ABOUT THE TIMELINE: It may be wonky and is likely not canon but I'm stretching it to have Yen Sid have been alive for the Keyblade War. And I'm not taking KHUX canon into account because I'm not caught up on it also I'm lazy! I just like speculating about Yen Sid and the Keybearers before the main trio basically.

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There had been a time when the worlds were full of Keybearers.

A school on every civilized world. A branching council over every section, an elite organization over the council, Keybearers policing their own to make sure corruption didn't overcome the protectors. There were legends and myths reaching back centuries, inner hierarchies, and every young child dreamed of being chosen for their very own Keyblade.

They had once been the protectors of the balance, warriors both of light and darkness working together to keep the worlds safe.

Their collective mistake had not been complacency, as one might think. It had been greed—greed for power, for prestige… but mostly, greed for the χ-blade.

A scholar had discovered it, had theorized it would be possible, and the news had spread. Every school suddenly saw the chance to rise to the top, every apprentice saw a fast-track to Mastership. It became the sole object of every wielder's obsession. Their duties fell to the wayside; their hours were devoted to finding the blade they thought would solve all their problems.

Only a clash of pure light and pure darkness would bring it. The Keybearers fell to dissent at how far they should go to obtain it. How far was too far.

The Keybearers had split. Schools turned on each other, apprentices betrayed their Masters—and any semblance of morality was abandoned. Darkness began to spread, feeding fires of anger and pride and greed. The balance was gone. The Keybearers across the worlds abandoned their posts for the final battle on the world which would become the Keyblade Graveyard.

None of them won. No one created the χ-blade. Those that survived gave up their Blades in remorse.

Keybearers of old tore themselves apart, and the balance was fractured. The worlds stumbled in the absence of their protectors.

The Keybearers of old failed to stop the darkness and protect the world. Hundreds of them couldn't keep themselves and the balance in check.

Which is why Yen Sid finds Riku, Sora, and Kairi so remarkable.

He had begun teaching Mickey all those years ago reluctantly (unsure that anyone should even try to use Keyblades anymore). He remembered all-too-vividly the carnage that could be wrought when a Keyblade was used wrongly. But he knew Eraqus was trying to train students too, train them right, avoid the darkness and uphold the balance.

But even though Eraqus had been so careful in his training, Aqua, Terra, and Ventus had all been lost, the first new generation of Bearers almost all destroyed in one fell swoop of Xehanort's. Yen Sid had gone on the defensive then, hoping to stop the whole business in its tracks.

He had thought Eraqus' students had managed to stop Xehanort, and so ordered Mickey to keep his own blade a secret, use it only when necessary, and avoid all contact with the darkness.

So when the threat of Ansem and Maleficent and the Heartless appeared, Yen Sid was at a loss. Those ten years since Eraqus' students had been filled with desperate attempts to study and understand Xehanort's previous plan, not prepare for whatever was next. He had no way to combat this.

Then, out of some small light world, came a young boy, who had been granted a Keyblade not by a Master, but seemingly from light itself (though he had some theories now). He had appeared with a grin on his face and a need to help in his heart, and he and the King's friends had blasted their way through the darkness. Yen Sid had watched this occur, unable to contain his surprise. A part of him tried to hope that this would turn out well.

Sora's friend, Riku—he was a different story at first, but it turned out that Terra had made the right choice of successor in the end. Riku fought the darkness tooth and nail, and he found his way to the light in the end. Yen Sid had never realized that a light that survived in the blackest of darkness would end up just as bright if not brighter than one who never had that challenge. Tenacity, determination—traits essential to any successful Keybearer, but Riku's were tempered with wisdom from past mistakes and undying loyalty.

Yen Sid had dismissed Kairi at first, unaware that she also had a Key waiting for her from her meeting with Aqua, and although she had started training later than her friends, found magic as instinctual as her predecessor had. She upheld and encouraged and helped her boys with infinite patience and a ready smile, and when the time came, she went into battle herself. He shouldn't have been surprised that she took to combat just as easily as magic, but he was and she did; and she joined her boys as an equal and not a dependent.

The three of them together—Sora sprinting ahead full-force with a grin on his face, ready for anything; Riku, more serious but analytical and practical and full of determination; and Kairi, pulling her boys together when they fought and facing the darkness without wavering—they somehow gave Yen Sid hope for Keybearers again. The three of them could accomplish more than anyone thought possible, could stare darkness in the face and find a way through it. They rescued their predecessors and thwarted Organization XIII, and stood poised to take down Xehanort, unstoppable as long as they were together.

The three of them found the balance once again and managed to maintain it through loyalty and tenacity.

Where hundreds of more experienced Bearers had all failed those years before, Sora, Riku, and Kairi succeeded, through friendship and their own light. It gave Yen Sid hope again.

And on behalf of the Keybeaers who had gone before him, Yen Sid awarded them each the Mark of Mastery in due time, knowing it was the least he could do.

They had defeated the darkness and won the balance, in spite of their youth and inexperience and the odds stacked against them.

The first new generation of Keybearers stood as a solid front against the darkness, together and stronger for it, winning battles and maintaining the balance that those before them had been unable to, and Yen Sid found himself glad there were Keywielders to protect the worlds once again.

Riku, Sora, and Kairi continued the legacy of the Keybearers, their path difficult and long but helped by the knowledge they were shouldering a mantle held by so many before them.

~fin~

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A/N: Yeah, I know, I'm really inconsistent with the whole uploading thing. My only excuse is school and a lack of motivation.

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Should I have worked on this instead of my multichapter? No. Not at all. Did I do it anyway? Yeah, I did. I don't really feel sorry either.

But I have many other unfinished drabbles and one-shots to finish, a couple I have vague motivation for, so maybe I'll be a bit active? Maybe? Until this school year finishes killing me?

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Thank you for reading. I greatly appreciate it! :) Have a wonderful day!