Light begets darkness, and darkness is drawn to light.

On a small ocean world sat a smaller island with a town, smaller still. And in that town sat an insignificant building with an eighteen-year-old boy in black staring out the window. All his life he had been looking to the horizon, his parents constantly berated him to focus on the here and now. But questions plagued his mind constantly.

What Lie Beyond The Ocean?

He had been asking since childhood, but he had never been given a satisfactory answer, at least not one that satisfied him. He had tried his parents, teachers, friends, scientists, and researchers. But every single time he asked, he had been met with the same impossible answer.

Nothing.

The world was the ocean and the ocean was the entire world. Explorers had searched and found other islands, but the islands were all there ever was. But if that was true, then where had stories come from? He had learned from a young age that every story had its source in the truth. And there were stories of continents, castles, deserts, huge armies, magic, dragons, super-warriors. Where had these stories come from? There had to be something. This world was too...

"Xehanort!" His teacher's annoying voice rudely pierced his mind of churning questions. He gazed at her lazily and realized, by the expression on her face, that she must have called him several times before he had taken any notice. "If you've joined us, could you please tell me the answer to question 7?"

The boy, Xehanort, scanned his paper for all of five seconds before answering smugly, "x = thirteen." The teacher's face of arrogance fell as he recited the correct answer, and Xehanort had to suppress a laugh. Though, he may have had no interest in school that did not mean he wasn't good at it. Contrary to the fact, he was by all accounts a genius, and could have been the top of his class if he cared to put in even a tiny fraction of effort. Yet another thing his parents never failed to remind him. Still his cocky attitude and constant lust for adventure made fitting in and making friends impossible. Xehanort had often convinced himself that he didn't need friends, but this was not entirely accurate. The simple fact was that none of the other teenagers or even adults understood him. And, for him, that was the most important thing in a friendship.

The teacher began a monologue about Xehanort's intellect not making up for attention, but he ,having already returned to his own thoughts, merely nodded listlessly. And when the teacher, finally returned to the board, he returned his gaze to the window. It was at that moment that he caught sight of something strange… A person (he thought anyway). He couldn't tell if they were a man or a woman because they were draped in an old brown robe, which covered the individual entirely. A robe? In this weather? That wasn't right, and Xehanort always had his eyes on the unexplained. He glanced at the clock to see how long until he could go question the figure, and saw that only three minutes remained. But when he returned to the window, the figure had gone… How? They had been hunched over and moving so slowly… How had they moved out of sight in the short time it took to check a clock. Had he imagined him? No… he had fully taken in the figures appearance, and Xehanort was fairly sure he was not hallucinating. His curiosity was piqued.

As the bell rang, Xehanort bolted for the door at full speed, nearly forgetting his bag in his rush. He pushed past the other students and ignored teachers' protests. But, even with his disregard for hall safety, upon reaching the street, there was no sign of the figure. Curiouser and curiouser... Still they couldn't have gotten far…

XXX

In a distant and far away corner of the universe from stood another world covered in water with a sunny sky. But this was where the similarities ended. Across the water hundreds (maybe thousands) of white mountains of buildings protruded from the watery surface each topped with a beautiful tower. Golden and white cable cable cars connected each mountain. The world was about as close to utopia as one could come, There were bustling markets, homes for everyone and plenty of food. As a world aware of the many other throughout the universe, they had access to the best magic and technology. Criminals, though not eradicated, never operated to their full capacity and never in the more central mountains, as they knew what the world's defenders were capable of. Scala Ad Caelum was safe guarded by the greatest warriors in the cosmos, who had called the world home since their creation.

Keyblade Wielders.

This place had once been the seat of power for all such warriors, but their numbers had dwindled over the centuries, so much so that now only a single master and her two apprentices remained based on Scala Ad Caelum.

One such apprentice, a seventeen-year-old boy in white, stood atop the tallest tower in the world and looked out upon the magnificent view that he had called home all his life. The boy, beneath the white haori, wore a grey shirt with two lighter gray straps criss crossing over his chest and tan hakama. The two pieces of clothing were separated by a grey and black belt adorned with the symbol of a keybearer.

He was a blueblood, meaning he had descended from the first keyblade masters. The keyblade had been his entire life, he had always wished for a chance to see other worlds, rescue people, and attain the incredible honor of Keyblade Master, but then again so did every child born on the Stairway To Heaven. Being a keyblade wielder was the equivalent to being a superhero, a leader, and a soldier all at once.

What had separated the boy, from the masses of other dreamers, was an incident when he was ten. He had been on one of the outer mountains with his parents when a mugger had grabbed an elderly man's wallet. The boy in white, in his infinite wisdom, had chased the mugger into an alley and tripped him with a weak pearl spell. This was an obvious mistake as the criminal was much larger than him and armed with a dagger, and his magic, though impressive for his age, was little more than a parlor trick at the time. He would've died if not for the timely intervention of a woman in a white robe.

"That was reckless little one," She said to him, "You should no better than to put yourself in danger?"

"He took that man's money…" The boy replied simply, " it wasn't right."

She smiled at that, "What's your name?."

"Eraqus."

"Eraqus." She spoke softly as if considering something, "Do you have a dream?"

"Of course, I wanna be a keyblade wielder!" The boy had spoken with the same confidence he had always answer that question with, but then hesitated before amending his declaration,"But really I wanna help people."

She removed her hood, in response, revealing the face of the famed keyblade master of Scala Ad Caelum. The boy gasped and began to speak, but she held up her hand, simply smiled and summoned her keyblade in a flash of light.

"In your hand take this key, so long as you have the makings then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me friend. No ocean will contain you then, no more borders around or below or above. So long as you champion the ones you love."

Eraqus smiled fondly at the memory. His keyblade had materialized barely a year later and he had begun his training to fulfill his dream. It seemed like a cheesy thing to say, but it was truly everything he had hoped. He had seen other worlds, helped people, and even had met a new friend.

"Your up early." A youthful yet wise voice came from behind. He had grey hair, despite his youth, and wore blue robes with two gray straps criss-crossing over his chest. He wore a black belt adorned with a yellow star, and a necklace with a yellow crescent moon.

His name was Yen Sid, and Eraqus and his master had found him three years ago on a particularly musical world, the Symphony of Sorcery. He had quickly impressed the pair with his incredible display of magic, which he had apparently taught himself. He also held a strong sense of responsibility and accepted an offer to become a keyblade wielder and defend the worlds. Eraqus appreciated the friend and peer, but Yen Sid was a bit too serious for him.

"No, you just slept in late." He responded with a smile as Yen Sid joined him looking at rail.

"It's our day off, and sleep is important for people in our line of work." He responded in his usual serious tone.

"And you were tired."

Yen Sid's face softened "And I was tired."

"So how are we gonna spend the day?"

"I'M going to study, I'm working on something new."

There it was, Yen Sid never hung out with Eraqus outside of training. He was always studying a new spell or creating one of his own. Most of his old friend group didn't hang out with him anymore either. Apparently their parents had warned them against distracting Eraqus from his "important duties."

"Come on!" Eraqus pleaded. "It's our day off! Can't we do something fun? I know! Let's play ch-"

"No!" Yen Sid stated firmly

"Aw c'mon it's just chess." Eraqus replied throwing his hands up in protest.

Yen Sid glared at his peer pointedly, "THAT is NOT chess. Chess is a strategy game played on a checkered game board with 64 tiles in an eight by eight grid. 16 pieces each."

Eraqus rolled his eyes, "You're world's version of chess is boring."

"Perhaps," Yen Sid gave a small laugh and turned back to the stairs, "You'll find someone to match your skill in that absurd game someday Eraqus."

"Yeah right."

XXX

Xehanort gazed at the ocean with the same feeling of longing. He had looked all over town and even, if begrudgingly, asked around. No one had seen any individual in a brown robe. A part of Xehanort was now convinced that he had been hallucinating, but another part of him was convinced that it had been real. Why did the cloaked being make him feel this way? Sure, he had always watched for strange goings-on for his ever growing theory on the outside world, but this was something else. A sense of longing, yes. But also… familiarity? No… Yes? He wasn't sure.

Still he had eventually given up and had rowed out to the "play island." The island was a popular spot frequented by the island's children. But around sunset all the small kids had gone home, and the older kids had moved on to either studying or less legal activities, so it served as a fine place to think. He looked out at the sunset, and his mind returned to his obsession. The view was perfect. Perfect. Perfectly infuriating. It made him crazy. How could this be all there was, it didn't make sense...

"This world is just too small."

Xehanort wasn't prepared for a response "But it is part of one that is much bigger."

His head shot to his side to see the figure in the robe, he had been searching for, approaching him.

He was hunched over. The robe was incredibly old and shabby. In fact, it looked more like a burlap sack than a robe. Red-Brown straps decorated with metal spikes criss-crossed over his chest. Any details of the man underneath were unseen, not even his shoes were visible.

Xehanort turned to face the man, "How did you get out here." The man could've gotten into a boat and rowed, not without the coast guard noticing. Had they lied about not seeing him?

"This world has been connected." The man's voice was a deep baritone. It looked like it would match a strong man in his twenties, not the small hunched over elderly man that stood before him. "Tied to the darkness."

That's when Xehanort noticed that the man wasn't leaving any form of footprints in the sand! Startled, Xehanort took a few steps back, and asked his next question. "What are you?"

"A seeker." He answered, "Like you…"

"What do you want?" He wasn't afraid which was strange, this man was suspicious and in all likelihood dangerous. And yet Xehanort was certain that the man was not going to harm him.

"To tell you that you are right."

"The outside world…" He was right… he had been right all along. He knew it!

"Would you like to see it?" The man asked question like a person who already knew the answer.

"Yes." Xehanort replied without hesitation.

"A great destiny awaits you, Xehanort. There is much to do… But before you embark on your journey, we need your help." The man moved toward him standing with arm's reach now, "We shall go together." The robed man stretched out his hand.

And Xehanort took it.

His eyes became a putrid gold. His ears sharpened to a point as images and voices overtook his senses. It was as if he was watching a movie on fast forward. Only able to make out a few pieces and voices at a time.

Bring me Sora, and I will take you and your partner home.

Beautiful World isn't it?

You lost the moment you dived this far in.

Hands off my new vessel.

I can make them move.

It is etched.

YOUR TIME IN THIS WORLD IS-

"-OVER!" Xehanort screamed as he collapsed, face first to the sandy ground. He felt like he had been beaten by an entire gang. His entire body screamed in agony. With a loud groan, He tried to push himself onto his back, but his arms refused to obey his commands. This was all his fault!

That damn dull ordinary bo-

...What?

What had he been saying? What had happened? He tried to recall the images and voices, but he couldn't remember any of it. He couldn't even remember what the robed man had said. Had it been a man? The voice was gone. Had he imagined it… No, then what was this horrible pain. Where had he been? Nowhere… it was the same time… He must have been attacked and been given a severe concussion. And yet… something was different now… It felt as though something within him had changed.

He was right. He knew that he was. He was certain… more certain than he had ever been. The outside world was out there… and he was going.

X-X-X

Author's Notes: This is my first attempt at a fanfic and my first time putting some of my work out into the world. I really enjoy Kingdom Hearts and following Kingdom Hearts 3, I wanted to see more of Eraqus and Xehanort's training, so I decided to write it. This is meant to be a canon compliment, but depending on what is revealed about Eraqus and Xehanort's training and even future worlds in KH. It could very quickly turn into an AU which is only to be expected.

The master is pretty much an OC since nothing about their master is revealed. But the story won't really focus on them at all.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and continue to follow Master's To Be

Yen Sid's outfit is based on this fanart (very well done):

cioccolatodorima/art/Young-Masters-541819610