Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all! If I did...then, well, things would be different now, wouldn't they?
I got this idea because I was doing this retarded(I hate it) research paper on Knighthood. And suddenly, I realized that females were not knights(well, in my sources, it never mentioned females being knights anyway). And that, the sole idea of females not being able to be knights, is where this all stirred up from.(Just thought you'd all like to know the origins of this wonderful story :D)
Oh, that reminds me. Some of you may be saying '111 years? Holy fizzle, who does everyone manage to survive?' well, there are(er, were) periods of truces here and there. Like, maybe six years here, three years there, eight months over there, you know. The 'Calms' (ehehe). There HAVE been wars in history that lasted over a hundred years as well...
P.S. I'm not an expert at the whole topic of knighthood(OH NOEZ I'M GOING TO FAIL MY RESEARCH PAPER) so forgive me if I do have inaccuracies here and there(such as the modern speech). I suppose since this is Medieval Fantasy, I can bend the rules slightly. (It originally intended to not start out as Fantasy, but then I had to add the chocobos and Aeons and Espers and magical powers and what-not.)
The Black Thirteen
Prologue: A Little Crazy
The two continents of Disney and Square. Yes, that is where we begin our tale. It has been many years of war and hatred between these two lands, and all of the kingdoms residing within the continents. No one knows what started it, as it has been going on for so long. All people know is that they want it to stop. It has to stop. Parents' lives are being taken, villages are being pillaged by shameless bandits, orphans left crying in the streets...no. No more of these long years of hate and war. There had been temporary truces here and there, but no matter what, the hate continued. Blood continued to spill. Everyday was a day of fear.
That's why the knights, a chivalrous class of nobles, started to come about in order to protect those who lived in fear. Men who followed a code of chivalry were highly revered in society and it was thought they would be the ones who could bring about love and peace again. The code was a guideline to a knight's career, and it went like this:
A Knight is sworn to Valor
His Heart knows only Virtue
His Blade defends the Helpless
His Might upholds the Weak
His Words speak only Truth
His Wrath undoes the Wicked.
These knights were told about in stories telling old and young alike about their magnificent feats and how noble and kind they were. An especially prestigious family of knights whose names were written in the majority of these stories were the de Luz family. As year number ninety-three of the tireless war drew to a close, the de Luz family were granted with two delights: twin boys. At the age of seven, both of them were separated to become knights, as that was their destiny. Some claim their separation as the reason why, but...
"Seven years." A dirty blonde mused, looking boredly up at the calendar tacked against the stone wall. "Seven long, hard years of running around doing favors to people I don't even know. All for some stupid title father forced me, us, into to. Tell me, Sora, are you enjoying this as much as I think you are?" The spiky-haired blonde seemed to be talking to the calendar, if such a ridiculous thing existed.
"SQUIRE!" The blonde heard shouts coming from outside of his room. He rolled his eyes.
"I'm a person, too. Couldn't you address me by name?" He asked, looking at the door which might have been knocked down if those annoying people kept on shouting 'Squire!' at him. Which he was, but it made him feel like a dog. And he was not a dog. Even if his parents always made him feel inferior, he never wanted to succumb to those feelings.
"Roxas, it will not please the Lady if she hears this rebellious speech of yours!" Shouted a recognizable voice. It was the maid to the knight he served under. At the age of seven, a young noble boy(which, unfortunately, happened to be Roxas in this case) would be sent to a castle to train under a knight as a page. When he reached about fourteen or fifteen years of age, he would then be appointed to squire status. Which was where Roxas was at in his torturous(in his opinion, at any rate) journey to becoming a full-fledged knight.
"Oh yes," He said sarcastically, not thinking about opening the door(just to annoy the people he loathed so), "Because I am so planning on taking down this entire castle with my army of mice in the next twenty-four hours."
"Roxas!" Another one of the maids shouted, "Please, this is not becoming of a future knight!"
"Who said I wanted to be a knight?" He asked, yawning. It was fun to argue with the staff of the castle. They always got so bent out of shape for no reason.
As if they had rehearsed, everyone outside of his door gasped in perfect unison. Then they proceeded with saying such things as 'Oh no! You mustn't say that!' and other things of the like. Roxas couldn't really care. He didn't want to be here any longer than he had to be, and while being here, he might as well enjoy it, right?
Finally, it seemed as if the servants had enough. "We will knock this door down, squire!"
"Go ahead." Roxas said, rolling his eyes. He didn't really think they'd break down his door because during the course of his time here, the door had been broken down and replaced twenty-one times. So he was in his rebellious stage. So what?
"Must we break down this door again? Please, Roxas, if you want to be a knight--"
"There you go again." He sighed, knowing who was speaking(and that he better be respectful), "With all due respect, Lady Ariel, I never said I wanted to be a knight. Isn't your own daughter as rebellious as I? Can you really blame me?"
"Well, no," Lady Ariel replied, "Melody does not like being taught all the proper things a lady should be taught. I suppose I cannot blame you. But you have come this far and being a knight is a great honor. Especially since you are of the de Luz line."
"Which is known for it's high-quality knights ever since the class was formed. Yes, yes, I know, being a knight is expected of me. And I give you my gratitude for having me here. I'm sure it's your honor as much as it is mine, but still..." He sighed. Roxas was forced into this. Why couldn't he just live the luxurious life of a noble in his home, with his family? But no, instead, his father's pride forced him AND his brother to this lifestyle.
Roxas could only wonder how much Sora hated it wherever he was...
"Squire!"
"Yes, my lord?" Replied the brunette version of Roxas, facing the knight he was serving, which happened to be one of the King of Disney's(alright, so their father played favorites...) personal knights. There were two, actually, and the other one was a lot more carefree and less strict than the one who had to teach him how to be a knight.
"This food is too salty for me, Squire, take it back and ask for something else less salty!" Quacked a white duck who, oddly enough, happened to be a knight. Not just any knight, but the knight he was to serve under. He didn't find it to odd that his mentor was to be a duck; since he had seen the King and Queen of Disney Castle, and, after seeing them, well, nothing's impossible.
"Yes, Sir Donald." He quickly replied, taking the duck's(not just any duck, mind you) dish and about to walk back to the kitchen, when Donald spoke again.
"It's Sir Donald Duck to you, Squire Sora de Luz. Don't forget it!" Donald quacked again, and then added, "Thank you, squire."
"I-It's a pleasure, my lord." Sora replied, scurrying into the kitchen before his strict instructor barked--errr, quacked any more orders at him. The chef looked at the brunette and sighed. Sora nodded and handed the plate to him, "Sir Donald Duck says it's too much salt, sir."
"Too much salt?!" The lead chef, named Pete cried, taking the plate from the other chef, "You," With saying this, he pointed a fat finger at Sora, "tell Sir Donald Duck that this has the perfect amount of salt in it and if he cannot taste the fine blend of herbs mixed perfectly to accent the salt, then he has no culinary skills! GO! Tell him!" The plump chef then pushed poor Sora out of the kitchen.
He looked back at the kitchen, to see all of the chefs' eyes on him. Sora gulped and walked back towards Donald, "Um, the kitchen has a message for you, my lord."
"What? Make it snappy, too! I want my food!" Donald demanded. 'Geez! He's so cranky for a duck.' Sora thought, mentally shaking his head. Of course he wouldn't perform this sort of action in public, especially in front of Donald. That would be considered disrespectful and all squires were taught that their lord who taught them was like a second father. And Roxas had learned(therefore, Sora had learned from watching his younger brother's punishments for acting out-of-line) more than once to never be disrespectful to his father. Though strangely, Sora never remembered even being reprimanded by his parents, though they had watched over Roxas' every move like a hawk. Playing favorites? Most definitely, although Sora didn't realize this.
"Well, uh, the head chef Pete said something like..." Sora scratched his head, trying to remember what he had said, "That there's a perfect blend of herbs to accent the salt and you have no culinary skills since you can't taste it."
"WHAT!" Donald jumped off of his chair and walked straight into the kitchen. Sora followed, watching a fight commence between Pete and Donald. Again, Sora might add. Those two were always at odds with each other. Whether it was because Donald suspected Pete of treachery or if it was because the food really was that terrible to a duck's senses, Sora did not know.
Their squabbles occurred so often that the brunette of fourteen years(meaning Sora, of course) knew exactly what to do when one occurred. He sighed, walking out of the dining room and towards the throne room, people greeting him along the way, and he greeting others. Sora liked being at this castle. It was the pinpoint of the entire continent of Disney(which consisted of not only the Disney kingdom, but other small countries and kingdoms) so there was always hustle and bustle going on. Everyday there were new faces, and from what Sora had heard, there wouldn't be any attacks on the castle in awhile since the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Square(likewise, it was the entire pinpoint of the continent of Square) passed away four years ago, leaving their daughter in charge of the entire kingdom.
And of course, Sora knew all girls to be peaceful and more concerned over what color matched their eyes than a war. But still, Sora did know that it wouldn't be too long before the government of Square ordered an attack on the castle, or a castle allied with Disney. As his thoughts drew to a close, so did his 'journey' to the throne room, which he entered without a knock. He could see the Queen and the person he was looking for on the other side of the room, so Sora quickly hurried to where they were.
"God speed you." Sora said as he stepped before them, "Your Majesty," Sora bowed to the Queen, and then turned to the other, "Lady Daisy, Sir Donald Duck and Head Chef Pete got into a fight." He made sure he emphasized 'Duck' on Donald's part.
"Again?" Lady Daisy, who was also a duck(and happened to be Donald's 'ladylove', or, shall we modernize it, 'girlfriend'), said, "Oh dear, I just don't know what to do with Donald anymore." She sighed, "He just has such a hot temper! I almost feel sorry for you, Sora."
"At least I learn from my mistakes quickly." Sora said, but Daisy just sighed again. "Hey! What do you mean 'almost'?"
"Well," Daisy started, both of them bowing to the Queen and then leaving the throne room, "It's not everyday we accept noble boys to be trained under Donald, Sir Goofy, or even His Majesty, the King."
"It's only because I'm a de Luz, right?" Sora asked, and then frowned, "You know, I wonder why father decided to separate my brother and I. I haven't seen or heard from him in seven years!"
"It's probably because if he sent you both to the same castle, he knows you two would be in a competition to be the better one. It might start jealousy, and jealousy leads up to hate. I believe that's how this war started." Daisy explained.
"Yeah, but, still...A little competition is good once in a while, you know? I'm the only squire here. It's tough when you're the only one running around the castle gardens in a big suit of heavy armor for endurance training. At least we'd keep each other going." Sora said, and then shrugged, "Oh well. I'll get to see him when we both become knights!"
"IF you both become knights." Daisy clarified, "Your training is going along fine, but some boys have difficulty becoming knights. Usually if they show no promise or sometimes even interest, they're sent home. Or in a battle, the squire could get killed."
Sora laughed, "Nah. There isn't any way my brother would get killed out in the battlefield, Lady Daisy. He's as tough as nails."
"He could've changed after seven years." Daisy proposed, "Things change. Like the King and Queen of Square. No one expected them to die, they were, as you say it, 'tough as nails'. But an illness took their lives and the whole country was in disarray. I suppose His Majesty is kind enough to not attack while they were recovering themselves, but–oh! I'm sorry. I hadn't meant to speak to you about politics. My apologies."
"No, it's alright. Sir Donald Duck probably would have told me about what's going on over there anyway." Sora shrugged, as they finally arrived at the kitchen.
"Sora, if you would please stand back." Daisy commanded, and Sora did as told. She opened the kitchen doors, and walked right into the fray of Pete and Donald. Sora winced as he heard a high-pitched 'DONALD THIS IS SETTING A BAD EXAMPLE!' and a bunch of other things he tuned out as he waited quietly.
After a long five minutes, Donald walked out of the kitchen with his head down. Daisy exited the kitchen after him, arms crossed. "Apologize to Sora, Donald. He may be your squire, but he's not your slave." She said.
"Do I have to?" Donald asked, turning to Daisy, who just gave him a glare. He sighed, turning to Sora, "Sorry, Squire."
"It's alright, my lord. I understand you must be under a lot of pressure of having to teach me everything you know." Sora said, nodding his head. He was taught at a young age to respect everyone, and especially revere the knight teaching him like a father. Though Donald certainly wasn't his father(no resemblance whatsoever) Sora had to abide by the teachings. That way, he'd become a knight and make his actual father proud.
"That's my boy!" Donald quacked proudly, "Now, then, Sora, you have to shine my armor. And Goofy's too, while you're at it."
"Sir Goofy." Daisy corrected(if Sora were a little bit more immature he would've taken serious consideration to sticking out his tongue, but he knew better) him, "If you address people improperly around Sora, he will think that it's okay to address them improperly as well."
"Awww, but Daisy..."
"No buts!" She said promptly, "Now, I shall be having tea with Her Majesty the Queen. Sora, you are welcome to join us with Sir Donald and Sir Goofy, if you wish."
"But..." Sora looked at Donald, then back at Daisy, "I was given orders to shine armor."
"Isn't that the ninth time during these past two days that you were given that job? You have been working very hard, and I can see you are an intelligent boy. It would do you good to pick up on how to act around royalty and other nobility." Daisy said.
"T-Thank you very much, Lady Daisy! But I'm afraid my lord's orders come before your own." He said, bowing to her and then exiting the dining room to the armory where all of the weapons and armor was kept.
It was late at night, and Roxas could hardly sleep. Well, he was an extremely light sleeper and the lightest sound woke him up so he hardly got any sleep anyway, but tonight seemed different. Something didn't feel right. Whether it was the fact that Lady Ariel had actually left him alone(and told everyone else to leave him be as well) which is something she didn't usually do, or if it was that he was becoming a brooder, he didn't know. But Roxas certainly hoped it wasn't the latter. The last thing he wanted to do was to become a philosopher and get known for writing books and reading.
He decided that it wouldn't be so bad to see what was keeping him from the sweet slumber of serenity. Just as he lit his lamp(he certainly wasn't going to grope about the castle in the dark), his door burst open. The one who had opened his door was carrying a lamp as well, and the light filled his room.
"Roxas, you must come!" It was none other than the Lady's daughter, Melody. She was a pretty raven-haired girl, and they were the same age, too. But, despite what you may have thought, he really wasn't attracted to her in that sort of way. Sure, she was pretty. But she was a bit too rough-and-tough for him. Not that he knew what he liked in a girl. But, anyway, like his lovelife mattered right now.
"Come where? What happened?" He asked; he knew something hadn't been right. The animosity filling the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"The castle! It's under attack!" Melody said, adding, "Mother and father sent me to get you and the other squires! Please, you must help!"
...That's when things got a little crazy.