Destiny Keys

Chapter Two – Keyblade Master

By Glacierclaw

I stared at him. "E-expecting? Me? But how could you –"

"We need your help, Kyter," said Torl.

Like that cleared things up. Torl glanced around, looking for more of the bad guys, but there was no one else around. But still, Torl said,

"We are not safe here. We must leave."

"Okay," I said. Fine with me. I wanted to get away from this place, if there were evil guys who could pop up anywhere on command. Definitely creepy.

Torl ran quickly. I struggled to keep up with him. Man, this kid was fast! I wouldn't like to see what he had done to get like this. I didn't complain though – to someone like Torl, it would be a sign of weakness to say that I needed a break. I was stunned to see that he stopped right in the middle of the field, waiting for me. Maybe he was nicer than I thought.

I caught up to him. "Look," I said with a touch of impatience, "can you tell me where we are? I don't really understand –"

"This world is called Veeadon," said Torl shortly. "Like I said, Kyter, this will all be cleared up. Just follow me."

Where? I thought, wondering what this kid was getting at. I stared at him as he bent down and touched a plain old rock. Just when I was wondering what the hell he was doing with some stupid rock, when he gave it a sudden twist, an enormous hole opened up right in the earth! Down it, I saw a steep staircase that turned out of sight.

Torl motioned for me to follow him. I hesitated.

"What's down there?" I asked.

The taller boy looked at me. "I am taking you to our hideout."

"Our? How can I trust you?"

"I could have just left you to the Key Catchers, but instead I saved you. Do I not need some gratitude?" He stepped down the stairs without another word.

I stared after him. "Key Catchers?" I called, and ran to keep up.

This was starting to get seriously weird. I wanted to go home, most of all. Now my parents must really be worrying. As I walked down the stairs, the tunnel became darker and darker, and I couldn't see Torl's tall, skinny frame in front of me. Just when I was wondering how much longer this would take, we rounded a corner and entered what looked like a normal home. I was relieved.

I stepped inside – and jumped about a foot in the air when the hole I had just stepped out of closed with a noise of moving rock.

Torl gestured at the place in the wall where the hole had once been. "Security measures," he explained. "The Key Catchers will never find us."

"Ah," I grunted weakly and looked around the house.

It was surprisingly neat, considering that a kid who had just beaten up a crowd of evil guys lived here. I appeared to be in a kitchen, with a sink and a table. It was surprising – hadn't Torl just told me we were on a different world? The floors and walls appeared to be wooden, and there was a large carpet under the table with an emblem on it. Two hallways led into different directions of the house.

I hesitated, and then said, "D'you – d'you live with your parents?"

Torl's eyebrow twitched. "No," he said shortly, and then added, "Come." He walked up one of the hallways.

I followed him without question. Torl turned a corner and entered what looked like a workout room – there were weights and punching bags and treadmills. No wonder this kid was in such good shape. But then I jumped again when I saw that another person – a girl – was punching one of the bags.

She stopped and looked up, mopping the sweat off her face. As soon as she saw Torl and me, her eyes widened and she broke into a smile.

"You found him?" she exclaimed, staring me up and down.

"Yes," said Torl. "The Key Catchers meant to bring him here, but I defeated them." He looked modest.

"Oh, I wish I was there…" I looked back at the girl and saw that she was staring at me with a look of disgust. "He's younger than I am. How can he be of any help?"

Well, thanks. Nice to meet you too. I glared at her and said, "I'm fourteen!"

"Really?" She eyed me reproachfully. "You don't look it."

This girl was only slightly taller than I was and looked very athletic like Torl here. She had shoulder-length, pitch-black hair that was brushed neatly. Some of her bangs covered one of her eyes, which were a brilliant green. She had a slightly rounded face and high cheekbones, and her stare made me want to run and hide.

She wore a slate-colored, short-sleeved shirt with a tight fit. On her upper arms and middle were what looked like large ties – they wrapped around her and were knotted at the end, trailing behind a loose end. On her hands, she wore long gloves, where the fingers were black.

Her pants were just below her knees and there was a golden belt around her waist. There were tiny string ties on the end of the pants too – only they were small, unlike the ones on her upper arms and middle. The girl wore high, gray socks and short green shoes with blue straps.

Obviously, this girl was no sissy. She was seriously fit like Torl, and liked to beat people up. She didn't like me very much so far, unfortunately.

"Kyter," began Torl, "this is Veelock Skiero."

She gave me a small smile. Well, at least she could do it at all, unlike her partner. "We've been expecting you."

"So I've heard," I shot back. "Can someone tell me what the hell's going on here?"

Veelock shot a glance at Torl. He nodded. She motioned for me to follow her, and she led me into what looked like a living room. Very strange. I sat on the surprisingly comfortable sofa as Veelock and Torl sat across from me. Veelock crossed her legs, looking rather cheerful, while Torl just folded his arms with his usual serious expression.

"Right, Kyter." He looked at me. "Your name is not Kyter Tiogove –"

"Kiodove," I interrupted irritably.

"Your name is Kyter Zelek. You are Sora and Kairi's son."

Just like that. Ouch. I stared at him, stunned. "Sora and Kairi's? No, that's not right. My parents are Decria and Nilor."

Veelock shook her head. "No," she said with a touch of impatience. "Those aren't your real parents, Kyter. They adopted you when you were a baby. Sora and Kairi left you in Traverse Town –"

"Yeah? So where are they now?" I demanded.

Torl bit his lip. "We do not know," he said. "No one knows why they gave up their son and disappeared. I am sorry we cannot tell you that."

Well, I certainly liked Torl a lot better than Veelock, but their words weren't making since. Adopted? Me? It was absurd. But then, I realized, a glazed expression overcoming my face, hadn't I always wondered why I looked nothing like them…they were blonde, I was brunette…they were tall, I was only average height…And many other differences. Still, it didn't make sense that these weird people – Sora and Kairi – should give up their son…

"Who are Sora and Kairi?" I asked finally.

"Well," began Torl, "it started a very long time ago, Kyter. When Sora and Kairi themselves were fourteen." He took a breath. "His world…called Destiny Islands…was overcome by darkness."

"Darkness?" I repeated, not understanding.

"Heartless," said Veelock. "They're creatures that come the darkness in people's hearts. Everyone has darkness in their hearts – you, me, everyone. That's how they're created. It's a kind of magic too complicated to explain.

"A gigantic Heartless attacked Sora just when he was being blown off to a different world. He was given a Keyblade – a weapon to fight Heartless – to defeat him. Obviously, Sora won, and he was sent to a world called Traverse Town."

I gave a start. "That's where I live!"

"I know. Sora met many people there – people who would help him on his quest. They told him that he had been chosen to be the Keyblade master and defeat all of the Heartless. They also told him that a man who was studying the Heartless – Ansem – had disappeared along with his report. But all Sora wanted was to find his friends – Riku and Kairi."

"It took a long time," said Torl, taking over for Veelock. "They – Sora, and his comrades, Donald and Goofy – had to go through many different worlds, searching one after the other. They had to keep locking the 'keyholes,' which were the world's inner core that had to be sealed by the Keyblade. Doing that prevented the world from being overcome by darkness. It was not until Sora and the others came to a world called End of the World was when he became lucky."

Torl drew a breath. "He met Ansem there – Ansem, the man who had been studying the Heartless, had become convinced that darkness was the only choice. He tried to take over Kingdom Hearts, which turned out to be the only light, but Sora destroyed him. Soon after that, Sora met Kairi once again, but she was forced to stay on Destiny Islands until Sora returned. And as for Riku – he was locked inside Kingdom Hearts when Sora and the others closed it."

The light? I thought, raising an eyebrow. That sounded pretty stupid, to be honest. But Kingdom Hearts sounded like it was good. Nothing was making sense, and I had a ton of questions.

"A year later, where Sora was fifteen, he had forgotten what had happened in the past year and had to be put to sleep to recover his lost memories. There, he woke up in a place called Twilight Town. An old wizard called Yen Cid told him that the Heartless were back – and a new foe, called the Nobodies." Veelock swallowed. "Nobodies are created when a person with a strong heart becomes a Heartless."

Veelock paused, shifting her legs, and continued. "The Nobodies and the Heartless are enemies. Sora realized that he had to go on a whole new journey – because the darkness was back. There was a new group, called Organization XIII out there too, and finally, when they reached the world called The World That Never Was, they defeated Xemnas, the leader of the Organization and restored peace to the universe."

Torl gave me an odd look. "And now, nearly twenty years later, the remains of the Organization, the Heartless, and the Nobodies have banded together to created the group called the Key Catchers. They are so complicated that they have managed to become a human. Those are the men that attacked you, Kyter." A defiant expression crossed his face. "We want them out of here. This is our world, Veeadon. They plan to take over it, use it as their home. Now." He leaned forward. "The only thing that has a chance at defeating them is the Keyblade."

"I don't have it," I mumbled lamely. I was pretty stunned about all they were telling me.

Veelock laughed. "Of course you don't. We have it."

I swallowed nervously. I wasn't sure if I was ready to do all that they told me to do.

"Kyter, we were planning on waiting until your fifteenth birthday to bring you here," began Torl. "But the Key Catchers interfered. They brought you here early, planning to destroy you before we had the chance to show you the Keyblade."

"Kyter, come on," said Veelock, rising to her feet again with Torl just behind her. "We have to make sure that you really are Sora's son. We have to see how you react with the Keyblade."

"Okay," I muttered. I didn't feel a lot like speaking at that moment.

I followed the other two into yet another room. This one, unlike all the others, was a reinforced, stone room, where they were obviously protecting something very valuable in there. I stared, transfixed, at a magnificent, silver weapon that lay on two hooks in the middle of the room. It looked like a key, and it had a golden handle with a silver key chain. It gave a shiver as I entered the room.

"Keyblade," I murmured. Torl and Veelock watched me as I crossed the floor and stood in front of the weapon. I held my hand out and touched it – instantly, a warm, very good feeling of reassurance coursed through me. I felt like I could take on anything with this. The Keyblade reacted with the lightest touch, and looked as though it would deal incredible damage.

I looked back at the other two and saw that they were smiling – well, at least, Veelock was. But Torl's hazel eyes showed that he was excited.

I swallowed nervously, still brandishing the weapon. "Look," I began, a feeling of unease surging through me, "You've got to admit you're asking a lot. I'm just a kid. I can't possibly take on these –"

"So are we," interrupted Torl.

"Well – yes," I said impatiently, "but you guys just took me from my home. You put me on this team that's supposed to get rid of a dangerous group. I'm just a soccer player. I can't do this."

They looked confused about what soccer was, but Torl didn't comment on it. "You are Sora's son, Kyter," he said. "You look a lot like him, you know. Brown hair. Blue eyes. You are like Sora's copy. Kairi had more reddish hair and was very skinny. You take after your father more."

I couldn't think of anything to say to that.

I gave a start when the door opened – and a little boy no older than eleven entered. He glanced at Torl and Veelock, and then his expression grew extremely excited when he spotted me.

"Kyter!" he screamed. The little boy grabbed my hands. "You're here! You're here!"

"Kyter, this is my little brother, Gliec Hurn," said Torl.

It wasn't really a surprise that Gliec and Torl were related. The smaller boy looked almost exactly like him. He had neat, dirty-blonde hair and hazel eyes, and was also very thin, but lacked the incredible height that his brother had. Gliec had a bright, shining face and wore plain yellow gloves, a red, buttoned shirt with gold trim, and beige capris. He and Torl are such opposites when it comes to personality, I thought. I haven't ever seen Torl smile.

"The Keyblade's his, then?" Gliec demanded excitedly. "I knew it. I knew it would work!"

I swallowed. I realized just how many people were counting on me. Not just Torl, Veelock, and Gliec, but everyone on Veeadon. I wouldn't put it past the Key Catchers to destroy them if given the chance. I honestly didn't want to do it, but if what they said was true…and I could hardly believe it was…then I had to fulfill my destiny. I was the Keyblade master.

I glanced at Torl. "What do we do first?"

"First, we have to go see an old friend of mine who lives in Tazilem – the capitol of Veeadon," he said. "She will help you get ready, Kyter. But until then, we must eat. I expect you are hungry."

My stomach gave a rumble. Yes, I thought with a weak chuckle, I am certainly hungry.

XXXXX

I know a left a few things out in Torl and Veelock's explanation of things, but please work with me.