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A bit different from what I have posted before, but a continuation from my Sora Never Got Recompleted (name pending) AU, Where Kairi is able to retrieve Sora’s mind/soul from the darkness, but Sora himself is stuck as a Heartless.
I have been working on this since December. The other post twinned with this one (Here once I post it) states that I created it on the 20th December last year.
Beyond the Keep Reading is a long ramble; unleash at your own risk!
This comic takes place much, much later in the AU.
While, I’m unsure if I’ll actually write anymore than what I’ve written so far, I do have vague plot-points that have been placed down, such as:
Namine, being the Nobody of Kairi can also wield the Keyblade and is brought into the Organization, however due to her (more timid) nature isn’t a great fit for the Organization, and so there’s plans for her ‘removal’. Roxas is friends with Namine, and does not like this, understandably. Axel is also friends with Namine, but is torn on who to follow, Roxas and Namine or the Organization. I haven’t planned how, but Namine does indeed get removed, and Roxas dips, leading him to seek out Riku and Kairi, who have joined forces in their search for Sora.
Mickey, Donald and Goofy are a proper trio now and are also working alongside Riku and Kairi to find Sora as well as save the worlds from darkness.
Roxas, once joined- also informs them on what the organization is up to, and it’s decided that stopping them is the top priority. DiZ is also there somewhere, but is less remorseful since he hasn’t really killed anyone in this AU, and is more than happy to use Roxas to further his revenge.
I have a WHOLE post I made about Sora and why he looks like that, and honestly- made this comic to justify posting it; which, yeah- kinda weird, but I thought it’d be weirder without any context.
However- in short: Sora is a Heartless, and through that and him being Sora, he made friends with the Heartless and kind of ‘orders’ them around. He’s a bit like Ansem in that regard, but that’s where the similarities end. He shows up here, because he’s been secretly following Kairi and Riku- making sure they’re okay. Once they get surrounded by Dusks and look like they’re out of fight, then he rushes in to save them.
Yes- there’s still Heartless in the worlds and causing them threat, but Sora claims that he can’t stop all the Heartless, 'some are meaner than others'. Also- the Battle of A Thousand Heartless still happens- but he blames Maleficent for it. Once Maleficent is out of the picture (or at least focuses more on house-hunting), the Heartless calm down- other than when being controlled by the Organization themselves.
What happens in the future? Well- I did want to do more pages, but burnout was a thing, and I know Tumblr only limits you to 10 images. So I know what happens right after Sora’s reintroduction: Sora, Kairi and Riku reunite. It’s heartfelt, Sora says he’s sorry but felt like he was a danger. Riku once again apologises and feels bad, and that he’s determined more than ever to find a solution. Kairi, too, is happy to see Sora safe and sound, and will do anything to reform him. Then comes Roxas. Sora immediately knows that Roxas is a Nobody- his Nobody, the Nobody that has been destroying all of his friends to make Kingdom Hearts. Sora also calls Nobodies in general 'Husks' as he doesn't know that the term 'Nobody' exists, and he knows that Nobodies are 'husks' of people and are not very nice to him or his Heartless friends. Sora is not happy at all and tries to attack Roxas for hurting all of his friends. He’s restrained by Riku and Kairi, with them desperately trying to explain that Roxas is their friend too- and not to hurt him. After everyone calms down, It’s remembered that a Heartless and Nobody are two of the same piece, and for Sora to return whole, Roxas'll have to disappear. No one wants that, so they need to find another solution.
Beyond that? No idea. I haven’t thought that far. What I do know is that DiZ’s Heart-encoder thingy-ma-jig won’t magic Sora back to normal like it did with Riku in the canon.
As for what has happened up until this point?
Castle Oblivion was still a location that was visited, but this time only by Riku (and later Mickey) who wandered there from the Realm of Darkness. Namine was also picked up from there and brought to the Organization. The replica programme kind of worked, but Vexen only made the prototype replica (Riku Replica) before being destroyed by Riku/Axel. Axel still double-crosses Marluxia and Larxene, as it was a plan by Siax and not dictated by Sora being there. However, Sora not being there does keep Axel away from his more kind self we see in Days; at least for a while until he 'grows a heart' (or realises he has). What I'm saying is that he, Roxas and Namine are friends, but he's not friends with them to the extent we see with him, Roxas and Xion in cannon.
Kairi has a training arc that lasts the year. Unlike Sora and Riku- from my understanding, she didn't really bother with playfighting with swords, so needed a crash course in sword fighting. The crash course was before Ansem, SoD was defeated; which she managed to do so with the help of Donald and Goofy.
After Ansem's defeat, she went back to Squall for more training, as well as Merlin and the others. The braces on her arms are from Yuffie, who said she might need them.
Speaking of- I almost forgot!
Here's the (full colour) Kairi concept I drew for this AU!
I wanted to keep her more purple colour from KHI, and so used various swatches from that. I also wanted to make her outfit not really 'feel' like her; hence why she's wearing pants instead of the usual skirts/dresses that she's normally depicted in. She wasn't meant for this role, and I wanted that to reflect in her clothing choices. As previously stated, the braces are a gift from Yuffie, hence the darker colour scheme. I like her boots from KHIII, so I just used and recoloured them to more match the pastel-y pallet I've got going on. Her jacket is something I wanted- I didn't want her to have a hood, as almost all characters do (especially in KHIII) so I went for a nice pop-collar instead. Other than that, it's very simple. Her hair, while kind of reminiscent of her KHIII look, is actually based on a photo of Utada Hikaru that I found; I actually like Kairi's short haired look compared to her longer one in KHII (sorry).
She has a little chain on her pants reminicent of Sora's from KHI, but with stars instead; a kind of 'trying of fit into his role' theme I've got going on. That is also why I did not use any Yellow; Yellow is associated with Sora (and Riku).
Boy have I rambled- and I've got another post coming! (or maybe you've seen it) Well- I'm always open to questions about this AU. I doubt it'll be anything more than this and maybe a few scraps in the future, as I already have my hands full with other stuff.
