"Sharpen your fear into rage. You must! If you do not let the storm within you run its course it will wipe you from the face of the world make no mistake!"-Master Xehanort
Complete and consuming darkness surrounded Xehanort. He felt his very essence fading away. The darkness threatened to consume him as Xehanort willed himself to resist it.
"The darkness is nothing to fear..I can fight this!" he shouted to no one.
It was at that moment that no one decided to answer him.
" Do you truly believe that?" asked a disembodied voice.
Xehanort wearily looked around still struggling against the darkness that fought destroy him.
"Most people would believe that darkness equates an ending. Do you truly believe you can fight against something like that?" asked the voice.
"I'm still here..I..I haven't ended yet," Xehanort replied.
"This is true but darkness cannot be destroyed it can only be channeled. You've done well to last this long but you've only done so because you've willed yourself to survive. You've accepted that the darkness is not the end. Now all you have to do is seize control of it. The darkness will end you unless you do," said the voice.
Xehanort reached out into the darkness feeling it's aura surround him. He could feel the tendrils of its power touch him as he willed it to do his bidding. He could feel his weariness slip away as he began to come out of his previous state of despair. He willed the darkness to dissipate and as he did he saw a growing light in the distance.
"Well done..perhaps you are the one," said the voice.
The light in the distance grew brighter with each passing moment.
"I don't understand," said Xehanort.
"It matters not. You showed no fear in controlling your own darkness. It is every bit a part of you as your light is. In the time before the worlds, people thought the light was the only way. In the end, they ended up consumed by the darkness they brought into the world because they knew naught how to control it. Remember this as you walk down the path your heart has laid out for you. If you do not let the storm within you run it's course it will destroy you," said the voice.
The light now burned with a ferocious intensity consuming all the darkness.
"But who are you? What does all this mean?" asked Xehanort.
The voice responded without answering Xehanort's questions. "Your path is set. On it our goals will align," it said.
Xehanort shielded his eyes as the light filled the room. The last thing he heard was the voice.
"Good luck...Xehanort..."
...
"Xehanort...Xehanort...XEHANORT!"
Xehanort awoke abruptly as he nearly fell from his bed. He looked up and saw his father towering over him. Xehanort closed his eyes and tried to capture the details of his strange dream. However, he could already feel bits of it slipping through the cracks of his memory. As he tried retaining what little he could to memory, he was met with a smack to the forehead.
"Xehanort! Are you really going to go back to sleep right in front of me? You're the one who asked me to train with you today," laughed his father.
Xehanort sat up swiftly. He nearly forgot about the special training he had asked his father for two days ago.
Xehanort smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Father I was just pondering this dream I had," he said.
Xehanort's father raised an eyebrow with a knowing look. "I'm surprised your brain doesn't explode with all the pondering you do," he said with a laugh.
Xehanort's dad walked out of the room and headed downstairs. "Meet me at the usual place in fifteen minutes.. that is if you're not too tired to row the boat over there," he said with a wink.
Xehanort quickly got dressed and grabbed his practice blade before heading downstairs. He kissed his mother goodbye and headed out to the rowboat to meet his father.
...
Fifteen minutes later Xehanort was on the defense as he engaged his father in a warm up spar. He jumped backward and blocked the heavy downward strike his father had just aimed at him. His father then proceeded to let loose a flurry of slashes attempting to create an opening. Xehanort, however, was very familiar with this tactic and pivoted himself from side to side with nearly flawless footing. His father then initiated a powerful forward thrust. Quickly reacting Xehanort slid to the outside of his father's guard. Xehanort then twisted backward, bringing his blade into an upward arc, and knocking his father's sword out of his hand. In the next moment, Xehanort used his blade to sweep his father's feet from under him, and pointed his sword at his father's throat, signifying the end of the duel. His father let out a hearty laugh as Xehanort offered him his hand to help him up.
"That was a good one son," he said.
Xehanort laughed as well, at least his father was always a good sport.
"I think you're finally strong enough to handle your own Aura Weapon," said his father.
Xehanort looked up in excitement; this was what he had been waiting for after all these months of training.
"Now as you know the heart is a powerful weapon," said his father.
Xehanort nodded having had the value of a strong heart beat into his head over the past few months.
"The heart allows us to draw forth and manifest the power that sleeps within us. This is how we are capable performing magic. Our hearts draw forth the energy within and we can manifest it into various magical attacks," explained his father.
Xehanort nodded, eager to hear more.
"Now not only is the heart powerful weapon, but it is also capable of creating powerful weapons. These weapons are manifestations of power deep within each individual, and as such are unique to the individual. The heart draws forth that power, and manifests it into what we call an Aura Weapon," said his father.
He lifted his hand and in a flash of light a large blue crystal sword appeared in his hand. "This, for example, is my weapon Tide Breaker," he said.
Xehanort gasped in awe as he had never seen his father's Aura Weapon. Then again on their tiny island home, there were really minimal reasons for one to need a weapon in the first place. It made Xehanort wonder why his father had actually bothered learning to materialize and use one.
"Now you certainly have enough power to materialize an Aura Weapon. The real trick, however, is being able to channel that energy and focus it into a physical manifestation," said his father, shaking Xehanort from his thoughts.
He gave his father his full attention, nodding for him to continue.
"Now this is similar to using the magic we have practiced these past few months. All you have to do is dig deep within yourself and draw forward your untapped power. The only difference is that instead of manifesting it as energy based attacks you have to bring it forth and will it into the physical plane," his father explained.
Xehanort nodded and closed his eyes lifting his right hand. He concentrated his power just the same as he did when he used magic. Only this time he dug deeper within himself. To Xehanort's surprise, he had found a reservoir of power he didn't even know he had. This new found power startled him as he didn't know whether he could control it. Xehanort suddenly doubled over in pain. He tried to push it back but the power within him was already drawing forth, bouncing around his body, begging to be released.
Just as suddenly his vision began to cloud from, strained by the sheer force of the pain he was in. Everything began to spin, as Xehanort struggled to remain conscious. He tried to focus on his father, but even his father appeared distorted. One minute his father was there and the next minute he began to distort into someone else. He then morphed into a large muscular man in a black coat. The man wore a mane of messy silver hair and shared Xehanort's distinct golden eyes. Xehanort recognized the man from the dream he had that morning but could not remember his name.
The man lifted both of his hands and materialized twin blades of red. He smirked as the vision of him began to change once more. The image quickly warped into one of himself wearing the same black hooded coat that the previous man wore. The black coated Xehanort also lifted both of his hands and materialized a set of twin blades. However unlike the previous ones these were blue and shaped like the hands of a clock. Xehanort felt himself growing wearier by the second and could no longer tell if these images were real or not. Suddenly he heard the distinct sound of his father's voice.
"Xehanort! You must not be afraid of your own power bring it forth. If you do not let the storm within you run it's course it will destroy you!" his father cried, sounding very far away.
At these words, Xehanort began to recall small details of his dream from that morning. In particular, he recalled seeing visions of other worlds besides his own. For some reason, this gave him a moment of clarity. Xehanort managed to pull himself to his feet and immediately his vision cleared. Seeing his father before him Xehanort raised his right hand and willed the power coursing through him to come forward. To his surprise, a flash of energy sparked in both of his hands and twin blades of white-blue energy appeared in them. His father smiled widely and clapped Xehanort on the shoulder.
"You did it son and on the first attempt too!" exclaimed his father.
Xehanort weakly smiled back. "Yeah I did it!" he said.
With that, the blades disappeared from his hands and Xehanort passed out from exhaustion.
