Kingdom Hearts: Los Sincorazones Book I Medieval Europe

[Azrael]

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KINGDOM HEARTS INFINITIES l LOS SINCORAZONES

Title: Los Sincorazones

POV: Third person

Author: Ziz

Genre: Adventure/Friendship/Family

Summary: This story takes place in a KHified version of Earth during the era of the European Reinassance (late 1400s to 1600s). Since many Disney stories are already in a medieval timeframe or can be slightly twisted to fit it, they will mostly be incorporated in this saga. This is also applied to the Final Fantasy cameos already made their mark as distinct AU characters in the KH universe such as Aerith Gainsborough or Auron will be put into the story as well as many unique and new ones. Along with that, there will be original characters from time to time as well as characters from real-life history bumping in if the following three can not fit. I want you to please enjoy the adventure of this new Ventus-inspired protagonist.
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P R O L O G U E :

Thinking of you, wherever you are.

We pray for our sorrows to end,

and hope that our hearts will blend.

Now I will step forward to realize this wish.

And who knows,

Starting a new journey may not be so hard.

Or maybe it has already begun.

There are many worlds,

but they share the same sky

one sky, one destiny.

-Liam Shakespierre 1588 in La Tragedia de Romero y Julieta.

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He wore a heavy, dark piece of armor that made sure to cover any opening that would expose any sort of weakness during battle. His palms and wrists were covered with copper metal gauntlets that were painted to be completely pitch black. The blond boy opened those blue orbs of his lazily awaking from what he had surmised to had been a dream as his silver necklace, shaped as a heart with spikes in each corner, dangled above his neck. After taking in the seagreen of his surroundings, his eyes widened in puzzlement.

"I've been having these weird dreams lately," said the blond as he thought each word within the confines of his complex, intricate mind before he spoke them out. "I had dreams of giving up the mercernary life and become a true hero serving the world...like the Templar Keybearers that existed long ago. It's fun to have unattainable dreams but I wonder if any of this is real or not? If it's real, can I really become a hero?" He seemingly asked himself wondering for an answer to be given to him.

"A scattered dream that is like a nightmare that will be soon be realized. A nightmare that will be soon be realized that is like a scattered dream. I am going to align the pieces of our memories up...yours and mines."
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The environment he floated through being empty except for the pulsating light above.

"So much to do...There is so little time. Do not be afraid. The door is still shut."

The boy looked out over the features of the maiden imprinted in the stainless glass yet again as he searched for the source of the enigmatic, feminine voice.

"Step forward, hero of the light. Do you have the capabilities to take up your role?" the voice asked him. Looking up into the spiraling darkness above, the boy gasped at the sudden ringing of a trapezoid-shaped stone raising itself out of the ground to his left. It had a royal design covering its surface, and it tinged as a small circle of blue light just above it revealed a twirling black and red shield. The shield gleamed a signature shape of mouse ears at its center.

"The power sleeps within you, my shining hero of light," The voice told him as yet another trapezoid stone raised itself out of the painting of the young maiden in similar fashion to the one above it at his right. The blond boy watched as another flash of blinding blue light revealed a green and brown staff, a blue orb of mouse ears being its tip as it floated solemnly above the unmoving stone.

"If you give thy weapon the form that you choose...," the voice continued systematicly. Knowing that it had happened twice before already, the boy was not surprised as another trapezoid-shaped stone raised itself directly in front of him. This time a sword adorning a slender white blade and a golden handle appeared. The handle's symbol red button carried the same symbol as its fellow weapons, the black set resembling the ears of a mouse.

"The weapons of the light will each give you various types of strengths that you need through the journey that will be partaken againist the threat of darkness that will soon overwhelm this realm soon if you do not accept your fate," The feminine voice said finishing its own sentence.

Rushing up and jerking the sword into his outstretched hand, he held it up to take it all in. All thoughts of his friends fading to the back of his mind as he was informed of the potential of the cutting metal.

"That by which you hold in your hands is the power of the warrior. It will grant you invincible courage that will help you during times of great distress. The sword is a weapon of incredible destruction...Is this the power that you want to utilize in your journey?"

"Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?". Still wondering what was really the point to this in the first place, he stumbled up to the red shield and grasped the handle on its back in the palm of his right hand.

"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all... You give up this power?" the voice asked him. How could he give up something that meant so much? It had the power to repel all that stood in its way and it symbolized the kindness shared between friends... 'How could he ever give up something that stood for his friends?' he asked himself.

The blond quickly shook his head as he let the shield release itself from his fingers and resume its rotation in the air as he turned to the last untouched artifact.

"The power of the mystic which was the weapon of inner strength. A staff of pure wonder and ruin...will you sacrifice this power?" it questioned him as he took the mystical staff into his hand. The boy knew that he couldn't give up the shield's value, so he guessed this would have to do. The object disappeared as just as the sword had as he nodded again.

"You've chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?" asked the mysterious voice.

Thoughts of a strong, smiling hero faded through his mind's eye as he thought of himself as a warrior. He'd never be as powerful as a mystic than if he were a warrior. Smiling proudly, he nodded to the voice's words.

The maiden's features shuddered as the pedestals fell through, causing him to lose standing and fall to his hands and knees himself. He watched as the pedestals caved through the painting just as they had come...but he didn't expect it when the outside of the painting began to shatter into pieces inwards to where he was.

The boy tried to push himself to his feet and jump for safety, but he was taken by gravity before he had a chance to do anything. Where would he have jumped for anyway? He couldn't help but feel sick as he fell with the glass shards. It was if he were riding a roller coaster, but faster. He couldn't keep his eyes closed as he noticed another platform swinging into view below him.

He held his arms up defensively, expecting to crash hard into the solid surface, but noticed that he was slowing to a stop once more. Landing smoothly and painlessly to his feet, he stared upon another young woman.

Her beauty was crafted in blues and whites surrounding her golden head. She wore blue earrings that connected to one another through a head strap that kept her golden hair up in a bun. She was embellished in a blue, almost white, gown that led to her feet bottoms, matching gloves hovering over the sides as she glanced down at her own dress as if she too was amazed.

Blue circles surrounding her were painted with pictures of castles, carriages, and horses and also gave views on many different positions of a dancing man and woman. A single glass slipper, a heart heading its figure, stood on its own in a blue circle at the edge of the beautiful glass pane.

As the blond finished examining the newest platform, he looked around expectantly. A physical form slowly came to rest in his palm, as the gleaming sword he had chosen beforehand came to his hand.

"You've gained the power to fight," the voice said as he swiped the sword violently in front of himself.

"It seems that you had gotten the handle of it. Use this power to protect yourself and others. There will be times you will have no choice but fight the darkness," the voice exclaimed just as the boy noticed a mysterious imprint appear on the maiden's dress. It was completely flat and black, at least it WAS. The creature had pulled itself from the floor, like a shadow coming to life, just as another appeared flattened out beside it.

They were little creatures with bright yellow eyes and strangely resembled the shape of an ant. It had two antennas popping out of its head and it walked on all fours.

"Keep that light of yours burning strongly," said the voice as a final word of caution as it left the boy to fight the ant-like creatures, who had increased in numbers. "At times, the light that is burning so strongly in your heart will be the only glimmer of hope in this world of lightless shadows."

He shot out, hitting one in the face just as another hit him in the back with its front leg. He continued to strike the creatures with his faithful blade until, finally, he defeated one, who dissolved into tiny green spheres. Feeling defeated, the rest of the shadow creatures molded into the floor and disappeared. He touched the green spheres that remained in their wake. It seemed as if they were absorbed into his body making him feel brighter.

Just as he thought he was safe, the anonymous voice shouted, "Behind you!"

The blond boy turned to see that the creatures hadn't fled after all. Once he had only one creature left, he saw that green spheres had been sprawled across the platform. He turned back to see the creature flatten itself into the glass, and was shocked when the entire platform was engulfed in what seemed to be liquid darkness.

He watched as the platform disappeared beneath his feet leaving him to slowly sink into the surrounding dark, wrestling to free himself. He closed his eyes in fear of being swallowed by the shadows and when he opened them, he stopped struggling. He was on yet another platform, what was the point of all this, to scare him out of his mind?

As he stood he saw that this platform also had a woman gracing its features. This woman stood out compared to the maidens he had seen so far. She had long red hair flowing aside her beautiful smiling face with closed eyes. There was a large blue bow in the back of her hair. She wore a dress crossed with a long-sleeved shirt. The shirt, which was of a cerulean blue, flowed across her arms showing that the sleeves were slighty oversized where they ended at her wrists. Her chest was covered with a black corset that ended in a large triangle edge at her waste, with the top having a smaller triangle cut out of the front middle. Where the corset ended a darker shade of blue began the dress that reached down to her ankles, where black heeled shoes were visible. She had her hands clasped together over her neck, as if she had no voice.

Around her head and waist was the usual circle, that the boy had come to notice appeared in every platform so far. The circles, which all were colored the same as the platform, a dark blue green, held a castle unlike the one on the last platform. This castle had towers and juts and turns going in all directions as if the people didn't have a need to walk along the rock pathways atall. Three of the six circles shown the sun setting.

Two circles at her waist held two ocean type animals. The circle directly to the right of her waist, but not in the outer circles, held a seperate fish that had three stripes and a spike of hair. The mirroring circle on the left contained a seagull that held a fork in it's right wing.

To the girl's right, on the outer edge, was a young man that seemed about the same age as the woman. He had deep, dark eyebrows and perfectly combed thick hair, though he had a plain shirt. The circle beneath the man encircled an older man who had his hair tied back and was dressed in a proper suit with a dull look on his face.

Across to the left side of the girl was a man who's face was stained with age. He had a long beard, with a spiked crown resting atop his head. His chest was fully exposed but his lower body was cut off by the circle. He held a weapon that had three sharp points spread across it's top, the middle standing tallest. The circle below the man had an unusual crab. The crab had huge pincers and a large mouth. He was staring anxiously up at the girl in the middle.

Directly below the girl were four circles that also stood out. The two circles nearest the center held in each a woman. In one was a beautiful woman with long dark hair, her face carrying a strange smirk. She adorned around her neck a seashell that had three cracks on its edge. She wore across her lithe, thin body a wedding dress. She looked strangely like the woman in the center.

Across from her was one of the ugliest women that the boy had ever seen. She had long slick hair, that floated above her head. Her skin was darkened and her face was covered in eyeliner and lipstick with a mole on her lower right cheek. Thick lines of age circled her cracked smile and peircing eyes. She held her hands in front of her, clasped smoothly together looking directly forwards. Her overweight body was joined with the form of an octopus, her tentacles wrapped around her plump arms. Strangely, she wore the same seashell necklace as the woman across from her.

The outer two circles of these women were identical. They each held a slimy looking eel with a thin line of hair like a mohawk going straight across the top and bottom of its snake-like body. The remaining circles held a various assortment of underwater animals.

At the top of the platform, just above the maiden's blue bow was a door. It was a peculiar door as it had no back to open to and it was see through seeming to be only an illusion. It had designs paralled on each side of the two handles at it's center, all of which blended with the burgundy. On each side, directly beside the handle, there was a jut inwards, that looked as if an oval piece had been cut out of each side.

As the boy walked to it and reached to pull the handle and lurch the door open, his hand fazed right through it.

"Damn it. This thing won't open for me," he said to himself and turned around to see a light shine downwards from above. It had an indent into it where a keyhole should be, it was the same shape as the mouse ears on his sword.

The boy ran towards the chest and, with all his might, wrapped his hands around the edge and pulled upwards to open it. It didn't budge an inch. He examined the chest and finally noticed the indent in the middle. He pressed the similar shape on his sword to the indent, and suprisingly, the chest's lid popped open with a snapping sound.

He reached in to find two oval-shaped robin egg-colored jewels. He knew they probably went to the door so he ran back up to the door. He pressed in one of the oval-shaped jewels into each empty spot on the door, each side shuddering with light and focusing, appearing more solid, as he did so.

Once the door appeared more realistic, the boy reached out and grasped each of the handles and pulled. From the gap between the two sides, a solid white beam of light shot out. The boy let go of the handles and backed away, squinting his eyes as he looked into the light, but the doors moved of their own accord.

As he looked around, the blond boy noticed that three people sat around him in a semi circle staring straight at him. All of them wore black coats and kept their hoodies on preventing their enigmatic identities from ever being leaked to the blond. He could not tell what they were thinking concerning him; the boy truly felt afraid by this point of time.

"Hold on. The door won't open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself," the voice said to him, the first time he had heard it since he had phased through the platform with the blue dressed young lady.

The boy decided to just talk to these people. Maybe they knew some answers to what was happening right now. He walked forward to the girl. Before he could open his mouth she had asked him a question.

"What is most important to you?"

"Well...," The blond thought about the question asked by the hooded man until he answered, "It would have to be my honor."

"Is honor that important to you?"

"What do you fear most?" The questions were getting more personal but the boy did not mind answering.

"I fear losing my friends."

"Is losing your friends such a big deal?"

Not expecting anything different, he wasn't suprised when he had been asked another question.

"What is your greatest desire out of the life you live now?" Out of all the questions asked so far, that seemed to be the simplest one to answer. He knew the answer to the question; the answer was the focus of the strange dreams he had been experiencing in the past few days.

"I want to become a real hero," replied the boy confidently as he placed his hands on his waist.

"To become a real hero, huh?" The last being in the black hood said as he began to disappear back into the aura of the darkness. "I guess unattainable dreams are the best kind...," The black hooded man disappeared completely into the darkness as he said those last few words to the kid.

"Very interesting indeed of this information about you. Your journey begins at the break of dawn. As long as the sun is shining, your journey should be a pleasant one," said the unworldly, enigmatic voice to the boy. "The day you will open the door is both far off and very near."

The unknown people wearing the black coats surrounding the little area the boy stood inside had disappeared back to the advancing shadows. As he reached the latter, the ship once again disappeared, fading into another platform.

"What the heck is going on?" said the boy to himself.

No one was there to respond at that moment, not even the owner of the voice.

The maiden strawn across this platform adorned a blue gown detailed with parallel lines along the entire length, originating at the white collar wrapped loosely around her slouched shoulders, and was encompassed by her extensive yellow locks. Her eyes were still and she seemed to be sleeping. The only people pictured atop the red platform were three stout women, who had no lines to detail them in the circular highlights placed above the maiden's head. The outer circles were of red-petaled roses which were similar to the single red rose the maiden burdened in her elegant hands which were rested upon her chest.

Huge briars with sharp, black thorns were wrapped around the circles with roses.

He walked forwards to look for anything that might need to be accomplished. As he did, the creatures that attacked him before appeared out of the ground and surrounded him from all directions. The sword appeared, once again, in the palm of the boy's right hand. He attacked, lurching forward to catch one off guard.

The rest doing an awkward dance as they advanced on him. He spun around, slashing the sword against any creature within his reach. Slowly, the number of the shadow creatures minimized.
As he cut the flesh of the last creature and it disappeared, leaving green spheres to join the littered floor of the platform, a light shown down from the darkness above, creating a small circle. He walked to the circle of light and, as he stepped upon the light, he felt better than he had ever been. He guessed the circle of light healed you of all ailments once you touch it.

Suddenly, the circle of light moved itself until it hit the darkness just beyond the end of the platform, where the maiden's head lay, and created a rising stair of rainbow steps through the darkness. He ran forward, tested the steps to make sure that they wouldn't fall by jumping on them, and then ran up the stair of colors until he had traveled to another platform.

The platform was a bright yellow, standing out beside the darkness. The maiden amidst the circles surrounding her had deep, brown hair that flared against her pale, white skin. Her dress, which began from the yellow fabric held loosely around her shoulders, began with a yellow corset and endng with an expanded dress that had gentle, curved patterns in each row of fabric. Her arms, like many before her, were covered with yellow gloves that originated just above her elbows.

A dark figure protruded from behind her. It was hairy with short horns where ears should have been, fangs, a fluffy tail, and a scornful face. He was cloaked with a purple cloth that was kept together with a round brooch.

The circles above the maiden's and beast's heads were of several furniture and household items. Each seemed to be alive in it's own way. A royal looking clock with short stubs for legs, its clock hands portrayed a mustache to his annoyed face with its handles against its sides in a motherly manner.
To the clock's opposite direction was a candelabra. It looked to be made of brass, it's eyes at the center candle, and body slouched with its two other candle arms hanging hopelessly at its sides, all this making it seem to have failed at something of extreme importance.

Below the ornamental clock was a plump tea pot, looking as perturbed as the candle holder. Its eyes closed in a graceful, excepting manner with a small handle and a top that was curved, with a sphere seated atop it.

Across from the tea pot was a tea cup which looked to be, obviously, ornamented the same as the tea pot. With a small chip in it's handle as the nose, it had it's center puffed out like a man would his chest in a proud stance with a smug smile.

The circles lining the edge of the platform were filled with a collection of live kitchenware, cleaning items, and other comforting things consisting of cutlery, footstools, feather dusters, china plates, birds, and drinking glasses. The circle at the top of the platform held a glass cover that contained a red petaled rose, with the circle at the bottom containing wilted red petals.

The boy slowly walked forward to the center awaiting instructions from the unknown voice, "The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes."

He looked back to his shadow as the mysterious voice spoke about it. The large and peculiar black depths of his shadow began to rise. He jumped backwards, but his shadow didn't follow him.

"Do not show fear in front of the shadows," said the voice although that was easier said than done for the spiky haired blond boy. These tiny creatures of the darkness may not seem much to the average person but they proved themselves to the boy that they are deadlier than they had appeared initially.

The boy turned and fled for safety, but there was nowhere else to go. The rainbow stairs had long since vanished. He turned around just as the creature had rose to its full form. The sword that he had been using appearing in his hands as he stared.

The creature was pitch black, with blue shading because of the light of the platform shining against its skin. Its chest contained a cut out heart so that you could see through it. It had claw-like fingers, spiky wings, glowing yellow eyes, zig-zag feet, and unruly hair that mimicked the boy's.

It rose its hand to grasp thin air as colored sparks surrounded the hand and plunged it into the platform. Swirling darkness formed around its fingers. The boy knew he had to fight, even if it did seem hopeless. He climbed up the creature's lowered hand up to its head and striked with the mighty sword.

It was hit in the eyes and it rose quickly into the air clutching them in voiceless agony. The boy feel from the creature's hand to meet the ant-like creatures from before down onto the platform. He guessed they had come from the swirling darkness, because they were as dark as it had been.

They attacked before he even touched the ground, jumping up to meet him. He fell flat yet stood up quickly and began to whack them with his sword when he was hit hard in the back. Stumbling, he turned around, but kept moving for fear of being attacked by the ant-like creatures again.

The former shadow of his had recovered from being slashed in the eyes, and was on both it's knees, arms spread wide. Purple light was shining from the heart shape in his chest. He was wondering what had hit him so hard when the shadow released several moving globes of purple light. The color blurring backwards like fire as it flew, it headed straight toward him along with its companions.

He jumped up and striked the globes with the side of his sword so that they flew back to their creator. Once again, the enemy creature was hit in the eyes, but this time light poured outwards, consisting of the same color of purple as the globes. It jerked outwards and all around like lightning as the creature stood up and tried to cover the injury, stomping on it's creations, the ant-like creatures, as it did so.

As the light ceased the creature stared down at him menacingly. It formed fists with its hands and punched at the boy's place on the platform. The boy, instinctly, jumped backwards and was suprised when the sword disappeared from his right hand. The boy barely glanced at the retreating sword before he was forced to bound backwards again as the creature kneeling in front of him lurched forwards to attack.

He fell to the floor from his leap, staring at the sinister creature above. It stared ominously back at him as darkness began to swirl unexpectedly around the boy's form. "You need not be afraid of the shadows," said the enigmatic feminine voice reassuringly.

The darkness began to entangle around the boy's legs as he lay there.

"You will hold the mightiest weapon of all that no other power can annihilate so easily."

The boy, finally noticing the danger, turned to search for safety as the darkness then surrounded his entire body. He wallowed in it as he reached to grasp anything that could help him pull himself free.

"So do not forget what I had said to you here."

The boy sat hopelessly as the darkness curled itself over his face unable to provide any resistance.

"You are the one who will open the door to the light and save me...the whole world for that matter from the darkness."

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[Hikari]

I like it :D
some grammatical things, but they can easily be fixed and are extremely minor so don't worry bout it
i like the whole medieval concept you've got going on :D

[TwilightRiku_13]

Dude, Ziz, I gotta tell you, I'm really loving this story. I am really loving the vibe you are giving off in this story; it definitely feels as if this story is going to be dark, which I love. So, as for the princesses, we have Ariel, Aurora, and Belle so far. Did you say who the princess was on the first platform was? I don't think you did. Oh well, all will be revealed in due time. Anyway, great job again, and I look forward to more.

[Azrael]

It will certainly be the darkest of my fanfics and will make each of my one shots in La Compilation look like children's stuff in comparison.

Unlike the KH games who have Xehanort or one of his components be it Heartless or Nobody, this antagonist for this adventure is original.

(Thread bump)

[Chi-Chan]

I love it. I loved how you used the words of Willaim Shakespear into the story and changed some of the diaolage of kingdom hearts. Personally, I don't notice the spelling and grammar mistakes...I love dark stories and this defaintly seems to be going in that direction..

Keep going! :D

[roxas001]

Bloody Brilliant fic Ziz XD
I really loved it :D Keep on writing more, because you have some serious talent.
Loved the medievil theme of the story aswell

[madammina]

Now just finish this one!

Oh, and HCTB is up ^-^

Anyway... thanks for making Ariel a PoH, one of my pet peeves with KH1...

[The Future]

Nice!! I like it Ziz!! Keep 'em coming.

[Azrael]

(Bump) I think I can post the next chapter by either tomorrow or Sunday although it won't be as long as the prologue.

[Ordeith]

Alrighty, Ziz, you have requested my critique, so you shall have it.

It's fairly decent, but what you've written here seems to me to be more of a skeleton or draft than the full version of a story. Minor grammatical errors aside, there isn't anything amiss, per se, but the entire story seems to move at too fast a pace for my taste; the prologue of a story is what creates first impression to readers, and it is very important that the impression it makes is good enough to keep their interest. This prologue just needs a bit more meat on it to capture the reader's interest; as of now, it's just a skeleton. Your audience wishes to visualize the events and environment with as much detail as possible.

What this piece is in the most need of is detail to place some meat on those literary bones. Also, a small tip, I'd try to make paragraphs a bit longer instead of broken up into small segments.

[TwilightRiku_13]

Hooray!!! New update!!! So, Bentos is the name of the protaganist. I like that name; it is different. Who was the mysterious girl? I am really curious about her. Anyway, great update Ziz, and I look forward to more.

[Azrael]

Originally Posted by TwilightRiku_13

Hooray!!! New update!!! So, Bentos is the name of the protaganist. I like that name; it is different. Who was the mysterious girl? I am really curious about her. Anyway, great update Ziz, and I look forward to more.

This is not the final version of the second chapter.

Remember, think of this fanfic as Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 along with Chain of Memories meshed in with some 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep in medieval Europe.

[Azrael]

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KINGDOM HEARTS INFINITIES l LOS SINCORAZONES

Title: Los Sincorazones

POV: Third person

Author: Ziz

Genre: Adventure/Friendship/Family

Summary: This story takes place in a KHified version of Earth during the era of the European Reinassance (late 1400s to 1600s). Since many Disney stories are already in a medieval timeframe or can be slightly twisted to fit it, they will mostly be incorporated in this saga. This is also applied to the Final Fantasy cameos already made their mark as distinct AU characters in the KH universe such as Aerith Gainsborough or Auron will be put into the story as well as many unique and new ones. Along with that, there will be original characters from time to time as well as characters from real-life history bumping in if the following three can not fit. I want you to please enjoy the adventure of this new Ventus-inspired protagonist, Bentos Lancaster.
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CHAPTER I: A DREAM OR NOT?

When he first arrived in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople,

young Bentos Lancaster was just a mere boy of fifteen years

unknowingly going of the duty as a mercernary

bound to no lord to become a true hero,

and wield the legendary Keyblade.

- Juan Diego Sacramo of Veracruz, 1567 in La Historia de los Llavespladores
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It was a dark world, and it if wasn’t for the light that shone from low-set moon, the place would have been in complete darkness. The water that spanned out from the shoreline of the beach reflected the moonlight, brightening the world even more than if it was plain sand as far as the eye could see. On one side of the beach, a figure decked completely in black appeared from a portal that opened from a large vertically inclined rock, and from the opposite side of the beach, another figure in an identical trench coat, sitting upon a horizontally inclined rock, turned her head as the newly arrived individual approached.

“"I am glad that you have arrived Bentos,” the sitting figure said, her voice medium-pitched and soft, indicating that the figure was female, a young girl at that give or take around her early years of adolescence. "I am not sure how but I crossed over and went beyond the concept of Time and Space. In the time that I had been outside the passage of time, I have been in contact...with the one who looks a lot like you. It was mere a concidence that I had bumped into you again," continued the enigmatic man who was looking ahead briefly before returning his gaze to the being beside him. "The similarities between you and him are quite surprising. You really are the hero of the light born again, the Rokusasu Neos has returned."

The standing figure, identified by the sitting figure as Bentos, was silent for a brief moment, staring back at the smaller girl. ‘''Who are you?'' was the person’s response, completely ignoring the girl's comments, or rather asking because of them, though the words went unheard by the dreamer. It was soon followed by another inquiry by the standing figure known as Bentos, "Are you the person who spoke me to me earlier last night in my dreams?"

"Perhaps I am or perhaps I am not, that is for me to know and for you to discover on your own. For now or at least until your journey begins in the break of dawn, I bid you farewell."

Light soon engulfed the boy and everything had returned to nothing.

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He slowly opened his eyes to the bright yellow-orange sky, slowly lowering them to look out onto the clear blue ocean from where he sat onboard the deck of the ship he was on. The tan-skinned boy let out a yawn and leaned backwards to rest his head on the pillow set againist the wooden barrel behind him. He heard the cries of birds chirping as they soared above him way up in the skies accompanying the clear white clouds that circled the boy and the ship. The weather was ideal and perfect for sailing, not a worry to be concerned about or so it seemed to be.

"I wonder what that was all about back there. It was one hell of a dream but which parts were the dream?" The young teenage youth questioned himself as he rested his head on the pillow. His thoughts were still revolving around the strange dream that he had just woke up from. The dreams concerning the mysterious girl in the black coat and the legend of the key-shaped weapon of light known to him as the Keyblade. "That girl...something about her seems so familiar? Why did even want to speak me through my dreams?" He heard the sounds of waves rolling in and out hitting againist the sides of the ship tilting the wooden vessel left and right. "Maybe I shouldn't even bother drinking that much ale before I go to sleep; it gives me those crazy dreams."

As he laid his head down and closed his eyes, the blond-haired boy unknowingly came face to face with a familiar chocolate haired, muscular man dressed in full battle armor above him. The chocolate haired man chuckled sinisterly and moved his head forward.

"Yo buddy, get up!" shouted the man at the blond's ears.

He jumped up, "Whoa!"

Bentos turned around on his knees to face him as he laughed out loudly, "I can't believe that you jumped up in the air like that!" He stood up to his full height of over six feet tall and had his hands behind his back, looking to the sky. "Benny, I am so disappointed yet not surprised at all to see you here snoozing while everyone else onboard is busy working. I knew from the get go that I would find you here, you lazy boy." He offered his hand to the blond lying on his pillow in order to help him stand up. "You should be glad that it would me waking you up and not someone like Jafar or Selim?"

"Oh Terai! Why don't you go with Akua and leave me the hell alone so I can get some shut eye for once?" The boy groaned restlessly to his brown-haired companion as he threw the pillow at the chocolate haired friend of his.

"Someone mentioned my name...?" asked a voice.

Bentos facepalmed, "Oh great, it's Akua."

"Is our fellow buddy still being the dreamer?" The bluenette girl inquired of Tera as she threw her arms behind her head and rested againist the wall.

Terai nodded affirmatively, "You bet he still is but I'm not surprised at all."

But it was not just a dream!" shouted the blond boy at both his friends in defense. 'But then,' he thought, 'it couldn't have been real?' "Or was it? I don't know," said the boy, completely unsure. "What was that place?" he asked aloud, hoping that maybe someone out of the two could offer some sort of explanation for him. "It all seems bizarre to me."

"Yeah sure, whatever you say Ben," said both Akua and Terai disbelievingly in unison refusing to believe their younger friend. The two warriors walked past him towards the front end of the wooden vessel to have a better view of their destination. Bentos cursed at them under his breath for not believing in him.

"Say, guys, what was our old home like? You know, where all three of us grew up and spent our childhood," he asked, remembering that they had been raised in this strange castle where he lived, instead of growing up there. "You guys?"

"Strange question coming from you Benny, why you ask?" inquired Terai, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"It's just that it's been like...five years since I've been there...yet I don't seem to remember almost anything about it."

"I've told you before, I don't remember anything at all," Akua said with her hands now at her sides. She tilted her head towards Terai, "What about you? Do you remember what was our old home like?"

"It's all a blank to me...I apologize if I can't remember," answered Terai. "I've told you and Ben before time and time again, I don't remember anything at all concerning our past lives. It's all irrevelant to me, we should focus on living in the present rather than sticking my foot in the past."

"But are you don't remember nothing at all?" he asked slowly, seeing that this was a personal question although it would be a personal question for him as well. The young fifteen year old English mercernary knight Bentos did not find it as intrusive as his two older friends were making it seem to be. It was their past he was talking about. "Akua, are you sure you don't remember?" asked Bentos as he turned towards her, hoping for some sort of answer.

"Nothing," she said, her head nodding as she answered, as if she was trying to get herself to believe it.

"You ever wished that you wanted to go back?" Bentos asked, watching their back.

"Well, I'm happy here," she chimed cheerfully and glanced at Terai, "plus I don't think Terai-kun would like it if I was gone. Right?" Upon uttering those words out of her mouth, the older chocolate haired male mercernary's cheeks flushed pink with embrassment.

"Oh Really..."

"But being serious here, I wouldn't mind going back to see the castle one of these days," she said, finally admitting the truth. "It is where we've spent our..."

"Hey, you three street rats over there!" screamed a voice from behind the three of them. They all slightly cringed at hearing the voice, it belonged to someone very familiar to all three to them...someone who they had a great hatred for. Ben and his two older friends turned to see a thin, old man, around his late forties to early fifties, with a black beard. He was draped in a diverse array of colors on his elegantly designed robe, its colors were predominantly black and scarlet as well as other depressing colors as was the turban that sat upon his tiny, thin head. Grasped tightly in his left hand was a golden staff that resembled the appearance of an Indian cobra, word of advice that was spread among everyone in his presence was not to look into the eyes of the golden staff for it is rumored that it contains the magical power to bend any one's will to the bidding of the staff's wielder i.e Jafar. "I am here to inform you that you are shirking your responsibilities in running errands for the Sultan. And take my words as a warning, he does not like it when hired street rats does not comply with his wishes, I assure you of that if you do not return to your duties, your heads will prove to be excellent decorations for the halberds of my soldiers for the public masses of Constantinople to see."

The group of armed soldiers accompanying him, judging by the weapon by which he carried and his uniform, was a member of the bodyguards that accompanied the Sultan in campaign, known only as the Janissaries. They were the elite, top-quality fighting band of soldiers in the entire Ottoman army and were feared by all the enemies of the Ottoman Empire be they the Safavid dynasty of Persia in the east, Ethiopia to the south, the various semi-independent Berber city states in the west in North Africa to the far off Principality of Romanov-ruled Muscovy in the frigid Russian northern tundra west of the Crimean Tatars.

"And your just as lazy as he is!" Jafar shouted at Akua and Terai, swinging his golden cobra staff at the two older mercernaries. "I am surrounded by morons, infidels and street rats! If only that damned pet of mines Iago was here, he would just die of laughter!"

"Heh...," Akua held her hand up to her hair to rub her head in a guilty gesture. She smiled up to him nervously. "So you noticed, Jafar," said the bluenette mercernary knight.

"I can not believe that the Sultan ever paid five thousand florin each for you three infidels to serve alongside the soldiers of my Ottoman Army. You three are the laziest piece of scum I had ever laid my eyes on."

"I know! We are the laziest piece of scum that I ever met too!" Terai said sarcastically with a glint, "You should had advised the old geezer that you call your Lord to find better soldiers for hire!"

Jafar snarled at the three and slammed his golden cobra staff at the ground, "I can not believe what I am hearing right now from you three infidels! This is insolence at its finest that you are spewing out!" To tell you the truth, Jafar was no saint too and often made crude remarks revolving around the Sultan like Terai was doing although he was a member of the Ottoman royal court and did it among the officials. Terai, Bentos, and Akua were different in this case as they were foreign mercernaries from some god-forsaken infidel kingdom somewhere in Europe who decided to become soldiers for hire in the service of the Sultan Bayezid.

"Why don't you take a chill pill?"

"Who said that?" Jafar turned around and saw someone familiar to him, "Why in the name of Allah are you here, street rat?" snarled Jafar at Aladdin, obviously not taking not kindly to the presence of the Ottoman army captain. Noticing that Ben and his two friends were eyeing Jafar suspiciously, he cleared his throat in a pretense of correcting himself for his rather crude behavior to Aladdin, "I mean to say...I thought that you and your division of Janissaries were stationed in the territory of Wali Abis Mal in Egypt in order to quell down a rebellion in Cairo by the local Copt population under that lunatic Mekanikes. I never expected you to be joining us and the Sultan to Constantinople."

"Well," Aladdin snickered as he brushed with nose softly with his finger, "I made peace with Mekanikes and his group of Copt rebels by offering him and his people the chance to make a plea to His Highness and Princess Yazmin to make southern Egypt an authonomous Copt-administrered vilayet within Abis Mal's dominion. They made me their unofficial diplomatic envoy to speak to the Sultan, they were certainly confident that I would succeed in getting their plea of self-rule from His Highness."

"I am still afraid that no matter the good intentions of you being here that you disobeyed the will of the Sultan," spoke Jafar, hoping to put what he truly believed as pure insolence driving this street rat army captain to disobey the will of the Sultan and the Vizier for that matter, being that Jafar was the de facto power behind the throne influencing the elderly Sultan. He did not want this half-breed bastard street captain anywhere near him nor the Sultan, including his daughter Princess Yazmin for that matter personal and other reasons made that he could not say at the moment. Aladdin needed to keep his distance away from the capital of Constantinople although the Vizier could do very little to stop him, or could he? Jafar could always play the boy's fear of being executed to his advantage, "It will not be wise if you seek the private audience of His Majesty knowing that you had disobeyed his orders. You know what happened to the last person who defied the Sultan's orders?"

Aladdin shrugged his shoulders, "No. I don't think I know although I'm not sure if Ben and his friends know anything about it since I don't know anything about it." He tilted his head towards the three warriors and asked, "Do you know what he's talking about?"

"Nope."

"Nadita."

"Nothing that I have heard of."

"I see...," Aladdin said as he scratched the little black haired goatee he had growing under his chin and turned back towards Jafar. "So I guess all four of us don't know what in the bloody hell are you jabbering about? Mind telling us what happened to this guy so all of us can be advised in the future and follow orders like a good soldier."

"Well...I am not sure whether I should tell you but since you asked me, I am willing to give the basic point of this conversation between the five of us," Jafar's eyes glistened with the sense of victory as he obtained the attention of the four. "There was a captain who once served in the same position as a captain of the Janissaries such as you by the name of Al-Qassim. Quite the legendary warrior as well as commander, Al-Qassim led Ottoman forces to many a victory againist its foes. It was certainly a surprise when the Sultan had found out that he had turned againist the Empire."

"So you were saying that this captain Al-Qassim was a traitor?" inquired Terai.

"Precisely," "He had turned on the Empire by selling information to our former enemies to the north of our old borders, the Romanian kingdom of Transvylania under Lord Vlad the Executioner, as he was known as. Our forces stationed in the villages near the Danube river ended up decimated when Romanian raiding parties crossed the waterway at the dead of night while the frontier garrisons were sleeping. They had burnt all the homes where the soldiers were stationing burning them alive. The Sultan was so angry when he found out about Qassim's involvement in the atrocity that he sent out search parties all over the Empire's territories to capture Al-Qassim."

"What ever happened to this Al-Qassim?" Bentos asked, wanting to know what had happened to the man in the little tale told by the Ottoman Vizier. Despite being a fifteen year old physically, Bentos was a kid at heart and loved stories as much as any youngling.

"Well he was..."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I don't need to hear the tale. Regardless of what had happened with this Al-Qassim guy," Aladdin said interrupting Jafar preventing him to tell the tale, "I'm pretty sure he gave His Highness a good reason to get rid of him but I will make sure that I won't do the same mistake."

“Well…let’s hope that what you say is true,” Jafar said as he turned around and began walking away from the trio of mercernary knights. "By the way," he turned around and glanced at the Ottoman army capitan, "I am willing to let you speak to the Sultan tomorrow early in the morning at the Palace if you wish to speak to him." The group of Turkish Janissary guards that had followed him quickly ran up to follow their leader, “I’m sick of you half-breed street rats plaguing my Ottoman army.

"Possibily...although we'll never know if we stay here," replied Bentos. Akua and Terra were just looking at their younger friend giving him strange looks.

"So suppose that we consider abandoning this soldier for hire business of ours and decide to become true heroes?"

"I'm not sure if I can answer that for you Benny," Akua replied as she laid againist the stiff, wooden wall of the cabin. "I'm not so sure why we even started going along with this mercernary business myself. It seems like yesterday when we were under the care and guidance of our Master although we can't seem to remember exactly when did it happen." She shrugged her shoulders, "Then again, my memory isn't known to be reliable."

"That's exactly the point that I've been trying to make to you two!" Ben unfolded his arms and stood up from the wall. "We shouldn't continue to dishonor our once-cherished heritage and noble titles by continuing to serve as mere hired goons. We need to find out whether there is more for us out there in the great beyond besides what we have now."

"You've been thinking a lot about this lately, haven't you Benny?" Terai asked Bentos as he sat down besides him. The two of them watched the sun begin to set over the horizon together.

"I had been wondering that wandering around the world from kingdom to kingdom with no true loyalties to a sovereign just to be rewarded with only gold is all there is to our existence. I always wondered if there was something more than just mindlessly killing people just for money," replied the blond mercenary knight. Terai casually glanced at him as he talked but returned his gaze to where it was previously. "There has to be something more than just mercenary duty for us. I just know that there is something out there for us."

"I guess we'll never know unless we decide to leave."

"I have to say thanks to the both of you and our old Master Sir Merlinus," Bentos frowned as he spoke each word slowly to his two friends looking out to the port of Constantinople, "The only thing I really wish is that he was still here with us."

"You really do believe that all three of us can be true heroes?" asked the bluenette mercernary turning towards Bentos. "It sounds like some fantasy tale pulled out of the Thousand Arabian Nights to me."

"Not to be a pessimist, but I don't find it likely that even one of us can ever just abandon what we have now even if it is a bit dishonorable in comparison to regular knights," Terai said. Bentos frowned and lowered his head in disappointment regretting ever sharing his personal thoughts to his friends.

"Well, are any of you two coming or not to the mess hall?" Terai asked as he looked back at the two of them smiling cheerfully. "The royal cook Malik and his culinary aides are serving the Sultan's soldiers and the rest of the mercernaries with some goulash in payment for our big victory againist the heathen Tatars in the East. I definetely do not want to miss the gruel that they're going to serve us!" Akua and Bentos chuckled a bit. If it wasn't chopping the heads off enemy soldiers or gaining loot, food would be the second or third thing that would be on the older male's mind all the time. Although he certainly was not without reason, it has been days since they and the rest of the Ottoman soldiers had recieved any form of compensation, either gold or food, in the year long campaign in the eastern frontier provinces of the empire.

"Maybe I should go after Terai before he decides to pick a fight with some of the Saracen soldiers for that goulash," Ben pulled himself from the wooden pole and began to run after his older friend in the mess hall.

Akua shouted, "Wait a minute Ben!"

"Huh?" Bentos stopped and turned just in time to catch a small, star-shaped fruit being thrown at him. "What is it?"

"You mentioned to me after the battle with those Kizil Reis at Sinope that you wanted me to get a paopou fruit for you?" she asked, pointing to the fruit with one hand on her hip. "Don't you remember?"

"Not really. So this is the paopou fruit?" Bentos said solemnly as he held the fruit tightly. He did not exactly remember the name of the fruit but it was familiar to him. He saw it often in the markets in the cities. "Thank you Akua...I was always curious about it and learned much about it from my old gambling partner Phoebus when we stopped at Al-Basra." To reference back to Phoebus, he was someone that Ben and his two friends had met while en tour with the Ottoman army under the Sultan. Phoebus was a fellow ex-knight turned soldier for hire from the Kingdom of France, specifically the city of Paris. The Frenchman told him much about the paopou fruit being from a rarely explored group of islands known in Spanish as Las Islas Destinias. "I forgot why this little Indonesian fruit is so important and it kept me wondering about it for nights on end. That special little fruit always peaked my curiosity."

"If two people share one paopou fruit, the destinies of those two become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what," said the older bluenette woman while stalking past and waving over his shoulder. "It is the perfect way for those who have long hidden feelings for one another to show how they feel to that special other if you know what I mean," Akua sighed deeply and took out another fruit much alike the one Bentos held in his hands, similiar in that its shape resembled that of a star. She pressed it againist her chest and lowered her head a bit to take in its intoxicating exotic, sensual aroma. "The paopou fruit is just ideal for those who are too shy to admit it the coventional way, although I always saw it as the more romantic way to express those hidden desires that person you've always been seeking."

"What are you talking-" Bentos began to say, but was interrupted by Akua's gleeful laugh as she skipped away to the mess hall. The paopu fruit was given one last glance by the blond before throwing it into the salt water below. The youthful blond mercernary ran to catch up with Terai and Akua in the mess hall and hope to obtain some goulash. He was hungry as heck, then again not eating for the entire day would make any normal person hungry for some food although it was getting late and the ship would dock any moment now.

By the time he had reached the mess hall, all the cooks were busy collecting the leftovers for another day while the soldiers left for their cabins. It would be only a matter of hours until the ship and the rest of the Ottoman fleet can dock in Constantinople so the men began packing up their things. Some of the ships had already docked nearby although the port was already crowded as is with the constant flow of merchant fleets from all over the world coming in every day. The Sultan was already paddling away, close by what appeared to be Princess Yazmin, draped in blue, semi-revealing royal garments, as they chatted in a elegantly-designed Turkish war dhow headed towards a private shipyard in Salonika to the west.

Akua and Terai were a little behind of the pair and were also discussing something he couldn't here from the distance, although Bentos had a good bet it was Akua trying to express her feelings to that lame-brained friend of his. Aladdin and his crew of Janissaries wasn't far behind Terai and Akua, but he paddled faster than the others, leaving Bentos the only person left standing on the deck of the main ship. He jumped into the closest, empty dhow he could find, carrying all of his belongings and spoils earned during the campaign in the East. Bentos took all of the belongings as well as the spoils he earned during campaign and jumped towards the nearest dhow and was soon heading to rent out a room in the local inn in the Genoese colony of Galata across the bay.

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[madammina]

Ziz, I think there's something from Transformers or WotU in there... the black line. It's kind of random.

Anyway, I like it. Calling Akua a blunette bugs me for some reason, but I like everything else, particularly how you describe things.

Er, maybe a bit slow and wordy but I have high hopes!

[Ordeith]

You're probably going to assume that I have bipolar disorder or something of the like after this post, but that's alright with me.

A vast improvement from the prologue, I'd have to say; the blend of medieval history and realism with the plot elements of Kingdom Hearts is practically seamless, and the amount of detail and natural-seeming pace work hand-in hand to give this piece a well-earned 8.5/10 in my opinion. Keep up the good work, Ziz!