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nadziejastar · 5 years

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“Do you two even have anywhere to go?” Axel wondered from his perch on one of the boulders that dotted the shore.

“Do you?” Riku replied, staring out at the horizon.

“I never had anywhere to go in the first place. We Nobodies don’t belong, period. Nowhere to go and nowhere to come home to. Right, Naminé?”

Yeah, Sora, Kairi, and Riku were definitely all willing to become drop outs, lol. I assume Eraqus made sure his pupils were well-educated. Kairi at least went back to school. For some reason nobody seemed that concerned that Riku was missing. I think it’s sad that Lea and Isa never even chose to drop out of school. Their school was probably destroyed. Axel said he had no home on Sunset Hill. And it was true. Unlike Destiny Island, which was restored relatively quickly to the way it was before the Heartless came, Radiant Garden was still Hollow Bastion. It was a wasteland that needed a Restoration Committee to get it back to its former state. Axel talked about homework nostalgically. He missed his home and living a normal life. I’m disappointed that we never got to see Axel/Lea’s feelings about his real home.

Kairi: A light at the end of the tunnel…

Sora: Oh, your grandma’s story, right?

Kairi: That’s right. We were together.

Kairi, too. At the end of KH1, she even remembered her grandma. Radiant Garden was such a wasted opportunity. I also think it would have been cool to see Leon start going by “Squall” again. Who knows, maybe Leon actually knew Lea and Isa. They’re about the same age. Who knows if they finished their education, either.

If I’m trying to get away from Saïx—from the organization itself—what am I doing here?

The truth struck home—Nobodies had no place where they belonged.

“Now what do I do…?” he muttered, his face still upturned to the distant moon.

A heart. Maybe the answer was closer than he thought.

Suddenly he felt something brush his leg. “Wh—whoa!” Axel jumped. It was a big yellow dog.

Axel always said he had nowhere to belong. In the novel, Pluto showed up when he was thinking that. Pluto was a stray doggy. Lea always picked up stray puppies. I guess Pluto was there to remind Axel that home is where the heart is, lol.

“Well, I’m getting a whiff of a good friend of mine from you.” The king stepped closer, his nose twitching. “I thought it was from Riku, but it’s from you.”

“Do I smell?” Axel hurried to sniff his clothes. He couldn’t smell anything.

“I wonder where Pluto went…” The king heaved a sigh.

“Pluto? What, that dog?”

“Yup! Oh, boy, you did meet Pluto!” Overjoyed, King Mickey grabbed Axel’s hand and shook it vigorously.

“…I mean, I’ve had a shower since then…,” Axel mumbled, still confused.

During the 1000 Heartless arc, Axel met Mickey who said he smelled like Pluto. Even Goofy told Axel he smelled like Pluto when Axel helped him after he was hit by that rock. When Axel was in Hollow Bastion, I guess we were supposed to be reminded that he was a stray puppy, with no home.

“Oh no! Here they are!” King Mickey leaned over the cliff face and shouted to him, “We’ll talk later, Axel!”

Then he leaped from the cliff. Watching him descend, Axel gazed over the edge for a while.

Axel was standing in that spot with his arms folded before Sora showed up, and we probably were supposed to learn what he was thinking about. The novel made it seem like he had a lot on his mind while he was overlooking the Villain’s Vale, just staring at it for a while. Makes me wonder if that was an important place to him as a human. Who knows, maybe Villain’s Vale wasn’t actually another castle but Radiant Garden University, lol.

“What’s the matter? Will it hurt to see your island home corrupted?” Saïx taunted. “Even though you once did it yourself?”

A small gasp escaped from Riku.

Yes—his islands had fallen into the darkness once. He’d thought he would never be able to go home again. He wouldn’t let anyone spoil that home now.

“Pluto! Go on!” Riku called, and Pluto replied with a deep bark before leaping into the light.

I think Isa must have been very traumatized that his home was destroyed, too. Saïx certainly was very harsh with Riku for destroying his home. Pluto was also present in the scene. This is right before he kidnapped Kairi. Maybe it was supposed to be revealed that Saïx knew Axel would be at the Villain’s Vale because it was nostalgic to them both.

Radiant Garden—full of light.

Dilan, the imposing guard, picked up a pair of suspicious young intruders and ejected them from the gate.

“Ow! Cut it out!” shouted Lea, the one with red hair.

“You should be grateful I only tossed you out,” Dilan stated, at which Aeleus nodded silently behind him.

Axel looking over that cliff is actually similar to how he is able to see all of Twilight Town from the clock tower. Maybe there’s a connection? He even found a cliff to gaze from in KH3. I hate how KH3 made it seem like Lea was perfectly content to view Twilight Town as his home like Roxas. Radiant Garden was the city of light.

Twilight Town was a special place, very close to the realm between. Among all the worlds, there were hardly any others like it. The three of them always came to Twilight Town because they felt at ease here…because twilight was closer to darkness than to light.

Why had it never occurred to him to wonder what was inside the old mansion? It was odd that he hadn’t given it any thought before. The world rippled and wriggled. Others had felt it, too—that they should come here.

But what led us here? Axel thought. Maybe I’m becoming connected to the Keyblade master, too.

Axel felt at ease in Twilight Town because it was closer to darkness than the light. That’s what he was thinking on Day 356 which was called “A Place to Belong”. Lea never once mentioned Radiant Garden, though. It’s not very realistic. I think Nomura put that line in because he recognized the absurdity of it.

#kh axel #kh meta #kingdom hearts

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khremixed · 6 years

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Part 6: Traverse Town and Getting the Gang Together

We’ve finally gotten to our first real world and man is it a good one.

I’ve always loved the look of Traverse Town. The cobblestone streets, Victorian buildings, and bright neon signs just combine into something amazing for me. Each of the three districts has its own unique flavor, but they don’t feel disparate from one another. Traverse Town also has the feeling of being inhabited, at least in the First District. The Second and Third Districts are overrun by heartless, so it makes sense in story why no one seems out and about. It might be my favorite world, so I’m fine that it’s the world we are going to be using as a home base for this game (and miss it dearly in the games it doesn’t appear in).

The transition here is good too. Donald and Goofy arrive and Donald notices a star going out. Then Pluto runs off and finds Sora knocked out in an alley. Pluto wakes up Sora, hears some noise outside human hearing, and then runs off, not to be seen again until the closing cutscene. Sora wanders off into a nearby store and you meet Cid of Final Fantasy VII fame.

Real talk, but I’ve never played Final Fantasy VII. Actually, I’ve never beat a Final Fantasy game. I find turn based combat tedious so the only one I really enjoyed was XII (you know, the one everyone else seems to hate). I played VIII for a while because of my love of Leon/Squall (more on this in a bit), but the battle system there is broken as all hell. But anyway, I’ve never played VII, so when I first played this game, I thought Cid was like 35. Yeah, he’s clearly older than the rest of the gang in Traverse Town, but it didn’t seem like that big of a gap. His hair is bright yellow and he doesn’t move in a way that reveals being that old. It’s a jrpg so I assumed that we were going with the anime convention of any person over twenty being treated as a senior citizen. It wasn’t until Kingdom Hearts 2, when Cid gets a voice actor, that I realized he’s way older (wiki says 42 but that’s ancient in anime/jrpg terms).

Cid’s great, though. I mean, you are some random kid who just wandered into his store who tells you a tale he’s probably heard a million times over (world destroyed, everyone scattered) and he just immediately offers to help you. No ulterior motive there. He’s one of the good ones. Cid tells Sora to look around town to see if maybe Riku and Kairi did end up here and to come back if they really didn’t.

Sora heads to the Second District. Everything is nice except for that guy that runs out and immediately gets turned into a soldier heartless in front of you. It’s genuinely disturbing. This is the closest thing Kingdom Hearts gets to when it comes to depicting death. Plus, for someone playing this the first time, you don’t really know what’s happening other than the fact that that dude is terrified and you see his heart literally leave his body to turn into a monster. Sora then fights a bunch of other heartless and will continue to do so as you explore the various areas. There is also a great running gag of when you go into one place, Donald and Goofy just miss you as they exit another place.

Heading back to the First District, which is now equally overrun, you go back to Cid, because really, who else does Sora know? Cid gives a pep talk and Sora goes back outside and this is the moment I’ve been waiting for. A voice tells Sora that he really has no clue what he has and wonders why it would ever choose a kid like Sora. And this, my friends, is how we meet Leon.

I’ve had a crush on Leon since I was 12. Hell, I’ve had a gunblade on my keys since 2007. As I said before, I love him so much I tried to get through Final Fantasy VIII. And Leon totally owns Sora in this battle. Even if you win, which isn’t that difficult if you hide behind the pillars to block his fireballs and nets you an elixir from him down the line, Sora still faints.

While Yuffie helps Leon collect Sora, Aerith finds Donald and Goofy. Also, between these two scenes, we get our next big Final Mix addition. Riku wakes up on Hallow Bastion (we don’t know the location yet, but it is) and calls for Sora and Kairi. Watching him from afar is Maleficent. At first, I really liked this bit. It’s fun to see new stuff and I’ve always kind of wondered how Riku ended up with Maleficent. But the more I think about it, the more I wish it wasn’t there. Like Sora, the player originally had no clue what had happened to Riku for several hours of gameplay. The reveal later that Maleficent is manipulating Riku was great and this new scene is detrimental to that reveal.

Anyway, Sora wakes up and has his first hallucination of Kairi, who then turns into a concerned Yuffie. Since this is the first one, the player can assume that Yuffie’s theory that Leon gave the poor kid a concussion is probably accurate. Donald and Goofy are in the adjoining room and whole explanation about the heartless is given to everyone by cutting back and forth between the two groups. It’s a pretty dynamic way to get all the exposition. This is also the first time we hear about Ansem and his report on the heartless. I’m sure that that won’t be a reoccurring thing that will reveal previously unknown horrific facts! I’m sure the whole mess that is Ansem the Wise/Xemnas/Xehanort won’t cause me to start screaming obscenities at the tv screen again! (Sidenote: but I totally forgot that we don’t find out that Ansem the Wise was the leader of their home world here or even that his title is “the Wise”).

On a character note, but I’d forgotten just how much of an apathetic asshole Leon is. He just cannot be bothered to care about Sora’s friends or even feelings.

This is all interrupted by a heartless appearing and Leon and Sora go off to fight. And this scene is bullshit. Yuffie getting Leon’s attention, fine. Her not attacking but instead running? The hell. And Leon is the one who tells her to run! Why? It isn’t to go protect the healer in the next room because Yuffie just blows past Aerith. What is with this game and women not getting to do anything but get kidnapped unless they are evil or mermaids? KH2 does have Yuffie fighting, but still.

Our gang still doesn’t hook up though. You have to make your way to the Third District, where Donald and Goofy literally crash into Sora. Cue boss fight!

The boss battle is pretty fun. And in another change for the Final Mix, but they recolored the armor. Don’t know why. (Actually, the further in I get, the more I wonder how many of the heartless were recolored for this and I just can’t remember everyone’s original look so I’ve missed some.) You have to kill each piece of the armor separately and they will attack independently of each other. Nothing outstanding, but still fun.

Donald and Goofy try to convince Sora to come with them. Unlike with Cid, who just wanted to help because he’s a standup guy, Donald is an asshole who straight up lies to Sora about the likelihood of finding Riku and Kairi (Goofy is a standup dude though). Leon also says he thinks that Sora should go, but is more like Eeyore about it. Goofy hugs everyone and says “One for all and all for one”. Now that I’ve played KH3D and know that he was a musketeer with Donald and Mickey, I think that’s rather sweet in retrospect.

Oh, and also, Donald and Goofy tell Sora that if he’s going to join up, then he’s going to have to smile and have no sad faces. Fuck them. Sora just lost literally everyone he ever knew and loved and they want him to swallow those feelings. That’s messed up, y’all.

You also get some stuff, the most important of which is the ability to dodge roll. I love dodge roll! I’m always mad when you don’t get it in other games. There is literally only one ability I like more and that is the high jump (glide is close too).

Before taking off, you can go open up the secret passage to Merlin’s place. Before Merlin shows up we get another Kairi hallucination. She thinks that the room is like the secret place on Destiny Islands, but she’s a hallucination, she’s allowed to be wrong. There Merlin arrives! I always found his help sort of useless (the Fairy Godmother was more helpful in turning stones into summons but I think in all my years I’ve only ever used a summon once). Also, feminist aside, but why does the Fairy Godmother hang out as an inanimate mini-carriage when not doing stuff? Is it so they don’t imply anything going on between her and Merlin when you aren’t around?

When you leave you get the villain conference table scene where they discuss the unlikelihood of Sora winning. It’s a good introduction of the villains, but I can’t tell if the Final Mix version changed the animation or if I’m just on a better tv because you can now see the silhouettes of all the villains rather than just hearing their voices with extremely shadowed shapes.

#kingdom hearts #traverse town #kingdom hearts 1

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swapauanon · 6 years

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Better KH2 AU: Birth by Sleep: Aqua’s Story

BBS (the PSP version), would have three discs, one for each character’s story. This is what would be on Aqua’s disk.

Aqua’s story would open with Eraqus bringing a young Aqua to the Land of Departure.

Terra would ask her what’s wrong, indicating that the two have been friends for some time. Eraqus would explain that Aqua’s master is no longer with them, and so he took over her training.

Cut to six years later, as we then see Aqua in her room, working on the Wayfinders. When she sees the Meteor Shower outside her window, she remarks that the others will probably be there to see it.

Aqua’s reason for attacking the rings is that she feels like she could squeeze a bit more training in before tomorrow’s exam.

She still has the tutorial battles with Terra and Ven, but gets the chance of whom to spar with afterwards.

Her battle with Terra would be playable, and would start after he has a brief flicker of darkness.

When the Fairy Godmother stops Aqua from attacking Lady Tremaine, she asks Aqua what will happen with Cinderella. Aqua insists that she and this world would automatically be safer with the darkness eliminated, but then the Fairy Godmother would point out that Cinderella would still be trapped in the attic, and the leaders of this world would be more concerned with tracking down Lady Tremaine’s murderer than helping Cinderella, as Lady Tremaine is incredibly good at hiding her cruelty.

Lady Tremaine wouldn’t bring her daughters with her when she sics the Cursed Coach on Cinderella, but would still be incinerated by the pumpkin bomb. Her stepdaughters wouldn’t die with her though.

Aqua would actually chase the Evil Queen with the Seven Dwarfs, and get a boss fight with her.

After clearing her first three Disney Worlds, Aqua would report back to the Land of Departure to update Eraqus on what she’s seen.

Eraqus would be disappointed about how she wasn’t able to get Ventus back, as well as that Maleficent got away, and tell her that she must bring Terra back after hearing about what Maleficent said. When Aqua points out that they should probably take what the self-proclaimed Mistress of All Evil says with a grain of salt, he tells her not to question his orders. When she brings up what the Fairy Godmother said to her, he’d tell her to banish such thoughts from her head and, as soon as the Unversed are dealt with, to go back to the Castle of Dreams and eliminate her. When Aqua objects, stating that she helped save Cinderella, Eraqus would reply that it doesn’t matter if the Princesses of Heart are happy or healthy so long as they are beyond the Darkness’ reach. He would also instruct Aqua to eliminate the masked boy. When Aqua shows uneasiness with eliminating a child, Eraqus would spell out for her, point blank, that if he’s sided with the darkness, he shouldn’t be regarded as a human being. He then tells her to head to Radiant Garden, the city of light, and deal with the Unversed that have materialized there. Aqua would be shocked to learn that Radiant Garden is in danger, as it’s where she and her Master came from.

After Aqua leaves to deal with the Unversed, we’d get a cutscene of Xehanort and Vanitas interacting. Xehanort would order Vanitas to eliminate Aqua, as it’ll make their own goals with Terra and Ventus even easier.

Aqua’s Keyblade would glow when Kairi touches it. Aqua would forge a D-link with her after casting a spell on her.

Aqua would encounter younger versions of Aerith and Squall, though neither would see her Keyblade. They would both recognize her though.

The Hundred Acre Wood would be a fully explorable-yet-optional world.

After Aqua defeats him, Vanitas would report back to Xehanort with the possibility of using her as a back-up. Xehanort would consider that a possible option. However, he is also tired of Vanitas acting against his orders, and summons his Keyblade, stating that his latest experiment was a success, and that it’s time that he subject Vanitas to the same treatment.

We’d cut to black as we hear Vanitas scream.

Aqua would report back to Eraqus after Radiant Garden. This time he’d order her to bring Terra and Ventus both back, stating that she’s the only one he can rely on. Aqua would express concern about what Vanitas said to her, but Eraqus would say not to disregard what “it” said and says to destroy Vanitas the next time she sees “it”.

Aqua’s Sticker Album would be based on Fruitball instead of a picnic.

Aqua would forge a D-link with Zack, unlike Terra and Ven.

The next time she reports back to Eraqus, she’d question if they actually need to worry about Terra, stating that from what she’s seen he’s done nothing but help people since they’re falling out at Radiant Garden. Eraqus would then snap at her, telling Aqua that they’re job isn’t to “help people” but to uphold the light and destroy the darkness. When Aqua brings up what Zack said, he asks why she didn’t destroy him, and she’d reply that it’s for the same reason Eraqus wouldn’t destroy Terra, that Zack was a good person. Eraqus would then ask her about Ven and Vanitas. Aqua would reply that she hasn’t seen either one of them since Radiant Garden, and Eraqus would question why he named Aqua Master if all she other does is report back on how she’s failed time and again. Aqua would object to this, pointing out that she’s defeated the Unversed on every world she’s encountered them, while Eraqus argues that she’s been too merciful towards everyone else, citing Maleficent, Vanitas, and Jumba Jookiba as examples of villains she failed to dispose of. Aqua would note that she had defeated Maleficent and Vanitas, they simply bounced back and escaped before she could finish them off, and that Jumba was already in the local law-enforcement’s hands. He’d argue that she should’ve let Gantu destroy him and 626 to ensure that they don’t become threats later. Aqua would argue that that’s excessive when they had the situation covered and only needed her help dealing with the Unversed, but Eraqus would be having none of it, and blast Aqua with his chains of light.

Aqua would throw up a barrier, causing the chains to wrap around it, then ask Eraqus what he thinks he’s doing. Eraqus would calmly state that he’s remind her whose in charge, and then tells her to stop questioning his orders and do as he says. Aqua would dispel the chains with a Counterblast, then point out that she’s not his apprentice anymore, and that he has no right to attack her like that. Eraqus would then tell her to consider her status as a Keyblade Master revoked, then raise his Keyblade, stating that he will remind her to respect her masters, before telling her to dismiss her Keyblade and except her punishment. Aqua would then raise her Keyblade, and the boss would begin.

After depleting a third of Eraqus’ health, the battle would abruptly end. Aqua would ask Eraqus if he’s ready to stop attacking and listen, at which point he’d blast her with his chains of light (this time successfully restraining her), and telling her that he won’t let a child speak to him in that manner.

He’d then tell her, point blank, that the only reason she’s still alive is because he’s respecting her former master’s wishes, but also tell her that she is no longer welcome at the Land of Departure, and that if she ever sets foot there again he won’t be anywhere near as merciful, before opening a gateway to the Lanes Between and blasting her into it.

When Aqua comes to, the chains of light restraining her dissolve and she desperately summons her Keyblade Armor and Keyblade Glider. Once she’s no longer spiralling out of control and manages to stabilize herself, she simply puts her head in her hands and questions where everything went wrong. She’d wonder where she’s supposed to go and what she’s supposed to do, before spotting Neverland.

After the Player lands there, Aqua would remark that this seems to be as good a place to die as any, then summon her Keyblade, bringing it up to her neck, before hearing the voices of children, dismissing her Keyblade and deciding that this might not be the best place to do that after all.

When she picks up the Treasure Map she automatically gets the map of Neverland. During the confrontation with Captain Hook over the missing treasure, another giant Unversed attacks. Aqua would then team up with both Peter Pan and Captain Hook to defeat it.

After it’s destroyed, Captain Hook would immediately try to stab Peter Pan and Aqua in the back, only for the Crocodile to chase him off. The Lost Boys would then question where Ven’s toy Keyblade went, and Aqua would then sense Vanitas, and tell them to stay there.

After defeating Vanitas and collapsing from the effort, Aqua would flash back to when she and her Master lived in Radiant Garden, revealing that she isn’t even a Radiant Garden.

She ultimately decides that dying now would be an insult to the people who care about her, and would thank Peter Pan, stating that she’s in a better place than she used to be, even if she still has a long ways to go.

Aqua would forge a D-Link with Sora after meeting him and Riku at Destiny Islands. Also deciding against performing the Bequeathing since, after her encounter with Eraqus, she doesn’t exactly feel worthy to do so. She then decides that, until she can decide where to go, to head back to Radiant Garden and ultimately figure out what to do from there.

In the Lanes Between, she comes across Mickey on her way to Radiant Garden, and brings him back to the Mysterious Tower, even if she is unsure about whether or not she’s welcomed there.

When Aqua brings Mickey to him, Yen Sid would remark that Eraqus does not have the authority revoke Aqua’s title of Master after passing it down to her, and then mentions that he has both good and bad news about the Land of Departure. The good news is that Eraqus has decided that he had overreacted, and has revoked Aqua’s banishment. Aqua would let out a sigh of relief at this, but then reply that all she intends to do is collect her things from the Land of Departure and move out, since even if Eraqus feels bad about how he treated her in her last meeting, she doubts she’ll ever feel truly safe there again. That’s when Yen Sid shares the bad news with her. The Land of Departure’s star has dimmed, indicating that it has all but fallen to darkness, and that Eraqus himself was struck down. He’d remark that the responsible parties are Xehanort and Terra. Aqua would, of course, object like she did in canon, and hurry to the Keyblade Graveyard.

Instead of the Seat of War, Aqua would go to “The Outcast’s Well”, and instead of the Twister Trench, she’d swim through a “Lifeless Oasis”. There would be shadows in the water, and if one catches her, she’d be pulled under and forced to fight some Unversed. Her version of the Fissure would be titled the “Final Reprieve”.

Aqua would tell Ventus that forging the Χ-blade should be impossible, since she destroyed Vanitas.

When Xehanort arrives, an afterimage of himself would split off and become Vanitas, shocking Aqua.

At the end of Xehanort’s monologue, when the Wayfinder Trio put on their Keyblade Armor, it would change to an FMV, with “Fate of the Unknown” playing.

The capes would be removed, the scene where Ven’s Keyblade is smashed would be removed, and Terra’s eyes wouldn’t turn yellow at the end. Also, the characters would have voicework.

After the FMV ends, we’d get the scene of Braig approaching Ven and Aqua.

Not much, if anything, would change in Aqua’s battles with them.

Braig and Ventus-Vanitas would have bios in the “Characters” portion of Aqua’s Report.

The Story Summary for Aqua’s trip to the Land of Departure would be available in Aqua’s Report as well as the Trinity Archives.

#better kh2 au #kh bbs #aqua #tw suicide reference

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ao3feed-soriku · 6 years

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Keyblade Pre-K

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2vBPh4L

by greeneggs101

AU In which Destiny Islands fell before Radiant Garden and so Squall finds himself playing foster father (brother?) to two keyblade wielders under the age of 7.

“Squall... Sora fell into the fountain, again.”

Squall looked away from the shopkeeper to where the small, silver haired boy stood beside him, staring at the nearest fountain in concern.

Squall sighed. How had he managed to get himself in to this?

Words: , Chapters: 1/2, Language: English

Fandoms: Kingdom Hearts

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Squall Leonhart, Cloud (Kingdom Hearts), Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi's Grandmother (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Mickey Mouse (Kingdom Hearts), Ansem the Wise | DiZ, Aeleus (Kingdom Hearts), Dilan (Kingdom Hearts), Braig (Kingdom Hearts), Ienzo (Kingdom Hearts), Apprentice Xehanort

Relationships: Cloud/Leon (Kingdom Hearts), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Families of Choice, Young Sora, Young Riku

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2vBPh4L

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #soriku

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leasspell-dael · 6 years

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NaNo Update - Day 7 - KH: Locked Out

This is a once-a-day, posted-as-it’s-written, work-in-progress, NaNoWriMo update. Read at your own risk. This should go without saying (NaNo), but ROUGH DRAFT! Feel free to point out any errors you find, or ask questions.

Previous installments can be found here at the Masterpost.

Summary: Divergent timeline: The Keyblade doesn’t leave Riku. Sora arrives in Traverse Town, not a Keyblade Master, but merely another refugee. Meanwhile, Riku allies himself with Maleficent, knowing he’s being used, all in hope that she’ll be able to help him find his missing friends.

Despite their concern for Kairi, Phil and Hercules didn't stay long after helping to get her settled in her room. The Coliseum was a mess, and they had a lot to look after.

"I'll send along a healer as soon as I can track one down, but my guess is she's just tuckered out. Try not to wake her up, will ya?"

Then they were gone, and Riku was left with Donald, Goofy, and the strangers from Traverse Town.

Riku had barely made it back into the living room with the girl was sticking her face into his. He wound up leaning backward to gain some personal space.

"So, this is what a Keyblade Master looks like, huh?" Her face transformed into a grin, which she threw back over her shoulder at her companion. Before Riku could react, she'd tossed her arm over his shoulders and guided him further into the room, as if this was her lodgings instead of his.

Everything about her rankled on him. What was her name again? Donald had mentioned it, but Riku had been more focused on Kairi at the time than pleasantries.

Either way... He didn't like her.

"That's right!" Donald answered her question, puffing his chest up as if Riku were something to be proud of. The boy felt a scowl forming on his face. He may have been chosen by the Kingdom Key, but he'd made a lot of mistakes. Pride was the last thing anyone should be feeling about him.

Enough was enough.

He shrugged the girl's arm off from his shoulders and crossed the room, leaning back against the bookcase, placing his arms across his chest. He opened him mouth to demand some answers, for something to make sense, when the girl burst out laughing.

She laughed so hard she fell on her ass onto the ground.

"Oh my god, Squall! Did you find him earlier and teach him the mystic arts of looming?" She had barely managed to get the words out between her giggles.

Her companion, sitting on the couch with his own arms crossed across his chest, joined in Riku's glares at her, which just seemed to set her off further.

Wasn't his name Leon? Riku was sure that's what Goofy had called the man earlier. Was Squall another name the man had?

"It's Leon, Yuffie."

Right. Her name was Yuffie.

"Whatever your names are," and Riku felt more confident saying that now that he actually knew their names, "Could one of you maybe explain what you're doing here?"

Donald and Goofy sat to either side of Leon on the couch, and Riku wasn't really surprised when Goofy decided to answer for them. Yuffie was still trying to control her giggles, while Leon didn't seem to be the type to say much.

"Well, Riku, you remember how Donald and the rest of us were sent to find you by the King, right?"

A terse nod was Riku's only response.

"He left us a letter with instructions, and said that Traverse Town was likely to be where you'd show up. When we got there, we found out he'd been there ahead of us, and recruited Leon, Yuffie, and some friends of theirs to help us look."

Now that Goofy mentioned it, Riku recalled them telling him a similar story while they were still at Twilight Town. They'd never explained why they'd expected him to wind up there, though.

"Why Traverse Town? It's near here, right?" A nod from Leon made Riku continue. "I wound up in Hollow Bastion, and that's pretty far away from here. What's so special about Traverse Town that your King would assume that's where I'd wind up."

Except Leon didn't look like he was going to answer Riku's question. Something about what he'd said had shocked the other man. Even Yuffie's giggles from where she was still sprawled on the floor cut off abruptly.

"...Hollow Bastion? It's still there?"

Was that... hope in the man's voice?

Riku eyed Leon and Yuffie both, warily. There was a hunger in their eyes as they stared at him waiting for more information.

"Yeah. It's Maleficent's home base. It's pretty decrepit, and absolutely crawling with Heartless, but it's definitely still there. You know it?" He'd never thought about the world's past. Who might have built it's walls and collected its library. Now that he thought about it, it didn't make sense that Maleficent would have let it fall into such disrepair if she had been the one to create it in the first place.

From the floor came a quiet whimper. Yuffie's eyes were screwed shut, and she'd drawn her knees to her chest. Leon hadn't moved, but the same overwhelming emotion could be seen in his eyes.

"Home," Yuffie whispered. "We can go home..."

Now Riku was confused.

"I thought you were from Traverse Town?"

Shaking his head as if to shake out the cobwebs, Leon managed to speak up this time.

"You asked what was special about Traverse Town?" Riku nodded warily. "Well, Traverse Town is a settlement of refugees. When the Heartless devour a World, there's usually a few survivors. They and the debris from their lost worlds make their way to us, and the town grows. It used to be a tiny village, made up of the descendants of people who had lost their worlds long ago with only the occasional newcomer. It the last ten years, the numbers of newcomers have overwhelmed established citizens.

"We thought Hollow Bastion, our original world, was lost to the Heartless. Only a handful of us managed to get out when they began to swarm."

Riku shook his head, regretfully. "Your world may as well be lost. Maleficent can control the Heartless somehow, and she'll clear an area for her own use, but otherwise they're everywhere. Literally crawling out of the woodwork most of the time."

Something occurred to him, and Riku furrowed your brow. "I still don't see why any of that would mean I would wind up in Traverse Town. My world's still there, I just haven't been able to find it since I was flung away from it."

Having managed to collect herself a little, Yuffie shrugged her shoulders in a show of nonchalance. "Maybe he just made an assumption. You did wind up in our neck of the woods in the end, and Donald and Goofy did managed to find you, so he wasn't that far off the mark."

As likely an explanation as any, but it didn't sit well with Riku. He was used to everything fitting neatly together. Either Maleficent or DiZ always had a neat explanation for the seemingly random happenstances that were occurring around him...

Maybe that was a sign he could trust them. Neither Maleficent nor DiZ had ever had his best interests in mind, even as allies.

Feeling something in his spine relax, Riku left his perch on the bookshelf, grabbing a chair from the kitchen. He dragged it into the common room, twisting it around to straddle it backward.

"Sounds like we all have bits and pieces of information. Maybe it's time we pooled them together."

By the time Kairi woke up, it was dark outside, and she could hear voices down the hall. She stayed there, lying on her bed, staring up into the darkness of her ceiling, trying to figure out what about the voices was bothering her.

"...old coot had some books and a report written by Ansem in his magic bag..."

"...apprentice knew another keyblade wielder..."

"...Hades gave me this..."

"...something about Maleficent being weakened, might be time..."

"...assault on Hollow Bastion..."

Disconnected murmurs and thoughts floated into her ears, but none of them sounded like strangers, yet at least two of them she couldn't place.

One of them set her nerves on edge. Why?

She couldn't hear Hercules or Phil. Were they okay? Had they been hurt in the fight? Surely the voices down the hall would be more urgent or fraught if something seriously had gone wrong.

The conversation was obviously important, and about their ongoing mission, but Kairi couldn't make herself rise from the bed. She was so tired. Physically; mentally; emotionally; magically.

She just didn't have it in her to figure out what about their apparent guests set her on edge, and she didn't have the energy to go out into a battlefield of social engagement.

Kairi closed her eyes, rolled over, and let herself fall back into an exhausted sleep.

Riku would fill her in when she woke.

tbc

Feedback always welcome. :)

#nano 2017 #fandom: kingdom hearts #media: fanfic #dael writes #kh: locked out #status: WIP

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ruvelli · 5 years

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You know you're so hyperactive I'm surprised Sora isn't your main muse

//When I first began on Tumblr in the year 20XX (almost 7-8-ish years ago?) I was 100% a Sora muse. I had been role playing as him for a few years at that point and writing fanfictions with him as my main star.

That started almost right after the first game came out so... yeah. And Kingdom Hearts were my first fanfictions ever. I was very comfortable in my Sora “skin”.

In fact, the Sora muse I have now as a sub-blog is based on that original Tumblr muse which also included stupid Diary entries about a gross room mate (Riku), a hyperactive Yuffie who would sneak into their place and cause havoc all the time, and Sora’s own attempts at recording/sharing home care tips. Except I used to tag them and annoy the shit out of people. >3 Now I’m a lot more considerate, even if it means I won’t get followers there as quickly as I could with tags.

I guess I’m not as concerned about it? Than again if you compare who I was now to who I was two years ago I’m pretty different so a much bigger difference from 6+ years ago wouldn’t be surprising.

The Sora muse I used to play that I CAN’T GET INTO MY FREAKING ACCOUNT TO PLAY WITH ANYMORE that apparently people still remember today, though was:

Halloween-Sora. The guy who posted maggots and had an unhinged jaw. Hmhmhmhmhm...

He was disgusting and pretentious and I fucking loved him. I might bring him back on another blog.

...

I’m off track.

So, drama happened. Lots of it. My partner of the time did some things they shouldn’t have (including take pictures of me without permission while on videochat and shared them) and even when I moved on more crap kept happening so I knew it was time to move on, if only from that blog...

So, here’s why I prefer Riku and why I ever played him in the first place (kind of depressing so don’t read if you can’t deal with sad stuff):

Riku was my... rescue muse.

When I was feeling beaten up, down, and like I was just done with everything I suddenly found this group for the KH/FF community that looked like tons of fun (a magic school with real class schedule set-ups and graduation requirements... I mean, you could bullshit through everything and pass, but still. It was oddly fantastic to see despite hating school!) but it already had a Sora... and a Squall. And everybody I ever played before. No repeat muses allowed...

The only character from KH they didn’t have was... Riku. The one guy who is usually the most popular and usually the first taken was available. They had literally just kicked their Riku for inactivity. Just that day. Not long before I asked to reserve him.

Like fate.

I had never played Riku, but... I said fuck it. I immediately dove for him. I wanted in and I was determined it would be a great change.

And... it was.

Riku, I admit, I was back and forth on as my favorite of all time character (even after I came to love shipping him with Sora) until I sort of... found myself again by accident. It was like someone taking my hand and saying “Keep Walking”.

You see, Tumblr was also my only escape. I had lost or was forced to let go of my role player partners outside of it and role play was my one happy place so... Tumblr became it.

I have Autism and was reliant on others to live at the time because I was in a bad, BAD state and no one was trying to help me get help. They didn’t want me to get help, either, because they figured I was just being--

No. That’s another can of worms for later. It wasn’t great to be where I was and I’ll leave it at that.

I no longer enjoyed being Sora. He was attached to too many people I had to leave behind or who had treated me less than stellar. I didn’t even realize that was part of the problem until I made that jump, which I wouldn’t have done if not for that group.

Being Riku sort of... reinvigorated me. And I know all this sounds strange, but there ya have it. I even started standing up for myself in real life because the muse inside me demanded it (Is that crazy?).

Things in the group ended poorly (for everyone, as a lot of groups do... The owner left and she was also the only decent mediator), but damn it was AWESOME for nearly a year and those people I’d happily play with again if I ever found them--

Also his theme song was “Bringing Sexy Back”. I’d trick the others into listening to it over and over by sending them remixes. Bwahahaha! (TAKE THAT RIKKU)

I also need to correct a detail: I told some people that Riku was a teacher. No, he was a student. My teacher character was Gippal. I always forget I ever role played that dude and somehow mixed it up as Riku being the teacher guy... LOL?

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