A super quick update this time; I found this chapter was a blast to write! Really was quite easy at times, but I'll let you guys judge on the quality! Be aware there may be small spoilers now creeping in, there is a minor one from BBS in here!

Before you start reading, I'd like to mention PurgeJuls and lordibau; thank you for the reviews! Also, the guest that left the nice review, I'd like to thank you too! And of course I'd like to thank YOU for reading the story!

Okay, enjoy Chapter Seven of "Two of A Kind"


Chapter VII

Sora had decided to wait until the next day to inform anyone about the creature he had seen. After all it had only been one and he didn't want to cause needless worry. For all he knew, that was the only one around; maybe he/she/it had got trapped on the island and just survived for all these years. Nevertheless, it was still important for him to tell somebody about it. He decided that the best person to talk to would be Cid. He knew for certain that Cid had been on the islands for a long time and he wouldn't immediately dismiss anything. So on Tuesday morning, after the now usual walk to school with Kairi, he sat in the headmasters office. Cid was sitting at his desk with a frown on his face after Sora had related the story of the incident the day before. Cid knew that Sora wouldn't just making it up, and if he was missing a lesson to come tell him this, it was very important.

"So let me get this straight," started Cid, doing his best to make heads or tails of what did seem to be an unlikely story. "You both managed to walk past this thing and it didn't make any move towards you?"

"That's right. It just watched us with these glowing yellowish eyes," confirmed Sora, nodding to emphasise his point. Cid stroked his beard carefully again; it was actually quite fun to do that. He knew the story of the infamous shadows that travelled across the world, trying to wreck havoc and cause destruction, but he had never seen one firsthand; nor had he heard of one not attacking when it was given a chance. He thought for a moment as Sora sat patiently on the opposite side of the desk.

"Any idea why it didn't attack?" he asked Sora. Now it was Sora's turn to think for a while. Cid had a very valid point. As far as Sora was concerned, the creature should have melted into the shadows, slide across the ground and struck them. Maybe that was a part of the myth that wasn't true. Or maybe it couldn't for various reasons.

"I really don't know. It definitely knew that we were there, because it turned specifically to watch us as we walked past," mused Sora. Cid didn't like the sound of this. If the stories were true then it should have attacked, but then again it may not have because there was only one of it. This meant that it may be intelligent enough to know when to and when not to attack. The fact didn't bode well for the islands. Cid stood up and walked towards the office door.

"Stay here," he ordered Sora as he walked out. Sora did as he was told, standing up to stretch his legs. He paced around the room slowly, taking a look at the various artefacts that lay upon the desks and the conference table. He only had to wait a few short moments before the headmaster returned, just as he was looking at a sword that hung in a glass case on one of the walls. Sora turned around as Master Eraqus and Yuffie the 'Ninja' followed Cid into the room.

"Hey Sora," chirped Yuffie happily. Even though she was technically a teacher, she liked to make friends with the students and Sora had ended up being one of them. Sora sent a small smile to her, noticing that she wasn't wearing a headband today. Master Eraqus walked over to Sora and put a hand on his shoulder. His eyes showed years of wisdom behind them as he looked down at Sora.

"Cid told us what you saw; I'm going to cut straight to it. What you saw was called a Heartless and if one is here you can be sure that more will follow," explained Eraqus. Sora didn't like the feeling that followed after that. These shadow creatures - Heartless as he now knew them to be - were going to appear all over the island. If they attacked, Sora knew that there would be massive casualties.

"What we're trying to figure out is why they have appeared here," added Yuffie, her eyes on the sword that Sora had been gazing at earlier. Cid gestured to her, indicating that she could take it out the case. With a gleeful look she carefully removed the sword and balanced it delicately on her hands.

"The last time they were here, does anyone know why?" Sora looked from Yuffie to Cid to Eraqus. They all shook their head, but Eraqus spoke.

"Not why they were here, no. But I have encountered similar creatures of darkness before, at my previous abode," he said. Sora looked at him, wanting him to go on. He sighed softly, the memories of what happened during the fighting resurfacing.

"As you are aware, I have the title of a Martial Arts master, hence I am known as Master Eraqus everywhere I go," began the man. His voice became more strained, because for the first time ever he could feel his age properly. "Well, when I was younger, perhaps around twenty years old I was what was called a Keyblade warrior." He paused at Sora's confused look and smiled at him. "Yes, perhaps I should explain what a Keyblade is..." At this, he stepped back and reached out his right hand to the side, opening his palm. A flash of gold light filled the room, dazzling Sora for just a split second before it dissipated. In its place, being firmly grasped by Eraqus, was a strange looking weapon of sorts. Sora looked at it in amazement. It resembled an extremely large old style key, the sort you found in the locks of treasure chests in pirate adventure films. The key was a dull silver, with the handle a brighter silver, with metallic brown parts down the sides. A small chain hung from the bow, silver with a triangular component at the end, in the same metallic brown. To all intents and purposes it just looked like a supersized key. Nothing special at all about it.

"This is a Keyblade," stated Eraqus. Sora understood where the name came from, but he really couldn't see how someone wielding one of those could be a warrior. At the same time he felt as though he had seen one of these 'weapons' before. Yuffie obviously had never seen one of these though, because she put the sword down - Cid growled at it not being put back into the case - and moved towards the Keyblade. Sora looked at it from a different angle. There was definitely something about it that made it seem quite dangerous. But the lack of any sharp edges made Sora wonder how this could be a weapon of any kind. Eraqus seemed to read Sora's mind and shook his head.

"My Keyblade, in its current form, is not capable of impaling any human. However I assure you that if I hit you hard enough with it, it could cause significant damage. But that is not its purpose. Unlike a conventional weapon, a Keyblade has immense magical qualities within it, and because of it you must have certain qualities before you can use one. First of all, to wield such a weapon one must have a strong heart. Secondly, the Keyblade must choose to be with its wielder. Even if a Keyblade is taken from someone, it will not bind unless it finds the person worthy or if it has been intentionally passed down. For example, see what happens when I give my Keyblade to Yuffie," he said, passing his Keyblade to the excited younger girl. She took it in her hands and held it up to examine, only for it to disappear in a flash and reappear in the hand of Eraqus.

"Awwww... that's not fair!" complained Yuffie. She really wanted to get hold of one of these mysterious weapons. Eraqus chose not to comment to her complaint.

"A Keyblade can be a weapon of light or darkness, depending on the heart it is attached too. And of course, depending on the heart the Keyblade will look different too. Its original form is somewhat different to this, but I have seen it in many different forms over the years."

"But what does the Keyblade have to do with our problem?" asked Cid, cutting the lesson short.

"Well you see, the Heartless are attracted to the Keyblades. Regardless of light or dark, for some reason they want to attack anywhere where a Keyblade is present. Of course, since I have been here I have been very careful not to summon my blade at all; in fact this is the first time in years that I have summoned it. It does feel like reuniting with an old friend..." Eraqus let his voice trail off as he examined his weapon, a smile on his face. But once again, Cid interrupted him.

"So the Heartless are here because you are?" he asked. Eraqus snapped out of his thoughts and then shook his head.

"No... if they were, they would have been here years ago. Knowledge of my Keyblade was always in my mind, and if they wanted to attack me they would have done so a long time ago. This is what baffles me," replied Eraqus, looking at Sora. Sora looked back with a blank look on his face. Eraqus carefully studied his face, wondering if Sora would be involved in any of this at all. There was only one way to find out. He extended his arm out towards Sora, handing him the Keyblade. Sora looked at Eraqus, confused.

"Why are you giving me this? I thought it'll just disappear from my hand like it did for Yuffie?" he asked, eyeing the strange weapon that was being offered to him. Eraqus didn't answer, continuing to hold the Keyblade out for Sora to take. Sora looked at Eraqus and slowly took the weapon from the old Master's hand. He waiting for a few seconds, expecting the blade to disappear from his hand but the flash of light did not come. He stared at the blade. It felt extremely familiar in his hand but at the same time a little alien. It was as if he had held a blade like this one before, but not this particular one. But the bigger question was why he seemed to be able to keep hold of the weapon; he didn't recall any particular time when he was given a Keyblade, or even picked one up. Eraqus nodded slowly and turned to Cid, talking quietly. Yuffie sat on the table next to where Sora stood, her face giving away the disappointment she felt in not being able to have such a weapon.

"Wish I could hold one of them," she said wistfully. Sora turned to her and handed the weapon over. A few seconds later it magically reappeared in his hand.

"Not sure why it's doing that," he muttered. Yuffie ruffled his hair; something she knew that he found annoying.

"Ah who cares, Sora! The point is that you can use this strange but awesome weapon! But I'm still the best ninja ever!" she said, cheering up with her little self praise. Sora couldn't argue with her; he had never seen someone move as stealthily as she did. Sora didn't have a chance to agree though; Eraqus had turned to speak to him again.

"It seems as though you have the ability to wield the Keyblade, young Sora. A strong heart for certain. But remember, there is a darkness that lingers in every heart. Make sure that you keep it at bay when fighting." Sora suddenly came to his senses.

"Whoa! Fighting? No no no... I don't fight Master Eraqus!" he cried as he dropped the Keyblade. It clattered onto the ground with a metallic crash before disappearing, only to reappear again in Eraqus' hand. "He's right Eraqus, he's sixteen years old. A sixteen year old should not be told to fight. It's absurd!" said Cid, defending Sora.

"He's not even trained up in martial arts," added Yuffie, putting her hand on Sora's shoulder. The three of them looked at Master Eraqus, who gave away no sign that he were to make Sora fight by force.

"The Keyblade chooses its master. And for some reason it has chosen you. Why? I do not know. But that point is now moot; you have the Keyblade, and whether you wish to fight or not, you will have to. But not here. But this is a very dangerous place to fight. Innocent people could be hurt here. It would be best if we first visited someplace safe, where the only lives that could be lost would be our own," said Eraqus, not bothering to dull the blow about what seemed to be an impending death. Sora looked at him incredulously. Master Eraqus had finally lost his marbles. He wasn't a Keyblade warrior, or whatever else. All he wanted to do was build his new telescope and remember his past. Though now that he thought about it...


The island mayor was in disbelief. Standing before him was an old man, an aging man, a young woman and a teenage boy. It had been three minutes since he had been informed as to what was going on and the plan that had been set out. In those five minutes none of the five had said a single word; with the standing four just patiently waiting for a response. Sora idly tapped the side of his leg with his index finger. He supposed that the mayor was in a state of utter shock, and was surprised that nobody had bothered to call for a paramedic. Sora finally spoke up, his patience wearing thin.

"Mr Mayor?" he said simply. The mayor looked at him, slowly recovering from the sheer audacity of the four in front of him.

"I should have you thrown out of my office immediately, what with this nonsense of Heartless and fighting and evacuating. What kind of fool do you take me for?!" he finally said angrily. On the contrary, Master Eraqus was as calm as could be.

"Perhaps the foolish thing to do would be to ignore our warnings. We are trying to save your islands, and everyone in them," he said with a measured voice. The Mayor stood up, his slightly oversized form not providing a very imposing figure, though the mayor probably thought otherwise.

"I do not take kindly to your tone, Eraqus. Find me proof of these Heartless and I will not hesitate to protect the islands. But take the word of a child? You're crazy for doing so," he boomed.

"Proof? You would rather wait until a few thousand Heartless start showing by the hour before you think about protecting the islands?!" Cid interjected, his gruff voice echoing through the room.

"I didn't say that. But the word of a child?! Come on Cid, even you would see the stupidity of that notion!" retorted the Mayor. Eraqus raised both his hands up to silence the two men, preventing the conversation from becoming a very heated argument.

"Enough. We are not going to get anywhere by raising voices. Mr mayor, forgive us for intruding and disturbing your day. We will be on our way, but keep an eye out. You don't want to underestimate creatures of darkness," he said, closing the conversation and turning to leave. Cid, Yuffie and Sora followed him out. Once the door to the office was shut, Cid went off like a controlled explosion.

"That stupid, pig headed... What kind of a leader is he?! I just wanted to shove his... who the hell does it think he is?!"

The others let Cid go off on one of his rants as they left the building, walking back towards the school. Sora walked in between Yuffie and Master Eraqus. The Keyblade was very much on his mind, the name echoing through it. What had he done to deserve such an honour or punishment? Yuffie nudged him.

"Hey? Are you okay?" she asked. Despite her arrogant nature, Yuffie had a very kind heart, but you really needed to know her well to see that side of her. Sora nodded a little.

"Yup... just wondering about this Keyblade thingy," he replied. Yuffie placed a hand on his shoulder again as they walked. Sora took a little comfort from her presence. She always had an aura of strength surrounding her, despite her slender frame, which she was very proud of. Naturally a ninja had to be extremely fit and Yuffie was no exception; her body was very flexible and strong for its size; a little taller than Sora was.

"Listen Sora, don't think too much about it. Sometimes things happen and you just have to deal with them. Besides, if you're going to fight I am not missing out on the fun! A chance for me to show these Heartless just how awesome I am! I'll scare them all away with my super moves!" she said, her voice becoming more excited as she thought about fighting off hordes of Heartless with her various weapons. Walking out of the town centre and back towards the school, Eraqus and Cid were in discussions as to how to combat the situation that they were now faced with. From what Sora was picking up, it seemed that Cid was against letting Sora fight but Eraqus was adamant in his belief that there was nothing that could be done to change what was going to happen. For Sora it was of no consequence anyway. If Cid had his way the Heartless would appear here and Sora would end up fighting them. If Master Eraqus had his way Sora would go off someplace and fight the Heartless there. Regardless of the outcome, he was going to have to fight.


As they approached the school Sora let his thoughts drift completely. He found himself in a completely different place, where the sights and the smells were less tropical and more industrial. He was slowly walking down a street (which seemed a lot closer to him, indicating he was shorter), his right hand quite warm. When he looked down he saw that he was holding onto another small hand. Turning to his right, he was greeted with a sight he had been waiting to see for years. Her hair was an auburn red and fell around her shoulders, and her blue/violet eyes were happily looking at him, a wide grin on her face. He smiled at the girl, and found himself talking to her.

"Where are we going?"

"To the park, Sora! You are so forgetful! You better not forget me, ever!"

"I won't, Kairi. I promise I won't..."

A jolt brought him back to his senses, followed by a giggle and a concerned voice.

"Sora! Are you okay?" The voice belonged to Eraqus, who seemed close by, whilst the giggling was unmistakably that of Yuffie. Sora shook his head quickly, his world in a little bit of a daze.

"Yes sir, I'm fine..." he muttered, standing up again. It took him a few seconds to realise what had happened; whilst he was busy reliving a bit of his past, his present had promptly caused him to walk into a lamppost. He rubbed his head a little and dusted off his clothes. Eraqus was still looking at him with concern, but Sora smiled at the man.

"Really, I am okay... I just remembered something important," he said with a smile. After a long stare, Eraqus nodded and, taking Sora by the shoulder, led him into the school grounds. Sora smiled. So it was Kairi all along. That's why he found her voice and way she acted familiar. Walking back through the front doors, he followed Cid back into the headmasters office and sat down on one of the chairs. Yuffie sat to his left and Eraqus sat to his right. Suddenly Sora had a thought.

"Master Eraqus... if I can use one of these Keyblades... could it be linked to my past?" he asked. Eraqus looked at Sora, a little confused with the question.

"Your past...?" he said with uncertainty. Sora nodded and quickly explained a little about not being able to remember his past, including the flashback he had just had. He made sure to omit a lot of information though, just telling the man as much as he needed to know. Eraqus thought and nodded.

"It could be linked, yes. But only a powerful spell would have erased your memory in such a way that you have barely been able to remember anything. Certainly if you did encounter the Heartless as a young child, or saw fighting in such a way, the Keyblade may have chosen you to continue the task of a fallen warrior. Your memories would have been erased due to your immaturity, to prevent you from ever having to undertake such a task, but by whom I am not sure. As to why they have resurfaced, I believe that would be to do with seeing Kairi again. It could be that she too was given a Keyblade, but like you had her memories erased to prevent the Heartless from finding it. Has she shown any sign of remembering anything?" Eraqus realised that if she did, it could be very bad for her, but he sighed in relief when Sora shook his head.

"Good," he said. "It is imperative that she does not remember her past, for whoever did this spell must have done so for a very good reason." With that, Eraqus stood up and headed for the door.

"I need to make some arrangements, so if you will excuse me..." he opened the door and left. Sora let his head fall onto the table, hitting it with a clunk. This was NOT the Tuesday he had wanted. Not at all.