Chap. 4 Deal Your Cards Right

Dash awoke to the sun beaming into the window. "Ahh morning at last time to begin my journey." Dash got out of the chair he had fallen asleep in and looked around the small one roomed house. "Hey Freya isn't here she probably already left for Cid's shop." Dash left the house and to his surprise the town's people had gathered around the house with their heads down. "Uh what's going on here?" Dash looked at them a little uneasy. One of the town's people stepped up. "We're sorry we acted like that the other day. Its just we have all lost so much." Dash looked at them sympathetically. "Don't worry I understand what you all have been through. As a Keyblade master I plan to help end this anyway I can." The people seemed more assured. "Thank you. By the way your ship is all ready. We all pitched in to help build it." Dash nodded to the towns people and headed for the 1st District.

Dash arrived in Cid's workshop to find Freya waiting for him. "Oh I see you are finally awake." "What it was a weird night its not like I'm use to this kinda a thing yet." Freya giggled a bit. "Well come on Cid has to show you how to fly this thing." Dash and Freya met Cid at the world Gate where Cid gave Dash the tutorial. After Dash grasped the concept they bid their farewells and departed.

Dash put the ship in auto and joined Freya in the lounging area. "So we are on our own now." "I suppose." Freya said as she sipped a cup of tea. "So we're drifting in space not having a clue where were going." "What do you mean?" Freya put the cup down on the table and looked at him. "Well we have no navigation." Freya slapped her forehead. "Cid you idiot how could you have left out the Nav Gummi?" "So we are in trouble?" "You know nothing outside of your own world do you?" "Why would I we have never been attacked by anything?" "Forget it if we have no navigation we need to stay in the cockpit come on."

Freya dragged Dash back into the cockpit and sat him at the controls. "Don't move I'm going to the sky dome to keep watch." "Keep watch? For What?" "Heartless have Gummi Ships too." Freya said as she left the cockpit. "Sheesh she acts like I am supposed to know these things."

A few hours later they entered a space that was colorful and majestic. "Hey Freya do you have any clue where we are?" Freya was looking around the area. "There is a lot of Gummi parts floating around here seems like dangerous territory." "Do you know of any worlds in this sector?" A small gleam came from ahead of the ship. "Dash go full speed ahead I think there is one up ahead." As they drew close to the world the alert went off. "Dash hurry we have company!" Dash hit the main throttle as four Heartless ships came into view behind them. "I don't think we can out run them!" The ships began to fire on them nicking one of the engines. "Freya, hold on were falling."

The ship streaked smoking into the world. "I can't keeper steady Were gonna hit hard." Freya moved her way into the cockpit. "Let my magic work then. I can't save the ship but I can save us." Freya began to chant. "Auto-Life!" The ship hit the ground and exploded into pieces. "From the wreckage there was a flash of light. Dash and Freya awoke to see a large castle over the horizon. "It worked were alive." "You mean you never tried that before." "Umm no." Dash slapped his forehead. Freya noticed a women coming towards them. "Hey maybe she could tell us where we are." "Yeah" Dash said as he got up." Lets go."

The woman that was approaching them had long reddish pink hair with soft mellow violet eyes that opened up to a world of pain within her core. Her hands, arms, legs and just about any part of her body had bruises or scars upon them. She was still very beautiful though just like a flushed china doll as well as a fragile thing that had been through years of rape, pain and manipulation. She kept herself in good content though obeying her masters every order and command even if she wished not to. "Excuse me... May I help you?" she lightly pushed pinkish locks from her eyes as she politely greeted them with a broken smile. Dash looked at her eyes wide and full of concern. This woman looked like she'd been through the wringer.

"Oh my...What has happened to you!?" Freya asked the woman concerned as she looked at her scarred beaten body forgetting all about where she was at and about what she needed to ask her. "When my master is angry he can go on a little rampage,..." she sighed looking down. " What are you talking about!? Little nothing this is serious!" Dash yelled outraged eyes full of fury. "It could be worse...I'm very thankful he hasn't killed another one of my children..." she sighed pointing at her stomach. Freya looked at Dash eyes concerned, and full of a melancholy essence. "Can we help you?" Dash questioned her. "Only if you can bring my masters heart back to the light and so far no one has been able to do that..." the woman told him. Suddenly she started to walk away, but Freya grabbed her arm. "Wait we need your help, and besides we want to help you to..." her eyes now full of sympathy and concern. "Alright I will tell you my tale while my Master is in slumber...I'm not supposed to leave my chamber so we must hurry, or he'll be angered with me." the woman sighed. Dash sat down upon a ledge, and Freya soon sat down beside him giving her the floor. The pink haired maiden gave a loud melancholy sigh as a nonchalant feature played within her eyes, but then she began to speak.

"Long ago...Probably at least a good fifteen years I should say...I was a wild teenage girl of about seventeen...I worked at strip clubs, I quit school but the worst thing I probably ever did was consume numerous amounts of drugs and vile toxins...I lived in Twilight Town by the way... The streets were coarse and mean back then even way before the heartless invaded all the worlds...One day I was lying half dead on a street corner in the rain and some days I just wished I could've stayed there and rot but it just didn't work out that way. A young traveler came along and rescued me out seeking adventure...He claimed his name was Ansem and that he'd like it if I would join him. So I did... It was a way out of a hellish life so I was all up for it... Well Ansem and I fell for each other and I mean fell hard...We married shortly after we'd met. The next five years of my life was so beautiful I don't think the best artist ever born could've described it in any painting or how ugly it would become in the next ten to come... Everything was perfect to start with. We spent ever-waking moment together, but soon our time together began to cease as he spent more of his time studying the darkness than with me. Well soon enough he'd get up at dawn and return at dusk without a word of where'd he'd been, but soon he began to get these terrible headaches along these awful nightmares where he woke up sweating, shaking and screaming all at the same time. It was very awful... Plus he started to get angry a lot. Shortly after this I had became pregnant, and six months within my pregnancy he denied the fact that the child was his own and had the worst anger spell he'd ever had where he actually beat me to death... I lost the child through a miscarriage because of him...Well things only got worse where he'd beat me and brutally rape me...That's when I knew what had happened he'd plunged his entire soul into darkness...It seemed like from then on that the sweet man I had been married to was nothing but a myth. You would've known him to have ever been that way if you hadn't known him before his youth... He was nothing but a monster now...a monster..." she explained as she began to shudder tears streaming down her cheeks as she sobbed heavily. Freya jumped up, and kneeled down beside her holding, and comforting her as she cried bitterly as Dash only looked at them sympathetically not having anything to say about any of it because he was in to much shock of what this innocent woman had undergone the past decade of her life. Soon she stopped crying and returned to her normal stature. "Thank you..." the woman thanked Freya.

"No problem...,but we have a bit of a problem... We kind of need a ship to get to where were going to." Freya sighed. "A Gummi ship?" the woman questioned them. "Yes..." Dash added returning to his normal height. "I have one...If you'd like you can have it." the woman assured them. "Really!?" Dash cocked a brow. "Yes I have no use of it... It's not like I can use it since I can't even get off this world." she sighed. "Why not come with us?" Freya suggested. "The only way I would ever leave this place would be if someone could restore my husbands true pure heart back to him but so far no one has succeeded in that area...The only way that would ever happen would be if someone defeated all the unknowns." she exclaimed. "Well you're in luck here... Dash here is a Keyblade master and that's exactly what he's out to do is to defeat the unknowns." Freya exclaimed proudly. She only smiled at this. "If so then I will accompany you...anything to get him back...I'll do anything..." she added heart full of anguish and eyes full of hope. "Then what are we waiting for let's go!" Dash yelled out excitedly full of adventure and anticipation. "Before we go I never got your names..." Anjyu exclaimed. "How rude of us!" Freya sweat dropped. "I am Freya a black mage from traverse town, and this is the new soon to be legendary key blade master Dash." Freya added proudly. The woman smiled gently at them. "My name is Anjyu... I am a black, and white mage both... I to am also a key blade master..." she added drawing forth a black axe handled shape blade with a purple streak like lightning that cascaded down the side with a purple broken heart key ring dangling from the end. "Wow that's great! Maybe you can help Dash then!" Freya exclaimed. "I suppose..." Anjyu added. Suddenly a loud shout could be heard through out the entire palace. "ANJYU!" it bellowed. "We must go now! My master has awakened from his slumber if he catches us we'll all be in for it!" Anjyu spoke out in a frightened tone. She soon began to run away. "This way!" she beaconed them to follow until they came to a dusty old Gummi ship. Dash eyed it steadily. "Does it run?' he questioned. "Yes very well..." Anjyu replied as she opened the cockpit door, and jumped in. Freya got in behind her as Dash came in last, and the door was closed. Anjyu pulled out the key as she stuck it in the ignition as it began rumble like thunder and suddenly was launched away into hyperspace.