#imagine when they do get skuld back though

[kwoojii]

why Player/Brain (Plain if u will) is already a great ship

1) its angsty

player doesnt remember anything from their previous life, but dont you think theyd be curious? Brain holds all the memories, but brain knows that the tragedy would be overwhelming for player. This could lead to some potential dilemma on how to tell player. Alternatively, brain could also be blunt (as always) but this would still overwhelm player. This would lead to potential hurt/comfort and apology scenes between the two. Additionally, brain is the sole survivor in khml Scala from the tragedy of daybreak town. I would imagine its alienating and lonely, especially without chirithy. Seeing player must give him relief, but when player tells him they dont remember anything, brain is back to square one. Players memories, though forgotten, are not lost. The more the duo spends time together, the more they can grieve what was lost. Together they can make new friends and turn a new page, for themselves and the future

2) unlikely friends (therefore its funny)

Khux player is canonically not talkative and brain is not the type to talk bc hes friendly. I doubt brain saw player as a friend and player probably did not consider brain as a close friend. But with khml, theyre probably scrutinized for being the odd ones out in scala. Two outsiders (clodleth fam youll like this) finding company with each other, though they may have different views on how to make friends. Id imagine their friendship is a clumsy one, but theyd learn that they compliment e/o quite well. With their undying loyalty, grievances for ephemer and their friends, willingness to sacrifice themselves, and openness to learn about each other, i think they would trust eo the most in khml. They can also be hilariously blunt so bickering would def be their love language

3) brain (lol) and brawn

Brain sent player to go check out grand central station while brain stayed back to do the lore lifting, must i say more? You cannot tell me brain would be fascinated with players rusted starlight and send them out for data

4) default black and white duo/light and darkness duo

Default player is shown to wear white clothes with blond hair, meanwhile brain has black hair with black attire. We love our black n white duos (ie skuld/eph, xeha/eraqus, brain/eph, bugs bunny n daffy duck). They r aesthetically pleasing!!!

5) last bit, but they wouldnt even realize theyre in love this ship lives off the foundation of complete hurt/comfort and trust, not romance

They are slow burn to the max, if anything. They protect eo in battle ferociously, but only bc they need eo for their respective goals. They sleep in the same bed to comfort eo for nightmares but they arent friends. Brain cooks breakfast, but— 🤓

Anyway as khml comes out and we may not get any plain crumbs at all, pls remember me at my grave 😚🙏 i ofc will be sticking around for the plot. Im so excited for khml AAAA

[starlightwayfinder]

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

⭐️ Skuld!

First impression

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

Impression now

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

Favorite moment

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

Idea for a story

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

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

Unpopular opinion

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

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

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

Favorite relationship

All of the Union leaders! And the Player too! 

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

Favorite headcanon

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

[thatwitchrevan]

so here’s a little scene based on the idea of Lea, Isa, and the surviving Dandelions looking for Subject X/Skuld. Lea and Ventus have a little bonding moment and discuss people from the past, including my khux oc. Can Ventus actually draw? I don’t know, but for the purpose of this scene he can I guess.

“What’cha got there, buddy?”

Ventus looked up over the book he was holding to see Lea. Lea smiled and took a seat beside him, leaning over to look at the book. Ven flattened it in his lap so Lea could see the various drawings spread across the white, unlined pages. Some were doodles, but others were portraits of people from the past - Foretellers, Dandelions, mysterious cloaked figures. Lea recognized Lauriam and Elrena, but the others he had no way of knowing.

“Are these all people you knew?”

“Mostly. Some I only met once, but I remembered them. Some were..my only friends for a long time. These two were Union Leaders, along with me and Skuld and Lauriam.” He pointed at a boy with white hair and another with a hat that shadowed his face. “Ephemer and...Brain.”

Lea let the silence rest for a moment. He’d been briefed on these people, he’d just never seen what they looked like. After a moment, he pointed to the most prominent drawing that hadn’t been explained. “Who’s that kid, Ven?”

Ventus sighed. “That...that’s Elias. They were a Dandelion.”

“So this is a friend of yours?”

“Yeah. Ephemer introduced us. They were real good friends with him and Skuld. When the Dandelions were first being recruited, Ava asked them to join, but they didn’t want to sit out the battle. Said it wasn’t right leaving other friends to die. They tried to stop the fighting, to reason with people, but there was no stopping it. Elias survived, but they were really hurt. They joined the Dandelions after that, and we had to erase everyone’s memory and lie to them all so they wouldn’t have to carry that hurt forever. I always felt bad about not telling them the truth.”

“Hmm. Do you know what happened to them after that?”

“No. I ended up in a different time. Last I saw them, they were okay, but I guess...they’re gone now.”

“At least now you can remember them. They’d appreciate that.”

“Skuld will remember them too.”

Lea frowned. “Yeah...”

Ven gave him a smile. “Come on, Lea. I’m sure she’s out there. We’re going to find her. You’ll see.”

Lea snorted. “You know, there’s a lot of times I would’ve loved to have your optimism.” He leaned back, glancing down at the sketchbook again. “So, got any pictures of her in there?”

Ven nodded, still smiling. “Since she’s the one we’re looking for, Skuld ended up getting her own page.” He turned it over to show a collection of drawings, most of them apparent attempts to capture an accurate likeness of Skuld’s face. To Lea’s admittedly still foggy memory, none of them quite fit, and yet it was heartrending to look at the images and recognize his old friend. Now he sort of knew how Ventus felt.

[corishadowfang]

Fic Notes: On the Edge of Daybreak

With the final chapter of On the Edge of Daybreak being posted, like...today, I thought it might be fun to get some--I guess behind the scenes stuff and fun facts about it?  Or at least, I’m interested in those sorts of things, so maybe other people will be, too, haha.

So to start off with--we have a playlist:

Full Playlist

Theseus 

Turn Around

Journey to the Past

I’m Still Here

The Paradox

Runaway

Who Is She? (Reprise)

Tell Your Heart to Beat Again

Lantern in the Night

Show Yourself

Dearly Beloved (Vocal Cover)

Honorable mentions include Falling on Angels, I Have Questions, What Did We Know?, and Fairytale.  (Yes there’s a Frozen II song on the playlist shh.)

Fun fact about On the Edge of Daybreak that I’m pretty sure I mentioned in chapter 4, but the story was originally conceptualized when I was listening to The Paradox (up there on the playlist!) and got the idea in my head, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if Skuld was hearing these stories about some weird fox, and it turned out they were about Ava, who she then had to chase across the worlds to try and get more answers on her past?”  The idea was that Skuld was doubling as the hound in the song, haha.  (I don’t remember how I initially got to ‘Skuld is chasing after Ava to get answers,’ but I think it was just because I was thinking about the ‘Skuld is Subject X’ theory at the time?)

Anyway, what I haven’t talked about is that I then proceeded to expand the story...using songs.  I kind of...mostly envisioned them as AMVs/animatics, haha, but I knew I’d never have time to actually, like...create them, but it was fun to imagine the story in my head.  (The songs I used were also somewhat different!  The Paradox was still there, obviously; Runaway was actually also still there, it was just before The Paradox, and was kind of the ‘introductory’ thing, where Skuld eventually got away from the cell and first started trying to hunt down answers.  And then I used Fairytale from the honorable mentions above as the one where she kind of got answers.)

While I realized I’d never be able to do anything with the songs...I did think about doing a fic about it.  I actually had the first chapter drafted like...I think it was nearly a year before I started Dandelion Seeds?  But I never had the time or motivation to really go further than that.

I didn’t actually stop playing around with the story in my head, though, because it was a fun thing to think about, and I kind of got to thinking about what would happen and how things might play out--and then I kind of hit on two separate ideas.  The first was thinking about how Skuld might actually get her memories back, and thinking that, story-wise, it’d make a lot of narrative sense for her to return to Radiant Garden and confront certain things about her history--and that this would be around the time that Radiant Garden was falling.  Which was just a really intense idea that gripped my imagination.  And the second was just this image of Skuld finding letters left behind by her friends and using them to learn more about herself and about her friends and using them as a way to cope and move forward.

Those were kind of the things that prompted me to actually write the story.  The playlist was kind of organized with the idea of being a pseudo-outline?  I used it to brainstorm how the major plot beats would go, haha.

...Alright, well, the playlist trivia got a bit longer than expected, so uh, here’s a whole bunch of other fun facts in bullet point form:

Originally I wanted to write out the whole thing and do very thorough edits before posting the story.  Partly I wanted to do this because it would help me avoid burnout, and partly because then I could make it a lot more polished.  But I was struggling with motivation a lot, so I eventually decided to just go with a biweekly update schedule to force myself to actually finish it.  There’s still a part of me that wishes I could’ve polished it more--but I figure a complete but unpolished story is better than one that was never completed.

This was initially supposed to be a short series--maybe 200 pages long.  I am, however, very long-winded, so it ended up growing by...a lot.  (One day I will write an actual short series.  One day.)

In some of the earliest ideas for drafts, Skuld actually didn’t want to find her past; she just felt obligated to because there were people out there who were probably missing her, and she felt like she ‘owed it’ to the person she used to be.

Zidane wasn’t always going to be a part of the cast!  Initially, I wasn’t going to have anyone but Jim and the Treasure Planet crew--but it also felt kind of weird, not having anyone come from Gaia when I had Skuld start there?  And it felt a little unbalanced with just Skuld and Jim, haha.  Other candidates for the third party member were Freya and Garnet.

Initially I wanted to play with the prose a bit so that anything that related to the Keyblade (including Ava and Luxu) was written with a lot of figurative language and purple prose-y stuff and everything else was kind of more normal prose.  I quickly realized that was going to be way too much editing for a biweekly update schedule, but you can still see some remnants of the idea.

The point of the story was always less about Skuld finding her memories and more about her being able to come to terms with what happened to her--which is why she gets her memories back before the actual climax.  She’d need to have them to be able to figure out how to cope with them and move forward.

This is probably the closest I’ve stuck to an actual outline, like...ever.  No, really, my outlines almost always fall apart like...a few chapters in, but this one worked out surprisingly well.  I have no idea how.

The confrontation between Skuld and Luxu at the end of chapter 11 is one of my favorite things I’ve written, like...ever.

Healing is definitely a process, and sometimes, the after-effects of trauma will stay with you for a long time--maybe forever.  I wanted to acknowledge that at the end of the story; Skuld is doing a lot better, but she still has some issues sometimes--and that those issues still haven’t prevented her from being able to find some sort of peace and acceptance.

No, Skuld has no idea what happened to Scala ad Caelum at the end of KH3; yes, when she finds out, she’s going to consider resurrecting Xehanort just to make him fix it.

On that note--I imagine she’s recruited a lot of people to help her rebuild!  The crew helps on their free time, but so do a lot of other people.  It’s slow going, but there’s progress.

Hinted at this a little at the very end of the last chapter, but Skuld’s been pretty busy as a Keyblade wielder!  She takes on missions to fight Heartless whenever people need her to do so; she’s pretty well-known in her neck of the woods, it just happens that that’s way away from where most of the main games take place.  It’s a big universe!

The ending bit with Skuld walking away from Daybreak Town is...actually a little bit of a pun?  She is constantly ‘on the edge’ of Daybreak Town in her dreams, and the sun’s always just about to rise, so at the end, when the sun finally rises and she walks away, she’s no longer ‘on the edge of daybreak,’ i.e. the story’s over.

As far as the title goes, it has a couple of different meanings!  There’s the very literal one mentioned above, obviously.  It’s also a little more metaphorical, in that she’s perpetually ‘stuck’ on the edge of daybreak (town), so to speak, since she’s obviously very desperate to find her past.  And then it’s also like...on the edge of a discovery/something new.  Daybreak’s kind of like a new beginning, and Skuld’s basically on the edge of a new beginning herself--she just has to get to the point where she’s ready for it.

The story was always meant to have a relatively open, ‘the journey continues’ sort of ending.  Originally, I planned to leave it with the trio getting ready to leave Scala ad Caelum, with it still up in the air whether or not Skuld would go with them or go somewhere else or even stay in Scala.  I ended up deciding to go with one set in the future so I could leave the implication that she’s about to run into some old friends again.  (Yes, she does in fact probably recruit them for rebuilding purposes.  It is partially their fault.  They owe her.)

Uh, I actually have...a lot more I could say, haha, but I never realize how long these things’ll be until I start typing them out.  This story has definitely been a journey, with a lot of emotional labor put into it, and while it’s far from perfect, it’s still something I’m relatively proud of.  I’m sure I’ll come back to it later and see all sorts of mistakes, haha, but at least for now--well, I’m glad it’s out there.

[dahniwitchoflight]

KH: The Foreteller’s Animal Masks

This is half fun facts / half theory but basically it’s a list of which Sins/Foretellers are associated with which animals AND where the inspirations for the animal associations came from, since there’s actually a few different sources!

The first would be the Ancrene Wisse, which was a sort of field guidebook for Anchoresses (Female Abbesses/Monks/Nuns basically) containing rules of conduct and behavior 

https://www.hermitary.com/articles/ancrene.html

This goes into many things that honestly have cool thematic ties with symbolism for stuff in Kingdom Hearts, which I could honestly make a whole post in it’s own for tbh, but for here were focusing on one passage:

“The wilderness is the solitary life of the anchoress's dwelling, for just as in the wilderness there are all the wild beasts, and they will not endure men coming near but flee when they hear them, so should anchorites, above all other women, be wild in this way, and then they will be desirable, above other women, to Our Lord. 

In this wilderness are many evil beasts: the lion of pride, the snake of poisonous envy, the unicorn of anger, the bear of dead sloth, the fox of covetousness, the sow of gluttony, the scorpion with the tail of stinging lechery, that is, lust.”

So, we start out with a nice base for some of the Sin/Foretellers:

Ira - Wrath - Unicorn - Unicornis

Avaritia - Greed - Fox - Vulpes

Acedia - Sloth - Bear - Ursus

Invidia - Envy - Snake - Anguis

but then wait, here Gula/Gluttony is a Sow, a Pig, but in KH it’s a Leopard

As well as recently in KH, they’ve made it clear that Luxu/Luxuria is a Goat, not a Scorpion (As cool as a Scorpion would have been for Luxu’s emblem, but a bit too on the nose I suppose haha)

Well, interestingly enough, did you know that back when the 7 deadly sins was actually more like the 8 Evil Things once? And that they were also grouped into a Trio of their own? 

(Despair as Tristitia being the 8th one, because it’s essentially the sin of falling to sorrow/sadness or giving up, of blinding yourself to other’s troubles and causing sorrow in return or being too sorrowful to act, later it was folded into Sloth as a lack of diligence) 

But the 3 Major sin groupings was essentially the three Reasons that people would sin the deadly sins

Incontinence: Doing wrong because they couldn't help it. Or sinning from a lack of moderation or self-control.

Violence: Doing wrong because of anger, revenge or retaliation. Or sinning from by trying to force your will externally

Fraud/Corruption: Doing wrong on purpose in order to hurt other's. Or sinning from betrayal, lies and manipulation. 

These three things form a sort of Unholy Trinity in opposition with the Divine trinity of Father-Son-Holy Spirit

And, very famously, Dante’s Inferno links these three groupings to three creatures from a famous bible verse describing the destruction of humanity via it's own nature:

Jeremiah 5:6 - “Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, and a wolf from the desert shall destroy them. A leopard is watching against their cities, every one who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.”

A Lion, A Leopard and A Wolf.

Now based on Dante’s actual writing which grouping with which animal and which sins is often debated, but usually it’s roughly as follows:

Leopard of Incontinence: Gluttony, Greed, Luxuria (from Immoderation, Extravagance, Wastefulness)

Lion of Violence: Wrath, Pride (from Murder, Suicide, Squandering, Blasphemy)

Wolf of Fraud/Corruption: Envy, Sloth, Sorrow/Despair (Tristitia) (from Corruption, Thievery, Falsifier, Betrayal) (yeah... old timey people did indeed view what was essentially depression as a “willful” sin aka something people did on purpose to hurt themselves, like they drown in their sorrows willingly because of a refusal to heal themselves or as a willing corruption of their soul, nowadays if it existed would definitely be thought of a Leopard sin I’d think)

So here it’s very easy to see where Leopardos and Gula get tied together, because in KH the sin of Gluttony is lifted above the other’s in the group, which makes sense because being gluttonous for money is greed, being gluttonous for luxuries was Luxuria (or sex for lust)

And here also, the Sin of Pride/Superbia is again associated with the Lion as it is in the Ancrene Wisse (though it’s also associated with Wrath strongly as well, so no wonder MoM chose Ira to be the next leader after he was gone)

So in all likelihood, this means that the symbol of the Master of Masters is most likely a Lion of Pride, Superbia (and if he had his own union, it might be something like Leo or Panthera) 

But honestly the biggest thing that definitely makes MoM the Lion of Pride is the passage in the Ancrene Wisse that elaborates upon the Lion of Pride, describing it as having “many cubs”:

“But the author continues the animal analogies, enumerating a classification of the sins. "The lion of pride has very many cubs," he states, and enumerates them: vainglory, indignation, hypocrisy, presumption, disobedience, loquacity, blasphemy, impatience, contumacy, contention, "airs and graces." “

Reminds me of both MoM’s many apprentices or Master Xehanort’s collection in the organization

Though the REAL reason is also because did you know when KH was still being thought of and designed, Nomura actually wanted to make Sora a Half-Lion Chainsaw Wielder and we all know Sora is secretly the MoM right lol

But anyway, that explains Gula being a Leopard

So then where did all this talk of Luxu being a Goat come from?

Well one reason could be that later on as the deadly sins got solidified as just the seven of them, and as their meanings changed from umbrella terms to more specific sins, their animal interpretations also started to differ:

Avarice/Greed = Toad/Frog 

Invidia/Envy = Snake

Ira/Wrath = Lion

Acedia/Sloth = Snail

Gula/Gluttony = Pig

Luxuria/Lust = Goat

Superbia/Pride = Peacock

Also Ira with a Lion mask would be cool but can you imagine a Snail Aced or a Froggy Ava? lol

But it IS Cool to think that these “Modernized” animals could then become the emblems of the Union Leaders that inherited Ava’s legacy, since they are the newer versions of those Unions, obviously there’s no one to Inherit MoM’s legacy

But you could easily think of Ventus as the “Traitor” aka the scapeGoated 6th for the new group, leaving Frogs, Snakes, Lions, Snails and Pigs for the other five 

(I wonder who I’d put with who... Ephemer, Skuld, Lauriam, Strelitzia and Brain... the only sin associated with Death would be Wrath (As Suicide) and the “Ira” position appears to be the one who inherits the leader, and it’s theorized Strelitzia was the circled name supposed to get the Book of Prophecies

So Strelitzia = Lion/Wrath

Ephemer and Ava always seemed to be the closest and he was the one who seemed to inherit her Legacy the most so he can get Frogs/Greed

Brain is similar to Gula in how they calmly investigate issues and try to uncover the truth and got extra information than the others, so Pigs/Gluttony for him

Lauriam was the poster boy for temptation into darkness, which is what Darkness was intended when his sister Strelitzia was killed, for him to be the first to fall to rage and grief, nice Aced parallel as the one everyone suspected of falling to darkness first so he gets Snails/Sloth, fitting for the flower elemental lol

and that leave Skuld and Invi which also makes sense as the parallel for the person who tries to intervene in conflicts and mediate for the group, so Skuld gets Snake/Envy

Neat!

But anyway back to Luxu, I think Luxu is represented by the Goat not just because of the above modern listings, but also because of the special place of evil that Christian religions tend to place on Goat itself

If the Lamb is the most common symbol of Jesus Christ, the Goat has always been a symbol of the Evil of Lucifer. Sheep and Goats, despite being so similar, have always been seen as this symbolic duo. Sheep and Lambs being submissive, complacent, docile, while Goats are crazy, willful, destructive and etc likely because since they are so close in nature, they are basically seen as the Good and Evil version of the same animal, a Goat is essentially a heretical false Lamb

They are very commonly associated with the Devil/Lucifer himself and goats have always gotten the short end of stick, all the way back to the old tradition of using goats as well, scape-goats literally. The practice of singling out a particular creature or person and placing all the sin and blame onto it, and then driving it away

Luxu is singled out from the group, likely given the role of “Traitor” amongst the six of them and then is forced into essentially exile to the future by MoM where he can do nothing but watch and wait, never able to interfere or meddle with anything

And this reasoning of the Goat fits Luxu above all others.

So there we have it, finally at the end:

Ira/Wrath - Unicorn/Unicornis

Avaritia/Greed - Fox/Vulpes

Acedia/Sloth - Bear/Ursus

Invidia/Envy - Snake/Anguis

Gula/Gluttony - Leopard/Leopardus

and if Luxu and MoM had union names, (which seem to be just be taken from the genus of the animal directly) they’d likely be:

Luxuria/Lust - Goat/Caprini

Superbia/Pride - Lion/Panthera

But I think the Most Interesting Thing to glean from all of this, is going back to the 3 Groupings for the 8 evil things, can you imagine if KH ever decides to give MoM a little backstory, and a figure based on the Wolf of Fraud/Corruption, emblem of Despair came into the picture somewhere?

Something that might look a little like this?

Hey that’s interesting, isn’t this the special secret boss Dark Hide from Aqua’s Fragmentary Passage? Y’know, that journey all about Aqua falling into the pits of Despair where she then ends up fighting The First Real Pureblood Heartless she ever faces in the Realm of Darkness? Something that Aqua felt was Willfully and Intentionally Stalking her through the depths, instead of mindlessly attacking her?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQGONhqs0mU

Isn’t that interesting how all of things, they give this boss the opportunity for the player to see through it’s eyes, something very unique, and how it initially appears as a formless Darkness

And isn’t Darkness itself, given a will and a personality, now a figure in KHUX Dark Road, that has specific ties to the MoM, as Luxu describes as being a fellow student and/or old friend of MoM?

Could the Will of Despair manifested from darkness come to be a secret 8th apprentice of MoM?

Who knows, but it’s interesting how that symbolism lines up isn’t it?

[kessielrg]

[Kingdom Hearts] Occupational Hazard

Summary: By far, Ven’s got the most boring job at the flower shop; the cashier. Sitting day in and day out for someone to browse along the rows of flowers and gardening tools, then probably walk right out again. Sometimes an interesting thing would happen- but they were few and far between. [flower shop AU focused on UX kids][Part 6 in a series of oneshots][VenxOC][EphemerxOC/F!Player]

Rating: K

Word Count: 2,541

If you liked this story, please reblog!

---

Ven thought about having children exactly once before. It had been a really random thought too. What made him space out that day? Had he been preparing for a test, or was it just another slow day at the flower shop? He hated that he had daydreamed about it enough that he knew exactly what kind of kid he wanted. (A girl, by the way- with the rest depending on if he could convince his ideal lady of being with him.) Either way, seeing Ephemer’s 19 month old son brought about feelings of wanting to be a father one day, while also making him glad that he wasn’t.

Furthermore, he wasn’t used to Ephemer being dressed to the nines either. The teen couldn’t help but stare at his coworker as Ephemer handed off various baby supplies to Skuld. It was a weird juxtaposition seeing Ephemer in a well pressed suit, and passing a wrinkled and well worn duffle bag to Skuld.

“There should be more than enough diapers to cover any accidents he’ll have in the next few hours.” Ephemer told Skuld. “Anora insisted we keep him from eating the foods that make him super gassy, just in case. She’s a smart one, that Anora. There’s a reason why she’s my wife.”

“Don’t have to convince me.” Skuld snorted. “Don’t know why you’re so dressed up for a night to the movies. We all know you two are going to be making out in the back of the car by the end of the night.”

Ephemer’s face immediately went up in a deep scarlet. He let out a sheepish laugh as he scratched the back of his neck. Skuld just laughed at him.

“Luca will be safe with me,” she then told him. “We’ve got a supply truck coming around in another hour or so, Thursdays are usually kinda dead anyway, and Ven’ll be here manning the main front. The next four hours will go by quickly.”

“I knew he’d be safe.” Ephemer laughed, albeit somewhat forced. “It’s how often you’ll be actually looking after him. You’re the one babysitting, and you’re still at work.”

Skuld gave Ephemer a rather dry laugh of her own before telling him, “I can do both.”

At Ephemer’s skeptic raise of his eyebrow, Skuld went on to say, “I will. After the truck gets here, my attention will be on nothing else.”

“Right…” Ephemer mused. He gave a shake of his head before getting down to Luca’s height. His son had been politely standing next to him while the old friends talked. Luca seemed to have understanding of what was going on- Ven just couldn’t get over those large blue-grey eyes. They just… stared between Ephemer and Skuld with severe inquisition. It almost made Luca look a good three or so years older. So young and yet so serious looking…

(Oh no, now Ven wanted to ask Brain if there were any surviving photos of Sabrina as a baby. She would hate knowing that he saw them, but he had to know. Did she always look that serious at a young age too?)

Ephemer gave his son a bright smile- one that was almost returned.

“You be good for Auntie Skuld and Venny, alright Luca?”

The toddler looked at his father for a long time, the wheels turning in his younger mind to register what was said, before giving a little nod. Ephemer grinned as he ruffled his son’s hair. He grunted slightly as he got back up (which Skuld was quick to snicker at) before starting his way out the door.

“See you two in five hours.” Ephemer waved at them.

“You told me earlier it was going to be four.” Skuld refuted, putting a hand on her hip. Ephemer just shrugged.

“You know I have a hard time keeping my hands off my wife, Skuld. And without a kid around? We’re practically kids again ourselves.”

Skuld let out a small ‘tsk’ sound and smirk. “Yeah, yeah. Get outta here. Go conceive your next child away from the flower shop for once.”

Even with his face flushing again, Ephemer gave her a playful salute before closing the door behind him. Skuld just looked at the door for a moment or so just to shake her head at him.

“Come up, Luca.” she then told the toddler, bending down a bit and extending her arms to him. “We gotta look out for the delivery guy.”

Luca gave her a glare so mean, Ven had to cough to cover up his laugh. The toddler even went into a string of sounds that could have been interpreted as sass. But he went over to Skuld, regardless. He allowed himself to be picked up by the woman, and together they disappeared into the back room. With the boss out of earshot, Ven felt free to let out the snicker he had been holding in for the past three minutes. The last thing on his mind was how Skuld would inevitably take her work at the flower shop over watching Luca. He’d figure it out soon- he just wished that peace had lasted a bit longer.

. . .

A good hour or so later, and Ven decided to make himself useful by making sure everything had a price sticker on it. No ceramic pot could go unturned without a sticker declaring its probably high ball price. Better than just sitting at the register and drifting off into who knows where until Skuld caught him.

Ven happened to notice Luca out of the corner of his eye. The toddler casually walked (or as casually as you could at 19 months, since you didn’t quite have the best balance still) out of the backroom and into the main store front. Ven slowed his movements a bit to watch Luca look over the area, then go over to a certain large vase with some faux reeds in it. It was rather amusing watching Luca plonk his little bottom down in front of it.  Ven gave a quiet snort before properly returning to his work. He almost had to stop because something new happened.

Luca started babbling at the flowers.

At least, Ven thought it still counted as babbling. Every now and again he could pick out sounds that certainly sounded like real words; like ‘same’, and ‘daddy’, and ‘kiss-shun’, and ‘mommy.’ Or maybe Ven was imagining it. Putting price tags on everything was ridiculously boring.

“Ven!” Skuld suddenly shouted from the backroom, scaring both Ven and Luca alike. “Do you see Luca?”

“Yeah.” he lazily replied. “He’s out here talking to some reeds.”

Skuld immediately left the backroom just to glare at Ven. He flinched a little at her gaze.

“Get him away from those!” she demanded. “I’m still going over what’s come in.”

Ven blinked at her, then looked over at Luca. The kid was literally doing nothing but staring at the other flowers now. He probably even had an acute awareness he was being talked about, but not being talked to. Ven turned his attention back to Skuld with a face that was trying to feign innocence.

“Why? They're edible.”

“Not when you're still able to choke on fine cut food!” his boss immediately retorted. All it did was spark a moment of defiance.

“Skuld, there are full grown adults that still choke on normal cut food. Your point is getting more moot by the moment.”

“I can't believe you and Sabrina aren't dating yet.” Skuld mumbled under her breath. “You share the same amount of… Urg. Just get Luca away from those flowers!”

Perhaps a bit too amused at his superior's frustration, Ven let out a short chortle before setting the price stickers down. Skuld only grimaced as she went to the backroom again. Still grinning, Ven walked over to Luca, finding himself bemused by the kid still, and asked without meaning any harm; “Whatcha doing there, Luca?”

The toddler immediately jumped, then looked up at Ven with wide, curious eyes. Slowly, as if he were aware he could be in trouble, Luca's little face started to break. Poor Ven was in no way prepared for the kid's wailing. He immediately flinched and covered his ears at the sound.

“You're not in trouble! You're not in trouble!” Ven quickly said, awkwardly making his way down to the floor to be at Luca's eye level. “Just gotta be careful, alright?”

But this didn't stop Luca from crying. If it was any consideration, Ven was sure the toddler didn't even hear him. Cursing under his breath, Ven looked around the flower shop for anything that could distract Luca. There were some plush toys in a display close by. Maybe one of those would work? Ven wasn’t going to leave it up to guessing. He quickly went to the display, quickly located and snatched a dolphin plush, then went back over to Luca.

“Here there buddy,” he said, bringing the plush close to Luca’s eye range. “Do you wanna cuddle buddy?”

Luca stopped crying just long enough to give the plush a glance, shove it of his eyesight, and let out a rather clear, very angry, “No!”

Ven let out a long (and very tired) sigh of defeat. Wasn't Skuld the one that was supposed to be babysitting this tiny person? Why did it feel like he was doing all the work?

But first, he had to shut Luca up.

What else could Ven distract Luca with? Better question- what did Luca even like? Was there anything in this store that could calm this kid long enough so he wasn’t the loudest sound on the block? All this crying had to be stressful for him. Heck, it was stressful for Ven! An even better question right about now was ‘where on earth is Skuld?!’ because that was rather important too. Could she really not hear Luca wailing from the backroom? Maybe he should check on her…

Luca’s crying hit a note so high pitched the Ven flinched. He turned his attention back to the kid in defeat. Unsure of what else to do, he tried to rack his brain on what Ephemer and Anora did to calm Luca down. But that was just the thing, wasn’t it? Usually Luca wasn’t whining. Ven did get an idea though. Carefully, Ven put his hand on Luca’s head, trying to mimic the way Ephemer ruffled his son’s hair. To his surprise, it actually seemed to work. Luca started to settle down little by little until he gave nothing more than a few sniffles.

“There you go, buddy.” Ven cooed, sounding like he was more addressing an angry bear than a child. “Feel better now?”

Luca rubbed his eyes before turning to Ven. It was slow to make sure Ven didn’t stop gently kneading his fingers into Luca’s hair. The toddler gave Ven a few tired blinks. Apparently crying for five minutes straight was particularly draining.

“Tell me.” Luca said to Ven, pointing to an arrangement to his left. Ven blinked. He didn’t hallucinate that sentence, right?

“Tell you what? About the flowers?”

Luca gave him a determined nod.

“But I don’t know-” Ven tried to tell him, but Luca was a smart kid. He purposely started to make his face break again, and even started a little whimper before Ven caught on. “Wait, wait, wait!” Ven quickly stammered, removing his hand from Luca’s head to throw them up in defense. “I might know some stuff. And look, I could probably look some things up on my phone too. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

Still milking his leverage over Ven , Luca wiped his eyes as he gave another nod. Ven let out a relieved sigh. It should be that hard to fake what he knew about plants, right? As Luca gave a long yawn, Ven hoped that he could probably even be able to lull the kid into sleep. Honestly, he was practically doing Skuld’s job for her.

. . .

Ephemer and Anora returned to the flower shop thirty minutes earlier than expected. They seemed to be in good spirits, so the date must have gone on well enough. Skuld was quick to hand Luca and his baby paraphernalia back to his parents.

“He didn’t give you any trouble, did he?” Ephemer asked, taking the duffle bag as Anora got their son.

“Not at all.” Skuld affirmed. “I was a bit preoccupied with the shipment that came in, so Ven helped out a bit.”

Hearing this, Ephemer and Anora looked at Skuld like she had proposed murder. Ephemer was the one who let out a forced laugh before saying,  “Skuld…? Your shift ended before I dropped Luca off, that’s why we left him with you.”

“Knew it.” Ven mumbled under his breath. The parents looked at him before returning their attention to the rather unapologetic Skuld.

“I still watched him.” she insisted. “And now I still have some work to do before heading home for the night. Ven’s shift is ending for the night, and we all know he won’t do the inventory count tonight.”

“Because at this time of night, we do it in the morning.” Ephemer told her. Skuld didn’t seem to pick up on his annoyance. Instead, she went to the backroom before anyone could stop her.

Ephemer let out a long sigh of exhaustion. He should have known better, honestly. He looked at Anora and grinned. It was meant as a signal for them to head out, but Anora had other plans. She carefully nudged Ephemer, giving him a small look that he could read well. Ephemer nodded before digging into his wallet to find a twenty dollar bill.

“Here Ven, take this,” he offered. Ven just looked back at him with the most bewildered look. Ephemer saw it and just laughed. “We all know how Skuld gets when she doesn’t leave work. I’ll come in on my next shift with another twenty for you.”

“But I don’t-” Ven tried to argue, but it was Anora who stepped up to place a gentle hand on Ventus’s elbow. The teen froze right then and there. It was honestly the more polite thing to do- Anora didn’t really have much of a grip on him.

“Thank you for watching Luca tonight.” she carefully told him- for a moment it made him wonder if she thought she was to blame for some reason. “If Ephemer doesn’t pay you back, I will. And that’s a promise.”

“O-oh no, ma’am.” Ven quickly stuttered out. “It’s fine! Honest! It wasn’t even a big deal. Nah. Not really. Luca’s a pretty cool kid when you sit down and play with him. Pretty smart too. Nothing to sweat about. Hardly interrupted anything. Really.”

Anora offered a polite smile, although Ven felt guilty under it all the same.

“See you later, Ven!” Ephemer waved as the family left the shop. Ven waved back, still feeling guilty from Anora’s generosity. Luca watched Ven from other his mother’s shoulder- the expression was particularly hard to decipher. Ven just hoped it was one of respect. That little brat better not forget what Ven did for him today.

“Definitely having a girl.” Ven mumbled under his breath before clocking out for the day.

[kuriboo]

taking root in the soil

Rating: General Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: Gen Fandom: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games) Relationships: Lauriam & Marluxia (Kingdom Hearts),Marluxia & Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Lauriam & Terra (Kingdom Hearts) Characters: Lauriam (Kingdom Hearts), Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua (Kingdom Hearts), Marluxia (Kingdom Hearts) Additional Tags: Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Terrariam Week 2021, Hurt/Comfort, Marluxia Is Lauriam (Kingdom Hearts), spoilers for both kh3 and khux Word Count: 2,436

On twitter there was an event for Terrariam Week, focusing on the relationship between Terra & Lauriam/Marluxia. I wrote for a few prompts, I had to cut it off at 3 but it was a lot of fun to write! Khux really made me care a lot about Lauriam so this really gave me an excuse to write him lol but anyway, I’ll post all the days’ entries here with the prompts that go with them.This is also posted on ao3; the link to ao3 will be in the notes of this post! I’ll also post the link to the terrariam week account in the notes.

You can also keep reading below.

⁂

Day 1: Meet-Cute

Lauriam stared down at his black cloak. He was sick of this thing.

The cloak was supposed to protect his heart from darkness. It was also a symbol of his status as a former member of Organization 13. It was a symbol of the person he became without his memories, turning against everything he was supposed to be. Guardian of Light turned Seeker of Darkness. Keyblade wielder turned assassin.

He felt like a traitor. He didn’t just turn against the original Organization, he turned against everything he used to stand for. He forgot about his sister, his friends, everything, and he was only now just starting to remember.

Well, he started to remember as Sora defeated him. His memories were still coming back. He remembered being a Dandelion, he remembered being a Union leader, he remembered Strelitzia…

Strelitzia…

He forgot about his own sister.

Lauriam laughed, a single tear falling down his face. It landed with a small splash on a flower below him, the flower just one of many surrounding him in this field. It was so similar to the one where he appeared after leaving Daybreak Town, where he started his search for Strelitzia.

He’d have to look for Elrena. Had she begun to remember? If not, he would have to try to help her. He owed that to her, for standing beside him for so long, even after they lost their memories.

A step crunching the flowers behind him broke Lauriam’s thoughts. He whirled around to see who it was.

Oh, Lauriam recognized that face. His hair was a different color, brown instead of white, but Lauriam was no fool. This was one of Xehanort’s many forms back again. Lauriam summoned his Keyblade in his hands. Would he never be able to escape him?

Xehanort stopped. He appeared confused. “You’re… Marluxia, right?

“It’s Lauriam now,” Lauriam corrected. “And I’ll thank you to remember that. You won’t get me to join your schemes anymore, Xehanort.”

“Xehanort?” He blinked, still confused. “No, no, Xehanort doesn’t have control over me anymore. I’m free now. My name is Terra.”

“Terra.” Lauriam kept his stance. Xehanort wasn’t above playing tricks. “And why should I trust you, ‘Terra’?”

“You don’t have to.” Terra held his hands up in front of him, palms out. “We’re not here to look for you. This is an accident.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” Lauriam’s grip on his Keyblade tightened. The Organization? “And what are you looking for, then?”

“Two of my friends are here with me.” Terra hesitated. “We’ve been searching different worlds for… Sora.”

Sora? There was a name Lauriam felt like he could trust now. Lauriam could still remember trying to turn the boy into a puppet. How ironic.

“Terra!”

Lauriam turned as he heard another voice call out to Terra. The person it belonged to…

Memories came flooding back. The blonde hair, the clothes he was wearing. Lauriam knew this person. Not from the Organization, but before.

“I asked the dwarves about him,” he told Terra without preamble. “They said no one’s seen him or heard anything about him. I guess Sora isn’t—“ He broke off, staring at Lauriam. “…Who are you?”

Lauriam knew him. Ventus, another former Union leader. Well, Ven wasn’t originally chosen for the role, but Lauriam wasn’t angry at him about it anymore. It wasn’t Ven’s fault he was used by Darkness.

“Hey, are you crying?” Ven asked.

Lauriam reached up to touch his cheek. It was wet. He was crying again. His heart must be overwhelmed, feeling so many emotions already when he wasn’t used to it anymore. “You’re the first… Nevermind. We’ve met before, but you must not remember me.” The Divine Rose disappeared from Lauriam’s hand. “My name is Lauriam. It’s good to see you again, Ven.”

“…Oh. I’m sorry.” Ven looked down at the ground. “You’re not the first friend I’ve met who I’ve forgotten. I can’t remember anything before I met Terra and Aqua…”

Terra put his hand on Ven’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s not your fault.”

“He’s right.” Lauriam smiled, though it hurt. Why did hearts make things so difficult? “I only just remembered myself. I’m hardly in a position to judge.”

He wasn't upset. Lauriam was just… disappointed. Not with Ven himself. But just as he started to remember again, he finally found another Union leader, only for said Union leader to have also forgotten. Fate could be cruel.

“I never imagined the world you came from to be like this. It’s strange to see you again here, of all places,” Terra admitted.

“I’m not from this world. The world I’m from…” Lauriam sighed. “It was destroyed a long time ago. This is where I found myself after I left.”

“Then can you come with us? To our world?” Ven blurted out. “I mean, you don’t have to, but… It would be nice to get to know you again! And maybe you can help me remember again!”

“You want me to…come with you?” Lauriam asked.

“We’ve been looking for Sora, but we’ve had to take breaks back home. I think Aqua will agree it’s about time for another one,” Terra said. “It would be nice to get to know you better…outside of everything before.”

“I don’t think I’d mind that, if you all will have me,” Lauriam answered. “And if I could help you find Sora again as well, it’d be the least I could do to make amends with him.”

And maybe find Elrena as well, and even Strelitzia, if they were searching many different worlds. Besides, where else could he go?

⁂

Day 2: New Beginnings

“Welcome to the Land of Departure.”

Lauriam looked around as Terra, Aqua, and Ventus led him through this new world. (New to him, at least.) Most of what he could see was the large building in front of them. It almost felt familiar; it must be the size, since the Castle That Never Was and Castle Oblivion seemed about as big as this place was. There was some greenery around, but not many flowers or anything like that.

Lauriam was okay with that. He was sure he’d still see the last place he saw his sister in his dreams.

“Come on!” Aqua led the group inside.

He was soon brought into a huge room. There were a couple of chairs, and it was nicely decorated, but there was a lot of empty space. Was this room used for training, or something else?

“Well, it’s not much, but it’s home,” Terra joked.

It was amazing how big this place seemed to be compared to what Lauriam was used to. “So this is the kind of place Keyblade wielders train these days?”

“I’m sure it’s not much compared to what you used to have,” Aqua said.

Lauriam chuckled. “When I was training, we were sent to different worlds all the time doing different missions. So, the places we got to stay in were rather small, but we were rarely there when we weren’t sleeping. I got to stay in the tower as a Union leader, though, which was much bigger. Too big, actually, it was easy to get lost in.”

As for after that… “As part of the…Organization, it wasn’t much different from when I was training. We had small rooms, but were constantly in other worlds for different missions. So, for the most part, this is actually bigger than I’m used to.”

“So a lot has changed…” Ven had a contemplative look on his face. “Can you tell us more? About what it was like back then? I wish I could remember…”

“Of course I can,” Lauriam said. He could tell more about the good times, anyway. He’d rather not get into the bad times, especially those relating to Darkness and his sister. But there were plenty of good times to reflect back on. “But we should probably find somewhere to sit, first. This could get long.”

⁂

“I’m assuming you want to get out of that coat.”

It had gotten late. Ven had gone to bed not long ago, and Aqua had just done the same. Ventus had listened eagerly to Lauriam’s recollections happily, and threw in his questions constantly. Now it was just Terra and Lauriam left.

Lauriam knew what Terra was getting at. He was sick of this black coat. It was supposed to protect his heart from darkness, but had come to symbolize something much worse. A period of his life that was now past.

“If you have anything else I could try, I would appreciate it,” Lauriam responded. “I would rather avoid wearing this thing unless I absolutely need to.”

“We’ve got spare clothes around. Stuff that doesn’t fit anyone. I’ll try to find whatever I can for you to try on.”

Lauriam thanked Terra as Terra walked off, going off to find the clothes in question. Now Lauriam was left alone with his thoughts, but all he could think about was what he was missing now that his memory had returned. He was missing Strelitzia, of course he was missing her. He was also missing Brain, Skuld, and Ephemer. He missed the Ventus that remembered who he was. The only thing that he had left from those times was his Keyblade, back to him now that he’d regained his heart.

Ironic, considering how before he’d regained his memories, he’d yearned for a Keyblade of his own.

Soon, Terra was back with a pile of clothes in his arm, more than Lauriam had been expecting.

“I can take you to a room to try them on,” Terra told him. “Hopefully something in here will fit you.”

Once Lauriam was there and alone, he started going through the pile. Most of it didn’t fit him, which he expected. It wasn’t like all the clothes were magically going to fit him. But he was able to find enough for a new outfit. A black button-up shirt and beige pants. He could keep his Organization boots on for now, so he wasn’t pressed for new shoes. Once the outfit was on, Lauriam walked back to where Terra was waiting, carrying his Organization coat over his shoulder.

“Well, what do you think?” Lauriam asked. “It’s certainly not my outfit from the old days, but I think it’ll do.”

“It looks great,” Terra said, a smile forming on his face. “It’s a fresh start. A new beginning for you.”

A new beginning… Lauriam liked that.

⁂

Day 5: Big Brothers Dynamic (or Day 3: Hurt/Comfort)

“He really looks up to you.”

Terra paused in his training. He looked over and noticed Lauriam watching him. Truthfully, Lauriam had been watching for a while, but Terra seemed so into his training that he hadn’t noticed.

“Who?” Terra asked.

“Ven,” Lauriam clarified. “He admires you, both you and Aqua.” He chuckled. “Ironic, considering he’s been a wielder much longer than you two.”

Terra shook his head. “Aqua deserves all the admiration, not me. I admire her, too. But after all I did to push him away, I’m lucky he looks up to me at all.”

“You can’t blame yourself for the way Xehanort manipulated you.” Lauriam frowned. “You’re far from his only victim. He has a knack for pulling in people who are lost, or missing something. It’s not luck or a mistake that Ven admires you; you came out of it all and took back everything that was yours.”

“I can’t agree with you, but I appreciate it.” Terra’s keyblade disappeared. “You know, you’re one of the first people that knew Ven before he lost his memory. After Chirithy, I mean.”

“Am I?” Lauriam blinked. “I’m…surprised, though really I shouldn’t be. Only the Union leaders and Elrena made it out of our world, and I haven’t found any of the other leaders since. Only Elrena, and now Ven, but Ven and Elrena hardly knew each other.”

“What was he like? Before he lost his memory?”

“Not so different, as far as I can tell. He was equal to the rest of us but still felt inferior, and felt he had to prove himself. He was a good friend, almost like a younger brother to the rest of us. He…”

Marluxia’s expression darkened. “He has more in common with you than either of you know.”

“…What do you mean?”

“He deserves better than to remember. If the full story comes out, he should be the first to know. But… Ven is part of the reason my sister disappeared.”

“Your…sister? What happened?”

Lauriam held up a hand. “Ven is not the one at fault. I forgave him a long time ago. Still, one of the reasons I left our world was to look for her. She has to be out there somewhere, and I won’t give up looking until I find her.”

Terra remembered what it felt like, when he returned home to find Master Eraqus attacking Ven. At that moment, it didn’t matter why their master was attacking him. Nothing could have stopped Terra from protecting Ven. He felt horrified that anyone would attack Ven, but the idea that their master felt he had to made Terra feel sick.”

He tried to picture it. Coming back to the Land of Departure to learn that Ven was completely gone. It was the closest he could think of based on what little Lauriam had described. “I don’t know what I’d do if I found out Ven was gone.”

“I think I nearly lost myself to the darkness when I learned what happened,” Lauriam said. He looked away. “I’m not proud of that moment, but I’m glad my friends were able to keep me from…” He sighed. “Well, that wasn’t long before I lost my memory and let myself become a vessel of darkness anyway, so I’m behind on my search.”

“Better late than never, though, right?” Terra smiled. “We’ll help you find your sister. I know I’d never stop looking if it were Ven, and we’re still looking for Sora anyway. Besides, we owe it to you as one of Ven’s friends.”

“You owe me nothing,” Lauriam protested. “I’ve done nothing to deserve that.”

“Then think of it this way: we’ll be helping each other. We won’t take no for an answer. But first…” Terra summoned his Keyblade. “Get your Keyblade. You’re joining in on training.”

“I’m more than a bit rusty,” Lauriam admitted, though he summoned his own Keyblade anyway. “I suppose it’s more reason for me to train.”

“I want to see how you fight. How strong you are. I’m curious about how much has changed since you and Ven’s time,” Terra said. “You better be ready.”

“I’ll admit, I’m curious as well.” Lauriam smirked. “I’ve been ready for ages.”

[revengerevisited]

i found this vanqua fic the other day, it’s only a couple chapters but i like it so far. :3 it does have a ‘creator chose not to add warnings’ label though, so please be cautious. also baby-xemnas aka kotbysleep (nsfw) aka nekokat42 (also nsfw) is a much better vanqua artist than me so please check him out. X’D (heads-up those twitter threads are way longer than you think so make sure you see eeeverything~).

anyway, more wip art below the cut, plus my endless rambling (i talk about 18+ topics, just a warning)—

i’m still working on venqua week and i’ve got 2 more prompts to go, one i haven’t started yet and one i’m halfway done with—

~aaand yeah i’m re-using it for a vanqua pic too... X’D am i lazy, or just resourceful? you decide. ;P

but yeah, both of these pics will have an 18+ version as well. i admit i’m super anxious about posting it next week, as i’ve seen just how absolutely toxic fandom is on twitter. like, you thought tumblr was bad? i’ve spent the last few days preemptively blocking literally hundreds if not thousands of antis just so i can feel a little safer posting my content without some asshat calling me a pedo or telling me to kill myself over cartoons. XU i somewhat worry that i’ve accidentally blocked some people who were just joking around and weren’t actually harassing anyone, but it’s just so hard to tell sometimes. if i’ve accidentally blocked anybody here, just let me know so i can unblock you. :3 (idk why that sentence came out so sinister sounding but i’m legit being sincere X’D).

but seriously, idk when fandom suddenly got such a stick up its ass (around 2016-17 from my guesstimate) and decided aging-up a fictional character by a year or two is such a crime, but i guess that’s just the state of things. :T i could draw vanitas as a centaur or make him blond or whatever and no one cares, but aging him by one year? suddenly big problem! yeah, right. XP like, i know i said every character in kh is 17+ as of khmom (ignoring any weird timeline retcons of course), but heck i could make an honest case for the wayfinder family all being adults. hear me out—

it’s been 13 years since bbs, right? and for 12 of those years, aqua was in the realm of darkness, terra had some awareness while being possessed by xehanort, ven experienced some of sora’s life when he was in a coma, and vanitas was almost certainly in ven/sora’s heart as well, so all four of them could be said to be 31, 33, and 29 respectively. it’s not like their character models were any different when they were young teens as opposed to older teens, so can we really be sure they’re not all 30~ by now? heck, since ven is from the age of fairytales i could say he’s 1000 years old if i wanted too! (psst, it’s almost as if these are all fictional characters living in a fantasy world with time travel and whatnot and their ages are completely arbitrary numbers nomura made up on the spot, numbers which he has retconned before! :P).

now i don’t actually think they’re that old, but if people are gonna hassle me over a goddamn 2-year age difference, i might as well say fuck it and have fun with it, right? ;P it’s not like antis even know what the canon character ages even actually are, like when they try to say that skuld is underage when (assuming she’s subject x) she’d be around 28~ by now, or axel and saïx’s age. (maybe i’ll draw some saïx x skuld art and watch the antis lose their minds. ;P it wouldn’t even have to be nsfw to rile them up).

anyway, i do admit i’m feeling a little burned out on art recently. XP i’ve been trying to get one art piece out per week plus venqua week, and yeah it’s kinda taken its toll. i know this really isn’t anything anyone wants to hear, but i’ve been kinda thinking of moving away from fandom projects to work on my own original work. now, i’m not saying i’m abandoning a heart and a half nor anything as drastic as that! but i have spent like 2 years of my life on it just to get to the halfway mark, and i’m not sure i can spend 2 more doing only that.

i’ve got an original story idea that i’ve been working on-and-off on for the past 7 years or so, and i’m thinking of going back to it again (it does need a pretty big re-write). its main pairing is actually pretty vanqua-ish, now that i think about it. like, imagine the realm of darkness but instead of the heartless it’s infested with demons, and the main characters are the demon-slaying duo of a serious yet kindhearted half-angel and a feral, snarky half-demon. i even aged them up from 14 to 18 so none of my potential fans have to suffer the same anti bullshit that i have. XP

what else can i ramble about... oh, i got these super cute pins for christmas! :D the heartless is by xkirakira, and vanitas and aqua are by maxxmerch. they’re just so cute! X3 i hope everyone had a merry christmas and a happy holiday! i’ll see you guys later. ^3^ 

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*looks around sheepishly* ó3ò alright... confession time. spoilers for a heart and a half for the rest of this post—

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sooo~ i’ve kinda hinted at this before, but yeah i’ve always planned on adding a sex scene to a heart and a half; when i started writing back in 2018 i hadn’t realized how hostile fandom had become compared to only a few years ago, and it worries me that some readers might drop the fic because of it, or be angry with me over the underage aspect. :(

idk, i could go on about how i just wanted to explore every aspect of a romantic relationship, or how other disney/square enix characters married or had kids young (ariel, sarah hawkins, héctor, claudia strife, possibly jasmine), or how attempting to apply real-world rules to a videogame fantasy setting is inherently silly and pointless, but really it’s just ‘cause i love vanitas and aqua to bits and i just wanted to write a cute and funny mild sex scene between them (this fic is rated mature, not explicit, so much less graphic than confection affection), and at the end of the day they are just fictional characters, after all.

i guess all i can hope for is that i’m a skilled enough writer to pull it off in a believable way, and that my audience won’t be too put off by it. >_> i know vanitas and aqua have technically only known each other for about 2 months so it might not be ‘realistic’ for them to go so far into a relationship so soon, but i think it’s important to remember that ultimately this is a romantic fairytale, and other canon disney couples haven’t seen nearly as deeply into each other’s hearts as vanitas and aqua have (and this video also helped me feel better about it).

i also wanted to finish that nsfw venqua fic i started a few months back, it’s set just before the mark of mastery so yes ven would be 16. i suppose it’s a way of testing the waters to see what kind of reception i’d get (hopefully positive) before i get to that part of a heart and a half. i was also thinking of including some of the uh, ‘keyblades as erogenous zones’ aspect from this terraquaven fic as well... w-why are you looking at me like that?! it’s funny! *sweats nervously* o3o’

in all honesty, i’m probably just overthinking all this (which, knowing me, is almost a guarantee >_<) and i should just *ahem* let my heart be my guiding key, and just write what i want to write without worrying about it all the time. i just get so anxious so easily... buuut that’s not really news to anyone, now is it? ;P well, i think that’s the end of my endless ramble, thanks for reading if you got this far. X’D and i really hope i didn’t actually upset anybody about a heart and a half. ;_; i just felt like i needed to vent a little, but don’t worry about me, i’m doing fine. anyway, i really should stop typing and get back to work on venqua week, sooo... bye! X3

[masterfuldoodler]

I made an au for Union X where everyone is British. I had a lot of fun picking all the different accents for everybody. I call it my Union Jack au. Did it make it just so I could make that terrible joke? Yeah kinda.

If any of you Brits think I might have messed up on something here please tell me so I can fix it. I wanted to make it as realistic as possible.

Ephemer has a light South London accent. Very pleasant to hear and easily understandable.

Catch him wearing an ivy cap in the rain.

Doesn't bring a coat, or an umbrella. When the rain hits he gets wet.

He doesn't make tea, no one trusts him with boiling water. He however does drink tea, he's just left to the mercy of whoever steeped it for him. He drinks it with a load of cream, and a lump of sugar.

Skuld has a Yorkshire accent. She talks very fast, and has a thick accent.

Most people can't understand her upon their first conversation. She, however, does not notice, or offend her.

She loves to bake, even though she's not good at it.

Wears a jacket with a hood. Gets rained on and freaks out until she finds cover. The hood doesn't help her.

Making tea, is an art. You must steep it only 2 minutes, and add just the right amount of cream and sugar. Just enough to accent it. (I'm looking at you, Ephemer.)

Ventus has a South London accent, and sometimes speaks Cockney.

Rain? What rain? Oh it's bothering you? A little water never hurt anyone.

Straight black tea over steeped and full of tannins. Skuld has no idea how he drinks it like that, it's so strong and bitter.

Bring your forgotten over steeped tea to him, he'll drink it.

Blaine has an RP accent (Received Pronunciation) Although, if he's hanging out with just Ven he'll slip into a South London accent and pick up some Cockney.

Has a hat. Has a coat. Hates the rain. Avoids it like the plague. If caught in it will loudly grumble.

Makes tea, forgets he did. Comes back a half hour later and heats it up and drinks it. Also drinks it after a minute of steeping. He never knows how long it's steeped. It doesn't bother him.

He also had to fight the rest of the team for the right to boil water on his own without burning himself. It was possibly an uphill battle.

Lauriam has a Lancaster accent. Very pleasant to listen to.

If he's planning on being out when it might rain he brings an umbrella. If he gets caught in it he calmly finds a way out.

Likes a specific blend of tea. Cream; no sugar. Gets teased for the blend having rose petals in it.

Has a union jack design on the edge of his vest. It's old though, so the colors have faded and it's hard to see.

Ira has a Southside Dublin accent.

Yes I know it's Irish and it's not in the UK but the accent just fit him so well? I had to keep it. He's just the weirdo.

Doesn't get caught in the rain because he's always reading.

But when he does. It's a nightmare. Do you have any idea how long it takes for all that hair on his mask to dry?? Or any attention and care it takes to get it back to the state it was before it got wet??

In short, don't be responsible for it getting wet or he'll cause such a fuss you'll regret it.

He drinks cold tea. Iced and sweet. Then again everyone who drinks it says they can't taste any sugar so it's probably just him.

Invi has an Edinburgh accent.

Rain really doesn't matter. If you get wet, you get wet. It's just a difficulty to deal with. It mustn't get in the way of your task.

In reality gets kinda grumpy if her scarf gets wet. Last time Gula pointed out her inconsistency of having nothing against the rain, and then being unhappy about her scarf getting wet she told him he wouldn't understand because he never  liked  his  clothes.

She makes everyone's tea. Everyone. Only sometimes does she do it just like they want.

She's not especially good at it, so if Gula tells you your tea tastes like Invi's, it's not exactly a compliment.

Everyone else says her tea is great.

Aced has a Bristol accent. Thick and comfortable.

Rain is irritating, but only because it's hard to dry out all those robes. Avoids being rained on if he can. Doesn't use umbrellas, and no jackets.

He only likes a small cup of tea. Lot of cream.

People tease him for being a farmer and he doesn't like it...it hurts his feelings...

Like, he doesn't even know what a cow is?? Why do you think I'm a farmer?? I'm a bear man pls pay more attention. No it's not a hobby, it's a full time job 24/7.

Gula has a RP accent. (I'd love to give him a funner one, but couldn't find one that was fun and fit him. And the RP just fit him.)

Don't you dare put him in the rain. He'll hate you. He says it's because his thick robes get soggy and smell like mold but really it's his inner catness.

Also wanders in the rain and mopes like a broody depressed kid. No one knows why.

Is not allowed to make tea. Does drinks whatever kind of tea Invi makes and dislikes it. One day he'll rebel and make some while no one can see.

Probably already did that.

Ava has a East Midlands accent. And does a Highly RP when she's being "Lady Ava".

Rain is a lovely little blessing to the earth. It brings life to the growing things around her. If she weren't a Foreteller and Master she'd go puddle jumping.

She goes puddle jumping with keykids. She knows she shouldn't but... She also takes walk in the rain. She tried to get Gula to join her since she once saw him wandering in the rain, but he said he wanted to be alone.

She loves a cup of warm tea, creamed to the color of Aced's robe, and sweetened with a rounded spoonful. But Invi's tea is good too.

Once got away with making tea by herself.

Luxu has a Manchester accent.

Rain, what are you talking about? It smells so nice, and the temperature drops, and it sounds so pretty. Only down side is getting wet! And that's why I wear leather! Keeps me dry!

Nobody really sees him drink tea, and when he does he kind of just sips at it.

Although once he did show up and eat all of Invi's cucumber sandwiches. But he was gone by the time they realized he did.

Master of Masters has a- ....he has every accent. No not all at once, he takes turns. He does a different one for each day of the week, but the weekly pattern changes every week, mid week even. And he has different accents for each of his apprentices. Why? Well duh because he can.

His original accent is Belfast Irish though.

Yep another accent that's not from the UK but 1) pls picture him with it?? 2) he is The Master of Master's he can have whatever accent he wants. British or not.

Then again he might originally be a type of American.... Who knows.

...

The weather cannot effect him. He doesn't bring anything for a shower, and down pour, a flood, a hurricane?? Nothing scares that man and rain can't touch him.

His tea...is over steeped. It's bitter, with a lot of tannins. You could choke on it. Even Ventus would have trouble drinking it. It's probably the worst tea imaginable.

And I think that's everything! This was a load of fun, I got a little stuck on Ira and Invi, but I think I finally found the right one. ^^ Having never been to the UK I kinda just guessed at some things that might be present in a Brit's life, but if any of you think of a good one tell me and I can add it!

[memorystormsanctuary]

Kh Oc Week Day 7

Day 7~ Summer’s End

@khoc-week

Ah, stop giving me light and cheery stuff I only know how to write angst. Jokes aside, I guess this is another thing I never had time to think about. The characters were always in life or death situations and had wars looming over them. But I think I have a good idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laughter rang through the air joining the chorus of the seagulls and crashing waves. Splashing from the party members in the water accented the laughs, a shriek here and there as someone was hit unexpectedly with the cold ocean water. Annora chuckled watching as Zia shoved Kariya into the water after he had dared to splash her.

She had just begun to raise her camera when someone snatched it from her hands.

“Oh no, none of your stalking,” Skuld said, holding the camera above Annora’s head. Annora turned to the dark-haired girl with a dead pan expression. She crossed her arms, leaning on her right leg.

“It’s not stalking,” Annora said calmly. “Give me back my camera.”

“No,” Skuld said, turning away as she held the camera close to her chest. “You’ve done nothing but take pictures since we got here. Poor way to spend a day at the beach if you ask me.”

“Well, I didn’t so hand it over,” Annora said, holding her hand out to Skuld. Skuld puffed up her cheeks turning so she faced away from Annora entirely. Without a word she started walking away, camera still tightly held in her hands. “Skuld, that’s not funny. That’s expensive.”

Annora followed Skuld, keeping up as best she could while walking on the shifting sand. It was already in her boots. She really should have taken them off when everyone else had taken off their own shoes. The sand was rubbing against her foot, before long she swore it was going to rub her feet raw.

“Then you shouldn’t have brought it,” Skuld said, easily keeping ahead of Annora. She had been the one to suggest they all come to the beach. Annora suspected she had been here many more times. That meant she had the advantage of knowing the territory well.

“Skuld, if you break my camera I will end you,” Annora hissed. Skuld only laughed, still walking at her brisk pace.

Annora grumbled under her breath, glancing to the beach around her. Her party was scattered across the beach, making their own small groups to cause chaos with. Zia was still standing in the water with Kariya, which was surprising. But it seemed that he was being kept in check by Raito, who was clapping him on the back. Ven was kneeling on the sand with Kirai and Anri, he and Anri were building a sandcastle from the looks of it, with Kirai only watching. Despite his bright smile Annora couldn’t help but notice he looked too tired. Saki was with Kohaku, playing volleyball dangerously close to the sandcastle group. She couldn’t seem to find Jax, or the twins anywhere.

“See, you’re missing a lot of fun,” Skuld said, catching sight of where Annora’s attention was. Annora stopped, glaring back at Skuld again.

“I’m not missing it,” Annora said. “I’m trying to capture it.”

“You can’t make everything last forever,” Skuld said, stopping herself and turning to face Annora. “Live in the now. Isn’t that your whole angle? How you got this entire party together?”

Annora sighed, nodding slowly. It wasn’t wrong. She had been the one who called for the other wielders to stop worrying about what was going to come tomorrow and focus on the moment. But it was hard to follow her own advice sometimes. She didn’t want to lose how happy she was in the moment. When everyone was together, just laughing. Even when they were out Heartless hunting it was still fun.

“That doesn’t change that I want my camera back,” Annora said. “I’ll put it away for a half hour, I just don’t want you to break it.”

“An hour,” Skuld said. Annora huffed, her shoulders slumping.

“Fine, an hour,” she agreed. Skuld smiled brightly, handing off the camera again. Annora grumbled under her breath, trudging through the sand back to their belongings to put the camera back into its case. Skuld was on her heels, probably making sure she kept her word.

“Where do you think those three are?” Skuld asked suddenly.

“I’m hoping not working again,” Annora said, not bothering to ask who she was asking about. It really could only be the twins and Jax. After all they had vanished.

“We’re here.” Annora glanced up at the voice, seeing the strawberry blonde Vulpes she had grown rather fond of. She smiled, holding out an ice-cream bar to Annora. To her left was her brother, holding a bag that suggested they had taken it upon themselves to treat the entire party.

“Thanks Kami,” Annora said, taking the ice-cream. “Jax not with you?”

“We went to a moogle shop,” Takiko said, rolling his eyes. “Jax is the last person I would bring with us.”

“I think it would be funny,” Kamiko said, giggling slightly. Her brother shot her a glare, but it faded quickly at her bright smile. “But, no. He was not with us. Probably hiding out of the sunlight. He looks more out of place here than you do.”

“What part of me looks out of place?” Annora demanded, placing a hand on her hip.

“Well,” Skuld said, taking a step back. “You are kinda glowing.”

“You’re wearing all black,” Kamiko added, Skuld nodding in agreement. Annora frowned looking down at herself. She could practically feel the sunburns she was going to have on her pale arms. The fabric she had tied around her waist fell down one side, as black as the bathing suit she wore.

“Those who don’t wear black in the summer are weak,” Annora said without hesitation, looking up again. Takiko snorted, shaking his head.

“While you’re right, me and Kami are going to hand out the rest of these before they melt,” he said, tugging his sisters’ arm. She smiled brightly and waved before letting Takiko guide her away. Annora watched for a moment as the pair handed out ice-cream.

“Let’s find Jax, then we can get the whole party to play a game or something,” Skuld suggested, tugging Annora’s arm to get her attention again. Annora nodded in agreement, though she wasn’t sure she was going to like what Skuld came up with.

They found Jax at the edge of the tree line, hiding in the shade. He had a book open in his lap, his eyes slowly moving over the pages. His eyebrows were furrowed together with concentration and his lips moved as he tried to work out the words.

“Oh no, not again,” Skuld said. Annora sighed heavily, not having time to warn Jax before Skuld snatched the book away from him. He blinked a few times, staring at his lap blankly. Slowly he looked up, eyebrow raised. “I already told her no camera so you are not allowed to have your book. We are here to have fun!”

“I was having fun?” Jax said, though it sounded like a question. Annora was certain it was only because of Skuld’s actions.

“Good, now you can have fun with us too,” Skuld said, smiling as she turned and walked off. Jax and Annora sighed together. Jax slowly got to his feet and followed Skuld. Annora walked beside him, rejoining the party as Skuld drew everyone’s attention.

“Alright! We’re playing games now! Who’s got an idea?” she asked.

A chorus of voices answered her. Annora sighed, knowing it was going to be a very long afternoon.

The party played games together for as long as the sun was in the sky. From sandcastle building contests, which Kohaku was a master of, to scavenger hunts that went well until Ven had gotten too distracted by pretty shells he dragged everyone else into admiring them too. Kariya somehow ended up buried in the sand, and no one was sure how that happened. Stones were skipped, though the waves made it clear they wouldn’t get far with that. Races were ran, and frustration filled them as no one could get close to the twins.

Annora kept her word. But after an hour she was back to taking pictures, though she handed off the camera between the party members to let them pick the pictures they wanted. Looking back on them Annora laughed. Never had she imagined they would capture the facial expressions they did. At some point Jax had retreated away from the party, joined by two people Annora had never met. A blonde boy with green eyes with tanned skin that was covered in freckles and a red-haired girl with bright blue eyes. Whoever they were Jax seemed to know them well. Before long the girl joined in the games, dragging the two boys behind her. Something about her voice was familiar, Annora was sure she knew it. But she brushed it off, choosing instead to focus on the smiles she found on her friends faces.

As night came the party sat together on the sand, looking at the sky as stars blinked into view one by one. Annora reclined back with Skuld to one side, and Ven on the other, leaning his head on her shoulder as he looked up at the sky.

Annora glanced around her, searching out each member of her party. Jax was the farthest back, sitting with the two she didn’t know. The redhead caught her eye and winked playfully before looking up at the stars with Jax and the blonde. Not far from them, Takiko was laying with his head in his sisters’ lap, her hand running through his hair as she looked at the stars as well. Kariya, Zia, Raito, and Kohaku were circled together, talking in hushed voices. Anri and Saki were on their backs with Kirai, listening to the small blue-haired girl point out different constellations.

“Look! A shooting star!” Ven said excitedly, pointing up at the stars. Annora looked up quickly. As she looked up the sky filled with streaks of light.

“Meteor shower,” Jax said calmly, his voice easily carrying on the still night air.

“Good, enough wishes for everyone,” Kamiko said brightly. Murmurs of assent spread through the group. Annora chuckled, letting her eyes fall closed as she let her wish come to mind.

I wish this never has to end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you stuck with this until the end thank you a ton! This experience was so much fun, just like it was last year. I loved being able to see everyone else’s characters and read everything they had to say about them. They’re all so creative and wonderful and amazing and I just don’t have words for how awesome they all are. And I will admit being able to gush about my own characters is a plus, and I would gladly do it forever. Thanks to the amazing mods for putting this together and working so hard to share everyone’s work.

If you all stuck this far and a re still interested in Annora and Jax, you can find their story here and here. Admittedly, the story’s a little old and with recent events it’s looking at a rewrite one day, but for now it’s a starting point.

[aealzx]

“Almost thereeeeeee. You’re so close! You can do it Roxas!!” Xion’s encouraging words were easy to hear from the living room. The two of them were already glued to the video game that Roxas had been trying to beat for the past four months. He was on the final boss, after having spent so long gathering items and upgrades. Axel just shook his head as he couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to put themselves through critical mode on a game that was already hard. He still ended up chuckling when Xion’s encouragement became excited cheers, and he could easily guess that she was hugging Roxas now.

Tapping the timer set on the stove, Axel winced as an obnoxious screeching noise sounded from behind him. What was that? The phone on the counter? It was Roxas’ so he figured he’d just bring it to him.

“Hey, congrats. Pizza is in the oven,” Axel announced as he came back into the living room, holding Roxas’ phone up.

“What? It’s not broken, it was working just fine,” Roxas huffed, catching the device after Axel tossed it to him.

“I dunno. I just made this annoying screeching noise. Either it’s broken, or someone is pulling a prank on you by changing you text notification sound. You didn’t let Riku near it while it was unlocked, did you?” Axel teased lightly back, though he was a little bit concerned. Broken phones were no fun.

“Ha ha. Riku wouldn’t do that. If anything it was you,” Roxas snorted, amused, as he put his thumb on the fingerprint sensor. It looked like it actually was a text message, and he figured he’d have to check the sound settings just to be sure. Until he opened the messenger and saw which group chat had been pinged. Freezing for a moment, Roxas just stared at the single word in the otherwise empty conversation log.

Requiescat.

And it was sent by Aqua.

Noticing the change in Roxas’ demeanor, Axel and Xion immediately leaned over to take a peek at the screen. “What’s wrong?” Xion asked what they both were wondering. It wasn’t normal at all for Roxas to freeze up like that.

Feeling like his thumbs were acting on autopilot, Roxas tapped in the response he’d been told about and sent it, not able to take his eyes from the screen. ‘In pace. Just cooking some smores at the bonfire.’

“What? There’s no bonfire,” Axel grimaced, glancing around to see what Roxas could be talking about.

“It means your house,” Roxas explained quietly. “We…. use this chat when something happens. And it’s a way for us to check in and let each other know we’re safe.”

The seconds felt like minutes, but eventually other responses were entered in.

Sora: What? 

What’s going on?

Oh, right. In pace, today is a great day for a swim.

“That’s the beach house?” Xion asked, knowing that Sora had been headed there that day.

Roxas nodded, watching the check ins from the others beep in. Strelitzia, Skuld, Lauriam….And Aqua had sent it, so she was fine too. That left Eraqus, Terra, Ven, and Blaine.

After a long stretch of motionlessness on the screen Roxas’ phone suddenly vibrated and started ringing, causing him to flinch. Sora was calling him.

“Sora!” Roxas blurted as soon as he answered the phone. “This isn’t some kind of joke is it?”

“No! Riku just told me that Aqua told him that Master Dad got shot!” Sora sounded a bit frantic, and Roxas’ felt like his chest had just been hollowed out.

“Wh-....” Roxas choked on the words, and ended up quickly switching his phone to speaker mode.

“She said he’s in the hospital now, and Terra and Ven are missing. They’re not with you are they?”

“No! I haven’t seen them since-” Roxas broke off as his phone made that annoying sound again. One more message had popped up.

Terra: In pace.

No extra explanation. So he was at the graveyard?

Aqua: Terra! Where are you? Are you okay?

Terra: I’m fine. Picking up Ven. Don’t go near Xemnas.

As soon as that name appeared on the screen, Roxas’ eyes flicked up to look at the other two. Xemnas. They all knew who that was.

Sora’s voice came over the phone again after the short spell of silence while he read the new messages. “Xemnas? Who’s that?.... Roxas?”

“Sora…. I have to go. Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Go see if you can wait for Master Eraqus at the hospital.” Roxas responded, a bit absently, as he kept looking at the other two.

_____________

previous snippet

managed to get two in today, wohooo >u<

though this one ended up a bit long X’D ahah, whoops. oh well

[daybreak-academy-fanfic]

Daybreak Academy: Chapter 79

The Templar To Your Mage

Summary: In which Ephemer and Anora shop for suspiciously familiar Halloween costumes. Word Count: 1,663 First | Previous | Next ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆

Their first stop for costumes was the thrift store. Neither of them were entirely sure what they were looking for, but that only added to the fun of it.

“Have you ever been to a Halloween party before?” Ephemer asked Anora, giving a curious tilt of his head. Anora had been looking at the clothing racks opposite of him. She did not look up at him before slowly starting to shake her head.

“We did trunk or treat when I was younger.” she told him. “We lived in an apartment, so anyone that had a car would open their trunks up and decorate them.”

Ephemer's eyes lit up. In the back of his mind he tried to imagine a much younger Anora. Too small to actually reach inside the car and SUV trunks so she'd be picked up by her parents to get the candy. In her charming little kid ways, she'd give the owner of the vehicle a big smile before going on to the next. Who knows? Maybe if she was just adorable enough, they'd even offer her more candy.

“I bet you were adorable.”

To this, Anora just raised and lowered a shoulder. She didn't offer any other clues to her past, which disappointed Ephemer, but he didn't press her to continue.

“Well, in any case,” the young man told her, “Our party will just be us. Skuld, Lauriam, Brain, Ventus, and you and me. Lauriam said that Strelitzia's coming along, and I think Ven mentioned he might bring a friend too. We might get a bit cramped in the clubroom, but if you feel uncomfortable, we'll leave immediately. And that's a promise, Anora.”

Anora's cheeks flared in a light shade of pink. Ephemer could not stop the grin on his face as he watched her. He soon turned his attention back to the clothing racks. The two of them were silent as they went through the clothing racks. Then something happened to catch Ephemer's eye.

“Hey Anora, check this out.”

Anora turned her attention over to Ephemer and saw that he was now holding a long, sleeveless duster jacket. It was made with a faux leather, looking like it could reach to her ankles.

“Come here and try it on.” he offered. “I think it'll fit you.”

Not seeing any harm in in, Anora nodded and moved around the rack to him. He helped her put the jacket, then she turned around for him to get a good look.

“It looks very… dark ages.” he decided, giving his chin a thoughtful scratch. “But a bit more modern. A very good juxtaposition. Kinda like an RPG, or something Oh! That's it! You can be a mage!”

Anora looked at him and blinked.

“Hang on,” he said as he went through the rack again, “I just saw this blouse that would perfect for this!” After a few quick screeches from metal on metal friction from the rack, Ephemer let out a sound of happy discovery as he pulled a light blue shirt off. It was a nice looking heavy cotton shirt, with buttons going down the front and lightly flared sleeves. Seeing Anora's almost interested approval made Ephemer beam with joy. “This will work perfectly!” he proclaimed. “We'll just need some distressed jeans. But we might need to get a new pair of shoes- your high tops aren't gonna cut it with this one. Maybe… combat boots. Yes! Knee high combat boots! I think I saw a pair of those around here somewhere too...”

For someone who usually groaned when Skuld asked him to go shopping with her, Ephemer sure did seem animated as he assembled Anora's costume for her. Anora's heart was almost pounding in her chest as she watched him. It was like the young man had been possessed by some entity from another world over, and was trying to recreate the fashions of that period. Ephemer had been so excited that he paid for the entire outfit on checkout.

“We need to go to the costume store next.” he told her as they left the thrift store. “You need a staff, and just a bit of something else to really tie the whole look together.”

All Anora could do at this point was nod and follow him. When was the last time she saw Ephemer this spirited? It almost felt weird. At the same time, it was very mesmerizing. Is this how he felt when she lit up with joy? No wonder he tried so hard to keep her curiosity flowing.

Ephemer was lost in his own world as they entered the costume store. He made an immediate beeline for the accessories and started to look through them all.

“Let's see...” Ephemer mused as he scanned the shelves. “You need… a belt. Something that just says 'mage' without it even being said...”

Anora cast Ephemer a questioning side glance, but didn't stop him as he went along the rows. It almost surprised her when he loud out a noise of happy exclamation.

“This will work!” Ephemer declared, picking up a belt that had a fake herbalist book attached to the side. He put the belt on Anora without a second guess. But after he clipped it on to her, his hands didn't leave her hips. In that very moment, his entire demeanor seemed to change. The young man's eyes glazed over slightly as he stared at the belt. As if he was given a vision of some alternate or future world line, he could almost see something else on Anora. A certain something that he was starting to bury his face in just to hide the deep blush that was growing on his face.

“Ephemer?” Anora quietly questioned, snapping Ephemer out of his thoughts with a jolt. He looked up at her with widening eyes.

“I love you.” he breathed before pulling her in for a quick kiss. Anora's noise of surprised was muffled by the embrace- not that she was particularly complaining, or anything. When he pulled away, his eyes fluttered slightly as he sighed. “You don't need any weapons, Anora. You kill me just by existing.”

She couldn't help it, but Anora let out a sound of disgust. It very quickly brought Ephemer down from his moment of hazy bliss. When he was properly aware of everything around him again, Anora had taken off the belt and was now carefully holding it in her hands. She looked up at him expectantly. It was like she had been waiting for him to come back down to earth for years.

“What are you going to wear?” she curiously wondered.

“Me?” Ephemer repeated, as if he had never considered it. “Oh, I dunno. Let's just look around a bit more.”

With an affirmative nod, the two them strolled through the costume store the way they had at the thrift store. As they came to the premium costumes, Ephemer found himself drawn to the knight costumes.

“That's it!” he declared. “I'll be a knight! No, even better- a Templar!”

At Anora's downcast glare, he felt the need to continue.

“A Templar is a special kind of knight- sworn to their duty to protect those with a magical affinity, but at a cost. In order to neutralize a mage's abilities, they have to ingest these super powerful rocks. No man or creature can touch these rocks without going insane. So the Templars are natural candidates for going absolutely nuts without being aware of it. But you and I? We're the exceptions. We're going to break all the boundaries and find a cure for the Templar's sickness!”

Anora was still not moved by Ephemer's apparent gusto. Her glare possibly more unwavering than it had been before.

“Just roll with it.” he assured her. With that, he looked through the various styles of each knight costume. He finally settled on one that was mostly light gray, accented with darker gray elbow guards. The set even came with a pair of near black, knee length medieval style pants. He'd have to find different shoes, though, as the set didn't include them. Thankfully, the costume store had a pair of medieval riding boots that would have worked just as well.

“I think that's it here.” Ephemer decided. “Unless there was anything else that you wanted to look at?”

Anora lulled her head from side to side as she thought it over. She was about to shake her head before something caught the corner of her eye. Sitting in the bargain bin was a highly decorative walking stick, marketed as a wizard's staff. Anora walked closer toward it- her feet earning a mind of their own in doing so. She cautiously pulled the staff from the bin to look it over.

The bottom of the staff was shaped similarly to the body of a violin. But, where the neck and handle pegs would be on the violin, the staff's shaft took on a different shape. The shaft was waved, and was even painted to look like a river of water. At the end, it was designed to look like a splash of water was holding up an iridescent treble cleft. The treble cleft itself looked like it was wearing something like a wizard's hat with a star on top.

“Counterpoint.” Anora mumbled under her breath, almost in bewilderment. Ephemer cast her a rather worried look.

“Anora?” he cautiously questioned. “You alright there?”

Blinking, she turned to him and held up the staff with eagerness.

“Can we get this too?” she asked him.

“I guess so.” Ephemer agreed, a nervous hand placing itself on his neck. He forced a small smile before adding, “Besides, what's a mage without her staff?”

The smile on Anora's face washed any momentary fear from Ephemer's mind. What was he so worried about anyway? It's not like magic could hurt her in this world, or anything. Besides, if it could, he'd be her Templar in shining armor, even if it killed him.

[nadziejastar]

I find reading headcanons fun and a lot of people interested in Lea and Isa who want to stay canon compatible go with the idea of "they were technically apprentices, but they were still used as test subjects." It just goes to show how important those implications were to their story, anyone invested is looking for a way to retcon them back in.

Yeah, I get why people wanna stick close to canon. I like to stay as close to canon as possible too, unless I feel like canon just absolutely dropped the ball, which is relatively rare. But that’s what I feel KH3 did with Lea and Isa. There were just FAR too many implications that they were test subjects to be hand-waved away so easily. I can totally understand why people are looking for a way to retcon those implications back in. They fit soooo perfectly and they were MUCH juicier than the canon backstory, which is really very boring.

Unbeknownst to me, my six apprentices then began collecting a large number of subjects on which to perform dangerous experiments into the “darkness of the heart.”

I wouldn’t even know HOW to write Axel as a former apprentice, without being a former test subject, too. Because it just doesn’t fit him. You have to ignore everything interesting about him and change his whole character. When I first played KH2, I was always interested in the experiments on the darkness of the heart and especially what the organization members were like as humans. We only got to know a little about that. We learned that members I-VI were apprentices of Ansem the Wise, which I thought was very intriguing. I started to speculate about what the other members’ backstories might be.

Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination? All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart. Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts… I will call them the Heartless.

I am not even exaggerating, after reading the KH2 Ansem Reports, my first thought was that Axel was most likely a former test subject, due to the way he slaughtered Zexion and Vexen so mercilessly. He had a side to him that was rather…twisted. And I thought that was so fascinating. No way in hell do I believe he acted like that because he was trying to find some girl. No. He had a HUGE grudge against the organization which was very personal.

The only other organization member I thought might have been a former test subject was Saïx. Number VII. The first one to join after the apprentices.

And the reasons for that were obvious. He was freakish, like a science experiment. He was a werewolf/vampire type character with a large scar on his face. I have talked with people online about Axel’s apprentice backstory who said that they “saw it coming”. It was foreshadowed in advance. And I’m like, “Did we play the same games?” If anyone says that they thought Axel and Saïx made more sense as apprentices than test subjects, I simply do not believe them. I think they are either lying or they are such a fanboy/fangirl that they cannot bring themselves to question canon.

THIS is what always stood out to me about Axel in Days. He said very little about himself. It seems like most of the fandom latched onto Axel as this happy-go-lucky big brother figure who “adopts” Roxas and Xion and that was the extent of his character. Personally, I was always far more interested in Axel’s past. That’s what really made him an interesting character. Without that, he’s a bit flat, honestly.

When I played Days, it seemed to confirm my suspicions that Axel had a dark past.

The way the camera zoomed in on him when he mentioned his past said SO much. It was so subtle, but so dramatic. They obviously were hinting at something. 

And it even involved Saïx, too. They really were BOTH test subjects. How fascinating, I thought.

Then I played BBS, and it showed them sneaking into the freaking castle! I was so excited! OBVIOUSLY these kids were experimented on. They were in the right place at the right time. It explains why they became organization members. It explains why Saïx is so…freakish even though when he was a kid he was so cute and normal. I mean, come on!!!! How could anyone not see what they were hinting at here? I was SO SO excited for TEN years to see their backstory.

When I played KH3, I was dumbfounded. Absolutely dumbfounded. Turns out Lea and Isa were connected to the experiments on the darkness of the heart (duh). But they weren’t the test subjects. It was Skuld. Ya know, that random NPC from KHUX? That’s right. Skuld.

…

…

Skuld!? Are you freaking kidding me!? All the spotlight is gonna be on her as the lab rat!? After all the subtle hints that Lea and Isa were experimented on? I felt like I had been led on and betrayed by the series. I was so sad and angry. KH has a lot of, well, bullshit in it. Like Ansem the Wise turning Kingdom Hearts into data and releasing everyone’s hearts. And it has a lot of retcons. It’s a series where “willing suspension of disbelief” is important. But what they did to Lea and Isa’s past? That crossed the line for me. That was unacceptable. And my willing suspension of disbelief was shattered. I simply cannot retroactively view Lea and Isa as apprentices. It just doesn’t fit with what we saw of them. It’s the worst, most ill-fitting backstory I have ever seen.

Lea’s whole character revolved around his mysterious past. And in the end, his whole past was summarized in a two minute cutscene where we were TOLD (not even shown) it. And his past isn’t even about him or his relationship with Isa or their shared pain. It’s all about setting up a plot for a character who, IMO, is supposed to be dead.

Yes, that’s right. Dead. IMO, Skuld and Ephemer and everybody else from the age of fairytales were supposed to be dead. The final world is like limbo where people with lingering regrets cannot move on to the afterlife. Sora wound up there, probably because the spirits drew him there. But he wasn’t dead. He could come back with the power of waking because his body was still alive. Demon Tide doesn’t kill your body.

But yeah, as far as I’m concerned, everyone else from the age of fairy tales is DEAD. KHUX wasn’t supposed to monopolize KH3′s plot the way it did. It wasn’t supposed to be that important. IMO, The main role of KHUX was to provide history to the Keyblade War and MX’s Keyblade. You would have the scene where the Keyblades come to life and take out the Demon Tide. It’s a nice little cameo to people who played KHUX, but nothing essential. Then, the hearts of the dead are finally at peace and they can pass on. The end. Their role is done. They weren’t supposed to come back! It’s stupid! Leave characters like a Ephemer and Skuld in the past where they belong!

Xaldin: It’s an order. Why do you hesitate? You, who has been ruthless towards those who’ve turned their backs on the Organization?

If you take away Axel’s past a former test subject and give it to Skuld, you change the very nature of his character. Look how KH3 downplayed Axel’s dark and ruthless side by making it seem like Saïx was the only one willing to get his hands dirty. Axel was apparently some perfect angel who was just innocently trying to find info on Subject X the whole time. Not, ya know, ruthlessly executing people. No! No, no no! 

Don’t pretend like Axel was not a fucked up killer. He was almost as twisted as Saïx was. Not quite. But almost. Of course, I guess I understand why they downplayed this side of him. It really doesn’t make much sense for Axel to spend a decade ruthlessly killing people just to find a complete stranger who may or may not even be alive, does it? It would make a lot more sense if he was doing it because he was experimented on and his best friend was being held hostage by the organization.

But Axel being a fucked up killer was the very foundation of his excellent character arc. Why did he change and join the good side? It wasn’t because he became friends with Roxas or Xion. It’s because he became disgusted with himself. He was disgusted with himself after he killed Vexen and Sora was horrified at how much pleasure he got from it.

He was disgusted with himself when he saw Xion’s face for the first time and saw that she looked just like Namine. He was willing to slaughter Namine without a second thought in Castle Oblivion. But here was a girl who looked just like her, innocently asking to be his friend.

“You didn’t have to use force…” 

Axel sighed theatrically and circled his shoulders. “Didn’t I?” 

Still gripping Axel’s collar, Roxas shook his head with the emphatic refusal of a little kid. “No, you didn’t��” But he sounded uncertain as he said it, and his voice shrank even more. “We’re supposed to be best friends.”

Axel brushed Roxas’s hands from his collar. “This isn’t about friendship.” 

Roxas raised his head. The glare in his blue eyes was sharp as a knife. 

Axel had never seen that from him before. His chest twinged, just a bit. He let out another sigh. “Listen, if that’s all, I gotta go.”

Roxas wilted again, and something in his expression weakened Axel’s resolve slightly. 

I just did what I thought was the best thing at the time. For Roxas, for Xion, for the Organization—and for Isa. But most of all for me. 

He turned away from Roxas and made himself walk away.

He was disgusted with himself when he attacked Xion and brought her back to be destroyed. Why was Axel so upset with Saïx at the end of Days? Because he threw his morality away for him! Axel was willing to do anything for him. He was willing to kill innocent kids like Namine and Xion all for his sake. And at the end of the story Axel realized that Saïx didn’t even really love him anymore. Axel was more than happy to kill anyone if he thought Isa still loved him and appreciated the sacrifices he made for him.

He had been using the Organization for his own ends from the start. The only thing that had changed in the meantime was who it was all for. Maybe Saïx would call that a betrayal. But his world had changed.

But Axel realized that Saïx just used him as a murder tool to take out anyone who got in his way. He wasn’t even worried about him when he was at Castle Oblivion nor did he thank him when he returned. He took advantage of Axel’s devotion to him. That’s why Axel changed. It wasn’t like a My Little Pony episode where the power of Roxas and Xion’s magical friendship changed Axel. It was Axel’s own conscience. And yet, Axel still couldn’t bring himself to leave with Roxas at the end of Days. Even after Roxas left him the “Winner” stick. Because he was still attached to Saïx.

Axel: Look at what it’s come to. I’ve been given these icky orders to destroy you—if you refuse to come back with me.

Roxas: We’re…best friends, right?

Axel: Sure…but I’m not getting turned into a Dusk for…Wait a sec! You remember now!?

Roxas: Y…eah.

And Axel being a human test subject also seemed like the most reasonable backstory for him due to the way he seemed so…maladjusted. I was only 16 when I first played KH2. I was the same age as Roxas. And even then, the way Axel related to Roxas made me think that he had a really fucked up childhood. At first, Axel was willing to destroy Roxas, too. His “best friend”. In the original KH2, he seemed like he was just following orders because he was afraid of being turned into a Dusk. Which is still pretty screwed up.

“Say something. Have you even thought that maybe I can’t erase Roxas?” Axel said, in a playful tone, and Saix finally looked up. “It’ll be all right. Cause I’m tough.” Axel puffed out his chest.

“How stupid,” said Saix, and for a moment he smiled. “Let’s hurry up and prepare. Time is limited. The hero will wake up soon, too. I’ll send you in right in front of Roxas.”

“Okay.” Axel stood in front of the sending device. Saix rested his finger on the button. “I’m off the~n!” Waving to Saix, Axel’s figure disappeared.

But in the “Axel 7 Days” novel, you see that IMMEDIATELY before confronting Roxas about destroying him, Axel was looking at the white envelope and then flirted with Saïx. I hate the way the Axel/Roxas relationship was so misunderstood by the fandom. Why did Axel decide not to kill Roxas? IMO, it wasn’t because they were “best friends”.

It was because, once again, Axel was like “WTF am I doing? I’m trying to kill this innocent kid all so I can salvage my relationship with Saïx. I am a selfish piece of shit.” Why did Axel say that Roxas would have a next life, but not him? Because Axel knew what he was capable of and was prepared to do to him. Roxas was innocent. Axel was not. He had a lot of blood on his hands. He was not like Roxas. Roxas’s innocence is why Axel was so attached to him in the first place. But it was exactly why Roxas could never truly understand him. There will always be a part of Axel that he keeps hidden from Roxas.

On the sofa opposite him, Naminé spoke up instead. “Sora and Riku are best friends.” 

Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact. 

“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?” 

“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held. 

“So you are capable of sincerity,” said Riku. 

Axel only shrugged at the jab and finished his ice cream pop.

Even after he left the organization, Axel was still twisted. He was going to kill Kairi. And notice how it zoomed in on his tear mark. A bit of a hint about the true meaning of the upside down tears. IMO, the tears meant that Axel was willing to do absolutely anything to make his wish come true. And that was to be with his best friend forever. Saïx betrayed him and broke his heart. Axel decided to channel all of that grief and despair into his relationship with Roxas. He was now willing to kill innocent kids for his new best friend in order to forget about the old one. He was still selfish.

He only started to doubt himself when Kairi empathized with him. 

And then he felt like shit and was disgusted with himself again. That was the last straw. Axel really doesn’t work as a character without a horrific backstory or being a killer. He just doesn’t. Being a twisted killer was fundamental to his story. And being a test subject was really the only things that could have made Saïx more sympathetic and redeemable.

[road2thelight]

Just How Old is Ven in KHUX?

KHUX, KHIII, and BBS SPOILERS AHEAD

Okay so I’m going to finally sit and write this all out so I can try and make sense of -gasp- the Kingdom Hearts timeline. At least part of it. 

So we know that Ventus is 15-16 in BBS. For less confusion in this, we’ll say he’s sixteen. We know that he’s spent 4 years in the Land of Departure after Xehanort ditched him and before BBS:

“Four years before Aqua and Terra take their Mark of Mastery exam” (link) 

So Ven was roughly 12 when he came to the Land of Departure. 

Which okay 12 year old keyblade wielder, sure that’s okay (the grown ass adult in me is screaming that he should be at home drinking a juice box while doing homework). Sora was 14 and, while I have issues with the fate of the world in the hands of babies, KH has a precedent for around this age.  

The question is, how old was Ven during Kingdom Hearts Union Cross? 

This is where things became more muddled but to break down my theory of his age, we’ll have to go a little off tangent. 

So we know Ven was Xehanort’s apprentice. For how long though? Did Xehanort stumble on this kid with amnesia that could somehow summon a keyblade (try and tell me he won’t have amnesia after KHUX, do you see where that tragedy is going???) and was all like “Ah here’s a good sacrifice to use for my nefarious, convoluted plot that will only come to a head in almost twenty years and be defeated pretty much by the power of friendship”? 

More so, did Xehanort find him instantly wherever Ven appeared (Scala ad Caelum? Radiant Gardens? Destiny Island?) or was Ven wandering for an unknown time as a lost kid? With my theory, I think Xehanort found him instantly, possibly even knew when Ven would appear (MoM told him maybe? You decide).

More so, Ven’s name is the same in the “present” as the KHUX plot during the Age of Fairytales, so we can presume two possibilities: that Ven had just enough memories that he could remember his name OR he had all of his memories before losing them somehow. So beyond the issue of this child needing so much therapy from repeated memory loss, let’s explore these.

First up: Just enough memories. 

We know Darkness can manipulate memories, so it’s possible that Darkness, when he somehow got back into Ven in KHUX (since he’s in Ven’s heart by the time of KHIII), could alter Ven’s memories. With the pods and time travel, we don’t know how long it takes for the hearts to travel. Is it light speed? A blink of an eye? Thousands of years but for the body it was like 5 minutes? For my theory, I like the thousands of years travel but for the body it was only like five minutes idea. This would give Darkness plenty of time to bury all those memories and leave Ven practically a blank slate. The one thing he couldn’t erase was his name, the core of his being. I also like to think that Ven is aware of Darkness at the time of him going in the pod and is fighting with every fiber of his being to hold onto whatever bits of himself that he can. Ultimately that’s his name and a key personality trait (his strong belief in friendship “my friends are my power”). 

For the other theory we’ll have to go a little out there. From what we know involving the pods and time travel in KH, it causes the person to lose their memories when they come through UNLESS it’s a Maleficent situation. Girl had all of her memories of the past because the three fairies -coughmerryweatherdammityouhadonejobcough- remembered her, she could come back. But who in the future would know Ventus to let him keep his memories? 

Theory Time: Xehanort did. How do you ask? The story of the Dandelions and the New Union leaders has been passed down alongside the story of the Keyblade War in Scala ad Caelum. We know from conversations in KH3 with Young Xehanort and Young Eraqus that their Master’s favorite story was about the Keyblade War. My idea is that the Dandelion’s were a side story about the survivors and who was one of the new Union Leaders of the Dandelions? Ven. And as long as someone in the time you are going to knows your name and something about you (I guess, KH doesn’t go into details), you can come back. But then how did the story pass on so Xehanort could hear it? Well Eraqus bears a very eerie resemblance to one Brain from KHUX. My guess is that Eraqus is a descendant of Brain, which means somehow Brain got out of the Data Daybreak Town at some point in KHUX and passed on the story of the Dandelions. Maybe the reason Xehanort knows it as well as he does is because it’s a story that Eraqus knows like the back of his hand because of his family. Maybe Brain even had photos of the leaders that he kept with him so Xehanort knew what Ven even looked like cause they were heirlooms Eraqus showed him. If none of that pans, maybe MoM told Xehanort something. Who knows. 

All of this to come to the idea that Xehanort, and Eraqus too I am positive, knew that Ven was a lot older than his actual physical age and possibly even knew he was a Union Leader. This is hinted at in Ven’s short story:

“Maybe the Master knew more about the real me than he ever let on, all the things I don’t know about myself. But now he’s gone, so I guess we’ll never know.” (link)

Now Ven could have been talking about Vanitas, but since he already knows about Vanitas and his past with Xehanort, I personally don’t think that’s what Ven’s talking about here.

So Ven would awaken with all of his memories but how would he react to the new time and people and Xehanort? I think this will rely on what happens at the end of KHUX but something tells me Ven will be in a very vulnerable, easy to manipulate state. Maybe Xehanort would convince him that it’s because light grew too powerful that Darkness appeared and was trying to restore order that way. Maybe he convinced Ven that he was his apprentice and dreamed the events of KHUX from his stories. Either way, Ven became his apprentice. He would lose his memories though, minus his name because Xehanort knew it and would tell Eraqus, when his heart was split to create Vanitas. 

It’s a wild theory but you know what, Kingdom Hearts is chock full of random events and plot lines so who knows, I might be totally right on that idea. 

With either theory, I believe that Xehanort knew no matter what that Ven was a keyblade wielder from the Age of Fairytales.

Now back to Ven’s age. Xehanort, knowing that using the keyblade is like riding a bike (tell me it’s not, once your body is taught how to swing or throw something it becomes muscle memory) and that a heart never truly forgets (he’s been studying the dark, the light, and has an interest in hearts by this time), would probably not waste much time in taking Ven under his wing. It would probably take a bit of time to convince Ven that he can use the keyblade well, since we can see Ven lacks confidence in KHUX, but not as long as a full apprenticeship. Being a Union Leader, I imagine that Ven, back in KHUX, was probably counted in the same rank as a Master, if only because of his position. My guess is, this was six or so months, just long enough to get the sacrificial lamb ready for a slaughter. For clarity’s sake, let’s say six months even. 

If Ven was exactly 12 years old on the day of him arriving in the Land of Departure, this would make Ven 11 years and six months old when he first arrived in the future as well as at the end of KHUX. 

So we know how old Ven roughly was at the end of KHUX, cool. How old was this poor kid during KHUX? We are never told in KHUX how long the Dandelions have been in the datascape. We know a few time things though:

It has been a while, from conversations the New Union Leaders have had, but not long enough for them to want to separate the Union back into five groups.

It was shown in Brain’s flashback with Ava that this particular event with her took place four years ago. 

Relying mainly on the latter of the two, since we’ve got a specific year length on it, let’s make a few guesses. 

We know Strelitzia was told of her role to be a Union Leader shortly before the war started. Let’s say that Ava had a plan to tell each leader in a certain order. Strelitzia was last, Skuld joined the Dandelions sort of late so we’ll say she was right before her, Ephemer was told before Skuld, so that leaves Brain and Laurium. Since Ava is going against the MoM, I think she would tell Brain his role first.

Let’s say that Ephemer was told four months before the war his role and that’s when he disappeared. Skuld would be told two or three months after him. Then Strelitzia last right before. Let’s guess Laurium was told 2-3 months before Ephemer (6-7 months pre war) and by this pattern, Brain would be told 2-3 months before that (8-9 months pre war). That would mean the Dandelions have been in the datascape for roughly 3 years and 3 months at the time of the flashback beginning. I presume this is only a month before the conclusion of the Dandelions because things are starting to come to a head in the current update of KHUX. 

So let’s do the math with this: 

Ven is 11 and a half years old at the conclusion of KHUX.

Ven is maybe 11 and 5 months old at the time of the flashback. 

This would make Ven roughly 8 and 2 months old when the Dandelions were put in the datascape and he became a Union Leader in the aftermath of the Keyblade War. 

Let that marinate in your thoughts.

Just like an eight year old. A fucking baby. Who let this baby bean have a keyblade at 8 years old?!?!?!?

This makes KHUX have so much more sense though. I always wondered why Ephemer and co were surprised that Ven was a Union Leader, it wasn’t like they were well known or high gatherers of lux that we know of. But in this context it makes sense. A group of 14-16 year olds in charge with one random 8 year old in the mix would totally surprise you. 

Now of course this is just a guess. Maybe Ava told Brain super early to throw off the MoM’s plans and the Dandelion’s were only in the datascape for a year or two. We also don’t know when Ven became a wielder. My guess is at 7 or 8 years old in the original theory but with this latter idea, maybe Ven was closer to 10 or 11 at the time of the war. 

Still, it kind of throws me off that Ven was possibly as young as 8 when he was used by Darkness to kill Strelitzia (or was a witness to this traumatizing event at the very least). 

My conclusions: 

Ven needs so much therapy. Like, so, so much therapy. I will chip in, just someone get this kid to a therapist. 

The Kingdom Hearts timeline is a mess and trying to unravel it leads to so many issues.

I spent way too long on this. 

Anyone else have opinions on Ven’s age in KHUX or other ideas involving it? 

[oveliagirlhaditright]

54 for Player/Strelitzia

Prompt: Words I wanted to say to you, but never got the chance to.

Dedicated to bluerosesburnblue

“…Strelitzia, wait,” Chirithy said from out of nowhere, as he planted his paws onto the ground and held tight to Strelitzia’s hand to keep her from going any further.

As a Keyblade wielder–and a pretty strong one at that, she supposed, if Master Ava choosing her to be a Union Leader meant anything–Strelitzia could have broken free of Chirithy’s grip if she really wanted to… but now without hurting him, she felt. 

So she took a deep breath and allowed him to stop her for a moment, when that was the last thing she wanted to do. “Chirithy, what’s wrong? I have to tell them about the Keyblade War and the Dandelions before it’s too la-”

“I set you up.”

“…What?” Suddenly, Strelitzia felt as though the earth had risen up and swallowed her whole. Daybreak Town was warm and full of light–so, many bad things… aside from this upcoming Keyblade War, that Strelitzia could hardly believe was even happening–didn’t happen here. 

But even so… A few people had still been murdered, and Strelitzia knew what death was. And if Chirithy was saying he set her up, there was only one thing she could imagine him meaning… and it wasn’t pleasant.

“I- I unfortunately agreed with Master Gula, that you wouldn’t be a fitting leader for the Dandelions, and would lead them into following the Master of Masters’ path for destruction. And I thought it would be better if you–if we–disappeared from this world. But I can’t do that to you, Strelitzia! Run! If you go into that warehouse, Master Gula will kill you and you’ll never find your love!”

“But I-” Tears stung at Strelitzia’s eyes, as she clenched her hands into fists. She could barely understand a word she was hearing–as she’d gone into shock long ago, and all she could hear was a whooshing in her ears–but she still knew that she’d been right… Chirithy had betrayed her. 

But unlike her worst imaginings she’d just had of the scenario, he had told her in time and wasn’t completely irredeemable. Maybe there was still a chance she could save him from the darkness she was now seeing had literally engulfed him, as he was bathed in purple.

“Chirithy, come with me!” But Strelitzia didn’t get her wish–when would she ever again?–for at that exact moment, another Nightmare Chirithy appeared! A monster of one, and her Chirithy was absorbed within it so that she didn’t know where the other one ended and hers began. 

Had he done this because he still had some of his dark intentions, and had only been able to fight them for a moment to save her? Or had he ended himself out of shame for everything? Strelitzia didn’t know… and she didn’t have time to figure it out. 

So she helplessly reached out towards her Chirithy and called out his name just one more time, before she sealed her heart away and went into hiding.

…

If there was anything the Keyblade wielders had known about Master Gula, it was that he was the edgiest of the Foretellers and, perhaps, the one that had turned away from his original cause the most. So Strelitzia was no fool: she knew that Master Gula was still looking for her and would kill her, if he found her.

So Strelitzia went back to something she’d been doing for a long time, but in a much wiser way this time: she watched things from her favorite rooftop. But from within a secret passage between the attic and the roof–that only she and one other person knew about–where she could watch the going ons at Fountain Square as much as she wanted to, but still stay safe.

There was food here, so Strelitzia didn’t starve… and she also was smart enough to know who it was from: The Master of Masters, that Gula was now fighting against. And if the Master had left food here, he must have known she would be here and had planned for that event… which must have meant she was somehow important to the future, and needed to live.

Which was part of the reason she was going against her beliefs from before, and doing nothing to try and stop the Keyblade War or warn anyone about it. Strelitzia was in survival mode now, and would wait it out here as long as she possibly could.

…But the day she saw Aced attack them, after they so gallantly stopped a fight between two Keyblade wielders, Strelitzia knew she could wait no more and had to make certain that they were alright.

So she somewhat regretfully–dang. Who had she become?–left her new home, and jumped down from her perch to follow that Skuld girl and her hero’s Chirithy back to their home.

Skuld noticed her right away, though, which… honestly? Strelitzia would have been disappointed with Master’s Ava’s–no, the Master of Master’s–choices if she hadn’t.

“Who are you and why are you following us?!” Skuld demanded with fury in her eyes, the moment she spun around with Starlight in her hand and cut Strelitzia’s cheek. 

Strelitzia hardly noticed.

“This is going to sound… stalker-y, but I honestly don’t care. It’s the truth, and we don’t have time to dawdle. I kept running into your friend by chance, and then started noticing how they seemed to be in the center of things and became intrigued by them–like they were intrigued by your friend Ephemer, I believe?–and started watching them some… 

“But anyway, the real point is that Master Gula wants me dead. Why? Because he’s against the Master of Masters and I’m one of the Master’s appointed Union Leaders. I’ve been in hiding ever since, but when I- when I saw them get hurt, I had to step in and make sure they were okay. That’s why I’m here.”

Skuld looked incredulous, like she was about to say that that was the stupidest thing she ever heard and she didn’t trust her around her dear companion at all, with some of things she had just admitted. But the Chirithy jumped in before Skuld could act.

“That… actually makes some sense, Skuld. I can see why Master Gula would want to challenge the Master, unfortunately. Some of my Master’s directions… they never added up. It was like he was putting the Foretellers against each other in order for them to fail. I don’t know… But we can’t waste time talking about this outside right now. It’s too dangerous. Let’s get inside.”

And not having to be told twice, Strelitzia grabbed the other arm of her dear, and helped Skuld carry them to their home and then their room.

…

Strelitzia’s hero did not wake for a long time, and it quickly became night as they waited for them to. Everyone was too anxious to eat anything, but they did each go and get a drink out of the fridge when dehydration started to set in and then partook in some awkward conversation.

“What’s an example of the Master of Masters pitting the Foretellers against each other, Chirithy?” Skuld was asking now, as she seemed to finally make the important decision of turning against the Master of Masters herself.

Which, if Strelitzia was being honest with herself, was a fair position to take with everything they were now learning. This war never should have happened… and if those in charge had wanted to stop it, they could have. Which must have meant they didn’t want to… so the Master of Masters wasn’t really worth trusting then, was he?

But at the same time… Strelitzia knew he was the reason she was even alive right now, because of his careful planning. So should she have been looking that gift horse in the mouth? And what would happen if she did?

“Well… Master Aced has always wanted to be leader, but the Master of Masters made Master Ira leader and not him. He then told Master Aced that if Master Ira fell from the path, it should be his job to take Master Ira’s path… What do you think that led to? Master Aced having issues with everything Master Ira did–and looking for any excuse to dethrone him, so to speak–and those two becoming enemies… and the other Foretellers becoming enemies as they somewhat took sides there… and that’s only part of it.”

Strelitzia was about to say that Master Gula wasn’t much better, though, if he was planning on killing her to thwart the Master’s plans… Not just because it would have been murder–and Strelitzia nearly threw up in imagining herself dead on the ground by his hands–but because eventually someone would have found out she’d been replaced, and it would have led to the same in-fighting between the new Union Leaders. But before she could speak, they woke up.

“Ephemer,” they whispered out of nowhere, as they looked to their ceiling almost in reverence–as if they were being gifted with seeing the light within Kingdom Hearts for the first time. “Skuld, do you know where he is-”

But the Keyblade wielder who, perhaps, deserved to be a Dandelion and Union Leader more than anyone else, cut themselves off when they rolled over and saw Strelitzia there. “Who are you?” they asked warily.

And Strelitzia, suddenly feeling much more like herself than she had in a long time, went to their side and pushed a plant closer to them so that they might heal faster. And with tears in her eyes, she said: “This- this is the moment I’ve always been waiting for. And to think… that if my Chirithy hadn’t had a change of heart, all of this would have just been things I wanted to tell you but never got the chance to. 

“But I- my name is Strelitzia. And I’ve been admiring you for so long: for the strength you still held when you were unintentionally stood up by Ephemer… for so courageously facing off against Master Ira when you thought he killed Ephemer… for what you did in Fountain Square just today. And I believe, just like you do, that even the Dandelions are no good, if iso many of our friends still perish in the Keyblade War.”

And something within Strelitzia’s new friend–was it too presumptuous to call them a friend already? She sure hoped not!–seemed to come alive when she’d said the last bit. “You are like me, then… In maybe being willing to learn how to use the power of darkness–or at least pretend to–to save a friend… And maybe actually falling into that darkness, at the thought of losing our friends… But if we’re really tied to darkness… can we truly do anything to help?”

And Strelitzia thought that they could. She’d been examining the cards lately, and many of the ones that had been able to be Guilted (that was the same as utilizing the powers of darkness) had people with golden eyes on them, as if that feature was somehow associated with the darkness: eyes like Skuld’s, and Skuld was just fine.

And Strelitzia remembered the selfless thing that Chirithy had done for her, even while consumed by the darkness, before he’d joined this person’s Chirithy, she guessed now.

Maybe… maybe the darkness wasn’t as bad as they had all feared, and that was the key all around.

“This Keyblade War is about to start because everyone’s afraid of Daybreak Town falling to darkness. But if we’re going to kill people to try and avoid that, is it any better? And won’t that lead to darkness and an end, anyway? Maybe if we make people see that–that, perhaps, a little darkness won’t hurt and it’ll allow them to stay alive, unlike the alternative–the fighting will stop. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”

And smiling at her, as their Chirithy and friend Skuld watched them with mouths agape and concerned looks behind them, they gave Strelitzia their hand and started to sit up. 

“Let’s do it, then.”

And in that moment, Strelitzia knew that they had found a way to stop the Keyblade War… and they did do so.

But little did she know, that for that they would then be put in a simulation that would manually force the War to happen… and for them to relive it over and over again, until eventually a certain someone with sky blue eyes found them and got them out of the Black Box.

[digimonadventuretimelines]

[03 - After The Re:encounter]

He opened the door of his dad’s office room after everyone had left the house, holding a few packages and juice boxes so he could feed the other two. It was like dealing with pets except said pets can eat human food.

Ulforce was still sleeping in the couch, with Natsu in her digimon form on his back. A very adorable scene, except that Daichi had to wake them up.

“Uh, good morning?”

The digimon duo opened their eyes slowly, sitting one next to the other on the couch.

“Man, I’ve been sleepin’ on the cold solid ground of a cave so this whole royal treatment is so good!” Ulforce chirped, smiling “Huh? What’s this? Food?”

“Uh, yeah… I couldn’t cook something without my mom and Kiyoko asking me about the quantity of food so… I brought some snacks and juice.”

“Oh, I miss eating those!!” Natsu cried “It brings me so many good memories…”

“Y-you’ve eaten those before, digi-girl?!” the blue digimon exclaimed.

“Daisuke and I had known each other for years…! I’m an honorary partner digimon of his.”

“That I didn’t know” Daichi seemed happier today “My dad always talked about you being an old friend of his and friends.”

“Mimi and Wallace were okay, but Vee was so jealous of me!”

“Is Vee my father’s partner digimon?” the boy asked “I thought he was just an employee from my dad’s restaurant…”

“Your dad’s partner is Vee, and he can be a little meanie compared to my loyalty to Daisuke.”

She wasn’t fine talking about another digimon, especially the one who didn’t like her at the beginning…

“You kiddin’?! He’s a legend!” Ulforce protested “He beat Chimeramon, Cherubimon Vice, Belial Vamdemon, Boltmon and Pukumon, and Diablomon’s highest form!”

“W-wow, this means… my father were in those stories?!” you can feel Daichi’s joy to hear his father had been a hero in the past.

“Not only him, but also other cool ‘mons too!” the draconian digi-child grinned, “All the Twelve are legendaries! You seem surprised, didn’t you hear about them?! They’re in the books and lore about our worlds as the ones who connected humans and digimons!”

“Um… My parents never had told me that. Actually, I didn’t even know the DigiWorld’s Ambassador was one of those most known heroes too… I’m not sure if I can tell Taisuke about that...”

“They had children” Natsu said vaguely “and they decided to not let anyone else know their identities and keep their children safe.”

That made sense, at least to Daichi.

“When the first kids of the Twelve had born, a lot of discussion between what to do and how to keep them safe happened. Then, Taichi and Daisuke decided they had to keep their identities as a secret and… Requested Homeostasis to do a soft reboot on the worlds. Their digimon kept being known, but the human partners of them got all data and memories deleted from most of the people and digimon’s heads.”

“So… No one knows the identity of the Twelve? But how can my father be controlled by the bad guys right now…?”

“I didn’t say ‘everyone’ but ‘most of them’ had their memories rebooted” she pouted “Some digimon and the Worldwide Chosen Children know their identities. Also them all had their memories untouched.”

“Man, that thing about reboots is annoyin’!!” Ulforce crossed his arms “Lots of stories got taken away! Not just that, but some don’t even believe they existed!”

“Thinking about that… That possibly happened with the first human children who fought for the DigiWorld…”

“So, my dad and ambassador Yagami weren’t the first…?”

She looked down.

“No, Taichi’s from the second generation and Daisuke from the third. The story of the first gen. is a bit of unknown… All we know is that four of their partners evolved into the Holy Beasts to fight the Four Dark Masters.”

“ENOUGH OF STORIES I WANT TO EAT!!” Ulforce roared nervously “I want those there! and that too! Aaah, human food! I’ve dreamed with this day!!”

------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ugh, he’s spending more and more time inside without even taking a break to play with me!”

Kiyoko was not okay again, venting all of her frustrations to Taisuke and Eiji, the ones who she sees as her best friends. Despite of Eiji’s height, he’s twelve like Kiyoko, and only Taisuke is the youngest of the trio, being eleven years old.

“I don’t understand!”

“Have you tried to ask what’s bugging him?” Eiji mused “Sometimes asking is better than jumping to conclusions… I hope that’s not a little intrusive.”

“I tried!” she responded with some annoyance. She was upset with Daichi though, “Today mom left to work and then he just said ‘go play with your friends I have to study’ and… And…!!”

“He’s a meanie!” Taisuke interrupted her “Locking themselves in the office and not even coming to play with us at the park…!”

“Yeah, that!”

Though Eiji realized Taisuke wasn’t talking about Daichi only, but about someone else too…

“Who do they think they are?!” the youngest clenched his fist “They have no time for us, we’re like nothing to them?! I hate it!!”

“Yeah-- Uh, ‘they’ you mean…”

“Sigh, his father” Eiji answered “The ambassador is too busy lately and Taisuke spends more time at my house with my sister and me.”

“Oh… Yeah, I’ve heard the news” she frowned “There’s something big happening, some guys causing a fuss because of the digimon and some digimon causing a fuss because of us.”

“My dad is also busy…” he added “We barely see him these days.”

“I’m mad…!” Taisuke growled.

“At least you two aren’t hearing weird theories that my dad is dead and no one can admit that, like Daichi’s doing on a daily basis every time we talk...”

“We don’t relate to that issue but we feel sorry, Kiyoko.”

“Thanks Eiji…”

“I’d have said it’s okay to spend time studying, but honestly Daichi’s case is somehow unhealthy. Does he skip meals or pull all nighters?”

“Huh, not that I know… If he weren’t going to school I’d have said he has turned into a complete shut-in.”

“That’s a problem then… He needs to exercise at least once per day…”

“Why care about him,” Taisuke rolled his eyes “He chose that path. Let him face the consequences.”

“I don’t want to let Daichi’s health get bad…” she kept voicing her concerns “He’s definitely suffering the most with that anxiety about dad. Maybe we can do something?”

“... ‘we’ like, me and Eiji?!”

Eiji glanced at her and then started thinking of something. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the digimon finished their breakfast, them and Daichi started examining the mysterious D-TimeRune device given by Skuld. The boy explained then that the digivice’s design reminded him one of the several retro phones his best friend had collected.

But that made no sense to the blue digimon, since he never had seen said phone before and Daichi’s description of that sounded like a digivice to him while Natsu kept in silence. Daichi sighed, then changed the entire subject.

“I… I tried talking to mom about what we know but…”

“ ‘But’ …?”

“I lost courage,” he sighed.

“But you HAVE to tell her and Taichi!” Natsu wasn’t happy with that answer.

“I know, I know! But seems they’re too busy to hear me out!” he babbled “I can try to send him an e-mail or a voicemail… And try to talk with mom when she’s home from work tonight!”

“At this pace better you take me back to the DigiWorld so I can beat that--” Ulforce was threatened by Natsu’s deathly glare “--that m-man and then bring it back home f-for you, kid!”

“... mrs. Skuld said I can… Do something about that.”

He looked at the digivice.

“What if I use this power to prevent my dad from being captured?”

“H-Hold on, Daichi” the pink digimon gasped “You shouldn’t mess with space-time! Awful things happen to those who defy the laws of Space-Time.”

“How do you know that?” both Ulforce and Daichi frowned.

“... Feminine intuition.”

“But we can try… I won’t mess things enough to change the entire course of story!”

“Ryou, Taichi and Daisuke never messed with time, just traveled through parallel worlds. You messing with time might be worse than anything. You can end up destroying this world’s timeline or…”

“... Making me to not exist anymore?”

“Yes.”

“Whoa, wait can all of those happen?!” that V-mon definitely felt concerned with that idea.

“Natsu,” Daichi glared at her “If you had this power to save my father, would’ve you taken the chance to change his fate… Or would’ve you let him suffer and be seen as a traitor?”

“H-how do you know about that part… About him being accused of--”

“If he’s a hero and is working for the evil, then they will treat him as a traitor until proven otherwise. It’s logical. I don’t know if mom and ambassador Yagami think he’s innocent, but you do! We do!”

“Except Ulforce, though”

“I didn’t know he’s the kid’s father COME ON!!”

“But…” she looked at the boy with some concern in her face “I think it’s better to let the adults solve it. Have faith in your parents and Taichi, they will solve it--”

“I know my father is friends with Ambassador Yagami, but now that he’s on an important role, he will ignore boundaries and do what’s right for the digimon. He won’t go easy on dad, and might… Might do something wrong.”

“And why do you think that…?”

“Because as I remember, this is a threat to the human world and it might force Ambassador Yagami to put an end on this, by killing my dad.”

“... I think he wouldn’t--”

“No, he would. He’s a responsible adult, not a leader from a children’s group.”

“Hey, kid’s right” Ulforce added “If he let his mom and this Yagami-dude know about Lupinmon they gotta ground kid and do the wrong thing!”

Natsu felt conflicted. Especially because she knows Daisuke would’ve preferred her to keep Daichi and Kiyoko away from him to avoid misfortune, but on the other hand Daichi is the only one able to do something and save Daisuke.

“Please, Natsu!” Daichi begged her.

“I don’t know!!” she cried “Daisuke’s very important to me, but his children is also important! I can’t let you do something risky-- I...”

“My father would’ve done the same for me! I know it!”

Natsu’s imagination worked all again, her imagining Daisuke in front of her smiling and approving the idea of Daichi becoming a hero like him. It made her eyes shine and she nodded her head many times that the boy and blue digimon felt scared.

“LET’S GO!” she yelled “To save your father and the worlds!”

“But kid needs a partner digimon first, doesn’t he?” Ulforce looked at the digivice and then to Daichi, “This means he needs to… Return there.”

“Let’s go,” the boy nodded “If I get partnered with a digimon, I can save my father.”

“... I can’t be your partner” Natsu looked away “I can’t, sorry.”

“Who’s sayin’ it will be you!?” Ulforce pouted “Also why would he pick you!?”

“I understand” Daichi smiled “You don’t want to fight my father, is it?”

“... Let’s say it's that.”

“Then, you won’t be forced to! Now let’s go to the Digital World, I will find a digimon who’s willing to fight alongside me and then save my father and the the world.”