KH god, Yozora does indeed kill you the first time. Sora becomes an exquisite ice sculpture and Yozora promises to protect... either him or someone else. If he’s talking to our Sora, he has some work to do.

When the player finally beats Yozora (it took me 150 tries on Proud and that’s not an exaggeration-- I COUNTED), it’s Sora’s turn to witness his opponent get put on ice.

Not-Noctis wakes up in the back of the Not-Regalia where Not-Ignis says cryptic words. Not-Ignis sounds just like Luxord.

Melody of Memory explains why Kairi was sleeping during KH Re:Mind. She’s delving into her memories in the hopes of finding a key to Sora’s whereabouts.

Enduring such hardships as listening to tracks like the Mickey Mouse theme and Bibbidy-Bobbidi-Boo in their entirety, she recaps the entire KH story so far (unless you have a mobile phone and still play KHUX and Dark Road).

She eventually ends up in the Final World. Xehanort is there. They fight. It’s very exciting. Until it’s not. Xehanort knocks Kairi on her ass. He’s about to strike her down, but then Kairi uses the Kingdom Key to defend herself. Which is awesome. But then she turns into Sora. Which is unawesome. You fight Xehanort as Sora and win.

Kairi sees a glimpse into her past, where Xehanort, during his time as Ansem the Wise’s apprentice, captures her and prepares to send her into the outside world. He says some cryptic shit about what should happen if she fails.

Kairi wakes up and reports what she’s found to the others. We are reminded by Ansem the Wise about the many different realms we’ve explored throughout the Kingdom Hearts series. The world of memories, dreams, data... and now, based on Kairi’s experiences, we’re faced with the world of ~fiction~.

The Fairy Godmother appears and accompanies Riku and Kairi to the Final World, where they meet up with the nameless star that Sora had spoken with before he un-appeared.

The nameless star turns out to be a girl from a different reality-- most likely the world of fiction that Sora has disappeared to. It’s called Quadratum.

With the star’s help, Riku gets to embark on an adventure to save Sora while Kairi is left behind again :)

Kairi goes back to Yen Sid to continue her training so she can finally join the Cool Kids Doing Stuff Club. She decides she’s going to train under Aqua which is cool but there’s too much salt on this table for me to forget the taste.

Mickey, meanwhile, is sent on a mission to learn about the ancient Keyblade masters. If you strain your ears, you may still hear the groans of everyone who still hasn’t played or at least brushed up on KHUX’s storyline.

[nyctoheart]

So I agree with the unanswered questions about Ava, Brain, the Virus, and so on, but you know what really gets me? There is one question I’ve had for most of KHUX’s run that STILL has gone unabswered: where the fuck was the X-Blade?! Xehanort and his reports speculated that the Keyblade War was fought for possession of the X-Blade. It’s in the NAME of KHUX. And yet it wasn’t seen or even mentioned ONCE throughout the whole story! What gives?! Is the fracture of the X-Blade even older, predating the Keyblade War entirely? Is it from the Master’s youth? Older still?

okay SO, this is why I think that is.

the MoM says to Luxu that the Keyblade War started when he was a boy, and that rather than ending then, the War has technically continued since then. MX states in ancient times KH and it’s light was safeguarded by the X-blade, it was warriors who wanted the light that started the War.

YES that sounds a LOT like X/UX’s War, but if the War that STARTED it all had the X-blade, and the MoM says the War STARTED during his childhood, then we can come to the conclusion that the X-blade shattered during MoM’s younger days, and thus has been shattered all throughout X/UX/BC.

That could be how the 13 Darknesses came into existence, as in the finale, the MoM said darkness destroyed the loves of his friends and loved ones. It could also be why MoM mentioned “7 crowns” for the “7 lights”, which may have also existed ever since the X-Blade shattered possibly during the MoM’s youth.

I don’t think it started off this way though. The way Yen Sid in DDD talks about the War, he seems to combine X’s War and the War from the MoM’s past, however, it seems as the series has developed, they’re gradually becoming two distinct battles, with the one Kairi’s Grandma talking about being specifically about X’s.

That’s what I think anyway!

[monasticmaestoso]

ok so there's a couple specific parts of this i really believe but admittedly most of this is fanfic-tier reaching as far as theories go lmao but just stick with me on this ok (check the tl;dr further down in bold for the broad strokes without the fluff here lol)

We know Yen Sid was supposed to be a student in Scala at the same time as Eraqus and Xehanort even though they chickened out of showing him in Dark Road. But given his existence as a disney character and his whole general magical astronomy vibe, I get the feeling maybe his studies were a little different from other students/classes. In KHMoM he mentions knowing about how the "ancient masters" were believed to have traveled to Quadratum, and he was studying during a time when students could witness other worlds actively coming to life before their eyes, just like the fairy tale about children rebuilding the worlds. All this on top of the existence of worlds like 100 Acre Wood, makes me believe he was studying or at some point began researching into the sort of magic that can make whole new worlds, breathe life into things like children's picture books. Or in his case, music.

Everything about Symphony of Sorcery fascinates me. Again a big stretch here, but my belief is that Yen Sid was experimenting and gave life to SoS through enchanted sheet music. Maybe he even wrote the music itself, that'd be neat. But I think perhaps they were originally connected, or at least all parts of the world existed in the same realm together. But then something happened and now it's just Yen's tower, drifting around space by itself, while the rest of the world has been trapped asleep. Maybe now it's been freed the pieces just need to drift around until they find each other and reconnect?

There's a lot of ways you could think about this part I guess but to get back to my main point, watch the first like 2 minutes of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4M-54cEduo

Take note of Yen summoning an image out of the skull on his desk (that he uses as a candle in the games for some reason) (it even summons the tower's logo at the end of in DDD)

Take note of the Chernabog lookin thing.

Take note of how Yen transforms it into a big beautiful lesbian flag coloured butterfly.

Anyway here's End of Pain

This thing is hidden away in the realm of sleep underneath multiple layers of encryption (dozens of hours of dropping back and forth hunting down every single special battle portal in the game to find it T_T There's like two or three stronger keychains in the game and they're vastly easier to unlock). Note ALSO that it has a gazing eye, meaning that at some point it was wielded by an apprentice of Luxu, or possibly even one of the Foretellers (or an apprentice to an apprentice, etc.)

I'm about to make several big leaps here, but I think this might be Yen Sid's keyblade. The one he gave up. It may have looked different initially, might have even had a different name, I don't know. But I think Chernabog is connected to Yen Sid, perhaps a manifestation of his darkness and/or the PTSD he developed after Dark Road. Given the kind of upbringing keyblade wielders traditionally had, the kind that taught them darkness is nothing but an enemy to be stamped out, it's a safe bet Yen Sid had darkness he struggled with about as much as any other student. As much as Terra, as Baldr, as Xehanort, etc. I believe Symphony of Sorcery was one of his attempts to defeat his own darkness the only way he'd been taught: to push it down, stamp it out, hide it away where it can't hurt anyone. He gave life to his musical scores to create a world where his darkness would be trapped, sealed away. Or failing that, a world where his darkness would be given physical form and could therefore be physically defeated.

OR maybe his darkness manifested into the world as Chernabog unintentionally. Maybe he just took up songwriting as therapy after surviving Baldr's massacre, and then ended up creating something even worse by accident. Maybe Chernabog couldn't be contained in the pages. Maybe it escaped, tore the world apart, and that's why his tower is all that's left.

Perhaps it even returned to lay waste to what was left of Scala. Imagine the guilt Yen would be feeling after that? Even if they managed to defeat it, contain it again somehow. Maybe shrink it down until it takes an anti-Yen Sid form, kinda like Data-Sora's Heartless.

That way it'd be small enough they could keep it contained, maybe inside the isolation chamber where Baldr was quarantined.

But at this point the world's so messed up, so few citizens left, all of them wracked with fear of the looming darkness, the remaining wielders/masters but Especially Yen Sid himself wracked with immense guilt over letting this happen, straight up exposing his own darkness to everyone and endangering so many lives. He doesn't deserve to call himself a Master.

So in his last act under such a title, he uses his Keyblade to lock Scala's keyhole, seal the world away, transforming it into a completely new world. All of its citizens have their memories of the old world wiped, lost to oblivion.

The new world is Radiant Garden. The citizens believe it to be a lot older than it is, and it clearly has some kind of ancient history to it, which is why people like Ansem the Wise set out to uncover its secrets. Why the castle contains the lifeboats/arks from Daybreak Town. Why Maleficent was so drawn to it. Why Isa and Lea felt a terrifying presence in the darkness of the castle basement.

Why its keyhole/"door to darkness" was such a major climactic thing in kh1 where all the princesses had to be gathered, when by all rights it should just be a regular world with a regular door/keyhole to its heart.

Even Mickey seems to know who Ansem is, but it's unclear if he ever knew about Scala.

Yen Sid, meanwhile, casts his keyblade off into the realm of sleep in the hope it'll be so well hidden away that no-one will be able to find it and use it to unlock Scala again. Then he goes back to doing what he does best, hiding away from everything and never stepping foot outside his tower in case he causes another disaster.

I believe the butterfly represents his searching for a way to defeat Chernabog for good. Consume darkness, return it to light. He never found a way to do that until Riku came along. That's why in kh3 he finally feels brave enough to leave the tower and assist the Lights. Riku has the kind of power over light and darkness that he'd always been taught was impossible. And now Riku/Sora have freed SoS from sleep, defeated Chernabog (twice?), even found his old keyblade. Maybe it looks different now but he knows it's his, he knows it's in good hands, and he knows Sora and Riku are the ones who can finally bring an End to all the Pain.

tl;dr and My Main Overall Points: I think Yen Sid's keyblade is End of Pain, I think Chernabog is a manifestation of his darkness born from his guilt/trauma, and I think something happened involving him/his darkness that prompted him to lock Scala with his keyblade and transform it into Radiant Garden before throwing his keyblade away and running away to live in hiding in his tower because he was taught growing up to push his negative emotions down instead of talking about them. also i think it'd be cool if he created the Symphony of Sorcery world somehow. (i know there's a lot of holes to poke in the idea of Chernabog being in the room of repose as well as just about everything else I've written lmao, but i'm not as committed to those specific details so don't worry about them too much)

Couple minor fun details: EoP is the only keyblade with a gazing eye that Sora can wield, someone who isn't part of the lineage of MoM's apprentices (The Foretellers, The Xehanorts, Terra, Vanitas, Riku). EoP is also one of Thirteen weapons with gazing eyes in them depending on how you count them. (I count Soul Eater and Way to the Dawn as one weapon bc i always assumed the former transformed into the latter. You could count Vanitas and Vanitas Remnant's keyblades as just one though. Or if you only count keyblades specifically then there's 12 and we haven't seen the 13th yet c:)

i keep seeing posts from the khml beta of npcs that resemble stuff worn by the radiant garden castle folks. and i'm just sitting here, remembering kairi's grandma's story, the framing device of khux:

Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light.

meaning life in daybreak town

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.

meaning the events leading up to and including the keyblade war

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.

as in the world kairi and her grandma lived on. radiant garden. which is also where the ark/lifeboat from daybreak town sits, somewhere in the castle.

what i'm saying is that of course scala npcs look like radiant garden ones. their worlds are connected and always have been.

[drazavonia]

Luxu's History Repeats Itself

Speculation/Theory:

Luxu's role was to past down the No Name keyblade to be succeeded over and over again until it ended up in the hands of the one who would summon Kingdom Hearts. But, part of that role was for Luxu to observe and watch over the course of the Keyblade's journey.

We see this from BBS to KH3 chronologically, where he became the right hand man of Xehanort and Xemnas to help push forward his plans to reenact the Keyblade War.

If Luxu bestows the keyblade upon "one of the five", then his first host has to either accompany them to their next worldline or be at their side consistently similar to how he does with Xehanort.

Because of this criteria, the first successor of No Name can't be Skuld, Ventus or Lauriam because they were sent forward in time, so the Master's eye couldn't record anything.

That leaves Ephemer and Brain.

Somehow Ephemer's heart is displaced and resided in the Keyblade Graveyard for who knows how long, so even if he inherited No Name, the keyblade couldn't record anything of significance and there'd be no need for Luxu to body hop.

I think Luxu will most likely bestow the No Name Keyblade to Brain. This makes the most sense given everything we know so far.

Brain is the only Union leader yet to have a "confirmed" fate as of KH3/KHUX. However, that means he's the only leader left to guide the Dandelions and keep the keyblade legacy alive.

In Dark Road and KH3, we can see No Name mounted on a crest in Master Odin's classroom. This means Brain continued the succession of the No Name Keyblade and throughout all of it's wielders till now, the Book of Prophecies was able to be born.

Brain being the new "king" of Scala ad Caelum would explain why he, Eraqus and any of his lineage are blue-bloods.

After the latest update, this would mean he has both Master Defender and No Name in his arsenal. Ironically Eraqus who's completely unlike Brain inherited his keyblade and his best friend who behaves just like Brain inherited the keyblade given to him second. In kh3 Xehanort tells Eraqus "When the world needs a defender, they'll pick you Eraqus." Eraqus received Brain's first keyblade (the first choice), while Xehanort got Brain's second keyblade.

"Speculation": If Yen-sid was referring to the Union Leaders and the Dandelions when he mentioned the "Ancient Keyblade Masters", then "crossing over to another world" might refer to them migrating into the Data-Daybreak Town.

However,

following up on the notion that Luxu has to observe Brain and No Name in one of the secret reports (Luxu states "Amidst the chaos I bequeathed my Keyblade to one of the Union leaders, just as the Master instructed. I watched as the Five were sent to another worldline-at no small cost-ensuring the line of Keyblade wielders will live on."), then Luxu would have to crossover to the Unreality/Other worldline alongside him.

It seems as though the Union leaders will somehow get sucked into another datascape/worldline/Unreality. If this is the case, it's possible that Luxu actually does bequeath the keyblade to any one of the five, and then something happens, and they're forced to leave the keyblade behind for Brain to take in their stead. Luxu has to keep an eye on Brain, but if he is moving to an unknown world with possibly unknown assailants, it can't be that easy to just sit back and watch like he did originally as they were repeating the original worldline in the Datascape.

Well, we have already seen how Luxu went about observing the most recent inheritor of No Name, Master Xehanort. Luxu possessed a man by the name of Braig, becoming Xehanort's right-hand man under the guise of "a fool desirous of the keyblade". Afterwards he harbored a piece of Xehanort's heart and stuck by his side from BBS to KH3.

"Luxu's History Repeats Itself", as in Luxu casted off his original form and resided in the heart of another to watch Brain, or even better, remain at his side the same as Xehanort in the future.

Luxu will inhabit the body of Ephemer and stand with Brain within the Unreality.

The two scenarios that I can think of (can be different or sequential) :

Luxu chose to reside within Ephemer's heart silently, the same way Eraqus had done to Terra. Eraqus's light as well as his "signature chains" were able to support Terra's fight against Xehanort within himself. It is possible if Ephemer gets into a jam that Luxu could help him from within as well.

Luxu may have chosen to completely dominate Ephemer's heart and push him out, the same way Xehanort did to Terra, in order to become Terra-Xehanort. Ephemer's heart would be lost, possibly traversing to the Keyblade Graveyard. He has been watching them for a long time, so it's possible he may be able to imitate Ephemer well enough for no one to suspect anything.

The second option seems way too unlikely. The Master told Luxu he could help, but probably not to interfere and make his presence known. Also, Luxu seemed especially worried about the Dandelions, to the point where the Master compared him to "a mother hen(?)". It would seem pretty messed up (at that point) for him to straight up take Ephemer's existence like that.

I think Darkness will separate Ephemer's heart from his body, infecting it and birthing his Dark Inferno much like Ventus.

*This has been addressed already, but Ephemer and Braig share the red scarf motif and kinda similar outfits.

A better example is probably Terra again. Ephemer's heart would be the Guardian(Terra) to Luxu's Terra-Xehanort.

"The History" being referred to are the groups Luxu has been apart of:

Ephemer/Luxu = Xigbar

The Overseer

Brain = Xehanort

The Inheritance

Ventus/Darkness = Ven/Vanitas

The Harbinger of Darkness

Lauriam = Terra

RAGE AWAKENED

Skuld = Aqua

The True Successors

Strelitzia = Eraqus (?)

Felled by Darkness

(Skuld is compared to Ava & Aqua was the only student made into a master.)

*This is from like two months ago.