Chapter 1 – Birth by Sleep
A/N: There will be a few Pairings in this story... OCxAqua, OCxRiku, SoraxKairi, and possibly more. Also, I only Own the Characters Zell and Leo. Kanani belongs to Pikachu203
In the Mysterious Tower, the great wizard Yen Sid sat at his desk with his hands interlocking across his face and his eyes were closed in deep thought. The slender elderly man donned his usual blue cloak and hat. His long grey beard was draped over his person as he sat behind the large oak desk that held many wonders, some that were obvious, and others that were not.
"Hmm… Something is happening to the worlds… I can feel their very essence fading… I must alert my old apprentice, and yet again, I cannot shake the feeling that something terrible is about to transpire…" The former Keyblade Master gave a sigh and stood to his full height and stepped to his window and watched a star fade in the night's sky. He closed his eyes in a brief display of mourning, and then he flicked his wrist and a stream of light shot from the window and into the night sky.
The Sorcerer waved his hand slowly and turned around with a hand held out and a book appeared in his hand in a cloud of purple smoke. He hummed a bit as he scanned the book. After reaching a certain page, he closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. Yen Sid sat at his desk with the book fixed to a certain page, the page's contents was about the creation of a χ-blade.
The Keyblade Graveyard – Around the Same Time
It was night, and stars littered the sky like tiny crystals hanging in the sky. Three figures stood several feet from one another. Two of the figures were glaring at one another, and the third stood a bit farther away, observing as a referee. The two figures that were glaring at one another shared similar facial features such as eye structure, physical build and skin tone. There were some obvious differences as well; hair color and eye color were the main factors. Both figures were male, and one boy had red hair and eyes, the other had blue hair and grey clouded eyes. Both males were a light brown skin tone, the red-haired boy was dressed in a grey button up shirt with a red t-shirt underneath, burgundy finger-less gloves that held an emblem in the center, black cargo pants and red and black shoes. The only item that stood out on the red-haired boy was the strange gauntlet like bracelet that was on his right hand that had a large button like shape in its center.
The other boy was dressed in a type of armor. The armor had spiked shoulders, knees, and elbows; there was a silver chain mail that clung to his physique, revealing a crafted abdomen, and just above the boy's chest and on his waist were metal buckles. He wore loose long shorts over the chain mail on his legs and an open vest over his upper body.
The female that was serving as the observer was an older female. She had a fine streak of silver in her otherwise ebony bob cut hair, a few wrinkles on her light brown skin, and a nice figure that belied her true age. The woman wore a long teal skirt that flowed easily to her ankles, a pale blue tank top that covered a wrap that extended from one shoulder to her waist, and there was a pearl colored shirtdress over her shoulders that was opened down to her waist, around her waist was a sash that held a strange emblem, which was located where the knot was tied into the sash.
The older woman spoke gently and firmly at the same time, "Zell, are you certain that you're ready to face your darkness?"
The red-haired boy, Zell, nodded, "Yes, grandma… I mean, Yes Master Elissa."
The woman, Elissa, suppressed a sigh and stated, "…Very well then... You may begin."
The azure haired boy summoned a weapon shaped like a key, the Light Becoming Dark. The weapon possessed a curved, notched blade with a noticeably sharp edge, the handle is a straight shade of navy blue, thorns made up the teeth of the key, and the weapon was a shade of dark sapphire and white alternating.
Zell summoned his weapon, Wolf's Hunt, which held a similar shape, but different appearance. Zell's weapon had the tip and token as wolf heads, and is crimson from the shaft to the tip. The guard is onyx black with a crimson revolver chamber between the guard and shaft. The teeth of the Keyblade is as a single, sharp point with concave sides.
Zell held a neutral expression and eyed the blue haired boy warily. The blue haired boy was the embodiment of Darkness that was within Zell, identical to the relationship between Vanitas and Ventus, whose story drove the inspiration for this theory.
Elissa, Zell's Master and Grandmother, was worried about how this would turn out to be a mistake, but at the same time she was certain that her grandson would succeed and show the Mark. The Mark of Mastery, or simply the Mark, is what Key bearers need to become "Keyblade Masters", and only the ones who have shown the Mark, as deemed by their Masters, will inherit the title of Keyblade Master. Zell had yet to show any signs of the mark, but had a dark influence that he'd wished to quell. There had been rumors of a weapon the appeared to those who'd faced a darkness as strong as their light and vice versa, the weapon was known as the χ-blade. These rumors were found in Xehanort's reports that had been missing for about thirteen years and the reports had suddenly appeared again in The Terrain of Exodus, where Zell resides and does his training. Feeling that he was becoming too old to prove the mark, Zell decided to confront his darkness to prove he'd had the Mark. His grandmother, Elissa had been uneasy about the situation given the sudden appearance of the Xehanort Reports, but she believed her grandson could prove he had the mark by doing this task.
The two beings charged at each other and immediately began to trade attacks. The swings of one were met with parries and dodges by the other. Zell would strike and be rewarded with the sound of metal clashing against metal, or metal simply tearing the air. The azure counterpart would usually be met with the same rewards, until a charged fireball blasted him back several feet and left a charred mark on his person. The Azure counterpart grunted with fury and leapt into the air before diving into the ground, similar to the way the Shadow Heartless behave. The Azure counterpart reappeared behind Zell and shot out of the ground like a cannon and brought his weapon down hard, only to be met with the sound of crunching ground.
Zell rolled sideways to avoid being halved, and countered with another fire spell, this one was larger and consisted of two fire shots, Fira. Both shots blasted the counterpart and singed his armor more. Zell followed up the magic attack with two slashes of his Keyblade, both going diagonally, and finished the combo with a small leaping vertical strike, which sent the Azure counterpart back a little more. The Azure counterpart skidded back, but quickly regained his wits and charged at Zell with his keyblade glowing a crystalline color. He swung the keyblade and released several waves of blue energy. The waves burst across Zell's chest and the fifth and final wave exploded and sent Zell spiraling backward and airborne.
The Azure counterpart gave a grunt, and then shot off the ground after his original, a blue flame being emitted from his feet as he made his approach. Zell cast Barrier just as the Azure gave a powerful stream of blue fire, the flame's path split in two as it blazed past the barrier and off into the distance. Zell flew higher into the air with this as a result. The Azure counterpart released another burst fire and rocketed ahead of Zell and flipped forward and attempted a vertical slash at the approaching Keyblade wielder. Zell assumed a blocking gesture in the air, and succeeded in his block, but was sent to the ground at an alarming rate, and landed on his feet, breaking the ground beneath him as he landed, and assumed another defensive position, holding his weapon over his head, and avoided being sliced in half yet again.
The Azure counterpart hovered above Zell and their two Keyblades locked in heat, clashing metal against metal. The friction between the two weapons was so intense that sparks flew from the weapons as they locked against each other. Each boy cast s level 3 fire spell, Firaga, and the two spells exploded at the close vicinity, effectively sending both boys in opposite directions. Elissa watched carefully and a small tinge of nervousness was on her face.
Both boys stood at the same time, each weakened severely from the blast, but still able to fight. Zell held his Keyblade in a downward position, and Azure readied his blade up near his head. Both boys charged at each other and both slashed at the same time. Azure fell to his knees and dropped his Keyblade. Azure's Keyblade disintegrated and its light merged into Zell, restoring some of his strength. Zell stood and stepped to the kneeling boy and smirked.
"You're weak now… that means you have to come back into me."
Azure grunted, allowed a strained breath to escape him and he struggled to stand. "…Fine… You win… but… now that… we're complete… what will… happen… now?"
Zell said nothing for a moment as the darkness reemerged with his heart and a tremendous light burst from his body, taking the shape of a nuclear explosion.
The Mysterious Tower – Several Moments After
Mickey Mouse walked into the study of Yen Sid and had turned to face the one who was his former apprentice. Mickey noticed the uneasiness in the air, and proceeded to get his master's attention.
"Ya called for me sir?" Mickey asked a bit reluctantly.
Yen Sid nodded and folded his arms, "Yes I did, and the worlds are in more dire circumstances now than they have been in the past. The thirteen princesses are in grave danger. I fear that their worlds are being taken over by a force unknown… We need to gather the Keys and protect the Princesses before things become out of our control… But we might need Xehanort's insight on this as well…"
Mickey's eyes widened at the statement, "Wha… Whattaya mean by that?"
There was a silence from Yen Sid, but Mickey followed his Master's gaze to the book and walked toward it.
"You mean we'll need to have a… a χ-blade!? …So this… this threat is that strong, huh. But where will we find someone who has one?" Mickey slowly brought his head up and met Yen Sid's gaze.
Yen Sid gave a hefty, "Hmm…" Then there was a bright flash of light.
Mickey gasped and Yen Sid sighed, "That's where we'll get the χ-blade from. I'll need you to bring him to me."
Mickey nodded. "I'll get right to it! So, where's that Star Shard?" Mickey looked around the room and found a blue star shaped crystal with a leaf protruding from its center. The item in question was perched on a shelf. The King made his way to the item and held it skyward.
Yen Sid nodded and said, "I wish you luck, my Apprentice."
The Realm of Return – Thirty Minutes Later
The Realm of Return was very identical to the Land of Departure, in fact, it was influenced by Eraqus just before he became a master in his own right. However, unlike the Land of Departure, there was an Island not too far away. Zell and his grandmother sat on the shore of the island.
Zell was in his cargo pants and a long sleeved t-shirt, while Elissa was in a long flowing nightgown and leggings underneath it. Zell summoned his new weapon, his χ-blade and observed it closely.
Zell's χ-blade was made up of two crossing Kingdom Key D's, the teeth of the two Keyblades facing outward, its filigree was similar to the one that has been seen on the Ultima Weapon Keyblade, and the blade was curved slightly like a Japanese sword. The colors of the filigree and the blade were red-to orange, like a setting sun.
Elissa glanced over at the weapon and smirked. Her grandson had now been dubbed a Keyblade Master. She stood and stretched, just then, there was a streak across their sky and a light faded into their line of sight just a little ways from her location. The light took the shape of a large mouse and began to take actual form, and then Mickey appeared.
Elissa took notice of the King first and gave a deep bow from her waist. Zell stood and kneeled.
"Your Majesty… Is there a problem?" Elissa asked as she rose back to her feet.
Zell stood and his χ-blade faded with a dark light and disappeared.
Mickey nodded slowly, "Well, you see… There's something happening, and it's not too good. The dark power that is recurring now… we'll need him." Mickey pointed to Zell then offered his hand.
Elissa looked to her grandson and nodded. He nodded in return and stepped toward the King.
The two, Zell and the King, faded into a bright light then they shot off into the sky, bouncing and rebounding off of thin air until they escaped her sight. She let out a sigh and mouthed the words, "Be Careful."
Destiny Islands – Simultaneously
There were four figures staring into the vast sea that stretched beyond the horizon and possibly even further. Three of the four were, Sora, The Keyblade's Chosen; Riku, the Walker of the Road to Twilight; and Kairi, the Seventh Princess of Heart and their fourth friend, Kanani, the Miniature Ice Queen. Kanani has light-caramel colored hair and lavender colored eyes. She keeps her hair in two long braids that reach her waist. She's very short, but is easily the fastest out of the four and has a very light caramel tan.
Sora, the Keyblade's Chosen has spiky almond colored hair, he wears a silver and black overjacket with crimson and white trimming, a black vest with an "X" on the front, baggy black pants using many zippers and extra leggings with his signature crown necklace and crown chain and he has Black shoes with zippers going down the middle.
Riku, The Walker of the Twilight Road, was dressed in a Cream, yellow and black zipped vest, his silver hair draped over his eyes, two black wrist bands, one over a white wrist guard, and he wore baggy jeans that sagged slightly, and white boots with black laces.
Kairi, the Seventh Princess of Heart, has auburn hair, crystal blue eyes, a pale complexion, and a necklace with a silver bead, a pink strapless mini-dress made up of three zippers as well as a white halter top underneath her mini-dress with a black hood. She also sports three bracelets on her left wrist, a black belt reminiscent of suspenders.
Kanani's outfit is a formal jacket with a scarf around her neck, and a frilled shirt beneath it, and she wore high heels and a pair of pants with grey on the inside and black on the outside. Her weapons were a pair of long crystalline blue swords, which she dubbed as 'Glacial Swords'. She and Kairi both lived in Radiant Garden as kids, and Kanani appeared in Destiny Islands a few months after Kairi did. Kanani has a crush on Riku and besides Kairi; he is the only one that gets her to talk.
The four friends were on the tree that curved very closely to a tall pillar of land and they sat there. Riku stood and leaned on the tree, with Kairi on one side and Kanani on the other. Kairi sat on the side with Sora on the tree, and Kanani sat on Riku's other side.
The four friends stared at the sparkling sky and watched a streak bounce and sail through the sky. Kairi and Sora lit up and looked at each other with audible gasps. Sora spoke first, "… Go on and Make a wish."
Riku repeated that same line to Kanani. Both girls closed their eyes and made a wish. Kairi scrunched her face and chanted something in her mind. Kanani adopted a praying position with her hands clasped within each other. After several seconds, both girls returned to watching the stars quietly, and Kanani moved herself so that her legs were around Riku's shoulders and he smirked. Kanani leaned gently on Riku's head. Kairi eased her hand into Sora's and looked to the sky with no words spoken from anyone.
Castle of Dreams – Immediately After
The blue haired female Master and last pupil of the late Eraqus, Aqua glanced up and the strange behavior of the shooting star that ricocheted overhead in the night sky, "Hmm? That's a strange thing to see. I wonder if other places have been affected like this… I still need to wake Ven and find Terra…" Aqua turned in the opposite direction from the shooting star and made her was to the Castle of Dreams, which was slowly being turned from its pearly white with blue cones on top, to navy blue cones and black. The tips of the Castle were tainted so far, but it was slowly but visibly being turned.
The Young Master of Water dashed as fast as she could to see if there was anything going more wrong than it was her first mission as Master. During her quest to track down Xehanort and watch Terra, she'd lost him to the darkness, and lost the other friend's heart to a χ-blade. She'd promised to prove to her late master, Eraquis, that Terra had what it took to be a Master, and she'd promised her little brother, Ventus, that she'd be there when he'd woke up, if it ever happened.
"I promise that when I bring Terra back, you'll see that he has what it takes to be a master." Those were her final words to Master Eraquis before she'd undergone her first mission as Master. She believed in Terra, and he came around eventually. But it seemed that it was too late for him to return to the way things were.
She fought the urge to cry, but despite her efforts, the blue haired master felt tears stream down her cheeks as she approached the place where she first spotted Terra after he'd left. Aqua was strong, but even the strong have times when they break down, but now wasn't her time. She'd needed to figure out the problem and solve it first.
When she entered the castle, there were hordes of dark creatures preying on Prince Charming. She'd remembered that she helped him before. The Grand Duke was already turning into one of the creatures as he watched the prince be devoured by darkness. Aqua gasped and jumped back, easily evading a large grey claw that tore through the air and toward her.
Aqua gave a grunt and assumed her battle stance and summoned her late master's Keyblade, The Master Keeper. She summoned the weapon in a pink burst of light followed pink sakura petals.
The Master Keeper was a keyblade with a smooth, cylindrical, grey shaft that tapers outward at both ends. It has a boxy guard, made up of two small, light grey boxes and copper rod. The base of the guard connects to the grip, and both sport several small indentations lining them. The grip itself is square and the teeth are in the shape of an "E".
Three creatures flanked her. The creatures sported muscular black bodies with navy blue veins that appeared at random intervals on each of them, and even had burgundy markings across their chests shaped like hearts with a crack down the middle and in four pieces. Their heads were perfect circles and their eyes were orange and they had dark grey claws for hands and lager claws of the same color for feet. The creatures had three antennae on their heads that zigzagged like lightning bolts. The creatures stood in a hunched position, similar to that of a beast hunting for prey.
The creature that stood directly in front of the young master lunged for her and the two on either side did the same. Aqua cast barrier on herself and a spherical shield materialized between her and the new attackers. She pushed her Keyblade skyward and fragments of the barrier dispersed and flew through the creatures, causing pools of darkness to seep into the ground, like a thick liquid and more creatures emerged from the new pools.
Aqua glanced at the spectacle that took place before her, "So if you bleed, you multiply?"
There were now nine of the creatures surrounding her. They all jumped back and rocketed forward toward the female. They flew towards her in a line. Aqua twisted to the left and brought her Keyblade into the first monster, slicing it horizontally and it exploded. The next one came at her and held her Keyblade in a guarding position and the monster's momentum split him in two. The next three streamed after one another and Aqua did an aerial backwards flip with her weapon out, slicing them into halves as well. Aqua landed and cast a stage 4 fire spell, Firaja, which sent a large orb of flames spiraling toward the next target. The fire ball exploded on impact and split into smaller fire balls that rained down on two more creatures, burning them from existence. The ninth creature stood and watched the blue haired female and she stared at him as well.
Aqua scowled and ran toward the creature. She brought her weapon down hard, only to hit air and concrete. When she looked up, the creature was coming down like a meteor and landed clean on her back. Aqua was floored and the creature proceeded to pull on her head, the monster's strength was to be expected from its large muscular build, but that anticipates strength was nothing compared to the force that was threatening to rip her head off. Before anymore damage could be done. The young female master plunged the keyblade as far as she could into the creature, and hit it through the chest area and it dispersed. The pain and light-headed feeling that she felt was increasing in magnitude, however she managed to focus just enough to cast Cure on herself. She glanced around groggily and noticed that Prince Charming and the Grand Duke had disappeared. She took one step and fell to the floor, the Master Keeper clattering right next to her.
Destiny Islands – The Following Morning
The group of four walked over to the pier and Kanani sat down. Kairi followed her and sat beside her. The two girls began to chat about going to school the next day, seeing it was Sunday. Riku looked on with Sora in the background. A few moments passed and the girls, mainly Kairi, jumped up and screamed with a bottle in her hand.
Sora's eyes widened at the sight of the logo on the letter in the bottle, "Looks like we're going on another adventure, eh Riku?"
Riku nodded and smirked, "It seems that way."
Kanani opened the bottle and gave the letter to Riku, who took a second to read over it and then Sora retrieved the letter from Riku's outstretched hand.
Sora let out a gasp, Riku folded his arms and closed his eyes and his smirk was still present. Kairi had a large grin on her face and Kanani placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.
Riku and Sora both looked at Kairi, "Looks like we'll see if the training we gave you will pay off now."
Kairi nodded and winked and then the Gummi Ship emerged from the beneath the waters of Destiny Islands. The four friends jumped into the open cockpit and zoomed away toward The Mysterious Tower.
The Mysterious Tower – Immediately Afterwards
The four friends pulled toward a small mass of land that housed one lone tall tower. The mass of land was well kempt, with lush greenery and very well shaped bushes on the outer layer of the land. The Island itself was surrounded by space, and a sky that was purple on one side and orange on the other, was beneath it. The Gummi Ship pulled next to the island and the cockpit hissed open. Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Kanani jumped out and landed on the grass with a soft thud from their feet and the small noise of crumpling grass.
Sora and Riku led the two girls to the doors of Yen Sid's tower. Kairi looked upon the tower and gazed at it with a smile. Kanani raised a brow, but said nothing. Sora and Riku both looked back to Kairi, noticing that she was smiling.
Spotting the confusion on Kanani's face, Riku stated, "I brought her here to train under Master Yen Sid alongside Lea not too long ago."
"Oh… I guess this Master Yen Sid guy must be pretty amazing." Kanani replied with a look of thoughtfulness on her face.
Sora and Kairi headed into the tower first, Kanani took a few steps and stood beside Riku, taking more of his height into consideration; him being a half a head taller than Sora made his about one and three quarter heads taller than her.
Riku looked at the caramel female and smiled, "You aren't nervous about this are you?"
Kanani looked into Riku's sky blue eyes and couldn't help but feel a blush coming as she spoke, "Um… a little bit… I've never seen a Master before…"
Riku folded his arms and smirked, "Actually you have." Kanani looked confused again, so Riku continued, "I've been dubbed a Keyblade Master, remember?"
"Oh, right. That was when you and Sora left for that long while… I was practicing with Kairi at the time… it was to keep my mind off of…" Kanani spoke softly and took a step back, and put her hand to her chest. Riku unintentionally followed her hand and scanned her figure for a moment, and took notice that hers was larger and a bit more shapely than Kairi's was.
Riku blinked hard several times and mentally kicked himself for letting his eyes wander in that manner. Before the situation could get any more tense, Sora burst through the doors of the tower, "Hey you two! C'mon! We've got something to do remember?"
Riku and Kanani both jumped slightly and looked at each other nervously. Riku gave a nervous smile, "Yeah, We're coming." He'd started a motion that looked like he was going to hold out his hand, but caught the gesture and turned it into one that simply said 'come on'.
Kanani and Sora both missed it, but Kanani followed Riku and Soar held the doors open for his friends and they all made their way to Yen Sid's Study.
Yen Sid's Study – The Same Time
"Now, I feel Aqua's light… it's faint, but not fading nor getting any brighter… She's at the Castle of Dreams… This world is the first and most badly infected of the Worlds… You must make haste. Your Mission right now is…"
Zell took over the statement; he knew what he needed to do, "To assist a fellow Master in ensuring the safety of one of the Princesses… Right, sir?"
Yen Sid said nothing more; he simply nodded with his fingers interlocked over his mouth. Zell nodded back and turned to exit the study and opened the door to Kanani, Sora, Kairi, and Riku. The latter stepped aside and Zell walked calmly down the stairs, and the new group occupied the study.
"Whoa! Who was that?" Sora asked, his voice carried its usual enthusiasm and naïveté.
"He is one of your future allies… and hopefully our new trump card…" Yen Sid replied calmly as he usually did, but his tone changed as he added the second statement, which surprised Riku and Sora.
"What do you mean by 'trump card'?" all of the youths asked, Kairi and Sora had confusion while Riku and Kanani were a bit more calm; although the confusion and concern were present in their voices as well.
Yen Sid took a deep breath and released it as a long light breath via his nostrils, "You will need more than just a Keyblade for this new threat… but a χ-blade will be needed… I believe Xehanort is behind this one as well…"
The trio, Sora, Riku, and Kairi were floored. "S-so… you mean it's going to happen? The Keyblade War…?"
Yen Sid closed his eyes slowly and nodded. "It's quite possible that the time might be closer than we'd bargained for… which is why Mickey is getting some more assistance as we speak."
Radiant Garden – The Plaza - Within the Hour
Lea sat on the steps leading to the plaza, a bored expression etched through his features. "Man, there's never anything to do anymore…"
There was a light bounding in the sky in all directions, Lea turn his head skyward, playing with the flaming Keyblade in his right hand. The light crashed down, blinding Lea with a flash of light. After the blinding flash subsided, there was a figure that took the shape of a mouse. Lea recognized the form almost instantly.
"Well, well, What do we have here?"
Mickey stepped toward the newest Keyblade wielder and said, "We might be able to get Ven back. You haven't forgotten him have you?"
Lea's eyes widened and he wore a look of disbelief.