Note: This story takes place in an alternate Kingdom Hearts universe. All former characters will stay the same. This universe has heard of the Keybearer and his adventures. There is no Organization XIII in this story. That's the setting of this story. The Kingdom Hearts Franchise is copyright Square-Enix and Disney. The Seven Maidens are pretty much copyright C. Shaffer, AKA Master of the Iceblade.
Chapter 1: Twilight Town
Alabrith thrust her sword towards Seifer; he easily dodged it and knocked her down with his own. The red-haired girl scowled as he pointed the blue-padded sword at her head. "I win," he said arrogantly. He turned away. "I don't have time to duel shorties like you, Breath."
"What was that you said?" yelled Alabrith, jumping up. "I'm almost as tall as you, Seifer!" His cronies Fuu and Rai ran in front of him before Alabrith could knock him on the head.
"Annihilation," said Fuu dryly, staring Alabrith in the eye. Alabrith stared back for a moment, and then ran off towards the back alley. Although she almost never retreated, Alabrith was not a fool. Even she couldn't take on the entire 'Disciplinary Committee.' Soon she reached Tram Common, and jumped on top on the small trolley. When it went under a small house, Alabrith jumped through a hole in the floor to reach where she and her friends hung out.
The room was sparsely furnished. There was only a ratty old couch the former occupants left and a large heater that often malfunctioned. In the summer it worked fine, a little bit too well. It made the house sweltering in the summer, but in the winter the heater often broke down from the cold, and the room stayed cold. Books were piled in the opposite corner of the furnace. That's where Lomadia sat now, reading yet another book on the ancient art of reading runic.
Alabrith sat down and fidgeted for a moment, and then looked at Lomadia. "Y'know..."
"I'm not entering the Struggle, and you know it."
"Aw, come on. This year they're changing the rules, you know. For the few mages among us..."
Lomadia looked up, vaguely interested. "They're finally allowing magic in the fights?"
"Well... kinda. There's a separate cup for it... But it's all magic. No physical fighting at all."
"Then I'm in. I need to practice on somebody other than you and..." Lomadia put her book down, and stood up, dusting off her skirt. "Hey, Calypso." She looked at the person pulling themselves up from the hole.
"Hey, Calypso! Are you entering the Struggle contest again this year?" asked Alabrith.
"I have to, after I won last year. Or did you forget that the reigning champion has to compete?" Calypso said dryly.
"Sometimes you remind me of Fuu," commented Lomadia.
Calypso settled down on the couch. Alabrith sat on a stack of books while Lomadia looked on disdainfully. "Did you hear? Hayner's been training like crazy to win this year," Alabrith said.
"Fat chance of him winning, though. Calypso whips them all."
"But there's more. A new kid showed up a few weeks ago, and he's said to be even stronger than you, Calypso," Alabrith looked slightly happy at the thought of her rival Calypso being beaten by somebody.
"Tomorrow, huh... I'd better sign up for the preliminaries, then," Lomadia said, jumping down the hole onto the trolley.
Calypso looked at Alabrith. "Is Lomadia signing up for the Struggle?"
"Yeah. At least for the magic part. But the part I didn't tell her is that the champions of the physical and magical competitions fight each other," Alabrith told Calypso. "Don't tell her."
-
"And the Strugglers for for the semifinals are: Alabrith, with a temper to fill someone twice her size, Relzid, the rookie who can't be taken down, Calypso, the icy-cold champion, and Seifer, the person who believes he keeps the town safe!" At these comments from the announcer, Seifer and Alabrith immediately protested. The announcer ignored them and continued, "It's Calypso vs. Seifer, and Alabrith vs. Relzid! Calypso and Seifer, please come to the ring!" Alabrith and Relzid sat down in their appropriate seating while Calypso and Seifer walked up to the announcer.
"We want a good, clean fight folks!" The announcer promptly handed the two their blue foam-covered swords and retreated from the ring. "Ready... STRUGGLE!"
"Simpleton!" yelled Seifer, trying to unnerve Calypso while rushing forward, swinging his sword. Calypso dodged faster than the eye could see and appeared behind Seifer.
"Arrogant Fool." commented Calypso silently and thrust Seifer out of the ring, disposing of all his orbs.
"It's Calypso's secret move! What an honor to see this, folks! It looks like Calypso has won!" Calypso left the stage. Alabrith looked horrified, haven't seen this attack before and thinking she might face it, while Relzid only looked mildly ruffled. "Next it's Relzid vs. Alabrith!" The announcer handed the two their swords and left. "STRUGGLE!"
Relzid and Alabrith circled each other, looking for the other's weaknesses. Relzid didn't look that much of a threat to Alabrith, and he thought the same thing. At the same time, they charged, and a flurry of sword moves began. They each knew the exact same moves of the other, and how to counteract. It started to almost look like one of those choreographed sword dances that were popular here.
Alabrith finally found an opening in the last couple seconds of the battle, and took advantage. Relzid dropped an orb, and Alabrith dashed to grab it before the battle ended. Suddenly Relzid was in front of Alabrith, and unprotected sword in his hand and swung it at her head. She brought her sword up in front of her, and then her vision turned red...
"Foul! Magical use!" yelled the announcer, turning Alabrith's vision back to normal. Relzid looked at her curiously, as his struggle sword laid on the ground, smoldering. Alabrith felt strangely drained.
"Wait... was that me?" asked Alabrith quietly.
"The default winner is... Relzid!" Relzid smiled and waved to the crowd. Alabrith glared at him.
As Relzid passed her, she heard him mutter, "I know your secret... Ironflame..." Alabrith turned around to face his retreating back.
"But my name is...!"
Relzid shrugged as sat down on a bench, taking a drink of water. Alabrith resignedly walked off the platform and onto another bench, ready to watch the final battle between the two finalists. "All combatants to the ring! It's the fight we've been waiting for, Calypso vs. Relzid!" The crowd cheered. Alabrith couldn't help thinking, 'That should've been me.' "STRUGGLE!" yelled the announcer and about everyone else watching the match.
Wasting no time, Calypso moved behind Relzid, planning to shove him out of the ring like she did Seifer. Relzid scoffed and said, "Nothing less than I'd expect..." and copied her move exactly. Before she knew it, Calypso was lying on the ground of the sandlot, and the cheers subsided.
"Calypso... lost?" asked the announcer, not totally believing it.
"She lost!" yelled Alabrith, standing up.
"Relzid wins!" recovered the announcer. The crowd cheered loudly as the trophy for the physical contest was handed to Relzid. He was very charismatic, smiling for every camera clicking and waving to everyone in the whole sandlot. The announcer smiled as Relzid left the platform and yelled, "Calm down, people! You forgot what's next! The magical challenge!" The cheers were even louder than before. The three finalists walked up to the platform.
"The three finalists for this all-out battle are Olette, our number one surprise this year..." Olette stepped forward and waved slightly. "...Zardun, a stranger magician..." A young man with jet-black hair and striking crimson eyes just stared at the crowd. "...and Lomadia, our local light mage!" Lomadia waved slightly more enthusiastic than Olette, and smiled.
"Now this battle is a bit different than the physical battles," explained the announcer. "Our three finalists will first form a force-field around the platform, to prevent any injuries from stray magic. It'll be everyone versus everyone. If you get hit, you're out. The one left standing is the winner. Anyone who casts any 'Death' type magic or 'Doom' type magic will be immediately disqualified, as well as anyone who covers the whole field with magic," the announcer finished, staring at Zardun. "The winner of this match will go up against Relzid, the winner of the physical match."
Lomadia glared at Alabrith who shrugged innocently. "Ready... STRUGGLE!" Olette formed a reflection shield around herself as Zardun cast dark bolts at both girls. The one that went towards Olette was deflected back at him, but he dodged it easily. Lomadia knocked hers away with her staff, and sent several light spheres at him. He attempted to dodge them, and he mostly succeeded, but one skimmed his arm, and he lost. Angrily he stomped out of the sandlot.
Olette wasn't letting down her shield anytime soon, but it was steadily draining her magic. Lomadia waited a few moments until Olette was too tired to keep it up anymore, and blast her with some light. "Lomadia wins!" yelled the announcer. Relzid nodded and got up on the platform, readying his sword.
"Okay, now, here's a twist... you see this light here? It'll hold two different colors. When it's red, the battle's all physical. When it's blue, it's all magical. When it turns white in the last ten seconds of the game, it's a free-for-all. If you do the wrong thing on the wrong light, you are disqualified." Relzid and Lomadia nodded, understanding the rules. "Then... STRUGGLE!"
Right when he said this, everything seemed to stop. Lomadia looked around, trying to figure our what was going on. Zardun walked up on stage, and stood next to Relzid. "What an honor. I get to fight three of the legendary Dragon Raiders," said Relzid.
"What are you talking about!" yelled Lomadia.
"You'll see."
Time resumed, and the light blinked blue. Still confused, Lomadia didn't respond. Relzid, taking this chance, charged his fist with dark energy and aimed it for her head. Lomadia held her staff up just in time and blocked the shot.
"What did you call me?" asked Lomadia, eyes wide.
"I see the little light mage can't remember," said Relzid in a babyish voice.
"Jerk!" Lomadia threw off Relzid and threw several light orbs at him, just as the light turned red.
"Disqualified!" yelled the announcer.
-
"He called us... what?" asked Alabrith.
"Dragon Raiders. Do you have any idea what those are?" said Lomadia.
Calypso sat up straighter and looked at them both. "Are you blind? Relzid was probably trying to unnerve us so he'd win. That's how it was, with all of us."
Lomadia nodded. "Yeah, that's probably it."
"Still, I can't help but feeling I've heard that name before..." said Alabrith. Lomadia shook her head and climbed down onto the trolley, soon followed by Calypso. Alabrith sat in their hideout alone.
"This is stupid," she concluded, and climbed down the hole.
Note: So... the end of chapter one... I hope you guys have played KH2. Okay, so if you're wondering about the characters, which I'm supposing you are, I have an index, which is the last chapter.