One Chapter Closes

"It is important to understand the forces that the Keybearers may come to wield." I said. "And the most important thing to know about the Light and the Darkness is quite simple."

"Don't mess with them?" Takato asked.

I shook my head. "They should be treated with respect, yes. But that is not it. The most important thing to know is that Light and Darkness are not good and evil."

I turned, facing them, my will filling the air as I impressed that statement upon them. "Light and Darkness are, ultimately, neutral forces. Either may be wielded for good or for evil. Both are dangerous, though in different ways."

They nodded.

"Good." I leaned back. "I will teach how you how to sense the presence and the movements of both. But, for now, I won't teach you to wield them. Mostly because they're tricky, and a basis in other skills is necessary to learning how to use them effectively and safely."

Darkness. Light. Terrible things, both. To know them was only slightly less critical than knowing one's own self.

Weekends-only lessons provided a bit of a limitation, there. It had its advantages, with the weeklong gap between them providing ample time for my students to practice what I'd taught them. Once they had the basics down, they could go on from there.

Still, it was difficult to go into the minor but important details in only a single day. The three had advantages other did not; as Digital Lifeforms, they didn't need as much in the way of sleep as normal Humans, and they didn't get bored or tired nearly as easily.

More than that, they had experience, through Biomerging, with uniting their Hearts with the Hearts of others. That was a critical, critical advantage. They had no idea what they were doing, but the simple fact is, even that was a base to work off of.

The first two lessons were easy. Know your own Heart and the things you can do with them. Know the Light and the Darkness, and the things that they do.

The lessons thereafter had edged onto more practical things. The little tricks. Calling forth Memories that laid within the Heart and Soul, recorded forever where the brain might have forgotten. To sense, and feel, letting yourself resonate with others; that was a power of the Heart. To strengthen oneself, reinforcing one's body with their Will, that was a power of the Soul. There were countless small things that could be done, through the powers of the Heart and Soul.

Small things, but important. They provided the base of future learning. Manipulating one's own Heart and Soul in such ways was the predecessor to drawing forth the Light and Darkness within, and tempering them with Will. From there, one could learn to wield both.

I wasn't going to do that just yet, though.

The weeks passed quickly. Then months.

It had been the middle of May, when we started.

In Japan, summer vacation started near the end of June and continued to near the end of August.

I took that opportunity to get them started on learning Magic. The simple stuff, at first. Elemental magic, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Earth... the basics.

They took to it like fishes to water. They had specialties, of course. Rika was quite good with all of them, but had taken Fire and turned it into something incredible. Henry's ability with Ice and Earth Magic was frankly incredible.

It was Takato who surprised me the most. The boy was incredible with Wind, Lightning, and Fire. He had the talent for it; that little spark of wonder that would lead him to delve quite deeply into the nature of Magic. Of them all, he was the one who I felt had the most potential.

Not to disparage Rika or Henry, who were also both quite skilled, but Takato...

He was something else entirely.

In any case, all three advanced quickly, and I then started teach them Cure.

You could never go wrong with Cure.

"So, you just use suffixes of -ra, -ga, -za, and -agun?" Rika asked. "Why?"

"Tradition."

"It seems..." Rika held up her hand, shaking it. "Arbitrary and made up."

"All words are made up." I responded. "What would you suggest?"

"Kilo Fire!" Takato said, enthusiastically, before frowning. "Wait, no, that sounds dumb. Mega Fire. Tera Fire. Peta Fire!" He paused a moment, and grinned. "Zetta Fire."

I stared at him, before shrugging. "Fine, whatever. They're your spells, call them what you want."

"I taught you Magic in order for you to get a feel for manipulating metaphysical energies. You have the established base, now."

"So, we finally get to learn how to wield the Light and Darkness within us?"

"Yep."

"Now, gently coax it forth."

Takato held a hand up. He breathed in, then out, and then called forth the Light within his Heart.

If one were to have been looking at the tower at that exact moment, they would have seen the window flash brightly with an inner light.

Nobody needed to be close, however, to hear the resulting shouts.

"MY EYES!" "I'm blind!" "Takato you idiot!"

I facepalmed.

"What part of 'gently' did you not understand?"

At least he had the decency to look embarrassed.

Rika stared at Takato, a small swirling ball of her Light above her hand.

"Well done."

"And I didn't flashbomb anybody doing it." She glared.

He smiled, sheepishly. "I said I was sorry."

"Hey, Drich?" Takato called, his shadow stretching forwards despite the sun being in front of him.

"Yes?"

"Do we have a name for our group?" He asked. "The Keyblade Order you're setting up, I mean?"

"I have no specific name for it, no. Mostly because it doesn't really exist yet."

"Yeah?" Takato lost his concentration, and frowned at his shadow when it went back to being normal. With a sigh, he started again, calling his Darkness forth.

"You have a suggestion, don't you." I said. "Well, go ahead."

"Mythos." He said. "'Cause, your name comes from 'eldritch', right? So, Mythos seemed appropriate."

Not a bad idea, but... "Mythos might be a good name for me, but what about all of you? You're... well, not biologically Human, but you're not exactly eldritch yourselves."

"Just go with Guardians of The World or something." Henry said.

"That is so specifically vague and generic that nobody will have any idea what you're talking about." Rika refuted. "Order χ, maybe?"

"I kind of like Order χ." Takato said.

"χ Guardians also works." I noted. "And is a lot more accurate. Hmm. Tell you what, I'll think about it."

"So... you said something would be different this summer?" Takato asked, smiling as he dropped into his seat.

"Yes."

"What is it?" Rika asked. "Going to teach us something else? Or did you run out of things to teach?" She says the last part in a jest.

"I'm not done teaching you. Far from it." I smiled. "No. This summer, you're going to take the next step in your apprenticeships."

They straightened up, looking at me with eager anticipation. "You mean..." Henry spoke, beginning to smile.

"I believe you are ready." I said. "Truth be told, I've thought that you've been ready for some time now, I was just waiting until you had vacation to actually do it. What about you? What do you think?"

They smiled. Confident. Strong. Knowing themselves.

I smiled, too.

A silly question.

And that look in their eyes... It was a good look.

"Very well." I stood up. "Come. It's time for your test."

One chapter closes.

And soon...

A new one will begin.

END