So this was a fun chapter to write.
These next few chapters will not only give an idea about the other Light Protectors, but also mark a change for Tenebrae himself. So lets start.


Tenebrae awoke feeling refreshed. He could tell got a decent amount of sleep. Though his location would probably need to be changed for next time. Still, it was better than having to be on constant watch, for anything trying to eat his face.

Tenebrae saw some stairs off to the side and descended the clock tower. The stairs led into a train station. He was people giving him odd looks.

'Guess it makes sense,' he thought. 'I don't think anyone should have been up there overnight. Doesn't matter, I should find food and then convene with Keval.'

His stomach started growl. Though he did eat, it wasn't for substance before. Now, it felt like he was about to pass out from starvation. 'Guess the Realm of Darkness muted my desire for food. It must have been because it gave me a constant supply of Darkness.'

Tenebrae headed to the shopping area. He was bombarded with different scents. The smells ranged from flowers to… FOOD!

Tenebrae darted to a nearby stall and practically drooled. He forgotten how amazing some food smelled. And with the stall owner was preparing it, the scent made his stomach growl even louder.

"Sounds like you haven't eaten in days, sonny," the owner laughed. "Gotta keep up your strength, if you want to keep up in the Struggle Tournament this summer."

"Struggle Tournament?" He didn't recognize the name. He was too focused on the smell to care about much else. He wanted to get some food.

The owner laughed and handed him some meat on a stick and a small loaf of bread. "Eat up first. Then we talk." Tenebrae nodded and went to pull out his pouch. The owner stopped him, "No, No. This is on the house. No need to starve yourself, I can already see you may need the Munny for later."

Tenebrae looked at his sleeve and blushed. He hadn't realized how dirty his clothes were. The Realm of Darkness really helped him more than he knew. He took the food and nodded a thanks. He went to a secluded area and ate.

'Now that I think about it, my clothes reconstruct after I get hit. They never did smell or got dirty. It's a wonder what the Darkness can do.'

Tenebrae ate happily as he thought that. It was oddly satisfying, eating again. But now that meant he needed to make sure to earn enough to eat, and he needed to find a place to stay.

As soon as he finished eating, Tenebrae headed back to the apartment complex. He walked by Cetus's shop as she was setting up for the day. He did feel a bit worried, but she seemed to be leading a good life. He made it to the apartment Keval showed him and knocked three times.

It was Keval who opened the door. "Morning bud! Good to see you."

"Sure. Good," Tenebrae sighed. "Look, I'm not going to join your group, but I don't mind going on pair operations with them. It will help me to gather information."

"Uh-huh. Well you may want to clean up first, dude," Keval was scratching his face nervously. "You kind of smell, and it looks like you haven't bathed in a while."

There went his good mood. Tenebrae had to suppress his growl. "I planned to. I don't have a place to stay and I haven't exactly been in a place where I can wash up. Let me use your shower, and I'll worry about my clothes later."

"Fair enough." Keval moved aside, so Tenebrae could enter. "We'll get your clothes washed quick. We have a good… method."

Tenebrae noticed Keval shudder. 'Odd. He was never one to be skittish. Must have been my imagination.'

Tenebrae followed Keval to a room near the back. When the pair entered, he could tell it belonged to Keval. There were motivational and training posters around. He even had some small training equipment.

"Here you go," Keval said as he handed Tenebrae a towel and cleaning rag. "Leave these on the flower when you're done. And if you leave your clothes outside the door, we'll get them cleaned."

Tenebrae took the items and walked into the bathroom. He inspected himself quickly. He WAS dirty, blood-stained and ragged. How had he not noticed before now? Even his hair had a hint of dirt.

Tenebrae removed his clothes and tossed them out the door. He placed his goggles on the sink as he started the shower. 'And another thing I need Munny for is clothes. It most likely seems like I won't be able to rely on the Darkness for everything.'

Tenebrae hopped in the shower. He took his time washing up. So much dirt and grime came off his body. It must have accumulated from all the time he spent in the Realm of Darkness. Tenebrae actually couldn't recall the last time he had a proper shower. And the amount of dirt come from him showed just that.

Tenebrae finished up and dried himself off. He wrapped a towel around his waist. He hadn't felt this clean in a long time. 'Guess I really forgot such simple things.'

Tenebrae exited the bathroom and waited at the door. He had no clothes and he doubted any of Keval's would fit him. He just had to wait until his were ready. Tenebrae wasn't sure when that would be.

Luckily, he didn't have to wait long. Keval came back in with his clothes. The blonde Wielder had a smile on his face as he handed Tenebrae his clothes.

"Here you go!" Keval said happily, "Washed and ready to go."

"Huh?" Tenebrae tilted his head. He had been in the shower for, at best, 15 minutes. There was no way his clothes could have been washed and cleaned in that time. "But how?"

"We have our ways." Keval rubbed a finger under his nose.

'Magic, of course.' Tenebrae took his clothes and went back into the bathroom. He put them on as he thought. 'If they are with Keval, they haveto be Wielders. Which means they have access to magic.'

Tenebrae left the bathroom after resting his goggles on his neck. Keval wasn't in the room when he came out, and he could hear talking on the other side of the door. Tenebrae left Keval's room and saw the same group from yesterday.

Keval was the first to notice him. "Yo bro! Come on and eat. Mojie makes some great scrambled eggs."

Mojie, the only girl, used her hair to cover her face. "They aren't anything special. Just a basic recipe."

Rylan spoke up, "They are pretty good, don't doubt yourself."

"I already ate," Tenebrae said, walking towards the door. "I'm only here to meet up for a mission. And not a group one. I just need some training."

"Ha! So, I was right about ya!" Ray laughed. "You really do need us. Why not just stay?"

"Because I have other things to do," Tenebrae sighed, keeping his emotions balanced. "I have a teammate, and if she comes by, I won't be helping you lot." He leaned back on the doorframe.

"Well you said you need training," Solas spoke up. "Why not go to the Coliseum?"

'The place with those Games?' Tenebrae turned to look at the brunette Wielder, "And why should I go there?"

Keval shot up. "No, it's perfect. We should both go! This way we can see how well the both of us have improved."

Tenebrae sighed but looked at Keval. "Why not. I can use the training."

"Cool!" Keval ate the rest of his food quickly, before heading to the door. "You ready Tenny?"

"Call me that again and I'll destroy you." Tenbrae growled.

Keval stepped out of the apartment. He opened a portal and stepped through. Tenebrae followed behind.

Stepping out of the portal, Tenebrae was surprised by the architecture. The white pillars, the two golden statues, and the golden sands. It had been a while since Tenebrae felt the thrill of wanting to experiment. He noticed a few boards behind the pair, showing a scoring system. At the top of each board, the name 'Sora' appeared.

'Sora? Wasn't that one of the people that fought Maleficent?' Tenebrae thought, 'And Shaylex mentioned that name.'

"This way," Keval said, heading to a green door between the two statues.

Tenebrae followed Keval closely. The two entered a small vestibule. 4 trophies could be seen on two separate ledges. An opening, leading to some cheering, was across the way.

Tenebrae's eyes widened as he saw a small…man? Goat? Thing!? Tenebrae blinked in surprise as the small person(?) was cleaning a plaque.

"Yo! Phil! How's it going?" Keval was waving and grinning like a fool.

Phil, if that was what he was called, flinched. He slowly turned toward the pair and smiled. It looked like he was forcing it.

"Well, well, if it isn't my third biggest headache.: Phil said cheerfully. "What brings you by this time?"

"Me and my buddy here are hoping to train wit you." Keval said.

Phil sighed. "I already told you, I'm not taking new trainees. And as I told ya, you got a good heart. But aren't using it right. And what's the matter with him?" Phil pointed to Tenebrae.

Tenebrae flinched. He didn't realize he was staring. Phil was a unique creature. He was short and stout. He had the legs of a goat, and horns to match. But his head stomach and arms were human and hairy. Tenebrae had been lost for words.

"What you never seen a satyr before?" Phil asked.

Tenebrae coughed to regain his composure. Phil's appearance had caused his mind to start working on theories. He was an anomaly. But that may have been because of the World itself.

"I actually haven't," Tenebrae tried to sound calm, but his mind was racing. "I'm new to the area. Keval and I met up again by chance, we used to work together. I wanted to see how well he improved."

"Well that I can do," Phil said with a smile. "I can set up the Arena for a spar or a trial."

"Let's do a trial first," Keval said, "This way we can make it interesting."

"You got it kid!" Phil walked through the door wa, out of sight.

"Interesting, how?" Tenebrae said when Phil left. The Seeker crossed his arms as he looked at Keval.

"Don't you think we should have a wager?" Keval smirked. "It'll make the training more intense."

"Or we can just train, with no reason other than to get stronger," Tenebrae said. "Not everything is a competition. That's what caused the War in the first place."

"Geez, when did you become so gloomy." Keval still had a smile. "Fine, how about when we spar together, loser buys lunch?"

"I'll let you know after the trial," Tenebrae said, noticing Phil walk up. "What exactly is the trial?"

"The rules are simple," Phil said, starting to pace, "We have barrels set up all over the arena. The two of you will have two minutes to destroy as many as you can. Aftertime is up, we'll count up your score. Use any means you can to break them quick."

'Easy enough,' Tenebrae thought, 'How hard can this be?'

The two Wielders walked through the doorway. On the other side, was a large stage wit h four pillars posted at the corners. As Phil said, there were barrels spread around the surface. But there didn't seem to be alot.

"We could start the wager now." Keval grinned, "What do you say?"

"I say you are acting like a trainee," Tenebrae said as he walked onto the stage. "But I'll humor you, loser buys lunch."

Keval cheered as he ran onto the stage. The pair stood back to back in the center. Both summoned their Keyblades and prepared.

"All right guys," Phil came out with a flag. He raised it in the air. "3… 2… 1… GO!"

A whistle sounded as Tenebrae dashed forward. He homed in on a close barrel and swung at it. He was able to knock it away into another one, breaking them both.

Tenebrae was a bit surprised when more barrels appeared. 'That's interesting,' He thought as he broke a few more. 'And this method is time consuming.'

Tenebrae heard a crash of lightning. He turned to see Keval riding a stream of lightning. Keval was using it to ram into the barrels and causing a chain reaction.

'I forgot how much natural talent he had.' Tenebrae thought. 'And now I feel stupid for not using magic.'

Tenebrae focused his element. Mines appeared on the ground in specific locations. He ran to a barrel and hit it with a flame coated Keyblade. The barrel went flying into one of the mines, which detonated. The blast sent the barrel flying through another, then into another mine. This caused a chain reaction of 4 more times before the first barrel broke.

'That was fun, but now is time to end this.'

Tenebrae raised his Keyblade and summoned a purple fireball. "Dark Firaga Burst!" Smaller balls of fire shot out of it and covered the arena. They destroyed many barrels, as a whistle sounded.

Tenebrae dismissed the spell. He noticed how much mana it consumed. He also felt how draining using the Darkness became.

"You both did well," Phil said walking onto the stage. "But Keval was the one who broke more barrels. Not going to lie, new guy, the last trick almost helped. But Keval has done this a couple of times and knows some tricks."

"I figured," Tenebrae sighed. It was weird, he had fun. He always thought training had to be to achieve a goal. But the training just now proved that wasn't always the case. "Guess my solo training was a bit stagnant."

"You do seem to be more like this young woman I knew." Phil said. "She was a magic user like you. But she had the grace of a trained swordswoman. Keep that in mind, magic only gets you so far. You need the skill to back it up."

"Noticed," Tenebrae smiled. "Well I'm up to go again. What do you say, Keval?"

"You're on, Tenny!" Keval said with a smirk.

'And there went my mercy.' -

15 minutes later, Tenebrae was leaning on a wall gasping for air. '5 losses!? HOW!?'

Keval kept winning. No matter what strategy he tried, he always fell short. Keval's natural talent always helped him pull ahead.

"You sure you want to keep doing this?" Keval had barely broken a sweat. At best, he was glistening. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"Fine, whatever," Tenebrae slumped against the wall and sat. He breathed deeply to regain his energy. He hadn't pushed himself so hard before. It was actually a pleasant feeling.

"I'll admit," Keval came by with some water for him, "You've gotten stronger, no doubt. But I'm worried about the Darkness you keep using."

"It's fine," Tenebrae replied, accepting the drink. "It's a natural thing. I just found a way to channel and command mine. That is what my research was for."

Keval just seemed worried at the statement. "Uh-huh? Well, I'm starved. What say I cash in on your loss?"

Tenebrae stood up. "Normally I'd say go die. But I did agree to the wager. Let's go before I change my mind."

The pair left the arena. They left through a giant gate that separated the Coliseum from a town. Tenebrae had no idea that such a thing existed in this world. Keval lead the way into town.

"I know this awesome stand that sells these things called gyros," Keval said as they walked, "They are like a sandwich, but man are they tasty."

Tenebrae truly missed Keval's positivity. Being alone for so long, he realized now how jealous he was. Keval was everything he wasn't. Strong, caring of his friends, an overall good person. Tenebrae never wanted to admit, but he wanted to be just like his Union mate.

The two made it to a stall. Keval ordered the food, and Tenebrae paid. When the gyros were ready, they both dug in. The flavor was explosive. Savory, meaty, with the right spices. Tenebrae was so lost in the flavors; he didn't realize he ate it all.

Keval laughed, "You act like you haven't eaten in years, man."

Tenebrae rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. While Keval may have been joking, the statement was fairly true. Tenebrae didn't want to give Keval the satisfaction.

Keval finished his gyro soon after. "Ah! That hit the spot. Ready to call it a day?"

"I don't see why no…" Tenebrae felt a surge of Darkness. He ran to it quickly and was greeted by a swarm of Heartless.

Keval was right behind him. "Guess we can do a bit more training." He laughed.

"This is serious!" Tenebrae barked.

Both Wielders summoned their Keyblades. They charged into the oncoming swarm. Fire and lightning destroyed the Heartless left and right. When larger Heartless appeared, Tenebrae got an idea.

"Keval!" He called out. He summoned a large fireball and lobbed it towards Keval. "Use your lightning and aim for them!"

Keval nodded and sent a bolt of lightning through the fire. The two spells mixed, before impacting one of the larger Heartless. The resulting explosion wiped out the rest.

"Guess you can only see some skill in the heat of battle, huh Tenny?" Keval said, stretching. "He looked at Tenebrae, confused. "Tenny?"

Tenebrae's mind was racing. He had remembered feeling the same barrier, like the one in Traverse town. A barrier that protected the World's Heart. But was Kingdom Hearts not closed? Those Heartless were above average. Had all those people failed? What of Shaylex?

"TENEBRAE!"

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Keval. "I'm sorry. My mind was going nuts. Too much new information hurts sometimes."

"I guess now would be a good time head back then." Keval opened a portal and motioned for Tenebrae to follow.

The pair appeared in the tunnel next to the train station. Keval left first and motioned for Tenebrae to follow. The pair walked down the hill to the shopping district. They had passed by many who waved at Keval. Tenebrae noticed the genuine smiles they had.

'There are even some women looking at him, like THAT,' Tenebrae thought. 'He hasn't lost that natural charisma. But again, if he is alive, then what does that make Heloa?'

The pair made it back to the complex. When they entered the apartment, it looked like no one was back yet. Keval headed to the kitchenette and grabbed a drink. He tossed one to Tenebrae, who caught and drank it.

"Why did you want to be my friend?" Tenebrae asked, leaning on the doorframe.

"Huh?" Keval seemed shocked. It WAS a random question. But Tenebrae wanted to know.

"Of all the Wielders, in each of the Unions, why did you seek me out? Why, for so long, did you try and be friend me?"

Keval looked a little bashful and scratched his chin. "Well to be honest, it was mostly because we were both in the same Union. But after we trained and did missions, it was for another reason. It was because you are strong. You have a lot of potential that you wasted by being in the library. I had hoped the being with the Light Protectors would help you to grow."

Tenebrae was shocked. Of all the people he knew, Tenebrae always thought Keval saw him as weak. 'And how could I think otherwise. His talent was natural. I studied but still couldn't keep up.'

"I see," Tenebrae tried to look composed and calm. "I had no idea you thought that. Well I should go. Today was… fun." Tenebrae turned and opened the door.

Keval called out to him. "You know, you are welcome to stay. It'd be cool to have you with us."

Turned away from Keval, Tenebrae put a hand to his chest. Tenebrae could feel his Light within him, and sighed. "At the moment, I'm waiting on a response from my partner. And I prefer to stay alone. Just… just let me keep our current arrangement."

"Alright dude." Keval said. Tenebrae could hear the heartbreak.

Tenebrae left the complex and went to the shopping district. It was late in the afternoon, so plenty of people were out and about. He saw Cetus selling her flowers to a smiling couple. The scene was both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

His thoughts went Laci, and that figure he remembered during his travels. He let his mind wander as he walked to an alley. 'Was that Laci in the Realm of Darkness? That girl looked just like her. But she didn't have the same aura as before. And if Keval survived, then who's to say she didn't.'

Tenebrae leaned against the wall and sat. After the events of today, he just wanted to relax. He couldn't recall a time he had genuine fun in competing. Healthy competition did seem to help him improve.

'Guess I'll keep an open mind with that next time,' he thought as he yawned. 'Maybe it can make up for lost time.' Tenebrae drifted off to sleep. It looks like he used more mana than he thought. -


And here is the chapter. Thanks again Kale Thunderhorse Lampkin, for letting me use Keval. And yes there is a connection between Keval and Heloa. If you guys can figure it out, good job but don't spoil it yet.
I also needed a way to ease Tenebrae back into the Realm of Light and show his current strength against a sentient opponent. So let's have fun with the next one too. BYE!