A/N: Hey guys! This is a SYOC! The form is on my profile. Please submit one! I need lots of characters for this, and I'd greatly appreciate it!
Alright, this chapter takes place two years before the main story, making Sora 25. Which means this chapter is eight years after the defeat of Xehanort. Nothing else to say!
…
Prologue
Sora ran fast through the streets of Radiant Garden, his hair bouncing with each hurried step. Any time the shadows surged towards him, he swung Kingdom Key into them, beating them back, or into oblivion. He could hear Riku and Kairi's footsteps not too far behind, but he didn't wait for them to catch up.
Fear gripped the brunet's heart. Leon's SOS had sounded serious.
Sora, followed by Riku and Kairi, left the town, entering the path that lead to the Great Maw. The Heartless here grew larger, more frenzied, slowing Sora down slightly.
"Get out of my way!" he yelled, swing his Keyblade angrily. The Heartless fell before it, and Sora was finally able to get to the Great Maw.
"Oh god…" Riku gasped as he and Kairi finally caught up with Sora. Swarming before them was hundreds… no. Thousands of Heartless. These Heartless were huge, much bigger than any of the trio had faced in any kind of group.
"Sora…?" Kairi asked weakly, fear in her voice. Sora took a deep breath, before his face became determined.
"Come on. We have to stop them before they cause too much damage!" he said, diving forward, Riku and Kairi just behind him.
Riku and Sora fought in perfect harmony, their Keyblades rising and falling in union, their backs pressed together. It was like they were reading each other minds as they fought, instincts honed over the many years of fighting side by side.
Meanwhile, Kairi supported them, casting healing and protection spells on the men, making sure they stayed healthy enough to keep moving. The Heartless targeted her a few times, only to get hit by a few good timed spells from Sora himself.
But their combined efforts weren't enough. None of them said it, but they knew exhaustion would overcome them before they would overcome the Heartless on their own.
…
Aqua, Ventus, and Terra rushed through the streets of Radiant Garden, heading towards the Great Maw. Each were thinking about the SOS they had received.
"Maybe we should have bought them. The message said all available Keyblade wielders," Ven panted. Aqua pursed her lips and shook her head.
"No. They're not ready," she said. Ven glanced over his shoulder and grinned at her.
"Didn't you think the same about me?" he asked.
"That was different! You're—" Aqua began, only for both of them to run into Terra, who had froze just inside the entrance to the Great Maw.
"Guys…" he muttered, sounding horrified. Aqua and Ven looked around him, and their hearts crawled into their throats.
"Maybe… you were right…" Aqua muttered. Ven summoned his Keyblade.
"No time for that now," he said, diving into the surging mass of Heartless. Aqua and Terra looked at each other, before both summoning their Keyblades and diving after him.
Ven darted in between Heartless, his Keyblade flashing as he struck quickly at each one. Meanwhile, Terra's long, sweeping blows took at waves at a time, and Aqua's magic infused attacks took out huge groups.
They knew it was going to be a long battle.
…
Roxas, Xion, and Lea ran towards the growing Heartless battle.
"I'm just saying, I don't think it was a good idea to leave them there," Lea said.
"It's not like they're going to blow up the town," Roxas replied. Lea snorted.
"You so sure about that?" he asked. Roxas rolled his eyes, though for a moment, horror flashed across his face. "No, what I'm saying is that they're going to follow us. You know they will."
"I doubt it. How would they?" Xion asked.
"Seriously, you two. Have you even met the- whoa…" the trio slowed down as they saw the Heartless. Lea and Roxas looked at each other.
"We should have brought them," the said in unison, before diving in.
"I dunno, I'm kinda glad we didn't…" Xion muttered, following after them.
Using both Oblivion and Oathkeeper, Roxas cleared a path through the dark beings, making quick work of the ones in front of him. Lea darted out in random directions, using a combination of both his own Keyblade and fire magic to obliterate them, while Xion protected Roxas from air strikes, throwing her version of Kingdom Key into the air where it would slam into the Heartless up there.
At one point, Xion jumped into the air to catch her Keyblade, and spotted the two other groups. She dropped down next to Roxas again.
"Sora's here," she panted.
"Good," Roxas grunted, blocking an attack with Oblivion.
"So is Ven's group."
"Great. We need all the help we can—ARGH!" Roxas dropped back a few steps as one of the Heartless managed to get under his guard and claw his stomach. Xion destroyed it, before turning back to Roxas.
"CURA!" she cried, and green light flowed over the young man.
"Thanks," Roxas panted, before he caught his breath and dove forward again.
…
The most unlikely trio ran through the streets of Radiant Garden. The one in front was a young woman, about eighteen, dressed all in black. Her outfit had glowing blue stripes throughout, and her short black hair fell in her face.
Just behind her was a boy, about thirteen, dressed in black and green, with his hood up. On top of the hood was a pair of black cat ears, and a fake cat tail was attached to his pants. A messy tuft of pale blond hair stuck out from under his hood, falling into his eyes.
Bringing up the rear was another young woman, about eighteen, dressed in a long Chinese red and gold silk robe, her sash trailing behind her, and her long black hair tied up into a loose bun, pinned back with a red and white lily flower hair comb. She bit her lip.
"Guys, I don't think…" her soft voice trailed off as both looked at her over their shoulders.
"I know that they said to stay home, but this will be AWESOME!" the boy cried excitedly, jumping into the air at the last word.
"It was illogical. The SOS said for everyone available. We were available," the woman in black and blue said reasonably.
"Yes, but…" the Chinese woman began again.
"Oh don't worry, Mei! We can make it into a game! Who can beat more!" the boy said, slowing slightly to run alongside her.
"This is not a game, Chuck," the woman in black and blue said.
"Aww… c'mon, Mora. You take the fun out of everything," Chuck said, pouting at her. The woman in black and blue, Mora, glanced back at him with a small smile, before turning into the entrance of the Great Maw. She slowed to a stop, letting the other two catch up.
"Oh my…" the Chinese woman, Mei, whimpered.
"I told you this WILL BE AWESOME!" Chuck yelled, summoning a Keyblade. It had a brown pentagon shaped handguard. The blade was made of silver wire in the shape of a wooden toy sword, and the teeth was made up of five gold doubloons of varying sizes. From the chain hung a small gold doubloon. Twirling the blade, called Hidden Treasure, he dove forward.
Mei watched after the boy, fear etched onto her face. Mora, on the other hand, pulled a black disk with blue light etched into it, her Identity Disk, off of her back, and summoned her own Keyblade.
Mora's Keyblade, like her outfit, was completely black with light blue lines etched into it. The handguard was a copy of her Identity Disk, and the blade was long and round. At the end, making up the teeth of the Keyblade, was another Identity Disk, with small rectangles made of blue light arching off. At the end of a glowing blue chain was the ISO symbol, a circle next to a sideways capital T.
"Mei," Mora said, gripping her weapons, her Identity Disk in her left hand, and her Keyblade, Dual Identity, in her right. "Start Summoning," she said, throwing the Disk forward and diving after it.
Mei took a deep breath and summoned her own Keyblade. The handguard was a delicate, red teardrop shape, and the blade was a thin green rod. The teeth of the key was a lily flower. The tips of the petals were white, and they slowly turned red as it moved towards the center of the flower. A long, delicate silver chain hung at the end, with the same lily hanging off of the end.
Gripping her Keyblade, Honorable Bloom, tightly in one hand, she reached into her robe and pulled out a charm. The charm was pink, with lighter pink bubbles throughout. She took a deep breath and held the charm out.
"Morph!" she cried, forcing her voice to be a little louder. The charm flashed, and a small creature made of pink goo and two large eyeballs flew from it with an excited trill. Mei held out her right hand, and the anamorphous goo landed in it. With a smile, she nuzzled him against her cheek, before letting the goo fly forward.
Morph turned into a small sword and began slicing through the Heartless, joining Chuck, who was darting around and striking the creatures from behind, and Mora, who was slashing quickly at them with both her Keyblade and Disk. Whenever one of her friends would take a hit, Mei cast Cure. As Morph reached the end of his time, he darted back to Mei, nuzzling against her cheek again.
"Thank you," she said to her friend as he faded away in a flash of light.
…
"Now that, is a battle." Standing on top of one of the cliff walls hemming the Maw in was another group of three. The man who spoke, a seventeen-year-old with figure of a champion body builder, stood with a grin, his gold hair flashing in the sun. Just behind him stood another man, the same height, but with a lithe dancer's figure.
"You and your battles," he said with a grin, shaking his head, his light purple ponytail following the movement.
The final member of the trio, a young woman of nineteen wearing a red fedora with a silver starfish pin attached to it over her white hair with purple tips, rolled her eyes at the two of them before eyeing the Heartless.
"Are we sure we're ready for this?" she asked.
"I was born ready, Kaya," the first man said with a grin, pulling a large, bronze shield off of his back and summoning his Keyblade.
The handguard was triangle in shape, and the blade was that of a gladiator's sword. Making up the teeth of the key was a curved boar's tusk, and hanging off the end of a thick chain was the Constellation symbol of the Greek God of War, Ares. The man's hand clenched excitedly around the grip of his Keyblade, called Boar's Tusk.
"Don't forget about us, Bion," the other man said, summoning his own Keyblade.
This one had a round handguard, with what looked like a microphone at the end, where the chain was usually attached. Instead, the chain, a silver string, was tied to the grip, with a single black music note hanging off. The blade was a silver rod. Twirling around the rod, starting from the handguard, were two black wires, which formed a music note at the point, making up the teeth of the Key. The man twirled the Keyblade, Silver Crescendo, in his hand so that he held it in reverse grip.
"Never, Jasper," Bion said with a grin, before looking over at Kaya. The woman sighed at their antics, but summoned her own Keyblade as well.
The handguard of Kaya's Keyblade resembled the crest of ocean waves. The blade also resembled a wave, blue, and spotted with small fish and starfish. The teeth of the blade was a closed, brown and gold treasure chest. Hanging from the chain was a tiny model of a three-mast galleon ship. She smiled slightly at the blade, called Mysteries of the Sea.
The three slid down the slope of the cliff, Bion in the front, slamming his Keyblade through the grounded Heartless, while Kaya used basic fire and blizzard spells against any flying Heartless who took interest in them.
As they slid, Jasper took a deep breath, bought the microphone part of his Keyblade up to his mouth, and sang, his deep voice resonating through the trio. His song was fast, designed to get the blood rolling: It was his Battle Cry. All three members of the group glowed slightly, and each felt their strength growing.
"It won't last long. Make it count," he told Kaya as they reached flat ground.
"Right," she said, diving forward. Jasper then turned to Bion and smirked.
"Cover me?" he asked.
"For you? Always," Bion said with a smirk, raising his shield in a protective stance, standing in front of the male Singer. Jasper smiled, a small blush racing across his pale cheeks.
"So not the time, guys!" Kaya yelled, having heard their exchange. Jasper blushed more, but took a deep breath.
"All eyes on me!" he yelled, before he began to dance. He twirled his Keyblade and spun, his hair and sash moving with each fast movement of his Fast Dance. Power filled his two team mates, and suddenly, Kaya was moving a lot faster as she dodged and struck at the Heartless, using a combination of melee and basic spells. Between her magically enhanced speed and her magically enhanced strength, the Heartless fell quickly before her. Meanwhile, Bion stayed in front of Jasper, protecting him from any Heartless that came near.
…
Yet another trio reached the Great Maw from the path leading from town. They could see the other teams fighting the overwhelming amount of Heartless. The tallest member, a young man of about sixteen, with light brown hair, stepped forward.
"Oh god," he breathed, his electric blue eyes huge. The shorter guy of the group, also sixteen, stepped forward with a grin, dropping his hand onto the taller man's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Collen. We can take them!" he said confidently, his purple eyes glowing with optimism. The taller one, Collen, turned and looked at him for a moment, before smirking and ruffling the boy's blue-black spiky hair.
"I know, Kai. It was just shock," he said.
"Well, we better hurry then," the last member, a very short, curvy sixteen-year-old girl, said, stepping forward, her long black hair swaying behind her. She turned and grinned at the other two, her teal eyes narrowing slightly in challenge. "After all, we didn't disobey just to come watch, right?"
"Of course not, Gina!" Kai exclaimed, before summoning his Keyblade.
The handguard, like Kaya's Mysteries of the Sea, was in the shape of a wave crest. The blade, however, was round and brown, resembling the trunk of a palm tree. At the tip, four palm-tree leaves arched off, forming the teeth of the key. Hanging from a piece of ship twin was a starfish. He twirled his blade, Tropical Breeze, and looked at the others.
Collen summoned his Keyblade. The handle was much longer than a standard Keyblade's, made to be a two-handed grip, with a thin, black hexagon shaped handguard. The silver-blue blade was also longer than a standard Keyblade's, and curved like a Katana's blade. Three crystals of various shades of light blue and light purple made up the teeth of the key, and a silver chain swung from the handguard, ending in a small crystal. Collen flipped his blade, Crystal Breaker, over his shoulder with a smirk. "I'm ready," he said.
Gina summoned her Keyblade too. Hers had a round, light blue handguard with a yellow and pink seashell placed as the cross piece. The blade was much shorter then even Kai's, with the base being a dark blue. The color slowly faded to light blue, to white at the point. At the point, the blade curved into a half-fish shape that almost looked like half a heart, creating the teeth of the key. The colors fade from white, to light pink, to yellow along the teeth. A small, yellow fish made up the keychain. "Let's go," she said, gripping her blade, Healing Waters.
Collen dove forward first, sweeping his Keyblade from side to side with both hands, clearing a path. Kai ran forward, jumping over him, doing a front flip in the air, and bringing his Keyblade down on the Heartless as he dropped onto them. Collen and Kai fought well together. Kai was constantly moving, ducking under strikes and Collen's long reach as Collen swung his blade at the Heartless around them.
Meanwhile, Gina clasped her Keyblade in front of her chest with both hands, took a deep breath, and started using one of her healing abilities: Pray.
As the group moved forward, they found themselves right near another trio: Mora, Chuck, and Mei. Kai slowly found himself distracted by Mora as she fought, her graceful body moving from strike, to block, to dodge and throw in fluid movements.
Oh-Kingdom-Hearts-grant-us-Kai-stop-getting-distracted-by-Mora-light-to-heal-the-battle-wounds-from-darkness," Gina, who was right near the boy, chanted, not missing a beat as she reprimanded her team mate. Kai jumped, not expecting that, and chuckled sheepishly.
"Heh, sorry," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head, before returning to the battle. Collen, who had felt the pause in the steady stream of weak healing magic when Gina halted her chant, glanced over at the boy with a soft chuckle, before returning to the fight, Gina's steady chanting keeping them strong.
…
By the time the Heartless were finally defeated, all of the warriors were exhausted. Most of them collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily or letting the healers of their team take care of any missed injury.
Collen, however, was not one of them. He had collapsed to the ground, like the others, but he didn't stay there. Using Crystal Break to push himself up, he stumbled towards the Dark Castle.
"Collen!?" a surprised voice suddenly called. He turned to see Riku sitting on the ground. Sora and Kairi, who were sitting nearby, looked over as well.
"Master," Collen said, bowing his head in respect to his mentor. "Sorry I disobeyed, but this is my home. I couldn't not help defend it," he explained. Riku glanced at the others, before pushing himself up with a soft, tired groan. He came over to the boy with a sigh.
"Kai and Gina came too, huh?" he asked. Collen smiled slightly and nodded.
"Yes," he said.
"Called it," Sora said, putting his arms behind his head and laying back. Riku sighed softly at that, shaking his head, before looking back at his apprentice.
"Where are you going now?" he asked.
"The Dark Castle. We need to see why the Heartless came, and why they converged on this spot. Right, Master?" he asked. Riku looked thoughtful, before nodded.
"Yes. Sharp instincts, Collen. I'll come with you, though," he said. Collen frowned slightly.
"But Master, you're exhausted…"
"So are you," Riku noted, looking pointedly at how Collen was leaning against Crystal Breaker. Collen looked down, before chuckling at himself.
"Okay."
The two moved through the now empty Great Maw and onto the thin, winding path leading to the Dark Castle.
"It's been a while, huh?" Riku suddenly asked.
"Hm?"
"Since you've seen your home world," he clarified.
"Oh. Yes, it has. I love the Islands, but…"
"There's no place like home?"
"Yes."
"I wish I could have seen you fighting today, Collen. It would have given me a good chance to assess your skills."
"Well, Master, perhaps next time you could bring us with you," Collen suggested with a small smile. Riku laughed at that.
"Fair enough."
…
"You should have seen us, Master!" Kai said, somehow retaining energy as he bounced over to where Sora still laid on the ground. He threw himself down to sit next to his own mentor. Gina, who had followed him over, grinned, crossing her arms and looking at Kairi.
"Oh yes, Master. You should have seen it. Collen was busy fighting, and I was keeping their butts alive. Meanwhile, Kai was gawking at Mora," she said teasingly.
"Hey!"
Sora, who had opened his eyes and was listening, snorted, sitting up and putting a hand on Kai's head, ruffling the boy's blue-black spikes.
"We really gotta work on your getting distracted thing, Kai," he said. Kai pouted.
"Yes, Master…"
"So what happened to you three staying home?" Kairi asked.
"Sorry, Master, but Collen was going to come either way. We couldn't let him come alone" Gina said softly. Kairi's stern face softened.
"Makes sense," Sora said, dropping his hand from Kai's spikes.
…
"We told you to stay home," Roxas said sternly as he, Lea, and Xion stood in front of their own apprentices, having found them pretty quickly after the battle. Mora stepped forward, bowing her head slightly.
"I apologize, Master. I had read the letter you received and found it illogical for us to not come and help, when it asked for all available wielders."
Roxas sighed at his apprentice. "Mora, us telling you to stay put automatically made you three unavailable."
"Hey, we helped, didn't we?" Chuck asked. "You needed all the help you could get!"
"He has a point," Lea, who had been listening with his arms crossed, said, glancing down at Roxas, who sighed. Xion giggled.
"I think they did a good job," she said, before looking at her own apprentice. "I thought I saw someone summon Mushu. Good job, Mei."
Mei blushed brightly, but smiled.
"Thank you, Master," she said with a bow.
…
"I told you they were ready," Ven said with a grin at Aqua as those two and Terra walked over to their own apprentices. Jasper's deep voice, singing his Soothing Melody to heal his teammates, had alerted them to the apprentice's presence. Aqua watched as her apprentice finished his song, and the green light around those three faded.
"Yes… I guess you're right," she sighed, before frowning slightly. "But they still disobeyed us."
Jasper looked up upon hearing those three, and bit his lip.
"Uh… guys," he muttered to his team mates. Bion and Kaya looked over, before those three quickly lined up, clearly more disciplined then the other two groups of apprentices.
"True," Terra said in response to Aqua's complaint, "but every great story begins with a small act of disobedience. Right, Ven?" he said.
"Right," Ven said with a laugh, while Aqua simply sighed.
…
"Oh no…" Collen gasped. He and Riku had made their way through the castle, to the Grand Hall, home of the Keyhole.
Neither expected to find the Keyhole open, with darkness pouring out of it. Collen looked up at Riku.
"Master, what do we do?" he asked.
"We re-lock it," Riku replied, stepping forward and pointing his Keyblade, Way to Dawn, at the source of the darkness. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the tip of his blade flashed, before shooting out a beam of light, which sliced though the darkness. There was a loud click, and the darkness slowly dissipated.
"That should calm the Heartless down," he said. Collen nodded, and the two made their way back to the others.
…
Master Yen Sid awaited in his Tower, King Mickey standing beside him. The nine Keyblade Masters, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Lea, Xion, Aqua, Ventus, and Terra were downstairs, on their way up. Yen Sid had called them here, straight from Radiant Garden.
"Gee, I wonder what's taking them?" Mickey muttered. Yen Sid smiled slightly.
"Their apprentices are with them," Yen Sid said. "I imagine they're telling them to stay downstairs while they come up here."
"Oh…" Mickey sighed. "I can't believe every single one of them has an Apprentice. It's been so long since there were so many active Keyblade wielders, huh Master?" he asked. Yen Sid glanced at his former apprentice and nodded.
"It has, though I fear this is a sign of things to come," the sorcerer admitted.
Before Mickey could answer, the door opened, and all nine masters entered, lining up in front of the desk.
"Well?" Master Yen Sid asked. It was Riku who stepped forward.
"With the help of our apprentices, we managed to defeat the threat to Radiant Garden. But… me and my apprentice entered the Dark Castle, to see what had attracted them there in the first place. It was the Keyhole. It had been unlocked," he explained.
"What!?" Mickey gasped.
"And we know the Princesses of Heart hadn't been used," Sora added, looking at Kairi.
"No, they weren't. All are safe in their individual worlds," Yen Sid agreed. "Which means, a new power must have been used. Are you sure it was the Keyhole?" he asked.
"Yes, Master. I… I'll never forget where Radiant Garden's Keyhole is." Riku glanced away slightly. Sora and Kairi looked at their friend in worry, while the other Masters looked away politely. Riku took a deep breath and looked back at Yen Sid. "Besides, I relocked it myself."
"Then it is as I feared," Yen Sid sighed.
"Master?" Mickey asked.
"As I was just telling Mickey, I fear the rise in Keyblade Wielders is a sign that something is coming."
"Something?" Terra asked. "Surely not something worse than Xehanort?" A collective shudder ran through the group at the mention of the man they had defeated eight years ago.
"No way! Nothing can be worse than Xehanort," Sora replied with a grin. "Right?"
"I don't know," Yen Sid admitted, standing and walking over to the moon shaped window, looking out at the star studded sky. "But more Keyblade wielders are appearing all over the worlds. Too many to train one on one."
"No problem!" Sora said with a grin, putting his hands behind his head. "We can each train more than one. Like…" He hesitated for a moment, thinking. "Like factions of some kind."
"No," Ven suddenly said, stepping forward. "I refuse to do that. Wielders should work together. Splitting them into factions, into Unions, feeds natural competition, which leads to disaster."
A heavy silence fell over the room at his words. Lea was the one to break it.
"So what's your, Roxas's and Sora's excuse?" he asked teasingly. The corners of Ven's mouth twitched, breaking him out of his serious mood.
"That's friendly competition and completely different than what Sora was suggesting," he said, trying to stay serious.
"Doesn't seem friendly all the time," Lea countered. Sora grinned.
"He has a point," he said, motioning to Lea. He then grew serious. "But you're right. I didn't think."
"You never think," Roxas muttered.
"Hey!" Sora gasped indignantly, turning to face the other blond.
"Hmm… how about a school type of set up?" Mickey suddenly suggested.
"A school?" Aqua asked.
"Yeah. Each of you can teach a different class, and share apprentices!" Mickey explained. Xion nodded.
"That would make them more well-rounded. After all, each of us have something different we can teach," she said.
"And teaching these things like a class would let us teach a larger amount of people at one time!" Kairi added.
"So, what do we call it?" Terra asked. Kairi stepped forward, pulling her star shaped charm from her pocket. Seeing this, Aqua stepped forward, pulling out her Wayfinder.
"You based that off of the fruit from our island, right? Off of these charms?" Kairi asked.
"Mhm. Because that fruit ties together destinies," Aqua admitted. Kairi grinned at her, and understanding dawned on Aqua's face.
"Paopu. Paopu Academy," she said.
…
A/N: Tada! Remember, submit me your OCs! PLEASE. I need 20 more!
All OCs in this chapter belong to me, with the exception of Kaya. Kaya belongs to Wolfiered23.