Thirty One Years Ago…

"And so it all comes down to this…the fate of the worlds down to this one last act."

"Checkmate."

"WHAT?!"

A young, dark haired man in his late teens sat aghast as he sat across from a similarly young woman with curly brown hair. Lillian sat chuckling at the her opponent's expression as he eyed the chessboard between them. Lillian had the same clothes as her older self except her hair was a little longer in the back and she was visibly younger.

The man across from her had a head of long and slightly curled black hair, wearing a navy blue shirt with a large white X pattern on the front along with slightly shorter than normal, light-colored hakama with black with gold lined metal boots, and a piece of black with silver lined armor on his left shoulder. He looked the board over with a confused expression as Lillian chuckled.

The two were in a commons room made of grey stone bricks and wooden supports with a pair of bullet shaped yellow tinted windows providing light

Finally the man buried his head in his hands.

"Augh…fell into that trap again." The man said as Lillian got up and moved to put an arm around him.

"I have an unfair advantage though." Lillian said as the man looked at her suspiciously with a smile.

"Using your foreteller powers is cheating you know." He said but Lillian just shrugged.

"I can't help it when visions come to me." She said as the man sighed and stood up.

"Yeah? Any idea when 'that day' will be then?" he asked, taking her by the hand. She just gave him a sad smile.

"Not yet. My sister still hasn't quite given her blessing." She said as the man sighed and shook his head.

"When will she give us an answer?" the man asked.

"My sister is a very busy person. She can't be rushed." Lillian said as the man sighed. About that time, a small figure came running in.

"Oh! There you guys are!" the figure said. He had a cartoonish appearance with a pair of long rabbit ears, a pair of four fingered gloved hands, large black shoes, and a blue-one piece jumpsuit of sorts with short sleeves, with a silver Mark of Mastery Insignia for the zipper chain.

"We were just playing a game of chess, Oswald." The man said as the small rabbit scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, well, the Master's looking for ya." Oswald replied.

"Well we best go see what he wants. Where is he?" Lillian asked as Oswald motioned for the door he'd just entered through.

"He's in the courtyard. Come on. You too Eraqus!" Oswald said as Eraqus, the young man, shrugged, the two following the rabbit through the halls of an antebellum old grey castle.

"I wonder what he wants." Lillian said as they walked.

"No idea. The Master can be so cryptic." Eraqus said.

"Did he say anything, Oswald?" Lillian asked but Oswald shrugged.

"Nope, just said to get the two of you and have you meet him in the Courtyard." Oswald said as they passed through a large room with a black and white checkerboard floor. The columns around the edges of the room were even shaped like large chess pieces.

"Strange." Eraqus said as Lillian winced, starting to blink repeatedly.

"What's wrong?" Eraqus asked as Lillian rubbed her eyes.

"My eyes just started stinging a little is all. It's been happening lately." She replied.

"I've noticed. Have you tried eye drops?" Eraqus asked, putting a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, dear, I have. Still happens and it quits after a moment. It's already stopped now." She said as Eraqus nodded understandingly but he still seemed worried.

"Alright." Eraqus said, still giving her a worried look as they walked into the courtyard. The courtyard was a large open air area within the heart of the castle itself. The castle was a large open space of grey cobblestone surrounded by a series of tall walls and grey towers with conical blue roofs save for the tallest tower which had a tall golden point. In the center of the courtyard was a large round stone platform that was flat on top and a set of wooden steps on opposite sides.

"Where is the Master, anyway?" Eraqus asked.

"Probably in his study downstairs." Lillian replied. Almost exactly on cue, there was a strange explosion coming from an open door in one corner of the courtyard. The explosion was also accompanied by a plume of multi-colored smoke and the sound of a badly out of tune brass orchestra. A figure in a large blue robe came staggering out, falling onto his back with a laugh as he clutched a conical blue hat, with white stars and moons on it, to his head.

"Wow! Now that's an explosion!" the man laughed as he staggered to his feet, the three Keyblade Apprentices running to his aid.

"Master Talw! Are you alright?!" Eraqus asked as they helped him to his feet. The man merely laughed. (A/N: Talw is pronounced Tallow)

"Alright?! That was an incredible bang! Took me back to the days of my carefree youth for a moment." The man, Master Talw, said with a nostalgic smile before shrugging, removing his hat and putting it into his robe.

"Well, that's enough experimenting for one day. I believe the two of you know why I called you here?" Talw asked with a warm smile. Eraqus and Lillian both looked at each other, confused but smiling.

"Does it have anything to do with our engagement?" Eraqus asked but Talw shook his head.

"Nope, sorry, but hopefully by the time all is said and done, you'll be able to tie the knot as something a little more than…oh…say…apprentices to an old conjurer." Talw said, shooting the two a smirk from over his shoulder. All three of them knew what he meant right away.

"Wait, you mean…" Eraqus said, stunned as Talw smiled and spun towards them, holding out his fist with the palm up before opening his hand to reveal two floating golden Mark of Mastery insignias. Eraqus and Lillian's eyes both lit up at the sight of the insignias.

"That's right. Your Mark of Mastery Exams. They're scheduled for the day after tomorrow." Talw said, closing his hand around the Marks as Eraqus and Lillian both looked at each other with excited grins before throwing their arms around each other, embracing each other excitedly. Oswald was hopping up and down with excitement as well.

"Wow! I can't believe it! I wish I could be there!" Oswald said but Talw laughed.

"Who says you can't?" he asked as Oswald looked at the Master excitedly.

"Really?!" he asked. Talw crossed his arms with a smile.

"Absolutely or I'm not the great Master Talw Yen Sid!" Talw said with a grin.

"Okay, hold up!"

Everything suddenly froze as Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Axel appeared, seemingly seated in midair thanks to the magic of the Arcana Librium.

"What is it Ven?" Aqua asked.

"That guy with the beard. Is that really Master Yen Sid?!" Ven asked as Aqua laughed.

"Absolutely. You see, he used to be the guardian of the World of Disneylahn. Well, actually, he always has been. You've been there actually. His old tower near Twilight Town?" Aqua asked as Ven looked at the castle being projected around them in awe.

"This big castle is that little bitty tower?!" he asked.

"He's that powerful." Terra added.

"You don't seem too surprised by this, Superior." Axel said to Terra who sat back with a nostalgic smile.

"Master Eraqus's memories are coming up to the surface. I've got a wild case of déjà vu. What about you two? How'd you two know about this?" Terra asked Axel and Aqua. Axel just pulled out a folded letter from his robe.

"Old man had to sign my paychecks you know. Plus he signed all his letters as Talw Yen Sid. Got it Memorized?" Axel asked as Terra and Ven turned to Aqua who furrowed her brow curiously.

"I'm not really sure I know how I knew that. I think Master Eraqus mentioned it. I also vaguely remember having this nightmare about a disco party of some kind." Aqua said as Ven shrugged.

"Alright then let's keep going." Ven said as he sat back in his chair.

"Before we do, can we agree on a 'no stopping except for potty breaks' rule?" Terra asked.

"Agreed." Aqua said before she raised her hand, the foursome disappearing and the scene resuming.

Eraqus and Lillian separated finally and turned towards Yen Sid.

"Will my sister be coming?" Lillian asked. Talw took a deep breath with a hesitant expression.

"I've been writing to her and using other means short of physically going to her home to contact her, but I've not gotten any responses. I don't believe any tragedy has befallen her but if the test comes and goes and we've still not heard anything then we'll investigate." Talw said as Eraqus crossed his arms over his chest.

"We've been waiting on her reply regarding her blessing." Eraqus said as Lillian smiled slightly.

"But at least we're not the only ones she's not replying to." Lillian said.

"True." Eraqus commented.

"Who else will be attending, Master?" Lillian asked. Talw merely smiled.

"Master Ory sends his regrets for not being able to attend. You know how he likes to roam. But your old classmate will be in attendance. He's given his personal RSVP." Talw said as the older two students exchanged pleased smiles.

"He's coming?" Eraqus asked.

"He is." Talw replied with a smile.

"We've not seen him since he became a Master." Lillian said as Eraqus looked at her curiously.

"Really? No visions?" Eraqus asked but Lillian shook her head.

"None. But then that's not unexpected. My visions, as you know, are quite fickle. I think the only thing more fickle is a woman." Lillian said with a coy smirk as she turned towards one of the doors, walking away and leaving three men who didn't dare reply.

"So then…I guess I better go prepare his old room." Eraqus said with a coy smirk as he started to walk away. Talw similarly smirked towards him.

"Go easy on the itching powder this time, 'kay?" Talw asked with a chuckle. Eraqus merely gave a thumbs up as he walked away.

"So what are we going to do, Master?" Oswald asked.

"Oswald my boy, we are going to prepare our own welcome for our guests." Talw said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Great! What can I do to help?" Oswald asked as Talw knelt down, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Your job is going to be kinda boring. You're gonna be my lookout." Talw said, causing Oswald's ears to stand on end.

"Lookout? You're up to something sneaky again, aren't you Master?" Oswald asked as Talw smiled and shrugged innocently.

"May~be." He replied as he stood up and started towards the door to the underground area. Oswald just shrugged with a smile. A look of curiosity then appeared on his face before he started following after the Master.

"Oh, hey, Master. How do you pronounce the guy's name again? It's so weird." Oswald said as Talw chuckled.

"Take my advice, just call him Master, in your case. But to answer your question, his name is Xehanort." Talw said as they descended the stairs. The scene suddenly froze again, the four spectators reappearing. This time it was Aqua who had her hand raised towards the center as she looked at Terra, concerned. Terra had a calm but clearly uncomfortable look on his face.

"Do we need to stop to let yo-." Aqua said before getting cut off with an icy glare from Terra.

"I'm a big boy, Aqua. I can face it. If anything this'll be good for me." Terra said as Aqua gave an understanding nod.

"Alright. But if you need to take a break, just say the word." Aqua said before signaling to resume the story. The scene then shifted to Eraqus as he caught up to Lillian in one of the hallways.

"So…Master Lillian, eh?" Eraqus asked her as she smiled slightly.

"I know. It's what we've trained all our lives for. And to think it'll finally come to pass." Lillian said as Eraqus smiled, the two stopping in a window lined hallway.

"And then after that, it's just you and me…together." Eraqus said as Lillian smiled warmly at the thought.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Eraqus merely laughed albeit a little nervously.

"Are these second thoughts or…" Eraqus said but Lillian shook her head.

"It's that vision again." She said as she stepped away, a look of uncertainty on her face. Eraqus understood what she meant and seemed worried.

"It's that vision of the spark, right?" Eraqus asked as Lillian gave a nod.

"Every night, it's the same dream. I find myself standing on my boat in the middle of the foggy sea. I look around until I see this small spark of light floating in the sky, piercing through the fog. At first I thought it was a star but it moves. It floats down towards the horizon and I begin to follow it across the water, until the fog starts to part. But the vision ends before it can reveal anything significant." Lillian explained as Eraqus sighed slightly.

"I've never been one to doubt your visions before, Lillian, but…that vision just makes no sense." Eraqus said. Lillian turned towards him with a worried look on her face.

"It doesn't to me either. But you know as well as I do that whenever I get these visions, there's always a meaning to them. A purpose. It's also exceedingly rare for the Foretellers themselves to be in a vision like this." Lillian said. Eraqus shrugged a little.

"Okay, so then once we're Masters and married, we can go hunting for this mystery. You yourself have also said that Foretellers rarely ever see people they know personally in their visions unless it's important. And you've not had any visions of me so…" Eraqus said as Lillian smiled, giving him a nod.

"I hope then that we can seek the answers together." Lillian said as Eraqus chuckled, putting an arm around her as they continued down the hall.

"Tell me again about the vision you had of Master Yen Sid. The one where he becomes a fuddy old man." Eraqus chuckled as Lillian laughed.

"Eraqus, you know I love you. I want nothing more than to be your wife. But we can't stop dodging the possibility, albeit slim, that our destiny might not be together." Lillian said as Eraqus looked around.

"I don't have any plans than to be beside you for when I become Master." Eraqus said as Lillian smiled, allowing him to put his arms around her waist.

"What about kids? Any plans about them?" she asked as Eraqus smiled.

"Definitely. One, two…possibly three." He replied. Lillian smiled at his answer, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Three's a good number. Any preferences?" she asked.

"Not really. Sons, daughters…I'm not partial to either one." Eraqus said as Lillian ran her hand along his left arm.

"Thank you for being so patient with me, Eraqus. It means a lot to me." She said.

"I'm not interested in that, Lillian. You mean more to me than that." He said as Lillian stepped back slightly, smiling at him.

"I know, and that's meant a lot to me." She said.

"Come on. Let's go rig Xehanort's room." Eraqus said as Lillian's smile darkened a little.

"Ah yes, let's see, what traps haven't we laid in there yet?" she asked as Eraqus offered her his arm.

"Let's take a quick look to see what possibilities await us." Eraqus said before Lillian started snickering.

"I think I've got the perfect prank in mind." She said before whispering it into his ear. Eraqus smirked at this.

"My dear, you are devious." He said as she smiled and lightly curtsied.

"Only when it counts, I should hope." She said as they continued arm and arm down the hall. The Castle then faded away, the chapter having come to an end. Aqua, Terra, Ven, and Axel were still seated in their previous positions.

"So that was your old Master, eh?" Axel asked.

"Master Eraqus, yes. Although he's a lot younger here." Aqua commented.

"I vaguely remember seeing him when he was that young." Terra added.

"Me too. He said our training began not long after he became a Master." Aqua said as Ven pulled his legs up so he was sitting Indian-style in his seat.

"Does this mean we might get to see the two of you as kids?" Ven asked as Aqua sat back in thought.

"It's entirely possible." Aqua said.

"I suppose we better move to the next chapter then. See what happens." Terra said as Aqua gave a nod.

"Alright, but if you need a break, just say it. I get the feeling that we'll be seeing a lot of Xehanort in this." Aqua said worriedly.

"I'll be fine. Better to face the memory head on than run from it all the time. I don't have many memories of his so this might also help us to understand him better." Terra replied as Aqua gave a nod.

"Couldn't we, you know, skip to the end? I mean we already know what happened to the old coot." Axel said as Ven got up, walking towards the book.

"He's right. Maybe what we're looking for is at the end of the story." Ven said as he picked up the book, flipping to the back but frowning.

"Huh? What's this?" Ven asked, confused. Aqua then got up and approached, looking at the book.

"I was afraid of this." Aqua said as she flipped through the pages. All of the words were a strange illegible script. Flipping back and forth between two pages caused the letters to scramble again in new configurations and sequences.

"What is it, Aqua?" Terra asked as Aqua flipped to the front, looking at the second chapter and giving a nod before closing the book and putting back on the Arcana Librium.

"Master Lillian did enchant her Tome to some extent. She put a sequential secret script spell on it." She said.

"Translation for those whose magic knowledge is exclusive to fire spells?" Axel asked.

"Secret Script is a spell that can be placed on books so that only certain people can read them. Many Keyblade Masters do this to make sure that Apprentices can't read their Tomes and cheat. Those who aren't meant to read it or are not ready to, only see a bunch of jumbled letters or symbols while those meant to or ready to read it actually see the original writing. It's to discourage shoulder surfing. In this case, since we started at the beginning, the book encrypted itself from beginning to end automatically and then gradually decrypts itself as we move through it." Aqua explained.

"So in other words we'll have to read the whole thing just to find out the butler did it." Axel said, mildly deflated.

"Master Lillian must want us to know what happened. We're just getting started so let's keep going." Terra said as Aqua and Ven both sat back down.

"Alright. In that case, we'll continue and see what message Master Lillian is trying to tell us." She said, raising her hand towards the book. The library around them then grew dark, Lillian's older self, reappearing at her table. Her expressions indicated a dark mood.

"If there was one person in this tale to be wary of, it was him. I don't need my powers to revisit that day. I'll never forget it. The day our former classmate arrived to witness our Mark of Mastery Exam. We sometimes called him 'X' but…now I cannot think of that name with sadness and grief. He was our friend, our trusted classmate and senior. I could not see his future then, but seeing his past now and knowing his present…I cannot help but feel that we knew him not at all. And when I think of what he's taken away from me…from us…" Lillian's narrative said before she paused, looking over her shoulder at something briefly before smiling sadly and then returning her attention to the Tome.

"…I speak, of course, of him. One who would, in time, make the worlds tremble…"

"…our old classmate…Master Xehanort."

End Chapter 2

Please R&R

My ideal voice actress for the younger Lillian would be Haylee Atwell, best known for playing Agent Peggy Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Young Eraqus I imagine being voiced by Matt Lanter who is known for voicing Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series. I chose Matt as a sort of homage to the fact that Mark Hamill, who voiced Eraqus in Birth by Sleep, also played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films. Lanter's Anakin though is perfect for the younger Eraqus.

I have a voice selected for Young Xehanort that similarly homages his original voice actor (the late Leonard Nimoy). In this case I went with Zachary Quinto as both he and Nimoy have played Spock in Star Trek.

The young Talw Yen Sid, I imagine being voiced by Cam Clarke who in this case voices Medivh the Last Guardian in the Warcraft universe. Specifically I'm referring to his portrayal of the younger Medivh seen in the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Expansion – One Night in Karazahn, which the younger Yen Sid is based off of. This version of Yen Sid, along with the castle Disneylahn, first appeared in my RKH short-story Party of the Centuries. And yes, the name Talw Yen Sid is an anagram of Walt Disney.

I also want to state that I've been mulling over the concept of Character Themes or Motifs. In Lillian's case, I think the most appropriate for her would be the main theme from the game Frostpunk. It has an appropriately sad yet urgent string sound to it. There's also the sound of a ticking clock at certain intervals which can allude to her ability to see through time.

And as with my previous RKH entries, I've decided to assign an opening theme to this series as if it were an anime. The theme song for this story is Again by YUI. This was the theme for the first opening of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

IMPORTANT REQUEST: Please refrain from posting ANY Kingdom Hearts III spoilers in your reviews or any personal messages.