Alan vs. Tyra

Alan and Nadia noticed as they arrived near the top of Castle Darkhand that there was a security code box beside the door they neared at the top of the long creaky stair case. Nadia then said looking at the box, "Didn't Pyraine tell us a code to use for the drawbridge or something like that Alan?" "He must have meant for the staircase doorway instead. It makes sense and all since he was dying. I remember what it was." Alan then pressed the digits: three, four, eight, two, and nine. The door swung open nearly hitting Alan as it turned counterclockwise towards him and he then said in disbelief, "No wonder no one lives here anymore, aside from the dead land and all." As they headed into the top floor, they saw a huge corridor with five rooms on each side and a single room at the end of the hallway with a huge hole on the side of the doorknob. As Alan and Nadia travelled through the dark, yet candle lit corridor, they saw five paintings on each side of the castle hinting at more and more rulers from its history and as they walked along the red carpeting of the corridor, they saw a huge hole beside the door at the end of the hallway to their right and as they looked out from it, saw the vast red landscape of the castle's dried up courtyard and mechanical pieces of what was appeared to be a giant black laser gun, but without a switch or handle to operate it. Alan then said as Nadia hid behind him, "It must be that secret weapon that Tyrannil mentioned of. We'd better get going. There's no time to lose."

Alan then saw that across the hallway from them was a bed, but all messy and untidy. Alan also saw a letter on the pillow of the 18th century looking bed inside the small 5x2 room. Alan read it with anger and distrust as Nadia asked him, "What does it say?" "It's Tyra. Apparently he anticipated that we would have killed Tyrannil and he's awaiting us at the top of the castle. He knows that we have Pyraine's tiny skull item to unlock that door we were just at. He's going to be getting a little surprise from me though once we get a hold of that guy." Alan then took out the skull and placed it inside the doorknob and unlocked it clockwise as it opened and they ran through into another pair of stairs. The stairway led to the top of the castle which was surprisingly a giant outdoor balcony surrounded by a tower to its northern, southern eastern and western sides. It also had a few pots at each corner of the balcony that once bore ferns and bushes. At the center was the same man that Alan and Nadia anticipated meeting after all this time in the red knighted armour. "You know this castle was once all teeming with life. It wasn't always the dried up wrecked up dump that you see before you. There was once a happy family living in this castle and it didn't bear such a name as Castle Darkhand. It was called the Castle of Sincerity for its wondrous arts and rulers." Alan said, "You can cut the charade out Tyra. I'm here for my final fight with you so are you ready for this?" Tyra laughed as Alan said this and he replied turning towards him with his red rapier already drawn and ready for battle, "Never interrupt a man and his story friend. It's very rude, but if you insist on this I shall tell you it as I fight you."

Alan summoned his Kingdom Key and rushed off towards him as he summoned a whole army of duplicates of himself all around Alan and they rushed at Alan slicing his tree bark beige suit piece by piece. "There was once a little boy flying his kite…" Tyra grabbed Alan by his throat and threw him high into the air. "…yet there was a huge storm that carried him away from his home…" He then sliced at Alan's keyblade trying to break it away to get to his heart. Tyra then kneed Alan in the face as Nadia gasped and screamed, "Leave him alone!!" Tyra continued, "The King and Queen wept for days as they searched for their child but had no luck." Tyra teleported and as Alan clashed with him, Tyra pushed Alan back and scraped the ground causing fire to spark from it as he did so and Alan clashed move for move at a right, then a left, a close call at the right shoulder, a push right near his heart, and then Alan lanced his keyblade past the rapier at his neck, but Tyra tripped his left foot and sliced his keyblade away from his side. "It wasn't until a year later that that boy returned, but it was too late. His home was destroyed. His mother and father were dying in their master bedroom and with the boy there to hold their hands did they tell him he had to be strong for them. He had to look after himself and forget his home and everything about it."

Tyra then sliced Alan's neck and a spewing of blood occurred as Nadia screamed and collapsed on her knees crying which triggered the 'Loveshield' as Pyraine called it or the Golden Transformation and Alan was in his armour again. He then slashed at Tyra left, right, left right, and he was backshuffling all the way to the end of the balcony, where he jumped over Alan's head and sliced his back right through the Golden Armour. He then kicked Alan onto his back and stepped onto his chest. He punched Alan twice and uppercutted him into the sky and then he punched him far towards Nadia near the west side of the balcony and Tyra landed magnificently as he walked towards Alan who was on the verge of unconsciousness and Alan stood over Alan mad glaring at Tyra and prepared to give him her worst. "You monster!! How could you?", Nadia exclaimed. "My heart…how it feels stricken by this pain. For you see I was that boy in my story. When I was separated from my family I was lost. After witnessing my home's destruction because of the Useless I had to look after myself from there on in. If I could I would have turned back time before this mess ever happened. Now look at me, a knight about to kill an enemy that hasn't done wrong upon me."

Tyra stood over Alan and Nadia used the healing potion on Alan. Then Alan took out his keyblade after summoning it to his side as Nadia gripped his left arm and he looked at Tyra standing and crying. Alan walked towards him and then grabbed him at his helmet and punched him good to the ground. Before Nadia could even respond to this, Tyra said, "Thank you. I needed that Alan. It's funny, I never thought I would be here today in this cold, heart of a place. The 'sorrow and despair of all worlds' is what this place has been called since its plunge into darkness years ago. I was only fifteen when this happened. Now look at me. Is this really what has to happen to me: death at the hands of a bunch of kids?" Alan then closed his eyes as he then dropped his Kingdom Key and said, "I should really have killed you right here right now, but I can feel your pain. The Kingdom Key does as well. You miss your family and the good times on this world. Yet you know in your heart that it can't ever be relived. It is a shame I will admit, fair enough. The question now is what are you going to do about it?" Nadia gasped as Tyra looked at Alan. Tyra then said, "I guess I shall rectify the mistake I should have corrected then. For you see, I wasn't lost in a storm. I ran away from home. My parents wouldn't let me do as I please and for that I hated them for it. Yet I didn't want them to die. I was so young when it happened. I apologized so many times before they said each of their last words before departing. My mother said, 'Take heart and glow with the light of this world in your body'. My father's was more serious as he said, 'You are now the holder of a great light. Never lose sight of it and remember: a leader must protect his team of followers.' Unlock my heart, I know you two have the power to."

Nadia then asked, "Wait. How do you know about the key's abilities?" "Our master told us of these 'keyblades'. Yours are fairly recent having been attached with a keychain. The originals were carved for knights and royalty to use as well as soldiers. You had to be pretty experienced and in your twenties in human years to even receive a training model. The keyblade was relatively a hidden secret, very few in the universe knew. All they knew was that each time they heard of an event, a world was saved or destroyed as the legend goes. Many times the worlds had to be saved, but sometimes at a dire cost. That would mean that the worlds would have been reverted to their normal selves again, with no memory of their heroes or liberators. I was one of those heroes and I along with another of our brethren were the only ones who ever wielded such a weapon. I gave mine up for my path in darkness while the other, the Bronze Knight, left in a sign of pity and of rage. How I miss those days.", Tyra continued. "How about the Doors to the Heart?", Alan asked. "He knows too. We all did. We just didn't know the location nor even cared to look. Where do you think this heart will even go to in the first place?" Alan and Nadia fell silent. "Legend has it that there is a place in the universe that is out of reach of the stars shine in sky. It is surrounded by comets and has a crystal like pillar with three columns pointing into space. The center is the tallest, followed by the one to its left and then the right being the smallest. A prophecy has been told of two great warriors that will liberate it from a terrible evil. Another prophecy states that a generation after these two will come three more warriors: One shall take the Path of Light, the Path of Darkness, the Path of Twilight and all three shall take the Path of Dawn. All three are also said to become destined to be rulers of this universe both on the side of good, but also the side of evil." Alan and Nadia gasped hearing these truths and what it all meant. Yet even after the story was told Tyra just said, "So now unlock my heart and save this world. I guarantee you this world will have great importance in the future should you decide to save it and I get sacrificed."

Alan looked at Nadia who was sighing and on the verge of tears. He said, "I can't. Not if Nadia doesn't want it." "Listen girl. I must die, don't you get it.", Tyra yelled. Nadia then said, "I won't do it. You didn't deserve this kind of treatment Tyra. None of you guys did. It's not fair." "Yet in life I've learned that sometimes to do the right thing means something must be sacrificed. In the Great War, I lost my best friend and became the leader of the Knights of the Realm. The war ended for good, but we all lost people we cared for. Besides, I'm willing to do this if it means that never again will history repeat itself." So Nadia sniffled a little and then nodded as she took out her keyblade and together with Alan zapped at his heart. As it appeared before them, the true heart of the world, Tyra collapsed on the ground. They then together unlocked the heart of the world and Castle Darkhand was transformed. It started to grow trees and the sky became blue. The moat was filled with water and the wind blew air instead of dust. Castle Sincerity was reborn after so long. Tyra then said as he dissolved into nothingness, "The Castle of Sincerity…I'm glad I got to look upon you for one last time…before…I…ugahah…" Then Tyra disappeared as the world suddenly came back to life. Alan and Nadia cried together. For the first time, they pitied the poor fated Knights of the Realm, even after they swore they wouldn't get away with their tricks. Yet they had to move on, for their final fight against Obeion awaited, and he wouldn't show mercy like Tyra did. Alan then pressed the button on his watch and left the Castle of Sincerity to bask in its new found haven of light.

(A very sad portion of this story I must say. I imagine KH BBS being a lot like this as will 358/2 days in the end. As we have heard, there has been reference to the story I am working on, which will have the Bronze Knight in it for sure and the Knights of the Realm (in flashbacks more or less). The place Tyra mentioned in the last portion of the story is very important for two reasons: one is that it is going to be one of the worlds in my story. The other is that he mentioned of three warriors who will visit this world as well. If you're new to my stories, you should probably read my other work to get the gist of what I'm talking about, but also to keep in mind I have a secret ending planned out for the end of my story as well. There's still more to come so stay tuned.)

(Next Time: The Red Desert.)

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