Kingdom Hearts: The Crusade of Hearts
In times of peace, you always tend to wander... "How long will this last...?" and "What can be more evil than our previous threat...?" Well...If you think about it, an evil so powerful could only exist in the abyss of nothingness... Thus, a battle for the world would be sought. Only to be won by obtaining a certain key, for a certain door. . . For peace.
10 years has passed since the famous Keyblade Master Sora has saved the worlds from peril. But now, a new evil surfaces, with a plan to destroy the worlds. Join the new Keyblade Masters as they go on their crusade to save the hearts of everyone, and destroy the cruelness of all evil.
Episode One: The Beginning
Part 1-1
A girl stumbled into the library of Hollow Bastion, hoping no one saw her trip. The girl was short and looked very masculine. Her hair was short and spiked down, colored black with pink highlights. Her eyes shone bright green, and her ears were pointed at the tip. There was a noticeable scar across her face, stretching from the tip of her left eyebrow to the tip of her chin. The girl wore a black sweatshirt, with a pink and green shirt underneath. She also wore a crescent moon pendant around her neck. The moon was colored purple, with the chain silver. She was also wearing black baggy jean, which were torn in several areas below her knees. She had a pair of worn out, black running shoes on, and also had on a pair of black leather gloves that were cut up at the fingertips.
The girl, whose name was Arkanin Midnight, analyzed her surroundings, noticing something weird and unfamiliar. . .Books.
Arkanin needed to start researching information about Heartless, Nobodies, and Legendaries. She saw no point to researching those enemies, she had already knew a lot about them, considering the fact that she fought them at least once a week. But her master, Yuffie Kisaragi, told her that it would be smart if she took some time off of her usual topics, and gained information on her enemies. All Arkanin really wanted to research was anything about Keyblade Masters, KeyKopys, or her greatest enemy Cruelness.
Fixing her gloves and moon pendant, Arkanin hopped stupidly towards a bookshelf, struggling to read the spines of the colorful books.
On the other side of the room, from a desk in the dark corner of the library, a girl stared at Arkanin. She had winced when Arkanin had stumbled, thinking that it looked a tad painful. Her eyes followed Arkanin, who in her opinion looked rather lost.
The girl had shoulder-length, light blue hair. Her bangs were slightly lighter than the rest of her hair and was covering her eyes a bit. Her eyes were colored blue, darker than her hair. She also had to wear reading glasses. She wore a light blue shirt that matched her hair color. She was wearing a dark blue vest, with the Pisces sign on the back of it. She wore a light blue mini skirt with blue jeans worn underneath them. She wore tennis shoes that were mainly light blue, but the soles are dark blue. She had a ring that basically had the same color scheme as the rest of her outfit.
"I should probably go help her," the girl thought to herself, standing up and silently gliding over to the wooden shelves. A devious smirk formed on the girl's lips as an idea appeared in her head. She darted behind the shelf that Arkanin was looking at, watching her through the spaces between the books.
Arkanin looked at the spines, making out the words "How to Cook Epic Ramen~!".
"Great. . . I have a feeling I'm in the wrong area. . ." Arkanin whimpered to herself. Arkanin turned to walk to another aisle, but stopped abruptly. She went back to the book and picked it up, looking inside. She had no idea what the words were, but the pictures looked delicious. Catching herself drool, she wiped the edge of her lips and then was about to place the book back, but caught the girl's creepy smirk and gave out a quick cry of surprise and dropped the book. Arkanin picked up the book and then looked at the girl, partially scared and partially annoyed. Arkanin gave an obvious fake smile and asked, "Is there something I can help you out with, ma'am?"
"Helloooooo..." The girl drawled, the creepy smile still on her face. "No, there is not. However, I believe there is something I can help you with."
She made her way to the other side of the shelf, and into the aisle that Arkanin was in. Her light blue bangs hung in front of her face, swaying as she walked. "I'm the librarian here. Is there anything in particular I can help you find?"
". . ." Arkanin stared. Arkanin shook her head and then replied, "Uh. . . I'm looking for. . . Any information on. . . Heart--"
Arkanin stopped herself in mid-sentence. She observed the girl for a bit and then thought aloud, "Wow. . . I feel a weird energy around this creepy chick. . ."
The girl brushed the bangs out of her eyes and looked up at Arkanin. "Excuse me?" she stated, blinking a few times due to confusion. She shook her head a little, deciding to continue on without getting an explanation about the "weird energy" bit.
"I'm sorry if I was scaring you. I suppose I'll stop now," she said, forcing a much more normal smile onto her face. She started to walk past Arkanin, and then turned back around. "So, what did you say you were looking for?"
"Uh. . . Anything about Heartless? I mean, like from the past or something like that. . ." Arkanin shook her head again, rubbing her temples. After straightening up, Arkanin said, "Sorry. . . I'm not really a people person. Is there any information on Heartless or Nobodies? Or. . . Anything relating to that?"
Arkanin turned away from Ame and slapped herself in the face.
PULL IT TOGETHER, ARKANIN! Arkanin thought. Turning back to Ame, she gave a sincere smile and added, "Well, yeah. . . So can you help?"
"Of course, I can," The girl replied with a nod. Her creepy manners soon returned, as her bangs shifted to fall over one of her eyes. She put her index finger on her chin, as if in thought. "In fact, this library has quite a number of documents on those beings... I've heard rumors that before this town was rebuilt, Heartless would wander these very halls, disguised as books. You might want to be careful. Some could still be lurking here."
She turned around and started to trudge in the direction of the books on heartless. "Follow me, please. This library is quite big, actually. You don't want to get lost."
Arkanin jumped defensively, glaring at the books. Following the girl with pointed ears pricked up, she asked, "So, tell me more about the library. I mean, it's like you were born here. I mean, your social skills clearly--I meant, you have so much knowledge about this place. Also, if the books attack, then why isn't there a person here who has decent fighting skills!?" Arkanin scratched her ears and was walking backwards, one hand feeling behind her and the other curled up in a fist in front of her.
The girl's eyes narrowed at the comment, and asked indignantly, "What about my social skills?"
She moved her head slightly, so she could look at Arkanin more clearly, but still continued to walk. "And actually, I wasn't. I was adopted by the true librarian of this place. I just fill in for her when she's busy. There's still a lot more I don't know about this building. Although, I believe if you take certain books off the shelves, and put them in certain places, they open up secret passage ways. I'm afraid I don't know which ones are which though. I was just messing with you about the Heartless books, by the way. I don't think that they do that anymore. So... What about you? Why are you so curious about Heartless and Nobodies?"
Suddenly, she stopped in front of a wall covered with books. Their spines were all worn, and the letters were faded. They were much less colorful than the other books in the library, seeming to consist only of dark covers.
"Ah. Here's the Heartless section. The Nobody section is over to your right," she explained, gesturing to a wall that looked similar to the Heartless one, but covered with white and gray books.
Arkanin let down her guard and decided not to reply to the girl's first question, fearing her reaction. She looked at the books that the girl had showed her and stated, "I'm trying to protect people. . . From Heartless and Nobodies."
Arkanin thought about what the girl had said about being adopted and suddenly became curious. Bowing slightly, Arkanin apologized, "Sowwy! I didn't mean to make rude remarks. . . They just sort of come out."
"My name is Arkanin. Arkanin Midnight. I'm a ninja-in-training, my master is the Great Ninja Yuffie. Uh. . . What's your name?" Arkanin asked, picking up three random books and struggled to read the spines.
"Nah, it's o-" The girl started to say, but suddenly stopped. "Oh. My. Gosh," she stated, her eyes starting to widen. "Did you just say 'sowwy'? That is so... So... So..."
The girl attempted to control herself for half a second, but ultimately failed. "CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!" she squealed, rushing over to hug the other female.
"I'm Ame. Nice to meet you!" she cried, clinging to Arkanin.
"ACK!!!" Arkanin squealed, trying to dodge Ame. Arkanin wasn't fast enough and was clung to. Arkanin stared at Ame with a puzzled and angry expression glued to her face.
". . . Sowwy is not cute." Arkanin pouted. The impact of the hug had caused Arkanin to drop the books she was holding. "Dropping the books was not my fault. . ."
Arkanin picked up the books as she slowly started to pry Ame off of her, which was not making progress. With the books back in her hand, she stated, "Ame. . . Nice name. Uh. . . So, being a librarian your life passion? Or what?"
Arkanin looked back at the book and then moved the book in front of Ame's face. Arkanin smiled, "Hey. . . What's this book called?"
"It is, though!" Ame exclaimed, rolling off of Arkanin and onto the floor. "Sorry about that. I couldn't help it."
She had managed to get up and brush herself off when the book was shoved in her face. She squinted at the faded gold letters for a moment. "Heartless... Something... Types..." she said, slowly. Arkanin shrugged when Ame attempted to read the title, and placed the three books in a neat pile on the nearby table.
"I think. Anyway, no. Being a librarian isn't that great. I like books, but it gets kind of boring sitting inside all the time. I actually want to perfect my fighting skills with the Keyblade. I'm pretty much average at it right now."
Arkanin froze when Ame mentioned Keyblade. She went light headed and almost fell, but regained her balance just in time. After a long moment of seriousness, Arkanin leaped high up in the air and then cheered, "Omg! So, does that mean you're a Keyblade Master!? Or maybe a KeyKopy!?! You have a Keyblade! Awesome chibi smile much! Haha!"
Arkanin took a deep breath and then bowed slightly, "Sowwy! But. . . Do you really have a Keyblade?"
Ame watched Arkanin, stunned for a couple moments before she slowly nodded. "Umm... Yeah. I really do have a Keyblade... See."
She closed her eyes, concentrating on her Keyblade. After a few seconds, she opened them just in time to see a ray of light surround her hands and form the Key of Pages. The Key of Pages was blue and white. The handle looked like an open book and the blade looked like a closed one. She swung it around a few times for added affect, and smiled at Arkanin.
"Gee... Why were you so happy when you found out?" she questioned, putting the blade of the key to the floor and leaning against it like a cane.
"Wow. . . Other than the fact that that was completely epic. . . You are completely clueless on Keyblade Masters. . . Aren't you?"
Arkanin threw her arm parallel to the ground and winked, which summoned the Blade of Benevolence to her. The Blade of Benevolence looked exactly like the Kingdom Key except that the blade was blue and the hilt was dark blue.
Arkanin pointed at Ame with her Keyblade and stated, "You are a Keyblade Master. . . This is what I've been looking for, really
Arkanin made the Keyblade disappear and smiled at Ame.
"So you're one too, huh?" Ame asked, making her Keyblade disappear as well. Hearing Arkanin's next words caused her cheeks to flush from embarrassment.
"Umm... Well, yeah. I mean, I know a little, but not that much. I haven't really had a chance to look up stuff about Keyblade masters yet. I've been more concerned about the weapon rather than the people that wield them," Ame admitted, scratching the back of her head.
"Another Keyblade Master. . . And to think it would be a creepy librarian--I mean, you. . . Yeah."
She paused her actions for a moment, hearing the insult that Arkanin had snuck into her next statement. "Hey! I'm not a creepy librarian! I just don't get out much!" she cried out, her face turning red out of anger instead of embarrassment now.
"Sowwy, sowwy, sowwy. . ." Arkanin quickly apologize. Arkanin smiled and said nicely, "I promise not to say anything else bad about you. . ."
Ame resisted the urge to squeal and hug Arkanin again when she heard her apologize. "It's alright."
Arkanin walked towards Ame and asked, "Do you want to know more about Keyblade Masters? I mean, you would have to take a break from your job, but I bet you it'd be worth it."
Her eyes widened at the potential opportunity. "Really? Of course, I'd like to learn more! But how?"
"Well, to tell the truth, you aren't the first Keyblade Master that I've come across. Well, we're just going to take a walk through the town and talk about Keyblade Masters. I tend to be a bit lectural, but I guarantee you that you'll like what you hear. It'll really help with your skills." Arkanin smiled.
Arkanin walked near the wall and leaned on it. Giving out a sigh, Arkanin asked, "Will you come with me? It would mean a lot to me."
Ame thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I will."
She started to walk over to Arkanin, but stopped. "Could you hang on for a moment?" she asked. Without waiting for a reply, she dashed back to the front of the library and over to her desk. Quickly, she scribbled a note to her adopted mom, explaining that she had gone for a walk, and she'd be back soon. She used a nearby book as a paperweight, and left it on the desk. Then, she switched the library's sign to "closed". It had been a slow day anyway. With that accomplished, she rushed back to Arkanin, gasping a little.
"Back."
Arkanin twitched at Ame's speed. Arkanin probably would've tripped.
"Uh. . . I'm going to assume you are ready. . ." Arkanin smiled. Giving out a giggle, Arkanin hopped to the door and then stopped to call for Ame.
"Ame! C'mon, your future awaits!"
Ame chuckled, and followed Arkanin to the door. "Well, I suppose that's one way of putting it."
"Haha, yeah." Arkanin laughed. Arkanin led Ame out the door and into the town. There, they walked together.