Kingdom Hearts; The Light's Keeper

Epilogue; Reconnect

They say that all heroes follow the same story arc. It's always the same, every story you read. No matter what the hero wins. The heroes are always put up against innumerable odds that seem to be impossible to overcome. But no matter what, they do.

All alone in the realm of darkness X found himself wondering, what about the villain?

There was no guide book for a villain. No set story arc. They just had to oppose the hero, in anyway. They could want power, or redemption, or nothing at all. In their eyes, they could be the hero. But they were the ones who lost, every time. Was there ever more to the story? Did every villain come to this place? The place where they could only regret their decisions. Wonder where they went wrong. Wish they could go back and change it all.

Heroes had it easy, X decided. Heroes didn't know the feeling of falling, not really. Watching everything rush by so fast, you can trick yourself you're flying towards the sky. Everything is going your way, and you're invincible. Until you hit the bottom and lose everything in a split second. Until it suddenly dawns on you, that you lost the war before it even started. You never stood a chance. And then, you fall farther than the bottom. Crashing to the ground so fast you don't even know you've hit the earth. And you just keep going. You bury yourself beneath everything. The guilt, the shame, the anger. And eventually you lose the light of the sky entirely and have nothing but the earth around you, welcoming you into darkness. The place they say every villain belonged.

Sure, heroes took that one step that made it impossible for them to go back to normal. But villains, they took a bigger step. They could never return anywhere. They cast themselves out of existence, only to be remembered for losing. For being wrong. And eventually, they would be forgotten, remembered only as the evil queen, or the wicked witch, or the harsh king.

The path of a villain was not set in stone. But their ending was. Their story always left them in the same place. Alone.

It was no more than X felt he deserved. He destroyed so much, everything he touched. At least if he was alone he wouldn't hurt anyone. He could protect everything, if he just stayed away from it. He would exile himself back to where darkness belonged. Hidden away, out of sight. He would only show those who came to him a way to the light, nothing more. No kindness. No power. Just like darkness was said to have done. He would show all others the right way, the heroes journey. The safe journey. The journey that didn't end in despair and guilt.

X yawned leaning back on one of the rocks that faced the ocean. The realm of darkness had been getting weird lately. It was filling up with worlds that had once belonged to the light. But they were falling now. One by one.

X narrowed his cat-like eyes at the sound of the sand crunching. Someone was coming this way. He hadn't seen anyone in the realm of darkness before. Not even Aqua, who he knew wandered this place. He had thought he was alone.

"I don't know who you are, or what you want, but I don't care. Leave." X said calmly looking down with a sigh. He closed his eyes as he waited for the sound of retreating footsteps. Instead the footsteps stopped entirely.

"Such a sore attitude. Shouldn't you at least hear us out?" A lilting voice said. X's eyes snapped open as he turned to face the voice. Behind him was a teenage girl, perhaps a year older than him in appearance. She had bright red hair that fell past her shoulders and bangs that brushed across her forehead. Her bright gold eyes were focused on him playfully. Freckles dotted her pale skin. Beside her was a blonde woman with kind dark blue eyes. Her hair was tied back away from her soft features. Both wore a white hooded coat.