Fandom Kingdom Hearts: Awakening

[titania]

Tonight was not the night Lucinda should've decided to break curfew.

Really, she just couldn't help herself; after all, the stars weren't going to gaze up at themselves, and as the resident of a world stuck in eternal night, she'd be a fool to squander the opportunity. Lucinda tugged at her belt to make sure her potions were secured; once she was certain they weren't going anywhere, she ascended the cobblestone steps leading to the Observatory, a certain spritely quality in her gait indicative of a girl who must've been very excited to give her mother cause to worry. Though certain no one accompanied her in the Observatory, Lucinda took great care to step as quietly and inconspicuously as possible, lest she be caught and forced to return home. She didn't have to come here to look at the stars—most every household in Cosmos Convergence owned a telescope—but there was something about this place in particular that filled her with a strange and indescribable whimsy unable to be matched by the comparatively mundane activity of stargazing at home. Plus, the telescope here was leagues more powerful than the small one she owned.

Now encapsulated by the Observatory's domed ceiling, Lucinda approached its telescope, training her eye against it. As her vision was filled with the deepest reaches of the universe, she let out a small sigh. "Wow," she whispered to herself. "I wonder if I'll ever get to see what's out there." No matter how many times she laid her eyes on the sea of constellations out of her reach, she always found herself completely enamored by them, by the fantasy of leaving home to travel to other worlds.

Still trapped in her reverie, Lucinda's eye caught something out of the ordinary: just above the skyline of Cosmos Convergence hung a swirling sphere of purple and yellow energy. That's odd, she thought, not quite grasping the possibility of danger the new discovery presented. I should go see what's going on.

Before she could turn around and go on her way, Lucinda felt a strange presence, one that made her hair stand on end and sent a shiver throughout her body. Slowly and reluctantly, she turned her head to see what was behind her and was met with a small group of shadowy, bug-like creatures with glowing yellow eyes. "What... what are you?" she murmured, trying to steady herself. She jumped as one of the creatures lunged for her, thrusting out her hand and screeching, "Fira!" The creature dissipated in a burst of embers, and Lucinda took this as her cue to run.

She descended the steps to the observatory in a flurry of panic and spells, frantic in her attempts to defend herself from the malicious creatures. As soon as she reached the streets, another group of creatures appeared in front of her, and she started to wish she'd just stayed home. She took a brief look up at the sky to see that the orb of dark energy had swelled in size. I'm sorry I broke curfew, mom, she thought, assuming that she was about to meet her demise.

Just as she resolved to give up while she still could and make her peace with whatever greater power existed in the universe, Lucinda felt something stir inside her chest. She glanced down at an outstretched hand, shading her eyes as a flash of light came from her palm. When she was able to open her eyes again, she saw that what remained was a silver blade resembling a key, with a star-shaped protrusion at its end. Key... blade... The unfamiliar word echoed in her mind, providing her newfound weapon with a name. "Thunder!" she called with restored confidence, blasting the shadow creatures with a bolt of electricity.

Lucinda continued on like this until she was directly beneath what seemed to be the source of this catastrophe. Clutching her keyblade as though her life depended on it, she watched as the shadowy energy swarming above her grew larger and larger, creatures of darkness piling on top of each other until they formed one that had to be the size of a building. She ran away from the behemoth's attacks as best she could, but at some point, she couldn't stop her world from crumbling around her and the darkness from engulfing her. She screwed her eyes shut, hoping she had the strength to survive.

---

Groggily, Lucinda blinked her eyes open. She felt as though she'd been hit by a freight train. "Where am I?"

 

[Errant Voyager]

It was an inevitability at this point; the Alamo would be lost.

James Fannin was unable to send in reinforcements, those around Gonzalez were soundly stopped by the Mexican Army; All the while General Santa Anna had bolstered his own forces. The Alamo stood guarded by a pitiful amount of men, but these men had an intense fervor. Texans of all creeds, shoulder to shoulder with volunteers from Kentucky, New York, Tennessee and from all other places across the United States, were prepared to sacrifice themselves for the pursuit of freedom.

Standing high atop the walls of the Mission shooting down into the ranks of the Mexican Army was Davy Crockett. Yes he and the valiant forces defending the Alamo were outgunned and outnumbered, not to mention at various sections of the wall the Mexican Army were able to set up ladders and ascending them too quick to be stopped, but Davy Crockett would not surrender. He could not surrender. He was fighting for the very freedom of this great land! He had seen the glimmer in all of these Texans eyes, that they cared deeply for freedom that they wanted to choose their own path free from the tyranny of Mexico. Freedom was fighting another foe at the Alamo and Davy would do what he could.

Closer to his section of the wall some of the Mexican troops were able to ascending and get onto the wall, but these ones were different. They were dressed in the standard blue attire of the Mexican Army but they did not look like the regular soldier. These ones appeared as if they were forged from an inky shadow, they were pitch black and had only glowing silver eye-sockets. And these Heartless were quickly swarming onto the walls and breaking the troops assembled there. From all sides these Heartless troops were surrounding Davy Crockett and a couple of the volunteers who were with them; gritting his teeth Davy Crockett quickly took a hold of Old Betsy by her very barrel and began swinging the stock at these creatures like it was a club. There was no time for reloading only for action and trying to save his men.

While Davy Crockett knew that there was no way he was coming out of this, and frankly the Texans and volunteers near him knew it as well, he would not go down without fighting until his dying breath.

"FOR FREEDOM! FOR THE ALAMO!" hollered out Davy Crockett, which was quickly followed out by the rest of the men yelling it out as well with an intense passion, as he continued swinging...

...

Davy Crockett rose up, panting and weary, carefully eying his surroundings. Well this was certainly not the Alamo that was for certain, but Crockett wasn't sure exactly what this dark looking town was. Slinging Ol' Betsy onto his back Crockett began scratching at his head. "Supposin' I must've passed through the Pearly Gates... But I would've came with the other men. Doubt it's Texas, and sure ain't Mexico. Guess I oughta scare up the locale."

 

[RikuXIII]

Amara glowered at the gummi block on the table. She didn’t actually feel the emotions for the glower, but was pretty sure she would be doing this if she could feel. Despite amassing a fine collection of gummi blocks, she was still missing key components to finish her ship. Her quest to save the worlds and fix what was wrong with her wasn’t going anywhere without those pieces.
Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the list she hung up on the wall of what she had and what she needed. She just had to hope someone found something or a trader come through with the parts she needed.
“Every day, same old problems.” Amara muttered, sounding more thoughtful than frustrated.
Not really feeling anything did have its perks when she had to be patient.
A beep from a work computer on another bench caught Amara’s attention. She ran over to it, seeing on the screen an empty circle in the night’s sky where a Star use to be. Another world was gone. Amara’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the data coming in. Estimated distances, comparing that to ancient maps of the Star ways, and projections of time remaining for near by stars scrolled across the side of the screen.
Brushing aside the memories of what she would have felt, Amara knew she needed to act. A world falling meant the possibility of survivors ending up here in Traverse Town. They could have items of use or information. Plus, new comers always seemed to bring a few Heartless with ‘em.
Grabbing her gunblade off the wall, the young hunter headed for the door to her shop. She took a quick look outside to make sure no Heartless where in the direct vicinity. Satisfied that there was no immediate danger, Amara stuck her gunblade on her back and went in search of new faces.

 

[SheepKing]

The sudden cracks of fireworks hitting the ground was simply the consequence of Ollie’s boredom. She was currently sitting on the stone steps in front of the jewelry store and had absolutely nothing to do. With each startling pop of the bang snaps at the teen’s disposal, Ollie’s mind strayed further and further from reality and deeper into the depths of her mind.

She mulled over the miserable state of her home. Traverse Town rarely ever changed, not in the time of day, style of architecture, or even the infested heartless in the other districts. The only thing that ever changed was the amount people who lived there. Once in a while someone would pop out of nothing and suddenly would become a new resident of Traverse Town. Despite the unfortunate cause being the utter destruction of their home world, Ollie guiltily looked forward to the new people who would show up. With Traverse Town’s modest population, anything new that popped up was always a treat to her.

Ollie was ripped out of her mind by a woman wielding a combination of a gun and a sword passing by. It would be impossible for it to be anyone else than Amara. She was quite the mystery in Ollie’s eyes, like a locked diary that even the best lock picker couldn’t open. However, Ollie had somehow formed a somewhat close relationship to the gunslinger. They talked on occasion and, surprisingly, Amara seemed to be fond of the trouble maker.

With her supply of novelty fireworks gone, Ollie was left with nothing else to do. Placing her gloved hands onto her knees, she got up and followed her. Maybe she was going somewhere interesting.

Ollie quickly caught up to Amara and with a cheeky smile on her face, gave an exaggerated salute in her direction. “So what’s new in the exciting world of Amara?” Ollie chattered as she moved with Amara’s pace.

 

[titania]

Startled by the jarring pop of fireworks in the distance, Lucinda's eyes flitted from side-to-side in paranoia; wherever she was, it wasn't home, and while it was fortunate that she was still alive, making sure she stayed alive was her first priority. She ignored the helpless melancholy gnawing at her as she slowly came to realize that she would probably never get the chance to see that home again, given the state it was in when she'd blacked out; it was likely that the world had completely fallen to whatever darkness Lucinda had escaped from. She'd always dreamt of traveling to the worlds outside Cosmos Convergence, but this was a less than ideal way to satisfy that whim.

Spotting two figures approaching her from under the streetlights, Lucinda instinctively summoned her keyblade, keeping it trained at her side. Please, please let these people be friendly, she thought to herself, bottom lip quivering. She mentally chided herself as she felt tears brimming at her eyes; this was no time to be letting her emotions get the better of her. Still, she couldn't help but feel distraught by all the people she'd left behind, people she might never get the chance to see again. She'd been thrust out of her old life without so much as a goodbye.

Swallowing her fear, Lucinda approached the two—a kid appearing to be a few years younger than her, and a woman appearing to be a few years older—after she decided they didn't look as though they were hostile. "Excuse me," she began shakily, unsure of what to say. "Could one of you tell me where I am?"

 

[Insidi]

"Ah, shit,"

First words that came out of Odin's mouth as he saw the refugees began to flood in. A new world had fallen, he assumed, and for some reason, his home town was the place where survivors were dumped at. It was like a fundamental law of the universe, that all those without a home landed in Traverse Town. "Hm," he thought to himself as he left the small inn he was staying it "Funny how this place never gave me a home for a while,"

However, he also knew that with refugees came the Heartless and then possibly Nobodies. The things were like a cancer upon the worlds, gobbling up more and more worlds. Everytime he would save one, more would fall. "If only there were more Keyblade Wielders out there," he reflected solemnly. Keyblade users were a dying breed, and he couldn't take on an apprentice to make a new Keyblade Wielder because he hadn't finished training...His Master...


However, he was shortly interrupted by a small group and a girl that looked confused. He decided to approach them and said to the girl that looked confused "Um, hi! Are you with the other refugees?"

 

[RikuXIII]

Amara paused a moment when she heard small explosions, but classified it as something non-heartless related, so ignored it for now. It was likely a prank, thus Ollie was a prime suspect. She felt justified in her prediction when the young lady crossed her path.
"Oh, just the usual stuff." Amara replied to Ollie, putting a playful tone in her voice. "An endless search for the right scraps."
She didn't really want to tell Ollie about the loss of another world. It upset people and Amara didn't like dealing with that. Still, if Ollie was going to hang around, she'd likely find out about it quick.
"Hey, listen, could we-" she started but was interrupted by a girl with tears in her eyes approach, asking where she was.
"Well that was fast." Amara thought, switch gears mentally.
"Hey, this is Traverse Town, I'm Amara, and my friend here is Ollie." She said in a soothing voice. "I'm guessing you were just attacked by monsters someplace else, right? Don't worry, this place is safe."
"Ish." She thought, but didn't want to tell the teenager in front of her.
The arrival of Odin was odd. She didn't recognize him, but he acted like a local rather than a displaced survivor.
"How many are there?" She asked, eyeing Odin.

 

[SheepKing]

Before Ollie could hear what Amara was going to ask, she noticed a scared young girl, maybe few years older than her ask where she was. She was undeniably a victim of her world’s destruction. Ollie’s once positive mood fell seeing how terrified she looked. The stranger was practically shaking in fear from where she stood. Feeling guilty for her wish for more people to come to Traverse Town, Ollie gave a small smile when Amara introduced themselves to the girl. She then held out her hand to the stranger, “This all probably seems really, really scary right now but Amara’s right, you’re safe here”
Throughout Ollie’s childhood it became enough of a usual occurrence for people to suddenly show up that she had almost become used to their immediate reactions to their situation. But, no matter how many times it happened, it didn’t hurt any less seeing how scared, confused, or worried they were.
Ollie, putting all of her attention onto the girl, barely even noticed the strange young man that Amara questioned. He on the surface looked pretty average by her standards. With brown hair and a white outfit, she could almost assume that he was a resident of Traverse Town. However, Ollie had never see the man before in her life. Maybe he was another survivor. Concluding that the elder of the duo can handle him, Ollie looked back to the girl.
“Are you hurt? I can go get you anything if you need it.” Ollie had been lucky that she had put some munny into her bag before leaving home so she could at least purchase a potion or two for her.

 

[Insidi]

Odin soon looked at the woman who asked the question. She was tall, brown-skined, wearing some sort of robe and clearly was from around here. He soon responded to the woman "Haven't really been able to get a good count yet, can't seeing as how people drop in all over the town. Anyway, my name is Odin Freewalker, and you...,". He soon stopped as he took a better look at her. She seemed familiar and then

It clicked

"Wait a sec, are you the one constructing Gummy Ship?" he asked. Turns out when you build a ship that size, rumor tends to spread. After all, people don't just build Gummy Ships out of the blue. He soon continued "Mate, you really do not know what your getting yourself into if you plan on travelling to other worlds,"

 

[Ennuis]

Marche wandered through the long abandoned districts of Traverse Town, his head swiveling from side to side on the lookout for danger.

"Doned! Can you hear me?! Mewt?! Ritz?! Any of you out here?!"

His words echoed through the empty streets. This was nothing new to him, every day he would make his rounds in the hopes that the others would end up here like so many other people have. Marche gripped his sword tight, he knew what always followed these attempts, the creatures would appear like always and attack him. He would defeat them and then move on and do it all again. This painful routine always brought him down a little, but he refused to give up, he had to find the others and get back home together.

Like he expected, the shadows came to life and formed the weird little monsters. Also like he expected, his sword cleaved through them. Marche wasn't really sure where the sword came from, it was simply laying next to him when he woke up on that strange fantasy world, but he was thankful for it. Time and time again it proved itself a useful companion on his quest. He knew it wouldn't, and couldn't, last. After all, what use would he have for a sword whenever he got back home?

Moving on from his fight with the weird shadowy, bug-like beasts, he saw something strange. Well, strange for what passed as normal in this even stranger land. A man dressed like an old-fashioned frontiersman. "Maybe he can help me... Hey!" Slinging his massive sword onto his back, Marche approached the man. "I'm looking for some people, maybe you've seen them? Two boys and a girl. One of the boys is in a wheelchair and the girl has pink hair."

Marche couldn't help but get a surreal feeling from the situation, the relative normalcy of this man made everything else seem so much weirder. And even worse, it made Marche think about how well he adapted to all of it. Would he even be able to go back to his normal life when this is all over?

Errant Voyager

 

[titania]

Seeing that Amara and Ollie were friendly, as she'd predicted, Lucinda gave an audible sigh of relief. Tentatively, she reached out to take Ollie's outstretched hand after wiping her eyes of tears. "Traverse Town..." she murmured. Bringing herself back to reality with a shake of her head, she answered Ollie with, "No, I think I'm fine. I was attacked before I blacked out, but I managed to make it out alright. I'm Lucinda." She paused after introducing herself, deciding to take the opportunity to learn more about what'd happened to her. "Those creatures..." She shivered at the all-too-recent memory. "Do you have any idea what they might've been? They were like huge bugs made of shadows, and they had yellow eyes." These two seemed as though they were knowledgeable enough to provide her with answers.

Though she was only vaguely aware of the conversation going on beside her between Odin and Amara by virtue of being somewhat caught up in her own thoughts, Lucinda's attention snapped to Odin's statement. Gummi Ship? she thought. Other worlds? So there is a way to travel into the great unknown, after all. I just wish I didn't have to find that out this way.

 

[Errant Voyager]

And as Davy Crockett was starting to get his bearings and proceed to explore this settlement, Davy Crockett was at least certain it was a tamed place, he noticed a rather off looking boy. Perhaps they couldn't help being born to look like that, or dress so peculiarly. Perhaps that one was carnie folk? Davy adjusted his coonskin cap as he stared down at Marche for a second or two, or three.

"Pink hair...?" mumbled out Davy Crockett, "I'd think you're stringing a whizzer to me but-" Davy Crockett once again peered around at the landscape, "I'm imagining stranger things are afoot at the Pearly Gates, what with all the folk Peter has to talk to. Haven't seen any of the folk you described." Davy Crockett began stroking his chin as he stared up and down at the boy who escaped the circus.

"But tell you what, I reckon it shouldn't be all that to find 'em, surely not as hard as findin' game. And I'm not the type to hang up a fiddle, e'ry folk I meet will tell ya that." With a smile on his face Davy Crockett offered his right hand to Marche to shake, "Let's have a gentlemen's agreement on it. I'll help you out, won't ask you for anything in return. But if'n you wouldn't mind, I bet you have some amusing stories to tell. The name is Davy Crockett."

Ennuis

 

[Mirgris]

When I was young, I would bother my uncle with all manner of questions. He was a great and busy mage, but did not want to neglect what little family he had left. So he tolerated my presence and ignored most of my questions. He told me that I should learn to answer my own questions rather than rely upon others. It was in many ways the first lesson he gave me in magic, and it was accidental. He told me that I could come to him if I had any questions, I truly could not answer.

I probably asked a hundred questions and were shot down told to instead return to the library and answer it myself. Then suddenly I asked the right question.
"Uncle what is magic" He smiled in a way I had never seen before, true joy, I like to think it was the moment he decided to start teaching magic. He told me.
"Magic is more than spells, fantastic creatures and wonders. Magic is a million little things in a million little ways. For every grand fireball there is a simple coincidence that is a far grander bit of magic being worked by the universe"

"They were like huge bugs made of shadows, and they had yellow eyes."

A crying woman speaking of an army of darkness, and doing so at a moment right when I was walking past wondering what to do next? Okay I'm always wondering what to do next, but this? This is not moral happenstance. This is arcane guidance. My uncle told me I was to prepare for a great darkness, and I may have been lead to it.

The dramatic thoughts end as I walk into a light pool and have to grab my slightly to large wizards hat to stop it flying away. I take a moment to regain my bearings and walk up to the group who I overheard. I pause my mouth open, I do not know what to say. My mouth closes slowly and I sigh.

"Ah, Hello... I am Dan Sid, apprentice mage, maybe I can help answer some of your questions?"

 

[SheepKing]

Ollie didn’t buy that the girl she now knew as Lucinda wasn’t at least somewhat hurt but not wanting to push it, replied “Alright, but be sure to holler if you need anything, I know this situation really sucks but don’t let that affect your health”. Pushing back a straw colored lock into her hat, Ollie pondered how to answer Lucinda’s question. Due to her young age, none of the adults really told her all that much about what exactly the heartless were. It was up to the children of Traverse town to figure it out on their own. Even Ollie only knew the bare minimum mostly from snooping in on conversations. If Ollie had tried to explain what they were to Lucinda, all that would accomplish would be leaving her even more confused.

“Umm.. they’re like, how can I explain this properly..” Ollie mumbled into the bandanna wrapped around her neck. “well to explain it there sort of when a person’s heart, or was it mind?.. I believe..” She trailed off for a few moments. There was no way Ollie could explain this by herself. Thankfully her saving grace came in the form of a strapping young man in a rather pointy hat. Ollie had seen him around before but never really learnt who he was. She had just concluded that he was simply a new refugee that she hadn’t noticed. Listening to his introduction Ollie felt relief, thankfully someone could properly explain what a heartless was to both of them.

“If you wouldn’t mind, could you explain what a heartless is? I’m not completely sure how to word it so it wouldn’t sound so confusing.” Ollie lies straight through her teeth. To her it would be incredibly embarrassing to admit she barely knew what a heartless was in front of the resident cool dude that was Amara. Ollie would refuse to swallow her pride so the choice she took was to lie, it wasn’t like the world would end if she fibbed a little anyway.

 

[Ennuis]

Most of the man's words went over Marche's head, but he could understand the basic gist of it. He hadn't seen them but was willing to help. "Thank you! Oh yeah, my name is Marche Radiuju." Accepting the man's handshake, he took a moment to think about his request. "I don't know if I have any good stories though... I've just been looking for my brother and friends. You see, one of my friends found an old spell book and used it to send us all to some sort of fantasy world." He shrugged to himself and pointed down one of the streets. "I usually go that way next. Sometimes flying monsters appear there we should be careful."

As Marche headed in the direction he pointed, he figured it would be a good idea to ask now rather than later. "Hey, Mr. Crockett? The monsters I talked about are all black like shadows and they're pretty dangerous, have you seen anything like that before?" As if on cue, another heartless appeared before the duo, but this one wasn't like anything Marche had seen before. Rather than the small and bug-like ones, it was large and round, and could almost be described as jolly.

Errant Voyager

 

[Errant Voyager]

Davy Crockett turned his head, in a doubletake, as he raised an eyebrow at Marche as he began telling the tale. "Now I know yer tellin' a crotchety tale." remarked Davy Crockett as he began chuckling, even raising his knees to slap them. "A spell-book..." Davy Crockett once again adjusted his coon-skin hat as he looked towards his compatriot Marche and smirked, "If'n you ain't fuddled, which a boy your age shouldn't take to the sauce that often you want to grow up big and strong so you can fight for freedom, you should consider getting into one of the periodicals. You're like that -"

Snapping his fingers, Davy Crockett began to recollect his thoughts and figure out that name that was alluding him. Who was that new rising author who got a lot of works in the Southern Literary Messenger? "-Edgar Allan Poe. That's it. I'd reckon you send in a couple of drafts of your tales to them and they'd get published." When Marche explained the dangers of particular alleyways and how it was ridden with flying creatures.

"Shucks, me an Old Betsy here..." Davy Crockett remarked as he gestured to his rifle upon his back, "...have killed hundreds of black bears, and enemies of freedom. I wouldn't worry about flying varmints, I'll shoot any that come near. Ah you don't need to call me Mister Crockett boy-" began the frontiersman as Marche's description of those monsters reminded him of something. Davy paused in his steps for a moment as he began stroking his chin in thought, "Black as a shadow huh? I, I reckon I saw somethin' like that..."

"...At the Alamo, some of the Mexican Troops which we fought against looked like tha-" as Davy Crockett was about to finish his sentence he saw another of the beasts that Marche described. Davy Crockett quickly slung Ol' Betsy off of his back and pushed his way in front of Marche as he took aim at the creature, preparing to take his shot.

"Marche I've seen too many men die today, don't worry you aren't going to be one of em."

Ennuis

 

[RikuXIII]

Amara arched an eyebrow at Odin. Well, she didn't know him, but he knew about her.
"You mean worlds being swallowed up by darkness, ending countless lives and shattering even more?" She asked in a snarky tone. "I experienced it when my old home world was taken, and more worlds have been lost since then. I'd rather see what I can do to stop it then wait until there are no stars left in the sky."
Turning her attention back to Lucinda, Amara caught the tail end of her testimony. Yep. She had heard it many times before. Sometimes the Heartless trickled in and took a world over time, others they showed up and did their business in one night. The idea that some sort of intelligence guided the Heartless was one Amara entertained, but hadn't gotten any sort of lead on who or what pulled the strings.
Preparing to launch into a list of questions she usually had for survivors, Amara was derailed by Ollie's suggestion to explain what the Heartless were. It was a question that would pop up sooner or later.
"Yeah, a Heartless is a creature made from the darkness inside people's hearts." She began. "If a heart is consumed by darkness, its body disappears and it turns into those bug shadow things and other versions. A scholar from my home world had research notes on the things, but they were lost when the Heartless ate my world."

 

[Insidi]

He almost laughed at her comment

How dare she take up that tone with him, he thought to himself. True, she didn't know who he really was, but still, it got to him. True, her home was lost to those things and he understood her fire in that, but she probably hadn't even gone through hordes of Heartless like he had, heck, probably hadn't even heard of a Nobody. He soon walked closer to her and said

"Tell me, ever heard of a Keyblade Wielder? Probably have, it is favorite children's story most people have been told. How brave warriors go across the worlds, fighting back the Heartless and freeing worlds from the Darkness. However, you probably haven't seen one before, have you? After all, they are just legends in children's stories, right?"

A chuckle came from his lips at the last sentence before he continued "Well, I have a little surprise for you

He then put his hand out, and all of a sudden, a black and purple swirl began to come around the area of his hand. The swirl, a weird looking thing, began to slowly take a shape of a sword. However, and then molded into a sword, but, indents were made into the top as the hilt finished construction and became materialized as the shape began to be able to recognized

It was a Keyblade

He soon looked back at the woman and said "They are real. I've been one for years now, and I've explored many a world. I've seen the most beautiful sights and I've seen carnage, hope, and despair. I've faced Heartless that would shake you to core, that would give you nightmares at night, so,". He then moved the Keyblade to his shoulder before continuing "I know you want to avenge your home, and I know you want to help. I would do to in your shoes, but let me explain to your something: You need to stay here

You do not know what you are going into and you will die. There is no going around that, you will not survive out there without a Keyblade Wielder, because let me tell you, it turns out that it is extremely hard to kill hard to kill a Heartless without one and there are far more stronger Heartless out there besides these little bugs, you probably saw one when your home fell. Here, you can help these people and with some of the defenses, you can easily help keep the Heartless at bay. However, I won't stop you if you want to go out there, but you will die and you will come back as a Heartless and possibly even a Nobody,"

 

[titania]

Lucinda frowned. "I know it's not much consolation, but I'm sorry your home was taken from you," she said to Amara, slightly taken aback by the ferocity with which she responded to Odin's patronizing remarks. "Thank you for helping me to understand what's going on." She paused to turn to Ollie. "And you, too." Though slightly dejected at the fact that Amara had all but confirmed her world was never to return, her interest was caught by her mention of the scholar who'd studied the Heartless. She wasn't sure why her world had fallen to darkness in the first place, and was struggling to piece together an explanation in her head; the studies of someone like the scholar Amara spoke of could help her better understand why her home had been taken from her.

Lucy was jolted out of her fruitless attempt to rationalize her situation when Odin summoned his keyblade and began his cautionary speech. As it drew to a close, she blinked in astonishment. "Keyblade Wielder?" she asked. "I think... I think I have one. While my world was under attack a weapon kind of shaped like a key just sort of appeared in my hand and the word Keyblade popped into my head."

Lucinda summoned her keyblade, still feeling quite awkward holding it; she looked at it like she wasn't sure what to do with it.

 

[SheepKing]

Even with the people around her only being a few years older, Ollie felt like a child stuck in a situation that was bigger than herself. The talk of key swords, destruction of worlds, and stories of darkness intimated the youth as she stood idly waiting for their next move. However, desperate to prove to herself that she was mature enough to listen in on the conversation, Ollie swallowed her anxieties down and stood her ground.

Instensely, Ollie listened to the entirety of the young man’s story of other worlds. Even if at some points it sounded almost like he was bragging, she became attached to the words he spoke. “Most beautiful sights..” Ollie repeated to herself. Even after he warned Amara of the dangers ahead, Ollie only grew in her determination to see what it was like out there. What sunlight felt like out there. There was no way that Ollie was going to rot under the dark skies of Traverse Town for the rest of her life.

Before she could voice her opposition to his suggestion, Lucinda mentioned something about the key-thing.With a quick burst of light, Ollie witnessed Lucinda summon her own key shaped weapon. Unlike the elder’s key, her’s could be described as simplistic yet dainty, Ollie might have even confessed it was beautiful in different circumstances.

Peeling her eyes off the blade, Ollie turned to look up at the man. She had so many questions that no amount of time could let her get through all of them. Her mind was buzzing with intrest yet confusion at the same time. Picking a single query from the lake of them in her mind, Ollie asked “So, Mr. Monochrome, why do only the keyblades defeat the heartless? I get that the average gun or sword wouldn’t do them in but why specifically a key? And how can I get one anyway?”
if getting one of those would guarantee a better chance at surviving out there, it wouldn’t hurt to try and snatch one herself.

 

[RikuXIII]

"Everybody here lost something." Amara replied to Lucinda with a dismissive wave at the condolences offered. "We all pull through together."
She frowned at Odin as spoke of Keyblade Wielders. Made sense that a weapon like that would be the "key" she was looking for. So, she had a mythical user of a legendary weapon. Not the worse information she had gotten. She was about to tell the doomsayer off when he produced a Keyblade.
Shock momentarily the predominant expression on her face, but it vanished into a blank look as she studied the blade and listened to more of Odin's story. She analyzed his tone and words, putting together a mental picture of the young Keyblade Wielder. The horrors he spoke of got to him somehow. Probably a loss. A loved one with no Keyblade to protect them? Maybe something broader, like the loss of his home world? Plenty of possibilities to explain it. What was worrisome was that despite having this power and warning her off risking her life, he didn't mention his own efforts to end this threat. No reassurance that he was going to do anything. Maybe he was just saving that for later, but it was still worrying.
Lucinda's addition to the conversation was another surprise, as was her bringing out her own Keyblade. So, we had two Keyblade Wielders show up on the same night.
"When it rains, it pours." Amara thought dryly.
"Well, with two of you, you should be able to make a dent in the Heartless, or figure out what's directing them." She said, becoming animated again. "This is usually where the hero, which according to legend is the people holding the Keyblades, gives the "stay here and I'll go" speech. Right now, those Keys are needed out there. You going to put that power to good use and go in my stead?"
An arm and hand shot out to point at Lucinda.
"While you've got the power, you are definitely not taking me up on that till we get you some sword training, honey."
Ollie's contribution to the conversation was rather welcome from Amara's point of view. She could hazard some guesses as to why it was a more effective weapon against the Heartless, but getting a direct answer would be nice. She crossed her arms, looking forward to some hard answers at last. Something from Odin's warning took this moment to draw Amara's attention to herself. A term she didn't recognize. And yet...
"And what's a Nobody?" She asked, her voice sounding thoughtful.

 

[Ennuis]

Marche briefly considered arguing with Mr. Crockett, but didn't see much point in it. After all, it was an unbelievable story that he himself wouldn't believe if he wasn't there when it happened. And of course, the heartless before him was a much bigger concern.

"The Alamo? Is that another world?" Gripping the handle of his sword, Marche swung it off his back and held it towards the large heartless. "It probably isn't too much stronger than the others, so we should be fine Mr. Crockett." Marche wanted to believe what he was saying, but he still didn't know what rules these fantasy worlds operated on.

Deciding it was best to find out now, Marche charged the heartless and swung his weapon at it as hard as he could. Normally something as simple as this was enough, so it was quite the surprise when it bounced harmlessly off the monster's stomach. "No way!" Before it could react, Marche swung again and again, but each time the sword bounced off. The only difference between now and then, was the fact that the heartless was pulling back its meaty fist for a haymaker.

Errant Voyager

 

[Mirgris]

A thousand memories pass by like stars in the night sky. My uncle teaching me so many things and lecturing for hours on end. Eagerly listening and taking notes, student and master one of man kinds oldest relationships.

I have a small wistful smile seeing the role reversed and someone asking me to explain is an odd change to most of my life. However the nostalgia comes at a cost and someone else answers first.

“If you wouldn’t mind, could you explain what a heartless is? I’m not completely sure how to word it so it wouldn’t sound so confusing.”

“So, Mr. Monochrome, why do only the keyblades defeat the heartless? I get that the average gun or sword wouldn’t do them in but why specifically a key? And how can I get one anyway?”

After a moment with a natural pause he coughs lightly.

"If I may, all people have the potential for magic within them, normally it is rather small without training. What the heartless do is take that and all the negativity in someone, the darkness in their heart as it were and makes the creature known as the heartless." He adjust his hat slightly as he furrows his brow. "Well, you could think of them like a virus, a self replicating bit of evil magic, I wouldn't say only a key blade can kill them, rather we can break apart their form with spell and blade,but the dark magic, the darkness, will still exist, if it can be reused, and if that reuse is the same creature is a matter of academic question, but functionally useless. It just means that to really permanently diminish the sum total of that dark force requires special equipment."

He rolls his hand in the air a few times, nodding to himself.

"You could think of it a bit like stabbing a fire, energy isn't destroyed like that. Even putting out the fire doesn't destroy the heat so much as dissipate into a less locally focused form even though it appears destroyed. However special equipment like these key blades may actually be able to destroy the energy, the metaphorical heat, rather than just separating it."

He shrugs lightly to himself. "I know nothing of keyblades, the universe is larger than one would think and I am after all just a young apprentice as hard as I try my knowledge is limited still."

He looks over the summoned weapon carefully, leaning forward but careful not to touch it or so much as breath upon it.

"Powerful magic, very strong, and that was not a spell it cast the spell to appear to you, or even more not so much as a spell as shaped power with intent? I do not know fully, It is however interesting, I suspect it is more real than we are. Possibly existing in more dimensions, it is to us, what we are to smoke, I think"

 

[Nenma Takashi]

How many had she defeated at this point? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? She stopped counting around five, it was around that point she was overcome with just her desire to defeat the beast that had stolen her friend from her. Her body now moving on instinct like a wild animal she simply swung at what moved. Her wide wild swings slow but a single hit obliterated whatever the strange new blade made contact with. Nazomi was so wrapped up in destroying these beast she didn't bother to question where it came from. One of the beast slowly crawled behind Nazomi leaping for her it landed on her back, she turned to smack it away breaking her focus for only a second. In that one moment the horde of black beast swarmed Nazomi piling onto her as darkness swallowed her world whole. Before even opening her eyes Nazomi felt something cold press against her body, she was sure she had died yet when she opened her eyes it was simply a stone ground. Nazomi wasn't sure how long she had been laying on the ground but she must of been asleep for some time, since she didn't feel tired despite the battle she had with the strange shadow creatures. Nazomi's eyes widened as she looked around her coming to the realization she was no longer on the beach of Destiny Island. She rose to her feet but stumbled though she wasn't tired there was a strange dizziness she had to first overcome.

Regaining her balance Nazomi began to look for some kinda sign as to where she was. The memory of the shadow creatures, and Koko flickered in her mind. The hope filled Nazomi's heart that she might of simply had some kind of nightmare, clenching her fist it was now that Nazomi realized she was holding onto something. Looking down at her hand the hope that was in her heart was replaced with despair as she was looking down at a bright golden blade, the same blade she used to fight off the shadow beast. Which meant her friend, her family, her world, were all gone. Nazomi fell to her knees clutching the blade she threw the blade as hard as she could into a dark alleyway. She heard the blade bounce off walls and slide to a stop, suddenly with a flash of light it appeared in her hand again. "Why? Why me? Why do I have to be the one still standing!?" She questioned the blade she didn't feel worthy to be the one to survive the darkness. Suddenly as if to only upset Nazomi further the same shadow beast appeared before her again. She turned her blade on them and charged taking out the creatures, following the trail of creatures till she saw the back of a much bigger beast reading some kind of attack. She didn't think she just moved and swung her blade slamming it into the back of the beast sending it stumbling to the right knocking it off balance. Nazomi now saw what the monster would've attacked two men one of which held a gun the other a sword. Nazomi waved at the duo not really sure what to say after everything that was happening she hadn't thought of what to say to others. "Um hi?" She said to them just then she felt the impact of something to her side as the large beast slammed a huge fist into her sending her flying. As she hit a wall coming to a stop Nazomi was surprised to find that the attack had hurt far less than she had expected it would. "Bring it on!" Nazomi yelled as she charged the beast none of the shadow creatures had offered any time of challenge until now, maybe she'd get to blow off some steam finally.

 

[titania]

Lucinda felt her skin grow hot and her stomach churn as she slowly came to recognize the connection Amara had made between keyblade wielders and heroism; she'd remarked upon it as though it were inherent, the stuff of the age-old legend she spoke of. Lucy was unsure of how to feel about the implication that by clutching the strange weapon in her hand she'd only received what seemed like mere minutes ago, she was now a part of something bigger than her comprehension. Carnage, hope, despair? Lucinda was just a teenager, and now it seemed as though she held the only key to cure the virus, as the young mage who'd just approached their group referred to them as, that was the Heartless. Heck, she'd only just learned what a Heartless was a few moments ago.

Lucinda blinked in surprise as Amara thrust her arm out towards her, a flustered blush spreading across her face. "I just barely got this thing, I'm not saying I know how to use it!" she responded hurriedly. She chewed on her lip apprehensively, glancing off to the side with a sort of sullen grimace. "Let alone fight the Heartless with it." This mess she'd found herself in, it was all so overwhelming. Half of her wanted to curl into the fetal position and cry, half of her wanted to run away, and all of her was confused. Even though she knew it wouldn't do her any good, she kept repeating the phrase Why me? over and over in her head like a mantra.

She took a deep breath, clenching her fist at her side. Stop, she told herself. This is your reality now, whether you like it or not. Everything about keyblades and Heartless and fallen worlds, it's confusing and sudden, but... I'll be able to figure it out eventually. Maybe I'll even be able to bring my world back, see my friends and family again. It may be a long shot, but I have to work towards something.

She found what the mage had said intriguing. Shaped power with intent? "I'm not quite sure what you mean," she admitted, not certain he knew either. "Can you tell me anything else you know about the keyblade?" She gestured over to Odin. "Either of you?"

Lucinda looked back up at Amara. "Sword training?" she repeated with a nod. "Where would I get some?"