Fanfic / Kingdom Hearts: Depereo Astrum

Kingdom Hearts: Depereo Astrum is a fanfiction written by Kristen Verne. It is written as a hypothetical sequel to Kingdom Hearts III and Re: Mind, using all the information gathered from canon and theories made by the author. In a departure from the series' usual formula, the fanfic does not focus on having the characters travel to Disney worlds, instead focusing on both the original worlds in the series as well as a world completely original to this story.

The fanfiction revolves around Kairi's journey to save Sora following his disapperance as a result of misusing the Power of Waking, teaming up with the thought to be In-Universe fictional character, Yozora from Verum Rex, overcoming her personal struggles as she befriends Yozora and his companions and grows as a Keyblade Wielder.

Note: This article assumes that you have played all Kingdom Hearts games up to at least Kingdom Hearts III and its DLC, Re: Mind; therefore, all spoilers regarding the games will be unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

Kingdom Hearts: Depereo Astrum contain examples of the following tropes:

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• Actually Pretty Funny: The Master of Masters reacts this way when Kairi decides to throw his advice back in his face and tell her friends everything about where she really came from and why she crossed worldlines. (He had just told her not to trust anyone but herself.) He says that he's so used to his apprentices following his orders to the letter that he enjoyed watching Kairi do the exact opposite.
• Ambiguously Evil: Lampshaded by Chirithy about the Master of Masters, noting that a lot of harm has been caused by his apprentices following his orders, but not even he knows what his true motives are, only advising Kairi to trust his actions instead of his words.
• Ascended Extra: Kairi becomes the protagonist of this story, with her journey to save Sora being the main focus of the story while her personal struggles as a Keyblade Wielder and overcoming her trauma becoming the focus of her character arc.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Fitz is revealed to have been driven to madness following his sister's sacrifice, leading him to become a terrorist leader and try to destroy the Doors to Death, knowing fully well it will destroy the world he lives in. When Yozora and Maris are forced to put him down, they can't help but sorry for him.
• Big Bad: For Kairi and Yozora, the main antagonist is the leader of the LLE, Fitz, who is the brother of the recently sacrificed Maiden, Maris. Her sacrifice has caused him to lose hope of ever stopping the cycle of death the Doors of Death caused, leading him to seek it's destruction and end the world. For the Guardians of Light back in their Worldline, Luxu serves as the closest thing to an antagonist, wanting to makes sure that Sora and Kairi don't return so soon.
• Call-Back:
  • Several plot points from Kingdom Hearts χ make their return here and become a vital part of the story.
    • Worldlines, after first making an appearance in Kingdom Hearts χ, make their return in this story, with Kairi's journey taking place in the Verum Rex Worldline.
    • Darklings make their return here, following the orders of Luxu and bringing up several things that occur back in the Age of Fairy Tales. Including some of the Dandelions...
    • Gula is still searching for the traitor among the Foretellers, recalling his master's words about trusting no one and to search for the "one bearing the sigil". Hearing about the Recusant's Sigil being an X causes Gula to conclude that Luxu is the traitor due to how both his real name and the name Xigbar have the letter X in them.
    • Similar to how Ava disguised herself as Invi (provided the player is a member of the former's union), the Master of Masters is capable of using illusions to disguise his appearance (though he only applies that to his face), allowing him to pass off as Phinheas.
• The Cameo: Both Vanitas and Strelitzia appear in Ven's dream of the time when Darkness struck down the latter, while the former holds Ven in place alongside the Darklings.
• Canon Character All Along: Phinheas, the seemingly childish and goofy minister in the Verum Rex worldline, is revealed to be the Master of Masters in disguise.
• Chekhov's Gun: It's revealed that before Sora disappeared from misusing the Power of Waking, he gave Luxord's "Wild Card" to Kairi and recounted his last words to him about it turning the tables. Chapter 39 has the card finally appear to turn the tides as Luxord promised, helping Sora and Kairi in the final battle by granting them a new Drive Form and turning Sora's Kingdom Key into Kingdom Key-K.
• Deuteragonist: Yozora is this to Kairi's protagonist, being her primary supporter as they both try to save the love of their lives from the Doors to Death. Riku serves as the Tritagonist, getting the most focus in his native worldline as he and everyone else begin to realize there's a conspiracy going on.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Yozora's world, after having to go through generations of sacrifice trying to keep the Doors to Death from destroying the world, are now finally able to rest easy once Sora and Kairi seal. Yozora in particular also earns his happy ending by rescuing his Childhood Friend from the Final World, has Frode permeantly sealed away and no longer able to take control of him, and proposes to his sweetheart.
• Everyone Can See It: Pretty much everyone on Yozora's squad can tell how much Kairi loves Sora, and are all too willing to support her rescue mission.
• Fish out of Water: Kairi has to deal with culture shock upon her arrival in the new worldline, not even having the right money to buy herself food. Thankfully, she finds people willing to help her all too quickly.
• Friend to All Children: General Aiko has a soft spot for children. When an eleven-year old girl named Tsubome steals a locket from Aiko out of desperation to get her Abusive Parents money, Aiko immediately goes out of her way to help her, taking her to a Shiva Temple for sanctuary and reporting the parents to the police. She also consoles Kairi over the loss of her parents and reassures her that the people who took her away from her parents are at fault, not her.
• Foreshadowing:
  • There are plenty of hints that Phinehas is actually the Master of Masters in disguise. Some notable examples include:
    • When he makes his first appearance in Chapter 4, Kairi gets a strange feeling about him, but can't put a finger on it due to the Crystal Tower messing with her senses. It's revealed that the Crystal Tower was also dampening Chirithy's senses, which is why he couldn't see through his disguise.
    • Phinheas acts very childish, especially when it comes to the Keyblade, of which he seems to be the most knowledgeable of in Yozora's world.
    • When the Master of Masters appears in Chapter 15 (which takes place before the reveal), the narration says "his eyes glinting beneath his hood", even though as far as fans know, he had already placed his Gazing Eye into the No Name Keyblade, so he shouldn't have both eyes. The master was masking his face with an illusion, allowing him to appear as someone else.
  • The Master of Masters reveals to Kairi that the leader of the LLE is the one who hacked into Stella's systems, a conclusion that everyone on Yozora's squad also come to and notes the culprit had to be someone within the military or within the building, as well as someone who directly went into Stella's computer network. Back in Chapter 21, Fitz was only one who used Stella's computer, and was thus in a perfect position to plant a virus.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: It's revealed that Kairi got a scar on her back when Master Xehanort slashed at her from behind with his Keyblade.
• The Ghost: Ava is mentioned throughout the story but does not make an appearance due to still being missing. Gula admits that he still doesn't know where she is, and he tells his fellow Foretellers to search for her and find out what happened while he's investigating the identity of the traitor.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Kairi is confirmed to have depression in this story, her self-esteem destroyed as a result of her Trauma Conga Line and causing her to blame herself for her misfortune.
• Innocently Insensitive: Riku makes the mistake of bringing up Kairi's track record of getting kidnapped, immediately regretting it when he realizes what he just said and hurting Kairi's feelings.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Chapter 35 has Kairi reveal to everyone in the Verum Rex worldline that she is from another worldline.
  • Chapter 38 has Gula reveal to the heroes at Twilight Town that he is a Lost Master, his fellow apprentices (excluding Ava, who is still missing) are currently present in their time, and that Xigbar is Luxu and the current wielder of the No Name Keyblade Master Xehanort was using.
• It Can Think: The heroes, having gotten used to fighting against mindless Heartless, are completely caught off-guard by the Darklings's ability to think and talk.
• It's All My Fault: Many characters in this story have gone through this, from Kairi herself for Sora's disappearance to Terra blaming himself for trusting Master Xehanort and thus allowing him to cause all the horrible things he's done.
• Mercy Kill: Fitz thinks he's doing this when he has the LLE attack the masquerade. Since he's planning to bring about The End of the World as We Know It by destroying the Doors to Death, he kills Yozora's father and his own parents so that they won't have to suffer through it. This is tragic enough on its own, but it also turns out to be completely pointless after Kairi brings Maris back and seals the door without destroying anything.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Sometime after Riku's Innocently Insensitive moment mentioned above, he witnesses the moment when Kairi's Keyblade breaks and overhears Kairi telling her new friends that she's worthless and everyone back home sees her as an unreliable weak link. Needless to say, Riku feels terrible when he sees just how badly his remark hurt her. The rest of the Guardians also express concern over what they might have said (or didn't say) that left Kairi feeling that way.
• Mythology Gag: Isa adopting a dog references Saïx's Pet the Dog moment in the manga adaptation of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, when he allows Xion's Cuteness Proximity towards Pluto because he loves dogs.
• Properly Paranoid: When Luxu successfully destroys the computer in the mansion at Twilight Town, it looks like the heroes have lost the only means to get Kairi and Sora back to their Worldline, only for Ienzo to arrive and reveal that Ansem the Wise had backed up all the files and even created an extra computer and server, having a feeling someone would try to destroy their work. Riku even lampshades how Ansem's paranoia for once worked out for them.
• Rescued from the Underworld: Kairi and Yozora share a goal in bringing the love of their lives back from the Final World.
• Seen It All: When Gula reveals himself to be a Lost Master from the Age of Fairy Tales, the heroes are mildly surprised but they decide to just accept it and move on, which Gula wasn't expecting at all. Lea lampshades how they've all gone through so many crazy adventures that hearing a Keyblade Master come from the distant past isn't that weird to them.
• Ship Tease: Riku has some moments with Naminé, with Riku's father even supporting a possible relationship between the two. Aqua also gets some moments with Terra, especially the scene where they gaze at each when Aqua notes how they all harmed the ones they love with their good intentions.
• Sequel Hook: Played with, since Word of God confirms there will not be a sequel to this fanfiction due to wanting let the canon series play out and fill in the blanks. Nevertheless, these things would have hinted of what's to come had there been a sequel.
  • Just before Kairi and Frode clash, he reveals he comes from another worldline just like her, as have all evil beings that emerged from the Doors to Death. Although Frode has been sealed away and can no longer take over Yozora's body, Frode's revelations do open up some possibilities...
  • The Darklings tell Ventus how he was the touched by the "Primordial" and he let "her" die (those who played Kingdom Hearts χ will recognize them as Darkness and Strelitzia respectively), causing Ven to awaken some painful memories. They also reveal that they know about Subject X^note Her identity in canon remains unknown so far, but it's all but stated to be Skuld here., much to Axel's shock. While Riku and Roxas suggest they have Naminé look into Ven's memories for answers, Axel promises to tell everyone about Subject X later.
  • While Kairi does to get to meet her parents in the Final World, confirming they did die, Kairi's grandmother is nowhere to be seen, hinting she may still be alive.
  • Gula is currently investigating the matter the hand, asking his fellow Foretellers to search for Ava, while he gathers information and comes to the conclusion that Luxu is the traitor, causing him to move his investigation to the Keyblade Graveyard.
  • Just before he returns with Sora and Kairi to their worldline, the Master of Masters says to himself the fun is only beginning, hinting that his plans will be put into motion soon.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. Cat proves herself to be very good at counseling, helping Kairi with her depression throughout her sessions.
• Third Line, Some Waiting: The main storyline focuses on Kairi and Yozora's journey to save their loved ones from the Final World before they can seal the Doors to Death and ensure it will never threaten Yozora's world ever again. The second storyline focuses on the Guardians of Light keeping tabs on Kairi from their Worldline, preparing to get her and Sora back home once the latter is saved, all the while discovering the conspiracy of Luxu as well as the mystery of the Lost Masters. The third storyline follows Gula's investigation into finding the traitor among his fellow apprentices.
• True Companions: Yozora's squad is this, ready to help each other through thick and thin. It doesn't take long for Kairi to be integrated into squad, and they show just how far they consider Kairi their friend when they immediately go to console Kairi after her Keyblade is shattered and go out of their way to help Kairi restore it.
• The Unreveal: Also coupled with the reveal just like in the Post-Credits Scene of Kingdom Hearts III when Xigbar reveals himself to be Luxu, when Phinheas reveals himself to be the Master of Masters, he places his black coat's hood over his face just before dispelling his illusion, so neither Kairi nor the readers get to see his "real" face.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Yozora's companions, especially General Aiko, call out Aegis for severely injuring Kairi, with Aiko giving him a strict warning that she will personally remove him from the team if he does something like this again.
• Wistful Amnesia: It's revealed that a Maiden sacrificed to close the Doors to Death has her name and face forgotten by everyone who knew of her. Yozora's childhood friend and sweetheart was the maiden recently sacrificed, and as a result her forgotten name and face affected her loved ones very greatly. Helping Yozora recall the maiden's name becomes an important plot point in the story.
• You Are Not Alone: The theme of Kairi's character arc. Kairi spends most of the fanfiction trying to do things by herself to avoid being a burden. When Kairi's Keyblade shatters in the fight against Frode, all of Yozora's companions step in to help her, promising her to help fix it no matter what and reassuring her she's not a burden. Chirithy tells Kairi there's nothing wrong with accepting help and her friends will be there no matter what.
• You Remind Me of X: Though he never says her name, the Master of Masters tells Kairi she reminds him of Ava due to how optimistic she was, like a bright yellow dandelion. The fact that Kairi can be cunning enough to go against the Master's instructions may also have something to do with it.