For Monty Oum, who never stopped inspiring me and so many others.

Chapter 1: The Lonely Apprentice

The Land of Departure was lonely in those days—the old Master Eraqus and a single thirteen-year-old apprentice with long blue hair, in a massive castle. There were few visitors, an occasional keybearer come to seek the resources kept in the massive library, a courier from the nearby town of Caeleris there to deliver food to the castle. It was horribly lonely, especially for a girl like Aqua.

She kept herself busy, to keep from sleeping the days away with boredom. When she wasn't practicing her spellwork, she was sparring against a suit of armor her master had animated, or reading one of the many, many books in the library.

Today, however, she was lucky, have been given permission to go into town. Caeleris was walled, but the guards allowed her in quickly after she identified herself—and presented Rainfell as proof. Caeleris was connected to the castle by a long, winding road and a widespread hilly plain. It was one of a dozen cities in the region, each in control of a hold. That the keybearers lived relatively nearby was just a fact of life—though the policy of non-interference still held for the world of Sidhe.

The town square held a fountain with space to sit and eat ice cream, if one so chose. Aqua had gotten some vanilla with strawberries, and ate it slowly. It's pricy, maybe, but worth it, she thought, licking her spoon clean. If only because I can't have it often.

The square was bustling with people, and few if any gave more than glance at her. A farmer sold fresh vegetables from her farm, a group of kids bought ice cream from the same old woman Aqua had bought hers from, a crier shouted news brought from across the region, and two town guards stood at attention, each carrying a shield on one arm and a short sword at the waist.

Aqua just watched the people walk by, a couple bickering with each other, some girls playing with their dolls in the shade of the alchemy shop, a pair of men debating the best method of cooling a forged blade, and more. She unconsciously let a magical flame form between her fingertips, chase around her hand and up her arm, and so unaware was she between her own thoughts and people-watching that it took her a moment to notice the little girl, who couldn't have been much older than 8, looking curiously at the flame ringing around Aqua's wrist.

"Are you a fire-dancer?" she asked, snapping Aqua out of her reverie. She looked at the girl and instinctively snuffed out the flame. The girl lowered her head and stepped back shamefully.

Aqua looked from her, to her hand, and closed her fingers. "I don't know anything about dancing, but maybe…" She opened her hand and a fireball formed above her palm. The little girl's eyes lit up as Aqua tossed the fireball into the air, formed another one in each hand, and started juggling them, throwing the fireballs high into the air as she formed even more, never dropping one or burning her hands. By this point she had drawn the eyes of all of the children in the square and most of the adults. The guards were watching closely but didn't seem alarmed.

Aqua carefully extinguished fireballs until only three were left, tossed all three high in the air, and looked at the small crowd that had gathered to watch her. "Might want to stand back!" The children backed up a few steps, grinning and laughing.

As the fireballs started to fall, they exploded into the single shape of a diving hawk. Aqua put a finger to her lips and breathed in sharply. She exhaled, and a gout of flame ten feet high flew from her lips and consumed the hawk. When the flames had cleared, all that was left was ash and smoke. The audience exploded into applause, and Aqua gave an exaggerated bow. "Thank you, thank you!"

The little girl who had first looked at Aqua thanked her profusely before running off to join her friends, and most of the crowd quickly cleared out to get back to work. Some gave her a big grin or a nod or a vocal gratitude for the show. The guard who had been nearer to her show gave her a nod, and walked nearer to her. She pulled off her helm and smiled as she tucked it under her arm. The guard was a woman with dark, curly, natural hair tied back in a tail. "Haven't seen you around before. You're from the castle, one of them keyblade kids?"

"U-um, the only one, at the moment, but yes, I'm Master Eraqus' apprentice," she stammered out.

The guard held up a hand and shook her head. "You don't need to be nervous. That was a good show. And more to the point, I've seen and heard too many stories about the people from that castle being real pieces of work, rude to people cause they have a magic sword. No offense."

"None taken. As for the show, I just like seeing people smile."

The guard nodded. "You're a very polite and kind young woman, and judging by what you can do with that fire you're clearly very skilled to boot. I pity those who would cross you." She replaced her helm. "I'll be sure to spread the word of you to the rest of the guard. You're always welcome in Caeleris, Lady…"

"Aqua, I'm Aqua. Just Aqua. And thanks."

The guard chuckled, and returned to her post.

The next few hours passed without event. Aqua got more ice cream, this time with apple and honey, and the woman selling it confided that she could make so much thanks to skill in ice magic. After finishing it off she spent an hour at the general store getting the supplies that had been missing in the courier's last delivery.

It was approaching 5 when Aqua started considering heading home, and when she noticed a shadow skittering across the ground with no evident source out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't a bird, there wasn't anything in the sky. Whatever it was, it had piqued her curiosity. She walked, but walked quickly, in the direction the shadow had moved.

It led to a small alley behind a row of houses. She turned the corner, and was met with a creature unlike anything she had ever seen. It was small, only slightly taller than her knee, even with its massive antennae. Its humanoid body was entirely black, except for its eyes, which were only golden orbs. It twitched and shook as it shuffled along slowly. …That's oddly adorable… Aqua thought somewhere in the back of her mind. She cocked her head to the side and slowly came nearer to the shadow-creature, her open hand stretched toward it.

Its head snapped upward, its eyes glowed, and it lunged at Aqua with claws outstretched. It dug into her leg, sending excruciating pain through body. More than that, it felt like it was sucking the warmth out of her body just by touching her. Aqua dropped back a step, her leg throbbing with pain, and in a flash of light Rainfell came to her hand. She swept upwards, landed a solid hit on the creature, and it flew ten feet away. On impact with the ground it burst into black embers, and a crystalline red mass rose from the smoke. Just before it vanished, Aqua saw that it was in the shape of a heart, tinted with deep darkness.

"What in the world!?" She saw two more autonomous shadows gliding across the ground. They rose from the voids into the same kind of creature, but this time Aqua was ready.

"Reflect!" A honeycomb barrier appeared around her, and the moment one of the creatures tried to lunge at her it exploded into fragments, annihilating both. There's no way that's the last of them. And like she was psychic, a woman's scream came from the town square.

With a word, the wind carried Aqua back to the square, where a dozen of the shadow creatures were going after the townsfolk. The guards were having little luck doing their duty, their steel swords passing through the creatures like they were smoke. It was all the six that were there could do to try and get people away from the creatures.

"Get back!" Aqua cast a fire bolt at one about to lunge at a guard, and it was vaporized. "All of you, get out of here, I can destroy them! Protect the civilians!"

With carefully placed spells and strikes, she destroyed ten rapidly. They were numerous, and steel had no effect on them, but weak enough to destroy with ease once she could focus on the fight. She turned to face the other side of the square, and was just quick enough to see one of the creatures attack the woman who had been selling ice cream. Ice fragments covered the ground where she had cast them, but she wasn't a battlemage. The creature's clawed hand phased into her chest, and pulled out the same-looking heart as she had seen come from the others upon their destruction. The old woman's face was frozen with terror, her mouth open with her last scream, never breaking eye contact with Aqua until the hollow shell of her body faded away into oblivion.

What in the light are these things?

The creature that had stolen the old woman's heart danced away, and vanished into the aether. The others were encroaching on her, but Aqua's mind went blank. The Rainfell had always been an extension of her arm, but now it was more likely dead weight, nothing more than a piece of metal. A cold hand touched her back, and she could not will her body to move.

"Away, demon!" A sharp gale flew through the town, and she felt the cold hand vanish. Her keyblade hanging loosely at her side, she turned.

Master Eraqus stood tall and proud, moving his keyblade back to a proper position. He stepped, and became a wisp of wind. Spears of light struck through and annihilated each of the creatures in a blink of an eye. Just as quickly, he appeared before his student.

"Aqua, are you alright?"

Her head and heart hurt, she was cold to the bone, and felt on the verge of tears of frustration and fear. The Rainfell vanished. "Master, what were those creatures?"

"I thought those books you read so much would have mentioned the Heartless countless times," Eraqus said coolly, flipping through the pages of one of the many tomes in the library of the Land of Departure.

Aqua scratched the back of her head. "They did, sure, but…I never knew what they looked like." Aqua almost said "The books never mentioned they'd be so adorable" but she wasn't sure what Master Eraqus would think of that observation. Instead, she said "And I was in shock.

"I never expected to ever even see a Heartless, besides. According to the books, the Heartless under normal circumstances never enter the Realm of Light." And like that, something clicked. Eraqus stayed silent to let her continue. "Of course, they have entered the Realm of Light before. The Heartless are instinctual creatures, but can be guided by a powerful force into enacting that force's desires. The Incompletes, the Crystalli…" The Pax Obscura, she thought, but knew better than to mention it to her Master.

She continued. "So if Heartless are in the Realm of Light, it follows that someone or something brought them here. But who, or what?"

"Precisely the question," Eraqus said. He laced his fingers together. "I've had my suspicions for a time, now, that someone is trying to move on the Realm of Light. Master Xehanort sent me a letter telling of dark whispers he had heard on his journeys. But that someone would sent the Heartless after a keyblade apprentice in the Land of Departure, it's an individual who seeks war." He set one hand on the desk, and looked to Aqua directly. "As the bearer of Master's Defender, I must stay here, unable to directly investigate. Therefore, I have decided to send you to uncover the force controlling the Heartless."

Aqua's heart skipped a beat. Training took over and she automatically bowed to Master Eraqus and said "It would be my honor" while her thoughts were gleeful. Investigate? That's leaving! Leaving this castle and seeing other worlds, seeing other people, fighting the Heartless every step of the way! I never thought I'd ever leave this rock!

"This is not a task to be taken lightly," Eraqus said. "It is my wish that you travel to those worlds which lay on the edge of the Realm of Light, touching darkness. The forces which control the Heartless will be stronger there, but Darkness is in every person and every brick. It can consume the unwary. But I know that you have the willpower to resist the darkness. To aid you in this, I have a gift for you."

Eraqus reached outward and drew a small semicircle in the air with his index finger. A faint light followed his gesture. "Hear the wind, speak the words, listen, and obey, Lesser Summoning," he intoned. A small chest with ornate decorations appeared on the desk. Gold filigree chased across the surface, forming an emblem of a crown set onto a teardrop-shaped shield.

Aqua slowly set one hand on the surface of the chest, and summoned her keyblade. With the barest touch, the lock snapped open. Pieces of armor lay on a bed of straw within. She carefully pulled the pieces out, a set of greaves for her shins, steel vambraces for her wrists, a shirt of chain mail, and a cloth tabard, deep blue with silver trim, bearing an emblem of her Master's keyblade overlaid on a long silver shield, on the night sky field. A shiver went down her spine.

"This armor is your own, bonded to your heart and keyblade. After donning it the first time, you will be able to summon it to your person at your desire," Eraqus said, as Aqua adjusted the straps on the vambraces. "Be aware, however, that for all the skill of the old smiths, Keyblade Armor is not impenetrable, nor is it as necessarily magical as the keyblade itself—if the armor is damaged, it must be repaired by hand. It can save your life if need be, but more important is its other quality, to repel the darkness from your heart. The Lanes Between lay close to the darkness, and those who forgo armor risk falling into darkness.

"Aqua, I hope I don't need to tell you that keyblade armor is a gift, and a privilege to own. It, and the other teachings I have given you, are to be used to fend off danger," Eraqus said. "Not for entertaining children."

Aqua finished snapping her vambrace into place. She turned to face her master. His expression was stern. "We are keyblade bearers, not charlatans."

She couldn't resist snapping back with "You're right. I'm not a charlatan, it's real magic. I took a couple minutes casting some spells to make some children laugh. I know the difference between putting on a show and abusing a gift for my own purposes, Master."

Eraqus sighed in frustration. "The Lanes Between will lead you to the worlds within the Realm of In-Between. Go speak to Master Yen Sid. His tower lies on the edge, and he may know more of what is happening. Go, and be safe."


A/N: Credit to Shire Folk, author of the fic series 'The Annals of Darkness', for the design of the acolyte armor. Because thirteen-fourteen year olds shouldn't be wearing full plate, it's just a weird mental image.

I make no promises about quality or length of the writing (although this is one of the shorter chapters), but I will say that I will not leave this fic unfinished-it has already been written in full, and just needs editing for clarity and grammar. I haven't deeply considered the update schedule, but I'd say that once a week is a safe bet.