Last chapter name: That KH1 track that plays when you fight a Heartless boss mainly in the first half of the game, made a return when fighting Gigas and in Verum Rex in KH3

With the previous chapter's pre-chapter notes, I got a handful of feedback and responses and I'd like to thank you guys for giving me those opinions (and yes, even the distasteful ones I'm not gonna cry over those). I'm also not going to downplay some of your concerns because glossing over my rendition of Volume 1, it is debatable how much focus he was really getting if you were worried that Sora isn't getting too much of the spotlight. Rest assured I've already planned a rather general roadmap since like Chapter 5 that goes more into Sora (starting now) and his place on Remnant. My hopes in fleshing out not only Sora but also the rest of the main cast is mainly attributed to how My Hero Academia is good at that. But obviously I am not as good as Horikoshi with that, but I'm trying anyway! Like Hero Aca, there will be times where another character that's not Sora will get a chapter or two dedicated to them (honestly it's common in shounen for that sort of thing) but at the end of the day, Sora is the central character and I haven't even scratched the surface yet.

Certainly I have plans for how this story is heading but there's never an inopportune time to receive and learn from second opinions; I'm gonna rock with it and keep those in mind. Also, thanks for the 200 follows! Appreciative of those who are willing to give this story their time of day and especially those I see who've been here for a while. Many thanks!

Now let's get back to Sora and what the hell he's gonna do now…


Ch.10 - Ghosts from the Past

Ruby was red with embarrassment like the color of her cloak, others like Yang and Sora groaned, and the rest were silent. The shared mood was one of disgruntlement.

"Know that you all did this upon yourselves. The shop heist should've especially taught you two," Glynda motioned towards Sora and Ruby, "that participating in these matters without official Huntsmen permission or license would follow with consequences; no matter how skilled you are. That is why a week of detention is a warranted punishment." The vice-Headmaster finished addressing Team RWBY, King, and Velvet. They were all in Ozpin's office, the Headmaster himself as per usual behind his desk with his long time friend by his side.

Sora was really tempted to tell Glynda that the reason why everyone was at the docks was all because of him. That being said, doing that was also somewhat a bad idea for him because that might force Sora to have to give insight of who the people he saw were… and he wasn't so sure he'd want to reveal his cards so soon. Across from Sora, Ozpin studied Sora's face. The Headmaster definitely discerned that Sora was hiding something and didn't know if what he was thinking about was worth mentioning. He decided to say nothing about it for now, nor was he going to mention how a normally talkative Sora hasn't said a word since he stepped foot into the office.

The other blond in the room that wasn't Glynda decided to speak up, "But at least we managed to prevent Torchwick from getting all of the Dust he wanted from that Schnee cargo. We also found that the Fang are even capable of getting their hands on unreleased Atlas tech and we managed to survive without major injury!"

Glynda slapped Ozpin's desk with her crop, startling everyone but Ozpin who expected this response. "Then consider yourselves lucky no one was critically injured as unfortunately more established Huntsmen have faced worse consequences in similar situations. No matter what you kids think about your abilities after this, we do not want any possibility of any of you to meet your ends early. Do I make myself clear?"

The response was a mix of firm and disgruntled "Yes", meanwhile Yang took a glance at Velvet. The blond felt extremely guilty for not helping Velvet with her whole burning dilemma. She was so focused on trying to put Roman six feet under her instinct was to pummel rather than rescue. It was always an issue with her: act first, think about the consequences later. Without intervention from her team and Sora, Velvet might as well have bitten the dust in one of the most agonizing ways possible. Unable to look at Velvet for another second out of guilt, she looked down at her fists and they and her teeth clenched.

"Dammit…", she muttered under her breath. Unbeknownst to her, Weiss took notice and knew what Yang was thinking about. Even if one didn't know the exact situation, one could tell from looking at Velvet that she wasn't exactly unscathed. While the burning grease didn't directly burn onto her skin thanks to her Aura, her clothes were singed in spots all around and her face and ears had different coloration indicating that she was exposed to flames for a prolonged period. Even with the protection of Aura, Velvet felt some pain from the fire.

Even though she has not known Yang for long, Weiss was pretty sure that this night was a huge hit on Yang's pride.


After a few more minutes of lecturing, the students were dismissed for the night.

"Well I have to get back to my dorm. It's definitely nice finally seeing the real you, Blake." Velvet smiled.

"O-oh… it's the most I can do I guess."

"Well, you all have a good night and I'll see you all in detention, hehe." The group had a collective chuckle as Velvet finally went her separate way. Teams RWBY and King then talked towards their dorms, small chatter between them as they walked. It was notably more… quiet this time, and that was because Sora was oddly silent.

Unless in a place or setting that required being quiet, Sora would be the most social member out of their three teams. That really says something when someone is more social than Yang. He really stood out like a sore thumb and it was even somewhat agonizing to the rest of them to NOT hear him talk for this long. He hadn't even talked since the Fang got away with some of the Dust. Nearing their dorm building, the leader of Team RWBY spoke up.

"Sora, are you ok?"

Everyone turned to Sora, who initially was spaced out until he noticed all eyes were on him.

"Huh? Oh…"

"You've been oddly silent since we were still at the there something on your mind?" Charlemagne chimed in.

Sora looked a bit downwards in a thinking stance, "How should I say this to you all…"

It was Weiss who picked it up, "Is it about those people with the masks? I saw them when I was tending to Velvet." Sora could only nod to that.

"Sora," Charlemagne continued, "when I got to you, you were fighting one of them: the one with the leopard mask. Then two more came by later, one bear mask and snake mask yet I can't help but notice the weapons that they all had."

"Their basic shapes look awfully like your Keyblades, are those Keyblades?" Blake finished it up.

Sora sighed, "Seems like it…"

"Should we be worried about Torchwick, the White Fang, and rogue Keyblade wielders banding together for some scheme? Weiss brought up. This got the others to be a bit uncomfortable with that notion.

"Do you know those people? Are they from your island?" Yang asked.

"I have never seen those people before, but to see other Keyblade wielders outside the island is a rare thing." Sora was rather certain none of them saw Sora talking to the man in the black coat which might've enforced their idea that Sora knew who they were. Thinking about the black coat man made him instinctively clench his fists, that didn't go unnoticed by the group.

He continued shortly after, "There's a lot that I have to find out about this. With the training that comes with being a Keyblade wielder, wielders siding with the likes of Torchwick and the White Fang is definitely not a good thing."

"But the ones working with them weren't the only Keyblade wielders. Charlie, Blake, remember the ones who saved us?" Ruby brought up which got approvals from both students.

"I think those looked like clones. It looked like they were wearing the same attire as those other Keyblade wielders, but they wore a fox mask. Defected from the group perhaps?" Blake elaborated.

It got Sora even more exasperated as he started to massage his forehead. A masked Keyblade wielder that was on their side? What was tonight? He wanted answers.

Sora turned the other direction, "I'm gonna head to the library."

"Wait! Why?" asked Ruby.

"There are some questions I need answered. This isn't making a whole lot of sense to me. I need to be alone in this right now, as I feel I would understand the most." Sora began running towards the library.

"Wai— and he's gone", Yang attempted to get his attention but he already set off.

"I'm worried, this isn't a side of Sora I would've thought of seeing." Ruby said.

"This whole night, it's just making us question more about what he isn't telling us."

"Couldn't agree less, Blake. But I think we should leave Sora to his devices right now. We all know that when he sets his eyes on something, he is willing to spend his whole will trying to get it." Charlemagne added as he walked inside the dorm building. Tentatively, team RWBY followed.

Unbeknownst to any of them, a fox envoy was watching them hidden in the bushes before setting off. After traveling outside of the Beacon campus and into the Emerald Forest, it stopped at someone's feet. The person kneeled down, revealing a young looking woman in robes and the top half of her head covered by a fox mask. She looked at the fox, looking like a silent conversation was happening.

"Sora, you came at the right time…"


*peck*, *peck*… *peck*

"Ah darn, didn't mean to press enter…"

The islander didn't really progress as much with using the computer since the daunting machine that was Ansem's computer. Even being on a technologically advanced world like Remnant for a month now did barely anything to really ease Sora's technological illiteracy.

Scrolls are usually everyday tech easily accessible to everyone, but seeing Sora use a computer made some students start to think that maybe they shouldn't take their Scrolls for granted. Sora really only used the Scroll to check his "Aura", call people, and take photos. Other than that, Sora was usually not using any of Remnant's technology and it's to the point where the professors that assigned typed essays were used to Sora turning in written essays.

Tonight was an occasional exception as he attempted to slowly look through the Internet, the slow tappings of the keys produced from his amazing hunt and peck typing form.

"Let's see what I can put… Key… blaaaade." Sora inserted the term 'Keyblade' into the search engine and when he pressed enter…

"No way, zero results?"

Honestly it sort of makes sense since Keyblade wielders are usually told traditionally to not meddle into the affairs of a world. That part of being a Keyblade wielder most certainly does not mean anything to Sora as he's never been to a world where he has not dabble directly with the situation of the people. But certainly the no meddling "rule" is a good guess for why there are absolutely no results for Keyblade if any Keyblade wielders of the past visited here.

And that troubles him since clearly the black coat man and the masked wielders seemed to have visited this place at least once. Sora had to think of something else. For the next hour, he searched arbitrary terms such as "key", "heart", "heartless" (which he found two banger songs of the same name), and "nobodies" just for any sort of lead; any sort of correlation to where he came from.

Sora slumped in his seat after coming up with nothing. The Keyblade wielders of the past must've hid their tracks extremely well in order to leave no trace of their involvement in this world.

Wait.

"What is this world? I've been here for about a month already, and there hasn't been a single Heartless. As long as there is darkness in the hearts of the people, they will inevitably come. There are no Nobodies either because of that…"

Wait.

Sora felt he was reaching an epiphany, specifically the reason how he got to all of this. All the stuff that was told to him about the power of waking, stuff about "the ultimate sacrifice" and the "high price".

'Your time… in this world is—!'

Why would Young Xehanort use "world" in that way? He definitely wasn't going to die in the Keyblade Graveyard with the benefit of hindsight nor is he technically dead for what he assumes right now.

"What would Yen Sid or Ansem the Wise think of this? Would they come up with some explanation?"

Sora absentmindedly scrolled down the search engine, still heavily thinking about his predicament. He was ready to just give up for the night, currently just looking at the overview satellite map of Vale for no reason. It was good anyways to familiarize himself more with the area now that he knows the Internet has a map feature. Oh, weird how those series of roads are kind of rounding out a shape—

Sora stood straight up.

This was rather late at night so nobody was really around him, but that didn't really matter as Sora was all in his own head. He observed a very interesting pattern or rather shape a series of roads formed in the middle of the city.

A keyhole shape. One road was named 'Caelum Road'.

Sora took a picture of the computer screen with his phone to have the picture of the place on the map. He will get to the bottom of this.

And this might just be a coincidence, but he was convinced this could be a lead.


"She's… a Faunus?"

"I never would've seen that coming."

"Makes me wonder who else could be hiding their Faunus traits."

"Those cat ears are cute… hey!"

That was mainly the sorts of things that Blake heard walking around the campus. With her cat ears finally out in the open, she finally showed them with pride. That also meant her hearing was less obstructed by the bow, so she heard more stuff when she focused on it. Some comments were… unsavory but this isn't the first time she's heard something distasteful and it wouldn't be the last.

Her partner slung her arm on Blake's shoulder, "Hey, Blake. Don't go stealing my thunder. The boys' attention is now leaning more towards you than to me."

"Y-Yang!"

"Ahh… I wouldn't say it's just Blake who's getting a lot of attention," Pyrrha cut in, "I think the whole student body has been made aware of your encounters last night."

Ren pulled out his Scroll as Team RWBY and JNPR watched a recording of a news report covering the aftermath of the docks incident. Footage managed to capture the teens making their way to a Beacon Bullhead that was there to pick them up. Their names or teams definitely weren't mentioned, even though some would know Charlemagne.

Ruby spat out her milk, "Oh smokes! Dad is gonna be pissed again finding out I snuck my nose into stopping criminal activity twice!"

"Detention sure wouldn't be the worst thing we'll have to go through," Yang shivered at the thought of what Taiyang might have in store as punishment.

"Still can't believe you guys somewhat impeded a Dust heist. Thought you all were leaving the city for the night." Jaune said.

"Well we were, but we noticed that Blake was making her way towards the docks and she was our whole reason we were in the city so we couldn't lose her," Ruby explained.

Blake for once wasn't reading her book so she had full attention of the conversation, "I think it's best to tell what really happened. Sora lied about not catching me…"

"With his Flow, how did we not question that?" Jaune was scratching his head.

"I fought Sora because I couldn't shake off my stubborn ideals and he won easily. He had to carry me back to their room, where I stayed to think about everything. Then last night, Sora abruptly left the room in a hurry. He looked… very panicked. I did what I thought needed to be done and pursued him along with Charlie and Velvet. The rest is history."

"What's got Big Shoes up in a tizzy?" Nora asked while biting into a pancake.

"Unsure, but I'm taking a good guess it had to do with the masked Keyblade users, the White Fang's heist seemed to be a coincidence."

"Not true," Weiss had to correct Pyrrha, "Torchwick seemingly is in coordination with those masked people. I think that's cause for concern… especially if Sora reacted like that."

The table fell into some silence… almost not noticing the man of the hour coming by with his lunch.

"Hey! What's with the long faces?"

Quick to respond, Nora came up with a fake reason, "Oh we're just thinking reeeaallllyy hard about what hair product you use. Are you sure you don't use Red Sap on your hair?"

"No! This is all natural!"

"Are you really sure about that?" Charlemagne arrived and sat down at the table.

"Hey, you live in the same room as me! Aren't you gonna vouch for my case?"

"Dunno what you're talking about." His teammate had a coy smirk on his face.

"Oh you definitely know what I'm talking about!"

The group had a laugh, watching as Sora was poked fun at a bit more. As quick to emotion as he was, he honestly did not take any offense to it. So as the group settled and started talking about arbitrary topics, he began to wander into his mindscape. The events and information of last night weighed heavily on his thoughts. Try as he might to put on a composed and friendly facade, it was a facade at the end of the day. Sora wore his emotions on his sleeve and that got some of his friends to notice an unusually reserved Sora.

"Hey you all," Sora got the attention of his friends, "I was just wondering if there's anything of note on the area around Caelum Road? The name really reminds me of a story I was once told about a city of the past."

"Caelum Road?" Yang thought for a moment, "I think that's kinda close to the red light district."

Sora hasn't gone to too many areas around the red light district, so he knows now which part of Vale he should explore.

"Of course you'd know since you like to go to that one bar. What did dad keep telling you Yang?" Ruby attempted to remind her sister of what Taiyang said.

"Trust me Rubes, when you get older you'll appreciate when it's fine to let loose and jam out. Plus, I'm getting closer to the leads and that place provided a good clue."

Ruby knew better than to dissuade Yang in her pursuit to find out who her mother is. Despite all the subtle dissuasions from Taiyang, Yang has continued to actively search for her mother's whereabouts ever since she began Signal.

"Ughh if you say so… and about Caelum Road, there is a small park around that area and what's interesting about it is a rock with some carving in the middle of the park. There's many strange marks on it, but there's a big heart carving."

"Really?" Sora's interest did not go unnoticed.

"Yeah, it's weird because that rock looks so old so maybe the first settlers of Vale made it?"

Ren spoke up, "I think from what I read, that stone predates even the early Kingdoms and Great War. It really makes it one of the oldest landmarks in Vale right now."

That must've been around a century ago, the time Yen Sid has mentioned when Keyblade wielders were abundant in numbers, then the first Keyblade War ended that era.

"So if the name of the road reminds you of a story you were once told, you think you might learn more about those people in masks?"

Sora pondered on Charlemagne's question, "Hopefully I'd get something from this Charlie… though I do wanna request that I do this alone."

Weiss frowned, "So after the events of last night, you still want to dive head first into these matters?"

"We also have detention for a week, which specifically prohibits us from leaving the campus." Blake added.

"I believe these matters are urgent, I'll find a way to get off campus undetected."

"But Sora," Charlemagne had to cut him off, "we don't know if you are also going to deal with people similar to the ones at the docks. Even one of those masked figures could no doubt outmatch a full team of veteran Huntsmen I feel."

Sora looked around the table, seeing the concern written on everyone's face. Their feelings on this matter were valid and Sora could understand their perspective. He has dealt with his fair share of enemies that are on par with those Keyblade wielders, but that doesn't mean he could easily get his friends to grasp this notion. Still… this situation mattered very much to him, as it could provide him much insight on how this world is connected with Keyblade wielders.

The spiky haired teen stood up, "I get it, you are all concerned and I am thankful for that. I would like to tell you guys more… but there's things that Keyblade wielders have to keep secret."

The table was mainly silent, Blake narrowed her eyes a bit and Sora could guess why; after all the Faunus just had to reveal major secrets about herself

"This sounds ridiculous, I know, especially after what we just went through. There's a reason why anything about the Keyblade is so secret and well-kept, there is a sort of 'order' we must protect. So I believe as a Keyblade wielder, it is what I must do to learn more about the past and what lies under what I really know."

There was a moment of silence between all of them, Sora's friends really trying to understand this situation. Most of them showed concern and a pinch of doubt, but those were mostly overshadowed by their curiosity with Sora's conviction and reasoning. And what seems like a first, Charlemagne had an unreadable expression.

"So your mind is made up, huh?" Charlemagne asked, and Sora nodded.

"We'll let you off this once," Yang chimed in, "but next time you're thinking about doing this sort of stuff, you will let us help you." It didn't take much thought for their group to know that Yang still felt really bad about Velvet's bout with fire last night. She did not want something like that to happen again, which Sora felt bad too since it was because of him that they were all caught up in that mess.

The air was a bit intense from Yang which made Sora a bit uneasy. Fortunately, Nora took this as the time to ease the atmosphere.

"Relaaax, I think Sora will be fine! If these bozos you all talk about want to keep a secret, they wouldn't want to cause way too much of a scene in front of the public right?"

Ren was picking up on her logic, "I see, Nora. Since Sora would be searching around Caelum Road, those other Keyblade wielders would be less inclined to cause something within the city. The docks are at the edge, which means less people live there."

"Yep!"

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break.

"Oh! We gotta get to Peach's class quickly… and good luck, Sora." Jaune smiled as he and the rest of his team hurried off.

Sora smiled and watched Ruby walk up to him. He was about to reassure her but she suddenly held a pinky up.

"Promise me you'll prioritize your safety!"

The rest of the group were a bit surprised by Ruby's action. Yang raised an eyebrow before wearing a rather smug expression followed by an "ohohoo~, I didn't expect you to get into pinky promise territory."

Ruby's face tinted a slight shade of her namesake and was about to talk back, but Sora returned the gesture and completed the pinky promise.

"You know it!" Sora gave Ruby a wide grin, which the young girl returned.


After dinner, Sora went straight to bed. The others assumed that since last night he stayed up to do his research, the boy just wanted some extra hours of sleep. As much of a lazy bum he could be at times, Sora actually did not require much sleep. This was a habit that was acquired throughout his few years of adventures.

It was 3:00 am as Sora quietly put on his normal gear before opening the room door with as little sound as possible. After a brief walk, he went to the locker room in order to retrieve a certain Keychain that would aid in a plan that he made up earlier. After that, he quickly made his way to the viewpoint that reminded him of the Train Station's viewpoint in Twilight Town.

"The night view honestly looks just as good as the afternoon view…" Sora took in the look of the land as the cool winds calmed his nerves, preparing him for the upcoming events. Sora took out a Keychain that had a healthcare symbol of a certain personal healthcare companion. After a flash of light, a primarily red blade with the end consisting of nanobot aesthetics appeared in his hand.

He prepped Nano Gear in a throwing stance before tossing it out. The Keyblade began to transform into something a bit more aerodynamic. Thrusters grew from the bottom tips as Sora mentally instructed the Keyblade to come back to him. Normally this transformation would finish in the form that looks more like a sword, but Sora wanted to keep it in this partial state to propel him outside the campus.

With the Keyblade coming back to him, Sora held his hand out and grabbed the handle when it arrived from behind. Sora went along for the ride as he propped himself on top as if he was surfing on a glider.

If Sora did this with people around, they would've definitely been scratching their heads as to why it was feasible for Sora to be able to do this with the Nano Gear transformation. There were certainly some transformations that would make it harder to convince that it's not magic. This was the main reason why Sora decided to wait at this time when everyone should be asleep.

Sora rose in altitude with Nano Gear until he was high enough to assume he could be undetected. The transformation wasn't particularly too fast to be comparable to something like a Bullhead and Sora didn't want to waste time traversing through the forest, so he decided to do something that he DEFINITELY couldn't show anyone.

Sora got Nano Gear to turn back into Keyblade form as he began a free fall. By mental command, he thought "forward". His terminal velocity began to decrease until he was going forwards more than downwards.

With the power of gliding, Sora was able to reach the city in a rather short amount of time. He touched down outside the city so as not to potentially attract attention to himself. Sora used the rooftops to cut between roads and streets to get to Caelum Road faster. Even with the streets rather empty other than the occasional vehicle, running through the streets might make him look like an odd sight.

He eventually reached Caelum Road and searched for the park that was mentioned earlier in the day. Walking within the area, he recognized the series of streets that made the curvature of the keyhole shape. Thinking a bit in his head, he decided to look within the keyhole shape. Approaching what should be the center, he came across a small park; the destination he's been looking for.

The rock Ruby talked about was definitely there and the big heart was also there. Sora walked around the rock to see the rather arbitrary designs and symbols etched onto the rock. Notably, he saw symbols of fire, ice, and electricity.

"Perhaps I need to use magic to activate something."

He now noticed what was on the ground when he started to look around. The etchings on the ground expanded into a three-layered ring and there was a ring for a fire, ice, and electric symbol. What he also noticed were that the magic symbols didn't line up with the magic symbols on the rock. Sora looked at the rock and back at the floor. In front of the side of the rock with the heart symbol, there was a certain shape on the ground… a keyhole.

"Looks like a simple puzzle, but one only a Keyblade wielder can do."

Sora summoned Nano Gear into his hand. With a twirl of the Keyblade, he drove the point onto the keyhole and watched as the rings shone a dim light. Whatever mechanism this had was still operational.

"Let's try infusing some Fire magic."

The Keyblade tip became warmer and warmer as Sora channeled Fire magic. In response to that, the fire ring turned into a red color. In order to test his theory with this puzzle, he instinctively rotated his Keyblade to the right to see the intended response. Lo' and behold, the ring started to turn as the fire symbol started to circle the rock.

Sora returned the Keyblade back onto its straight angle once the fire ring symbol lined up with the fire rock symbol. A hum was heard as the fire symbols pulsed subtly. The heart in front of Sora shone very dimly, which was progress.

"Now would ya look at that!" Sora stopped channeling Fire magic as the mechanism had its fire requirement fulfilled and repeated the process with the ice and electric rings. The heart became brighter when Sora completed the ice ring and with the completion of the electric ring, the heart shone with light. In the middle of the light, he could see a keyhole.

Sora knew what he had to do.

Raising his Keyblade to point at the keyhole, light coalesced at the tip of the blade as a small beam shot into the keyhole. The sound of an unlocking keyhole was heard as the rock turned into a shade of pure white before it seemingly faded. What used to be a rock revealed a stairway leading down to who knows where.

Whatever was down there, Sora was a bit nervous. He steeled his nerves and took a deep breath. Keyblade in hand and guard up, Sora proceeded down the stairway with the expectation that he has to be ready for anything. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, the entrance he made quickly sealed up again as the rock reappeared.

Darkness enveloped the area, but it wasn't long before the hallway lamps lit up by themselves. For all he knew, they probably were designed to light up themselves… hopefully. He continued down the hallway, taking a gander around. It was just stone all around though carvings were present on the walls; a lot of star shapes lined the length of the hall.

Sora met a spiraling staircase that went further down and to an unknown room. Stepping out of the stairway, Sora immediately saw the difference with this next hallway. From the aesthetics and design/architectural choices, it looked like someplace that would be at Scala ad Caelum yet felt it was before even that place. There were a lot more symbols he recognized from hearts, keys, the chi symbol that usually pertained to the X-blade.

He reached the door at the end of the hall. At the dead center was a heart with elongated spikes at the bottom, sporting a wing of an angel and of a devil. And above it… a gazing eye that Sora has seen on plenty of Keyblades. As he reached for the door, the two halves split open like an automatic door.

What seems to be the end of this underground location, Sora entered the room. All around him on the walls were a bunch of screens albeit it looks like it's been ages since they were used. Dust accumulated on the screens and the various furniture. Sora approached what seemed to be the main computer of the room and tentatively analyzed it.

He didn't think Remnant of the past would have technology like this, but seeing that this complex was definitely made by past Keyblade wielders made him reconsider. The technological advances of worlds were of much variance, with Destiny Islands having basically no electronics. With what seemed like a power switch, Sora decided to power it on.

The machine hummed as the screens around him started to display data and values that signified a booting process. Sora turned back to the main computer to notice a notification of some sorts.

'1 Projection Message unread'

Looking around to see what button might confirm this, Sora tapped onto it. The notification immediately minimizes itself as the machine begins humming even louder. Suddenly, the screens shone brighter and brighter and the ceiling started to digitize. Sora is taken aback as the whole room progressively transforms from top-down as the digitalization encompasses the whole room. For a few moments, Sora stood in a white void not too dissimilar to when he met the God of Light. The void eventually fades into new scenery.

Or rather, an older scenery. He was in a field of grass and behind him was the rock that covered the entrance of the hideout he was in. The structure definitely held its quality as it looks to be age-proof, withstanding the tarnishes of time and weather which no doubt might be a work of magic. In the distance looked to be a small settlement in which Sora could make out the general topography and ground layout of Vale. This was definitely Vale in the past.

"In my pursuit of vast knowledge and answers on this tour, I would not have expected to stumble upon this."

With chills traveling down his entire body, Sora immediately turned to the voice he recognized.

"X-Xehanort?!" It was indeed Xehanort in his younger form, black coat and all. Sora reached out to Xehanort who was facing away, only for his hand to phase through Xehanort's shoulder. It was because of shock that Sora forgot he was in a simulation until then.

"I do not know how that man came to find such a place, but I know this is definitely linked to the history of Keyblade wielders."

"So even before Xehanort's time?" Sora began to understand the magnitude of how far this whole Keyblade history thing went.

"This tour," Xehanort continued after a moment of looking beyond the horizon, "has provided me with a good deal of understanding the conditions of the human heart; chief amongst these worlds is certainly this one."

The man paused as he looked down at where the ground was, then bent down to pick something up. Sora followed where Xehanort's hand went and noticed the dandelion. He picked up the plant, seemingly locked in a trance looking at the dandelion.

"Traveling to all these worlds and uncovering hidden purposes… I can't help the feeling I was made for this and I don't know why." He let the dandelion fly as the seeds dispersed into the wind.

"Whatever these fleeting feelings may be, my eyes have been opened. No matter the place, darkness will continue to linger as a plague so long as disingenuous intentions remain in the hearts of all. The weak ruled by the powerful will use any hollow justification to usurp those in power, only to repeat this cycle over and over. I've even seen what looks to be a byproduct of such a process in this world… in a land of darkness. Darkness is what these hearts deserve, but to establish and work towards a new order might be the next step; to finally set destiny on an ideal course."

Xehanort took a few steps away from Sora before continuing, "To anyone who listens to this message next, I would implore you that this world… is a cesspool of darkness and to let it be consumed completely is giving this world mercy.

The projection began to disassemble around Sora, but Xehanort seemingly turned to the direction of Sora and said this last statement,

"After all, what does this reality have to do with mine?"

"This reality?" Sora was confused on what Xehanort meant with this phrasing as the full simulation dissipated. All that was left was the room Sora found himself in again. He looked around to view his surroundings again and what he caught on the table piqued his curiosity. On the table were two items that were not dusty and looked fresh: a book with the heart symbol just like the door to this room and what seemed to be a Keychain the shape of a light blue star.

Strange, it's like someone just put these here.

Sora was curious with how the Keyblade would look like with this Keychain so he summoned Kingdom Key and swapped the Keychains. What replaced Kingdom Key was a Keyblade with a similar structured guard that was blue in color and the tooth was a star instead of a crown. A name clicked in Sora's mind.

"Starlight."

Sora checked his Scroll, surprised that reception somehow reached this deep into the ground, and saw the time was around 5 AM. He'd better hurry back to campus before daylight broke. The teen grabbed the book and rushed out of the hideaway after unlocking a keyhole that unsealed the opening, making sure the rock reappeared after getting out. In a flash of Flowmotion, he zipped out of the park and headed straight back to Beacon.

Unbeknownst to him, a figure was hidden in the foliage. A girl in pink garments and robes with a fox mask watched Sora zoom away with a pensive expression.


Somewhere on the coast of Mistral in the same night, a Bullhead made a landing on the docks of a seemingly abandoned city. When the hatch opened, a couple of White Fang members walked out with a cargo of Dust as Roman Torchwick followed not long after.

"What a damn drag." Roman lit a cigar, trying to mitigate an incoming headache. Once he saw one Cinder Fall make his way towards him, he knew it wasn't gonna be the case.

"So what was that about your new benefactor not intruding on my work? We could've gotten a lot more Dust here if it went my way."

Cinder leveled a glare to easily match Roman's, "What agenda he sought out to do that night was what came into fruition. Those other Beacon students he couldn't care any less for."

"Yea yea," Roman decided to just move on with the topic, "I got the Dust here anyways for whatever you are gonna use it for."

"The thing is—"

"I will be taking that." A gruff voice entered the conversation as both criminals looked at the monstrous man in grey-gold robes and bear mask.

"Huh, so you serve the man in the black coat? What the hell do you need this Dust for anyways?" Roman was really curious about the dynamics of this whole gig.

The man initially ignored Roman's question, instead focused on squatting down and carrying the whole shipping box of Dust with two arms. This left the White Fang grunts and Roman with gaping mouths and Cinder trying her best to remain unfazed. As the man walked away, he answered Roman.

"It is not your part to question our plans. Do your job and you won't get on our bad sides."

Roman and Cinder watched as the bear man walked up to the one and only man in black coat with hands behind his back as he analyzed the crate before both men walked away. The crook wanted to say more, but all he got from Cinder was a quick side glare from her before she walked away towards the direction of where the men went.

Roman took a very long drag of his cigar before sighing, "What did I get myself into."


In the night streets of Vale, a man with long silver hair that seemed to have been trimmed recently woke up. Noticing he was on the ground, the man rose up. He glanced around to see an environment he was unfamiliar with.

A commercial district with numerous shops yet seemingly devoid of life.

Architecture of well-kept brick façades, holographic street lamps, pedestrian crossing, and clear streets.

Terminologies of a different language yet he could somehow decipher them.

"Dust… Faunus?"

He took a step only for his vision to experience intense movement like the whole world was flying past him. With an abrupt stop, the man took in his new setting: the campus of Beacon Academy. The campus was also devoid of life.

A bright light was seen in his peripherals as he turned to look at the sky. A white streak was traveling down and a sense of deja vu struck him. He didn't have much time to think more about it as the falling object blinded his whole world as soon as it struck the horizon.

The man awoke in his bedroom; it was all a dream.

"Ugh….. another dream like this…." He looked out his window to see the sun rising on the beautiful islands he calls home. Honestly, he wished he could admire this view all he wanted as nowadays that wasn't such a luxury. A voice from outside his room snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Riku! Breakfast is ready, get down here before the food gets cold!"

Riku stood up from his bed and stretched his limbs a bit. Before he stepped out of the door, he took a glance at one photo longingly before heading out.

The picture was of him, Sora, and Kairi the day before they set out against their fight with the True Organization.


With great pleasure, I can finally say we are done with the Volume One segment of this story! I don't really have that much to say for this post-chapter note, but I'm glad I actually committed to ending at least this Volume. I'm also truly thankful for exceeding the 200 follows mark on this story. It shows a good deal of people are invested into this story and to that I say thank you so much.

Hopefully I'd continue to persevere and carry this plot beyond like Volume 3 because honestly I rarely see stories that start in very early Volumes and go beyond post-Fall of Beacon and beyond. I feel the story is gonna go up from here because a lot of the climatic and memory-lasting moments are Volume 3 and beyond so I really wanna adapt those with my own twists. I'm already thinking of stuff that definitely would make Volume 2 more changed than not.

Anyways it's late as hell so imma peace out!

Peace,
Re-Eternal