And here we go! New World, new mission!
And the reveal should have been obvious with the name, but there will be plenty of references.
And we get to see everyone's favorite blonde Nobody... Roxas! Oh wait no... It's Shaylex XD.
Tenebrae exited his portal and looked around. He seemed to have made it to a forest. There was a break close by and he was able to get a glimpse of some buildings. Most of them had lots of lights hanging.
It was dark, so the lights shone bright. There was also a lot of music playing. It seemed like there was a joyous occasion going on.
There was a lot Light in this World. But there was also Darkness. Luckily it looked like there was a balance, but it was almost tipped. Tenebrae could feel the presence of Heartless.
'I really hope this is the World,' Tenebrae thought as he approached the buildings. He noticed the buildings made a city. 'It is festive, like Corona was. There must be a celebration.'
Tenebrae decided to keep his features showing. Everyone around him didn't seem to bat an eye. They were all to happy with their festival. There were a few odd contraptions on the street, that seemed to be like carts.
'Music isn't all too bad. And everyone has a smile. I guess this place isn't too bad. But why would the Heartless be here?'
Tenebrae walked past a young woman with dark skin, hair and eyes. She had a strong Heart to her. There was a strong Light and determination. However, she looked physically tried, which he didn't comment on.
Tenebrae yawned. He hadn't realized how tired he was himself. He didn't know the area well enough and wasn't sure where he could rest. He went back to the forest he came from. He was able to find a sturdy tree to lean on as he fell asleep. -
It was the smell of food that woke Tenebrae up. That and the same music from last night. It looked like this place was always a party. It was an interesting way of waking up.
Tenebrae stretched and stood up. He was right about sleeping on the ground. He wasn't as sore as he normally was.
Tenebrae found a way into the city undetected. He entered through an alley. He saw people playing music and enjoying themselves. Tenebrae couldn't help but smile as he wandered the streets.
He made a stop at a food stall and got some food. When he pulled out his Munny, it was in a different shape. It looked to be made of paper and coins. Must have been to protect the World Order.
'I keep forgetting how strong the Keyblade magics were,' Tenebrae thought as he got his food. A taste of it had him waking up fully. It was spicy, but not overpowering. 'Wow! This is good! I should still be careful. I don't how this World is with Magic.'
Tenebrae felt a presence. It was Darkness, but it felt familiar. When it disappeared, he felt Shaylex's mana along with another. Tenebrae followed the signatures and came upon a diner, with a sign the read "Duke's".
'Guess I'm in the right World,' Tenebrae thought.
He leaned against a building across the street. He waited as Shaylex and her ally talked in the diner. He felt another presence, the strong hearted one from the other night.
'Could be a coincidence,' Tenebrae thought as he saw Shaylex leave, alone.
Shaylex said something back inside, before she chuckled.
When she got close enough, he said, "You picked a great place to do some Heartless hunting today."
Shaylex turned quickly and saw him. "Tenebrae! Glad to see you got my message."
Tenebrae pushed off the wall and approached her. "Yeah. Glad to see that they hadn't kept you cooped up for to long." He punched her arm lightly, to show he was joking.
"Oh, trust me, I was starting to go crazy in there," she chuckled. "I'm excited to see some action today."
"yeah?" he chuckled. He realized she left her ally as he looked around. "Where's what's-his-name? The red-haired guy who relayed the message to me?"
"Oh Axel? He's on a different mission. Working with our newest member."
"Newest member?" 'With a name like Organization XIII, you would think they had all their members already. Oh well.'
Shaylex seemed upset. She quickly said, "Yeah, I'd rather not talk about it."
'And there went her walls. It is smart not to prod now.'
"Fair enough," he said, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "So where are we heading?"
"To the bayou," Shaylex started to explain. "That's where the Heartless are at their strongest." She pointed towards the forest where he came from. He guessed that was the bayou, since he did feel the Darkness there. "Demyx is staying in town."
"Demyx?" Tenebrae looked at her with a raised eyebrow. That was a new name.
"Oh, another member. He's a coward. He doesn't like to fight much. Which is good for me."
Shaylex started to head towards the bayou. Tenebrae behind her.
Tenebrae chuckled, "Yeah I bet." It was nice to not have to hold back his emotion.
Shaylex nodded and smiled. "Yeah. He's going to do some recon in town, and I'm going to the bayou to take care of the Heartless."
Splitting jobs that worked to their strengths. That was a smart plan.
"Sounds great. Lead the way," he said. As he followed Shaylex, he couldn't shake the feeling of an unfamiliar Darkness. But he thought nothing of it.
As the pair progressed, the change from city to marsh was drastic. You wouldn't have thought such a large uncharted area would be so close to civilization. That didn't matter much when the Heartless appeared.
Tenebrae and Shaylex stood back to back, as the Heartless surrounded them. They summoned their Keyblades and got ready to fight. Tenebrae had an interesting idea.
"How many do you think you could take out?" He asked Shaylex with a chuckle.
He saw Shaylex smile. "I'd say more than you."
"Is that a bet?" His spirit of competition sparked.
"If you want it to be," Shaylex had a smirk. Looks like it was a game.
"You're on!" Tenebrae rushed the heartless in front of him. He cut through a few before he noticed Shaylex had joined the fray.
The pair took their time with the swarm. Tenebrae tried to put what he learned the last week to the test. He noticed Shaylex had gotten stronger too. Her Wind magic seemed to have gotten stronger. Or at least, her skills with it.
He cut through the last Heartless and grinned. As he caught his breath, he asked, "So? How many did you get?"
He felt like he did well, until Shaylex spoke. "I'd say I got at least 40."
Tenebrae's smirk fell before he spoke. "Damn it, I got 39."
Shaylex smiled and jumped up in joy. "Ha! I told you I could!" When she calmed down a bit, she got slightly serious. "Hey, seeing as we have some time to kill, I want to ask you something."
Tenebrae was a little surprised. He dismissed his Keyblade. "Okay, shoot."
"You said, when we first met, that you were a part of a Union, and that all Keyblade Wielders fought in a war many years ago?" Shaylex asked.
"Yeah?" Tenebrae responded. It was what they talked about when they met. It shouldn't be odd that it was on her mind still.
Shaylex continued her thought. "You said that I could potentially be from that time, because of that friend I ran into the night I met you."
Tenebrae nodded to her inquiry. Seeing how this would be a lengthy talk, he found a tree and leaned against it. "Yeah, I remember. Why do you ask?"
"Well last night, I had a dream. Or it could have been a nightmare. I'm not sure." Shaylex looked up at the sky, reminiscing. "But it felt so real, like a memory."
'I have all of my memories, so I wouldn't know how she feels,' Tenebrae thought. 'But maybe it is a memory.'
"A dream that feels like a memory?" Tenebrae asked. "Why don't you tell me about this dream?"
Shaylex started to explain her dream. She explained a wasteland full of Keyblades. Which sounded like the Keyblade Graveyard. She had approached a Keyblade that was familiar to her. She then explained how she saw a figure carry off a girl, who happened to like her. And the figure going through a corridor.
Tenebrae listened until she was done. "Hmm, that does sound like a memory. You were probably at the Keyblade Graveyard. That was the World where the War took place. And that Keyblade you felt familiar presence with, it was probably your Keyblade from before the War." Too many things matched from the Unions, and what he knew. But there was one thing that was odd. "That figure probably saved your life. It looks like you fell during the war… A lot of people did."
Tenebrae clutched his chest as he thought of Laci. She was the only one that he knew fell. Or at least her Light did.
"You were close to someone during that period?" Shaylex's question drew him back.
"Yeah." But there was something nagging at him though. Tenebrae needed to know who she spoke to. "I've been meaning to ask actually. Who was this friend that you ran into that night, from your past? What was their name?"
Shaylex didn't seem disturbed to answer. "Oh, his name was Keval."
The name was not one he expected. It shocked him so much, he pushed off the tree and nearly screamed. "Wait!? Keval!? You were friends with him?"
Tenebrae had overheard him talking about an old friend he found. Of course, the name he mentioned was Ash. If that was a nickname, he doubted it was short for Shaylex.
"You know him then?" the Nobody asked.
Tenebrae tried to get over his shock. But adding Keval's negligence, didn't help quell his fury. "We were in the same Union. He was such a brash individual. Very goal driven. We were kind of like rivals growing up, before I left."
Shaylex looked at the ground, her hand clutching a silver pendant on a necklace she wore. "He seemed that way."
Tenebrae saw how she felt. He knew he shouldn't, but it was probably best the two met again. "Well I can say this about Keval. He has a lot of dreams. And once he has a goal set, he will stick to it until it is achieved." Keval HAD been talking to Cetus regularly, to try and spark her memories. "Try and find him. Maybe he can tell you more about your past."
Tenebrae leaned against his tree. He finally had regained some control over his emotions as Shaylex spoke again.
"Possibly. But how do I know those memories are true?" she asked, looking a bit worried. "He could tell me all sorts of things. How can I tell if they are correct?"
That answer was both simple and complicated. Tenebrae crossed his arms, as he thought how to word his answer. "Well, I guess you'll have to find out and see. I think, once you hear something like a memory, you can tell if it's real or not."
"That's true," Shaylex said. She looked at the path ahead of them. "Shall we continue?"
Tenebrae nodded and stood up. The two Wielders walked down the path, deeper into the bayou. It wasn't long before they came a fork in the path.
This was Shaylex's mission. Which meant she was in charge.
"What do you suggest we do?" he asked her.
"Split up. We can cover more ground and we will meet back up here in about an hour," Shaylex suggested.
Tenebrae nodded. He headed to the path to the left. It took some time and searching before he came across any Heartless. He took his time taking them down. He had some time and wanted to enjoy himself.
As he fought, he let his mind wander. 'Was it right for Shaylex and Keval to meet? I also need to find out who Ash is. Keval mentioned the name, shortly after his meeting with Shaylex. I'd rather not get more involved then I should.'
Tenebrae went only so far into the marsh. He traveled for about 45 minutes be fore turning around. He struck down any Heartless that came his way. The Darkness of the World was stable, but it did seem to have a strong presence. Hopefully, he could figure out how to reduce it.
Tenebrae made it back to the fork in the road in decent time. It looked like he was the first one to make it back. At least he hoped he made it first. His sense of time could have been a bit out of sync, from spending so long in the Realm of Darkness. He decided to wait a bit longer before heading back to the diner.
Tenebrae stood in the path for an extra 15 minutes. Shaylex may have made it first and went on ahead. Tenebrae decided to head back and meet up with her. It wasn't long before he broke the tree line and made it back to the city.
It was late afternoon, when he made it back to the diner. He didn't see Shaylex outside as he walked. He entered the diner, hoping to see a familiar black coat. He did, but it didn't belong to his Partner.
Sitting in a booth, was a blonde-haired young man. He was strumming on a large blue sitar. He had a bit of a punk rock hair style, with his sides shaved and the rest was up. Tenebrae noticed the sitar had the shape of the Nobody symbol.
Tenebrae walked up to the sitar-player, and asked, "Are you Demyx?"
The blonde looked up at him and nodded. "That's me. What can I do for you buddy?" His voice was laid back. It almost pissed Tenebrae off.
"You work with Shyalex?" Tenebrae sat down in front of the Nobody. "I'm her Partner, Tenebrae. I agreed to help her with her collections."
"Oh yeah, I remember something like that," Demyx said. "Well hey, someone interested in fighting makes it easier for me. I'm not much of a fighter."
'I could tell,' Tenebrae thought as he watched the Nobody. He was used to everyone WANTING to go out and fight. 'But this guy is too lazy for his own good.'
"Well hey," Deymx said with a lazy grin, "Why not sit back and relax? Shaylex shouldn't be much longer."
Tenebrae was worried. But there wasn't anything else he could do but wait. So, he relaxed in his chair, and watched the crowd in the diner.
Tenebrae noticed the waitress. She was the same one he noticed when he first came to the World. She had a strong Heart, and Light. If he didn't know better, he would have considered her a Princess of Heart.
The Light was stronger now. The waitress was excited about something. She was practically shining as she worked. She was having fun in the kitchen.
"Someone is in a good mood," Demyx called out. "Did I miss something, Tiana?"
"You wouldn't believe it Demy!" Tiana said with a smile. She failed to notice Demyx blush at the nickname. "I finally have enough money to start my dream. Soon, I'll have a restaurant of my own, just like my daddy wanted."
"Hey that's great," Demyx smiled. "Good for you."
"Thanks sugar," Tiana said. She seemed to finally notice Tenebrae. "Oh sorry, I didn't see you there. I'm Tiana, is there anything you need?"
Tenebrae shook his head. "No thank you. My name is Tenebrae. I'm just waiting for a mutual colleague with… Demyx here. His ally, Shaylex."
"Oh Shay! She's a lovely girl." Tiana had the same bright smile. "I'm surprised I didn't see her when Demy came back."
"Well maybe she is still out?" Demyx chimed in. "It is getting late."
"And that is worrying me," Tenebrae said getting up. He grabbed Demyx by the collar and hauled him up. "You're her teammate, you should be helping. Excuse me Miss Tiana, I need to borrow this idiot."
Tiana giggled at the antics. "Well I don't mind. Hopefully, the next time we meet, it'll be in my new restaurant."
Tenebrae nodded as he dragged the Nobody out the diner. "It's getting late and Shaylex had yet to check in. Shouldn't you have looked for her?"
Demyx put up very little struggle. "And what could I do, man? You two are the fighters. Going to look for her is suicide."
Tenebrae growled as he dragged Demyx into the forest. "Then I guess we'll both end up dead before we find her." -
And here we go with this chapter. For those who haven't seen the movie, this World is based off the Princess and the Frog. The next few chapters will be loosely based off the movie, so expect alot of lines from it.
If you have read Shaylex_Cosplay's story, A New Destiny, then this will be a different perspective. But we will be in this World for a few chapters, and see what Tenebrae learns.
Until then, see you all in the next chapter!
