The Annals of Darkness: The Tower of Trials

by Shire Folk

Part IV. Torn from Radiant Garden with the battle still undecided, Sora and his friends find themselves in a strange place with no means of returning to where they'd come from. With the clock ticking, they must press on with the guidance and knowledge of the Spirit of Adventure and ascend the tower to become what they need to be before it's too late. M, discretion is advised.

25. Cosmos

Chapter 25 time!

Also, I would like to remind everyone that this is a SoKai fic. Okay? This is a SoKai fic. There's not a lot of SoKai moments in this chapter, but more fluff for them will be on the way!

I'm not even going to mention Kingdom Hearts 3 because of spoiler concerns and stuff, but it was a rollercoaster of emotions that left me wanting KH4 NOW!

Big hand to the beta fuzzynavaljewelry for her continued help in checking my grammar and sentence structure!

-A-D-

The Tower of Trials

Chapter 25: Cosmos

"A grand melee, a joust, an archery contest, a couple of spell contests, and a bunch of other stuff," Naminé said that night in their bunkroom. Her hand stroked the black fur of the kitten sitting on her lap, Bast sounding very content in her current situation.

"That's right," Riku stated while nodding his head. "Including football by the sounds of it."

"Do you think it's the same kind of football that we know?" Yuffie asked, idly kicking her feet as if dribbling as she sat on Riku's top bunk. "I mean, that would be one heck of a coincidence, right?"

"We can probably ask the other guys about that when they come in," Roxas said. "Hey, where are Bartt and Godrell and Adrien and them anyway?"

"Night march," Naminé said simply. "They should be back by the time we're all asleep."

"Sounds good," Yuffie said, sitting up. "Who's up for a foursome?"

"WHAT!?"

"Kidding, kidding!" Yuffie giggled. "So, did you guys decide who was doing what yet?"

Riku worked to get his red face under control as he looked back up at his betrothed. "We didn't discuss anything, but I don't know if Sora and Kairi already have some ideas cooking up in their heads. They were talking to the baroness during dinner and we weren't."

"Helps that they sat beside her while we were off at another side of the table," Yuffie added, plopping back down on the bunk. "Who do you think would be best at jousting? I'll bet that Sora and Kairi are thinking of having Riku do it."

"Me? Why me?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "What do you mean, 'why me'? You're the biggest, strongest one of us. You're the ideal pick for carrying a massive lance while riding a huge warhorse."

"I'm detecting a bit of spite there, Roxas," Riku said. The spiky-haired blond averted his eyes.

"Well, maybe I want to be the one jousting," Roxas said.

"Bring it up with Sora," Naminé said. "He hasn't told us anything yet, and Yuffie's guess is still just a guess, so I'm sure if you volunteer for it you'll be set."

"That's a good point," he agreed. "If I tell him that I'm game, then yeah, he's bound to let me do it. Though, it still feels weird, having Sora tell us what to do."

"Huh? Would you like to be leader instead, Roxas?" Naminé asked.

"What? No, no, nothing like that," he answered quickly. "I mean, it's weird is all."

"What's so weird about it?" Yuffie asked, sitting up again and looking down at where Roxas was leaning up against the wall. "We've relied a lot on Sora in the past. I'm actually pretty onboard with the idea of him being the boss once he grows into the job and everything, which he's sure to do out here without Leon or the King to take over for him as an easy out."

"Well, ah, how can I put it?" Roxas spoke freely, trying to find a way to articulate his thoughts. "It's just bizarre, this feeling I have. When I was in Organization XIII, I was constantly getting missions assigned to me by Saïx and sometimes from Xemnas. They were always direct. Go to this world and defeat the Heartless you encounter; gather their hearts, Number XIII—"

"Nice Xemnas impression," Riku cut in.

"Thanks, and then I would come back each day and eat sea-salt ice cream with Axel atop the train station in Twilight Town. Hearing things coming from Sora, though, I'm used to him just winging his way through everything. When I was in his heart as he fought against the Organization, he didn't really give anyone explicit orders as actual orders, but just sort of offered up his suggestion of what they should do with a bit of an implication that he was gonna do it whether they objected or not. It feels strange hearing him give actual definitive directives, you know?"

"Yeah, I can see that," Riku agreed."Apart from whenever his heart is really set on something, Sora's always been a little hesitant. He would leave it to me or Kairi to tell him what to do most of the time as kids, and it helped that he's the youngest of the three of us. Forcing actual decision making on him is something that not only he needs to get used to, but us as well."

"Wait, Kairi's older than him?" Yuffie asked.

"Yes," Naminé answered with a nod. "By about a month."

"The kid definitely needs to kick himself in the pants and step up, then," Yuffie said, "being the baby of the group and all. But hey, Riku and I sure aren't going to be able to handle making group decisions. We've just decided on an actual date tonight, so admittedly, my brain is going to be about 80% focused on that."

"You've settled on a date?" Roxas asked, sounding confused. "Oh! A date! When?"

"Midsummer," Riku answered. "Since the baroness said that the King's Challenge is going to be in early August, midsummer seemed like the perfect time."

"But that's next month," Roxas said. "Sure you'll be able to get everything prepared in time?"

Yuffie giggled. "Roxas, we're in a magic middle-ages kind of place here, and it's not like we're royalty or anything. It's not going to be really big or anything either, since we don't really have anyone to invite. I'm sure a small wedding isn't going to be that much of a hassle to plan out."

"Do you have any experience with wedding planning, Yuffie?" Naminé asked.

"Well, nope. Do you somehow have experience in wedding planning, miss, 'I didn't even exist until Sora turned into a Heartless last year'?"

Naminé opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out for several seconds before she closed it again and looked down at Bast and continued to pet the purring kitten. "Well, you've got me there. And it's not like Larxene was all hot for doing anything besides hurting people and betraying the Organization, so there was no wedding planning going on in Castle Oblivion. You know, all this time later, and I still don't know what she and Marluxia were truly after in making me do what I did."

"Does it really matter why?" Riku said. "Sora stopped them from using you any further, and in the end their plan of using him to take down the rest of the Organization still happened, so I don't see why their motives would change our opinions on them now."

"Riku's right," Roxas added. "What they used you for was inexcusable."

Naminé smiled at him from her seat on her top bunk. "Thanks, Roxas, but I think we're getting a little side-tracked. No, Yuffie, I don't know much of anything about wedding planning, but I doubt that even a simple one in a place like here can't actually be all that simple. Mass media on Destiny Islands and Kairi's memories have left an imprinted bias on me that just has me thinking that it's not going to be that simple."

"And so Kairi knows about wedding planning now too?" Yuffie asked with a laugh. "C'mon! None of us are even twenty and nobody we're close to has gotten hitched before. Me 'n Riku are going to be the first of us to tie the knot and, honestly, how hard can it be? We get a venue, some nice flower arrangements, we order catering for the guests, have some guy officially marry us together in front of everyone in attendance and then we dance, we kiss, we schmooze, we carry on, we go home happy and Riku and I—at least—consummate. It'll be easy as pie to organize that, I think."

"Well, whenever you find that you're in over your head, Yuffie," Naminé said with a bit of humour, "don't feel ashamed to come to us for help."

"Thank you, Naminé! I will keep that offer for help in mind," Yuffie said with a nod and an energetic hand gesture. She swung down from Riku's top bunk to acrobatically land on her own. "And with that settled, I'm going to go to sleep. Got to be nice and well rested for our day off tomorrow."

"Don't count on it being entirely 'off', Yuffie," Riku cautioned her. "Sora and Kairi think it'd be good if we get some kind of game plan figured out for the tournament, even if the baroness said that we wouldn't decide on a final roster until right before."

"Huh. Well, I guess we will need to have a discussion on that stuff sooner or later," Yuffie agreed, "but that's not a conversation for now, 'kay. I'm tired, Riku, give me some good night sugar so I can sleep."

"So demanding," Riku said with a chuckle, kneeling down by the head of the bed where Yuffie was fluffing her pillow. She smiled, warm and loving, and received a very kind and tender kiss goodnight from her betrothed.

"I don't see how Sora and Kairi have been able to stand being separated at night these days," Naminé said, looking at the two of them before also giving Roxas a warm look. Just seeing him standing there beneath her in these late hours gave her comfort. "Since the day Maleficent attacked the islands they've been together almost every day and night, but since we came here the only time they've been together at night was sharing a tent during the escort mission."

"They seem to be coping just fine, Naminé," Roxas said with a bit of a shrug. "What's that saying? Absence makes the heart grow fonder? Maybe they're on to something. Maybe because they have to part every day, they get to enjoy the time they do spend together so much more. But what matters isn't how often they see each other; what matters is how often we think about each other. As long as we all keep doing that, we'll be alright."

Naminé locked eyes with Roxas, who was smiling up at her like a dork after he said those words, and she knew that he meant them. Maybe he had gotten them from Hayner in the simulated Twilight Town, or from Axel back when they hung out together in the Organization, but that didn't prevent the sincerity of his belief in those words from coming through. "C'mon then, let's go to bed so I can think about you while I sleep all night long."

-A-D-

"Alright everyone, I hereby call this meeting to order," Sora said the following day at roughly nine o'clock in the morning at one of the round tables in the elevated sitting area of the Boar's Tusk's tavern.

"Are we actually following parliamentary procedure for this?" Roxas asked, glancing at Kairi. She shrugged.

"Dunno. Did Xemnas ever follow Robert's Rules?"

"So just to be clear, did all of us end up reading that book in the spirit's library?" Yuffie asked. "Because I honestly thought I was the only one."

Riku raised his eyebrow. "You read a book on how to properly conduct a meeting?"

"Well, y'know, I figured that it'd be good stuff to know so I don't go putting my foot in my mouth in the future, and so that I can loudly jump up and shout, 'Point of order Mr. Rulebreaker!' and stuff."

Sora took all of this in over a few moments as Naminé silently watched him. "Uh, well, more to the point I was just trying to sound more official about it, so I wasn't planning on it or anything, but if we want to start having proper meetings with minutes and anagenda I think we can do that later. Does anybody want that?"

Far away from the group, idling at the bar counter while sipping on a glass of water, Jastra snickered as she overheard.

"If we do that, would I be correct in assuming that I would end up taking the position of Secretary, my lord?" Naminé asked. Everyone looked at her for a brief moment. There was emotion in that question that wasn't in a tone of resignation. Truthfully, she sounded… excited at the prospect of being the group secretary. Sora couldn't help it; in his mind's eye he suddenly saw Naminé in a pinstriped business suit wearing a pair of red-framed half-moon glasses. She would look good as a secretary—well, maybe not as good as Kairi would look; Naminé wouldn't fill out the suit as much—and she would probably make a good one too!

"Uh, let's put a pin in that and we can save that for another time," Sora said quickly, bringing things back on track and away from any thoughts of Madame Secretary Naminé Talerith. "Anyway, I guess I just wanted to talk to everybody at once about the events for the King's Challenge. I'm guessing Riku told the rest of you what they were last night."

"Yes, and I'd like to be our jouster," Roxas said immediately.

"You want to joust?" Sora asked him.

"Yeah. Who doesn't?" Roxas answered. "Jousting is like, the ideal image you have when you envision a knight. Sitting astride a horse, wearing shining metal armour and carrying a lance twice your height in length. Mickey already made me a knight, so I might as well try to become one for real. Besides, jousting's cool, right?"

Sora paused for a moment to consider everything Roxas just said. "Yeah, that sounds right. Riku, you have any objections to Roxas jousting?"

"You won't find me complaining," Riku said with a bit of a laugh. "I'd rather not go home from practice covered in bruises every day when I'm supposed to be getting married in a month. Are you sure you don't want to be our jouster?"

"Well… I'd be lying if I said I never once considered it," Sora said, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "But, Roxas wants to do it, so I won't get in his way."

"Hang on," Yuffie said quickly. "How come none of you are asking if any of us girls want to joust?"

"Well, do you?" Riku asked.

"No, but that's not the point. Why are you simply assuming that we don't?"

"Because we don't, Yuffie," Kairi replied. "I know I am all gung-ho swords and sorcery ra-ra-ra in this world, but even I don't care to start jousting."

Yuffie turned to Naminé. "C'mon, Naminé. Back me up here. Think of all the fighting you do on Nebulus. Aren't you the least bit peeved that they're being sexist and aren't asking you if you'd like to joust?"

"Fighting with a Keyblade or sword on horseback is a lot different from tournament jousting," Naminé replied. "Jousting is not a skill we need to perfect to show that we're competent at doing the job we are obligated to perform, since we're not obligated to anyone to do anything at all."

"Huh?" Yuffie asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"None of us are expected to be knights in a formation of heavy horsemen charging an enemy infantry line's flanks or rear with lance or spear, wheeling about, and repeating the charge before giving chase to fleeing men on foot to dispatch them with sword strokes to the back. I don't want or need to train in jousting because there is no expectation on me to lead a formation of heavy cavalry in a pitched battle." Naminé took a sip of her ginger ale and Sora had to look away. She explained that so matter-of-factly that he was imagining her as a secretary again. "We're adventurers, Yuffie. Jousting is, at best, a hobby sport; not part of our profession."

"But you're a battle princess and your nation is at war!" Yuffie countered. "Wouldn't you end up leading a group of chocobos lancers or something?"

"Hm, good point," Naminé said, and placed a finger near her chin while looking up in thought. "I'll have to think about that and study our military composition again to see if that's even viable. Honestly with all the different worlds contributing resources and technology so rapidly it's hard to get a grasp on what we have and what we should use. Besides, I'm a Keyblade Wielder, so I wouldn't be using a lance anyway."

Yuffie slumped in her chair, defeated by the smile Naminé was giving her. "I give up." The rest of them chuckled lightly at her resignation before looking to Sora once again as he started to speak.

"So we have Roxas taking point in the joust. That's good to know, uh—" he paused for a brief second as he saw Naminé writing on a sheet of parchment with a charcoal pencil, something that looked like it said 'ROSTER' "and then for the other individual martial event we have the archery contest. Since Riku and I are the only two who have bows, I think it's just going to come down to the two of us, unless the rest of you have been training in archery and would like to give it a shot."

Kairi groaned. "I hope that pun was intended."

"Why don't we have our own archery contest?" Yuffie proposed, sitting up again and back to her full level of energy. "That way we know for sure who our best archer is instead of arbitrarily drawing out of a hat."

"Good idea," Roxas agreed, the rest nodding along.

"And y'know what? I'm gonna do it!" she continued.

"What? The archery contest?" Riku asked.

"No. Jousting! If we're already going to be having an archery contest to choose which one of us, then why don't we also have a jousting competition? Me 'n Roxas; and may the best jouster win."

"Uh, Earth to Great Ninja Yuffie, Earth to Great Ninja Yuffie, are you there?" Kairi asked.

"What?" Yuffie replied.

"You self-proclaim yourself as the greatest ninja ever all the time; ninjas don't joust."

"Well this ninja's gunna learn!" Yuffie proclaimed. Riku cocked his head and looked at her with his arms folded.

"You know, not two minutes ago you said that you didn't want to be our jouster, and now being it is all you can think about."

"Yes, and?" Yuffie replied leadingly.

Riku chuckled. "Are you really sure that you want to be riddled in bruises from tilting practice when we get married? That's part of why I don't want to do it." Yuffie froze, her entire body seizing up as that particularly unpleasant realization struck her as Riku mentioned it for the second time.

She was slow to respond. "Well… I, uh… I guess that if I am, then you'll have to be extra gentle with me, and treat me like the greatest treasure in the world."

Riku flushed deep red at Yuffie's words and looked down to avoid eye contact, Yuffie similarly dropping her gaze as her cheeks gained a rosy hue while she gingerly pressed her index fingers together.

Jastra at the bar snorted into her drink, her acute hearing having picked up every word of Yuffie's mumbled reply. Kairi, Naminé, and Sora were all practically gushing with how cute Yuffie looked when she was embarrassed, and Roxas sipped from his drink with a wide grin.

"…okay," Sora said slowly as his senses returned to the matter at hand. "So, we will have Roxas and Yuffie training as jousters, and we'll hold an archery contest for all interested in being our archer. What about the others? The magic competitions and skills contests?"

"Well, none of us know summoning magic, yet," Kairi immediately pointed out. "So our first order of business should be to petition Yvette or one of her colleagues to begin our instruction in that field of study for the three of us who use it. The other magic contest is a subjective talent show, so whoever's best in magic in August, Naminé, should probably be representing us there."

"And as for the other stuff, well, I guess we can all practice each of them and figure out who is best at what," Roxas added, scratching the back of his head. "The only things I'm concerned about here is 'football' and the talent competition."

"Yeah," Sora added. "Do any of us really have any talents to showcase?"

Yuffie coughed to attract their attention. "I have been learning the fiddle, after all. Perhaps I could play?"

"Why stop there?" Naminé asked. "Sora also has a guitar, and he got Wispy panpipes."

"Are you suggesting we form a band?" Roxas asked.

"We could," she stated. "Kairi and I may not be the best of singers, but we could provide backup vocals and work on harmony with Sora. Roxas and Riku could both be our lead vocalists."

"I'd rather hold off on that," Riku quickly piped up. "I've had enough singing. I'll stick to percussion."

Sora and Kairi looked at him in bewilderment. "Percussion?"

"Since when did you play drums?"

Riku shrugged and they both shook their heads. "Riku," Sora began, "Kairi's known you since you were, like, six. I've known you even longer. I don't remember you once playing drums."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Because he's pulling your leg, that's why. Hilda pulled him into a jam session a few weeks back when I was practicing and put him on a drum. He's been picking them up almost as fast as I have been learning how to fiddle."

"Almost?" Riku chuckled. "Percussion is all about rhythm, Yuffie, and I've got rhythm."

"Depending on how you play it's also got a lot to do with how flexible your wrists are, and I'm sure those are very flexible too," Kairi teased.

"Watch it, Kairi," Riku chuckled. "If you're prepared to dish it out, you've gotta be prepared to take it too, and we can turn up the heat real fast."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kairi asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Well, you're the only one not sleeping in the same room as your boyfriend," Yuffie said. "I bet you have a lot of lonely nights without him."

"Tch, so that's what you mean. Okay fine, earlier teasing withdrawn."

"Alright, so we've come to a decision then?" Sora said, somewhat loudly, to bring things back on track. "Are we going to be doing a group musical number for the talent competition or just choosing one of us to compete?"

"A group performance sounds fun," Naminé opined. "It'd be great if we could all do something together like that."

"Band practice it is," Sora declared, and Naminé quickly wrote it down before anyone else could get a word in edgewise. "We'll need to come up with a song and some time to rehearse before we get there, but we can think of that later. Can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting?"

"Oh, now you call for a motion? Where were the calls for motions on everything else Mr. Chairman?" Yuffie critiqued.

"I so move," Kairi piped up.

"Seconded," said Naminé.

"All in favour?" All six raised their hands. "Opposed?" None. "Motion passed. Meeting is adjourned." Sora slapped his left hand on the table to simulate a gavel and then said, "Now let's go find Yvette and see about having her teach us summoning magic."

-A-D-

"Conjuration Combat is more than just a magic show," Yvette said proudly, standing by the riverbank at morning a few days later. "It is a contest of might, wisdom, cunning, and will. Since this is more than just a single contest, it will not be the simple matter of throwing your strongest summoned creatures into the fray against one another. You will need to have the fortitude and ability to call many different creatures from other planes of existence to fight for you, and figuring out which one to call upon at which time will be essential to victory—"

"—in the Gaaames!" Sora chuckled. Kairi and Naminé both giggled at Sora's little impression of Phil and he grinned in satisfaction. Jenny blinked and looked at them in a bit of bewilderment, while Yvette (normally one to encourage a bit of tomfoolery) narrowed her eyes at her student. "Uh, sorry."

"Since you seem to have the energy to crack in-jokes that those of us who are not dimensional travellers are not privy to, perhaps you would like to be the first to demonstrate the spell which I gave you all earlier?" Yvette asked. Sora blushed and looked down.

"Actually, I've been having trouble with that," Sora said. "I attempted it a few times yesterday after thinking that I had it down, but nothing would answer my call." Aiwemon placed a comforting wing on his head from his perch on Sora's shoulder.

"Don't feel bad, Sora," he said. "You'll get the hang of it. I know it. You were able to summon me here, right?" The youth smiled at the digital monster and nodded his head, feeling his spirits lift just a little bit at his friend's encouragement.

Yvette sighed and turned her attention to the three girls sitting with him. "Well, which one of you is confident in your abilities? Naminé? Kairi? You are the ones that may need to participate in the King's Challenge for this event. Are either of you prepared?"

"I am," Kairi said, raising her hand. She gave Sora a comforting pat on the shoulder as she stood up from the log the four of them were sitting on and stepped forward. Yvette moved back, giving her room, until there was a clear area surrounding Kairi so that nobody was within twenty feet of her. The redhead turned and faced the three apprentice spellhurlers and their archmage teacher. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest at the appearance of nerves now that she was being watched by them. Even though she knew she could do it—she had done so last night—performance anxiety was still performance anxiety. Kairi took a deep breath to steady herself, dug deep inside to find the source of her magical wellspring, the power of mana with which wizards used to compel the world around them to heed their instructions, and quickly recited the arcane words required. Her tongue movements were careful, making just the right inflections and using proper tone, and her arms swooped up while she twitched her fingers and spun once, twice, on her heels. A burst of lavender light flared around her, starting at her feet and quickly rising to cover her whole body in a subtle nimbus before it exploded out from around her. Just as quickly as it vanished, more light flared in the spot to which she was pointing about ten feet away, and the light took shape and solidified before shattering like glass to reveal a creature standing there.

Yvette clapped in approval and Kairi smiled as she approached the creature and it moved to her. It was a magnificent and beautiful animal, standing three feet tall at the shoulder and four feet in length. It stood on four legs, its front two a few inches longer than its rear two, and was mostly covered by a coat of golden brown fur, interspersed with several jagged stripes of strawberry-blonde. Its head was roughly similar to a wolf's, though its ears were more rounded than conical in shape. A rough-looking mane of fur covered its neck, and it had four bushy tails that had a larger number of the strawberry-blonde furred stripes than the rest of its body.

It made a soft yip as Kairi placed her hand under its snout and began scratching the creature in its mane at the joint between head and neck, and the redheaded girl smiled at it while it looked at her with intelligent yellow eyes. "Very good, Kairi," Yvette praised her. "That's a fine cosmos wolf. They're probably the strongest creatures you have the ability to summon at this point. The same spell can be adjusted to summon weaker beasts depending on your need, or a different breed of cosmos wolf. The one you have there has an affinity for fire. You can tell by the markings on its fur. It can heat up its claws to high temperatures and breathe fire on its prey."

"It's always fire with you," Sora chuckled. "Good on you, Kairi."

"W-well, fire is symbolic," Kairi said, flustered. "It was Prometheus who first gave fire to man to support life, and without mastery of fire we would never have gotten—"

"I'm just teasing you, Kairi," Sora laughed.

"I thought that she performed the spell a little differently from how you presented it to me," Naminé noticed. "Is that because you gave her a variant that would allow her to summon a cosmos wolf that was attuned with fire?"

"Astute, Naminé. You are correct. Have you had success in your attempts?"

Naminé nodded her head. "Yes, I tried this morning after I scribed it into my spellbook last night, and I learned that the spell you gave me to summon a cosmos wolf called one that had a frost breath."

"Then the only one who is having trouble here is Sora," Yvette said with reduced volume as she placed her chin in her hand. "Unusual, as I gave you the spell in its base form. Perhaps you are not yet skilled in magic enough to call a cosmos wolf? That may be the reason..."

Sora sighed and looked down again before looking back up at his teacher. "That's okay. I'll get stronger. If learning this spell will help us out in the King's Challenge, then I'll put everything I have into it."

"That's the spirit, Sora," Naminé said, and Kairi nodded her head.

"I know you'll be able to do it, Sora!" Kairi added encouragingly. Yvette stared at him for a few more moments.

"Sora, if you please, could you come forward and attempt the spell for me? I'd like to see if it was simply an error in casting it that's the issue or if your magic simply isn't up to the task of commanding the cosmos wolf to appear before you."

"Alright! Let's give it a shot," Sora said, getting to his feet. He held up his hand as Kairi walked past with her cosmos wolf and she gave him a high-five as she wished him good luck. He nodded again and stood where Kairi had. Taking a breath, Sora steadied himself, and then began. Fingers moved nimbly, copying the movements Kairi had made earlier almost exactly while he spoke the necessary words of magic needed to perform the spell. His body moved the same as Kairi had too, but no nimbus of light encircled him, and when he finished by pointing to the spot he wished for the cosmos wolf to appear, all that emerged was a faint puff of smoke that vanished in the wind.

Wispy giggled like a spring breeze and Yvette placed a hand on his shoulder. "Go over the steps again in your mind, Sora," Yvette instructed. "Remember, the magic of wizards is a thorough process of ordering the energy of the world around us to perform the tasks we instruct it to. It is mastered through study and practice, and its application is limited only by your own knowledge."

"Alright, here goes!" Sora said, and he began concentrating again. He knew that he could do this. He had to do this. He had learned how spellcasting worked in this world and was becoming somewhat proficient in it; he knew that something like this wasn't outside the realm of his current abilities. If Kairi and Naminé could cast it, then he certainly should be able to do the same and summon this cosmos like Yvette wanted.

I have got to do this. If doing this can help us win the King's Challenge, and if it really is tied to the trial for this floor, then doing this magic could be key to helping us get back!

He did not notice it, but a bright nimbus of light began to cover his body as he cast the spell, brighter than when Kairi had done so, and it was a bright colourless light. Sora said the final word and pointed, and instead of what had occurred when Kairi summoned her beast, a bright explosion of light blinded all of them.

"What?" Yvette cried, shying her eyes away. "Sora, what did you do?"

"I don't know!" Sora answered, the light subsiding even as he spoke. He felt, off. Something was tugging at his heart, a yearning he couldn't explain, and it was compelling him to look into the light. There was something there; not a failure like the last time.

"Well… this was unexpected."

And whatever it was, it talked!

"What is?" Jenny asked, taking off her glasses and wiping them before putting them back on and looking up. "Huh? A woman!?"

Just as she said, just as all of their eyes were not deceiving them, there was a woman standing in the spot where the light had radiated from. Shining brown eyes were framed by long and lustrous green hair, glittering diamond earrings in a familiar three-circle shape peeking through the tresses of her hair. She held a silver harp in one hand in her slender fingers, and she was clothed in a lilac kimono and was looking herself over in wonder. Her face was young, looking only to be in her early twenties.

"Wow, she's pretty," Naminé said.

"You, you're familiar," Kairi whispered, moving closer to Sora. "But it feels like from a dream."

"Who are you?" Yvette demanded, swiftly interposing herself between the woman and Sora and drawing her staff. "Depending on your answer, I may just banish you back to whichever plane it is you emerged from when you hijacked my student's spell!"

"Defensive," said the mystery woman. "But I can see why you feel threatened. I am an unknown to you, but fear not. I have no intention to harm you." She turned her eyes away from Yvette and instead looked straight at Sora. He felt her gaze pierce him as his heart thudded in his chest.

"Cosmos…" he exclaimed. "How is this possible?"

"Huh? Cosmos?" Naminé asked.

"You mean the personification of your Keyblade? She is it?" Kairi inquired.

"What?" Yvette yelped, glancing back at him. Cosmos did not say a single word, but her fingers strummed the strings of her harp, producing a wonderful melody. Simultaneously, a number of silver stars appeared in the air above Sora and hung there for just a moment before crashing into him.

"Sora!"

"Why would you do that!?" Aiwemon shouted, flying straight for the woman. "Keen Sight!" She casually avoided the blue beams from his eyes while Kairi came to Sora's side.

"Sora! You okay?" He rose to his feet, coughing. Sora didn't seem worse for wear, though his clothes were a little ruffled and had a few cuts on them. Dirt was smudged on one cheek.

"I'm fine, but," he looked up at the woman as Kairi helped him to his feet, "why? Why did you attack me, Cosmos?" She was very easily dodging Aiwemon's attacks while her eyes never stopped watching him.

"Why didn't you dodge?" Cosmos asked him.

"Huh?" Sora was confused. Dodge? But why would he have dodged? He'd had no idea that she was going to attack him in the first place, so why would he have been prepared to dodge to begin with?

Cosmos strummed her harp again, producing the same pleasing music as before, and this time as she did it she shouted at him, "Dodge!" Sora's eyes widened as he realized the impending danger and wrapped his arms around Kairi as he jumped to the side. Still, a few of the stars slammed into his back, knocking him and Kairi to the ground and knocking the breath out of them.

"Kairi! Sora!"

"That's enough of you!" Yvette said, baring her staff. "Begon—"

Yvette froze as the woman was suddenly in front of her. "Go to sleep, young archmage." She flicked Yvette in the forehead, and the wizard's eyes went blank before her eyelids fluttered closed. She fell forward, and the woman caught Yvette before gently laying her on the ground.

"Stop her!" Kairi wheezed. Her summoned cosmos wolf barked, growled, and charged at the woman. It opened its mouth, a torrent of fire roaring from within. The woman raised the sleeve of her kimono in front of her face as the creature came on to her, but her expression didn't change. With a swift motion she jabbed her right hand forward through the flames assaulting her left sleeve. The fire cut out as a pained yelp came from the cosmos wolf, and it toppled over as its eyes rolled back into its head. It lay on the ground for a second before vanishing in a burst of violet light similar to when it appeared.

"Oh no oh no oh no oh no…" Jenny rambled, panicking and looking wildly back and forth between Yvette, the green-haired woman, Naminé, Sora and Kairi, and the pair's digimon and familiars. "Naminé, what do we do?" Menelmon, Plato, and Wispy were now joining the fight, but they were doing just as well as Aiwemon was in attacking her. Cosmos dodged their attacks with contemptuous disdain and elegant ease, avoiding every attack by what looked like a hair's breadth as she casually walked towards where Sora and Kairi were just getting back to their feet from the ground.

Naminé didn't have an answer for her friend. Against orcs and kobolds she had an answer, against Heartless and Nobodies she had an answer, even against a dragon she had an answer; but this was against an entity she was completely unfamiliar with opposing: this was the spirit of a Keyblade, who by all rights should not be standing here right now. It wasn't just any Keyblade either. She was Cosmos, the Kingdom Key; the first Keyblade to have been forged on the anvil of the goddess Tylythia. Naminé didn't know how to fight her, and after seeing how she put Yvette to sleep with a single forehead flick she didn't know if she could fight her.

"I…"

Both her sister and her lord were on their feet, Sora trying to stand slightly in front of Kairi to protect her while she kept jostling Sora to stand in front and protect him from Cosmos as she slowly walked in their direction. She batted her arm to the side, knocking the wind out of the wind elemental that just tried to slam her. It was astounding, seeing Wispy on the ground, and all Naminé could do was freeze as tears of shame welled up in the corners of her eyes. Her legs wouldn't move…why? Her mind couldn't call upon a single spell…why? She didn't even feel in control of her own body anymore, like she was a spectator inside her own head who could do nothing but watch. She hated this feeling: of powerlessness, of helplessness. Cosmos strummed her harp again and more silver stars appeared in the air above before they crashed down to earth around Sora and Kairi, throwing up chunks of soil and grass as each of them was shouting in pain.

Naminé's fingers slowly clenched into a fist, nails digging into her palm tight enough that they might start piercing the skin and drawing blood. The dust itched her nose and was uncomfortable in her throat. Aiwemon, Menelmon, and Plato were still fighting ineffectually, the attacks of the tiny creatures beneath Cosmos' notice. Even still, they were trying their hardest.

Do something, Naminé!

Indignantly furious at herself for her total inaction, Naminé punched herself in the face, drawing a sharp gasp from Jenny. It hurt. She wasn't sure if she dislodged something or not, but it hurt, and the pain gave her something to focus on. Chronologically it wasn't more than a few seconds between the third barrage of stars and Naminé's punch to her own face, but it had felt far longer than that as Cosmos glanced in her direction at the sound of Jenny's voice. Having the attention of the brown eyes of the green-haired woman on her, if even for a moment, Naminé tried to steel her indigo-blue eyes and managed a step forward on shaky legs. A second step. A third step. She told herself that the muscles in her thighs were not quivering; that they were strong, and that she was strong.

"Get away from them," Naminé said, managing a fourth step, and a fifth. She was moving faster now. "Get away from them now!" She didn't have a weapon on her; there had been no plans today for any training that would require one, but she didn't care. She'd do what she could.

If I can't protect him, then what kind of knight am I?

She lunged with her right fist, aiming a punch for the face of this sudden adversary. Cosmos simply evaded, backing up one step to avoid the oncoming blow. "Why are you doing this!?" Naminé shouted, placing herself between Cosmos and the two who were still getting back to their feet again. "I thought you were his Keyblade? I thought he was your master; that you'd chosen him! Why are you attacking us like this?"

"Out of my way, Moon," Cosmos said simply. "I have no desire to harm you."

"If you want to get at my lord again you'll have to go through me," Naminé declared.

Cosmos looked at her for a sum total of three seconds before she parted her lips. "Very well. Then DODGE!"

Naminé didn't even see it coming. She'd thought that she was prepared, but her eyes only managed to catch that there was movement, not what the movement was. The next sensation that assaulted her was pain as she folded in half from Cosmos' punch, quickly followed by a kick to her right side that knocked her several feet to her left and left her heaving on the ground with collapsed lungs and a stomach that was violently threatening mutiny. Her eyes watered from the pain and she struggled to maintain visual on Cosmos as the spirit approached Sora and Kairi. Her fingers were almost touching the strings of her silver harp again, and in the time between when her eyes had been shut from the pain and when she'd been able to open them again Cosmos had put the two digimon and the remaining familiar on the ground.

Sora swallowed hard, viscous saliva pouring into his mouth, and he worked to regain his breath. He wasn't able to stand straight, the pain from the earlier attacks making it more difficult to expend the necessary effort to do so. Kairi had since stopped jostling for position as to who was protecting who, so they just stood together with their arms linked at the elbow. Cosmos was peering down at him with her brown eyes, and he couldn't make out her expression. With the twitch of a finger she'd be able to pluck those strings and cause more silver stars to cascade down on him and Kairi, and he felt like at this point there was nothing he could do to stop her. He doubted very much that she would kill him, but one more attack like that and he would probably fall unconscious from it. "Why? Cosmos, just tell me why?"

Her eyes did not stray from his, not even to look at the young woman standing defiantly at his left side. She just looked into his eyes as he expressed the depths of his hurt and confusion to her in his cracked voice. She responded again with a question. "Why didn't you dodge?"

"Why did we have to dodge?" Kairi retorted. "If you hadn't attacked it wouldn't have been necessary!"

"I did not ask you, Wielder of Alcezeran," Cosmos said calmly. "I asked my Wielder, and I ask again, why? Didn't? You? Dodge?"

Sora pulled air into his lungs as he realized he wasn't getting any answers until he provided some. This was stupid and made no sense, but it looked like he was going to have to play along. "I wasn't expecting to be attacked by my own Keyblade," he answered truthfully. "You caught me by surprise."

"Good," Cosmos said, the beginnings of a smile beginning to show on her face. "And why were you surprised?"

Sora's eyes flickered from hers to the faint traces of her lips curling upwards before flicking down to her harp and then back to her face. "Because… the last time I saw you, and you were playing your harp, you were just playing music and singing. I didn't think it was a weapon."

"Also good," she replied, the smile now truly showing up. She bent forward, bringing her head closer to Sora's while still remaining above his in a position of dominance. "So what has my master learned?"

"Uh… to never just assume someone is friendly and be suspicious of everything?" Sora answered, completely unsure as to if his response was the correct one or not. What had he learned? That Cosmos was just as crazy as everyone else, but he wasn't about to tell that to her face when she could knock him out in a second.

"Seriously, what is going on here?" Kairi inquired.

The woman ignored Kairi and puffed out her cheeks in an expression of annoyance. "I heard that thought," she said. "But I applaud you for trying to keep your true feelings from me, even if it is impossible. I'm within your heart, after all. I know you, Sora. Now it's time that you know me, and to do that, I am going to train you."

"T-train me?" Sora asked, stunned. "B—but wait, I'm already training!"

"Yeah!" Jenny said, hustling up to help Naminé to her feet now that it seemed the danger had passed. "Sora was supposed to be casting a spell to summon a cosmos wolf. How come you showed up instead?"

"Simple. I hijacked the spell, and I will continue to hijack it whenever he tries to summon anything "cosmos" related. If he wants a cosmos, he'll get me. I also refuse to participate in this petty Conjuration Combat game of yours, so don't even think about participating, Sora, because I won't do it."

"But I'm your master," Sora said.

"And I was the one who chose you," she replied, lowering her eyelids. "I can just as easily leave and find another pure-hearted boy or girl out in the worlds who meets my specifications. I've grown to like you, however, so I would like to stick with you until you pass into the next life. And to that end, I am going to train you."

"Yeah, what is that about, exactly?" Naminé asked. "As Sora said, we're already in training."

"And this training will likely serve you well, as your other mishmashes of training have," Cosmos answered. She leaned back and sighed, holding her forehead between splayed fingers of the hand not holding her silver harp. "Honestly, you may just be some of the luckiest and unluckiest youth I've ever come across in my existence. Your homes have been destroyed, your immediate families killed off, and a dark threat looming large in front of you right after you'd defeated the last two threats to the worlds. At the same time, you have people from all over coming out of the woodwork to build you up and make you strong enough to face the darkness. Grand sorcerers, Olympian Gods, wizards, soul reapers, elf lords, adventurers, innkeepers, space rangers, bards, paladins, dragons… and yet not one of the people who has taken an active part of your instruction in any role wields a Keyblade of their own!"

"Meaning…"

"I shall take an active part in your instruction on how to use the Keyblade properly," Cosmos said, flooring all of them. "All of you are self-taught and I know that you fancy yourself a master, Sora, but you are not a True Keyblade Master, not yet. I shall mould you into one, even if I have to break you down and rebuild you from scratch. This place is perfect. With the time distortion in place we should have at least two years with which to work with. That spell of yours is also nice. While it would have summoned one of those pathetic wolves for up to an hour, I have a feeling I can remain here for perhaps six hours a day, which is not necessarily ideal, but it would be a good starting point considering your other obligations."

"Wait, wait, hold up," Kairi said, holding her head in one hand. "Wait. How is this possible? How are you here, why are you here? You said you hijacked the spell? Where? From within Sora's heart? The magic of this world that Yvette has taught us is supposed to be a mental manipulation of the magical energy inherently present in the world to follow our commands through words of power in the language of dragons, appropriate physical gestures to direct the flow of energy, and sometimes the utilization of material components to give power and form to what we are trying to accomplish. Besides that, all of our strength and powers as Keyblade Wielders were stripped from us as soon as we entered Olomund, including our ability to summon you to our hands. How is this happening?"

Cosmos sighed again. "Well, if you want an even simpler answer…" she motioned towards Sora, "then you can thank Sora's heart for calling me here."

"M-my heart?" Sora asked.

"You called for help with all your heart," Cosmos said softly. "Help that would aid you in completing these trials and getting back to your friends in the Realm of Light. That call broke through the restraining order that the Spirit of Adventure placed on all of you as you passed through the door, allowing me to latch onto the spell as you were casting it and appear here instead of the cosmos wolf you were instructed to summon."

"So," she continued. Her fingers strummed on her harp again, sending a delicate tune into the air. Sora, Kairi, Naminé, and Jenny all yelped in panic and dove for cover, but this time no silver stars appeared in the sky above them. Turquoise blobs of liquid manifested instead and splashed onto the three of them she had harmed, as well as the two familiars and digimon who had been beaten down by the Keyblade Spirit. At once all the injuries and fatigue of the short fighting were healed, and they looked up at Cosmos in surprise. "Sora, call me to your hand, you should find that you are able to now, and we shall begin."

"Wait!"

"Yes, Naminé?" Cosmos asked, turning to look at the blonde Keyblade wielder with her head cocked slightly to the side with a questioning look. "Don't you want to become a Keyblade Master? Don't you want to learn from the first Keyblade ever made how to properly use us to our full potential?"

"I—I do," Naminé answered, placing her hand to her chest and looking down slightly. "Learning to become a true Keyblade Master from you is something I never imagined and am incredibly surprised and grateful for. But… shouldn't you do something about Yvette?" All eyes glanced at the archmage on the ground, currently sleeping spread-eagled on the ground with a big smile on her face and a bit of drool leaking out of her open mouth, a comically large sleep bubble emerging from her nose.

"…let her sleep. She mother hens you enough that she'll have a stroke when she sees what kind of training I've got planned for you."

The dark look on her face as she said that last sentence sent shivers through the spines of the young Wielders, and as she chuckled to herself they began to wonder what kind of training from darkest depths of Hell had accidentally been prepared for them.

"Sora, if we survive this, please remember that it's Wednesday today," Kairi said.

"Yeah, and what's so special about that?" he inquired. "Should we have it engraved on matching jewelry saying we survived Wednesday?"

Kairi shook her head. "You promised you and Riku would take me out this Wednesday night to the Lusty Wench. So if we survive, I hope you uphold your promise."

Sora was suddenly not sure what he was more afraid of: his Keyblade being potentially a gym coach from Tartarus, or taking his girlfriend out to a lewd tavern. If Cosmos was merciful the training would kill him so he'd never have to experience the latter.

-A-D-

And scene!

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May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk