Chapter 2: Sunset Suburbia
Sitting in the Second District of this town, was a young man, about the age of nineteen maybe twenty. His hood was down, so his hair's nack for defying gravity was evident. The top part was blond while the lower half was brown and ended in a low, small rattail. He sighed, "Geez, Josh, what did you get yourself into? Looking for your missing queen and king. Some guy with the 'key' to our very survival? I mean, a week ago I was finishing up my latest mastery over a tough spell, and here I am! Thrown into an epic struggle between forces, forces with powers I can't even begin to comprehend! Argh!" he shook's his hands through his hair roughly.
"Well, maybe I can be of some help?" a mysterious male voice said to the left of him.
"Hmm?" Josh looked toward the source of the voice.
"Yes, I can help you. I know of the enemy you face. The Heartless. But let's not talk here, they could be watching and listening," the boy, who looked about to fifteen, led Josh to a small house in the Second District, all the way in a back alley.
"So, what do you know of my enemy?" Josh asked, taking a seat.
"The Heartless are fiends of the worst kind, second to the ones that control them. They hunt down their prey and when the prey is at their weakest, the Heartless devour their hearts, making the prey a member of the black species," the boy uttered.
"But what about the ones that control them? Shouldn't I be focusing on them?" Josh questioned.
"Yes and no. You must get through the Heartless to get to their masters. Their masters are sociopaths, not caring about any body's safety but their own. The words loyalty, innocence, and mercy have no room in their vocabulary. They use their own strength and the Heartless to get want they want," the youth punched his hand. "They just take what they want and just throw everything else away."
"I see. Do you know anything about a 'key'? Does a 'key' play in any role of this dark story?" the young mage asked.
"Ah yes, the Keyblade!" the same voice said to Josh's cloaked clad companion, but these two were in the first district.
"The Keyblade?" said the cloaked shadow.
"Yes, the only weapon capable of wiping out the Heartless. Sure other weapons can destroy the individual beings, but only the Keyblade can destroy the source," said a exact look a like of the boy Josh was talking to.
"So, do you know who wields the Keyblade?" It was back to Josh's and the first twin's conversation.
"No, not until the Keyblade master comes to this town. We'll know when a vast amount of Heartless make their appearence," the twins both spoke at the same time, "Be prepared to fight for your life at all costs. But also, fight for the lives of your comrades." Josh and his cloaked friend nodded.
In a shop in the first district, on a couch lied Riza, unconscious. She finally was starting to come to when a man, seemed to be in his mid-thirties, who wore samurai pants and his shirt was off, hanging around his waist; under his left eye was a horizontal scar, starting at his ear endingn at the bridge of his nose. Her eyes shot open and she pushed against the back of the small couch, causing it to fall back. "You ok?" the man asked.
"Yeah, just fine. Where am I?" Riza asked getting up. "Wait! The dojo! Sensei, Mom, everyone! What happened?"
"Whoa, calm down. It's ok. Your world, your world is no more. Thanks to the heartless." He said solemlny.
"Heartless..? Uso! That bastard! When I see him next, I'll sever his jugulars!" Riza's eyes burned with rage behind her sunglasses.
"It's ok. It's happened to us all. I'm Kou. I run this little shop. You are?" Kou extended his hand.
Riza, relaxing a bit, met his hand in a hardy hand shake. "Ukaizr Riza."
"Well, Riza, why don't you take a walk around Sunset Suburbia, and clear your head. Come back here when your done," Kou said, picking up the fallen couch. Riza merely nodded and walked out the front door. She made her way to the middle of the second district. What a big place. From the shadows was a figure.
The figure smirked, but the expression was shielded by the shadows of the cloak and the alley.
Riza sat on one of the benches. "I wonder if anyone is still alive. Maybe it's just me and Uso that made it out alive," Riza sighed, but her ears quickly perked up at a near silent sound. "Who's there?!" She reached into the pouch hooked onto the back of her charcoal grey pants. She half pulled out a kunai knife with her left hand, waiting for a sudden movement. To her right came the sword stroke. Riza blocked it with the knife, and held her ground. She was staring in to the shadow casted over the face of the cloaked swordsman. "Who are you?" But no answer came. They pushed off each other and took their stances. Riza took a defensive one with the kunai held out in front of her parallel to the ground. The swordsman held the sword in a basic attack stance, good for quick attacks, right out in front of him. The swordsman made his move, quicker than Riza anticipated, but she was still quicker. She vanshied from sight as the sword connected with the ground, spark flying. Riza leaped into the air from her cat-like stance, and did two flips in the air. She slammed her kunai against the sword, which was brought up to defend its wielder. The steel grinding against each other, singing their earpiecing song. The engima pushed the ninja away and tried a horizontal swipe, but Riza ducked, crouching down. Swordsman went for a another downward swing, but Riza, using her excellent speed, jumped to the side and did multiple spins, and landed gracefully.
The two were about to charge each other but a male voice boomed through the district, "Kuzumakii! Stop! We know that's the Keyblade Mistress!" It was Josh, cloak still on. The two heads snapped toward the male voice.
"Fine," came the voice form the cloak. It was rather husky, but still feminate. The swordsman removed his hood to show that Riza was fighting against a swordswoman. "Just wanted to see her strength. Where did you go Josh?"
Josh sighed as he approached the two, "Always act first think later, right Kuzumakii?"
"My name is Charlie! For crying out loud, Josh, saying my name won't kill...wait, Keyblade Mistress? I thought the Keyblade master was s'pose to be a...well, a dude." The husky voice went.
"Well, I guess the Keyblade goes to anybody pure of heart, regardless of gender," the mage calmly stated. He extended his hand to Riza, "Hi, I'm Itoh Josh."
"Ukaizr Riza."
"This is my brash companion, Kuzumakii Charlie," He some how manged to say her name with the same malice of a curse.
"Hey, yeah, sorry for attacking you. Nice reflexes," Charlie sheathed her large sword on her back, extending her gloved hand.
"No hard feelings," Riza laughed.
"So, its the Mistress of the Keyblade," said one of the twins.
"Greetings Warrior of Light," said the other.
"How do you guys know I even have the Keyblade? I haven't taken it out yet," Riza explained.
"Then show us," the twins said in unison.
Riza shrugged and summoned the Keyblade. The other four looked at it with surprise. "From my studies that is not the Keyblade that was wielded over a thousand years ago. How are we certain this is the weapon we search for?!" Josh remarked.
"The Keyblade takes the form most comfortable for the wielder," a twin started.
"This form is formed by the will of its mistress," the second finished.
"So, what do you call it, Ukaizr?" Charlie asked, with her hands on her hips and bent over to look at the three foot seven weapon.
Riza looked at Charlie with slight anger with the use of her last name, a "Well, I guess I'll call it the Key of the Ukaizr, since it does have my crest and all. It'll be in memory of my family," Riza explained, smiling a sad smile to herself.
"Good choice. Now, let's head some where safe before the heartless come," Josh said in a hurried tone.
"So the royal family's subjects found the Keyblade. This could work out to our advantage," a dark and sinister figure said.
"But how? Now that the Keyblade found its owner our plans are good as shot!" said another one, more hot-headed than the former.
"No worries my comrade, Feu. It'll take them forever to find and seal all the keyholes. And if that does happen, our true plan will be undetected and underway. The princes will be ours before long, then the true power will be ours!" the cool and calm figure stated.
"But Glace, what's stopping the Keyblade mistress from realizing our true plot?" Feu asked his companion.
A cool, leather, gloved hand cupped Feu's chin, still under the veil of darkness, and whispered in Feu's ear, Glace's lips brushed against his ear, "Us." That single word floated out of Glace's mouth with a cool wind to it, sending shivers down Feu's spine. Glace turned to leave, the large doors of the room boomed close.
Feu was left speechless, blushing a bright crimson, and a little weak in the kness. He knew Glace was a flirt, hell, everyone knew! But what they didn't know was what was Glace's true gender. Glace's voice had a feminate touch to it at times but could be as loud and powerful as an angry man at others. 'Damn her! Or him...Argh!' Feu stomped off.
"So you're King and Queen said you had to find me?" Riza asked, sitting in a comfortable, yet dusty, chair.
"Well, more or less. We've been sent to find the 'key'," Josh explained.
"But we'll let you tag along, sweetie," Charlie remarked with a smirk.
Riza went to say something, but one of the twins cut her off, "How do you plan to get to the worlds to seal the keyholes?"
"We have our ship. It's made out of the space metal that came crashing down after the Heartless broke the walls separating the worlds," Josh explained.
Charlie spoke up, "You know what, we don't know your names."
"True. He is Nyte," replied one.
"And this is Dae," said the other.
"Nyte and Dae, cool names," Riza added. "So how do you know so much about the Keyblade and the Heartless?"
"Our world was one of knowledge," began Dae.
"Anything that happened anywhere, it was in our scrolls. So, anything thing as big as the multiworld war between the Heartless and the young Keyblade master, it came to become common knowledge," Nyte finished."So you were the first ones we called for when the threat of the Heartless became evident?" Josh inquired.
"No, actually," Dae aswered. "Our Teacher was. But, he passed away before they could reach him. He left us with all his knowledge. So we stepped up in his place."
"I see. But I have a question," Charlie said, leaning against the wall. "Why was our King and Queen taken? Why them? They have nothing to give the Heartless. They are innocent!"
"But they do have something to give to the heartless. The one thing those vile creatures are looking for. Their hearts," Nyte said grimly.
Everyone's jaw dropped except for the twins. "Their..." Josh uttered.
"Hearts...?" Charlie and Riza finished. "But why?" they both said.
"Yes. The ones that control and use the heartless definitely ulterior motives. Probably using their strong pure hearts to open a long-time sealed door...The princes!" Nyte shouted. "Why didn't we see it before! This is the same plot as the first war! But it was the princesses they were after, so that's why we overlooked it. Damn!"
"Huh? Why are princes so important?" the ninja asked.
Josh began to explain, "During the first war, in order to open the final keyhole, they needed the Seven Princesses of Heart. They almost succeeded, except, the,Keyblade Master held the last princess's heart within him, even though it was without his knowledge. But in the end he was able to seal the final keyhole," Riza nodded in understanding.
"Well then!" Riza stood up, "I have to save the princes, your King and Queen, and restore my lost home! Who's with me?!" she stuck her hand out.
Charlie stood up, "Well, I guess I'll tag along. Gotta keep you safe, right sweetheart?" Riza blushed at the nickname, "Plus, find our King and Queen. That's why we're here." Charlie placed her gloved hand on Riza's, making her blush just slightly more.
Josh placed his hand on top of Charlie's, "And I'll be there to keep you out of trouble, Kuzumakii, as I always do! But I'm here on a mission!"
"Great!" Riza said, "Apart we fall, together we stand!"
That moment, the door of the small house swung open and the store owner room before was in its door way, panting heavily, "Trouble, big TROUBLE!"
"Kou, what's wrong?" the twins questioned.
"Heartless! Everywhere! The first, second, and third district!"
"Well, what are we waiting for? A written invite? Let's go!" Riza hollered, running past the staggering store owner, with the young mage and brash swordswoman in tow.
"Are they going to be ok?" Kou asked, taking a seat next to the twins.
"I think they'll do just fine," Nyte said.
"Yes, just fine." Dae concluded.
I can't believe Glace sent me here. Why me? ...I guess I can't complain. Taking out the Keyblade Mistress and her new companions is a big job. I'm surprised ..he?...she?...ah...Glace didn't send his/her favorite, Feu. Everyone knows how that flirt loves fire-boy. Geez, can that icicle make it any more obvious! The thoughts ran rampant in the mind of Tonnerre, the wielder of electricity in the group of cloaked engimas. As well as the shortest. But, if anybody heard my inner voice, they would think I would be jealous. When in truth I'm not. Great, now telling myself that I'm not jealous,' her thought was cut off from the sound of Heartless being defeated and and the thuds of hurried footsteps throughout the cobble stone of the third district. 'They're here.'
TBC