A few days had passed before I was ready to face the reality of my situation again.
I needed to take time and take everything in slowly. It was a lot to process, after all, suddenly being in a new world with no recollection. I thought of my parents, the ones from my dream, the ones I could no longer remember, and hoped they escaped the terrible nightmare scape that I had seen in my dreams every time I closed my eyes.
And then there was the matter of the Keyblade I found myself in possession of.
I vaguely remembered reading something about a Keyblade, but nothing I could recall clearly. I just remembered it was something I'd heard of before, and would probably benefit to recount. The problem was more where to begin.
And so, I finally went to the accessory shop, like the woman told me, to see the man that worked there.
"Howdy," a gruff voice called. "How can I..."
His voice trailed when he saw me. "Ah, another lost kid, eh?"
"I'm not a kid anymore," I commented, feeling slightly insulted. I was only 14, but technically not a kid anymore by an honest standard. Then, I sighed. "I'm sorry. I was told that you'd be able to help me?"
"Depends on what you need help with, exactly."
So, I opened up, and I told him everything I could remember. I watched his face as he listened, though he gave nothing away immediately. It must have sounded unbelievable to him; it was hard to believe myself even though I was living through it and experiencing it first-hand.
When I finally finished talking, he let out a huff.
"Another one, eh? I better let the others know so we can get you sorted."
I was confused. What did he mean by "another one"? I was going to ask, but then I noticed he was already gone.
For a slim moment, I felt a flicker of frustration. He could've at least said something before leaving me alone like that. I was a "lost kid" according to him, so I didn't follow the logic behind leaving said lost kid alone during an emergency. Then again, considering what I told him, maybe he thought I'd be fine by myself for a moment while he went to find...whoever it was that he was talking about before.
A little while later, he returned with another man and two young women.
"This is the kid," the accessory shop owner said.
The other man, a tall, stern-looking man with intense blue eyes and long brown hair, stared me up and down quickly. His face registered nothing that I could read, yet I felt myself shrinking in his gaze.
"Cid here said you woke up in this town, on your own, and you mentioned something about a Keyblade to him," he finally said after a long, awkward silence. "Show me."
Feeling my nerves dance, I focused all my willpower into calling the Keyblade forth, and...
SHING!
"Incredible!"
"I don't believe it! At least, I wouldn't if I didn't see it myself!"
"What do you know?"
I let the Keyblade disappear from my hand before I let my focus return to the group in front of me. "I assume that's what you wanted me to do?" I inquired. "Prove that I had a Keyblade?"
The man nodded. "That's exactly what I needed from you, so now we can get to business.
"Looks like you're one of the Keyblade's chosen, one of only a few people who can wield it. So it seems like you were called forth by the light in your heart to help fight back the darkness."
I looked at the man, unsure that I was hearing him right. Me, fight the darkness, with this oversized hunk of metal? That idea was almost delusional. And yet, after everything else that happened, who was I to deny what he was saying?
"You're not sure," said one of the young women, the one with long brown hair. "I can tell you're having a hard time believing all of this."
"I can't lie. I am," I admitted. "This is...all so crazy. How could I honestly believe it?"
"You have the proof," Cid cut in. "You were just holding it a little bit ago."
"And that means we need to get you on your way, but first, you probably could use some training in using that Keyblade."