Video Game: Kingdom Hearts SOS: The Road To Light

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Andrew stood by and watched the castle disappear as lights came off of it and it faded to nothingness. The witch was gone so the castle was gone too. Well now his only chance of getting back home was gone. The only way back home was probably through the castle. Well if there was a way into the realm of darkness there had to be a way out it. When there was a door to somewhere there had to be a door out. Now there was only to find said door. He would have sat on the ground of the castle but it was no longer there so he could not take a break. That was when he noticed that the keyblade was still in his hand. He closed his hand around it tighter and could feel it. So the keyblade was really there. He went to take a closer look at it and light surrounded it and the keyblade disappeared. Welp he hoped that he did not have to use it anytime soon. The last fight was difficult and was odd with all of the chest and what not. He was one of the few people that could open the chest any there was no word about that.

That was when he noticed a man in white and two others right behind him. He did not feel the need to answer the man's question as other walked up to him to talk to him. Kaida Then said the other two people were Yue and Lea. Xara then said something about being gone a long time. He himself did not feel like any time had passed other then it taking forever to win the fight with the witch. He also noticed that there was a girl on the ground now. He would have helped her but he felt as if someone that knew the girl better would be a better idea to help, as he did not know the girl all that well. Shortly after this thought Luna went over to help. Then another person went over to help the girl. He did not feel the need to go over now.

That was when Aislinn asked if everyone was alright. He gave a simple nod in her direction. He was somewhat tired but that would be gone with a little rest. As this moment he wondered what he got himself into. It seemed that everyone was talking to this man in white and not much else was going on. He could just stand back and gather information. He did not know much and this was the time to get it. It seemed as these people had been together for a long time. It was clear that something had happened while the group of people he just encountered had been gone. The question was what had happened. It seemed as the question would be answered soon.

Someone named Mickey was having some issues. Was this quest going to be one fight after another? It so far seemed to be going that way. He did not want to fight all the time but it looked like it might be an ongoing thing with the way the people were talking. Then there was something that he somewhat guessed and that was that time was different in the realm of darkness. Time was moving faster outside the realm of darkness then in it. He wondered how much time had passed. If he had to guess he would say probably a few months but he had no idea because it only felt like a few hours. That was when the question of a trial came up. He had nothing to add to this as he did not go on a trial like the rest of the people here, in fact he just landed here by chance. Then there was questions about something he had no clue about. Something to do with Nequa? Or why the witch looks like Rin? He had no clue who these people were. Then someone said 'I wasn't asking you. You're a member of the order, so act like it. Report in. What happened after the fall of Central Haven?' What member? Of what order? Then there was something about Central Haven, which he had no clue about. Then there was something about hellfire members. He figured it would be best to stay out of it. This Yue person needed to slow there roll. Everything was going by so fast he almost could not keep up.

Then someone with a glass arm said something. There was something about an army of heartless and these two base. The man then continued about walking everything off. Then there was something about someone being turned to stone. The boy with a glass arm had a point they had won together and not one person brought down the witch. No single person was responsible for the witch being gone but together they had done something great. Kaida then said the boy’s name was Beuce. Then Glen had said something about being fine when Vanitas shows up. Did these people have something these people want because it seemed like everyone under the sun want to get them.

Then someone said 'We're losing, their winning- caught up.' He did not think that it was that simple, but would let the person go on. 'The more we lose, the stronger they get. Every battle they win gives them an edge... Mizrabel was a good win for us. Let's keep that streak going.' Exactly how many people were after this group because it seemed like a lot. 'Yue will be taking you all to complete your mark of mastery. And all of you are going to pass.' Wait, what? Mark of what? Um ok then. Another test? Why? It seemed like these people more than proved themselves and despite what some test said he thought they were all strong. He himself did nothing but open a chest so he probably had to take the test but the others he did not see much reason for them to.

He steeped towards the group, but said nothing. 'A game of second chances... an event where you are given 7 missions to win passage back to the realm of light.' Of course it was that it could not be simple. He just stood by without say much as he felt like he would get answers soon.

 

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Ignis watched as the fight with the witch Mizrabel ended, and she went out in a blaze of glory. Or rather, in a blaze of white light, which Ignis hoped really burned the annoying witch. After that, the castle disappeared around them, and the group ended up back outside where Dreamer was waiting, along with Lea and someone else. Ignis didn't remember seeing her before, but she figured this girl was part of the Order. Then some things happened with the girl, Yue, barking orders at Kaida, Beuce chewing Yue out, Lea acting as the middle man and convincing Yue to make them take the mark of mastery, and a couple of other things. Ignis didn't really have much time to speak out, but she had the general gist of what was going on.

When Yue talked about the mark of mastery being a game of second chances, but also being dangerous and immoral, Ignis only found the idea amusing, since it wasn't much different from some of the jobs she took back in her home world. Though maybe not so much on the "immoral" side. Ignis might have been headstrong, and a complete jerk to other people, but she certainly never acted immoral.

"Please just tell me that at some point we get to fight a reaper. I've been dying to get my revenge on one for a while now." Ignis had developed a little bit of a grudge against any sort of reaper after almost dying to one before, and Ray certainly never let her forget it.

 

Kaida looked over at Aislinn confused and the further she listened, she started getting annoyed and said, "Ya know. The only people who yelled at anyone are Beuce and Yue. And despite that, we seemed to clear that up pretty quick. I know you might have gone through your own stuff, but I don't like this act like heroes thing you've got going on. What exactly do you expect a hero to act like? Funnily enough, I don't pull off the stoic and boring twenty year old well, but good on you. Guess one of us has to hold the torch." she turned further to Aislinn and said, "Maybe, just maybe, we can still save the day and get angry sometimes? I'm all for trying the Mark of Mastery again in this Reaper's game thing too because I know that's what we need but don't tell me to get an attitude adjustment when it's a minor anger."​

 

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Xara stood with her mouth agape when Aisleen spouted something off about being heroes. Confusion settled on the purple haired's eyebrows. "Wait, what...?"

And then Kaida stepped in, seeming to put the other in her place super quick. Lots of blinking was happening today, yet Xara blinked a few times, trying to soak it all in. She raised her hand hesitantly, feeling more apprehensive being with this group than ever before. Maybe she was in the wrong crowd. "Um... I just had a question?" She piped up. She then lowered her hand and started fiddling with her fingers while mumbling under her breath, "Itwasagoodquestion. Noyelling. Wheredidthayevencomefrom? AmIevenintherightgroup? Geesthisisgettingalittleawkwardandweird."

 

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After the evil witch had been defeated, he felt a surge of power rush through him as she started erupting in light. As the witch started disappear so too did the castle around them, living up to its name, as it ended up vanishing without a trace. A bit confused by the whole light show Stratos just said, "well, that's different." While the fight had been over, the tension Stratos had felt did not lessen in the slightest. The immediate threat was no longer in front of them, sure, but Stratos couldn't help but feel a bit on edge as D'daear had seemed to vanish into thin air, completely unsure of what could have possibly happened. While he would've probably helped search for him, his attention was immediately taken by the two new people alongside Dreamer. He hadn't recognized them but they certainly seemed to know Kaida. As they chewed the girl out, Stratos had half a mind to tell the members of the now destroyed order off, only for Beuce to step in and do it for him. After that, they started talking more about how the only way out of here and, more importantly the only way they were going to win this war, was by passing something known as the "Mark of Mastery Exam."

While Stratos was a bit confused as to what this all meant, and what this dangerous and immoral Reaper's Game was. He was a bit unsure of what the to make of female Raisor's note on reapers, and was quite curious about what it was that this Lea guy had in store for Karina but, before he could ask anything, both Kaida and one of the new girls had started to butt heads a bit. After Kaida had finished, Stratos looked to the new girl and said, "we are serious about this and we have every right to be angry, and it sounds like you might be as well. But we're not pretending to be heroes here," with a chuckle he added, "well, at least not yet." With his tone getting more serious he said, "we're just here to make sure the people who wronged us don't wrong anyone ever again." He looked to Yue with determination in his eyes as he said, "so it doesn't matter if we're in your Order or not, we'll take this exam, play this game and we'll pass. And when we do, we'll be certain to stop No Heart's plans once and for all. However," the look in his face seemed to soften into more curiousity as he asked, "what's a 'Master'?"

 

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Andrew stood by and there was so much going on. He walked up to the group next Glen and Hikaru and stood there for a moment and tried to gather what was going on. He looked over to the girl that just said something about fighting a reaper and wanted revenge. He did not really like the idea of that but said nothing on the fact. "How long has this group been together?" He asked offhandedly. It seemed like they had been together and been through a lot. "It seems like this group has everyone after them for some reason or another." What exactly was going on? "Wait, so we have to go on A game of second chances? Were we have to go on 7 missions to win passage back to the realm of light?" Then there was the mark of mastery. "So what is with the mark of mastery?" Then Aislinn said, 'Enough. I might not know what is going on but snapping at each other isn't the answer.' Well then that was a little overboard. 'We have the chance to be hero's to stop other world's from sharing the same fate.' That was just a story. A hero was just make-believe. It was just a story people just wrote about. If the only way out of the realm of darkness was mark of mastery so be it. Then kaida went off on Aislinn. 'What exactly do you expect a hero to act like?' A hero? He felt the need that he had to say something but then thought it might just add more then there needed to be.

That was when someone he did not know spoke. He said something about heroes the teen did not seem like he saw himself as one. 'we're just here to make sure the people who wronged us don't wrong anyone ever again.' "That seems like a good goal. To protect others from the darkness." The teen then asked what a master was. He wanted to answer but felt that it was better to answer questions directed at him. Then the teen said, 'when we do, we'll be certain to stop No Heart's plans once and for all.' "Who? Who is No heart?" Another person that was after this group. This brought the question he kind of asked earlier. "How many people are after this group and why?" He some how ended up with a group of people that seemed to be on the run. He slightly wondered if this was any better then his homeword. At least here people were somewhat more friendly.

He looked over to Hikaru and wondered if this group was always like this. If he wanted to see a group of people not get along he could have stayed in his homeworld. He did not have much chose in the matter but still he wondered. It was just like being at home except that these people helped each other out more. He could not believe what was happening. At first the group seemed to be getting along, but now everyone seemed to be at each other.

 

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Ananta watched Karina's face twist strangely before she turned away. That actually hit a nerve with Ananta and made her feel bad. It's as if all this time, Karina really and truly didn't give a damn that Ananta was trying to help her. Of course, Ananta knew that was the truth, but the way Karina looked at her just...sort of stabbed her heart. And then her heart shattered into a million pieces before Karina stomped on the pieces and turned away.

Not wanting to stick around with Karina, Ananta walked over to Beuce and was able to hear him make a speech to that Yue girl. Ananta actually clapped at Beuce after that and listened to the whole conversation that went down. Poor Hikaru was lost and asking questions. It was still weird thinking of him as Hikaru and not Krowley, as previous, and so when she even saw him like this...that was a hard pill to swallow for her. She'd get used to it, sure. But for the moment, it was all still new.

Yawning, Ananta crossed her arms and listened to Yue tell them the way they were going to take their Mark of Mastery exam. It sounded exciting and Ananta honestly could not wait to get started. Especially since her dream was to become a keyblade master for quite some time. "I'm ready whenever you guys are." she said.

 

As Kel waited for a response to his question regarding the pin with the skull icon, Aislinn has spoken up shortly following Beuce telling Yue off. Ya know, it was really odd having someone trying be well, the voice of reason to the entire group. Not exactly something that he's seen happen often. "I wouldn't quite call us the most qualified group of heroes" a brief pause was made as he thought back to two particular examples. "But we do seems to always seem to in the middle of everything right when it happens so its not like we have much of a choice but to be heroes." Having said his peace towards Aislinn, it was time to move on to the next order more like disorder of business. "I'm not going to pretend that I know anything about the hellfire unless they all can seal our keyblades and stuff us into chests, I don't plan on being content just because I got back my keyblade. Especially since there's one person I'm tired of getting my butt handed to me by a certain person." And one way or the other, excluding going down a path of darkness just for power, Kel would get even with her.

 

As Glen weighed up his options, he thought about each scenario carefully. If he went with the latter option, he could go and find others that had been lost in the darkness, just like they had. Granted, having a keyblade would inevitably draw more heartless towards them, but he was sure they could deal with it. The others would be fine without him, they could handle themse-

As this thought passed through Glen's mind, so too did the image of his father, being slain by Dane right before him in the memory of his homeworld. Glancing a little nervously for a moment around the room as if to make sure everyone was okay, he immediately knew that he couldn't leave the others. Taking the Mark of Mastery exam was the next step in becoming stronger, and he had a score to settle with Vanitas too.

"I'm taking the trials, and I'm going to pass them. I'll prove how much stronger I've gotten, and we'll all prove to you just how wrong you are about us, Yue. Once you've watched us go through this, you'll see that No Heart doesn't stand a chance against us" Glen said confidently, summoning his keyblade and slinging it over his shoulder in a very relaxed pose as he spoke.​

 

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Listening carefully to everything that was just said, Ananta gulped and looked around at everyone. There were a lot of people that she could possibly end up partnering with, just like Yue and her partner. Ananta didn't really hate anybody in the group, but maybe some small dislike for the ones that had rubbed her in the wrong way. But that doesn't mean she'd fight with them if they ended up as partner's and had to get out of here together. Besides, maybe she could resolve any longing quarrels with them.

It also didn't help that she listened to the explanation of what a Master was. It reminded her of her Grandmother and how she passed her own keyblade onto Ananta. She tingled remembering being so afraid of the trial, but she then remembered all the times she had that were fun. It's not like she was being expected to start slaying hundreds of behemoth's like her Grandmother wanted....this was just going to be an exam to see how well she'd fare being a master, right?

"Okay, I'm up for it. I wanna be a keyblade master." Ananta said. "I've got a lotta reasons for wanting this. Lots more than I can even describe. So sign me up." she said, stepping forward from the group.

 

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Andrew stood there when Yue said something. 'The Reaper's game is a very cruel and unforgiving gambit. The success rate is actually less than 2%. Meaning only one in fifty usually make it out alive.' Well that was unfortunate. Why not just find another means to get out of the realm of darkness? It seemed like a unnecessary risk. The man in white then said. 'That hellfire club that Mizrabel was a part of set up the Lockdown procedure. This means that individual means of travel have been crossed off the list. If Yue and I were to travel through darkness, that means we could only transport ourselves.' It was beginning to sound like that this mark of mastery was the only way out of the realm of darkness. Well it looked like he was going to have to be apart of the mark of mastery. 'Only once all seven towers have been destroyed can you travel freely again.' He had not seen any sign of towers in the realm of darkness but that did not mean they were not there. 'So, since we took down hers... We still have to find the other SIX, right?' Hikaru asked. "So why not stick together and take down the rest of the towers? Mizrabel was hard enough with all of us and the others I do not see them being any easier. Then move onto the mark of mastery." He suggested.

'Upon completing the mark of mastery, the masters that pass the trial are able to use a multitude of new abilities. They can extract hearts, take on apprentices, even pass on keyblades to other people.' It seemed like a lot of work just to get out of the realm of darkness. With the rest of his questions ignored he did not see much point in asking in the first place. The Glen said. 'I'm taking the trials, and I'm going to pass them. I'll prove how much stronger I've gotten, and we'll all prove to you just how wrong you are about us, Yue. Once you've watched us go through this, you'll see that No Heart doesn't stand a chance against us.' There was that name again No Heart. He still did not know who No Heart was. It did not look like he was going to get any more answers. Andrew stood there not sure what to do or say. He walked away from the group of people slightly to think. Then came a question, what did he want from this? Turning back to the others another person seemed to want to go on the mark of mastery. He knew so little about what was going on compared to the others he had no reason to be here. So far he, did very little to help the group and they seemed to have gotten along fine before he got there and would probably get along fine if he left.

He looked at the others around him. Despite not getting any answers he felt this odd attraction towards them like he was met to be here. Back home he got attention in people wanting to hurt him and here he got ignored. He was not sure what he preferred. "What can I do? I have not been much help so far and I just ended up here. I feel like i am probably met to be here."

 

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Finally! It was starting to make sense now. She smiled in gratitude to the Dreamer for making things more clear and mouthed a silent 'Thank you' as more explanations were being laid out.

When she heard Yue speak about the trials, Xara perked up and listened intently. The girl still had doubts about herself and how capable she was with the keyblade versed everyone else standing around, but if this trial was the only way out and was guarenteed to make her stronger... yeah, she didn't want to stay in the realm of darkness anymore. She was done with it.

Two already spoke up and gave moving speeches. Xara's hand shot up and she waved enthusiastically. "Me three! I mean, aha, count me in for the Master Exams."

She heard a blond boy speak up and glanced over at him. He was hesitant too about the whole thing. Xara scooted over to AJ and gave him a friendly smile. "Join us! We're all gonna be here together, and we get partners! I think..." The tween then nudged him in the shoulder. "Hey, if someone like me who got stuck in the Relam of Darkness for like most of the story qualifies to take the Mastery Exam, then I bet you're qualified too."

Xara glanced over at the other group who was comforting the girl who was stuck in the bubble. She heard bits and pieces of the conversation, enough to understand they all kinda had options. "Or if you want, I think they're trying to set up a search party over there to find people in this icky place.... either way, you're needed in one group or the other."

 

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Ignis listened as Yue explained a little more about the Reaper's Game. Basically it seemed like it was their only option out of there, but the odds were stacked against there favor. Incredibly stacked. It certainly wasn't an easy choice for a person to make. On the other hand, she had gone through her whole life facing off with the odds, so why should this time be any different?

When Yue asked if they would go with the trials or go with lea, Ignis didn't even think about her answer. "Sorry, but I'm not backing down from this. If I backed out now, I'd be giving up on everything I fought for up to this point, not too mention what I'd be giving up in the future. I'm not going to fall because some statistic says so."

Ignis didn't really care too much about being a master or anything like that. If she had to, she'd keep fighting even without passing the trials. Fighting an uphill battle her whole life has taught her to fight with whatever you've got. Though a little help along the way would be nice, and in this case, she'd take the help.

 

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Stratos listened as Yue had gone on to explain what it was they were doing. Whatever this Reaper Game was was something that was incredibly dangerous, and probably something that people never partook in willingly. With only two percent of the people actually completing it, the odds were pretty stacked against them. But, the odds were never in there favor, and he didn't really expect them just to start. Besides, given what Yue had said, this was a necessary next step in their journey if they were going to stop, well, everyone. Hellfire Club. Nequa. Aux. Vanitas. No Heart. All of them. Resting his keyblade on his shoulder he said, "yeah, you can count me in as well." There was no way he'd pass up on this chance, not after everything he had to endure and go through to get here. Light-heartedly he said, "besides, if only two percent pass, then that just means 14 out 700 do as well. And with all the people in the universe, I think that's a statistic we can meet." Looking to the new guy who seemed to be in complete confusion as to what was going on, he followed up on Xara's response to him. "Yeah, don't sell yourself short. You handled yourself pretty well against the witch, not sure we could've done it without you." With that, he briefly glanced over to Karina, wondering how she was taking this whole thing.

 

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The icy stare that Yue gave her as she mentioned rules made Kaida glare back. Now everyone was setting her off today. Why specifically her? She had been following most of the rules up to this point. If anything, she should have been looking at Hikaru. Kaida crossed her arms and listened to everyone else's resolve. Kaida didn't feel it, she'd failed this twice previously after all, and both times she thought she was going to do just fine and failed them. Kaida looked at everyone and she tightened her hand around the thicker part of her arm as she asked, "Yue... what happens if we fail?" that was all that was on her mind. She thought she'd already conquered her fear of failure back in the homeworld... but this was setting her off again. She looked up trying to hide her fear and asked, "If we don't pass, what happens to us?" she was starting to shake the slightest bit at the thought.

 

Beuce didn't even need to think about it. He'd been planning to do this from the start, and it just happened to line up with his intentions. "Well, aren't I a lucky duck. Getting out of here also coincidentally involves becoming a keyblade master? Hey Kaida, looks like we'll be able to go after those guardians sooner than we thought." He gave her a pat on the shoulder, and a reassuring nod. "I can tell you that the more think about what if, the more likely it is to happen. Don't worry. The difference between this time and last time, now you've got a partner. Even if you don't think that you can do it, you'll have someone else there to pick up the slack. So don't think about what happens if you fail. Just think about how you're going to carry your end, and trust your partner will do their job. Believe me, we'll all make it through here in one piece. And when we do, we'll take out the hellfire club, the guardians, the apprentices, no heart, all of them. We've proven that we got stronger already just by beating Mizrabel. We're only going to keep growing from here on, so all we gotta do is keep our eyes forward." It occurred to him no one actually answered the blonde kid's question. He began to count on his fingers, muttering numbers under his breath. "There's six members of the hellfire club left...No Heart and his apprentices are four...So, Ten that we know of...? Yeah. Ten i think. Ten? Ten. Yeah. Probably ten." ​

 

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With both the Reaper's Game and the remaining members of the Hellfire Club standing as obstacles in their path, it was certainly wasn't going to be easy to get past all that. At this point however, things not being easy for them was par for course. They did just have to fight one of the members of the Hellfire Club while slowly regaining their lost abilities and skills. Then came some of the perks of being a master, all of which sounded appealing all things considered.

Lastly they were given a choice to either take part of the Reaper's Game or go hunting for lost drifters in the darkness. Kel looked over towards Karina after the mentioning of the 'angry one'. He still had no clue just what exactly had happened with her while he was in the door. She may have been strong physically, but she certainly wasn't the most emotionally stable and her new path was apparently set in stone without her keyblade. In his case however there was still something that he needed to do, this time around wasn't referring to getting even Nequa, and the whatever abilities that came from being a master would make that task all the easier. "Bring on the game, I can handle whatever it throws at me."