Chapter 8: To a New World
Kairi followed Eraqus further into the keep than she had been up to this point. They walked down a hall, past a number of bedrooms that she imagined belonged to the other Keybearers, and into another hallway. He led her into a room filled with, to her surprise, shelves containing tons of armor pieces that looked like the ones the wielders all had on their shoulders.
Eraqus nodded to the shelves. "Pick one that you feel suits you."
Her eyes washed over them. There were so many different shapes and sizes, so many different ways the armor twisted and bent. Yet, though all of the available options, there was one that stood out to her. Rather than a shoulder plate, there was a an armpiece, one that could be worn a bit below her shoulder and extend down near her elbow, similar to the one Master Aqua had. The top of it was a red button, with a white boarder. It had three metal pieces connected to it, red, white, red.
Kairi grabbed it and slowly fitted it to her arm. It was a bit big at first, but she was surprised when it shrunk down to fit her. Huh, nifty kind of magic.
"Hit the button," instructed Eraqus.
Kairi raised her hand, and slapped it over the button. She was briefly blinded by a flash of light, before there was a sudden weight coating her body and she opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was a helmet on her head, and that she was staring out a visor of sorts. She reached up, and pulled the helmet off, before she looked herself over.
She was in full body armor up to her neck. It was mostly red, save for white lines, starting down from the top of her armor, than ran down the entire thing. The lines followed to each armored finger tip, down to each armored boot, front and back. There were also white stripes wrapped around each joint. On her back was a cape, the outer part being red, the inner part being white. She looked at the helmet in her hand, a red lump of metal, with a white line down the middle of it, save for the translucent visor to see out of. She... liked the armor... it made her feel safe, protected... but...
She glanced back at the cape with a frown. "Wouldn't this get in the way in a fight?"
Eraqus chuckled. "Perhaps, but, your armor is connected to you. Like your Keyblade, you can will it away."
Kairi focused her mind, and saw her cloak fade in a brief shine of light. She wondered...
She focused the same effort on her helmet, and watched that fade too. "I don't like the helmet, makes me feel congested and stuffy."
Eraqus slowly shook his head. "You'll need it when we enter the lanes between, for you will require your full armor to protect you from the darkness between the worlds. Now, you can dismiss your armor as a whole."
Kairi closed her eyes and focused. Her armor faded with a flash of light, leaving her back in her normal clothes. The moment she did however, she lost that feeling of safety she had, and frowned intently, an uneasy look on her face.
"Something the matter Kairi?" asked Eraqus.
She hesitated before hitting the button again, and wrapping herself in her armor without her helmet or cape, a faint revealed smile on her face.
Eraqus gave her a questioning look, and Kairi stammered a bit to avoid giving an honest answer, "Umm w-well, wearing heavy armor all the time is good strength training, right?"
Eraqus frowned briefly before nodding. "It can be, just be mindful to not wear yourself out by doing so."
With that, Eraqus turned and led her out the room. Kairi walked out, feeling more than comfortable. As heavy as it was on her body, she loved the feeling of safety and protection it offered her. More than just physical protection, she could feel the energy within the armor, a safety net against the darkness...
She could admit, maybe it was childish, but...
She didn't ever want to take the armor off. Having tasted what it was to wear it, just being in her normal Guardians of Traverse Town uniform left her feeling far to bare and unguarded.
She followed Eraqus out of the keep and to the courtyard where he stopped and turned to her. "Creating a Keyblade Glider is, as always with the Keyblade, a matter of will and heart. Observe."
Eraqus raised his hand and slapped what she thought was his bare shoulder under his cloak. She however heard a click of a button being pressed, and Eraqus's body flashed white with light. When it died down, she saw him in armor somewhat similar to her own. Mostly colored gold and white, his helmet had three spikes shooting up above him, and the Keyblade symbol on the forehead of it. Leftover from his normal clothing was the teal-ish armor from his midsection.
Eraqus held out his hand, and a Keyblade appeared in it. It looked just as simple as the Kingdom Key Riku had. The blade portion was a darker steel, the handle was a simple steel color, with red steel connecting it. It was simple yes... but... it also felt so fitting to see in the man's hands...
"What's your Keyblade called?" she asked.
"Master Keeper," he answered, "Now, observe."
Eraqus tossed his Keyblade into the air, and with a flash of light, it transformed. Unlike the other Keyblade Gliders which were vehicular in nature, Eraqus's was a bit... different. It was a metallic horse of all things... yet... like the Keyblade in his hands, it felt fitting. He mounted the Keyblade Horse and sat on it. If he had his Keyblade in his hands, he'd look like quite the warrior ready to charge into battle mounted on a steed.
"Will your Keyblade to change its form, to grant unto you a way to transverse the Lanes Between, and throw it into the air," instructed Eraqus.
Kairi summoned Oathkeeper and threw it into the air...
...only to be forced to dodge out of the way when it came right back down at her. "Er..."
Eraqus chuckled softly. "It may take a few attempts."
'A few attempts' turned out to be a rather frustrating ten minutes of 'dodge the falling Keyblade', before she finally lost it, gave a yell, and threw her Keyblade high into the sky, "Let me OUT!"
There was a burst of light, before her Keyblade changed. What it turned into was not what she expected in the slightest. It looked like a makeshift metallic raft with Oathkeeper sticking up out of it like a mast with a steering wheel coming out of it half way up...
Was she really supposed to go between world's with this!? It seemed as dumb and foolish as trying to build a raft to cross an ocean with...
Kairi sighed and walked onto it, summoning her helmet and putting it onto her head. She grabbed the steering wheel, pulling up. The Keyblade Raft levitated into the air.
Eraqus nodded at her, and kicked his own glider into gear. "It will take a few hours to reach our destination."
Together, they rode into the sky, and into a sparking portal that appeared before them. When they came out to the other side, Kairi couldn't help but feel sad. She could imagine once, this had been an awe inspiring sight, to travel through the space between worlds. Now? It was a cold, dark, silent place, with hardly any stars visible no matter which way she looked. She was again, comforted by the fact that she had her armor to protect her during this bleak trip through the Lanes Between.
She followed behind Eraqus patiently as the hours ticked by. Finally, off in the distance, one of the few stars she had been able to see started drawing closer. Kairi felt a bit apprehensive, it would be her first time outside of the Realm Between in ten years. Would the worlds in the Realm of Light truely be as bad as Sora hinted at? Teeming with hordes of Heartless?
Well... only one way to find out.
She followed Eraqus, descending into the world. They parted the clouds, flew down and over a village. Kairi looked down to see, to her surprise, people looking up at them happily. Some even gave a cheer. Keybearers seemed to be well received here. Eraqus however didn't set them down in the town. He flew past it and into the countryside a ways before he had them set down.
Eraqus banished his Glider and armor. "There used to be a time when it was forbidden for the worlds to know of each other. Forbidden for us to interfere in their matters unless it involved countering the influence of outside darkness. Forbidden for those not chosen by the Keyblade to know of it's mysteries."
Kairi banished her Glider and her helmet. "Really?"
Eraqus nodded. "Yes. It become rather improbable for us to keep our identities and duties a secret as time passed, forcing us to reveal ourselves as we fought to save the worlds as best we could. Not to mention a certain spiky brown haired boy always following his heart, even if it broke the rules."
He chuckled softly to himself and looked up into the sky. "How times have changed."
Kairi's ears perked at a rustling sound, and then she felt darkness. Her Keyblade was out and bathed in light the moment the first of the Heartless appeared. Like the tide Sora had described, dozens of Shadows, and some Neoshadows appeared. However, they weren't alone. Pureblood Heartless that she had never seen nor heard about before appeared.
Purple batlike Heartless flying through the air...
Large groundhog like Heartless burrowing out of the ground. Their backs covered in spikes, their faces a smooth black and purple.
Eraqus saw her confusion and and spoke, "Flutterings and Earth Cores. The Leader of the Heartless dredged up every vile Heartless out of the Realm of Darkness that it could. The Flutterings are an annoyance, and don't attack the Earth Cores from behind."
Nothing more was said as the Heartless closed in on them. True to his word, the Flutterings were utterly obnoxious, shooting energy pulses at them, or spinning along the ground and slamming into them. Kairi actually missed the times when all she saw were Shadows out on patrol. Ah well...
Oathkeeper and Master Keeper cleaved through Heartless after Heartless, yet, where one fell, at least three more rose to take it's place. Kairi was starting to panic a little, her heart beating wildly. Their numbers were reminding her too much of the last night in Traverse Town. She tapped more into her light, coating her body in an aura, and tore into them.
"Kairi!" called out Eraqus, "Pace yourself or you will spend your energy to quickly."
He was telling her to hold back?!
She hesitated, uncertain for a moment. It cost her, an Earth Core barreled into her, knocking and pinning her to the ground, sending her Keyblade flying. Kairi's eyes went wide and she acted on instinct. She grabbed it's face with a gauntlet, and white lines spread out from her touch. The lines stream down its body until it exploded in a burst of light that destroyed all nearby lesser Heartless and sent the rest of the Neoshadows and Earth Cores flying.
Eraqus was there in an instant, handing her Keyblade to her and standing guard as she got back to her feet. "Be nimble and quick Kairi. Being overwhelmed or pinned down by the Heartless is a way to easily lose one's heart."
Obviously...
Kairi bit back her retort and braced herself as the Heartless returned for them...
"For Lordaeran! For the King!" came a battle cry.
Kairi turned her head, sighting a number of men in heavy armor being led by an older man with a warhammer rushing to their aid. She did a double take when the older man started glowing brightly with light, her senses tingling. That man was like a beacon of light...
"Pay attention Kairi!" ordered Eraqus.
Kairi turned her head back in time to see a Neoshadow leaping at her. She scrambled away and then turn, slicing through it.
"Do not allow yourself to be distracted in the middle of a fight," instructed Eraqus, his own Keyblade singing through the air.
Their reinforcements joined into the battle a moment later. The older man wielded a warhammer and the light with ease, like child's play. He was a calming presence to be on the same battlefield with. The battle lasted another ten minutes before the Heartless numbers finally dwindled and faded.
Kairi was panting, sweat rolling down her forehead, by the end of it. "Ridiculous..."
A single battle... yet... she had fought more Heartless here in under half an hour than she normally did in a week, if not more, back home on patrol...
Her face fell a bit. Sora had been right... it was so much worse out here...
"Well met Eraqus," came an old, wise voice.
Kairi glanced at the older man. Graying brown hair, blue eyes that almost seemed aglow with the light. He was armored in heavy gold and purple armor. Held underneath an arm was a gold and blue plated tome, hung on his armor by a chain.
Eraqus strode to the man and held out a hand in greeting. "Well met indeed Uther."
Uther grasped his hand in a firm shake before pulling him into a brotherly hug, patting a shoulder before separating and laughing. "You always know how to draw a crowd when you and your wards arrive."
Eraqus chuckled. "Well, as I've said in the past, the Heartless are drawn to the Keyblade. The moment we arrive, they come out of the woodworks."
Kairi frowned. The Heartless were drawn to Keyblades...?
Her face paled a little. That dream... before the Heartless had invaded...
Riku had said that the dream occurred before they awakened their Keyblade... the Heartless had invaded right after... Eraqus said the Heartless were drawn to the Keyblade...
Kairi took in a raged breath and lowered her Keyblade to the ground, staring at it with mortification, starting to shake a bit. "Did I..."
"Kairi? Are you alright?" asked Eraqus, walking over to her.
She looked at him fearfully, her body trembling. "You said they're drawn to the Keyblade... they never came like that to my world before I had that dream... did I draw IT to us? Did I get my world, get my family and friends, killed by awakening my Keyblade?"
Eraqus's face softened. "Kairi..."
His faced hardened and a mask like quality took it over. "It doesn't work quite like that. The Heartless can only detect it if your on the same world as them. It does not reach off the boundary of the world you are on."
Kairi searched his eyes, but couldn't tell if he was lying to her or not. It was all she could do to hope and pray it wasn't her fault... she didn't think she could live with herself if it was...
"Now, to start your training, I would like you to take point alongside two of Uther's men, should he be willing to grant them of course, and lead us to town," said Eraqus, glancing over at Uther.
The old man nodded, but said nothing.
"As a Keyblade Wielder, we must be prepared to stand alone against the darkness if need be, but gone are the days where we must hide who we are from the populace. Working alongside the defenders of the worlds is an advantage that should be taken when possible," instructed Eraqus.
She nodded.
"Alright, go on then, town is to the due east, lead the way," said Eraqus, "Uther and I will intervene if need be, otherwise, it's on you and your allies to lead us there safely."
Eraqus watched solemnly as Kairi started off, his heart heavy.
"In the few years I've known you Eraqus," said Uther, drawing in close, "I've never known you to lie to someone before."
Eraqus glanced at the man. "Truth be told my friend, I don't know if I'm lying are not. We've never bothered to really measure the pull distance of the Keyblade on the Heartless."
Uther gave him a knowing look.
Eraqus sighed. "That girl's light is like a beacon Uther. I do not know if she realizes how much she shines in the darkness."
"And the darkness cannot help but be drawn in towards that light," muttered Uther.
"Pair that with a Keyblade and, well, it would be impossible for something like her to not be drawn towards Kairi," said Eraqus heavily, "It's why we wont be staying here long past the exercise I have planned for her."
They started walking a ways behind Kairi as she and two of Uther's men started heading towards town.
"Yet, no fault should be levied on the child," said Eraqus, "She cannot help what she is, nor help the fact that it was Aqua that made the choice to perform the ceremony on her."
Uther gave Eraqus a curious look. "I thought Sora was your former apprentice's chosen one."
"They both were, we just didn't know Aqua had chosen another, or rather, I didn't," said Eraqus, a little cross, "Terra never mentioned until Kairi was found that he had known of another that Aqua had chosen. He thought she had been lost to darkness."
Uther nodded. "I see."
Uther pulled a purple gem out of his pocket, one of Yen Sid's communication devices. "So, you said you had a training exercise in mind for your new apprentice when you called?"
Eraqus nodded. "Is Arthas in Brill like I asked?"
Uther looked contemplative. "He is..."
Eraqus chuckled. "You told me there was a caravan being shipped out today?"
Uther frowned. "Yes, but, it's to Strathlome."
Eraqus merely smiled softly. "That's fine."
Uther gave him a critical look. "She may know how to fight, but, she has the look of a green apprentice about her. You cant truly expect her to handle a caravan through the Shadowlands to Strathlome on her own."
"She wont be on her own, we'll be sending Arthas with her, and I'll be watching from afar in-case something goes wrong," said Eraqus.
Uther rubbed his nose and sighed. "I see what you're up to."
"That obvious my friend?" asked Eraqus with amusement.
"Arthas... is a lesson many can learn from," said Uther heavily, "Thankfully, not a worse lesson than he could have been if not for Sora."
Eraqus smiled softly at that, but didn't respond. Instead, he focused on Kairi as she came across more Heartless. He watched as an outside observer she fought them. A frown formed on his face. The cold look on her face as she tore into the Heartless, the barely contained rage and fear, she hated the Heartless. It was far more than simple disgust or dislike of the dark creatures. If her heart had any darkness in it, he'd have been concerned about her awakening and succumbing to it.
Yet...
Perhaps she could still succumb, in a different way. He held a hand up to the scar Aqua had left, remembering her words to him...
Xehanort was right on one thing at least. You can succumb to the light after all. That you... that you would try to murder Ven in cold blood...
Eraqus closed his eye painfully at the memory before banishing it with a slight shake of his head. He'd be sure to not let Kairi make the same mistakes he had. He supposed, even with her Heartless tearing through the worlds, he still owed it to Aqua to train her chosen apprentice as best he could...
Author's Notes:
I MIGHT have made a jab at the raft in KH1 with Kairi's vehicle. :teasing smile:
So, I finally caved in and bought/played Kingdom Hearts 2.8 for Aqua's .02 Fragmentary Passage story. (Was waaaaay to short and not really worth the 50$ since I already had DDD on my 3DS). Not to mention, I really disliked the 'dress up Aqua wardrobe thing', felt like major 'fanservice' that had no place in KH.
The gameplay though was awesome. Especially the Fire/Thunder/blizzard JA spells, which actually is a little conflicting with some of the lore I made around them back in Aqua Heart Of Darkness (whoops!).
I at least got more types of Pureblood Heartless out of the game to use in this story. I'll be adding those in here and there.
Not sure how I feel about Demon Tower's/Demon Tides as bosses though. Are they clever creations, or half-assed bosses? (They're literally just a bunch of shadow heartless pooled together).
IDK.
Anyway, next chapter will feature Kairi and Arthas, and for those of you confused: Shadowlands = Plaguelands, except darkness instead of the Plague of Undeath.
Wonder how that will go...?
