#experience at least with just travelling to be a master. but Aqua and Terra didn’t get that

[blue-eli]

Ink October day 24: Discriminative

Drawing distinctions.

Marked by or showing prejudice.

[hubakon1368]

DISCLAIMER: This post is not from the author of the fic. If anyone knows the name of the author’s tumblr account (if they have one), would you please tell me? It would be appreciated.

Chapters: 18/? Fandom: Kingdom Hearts Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Kairi & Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Lea & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Donald Duck & Goofy & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua & Terra & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Mickey Mouse & Riku (Kingdom Hearts) Characters: Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Axel (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Merlin (Kingdom Hearts), Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Donald Duck (Kingdom Hearts), Goofy (Kingdom Hearts), Mickey Mouse (Kingdom Hearts), Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua (Kingdom Hearts), Yen Sid (Kingdom Hearts), Vexen (Kingdom Hearts), Demyx (Kingdom Hearts), Ansem the Wise | DiZ, Ienzo (Kingdom Hearts), Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts), Xigbar (Kingdom Hearts), Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Larxene (Kingdom Hearts), Marluxia (Kingdom Hearts), Leon (Kingdom Hearts), Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Aeleus (Kingdom Hearts), Dilan (Kingdom Hearts), Tron (Kingdom Hearts), Ansem Seeker of Darkness | Xehanort's Heartless, Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts), Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Jiminy Cricket (Kingdom Hearts), Chirithy (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé (Kingdom Hearts) Additional Tags: Friendship, Spoilers - Kingdom Hearts III, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awesome Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Keyblades (Kingdom Hearts), Training, Magic, Fight Scenes, Guilt, Regret, Protectiveness, Memories, Lost Memories, Parental/Big Brother Lea/Axel, Hearts, Missing Their Friends, Axel Raised Roxas, Past Isa & Lea (Kingdom Hearts) Friendship, Badass Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Lea/Axel Has Issues, Axel Made Mistakes, Worldbuilding, Sora (Kingdom Hearts)'s Heart, Sora (Kingdom Hearts)'s Heart-Guests, Magic and Science, past trauma, Aqua Has Issues, References To Experiments On Hearts, Bad Things Happened In Radiant Garden, Badass Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Mentions of Blood, Dive into the heart, Stations of Awakening, Serious Injuries, Knives, Burns, Protective Lea/Axel, Platonic Relationships, Near Death Experiences, Badass Donald Duck (Kingdom Hearts), Donald Duck Has Magic, Roxas (Kingdom Hearts) Has Issues, Xion (Kingdom Hearts) Has Issues, Donald Duck (Kingdom Hearts) Actually Uses Cure, Nightmares, Platonic Love, Platonic Cuddling, Hugs, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friends as Family, Canon Temporary Character Death Series: Part 1 of Instinctively Family

Chapter 18: Keyblade Graveyard

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Notes: Sorry that I made you guys wait so long. My brain and inspiration were held hostage by another fandom. Then I got distracted by all the excitement of "ReMind"… before my brain was recaptured by the other fandom again. It's been a bit insane and I do apologize. Thankfully, due to the fact that events have already been altered a bit in this story, I don't have to worry about trying to incorporate everything from the DLC. I might snag some bits and pieces if they would fit in, but there will be no stable time-loop heart-hopping shenanigans in this fic.

I do have some good news. There is a planned sequel for this fic. It'll be titled "Parental Instinct" (with the duology being called "Instinctively Family"). It'll be a bit more domestic with less combat that this one. Mostly it'll be focused on the question of "what now" as Lea, Roxas, Xion, and even Isa try to move forward, building a life outside of the Organization and Keyblade Wars while also dealing with the fallout of everything. That should give you something to look forward to.

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Lea knew what they were doing. The real Organization XIII was doing the exact same thing that Larxene and Marluxia tried a few days ago. They were throwing as many Heartless and such as possible at the guardians in the hopes of wearing them down. And as soon as the guardians of light were exhausted and vulnerable, that was when Master Xehanort's followers would strike.

It was a good plan. Beat them down with sheer numbers. Wave after wave of Heartless, some scattered Nobodies, and the strange creatures that Ventus hurriedly identified as Unversed at one point. Eventually someone would make a mistake. He could see their logic. Lea might have tried the same strategy in their position.

But none of them were giving up yet.

Once more, Lea found himself in the middle of a cluster of protective Keyblade-wielding teenagers. The rest were spread out, but his self-appointed bodyguards kept close. He did appreciate the gesture and help. But mostly he appreciated that he could keep track of them easier that way.

They'd gotten more coordinated on how they split up the job of giving him backup. Xion had perfected a high-level Reflect spell at some point, the transparent shield similar to the one he'd glimpsed Aqua using. Lea kept finding it around him at regular intervals. Xion cast that spell whenever she thought he might get overwhelmed. Kairi's continuous use of Cura helped with the hits that he couldn't avoid and his general strength. As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew that he wasn't up to his normal energy levels. And the larger Heartless never had a chance to get close before Roxas drove it back. The boy channeled all his understandable anger and frustration into every swing. And occasionally the kids would team up together to pull off a combo attack, clearing out large chunks of the enemy from around Lea.

He was mildly surprised when Roxas, Xion, and Ventus worked together on a large clump of Nobodies approaching through the stone chasm. Apparently Roxas had set aside his discomfort with the other boy either temporarily or permanently. Or at least enough of that unease was gone that they could compliment each other's fighting styles. It was honestly a relief. There were enough complicated and uncomfortable issues. It would be far easier if at least some of Lea's various friends could get along.

When they got Isa back, he couldn't imagine how awkward that would be.

When. Not if.

None of them had much of a chance to catch their breaths though. The second wave of Heartless were just as numerous as the first. And Lea doubted that Sora would be able to summon up another magic rollercoaster to tear through them.

Not that Sora wasn't already doing an impressive job. While everyone else focused on the task of maintaining the perimeter and keeping more enemies from spilling over, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were in the center of everything. The trio were dealing with the nightmarish amalgamation.

Lea didn't know of a better way to describe the Demon Tide except as a mass of smaller Heartless clustered together. A swarm of Shadows that travel in waves and narrow twisters that thrash and lash out. It twisted and swirled through the air before diving into the ground through patches of darkness, bursting out somewhere else to attack from a new angle. The thing moved like something between a serpent and a thin cyclone. And Sora, Donald, and Goofy managed to corral the thrashing mass of Heartless while the rest of the guardians remained on the outskirts.

And then Sora's Keyblade turned into a pair of arrowguns. Because apparently that was a trick that he picked up somewhere. Almost like that weird suit of armor turning a Keyblade into a whip.

[bluerosesburnblue]

When it comes to feeling frustrated over Sora's treatment by others post DDD. You're right about how unfair it is that Riku had a fair test while Sora had a rigged one and they both got judged the same. Despite the fact Riku has the POW, Sora gets harped on in KH3 for not having it. Despite how Sora had to abuse it constantly once he got it and Riku never used it once. It's not like being a Master means you're perfect. Aqua, Eraqus and Mickey have all made mistakes and been wrong w/bad -

consequences. My personal opinion of why this kind of bugs me is that I do think most everyone is guilty of idolizing Sora while also demanding a lot more then they reasonably should of him. Riku thinks the world of Sora but probably thinks Sora knows this. Riku looked so bewildered when Sora had his breakdown and heard Sora call himself worthless despite how much pressure he's seen others put on Sora to help everyone (while also saying he's never good enough yet to fulfill his role-

Another example is Rocas. Post KH2 battle Roxas has nothing but compliments and complete trust in Sora to find the right path. He also dumps all of his baggage onto Sora at once because he honestly believes Sora can handle anything. I do believe one of the reasons Yensid is so much harder on Sora is because he expects more of Sora then he does others. That guy is well meaning and he I think he knows more then he lets on. I think he's pushing Sora harder and setting a different standard for-

for him compared to other Keyblade wielders because Sora's the savior everyone looks up to and has saved the worlds numerous times before. I also wouldn't be surprised if Yensid know or suspects Sora's destiny of opening KH or the MoM popping up later. All his methods being his way of pushing Sora to be better then anyone else (they're not good methods) so he's prepared for the future. But that's my interpretation. Sora suffers a inferiority complex ironically because he's idolized.

Yeah, there is this unfortunate habit of people throwing their baggage onto Sora. It’s partially due to Sora not only not discouraging it, but actively taking it on. He’s a good kid, but his unwillingness to not help leads to him getting overly stressed and taking on problems that he quite honestly has no business dealing with on his own

That said, I think you’re giving everyone more credit than they deserve. Especially Yen Sid. Because no matter how wise and all-knowing the narrative wants to frame him to be, he’s not omniscient. He couldn’t easily track Mickey back in BBS and lost connection super fast, he couldn’t track Sora and Riku during their Mark of Mastery exam, and he sure as hell didn’t predict Xehanort’s plan because he was shocked to hear that Xehanort could be time traveling. He can make reasonable assumptions (i.e. Xehanort’s probably gonna be revived which means he’s gonna try doing the Keyblade War nonsense again) but I highly doubt that he knows anything about Sora’s destiny with the current evidence we have

It’s just more likely that his actions are born from a lack of trust in Sora’s capability than they are intended to make Sora a better person to fulfill his destiny, a destiny that we don’t even know that he could guess at at this point

I was chatting with someone else about how prior to DDD, everything that Yen Sid asked Sora to do was because Sora was the only Keyblade Wielder who was in active duty that he could reach. Mickey was in the Realm of Darkness and then in hiding, Riku and Kairi didn’t become official Keyblade Wielders until the end of KH2, Terra, Aqua, and Ven were out of commission, and Eraqus was dead. And if he even knew about Roxas and Xion, then they were aligned with the Organization and then taken out. He put everything on Sora because Sora was the only one he could put it on

In DDD who does he pick? Riku. Unfairly, because the new Organization was messing with both of them but they outright told Riku that because he was immune to the darkness that they were actively gunning for Sora and just running interference on Riku to get to him. Sora was directly targeted and was failed because he actually trusted that Yen Sid would give them a safe test and so kept going along. Like, the only reason that Riku passed and Sora didn’t was because Sora was actively sabotaged, they knew this, and Yen Sid still compared the results anyway. And then Yen Sid keeps reinforcing this decision all throughout KH3, putting Sora down about the Power of Waking, and I don’t... to me it just feels like he only let him stay because their selection pool of Lights was so small and at least Sora was mid-tier on the list as opposed to Lea who just got his Keyblade weeks prior or Kairi who had limited battle experience

I can’t see Yen Sid’s actions as benevolent. Not when he keeps making decisions like that. Not when, in a time of crisis, he goes “Oh, ew, you kids are self-taught? Nah, I’m gonna wipe your skills so that you can learn it my the right way.” He just comes across as incompetence masquerading as wisdom. If he was secretly training Sora to meet some big destiny then he should probably also have been aware of what his behavior was doing to Sora’s emotional state, don’t you think?

I do agree about Riku and Roxas, though. Both of them had periods of aggressively disliking Sora and thinking poorly of him before Sora proved them wrong, at which point they started looking up to him. But neither of them really told Sora any of that. Roxas really hasn’t had that chance, Riku’s uh... Riku. And both of them have this unfortunate tendency of “lifting up others by putting myself down” instead of complimenting the other person (at least when it comes to Sora). And Sora’s first instinct is to try and lift them up when they do that instead of seeing it as a well-meaning-but-poorly-worded compliment

But the biggest problem is Yen Sid. The man is an old Master for crying out loud and he’s the worst authority figure in the game. He’s a bad teacher, plain and simple. And I get it, he’s retired and being forced out of it because an old friend’s being a little shit, but that’s no excuse to fail your student for trusting you, even if it’s for “their own growth”

[madfictionland]

Master Xehanort - NOT a flawless mastermind!

I’m always having trouble to understand people in KH ‘discourse’. They have every right to hate the series for many different reasons, please be my guest, but they usually do it with this silly argument that it’s so damn lame and impossible for Master Xehanort to plan all of this and predict so many variables... But I’m like... he didn’t, really... so what’s your problem even...

Sure, Xehanort kind of takes the credit for everything that happened (in DDD) and makes it sound like everything went ‘according to plan,’ but I thought that’s just what villains do, you know? Despite some setbacks, especially *when their other splintered selfs still achieve results that ultimately lead to his final goals*, it is actually fair to claim the credit. In the end it turned out perfectly well and Master Xehanort learnt a big deal of things. And knowledge is extremely important in his line of business. In the end, he WAS too eager regarding creation of his own pure light and darkness which wasn’t the right way.

But it seems like people don’t even live in a logical world anymore (once they decided they don’t like the direction the series took) and they need everything explained by characters for some reason, like a lenghty lecture from Master Xehanort perhaps... with admission after admission about where his initial plans went wrong and how exactly (which is ludicrous to expect even).

Here is a quick look at things he DID NOT predict/planned for:

1. He never planned to be defeated by Aqua and for amnesia Terranort to be created.

2. He never planned for amnesia-esque (thus less efficient) Ansem and Xemnas.

3. He never planned for the exact timing of DDD meeting and his recompletion. His words about how ‘it’s been decided’ are to be taken with a grain of salt, naturally, since Nomura’s concept of time is tricky and *kind of* fixed (since it does happen... it’s ALL been decided already, apparently). And Master Xehanort himself, despite his ambitions and discoveries, seems to be a strong proponent of ‘fate’ which corresponds with that rule of time. He took interest in Ventus because he felt like it was destiny, after all, and there are more instances of such thinking behind Xehanort.

4. He never planned for Ansem and Xemnas to be defeated since he never planned for their creation in the first place.

Now, it doesn’t mean his plans begun and ended in BBS. BBS focuses exclusively on his ambitions and schemes sorrounding Ventus and Terra but there was clearly more behind the man. Including vast knowledge about the lore, nature of the world, hearts and darkness. He did study everything about a keyblade and keyblade war which is a messed-up subject in and of itself, with so many things unclear and hopefully to be explained in KH3. Pure light and darkness? X-blade shuttered into 20 pieces? 7 pure hearts? Hearts born from darkness? Keyblade War connected to Kingdom Hearts? Door to Darkness connected to Kingdom Hearts? Maybe they’re all just legends, hence so many different stories and unclear answers? or at least that’s an explanation they can go with, so it’ll make sense. In any case, all of them crucial info for Xehanort and something to keep in mind when scheming!

See... there are so many things that it’s actually hard to get your priorities straight. I actually know this feeling pretty well when it comes to personal life or fandom activities!

So what did he plan or what were his ideas, logically?

1. Whatever his destination... Norting other people along the way seemed like a great idea (the first experiment being Braig/Vanitas most likely). But what he wanted for his original self was a perfect young vessel such as Ven or Terra, a keyblade wielder.

2. Looking for ways to forge the x-blade/make Kingdom Hearts manifest itself he already learnt of the 20 pieces of it and 7 lights. Whether there is an actual utilization behind number 13... or maybe he thought it was edgy and cool which would be character-accurate if you ask me... the idea behind 13 versions of himself working in perfect unison towards their shared goal was easily hatched. If only the Nortification technike proved to be working... possibilities were endless.

3. Maleficent seemed like a perfect candidate to be set on a path towards 7 princesses. Something crucial and what could come in handy - regarding the Door to Darkness or even the x-blade.

4. He did know how to time travel so he certainly had such an option in mind and taking into account his established, natural curiosity with the world... and with extremes such as darkness/keyblade war... not surprising he would be willing to test it and utilize it. However, it required to abondon his body which he wasn’t going to do just yet. Plus: it would be a very experimental endevour and he had better things to do. (But do you know who did think it was a great idea and felt compelled to initiate it, despite his other ambitions? Ansem Seeker of Darkness, the most brazen and insane version of Xehanort. The premise was literally about gathering 13 “seekers” of darkness so makes sense considering his own strong obsessions.)

5. Knowing that he has many different things to explore (because he has barely even scratched the surface), other than his main goal... he probably did plan to split himself into a heartless and nobody, eventually. He never really got a chance to do it and have his two halfs cooperate in perfect union (which was clearly not the case with Ansem and Xemnas). We’re to assume that amnesia Xehanort, at some point, did remember this original idea of MX, and acted accordingly.

Master Xehanort was an explorer and ambitious darkness wielder. I’m sure there was no shortage of original ideas, pathways and new, potential plans. But in the end, he had Ventus and his main attention and hopes were to exploit him to forge the x-blade. In his eagerness, that’s what he put most of his energy into during BBS. He never really realized or even initiated most of those other plans and ideas. Well... at least not on his own...

But just as Young Xehanort’s heart led him to explore the outside world (which may actually be due to fixed ‘time paradox’) in the same way different versions of Xehanort felt compelled to put into motion different fragments of his plans and ideas. Destiny and fate, the strange feeling and exploration of the unknown and darkness, something that drives Xehanort forward, very similar to how Sora is guided by his heart and in contrast to it. His younger self captures it perfectly and even though his older self (+ other incarnations) act and maybe even feel like they are in control of everything they do to achieve their own goals... at their core they’re still guided by this basic premise:

Both the irony and fascinating factor behind Xehanort. Whenever he is delayed or his plans go not as planned... all these events may still contribute to the final outcome. In the end, he was destined to end up there. So in essence, all went according to plan and his ambitions continue to progress. All of this while the old man Xehanort, his ‘original’ self... sleeps in sort of limbo state.

Now what one needs to understand to even begin to comprehend what Nomura was going for here (which most people don’t care about and it’s actually understandable, all things considered) is that Xehanort exists across many different layers of self and even planes of existence/reality (as a force of darkness or a more spiritual force in his own and Terra’s body).

There is NO ONE PERFECT MASTERPLAN.

What we have here is basically:

- Xehanort’s plan put into motion in BBS - which failed to achieve his master goal (although he did Norted Braig and maybe Vanitas).

- Apprentice Xehanort does his research and formulates some of the plans and ambitions that are later passed on to Ansem Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas, along with Apprentice Xehanort’s history and sense of self (he is aided by Nort!Braig in hopes that Master Xehanort will eventually regain his complete memory and sense of self).

- Apprentice Xehanort - being Xehanort - gets obsessed with the darkness and hearts very quickly and achieves a certain mastery. Some of it may be his heart guiding him, despite amnesia. Some of it may be actual memories resurfacing. That leads to him being able to summon his keyblade and extract his heart, though his identity is still pretty twisted and memories incomplete (calls himself Ansem, just like he did in the reports). This twisted sense of self continues into Xemnas/Ansem.

- Ansem pursues his own ambitions and curiosity regarding Kingdom Hearts, Door to Darkness and Darkness. He makes good use of Maleficent (earlier set on a path by MX) and, recalling some of his original Destiny Island’s past, tries to posses Riku (similarities between the two are just too big and you can see why Ansem was so stubborn about Riku’s body).

- Xemnas aspires to become one with Kingdom Hearts of released hearts and achieve eternity, at his highest “tragic villain” moments being influenced by more humane aspects of Apprentice Xehanort and possibly Terra (”Unfortunately, I don’t remember joy”). But beyond that, he is still Xehanort and everything that the man entails, for the most part...

Most of Apprentice/Ansem/Xemnas’es plans, knowledge and ambitions came from MX’s memories that they were able to access OR - what’s more likely - they were simply influenced by them, at first unknowingly. Furthermore, at the peak of their power - especially Xemnas and Ansem - they may recall a great deal of their past and true purpose. But it doesn’t mean they cooperate in perfect unison - because they don’t really know everything, miss important pieces of the puzzle (like keyblade war, for example) and remain their unique, unstable beings, with their own share of drama and goals. Which is why they have self preservation insticts and desire to succeed at their own goals (that wouldn’t be the case if there wasn’t any amnesia factor involved... with their sense of self being 100% Xehanort). But EVEN THEN... there is a catch. They share Xehanort’s core feature - which is this compulsive instint to follow *fate* whenever it presents itself and explore the unknown without fear nor care for one’s safety. Plus, due to different factors, they are far less stable in the sanity department! THAT’S WHY:

- Driven by some of MX’s memories (Point 2 and 4 of MX’s ideas) Ansem explores time travel and meets his younger self whom he directs on the path towards 13 Seekers of Darkness, a ‘crazy’ fail-safe which is actually a part of fixed time paradox...

- Xemnas is actively working towards Nortification project which is the true main goal and premise behind the Organization and their many detours/experiments all along.

- After being visited by Young Xehanort (at some point prior to their respective failures) - they join him without hesitation and serve under the new organiztion and their recompleted self in the future. We are to assume that Young Xehanort (who observed everything through time travel) educated them, hence they know all about their failures and events they missed.

Now, all of those big plans happen simultaneously and, for the most part, independently from one another. It’s not a single master plan but when you have so many versions of yourself somewhere out there... the odds are really in your favor. And that’s not even thanks to Master Xehanort being an efficient mastermind villain (which he is only to some extent) but due to his enormous drive to pursue Kingdom Hearts and study the dark unknown around him. Which is true for all versions of Xenahort, especially those strongly associated with his original self and not influenced by 'lesser’ traits of vessel personas (Braig’s light attitude, for example, since, as a Nort, he is kind of impatient for the final destination but NOT curious enough to dedicate himself fully to all the research and detours).

So even if his BBS plan failed and main variables shift all the time - in the end Master Xehanort remains on top. Not thanks to him, really, but kind of thanks to him. And guess what? Once he returns and recomplates himself... he actually feels like he’s been doing all these things and he gets to keep all knowlegde gathered in the process. Despite setbacks, fate has clearly been in his favor and he emraces it.

Master Xehanort is NOT a perfect chess master, directly responsible for everything that’s happened in the world of KH. But he IS an efficient short-term strategist with many ideas (as we saw in BBS) who, despite his grand goal of becoming god-like, is both driven by and strongly intertwined with fate. Sure, there are many confusing elements to it and time travel in particular wasn’t explained too well, but all things considered - MX not being such a flawless mastermind is why I still love this villain!

[yo-namine]

Last KH3 playthrough post! Endgame spoilers are below the cut.

Just a warning: This post is REALLY long and contains, um… opinions.

I’m glad the final battle trailer scenes happen right off the bat. I had no idea what would come next, and it made the experience that much more interesting.

Why do none of these keyslingers know how to block? First Aqua tries to shield Ven with her own body, then Sora does the same for Kairi. Just hit square, guys.

ZETTAFLARE DONALD ILU SO MUCH

The way Riku and Aqua stepped up to Sora’s side made me think they were going to be party members in another demon tide battle, but nope. Boo.

I’m surprised that Aqua just… let the demon tide take her? What the hell?

Sora loses Kairi, Donald, and Goofy and just… crumbles. He completely gives up and says it’s all over. Riku almost starts to try to soothe him, but instead, he gets up, tells Sora that he knows that’s bullshit, and then faces off against the demon tide (which was polite enough to wait for Sora and Riku to finish their conversation before attacking, by the way). It’s like a moment of tough love, and it’s actually what I was expecting Roxas to do back when I assumed he would be the one to show up in the Graveyard and pull Sora back on his feet. I wasn’t expecting a bunch of reassurances like “no, you’re not worthless, we can still do this, everything will be okay” but rather, “Get up, we’re not finished here.”

So Riku confronts the heartless and Sora just… watches in horror as they take him, too. And he doesn’t even fight back when they turn and come for him. And then the screen cuts to black and shows the final line of the prophecy, and… That was a really effective way to end that scene. Damn.

Yeah, I don’t know how to play chess, but I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to just conjure extra pieces from thin air, Eraqus. That was a nice line from him, though, about light from the past. Like, “The light doesn’t need time travel bullshit to kick your ass because HEARTS.”

Sora fucking died. Sora actually, literally fucking died. He goes to the Final World because he died. Holy shit.

The Final World is beautiful, and the music is lovely, too. The first thing I did after getting control again was take some selfies of dead Sora, ngl.

Sora’s been to the Final World before in his sleep, and Chirithy just let him pass through lmao.

Who is the first star that Sora talks to here? At first I thought it was Xion, but she says a “somebody” sent her to the Final World, so… Strelitzia? Ava? Skuld? lol I like that Sora just sits down next to her like this conversation’s the most normal thing ever. He’s dead and talking to another dead person, and he just rolls with it. I love this kid.

Some of the optional star conversations really got to me. One of them says that their friends replaced them after they died (“That was my seat. That was my place at the table.”). There’s also one that was apparently a child looking for their father, and that one actually made me tear up.

I’m not sure who the one who talked about being “identical” was. I think a third talks about their mentor, and perhaps that was a past keyblade apprentice? Another says that people teased them and a friend about being an item, and they pulled away from the relationship, and the other person never closed the distance. All of their little stories are just… sad. Jesus.

Naminé has a star! I missed her star on my first playthrough, but I replayed this part just for her scene. I wish I’d gotten it the first time, though. She clarifies that Kairi’s the one keeping Sora tethered to the world of the living. And god, Naminé’s words are so sad. She truly doesn’t think anyone really misses her or that she matters at all. But Sora says that he and the others (including “someone else special,” who I think may’ve been Xion?) miss her and want her back. AND she mentions her conversation with Terra from the orchestra! Holy shit, WHY was this conversation optional? That was important story stuff that explained why Lingering Will shows up when we rehash the fight in the Graveyard. Naminé came through for everyone in a pretty major way, and if you don’t talk to her star (which is VERY easy to miss), you’d never know it. Though… I guess that’s kind of fitting in a meta way. Naminé helping people from behind the scenes and not expecting any credit, I mean. Still, I wish I hadn’t missed this on my first playthrough. Anyway, Naminé’s “Let’s just say I’ve got your back?” was really cute. And then Sora thanks her and gets all flustered. “That’s not the official thank-you!”

I’m… still not clear on what exactly the power of waking is or how it differs from restoring someone���s heart the old-fashioned way (i.e. taking a Keblade of Heart to the chest), but okay.

JIMINY SURVIVED ALL OF THAT JFSKLFFJL

I liked going through the different worlds to save all of Sora’s friends. It was a nice callback to KH1, when you visit different worlds in End of the World, and when you get to Realm of Chaos and have to rescue Donald and Goofy from Ansem SoD’s heartless… ship… thing. It was really annoying fighting the same boss over and over again, though. It wasn’t difficult (save for one instance where the lich spammed aeroga and pinned me against the ceiling. I only survived because it triggered rage form.), and I get that it was just a series of symbolic battles, but I dunno, maybe just giving him less HP for me to have to mow down would’ve made it less tedious.

So the power of waking is “traversing hearts to reach worlds.” So I guess that’s what Sora was doing while falling through the different Stations of Awakening and then arriving in different worlds.

“There’s no saving you.” Fuck, okay, after finishing the game, this line in the sleeping San Fransokyo hits a lot harder. You think Kid Xehanort knows that Team Nort is planning to snatch Kairi and use Sora’s desire to save her to ultimately destroy him? Because if so… ugh.

Sora and Kairi’s little spin when they reunite is so cute.

“I feel strong with you, Kairi.” Awww but also UGHHHHHHHH because I know what’s coming. And then Sora has flashbacks to Eugene and Anna sacrificing themselves for someone they love, and I’m not 100% sure why. Is it just foreshadowing his sacrifice for Kairi? Is he afraid that her rescuing him will cost her her own life? Whatever it is, Kairi seems to read Sora’s mind and says that he’s safe with her. And again, that’s really sweet, and I like that her PoH powers are FINALLY being explored in some way, but fuck, knowing how this all ends makes watching this scene so painful the second time around.

I was so confused when Sora was revived and we started replaying that confrontation scene in the Graveyard. The first time I played it, I was very seriously considering skipping the cutscene and reloading my save because I thought I’d gone the wrong way or something, but then Lingering Will showed up and the scene changed. Phew. I guess we went in a little time loop there. But wait, if everyone’s aware that Sora revived them, then they must remember how they were taken in the first place, right? If that’s the case, why the hell did Ven run up to Terra a second time? Why didn’t anyone stop him? Why did Aqua have to look “Terra” in the eye a second time to know it wasn’t him? Am I to assume that if Naminé hadn’t summoned Lingering Will, these dingdongs would’ve all lost their hearts AGAIN?

I’m so over demon tide boss fights, but damn if that battle theme doesn’t kick ass.

EPHEMERA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY SHIT, OF ALL THE THINGS I NEVER SAW COMING. He helps Sora use the keyblades of all the fallen wielders from the first war to fight off the heartless, and you use the names of all those KHUX users who won that KH3 contest as attacks. Oh my gosh, what a sweet tribute. I like thinking that Larkey’s keyblade helped, too. <3

Oh god, when KH1 Riku showed up and Forze Del Male started playing, my entire life flashed before my eyes. I DID NOT want a rehash of that fight. I was relieved that I didn’t have to, but I was also just a little disappointed because that Xehanort shadow that emerges from him looked like a cool potential boss. I feel like there are actually a lot of scenes that happened in the Graveyard that would’ve worked better as actual battles or gameplay, tbh.

Also, that Forze De Male remix was hot as hell.

R.I.P. to all of fandom’s “Yen Sid is useless” jokes. What a way to go.

“You’re a whole pint by yourself, Sora.” I LOVE THIS DUCK SO MUCH.

I like that the maze tries to force you to choose between helping Riku or Mickey first like it’s some tragic moral dilemma. Like oh gee, let me think: Best written character in the series, or corporate icon Ricky Rat? That said, I actually did go to Mickey first just because I couldn’t get past the moving wall puzzle lmao. I wish this area had had a few more puzzles, though. I felt like I breezed through it way too fast.

Riku is really nerfed as a party member. He was CONSTANTLY KO’d in my fight against the Norts. Like damn dude, even Kairi stayed conscious through her battle (all 5 seconds of it, but still).

Repliku tears himself away from his own vessel and leaves it. For Naminé. Fuck, I didn’t expect that at all. What a great scene, and what a better ending for a character whose story I thought ended in CoM. I loved that.

Didn’t love that Riku and Sora just left Naminé’s vessel facedown in the dirt, though. Like… at least prop it against the wall or something guys, geez.

I like that you get a sort of farewell scene between the heroes and all the main villains of the series. It may’ve been a little fanservicey, but oh well. I’m not so hot on it from a story standpoint. Like I know we’re doing the anime thing where “I defeated you in battle, now we’re cool” but it still felt… odd. But at least it’s not as obnoxious as what comes up later with Master Xehanort.

I liked Larxene’s take on this especially, how she’d rather be destroyed than be a Nort. Why she joined up in the first place is still a mystery… And her answering Sora the way she did implies that the Norts aren’t just possessed mind slaves. They do have agency, though I guess that was clear from Even and Demyx turning against them, now that I remember it.

Building on the agency thing, I liked Vanitas’s scene with Ven. Ven wanted so badly for Vanitas to come to the light, but… It really wasn’t what Vanitas wanted for himself. “We decide who we are.” “I did decide who I am.” It’s tragic, but I like that it showed that not everyone was getting a happy ending from this game, and that there are some people you just can’t save.

COME GUARDIAN WAS TERRA’S HEARTLESS AFTER ALL. FUCK YES. I love that theory and I’m so happy it turned out to be correct!!!!! 

And then we finally get a Wayfinder reunion!!!!!! 

“What final words do you have for your superior?” Okay, I know this game is rated E10, but I half expected Axel to just look up and say “Fuck you.”

Xemnas and Axel’s conversation was so meta. Axel bragging about how popular he was, Xemnas calling Axel’s keyblade a joke. Like… Damn, they really paid attention to fandom over the years, didn’t they? I just wish they’d paid this much attention to all the fans who wanted a good storyline for Kairi. Anywho, Xemnas destroys Axel’s keyblade, so we lose two Lights from this scene. I’m kind of grateful that happened, actually. Having Axel lose his spot made it a little easier to accept Kairi losing hers. But only a little. Kairi getting kidnapped AGAIN was still stupid and contrived.

Unlike the other Norts, Xion’s apparently not acting on her own free will when the fight starts. Sora telling her “You can stop now” seemed to break something within her. And then Xemnas turns to attack her, and Sora’s heart reaches out to someone, and then BOOM. Roxas shows up to sass Xemnas and save the day!!! 

I barely did anything in that Isa fight, lmao. I tried to land a few hits on him, but then I realized Roxas could handle him just fine alone, so I just hung back with Xion and cast cure here and there.

I’m disappointed that there’s almost no interaction between Roxas and Sora beyond a couple of nods, tbh. It’s kind of a weak payoff after all the fuss Sora made about wanting to save Roxas at the start of the game. That was what Sora decided to fight for “with all his heart,” and then once Roxas is back, we just keep blazing ahead with the story without a moment to appreciate the fact that he accomplished his goal (or rather, someone else accomplished it for him).

Aww, Xion looked so left out when she stood of to the side and started crying. It was almost like she was hesitant to join Axel and Roxas after she came so close to almost killing both of them. She didn’t even reach for the other two when Axel pulled them into a group hug, she just kept her hands clasped tight together and sort of curled in on herself. Aw, honey. Anyway, I’m glad these three will get to be together again.

I half expected Riku to snap “ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?” when Sora tells him that Kairi’s been kidnapped.

I liked both Xemnas and Ansem SoD’s sendoffs. Kid Xehanort doesn’t give a shit that he lost, though, he just fucks off back to the past knowing damn well what’s about to happen. And to that, I again say ugh.

And then we get… that scene. What the fuck did Xehanort mean by “You need motivation.”? Motherfucker, we are already out here in the Keyblade Graveyard having this showdown. Kingdom Hearts is looming above us. Sora just got done killing all ninety-seven billion Xehanorts. This fight is happening no matter what you do. This doesn’t make any fucking sense. Having Xehanort kill off Kairi was stupid and unnecessary and pointless and lazy and truly horrible, horrible writing. And see, I can’t even give Nomura the benefit of the doubt here because he actually had Xehanort call Kairi Sora’s “motivation.” That was it. That was the only reason Xehanort killed her. Not because she was a keyblade wielder who was in the way of his goal, not because she was a Princess of Heart whose power could pose a threat. Not because of anything Kairi did or who she was as a person, but because she was a THING that was important to Sora. Fuck that. Fuck that entire scene, fuck everything about it, fuck everyone who gave that writing decision the green light. Fuck it. And knowing how this game ends (with Sora apparently sacrificing himself to save Kairi), Kairi now has more motivation than EVER to fight to get him back, but you know Nomura won’t give a shit when it comes time to write scenarios for KH4. He’s just gonna throw Kairi back on the islands and have Riku be the hero. Riku will find Sora, they’ll have adventures together and apart, they’ll continue to grow as characters, and then they’ll go home to where Kairi’s just sitting pretty, waiting to be the perfect reward for everything Sora’s accomplished. So there you go, that’s Kingdom Hearts IV. I just saved you $50 in the future (not adjusted for inflation).

Just. Jesus Christ, of all the idiotic tone-deaf bullshit… To have so much self-awareness while writing Naminé’s dialogue in the Final World and Axel’s scene with Xemnas in the Graveyard and then NONE OF THAT WHATSOEVER when it came to writing Kairi’s final scenes… That’s unreal. It’s almost unbelievable, but I really shouldn’t be surprised. Nomura’s pulled this shit before, so oop @ me for actually expecting better from him. Lesson fucking learned.

Anyway, after we get past all that stupid sexist bullshit that I actively hated, Sora gets ready to leave for the next area. I like that Donald and Goofy literally pick him up off the ground and help him stand, and that they go with him afterward. I just love the Trinity Trio in this game so much. They feel so much like a family now, and since I’m clearly never ever ever ever getting any decent Destiny Trio development, that’s a nice comfort. The other keyslingers stay behind to keep Kingdom Hearts shut, and Xion tells Sora that she can sense that Kairi will be okay, which… Yeah, alright. I just saw Xehanort slash into her back and shatter her into thousands of pieces, but no, I’m sure she’s fine. flskjdf Okay, sorry, I get what that scene with Xion was trying to do, but it just doesn’t make any sense? Xion is Sora’s replica, not Kairi’s. I could buy that she can sense Sora’s heart, but she has no real connection to Kairi’s at all, so how would she know that Kairi’s okay? Maybe she was just saying that as a way to comfort Sora, like a “she’ll always be in your heart” kind of thing, but even that feels off. Like that’s the kind of thing you say to someone a couple weeks after the funeral, not right there at the crime scene. Oh well. I guess it was sweet that she at least wanted him to hear that.

Then we get to Scala ad Caelum, which was kind of a letdown, really. I was hoping to get to explore the city, but you really just have one large area that’s ultimately just a battlefield. The boss battles weren’t much of a challenge at all, and you don’t even have to defeat them all, which was disappointing, but eh. The only tense moment was when Xehanort triggered Sora’s rage form in the final battle, but Donald and Goofy kept me healed up enough that it wasn’t much of a problem.

Xehanort uses the “one sky, one destiny” line from Kairi’s letter. Like it’s not enough that he killed her, he’s gotta plagiarize her, too. Dick.

Donald and Goofy help Sora ward off Xehanort’s final attack! Like they literally, physically help him push back against it! I love these half-pints. <3

Eraqus! He asks Terra to look after his other apprentices for him, aw.

Xehanort gives Sora the X-blade, and there’s no “sorry I killed your friend” or anything. He just goes on to be at peace with Eraqus. Seriously? This dude abuses Ven, hijacks Terra’s body, throws Aqua into the Realm of Darkness, murders Kairi, and he still gets to pass on peacefully into the next life with his bff? Come the fuck on.

Hearing “Always On My Mind” again was nice. That was always one of my favorite tracks from KH1.

Okay, after rewatching the ending cinematic, it makes a lot more sense to me. Riku suggests that they all go back to Yen Sid’s place to figure out how to save Kairi (which… why are we all acting like this is something that can just be undone? She wasn’t taken into darkness by the heartless like before; Xehanort struck her down. We didn’t see her heart leave her body or anything, she just shattered. To me, that looks like an E10-rated game’s version of death.), but Sora knows what he has to do. It wasn’t until the second time through this ending that I realized he was already planning on waking her heart at the expense of his own life. Knowing that, it’s a little odd that Riku just lets him go with a roundabout way of saying “I believe in you.” Kairi’s supposedly Riku’s friend, too, isn’t she? And he knows how to wake sleeping hearts, too, so why couldn’t he go with Sora to find her? 

I loved seeing the Wayfinder Trio laying flowers at Eraqus’s memorial. I also like that keyblades are apparently used specifically for this when the wielder has passed on. That’s a nice bit of world building. And Chirithy is reunited with Ven after all (who apparently remembers them)! Aww. I still don’t know how the hell Ven exists in this timeline, but still. Aw.

I love Xion’s new outfit, and that she and her boys got to go back to Twilight Town together. I’m not so hot on Isa being there, though, and I’m really put off by how chummy he and Roxas seem. I know these scenes are taking place after a little time has passed, so maybe there was some tension between them at first that we just don’t see because it’s not particularly relevant, but still… Anyway, a shadow passes over them for a moment, and I think it must’ve been the gummi ship arriving to pick them up and take them to a party on Destiny Islands. Nice.

When I got to the scene of Naminé waking up in Radiant Garden… I actually started sobbing. Like that’s embarrassing to admit, but that scene hit me so hard. Just watching her open her eyes, and then seeing Dilan and Aeleus lead her out to the courtyard where the ship lands. Seeing her smile when Riku holds out his hand to her… I started crying while typing this up just remembering it, haha. I loved that moment so, so much. I’m so happy she gets to be her own person, that Ansem helped restore her to finally give her a life of her own after everything he put her through. I love that Riku’s the person to welcome her onto the ship, that he’s doing this for the Replica who gave up the vessel for her, but also because she’s been his friend, too (albeit largely off-screen). And the final shot of her laying her hand so gently in his... Holy god, what a finale shot. That scene ALONE was worth the thirteen year wait for me. I am truly stunned that that was part of the ending, that Naminé—of all characters—was the final person they built up to. That was just so much more than I had ever hoped for for her.

And then the actual final scene. You have all the main characters playing on the beach. Xion and Naminé are finding seashells; Riku, Roxas, and Terra are running around doing… something; the Twilight Town kids and Goofy and Donald are making sand castles; Lea, Ven, and Isa are playing frisbee. And then everyone stops to look at Sora and Kairi on the paopu tree. Sora vanishes, and you see Kairi start to slowly curl in on herself as the scene fades to black. And… upon rewatch, I actually like this ending? I was confused the first time I watched it because I didn’t have Kid Xehanort’s words in San Fransokyo fresh on my mind at the time, but when I went back and watched all the scenes together, I understood that Sora woke up her heart, and him “abusing” that power took its toll. I’m alright with us actually not seeing him do this (or at least, I’m not bothered by that by itself. I’m really bothered that it happened like that after Kairi got fridged the way she did, but on its own, it’s fine.). I’m upset that Sora’s gone, but truthfully, I was sort of expecting it. And like I said in my tirade about Kairi’s writing a few bullet points up, you know he’ll be back. It’s just really upsetting to know that Kairi now has to live with the guilt over the fact that he gave up his life for her, and that—as far as she knows—she’ll never see him again. And you just know that Nomura will absolutely, positively not let her do anything about it come KH4, to which I can only say, again: UGH.

I don’t care about Braig being Luxu, bye.

I think I’m still too raw from the emotional highs (and lows) of this game to really analyze everything as clearly as I’d like. There’s still stuff I want to talk about, but I’ll save that for another time. I can’t deny how much I enjoyed everything that happened before Kairi got fridged, but man, that one point really sours a lot of this game for me.

But yeah, that’s all for now.

[dnmeinster]

Sorting Through Kingdom Hearts III Part 2 - What I Wouldn't Give to Go Back in Time

Spoiler Warning

Link to Part 1

Dream Drop Distance is a polarizing entry in the Kingdom Hearts series.  While it answers why Organization XIII needed to be stopped in KH2, and provides clarity to what happens in KH3, it's the time travel that is most controversial.  Did it break the series?

The first instance of time travel was not in Dream Drop Distance.  It was in KH2.  Pete, after being verbally assaulted by Maleficent for his incompetence, whines:

"Pete: Oh...I miss the good ol' days...What I wouldn't give to go back in time...What I wouldn't give..."

Pete's wish is seemingly granted by the appearance of a white door.  This door leads to the Timeless River, which is really a past version of Disney Castle, before the castle was built.  But how did this door appear?

The wizard Merlin is summoned to Disney Castle to investigate the results of Maleficent and Pete's meddling with the past.  He knows exactly what is happening and conjures up another door to Timeless River.

Merlin: "Somewhere in that world, there should be another door that's identical to this one.  I believe our enemies are utilizing that door.  As long as it remains open, the castle will be in grave danger...While you're there, the nature of that world may tempt you to do something dark.  You must resist that temptation at all costs!"

These events establish not only that time travel is possible in the Kingdom Hearts universe, but that the past itself can be altered and shape the present.  The nature of time travel is inherently magical here, as Merlin the wizard is the only one shown that can create a pathway to the past. Pete unintentionally does so by wish, which I suppose is a form of magic.  So magic is the only known means of temporal manipulation until Dream Drop Distance.

Here we go.  Somehow time travel through magic makes a lot more sense than the alternative method contrived of in Dream Drop Distance. There's a detailed Reddit post that sums it all up here, but I'm going to go over it myself, starting with Young Master Xehanort's (YMX) explanation of his displacement in time.

"YMX: There are restrictions to movement in time.  First, you must leave your body behind to do it.  Then, there must be a version of you waiting at the destination.  Upon arrival, you can only move forward as per the laws of time.  And you cannot rewrite the events that are destined to happen."

So the first step of the new time travel rules is that you must leave your body behind.  Terranort did this when he and his apprentices experimented on the hearts.  They split themselves into Heartless and Nobodies.  And apparently, Heartless, or specifically special Heartless that retain their form, have the capability of traveling through time.

The second step is that a version of you must exist wherever you are traveling to.  Terranort's Heartless aka Ansem travels back to speak with his younger self on Destiny Islands.  This act allowed YMX the ability to travel forward in time.  This is hinted within the game:

YMX:  "Ansem first sent me on my way, and then placed himself here when the time was right.  That was what set all these events in motion."

By saying he sent him on his way, YMX literally means he sent him on his way to the future.  But what about all the other time-traveling Xehanorts?  Well, Nomura clarified this in an interview.

Nomura: "As a result of the actions of the Brown Robed figure [Ansem], they all were in a state where they had gained the power to transcend time.  The Brown Robed figure explained the fact.  The thirteen were summoned at the same time, this time thanks to Young Xehanort who borrowed that power.  However, apart from Young Xehanort, this does not mean all the members transcended time."

So not only did Ansem's trip to the past set the events of Dream Drop Distance in motion, it also provided every Xehanort with the ability to travel through time, supposing they follow the previously established rules. My head already hurts.

YMX takes advantage of his gifted abilities by gathering the now free-to-move-through-time Xehanorts and messing with Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam.  However, according to the third rule, he cannot change destiny. Which perhaps is why Xehanort ultimately fails to acquire all 13 darknesses and suggests they meet at "the fated place."  The final clash was never going to happen in the World that Never Was.

The three steps/rules are simple enough, but their execution is messy.  And there's one more caveat to time travel.

YMX: "While I know this future now that I have lived it, returning to my own time will erase the memories and experiences I have gained here.  Still, my appointed path is now etched in my heart, which will first lead me to seek the outside world."

So the events that happened in Dream Drop Distance were to be forgotten by all the time-traveling Xehanorts once they returned to their own times. But not every Xehanort present in the World that Never Was was time traveling.  We'll get into this shortly.

There are a few more instances that need to be touched upon first.  One, Sora and Riku time travel in this entry, but only once, with the assistance of Master Yen Sid's magic.  He sends them both back to Destiny Islands just before it falls to darkness.  Two, according to Nomura, since Ansem is also present at the point they time travel to, he becomes a "portal himself as a result of contact with Sora and co., making it possible for the other Xehanorts to intervene within the dreams."  Xehanort being a portal is an important aspect to the end of KH3. And lastly, Yen Sid mentions that Merlin and the fairies are aiding Axel in "a place that's more...temporally flexible."  Once again, reiterating the connection between time travel and magic.

Let's move on to KH3.

The most blatant example of time travel in KH3 once again involves Xehanort.  Multiple Xehanorts are existing at the same time.  Let's look at that list of 13 darknesses again:

Master Xehanort

Young Master Xehanort (YMX)

Terranort

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

Xemnas

Vanitas

Xigbar

Saix

Luxord

Marluxia

Larxene

Riku Replica

Xion

It's safe to assume that Numbers 7-13 are not time traveling and exist in the present (though Number 12 could be iffy).  So what of Numbers 1-6?  We must turn to the Secret Reports for an answer:

"Xemnas cannot exist in the present because there is already a Xehanort here: the old man in charge. The old man's humanity prevents his Heartless and Nobody, others vanquished in the past, and his younger self from being denizens of this time.

"To circumvent this, Xehanort is using prototype replicas I created in the past as containers, plucking his other selves' hearts from the time they existed."

This report, written by Vexen, states straight out that the only non-time traveler is Master Xehanort in his original body.  This must mean that when Sora defeated Ansem and Xemnas, it was not Terranort that was reformed but the original Xehanort.  But how?

Terranort is a special case. Like Numbers 7-13, it is a separate entity, Terra, bearing Xehanort's heart.  But, unlike 7-13, it was a direct one-to-one transfer, where Master Xehanort transferred his entire heart to Terra and seemingly took over the driver's seat.  Terra's mind and heart became controlled by Xehanort, at least until both Aqua and the Lingering Will drove Xehanort from his mind.  That left an amnesiac Xehanort at Ansem the Wise's door in Radiant Garden.

Xehanort regained his memories through his experiments on the heart and went on to pursue his original goal: 7 lights, 13 darknesses, and the Chi-blade.  When Ansem and Xemnas were defeated, it had to be Terranort that reformed.  But it didn't have to stay that way.

In need of 13 darknesses, Xehanort could return his heart to his original body, leaving a fragment in Terra to continue on as Terranort.  At this point, it became easier for Terra to fight back against Xehanort.  And he eventually prevails, driving out what remained of Xehanort and becoming himself once more.

Why do I find this scenario to be most likely?  Well, we already know that Master Xehanort in his original body is his "most future self."  YMX says as much in Dream Drop Distance.  So that means he was formed last, after Xemnas and Ansem were defeated and Terranort was reborn.  Terranort could then go on to recreate his original self, leaving only a fragment behind to retain a darkness for his list.  This is speculative, yes, but barring further clarification, it's what I'm sticking with.

Looking back to the list, 1 (Master Xehanort) and 3 (Terranort) aren't time travelers, while 2 (YMX), 4 (Ansem), and 5 (Xemnas) are.  All are capable of time travel because of Ansem's actions prior to Dream Drop Distance, and all have the hearts necessary to traverse time.  But who is plucking them from the past and bringing them forward in time?  It could be YMX, given his role in KH3D.  But it could also be...no one.  I'll get to that.

So what of Number 6, Vanitas, and Number 12, Riku Replica?  I posit that neither are time travelers, as only Xehanort has been permitted time travel among the 13 darknesses.  As such, I will go into further detail on these two in Part 3.

As for the 7 lights, only 2 have ever become Heartless (Sora and Axel), while Kairi's heart has left her body and Riku has time traveled via Master Yensid's magic.  What exactly does this mean?  And do any of them utilize time travel?

Axel does not time travel in this game, but he is training in a place Merlin has made "temporally flexible."  Riku doesn't time travel.  As for Sora and Kairi, they most certainly do.

Upon their initial arrival to the Keyblade Graveyard, the Seven Lights are confronted and killed; torn heart from body, so to speak.  Five are left in a state between life and death, waiting for a Heartless to take their hearts.  Kairi is in a similar place, though she retains her consciousness and will. I would guess that this is because she is a Princess of Heart, and it's not the first time her heart and body have been separated.

Sora, however, has ended up in the Final World aka the afterlife.  He, along with his friends, remain tethered to the Realm of Light because of Kairi.  So Sora only needs to gather the pieces of himself scattered about the world before being able to return to his friends.  Besides doing this, he also encounters Namine's heart, who clarifies his condition before revealing that she is going to reach out to Terra's Lingering Will.

After leaving the Final World, Sora saves his friends hearts from the Heartless, reunites with Kairi, and returns to the Keyblade Graveyard.  However, he and Kairi seemingly return at the moment when they first arrived, before they were all killed.  At the scene plays, it appears that the exact course of events that unfolded the last time are happening again.  Neither Sora nor Kairi try to intervene or do anything differently?  Why?  The only possible reason is that neither of them remember their deaths, which means that none of the Seven Lights know that what happened before is happening again.

How could Sora and Kairi forget?  There are actually several possibilities.  The first is that, since Sora and Kairi are time traveling, they are merely bound by the rules.  Sora and Kairi have both left their bodies behind before, in KH1.  But Heartless Sora never time traveled, almost certainly unaware that he could.  And Kairi's heart only found refuge with Sora.  Given the Secret Reports, we know Terranort became aware of the possibility of time travel due to a visitor in Radiant Garden.  Sora never had that knowledge, at least until Dream Drop Distance.

So if Sora and Kairi were indeed ripped heart from body in the Keyblade Graveyard, they are definitely capable of time traveling. And there is a past version of themselves waiting in that world, from their initial arrival.  And, having returned from the future, they've forgotten the events they've already experienced.  So far, all the boxes are checked.

There's just one caveat. The final rule.  You cannot rewrite the rules that are destined to happened.  Wait. What was the exact quote?

"And you cannot rewrite the events that are destined to happen."

Well, what do you know? Neither he or Kairi do rewrite the events that happened.  Instead, it is Terra's Lingering Will that intervenes and saves everyone, thanks to Namine reaching out from the Final World.

Namine, the special Nobody who can alter the memories of everyone connected to Sora, also altered destiny.  But she wasn't bound by the rules of time travel like Sora and Kairi, so, I guess this makes sense in a Kingdom Hearts way.  Her body was formed from Kairi's heart leaving Sora, so though her heart rests within Kairi, she doesn't exactly have a body to leave behind. There's no version of her waiting in Keyblade Graveyard, except for that place in Kairi's heart.  So she bends rules one and two, and breaks rule three. She might be the only one that can remember the initial defeat there, since if the others rules don't really apply to her, why should that one?

What are the other possibilities if this is not the case?  Well, it could be the game trying to have it both ways.  In Dream Drop Distance, Xigbar says Sora can only travel back to the Destiny Islands because there was a version of him there.  But it's clearly Yensid's magic that enables him to time travel.  We've already seen Sora time travel without needing a past version of himself to be there in Timeless River.  But it could be that Sora time travels via magic and merely forgets because they're melding together rules that shouldn't apply with ones that should.  But if it's by magic, who's casting it?  Chirithy?  I'd like to rule this one out, though it's not beyond reason. There's even a hint that Sora and Co know something worked when they return to the Keyblade Graveyard, which they could only know if magic was involved. But the fact that they don't do anything differently in the next scene may mean that their actions were etched in their hearts but the specifics were forgotten.

Lastly, there's a possibility that Sora and Kairi time travel to an alternate timeline, or worldline, as the Secret Reports hint that this is possible.  But then why don't they intervene to try and change the course of events?  If destiny isn't set in stone and they can change it, then there's no reason they'd forget and be unable to.  OR perhaps it is time travel and then the altering of destiny creates a second timeline/worldline.  It remains plausible that Kingdom Hearts will incorporate multiple timelines/worldlines in the future.  As if it wasn't complex enough.  For now, though, I'm sticking with my first hypothesis:  Sora and Kairi time travel and it's Namine that changes the future.

Circling back to Xehanort, after the Seven Guardians survive long enough to face Master Xehanort and he forges the Chi-blade, Riku reveals that they've learned Xehanort is actually a time and space portal.  How? Why?  What?

Okay, here goes. Because Ansem traveled through time and provided all his selves with the ability to do so, he became the portal that Riku mentions.  Each version of Xehanort is a portal capable of traveling to wherever their heart's desire, as long as they follow the set upon rules.

Nomura stated that Ansem on Destiny Islands became a portal into the Dream World, as he was there when Sora and Riku crossed over.  So all the Xehanorts use this "portal" to stalk the two guardians on their Mark of Mastery Exam in the Sleeping Worlds.

Similarly, as Master Xehanort is a portal, the other versions of himself use their connection to him to arrive in the future, where they are loaded up into replicas.  They don't need a Xehanort to come pluck them from the past since they are capable of moving through time via this portal.  They need only cast off their bodies and enter the replicas waiting for them.

Riku, realizing what Master Xehanort is thanks to YMX's monologue at the end of Dream Drop Distance, exposes the portal and utilizes it.  And where does it lead?  The world that would always hold a special place in Xehanort's heart:  the one where he was trained to be a Keyblade wielder, Scala ad Caleum.  And it turns out that all the fragments of his heart from the defeated darknesses were utilizing this portal to go there as well, waiting to rejoin with the original.

We can assume that this time, they're not traveling in time via Xehanort's portal but merely space. So why was Scala ad Caleum abandoned? And why was it built atop Daybreak Town? Questions for another entry, I suppose.

So, did time travel break the series?  If they'd kept it simple and just left time travel as a magical device, it would've worked better.  By adding a secondary method with layers of rules, time travel became over-complicated. It's more than the three simple rules it appears as, and analyzing it is headache-inducing.  BUT there is a logic to it, and though it's an extra complication the series didn't need, it is not series breaking.  Feel free to disagree.

Next time, we take a deep dive into replicas and how exactly the non-Xehanorts utilized them.

[biscuitreviews]

Biscuit Reviews Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

I remember unlocking the secret ending for Kingdom Hearts II back in 2006 with this intriguing cutscene of three people in armor getting ready for what appeared to be a big fight. At that time, I thought that we were getting a glimpse at Kingdom Hearts III and there would be a time skip that would have Sora, Riku, and Kairi as adults. When more information was revealed, we learned that what we were looking at was actually the past and not the future. At that same moment, we also learned that it was not Kingdom Hearts III, but rather Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and it would be released for the PSP.

To me I saw this as something that the Kingdom Hearts series desperately needed, a backstory to explain how things in its universe works. To some degree, it accomplished this, while leaving myself and many fans even more curious about the Keyblade and its villain, Xehanort. Now, as this is a prequel game, you technically don’t have to play the previous entries to understand Birth By Sleep’s story. However, I would recommend at least playing Kingdom Hearts I, II, and Chain of Memories to have a deeper appreciation and understanding of the story.

For this review, I will be reviewing the Final Mix version of the game, available on the 1.5 and 2.5 collection for PS4.

The story follows three different characters, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. These three are Keyblade wielders and will be traveling to various Disney worlds for different reasons. Terra is looking for Xehanort while also searching for a way to control the darkness within him. Ventus, is looking for Terra as well hoping to recover his lost memories. Aqua, just like Terra, is also looking for Xehanort and is hoping to bring Ventus back to their home as their master, Eraqus, believes that Ventus is not ready to travel through the various worlds.

You will be selecting which of these characters to play as and you will experience the story in their perspective. Each character has their own unique fighting style. Terra is slow and favors heavy attacks and has high defense, Ventus is agile and has adequate attack and magic stats, and Aqua while also agile like Ventus, is more magic focused and has a slightly lower defense. Now, you could technically play any character in any order, there is a recommended order to understand Birth By Sleep’s story in most cohesive manner, which is as follows: Terra-Ventus-Aqua. My only complaint with this is if the story has a specified order, then why not have your players stay locked in that order and then pick and choose which character you want to play after the initial playthrough. This could have taken away the initial stress of which character the player should play as first.

One thing I would like to complement Birth By Sleep on is how it handled the Disney Worlds. In previous entries, they were merely episodic and didn’t really contribute anything to the main plot at all. In Birth By Sleep, each world actually contributes to the main plot in some way and even helps the characters grow more. Having these worlds contribute to the story makes the struggle that all these worlds face have much more weight to the story to where you feel more invested in these individuals worlds, rather than just making a stop to your favorite Disney World because it’s Disney.

Birth By Sleep’s combat is Kingdom Hearts at the core, but it does have its unique take on the formula just like the other non-numbered sequels. Each character has a set of commands that you’re able to scroll through. These commands will allow them to unleash special attacks and cast spells. Depending on which commands you use, you’ll be able to enter in a “Surge” which will allow your character to perform stronger attacks. This makes combat fun and adds a little bit of strategy to fights. This even allows you to turn a boss battle around if you’re having a tough time fighting a boss.

While you’re exploring the worlds, I noticed that the zones were a mixture of giant rooms with plenty of room to fight and the small cramped spaced similar to Kingdom Hearts I. These small cramped rooms can make the camera uncooperative at times due to the limited space of maneuverability. There’s not a whole lot of these types of zones, but there was enough to make note of it.

There’s not many zones that each character will go through, making the worlds themselves feel smaller than previous entries. This is an aspect I am willing to look past as each character will go through different areas of these worlds with some overlap here and there. Also, Birth By Sleep was originally a portable title for the PSP so going through these worlds in smaller bursts is forgivable as Square Enix was following the design of a portable game.

I will say from personal experience, this is the best way to experience Birth By Sleep as playing this game on a PSP was not very friendly and made some boss fights infuriating because of how the PSP was designed. I couldn’t tell you how many games I just gave up on because of that. For me, Birth By Sleep almost become one of those titles, but I persevered knowing how crucial this game would be to the overall story. Now, navigating the game on a controller with tighter camera control and a comfortable layout, made my experience with Birth By Sleep more enjoyable than it was in the past.

There is another factor that surprised me with Birth By Sleep and that was the inclusion of Mark Hamill as Eraqus and the late Leonard Nimoy as Xehanort. To me, this blew my mind and was a great surprise as I am a fan of Star Trek and Star Wars and a proud member of the George Takei’s Star Alliance. Having these two included in the cast just gave Eraqus and Xehanort more depth and really made them stand out characters. My only complaint is the direction Nimoy was given with Xehanort. Don’t get me wrong, he did a fantastic job as the Seeker of Darkness, but there was a few areas that you can tell he was told to pick up the pace a little bit to match up with Xehanort’s animations, which in turn threw off Nimoy’s delivery in those spots.

I did like the inclusion of post-game content in this one as clearing all three stories and collecting all of Xehanort’s Reports grants you access to the Final Episode which unlocks the true final boss of Birth By Sleep. Now in the Final Mix version, 100% all three characters reports or clear all the stories on Proud Mode, and you’ll unlock the Secret Episode, which follows Aqua’s first moments in the Realm of Darkness.

Overall, Birth By Sleep is a really good title. It has a couple of sore spots, but other than that it’s a fantastic Kingdom Hearts title and created the template on for the additional hand held Kingdom Hearts titles moving forward.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep receives a 4 out of 5

[orangedodge]

Instead of flooding my blog with a deluge KH posts, I figured I'd do just one in-depth one about the end reveal.  

At least until the next trailer comes out, and my inner nine year old breaks out once again.

So despite Nomura's limitations as a writer, and his occasional technical naivete, I've always been a bit surprised that he's never really given his due as a director. He has good storytelling instincts, and can be skilled at framing information on screen to highlight what he wants, while making his audience ignore what he doesn't want them to pay attention to. His team can also cut a trailer very well. The 2.8 trailers were masterful at presenting actual spoilers, but framed within an artificial context that hid their meaning, and led to the audience anticipating story beats that did not actually exist. The respective natures of Aced and Gula as people, in particular, was something he was highly successful at concealing.

E3 trailer spoilers below the cut

The first E3 trailer drop, which I think we're calling the "Frozen" trailer, reminds me a lot of what he did last time, with those 2.8 trailers. The reveal at the end, and it's implication that Aqua is now evil, is driven by two lines,

SORA - "I wont let her fall to darkness"

and

AQUA - "You're too late"

The combination is framed to suggest that it's specifically too late for Aqua, but as these lines occur in two entirely different scenes, and this structure is unlikely to be preserved in the actual game, the thematic bridge they create is an artificial one. It's unknown what the full context of each scene actually is, particularly the latter scene with Mickey, Aqua, and Riku. Instead, Aqua's lines are being set up with by potentially false context by Sora.

What actually happens in that scene? I think the position of landmarks, and the continuity in way the scene is lit, is sufficient to establish that it most likely takes place within the same span of time as the previous trailer's Riku and Mickey scene, in which Riku's Way to Dawn Keyblade was broken.

By combining the two Riku scenes, I would posit that the chain of events is as follows: Riku and Mickey arrive at the Dark Margin > Aqua attacks them in her new shadow form > Mickey is disarmed, and Riku's Keyblade broken > Aqua stops fighting and reveals herself > Aqua picks up Mickey's Keyblade.

If the line "This Keyblade..." is native to that scene, and not something that was simply placed out of context in the trailer to create false context (a trick Nomura used with Phantom Aqua's dialogue in the 2.8 trailers), then it could be possible that she didn't recognize her opponents until she saw that Keyblade. Either way, I believe it's likely that she fought them until they were both disarmed, whereupon she stopped, and revealed herself to them.

Two things grabbed my attention,

Is breaking Way to Dawn, the Keyblade with one of Xehanort's creepy time-travel spy eyes (that we've been warned about), actually an inherently aggressive act? She appears to have been completely shrouded/cloaked in darkness, if not actually invisible (if that was a Red Eyes effect Mickey was under), when she arrived. Assuming that the two Riku clips are in fact one continuous scene, than it seems as though she didn't let them see her until that Keyblade was out of the way.

Why pick up Mickey's Keyblade? It was established ages ago that a Keyblade can't be stolen from its wielder, so unless that's being retconned, I don't see why she'd benefit from picking it up unless to demonstrate to them that she's still capable of doing so. And that's being done in a state where she's not just possessed by darkness, but seems to have been totally transformed into it. The only precedents I can think of for that are Anti-Sora and Ansem. Anti-Sora didn't have access to Keyblades, and Ansem could only wield one through Riku's body (and presumably Riku’s heart, since he lost his access to the Keyblade once he cast that away).

So is Aqua currently fallen to darkness? Almost definitely, unless this is just Phantom Aqua messing with Mickey, or a physical manifestation of an impression she left behind when she lived there, or the result of some unique circumstance like Aqua-removed-her-Heart-from-her-body or Aqua's-looking-for-Ven-in-the-realm-of-sleep that that would render her condition a temporary side effect.

Is she 'norted? It seems probable, but I'm not one-hundred per cent sure that it actually follows from what's been shown. Xehanort's never shown the ability to discorporate into dark fog or become invisible, I mean, and it seems like that would be a fairly useful ability to make use of if he had it. It seems not unreasonable to assume that it's therefore an ability newly unique to Aqua, and not something connected to a 'norting. I'm going to leave the changers to her hair aside because it's appeared that shade before (for example, in the daylight Wayfinder sequence at the start of the 0.2 trailer), and I'm not sure how much of the color change is being influenced by the lighting conditions, or even if the lighting is finished. The eyes seem like a big give away that she's 13th 'nort, as we've only ever seen glowing amber eyes in humans with Xehanort's vessels... but we don't actually know why he has those traits in the first place.

It could be nothing of consequence, just a unique aspect of his character design that made an easy shorthand for showing who he was possessing. Or it could be that amber eyes are actually meant to represent something in this setting (connection to Heartless?), and what specifically that is just hasn't come up yet, except as through the brothers and sisters 'nort. So it's possible that her eyes don't really mean what we assume they do, and it's just a fun way to use the trailer to mess with us.

(And because this series is so weird, it may also be worth remembering that incomplete beings have been shown to take physical forms influenced by the expectations of the people viewing them. Think Xion's magic flippy-floppy hood, or Aqua perceiving Ansem as Terra. So depending on what the meaning of Aqua's shadow form actually is, the way she appears to Mickey might not be what she actually looks like, as opposed to just the material consequence of how he expects her to look, reflected back upon his own reality. I... ugh. This series is something else.)

(There's also a possible exception to the only-'norts-have-glowing-eyes rule with Terra, who did have glowing amber eyes before he was 'norted, but portions of those cut scenes may now be apocryphal)

But even if Aqua is 'norted, does it automatically follow that she's now an evil puppet of the arch villain’s? I'm going to just throw this out there, and give a hard no. Could be! She could be evil now, she could even be a boss fight and a resulting fetch quest to fix her Wayfinder to bring her back to normal, or be a recurring super boss introduced to give the heroes someone more threatening to fight than Vexen and Marluxia, or anything else. But it's not absolutely necessary and it's a truly strange assumption to make, given past experiences with 'norts and people consumed by darkness.

Riku was 'norted for... really the entirety of the first three games in one way or another, and after a few initial close calls, he got his second wind, and was fine. Vanitas and Braig both seem to do whatever they want; it just so happens that they want to be evil, but I don't think Xehanort has ever shown any supernatural capacity—resorting instead to threats and possible torture—to modify their behavior if they wander off to undermine him. Terra is... well his body has been possessed for decades now, but also obviously is not being controlled in any meaningful way, unless Xehanort actually planned to choke himself and get whipped in the face by chains. Axel also didn't seem to have any problems with just throwing Xehanort out, when he was a heartless shell that theoretically had compromised means of resisting a takeover.  

So Xehanort is clearly not always in complete control of his vessels, other than Young Xeno (himself), Ansem (his own literal heart), and maybe Xemnas (some proportion of his own heart in Terra’s empty body), who could all be unique exceptions. And even the vessels that have been with him the longest have habit of doing as they please. I should find it strange should Aqua be the absolute only exception in the series. And thinking on it, all that's really said of the final confrontation is that you have 13 seekers and 7 guardians... but there's not really a rule that they have to form two opposed teams and stick to them no matter what.

To just fly off into blind speculation though, what I'm personally leaning towards is the possibility that Aqua has just become a part of the realm of darkness. That Mickey is “too late” to reach her before a point of no return, and now she just cannot leave. She doesn't sound particularly angry, or upset to see him. It sounds like she's just stating a fact, or just speaking with resignation. Mickey and Riku, in the clip where Way to Dawn is shown broken, also do not seem as defeated as one might expect them to if they had experienced complete and total failure. They seem pretty sure of themselves, whatever has happened.

I'm hesitant to add this in, given my own bias, but it actually seems not unlike they're saying goodbye. Perhaps just letting go of something, if they've failed and are moving on, or if Riku is just saying goodbye to the chapter of his life represented within Way to Dawn. Or they could be getting ready to split up.  

I've seen a lot of speculation, that I think rings true, that Disney would prefer for Mickey to not be involved in the final fight, whacking recognizable humans in the face with a sword-like weapon. The rumor's line of reasoning follows that he needs to be swapped out for someone else, and Aqua seems like the most fitting possibility. Maybe literally? One stays, so another can go? Thematically, she took on Terra's punishment for him, trapping her there in the first place. Mickey taking it on for her, so she can leave, would be a fitting continuation. And it seems to be what he wants. Edgy, traumatized, Mickey Mouse is a weird concept to introduce to a story, but it almost pulls it off where his trauma re: Aqua is concerned. This is clearly meant to be the great unhealed wound in his life, and to not just free his friend, but take her place in the underworld for a while is one way to help him patch it.

[mimiplaysgames]

Strength to Protect the Things That Matter (Ch. 4)

Fanfiction: Kingdom Hearts III Rating: T Pairing: Terra/Aqua (eventually) Other characters: Squall (Leon), Lightning, Sora, Donald, Goofy Word Count: 1,601 In-progress

Terra has prayed for years. He wanted relief from having no one to talk to in the dark,  except with the monster of a man who stole his life. He gets his chance - a week - to set things right before he loses everything again.

Read Chapter One here. Read Chapter Two here. Read Chapter Three here.

Questions

Terra cannot conjure his Keyblade. Why?

This is a question that he cannot waste time answering. The Heartless are squirming everywhere. The shadows use their malleable bodies as an advantage to sneak up on unsuspecting victims before attacking. They are climbing the walls and squeezing through cracks in order to escape any harm done to them. The larger Heartless are brute and destructive, and have no apprehension in devastating the architecture.

It seems like everything has gotten worse since the last time I was awake.  What has Xehanort been doing?

A larger shadow lunges itself at Terra, who blocks the attack with a nearby pole. But all this does is startle the Heartless. I can’t do anything with this.

“You fight?”

Terra looks over his shoulder to see Leon talking to him.

“Here! Use this!”

Leon throws him a sword from a nearby display of weapons, which has been infused with some magical properties.

Without hesitation, Terra uses this sword to swing attacks at the Heartless around him, albeit sluggishly. The attacks come naturally, proof of the years that Terra has labored and educated himself in the academy training with Aqua.

Still, he can only barely manage. Leon keeps a close distance to Terra, using his thuggish and power-busting techniques as an advantage, so that he can later sneak up and strike them down.

In the distance, Lightning is soaring in the air. Her tactics are to be wild, throwing herself and jumping around to confuse the enemy and to engage them in tiring cardio workouts. Close the distance in between to strike them, then jump backwards as she shoots them with her gunblade.

Maybe he is too tired and sore to keep up. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have experience in dealing with such a new threat. Terra slips and nearly succumbs to a brutal attack by a Heartless.

At the last minute, he is saved by a fierce woman with long black hair, using only her fists and kicks to ward off even the largest Heartless in the area.

If she can use nothing but her hands, then I shouldn’t be flat on the ground right now. Master Eraqus would sentence me to washing dishes for a week if he saw this kind of weakness from me.

Terra finds trouble getting up, exhausted from the battle lasting too long. Before, I could have easily vanquished these beings of darkness with my Keyblade. Now, when I have no power, I can’t really put a dent on them. How am I supposed to be of help when I’m so weak?

Weak. Stupid.

A bright light beams into the middle of the battlefield, sending off sharp rays of lightning that strike a large group of Heartless. A duck wielding magic, a dog (man?) with a shield, and a boy with spiky hair and a Keyblade enter the foray.

A Keyblade wielder? I don’t recognize him from the academy...

The boy uses the magic entrusted to him as a Keybearer to deal devastating blows to the Heartless. All of the efforts that the other fighters have spent in fighting look futile in comparison to how easily this boy tackles each shadow. The boy’s improvisational approach give him the clear upper edge. Any moment he stumbles, he quickly recovers due to how closely he works with his teammates. He effortlessly finishes the battle in moments, and runs off into the distance, beyond the city wall, to face the coming Heartless that are still approaching the city.

Calm has finally reached the city, but the boy with the Keyblade has not come back, yet. Terra is helping the other workers clear the mess. Aerith stops by and tends to Terra’s wounds with her healing magic, while also giving him an earful about how he didn’t listen to her, how worried she got when she found that he was gone, and how rude it was for him to just ditch her like that.

After her lecture, Terra takes the sword given to him by Leon, and puts it away along with the collection of other shared weapons.

A weapon of war. This was not what I was trained to do. Using tools for the purpose of killing, for the purpose of fighting. A Keyblade bearer is supposed to keep the peace, to keep the balance intact... 

Her voice comes to his mind... The last words she said to him before he completely lost everything to Xehanort.

Tell me... how does this honor our Master’s memory, Terra?

It doesn’t. This doesn’t honor him at all, Aqua. If you saw me now, you would probably continue to be disappointed in me. I can’t stand this. I wish you were here. All I have done so far since waking up is fail to do my duties. I can’t even call for my Keyblade...

Terra looks at his right hand, and attempts to call for it again. Nothing. I wonder...

He touches his left shoulder in the hopes that he can conjure his armor, entrusted to him by his Master to travel in between worlds with the privilege to investigate the state of affairs of each. But nothing comes to him. I guess it’s not like I deserve it anymore, anyway.

Leon and Lightning pass by him. “You did well for someone who fought so rusty,” Leon says to him.

Terra must have had a confused look on his face, because Lightning actually chuckled out loud.

“You obviously know how to fight. But it looked like you’ve been slacking off in your practice,” she says.

Terra let out a small laugh. “Yeah, that’s probably not too far off from the truth. That kid with the Keyblade, you know him?”

“Of course we know the legendary Keyblade wielder. Is this your first time seeing a Keyblade?” Leon says.

Terra looks away while he laughs, careful not to give away any telling signs. “No, I’m actually looking for two others. Do you know anyone by the names of Aqua or Ventus?”

“Never heard of them,” Leon says, while Lightning gently shakes her head. “We do need more of them, though. When you find them, please tell them to stop by.”

“Enough chit chat,” says Lightning, antsy and sifting her eyes through her injured soldiers. “You know the next step. We are going to have to go through the entire city reporting people who are now missing.”

The sun is setting. Terra decides to linger around the area longer, lending his strength to repairing some of the damage and helping the weak stand up. Leon and Lightning have left long ago to count the missing people. But in honestly, Terra is trying to buy himself time waiting for the Keyblade wielder to re-appear.

“It’s you! You’re okay!”

Terra looks behind him to see the boy. Not a moment too soon. The boy runs up to him with a huge, magnetic smile on his face, his two friends coming up along behind him.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake! How are you feeling? We were worried when we first found you.”

“So you were the one to find me. Thank you so much.”

The boy looks genuinely happy to hear the thanks. “My name’s Sora. These are my friends, Donald and Goofy. What’s your name? Are you a time traveler? Are you immortal? You’re a Keyblade bearer, right? Is that really true? Where do you come from?”

Donald is annoyed. “Sora, quit that!” His voice is the raspiest, most aggressive voice that Terra has ever heard. “Sorry. He’s normally like that. Don’t mind him,” he says to Terra.

“What does that mean?” Sora does not hesitate one second to confront Donald when asking this question.

“It means you get so carried away that you became preoccupied with the attack in Traverse Town and made us get here late.” There is such a clear scolding to his voice and Sora is ready to pounce him.

Goofy lets out a big, warm laugh. It is the kind of laugh that would make anyone feel safe. “Well, we got here anyway and threw off the Heartless attacking the city. It’s nice to meet you, er...”

“Terra. But, how do you know I am a Keyblade wielder?”

Sora suddenly forgets he is in an argument with Donald. “My friend Riku told me. He was the one who suggested to bring you here.”

I don’t know a Riku... at least I don’t think so.

“Well, do you know any wielders named Aqua or Ventus?” Terra asks.

Sora’s expression morphs into something that resembles surprise. “Aqua? It’s funny, I did manage to remember her not too long ago.”

Terra’s stomach twists into knots of both excitement and frightened anticipation, eagerly awaiting the answers to all of his questions. Finally, someone who knows her. Maybe he knows where she is right now!

“I met Aqua a long time ago, when I was a little kid,” Sora says.

The knots in Terra’s stomach sink. It feels almost heartbreaking, but Terra denies this. “What do you mean? How long ago was this?”

Sora thinks for a bit. “It must have been around eleven, maybe twelve years ago?”

There is pain around his heart, and his face gets cold. The churning in his stomach moves upward, making him nauseous. TWELVE YEARS?! This can’t be.

Tell me... how does this honor our Master’s memory, Terra?

Has she been viewing me with such disdain for so many years, now?

Memories of her sitting by the green cliffs overlooking the clouds of their homeworld flood his mind, and he remembers his desires that she would see him more, or better, than he really is. For her to smile at him a certain way. Terra tries to stop tears from welling in his face, although he isn’t strong enough to do so. Sora is visually upset at the sight, speechless at how his words could have affected this strongly.

Where is she, now?

Continue to Chapter Five.

[ice-cream-beat]

xionlovers replied to your post “I can’t find it now but there was a post someone made that was just...”

It's possible but it was never confirmed. Vanitas really has nothing to do with Sora (besides his facial appearance). Vanitas has his own heart, personality and identity. Vanitas isn't part of Ventus anymore either. (Cause you know why, Ven's darkness was pulled from his heart and BLAM! Vanitas was created. Ventus and Vanitas are separated and have their own hearts). Ventus and vanitas DID NOT reunite in the end either!. (I don't know why people still think that) Ventus' [......]

I'm not gonna copy/paste every comment you made since that would be a pain (it's much easier if you just reblog the post, so for future reference, do feel free to do so XD) but just to highlight a couple of your points:

Ventus and vanitas DID NOT reunite in the end either!. (I don't know why people still think that) Ventus' heart was fractured since he destroyed Vanitas and the X blade which had fragments of Ventus' light too. Besides that, why would ven would allow vanitas go inside his heart afterwards, when ventus was trying to destroy vanitas and the X blade? Doesn't make sense.

I also don't think that they reunited at the end of BBS -- at least, not in the way that a lot of people assume. The common assumption is that they rejoined, so Vanitas' heart is now inside Sora's as a result of tagging along with Ven's. This is a topic I've covered in another post, so I won't parrot myself, but I think canon has disproved that possibility several times since. BUT, one thing I have to point out re: the end of BBS is that when Ven and Vanitas die, we see Ven's body disappear in the typical KH death fashion (see Sora in KH1, and Eraqus, etc.) and his heart leaves the area. Vanitas, however, dies a little differently: his body disappears in the same fashion, but not before it touches their joined Station of Awakening and appears to heal it (as he'd shattered it during their fight). We don't see what happens to his heart.

Referring back to the start of BBS, Sora's voice tells Ven that one day he'll "be strong enough to win back the part that left" him, which Sora's heart was filling in for (Ven's darkness, aka Vanitas). So I don't think it's a stretch to say that Ven did take Vanitas back superficially -- his heart, his darkness that Ven needed to reclaim to be whole again -- but Vanitas' consciousness didn't come with it, which would allow Xehanort to find it later (KH3, or some time before) and somehow recreate Vanitas in order to use him as a vessel. This would go hand in hand with the Vanitas Remnant, which is a physical manifestation of his feelings; even if the Remnant’s battle wasn’t canon (we don’t know yet), that still suggests that Vanitas is capable of surviving death that way.

Also, I DO wholeheartedly believe that Vanitas is one of the Seekers (he's the only one I've felt confident in predicting), so I agree with your other points! Regarding the inclusion of his theme in the orchestra score, though... eh, I don't really think it meant much. It was a "Heroes and Heroines" medley, as you pointed out, so it doesn't really make sense for his status as an end-game villain to be included with the scores representing all the end-game heroes, imo. My guess was that his score was included back-to-back with Ven's as symbolizing that they're the same person -- and given recent plot developments with Ven in the series, it might be that his darkness ends up being a bigger part of his individual character (and not just Vanitas) in particular. That's just a guess, though!

Xehanort said ventus was "unfit" as a vessel (in his report) too (I mean obviously, he couldn't even fight off heartless. [...] Everyone keep saying "xemnas trying to search for ventus" bullcrap. Here's the thing, he cannot reach the body. Aqua is the only one who can. And first off, we don't know why Xenmas was searching for. So it's unknown and not reliable. Just theories lol.

A couple things here: Ven was unfit for being a vessel back when he was 11 years old. 11-year-old Ven and 15-year-old Ven are miles apart in terms of experience, physical prowess, and power. (Just between the start of BBS and the end of BBS, maybe a few weeks at most, Ven goes from being easily smacked around by Vanitas to besting and killing him twice.) Xehanort makes the remark that 11-year-old!Ven was "too benign for his own good" -- he feared darkness too much to allow it in (unlike Terra, for example, which Xehanort exploited). Ven's light-centric nature made him unfit for a vessel because Xehanort couldn’t condition him for possession via darkness like he did Terra; it had nothing to do with Ven's physical state.

Thus, if Ven's body is sitting empty somewhere (as it currently is), what he "wants" is no issue. His heart isn't there to get in the way, hence why he's an easy and ideal vessel (again, keep in mind that his body is fit and in good shape, so it's ready for battle as soon as Xehanort theoretically gets it). As for Xemnas not being able to reach the body... I'm not sure what your point is there because yeah, that's true? that's why he's spent so long searching for it. Xehanort's achieved bigger things than just breaking into a hidden room before, so that surely wouldn't deter him (it clearly hasn't).

And yes, we do know that Xehanort/Xemnas wants Ven, for SOME reason, because A) Terra tells us and B) we see Xehanort trick Aqua into telling him where Ven is hidden. He knows that the body is in the Chamber, he knows that it's hard to find, but that obviously hasn't stopped him. 

vanitas might be with YX, YX could bring vanitas back from the past using his time travel ability. (Tbh it could be hard, idk why)

Time travel is done with. Master Xehanort explains that DDD was the Organization's one chance to be together outside the timeline (presumably thanks to Young Xehanort gathering everyone). Since Lea and the others screwed that plan, all the Seekers returned to their original times and will eventually meet up in KH3 as their present-day selves (hence the "memory imprinted on your heart even though you forget everything in time travel" spiel). Thus, if you're not alive or at least salvageable in KH3, you shouldn't be on the list.

My initial point was that I just don't think Vanitas is the final, thirteenth vessel, for the reasons I previously listed. I also find it unlikely that Vanitas is just roaming somewhere and the Organization is trying to track him down, as I also discussed on this post in other replies. Given YX's remarks in the Toy Story trailer, however, and my aforementioned thoughts on Ven superficially taking Vanitas back into himself, I could see Xehanort searching for a way to recreate Vanitas if he does already have his consciousness with him (which could match up with YX’s words) especially if he’s already Norted Vanitas prior and needs to salvage him for that reason (which I believe could have happened as far back as the end of BBS). Still, that wouldn't make Vanitas the thirteenth vessel because he was already on the list in DDD, so he was among the first 12.