Palace of the Blachrenae, Renovation

((Part 2.))

An image then showed of Ascot raising the X-blade at a wave of large rockets/missiles flying towards the city where he lived, and all of those vanishing. Another wave of said X-Blade and another spell was cast, making it physically impossible to use nuclear material for anything but power generation; people can still use nuclear energy to make electricity, but any attempt to use uranium, plutonium, or any similar material to make weapons automatically caused those materials to turn to lead. The group can see Ascot smiling in mingled happiness and exhaustion...before his X-blade glowed brightly, releasing an uncontrolled blast of light.

"Ascot lost control of his powers in saving his world, causing the Multiverse to split into its component parts. What was one, became more, what was absurd, became possible. The X-blade broke apart into several shards because its legitimate owner had tried too much without training or experience. And Ascot, weary beyond all reason, vanished into a Tomb, even though he was still alive." A white-and-gold mausoleum appeared then, flying above some skyscrapers. "But that did not mean the end of all conflict.

Scenes were then shown of people wielding lesser Keyblades that resembled the X-blade and making war with each other. "The people of the worlds fashioned weapons of their own, Keyblades that manifested from their own Hearts, and warred with each other to dominate Kingdom Hearts. They mostly killed each other, but a few repentant survivors foreswore any attempt to conquer the Multiverse, forming the Old Keyblade Order.

"The Old Keyblade Order prospered, taking new recruits from people with strong hearts. One of those recruits was someone from this world, Leo the Second Mathematician. Leo was a bright soul, but one who chafed under the strict restrictions of the Old Keyblade Order, as well as doubted their beliefs in cosmology; that Light was always good. To him, Light and Darkness were merely two sides of the same coin; neither can exist without the other.

"In fact, in his view, Light was tyrannizing over Darkness, and so the worlds had to be remade so that Light and Darkness had to be in equal balance. So, he moved to do just that, summoning and binding the 'Pantheons' of the Greek, Egyptian, and Norse to his will, promising them revenge against those who worshipped only One God as a sweetener for their enslavement," the hologram shifted to a young man with tan skin, gold eyes, and silver hair much like Emperor Michael's, rallying an army of resplendent glowing figures that Auxientia and Sunja would recognize as 'heathen' Gods.

"And in a great battle," Empress Maria continued as the hologram shifted to a great battlefield, where an army of people who wielded Keyblades were fighting several 'Gods and Goddesses', a scene that ended with an old Keyblade Master stabbing Zeus himself through the heart before falling to the ground, dead as well, "He largely succeeded in destroying the Old Keyblade Order. There were survivors and retired members, but there was no more structure, no more organization. Leo was now free to accomplish the next set of his agenda.

"Under the guise of a student, Leo went to the world of Shining Field, a world where Genghis Khan was never born, and his son Hulegu never destroyed Baghdad, allowing the latter to remain a center of knowledge and wisdom. There, he convinced Hakim the Wise, the Grand Vizier, to conduct experiments on Light and Darkness, experiments that caused the world to be consumed in the latter, and the Heartless to spread and become organized.

"And that is when worlds began falling and falling in quick succession." Maria then paused for breath.

"Empress, let me continue," said Tocsax, his face turning towards the group.

((To be continued in Part 3.))

@Double@Gisk@Shiyonichi@Nerevarine@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus

Palace of the Blachrenae, Renovation

((Part 3.))

"Empress, let me continue," said Tocsax, his face turning towards the group.

~~~~~

((Take a moment to pause and rest to that you guys don't lose track of the details.))

"I used to be a part of a group created by Leo, the Circle, which in turn was the precursor to the Thirteen - actually Twelve - Seekers of Darkness. From there, I discovered many of his secrets before defecting to Emperor Michael. The tales of my exploits would keep you standing for far longer than comfortable, so I'll make this brief."

"As the Court here knows, I am a Nobody, and my name denotes that I am the Nobody of Ascot, the maker of the Multiverse for good or for ill." He then continued:

"And...as anyone who knows how Nobodies are born, that means that Ascot has a Heartless as well." Tocsax would pause, then continue, "That is relevant because there is a way to restore Ascot. Two ways, in fact. One is to kill his Heartless, then me, restoring the Original Person. The other is to use a sufficiently strong source of Light to restore Ascot's Heartless back into a human. We are to either look for those sources of light, or kill me, then Ascot's Heartless when he is found. This will deny Leo the ability to make his own X-blade, by restoring the legitimate holder of the weapon."

Empress Maria then turned to her husband, "Dear; it's time for you to say your piece; can you finally explain what the Princesses of Heart are?"

A nod from the Basileus, as he said, "There are seven women, not necessarily actual princesses, who have hearts of pure Light that cannot be corrupted by the Darkness. This is because these - non-literal - Princesses of Heart are actually the Light Half of the X-Blade, scattered across worlds and timelines. These seven women cannot be turned into Heartless, although they can create Nobodies, and more importantly, they can transform Heartless back into Humans with a touch. Your job is to go to these seven worlds, the seventh of which is a mystery, and find the Princesses of Heart, and then after those seven worlds, go to the Tomb of Ascot and turn Ascot back into a human."

"All potential help will be given you, including a Gummi Ship of your own, and a guard detail of elite Imperial Guard to aid you if your party encounters Non-Heartless enemies, which Leo and the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness can throw at us -"

"Dear," said Maria, "you haven't explained what exactly the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness are..."

"Oh, right," Michael XIII Sideros said. "Well, the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness, which I think Tocsax mentioned before, are Leo's organization. They're an attempt to artificially create the 'dark half' of the X-Blade and have them attack or fuse with the Seven Princesses of Heart to create the X-Blade anew. They're also all incarnations of Leo, either his past self from another timeline, himself from the present, his Nobody and his Heartless, and people from The Circle that he has possessed. And of course, they're Keyblade Wielders, too; the reason they have not won yet is because they are incomplete."

Maria interrupted once again, "And by that, they are actually twelve in number; they have not captured their ideal candidate for the thirteenth Seeker." She looked at Tocsax and the other Keyblade wielders as they discreetly stood in the throne room, then made a closing statement. "If they capture said ideal candidate for the thirteenth Seeker, all might be lost."

------

@Double@Gisk@Shiyonichi@Nerevarine@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus

Palace of the Blachrenae, Renovation

Elise slapped herself on the cheek. There was no way any of this was real.

After witnessing a tear in reality itself and getting whisked away to a castle beyond her own world, here she was being told that she and a bunch of other people (including the bunny girl, was she even human?) were going on a quest to save the multiverse. She'd seen massive beasts and malicious phantoms, and she knew that her own world was not one, but two worlds interconnected, coexisting as one. Despite all of this, the idea that there were much more worlds never crossed her mind. She'd have liked to ask the moogle, but the moment the man with the shield came into view he immediately became quiet and hopped onto his arm, safely behind his shield. Maybe he was his boss or something.

She felt that there was something wrong here. It wasn't that the bunny-girl and unassuming woman with the scarf had beef with each other or that the couple (maybe they were siblings?) seemed to be measuring up the castle guards. It was that this mission entrusted to her was one much bigger than the ones she had previously gone through. The fact that not only her world and the world of the Phantoms but also numerous other worlds she had never laid her feet on made her nervous. She had resolved to taking short swigs of the potion the guard had given her (it tasted really good, like rice wine, but better) while leisurely listening to the info dump about to come, but the revelations only made her heart beat faster.

Still, she tried her very best to conceal her nervousness. Years of experience had taught her that within any kingdom, there would always be a mole. That mole would always be really good at reading people. Her always-shut eyes never failed to give people the impression that she was either unassuming or a complete psychopath.

But wait, if someone as important as Tocsax was in this palace, then what would stop the enemy from attacking? What would stop them from attacking right here, right now, with force befitting someone whose name was known throughout the worlds? Would the keyblades her companions wielded be enough to fend off such an onslaught?

Elise downed the potion, quietly put its flask on the floor, and slowly made her way to a white haired kid who seemed friendly enough. She was going crazy, and she needed someone to talk to. "Hey, what do you think of all of this?" She tried making her voice as low and passive as possible.

She had made a mistake, as she was planning to talk to someone as unassuming as she was in order to avoid drawing attention. The tension was really getting to her. Also, the way she took in information without moving her head to glance at things (she had her other senses for that) would probably creep out the kid, but he seemed to be eerily focused on the presentation. For her, that evened it out.

@Letter Bee @Gentlemanvaultboy

Dan sat, absorbing the information like a sponge. At some point during the story he'd slowly sank down and now sat, criss-cross applesauce, on the palace floor with his box by this side. He looked intense, like her was cataloging evey word in case he had need of it later.

When Elise spoke to him near the end it actually sent a jolt through his body as though he we're being roughly woken from a deep sleep. He blinked a few times before turning to her.

Oh, it was the Samurai from the tarmac. He gave her a gentle smile. "Well, theologically speaking, it's not that far off from how things work in my world. Darkness, light, an order of warriors, fools trying to manipulate darkness..." The last thoughts carried with it an extremely bitter tone, but he quickly shook it off. "It's all just...bigger. It's so much bigger its kind of hard to think about."

He shook his head, noticing the woman seemed quite on edge. He reached over to pick up his box. "I'm just going to focus on the things I can wrap my head around. There are thirteen bad guys and seven princesses. I'd be betraying myself if I didn't go and do something about that, even if the world wasn't at stake. Here."

He opened up the box to her. Inside was a large, flat, brown pastry speckled with darker brown chunks. It was a giant cookie. He'd gone out and bought a giant cookie to bring to this meeting of war and worlds, all cut up into triangles like a pizza. "Take some, and tell me what you think of all this."

@Shoddy McCoy

Stefan was quite still throughout the presentation. His feet stayed in place, and he had one arm crossed over his chest, grasping the other at the bicep.

"It's a lot to take in," he spoke in a low, but carrying voice. Stefan had a particular talent for being heard when he chose to speak. "But familiar in many ways. The Sea of Worlds," this is what his people called the multiverse as a whole, "I know. Heartless, Iknow. Nobodies are new to me, but their existence makes sense, so that's easy to swallow.

"What is difficult is this; your story asserts that we are in the presence of the father of all worlds. Or a part of him, the part that still walks and talks. I have been a man of faith, but I'm afraid I will need some token proof. Is there anything you can show me that might make this easier to believe?"

@Letter Bee

The kid was out of place. Possibly lost, even. Bringing children into battle was something the pettiest of warlords did when trying to grab territory, but in an ensuing battle for the fate of the Multiverse, there was no place for children. This kid looked like someone who had only gotten into play fights with pool noodles. Chances were that when the first dark beast showed up he'd cower behind Elise and⁠—

"Well, theologically speaking, it's not that far off from how things work in my world. Darkness, light, an order of warriors, fools trying to manipulate darkness..."

⁠—he did not talk like a kid at all. What was happening? Was the kid one of the ancestors of old, trapped within a body trained to withstand the unstoppable force of aging? Was he going to help the war effort not by fighting on the front lines? Was he actually a spy trained to blend in but not to hold his own in a fight? Was he actually a Phantom playing a bad trick on her? Surely Elise was simply too paranoid to calmly listen to the kid. Maybe she just needed to calm down and talk some sense into him.

But wait, maybe he could be a Phantom!

And what other Phantom could he be? He was definitely the one with the white hair and short stature. He was definitely the one that acted awkwardly but kept his composure in times of need. He was definitely the one that stayed humble and kept his head up at all times, the one that taught Elise that there was more to her world than killing and infiltrating.

"It's all just...bigger. It's so much bigger its kind of hard to think about."

Elise was about to reassure him that he would be okay, and that they'd get out of this mess together, if he didn't pick up a box without needing to manipulate the magical energy around it. He wasn't a phantom. Maybe she was just too paranoid after all. The smell of freshly-baked goodness wafted around her nose as the box opened up for her.

"Take some, and tell me what you think of all this."

She took part of the cookie and stuffed it into her mouth. Not only was it warm food, but good-tasting food too. She'd been living off cheap rice wine and crackers ever since she'd run her sword through that insufferable bastard. Ever since then she'd softened up, but now was time for her to get back into her prime. If someone who looked exactly like an old friend was here, then anything was possible. Of course, it was also possible that an enemy spy was lurking in the corner of the room, reading her like a children's book. Anything was possible, whether good or bad.

That meant that nothing had changed. Whether fate was for or against her, she'd always played a hand in shaping it with her own hands. If the kid didn't find the war any different from what he was used to, they why should she? She steeled herself up and gave the little kid the cutest smirk she could muster.

"Don't worry, you can trust me."

@Gentlemanvaultboy

Palace of the Blachernae, Renovation

Tocsax was the one to turn towards Stefan and say, “Proof? You and I both know that a display of power will not suffice and that your world and your ‘Shining Host’ value knowledge as much as they do the sword. So let me answer your query with one of my own - What gave your world’s version of The Khan the idea to suppress Gunpowder - If you know of the substance - and depend on Alchemy and Stellistry instead? Or rather, what vision did he receive and what was he trying to avert?”

A smile. “The answer? A vision of Ascot’s world - My world, and the seeming doom it was headed for. That was the point of divergence that gave your timeline, your own world, its own life.” Another smile, more confident this time, “Search your feelings, Stefan of Isik Dunya, you know it to be true plus in accord with what you’ve been allowed to know about your universe’s history.”

@Double@Gisk@Shiyonichi@Nerevarine@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus

Palace of the Blachrenae, Renovation

The explanation was met with some amount of questioning. This was no surprise. These facts were difficult to believe, even Cain himself would have questioned their validity if not for his having been there to witness some of the events happening firsthand. The briefing had largely left his role in all this out, but he'd played a role in this story nonetheless. He was at Shining Field, he'd helped Leo convince Hakim to go forward with the research. And the two of them paid dearly for it in the end.

But that wasn't what gave Cain pause for thought. It was the evidence Tocsax presented in response - or rather, the lack of it. What Tocsax presented wasn't proof at all, just anecdotal evidence that wouldn't mean much of anything on its own. He was lucky his conversation wasn't with Cain or the Nobody would find himself being questioned further, and having to present something better than a mere anecdote in response. But Stefan's satisfaction with the "proof" was about to be proven irrelevant.

With a heavy thud, the sound of Cain's book slamming shut almost echoed through the throne room. He had of course been present all this time, but until now his presence was kept decidedly low key so that he may play the part of observer. He decided to end that role in favor of something more... "practical". Cain cleared his throat, making sure everyone would hear him.

"Perhaps you are standing in the presence of the multiverse's creator, and perhaps you are not." said Cain, his tone cold and blunt, "Frankly, it doesn't matter. But if you're going to believe in something, then believe in this." Darkness erupted from both his hands as he reached them out, as if grabbing some invisible object in front of him. Cain made a motion as if opening an entrance, causing what could only be described as a "window" of sorts to appear. Circular and large enough for everyone present to peer through it. What awaited on the other side was something else altogether.

It was like something out of someone's nightmare. A world where light appeared to simply not exist, consumed or devoured entirely by the Darkness. Worse yet, keen eyed lookers would spot the crumbling remains of a city or township, utterly devoid of survivors or any signs of life whatsoever. And then ground rapidly became blanketed by pitch black creatures, that covered the land like a swarm of black insects, made even more chilling by their yellow beady eyes. In this small glimpse alone there had to be hundreds, if not thousands of them, numbers that Cain was certain none of them had ever seen before. But even that paled in comparison to what could be seen in the distance: black, lumbering shapes that towered over all the rest. Tall and with muscular arms the size of tree trunks, they looked like they could tear buildings apart with their bare hands. Their heads were barely visible, sporting what could be described as black, tendril-like hair and the same glowing yellow eyes as the smaller ones. Those without Hearts, the Heartless, in their purest and most uninterrupted form. But even above all this, and perhaps worst of all, was the accompanying cold feeling that came with gazing into this hellish abyss. A feeling of terror, of dread... of hopelessness.

"Gaze long and hard," Cain finally said, "and beware. This is the terrible fate that awaits every world and those who inhabit them, should we fail." and only then did he finally close the window. What he'd done was cold, calculated, and ruthless. Some would go as far as to say it was outright cruel, even. But Cain was not valued for his capacity to be kind or his ability to sugar coat the truth, he was valued for the results he brought, regardless of where those results actually came from.

@Gisk@Shiyonichi@Nerevarine@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus@Letter Bee

Dan smiled back at her, super satisfied to see someone enjoying the gift he'd brought. He'd been worried when he'd seen the palace that his fellows would have too refined a pallet to take simple joy in something you got for 7 bucks at a pizza plack. Still, the thing she said was strange. "You haven't given me any reason not to trust you. I was more interested in knowing know what you thought of the story, or the palace. It's not every day you meet someone from a different Earth, after all."

As Stefan asked his question Dan set his box on the floor, stood up, and gave the woman his hand. The vibe he gave off was trusting and curious, not unlike that of a kitten tentatively reaching out its paw to touch it's owner for the first time. "I'm Daniel, by the way. It's nice to make your acquaintance, miss."

That's when the man who had been lurking at the back of the room spoke up loudly. Dan looked over and saw darkness swirling around. In an instant his entire demeanor changed. The kitten was gone, pulling back as his whole body tensed itself to spring. What replaced it was a battle wary stray, small and scarred all over yet unwilling to back down from any sort of rival. When the portal snapped to life in front of them, leading to that realm of teaming darkness, his own blade flashed into his hand as he unconsciously moved forward in front of his new friend. Closer to the portal, between the group and the portal, never taking his eyes off the portal.

When it finally snapped shut he shifted his gaze to the man. He didn't move otherwise, but his pool noodle vanished from his hand. "He's right." Dan said, in the closest tone to begrudging he could muster. "I've been to whole towns that look exactly like that. We've tried our hardest back home, but we can't stem the tide. I don't believe it matters how our worlds came to be. All I care bout is protecting them. If I can't do that with my power..."

He looked back, gazing from Stefan to Tocsax, then up to the Emperor. "...Then I don't see any problem trying things their way. If it works, then it works. If it dosen't, at least I know I tried something."

@Shoddy McCoy@Letter Bee@Gisk