War of the Hearts

Chapter XVII

"Sometimes we need someone to accept and love us first. Then, we learn to see ourselves through that person's eyes and learn to love ourselves." ~Yuki Sohma (Fruits Basket)
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Aina stood inside the white lotus pod that was the healing pod, eyes closed as she was asleep. Suddenly, the leaves opened and Aina sleepily opened her eyes and stretched, getting out of it. As the haze cleared from her mind, she remembered where she was and why she was here and she jumped, checking the other pod.

As soon as she did that, she saw the pod Akari was in opening as she woke up and stepped out of the pod. Aina helped Akari steady herself as she slowly woke up. As her eyes darted all over the place she stood up and yelled, "How long?"

"How long what?" Aina asked.

"How long have we've been in here?" Akari replied as she looked around. "This place looks unaffected...but that doesn't mean the rest of it isn't."

"Well, let's go and see," Aina stated as she pointed her Keyblade and opened a circular portal outlined in white with swirling purples and blues inside. Both woman stepped into the portal and were transported to Daybreak Town, but what they saw was unexpected.

They stood in some sort of town square, only it was the town square of Daybreak town. There was no fountain in the center of it, but instead it was surrounded by garden beds full of lowers. Both Akari and Aina blinked as they looked around. The square was full of people milling about, some in market stands, selling goods.

Aina pulled a passerby aside and asked them, "Excuse me, where are we at?"

They blinked at Aina, confused at her question. "This is Radiant Garden," they replied.

"Radiant Garden..." Aina repeated.

"I thought you were supposed to teleport us to take us to Daybreak Town!" Akari cried.

"I did!" Aina insisted. "At least, I think I did..."

"Daybreak Town...?" The passerby questioned the two woman and they nodded at them.

"Do you know anything of Daybreak town?" Akari asked.

"No...this has always been Radiant Garden to me and everyone here," the passerby replied. "Maybe this place had another name in another time. You can check the library, there's an archive of the history of this world. Maybe it has the answers you need."

"Right," Akari nodded. "Thank you!"

The passerby nodded as the two went and searched for the library. Finding the large building, they walked inside and found that there were rows upon rows of bookshelves fulled to the brim with books. After speaking with a librarian who directed them, they found the archives of the world. Selecting the first book high on the shelf, Aina opened it and saw the first chapter detailing how the world came to be.

"This world was part of many worlds," Aina read to Akari. "Long ago, it said that this world along with many others were joined as one in the Realm of Light during a peaceful time dubbed 'The Age of Fairy Tales'. However, many began to seek more light and in such sunk into the darkness in a great battle called the Keyblade War. In this war, everyone who fought perished and Kingdom Hearts emerged, destroying the one, singular united world and caused it to fall into darkness. However, not all hope was lost. The light and hope within the hearts of the children managed to salvage many of the worlds have fell, but they emerged divided, not together, unaware of each other's separate existences. This tale is the formation of this world is told often as a children's bedtime story and although believed by many, is yet to be proven true."

"You're telling me this entire war, the prelude and the aftermath, has been shorted to one chapter of this world's history and s now a myth?" Aina cried, throwing her arms in the air.

"Despite that, at least we got some answers," Akari sighed. "We still aren't sure exactly how much time passed, but at least we know it was a great while."

"I guess maybe when I tried to take us to Daybreak Town, we came here instead because this might of been what is left of that place," Aina stated, sadness filling her eyes as she missed her home.

Akari placed a comforting hand on Aina's shoulder and gave her a comforting smile. "At least we are together, right?"

"Right," Aina nodded.