Keyblade Wielder
At first there was darkness. Infinite darkness incarnate. And then I saw a small beacon of hope; a light shining in the distance. I ran towards the light. I ran as fast as I could. I had been in the darkness for too long. I was scared, and about to lose my sanity. I reached the light. It was a small orb, floating in the dark void that I wandered. I touched the orb, and the light suddenly consumed me. It was too bright, and when the light faded, I was no longer in the darkness.
I was back in Radiant Garden. I was standing where I had been before the darkness took me; right in front of the entrance to the Bailey. The bird that had been watching me before still sat on a nearby brick, and it was as though no time had gone by in my absence. Was I going crazy? Is this a dream?
As if reading my thoughts, a voice spoke to me from behind. "You're not crazy, but you will be." I spun around, startled, and gazed at the speaker. He was tall, about my height, with brown hair. He had armor on his left arm and wore light clothing. He had brown eyes, and was muscular. "Don't worry, I can't read your mind. That's just what people seem to think when they enter the realm of darkness."
"Who are you?" I ask the stranger.
"Better question: Who are you?"
"Zane. I live here in Radiant Garden. I always have. Now answer my question! Who are you? What happened to me?" I was getting increasingly frustrated with this dude.
"Calm down!" He looked around quickly, as if he didn't want others to hear our conversation. "My name is Terra. I'm a keyblade wielder, and you've been called to the Battle. Look, I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just not here. Do you have somewhere safe that we can talk?"
I thought about this. Terra seemed trustworthy, and whatever a keyblade wielder was he definitely looked like it. He had the appearance of an experienced warrior, but behind his eyes I could tell he was suffering. I felt like I could trust him, so I told him about my favorite place: a crystal cave in the Great Maul. "Great!" Terra exclaimed. "Let's go there now. And quickly before-"
Suddenly dark shapes appeared all around us. They were like living Shadows, small with sharp claws and bright yellow eyes. They sank into the ground and moved with surprisingly super speed. "Damnit! Heartless!" Terra held out his hand, and in a dark flash a sword appeared, with a blade like a key.
Terra rushed forward and began slashing the Heartless apart effortlessly. The Keyblade was no match to these darkspawn, however the Heartless appeared over and over and over. Even at his superior strength, Terra would soon be outnumbered and encumbered. I knew I needed to help. And then, a Keyblade shined into my right hand.
It actually resembled a key more so than Terra's did. The blade was gold, and the hilt was square. It spoke of royalty. A name flashed inside my head: Kingdom Key. I burst into action with the Keyblade in my hand. I dodged a Shadow, rolled to my left, and swung the Keyblade into a wide arc, destroying three Shadows in the process. Terra jumped and flipped over me. He blocked an attack that would have caught me off guard, and I spun around him and slashed apart my almost killer.
Four Heartless appeared, and these ones had cute little silver helmets and armor. I ran forward and striked the first one down easily. Terra jumped backwards and launched a ball of dark energy, taking out another. One of the armoured Heartless shot forward and striked me while I admired Terra's skill and power; I fell to the ground hard, and the Keyblade rolled out of my grasp and disappeared. Terra shouted my name and in an instant the last two Heartless were shredded.
Terra was standing over me, his Keyblade gone. He scooped my arm up and noticed a cut. "You're hurt."
"Just a scratch." I always wanted to say that. But really, it was just a scratch. I must have cut my arm on the concrete falling down.
"Well nonetheless I still need to take you away." Terra helped me to my feet. Take me away? What was he going to do, kidnap me? I was 17, what looked like the same age as Terra. I could maybe break away and run if I had too. "You, Zane, are not anything that I expected. I thought that you would be another Warrior, or a Mage, chosen to Battle. But you are much, much more. You are a Keyblade Wielder! The Masters have to meet you immediately."
"Alright, I'll meet your Masters." See? I can be diplomatic. "On one condition. You answer all of my questions before I go anywhere with you."
Terra rolled his eyes. "Fine. Show me this cave."
The crystal cave glittered just as it always did, I was felt so much more relaxed talking in my own place of solitude than on the street with Terra. Terra leaned against the cave wall.
Terra sighed. "The universe is governed by two forces, light and darkness. There is no way that light can exist without darkness, and darkness cannot exist without light. The Keyblade is a universal weapon used by both the light and the dark. Everything started with the X-blade. The X-blade is the most powerful weapon in the whole universe, and Keyblade wielders all fought over it. There was an immense battle, and thousands of wielders died. In the end, nobody won. However, about two years ago, one of my masters, Master Xehanort, decided to achieve the X-blade on his own. He used one of my best friends, Ven, and split his heart in two. Ven became pure light, and his other half, Vanitas, became pure darkness. The X-blade could only be forged by the combined battle of two equal forces, AKA Ven and Vanitas. Xehanort almost won, but my other best friend Aqua and I destroyed the X-blade with the help of other Keyblade wielders; Rikku, King Mickey, and my other Master, Eraqus. Vanitas was destroyed, and Ven was gravely injured. In order to save Ven, Rikku's friend Sora shared part of his art with Ven, keeping him alive and making Sora a Keyblade wielder as well. Saving Ven came with a cost, however. Vanitas returned to life through a special bond that had been formed between the him and Ven during the forging of the Keyblade. As far as we know, that bond is gone, but Vanitas is not easy to take down. Vanitas fleed and disappeared for a couple months.
"Xehanort, however, decided that he wasn't quite ready to die. Using the dark power inside of me, Xehanort took over my body and possessed me. I became a Heartless, named Ansem the Seeker of Darkness. A nobody was also created from me, named Xemnas, Leader of Organization XIII, a group of Nobodies. Xemnas dissapeared, and a battle that lasted three months ensued between the Keyblade wielders and the Terra-Xehanort. Xehanort was finally expelled from my body, and he was banished to oblivion, but I was tainted by darkness. I cannot walk in the Realm of light ever again.
"We had peace for several months before Xehanort's Heartless, somehow still retaining Xehanort's consciousness, decided to take over the universe using the Heartless and Kingdom Hearts. Ansem nearly succeeded, using the Seven Princessess of Light to open a Door to Darkness. Unfortunately, Ansem did not know that the seventh princess, Kairi, was close to Sora. Sora fought Ansem, and was turned into a Heartless. Kairi returned Sora back to his normal self, but the damage was already done. Two new nobodies were created: Roxas, taking on the form of Ven, and Namine, having the power to manipulate memories. Both were recruited by Organization XIII. With Kairi's help, Sora was able to fight Ansem to near death, and seal him away within Kingdom Hearts, powerless."
Terra took a breath and looked at me. "Still following?" My head hurt, but I nodded yes anyways.
"Everything was good for one week. Then, the Nobodies attacked. Using their new Keyblade wielder Roxas, the Organization cut a deep blow through the worlds. Their goal was to open Kingdom Hearts and become whole. They almost succeeded, but what they didn't know was that Ansem the Seeker of Darkness waited within Kingdom Hearts. Ansem the Wise, the true Ansem, warned the wielders of what was about to transpire, and a huge battle was raged within Kingdom Hearts. Everyone failed. Everyone was expelled from Kingdom Hearts. And Kingdom Hearts began to implode. It is a slow process, but it is a process nonetheless. If we cannot figure out how to stop Kingdom Hearts from destroying itself, the whole universe will sink into oblivion.
"There are only two for sure solutions to this problem: allow the light to consume Kingdom Hearts, or let Kingdom Hearts fall to darkness. Rather than rage an endless war over it, a treaty has been made. The Trinity Council was formed, consisting of the Light, the Dark, and the Nothing. The Council leaders are King Mickey for the Light, Ansem the Seeker of Darkness for the Dark, Axel of Organization XIII. Ansem the Wise serves as a mediator."
"Why doesn't Xemnas represent the Organization?" I ask.
"Ansem the Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas are both replicas of Xehanort, which means that talking to them is like talking to Xehanort himself. Having two Xehanorts on the Council is too many. Axel is agreeable and able to be worked with. He suits us just fine.
"Now, we have established the Keyblade Cathedral at the sight of of the X-blade War, formerly called the Keyblade Graveyard. There, we train those called by Kingdom Hearts to fight. Kingdom Hearts wants the world to be enveloped by either the Light of the Dark. It has been choosing dark wielders and light wielders, as well as warriors and mages who do not wield Keyblades. We all attend school at the Cathedral, some of us studying abroad in other places governed by the Trinity. For now, most worlds are governed by the Trinity. There has been peace for a whole year, because light and dark lives together. Heartless and Nobodies are governed under special law. Everyone lives peacefully until the day that Kingdom Hearts finally gives away, and the Final Battle begins. Questions?"
"What happened to Vanitas?"
Terra seemed startled that I would ask about a boy completely dark, but he answered. "He lives at the Cathedral, studying with the other Dark students. I am a Dark student, as well as Rikku."
"What student am I?" This was the real burning question I wanted an answer for. Was I chosen to battle for the Light or Dark? I'm not sure which one I wanted either.
Terra stepped away from the wall. "IF you will step oustide with me, I can take you to the Trinity Chapel in Twilight Town, where the Masters will judge you and place you. As you are a Keyblade wielder, I expect there to be conflict. It should be fun."
"Do you always have an optimistic attitude when it comes to violence?" I ask.
This time Terra looked away. He didn't smirk or even smile. Quietly, he replied, "Violence is all I have to look forward to."