ARC I:

Antinomy

Chapter II

QUESTION YOURSELF

The next day, I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock going off. After turning it off with a press of a button, I grabbed it and held it close to my face. My eyes weren't focusing on the object. I got used to it since my vision was always hazy in the first one to two minutes of waking. I read the hands, it was 5:01. I got out of bed, I had to get ready for school, otherwise, I would face punishment.

I walked over to my closet and pulled out my uniform from the hangers. I put on the black pants, gray dress shirt, and blazer over it. I walked over to the door and grabbed my bag and hung it over my shoulder. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, my hair was a mess. My hair was long, well, not as long that it reaches my back, just enough to cover most of the back of my neck. My bangs were even worse, it hung over my left eye and ended up covering almost half my face. I was never told to keep my hair neat, only to cut it to keep it at appropriate length.

My caretaker spoke into my earpiece, "You have a mission scheduled for nighttime. Report to me later in my office for details. For now, just head to class." Her voice was clear.
"Understood," I said, putting on my black leather shoes. I walked out of my door, locked it, and headed for class.

Classes at this academy were very simple. Just seven classes focusing on education, and the last one is a two hour long class for combat; as a result, school ends at five o'clock. The combat class teaches us the basics on fighting, which comes in handy in one-on-one training exercises and eventually, a real battle to the death. There are various lessons for us to be versatile on the field, for example, disarming your opponent. It is useful yes, but only for a split second opening if you're facing Keyblade Wielders since the blade can just reappear in their hand a split second after disarming them. The academy even created facilities to accommodate to the students needs in the combat field. But that just erected more lessons from our strict instructor. These facilities allow us to use materials like Dark Shards or rarely Dark Gems to create expendables, such as potions for healing wounds and mana restoration for magic. The dark essence the Heartless leave behind are key components to brewing the potion, as well as herbal ingredients and exotic ones to keep it stable. For example, using the dark essence of Heartless, a calendula-a plant grown all over the world, and the Dark Shard to stabilize the dark essence as it is hard to contain, this creates a healing potion.

The academy is a huge building, it was easy to get lost in your own school. It's understandable since every single hallway and classroom looks the same. It seems like a labyrinth inside the school, everything looks the same no matter where you look. In the middle of the school, is the courtyard, or battlefield I should say. It's where our combat class and training takes place. That's pretty much the only thing that stands out in this school.

. . .

TIME SKIP: AFTER SCHOOL

walked towards the brown wooden door at the end of the hallway, "Can I come in?" I asked, knocking.
"You may." A female voice spoke.

I opened the door and walked in. It was the Emigrace's office, otherwise known as the Head of the Darkness Faction Recruitment Program. Her office room is unusually dark this time around, the only source of light was her desk lamp, the light hovered over some papers I walked closer to the light and closer to the desk. My eyes hovered over the paper and carefully examined it. It was an assassination mission.

"As you saw," she spoke. The lights suddenly come on and startled me a bit. I look around for Emigrace and saw her walking towards me from the doors. Her presence was overwhelming, almost as if she was going to attack me at any second. She's infamous for scaring recruits and students alike. It was normally due to her cool tone whenever she speaks.
"This is an assassination mission." She spoke sternly and waved the paper in front of my face. Her gaze was clearly locked on me, it was deadly. I felt as if my life would be in danger if I miss one detail for this mission.
"As in, don't fuck it up." She said directly, and giving a small sigh after. "Listen up, you have to infiltrate the Light Faction Academy and assassinate Ayako Tsumura, she's one of their top students. We have been planning this out for you for the past month. We have her schedule, an entire layout of the school, the time she would be sleeping, and an air ventilation route to her room." She flipped through various papers, showing that they spent a lot of work into this.
"Isn't that.. stalking?" I questioned.
"Yes, and we needed to do what was necessary to make this successful. Their security was very weak, it was no problem." She said, clearly laid back.
"Then why were you staring at me with the intent of murdering me if I fail?" I asked.
"You are full of questions, it was like when I first met you back then." She said, getting nostalgic and off topic. She snapped back into reality after a few minutes, "Oh, sorry. I was on a nostalgia trip. Back to the topic, you shouldn't fail because this is very important and will bring us closer to the final step of the Calamity Project, So I made preparations, to ensure you'll successfully assassinate someone. We couldn't anyone else to do it, and with your skills and ability to stay calm under such situations make you the perfect candidate. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't get lost." She explained and handed the papers to me.
"Understood." I took the papers and she guided me out the door.

Emigrace, the Head of the Darkness Faction Recruitment Program, also my caretaker. She is responsible for all of my actions and is the reason why I am here now. She recruits potential teens that can be turned into hardened soldiers with enough training; that's what she saw in me. I was taken under her wing four years ago. Since then, she forced me into intense training, day after day, it was tiring and I wanted to give up so many times. But I pushed on and improved myself. I was the first recruit she ever had any real interest in, so she often pushed me to break my limitations. I trained under her for two years then she enrolled me into this academy, she told me that my ability to wield my Keyblade was unlike any she has ever seen. She said I had a "natural" feel of fighting. I didn't understand it. But I can tell that her interest in me grew deeper, and she was ecstatic whenever I exceeded her expectations. She was almost obsessed with me, going as far to start monitoring my health, my behavior, my mentality, everything. Even making me she wear an earpiece every single day. To feed me information that I would need, and everything that I need to do. Plus, it acted like a tracker for her, so she can pinpoint my location. However, I was told that the range was limited only in the areas controlled by the Darkness Faction, so if I were to go to the Light Faction Academy at this hour for my mission, I would drop out of her radar. She even said that I might have a gift although I didn't think for a second I would have a gift.. for fighting anyway. But the more I think about it, I don't exactly remember how I felt at the time, my memories were very fuzzy, it was strange. I only kept feelings of dread and hurt, but that's about it. That's all I remembered about my past, everything was blurred. It was frustrating, but I didn't express that. It felt wrong, very wrong.

I decided to go over my thoughts in my room till dusk.

The mission carefully stated that I should quietly kill my target.. to prevent any other issues. The map of the academy was in the small stack of papers too. The layout was similar to this academy, almost paralleling each other. Was it coincidence? I don't know at this point. I went back to the mission guidelines to look over it again. I am instructed to wear my school uniform for this mission, why? Doesn't that sound strange? It doesn't even specify that I should hide my face with a mask or anything. There is a possibility that they thought it was unneeded for this mission. But shouldn't you wear a mask regardless?

Emigrace stopped my train of thought, "You are unable to wear a mask because we are making ourselves known to the light. We are emerging from the shadows and taking action, that's the point."
I should be used to this really, "Are you watching me?"
"Of course. For security reasons, we installed a camera in your room." Her carefree tone rang into my ears.
"That is very worrying."
She giggled a bit, "Have fun reviewing the mission."
At that point, I couldn't even bother to relax. Since now I found out that she has a surveillance camera in my room.. watching me twenty-four hours and seven days a week. I felt my privacy stripped away from me. I reviewed the mission and the schematics of the school one more time before waiting for dusk.

I waited at the outskirts of the academy in our territory. Waiting for the signal to start the mission by the head council.

"Mission start." I received the signal from the other end. I start dashing into the thick woods. I have to be very careful once I get there. I had doubts about their security being very lax, but I didn't have any reason to distrust anyone. But at this moment, I'm the only one I should trust. I'm on my own, I need to do what it takes to finish the mission and seek my way back home. Without any problems.

As expected, traveling there is more difficult than I thought. As least I didn't have to sneak in an open area. But the thick roofs of the trees prevent any moonlight to shine my way. I was in complete darkness, but in these situations, I was taught to rely on my senses. I manage to get through to the Light Faction's Academy gate by hopping tree to tree. I hid in the bushes and took a small glimpse at the gate. The guards were sleeping. "Seriously?" I said, beyond disbelief.

I shook off the feeling and ran over to the three-meter high stone wall and ran up the wall, allowing me to dive into a small blind spot at the bottom. I hid in the shadows and advanced towards the dormitory building on the west wing.

I snuck inside the school and carefully made my way to the dorms. As expected, the entire school had it's lights off, which means it everyone in the dorms should be sleeping. I locate the air ventilation in the ceiling in the lobby. I used my Keyblade to unlock the vent cover, I jumped into the shaft and crawled through the vent shaft.

Keyblades have the mysterious power of unlocking anything. It is unknown why Keyblades have this power, some believe it is the power of the wielder at work, others believe the Keyblade can use the ability regardless. Since Keyblade Wielders can unlock anything using their Keyblades, each faction had to stop using locked doors for hidden secrets and had to devise secret passageways to bypass this problem.

I made my way to my target's room, the map was correct. I busted the vent cover open and jumped down into the room. I looked around, it was completely dark, but I felt around for something that resembles a bed. I noticed a wooden bed, with white covers. There was a lump in the shape of a body. I got up removed the covers; I was tricked. It was a line of pillows, the cheapest thing to do. My eyes flared at the sudden flash of the bedroom light. I heard a girl's voice yell at me, "Intruder!"

"Dammit." I cursed under my breath. I looked in the direction of the voice, and the target, Ayako Tsumura, was standing in the closet wearing her uniform.
"So you're from the Darkness Faction, correct?" She questioned. Her hair was as white as her uniform, the uniform she wore was a white military uniform with gold highlights, with a short white skirt with black stockings and white boots to top it off.
"Yes, and you must be Ayako Tsumura, an elite soldier of the Light Faction Academy," I said. This was bad news.
"Correct, I was unaware on how much information your people gathered on me. But your stealth skills are lackluster, we noticed your people snooping around the academy, mapping it out all the way to my room." She explained. Her gaze was sharp, her eyes had fierce determination.
"Was that why security was low? To capture me? Your people are quite perceptive." "At least you're able to tell that much. But that's enough.." She opened the palm of her gloved hand, summoning her Keyblade. It glowed in bright white as it summoned. "..you're coming with me." She pointed her weapon towards me. I felt a menacing aura around her, her eyes gave off the vibe of a fiery soul.
"..Shit." I cursed under my breath. I quickly turned around and kicked the door open, rushing out in a flash and into the hallway. She brought the chase on and projected a flurry of attacks in my direction, "Triple Blizzaga!"
Three separate orbs of ice were sent flying into my direction. In retaliation, I summoned Two Become One, and swung at the orbs and sent them to fly into the wall, which formed a huge ice crystal. I quickly turned around and ran, I noticed the lights flicker on and all the students emerge from the rooms to see the commotion. "What the-SHIT!" One of them gawked at the sudden appearance of the huge ice crystal near his door.

"What in the world is going on..?"
"Quiet down already.."
"Who's that..? Ayako..?"

All around me, I hear comments of the students as I run past them. Ayako has halted her line of fire, valuing the lives of her fellow students. Even though she's the enemy; it's admirable. Some of the students tried to grab me but I knocked them down with my weapon. I made my way to the courtyard area, I jumped from the window of the viewing area to get here. Ayako closely followed from behind, and I can see the students that woke up gather around the halls, viewing through the glass. I turned to face her, readying my Keyblade with both hands and spreading my legs to prepare myself.

"You managed to dodge my attacks, but I won't miss again! Triple Firaga!" She raised her Keyblade and conjured three orbs of fire, projecting them at me. I dash towards her to evade the attack and our blades meet.
"You're the first to ever dodge my Triple Magic techniques, who are you?" She questioned. "Kazu Yuuki," I answered. I cut off our blades and jumped back a few feet. "Thundaga." I thrust my weapon forward, and currents of lightning flowed from my Keyblade and projected themselves to my target. She curled her body into a roll mid-jump and rolled away to evade.
She snuck up behind me and struck me with her Keyblade, "Is that the uniform for the Darkness Faction? Not only are you wearing it in such an unorganized manner, but is that how your faction operates?" she started to mock our school.

I got back up on feet, "Reflect our nature."
"What?" She said, confused.
"This uniform allows us to be free, we are free to wear it, however, we, please. Because it shows our free will. That's what I am told."
She started laughing uncontrollably, "Hahaha... what? That's what you're told? Then tell me, where is your free will? Because from how you act, it tells me otherwise."
"..." I remained quiet. I had nothing to say, to be honest, I never questioned it before. I haven't realized it, that I have no free will. My life revolved around listening to others and follow commands from the higher-ups, it never occurred to me that I have no free will of my own. Comparing myself to her, she seems independent, I haven't seen her call for backup yet, she has confidence in her own strength.

"You got nothing to say? Then I'll gladly have the honor of imprisoning you myself." Ayako positioned herself for a strong forward thrust. She dashed past me and whispered, "What are you fighting for?" at that moment, I break down. I fell to my knees and tried to grasp those words. It feels like I should be fighting for something else, yet, whenever I try to recall that, my head starts hurting badly. I grasp my head with both hands, trying to stop the pain, it didn't stop so I stopped trying to recall. Even so, those words lingered in my head and I started feeling things that I have never felt before anger, joy and most importantly, vengeance. It pained me even more. I was confused to why she would ask me such a question, was I so abnormal that she had to help me? Why would she help me? Does she pity me? Questions like those poisoned my thoughts.

"Breaking down already? Well, you have all the time to think of the prison block." She held her weapon against my neck.
"I'm not going anywhere," I said quietly. I have to get out of here, by any means necessary. I quickly stood up and clashed my Keyblade with hers.
"I.. let my guard down!" She yelped, surprised.
"Blizzaga..!" ice starts forming at the tip of my Keyblade, I cut off our connected blades and projected the ice at her. She cast a magic barrier in defense, "Reflect!" the ice reflected back to me, I block it with my Keyblade.
I was astonished, "Reflect..!?" Reflect is high-class defense magic, it's very difficult to pull off. Someone would have to go through months, maybe years of practice to even master it. If she is able to learn it so quickly, I shouldn't be here. I ran past her and scaled the wall back up into the academy and made a run for the exit.

Of course, getting out wasn't simple. I had to fight my way through the students that were viewing the fight. I managed to make it back to the Darkness Faction territory in one piece. She knew I was going to be there, it was a failure from the start. I had no choice but to run, it was better than to be captured. But for her to even use high-class magic like that? Well, she hasn't mastered it fully, so that's a relief. The rebounding aftershock didn't occur when my attack hit, she was only capable of reflecting it back to me.

I got out of the dense forest. I saw three members of Advanced Squad 1 waiting for me. Before I could utter a word they apprehended me.

"What the-" I tried to speak but they cut me off.
"Operative Kazu Yuuki, report!" They ordered.
"Tch.. mission, complete failure.." I said, hanging my head in sorrow.
"..On orders from the commander: Kazu Yuuki, for failing such an important mission, you'll receive punishment effective immediately!" The leader announced sternly. Punishment, hearing that words bring horrible feelings back. In fact, it makes me tear up upon hearing that. But before I could cry, I felt a strong force hit my stomach. The leader kicked me, hard. "Oof!" I groan in pain.
"You'll see the commander soon enough." he said.

END

Next Time:

Realization