The Fourth Key
Traverse Town
Riku, Sora, and Kairi were walking through Traverse Town going to see Leon and his group so they could discuss what they were going to do if the Organization turned back up and tried to start trouble. Out of nowhere a voice called out to the group.
"Keyblade bearers, there is a fourth key."
"What do you mean by 'a fourth key'?" Riku asked.
"A new key has been found. You must find her in order to defeat the Organization. But be warned, if the Organization gets to her first, know that they will use her against you, and try to make her a member of their group. So hurry, and find that fourth key!"
"So the new Keyblade wielder is a girl? Cool!"
"Kairi, focus! I thought we destroyed the Organization already," Riku said.
"They found a way to survive after the battles. And now they are planning to get the girl before you, that's all that you can know."
"Thanks, c'mon guys, we have to go find her, I bet she's in this town."
In Another Part of Traverse Town
Michi was just lying on her bed, thinking about what had gone on that day with her friends. Out of nowhere, a little shadow Heartless entered her room.
"Hey, what are you little guy?" She picked him up and looked at his little antennas and how he looked so much like a little shadow, "You know what, I'll name you Shadow, since you look so much like one. Why don't you be my little friend?"
Shadow seemed to nod and squeezed right next to her in bed and fell asleep.
Later that night, Nobodies came into the room. Shadow woke up and jumped on Michi, waking her.
"Umm, what ARE these things?" Next thing Michi knew, a blade that looked kind of like a key appeared in her hand, "What IS this thing? I wonder . . . can I use this thing to defeat those things? Well, might as well try." She slashed at them and defeated them all.
"Shadow, Shadow! Where are you?"
"The Heartless? He ran when I came." A mysterious man in a cloak came up right behind her.
"Who are you. Are you one of those white things that came up behind me? Or are you something more sinister?"
"A Nobody, you mean? Yes, I am one of them, the leader."
"So what do you want with me?"
"I want you to come with me to the World That Never Was!" The man said as he used the bunt of his blade to try and knock her out.
"No way in heck am I going down that easy." She quickly blocked his attack and flipped backward. "I don't want to be a part of whatever you've got planned!"
"Fine. But soon you shall see that my Organization is the only way. The only place you belong."
"Whatever. Just leave my town. Now."
"Alright. But, if you ever change your mind, use this to contact me. It will lead you right to me."
The man stretched out his arm, his hand with his palm faced towards the wall. A portal appeared in that area, He then stretched it toward her, and, suddenly, a power rose within her.
"Urgh. What did you do to me?!?"
"I simply gave you the power to open a portal if you wished."
And, as he finished, he walked through his own portal.
"Damn."
She walked back toward her home. As she did, Shadow appeared out of nowhere and jumped on her shoulder.
"Oh, there you are. What happened? Scared of Nobodies? It's okay. I'll protect you. No worries, kay?"
Shadow looked up and nodded. It seemed as though he could tell when the Nobodies would come, so she could use that to her advantage.
Jeez, now what should I do. I can't stay at home. It's just too dangerous. Its not like anyone there would miss me when I'm gone. So I'll just pack a bag of useful things. This could be fun.
She chuckled when she thought of getting away from home. Then, Michi looked at her Keyblade. It was definitely weird. It was definitely made of metal, but it's design, unique. It seemed to resemble both dark and light. Around its handle, it had what resembled an angel wing, and on the other side, a bats wing. At the end of the blade, the metal was shaped like a key, but one side of the crown shape formed a wing, and the other a sharp point, like a bat wing. It was a dark gray towards the bottom, splitting into one dark wing and one light one that served as hand protectors. It smoothed in an octagonal shape around the area around her hand, and a dark gray bar rested in-between it for her to hold. A key chain formed on the end of it, into a heart split in the middle. One side was black, the other white. In the middle was a fine gray line.
Hmm. So this weapon supposedly appears whenever I need it. It even disappears when I don't. That saves the trouble of carrying it. I'll rest here tonight and start on my journey tomorrow. She soon got home, not surprised to see anyone there. She went upstairs to her room and got into bed. Shadow came in and slithered under the covers, and moved right next to Michi.
The night seemed short, as the sun soon arose and eight-o clock came around. Michi woke up about that time and shuffled out of bed. She woke up Shadow and put him on top of the dresser as he fell back asleep. She walked into the bathroom and took a quick shower. She slipped into a pair of dark blue jeans and a lavender tee shirt. She pulled her shoulder length, brown hair into a ponytail and left the bathroom. Back in her bed, was Shadow, sleeping as though he was never disturbed. She grabbed her black backpack and rolled up two tee shirts and another pair of jeans and tossed them in. She put in a brush and toothbrush and any other small necessities, and picked up Shadow and put him in as well, having his little antennae head sticking out of the top. She slipped the bag on her back and walked out of the house.
She walked over to the Third District, to find that she was totally lost.
Hold on, I've never been to this place before. How can one town be so damn big?!? Well, I'd better find someone to ask. But who?
She saw three people in a group talking about something, but what, she didn't really care. She walked over to a brown haired boy and tapped his shoulder.
"Excuse me. But could you help me?"
He turned around. "Yeah, of course. Could you help us? We're looking for someone."
"I guess. Well, I'm sorta lost and I need help finding a way outta this place."
"Well, you could go to the first district and find a man named Cid behind an Accessories shop and ask him. He should be able to help you."
"How do I get there?"
"You see those big doors over there? Go through those and you should be right around where he is."
"Okay, thanks. What did you need help with?"
"Oh, well my friends and I were told to find someone who had a Keyblade and join with them to fight against some evil guys."
"But you're just a kid." Michi said, laughing.
"Am not!" he turned bright red.
The really blond guy stopped talking to the girl and walked over. "Hey, Sora. Someone finally called you on it!"
"S-Shut up Riku! You don't know what you are talking about."
"How much you wanna bet!"
"You-you're just jealous!"
"Of what? A squirt like you?"
While Michi was watching them argue, the red headed girl walked over to her.
"So. You said you could help us."
"Yeah, I can. But, what does a Keyblade look like? I'd have to see one to know who you are talking about."
"Hold on a sec."
She walked over to where Riku and Sora were and knocked them both in the back of the head.
"Stop your fighting for just one simple minute so she can show you where the girl is. Just-just show her your Keyblades!"
"Fine," they both said at the same time and whipped out their Keyblades.
"Oh, I know what those are. I have one."
"YOU DO?" The three said in unison.
"Yeah, here." Michi pulled out hers and held it out towards them.
"So she is the fourth key…"Kairi said.
"Yeah. But I don't like the smell around her. She smells like she's been around darkness." Riku complained, glaring at her.
Just then, Shadow popped out of the backpack and onto the ground.
"A Heartless?"
Shadow squeaked and ran back into Michi's arms.
"Yeah, so what. He's my friend and he tells me when those Nobodies come around."
"But-"
"Let it go, Sora. That Heartless has no bad aura about it. He's harmless."
"Riku, you sure?"
"Yeah, anyway…" Riku said, looking at Sora, "will you go on a date with me?"
"WHAT?!" Kairi and Sora exclaimed, Sora turning a bright red.
Riku started bursting out in laughter. "I can't believe you fell for that!"
Michi took a couple steps backwards. She wanted nothing to do with this group, they were weird, yet they seemed really close. Even if she were to travel with them, well . . . she wouldn't have the bond with them as tight as they had now. She would be an outsider, just like she always was. She turned, and began to walk away.
"Hey, wait!" Kairi said, running to meet her. "We were wondering if you could join our group."
"Thanks, but no thanks." Michi said, continuing to walk. "I doubt it would work out well." She looked at her hand, and searched for the power inside her. Automatically she knew how it worked, and how she could alter it. She held out her hand, a portal appearing in front of her. "See ya!" she smiled, waving.
"Whoa. Riku, I thought only people influenced by the dark could do that!" Sora exclaimed, running over to where the portal was.
"Yeah, I thought so too. Maybe…maybe we were too late after all."
" I doubt that. Wouldn't she be all like 'die now Keyblade masters' or ' disappear from this earth!'" Kairi acted out what she was saying, then turned, looking in the direction Michi had left. "No, I think she was lonely."
"Kairi . . ." Sora said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "no more caffeine for you."
Michi walked through the dark tunnel, thinking that she had been walking forever. She knew she hadn't, but there seemed to be no end to either side.
You're going to have to imagine where you're going, Shadow looked up at her.
"Woah, Shadow, did you just speak? No, you brain tapped!"
Shadow nodded.
"Imagine where I'm going, huh . . . but what if I don't know?"
Just think of a place, it's bound to exist.
"Ok." She thought of a flowery field, with each flower bright and beautiful. Suddenly, a black portal appeared in front of her, showing an open field. She ran into the portal, jumping into the flowers.
"My, my. Aren't we having fun?" a feminine voice said from above her. Michi looked up, and saw a blond lady with a really long black cloak lower right in front of her.
"Hmm. . . my, my. Don't we look like a bug." Michi said, teasing her.
Michi had to dodge a flying Kunai knife, only to have her hair begin to frizz.
"Now who has the funny looking hair."
"Oh, by the way. Where'd you get the awesome cloak, I totally want one," Michi said sarcastically.
"I'm sick of your attitude. Just join the Organization already before I have to drag you there myself."
"Over my dead body!"
"That can be arranged."
"Oh, I'm Michi, I thought you'd like to know the name of the person who's going to kick your butt."
"Larxene. Likewise."
They charged at each other, attacking faster than any observer's eye could trace. Unfortunately, there were three. It was the same three who Michi had seen earlier.
"Hey, Riku. Do you have any idea what's going on?" Sora asked.
"Not the faintest idea."
They watched as the two blurs battled, and on one clash, both flew back. They stood for one minute, both catching their breath.
"Sora, it's Michi!" Kairi said, pointing.
"And a member of the Organization. How-!" Riku said, absolutely baffled.
"Ah. I suppose we should take a break then," Larxene said, glaring at the Keyblade masters. "I suppose you're wondering why were back."
"Amongst other things . . ." Riku said, looking over at Michi.
"Do you or don't you remember when you destroyed Kingdom Hearts? Well, it wasn't just Heartless that came back. All of your favorite nobodies returned too."
"umm . . . we've never met before." Sora said, looking confused.
"Of course. That little witch must have done the 'noble' thing and set your memories right."
"Do you mean Naminé?" Riku asked.
"I'm bored." Michi said, tapping her Keyblade on her shoulder. Larxene threw some Kunai knifes, and Michi easily dodged them. Michi charged towards Larxene at an unbelievable speed, striking her with her Keyblade.
"What? How?" Larxene held the spot where she was hit, only to find herself fading. "B-but I . . ." Larxene continued to fade, and eventually, there was no more Larxene.
Shadow hopped up on Michi's shoulder. "Why hello there." She said, looking at him, "Were you hiding again?"
Sora, Riku, and Kairi looked at Michi. "Please consider it." Kairi said, taking a step forward. Michi looked down, unable to say anything.
"NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NOOO!" Marluxia said, pacing back and forward. "She can't be dead, she can't!"
"Chill out, pretty boy," Axel said, "you act like you already have a heart. Even if Kingdom Hearts did give us some feelings, we're still empty shells."
"Axel . . ." Roxas said. "take your stupid collar off. NOW!" He was referring to the collar that Axel had put on him the second they came back. Axel held the leash, and he was the only one who had the key to it. Not even Keyblades worked on this thing.
"I am not going to lose you again." Axel said.
"Fine. I'll kick your ass, take your stupid key, then get as far away as possible if you don't take it off."
"Jeez. Violent much?" Axel said, taking off the collar. "Happy?"
"Personally, I would have enjoyed number 13 kicking your ass, Axel." Marluxia said.
"Oh, shut up, you lousy traitor."
"You're calling me a traitor? Last time I checked you were the one who betrayed us!"
They began to argue. Roxas facepalmed, knowing they wouldn't stop for a while. He didn't understand why he had returned, but if he had, that meant Naminé had too. He couldn't wait to see her again. But she hadn't appeared in The Castle That Never Was, nor had she appeared in Castle Oblivion. Nobody knew where she was, although many of them didn't care. It seemed she had betrayed the Organization too.
"You know what? I think basically all of us are traitors." Roxas said. "We had left at some time or another, and had failed the mission given to us."
"Man, Axel, your girlfriend has a point." Demyx said, walking into the room.
"What. Did. You. Call. Me?" Roxas said.
More arguments appeared, now with twice the rage. It seemed the Organization, though with its members returned, still hadn't healed. They were lacking a leader, after all. Along with Naminé, Xemnas was missing. With no Superior to fear, it was a constant battle between the Neophytes. The Elders just didn't know how to handle the situation.
They knew Xemnas was off stalking some girl, but they didn't know where or who. All they knew was that they would have to wait.