[b]Aegis - Outside of Yggdrasil[/b]

A flash of light. A tendril of darkness splintering the light, piercing the scope of his perception, invading him with a warm yet discomforting feeling of balance. Then suddenly, he began to feel as if he was burning. Unable to move his mouth or limbs, he suffered silently as he remained unable to see the portal that had materialized in front of him. Aegis struggled to breathe, the invasion of the darkness from its hidden valley in his heart enveloping him entirely.

From the portal stepped a woman. Slender in form, garbed in a sleek violet dress, tight to the body, she was adorned in a headdress in the semblance of the head of the fawn. Syndra, the foreteller of Fawnilicium, approached the man disabled by the darkness of his heart.

"You have trespassed into studies we have forbidden, young Master Aegis. You have awoken the Heartless of true darkness, the ones that cannot be destroyed, and in seeking your universal knowledge through the true Kingdom Hearts, have risked exposure of them to the other universes.

"The council has spoken. You once were a pupil of my tutelage. I watched you grow into the most wise scholar of your generation. And now, I have been ordered to enforce your exile to the In-Between." She raised her left arm gracefully, and with a flick of her wrist, a pale white Keyblade suddenly materialized in her hand. She aimed the head of the Key, which also resembled a fawn, directly at Aegis' chest. A ball of light began to form on the tip, as Aegis silently continued to tense as the darkness reacted to it.

"Your sentence: be banished from the realm of Kingdom Hearts until your heart has found the Way to the Dawn once more. You must find your own way back, even if it lasts forever. You are now near the castle between the universes - Yggdrasil. Find a purpose. Find your way. And perhaps this parting gift will help you." Syndra pulled her arm back as the ball of light suddenly became a vibrant shade of blue, and thrust forward. A beam burst from the edge of the weapon, piercing through Aegis's heart and enveloping it as a shield around it, holding the darkness at bay. Aegis fell to the ground, released from the paralysis of the darkness.

With her other hand, Syndra beckoned a second portal. "You will begin this journey in a place known as Castle Tepes. You will find that your home, your worlds, and your universe cannot communicate with you. You may find yourself there again once, or perhaps many times. This portal shall close once you pass through it. Farewell, my student." She backed away into her own portal, sheathing her Keyblade as tendrils of violet light danced around her inside the portal. She faded as the portal closed itself, leaving Aegis alone.

Still weak from the endeavor he had just been through. Aegis fell to one knee, breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down his forehead, falling in front of him onto the ground. After a few moments of panting, he rose from his position and looked to the portal. He had no words to say, no thoughts to express, other than a cold feeling of emptiness. He approached the portal, studying it intently, and then passed through. All went black, for a time, and he felt himself dissolve into nothingness temporarily as he traveled to his destination.

[b]Outside Castle Tepes[/b]

The portal opened on a wall, and as Aegis stepped through, he found himself at a castle. Almost immediately, his Keyblade materialized in his hand, as it pulsated rapidly.

"There must be some sort of powerful object here," he murmured, as he looked at his surroundings. He was in a formidable structure, with a kitchen area nearby and a small balcony over the side of the hallway he had been transported to. [i]It's so eerie here,[/i] he pondered. [i]Not a single person to be found. Why would she send me to an abandoned castle...[/i] He noticed he was near a main entrance, it seemed. Suddenly, his Keyblade began to react even faster, and a revelation came to him.

[i]It's not reacting to an object,[/i] he realized. [i]There are people coming![/i] He immediately heard a young, childlike voice say, "What are th-they protecting it from?" and a female voice give a response he could not understand. Aegis readied his weapon and turned around to where the voices were coming from, just as a small fox and a woman with the form of a feline entered the building. He stared at them as he attempted to make eye contact and waited for them to say something, anything at all.

[@blackmist16] [@belwicket]