Chapter 2: Warriors in Training

"Oh shit!" I stumbled backwards, scrambling to find something. Then it appeared in my hands again. The Keyblade. I held it in front of myself to block anti-me, I guess, from tearing me to shreds. As I held it up, the creature shrieked and sank into the ground.

Come to the darkness. Let it take over. I heard a voice run through my head.

"No…No…NO!" I shouted, hoping it heard me. As I shouted that, a small creature walked up to me, with a surprised look on its face. It looked a mouse, or I thought it was until it started speaking.

"So, it seems like the darkness is trying to get to you already. It did the same thing to Sora, but he fought the darkness and won. Are you ready to take on that challenge?"

"Yeah…yeah…I think I am. It's the only way I can find out who I am."

"Good then. Let's get started! My name is Mickey and it looks like your part of my new class, or at least, Yen Sid's class. I'm just his apprentice trainer for now. Come. Let me introduce you to the others." Mickey led me into the tower and on the base floor stood two other people. A girl with short brown hair who was a little shorter than myself. Her eyes were blue like an ocean. My face heated up a little bit at the sight of her. Then there was a boy who was about the same height as the girl. He had gray hair like the man who brought me to the tower, except he was younger.

"This is Nikki and Joseph. These are your classmates," Mickey explained.

"Hey! How old is this guy? He looks like he's a lot older than us and that's unfair!" Nikki was the first to say something.

"Calm down! I'm only sixteen. Wait, how old are you?!"

"Huh, turns out I'm older than you. Seventeen." Nikki looked up and down at me. "Not bad." I blushed a little bit when I heard this.

"Would you two stop? You're going to make me sick. I'm only thirteen and it looks like I'm gonna be the mature one of this group! By the way, don't call me Joseph, just stick with Joe!"

So these were the people I was going to be training with. Nikki, the flirty girl with an attitude and eyes that made me melt, and Joe, the mature thirteen year old with a superiority complex. Great.

"If you guys would relax, I think we should get started. Darkness doesn't stop itself," Mickey said cheerily. I stood at attention and the other two followed. "So, to begin we will teach you simple attacks."

The days that passed turned into weeks of swinging at targets and summoned creatures which were no challenge really, but apparently they were enemies that we would be facing out in the world. I was learning things that I didn't believe I could do, but I was becoming comfortable with my Keyblade. It became an extension of my heart. As I grew stronger in spirit, my Keyblade packed a bigger punch. Then, week five dawned upon us.

"You are excelling quickly, my pupils. I think it's time to move into more advanced methods of battle: Magic!" Yen Sid looked at us with wide eyes as if we were his children.

"MAGIC?!" All three of us asked this question in unison excitedly.

"Magic is an effective method of battle and assistance, but it's also very dangerous," Mickey warned.

"Well, I think we've learned that fighting with these things in general is pretty damn dangerous," Joe looked down at his arm, then glared at me.

"Ha… Sorry about that…" I said looking down at my feet. We had gone through our tough times together in the last few weeks and it brought us closer together. Joe and I bonded on our love for adventure. I had only discovered it when I learned about the wonders of other worlds. If one fourteen year old kid can journey through these worlds with a talking duck and dog, then so can I. Joe felt the exact same way. As for Nikki, well…with the occasional awkward moments where we fell on top of each other or any other awkward sexual moment we had (I started losing count), we became friends very quickly.

"Oh Joe, get over it. Women love scars. It makes them seem manly, even when you're a little kid." Nikki giggled and looked at the scar.

"Ugh… Nikki, stop calling me a little kid. I'll be fourteen in three months!" Joe was sensitive about his age.

"Oooooh, big man!"

"Would you three stop?!" Mickey became frustrated. "You have to learn to utilize magic in an efficient way that won't hurt you or your companions!"

"Sorry, your majesty," the three of us said in unison.

"Thank you! Now, first, you have to focus on the type of magic you want to use, whether it be fire, blizzard, cure, thunder, and so on. Then, you need to channel that focus into your Keyblade and it will manifest your focus into reality."

Finally, some true insight into the power behind the Keyblade. We were learning how to manipulate the physical qualities of the weapon, but each one of us could sense the magic capability behind them. It was exhausting trying to keep up with this kind of power, but the ability to wield this weapon was needed to help other worlds, and…that was all I was told, so that was all I knew.

So, a few days passed and after a lot of burns and shocking moments (pun intended), we had the general idea of magic.

"Congratulations, children. You have mastered the basics of the Keyblade. However, as you face and defeat more enemies, your Keyblade will teach you techniques to further improve your skill in battle." Yen Sid looked at us and grinned slightly.

"A-Are you okay, master?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of course. I'm proud to see my pupils progressing so quickly, but now it's time for the real test. Unfortunately, the darkness is swallowing more worlds as we speak, so there is no time for the Mark of Mastery exam."

"Wait! How are we supposed to prove our skills with the Keyblade then?! You've prepared for this exam for the last month and now you're saying we're not taking it?!" Joe had a hard time grasping this concept.

"Joe, stop. Let's just hear him out first! This might be another kind of test…I hope." I looked at Joe and then back at Yen Sid hoping I was correct about this new "assignment". The Mark of Mastery exam sounded like a hellish nightmare from what Yen Sid had described.

Joe shot me a glare, thinking I was siding with the master. I tried to look back with an intense glare too, not fully understanding where this was going.

"Okay. Put them away, boys. What is next for us, master?" Nikki was the one to break the glaring contest and brought our attention back to our quiet master.

"You three need to test your skills in the field, and there is no better way than to put you up against a real threat."

"Umm… where is this going?" I looked at Yen Sid with utter confusion.

"Saddle up! You guys are going to another world!" Mickey said with excitement.

Oh yeah! Finally, some fun!