Leaving Wildwood Heart, Gabriel and Ephemer made their way out of the realm of dreams and back to the Mysterious Tower. "I guess all I have to do now is return to Yen Sid and tell him we completed the task," Gabriel said. As he walked to the entrance, he noticed that Ephemer wasn't following behind him. "Hey, aren't you coming?"
"This is the part of your test that you have to do on your own," Ephemer said. "I'll be waiting for you when you're done."
Gabriel nodded, opening up the door and stepping inside. Once the door closed behind him, the raven found himself standing in the middle of a dark room. The floor soon lit up, revealing the area to be a familiar stain glass floor. "The Station of Awakening…" Gabriel whispered in awe. Three pedestals soon appeared, on them a sword, shield, and magic rod respectively. "Okay then, I guess this is where I chose my specialty."
Gabriel went over to the magic rod and picked it up, giving it a few swings. "I always did prefer a magic build. As for what I'll give up…" The raven looked to the sword and held it up. "I don't need as much physical strength, and I'd like to keep my defense, thank you very much."
After making his choices, the pedestals disappeared, and soon a Corridor of Light appeared before Gabriel. Stepping through it, the raven found himself in a different part of the Station of Awakening, with an armored figure standing in his way. The knight wore black and purple armor with acid green accents, the Fatal Crest Keyblade held tight in their grip. "Dream Keeper, if you wish to pass your final test, then show me the power of your bonds," the knight said. "Look within yourself and call on the power of your friends, and with it, your prize will reveal itself."
The knight took a battle stance and Gabriel matched it with his own, the raven holding his magic rod in his left hand while he created a dragon claw with his right hand. "My bonds, you say? Okay then, let's do this." The raven said. As he focused, Gabriel recalled all the friends he'd made and the people he'd helped in the Magical World, and from those bonds the power he could call on. The knight charged forward, with Gabriel taking a step back as his magic rod flashed white. From the flash, five orbs appeared, two blue, two green, and one red. The orbs circled around Gabriel's right hand, with a blue orb landing in his clawed hand.
"Alright, I think I know what this is about now," the raven nodded. He held the orb forward and focused on his bond with a certain blue heeler. "Bluey!" he called, the orb transforming into a medal of Bluey jumping in the air in excitement. "Magic: Dance Mode!" As the knight kept on attacking, Gabriel used his new spell to dodge their attacks by quite literally dancing around his opponent.
A green orb appeared next, with Gabriel focusing on the time he took Jasiri on a date in Paris. "Remy!" he called, the orb transforming into a medal of the little chef. "Speed: Perfect Dish!" Magic swirled around Gabriel's weapon, creating spark effects like what happened whenever Remy smelled delicious food. With this new power, the raven rushed forward and performed a multi-hit combo on the knight with both his magic rod and dragon claw.
The third orb was the red one, which reminded Gabriel of some of the first friends he made in the Magical World, even before he became Dream Keeper. "Guardians of the Galaxy!" he called, the new medal created from the orb showing the entire team as they appeared in the video game. "Power: Awesome Mix!" Gabriel performed an aerial slam on the knight before doing four slashes, as stab, and then jumping back to perform a volley of magic blasts, ending in a giant beam.
"Impressive," the knight nodded. "But you still have more bonds to prove."
"Then let's keep going," Gabriel said, grabbing the second green orb. "Nick and Judy!" The medal that appeared before him showed the dynamic duo posing for a photo together. "Speed: Justice Hustle!" The raven swung his magic rod like a tennis racket, lobbing balls of magic at the knight before performing a spin attack against his opponent.
"This is the last one," Gabriel said, taking the last blue orb in his hand. "Jay!" The final medal took the form of one of Lop's friends, the former Jedi Padawan turned rock star, microphone in hand and smiling. "Magic: Galactic Dreamer!" Gabriel levitated himself in the air, creating a flurry of music notes around himself that he then fired off like lasers at his opponent. Once the attack ended, the raven wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Wow, that was a lot of special attacks in a row. So, are we going to have an epic boss fight now?"
"Actually, it's time for you to face your inner Darkness," the knight corrected. Gabriel looked down to see his shadow expanding, warping outwards into the form of a Heartless. From the shadow sprang fourth a monster that took the form of a sea dragon riding on a water tornado, bubbles appearing around it. The Heartless, a Leviathan, gave a roar as it's eyes locked onto the raven.
"Okay, as cool as that thing looks, how am I supposed to fight it without a Keyblade!?" Gabriel exclaimed.
"Who says you don't already have one?" the knight questioned.
Gabriel looked confused, then gasped as his magic rod suddenly transformed! The weapon in the raven's hand was now a Keyblade: the handle was black with a blue star at the top and a white star with blue accents as the pommel, the guard being made of two shooting stars with black tails and white meteorites with symbols inside them. The length of the blade was white, with the back of the blade having four black crystals that connected to the teeth, which was made of a blue crescent moon and a yellow star. The keychain was that of a yellow crescent moon.
"Far out," Gabriel said, doing a few swings with his new Keyblade. "Okay then, Leviathan, let's dance!" The raven jumped into battle, Fantasia kicking up as he did so.
You're giving me too many things
Lately, you're all I need
You smiled at me and said:
The Leviathan fired a stream of bubbles at Gabriel, but the raven held up his Keyblade and cast an Areo spell, creating a shield of wind to block the attack. From there he used a Fire spell to deal some damage to the Heartless.
"Wish I could prove I love you
But does that mean I have to meet your father?"
"Strike Raid!" Gabriel called, tossing his Keyblade like a boomerang to hit Leviathan multiple times.
When we are older, you'll understand
What I meant when I said:
"No, I don't think life is quite that simple"
The Leviathan roared, diving into its water tornado, creating multiple mini-Leviathan heads that shot out to target Gabriel.
When you walk away
You don't hear me say:
Please, oh baby, don't go
The raven dodged around the mini-dragon heads, slashing away each of them before using the final one to launch himself into the air, pointing his Keyblade down at the tornado.
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go…
"Blizzaza!" Gabriel shouted, his Keyblade firing off a massive beam of ice that instantly froze the tornado into a block of ice. Leviathan roared as its body was down stuck in place, lashing out and firing off more bubbles.
Hold me!
Whatever lies beyond this morning!
Is a little later on
Dropping back to the floor, Gabriel danced around the bubbles, popping then as he went.
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all
Nothing's like before…
The raven then got close to Levithan, doing a slashing combo before creating dragon claws and delivering a big slash that pushed himself away from the Heartless.
Hold me!
Whatever lies beyond this morning!
Is a little later on
Focusing on his magic, Gabriel closed his eyes, the world seeming to slow down around him as he concentrated. Pointing his Keyblade one last time, the raven gathered up energy before releasing the time crawl, the energy bursting out into shooting stars that pelted Leviathan for great damage
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all
Nothing's like before!
Yeah…
The Heartless roared one last time before fading into shadows, Gabriel twirling his Keyblade around before stabbing it into the ground before him. "That's how it's done!" the raven said.
"Good job, Dream Keeper," the knight said, reappearing with another Corridor of Light. "With that, your final task is completed. Please, step through the portal to return to the real world…"
[***]
On the other side of the portal, Gabriel was immediately tackled by Jasiri, the hyena giggling as she gave her boyfriend kisses. "Great job, Gabriel!" she cheered, helping him back to his feet. "We all saw what you did in that fight, and it was amazing!"
"I feel like I've seen that boss somewhere before. Maybe from one of those video games Elisa brought us for our den," Brooklyn mused.
"Aren't we all going to mention that Gabriel is a Keyblade Wielder now?" Lena said. "That's not something that happens every day."
"You were awesome, G-man!" Sisu nodded, wrapping an arm around her friend's shoulder. "Also, thanks for taking out that Heartless. I can't let another water dragon steal my thunder, you know?"
"Indeed, you passed your test with flying colors, Dream Keeper," Yen Sid said, still sitting at his desk. "I must say, though, while your Keyblade looks similar to one I've seen Sora and Mickey use, it seems to have taken on a unique form of its own."
Gabriel held up his Keyblade, letting everyone look at it. "Yeah, it's kinda like Star Seeker, but different in color. I think I'll name it… Cosmic White."
"Fitting for sure," the knight said.
"Oh, you're still here?" Gabriel asked. "I thought you were just a figment of my inner mind or something."
"Wait, you don't know who this is?" Ephemer said.
Gabriel shook his head, making the knight sigh as they took off their helmet, revealing a familiar face to the Dream Keeper. "Rachel!?" Team Dream Keeper all exclaimed at the same time.
"I'm surprised Fatal Crest didn't give me away," Rachel chuckled.
"I didn't know you had your Keyblade Armor already," Gabriel said.
"After seeing Logan get his own, I had to get stronger and make my own set," Rachel explained. "I forged it from the same material as Maleficent's Bane, so wearing it gives me a bonus against both dragon-like enemies and evil-based enemies."
"Guess you'll have to get your own to, babe," Jasiri mused.
"Eh, I don't need it right now," Gabriel shrugged. He turned back to Yen Sid. "So, now that I have my Keyblade, what should I do now?"
"For now, I would request that you train with Ephemer for the next few weeks," Yen Sid said. "While I can see that you are familiar with how the Keyblade works, training under a master will refine your skills and find what style of combat best sets you."
"Sounds good to me," Gabriel said. "The Co-Dream Keepers will keep the peace while I'm gone."
"Hey, when we get back, Valentine's Day will be around the corner!" Jasiri realized. "That'll be fun to come back to for sure."
"I'll keep the Magical World safe in your absence as well," Rachel nodded. "Plus I have to get Poe a surprise for Valentine's Day myself."
"Master Yen Sid, can the rest of us go with Gabriel to train?" Brooklyn asked. "I'd like to get stronger as well." Lena and Sisu nodded in agreement.
"Request granted," the wizard nodded.
"I'll show you all I know about being a Keyblade Wielder, Gabriel," Ephemer said. "I'm not going to slow down, though, so try and keep up!"
And that was the story of how Gabriel became a Keyblade Wielder, gaining another new power to protect the Magical World with.
Author's Note
Gabriel now has a Keyblade, Cosmic White! This Keyblade is one designed by Leytrx on Twitter, an awesome Keyblade designer on the internet. It's really just a pallet swap of the Midnight Blue Keyblade, which was the Kingdom Hearts 3 exclusive PlayStation 4 Keyblade. Cosmic White is a variant recolored so that it matches the white and black design of the PlayStation 5 (which I got just before the Thanksgiving season last year in 2022. Excited for when Kingdom Hearts 4 comes out!). Again, this is a fan design that I wanted Gabriel to use, and all credit for the design goes to Leytrx.
The boss Gabriel fights is the Leviathan Heartless from Union Cross, which is based on the monster/summon of the same name from "Final Fantasy." Gabriel also uses medals in his fighting style, another reference to Union Cross. The song used for the boss fight is "Simple and Clean" again, but this time using the remix that plays during the opening cutscene of the first Kingdom Hearts name.
Next Time: I'm taking a break at the start of February, but I'll be back with a new chapter on February 14, aka Valentine's Day. I want to do five short stories for Valentine's, so give me your favorite Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and Magical World couples that you'd like to see get a spotlight during the Day of Love! Until then, I look forward to seeing which couples you suggest!