Entry tags:
Crossover Fic: Awakenings (Chapter 1)
Title: Awakenings
Author:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
way2dawn
Characters/Pairings: Shinji, Roxas, Quatre, ensemble. Various yaoi and het pairings.
Rating: PGish
Summary: Post-KH2. Crossover with Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gundam Wing, and FF7: Advent Children; familiarity with all source media is not necessary. Post-End of Evangelion, anime timeline, but with some elements from the manga. Post-series Gundam Wing, no-movie AU. When Shinji Ikari met the three strange teens with mysterious weapons called Keyblades, he didn’t expect that he would be able to wield one as well, nor did he expect to be taken on a journey to various worlds, stopping the threat of the Heartless and finding the Awakened. For a boy who only wants to be at peace, how will he deal with this strange new set of circumstances? When the threads of the past interweave with the events of the present, what future will he make?
A/N: Many thanks to my two lovely betas,myth and cozzybob. This idea has been rolling around in my head for a very long time. This is the Kingdom Hearts universe told from an outsider’s point of view, so familiarity with the games is not necessary, although there will be spoilers for at least KH1 and KH2. This entire fic was plotted out before BBS or Coded came out in Japan.
Prologue
Awakenings
Chapter 1
The boy known as Ikari Shinji was sitting on the sand, his legs stretched out in front of him, leaning slightly back with his weight on his hands. He was staring out at the ocean, the only sounds of the world being the orange waves lapping quietly on the shore. Beside him, Asuka was laying down, seemingly asleep with her eyes closed and coppery hair fanned out around her head. It was always a little strange seeing her like this, compared to when he’d shared an apartment with her and Misato-san in the now-empty city; she was always so quiet now, and even when she was awake, she would barely talk to him. Shinji frowned at the thought, but… it was only a natural response, after all that’d happened. He contemplated falling asleep as well, as much to take his mind off of things as the lack of much else to do other than look at the memorials he had made or forage for more edible plants. But just as he was about to lay down, he heard a distant noise from the other side of the rocks.
“I thought you said there would be people here, Kairi.”
“They’ve got to be here, Riku, we just haven’t found them yet.” Were those voices Shinji was hearing, or was it just another wishful dream that he and Asuka were not alone anymore?
“This place is empty, you guys. I don’t think anyone’s here.” They were voices that he was hearing.
“Oh, not you, too, Sora. Look, I just know that someone’s here, okay? Just trust me on this.” And the voices seemed to be getting closer! Shinji turned his head towards the rocks just in time to see three teens climbing over them, the first a redheaded girl in a short, pink dress. She was followed by a spiky-haired brunet boy in an unzipped hooded jacket and black shorts with many belts, and a taller, silver-haired boy in a vest and jeans.
The girl and boys seemed as shocked to see Shinji as he was to see them, but the girl quickly recovered and began running towards him. Startled by her sudden movement, Shinji scrambled backwards and to his feet, accidentally bumping against Asuka in the process, waking her roughly as he stood on the uneven sand.
“W-who are you?” Shinji asked the girl, unable to keep the shaking out of his voice, fists clenched awkwardly at his sides. He saw Asuka stand up beside him in his periphery, but didn’t keep his eyes off the three strangers, the two boys having caught up to the girl and standing on either side of her.
“Hello, Shinji, Asuka,” she said, an easy smile on her face. “My name is-“
“How do you know our names?” Asuka interrupted, blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Where are you from? You don’t look like you’re from around here, and no one else has ever come out of the ocean.” Shinji did a double-take; after so many days of barely speaking or even acknowledging his presence, the appearance of these strangers seemed to light a spark in her that Shinji wasn’t sure he’d ever see again. The strange girl seemed somewhat taken aback by this as well, though that was probably due to Asuka’s rudeness. The brunet boy, however, quickly filled the silence.
“We’re from another world,” he said happily, blue eyes wide and cheerful.
“Another world?” Shinji repeated. The boy nodded, and Shinji heard Asuka curse softly in German beside him. The only other beings to come from outside the Earth had been-
“We’re human,” the taller, silver-haired boy said abruptly, as if anticipating his question, though he didn’t necessarily answer as nicely as the other two. “We’re not Heartless, don’t worry.” Shinji wanted to turn away from his sharp tone, but couldn’t bring himself to drag his eyes away from the pale curtain of hair that fell past his shoulders. The boy met his eyes, catching Shinji staring at his hair with an intense aquamarine gaze, and Shinji finally looked away, letting his fists unclench.
“Heartless are creatures born from the darkness in a person’s heart,” the brunet boy said, expression now more serious. “The three of us travel to different worlds, fighting the Heartless using our Keyblades. I’m Sora,” he continued, “this is Kairi,” he gestured to the girl, “and he’s Riku,” he jerked his head towards the other boy.
“The… darkness?” Shinji echoed, gaze wandering back towards the boy called Riku. His hair was so light, that same seemingly impossible color he’d only seen once before, and Shinji felt a strange ache at the thought of the other person he’d known with hair like that. Riku seemed to tense slightly at the attention.
“On this world,” the girl, Kairi, said, “the Heartless were called Angels.” Shinji dragged his eyes back towards her. Had these three also fought Angels, calling them Heartless? “The three of us were specially chosen by the Keyblades to fight the Heartless and free hearts that were trapped in darkness. You see,” and here she hesitated for a moment, “the two of you were also specially chosen to fight, which means you also have the power to wield the Keyblade.”
“We came here to tell you,” the spiky-haired Sora continued, “so that you can help us fight the Heartless and restore the hearts.” They were asking him and Asuka to fight.
“You want us to fight Angels for you again,” Asuka said swiftly, thoughts evidently coming to the same conclusions as Shinji’s, though her expression was guarded slightly.
“They’re called Heartless,” Sora corrected. Shinji felt his hands forming into fists again.
“The EVAs are gone,” Asuka said, still guarded, but not as against the idea as Shinji thought she’d be. He knew how much she hated the Angels, but he hadn’t seen her look so alive since… before.
“Those EVAs of yours,” Kairi replied calmly, “they were conduits for your hearts, what you called A.T. Fields. Once you summon your Keyblades, you will be able to use your hearts to fight the Heartless again.” Shinji willed himself to not shake, but could not prevent himself from speaking.
“We don’t want to fight again,” he said, gazing at a patch of sand. “We’re done with all of that.”
“But you have to,” Riku said. Shinji looked up at him and saw that he was blinking, puzzled.
“No,” Shinji responded. “There are three of you; you don’t need us.” Riku’s eyes narrowed, framed by his silver, silver bangs.
“You don’t have a choice,” Riku said, voice hard. “You have to come with us.” Shinji just continued looking at him. “It’s rude to stare.” Shinji blinked, and Riku’s annoyed face came into focus.
“You remind me of someone,” Shinji said quietly, looking away. “Someone who’s gone because of the EVAs.” He heard Asuka inhale sharply, but ignored her. “Asuka and I are the only EVA pilots still alive, and everyone else in the world is gone or a part of the ocean.” Glancing at the three newcomers, he saw Kairi begin to frown.
“We didn’t mean to upset you, but Riku’s right,” Kairi said sadly, then glanced at the ocean briefly. “I guess it’s true, then, that everyone’s hearts are in this ocean.”
“But that’s why we’re here,” Sora, pressed, seemingly unwilling to give up. “If you come with us, you can help us put the hearts in the ocean back to normal.” There were a few short seconds of silence.
“…Wait a minute,” Asuka accused. “You didn’t say that before.” She kept glancing at Shinji, but he was determinedly staring out at the ocean now. Were everyone’s hearts really in that orange sea? And was it actually possible to turn everyone back to normal? But what if the really important ones weren’t there? Would he have to fight again, only to be let down? Did he really-
“You are wrong,” a strange, deep voice called out from the far end of the beach. Whipping around, Shinji was met with the sight of a large, burly man with short, silver hair that stuck out behind him. He was dressed entirely in black leather, and Shinji’s eye was drawn to the metal claw on the back of one of that man’s hands and the wicked smile on his face. “This Ocean of Hearts, this Kingdom Hearts, belongs to us and to Mother.”
…Mother?
“Hey!” Sora called back, crouching into an aggressive posture as a giant key materialized out of nowhere into his hands. Was this what a Keyblade was? And who was that man? “Who are you, anyway? If you think we’re going to let you control the hearts, you’re wrong.” This seemed to anger the man, who, with a gesture, created four large, black pools in the ground. The pools shone like deep, oily slicks on the surface of the sand, and Shinji felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle in an urgent warning.
“I am Loz,” the man said. “If you get in the way of my brothers and I, or of Mother,” he growled, face twisted in a scowl, “you will pay the price – with your hearts.” Out of the black pools came a multitude of glowing, yellow lights that Shinji realized, with a sinking sense of horror, were eyes. As the eyes rose out of the darkness, he could see the small, black bodies around them, complete with a twitching pair of antennae each. Soon, enough of the creatures had amassed that they easily covered the side of the beach the man was standing on.
“We won’t ever let the Heartless take our hearts!” Kairi said, pulling out her own giant key from thin air, which, with its flower and waterfall motif, looked like a garden in paradise. At the same time, Riku drew his own – there were no other words, he just knew – Keyblade, which seemed like the complete blending of light and dark itself, pure white feathers directly beside deep maroon bat wings. Bristling again, the man now known as Loz threw his arm to the side as another swirling, dark portal opened up in the air.
“You’ll obey Mother’s wishes and stay out of our way if you know what’s good for you,” he said, stepping into the portal and leaving the rest of them with the small creatures with the glowing eyes.
“Aw man,” Sora sighed, somewhat resigned. “Why can’t things ever be easy, for once?” The creatures began to move closer towards them, small feet shuffling and clawlike hands reaching at them, sometimes melting into puddles and sliding along the ground.
“What are those things?” Asuka asked, disgust heavy in her voice.
“Heartless,” Riku responded, grimacing. “Mostly Shadows and some Neoshadows, but there’s a lot of them.” Now that Shinji’s attention had been drawn to them, he could see that some of the creatures – Heartless, he reminded himself – were slightly larger, with larger claws, jagged antennae, and sleeker lines. “You should call your Keyblades now,” Riku said.
“Are you really sure we can fight them?” Shinji questioned, backing slowly away as a group of the Heartless moved closer towards him. In his periphery, he could see Sora and Kairi each fighting groups of Heartless on their own.
“The Keyblades will defeat them,” Riku said, strained, attention divided between his own group of foes and Shinji. “Call them, now!” he shouted suddenly, alarmed and running towards Shinji and Asuka. Asuka yelled, and Shinji turned to see one of the larger Heartless leaping towards him, claws extended. Bringing his arms in front of himself to shield his face, he saw a bright flash of light. Eyes snapping closed, he waited for the blow to fall.
When the pain did not come, nor any other sound at all, Shinji slowly moved his hands away from his face. Cracking one eye open hesitantly and finding the beach completely gone, he quickly opened the other one in order to inspect his new surroundings. He was nowhere near the beach, that was for sure; an empty blackness stretched all around, and under his feet, the floor was a massive, round panel of stained glass.
Author:
way2dawnCharacters/Pairings: Shinji, Roxas, Quatre, ensemble. Various yaoi and het pairings.
Rating: PGish
Summary: Post-KH2. Crossover with Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gundam Wing, and FF7: Advent Children; familiarity with all source media is not necessary. Post-End of Evangelion, anime timeline, but with some elements from the manga. Post-series Gundam Wing, no-movie AU. When Shinji Ikari met the three strange teens with mysterious weapons called Keyblades, he didn’t expect that he would be able to wield one as well, nor did he expect to be taken on a journey to various worlds, stopping the threat of the Heartless and finding the Awakened. For a boy who only wants to be at peace, how will he deal with this strange new set of circumstances? When the threads of the past interweave with the events of the present, what future will he make?
A/N: Many thanks to my two lovely betas,
myth and cozzybob. This idea has been rolling around in my head for a very long time. This is the Kingdom Hearts universe told from an outsider’s point of view, so familiarity with the games is not necessary, although there will be spoilers for at least KH1 and KH2. This entire fic was plotted out before BBS or Coded came out in Japan.Prologue
Awakenings
Chapter 1
The boy known as Ikari Shinji was sitting on the sand, his legs stretched out in front of him, leaning slightly back with his weight on his hands. He was staring out at the ocean, the only sounds of the world being the orange waves lapping quietly on the shore. Beside him, Asuka was laying down, seemingly asleep with her eyes closed and coppery hair fanned out around her head. It was always a little strange seeing her like this, compared to when he’d shared an apartment with her and Misato-san in the now-empty city; she was always so quiet now, and even when she was awake, she would barely talk to him. Shinji frowned at the thought, but… it was only a natural response, after all that’d happened. He contemplated falling asleep as well, as much to take his mind off of things as the lack of much else to do other than look at the memorials he had made or forage for more edible plants. But just as he was about to lay down, he heard a distant noise from the other side of the rocks.
“I thought you said there would be people here, Kairi.”
“They’ve got to be here, Riku, we just haven’t found them yet.” Were those voices Shinji was hearing, or was it just another wishful dream that he and Asuka were not alone anymore?
“This place is empty, you guys. I don’t think anyone’s here.” They were voices that he was hearing.
“Oh, not you, too, Sora. Look, I just know that someone’s here, okay? Just trust me on this.” And the voices seemed to be getting closer! Shinji turned his head towards the rocks just in time to see three teens climbing over them, the first a redheaded girl in a short, pink dress. She was followed by a spiky-haired brunet boy in an unzipped hooded jacket and black shorts with many belts, and a taller, silver-haired boy in a vest and jeans.
The girl and boys seemed as shocked to see Shinji as he was to see them, but the girl quickly recovered and began running towards him. Startled by her sudden movement, Shinji scrambled backwards and to his feet, accidentally bumping against Asuka in the process, waking her roughly as he stood on the uneven sand.
“W-who are you?” Shinji asked the girl, unable to keep the shaking out of his voice, fists clenched awkwardly at his sides. He saw Asuka stand up beside him in his periphery, but didn’t keep his eyes off the three strangers, the two boys having caught up to the girl and standing on either side of her.
“Hello, Shinji, Asuka,” she said, an easy smile on her face. “My name is-“
“How do you know our names?” Asuka interrupted, blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Where are you from? You don’t look like you’re from around here, and no one else has ever come out of the ocean.” Shinji did a double-take; after so many days of barely speaking or even acknowledging his presence, the appearance of these strangers seemed to light a spark in her that Shinji wasn’t sure he’d ever see again. The strange girl seemed somewhat taken aback by this as well, though that was probably due to Asuka’s rudeness. The brunet boy, however, quickly filled the silence.
“We’re from another world,” he said happily, blue eyes wide and cheerful.
“Another world?” Shinji repeated. The boy nodded, and Shinji heard Asuka curse softly in German beside him. The only other beings to come from outside the Earth had been-
“We’re human,” the taller, silver-haired boy said abruptly, as if anticipating his question, though he didn’t necessarily answer as nicely as the other two. “We’re not Heartless, don’t worry.” Shinji wanted to turn away from his sharp tone, but couldn’t bring himself to drag his eyes away from the pale curtain of hair that fell past his shoulders. The boy met his eyes, catching Shinji staring at his hair with an intense aquamarine gaze, and Shinji finally looked away, letting his fists unclench.
“Heartless are creatures born from the darkness in a person’s heart,” the brunet boy said, expression now more serious. “The three of us travel to different worlds, fighting the Heartless using our Keyblades. I’m Sora,” he continued, “this is Kairi,” he gestured to the girl, “and he’s Riku,” he jerked his head towards the other boy.
“The… darkness?” Shinji echoed, gaze wandering back towards the boy called Riku. His hair was so light, that same seemingly impossible color he’d only seen once before, and Shinji felt a strange ache at the thought of the other person he’d known with hair like that. Riku seemed to tense slightly at the attention.
“On this world,” the girl, Kairi, said, “the Heartless were called Angels.” Shinji dragged his eyes back towards her. Had these three also fought Angels, calling them Heartless? “The three of us were specially chosen by the Keyblades to fight the Heartless and free hearts that were trapped in darkness. You see,” and here she hesitated for a moment, “the two of you were also specially chosen to fight, which means you also have the power to wield the Keyblade.”
“We came here to tell you,” the spiky-haired Sora continued, “so that you can help us fight the Heartless and restore the hearts.” They were asking him and Asuka to fight.
“You want us to fight Angels for you again,” Asuka said swiftly, thoughts evidently coming to the same conclusions as Shinji’s, though her expression was guarded slightly.
“They’re called Heartless,” Sora corrected. Shinji felt his hands forming into fists again.
“The EVAs are gone,” Asuka said, still guarded, but not as against the idea as Shinji thought she’d be. He knew how much she hated the Angels, but he hadn’t seen her look so alive since… before.
“Those EVAs of yours,” Kairi replied calmly, “they were conduits for your hearts, what you called A.T. Fields. Once you summon your Keyblades, you will be able to use your hearts to fight the Heartless again.” Shinji willed himself to not shake, but could not prevent himself from speaking.
“We don’t want to fight again,” he said, gazing at a patch of sand. “We’re done with all of that.”
“But you have to,” Riku said. Shinji looked up at him and saw that he was blinking, puzzled.
“No,” Shinji responded. “There are three of you; you don’t need us.” Riku’s eyes narrowed, framed by his silver, silver bangs.
“You don’t have a choice,” Riku said, voice hard. “You have to come with us.” Shinji just continued looking at him. “It’s rude to stare.” Shinji blinked, and Riku’s annoyed face came into focus.
“You remind me of someone,” Shinji said quietly, looking away. “Someone who’s gone because of the EVAs.” He heard Asuka inhale sharply, but ignored her. “Asuka and I are the only EVA pilots still alive, and everyone else in the world is gone or a part of the ocean.” Glancing at the three newcomers, he saw Kairi begin to frown.
“We didn’t mean to upset you, but Riku’s right,” Kairi said sadly, then glanced at the ocean briefly. “I guess it’s true, then, that everyone’s hearts are in this ocean.”
“But that’s why we’re here,” Sora, pressed, seemingly unwilling to give up. “If you come with us, you can help us put the hearts in the ocean back to normal.” There were a few short seconds of silence.
“…Wait a minute,” Asuka accused. “You didn’t say that before.” She kept glancing at Shinji, but he was determinedly staring out at the ocean now. Were everyone’s hearts really in that orange sea? And was it actually possible to turn everyone back to normal? But what if the really important ones weren’t there? Would he have to fight again, only to be let down? Did he really-
“You are wrong,” a strange, deep voice called out from the far end of the beach. Whipping around, Shinji was met with the sight of a large, burly man with short, silver hair that stuck out behind him. He was dressed entirely in black leather, and Shinji’s eye was drawn to the metal claw on the back of one of that man’s hands and the wicked smile on his face. “This Ocean of Hearts, this Kingdom Hearts, belongs to us and to Mother.”
…Mother?
“Hey!” Sora called back, crouching into an aggressive posture as a giant key materialized out of nowhere into his hands. Was this what a Keyblade was? And who was that man? “Who are you, anyway? If you think we’re going to let you control the hearts, you’re wrong.” This seemed to anger the man, who, with a gesture, created four large, black pools in the ground. The pools shone like deep, oily slicks on the surface of the sand, and Shinji felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle in an urgent warning.
“I am Loz,” the man said. “If you get in the way of my brothers and I, or of Mother,” he growled, face twisted in a scowl, “you will pay the price – with your hearts.” Out of the black pools came a multitude of glowing, yellow lights that Shinji realized, with a sinking sense of horror, were eyes. As the eyes rose out of the darkness, he could see the small, black bodies around them, complete with a twitching pair of antennae each. Soon, enough of the creatures had amassed that they easily covered the side of the beach the man was standing on.
“We won’t ever let the Heartless take our hearts!” Kairi said, pulling out her own giant key from thin air, which, with its flower and waterfall motif, looked like a garden in paradise. At the same time, Riku drew his own – there were no other words, he just knew – Keyblade, which seemed like the complete blending of light and dark itself, pure white feathers directly beside deep maroon bat wings. Bristling again, the man now known as Loz threw his arm to the side as another swirling, dark portal opened up in the air.
“You’ll obey Mother’s wishes and stay out of our way if you know what’s good for you,” he said, stepping into the portal and leaving the rest of them with the small creatures with the glowing eyes.
“Aw man,” Sora sighed, somewhat resigned. “Why can’t things ever be easy, for once?” The creatures began to move closer towards them, small feet shuffling and clawlike hands reaching at them, sometimes melting into puddles and sliding along the ground.
“What are those things?” Asuka asked, disgust heavy in her voice.
“Heartless,” Riku responded, grimacing. “Mostly Shadows and some Neoshadows, but there’s a lot of them.” Now that Shinji’s attention had been drawn to them, he could see that some of the creatures – Heartless, he reminded himself – were slightly larger, with larger claws, jagged antennae, and sleeker lines. “You should call your Keyblades now,” Riku said.
“Are you really sure we can fight them?” Shinji questioned, backing slowly away as a group of the Heartless moved closer towards him. In his periphery, he could see Sora and Kairi each fighting groups of Heartless on their own.
“The Keyblades will defeat them,” Riku said, strained, attention divided between his own group of foes and Shinji. “Call them, now!” he shouted suddenly, alarmed and running towards Shinji and Asuka. Asuka yelled, and Shinji turned to see one of the larger Heartless leaping towards him, claws extended. Bringing his arms in front of himself to shield his face, he saw a bright flash of light. Eyes snapping closed, he waited for the blow to fall.
When the pain did not come, nor any other sound at all, Shinji slowly moved his hands away from his face. Cracking one eye open hesitantly and finding the beach completely gone, he quickly opened the other one in order to inspect his new surroundings. He was nowhere near the beach, that was for sure; an empty blackness stretched all around, and under his feet, the floor was a massive, round panel of stained glass.