Chapter Text
Here is the translated text:
# The Bequeathing of Sora
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The χ-blade gleamed in Xehanort's weathered hands, Kingdom Hearts looming above like a silent witness. Everyone was there — Donald, Goofy, Riku, Aqua, Terra, Ventus, Roxas, Xion, Lea, Mickey — all battered, all watching.
Sora stepped forward, expecting the old man to just... hand it over. A few parting words, maybe. Something cryptic. Something *Xehanort.*
Instead, the ancient Keyblade Master straightened his back — bones audibly cracking — and held the χ-blade horizontally before him, edge flat, handle extended outward.
The formal position.
Aqua's breath hitched. "*No.*"
Terra's eyes went wide. "Is he—"
"He *is,*" Mickey whispered.
Xehanort spoke, and his voice carried the weight of every world he'd ever ruined.
"Sora. In my hand I hold the blade that was forged at the beginning of all things. You, who wielded no birthright, who inherited no legacy, who were chosen by *nothing* but the stubbornness of your own heart—"
"Is this a compliment or an insult?" Sora muttered.
"—I, Master Xehanort, Keyblade Master and seeker of the truths beyond, do pass this blade to you. Not as a gift. Not as surrender." His golden eyes locked onto Sora's blue ones. "As **succession**."
"Grasp the blade, boy."
Sora looked back at his friends.
Riku's face was unreadable. Ventus looked like he was going to be sick.
Lea leaned over to Roxas. "Is the guy who possessed Terra, wrecked Ven, and basically ruined all of our lives doing what I think he's doing?"
"Yep."
"Cool. Cool cool cool. I hate it here."
Donald tugged on Sora's leg. "Sora, don't you DARE—"
"I think he has to," Goofy said quietly.
Aqua stepped forward. "This is — Sora, you don't have to accept this. You don't owe him *anything*. The Bequeathing is sacred, it's a bond between Master and—"
"I know what it is," Sora said.
And that shut everyone up. Because for once, Sora's voice wasn't bright or goofy or clueless. It was steady.
He looked at Xehanort — really looked at him. At the man who'd shattered Terra's life. Stolen Ven's heart. Trapped Aqua in darkness for over a decade. Orchestrated everything — *everything* — from the fall of Radiant Garden to the death of Kairi.
Ten years old. He'd been *ten* when all of this started because of this man.
Sora reached out and grasped the χ-blade.
Light erupted.
Not Xehanort's sickly gold. Not the cold blue of Kingdom Hearts. Something warm. Something almost offensively *Sora* — like sunlight through a stained glass window.
Xehanort smiled. And for the first time, it wasn't smug. It wasn't scheming.
It was *relief.*
"It is done," Xehanort said. "Before these witnesses, the succession is complete."
Then the old bastard had the *audacity* to pat Sora on the shoulder.
"You'll do, boy."
Eraqus's spirit flickered beside him, arms crossed, shaking his head with a look that clearly said *you dramatic old fool.*
Xehanort faded into light alongside his old friend, and the χ-blade hummed in Sora's hands like it had always belonged there.
Silence.
Then:
"So..." Lea said, pointing at Sora. "Did the final boss just adopt him?"
"I think legally, yes," Roxas said.
"SORA IS NOT XEHANORT'S STUDENT!" Donald screamed.
"I mean," Riku said slowly, a grin creeping across his face, "technically, by the rite of succession, Sora is now the inheritor of Xehanort's Keyblade legacy."
Sora blinked. "Wait, does that make me related to Vanitas?"
Ventus made a noise like a deflating balloon.
Terra put his face in his hands. "I trained under Xehanort. Sora now inherited from Xehanort. Does... does that make Sora my peer?"
Aqua, Master Aqua, Keyblade Master, survivor of the Realm of Darkness, sat down on a rock and stared into the middle distance.
"I need to go home," she said.
Mickey pulled his hood up and walked away.
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