Archive of Our Own ^beta

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The eyes of the corpse on the examination table stared up at him, jaw slack and limbs hanging limp. Another failure. Another bloody and torn body to clean up. Bragi sighed, snapping his gloves off, and tossing them on the corpse. Could they just... stop dying?

All the effort of stalking out subjects, observing people who seemed like they had higher levels of darkness. All for nothing. At this rate people were going to start noticing the disappearances, and it would be the shady guy in the big mansion they'd definitely blame. Sure, he was the one behind it, but come on!

Well, at least this guy had been a prick. He was one of the fathers at daycare, and often yelled at his kid and the other kids in public. Bragi was still...okay actually very annoyed that Luxu had shown up after abandoning him for a decade just to dump a kid on him, but Auralin was pretty okay, and even if she wasn't, it was still shitty to yell at kids. Bragi had done everyone in Twilight Town a service.

Bragi shrugged off his lab coat and tossed it into the laundry bin, glancing at the clock as he did so. He still had a couple more hours before he'd have to pick Aura up from daycare, which was certainly awhile but not enough time to find another test subject. Balancing his mission and taking care of a three year old was tough work but at least since the time he lived in Twilight Town as a child and now, they'd developed the concept of free childcare and he could leave Aura there most days while he worked.

It was yet another thing that reminded him that he'd never truly found home.

Bragi was Twilight Town born and raised; his family had owned this mansion and property when he was a child. But the world must have drifted through some pocket of darkness or light or time because the time between being plucked from here by The Master and Luxu dropping him back here, a century and a half had passed when it shouldn't have. The mansion was a place of desolation and he kept it that way. Family money was gone, relatives died out, only remembered by him and the history books and ghost stories.

He certainly felt like a ghost some days, especially now as he cleaned up. Tools were put away, curses were sworn. The taste, metallic. The scapel clicked on his teeth as he pulled it out of his mouth. Just blood. Maybe darkness didn't even have a taste, or it has disappeared as soon as the subject died.

Yet another failure. The story of his life.

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The hours passed by too fast and this brought Bragi out of the house to awkwardly stand around waiting for Aura to walk out of the building. She was a pretty child, green eyes and messy blond hair. She looked a lot like the Master.

She…

She was only three.

Bragi had known her! She was just about Terra’s age, and the Master had brought her from…somewhere, even before he died the first time. Before Luxu. She had been a baby. He was sixteen.

He was in his 30s now and she was only three.

Aura walked out of the doors carrying her too big backpack and a downcast look. She didn't smile much around him, even if he caught her smiling at other things and other people.

“Hello, Aura,” he greeted nonetheless, offering up his hand. A sullen child was not something to really take personally. He had more problems than that.

“Hi, Mister Gee.” She replied, not meeting his eyes and just lightly grasping his hand. They set off. Maybe he'd take her to the park, or something. What did kids even like doing?

“Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“...no.”

“Fair enough.”

She was scared of him. Or at least scared of the unknown of him.

But he understood.

He knew what it had to be like for her. Her only memories if any would have been Luxu in his body, who ‘died’, and now she had suddenly been sent away by her father and ended up with someone who resembled a ghost. And what had been a decade for him was probably just months for her.

She was only three.

According to Luxu, Twilight Town’s time had shifted, nearly synced itself to the time stream the Land of Departure was currently on, so it should only be a few weeks since she left there too. She could go back easily. She should go back. He didn't want this; she didn't want this.

Luxu said the Master thought it needed to ‘reprioritize’ which apparently meant tossing aside its daughter, and Luxu said this meant Bragi should take her since he couldn't be bothered.

Hah, Luxu said a lot of things. Bragi didn't know if he actually believed him about anything but not like he had much else in life to believe. At the very least he could accept that Luxu probably genuinely didn't have the time for a kid. What, with him preparing for an event supposedly in some damn prophecy book or something and all.

If only there was a copy of that book left that he could get his hands on. He’d personally destroy it, even if it wouldn't change his fate.

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Bragi had kissed Luxu once. It was stupid, you know? His body was shutting down, every cough was painful and wet, and Luxu had just… sat with him. Sure, it turned out to be so he could snag his body as a vessel but it had been nice to even have the illusion someone cared. Luxu might have actually killed him in the end, he didn't know for sure, it was so fuzzy, but even that he was thankful for. He'd been sick. Really sick. He already felt back then like he wasn't gonna make it.

It was the only time they kissed that Bragi knew of. Even later, after Bragi was released as a vessel, any time Luxu had rocked inside him, they had never kissed. It definitely made Bragi unsure where they stood. Not to mention the whole leaving him for a decade thing.

Maybe the ambiguity was why Luxu has just shown up with flowers and a too perfectly wrapped box this time. Bragi scowled at the flowers until he saw the plastic parts. Much more practical. Luxu placed both on the kitchen counter and leaned up against it.

“Buying real flowers seemed like a waste of time and money.”

“Saves me having to throw something away later.”

“Awesome.” Luxu smirked. “So how’s the kid doing?”

“She's… fine.”

“Think we could give her a keyblade?”

Bragi waved his hand. “Kinda too early to tell but maybe.”

“And her dark-light levels?”

“As far as I can tell, she’s closer to the middle, light leaning. So not really useful for the chi-blade and I'm not experimenting on a child.”

Luxu hummed, whether in acknowledgement or agreement, Bragi didn't really care. “How’s the experiments going in general?”

“Bad.” Bragi face palmed. “They keep dying no matter what I do. Try and extract their darkness? Dead. Try to increase their darkness? Dead. Knife? Keyblade? Dead. It's all the same!”

“How about you show me your notes?” Luxu did a little finger snap. “I’ve been around the block more than a few times. The Master even used to actively study the darkness when I was a kid rather than…whatever it does now.”

“Yeah, sure,” Bragi smiled slightly. “You know, my lab is sound proofed and Aura shouldn't be done her afternoon nap for at least another hour.”

“Huh. Well seems like we should get looking at those notes, then.”

Bragi took Luxu’s hand, and led him off.

He didn't get that kiss but he did get a groaned out My name was originally Luca

'Luxu' fit him better, but it felt like a step forward.

It didn't come up until after they’d cleaned up, notes forgotten.

The Master was originally named Benjamin, known as Beni. Oddly similar to Bragi's own name. The Master had been the one to rename him Freya doesn't fit a smart lad like you, I'll think of something else

Probably was better to not consider any implications.

Showers taken, Aura awake and entertained by the television, and Luxu finally took a look at those notes.

His brow was knitted and he occasionally made little sounds and commentary, and then barked out “Definitely better then what Ansem the Wise has been putting out.”

“Who?”

“Oh some idiot in the world I've been in, who also happens to be the king. I should introduce you two, I think you’d slaughter him with just a look.” Luxu looked at Aura, some of his amusement dropping. “Too bad his kid is only a baby right now, and the time there is about half of what Twilight Town is currently at so that won't change any time soon, could set up a playdate with your brat as an excuse to compare notes.”

Bragi didn't like how Luxu was so quick to call Aura ‘his brat’ but he didn't speak up.

And Luxu didn't like Aura much. Although Bragi got the impression it was less generic child hating and more some deep resentment that his father had other children then him.

“And I definitely don't want to ever deal with a baby. If Aura wasn't toilet trained I might've dropped her on the closest doorstep and washed my hands of the whole matter.”

“Cheers to that” Luxu replied, although only had a plastic cup of juice to mockingly hold up.

The Master never had them do anything about Aura as a baby, but he’d been there to see how miserable Eraqus had been with Terra. Held him as he cried and the Master spoke of how it would give Eraqus a break. He’d sworn there and then he didn't want kids.

Yet kids cartoons played on the TV.

Chapter Text

Bragi faintly knew there was a chance some of his friends were still alive. According to Luxu, Baldr had lost the fucking plot, gone after them with darkness (and a knife), but Eraqus was still around, so maybe the others could have survived.

He watched from behind the tree, in shock and sick awe at seeing Eraqus…grown up. Time had also taken the boy he’d grown up with, much older than he’d been when he had his teenage mistakes. He looked put together, grim but in a pleasant way.

Eraqus was thanking the shopkeeper, the swish of his robes glinting in the sunlight as he moved away. Bragi hid behind the tree further. Eraqus couldn't know he was alive. The only one who really knew was Luxu and he hoped to keep it that way.

A clean break. None of this keyblade master bullshit.

If he had calculated right, he didn't have to worry too much about the time spent in this world, he’d almost be guaranteed to be back in Twilight Town before he had to pick up Aura.

Finding Eraqus hadn't even been part of the plan. Luxu had talked about this world possibly having some books on darkness or at least legends of it, and yet fate had brought him Eraqus instead.

Bragi almost wanted to greet him, forget this whole mess and let him know his friend hadn't died that day-

his friend had actually died when he was sixteen, and first spirit, and then a ghost had taken his place

“You keeping an eye on him too, Bragi?”

Bragi nearly jumped out of his own skin at the voice.

“*Hiss*” Bragi reeled, moving to attack with the knife that had been in the box Luxu gave him. Kinda a weird gift all things considered but lower profile then a keyblade. “What the…”

It was The Master, but it looked…younger. Maybe mid-twenties, compared to the at least fifty it should have been. He would have considered the possibility this was a son, but the smile, the eye… that was all The Master. Its blond hair was shorter and free of the white hairs that had decorated its head. Clean shaven, also a bit of a shock.

“Surprise?” It reached out and shook his hand. “Of course I guess I should be surprised to see you. Have a nice nap?”

Bragi pulled his hand free. “If you'd call it that. Go away.”

The Master put on a fake pout. “I don't see you in awhile and that’s how you greet me?” The Master grabbed him into a side hug. “As far as I hear, we’re in-laws now.”

“Luxu and I aren't married.”

“Oh, I guess that's a later chapter in the book. So hard to keep track of the table of contents after so many years…” The Master released Bragi, leaving the man to put as much distance as he could between them without losing sight of it.

Bragi didn't know whether the Master was messing with him or not and he really didn't like it.

“Why aren't you old.”

“Fountain of youth water. It's in the pill cabinet. Can't believe you missed it.” The Master clasped its hands together. “Since we just so happened to run into each other, how’s my daughter doing? We should catch up over coffee, dear boy. Oh and I should show you pictures of Terra and Aqua! I got Hermod looking after them right now- Oh yeah,” The Master snapped its fingers like it was remembering something but it seemed way too fake. “It's you, Eraqus, and Hermod who have turned up in my searching, and I’ve actually been following Eraqus in hopes of confirming Xehanort is still around. Man, Baldr was really bad at this, huh?”

“Don't act like we're friends.”

Although he could admit Baldr really did do a horrible job.

And maybe…they did all deserve it.