Kingdom Hearts
Endless Keys
Chapter 1: The City of Names
You can't see the stars from the streets nor can you see them from the roof tops in the city of Names. The buildings are too tall, the lights never die down, and the moon is usually full. However there is one place where you can see them. On the edge of the housing area that circuits from the metropolis is a small hilly park. Although it's filled with trees there is one spot along the path where there's a railing overlooking a cliff that gives one a great view of the city, but it also gives you the only worth while view of the sky.
Kys sat there looking up at those teeny lights with his thighs wrapped around the steel pole and his calves dangling off the cliff side. He leaned against the metal. There was nothing to worry about after all. The railing was considerable sturdy and the fall to the bottom wasn't that long, the worst case scenario would be if a small kid fell and then it they still had a good chance of living do to the rather cushion like bushes at the bottom.
The teenager absently fiddled with his newest piercing located on his left ear. He chose not to get a stud and just go for the dangling sword earring instead for the lower half of his ear. That was the place people usually pierce first when it comes to ears but it was his fourth piercing on that ear alone. He preferred simple tiny loops or spiky studs usually but he took one look at that sword and he couldn't leave without it piercing through a hole in his skin. So there it was dangling on his left ear for the whole world to see.
Kys continued his stargazing as he reminisced about his first ear piercing at age eight and the first time he dyed his hair at twelve. Now he looked like a rather sexy young man at about the age of eighteen, his current theme being red and black. His skin was pale per usual, everyone was pale here, and the sun never rises in Names after all. Kys hair was currently jet black with a thick strand of red highlight in his bangs. He was sporting his favorite striped red and black sleeveless hoodie as well as his exceptionally tight skinny jeans with purposefully shredded knees. On his feet there he wore his most comfortable pair of belted combat boots. As for accessories, he had on his plain black choker, a studded belt, a pair of laced arm warmers, and his adorable hearted eye patch. To top it all off his nails were painted crimson red and around his right was a think ring of eyeliner. And the boy wonders why some people say he's gay and emo.
After a long moment of just sitting there Kys finally got up and stretched his arms. He leaned against the railing to gaze at them one last time. He recalled what Arkd once told him.
"Each of those stars is another world."
"Another world? Does that mean no one can see our world since it's so dark here?" Kys was about fifteen at the time
"Nope, this world shines too. This city is only a very small part of something bigger because there was a time when all worlds were one. And yet despite the great distance between each of them now they are still connected." Arkd was much taller than Kys at the time, that was still the case now though.
"What connects them?" Kys remembered asking that question and not knowing a single possible answer.
"The light in our hearts, that's why the worlds shine after all." Arkd had placed a hand over his chest.
"That doesn't make any sense. I don't see any light coming out of anyone's chest. Besides how can hearts connect worlds together, that's just stupid."
"It's because of Kingdom Hearts." Arkd had said.
Kys had never before heard the term but he did feel it had meaning. "Kingdom Hearts?"
"Kingdom Hearts is the heart of all worlds and the source of hearts." Arkd explained.
"Arkd you sound like a queer with all this talk about hearts and shit."
"Well you'll get it one day Kys. For now just remember that when one of those lights up there goes out it means that that world was swallowed by darkness." Arkd had pointed to the sky and just above his finger a star went out.
"How did do that! Have you been to other worlds? Is our world swallowed by darkness?" Kys sped through the questions.
"Settle down, you're like a little kid. I didn't do anything I just had a feeling that world would disappear that's all. Like I said this world is shining brightly so it isn't swallowed by darkness, if it had been we wouldn't be here right now. As for the other question you remember that thing right?" Arkd had leaned in closer to stare directly into Kys one blue eye.
"You mean that rumor about everyone here originating from someplace else because of the…"
"Fact no one knows how they got here and couldn't remember there names, so lord Amesn hand picked everyone's names and became the mayor or king, I'm not sure which anymore. So, we all might have been born in other worlds." Arkd had chuckled.
"What's so funny?"
"The old man sucks at naming people and we all have to suffer for it."
"I actually like my name it has a nice ring to it." Kys did like his name though some people would miss read and pronounce it 'kiss' instead of 'keys'.
"Arkd is ok, but I feel sorry for Are-fee, though he deserves it for trying to mess with you all the time."
"It's pronounced Artie even though it's spelt A-r-t-h-e, which actually sounds rather normal, get it right. Even though he's a complete douche now we grew up together and stuff." Kys blushed frustrated that the proper words wouldn't come out.
"You are so nice Kiss, that's why you're so cute." Arkd had commented.
"It's pronounced Keys!"
Kys blushed as he pulled out of his memories. Now that he thought about it Arkd flirted with him a lot back then and still kind of does. There was about a three to five year age difference between them but no one could be sure since no one knows when they were actually born. Kys disliked thinking about such matters and switched the topic in his head.
"Kingdom Hearts," he voiced his thoughts. "There's another word just like it but I just can't remember what it is."
"You can't remember what brat?" Kys turned and found the owner of the familiar voice standing behind him with his shorter friend.
"Are-fee what are you doing here?" Kys question.
"It's pronounced Artie you smartass. And I'm here because I can be, now answer my question punk." Arthe ordered.
"I can't believe I defended your name jerk," Kys mumbled.
"What was that brat? Talk louder I couldn't hear you over all your constant mumbling." Arthe brushed the blonde strands of hair out of his eyes.
"I said you're a queer if I ever saw one. I mean look at you and your knitted vest, your dress pants, dress shirt, and your hair is tied back into the tidiest ponytail I have ever seen. Seriously, how long do you spend each day brushing it?" Kys grinned fiendishly at his rival.
Arthe snorted, which always gave Kys the giggles, "Like you're one to talk. Anyone could take one short look at you and think you were a homo if they didn't mistake you for a girl. The manliest thing about you is that eye patch and even then it has a heart on it."
"I like my eye patch, it matches my clothes," Kys inserted.
"Shut up whelp, I'm not done. Your boots, it's not bad enough that you are wearing boots in the first place but you had to get ones with the four inch heels and bondage belts. Plus your jeans, I'm sure you got them from the girls department, they are way too tight." Arthe pointed at Kys jeans.
"Are you done captain knitted vest because I have better things to do than listen to you all day, well night…" Kys dug his heel into the dirt and slid his fingers into his back pockets. He did have to admit, they were rather tight, but that's how he liked his pants.
"It's not knitted its crocheted and no I'm not done." Arthe crossed his arms with a glare.
"Whatever, gay is gay, hurry it up."
"Your bondage arm warmers."
"What about them? Wait how do you even know they are bondage? How do you know that word?"
Arthe coughed into his fist, "Well when they accompany that hoodie you look even more feminine than most woman."
Kys sarcastically gasped, "Oh, how scandalous."
"You wear more jewelry and make up than them too."
"Only real men paint their nails and pierce there ears. Are you done?" Kys admired his manicured nails absently.
Arthe let out a frustrated grunt but kept on a nonchalant expression. "I'm done. Now leave so I can talk to Eas."
Kys began to walk down the path opposite of them before turning toward them again, "Watch out Eas he's going to rape you!" And he ran away down the path.
Steam was almost literally pouring out of the blonde's head as the smaller brunette yelped. "Arthe you are still straight right?"
"Of course I am you dolt." Arthe's eyes twitched with irritation.
"But you and Kys seem to flirt a lot." Eas commented.
"You mistake arguing for flirting, despite the fact you know our relationship." The blonde bared his teeth.
"But you both seem to be so passionate…"
"If you continue with that sentence I will break you. Now about what happened earlier…" Arthe leaned against the railing and looked toward the stars.
"Amesn said that we should observe Arkd as well as Kys…" Eas trailed off into thought.
"Why, I don't get it? What possible reason could there be to have to watch those two gays!"
"Kys has a girlfriend."
"That doesn't change the fact that Arkd wants to rape his ass." Arthe grumbled.
"Though I agree that is true, why are you so set on pointing it out? Are you sure you don't have feelings for Kys?" Eas looked toward his taller friend. Arthe blushed and turned away but not before Eas saw the truth.
"I-I don't like that idiot! I like girls ok, women, with breasts!"
"Ok, I believe you," actually he didn't but as long as Arthe was in denial it would be like talking to a log, pointless. "It's just you seem a bit happier when you're with him. Even if all you two do is fight."
"Happier? Are you insane?" Arthe glared at the brunette next to him.
"No, not particularly, but I know you better than anyone. I can tell when you are happy even when your mouth is frowning your eyes are filled with a new life." Eas smiled.
Arthe wasn't expecting that. He looked into Eas's big, round, blue eyes and relaxed. "I suppose your right. Names can get very boring, all anyone usually does is throw parties, go to parties, got to bars, nightclubs, get drunk, or all those things at the same time. There's really no structure to this city at all, it's like living in a box. No we are living in a box. No one comes, no one goes, and no one has ever been born or died her since we can remember. There's no sun just the moon, everything we live off of was already here, and nobody works for a living except for those who wanted the bars and clubs and you really can't call that work. I'm surprised the resources haven't run out yet. How do we eat? Where is the electricity coming from? Where is the alcohol coming from? It's like this place runs itself and all we do is live here like a box in storage. Don't you find any of it odd?" Arthe peered at the city. All the lights were on, the city was alive, but it also seemed like it was hiding something.
"I completely agree with you. I think about it all the time, I'm sure everyone else does too but you know what? I don't think most of them really care. Amesn, he cares, but that's just who he is. Me, I care and yet I feel like there isn't anything we can do about it. Sure we could try to leave, but how? We don't know how we got here in the first place. It's true that it's all very odd, but what can we do? Nobody seems to know what to do so they try not to dwell on it too much. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?" Eas stretched his arms out and rested his chin on the railing.
Arthe sighed, "I want to go to other worlds, Eas."
Eas lifted his head, "Huh?"
"This place is suffocating me. I want to do something with my life. All anyone does here is goof off, this isn't living this is…" Arthe glanced up to the sky.
"But how do you plan on accomplishing that?" Eas raised a brow. Was his friend going insane or something? They were all lucky not, not having to work.
"I'm not sure but I have to try something. I can't just stand here with this-this feeling in my chest! I'm a bird let me fly!" Arthe stepped up onto the railing and spread his wings I mean arms, like a bird.
Eas stepped back and began to panic, flailing his arms like the energizer bunny, "Dude get down from there before you fall!" His friend was going insane!
"But I'm a-" suddenly a strong gust of wind passed through and before he knew what was happening, Arthe saw the stars again as he fell from the cliff and hit the ground, unconscious.
Arthe opened his eyes to a place smeared in darkness. He lifted his head and found himself upon a glowing circle of multicolored glass. He rose to his feet to find that the glass had the picture of a sleeping boy holding a giant key in each hand, both of intricate designs. He rubbed his head, "Where the hell am I?" he paused to think. "I fell off a cliff! Did I die? I thought that a fall from that cliff wasn't supposed to be fatal. I suppose if I fell on my head and snapped me neck then it could happen…"
He looked around, "Nobodies here and there's no way off this stupid platform." He took a few steps toward the center.
"The end is coming, but you mustn't be afraid." A voice popped into his head.
"What?" He flung his head around but no one was there.
"Every beginning has its end but every end leads to a new beginning and so on. Do you still wish to go to other worlds?"
"Hell yeah," Arthe answered automatically before covering his mouth.
"Are you sure?"
He thought for a second before uncovering his mouth, "Yes."
"There are two paths to choose from as you begin this journey, overtime a third will open. For now, will it be the path of light or the path of darkness."
Suddenly in a flash of light and sparkles a white door emerged to his left and to his right a black door emerged from a cloud of ominous darkness. How cliché was that?
He thought it over, he didn't want to choose immediately only to regret the decision later. "I think I'll choose the path of light because that way I can see where I'm going. That makes the most sense to me at least." He reached for the golden door knob.
"Are you sure?"
This strange voice was getting on his nerves, "Yes I'm sure!" He pulled the door wide open and the glass broke into countless pieces. He was falling… again.
"Damn it!" he screamed as he came closer and closer to the glowing platform of glass below. He shut his eyes waiting for the impact but was met with none. Arthe opened his eyes again to find he was standing on the new platform, alive.
This platform had yet another picture of another boy holding some more giant keys. "I hate this place."
"There is power within you."
Three floating objects appeared before him, one was a sword, one was a shield, and last took the form of a stick with mouse ears.
"Take this power, give it form, and it will give you strength. Choose its form wisely."
"I don't like swords so that's a no. The shield look way too heavy, so that's a no. The stick thingy with ears looks rather tacky but… I like it!" He grabbed the stick thing and it as well as the other objects disappeared in bursts of light and sparkles. "Where did my stick thingy go?"
Then within another burst of light and sparkles a giant key like thing appeared in his hand. It had a rather odd but detailed design, at the tip was a closed rose bud that had leaf like stubs emerging to the side. The neck was like the stem and covered in thorns, the handle had wing like hand guards. A keychain dangled from the handle that was shaped like a cross with a blooming flower at the bottom. "I'm digging this giant key sword thingy. Flowers, especially roses, are rather elegant and strong and deserve to be recognized as manly."
"Your journey will soon begin, but first another must end."
"I-I died didn't I! Isn't that enough for you?" He shook fist at the sky.
A stair case of glass emerged from the abyss leading from the platform.
"Now go, use the light to banish the dark."
"Maybe I don't want to go to other worlds after all…" Arthe grumbled as he climbed the staircase to reach the next platform.
He reached the tippy top and found that this newer platform was similar to the others only it had another boy with only one giant key. Across from him he spotted another staircase. "You've got to be kidding me? Another flipping staircase! Oh, well the faster I get through all this crap the better." He dashed toward the other side but stopped. A small creature slid in front of him, it was black with glowing yellow eyes.
"If I knew darkness took the form of a cute little thing like that then I would have maybe chosen that path instead. Oh well, come here little guy. I want to kick your ass and get to another world before I starve to death here." He took a fighting stance with his giant key and lunged at the small little creature. He swung with all his might and the creature disintegrated with a poof.
"That was easy, too easy." Suddenly he was surrounded by the little guys. "What are these things anyway?"
"They are hearts consumed by darkness, the Heartless. Release their hearts with the power of the keyblade."
"Keyblade? Yeah that sounds about right. So you little guys are called Heartless huh?" He counted them, "I'm really out numbered, holy crap."
"At times like these clear your mind. Look to the power within and call to it."
Arthe did as he was told the voice seemed to know what it was saying so far. He cleared his thoughts and he felt something deep inside himself. A light? Suddenly a word popped into his head and he opened his eyes, lifting his keyblade to the sky. "Thunder!"
Lightning bolts shot out of thin air and eradicated his enemies on all sides. "Thunder? I didn't hear any boom. Shouldn't it be lightning or something?" Arthe looked at his keyblade and it disappeared like the stick thingy did before.
"Now continue on your journey however there will be many who try to stop you."
"Yeah, yeah you just keep talking and I just keep walking." Arthe wondered who was the source of the voice but knew it was pointless.
He made his way up the stairs to the next platform. This time there was a girl with one keyblade and a door on the other side. He walked cautiously toward the white door when three thin white creatures appeared from the sky. They moved as if they couldn't stand still.
"Are these Heartless too?"
"Heartless are hearts corrupted by darkness, they lack a body and soul. Nobodies are created from what remains, the body and soul."
"What about the mind?"
"The Heartless before were mindless, they acted upon instinct. The Nobodies before you attack with purpose."
Arthe sighed and with little effort summoned his rose bud keyblade. "So if these are the forces of darkness I guess this keyblade is the light. Sorry Nobodies but I have other places to be." He closed his eyes and cleared his mind before casting, "Thunder!"
The Nobodies disappeared in small vortexes of light and darkness. Arthe released his keyblade and stepped toward the door. Without hesitation he opened the door and stepped through. He took notice that there were two people this time, each with one keyblade that looked like each other as well as one of the other boys from before.
The ground began to shake and Arthe readied himself with his keyblade in hand. Two large creatures appeared, one was obviously a Heartless, the other a Nobody.
"Holy crap I'm going to die!" Arthe exclaimed
"Clear your mind once more. Don't be afraid. Look deep within for the power to smite the darkness."
He closed his eyes again and sighed. He could feel the ground shake as they drew closer and concentrated harder than before. Then he found it, a light within that could defeat those creatures. Arthe raised his keyblade towards them and shouted, "Earthquake!"
Everything vibrated even more violently than before, the glass broke as large earthy rocks protruded from them out of nowhere and defeated the oversized enemies. Arthe gave a victorious smile but stopped as he realized that the ground continued to shake and the glass began to break around him.
"Very good," a different voice one not from his head yet still bodiless spoke, "You may be of use after all."
"Huh?" Before he could ask what he meant the floor beneath him finally gave way and Arthe was engulfed in darkness.
He opened his eyes to find he was in his bed at home. "What the hell? Was all of that a dream?" He paused to take it all in before coming to a sudden realization. "That voice lied to me! I'm still here, this isn't another world!"
Eas walked in, "Of course you are still here silly. Did you have some weird dream?"
"Yeah… Didn't I fall off the railing at the park?" Arthe rubbed his temples.
"Well you almost did but you regained your balance and you got down and we walked home. Don't you remember?" Eas chuckled and sat on the edge of the queen sized bed.
"No, I forgot…" Was it really just a dream?
"You were acting weird… Is something wrong? Was it a… wet dream? Was it with Kys?" Eas whispered the last few words.
Arthe flushed red, "What? No! I had a dream where I was in this weird place with Heartless and Nobodies and I fought them with a keyblade and magic!"
Eas just looked at him with a straight face, "Did you have something to drink last night?"
"You know I don't drink alcohol." Arthe was annoyed at the moment.
"Well you might have asked for juice and they gave you wine or your drink could have been spiked." Eas speculated.
"I am no suffering from alcohol abuse! You would smell it on my breath!" He turned red with fury.
"You're right… Maybe drugs-"
"Continue that statement and I will break you." Arthe glared seriously.
"Ok so you aren't drunk or stoned… You must be going insane, probably because you keep lying to yourself about your forbidden love for Kys. I mean come on 'Heartless' 'Keyblades' your dream was trying to tell you something. What else happened?" Eas pulled his legs up and crossed them so as to listen more efficiently.
"The voice said stuff like 'The end is coming' and like 'every beginning has its end but every end leads to a new beginning' and stuff." Arthe pressed his forefinger hard against his left temple.
"The end of your denial, the beginning of a gay relationship with Kys," Eas giggled.
"Would you shut the fuck up!" Arthe growled.
"Oh my, you said the f-word. You must be mad." Eas sarcastically commented.
"I swear sometimes you are suicidal." The blonde grumbled.
"Oh, I know all your threats are empty! Especially the ones you give to Kys since what you really want is to kiss and make love his naked body." Eas patted the taller boy's cheek.
Arthe sighed he was never going to get through to him was he? "Look, my dream had nothing to do with that emo… Look let me prove it to you! Get off." He kicked his friend off the bed where he landed on the wooden floor with a thump.
"Ow," Eas rubbed the back of his neck as he sat up.
Arthe stood, made his way to the center of his bedroom, and shut his eyes.
"What are you doing?" The brunette asked.
The blonde ignored him as he concentrated and stretched out his hand. He found the light within and felt a weight on his fingers. He opened his eyes the keyblade had appeared.
"Holy ham! Is that a keyblade? So your dream was-"
"Real, in fact it wasn't a dream at all." Arthe concluded.
"Can- Can I hold it?" Eas got up with a glimmer in his eyes that could not be denied.
"Uh, why not." Arthe handed over the giant key. "Be careful it's… dangerous?"
Eas looked as though he would eat it. However he is a carnivore and thus would never eat a rose shaped giant key. "This is the single coolest thing ever! I want one too!"
"Try falling off a cliff into a weird dream. Maybe then you'll get one. You can hold that one for a few minutes if you like though." Arthe cringed at how his friend might use that power. Maybe he would conquer the butcher's district? All he ever thinks about is food and parties and sometimes other people and how Arthe is gay for Kys, which isn't so.
"This thing is pretty small though. I'd like a bigger one, maybe one that bigger than me?" The brunette mulled it over.
"From what I could tell, there are many different types of keyblades, each one unique to its user. Some people might even get two." Arthe remember how each platform had a different person with different keyblades.
"Two? No I'd rather have one huge one." Eas nodded to himself, imagining what it would look like. He closed his eyes and held out his hand. "What was that thing you did before?"
"I concentrated on my inner light, my inner power." The blonde raised a brow.
The shorter teen snickered, "Pft, you have inner power, that's just freaking hilarious."
"I'll be taking that back now." Arthe held out his hand and the keyblade teleported into it.
"Wha? Not fair." Eas whined with opened eyes.
"If you want one get it yourself." Arthe released his giant key.
The brunette closed his eyes again and concentrated. After a moment he found something warm and bright burning inside his chest. He grabbed this warmth with his will and opened his eyes.
Arthe was leaned up against the wall a long broadsword like keyblade was piercing the wall an inch from his head and it was all Eas's. He pulled it back carefully, allowing his friend to breathe. He examined it and was pleased. It was a little heavier than Arthe's and a little top heavy but it looked like it could actually do damage unlike his friend's.
Eas began to laugh quietly to himself, an evil grin on his lips. A dark aura could be felt emanating from his body, though invisible.
It was then that Arthe concluded, "We're all going to die if the light is in this madman's hands…"
AN: Hello, and thank you for reading the first chapter of my super gay KH fanfic. I decided to use original characters in an original setting for flexibility and well who wants to read another fic about the same three places all the time. So yeah, Ocs, the original characters from KH may be mentioned later in conversations and stuff but I don't think they will ever make a physical appearance and if they do it will be small and minor.
About the names, I know they are like WTF were you thinking names but like the actual games I wanted my three "chosen" to go with the sky, sea, land theme but I found that in every language I looked up there was something I didn't like or couldn't use. For instance, more than one language has the word "Terra" for land or earth, but Terra was already used by the KH character by that name. Also in many languages the words just didn't sound like names so I tried anagrams instead. Kys is obviously an anagram for sky, Arthe is an anagram for earth, and Eas is an anagram of sea. However instead of using randomly chosen scrambles I just moved the first letter to the end of the word. Kys is pronounced like the word 'keys', Arthe is pronounced like Artie (Are-tee), and Eas is pronounced like 'ace'. Arkd is an anagram of Dark and is pronounced with a silent 'D'. Amesn is an anagram for 'Names', which I chose because he names everyone and the City is called Names. It is pronounced 'Ah-meh-san'. He is aware of this pattern and likes it.
Kys has a girlfriend! Her name is ^$#&%$ (no spoilers). She's not that important but she might stay for awhile or until I decide that he needs to realize just how gay he is, though I think he might know he's bi…
Arkd is flirting with him on purpose, he's not a pedo now that that Kys is about that age where it's legal.
You might be wondering about that Eye Patch. I'll tell why in due time.
For those whom it may concern: I might upload the pictures I drew of my characters and there keyblade designs if anyone is interested.
About the platforms, you are free to speculate which KH character appears on each floor but personally… The first two are Sora and Roxas and the last one is definitely Ventus and Vanitas. Just think it over, who are the other two? Riku and Kairi? Aqua and Terra? King Mickey and Xion? Ok not king Mickey but hey, you have options.
Any questions? Plot holes that need pointing out? Concerns? Spoilers? Ideas? Suggestions? Requests? Anything? Just review or message me. Criticize me please! I want to know how I can make this super special awesome. But please be gentle, I'm sensitive. Though if you want to complement me feel free to do so however you please as much as you like, I won't stop you.
This is my third fanfic! Yippee! Since this has such a bigger fandom than my others hopefully I'll get more reviews and fans.
Please don't kill me because of my OCs and lack of gayness between SoraXRiku RoxasXAxel, TerraXVentus, or what ever slash you're into.
Thanks to, for existing.
Thanks to SQUARE ENIX and DISNEY for KINGDOM HEARTS.
Thanks to mind, for being so creative in it's pursuit for gay love between men. Though there a lot of cliché plot devices in my fic! BAD MIND for no origionality!
I don't own certain things which is rather obvious.