"Every Keyblade master is bequeathed a Keyblade of his very own. With the passing of time, as you can imagine, more and more Keyblades were forged to be handed down. But of all Keyblades in existence, Master Xehanort's is the most ancient."-Young Xehanort
Master Ansem was sitting in his study doing some light reading when he was interrupted by his two children and Xehanort who abruptly barged into the room. He closed his eyes and laughed internally at the seemingly endless amounts of energy his children possessed. He wondered what sort of antics they had dragged Xehanort into this time. He opened his eyes and studied the three youths as Xehanort in particular caught his glance. One look at the determination in his eyes and Master Ansem knew exactly what it was that the trio wanted.
"So you wish to join the ranks of the Keyblade wielders?" he asked softly.
The three friends pulled on matching looks of surprise. Xehanort was the first to recover and stepped tentatively forward.
"Yes Master Ansem I wish to become a Keyblade Wielder," he said.
Master Ansem gave Xehanort a long hard look.
"The path of a Keyblade wielder is a long and arduous journey. It is a commitment that never ends and it's heritage must always be upheld. Are you prepared to uphold that prestigious legacy?" he asked.
Xehanort nodded, not a single shred of hesitation to be found in the expression he gave Master Ansem.
Master Ansem nodded in approval and stood up from his chair.
"Come with me you three," he said.
...
Master Ansem led the trio to an obscure abandoned corridor on the third floor of the castle. By looks on the sibling's faces, it seemed that even Eraqus and Nadia had never been here. Master Ansem stopped the group in front of a grand set of doors that were sealed with a giant version of the emblem that hung on both Eraqus' and Nadia's attire. Master Ansem stopped in front of the seal and pointed.
"This is Room of Legacies. It has everything a Keyblade wielder needs during the process of their training. This is the ancient emblem of the Keyblade wielder." He touched the emblem pressed against it. Immediately the seal disappeared, and the doors opened revealing a large spacious room.
The room looked like a cross between a training facility and a study. Two sets of large glass windows hung on the far wall. The room held many bookshelves, full to the brim with different volumes. The room was also decorated with various ornaments, including a large green orb that appeared to be glowing. On the opposite side of the room was a spacious sparring arena. Most impressive was what lay high on the north wall. Mounted on an ornately decorated display lay a Keyblade. The moment that the Keyblade came into Xehanort sight, a flare of familiarity surged through him.
Whereas the designs of Nadia's and Eraqus' Keyblade were rather simplistic, this Keyblade was not. It was intricately designed with a guard that comprised of demonic looking wings. The wings curved upward closing the guard by connecting to an elaborately designed goat head that bore blue eyes. Twin edges protruded from the goat and formed the blade. The two edges were inter-joined by the top of the blade, which followed the same elegant design as the teeth. The top of the blade also bore a single blue eye, and upon looking at it Xehanort was met with a sharp pain in his heart. The pain pulsed through his body and instinctively Xehanort knew it was resonating with the presence of the Keyblade. Suddenly a disembodied voice spoke to him, uttering a single word.
"Legion!" it said.
Xehanort suddenly felt Nadia's hand on his shoulder.
"Xehanort are you okay?" she asked, sounding worried.
Just as quickly as the pain arrived it disappeared. It was gone, and with no sign it had ever been there, to begin with, Xehanort wondered whether or not he imagined the entire thing. He brushed Nadia's hand off his shoulder and straightened himself.
"I'm fine Nadia...it's nothing," he said dismissively.
Nadia gave him a skeptical look that told him she didn't believe him. Even Eraqus and Master Ansem wore looks of concern.
Xehanort quickly threw on a cocky grin.
"Come on guys, I'm fine no need to get all worked up," he said, forcing himself to laugh.
Eraqus' trademark smirk slid back onto his face as Nadia slowly followed suit.
Master Ansem, however, gave Xehanort a long analyzing look. He stepped forward and snapped his fingers. A bright glow suddenly surrounded the mount as the entire thing flew off the wall and floated down to their level. He took the Keyblade and tossed it to Xehanort. Xehanort could feel no power surging through the blade. It felt like it was missing something, that it's source of power lay elsewhere. Despite that, it still felt right in his hand and Xehanort couldn't deny the pull he felt towards it. He reluctantly set it back in its proper place.
Master Ansem turned to the trio and spoke.
"In ancient times, people of the united world believed that light was a gift from an unseen land by the name of Kingdom Hearts. The people loved the light, but eventually, they began to fight over its ownership. However, Kingdom Hearts was safely protected. To circumvent this protection man created the first Keyblades," he explained.
Master Ansem brushed his hand lightly over the Keyblade.
"The Keyblade wielders fought in a legendary war that resulted in the entire world being swallowed by the darkness. In the midst of that crisis, Kingdom Hearts was lost to darkness never to be seen again. However, all hope was not lost. Deep within the hearts of the children of the world light was still present. Using this light, the world was restored. However, when the world was restored, it separated into many smaller worlds. Following the division of the worlds, the remaining Keyblade wielders decided to use the Keyblade to protect what little remained of the light."
Xehanort snuck a glance at Eraqus and Nadia. By the looks of it, they had heard this story many times over. However amidst their look was partial confusion, as if there was more to the tale than what was being told.
As Master Ansem continued to speak, Xehanort returned his attention back to him.
"Every Keyblade wielder is forged their very own Keyblade. As the ages have gone on, countless Keyblades have been continuously forged to be passed on to each new wielder. But of all the Keyblades in existence, this Keyblade is the first one ever forged." He waved a handed towards the ancient Keyblade. "Though it's power died with its master long ago, for some reason it still has the ability to be used in the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony. As a sort of tradition, every so often instead of our own Keyblades, we use this one to induct new wielders into our fold. It is quite a prestigious honor."
Suddenly Master Ansem held forth his hand and summoned his own Keyblade. It was an elegant gold embroidered blade with a dark blue guard. Where the teeth would normally lay, was a star-shaped crystal that made up the edge of the blade. Master Ansem pointed the Keyblade at Xehanort.
"Xehanort, I want to give you the chance to earn such an opportunity. In three weeks time, you will face me in one-on-one combat. If you manage to defeat me, I will not only perform the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony, but I will grant you the honor of having it done with this Keyblade." He pointed to the ancient Keyblade that lay on the mount behind him before turning to Nadia, and Eraqus.
"The three of you have my permission to use this room to study and train. Nadia, Eraqus...teach Xehanort all that you can. If you truly believe that Xehanort has a destiny amongst our ranks then show me! I hope the three of you put your best effort forth!" he said passionately.
He did a slight flourish with his Keyblade before he dematerialized it. He then snapped his finger and the mount holding the ancient Keyblade flew back onto the wall and reattached itself. Master Ansem then swept from the room, leaving the trio to figure out how to proceed.
A/N: Rewriting a chapter that's already written but can't be transferred is a torturous experience. But the show must go on right. Anyway, we are making nice progress. Only three chapters left in the Land of Departure arc before we take off to new worlds and new adventures. I have some really fun cool worlds picked out that I think you all will enjoy. Each world has a cool story to tell and it's going to be a blast. Hope you all are enjoying the story please review.