C H A P T E R 10

"Who are you?" Claire asked, eyeing the newcomer warily. It looked like a little cartoon man, though his skin was green and he appeared to be floating. The little goblin-esque creature had a friendly facial expression, but the last thing that looked cartoony had tried to torture her into helping it do something…terrible.

But she was free, and that did not bear thinking over.

"I'm Gremlin Gus!" replied the creature, apparently a 'gremlin'—whatever that was—cheerily. Ethan probably would've known what a gremlin was, but he wasn't here. "But just who might you be? I must admit that you don't look like any cartoon I've ever actually seen."

"That's because I'm not a cartoon," Claire spat angrily. "In fact, I don't think I'll ever be able to watch a cartoon again!"

"What?" gasped Gus, astounded. "But how can you say that? Cartoons are wonderful! Some of my best friends are cartoons…even I'm a cartoon!"

"Really?" asked Claire.

"I am indeed!"

"Then good riddance," she replied, and stalked away down the castle path, away from Gremlin Gus and towards the dark mists enveloping the world.

. . .

"Wait, where's my Keyblade!" Ian stammered, looking around desperately.

Leon eyed Ian quizzically, not quite sure what he was playing at.

"What are you talking about?" Leon asked. "Heartless can't wield the Keyblade, and besides, there's only one—and its wielder left here some time ago."

"Then how do you explain the five I just saw and used to defeat a bunch of ghost-cartoons?"

"You must've been an escaped asylum patient before you became a Heartless," Leon laughed. "Or, maybe you're just trying to confuse me. But it won't work. Heartless, prepare to lose whatever hearts you stole!"

With a war cry, Leon jumped forward, sword slashing down, to meet—

CLANG!

—Ian's Keyblade!

Gripped tightly in Ian's hands, the Keyblade had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and was blocking Leon's odd gun-sword.

"What?" Leon cried out in surprise. "There really is more than one! And you do have a Keyblade!"

"Told ya!" Ian smirked. "Now, lay off!"

With a violent swing of the Keyblade, Ian sent Leon flying across Traverse Town Square, the gun blade slipping from his hand and clattering several feet away.

Painfully, Leon stood up, and rushed to retrieve his gun blade. Ian reactively settled into a battle stance, Keyblade ready, but to Ian's surprise Leon sheathed his sword back into the void of nothing (presumably where Ian's Keyblade itself was hiding) and walked calmly up to Ian.

"My apologies," Leon said, smiling a confused smile. "I was not aware that there was indeed more than one Keyblade, much less that you were a wielder. But since you are a Keyblade wielder, maybe you can help out our town with a little problem we've been having…"

"You just tried to kill me and now you're asking for my help?" Ian laughed darkly. "I don't think so. Just tell me if you've seen a girl around here named Claire, and I'll leave peacefully."

"A girl?" Leon asked, again surprised. "The first Keyblade wielder I met was looking for a girl as well. It seems that that must be a requirement for a Keyblade wielder. But that's beside the point—"

"I'm afraid it's not," Ian cut Leon off. "It's the only reason I'm here. If you want help from me, you're telling me anything you know about Claire."

"Alright, fine," Leon compromised. "If you help me with our town's problem, I'll get you the finest missing persons locater in Traverse Town to help you look for this 'Claire.'"

Ian paused, considering his would-be killer's offer for a moment.

Finally, Ian replied "This better be quick—the longer I wait, the less chance I have of finding Claire. But okay, I'll try my best to help your town."

"Good," Leon said simply. "Follow me."

The scarred youth led Ian up the stairs at the end of the Square, towards an old, large wooden set of doubled doors at the end of a stone corridor. Leon put his hands on the door warily, about to push it open, then thought better of it.

"What I'm about to show you isn't for the faint of heart," Leon said. "Even if you are a Keyblade wielder, you've still got to be prepared."

"I'm liking this community service less and less," Ian said. "What's so bad about it? What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Remember when I thought you were a Heartless?"

"A Heartless?" Ian asked. "I thought you just thought I was heartless, not something actually called a 'Heartless.'"

"Regrettably, no," Leon explained. "The Heartless used to be people, but the darkness in their hearts consumed them, and they became void of emotion and understanding. They are now monsters of darkness whose only instinct is to corrupt other hearts."

"Sounds like a certain rabbit I met earlier," Ian muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, please, continue."

"These Heartless," Leon went on, "Have been scouring the worlds, wreaking havoc and mayhem. They destroyed my own world, as well as the worlds of many others. Several survivors of these catastrophes ended up here, in Traverse Town, which has become a sort of refugee camp for them."

"Okay," Ian said. "But what does that have to do with me and this Keyblade?"

"This town used to be a safe haven for those of us who had lost our worlds to the Heartless," Leon finished. "But slowly the Heartless found their way into this world too. The people here had a hard enough time surviving the deaths of their own worlds—I doubt they could survive the death of this one too. Thankfully, some of the survivors from my own world and I have been able to keep things relatively under control.

"Until recently."

"What happened recently?" Ian asked, his curiosity picking up as Leon told more of his story. As an outdoorsmen, Ian was fascinated by all kinds of survival stories, and this was shaping up to be one of this most unique he'd ever heard.

"Recently a new kind of Heartless has begun showing up, and things are beginning to get out of control. The people are scared, and even the seasoned warriors from my home world are running out of ways to keep the new enemies back. But, with your Keyblade, I believe that you might not only be able to keep them back, I think you'll be able to stop them all together."

"And if exterminate your homicidal pest problem, you'll help me find Claire?" Ian clarified.

"I'll lend you the best bloodhound we have to help you find her," Leon agreed.

"well, then," Ian said, holding up his Keyblade in readiness. "Let's get started!"

. . .