Kingdom Hearts: SfE Part 2 - The Final Keyhole and the Mark of Mastery

"Eden? She's.... smart."Riku said. "Creative."Sora said. "Mature."Valerie said. "Artistic?" "a bit stubborn..." "Tall..."Valerie said. Kurix and Roxas both chuckled at that.

 

"Eden summed it up pretty nicely. If becoming a Master of the Keyblade helped me to achieve my goal and get a heart, i'll happily take and pass the test you set me" Gexln said, eyes full of determination.

 

Jeffrey chuckled at Valerie's comment. "Motherly, too," he added to the list. He looked up the staircase. So many stairs...

 

"Well come on. We better get started."Sora smiled. "Oh sweet Celestia..."Valerie was the first to start up the stairs, wanting to get it over with. "I'll make sure she doesn't pass out on us..."Riku followed after her. Sora looked over to Ashir. "Hopefully Eden will be ecstatic when she sees you."Sora said, minding Kisa as he started up the stairs. "Phwooo...."Kurix gave a small whistle at the amount of stairs before stating up. "Come on, don't want to be left behind..."Roxas said to Ashir before starting up himself.

 

"What is me?" Ashir blinked, not really paying much attention, though somehow his wayward glance at Roxas showed that he was really the one to answer.

 

"You're what people call a nobody....at least that's what we think. Its the empty shell people leave behind when they become a heartless. Only very strong nobodies can take a human form though."Roxas explained. "Empty....shell....?"Kurix joined Roxas and Ashir. "That means Nobodies aren't created with hearts...and thus, no real emotions..."at that, Roxas stopped, almost...sad. "Oh..."Kurix said, seeing how Roxas reacted to the words. For someone with no emotions, he seems to show alot...weird...

 

Ashir grunted in confusion, trying to find out more.

"And you?" Yen Sid put his gaze onto Eden, who faltered a bit.
"I..." She tried dusting off her hand-me-down clothes from Riku's magic garbs. "I am a Wielder of Earth, one good at fire magic, and want to go home." Yen Sid only stared, raising an eyebrow to show he wasn't happy with the answer. Eden fidgeted at that. "I want to take the Mark of Mastery Exam in order to go on as a full Keyblade Master, wipe out the heartless, and return home. To my world, Earth." She stared at him, with a nervously bit lip. He nodded, satisfied with this answer instead.

 

"I don't think Roxas has the...um...theoretical heart to say anymore. This Yen Sid guy seems to know alot though. you can ask him."Kurix said to Ashir. Roxas just gave a small nod. By the 2nd set of stairs, Valerie still wasn't out of breath or passed out from exhaustion. "Looks like all that running pays off, doesn't it?"Riku smirked. Sora had moved ahead of the group to tend to a fidgeting Kisa. "Yaaaaay....'Valerie said, a bit out of breath.

 

Ashir grunted in annoyance of what little answers he was getting, but could only be satisfied by what he heard. "Riku... You know me?" he still wanted answers anyway.

After a long period of thought, YenSid nodded slowly. "I will let you take the Mark of Mastery Exam, and it will see if you are worthy of wielding the Key." He closed his eyes a moment, but opened them again to speak his heavy words. "But the other Wielders are coming. This test will be between all the Wielders, to see if those with hearts are pure, and those without are just."
Eden frowned heavily, but bowed her head. It was that or nothing. And something was better than nothing. "Thank you Yen Sid." She petted Equius, carefully thinking over the words. How would a fight show him her heart? The whole thing seemed a bit biased as Gexln had none, and could use darkness at his will.

 

"Not as well as the others. I only heard about you from Eden while I was in her heart..."Riku explained.They made it to the stairs that led to Yen Sids chamber."Sora, can you carry me the rest of the way....?"Valerie asked. "My arms are already busy...."Sora said, holding Kisa as an emphasis. "I'll do it."Kurix said. "Yeeeah-no. No offense."Valerie said. Kurix just shrugged. "Picky, Picky, Picky."Roxas huffed.

 

Ashir frowned, hoping for a better answer, but he would get none at this point. He contemplated more upon himself, utterly baffled with the snippets of information given to him. It was like he was given 4 bunches of pieces to one puzzle that made 50 different images with each piece. It was very confusing.

 

"Give it time. You'll learn as the adventure unfolds..."Roxas explained. "Uuuugh... I want someone to carry me...and NOT you Riku. You do it by force!"Valerie huffed. "We're almost there, you can walk."Riku said. "Alright...but one of you boys are going to carry me down."Valerie said. "Deal."Sora chuckled. "What? No deal!"Riku said. "Deal!"Roxas said, wanting to make Riku unhappy. Kurix just went along with it.

 

Jeffrey chuckled. "Well, it's not going to be me," he replied. "I can't even do a pull up, let alone carry someone down ten million stairs."

 

Valerie let out a quick whine before they opened the door to Yen Sids chamber. Everyone immediately went calm, Riku going in first. "Master Yen Sid...."he gave a formal bow. Sora seemed alittle hesitant, wondering how the wise wizard would react to Kisa. Roxas hesitated as well, not sure how Yen Sid would react to a nobody. Kurix, however, went right on ahead. Valerie quickly followed to make sure he did nothing stupid. "Its very grateful to meet you, Y-M-Master Yen Sid..."she quickly curtsied, growing nervous very fast.

 

Kairi and Naminé both bowed after seeing Riku do the same.
Jeffrey began to bow before he saw the two others in the room. Eden?

 

Eden almost went into a combat stance, seeing everyone. Equius took this lead, clicking harshly. "At ease." Yen Sid laid out his hand, and with a quick gesture he opened the room to give the group more space. The Wielder had to kneel to Yen Sid and his power, trying her best not to burn everyone, but Kisa, alive. Equius knelt as well, copying his master's movements.

 

Valerie gave Jeffrey a look that said 'finish bowing, you idiot!', with a mix of fear and shyness on her expression. Roxas took a deep breath before going in, bowing at Yen Sid in a formal way. "M-Master Yen Sid...."he said. Kurix realized what everyone else was doing and bowed as well, wanting to be polite. Sora was still hesitant, holding Kisa close. W-what if he over reacts...s-surely he's seen something like this before, He's a wizard...b-but it's not really normal.... Okay Sora....you can do this.... Sora was about to go in. No you can't! he quickly took a step back, nervous.

 

Yen Sid gestured for Sora to come in, having his gaze look over each individual. "Speak."

 

Sora quickly went inside, holding Kisa. "I-It's very nice to see you again, Master Yen Sid."he gave a slgiht bow, not being able to do a full on with Kisa in his arms. "Sorry that it took so long to arrive. The mission to rescue Earth took longer than expected."Riku explained. "As you can tell, we took some company along the way..."He added. Valerie looked up at Yen Sid with a small Fluttershy-like squeak.

OOC:Where's Ashir?XD

 

Ashir didn't bow, he just stood there staring at Yen Sid who nodded at Riku. "Good. The world is cleansed at least." he hummed. He glanced at Equius, Eden, and Gexln, not giving off much of a reaction.
Eden kept her mouth shut, but her anger did spark some flames that were quickly extinguished from the heavy arcane pressure of the air.
"Report about the world." Yen Sid spoke again, a man of few words.