Chapter 20: Training
Sora woke early the next morning, very early as the sun had yet to rise. That meant the rest of the house was still sleeping, which was exactly what he wanted. He got ready and left his room, moving as silently as he could, but had to stop suddenly when he reached the front room. Xexox was standing in the center of the room, his arms crossed, looking at Sora with a somewhat disappointed face.
"What are you doing here so early?" Sora asked.
"What are you doing awake so early?" Xexox asked, blatantly dodging the question.
"I just woke up so…" Sora started.
"So you thought you'd take one of the gummi ships to Twilight Town, the last place known to have a link to The World That Never Was, take said link and head to the rubble that was the castle in hopes of finding a way to the Edge of the Board to challenge the Black King. By the way, the link in the town is gone, as is the archway and its connection," Xexox said dropping his arms to his sides.
"How… how did you know?" Sora asked.
"It's fairly obvious actually. Almost anyone in your position would try it, so it was easy enough to know. But it won't work at any step along the way," Xexox said.
"Then what? What do I do? Sit here and wait, ignore the Black King?" Sora asked in slight frustration.
"No, you read," Xexox said tossing the keyblade book to Sora, "in a few hours some of the others will be awake. When they are Merlin and the sages will start checking out your chances at this prophecy. While they do that you, Kairi and Riku will train. In 24 hours we will know if you can work into the prophecy and will have your way open if you can. If not, then the Black King is not your problem, and will never accept your challenge."
"And where in all this do I read?" Sora asked lifting the book slightly.
"Now, waiting for the rest to wake up. And in every bit of downtime you get. By the end of the 24 hours, I expect that book to be memorized," Xexox.
"I'm gunna get that much downtime? It doesn't leave much room for training," Sora said skeptically.
"You won't be training in any way you have before, if you ever have before. The three of you will come with me, I have access to unique ways of getting better and stronger," Xexox said.
"What's so important about this prophecy anyway?" Sora asked.
"To put it simply, the only weapons that can hurt the Black King are the legendary keyblades, and only the two of the master are strong enough to kill him," Bruxeus said.
"And I need to master the keyblade to get them… to kill the Black King," Sora said slowly looking down.
"Exactly. We're training you either way, because if you can't master the keyblade, you might still need to use it in your lifetime, and you can never be too prepared," Bruxeus said with a slight grin.
"What are we going to do… to train?" Sora asked looking up at Xexox.
Both Omegas grinned, "We'll fill you in when the other two wake up. Merlin and Mickey already know the game plan, so we don't need to wait and tell them," Xexox said.
Sora nodded and headed to the couch where he lounged back and opened the book. "Start from the beginning, don't skip around, you're gunna end up reading it all over the next 24 hours, so do it in order," Bruxeus said before vanishing.
Sora nodded in response and Xexox crossed his arms again and put his eyes on the hall that led to the bedrooms, waiting for the other two.
A few hours later Riku walked into the room and stopped at seeing Xexox. "What're you doing here? Something going on?" he asked looking around the room for anyone else and seeing Sora reading.
"Yes, once Kairi wakes up I'll be taking the three of you to get stronger, and ready for anything that might happen," Xexox said.
"Anything that might happen?" Riku repeated in a worried confusion.
"At this point, it's the Black King, but Sora might not fit into that, meaning you'll have the rest of your lives with the darkness out there," Xexox said.
"And others like Maleficent and Xehanort could come around in that time," Riku said nodding, Xexox nodded in response. Riku sighed and sat in one of the chairs, "So what do I do while I wait?" he asked looking around.
A dagger sunk into the floor at his feet, "try and beat you're old record," Xexox said, his eyes back on the hall. A few hours later Kairi emerged from the hall into the room yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"Where is everyone, this place is empty," she said after yawning, barely seeing the form of Xexox as she rubbed her eyes.
"Checking on things, seeing if Sora really is in the prophecy," Xexox said.
Kairi looked at him confused before noticing Riku and Sora in the room, she looked back at Xexox before speaking, "I thought we already decided he was," she said.
"No, we said it was a possibility, the sages are checking it out while I take you three to train," Xexox said, as he spoke both Riku and Sora stopped what they were doing and walked over to the two.
"Train? For what?" Kairi asked.
"Well, if he is the prophecy, for the Black King, if not then any other darkness that could rise in your lifetimes," Xexox said.
"But I thought only Sora could fight the Black King," Kairi said confused looking at Sora.
"Yes, but he's not the only one that would fight other darkness, which is why I'm taking the three of you," Xexox said.
"Where're we going?" Sora asked pocketing the book.
Xexox grinned, "The Castle That Never Will Be on The World That Never Will Be."
"Oh great, how do we get there, portal of light, darkness or twilight?" Riku asked.
"No, gummi ship. Unlike the Never Was, this is just a name, kind of a joke," Xexox said with a slight grin.
"Oh, I get it," Kairi said smiling, Riku just rolled his eyes.
"Yes, well, lets get going, we only have 24 hours to get you all at your best," Xexox said.
Before any of the three could make a protest they had left Merlin's house and were now all standing outside on the outer wall of a large grey castle. Sora and Kairi both ran to the edge to get a better look at what was around them but Riku stayed where he was, trying to see if anything was familiar.
"Is there anything else on this world… besides the castle?" Kairi asked as she and Sora walked back to Xexox.
"Yes, at the other pole of the planet is an all white castle. Aside from the two castles there is nothing but dirt," Xexox said.
"Who lives in the other castle?" Sora asked turning his head back to look out, as if he could see the castle now that he knew of it.
"Do you really have to ask? The Omegas, the force of neutrality, live in a grey castle, the Black King, creator of darkness, lives in that darkness in a black castle. Who could possibly live in a white one?" Bruxeus said walking up to them.
"The White King," Sora said with wide eyes.
"And the White Queen," Kairi said looking out towards the world like Sora.
"You won't see them. At least, not for 24 hours," Vaxer said appearing beside Xexox.
"You keep saying 24 hours, what's so important about one day?" Sora asked looking at Xexox.
"It's not one day, one day ends at midnight, 24 hours ends tomorrow at 10 in the morning," Bruxeus said.
"To better answer the question, we go to the room and the Pit," Xexox said turning and walking away, the other Omegas following.
"Pit?" Sora asked confused.
"Come on, he might explain as we go," Riku said before running to catch up with the Omega's, Sora and Kairi following soon.
None of the three explained what the room or the Pit were as they walked, despite Sora asking. But when they reached the castle courtyard where there was a large pit that took up a quarter of the courtyard, the three Omegas stopped.
"This, if you haven't guessed is the Pit," Bruxeus said pointing at it.
"What do we do down there?" Kairi asked eying the Pit with fearful eyes.
"You do nothing, only Sora goes. What happens down there takes 24 hours, and only one can go at a time. It's more important for Sora to get the treatment, so he goes," Vaxer said.
"What do I do then?" Sora asked walking to the edge of the Pit.
"A man named John is down there, he'll explain everything in detail, just do what he says," Vaxer said walking up behind Sora and placing a hand on his head.
"So do I just jump down?" Sora asked.
"No, stay still," Vaxer said quietly. Everyone watched as the two stood at the edge silently, then, without warning Vaxer's hand shot forward pushing Sora head first into the Pit. But Sora stayed put on the edge as well, the one that Vaxer pushed in was transparent, like a spirit.
"What the hell? What did you just do?" Riku demanded taking a few rushed steps towards Vaxer.
"The Pit is a mindscape. Only the mental images can go, so I could only send his mental forces. His body will be training with you, both will finish at the same time," Vaxer said walking towards the group, Sora walking behind him.
"But, if you sent his mind…" Kairi said.
"Yes, what's left is mindless. He'll do the tasks set before him, he can learn new things and get stronger, better, anything. And when the mind reenters the body, all thing things it learned, or did, will be remembered by the whole," Vaxer said.
"So anything he learns now will not have to be relearned by the Sora you know. We don't know how it all works, only John does, and he never took the time to explain it," Bruxeus said walking to a wooden door by the Pit.
"Is this the room?" Kairi asked cautiously.
"Yes. It's designed like another room I've been to. That one takes a year inside and equates it to a day outside. This one is a bit better, inside lasts longer that a year, but I won't tell you how long," Xexox said.
"So this is what you meant by 24 hours," Riku said looking at the door.
"Yes, now a man named John is inside, he'll be training you, so do as he says. He doesn't know the situation, and really doesn't need to, but he knows that whoever comes in is to be trained," Xexox said.
"Who is this John? Is he the same as the one in the Pit? How can he train us if he's mindless?" Kairi asked.
"John… is a unique individual. He is the one with Sora, but he is far from mindless. I have no idea how he does it, only that he does," Xexox said.
"You are wasting precious seconds, go, John can answer your questions of him better than we," Vaxer said opening to door.
Sora walked though without a moment's hesitation. Kairi reached to stop him as he did and soon followed him in, Riku sighed before following her, Vaxer closing the door behind him.
---X---
Sora looked around him, he'd expected the bottom of the Pit to be dark, but there was an eerie glow coming from somewhere, and the entire place was well light. He also noticed that the bottom was much larger than the top, speaking of which… he couldn't see the mouth of the Pit, or even where it would be.
"Funny thing about this pit kid, you go down to get in, and you go down to get out," a voice said behind Sora.
Sora spun fast to see who was there and found a tall man standing behind him with a slight grin. The man was in white robes and had blue eyes and deep red hair that went to his shoulders and a scar across his face from left ear to the right side of his chin.
"Who are you?" Sora asked.
"Name's John. Xexox sent you down here to expand your mental capabilities. I'm your guide," the man said.
"What did you men, go down to get out?" Sora asked.
"Look down," John said pointing at Sora's feet.
Sora did and immediately jumped back, he was standing at the edge of a pit and didn't even know it, "what the hell?" he asked as he jumped.
"It's the way out. Don't take it until I tell you, we got a lot of work to do first Sora," John said walking to Sora and passing him.
"Hey, how do you know my name?" Sora asked turning quickly and following John.
"This whole place is a mental portrayal. I don't know whose, but it is. When you first got here I went through your mind, your memories, your knowledge-" John said.
"WHAT?" Sora yelled cutting him off and stopping short.
"Yes, I when though your memories and thoughts. I had to so I would know how far along you were. If I started at the beginning and you were halfway to masterization we'd both be wasting a lot of time," John said.
Sora instantly calmed down, "Oh, sorry," he said slowly.
"Yes, well, a few things to note, one, there seems a point in your life where the memories are jumbled. If everything goes well that should be fixed and you should get those memories back," John said.
"Jumbled? When?" Sora asked catching up to John who didn't stop moving when Sora had yelled.
"A place called Castle Oblivion, you met a girl named Namine there," John said.
"Namine? That's where I met her?" Sora asked confused.
"I can't tell you, all I can say is if all goes well they will unjumble and fix themselves. Another note is that the worst part of my job is already done. The hardest part for you is where we are, but the worst part is what gets us that far," John said.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked confused.
"I don't need to start at the beginning, you're past that, but where you are is a point I can't help with. All I can do is tell you what to do, I can't help you do it," John said.
"What do I need to do?" Sora asked.
John stopped and looked at Sora, "meet your other selves," John said gesturing to a group of people sitting around a small camp fire.
"My…other selves?" Sora asked looking at the group.
"Yeah, those are mine. You won't be able to generate them in the physical world at all, and only bring them here if you master everything I teach you. But it's you next step," John said.
"How many other selves do you have?" Sora asked.
"Me? I have 14, but only seven are mine. I have a split personality, the other seven are his. He's the one over there in black, goes by the name of Edge," John said.
"So I have seven too," Sora said watching Edge in the distance, he looked just like John only his hair was shorter, and he didn't have the scar.
"Yes. As soon as you see them you'll have full contact to six of the seven. The last one will be hiding from view. You won't get contact with him until we do other things together," John said.
"Why are there seven?" Sora asked.
"Seven points of the personality. Courage was my hidden one. Knowledge was Edge's. There's no way to know what yours is until you contact him," John said.
"Well, I'll know the others and can figure him out, right," Sora said.
"No. none of us here will tell you any of the personalities except Courage and Knowledge, and I know from looking in your head that neither of those are your last ones," John said.
"Hey, why won't you let me know?" Sora asked looking back at John.
"Past mistakes. I've learned from them, that's why I do it this way now. Now, get meditating, it's the only way to meet the first six, and only after you do can any of the more significant and important stuff take place," John said starting towards the fire.
"How long will it take?" Sora asked.
John stopped, "it differs from person to person. But don't worry, it could feel like ten years down here before you finish, but it'll only be a day on the outside. Time is not an issue here, so don't worry about it. Food isn't either, you won't get hungry. Not start meditating, and stay there while you are. Don't come to the fire until you've met your first six," John said walking away.
Sora scoffed and sat down cross legged and started meditating, he only hopped he was doing it right, he'd never meditated before.
---X---
Riku's jaw dropped as the door closed. The room they were in was huge. At the other end of a large open area was a set of three stairs going down to an expansive large open area. The floor and sky of that area was a seamless white, the horizon was almost indistinguishable. The open area above the steps as well as the steps themselves were an off white and also tiled. Pillars held up a roof over the tiled area and doors on either side of it led to other rooms.
"This place is huge," Kairi said looking around just as shocked as Riku.
"Yes, but please be careful, it's gets more dangerous the larger it seems," a voice called from the seamless area.
All three keywielders turned to see who had spoken. A man in dark blue fighting clothes ascended the stairs. His eyes were blue and hair a deep red to his shoulders, a scar ran from his left ear to the right side of his chin.
"Who're you?" Riku asked cautiously.
"John, the name's John. I'm going to be training you all. First I'm going to get you familiar with this place, or rather, explain it to you," John said as he reached the top of the steps and stopped, the three keywielders walking towards him.
"Now, this little building area is the rest area. No training or fighting is to go on here," Jon jabbed his thumb behind him, "all that fun stuff is for out there," he said.
"How big is that place?" Kairi asked.
"No idea. Here's the deal with it. Everything looks the same with it, so you can easily get lost, because this building isn't at a wall, it's in the center. With every step you take away from this place the gravity increases. This goes on to a point I like to call the crush line," John said.
"Crush line?" Kairi asked nervously.
"The point where the gravity is to great that the body implodes. Nothing is left, and it's the same point no matter how strong you are," John said.
"We just need to be really strong to get that far," Riku said.
"Exactly. Now, if you'll notice, there is a red line on the bottom step," John said pointing behind him. The three looked and saw about in the center of the last step was a red line pointing out to the seamless land. "Following the straight path that line shows will lead you to the only other structure in this place, a three story tower. On the first floor is a man known as the sword master. And on the second is your first objective," John said.
"What're we doing," Kairi asked.
"This task is given individually, though you can work together, that choice is your own. You must first find the tower, if you get lost I will fetch you so that you may still leave after the days time passes outside, but you will get nothing more from me. If you get to the tower you must face whatever challenge the sword master sets for you, and complete it. Doing so will grant you access to the second floor," John said.
"What's on the second floor?" Kairi asked.
"What's on the third?" Riku asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing of your concern is on the third floor. On the second floor you will see countless swords in every color of the rainbow and then some," he pointed at Kairi, "red," he pointed at Sora, "blue," he pointed at Riku, "yellow. Those are the colors you must get. You have three mistakes when pulling swords, that is, you can try to pull three swords out without anything happening, but if the fourth is not the color I just gave you, you die. Same thing if you pull the same wrong sword twice," John said.
"What do you mean pull?" Riku asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The swords are sticking out of the walls and floor, a few even on the ceiling, you have to pull them out of it," John said.
"How long will it take?" Kairi asked looking at the seamless land.
"Very long, a few days, maybe even weeks and months," John said following her gaze.
"What do we do about food?" Kairi asked.
"Funny thing about this place, your metabolisms run on the outside clock. So when you all start getting hungry it'll be about noon outside. You'll sleep on the inside time though, so you will be napping out there quite a bit," John said.
"Adding to the challenge. It's easy to get disorientated when waking up," Riku said.
"You'll have to work that out for yourselves. I won't be helping with anything like that," John said.
"You said we could work together right?" Kairi asked looking at Sora.
"Yes, but you still can't pull each others swords, just to be sure you earn the training yourselves. However, if you don't want to go you don't have to, you can stay here and wait out the day, doing menial tasks to try and get stronger, I won't be helping with that," John said before he started walking away into the rest area.
"What about here, you gunna show us around?" Riku asked turning and following Jon with his eyes.
"Yeah, when you all get back, if you all get back," John said before disappearing behind a door.
Riku sighed, "let's get started then," he said looking to Kairi, who was looking out at the seamless.
"He already did," Kairi said pointing to Sora who was walking, heel to toe out from the red line.
"Damnit" Riku said running out to him.
Kairi went to the red line and heel to toe walked out to them, making sure they were on line, she didn't want to get lost out here. She felt the gravity on the first step out, and was sure the other two had also, when a stray thought reached her head, 'oh god, what if it gets too much and I can't stand up any more? I can't make the others wait for me or carry me, but I don't want to get lost or left behind…' her worry showed on her face, but luckily neither of her friends saw it as she caught up with them. It would be a hard trip.
---X---
Sora stood on a stain-glass platform. The image was a young girl with brown hair and green eyes wearing a flowing whit dress. A pink staff with a bird like head at one end was held in her hands, and what looked like oddly designed playing cards were along the edge of the stain-glass. The background was a light blue. Everything but the round platform Sora stood on was black, and the only light came form the glass itself.
Sora recognized the place instantly, he had been here a few times before, and he now realized that this was the first step John was thankful was already done. Sora walked around the platform, looking for anyone else. He wasn't sure what his others would look like, none of John's looked exactly like John, but they all looked human.
Finally, after what felt like a few hours something appeared on the stain-glass with Sora. As soon as he saw it Sora ran up to the figure, but stopped short at recognizing it. Standing there was Sora in Valor Form. He had several cuts and scars on his arms and a few on his face, and three swords on his back.
"Hello Sora, I'm your Courage," the figure said his voice was slightly rougher that Sora's.
"You… your Valor Form…" Sora said slowly.
"I've always looked like this, and the others always looked like they do now. Your form just changed to match me," Courage said.
"Where are the others?" Sora asked looking around.
"We'll appear in the order you've embraced us. The only one that won't appear is the only one you have yet to embrace," Courage said.
"Right, that's what John said," Sora said nodding.
"Who's this John person?" a voice called behind Sora. He spun to see who it was and his jaw dropped slightly. Standing there was Master Form, his arms crossed and an odd look to his eyes, "I'm Truth by the way," he said.
"M-Master Form," Sora said pointing.
"Stop doing that. It's kind of embarrassing," Courage said.
"And a slight insult," Truth added.
"Really? Sorry," Sora said looking between the two.
"Yes really, I can't lie, you know, always brutally honest," Truth said his arms dropping to his sides.
"Wow…" was all Sora said.
"Heey, What's everybody doing over here?" a cheerful voice called out running up to them. Sora looked at who it was and found Final Form running at him with a big grin on his face. "Friendship, here, glad to meet you Sora," he said grabbing Sora in a big hug.
"Friendship, three people is hardly everyone, especially when there are seven of us," Truth said when Friendship let Sora go.
"Three? I see four, and I'd be five. I suggest you ease off Friendship, Truth," a voice called from where Friendship appeared.
Sora turned to see Champion Form walking towards him, he had a sword on his left hip and a shield on his back, one lone scar ran across his right cheek. "Honor right?" Sora asked once the persona had reached them.
"Yes, how did you know?" Honor form asked.
"Each of you looks like one of my keyforms, and all of your names are the incantation for that form, so I kinda figured it out," Sora said.
"WE CAME FIRST!" a voice echoed throughout the platform.
"Awe crap," Truth said.
"Honor!" Courage called drawing two of his swords.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Honor called back drawing his sword and shield.
"What's going on?" Sora asked.
His answer came as a being of darkness slammed into him knocking him to the ground and pinning him there. Before Sora could get a good look at it Courage kicked it off him and Honor slammed into it with his shield, pinning the being to the ground.
"Curb the temper Anger, or we'll put you in the cage again," Truth said.
At that Sora's eyes widened, and when Honor backed off and put his sword and shield away Friendship ran in and helped the being to its feet, and Sora got a good look at it, it was Heartless Form, only its eyes were his normal blue ones. Somehow, it looked scarier than yellow ones did.
"Sora… we've done battle before," Anger said walking up to him.
"What? When?" Sora asked.
"The first time you came here, I was in the form of a Darkside then, but it was me. It was then you embraced me, so close to the end, and the day it all began," Anger said with a slight grin.
"Yes, it wasn't until you learned magic that you finally embraced me," a voice called from behind Sora, he turned to see Wisdom Form, holding a large book and wearing…
"Glasses? You wear glasses?" Sora asked looking at the new arrival.
"My name is Knowledge, and I see that you have definitely embraced Truth," the newcomer said.
"Ah… sorry, just a little shocked," Sora said.
"That is all of us Sora. Save your last, and we cannot tell you who it is," Truth said.
"And neither can John, good luck though, we'll help you when we can," Knowledge said.
"What do I do now though?" Sora asked looking around.
"Go back. You've found us, and know where to get us if you need to again," Honor said.
"Yes, and if you need one of us to take over, this is where you come to do it," Friendship said gleefully.
"Oh… please let me take over…" Anger said with a grin.
"How would I?" Sora asked.
"John will show you. Now, go," Knowledge said pointing to a wooden door that wasn't there moments ago.
Sora nodded and walked to and through the door, once he did he found himself where he had sat down to meditate. He immediately stood up and walked over to the fire, whatever was next, Sora couldn't help but be eager to find out what it was.
---X---
Kairi was breathing heavily, though, not as heavy as her body felt. All three had lost track of how long they were out. Well, she doubted Sora was keeping track, he never spoke to relay it if he did. But that didn't matter, they could all see the tower now, and it was getting closer with each step. The only problem was that they got heavier with each step. Sora and Riku were both walking slightly hunched forward, but Kairi was on the verge of falling to her knees, it was just too much.
"Sora, stop a second, let's get used to the weight here," Riku called once he saw the state Kairi was in.
Both his friends looked at him, Sora walking back to meet with him and sat down, Kairi forcing herself up to him before sitting down beside him, he would go and help, but she had already said she didn't want any help, she wanted to make it on her own, to earn it on her own.
"Thanks," Kairi said once she was sitting down.
"Yeah, well, with Sora's mind in that Pit I guess I have to take his place and be over protective of you," Riku said with a slight grin.
"Over protective?" Kairi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I am a bit more lax on that front than he would be though… but I do what I can," Riku said looking towards the tower.
"Yeah, thanks for everything," Kairi said.
"No problem, now, when you feel ready we'll move again. Try not to make it over night though, we'll probably want a night to rest before the sword master's challenges," Riku said.
"Right," Kairi said nodding before standing up.
Riku and Sora joined her in standing, getting their legs and muscles used to the gravity. Kairi had guessed that one pound was added with each step, but now it felt like so much more. Though, Riku had said they'd taken over a thousand steps, so he doubted it'd be that extreme.
After a few minutes Kairi nodded to Riku and the three started towards the tower again, Sora at a much faster pace than Kairi and Riku, who was staying close to her now.
"Hey Sora, wait for us when you get there, before going in," Riku called out and Sora nodded his response.
"One good thing about this, the way back will get easer with each step," Kairi said with a laugh.
"Yeah that's a plus," Riku said grinning.
Sora was leaning against the door to the Tower reading the keyblade book when the other two reached it. Riku nodded to Sora who stepped back allowing the silver haired boy to open the door and step in. "Jesus!" came the shout as Riku entered the tower, Kairi rushed to the doorway as fast as she could, which was faster than she thought at this gravity.
"What, what is it?" She asked, fear shaking her voice.
"The gravity, it's back to normal in here," Riku called.
Kairi's eyes widened and she stepped inside, immediately falling forward and catching herself before she hit the ground and yelled as she fell.
"Yeah, I fell too" Riku said helping her up.
"Oh my god, I'm so light," Kairi said smiling.
"I know, that trip really worked huh?" Riku asked and Kairi nodded.
"Hey Sora, come on in," Kairi called seeing that the third member of the group had not yet entered.
Sora managed to stay on his feet walking in, but still stumbled a bit.
"Welcome to the tower of trials. I must congratulate you on making it here, and will grant you a night's rest here if you feel you need it after the journey," a voice called behind the three.
They all turned to see who had spoke and all eyes grew wide, Kairi's jaw dropped as well, at what they saw. The man that stood before them did so at about 12 feet high. A red cloak was draped around him, the end at the ground was tattered. Three bronze objects were on his back outside his cloak and stuck out past his right shoulder. They were all flat and angled, having the engraving of an arm and hand on them. His head was covered by a red cloth, only his eyes were visible. His eyes were golden and the skin around them blue grey, he also had red and black markings under his eyes. Two black decorative horns protruded from the red rapping's as did a tuft of grey hair with red tips.
"Whoa… who are you?" Kairi asked after a moment.
"I am the sword master, my name is Gilgamesh," the giant said.
"It's very kind of you to give us the night to rest," Riku said.
"Yes, I've been out there before, I've seen a man die at the crush line, I know your bodies will nee the night. But remember, it takes more than one night to reap the benefits from out there, you'll do these challenges as you would before entering this time place," Gilgamesh said.
"Thank you, we'll remember that," Riku said.
"Could you tell us, just so we know what our task will be?" Kairi asked.
"No, not now. But do not worry, I will give you the chance to back down after I give them out, if you do back down, you will make your way back to John without your swords and he will not train you, but you would have still gotten stronger form the walks," Gilgamesh said before pointing to a small door beside Riku with a somewhat armored hand, "through there is a set of beds, sleep well," he said before disappearing.
"Why did you ask that?" Riku asked guiding Sora through the door.
"He seemed kind enough, I thought he would tell us," Kairi said shrugging.
"That wasn't necessarily kindness, it was honor. Even the most evil of people can have honor, to make things fair," Riku said as Kairi closed the door.
"It was more than honor though," Kairi said.
"Maybe, but still, there was no way he'd answer that question," Riku said.
There was silence for a while as Sora picked a bed and lay down. Finally Kairi spoke, "I'm scared to fight him," Kairi said.
"The task isn't necessarily a fight," Riku said.
"Yeah, but I'll bet it is," Kairi said.
"Probably right, but don't let his size scare you, you can use it to your advantage, bigger guys are usually slower, plus he'll probably say, 'dodge three times' or something like that, it won't be to bad," Riku said.
"Even if it is like that, it's not his size that scares me, he said he's seen someone die at the crush line, I can't even imagine how heavy it would have to be just to see the crush line, let alone be close enough to see someone die at it," Kairi said shuddering.
Nothing else was said after that, both were silent and shortly went to bed, Riku feeling he'd need the rest even more than before.
The next morning the three woke at about the same time and left the small room together. The rest of the first floor seemed to be one room, the stairs at the far end, Gilgamesh standing between then and the keywielders. Both Riku and Kairi looked around the room in wonder, most of it had been in shadow when they arrived, but it was all well lit now.
"Greetings, are you three ready for your task?" Gilgamesh asked.
"As we'll ever be," Riku said shrugging slightly.
"Good, your task is very simple. You will be sparing with me. You will be done when you concede, and you will win when I do. The only rule of this fight, is that you can only use your left hands," Gilgamesh said.
"What? Only our left hands?" Kairi asked.
"Yes, I'm sure you're all right handed, this will get you used to fighting with you weak arms, it will strengthen them. You may still use your right hand for holding the weapons to block, but not attacking. Are you ready?" Gilgamesh asked.
In response all three summoned their keyblades, and all passed them into their left hands. Gilgamesh nodded before whipping back his red cloak revealing his large black boots, his dark grey pants with a pattern of red dots a red sash around his waist and a chest plate over his torso that was nearly black in color. His right arm was held close to his body, and each of his four left arms held a different sword. One held a long thin katana like sword Sora would recognize as similar to Sephiroth's Masamune. Another was a large broad sword Sora would recognize as similar to Cloud's Buster Sword, without the wrappings. Another was a gunblade, much like Leon's and the last was a sword with a blue blade and a hook at the end.
"Oh crap…" Riku said.
"I guess we know why he said left arms only," Kairi said meekly.
Sora looked over at them and nodded, Riku returned it and Sora charged forward, Riku behind him, and Kairi behind him. Sora was obviously first to reach Gilgamesh and dodged the Buster Sword and it dug into the ground where he once was. Sora ran up the large blade as Riku was forced to stop and block the Masamune as it swung at him, Kairi made it past both blades and jumped forward, dodging the blue sword as it swing for her.
Riku broke from the Masamune as started after Sora but the Buster Sword was already out of the ground, he'd need another path. And had to move fast to dodge as the Masamune came at him again. Kairi swung fact and cut into Gilgamesh's boot, but the leather was thick and her left arm was weak, it would take a few tries to make it. Not only that, the blue blade kept coming back to get her out of the vital area.
Sora had made it almost chest high before the Buster sword was moved and he jumped for Gilgamesh's head, but the gunblade came at him instead and Sora was forced to block. He managed the defense but was sent backwards from the blow. Riku quickly met up with Kairi and went about blocking all the swords that came at her, allowing her to keep at what she was doing. That is, until Gilgamesh kicked both away and charged Sora.
"Hey, that's not fair," Kairi huffed as she got up.
"He never said he wouldn't move or fight back, I'm actually surprised he let us get that far," Riku said before running after the giant, Kairi behind him.
Sora was blocking the gunblade when Riku reached him, the Masamune was coming in towards Sora from the side and Riku took aim and threw his keyblade. He hit his mark, right into Gilgamesh's back forcing the giant to step back, stopping the Masamune mid swing. The momentary stop gave Sora the chance to charge forward, cutting through Gilgamesh's left boot where Kairi had been hacking away at it. Kairi came up moments later and dug her keyblade into the hole in the boot and into Gilgamesh's ankle.
"Good, you've passed," Gilgamesh said once Kairi's keyblade had struck him, there wasn't even a hint that he registered the pain.
Upon hearing it all three keyblades vanished in a white light and Gilgamesh walked over to a large sword rack.
"Um, sir Gilgamesh, are you okay?" Kairi asked.
"I'm fine, I heal quickly. And I'm not a knight, no need for the 'sir' just Gilgamesh," Gilgamesh said, and Riku noted that he wasn't even showing the sign that his ankle was hit.
"Oh, I just though…" Kairi said looking at the floor.
"The way I fight? No. I'm a Rook if anything. John's probably a Bishop," Gilgamesh said putting his swords away and covering his left side in his cloak again.
"What?" Kairi asked.
"Chess, I was speaking in terms of chess. Both kings do it quite often actually, I guess it rubbed off on me," Gilgamesh.
"The kings?" Riku asked suddenly interested.
"Yes, apparently it was a habit of the Black King, which rubbed of on the white king through their many needed dealings. And it rubbed off onto me slightly from my work with him. Though, perhaps the solitude has waned that habit slightly," Gilgamesh said.
"What did you do with the white king?" Riku asked.
"Can't tell you, all I can say is I'm one of the few, the sages included, who've seen inside the white castle," Gilgamesh said.
"Could, could you tell me… is there a, a white queen?" Kairi asked nervously looking at the ground.
Gilgamesh turned to look at her, "I could. But it wouldn't be my place to. It would be for the king to tell you, or the queen herself, if she is real," he said in a tone which didn't give anything away.
Kairi sighed and Riku took her arm and started up the stairs, Sora behind them. Then reached the second floor and were amazed by the number of swords, John was right, every color of the rainbow and then some. They each managed to get their swords on the first or second try and headed back down the stairs, Gilgamesh was gone when they arrived on the first floor and all three left silently, their swords slung over their shoulders as they reentered the seamless, back to the rest building.
Kairi was relieved, this trip would be easier, and if she needed it, the sword could be a crutch, though she doubted she'd need it. She kept her mind focused though, they could still get lost on the way back, even if it was an easier journey.
---X---
AN: Gilgamesh, summon form Final Fantasy 8, his swords, Clouds Buster Sword from FF7, Squall's Revolver form FF8, Sephiroth's Masamune from FF7 and Tidus' Brotherhood form FF10 as Gilgamesh wields them if FF12. The room is the hyperbolic time chamber from DragonBall Z, only slightly modified.
Good luck to all of you trying to figure out who the girl in the stain-glass was and what her role will be,
Also, still accepting suggestions for characters, here's another twist, they need to be either unkillable or really hard to kill. Preferable not anyone form a place I've already taken a character, but if you got a good one, let me hear it, same requirements as before, name alignment and story of origin, they'll be making their entrance next chapter, so time is a factor… slightly…
Thanks to you all who already suggested.