Hello everyone, and welcome to chapter 15 of Before KH: Shadows!

Creativity: Sorry about the downer notes the last couple of weeks, but we were busy and/or dealing with major brain-drains and it couldn't be helped.

Author: However, we're VERY excited to share this one with you! This is where the big swerve is coming for where we start diverting from the original, and I can't wait for you to lay eyes on it.

Of course, before we begin, allow us to quickly plug our Discord server!

Creativity: For those uninformed, we have a Discord server for chatting about the stories we put out and other stuff like games, movies, pictures of our baking (we're really good at making cookies), so if that sounds interesting to you, then the password you're looking for is right here: 5RRcGwh

Author: Thank you! And now, let us begin!

Allow us to proudly present chapter 15 of Before Kingdom Hearts: Shadows

"You think this can contain us?"

"You think you can just run away? Escape?"

"You're delusional if you think you have a place anywhere now."

"You're an enemy to them, and a traitor to us. Only death waits for you."

"Why wait?"

The day had been off to a good start for Ryo. He'd had yet another lovely breakfast, courtesy of the Radiant Garden Palace chefs, he'd spent a bit of time reading one Veris' magic books (interesting, but not much of use for him that he'd seen), and then he'd started making his way to the secret terrace for some meditation.

Unfortunately, that was where the good start came to an abrupt end. He'd made it about half-way through the castle on his way to the secret passage, only to see a regrettably familiar face down the hallway.

"Seriously, doesn't she have anything else to do?!" Ryo growled to himself in exasperation as he changed his route away from the secret terrace to avoid suspicion. If he gave it long enough, hopefully the girl would give it up or realize that he was on to her and would take off.

Unfortunately, twenty minutes of meanderings and quietly gnashing his teeth did not end with his shadow leaving him.

"Okay, this is just getting ridiculous!"

If he wasn't so annoyed, Ryo would probably have been fascinated by the fact that the magician's persistence in following him around. Hell, he probably would have been flattered (but no less concerned) if the expression they sported didn't look so dark.

"Hmm? You're Ryo, correct?"

Ryo's heart jumped in his chest a bit as his attention was quickly drawn to the question's source.

"Your Majesty! My apologies, I was distracted."

Ryo bowed as Radiant Garden's king approached him. Ryo was surprised to see the king so early. Normally, he was busy dealing with matters of the state in private until the sun was well past noon, then he would often spend his time in a private study located near his collection.

"Yes, you seemed a bit cross. Pray tell what is troubling you?" The king inquired.

"Think fast, Ryo…" He hissed in his head as his mind raced for an answer.

"Just a mild frustration. I'm trying to get some privacy outside the room you've hosted us in, but even being alone with my own shadow doesn't seem to be cutting it." He replied, trying to avoid any emphasis on the word shadow. Naturally, it was about now that the shadow in question had a hitch in her gait before she quickly sped away. Ryo couldn't see very well, but it looked like her fists were clenched pretty hard. If the king noticed, he paid it no mind.

"I was taking some time to examine my collection before heading into my private study." The king explained as he made his way over to one of the displays and began examining it.

"Here, come take a look at this one." He called over to Ryo, motioning for the boy to approach.

"Why…" Ryo whined silently as he did as requested, and peered at the piece in question; It was a fragment of a stone tablet, etched with a combination of old runes and an image of a semi-realistic figure holding a shield aloft, with a sword held to their side. Etched into the center of the figure's torso was a large rune that obviously held prominence.

"I've been fascinated and vexed by this one for quite some time." The king shared as he gestured to the figure. "I have to assume that this person had to hold some significance to have a carving like this devoted to them, but I still can't make heads or tails over who they were or what they specifically did to be depicted this way. Though, I do have a few educated guesses."

Ryo was only vaguely listening as he examined the piece, though he could make a few guesses of his own.

"… Ah, I know that look."

Ryo looked up, slightly startled by the king's comment.

"Sorry sir, I was just thinking."

"And I'd love to hear those thoughts!" The king exclaimed, catching Ryo even more off-guard.

"Pardon, your majesty?"

"Your thoughts on this piece! I can tell you have a few." The king encouraged. Ryo was a little taken aback (and very nervous) but he knew he wasn't going to get out of it.

"Well, it's obviously a warrior of some kind, based on the sword and shield. The shield has prominence, so their renown was based on an act of defending something, rather than general victory. If it wasn't the sword would have prominence. The character in the center could be a name, or some rune related to their accomplishments." Ryo guessed. The king nodded.

"Yes, yes, that's more or less what I and other scholars who have seen this piece believe. According to the queen, the character translates roughly to Iron." The king revealed, though even though he claimed the rune translation was a guess, Ryo knew he was exactly right.

"Do you think that could refer to some power this individual possessed?" He guessed, trying to indulge the king. In truth, while he had a really good guess as to who the depicted individual was, he hadn't even heard of any artwork or stone carvings like this before, and now his curiosity regarding the contents of the king's collection had been piqued.

"That's one possibility, though there's hardly enough evidence to call it conclusive, especially given the other fragments of runes." The king countered with a mix of intrigue and frustration before continuing.

"They're too damaged to say for sure, but they could be referring to the individual's abilities, what they were fighting, the deeds they accomplished, or any number of things. Without the rest of the fragments, we may never know." He concluded in lament.

The king insisted on getting Ryo's thoughts on a few more pieces before a servant came up to the king and whispered in his ear. The King frowned for a moment, then nodded to the servant and turned to Ryo.

"It seems there are matters that require my attention. Apologies, but we'll have to pick this up some other time." He bade farewell before marching off, leaving Ryo alone in the collection. Ryo initially wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, but he paused. He couldn't place it, but something was bothering him about this assortment of old relics. It was in the air, like a phantom whispering curses in the wind, and much as he found it off-putting, he was more driven to find the source of this ill whisper.

Luckily, finding the source didn't take too long. The collection wasn't so large that it would take more than twenty minutes to scour the whole thing. Ryo found the problem in five. It was a large stone tablet, carved with runes in a pattern Ryo had never seen before.

"This doesn't look like its part of a depiction or record… Maybe a ritual of some kind?" Ryo wondered under his breath as he peered at it. If it was a ritual, it wasn't one he was familiar with, nor was it a friendly one. Malevolent intent oozed from it, so thick and potent that Ryo didn't need to use any magical senses to detect it.

"If I'm feeling it this strongly, why isn't any other magician in the palace feeling it?"

The obvious answer was that Ryo, despite possessing magic, wasn't like the other magicians in the palace, not that he could say it. Still, this relic was undoubtedly dangerous, and was best turned to dust. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to see something like that through. He didn't possess the means to destroy it, and he wouldn't be able to get anyone else in the palace to destroy it without revealing his nature and subsequently landing himself in prison or on an executioner's block.

Suddenly, Ryo felt something from the tablet, as if something was stirring within the old stone. Before he knew it, he could sense some sort of ghostly tendril of magic snap out and latch onto him!

Terrible images rushed past his eyes, as if he were plummeting in freefall past portraits designed to horrify him. Some of it was familiar; his escape andthe destruction of Woodfell to name a couple. However, many of them were unfamiliar; images of death, wrath, anguish and suffering, all whirled past his vision with incredible speed! He desperately wanted to squeeze his eyes shut, shield himself from it, but he couldn't. His eyelids wouldn't shut.

The images shot past at greater speed, and Ryo could have sworn he could see new images forming; three giants, rough-hewn and colored black, red, blue and yellow.

"ALL SHALL BE LOST TO YOU…"

"CAST INTO RUIN…"

"THE WORLD WILL BURN IN YOUR RAGE…"

"DROWN IN YOUR MISERY…"

"BE STRUCK TO THE LAST BY YOUR PAIN…"

And then it all stopped. Ryo collapsed to his rear. It appeared whatever magic the tablet contained hadn't lasted long, but he could still feel its malevolence. Ryo scrambled haphazardly to his feet and stumbled hurriedly out the chamber, trying to desperately to shake the terrible images from his mind.

He needed to focus; to sort his head out; he needed to meditate.

Despite how shaken up he was, it didn't take him very long to navigate his way back to the secret passage, and a quick look around assured him that he wasn't about to be spotted. That said, he didn't want to linger and risk getting caught, so he swiftly opened the passage and hurried inside before it closed. With a sigh of relief, he descended down to the terrace, taking a deep breath of fresh air and stretching his arms over his head.

He felt so much safer here. As time went by, Ryo could feel his heart slow and calm begin to return. For the first half-hour or so, Ryo didn't even start meditating. Instead, he took a seat on one of the stone benches and just watched the horizon, allowing himself a moment of peace.

"Something so familiar… comforting…"

Ryo's eyes slid shut as he remembered the Overlook, watching the sunset with…

"No. No going back there." Ryo suddenly reminded himself before he suddenly rose to his feet and took a deep breath. His heart had accelerated again, but he forced himself to calm, feeling it slow once more. It was time to do what he'd come here to do.

Sitting cross-legged in the center of the terrace, Ryo closed his eyes and began to meditate. The whispers of the wind and the warmth of the sun on his face, even the ground beneath him melted away as Ryo opened his eyes.

"No… Why am I here…?"

Indeed, the new landscape that Ryo had become accustomed to during his recent meditation sessions was gone, replaced by another large terrace with a large fountain at the center. It was all wrong though. Chunks of the ground were warped and distorted, the sky was divided between day and night, sometimes blending together, other times in jagged fragments, other times in an odd swirl, like a whirlpool made by clean and cloudy waters mixing. The fountain was filled not with water, but with a purple liquid that produced a black fog and violent sparks. Finally, one large section was entirely missing, not broken away, but cut away in a perfect curve.

"This is all wrong! What's wrong?! Why is it like this?!"

Ryo frantically looked around, trying to find some way, any way out of this place! He couldn't be here! It couldn't be like this!

Dark cracks snapped out across the ground as Ryo's distressed continued to build. A low roar began to build as it felt like the very air was beginning to quiver and quake! The cracks snaked out towards Ryo, purple light straining to escape them before purple tendrils of energy began to erupt out, flailing about and carving gouges in the ground! One of the tendrils rushed towards Ryo, who instinctively shielded his face and covered his eyes as he braced for the impact!

All of a sudden, Ryo stone at his back. His eyes snapped open as searing light filled his vision, though it slowly cleared. His heart was pounding a mile a minute and his breath was heavy. As he staggered to his feet, he suddenly became aware of a sensation of damp chill that permeated his skin.

Still unsteady on his feet, Ryo stumbled over to one of the benches and collapsed onto it, doing his best to steady his breathing and calm his heart.

"What was that?!"

He'd never experienced anything close to that in meditation before! Even now that the horrible vision had passed, Ryo could still feel the horrible twisting feeling in his gut from the sight; twisted and wrong.

Was that what awaited him if he ever tried to meditate again?

Ryo shook his head. He had to press on if he ever wanted to restore his magic. He'd meditate again, and he would not go back there ever again.

After taking a few deep breaths, Ryo finally felt steady enough to get to his feet. Despite him having gotten a better handle on himself, his skin felt numb and tingly. That and he was still slick with sweat.

"And I don't have any way to dry off… Guess I'm going back to the room to change…"

With a sigh of frustration, Ryo began his ascent up the passageway and carefully crept out through the secret door and began his trek back the group's room. His eyelids were growing heavier, and his head felt light and heavy at the same time.

"Maybe… instead of changing… I'll just take a nap…"

"Yeah… a nap sounds like a good..."

"What's wrong with you?"

Ryo paused as he heard a voice behind him, then slowly began to turn to see its source, though the sudden spinning made it hard to see. He could see blue robes and brown hair, he thought, but it was all blurry and hard to make out.

"Just feeling… tired…"

"You're really pa… SHI…!"

Ryo didn't hear the last of it as his vision gradually darkened and he began to tip forward, crumpling to the ground.

"Concentrate…"

"Saying concentrate doesn't help me do so any better…" Veris growled in her head as she held her hand out in front of her, palm up as she stared at it with startling intensity.

Her weekly magic lessons with the queen weren't going so well today. She was supposed to be conjuring a ball of lightning in her hand, but so far had been met with naught but failure. The attempt had been ongoing for about twenty minutes, and the lack of progress was beginning to grate on her nerves.

"Alright, let's stop for now." The queen suddenly declared, much to Veris's surprise. "We should rethink our approach; this one clearly isn't working for you."

Veris felt a little dejected, but she saw the queen's logic and relaxed before slumping grumpily onto a stool as the queen took a seat in her own chair.

"I must say, this is a little strange. You took to fire with almost unnatural ease, so I assumed the other elements wouldn't give you too much trouble. It's fairly common for mages to have an affinity for one or two elements and difficulties with others, but not to this degree." The queen mused, though she quickly looked apologetic as Veris' face soured further.

"I just don't get it!" She suddenly exploded, catching the queen off-guard. "I can feel the source of my magic, I can draw on it no problem, but when I want it to be something other than fire, it just doesn't happen!"

Veris looked like she wanted to rant some more, only to remember that she had an audience for her frustrations.

"I'm sorry, your majesty. It's just that…"

"You're starting to get a little worn down by the repeated failures." The queen summarized bluntly, though not without sympathy. Veris glumly nodded and raked one hand through her hair as she let out an exasperated huff.

"It's just… never mind." Veris began before stopping.

"What is it?" The queen questioned.

"It's nothing, really." Veris assured the queen, who was undeterred.

"Oh, I hardly think it's nothing. Learning magic is much more difficult when your mind is preoccupied." The queen lectured. Veris sighed before relenting.

"It's just… I don't know. When I found out I had magic, it kind of… recontextualized some stuff my dad said to me about my mom before we escaped Woodfell." Veris revealed. It didn't take too long for the queen to put two and two together.

"Your mother was a magician, and you believe this is why she…" The queen assessed, though she didn't want to say it outright.

"Seems like it, yes." Veris agreed, still feeling down. "At first I was scared, since my dad all but confirmed she was killed by the Dread King's armies. But, then I remembered how all I had of her was stories from my dad about her being a performer, and the notebooks she kept about how she performed. Dad said she wanted all her techniques and practices written down in case she ever took on an apprentice."

The queen leaned forward as Veris continued her story, intrigued. She could also see that Veris seemed to be perking up a little more as the recount went on.

"I used to take her old dancing equipment and practice alone in the woods. It helped me feel a little more connected to her. And then, I find out I have magic like her, and it felt like one more connection between us." Veris continued, only for her mood to take another downturn.

"Now though… I'm being taught by a queen and the leader of all the magicians in Radiant Garden, and I all I can do is create fireballs. I've been trying so hard to learn something other than fire, and I don't even have a spark or snowflake to show for it!"

"And this makes you feel as if you are letting your mother down." The queen concluded. Veris nodded solemnly. The queen shook her head and rose to her feet.

"Well, as your acting instructor, I'm going to tell you to stop feeling that way." The queen declared, new authority in her voice that commanded Veris' attention. "First, you have been receiving instruction for only a few weeks, and while you are showing unusual struggle with other elements, your fire is well beyond what it should be of a mage of your experience."

Veris looked like she wanted to protest, but the queen wasn't finished and silenced her with a mere look.

"Having a goal and a person that embodies it is a perfectly admirable thing, but it cannot be a source of shame if you fail to rise to it every single day. That only turns your aspiration into a weight, dragging you further and further away from your goal. I've seen it before in many people, not just mages."

Veris didn't exactly look comforted, but she did seem a little less down on herself.

"You're right… I wish my mother had left behind some instructions on magic, not just dancing." Veris sighed as she looked out the window. Queen Arryn suddenly looked ponderous.

"It does seem strange that she wouldn't record any of that information when she had to assume the possibility of her children inheriting her gifts, especially considering she recorded her craft for a potential apprentice." She noted. Suddenly, Veris sat up with a look of realization.

"Wait, I just remembered! I met another magician before we wound up in Radiant Garden who thought that my mother might have concealed notes on magic in those books using magic!"

The queen's eyes widened as she stroked her chin, considering the possibility.

"My, yes, it's quite possible to conceal the contents of a book by encoding them with magic. It's a little more complicated to make them appear as another book entirely, but quite within the realm of possibility." She considered.

"I think all my books are with all our stuff that was confiscated." Veris recalled, starting to get more and more excited as she turned to the queen. "Would I be able to get them back?"

"Not right away, I'm afraid. We'll need to conduct a magical analysis of the books; formalities and all. Besides, if they are magically encrypted, they may have anti-tamper measures or otherwise some method of punishing an incorrect decryption attempt." The queen replied, though that suddenly had Veris looking rather frightened.

"Rest assured however, you don't need to fear any damage to the books, nor will we conceal our findings from you. This is just a safety measure for all of us." The queen assured. Veris wasn't completely assured, but she did relax enough.

"Now then, perhaps we should instead keep developing your abilities with fire. Even with your affinity for it, I can certainly still challenge you with…" The queen began, only to be cut off when a sudden high-pitched RING sounded from within the queen's desk. It sounded like a single strike of a bell, perhaps made of silver. It reminded Veris of the sound of the silver bells that traders would bring to Woodfell in the winter months. Supposedly, it helped the caravans keep close together, and to bring warmth and cheer to the traders in harsh winds and snow.

The queen frowned and strode over to her desk before tugging open a drawer, retrieving what looked like a pocket mirror. It was silver and engraved with crimson vines and flower petals.

"Yes, what is it?" The queen asked in an authoritative tone.

"Apologies, your majesty, but it's one of the young travelers." A voice answered from the mirror. There was an odd distortion to the voice, like glass shards scraping over each other.

"I told you, leave them be! They aren't of any conc…" The queen started, sounding frustrated, only to be cut off by the voice coming from the mirror to interrupt.

"It's not that, your majesty! The swordsman, he's ill; Very ill!"

And that's where we're ending it! Man, I'm having fun with this one so far! Like I said before, this is the biggest diversion we're making from the original run, but I'm really liking where it's going.

Now then, I don't have much else to say right now, so I think we'll call it here!

Thank you for reading, please review, hope to see you on Discord, and we'll see you next time!