Well, here we are again. It's always such a pleasure. Remember when you tried to kill me twice?
No? Really? Okay. I can live with that.
I know what you're thinking: 'Holy crap! He's actually publishing TWO chapters in one month? The world must be coming to an end!' Trust me, I'm almost as shocked as you are.
On a completely unrelated note, please go vote in the poll on my profile page.
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, blah blah blah. We get it.
Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Oathbreaker
Sunday, June 27th 4794 P.C.
The Castle That Never Was
Hall of Empty Melodies
Keila let her breath out slowly to calm her nerves as she stared across the platform. Charden Flamberg stared back; at least that's what Keila assumed. It was impossible to tell with his round sunglasses hiding his eyes. She drew in another breath and quickly analyzed her opponent. Charden held himself with a sense of casual serenity, only occasionally breaking it to adjust the silk top hat on his head.
"I'll ask once more," Charden said in a calm tone, "are you sure you wish to do this?"
Keila held out her hand in response. In a flash of purple light, her new Keyblade appeared. The Darker Than Dark had a pink handle and a rectangular, lilac guard with long spikes on each of its corners. The long blade was dark purple with concave edges. It was decorated by two indigo diamonds, and ended in a spike resembling those on the Nobody symbol. The lilac-colored 'teeth' were shaped like a large, hollowed-out arrowhead with a parallel pink spike in the center that attached the 'teeth to the actual blade. The Keychain was a diamond that vaguely resembled the Keyblade's 'teeth'.
Keila examined the blade briefly with a small smile. She had found the Keychain in the room Maleficent had given her in the castle and after she had attached it to her Keyblade, she had instantly been drawn to it, despite its 'girl-ish colors'. Its sharp, angular edges gave it a slightly sinister appearance and something inside her told her that it was more than twice as powerful as her Inverse Kingdom Key. 'Wielders Intuition', as her mother had often described it, was the instinct all Keyblade Wielders possessed. It heightened their senses, physical, magical, and spiritual. It was how Wielders were able to find stronger weapons to use in combat during the old days, or so her mother had said.
Not that any of that really mattered to Keila. She just wanted to maximize her full potential and in her mind, she needed the most powerful Keyblade she could get her hands on to achieve that goal. The Darker Than Dark was a step in the right direction. Keila tightened her grip around the handle and swung the Keyblade over her head in a flourish before falling into a fighting stance.
"Ready when you are," she said. Charden smiled at her.
"Very well then," he turned to look up at one of the platforms higher in the room where Kyoko leaned against the railing, watching the pair below. "Kyoko, please time us for three minutes." The black-haired girl grinned widely and pulled out her cell phone to check the time.
"You got it, Charden!" She called down cheerily. "Begin in… three!" Charden reached inside his black overcoat and produced an ornately decorated dagger. "Two!" With his teeth, Charden pulled off the glove from his white hand and let it fall to the floor. "One!" Quick as lightning, Charden slashed at his exposed right palm with the dagger, leaving a deep cut in his flesh. He put the dagger away and smiled up at Keila as his blood flowed onto the floor faster than it should have. "GO!"
Keila sprinted towards Charden as Kyoko signaled the start of the match. In less than two seconds, she had closed more than half the distance between the two of them. Keila smirked smugly as she drew nearer and nearer to the man. Their agreement was, if Keila could land a single blow anywhere on Charden's body, she would win. When Charden had first proposed the rule, Keila had felt insulted and she had yelled at him for a good five minutes, in which she used the full extent of her colorful vocabulary to insult him before Echidna had interrupted on Charden's behalf, insisting that landing a blow against Charden would be an astounding feat for, as she had put it, someone of Keila's level.
Piece of cake. Keila told herself as she swung her Keyblade behind her, ready to finish the fight with a single, powerful blow. He doesn't even have a defense up. All he's doing is standing there with that smirk on his face.
"Don't be so quick to rush into a fight without first making sure you aren't stumbling blindly into a trap," Charden said in a lecturing tone. "And never underestimate your opponent." Keila's resolve faltered for a brief moment as Charden's words cut through her, leaving a painful feeling of unease in her stomach. She took her eyes off of the man for a brief second and glanced down out of nervousness. She nearly cried out in shock.
Instead of pooling on the ground, Charden's blood had spread out to form a web of bloody trails across the entire platform of the Hall of Empty Melodies. But that wasn't the part that startled Keila. Rising from numerous places where the blood trails were thicker were numerous, scythe-wielding skeletons made from blood, all grinning at her with bloody-teeth. The blood skeletons didn't have legs like normal skeletons. Instead, their hip bones were only half formed and instead ended in a long tail that remained attached at all times to the blood trails.
"What the hell are these things?" Keila shouted as she fell into a defensive stance. Her head snapped back and forth as she looked around her. The web of blood trails on the floor covered the entire platform and there were a good thirty or so skeletons rising from it on all sides, she was surrounded. Charden's words about walking into a trap suddenly made a whole hell of a lot more sense to her. Charden smiled at Keila.
Up above them, Kyoko was laughing softly to herself. Keila doesn't stand a chance against Charden. She said mentally as she watched the Keyblade wielding teen below. His Tao power, Blood, is a force to be reckoned with. He controls his blood like another limb on his body, shaping it and manipulating as he wishes. He can absorb his victims' blood through his own, which means that when he strikes his enemies, they are already as good as dead. This girl is as good as finished. But the best part is, because of all the blood he's collected, Charden has an amount of blood way over the usual amount normal humans have at his disposal, giving him almost limitless power. And he can't even be killed through blood-loss! He's so cool!
"Wherever you go, you must be very cautious in meeting something more ferocious than yourself," Charden said. Keila glared at him. "Unless you know you can definitely overpower your opponent, you can't act without thinking."
Keila quickly recovered from her momentary shock and sprang into action. She hurled the Darker Than Dark at Charden, grinning with satisfaction as seven of the blood skeletons were struck and splattered back against the ground. Her Keyblade never reached Charden. With a flick of his wrist, the Taoist summoned up a thick wall of blood between him and Keila. The Darker Than Dark embedded itself in the blood wall before vanishing in a flash of light and reappearing in Keila's hand. Keila let out a grunt of frustration and spun to attack the closest skeleton. Charden released the blood wall and allowed it to flow back into his body.
The skeletons all rushed towards Keila in an attempt to overwhelm her by sheer force of numbers. Keila's Keyblade was a blur as she struck them down left and right, splattering the ground with the blood and making it hard to maintain a solid footing. She slipped, and to her disgust, landed in a pool of blood formed from the remains of the most recent skeleton she destroyed. The other skeletons closed in rapidly, scythes of blood glinting with an evil crimson light.
"Shield!" Keila shouted. Her shadow beneath her seemed to come alive. It rose from the ground and enveloped her entire body in a dark shroud. Charden watched with mild interest, even halting his blood skeletons from attacking. The shadows twisted and writhed around Keila for several moments before splitting apart, become whip-like tendrils that lashed out at the skeletons.
"Two minutes!" Kyoko called from above. "Come on, Charden! Show her who's boss!"
The shadows parted from around Keila and the teen stood back up. "There, that wasn't so hard," she said with a grin. Charden smiled at her and tilted his hand so that the cut on his palm was aimed at her.
"Bloody Rain," he called out. Blood shot from the wound, taking the form of hundreds of laughing skulls and flew across the room like a lance. Keila fought back the urge to wretch in disgust. She leapt to the side to avoid the attack and found herself quickly surrounded on all sides by more blood skeletons.
"Oh, come on!" Keila shouted angrily. "I don't have time for this! Shadow Form: Mimicry!" She flicked her wrists at the ground and the shadows answered to her call. The shadows created by the skeletons rose up, taking on a three-dimensional form as they mimicked the original skeletons. Charden gave an impressed chuckle and silently commanded his blood skeletons to turn and attack their shadow counterparts.
The shadow skeletons quickly revealed themselves to be more effective than the blood skeletons. The blood skeletons' attacks merely passed through the shadow bodies of their shadowed replicas. The shadow skeletons stood still for several seconds, allowing the blood ones to attack with no avail. Then they attacked and the blood skeletons splattered across the floor. Keila turned to grin coldly at Charden.
"What was that about 'meeting something more ferocious than yourself'?" She asked in a taunting voice as she began to advance on the Taoist. Charden continued to smile, unperturbed by Keila's words or actions.
"Impressive," he said. "I can't help but notice that your skills are better suited for stealth and assassination. Why do you bother with the aggressive approach of a battle-crazed warrior?" Keila spun her Keyblade above her head and swung it down by her side.
"One minute!" Kyoko called from above.
"Because Keyblade Wielders aren't cowards like assassins are," Keila said ignoring Kyoko. "We prefer to tackle our problems head on!" At her last word, she put on a burst of speed and let out a wild battle cry as she charged at Charden. The Taoist only smirked. Keila drew her blade back, a confident smile spreading across her face.
"Never let your guard down," Charden said suddenly when Keila was only feet from him. His fingers twitched and the blood covering the floor came to life, becoming a rope of blood that wrapped itself around Keila's body before she even had time to take another step. Keila's eyes went wide with shock as the blood ropes tightened around her legs and immobilized her. Keila fell, face first onto the floor and struggled against her bonds. She gave up struggling as she realized that she couldn't even get her hands to budge. Without being able to make the proper gestures, she couldn't summon the shadows to her aid.
"And… time!" Kyoko shouted joyfully from above. "Way to go Charden! I knew you wouldn't let yourself be beaten!"
LD
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Keila pounded her fist angrily against the dull, tiled wall of her shower as she shouted at the water pouring over her. She let out a groan and slumped down against the wall, not even caring that the water was now hitting her face.
Why? She silently asked herself. Why is it that no matter how hard I try, no matter how many hours I put into making myself better, I'm always outdone by someone else? She hugged her knees tightly to her bare chest and let out a frustrated scream.
"It's not fair!" She grumbled. "Why is it that I'm never good enough? At this rate I'll never…" Her voice trailed off before she could finish. It was hard for her to say it out loud. She didn't want to hear herself say those words. She knew enough about self-fulfilling prophecy to know it was better to not tell herself what could happen. If she did, she would subconsciously make it happen and push herself further from her dream.
She could still remember the stories her mother had told over the years about Keyblade Wielders and how the Masters were nearly invincible. She remembered listening intently and wanting nothing more than to be a Keyblade Master, just like the ones in her mother's stories. But her mother had told her, time and again that she could never become a Keyblade Master because there weren't any Masters left that could perform the Mark of Mastery ceremony. But Keila refused to give up on the only dream she had ever had.
From an early age, she had learned that her mother was a chronic liar. It wasn't too difficult to notice. The only problem came from trying to tell her lies from the truth. That was why Keila refused to abandon her dream, there was still a chance that her mother was lying to her and there was a Master out there who could make her into one.
She glanced up from her bare knees and caught sight of her slightly distorted refection in the chrome faucet in front of her. The way her reflection had been warped, her hair looked liked it was spiked and standing up at numerous odd angles. Just like that Sora person I fought weeks ago. She noticed. The one who looks just like me for some reason. Keyblade Master Sora…
Her eyes went wide as realization hit her. "Keyblade MASTER Sora!" She exclaimed, accidentally hitting her head against the wall in her excitement. "Ow!" She quickly scrambled to her feet, almost slipping and falling as she did so to turn off the water. She threw back the shower curtain and stepped out of the tub and onto the dull gray bath rug. "My mother was lying! If he can become a Master that means someone out there must've administered the Mark of Mastery exam on him!" She was practically giddy with her excitement as she grabbed her towel and began drying off.
"Who cares if he's the enemy?" She said with a broad smile. "All I have to do find him and ask him who I need to go to? Simple enough." Her grin slowly slipped away and her excitement gave way to sadness. "Except I attacked him last time we met…" She wrapped the towel around her torso and stepped out of her bathroom and into the bedroom she had been assigned. The room itself was nothing special. All of the walls were the same metallic gray color as the rest of the Castle That Never Was. There was a lone bed barely large enough to fit a full grown adult with white sheets pressed into the corner of the room next to the window where the incomplete moon of Kingdom Hearts could be seen hanging in the sky. Keila strode over to her bed and sat down.
Even if I did find that Sora guy again, he'd probably just assume I came there to fight and attack me. She hung her head and stared down at her feet, wincing slightly at how her toenails looked. I guess I'll have to come up with another plan.
The sounds of a dark corridor opening up in the room caught her attention. She looked up to see who exactly had the nerve to enter her room without knocking first. To her surprise, she found an old comrade of her mother's staring back. Naleten smirked emotionlessly at her, sending a shiver of unease traveling up Keila's spine. He held up a pale hand towards her, revealing a small slip of paper held between his index and middle fingers with the words 'Orders' written on it.
LD
Ansem the Wise's Study
Radiant Garden
Leon breathed a sigh of relief as Mickey tucked the small, silver orb he had used to place the call inside one of his pockets. The mouse king grinned up at his friend.
"See?" Mickey said with a grin. "Sora's got everything under control. Nothing to worry about." Leon gave him a half-hearted smile in return.
"That doesn't mean he can stop anyone who might try to kidnap Kairi every time," he pondered out loud. Mickey tilted his head to the side.
"I know that look," he said as his smile rapidly faded to a grimace of concern. "What's buggin' ya?"
Leon sat down in the chair closest to him and swiveled it around so he could look Mickey in the eyes for once. "Someone knew who Kairi was," Leon said. "Someone here in Radiant Garden." His gaze shifted so he was staring at his gloved hands, which were now clenched tightly into fists. "I thought the Restoration Committee were the only ones who knew. But I was obviously wrong. Someone else, someone with authority to send an assault cruiser to the edges of the galaxy to capture a teenage girl without question." Mickey's ears drooped sadly.
"I'm going to figure out who's behind this," Leon said. Mickey looked up, surprised at Leon's determined tone of voice. "Whoever they are, they got their information about Kairi from somewhere and I'm willing to bet it was Maleficent was behind it."
"How can you be sure?" Mickey asked. "I mean, sure, it does sound like Maleficent would be behind something like that. But how can we be sure that it isn't some other enemy we aren't aware of yet? We've got Maleficent, her allies from a bunch of other worlds, her Heartless, the Nobodies, the Apostles of the Star, Xehanort and any allies he might have. The World Order is in shambles now thanks mostly to Maleficent and the Heartless, so knowledge about other worlds and things like the Keyblade, Keyholes and the Seven Princesses are becoming common amongst all of the worlds.
"We can't afford to jump to conclusions because we're on edge, Leon. And believe me, it's not just you. Sure, we've got a bunch of strong fighters on our side, but we're outnumbered on all sides. If we dive blindly in situations like this, we'll only make ourselves vulnerable, especially because I believe Maleficent is trying to do the same thing she did over a year ago by capturing the Princesses to open the Door to Darkness."
Leon's head whipped around in surprise, though his cheeks were still flushed from the slight embarrassment he was still feeling from the out-of-character break in his normally calm demeanor. Mickey's words had stung slightly as he had helped Leon realize that the leader of Radiant Garden had briefly lost sight of the larger picture. But the information about Maleficent's possible plans surprised him.
"Are you absolutely sure?" Leon asked. Mickey shook his head in response.
"We're not sure about anything anymore," he answered truthfully. "I've got a spy in Maleficent's allies, but from what he's reported, she's trying a bunch of different ideas at the moment. She's probably trying to come up with a failsafe in case whatever her main plan is fails. But opening the Keyhole of Darkness here in Radiant Garden seems most likely. I got word from my scouts just yesterday: all of the Princesses of Heart except for Kairi have been captured and taken away from their home worlds."
Leon slumped further down in his seat, an unfamiliar feeling of hopelessness spreading throughout his chest.
"But that's not the worst of it," Mickey continued. Leon let out a groan.
"How did I know you were going to say that?" He grumbled.
LD
Cliffs Overlooking Hang 'Em High Crash Site
Lynfael
Keila let out a groan as she stepped out of the Dark corridor and into fresh air. She sniffed and winced. Well, as fresh as it can be with the smell of smoke, fuel and blood hanging in the air. She glanced around and caught sight of the wreckage of a large Gummi ship dominating the majority of a sand colored valley. Bodies were littered around the wreckage. Several had been torn apart and were soaked in their own blood.
She let out a noise of disgust and turned away from the sight, continuing to look around for the contact her orders had mentioned. He wasn't hard to spot as he was the only other living thing around for miles and was waving eagerly at her. Keila let out a groan. She could see the smile plastered across the visible part of her contact's face. Just my luck, they're probably one of those happy go-lucky types.
"You're Keila, right?" The contact asked as he jogged cheerfully over to her. Keila nodded. "Thought so! Name's Devin Mayes! Pleased to meet'cha!" Devin was dressed rather simply compared to many other people Keila had seen across numerous worlds. He wore a pair of black jeans and equally black combat boots. His chest was covered by a dark navy blue t-shirt that outlined his muscles perfectly. A long sleeved, brown over coat was draped over his shoulders and held in place by a gold wire with a small ruby attached to it that rested at the base of his throat. A long, pale blue staff with an emerald adorning one end and a two foot blade on the other was strapped to his back. He had short, jet black hair that was spiked slightly and had bangs that ended just above his eyebrows and a pair of brilliant hazel eyes.
Devin offered his hand to Keila, who stared at it like it was a snake readying itself to bite her. After a few moments of awkward silence broken only by the soft whisper of the night breeze, Devin slowly lowered his hand.
"So…" Devin said, giving Keila a nervous sort of grin. "How was the trip? Was there much traffic?" Keila raised an eyebrow at him. Devin let out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, look. We're going to be stuck together for the next several hours, so would it kill you to open up and talk a little bit? It doesn't even have to be much. Just a simple 'how's the weather?' 'Fine, thanks. Could be a little warmer but I'm not complaining.' 'That's splendid. What's your favorite pastime, Devin?' 'Oh, you know, researching ancient weapons and studying various arcane techniques.' Conversations like that. It's not really all that hard, you know."
"You really don't like quiet, do you?" Keila noted.
Devin responded by rolling his eyes. "It's a mage thing. We're not a particularly quiet group of people."
"Any particular reason why?" Keila asked. "I don't see why mages can't stand the quiet. It doesn't really make any sense."
Devin began walking towards the edge of the cliff and Keila caught sight of what appeared to be a rope anchored into the rock that was dangling over the edge. "Perhaps a demonstration is in order," he suggested. "Do you see that ship over there?" He gestured at the wreckage of the Hang 'Em High.
"It's kind of hard to miss," Keila pointed out. "It does take up more than half of the valley. So don't worry, I don't think you've gone insane yet."
"Ha ha ha," Devin said in a sarcastic tone. "That ship crashed here early this morning. Long story short, it was carrying a bunch of soldiers. Said soldiers were defeated and the survivors fled in whatever intact Gummi ships they still had inside. Now, the ship is just an eyesore in this beautiful landscape."
"There's nothing but rocks and dust here," Keila reminded him. "I wouldn't call it beautiful." Devin let out a groan of frustration.
"Will you please let me finish?" He said. Keila smirked, keeping the surprise she felt at enjoying Devin's torment to herself. "As I was saying, it's an eyesore. So I'm going to get rid of it."
"I can't wait to see this one." Keila smirked at him. "But I don't think you have a handkerchief big enough to cover that ship."
"Don't need one," Devin said as he drew his staff. He grinned at Keila as he twirled it around in his hand several times before thrusting its jeweled end towards the Hang 'Em High with a shout of "TOROLSH!" To Keila's surprise, the air around them pulsed with a powerful energy that nearly knocked her off her feet. A bolt of bright blue energy burst from the staff's jewel with a thunderous boom that shook several rocks loose from the cliffs and even caused a rockslide on the opposite end of the valley.
The bolt of energy streaked across the night sky and struck against one of the engines of the Hang 'Em High. There was a surge of purple and black energy that rapidly covered the wreckage for a brief moment before vanishing into nothing, taking the wrecked ship with it. Only the empty valley remained, devoid of all signs of the crash except for the gouge in the ground from where the ship had slid to a stop.
Keila's mouth dropped open in shock. She looked fearfully over at Devin, who seemed a little drained of energy but had a satisfied grin on his face. "See? I could've just left it alone," he explained. "It wouldn't have impacted my life in the slightest. But I couldn't resist the chaotic pull of showing off and making a big scene. Now then, shall we go complete this little mission of ours?"
Keila nodded in silent agreement as she eyed Devin nervously. He was powerful, and apparently unstable. Sort of. And that didn't exactly make her feel comfortable. Devin chuckled and walked over to a large stone that had obviously been reshaped by unnatural forces. The mage shot her a grin and placed his palm against the stone. Nearly invisible cracks in the stone lit up suddenly with a pale purple light. The ground shook violently as the stone slowly raised itself, revealing a hole in the ground with a spiral staircase leading down into the dark depths.
"You coming or what?" Devin called out to Keila, who continued to stare in his direction with a look of mixed awe and nervousness. When she didn't respond, he merely shrugged and began to descend the staircase. Keila quickly recovered and followed him, jogging slightly to catch up, with the stone slowly moving back into place behind her, encasing the two teens in darkness. Keila didn't mind, especially since Devin's staff was casting a gentle, white light around them to guide the way. She could clearly see the outlines of the stairs as they went deeper and deeper into the stone and it was impossible to not see Devin as the mage was the only other living thing.
They descended the stairs for what felt like hours, even though Keila knew it had to be only minutes since she was pretty sure she'd start feeling tired, hungry, and thirsty or any combination of the three if it had been hours. Devin seemed unaffected. He happily descended the steps, whistling a cheery tune as he did so.
LD
It took them nearly two hours to reach the bottom of the staircase, where they were greeted by a thick wooden door. Devin pushed the door open eagerly and led the way into a large stone chamber. At his command, a dozen orbs of light flew from the tip of Devin's staff and flew to various parts of the room, casting away almost all shadows. Unrecognizable characters had been incised into every inch of the stone walls, but both teens eyes were focused on something else entirely.
A giant stone carving of a lion's head rested at the end of the chamber complete with a beautifully carved mane that seemed to flow despite being made of stone. It was astoundingly perfect in every detail, twenty feet tall and almost as wide, carved out of the dark blue-veined stone that makes up most of the tunnels they had spent the past half hour squeezing through. The lion's eyes seem to glare, the mouth seems to snarl, and the whole thing looks like life itself frozen in stone, as though just waiting to pounce, if it could only force the rest of its body through the stone wall that held it. Not all that surprisingly, Keila fell in love with it at first sight and stood right before the stone face, running her hands over the detailed carving and cooing delightedly.
"I don't enjoy many things," she explained when Devin raised his eyebrows at her, "but if there's one thing I'm a sucker for, it's beautifully carved stone."
"I don't blame you," Devin said cheerily. Keila's eye twitched. His ever positive attitude was getting on her nerves already. "It truly is a magnificent piece of work. But this is where my usefulness reached its end. I can't get past it without the key, and I haven't the faintest idea where it might be. So do your thing, oh great and powerful Wielder."
"Then why did I have to meet you here?" Keila asked. "I could've just been told where this place was and found my own way in."
"I'm here in case you need support," Devin explained. "We don't know what waits for us beyond this carving. What if it's crawling with giant spiders? Or trolls? And I'm not talking about those annoying pricks on the internet with nothing better to do."
Keila rolled her eyes and stepped up to the lion's snarling mouth for a better look as Devin casually examined the walls of the chamber around them, studying the strange symbols carved into the stone and continuing to list the various things that could be waiting behind the carving. Keila did her best to ignore him and began searching for the keyhole. Over the years, her affinity for shadow magic had given her superior vision in dim lighted to pitch black settings, a talent that helped her spot an engraving in the back of the lion's jaws in the shape of a keyhole. With a grin, Keila summoned her Keyblade to her hand and aimed it at the carving. There was a flash of blue light followed by a loud click. The teen Wielder stepped smartly back as the lion's jaws grated slowly open. The upper lip rose steadily, operated by some hidden mechanism, revealing huge jagged teeth, above and below. The jaws continued to open, until the lion's mouth gaped wide, revealing a tunnel big enough to have a fully grown adult walk through it without needing to duck their head.
"And that's our ticket in," Keila said with a suddenly excited grin. "Let's go!"
Devin grinned eagerly as he followed Keila through the lions' jaws and down the tunnel that served as its 'throat' into the next chamber, which turned out to be just a simple stone cavern but with the images of terrible weapons carved in rows upon the stone walls, like ornaments in Hell. None of them were identified and Devin knew why; either you knew what they were and what they could do or you had no business trying to tell them apart. Devin practically bounced from carving to carving like an excited child in a candy store. Clearly, he knew some of the weapons by sight and reputation from his extensive studying.
"There's Sunwrack," he said in an awed tone, pointing at the carving of what looked like a simple crossbow. "It's for putting out the stars one at a time. Beside it here is the Juggernaut Jumpsuit, makes you impervious to all harm, scientific, magical, spiritual, you name it. And here, the Time Hammer, for changing the past through brute force."
"Fascinating," Keila said, watching as magical fires ignited in empty grates set at even intervals along the sides of the hallway.
"This one's Winter's Sorrow. Huh, it really does look like a child's toy, but all you have to do is break the crystal, and it'll unleash the Fimbulwinter: an endless season of cold and ice, all across the world, forever and ever and ever." He stared at the cracked image of Winter's Sorrow in curiosity. "I wonder why the image is cracked. Everything else in here seems to be intact."
"Yeah, strange," Keila muttered, only half-paying attention to Devin as she watched the room light up around her as she walked further in. They passed the carvings of what Keila assumed were images of the other weapons that had been contained within the Armageddon Codex and the chamber beyond lit up as a hundred magical flames ignited along the walls. Coins, jewels and beautifully crafted suits of armor and weapons were piled high in all corners of the room but Keila paid them no attention. A large, circular dais filled the center of the room. Lines were carved with expert precision into the stone and each one glowed with a pale-silver light but Keila's eyes were fixed on the one thing on the dais' center. Oathbreaker.
It wasn't much to look at. Just a long stick of ironwood deeply carved with pre-human symbols floating of its own accord above a carved ebony altar. Keila stepped onto the dais, not even noticing that the lights in the carved lines beneath faded and died as she did so. Devin abandoned his excited examination of the carvings when he caught sight of it and went to stand next to Keila. The pair of them stood before it for several long minutes both in awe of the weapon before Devin finally reached out with a surprisingly steady hand, and took the stick down. He grimaced, as though just the touch of it was disturbing to him. He hefted it in his hand once, and then turned abruptly and gave it to Keila, as though the weapon was a live snake that wanted nothing more than to sink its fangs into him. Keila accepted it gingerly. It felt surprisingly heavy to her, weighed down with spiritual weight rather than physical, a burden to the body and to the soul.
All because of what it was, and what it could do.
"But…it's just a stick," Keila said as she turned it over in her hand, examining the symbols that covered it. "Is that it? I mean, is that all of it? Just a heavy stick? Does it change into something else if you strike it on the ground? Or are we just supposed to beat people over the head with it?"
"This is Oathbreaker," Devin said his voice shaking with a mixture of excitement and terrified nervousness. His mouth was very dry, and his hands were beginning to sweat as he stared at the weapon. "Exactly as the books described. There's no doubt about it. It undoes all agreements, all bonds. Right down to the atomic level, if necessary."
At Devin's words, Keila held Oathbreaker further away from her body. "All right," she said, "now you're scaring me."
"Good," Devin said. "Because it scares the crap out of me. Legends say its as old as the beginning of time, perhaps made by whatever shaped everything as a fail-safe. But there's no record of it ever being used, Maybe because whoever used it last, did so to wipe all memory of themselves from existence."
Keila nodded and slide Oathbreaker into a modified strap on her jacket, securing the ancient tool of perfect obliteration to her back. "Let's get out of here," she said. "I don't know about you, but now that we've got what we came for, I've decided that I've had enough of this dusty old place ."
"Don't be so quick to depart, mortals."
Keila and Devin both froze in place. They shared a quick, equally nervous look and slowly turned to look behind them. The stone statue of the woman holding the tray of gold and gemstones was glowing with a faint, blue light.
"I may be crazy," Devin said, "And I wouldn't be surprised if I was since it's a common side effect among mages, but did that statue just talk to us?"
"I am no statue," the statue replied before Keila could respond. "I am Caritas, embodiment of the Third Virtue, Charity. I have been imprisoned within this stone avatar for countless eons."
"Yup, we're crazy," Keila said. "I think we should leave before it takes hold and we have to kill one another for sustenance."
"Umm, I don't think that it's a good sign if cannibalism is your first thought regarding a talking statue."
"Please, be silent and listen," the statue of Caritas pleaded. Keila and Devin fell silent. "When the Templar Order built these sanctuaries to protect and safeguard some of the universe's most terrible and ancient secrets, they attempted to seal the Seven Capital Vices as well. Using their vast knowledge of sealing magic, they successfully bound six of the seven Vices to their scattered sanctuaries.
"The other Virtues and I had offered our assistance and we subdued each Vice one by one for the Templars. But in doing so, we began to vanish. With our opposites sealed, the universe had no further need for embodiments of the Virtues. One by one, we sealed the Vices. And one by one, we faded from existence.
"When it came time to seal the last Vice, Avarita, only I was left. She and I waged battle in this chamber for what felt like decades before the Templars finally arrived, bringing with them that terrible weapon you carry now. The mere presence of Oathbreaker weakened Avarita and myself. Victory was within our grasp, though I knew I would cease to exist after Avarita was bound for eternity, I could not think of a more noble cause to perish for.
"The Templars had modified their usual seals so they would seal Oathbreaker along with Avarita, binding them both to the stone of this temple. Oathbreaker was the final piece in the sealing ritual and as you know, it is one of the single most powerful weapons in existence and has been so before recorded history on any world. And the Templars, well, were only human.
"They underestimated the power of Oathbreaker, before the seal could be complete, Oathbreaker destroyed them. Avarita made her escape before it was too late while I could only watch in horror, for it had been my suggestion to seal Oathbreaker away. It was my fault those Templars died. But even in death their magic could not be undone.
"I was still within the seal and it bound me to this statue. Rather than being sealed with me, Oathbreaker became the key to my prison. But now, you have removed the key. You possess Oathbreaker! And I, I have a favor to ask of you."
Caritas fell silent, allowing her words to sink in. Keila and Devin shared looks of awe mixed with unease.
"What do you want us to do?" Devin asked.
"Not you, child," Caritas said in a slow tone. "Her. The Wielder of the Keyblade. Possessor of Oathbreaker."
"Me?" Keila pointed at herself in confusion. "Why me?"
"You wield the Keyblade," Caritas replied. "Only a Wielder could unlock a Templar Sanctuary for they sealed these temples with their own Keyblades. And only by a Wielders hand can you undo the seal that binds me."
Keila considered Caritas' words for about a minute. "What do I get in return?" She asked. "I'm not exactly big on helping strangers without some sort of reward."
"And you will be rewarded," Caritas said in a reassuring tone. "Though my powers are significantly weaker after all this time, I can offer you the answer to one question. Any question. And the answer will be the truth. But I cannot answer in this form. So please, release me." The tray in Caritas' hands vanished in a flash of light revealing a large, crystalline pink heart with a jet black Keyhole marring its surface.
Keila's eyes went wide as nearly a thousand different questions and possibilities assaulted her mind in the fraction of a second. The answer to any question. A truthful answer. If she chose her words right, she could wind up ruling the universe, or discover the key to immortality. But she already knew what question she wanted to ask. Devin's eyes darted back and forth between Keila and the notepad he now clutched in his hands as he frantically wrote down everything that was happening.
The Darker Than Dark appeared in Keila's hand with a flash of purple-light. "All I have to do is release you and you'll answer my question? Right?" She asked as she aimed her Keyblade at the heart in the statue's hands.
"Correct."
A small orb of swirling light formed around the Darker Than Dark's tip. Keila's mind fixated on her mother's orders Naleten had delivered. Complete this task for me, my daughter, and I will see to it that your dreams shall come true… "Then tell me," Keila asked, "when my mission here is over, will I become a Keyblade Master like my mother promised?" The orb of light at the tip of her Keyblade became a beam that flew into the center of the keyhole in the heart. There was a loud clicking sound, like that of a lock coming undone. The heart pulsed with a bright light, temporarily blinding Keila and Devin with its brilliance.
Caritas let out a joyful sigh as the light faded. The statue had vanished and only she and Devin were in the room. Keila's mouth fell open in disbelief.
"She lied to me!" She shouted as her anger began to rise. "So much for being the embodiment of Charity or whatever she called herself! That stuck up bit-" Her ranting came to a halt as Caritas' voice, now at a much louder volume and with a force that threatened to drive both teens to their knees, boomed throughout the chamber.
"Wielder of Shadows." Keila swallowed hard as Caritas addressed her with a name only she had ever used for herself. "I have your answer. Your fate is bound to two beings of Darkness and unless you free yourself from them, you will NEVER become a Keyblade Master."
LD
I'm not sure if that qualifies as a cliffhanger or not. Oh well.
Before anyone asks, no, this is not a filler chapter. It has a purpose. I wrote it to provide a little insight into Keila's motivation and to introduce some elements that have important roles later on in the story.
Fun fact: This chapter was originally over fifteen thousand words. However, I removed several scenes because most of them will fit into the next few chapters better than they would fit into this one. And a couple were just failtastic. So I deleted those two altogether.
That's it for now, my friends. As always reviews are welcome and appreciated. Your feedback is very important and actually helps me become a better writer.
I don't know how soon I'll get the next chapter out. I'm trying to help my younger brother through a rough patch in his life so I can't make any definite promises, but it should be out before Valentine's Day.
Once again, please go vote in the poll on my profile page.
Until next time!
Aspicio, diluculo Infinitas Noctis.
Shadow Horizons