Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Hearts: Light Chaser

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After hearing about his response about the Mirage Arena, Lumen gulped at this. Then came the end of the meeting, everyone started to follow Master Kidemonas downstairs to the basement. He had realized it was much bigger then he realized, seeing technology almost everywhere. This; kinda scared him. Feeling the ruffle in his scarf, Kosmo peeked her head to look around and then finally back at the boy. He looked... frightened. Then he spoke out to the group, “Hey, uh... I’ll be right back. I gotta go do something real quick...” After that, he bolted upstairs and out of the basement to get a breather. The teenager was breathing heavily for a couple minutes, having a couple memories from home that were bad. Kosmo broke him out of that trance as he looked at his best friend and smiled to her. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I just need to see someone.” He said while reclaiming his composure as he made his way through the halls of the castle and back to where Master Gero was. Lumen hesitated at first but took a couple breathers and walked into the room while speaking out to the Master with a little cough, “M-Master Gero? My name is Lumen Hindell, and this is Kosmo,” presenting the dragon on his shoulder as she jumped on the boys head while he continued nervously, “First I wanted to say... thank you and Master Varos for saving me... I never thought I’d be chosen to join such a group as this. I... came to ask about something that I hope you could help me with. Do you mind if I ask?” Finishing off with a nervous chuckle. He was talking to the leader of the Council, The Master of Masters, from what he’s heard from the other students when he was with his master. Lumen just hoped that he could help him with his issue.

 

Lumen seemed so shocked when he learned that Torrin was a Master that Qamar couldn't help but chuckle. She gave him a light pat on the shoulder before Master Selene entered and ushered them to the meeting room. As they all filed in, Qamar stood towards the center and gave a bow to the Masters. She noticed the missing Masters, thought Gero did give the reason why. As each Master got their own time, Qamar listened carefully, they mentioned Masters who have been taken out, but her own Master's name was missing. That made her sad, but she now knew the names of the newcomers...well, sort of, she didn't know which was which. Chrys was cleared of any kind of suspicion from Qamar, but she was still uneasy. She was fearing for the girl in the fact that Torrin and Boreas both reacted drastically against the girl. Which was something to be expected all things considered, so she didn't blame them. Qamar heard the names of previous Council members and she suddenly grew sad. She remembered hearing their names sometimes and some stories, so to hear that they've been slain came as a shock.

For awhile, Qamar listened and didn't even think of what was being told to her. She just listened and paid close attention to the Masters. Selene's remark caused a smile to come upon Qamar's face, especially when Kidemonas just sort of muttered. Thyella mentioned armors and Qamar got excited. She really did want her own armor, like Boreas', but she didn't really speak out loud. Then Kidemonas outed Torrin being a royal, so Qamar glanced about a little, seeing as Gero asked for opinions. Tinarah spoke first, asking who would be training them. That was a silly question, of course it'd probably be Thyella or Kaio...to which Qamar was correct in guessing. The other options they had were explained and Qamar glanced at Gero. She heard Kal protest against just standing around and that made Qamar clench her fists. How stupid can Kal be? He just lost his Master, clearly he wasn't strong enough to support them, so clearly he needs to train more. The fact that Gero needed someone of darkness made Qamar think, though. Perhaps they needed to ally themselves with the Realm of Darkness. Or maybe, she'd have to figure something else out. Maybe a sacrifice? Whatever the reason, Qamar knew they had to think of something while they trained. Kaio directed towards Kal that he was not alone in losing people he cared about, which made Qamar stare at the ground. Tinarah sounded a lot nicer now, so that made her happier. Qamar glanced around at those speaking, wondering how she'd interject.

Thyella called Kidemonas soft and Qamar scratched her cheek. She knew for a fact he was rather soft, but that was what she liked about him. Though he was mean a lot of times as well. Gero mentioned that those from the Realm of Darkness simply did not contain enough darkness within them for what they needed. A heart of pure darkness...that was what they needed. If push came to shove, Qamar wondered if one of them could be used to create this heart of pure darkness. The meeting was soon over and Qamar sighed loudly. She gave another bow, standing straight once more. How badly did she want to call out all of them for not even giving a bow? Very badly. "Next time, everyone, I suggest bowing to Masters." she said, shaking her head. Everyone began to follow Kidemonas, but Qamar noticed Lumen run off on his own. Curious, Qamar trailed behind, staying quiet. He ended up finding Gero, so she stayed far enough away to hopefully not be noticed. She felt bad for Lumen and figured he needed somebody to speak to, especially after what happened to him. She wanted to help him, but she had to wait for him to be free, first.​

 

Chrys sat at the table silently, doing not much else than eating from the humongous stack of waffles throughout the duration of the meeting. For the most part it was drama, especially from that other new wielder. Kaio had put him in his place though. She had to say she liked the master. Sure, it wouldn't be pleasant to be on the receiving end of such a talk, but at least he was speaking his mind, and not tolerating arrogance. It also seemed she was keeping her little promotion from puppet to cannon fodder.

How delightful.

Now they were down in the training rooms, and she was still processing some of the information. Torrin was discussing a plan of action for the groups training, but she figured that she was the last person that he would want to hear talk. Not wanting to draw that kind of attention to herself, she stayed quiet and reviewed her options. It wouldn't matter if she had partners as long as it wasn't Aria by herself, so she didn't really need to worry about it for the moment.​

 

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The boy smiled with kindness as Master Gero wasn’t really thanking him, but rather apologizing. He was kinda shocked by this and so spoke to the older man in a kind gesture, “It’s what my Master would’ve wanted. She looked after us, always being selfless, and something that I’ve grown prone to. What matters is that you at least saved someone. If you could decide who lives and who dies... that would make you a monster...” Lumen wasn’t just kind, Master Sanda taught some wisdom into him. Thinking before doing. When Master Gero stood up and asked the boy, his dragon looked at him as the boy was really nervous. “Well... I uh... Well...” He started to stutter with thoughts and memories flowing through his head like a hurricane, and seeing that he needed help, Kosmo jumped down from his head onto the table. She looked at him with a little smile which she hoped would comfort him. Lumen took a deep breath and started over, “I-I was wondering if I could train somewhere else than the ‘Mirage Arena’? But it isn’t the students or that I’m claustrophobic. It’s just... I’m not a big fan of this technological stuff. Just a place outdoors would do perfectly for me, a nice sense of freedom and comfort that’s all.” He shrugged a bit at the end, really hoping that he would get his request. Petting his dragon friend as she purred to this, waiting for a potential answer.

 

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And they were whisked away to the dreaded basement once again.

Aria tried her best not to focus on her uneasiness of being in tight perimeters, reminding herself how opened it seemed once the simulation began to happen. Tinarah was already off doing her own thing, and Torrin offered for anyone to join him. Knowing that his skill levels were far above her own, Aria didn't feel comfortable making Torrin and Boreas drag behind. "If anyone wants to, I was thinking of a small group? Start off easy, get a hang of this new thing, and then build up. Anyone want to join me on that?" she asked, hopping on her heels a bit before looking around at the group.

 

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"I can help with that too." Chrono said, making himself the third person in the group Aria had started forming. Tinarah had already taken it upon herself to go ahead by herself, not to mention she didn't seem to be in the best of moods after that meeting so perhaps this would be a good thing for her. Give her a chance to blow off some steam. Thinking about it wouldn't help, instead, he looks towards the other machines that weren't currently in use. "Which one do you want to try out then?"

 

It wasn't like he didn't want to work as a team here. He was more than eager to get training underway. He wanted to get stronger..he needed it. He had already failed twice, he couldn't fail a third time. These people around him..they were counting on him. His gaze drifted around, seeing people form their own groups and some training alone. He wasn't going to achieve anything by himself so he walked over to the group and glanced to Chrono."I'm in."​

 

Sighing in relief and safety, Lumen relaxed a little bit when Master Gero said that there were training grounds outside. But what he didn’t expect was the follow up. He realized that technology was a big fear, not able to get over it at this rate and has to suddenly face it? A part of him scared him half to death, however it made sense to the boy as he nodded slowly to the Master. Kosmo then hopped onto the teens arm as he smiled at this while returning a friendly smile to Master Gero for him to speak, “I understand master. I’ll... do my best to overcome this hurdle. For now though, I think I’m going to the training grounds at the moment. Until I’m ready to use the Mirage Arena, I will definitely keep this in mind though. Thank you for your wisdom, Master Gero.” Finishing off with a bow towards him, Lumen walked out of the room with the directions that the man gave him, he eventually found his way to the training grounds. Upon entry, the boy took a deep breath of fresh air and decided to practice with some dummies, and on command he summoned his Keyblade in one hand then picked up a wooden sword in the other. Kosmo perched on the edge of the Weapons rack while watching the boy spar on some dummies that he set around the area. Hacking and slashing around with both weapons as Lumen spun, threw, or even flipped them towards the dummies.​

 

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Enzo seemed to appear out of no where. And why did he keep his keyblade in his pants? Such an odd duck he was. Aria noted that Chrono also wanted to join, and so did the newest guy. "Let's leave the crippling mortality for another day and just focus on the heartless," Aria offered with a slight smile. She looked at the options, see there were so many. "I dunno... why don't you pick Chrono." She nudged him in the shoulder and then looked to the rest that were left. "There's still one more spot if anyone wants to join us before we go in. Going oooooonce..... going twiiiiiiice...."

 

Illiana walked over along with the others as the council had decided to hold a meeting. She kept to the back wall, listening, keeping her comments to herself. They have discussed the situation at hand and the fate of the Light Chaser. At some point, they had discussed a means of training themselves. One of the masters had told them he would be making armor for the group. Illiana had been trying to pay attention but had found herself pondering other matters. Once the meeting had been adjourned, the group had started making their way to the Mirage Arena. "Hmm. Interesting." She crossed her arms as she walked around. They're had been rooms numbered and lit up green. She decided to go toward Torrin and Boreas. "I'm going with you guys. Cool? Great. Good talk boys." Illiana walked past the two and toward the door.

 

Qamar waited outside the room, leaning against the wall. She didn't want to hear something she wasn't meant to hear, so she simply waited. Lumen came out and made his way out. So, Qamar followed along, wondering where he was going. He lead her to the training grounds outside. Qamar kind of stood a bit off to the side, seeing how relaxed Lumen seemed. Walking slowly, she just watched him and ended up leaning against the weapons rack. She glanced at Kosmo, giving the dragon a smile. "Well hey there new guy. What's up?" she tilted her head. "Why'd you go and run off from the Mirage Arena? They worked so hard on it."

Glancing back to Kosmo, Qamar reached her hand out, offering it to Kosmo to smell. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you're Lumen?" she asked the boy. "This dragon is cute. She's beautiful!" Qamar gave Kosmo a small scritch on her chin, trying not to touch her too much.​

 

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Humming while he trained the boy started to feel more focused and, well free. Not being bound to the laws of a simulation, but to the free will of moving on his own accord. While he was busy, Lumen heard another voice which kinda startled him, so much that he accidentally threw his wooden sword upward into the air while preforming a uppercut with the blade. “Yikes!” The boy yelped in surprise. He quickly jumped on top of one of the dummies, leapt upward and caught the sword with a roll to break his fall.

Sighing in relief he the dropped his wood sword then dismissed his Keyblade, and looked over to see the girl from earlier; the one who helped and compimented him on standing against Torrin. He gave out a friendly tone towards her, “Oh! Hey there. I thought I was the only one out here,” he chuckled until he heard about the Mirage Arena and continued while stretching, “I uh... Well, needed to talk to someone. Everyone started to get busy, and I had something important to ask. So I ran off. And I am aware that the arena took so long to make, it’s just... not my place to train, that’s all.” Trying to cover it up and not sound stupid or ridiculous. Looking over at Kosmo, she was introduced by the girl when she came in. She gave her a little smile back towards the girl by offering her to smell and a scratch on the chin, Kosmo then jumped out to her arm and started to crawl down it. Kosmo eventually moved to the girls left shoulder and purred her own head next to hers. Lumen smiled at this finally seeing someone else liking his friend. He then answered to the girl once more, “Why yes, my name is indeed Lumen; Lumen Hindell to be exact. And I’m glad you like Kosmo, it seems she likes you too.” Chuckling at the end. he looked at Kosmo, who was a happy little dragon, then back to the girl. “Thanks for helping me earlier, I wasn’t wanting anyone who I just met get hurt. Also, if I may ask, what’s your name?” Lumen asked curiously to her as he took the time to sit down and play his lute a bit.

 

Qamar chuckled when Kosmo crawled up her arm and purred against her head. "Kosmo, huh?" she smiled, scritching Kosmo's head a little. "Well, I've only ever seen dragons in books before Flammie helped us back in our last world. So this is really my second time experiencing a dragon." she looked to Lumen. He asked for her name while trying to play his lute. "My name is Qamar Zalam. I suppose i should say it's nice to meet you again. And uh, don't let Torrin and his brash behaviors get to you. It's just, previously, Chrys was a student of the Light Chaser as you know. And we've only really had bad experiences with her before. A few of our numbers have had bad experiences with the students..." Qamar glanced at the wooden sword Lumen had used. "We lost a few of our own because of them. But at the same time, he has also lost two students, so to speak, so in the end, he is down a student and we have more. Unfortunately, they are 'Masters' too, but that title was a sham in my opinion." she shrugged and glanced around the training grounds.

"I'll have to say, though, that using the Mirage Arena is a better option for you. You need to know what exactly we've been against thus far. Training by yourself will only go so far." she moved to stand in front of Lumen. "I didn't get strong and muscley just from training by myself. I had every Master here as well as my fellow student help me. We all grew together and faced every challenge we had together. We helped each other overcome fears and grow. So, let me help you Lumen. I know the idea of fighting past dangers is scary, but I'll help you." she reached a hand out. "Of course, if you want to take a moment to think, I'll be here, watching you train against our dummies." she chuckled.​

 

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Take had been silent the whole time, just standing back and listening and processing all the new information. He wondered what this warrior was like that they had to send a not insignificant number of masters to go and meet. But otherwise the fact that they were training seemed fairly obvious to him that this would be the next step. He would have been surprised if they told them otherwise. The boy followed the group down to the mirage arena and watched everyone begin to form groups. But Take decided he kind of wanted to get a gauge of his own strength to know better what he offered to the group dynamic. He totally intended to go back later with others and try it out, but he didn't see the harm in going it alone.

As the boy sat in the pod and looked at the different tests he freaked out realizing that reading the mission prompts was going to be helpful. He scanned through and eventually clicked on one that he was pretty sure said there was only one darkside to worry about. But he realized once it was up, and the name of the challenge "The Other Side" appeared, he was very very wrong. "O-Oh..."
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