Chapter 2: David Frostmourne: Assignment.
"Runner, I have a task for you."
"Yes, you're Majesty?"
"Call Frostmourne" said the King.
I always get the dirty work.
Two hours later, a simple looking man, unthreatening except for his intense eyes walked into the King's hall.
For the King to call me there must be a task that others have failed at, and deem an impossible mission. I, David Frostmourne, looked forward to whatever challenge lay ahead. I was used to not being able to depend on anyone, but myself. In situations when others would give up, or see only defeat, I always had the gift of rising up, and seeing solutions to seemingly impossible challenges. You couldn't trust anyone but yourself to get things done right… with the possible exception of the King.
I entered the throne room and bowed low. "Your Majesty, you called for me?" I asked.
"Yes, I did." A figure emerged from a pile of papers, holding a bunch in his hands. He was very short, with two large ears, and a black nose, and his tail swished behind him, his black cloak billowing in his wake. The King, Mickey, was a mouse. He was also a renowned Keyblade wielder. Personally, I had no idea as to what the whole talk of "Keyblade" had been about; all I knew was that two others had been sent to find a person who wielded one as a weapon: the King's magician, Donald, and his Captain of Knights, Goofy. They were still on the way to their first world, Traverse Town, to meet some guy called Leon, a friend of the Kings. I had read his profile. He was a good fighter, one of the qualities I respected.
"Sorry to call you up on such short notice, Frostmourne, but I have to leave right away. Everyone else in the castle believes that I already left yesterday." The king shoved two papers towards me. "Read these on the way. Time is short."
"What's my objective-" I started to ask, but the King was already rushing towards the hanger.
"You'll have to use the Anti-Gummi for transportation. It has a few advantages, but it's still not as reliable as the Gummi Ship." the King went on. "I'm on a journey to stop a certain man from attaining control of a very dangerous place. Your job is to search the worlds for a man named Cloud Strife. I've heard he could be a great asset to our cause." he looked me in the eye. "I chose you for this mission because you are the best I've got. No even Donald and Goofy have the strengths you have, or your adaptability." He turned towards the Anti-Gummi and handed it to me. One thing I liked about the King was that he liked doing things himself, and never made someone do something if he could do it. "Once you make contact with Cloud, direct him to that world called Hollow Bastion. On your journey, if you happen to encounter Donald and Goofy, and the Keyblade Master they've been sent to find, you should not hesitate to help them." He paused. "Sorry, I can't assign you some backup. My agents are all out in the field."
"I prefer to work alone, your Majesty." In a travel bag over my shoulder was my battle attire: A pair of spiked gauntlets with spiked "wings" that extended from the wrist all the way past my elbow. I had also slipped a small, gold punch knife into my pocket: my lucky charm, and useful weapon. My only clothing was a white leather vest, and a pair of black jeans. "I've always worked better alone."
"And that's the reason that I'm worried." He muttered. Then he faced me. "Now go and begin your search."
"Where should I start?" I asked.
"Try Traverse Town, or maybe Hollow Bastion or Twilight Town. Your guess is as good as mine." He shrugged. "Now get gone. I have to leave now too." With that, he created a portal of pure light, and left me there with the small device known as the Anti-Gummi.
Huh... Same old King... I walked over to the Anti-Gummi. It was supposed to manipulate darkness and light to make a portal of the two. The nice part was that it was about as big as a watch. The not so nice part was that a single portal sapped much of the rechargeable battery's life, and you had to wait for a while for the battery to reach full again. If you tried to teleport without full power, there was a large chance your portal could become unstable, and leave you in a random world, or worse, stranded in gummi space. Being stranded in gummi space wasn't so bad because these days you could be picked up by a world traveler. I had once been left on a star, where there was some weird, aerial civilization with floating buildings. Worst case, rarest scenario: you were stranded in the Void: a strange area where there was simply nothing, worse even then the World of Darkness, for in the Void nothing at all existed, not even darkness. It was merely... nothing. It would be a slow, painful death if I was left there. The Void had the power to suck your life force from your heart and leave you dying there. But still, no use worrying over something that wasn't going to happen to me if I was careful.
I activated the device and stepped through the portal. I emerged into a darkened city. Traverse Town. I thought. Maybe I'll run into Donald and Goofy here. I kind of hope I don't, though. I walked down the streets, watching everyone I saw as I strolled through the first district. Those guys might be good at what they do, but I have no doubt that they could draw me into a conflict that would delay me.
I looked over the papers. The first one was Cloud's profile. He was an ex member of a private squad belonging to some Shinra Electric Makko Energy Company. Hmm... Shinra… That name… I vaguely remembered a man named Shinra appearing in our castle, wounded from an explosion. He had talked about a man named Cloud. When asked about how he was injured, he said only a few words: "Hell's Dark Harbinger… Sephiroth…" A nice title… I looked at the second sheet of paper. It was a picture of a man with long white hair and grey eyes, and a katana that was far too long for a normal person's taste. Under the photo was the name Sephiroth Jenova. Same guy Shinra was talking about. Cloud's friend, maybe? Enemy? A further look at Cloud's profile confirmed the latter. Sephiroth and Cloud were mortal enemies… and Sephiroth brings out the darkness in Cloud's heart. Huh… Interesting guy. Sure sounds powerful. I wonder if he's as good as they make him seem…
I turned a corner towards their second district and was confronted by a pair of gates with a sign on them: WARNING. THIS AREA HAS BEEN LIMITED DUE TO AN UNSAFE DENSITY OF HEARTLESS. PLEASE USE CAUTION WHEN ENTERING. ONLY TRAINED WARRIORS ARE ALLOWED TO ENTER.
Trained warriors, eh? I pushed open the gate, and peered inside. I didn't see any Heartless. That sign is almost like a challenge, goading people in here.
"Care to try your luck against the Heartless, I see." A man with a scar down his face leaned on the wall behind me. "I wouldn't recommend it. Too many people see that sign and think it's a joke." He held a gunblade idly in his hand. "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you a refugee from another world?"
"I could ask the same of you, Leon." I said as I walked towards him. I recognized his face from the file. "You should be expecting guests here. Two of the King's emissaries are coming to you to search for some person with a Keyblade. They don't go unnoticed. Trust me; you'll know those two when they get here."
"Who are you?" He asked me, all business now. "How do you know me?"
"You can call me Frostmourne. Let's just say that I'm under orders from the King to search for someone. Tell me: do you know a man named Cloud Strife? The King sent me to look for him."
"Cloud… yes, I knew him, but I haven't seen him here recently." He shouldered his weapon. "Our world was taken over by Heartless, although they haven't found its Heart yet, since his girlfriend Aerith hid it under some enchantment. We were thrown into this world, but Cloud left a few weeks ago to search for a person whom he had some vendetta against. His name started with an S… it was something like Sephiran.
"Sephiroth." I answered bluntly. "Hell's Dark Harbinger. Or so I've been told. One of your friends, Rufus Shinra, let us know before he died. Said he was Cloud's worst enemy because he brought out the darkness in Cloud's heart." I shrugged. "Well, I can't stay here forever. Give Donald and Goofy my regards." I glanced at the gate. "I think I might just check in here. There's a chance he could have been lured into there by Sephiroth. I'd better check." Thanking Leon, I walked away into the dark area. Huh… Sephiroth… Just perfect… Where do you find guys who can teleport like I can?
"Hey." Leon called me from a ways away. "If you see a kid wearing all black, send him to the Accessory Shop. I'm waiting for him." I nodded in acknowledgement, and walked into the second district.
I stiffened and froze. My danger sense was tingling. I backed up until my back was against a wall. Never let a Heartless come at you from behind.
Out of nowhere, a Shadow Heartless leaped at me. Huh… weak low-forms… Not even worthy of me putting my iPod on… A single thrust with my hand crushed its head. Whirling around, I saw a Largebody Heartless to my left, with several Soldier Heartless. Yeah, come join the party. I sent two Soldier's flying with kicks and punches, before grabbing a Soldier and throwing it at a Dark Ball Heartless.
Dark Ball's… what are they doing here? They're high ranking Pureblood Heartless. They must be after something. Maybe it's me… Maybe it's Cloud… Or maybe I'm just lucky.
With the odds continuing to stack against me as more Heartless joined the brawl, I felt something course through me. In that instant, an inner deep anger lit inside me and my muscles swelled to three times their usual strength. I grinned wolfishly, while taking out three Shadows with one swing. I grabbed the gold punching knife and threw it like a dagger. It pinned two Heartless together, leaving me with only two Dark Balls, a Soldier, and the Largebody. With that, my monster strength disappeared. I grabbed the two Dark Balls by their short Tails and swung them at the remaining Soldier, killing all three, and leaving me with the Largebody.
The Largebody tried to fall on me, thinking to crush me with its heavy weight, but I nimbly leapt onto its back, where I began hammering it with my spiked gauntlets. Before long, it buckled, and I was in the clear. Frostmourne, one, Heartless, nothing.
I retrieved my gold punching knife, and continued through the dark streets.
Yes, I know, he quoted Axel in 358/2 Days: "I always get the dirty work". But still, it's pretty epic. I always liked the idea of the King's personal agent, sent to do the job when all else fails. Although he isn't central to the theme of the story (yet), you must admit, he's still pretty awesome.