Act 1

Chapter 4- Advanced

"Where are we going?" Gideon asked in his slightly nervous voice.

"Well," Lucian replied "now that you've chosen you chainless keyblades, its time to see your skill in handling one. This is just a simple training exercise."

Gideon looked down at his chainless keyblade. It was a rather strange one, for it the key part of the blade was located on both sides, in a mirror like effect. Its hilt was of a square, almost trapezoidal shape, with wing like curves at the end. It was a fairly big blade, with a broad hilt and handle, making it fairly heavy to carry. Yet, for some reason, Gideon felt compelled to pick up this particular one.

The group, having returned to the temple once again, entered the main hall and walked through the courtyard, to the large doors to the upper levels of the temple. Lucian unlocked the doors with his keyblade, and proceeded with everyone else inside the upper levels. Inside was an enormous white room, with ornate carvings and pictures decorating the ceiling and walls. Unique geometric shapes sparkled on the floor in white and an almost unnoticeable light blue color.

The keyblade masters promptly walked over to a strange round orb, which was black and filled with spheres of light, reminiscent to a starry sky on a summer's night. This time it was Harva's turn to act. She merely touched the orb and it set out a projection of its insides. The spheres began to move and merge together, forming 25 slots, 12 for the basements, and 13 for the main floors. Harva selected the top 13th floor, and immediately they were all teleported their.

The children looked around with looks of amazement on their faces. They were standing in another white room. However, this one was significantly smaller, and though some decorations lined the walls, the room still felt plain and simple. The one interesting feature of this room a giant crystal ball, which was being cradled by an elaborately furnished stand. Braeden was already standing at the crystal ball and activated it, giving him ability to monitor the activity on all of the floors.

"Hmmmm. That's a shame. It appears that most of the floors are occupied for battle simulations." Braeden said in a discouraged tone. "However," he continued with renewed hope. "There are two floors still available. The 11th and 12th floors. We'll just have to use both rooms with one group at a time."

"That works." Lucian said. "Gideon and I will use one, and Harva and Alena can use another. You and Donovan can use them when we are done."

"Then it's settled." Braeden stated. Braeden flipped a switch on the pedestal, and secret compartment on the wall opened up. Inside was a gigantic vault were what appeared to be cards. Braeden selected for decks from the vault, and walked further to take two more cards from deeper inside. "There," he continued as he came out from the vault. He proceeded to hand a deck to Lucian, Harva, and Donovan. Then, he handed the two other cards to black and red heads. "You know what to do, and be sure to share these with your apprentices, for obvious reasons."

Gideon:

Gideon was dumbfounded by what was going on. He and his master had left the crystal ball room via the orb again, to the 11th floor. There, Lucian held up the strange card that he had received from the green haired warrior. Immediately the door lit up.

"Well, everything's set up." Lucian said cheerfully. "Show me what ya got!" Lucian handed half of the deck to his apprentice, and they glowed for a couple seconds in his hands before returning to normal.

"M-master? What exactly are these cards for?" Gideon questioned in a slightly hesitant voice.

"Good question Gideon." His master replied. "You see, this castle was designed for training. Therefore, the main rules of the castle are based on cards. You fight with these cards, so they there are set limitations built in and you can not injure or kill your training partner."

Though Gideon didn't fully understand, he was grateful to learn that he couldn't be harmed by this exercise. The two stepped into the room, and the younger was amazed by what he saw. It was not a white room that met his eyes, but a large, somewhat barren field with a sunny blue sky above.

"Now" the 35 year old said as he got out his half of the deck. "Lets begin!" Lucian drew his keyblade, a silver steel blade with crown at the end for as the key part, with a square, golden hilt, and a silver keychain with a silver orb at the end. He darted towards Gideon at a quick pace. Gideon became paralyzed by fear and did not know what to do. He tried to raise his keyblade to block the blow, but was thrown back by the shock.

"Come on! Get up! You are capable of so much more!" Lucian cheered. Gideon managed to get back on his feet again as Lucian rushed towards him again. Lucian swung from above with his keyblade towards the child's head, and his apprentice managed to block it with out falling down, but he was quickly losing his balance. "Focus Gideon! Feel the power of your heart! It will give immeasurable strength!" Lucian stated as jumped backwards, preparing for another strike. "Listen to it and feel its power! Your heart is the strongest weapon you have!"

Gideon paused and closed his eyes. As soon as his master was finished speaking, he drowned out all the noises around him. He tried to focus, he tried to listen. He thought to himself "It's no good..." Suddenly, he heard something. It was his heart beating. He began listening to it, and he felt a strange energy begin to flow through him.

"Here I come!" Lucian yelled, breaking the silence. Using this new found energy, Gideon raised his keyblade to block the strike. Lucian landed the strike at the boy's upper torso, and Gideon held his own footing. As Lucian raised his blade, Gideon swiftly followed in for a quick blow. At the last second, Lucian deflected the swing with his own keyblade.

"Excellent job Gideon! You passed with flying colors!" Lucian shouted with joy. "You made wonderful progress! Over time, I will teach you to hone these skills and you will become an excellent keyblade master"

Gideon slightly blushed and smiled all the way back to the monitoring room.

Alena:

"Alright! Show me what you've got Alena!" Harva yelled as the exercise began.

Immediately, it had appeared as if Alena had disappeared. She was running rings around the arena. "Her speed is incredible!" Harva thought to herself. Alena continued to run around the area, until she accidentally dropped her keyblade, and then proceeded to trip over it.

"Drat! I hope Master Harva didn't see that!" Alena stood up and retrieved her keyblade. Her chainless keyblade was also of a unique design. It was a medium length and size blade, with a cartoonish-like crown at the tip of the blade; its hilt was in the shape of a circle made from shape of rose petals and leaves.

As soon as Alena had recovered he keyblade, she saw that Harva had sneaked up behind her. "Don't let your guard down my dear!" she said as she swung her keyblade towards her apprentice's body. Harva's keyblade was very similar to Lucian's, except hers had a golden blade and keychain, with a white hilt.

Alena managed to gracefully dodge her master's strike. "Impressive." Harva said to herself. "Her high energy allows her to move at fast speed and dodge some attacks."

Harva chased after Alena and repeatedly tried to strike her. She aimed for the legs, but the blade struck the ground. She then aimed for the upper body, but her blade only met air. No matter how she tried, Alena managed to just barely dodge her attacks.

Harva attempted one more attack and threw her keyblade at Alena's body. Alena turned around to see the keyblade approaching at a fast rate towards her head, and raised her keyblade to stop it. The blade hit, the shock sent Alena flying into the air. She quickly regained her balance and landed gracefully.

"Good Alena! Good! You have a truly unique ability. Learn to master this ability, and you can become a powerful and stealthy warrior." Harva praised the young girl as the training exercise came to a close.

"Ha! I knew I would be good at this!" Alena replied with a slight pant in her voice.

Aaron:

"Whoa! Look at this place!" Aaron cheered with immeasurable glee. "I can't believe I'm in an ACTUAL training room!" He got out his keyblade with equal excitement. Aaron's keyblade was a sight to behold. A dark grey blade with a machine gear at its end to represent the key, and the hilt was of a simple square shape.

At the same time, Braeden drew his keyblade. His keyblade was made up of an angel-wing blade, with a smaller wing for the key. Its keychain was the symbol of a crown, with a smooth white chain.

Aaron managed to twirl his keyblade in a circle with his hands, and held it in a position where the blade was behind his arm, and he held the hilt in his hand. "Come on!" Aaron whined. "I want to get started!" "Alright Aaron! Patience." Braeden replied..

With both blades drawn, Braeden took his stance. Soon, he charged towards Aaron, his blade in position. "Heh, Form II Attack 5." Aaron said out loud. "I thought you would try that first." Aaron automatically got his blade into the stance perfect for deflecting the attack. As soon as Braeden landed his hit, Aaron parried his attack.

"Wow. You do know what you're doing!" Braeden complimented his pupil. Braeden continued to try to strike Aaron, but he kept holding his own; parrying and trying to land retaliating strikes. When Braeden aimed for the head, Aaron raised his blade and twirled it away from the vulnerable area. He then tried to aim for the torso, with an almost similar effect. All through the session, Aaron knew the attack form, no matter which type it was. Form I, II, III, IV, or V. He seemed to recognize them all.

The child's obvious strength was analyzing the oncoming attack being able to strategize a nearly-flawless counter-strike. "A chip off the old block." Braeden thought to himself.

"Whew. I think that's enough for today young one." Braeden said, realizing that the child's skill with a blade was most unique.

"That was awesome!" Aaron cried. "When can we do it again?

Braeden and Aaron returned before the other duo did. Lucian and Harva were staring at the crystal ball when the two entered, distraught by what they saw.

"Braeden, you might want to see this." Lucian said gravely.

"What is it?" Braeden questioned.

"Donovan's teaching Xehanort using Form XIII rules on that level." Lucian stated.

"Form XIII?! That means that he can injure Xehanort with or without the cards! There is no protection from injury! Why didn't he stick to Form I, like the rest of us?" Braeden gasped.

Lucian replied "I don't know…but it's disturbing."

Xehanort:

Xehanort was out of breath, pleading for his life. "Please master! Don't!" He held up his keyblade, a thin black blade with thorns sticking out, and a bat wing as the key, with three points sticking out of the tip in a crown like shape, and hilt also made of thorns, to block Donovan's attack.

Donovan swung his blade at Xehanort's torso, only to meet the chainless keyblade. "Xehanort, if you can not defend yourself now, you will NEVER survive in battle!"

Xehanort used his strength to get and began to run. Pain shot through his whole body. Before he knew it, Donovan had caught him. He was swung his keyblade, a broad black blade with a crown pointing towards the blade, unlike the blades of Lucian and Harva, aiming for Xehanort's legs. He made a direct hit, and Xehanort fell to ground, bleeding from his legs. Xehanort turned on his back, desperately wishing for the pain to end….

Donovan began swinging at his chest again, and Xehanort struggled for his life, feeling the full shock of the strikes when they hit his chainless keyblade. He had been terrified before, but not with facing actual death.

"Don't be afraid Xehanort." Donovan whispered to his pupil.

Donovan began to strike again. Xehanort closed his eyes, sensing the end. He heard a clang and opened his eyes, realizing that he was still alive. He looked up to see a form over him, deflecting Donovan's keyblade with his own. It was Lucian.

"Donovan! This is enough! The boy may die! This is not how we teach future keyblade masters.!" Lucian cried. Donovan slapped him, and an energy blast surged from his hands, sending Lucian hurtling backwards.

"HOW DARE YOU INTERFERE WITH MY TEACHINGS!" Donovan bellowed. His booming voice echoed throughout the arena. "This boy is weak, he is not fit to live unless he is strong! I am trying to teach him that, but he will not learn."

"I-I'm sorry." Xehanort whispered. Lucian walked back towards the fallen boy. "Curaga" he said. A cleansing light appeared of over Xehanort and healed his wounds and cuts. The pain even stopped.

"You and I need to talk…NOW!" Lucian said, pointing his blade to the other keyblade master. Donovan was almost taken aback. He had seen Lucian angry before, but never this outraged. "Fine." He calmly replied. "I know just the place." Donovan upheld his hand, and suddenly a portal appeared. The two keyblade masters stepped through it without another word.

A no longer afflicted Xehanort got up on his feet and stared at the still open portal, not able to look away……

Back in the control room, Braeden was still monitoring the situation on the 12th level. Donovan and Lucian had just left the temple through a strange portal. But something else was wrong, something else was out of place.

"Wait a minute!" he cried. "Where's Xehanort?!"