Here's chapter sixty - two. Thank you Twilight's Shad0w and Eddie Camp for reviewing last chapter!

Chapter Sixty - Two: Beginnings

"Before the beginning?" Gillick repeated, skeptical.

Senn nodded. "Back to when the X - blade - and all the other Keyblades - came into existence."

Gillick's amber eyes narrowed. "Why? What does this have to do with anything?"

"You'll understand, if you let me speak."

Slowly, the black-haired boy nodded his assent. "Fine."

Senn gave him a small, sad smile. "A long time ago, so far in the past that few still know the story, there was a Gate. What was behind this Gate was unknown, but all who came near it knew it was powerful; they could feel their hearts resonating with it. However, they were unable to discover the secrets lying behind the Gate; it was locked, and there was no key to open it.

"The people of the land tried many different methods to free the lock. They attempted to forge keys, search for a way around, pry the door open, and even pure, destructive force. However, nothing worked. Over time, the people began to argue. They fought about the best way to finally succeed in breaking through the Gate. Eventually, this conflict escalated, into a much more…violent struggle.

"Often, groups of people would meet at the entrance to where the Gate lay. They would fight against each other there; usually, all sides would end up the loser. One of these times, however, there were only two people. Siblings, a brother and a sister; one with a heart of pure darkness, the other with a heart of pure light." Instinctively, Gillick reached up a hand to touch the area just below one of his eyes. If Senn noticed this, he ignored it. "The two siblings, like most in the world, had conflicting opinions on how to open the Gate. They began to fight. This would be their downfall."

Senn hesitated, and Gillick lowered his hand from beneath his eye in the pause. "Well?" Gillick prompted, beginning to grow impatient.

"Their fighting caused them to fall," Senn said abruptly. "They tumbled, down to where the Gate was. They were followed not long after by a rock slide, which trapped them there."

"Of course they were," Gillick muttered, looking away.

Senn continued on as if he hadn't spoken. "When they got over their shock at being trapped, they began to fight again, despite being injured. Eventually, though, they were reminded of how much they cared about each other, as a family, and realized how foolish it was for them to be fighting against each other when, working together, they might be able to survive. They each took in their hands the hilts of their broken swords, and clasped those hands together; a silent way to agree that they would combine their powers, and their hearts.

"Then, the extraordinary happened.

"The power of two hearts…when combined together…can unlock new doors." Gillick had to wonder why Senn's voice sounded strained when he said this, but the man didn't give him time to ask. "The pure darkness and pure light in their hearts resonated with the power behind the Gate and combined with their sword fragments. From this combined power emerged the Key. With the existence of this new power, the siblings realized they may have found the way out. They used the Key to unlock the Gate.

"The power that came forth was not what they expected. It allowed them to escape, yes; but it did so much more." Senn paused and swallowed. "It created the Keyblades."

Gillick's eyes widened. "It did…what?"

"Created the Keyblades," Senn repeated. "These weapons went to those who were strong of heart, and whose intentions were noble. They were shocked, at first, not understanding what had happened. Then they learned of the brother and sister, and of the Key they'd forged by working together to unlock the Gate. With this new power given to them from the opening of the Gate, those who held the Keyblades promised to protect the land from ever ending up in such a desolate situation again. Then, to everyone's shock, the Gate and Key disappeared. The Key, as I'm sure you've figured out, would come to be known as the X - blade. The Gate…would later become known as Kingdom Hearts."

Gillick stiffened at the name. "Kingdom…Hearts?" His mind flashed back to the story the sewing woman had told him, the morning before he'd discovered he was the Knight. There was a kingdom in that story, too…was this 'Kingdom Hearts' the same?

"Have you heard of it?" Senn asked, sounding surprised.

Gillick shook his head, trying to force away the thoughts and return his attention to the matter at hand. "No. But what does this have to do with the Knight?"

Senn exhaled slowly, narrowing his downcast eyes slightly. "The power of Kingdom Hearts not only gave power to Keybladers, but magic infected the land. Some people became able to use magic without the Keyblade."

"Is that the Knight's origin?" Gillick asked, frustration burning inside him.

Senn continued to ignore him. "The Keybladers, over time, split into five different factions." Gillick's eyes widened, but this time, he didn't interrupt. "Two, you already know of: the Light and Dark Armies. Originally, they weren't 'armies', per say; but, as you well know, darkness and light are opposites, and opposites tend to fight. You've seen what's become of them."

"Why did they start fighting?" Gillick interrupted, despite himself. "What the hell was the point?"

Senn shrugged slightly. "I believe even they have forgotten." He hesitated, then continued, "The other three factions are combinations of darkness and light: Twilight, which leaned more towards darkness; Dawn, which leaned more towards light; and Nothing, which was in perfect balance between the two. When the fighting between the Light and Dark started, these three balanced groups drew out of the battle, hiding away in remote places. Since the Light and Dark, the two dominant factions, had ended up destroying all their information on the X - blade and Kingdom Hearts - inadvertently or on purpose - they soon forgot about the existence of both. The three remaining, however, continued to hold onto these secrets. It is the last faction that I was once a part of.

"I remember very clearly how excited I was as a young Keyblader; how anxious I was to prove my worth. However, like so many before me, the Keyblade's power overwhelmed me."

"You were corrupted by the Keyblade?" Gillick asked, startled.

Senn looked down. "I…was overcome with greed. I had tasted power with my Keyblade, but I wished for more. And, apparently, I wasn't the only one.

"The Keybladers of Nothing wished to reconstruct the X - blade. They hoped that, by doing so, they'd be able to access the power of Kingdom Hearts. I was chosen to help assist them in recreating the X - blade. I, however, had no intention of sharing it's power."

Senn closed his eyes briefly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Everyone who belonged to Nothing…we thought we were so much better than everyone else. We believed, because our hearts were perfectly balanced between Light and Darkness, we would be able to create the X - blade without assistance from others. What fools we were."

He paused to take a deep breath. "The Keybladers of Nothing had chosen here, in this cave, to perform the deed. As I said, the magic from Kingdom Hearts infected the land." He gestured towards the glowing pools of water. "This is one such place that was affected. The water has special properties. We believed it would help us."

"Help you?" Gillick repeated.

"In case anything went wrong," Senn explained. "At any rate, we had everything planned out; we would come to the cave, summon our Keyblades, and, using the magic in the water to amplify the weapons' powers, would use our balanced hearts to re-create the X - blade. My intention, at that time, was to take the X - blade and run the moment it was summoned. However, all our plans…were soon ruined."

"Let me guess," Gillick commented dryly, "you couldn't summon the X - blade?"

"That is…half true," Senn responded. Gillick raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment, allowing the man to continue. "We may have had hearts that were balanced between Light and Darkness, but the X - blade requires two separate hearts, one of which is pure light, and one of which is pure darkness. Thus, we only managed to summon a broken version of the X - blade." Broken? Gillick wondered, narrowing his amber eyes slightly.

Senn leveled his stare at the boy. "Whole, the X - blade is a powerful force…but one that has some measure of control. Broken, however, the weapon is unstable. It, after all, does have access to all the power of Kingdom Hearts."

And the Armies want it. Gillick felt a sudden jolt of horror run through him.

But the Keyblader of Nothing wasn't done with his tale. "The other members of my group, desperate both to keep the X - blade in this realm and to prevent it from destroying everything with its uncontrolled power, attempted to use the magic around them to seal the weapon." Senn saw skeptical questions flicker in Gillick's eyes, but chose not to answer them yet. "I, however, was desperate for something else." He closed his eyes briefly, the memory coming back to him…

"Senn, what are you doing?"

He barely glanced at the Keyblader who called his name. "The X - blade is mine!"

"Senn-" But Senn was deaf to his companion's frantic cries as he raced forward.

"I raced towards the weapon," he said, slowly opening his eyes. "I kept to my initial plan - to grab the weapon and run. However, the fact that the X - blade was broken made my task far more dangerous."

The closer he got to the weapon, the more intensely he felt the barely restrained power. For a few moments, he faltered, unsure if it was a good idea to keep going. Then he steeled his resolve. I will take the X - blade, he promised himself silently.

He could see the runes of the seal beginning to form; he had to hurry. He slammed the panel on his shoulder, his armor forming over him from that small spot. Better protected, he forced his way forward.

"I summoned my armor, hoping to use it to protect myself against the weapon's power. When I made it to the X - blade, the runes to seal it were already mostly formed, though they were doing little to restrain its power. In desperation, I reached out and grabbed the hilt of the X - blade, jerking it away."

"Senn, you fool!"

"I am not the fool!" Senn retorted as he stumbled backwards, X - blade in hand.

Then the X - blade began to glow. He didn't even have time to be shocked before the power started to go haywire. It ripped through the cave, tearing apart the waters and pummeling the Keybladers. It's current 'wielder', however, was getting the brunt of the force. His mind, though, was not on the pain that was assaulting him; it was on the fact that this eruption of power might mean he was loosing the X - blade. Desperate, he pulled the weapon close to his chest, hugging it with both hands. The runes of the seal, in correspondence to this change, shifted so that they encompassed the armor on his body, as well.

He suddenly felt power flood him, and his heart felt as if it were beating faster, stronger, than it should. Pain seared his eyes, his body; he felt almost rooted to the ground. He wanted to scream, but couldn't; wanted to beg for help, for mercy, but was unable to. He just managed to dispel the armor, allowing it to fall off him.

Then he knew no more.

"The X - blade malfunctioned," Senn said, his voice slightly choked at the memory. Taking a moment to regain his composure, he continued, "I tried to keep it there…by pressing it close to me. The seal, which hadn't completely formed at the time, attached itself to my armor." He saw Gillick's eyes widen in realization. "The power flooded the armor, and knocked me into unconsciousness. When I came to, the other Keybladers were dead, and my armor and the X - blade were gone; mysteriously, there was a sword with runes etched into the blade lying beside me."

Gillick finished it for him. "And that's how the Knight came into being."

The Knight…has half the X - blade's power. The thought was an astonishing one; Gillick was having trouble comprehending it. While his mind struggled to wrap itself around this new information, he asked, "What happened, then? Were you the Knight, too, at one point?"

"Well," Senn said sadly, "my immediate reaction was horror…and guilt. So many now lay dead…because of my greed." He shook his head, lowering it. "Before I'd realized it, I'd run far from the cave, strange sword in hand. When I'd finally managed to calm down a bit, I tried examining the sword. However, at the time, I could come up with no good answer as to why it existed.

"I traveled a lot after that, much like you did. I was trying, I think, to find a way to get rid of my guilt. I often…came upon towns that had been destroyed by some unknown force, and tried to help, believing that I was simply doing a good deed. However, I would later discover that everything had been my fault."

He paused, then continued, "I bet you're wondering now how I realized this?"

"Obviously," Gillick replied, his voice dry.

"While I was…in the form of the Knight," Senn said slowly, "I ran into an old comrade of mine from my days as a Keyblader of Nothingness. The sight of someone important to you, as I'm sure you discovered, can briefly wake up the actual person within the Knight's consciousness, allowing them to fight against it."

"But what is the Knight's consciousness?" Gillick asked, feeling frustrated at his confusion.

"I'd assumed you'd figured it out," Senn sighed. "You see, the Knight's power is, obviously, half the power of the X - blade. As such, it has access to a large portion of Kingdom Hearts power. Normally, such power would overwhelm a person and kill them. However, the seal - which appears on the upper left arm as a glowing patch when in the Knight's form - protects the person from this, allowing the power to slowly trickle into the sword, instead of flooding the person…or the weapon, for that matter. Normally, this would work in a cycle, the power constantly being fed from Kingdom Hearts, to the person - through the sword of course - and back to Kingdom Hearts. However, if something blocks that cycle, then the power is stopped inside the person. Over the span of a few days to a couple of weeks, this power will build up. Eventually, the power is too great, and it takes over, forcing the wielder into a transformation to rid itself of the excess energy. Normally, it is unable to do this while a person is aware; thus, it takes over in their sleep, making the process akin to sleepwalking. The person, therefore, is basically a mindless being of destruction. As a sort of defense mechanism, the wielder is drawn into a haze, preventing them from experiencing the pain of the power. The side affect of this is that they retain no memory of the event."

Gillick wanted to ask questions, but Senn jumped in ahead of him.

"At any rate, the sight of my friend also brought on…rather intense memories of what had happened to the Keybladers when I'd tried to steal the X - blade. The powerful memories were enough to make me fully aware. As I'm sure you've realized, this is extremely painful, as the power is flowing constantly through the Knight's body."

"Painful trying to even remember it afterwards," Gillick muttered.

Senn gave him a wry smile. "Indeed. But once truly, fully awakened as the Knight - or having some similar circumstance - one cannot forget again. I was horrified by what I'd done as this monster, and fell into despair, believing I would never be able to redeem myself. I wished to be rid of the blade, but feared what would happen if I left it unguarded.

"Then I ran into a boy…one I remembered from one of my attacks as the Knight. A young boy who'd stood up to me, despite being terrified, to protect his younger brother and his Master." Gillick's eyes widened, and Senn continued, "What you said earlier, about a hallucination…it was real. I found you, when you were the Knight…when you saw me, in your dream-like haze, you must've seen me as you once had; as the Knight who'd threatened you." And that's why he looked different than what everyone else saw, Gillick realized.

"I had been impressed with you courage before," Senn commented, interrupting the boy's thoughts, "and soon realized you were armor-less. Hoping I'd found someone more worthy than I was, I gave the blade to you." Senn's shoulders sank. "However, it appears nothing has changed."

"Well, how do I control it, then?" Gillick spat. He clenched his fists. "You gave this damn weapon to me…when you couldn't even use it?" He looked down, trying to control the furious pain. "I don't want to be that monster!"

"I'll admit…I'm not completely sure what causes the block," Senn said quietly, drawing the boy's attention back to him. "I believe that it is being unable to accept something about yourself." He met the other's intense gaze. "There is but one way to find out for sure."

Gillick narrowed his eyes. "And what's that?"

"You must go through your Awakening."

That's the end of chapter sixty - two…which was much longer than I anticipated. Anyways, feel free to review!