Trust is [NOT] Resolute

[Ðari]

Trust is [NOT] Resolute
[post-apocalyptic kingdom hearts roleplay]
[GM(s): Dari, purgatory, Lumine]
[Link to Sign-Ups]

∞ - Luxu's Prelude

​

Destiny islands was the very first Harrowed End that billowed into existence. This prompted the end of days, and from that inverted world did a trickle effect between it and the realm of darkness became apparent. The harrowed ends brought forth heartless on a completely different level in comparison to regular stragglers found on worlds. Worlds composed of darkness in direct connection to the very realm, more spawned and came forward and began to overrun neighboring worlds. This ultimately brought despondence to the citizens, losing heart quite literally, which spelled woe for the worlds themselves. When the world loses it's heart, it becomes a harrowed end, be it by the residents or diminishing the light from the worlds core, both can trigger it. This is a truth that's long since escaped the memory of those awake now, but the real question needing an answer, is how to stop it? How can they repair the damage done? How can they restore the worlds?

Theres something important you should know.

Against the overwhelming darkness, pilars of light, that the master dubbed "Resolutes" where a blessing, something of legends, except alive. With a resolve worthy and crafted from their individual lights, they existed now to step the tide in the state of this "New World". I'm taking the reigns from the master for now. Didn't catch my name?

It's Luxu, and you definitely don't remember me. I think it's finally time for them to wake up and well, race against the clock. We've done some irreparable things, some good, some bad, and some downright awful things in efforts to save as many lives as we could. The master thought it best, before he left us, to wipe the last 11 of our memories before he vanished into the future to wait for us, save for the last message from him. I just hope it's enough...I just hope the master was right in reseting their memories, their training, their relationships, and camaraderie over to be complete strangers, it's not my place to question it, but one among them is my priority and even I don't know who it is. The master only told me, zero, one, two, three, and four about a traitor, that bold one will be the one to whom I entrust the master's will with and will become my apprentice.

I'm simply here to watch for now and remain out of sight. With keyblade in hand and this box, none of you will ever find me until I want you to find me. I'll be watching, now...

Wake.



[Chapter 1]
Awake In The New World
[Check Your PMs for Start Point peeps]


​

The sky was crying.

It was amazing how a single drop felt a first, quickly multiplied and became countless thousands. The sound of the ocean was there, but tame. The sea breeze carried with it a tainted scent, as the eyes that capture all of it belonged to a man. He was tall, stark, and a brunette haired dude. His eyes were gray, and they possessed a crazy shine in them, with hands that clutched an umbrella tightly. Recalling a hooded man, coated in black, and an unfamiliar backdrop in his memory. He felt so odd, it was only him he could remember.

"Master...you were right...but why here of all places..."

Tears filled his eyes, and he began to sob uncontrollably, a shriek of despair as the gravity of what actually was happening started to sink in. Destiny Islands, he'd recognize the trunk of the tree split in half, the sands were white and purple, the ocean had gone dark. Looking out at the very waters, darkness had tainted even the very water turning it a deep purple color. This wasn't the place where he'd grown up, this was the first harrowed end to ever grace the worlds.

Looking up at the sky, his eyes widened. Almost completely clear, far and few stars remained, filled to the brim with deep purple blotches, the number of harrowed ends...was STAGGERING compared to the lights that remained. Clutching his head, he simply couldn't remember anything from the recent years, but the memory of the master stuck out in his mind front and center until he finally gave it his full attention.

"If that is what the master wishes for me to do...then so be it...but first things first..." holding the umbrella in his hand and holding his open hand to purge his keyblade as the shadows starting to swarm inbound. "How do I get off this rock..?"

His name was Ð. Of the resolutes that the master spoke of he was Zero - Untouchable. He didn't really understand what that meant, his "light" as the master said in memories older than from recent years, simply said it was because one day in the future it would be important, well, better to understand it now than never. Wondering if these heartless could touch him, instead he simply chose to run away. He was on a harrowed end and here he couldn't afford to attempt to fight these mobs without anyone else here.

"This place must be disassociated from Time...well then, looks like I can't just "rewind" the state of the world, a manual fix seems like whats needed, but...how?"

Ð remembered something else, he too was given a name of someone in his memories. Supposed to look out for them, to make matters worse there was apparently a dissenter among them? He stopped short at the edge of the world with a mob still behind him, and turning his head. Taking stance, he lost footing from his turn and fell backwards, the heartless and lunged forward as a group. What felt like he should've hit the ground, Ð instead was floating?? And sprung forward and propelled himself towards the sky and floated upward and held himself in place. Was this some kind of trick with the harrowed ends?

"So I can't use my time resolve, I can't use magic, but I can float? Weird." he was floating backwards, flipping his Ethernal over, he purged a small portal of light as he was backwards floating towards it. "I'll find the answer master, it's a promise."

 

[Piercing Light]

It was a day just like any other as Try awoke upon a bed in an inn. She let out a yawn, covering her mouth even though it was shielded by several millimeters of metal. She groggily passed by a cracked window covered in grime. It was awfully dark outside, though she just assumed she'd slept far longer than she'd planned to. Of all the things to clue her in that something was wrong, it was her nails. "Didn't I paint my nails red the other day?" She asked to no one in particular, though a whisper of a voice echoed in the metal shell of her helmet.

"Master of Masters, the foretold events have come to pass." Try whipped her head around so quickly her braid knocked a lamp onto the floor, shattering it.

"Right, I knew that, of course I knew that. Stay quiet." Try tilted her head upwards and hummed an out of tune hum as she thought. "So I need to find the traitor, and I also need to search for Reforge. Is Reforge supposed to help me find the traitor, or is HE the traitor?" She pondered as she left the room and exited the inn, not paying mind to the disorderly state of the establishment. Once outside she noticed the sky right away and was taken aback. If there was any doubt that the worlds were coming to an end, the nearly empty sky stained by swaths of purple eliminated it.

Try's body shook as if the devil had just blown an icy breath on her spine. "Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay." She began repeating over and over as her breathing quickened. This was a lot to take in at once, even if she had been told that this would happen. There were gaps in her memory. As if it were bad enough she had to deal with separating her twisted perception from the truth, now there were events of her life simply missing.

Try let out a frustrated yell and shadowboxed the air. "Master! Why!? Where did you go!? Dammit!" She yelled as she swung at an imaginary figure to vent her anger. After working up a sweat she turned around to see a young green haired woman staring at her.

"U-um." The stranger stammered, not sure what to say. "Are you okay? Where did yo- EEP!" The woman shrieked as Try suddenly shot out her hand to hold up a palm as if to tell her to stop. Try slowly brought the hand to her forehead and tapped it, though instead of looking insightful she just made an awkward metallic dinging noise.

"I know you may have many questions for me, but I am afraid I likely have no answers for you, for you see..." Try swiftly chopped the air as if she were on a cheap sentai show, and placed her hands on her hips to strike a pose. "I just woke up and have no memory of what has caused the worlds to be like this!"

The woman blinked in confusion for a moment before shaking her head. "Wait, why do you sound proud about that!?" She said, her worry replaced with an intense desire to straighten out the fool in front of her.

"Because!" Try said, pointing at the woman. "It means I have a lot to learn, and once I do, everything will be alright!" Try crossed her arms and nodded her head. "Now then... would you happen to know where I could procure some sustenance?"

"Do you mean... food? Um, this way."

This was indeed a day just like any other for Try, if only the current her knew that...

 

[Deimos]

Pain was a symphony that played specifically for him.

Awake? Sure. Keyblade Graveyard of all places, left with only the last bastion of memory, the master of masters, his master. Thumbing through the conversation he collected in his mind, he was sure of one thing, his humility was never questionable from what he could remember. Feeling his body briefly, it felt "different" and if the master's words were to be trusted it answered why his body felt "weird". What was it? He didn't remember being this built, toned, chiseled, and riddled with the number of scars even across certain nails.

Those scars, now this is where it gets weird...each felt unique, possessing a memory without connection to a visual guide, but a sensation that triggered a certain reaction, nostalgia for an enemy or possibly even a friend. He sat, back against his Alabaster atop the highest mesa in the land, staring dauntingly at a suit of armor mere meters away from him. Immobile, but as the wind picked up, it's cape tattered away in the wind and the keyblader simply watched it thinking of his conversation one more time.

"Master. Don't make me regret doing this, I hope your intuition is right. I'll take this pain for the better of mankind...for now."

Getting to his feet, the man's eyes looked upon the suit of armor. He took but a single step forward, instantly the thought crossed him when he saw movement. 'So it is alive...curious.' Reaching behind him he pulled his Alabaster out of the ground, and the armor did more than flinch this time. As if it had been reanimated, new life was surging through what from first glance seemed to be a statue-esque protector upon these sacred lands. It seemed to have been here for quite a long time, likely able to inflict a great deal of pain.

These lands...I Must Protect...I MUST PROTECT THEM~!

A warning, or perhaps a message being transmitted to his mind.

"Saebyeolbe. Charmed friend, you've a great deal to teach me and I'm honored."

Saebyeolbe bowed, and the scars lit up on his body activating a light that was hardening him from head to toe. His task as a resolute felt almost as if he were to be a legitimate martyr in the pursuit of peace. If there was something he'd agreed upon in the past, losing yet another bet to someone like the master was something he had to tread carefully over. Focusing back on the suit of armor it slowly rose from it's kneeling position and gripped the Earthshatter Keyblade, staring Saebyeolbe down.

"I'm number one! The Scarred! Bearing the sins of humanity is my role in order to bring whats left of us together one last time!"

If you had an inkling of an idea as to what pain was, you really had no idea, even if he didn't have the memories, his scars would reverberate and remember for him. His muscles tensed as he tucked behind his hood which virtually concealed everything with the exception of the number of scars visible on his arm, hands, and nails.

 

[Hazen Gregory]

Reforge laid floating above the ground on his back, snoring as he remained in a state of deep sleep, time passing slowly for him as he dreamed about an event that had nearly cost him his life...the details were rattled and twisted, making Reforge groan and cry out.

[Dreaming of the Hollow]
As Reforge gained distance from the horde of heartless that were chasing him, his legs began to tire a bit and he felt himself slowing down. He hadn't realized how long he'd been running, but he did notice that these shadows were relentless. Each time he killed one and it dissipated into nothingness, it seemed another immediately took its place. At this point Reforge had lost track of how many shadow heartless he'd felled with his magic, trying to piece together where and when to strike had gotten him mixed up in this mess. He had noticed that casting spells was becoming more difficult but was completely aware of having a surplus of magic to do so. "Geez, I'm sick of this place already. I really am getting nowhere, and getting even MORE aggravated by the second." He had set off on a journey to find some kind of answers but as he traveled from broken world to broken world, there was nothing but darkness, guilt, shame and the longing to be by his brother Garforge's side once again. He knew that coming to Hollow Bastion was probably a mistake but what happened next proved it.

"Grant me the power of time to save the day, surround these endless foes and help me get away. Cycle around like the hands of a clock unleash this magic in the form of....STOP!!!" A rush of magical force blew about Reforge's body as the horde drew ever near and a whistling noise sounded as a large stop sign seemed to fall from the sky, landing in the middle of the swarming heartless that were after Reforge. The spell was completely effective, freezing all of the heartless in a time bubble were time had stopped completely. "Ha!!! Take that, suckas!!!" Reforge did a little dance on the ground, his white leather loafers kicking up a bit of dust as he did it. "Great, now I can think for a bit. Where do I go next??"

Meanwhile, up above him, the sky had started to change ever so dramatically and rain began falling. The droplets were pitch black but as they fell harder, Reforge realized that one of them was growing larger as it fell toward him from the sky. "What the??" Reforge tried to utter an incantation to cast haste, but fear and some strange sensation of darkness overwhelmed him. The next thing he knew, he was trapped in a strange area filled with strange bubbles of purple miasma that emitted a high pitched crying sound. "What the fuq is this!?!?" Reforge stared on in horror at the Darkside that loomed over him. Somehow he hadn't even noticed it before, but now it was too late to act. The Darkside had let a compacted ray of dark energy fire from the heart-hole on its chest.

Reforge put his hands out, summoning both keyblades to his aid.

~~~~~~

"Gah!!!" Reforge yelled in pain as he fell from his floating position, landing hard on a pile of keyblades that were sticking out from the ground. For several moments, Reforge just laid there, confused about his dream. It didn't seem like it could have been real but the details had been so vivid that Reforge was almost certain that at least some of it had happened. The question was; Which part?? Reforge groaned in annoyance, looking down at himself and pondering just what he'd missed. He shivered even though it was actually quite hot in the Keyblade Graveyard. Ref recognized this place easily as there were over 100,000 keyblades sticking out from the ground in every direction, covering the majority of the world itself.

This didn't give him many clues as to what was really going on, he couldn't begin to explain his strange attire, or where his shoes were. "Since when do I not wear the mage robes that Gar made for me??"

Reforge looked up at the sky and noticed that there were virtually no stars, no hint of the beautiful worlds that once dotted the sky with hope. "Hmm...how odd." It occurred to him after only moving a few feet that he wasn't walking, instead his bare toes gracefully floated an inch or so from the hideous, barren and broken ground filled with keyblades. If he was to make it from here, there were several things that needed to be explained. Reforge floated aimlessly through the graveyard until he recalled something. 'You are #9 The Eloquent, and I want you to remember #3 The Echo, by the name of "Try".' The Master's words flowed through his mind, giving Reforge a bit of comfort that for some reason he didn't recall ever feeling before, even with Gar. The feeling literally made him a bit queasy.

"I wonder if....hmm??" A voice was yelling in the distance, Reforge being alerted by the sound floated up higher in the air, turning his body in direction of the sound until he noticed a figure clad in a hood near the mesa where the mysterious armor was located. Ref eyed the figure curiously from where he was hovering several hundred feet away but still wanted to know more. "Come Progonoskes. Show me that target, I'll call him Sam I am. Reveal what's under the robe, probably a man, fill me in magic via the use of Scan.Reforge's keyblade lit up in a pale light before angling toward the hooded figure, using a magical formula to read the essence of whomever the individual was. After a short period, Reforge called his keyblade back to him and rubbed his forehead blushing. "Wow, I don't remember that spell being that weak." Reforge was just testing the waters, he wasn't too sure how many of his powers still worked, or if they'd been changed or not.

Reforge moved closer to the hooded man, imagining all of the countless scars that his spell had shown the man had, along with some other interesting information and then got another idea. "Hmm. Hooded Robe." Reforge gestured to the covering the man was wearing and it vanished from the man and materialized in Reforge's grasp. "Well, I know that still works...heyyyy!!!! Sir Scars, do you want this back??"

 

[purgatory]

"The longest night of them all and I could feel it clear as day."

​

The alley was abandoned, and I sat against the wall. Tired, worn out, and my eyes finally started to open in what felt like a very slow motion. There was a bob around in front of me, barely cracked I could see it. I saw something absolutely...terrifying.

A pair of yellow eyes.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

I raised my arms and before I knew it a blast of light shot from be somewhere above me and left scorch marks just in between my legs. The creature was gone now, a shadow heartless of all things to be the first thing I saw as I woke up. I clutched my heart tightly as I started to find my footing and felt my stomach turn. I wobbled at first out of the alleyway quickly stopping as I spotted a neo-shadow in the plaza in front of the accessory shoppe and a mob of those same shadows. Their fidgety forms were clammering around by the mailbox, and some near the door to the third district of the town. I had so many questions buzzing around my head, there were far too many to count, when I clutched my chest earlier I definitely noticed it then. Those weren't there before, then theres this vision, or was it a memory? The master...I've known him for so long, and what he said about the worlds...it was terrifying.

I looked up not long after as the remaining heartless were still unknown to my presence in the alley save for the one I suppose I destroyed? I'm seeing an almost completely dark sky, so fair and few are the lights. The Lingering Remnants as the master put it in this memory I have of him. Did the world end? When did the world end? How did the first harrowed end even happen? Why was I in traverse town of all places?

"Dear sweet Lucrecia, now, now, I know this is a big ask, but I'm gonna need you to protect these places for as long as possible. The darkness that comes will be without a doubt almost incontestably strong, but you won't be completely alone, it's just cooperation that is the variable between you seeing success and you seeing failure because lets face it, not you, not even I, can do it alone..."​

Why was I teary-eyed for a second remembering that. The master was such, a man of humble-nature and prestiege, humility I idolized for a time as he'd teach me things. The last couple of years, to be believed, gone. I could only recall that conversation and a majority of the last day I spent in Radiant Garden. Ugh, i was also still trying to get my bearings, I don't really know how much I remember or if there was something I learned in recent years. Taking the heartless in a group that massive by myself was suicide unless I had some kind of killer move that'd make it easier on me. Vaporizing one is easy, but thirty or more, HAH! Good joke, but lets be real here who really know what the effects the darkness has had on the worlds now.

I cubbied myself behind the crate and peeked over, maybe breaking up their meeting was the answer? I took a random can I found, and I lobbed it al the way across the plaza, and it hit the door to the third district. The heartless looked confused, and they scrambled around dispersing quickly towards the door, some even going through it.

"Jackpot." I snapped my fingers and propped up a clever grin stroking my chin, "Veni, Noctem et Diem."

I painted the neo-shadow almost immediately with Noctem acting as my targeting system and Diem was charging behind me as I was taking aim.

"URO!"

A shot from the blaze-canon producing a beam that hit the neo-shadow for a full nine seconds, burning it down by the seventh second (even with Noctem increasing the damage the enemy takes by 30% that's still insanely high time to kill for a basic tier 2 enemy). These guys were no joke, I don't remember them being able to withstand that long of a period of sustained high impact damage. I was safely a distance away but I could see they were looking for me now, thankfully I didn't have my keyblade summoned and crouched down behind the box.

"This is gonna be my life from now on huh, master...what in the hell even happened man..."

 

[Lumine]

Light flooded darkness.

Her vision quivered for a moment, and unbearable brightness filled it. Shiki shut her eyes and, this time slowly opened them again and from the brightness shapes and colors resolved themselves to her. Awake, she sat up, rubbing her eyes, trying to clear the fog from her mind. Where was she, again?

She was looking at a small town’s square. The sun was up and bathing everything in warm golden light, but the shops, the stalls and even the water fountain in the center were all vacant and empty. Motion was absent from the place, but there was a veil of eeriness that permeated stronger than the absence of motion. Shiki stood and walked around, inspecting the scene, looking for any sign of where she might be or someone she might ask. She soon realized, though, that it was the absence of life that was the oddity nagging her. There were no chirping birds or a passing cat or the mundane white noise of the going and coming of normal people. The air carried no scents, and even the fountain was empty and seemed to have played no waters in a while. The silence carried a hollowness all too familiar and unnerving.

Instinctively, Shiki closed her hands and felt for the chains, and experienced a rush of relief when she sensed their warm familiar weight. She tried to recall how she arrived to this place, but her search was empty handed. Not a memory came to her aid. The last thing she remembered was the Master of Masters’ words…

I'm trusting that you will be able to carry the burden of this role alright?​

His words came rushing to her then, like the sudden gusts of winter winds. Their last conversation was the only thing she remembered with clarity from the prior 3 years and it returned to her with a bone chilling realization of the sheer weight of her task. The price everyone would pay, if she failed. If all of them failed.

She gulped and released a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding. Without a pause, her pace quickened, her boots hitting the cobblestone in a brisk and firm stride. Screw this, I’m not failing you Master. I’m not failing any of them. She rounded a bend, and a shadow flickered in her view. Memonto Mori materialized in her hand, just as the stranger’s blade clashed with hers. She shoved him hard, bounced a few feet behind her and held her stance.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I’m the one who should be asking the damn question!” A young man of perhaps seventeen or eighteen, with brown hair, a white shirt and long shorts. He wielded a thin silver and red blade, with a keychain hanging at its end.

“A Keyblader?”

“Shiki?” she was caught off-guard, he knew her?

“Yes?” She answered slowly, her blues narrowing. At that, his stance loosened and a smile graced his bronze face.

“It’s me Daemus.” And when Shiki didn’t lose her caution, he dismissed his Keyblade and started closing the distance “From the Cult of Creative Kids.”

Nothing. Blank. She didn’t know a Daemus or a cult, unless… unless she knew but couldn’t remember.

She lowered her keyblade but didn’t dismiss it. Let's see where this goes.

“The Cult?”

“Oh man, wait till Aki and the others know!” He seemed genuinely excited to see her. Odd.

“Come” he gestured for her to follow, “I’ll escort you to the others. My watch is over anyways, I was just waiting for Relix.”

 

[Deimos]

Saebyeolbe appreciated the breeze. There was a rule these scars had beaten into him, no amount of "forgetting" could undo the ability to adapt and adjust via pain one experienced. He was 100% aware that someone from an elevated angle was screaming at him, rude to ignore him? Yes, but given he was about to fight an animated suit of armor that's been here for eons, getting distracted would cost him. His bare skin was exposed now, and naturally, he had fifteen times the amount of scars last he visibly remembered, just what in the hell happened to his memory?

What happened to HIM? His body was tight, compressed, built and filled in form and he truly did not remember being this physically fit and his overall mass had increased. A fitted cotton dress shirt, without sleeves, it was a dark blue and the shirt was open. His denim jeans, with khaki/orange colored boots where what he strapped in. Clearly someone was dressing him as well, but he'd worry about that later.

Are you...worthy? Fight. FIGHT~!

you dream of dream of trading places
I have been changing faces

​

This should come as no surprise to anyone, holding alabaster the knight was flying. Yes. FLYING towards Saebyeolbe holding the earthshatter keyblade and it mounted a swing faster than anticipated. As if done completely off muscle memory, Sae reacted at a speed that surprised even him, raising his alabaster to parry and sword-lock with the suit of armor. His look of surprise and feeling of building exasperation, still not able to process the gap in between what he forgot, especially in the middle of a battle.

Well shoot...are those...MY reflexes? When did I...?

The suit of armor's pace increased and so did Sae's reaction speed, parrying was all he could do but the movement was faster than even he anticipated. This armor wasn't kidding around here, and Sae danced with it creating a dome of compressed air, thats how fast the two of them were swiping their keyblades at each other. Sae had to hold his breath after the first initial couple of seconds, before slipping up, and taking a massive hit just below his sternum.

you cannot fill these shoes
there is too much to lose​

PFT!

He spit blood into the knights face, and it retaliated with a swipe to the back of Saebyeolbe's neck. His entire body shook and vibrated through the mesa. Both hits smart as much as he'd been willing to show, on his chest and on his neck, two scars were starting to weave into place. His body was vibrating like crazy, but believe it or not, he was actually hanging in there just fine. This was the nature of what he did, pain was real, but his body seemed to be unable to separate itself from from taking damage. Raising a brow

"Faster...teach me how to go faster...COME ON!"

Sae's eyes were pure light itself, he lit up with an undying resolve and gripped his alabaster and started to increase his movement speed, releasing some movements he'd adopted from his muscle memory via the scars. The knight simply nodded and vanished. Sixteen cuts, across the morning star rain's chest creating micro explosions of red across his chest and they burst forward in a orange-red blast dropping the keyblader on the mesa motionless.

wake up behind these trenches
you run around defenseless

​

The knight turned and raised it's earthshatter to the sky and purged the likes of a large looking orb of compressed light. Transforming the keyblade into something of a canon, it capitulated a charging motion of the light and took aim for The Scarred.

Get up. Keyblade Warrior.

there is too much to lose
you cannot fill these shoes

but be careful what you wish for...
​

Digging his nails into the dirt, he managed to mount himself up and get to his feet. He was holding his head, what the hell were these words filling the insides of his head, the sound of a woman's voice? Sae wasn't sure, it was daunting...taunting him, confused, hard to concentrate with the accuracy he'd of liked to, but it seemed like the other person he was going to immediately talk to after this light test was over had been out of harms way, which was good.

"You're much more experienced at this than I am, i'll give you that...but from your strikes, you're truly...disappointed in yourself."


Sae offered up a smile, one that radiated as warm as the light of his resolve.

"Please. Teach me more about the past filled with your pain. I wish to understand."

The suit of armor nodded before entering a proper stance subverting to it's prior position slowly creating a mass of light to draw The Scarred into it as it would go as far until it touched him.

He raised his hand to wipe his lip of the blood. Licking his lips from side to side, the sharp look in his eyes, finally looking up and waving at the stranger that was hovering above. He didn't recognize him, didn't know the first thing about him, but this armor, this armor was in history books, if not a national treasure here in the badlands of the keyblade graveyard. Then he walked towards the suit of armor's field of light until the the two of them were no longer visible anymore.

 

[Hazen Gregory]

Reforge started to descend to the ground as he watched Saebyeolbe start battling the suit of armor, at first he felt the desire to intervene but as the skirmish progressed, the scene made Reforge stop and ponder just how dangerous the suit of armor was. Not only did he notice that Saebyeolbe was getting knocked around left and right, he also could see that the half-assed information he'd procured about the scarred man seemed to be correct. Reforge could admit to himself that if he'd taken such blows directly, he'd probably be on his bottom, crying out for the comfort of his dead brother's defensive blocks.

"That's definitely a bit scary, I'd best just stay back here and see what happens." Reforge watched as the armor increased its pursuit of the scarred man, knocking him down t the ground with a heavy blow that made Reforge cringe. He started mumbling an incantation, ready to at least try and give the scarred warrior an edge against the living armor but it seemed that Saebyeolbe didn't need his help at all. "Oh my God!!!" The light emanating from the armor's transformed keyblade was massive. A shot that large could do some major damage, but maybe this Saebyeolbe guy could take it?? Reforge wan't sure if he should spring into action or not, he was confused as to why he'd ended up in this place and why he was to bare witness to this unfolding event.

The skirmish seemed to subside shortly afterward and Saebyeolbe turned and waved at Reforge, causing him to blush even harder than the first time. Reforge couldn't actually understand himself why he was blushing but he assumed something in his missing memories would somehow explain it. As the scarred man and the armor disappeared into a bright light that Reforge didn't want to stare into, he dropped to the ground and stared at door that floated in his path, only inches from the ground. "Hmm, I might as well go forward, what else is there to do??" Reforge touched his hand to the door and it swung open slowly, encasing Reforge's form in an almost sinister light that then engulfed him completely, pulling him inside as he tucked the hooded robe into his 'inventory'.

As the light subsided. Reforge opened his eyes and looked around at the new area he was in an immediately recognized it as part of the Cul-de-sac. specifically the area where the town square was. He could see that the park was across the way, the merry-go-round looked to be in need of repairs. There was no laughter, no gala-banding keybladers running about. It made him yearn for the old days when he, Garforge and Coralye led the three factions and there was some kind of false peace. The days when nothing really mattered. As he turned, Reforge spotted Daemus and some woman walking through the square, causing him to immediately scowl. Daemus had hated him for the span on nearly 20 years after he'd torn out Renn's heart right in front of him but the past was the past.

It was a good idea to NOT engage in any conversation with people he hadn't seen in awhile but then something else caught Reforge's eye. He floated over to the merry-go-round and touched the wanted poster he saw on the post, then realizing that there were wanted posters all over the area and even on the buildings across the street. "Wanted posters, I thought that....oh man, what did I do??" Ref was disheartened by the wanted posters. His face was plastered on them but showed his eyes to be glowing white. His hair was also longer and he was wearing no upper body covering either. A heartless emblem was on his chest. "Master, please say it isn't so..." The poster said that Reforge was wanted for multiple murder, kidnapping, heart robbery, and grand theft.

"No...I don't understand!!!" A tear rolled down Reforge's cheek as he leaned against the pole, his body still floating off the ground. "Why?? Ugh....I-I." He took off his spectacles and waved his hand downward over his form, materializing the hooded robe that he'd acquired from Saebyeolbe over his body. The color changed to a pearl-white and so did the glasses as Reforge put them back on. "How could I have done these horrible things?!?! Maybe the other me was involved?? Why did the Master want me to come here??"

The merry-go-round started to move, alerting Reforge to a shadow darting across one of the horses, causing Reforge to spin around and throw a fireball toward the figure he'd seen. The figure dodged the fire ball expertly and came into view, slinking up to Reforge and hugging him. "Reffy!?!? Where have you been?? You know that I'll always stand by you...even if you...you, killed them all. I know it wasn't your fault but why did you leave?? Zeal's Call fell apart." Reforge was taken aback by the voice and the words coming from the man's mouth, the passion was nearly overwhelming. Reforge didn't know how to react at all.

"I...umm, I missed you Erebos. I'm sorry??" At least Reforge thought he did...he sobbed harder, burying his hood covered face into Erebos' shoulder. Erebos Rosendor, his best friend.

 

[Ðari]

"Looks like my resolve is working again. Harrowed ends are no good for me, places I need to try and avoid..."

It was quiet when he landed from the fizzle of the portal. The world seemed to linger in darkness but a strong light was lingering here. A castle that seemed to stretch on aimlessly, it's adaptation to the desolate landscape was admirable. The keyblader knew this place, as intimately as he knew the late destiny islands. It was an important piece of history, and as you could imagine, with his time resolve working again...he had many, many steps to gathering data at his disposal. There was a sharp vigor in his eyes, and he took his first step towards the castle doors.

A firm press and the doors came open, revealing a white hall followed by a door propagated at it's end. Ð then held out his right hand and purged in his hand, an extension of his resolve, a tiny crystal ball. Ethernal was flipped over in his left hand the "eye of another world" looked far, tapping into a new form of vision.

"Call it a hunch...but master's keyblade had one like mine so..."

Ð exposed an image of a man who's body was covered in scars, locked in combat with an animated suit of armor. Keyblades creating intense heat and sparks, with a feint image of another male floating high above him in the background. The image faded and brought into view another one, this time female in the roundabout world of what looked to be somewhat populated. Conversing with a young teen before following, two more passed through in traverse town, all while posing a question of who were they? Finally, he could see...himself? No. It was an off angle, looking directly at him and it was standing by the door.

"Sorry, but just looking at you makes me sick. Eth."

!!!!

"Huh??" The crystal vanished and his head jerked, provoking an emotional response almost immediately. "Master!?!"

He wagged his finger, "Not quite. Good guess though, it's flattering, but no." he motioned back in forth pacing, as if collecting his next words carefully, "Having the power to travel through time and you come here to do it. Looking for the girl aren't you...well she's no longer alive...not now anyway, but alive in the past. It's why you came here isn't it?"

Words just wouldn't form for Eth, he was confused. Who. What. Huh? All valid responses, he looked dead on at the figure that resembled the master, but he was much shorter and his voice wasn't the same. He apparently knew him, they knew each other? The memories just weren't there, and as they spoke he was making new memories. What does it all mean...and this girl, theres only one person in history that had any kind of power over memory...but doesn't it only work on one person and the people that he's connected to?

"You can remember later Eth, the answer is in the present, not the past." the figure said, purging a dark looking keyblade in his hand, with that same unnatural looking eye that captivated Eth almost immediately. That was definitely the master's old keyblade, and this person, his successor?

"Who...are you...?" Finally speaking, he posed the million dollar question.

"Find the real secret to this castle and I'll tell you exactly who I am. If you trust me anyway."

The stranger tossed cards at untouchable, and he folded them out in his palms, all blank.

"Trust you huh..."

"No one should trust you! You're just a pain who only ends up causing more of it. Now stop spying on me ya creep!"

He pushed open the doors of the ground floor door and ran through into what looked like a chasm of light.

"Wait!" but he was already gone, and finally able to hold his head as confused as ever.

Eth looked at the cards he'd been given, the door had already closed. Slapping his face, he perked up and chased after the hooded person resembling the master and bolted through the door using one of the cards to open it. As he came out he saw the figure pressing forward through the next door with almost no change at all in how the next room looked. This would quickly turn into a game of tag, and Eth was determined to chase him down. The next door there was a little surprise waiting for him, a figure that was robbed, much taller than the one running.

"Wait a second...who-" It moved with hostility and Eth could sense the intent and immediately stopped time. "Yeah...sorry pal, I'm busy." and he darted past him releasing his resolve after he'd passed through the door on that floor.

There was an open courtyard, and on that white expanse was another door. Did he lose him? This seemed like a reprieve from all this running for the time being, there were no heartless here and it seemed like the perfect time to dabble inside his head.

"So finally happened master...just as you said it would. Now the role you gave me before you disappeared, I have to abide by it." he sat on a bench and looked up at the ceiling, and then the door on the far side. "Who is that guy anyway...he guessed my intentions spot on...can he see the future like the master? Once more...no one should trust me? As if we were enemies and I forgot...?"

The quiet was probably the eeriest part of this room, but the onus was on Eth to find this secret spoke of. It gave him some odd feeling, and he looked at the eye embedded into his Ethernal keyblade and wondered if he could use it for something other than it's standard alignment with his paradoxes. Things would progress at the necessary pace, he then thought of the faces he'd seen in the crystal ball. Looks like their key blades were similar to his and the stranger's, and at any rate, maybe they were resolutes? A complete shot in the dark, but he was fixated on the person master mentioned and started to wonder.

"Luxu." Eti uttered, the person of interest that he was told to focus on by the master. Here this random stranger impersonating the master was running rampant in a place sacred to history, who did he think he was telling Eth what to do?

 

[Piercing Light]

The sound of magic being used in the distance caught Try's attention, she looked away from the young woman escorting her towards the sound. "That doesn't sound like the kind of fighting I'm used to, no gunfire..." The woman looked around nervously. Try gave a thumbs up without looking back.

"Go on ahead, I'll take care of this first." Try dashed forward with enough speed to blow the woman's hair back.

"W-wait! You... Don't even know where to meet me." The green haired woman let out a sigh and ran off on her own.

Try meanwhile leaped onto the rooftops, this method of travel would be faster than navigating the twists and turns of the streets. Soon enough she spotted the source of the commotion. Heartless, and a whole lot of them. Instinctively, Try held out her hand to summon her keyblade, however the sight of a girl hiding behind a box stayed it. Trust no one, that's what master said.

Try sprinted forwards and leaped from the tiled roof, as she fell she drop kicked a neo heartless in the face. The heartless was sent flying, skidding across the ground and slamming into the face of a wall. Try, having bounced off the creature's skull, landed deftly right next to the unknown girl.

"The name is Try, and as long as I'm here you have nothing to fear!" She said, giving the girl a wide grin as she pointed at herself with her thumb. Though of course, no one could see that grin...

 

[Story Keeper]

~- Same Shit, Different Day -~

"When you wake up, the last haven from darkness is where you'll reside. It'll be a small world."

Achoo!

Jay sneezed, stirring from sleep as she sniffled in response. Looking around her, she blinked the fog from her eyes, trying to place where she was by the phantom words. She couldn't recall who said it to her, or the rest of the conversation, but she did believe that they told the truth. The stones beneath her felt cold, it pressed against her cheek as she laid there. Pushing herself to her feet, she rubbed the remaining remnants of sleep from her eyes. Her keyblades materialized on either side of her.

A shrug of her shoulders dismissed them from the air, leaving her defenseless. The soft rustling of feet had her pressed to the wall, her muscles tightening as she tried to figure out how likely she was to be ambushed. Violet eyes darted from side to side, taking in her surroundings as she tried to figure out what she should do next. Jay glanced to the right, only moving once she determined it was safe to do so. Strands of purple hair hung in her eyes, shielding her vision from strangers. Jay pushed away from the wall, moving down the alleyway as her thoughts churned in circles as she tried to figure things out.

I need to find them. She thought to herself, only to hesitate to at that notion. Who did she need to find? Why was it so important to her? Jay shook her head, dismissing the thought from her mind before she got moving again. It wasn't a surprise that things were going to hell in a hand basket and fast, but she didn't see it as a problem for her personally.

After all her life had already been hell.

 

[purgatory]

A red body suit with a helmet?

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, the level of ridiculousness, I couldn't help myself. I was in the middle of a damn battle, and I chuckled somewhat uncontrollably. What came over me? That tension from earlier, had nearly evaporated and boy was she laughing. It seemed ridiculous, and in the back of my head I was thinking that I immediately needed to return the vote of help.

"Lucrecia. You're rather charming Try."

I couldn't get used to saying that name. I was trying to get used to saying Try, maybe if I tried harder at running it back in my head as someone's name? My response was a bit flat, I'd almost forgotten how many years it'd taken me to remain calm no matter what the situation. My eyes were darting between the mob of heartless and the shine from Try's helmet, it was definitely distracting. The real question, who was she?

I'd get that out of the way when the heartless were dead, this was my role after all. We were in district one of all places, I hopped over the crate we hid behind and my two orbs Noctem and Diem floated around my shoulders. A loud whistling sound came from my mouth and the pack of yellow eyes all looked in my direct. I stood ready with my hand moved into a backwards curl as if I were going to draw a gun. They watched eagerly, and instead, a keyblade.

"Draw."

I whisked my Lucient along and it spun like a buzz saw blade whisking through the mob to deal damage, and shave a few antennae off the shadows, but they were still very much alive. The Black orb darted and tagged every heartless in the mob and the damage they each took increased handsomely. As the mob angered, they started to move towards me and Try but I had a plan. As that flocked towards us, I cupped Diem in my hand and dropped it to roll towards the mob, almost like a grenade.

Snapping my fingers, my little precious orb released a concussive blast which pushed the mob upward like stepping on a landmine. It proceeded to take individual shots at each heartless that was briefly suspended and pushed up. My Lucient keyblade I'd thrown moments before coming back around to do it's return cut, tagging the heartless one at a time until it was back in my hand. Looking at the eye that was in the keyblade itself, I was annoyed now that there were this many shadow here in one place. They seemed to be in a daze as their bodies flopped and dropped comically to the cobblestone and was inanimate for a decent amount of time. I had to give them props, they had unusually high durability...thankfully I wasn't contending with these things alone

Yet I was vigilant, always, the master had a point in what he said after all.

"They should be down for a wh-"

If I wasn't looking at it, I wouldn't have believed it. Just above the third district door, you could see a Darkside leaning on the door, casually, looking down at us. WHAT??

"Wh-wha-- WHAT??"

Ok I was officially in semi-panic mode, there was a boss-level enemy here and despite it being passive right now, I couldn't help but freak a bit.

It's hand lowered and just in front of the doors to the third district a small sinkhole of darkness was purged by it's hand and to think of what it pulled out of it's bag of tricks. A Demon Tower. A collective of smaller shadow heartless twisted and turned into a vortex, that started for Try. I'll admit, I was a little annoyed that this cocky bastard didn't even think to punch us itself, but instead sent yet another boss-class enemy albeit weaker, to deal with us.

"Just another day for me Try, but for you I don't know, steer clear of that thing!"

 

[Piercing Light]

In spite of the chaos around her, Try's smooth visage was locked onto the magical weapon in Lucrecia's hand. A keyblade, was she one of them? The girl was no stranger to it's use either, as she was able to use it with skillful dexterity, not to mention the use of magic. As Try was staring with her head tilted like a curious puppy a shadow leaped for her neck, she back handed it, splattering it across a wall. "Well, well, well, a keyblade wielder. I say, though things are far from well aren't they?" Try faced the vortex of creatures and held out her hand as if to summon her keyblade, though she didn't do it quite yet.

Try waited as the violent tornado of black headed towards her intent on tearing her apart. She wiggled her fingers as it flew closer, as if she were about to shoot down an outlaw. Lucrecia's move earlier looked rather cool, she wanted in on the fun. A plastic bag flew between them, and as it did the Demon Tower was just feet away from her. "Copyright infringing draw!" She side stepped the Demon Tower and leaped horizontally along it's side. The ground cracked as she left the ground and went soaring.

She summoned her glasslike keyblade and spun her body like a top, slicing into the amalgamation of Heartless. Echo kicked in, and she got a burst of sustaining speed as her first leap was echoed, allowing her to cut the entire length of the monster before she had to land onto the ground.

 

[Deimos]

There was something to be said here. The suit of armor produced chains of light, a fitting cage to lock them both inside. The strangest thing about this, was a faint tapping against his skin. Feeling like chains almost, a feeling that tensed his very scars, several different sensations each having their own definitive source related to what he'd forgotten.

This name kept coming back to him, over and over again in his mind.

"*********"

He uttered it briefly, and surely snapping his attention back he looked to the knight. Licking his lips again, the taste of his own blood was something he couldn't remember if he tasted lately, but it seemed fresh to him. The knight approached Saebyeolbe and pressed the end of it's earthshatter on top of several of his scars. A light was leaving the tip and touching several of his scars, tearing over them and filling #1 with a barrage of pain simultaneously to a physical point of entropy he was registering this sensation as his own destruction.

Am I going to die here?

His vision flashed, The Master, several others, and one that stood out. Him. The look in his eyes was furious, unstoppable, and derranged as he mounted to attack a defenseless man until it went black again. Diving into the ocean of his mind where the memories seemed to vanish, or perhaps they were dormant, but his body never forgot. None of this was fair, none of this made any sense to him, the holes in memory were staggering, taunting, and to top it all off, the pain he couldn't connect it to made what he suffered for completely meaningless.

It hurt even more.

Tears began to billow into Saebyeolbe's eyes and he stood like a statue. Seeing himself in a flash embracing what appeared to be someone near and dear to him, but there wasn't a single thing that connected the dots. His hand swat away at the keyblade buried in his chest and alabaster was brought up, with a hardened grip. His scars, a at least ten were released and he simply tapped the suit of armor and sent a surge through the entire things form, long enough to kneel down and place his head against it's armored head. The tears running from his eyes to his chin, dripping onto it's helmet, and chest plate.

"Theres things I'm still forgetting, but thank you...thank you for sharing your pain with me friend. Please, protect thias place."

The suit of armor, as if it understood what Saebyeolbe was saying, understood what he was feeling, reacted oddly. It graciously replied with a nod after the effects of the keyblader's stun had worn off. Removing the hod and cape, it haphazardly handed them to Saebyeolbe to which Sae himself was honored and humbled to don, as he needed to conceal his scars. Rubbing his arms, he held a faint tint of sorrow in his eyes, saddened being unable to remember this woman whom he looked only from a behind angle, faceless. And him, his eyes, were abhorrent and terrifying the likes he never ventured into even in earlier life, so a tragedy had to of been missing from memory.

He was released from the chained dimension and resumed it's stance kneeling in front of the Earthshatter Keyblade into it's resting position. Saebyeolbe thought only of needing to push down these urges of curiosity, the master had given him a job to do. Feeling his chest one more time, he looked off to the side to find that that man from earlier that dropped in was no longer here. As a sigh escaped him he proceeded to explore the keyblade graveyard further.

 

[Ðari]

Castle of Oblivion was definitely doing what it was known for in a much earlier history. Eth may not have been able to remember, but he'd push those concerns to the side for now. In earnest this place was trying exceptionally hard to cast these illusions in front of him. He'd figured it out when he stopped time in one of the rooms and ran through one of them, the briefest part of his apparel passed through.

"So they're illusions...figures. Theres really know one here like I thought, then why am I seeing these projections?"

Eth's eyes sharpened, darting around the courtyard in this castle this was but one of many open spaces in this castle. He was really going to have to comb the place over, but there was something the master said about this place when he asked him about it in earlier years. Castle of Oblivion held a secret that no one has been able to find. In the old world a tyrant wanted this place, but the real truth here seemed more pivotal to give them some breathing room and Eth had a pretty good idea where he needed to go.

Much time later...

He'd climbed the steps until he couldn't go any further, looking at a room with a crystal ball. It reminded him of his crystal ball, but he already knew this place would just play with what he saw if he used his. The thought crossed his mind that maybe, just maybe he needed to look beyond this room if there was no further that he could go. There were no visible doors, exits, and nothing came up as odd or suspicious even in the basement of this place. It was doubtful that the basement would do him any justice either. Here was the bread and butter, the tables were dusty, with drawing and broken color pencils, the witch with power over memory no longer existed if the illusion was to be believed yeah?

Swiping his hand across the table, a thick layer of dust collected on his gloved hand and it really has been a long time. Eyes darting to the left of the room, he ran his hand under the table and found grooves under the table. Classic trick, and there was a switch he triggered on the table's underside which caused a wall to slide to the left. He couldn't tell if this was manually put here, or originally in the design...it certainly didn't seem intentional.

The room was wide and open, and floating like balloon hung the balance an emblem he'd never seen before. There was a single chair, empty, and Eth walked towards it, he blinked and there was a hooded figure sitting in the chair. More mind games incoming.

"Just can't stay away can you. This is the will of the castle itself protecting it's age old secrets, even people who got here still no one's figured it out."

Eth simply stared at the figment of his imagination. It was clear to him it was an illusion once he blinked, concentrating to blot out the distraction from his mind, he had a job to do. The image of the figure started to fade out of his mind as a mere haze. Looking at the chair again, a long breath dropped from the resolute and he took a seat in it and closed his eyes.

 

[purgatory]

It didn't take me long to realize I may very well be in the presence of another resolute. Resolute...that was such a weird thing to say, the master only mentioned this once, after that everything just goes blank. There was a name I had to focus on, and well, Try wasn't the one. These heartless would grow restless, but to have help made things a bit easier.

Her movements were unorthodox at best, if you watched closely her movement sped up briefly as she spun like a top. As one could expect, when I saw it, it made a believer out of me but even more cautious if we were being realistic here. That keyblade, my own keyblade, but she was dealing with the demon tower compiled of shadows and the others were becoming disjointed.

Storm clouds were rolling in, and the darkness was approaching pretty fast. This wasn't what I wanted to wake up to, this town that acted as a haven for what felt like most of her life, was becoming quickly overrun by the approaching darkness. The lights from neighboring shops were quickly being switched off, doors shut, locked, and windows with blinds closed. I can't say I was too surprised, this part of the town probably had whatever was left of the people and I didn't see any so far, suspicions confirmed.

I cut my eyes at the darkside, it was simply looking down at the demon tower that was being cut to ribbons. It's hand motioned from a fist to an open palm and it was gathering it's power to form a red-orange volley the size a stress beach ball. I couldn't help but react, shooting a beam from Diem to pass directly through it, and watching it explode in the darkside's grip.

"Lets not, thanks."

My Noctem had tagged the Demon Tower so it was already susceptible to taking more damage, you couldn't mess around with boss class heartless like this. I'd been hesitant and immobile for a few minutes, just pinning observations. The Darkside moved it's hand back to rest on the top of the door, I'm guessing it got the message I sent. The mob of heartless from earlier was starting to swarm towards the Demon Tower in a desperate attempt at protecting it's core. It was clear I wasn't gonna have to worry about fighting somethings outside of maybe a neo-shadow or two, but the level at which these heartless were flooding in here they really did want to see this place fall apart. There had to be more of us, more...Resolutes, master said eleven others right? Well where the hell are they now??

"I have a bad feeling..."

There was a sound of clapping, it was that obnoxious darkside again, it was so loud I had to cover my ears dropping my lucient just to dull the sound. It pointed up at the sky, the clouds were a malevolent purple now. There was wriggling happening between the clouds, and as it parted and opened up, you could see yellow eyes and fingers from other darksides wriggling trying to get through. They were seeing little to no success, as if something was stopping them, that or they were all simply too large to fit through. Well, at this point I was almost positive this is exactly what the master was talking about in our conversation.

They'll never stop coming, it will become a vicious cycle. The enemies themselves won't be slouches and their numbers will rapidly grow. I don't expect you to be able to quell the forces by yourself, but you're responsible for holding the frontline the entire time. Don't run away like a coward, you're a resolute aren't ya?​

Thats right, this was to be a reckoning...for the darkness. I let out a light sigh, and looked at the darkside that was over the door towards the third district again. The sharpness of my eyes mired it different than before, slowly I raised my hand and Diem floated from behind my shoulder and expanded in size to seven times it's normal size. Light drew into it's canon set to blaze and burn and it was charging itself rapidly spinning like a turbine, before releasing a hail mary blast of light that punched through the darkside's face, and out the backside of it's head. Boss or not, removing it's entire head in one go seemed like the best way to deal a fatal blow, as I watched it fall off the wall and crash behind it. Immediately my eyes darted back up and the hands trying to reach through seemed to be getting further and further away. I was able to breathe a bit easier, with us only having to really worry about the demon tower that remained...for now.

This was the first wave, I wasn't looking forward to the ones to follow...

 

[Lumine]

“So yeah, we have been having some heartless raids lately but nothing that we can’t handle.”

“Is that why there aren’t a lot of people around in town?” They barely crossed anyone in their path, except for a singular man who passed them a couple of streets back, Daemus was the only other living human she had seen around on this world.

“There… aren’t that many people left in town, Shiki.” He turned his back to the road, facing her as his pace slowed “Whoever’s left of us, we’re sticking to the center of town more than anywhere else.” He tried to make of his smile something hopeful, but there was grimness clinging behind it even as he turned his back to her “It’s easier to protect that way.” So things aren’t picture perfect, she noted, but at least it’s a defend-able ground. They passed another bend and turned to the left into an alleyway. There was a victory even if small in that.

“You said there are other bands around?” Shiki’s eyes glanced over the wanted posters littering the walls to her left and right. She had already seen a couple of them earlier, but the sheer number and the absurdity of their subject have finally caught a fragment of her attention. A boy barely in his teens and already a wanted criminal?

“Were.” He corrected, “They disbanded Three years ago. Our Cult is the one left… well, more like has whatever’s left” Anger flashed in his dark gaze for a moment before he abruptly brightened up.

“Here we are!”

They arrived at the end of an alleyway where a small two story warehouse was situated. Paints and graffiti covered every inch of it, but it seemed in use and well cared for. Above the entrance someone had hung a large wooden sign that had “The Cult of Creative Kids” painted on it in a flamboyant shade of orange.

“You’re late.” Someone announced as they entered. A young girl in a bright green jumper dress lay slouched on a grumpy grey couch with a book in hand in the corner. Her feet dangled bare off the armrest hardly touching the faded orange carpet. She flipped to the next page, and without as much as raising her gaze to check who came in, she took a sip from the steaming cup from the small table to her side. She was a slight thing, with short chin length black hair and leafy green eyes. Shiki could put her at no more than seventeen.

“Well, you won’t believe who I ran into, Aki.”

There was a moment of brief surprise as her eyes fell on Shiki.

“Hah” She smirked, sitting up “I forgot how friggin’ quiet you could be.” She was about to add something else when a red haired boy barged in from the back door.

“It’s your turn to fix dinner.” He yelled, throwing his towel playfully at Daemus who managed to catch it before it hit his face. He was tall and slim with a fair complexion and bright amber eyes. A large angular gray and blue keyblade rested over his shoulder, and from the state of his attire he seemed to have just come out of a quick session. Looks like she walked into a little den of Keybladers.

“Rells, you were supposed to take next watch.”

“Who’s that?” he inclined his head towards Shiki.

“That is Shiki.” Aki volunteered, as she walked to a glass cabinet to her left and produced a mogget shaped cup, “She’s one of the Master of Masters’ Disciples.”

“Oh.” He raised his eyebrows appreciatively.

“Aki, where are the carrots?” A voice called from somewhere inside.

“Oh God!” Akiko exhaled audibly, Daemus’s eyes bulged in panic, Relix face palmed himself, and looked accusingly at Daemus.

“I told you to get to dinner early, man.” He groaned, “I will NOT eat another curry of death fro-“ He cut himself off as a head popped around the corner of the hallway.

“I didn’t find them in the fridge.” A snowy white haired girl with large honey brown eyes and a tan round face was looking at them flustered. “I swear I just got a fresh bunch yesterday and left them in there.” She addressed Aki and the rest earnestly. Daemus was for some reason finding the orange carpet very interesting all of a sudden.

“Kyoko, you can leave it to Daemus. You can’t be handling kitchen duty every day.” Akiko looked pointedly at him.

“But-“

“No buts, Yoko” Daemus jumped to his chance, smiling with more enthusiasm than needed as he gently pushed Kyoko away from the hallway leading to what appeared to be their kitchen.

“I mean, I can’t keep slacking about my duties.” He sat her down, and threw a quick thumbs up to Relix behind her back. Relix released a held in breath. Kyoko on the other hand did not seem to want to give up just yet.

“You need your rest too.” Relix patted her on the shoulder, before he dismissed his keyblade and took a seat to her left. At this point, Kyoko had finally noticed Shiki.

“It’s good to see you again, Shiki.” Kyoko beamed. Shiki nodded her head in greeting.

“Tea?” Aki gestured to the small pot set on the table.

“That’d be nice.” Shiki sat down onto one of the crates about the place. Might as well find out all she could before she left. Relix almost jumped, taken aback by something which he was about to voice when Daemus shook his head at him.

“Ummm-“

“So where is he?” Akiko cut in pouring Shiki a steaming cup of green tea. Shiki raised a questioning eyebrow, she didn’t fully register who Akiko meant.

“The Master of Masters” yeah, that.

“He’s here?” Kyoko’s face lit up with a smile.

“He’s not.” Shiki took a sip off her cup. It was hot and very bitter but the rich aromatic taste more than made up for it.

“Where’s he then?” Kyoko attempted, her fingers fiddling with her wristband nervously.

There was a pause before Shiki answered. She took another deliberate sip and put down her cup folding her hands in front of her.

“Gone.” That earned her a couple of stunned stares and a really awkward pause. She was treading on fragile grounds here. The wristband Kyoko was playing with was a pretty little item, woven with leather and threads, a dark brown against the three colorful beads it held. Orange, teal and light blue. Normally Shiki wouldn’t even give it a second glance, but she noticed that all of them were wearing an identical one to Kyoko’s.

“What do you mean gone?” Akiko fired back, confused.

“You know how the Master is. He wouldn’t just sit about and watch the worlds end quietly.” She can’t stick around here for long. They will have more questions, and she can’t give them all the answers. Time… time’s not on her side.

“He’s trying to save worlds, of course.” She took another sip from her tea, her face a perfect mask of confidence.

“Actually” She put down her cup, and directed her gaze at them, “It’s part of why I’m here.”

All eyes were on her now.

“The Master left me a task that I must finish. And it starts by making a visit to the Chapel here on this world.”

“Nope.” Relix said without even the slightest hesitation. All of them suddenly looked uncomfortable.

“Why the Chapel?” Daemus questioned. Shiki could tell he wasn’t okay with the idea but he was trying to understand.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“But maybe we could help you out.” Kyoko offered, she looked at the others trying to get them in her line.

“Yoko, you know exactly why the Chapel is off limits” Relix argued, crossing his arms over his chest.

Akiko was really quiet, she stood up and walked to the corner of their seating while Daemus, Kyoko and Relix argued about why they can’t let anyone in the chapel. In the corner, an orange banner with a multitude of colored patches sewn in hung decoratively, it looked like a tree with patches of names for leaves. In front of it, on a stool sat a bowl of freshly picked oranges.

“What will you do at the Chapel, Shiki?” At Akiko’s question Daemus, Kyoko and Relix stopped their arguing. She picked up one of the oranges in the bowl, and started turning it between her hands. She seemed conflicted, but Shiki wasn’t entirely sure. This one had a good poker face.

“Aki, you can’t be serious.” Relix stood up, looking almost aghast. Akiko stayed quiet, not taking her penetrative gaze off Shiki. Shiki sighed.

“I have no intention of bringing harm on you or your world, Akiko.” Shiki met her gaze, steadily. “I can’t tell you what I’ll do there, but it is for the sake of saving everyone. That I can tell you.” She leaned backwards, crossed her arms. She had no more to say. With or without them, she’d get there. She’d prefer not to hurt others doing it though.

Akiko didn’t even waver, instead, she started peeling the orange apart, too focused on the menial task. Relix seemed to be barely holding himself from arguing. Kyoko, hugged herself and was staring off in the distance, deep in thought herself. Daemus had stood up and was leaning against a cupboard packed full with a myriad of Anime DVDs, Manga and a collection of intricate figurines that any self-respecting Otaku would deem nothing less than an S Tier collection. A big faded out sticker proclaimed the cupboard a property of Svether.

“Fine.” Akiko replied, and started eating the fruit.

“FINE?!” Relix exploded, Daemus looked conflicted himself. Kyoko looked both relieved and troubled.

“Aki,” he pinched the bridge of his nose, “You do remember what happened the last time don’t you?”

♪

He pointed at the banner, the cupboard and a couple of photos pinned behind her.

“You do right?” he exhaled audibly, “Because, I won’t have this happen again.” He walked up and stared down at her for there was a considerable difference in height “I will not lose anyone to this again”

An air of solemnity hung around them. They all looked away, Akiko didn’t. She looked right back at Relix and the rest, and there was an emotion akin to anger on her face.

“You’d think I want this to happen again?” her voice was low, but all of them knew she was on the verge of exploding herself. “You think I don’t know what it cost us the last time Relix?”

He didn’t answer, but nothing in him showed he was about to back down from his stance.

“Look around you,” She told him, putting down the orange aside, “Do the worlds seem fine to you?”

He opened his mouth to say something but Aki barreled through “I’m not going to wait here and do nothing about it.” She stomped away from him, and rested her back to the wall, folding her arms.

“I know the Master of Masters. I trust him. Garforge did.” There was no change in the tone of her voice, but she shifter her gaze away.

“He wouldn’t have stayed put and done nothing. He would have tried to help.”

“Sev would have wanted to help too.” Daemus uttered without raising his gaze off the cupboard, his hands went to the faded out sticker.

“And Renn,” Kyoko added, looking at Relix with a sad smile.

Relix bowed his head, his expression softening.

Shiki tried to stay out of it all. She couldn’t afford to care now. Not now. She couldn’t. She shouldn’t be feeling bad. Greater things were at stake… Idiot.

“I wouldn’t want to betray the Master’s trust, Relix.” She directed her words at him. “I wouldn’t want to betray yours as well.” He looked at her for a long moment.

“Alright.” He said, almost reluctantly. “I’ll tell Alfa and Capell to get the others to the safe haven, just in case.” He directed the rest of his words at his friends. Akiko nodded in agreement.

“Thank you.”

He nodded his head in acknowledgement, and headed out.

“Want me to escort you there?” Daemus offered.

“No, I can find my way just fine. Just tell me where it is.”

“Alright.”

“Before you leave,” Akiko called, producing a lime green card in her hand.

“This was left for you.” She hurled the card at Shiki who caught it with ease. Shiki immediately knew that the card was nothing more than a container, the backside was lime green with intricate designs of lines and bricks, the other side showed a picture of a letter.

“By who?”

“I don’t know.” Akiko shoved her hands in the pockets of her dress, “I didn’t see who left that behind, it was just on my door with very specific instructions to deliver it to you the next time I see you.”

“I see.” So they knew I’d come here before hand. Did they know too I wouldn’t be remembering this place or these kids?

“You read that?”

“Tried to.” Akiko smiled, she had been found out. “It’s well protected. Very sophisticated encryption too. I couldn’t get through but I learned some really neat tricks from it.” She confessed.

“Well thanks, anyways.” Shiki smiled back, tucked the card in her pouch for later inspection and walked out with Daemus.

“Take care, Shiki.” Akiko waved her good bye, watching her leave.

“May your heart be your guiding Key.”

________________________________________________________________________________________

♪

The Chapel​

The Doors creaked open to a large ancient hall. The celling was really high and vaulted, even in broad day light, the arches were not fully lit and clear. Large windows were spaced along its walls, the light that poured through them coated every surface in the warm, arresting colors and stories of its stained glass. A long table occupied the very back of the hall, behind which a large stone door stood closed and mysterious.

Shiki descended the stairs, her boots disturbing long settled dust and the serene quiet that wrapped the walls. She opened her senses to the place letting them slip through the silence between things. She walked about listening intently, letting her fingers slide over the pews and the columns. She was like an empty cup waiting to be filled, and the chapel seemed too eager to oblige to pour in.

She heard whispers and thoughts, voices travelling from the other end of a dark, long tunnel. There were traces of emotion through them, she tried not to let those hold her for long, or they wouldn’t let her go. There were also glimpses of memories, brief moments, out of focus. Like things at the edge of your vision. Children, Winds, Light, Darkness… Blood. Hope. Heart. It was an old thing, The Chapel. It had a lot to say, it had seen a lot, and was around for a really long time.

The Doors were large, made of rough light gray stone. They had no handles or keyholes. Nothing stood behind them and for the unimaginative they led nowhere. They were not ornate like their surroundings, but still something else made them stand apart. A might be. A potential. A secret. The doors were surrounded by an invisible brightness and solemn gloom. Shiki felt their tug at her senses. She stood in front of them, feeling dwarfed by their size and let her fingers touch their rough surface. More whispers rushed through her, flashes of memories. A sound that was not a sound. The very essence of it was like a receptacle of darkness, wanting not to be disturbed and at the same time wanting to be filled. To be complete. Like a Puzzle missing its final piece, and being of two minds, one that wants to see the final picture and one that wants to stay incomplete.

The Master of Masters had sent her for a reason. She needed to know why.

You have a lot of secrets…

She inclined her head to the side, the dark bangs slid away from her face and a shaft of light hit her eyes. Their blues sparkled like lanterns in the dark.

Tell me, what does your truths sing of? She stepped closer to the door.

"Let me in." She whispered, and closed her eyes.

Something soft and swift rushed through her being.

 

[Deimos]

The knight had returned to it's position, it seemed to be the only peace of history left on this world that seemed even remotely alive. Gone without a trace was the other man, taking with him a part of Saebyeolbe's clothing. Though it was quickly remedied using the suit of armor's cloak in the same fashion. The Morning Star may have been named "The Scarred" by he didn't rightly want to frighten anyone by looking at him head on and seeing just how many he actually had...he number increased thanks to the keyblade wielding knight's skirmish.

A pain that he was left with, but bereft of a pivotal point of reference beyond the knight's despondence it would seem. An unbridled inability to do anything meaningful beyond protecting these lands, as if to say his use was limited. A sorrow that ran deep, and could be felt between the careful cells of his skin. This sense of heart from a hollow piece, would crush even the most stalwart of resolutes, even he. Shedding but a single tear, he payed his respects to the woes of the armor prior to parting ways.

"Master. Harrowed ends you said...I must see one for myself. I need to know what to expect if I am to answer your wish in full."

He stopped walking, brushing his cloak to the side and tapping the hilt of his keyblade. A glorious light unwound from his hip, and procured what looked to be a vehicle of some sort. It's windings looked like a strangely warped version of Alabaster, but the true keyblade hung on his hip. Getting onto the vehicle, Saebyeolbe pulled the torch back and the jets emitted a sprinkle of light as exhaust.

"That warrior. This place doesn't need my protection so long as it stands resolved to protect."

Looking up at the blotches of darkness, he formed a helmet and armor to complete his set before flying upwards directly towards the nearest blotch of darkness. The roads of light that one used to be able to travel had virtually been snuffed out of existence...Saebyeolbe as a resolute, was forging a road using his very own in order to keep a course through the space and the darkness that filled it. There was a dangerous feeling that crept upon the resolute as he was riding through nothing but purple colored smoke, and a road lit up only by his very presence filling the perpetual dark.

A loud rumble could be heard.

???

It almost sounded like the mumbling of a whale, except...

The bearing of teeth could be seen, there was a hint of baited breathe felt even through the armor. A malicious pair of yellow eyes formed in between the space. The road of light trailing behind the resolute was steadily breaking, similar to a fruit roll up being eaten by a child. It wasn't visible in all of the smoke and dust, but there was a heartless tailing Sae.

"This is going to be a pain. Do I really wanna use THAT?"

There was a light moment of deliberation as the shrieks from the heartless got louder, breaking his concentration. Looking over his shoulder, he shift light path rapidly to the right, and to be expected, the massive heartless sluggishly turned before continuing it's point of contention. It was eating the light path behind him, meaning he'd have to make another one if he wanted to return to the keyblade graveyard (badlands). He whisked his bike around in a 180 orientation, and set it to progress in reverse. Alabastar filled his empty hand and he smashed he armor to shatter on his left arm to bare his scarred arm.

"I can only do this once, so I hope this is a meaningful blow to the darkness."

He had an unusually large scar that tore through the smaller ones, and it emanated as lines along his arm. He was pulling forth the memory of a magic spell, redistributed in it's full effect. Holding a massive amount of heat uncompressed, in hi grasp. The heat coming from the ball was substantial, but his cloak and armor was protecting him from the intense feeling of the burn save for the area around his exposed flesh, quickly darkening from the heat.

"Mega Flare."

His throw was something of a professional baseball player's pitch, letting go with everything he had. The massive red-orange ball went round edges first into the set of yellow eyes. The cool part about this was the darkness was cut through, and you could make out what looked to be a dark thorn of all things, running along it's own path of darkness. It's feelers first, connected with the blazing hot sun and ignited into what looked to be a hellfire. The light from the explosion was a bit too bright even for the resolute, it released with it, a massive shockwave catching a nasty wind that carried the morning star along with his vehicle, armor, and cloak through the vacuum of space shattering his light road.

Hollow Bastion
[inside one of the bubbles]
​

The force of the blast was extreme and he tightened what grip he could find on the bike as he was violently thrown even faster than he was driving before. Thankful for not having motion sickness to be seen, eventually coming out of this crazy tail spin and colliding with something like a bubble of sorts.

"Ugh...well that could've been better."

He said as a blade was buried in white sand in front of him.

"Oh. Nice to meet-"

Again, these unexplainable reflexes kicked in as Sae immediately dialted his back on an obtuse angle to completely avoid the connection of a swing from that very same broadsword. He was looking at what appeared to be a band of invisible heartless. Upon further observation, it looked like his body collided with a miniature dimension of sorts, and his enemies were in a band of seven. Saebyeolbe had to conclude that he'd landed on a harrowed end, but which one? The sky was full of these purple spaces, harrowed ends, he'd need to wipe them out to get a good lay of the land to understand where he was.

"Looks like we can't be friends. Shame."

Hitting his chest, the armor dropped from his body and the spot was empty. GONE.

"Too slow, heartless."

You could hear it, the faint sound of at least 37 slashes pinging in the background. Saebyeolbe wasn't only quick, embedded in his body felt like 3 years worth of combat experience atop what he'd learned in the earlier stages of his life, but he was never this strong...never this fast, but always this durable. The invisibles sustained heavy damage, but not a single one of them was destroyed, and then it started to make sense as he could feel it with his very skin.

"So you can heal yourselves here...so I shouldn't feel bad about inflicting fatalities then."

For as powerful for a resolute, even he was surprised that did not wipe these heartless out. The retailiated wit the seven of them throwing a barrage of miniature balls of darknesss. Releasing a soft and calm sigh, he braced himself, the area was too widely covered, so he'd be eating this attack head on on.

 

[Piercing Light]

Try gazed up at the sky curiously, as if a horrific hurricane of a monster weren't currently trying to murder her. She could beat off quite a few heartless herself, but if it was about to start raining boss class creatures she wasn't keen on staying around. The Demon Tower reared towards her and began barreling forwards. Try walked up to a lamp post and cut it down by the base, creating a sharp edge. She caught it before it hit the ground and picked it up like a throwing javelin.

Like she was going for gold in the Olympics she ran forward and threw it as hard as she could, but not before setting it on fire with a Fira spell. For good measure she used Echo to boost it's forward momentum once more. Right before it struck she held out the palm of her hand and launched a spiked ball of ice to follow it. If it worked as she intended, the flaming lance would set the Heartless ablaze, and the ice ball would create a devastating combination.

 

[Ðari]

As Zero sat in the chair, he shut his eyes and braced the chair close. A lofty sigh escaped his breath and he released a light from his chest.

It was time.

​

Time to remember.​

His reluctance and the distractions of castle oblivion were starting to become mere echoes in recent memory. A clock-like panel appeared under him, as he was rewinding himself specifically. Nothing but static, white noise, the recesses of his memory seemed and felt as though they had been scrubbed efficiently. Images of his past were blurry, three years gone. But where? Where damnit, were they and where had they gone? He braced the chair with a balled fist as his fingers impressed on the handles and he concentrated and picked around until he saw something vague.

Suspicion.

​

The Crystal Ball and keyblade were in his hands and there was image of the master.
​

"Eye of another world?"

"What? It's actually your eye dingus, don't read too much into it."

"Whats this crystal ball for master?"

"Little gift for anti-social recluse like you. It lets you check up on your friends, not everyone has an eye in their keblades, but the ones that do are the ones I want you specifically the watch. Neat huh? The crystal ball doubles as like something of a monitor, you can see whats reflected from the eyes. It'll come in handy one day when you need to find someone or perhaps avoid them."

"Avoid...who..? Explain."

"Details, details, in due time young Eth. You'll get it eventually, that crystal has a powerful secret related to memory, I won't explain anymore than that. Try to figure it out on your own alright? I believe in ya kid!"

"Huh?! Hey you can't just half-explain this stuff, what do you mean related to memory? Master??"

"Sigh. FIIIIIIINE. You only get one hint. You'll forget what that means and try to remember what it means. Now, no more hints."

He was thrust out of this small chat he'd had with the master, from the surroundings, it appeared they were on in Traverse Town at some point taking a leisurely stroll. Thumbing through the streets, just talking about Eth's Ethernal keyblade and the crystal ball he'd received. It was linked to memory huh, even using his resolve on himself didn't seem to really net him anything specifically, that memory seemed way older than recent years. Looking at his crystal ball briefly he got up moved his hand around the chair and spotted a keyhole in the back of the chair.

"Looks important...I wonder what would happen..."

There was a nagging suspicion in the back of his head. The master's voice billowed in there somewhere frenetically asking him to "STOP STOP STOP!" and he clutched his left side. There was some weight to it, so he gradually pulled back and stared into the crystal ball, a brief reflection of what looked to be a chapel on some off-world. Followed by a flash of a towering heartless and Traverse Town as was in his recent memory. Holding the crystal ball now, he'd eventually do it, he'd figure out how to tap into the past he'd forgotten using this thing, one way or another, though for now he had to reign in his curiosity.

Turning to the wall he saw what looked like a closet, and upon opening it his eyes widened, and came back to normal size. This seemed more his speed anyway, and as he proceeded to reach into the closet, he pulled out the cloak and robe, donned in a similar fashion to his very own master. Lacing the hood over his head, there were ten more of these robes and each had a number next to them.

"Well thats not weird or anything..." he said shaking his head.