Chapter 2

The Storm

Caelus sat at his desk and stared out the window. Earlier he was hung up with thoughts of his dream. Now he was hung up on thoughts of what he saw outside. Before he got to class he swore he saw the same kind of creature that was in his dream. He tried to rationalize it as a raccoon or some other animal but no animal came to mind that would look any close to the creature. Caelus began to get worried that he was hallucinating or something worse. A dream was one thing but hallucinating was a whole different ball park.

"Mr. Lumen!" a voice said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Caelus looked up at his teacher, Mrs. Rell, startled. "Um, y-yes?"

"Thank you for finally paying attention to the lesson. Now answer this question: What is the aspect of the personality that our conscious egos don't acknowledge called?" she asked.

"Oh, that's the Shadow."

"Hmm, I'm glad to see you studied but please pay more attention to my lessons."

"S-sorry"

"Now then, sticking with psychology, what is the persona? Mr. Highwind, care to answer?"

Tellus stood up. "The social mask we present to the world"

"Fantastic! Now then…" Mrs. Rull said.

She continued on with her lesson. Caelus tried to pay attention but it was hard. The creature infected his thoughts and daydreams. Why appear now? Was it a sign of something to come? Was Caelus going crazy? Multiple questions entered Caelus' mind and carried on until lunch. At that point, Tellus and Maria connected their desks to Caelus' and began taking out their lunch.

"You sure you're okay Caelus? I know you like to daydream but today seems a little excessive." Maria said.

"Oh… Yeah, I'm fine. Trust me." Caelus replied.

Caelus decided to keep quiet about what he saw earlier. Even though Tellus and Maria were his best friends in the whole world, there was no way in hell they would ever believe Caelus saw the same monster from his dream in real life. He took out his lunch and began eating it with his friends. Before he knew it, the school day ended and he was walking home with Tellus and Maria. They were chatting about the day and the homework they were assigned. Caelus put his lucky goggles on his head like usual and rested his hands behind his head as he walked.

Caelus' mind was still filled with the monster he saw. He thought of scenarios on how he could see it. Maybe he had schizophrenia? That one was possible. Maybe it was sleep deprivation? No, he got a full amount of sleep that night. Then he thought about if they were in fact real.

'Why appear now? What are they after?' Caelus thought.

"Earth to Caelus! Hello?" Maria asked.

"Huh? What?" Caelus asked.

"Dude, you sure you're okay? I've never seen you out of it like this before." Tellus asked.

"Yeah, I guess I'm just tired is all." Caelus said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You sure?" Maria asked.

"Mhmm, positive." Caelus said, giving his friends a goofy smile.

Tellus got home first, leaving Maria and Caelus to walk back home together.

"Hey, mind if I come over today to do homework?" she asked.

"I mean sure. But am I gonna be basically doing it like last time?" Caelus asked.

"Maybe."

"Heh. And you wonder why you almost failed the midterms."

"I don't wonder… It's called bad work ethic and a lack of motivation."

"If you don't start doing the work and studying you'll end up working at a sh*ty job for the rest of your adult life."

"Well someone has to"

The friends both laughed. Maria may have not been as academic as Caelus or Tellus but she made up for it with her sense of humor. Anyway, it wasn't long before the duo made it to Caelus' house. As they made it there, however, they noticed the sky started to become dark and cloudy.

"Huh, I didn't know it was supposed to storm today." Caelus said.

"Damn meteorologist, can't trust a thing he says." Maria pouted.

"Come on, let's get inside before it starts pouring."

Caelus and Maria got inside and put down their book bags and started to get ready to do their homework. Caelus decided to make some coffee for the both of them as Maria got a start on her work. By the time Caelus filled some mugs up, the rain outside started to come down hard.

"Sure came quick, huh?" Caelus said, setting a mug down next to Maria's hand.

"The rain? Yeah, real quick. Glad we got here when we did." she said.

"Yeah. Anyway, you need help with anything?" Caelus asked, now sitting down.

"Oh yeah, this problem right here." Maria said, pointing at her paper.

The two friends continued to do their homework, Caelus mostly helping Leilani with her work. Before both of them knew it, 4 hours passed. They decided to pack up their stuff and Maria began to leave.

"Alright, I'm heading out!" she said, her bag slung over her shoulder,

"Now? You don't want to stay for dinner?" Caelus said, going to his fridge for some leftover food.

"Nah. I would love to but I can hear my bed calling my name. So next time."

"Okay, goodnight Maria!"

"You too! See ya!"

Maria opened the door, preparing to brace the downpour outside. However, the second she stepped out, the rain completely stopped. She looked confused, looking up at the sky.

"Man, talk about lucky!" Caelus joked.

"Uh, Caelus… can you come out here and look at this?" she asked.

Caelus headed towards the door and stuck his head out, looking at the sky. The sky looked ominous to say the least. Instead of the normal dark grey clouds the two were used to seeing, the clouds were a deep purple with the same color lightning flashing every so often. The air didn't smell like it did when it stormed either, it smelled very stale. Like mold was in the air. Not only that, out of the blue, both teenagers felt uneasy. Full of anxiety.

"C-Caelus! Look!" Maria exclaimed, pointing off in the distance.

Caelus looked and grew a shocked look across his face. In the sky was what looked like a large glowing orb radiating some kind of energy. The dark clouds began to swirl around it, lighting becoming more intensified and growing more wild. Above the orb was what could only be described as a portal made of ooze. Across the island, fire and smoke added to the atmosphere as well as the screams of citizens. Maria put her hands over her mouth, tears running down her face.

"W-What's going on?!" she asked.

"I don't… Is this real?" Caelus asked.

Suddenly, near Maria, Caelus noticed something emerging from the ground. Popping up from the ground was the same monster from his dream the night before. It lunged at the girl but Caelus managed to grab her and throw them both out of the way of danger. Caelus got up and looked around for something to defend himself and his friend with. That's when he noticed what was in his trash can nearby. His old baseball bat. It was worn out and old but Caelus didn't care, he was just happy to see it now.

Caelus ran and grabbed the bat and aimed it at the creature. The monster had its attention fully on Caelus. The monster charged at Caelus, who had his bat gripped and ready. When the creature got close, Caelus swung the weapon with all his might, slamming the creature's head with a horizontal motion. As he did, the monster vanished away.

'Glad they're as weak as they were in the dream.' Caelus thought.

"Caelus! Behind you!" Maria shouted.

Caelus turned around to see two more monsters rise up from the ground, twitching and looking side to side. Caelus readied his bat again. One of the monsters lunged forward at Caelus. The boy raised his bat high and brought it down upon the creature like a hammer to a nail. This attack crushed and killed the creature. The other one started running towards the spiky haired boy. When it got close, Caelus swung his bat left, then right, then finished with an overhead slam, vanquishing the monster.

Caelus wiped the sweat from his forehead as Maria got up. "You okay?" he asked.

"Mhmm. I- I'm okay. What are-" Maria asked before more monsters rose from the ground.

There were 6 newly spawned creatures all twitching and looking around. Caelus readied his bat as Maria got behind him. Caelus didn't know how he was gonna battle them all but he was gonna try. He knew that he had to protect Leilani. Suddenly, something called out to him.

"Don't forget… You hold the mightiest weapon of all." the same mysterious voice from his dream said.

"That voice…" Caelus said.

Suddenly, Caelus' bat began to glow. Caelus held it up in front of him. The bat glew really bright, causing Caelus to close his eyes. When he opened them back up, he noticed his bat morphed and changed shape. Instead of the old worn bat, Caelus held a sword. It had a dark blue and golden yellow guard with the bottom tipped with circles and a star on the bottom of the black handle and the top tipped with a sun symbol with a moon symbol on the opposite side with an orb with a galaxy design inside of it. The weapon had an golden yellow rainguard that had a silver skeleton key looking blade connected to it. Extending from the bottom was a linked chain with a charm that was just three connecting circles.

"W-What… is this?" Caelus asked.

Multiple voices then rang through his mind, all saying the same thing. "Keyblade… Keyblade… Keyblade…"

"A… Keyblade?" Caelus asked.

"Caelus… What…?" Maria got out, also confused about what she just saw.

Caelus looked at the group of monsters, who cowered a bit.

'Are they… scared of this thing?' Caelus thought.

After he thought that,one of the monsters ran and jumped at him. Caelus then quickly slashed his new weapon to the side, slicing the creature in half and causing it to vanish into nothing. Two other monsters ran towards Caelus. One of them lunged at the boy, who luckily ducked. He stabbed the other one, slashed left before finishing it off with an overhead slash. The one he dodged out the way of got up but Caelus ran and jumped, coming down onto it with an over head slash.

Only three monsters remained. They all twitched and looked at each other before all lunging at once. Caelus managed to roll out of the way, causing the three to pile onto each other. Using a nearby wooden box, Caelus leapt up into the air and came down onto the three with his sword in a stabbing position. He then came crashing down upon the creatures, stabbing all of them on one fell swoop.

Caelus then stood up and rested the swords blade upon his shoulder as the monsters vanished into the air. He looked at Maria, who look confused and terrified all at once.

"Are you okay?" Caelus asked.

"I am. What… were they? What is that weapon? What's going on?" She asked, panicked.

"I don't know. I'm just as confused as you are." Caelus replied.

"We… we should go find Dad. He'll know what to do."

"Right, let's get Tellus too since he lives nearby the station."

With their plan figured out, the two friends began to run to the police station. If anywhere was safe, it would be there. On the way, more monsters spawned and tried to attack the duo but Caelus managed to dispatch of them easily with his newly acquired weapon. He didn't know what this sword was but that it manifested to him when it did or else he and Maria would be dead by now.

It didn't take long before they got to Hayato's house. Outside, to their surprise, was Hayato, who was looking up at the giant sphere in the sky.

"Tellus! Thank gods!" Caelus said.

Tellus looked over towards the two friends.

"Caelus… Maria… isn't it… marvelous?" he asked.

"What?" Caelus asked.

"Tellus?" Maria asked.

Tellus extended his arms to the sky. "The darkness… the Heartless… they're going to envelop this entire world and return it to once it came…"

"Tellus, what are you saying? Are you alright?" Caelus asked.

"I've never been better. In fact, I'm beyond happy! Can't you two see it? Hear it? The door… the lock… its finally opened!"

Maria ran up and grabbed Tellus' arm. "Tellus, please snap out of it!" she shouted.

"Snap out of what? Are you confused? Oh well, all will be revealed soon." Tellus said.

Maria took a few steps back, disbelieved by what she just heard. Beneath Tellus' feet, purple sludge manifested and began to envelop Tellus. Caelus ran and grabbed his friend's arm, causing the sludge to latch onto him as well.

"Please Tellus! Come back to us!" Caelus said.

"Caelus, I'm no longer scared of the darkness. I thrive for its loving embrace! Come and embrace it with me, friend!" Tellus said with a demented smile across his face.

The sludge made of pure darkness crept up Caelus' legs before the Keyblade responded by expelling a blast of light energy, freeing Caelus from its grip and knocking him back.

Tellus, now almost fully enveloped by the dark sludge, looked at the spiky haired boy with discontent. "I see. You already chose your side… How disappointing…" he said before being fully enveloped and vanishing away.

"Tellus!" Caelus exclaimed.

Maria collapsed to the ground. "Tellus… Why? Why is this happening?"

"C-Come on. Let's get your dad. Maybe he'll know what's going on." Caelus said, helping his friend up.

"R-Right." she responded.

The duo continued on their path towards the police station. More of those monsters appeared but Caelus continued to use the Keyblade to vanquish each one he encountered. It wasn't long before they arrived at their destination but what they saw was disheartening. The whole station was enveloped in flames.

"Dad!" Maria said, running towards the building. As she got closer, more monsters appeared, including a new one. The new one looked as if it was wearing armor with symbol of a weird looking heart on its chest.

Caelus stopped Maria and got in front of her to fight. The two familiar monsters both leapt at the boy but he jumped back, dodging the attack. He stabbed one of them before slashing it away. The other got up just in time to meet the Keyblade's blade against its head before getting hit with two horizontal slashes and an overhead slash.

Caelus then turned to the remaining creature. He gripped his sword tighter, knowing this one was gonna be tougher. The monter quickly ran towards the spiky warrior and went to slash at him. Caelus luckily raised his blade and blocked the attack. He pushed the monster back and slashed at it with a vertical slash, a stab, and finishing the combo with a heavy horizontal slash. The monster flew back and slammed into the burning building.

Caelus ran over to Maria. "Hey, you okay?"

"Caelus… my dad… he's… he can't be…" she said before something slammed into Caelus.

The boy landed on the ground a few feet back and sat up, looking at what hit him. It was the armored monster from before. Caelus knew that that monster was gonna be tough to defeat. The creature turned its attention to Maria, who was looking back at it in shock.

"Maria, move out the way!" Caelus shouted while getting up.

He ran towards his friend in trouble. The monster raised its claw up ready to strike. The spiky haired boy extended his hand out, trying in vain to grab at her or push her out the way. Suddenly, an orb of light formed in the boy's palm before shooting out and striking the creature and knocking it away. Caelus ran over to it and struck his sword into the monster, killing it. As it began to fade away, however, a glowing heart shaped object rose out of it and flew into the sky, fading away.

"What was that?" Caelus said, looking up at the sky.

Caelus shook his head to get focused again and then ran towards Maria. He helped her up.

"Come on Maria. We gotta run." he said.

"But where to…?" she asked.

Caelus looked off into the distance, thinking of an escape plan. He thought about taking a boat but with this storm the waves and currents would make the trip near impossible. He thought about going to find his parents but didn't know which one to find first. As he thought about his options, something manifested in the distance. It appeared to be a doorway made of pure light. As he looked at it, he felt as if the doorway was calling to him in a way.

"Let's go!" he said, pointing to the door.

"That thing down the way? You sure it's safe?" Maria asked.

"Safer than this island!" he said.

Maria hesitated a bit before agreeing. The two then ran towards the doorway. More and more monsters spawned around but Caelus kept on fighting them off until they got closer to the doorway. At that point a whole group of creatures were following them but luckily one of the neighboring burning houses collapsed into the street cutting the creatures off from the duo.

"Ha! Try to catch us now!" Caelus said.

"Caelus?! Honey, is that you?" a familiar voice called out.

Caelus turned to an adjacent street to see his mom and dad.

"Mom! Dad!" the boy exclaimed.

He went to reunite with his parents but the street before him started to rupture and break apart, creating a massive sinkhole.

"I'll find a way across! Don't worry!" Caelus shouted.

"Caelus, get to safety!" his mom said.

"Don't worry about us kiddo! We just want you to be safe!" his dad said.

"I'm not leaving you guys!" he said. Caelus then noticed creatures approaching him and Maria.

"Caelus! Please just get to safety. We'll find each other! I promise!" his mom said.

"Okay… I love you guys!" Caelus said.

"And we love you too! More then you will ever know!" his mom said.

Caelus then turned away teary eyed and ran towards the doorway of light with his friend. As he was just feet away, a monster leapt out from nowhere and struck Maria, knocking her down.

"Maria!" Caelus shouted, skidding to a stop before running back for his friend.

Another monster landed on top of her and slashed at her back. Out of her back flew out the same heart shaped object that the creature let out earlier. The heart was then enveloped by dark energy before fading away.

"Get off of her!" Caelus shouted.

The slashed the creatures away with a horizontal swipe. He quickly grabbed up Maria. Her breathing became shallow and quick. Caelus knew he needed to get her to safety if she was going to survive. He ran towards the doorway. The monsters spawned around him and began to slash at him since he couldn't defend himself. By the time he reached it, he was covered in scratches and wounds.

'This doorway… wherever this leads to… is better than this hellscape…' Caelus thought before jumping through.

His vision was enveloped by a blinding light. He squinted his eyes for a bit before his eyesight began to become clear. By that point, his adrenalin began to wear off as he started to fade into unconsciousness due to the pain from his wounds. Before he did, he saw two figures walk up to him and Maria, who laid next to him.

"P… Pl… Please… save her…" he managed to say before his vision went dark.

Hey all, thank you for reading! Stay tuned to see what happens next in Caelus' adventure!

-C