Taivas sat inside the ship, waiting momentarily, watching them struggle to get inside. Part of him wants to get out and help them out. But another part of him didn’t want to have his seat taken by the others. But his heart was about to stop when he saw the enormous shadowy creature approaching the group. A flash of another memory came to him of a similar figure attacking him and others in a familiar place. Apart from this memory, he was welding the “keyblade” and attacking this shadow to protect somebody. Watching Levi and Lucian getting into the ship. Everyone was on board; he didn’t care about the others. He had his spot on the ship and hoped to escape this island finally.
Zac leapt into the ship and settled in his seat, where he immediately started flipping switches, getting the ship ready to take off again.
”Come on, Sigrid. Need you to get up just one more time…” he muttered as the ship began to rattle, coming to life once more. He glanced over to where Alias, Morgan, and Hoshi were, debating whether or not he should give them more time, at least until Morgan and the remains of the island made the decision for him.
As the vessel fell, it was all Levi could do to grab onto a console and hold on for dear life as the momentum left him feeling weightless, and then threatened to launch him out of the open canopy. He was the only one who wasn’t buckled in by this point. His knuckles went white, as he turned his head back to look at the shards of the world and the darkening void around them.
I failed them. I was supposed to protect them, and yet only two of us made it out. I should’ve done more. His eyes locked onto the bat in his grip, which Hoshi had tossed to him as he ran for the ship.
... But that doesn’t mean I can’t do more. I don’t want anyone else to face anything like this. Never again. As the ship plummeted into the void, Lucian clung desperately to the railing, his heart pounding in his chest. His hair whipped wildly in the rush of wind, and his knuckles turned white from gripping so tightly. The sound of the roaring engines trying to restart was deafening, but it couldn’t drown out the voice in his head.
“This can’t be happening… This can’t be how it ends!” His mind raced, a whirlwind of panic.
Still, Lucian knew he couldn’t give up now. He had a job to do. Morgan trusted him with something big, and his parents told him he was destined for something greater.
“Get it together Lucian. You can do this.” He told himself.
He felt a rumble as the ground began to give way, followed by feeling as if his stomach was moving into his throat as the ship began to fall.
”Crap, I guess we’re going!” he muttered as he quickly closed the canopy.
”Hang on tight, everyone!” He hit the ignition and the ship shot away from the fight, a sour taste in Zac’s mouth as he had no choice but to leave the other three behind.
Taivas held onto the armrest of the chair he was in. Letting out a breath of relief as the ship started to take off. His eyes looked back at the others that were left behind.
“They’ll be okay; they know what they're doing. Right?” A bit of self-doubt came into his mind. Perhaps they should have waited for the others. There was no telling what would happen if the darkness consumed them.
Perhaps you should have stayed and let the darkness consume you. It would have made you more powerful. A voice was speaking in his head. But Taivas disregarded this voice. Another memory came to him and was of him floating in complete darkness. A voice wanting him to follow his voice. He followed the voice to a corridor that led to a strange place.
As the ship suddenly went from falling to flying, Levi was made painfully aware of the existence of momentum as his head spiked into the console he had been holding onto for dear life. He pushed himself up with a small groan, rubbing the spot where his head met the metal.
“Alright… who’s not dead?” He said softly, blinking a few times as he tried to get his eyes to focus onto… anything, really.
”We’re good, now,” he said as the dark sky of the fallen world gave way to a blanket of stars and a myriad of colors. He let out a breath and sat back as he ran his hand over his face. He glanced over at Levi, saw the growing bump on his forehead, and hit a couple of buttons on the console. A small tray popped out to Zac’s right, holding three vials of green liquid.
”Here, this’ll help,” he said as he handed one to Levi.
”They’re potions, good for minor injuries. If anyone needs one, feel free, I’ve got more stored away.”Taivas shook his head at Zac’s offer. He was fine for the time being. Although he still had this feeling of dread.
“I’m good, thanks.” His eyes looked over at Levi, wondering if he’d be alright.
“Hope that stuff works; he’s got a real nugget on his forehead.” The blonde-haired man then looked over at Zac.
“Do you think the others are gonna be okay?” He paused, looking out of the window. “Where do we go now?” Finally, asking him after a long moment of silence.
[color=gold]“I’m alright…”[/gold] Lucian responded while staring out the window. There was nothing out there but empty void.
“I know they’re still ok. Alias, Hoshi, and Morgan are tough. They can handle anything.” He sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than stating facts. But he needed to hold on to the hope to keep going.
“Anyway, uh… what he said. Where are we going?””I’ve got some friends on a nearby world,” Zac said as he typed coordinates into his ship’s navigator.
”We’ll head there and see if any of the ones we left behind somehow managed to make their way there.” He hit the “enter” key, then turned in his chair to face everyone.
”Now, then. We’ve got some time to kill and I’m sure you’ve got questions. Ask away and I’ll do my best to answer.”Lucian perked up.
“ These… key sword things? Do you know what they are?”Zac gave Lucian a grin and held his hand out. Stone appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and gathered together before a flash of light enveloped them. When the light faded, he held his keyblade in his hand.
”Those ‘key swords’ are called ‘keyblades. They have the ability to open or close any kind of lock or door, physical or otherwise. They’re also the most effective weapon against the Heartless, those creatures that attacked your island. They’re pretty picky, though, so not everyone can use one. They’re so picky, in fact, that even if you willingly give yours to someone who isn’t a wielder, it’ll just reappear in your hand a moment later.” He nodded at Lucian and added,
”Honestly, until I met you guys, I thought I was the only one who could use one, so I was pretty surprised when I saw you with one.”Levi downed the potion, feeling the pounding headache rapidly turn into a dull ache, along with finally closing the cut on the side of his head. It still took him a second before he could focus again, but he was otherwise fine.
“So just what are these… Heartless, you called them?” He asked, as he checked his cassette player which, by some miracle, was still intact despite everything.
Zac dismissed his Keyblade and replied,
”Darkness incarnate. And that’s not me being poetic. A Heartless is born when someone loses their heart to the darkness inside, giving it shape and form. They’re incredibly dangerous because their only goal is to find and consume as many hearts as they can, adding the darkness from those hearts to their ranks. It’s like an instinct, an urge they’re born with.”After a moment, he added,
”The Keyblades are weapons of light, which is what makes them so effective against Heartless, but that doesn’t mean you’re immune. Almost everyone has darkness in their hearts, so if you let your guard down, you can fall to it just like anyone else.”“So that is what attacked the island? The heartless.” His mind wondered if he had met these creatures before. They seemed familiar to him when he had first seen them. But again, it was hazy. The only previous encounter he could think of fighting these things was in some jungle. Could he become heartless if he let too much of the darkness consume his heart. He had already shown he could control the darkness inside his heart to fight. Perhaps he was different from the others and was unaffected by the darkness.
“So, do you know who made these keyblades? Where do they come from? How is someone chosen to wield the keyblade? Do you know who had given you your keyblade?” Taivas said, thinking about how he was chosen to be a keyblade wielder. Closing his eyes, he wondered if he had been taught to use a keyblade. An image came into his head of himself and another person. The two stood in a courtyard with a fountain in the middle. This person was an older man who was teaching him how to fight. The wooden weapon in his hand looked similar to the keyblade. Tavias was much younger in this memory; he assumed he was in his pre-teens.
“Even though I’ve been using one for the last three years,” Zac replied,
”I don’t know everything there is to know about them, unfortunately. What I *do* know is that a keyblade wielder has to have a strong heart to be chosen by their keyblade. I don’t know anything about people giving them to others, since mine just appeared in my hand one day, but if there are other wielders out there, then I suppose it could be possible.”Lucian chuckled.
“Heh, I always had a feeling there was more to life than the islands. I just… wasn’t expecting all of this. Hearts, Darkness, Magic. It’s a lot. But… it’s also… kind of exciting. He paused, his smile fading slightly as he stared out the window at the endless sea of stars.
“I just wish it didn’t take the islands being destroyed for it to happen… He was still worried about his friends. Morgan, Alias, Hoshi, even his parents. What if they didn’t make it out in time? He shook his head. He couldn’t let himself think those thoughts or he’d never be able to function.
Hearing Lucian, Zac chuckled and responded,
”I know how you feel. I was scared, but excited, when I first set out on my journey, too.” After a few moments, he continued,
”I lost my world, too, so I really can understand how you guys feel. It’s tough not having a place to call home, anymore, but the people you meet and the memories you create help a lot.”Thinking momentarily about Zac’s works, he wandered towards the locket with the picture of the two people. How does he know them, and where are they even acquainted? The only way to find out is to find them and get some answers. And his words on how one would acquire a keyblade. It just appeared in his hand, or someone passed it down.
“Well, I just want to discover who I am and how I lost my memories.” Taivas sat back in his chair, watching the stars whizzing by the ship.
Levi slumped down to a sitting position, leaning his back against one of the walls of the cockpit. He glanced around at the other three, silently as he took in everything that was being said, to the best of his ability at least. Even if he wasn’t concussed anymore, this was still a lot to take in, even more so given that he’d been awake for nearly twenty hours now. Still, he had one more question before he could resign himself to sleep for the rest of their trip.
“Is munny worth anything in other worlds? I still have some cash in my wallet, even if I lost most of it when our world went.” He reached a hand into his left pocket, placing it on his wallet and the relatively small sum therein.
Zac thought for a few moments before waving his hand and saying,
”Kinda-sorta? It all depends on who you buy from, really. Places that are specific to a world would take that world’s currency, but there tend to be places where you can spend munny at, too. For example, there are these weird, flying creatures called Moogles that run shops that sell all sorts of things, in addition to letting you make your own stuff, if you’re inclined to. Personally, I haven’t had a reason to shop from anywhere but their places.”With that, he leaned back in his seat and said,
”It’s gonna take some time for us to get to where we’re going, so go ahead and get some rest. The place we’re heading to is relatively safe, but you’re still gonna wanna be rested up.”
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