Kingdom Hearts III: Armies of Chaos

Night had fallen in Twilight Town. It was always a short night, but the perpetual sunset meant that it was never very bright either.

The nights lasted longest near the tower the great wizard Yen Sid lived in. Whether natural or not, it gave time for the Wizard to sleep… and wizard’s dreams were not something to be trifled with.

The wizard lay on his bed, and suddenly began to toss and turn. A powerful dream welled up in his tired mind…

Yen Sid found himself floating in a strange place. He’d seen many strange and wonderful things in his life… but this place was nothing he’d ever seen. It resembled the endless abyss, but there were divisions in it, and things seemed to be in constant flux, as though some sort of reaction too big for him to see was going on…

He suddenly recognized something looming out of this background… a large, white door. The entrance to Kingdom Hearts!

The wizard now knew this was a vision of great importance. One didn’t dream of Kingdom Hearts…

Yen Sid saw now that the gateway was not alone… a massive battle raged in front of the door.

Formless entities of darkness raged thickly towards the gate. They were hindered by grey figures that resembled nothing so much as outlines of humans filled with… nothingness. The two armies were suddenly met by a third party.

Great creatures of light, wielding what seemed to be… yes, they were armed with KEYBLADES! This force clashed with the two armies of darkness and nothing…

Yen Sid was unable to do anything besides observe the carnage unfolding. The three forces fought fruitlessly to try and drive their rivals away from the doorway. Yen Sid suddenly noticed that a sort of incandescent smoke rose from all of the creatures as they fought and died. It was beginning to mix together into a great dark cloud…

The fighting slowly halted. All three forces looked up to the vast dark shape above them. There was a sharp stab of fear in the air… Yen Sid could practically hear a wordless moan of mortal terror rise from the masses below.

The cloud had grown monstrous, and suddenly, lightning struck. A pair of yellow eyes suddenly opened within the cloud, looking scornfully down upon the gathered creatures, who shrank from its gaze.

Yen Sid couldn’t help but feel he’d seen those eyes before…

The horrible eyes withdrew, and part of the cloud condensed into a more humanoid shape. The eyes burned within the head of the new shape. It held up a hand, and Yen Sid raised a ghostly hand to shield his eyes. The thorn-like energy of nothingness, as well as light and darkness energy, gathered in the hand of the being, and united in a way Yen Sid had never seen… it filled him with fear. He then saw this horrible being was not alone… others were following it… all full of this same horrifying power… light, dark, and nothingness brought together. Before long, ten new beings stood behind the first one. They raised their hands, and beasts both great and terrible appeared at their will. Yen Sid once more felt the terror of the former armies as the new beasts tore through them, aiming for Kingdom Hearts. One was able to finally force its way through.

There was a bright flash, and Yen Sid was thrown far, far back. When he saw once more, he now saw the source of the chaotic flux he’d seen before.

All the worlds hovered before his eyes, revolving slowly in a realm of pure light. Below them... a never-ending, bottomless abyss of darkness. Nothingness stood between the light and darkness. Yen Sid, however, saw something that he knew should not be there.

A fourth realm existed, above the other three... another plane of existence, separate from light, darkness, or nothing... Yen Sid was pulled rapidly towards a singular world in the realm of light, but the light from it prevented it from being perceived. A line of light traveled from it to one of the three sections of the realm above, the lighter side. Yen Sid heard a voice suddenly boom out of the void he occupied.

"The Rift Has Already Been Open."

The eyes from before appeared in the center section briefly glowing in a bright orange.

"But If Actions Aren't Taken Swiftly, It May Already Be Too Late."

A beam of light shot down from the center section. The light went straight through the Realm of Light and to the Realm of Nothingness, hitting the Door to Kingdom Hearts. Energy flowed from it, and the Realm of Nothingness started to move and become energy tentacles itself. The horrified wizard watched the tentacles of Nothing launching onto the Realms of Light and Dark, pulling them into the nothingness. An explosion of cataclysmic proportions began.  The wizard cried out and covered his eyes.

Suddenly, Yen Sid found himself within a twisted world. It defied his imagination, and was filled with Light, Dark, and seeping with energies of Nothingness spouting out of cracks in the very realm. The shocked wizard was forced by his vision to watch mutated beings walk by, all seemingly in pain.  He heard the voice again, looking wildly about.

"This Shall Come To Pass Should The Chaos Be Breeched. But, There Is Still Hope."

Suddenly, the realm in front of Yen Sid dissolved, as the purest of light shone through the realm, breaking up the chaos and returning the creatures to the beings they once were.

"Five of the Purest Heroes, Representers of All the Realms, Can Save Us All."

Five Sillouttes suddenly appeared. Yen Sid tried to make them out… two had familiar hairstyles…

“Sora? Riku?” He asked, but there was no reply from the silhouettes.

But, all five silhouettes' forms were certainly human, and all wielded Keyblades.

"But Though They Can Save Us, They Face Much Danger Ahead."

All five entered battle stances, and Yen Sid was pulled back to see them surrounded by all entities from all three realms, with the mysterious creatures from the dark clouds in the background.

"All The Realms Fear Their Power, And Only Through Love and Friendship Can They Break Through The Chaos..."

All five figures placed their Keyblades together, as silhouettes of several people placed their hands on their shoulders, joined by other people standing supportingly behind the group. Yen Sid saw these people included Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Tifa, Cloud, Cid, Merlin, Ansem the Wise, Axel with Larxene by his side, Zexion, Demyx, Xigbar, and Luxord. Suddenly, light shone from the Keyblades, breaking through all of the entities charging at them.

The Light Entities, rather than dying like the Nothings and Dark creatures, instead fell on their knees, bowing their heads to the five. The apparent leader of the light entities walked up to the group. Words were not exchanged, but it looked down in shame, then looked up in determination, nodded, and ordered the Light entities to attack the strange new beings, fighting alongside the Keybearers and their friends. Finally, the voice boomed across Yen Sid’s mind again.

"Only Through Teamwork and Friendship Can True Chaos Be Stopped... And Peace Brought To All the Realms... "

There was a blinding flash, and the eyes glowing in the chaos widened in surprise before disappearing.

"Haste Must Be Taken, For The Chaos Awakens Soon..."

Yen Sid awoke in a sweat. He quickly left his bed and put on his robes. He began gathering his things together, and headed towards the gateway he’d left to Disney Castle.

“This is dangerous… the King! I have to warn the King!” He muttered to himself, walking through the magical hallways.

Disney Castle was treated to much longer nights than Twilight Town. It was still the dark of night when Yen Sid hurried through the Courtyard.

Goofy’s knights scrambled to attention as Yen Sid walked past. The king and his captain hadn’t even been back a whole day. Why was the wizard here now?

King Mickey and Queen Minnie Mouse were preparing to retire for the night together for the first time in over a year. However, the tired king was surprised when a royal messenger ran in.

“Your Majesty! The wizard Yen Sid is here to speak to you! He said it’s urgent!”

King Mickey looked at the messenger in shock and more than a little devastated disbelief. Xemnas hadn’t even been defeated for 24 hours! Surely… surely there couldn’t be something so important that it couldn’t wait until morning?

He looked helplessly at Minnie, who nodded, sighing in resignation.

“Go on. Yen Sid wouldn’t come here for nothing.”

Yen Sid paced the throne room. King Mickey entered. Yen Sid noticed that the King cut a poor figure as he came in… the small mouse was tired from travel and combat. He looked in no condition to hear what Yen Sid had to tell him, but the wizard regretfully realized he didn’t have a choice.

“Master Yen Sid. I was told you have something important? Is it a vision?” Mickey asked, exhausted, but trying to maintain his kingly composure.

“You… might want to sit down to hear this, your Majesty,” Yen Sid said gently.

“That bad?” Mickey said unhappily.

“You must contact Sora and his friends as soon as you can… something is happening. I do not understand it… but I fear it, your Majesty.”

Mickey sat down, sighing in resignation.

“Tell me what you saw.”

The Destiny Islands

Sora was lying on his bed, fast asleep. He had certainly earned it; he was tired to the very marrow of his bones after his battle with Organization XIII.

But that was done with, now; the worlds were safe, and he was back with Riku and Kairi… on the world he’d been trying to return to with them for almost two years now…

However, his sleep wasn’t peaceful. Sora began to turn around, as if something bothered him. His sleeping face began to frown.

Sora was floating in a vast white nothingness. He looked around. Where was he? Why wasn’t there anything here?

After a few moments, Sora’s feet again touched a ground he couldn’t see, and Sora walked through the blank realm, trying to find anything besides white. He suddenly realized someone was walking towards him from the opposite direction, looking every bit as confused as he was. With a gasp, he realized it was Kairi!

The two noticed each other at about the same time. Kairi ran over to Sora.

“Sora! Where… where are we? And why are you in my dream?”

“I thought this was… MY dream… but I’m not even sure it’s a dream anymore…” Sora trailed off. He was beginning to suspect there was something very wrong with this. Kairi wouldn’t be asking why he was there if it was just some dream, and he strongly doubted that they’d be wearing their nightclothes. Sora had fifteen years of dreams to back up the conclusion this was not a normal dream.

The two heard footsteps and turned around to see two faces they weren’t expecting at all.

Roxas and Namine walked up to them. Kairi’s Nobody was wearing a nightgown identical to Kairi’s, although hers was white instead of lavender. Roxas was wearing white and blue versions of Sora’s black and red pajamas. All four of the group seemed extremely surprised to see the other three.

“What’s this? What’s going on?” Roxas asked, looking around.

“I don’t know… but aren’t you supposed to be inside me or something? Why are you in my dream, too?”

“My dreams have been YOUR memories for the most part, Sora. I don’t know what this is or why we’re here,” Roxas responded.

“This… is a dream of some sort… but it’s a connection between the four of us… That shouldn’t be possible!” Namine exclaimed.

“Hm… well, since when has what SHOULD be possible affected us?” Sora commented. The others nodded; it was largely true.

“I’m not sure what this is for, though… We should talk to Riku when we wake up, I think,” Kairi said unsurely.

The four stood in thought, trying to figure out what was happening.

Elsewhere…

A faint wind blew across a desolate, barren city. The buildings might once have been white, but they were covered with dust, and the metal had rusted away long ago. The place was a ruin, sitting beneath a featureless grey sky.

A ragged black shape lay prone on the ground. It suddenly stirred, and sat up. It was a man with white hair and tan skin, wearing a black cloak.

Xemnas looked around. Where was he? How was he even alive? Sora and Riku had defeated him… hadn’t they?

“I thought I was to return to Nothing… perhaps there is no respite for Nobodies…” Xemnas said thoughtfully. He looked at the buildings… this world was like the World That Never Was… but it was a forgotten ruin. Was there anything here besides him?

He heard a rustling and turned around. To his surprise, he saw a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a cloak identical to his… it was one of his former comrades.

“Demyx?” Xemnas asked incredulously. He was CERTAIN that Demyx had died fighting the Keybearer and his cadre! Demyx was surprised, but only for a moment. He turned, looking in a direction at what Xemnas presumed to be somebody else, although the buildings obscured Xemnas’s perception of them.

“Guys! The Superior’s awake!”

Xemnas groggily got up, and after staggering a few paces, walked over to Demyx. He saw suddenly that they were NOT alone… the entire Organization was grouped not far off.  Xemnas walked over to them, his confusion evident.

“I thought that there was only nothingness in our future… How is it we’re all still alive?”

Luxord snorted, looking up from the game of Blackjack he was playing against Xaldin.

“If you can call THIS living.”  He lazily put down two cards, turning back to Xaldin. “Blackjack.”

Xaldin merely slammed his cards down in frustration. “Can we do SOMETHING else, Luxord? You always win with cards!” Xaldin sneered, his growl evident. Luxord merely crossed his arms and smirked.

“I’m open to suggestions.”

Demyx walked back over to the group, and addressed Xemnas.

“From what we can tell, this place is called the After-Naught; it’s where all Nobodies go when they die, not just us. It might as well have been Nothing, though… You would not BELIEVE how boring it gets here. And the fact we can’t get out is sort of annoying, too.” After saying that, Demyx walked back over to where he’d been before, apparently talking to Xigbar.

Xemnas looked around, and noticed that one of his compatriots was standing much farther away than the other ten… Axel. The Superior teleported over to Axel, crossing his arms. Axel looked over his shoulder at Xemnas, rolling his eyes.

“What do you want, “boss”?” he asked sarcastically.

“What do they mean, we can’t get out?” Xemnas asked, his eyes narrowing. Axel was a traitor; he was probably this far away so that Vexen, Saix, and Marluxia couldn’t get him, since they’d be most likely to want payback for his betrayals. Axel lazily pointed at the edges of the wasted city.

“There’s a big barrier around this entire hellhole. There’s gotta be SOMETHING more interesting past it, but it’s too strong. The eleven of us teamed up couldn’t even faze the thing. Honestly, if we could go somewhere else, do you think we’d be hanging around here?”

“Hm… a barrier. This might merit closer inspection.” Xemnas said pensively, mostly to himself. He walked away. Axel sighed, and Larxene walked up, her expression somewhat annoyed. Axel stood bolt upright as she approached, his expression awkward.

“Heh… wasn’t expecting YOU to be coming over here, Larx’. You come to yell at me too?” He said unhappily. Larxene simply crossed her arms, glaring at Axel.

Yep, she’s still mad about Castle Oblivion… guess I can’t blame her for that… Axel thought to himself, scratching his head awkwardly.

“Look, about the business at the castle… I’m sorry that happened, okay? I was doing what I thought had to be done. All I got for it was the traitors AND loyalists mad at me.” Axel said, attempting to break the silence. Larxene still said nothing.

Axel was getting extremely uncomfortable now. Xaldin, Saix, and Marluxia had been furious with him when they caught up to him here… and Vexen and Zexion… they hadn’t attacked him or yelled at him, but the ominous glares they sent in his direction every now and again worried him a lot more. Axel could handle people yelling at him; but you can’t tune out silence. Axel’s teeth ground as Larxene continued to simply glare at him, as though she was STILL waiting for him to say something.

“Look, if you want to take a shot at me for what I did, go ahead. If you want to chew me out for stabbing everyone in the back, you won’t say anything the others haven’t already. But either do SOMETHING, or leave me alone,” he finally said through clenched teeth, trying not to blow up at Larxene.

The woman simply smirked slightly, finding enjoyment with his nervousness, and sat down next to Axel.

“The rest of the group’s too noisy. I’m just trying to find somewhere to sit down. Do you have a problem with that, Axel?” she said, not looking at him. Axel stared at Larxene, not sure what was going through her mind, but somewhat alarmed. Finally, nervously, he sat down.

“It’s a free wasteland. Sit where you want.” The two sat for a while in silence, watching the empty city.

Axel suddenly focused in on Xemnas’s receding form, noticing something amiss.

“What the-?” He said quietly. Larxene looked confused.

“What?”

“Look at the Superior… Do you notice anything?”

“…No. What are you looking at?”

“His shadow… that’s a very deep shadow, and it’s a lot bigger than it should be…”

“Axel, what’s your point? His shadow’s just a bit odd.” Axel suddenly looked at Larxene.

“My question is, how is he casting a shadow if there’s no sun?” Larxene’s eyes widened.

“I’m following him. Are you coming with me?” Axel asked, beginning to walk in the direction Xemnas had gone.

After a moment’s hesitation, Larxene shook her head in disbelief.

“I must be going crazy… Axel, wait up!”