Video Game: Kingdom Hearts SOS: The Road To Light

Of course her attempts were thwarted. Ananta was pushed away, sliding a hundred feet from Kaida and Aux. She laid there, holding onto her side still and glaring up at Aux. She moved to her knees and then her feet, wobbling a bit. Hikaru started to make his way to try and stop Aux, but he eventually had a look on his face that caused Ananta's stomach to tie up in knots. She saw the look of determination on Hikaru's face. When he stabbed himself with his keyblade, Ananta felt the tears fall down her cheeks. His light faded and he made Aux return to his normal self.

The red haired boy yelled out in agony as Kaida tried to process what had happened. Ananta looked down at her hands and saw the little specks of blood that came from her wound. She managed to use a Curaga and gave herself back some strength. "What are we going to do?" she asked herself, shaking. Her eyes were steadily pouring out tears and she wanted to just punch No Heart in the face, but she knew she was no mattch for him. So she wanted to help her comrades as best as she could. She looked around at everyone and saw Kaida running towards No Heart.

"Kaida!" she called, gasping. Ananta ran to where Kaida was heading. She knew No Heart would just swing her away if she made any contact. Luckily, the girl missed, but Ananta knew that Kaida was angry and heartbroken. She understood that feeling all too well.

Ananta got closer to Kaida and knelt to the ground beside the girl. She put a hand on Kaida's arm to get her attention. "Kaida..." she started, but then glared up at No Heart. "She's not the only one who'll kill you. We'll all kill you." she said. Ananta reached down and helped Kaida sit up. If No Heart was going to try anything, Ananta would use something...anything...to keep him from taking her and Kaida down.

"Can you walk?" she asked, wiping her own eyes of the tears that were still falling down. Even Ananta was shaking from the anger she felt right now. But she knew that getting Kaida out of there was top priority. "Please let me help you."​

 

Beuce winced in pain as the feeling of his broken ribs began to set in. He was ready to keep fighting despite the unwinnable situation to attempt to keep Kaida from sacrificing herself, but there was something else that distracted all of them. Even No Heart. The blue haired boy. The first person he'd met since he left Riven. The one who'd been alongside him the whole time, the only one left, ran forward through a barrage of spells. "Thanks for everything" He said. Another way to say "Goodbye." He could only watch as he plunged the keyblade into his chest. Beuce tried to form words in his throat. To force his lungs to push forward the air to plead with him to stop, but nothing came. It was too late. "I'll see you later"...Why did he have to say that? It was like an extra punch in the gut knowing that it wasn't true. For all their training and all the strength they'd gained. All the growing they'd done, facing themselves and conquering challenge after challenge, it still came to this. They couldn't stop it. They couldn't prevent the situation from needing to happen. He returned to Aux. He wasn't sure if he'd be in there, but even if he was, he'd never be the one they'd known. Hikaru wasn't Aux, not just a replica of someone else. He was Hikaru.

The glass from his hand creaked against the metal of his keyblade under his grip. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He knew Kaida wasn't the only one willing to lay down their lives to protect the rest, but he'd wished with all his might no one would actually end up needing to do it. He looked to Aux, punching the ground in a rage and screaming to the heavens. He wanted to go over and jerk him up off the ground and sink his fist into his jaw. To scream at him and tell him it was all his fault. If he hadn't been taken over, if it hadn't been for that darkness of his, Hikaru wouldn't have had to do that. He wanted to approach Kaida and tell her that she wasn't the only one who felt that pain. They'd all lost him. He wanted to run at No Heart and unleash everything he had to bring him down right then and there, even if it killed him. He wanted to bring Hikaru back...but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything. He just swallowed his shaking breath and stood there holding his keyblade. His face contorted as he fought back all the emotions that were building up like a dam threatening to break. It wasn't fair. He felt silly complaining to himself about it being "unfair" now of all times, but there was no other way he could put it. He was powerless to stop it. Just as powerless as the day he'd left Riven and found his way here. He'd always been the one who told them they needed to press forward when they got distracted or lost heart at the hardships ahead. He knew they had to move for now. They were still standing in front of their greatest enemy, and they didn't have time to grieve just yet. He had to come up with a plan. Something he could do. When he realized heavy heartedly that there was only one thing they could do. It was all they'd ever done, really. But now, in this moment, it was thanks to Hikaru that they even got the chance.

He raised his hand and channeled his power to do what needed to be done. Space began to discolor and from an amber wall between them and No Heart, along with his clones, creating a momentary reluctance within them to attack. They'd muster the strength to shatter the wall in moments, but it was as much of a deterrent as he could muster right now. In some ways, Hikaru's Sacrifice had given him the clarity to realize that this wasn't a battle they could win. He walked over to the distraught Kaida, and pulled on her to motion that they should get going. He knew she didn't want to move right now. Lord only knows how much he didn't. He shook his head at Ananta. This wasn't the right path to take. Facing him now would only get more of them killed, and it would only make the pain even worse. He would've said that he could stand to see anyone else die here, but it was far beyond "couldn't stand it". His head was spinning at the fact of what happened. He tugged once more at Kaida, not wanting to force her from the spot but realizing that they didn't have a lot of time. He'd carry her if he had to. His ribs screamed at him to stop. To just lay down and accept his fate. As the sound of breaking glass rang out behind him, he knew No Heart had torn down the barrier and was coming for them. He pressed through the pain. The others would have to make similar measures to hold him off long enough for them to escape.

He walked toward the ships. That was their way out. looking onward at them, he realized that was all they'd earned in the mark of mastery. Passage back to the realm of light. Hoping they could fight back was just wishful thinking. But at the very least...They'd gained enough power to hold him at bay long enough to escape. Beuce stopped only long enough to look down at his hand. The silver ring with the letters SOS engraved on them. Everything washed over him all over again. Hikaru had been the one to keep them together. These were proof of that. He clutched his hand, feeling the metal warmed from the heat of his skin. Even with him gone, they had a task that needed to be done.

He just hoped they were up to it.​

 

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He continued to make his way back to Kaida. He had to somehow get back and help somehow. Ananta then tried to stop Aux but he knew that at this point there was no stopping Aux. If he could not stop Aux he knew what be must be done and that was to protect Kaida. He still had his Keyblade out and was ready for a fight. Then Ananta was thrown in the air like a rag doll. He was still trying to make his way to Aux and Kaida. 'Nothing you do matters because you don't exist. You're nothing.' No heart was wrong Hikaru had become his own person. He watched as Hikaru twirled his keyblade around and aimed it towards his heart. Then without a moment's hesitation he pierced his heart. There had to be another way but it was to late. Hikaru was gone. He had just reached Kaida but it was to late. He felt like he was somehow responsible for all of this. Kaida then said, 'WELL REF. ARE YOU ENJOYING THIS GAME? IS THIS REALLY JUST A GAME TO YOU?!' He knew just how she felt but there was a time and place for it and he knew that she felt like this was the time. Then Ananta said, 'She's not the only one who'll kill you. We'll all kill you.' That was not the smartest thing to do at the moment. He knew that now was not the time to fight. That was clear from the moment that No heart showed up. He watched Beuce with Kaida and gave him a slight nod in his approval. They had to get going. "No we leave to fight another day," he told Ananta. "We fight now we are as good as dead." They had just fought countless heartless. Glancing at Beuce and the way he was holding his chest it was quite possible that something was broken. It was better to run then fight. To fight another day with the hope of wining then it was to fight and then die. Some of them were in no condition to fight and without all of them at full strength it was time to go.

He looked over to No heart and want to fight him so bad but he knew that now was not the time. He watched Beuce walk toward the ships. "It might be a trap," he told Beuce. That said it was not like they had much of a choice. "Just be careful." With that said and done it was time for the others to get to the ships. With Hikaru gone he wondered who there leader was. Then the person came to mind as he looked at them. Now was not time to talk about it. Once they were safe they could talk about it. He was ready to help the others get to the ships. He would do so if it was necessary. He glanced at Beuce once more know he might not be able to help the others to the ships.

 

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Ignis was stuck tied together with Steel and Aislinn when everything started to hit the fan. A few others managed to get up after being knocked down by No Heart while Aislinn and Steel tried to get out of their bindings, but Ignis had had enough for one day. After dealing with the Master's exam and then fighting that whole army of heartless, she had to be honest with herself and know she didn't stand a chance against fighting back. It really hurt her pride too, since this wasn't any different from her city being burned to the ground. Everyone kept trying their hardest, and at some point Ananta tried to get in Aux's way and give herself up in place of Kaida. Ignis gritted her teeth, frustrated not only from her weakness but also that Ananta was willing to just give herself up like that. Her vision had also started to blur slightly, and she was finding it hard to keep herself conscious at this point.

It didn't make much difference in the end, however. While everyone was trying their best to save Kaida, Ignis somewhat caught of glimpse of Hikaru running through the sand to get to Aux and Kaida. She was having a hard time seeing right now, so it was slightly blurry, but she could definitely make out him running, with spells hitting him as he kept going. She wanted to do something, but she could barely muster the energy to keep her head up. As she thought she was about to lose consciousness completely, she managed to watch as Hikaru had caught up to Aux and Kiada. Facing Aux, he had turned his keyblade on himself. At that point she was starting to get flashbacks of before, being stuck in a burning city and watching others give their lives to save others. She began to squirm some, trying to get out of the magic that was binding them; she didn't want to watch another friend disappear in front of her. She thought she heard him say "thank you", but wasn't sure if she imagined it or not. At that point, Hikaru struck himself, and Ignis began to flail wildly, completely forgetting her exhaustion. Light began to shine across everything and for some reason the chains binding Steel, Aislinn, and Ignis seemed to loosen, and Ignis struggled free. She scrambled and stumbled over to where HIkaru, Aux, and Kaida were.

Aux was on all fours, screaming, while Kaida wasn't fairing much better. She had gone after No Heart to try and take him down. Ignis could tell she was blinded by anger and sadness at this point and missed No Heart completely with her attacks, stumbling on the ground herself. Ananta had gone over to Kaida while Beuce had set up a barrier to try and keep No Heart and his clones at bay, but it wasn't even delaying them, with No Heart tearing it apart completely. Ignis knew they had no chance of winning this fight and it was time they had gotten out there before they lost another friend. She slide across the sand over to Aux and tried to get his attention, but he seemed to be taken up as well. Turning her head, she yelled over to Ananta.

"Ananta, you need to get Kaida and get out of there now! Forget about fighting him and just run!" She turned her head back to Aux to try and get him back to reality. [/color=crimson]"Aux, we need to get out of here. There's a time to mourn, but now isn't that time. Otherwise what Hikaru did will have been pointless."[/color]

She tried to pick him up by the shoulder, but the guy was about as heavy as he looked. She stumbled and fell over. Right now her mind was simply on getting out of there, desperately keeping her own sadness at bay for the time being. She looked around, trying to see who was free at the moment. At this point she could feel her eyes somewhat welling up, and tried her best to keep herself under control.

"Someone get over here and give me a hand with this guy! We can't just leave him!"

 

Luna felt her feet freeze. She looked down and saw ice covering her legs. She tried to pull them out but it was no use. She looked over at Kel as he broke through the ice that had entrapped him as well. Luna summoned her blade and immediately casted a fire spell. Before she could do anything else, her feet stopped in her tracks once more. Not because of any ice but out of shock. What her eyes saw had shocked her. Hikaru had ran his blade straight through his chest. Specks of light had emerged from his body, causing him to fade away with each second. It wasn't before long when the last of the speck had enveloped Aux. "No....." She covered her mouth with her hand in shock. A small tear had left both of her eyes. Memories from their first meeting until now had ran through her mind. "How could this happen? How?" Luna clenched her fists and looked over as Aux had let out a cry of sheer anger. Kaida had also shouted at No Heart. She looked down and clasped her hands together. "Please gods, if you can hear me....please guide his heart and soul and let him be in peace..." Ananta had also expressed her anger toward No Heart. Beuce had ran over to the ships while AJ and Ignis had told her and Kaida to get out of there. Ignis had then asked for assistance with carrying Aux. Luna ran over and went to Aux's left side. She picked up his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder as she stood up. "Let's go!" With the two girls now carrying Aux to the boats, she looked over at Aux. All the light that he had on his face had instantly faded away. What do you even say in a situation like this? Luna wanted to help as much as she could. She didn't want to shed anymore tears. She knew Hikaru wouldn't have wanted that for her or anyone else in the group. Luna looked forward as she, Ignis, and Aux made their way to the boat.​

 

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Speechless, Kel was left speechless as once more the feeling hopelessness had washed over Kel as Hikaru sacrificed himself. The whole while he couldn't do anything stop it and the frustration showed with the way his griped his keyblade. He wouldn't let it overcome him this time, he swore to himself to never allow that to happen. Such an act would be an insult to Hikaru's sacrifice.

As his keyblade was still alight from his limit as No Heart approached them. He wasn't able to stop Hikaru, but he will sure as hell prevent No Heart to getting to anyone else. A quick step back and Kel first cast Graviga focused directly on No Heart. That was followed by a wall of Reluctancy and that was followed by a line of seeker mine. That would be the most magic he'd used back to back for a while, but it should be a sufficient distraction as they fled the boats. Kel allowed his keyblade to vanish shortly after his act before turning towards the boats as well.

Kel is on the boat for the Native Grounds ​

 

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Ignis seemed to be by Aux trying to help him up. 'Ananta, you need to get Kaida and get out of there now! Forget about fighting him and just run!' Well it seemed like someone agreed that they should get going and not fight. He turned to help Ignis with Aux but as soon as he did Luna went over to Aux to help out. That was good as now he would not have to gove over. Soon Luna and Ignis were at the boats with Aux. That left four at the boats and six more to go. The best option for now was to try and slow down no heart until everyone got to the boats. That was when No Hearts clones at this time had faded away, while No Heart himself began to walk slowly towards the group. Almost as if he wasn't even pressed for time. He slightly wondered what no heart was doing. Did he think that they would not get away or was there a bigger plan in his head? Then Aux had run off to fight and he let out a sigh. Then after getting some things Aux went back to the boats. It seemed even Kel was trying to slow down no heart which was nothing but a good thing. Just after Aux used magic so did Kel. He pointed his keyblade at No heart water he thought as a wave of water rushed towards No heart. He manged to use Aqua splash on no Heart. Freeze he thought shortly after and a blizzard storm came out of his keyblade freezing No heart in place for the moment. He knew that it would not hold No heart for long but hopefully it would hold long enough for the others to get to the boats.

 

Kaida was still very out of it when everyone was trying to get her to move. Even as Aux looked at her to try and get her to process helping everyone get to the boats, she could barely nod before she summoned out her keyblades. Instead of going in for an attack on No Heart, the girl used hunter's mist. She backed away and got herself over towards one of the boats. Before climbing into it, she looked to Beuce and quickly cast cure on him. Not entirely sure if it would mend his wounds, but she at the very least hoped that much would help. Then she forced to help others who needed to get into the boat. She kept her keyblades out just in case she needed to cast more.

Kaida was at the boat to Ohana Island​

 

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In an instant, Stratos had gone from his forward attacking motion to lying face first on the ground. It had all happened so suddenly, that even blinking was too generous a time frame to give it. He had attacked No Heart, and, in that same instant he was attacked himself. The same technique that he had leaned on whenever the goings got tough had been turned on him in a single blow. Feeling a large cut having formed on his back, pain roared through the young keyblade master's body as he had fell flat onto his face to the ground below. Gritting his teeth, it took every ounce of effort to not scream from the undeniable pain he was feeling, as his eyes scanned across the battlefield. Every which way he looked, it was clear that the other keyblade masters were having every bit as much trouble with the No Heart clones as he was with his. Not wanting to just lay down and die, just give up and let things stay as they were, Stratos tried to push himself back up and continue fighting. However, after taking the heavy strike, Stratos found his body not responding in the ways that he had wanted it to.

His hands scrambled against the ground as he tried to slowly lift himself back up, panting all the while as his fatigue started to catch up with him. They had been through many a tight spot before, but the one exchange of blows was enough to tell Stratos that this guy was on an entirely different level then anything they had fought before. Arma. Storm Ruler. Even Aux at his height of power wasn't nearly a match for the power that No Heart was displaying right now. The boy could think of no technique, no trick, no skill, not any thing that they had acquired throughout their journey that would allow them to eek out a victory against this keyblade wielder. Yet still, he couldn't just continue to lay down and die. That wasn't the reason that they had gone through the castle of illusions. It wasn't the reason that they had gone to Shibuya. It wasn't why they took the Mark of Mastery exam and became keyblade masters. All of it wasn't just to have their goal in sight only for it to soundly and unquestioningly thrash them. Though it was only desperation at this point, Stratos would continue to fight as he finally managed to push himself up. Bringing himself to his hands and knees, the boy continued to take deep breath after breath before attempting to stand up.

However, he paused as he heard Kaida speak up. While there was no way they were going to win this, Stratos mirrored Beuce's sentiment. It would feel meaningless up to this point if they had to sacrifice themselves just for a chance at survival. If at the end of it all, Kaida had to give up her life so that all of the others may continue to live on and fight to see another day. He kept trying to think and think and think about some way out of this situation, something that they were missing, anything that they could do to find victory. However, as Aux approached Kaida, ready to deal in the final blow, something else took the attention of everyone in the area. Stratos could only watch in horror, eyes going wide as Hikaru plunged his own keyblade into himself, saying one last farewell to everyone else. As the boy turned into nothing more than sparks of light that coalesced onto Aux's figure, Stratos continued to just sit there on the ground, mouth agape. With him gone, Aux's armor had receded and a stiffing silence briefly filled the air. The feeling of terror, tension, hope, despair. It was all gone; replaced with an empty feeling of stillness.

This had soon come to an end, though. As Aux collapsed to the ground, Stratos continued to stare, mouth agape, with only noises being formed as he tried to figure out what words to say. As he began to stand back up onto his feet he merely muttered, "why?" Looking towards No Heart, in between each and every breath he just continued to say, "why? Why? Why? Why?" The volume in his voice steadily increased until he was finally back on his feet proper. Gripping onto his keyblade, light started to flood across it. Grabbing it with both hands, the boy shouted, "No Heart!" As he did so, the light started to slowly grow into a large blade. He was able to register that everyone else was retreating, but he wasn't about to back down. He was going to make No Heart pay. He was going to kill him. With both hands in front of him, Stratos began, "Ex-" As the light started to flare up more, the boy was about to bring the blade back. However, before he could, his eyes caught sight of the ring on his finger; the ring that Hikaru had given them. Pausing a bit, the light around the boy's blade faded as he let out a deep breath.

It'd be pointless to keep fighting. If he did, he would die and then what would Hikaru's sacrifice have been for? Turning to retreat alongside everyone else, Stratos's body started to crackle with rainbow lightning. As he did, he channeled it through his keyblade before stabbing it into the ground. "Link Synchro - Eternal Prison." With that, a physical cage of earth combined with a metaphysical barrier surrounded No Heart, as Stratos used a combination of Quake and Reluctancy to bar the path of No Heart. "No matter what you're playing at," the boy began, "by the end of it, I'll make sure that you lose." Though he was in pain, the boy managed to force himself to rush over to the boats. Getting on the first one he could, the same Aux and Kaida were on, the boy got himself ready to take off as soon as they could.

Stratos is at the boat to Ohana Island

 

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Ignis continued to struggle with Aux, when Luna came and helped out. They managed to get him a fair bit away when Aux got himself up and slapped them on the back, seeming to be better. Well, she would really use the word "better", but he at least wasn't moaning about right now. They were all still running for the boats, and Ignis had to pick one as well. She picked the first boat, thinking it was better than nothing, and it also wasn't quite as crowded at the moment. For the most part everyone was getting over, with only a few stragglers left behind. Her adrenaline was starting to wear off however. She knew it wasn't going to last too long, since she was practically out before this whole mess started in the first place. She got in the boat and began to feel all of her energy leave her. Looking over at the other boats, as she began to lose herself, she gave a weak smile and thumbs up to the others, trying to message that they'd be alright and would always look out for each other. She wasn't sure if they saw or not, but she had nothing left and slumped down, hanging off the side of the boat, completely unconscious and unaware of what was going on around her.

Ignis is on the boat to Arendalle

 

Luna looked over at Aux as he patted her and Ignis' back. No Heart was drawing closer and closer. Aux and several others were stalling him. Luna looked over and headed to the boats. Two members of group had already onto the boat. Luna looked at the three boats and looked at the one in the middle. She climbed into the boat and looked back as No Heart was still being stalled. Luna shouted at those who were stalling No Heart. "Come on guys!! We can fight another day!!! We have to get out of here!!" Luna was worried about the others, not sure if they would be able to get to the boats in time.

[Luna is on the boat headed to the Native Grounds]​

 

Ananta shook her head at Beuce. "No, we shouldn't fight here. I didn't mean we'd kill him now..." she watched Kaida wearily stand and wander after Beuce towards the boats. Ananta stood to see everyone making their ways to boats and Ananta thought for a moment on what she ought to do. At the time, she knew that Kaida needed a person there who could lend an ear or maybe just be there as company. She wasn't too sure if Kaida wanted either of those, but she knew for a fact that Aux was the last thing on their minds right now.

Her parties' efforts to keep No Heart at bay were working a little. Instead of ignoring it, Ananta raised her keyblades high and let out the powerful Reluctancy spell. She let go of the keyblades and turned back towards the boats, running and climbing into the boat with Kaida as Aux climbed aboard. She saw Stratos step in and she nodded to him. "I hope somebody knows how to row a boat." she commented, sitting down next to Kaida. She of course gave the girl plenty of room to breathe after everything that happened.

[Ananta to Ohana]​

 

Steel didn't really feel much like laughing anymore.

Granted, he still could. He still kinda wanted to even. Someone had just died though; it would be in poor taste. Better to stay silent that incur the wrath of the others, even if he had originally planned to do it before Hikaru was gone.

Yep, Hikaru was gone. It was strange to think about... and he was plagued with a horrible empty feeling if he even tried.

There wasn't time to think anyway. As the others all went off choosing boats, Steel climbed into a boat just after Ananta, joining Kaida, Aux, and Stratos. Unaware of the black slimy "tear" that had cascaded from his eye, Steel pondered the light Aux now held within him. Hikaru was not truly gone, or at least not yet.

"See you again..." He whispered silently as the world kept turning.

OC: Steel to Ohana Island​

 

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Soon Kaida head for the boats leaving only a few people left to get to the boats. It was starting to look like they would get out of there. Stratos and Aislinn soon followed. Then there was Ananta and Steel who where the last tow left. He was slowly making his way back to The boats. Once everyone was in a boat he continued to make his way to the boats. He then hopped into a random boat and spotted Beuce. "It looks like we are in this together."

OC: AJ is going to Arendalle