The Path to the Body
Chapter 1: Reappearing In the Hour of Need
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters involved except Kira
It was dark that was all she could remember. She had been born in the darkness, and it had consumed her. At least, she thought that's what had happened. In the Gummiverse, a mystical universe full of worlds and countless adventures, a lone ship drifted through the nothingness. Its single occupant unconscious on the floor of the command deck. She had long black hair that came down to her knees, and she wore a black pair of pants that came up to the middle of her shins and looked extremely tight. Her shirt was blue and exposed her midriff and looked tight as well, her red jacket came down to the middle of her torso and barely covered any of her body. Her chest had also grown considerably from when she had been younger, stretching the material of her shirt to its limit. She stirred, releasing a small groan as she pushed herself up, her hair cascading down beside her head. She opened her eyes, revealing a beautiful, sky blue pair of eyes. She looked around herself before pushing up to her feet. This was Kira, a keyblade wielder, on her right wrist, a bracelet full of key chains dangled, clinking together as she moved.
"What… what happened?" She asked, putting her free hand against the side of her head. She squeaked, her voice sounded a little deeper than she remembered.
She looked down and noticed for the first time the clothes that seemed all too small.
"What… where am I?" She asked herself, the slight sound of her voice the only noise in the ship as it drifted along quietly.
Kira walked over to the command console and powered it on, immediately a screen came up that showed a blond haired man wearing an orange band around his forehead, he had a small stick in his mouth that moved as he contemplated what he was doing. He had on a white shirt and blue pants and was looking down at a keyboard that he was using. Behind him Kira could see a brown, wooden floor.
"Hello?" She asked, her memory coming back of how this system worked.
The man started, giving a yelp of surprise, "Yuffie, I swear if this is another one of your ninja pranks!" he shouted looking up at the screen. He stopped, his mouth agape, the small stick fell out of his mouth as he stared up at the screen.
"Kira…" he asked slowly.
"Cid?" She asked him.
He nodded, "What happened? The last time we talked you'd just left Neverland."
"I don't know. I was on my way to Hallow Bastion when a vortex of some kind of strange energy ate my ship. It knocked me out and killed the power. I just woke up and turned the ship back on."
Cid shook his head. "Kira, do you know what's going on?" He asked.
"Last I knew I needed to take out the Heartless."
"No! That's not all, there are these things, called keyholes, and they lock the heart of the worlds and if they get locked up the Heartless don't go after them at all!"
"What?! Where did you hear this?" Kira asked him, "I've got to go back and seal all the keyholes!" She continued, completely ignoring Cid now, "Did the person who explained this tell you anything else about them? Maybe where they are or how to find them. If they didn't I don't know where to begin! I mean I cleared out so many worlds and helped so many people!"
"Kira!" Cid shouted.
She stopped talking.
"Listen, it's already been taken care of. This other kid, Sora, he came along and fixed it." Cid explained.
"There's another keyblade wielder?" She asked.
Cid nodded. "Listen, go find Master Yen Sid, he's in this place called Twilight Town. He'll be able to explain everything."
Kira nodded, looking down at her console as Cid began to send new data. She activated the auto-pilot and the ship began to slowly make its way through the Gummiverse.
"Why is the ship so slow?" Kira asked Cid.
"Yours is an older model, and when Sora seal the final keyhole the whole Gummiverse changed, worlds moved to make room for ones that had been consumed by the Heartless and all those holes in existence, like the one I assume swallowed you, disappeared. This brought a new wave of Gummi technology into the fold as everything about the older model was updated or replaced entirely." Cid explained.
Kira nodded as she took in all this information.
"I've also heard that some of the key chains from other worlds don't work anymore. You may want to check yours out." Cid told her, noticing her bracelet.
She nodded and stepped away from the console. As the ship made its way through the enlarged Gummiverse she confirmed that all of her key chains still worked, but her Gravity, Stop, and Aero spells no longer functioned. When she questioned Cid he called Merlin over who explained that the new atmosphere of the worlds prevented some of the older spells from working. He would train her to use the new spells that had been discovered.
As she reached Twilight Town Kira sighed, so much had changed since she'd disappeared. Literally the whole universe had become something completely different. She disembarked from the ship and appeared in front of a large, spiral tower. She walked up the steps and knocked on the double doors that marked the entrance. One of them creaked open and she stepped inside, as she passed the threshold the door creaked closed. She looked around and saw a spiral staircase leading to the top of the tower. She made her way up the stairs, and after a few hours, and what seemed like thousands of twisting, spiral stairs. She arrived in a small, circular room. In the middle of the room sat a man in a blue robe with a blue wizard hat that was decorated in star patterns, he was in a high backed chair, sitting behind a long desk.
"Kira I presume." He asked her in a calm, deep voice.
She nodded shyly.
"Come in, don't be afraid my dear." He said, lifting a hand and beckoning her forward.
Kira slowly walked over to the man and he snapped his fingers, summoning a chair. Kira sat down at a signal from the man.
"So, you come with questions about this strange new world I presume?" The man asked her.
"Yes." Kira told him, nodding slowly.
"Well, ask away child. I will answer to the best of my ability." The man told her.
Kira nodded, "Are you Master Yen Sid?" She asked.
"Indeed I am."
"Then, can you explain to me what happened in the eight years after I went missing?"
Yen Sid nodded and dove into a deep, and complex explanation of what happened after she'd disappeared. When she'd fallen into the hole in existence that had eaten her Gummi ship, her key chains had returned to the worlds to await another key bearer to claim them. That wielder was Sora, he went on a quest after finding out about the world's keyholes, and he traveled to each world and sealed the keyholes, keeping the heartless at bay. As he traveled he made new friends and defeated many enemies, growing stronger as he did. When it came time for him to fight his final opponent; Ansem the seeker of Darkness, he used the power of his friends and the light of Kingdom Hearts, the keyhole to all worlds, to defeat him and seal the power of darkness away. This reset everything as worlds that were once consumed by the Heartless returned to their positions, the worlds that had been unaffected moved to their old positions. The whole of the universe had changed because of Sora's actions, and when he set off on a new quest to find his friends, he noticed that his old key chains were missing, as their previous and rightful owner, had appeared to claim them again.
"So, the key chains I obtained in the previous worlds…"
"They're yours, and yours alone to wield. Sora will receive his own keys in due time." Yen Sid explained.
"What about the Heartless?"
"They've returned now, stronger than before, as the new worlds that were returned with the locking of Kingdom Hearts haven't had their keyholes sealed, and the worlds that had theirs locked have been reset." Yen Sid told her.
"Then I've got to go fix it." She said, standing immediately.
"Calm down child, and listen. You have done a great deed, in your time you defeated many Heartless and many powerful enemies that Sora himself struggled against. Its time your actions were rewarded."
"What do you mean?" Kira asked as she sank back down into the chair.
"I mean, that you are to partake of the Mark of Mastery Exam." Yen Sid told her.
"The what?" She asked.
"The Mark of Mastery Exam is an exam given to all Keyblade wielders when their skills seem to be strong enough. You have defeated many enemies and did so on your own with a little help from some friends, Sora has had the assistance and guidance of those who came before him, you." Yen Sid told her. "I will give you the exam, and if you should pass, you will become a keyblade master."
Kira was in shock, a Keyblade Master, she'd wanted to become one ever since she found out she could wield a Keyblade, but she knew it would be years before she was even close to becoming one, and now here was her chance.
"What will I have to do?" She asked.
"You will have to travel to the worlds, and lock the keyholes as you should've done long ago." Yen Sid told her, "But first, it may be to our benefit if you receive some new clothes, as yours are a bit on the small side."
Kira looked down and blushed, realizing that she had been wearing her old outfit from eight years ago. She stood as Master Yen Sid indicated a door on the right. She pushed it open and found three women dressed in large, extended dresses of Green, Blue, and Red. They had small, almost see through wings on their backs and carried three star wands. They turned to her and began to giggle and croon at the sight of her.
"Are you Kira dear?" The red woman asked.
"Y-yes…" She answered, not sure what was going to happen.
"I'm Flora." The Red woman said, "The leader of our little group of fairies."
"I'm Fauna" The Green Fairy said
"And I'm Merryweather." The Blue one added, a little grumpily.
"Master Yen Sid sent me to get a new outfit." Kira said, tugging lightly on her too-small jacket.
"Yes yes dear, we know. We saw you come into the tower and made it a point to talk to you before you left." Flora told her.
"Now, if you'll let us, we'd like to get started." Flora told her before flicking her wand at Kira.
Kira flinched, as red sparks poured off of her. She felt something brush past her ankles, looking down she was she was wearing a simple, sleeveless, pink dress.
"No no, not pink, blue." Merryweather said blasting Kira and turning the dress blue.
"I say Pink" Flora blasted her and changed it to pink.
"Blue!"
"Pink!"
"How about a shade of green." Fauna added as she shot Kira.
"Blue!"
"Pink!"
"Blue!"
"Pink!"
"Stop!" Kira shouted holding out her hands, the dress fluttering slightly.
The Fairies jumped at the sudden sound of her voice.
"I'm sorry if I sound ungrateful, but this isn't exactly the outfit I'd choose to fight Heartless in." She said, tugging slightly at the dress.
"I'm sorry dear." Flora said, "Alright girls, we need to work together on this. Ready?"
The three fairies turned to Kira who held out her hands and closed her eyes.
"One, two, three!"
The three fairies blasted her and Kira heard them gasp. She opened her eyes slightly, but widened them when she was the outfit. She was wearing a black jacket with a pair of pockets at the bottom on each side. She felt, more than saw, a white shirt underneath a red shirt. She was wearing a skirt that came down to mid-thigh that looked like it was made of strips of fabric and it was the color blue. Underneath the skirt was a pair of black tights that came down from her waist all the way to her ankles. She had on a simple pair of sneakers. Her hair was tied back with a green band that kept it in a long ponytail. Her bracelet containing her key chains had turned into a black cloth band that fit snugly around her wrist.
"Oh my, that looks wonderful" Fauna said happily.
"Our best work yet!" Merryweather added.
Flora nodded and turned to resume what she was doing, the other fairies did this too, a signal for Kira to return to Master Yen Sid. She turned and entered the room to find Master Yen Sid smiling.
"It seems you've gotten your new attire." He said.
Kira put her hands in front of her skirt and bowed to him, her hair fluttering past her head. "Yes master, thank you." She said.
He nodded as she stood. "Now listen to me Kira, I have a few gifts for you." He held out his hand and summoned a handful of key chains. He handed them to Kira who attached them to her band.
He summoned another band identical to Kira's, but this one was white. He handed it to her, and she slipped it over her left hand and tied the two new key chains to it. She examined the first one and saw that it was a white hourglass with a + running through the center. The other was a silver chain with a crescent moon at the bottom.
"Those are the other key chains that Sora received from the previous worlds that belong to you." Yen Sid explained as Kira stared at the others.
The first Kira noticed was a golden chain with an ice blue snowflake at the bottom. The next was a silver chain with a pink rose that had a small green stem protruding from the bottom; the third was a simple gray chain with a small lion's head. The next was a gray chain with a little yellow bird; the fifth keychain was a red ribbon that had a black angel wing as the token, the sixth was a black chain with a black crown, and the last was a string with a star token.
"Thank you Master, for returning my key chains to me." Kira said with another bow.
"As for my final gift." He turned away from a window and Kira saw her ship, only it looked newer, and the blocks had been replaced with smaller models of the previous ones that seemed to connect better than her last ship. She smiled at Yen Sid who smiled back.
She took a step forward and in a flash of light, disappeared. The Three Fairies came to say farewell before she rocketed away. Yen Sid looked into the sky long after she'd disappeared.
"I think it's time we take our leave, don't you?" he asked the fairies who nodded.
Kira sped through the Gummiverse far faster than her last ship, eventually she arrived at a world she didn't recognize, and her system identified it as Hollow Bastion. She landed the ship in the Gummi-lock then traveled down to the world. She arrived in a small town. It was a square design and all along the edges shops lined the street. The center of the square was relatively empty. She walked through the streets, making her way toward the far side of the city. As she passed through an arch-way into another block of the city she heard a voice call to her from above. She looked up to see Yuffie smiling at her; she was much older than Kira remembered.
Yuffie leapt down and she grabbed Kira, pulling her into a friendly hug. "You have no idea how worried you made us!" She shouted when she let her go.
"I'm sorry…" Kira said, confused.
"Don't worry about that now, come on! Everyone else is dying to see you again!" Yuffie took her hand and led her past a few houses until they arrived at large wooden structure, it looked like a place Merlin would live, but it had a few satellites protruding from the roof. She entered with Yuffie and gasped as she saw the whole group of Traverse Town gathered around inside.
"Kira!" Cid shouted as he came over and wrapped his arms around her.
She smiled as Cid pulled away, his strength had left her body feeling numb.
"I assume you're here for training?" Leon asked.
"Yeah, I suppose I better get used to this new world." Kira said with a slight smile.
Merlin was standing next to him and he smiled at her through his gray beard.
The next few weeks Kira spent honing her skills with Leon, during their first sparring session she'd found out about a new Keyblade technique known as Dual Cycling. It allowed her to use two keyblades at once and she immediately dove into learning all the secrets of the concept. Her second keyblade was the one Master Yen Sid had given her, she learned its name was The Path to the Body, and it was the brother keyblade to her Road to the Heart. The Path to the Body was a black blade with a silver strip that looked exactly like the Road to the Heart, it had three spokes protruding from the top of the blade and a Silver, square guard around the handle. She also had come to find that her Road to the Heart had a now Black, square guard instead of the yellow it had once been. She also discovered that they could merge with only keyblades attained from their version of the worlds, so the Road to the Heart couldn't merge with the other keychain Master Yen Sid had given her, but her Path to the Body could, the one exception being the two sibling blade could merge together to form The Way to Light, it was her most powerful keyblade, but took both of her hands to wield, and it didn't mix with any of her other key chains.
"I think I should get started on my quest." Kira told Leon one day as they traveled to their usual training grounds.
Leon nodded quietly, "It would be a good idea, and you should start by finding the keyhole here in Hollow Bastion."
Kira nodded her agreement, and when they reached the training area Leon turned to her. "I'm not training you today, I came to give you this, and a hint." He said handing her a small card.
On it was a picture of a fantasy castle with a shooting star falling through the top tower. In large letters on the bottom it read "Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Member". Kira turned it over to see in a neat script, probably Aerith's, was her name.
She smiled before pocketing the card, she turned to look up at Leon, who still was a head taller than her.
"The hint is to where the keyhole could be. If I had to guess, it would be up in the castle, that's the place where we can't break through the Heartless yet. It's still too thick."
Kira nodded before walking past him toward the castle. As she came out of earshot Leon chuckled to himself. "Let's hope she's powerful enough to handle what comes next."
