Chapter 4

The Pledge

Five minutes.

That was all it had taken. Five godsdamned minutes of explanation to completely shatter her world.

Strelitzia's head was reeling, and she had almost had a panic attack, her breath hyperventilating, her heart racing, her legs weak. She had left Mog's home and rushed outside, needing some air, and time to process everything that had happened. She had wandered through the city streets in a haze, eventually finding her way to a nearby park, collapsing on a bench as she tried to process everything she had been told.

The war had happened.

The war had happened and it was worse than she had even imagined. Keyblade Wielders all fighting and killing each other over the very light they were sworn to protect. Not only was Daybreak Town completely destroyed, not only had every participant perished, but the entire World itself was shattered. The Realm of Light was torn asunder, individual segments splintering off to form their own realities, all cut off from one another and most now ignorant of the greater whole. Even worse, the Realm of Darkness, once the mirror of the Light, had leaked in, flooding into the newly formed rifts between the worlds.

Everything she knew was gone. Everyone she knew was gone. And worst of all, it had happened so long ago from what was apparently now that her time was referred to as the 'Age of Fairy Tales'.

Strelitzia recalled the actual fairy tale that Artemicion had told her.

"Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared.

But small fragments of light survived... in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. But the true light sleeps deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return.

Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away."

It was a nice fairy tale, and it did give Strelitzia some solace. The Master of Masters' plan had worked. Even in the darkness of the Keyblade War, The Dandelions had carried light through it and survived to rebuild from the destruction.

Too bad she wasn't there for any of it. She felt a pain in he chest, and she began to cry.

She didn't know if it was selfish, but she still wanted to have been a part of that. But now, it was apparently so long ago that her desire didn't matter. Lauriam and Elrena would be long dead. They would have died thinking Strelitzia was dead. But at least they had been Dandelions. Diana hadn't.

She had failed Diana. She hadn't had the courage to speak to her, always backing off when the opportunity presented itself. Now, when Diana's life had depended on her, she wasn't able to find her. She would have been caught up in the Keyblade War. She had died horribly all because Strelitzia was a coward.

As her tears ran out, Strelitzia tried to focus on other things. Other things like her current situation. Just what exactly was she supposed to do with herself now? Daybreak town was gone. The Dandelions were gone. Her entire life was just a fairy tale.

She couldn't leave this World. She had tried to open a Corridor of Light, but it hadn't worked, meaning she was stuck on this small World.

Which meant-

"Hey, are you okay?"

Strelitzia jolted at the sound of the voice and looked up. Standing before her was a girl with blonde hair, wearing a school uniform.

"Huh?"

"It's just, you looked like you were crying, are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you bleeding anywhere?"

"N-no. I'm f-fine." Strelitzia said, stumbling through her words. She certainly didn't sound fine, even to herself.

"Really now? You certain 'bout that? You don't look fine."

"I…"

"What's wrong?" The girl asked, getting rather close.

"A… l-lot of things?" Strelitzia said.

"Oh." The blonde girl looked to the side, before sitting down on the bench next to Strelitzia. "Want to talk about it?"

Strelitzia sighed. She wished she could talk about it, she really did. She really felt like she needed someone to confide in. Before, she had her Chirithy, and Lauriam and Elrena, but here but it wouldn't be a good idea. Artemicion had told her that the separated Worlds were for the most part unaware of each other, and it was best to keep it that way. "I… I can't. It's um… kinda private."

"Huh, well, is there anything you can tell me without spoiling it?" The blonde girl said, leaning in.

"Spoiling?"

"Like, you can be vague, y'know."

"I g-guess." Strelitzia said. "Just, I guess I woke up to some sudden huge changes."

"Ah… I know the feeling." The girl said, before leaning back, and holding up a hand with her index finger out, like she was giving a lecture. "Well you see, there comes a time when your body starts changing, you get weird feelings, bleeding once a month, looking at others differently, they call it pu-."

"N-no, it's not that." Strelitzia said quickly.

The girl laughed. "I know."

Despite herself, Strelitzia found herself laughing along with her. "Heh… thanks."

"Yeah, no sweat. You might not be able to talk to me about it, but you look like you needed that laugh though."

"But why help me?"

"Well, I was just in the area, saw you looking like you were just crying, thought to help. Kinda sucks that you can't talk much about what's bothering you though."

"Um… well then… why tell me about yourself."

"Oh! I never introduced myself." The blonde girl said, holding out her hand. "I'm Relm Arrowny!"

"Oh, uh, n-nice to meet you, Relm!"

"So what's your name, or if you tell me that, will you, like, have to kill me?" Relm asked with a smirk.

"Uh, no, nonono. It's fine. My name is Strelitzia. So uh… what are you doing out in the park?"

"Well, it's a nice day. I thought I'd come out here after school to paint so I can practice my Quirk a bit."

"Your Quirk?" Strelitzia asked, before remembering about powers in this World.

Fortunately, Relm appeared to not notice her gaffe. "Yeah, I call it Life Imitates Art."

"Uh..." Strelitzia wasn't that familiar with Quirk names. She supposed she should probably come up with a name for herself, to pass her magic off as one of these Quirks. "What's that mean?"

"I'll show you!" Relm said excitedly, reaching into her pack. She pulled out what appeared to be a sort of miniature easel and canvas, along with a paintbrush, though no paints.

As Strelitzia watched, she saw paint emerge from Relm's right forearm, in little beads almost like sweat, before collecting into little rivulets and flowing down towards her hand and likewise from there down the paintbrush. As it reached the tip, Relm stroked her brush across the canvas, leaving paint behind, which began to take shape into the appearance of a pigeon.

Relm finished the painting in only a few strokes.

"And voila!" She held out the canvas, and to Strelitzia's amazement, the bird emerged. It hopped off the canvas, gave its wings an experimental flap, and then hopped onto Relm's shoulder.

"Wow, that's amazing! But… uh… w-won't you get in trouble?" Strelitzia asked, remembering earlier. She had suggested rooftopping (a common thing Wielders did back home) to Artemicion only for that to get shot down, and then there was Mirko's warning about vigilantism.

"Nah. They make a big show about it, but as long as your not making a scene or hurting anyone, nobody cares. Besides, this one just looks like a normal bird, and when it breaks down it just becomes paint."

"Oh… um… anyways, i-it's still a really cool power."

"Yeah, with a Quirk like this, I think I'm a shoe-in to get into U.A.!"

"U.A.?" Strelitzia asked.

"Yeah, nothing but the top!"

"No I mean, what's a U.A.?"

Relm turned to her, tilting her head. "You don't know what U.A. is?"

At this, Strelitzia started to panic. Had she already blown her cover? Hastily, she tried to give an excuse.
"Um… I-I. Well y-you see, uh… I'm not f-f-from around here."

"You're a foreigner? Well, I should have guessed with a name like Strelitzia." Relm shrugged.

"Uh… y-yes. That."

Relm smiled. "Well then, for your information. U.A. is a Pro Hero school, and not just any Hero school, but widely regarded as the best in Japan. Its alumni include major heroes like All Might, Endeavor, Best Jeanist, and more."

Strelitzia nodded. Artemicion had mentioned All Might before, as the #1 hero in this nation of Japan and perhaps the entire World. She'd like to meet him some day.

"So you want to be a Hero?" Strelitzia asked.

"Of course. My grandpa was a hero. My mom… was… a hero." Relm's smile faltered briefly, before returning. "Why wouldn't I? Don't you?"

Strelitzia didn't fail to notice Relm's brief expression. But she decided she should pry (and really didn't know how to in the first place), instead focusing on her own answer.

"Well… To be honest, with all the changes, I was struggling to figure out what to do with myself. But a Pro Hero..." Strelitzia paused. In some senses it wasn't that different from what she had been doing before as a Wielder. Fighting against the forces of darkness, protecting the innocent, gathering the light.

Pro Heroism did make sense. And the more she thought about it, the more appealing the idea was to her. The Heartless still emerged from the darkness. They still threatened the Realm of Light, fractured as it was. She was still a Keyblade Wielder, and she clung to that, her sole rock of stability in the chaos she found herself in. Strelitzia held her hand to her chest.

"May my Heart by my guiding key." She muttered.

"What was that?"

"I think I've decided." Strelitzia said.

"Wait, decided what?"

"I want to become a Pro Hero!" Strelitzia said. She wasn't entirely sure about this path, but it seemed the best option for her at the moment. She still needed answers, and to fulfill her duty as a Key-Bearer to fight against the darkness.

"Really? Kickass!" Relm said. "Then let's aim for U.A. together, yeah?"

Strelitzia watched as Relm's bird took off from her shoulder with a chirp, flying off into the sky.

"It's a promise!"

So this took longer than i had expected. Anyways, we've got the introduction of one of the major characters for this fic. Relm Arrowny, though a native version of her. Had a lot of fun coming up with how her Quirk works and everything.

Overall kinda hope I nailed what I was going for in this scene as a whole.

~Dragonexx