"Ow..." I muttered, opening my eyes. I found myself in the Infirmary of our Gummi Ship. Small as it was, there was a nice little bed that I was lying in. I threw the sheet off myself and jumped to my feet.
That cursed seal… where'd I get it? I thought. Well, no time to ponder it now!
I grabbed my sword and dashed through the narrow halls of the Gummi Ship. Seconds later, I was on the Bridge, where Aegle was already sitting at the chair left of the captain's seat. She sighed as I approached my special seat (the Captain's Seat, that is).
"What's wrong?" I asked, plopping down in the captain's seat.
"Hey. You finally woke up," Aegle said. "What happened to you? We're off to find your brother, and this one guy... what's his name..."
"Charon," I said.
"Yeah, yeah. Well, we were off to find them, and you just up and left me!" she shouted.
"You're the one who left me. I didn't go anywhere, and you just disappeared! What's up with that?" I asked.
"It doesn't matter," Aegle said, crossing her arms and turning around in her seat. "So, what happened to you?"
"Nothing. I just had a little scuffle with that Ike," I answered.
"It wasn't a scuffle. You had a twisted wrist!" she shouted.
My wrist does hurt a little... I muttered, gripping my wrist.
"It's... nothing," I said.
"So, what now?" Aegle asked me.
"Now, we have three objectives: find Roy, find Charon, and defeat Ike," I said. "Since I know Roy's alive, I have to find him. It's our job to kill this Charon character. And I know, that Ike has all the answers we're looking for," I said. "So, let's get to it!" I shouted, jumping out of my chair and making a dramatic pose, pointing toward the stars.
"Uh… what are you going on about?" Aegle asked me, staring oddly.
"Sorry… I just had to," I said. "It's the truth, anyways."
"Yeah… let's just go back to the Radiant Garden for now. Hopefully, someone else will be there," Aegle said. "They'll help us… I hope…"
"No sense in worrying about it, right? Let's go!" I yelled, punching a button. We were blasted the short distance to the castle, where we beamed down momentarily. We popped up in the Borough, walking over to the castle. There, at the gates, we found someone in familiar clothing. He had… black hair in a bowl cut.
"Who are you?" I asked him.
"Oh, me? I'm Jason…" he muttered, turning around. He donned Xemnas' coat, but his right arm was in a sling inside the coat. He looked like a ronin. "What can I do you for?"
"Eh… we're looking for a few people," I said. "Roy Hartmut, someone named Charon, and this silver-cloaked guy… Ike."
"Silver-cloaked Ike? Never heard of him," he said, shrugging. "I knew Roy, but he disappeared a few years back. As for Charon, Roy once said he'd killed him, but that's all he said about it."
"Then it's hopeless…" I sighed, shrugging my shoulders and hanging my head.
"Well, I've told you my name. What's yours?" he asked.
"Jake. Jake Hartmut," I answered.
"You must be related to Roy… I think he mentioned you. Oh, yeah! You're his pestering little brother!" Jason said.
"Real nice…" I muttered to myself.
"I'm Aegle. Nice to meet 'cha," Aegle said, extending her left hand.
"Uh, geez, this is awkward," Jason muttered, pulling his right hand out of his coat. He shook her hand, then put it back in his coat.
"What's with the coat and putting your arm in it? You look like a ronin," I said.
"I got hurt here some time ago, and it hasn't fully healed. I doubt it ever will," he said. "This coat is a reminder of what the darkness made me into."
"Huh?"
"Don't worry about it. Sorry I couldn't help," he said, walking off. I turned around and went the other way, leaving Aegle to figure something out. I meandered through the echoing town, once again fighting my way to the Dark Depths.
I sat down on the cliff overlooking the old castle, letting my legs and feet hang over the edge. I stared into the cloudy sky, eventually lying down and taking a nap.
I awoke to an odd voice. I hadn't heard it before.
"So, you're the one destined to face me. But you're so weak…"
I sprang to my feet. Near the entrance was a white-cloaked, blonde-haired, grey-eyed man.
"Who the hell're you?" I asked.
"Oh, just someone who opposes what you stand for. So, what is your goal?" the mysterious man asked.
"Like it matters to you. And what do you man, you oppose what I stand for?" I asked.
"The darkness. The darkness deep in your heart, and the darkness you wear. I will destroy them both," he said. I sensed some serious hostility in his steel eyes.
"You can't destroy the darkness!" I yelled, unsheathing my sword. "It's eternal!"
"Hmph. He once said something similar," the man said, crossing his arms. Two lances of light appeared in his crossed arms.
"What?" I shouted at him.
"I… am Charon, the Master of Light. For someone of darkness to oppose me is not only folly, it is impossible," he said.
"Unless you're stronger than Ike, you're going down right now!" I shouted, brandishing my sword. "Come and get some!"
Charon wasted no time attacking. He made two thrusts, as per a lance, but I nimbly dodged the attacks. I thrusted my sword at his stomach, but Charon had superior reach; my blade was just short of piercing him. He jumped back, then once again blazed at me.
I again dodged the move, then knocked one of his lances aside. We battled quickly, attacking and defending from each other's attacks, then jumped back.
"You're better than your brother was the first time I fought him, though not by much," he sneered. The other lance had reappeared in his hand.
"You haven't seen anything yet!" I yelled, letting my cursed seal go. This shocked even Charon…
"This is most unexpected," Charon said, regaining his composure. "Even so, it is nothing I cannot handle."
"Can it! Let's do this!" I yelled, blazing at him. I clanged my sword against his lance, then used the recoil it caused him to dash around his back, though he managed to dash away. I nicked him in the shoulder.
"Very impressive," Charon taunted, teleporting in a flash of light. "You actually managed to hurt me at that low of a level, even if it's only because of the darkness."
"Shut it!" I yelled, sheathing my sword and making the hand seals for the Chidori. The skill executed perfectly. I dashed at him, electricity crackling like a thousand birds. Unfortunately, I forgot about the technique's inherent weakness again; Charon sidestepped away from my attack, hitting me in the back of the neck with the blunt handle of one of his lances. I was thrown into the air, but recovered and charged at him again. This time, I stopped one of his lances by grabbing it, then destroyed the other one (which had inevitably counterattacked me) with the Chidori.
"You're far better than I expected... even so," Charon sneered, jumping back, "you just aren't good enough to beat me."
Another light lance appeared in his offhand.
"You see, light is eternal. That being said, I have an endless supply of weaponry, so you just wasted what I believe was one of your best attacks!" Charon sneered.
"There's no way I'm losing to you, too!" I snarled, once again brandishing my sword.
"This is pointless. You pathetic little worm, I'll show you what real power is!" Chaon said. He floated up into the sky, which turned so bright I could swear there was a star just above us. Small sparks of light began to rain down. I didn't know what they were, but when one touched me, it burned.
"What is this?" I snarled at him.
"Light," he replied calmly, floating back down. "You see, these fragments of light wound anyone with a tainted soul; one far deeper in the darkness than one in the light. Simply put, you can't win... not now, not ever."
"We'll see about that!" I shouted at him, attempting a rush. I was burned by the fragments of light before I could get anywhere. After a few moments, the light began raining down faster, causing me to collapse. I fell over, writhing in agony, even though I had pulled back from my Cursed Seal.
"Thus, the one destined to defeat me falls in disgrace," Charon said. "When next we meet, you will have to improve greatly to stand a chance."
"And how do I do that?" I managed through screams.
"Obtain the Sword of Light, Illumina. With it, your soul will be cleansed, and this attack won't work on you," he said.
"Offering false hope to juvenile heroes, Charon?" I heard a familiar voice mutter. "You've fallen a long way."
"You must be none other than..." I heard before I passed out.
