Chapter 4 - Time to Say Goodbye!

'Diary entry No. 1:

Not really certain what I should write in this thing since I just bought it but… I think I'll input my thoughts during my stay or my adventure.

So, how's my time in Twilight Town been - pretty… interesting. Made a new friend, continuing my ongoing exploration of this town, doing odd jobs. For now, things are pretty calm. This place is quite amazing - a never-ending sunset. A weather like this isn't even possible back on Earth!

As for my current mission, I'm still waiting for any confirmation from my master. No word from Ava for months. I'll be blunt - this waiting around is getting on my nerves. I want to go out and see what's what. Hopefully alongside Olette because I've grown to like her as a friend.

Also, one thing that really annoys me - I can't help but get this feeling that someone is keeping an eye on me. Like an invisible ghost hiding in the shadows. I'll have to keep my guard. According to some people, they keep seeing this boy in a weird get-up: a black coat and his being blinded. Not sure who he is but I'll make sure I never run into his line of view.

Gonna end things here since I'm hearing that the train is arriving - I promised Olette that I would join her for a day at the Twilight Cafe. To be honest, I could use a drink myself since my work on the novel is going very slowly.

- Anya.

Anya finished writing her first entry into her recently bought diary and let out a small sigh. She was currently waiting for the train to arrive which would take her back to the station where Olette was no doubt waiting for her. For the past couple of days, the emerald-eyed girl had been begging her to join for some girl-x-girl time yet Anya was often busy with her odd-jobs or trying to come up with inspiration. Eventually, after much coaxing… Anya agreed to her request. In all honesty, she could do with a distraction or two. Might even help her clear up that writer's block...

'The train is now arriving - please stand back from the edge of the platform and wait until it has made a full stop.' The announcer's voice came from the loudspeakers.

The orange tram had turned around a corner and stopped at the edge of the platform. Its doors opened slowly as a couple of people stepped out onto the Sunset Hills station while Anya got up and entered the insides of the tram. Taking a seat, she let out another sigh before closing her eyes.

Unbeknownst to her however, there was someone keeping an eye on her around the corner in the station. None other than Riku who didn't lower his hood along with the blindfold covering his eyes.

He couldn't help but wonder why DiZ even put him up to this task in the first place. At this glance, this 'Anya' didn't seem like anything special. Just an ordinary kid living in Twilight Town like the rest of its citizens. But if DiZ was ordering him to do something, he had to-

Just then, he overheard footsteps nearby as he turned his head towards the sound and froze. "Damn it! It's him!" He swore before hiding to avoid being spotted.

Coming up the stairs was a young boy whose bright eyes depicted a strong blue color scheme while his golden blond hair was spiky as the front concentrates the spikes on the right side of his head as if windswept while the back is smoother and flakier. He wore a standard black coat with the pants looking more casual and loose while his footwear were a pair of black street shoes. The clock had slightly pointed shoulders and slightly close-fitting sleeves.

He managed to get inside the tram quickly before the doors closed as he let out a breath of relief before sitting down. "F-finally… made it. Ugh…" He swore as he wiped out some sweat that was dripping on his face.

Now he could make it back to the station and have ice cream with his best friend. Nothing else was on his mind except for the faithful meeting with- Huh, who's this?

The boy was surprised that someone else was in the tram except for him. Hmm, a brunette around his age and she was holding a book of some sort. Is she a newcomer to Twilight Town? Possibly…

"Hi." The boy wished to the unknown girl.

She opened her eyes and blinked for a moment before speaking. "Hello as well."

"New to these parts?" The boy asked as the girl nodded before closing her eyes and trying to rest.

"Cool. So… where'd you come from?" The boy wondered with a smile on his face.

Said girl raised a brow at his question. "I… rather not say. I'm not really comfortable discussing my life with a complete stranger wearing… what's with the black coat?" She wondered.

The boy was caught off guard by her question. "Umm… this is my work attire. It's our group's… dress code." He explained.

"I see." The girl nodded before closing her eyes and trying to get some rest.

The boy was a little confused by how blunt she was being along with her vague answers. What exactly was she hiding? He needed more information… Perhaps with the right kind of persuasion she might be willing to reveal more.

It was worth a shot. At least he hoped it was… time to put his skills to the test.

"So… Can you tell me your name? My name is Roxas." He introduced himself.

A few seconds later, the girl just blinked for a moment without saying a word. Roxas couldn't help but frown at how rude she was being right now.

He cleared his throat and tried again. "Okay… so, my name is Roxas. What's yours?"

Unfortunately, the response he received wasn't the one he expected. "Look… Roxas, was it? I'm not really eager to make conversation right now. I have a lot of things on my mind. Plus, I'm going to meet someone in a bit. So, if you'll excuse me…"

The response made Roxas frown. What was this girl's problem? All he wanted was to learn a little bit about her yet she doesn't even want to share anything! How rude!

Before the blond could speak, the announcer spoke. 'The train will be arriving in a few seconds. Thank you for travelling with the Twilight Town Railway Service.'

Roxas cursed under his breath. Now he'll never be able to find out more about the girl! Well, he could follow her in order to learn her name and other important stuff yet he still had a meeting with his best friend. What to do… what to do…?

As he was thinking this, the train had come to halt and its doors were pushed open. Roxas was so absorbed into his thoughts that he didn't hear or see the girl leaving the train and heading off towards an unknown direction.

In the end, Roxas decided to see where she would go to and- Huh!? Where was she!? Wait, the tram ride was over! He immediately rushed off and looked around for any signs of the brunette yet couldn't see her in the station. Damn it! She's gone!

"Great… I just missed her and possibly the chance to learn more about her. Guess I'll go and see how Axel's doing - maybe he has an idea." Roxas told himself before heading off for the clock tower.

What Roxas failed to see was Riku jumping down from the tram and heading for the direction that the brunette girl took. He still had his orders from DiZ after all, even if he minorly disagreed with them.

As he left the station, he was ignorant of the glowing eyes from the ground that had arisen and were taking shape in the form of mysterious ant-like creatures with antennas.

(At the Twilight Café…)

"Sorry for being late, Olette." Anya apologized as she sat down at the opposite end.

Olette shook her head with a smile. "Nah. Don't worry about it. I just got here before you so we're both on time. What's your poison, Anastasia?" She asked.

Anya looked at her suspiciously. "We're talking about drinks, RIGHT?"

"Of course. What did you think I was saying? That I'd order you something poisonous?" Olette questioned with a giggle.

Anya moved her eyes from left-to-right before smiling. "Nah. Jokes aside, what's the tastiest non-alcoholic beverage?" She wondered and stared into her menu.

"Hmmm… tastiest, tastiest… Ah! Try the Sunset Hills delight - a delicious blend of strawberry, lemon and mint flavor mixed with a special ingredient. Costs only 5 munny - results are guaranteed." Olette assured her.

"Sunset Hills delight, huh… let's see here…" Anya trailed off and searched for the specified drink which she found a few minutes later.

Olette had also picked up the menu to see what kind of drinks were there. She wanted something to cleanse her palate. Let's see what's on the menu for today…

Few seconds later, a waiter came by. "Have you decided on your order, ladies?"

"Yep. I'll have a chocolate strawberry milkshake, sir. As for my friend…" Olette trailed off and looked at her friend whose head was still glued to her menu.

The waiter waited patiently for her response which came a few seconds later. "Sunset Hills delight." Anya ordered.

Said waiter chalked down their orders and headed off to fulfill them. Olette couldn't help but grin. "Decided to take my suggestion?" She asked.

Anya shrugged. "Only because I want to know how tasty this drink can be."

"Oh, it's definitely tasty, believe you me!" Olette assured.

Anya was about to open her mouth when someone else spoke. "Activity, Olette?"

Anya and Olette turned to see the same girl that was with Seifer a couple of weeks ago. Though the blue-eyed brunette had forgotten what she was called… Fu-something.

Olette couldn't help but smile and give out her response. "Yep. Hi, Fuu."

Fuu waved at Olette before speaking. "Join?"

Olette was surprised by that question. As far back as they had known each other, they never had a proper conversation mainly due to the fact that Seifer was always being around her and Rai. Fuu would never join in on activities that Olette and her friends were doing. Today was the first time that the light steel-blue haired teen had even suggested something like that.

"Well… I don't mind. As long as Anya's okay with it." Olette said before looking at her friend who just shrugged as if saying 'Whatever she wants to do, I don't have any objection'.

Fuu nodded and took a seat in the middle before opening her mouth. "Newcomer, Anya?" She asked.

"O-oh… yeah. You can say that… so, what's the Disciplinary Committee about? Olette told me a little bit but I'm still not sure what the goal is." Anya admitted.

Fuu was silent for a bit before opening her mouth. "We protect our town… granted, some rules are extreme at times."

"Hmmm… is there a rule against being a jerk like your friend Seifer?" Anya asked but Fuu didn't appreciate the comment.

"Seifer isn't a jerk… he's more of a 'straight-to-the-point' person." Fuu explained.

"If you say so… I haven't done anything to him yet when we met he immediately acted like an ass." Anya reminded her.

"Untrustworthy of strangers." Fuu added as Anya gave a nod.

The waiter came back with their drinks and asked the steel-blue haired girl what she would like. "Sunset Hills Delight." Was her answer much to Anya's surprise.

Once the waiter was gone, Anya looked at Fuu. "You ordered that as well?"

In response to the question, the girl shrugged. "Favorite drink."

Anya nodded before her lips morphed into a small smile. "You… don't talk a lot, do you?"

At that question, Olette opened her mouth. "She doesn't really like having long conversations with people. Like with Seifer, she's a 'straight-to-the-point' person. Plus, she values loyalty a lot."

"OLETTE!" Fuu screeched and hid her face in embarrassment.

Anya was doing her best not to chuckle at how silly Fuu was acting. Despite her short sentences and stoic persona, deep down she had a heart in her somewhere. Yet one thing was still on her mind…

"So… why'd you join us?" Anya questioned.

"Huh?" Fuu removed her hands and raised a brow. Surprisingly, there was a small blush on her cheeks.

"You know - mine and Olette's girl time at the café. Aren't you supposed to be with Seifer today?"

"Ah… not today. Seifer's busy… stuff." Fuu replied as the waiter came back a few moments later with her drink.

Olette couldn't help but stand and grin. "Well, here's to a newly created friendship - between myself, Anastasia and Fuu… but only if she wants to be our friend." She declared and raised her glass.

Anya followed suit and raised her glass as well. Surprisingly, Fuu did the same. "More like an acquaintance but I'll humor you."

They made a toast before sitting down and taking a sip. Riku was watching them from around a corner and was starting to regret following DiZ's orders. He was now convinced that Anya wasn't anything special - just an ordinary kid who had just made some friends.

"Hmmm… maybe I was wrong. She doesn't seem like anything special. I should head back to DiZ-" Riku froze when he spotted a familiar pair of yellow eyes watching Anya and the two girls.

"Damn it! Heartless!" He swore and prepared to summon his weapon to fight them off when…

"What the heck are those things!?" Olette screamed when she saw the glowing eyes that were looking at herself and the girls.

Anya froze. Those eyes… no doubt about it. It's the same ones that had appeared in her dream! The Heartless!

She got up and picked up a chair. "Girls, get out of here! NOW! I'll take care of this!"

Olette and Fuu stared at her as if she was crazy. What exactly was she thinking in her mind!?

Soon, the Heartless had begun resurfacing in different shapes and forms. Olette gulped but Fuu didn't display any emotion except for a small hint of nervousness on her face.

As for Anya she prepared to fight them and buy time for her friends to-

"Olette! What are you doing!?" Anya demanded as Olette ignored her and led her away by the hand. Fuu followed the two girls to safety while Riku had stayed behind to eliminate the Heartless that had appeared.

Taking a deep breath, he held out his hand and summoned Way of the Dawn - an upgraded version of his old sword 'Soul Eater' with some few changes. The once curved wing was now straight along with the Keyblade's guard being composed of one angelic wing and one demonic wing. A dark angelic wing had been added to the top of the original blade to act as the teeth of the key. Its token was none other than the Heartless Emblem, but without the spiked bars crossing it.

Riku moved around quickly and eliminated the small number of Shadows and Soldiers that had appeared. A couple of quick dark-styled spells had also moped up any resistance that had appeared.

Letting out a sigh, he dismissed Way of the Dawn before heading off to find his supposed target. Along the way, he continued eliminating low-leveled Heartless that were popping on the streets.

"Why is this happening now…? The Heartless have never been so active like this before. Something must have set them off. Ah, there she is!"

He was seeing her in the far distance but he froze when he saw the scene in front of him. A dark portal of some kind had opened as the three girls were entering though that wasn't what shocked Riku.

What shocked him was the object that Anya was holding just as she was entering the portal. He decided to take his chances and enter in order to learn more about this… only for the portal to close. He let out a curse along with a sigh.

It would seem that DiZ's words were proven true - the supposed teenage girl known as Anya was definitely special. Riku had to head back and explain this to the scientist.

Who could have figured it out that she was a Keyblade Wielder?

(?)

Anya stared at the object in question with an awed look on her face. So, this is what wielding a Keyblade is like…

She began to examine it more clearly and couldn't help but wonder what the designer was thinking while making it. Its blade looked like a trail of blood with a pentagram while the purple hilt had fang-like spikes on the end. There were bat wings on each side with the chain leading to a token which was a red eye with small wings.

"A vampire-inspired Keyblade… huh. Weird design but… no complaining." Anya commented until she stopped for a moment.

Did… did her master present her this type of weapon simply because she has a thing for vampires? It couldn't be true! Granted, she loved fictional vampires and whatnot on the web but still…

"Anya?" A voice spoke behind her.

Anya turned to see Olette who was looking around the area with an awed expression. From the blue-eyed teen's point of view, her friend had never seen a place like this before. A new experience it would seem.

"Before you ask… I don't know where we are." Anya answered.

"No location?" Fuu questioned having joined them after she was done looking around. Like with Olette, she had never seen anything like this before.

Anya shook her head. "Nothing at all."

"What about that thing in your hand, Anya? It seems… familiar for some reason." Olette admitted.

Anya raised the Keyblade with a surprised look. "You know about the Keyblade?" She asked.

Olette tried to think of where she had seen it before yet her mind was drawing a blank. "It's… familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it. I think I saw a boy wielding such a weapon… actually, it's the same with those yellow-eyed monsters. Said boy had fought off a couple of them around town… at times, my friends and I caught a glimpse yet we didn't pay much attention since we thought that was normal around these parts." She finished explaining.

"Same." Fuu backed up Olette's explanation with an answer of her own.

"I see. So, now the question remains - where are we exactly?" Anya wondered.

"A safe haven. For the time being…" A familiar voice answered her question.

The three girls turned to see a portal from which none other than Anya's master Ava stepped out. A smile made its way onto her lips much to everyone's surprise.

"It has been a while, hasn't it, Anya?" Was her question.

(Back in Twilight Town…)

DiZ stared at Riku in disbelief - more importantly the words that the boy was spouting right now. "Repeat yourself once more." The former ruler of his world demanded.

Riku repeated everything that he had witnessed a while back as DiZ laid back into his chair and shook his head. "Incredible…"

"It would seem that you were right. But we still don't know who she is or what her goal is, DiZ." Riku reminded.

"I'm aware of that… but it doesn't change anything. Things will remain the same until we have managed to restore Sora's memories and his power to a complete level. Right now, Namine is trying to ascertain how many memories that blasted puppet has stolen along with the eventual merging of Roxas into his somebody." DiZ explained as Riku gave a nod.

"Alright. If that's all…" Riku was then cut off by DiZ who spoke. "I'm not finished, boy. We shall continue to monitor Sora's progress but in the meantime I want you to find out where our newly-discovered Keyblade Wielder is and bring her back. With her help, we might be able to awaken your friend faster."

Okay, this was a bit too much… Riku was okay with DiZ's orders on spying on her yet bringing her here against her will? That was a little amoral.

"DiZ… isn't it a bit too harsh? I just found out that she had received her Keyblade today… for all we know she might not even be aware of the Heartless or Nobodies. I don't know about this… it leaves a bad taste in my mouth." Riku explained.

DiZ stared at the boy with an unreadable expression until he opened his mouth. "I understand your concerns, Riku. But we need all the help we can get at this point. The sooner we restore your friend's memories the better. Plus, I'm sure that Sora won't mind a companion on his journey. A new wielder against the Organization might be just what we need." He pointed out.

Riku couldn't really argue against that logic. He still thought that DiZ's idea of bringing the new wielder here was too risky…but the scientist had a point: they could definitely use a helping hand. Plus when the time came, Sora would need as much assistance as possible.

DiZ awaited to see what his answer would be and couldn't help but grin when he saw the boy nod. "Alright. I'll track her down and bring her here. However, what should I do in case she proves to be too stubborn?"

"Explain the situation to her; find a way to convince her to aid us in restoring Sora to normal. If she refuses to comply, bring her regardless. Don't apply too much pressure though - we need her." DiZ reminded.

Riku nodded. It wouldn't be an easy task given what he was going to do… but he would try his best. For Sora's sake… and Kairi's. With everything cleared up, Riku dismissed himself.

DiZ kept the smile on his lips. Soon, he'll have not one but two wielders at his disposal and those damn Nobodies would burn. Xemnas and his Organization would be eradicated soon enough…

Yet for all his intellect and power, DiZ couldn't learn that someone was watching him via a dark corridor with a smirk plastered on their face.

Author's Notes: And we're finally back with another chapter of Rogue Keybearer! At last, Anya and her friends have made the first jump towards their journey along with Riku learning that Anya is a Keyblade Wielder. What a twist! Of course, now DiZ knows about it and has tasked the emo kid to track her down. But he isn't aware of someone watching him and making plans to use Anya for himself and his group. Who was that 'someone' watching DiZ and learning about our heroine? Hint-hint: Eternal Nothingness!

Next chapter we shall be heading off into our first world... just as soon as I figure out what that world can be. So many to choice from yet so little... I need to be creative. Disney, non-Disney ones, anime... I plan to make this story into a very wily one. Hope you all enjoy it! I know it's not my best but I want to express my creativity and imagination!

I don't think anything else needs to be said for now. I'll wish you all a good night or day and leave you to read in peace! Enjoy and don't forget to review, fave and follow! Also, at the beginning of each chapter will be a diary example detailing Anya's thoughts on the journey, her friends, worlds and people she meets. More stuff might be put in there besides words - drawings, sketches and puzzles to solve.

As usual, I don't own Kingdom Hearts nor its characters - they are owned by Tetsuya Nomura! I only own my self-insert Anya and the story! That's all! Laterz!