Thank you to those who have read this so far, I hope that everyone enjoys it as we go along.
- Twilight Town -
A young man shot up from bed at the sound of his alarm as he looked around drowsily before putting his hand to his forehead "Dammit...only three more days of summer left...this sucks..." he groaned as he got up and looked out the window.
He simply stared at the frozen sunset as he ran a hand through his extremely short hair. He then went and took a long shower before getting dressed and went downstairs to get something to eat. He looked in the living room to see his Mom and Dad sitting on the couch watching a movie "Good *yawn* morning..." he said as he walked past them and went to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator door as he looked at a few things and quickly decided to warm up the left over pizza. After he ate, he went upstairs and got dressed and went downstairs "I'm heading out, be back whenever!" he called out as he put on his favorite orange jacket "Fine but be back by dinner!" he heard his mom call out. "OK, Love you!" he called back as he went out and closed the door.
He started to walk down a road and made a turn onto the Market Street and walked all the way down as he smirked as ran towards his three friends were "Hey Kyle, Tristan, Brea!" they all looked at him and smiled as Brea spoke "Hey, you gonna enter the Struggle tournament? It's starting today!" she asked as she adjusted her glasses and moved some blonde hair from her face. "Yeah, you should enter for me since I can't!" he said as he tapped on the cast on his right arm. "Ehh I don't know...never been very good at Struggle..." Dylan said as he scratched the back of his head in thought.
Then before he could make his decision Kyle grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards the Sandlot "You're entering because I need some challenge besides Hayner and Seifer!" he announced as he flicked some of his brown hair from his face. Dylan then felt his other arm be grabbed by Brea as they both dragged him to the Sandlot. He promptly sweat dropped at his friends as he sighed in amusement "I guess I don't a choice in the matter..." he laughed as he and his friends all started to talk about the competition this year.
Soon they reached the area for the sign ups and after Brea and Kyle signed up it was his turn. He filled out all the forms and he picked up his blue bat, he looked at Brea who had chose the one with the hand guard, and he looked at Kyle who chose the one that looked like a staff. He then looked at the announcer as he drew two random names from the pile of entry forms. The first match was between two people he didn't know, it was a good match but the guy on the left ended up winning by twenty orbs. He then watched the next round with basically the same results except the guy on the right only one by ten orbs.
Soon enough the next two opponents were Brea and...Kyle? 'Oh this would be good' Dylan and Tristan both thought as Kyle and Brea started to trash talk each other. "I hope your ready because I'm gonna knock those glasses off your face!" Kyle smirked as they both got into the arena. "Please! I'd love to see you try!" Brea smirked back as the announcer blew the whistle. To say the least the match was extremely one-sided as Brea completely dominated Kyle by beating him by over eighty orbs.
Brea smirked as she adjusted her glasses "So what were you saying earlier?" while Kyle just glared at the ground as he sat on a nearby bench "I only let you win since you're a girl!" and everyone all promptly started to laugh as Dylan patted him on the back "Hey at least you...tried?" he said, thus making everyone laugh even harder. Finally everyone calmed down once the announcer started to speak "The next match will be Hayner VS Dylan!" he blinked as he slowly stood up with his bat and scratched the back of his head "Great...out of everyone here..." he sighed as walked into the arena and looked at the taller man.
Hayner was a bit taller then him with short sandy blonde hair, tan cargo pants, and a camo t-shirt "Hope your ready because here I come!" Hayner announced as the whistle was blown. The two went back and forth for a majority of the match but finally Hayner defeated Dylan by thirty orbs. He sighed as he threw himself on the bench "Man this sucks! I get knocked out in my first round!" Dylan whined as Kyle brought each of them a sea salt ice cream "Now you know how I feel!" he said as everyone laughed again.
The matches came and went as Brea went up against Seifer her next round and lost by eight orbs. She huffed as she sat down on the left of Dylan "He BARELY beat me!" Tristan laughed as he patted her back "At least you made it to the second round!" he said as everyone watched the rest of the Struggle Tournament. In the finals it came down to Seifer and Hayner as expected and the two of them went back and forth their entire round but surprisingly Hayner managed to beat Seifer by two orbs, making him the new Struggle champion.
After it was over people brought out food and drinks and set them up on some tables and put on some music as the Tournament became a large picnic. Everyone went around congratulating Hayner on his victory, causing Seifer to leave with his group following after. Everyone was just hanging around enjoying themselves when suddenly Dylan heard a scream as he looked up and saw people running from shadow creatures that were about as tall as hi, with beady yellow eyes "Run!" Dylan shouted as he and his friends stood to run when one of the shadow creatures charged at them with it's claw raised. Dylan quickly acted as he ran forward and grabbed the creatures arms and held it back "GO ON AHEAD, I'LL CATCH UP!" he shouted as he fought with the living shadow. He saw them hesitate and glared "NOW!" he shouted again as they finally bolted away.
Once he was sure they were safe Dylan shoved the creature back, only to see that there were four of those thing closing in on him. He quickly put his arms up in a boxing like stance as one of the creatures tried to pounce him, which resulted in it getting a swift jab to the body, sending it flying back. But it quickly got back up and joined the other creatures that were slashing at him as he tried to get away from the things. Finally Dylan braced himself and shoulder charged through them as he quickly tried to go a full sprint and get away from the creatures.
He managed to get some distance but the creatures managed to pounce on his back as he ran 'No...this is it...' he thought of his friends, his family, and everyone he cared about when suddenly he heard a battle cry and several blows being dealt as the weight was removed from his back. He laid there on the ground, very weak from the ordeal when he heard a female voice "Heal!" he heard as he saw a faint green glow surround his body and suddenly it was like all the wounds he had were gone and he looked up to see a hand extended to him "Are you alright?" the red haired woman asked as Dylan took her hand.
"Yeah...thanks to you Miss...?" he said, hoping she'd fill in the blank. She smiled as she motioned to follow her "My name is Kairi, and you are...?" she said as Dylan started to follow her. "My name is Dylan...what were those things!? I've never seen them before..." he asked as they walked to where the Central Station was "They are called heartless, beings of darkness that's only purpose in life is to steal the hearts of other people..." she explained as they reached the station.
Kairi leaned forward over the ledge that overlooked the town, while Dylan took a moment to absorb the information "So...those things tried to steal mine and my friends hearts...?" he asked quietly as he stared at the ground in thought. Kairi looked at him "Well they probably weren't aiming for you guys in paticular but they were their targets..." she smiled at him "It's a good thing you were there to protect your friends..." she said as she put a hand on his shoulder. 'Maybe he can help us...' she thought, thinking about how he risked his own life to protect his friends.
Dylan just stood there as his fist tightened "I wish I could have done more and not needed to be rescued...I could only imagine what would have happened to my family, and the guilt my friends would have felt..." he said, thinking about all the bad things would have happened if Kairi hadn't saved him. Kairi continued to stare at him for a moment before summoning her Destiny's Embrace and held it out to him "If you can wield this without it returning to me then...well...I'll tell you after we see..." she explained as she held the hilt out to him.
Dylan stared at with with a confused expression as he slowly reached out and grabbed the flowery, pink keyblade and stared as it gave a soft glow. He held it in his hand as he slowly swung it around a couple times "What's this supposed to mean?" he asked as he stared at her. Kairi gave a small smile "Sit back, I'll try to make this as short as possible..." and so Kairi explained the present situation to Dylan as he stared at the Destiny's Embrace. "So...these heartless...they are coming back...and you want me to help you guys save other worlds...?" he asked as he looked at her with a surprised expression.
Kairi gave a small smile as she nodded "Yes, but it is up to you on weather you wish to help or not, do you accept?" she asked as Dylan stared at the keyblade for a moment and raised it in the light "...Yes...if it means I can help others and make it so that other people don't have to go though what I did...yes, I do..." he said as he turned to face Kairi. She then smiled as she reached out and grabbed onto the keyblade "Then in your hand, you hold this Key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, a wielder you shall be. And so no ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love..." she recited as Dylan released her keyblade and gave it back to her.
Kairi then explained the training that one would normally have to go through in order to summon one's own keyblade "...So you see we just don't have the time for that, so I want you to go into the train station and take the Magic Train to a large tower, there you will meet a man named Yen Sid, tell him I sent you and he'll take over from there..." she explained as she turned to walk away. "Wait! How do you know the train will be there!?" he asked her before she turned around with a smile "Call it a hunch..." she smiled as she walked away and out of sight.
Dylan just stood there as he looked at the Central Station wondering what he should do. He could walk away, pretend it never happened, and go back to his regular life Or he could go into the train station, find this train, and help people who need help. He stood there for a moment as he stared at his hometown "This will probably be the last time I see it...in a long while..." he said quietly as he walked into the train station. He then looked around and noticed the the conductor that was normally there was nowhere to be seen. He then noticed the purple train, decorated with gold stars. He walked over to the train and stared at it for a moment as it's doors opened "This is it...no turning back now..." he mumbled nervously as he stepped into the train.
Dylan looked around the empty kart and as soon as he sat down the kart started moving at a surprisingly fast speed. He stared out the window as Twilight Town started to fade in the distance "...I think it's dinner time right now..." he smiled sadly as he turned back in the seat, now all he could do was wait.
Kairi stood on top of a building as she saw train leave the station and smiled "Be strong...I can tell you will be a great keyblade wielder one day..." she said to herself as she heard shouting. She turned to see a Darkside rising up in the Tram Common, she then looked at her engagement ring and smiled "Sora...give me strength!" she said to herself as she summoned her Destiny's Embrace and charged towards the Tram Common in order to confront the Darkside.
- The Mysterious Tower -
Dylan had long since fallen asleep from the long ride and only awoke once the train came to an abrupt stop. He wiped the sleep from his eyes as he walked out of the kart and saw a single large tower so he quickly made his way over to the tower and opened the door and looked around. Not seeing anybody he walked up a spiral staircase and saw a door was cracked open so he quickly walked over and stepped into the room and saw an old but frightening looking man glaring at him from behind a large desk "Who are you boy and what are you doing here!?" the man bellowed as he started to stand up.
Dylan cringed slightly when the man spoke 'This guy is scary!' he thought to himself as he looked back at the man "Are you Yen Sid?" Dylan asked as she shuffled his feet. Yen Sid nodded as he eyed the boy "Well umm you see...umm K...Kairi told me to...umm see you..." he said nervously 'Seriously this guy is scaring the crap out of me!' he thought to himself again before noticing the thoughtful look on Yen Sid's face.
"Kairi you say...I can sense you are not lying...and the only reason Kairi would send someone to me is if she..." he nodded his head in understanding "I see now, forgive me for being short with you earlier..." he said as he walked around the desk "That would mean Kairi preformed the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with you?" he asked as he now stood in front of Dylan. "Umm I guess...she handed me her keyblade and it didn't return to her..." he said awkwardly, he really didn't know what exactly he was talking about.
Yen Sid nodded as he went over towards his desk and moved several things around, as if looking for something "If that is the case then we must get you a keyblade, there is no time for you to summon your own..." he said as he pulled out a glass orb roughly the sive of his hand and held it out towards Dylan "This orb will allow you to obtain a keyblade that belongs to Sora, that he is not using..." he paused as Dylan put his hand over the glowing orb "The keyblade you obtain will be chosen from which best suits your heart..." he explained he removed his hand and the orb hovered under Dylan's hand.
The a light started to form as a keyblade took shape. Dylan looked at the light and clamped his hand around the hilt as the keyblade sat in his hand. He stared at it for a moment and examined it, the hilt looked like a honey-covered pot, with what looks like a tree trunk as the blade's shaft, the end of the key consisted of a branch with a beehive at the end, and a keychain design that looked like a honey bee. "Ahh the Sweet Memories..." Yen Sid noted, looking at the boy as he examined his keyblade.
Yen Sid quickly took hold of the glass orb as it started to glow once again "This will have one final use for you..." Dylan looked at Yen Sid as he saw the began to flatten itself "This will not only give you a way to visit other worlds but it will also teach you three starter spells by imbuing my knowledge into you..." finally the orb flew from his hand and began to shape around Dylan's left ring finger and soon became a glass ring that gave off a dull glow.
Dylan looked at Yen Sid as he felt the knowledge of the three spells flow into him "What should I do now?" he asked as he dismissed his keyblade "Now you must leave and visit other worlds and combat the darkness, there is nothing more I can do for you at this moment..." he explained as he went back to sitting behind his desk. Dylan nodded as he bowed slightly "Thank you Yen Sid..." he then walked out of the tower, thinking about everything that has happened until this point.
Once Dylan stepped outside he looked into the sky before the glass ring glowed and a light took shape in front of him and soon there stood an orange glider "Whoa..." he gasped to himself as he slowly stepped onto the glider. After taking a moment to learn the controls he started to hover in the air, opened a portal in front of him, and flew straight into it so that he wouldn't have second thoughts.
Yen Sid stood at the window and watched as Dylan few away "The boy has a strong light within him...but I could sense that he is connected somehow with someone who has a strong darkness within them...I hope you made the right choice Kairi..." he said to himself as he stared into the open sky.
- Dive to the Heart -
Dylan opened his eyes as he stood on a large glass platform "What the hell?" he said to himself as he looked down and saw the motif. On the left side the design was of him, his right leg was propped up, and his eyes were closed as if he were asleep. He then looked to the right and saw a design of a girl he didn't know, and in between the two of them there was a shining orange star on top of a shining blue star. He then looked up at two doors that wern't there a second ago "One of the doors have already been opened...has someone else been here...?" he asked himself before looking at the door that had a giant white castle design.
"Well looks like it's time for me to start this..." he said as he summoned the Sweet Memories and pointed it at the locked door. Soon a thin beam of light shot out from the keyblade and into the keyhole and the door quickly opened. Dylan took a deep breath as he walked into the light of the doorway.
- Olympus Coliseum -
Ashley stepped into the courtyard of and stared in splendor of the fancy statues that stood in front of what appeared to be a giant coliseum "Wow...so this is what other worlds look like!" she smiled as she looked around.