#I have also seen other books featuring Sora with that hair

[the-golden-heart]

while searching for some Ninjago comics online I found this one and I feel a little??? Has anyone seen this yet?

[katukutataka]

KH Theory: Kairi’s Grandparents

So last night Square Enix released the 4 new characters for Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road and everyone is flipping out. So am I since we’re all waiting for Dark Road to come out as well as other Kingdom Hearts games.

There’s already people throwing their theories and ideas that I thought I should tell mine as well before June 10, when we’ll be given a little more information. 

Based on the title of this post, I won’t be just talking about Kairi’s grandmother. 

Since the release of the photos and names of the new characters in the photograph, a lot of people are speculating that Kairi’s Grandmother could be Vor

[image provided by the Dark Road Twitter page]]

Now, Vor appears to be the youngest of the group in the photo. I say “appear” because if anime has taught me one thing, it’s that the seemingly young looking person is actually the oldest...But for this case, it could that Vor really is the youngest. 

Let’s just go with the latter for now. 

A lot of people on Twitter, Tumbr, Reddit, kh13.com and Youtube are theorizing that Vor could be Kairi’s grandmother. 

YouTuber HMK, ProdigyxCD, SHARKTANK, VTNVIVI, and others also agree with that theory, or at least point it out from their observations. Specifically because of the Norse meaning of Vor’s name.

[Name Information provided by Leamax on kh13.com]

So that would make sense as to how Kairi’s Grandma knew about the story of Light and Darkness that’s mention three times throughout the franchise:

1) Birth by Sleep: Kairi asked her grandmother to retell the story of Light and Darkness

2)Kingdom Hearts: Sora witnesses a flashback to Kairi and her grandma sitting in the Radiant Garden Library

3)Kingdom Hearts Unchained X: when you first download the game, a pop-up book version of Radiant Garden appears. Kairi and her grandmother are shown while the story of Light and Darkness appears in white text above.

If Nomura intends to use the meanings of the Norse names literally, then Vor has vast knowledge of not only Darkness, but also about Light. Maybe more so than Master Xehanort? 

“The gift of Providence” is interesting to me as the latter means “the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power”, “God or nature as providing protective or spiritual care”, “timely preparation for future eventualities” [Google Dictionary]. 

Could it be that Vor was preparing for what was to come around 75 to 85 years into the future? Could it be that she was going to prepare Kairi for the events that took place before KH1? 

Another thing that people are using as “evidence” is the similarity of Vor’s face to Kairi’s grandmother. More so about the smile and the eyes. 

People are saying that the smile between the two are very similar.

(i’m sorry about the small image. Literally just cropped it from the image provided by Dark Road Twitter page. Pic of Kairi’s grandma found on Google Images)

I suppose the smiles do look very alike, but it could be a trick of the eye and the inner desire of wanting this to somehow work is affecting us. 

The other thing that people are saying are similar are the eye colors:

On Vor’s image, her eyes are more green while Kairi’s grandmother is more blue. Indigo,if you’re picky. 

Now I know that sometimes the color of one’s eyes may “change” colors depending on how light hits it. For example, dark brown eyes can appear light brown in direct light or black in the shade. Green eyes tend to have to accent colors like a light brown, which is hazel-green eyes. Sometimes people will have a blue tint in them, blue-green eyes. Yellow is also seen in the mix. Sometimes when a baby has either green or blue eyes, it changes colors as they get older. It’s rare in those cases but still can happen. And yes, there are people with completely green eyes only even in adulthood. 

Given that this Tetsuya Nomura’s concept as well as the meaning of eye colors, the affiliation of Light and Darkness present in one’s heart can change their eye colors (and hair).

The main example of this is Young Xehanort, where he had silver eyes. But because of the Darkness, his eyes became more amber yellow. This has become a trend for fans to distinguish who are “good” and “bad”.

I will add in that that’s not the best way to tell if a person is good or bad as there are characters who have amber, yellow, light brown eyes.

So let’s break down the possibilities of the eyes between the 2 characters:

1) Vor’s eyes are green from a young age. However, if her eyes changed as she grew up, they became more blue, indigo colored, which is what Kairi’s grandmother has. 

2) If Light and Darkness are affiliated to the change of eye colors, then it’s possible that Vor’s eyes changed to more blue-indigo colored because of the abundance of Light (assuming).

3) It’s very possible that Vor and Kairi’s grandmother are TWO DIFFERENT women. Therefore, the color of the eyes mean nothing for the relation. 

The 3rd possibility would lead to “Master Ava is Kairi’s Grandmother Theory” and/or one of the many “Dandelions is Kairi’s Grandmother Theory”. 

Like, there’s so much that we don’t know about Kairi’s family and their backstory that many people, myself included, created fan-theories that relate to the Foretellers or the Dandelions somehow. Especially since the grandmother knows the story of Light and Darkness. 

I have an idea that I’m not sure if anyone else has spoken about on a media platform. If there are people out there that has a similar idea, please let me know so I can give credit! 

My idea banks off of Kairi’s GRANDFATHER. 

I know. A real stretch, but it could still be possible. Let me humor you. 

Let’s say the 3rd possibility is true: Vor and the grandmother are two different women. So, what of the grandfather? Who was he? Where was he? Did he pass of age or after The Fall of Radiant Garden? Who knows. Maybe Nomura didn’t think that far for Kairi or anyone’s family background...or did he? 

Anyway, if the grandfather is one of the Dandelions who avoided the war or is a disciple of the Dandelions, then he met the grandmother at some point, fell in love, married, had kids, then had a grandchild. During all that, it’s likely that the grandfather told the grandmother the story of Light and Darkness as a legend that will be passed down through the generations. 

Perhaps some of you thought of another person who’s also featured in the photograph:

Yup. I went there. I’m putting my idea that Bragi is potentially Kairi’s grandfather. 

I mean, his Norse meaning of the name is:

[Name definition provided by Leamax on kh13.com]

His name means “Poet”. Creative with his words with the knowledge of poems and songs, it’s likely he told told of the story of Light and Darkness the same way that Kairi’s grandmother told before. 

[Kairi’s grandmother story dialogue provided by u/blackdragoon747 on a reddit thread, “Kairi’s grandmother story (KH3 Theory) [Discussion]]

The story is told in a vague yet meaningful way. Something easy to tell the generations to come of what happened. Yes, I realize it ‘s not a poem so the relation between this and Bragi is small. But what if Bragi told the grandmother this version of the story because of how it was told to him by his Keyblade Master? Possibly the same Master who taught all 6 of them? 

I will admit that the Bragi’s orange hair is giving some “evidence” that he’s related to Kairi. It’s a stretch since the grandparents don’t have to have red hair to be related to Kairi. It’s likely that one of the Kairi’s birth parents had the same red hair color as her. I just wanted to throw that idea out there. 

I remember seeing an idea with art by laizy-boy (one of my favorite KH fanartist) where what if Xehanort was Kairi’s grandfather? Laizy-boy created Masako, an O.C. portrayed as Kairi’s grandmother, where she met Xehanort and Eraques when they were young. It’s hinted that Young(er) Xehanort had a crush on Masako in Laizy-boy’s artwork. If that was the case, then Master Xehanort was a fucked up grandfather to do what he did to Kairi in KH3. 

(I’m still salty that happened even if Kairi got her sweet revenge in Re:Mind!)

I wanted to mention that because I just remembered that and thought that if some people thought the possibility that Xehanort was Kairi’s grandfather, what about Bragi if not the former? 

There is notion that Hermod could also be a candidate, but I personally don’t think so? if you do, let me know! I’m always happy to hear what others think otherwise! 

There may be people who think that Urd is Kairi’s grandmother too, but I’m not sure. 

Anyways! This post is rather long as it is so i’ll end it here. Let me know what you all think! Send me your questions and I might make another post tomorrow after getting more info. 

[dokidokivisual]

Gochiusa BLOOM episode 9 impressions

Previously: 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1

That’s right, the long-awaited review of episode 9 is finally here! I haven’t managed to finish it last week and kind of lost motivation since almost nobody reads these anyway, but there we go. Not sure what I’m going to do with the remaining episodes at this point, maybe I’ll combine 10 and 11 together? 

The episode starts with a flashback from Chiya and Sharo’s childhood which shows the origin of Anko’s crown. The scene is “shot” in widescreen aspect ratio, a technique that I don’t remember being used before in Gochiusa anime, such as during the previous Chiya/Sharo flashback in Season 2 Episode 9.

I’d like to bring the attention to the opening shot of flowers, which are periwinkles (Vinca major). As you might know, Japanese media often uses the flower language, or hanakotoba which assigns specific meanings to various flowers. The meanings of greater periwinkle are “pleasant memories” and “childhood friends”, which seems to apply rather well here. In fact, if you see a shot of flowers in an anime, there’s a very high chance they have a relevant meaning in hanakotoba.

Of course I couldn’t help but look up chamomile as well, and its meaning seems to be “patience in the face of adversity”...

It seems that Chiya has now lost the crown, but it’s honestly surprising how it stayed on Anko all this time considering he has been carried away by crows and dropped from the sky more than once. Also, I feel like revealing the crown is lost so early in the episode deprives the viewers from being able to spot it on their own, just by seeing crownless Anko in various scenes (as has been done in the manga chapter).

In Chiya’s class there’s an election for picking the candidate from the class for the student council president position. The only two people competing are Chiya and the class president (who doesn’t have a name and referred to only as Iincho). In a surprising turn of events, Chiya gets 16 votes versus 14 votes for the prez (refer to the tally mark chart in episode 3 review), which means there are at least 30 people in the class.

Imagine losing a popularity poll to Chiya. The prez is a tragic character...

Cocoa volunteers to be Chiya’s “producer”, but Chiya calls her “First Lady” which totally means she wants to marry her. By the way, it was Cocoa who nominated Chiya for the election, which I don’t think is mentioned in the anime. In general, this particular chapter has been rearranged rather heavily for the adaptation with things happening in a completely different order, so it’s quite interesting to compare the two versions.

For example, when we see Chiya coming up with the names of various student committees, it seems like a completely natural and Chiya thing to do. It’s hard to believe that in the manga, it is Sharo who comes up with the idea of renaming all the committees. In fact this particular Chiya/Sharo tête-à-tête is not in the manga at all. However it’s an important scene to establish Sharo’s feelings towards Chiya’s presidential ambitions and she doesn’t seem too happy about them, in fact she doesn’t even congratulate Chiya.

Next we have another anime-original scene where Chiya goes to accessories store (from episode 6) to find a replacement for Anko’s crown. It should be pointed out that the design of the crown itself is not completely arbitrary. It features a moon crescent, which symbolizes night (the last character 夜 of Chiya’s name) but is also associated with Arabic world. The closest thing to Anko’s crown I could find is this heraldic crown of the King of Egypt. Anyway, this is also a reference to Chiya’s name, namely it being derived from Japanese name for 1001/Arabian Nights 千夜一夜物語 (Sen’ya Ichiya Monogatari).

Meanwhile Rize is trying to change image to be more like a college student, notices Chiya and asks to make her an adult (phrasing?). As a result, we get an appearance from Rize’s alter-ego Rose for the first time since season 1 episode 9.

The interesting thing about Rose is that despite being featured in only a small number of chapters, she gets a mention in Rize’s character blurb in Manga Time Kirara MAX until this day. It literally takes like a third of her character description!

Anyway, this scene is just a prelude for the adaptation of chapter 2 of volume 7 which is named after a Rize character song  鏡合わせのアンビバレット. In the song, Rize tries on outfits in front of a mirror and tries to convince herself that it’s still her. The illustration for this chapter also shows Rose as a mirror image of Rize.

We see Sharo looking through a bookstore window, which I think also appears in the following episode, and this is a foreshadowing that she works here too. The bookstore is named “Dreamy Books” which is seen later in the scene.

Chiya and “Rose” appear and at first Sharo doesn’t recognize Rize, and only does after Rize points a finger gun at her. Well, it’s not like there is anyone else in this town having purple hair or anything.

By the way you might notice that compared to the last episode the characters are dressed much more warmly, which reflects the fact that it’s already December. Looking back at the scene in episode 8 where Rize and Chimame cross the bridge at night, it’s quite shocking how lightly they’ve been dressed there.

Chino and Cocoa come by, and recognize Rize as Rose. It’s lampshaded that the last time they’ve seen Rose was more than a year ago, so it’s quite impressive that they still remember her, as well as her promise to visit Rabbit House (in s1e9 she only visits Ama Usa An). Rize thinks it’s a good chance to “infiltrate” Rabbit House to see what the others think of her when she’s gone.

Rize’s infiltration goes relatively smoothly until Maya and Megu barge in and immediately recognize her. Chiya manages to get them to play along in time, however Megu makes up a ridiculous backstory painting Rose as a ballet kempo practitioner who fights an evil organization.

Aoyama Blue Mountain also backs up Rose’s existence, by mentioning that she is in her literature club and also does food reviews. She gives Rize a cheat sheet which seems to parody the tendency of food reviews to describe food as “melting in your mouth” (for example wagyu beef).

Later Rize ends up having a conversation with Chino where she reveals that Rize’s been taking more days off than usual and it gets lonely without her. She has also started lazing about in the sun, just like Cocoa does, which wouldn’t have happened if Rize has been around upholding the discipline. In the anime Rize doesn’t really react to this, but in the manga she seems a bit disappointed in Chino.

This scene is a callback to the very first episode of the show, where Rize pretends she can’t easily carry these bags of coffee beans, because they’re too heavy for a “normal girl” according to Cocoa. Soon after, Rize’s cover is blown after she reacts to an intruder who is just Takahiro.

It turns out that Cocoa has already recognized it’s Rize. One thing that Cocoa and Rize have in common is that they change hairstyles a lot compared to the other characters, so it makes sense that Cocoa would not be fooled by a simple hairstyle change... or would she? Shortly after Cocoa has a realization that Rose has always been Rize, which makes her feel really stupid... until she finds that Chino is still completely in the dark about everything. Maybe Chino has propagnosia, or inability to recognize faces? Anyway, Rize is quite supportive about it and asks Chino if she’s ok if she does image change in the future.

But there’s still one more twist in this chapter, since Cocoa’s sister Mocha makes an appearance! Considering she appears in the opening, this season hasn’t really done anything with her yet. But it turns out it’s just Cocoa in a wig (why does she even have a Mocha wig???), nevertheless she successfully fools Rize and Chino for a second. Maybe the last episode of the season will have real Mocha (I’m assuming she won’t be in the Christmas arc).

And we’re back to the student council election storyline. The “sandwich” composition where one story “wraps” another seems to be used a lot this season. In this case the stories have almost zero relation to each other so I don’t know why the episode had to be structured like this.

Chiya’s election poster (aside from Cocoa’s scribbles) follows a traditional Japanese election poster design, featuring a closeup photo of a politician, her name and a slogan (which implores you to vote like a shiratama dumpling for some reason). I feel like a poster like this prioritizes the looks of a politician over their policies or whatever, but maybe there’s some sort of election law that these posters have to follow.

Cocoa and Chino also wrote letters of endorsement for Chiya, although Cocoa’s was mostly written by Aoyama and was basically a food review. Chino not only made Chiya almost explode from praise, but also presented a verbal takedown of Cocoa on the fly. Later, Chiya makes a passionate speech trying to emulate Rize, but maybe Chino should’ve written that too.

Next I’d like to point your attention to the name of the dish that Chiya made to celebrate the occasion:

Aki no sora (in the autumn sky) Todoroku oto wa (a thundering sound is) Omedetai (auspicious)

If you count the syllables, you’ll find that it is actually a haiku. and it even includes a kigo (season word, “autumn in this case”). The final line is a pun, as tai indicates the presence of taiyaki (a bean paste filled cake shaped like a bream fish) in the dish.

Another anime-original scene appears to flesh out the episode’s “moral” and show how Ama Usa is where Chiya really shines. A bunch of old ladies (who seem like they starred in a Kirara manga a long time ago) enter the teahouse to celebrate the birth of a 5th grandchild for one of them. Cocoa also helps Chiya, donning the Ama Usa uniform once again. 

Chiya sprinkles gold dust on her dish, doing her best “salt bae” expression. Pure gold is inert and as such can be safely eaten. In Japan, gold leaf is even added to tea, which might explain why Chiya has it.

As everyone is about to go home, Chiya’s grandma appears through a rarely-opened sliding window and offers some manju as a treat. In the anime this is how Sharo eventually discovers the lost Chiya’s crown, which her grandma uses as a hairpin (the hairpin functionality explains how this crown doesn’t fall off Anko). Surprisingly she doesn’t appear at all in the manga chapter, and Sharo just randomly finds the crown “outside”.

By the way, the text on the manju box says “congratulations on winning the election”, which might’ve been a bit premature.

Sharo goes to return the crown back to Chiya, and Chiya repeats Cocoa’s reaction from part A, which sounds like breakup song lyrics. This dialogue wasn’t in the manga in either scene and I think it was included to somehow tie the two parts together, and make the inability to notice something obvious that was around you the whole time the unifying concept of the episode.

For Chiya the crown was the symbol of ambition, and her dream to become the director of Ama Usa An and conquer the world. Sharo has a lot of drive to work multiple jobs, but doesn’t seem to have a goal she aspires to. When she finally gets an opportunity to move up the ranks, by becoming a student council president, she declines it. Living side by side with Chiya forever (zutto issho) seems to be the extent of her ambitions. Sharo feels betrayed by Chiya being ready to “leave” her and spend more time with student council than at her own restaurant.

After the ED we see the conclusion of this conflict. Sharo sees the preparations for celebrating the winner of the election, and begrudgingly congratulates Chiya. We see Cocoa, Rize and Chino helping out, but Sharo wasn’t even invited...

But it turns out class prez was the winner, after Chiya has declined the nomination. She probably had all the posters and speeches at the ready just in case, and didn’t have to prepare at all. In the manga, this is also where she returns Sharo’s uniform that she borrowed back in episode 4.

Meanwhile Chiya and Sharo have a talk and agree that it was the best for them to decline their nominations and they should stick with what they have. Not sure if that applies to Sharo though, she wasn’t really shown to be “shining” but more like “barely getting by”. There was also another reason in the manga for Chiya to agree it was the right choice: Chiya’s classmates totally trashed her menu names, which means they probably wouldn’t like her committee names either. Most of the classmates dialogue was cut out in the anime though.

So that was episode 9 and all that’s left for this season is a 2-episode Christmas arc and the season finale. Hope you enjoyed this review and until next time!

[turnupswritessometimes]

Worth Running To - SoRiku - Ch1

Title: Worth Running To

Chapter: 1

Word Count: 

Summary: Pirate AU - Sora is looking for a crew, Riku is looking to be as far away from England as possible. They find kinship in one another. 

                                                               *

Sora had spotted the boy as soon as he came in. It wasn’t the silver hair or the piercing blue-green eyes that sparkled like the sea. And it wasn’t the sheer size of his arms. It was the way he had wrinkled his nose at the smell of alcohol that sat over the whole tavern like a fog. The way he stood – upright and stiff, moving out of everyone’s way without being shoved. Both showed that he didn’t belong here – he didn’t even look old enough to be let into a pub. Not that Sora was either, but Sora had earnt his right to sit here at the tavern with men three times his weight with a bottle of rum and a sign that read ‘crew wanted.’ He’d watched the boy lurk around the edges of the pub, never making eye contact with anyone for more than a moment. His hands were tight on the neck of his cloak in an almost comic way of hiding his face from everyone. On the run, Sora thought. He’d seen that expression before and it always made his stomach twinge. To have something to run from – that was the dream.

THIS FIC IS ALSO OF A03 UNDER THE SAME NAME - I WOULD PUT A LINK BUT THEN TUMBLR WOULD NOT INCLUDE IT IN SEARCH RESULTS.

                                                          The Highwind

Sora had spotted the boy as soon as he came in. It wasn’t the hair – it looked almost white in the lamplight, but it was silver – what boy his age had silver hair? Or the piercing blue-green eyes that sparkled like the sea. And it wasn’t the sheer size of his arms, though they were comparable to an oarsman.

It was the way he had wrinkled his nose at the heady smell of alcohol that sat over the whole tavern like a fog. The way he stood – upright and stiff, moving out of everyone’s way without being shoved. Both showed that he didn’t belong here – he didn’t even look old enough to be let into a pub.

Not that Sora was either, but Sora had hardly had what most folks would call a proper upbringing. He’d earnt his right to sit here at the tavern with men three times his weight with a bottle of rum and a sign that read ‘crew wanted.’ In fact, it was spelt ‘krew wanted,’ and he suspected he’d written the ‘d’ backwards, but he figured enough people would get the point.

This boy was clearly a posh one. He’d watched the boy lurk around the edges of the pub, never making eye contact with anyone for more than a moment. His hands were tight on the neck of his cloak in an almost comic way of hiding his face from everyone. On the run, Sora thought. He’d seen that expression before and it always made his stomach twinge. To have something to run from – that was the dream.

So, he’d watched the boy, because he was more entertaining than watching men arm wrestle, or try to flirt with the maid behind the bar. (Though more often than not she gave them a right hook, and that was always worth seeing.)

And then the boy’s eyes skimmed over him. Skimmed back. He looked – actually looked at Sora for more than a second, where most of the other men would curl their lip or raise their eyebrow. Sora could feel his lips curved upwards in a smile.

The boy didn’t smile back, but he did fight his way through the crowd and over to Sora’s table in the corner. His eyes dropped down to the wax paper sign propped up between two empty tankards.

“You’re looking for a crew?” he asked, in the breathless tone of someone needing a quick getaway. Sora stopped himself from grinning – he hadn’t even made an effort to disguise his posh voice.

“That’s what the sign says.” Sora replied. He couldn’t resist making his grin just a little more lopsided – couldn’t resist a wink, because now that the boy had come over, he could see his face was just as pretty as his hair.

The boy wet his lips. Glanced away. Glanced back with a determined face – like he was determined to ignore that wink. “How soon do you set sail?”

“If you join up, we can get going straight away.”

The boy nodded and slid into the booth next to him. That made Sora pause. The kid may have been asking for it – he practically screamed ‘I’m rich and desperate, scam me,’ but he wasn’t about to take advantage of him.

“Understand, I can’t pay you nothing. Not until we find treasure,” he said. The boy should have been asking more questions before he signed up for a voyage to who knew where. Running – desperation – Sora wondered what that felt like. To have something worth running away from.

“That’s fine.” The boy nodded out at the rest of the pub. “Which one is yours?”

“Eh?”

“Which one is your crew?” the boy repeated.

“Here,” Sora gestured at the booth, still smiling, like it was completely normal. He was wondering how long it would be before they got to this.

The boy blinked at him. He looked from him, to Donald, to Goofy, and back at Sora. His features twisted into something between anger and disgust.

“Are you drunk?” he asked.

“Not at all,” Sora said. “This is my crew, and you’d never hope to sail with finer men.”

“Men?” the boy repeated, incredulously. “They’re not men!”

Some of the burlier guys and gals frowned over at them for the noise, but once they saw Sora, they rolled their eyes and turned back to their conversation.

Sora frowned, but he knew it was more of a pout. “And how many sea voyages have you been on?”

The boy blinked. “Well, none.”

“Exactly. These two have been on more adventures than you, and that makes them men of the sea in my book.”

“You should learn to read that book,” the boy said scathingly. “You can’t bring a duck and a – a –“

“Goofy’s a dog,” Sora said. He scratched Goofy behind a scruffy ear and Goofy panted appreciatively.

“I’ve never seen a dog like that.”

“That’s because he’s an old sea dog.” It was simple logic, really. He couldn’t understand everyone’s confusion at Goofy.

“And you think you can sail a boat between the two of us, a dog and a duck?” The boy frowned at him, and put his hands on the table, pushing himself upwards.

Sora turned to Goofy so that the boy couldn’t see Sora’s scowl. He had known the boy would react that way – everyone always did, but he had really been hoping that this time would be different. He had liked this one – had liked that he was young and on the run. That he wanted to be anywhere but here, because Sora was like that too. He needed to be anywhere but here – to find something worth running from or worth running too. And this kid might have been posh, but he was pretty and easily flustered and Sora was already imagining getting to know him more. Could he be heartbroken over a five-minute encounter?

Goofy seemed to sense his annoyance. The huge wolfhound – well wolfhound cross, but Sora didn’t know crossed with what – gave his cheek a snuffle. He sneezed against him and Sora couldn’t help it – he laughed, hooking an arm around Goofy’s neck and scratching his huge head with both hands. Donald shuffled his feathers, looking as reproachful as a duck could, before sticking his beak in the air and pretending that he hadn’t seen this display of affection. It only made Sora’s grin widen.

The boy was still standing at the table.

Sora looked up and saw him staring at him, slightly open mouthed. His green eyes glinted in the dim light of the pub. There were only a few hanging lanterns, casting a golden, flickering light over them and casting dark shadows over the boy’s pale skin. When their eyes met, he shut his mouth and stared at the alcohol puddled floor, his cheeks tinged pink. It gave Sora an inkling of what the boy was running from – if he hadn’t been able to guess anyway.

“My ship isn’t very big. Yet,” Sora said. He wanted this one to come with them. “We could manage it easy. And I’m the only one here setting sail tomorrow morning. Everyone else here knows there’ll be a storm this week – they want to wait it out.”

Slowly, the boy eased himself back into the booth. He stared at the grubby floor for a long time, before he looked up at Sora. His eyes caught the lamplight again,  in just the right way, and Sora could see it then. Those eyes held the sparkle of the sea in them and persuaded his breath to stay stuck in his throat.

“You’re going tomorrow?” he asked, quietly.

Sora nodded. He put his other arm around Goofy, leaning on the dog.

“Even though there’s going to be a storm?”

He couldn’t trust this boy with the whole truth. Not yet. So he simply omitted some parts. “A huge one. It sounds like a good adventure.”

The boy shook his head. “You’re crazy.”

“Maybe,” Sora said, feeling his smile return. “But you’re coming with me.”

“I never said that.” The boy looked around the pub a final time. Looking for other options and met only with scowls from men twice the size of him.

Sora grinned. “But you are.”

The boy sighed. He gave a final, final glance around the pub only to see a collection of thugs drinking themselves sick, then nodded. Sora beamed at him. He was positively glowing. Yes, he liked this one – this one he could have a real adventure with.

“Sora,” he said, finally untangling himself from Goofy, and sticking his hand out across the table. “Captain Sora.”

“Captain of a small boat, a dog and a duck.”

“And you.”

The boy’s hand lingered just a second longer than it should have. He had a firm grip, though his skin was smooth. Not used to a day’s work.

“I’m Riku.” He was smiling – a small, gentle smile that was a good fit on his face.

There was a loud and indignant quack. Goofy had the habit of sniffing Donald’s tail feathers, and hadn’t quite got the message that it was unwanted attention. Donald had turned and was snapping at the huge dog with a bright orange beak.

“Hey – hey, you two –“ Sora pulled Goofy away, trying to calm Donald down with an outstretched hand. It was a mistake – that duck had an unstoppable temper, and he bit at Sora’s fingers too.

He cursed and put his attacked appendages into his mouth.

But then he heard laughter.

He looked up to see Riku, a hand clasped over his mouth to muffle the noise, laughing.

It brought the grin back to his face. He was laughing too, and yes –

Sora knew this was going to be an adventure.

*

Riku stared at the boy sat across from him. The boy who had definitely made a conscious effort to make his fingertips feel as much of Riku’s palm as possible before he pulled away. His hands were rough and firm – they didn’t match the softness that was the rest of him. This boy with skin that just glowed brown – like he had absorbed the sun and was just beaming it out of him. This boy with hair that stuck up in a thousand different directions and a crooked smile and the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. Eyes like a cloudless sky. Maybe bluer than that.

Sora. Captain Sora.

He was wrestling his beast of a dog further into the booth so that he could plant himself between it and the duck. Riku had never seen a dog like that – lanky and black and shaggy, with a long, almost crooked snout. Its eyes were so blank – Riku could almost believe that it was once intelligent but had given up all of its wisdom to save humanity. Almost.

The duck was a lot more normal looking – a plain white mallard, with beady eyes. It was an angry little thing.

How was this trio even allowed in here?

Sora was watching him, one hand still buried in Goofy’s fur. His head was tilted to the side and his mouth was slightly open – Riku could see a gleam of white teeth.

“So, Riku,” Sora said. He let the name drip from his tongue like it was made of honey. “Why are you in such a hurry to get away?”

His gut clenched and his heart jerked in his chest like it was trying to jump overboard. But he had always had a knack for cards – hopefully he had a half-decent poker face to match.

“I’m not,” he lied. He had to be out of here, tomorrow. That was all that mattered.

Sora’s head tilted further, like he was trying to copy Goofy. His crooked smile lifted up again. Was it a requirement of being a pirate to have a crooked grin?

“I know the look of a boy on the run.”

“And - are you?” Riku asked.

And Sora laughed. Laughter seemed to come as easily as breathing to him.  It was a careless sound.

“Me? Never?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be?” Riku leant across the table, let his long hair fall forward like a curtain. He had lost the ribbon tying it back before he had even step foot in here, but there were men with longer hair milling around. “Isn’t piracy supposed to be illegal?”

Sora leant forward too, blue eyes glittering. “Only if you get caught.”

That made Riku’s mouth twitch. He leant back to hide it – to hide his clothes.

“Most people don’t want to sail right into a storm,” Sora continued. “Not unless they’re in a hurry to escape something.”

He’d been too obvious. He knew he had, and now he’d been caught. He sat there, staring at Sora and trying to think of an excuse. Tried to think of anything but the truth, but this boy wouldn’t believe any of them. He stuck out like a sore thumb amongst this people – none of them would believe Riku if he said he was a thief or a murderer.

“You don’t have to give me all the details. Not if you don’t want to.” Sora said. He had the tone of someone trying to sooth a startled horse. Donald ruffled his feathers next to him, squatting down, and Sora’s fingers skimmed over his folded feathers. The duck gave an appreciative quack and half closed its eyes. “But I need to know if you can’t stick around England.”

“No. I can’t.”

Sora nodded.

Goofy was taking an interest in Riku now, leaning his long neck around the table and snorting through his huge black nose at him. He hadn’t much experience with dogs, so he awkwardly patted Goofy’s head in the hopes it would appease him and make him turn away.

It only encouraged him. He sniffed Riku’s palm and then pressed his cold nose against it. Riku let him stay there, turning back to the boy.

“Why are you sailing into a storm?”

Sora glanced around at the noisy tavern. Everyone seemed caught up in their own tiny bubbles – not even looking at them. Then he leant his head forward and lowered his voice.

“They say there’s treasure in the eye of a storm.” And at Riku’s blank look, he continued. “Blessed treasure – with heavenly power – that can perform miracles.”

It sounded like a load of old rubbish to Riku. The kind of things young boys tell each other about a lump at the end of the garden that turns out to be the stump of a rose bush. But Sora’s eyes were shining. Well – he certainly didn’t act his age. There was no way he was old enough to be in here either, and he looked too baby faced to be on his own. Maybe he was just a boy playing at being a Captain. Maybe his parents would come along and Riku would be out of a ship.

“I don’t suppose anyone knows what this treasure is?”

Sora shrugged. He was still bright and eager. “Some say a staff, some say a box – all of the stories differ. But the miracles part is true.”

“And, of course, there’s the glory that comes along with finding it.” It was obvious to Riku that the main reward was reputation. Reputation and honour, the two most important things to a man, according to his mother. His mother was always right.

Sora’s gaze drew distant then. Seemed to fix on something behind Riku.

Then he took a breath. “Something like that.”

He had a habit of dropping his ‘t’s and making Riku painfully aware of every one he pronounced. Painfully aware of just how much he didn’t fit in here.

Then Sora was back – the same bubbly grinning boy that he had been thirty seconds ago. No, not boy. Pirate. This boy was a pirate, even if he didn’t look like one.

"We’ll sleep on my ship tonight, aye?"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Is it just a canoe with a flagpole sticking out of it?"

It was easy to tease him, actually. It was easy to talk to this boy. He had never felt like that. There had never been anyone he felt this at ease with. And this was a boy he had known for five minutes. A pirate he had known for five minutes.

A pirate who was pouting at him – blowing his cheeks out and pursing his lips. It was utterly childish, and yet Riku could feel his breath hitching at the sight.

"My ship is a beauty,” Sora said. “A lady of the sea."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"What are you going to give me when you're wrong, Riii-kuuu?" Sora drew out the name, leaning forwards again and resting his cheek in his hand. Impossibly blue eyes studied Riku’s face, and smiled at what they saw there.

"I - I don't have any money on me." It was true. If he didn’t have any money, he couldn’t be robbed of it.

The pout deepened. "What about a favour, then?"

Riku's heart dropped. "A favour?"

That was the one thing Sora seemed oblivious to. He pointed at Riku, still grinning from ear to ear. "If you lose, you have to swab the deck for a week!"

The duck quacked loudly, and Sora turned to it.

"I am not just saying that because I don't want to!"

The duck quacked indignantly again, giving another snap at Sora’s fingers.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You...can talk to them?"

"Well, no.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leant back against the booth. “But it makes things more interesting that way.”

It was Riku’s turn to lean forward, examining the boy for red-rimmed eyes and slurred speech. “And you’re sure you’re not drunk.”

“Can’t afford it.” At Sora’s words, Goofy sneezed, abandoning Riku’s limp hand to poke at Sora’s side. “Well, apart from this one. But that’s the only one I had, I swear.” Goofy’s nose poked him again. “And, we have a bottle of brandy eft, but that’s for a special occasion.”

“Like finding treasure?” Riku guessed.

“Oh, aye.” It seemed like Sora, the duck and the dog were looking him up and down as one. “Aye, you’ll fit in just fine.”

Heat crawled up his neck and cheeks and he looked away. There was a moment of silence, and then he couldn’t resist it – he looked back at Sora. The pirate was staring at him again – seeming to take in every detail as if they would never see each other again.

The moment dragged on and Riku’s heart began racing. He needed to break this – think of something to say – one of them had to say something – they couldn’t just stare like this. In public.

Sora’s hands slammed down on the table. The duck squawked indignantly, ruffling its feathers, and Goofy’s ears went back.

“Right – let’s head off. Big day tomorrow!” Sora scooped a still protesting Donald up in one hand and tugged Goofy down from the booth by his collar with the other.

Riku followed, worming his way around people covered in grime, blood, and beer, until they were out in the night air.

Bristol looked beautiful at night. It was still Summer, and the night sky was dark blue, speckled with stars. The streetlamps had been lit casting bright yellow against blue so that the wet flagstones glowed. The air was warm, but not humid, and the seagulls cawed to each other from the tops of the buildings.

The river lapped at the hulls of the ships as they passed; they were all lined up like children waiting to go into assembly. Huge things with spidery masts and vast hulls watched them as they walked by, their boots tapping loudly against the stones.

Sora stopped in front of a ship, tugging a piece of wood he’d kept on the side of the dock and flopping it across to it. It wobbled alarmingly and creaked in protest when he stood on it.

Riku looked up, and realised that he would be swabbing the deck for a good week. It was a fine ship – with two tall masts and a sizeable deck. It was painted a bright red, rimmed with gold, which made it very handsome indeed. This was a Brig – and he couldn’t believe that the two of them would be able to sail it on their own.

“Are you coming?” Sora called. He was hopping down onto the deck, letting Donald go as he did. Goofy was plodding up the makeshift gangplank as though this was all normal.

Riku paused. Was he? He didn’t know this boy. This was a stupid decision. It was a really, really stupid thing to do. To go sailing into the eye of a storm on a huge ship with a mad boy, a duck and a dog.

But he’d have to wait a week otherwise. And he was no fool – he knew that not a lot of crews would want a sixteen-year-old who’d never worked a day in his life. He was useless to anyone else. This might be his only chance to get away.

And he had to get away. Now. No matter what. No matter if this was the stupidest thing he’d ever done. Maybe he needed to be a bit stupid. His mother wouldn’t have approved – which only confirmed that he was doing the right thing.

“I’ll hold it for you if you’re scared.” Sora’s teeth glinted in the moonlight.

“I’m not scared.” It was as much for himself as it was for Sora.

Riku stepped onto the gangplank. It creaked and groaned at every move he made, and he took large, leaping steps to get it over with as quickly as possible.

Then he was standing on the deck. The deck of a swaying ship, with water lapping at the sides. There was the sudden urge to laugh. This was happening. He was doing this. Riku was running away.

Sora grunted as he pulled the gangplank up behind them, cutting them off securely from the rest of the dock.

“Is there something you’d like to say about my Highwind?” He wiped dirt from his hands onto tight breeches. Riku tore his gaze away, back at the stars.

"I've seen bigger," Riku shrugged.

Sora scoffed. "Like you've ever been on another - your legs are wobbling like a jellyfish."

Riku put a hand on the railing to steady himself, concentrating on making his legs stop shaking.

"Don't worry, you'll get your sea legs as you're cleaning my deck for me." Sora was already treading across the boards as though it was simple to the back of the ship.

This was a very bad idea, Riku decided. Why had be ever thought that it was a good idea to be on a ship? He'd never been on one before and he couldn't even stand on one when it was safely docked.

Goofy nudged past him, and Donald was fluttering after Sora, so he followed the two animals. It took him twice as long to get over to the cabin door. An empty lantern hung by the door. The wick in the candle inside had been swallowed by the wax.

"There's enough room for us both in here," Sora's voice called from inside, echoing like he was already deep in the belly of the ship.

Riku stepped in just as a match fizzed to life. There was a collection of tall candles sat on a scrubbed wooden table, surrounded by torn maps and a broken compass. Two sorry-looking chairs flanked it, trembling in the middle of the room. There was a wide window at one end, letting the starlight drift through the glass. Clothes fell out of a large trunk sat under the window, and were scattered around the floor with books and maps. There were two hammocks - one hung either side of the room. The one on the left had two large lumps of hay underneath it - which Donald and Goofy settled themselves into without question.

Two hammocks. If Sora hadn't been expecting company - he had wanted it.

"There's not much point in you sleeping down in the hold all by yourself," Sora said, sitting on the left hammock and making it swing alarmingly. He was already kicking his boots off by the heel, stretching his arms up and yawning. "You don't mind, do you?"

Riku did mind. He minded very much. He was used to sharing a room - but not with a pirate, a dog and a duck. The situation was bizarre, and this boy was pretty, and he should just leave. He should forget about all of this and just go home.

But then he thought of returning to his mother. He thought of returning for the Summer break. July and August.

It was unthinkable.

Riku sat down on the hammock and started untying his own boot laces.

He looked up again to see Sora staring at him, from over the candle. It made his hair and eyelashes look inky black, and his skin glow gold like an apparition.

"You sure about this?"

Riku took a breath. There was no turning back now. "Yes."

"Aye." For just a moment, Sora paused. Then he grinned, and winked, and said, "goodnight."

The candle was blown out, leaving them in silvery darkness.

Riku lay back in the hammock, his heart racing out of his chest as he heard Sora pad back to his own hammock and get in. The smell of smoke was drifting in the air, like a blown-out birthday candle. That wink. That crooked smile. Riku was playing with fire. He should have chosen a large crew, with people who wouldn’t look twice at him, who were beaten and bloodied, so they looked more like oddly shaped vegetables than people. Not the pretty boy who talked to his pets and winked at Riku. It was just asking for trouble.

Now that he lay down, covering himself over as best as he could with his cloak and the musty blanket left there, he couldn’t believe this was happening. He had really done it – he had ran. And he wasn’t going back. He actually dared to escape. And was playing with fire as soon as he did.

But this was better than a crew of mean, twisted people. Surely it would be. They would look for him on the big ships, not a small brig sailed by a boy no one seemed to look twice at. This was anonymity. He would just have to ignore Sora’s – everything.

The barely formed plan in his mind lulled him into a half-sleep. The hammock rocked gently with the lull of the river and it was absurdly comforting. Sora’s heavy breathing on the other side of the cabin was calming too, in a way.

Then he felt something small jump in the hammock with him.

He froze. Tiny feet were scurrying up him – catching him in the sensitive areas of his stomach. Something small, with a long tail.

“Sora,” he hissed. “Sora!”

“Mmm?” He heard Sora shuffle in his hammock, and yawn loudly.

“There’s a rat.”

“What?”

“A rat. There’s a rat in my hammock. Aren’t they only supposed to be in the bilge?”

“Only the lowliest rats. The peasant rats. And there are no rats in my bilge, thank you very much,” Sora grumbled, and then there was another fizz as he lit a match. He stepped closer to Riku and he gritted his teeth as he looked down at the small creature on his chest. “Oh, it’s just the King.”

Riku blinked at the mouse. It sat on him comfortably, tail curled around it like a tiny pink sausage. Its feet were the same pink. The rest of it was as black as soot – including its gleaming eyes.

“The King?” he repeated. He hoped his voice didn’t sound like a squeak – it wasn’t like he was a lady who had found a mouse in her teacup.

“King Mickey.” Sora scratched the mouse behind a large, papery ear and it squeaked appreciatively. “He must have taken a liking to you.”

The mouse was already curling up on Riku’s chest – just over his heart. It would have been easy to move – to sit up and push the tiny creature off of him, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Its heart was over his heart, thrumming away at one hundred times faster than his.

“He’s a mouse, not a rat,” Sora said, wiggling the match in the air to extinguish it.

“That’s okay then,” Riku muttered.

Sora yawned loudly again – Riku could see his silhouette stretching up. “Well, yeah.”

He was breathing heavily again within moments. Underneath him, Goofy was snoring loudly, and Donald was making strange, quivery sounds.

King Mickey was the only one who slept silently. A warm weight on Riku, that was actually comforting. For some reason, he felt like this tiny mouse understood everything, and was telling him to stay. It was telling him he had to do this. He had to run. And Sora was the best choice.

That was probably just wishful thinking.

(A/N): When researching this fic I found out that pirate ships just had a plank with a hole in for a toilet and I have to be burdened with that knowledge so does everyone else. (My notes for this literally say 'That horrifying moment when you find out that pirate toilets were just like wizard toilets, apparently.') WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO SAY: is that I started this a few months ago and had the first half of this chapter sat around for a while. I've somehow clocked in 4,000 words a day for a week straight on this, so this feels...a little rough? It's more like, Sora and Riku really come into their own in terms of character in the next chapter. Bare with this and bare with me, please. I also use 'pirateglossary.com' for slang and ship parts in this fic, so if you're ever confused head on over there. I didn't want to put loads of pirate slang in, but I couldn't resist a little bit. But I have so many ideas to weave into this fic and I'm so so excited to share it and keep writing it and I hope you're all interested in reading more of it as well! It's very much growing on me and I cannot wait to see if other people are as enthusiastic for the niche of high-romance pirates of the caribbean/the 1999 mummy! Thank you so so much for reading and I'll be updating (hopefully) weekly! <3 xx

(I'm also on  instagram/twitter @turntups Talk to me!)

[midnightsnack-lexicon]

Oh my! I am really liking ghost Ephemer. Do you have any headcanons you are willing to share about him?

Sorry this took so long Anon! I usually write my headcanons down on various pieces of paper or different word documents so I had to track all of them down. Also I’m simply slow at writing oops.I’m going to do the notes on the KH3 keyblade war on another post, because this already took long enough to post and I don’t want to keep you waiting anymore. This said, let’s go!(Under a read more)

-probably died while protecting the others; he went against the enemy to buy them enough time to escape

-hasnt move on to the Final world or Kingdom hearts because he feels like he didn’t fully complete his role as a Leader

-i have a long headcanon on how hearts, souls, bodies and mind interact that I will share another time, but basically Emph at the moment is only soul and mind. The heart was in an heartless and now is waiting to return to him (in the same way that the nobodies can get their original hearts back after their heartless get defeated)

-some of the Keyblade Wielders of the War also still have fragments of soul in the form of memories that linger in their keyblade. Emph spends most of his time listening to them. It’s the most interesting thing he can do in here and it’s a way to relive Daybreak town and the fairytale times

-this pieces of soul are still here because while the Keyblade sends your heart to KH, some of them still had regrets (“I want to see him one last time”, “The War is not over yet I can’t die”, “I should have told her that”) so memories connected to that feelings remain in their keyblade

-Emph can’t leave the graveyard (yet)

-he isn’t always 100% conscious and present, because it takes a lot of energy. But he gets better with time and practice

-at first he is just a soul that stays together by willpower and lux, but he doesn’t realize it yet. He has no memories, no sense of self, no idea of who he is or what is happening.

-so it takes a while to realize that there’s a man coming regularly to the Graveyard, sitting there and talking. Empher tries to listen, and it takes years before he finally manages to stay present enough to hear him.

-the man talks about his school. He’s a Master now, and he and the surviving dandelions have used the lux they brought back from Daybreak Town to restore the worlds outside. They’re also training new keyblade wielders to protect them in the future. There’s no unions or Master of Masters or Fortellers anymore, and the man hopes that this will be enough to avoid another War.

-by the time Empher has enough energy to remember his past, Master Blaine isn’t coming to the Graveyard anymore, and Empher can only piece together foggy memories of one sided conversations to realize that the man was one of his old friends

-(he isn’t angry at Blaine for what he did. Sure, he acted on an hidden agenda at first, but he was only trying to create a better future for all of them)

-not many people come to the Graveyard after him. Some Masters bring their apprendices to tell them the story of the Keyblade War as a warning, but as time passes on is always less and less people, and the story gets less and less accurate to what actually happened

-its not only keyblade Wielders tho. Sometimes a person alone comes. It’s always someone different, but they all behave in the same way. They just seem to pop in, check that everything is still in its place, and then leave. They all wear a black coat that looks like the one from the MoM, but they’re all different sizes and bodies, so Empher is pretty sure they’re all different persons

-he has no idea what to make of them till after the last battle against Xehanort. Empher is still recharging when the black coat figure appears. They look around, same behavior as usual, then they pull out a big black box. In his state of limbo between conscious and unconscious, Empher vaguely remembers something from the book of prophecies about a black box. But it isn’t till the black coat is joined by four masked figures that he realizes that the various figures must have all been Luxu, the mysterious sixth Forteller. In his spent state Empher thinks that if Xehanort could change bodies, why wouldn’t Luxu be able to do the same and survive this long.

-another person that becames a regular is a white haired man that comes there to train.

-theres not much interaction between the two of them, the man just trains while Emph watches from far

-but the man keeps coming back to train, till one day he doesn’t

-he doesn’t show up for years, but when he comes back he has the MoM’s keyblade and an apprentice

-Emph recognizes Ven immediately

-he still looks like when they last saw each others, even if a lot of time has passed

-but jumping between worldlines is weird and time doesn’t work the same everywhere

-Emph is just happy to see someone of his old life again, alive and well

-(it’s been ages since Blaine last came to speak to him, he’s staring to feel lonely)

-he watches Ven train with his (new) master. Frome what Emph learns watching the twos, he doesn’t seem to remember his past

-(Blaine had explained to them that that could be one of the side effects of jumping worldlines. Knowing that doesn’t make Emph less sad)

-they came regularly to train. Emph wonders if they even have a base somewhere. Do keyblade wielders still live in Daybreak? Does Daybreak still exist?

-with the memories of the past Ven seems to have forgotten a lot of how to fight too, and the master doesn’t seem to be very patient with him

-till one day Emph watches him raise his keyblade (the MoM’s keyblade, Emph realizes) and divide Ventus’ heart in two

-Emph tries to come to the rescue of his friend, but a ghost can’t do much to change Fate

-all he can do is make sure that the light of Ven’s heart (that is so frail, when did it became so frail?) doesn’t vanish

-Emph doesn’t have much energy himself, being only a soul, but he still does what he can

-(years later he’s happy to find out that what little he did was enough to keep the light of Ven together till Sora found him)

-he sees Ven again when he comes to fight against the one that for a short time was his master

-he has friends with him, a blue haired girl and a boy with brown hair

-he watches the three fight against the master and the being made from Ven’s darkness, watches as Ventus’ two halves fight against one another, pure light versus pure darkness, and watches as they forge the χblade and summon kingdom hearts

-(not again, Emph thinks. Not another war please. He and Ven worked so hard to avoid last one)

-luckily the three manage to dismiss kingdom hearts, but the three come out of it gravely wounded, both in body and heart

-Emph can only trust the girl to take care of Ven and the other boy

-the defeated master reappears after years. Epmh watches as he and a few other hooded figures perform a complex magic to call souls from the past into the present

-he sees the younger version of the master, the figure made from Ven’s darkness, and two men who could both be the older versions of Ven’s friend, plus another white haired kid who has an armor similar to Ven’s darkness one’s

-he doesn’t see the faces of the hooded figures at first.

-He’s surprised when one of them pulls down the hood and look vaguely familiar. Wasn’t there a Dandelion with the same platinum hair, playing cards at the Moogle’s cafe once?

-another familiar face appears when the one with the sitar pulls down the hood. This time Emph is sure that he looks the same as the Dandelion that used to play at the square’s fountain.

-the girl pulls down her hood and he’s sure that he’s seen Lauriam hang around with her, when he was looking for his sister

-and there he is, Lauriam, the last one of that weird group to reveal his face. He looks older, his hair have gotten longer (how did they even fit under the hood?), But the thing that shocks Emph the most is the eyes. Everyone in the group has bright gold eyes, his old friend included

-(they’re colder than when they were bright blue. Emph can’t imagine what those eyes have seen since he last saw him)

-he tries to contact his friend, hoping that the connection of their friendship is enough to connect their hearts and talk. But when trying to reach him he finds a stranger’s heart blocking him.

[coming somewhere in the future: Emph during the Third Keyblade War, featuring flying keyblades and two Leaders on different sides]

[real-life-pine-tree]

Seed of Darkness: A Clash of Academies (6/?)

All it takes it one bad seed to spoil the whole bunch. An AU collab with @violetganache42​.

Ah, the wondrous dueling school known as Duel Academy. Located in the Fusion Dimension, this school is where the most skilled Duelists go to become among part of Leo Akaba's team of elite soldiers.

Or at least, that's what it used to be.

No one saw it coming and it was too late for the students to retaliate because they had taken over all within the span of only two days. Smoke hissed from the huge piles of rubble scattered all over the island. The attached towers were either destroyed, ripped from the Academy, suffered damage, or a combination of the three. Different buildings also endured the same casualties and a few of the docks had been dismantled from the severe battle damage that was dealt. Any students who survived the onslaught have been facing with the grim, harsh reality that the school they grew up in was now gone. It now went under a new name and it was called Reverse Academy.

The large percentage of the students had been Reversed and still follow the same strict set of rules and the “By-the-Book” method, but it was all for a different purpose: create the perfect world as imagined by the Void. They have been converting the wrecked duel school into what resembles a demonic cult; there was a vast amount of candles standing around every hall and corner, draperies with the Link Joker emblem were hung up in the rooms that contained little to no damage, and everyone attending there wore dark-colored cloaked robes like Celina and Barrett. Progress was still being made on not only Reverse Academy’s appearance, but that was the job of those who were not assigned to carry out the mission to handle the “renovation”.

Right now, a special task was going to be made for one of the Reversed students. In the Professor’s old throne room, a tall teen received a notification on his altered Academy-issued Duel Disk. He had teal hair divided in three sections with the bangs hovering above his blue eyes, fair skin, and wore a white variation of the male Obelisk Blue uniform. He was known as Zane Truesdale, a legendary Duelist in the Fusion Dimension who used to be a student at Duel Academy. With him already falling victim to the Reverse, he had recently returned to help carry out the Void’s orders. He was currently left in charge until Celina returns from her assignment in the Standard Dimension, so seeing the head agent calling him meant this was going to be important.

Zane opened his Duel Disk's communication function, very little emotion showing on his face. "Hello Celina," he said. "Have you made progress with Reversing the Standard Dimension?"

"I have," Celina answered. "I was able to Reverse a small number of Duelists, but that should be enough to Reverse everyone else. But my top priority is finding Zuzu Boyle. Once I find her, I'll come back to Reverse Academy."

"But the chains you once wore are gone," Zane pointed out. "There's no need to liberate her, as you call it."

"I have witnessed her duels," Celina explained. "She is one of the more powerful Duelists of the Standard Dimension. Once I liberate her, fulfilling the Void's wishes will be much easier. But there's more. There are still former students who oppose us: Sora Perse, Dennis McField, and Yuri."

"So the Professor's prodigy sides against us," Zane noted. "The Void will not be happy to hear that, wherever it currently is."

"Speaking of our master, I also made a discovery," Celina said. "And it has to do with the Void's ultimate plan to Reverse everyone in all four dimensions: someone might have access to Joker monsters."

"Why should that be a concern?" Zane asked. "You know I have Joker monsters as well, ones that replaced my Cyber Dragons."

"Because he sounded too innocent," Celina explained. "But I don't have time to track him down. I need someone to scout ahead and locate this rumored Joker user."

"And you want me to handle it?" Zane assumed. "I appreciate how much faith you have in me, but I need to overlook the medical procedures Bastion has completed."

"Not you," Celina corrected. "I need your brother."

"Are you sure?" Zane asked. "You know how ruthless he can be, even before he was Reversed."

"I'm sure," Celina insisted. "He's the perfect candidate to start our takeover of the Standard Dimension."

"Very well," Zane said. "I will send him to Standard as soon as possible."

Within moments, a flash of icy blue light shone just outside of the Ancient Zone; coincidentally, it just so happened to be right near the alleyway where the three beings were hidden away from plain sight. The trio looked over to their right to see the light and ran towards it, awaiting for the arrival of their companions and their commander. Once it diminished, it revealed a few more people dressed exactly like them but with different colored lenses for each soldier. Leading them all was a short, fair-skinned teenager with light blue, fluffy hair sectioned into three layers, gray eyes underneath the three bangs closest to his face, a pair of small, circular glasses, and donning a slightly altered male Obelisk Blue uniform. He was known to everyone as Syrus Truesdale, Zane’s younger brother who was originally a Slifer Red student but made it through Ra Yellow and up to Obelisk Blue over the years thanks to the intense amount of strict, ruthless training and lessons.

"Commander Truesdale!" one of the soldiers exclaimed with a salute. "What a surprise to see you!"

"Save your breath, Torrey," Syrus said, speaking in a cold tone. "My brother sent me to this dimension on orders given by Celina. It seems her obsession with finding her other selves is keeping her occupied. So how is the progress?"

"Everything is proceeding according to the Void's plan," Torrey reported. "Mukouda, Isaka, and myself have Reversed about three Duelists."

"That's all?" Syrus asked. "How pathetic."

Torrey was surprised by Syrus' words. "But Commander Truesdale, the Void wants us to Reverse every Duelist who doesn't have Pendulum cards!" he explained. "So far most of the Duelists we came across already has them!"

"Then make sure everyone in this dimension loses their Pendulum cards!" Syrus snapped. He let out a huff. "Must I do everything?"

It was bad enough he already has his hands full with his own mission. Earlier that same day, he was called into the throne room because Zane had retrieved information from Celina; his main objective was to seek out this Yuri lookalike because he might be in possession of Joker monsters. He does have an idea about the latter’s appearance because Celina did mention about the two sharing the same facial structures. Also, with his small group of Obelisk Force soldiers plus the ones scheduled to arrive briefly, taking over the Standard Dimension should be simple enough as long as they confiscate those Pendulum cards. Besides, how much of an impact would Reversing three measly Duelists even have?

"So what brings you here, sir?" Torrey asked.

"Celina wants me to track down a Duelist who might have access to Joker monsters," Syrus explained. "Have any of you seen a 14-year-old boy who resembles Yuri but with messy hair and casual clothing?"

"I have," Torrey reported, showing a broadcast from his Duel Disk. "His name is Yuya Sakaki. He doesn't have the same bushy eyebrows as Yuri, but his other facial features and voice are very similar."

"I see," Syrus said, watching the broadcast carefully. "May I see the other duels he was in?"

"Actually, Commander, you might want to check TooYube," Isaka suggested. "There is a video you might want to watch."

"We don't have time watching pointless videos!" Syrus pointed out.

"But sir, this one is kind of important," Isaka insisted, using his own Duel Disk to play the video. "It was what made Celina come to Standard in the first place."

The video playing on Isaka’s Duel Disk was during Yuya’s duel against Iggy. The young Duelist’s demonic Reversed side had just made itself known and he had brought out Odd-Eyes Joker Dragon. He declared his attack to secure his victory through a One Turn Kill, but what happened after that piqued Syrus’ curiosity. Yuya had Reversed Iggy, but once the duel was over, Nico had dropped his microphone, causing the former to go back to normal due to the feedback; he didn’t remember what happened until he saw his defeated opponent’s face. After the video ended, Syrus proceeded to quickly piece together what Celina meant when she said Yuya sounded too innocent. The presence of Joker energy drew her into the Standard Dimension and seeing him in the Battle Royale made her suspicious of him.

"Wait a minute..." Syrus said, his eyes widening slightly. "That dragon looks familiar."

"I know," Isaka agreed. "It looks a lot like Glendios."

"Of course!" Syrus exclaimed. "The Void's signature Unit! But that would mean..."

The Void is using Yuya as a puppet; in its current state, it used enough energy to take control of him. Despite the microphone feedback snapping him back to normal, it was still enough for its pawn to initiate its side of its master plan. With the increasing number of Reversed soldiers, it would grow stronger and soon fully reveal itself through him eventually. Syrus smirked sinisterly at this revelation of Yuya being the Void’s host; in fact, his mission just got a whole lot interesting.

"There has been a change of plans," Syrus said. "We must locate Yuya Sakaki so we can see if our master has chose him as its current host."

Meanwhile, thanks to Violet Flash cooperating with him, Yuri and Sora had managed to successfully arrive just outside of the Battle Royale. They are currently staying at a motel, mainly because there was no way Yuri wanted to make himself known to the public, especially to his counterparts after attempting to abduct Lulu and Rin. The last thing he needed was for his past actions to burn into everyone’s brains and draw alarm; the war against the Reversed Duelists is already a threat as it is.

So while Sora was currently in the motel's dining room splurging on free sweets, Yuri was still in the rented room, looking at Starving Venom's card. "Oh, my treasured pet," he said. "Whatever are we supposed to do?"

"Help me!"

Yuri looked up in alarm. "Who said that?!" he demanded.

"I did, plant boy! Now hurry up and help me!"

Yuri turned to his left to see an apparition standing in front of the motel room’s window. He rapidly realized this was no ghost—it was a Duel Monster Spirit! Not only that, but he recognized her as Celina’s ace monster prior to the Reverse outbreak! What was Lunalight Cat Dancer even doing here?

"I don't suppose you're here to slash my chest and throat as well," Yuri said with disdain in his voice.

"I only attack Celina's opponents in duels," Cat Dancer said. "And my attacks don't cause actual damage."

"Then how-" Yuri started to ask.

"How was I able to attack Leo Akaba?" Cat Dancer asked in response. "That wasn't me. The entity known as Link Joker was manipulating my body. Luckily I was able to transfer my consciousness to your deck before I was Locked."

"My deck?!" Yuri asked in disgust. "Get your filthy paws off my lovely Predaplants!"

Cat Dancer let out a frustrated sigh. "It's not like I had a choice," she admitted, sitting next to Yuri on the bed. "I could have transfer my consciousness to any deck, preferably that of Declan Akaba. But for some reason, your dragon seemed to call out to me, so here I am."

"How dare you make such a false accusation!" Yuri cried out. "Starving Venom would never associate himself with the likes of you!"

"Then why is he getting all chummy-chummy with me?" Cat Dancer asked.

Right as she said that, Yuri saw Starving Venom Fusion Dragon’s spirit next to Cat Dancer and he was purring. He also could have sworn he heard occasional small, content growls. His jaw was left ajar and his arms went limp at the sight of his beloved pet getting smitten with Celina’s feline ace.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Yuri asked. "You know you're not supposed to fraternize with the enemy!"

"I guess he's willing to make an exception with me," Cat Dancer said as she scratched Starving Venom under his chin.

"Enough with that," Yuri said, changing topics. "You said you need me to help you."

"I do," Cat Dancer explained. "You have to get Celina to snap out of it. She's not completely Reversed."

"Not completely?" Yuri repeated. "I saw the damage she caused."

"Exactly," Cat Dancer. "The Void didn't tell her to kill Leo and destroy all of Duel Academy. That was her doing. The only thing the Void did was give her the power she needed to overthrow the school."

Yuri’s eyes shot open wide and his bushy eyebrows sharply raised up at what he just heard. The shock was so intense, his Starving Venom card fell out of his hand and landed on the floor as his mind comprehended the given information. Leo’s sudden murder and the massively hysterical epidemic going around Duel Academy… All of that was only Celina’s doing?! She was solely responsible for the uprising?! In only a matter of seconds, his eyebrows lowered and started to twitch, his upper and lower jaws pushed against each other, his hands clenched shut to form two fists, and subtle trembles shook his body. All the years spent growing up under the care of someone who valued his powerful skills and talent, taught him etiquette and proper manners, and served as a father figure to him… They came to an abrupt halt…at the hands of the same girl he met when they were young.

"How dare she cause such a ruckus!" Yuri shouted, tears forming from his eyes. He stood up. "You here me, Celina?! You will pay for the damage you have caused!"

Starving Venom used his tail to wipe away the tears from his master's eyes, sadly growling in response. "I take it that Leo meant a lot to you," Cat Dancer noticed.

"Of course he does," Yuri responded, having slightly calmed down from his outburst. "As well as Duel Academy itself. It was the only place I ever called a home, and the Professor was the closest thing I had to a true father figure. He never made it official, but it always felt like he adopted me."

Cat Dancer couldn’t help but feel somewhat bad for Yuri. She knew Celina was devastated to learn the truth about Leo’s plans, but she admittedly never took into consideration about how her actions would affect the other students. It all happened too quickly; before anyone could get a chance to discover Leo had died, all the carded Duelists were freed and Reversing most of Duel Academy and quickly took control thanks to the Void and its Units merging with Duel Monster cards to create horrific, monstrous demons, including herself.

"But that's why you have to help me," Cat Dancer said. "Yet you can't do it alone. You need to team up with your other selves."

"I beg your pardon?" Yuri asked as he picked up Starving Venom's card. "Why would I do that?"

"Because I believe you're the key to freeing Celina from this twisted insanity," Cat Dancer admitted. "The same way your other selves are drawn towards their female friends."

Now that he thought about it, Yuri did remember seeing his XYZ and Synchro counterparts accusing each other of kidnapping their respective female friends. It further proves how strong their connections are regardless of what dimension they originated in. Although Yuri and Celina met each other a couple years ago and haven’t had that much of a bond, that connection is still there, and with the fate of the dimensions on the line, it may be time to put it into good use.

"Well, if you insist, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to...ugh...ask them for help," Yuri said.

"Thank you for cooperating," Cat Dancer said.

At that moment, Sora returned to the room with a bag full of candy. "Who're you talking to, Yuri?" he asked.

"What?" Yuri asked. "You don't see them?"

"See what?" Sora asked in response.

Yuri wasn’t sure how to explain this since this was the first time he ever saw Duel Monster Spirits; the only ability he knew he can do was communicating with Starving Venom. Was this an advanced version of this ability where he can also see him and other Duel Spirits? Were a selected few aware of this as well mainly because they possess it too? He was hoping this wouldn’t be too long of an explanation; for all he knows, Reversed Academy could be arriving at any minute.

Back at the Battle Royale, a duel was taking place on the outskirts of the Ancient and Jungle Zones. A well-known chef and Duelist named Reed Pepper was currently locked in a heated battle against Syrus with Yuya’s whereabouts on the line. His Cookpals were holding up surprisingly decent against Vehicroids; of course, this duel wasn’t even over yet because Syrus was getting ready to unleash his ace Joker monster.

"What a pity," Syrus said. "Your Cookpals appear to be the strongest monsters I have ever faced." A sinister grin appeared on his face. "They're perfect for Link Joker to influence."

"Link Joker?" Reed repeated, trying hard to stay calm. "What's that?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," Syrus answered. "With the Spell card Joker Fusion, I combine the two Cycroids in my hand to bring out a new type of monster: a Fusion-Joker hybrid known as Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse!"

As the name suggests, Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse is the Link Joker counterpart of Pair Cycroid. Resembling more of a two-up-seated motorcycle than a tandem bicycle, its design consisted of a white and dark gray color scheme with yellow and red linings, gray, robotic hands, blinkers that were light green on the front and magenta on the back, blood red eyes, and the red-lit black halo behind it. It is also a Grade 2 Machine-Type Joker-Fusion monster with 1600 ATK and 1200 DEF. Its Fusion materials must be two monsters with the same name in order for it to be Fusion Summoned. It can also attack its opponent directly but—much like Life Force—leave a damaging effect on life points, hence its given name.

"Now I activate Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse's special ability!" Syrus continued. "Since I used two monsters to summon it, I can Lock two of your monsters! I Lock Royal Cookpal Prince Curry and Royal Cookpal Princess Pudding!"

"Lock?!" Reed repeated. "What are you-"

Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse revved its engine and launched two black halos towards Prince Curry and Princess Pudding. The two monsters became trapped and surrounded by black electricity when they were soon swallowed up by bright light that reverted them to their card forms. The light then encased each of them in two, black, electric spheres with two black orbiting rings. Reed was baffled by what had just happened and one glance at his Duel Disk left him speechless at the sight of his monsters in face-down defense position.

"Don't bother touching your cards," Syrus said. "When a monster is Locked, it loses all of its stats and abilities until the end of your next turn."

"That's alright," Reed said, looking back at his remaining monster. "I activate Royal Cookpal Knight Pasta's special ability-"

"I don't think so," Syrus interrupted.

"Huh?" Reed asked.

"It's Joker Fusion's secondary ability," Syrus explained. "By banishing it from my Graveyard, your remaining monster is also Locked."

Joker Fusion soared out from the Graveyard portal and lit up before disintegrating to let Reed know it was banished. Once that was done, a black ring materialized around Knight Pasta and Locked him into place alongside Prince Curry and Princess Pudding.

Reed looked deeply surprised. "I can't believe it..." he said. "You're the second person to defeat my Royal Cookpals, but I've never seen these tactics! What are they?!"

"These are Joker monsters," Syrus answered. "They're combinations of Duel Monsters and Units. They have abilities like typical Duel Monsters, but they also have skills that give them advantages when monsters are Locked. For instance, Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse has two skills. The first one deals you 400 points of damage for every Locked monster on the field."

Three Locked monsters meant 1200 points of effect damage will be dealt to Reed. With each Locked sphere unleashing 400 damage each, they all zapped black bolts of electricity at him to lower his Life Points. Of course, like Syrus said, this was only just the first of Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse’s two skills.

"But that's not all," Syrus continued. "With Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse's second skill, it can attack you directly for every Locked monster on the field."

Reed was alarmed with that information. "That's..."

"Far more than 2800?" Syrus interrupted, referring to Reed's current life points. "That's the power of Link Joker. Now go, Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse! Finish off this duel once and for all!"

Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse charged up its motor and accelerated towards Reed for a triple direct attack. Each strike and blow lowered his Life Points by 1600, giving him no time to react after it kept passing him; by the time the third attack was done, the 4800 damage points had completely depleted his Life Points and secured an easy win for Syrus, who was eagerly and sadistically anticipating the result of dueling someone with the Link Joker archetype.

Suddenly, the dark red aura of the Reverse started to surround Reed. "What's going on?!" he demanded. "Are you even part of the tournament?!"

"Of course not," Syrus answered. "Now become one with the Reverse!"

Reed shot open his usually shut eyes out of petrified helplessness to reveal his grayish purple irises glued onto the surrounding aura sucking him deeper into the Reverse’s influence. Within seconds, his pupils and white highlights vanished as his eyes obtained a soulless demeanor and red markings faded in underneath his lower eyelids.

At that moment, Reed's newfound friend, a Duelist named Trout, ran over to him. "There you are!" he exclaimed. "I know we're supposed to be allies, but you can't run off like that!"

However, Reed didn't respond. "Reed?" Trout asked. "You feeling alright?"

Reed looked over at Trout. "Are you...a strong Duelist?" he asked.