Destiny Keys

Chapter Three – To Tazilem

By Glacierclaw

I stared at the food spread out on the table in front of me and tried hard not to look disgusted. Kyter, I reminded myself, just because this stuff's from a different world doesn't mean it's bad tasting. I had to keep reminding myself that, because this food did look a little weird.

"Gliec always prepares the meals," said Veelock. "He's such a good cook."

She ruffled the younger boy's dirty-blonde hair. He beamed happily and sat at one of the chairs, positively bouncing with excitement.

I chose a seat next to Torl and screwed my face up into a curious expression as I picked up what looked like a fork. In front of me was a kind of food that looked like a cross between a shrimp and a butterfly, and was completely black. I wondered how, exactly, I was supposed to eat this. Do I cut it up with the knife-like thing to my left, or do I pick it up and eat it? I glanced across the table at Veelock and saw her picking up a piece of the shrimp-butterfly thing and dipping it into a green sauce. I followed suit. When I placed it in my mouth, I must admit, it was extremely delicious. The sauce tasted like a spicy kind of Mexican dip, and the shrimp-butterfly was crunchy, but had a good flavor.

I smiled at Gliec. "This is excellent!" I declared.

Gliec's grin broadened. "Thanks," he said happily. "I caught them myself!"

"Really? Er – what are they?"

Torl's little brother didn't seem offended by what I said at all. "Witatytes," he said. "They live only around here."

"They're really good," I said, and turned to Torl. "So, can you tell me more about Veeadon?"

Torl finished up the shrimp-bu – I mean, the witatyte in front of him, turned to me, and said, "There is only one small continent on this world," he said. "It is called Quaylok. This area of it is mostly just plains that stretch for miles. That is why the Key Catchers chose their base to be near here."

I nearly spat out a bit of the witatyte. "Are you serious? Close by, here?"

"They have no idea that we live so close," said Torl. "They know that we have a vehicle that can quickly take us places – it is known as a bilu – so they believe that we are constantly using that."

I nodded. "Okay. How far away is this capitol – Raziglem?"

"Tazilem," Torl corrected. "And it is right on the eastern coastline."

"And who're we meeting there?"

"Her name is Bylawna Grever. She works at the Tazilem Military – "

I stared. "Military? Haven't you ever asked them for help against the Key Catchers?"

"We have tried, but they do not believe us," he said grimly.

"Stupid wusses," growled Veelock, stabbing the witatyte. "Sissy-ass –"

"Anyway, the only person who would believe us there was Bylawna," he said. "She claims that she has seen them before – they asked her to join them. But still, the Military just says that she is crazy, and threatened to let her lose her rank."

"What's her rank?" I asked curiously.

"Military gadgets," said Torl. "Since there is not a war right now, she does not get in trouble for giving some of them to us in the help against the Key Catchers. Not that they know about it," he added. "She has helped us a lot. I get most of my weapons from her." He gestured at the sash around his chest and the stick weapon behind it.

I blinked. "But…I have my Keyblade." I hoped that the precious thing was still back in the reinforced, stone room. "What else do I need for a weapon?"

"Gripping gloves, for one thing," said Veelok. She raised her gloved hand. "I have to use another kind of them because I fight with martial arts. There's padding in the knuckles, but a sharp stone in the front. They're very useful for dealing punches. And I'm sure that Bylawna can find something else for you." She pushed away her plate. "I'm very full."

"So am I," said Torl, staring down at his empty plate.

Gliec happily rose to his feet and began to pick up the plates. I was pretty sure that he hadn't understand a word of our conversation, or maybe Torl had taught him to keep quite while the older kids were talking. I couldn't understand how two people who were related and looked so much alike could act so differently. Torl looked like a walking arsenal, but Gliec was just a bubbly, happy fourth or fifth grader.

"Here." Torl threw me a bag of clothes. I caught them clumsily. "Put those on. They are ordinary clothes to be worn on Veeadon."

I pouted. "What's wrong with these?" I asked, staring down at my jeans and T-shirt.

"Anyone can see that they come from a different world, you idiot," snapped Veelock. "Now, hurry up. I want to see Bylawna again."

I crossed the kitchen and into what I hoped was a bathroom, grumbling. Everything was so different here. I locked the door securely and opened the bag Torl had given me.

To be honest, they weren't all that different from the clothes I wore now. The T-shirt was rather plain – it was just a pale teal color with light blue borders around the cuffs, but I really liked the pants. They were a darker blue, and had black, tiger-like stripes around them. I really hoped I could keep these. The only other item of clothing in the bag were two long sleeve-like things. I slid those over my forearms because I had seen one of the Key Catchers guys wearing it as a style. I stuffed my other clothes into the bag and walked out of the bathroom.

"The headband stays," I told Torl, pointing at the blue headband around my head.

He shot a glance at it, and shrugged. "That is fine."

Veelock stared me up and down, as she had when I had first arrived. At last she said, "Not bad." I stared at her, surprised. Wow, for the first time, Veelock had managed to pay me a compliment.

"Am I going? Am I going?" Gliec was saying excitedly, both hands clasped around Torl's arm.

Torl hesitated.

"Oh, let him come," Veelock told him. "You've been teaching him a lot, Torl. He won't forget it in a hurry."

The taller boy bit his lip, then said, "All right, you may come."

"Yay!" cried Gliec, and hopped up and down. I wondered if they constantly gave this kid sugar. Torl stared at his little brother, and after a moment, I thought he might smile – but instead, he just said,

"We must go. We are wasting time." With that, he hurried to another room with Gliec just behind him, leaving Veelock and me in the kitchen.

I turned toward the black-haired girl, gathered my courage, and said, "Why doesn't Torl ever smile?"

Veelock sent me a sharp glance. I winced, expecting an insult, but she said, "He has an…interesting past, Kyter. You'll hear the story some day." With that, she hurried after Torl. I hesitated a moment, then followed her.

XXXXX

"Holy shit!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as the vehicle – the bilu – jerked forward at an amazing speed. We were now positively cruising across the grassy plains.

Torl shot me an angry glance, a bit pissed that I would swear like that in front of his little brother, and went back to steering the bilu. But Gliec seemed not to notice. He had his head around the windshield, squinting as the wind blew hard against his face, blowing his sandy hair back.

When I had realized that Torl was driving, I had actually asked him, "You can drive? How old are you?"

And Torl had said, "Fifteen. In Veeadon, that is when all kids can drive."

And I'm all, "Wow! Really? I love this world!"

I looked down at the little thing we were riding for the millionth time. It was the strangest vehicle I had ever seen – it had a very high windshield, like a motorcycle, with no doors or anything, and had a triangular shape with eight seats in all, all right next to each other except for the one in front, which was the one Torl was in. Gliec, Veelock, and I sat in the second row, with seatbelts fastened over our laps. But the most peculiar thing about this machine was the fact that it didn't have wheels – instead, it had a powerful, fiery thing underneath it that allowed it to raise like a hover car. Talk about cool! It also had another engine in the back. If the engine below got more power, we would go higher, and if the one behind got more power, we would go faster.

My Keyblade was at my side. Torl told me that there was a special, inner bond between the Keyblade master and his Keyblade, and that I could make it appear and disappear at will. I hadn't really tried this yet, because I didn't believe it would work, to be honest.

Anyway. We were driving – or, rather, flying – at breakneck speed, toward Tazilem. I had asked Veelock a million times if Torl was sure that he wasn't headed for the Key Catchers' base, but she assured me that he had gone this way a million times, and then snapped at me to stop worrying or she'd shut my mouth for me.

Torl released the power on the bilu and jerked it around – I let out a yell of shock when I saw that we were just on the edge of a cliff. He nodded toward a huge city in the distance. Just behind it was the vast blue ocean. I saw that the city was built very close to it. Man, I wouldn't mind living here!

"That is Tazilem," he told me. "The capitol of Veeadon."

"Why isn't it the capitol of Quaylok?" I asked curiously over the grumble of the engine.

"Because there is only one continent," replied Torl. "It would not make sense to put it as the capitol of Quaylok when there is just a single continent."

I didn't really get this, but Torl then kicked the bottom engine into a higher gear so that we rose up to nine to thirteen feet off the ground. I was particularly grateful for the seatbelt around my waist. Torl drove the bilu at a slower pace toward the city, but we still got there in no time.

We parked near the city wall. Once everyone had gotten off, Torl flicked on a switch. I stared as the bilu glowed a brilliant blue.

"Anyone who would try to steal that would be electrified," he told me. "It does not kill or knock out, of course," he added quickly at the look on my face. "But the thief would not want to try that again soon."

He looked down at the Keyblade in my hand and frowned. "Put it away," he ordered. "We cannot have people knowing you are the Keyblade master; we would get too much publicity."

"I – er –" I raised the silver end of the Keyblade, closed my eyes, and gave the handle a little squeeze. To my great surprise, it vanished in a cloud of white sparks. I grinned at Torl, who, as I expected, didn't smile back.

"Excellent," he said, and turned toward Veelock and Gliec, who were waiting, bored, against the city wall. "Let us go."

We entered Tazilen.