"You've heard about it, haven't you? The story about the X-Blade? To be completely honest, I myself don't even remember all the details. But I do remember hearing the story of the chaos that it brought along the land. The people that it hurt. It's not exactly something to smile at. Heh, to be completely honest, just thinking about it gets me all riled up. I can never truly say that I was there but…I can say that I stopped it from happening again. But what am I telling this to you for? You already know what happened in the X-Blade war, don't you?"
*THUD*
"Ow!" Shouted the voice of a young man. On the ground of a small wooden room was a young man dressed in a plain white t-shirt and blue shorts. His skin was a light chocolate color, and his hair a frostbitten white, swaying backwards and to the left side a bit. As he sat up and rubbed his aching head, he opened his soft green eyes, looking up at the ceiling.
"It's that voice again..." he sighed softly and placed his arms in his lap. "Why do I keep hearing that voice? What does it mean? Heh, am I just going crazy?" he asked himself before he sighed. He looked over his room. There wasn't much to be impressed by. In the corner was his bed, and on the opposite corner, beside his door, was a desk that held books for school, a lamp, and a toy Moogle. He chuckled at the toy before standing to his feet, walking over to the small Moogle plush toy. "Heh…I still have to hold onto this. At least until I can return it." He looked over the other areas of his room, seeing nothing but empty space, except for a window beside his bed. Slowly walking to his bed, he stared at the moon as it stood above his home, a smile across his face. "There's a legend that the moon once turned into a giant heart 20 years ago. 2 years before I was born…" he chuckled a bit. "Spooky. But still…that's just a legend." He yawned before falling back into his bed, closing his eyes again. He had a long day ahead of him.
-The Next Morning-
Walking out of his house, the young man stretched his body and let the rays of the sun bathe his skin. He wore a pair of baggy cargo shorts and an open, red, short-sleeved jacket. Beneath this jacket was a black shirt with a strange cross sigil along the chest area. His shoes were red, and adorning his right wrist was a small black band. He took a deep breath and smiled as he looked along his city.
"Man…this place never gets old." He said to himself as he walked along the hill of his home, Twilight Town. The young teenage man walked down the hill that led to the center of the small town. On the upper side of the hill was the Tram Station that went to another section of the city. And on the lower quarter was the marketplace. However, something was different today.
As he walked past the nearly always open garage at the midsection of the hill, ne noticed that not only was it closed, but no one was there to greet him or anyone else like normal.
"Huh? Where'd they go?" the young man asked himself as he looked around. "Could they have just disappeared? Nah, that's ridiculous…so then…where are they?" As he walked further down the hill, he noticed the job application board that was as normally lit with its neon lights. He went over to the board, only to see that all the jobs were taken. Delivery, cargo movement, entertainment. It was all taken up. "That's weird...If everything's taken, then where is everybody?" he asked. He snapped his fingers. "I got it! The Struggle Arena!" he shouted before he headed down the hill.
Once he was down however, he was only met with disappointment. Below the hill was nothing but an empty Struggle Arena. He sighed and crossed his arms. "Wow…nothing here too?" he asked himself, looking around the empty arena. He walked over to one of the struggle bats, picking one up before he smiled. "Heh…Never won in a match before…I bet it feels good to hold one of these and know you defeated someone." He soon tossed the struggle bat away before crossing his arms. "This is…this is strange…where is everyone? Why is everyone gone?" he sighed softly before looking up into the sky. It was there that he noticed something happening. A distortion started to appear in the air.
"What the-?!" before he could finish, the air slowly started to open up. A large black hole appeared, pushing out a small stream of darkness. The young man watched as a figure fell through the darkness, landing softly onto the Struggle Arena. "Who are you? Do you know what happened to the people here?!" the young man asked as he stared at the figure. Their own clothing was strange. A simple black coat, yet despite an opening in their hood, their face was completely sealed. "Um…well, do you know anything about Twilight Town?" the young man asked again. "And how did you get here? Was that a portal you walked through? Can you answer me?!"
He was met with only silence. The young man sighed before he looked around. "I guess not…" he then looked back to the cloaked figure. "Well, my name's Kenji, but everyone usually gets that confused with Genji. What's your name?" There was still silence. Kenji couldn't even hear the sound of the wind blowing his soft white hair. Soon, the figure raised one hand, before a weapon flashed into view. It was a lance. Kenji gasped and jumped back. "Whoa whoa! Okay, first off, how did you do that?! Second, I don't wanna fight!" the figure spun the lance around his hand before swiping it to his side before more and more lances started twirling around him. He grabbed another lance with his free hand before holding them both to his sides, the remaining lances flowing behind him like wings.
Kenji slowly started to step back before the cloaked figure aimed one lance at him. Before he could get a word in, the figure ran at him, spears following. So, he did the only thing he knew was smart. He ran in the other direction. Kenji panted as he ran into the tunnel beneath Twilight Town's tram sight. Once inside, he started snaking his way through the tunnel region, narrowly escaping the razor sharp edges of the lances that nearly slashed at him.
"Aaaagh!" Kenji screamed as he ran through the tunnels, trying his hardest not to end up shredded. Once he came out of the other side of the tunnels, he was in an alleyway. He looked to his sides before smiling. "Tram sight! I gotta lose this guy!" he shouted. He looked back only to gasp and duck, avoiding a lance that struck to the wall in front of him. Kenji took off, running through the alleyway before he came back up the hill where he lived. He looked behind him, only to see that the cloaked figure had vanished. But he could still hear the swirling wind of the lances. He looked ahead only to see the figure land on the hill, lances in hand. Kenji gasped before he turned and ran down the hill, the figure following him. Instead of heading back to the Struggle Arena, he headed to the Tram Market Section, running into the large open plaza.
Kenji passed by the second job application board, only to see that it too was already taken up, not that he wanted a job at the moment. Instead, he ran past the billboard and across the bridge. Covering the plaza was a large wall, and in the center of this wall was a hole that led to a nearby forest. However, Kenji would never make it. Instead, his path would be blocked by lances covering the hole, getting him to stop in his tracks as he turned around. The figure was slowly walking towards him, spinning the lances in his hand. Kenji slowly walked back, hitting the wall as he watched the hooded figure come closer, and closer.
"Stop…Please…" Kenji pleaded, feeling truly scared more now than ever. The figure raised one lance, and dashed forward. Kenji gasped and closed his eyes, raising his hands. That was when he heard the same voice from before.
"Don't be afraid. You can fight it." The voice said, getting Kenji to open his eyes. "Don't let your fear control you. Overcome your fear, and fight back. Look deep into your heart, and grasp the light that rests within. Grasp that light, and use your strength. Use the Keyblade." A bright flash of light covered Kenji's hand before the cloaked figure swung his lance down. However, instead of striking Kenji, he struck a blade. Once the light died down, Kenji looked down at his hand to see that he was holding some strange blade. It looked more like a gear instead of an actual blade.
"What?! What is this?!" Kenji asked as he held the blade tight. It seemed to radiate with him. Almost as if talking to him. Softly, Kenji started to relax. "Key…blade…" he whispered before shaking his head. He pushed the coated figure off of him, holding his Keyblade close. Kenji charged and roared, reeling the blade back before he swiped. The coated figure jumped up to avoid being struck down, landing on the roof of a nearby low building. "Alright! Talk! Who are you?! And why are you attacking me?!" he shouted. The figure still said nothing, angering Kenji to no end. However, it held out its arms, and the weapons disappeared, including those that blocked the forest entrance. Kenji watched as the figure turned to walk away, a portal of darkness appearing ahead. "Wait!" Kenji shouted, only for the figure to completely disappear, leaving Kenji to himself, sighing softly. "…who was that? And…why did he come after me?"
He looked down at his hand, seeing the strange Keyblade that he wielded. "…and how did I get this? What…what even is this? Is this…a Keyblade?" Before he could answer, he was suddenly struck with a deep feeling of sleep. His Keyblade disappeared from his hands, making Kenji groan before he fell to the ground, slowly fading into slumber.
In his sleep, Kenji seemed to fall through the floor. He gasped as the floor was suddenly replaced with the ocean. Struggling to move, he found that he could do nothing but fall to the bottom, as if gravity worked the same in the sea. He panicked, but slowly started to calm down.
"I…I can breathe?" he asked, soon lost in the darkness of the ocean. That was, until he came to the bottom. Kenji soon landed on the ocean floor, looking around the empty sea. "What…what happened?" he asked. He looked down at the sand of the ocean floor, only to be blinded by an amazing light. The ocean floor began peeling away before revealing a large pillar, with a portrait of Kenji asleep on the pillar. "What? Is…is that…me?" he asked himself. The round pillar also housed empty slots around his sleeping frame, making him wonder just where he was. He looked around a bit, before placing his hand on his chest. "This is…" he knew exactly where he was now. "This place…this is my heart."
