khoc-week

[khoc-week]

Thank you for all the amazing responses! I've already got a lot of ideas brewing.

Hello everyone!!

Kingdom Hearts OC Week 2024 is in it's preliminary planning stages. I'm so excited for it to happen this year and wanted to get some feedback from all of you.

So here are a few questions I have, and if you have an inclination to answer any of them, feel free to reply below or send in an ask!

1. What sort of prompts are you looking for this year?

2. Is there anything you think should change about the event?

3. What is something you enjoy about the event and don't want to change?

4. Any other thoughts about the event?

Thank you for taking the time to read and answer!

[khoc-week]

Hello everyone!!

Kingdom Hearts OC Week 2024 is in it's preliminary planning stages. I'm so excited for it to happen this year and wanted to get some feedback from all of you.

So here are a few questions I have, and if you have an inclination to answer any of them, feel free to reply below or send in an ask!

1. What sort of prompts are you looking for this year?

2. Is there anything you think should change about the event?

3. What is something you enjoy about the event and don't want to change?

4. Any other thoughts about the event?

Thank you for taking the time to read and answer!

#khocweek2024 #kingdom hearts #KHOC

[khoc-week]

Okay, finally feeling better so it's OC Week time!

Prompt 1: Introduction.

From left to right: Zorya, Yoru and then Taiyo. These three are some of many characters in my Kingdom Hearts fic (I'll post it all on Ao3 one day I promise), but these three in particular start off this little serious I'm writing and have a vital connection to the overall main plot and themes. Each of these characters are near and deer to my heart, but I also don't want to give tooo much away (also I'm a bit lazy), so let me just to a brief introduction of these main three.

Zorya: A mysterious girl who seems to be after something; wonderful or terrible, that is yet to be seen. She's stubborn, rude and has a temper to match it, yet those who she allows to come close enough may very well find a soft and kind centre to the seemingly rough and rowdy child. Her eyes also seem to shine with a mysterious glow, though none can tell if this is merely a trick of the light or an indicator of something magical or even inhuman.

Yoru: A gentle soul whose dislike of fighting may sometimes make it hard to pick any particular side. At first, he only really wanted to find his loved ones and bring them all back home, yet, the worlds beyond his own stirs his curiosity. Shocked to discover his home had been "swallowed by darkness", Yoru joins forces with two others close to his own age in search of both answers and a way back home. All the while, he is plagued by the strangest of dreams, yet... he can never seem to recall them upon waking.

Taiyo: A researcher from a distant world. While he does pride himself in the teachings of light; a philosophy that deems light as the superior to darkness, he finds himself wishing for more. Taiyo is in search of one thing: Ansem's Reports. As to why he wants these volumes of knowledge, one could only assume it's due to his curiosity as a researcher, yet who could really say?

[khoc-week]

kh oc week day 6 - one choice, new life

💫🎶✨ @khoc-week

[ with her newfound confidence, harper made the decision to upgrade her keyblade. it may sound small, but it was a big step in her journey to feeling secure in her abilities, no longer feeling weighed down by the former version, star lyre. ]

[khoc-week]

And last, late, but not least, Day 7 of @khoc-week! I made it finally! Thank you to the mods for hosting this event again this year and letting me unhinged about my hoard of keykids for the fourth year in a row.

Day 7 August 7th - Happily Ever After Extra/Cut Content

Some things I just couldn't find a way to mention on the other days, but still wanted to include!

One of Shuttle’s frequent customers was Moki! They were mentioned last year during KHOC Week 2022 as one of the first few people to leave Tagen’s old party. Moki may or may not have had a crush on Shuttle. They are still a regular at the repair shop after, even after Shuttle’s death. They even took the time to check up on Solenoid and Worm Gear while they were recovering from the loss. 

Rin and Aquata go on morning runs together now! They tend to stick to Rin’s favorite route and head for the gardens and lighthouse. 

Solenoid is left-handed!

Rin, Aquata, and Estelle do become a trio!

Rin is Trans! (I couldn't find a good trans flag emoji >:[ )

Solenoid and Worm Gear have no idea where the other one is at the end of the data world.

Shuttle had chocolate valentines for Solenoid and Worm Gear in his flat. Its why he needed to go on the mission with the higher reward. He was a little broke from buying those. 

The patches on Aquata’s dress are the ones Solenoid sewed on! Just a nod to the original avatar parts. 

Shuttle, Solenoid, and Worm Gear split three sets of earrings. So Shuttle had one from Worm Gear, and one from Solenoid, and so on and so forth. 

Estelle has two sisters but rarely sees either. They mostly come around to have her take sides in their arguments and drama. They never really stop by just to check in, or say hello. Estelle is pretty estranged from both of them at this point.

Some songs I associate with Solenoid, Shuttle, and Worm Gear, if You want to take a listen;

Handsome Rouge - S.J. Tucker

Weightless - S.J. Tucker

To My Valentine - S.J. Tucker

Stolen Season - S.J. Tucker

[khoc-week]

So close! Yet still so late!! But here is Day 6 of @khoc-week, and its a long one, too! One more day, just one more!!

Day 6 August 6th - One Choice, New Life 

Some drabbles today about the choices these characters made and the choices of those around them, and most importantly, moving on.

(Warnings for grief, loss, and�� injury)

Worm Gear and Solenoid changed after the day they lost Shuttle. Worm Gear pulled into herself, not willing to see anyone other than her sister or Solenoid. And Solenoid? His heart ached. He could barely bring himself to remember what had happened. Thinking back on memories from before made his chest scream. His flat was filled with nothing but reminder after reminder of his lost friend, of something he could never get back, something that would never be. Most of all, his heart hurt for Worm Gear. Seeing her hurting the way she was, he wanted nothing more than to make everything okay again, to take her pain away, just to have her back too. Rin and Estelle often checked up on them both, making sure they healed from their physical wounds atleast, and grieving with them. 

Daybreak town moved on. 

Rin and Estelle encouraged Solenoid and Worm Gear to come out with them, at least hang out around the town. Solenoid took them up on the offer sooner than Worm Gear did, who was only willing to join them on the rooftops at the end of the day. During one of these outings with Rin and Estelle, that Solenoid was approached by someone who was well acquainted with the work Solenoid and Worm Gear used to do with Shuttle. They had been waiting on a repair for a while now and told Solenoid they would be grateful if it could be finished soon. Their words made something click in Solenoid. How many others were waiting on items that had been put on hold, and just how long had they been waiting? Solenoid apologized and promised to complete the project as soon as he could, before rushing over to Worm Gear’s flat.

Solenoid tried to explain why he needed the tools and projects so suddenly and even asked her to help. However, Worm Gear just wasn't ready to fall back into that familiar day-to-day, the reminder of their friend still too great for her to bear. Solenoid didn't want to go it alone, the thought of not only having lost one friend, but two, ate at him. But so did the thought of someone getting hurt because they were missing something waiting to be repaired. Solenoid left Worm Gear’s flat that day, heart stinging, eyes watering, and carrying as many tools and projects as he could. He made his way back to his place as fast as he could, and against his better judgment, and his Chirithy’s advice, got to work. 

Solenoid tried his best to focus, but his hurt, grief, and frustration weren't helping. He kept rubbing his eyes as best he could without getting other stuff in them, knocking his glasses out of the way and off his face. Whether his hand slipped, or he didn't compensate for his near-sidedness correctly, or something else, when he swung the slightly heated hammer next, it connected with his hand. Pain shot through Solenoid’s bones, all the way down to his wrist. The hammer dropped onto his foot, which thankfully his boots minimized the damage. He clutched his arm, jumping instinctively away from the falling hammer, his back colliding with one of his bookcases. Haphazard stacks of materials wobbled from the impact. He tried to whip around and use his hands to steady everything, only to cry out and sink to the floor, tears running down his cheeks from the pain. 

Worm Gear thankfully burst in right as some of the piles on the bookshelf gave way. She had followed suit not long after Solenoid left her flat. The main delay in her catching up was due to running into Estelle and Rin on the way, who decided to join the chase. Together the three of them unburied Solenoid, got him cleaned up, and Estelle did her best to set and stabilize the broken bones in Solenoid’s fingers. Solenoid choked back his tears as Worm Gear scolded him, asking what he was thinking trying to do such a complicated project alone. It only took her a moment's pause to realize she already had the answer. She didn't say another word, gave Solenoid a soft apologetic look, and got to work on the project where Solenoid had left off. 

Worm Gear spent more and more time over at Solenoid’s flat while he was healing, in case he needed help, and to finish the repairs she could. Solenoid helped keep track of what was finished, and once again roped Estelle and Rin into helping return items to their owners. They did their best not to take on anything new, but even Worm Gear was getting back into the swing of things and had a hard time saying no. Solenoid’s hand healed with time, but not without repercussions. His hand and wrist ached regularly, some days more than others. Three of his fingers were slightly crooked now, but not enough to really hinder him. Mostly it had been so long since he had been on any missions, much less held a keyblade, frankly, his skills were quite rusty. He also found out that casting certain kinds of magic aggravated the aches in his hand. By the time Solenoid was ready to help with repairs again, it seemed things had reached a new normal for them. However, their space to work in was getting a little cramped. Even when Solenoid and Worm Gear put their heads together, neither of them could think of a solution, so they managed the best they could. 

That was until Estelle and Rin’s new friend, Aquata, heard about their struggles. She knew of a mostly empty storefront space on of Daybreak Town’s side streets. It was someplace her old party would hang out on occasion, but it was mostly empty and abandoned. It took them all day, and more than a few trips, but the five of them moved everything from Worm Gear and Solenoids flats that they used for repairs to the new location. Soon enough, they had the little operation up and running. Solenoid kept records, worked on small repairs, detailing, and interacted with people. Worm Gear worked on the more intense repairs and kept materials, tools, and items neat and organized but most importantly kept Solenoid away from the hammers. They even upheld Shuttle’s ‘pay it forward’ philosophy, letting people barter, and exchange skills with each other, sometimes even something as simple as being someone's mission partner for the day. Solenoid would help people coordinate if they wished. 

The shop's reputation was spread only by word of mouth, but that was enough for them. Worm Gear was content working on repairs, Solenoid was happy being the people person up front. Rin, Estelle, and Aquata dropped in often to check on them and help. They eased into the routine. Their new normal.

✦✦✦✦

✩ Bonus! ✩ 

(warnings for toxic/abusive friend groups, toxic/abusive relationships, injury, and near-death experiences)  

Aquata used to be in a party with her, at the time, best friend Scoot. It was a pretty cutthroat party, but the leader, Bastion, just had a way with people. Aquata and Scoot ended up becoming close with the Bastion, and started to work their way up the party hierarchy. Pretty soon they became his right hands. Aquata and Bastion even ended up together, much to Aquata’s surprise as she never thought that Bastion would have eyes for her, and somewhat to Scoot's dismay. 

However, nothing about the party was healthy, but Aquata and Scoot weren't really looking beyond themselves at the time. Maybe they should have questioned more why Bastion took a liking to two newbies so quickly. 

The party had quotas of sorts, to keep them at a good ranking each week. But this meant, if you couldn't meet your quota of lux, or other rewards, you risked being thrown out of the party. Really you only had one chance to really slip up. After that, Bastion would kick you. It didn't really matter to him how hard someone had worked or how much someone had done. Aquata saw plenty of party members come and go because of this, so she never really go attached to anyone other than Bastion, or Scoot. Yeah everyone had their favorites, even Bastion did, but Aquata knew no matter how much of a ‘favorite’ they were, eventually, they would slip enough and be kicked. Aquata and Scoot mostly just went along with it all to stay in Bastion's good graces. After all, they were his seconds in command, they should back his decisions, right?

Over time, Aquata started to notice a few things. One; the lux quotas really didn't apply to Bastion. He loved to show off his lux totals but only put in the effort when someone questioned his leadership or his decisions. Two; Scoot was starting to act a little more jealous on occasion about Aquata’s relationship with Bastion. Aquata did her best to spend time one on one with Scoot, offering to be mission partners or hang out at the end of the day. Scoot was starting to turn her down more and more, saying Aquata should probably ask if Bastion wanted her first, as he was likely to just come ‘steal her away’ anyway. Three; Scoot was starting to excuse Bastion a little more. Even if they stayed out of his way when making decisions about the party, Aquata and Scoot would keep him somewhat in check in other places. However, Scoot was letting more and more things slide, using the excuse it was ‘just the way he was’. 

As the distance grew between her and Scoot, Aquata started to feel as if her friend was trying to get her thrown out of the party. She would ask a question, or invite someone to join her on a mission, and Scoot would make a snide comment about her slacking, and trying to make someone else fill her quota for her. It wasn't often, but Aquata noticed it more when Bastion was around to hear. And he definitely noticed. 

Aquata needed to leave.

Except.. Where would she go? Who would she turn to outside of the party? 

Aquata spent some time walking on eggshells and taking on more missions by herself. She ended up pushing herself harder and harder, in order to make sure Scoot couldn't really make any more comments, or draw Bastion's ire. And this worked, atleast for a while. Sooner or later it had to all come crashing down. 

It was one of the rare times Aquata, Scoot, and Bastion were out on a mission together. It was a particularly tough mission to Enchanted Dominion, probably tougher than the three of them should have been taking on alone. But ‘high risk, high reward’ as Bastion had put it. He hadn't really left room for debate. The heartless were plenty and fierce, and by the time they neared the target, Aquata was definitely feeling the exhaustion in her limbs. 

The group ran into another cluster of heartless, and a battle broke out. Aquata pushed her tired muscles into action, swiftly defending herself from a heartless that lunged at her. The idea of their reward being so close keeping Aquata going. Suddenly, Bastion dodged to the right, leaving an opening in front of Aquata, letting a heartless crash right into her. She was knocked back, tumbling across the ground with the monster and into Scoot, who let out an angry shout. Scoot recovered quickly, reacting to the heartless and scrambling away, telling Aquata she could handle it. 

Aquata did her best to get to her feet as the heartless started to recover in front of her. However, one of her legs gave out, leaving her once again in the dirt. The heartless must have collided claw first with her, because her dress was pretty torn, and she was bleeding from both claw punctures and scrapes from the tumble. She let out a shriek as the heartless locked its eyes on her, and jumped. 

When she came to, she felt a mix of burning pain and cold numbness. She was face down on the ground, and the iron tang of blood was thick in the air. Thats when she heard it, the voices of Scoot and Bastion somewhere near her. Her mind was hazy, but she could swear she heard Scoot telling someone ‘good job’ before Bastion asked where she was. Aquata couldn't speak, had no energy to move, couldn't let them know ‘I’m over here!’ However, barely a moment had passed before she heard the crunching of footsteps approaching. She felt a boot ungracefully kick her side, before rolling her all the way over. Aquata squeezed her eyes with what energy she had at the pain, her consciousness fading. Despite that, what Bastion said next burned in Aquata’s mind.

‘Huh. Guess she couldn't handle it. C’mon, lets go.’

Aquata can't recall anything after that.

Rin and Estelle thankfully found Aquata in time, and hauled her back to Estelle’s flat. Estelle worked to heal Aquata’s wounds and Rin worked with Solenoid to patch Aquata’s dress. There was one final confrontation between Aquata and her old party. At first, Aquata was upset, all set to find Bastion and Scoot, and yell at them for leaving her. But Bastion didn't seem to care that she was actually alive, acting as casual as ever. Scoot pulled her aside, told her not to worry about Bastion, that he was ‘just being Bastion’, and Aquata knew how he was. Scoot even apologized on his behalf. 

Aquata let it all go and walked away. Rin and Estelle welcomed her with open arms, and Aquata hasn't ever really looked back.

[khoc-week]

@khoc-week day 4 - Alphabet prompts - Battle

This time, I'd like to focus on Stephen, so let us begin!

Stephen is an artist key kid. And this translates into his battle abilities.

In particular, he has a fondness for colourful attacks that cover a wide area (think armoured Ventus nightmares attacks but colourful).

Well, that's all that I have for today. Do let me know if you have any questions for today. Cheers y'all!

[khoc-week]

It's ok to be a teensy bit late! Aww it's so fun to see the gang all together. Thank you so much for taking part this year!

Day Seven: Happily Ever After

KH oc week is hosted by @khoc-week thanks for coming along with me on the bumpy ride! I forgot to post this yesterday so late it is lol

#khocweek #khocweek2023 #kingdom hearts

[khoc-week]

Oh it's so beautiful 😍

Look at those colors and how happy they are! Perfect happy ending.

@neragranic finished another beautiful commission of my Kingdom Hearts OC Sol and Ienzo! This drawing was to coincide with the last day of @khoc-week, "Happily Ever After". After all the hardship Sol and Ienzo endured, they celebrate being together again by dancing at a ball ❤

@roxycake @hilli98215 @maidenofbagend @storyweaverofgondor @tending-the-hearth @madcatgurl

#kingdom hearts #khocweek2023

[khoc-week]

And that’s a wrap!

Kingdom Hearts OC Week 2023 is officially done and dusted. 

We want to give a huge thank you to every single one of you. This year’s event was incredible from beginning to end. There have been so many stories, illustrations, and support from every corner. So thank you all for taking part and making this event so wonderful. 

Also a shout out to the mods! This year @amyhayanora​ handled all of the graphics. She went above and beyond with all the adorable chibis on the countdowns and even with these paopu fruit today. And then @hinataoc​ handled the commenting and curating over Tumblr and Twitter! We were overjoyed to put this event on this year. 

Now comes the time to say goodbye for now. We’ll be back next year, same time, and we are already looking forward to seeing your wonderful characters again!

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

#kingdom hearts #khocweek2023

[khoc-week]

Awww! These pieces are just so sweet. Seeing the connections, the old and the new. It's wonderful to see!

Thank you so much for taking part this week. It's been lovely!

Day 7: Happy ever after (See You again)

From the bottom of their hearts maybe they were separated by reincarnations but... They know That their hearts are Connected in dreams, Making this a long path to reunated.

Only in dreams? For them is not.

But also begins a new Friendship with some all faces

"Those eyes don't fit You luxia"

Even more harder feeling can be since to foward

"Hey give me back My hat!"

Small time can pass by but that doesn't mean that their were giving enough to how the are turn into bigger memories

"We may see eachother another time but I'm happy to Say that glad that are with me again"

.

.

.

@khoc-week

- This is nat! I so glad that I have been able to draw this much of this Game! This bring SO much nostalgia and heartbeats from drawing back a little ship! I know My writting can be a mess but I wanted to try My Best! Hope that You guys like it!! And all of You have wounderful art and stories of their Oc's!! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

#khocweek2023 #kingdom hearts

[khoc-week]

I love that Estelle is musically gifted. I imagine she sounds absolutely lovely. ❤️ All of them are so unique!

D-day uh… 5? yeah! Day 5 of @khoc-week! (Im running a few days behind! its fiiiine!) I changed this prompt up a little bit, and sorta went back to one from a previous year. I miss khux’s medal animations sometimes… ANYWAY!

Day 5 August 5th - Light or Darkness Equipment and Skills, Powers and Weaknesses

✏Worm Gear

Worm Gear likes power and magic medals, particularly those that feature a barrage of fire. She will use both magic-based and power-based keyblades, having no preference for upright or reversed medals. While Worm Gear is decently skilled when it comes to magic, she does tend to rely on more melee attacks, having had a few bad backfires with medal casting. She has a few faint scars from casting mishaps, but she hasn’t ever been injured too terribly.

Worm Gear knows some basic cooking skills and basic first aid. She cannot hold a candle to Rin, or Estelle in either of those but she feels they are both still skills worth having. Worm Gear also has very exceptional organizational skills, however, that comes after years of habitual practice, to help her in her own life. While Worm Gear is great with metal work, and woodworking, she has to take her time with it, as she doesn’t have a visual imagination. She likes to get the job done right, and would rather take her time to do it right the first time, even if it doesn’t go as fast as some would like. Unlike her sister, Worm Gear rather likes hiking, finding it a good way to de-stress on a down day and get away from everything. 

✏Shuttle

Shuttle has no real keyblade, or medal preference, being more of a ‘right tool for the job’ kind of person. He is rather fond of medals that have some spectacular magic, or even involve a lot of movement when casting. He is pretty decent at both medal casting and melee attacks, and will use a mix of both in battle. 

Shuttle loves woodworking, and is a pretty decent carpenter. He can cook, but cannot bake or cook pasta without burning it. He is pretty mediocre at forging, mostly doing patches and some more basic work. He leaves the more complicated metal work up to Worm Gear. Shuttle definitely has a hard time telling people no, and will work himself to the bone just to make others happy. He’s been getting better about this, but it’s still hard for him. In his spare time, Shuttle likes to weld spare objects together and make weird sculptures!

✏Solenoid

Solenoid has a preference leaning towards keyblades that boost power and at one point magic, often seen wielding Treasure Trove, with no real medal preference except for boost medals on the rare occasion. While he has never been the best when it comes to keyblade skills, he has enough knowledge to let him fend decently for himself. Solenoid broke his hand sometime after Shuttle’s death, leading to him not going on missions or wielding a keyblade for some time while his hand healed. His skills became quite rusty during this time period. Even now that the bones in his fingers have mended, he experiences chronic pain due to the injury, and the feeling of certain types of magic rushing through his fingertips can aggravate this. Solenoid now avoids using magic when he can for this reason. 

Solenoid is an excellent cook, and can even cook some meals with only one hand, having been forced to adapt for a period of time, and his friend not being the greatest cook out there. He also loves to bake, and would regularly bake his friends things, even making high-protein versions for when Shuttle and Worm Gear wouldn’t want to stop working to eat something more. Solenoid loves to do more delicate, intricate work, loving the fine stitching of clothing and plushies, and repairing jewelry. However, he has to take breaks when working for more than an hour or so at a time. He is near-sided and doesn’t like the way he looks in glasses, so he isn’t used to wearing them all the time. This causes him to get a headache if he works for long stretches at a time. Technically he should be wearing his glasses for most of the day, and doing most tasks, but Solenoid feels he’s winged it this long, what’s a little longer!

Keep reading

#khocweek2023 #kingdom hearts

[khoc-week]

Oh noooo poor things 😭 That is such an upsetting ending, but a very realistic one. I still have hope that maybe someday things can change and the darkness can be stopped!

@khoc-week

Happily ever after?

I Think not.

Honestly still not sure where the story i have is going. But i think that Faye would find Kane and want to challenge his view points become a friend of sorts. But the darkness can’t have that and would have no choice but to get Faye out of the city of aurora.

It’s not a happily ever after for Faye at all having been taken away to new worlds

But a happily ever after for darkness taking Kane over completely and winning over the city that thy lived in and protected all this time.

#kingdom hearts #khocweek2023

[khoc-week]

Aww that was so much fun to hear from Ciel! And he has absolutely earned his happy ending! I'm so glad him and Strel get to be together ❤️

Thank you for taking part this year!

The Final Day

The last day of @khoc-week is about Happily Ever Afters. Ciel has earned his happy ending by the end of KH3's events. While he still has Skuld's whereabouts to deal with, Ciel succeeds in bringing back Lauriam and Elrena with the assistance of Sora. Furthermore, he prevented Sora from being trapped in Quadratum with the use of a trick he learned. Well, he has a date night that's long overdue, so he's off. But before we head off before the next year, here's the man- er, Miqo'te of the hour to give a heartfelt speech. Take it away, Ciel!

Ciel: Finally. A chance to actually talk. I enjoyed being able to see other people like me. My creator doesn't mind if I visit other worldlines or hang out with your characters (Just ask him first out of courtesy. Most of the time he'll say yes as long as I'm not in an uncomfortable position!), considering I'm in a work that is co-written by him. If anything, I sorta like these moments of peace when I'm not doing anything in my story. Well, I gotta go. Strelitzia's waiting for me. See you guys next year!

Thank you for the kind words, Ciel!

#khocweek2023 #kingdom hearts

[khoc-week]

Awww! They make the sweetest family! I'm so glad they all get to be together.

Thank you for taking part this year!

@khoc-week Day 7 - Happily Ever After

Lelandess and her future children for this prompt, goes to show even those who have been dealt bad hands in life can live happily ever after!

#khocweek2023 #kingdom hearts

[khoc-week]

Awww that really is bittersweet 🥺 I am so happy a part of her lives on. Even in a different form.

Thank you so much for taking part this week!!

Kh oc week

day 7 - bittersweet ending

even the smallest remnant of her was worth cherishing to them, so when Saffron was able to salvage a piece from the dissipating nobody it brought at least a tiny comfort to their mourning

they will never get the same Aronia back, her humanoid form lost indefinitely. But they will love this one all the same.

once a lightbringer always a lightbringer

@khoc-week thank you guys for hosting this again, y’all are amazing :)

#kingdom hearts #khocweek2023

[khoc-week]

Oh this is beautiful 🥺 such a lovely alternate ending for Solana! I absolutely love her companionship with the other Apprentices.

Thank you so much for taking part this week!

Hard to believe it’s the last day already - I’ve had a lot of fun with this challenge, and all the thanks to the mod for hosting it!!

Alright so I’m using this one as an addendum to my AU day entry, because unfortunately none of my keykids get happy endings in canon so I can at least give Etheria one via her reincarnation. This is a snippet of the ideal post-canon a ways in the future, after whatever bs MoM and Darkness are about to throw at us next.

Admittedly the fact that Solana’s happily ever after is nerding over science with the apprentices is highly amusing to me. All the other wielders are avoiding touching science with a ten foot pole, meanwhile Solana is deep diving into how worlds exist with Ienzo. Granted Solana’s role is usually field work and diving into questionable tears in universe to collect data and find out what happens, but they do their share of trying to hunt through the absolute disaster that is Even’s notes to find one piece of data that proves their point about a theory.

Granted the best way to protect the universe is to know how it works, so maybe it’s not that weird.

@khoc-week Day 7: Happily Ever After

Solana opened her eyes to find sunlight streaming in through the open curtains at the foot of the bed, lighting the room with a soft mid-morning glow. She turned and skimmed a hand over the bed behind her, and let out a groan of disappointment to find it empty. Not that she was at all surprised - unlike her, Ienzo was a disgusting early riser - but it did mean she didn’t have an excuse to stay in bed.

It was with grumbling that she dragged herself out of bed and through her morning routine, slipping from the room once dressed to hunt down coffee and breakfast in the kitchen.

“Oh, so you are up before noon today,” was her greeting the moment she entered.

“Is that so surprising? And a good morning to you too, Dilan.”

The man inclined his head towards some cooling pastries on the counter, kneading the dough in front of him with a particular force that indicated that he was extremely irritated about something and working out his temper on the food, again. Not that she was in the least bit complaining about his temper-baking when it meant fresh food. “Given the time and state you were in when you returned last night I expected it to be mid-afternoon before you made an appearance.”

Ah, that was fair.

Solana sighed, snagging a chocolate-filled pastry on her way to the coffee machine. “Yes well, I was home before midnight at least, and Even was as efficient as ever with healing magicks. Had I gone to Aerith she likely would have ensured that I would be.”

The man snorted, some of the tension leaving his shoulders in humor. “That she would have. You got the data they needed, I take it?”

“Some of it. Even being at the heart of the distortion, though, I’m still not sure what we’re looking at. Ienzo is theorizing that it’s a new world forming somehow, but Even and Ansem are skeptical. I figured that once they had the data analyzed and organized we’d get you and Aeleus to weigh in, maybe call the Wayfinder quartet in.”

“You know that isn’t our area - we all studied the heart, but world hearts are an entirely separate matter than human ones. I doubt we’d have much input. The wielders of the Land of Departure are your better bet. Or you could ask Braig.”

“And owe Luxu a favor? Hell no. He’d hold it over me forever, the bastard.”

Dilan shook his head, reaching for the bowl of cream to the side. “I don’t understand your relationship. He’s an obnoxious bastard at the best of times - though less so than Xigbar, thankfully - but he doesn’t needle anyone else the way he does you.”

“That’s because we have multiple lives of different relationships,” Solana mumbled around her bite of food. “As Luxu he was a distant observer who kicked my ass out of curiosity once in the middle of the first Keyblade War, but didn’t directly involve himself in anything. As Bragi he was a close friend, almost as much so as Eraqus, and we tended to drag him into trouble a lot and he complained but never refused. And then I thought he died and it was my fault and it sucked. And my relationship with Xigbar was self explanatory - he was an asshole who did nothing but get under my skin and taunt me about Roxas and Ven, and then I killed him and he came back and continued to do it until he finally dropped the act and admitted to being Luxu. And the whole host of issues that brought. And even once it was mostly over, the shared understanding of being the two main pawns of the Master of Masters and having our lives destroyed and rebuilt over and over to serve the goal…” Solana shrugged, snagging a spoon to stir the cream and sugar into the steaming coffee. “It’s complicated. We don’t hate each other, after everything, but he’s… somewhere between annoying cousin and asshole older brother.”

Dilan shook his head. “I reiterate that I do not understand it, and I don’t want to. He still would have the best idea as to what we’re looking at.”

“Then Even can ask him, or Ienzo. I’ll go hunt down the Wayfinders instead.” She stepped over to the sink to wash the spoon and her hands, then snagged the coffee on her way out. “Anyway, I’m heading to the lab. Lemme know if you want to spar later.”

He grunted in affirmation and she headed down the halls.

Many corners and stairs later she finally reached the main lab and it was in exactly as much of a chaotic mess as she’d expected. Books and papers scattered everywhere, the whiteboard they’d added to the opposite wall covered in calculations and formulas that she was definitely not awake enough to try to try to try to decipher. Especially given that half of them were clearly incomplete and had just been tested as theoretical until they failed.

Judging by his his shadowed eyes and frantic waving of his arms, Even hadn’t slept and had been drinking coffee consistently for several hours straight again. Ansem was nodded along to what he was saying in a familiar way that spoke to the fact that he’d been tuning out what Even was ranting about in favor of his own thoughts for a couple of hours now. Ienzo was ignoring them both as he did… something… on the computer.

Given he was using all six screens they’d long ago expanded to and each one was showing completely different things related to worlds and their hearts, she suspected that he was chasing his original theory.

Ducking around Even’s flailing arm - and dodging his sudden reach for her coffee when he caught sight of it, sticking her tongue out at him - she walked over to lean against the desk next to Ienzo. “Any progres?.”

“Yes. I’m convinced now, actually, though Even still thinks I’m making wild assumptions with no backup data-”

“You’ve yet to give me any data, so I see no reason to change my perspective!”

“I am working on it Even. You are the one that taught me to be thorough and enunciative in any and all arguments I make regarding a theory. Give me time to properly compile my data and formulate a solid theory.”

“For a working theory yes, but for the initial premise a solid hypothetical is all that’s required-”

“That is not what you said the first time a pitched a theory-”

Solana shook her head with a smile, tuning out their bickering with the ease of years of practice as she leaned forward and scrolled through the data of the closest screen. It was talking about - oh, it was data from Castle Oblivion, and how the castle had recreated the worlds it pulled from within peoples’ memories.

“Is your theory that it’s a completely new world, or one that’s just reforming much later than any of the others for some reason?” she asked, interrupting the argument.

Ienzo blinked, focusing back on her and away from Even. “That it’s a new one. As far as we are aware, there’s no reason any world wouldn’t have begun its reformation process from the moment that the myriad worlds were recreated from the Dandelions’ light when the first Keyblade War tore the world asunder. Some took longer than others to reform, yes, and there are some small few even now that aren’t wholly recomplete, but they all should have begun in that instant.”

“What about the ones the Seeker of Darkness or the Organization destroyed?”

He shook his head. “Those were returned to their previous state when you and the King sealed the door to the Dark Ream at the end of your first journey, subsequent to your defeat of the Seeker. None of them would have been left behind with the door closed.”

“I see,” she murmured. “That makes sense. Why this, then?”

Ienzo followed her line of sight and made a noise of understanding. “Because it is the closest we have to the formation of a world in a controlled environment. I’m comparing the formulations of them in Castle Oblivion to those found in the datascapes we have, to see if there are any common denominators that we can use to draw connections with our current dilemma.”

“What about Pooh’s book? You’re the one who created it, didn’t you? Couldn’t you look at that, as well?”

“A well-thought connection, but unfortunately no. Given the nature of the book - as well as that of Tron’s world, as a matter of fact - its formation is of a completely different nature that is… well, unnatural, essentially. Artificial worlds can and often do have hearts, but those hearts are often tied to the medium that the world is created from. That is to say- well, the book is a world, but it is also simply a book. If the physical book is damaged or destroyed, so too is the entire world. Likewise, Tron’s world is a world but it is also simply ones and zeroes and electricity stored on bits of metal and plastic in the physical servers of our computers. Most worlds are… more than their physical shell - even if something happens to the physicality of the world, it can be recreated so long as the heart is intact to recreate it from. However I’m… not sure the same could be said of Pooh’s or Tron’s world. Not exactly.” He shrugged. “That is, admittedly, merely my theory on the matter. It’s not something we ever knew to test - likely for the better. As it is, since we have no data on the matter, attempting to use them as control variables to formulate a hypothesis on our new distortion is as likely to corrupt the theory as it is to clarify it.”

“A line of thought to look into later, however,” Ansem noted, he and Even joining them at the computer to look at Ienzo’s data. “Having such a blind spot regarding two worlds directly under our responsibility is a danger I hadn’t considered. Although you did create the book,” he glanced to Ienzo, “would you not know the answer?”

Ienzo shook his head. “I was too young when I created it to have fully comprehended the process. A great deal of its creation was drawn from emotion and subconscious magic - feeling trapped by circumstance and lonely as the only child in the castle, combined with my natural talent for illusion magic, it reacted with my subconscious will and created a bright, cheerful place where I was free to play with friends without expectation.” He shrugged a bit self-consciously, even though Solana had known this for years. She set a hand on his shoulder and rubbed her thumb across it reassuringly. “Had I attempted to create it purposely, with full knowledge and control of what I was doing, it likely would have taken on a very different form and wouldn’t have gained the heart that it did. That does mean, however, that I can’t say with certainty what the process was and likely wouldn’t be able to recreate it even if I did.”

That made sense, though it was clearly disappointing to all three of them.

Solana bumped against Ienzo affectionately, drawing his attention. “Well, we can look into it and see what we find. Maybe you’ll have an epiphany. As for this…” She sent a long glance at the computers. “Want me to call in the Wayfinders, get their thoughts in general whether it’s for Ienzo’s theory or Even’s paranoia that its some unknown new enemy?”

“It’s an incredibly valid concern given your luck, Sora.”

“I’m not discrediting the concern!”

Ansem cleared his throat. “Their advisement would be appreciated, yes, as would the Dandelions’. I sent word to Mickey already as well.”

Solana hummed in acknowledgement. “I’ll send them a call, then, ask them to swing by. Hopefully this doesn’t turn into something that has our entire force of wielders running around saving the worlds again…”

“Doubtful, though I suppose we can’t dismiss it out of hand,” Ienzo sighed, then shooed her off. “Allow me a few more our to consolidate my theory, and Even to make a list of his potential concerns. It will give the others time to get here.”

“I go and collect data for you directly from the source, risking life and limb, and this is the treatment I get,” Solana bemoaned, placing a hand over their heart as they leaned back. “I see how it is, a mere tool in your hands.”

“Well so long as you understand, get to it,” Ienzo quipped with a smile as he focused back on the screens.

“Wow, okay, good to know. Love you too.” She stuck her tongue out at him and slipped from the room as Even let out a loud sigh at their antics and Ansem chuckled.

She headed outside to the upper walls, looking out over the entirety of Radiant Gardens - with a wave to Aeleus as she passed - and hopped up to dangle her legs over the side as she made the call to Ven.

When he didn’t pick up on the first two rings she focused inward and gave a sharp tug at his heart’s connection to get his attention.

He picked up on the next ring with a disgruntled, “Was that really necessary?”

“You weren’t answering! What if it had been important?”

“Then you would have started by reaching out to my heart.”

“Bleghhhh.”

“I’m gonna hang up on you if you don’t watch it,” he teased, and she heard the whistling wind through the speaker that spoke to the height he was at. “So what’s just important enough that you’re too impatient for a text? Aqua’s trying to rope me into helping with a glider lesson.”

“Oh, then you should be happy to dip and come to Radiant Gardens to look at some of they data on a weird distortion we just found in the center of an empty patch of space.”

“A distortion?”

“Oh that sounds just great. What’s trying to kill us all this time?” A new voice came over the speaker, a bit farther than Ven’s.

“Don’t say that, Vanitas. Maybe we’ll be lucky this time and it won’t be an enemy.”

“Yeah, and maybe the sky will turn pink and the clouds will turn into cotton candy.”

Solana snorted. “We’re asking you guys’ opinions to try and figure out what it is. Even’s as paranoid as Vani, but Ienzo is theorizing that a new world is forming.”

There was a pause on the other end before they responded. “Huh…” Ven said. “That would be something.”

“We’ll let the others know, and head your way once we can convince Aqua that the kids won’t set the whole place on fire the second we’re off-world.”

“Once Terra does, you mean. She’s stopped listening us when we tell her to trust the kids. Y’know, after you covered for them when they summoned some heartless to use as test dummies.”

“It was good practice, and I was supervising!”

“Yeah well, she didn’t think they were advanced enough to be using that level of darkness-”

The line cut off and Solana shook her head with a small grin. Listening to the antics of the new generation of wielders in the making was always amusing, but it didn’t make her want to take on students any more than it had several years ago when the Wayfinders had first - mostly through accidental child acquisition - started training new wielders.

Kairi found it hilarious that they kept finding kids who needed help who just so happen to have the aptitude to be wielders, while Xion and Riku found it fitting.

Solana, Ven, Vani, and Roxas took the more cynical assumption that the universe was meddling again, but it didn’t change the fact that they weren’t just going to abandon the kids who needed a place to call home. Besides, the Wayfinder and Dandelions trios were taking most of the teaching responsibility, with the others swinging by the Land of Departure to help occasionally. Solana was counting down the days before Riku and Kairi caved and took the couple of kids who were basically their apprentices by this point, and Isa had already resigned himself to Lea and Skuld eventually adopting a few and bringing them home to Twilight Town for them all to train. Namine was already in the Land of Departure more often than not helping with some of the shier kids, but it was a question of whether she’d cave and move there permanently.

Vanitas and Strel had already warned Solana that Aqua, Lauriam, and Riku was teaming up to try and convince her to take on an apprentice, so that was going to be a fun responsibility to try and dodge…

Maybe she’d take on one eventually, but she really didn’t think taking on a kid to learn from her and all her issues was a good idea.

The world didn’t need another person with a habit of martyring themself for it.

Unlike Ven, Strel was as ever a sweetheart who picked up on the first ring. “Hi Solana, is everything alright?”

“I’d ask why everyone always assumes that there’s a problem, but I guess it’s self-explanatory.”

“Given you only ever call when there is a problem, it is, yes,” Lauriam answered before Strelitzia could. “If it’s not an immediate crisis you just send a text. Or a Kingstagram.”

Well okay, that was true. “Yes yes, point taken. In this case we’re not sure it’s actually a problem, just an unknown… thing… that we’re trying to identify. It’s an unknown distortion in a patch of empty space, so we’re calling around to see if anyone has an idea of what it could be. Even is paranoid and thinks it’s going to be a problem, but Ienzo thinks it might be a world forming.”

“A new world forming?” Strel asked, curious. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen something like that.”

“No, we haven’t. As much as I hate to agree with Even about anything, given past experience it’s more likely to be an enemy we haven’t had the misfortune of discovering yet.” Solana could almost hear Lauriam’s grimace. “We have some students on a mission at the moment, but we can have it completed and begin heading that way in a few hours.”

Solana shrugged, though they couldn’t see it. “There’s no rush, it’s changing so slowly that it will likely be a couple of weeks before we see any change at all.”

“Weeks on one world is hours on another,” Lauriam countered pointedly. “We’re on a slow moving world at the moment, so if we lose track of the standard time we’ve set up it might be that long. I’d rather not take chances, after everything.”

“We’ll try to make it quick,” Strel assured both of them. “Elrena you heard all that?”

“Unfortunately, yeah. Ugh, this had better not turn into another disaster or I’m going to be pissed.” Her voice grew farther away, addressing the student. “Alright, let’s wrap this up and head back to the castle, we’ve got stuff to do apparently!”

“Ah- we’ll be there as soon as we can, Etheria!” Strel said hurriedly, the sound of her scrambling to her feet echoing from the phone. “Be careful, okay? We tend to have bad luck with these things, so don’t get hurt! Bye!”

“Seconded,” Lauriam sighed. “Don’t go rushing off on your own.”

The call cut off and Solana snorted. Best not to tell them she’d already done her own investigation and gotten caught up in the celestial version of a hurricane combined with a whirlpool, then.

“Bit late for that, from what I saw.”

Solana pointedly didn’t jump at the voice suddenly right behind her. “Eavesdropping is intrusive, you know.”

“What can I say? It’s a force of habit.” Braig hopped onto the wall next to her and sat with a sigh. “Wasn’t on purpose this time, if it makes you feel better - I came to talk to you.”

“About?”

He sent her a look with a raised brow. “C’mon, is there really any reason to play dumb?”

“I’m not, just wondering what there is to talk about it. Unless you’re here to validate either Ienzo or Even’s theories.”

“As if - don’t have enough information for that.”

Etheria sent him a glance. “So you don’t know either?”

“I’m not omniscient, you know. That was the Master.”

“He wasn’t either, in the end.” Though that was besides the point. “What do you think about their theories, then?”

“Well they’ve both got merit, can’t deny that, but that’s no surprise given who we’re dealing with. Too early to say, but I can’t say I’ve ever watched a world come into being either. Seen the aftermath, of reawakened worlds and new worlds both, but never seen the process.”

That made sense - it wasn’t like he’d have had a reason to be watching that particular quirk of the universe. “So we’ll just have to hope there are some records remaining at the Land of Departure that the Wayfinders or Dandelions have noticed.”

“Guess so.” They were quiet for a few minutes, watching the people moving around like ants in the city below. “Looking forward to finding out?”

“Aren’t I always?”

He barked out a laugh. “Fair enough. Adventurer’s heart and all that. New world would be nicer than a new monster, though.”

“Definitely. I’m tired of fighting wars to protect the universe.”

“You and me both.”

“Gonna get the Twilight Town group here too, since you’re getting everyone else together?”

“I don’t want to get everyone involved, that’s just asking for trouble. I’ll tag them and Riku and Kairi in if it does turn out to be trouble.”

“Too late for that, I bet. If the wayfinders didn’t let them know then I’ll bet Ienzo did. He likes keepin’ people in the loop.”

… dammit.

“Monster it is,” she sighed, pushing herself to her feet.

He laughed, twisting to hop down onto the walkway. “C’mon, gotta keep optimistic. Just ‘cause everyone’s involved doesn’t mean it’s gonna go wrong. Just look forward to the new adventure.”

“You say that like I’m not cursed,” she shot back dryly, hopping down next to him and leading the way back inside. “But sure, maybe things will go right this time and it’ll be a fun adventure.”

“See, that’s the spirit!” He clapped her on the back, then teleported them both back to the lab as she stumbled and nearly went sprawling over a table.

She caught herself and rounded on him. “LUXU!”

He cackled and vanished with a wave as Even groaned loudly. “Good luck on your project, kid! Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.”

“I’m going to kill him. Again.”

Ienzo sighed. “Please don’t, his input could be useful.”

“Not that useful,” she grumbled, righting herself. “I let everyone at the Land of Departure know the situation, they’ll be heading over once the Dandelions finish up a mission and the kids are all properly lectured about behaving themselves.”

He nodded. “I contacted everyone in Twilight Town and Destiny Islands to let them know the situation, in case it turns out that I’m wrong and Even is correct about it being an enemy. I doubt it, but we can’t discount the possibility.”

Even grumbled under his breath as he hunched over the scribbles on the table and Solana bit back a snicker. “Got it. Hopefully it’s not an enemy and this doesn’t turn into a fight.”

Well, they could hope.

But as the others began arriving and throwing around theories and jokes, Solana found the slight hint of dread clutching at their chest beginning to fade. Because even if it was an enemy, it couldn’t be anything more dangerous than they’d fought before. Nothing worse than what they’d taken down together previously.

Besides, it was hard to be worried when the lab was loud and crowded with friends laughing and bickering. With Ienzo leaning forward over the desk clearly trying to ignore Isa, and Xion snooping at the screens over his shoulder with their own suggestions. With Ven and Vanitas telling Riku, Kairi, and Namine a story about some of their students with nearly identical mischievous grins - clearly baiting Aqua who was pointedly trying to ignore them as she and Terra went over some of the notes Ansem was showing them. With Even frowning thoughtfully and Dilan rolling his eyes as Braig leaned on Even’s shoulder to talk about whatever he was pointing at on the notes as Aeleus nodded in agreement. With Lea and Elrena sniping at each other, leaning in with vicious scowls, as Skuld and Lauriam shook their heads and Strel tried to decide whether to intervene or let them get it out of their systems.

It was loud and chaotic.

It was everything she’d been fighting for, for so long.

Those she loved, and the lingering memories of those who had died to bring this to fruition.

It was home, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

#khocweek2023 #kingdom hearts