And a happy Tuesday to you all! It's May 9th 2019 as of this writing, just as a benchmark of how long it took to write this.
Creativity: Not that it will mean anything until we start publishing.
Author: Quiet, you.
Anyway, when I initially started this project, I thought it would only be sixteen chapters of around 2500 words. However, I feel that to really get to the emotional depth I'm targeting for the story, I need to extend that out to twenty chapters, with the word cap being ignored. Honestly, I should have expected this. The idea of a word cap is kinda laughable for me, mainly more of a minimum benchmark I prefer to meet. The reason I tried to stick to it this time was so that I didn't burn out on the story. Though, that'll probably take longer than last time. Especially since I already think I have it figured out as three acts, one per season.
Creativity: How exactly… oh… oh that does work out as a clean three acts, doesn't it?
Author: I think so. Anyway, not much to talk about, aside from answering reviews.
Creativity: And there's no reviews!
Author: Alright! What's left? Oh, right! Current Discord password: 5RRcGwh
And that about covers everything! Now, let us proudly present chapter 3 of Before: Kingdom Hearts!
A figure wrapped in a black cloak sprinted through an open-air hallway before leaping over a stone rail into a grass courtyard. Clutched tightly in their left hand was a black crystal, framed in a purple glow. Pursuing them was a group dressed in different colored cloaks, all clutching different weapons. The figure leapt over another railing onto a balcony, summoning a black and purple, single edged, two-handed broadsword with a knuckle guard, flourishing the blade before swinging it horizontally to launch an arc of purple energy from the blade. Several of the pursuers were forced to stop and defend themselves while others closed in. The figure engaged the pursuers in combat, weaving a deadly web of steel around themselves, but still gave ground before they were knocking down. Through it all though, they refused to loosen their grip on the crystal.
Suddenly, the crystal began to emit dark energy that wrapped around its holder, funneling into the blade. With a desperate cry, the figure let out a wild slash unleashing a surge of dark energy, causing the air to appear as if it was cracking. Suddenly, the energy turned and wrapped around the figure before bursting outwards, leaving only trace wisps of dark energy that rose from the ground like smoldering embers.
Ryo's eyes snapped open, darting about his room. The moonlight shone through the window, indicating that it was close to midnight. Ryo sat up, rubbing his forehead in an effort to clear the sweat from his brow. Every nerve in his body was on edge. Recognizing that he wouldn't be able to sleep, Ryo pulled on some clothes and stepped out of his room, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he took a seat at the table.
"I hadn't had nightmares like that in a little over a year and a half. Why now?" Ryo thought tiredly before he heard a door slide open. His head turned to see Veris creeping out of her room. She looked concerned and had her arms wrapped around her front, as if chilled.
"Veris? What are you doing up?" Ryo asked quietly, not wanting to wake Veruk. Veris jumped a bit when she heard his voice.
"I could ask the same of you." She responded, equally quiet.
"It was just a nightmare. My nerves are on edge, so I figured getting out of my room for a bit would help." Ryo answered. Veris glanced around, her face set in a frown.
"I thought I heard something outside. It didn't sound like an animal. Honestly, I've felt something was wrong all night." She revealed. Then Ryo heard a twig snap not too far from the front door. Immediately, Ryo stood up and edged back towards his room and stealthily opened the chest in his room, retrieving the sword he had taken from the ambush two years ago. He drew it slowly, thankful that the blade was surprisingly quiet. Grasping the weapon tightly, he slowly edged towards the door, keeping the blade between him and said door.
Suddenly, the door was thrown open and someone charged into the house! Ryo darted forward and swiped at the attacker, landing a blow to their face! The attacker was thrown to the ground, a mask clattering into the corner of the house. Ryo's blood chilled when he saw the mask. Sans the slash across the nose, the mask was the same one that was worn by the ones who ambushed the soldiers two years ago, these servants of 'the Dread King'. It bore no resemblance to a face, only a strange blue sigil. It didn't even appear to have functioning eye or nose holes.
Ryo immediately sank his blade into the man's back before being surprised when a dark blue mist began to rise from the wound. The mist turned into a geyser of dark blue and black energy that vanished almost as quickly as it came! Ryo stumbled back, confused and scared by what had just transpired. Veris looked horrified. Veruk charged into the room not soon after the mist had vanished and looked between the body and Ryo. He hurried over to the body, his eyes widening and his face ashen as soon as he got a good look at the armor and the mask that lay not too far away. He flipped the body over and stumbled backwards. The face underneath was a cold, gray color. The eyes were black, though faint embers of dark blue energy could be seen from them, fading more and more as time passed.
"Ryo grab all of your munny and whatever supplies you have. Veris, get dressed and grab your knife." Veruk immediately commanded. Ryo stared at him for a moment or so with concern before going back to his room to do just that. Then the screaming started.
Dragging his pack over his shoulders, Ryo rushed out the door and looked around in horror. More of those soldiers were busy razing the village to the ground and attacking anyone and everyone within reach of their weapons. Veris emerged from her room and saw the carnage unfolding before her. She looked like she was going to be sick.
Veruk had rushed forward and was engaging the attacking soldiers in combat, using his bare fists to strike them down. Their armor had several structural weaknesses that Veruk was showing great aptitude in exploiting. Noticing that both of them were outside the home, he rushed over to them, his eyes constantly scanning the crowd.
"You both need to run. Get as far away from Woodfell as you can and don't look back." Veruk instructed them. Ryo's eyes widened.
"What about you?! You can't expect us to leave you…" Ryo started before Veruk rounded on him.
"That is EXACTLY what I expect you to do! I expect the two of you to run as fast as you can and avoid the Dread King's forces at all costs!" Veruk thundered at them. Ryo shrank back in shock. Veris was looking at her father in terror.
"Papa, what are you…" She started before Veruk grabbed her hands.
"I will not lose my daughter to that… that monster! Not like…" Veruk started before he choked up and dropped Veris' hands. Ryo noticed a soldier had taken notice of them and was charging them with a spear. He rushed past Veruk and blocked the strike before driving his blade through the soldier's heart, causing the same burst of energy to erupt from the body. Veruk snapped out of his emotional stupor and rounded on the soldiers!
"I need you both to go! Now!" He shouted before leaping to attack the invaders again! Ryo grabbed Veris' shoulder and tugged her towards the village exit. They both took another glance at their caretaker as he fought back against the invaders before making a reluctant beeline for the exit. Veris had drawn her knife and the two managed to make their way to the exit, taking out any invaders that got in their way, only to be stopped by three soldiers, one of which appeared to be the commanding officer. His armor was fancier and his mask was more detailed. He made a sound underneath his mask that indicated he was drawing a deep breath through his nose.
"The smell of blood and fear… It's thick in the air… But there's also the faintest trace of magic…" The commander hissed through the mask. Ryo raised his sword, though one could see the blade quivering in his grasp. The commander made a sound like snickering as he and the two other soldiers started stalking forward. Ryo backed up a bit, fear in his eyes. He raised his blade as Veris mirrored him, slowly backing away. Suddenly, the soldier to Ryo's right that flanked the commander sprouted an arrow in his shoulder! They heard a loud bellow as they saw a large shape charge forward and plunge a woodcutter's axe into the soldier's chest! Ryo immediately recognized Garren as the one wielding the axe and could safely assume it was Barkos with the bow. He immediately seized on the distraction and darted forward, slashing the second soldier down before turning and moving to strike down the commander! Unfortunately, the commander apparently had that title for a reason and swiftly raised his own blade to block. Ryo bared his teeth in a snarl as he pushed back against the blade, but the commander was too strong and just shoved Ryo back before advancing and delivering a vicious downward chop! Ryo rolled to the side just before another arrow suddenly sprouted from the commander's shoulder! The commander stumbled back in surprise and pain, leaving himself open for Ryo to get in a strike on his left leg that caused the commander to drop to one knee. Garren immediately kicked the commander onto his back and brought the axe down as hard as he could, decapitating the man.
Ryo took a few steps back, taking a moment to catch his breath when he noticed a strange glow coming from within the dead commander's armor. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be some sort of stone of some kind, shaped like an egg and a bit larger than his fist. It probably fell out of wherever the commander had been keeping it during the brief battle. Ryo picked it up and turned to the group.
"We need to keep moving." He said. Veris was still looking at the dead body, her face white as a sheet.
"We can't just leave! They need…" Garren started before Ryo cut them off.
"The village is already lost! Veruk told me and Veris to run, so that's what we're going to do! Are you coming with us or not?" Ryo snapped. Garren looked like he had just been slapped in the face. Ryo felt ashamed for his outburst, but now wasn't the time for a debate. As much as he hated it, Veruk was likely laying down his life so they could all escape and he wasn't going to let that sacrifice go to waste.
However, before either Garren or Barkos could respond, the stone in Ryo's hand started to shimmer and glow brighter than before. Ryo covered his eyes as the glow grew more intense. A high-pitched whine began to fill the air as the hairs of the four friends began to stand on end. There was a blinding flash through the burning town, and they vanished into thin air.
Sora groaned as he came out of the vision again. He rubbed his temples as he slowly climbed to his feet and took a seat on a nearby rock.
"What are these dreams about? Are they like Roxas's memories? No, it doesn't feel the same." Sora muttered as he mulled it over, trying to piece together what he was seeing.
"I guess I'll just have to deal with the pain that comes with them to figure these dreams out." Sora muttered before he noticed the guide stone seemed to be exhibiting impatience. Normally, Sora would have questioned that line of thought, but his time spent with the Kingdom Key had taught him that it was probably best not to question it. Instead, he stood up and started following the guide stone. As he followed it, he noticed they were heading towards what looked like a ravine of some kind. Sure enough, that was exactly where the guide stone was headed, though it did slow down and start hovering a little closer to the walls. By now, Sora had figured out that the stone was trying to show him something, as evidenced by the obelisks, splitting headaches aside.
Sora immediately started examining the walls of the ravine, finding glyphs and images carved into them. It didn't look like the ones on the obelisk, which had been cut with the finesse of a fine jeweler. These one's looked rougher, though still neat and legible. As he peered at the glyphs, he realized he could understand them. Or at least pieces of them.
"Key… Kye… It must be talking about the X-Blade!" Sora exclaimed before examining the carvings more closely.
"The key has been given a name… X-blade… pale imitations of it are being crafted as weapons… True purpose… Fear for the Light… Fear for the Dark…" Sora muttered, only being able to decipher a chunks of the text.
"What does all of it mean? Fear for both the Light and Darkness? Why would anyone worry for the Darkness?" Sora wondered aloud as he kept reading.
"The others… gathering… one as many… What does any of that mean?" Sora muttered as he kept working his way through the glyphs. However, the more he read, the more confused he was. It probably wouldn't make any sense until he could read everything. Which probably meant hunting down more of those obelisks, as they seemed to be imparting knowledge of some kind to him.
"This is why I'm glad I don't have to attend school anymore. Learning is physically painful." Sora muttered as he kept making his way through the ravine, deciphering small sections of verses as he went before he came to a blank section of wall. Suspiciously so, in fact. Writing did continue a way's down. But for some reason, it stopped here. Leaving words blank for a large circular area. Sora looked at the area with scrutiny before realizing what he had to do. He summoned Kingdom Key to his hand and aimed it at the circle. A small area in the center of the circle began to glow purple, taking the form of a keyhole. Sora fired the keyblade beam into the keyhole, which caused the circular area to shudder before dissolving to shadow and drifting away, revealing a hidden passageway.
"Please let there not be a snarling dark creature at the end of this tunnel?" Sora muttered as he started trudging down the path, keyblade slung over his shoulder, the guide stone flitting along just ahead of him.
And there's chapter 3! Wow, writing is actually going faster than I initially thought! Like I said, probably going to be stretching season 1 out a bit, but with the shorter chapters, that shouldn't be an issue.
Creativity: And now we're off to the first world!
Author: Indeed! No spoilers on what it is, but it's just a wait until Saturday, so it shouldn't take too long. Also, I'm wondering how much of these Sora sections I should do, hence why I stuck it at the end of this. Let me know so I can make adjustments. Please note that these adjustments will lead to delays, since this is all being pre-written. I'll probably publish a couple of weeks worth of chapters before waiting for feedback on any tweaks that need to be made.
Creativity: Should be easy enough, especially if we get ahead of it.
Author: Here's hoping. Anyway, I think that's enough for now. See ya on Saturday!
