The Prince Speaks: A Ray of Hope

It was in light of what turned up on Miss Starflight's doorstep that had made me leave Kyxiel and William's side (which much shouting between the Nobody and I that led to her injuring her right hand and my almost losing certain parts of the male human anatomy that shall be left unnamed) and head down to Idaho to check up on my fallen comrades in arms. I felt horribly responsible for what was going on, so I felt a modicum of decency was in order. Once I arrived, however, I made a note not to be seen nor heard (or in some cases, sensed) while I paid visits to the barn that was currently being used as both medical center and control room.

No amount of words could describe how terribly awful I felt at the sight that awaited me.

But you must be wondering...why name this blog entry 'a ray of hope'? I will not disappoint, but I did find it somewhat prudent to convey my sincerest apologies to everyone involved in this...tragedy? Travesty? I'm still at a loss of words...

It happened this very night when I decided to check up on my comrades and the medics had gone to take a break together. Some who stayed vigil by their friends' side had gone off, possibly to sleep or rest. I found it extremely odd that everyone just got up and left, but made no point in arguing over opportunity knocking at the door.

I had seen this scene of seemingly lifeless bodies lying comatose on beds many times before and could tell you with detail exactly who laid where, the tiniest freckle on skin and even where stray pieces of dirt would be found. I have seen many strange things in my life which do not limit to dark lords rising into power, blast end skrewts, a romance between a mermaid and a human and various other things...

I was not prepared to see what I had seen when I approached some of the beds containing some of Luke Skywalker's students.

I had witnessed this only a few times in my life, but mainly from those silly little movies Keily had insisted that I watched with her in order to know Vader and his group a little better, back in the day...The transparent form, illuminating a soft blue light around their ghostly bodies as they moved as they did when they were alive...

A smile was shone my way. "Hello, Severus. It certainly has been a while, hasn't it?"

I nodded numbly, too dumbstruck to say anything. I felt that anything I could have said would have been completely inadequate.

"So...you finally came...even though things are starting to fall apart?" A chuckle. "I'm sure it'll all work out in the end."

I wasn't sure what I was suppose to say to that.

"Do you know why you came?" An innocent inquiry, really, but not one I was comfortable with answering. I couldn't even show my face to those I had once fought alongside. "It's alright."

I watched them lay a gentle hand on one of the younger students, watched as they gently carressed the child's forehead in a painfully familiar gesture. The ghostly hand did nothing really--it couldn't even shift the iniest bit of hair. It brought reality back into mind and I found myself being able to speak once again.

"Why are you here?" I asked, before I could give the words tumbling out of my mouth permission to.

"This is my fault, too," was the breeze soft answer. "Not just yours...and I had to do everything in my power to help...even if it's something as small as keeping them alive with whatever power I have left."

I was surprised. "You're keeping them alive?"

Another smile. "Comes with being so well intuned with the Force...or magic...or Kingdom Hearts, or whatever have you." The smile turned into a sad one, then. "Severus...what they're doing is terrible."

I nodded. I had both heard and read about the entechment process and could only imagine what was happening on the other side of this eerily silent war. With Keily's unknown power, who knew what was happening truly and it frightened him to no end for not knowing.

"They've brought him back...but I realize that everyone probably knows it by now."

"Palpatine?" I asked.

"Yes," they said, "and many others...some of whom should have stayed dead...others ripped from their own worlds...and some who haven't even the chance to exist yet. They are building an army...an army fit to destroy the Worlds...only to remake them as their own..."

I was very confused by this and said so. They clarified themself.

"Why conquer a rebelling people when they have the power to remake?"

"But if they have this power already," I began, thinking about Keily again, "why not just simply forgo the war with us? Why not just go through with their plans? As you said, wouldn't it just be easier for them to do as they will and remake the worlds?"

A smile. "You cannot get something from nothing, as you well know, Severus. And what they want requires more energy than one person with half a heart can muster at a time."

That made sense. But if that were the truth, could it possibly mean that they were harnessing all of that energy for more than just battle purposes? And half a heart? As far as anyone was concerned, Keily had no heart at all. Whatever had been left of it was probably scattered to the winds...there was no way she could have gotten it back--let alone half. They had raised a lot of questions in this one chance meeting and had given less answers in return...

"How are you here? Have you...have you been here all this time?" I asked, looking them up and down. I reached for a hand and found that mine passed right through. But instead of feeling the coldness one would expect to feel from a ghost or the nothingness of an apparition of the Force, I felt a pleasant warmth fill my fingers for a few scant moments.

"I have my ways, but in truth, I am truly not really here," was the mysterious answer, followed by an almost musical laugh. They smiled sadly at me as a translucent hand came up to try to brush against my cheek in an affectionate manner. I felt that warmth again and longed to rest my head against it, but I knew that it could not be. "I've been keeping an eye on everyone here, for a while yet...just when I was needed most....It's the least I could do." The warm hand had laid itself upon my cheek, though it felt more like a heat had rested there instead of anything solid. It was soon removed and they began to walk away, fading away.

"Keily?"

She looked at me then, smiling that sad little smile of hers as she straightened out the white dress she had worn at the Ministry all those months ago. "Don't worry, Severus...I'm sure you'll figure out a way...someone will figure out a way," she told me reassuringly. "For now...I'll continue to watch over all of you..."

She paused for a moment, thinking about something.

"Severus...my..." She cringed a little. "My powers are terribly limited, you know. As long as I possessed no heart, I couldn't tap into it. Do you understand? I'm sure...Voldemort had found some shards of my heart and placed them into my body...emotions and memories which have probably been warped to suit his needs..." Another pause. I kept my eyes on her as I patiently waited for her to continue...this young woman who once had been alive, was still alive, yet who was also in a state of death at the same time. "I'm sure...he found my darker emotions somehow...those would be the easiest to manipulate. But...I think that if you found my better ones...those more suitable for...well, I wouldn't say light...but...if you did and put them back along with my other heart shards...that you could snap me out of whatever hold I'm under...."

She laughed.

"Well, that might backfire," she stated, looking at the ground. "And if that were ever to happen..." She shook her head.

I stared at her. I took in her entire, shining being. I studied her long black locks of hair which fell over her shoulders easily and how it hid her face as she looked at the ground, somewhat shamefaced. I noticed how her hands clenched her full white skirts in anxiety. I carefully filed everything she told me away at the back of my mind and I considered her, as she simply stood there and I barely said a word.

I had never been one ofr romantic reunions. Neither had she. But this moment wasn't as awkward as I often feared it would be when we did meet again--though I hadn't expected it to be so soon. I had hoped that there had been some part of the young woman that still harbored that old feeling of protectiveness for the worlds she cherished. I had seen it in young Kyxiel who shows growth everyday--a reflection of the woman who she once was and I had hoped would become again one day...

"Heart shards?" I asked. "How insanely bizarre that sounds. You could never do anything the easy or simple way, could you, Keily?"

She looked at me, perplexed. But soon, she smiled knowingly at me and shook her head.

"No, I always did have a taste for tragedy didn't I?" she said.

"But if the Dark Lord found negative pieces of heart...what are you exactly? You must be something positive if you are trying to protect the lives of those present."

She smiled again and closed her eyes. I was slightly startled to find her fading from me before my eyes and I instinctively shot out to latch onto her...but all I managed to grasp onto was something bright and warm. One could say...it was like a crystal, yet I knew I really wasn't holding anything at all. And it shone like a brilliant beacon in the night--like a star in the heavens. It twinkled in my hands before it disappeared to wherever it had come from.

And yet I could still hear her words as the others began to reappear one by one into the barn. I'm not sure if anyone else had heard--or felt--it, but...

"Like from Pandora's box where all the miseries of the world had sprung from...I am Hope."