#lightsdefender

He did. Against the laws of time and all his prior knowledge, he was there. And he remembered everything. He hadn’t been meant to survive this second Keyblade War and he hadn’t, in a way, but he was there, holding on to Eraqus and then later resting his head against his friend’s shoulder while he tried to make sense of everything. He wasn’t sure he could hold his gaze. 

He’d thought he had it all under control before texting Eraqus, now he wasn’t so certain. He didn’t want to crumble and he wasn’t sure he would, in truth, because all his feelings were now dulled and when he could focus he focused on Eraqus’ pain, not on his own. He didn’t want to focus on his own. 

“And I remember.” He said. His voice broke near the end, but he forced himself to raise his head and look at Eraqus, then shook his head and he too wrapped his arms around the other, holding him as much as holding on to him. “Moon, stars and Kingdom Hearts, I remember, Era. I’m still here. This wasn’t supposed to happen.” 

He was supposed to be back in his time, preparing himself to return and undertake his Mark of Mastery exam. Not there, in the formerly empty battleground of an ancient war and a not-so-ancient one. They were both here,  even though it was supposed to be impossible.

@lightsdefender 

    The boy awakened to the sound of flowing water, cold on the brick ground. He pushed himself up and took a look around. The area he was in appeared to be an alleyway, empty but colorful. The colors made notes dance around in his head that only made the pulsing of a headache that much worse. Neku closed his eyes and put his hands to his head only to find that he still had his headphones on. He gasped, feeling up and down them to see if they were broken. Luckily they weren’t. A soft piano song was playing on low volume.

    He sat there for a few minutes to gain his semblance and a will to get to his feet. Neku could barely recall what happened since it went by so fast. He sat on his legs, the ball of his palm pressing into his legs. The longer he thought the more stressed he got.

    What had happened to his friends? Beat, Rhyme, Shiki... were they taken by the darkness? Were they gone? What about Joshua and Hanekoma? They were far too stubborn to be taken down so easily. Maybe they all ended up here, too. 

Scala---or whatever likeness the afterlife had created of it---was beautiful. This much was true. But it was also excessively lonely. There were only three other people here---and of the three, two of the others counted as parts of Xemnas’s self---meaning there was only one other person to talk to that Xemnas didn’t at least partly share a mind and personality with.

While Eraqus spent most of his time with Xehanort---which made sense, considering what dear friends they had been before they were split apart by time and war---Xemnas had been pining after spending time with Terra’s former Master like a lost puppy dog. Pouting constantly while watching Eraqus with Xehanort from afar. He had so many questions for him---he hadn’t got even a second to spend with the real Terra and Aqua. And he wanted to know everything about them.

Xemnas finally cornered Eraqus on his way to his bedroom---and while he was certain that Eraqus had been planning to go to bed, Xemnas stepped right in his path, intent on prolonging that as long as he could.

The initial disorientation after the time-shift had worn off and the boy, unsure of either when or where he was, had left the desolate world he’d arrived in to seek answers in a world that might actually have people in it. Xehanort had chosen a bright world, far from his own home world, the closest he could find.

Radiant Garden, he was informed by a passerby. It was no Scala ad Caelum, but it wasn't the Destiny Islands, either. Something about it, in the deep hollows of his heart, felt almost familiar, though, and he couldn't place why. Nothing in this world was familiar...

... or so he thought, but that... was a familiar face not far from him and Xehanort stopped where he was.

♡ - After a few months of staying on the Destiny Islands with her friends, Kairi decided to make her way back to her hometown of R A D I A N T  G A R D E N. She needed to get away. Needed to stop seeing the ghost of Sora, needed to stop seeing her friends be so heartbroken. Needed... something. Something more than she could even think of. 

Solace, maybe. A place she could escape to once in a while when it all got to be too much. She could barely even think of things to write in her journal, anymore. Nothing was inspiring her because things had seemed so, well, dark. Which was unusual, but she’s experienced it before. That’s just what happens when Sora disappears. 

In the castle square, she saw someone sitting on the edge of the large fountain. He had long black hair and a familiar looking physique. A part of Kairi wanted to say hi, and she was never one to back down from something her heart was telling her. “...hi,” Kairi began, standing over the figure with her hands clasped behind her back. “Have we met before?” 

“ Hm... Could of gone smoother  “

So a certain hooded male snuck out for a little while. Honestly, could of been worse considering the usual havoc he brings along with him in attempts at learning and being ‘ slightly ‘ over the top. 

          ❛ are you okay? ❜ her body hovered above him, the sun forming a halo of pure light from behind her visage, curiosity in both her voice & expression. meanwhile, the other had been spread out comfortably in the bed of flowers -- one of the many planted about radiant garden, ever vibrant in hue -- optics shut, arms settled behind his head.  ❛ you might get in trouble if you sleep here for too long. ❜

♥︎ A faint look of surprise flickered across the young man’s face. Keyblade Wielders were kind of rare in his time, but it wasn’t just the fact that the other was a keyblade wielder- but that he looked like someone he had seen in a photograph. Shaking their head, they focused on the creature before them and summoned their own keyblade.