Chapter 4

Training of the Heart

Raina moved her finger back and forth in front of Maria's eyes, who was following. Her and Ember came at Caelus' request to help his childhood friend. He explained to the sisters what happened when he walked in as well and what happened leading up to leaving their world.

"So what's wrong with her? Is she sick?" Caelus asked.

"You said a heart-like object left her body when she was attacked by the Heartless, yeah?" Raina asked.

"That's right."

"I see. By the evidence we have, I would have to say she's a Nobody now."

"Excuse me?!" Caelus exclaimed, angry that Raina insulted his friend.

"No, no, no. I'm not insulting her or anything. Nobody is the term we use for people with no Hearts." Raina said, explaining herself.

"No Hearts? I'm lost." Caelus asked.

"Okay, let me explain. So people are made up of three parts essentially: Heart, Body, and Mind. When the Heart leaves the body and is corrupted by Darkness, it becomes what you know as a Heartless. However, the Mind and Body are left. In that instance, the Mind and Body will continue on, becoming a creature known as a Nobody. They are usually malformed looking, but when a person with a strong Heart loses their Heart, they retain their normal appearance. Example being Maria." Raina explained.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why she can't feel anything."

"Well the Heart is the source of all emotions. Remove that core and you remove the emotions."

"So… I can't feel anything anymore. That's… so lame." Maria said, emotionless.

"Is there any way we can get it back?" Caelus asked.

"Well, that's a little tricky. There's solid proof or anything but there's a theory Mom had that once the person's Heartless is destroyed, the Heart will return to its owner. But that is only a theory." Raina explained.

"That's the best lead we got. Come on, let's go!" Caelus said, almost running out the room.

Raina quickly grabbed his hood, stopping him. "Hold your horses, partner. You aren't gonna be able to help anyone with the way you are now."

"What? How come?"

"First off, you don't know what type of Heartless her Heart manifested into so you're gonna be searching for a raindrop in an ocean basically. Second, you are in no way ready to take on the Heartless. Blindly swinging your weapon can only take you so long."

Caelus was angry and frustrated by hearing this. What was he supposed to do? Sit and watch as his friend suffers. As others suffer as well? Then he thought about it more. He barely held himself against the smaller Heartless, what would he be able to do when he encountered stronger ones?

"Okay, I understand. You said you'd be training me earlier, right?" Caelus asked.

"Ember and I, yeah." Raina said.

"Then let's get started. Right away." he said.

"... Okay. Let's go outside. Ember, mind staying with Maria for a bit?" Raina asked.

"Sure, whatever." Ember said.

Caelus then followed Raina outside. This was the first time he been outside the cabin so he was able to smell the air. It wasn't the usual sea salt air he was used to but a mixture of pine and lake mist. It was pleasantly nice. He was also able to notice a small town in the distance, probably where Raina and Ember shopped for their food and other necessities.

"Hey I forgot to ask, where are we?" Caelus asked.

"Oh that's right, we never told you. This world is called Legalum. Small town in the distance is called Nimbus Town. We'll take you there to visit soon." Raina said.

The two walked over to what seemed like a training grounds. The land was bare of all grass and there were chalk outlines all over the area. Straw-made training dummies as well and wooden weapons littered the grounds. Caelus took a look around as Raina stopped walking.

"Here we are. The Fabled Mythos Training Grounds. This is where a majority of your training will be done. What do you think?" she asked.

"O-Oh. It's really nice… I guess." Caelus said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Great! Now, time for your very first lesson." Raina said.

'Finally, a fighting lesson. I wonder what kind of moves she'll teach me first?' Caelus thought.

"Now. Sit down and think of your happy place." Raina said.

"... Huh?!" Caelus said, taking a moment for the thought to register.

"You know, a place where you feel the happiest. If it helps, mine is at a majestic waterfall with a beautiful cast-" the blue haired girl started explaining before Caelus cut her off.

"No no. I know what you mean but why? What point does this have for training to fight?"

"Not for fighting. This is training to get to know your weapon more… Or at least that's what Mom told me."

"Get to know my weapon?"

"Ugh. Enough questions. Just try it at least. Please."

Caelus looked at her before letting out a sigh. "Okay fine."

Caelus then sat down on the dirt ground, crossing his legs. He rested his hands on his calves and closed his eyes. He began to do exactly what Raina said and picture his happy place. This was really easy for him since it was basically a memory for him. Caelus' happy place was in Caelus' room. Caelus was on his bed leaning against the wall, reading a comic book. There was also Tellus, who was at Caelus' desk, studying for an upcoming test. Then there was Maria, napping on the floor with headphones on, listening to her favorite songs. Picturing this place, however, was bittersweet. It was relaxing to be there but overwhelming. Knowing he'll most likely never be back there again caused Caelus great pain. However, he was enjoying it despite that. As he sat on the bed, a door appeared in the room. Hayato and Leilani didn't react so Caelus got up. He cautiously walked over and opened it up being blinded by light.

Caelus opened his eyes back up and see he was on the stained glass structure from the dream he had the day his island was destroyed. The glass showed Veritas in a sleeping state still but this time he was holding the Keyblade. The spiky haired boy looked around, figuring out why he was here again.

"Glad to see you again, Master." he heard a voice say.

He immediately recognized it as the voice from his dream. "Hey, it's you again."

Descending from the sky, a light blue butterfly flew down before transforming. Standing in front of Caelus was a pale woman wearing a white dress with blue accents. She had light blue nails and had bleach white hair. What Caelus noticed the most, however, was the woman's heterochromatic eyes (left was golden and the other was silver) and her large light blue butterfly wings. Also the fact she wasn't wearing shoes.

"So that's what you look like. Glad to put a face to the voice." Caelus said with a smile.

"I'm happy to meet you face to face like this as well. My name is Courage. It is my upmost pleasure to meet you, Master Caelus." the woman said.

"Oh. You can just call me Caelus. I'm fine with it."

"Very well, Caelus."

"So, what is this place? And who exactly are you?"

"This place is the inside of your heart. Most wielders before you named it 'Heart's Sanctuary'. You can use that term as well if you like. For me, I am the Keyblade's spirit."

"The Keyblade's spirit?"

"Correct. I am the source of the Keyblade's power. The source of its light."

"I see now. Okay I have a question… why did you choose me? As you're new master I mean."

"Why? Well it's because of your heart. It radiates pure light. A very strong light to combat the darkness."

"My heart is pure light?"

"Yes. Like all my wielders before you."

"I see. I never really thought my heart was this special thing… I hope you didn't make the wrong choice."

"No mistake was made. You are indeed the next wielder in line. I'm not sure why you feel you aren't a good choice. Mind explaining?"

"Well… I don't know, I'm just a nobody really… I mean, I couldn't even help save my home."

"I see. Caelus, you are special. Accept it or not, but you are a Keyblade Wielder. A warrior protecting the light. You are destined to defeat the darkness."

Destined to defeat the darkness? Caelus let that phrase ring throughout his thoughts. As a kid, he wanted to be a superhero more than anything. He had the opportunity now but why was we so down on himself. It was of course about his home. He couldn't save anyone. He barely even saved Maria. Caelus looked down and tightened his fist.

He was still upset but he had a thought. He thought about the other worlds Raina was talking about. They're in trouble like his home was. They could be destroyed as well. Caelus then made up his mind. Maybe he couldn't save his world, but he can save others, so no one will go through the sadness he went through.

"… thank you. Please, stay with me and help me become a great warrior."

"With pleasure, Caelus. Now let's get started."

Courage then held her hand out. "First thing is learning to summon your weapon. Start by picturing the sword in your hand to summon it. Then imagine it vanishing to dismiss it."

"Um okay. Can I summon it now? Seeing that you're here and… you know… the sword."

"Yes, you'll be able to summon it so please practice."

Caelus proceeded to hold out his left hand, picturing the Keyblade in his hand. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Keyblade manifested from pure light into his hand. On the same train of thought, he imagined the sword disappearing. The Keyblade then became enveloped in light before vanishing.

"Awesome! I did it!" Veritas exclaimed.

"Fantastic work, you are a natural. You'll learn more tricks overtime but this is a good start for now. Now to proceed. Come over here and embrace me." Courage said.

Caelus gave her a confused look, blushing. "E-Embrace?"

"Yes. We'll embrace and become one."

"Become one?! Woah woah! Slow down! We just met! L-Let's get to know each other a bit more first!" Caelus said, as red as a tomato.

Courage cocked her head to the side. "I am confused. Why are you flustered? I only meant that we fuse souls."

"O-Oh. I thought you meant… nevermind."

"You thought I meant something sexual?"

"N-No, just drop it!" Caelus shouted, fully red.

He took a few steps toward Courage before stopping. "Wait, fuse souls?"

"Yes, like all other wielders before. Doing so gives you more access to my power. Don't worry. You'll have full control over your thoughts and body."

Though he was a bit worried, he approached Courage. She extended her arms out, as well as Caelus. The two grabbed onto each other pulled in close. Caelus began to blush as his face hit her chest. As they held each other, they both began to glow. Courage said something but Caelus couldn't understand it. They glowed brighter and brighter until Veritas' vision was white. When he opened his eyes again, he saw he was back on the training field.

"Welcome back. So how was… wherever you went? Can you summon your Keyblade?" Raina asked.

Caelus stood up and held his hand out. Out of light, the Keyblade manifested into his palm. "Does this answer your question?"

"Wonderful! Step one is complete! Now onto step two!"

"Step two? I'm ready."

Raina walked over to the wall of the house and picked up a worn wooden sword. The hilt was held together by tape and the blade had dents and cuts all over. She turned back to Caelus and swiped the sword down.

"Okay, now for step two. Land one hit on me with your Keyblade."

"Just one hit? That's it."

"Yes. I wanna get a feel on your swordplay. Don't worry, I'll be ready for you."

"Um… okay. Here I come!"

Caelus ran at Raina. She looked at him, surprisingly calm. He went in for a stab but she quickly dodged to the side. She then swiped at his ankles, causing him to tumble and slam into the ground. Raina looked at the spiky haired boy with disgust.

"Sloppy…" she said.

'What's with the attitude change?' the boy thought, getting back up.

He ran at Raina again, this time with a plan to fake her out. He went in for another stab but quickly changed to a spinning slash. Raina quickly parried the attack, knocking the Keyblade out of the way. She then unleashed a flurry of slashes before slamming the wooden sword hard onto Caelus' head, causing the sword to crack. Caelus grabbed his head as his vision became blurry for a few seconds.

"Raina! What the hell? Take it easy on me!" Caelus said.

"Easy? Do you think the Heartless will take it easy on you? What about other threats you encounter? Will they wait for you to catch up?" Raina replied.

"But I'm just starting out! You can't expect me to be a master!"

"Do the Heartless care if you're starting out? Of course not! That's my whole point. You need to get better fast. There are worlds who need you. Now more than ever! So come on, Caelus! Come at me!"

Caelus let out a sigh and ran after her, only to be thrown to the ground again. Training went on for an hour or two. Caelus lost track of time being completely beaten by Raina. He barely managed to get a scratch on her, let alone a hit. By the end of training, he was on the ground, covered in bruises and cuts. He was huffing and puffing, completely out of breath. Raina placed her training sword against the house.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Go back inside. Tomorrow, you've got a long day." she said.

"Yipee…" Caelus exhaled, completely exhausted.

Raina walked away as Caelus looked up at the sky.

Hey all it's been a while but you know how life is. Anyway I hope you liked the chapter. We finally got to fully meet the voice that guided Caelus in his dream and the beginning of his training. Be on the look out for next chapter. See ya!

-C