Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ KH: Inheritance ❯ 2: Cornerstone ( Chapter 2 )

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Kingdom Hearts: Inheritance
Chapter 2

The red carpeted halls were rather well laid out. It was only when one ventured down to the servant quarters where somebody could get easily turned around. Cael and Tsuna had no reason to explore there now in any case; their current destination was the Audience Chamber, which stood as the only access to the Cornerstone of Light along with being an effective barricade if the castle ever came under attack. Thankfully it was easy to find as the almost-comically large purple doors looked out onto the courtyard where Cael had previously been taking a nap.

But their trip to the chamber was not completely uneventful as they ran into another regular around the castle that they knew quite well. He too was in training, but not to become a keyblade master. Rather, he was a squire in the Order of Shield Knights that King Mickey employed as his elite guard to protect Disney Castle and its surrounding town. As well, he did not receive training from the king himself but instead reported to the leader of the Shield Knights... whom also happened to be his father. And both he and his father were anthropomorphic dogs.

"Max!" echoed Tsuna's voice down the large hall, getting his attention and causing his black and floppy ears to perk up. "Not 'goofing' off again, are you?" Tsuna added in usual fashion, getting a chuckle out of Cael.

Max had heard it many times before, and had come to take it in stride even if his father did frustrate him sometimes. Rolling his eyes, he replied, "Hey, give me a break! You know I'd be down at the skateboard circuit with Bobby and Peej  in a heartbeat if I wasn't stuck here today. They've got me as a 'gopher' for the Gummy Ship Maintenance Crew. I guess they have something big planned."

Cael raised a skeptical eyebrow at this. "Wait, Chip and Dale? How much coffee can two chipmunks drink?"

This just made Max burst into laughter. "Ahahah hyuk... Good one, Cael. But I've gotta get back to work. Say 'hi' to Reki for me, hey?"

The shield-bearing squire then went on his way, leaving Cael feeling sort of awkward when he realized that Tsuna was still standing next to him giving him a smirk. Cael just shot an inquiring side-long glance at him. "What? It was a legit question..."

They continued around the next corner and through a large door, finally arriving at the open-air hallway with it's enormous enterance to the Audience Chamber. Cael remembered the first time they passed through here, having expected to give the door a hearty shove to even budge it when he quickly learned about the much smaller door built into the bigger one. The resulting excess of force had sent him stumbling into the brightly lit and expansive throne room.

He'd since learned better, but the throne room was still no less impressive. Waiting at the enterance way, the platform covering it already having been slid to the side, was Queen Minnie who nodded in greeting. "Hello trainees! The king and Reki are waiting for you inside. Please come this way."

Tsuna just sort of shrugged. He had commented in the past that the Queen was quite fond of her formal routine, but didn't much care for it himself. Though he'd never say it to her face, it still showed. "I wonder why we're meeting down by the Cornerstone though... The only other time we got to see it was during the tour," noted Tsuna aloud, half to Queen Minnie and half to himself.

As they entered though, it was King Mickey that looked to answer his inquiry. "Ah, Tsuna! Cael! There you are. And it's funny you should ask that question as Reki had asked the same thing. But now that you're all here, I can explain," their large-eared master had spoken, looking rather excited about this as well and dressed in an outfit he tended to use for it's mobility.

The round and mystical Cornerstone shone brightly behind him, Reki flashing a smile at Cael before pausing and then narrowing her eyes in accusing inquiry. She must have suspected they had dueled again, but how she always figured this stuff out so quickly had Cael perplexed.

Their noble teacher didn't see it though, or if he did then he knew when to let it slide and get on with their training session. "As you may all recall, when you were first chosen as Keybearers, you barely had the power to summon your weapon at all. If you could present them now, please?" he requested with a gesture.

Standing before the king and the soft glow of the Cornerstone of Light, all three kids raised their hands and brought forth their keyblades from the ether. "Back then, I provided you all with keychains that helped bring out your heart's potential. This is why they all look very similar, even though every keyblade takes on some properties of its wielder," Mickey continued, referring to the fact that they all looked much like the Kingdom Key except with distinct color differences between the hilts. Also, from all of them dangled a silver emblem that resembled Mickey's head; a common motif around Disney Castle.

Lowering their keyblades, they continued to listen. "But now that you've had time to hone your abilities, and build up new friendships, I believe your hearts should be strong enough to properly bear the true forms of your Keyblades. Here in the Hall of the Cornerstone, close to the brightest light of this world, I think will be your best chance for success. I'd like for you to remove your Keychain charms now," he instructed, the three trainees all glancing at each other in surprise before proceeding.

Reki was the first to unequip hers, the whole thing shimmering like water before reforming into a sapphiric and curvy weapon, to the point of appearing harmless and fragile. The hilt was more of a heart shape now, while the teeth appeared to be depicting a sunrise. Reki spoke, instinctively knowing its name. "Rising River..."

The two boys looked on in awe as they witnessed this, and then eagerly set about to see their own trueform weapons. Tsuna was ready next, but he seemed to have some trouble keeping it summoned as it turned to sand, whirling about his arm before reforming into a... reverse keyblade. The teeth of it were up near his elbow, depicting a black tower while the handle appeared to shield his wrist, making it look more like a punching weapon than one for slashing. Which would mean he'd have to get up close in melee range to dish out damage, but Tsuna was never afraid of doing just that. "Stepping Stone," came its name.

Cael finally managed to get his unlocked as well. "Aha, there we go..." he said just before the entire thing disappeared into sparks. Tsuna nearly started laughing before he realized it wasn't over. A gust picked up through the entire room, which was weird because they were both indoors and underground. The wind became solid in form, the sparks returning and coalescing into a golden key that faded to crimson at the end, featuring wings as its teeth and hilt. "It's... Waking Wind." Cael realized, adding it's name to the the others and holding his weapon high and proudly.

"Excellent work! All of you!" Mickey cheered, Queen Minnie also looking on with admiration. "Now... you will all need to create keychains for yourselves that you feel best represent you. They will help improve your focus and bond with your weapon." he told them, though it fell mostly on deaf ears as the three kids were all caught up with how cool their personalized keys were.

That is, until Max came dashing down the stairs into the chamber with a look of panic. "King Mickey! Your Highness, sir, you've got to come quickly! Sora's Gummy Ship has returned to the castle... but it's empty! And a whole mess of Heartless flyers came through the corridor behind it!"

King Mickey knew he'd have to take command of the situation immediately, leaving the kids behind. "Looks like this lesson will have to continue later. C'mon Max, we need to get back down to the Hangar and scramble those fighters! I don't want any more getting through!" and with that his yellow shoes disappeared up the staircase. None of the kids wanted to be left out of the action though and all of them gave chase to offer their help, Cael leading the way. And all of them had the same thought echoing in their mind: "Sora's gone missing?!"

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Author's Notes: I actually came up with the name for their keyblades some time ago but I had a hell of a time coming up with their descriptions. Bit of a shame that their ceremony is so short... and yes, Max Goof is going to be an important part of the story, along with a spell casting companion, but I'm not telling who it's going to be just yet. :D
All characters belong to their respective creators, primarily being Disney and Square Enix; this is a work of fan fiction. Enjoy and please review or comment!
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