Sirius got the crowds attention with a clap, managing to calm down the crowd as they were all chatting about what she said while Sora was walking pass them, unaffected by whatever the witch cultist was saying or doing. Once being in the front of the crowd, he looked up to hear the woman with the bandages speak once more.
"Everyone took 22 seconds to fall quiet. However, thank you all for your attention. I'm very happy. In addition-"
"Hey!"
Sirius turned towards Sora, having been attracted by his voice and the power he was giving off.
"It's rude to interrupt a person speaking."
"Sorry about that, I just want to know what you are up to?" Sora bowed to show his respect which caused Sirius' anger to die down a bit. Just before she was going to answer Sora's polite question, other people started to ask that question.
"Yeah, Yeah, hurry up and tell us!"
"Sorry, I'm sorry. Really sorry. I know everyone is busy. I will finish my speech immediately, so please stay with me for a while."
"Okay, just please tell us what you are up to."
"Okay, Well, I'll say it. The matter I want to affirm is very simple. To put it bluntly, there's something I want to affirm about Love. Wow, that was embarrassing."
Although the bandages covered up any blushing, Sirius covered her face with a hand trying to cover her shame up, making Sora puzzle on the type of person Sirius is. Everyone but Sora laughed silently and infectiously with Sirius' appearance began to seem increasingly out of place.
"Although I expected that I'd be laughed at, it still makes me feel troubled. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you, and I also have a request."
"A request?" Sora asked while being puzzled by this.
"I think if everyone can stay with me for a while, I can affirm that Love. I'm sorry, I can really say some unruly things."
Sirius stumbled through her words, rubbing her hands and chains together as she made her suggestion. Faced with such a lovable sight, the crowd reacted with a "what, is that all?". Sora just stood still with his keyblade in hand, preparing for anything to happen. Sirius lit up and begin clapping her hands.
"Really? Thank you, thank you! I'm sorry. The world is really very gentle. Full of love and tenderness. Whenever I understand this, I cannot help but to want to express my gratitude. People are able to understand each other and care for each other. Maybe I always speak with 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry' so that I can confirm that."
"Yeah, yeah, we get it, Sirius! So what next-?" Someone from the crowd spoke yet Sirius interrupted him by apologizing. Finally remembering her purpose, Sirius retreated into her clock tower and reached out a hand.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting. Well, come here."
"-!"
She spoke with a friendly voice as she pulled someone through a window, a little figure moaned and writhed in her grip— a little boy whose entire body was bound. The boy was about ten years old with his entire body from ankles to shoulders was wrapped around with chain.
He was also gagged with that chain, the corners of his mouth dripping blood. Sora saw this and quickly realize that something was completely wrong with not only the situation he finds himself but the crowd around him acting weird.
'This is bad, this is very bad.'
Sora looked around to analyze his situation to save the child held captive by Sirius while the bandage woman was continuing to speak.
"I'm sorry that you're so scared however, as a man, crying like this isn't good. Although I wanted to keep that a secret for you, you look like you're about to urinate yourself. It's a hard feeling, and it's sad when everyone can see it."
"Mmmm! Mmgh!"
Sora looked has the crowd was mocking the little boy, making him get angry by this until finally he spoke out loud enough to overshow everyone's voices.
"That's enough!"
"Huh?" Sirius looked at Sora, seeing the anger in his facial expression and by his voice when speaking out. Before she could say anything, everyone saw Sora jumping onto the building before running up the building which surprised everyone, especially Sirius since she can tell that something is completely different with Sora.
Before she could do anything, Sora quickly casted Thundaga to stop Sirius from doing anything. A giant and powerful lightning bolt hit near Sirius, causing her to fall on her back which put distance between the kid and her. Sora ran up to the top of the building fast enough to get to the kid and freed him by cutting the chains holding him with his Kingdom Key before casting Curaga.
"Get to safety!"
"T-Thank you..." The kid says before running to safety while Sora pointed his keyblade at Sirius, ready for a fight. The bandage woman looked at Sora with anger in her eyes, not liking what the Keyblade Master said. She got up and started to say,
"Why are you angry?! I was trying to spread love!"
"Love? How is that love?! You kidnapped a boy for some messed up reason!"
Sirius looked at Sora with a serious facial expression underneath her bandages before having her chains ready for a fight. As the two were staring at each other, Sora wanted to clarify one thing.
"Before we start, you mention that your name is Sirius Romanee-Conti, correct?"
"Yes, I'm sorry if this sounds rude but mind telling me your name?"
"My name is Sora, Keyblade Master. I wanted to ask if you knew someone named Petelguese."
"My beloved! Yes, I know my love. How do you know him?!" Sirius spoke with such joy and happiness the second she heard Petelguese's name. Sora got into his fighting stance before responding to Sirius' question with a firm tone,
"Sorry to tell you but we beat him, he is no longer here."
"...What...did you...just said...?" Sirius' mood shifted from joy and happiness to one of uncertainty until Sora's words finally got through to her.
"No way...this can't be...my love is...gone...!" She let out a scream of pain and hatred, now having hatred for Sora and the other individual who killed her beloved. She was mad and was prepared to kill Sora yet she had something in her mind. Sora was the only one who spoke out and wasn't following the crowd like one would normally do. Because of this, she paid close attention to the boy before asking her question,
"What are you exactly? You don't seem effected by my powers? Are you one of the virtues or a fellow sinner...no, a sinner wouldn't save a child..."
As she thought for a moment, sora looked down to see that everyone in the crowd was also thinking of possibilities and shouting nonsense at first until they were suggestions on what Sora could be.
'Something seemed off with the crowd but seeing how they are acting similar to how this Sirius is acting...could she be controlling their actions?'
Sora thought this through first before coming to the conclusion that Sirius is somehow affecting the crowd, making him think that if Sirius can connect herself with the crowd then she could also take any damage and send it to the crowd. Seeing this as a possible threat, he decided to do something reckless. He pointed his keyblade and demanded something from the Sin Archbishop of Wrath,
"Seeing that you are still figuring me out, let me make a bet with you. Try to land a hit on me and I will gladly point you in the direction of my friend who helped me take down the Sin Archbishop of Sloth."
"You dare speak of him so casually?! I will kill you!"
With this Sirius started to throw her chains and transform them into fire. Sora saw this and quickly jumped high to avoid the hit before using glide to head down the square and lure Sirius away from the scene. Sora looked at the tower he was just at and could see Sirius' fire approaching him in rapid speed. He pointed his keyblade and casted Blizzaga which managed to counter Wrath's attack. Seeing that it worked, he started to run towards a direction away from the square with Sirius chasing him.
"You will not escape me, you bastard!"
Sora looked behind him and was able to dodge a couple of attacks while continuing his run, the plan being that Sirius is brought to a place away from people in hopes of properly facing her without the risk of casualties.
'Okay, all I can do now is get the Sin Archbishop of Wrath out of here...Subaru, I'm counting on you my friend, my apprentice.'
---------------------------------------
Subaru and Beatrice both managed to find Otto and the others walking in the part of the city where they were designated. Otto, Rem, Anastasia, Ricardo, and Garfiel were all looking around the area they were designated with caution since they need to be prepared for the Witch cultist and for the Organization. While the five were walking around without looking suspicion, they noticed Beatrice and Subaru approaching them.
"Subaru-I mean Barusu, what are you doing here? Why aren't you following Sora's plan?"
"Sora send us because he might have encountered the Witch cultist first."
"Then why aren't you with him?!"
Rem looked at Subaru with angry eyes which got Beatrice to hold Subaru's arm while showing that she is ready to fight the oni maid should she try something. As it seemed like they were going to fight amongst themselves, they noticed random heartless popping out of nowhere with a corridor of darkness appearing.
"Great, this is a problem."
"Ricardo, think you can get Anastasia out of here." Subaru says to him with a serious facial expression. Dogman nods at Subaru and quickly gets the head of the Hoshin Trading Company out to safety while Rem, Garfiel, Subaru, Otto, and Beatrice prepare themselves for a fight.
"Capt'n, any ideas?"
"Rem, Garfiel, you two deal with the heartless. Otto, Beako, and I can handle the rest."
"Yer sure Capt'n?"
"Positive Garfiel."
"Aight, let's go Rem."
Rem and Garfiel both ran towards the heartless and started to attack them without any hesitation with Garfiel using his own claws while Rem pulled out her horn in order to put her oni powers to the test with Ram's training. As Rem and Garfiel went to take on the heartless, Subaru and the others waited for a moment until finally two people walked out of the corridor of darkness.
Subaru looked at the two and was interested to see a fair and green-skinned with yellow eyes having a heavily shadowed with violet make-up and her lips are painted red. This dark witch's head is topped with a black-horned headdress and she wears a long, tattered black robe with a purple trim and maroon flare edges. Along with these other physical descriptions and the fin-like spikes on the sides of her neck further hint towards her dragon-transformation powers.
The person next to her was a portly, black furred, anthropomorphized that wears suspenders and a shirt that seems to be armor colored in shades of blue and purple overtop a red, short-sleeved shirt with a vertical pink stripe descending from the neck. He wears navy blue and white sneakers with light blue fronts and two periwinkle straps keeping each one secure. His pants are also navy blue, with light blue lining, purple lower legs, and two enormous pouches on either front side.
"Who are you two?" Subaru asked in a question with an uncertain tone of voice, expecting an Organization member to be walking through the portal. Maleficent looked at the boy and was intrigued by two things. The first being the keyblade he was holding while the second being that she can sense darkness in his heart.
"You have an interesting heart, one filled with darkness."
"Are you talking about Subaru-san? He is not one affiliated with darkness!"
"Yes! Betty's Subaru is not one of darkness!"
Maleficent looked at both Otto and Beatrice, intrigued by how they are defending someone she can clearly tell that uses the power of darkness. She smiled at this while continuing to speak to the three.
"I see you are wielding a keyblade as well...tell me, what is your name?"
Subaru looked at Maleficent for a moment before putting his keyblade away in order to do his usual introduction pose.
"My name is Natsuki Subaru, Emilia's knight, son of Natsuki Kenichi and Natsuki Naoko, and lastly the apprentice of Keyblade Master Sora."
"Sora."
Maleficent's interest got increase the moment she heard her arch enemy be spoken in such a high regard,
"Sora? Isn't he that pipsqueak with the key?"
"Yes you big idiot."
"Hey! You respect Master Sora!"
"Master Sora? I never thought I would hear such nonsense. That boy doesn't deserve to be called by such a high respectable title."
"Oh really, well then I'll make sure to make you eat those words! Otto, go and take care fatty over there. Beatrice and I can take care of the witch looking bitch here."
"Oi! Who are you calling fat?!"
Pete charges at Subaru for his comment only for Otto to get in between the two, ready to face off his opponent. Pete noticed this and quickly tried to land a punch on the merchant but he managed to dodge the attack with ease, confident that he can take on the big one on his own. As Otto was dodging Pete's attacks, Maleficent had her staff glow for a moment, preparing an attack while Beatrice and Subaru both prepared themselves as well.
"What is the plan, I suppose?"
"Similar to our training, we go all out and try to land the finishing blow."
"That ended with us losing, in fact!"
"Don't worry, we still have one attack that will surely catch our opponent off guard."
Subaru smiled confidently since he still has his invisible providence as a last resort should the situation demand him to use it. The two sides had a stare down for a moment before Subaru charged at Maleficent while Beatrice prepared a large amount of purple icicles to help her contractor on the fight. As Subaru was going to go for an attack, Maleficent smiled before getting her staff to glow for a moment before summoning two large body heartless in front of the boy. Subaru anticipated something like this and quickly summoned Fira at one of the heartless, managing to inflict a ton of damage.
"Okay Beako, your turn."
"Get out of the way, I suppose!"
"Way ahead of you!"
Subaru manages to get away from the heartless to allow Beatrice to summon a barrage of icicles directly at the heartless, easily taking them down. Maleficent took this opportunity to attack Beatrice since she was left open but Subaru had managed to stop the green fireball from hitting her by using Invisible providence to punch away the attack. Subaru smiled at this yet he collapsed to the ground for a moment, having drained a lot of energy by doing this yet he still had enough strength to get up.
'That was a little too close for comfort.'
Subaru looked at Maleficent and can see that she is just messing with them, not looking phased or worried. He quickly healed himself to get his stamina back up before using formchange to face off the witch. He charged at Maleficent and started to hit her with Starlight keyblade, landing a few good hits yet the witch still looks unfazed.
"Is that all?"
"Don't underestimate me!"
Subaru used all of his strength in one attack but was thrown off when Maleficent moved her staff above her and started to cast lightning all around her, forcing the boy to try his best to deflect off some of the lightning headed his way. As he blocked the attack, Maleficent used her glowing staff to knock the boy away, sending him flying a couple of feet. As Subaru hit the ground, Maleficent laughed for a moment.
"I was expecting more for the so called student of that boy but it seems I set my expectations to high."
"Don't get...to cocky just yet...Beako, now!"
Beatrice quickly uses Ul Shamak to blind Maleficent of a moment before using Ul Minya in hopes of taking out this dangerous opponent. Maleficent looked at around and although she can't see anything, she can tell where Beatrice's attack was coming from. She summoned a barrier to protect herself from Beatrice's attack.
"That was an interesting attack but nothing I can't handle."
Maleficent spoke as the smoke from Shamak worn off to reveal her not having taken any damage.
"What are you, I suppose?!" Beatrice said in a worried tone of voice, afraid of the opponent her and her contractor were facing. Maleficent looked at the great spirit and the keyblade wielder, standing side by side, with a sinister smile before responding to the little girl's question.
"Behold the mistress of all evil!"
She says this while holding her staff high while it glowed green, causing many powerful heartless to appear. Subaru and Beatrice were both stunned by this, yet they were not going to back down. Meanwhile Subaru and Beatrice dealt with Maleficent and her group of heartless, Otto continued to dodge Pete's attacks.
"Is this all you got?"
"Don't get cocky, pipsqueak!"
Pete quickly summoned three shadow heartless to attack Otto, forcing the merchant to use some of his red stones to take out the heartless. He threw four red stones of his, three heading for the three heartless and the fourth heading straight for Pete.
Pete looked at the red stone heading towards him and thought nothing of it except wanting to punch it. Just as his hand was about to hit the stone, Pete noticed the stones beginning to explode one at a time, taking down each heartless. Pete saw this and before he could react, the red stone exploded with Otto adjusting his hat while having a smirk on his face.
"I may be a simple merchant but one with a few tricks up his sleeves."
As Otto was smirking, he let his guard down which resulted in Pete landing a hit on his face, sending him flying a few feet with a bruised cheek. Otto was left confused for a moment before looking at Pete carefully, noticing no scratches on him. As he slowly got up, Pete started to speak in a cocky manner,
"Ha! I worried for nothing. You really are pathetic."
"I won't lose this easily."
Otto looks at Pete for a moment and waits until the big guy goes to throw a punch at the merchant before dodging the attack. As he dodges the attack, he swings his fist into Pete's face, managing to land a hit. As Pete was send back a bit, Otto gained some distance while using a few more red stones to push his opponent back. Pete noticed this and quickly created a shield around him to protect himself. As explosions were going around him, he laughed confidently since he knows these attacks won't break his shield.
'Darn, I better find a way to break his shield.'
Otto stood still for a moment, observing in every possible thing he could do to beat Pete until he noticed a couple of ground dragons. He quickly spoke in their language using his divine protection of soul language, catching Pete's attention.
"What are you doing there?"
"Gathering some assistance! Attack!"
"What?"
Pete looked confused before a couple of ground dragons combined were strong enough to break through the shield of his before shoving him hard enough to send him flying. As Pete was sent off, Otto brushed off some dust from his clothing while speaking to his opponent in respect,
"You are quite strong, but I'll just find a way around your strength."
Pete gets up and quickly creates a ball to roll towards Otto's direction, catching the merchant's interest for a moment before realizing that it is a bomb. He jumps yet he was caught by the explosion, giving his left arm some minor wounds.
"Ha! If you can't handle that, then you are pretty weak."
"I may be weak but I'm still a merchant!"
Otto shouts this in pride before charging towards Pete, confident in his abilities to take down his opponent. Pete looked at the merchant with a smile, feeling as if he shouldn't see him as a threat. Pete prepared to create another shield but just as he was about to, he heard Otto shout Dona.
As the merchant says this, a small crater of the earth managed to send Pete flying for a moment before falling to the ground and creating a very small crater. Pete gets up and was angered by this, causing him to summon a lot of heartless to attack the merchant.
"Take this!"
"Yelp!"
Otto noticed the heartless charging towards him, making him try to come up with a plan yet Garfiel and Rem both jumped in between the two to assist their ally.
"Careful bro, yer not strong but lucky fer ya, Rem'n my amazin self got yer back!"
"Yes, you should be more careful."
"...thanks you two."
Otto allows Garfiel and Rem to face the large amount of heartless charging at them while he goes to check on Subaru and Beatrice, noticing that they were struggling on their fight. The darkside heartless that Maleficent created approached both Subaru and Beatrice, ready to fight yet a random red crystal appeared near its face before blowing up.
This gave Subaru the opening he needed to put all his strength in using Thundera. This magic ability was strong enough to destroy the heartless yet leave the boy in a weakened state. Otto approaches the two and quickly assisted Subaru to stand up while Beatrice prepared to use the remaining of her mana to protect her contractor.
"I won't let this evil hurt you, in fact!"
"Hehe...thanks Beako..."
Subaru smiled while being able to stand on his feet with the assistance of Otto. As the three looked at Maleficent, Rem and Garfiel join them with Pete standing side by side with Maleficent. The mistress of evil turned towards her subordinate and just gave him a look of disappointment before turning her attention to the Witch cultist surrounding them.
"Who are these creeps?"
"Hmph. Forces of darkness."
Maleficent smiled as she turned her attention to the Witch cultist surrounding them while Subaru and his group got their guards up, seeing that they have to deal with a lot more than they thought they would be facing.
'I hope you are doing better than us, Master Sora.'
--------------------------------------
Sora continued to run for a bit, dodging all of Sirius' attacks as best as he could before seeing that nobody is around them. Once that was confirmed for the Keyblade Master, he turned his full attention towards the Sin Archbishop of Wrath.
"Ah! I see you are ready to accept my wrath!"
"Not quite...Blizzaga!"
Sora fired a powerful ice attack, causing Sirius to jump back as she can tell that this attack would do a lot of damage to her. As she dodges the attack, Sora quickly charges at the Sin Archbishop of Wrath to attack her physically. She quickly swung her chains at Sora to push him back yet he managed to dodge each and everyone of them before reaching her. Sora quickly swung his keyblade and was able to land a couple of hits on her. After a barrage of attacks, Sora used a powerful swing to send Sirius flying into a building wall. Due to her immense strength, she broke through the wall and entered the building.
'Okay, maybe I shouldn't have send her into a building.'
Sora walks towards Sirius' position but before their fight could continue, he noticed the unversed and nobodies appeared around him. Sora quickly got his guard up and prepared to face them on his own until he heard a familiar voice speak to him,
"Yo! Keyblade Master! Need a hand?"
Sora turned towards the voice to see Ricardo the Dogman joining in on the fight by slicing a couple of unversed and nobodies before standing side by side with him. Sora was glad to see him yet he was at first worried that Sirius might influence his ally yet he noticed that the Sin Archbishop of Wrath was gone.
'This isn't good!'
Sora thought for a moment, realizing the problem with Sirius escaping him yet he needed to put his focus in taking down the unversed and nobodies alongside Ricardo. The two stood back to back with both of them having their weapons ready for a fight. As they were about to face off the threat in front of them, Sora starts to ask,
"Where is Anastasia?"
"Ah, lil' Ana, she's safe with Mimi and her group."
"That's good. Alright, let's do this."
Sora and Ricardo waited for a moment before the two started their fight against the nobodies and unversed, both of them managing to hold their own against the large threat. As the two were wiping down the nobodies and unversed without much problems, Xigbar and Xehanort were both observing from a distance.
"Why don't we attack the kid now, you old coot?"
"Because, everything is going as I predicted."
"Is that right? What is your prediction?"
Xehanort looked at Xigbar for a moment before looking at Sora and Ricardo's fight against the unversed and the nobodies.
"Let's just say that our plans are in motion to accomplish the plans I have."
"Whatever you say but try not to underestimate the kid, we lost to him multiple times already."
"Hmph."
Xigbar left the scene while Xehanort just watched the fight from a distance, taking note that Sora is much stronger than he was when he one shotted him back in the capital over a year ago. This made him realize that he needs to act fast before Sora gets stronger to the point that not even he can do anything. He stood watching for a bit before leaving the area in a corridor of darkness.
Sora and Ricardo both managed to finish off the large amount of nobodies and unversed with Sora using Thundaga to finish off the remaining nobodies. As Sora finishes the rest, he turns up onto the building Xehanort and Xigbar were watching and could see a corridor of darkness disappear. He looked up and was not happy that the Organization is causing trouble once again but before he could think about it, Ricardo patted him in the back.
"Man, you are still pretty amazing!"
"Hehe...thanks. We should probably check on the others."
"I know for certain the Sword Saint and his group can handle their own, so we could probably check on the boss kid and his crew or maybe even Emilia-sama and her group. Up to you, Keyblade Master."
Sora put away his keyblade before crossing his arms, trying to think who he should go assist first. He knows for sure that in Subaru's case, he has Beatrice, Otto, Garfiel, and Rem to back him up while Emilia has Priscilla, Al, Felt, and Old Man Rom.
"We should probably help Emilia. I trust Subaru to hold his own since he has Beatrice, Rem, Otto, and Garfiel to help him out."
"Well boss kid is someone we can rely on to hold his own."
"Agreed, now let's see how Emilia's group is holding up."
"Right."
Ricardo nodded to what Sora said before the two start making their way towards Emilia's position. As they were leaving, he looks back on more time to make sure Sirius is not in the area. After checking thoroughly, Ricardo and him both started to leave the area quickly yet as they left, Sirius appeared and watched the two leave.
"Petelguese my love...I know you are still around...nobody can kill you...NOBODY!"
------------------------------------------
During the time Sora was confronting Sirius, Emilia and her group were walking around the city with both Emilia and Felt having a conversation.
"How have you, Sora-kun, and big bro been doing?"
"We have been good, I've just been working on the royal selection."
"That stuff is boring."
"It is important, Felt."
"I know big sis but it's just sooo boring. How is big bro's training?"
"Well...Subaru's training from what he has told me is that he managed to catch Sora off guard in one of their training sessions."
"Really?! That's so cool."
"I've got to say, that boy Sora is training does have the potential to become a formidable warrior." Old Man Rom says as he enters the conversation.
"Really? How so Old Man Rom?"
"Well Felt, the boy is being trained by someone who managed to best the Sword Saint himself in combat alongside many of the strongest foes. Being trained under that kind of person would give one the opportunity to become a strong adversary to many."
"Cool."
Felt was amazed hearing that Subaru could reach to be a powerful warrior like Sora, making her realize how important it is for her to win the royal selection. She hates everything noble and high class, making her want to tear down the kingdom yet her mindset had been changing the more time she has been with Sora and the Emilia camp. She still wants to take down the nobles and knights but doesn't want to send the kingdom into complete chaos.
'I need my hero, big sis, and big bro's help when I win this stupid royal thing.'
As Felt thought of this while also continuing her conversation with Old Man Rom and Emilia, Al was listening in for a moment. He was aware that Sora and Subaru are not from this world like him yet he felt that Subaru and himself originate from the same place while Sora is from a different world. Although that is the case he came up with, he still trusted the Keyblade Master since he has a heart of gold.
-----------------------------------------
A year ago:
'Man, if only he wasn't with Ram...that disturbing creature.'
Al felt disturbed thinking about Ram, having confirmed that she was alive during his time with the other camps during Sora's Mark of Mastery and Subaru's knighthood. Although he had wished to leave the moment he saw Ram. As he was about to leave, he ended up bumping into Rem while she was carrying some drinks.
"Sorry about that, I wasn't looking."
"It's alright. Are you okay? You seem disturbed."
"N-No...it's nothing."
Al spoke hesitant since he doesn't want to cause trouble yet he was disturbed. He saw someone he disliked and now was seeing the twin of that same person. Although he was wearing a helmet, he was giving Rem an intense stare before realizing that something seemed different about this girl.
"What is your name?"
"Rem..."
"You sounded hesitant, mind if I ask why?"
"Sorry, I'm still not use to my own name. I was told that the Witch cult had a...uh...someone took my memories and everyone else's memories of me except for Natsuki Subaru and Sora."
"Is that so?...What do you think about Ram?"
"My...sister? I don't know. We do look alike but the truth is that I don't know anybody. I'm just relying on the stories about me told by both Keyblade users."
"I see..." Al was silent for a moment. He does contain hatred for Ram yet for Rem in her current state, he did felt a little pity. He imagine how hard it would be to lose your memories and having nobody remember you. It gave him a chill in his back yet he kept his composure.
"Well, I should probably let you handle your things, Rem."
"Yes, pardon me for wasting your time."
"No, it's all good."
Al nodded and started to walk away with his mind wondering about many things. Before he left, Rem turned towards Al and asked him if he was leaving.
"Yeah, I just need some fresh air."
"I know it is not my place but stay for a bit, we are preparing something for Sora."
"The Keyblade Wielder with spiky hair?"
"Yes."
"Is it his birthday?"
"I...I do not know but Natsuki Subaru wants everyone for this."
"...Alright, I guess I can stay for a bit."
Al reluctantly allowed himself to stay which made him feel no regret in listening to the creature he despised since it proved to have been worth it. He watched the fight between Sora and the combined forces of Reinhard, Beatrice, Wilhelm, Old Man Rom, Julius, and Ricardo. This viewing did made him realize just how strong he needs to aim for, in the case he ever encounters such powerful opponents.
-------------------------------------------------
Seeing back on the memory, he still dislikes Rem due to being an oni and being the twin sister of Ram yet he does owe her a small debt. Had he not seen the fight, he may have not gotten as strong as he did within the year. Wanting to prove that he can reach such heights, he trained like crazy for the day to prove himself to be a worthy fighter. Al listened in on how exactly Sora and Subaru train until his focus changed when he caught Priscilla's whisper.
"The Keyblade Master will be mine soon enough."
Al looked at Priscilla, seeing her desire to have a strong warrior be in her camp, making him question Priscilla in a way that won't end in him suffering her wrath.
"How do you plan to make Sora join your camp?"
"The world will deliver him to me. It is my wish and it shall come true."
'Yeah but he isn't going to be joining us like that...' Al thought to himself, knowing that Sora's kind hearted nature would make it hard for them to get him to join her. As the group was walking for a little longer, Priscilla was the first to notice that something was up. She lowered her fan and quickly addressed the group in her own unique way.
"Witch's daughter, gutter rat, you two should focus! Such incompetence I'm dealing with!"
"You respect big sis! You want to fight?!"
"Hmph. A gutter rat from the slums such as yourself wouldn't fare against me. Besides, you two should focus on your surroundings."
Emilia and Felt gave Priscilla a look before listening to what she said, noticing the same thing that she did. Al and Old Man Rom also took a look around to see that something just didn't felt right.
"Where did everyone went?"
"Unsure but stay near me Felt."
"Princess, do you know what the cause of this could be?"
Priscilla had her fan out for a moment while listening to Al's question, having a feeling that this is the witch cult but she also was aware that it could be the Organization's doing as well. They all gathered in a group which each of them getting their weapons ready for a fight. As they prepare for whatever is going to attack them, they hear someone with a cocky tone of voice speak.
"Finally. I have caught up with you."
The group turned towards the voice to see a man with white hair and white robes. Emilia looked at the man and felt that she recognized the voice but wasn't sure while the white haired man just stood there for a moment.
"Who are you suppose to be?" Felt asked with her knife ready for action. The man noticed this and smiled to answer the little girl's question.
"Pardon me for my manners. I should introduce myself. I am the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishop of Greed. —Regulus Corneas."
"Sin Archbishop of Greed..." Emilia says with a little fear in her voice.
"Now what brings a Sin Archbishop as yourself want with any of us?" Priscilla speaks while putting away her fan, seeing that a fight is about to break out. Regulus looked at Priscilla and smiled before answering the question.
"I'm here to get my bride."
------------------------------------------
Reinhard, Julius, Wilhelm, Felix, and Crusch were all walking together with Reinhard and Wilhelm keeping their distance for most of the time, having felt guilt thanks to what Heinkel said the previous night. As the five of them were walking around the city, Reinhard could tell that something was off.
"Reinhard-sama, is something wrong?" Crusch asked as she can tell that the Sword Saint was bothered by something.
"It's nothing to be concerned about, Crusch-sama. But for your safety, we should probably keep our guard up."
Crusch and the others nodded before having one of their hands on their swords, ready to pull them out should they see the first sign of trouble. As they walked around, they noticed that the people around them were growing less and less to the point where they were in a place in the city with nobody around them.
'Something isn't right. There are a lot of people in Priestella city, so why are we the only ones here?'
Julius thought to himself with the others also having the same thought as him, knowing that they might have walked into a trap. They all pulled out their swords with Felix being close to Crusch to keep her safe while the other three just looked around for the enemy. The five of them waited for a bit until they saw the unversed surrounding them, causing them to prepare themselves for the fight ahead of them. Just as they were about to attack, someone begins to speak,
"Well, look what we have here. Three knights, a butler, and a royal candidate. This must be our lucky day."
"Hmph."
Reinhard, Julius, Wilhelm, Felix, and Crusch all turned towards the voice to see that it is Vanitas walking alongside Saix. Wilhelm, Felix, and Crusch all three recognized Vanitas during the battle against the white whale while Reinhard recognized him during the attack on the capital. Reinhard noticed that he can unsheathe his sword, making him aware that their opponents are really dangerous. He pulls out his sword before pointing it directly at Vanitas before speaking in a serious voice.
"You were there when the heartless attacked the capital. You will come with me for your association with the one responsible for attacking the beloved Kingdom of Lugnica! I suggest you surrender."
"Now why would I surrender? That doesn't sound like fun."
"Enough, we are not here to play around. We have a role to play."
"I know but it's more fun when speaking to them."
"Just don't forget why we are here."
"Man, you really are no fun."
Saix just gave Vanitas a blank stare before pulling out his weapon, preparing himself for the fight against the Sword Saint and his group. Vanitas pulled out his keyblade as he also prepared himself for the fight that is to come. Reinhard noticed this and knew that it was going to come down to this. As both sides prepared themselves for a fight, Vanitas sent the unversed to attack everyone but the Sword Saint, wanting the strongest warrior in the world to face him. As the unversed charged at the group, Reinhard using one of his powerful attacks managed to destroy them all with one attack.
"Okay, now that was something I wasn't expecting. Oh well."
Although Vanitas was surprised by this, he did not hesitate to attack Reinhard, wanting to face the strongest while Saix went against the others. Reinhard with his divine protections was able to tell that Vanitas was targeting him, allowing him to easily block off the dark keyblade wielder's attack. As Reinhard and Vanitas started their fight, Saix went towards Julius first since he is the biggest threat next to Wilhelm.
The spirit knight noticed this and quickly summoned his six spirits to assist him in combat, allowing him to block off the attack. Wilhelm and Crusch quickly went on the offensive on Saix yet the Organization member was able to power up, created a strong wind to push the two fighters away from him. Felix stood behind with his arms and legs shaking in fear. He has never been on a real fight since he took down the low level heartless with the keyblade Sora allowed him to borrow for the fight.
'I...I will knyot fail!'
Felix was ready to help Crusch and Wilhelm until a couple more unversed appeared around the group. They all noticed this and quickly Felix told everyone that he alone can handle the unversed while they handle Saix and Vanitas.
"All that training will pay off, Sora-kyun!"
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A year ago:
Felix and Crusch had went to visit Sora and the Emilia camp after Sora became a Keyblade Master and Subaru becoming Emilia's knight. Felix had looked at his hand to recall the power and strength it felt. He closed his eyes and pictured how he felt strong for the first time in his life, being able to hold his own against the shadow heartless.
During his and Crusch's first visit, Crusch and Emilia both chatted for a bit about their alliance while Felix went out to see the training session with Naoko helping the cat boy reach Sora's location. As they arrive, Felix notices Subaru and Kenichi both working together against Sora in his Master form. Sora with his Kingdom Key in one hand and Favorite Deputy in the other was blocking off the attacks of Subaru and Kenichi.
As the father and son were attempting to break Sora's guard, Felix watched from a distance to see just how amazing the Keyblade Master is. Felix watched for a bit until finally sora managed to defeat the two Natsuki members with one swift attack, sending them flying a few feet away.
"Darn it! I almost had you."
"That was pretty close you two, you almost broke my guard but you still need work on your cooperation. The two of you would attack at once but then do your own thing, allowing me to see a variety of openings."
"Alright then, that is something my amazing son and myself will work on."
Kenichi and Subaru both bowed at Sora before Felix approached Sora with his feet trembling.
'What should I do...? What should I say?'
It had been a while since Felix had talked to Sora, last time being when he became a Keyblade Master with the assistance of Subaru and the others. He had tried to train on his own after Crusch had been returned safely to him and the others yet he isn't much of a fighter. He wanted to ask for help but was scared to do so. Just as he was about to back out, Sora spotted him and quickly went towards the cat boy to greet him.
"Hey Felix, how have you been?"
"Eck!" Felix was frightened for a moment before quickly fixing that with a response, "Er I mean I'm alright."
"I assume you are here to train as well?"
Felix stood silent when he heard this while Sora smiled that he was able to guess it right on the first try. He recalled that Felix wanted to gain strength back during the fight against the sin Archbishop of Sloth, Marluxia, Larxene, the witch cult, and the heartless. He quickly turned towards a spot in the grass and grabbed a wooden sword he had made during his free time. As he grabbed it, he gave it to Felix.
"Here, you'll need it to train."
"Wait Sora-kyun, why a wooden sword? I hayve my own."
"True but using this will help you at least start on practicing technique before using the real deal."
Felix looked at the wooden sword and just accepted whatever Sora said, trusting his judgement while Sora is hoping that his teachings will work. He had recalled the stories from Aqua on how her, Terra, and Ventus trained. He first allowed Felix to go on the offensive to see how Felix's fighting style is. As he was blocking each attack, he can see that Felix is not a fighter since his attacks were sloppy and not in sync. After seeing this, he wanted to test Felix's defense only for the cat boy to struggle with simple attacks.
"I see." Seeing how much work Felix needs, he knew that he needed to go to basics in how to properly use a weapon. Felix felt embarrassed by this since he didn't like using a sword due to not wanting to damage his skin. As Felix was learning technique, he was curious to know who taught Sora how to fight.
"Who trained nyow to fight?"
"Well I was always having sword fights with my best friend, Riku, back at our home before I received the keyblade. So you could say I'm self-taught."
"That's pretty interesting, Sora-kyun."
Felix looked at the Keyblade Master with an amazed look, now thinking on how a self-taught fighter was able to beat the Sword Saint. This made him motivated to want to gain that type of strength as well. The two trained for an hour in learning technique and how to have both a good offense with just basic attacks and a good defense with simple movements as well. While the two were in a training session, Crusch and Emilia both went outside to observe as they spotted Sora training Felix from the mansion. After some time had past, Felix and Crusch had to leave but before they left, Felix turned towards Sora and bowed.
"Thank nyow for today's training, Sora-kyun. I will continue to practice this, nya!"
"You got this!"
Sora said with a smile of confidence in his face, giving Felix some confidence in himself before he alongside Crusch left to take care of some things in the capital. As he was leaving, he looked at the sword given to him by Crusch and made himself a promise to grow stronger.
---------------------------------------------------------
Felix had been working hard for a year and now that the danger was there, the cat boy had put his training to the test by swinging his sword directly at the unversed close to him. As he swung at the closest unversed, his strength was enough to take down the weak ones, making the cat boy smiled at this and confidently fought meanwhile Wilhelm and Crusch both looked at Felix.
They were both proud at how much progress he had made on his own before returning their focus on the fight against Saix. Julius dodged each of Saix's attacks yet every time he attempted to get close, he was knocked back.
'Darn, he is going to be tough to beat.'
Julius could tell with the help of his spirits that Saix is holding back, making things much difficult for him to get a good hit on him. Crusch and Wilhelm both joined back into the fight with Crusch using One Blow, A Hundred Felled attack while Wilhelm took the opportunity to attack Saix the moment he either tries to dodge the attack or block it.
Saix takes one good look at Crusch's wind attack and quickly shows them the power he is holding back to show just how powerful he is. He moves his claymore around him for a moment while energy in his body starts to build up. After a few seconds, his power overflows and creates a small burst of air, strong enough to break through Crusch's attack. As he does this, he shouts,
"The moon shines down!"
As the air around feels threatening to Julius and his group, Wilhelm continues on to face off the Organization member, confident that he can land a blow on him. As the old butler was getting closer to him, Saix moved his claymore up in the air before hitting the ground with forces, creating a strong wave of wind towards Wilhelm. The old man noticed this and quickly managed to dodge the attack. Saix noticed this and quickly moved towards the old man's position to strike him down only for Crusch to send another wind attack while Julius prepared to use El Clausel.
"We will not lose!"
Julius shouts has Crusch sends in her wind attack and Julius charges towards the Organization member's direction. Saix noticed this and quickly turned his attention towards the two, tanking Crusch's attack before blocking off Julius' attack with his claymore. As Julius and Saix clashed, the knight could tell that he needs to be careful what he does next since he can feel Saix's overwhelming power.
"Hmph."
Saix was not impressed and quickly pushed the knight away from him, leaving him open to attack. Crusch took this opportunity and charged at their opponent, ready to strike him down yet Saix swung his claymore and managed to land a strong hit on her.
As Crusch was sent flying onto a wall, breaking her arm, Wilhelm with rage in his eyes charged at Saix and quickly went on an aggressive offense. While this is going on, Felix noticed that Crusch was injured and quickly went to heal her while Julius took over in holding off the unversed.
"Nyow really need to be careful, Crusch-sama."
"You are right Ferris...forgive me."
"It's alright, just please be careful, okay?"
"I will."
Crusch nodded before being fully healed, allowing her to return back into the fight. As she got up, Wilhelm was able to go toe to toe with Saix for a bit before eventually being pushed back by one of Saix's strongest attack that he blocked. As Wilhelm was sent a few feet back, Julius returned back to the fight with his sword glowing has he was using his Quasi spirits to strengthen everyone.
"As a royal knight, I will not let you defeat me!"
"If you were a challenge, I would see you as an opponent. You are merely a distraction at best."
Saix blocked away Julius' attack, not worried that the knight was a threat yet one of Julius' spirits charged at him and quickly set fire near him. This caught the Organization member off guard and quickly forced him to retreat for a bit, not knowing if the attack thrown his way was a threat to him or not. Before he thought of the spirit's attack, Wilhelm quickly went on an offense against him while Crusch prepared another wind attack yet she was holding it in order to make it has powerful as she could.
'I won't let you get away with the injury you gave me.'
While Crusch prepared a powerful attack and Wilhelm was doing his best to push Saix back, Reinhard and Vanitas fought with everything they had. Vanitas attempting to break Reinhard's sword to prove how unworthy he is to wield the title of hero while Reinhard did his best to find a way to defeat Vanitas. As Reinhard's sword and Vanitas' keyblade clashed multiple times, eventually the two ended up in a blade lock with Vanitas slightly impressed of his opponent.
"You seem to be worthy fighter, I hope you can continue this, so called hero."
"As the Sword Saint, I will not allow you and your Organization partners to harm the citizens of Priestella. Stand down while you can."
"If you think I'm backing down, you are sadly mistaken."
Vanitas jumped away from Reinhard for a moment before going into the ground, creating a small circle of fire. The circle of fire moved towards the Sword Saint in rapid speed before Vanitas jumped out with fireballs firing all around the area. One of Reinhard's many divine protections allowed him to see this attack prior to it happening, giving him the chance to easily dodge all the fireballs.
As he dodged every single one, he turned towards his back side in the air to see Vanitas having teleported behind him, ready to strike. Reinhard jumped out of the way to see Vanitas hit the floor he was just standing with his keyblade, creating a large ice sculpture.
"Hmm, now this is interesting. You are a bit more formidable than I thought."
"I do hope to prove to be a worthy fighter."
"We shall see."
Vanitas charged at Reinhard at an immense speed, forcing the Master Swordsman to put his guard up and prepare himself for whatever attack his opponent was coming up with. Vanitas swung his keyblade but just as Reinhard deflected the attack, Vanitas disappeared for half a second before showing up behind the Sword Saint, ready to give a fatal blow. Reinhard noticed this and quickly was able to deflect the attack off before quickly taking his opportunity to attack back with a counterattack.
"It's my turn now."
Reinhard said with confidence before landing a hit on the Keyblade Wielder, sending him flying for a few seconds before he just stood in mid-air. Reinhard noticed this and was almost caught off guard yet he was able to deflect the attack without even thinking. Vanitas noticed this and was starting to get slightly annoyed by this, not liking how his hits aren't doing any damage. He jumped back to gain some distance before starting some small talk.
"Now if I heard correctly, Sora defeated you, right?"
"Yes, what does that have to do with our duel?"
"A lot, how are you keeping up with me when I'm extremely powerful than him?"
"Ah yes, I was defeated by him but that doesn't mean I just let things how they were."
"What do you mean?"
Reinhard smiled as he recalled the long training sessions he had with Sora, both of them being able to go all out since they were in equal ground. He looked at his sword before answering Vanitas' question.
"For the past year after losing to Sora, I had long periods of time to train with him, both of us getting stronger where my divine protections also got sharpen. I hope this answers your question properly."
"It sure does."
Vanitas said in a threatening tone before lifting his hand up, causing the ground to shake for a moment before a large amount of keyblades to shoot up from the sky. Reinhard and the others all noticed this, causing Saix to almost land a deadly blow on the old man only for Crusch to throw her most powerful wind attack at him. Saix saw this and quickly defended himself, being able to block the powerful attack.
As he was blocking, Wilhelm gained his distance to watch his grandson face off a powerful foe. Vanitas jumped onto one of the flying keyblades while guiding them around the group. Saix was prepared to attack the group yet he noticed that Vanitas sends all the keyblades to target the group only for Reinhard to use his Dragon Sword Reid's Slash, destroying all the keyblades thrown their way and forcing Vanitas to hide into a powerful dark barrier to avoid being killed.
"Very impressive, my grandson."
"Thank you, honored grandfather."
Reinhard smiled as he felt joy hearing his grandfather compliment him, feeling hope that their relationship can still be rebuild. The knights, the old butler, and the royal candidate all gathered together as they watched Saix and Vanitas stare at them with their weapons ready for round 2.
"Do you want to switch opponents?"
"Are you bored with your opponent...or are you afraid to lose?"
"Don't be silly, I just want to see how the others are."
"Hmph. Fine."
Saix turned his attention towards Reinhard and continued the fight with him charged at the Sword Saint. Reinhard noticed this and quickly blocked the attack as best as he can while Vanitas started his fight by teleporting on top of Wilhelm to attack him only for the old butler to barely dodge the attack.
Julius and Crusch quickly joined the fight by charging at Vanitas and going on the offensive side. The keyblade wielder noticed this and quickly jumped out of the way while shooting many fireballs all around the area. Crusch, Julius, Felix, and Wilhelm barely dodged the fireballs yet Felix was left open which allowed Vanitas to land a hit.
"Seems like I have taken care of the weak one."
"Ferris!"
"Felix-sama!"
"Felix!"
Julius went towards Felix to heal him while Wilhelm and Crusch both in rage go to attack Vanitas, something that made the masked Organization member smile. He waited until the old butler went on the offensive first, deflecting each attack without much trouble before making a mirage of himself in an attempt to surprise attack the old butler yet Crusch managed to block off the attack.
"You are not getting him that easily."
"But for how long?" Vanitas asked in a mocking tone, knowing that this is the best they can do against him. He quickly gained some distance before pointing his keyblade directly at them, prepared to fire a fireball at the two. Just as he was about to, Julius quickly swung his sword to hit the keyblade the ground, causing both Vanitas and Julius to be caught in the explosion of Vanitas' fireball.
"Julius!" Felix shouted as he regained some of strength yet his worries would go away once he saw the knight jump away from the smoke unscathed. As he gained his distance from the keyblade wielder, he quickly got his sword to glow with the powers of his quasi spirits, ready to fight Vanitas with his full strength. As the dust settled, Vanitas looked at Julius and without warning he charged at him. Julius smiled and quickly clashed weapons with the Organization member, both of them in a blade lock while Reinhard was able to keep up with Saix's powerful attacks.
"You are quite the brute."
"..."
Saix stood silent as he continued go all out on the Sword Saint, wanting to know just how strong the knight was. As Saix increased in strength, Reinhard had to keep increasing his power just to keep up, seeing that he is reaching his limit. Before either one could increase the fight any longer, the witch cultists quickly attacks the two sides and interrupted the two battles going on.
Julius and Wilhelm both focused on taking on the Witch Cultists while Reinhard and Felix both went to protect Crusch, knowing that she is important as a royal candidate. Vanitas and Saix both left the fight, not wanting to be involve with the witch cult just yet. As they left, Reinhard looked at the witch cultists and had his Dragon Sword Reid ready to help his grandfather and Julius.
"Witch cultists..."
------------------------------------------------
Maleficent looked at the witch cultists and was ready to talk with them only for the witch cultists tried to attack her. This forced both herself and Pete to create a shield with the two creating heartless to face them off.
"Hmph. Foolish dark creatures, do they think I would allow myself to be attacked like that?"
"Well Maleficent, they do seem a bit...off."
"You might be on to something for once."
Maleficent looked at the witch cultists and could see that although they are people from the darkness, there was something about them that gave off as a threat even to her. While Pete and Maleficent were on defense, Subaru and his group began their fight the Witch cultist with Rem and Garfiel being on the offense while Beatrice, Subaru, and Otto on defense. As Subaru's group was doing their best to hold off the Witch cultists, Subaru looked closely to see how the heartless and the witch cultists were fighting each other as well as them. This gave him the idea of them retreating for a bit.
"Guys! Let's leave while we can!"
"R'ya sure, Capt'n? We can take 'em!"
"I know but for now we need to check on everyone else, especially Emilia-tan."
Rem and Garfiel both look at each other before nodding, agreeing that they should check on the leader of their camp. The two quickly waited until the heartless attacked the Witch cultists before joining Subaru, Otto, and Beatrice. Once the five were together, they got out of there together while Maleficent just watched her army of heartless face off the witch cultists. Pete looked behind him and noticed Subaru and his group escaping.
"Maleficent! The pipsqueak's so called apprentice and his friends are running away!"
"Let them be, they are to no threat to us."
Pete looked at Maleficent for a moment before nodding, seeing that the Witch cult takes more priority for now. They watched as the heartless were able to keep up with the Witch cultists until someone from the distance spoke to both Maleficent and Pete.
"My, you two make quite a team."
Maleficent and Pete both turned towards the voice to see a petite girl with short blonde hair, a dragon tail, and revealing clothing.
"Who are you suppose to be?" Pete asked which made the petite girl smile maliciously.
"I am the Sin Archbishop of Lust, Capella Emerada Lugunica. All the love and respect in this world exists to be monopolized by myself alone. If someone loves me, no matter how abnormal their desire is, I'll respond. In short, I am the ultimate embodiment of all kinds of virtue and beauty in the world."
"Love is useless to me." Maleficent said which did caught Capella's attention. She observed the witch looking person in front of her and could sense nothing but darkness at the root of her heart. This made her intrigued because it is a first for her to find someone who truly as no love for anything.
"You are someone who doesn't love anybody...how fascinating! I haven't met one who's love is nothing."
"Love is for incompetent fools."
"Is that so? Well then let me show you what love means!"
Capella snapped her fingers, causing more witch cultists to come out while also someone in robes wielding a sword. Maleficent saw this and quickly summoned the most powerful heartless, knowing that they will be extremely hard to kill due to the world being more beneficial to the darkness. As she someone the heartless, she began to speak,
"I will show you that just how I, Maleficent, mistress of all evil, will wipe out this so called love and prove that darkness is supreme!"
As Maleficent finished speaking, she sent out her minions to attack with Pete summoning some heartless to protect them while Capella sent her witch cultists to attack. Both sides ready to see the outcome of the fight.