AUTHOR'S NOTE: Chapter updates are going to be less frequent for a little while because I have to split my time a little at the moment, but keep your eyes peeled because there is still a whole NOVEL to go and this is only the beginning. Your frequent comments are very heartening and I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far.
CHAPTER 4:
Merlin was a wizened old man, small and grandfather-like with a wispy white beard that came down to roughly chest level and a pair of old spectacles to help him read. Hakujou had told Knave that he was the most powerful magician ever to have lived. So powerful in fact that his vision could reach out into the future and that there was nothing he did not know.
Knave thought that he looked like a cheerful old man with a passion for the colour blue that exceeded even his own. He'd got a pointy hat and a robe in the same base colour that made him look like some kind of rocket ready for take off.
The party had assembled around a large table in one of the rooms within his home, and as he pottered about them, pouring cups of tea, he answered questions.
"You knew we were coming?" Reno asked, ignoring the beverage and going right to the heart of the matter with his usual tact.
"My sight was quite clear on your arrival, although it took you longer to kill the monster guarding this house than I had predicted. But then I had expected all of you to fight, this young man here" and he nodded in Knave's direction as he filled up Lirael's cup, "didn't actually do any of the fighting."
"So why didn't you help us out?"
"That monster was a Spellbreaker. There was nothing my power could do to help."
Hakujou reached over and plucked a biscuit from the plate opposite her and dipped it idly into her tea whilst she questioned the old man. "You sent word to Disney Castle that Lirael would arrive, and that when she did that King Mickey should send her here to see you. What was it that you wanted to talk to her about?"
Merlin finished serving and set the teapot down with a soft thud onto the table. It shuffled away from the edge a little and settled on a small heat resistant mat as if the thing had a mind of its own. Not that they should be too surprised, the spoon in Lirael's tea had been happily stirring itself for the last minute or so.
When he was sure that he had everybody's attention, Merlin sat at the head of the table and took a deep draw from his own cup, as if wetting his lips before retelling a story.
"Well." He started, then stopped to think about how best to describe it. "Not to put too dramatic a twist on events, we need Lirael here to save creation."
Sudden silence fell across the table, punctuated by Lirael dropping her spoon, the metal clanging on the stone floor of the house. She made no move to pick it up however, all her attention was now focused upon the magician.
"Lirael, do be a dear and put that Keyblade of yours onto the table." Merlin indicated, and with a sweep of his hand the items on the table shuffled out of the way to provide her with an empty space to lay the weapon down. Drawing the weapon out of the air, it appeared in her hand. And she looked at it for a moment before laying it down.
"You all know what this is correct?" Merlin asked.
Nobody spoke up, they were all too intent to see what would be said next to answer. Lirael was on the verge of speaking when a little voice inside her head told her to shut the hell up and see this through. Whatever this man was going to tell her was important.
"This Keyblade is one of three that were created many, many years ago. They are weapons of huge power, which seek out the purest of hearts and bond with their chosen owner. Once a Keyblade has chosen the one who can command it, it cannot be used by another unless that person hands it over willingly." As if to illustrate the point he lifted the key up off of the table, it shattered into a thousand tiny pieces of light and vanished. Reappearing in Lirael's hand only a second later. The girl replaced it onto the table and urged him to continue.
"Two of the Keyblades are able to lock the mystical doorways between worlds, sealing them from the Heartless' advances. Rendering those worlds safe. But this is just a side effect of their greater purpose. They are designed to seal the doorway to the Kingdom Hearts should it ever be opened."
"The Kingdom Hearts?" Hakujou echoed in awe.
"The centre of all things, that binds our worlds together and breathes life into the galaxy is indeed accessible to outsiders like ourselves, but should the doorway ever be opened the results could be catastrophic. If the Kingdom Hearts' power where released then all of that energy would wipe out creation. Leaving nothing but the blank space that existed before the universe was born. These keys are designed with the intention that the user should defend the Kingdom Hearts will all his or her strength. Selecting the purest of hearts to possess them."
Lirael blinked, as if remembering something. Knave realised that he was the only one watching her response to all of this, everyone else was focusing all of their attention on Merlin. He thought for a moment that she would say something, but evidently she thought otherwise, because she did not speak.
"There is a great evil at large, the Heartless have been freed once again and are devouring whole worlds. But behind them is a mind far more sinister and cunning. For the Heartless to be so organised in their methods indicates that another, greater, power is controlling them. I have tried to use my future sight to glimpse the identity of the one behind this, but he dwarfs even my power. Blocking my sight and trapping me within my own home as you saw."
Merlin's hands where shaking, he toyed with his teacup nervously as if putting off the inevitable. Evidently whatever this person had done, it was scaring the old man.
"That is why you had to come here my girl." He addressed Lirael plainly at last. "Of the three Keyblades only the one belonging to your family line is still around, the others where lost a great many years ago. Only you have the power to seal off each world from the thrall of the Heartless. And perhaps, only you can stand up to the evil that is driving them. His intentions are not known to me, but if he has summoned an ancient evil like the Heartless then he must have a grand plan hidden behind the chaos."
Lirael looked over at Reno, looking for support and affection. He smiled slightly and nodded to her, placing one arm around her shoulder. From across the table Hakujou nodded as well, and she drew strength from the two of them. This task that had been assigned to her was a massive duty, and it was evident that she planned to try.
Knave realised how much of an outsider he really was to all of this as he watched the three of them together. He didn't look at Lirael, instead turning to Merlin, his own questions burning to be answered.
"And what of me?" he asked, "you said that you knew I was coming, you expected me to fight, but you haven't given me a name yet. Please," he lent over the table towards the old man, "would you tell me who I am?"
Merlin looked him up and down for a moment before sighing sadly to himself. "You have chosen the name of Knave?" he asked, and waited for a nod before continuing. "Then Knave you are, at least for the time being. Whilst a great many things are within my power, to undo the work of such a powerful presence is beyond me. I cannot grant you your memory back, any more than I could tell you your true name whilst under the oppression of the evil one. But I can assure you young man, that you have been sent here, to this place at this time, for a reason."
Knave visibly deflated, his best hope for finding out his true identity was this man, and that hope had been cruelly snatched away from him. He tried not to sound too angry, but a bitter edge filtered into his voice.
"And what is that reason?"
Merlin placed a hand on his shoulder, and came around to stand behind him, reaching both arms around his neck and cradling his head from behind the chair. "You fear that this thing has been done to you out of spite. The furthest back you can remember is . . . a burning pain and the sensation of falling. But you do not understand the true implications of what has happened to you, or why you are here. The Heartless fear you, you call out to them, like light chasing off a shadow. Your soul is a mirror to all that they represent. Do you know what it means to be touched by the Kingdom Hearts lad?"
"What?" Knave was confused, and a little unnerved by this new line of conversation.
"There is an aura to you that is unlike anything I have ever seen. Most people are born with an aura like this, but it fades over time as they grow old and the world affects them. Their . . . purity, dissipates and vanishes as they experience life. Magic casters like myself keep a good portion intact, allowing us to manipulate the basic elements into spells. It is this link between the aura and magic that allows me to see this, and I suspect that Hakujou could as well if she wanted. You however, are an anomaly, there is no ability to use magic inside of you, and yet your aura is brighter than that of a new-born."
Reno snorted, "what is it you're getting at old man?" he asked plainly.
"Knave here has been touched by the Kingdom Hearts, taken inside the centre of all things and reborn. If my theory is correct it is no coincidence that you awoke here in Traverse Town and met up with the Keymaster and her friends, you where sent directly by the Kingdom with the express intention of meeting them."
Knave frowned, not quite grasping the situation. "But my memories?"
"Taken away from you by the Kingdom itself. I do not claim to know why."
"Well that's just great!" Slamming down his fist on the table he shattered the teacup he was holding and made everyone jump. Knave threw up his hands and stormed away from the table. He'd been robbed of the very essence of his self, and he was supposed to be impressed with this . . . this rubbish? Who was he to care about any of what these people where talking about? He was just a lost soul trying to find out who he was, and the universe had turned around and dumped this pile of semi-religious crap on him.
He stalked out of the house and into the cool night air beyond, slamming the door behind him on the way out. Lirael rose to follow him, but thought better of it. It looked like he needed to be alone for a while. After all, it had been her who had convinced him that Merlin would be the one to help, she reasoned that he must be feeling pretty bad.
"So . . ." she asked when a suitable amount of silence had passed. "How do I go about sealing worlds from the Heartless. I mean, getting from world to world is easy enough, but what do I do when I get there?"
Merlin picked up the pieces of the cup delicately, tracing his fingers lightly around the sharp edges as he considered the question. "Every world has a Keyhole." He said at last. "Seek it out and you will be able to use your Keyblade to seal that world from further Heartless invasion. Those already on that world will be trapped there and cut off from reinforcements, making them easier to kill. In essence you lock it down and then clean up the mess, or leave and let the locals sort it out for themselves if they are able. Every world has one, even Traverse Town."
They where learning to much, so many things that they had always thought were myth. Lirael was a direct descendent of a great hero from the past named Sora, she knew a limited amount about the Keyblade's power, but nothing like this. Knowing that every world, no matter how far away, was connected to everywhere else through the Keyholes somehow made the vast distance between them seem smaller.
Pushing a long strand of hair out of her face and tucking it behind one ear, she looked around at her friends. They would accompany her she knew, no matter where she went they had made it quite clear that they would never leave her. A look of determination slowly formed on Lirael's face, and she reached out for the Keyblade, lifting it off of the table and feeling the reassuring weight of it in her hand.
"Alright." She said, her voice strong. "Where do we start?"
---
Outside Knave was sitting on the steps that led up to the large oaken doorway of Merlin's home. He hugged his knees tight to his chest and looked up at the stars, watching them and wondering what mysteries they held.
So each of them was a world? Filled with places and people he knew nothing about, somehow the sheer amount of them felt daunting. Any one of them could be his homeland, any number of them could contain people he knew, or would know him. And yet when he looked up he felt a sense of longing, as if something important were missing from the night sky.
He could remember every moment after he had woken up with crystal clarity. The way a star had blinked and vanished from the sky, and he wondered if his homeland had met a similar fate. Merlin had said that the Heartless were destroying worlds, maybe his own was among them.
Now that their big hitter was gone, the Heartless in Traverse had fled. It looked like the monster they had destroyed was the only thing keeping them there. Nothing disturbed his mental process as he sat gazing up at the stars.
"Touched by the Kingdom Hearts." He murmured to himself.
The old man had spoken as if his situation were a gift, granted to him from a higher power. But he had no idea how terrible it felt to be without identity, to have no idea where he had come from or who he really was.
I can't even remember my first name, or the last time I kissed a girl. He thought, the things that everyday people take for granted.
Letting his knees drop, he lent against the edge of the stair and sighed. As he watched another star winked at him and went out. A thousand voices silenced in a heartbeat.
---
"You will need to go to a place called Balmb Garden." Merlin explained, outlining the details of his last vision before the evil presence had descended upon him and blocked his future sight. "There you will find a start for your quest. I wish that I could tell you more, but try as I might, this evil will not let me see anything of our fate. When I try he sends pain that is unspeakable, like a thousand hot knifes directly to my mind. The mental backlash is terrible."
"I've never heard of a world called Balmb Garden before." Hakujou piped in, a frown creasing her pretty features. "How are we to find it?"
"I know where it is." Reno cut in simply, his usual stoic self. "The place is a training facility for young warriors, they call themselves SEEDs, though I haven't seen any of them around lately. We should be able to find it without too much difficulty."
Lirael was following the conversation half-heartedly, he gaze sucked out of the window. Traverse town was beginning to wake up. The night sky had faded and morning was upon them. People were going about their everyday business, happily free of the danger that had stalked their homes the last few nights. It was almost as if nothing had happened.
Leaning back in her chair she let the three of them talk out the details amongst themselves. They were leaving in the morning, taking the Gummi-Ship they'd come in on and flying out to find this Balmb place, wherever it was. As far as she was concerned there was nothing for her to do between then and now but try and catch a few seconds rest. It would be all go when they were finished here.