#between skuld brain and strelitzia

[eternal-reverie]

my ephemer plushie arrived today!!! 🥹 if you want one there’s still more on the designer’s Etsy!!!

[ebi-ko]

First of all, thank you to @khoc-week for 1. Organizing this, but 2. Interacting with every post this week! This was a lot of fun!

Day 7! Future

After Data Daybreak Town falls, Ephemer finds that he spends much of his downtime thinking. Between building a new haven for keyblade wielders, he can't help but remember his friends...

Of a time that could have been if not for the war.

A future where he, Skuld, and Caelum could grow up without the looming threat of conflict. Without internal strife among the Foretellers. Without doubt and darkness driving him and his dear friends apart.

If that beautiful world he'd imagined had come to be, they would all be in their twenties. He and Skuld would have been invited to be part of the new generation of Union Leaders. Alongside Brain, Lauriam, and Strelitzia.

And Caelum... wouldn't have sacrificed himself to the darkness to save the two remaining Union Leaders... he wouldn't have fought in the war....

Ephemer wouldn't have seen him die twice.

Perhaps, Ephemer laments, he will build this new haven in memory of this friend. Scala ad Caelum. Stairway to heaven.

And maybe... he can hope that somewhere... there is a world where they had lived peacefully.

[semi-imaginary-place]

khux nonsense 2

665: ava's right why bother starting new unions. for that matter why have a war wipe out daybeak town and the unions, have only a small group of survivors where only the 5 new unions heads have knowledge of events. i remember when this dropped, fandom lost their heads over ven being one of the 5. I really do need a book club but a have have is this tumblr to keep track of questions. Which dandelion union leader gets the book of prophecies copy.

675: just had the realization that khux is just a game of pvp enabled amongus. What the hell does that mean. Scenes are all at different points in time and cutting out into one another and i cant tell what is the chronological order or what are dreams. Love kh and is ay that both earnestly and sarcastically. There's the new union leader talking, pc breaks up a union fight that leopard? Bear? encourages (lux isnt power, victory is power, something the union on top) which is actually a dream??, There's pc helping at the warehouse fighting heartless business as usual, there's ephemer talking with ava about the future (flashback?), and then the scenes of pc laying in the keyblade graveyard and then skuld and ephemer talk to them. Well the "war" has begun and the main take away is that it happened because the mom made everyone distrust everyone else.

By modern standard malificent is exactly the sort of character a certain subset of the internet would go bonkers for. Crying screaming throwing up over the dommy mommy goth milf. Kinda like that one woman... Uh the tv show tumblr is obsessed over... Morticia adams yeah except maleficent is like the drag queen version

725: there's strelitzia. I'm surprised the concept of years even exist this whole game feels pretty fairytale-esque and timeless between the paper doll aesthetic and this supposedly being the ancient past but mickey is there and its also all a dream. 2 years have passed since the player character met ephemer. wait is strelitzia saying they saw the player character around before the day they waited for ephemer, what day is she referring to?

730. She's dead?? (Or well as dead as anyone gets in kh). ok so strelitzia got murked and she book of prophecy stolen. Ah so this is why ppl were losing it over lauriam. He's structurally implied here to have murdered strelitzia and replaced her as new union leader although technically it could be ventus or brain we didn't see them get recruited.

I feel like i need a book club to get through this game like just to discuss what literally happened surface level plot.

[starlightwayfinder]

Maybe predictable, but can I request Skuld for the 'send a character' ask game?

⭐️ Skuld!

First impression

Hmm… I know I liked her, but in the beginning I was just watching translated KHX scenes on YouTube, and Union Cross hadn’t started yet, so I didn’t have all of the context I have now. I do remember drawing her though! 

Impression now

I love her!! Skuld is a VERY cool character. She believes in the Dandelions and what they stand for: Keyblade wielders working together. (We see how strongly she opposes the Keyblade War in KHX, and Shift Pride in UX.) She’s a very loyal and supportive character, sticking up for the others and defending Ven when Darkness is trying to manipulate them. She’s also independent, feeling okay on her own after Ephemer and the others leave her party. Plus her design is awesome! I love stars, and Starlight is a beautiful Keyblade.

Favorite moment

One of my favorite moments in UX is the snow scene. Maybe because it’s the last moment of peace in the story; Skuld and Ven get to (unknowingly) share the beauty of Daybreak Town one more time before everything is destroyed. I also like the final battles of UX, when we see her fight alongside the others. 

Idea for a story

I think it would be really neat if she came back in a future title, especially if/when she turns out to be Subject X. Lea and Isa are potentially looking for her, and of course I’d want her to reunite with Ven, Lauriam, and Elrena, (and meet everyone else, too!) 

(…Poor Lea is going to have to deal with people already knowing each other all over again, haha.)

Unpopular opinion

I suspect she really is related to Xehanort’s mother. That’s not to say they’re the same person (they have different eye colors), but her hair is an extended version of Skuld’s! (And they emphasized the connection between them again in KHDR’s post-credits scene.)

I don’t think this means Skuld can’t be Subject X, but I also don’t think it should be disregarded entirely for the sake of that theory. 

As for how it all fits together… Who knows! UX put a lot of emphasis on the fact that there are data versions of every Dandelion, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that comes into play somehow for the characters who appear to have two different fates (Skuld, Brain, and Strelitzia.) 

Favorite relationship

All of the Union leaders! And the Player too! 

If I have to choose, I’ll say Ephemer, because they both really support and believe in each other. It's great to see them joke around like old friends in UX, and I imagine they went on all sorts of adventures as party members. I also think it’s interesting that she and Ephemer represent ‘past’ and ‘future’, respectively. 

Favorite headcanon

Skuld would be great friends with Aqua. And while Aqua would like her too, I think she'd be a little confused about Skuld being friends with Lea, Lauriam, and Elrena… haha.

[serenedash]

Theres been so many amazing additions to this post I love khux so much jfhdkhdid

I cant believe I forgot to mention spirit pets and pvp!!!!! Remember when we all thought Brain made the dream eaters and then the finale Did That lol

Tbh I remember when pvp was added I was extremely impressed with how it was handled lore wise, it was an incredibly smart move to let wielders fight each other but without any real competition that could lead to another war due to everyone understanding it was just data recreations and how that fact alone led to new developments irt strelitzia and the reveal that they were still in the data

Another thing I forgot to mention is how in unchained chi/union cross, there is NO keyblade war in the main quests. I remember everyone was really confused when we got to that point in the game and everyone was like??? But in chi this is when the war happened????? And now we know its because we were just reliving the events but without those sad memories like I mentioned in the original post, and how that manifested in khux as dreams and it was a side event disconnected from the main plot.

Playing in real time gave the player real impact when it came to Ephemera too, which I saw people mention in tags. Like there was a very noticeable empty space with him gone and some people might know I used to actually really hate Ephemera because I felt so betrayed lmao, and I think people now don't understand how much khux fans love Skuld for that reason because in those months you played without Ephemera, you did EVERYTHING with Skuld leading up to the war so it made it easy to get very attached to her so imo it made me sad how skuld was kinda shoved aside in union cross but that's not what this is about,

But also speaking of Skuld, someone mentioned parties being important to plot too! And if you never played khux, you could form parties with friends and help each other in boss battles or play multiplayer. Skuld was a party leader and had Ephemera in her party before he switched unions, which I always thought was a neat bit of lore (fun fact canonically the player, Skuld and Eph are in Anguis and Eph switches to Unicornis, most likely to get closer to Ira as the leader of the foretellers to get the book lbr) and a MAJOR part of khux gameplay thats rarely talked about is the NPC's the player is friends with. In English fandom a lot of people call them the sewer squad since you first meet them in the sewers and they're in basically every event and holiday sidequest and it can be read as this is the player's party if you didn't have one yourself. And tbh I know it meant a lot to see these NPCs in the ending scene with the dream eaters because these guys really were loved by the player base and tbh its a real shame the only one that has a canon name is Mog but regardless, their sidequests always showed how important parties and friendships were in khux and you never see anyone talking about them since it was side quests (this can also be said for the "friends ARENT my power" guy and his friend, who were also important NPCs) like you see people make cutscene compilations for khhx and they're just. Never there. Truly another part of the khux experience that's lost on most fans who never played

I mentioned this in on another post but Im gonna put it here too for everyone, a major impact on the khux experience was kh3 trailers since kh3 released in the middle of union cross and I'll go thru it for those that didn't play, SPECIFICALLY on Lauriam and Strelitzia-- marluxia and larxene were shown in a trailer after they were introduced but BEFORE the sibling reveal. For many people this was proof that Lauriam killed Strelitzia since they drew parallels between namine in castle oblivion and rapunzel in the tower and figured Strelitzia was in a similar situation. And THEN it was reveled Strelitzia was related to either Lauriam or Elrena BUT the Japanese was very vague and it wasn't specified and we had a length of time where we had no idea who she was even related to but with the appearance of Larxene in Frozen in a trailer, people thought her appearing in a movie about the bond between sisters was proof she was Strelitzia's sister. It really was a wild fucking time to be alive. You can tell real intense khux fans from casual fans when they tell you to play kh3 in the middle of union cross and then go back and finish khux,

Let's talk khux gameplay and plot,

imo I think part of khux's story telling and the impact of the story gets lost now that the game is defunct. I always thought people didn't appreciate how the gameplay and the mechanics actually had an impact on the story and while that impact become virtually nonexistent later on, I always thought it made the story far more engaging when the game was just chi/unchained chi and also the English translation didn't do it too well ngl

Anyway what I'm specifically talking about is the medal system. Also I feel like the whole bangle thing wasn't explained well in game but really it just comes down to leveling up medals specifically. If you never played khux, you equip medals to your keyblades and they doa specific attack and to level them up you combine multiple of the same medal and you could see how leveled up a medal is by the amount of yellow dots next to it and, in JP at least, this was called "guilt" and like wow that name fucking slaps. And when nightmare chirithy reveals the player has been collecting darkness this whole time thru the medal system, you have literal guilt on your conscious. You are guilty of collecting darkness and negative emotions like guilt to use for your own power. And in Back Cover when the foretellers are made aware of this, there's no stopping it and ofc the player can't stop either, they HAVE to get stronger, you literally have to keep playing the game,

Another part of the game that I appreciated is the way the name changes factored into the game; chi was the original "world line" that the dandelions existed in and at first unchained chi had come off as just a remake but really what we're playing is the continuation, where the player and the dandelions are now in this unchained state/new world line and they're reliving their time as wielders but now without the war/"dark" memories and finally when they relive everything and get back to the "present," they continue on after into "union cross" which I feel like. wasn't explained well in game that much tbh but if you didn't understand what that meant in game, it was just to say that unions didn't matter anymore and they were all dandelions so the unions. when the unions are crossed.

and tbh the experience of playing this game in real time also added to the experience a lot and the impact of the story especially with a player insert character. I think the most effective use of this game being played in real time was Strelitzia. Now in the english version, everything with Strelitzia was all one update and the english ver was behind so honestly they had to do catch up they couldn't really afford to lag behind. But in JP, which most khux fans kept up with using fan translations, Strelitzia's introduction and her death happened about a month apart so it gave the players time to actualyl grow attached to her and THEN we get crushed. You can easily pin point the exact time certain khux fan art was drawn bc in a group drawing of the dandelions Strelitzia is there instead of Lauriam since he was only introduced after her death

and another thing! It only became apparent by the end of the game but khux actually takes place over the course of about 4 years. which is fucking insane. because the dandelions were stuck in the data for 4 years and didn't know it until the glitches started. and the game ran for roughly the same amount of time and we weren't even aware of that either until the glitches! ("why 4 years" there are cutscenes that literally say "4 years ago" so yeah girl what the fuck haha)

Anyway yeah this was just me rambling I think about this so much all the time can you tell. I hope missing link does something like this too tbh it makes it more fun and makes it feel that your actions as the player actually have impact on the story

[campingparasite]

so........new kingdom hearts game? kdfjadkslfjlafjkdsjkd

ive been super excited for the dandelions to show up in the games, and now we actually get to see them?!?!?!?!!? in 3D?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! we brain rotten

also the first meme is what i hope the quadratum trio is lmao

[alphascorpiixx]

There

are

seven

hearts

to

save . . .

[nyctoheart]

supposedly khux has only a few updates left before it’s union leader story is closed, but like honestly... they better be some long fucking story scenes cause we got a lotta ground to cover.... 

[manykey]

this is a locked-room found family au that takes place a few years ABY (post-original trilogy, for the uninitiated), mostly because that's the era i got paid to know about. please note this is inspired by me a) loving the rebels setting and b) knowing way too much about star wars. this is a partial description of backgrounds and how everyone came to be in the same place!

blaine is a force-sensitive corellian human and the pilot of freelance cargo ship Daybreak.

skuld is a corellian chalactan and, of this cast of characters, the only one who knows blaine's backstory. they both wanted to do something other than build ships on corellia their whole lives, and managed to save up for a ship and get a business started. she claims to be both the brains and the brawn of the operation because of her position of 'having more common sense' and 'could not be blown over by a strong breeze'. she is correct on both counts.

the Daybreak is a hyperspeed-capable light freighter that is, like most light freighters, now unrecognizable from the way it was bought because of how many customizations it has. as a freelance ship, they subcontract with shipping companies, private shipping needs, and are able to regularly take better paying but less-than-scrupulous jobs. they do not transport sentients under any circumstances.

ephemera is our sweet shrimp farmer from Felucia way out in the outer rim (look up "star wars blue shrimp". yes it tastes good btw). he looks like a human and talks like a human, making him a human by all accounts. eph met blaine and skuld after he took a short job for some quick credits while he was out making his own way in the galaxy, and they grew close enough to offer him a permanent place on the crew. he's been known to turn on the outer rim charm to get the three of them a better cut of a deal.

C41-R1, or Chirithy to friends, is a C-series astromech (closer to cheep than chopper in appearance, if that means anything to you) who is besties with ephemera. strelitzia helped him mod his standard access adapter (scomp link) setup so he can more efficiently flip people off and they've been inseparable since. eph would be jealous but he's too busy being impressed.

lauriam & strelitzia are coruscanti zabraks. i may change this to make them being from nar shaddaa because i'm the #1 coruscant hater in this galaxy, but unfortunately it makes sense for the setting (and other characters bullying them for being from coruscant). regardless. like their canon, lauriam raising his sister was difficult but full of love. lauriam is a jack-of-all-trades type, but strelitzia has a knack for mechanics (and can fit in small spaces to repair them).

while traveling to the mid-rim for a reason i haven't yet decided, the transport carrying them was attacked and they ended up marooned on a minor spaceport. unable to find or purchase a way back home, lauriam negotiated that he and litzy would perform much-needed system repairs on the Daybreak in exchange for safe passage home. this was a feat in and of itself, as blaine believed this to be a violation of their 'no sentient cargo' rule. everything spiraled from there and now here they are with the rest of the crew.

strelitzia is force sensitive, and has the ability known as psychometry, which means when she touches something, she sees and feels 'echos' of it in the force. at the moment, the only way she manages this is by wearing gloves and sticking closer to her brother since her mental shields are. bad. blaine realizing litzy is also force sensitive was a significant factor in lauriam and strelitzia becoming permanent crew members.

ventus met strelitzia one time while the Daybreak was on some nowhere planet between jobs and she adopted him as a new brother on sight. no one knows anything about him and they're not going to start knowing any time soon. lauriam keeps threatening to drop him off at the nearest orphanage but the general consensus is its probably healthy for strelitzia to have a friend her own age for once, so he stays. blaine wants to know when this ship became a daycare.

would u guys still love me if i infodumped my khux dandelions star wars au. chirithy is a droid.

[shadowsageingempress]

Full names of KH characters

Note: a slash between names means that the character will sometimes go as one and sometimes by the other

Sora Tenshi Hikari (Japanese for angel and light) Riku Gin Kemuri (Japanese for silver and smoke) Kairi Hana Seishin (Japanese for flower and spirit)

Namine Deplhi Seishin Kiru Yume Kemuri (Japanese for dream) Roxas Jiko Hikari/Aeraki (Japanese for self)

Xion Yoru Ego (Japanese for night and Latin for I)

Lea Andere Ignis (Latin for burning and fire)

Isa Lunae Frigus (Latin for moon and cold)

Ventus Nevma Aeraki (modified spelling of the Greek word for spirit and breeze)

Aqua Marina Caeruleum (Latin for blue)

Terra Ria Electri (Latin for amber) Vanitas Lepus Aeraki (Latin for rabbit)

Eraqus Clara Statera (Latin for bright and balance)

Ephemer Romulus Atlas

Skuld Etfa Eoten

Brain Psychi Myalo (Greek for soul and mind)

Lauriam Damascena Nobilis

Strelitzia Reginae Nobilis

Elrena Asterope Tanwyn (Greel for lightning and Welsh for white fire)

Namashi Anhayt Namakal (Armenian for unknown and a modified spelling of guardian)

Xehanort Ymir Eoten/Atlas

[goldensunset]

What do you think each of the Dandelions’ signing would be like, and who’d know?

Like, I imagine Strelitzia has an amazing singing voice, but only Lauriam and Elrena know cuz shy. Elrena constanly teases her about it, Lauriam teased her once but regretted it cuz it brought her close to tears (Elrena isn’t sure if they were real or not) and Stre wants to tell/show Player but gets too flustered.

hiiiii you sent this so long ago while i was on hiatus and i’ve been beating myself up about it since i first saw it. so i gotta take a crack at it

ephemer and skuld can both sing pretty well, although it’s probably not really their thing. they would tell each other to shut up all the time but they’re just teasing. they would absolutely do duets together on karaoke night and have a lot of fun with it. probably get way too into it to the point of aggressive competition between the two of them. everyone else absolutely loves watching it go down

player barely ever speaks so i’m going with either ‘can’t sing at all, absolute garbage’ or ‘has this absolutely amazing voice that no one has ever heard, not even them, because they’ve never even tried’. or it could be a player-by-player basis kinda thing. it is pretty funny when the quiet person you haven’t even ever heard talk suddenly bursts out singing. <— ngl this was part of my reputation in high school

brain is tone deaf. unfortunately. lauriam made him download one of those piano apps on his phone to try to practice matching the pitch, and he works with him on it sometimes to help out as best as he can. (or maybe there’s an actual piano in the tower somewhere.) but lauriam is getting tired of trying to no avail. brain seems either oblivious to or unfazed by lauriam’s constant wincing. (or he thinks it’s funny to watch the guy gradually get tilted like this.) brain legitimately can’t hear his own problem, nor does he think this is a particularly important use of his time, but he does this in an attempt to have fun with his friends as best he can during karaoke nights or w/e. (alternatively they hand him the mic and he stands there in silence for 30 seconds before he starts reciting pages of some textbook/poem/nerd thing verbatim and the others don’t even know what to do. i’m talking like a page of the book of prophecies or the bee movie script or whatever. but open mic night means open mic)

(i will say. for all the above characters [minus skuld bc i refuse to believe she’s not subject x until we have concrete proof]. i can imagine all of them, as grownups, singing soft and lovely lullabies to their children/grandchildren. their voices are a bit hoarse now but they’re so full of love and affection for their little ones. nothing else could matter.)

lauriam has a beautiful voice. also an insane vocal range. definitely a choir kid in school but not in the insufferable way. he’s confident yet incredibly modest about his talent. he keeps insisting strelitzia got all the talent in the family, to which everyone keeps immediately saying that’s absolute nonsense and he knows it. he’s always giving advice and encouraging other people that anybody can be a great singer and overall he’s just really wholesome and helpful about it. (unless, as mentioned above, you’re completely and utterly tone deaf. then he starts to quietly lose his patience/hope/sanity. downside of perfect pitch is that every little thing starts to tick you off lol. he wonders if brain does this on purpose.)

strel has the CUTEST most wholesome singing voice of them all. probably in all of daybreak town. strelitzia is the shy protagonist of her own disney princess movie, change my mind. she probably talks and sings to animals and plants. but yeah, probably super shy around other people.

i bet she’s only ever sung in front of lauriam, who is constantly encouraging her that she’s super good at it and should work up the courage to show off her talent to other people. strelitzia would rather eat an entire bouquet of tulips. she nearly passes out at the thought of openly singing in front of others. occasionally other people in strelitzia’s party will hear her quietly humming to herself, but the moment she realizes they can hear she’ll quickly shut up and deny anything. elrena thinks strel’s kinda odd for this but she won’t say anything about it. (elrena has no singing talent but at least she’s not tone deaf.)

(player doesn’t know why, but occasionally they’ll hear this quiet, angelic voice coming from nearby. usually just a soft hum, sometimes a full and beautiful song to which they can’t make out the words. it’s strange to them at first, but then becomes an almost comforting occurrence. every time they try to turn and look around for the sound’s source, it quickly stops. they have no idea who this mystery girl is. perhaps their guardian angel of sorts? after some time passes, they realize it’s been a while since they last heard it… was she ever real, or were they imagining the voice the entire time?)

ventus? (disregarding the talent of his voice actor and making headcanons purely based on ventus as a character…) he seems like the kinda guy to have a disney princess moment for sure. but i think his singing voice might be kinda silly sounding. it’s cute and awkward and clearly not something he has lots of experience with, but still charming. he’s not terribly confident in himself and doesn’t like singing in front of others, but he’ll do it if everyone else absolutely insists. they encourage him to step out of his comfort zone but they assure him that they won’t force him to do anything he doesn’t wanna do. and they tell him not to worry about not being perfect because it’s just for fun between friends, which he appreciates hearing.

(…lauriam starts remembering how he misses strelitzia so much…)

anyway this was fun to work on/think about! also a little bit sad. i was also that choir kid in high school and i still get nerdy about singing stuff whenever it comes up so i enjoyed writing this. thank you!

[pokeymonhearts]

Meet Skuld! Working as the Dawn’s Breaking faction’s liaison for the Dark Clan, she communicates with Ephemer, Strelitzia, and Echo to ensure the safety of trainers who choose to walk between the two territories. She’s often seen on the outskirts of town, keeping watch for wild pokemon who try to enter the city...And doing her very best to get under Brain’s skin as much as possible~

Her partner, Gemini, joins her in this quest and-just like his owner-is prone to the occasional sudden mood swing-so don’t get on their bad side!

[kessielrg]

[Kingdom Hearts] It’s Spelled R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Summary: By far, Ven’s got the most boring job at the flower shop; the cashier. Sitting day in and day out for someone to browse along the rows of flowers and gardening tools, then probably walk right out again. Sometimes an interesting thing would happen- but they were few and far between. [flower shop AU focused on UX kids][Part 15 in a series of oneshots][VenxOC][EphemerxOC/F!Player]

Rating: K

Word count: 2,391 words

If you liked this story, please reblog!

- - -

“I love my wife.” Ephemer wistfully sighed.

Lauriam and Strelitzia exchanged a glance before the former dared to ask, “What did she do this time?”

Ephemer then looked at them like they were insane. He then gestured to his body. “You don’t notice anything different?”

The Fleur siblings then gave him equal head tilts. Even Ven looked up to see what was so different about Ephemer today. Not a single one could figure it out. Ephemer realized this and started to place extra emphasis on his shirt. It wasn’t out of his usual fair- plain white with a colorful graphic reading ‘Real men respect their ladies!’ and a cartoonish couple where the male was pleasantly kissing the female’s hand. There were some extra heart graphics that indicated that it was meant as a Valentines Day shirt.

Thoroughly exasperated that no one realized it was new, Ephemer told them, “She got me this shirt for White Day.”

Both Fleur siblings blinked in equal time, while Ven returned his attention elsewhere.

“You know,” Ephemer then whined, “I am aware that you guys don’t really care, but would it kill you to show some admiration?”

“To be honest,” Strelitzia carefully spoke up, “I thought she already gave it to you. She got it on discount after Valentines.”

“So?” the man indiginatally huffed. “She thought of me when she bought it, and that’s all that matters.”

Lauriam was the first to give a bemused snort. Strelitzia tried hard to stifle hers. Not for the first time, Ventus mentally filed away how not to act in three more years when he got to Ephemer’s age. And then he reeled slightly in remembering that there wasn’t much of an age difference between them. There had to have been days when he acted more mature than Ephemer…

The faint feeling of his phone vibrating distracted his thoughts for the moment. His heart rate spiked when he saw it was from Sabrina.

‘How late are you working today? I have a present.’

“A present?” Ven repeated out loud, sounding as confused and even mildly worried.

“Something wrong, Ven?” Lauriam asked. He, along with Strelitzia and Ephemer, had gone back to work. Unlike the other two, Lauriam had decided to stay out in the main shop.

“No!” Ven immediately denied. Without thinking of it, he quickly shoved his phone behind his back. “I just… got a weird text.”

Lauriam gave a small nod. “Just don’t keep your phone out for too long, then.” he told his coworker. “If Skuld sees you with it, you might not see it for the rest of the week.”

Ven let out a nervous laugh. He was pretty sure Skuld wasn’t in yet, but it was still a valid warning. Phones out during the day was yet another rule that cropped up because of Ephemer being far too devoted to his wife. Unfortunately, Ven was starting to see that it wasn’t as dumb as a policy than he first thought. At least he knew Lauriam wasn’t going to rat him out unless he started to shirk his job. For now that only meant manning the register like every other day- thank goodness.

Ven unlocked his phone and went to his messaging app. He reread Sabrina’s message, finding himself no less confused than before. Brain had mentioned once or twice that Sabrina was not the gift giving type. Ven bit is lip as his thumb hovered over the keyboard. Today was White Day. Would she have gotten him something because of his failed attempt at a Valentine’s gift? Thinking about that poor grocery bag filled with short stemmed flowers made him cringe.

‘I should be here until usual time.’ he eventually started to type. ‘I can hold back awhile if you can’t get off.’

The answer came back within seconds- a possible new record for Sabrina’s response times.

‘Good.’

Giving his phone a small quirk of his eyebrow, Ven tucked his phone back away. He’d have to find some kind of busy work to keep his mind off her potential visit- this was going to be a memorably weird day. He could feel it.

. . .

Ven hadn’t been paying attention when the bell above the door gave its little twinkle. Instead, Lauriam -still organizing the front end- greeted whoever had come in. It was when the newcomer spoke up that Ven’s heart leaped into his throat.

“Is Ventus here? I need to give him… something.”

“Must be quite the something,” Lauriam remarked. “You have it wrapped up in some pretty thick paper. Did you do that wax seal yourself too?”

Sabrina’s body visibly tensed, holding the package a bit tighter. Lauriam pretended not to notice.

“Presentation is everything.” she huffed. “You of all people should know that.”

Lauriam gave a light laugh. At that moment, Ven had finally gathered the ability to leave the front counter. He nearly froze in his spot in seeing how Sabrina was dressed. Her hair had been pulled back into a loose french braid, and she was wearing a well-fitted cotton jumpsuit with a belt that well emphasized her curves.

Ven wondered if she had to dress that nice for her job, or if she had decided to be extra fancy today. As nice as Sabrina looked in a dress, elegant jumpsuits really helped her make a statement.

“There you are.” Sabrina snapped once he was close enough. The boy immediately rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a sheepish laugh.

“I’m never far.” he joked. He then gave Lauriam a glance, giving a nod that his older employee could (and should) leave. Lauriam didn’t even question it, immediately bowing himself out before heading on back to the back room. No doubt he’d tell the others that Sabrina was here. Hopefully he’d discourage them from coming out too.

Between Ventus and Sabrina, neither of the two looked like they knew what they were doing in this position. Sabrina, despite the scowl on her face, was holding onto her package with fierce protection. The air around Ventus felt so stifling he almost wanted to talk outside. But Sabrina wouldn’t allow that.

“You… said you had a present for me?” Ven carefully said first.

Immediately, Sabrina shoved her package right into his arms. “Here,” she even said in a voice that indicated she wanted to get rid of the thing as quickly as possible.

“Thanks…” was Ven’s slightly confused reply. He took the package from her and was immediately thrown off by how heavy it was. Had it been a book? It would have brought credence to why she wrapped it in brown parchment paper, and sealed the joined folds with a mixed gold and green wax. The seal was something generic that could easily be found at a hobby store- the design only containing a single flower.

“Go ahead and open it,” she snapped- apparently dissatisfied that he had decided to admire the packaging.

“Okay, okay…”

As Ven carefully fumbled with breaking the seal, he thought of why she was being so snappy. Usually her cruelty was in the details. Not once could he recall her being that forward with her annoyance. Still fumbling with opening the package, Ven caught a glance at two on how Sabrina was reacting to this. She had tried to comb through her hair, stopped about midway through her scalp. Her fist started to clamp around a rather large section of hair. It wasn’t any kind of reaction he could recall her having before.

Wait…

Was she nervous?

No… There was no way Sabrina of all people could be nervous. Sure, she wasn’t a gift giver, but she had to know he wouldn’t throw it back in her face if he didn’t like it. Didn’t she?

After far too long, Ventus finally cracked the wax seal enough to carefully unwrap the parchment. What had been hidden inside nearly made him gasp. It was a leather bound journal. On the inside cover was a message painstakingly written in a curled, but still easily legible, handwriting, ‘ne meurs pas’.

“It means don’t die.” Sabrina quickly informed Ventus- apparently picking up on his confused face. “The journal’s handbound too. Brain made fun of me for using a thimble while I was sewing.”

Ven took a moment to process this before looking up at her.

“Why were you sewing a journal together?” he questioned. Sabrina seemed to take the question as a personal affront for a moment. Even folding her arms together in annoyance.

“I work at an art collective.” she spat. “We do stupid little community craft fairs every other week. Sometimes we have to make examples to go with them. This was mine.”

Ven then quirked an eyebrow.

“You wrote ‘don’t die’ on an example book?”

Sabrina held her arms closer to her chest. “I made changes when I got home.” she huffed.

Ven couldn’t help it, but he laughed at her. He didn’t notice it at first, but Sabrina's face had started to pale over. He kept on lightly chuckling as he went back to the front counter. Hidden in a cabinet was a small waste bin that he could toss the parchment into. The way Sabrina followed his movements made him think she thought he was tossing the journal.

“I like it.” Ven told her with a grin. “You didn’t have to do this. Well, you had to make it as an example, but you didn’t have to give it to me. Thank you.”

The weird look Sabrina then gave him caused Ven to pause.

“Are… you okay?” he ventured to ask. “You look…” He trailed off as he studied the way her jaw clenched. Her eyes bore into his as if searching for something. No; it was more like she was trying to gauge for something else. When she finally spoke, her voice cracked for a near unnoticeable second.

“Did you not get the letter I wrote for New Years?”

“You didn’t write me a letter for…” Ven started to say, but then he remembered the red envelope still in his locker. His understanding came out in a rather loud, “Oh!” before going on to sheepishly admit, “I didn’t open it. I was kinda afraid to… If it was something big, I didn’t want to ruin your trust by knowing it early.”

“You hopeless little…!” Sabrina hissed, but cut herself off. Not for the first time, Ven once more wondered if she was nervous. He still couldn’t figure out what for though. Not that he had to wait much longer for an answer. Sabrina pulled herself back together, placing her hands on the counter and leaning forward slightly just to make sure they were at eye level. In a rather dark voice, almost as a threat, she told him, “I’m about to do you a favor. From this point forward, let’s start dating.”

For a moment, Ventus just stared at his peer. He was sure he had heard her wrong. Sabrina must have known this- her eyes narrowed and her fingers started to curl into a fist.

“Let’s date.” she repeated. “Nothing has to change between us than the label. Any objections?”

The reality of the situation slowly started to dawn on Ventus. His eyes widened in awe and fear at realizing that this was why she was nervous. She wanted them to start dating. Sabrina was actively seeking a long term commitment for once- with him no less! Ven opened his mouth to voice his thoughts, but all that came out was some noise close to being strangled.

His hesitation was driving Sabrina insane.

“Well?” she demanded. Her voice was higher; more scared. “Give me an answer you idiot!”

“Well, if you’re going to talk to me like that, maybe I’ll just make you wait until your birthday.” he quickly shot back.

He had never seen her face pale over so quickly before. Realizing this, he didn’t give her time to register her first reaction, to quickly amend with;

“I do want us to start dating. Honest! But I have one condition- and it’s one that can be followed when it’s only us.”

“I’m listening.” Sabrina agreed. Color was coming back to her face, and her scowl was returning in full force.

Ven took a small breath out. This was going to take some careful wording. He looked Sabrina in those pleasantly dark eyes of hers, and tried to steel his nerves.

“I need you to remember that I’m human too.” he told her. “I might be able to take whatever blow you give me, but it still hurts. I love you, but I’m not the one that can change you. I’ll try to support you too, but if we’re going to be together, then you need to show a little vulnerability. You need to support me. Like I said, it can only happen if we’re alone if you want it to. But if you really do love me, then it wouldn’t kill you to be-”

Sabrina took a fistful of his shirt, and quickly brought them in for a kiss before he could finish. It was a small kiss- not at all carrying any confidence from their previous ones. Her grip was already starting to loosen as she kept them there. Ven couldn’t hold back a grin. Now he knew why Ephemer always smiled when he stole a kiss from his wife. There was a kind of safety being like this- a different kind of trust that could only be said when their lips were connected.

When they pulled away, Ven got a glimpse at how vulnerable Sabrina was in that moment. He hoped no one would come in to spoil it. Her eyes looked back at him in a softness he knew was reserved just for him. Her lips were still lightly parted from their kiss- the calm breaths in between further accentuating how still her mind was right now. No one else mattered but him right now. No one else existed for all she cared.

But, like many things, she couldn’t be this way for long. The evolution from serene trust to jaded suspicion was disheartening.

“Don’t forget my birthday.” she sharply warned him.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he claimed.

“This doesn’t count as an early present either.”

Ven gave a soft laugh before pulling her in for another kiss.

[drazavonia]

Royalty/Blue-bloods 

The Union leaders of the dandelions were supposed to be the first Keyblade Masters of Scala ad Caelum together.

Ephemer (Master)

Brain (Master)

Skuld (Lost)

Lauriam (Lost)

*Strelitzia (Lost(?))

*Ventus

But with four of them(including Ventus) being scattered to the winds, Ephemer was the first and only Keyblade Master out of the union leaders, until Brain arrived in Scala 1.0.

I think KHUX Dark Road finally solidified the significance behind the Golden colored Mark of Mastery badge.

I believe they are worn by those of royal descent.

Ephemer's Lineage

GEN I 

Master Ephemer

GEN II

Ephemer's Children 

GEN III

Ephemer's Grandchildren 

GEN IV

Great Grandchildren: 

Master Odin

GEN V

Great(2) Grandchildren, Baldr, Baldr's Sister,Vor, Kairi's Grandmother, Master Yen-sid,

GEN VI

Great(3) Grandchildren:

Kairi's Parents

GEN VII

Great(4) Grandchildren:

Kairi 

Ephemer

Master Odin

In Scala 1.0, which was created by Ephemer, there are statues decorating the rooftops that Brain's POV focuses on.

The statues are cloaked hooded sage-like figures and big birds (the feathers are kind of like a crow or raven).

Odin was most likely the Master of Scala ad Caelum during the transition between 1.0 to 2.0. The No Name keyblade is mounted in his classroom so I would have to imagine two scenarios for this: the first, Luxu did return to Scala and informed Ephemer or his descendants of the role of the Gazing Eye within No Name to watch Xehanort and his classmates. Secondly, Odin is the most trusted to guard this extremely important keyblade. 

He may very well be the father of Baldr and/or Yen-sid.

Master Yen-sid

His design is very similar to Master Odin, leaving me to believe he may be his grandfather.

Yen-sid has this "all seeing" of the stars thing going on that basically gives him information about everything happening in the world, making him a Wiseman of sorts. Odin is referred to as the Allfather, and if he was a successor of the B.O.P, this would make him the Original Wiseman. 

Yen-sid has the Master of Master's sigil on his chalkboard which can be seen behind Ventus once the Guardians unite for the first time. That is also the symbol of the Book of Prophecies and within Scala ad Caelum. This may be a hint that Yen-sid has a connection to the Book, a connection to someone who had the book or is in possession of the Book of Prophecies.

Yen-sid has his own HQ of sorts, similar to Master Eraqus. Did he inherit it or was he chosen to be the guardian of Mysterious Tower? 

However, I wonder if Ephemer would have either passed down the Book of Prophecies or passed down the Legend of the Dandelions through his lineage. My reason for thinking this is Yen-sid. Yen-sid has the symbol of the B.O.P on his chalkboard. That sigil has five extra symbols that are most likely supposed to represent the five Foretellers. This symbol is also present in Scala ad Caelum, in Odin's classroom.

Baldr

Baldr looks very similar to Ephemer.

Baldr looks the most like a cool rich kid than any of his classmates.

His polar white hair and outfit are very similar to Ephemer.

He has a golden M.O.M sigil and his eye color looks to be a little similar to Odin's.

Baldr knows about how Eraqus's grandfather, Brain, died in a previous clash against the darkness. 

That information doesn't seem like it should be known by just anybody, especially the specifics. 

It's also interesting that Eraqus and Baldr hang out together if they are the descendants of Brain and Ephemer respectively, just like the good old days.

Odin assigned him of all people to not search for the missing Upperclassmen even though his sister is among them and gave him a separate mission. This is weird because why entrust him to complete a mission alone during such a crisis?

Vor/Kairi's Grandmother

Knowledge of the legend of Union-X/Age of Fairytales

Same age as Eraqus, Xehanort and Yen-sid.

Vor shares a striking resemblance to KH1 Kairi with Namine's blonde hair. 

If Kairi's grandmother is a descendant of Ephemer, this may be a reason she knows the story of the Age of Fairytales.

Kairi

If Vor/Kairi's Grandmother is a descendant of Ephemer, then Kairi and one of her parents are obviously descendants as well.

[narwhalwrath]

Let's talk about the KHUX finale as a whole rather than just as the piece we only just got.

So we started off with with Lauriam and Ventus alone in Ventus' room, and Lauriam is conflicted about Ventus because they have no way of knowing whether or not Ventus destroyed Darkness or whether it retreated back within Ventus (I mean we know that this Darkness is Vanitas but they don't), in which case Lauriam seems to contemplate taking out Ventus, only Strelitzia reminds Lauriam that giving into his negative emotions is exactly what Darkness wants - which obviously spooks the hell out of Lauriam and he turns around to find that she's not there. Having had time to think about this, I'd say that what I believe happened to Strelitzia after she was struck down by Darkness was that her Heart took refuge within Lauriam's, much in the same way Kairi's and Ventus's Hearts did with Sora's Heart in KH and KHBBS respectively. You might recall that Sora even saw Kairi at one point while he Heart was still within her Heart.

What does this mean though, well I believe that Strelitzia will return thanks to the Data Luxu pulled of her in Data-Daybreak Town, which is what he sent to the future via the Ark. Think of it as similar to how Roxas and Namine were brought back in KHIII, once Lauriam releases Strelitzia's Heart, it can join with the Data-Strelitzia, which is likely vacant, as the Data versions of the Dandelions were all occupied by their own Hearts presumably when they became Unchained and crossed into Data-Daybreak Town.

Moving on, Elrena is brought into the story to reveal that her Chirithy had seen Luxu and Strelitzia, which leaves hope for the others about Strelitzia, but doesn't do much more than confuse them otherwise and get her to join the party as they make for the Ark. Seriously, Elrena was completely underused in KHUX. I still think it's odd how Lauriam and Elrena act entirely different from Marluxia and Larxene, and I think it is even more odd how Nomura specified tht Lauriam and Marluxia are different characters rather than telling the interviewer who had asked the question what we are meant to believe: that Lauriam is Marluxia's Somebody.

To be clear, I don't think that he's not, simply that 4 years go by between when he, Elrena, Ventus, and Skuld woke up in the future and KHBBS and then nearly another 10 years (presumably) before Marluxia is found by Xigbar and Xaldin and Larxene is found by Xaldin and Lexaeus. We have no idea what happens then, and both had completely lost their memories, making it even more hard to say. However, Lauriam was shown waking in Dwarf Woodlands, while Elrena woke in what I assume to be Enchanted Dominion, both of which were some of the first Worlds to be swallowed by the Darkness when Maleficent began her pursuit of Kingdom Hearts at the end of KHBBS, so maybe that's how they fell to Darkness?

After Luxu sends the True Dandelion forward via the Ark, I noticed that, while Darkness explains its intention, it mentions that it plans to 'accompany the chosen one into the future to lay claim to Worlds not yet created'. This is odd, because later it explains that there are five Darknesses still in Data-Daybreak Town, and since only four of them confront Ephemer, Skuld, and Player, then that all but confirms Lauriam's suspicions. What's more, is that it engages Luxu in battle and then is missing when Brain, Lauriam, Elrena, and Ventus arrive in Daybreak Town to utilize the real Ark.

Where did Darkness go? Not within Ventus, as it would have had no opportunity to do so, and there's already an iteration of Darkness in there. Luxu is the only other candidate. It was revealed in the second part of the finale that the Master raised his apprentices in order to give the seven strongest iterations of Darkness a tangible form so that it could inevitably be struck down. This was the entire reason for the Keyblade War, and why the Foretellers had to be sacrificed. The conversation with Luxu all but confirms that those seven of the original Thirteen Darknesses were already destroyed, as they discuss how, after the Keyblade War, only the six Darkness we've now seen remained and found themselves within Data-Daybreak Town. The Master reveals this to be another part of his scheme, as Daybreak Town and its Data counterpart were constructed to act as a cage for Darkness that would be sprung as soon as the first pod of the Ark it utilized.

This trap is something Darkness knew after watching the Master compose the Book of Prophecies, the Master intentionally excluded Enchanted Dominion from the Worlds realized in the real world, instead trapping Maleficent within the Datascape much in the same way that he had done to Darkness. Darkness then helped Maleficent reach Daybreak Town via the virtual Ark in order to then have her use the real one, thereby triggering the ends of both iterations of Daybreak Town, which would motivate the Dandelions to use the Ark themselves, unknowingly providing Ventus to Darkness after another iteration utilized him to take the place of Strelitzia. While it would travel into the future to lay siege to Worlds not yet in existence, the other Darknesses in the Datascape would spread across the Data-Worlds. However, Darkness didn't concern itself with the parts of the Book of Prophecies which it considered unimportant to itself, which ultimately proved to be its undoing, because it missed out on the true plans of the Master, as Luxu later confirmed.

On the topic of Luxu, let's discuss his meeting with Brain, as well as his appearance in the Keyblade Graveyard. The most important part about these two parts is to know that, even though it appears as though Luxu possessed Brain, he didn't. Brain has just always resembled Luxu for whatever reason. I wonder if this could have something to do with iterations of the same person from two separate Worldlines? Why do I say this, because they made a point of noting the similarities between Skuld and Ava as well, on two separate occasions, and I would guess that with what we've seen in the finale, that it was intentional for this exact reason. Does this mean that all the Foretellers look like the Union leaders? I'd say no, I mean Ventus and Gula appear to bear physical similarities from what we can see (height give-or-take, jaw structure), but for sure Ephemer and Lauriam do not resemble Ira and Aced.

The two seen in the finale are clearly different because Luxu was stated in his Secret Reports of KHIII to have passed on No Name to on of the Union Leaders amid the chaos of the destruction of Data-Daybreak Town. The only one he came into contact with was Brain, so clearly Brain got No Name, thus its a done-deal, both are Brain, right? Wrong - as Brain then awakens generations later in Scala ad Caelum, not by using the Ark but by using Ephemer's memories passed down through the generations all the way to Sigurd, as his Waypoint, while his hat acted as the Medium. I believe that when Luxu claimed that Brain's life had to end, he merely passed on No Name to Brain and taught him how to unlock his Heart - or become Unchained, thereby allowing him to partake in said time travel and see through the destruction of Daybreak Town. I think what we see of "Brain" in the Keyblade Graveyard is like the scene from KHX:BC where Luxu arrives in the Keyblade Graveyard with No Name and the Box, just with his hood down, otherwise it wouldn't make sense for Luxu to have No Name, as he said he didn't have it anymore in the Secret Report.

I wonder if, given Master's Defender belonged to Brain originally and eventually makes its way to Eraqus - Brain's suspected grandson - if that means that Brain recclaims Master's Defender when he gets to Scala ad Caelum? I really felt for Ephemer toward the end because it became evident that when Ephemer and Skuld attempted to escape, Ephemer was caught in the destruction of Daybreak Town and left alone in the past. Although he created Scala ad Caelum from the ruins of Daybreak Town and began a new lineage of Keyblade wielders, it's sad that he died without the friends he had come to know throughout KHUX. I wonder also what Ephemer did with that last copy of the Book of Prophecies that Brain gave him - could it still be hidden somewhere in Scala ad Caelum?

In the end, Player had to fight Ephemer and Skuld in order to convince the 4 iterations of Darkness left in Data-Daybreak Town that he was on their side, as they did not seem to realize that their comrade had left with Ventus. This led to Ephemer sending Player and the Darknesses to Game Central Station, wherein Player trapped them and Data-Daybreak Town came crumbling down, just as the Master intended. This resulted in all the Dandelions falling into a deep Sleep, with their Chirithy's becoming the Dream Eaters we know today in order to protect them - only Player chooses not to Sleep and his Heart becomes a part of Xehanort's when he is born.

What's interesting to me about this is that we see Xehanort's mother, who looks sort of like Skuld, but I theorize is actually Brain's mother, which would thus make Xehanort the brother of Eraqus, but what I want to know is who that cloaked figure could be? Maybe it's Brain, who somehow knew about Player's Heart and took Xehanort away from Scala ad Caelum because Player's attack on Ephemer and Skuld (which I assume Ephemer would leave some note about for Brain, considering that Sigurd makes it sound as though they knew Ephemer was coming). I'm really not sure, but considering that Eraqus' grandfather isn't around anymore, that means he'd have had to have disappeared when Eraqus was young, and if it was because he was off with Xehanort, that could certainly explain it, but who knows.

Anyway I think that's everything I have to say about the finale (I hope it is at least lol) Let me know your thoughts below :) KHUXDR still has to finish later this year, so maybe these questions I have won't go unanswered for long.

[dahniwitchoflight]

KHUX - Where’d they all go?

Alright so, first!

Who and what and where did everyone end up?

Maleficient: Took a pod to a specific point in the future, achieved this by also using her pet crow to force memories of her present self by having it fly her cloak to the great fairies and make them remember her

Ephemer: Brain from outside manages to send two pods back into the data Daybreak Town to rescue Ephemer and Skuld, (with the last Pod still in the Data meant for the Player, so all three could escape) Pops out of the pod to see the destroyed real Daybreak Town, goes back in with Skuld to escape the dying worldline along with the others, Gets flung forward in time just a tad from his own perspective to become the Founder of Scala Ad Caelum from the ruins of the destroyed Daybreak Town (Still doesn’t answer how or why he popped out in KH3 to help, but eh, guess that’s a question for Dark Road?)

Lauriam: Hops into one of three Pods in the real Daybreak Town to escape, Gets flung to present KH Times in a flower field from Snow White’s world, most likely proceeds to become a nobody some time later

Elrena: Hops into one of three Pods in the real Daybreak Town to escape, Gets flung to roughly the same time and place as Lauriam, but on the stormy mountain from the Witch’s area of Snow White’s world,  most likely proceeds to become a nobody some time later

Ventus: Hops into one of three Pods in the real Daybreak Town to escape, Ends up in the keyblade graveyard, roughly a few years before BBS and is found by Old Xehanort starting that story

Player: Tricks Ephemer into sealing them and the 4 darknesses into a piece of the Data Daybreak Town by pretending to have fallen to darkness, ends up dying from the 4 Darknesses, sacrificing themselves to save Ephemer and Skuld. In the realm between Death and Sleep, their dying heart then reincarnates eventually into a new young Heart (as they sometimes do), into that of newborn Young Xehanort, who is from Scala Ad Caelum in the time of Dark Road-ish, gets sent to Destiny Island’s by a mysterious old man who then dies, and then Young Xehanort begins his journey in Dark Road

Strelitzia: Her apparent Nobody gets sent to the future into the real world by Luxu, but it’s unknown where or when she ends up, last seen walking off in a white version of the Nobody Coat  (I suppose this is another question Dark Road will likely answer?)

Skuld: Brain from outside manages to send two pods back into the data daybreak town to rescue Emphemer and Skuld, Pops out of the pod to see the destroyed real Daybreak Town, goes back in with Ephemer to escape the dying worldline along with the others, We don’t find out her whereabouts, but the remaining theory is that she is Subject X from BBS, Lea and Isa’s friend with amnesia (I suppose this is another question Dark Road will likely answer?)

Rest of the Sleeping Dandelions/Fallen Keyblade Wielders: As their hearts fall asleep, the Chirithy that is bound to their hearts also takes on a sleeping form and become Dream Eaters, Spirit shaped by their wielders Dreams in order to protect them

Luxu: Last seen dragging along the box, holding the keyblade, and lifting up his hood to reveal that he looks exactly like Brain just without the hat

Brain: Gets flung forward roughly to the time of Dark Road-ish, last seen in Scala Ad Caelum that has been rebuilt for a while now by Ephemer the founder from a long time ago, just without his signature hat, and due to his conversation with a figure named Sigurd (who gives him his hat back), has likely fallen roughly into the times of KH Dark Road, and is perhaps a closer ancestor to Eraqus than first thought! maybe even a grandpa or great-grandpa

now the fun thing about Luxu and Brain and why they might look the same, cuz there’s a few options:

Is that before their final scenes, the 2nd last scene Luxu and Brain had was with eachother, right after Brain sent everyone on their merry way, Luxu pops up and says hey watcha doing, and Brain says he wants to stay behind to help free all the sleeping keyblade wielders, even if it takes him the rest of his life, and Luxu comments at him that it’d be a shame for him to waste his life like that or something to the effect before a fade to black

and the thing is, we don’t get to see their individual arrangements for how Both Luxu and Brain escape to the worldline along with the others. We just know that for sure he doesn’t stay and wake up the wielders, because all of their chirithy’s turn into the dream eaters. (And also that apparently he left his hat behind before he left as he picks it up in Scala when Sigurd gives it back to him)

And since there’s only one seemingly possible pod left to take, the one from the data world left for the Player (who never took it and instead dies), theres seem to be only one spot left on the ride out, and with Luxu’s body snatching tendencies, it seems to suggest that Luxu overtook Brain’s Heart and Body, grabbed the last pod from the data and adios’d

BUT the key here is in their apparent attitudes that we know this is likely not the case, and also the Hat, not only does it make it obviously clear who is who, the logistics of the Hat make it clear as well

In both cases, the boy who ends up in the graveyard with the box and the key, and the boy who appears in Scala, neither of them have Brain’s hat

But Brain IS last seen with his hat

If Luxu had overtaken Brain, there would be no reason for him to discard the hat, since the entire point of the body snatching is to be that person

Then, when Brain wakes up in Scala, Sigurd comes along and presents the hat saying “We’ve been waiting for you.” and Brain takes it back

Brain would neither remove his hat, nor would Luxu remove it if he had overtaken Brain

Instead, the likelier option is that Luxu forcibly put Brain into a pod and sent him to the future, saying it would be a shame if Brain were to die while Daybreak Town fell to darkness, because that’s what would’ve happened if Brain tried to stay behind

Where does that Leave Luxu though? How does he get back?

Well back in the data daybreak town, there are actually two Pods left, one meant for the Player who never used it, which Brain likely ended up taking, and a Destroyed Pod that got written off since who would know how to fix it?

Oh, Luxu would! And we know he does, because he specifically taunts Brain with that knowledge, asking him if he even knows how their supposed to work, And wouldn’t ya know, it’s in the Data Daybreak Town, meaning Luxu wouldn’t have even need to physically fix it, he could have easily reprogrammed it to be fixed from the computer side

So, two people, two pods, Luxu sends Brain on his merry way, in the scuffle because Brain would have resisted, the hat might’ve been removed, and Luxu could have easily set it up so that the hat could be preserved and in the future they would know to look and wait for Brain to appear

The only mystery remains then is why does Luxu looks like Brain?

appearances are tricky things in the KH series as well all know, and Luxu’s face has been hidden all this time, likely because his face would have been a spoiler or potentially confusing had it been shown from the beginning of KHX, not KHUX even

The one hint we have, is that in the Back Cover cinematic, which takes places during KHX, If you look closely, apparently you can see a shaggy lock of hair under his hood that matches Brain’s

which means Luxu has probably looked liked Brain all along from the start!

And before getting into the crazier reasons of why someone would look like someone else in the KH series (look at you Ventus/Roxas, Sora/Vanitas, Kairi/Namine/Xion) 

the one that makes the most sense to me personally, consideriong this fact, is that Luxu is a Replica of some sort, of Brain, made by the Master of Masters to fulfill a specific purpose for him, and considering Luxu’s purpose was easily the most important of MoM’s plans, and with how in his early appearances Luxu appears very withdrawn, shy, or dependant on MoM but also separate in some way from the rest of the 5 and with how we know that MoM has no qualms creating living things to do his bidding like the Chirithy’s, we know he’s aware of the replica technology at the very least since the pod system appears to be a workaround for this very issue of needing a medium for the flesh at the appropriate time and place

I think him being a replica with Brain’s appearance makes the most sense, Brain was certainly already on MoM’s radar as a special keyblade wielder, since he was one of the ones MoM chose to be a new union leader, and the way that Luxu’s appearance has always been hidden, how he always wore the black coat which in KH3 seems to be confirmed as what a “default” Replica body appears in when not in use, as we see when Riku Replica shunts out evil Repliku to have the body for Namine, it appears as a doll covered in the black coat

To me, I think it’s fitting, and I think that Luxu being comfortable with shunting from body to body and switching between forms is also part of that, his original form is a replica made to mimic another person, so why wouldn’t he continue that trend? Moving his heart from vessel to vessel, never getting attached to the flesh or identity itself? 

So yeah, I believe that Luxu taking over Brain is a red herring that KHUX ending presents, but I believe it will ultimately not be the case, and the rest of Dark Road/Verum Rex will go further into the reason why that is, with Luxu being a Replica of Brain from the very start coming out on top as the most likely series of events