Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
Chapter 1: Yen Sid's Tower
"Mark of Mastery?" Sora uttered out with a blinking gaze.
The brown haired teen, along with Riku and Kairi, stood in front of Master Yen Sid sitting at his desk. The elder man's eyes being somewhat narrowed as he glanced between each of the three, nodding slowly as he did. "Indeed. It is an exam that determines the next Master, or Masters, of the Keyblade. And since each of you have shown a great aptitude for the weapon, King Mickey has recommended that all three of you take the test at once." he clarified in a methodical manner.
"The defeated Organization members are likely to resurface as their original selves within a few weeks. Therefore, we can use the time we have to prepare, and ready ourselves for the eventual arrival of the true mastermind behind all these recent events; Xehanort." Yen Sid stated, his eyes briefly narrowing a bit further when saying this name.
Though, due to the somewhat confused expressions on the trio's faces, Yen Sid simply offered another slow nod. "He is a former master of the Keyblade, whom went rogue many years ago and hasn't been seen since." he explained while resting his elbows on the desk and leaning forward slightly.
"However, after speaking with Ansem...the one who called himself 'DiZ', it became clear that Xehanort has been plotting and planning all of this for quite some time. And since we don't know if it was his plan all along to have both his Heartless and Nobody defeated, we simply have to assume it was." he continued, looking from one teen to the next.
Riku's expression was very focused and contemplative, as he made sure to store this information away in his mind. Kairi appeared somewhat worried, yet the fire in her eyes showed the girl's determination to face this foe. All the while, Sora looked on as if she had just been given a piece of a puzzle she had been putting together. 'So 'this' is why Xemnas said that the war wasn't over.' she thought to herself silently with a soft sigh.
"But how would us becoming Keyblade Masters help? It's not like we're doing all that bad without the title." Riku questioned, shrugging his shoulders and raising a curious brow.
"Becoming a Master of the Keyblade isn't simply a title, it is a conduit of sorts. A conduit that shapes the view of the wielder...into a tangible power." Yen Sid answered, though it seemed to just confuse the teens even more.
"How do you mean?" Sora asked while blinking in confusion, unsure of what way his words were to be interpreted.
"The Keyblade is the most powerful weapon, save for one." the old man started, silently whispering the latter half of his words.
"As such, the Keyblade has many possible abilities and powers that are almost entirely unique to its wielder. And if any of you are going to stand a chance against one of the most powerful Keyblade Masters in history, all of you must have such a power as well." he continued in a rather firm manner, his tone emphasizing just how important this was.
"You have each received training from other masters in various different abilities. However, none of you have learned how to truly wield the power of your Keyblades." Yen Sid said, tilting his head down slowly as he almost seemed regretful for this.
"I thought to do so many times previously, but the situation never allowed for it." he added in a more silent tone than before.
"And for that...I apologize." the elder sorcerer declared while actually bowing his head to the three.
Each of whom blinked many times in surprise, none of them expecting such a thing from him. "I-It's alright, we managed to get through in the end." Kairi said quickly, nearly feeling guilty that the man was asking for forgiveness.
"Exactly. Besides..." Riku began with a raised brow as Yen Sid lifted his gaze toward him.
"...I'm more curious about this 'power' of the Keyblade you mentioned. You make it sound like you're implying it's different from everything else we've been using so far." the silver-haired boy finished, now sounding much more interested.
After offering a slow nod of his head, the older man spoke up once more. "That is correct. Each of you have only ever used the Keyblade as a funnel for avenues of powers and abilities. Which you either trained to obtain...or were ones you naturally had."
These words immediately lead for the teens to glance to one another, as they hadn't thought of this until now. Despite never even having a glimpse of things like; Magic, Darkness, or Light, before leaving their island, it only took a small amount of training for them to start mastering them. Which implied that these powers were always there, and had been merely waiting to be accessed.
"So you're saying that the Keyblade has powers of its own we haven't used yet?" Kairi uttered out as more of a statement, than an inquiry.
"That is also correct. Therefore...it has been decided, that your Mark of Mastery exam will be to bring forth these powers. And to do so, we have arranged to have each of you fight against one another in a three-way duel. In a battle between Keyblades, the wielder's unique power will eventually rise to the surface. Which you will know, when it surfaces." Yen Sid announced, making the teens glance to one another once more.
"All of you may pass...or none of you." the elder man added, thought a faint smile curled his lips as he clearly had faith that all three would succeed.
As the trio turned to each other for a moment, there was an obvious consensus in their expressions. Upon which, they all turned back to Yen Sid and nodded their heads with a unified response. "We accept."
Hearing this, the man smiled a bit more while returning their nod. "Excellent, the exam begins tomorrow. So make sure you rest up tonight, as it will not be a simple trial." he declared, received as series of 'Yes sir's from the three.
Each of whom, offered him a bow before taking their leave from the chamber. Yen Sid's smile lingered for a few moments as he could hear the teen's fading voices of how they were all going to pass the exam. His expression gradually returned to a more stern one as a slow breath escaped his lips; "I hope that each of you will...as it's more important than ever that you understand the true power of the weapons you wield."
At the same time, Sora nudged Kairi with a giggle and wide grin. "We should totally gang up on Riku like we used to." she laughed out, to which the auburn-haired girl grinned and nodded.
"We should...especially as payback when he knocked us into the water." Kairi claimed in a chuckle of her own.
"Oh give me a break, I only tried to knock you off the platform. You're the one who grabbed Kairi as you were falling." Riku retorted, giving a nudge to Sora as she walked between her two friends.
Said girl swiftly looked to the side, willfully ignoring her friend's words. "I have no idea what you're talking about~." she sang out, attempting to whistle poorly.
"Wait a minute..." Kairi gasped out, immediately turning to Sora in a huff.
Following this, the brown-haired teen instantly began rushing down the stairs of the tower. Which started to echo the three's laughter as Riku and Kairi chased after their friend.
Within a few minutes, the three had returned back to Destiny Islands and gathered to gaze out toward the setting sun. Sora and Kairi sat atop the sideways-leaning palm tree, while Riku stood to their side with his back resting against the sapling. It was their usual spot, though it felt like such a long time since they had been here like this. Each of them let out a soft breath in near unison before looking to one another with expressions of nostalgia.
"It all feels so different from what I imagined it would be like, you know?" Kairi uttered out softly as a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Yeah, I never would have thought all of 'this' was waiting for us outside our island home." Sora agreed with a nod of her head and light chuckle.
"What?" Riku started, turning to his friends and raising a brow.
"Neither of you expected to be thrust into a battle between the forces of Light and Darkness, where we'd be putting our lives on the line almost every day?" he questioned in a fake huff of disappointment.
With a short pause hanging over the trio, they finally burst out into laughter. This leading for Sora and Kairi to lean against one another in order to avoid falling off the tree. But as they eventually calmed down and righted themselves, the brown-haired girl looked between the two with a smile. "Things have really gone in such a weird direction for us, huh?" she hummed silently, the three slowly turning their eyes back to the setting sun.
"You're telling me. And here I thought the biggest thing I'd be dealing with...was you complaining about how you didn't get to name the raft." Riku sighed out, shaking his head slowly.
"Hey! I won that race...so of course I got to name the raft." Sora claimed quickly with a pout forming on her features.
Kairi simply giggled to the pair while grinning happily; "You two might have changed a lot, but you're still the same in so many ways." she said in an amused tone, yet she sounded grateful for this fact.
Sora and Riku blinked to their friend briefly before turning to one another, to which they let out a short chuckle of their own. "Well...I consider that a good thing." the former of the two claimed in a proud manner, leading for the latter to nod in agreement.
"Same...though I can't say for sure if any of your changes have made you more mature." Riku commented with a teasing tone.
The brown-haired girl turned to him with a pout and huffed to his words; "Says you~! I've always been the mature one, and that's still true~." she declared, yet this wasn't very convincing since she sounded rather childish while speaking.
"Oh yeah?" the boy hummed out while turning toward his long time rival, a challenging grin present on his features.
"Yeah~!" Sora stated as she hopped down from the tree, a similar expression forming on her face as well.
A tense, yet friendly moment passed as the two stared at one another, to which a hand passed in front of their eyes. Kairi stood between them with her hands out, before slowly lowering them and glancing between the pair. "Well then...it looks like there is only one way to settle this." she announced as a wide smile curled her lips.
Following these words, Sora and Riku nodded their heads in response and moved onto the beach. While they lined up under the bridge, preparing for a race, Kairi stepped up next to them. The two briefly glanced toward her, yet gave small smiles of their own before turning to the boat dock. It being only a few dozen meters away, but would suffice as their 'finish line'. For which, they each readied themselves to rush toward.
The waves crashed ever so gently on the shore near of them, while seagulls cawed out from above. A briny scent filled the air, thought it held the sweet smell of Paopu Fruit. Something that only this island had, and always let the teens know that they were home. But as the trio gazed at the docks ahead, they swiftly heard the sound of a Paopu Fruit falling from one of the trees and splashing into the water. This sparking the start of their race, and they began running forward as quickly as they could.
However, there was no magic...no extraordinary power...no enhancements whatsoever. It was like the old times. Before they knew what lay beyond their home. Before they gained power to alter the course of the world. In this moment, they were just three teenagers having fun with their best friends. And as they ran, each of them couldn't help but to laugh softly. Which only grew louder and louder as the trio glanced to one another, all of them running side-by-side.
No matter what came their way, it would be alright...so long as they were together.
Here we go, the beginning of Dream Drop Distance. There will be a lot of changes to this part, as the story is quite different already. But I hope all of you enjoy this part, and if you haven't read the previous parts, I hope you like them as well.
I will warn you now, I'm currently redoing a few chapters in my Kingdom Hearts II story, as I've revised CoM and 358/2 Days. So for the time being, I'll be updating this story bi-weekly. I might keep that schedule going forward regardless, but it all depends on how things go.
Also, I have a poll open on my profile about including Star Wars in this story. I plan to add it in this part, but it all depends if that's what each of you want. Vote and/or PM me your thoughts about it.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and will let me know your thoughts. Until next time.