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itsclydebitches · 4 years

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RWBY Recaps: “Gravity”

Good lord, folks. Buckle your seat-belts because we’ve got a lot to get through this episode. I think this is my longest recap to date, so settle in.

Episode Eleven’s “Gravity” starts out simple enough, focusing on the two fights we’d set up during “Out in the Open.” First up, Ironwood vs. Watts. Overall this fight does a really excellent job of showcasing their different fighting styles. Right from the start Watts is pointing his gun forward to take a clear shot at Ironwood, whereas Ironwood points his backwards to use as a surge of momentum.

He’s going to do this frequently throughout the battle, constantly using his gun to maneuver in the air, slow falls, regain his balance, and change directions, a much more complicated series of choices than the one-off shots we see Ruby use with her sniper rifle. This is partly because Ironwood seems to have a much larger supply of bullets---some sort of energy/dust ammo---than Watts does. His steampunk-esque gun holds only nineteen bullets, requiring him to keep track throughout the fight. Which is always a fun trope but sorry, Watts, you can’t compare to the king.

Thus, with limited weaponry available to him, Watts is forced to get creative with the arena itself. We see him manipulating gravity, shooting up columns of water and fire, and making use of his own pathways between platforms, all in an effort to throw Ironwood off and catch up unawares. However, Ironwood is, frankly, the much better fighter. He was right last week to assume he could handle Watts even though he sent three off to tackle Tyrian. He’s able to recover much more quickly and learns from any mistakes, as evidenced by his ability to hit Watts dead on while in the air the second time he takes out the gravity. When they come together in hand-to-hand Ironwood easily dominates, no doubt thanks not just to his military training and huntsmen lifestyle, but also in large part to his prosthetics which I would assume grant him more speed and power. Throughout the course of the fight we see Watts consistently take more damage to his aura and he’s unable to sense when Ironwood is sneaking up on him. After that little maneuver, Watts (presumably) grows reckless and lets off his last three or four shots in a random barrage. All of them miss.

This emphasis on emotion continues when they land back onto the main stage with Watts shouting, “You never appreciated my genius, James! You just stood atop it and called yourself a giant.” Oh, did Ironwood actually do something horrendous in the past? Is there something juicy that would explain---though not excuse---Watts’ turn towards villainy? Nah. He quickly follows that up with, “You chose that fat imbecile over me!” referring to Pietro. So... nice one, Watts. Crazy arrogance, willful ignorance of Pietro’s own, clear genius (anyone who can create Penny is no slouch), as well as a bit of fat-shamming on top of it all. No sympathy from me.

This moment emphasizes how unhinged Watts is becoming though as the fight turns against him. Even when he manages to setup a head shot Ironwood reveals, “You’re smart, but you’re not the only one who can count,” referencing that Watt’s emotions got the better of him, leading to him wasting his last bullet before it could be of real use.

...except not. I’ve got to admit, I was very pleased when all of this---or at least this particular moment---was merely a plan to get Ironwood to let his guard down. Watts is way too smart a character to be done in by the “You got too emotional and that made you sloppy” trope. So kudos there (even if it remains to be seen whether that Pietro comment was really his motivation, or just another part of the plan). Instead, he uses Ironwood’s confidence in his victory to trap him with the rings that control the arena, essentially pinning Ironwood’s non-prosthetic arm through the energy shields he’s been using. We can immediately see that the parts that have touched Ironwood already have horribly burned the skin.

And that ends up being Watt’s downfall. Not stupidity on his own part, but his lack of understanding of Ironwood himself. He assumes that this truly is a trap for him, rather than another sacrifice. After all, what fool would ruin their one remaining arm to stop him? Watts himself wouldn’t. Don’t pull, he cautions Ironwood, not “unless you’re hoping to add more metal to that body of yours.” Watts goes so far as to turn his back on Ironwood who then makes the sacrifice we all knew he would. One burned, useless arm later and he’s free.

I would like everyone to keep this moment in mind. Namely the utter devastation of it. I’d go so far as to say it’s as bad at Yang losing her arm in Volume 3. Despite seeing it bandaged later, Watts at least thinks it will be a complete loss if Ironwood sacrifices it. He’ll need to “add more metal,” AKA replace his arm, so though he obviously still has it in the following scenes, we don’t know if it will ever be functional again. Just as important, Ironwood had to choose to do that to himself. That wasn’t a horrific, but ultimately clean cut done in a moment of surprise. That was a conscious decision, a slow pull through all that pain, and then having to finish your fight immediately afterward. It’s a very different kind of psychological trauma, no better or worse than having someone take your arm from you by force. Throughout this volume I’ve seen a lot of fans being critical not only of Ironwood’s main decisions, but just his overall attitude as well. Too strict, too stern, doesn’t smile enough, yells sometimes, etc. basically associating someone who isn’t all sunshine and smiles with someone who is “bad.” Ignoring for the moment that we can say the same thing about many of our group---notably Yang---I have little doubt that I’ll see similar posts after this episode. Writings in the vein of, “Ironwood is unhinged! I can’t believe he yelled and hit his desk like that!” So everyone just keep this moment in mind and ask yourself how calm you’d be if you’d sacrificed your arm like that all of half an hour ago. And then found Salem’s calling card on your desk. And then came to the realization that the allies you trusted have been lying to you from the start. And then Salem herself appears to mock you. And then your city is about to be overrun. Basic summary of the rest of the episode: holy shit. So yeah. If Yang is allowed to be angry and upset after losing her arm, or just angry in general like she is in the later half of “Gravity,” I think we owe it to Ironwood to let him be angry too. I have a lot of feelings about the utter insanity he’s been forced through with little to no support and if he wants to take all that out by hitting his desk once, by god I’d say that’s a good coping strategy given the circumstances. Both the writing and the fans tend to erase trauma once you’ve passed age 25. The girls have every right to be upset, to break, to not trust people because they’ve been through a few months of hardship, but Ozpin isn’t allowed the same after a couple thousand years of that. We’re going to see the same hypocrisy later in this episode---the group can be upset about lies but Ironwood is not---and I’m hoping (against hope) that the fandom doesn’t make that worse by sweeping this injury under the rug. It’s horrific and absolutely has a bearing on his inability to keep his cool with the group immediately afterwards. We’ve long passed Ironwood owing them endless reassurances and calm responses.

Anyway, Ironwood still manages to finish the fight because his remaining arm is his robotic one, giving him the strength to easily drag and raise Watts into the air one-handed. He dangles him over the edge of the arena, announcing that he will “sacrifice whatever it takes to stop [Salem].” A clear bit of foreshadowing for his decision at the end of the episode. Watts responds that he hopes he does.

We then move to the Tyrian fight which, on the whole, I don’t think was done quite as well. Granted, there are a lot of enjoyable and badass moments. I like that Clover’s first act is to announce that Tyrian is under arrest, maintaining the law that Atlas (and Ironwood) works to uphold. It doesn’t matter that Tyrian is a crazy serial killer in league with an immortal sorceress hell-bent on destroying the world. Even crazy serial killers have rights and are given the option of surrendering, even when everyone present knows there’s exactly zero chance of that happening. It’s the principal of the thing and the ability to say, “We gave him a chance.” In a world overrun with inequality, this is a small but important attempt to level the field. If you do something wrong you face legal action and those rights are announced to you. Same for Tyrian. Same for Team RWBY. But we’ll get to that.

For now, we see Qrow attack first and like back in Volume Four he and Tyrian are pretty evenly matched. The tide doesn’t turn until Robyn and Clover come into play. Throughout this exchange we see a lot of cool combos among the three of them. Tyrian will block an incoming arrow with his tail only for Clover to snag it with his hook. Robyn can get another arrow to perfectly bounce off the walls and then Qrow’s scythe, hitting Tyrian dead on. Clover can dive between Tyrian’s legs, giving Qrow the opening he needs to attack. It is, as said, pretty badass... almost a little too badass. Personally, I would have appreciated them messing up once or twice. They’re all professionals, yes, but Qrow and Clover have only had one fight together. Robyn, meanwhile, wasn’t even allied with them until an hour ago. This is a situation where skills shouldn’t really trump, “We’re three very distinct people who don’t know each other’s fighting styles well, trying to attack one guy in very close quarters.” There should have been some screw-ups. Especially when we take semblances into account. What, are we supposed to assume here that Clover’s semblance just conveniently overrides Qrow’s? That no mistakes---let alone anything bad---will happen in this fight despite the fact that it’s an extreme parallel to Volume Four? That whole battle emphasized, “Don’t come closer!” because when people fight near Qrow bad shit happens. Now, he fights with two other people in a narrow alleyway and there’s not a single repercussion. Based on their travels looking for the geist, I don’t buy that Qrow’s semblance is just conveniently inactive while near Clover. Even if I did... that’s not a very good writing decision. To me, it’s just more evidence that Rooster Teeth doesn’t understand its own rules/doesn’t know what to do with an ability like Qrow’s. It causes problems only when they explicitly want it to. Then, miraculously, it’s no longer in effect.

Still, we’ll acknowledge that RWBY had a lot else it wanted to accomplish in this episode, so the need to power through this fight is somewhat justified. I personally would have had the entirety of this episode be the two battles---I was shocked when both ended just eight minutes in---but I’m obviously not the one writing the show. Thus, instead of an episode devoted to both the action and the emotion of confronting our two main villains this volume, Tyrian loses his cool after getting punched in the gut, manages to catch Robyn’s arrow in his teeth...

But it’s a bomb.

Down he goes. Fight’s done.

Which leads us into the second half of the episode. I want to preface this with a short acknowledgment before we go any further.

Did these last ten minutes give me what I’ve been looking for since the beginning of Volume Six? No. It’s easy to assume it did because all the pieces are there. Ironwood is finally angry about the secret keeping. The Ace Ops are criticizing the group left and right. Surely this is the “The group is capable of making mistakes and they should be called out for it!” that I wanted, right? Not really. For the simple reason that there is a massive difference between:

A story that acknowledges mistakes as mistakes. The characters either grow from this lesson or dig in their heels and are painted as being in the wrong for that decision.

and

A story that takes what the audience (me) perceives as mistakes and frames them as justified choices. The characters do not grow because they’re 100% sure they’re in the right and those who would criticize them are painted as in the wrong.

“Gravity” is so far into that second option I don’t think the series can come back from it. Does the group face criticism? Yes, but every single time the writing insists that it’s undeserved criticism. It paints the group as the underdogs facing unfair odds, rather than equals---with all the responsibility that comes with that---facing criticism that they need to own up to. Absolutely nothing in this second half implies that the group is going to learn from their mistakes because they, and the writing, still insists that they weren’t mistakes. Which is precisely what we’ve gotten before. Cordovin might criticism them, but Cordovin is in the wrong. Winter might criticism them, but Winter is in the wrong. Every time a character goes, “Hey, you shouldn’t have done this” the group responds with, “Yes we should have!” and the story backs them up. Yes, you should have attacked Argus. Yes, you should have stolen an airship. Yes, you should have lied to Ironwood and spilled the secret to Robyn. Yes, yes, yes. That’s the takeaway every single time. The group is never in the wrong. Others just think they are and those others are painted as cruel, militaristic, unhinged characters.

It’s not at all what I was looking for. Just more of the same.

So that’s the preface. In terms of what we actually get, Ironwood returns to his office with his arm bandaged and in a sling, carrying Watts’ bag, only to drop it when he sees the queen piece on his desk. He calls Winter asking, “Was anyone caught entering the school grounds while I was away?” and when she says no Ironwood has her race off to the Winter Maiden, unknowingly leading Cinder there in the process. “Now show me where you’ve been hiding her.”

We then cut to the group where the trouble begins. They’re not just curious about why Ironwood is recalling them with Mantle still in need of evacuation, they’re actively questioning it. This is the attitude I simply don’t understand. The group acts as if Ironwood is deliberately screwing everyone over when they know better. This is no longer the beginning of the volume where they thought he was some horrific dictator hell bent on destroying his own Kingdom. This is just an hour or so after, “We should tell Ironwood!” and the happy-go-lucky ‘We trust him now’ moment. Even less time after Ruby stared up at him in awe with, “He’s doing it.” They had reason to trust him before they even made it to Atlas. They were given even more reasons in the form of Ironwood sharing his secrets, early licenses, and being allowed to work on the tower. They then still waited until Ironwood was doing everything they wanted before giving him some of that trust back... but the moment he stops doing precisely what they want---we want to keep evacuating Mantle---he’s deemed suspicious again.

I mean seriously, is the group that dense? Are they incapable of thinking to themselves, “Wow, something must have happened if Ironwood is recalling us before evacuations are complete,” which is precisely the case. The scene tries to frame it as “Group Good” and “Ace Ops Blinding Obeying Orders Bad” but that aspect doesn’t even come into play. There’s nothing blind about it. It simply takes two seconds of critical thinking skills to realize that something really awful must have happened back at the Academy that trumps what you’re doing in Mantle. This is what I mean by the writing being biased. Before we even reach the fight in Ironwood’s office it’s trying to paint him as potentially cruel, potentially suspicious, potentially abandoning his people, look how worried our heroes are about this secret decision he’s made... when all that requires ignoring some really basic deduction in order to reach those assumptions. Remember that intelligence is a plot device in RWBY. If they want Ironwood forced to spill his secrets, he’ll randomly start talking about them in front of his enemies. If they want Ironwood painted as the villain, the group will randomly be incapable of realizing that maybe, just maybe, something went wrong on the home front and you’re needed there.

Things just get so much worse from then on. The group splits with JNR going off to find Oscar and, admittedly, I was shocked we got that at all. I mean yeah, it’s setup for the final reveal at the end of the episode, but the fact that anyone remembered Oscar was missing---let alone happily went off to find him---was still a surprise. So only Team RWBY heads back to Ironwood’s office where they find him (rightfully) panicking over the queen on his desk. Weiss tries to baby him, acting like he’s freaking out over nothing, when all these characters should recall precisely what Ironwood himself points out: the last time we saw this symbol it was a message that Beacon had fallen. He’s not paranoid here. He’s entirely justified in his panic. Ironwood likewise points out that they may have been duped into bringing thousands of people into Atlas as easy targets and Vine agrees, setting up that the Ace Ops are on Team Ironwood throughout the course of this conversation. Not out of blind loyalty, but because he’s right. That is a concern. That may be the plan. We do need to try and do something about that. Team RWBY, however, isn’t convinced.

That is, until Ruby realizes that the chess piece is made of black glass. Which means Cinder left it. Normally I’d congratulate her on that deduction---it is the one smart move we see Ruby pull this whole episode---but I just hate what follows. Namely that Ruby and Ruby alone controls her team’s opinions on a situation. Again. We saw it back in the snow, then again when Blake announced in the elevator that they’d do whatever she wanted. Team RWBY is the one who blindly follows their leader, not the Ace Ops, the only exception being Blake and Yang going rogue in regards to Robyn, but we see that hive-mind mindset here again. Ironwood brings up a good point? Nothing. Ace Ops support that point with more logic? Nothing. Ruby supports it? Oh, suddenly Weiss and Blake are taking this seriously. Suddenly Yang is fired up and ready to do whatever is necessary. Ruby controls the room. It’s only when she’s on board that her teammates decide this is worth getting riled up about.

Which, as I’ve said before, is a horrible way to write a diverse group. Especially when the writing is trying to paint the Ace Ops as mindless soldiers. For all their claims that they just have to follow orders, they’re the only ones parsing through this situation and coming to their own conclusions. It’s just that their conclusions do end up aligning with Ironwood’s which is the “bad” take in this scene. Team RWBY, however, waits until their leader makes a decision and then simply rides her cloak tails. The day that Blake, Yang, or Weiss legitimately disagree with Ruby---not a token “Are you sure we should keep secrets from Ironwood? We’re not actually challenging this. Just checking in”---is the day the writing will disagree with her. AKA, no time soon.

Blake tries to give some bland reassurance about them all being with Ironwood to which he responds, “Are you with me? How did Robyn know about the global communications tower?” Thank you! Thank you for giving us Ironwood’s characterization back and acknowledging that he has no reason to buy their generic ‘Got your back’ statements when everything they’ve done this volume has proven otherwise. They don’t support Ironwood, only themselves and their own teams. The minute he does something they don’t like he’s chucked under the bus. Too bad the writing doesn’t acknowledge any of this and instead continually paints the group as being justified in their decisions. It’s that hypocrisy again. When the group yells at Ozpin for keeping secrets we’re supposed to be on their side. When the Ace Ops yell at the group for keeping secrets we’re... still supposed to be on their side.

Weiss tries to diffuse the situation with “None of this matters right now!” which is real rich when they were just complaining about Ironwood not telling them why they were called back. They get to worry over that, but Ironwood isn’t allowed to worry about them outright betraying him? “Loyalty always matters!” he shouts back and he’s right. Why should Ironwood trust them to have his back in this crucial moment when they’ve never had it before? I’m already seeing more of this hypocrisy among the fandom. When Ozpin kept secrets and told lies the group was given a whole volume to be pissed about that and fans still, to this very day, insist that it hasn’t been enough time for them to get over it, to regain even a portion of that trust. But now that Ironwood has been lied to and betrayed in the same manner? People are annoyed that he’s not just shrugging it off. How dare you not get over in thirty seconds what our heroes got weeks to work through. His inability to just suck it up, as it were, is used to make him seem irrational here. I don’t see anyone, characters or fans alike, acknowledging that his anger is as righteous as the group’s was out in the snow. That there is the disconnect.

Of course, something has to break the tension. Drawn by all the fury and fear, a grimm pops out of Watts’ bag. A fail-safe for if he was defeated and captured. Salem immediately takes control of the grimm and kills it, using its form to appear before them. She reveals that it doesn’t matter that her men were captured. They were just there to “set the stage,” which they’ve done. Still doesn’t explain the random Penny side plot to my mind (seriously, why did the story bother to resurrect her when she has done nothing plot-wise or emotionally?), but whatever. Much more importantly, the stage is set for Salem herself. She’s approaching with the grimm army we saw her amassing which is... iffy.

First off, why? Why after a thousand years has she suddenly changed her MO from keeping to the sidelines to a full-on attack? Again, what’s the catalyst for that massive change? We don’t know. Meanwhile, from a writing perspective, I’m hesitant about having our Big Bad thrown into the mix before the finale. We know there are plenty of volumes left in this series, which automatically undermines any battle they might have with Salem. Will they win?? Of course not! Because RWBY isn’t over yet. Granted, this could all just be a ruse of some sort. Maybe Salem just wants them to think she’s approaching with an army, which would be much more up her alley in terms of long-distance manipulation. But if not... seriously, what’s the point of that?

Here’s hoping it’s a bluff.

Speaking of manipulation, we get a fantastically creepy moment where Salem tells Ironwood to “simply accept the futility of your situation” while smiling like a kind mother. That’s the Salem who is truly dangerous. Ironwood reaffirms that he won’t give up the relics and Ruby pips up with, “We don’t have to kill you to stop you.”

Hey wait. I’m gonna give you all another graphic.

This is Ozpin’s stance! This is his plan! His version of hope! We spent all of Volume Six having the cast beat on him for, “Omg Salem is immortal?!” and with the exception of Nora’s comment, no discussion of this in Volume Seven... but now suddenly Ruby is making this announcement? The group came to this revelation sometime off screen which we a) don’t get to see and b) once again created no scenario in the form of, “Wow! Ozpin was right all along! Maybe we should go talk to him...”

I’m just... wow. The number of times the writing takes what the group and the adults do, the exact same perspectives and decisions, and twists it so that the group comes out looking like heroes and the adults look like misguided, unhinged fools who need to be put in their place... I’m really over it at this point. And by extension the group themselves. Their characterizations have been so badly mangled at this point I legitimately don’t like them as people. I don’t care if they say they want to protect Mantle, or if they say they’ll support Ironwood, or if they say they’re unsure about their choices. All their actions claim otherwise.

Rather than grappling with the huge revelation that the group is apparently no longer obsessed with Salem’s immortality (or rather that Ruby isn’t. The rest of the group doesn’t actually matter. As established, they sync up with her beliefs the second she announces them), we return to Summer Rose. Salem goes, “Your mother said those words to me” and Ruby... loses it? What? I would have been 100% on board with this if we’d gotten it last Volume because then we saw Ruby losing her cool periodically. The smashed alcohol bottles. Chucking her scroll. Screaming at Qrow. That was all building to something. But then we had a year and roughly twelve episodes of normality. Ruby jumps into her fight with Cordovin and has been fine ever since. Hell, she’s been bubbly and confident, goofing off with Penny in one episode, then giving strong orders to her team in another. The one time we see her falter was in her conversation with Qrow and he reassured her completely that she was both doing the right thing and in no way comparable to Ozpin. Now, suddenly, one line from Salem and Ruby collapses? Full on incapacitated? I could buy the crying while still standing strong, I could buy a collapse if we’d kept her characterization going from Volume Six, but this kind of reaction in this context just felt so extreme. Doesn’t help that I really wasn’t sold on the voice acting here. Those cries sound less like devastated sobs and more like weird hiccups. Not to rag on Lindsay. On the whole I think she does a really excellent job as Ruby, it’s just this particular moment didn’t read right to me. I didn’t feel Ruby’s supposed grief here.

So that was... a lot for one line from Salem in a volume of otherwise confident and cool-headed Ruby. We also don’t see it amounting to anything, as per usual with RWBY’s writing. Ruby isn’t out of commission for the rest of the conversation or anything. She pops right back up after a second in Yang’s lap, just as confident and go-getting as before. There was no lead up to this and there are no consequences for the breakdown. Rooster Teeth honestly seems to think they can just chuck random things into the story---Ruby needs to show emotion at some point!---and then just leave it at that, entirely disconnected from everything else around it. Would we have known that Ruby just had her first breakdown of the series a minute later while once again betraying Ironwood? Nope.

Finally, this scene shows us again that the Argus battle was a bunch of nonsense. Ruby’s eyes nearly activate when she’s grieving for her mother, imagining---or perhaps seeing via Salem?---a sad Summer, not a smiling one. Just like her eyes activated while seeing Pyrrha die. Just like they activated when Blake was nearly killed by the Apathy. They activate now while thinking about her mother’s death. The montage of happy moments in lieu of the sad ones not working last volume was entirely out of place.

Salem finally leaves. Now everyone is panicking about this army. Elm points out that they’ll know if anything approaches. Vine checks and realizes that Watts took out their perimeter. Either that or Salem has already destroyed everyone and everything out there. It’s impossible to know. During all this Blake asks if the Amity tower is actually finished and we get more nonsense about how Ironwood is evil for telling a lie, but the group is always justified in telling theirs. The writing really tried to compare Ironwood telling Mantle---who I guarantee 100% does not care about whether a communications tower is finished while they’re getting attacked by grimm---a lie to lure out one of their biggest threats to Blake and Yang going behind Ironwood’s back to tell a potentially non-trustworthy outlaw about said tower, risking that the information would fall into the wrong hands and doom the project before it could be completed either way. Those are not in any way comparable situations, yet the writing really has Weiss going, “General Ironwood?” in a ‘How could you betray us like that?’ tone while Yang continues to look pissed.

And as if they didn’t know! How is this a personal betrayal? They were all helping to build that tower. Surely they’d know it it was that close to being done. Again, critical thinking skills, people. Anyone with two brain cells and their insider information should have looked at Ironwood’s announcement and gone, “Oh, that must be a bluff. Just a few days ago we were arguing about whether to continue taking resources from Mantle. No way is Amity ready. He’s going after Watts. Who is indeed the much bigger threat. Considering that he has control over the entirety of our technology and there’s literally no downside to telling Mantle about a finished tower when they’re getting devoured by grimm.” This is another, “But lying is wrong!” in the face of “But lying kept us alive...?”

Does everyone get what I’m saying here? How RWBY takes these situations and tries to paint them in an absolutely ridiculous light, expecting the audience to blindly accept this perspective despite everything else they’ve seen for themselves? Like, two episodes ago? I swear I’ve never encountered writing that treats its audience this badly. Scene after scene relies heavily on the viewer having no ability to think for themselves. Just accept that Ironwood is a horrible person for lying about the tower even though there are no repercussions for that and we JUST watched him defeating Watts as a result. Like, five minutes ago. That just happened. In this episode.

Ironwood then drops the bomb that Winter has gone off to claim the Maiden power. Interesting development. I wonder what that means exactly. Is she just going to lock herself away until the Maiden dies naturally? Do they have her on some sort of life support and is there an agreement to pull the plug if necessary? Are they going to use a machine similar to the one Pyrrha was in and try to force the change early? Or is this just a misleading comment and Winter is merely off to protect the Maiden, no intention of taking the power now? Who knows. We’ll have to wait until next episode to find out.

Ironwood likewise announces that the staff and the lamp need to be locked away now that they’re compromised, even though they’ve been compromised since they first saw Tyrian in Mantle. Insert another [this scenario is so stupid and contrived] explanation here. It’s made worse by Ruby’s childish “You said we could keep it.” Excuse me? What, did you think the lamp was your personal property now forever and always? Is Ruby really sitting there arguing that something Ironwood told her weeks ago trumps the obvious logic of putting the relic where it’s somewhere safe? That’s the characterization we’re going for, a leader who cares more about, ‘But you said we could have it!’ over the fate of the world? What even is this? The fact that Ironwood has to explain to them that the situation has changed just reinforces the group’s overall attitude. That is, one of arrogance and importance. They literally need to be told why putting the relic in a nearly impenetrable vault is better than letting them have it just because they want it. Plus, you know, they lied about the lamp from the start. So there’s that too.

Finally, Ironwood reveals that Amity was originally a plan of Ozpin’s but he didn’t push it far enough. Instead, he intends to use the staff to lift all of Atlas instead, hopefully taking two relics and a Maiden far out of Salem’s reach. Ruby wants to use the tower for its designed purpose instead, which is only a valid option in her mind because the writing was stupid last week. If there had actually been any logic there---if people had been allowed to react naturally and in a variety of ways to the Salem announcement, rather than a super convenient “Yeah! Let’s all work together!” across an entire, panicking city---she wouldn’t be quite so eager to tell the whole world. But we all know at this point that logic bends to the protagonists’ whims, so Ruby wants that same perfect ending across all of Remnant. She stands her ground, as does her team. Obviously.

Meanwhile, the Ace Ops aren’t just following Ironwood’s orders like the writing wants us to think via Harriet’s earlier comment. Rather, they’re each thinking through the situation for themselves and making very good points. If Salem has taken out our perimeter than we know our tech and people don’t stand a chance against this army. We just finished up the fight in Mantle and none of us are in a position to start another. Notably, Harriet brings this up, the one whose aura took a massive hit while nearly getting crushed underfoot. Vine points out that sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war, but Team RWBY, to be blunt, simply doesn’t care.

I’ll be blunt myself here too: I don’t have an easy solution to this particular scenario. I don’t know what the “right” or the “wrong” choice is. Weighing starting a fight with VERY high stakes you’ll lose against abandoning the people of Mantle is just a straight up horrific decision. Like so much of what Ozpin faced, there is no clear-cut, good answer here. Do you stand by the people and risk the world, or work to save the world and doom the people? I don’t know and I do commend Rooster Teeth for writing a difficult choice... just not in giving each side the weight it deserves. Because as said, we’re meant to root for Team RWBY, always. Theirs is presented as the “right” choice every time, despite the fact that, as established, this is far from a black and white decision.

What frustrates me the most is when faced with all of these logical and very important considerations (we might not have backup, we’re in no position to fight, if Salem gets the relics and another Maiden the world is screwed) the group won’t even acknowledge these things. They’re so set in their own perspective they won’t even give these HUGE concerns the time of day. Rather, Yang shoots back, “You can’t just back down from a fight!”

That’s it. That’s the group’s problem in a single line.

This is what got Pyrrha killed.

It’s something the group should remember. She also insisted on fighting when she should have retreated and, since this was back during the days when characters actually faced consequences for their actions, it cost Pyrrha her life. Granted, going after Cinder was a truly useless endeavor. Pyrrha achieved nothing with her sacrifice. Here, Team RWBY hopes to save the people of Mantle, adding a clear justification for their insistence on fighting... but this is nevertheless indicative of that larger “punch it until it stops moving” mindset. It’s not that they decide to fight instead of retreating that’s the problem, it’s that to their mind fighting is the only option. Ever. This is what led to them attacking Cordovin and destroying Argus’ mech, drawing a massive grimm in the process. When faced with the option of backing down, Team RWBY doesn’t consider that an option at all. Which is heroic when up against an actual enemy, far less so when you’re facing an ally and the choice to fight has serious repercussions attached to it. Hell, the group doesn’t even consider compromises. They could have easily acknowledged that collecting the relics, the Maiden, and getting the staff to work on Atlas will take time. You do that while we focus on evacuating the rest of Mantle to the city. But no, even the concept of a compromise simply isn’t possible. You just always fight. Straight up. Anyone who suggests anything less isn’t a true huntsmen. “We’re loyal to the people!” Ruby shouts, as if “the people” doesn’t also include the rest of the world that Ironwood is trying to save and that they’re endangering by keeping the relics and Maiden within Salem’s reach.

That is one messed up perspective to tout in a story infused with the complex and the morally gray.

The real kicker though? Ruby’s ‘My way or the highway’ attitude obliterates a solution that fell straight into her lap. Jaune calls and says straight out that they have another situation. If Ruby had listened to her teammate for just three seconds they all would have learned about Oscar, thereby undermining Ironwood’s plan. He can’t keep the lamp safe if he doesn’t know where it is. You look for it while, again, we evacuate Mantle. Then we take everything out of Salem’s reach. Win-win. Instead, Ruby blasts her way through the situation. Literally, dodging Ironwood and hiding behind his desk shouting a highly bias version of his plan in the hopes of getting everyone on her side. And it works.

Because those like Clover don’t get to hear any of that context. Like how the perimeter is gone, there’s an army potentially coming, no one is in a position to fight, we’ve already lost a relic... they just here a Ruby’s version of events that paints Ironwood as the callous man Robyn thought he was---oh my god he’s abandoning Mantle for no good reason!---and people will react accordingly. Ruby likewise doesn’t care that shouting such information over all channels does things like, say, clue Tyrian into their plan. She just wants to do things her way, right now. Pausing to think (because thinking isn’t fighting) simply doesn’t happen.

I used to adore Ruby as a hero. Someone who was intrinsically good, hopeful, and wickedly clever in her ability to come out on top. Now she’s stubborn, arrogant, at times cruel, and charges in headfirst like her sister, refusing to consider any perspective other than her own. And her team endlessly supports that. The writing endlessly supports that. This isn’t our hero working through her flaws, but rather a flawed character that the writing refuses to acknowledge is flawed. When Ruby flies behind Ironwood’s desk the music rises triumphantly, just like it did when she attacked Cordovin’s mech. When Ironwood announces that they’re under arrest, Ruby spits back, “We won’t just let you take us” and we’re supposed to cheer.

Which brings us back to the question of whether the group really faced consequences here. Let me give you all a random, non-RWBY example of two scenes. Scenario One:

Parent: You punched her?

Teen: She insulted me!

Parent: I understand that, but that doesn’t mean you were justified in attacking her.

Teen: Oh, I was.

Parent: Maybe you were, maybe you weren’t, but you can’t solve all your problems that way.

Teen: I... I know that, okay. Back off. I just get so angry...

Parent: I know. We’re going to work on that. You’re grounded this weekend. We can discuss this more then.

Teen: [sighs] Fine.

vs. Scenario Two:

Parent: You punched her?

Teen: She insulted me!

Parent: I understand that, but that doesn’t mean you were justified in attacking her.

Teen: Oh, I was.

Parent: Maybe you were, maybe you weren’t, but you can’t solve all your problems that way.

Teen: Screw you! It worked didn’t it? I think a good punch goes a long way.

Parent: That’s not... okay look. You’re grounded this weekend so---

Teen: Like hell I am. [Proceeds to run off]

Teen: [Later to friend] ---and then she tried to ground me? Can you believe that?

Friend: Holy shit what an asshole.

If we put aside my own iffy dialogue for the moment, Scenario One acknowledges the complexity of the situation while likewise pointing out that the teen didn’t handle herself well. RWBY has achieved that here: the ethics of this scenario are acknowledged as complicated, but the group did things they shouldn’t have, as evidence by Ironwood’s anger and the Ace Ops’ criticism. However, Scenario One goes on to let the teen acknowledge that mistake, thereby validating it in the first place. A consequence is set, grounding, and they accept that, thereby further validating that their behavior needs work. They accept the consequence because both they and the writing acknowledge that the consequence is deserved. It takes what was previously two subjective stances---they say I’m wrong, I say I’m right---and encourages the audience to find the middle ground. Neither was totally wrong or right. The teen might be justified in some respects, but still made mistakes in others. She needs to improve.

RWBY, however, steers firmly into Scenario Two wherein the teen (Team RWBY) insists points blank that they never made mistakes in the first place, thereby encouraging the audience to question whether Ironwood and the Ace Ops (the parent) is right to be calling them out at all. We see no humility or guilt, only confidence. Ruby shouting “No!” at Cordovin when she’s told to surrender. Yang keeping silent after admitting that she and Blake told Robyn, not bothering to apologize or admit that this might have been a breech of trust. They challenge the validity of the claim that mistakes were made and by virtue of being protagonists encourage the audience to challenge it too. Finally, we see them reject the consequence because they will not admit that it’s deserved. The teen will not accept a grounding. Ruby: “We won’t just let you take us.” We’re then told by others that this rejection was warranted. The friend reinforces the view that the teen was right to run because that punishment is undeserved. The message is, “You never did anything wrong in the first place.” The plot of RWBY likewise reinforces the view that resisting Cordovin’s arrest was right by having her randomly let the group go. The consequence is replaced with a reward and, presumably, we’ll have a similar situation wherein the group either defeats the Ace Ops or is released by them. The consequences never take hold because the writing doesn’t think there should be consequences in the first place. Team RWBY isn’t going to be arrested here. They’re certainly not acknowledging that on some level they deserve to be. We didn’t see that humility while they were cuffed on the airship---that most basic acknowledgement of, “Did we make some mistakes? Could we have done something better? Is Ironwood right to be this mad?”---and there’s none of it now here, either. The tone is pure, “How dare you try and arrest us? We’re the good guys here!”

This remains as pro-protagonist as it has been the last two volumes. There are no consequences, only another hurdle for the group to overcome, painted as heroes for doing so. It’s Team RWBY vs. The Ace Ops and there’s no confusion about who we’re supposed to be rooting for. The Ace Ops because the group should rightly be stopped from hindering Ironwood’s attempts to keep the relics and a Maiden out of Salem’s hands, for their own lies and secret keeping that endangered them all this volume? Nope. It’s Team RWBY as the presumed heroes, facing off against soldiers who (supposedly) prioritize orders over what’s “right.”

And yeah, Oscar is gone. There are a number of dismantled robots and blaster fire in the room where Neo presumably took him. So unless they do a flashback we don’t get to see if/how Ozpin reacted to this initial attack. I hope they do provide a flashback because otherwise that’s another crucial scene of Oscar’s that happened off screen...

Can’t wait to see what else we’ll end up with next week! Until then, 💜

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #rwby recaps #mymetas

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ardent-musings · 3 years

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The Girl Who Vanished (Part 1)

Chapter 21: “Do Your Worst”

TW: Recalling a traumatic experience.

The entirety of the train ride to Hogwarts was filled with Aeron telling the group what had happened last year and why he was radio silent during the whole summer. All of them were on pins and needles over the whole ordeal. The boy regrettably explained how he was the one who had set off the fireworks during the Quidditch Pitch, waiting for his inevitable exile from the friend group. He was expecting everyone to scream at him, but they remained quiet even if Alex's temper was building back up slightly, she held it in.

He retold the interaction he had with Marcus Flint who already had a strained history with the Weasley twins, apparently the Slytherin captain was convinced that the twins ruined their chance at winning the Quidditch Cup when the redheads were just first years. And once Aeron confided in Flint over how badly the twins aggravated him, Aeron was enlisted to help frame the boys for the Quidditch Pitch disaster.

"Flint snuck into the Gryffindor changing rooms and planted the firework wrappers in there to make it seem like it was them, I was given the task of setting off the fireworks," his brown eyes were focused only on the fluffy stuffed rabbit that sat in his lap. "He told me to light them after the game ended and I did, but one of them tipped over and, and-" he took a deep breathe, his thin fingers trembling slightly as his mind took him back to the flames and the smoke, "-when one of them tipped over, they all just misfired."

He was beginning to trip over his words as he relived the horrors of being trapped underneath the stands as it got caught on fire. His chest started heaving and Ana calmly reminded him to breathe and relax. Unsure of what to do, Alex started to quietly sing "Tiny Dancer" entirely off key, which gave the whole compartment a good laugh and distracted Aeron from himself for a moment; it was horribly sung but it made the panicked boy smile.

"Sorry, but Calista sings that to me sometimes when I have to calm down."

Calista chuckled at Alex's admission, enjoying the tiny break of humor, until they all turned back to allow Aeron to continue. Once he did, he told them about how Hagrid was the one to find him injured outside the pitch and the half giant had immediately taken him to St. Mungos. From there on out, he had stayed there the whole summer.

"I truly didn't mean for anyone to get hurt, like you, Alex," he sniffled at the girl who did have a bit of a grudge against the boy. But everyone could tell that based off the state of his inflamed skin, that Aeron had suffered enough, "I just wanted to get back at the twins for the things they had done. I'm sorry."

There was a second of silence among the group, a second that lasted hours to the young regretful boy.

"I forgive you," Calista said with a wide smile, which felt more like a hug to Aeron at this moment.

The rest of the compartment expressed their forgiveness, but the last one to do so was Ana. He stared at the girl whose forgiveness he craved the most; the first person to give him a chance, the first person to actually make him smile. Yet, her face remained still and calculated.

"I only have one question, Wright," she stated with a stone cold expression. His nervousness began seeping back in slowly, but he nodded his head while fearing the worst.

"Did you get my flower that I brought you when I visited you at St. Mungos?" Her mask of indifference fell as she grinned back softly at the boy who had once been so sneaky and conniving. Perhaps he just wanted someone to talk to. Someone to call a friend.

Upon hearing her question, his strained brows fell in relief as he dipped down into his luggage and grabbed his history book. And sure enough, within the dense pages that once cause her such grief held the single pink flower that she had given him that day in the hospital. It was flattened and a bit yellowed. But it was perfect.

"I'll have you know that you came on my birthday, Ana," he chuckled as he began to unfold one of the delicate petals. "Thank you for giving me a birthday gift."

It was late in the afternoon when the train had finally arrived at the Hogsmeade Station, they all talked about Quidditch tryouts which were incredibly intriguing to both Ana and Alex. There was one position open since the last chaser had graduated, but unfortunately Marcus Flint was the captain, so even if everyone hated the sniveling boy, they had to play nice if they wanted to make the team.

Lucian rattled on about the letters he had been exchanging with the Hufflepuff seeker, Cedric Diggory. Since the last game where Diggory caught the snitch, yet lost the game, the boys had found talking to each other surprisingly fun. Lucian enjoyed talking to someone simply about the game of Quidditch instead of only thinking of having to win. And even a Slytherin like Lucian could appreciate raw talent when he saw it.

But soon enough the carriage ride that was led by the thestrals took them straight to the castle and they walked back through the familiar corridors and into the Great Hall. It was still warm as it was just the start of September, but a gentle breeze sent a wave of calm over not only Ana and her friends, but she assumed it would help little Draco as he was off boating across the Black Lake like she had to do last year.

She took her usual spot between Lucian and Aeron while Alex and Calista sat opposite them, the sorting hat was going to be placing its next set of students into their house and if anyone was the most welcoming, it was going to be Lucian and Calista. Ana was far too tired to be chipper this night.

That feeling was drowned by the excitement that filled her veins as soon as she heard Draco's name being called. His hair was combed neatly and he had a smirk on his face. Always the one for attention Ana chuckled to herself. It was no surprise to her when the hat placed him in Slytherin before the piece of raggedy clothing even touched his head, and Ana was ecstatic to have him sit beside Lucian with a giant smile on his face. Draco gave his sister a tiny wave as he watched for more to come.

A few students had been sorted to their houses, two more stocky boys to Slytherin which Draco seemed incredibly excited about, a girl with bushy hair went to Gryffindor, the list went on and on. A familiar redhead caught her eye, she remembered him to be the twins' little brother and she watched as he sighed and waltzed his way towards the Gryffindor table. The twins ruffled his hair and took their brother in with wide arms which made her smile.

"Potter, Harry."

The room went silent. No one dared speak as the boy who Ana thought looked familiar, but she couldn't have been sure. He was scrawny and sat at the stool with unease. Of course the hat had a whole monologue about the pros and cons of every house, but the infamous boy was sent over to Gryffindor in the end. That's something the house was going to brag about for eternity, Ana sunk further into her seat. Even if it would've been fun to have the kid in her house, she was just happy to have Draco with her. She could see him without the looming threat of their father. And for that she was grateful.

However, as the first week at Hogwarts went along, she felt like Draco wasn't necessarily ignoring her, but he was definitely highly infatuated with any ounce of attention he received from the two imbeciles she had learned were named Crabbe and Goyle. They didn't seem like bad kids, but every time she looked at them too she wondered if a single thought ever crossed their minds. Draco seemed to do the talking for all of them. Maybe he did all the thinking too.

Even with Draco being a bit distant, Ana was just happy to be home. She would wake up from her dreamless sleep and get to spend the rest of her waking hours with people who she couldn't dare live without. Ana craved the routine that came from being at Hogwarts and part of that meant she resumed her study sessions with Aeron.

Every night after dinner they would retreat to the common room, find the quietest nook they could and studied the night away. Sometimes genuine work was being done while most of the time they were goofing off and making light hearted fun at the ghostly teacher. This night was one of those where there was more talking than studying. Aeron dipped his head back and let out a snort as Ana horribly mispronounced a very famous wizards name and no matter how hard she tried to reel him in, she too couldn't stop herself from laughing.

Their good moods were squashed when a small clump of burning paper landed between the two of them, and Aeron froze at the flame that mocked him as it burnt in the middle of the table. Infuriated, Ana slammed down her book overtop the ball that extinguished the flame, but that did nothing to extinguish the fury that was growing in her gut. She didn't even have to guess who it was from because from a short distance away stood Marcus Flint. He cackled as he began to pat furiously at his skin, the way someone would if they caught fire. And all Aeron could do was watch as the boy mocked his pain before the older boy dipped away from sight and towards his dorms.

Ana hated him. She didn't even hate her father, but Merlin, did she want to get back at the Quidditch captain for being the mastermind behind the whole thing. He hurt Aeron, Alex, countless other students. He even hurt the twins by accusing them of doing something they had no part in. And she was going to make him pay. But she needed recruits.

The next morning during breakfast, she nibbled on her fruit and muffin while she watched the grimy Marcus Flint go about his morning like nothing was wrong. Oh, but he would soon realize he made a mistake, Ana smirked as she continued writing her note with a lux quill. As far as she knew it, she was signing away the boy's sanity for the indefinite future, and it filled her with more joy than anything she had yet to experience. When the daily mail came, she tied her note to her owl's leg and sent it off to its destination. This is going to be beautiful Ana thought.

"Ah, Ms. Bibiana Malfoy," an annoyingly plummy voice said from behind her, "just couldn't stay away could you?"

She had been enjoying the quiet squawks and chirps that the owlery provided her; their gentle coos mixed with the summer breeze made Ana wonder why she didn't spend much time there. Maybe it was the smell of bird poop that really killed the mood. But that wasn't what Ana was there for in the first place.

"Wished I could get rid of you Weasley," Ana chuckled as she turned to see the two boys she knew would jump at the chance to help her. George smiled at her whereas Fred looked down at her feigning being hurt at her comment.

"Why'd you call us to the owlery? You never come here," the older twin asked suspiciously, his arms crossed in front of his chest while George chuckled at Fred's mannerisms.

Ana quirked her eyebrow at his statement, "How do you know where I go Weasley?"

George's eyes widened and he started to shuffle nervously while Fred remained still and composed. "Just a guess."

"Well do you want to guess as to why I called you here or do you want me to tell you?"

Before Fred said another dumb comment, George stepped up so he stood between Ana and his brother, effectively putting some needed distance between the two. Fred's face fell once he was no longer in the front but George's lower voice sounded intrigued, "I, for one, would like to know why you wanted to talk, Ana."

She was surprised by how agreeable George sounded, perhaps she should just talk to him from now on. "Wonderful!" she quipped. "Well, I have come to a bit of fascinating information over the summer, and I think you two should know."

"And what is that, Malfoy?" Fred asked from over his brother's shoulder which made George roll his eyes.

It took her a moment to realize they were wearing matching shirts and she couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that they must've coordinated their look every morning. Before she lingered on that hysterical thought for too long, she whipped her long hair over one shoulder.

"I just so happen to know not only who set the Quidditch pitch on fire, but I also know who framed you boys," she stood there looking incredibly pleased with herself, her spine stood strong and tall. For a rather small girl, she commanded a lot of respect.

"Was it your bird looking friend? What was his name? Aeron?"

Ana's attention snapped to Fred at the bitterness in which he accused Aeron. He somehow always knew the exact thing to push her buttons and Ana was once again growing tired of his attitude. Aeron was partially at fault, but if anyone deserved a sliver of mercy, it was him.

"You know what?" Ana's voice turned metallic and sour, hoping her harsh glare would shake the boy out of his condescension. "Maybe you don't deserve to know."

And with a huff, she turned on her heels and began to walk towards the exit of the tower. If they wanted to be difficult, there was no reason for her to talk to them at all. She would rather walk away than have them, mainly Fred, disrespect her and her friends.

A rush of air flew past her on either side and now the two boys were blocking her only way out. They had grown over the summer; the bottoms of their pants exposed their ankles and mix-matched socks and she wondered why they didn't just buy clothes that actually fit them. In a year, those pants would turn into shorts by this rate.

"Please tell us," George asked desperately while elbowing his older brother in the gut which made Ana's angry façade break with a giggle. Fred's smile came as quickly as it left, but he rolled his eyes like a pouting toddler at having to concede a bit to the girl.

"Yes, please tell us, snake. We are shaking with anticipation," Fred grumbled.

This was not going to do, she thought, "George can you come with me please?" Ana requested as she walked further into the tower. A confused yet responsive George shuffled as he joined her. Fred was about to follow until Ana held up a hand, which demanded the growing boy to freeze in place.

"No! Not you! From now on I am only speaking to George," she hollered at the more annoying twin.

George's face twisted into a look of nervousness but it dwindled when Ana smiled at him.

"I am going to tell George," she emphasized his name loudly just to annoy Fred even more, "that Aeron was not involved. And if he was involved, I would say that just by looking at him, you can tell he has suffered enough. Would you agree, George?"

He nodded his head quickly as he caught on to her little charade, "Why, yes, Ana. I would agree that Aeron has been through the ringer. Please tell me that secret you wanted to share with me! And only me!" His animated voice rose in volume; he wanted Fred to know that he was no longer included in the fun.

Fred let out a large groan of frustration as he stood across the tower like a child that was put in time-out. And like a child, he listened and took his punishment which made it even better for Ana. She found it overwhelming satisfying, and George was getting a kick out of it as well, the two of them giggled quietly between themselves.

"The real person who framed you, George, and destroyed the pitch was," Ana's voice shrunk into a tiny whisper, almost too low for even George to hear, "Marcus Flint."

George's eyes bulged from his head at the reveal and he sat down on a ledge to mull over the confession. Ana stood confident and self-assured, she knew her gut was right when she told Dumbledore they didn't do it. She'd have to remember to trust her gut again if a situation called for it.

"What did you say?" Fred questioned from far away. Ana figured she should just ignore him, but god was it fun to push his buttons. After all the turmoil he put her through, she found it was justified.

"George do you hear an annoying buzzing sound or?" She waved her hands around her ears dramatically which just made Fred run his hands through his hair as he hopped around impatiently.

After a moment of introspection, George stood up and leaned closer to Ana, "It was Marcus? God that actually makes sense."

"Why is that?"

"Because we sent him to St. Mungos," Fred scared the hell out of Ana, who he had sneaked up on. She jumped slightly which made him smirk softly at the girl.

"I'm not talking to you," Ana directed to the older twin, before turning back to George, "But what did you do to him? How bad did you hurt him?"

Fred and George both turned fidgety as they recalled he same memory together, like they shared one single stream of consciousness.

"Deterioration Hex," they said in unison.

Ana's expression grew even more confused since she had never heard of the hex. Sensing her cluelessness, George explained, "We were throwing the hex around in the courtyard after hours and we didn't see Flint when he came running out of one of the wings."

"That foul git was on his way to do something probably rotten when he got blasted with it," Fred chuckled to himself. "But it took him out so bad that he had to be sent to St. Mungo's to reverse it. I cannot believe he held a grudge for that long, Georgie."

"Well, he did," Ana shifted so she was facing both boys head on. "And since I saved both of your bums last year, I figured we could come to an agreement."

The two stood silently, curious eyes lingered on the girl as they waited for her proposal. She analyzed them both. George's arms were wrapped around himself as he bobbed on his heels while Fred had his arms crossed behind his back and his head crooked to the side. They were both copies of each other and yet they never once looked the same to her. Everything about them was different and it brought her a bit of pride to know she already had them down pat.

"I don't want you to prank Aeron or me or any of my other friends."

From the look on their faces she might as well have told them that she snapped their brooms in half. They looked positively dejected at the mere thought of not annoying her, but she stuck to her gun and continued to send the boys daggers until they folded.

"Alright," Fred replied with a hint of softness, his nonchalant act began to fade, "you have a deal."

"However, when it comes to Aeron, Flint has been a real thorn in his side. And anyone that hurts my friends are certainly not going to get away with it," Ana confided to the boys. "We all want the same thing here. So, instead of pranking me, the person who saved you from expulsion, put that energy towards a new target. You understand?"

Both of the boys picked up on her insinuation and they tuned to each other with mischievous looks which Ana now found endearing, knowing she wasn't going to be the victim of their pranks. Ana dipped her head respectfully, insinuating that she was going to leave.

"Wanna shake on it?" Fred grinned at the girl, holding out his hand at their business deal before she could turn away.

Ana stared at his hand for a moment, wondering if she should take it. She felt nervous all of a sudden, but she knew that she wanted to shake his hand. So she did, it was quick and surprisingly painless; but she enjoyed how the twins smiled at the agreement they all came to.

The boys started gushing about what they were going to do to the Slytherin captain; they were going to have plenty of fun with this.

"Just so we're clear, you didn't hear any of this from me," Ana said smoothly as she was almost out the door, "I plan on getting the open chaser position and don't really want the captain to hate my guts."

Fred and George nodded excitedly, they were not only making amends with the girl, but they were instructed to prank a person they already didn't like. It was a glorious night for them.

"But, boys," they looked at her like two children who were being tempted by hoards of sugary and addicting candy, she smirked at them, "do your worst."

#fred weasley #fred weasley smut #fred weasley fanfic #fred weasley x oc #bibiana malfoy #the girl who vanished #tgwv #tgwv 1-21 #enemies to friends to lovers

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sighingstarbeam · 4 years

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Spies and Gods Chapter 12

Summary: Reader holds up her end of the deal with Loki. The only question is will either of them survive?

Word Count: 3,721

A/N: Here's my final chapter that I cranked out before going back to school a few days from now. Not sure how busy I'll be due to everything going on in the world right now, but I can assure you guys that I don't intentionally plan on abandoning this project. With that being said, depending on how much free time I have I'll either take a short hiatus or write bit by bit. Stay safe and healthy everyone.

Chapter 11 | Chapter 13

You woke up to the cool touch of leather. Everything was quiet and still, yet your head was pounding and your stomach was doing flips. Getting your sight oriented, you realized you were in the driver’s seat of the car you took, still parked in the same spot from before. You rubbed your eyes, wincing from a pain from your wrists. They were bruised in the shape of fingers. Those definitely weren’t there before.

To your right you saw a figure, elbow resting on the edge of the window, hand supporting his head as his eyes were closed. The figure seemed peaceful, vulnerable. Your eyes adjusted to see that the figure was Loki. His tie was loosened while the first two buttons on his shirt were undone, exposing his bare chest slightly. It was weird seeing him so calm. You almost didn’t want to disturb him, but you were beyond confused.

“Loki?” You nudged his arm, his eyes fluttering open.

“How do you feel?” He asked, his posture straightening.

“I feel like shit, but I’m okay.” You rubbed your temples in an attempt to sooth the pulsing, “What happened? How did we get here?”

Loki adjusted his position to face you, “What was the last thing you remember?”

You took a moment to retrace your memory, “I remember we were with my friends, and I got mad at you for something and went to the bar. There was this guy…” You tensed when you began to remember, “He said his name was Nate- no, Nick. It was Nick. We talked and went to go dance… and that’s it.” You buried your face in your palms, your nails digging into your skin. “I’m such an idiot! I let my guard down for one second and this happens…” You quickly looked down at yourself to find that your clothes were still intact. No rips or tears, or even any signs of it being removed. “Oh God, please tell me he didn’t-”

“He didn’t have a chance to do anything.” Loki interrupted your thought, “He is far from here, and if he ever shows his face here he wouldn’t even have a chance to breathe for mercy.”

Loki sneered his last words. You couldn’t think of anything to say or do but to just sit there, absorbing what happened. You finally broke the silence, “Did you carry me all the way up here?”

“What?”

“We’re on the third floor and the elevator is busted. Unless you can fly, you must’ve carried me.”

Loki chuckled, “We should be returning soon if we don’t wish to get caught.”

Your eyes widen, “How long was I out?”

“A few hours.” You looked at your phone to see it was past two in the morning.

“Dammit, why didn’t you drive us?”

Loki shrugged, “I haven’t a clue how to get back, let alone know the address to enter for directions.”

You combed your fingers through your hair, “Okay, this is fine. Hopefully everybody’s sleeping when we get back.” You started the car and left the parking garage. The next few minutes you wanted to ask Loki so many questions about what happened, but you were thankful that you were out of it and going home. “Loki?”

He turned his gaze from the window to you, “Yes?”

“Thank you.”

You saw him smile weakly before returning to the window. “You’re welcome.”

---

You have been talking to the strange man for over ten minutes. You promised (more so threatened) Loki that after one drink you would be returning back to headquarters. As much as he loved swooning the group of ladies off of their feet, Loki began growing weary of the night, patiently waiting for you to be done with your drink and done with this depraved looking individual.

Looking back, Loki surprised himself by genuinely enjoying his time out up until your argument, which to him was a minor complication, but nonetheless everything else went well. As much as he was restless to get away from the Avengers and his brother, Loki still had to weigh his options when the opportunity to spend the night out presented itself, even if it was with the daughter of Tony Stark and her Midgardian friends. Upon first arriving at the club he thought he would have the same feelings for humans as he did years ago; disgusting, weak, lesser than him, mere animals compared to his intellect. Instead he didn’t find them as disgusting.

Until Loki saw the man lead you to the dance floor.

All right, no big deal. Loki figured it would just be another ten minutes or so. He tried to ignore you, yet he still couldn’t help to take a glimpse in your direction. When his eyes met yours, he quickly averted them and focused back to the girls. Maya and Lilly returned from the restrooms, more drinks in hand.

“Where’d Y/N go?” asked Lilly, scooching herself back into the booth.

“Out there with some boor.” Loki guided towards the wave of people dancing.

Maya squinted at the crowd trying to spot you, “I don’t see her.”

Without hesitation Loki shot up. Standing he scanned the dancers, not seeing you or the man among them. Something was definitely wrong. Loki couldn’t shake the feeling that you were in danger. Face revealing a hint of distress, Loki took long strides out of his seat towards where he last saw you. Clusters of people continuously blocked his path, his heart began to pound faster than usual with each one he bumped into.

Once he made it where you were, Loki was met with Lilly and Maya trailing not too far behind. “What’s going on?” Lilly asked in concern.

Barely looking at the girls as his only interest was finding you, Loki replied, “I’m afraid Y/N was taken. We need to find her immediately.”

Maya grabbed Loki’s shoulder, pointing to a backdoor, “There! I just saw her go through that door.”

Loki, Lilly, and Maya rushed through the mob as quickly as they could. Through pushes, elbowing, and shoving, they finally managed to get to the backdoor.

On the other side you were being escorted to a black truck with four doors and tinted windows. Nick opened the door behind the driver’s side, carefully guiding you in. You tried to hit him before passing out with the exception of mumbled words leaving your lips. With the little strength you had you managed to scratch his face, leaving a cut that wasn’t deep enough to bleed but at least left some pain.

Nick winced from your attack, “You bitch! Hold still and this’ll be easier.” He gripped your wrists as tight as he could, forcing you all the way over the seats. Now you were completely unconscious, motionless, helpless. As he released your wrists, Nick’s hand slid up your leg, reaching your thigh, “That’s better. If you would’ve shut your pretty little mouth sooner I would-”

Nick was too preoccupied to hear the backdoor open. He was forcefully interrupted when his head was bashed into the side of the car, followed by a body shoving him into the brick wall of the club behind them. Nick was met with the end of a sharp dagger held by Loki, his free arm pinned Nick to make sure he had no chance to escape.

“Do you really think an imbecile like you could kidnap a woman without anybody noticing?” Loki hissed, fury radiating in his eyes.

“I- Uh-” Nick stammered, sweat beading down his face, “I was taking her to the hospital. She fainted and I thought she needed help.”

“Really?” Loki shoved the dagger closer to Nick’s neck, nearly drawing blood. “And you wouldn’t think to look for the people she came with to aid her?”

“L-Look man, I didn’t know. She told me she came alone.”

“Don’t lie to me. I’ll have you know I’m particularly skilled in the art of lies.”

While Loki interrogated Nick, Maya and Lilly came crashing through the door. They were alarmed when they saw Loki’s knife to Nick’s throat, but horrified when they saw you unconscious in the backseat of Nick’s truck.

“Holy shit, Y/N!” Maya ran to you, carefully sitting your body up. “Hey, Y/N can you hear me? Come on you gotta wake up.” She was stroking your face in a soothing manner, hoping you would wake up.

Lilly stepped next to Loki glaring at Nick, “Who the hell is this pervert?”

“That is an excellent question.” A thought settled in Loki’s mind. Was this man with Hydra? Could he be trying to kidnap you for them? “Who do you work for?” He demanded.

“I’m not telling you.” Nick sneered, somehow still feeling cocky.

Loki gave Nick a sadistic smile, “Let’s try that again.” Without warning Loki punched Nick in the stomach causing him to keel over onto his knees. Loki grabbed a handful of Nick’s hair on the back of his scalp and with a swift motion jerked his head to meet Loki’s eyes before punching him on the jaw. Nick collapsed from the blow, blood pooling from his nose and mouth. “One. Last. Time.” Loki dug his heel in Nick’s shoulder, pinning him where he was sprawled out on the ground, “Who do you work for? Is it with Hydra?”

Nick spit a mouthful of blood on the ground, “With who? No dude! I work for a firm a few blocks away.”

Loki scowled, knowing that he wasn’t telling the truth. “May I remind you that while I have my foot in a particularly breakable area that I am the god of lies.” He let gravity bring his weight down onto Nick. “Out of everybody inside you chose Y/N specifically. Why?”

Nick let out a harsh grunt, “I can’t say! If I do they’ll kill me.”

“If you don’t tell, I’ll make sure of it personally that you’ll experience things far worse than death.” Loki dug further, an audible crack could be heard from Nick’s shoulder.

“F-Fine! I’ll tell, I’ll tell!” Loki released some of his weight but didn’t allow Nick complete freedom, “We worked together years ago, back in the children’s facility. I mean, not directly together, but the same division. I saw her in the tabloids the other day when she was with Tony Stark in Greenwich.” Maya and Lilly gave him strange looks, “Okay yeah I read tabloids. When I saw her picture I tracked her down.”

“What were you planning to do exactly?” Loki sneered.

“I-I figured I would take her to the higher ups as a surprise gift, get a promotion and a raise maybe?” Nick started to sweat from everybody’s eyes throwing daggers, “Bringing back one of the most notorious agents that’s been presumed dead would definitely give me points! I mean, killing a couple of tots is one thing but her? It was practically an extermination.”

The fire in Loki’s eyes fumed at Nick’s words. He dug his heel further into Nick’s shoulder causing him to release an audible and painful groan. Loki leaned down to Nick’s ear and with a hushed tone said, “If it were up to me, I would skin you alive and leave you to the rats. Not before I rip you limb from limb with my bare hands.”

Nick was visibly trembling, “P-Please let me go! I swear I won’t tell anybody! Hydra doesn’t even know I’m here, if they did I’d be dead by now!”

Loki gave him a callous smile, “Oh don’t you worry, I’ll make sure you are well protected when I bring you with us where you’ll be happy to answer any and all questions we may have.” With one final swift kick to Nick sternum, Loki took a few steps away to admire his bloody work until he noticed you being supported by Maya. He rushed to her side to take you in his arms. You were like a rag doll having no control over your limbs. Your head constantly lolled back before Loki decided to carry you bridal style.

“It’s against my creed to cause harm to others,” Lilly strode to Nick who was trying to stand up, “but since you tried to kidnap my friend I can make the exception.” With that she kicked Nick as hard as she could in the ribs making him fall back on the ground.

“Yeah, you piece of shit!” Maya stood by Lilly and gave Nick a similar blow but to his side, causing him to cough and gasp for air.

The girls turned to you in Loki’s arms almost lifeless. “We need to take her to the hospital.” Lilly said, taking her phone out to call an ambulance.

“No,” said Loki, looking down to your expressionless face, “I am responsible for Y/N. Let me take care of her, we have all the medical supplies she needs at the headquarters.”

At first Maya was doubtful of his decision, but reluctantly agreed while she took out a pen and paper from her purse, “Here’s our numbers,” she said, “if Y/N gets worse call us.”

“Please do.” Lilly said, “I feel sick to my stomach about what happened.”

Loki nodded, taking the paper, “She’s very fortunate to have you as friends. You both seem to care about her very much.” Loki said, looking at your unresponsive face. You seemed peaceful, vulnerable. Loki couldn’t place it, but for some reason at this very moment he felt more protective of you. Or perhaps it was the adrenaline rush he experienced making him think this way.

“Uh, guys? Where did he go?” Lilly pointed to where Nick’s broken body was.

Maya ran to the end of the alley towards the street, throwing her arms in an exasperated shrug. “He’s gone. Sonofabitch booked it.”

“You don’t think he’ll come back, do you?” Lilly asked Loki, still carrying you in his arms.

Loki shook his head, “No, I believe he was telling the truth that they will kill him for failing an unauthorized mission. If he has the brain capacity he won’t tell his superiors of this night, neither shall we. If I may make a request, let’s not discuss this night with anyone, especially with our colleagues.”

“We won’t.”

“What happened tonight stays out here,” Maya began, “but we’re still here for Y/N no matter what. But what’s Hydra?”

“Yeah,” said Lilly, “he mentioned that they worked together, but Y/N never liked to talk about her past.”

Loki hesitated, “I believe that is a question that she needs to answer for you another time. It’s rather… complicated, to say the least.”

Maya and Lilly nodded, “We understand,” said Maya, “I think we all have shit in our past we want to forget.”

Loki sighed, “I know that all too well. I must be going now. I will contact you when she wakes up.” Loki bid Maya and Lilly farewell, then promptly left the alley with you in his arms.

---Summary: You're getting really tired of Loki's ego and arrogance.Word Count: 3,144A/N: WARNING: This chapter will depict sensitive subjects towards the end. Read at your own risk.Chapter 10 | Chapter 12

The drive back was quiet. It wasn’t an awkward sort of quiet, more so the type that you both needed after everything that happened. If you were a normal person you would linger on the memories of what led to your potential kidnapping. From when you met Nick, not paying attention to your drink for a split second, passing out, you would want to call the police and talk about your trauma with somebody, anybody. Yet you were far from being a normal person. Another one of your training lessons was to move on from any traumas you’ve experienced. You weren’t allowed to hold on.

“Loki?” He tilted his head to you, “You don’t think Nick was a Hydra agent, do you?”

Loki clenched his jaw, luckily you were focused too much on the road that you didn’t notice, “No. I assure you I interrogated him and from what he could blubber he was just another lowlife mortal waiting for prey.”

“Oh.” You sighed in relief. You were already worried about getting back without being seen, having a Hydra spy on your as surely wouldn’t have helped.

Thankfully when you returned to the headquarters there was nobody around when you parked the car back in the garage. It was after three in the morning, so you assumed there wasn’t anyone still working, yet you still wanted to take precaution. Upon leaving the garage, you took your heels off to make less noise. There didn’t seem to be anyone around, until with no forewarning Loki grabbed your shoulders to pin you to the nearest wall.

“Ugh!” You grunted, you saw him put his finger to his lips. Peeking around there were two lab assistants walking down the hallway in your direction. Body still and breath hitched, you waited for them to leave before speaking, “Could you be a little more gentle? I’m still kind of queasy.”

“Only if you ask politely.” He countered with a playful smirk.

You rolled your eyes, then you moved him aside to get to the elevators. Once the two of you were in you pressed the button to your floor. There wasn’t much else to look at, so out of the corner of your eye you observed the enigma of the demigod standing right there. You had no idea what to make of Loki. The first day you met you wanted to figure him out like a human puzzle. Loki’s eyes spoke so much yet the way he presents himself left you utterly clueless. One moment you were absolutely nothing to him, then he hated your guts, then he saves your life. Surely he only saved you because he needed to get back as much as you did, given you were his ride home. However, he was so gentle and sincere to you when you were in the car after everything happened. Was this all an elaborate game he concocted just to mess with you? What made you so special that Loki decided you were his perfect target?

The elevator’s ding woke you from your thoughts. You peered through the doors into the halls to find nobody there. It was home bound for both of you until your stomach dropped with sudden realization. The security cameras.

“Shit. Shit shit shit!” You whispered.

“What?” Loki queried.

“The cameras. I completely forgot about the cameras.”

Loki smiled in his mischievous manner, “Fortunately for us, I planned ahead.” As if on cue down the hall your bedroom door opened with… you coming out? You were in your pajamas, mug in hand walking to the water cooler next to the elevators. Seeing not-you was the weirdest thing you have ever witnessed. Loki’s illusion of you was almost to a T from the way you walked to the specific freckles you had on your body. Loki stepped out of the elevator next to your doppelganger filling your mug. “What do you think?”

You stepped out as well, observing yourself closer, “So the cameras can’t see us right now?”

“Only my illusion.” He said as you went back to your room.

“I hate to admit it, but that’s kind of cool and really handy.”

You both made your way to your respected rooms. Your feet were sore, your head was throbbing, and overall you were a mess. The only thing you wanted to do was sleep and sleep and sleep. Although you wish you could do more of that if it wasn’t for your deal with Loki.

“I guess I’ll see you first thing with a to-do list.” You said to Loki before entering your room.

Loki looked at you puzzled, “I’m sorry?”

“Our deal. I have to be your personal assistant for two weeks, remember?”

Loki didn’t say anything, instead he thought for a moment. “Forget about the agreement.”

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, “Huh?”

“After everything, I thought about our bargain and I’m changing it.”

“To what?”

“Instead of you following my orders, I would like to train you to fight.”

Train you to fight? Was he being serious? There was no way he was serious. However, with his fixed expression he was definitely being serious. “I don’t need you to train me. I spent my whole life fighting in dozens of different styles and forms. Hell, I even beat the freakin’ Winter Soldier.”

“Beating one man doesn't mean you can take on the world.” Loki turned his gaze to the ground, then back to you, “You were defenseless, helpless against that neanderthal. If I wasn’t there he would have had his way with you.”

You were getting annoyed by Loki’s sudden tone, “Oh please, I could’ve taken him when I came to.”

“What if you didn’t?!” Loki raised his voice in frustration while he took a step towards you. Your breath hitched with his sudden proximity. His stature was tall and brooding, but as before his eyes told a different story as they were filled with concern and grief.

You nodded your head ever so slightly. “Okay.” You whispered, “We can change the deal.”

Loki relaxed his shoulders, taking a step back towards his room. “Good. First thing in the morning we’ll meet in the sparring pit.”

Nodding, you opened your door to the familiar surroundings of your room. You were nearly all the way in when you stopped yourself, “Loki?” You called him before his door was shut. He quickly threw the door back open to see you, “I… Uh, I’ll see you in the morning.” Was all you could say.

Loki paused, as if he was waiting for you to say something different, “Goodnight, Y/N.” The way he said your name made something inside of you flutter. The feeling was gone when the two of you closed your doors.

You stripped down your dress and fancy underwear and into a pair of pajama pants and t-shirt that was probably a few days old. You didn’t care about the light smell, all you wanted was blissful unconsciousness. You grabbed a makeup wipe and rubbed the gunk off of your face to the best of your ability. Next was the jewelry that you haphazardly tossed on your nightstand along with your purse and phone before throwing yourself onto your bed. You awaited for sleep but every few minutes a certain god of mischief invaded your mind, his voice whispering only your name. The next few weeks of training were going to drag on.

#spies and gods #spies and gods chapter 12 #loki #loki x reader #mcu #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #marvel mcu #loki mcu #Loki Laufeyson #reader #reader insert #my fic #fanfiction #fanfic #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction

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minijenn · 5 years

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Keys to the Kingdom Chapter 5

So yeah I know I posted this one all over last night, but I still gotta post it here so yeah. It is a bit of a rehash of what KH3 covers but ehhhh had to get through it to get to the end of it so I guess its not that bad when ya think of it like that :P Either way, there are some parts of it I do really like, as you’ll see. Enjoy!

Previous: http://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/183363646704/keys-to-the-kingdom-chapter-4

Chapter 5: Go the Distance

I’ll be there someday, I can go the distance I will find my way if I can be strong I know every mile will be worth my while When I go the distance, I’ll be right where I belong

The temple’s stark, dramatic collapse rattled just about all of Thebes from the ground up, sending perhaps the most violent of tremors yet rippling through the city streets. Just about everyone felt it, from the families bunkering down in their homes in the hopes that the ongoing torrent of destruction wouldn’t find them there, to the stray stragglers running from the rampaging flames to find some sort of shelter or refuge, to even Maleficent and Pete as they kept their search for the mysterious black box going.

With few bystanders around to stop them, the wicked pair had taken to tearing up one of Thebes’ usually scenic gardens, acting on Hades’ tip that the prize they were looking for might be somewhere nearby. The dark fairy stood apace from the messy hole her henchman was hastily digging, just one of several marring the garden’s once pristine stony grounds. However, this work was soon interupted by the hefty earthquake that sent the entire city shuddering, inevitably sending Pete falling flat on his face amidst the dirt he was digging up, much to his frustrated exasperation.

“Hey! What’s the big idea!?” the henchman snapped as he popped his head out of the whole angrily, shaking the dirt off his shoulders. “That there rumble had to’ve been the biggest one yet! Don’cha think we should check it out?”

“No,” Maleficent rejected bluntly, almost boredly even. “Whatever senseless rampage Hades is inflicting upon this singular world is none of our concern. What we’re after will ensure us the power to spread my domain to other worlds on a far grander scale than a mere petty coup such as his.”

“Hmph, so you keep sayin’…” Pete grumbled as he turned back to his ongoing work. “Are you sure this box with the Book of Prophecies is even for reals? I think that dingbat in black was pullin’ your leg.”

“Be quiet and dig, you imbecile,” the dark fairy scowled impatiently. “I must find that Book of Prophecies and make it my own. His was the only clue we have. We cannot afford to dismiss it without a thorough investigation.”

“I’m just sayin’,” Pete continued sullenly. “A shot in the dark ain’t gonna get us any closer to—oh!”

“What is it?” Maleficent quickly turned to her henchman at his sudden change of tune. “Have you found something? Show it to me at once, fool!”

“Yes sir-eey!” Pete exclaimed, proudly holding up a small chest with a skull acting as its lock. “This has gotta be that Pandora’s Box Hades mentioned!”

Whatever interest the dark fairy had show before immediately fell as she looked over the box her henchman was presenting her with. “Leave it,” she said staunchly, turning her nose up at the chest.

“W-what?” Pete asked, crestfallen. “After all that diggin’?”

“That is not the box which I desire,” Maleficent said coldly. “We are finished with this world. Come.”

“Aww…” the henchman sighed, disappointed as he tossed the box back into the hole where he had found it before hurrying after the dark fairy. Maleficent had all but conjured up a dark corridor so they could take their leave, yet before stepping through it, she suddenly stopped shot, much to Pete’s confusion.

“Hold a moment…” she mused, turning back around with a hint of careful scrutiny in her tone. “Do you feel that?”

“Uh… what?” Pete asked blankly. “Ya mean the wind?”

“No, you buffoon,” Maleficent scowled before stepping forward again in deep concentration. “Its darkness. Deep, pure, unconcentrated darkness…”

“What, like the sorta darkness the Heartless are made of?” Pete asked, still not following.

“No… this darkness is… different…” the dark fairy said, still clearly captivated by it. “I can sense it; its far more powerful than that of any mere Heartless. And most interesting of all… is that it seems to be radiating from a source of light, of all things…” She took pause once more, seeming to ponder over this oddity before a small, intrigued grin crossed her features. “Perhaps our time in this world is not quite finished after all…”

Even after the temple’s uproarious fall finally stilled, the dust and smoke stirred up by it still seemed to be everywhere. Though the musky fog concealed the devastation somewhat, it did nothing to change or undo what had been done, something that Sora, Donald, and Goofy all felt just as heavily as the newfound silence surrounding them. The trio didn’t make much of an effort to break that silence as they all sat in apt shock before the ruins of the temple, the painful realization that Hercules was pinned, or more accurately crushed beneath those very ruins hitting them all at the same exact time.

Donald and Goofy were the first to shakily rise to stand, both of them remaining cautious as they approached the fallen temple to check for any signs of the legendary hero amidst the wreckage. “Hercules!” Donald called as loudly as he could. “A-Are you ok?!”

“Hey, Herc! Can ya hear us!?” Goofy shouted, just as concerned. The pair paused for a moment, waiting and watching for any sort of shift in the rubble that would herald a response from the hero. However, as seconds began to pass into minutes without any such sign, the gravity of the situation became all too clear. “G-gwarsh, fellas…” Goofy muttered sadly, removing his hat out of respect for their supposedly fallen friend. “I don’t think he’s-”

“Why?” Donald and Goofy were quick to turn around to face Sora upon hearing this, both of them taken aback by just how intense his tone was. He was still sitting on his knees, his burns still quite apparent across his arms as his hands dug into the grass below him. His expression was tight and agonized and most of all angry, focused on neither of his companions but rather at the ground in front of him as he continued just as harshly. “Why didn’t you just let me help him?!”

“…Aw, Sora…” Goofy began fretfully as both him and Donald turned back to the Keybearer with the intent of comforting him. Comfort that, as upset over the unnecessary loss of such a good friend, Sora completely refused to simply accept.

“If you guys had just let me stay and fight those Heartless, this never would have happened!” he exclaimed hotly, finally glaring up at the two. “I could have bought Herc enough time to get out!”

“And you would have been crushed instead!” Donald argued back rationally before reigning his own anger back a bit. “You were hurt; you’re still hurt! We had to get you out of there before things got any worse!”

“Well, it’s way too late for that since things just got much, much worse!” Sora snapped bitingly.

“Aw, c’mon, fellas,” Goofy attempted to interject upon seeing Donald twitch with incoming anger in response to such a fierce remark. “We shouldn’t be fightin’ at a time like thi-”

“We were just trying to save your life!” the magician cut the captain off as he addressed the Keybearer sternly. “Why do you have to have such a problem with that?!”

“Because I never asked you to!” Sora protested defiantly. “I can do things on my own! I don’t need you guys to always rush to my rescue!”

“Well sometimes you do!” Donald countered. “If you’re not gonna take care of yourself, then someone has to! We told Master Yen Sid we would keep an eye on you, and that’s exactly what we’re gonna do, whether you like it or not!”

Sora was more than prepared to keep this argument going, however, before he could get another word in edgewise out, the temple ruins finally began to rumble once more. The trio quickly turned back towards them with a shared gasp of surprise, each of them watching with wide eyes in the hopes that Hercules would somehow emerge from the rubble unscathed. However, what did end up popping out of the structure’s devastated remains was just about the exact opposite of the legendary hero, much to the trio’s immense disappointment.

In sudden, furious succession, a multitude of Heartless, the very same flaming creatures that had been in the temple at the time of its collapse, burst out of its wreckage, clearly more incensed than ever before as they landed down before the trio, ready to attack anything and everything in their path. “T-they’re back?” Goofy asked, aptly alarmed as he prepped his shield for the fight ahead.

“Of course, they’d survive!” Donald huffed, frustrated as he brandished his staff. “Sora! Go find somewhere to take cover! I’ll heal your burns when we’re done; and no arguing with us about it this time!”

Surprisingly enough, this time Sora didn’t argue, though he made no effort to move, even as his companions engaged the Heartless in combat. Instead, he simply stayed where he was, watching the starting battle and growing angrier and angrier the more he realized just how unfair every single part of it all was. It was unfair that they hadn’t had enough time to help Hercules get out of the temple alongside everyone else. It was unfair that these mindless, vicious Heartless had survived when someone as noble and brave as the legendary hero seemingly hadn’t. But what Sora quickly realized that the most unfair thing of all was that he could do about any of it. Not only was it too late to help the hero now, but even if it wasn’t, that didn’t change the fact that he was still heavily injured, still weak and worn from his loss of strength and power as a whole. And to make matters worse was the fact that Donald and Goofy, his own companions and friends, seemed to be the ones most intent on keeping him out of the fight. He understood that their protectiveness came from a place of concern, but when push came to shove in a time such as this, Sora could only find such concern frustrating, suffocating even. They were limiting him, holding him back from working towards the strength he knew he had to regain, and the more he thought about their doubts in him, in everyone’s doubts really, the more upset, the more outraged the Keybearer became.

Donald shouted out another authoritative demand for him to flee the scene of the battle, though Sora hardly heard it as lost in his own furious thoughts as he was. Though his thoughts weren’t the only thing distracting him as a sudden, sharp, bitter chill suddenly surged through his entire body, spiking at his heart in particular. The Keybearer let out a small hiss of pain through his teeth as he placed a gentle hand over his inexplicably-aching chest, only to glance down to find a sight that was much more alarming by far. His entire hand was covered in darkness, a black, inky shade of shadow that seemed to be rising up his arm at an unsettlingly steady pace. In fact, that same darkness seemed to be creeping up the rest of his body as well, painting his clothes and skin in its nightmarish pallor as it made an obvious beeline for both his mind and his heart. Sora recognized this horrific transformation well, though it was a far cry from how it usually felt, especially as his senses, his very mind altogether began to fade under such an immense pall of darkness. In fact, it acted so fast in forcing itself upon him that he had no chance to wonder how or why this was happening; instead, all he could do was panic. “D-Donald! Goofy!” he choked, reaching out a shaking, shadowy hand to the duo still battling the Heartless. “I-I… s-something’s wrong! I’m… I-I can’t-”

The Keybearer cut himself off with a sharp, anguished cry as the darkness tightened its reigns around his heart. Donald and Goofy only barely managed to turn back around to face Sora just in time to watch the shadows fully overtake him. The rampaging Heartless were all but forgotten as the pair rushed forward to their transforming companion, fearful as they ever were whenever this sort of dangerous shift took place, however, as soon as it was complete, they were quick to realize that this new form he had taken on was quite unlike anything they had witnessed before.

Indeed, it was still somewhat familiar: he was still drenched in absolute darkness from head to toe, not a speck of light to be found anywhere save for his eyes. They were like bright, piercing full moons, wide and large as they seemed to stare at nothing and everything all at once. His fingertips had turned into long, spindly, pointed claws and though his mouth seemed to have disappeared entirely, he still let out a series of low, rumbling, rather feral growls as he clamored upright into a hunched, almost animalistic stance. However, what this form apart from the past was the Keyblade that materialized within his clawed grasp, a weapon he had never been able to utilize like this before; there was no doubt it was still the Kingdom Key, though much like Sora himself, it was enshrouded with shadow to the point that only its silhouette was recognizable. Donald and Goofy practically froze up in fear as their darkened young companion looked between the two of them with his glowing, emotionless eyes, seemingly recognizing neither of them, even as they made a shaky attempt at communicating with him.

“S-Sora?” Goofy ventured first, albeit quite apprehensively as both of them kept a safe distance from the Keybearer, knowing just how dangerous and unpredictable he could be like this. “A-are ya still-”

The captain was succinctly cut off as Sora suddenly snapped his glance away from the pair and towards the crowd of Heartless still bouncing around behind them. With fast, erratic movements, he suddenly lunged forward, nearly knocking his companions over in the process as he ran towards the creatures almost on all fours, Keyblade still in hand all the while. And then, with a ferocity that outright terrified both Donald and Goofy as they stood on the sidelines watching, Sora tore into the Heartless without any sort of mercy whatsoever, clawing and keying at them with vicious, deadly attacks. His monstrous growls and hisses were just as apparent as the tendrils of darkness leaking off of him as he cut through the once menacing group of creatures, ignoring their flames in favor of extinguishing their existences altogether. In a way, it certainly did seem that, in however mindless this furious rampage might have been, Sora was enacting some sort of retaliation against these Heartless, both for injuring him before and for surviving the temple’s collapse while Hercules hadn’t. Which was why, with the superior strength the darkness allotted him, it only took him a mere matter of minutes to clear the creatures out, leaving not so much as a single one of them alive in the wake of such a violent outburst.

With the last of the Heartless finally gone, Donald and Goofy were more than prepared to let out a shared sigh of relief, though that sigh was something they held off on the moment they noticed something was extremely off. Namely, the fact that Sora hadn’t returned to normal yet, even though the battle was over. Instead, he remained entrenched in darkness, his former aggression replaced with an apparent sense of aimlessness as he stood hunched over, glancing around idly for something to attack. The duo exchanged a nervous glance as they hesitantly decided to approach him, hoping that they’d be able to bring their young companion back to his right mind, even if they had no idea how.

“S-Sora?” Donald began first, garnishing the wayward Keybearer’s attention. He looked towards his companions with wide curious eyes, thankfully showing no violent intent as he simply stared at them blankly. “C-can… can you hear us?”

Sora simply tilted his head at this as if he was confused, much to the pair’s growing concern. “Uh… maybe he’s just havin’ a hard time understandin’ us?” Goofy guessed with a frown. “Hey, Sora, can ya try giving us a nod if you understand what we’re sayin’ to ya?”

The Keybearer did no such thing as he instead remained stationary, leaning forward slightly though still not making any sort of effort to communicate with his worried companions, not that he very well could even if he wanted to in this form to begin with. “W-what are we gonna do?!” Donald exclaimed, aptly fretful. “He’s never been… l-like this for so long before! What if he stays stuck that? What are we supposed to do then?!”

“Aw, don’t worry, Donald,” Goofy reassured as encouragingly as he could, though upon sparing a brief glance over at Sora again, he couldn’t deny that the very same prospect brought him just as much dread. “This is Sora we’re talkin’ about here! He’s not gonna let a little darkness take over his heart for too long!”

“Y-yeah!” the magician perked up as he forced himself to believe that. After all, the alternative was much too grim to even think about. “C’mon, Sora! You gotta snap out of it!”

“That’s right!” Goofy added just as firmly. The pair worked past their nerves so they could each place a hand on their young companion’s shadow-streaked shoulders. The sudden touch was enough to elicit a distrustful glare, accompanied by a small warning growl out of Sora, but surprisingly, he made no move to attack as he watched the pair carefully as they continued their appeal. “Ya need to come back to us!” the captain said with a bright smile. “We’re a team after all, aren’t we?”

“And you’re the one who keeps this team together!” Donald chimed in confidently, noticing as the dark aura radiating off of the Keybearer was finally starting to diminish somewhat. “We’re sorry about what happened before, but we just don’t wanna lose you! To something like… this, or to anything else!”

“But we’re not worried anymore,” Goofy assured, tightening his grip on the Keybearer’s shoulder supportively. “‘Cause we know just how strong your heart is, Sora! Heck, is somethin’ we’ve known all along, and so have you!”

“Which is why you’re not going to just let the darkness have it!” Donald proclaimed, almost overwhelmed with relief when Sora finally closed his otherwise unblinking yellow eyes. “Right?”

The pair finally paused, waiting to see if their uplifting rhetoric worked. And sure enough, it did as the shadows settled on Sora finally began to lift, as if he had stepped out of the darkness of night and back into the midday sun as his usual colors and vibrancy returned. And with it, came the return of his own consciousness, though it was somewhat slow to return as he let out a small, tired groan as his eyes—thankfully back to their usual deep blue—fluttered open just as he collapsed to his knees before the pair. Donald and Goofy still didn’t remove their hands from his shoulders, even as he looked up at the two of them, his expression weary and disoriented as he tried to catch his lost breath. “D-Donald? Goofy?” he asked, his voice soft and sedated and filled with confusion. “W-wha-”

“Sora!” the duo cheered joyfully, not hesitating to engulf the unprepared Keybearer in an unexpected hug. As a result, the entire trio toppled over into the grass, Donald and Goofy laughing brightly all the while, and though it took a moment, Sora slowly joined in their levity, even if he largely had no idea where it was coming from.

However, unbeknownst to the group amidst their bout of allayed celebration, was the pair of figures standing on one of Thebes’ higher structures above them, a pair that had just observed everything that had happened firsthand. “Well then…” Maleficent smirked, clutching her staff as she kept her gaze focused on the trio below. “It seems as though I truly have underestimated that boy in the past…”

“Boy, I’ll say!” Pete chimed in, absolutely baffled. “What was up with all that darkness coverin’ him anyway? I thought he was supposed’ta be one of them goodie-goods, all full o’ light and whatnot.”

“It would appear that his heart is not as ‘full of light’ as we had previously been led to believe…How… fascinating…” the dark fairy mused, her grin widening as a malevolent new idea came to her. “Perhaps what we’re truely searching for isn’t that far out of our reach after all…”

“Huh?” Pete glanced around in confusion. “But I don’t see any black boxes ‘round here…”

“Forget about the black box for now,” Maleficent said simply.

“Wha-?!” the henchman exclaimed, flabbergasted. “B-but we just spent the past several days lookin’ all over for it! How are we just supposed’ta forget about it like it ain’t nothing’!?”

“Because, you oaf,” the dark fairy said sharply as she summoned a dark corridor for them to take their leave. “If all goes according to plan, then not only will the box fall into our hands, but so too will each and every world in our path.”

“Oh yeah?” Pete inquired, curious. “And how do ya see that?”

Maleficent took pause before entering her dark corridor to take her leave, casting another brief, intentfully glance down at the trio on the ground, or more specifically, the Keybearer among them. “By plunging a noble heart into the depths of darkness and despair…”

And just like that, the duo left, still completely unnoticed by the trio below as they made progress in recuperating from their most recent harrowing experience. Now that they actually had some time to spare, Donald made sure to finally heal Sora’s still persistent burns while both him and Goofy fretted over their young companion, even despite the fact that the Keybearer himself was still somewhat out of it.

“What happened to you?!” Donald fussed, though concern clearly filled his tone as he finished casting cure. “Why didn’t you go back to normal after the Heartless were gone like you usually do when you get like that?!”

“Why didn’t I… what?” Sora asked with a frown as he placed a hand against his somewhat aching head. “What are you talking about? When I get like what?”

Donald and Goofy exchanged a worried glance at this, both of them taking on the same sort of confusion their young companion was showing. “Uh… don’tcha remember any of what just happened, Sora?” the captain asked patiently.

Sora paused, his brow furrowing in deep thought for a moment before he ultimately shook his head. “No, the last thing I can remember is…” he hesitated, partially out of not wanting to admit the truth, though for the sake of figuring out what was going on, he begrudgingly did anyway. “I-is feeling angry and… and hurt. And then, w-when I looked down at my hand it was just covered in-” He cut himself off with a gasp, his eyes widening with the almost sickening realization of what had happened. “D-darkness… Oh no… No, no, no, no, no, please tell me I didn’t-”

“Y-you did…” Donald and Goofy confirmed in grave unison, both of them averting the poignant fear starting to well up in Sora’s eyes as he looked between the two of them desperately.

“B-but on the bright side, ya did get rid of all the Heartless!” Goofy tried to reassure their young companion, especially as he let out a loud groan and buried his face into his hands out of shame.

“But on the bad side, we almost weren’t able to get you to snap out of it…” Donald muttered apprehensively.

“I can’t believe this…” Sora huffed as he rose to stand and pace out of frustration, largely with himself this time more than anyone else. “How do I just not remember any of this!? Usually when this happens, I’m able to at least feel some of what happens, but this time it was like I totally blanked out! What’s going on with me lately?!”

“M-maybe it has somethin’ to do with you losin’ your strength?” Goofy ventured a guess, though it was a rather arbitrary one at best.

“Ugh, why wouldn’t that surprise me?” Sora asked with an annoyed scowl as he crossed his arms. “And so much for trying to regain that strength; how am I supposed to do that if I can’t even control something like this?”

“Aw, c’mon, Sora, you can’t just give up now cause of one tiny thing like this,” the captain encouraged with a small smile.

“That’s right!” Donald readily agreed. “If one thing’s for certain, its that whatever’s going on, we’ll figure it out, together!” To emphasize his point, the magician put his hand out, and Goofy readily placed his own on top of it. The pair kept up their reassuring grins as they looked to their upset young companion, who couldn’t really stay that way for long as he finally decided to accept the support they were offering him this time.

“Right,” Sora nodded with a smile of his own as his hand landed down on top of his companions’. “Together.”

However, the trio barely had time to revel in their newfound solidarity before the ruins of the temple began to shift behind them yet again. In light of recent events, all three of them were on high alert as they turned beck to the fallen structure, their weapons in hand to take on whatever might emerge from it.

“What now?” Sora asked, slightly aggravated as he tightened his grip on his Keyblade. “More Heartless?”

“Wait a second…” Goofy said, squinting to see through the last of the settling dust to find a familiar silhouette walking out of it towards them. “That ain’t no Heartless… T-that’s-”

“Hercules!” the trio exclaimed in stunned, yet delighted unison as the legendary hero finally emerged from the wreckage. He looked no worse for wear, a little dirty from the rubble, with a few scars and scratches here and there, but for the most part he was still as strong and sturdy as ever as he came out to meet the excited group with a broad, confident grin.

“Well, getting out of there took a little longer than I thought it would…” Hercules noted with a small chuckle.

“You’re telling us!” Sora exclaimed with a small, incredulous laugh. “You scared us!”

“Eh, it was nothing,” the hero shrugged before pulling off an impressive flex. “That’s what these are for.”

Despite the circumstances, this bout of good humor, coupled with the immense relief they shared at simply seeing Hercules alive and well again was enough to elicit a full, hearty bout of laughter from the trio. However, this bout of levity unsurprisingly didn’t last long as the group’s attention was soon diverted by a dark corridor opening up only just a few feet away.

“Oh, wow! Very nice, full marks,” the familiar freeshooter applauded sardonically as he stepped out of the dark portal. “And I’m not just talking about that smooth escape either.”

No one paid much mind to what the Organization member might have meant by this remark as Sora, Donald, and Goofy all took up offensive stances against him. “Go away!” the magician shouted fiercely, in no mood to deal with any further foes after everything that they’d been through.

“No Organization!” Goofy added just as adamantly, ready to take up his shield at a moment’s notice.

“You’re Xigbar!” Sora exclaimed, far from pleased to see any member of the Organization after his last harrowing encounter with them, much less this particular one.

“And you’ve got a knack for pointing out the obvious, kid,” Xigbar remarked, still smirking coyly as he approached the group. “All this altruism is giving me the warm and fuzzies. So then, does having a heart of light come with an extremely good insurance policy?”

“Ugh, just say what you mean for a change!” the Keybearer scowled, annoyed by how just about every member of the Organization always seemed to speak in riddles or circles.

“Oh, but I did though,” the freeshooter shrugged. “No good will ever come from putting other people first. Anyone who does that usually ends up coming in dead last. It just makes sense when you really think about it.”

“I don’t think it does,” Hercules spoke up, shaking his head in disagreement with such a cynical viewpoint. “I was able to save Meg’s life because I was ready to risk my own. And because of that, we both made it out alive and together in the end.”

“Because you have friends in high places, you mean,” Xigbar countered dismissively. “Tricks like that don’t fly for your average joe.”

“And what do you know anyway?” Sora argued defiantly. “You weren’t even there! If you were, you’d admire Herc’s courage!”

“I don’t admire one guy leaping into danger if it means someone else might have to jump in to save him,” Xigbar rolled his visible eye. “You’re all just lining up to lose out, dooming others to take the fall with ya. Oh, and you can spare me the usual party line. Yeah, hearts are powerful when they’re connected. But if you put too much of that power in one place, some of those hearts might just end up breaking. Unless…” the freeshooter glanced back over his shoulder at the group, or more specifically, at Sora. “You were to somehow find a heart strong enough to hold it all in… But who am I kidding? A heart that strong doesn’t exist…or does it?”

“Who cares?” Sora interjected, thoroughly irritated by this point. “Can’t you just get to the point and get out of here already? It’d save us all a lot of time.”

“Yeesh, so eager to see me go, aren’t you?” Xigbar asked, raising a knowing eyebrow. “I expected at least a little better reception than this. Especially since I came all this way to offer you some pretty sound advice.”

“Like we’d listen to any advice from you!” Donald huffed, aptly incensed.

“Yeah, knowing you, its probably just another trap or something,” Sora agreed, sending the Organization member a suspicious glare.

“Look, I’m just trying to warn you that the game we’re all playing here is about to change, big time,” the freeshooter informed, still grinning all the while. “Still, Sora, that doesn’t mean you should change. Accept the power you’re given. Find the hearts joined to yours.”

“Can’t you take a hint?” Sora asked impatiently, all but ready to finally summon his Keyblade in the hopes that it’d get Xigbar to finally leave. “We already told you; we don’t want or need your advice!”

“Ha! As if!” Xigbar scoffed, turning his back on the group as he began to walk away. “You don’t have any choice but to follow this sweet little trail of bread crumbs. And at the end, you’ll finally realize just what destiny has in store for you. In fact… your reward might be right around the corner. You’re so close!”

And with that, before the Keybearer or any of his companions could so much as ask what the freeshooter meant by such vague remarks, Xigbar walked into the distant fog where he ended up disappearing into a dark corridor just like the one he had arrived in. A bout of confused silence rose up among the group as they silently pondered the freeshooter’s cryptic “advice” to themselves. That is, until Sora voiced his undeniable confusion over what he’d just heard. “Hearts breaking?” he asked, more to himself than any of the others as he frowned almost fretfully. “Whose hearts?”

“Sora, don’t let someone like him bother you,” Hercules reassured steadily. “He’s just trying to get under your skin ‘cause he thinks he can. But we’ll prove him wrong. We’ll show him that our sacrifices haven’t been for nothing.”

Despite Hercules’ encouragement, Sora couldn’t help but still be somewhat concerned by Xigbar’s rather ominous statements. Though he was quick to put that concern aside, replacing it with a confident smile as he nodded in agreement with the hero’s resolve. “You’re right,” he said, deciding to fully believe that fact himself rather than listen to what any member of the Organization had to say.

“Mm hm!” Goofy added enthusiastically. “Besides, we’re already proof enough of that!”

“It’s like we said before,” Donald grinned just as boldly. “We’re a team! When we’re together, we can do anything!”

“Yeah!” Sora exclaimed, sharing their zeal. However, as the others all began to move on ahead with the intent of finishing their search of the city, he still stopped short to ponder over their brief, rather bizarre confrontation with the Organization member. Very few parts of what Xigbar had said seemed to make any actual sense, which wasn’t that surprising given how cryptic and ominous those with the Organization tended to be with their monologues and speeches. Yet there was still one part of it all that left the Keybearer wondering whether this particular speech was just more empty, supposedly intimidating rhetoric or not. “And at the end,” the freeshooter had said with a smile that easily conveyed that he knew something the rest of them didn’t, though exactly what that something was, Sora hadn’t the faintest clue. “You’ll finally realize just what destiny has in store for you. In fact, your reward might be right around the corner. You’re so close!”

“What reward…?” the Keybearer muttered to himself, trying to fathom what implications such a confusing statement was even supposed to carry. If it was any sort of reward the Organization intended on trying to offer to him, then of course, Sora knew he wanted absolutely no parts of it whatsoever. But if it happened to be something else altogether…?

Sora was quick to shake his head clear of such pointless thoughts. It didn’t matter what “reward” Xigbar had spoke of was, especially when that reward, good or bad, might very well not even exist in the first place. As it was, it was probably just another trick, another lie and deception among countless others meant simply to lead him astray off his intended path. Which was why the Keybearer boldly decided to just ignore it all for the time being to rigidly stay on that path, hoping to seek his own kind of reward at the end of it all. Namely his lost strength to be regained, and the hearts of those so unfairly lost, all of which were waiting, no, depending on him.

And despite any mocking villain, soothsaying Organization member, or even the unseen darkness or hidden rage pressing against the doors of his own heart, Sora was determined to not let any of those wandering, waiting hearts down.

The rest of their sweep through Thebes was surprisingly smooth and speedy. Most of the townsfolk in peril had already been escorted out of the diminishing flames to safety, and the group wasted little time in rounding up the rest of the stragglers. Heartless still popped up in their path from time to time, but even their numbers were lower than before, their aggression lessened somewhat. In a way, it almost seemed as though Hades seemed to be shifting his focus away from the city entirely, something that didn’t really surprise any of them. After all, the lord of the dead had sent the message of his immense power quite well in this attack on the town, but it was obvious that wasn’t his end goal like apparent control of the entire cosmos seemed to be. However, the group didn’t get a complete confirmation on this theory until they ended up circling back around to Thebes’ central square, only to be met with a familiar flying steed and its pair of riders almost as soon as they arrived.

Pegasus touched down firmly right before Hercules and the trio, both Meg and Phil sharing allayed grins as they relayed the good news they had to share from their scouting from above. “Nice job, Wonderboy,” Meg congratulated the hero warmly. “We checked the whole town. Looks like everyone’s finally safe.”

“That’s great,” Hercules said, letting out a sigh of relief that Sora, Donald, and Goofy all easily shared in on. “We did what we could to help.”

“I’ll say,” Meg smirked, glancing up to address the entire group playfully. “Looks like you heroes have been busy little bees.”

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all perked up at this, taking the praise proudly, even if Phil was quick to interject to detract it. “Eh, from while we were flyin’ overhead, you three were passable, at best,” the satyr remarked flippantly, though he did break out into a wry grin upon noticing the offended glances the trio sent his way. “Hey, I’m kiddin’! Ya did good. At least none of ya died, so that’s definitely a plus in just about every book there is.”

This quip was more than enough to get a laugh out of the entire group, though it was ultimately a short lived one as Pegasus let out a small, yet serious whicker, diverting everyone’s attention towards Mount Olympus afar in the distance. “Oh, look…” Meg sighed wearily, noticing the fearful sight first. “More trouble…”

Trouble indeed summed the situation up well as everyone looked to the mountain towering high over the city. Usually, Mount Olympus’s impeccably tall peak was awash in soft, fluffy clouds, clouds that obscured the glorious realm of the gods away from mortal eyes. However, now the clouds that swirled around that realm were black and stormy, marred by the occasional bolt of dark thunder to top off the sinister aura filling the very air itself.

“It’s Hades…” Hercules scowled, not even having to think twice about where such darkness was coming from. “No wonder things have been quieter around here lately. He’s going after the home of the gods.”

Upon hearing this, the trio needed only to exchange a brief, determined glance, all three of them knowing that they hadn’t backed down against Hades before and they certainly had no intentions of backing down against him this time. “Then let’s go stop him!” Sora proclaimed, ready to do just that, even despite the apparent danger.

“Right,” Hercules grinned, just as eager to put an end to the lord of the dead’s twisted ambitions once and for all.

Knowing that the group had an important task ahead of them, Meg and Phil were quick to send them their best wishes and brief farewells before Pegasus whisked them off once more. And with that, they set off, hurrying onward towards the outskirts of town towards the path that would lead them back up the towering mountain ahead. They spared no time for breaks or distractions, knowing that time was of the essence in halting Hades’ schemes as they began steadily making their way towards the summit. The Heartless started popping up more frequently with each cliff they scaled, but with heightened vigor and a renewed sense of purpose, the group took them on with stalwart gusto. After all, they were no longer on the defensive, simply trying to keep people safe from the rampaging creatures; now they were on the attack, hurrying to hit Hades where it hurt and nip his plans in the bud before they even had a chance to be fully realized whatsoever. It was reinvigorating for all of them, to say the least, especially considering just how perilous and nearly deadly their time in the Thebes had been. But as they scaled Mount Olympus, they felt more eager, more united, perhaps even a bit stronger; ready to pit their noble team against whatever tricks and traps Hades might try to throw their way.

Of course, what he did actually intend on throwing their way was something much more immense than any of them could have expected.

The group had only made it about halfway up the mountain when the ground began to rumble once more, hardly an unusual phenomenon for any of them by now considering everything that had happened in Thebes. “This sure does feel familiar…” Goofy noted over the distant, unintelligible roars coming from the mountain’s distant peak.

“Yeah, just like before,” Sora agreed. “The only thing missing is Hades showing up to blow us off the mountain.”

“This is getting worse by the minute…” Hercules mused, his manner quite serious as he kept his focus on the mountain’s storm-obscured summit. “I hope I’m wrong, but my family may need me.” Without wasting another second, the hero turned his sights to the sky and let out a loud, calling whistle. Pegasus soared in to respond to it, having already deposited Meg and Phil somewhere safe so he could race to his master’s side if need be. “Sora, I’m gonna go fly ahead,” Hercules said to the Keybearer as his winged steed touched down before him. “You’ve been a big help, but… leave the rest to me. Like I said, my family’s counting on me; I shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

“Family?” Sora inquired curiously, having never heard the hero mention any sort of family members before.

“Yeah,” Hercules grinned as he mounted Pegasus. “Dad’s king of the gods.” And with that and a simple wave of farewell, the hero took off, not realizing just how baffled his simple statement had left the trio in his wake.

“Whaaaat?!” Donald and Goofy exclaimed in unison as they exchanged an awed glance.

“H-his father is a god?” Sora asked just as incredulously. “But… wouldn’t that mean Herc is a god too?!”

“I think it does…” the captain mused thoughtfully. “Ya know, it feels like this is something we should’ve found out a long time ago…”

“No wonder he’s so strong!” the magician exclaimed. “That means he’ll be ok on his own for sure. Won’t he?”

“No,” Sora shook his head. “Organization XIII’s here. God or no god, he’ll need our help dealing with them. And Hades too, for that matter.”

“Good point,” Goofy nodded firmly. “We gotta go!”

“Cause heroes never quit!” Donald emphasized as they all turned to face the peak before them once more.

Though Sora certainly agreed with his companions’ noble sentiments, he didn’t voice that agreement right away as he instead briefly thought back to the indirect advice that Hercules himself had offered him. Advice that the Keybearer was only really starting to understand the further along their journey progressed: “Hm, that’s tough… All I know is… that she was in trouble. Suddenly, I wanted to save her with all my heart…”

“We fight with all our hearts…” Sora echoed the sentiment to himself softly, deciding to fully embrace that thought for himself. While thus far he’d had relatively little success in finding any viable, expedited way of regaining his lost strength, maybe that strength wasn’t something he have expected to come back to him in one fell swoop. Perhaps it was something that needed to be earned, regained over time through hard work and solid determination, both attributes the Keybearer had taken up in order to build up that strength in the first place. Perhaps the way to bring it all back was exactly how the hero had said: by working, fighting with every ounce of resolve and courage his heart had to give. “C’mon!” Sora exclaimed to his companions, letting his newfound verve shine through has he began leading the way up the rest of the mountain. “Let’s go show Hades what happens when he messes with the wrong heroes!”

Not wanting to leave Hercules without any backup for too long, the trio quickened the pace of their upward voyage to the peak. Whatever crowds of Heartless they encountered were either quickly dealt with or ignored altogether as they rushed past them, scaling the perilous mountain pass in the hopes of reaching the realm of the gods sooner rather than later. They could tell they were getting ever closer to their destination as the skies soon turned from bright blue to dark and stormy, rumbling with thunder as a torrential downpour began to spout from the dour clouds above. The rain was easy enough to ignore, however, the other elements brought about from Hades’ Titans were a bit more of a challenge. The primary danger the trio faced the closer they got to the summit were rocks, heavy, crushing boulders tumbling down the cliffsides seemingly without end. It took some careful footwork and precise timing, but sure enough they managed to avert the rock Titan’s projectiles and slip into the momentary safety of the enclosed mountain pass. The pass that led directly to the epicenter of the Titans’ violent attack: the realm of the gods, Olympus itself.

Despite the storm raging on around it, Olympus was, to put it simply, absolutely immaculate. Its large golden gates led the trio to a radiant realm of sacred light, quite unlike any they had ever seen before. In absolute awe, Sora, Donald, and Goofy stepped foot into the divine domain, one that seemed to be entirely composed of sculpted clouds and grandiose golden structures as far as the eye could see. Needless to say it was a far cry from the damaged stony streets of Thebes or even the lush greenery of the mountain it capped of, something the trio unanimously noted as they tried to take it all in.

“Is this… Olympus?” Sora asked, still quite stunned by the drastic change of scenery.

“Gawrsh, it’s amazing…” Goofy said rather quietly to maintain an air of reverence in such a hallowed place. However, if there was any group that cared about no such thing, it was the Heartless that showed up only seconds later. An entire army of shadowy, soldier-like figures materialized just a few feet away from the trio, fully armored and ready for battle. Fortunately, the trio was more than ready to take them on as they summoned their respective weapons, charging headfirst into the fray, this time, without any signs of hesitation. The scuffle was arduous to be sure, as the trio was certainly outnumbered by the horde of bulky Heartless surrounding them. However, the key difference between this skirmish and their initial fights in Thebes was clear: instead of working against each other, this time, the trio worked perfectly in sync, finally falling back into their old rapport they usually carried in battles of the past. And that rapport only continued as they cleared out the first wave of Heartless, though no rest awaited them as several more hordes seemed to be invading Olympus as a whole, diminishing the sanctity and security the realm of the gods should have known. Even so, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were more than equipped to deal with them as they tore their way through the weaker shadows, steadily cutting their way through towards the heart of Olympus in the hopes of meeting up with Hercules again there. And sure enough, that’s exactly what they did.

The trio had just about reached the apex of the divine domain when they spotted their first glimpse of the hero. He was still peached on Pegasus as the duo swept through the air, slicing through any aerial Heartless he came across as he made a beeline for the central citadel, where Hades and his Titans no doubt awaited. Hercules happened to spot the trio himself as he flew high above them, and he offered them a small, confident nod of greeting, having already expected them to follow after him, even despite his advising against it. Still, if there was anyone who could help him take on the threat Hades and his sinister monsters posed, Hercules knew it’d be those three, no doubt.

It seemed as though they were all going to arrive not a moment to soon, either, as Hades himself stood smugly within the sacred rotunda, watching with a triumphant smirk as his Titans conquered the so-called “mighty” gods of the glorious Olympus. The lesser deities had all been restrained by the lord of the dead’s darkened chains, left to watch as even the all-powerful Zeus himself was overpowered by the Titans’ immense elemental powers.

“I swear to you, Hades!” the king of the gods shouted angrily down to his brother from his ever-expanding prison of solid fire and ice. “When I get out of this, I’ll-” Zeus never got a chance to finish his threat as the freezing molten rocks finally covered him completely, effectively sealing him and all his sacred power away.

“Yeah, nah,” Hades’ grin deepened as he conjured up a dark throne, finalizing his newfound domain over the realm of the gods. “I’ll be the one giving orders around here from now on, bolt boy.”

“Don’t get too comfortable, Hades!”

The lord of the dead shot upright in his seat upon hearing such a brazen proclamation, his baffled shock growing tenfold as he spun around to find a familiar hero flying in. Hercules sent Hades a challenging grin as he soared in upon Pegasus swiftly, his radiant sword poised to put an end to the lord of the dead’s dark regime. But as startled and outraged by the hero’s appearance alone, Hades was even more incensed to find that he wasn’t alone.

“Yeah, ‘cause we’re here to stop you!”

All the lord of the dead could do was gape, absolutely appalled as he turned back towards the citadel’s gates only to find Sora, Donald, and Goofy standing before them, their weapons in hand. Things only seemed to go from bad to worse for Hades as Hercules sped in, cutting through the chains binding the other gods with a single swing of his steady sword. The lord of the dead all but ignored the deities’ united cheers of celebrate over their release as his blue flames quickly spiked deadly red as a sign of his fury, fury that he had no qualms about showing as he fiercely demanded his Titans to cut these brazen interlopers down before they ruined his careful plans altogether.

“Get them!” he shouted to his quartet of mythical monsters. And sure enough, the Titans didn’t hesitate to act on this intense command, storming forward with thunderous steps and leaving behind deadly trails of fire, ice, wind, and stone in their wakes. They towered tall over the trio in particular, and though the thought occurred to each of them that they were in over their heads in dealing with such massive monsters, it was quick to be pushed away as soon as the hero leapt off his winged steed to join them.

“You guys ready for this?” Hercules asked as he landed, not hesitating to take up a fighting stance against the rampaging Titans.

“We’re always ready,” Sora assured confidently, brandish his Keyblade for the no doubt daunting battle ahead.

And daunting it was. The Titans didn’t bother holding back their initial blasts, going in for elemental attacks first, as would be expected. The immense gales caused by the wind Titan alone made things difficult for the group, but when coupled with the non-stop icy spikes, fiery blasts, and hurling rocks, they found that even getting anywhere close to the monsters to land so much as a single blow on any of them all but impossible.

“How are we supposed to fight them like this?” Donald huffed in annoyance as he launched another ultimately blocked flame spell over at the ice Titan. “They just keep knocking us back!”

“If only we could just fight each of ‘em one-by-one,” Goofy said, using his shield to deflect a hard-thrown stone. “That’d sure make things a lot easier!”

“Wait a second…” Sora mused with dawning realization as sudden, somewhat risky plan came to mind. “That’s it! Herc, you think you can cause a distraction for us?”

“You can count on me,” the hero grinned, not even having to ask what the Keybearer’s possible plans were. Instead, Hercules boldly ran forward while the trio skirted off out of the Titans’ notice. The hero made good on his word to provide a timely distraction as he vaulted up onto the rock Titan first, moving far faster than the sluggish, bulky creature could before finally taking up a perch upon one of its two flat stone heads.

“Hey, lava-breath!” he taunted to the fire Titan in particular. “Bet ya can’t knock me off!”

As expected, the Titan took the bait as it sent its massive flaming arm swinging directly at the hero. And while Hercules was able to easily avoid it with a simple deft leap off the monster’s head, the rock Titan was not as its fiery counterpart struck it hard. The momentous blow was more than enough to send the rock Titan flying, even despite its impressive weight and sturdy build, not just across the rotunda, but clear off the edge of the citadel altogether. And, with the other monsters distracted as they were with watching their fellow Titan plummet through the clouds, they failed to notice the trio rounding off behind the icy behemoth in particular, ready to carry out their decisive surprise attack.

“Ok, on three,” Sora said discreetly to Donald and Goofy as they positioned themselves behind one of the ice Titan’s rather spindly legs. “One, two-”

“H-hey! Hey! Hey!” Hades shouted from his spot on the sidelines upon noticing the trio setting up to take out another one of his Titans. Or ideally, even more than that. “What do you three numbskulls think you’re doing!?”

“Three!” Sora shouted hastily, and not a moment too soon either. For just as Hades lobbed a series of smaller fireballs over at the trio in a haphazard attempt at stopping them, they leapt out of the attack’s path entirely, instead enacting one all their own. Their weapons each struck the ice Titan’s inner knee at the exact same moment, the sheer impact of their combined blow proving to be more than enough to shatter it entirely. The chilled creature let out a hiss of surprise, unable to catch itself as it began to topple over onto, fortunately enough onto none other than the fire Titan right next to it. The conflicting elementals instantly began acting against each other the moment they slammed into each other, resulting in both of them tumbling over on top of each other, effectively stunned.

“Nice one, you guys,” Hercules congratulated the trio as they regrouped. “Looks like you just killed two birds with one stone. Or I guess I should say two Titans with one stone.”

“Aw, shucks, they’re not so tough by themselves!” Goofy assured brazenly.

“And with three down, that means there’s only one left to go—whoa!” Sora was interupted as the final Titan standing roared into vengeful action, launching all four of them upward with its violent gales. The breezy creature expanded the range of its twirling tornado, casting the group flying in just about every direction possible without any signs of letting any of them land safely. Getting in any attacks against the wind Titan also seemed to be out of the question as the monster kept itself firmly at the eye of its storm as it easily blew off any sort of spell or swing sent its way. And, after it seemed to get tired with toying with its struggling victims, the Titan finally turned them loose, its winds tossing them high before letting gravity take care of the rest. Fortunately, however, their shared freefall didn’t end in disaster as Pegasus soared in just in the nick of time to come to their rescue. The winged steed retrieved Hercules out of the air first, and then deftly flew back in so he could catch Sora, Donald, and Goofy in turn before landing back at the edge of the citadel, a bit shaken up, but still no worse for wear.

Unfortunately, however, it seemed as though the group would receive no reprieve in this battle whatsoever. For just as they began picking themselves up to continue the fight, the three fallen Titans seemed to do the same. The monsters of fire and ice had finally broken away from each other and recovered, lumbering back up to their full, towering heights as they joined the wind Titan once more. And, to make matters worse, even the rock Titan somehow rose up through the clouds again to regroup with its companions as all four monsters came to surround the group, much to Hades’ sadistic amusement as he continued observing the fight from afar.

“Yeah, that’s right,” the lord of the dead challenged with a vindictive grin. “Just keep linin’ em’ up to knock ‘em down. They’ll just keep getting back up. Let’s see if you plucky yutzes can do the same…”

“Gawrsh, I sure hope we can…” Goofy said, more to the others than to Hades. “Especially since we gotta fight all four of ‘em at once again.”

“We’re right back to square one!” Donald added just as fretfully.

“So what?” Sora asked defiantly, refusing to let that worrisome fact phase him. “There’s four of us too!”

“Actually,” Hercules interjected, grinning as he looked up to the solid molten tower before them. “I think I can make it five.” Without even giving any of the Titans a chance to attack, the hero leapt into action, hurrying up the hardened icy mound and breaking into its seemingly impenetrable surface with his bare hands alone. Light instantly poured out of the darkened rocks, signifying the revival of the king of the gods mere seconds before Zeus burst fourth from his prison, his divine might restored once more.

“Aha!” Zeus laughed triumphantly, his usual gusto showing as he turned to his son with a proud grin. “Thank you, my boy. Now… time to watch your old man get to work!”

The trio on the ground watched in apt excited amazement as the king of the gods conjured up two handfuls of his bright, iconic lightning bolts. Alternatively, Hades gasped in shocked dismay as his meticulous plans all began to fall apart in one fell swoop as Zeus chucked his thunderous projectiles at each of the Titans in fast, blinding succession. The monsters, well familiar with Zeus’ incredible power and how outmatched even they were against it, reeled in pain from the brutal strikes and instantly fell back before the king of the gods could obliterate them altogether. Yet despite their frightened attempt at fleeing, Hercules wasn’t about to let them get away so easily; the hero managed to grab ahold of the wind Titan’s tail end as it whirled past him, grasping the very gusts themselves tightly as he swung its massive, tornado-like form around freely. Its suctioning winds were more than enough to pull the other three Titans into the cyclone, trapping each of them and their elemental might within its thrall. And, with a single hefty toss, Hercules sent the wind Titan, as well as the other three mythical monsters contained within it, flying as high as the outer reaches of the cosmos themselves, finally freeing Olympus from their legendary terror once and for all.

With the Titans taken care of, a round of celebratory cheers rose up from the trio, Hercules, Zeus, and the countless other gods who had been forced to watch the intensive brawl from afar, unable to offer their aid to the cause as a result of Hades’ power. As for the lord of the dead himself, to say that he was outraged by such a crushing defeat was an understatement as his flames sparked red the moment he turned towards the noble group who had bested his intricate, practically perfect schemes.

“I can’t believe it!” he shouted sharply. “I put eighteen years into that plan, and you’ve blippin’ ruined it, just like that! I really don’t like any of you… And believe me, that’s me being nice. But I’m more than ready to get not so nice to take care of you CHUMPS!”

“Oh, just give it a rest already,” Sora remarked, completely unintimidated by such hallow threats. “You’ll never beat Herc, no matter how many times you times you try!”

“Yeah, go back to the Underworld where ya belong!” Goofy added vigorously.

“Go have the time of your afterlife!” Donald quipped with a wry smirk.

“Enough already!” Hades snapped fiercely. “I did NOT come this far to be ridiculed by Zeusy high and mighty, his little sunspot, and a trio of clowns! You know what? I’ll just go ahead and destroy you myself!”

Despite the lord of the dead’s literally fiery rage, the trio was more than prepared to brazenly square off against him. Fortunately though, it seemed as though they wouldn’t have to as Hercules calmly intervened just in time. “Hades,” the hero garnished a glare of immense ire from the lord of the dead, one that only seemed to amuse him all the more as he motioned towards Olympus’ nearby glittering gates. “The exits’ that way.”

In all his anger, Hades had half a mind to put up a vicious fight regardless. However, as Zeus simply cleared his throat to carry across the unspoken reminder of his untold might, the lord of the dead begrudgingly decided to back off, knowing that if the Titans were no match this collective group combined, then chances were, neither was he. So instead, Hades simply let out a sour sigh of defeat, his flames returning to their usual blue as he began to sulk towards the gates, though he didn’t make it there as Hercules decided to stop him one more time.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” the hero interjected casually. His intent became immediately clear, however, as Hades glanced back towards him, only to be met with a swift, painful punch in the jaw. “That one’s for trying to wreck Thebes.”

“Augh! You’ll pay for this!” Hades shouted bitterly, darkness swirling around him as he rubbed his sore cheek. “You all will! I have a very, very long memory! I can still dunk your little Nut-Meg in a river of dea-” The lord of the dead was swiftly cut off as Zeus easily sent a single lightning bolt his way, eliciting a loud shriek of literal shock from Hades as he made his rather embarrassing retreat back to the Underworld, finally defeated.

For now, at least.

With Hades and the Titans gone, the radiant peace that Olympus was known for easily returned in full force. The gods and goddesses gladly took up their seats of prominence and power once more, Zeus included as he heralded his son and his trio of plucky mortal friends the noble heroes of the realm. Still, with Thebes likely still recovering from Hades’ onslaught, Hercules knew he couldn’t stay to take part in the jovial celebrations for too long. And so it was that the hero decided to make his return to the mortal realm down below, and just as before, Sora, Donald, and Goofy accompanied him, even as they passed through Olympus’ glorious gates once again. All the same, Hercules did stop short as soon as they did, pausing briefly to cast an almost wistful glance back at the world he knew he had come from, but wasn’t really a part of anymore. Once again, the all-too familiar question filled the hero’s mind, and it was a question that, ironically enough, Sora happened to curiously pose to him a mere moment later.

“Are you sure you wanna leave all this behind?” the Keybearer asked with something of a sympathetic frown.

“Yeah, isn’t Olympus your home?” Goofy inferred thoughtfully.

“Its where your family is, isn’t it?” Donald asked, sharing the concerned sentiment.

Hercules smiled softly at this, appreciating their worries though not fully sharing them as he looked past the gates towards the realm of the gods once more. “I can see my family anytime I want. But… if I stayed… then I’d have to be apart from the person I love most…. And that life would be empty.” The hero’s resolved smile widened a bit as he turned away from the gates and looked down the lengthy set of golden stairs leading up to it. There, waiting at the bottom for her hero’s return, was none other than Meg; she said nothing, but instead simply returned the loving look Hercules sent her way, love that the hero knew, would keep him coming back to her every single time. “I finally know where I belong,” Hercules said, a sense of confident finality in his tone. And then, without a second thought, the hero suddenly began bolting down the stairs, eager to brace the gap between him and Meg once and for all. The couple met in a tender, sweet embrace, one that easily conveyed their feelings for each other more than any words ever could.

Though the trio made sure to give the pair their privacy, they soon joined them at the bottom of the stairs, each of them warmed by such a touching sight. Meg and Hercules both returned their greeting grins as their hug dispelled and the hero turned to the Keybearer with a sense of renewed resolve. “Sora, we never got back to your question. Do you still think there’s any way I can help?”

Though grateful for Hercules’ kind offer, Sora, surprisingly enough, simply shook his head, much to the initial confusion of both of his companions. “Nah, its ok,” he assured with a genuine smile. “I think this is something I’m meant to figure out for myself. I’ll find my strength again the way you found yours: by fighting for something I care about… with all my heart. You know, its funny… I guess you did have the answer I was looking for after all.”

Hercules nodded firmly at this, glad to see that the Keybearer’s usual drive had finally returned in full force. “Well, you’ve definitely got heart, Sora. Just keep at it, and I know you’ll be stronger than ever in no time.”

“Yeah!” Sora exclaimed, playfully showing off his muscles, even if they didn’t really compare to the hero’s at all. “Who knows? I might even end up stronger than you are someday!”

“Oh brother…” Donald rolled his eyes at such a remark while Goofy chuckled in amusement. “There he goes again!”

“Hey, nothing’s impossible!” Sora shrugged, letting out a small, good-natured laugh of his own as he began to lead the way forward.

“You guys heading out again?” Hercules asked with a knowing smirk.

“Yeah, we really should get going,” the Keybearer noted a bit halfheartedly, always sad to leave good friends behind. “Sorry we can’t stay and help clean up the mess Hades caused.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” the hero assured with a shrug. “We have it covered.”

“Now don’t be strangers, you three,” Meg advised with a wry grin. “Come back and see us again soon, k?”

“Yes, ma’am!” the trio returned with an exuberant salute, waving their final farewells to the couple as they took their leave to make the long trek back to the Gummi Ship.

“Ya know, Olympus really is an amazin’ place,” Goofy noted as they began heading back down the mountain again.

“Yeah,” Donald agreed. “Hercules must really have a strong heart to choose to just give it all up like that!”

Upon hearing this, Sora stopped short, unbeknownst to his companions as he cast a small, brief glance at the sacred peak they were leaving behind. “A strong heart…” he mused quietly to himself, daring to ask himself the question of, if he was ever somehow in a position similar to Hercules’, whether or not he’d make the same choice himself. The Keybearer knew well that he’d never really known any sort of excessive power or position before, not that he ever really had much of a desire for those things in the first place. What Sora did know he wanted, what he had always wanted really, was to keep his friends safe, to be with them and stay with them, even though that hardly ever seemed to be the case anymore. But even so, if he ever had to chose between his friends: between Donald, Goofy, the king, Riku, Kairi and something far greater than he could ever hope to imagine, then he figured such a choice would beyond clear, to the point that he didn’t even have to think twine, even hypothetically speaking.

His friends would always, always come first, no matter who… or what tried to come between.

#kingdom hearts #kh fanfic #jen writes #keys to the kingdom #kingdom hearts 3 #kh3 #kh #sora #donald #goofy #trinity trio #hercules #hades #maleficent #pete #xigbar #rage form #olympus

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thedistantstorm · 6 years

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A Shipwright Worth Her Salt Chapter 10

One step forward, two steps back.

Or: The one where everyone has words and our precious baby can’t handle it and the author cannot stay away from the angst for very long.

“Alright kiddo, get dressed. We've got places to go, and things to do.” Cayde calls from the doorway as he barges into what has become Amanda's unofficial room instead of med-bay alpha.

Owlish eyes blink back at him, peering up over a tablet. “Hello to you, too,” She calls to him. “I'm already dressed,” She gestures to the flannel and utility pants she's wearing, the right leg pinned and rolled to not flop around her thigh where her leg ended. Clothes Cayde had procured from her previous place of living on her behalf. The rest of it, she'd deal with later.

Andal sidles in behind him. “Hungry? We're springing you out of here.”

She looks mildly bewildered. “Springing me out?”

Cayde laughs. “Yup! The Commander is on Strike Duty and we're not. So we were thinking of taking you for Spicy Ramen - we know a place - and then maybe down to the racetrack?”

She throws her tablet to the side. “Absolutely. Hand me them crutches and let's get outta here. Marcus is racing tonight and I can probably get a good look at his sparrow beforehand… if that's alright with yous.” She shrugs at her rambling in an endearing way, the freckles on her nose scrunching up in the motion.

Andal hands her the crutches and she props them under each armpit. They're not comfortable - she had them bring her armor components to rig them to be tolerable, but they do. They make it into the hallway before one of the more familiar nurses sees them.

“Where do you three think you're going?”

Cayde and Andal pause, but Amanda smiles sweetly. “I'm supposed to go for lots of walks,” She says. “These guys are going to walk me to some stall in the Bazaar for dinner. Is that okay?”

The nurse looks skeptical, especially with both Hunters looking so angelic behind her.

“Just dinner, huh?”

They nod. Definitely no off the books sparrow racing, or taking the Commander's charge down to the City without telling him.

“Well, alright. Not like you're a prisoner. Just be careful.” She looks to the two men. “If she feels tired, make sure you come right back. She's still not 100%, no matter what she says.”

The Hunters both mock salute, and, realizing the other has as well, erupt into laughter. Amanda shakes her head. “I think I'm babysittin’ you two instead of the other way around. Let's move, boys.”

She's been up to the main drag of the Tower in the last few days, mostly with Zavala, who makes a point to walk with her in the evenings if he has a shift during the day, or in the mornings if he works overnight. He keeps to low traffic times of day, and will not entertain business when she's around, unless it's a critical situation. Only once has he had to send her back to her room with someone else - and that person - a lanky female Titan with battered armor - was instructed to walk her to Sloane so the Deputy Commander could take her the rest of the way.

When the fresh air hits her face, she sighs happily. It's cooler today. She liked it better when it wasn't so warm out, even if she got colder quickly. Now, with the added effort it takes to walk, she can tolerate it even better. Cayde flanks her on the left and Andal takes her right as they traverse a considerably busy part of the Tower's marketplace. The Guardians look at her kind of funny, but no one comments. She assumes plenty of people have seen her by now or maybe they just don't care.

The Hunter duo acts like her personal entourage and helps clear a path for her if someone stops walking or gets too close while she's trying to gimp around them. By the time they make it to the Ramen shop, she's gone from ‘I could eat’ to 'one spicy ramen with extra noodles and pork gyoza please.’

A plethora of Hunters approach the three of them and it turns into a story-telling contest. Of course, Cayde and Andal are the masters of their craft, and as a result of the inevitable betting, their meals are free. The shop owner sneaks her a refill on her drink, bobbing around several cackling Guardians, with a wink and a smile. She's content to sit back and let things happen. Most of the Hunters are good about personal space. She's still a little touchy, but Cayde reads her easily enough, putting a hand over hers on her good leg when she starts tapping it anxiously.

“Ready to go to the track, fighter pilot?”

She nods to Cayde. Too many people are starting to crowd around them - it's just the dinner rush, but it's loud and makes her head buzz a little.

She looks down at her tablet, checking a new message. She chirps, “Marcus said I could take his Sparrow for a spi-” She pauses, and the rest of the world seems to fade out. She can't actually take it anywhere. She doesn't have a foot to shift with. She tucks her hands in her lap and looks down. She'd felt so normal, she'd forgot. Idiot, she rebukes herself, while somewhere else inside her she thinks invalid, cripple.

“You know,” Andal says, eyes shimmering with concern amid the usual mischief, “We could do the other thing…” He waggles his eyebrows, and Cayde chuckles. He's obviously noticed her mood change, too.

“Andal, I don't think Zavala will take it well if we go off planet.” Not that he'd appreciate them taking her to a seedy part of the last safe City to see a(n illegal) race, either.

Amanda nods, still looking down. “Probably not.”

Andal slings his arm around Amanda and grips Cayde's shoulder, pulling them in. He whispers, “What if we don't go off planet?”

Amanda's smile brightens immensely, and Cayde knew there was no way they'd be able to tell her no. He also knew there was a pretty decent chance Zavala would absolutely murder them for this later, but that was status quo.

“We can't be gone long,” Cayde says back, looking down at the girl between them, “But we can probably do some 'aerial surveillance’ of Trostland, if you know what I mean.”

When they return to the last hangar docking bay on the far side of the Tower, there are two figures waiting for them. One looks generally exasperated, reclining in a rolling chair that obviously belonged to a service technician in a manner belonging to a queen regent.

The two Hunters are whooping, laughing, praising the blonde girl who who brought down the nondescript ship as natural as breathing while they descend from the cockpit to the concrete.

Their laughter cuts short as the slightest clunks of armor tip them off to the fact that they have company. Both fall silent and look back to the ship with a bit of a wince when an unruly mop of blonde lowers herself back in.

“Someone might want to start talking,” Ikora Rey calls, her ghost illuminating the area around her. She becomes visible, examining a beautiful dagger that's normally concealed in her boot. “He's been pacing for about an hour now.”

Andal sighs. “And why, pray tell, are you here, Ikora?”

“I,” She emphasizes, “Am the one who prevented him from-”

Zavala growls. “Ikora.”

She scoffs, scandalized. “What? I'm on your side.” She crosses her arms.

Cayde strolls leisurely into the fray. “Give me a break. We were totally safe. Told them we were going and everything.”

“To dinner,” Zavala says angrily. “Not off the damn planet for some joyride!” In the cockpit, Amanda curls up in the seat. She isn't a fan of his angry voice, or the little tremors it incites in her hands. “You know better!”

“Calm down, we didn’t even go to orbit. Just flew around the EDZ.” Cayde’s hands are up in a surrendering position, but the tone of his voice is lax. He doesn’t want to make a big deal of this. “Can we talk about this? Maybe, I dunno, without yelling?”

“This,” The Titan says, voice raised, “Is not even CLOSE to yelling.”

Andal steps between the two before it does actually come to yelling. “Let it go, both of you. There were… reasons why we didn’t stay in the City.”

“And those were?”

“We couldn’t go to the racetrack,” Cayde says. Andal hisses his hame.

From the other side of them, Ikora supplies, “That… doesn’t sound like any better of an idea.”

Amanda bites her lip squeezes her arms around her good leg and ignores the bad feeling starting in her leg. The pain helps her focus a little better on something besides the obvious cues to a panic attack that could not have worse timing while they fight over her actions below. She closes her eyes and hopes they stop soon so she can just go back to her room. She never should have gone out with them. And she can’t get out of the ship on her own, because she can’t walk, and she’ll absolutely fall if she tries to use the crutches to get out of the ship herself. It makes her burn with shame and her stomach churn. She’s so freaking useless. She shouldn’t even be here.

They continue their ‘debate’ below, on the concrete floor. “So, instead of going down to a shady racetrack to place bets, you decided on a continental exploration.” Zavala’s tone is still highly irritated, but not yelling. It’s the quieter angry. The more potentially explosive one. “She almost died, or did you two forget that part? Were you going to let her get on one of them with one leg, too?”

There’s a sigh. “Zavala,” Andal says quietly. “That’s enough.” Hotheadedness is only going to hurt this situation.

“It’s not. You two imbeciles are-”

Andal nudges Cayde. “Sorry,” The human says for them both, with a sharp look at the Exo. “We’re sorry.”

“You’re absolutely just saying that,” Ikora grouses, half mediator, half instigating. She’s literally datamining the conversation. “Why?”

Cayde rolls his optics in a rather deadpan fashion. “Because this is fucking stupid. She was able to do whatever she wanted before this.”

“And look where it got her.” The Warlock’s eyes are calculating, focused on the Exo as she speaks. “Not exactly a place someone wants to be.”

“Well, whose fault is that?” Cayde fires back immediately and immediately winces as he looks at the Commander’s darkening expression. It’s like someone has doused cold water on him. Any trace of previous malice is erased. “I - shit. I didn’t mean that,” He immediately says.

The Awoken man’s skin pulses in his frustration with white-blue aural patterns that shift. “I have admitted my part in all this. You two are not helping, considering how many jobs you’ve done with her - a child, at that.” He’s practically spitting as finishes speaking. “How good that must have been for her, all things considering, and the things that you know-”

“Watch it.” Cayde pushes back Andal and steps into Zavala’s face. “You want to talk about that, you don’t do it here. Amanda-”

“Ah yes,” Ikora interrupts helpfully, still reclining on the chair she’s been on. “Where is she, by the way?”

The three men look at each other, immediately guilt-stricken.

“Amanda?” Andal calls, tentatively.

Silence.

Cayde sighs and hops up onto the wing of the ship, peering down into the open cabin. “Fuck. Kid, we’re just blowing off steam. Didn’t mean to forget about you up here.”

“Get me out of this ship,” She says, quietly. Too quietly for the rest of them to hear her.

“We’re not mad at you,” He replies as he complies with her request, easily lifting her with one arm and grabbing her crutches with the other from behind the seats. “It’s been a stressful time.”

“Yeah,” She agrees, and keeps her fists clenched to prevent them from seeing them shake. “I get it.” Her tone is flat. When he sets her on the ground and hands them to her, she wastes no time in heading back in the direction from which they’d come to get to the hangar. Immediately all three men jump to follow her.

Ikora shakes her head, mumbling something about men as fools as Amanda ignores all three of their attempts to tell her that they’re sorry, instead telling all of them to leave her alone. “I will walk her back,” The mocha-skinned Warlock volunteers as the three are all telling Amanda that she can’t go back alone, the only thing they all clearly agree on. “It’s clear you three have some things to work out amongst yourselves.”

The second the two females are alone in the elevator, Ikora sneaks a glance at the girl. She’s very clearly trying to keep herself together. It’s a brave face. She sighs. Children are absolutely not her strong point, almost-mostly adult children or otherwise.

“They mean well,” She finally says. “They care very much for you.”

She nods, but doesn’t reply.

“Men, unfortunately, do not always understand the subtleties of sensitive situations. Cayde and Andal probably shouldn’t have taken you out so soon,” She concedes. “However, if you had seen Zavala when he came into the briefing room after discovering that you were gone, you’d have thought we were at war. He was terrified. Not as terrified as he was that first night - the night they brought you in, my Hidden tell me. I’ve never seen the Commander cry. Don’t think I’d like to,” She admits. “They said he bawled like a baby when the doctors told him they weren’t sure you could be saved. I’m surprised he even lets you out of his sight, if that’s the case.”

Her hands tremble, the grip on her crutches tightening despite their shaking. “I didn’t mean to make him worry.” Whether she’s apologizing for her first bit of time spent at the Tower or the day’s actions, she isn’t specific. “Jus’ want ta feel normal,” She admits.

Ikora’s chuckle is warm. “I get the feeling your normal and everyone else’s is a bit different. Even before this.”

“Comin’ from a Guardian,” She says softly, “I feel like that’s a moot point.”

“”Touché.” Ikora looks down at her at the same time she looks up. The Warlock realizes that she’s never actually introduced herself. “You may already know-”

“Ikora Rey,” She says, with a little nod up to the woman. “Heard plenty aboutcha. Good things,” Amanda continues. “And not to play the knife game with you.”

“Cayde?”

She smiles, a tiny quirk of lips. “Andal.” She can’t maintain it long, and resumes her lip-bit expression that’s holding tears at bay.

“Smart man.”

“Sometimes,” She says, forlornly.

Ikora frowns. She really has no idea what else to say.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” He says to her. “I mean, I know I owe you a favor and all, but are you really sure?”

She clenches her fists. “Yeah. It’s for the best.”

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. She’s paying him, so he really can’t refuse. “Well, Didi’s transmatted what you had here to my garage, and we’ll pick it up there after we hit your place. You really don’t want to stay? Seems like you got it pretty good here.”

“I,” She takes a deep breath. “I’m only a problem here, the longer I stay.” She says quietly. “I don’t want to cause more trouble.”

She looks away from the looming Traveler out the window, and back at the uneasy Hunter. He’s lingering by the door. “Well, let’s go then. There’s no one nearby, if you’re looking to prevent any goodbyes.” She nods.

She puts the envelope on the nightstand and lets him hold the door for her. Doesn’t look back. She can’t let them stop their lives to take care of her, and she can’t stand them fighting about her. She’s absolutely not worth it. She ain’t worth much these days, really.

Forward momentum. Wherever the Hell it takes her.

#destiny 2 fanfiction #amanda holliday #cayde-6 #andal brask #marcus ren #commander zavala #swhs fanfic #angst and feels

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