The Final War, Light Vs Dark

Had Gexln listened carefully to what Beuce was saying, had he actually paid attention to him rather than letting his aggression do the talking, he probably would have agreed and Xepphiras' training would have gone much faster, but he did none of those things. In response to the flaming wall being put between himself and Beuce, Gexln revealed a slight smirk. If the girl thought that was going to stop him from attacking Beuce, she had another thing coming.

Opening his hand and pointing his palm in front of him, he opened a dark corridor and quickly stepped through it. Leaping out the other side, he was now on the other side of the wall and next to Beuce. "You want to learn? Then watch" he said simply as he rushed Beuce with a swing of the umbrella once more.​

 

Kross felt the pair of arms around him again and he closed his eyes, his forehead pressing to her shoulder as he returned the embrace. It had been horrible, being asleep all of these years, separated from his friends, not able to do anything. When she pulled away, he slowly let go and looked up to meet her gaze, listening to her. "I feel honored that you can trust me, Ananta. I know I won't let you down."He said, glancing to the side, his expression faltering when she mentioned war."These children don't need to be fighting our war. They're strong, I won't deny that but I can't help feeling that we should be fighting instead of them." Kross heard her words and chuckled."To be fair, Beuce has always been sort of a mysterious fellow.."He trailed off, hoping Beuce didn't see that post as an insult to his character. Kross watched her sit beside him and he looked down at her question, only listening until the end of her words so he could speak."I've been...sore.."He murmured."I don't know how to feel, Ananta..being separated from my friends all of these years, not being able to do anything about this war..I just don't feel good."He then sat up, his expression conveyed determination, for if he had his old hair color back, it'd be the same Kross as years ago."You're not going to lose me Ananta..and I won't lose you, I promise."He turned his head to her and took her hand."You've always been nice, hard headed and stubborn, but nice.."​

 

Ananta felt his hand in hers and turned her head to Kross. She chuckled and shook her head. "If I wasn't, who would have been? Nobody in our group was as hard headed or stubborn as me! Not even Karina. She was smart and pretty, but her temper...wow, that temper of hers. It was a whole other level of death when you angered her." Ananta chuckled. Thinking back to her travels with all of her old friends, she sighed and smiled. She had plenty of good times and plenty of bad times. Times where she thought she wouldn't ever get out of her mission alive. Times where she almost lost faith in herself. Through all of that, her friends still believed in her. They still trusted her to do her best and to help them all in battle. Her eyes had tears pricking at the edges as she looked to Kross. "I'm pretty blessed to have all of you as my comrade. Everyone was my friend. Some more so than the rest. All of those bonds and friendships made me stronger. Made all of us stronger. That's why all of us are alive...well...most of us at least...." she looked sad. "Anyway, that's why many of us are alive. We helped each other fight and did our best to stay together. We're all a close knit family. And...I'm going to protect my family through this war by any means neccessary. Even if I have to use my last bit of strength, I will defeat Omega...I will protect you, Anta, Karina, Eon, Dawn, Dusk, my world, and everyone else. I have to, I am a Sage after all." she chuckled, gripping Kross' hand tightly.

 

Kross listened to her. When she mentioned Karina, his eyes stung a bit but he didn't produce any tears. He remembered having a crush on Karina but..she abandoned him in the Keyblade Graveyard. Of course Kross frustrated Karina to no end with his happy attitude and his cliche antics but..Kross was scared that he was going to die, legitimately scared. "She had a temper all right.."He trailed off, feeling that slight pang of anger in his heart. When Ananta spoke about protecting everybody, a small grin was on his face."You better save some of them dangers for me Ananta, Because I'm not backing down anymore."He said, Glancing up to meet her gaze."I'm protecting everyone too. After all, I'm a Magi."​

 

"Well, you've always been a Magi, haven't you?" she chuckled. "I'm not exactly the same as you guys anymore...not at all, honestly." she sighed. Ananta reached a hand towards the Mother Crystal above them. Looking at herself, she stared at the scar on her right hand. Wincing, Ananta put her hand back down. "What am I gonna do? I don't want to fight anymore...but I have to and I will probably almost die a few times." she sighed, sitting up. She grabbed Kross' other hand and squeezed it. "If...I start to walk down a dark path, one that you can't get me to come out of, will you please pull my crystal away from my neck?" she asked. Reaching behind her, she unhinged the gold plate and held it in her hand. "This is my crystal. It was better to do this since I do a lot of work now. But just the same, yank this off of me and I'll stop. Give it to Anta if you have to. I don't want this crystal to get hurt. It's very ancient..." she said, placing the crystal back around her neck. "Promise?" she asked.

 

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It was just as he'd figured, she hadn't changed her mind in the slightest and he wasn't surprised at all. Now what did surprise him was that she'd hugged him. Taken completely off guard he just stood there and let her hug him. "I see, well that makes two of us seeing I've never hated you. Sure you were a pain to deal with most of the time, but you at least had the skills to make your anger tolerable." At least to him him she was that way. He may been out of the apathetic shell that he was known for, but it still took effort to get him to hate someone. Extremely dislike is a different story and theirs already a few people on that list.

 

R looked at the girl before them with sympathy. She was trapped in this world, knowing nothing of the outside, unable to escape it. Yet still, she was armed with a rusty sword, attempting to go against the agents. She would last seconds at best. "There is danger beyond your comprehension. If we take you with us, i cannot guarantee your safety. Actually...It's almost certain you will die. Even the X-blade itself may not be able to help us. Although, if we fail, i suppose it won't matter where you are...Knowing you will be plunging yourself into such danger, would you still be willing to follow us?' Without waiting for a response, R turned and opened a corridor of darkness, back to Crystallis. "Far be it from me to stop you." Said the heartless as he walked through the dark portal, emerging into the bright city. 'Worthy hearts, needed to forge the X-blade. Twenty in total...There's no question each one of them is strong, but will the weapon choose to lend us its aid is the question. In the deepest reaches of our hearts is where the shard of the X-blade rests. With all of us together, we've got a chance at forging it.'

He seemed to have emerged where Karina and Kel were talking. It seemed they were deep in discussion, but whatever they had been talking about, they were needed, as well as all the others that had been with them on their previous journey. "I apologize for interrupting, but I'm afraid your presence is needed. Assemble all of your companions in the central building." Said the dark leader to them. "We may have found a way to fight back against the agents." His voice kept its melancholy tone, but there was a certain feeling underlining his words. One that truly made one believe that even in a situation as hopeless as this, they could emerge into the future. There was hope among the sea of hopelessness.


Beuce shot Gexln an intense glare as he evaded the umbrella strike. He completely ignored the plea from Xepphiras to look at what she was doing completely. Well, sort of...."Shut up wind, I'm trying to teach Sapphire how to fight by kicking Glen's ass through his mouth." The white haired keyblader walked intensely in a circle, matching his opponent's footwork at every turn. It was by far the most climactic stupid rivalry that had ever occurred. "Reminds you of old times does it? What do you say we have a rematch of twenty years ago..."

With the intense music setting the mood, Beuce slowly summoned into his hand potentially the most powerful weapon that had ever fallen into his hands, or potentially the worst. It was all luck reliant. Lightning arced out from his hand, little by little, The umbrella was summoned into his grip. Getting into a standard high guard, he readied himself for the surely epic clash. With setting like this, it was sure to go off. He'd show him the power of the umbrella. With a quick dash, Beuce performed a low jab at the nobody's stomach. ​

 

"Dying one time is enough." Kross said, he wasn't going to let Ananta get hurt. He didn't just promise to teach Anta, he promised to protect Ananta, in the span of a few seconds. He heaved a sigh and looked down at their hands, a small blush creeping on his cheeks, not enough to be visible but he did feel warmth. He looked up as she pulled off her crystal. His eyes widened and he looked at her, once she put her crystal back around her neck, he put his hand over the shining crystal, his gaze met hers."Ananta."He started, his eyes firm."I won't let it come to that, I promise I'll protect you..from anything and everything. After all, like you said, I'm not the same as I was."He trailed off, taking his hand off of the crystal."I'm stronger."​

 

Ananta smiled at Kross' promise. It was nice knowing somebody had her back in these times. Especially somebody that she could trust. By now, she would have removed her hands from Kross', but she didn't feel like it. It would feel odd doing so, she thought, so she sat there at looked at him, examining him and watching him speak to her. "Your hair is quite the shade of white, Kross." she said, taking a few strands into her fingers. "Why is that? Was all of your power in your hair and so once you lost it all, your hair turned white?" she chuckled, letting the hair go. "Speaking of which, what has happened to you in these past twenty years? The last I heard of you, you had gone back to your own world and that was that." Ananta said, scratching her head with the free hand. It was true, Kross had missed quite a lot. He missed Ananta marrying Beuce and having Anta. He missed seeing Anta grow up and becoming the young man he is today. That brought back the memories of raising Dawn and Dusk whenever she could. It was hard for Eon to take care of them at first, what with Karina dying and all. He just wasn't the same for awhile after. He didn't show it, but Ananta could tell his heart was broken. It stayed broken until he saw how much of Karina was in Dawn and Dusk, and so he got really happy after that.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Ananta shook her head. "Anyway, when you weren't around, you had me really worried you know. Is there anything I can do for you?" Ananta asked.

 

Gexln parried the attack with ease and flicked his umbrella up slightly, knocking Beuce's away from himself. "Yeah that's a very nice toothpick you made there Xepphiras" he said, not focusing enough on it to actually let himself be distracted by it. This was going to be a difficult battle, he could feel it, so he would have to pull every little trick out of his ass that he possibly could. Thrusting his hand forward in front of him, he directed a small blast of dark energy forward at Beuce and knocked the keyblade wielder back.

Not satisfied with that attack though, Gexln began his next attack. "You want to see some dark magic? See if you can copy this then" he called out to Xepphiras. His hand began glowing yellow, indicating thunder magic being prepared, but that yellow began to darken rather quickly to the point that within seconds his hand was glowing with black lightning shooting off of it. Opening his palm and pointing it at Beucefilous, he unleashed a beam of Dark Thundaga magic and shot it directly at Beuce.​

 

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As Xero was about to listen to R's response, she suddenly saw Gexln and Beuce sparring with each other then frowned as she began marching over to Gexln. Right before Gexln could fire his attack, she grabbed his scarf and yanked his body to face her, causing the attack to miss his target.

Xero pulled Gexln's face close to hers as she began yelling at him, "What the hell do you're doing?! We've already had enough people die in this war and you're gonna be next if you don't even try to control yourself!" She threatened him even though she knew it was a rather feeble attempt; threatening Gexln only seemed to make his ego get bigger as he would then show off soon after. Xero glared at Gexln for a moment after scolding him hoping to get the message straight before letting go of his scarf

 

Kross watched as she examined him, then made a comment about his white hair. She even took a few strands to observe. At her question, he had to smile, It was a funny question, one that even he didn't know the answer to."I'm not sure, Ananta..I guess when I was in that coma, it turned my hair white. Thing is, I don't know why I had awakened twenty years later..to a war."He said. He then heard her question about what had happened to him. His gaze went downcast..how could he explain this.."Xahenort told me..that you were waiting for me in the Keyblade Graveyard, that you were waiting to say something to me."He said, feeling a slightly pain in his chest."He and Vanitas were there..I was too weak to defend myself and I was struck down."His hand reflexively went to his heart."He..he stuck the keyblade in my heart, and just before releasing it, he said you didn't want to be my friend anymore..that you had better things to do than to.."He trailed off."Than to baby me."​

 

Ananta listened to this story and instantly frowned when Kross mentioned Xehanort. As the story progressed, she could feel her heart break into pieces. Reaching her hands up, she placed them on his cheeks tenderly. "No, Kross, don't believe anything that that man has said to you. I'd never call you to a place like that and I'd never, EVER, say such things to you." she frowned, tears attempting to fall down her face. Closing her eyes, lips quivering from how sad this story was, Ananta opened her eyes again and looked at Kross mournfully. "I can promise you, I would never, ever, ever, EVER, say that to you. You're too dear a friend for me to ever find it in my heart to betray your feelings and hurt you like that. Xehanort was just saying those things to get you to falter and join him and his darkness. When you showed resistance, he simply rid you of your heart and made you become this.." she said, her hands holding his face and her own head drooping. "And if I ever have, I hope you know I don't mean to do it. I just, have a hard time realizing the feelings and thoughts of people. That's why when I thought Beuce was the right guy for me, he didn't turn out to be that way. In the end, I'd have been better off choosing a guy as sweet as you. Beuce just...was never happy with me." she said, tears streaming down her cheeks and falling softly to the ground. "I wish I could go back and choose a different person to marry. I'd choose somebody else in an instant...a guy nice to me...a guy who will always look at me with love...." she trailed off.

 

Kross felt her hands on his face and he closed his eyes. He couldn't look at her, not with the shame he felt and the audible wetness in her voice, she was close to tears and he wouldn't put it past himself were he in the same position. The night before the final battle, Beuce has confessed to her and she had accepted him. With a broken heart, there was no way he could have known what Xahenort was up to. He was tricked, and put into a coma..for twenty long years. "I..wasn't the smartest guy in the world back then."He humored dryly."If it meant you were safe, I would have become a heartless."He said, opening his eyes and fixed his gaze on her. He sat up straight and gently took her hands from his cheeks, holding them. he met her gaze as she spoke."Sometimes the person you need the most..is closer than you think."He said. He leaned and gently put his lips on her tear stained cheek. It was all he could do to not give in to his deepest desires, he wanted to be the hope that Ananta needed.​

 

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Gexln was still using his dark thundaga and shooting it at Beuce. "You deserve every bit of this for all your stupid babbling!" he shouted with a somewhat maniacal laugh. Right as the dark thundaga was about to hit, he was suddenly yanked back by his scarf and his arms went up into the air, causing the lightning attack to hit the roof and break a chunk of it, sending it crashing to the ground nearby Beuce.

Gexln was about to turn around and give the person a piece of their mind, but he didn't the moment he heard the voice. After listening to her rant, he could only hear one phrase echoing in his mind.

No murder.

No murder.

NO MURDER.

Turning around quickly, there was only one thing to do. He had to get her to pity him and give him permission to continue the battle, it was his only hope. His eyes got watery and tears could be seen forming in his mind, forcing them to be there. He was going to do the unthinkable, he was going to make himself cry. Try as he might, he just couldn't force the tears to flow, but he could certainly get his eyes teary. "No...no murder? But...but...but why?" he asked quietly, making his voice sound as sad as possible.

 

Ananta had looked back up when Kross said he would rather be a heartless if it meant she was safe. More tears streamed down her face when she heard that, her heart was trying to break. "Kross...don't say that. If you had become a heartless, there was no way you could ever come back, you know that..." she sighed, closing her eyes. She felt her hands being removed from Kross' face and then being held. Her eyes opened as he talked and her eyes widened. His lips touched her salty, tear stained cheeks and she could just feel the warmth and compassion emanating from Kross. Her hand reached up and touched the spot that he kissed, rubbing it gently. She looked at the hand and held it close to her crystal. "Kross, I..." she started, not too sure what to say. "Why did you...just do that?" she asked, not sure how to word it. "I'm a little confused..." she said, looking down at her crystal. "What was...that for? I mean, I appreciate it, but I'm a bit confused..."

 

Kross smiled, here came the questions..he knew she would ask about something like that. He could have lied and called it a 'spur of the moment' thing, but he knew better. This was twenty years of pent up feelings for her, and now it was time she heard HIS confession."Ananta."He started, his eyes looked forward and down, closing."I tried to tell you those twenty years ago..I've been trying to find the right words to tell you all of these years, even in my comatose state.."He trailed off, not wanting to think about it. He looked at her."I spent twenty years roaming my world of darkness, searching for the hope that I can love again."He said. He looked down at their hands."On the night of the final battle..I tried to confess my feelings for you..It broke my heart that you went to Beuce but if it made you happy, I would have given up that happiness."He looked at her."But all these years, you still have my heart, you've had my heart for over twenty years. I love you, Ananta..I always have and the worst part is..I probably always will."He said, As he said this, his vision started blurring, tears threatening to spill. He quickly wiped them away."And after all these years..I'm a grown man and still crying."He humored dryly.​

 

Ananta's cheeks lit up red that spread across her entire face. Her ears even turned red! As she sat there, trying to process what just happened, she couldn't help but feel her heart break from knowing what she had done to Kross. She followed a guy that flirted so much with everyone, confusing her loving him with just being a crush or passing thing, and left Kross in the dust and a broken heart. "I can't imagine how much your heart probably ached..." she said, looking down at her hands that were holding onto his tightly. Trying to find the right words, she stuttered briefly. Instead of saying anything, she thumped her forehead against his and closed her eyes, smiling at him. "Don't worry, Kross. After this war...I want you to prove it all. I want...I want you to make me fall in love with you. I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm just saying I want to see if I can truly love you as much as you love me." she sighed dreamily. "After all, you're a mystic like me. You might be trying to cast a spell on me." she giggled. Leaning past his cheek, she whispered something into his ear and leaned back, smiling. "I'm going to go check on younger Beuce and Glen...supposedly they're fighting from what the Mother Crystal has said." she chuckled, letting go of Kross' hands. "In fact, why not sleep under the Mother Crystal and see if you can talk with her?" Ananta suggested, turning from Kross and heading towards Beuce and Gexln.