Re: Dusk's Dream [Prequel to Twilit Road to Dawn]{Ch3 Pt4 Up}
Final part to Chapter 3. Don't really have much to say about it, just tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, improvements to be made, etc. (That means you, lurkers)
Chapter 3: The Master
Part 5
The next few days were spent working with Master Xehanort on my balance and attacks. He acted like I had never asked about the Organization, and I didn’t. Seth watched us train sometimes, and I wondered what went through his Unbirth mind. I wondered if he could think for himself at all, because it seemed that all of the Unbirths obeyed Master Xehanort unquestioningly. There were still a lot of mysteries that Master Xehanort didn’t answer, but I knew that I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him so I didn’t ask.
“You’ve done a very good job, Xion,” Master Xehanort told me after our training session. “Now I think you’re ready to teleport.”
“Finally,” I sighed.
“Your Organization uses Corridors of Darkness to teleport around. I find this stupid and a waste of time. Teleporting properly requires discipline, agility, and prowess. Let me demonstrate.” He disappeared again, like he’s done countless times before. I could sense where he was; in front of me, behind me, moving above me. He would come close, then back off. Come close. Back off. I closed my eyes, since they were pretty much useless, and summoned my Keyblade. He must’ve seen my Keyblade, because I could sense him come at me from behind, fast. This time he wasn’t going to back off. Just before he struck, I quickly ducked, turned to my side and brought up Kingdom Key. I opened my eyes to see Master Xehanort’s own Keyblade hovering above mine.
“You… You have a Keyblade?” I asked dumbly.
“Yes,” he said casually. “You did very well. But if this was an actual battle, then you would be lying on the ground defeated. Keep your eyes open, even if you don’t think they’re going to do you any good. Battles are more than just one attack. They’re blow after blow after blow and you can’t just linger on one of them. If you do, then you’ve already lost.
“Teleporting allows you to block blows and get away quickly to either block the next one, or deal a blow of your own. It also allows you to move around the field quickly. The first step to teleporting is knowing your destination. There’s no point to teleporting if you don’t know that. The next step is learning how to utilize your knowledge to move quickly and accurately from place to place. But teleporting is more than just being able to move quickly. Now give it a try.”
I looked at him dumbly. How was I supposed to teleport with a lesson like that? I closed my eyes anyway and concentrated on ending up behind Master Xehanort. I remembered the feeling I had when I sensed him teleporting around me and tried to do it myself. I lifted one foot up and took a step forward. Other than the faint tingling sensation, I didn’t feel like anything happened.
“Congratulations,” Master Xehanort said. “You can teleport.”
I opened my eyes and turned around to see that I actually did end up behind Master Xehanort. The only problem was that I was about twenty feet too far back.
“Now you just need to work on location,” he called to me. Then he teleported so that he was right next to me. “We can work on that tomorrow. Go get some rest.”
I nodded and headed to my room. Seth was waiting on the edge of the clearing for me, as usual. He followed me up to my room like a puppy and took his spot in the corner. I fell onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.
“So how long do you think it will take for me to get the location right?” I asked him. Seth just stared at me blankly, like I knew he would. “How long have I been here now? A week? Around there. I don’t know how long I can keep staying here. And Master Xehanort seems like he’s trying to teach me slowly.” I sighed. Then I looked over to Seth and thought about how to get back to the Organization.
“I got it!” I exclaimed, sitting up. “I’ll just practice on my own. He doesn’t live in the garden, and he has to go to sleep sometime. So I’ll just sneak into the garden, work on my location, and be back home by tomorrow. What do you think?” Seth just cocked his head and blinked. “It’s a good plan,” I assured him. “I just know it’ll work. It has to.”
♥ ♥ ♥
An hour or two later, Seth and I snuck around the halls, making our way to the garden. Whenever we got to a corner, Seth would check around it and signal for me to come when the coast was clear. It probably wasn’t necessary, but it was fun.
When we reached the garden, it was darker than usual, but I could still see, which was a really good thing.
“Okay,” I said, rubbing my hands together. “Let’s get started. Seth, could you stand in the middle of the clearing for me?” Seth did as I asked and waddled over to the center of the clearing. I closed my eyes and took a breath, trying to concentrate on exactly where I wanted to end up. I opened my eyes and took a step forward. When I turned around, I saw that this time I was only ten feet from where I wanted to be. I also saw that Seth seemed to be shielding his head.
“Seth, you okay?” I asked him. He turned around and shook his head. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at how funny he looked. “You don’t have to stand there anymore. I’ll just use a tree or something.” Seth uncovered his head and nodded before quickly waddling away.
For the next few hours I practiced teleporting through the trees. There were a few close calls where I almost ended up in a tree, but I was getting better. Soon I was able to teleport precisely where I wanted with ease. I looked up and wondered if I could teleport through the air. I focused on one point above me and concentrated. Then I jumped up and was instantly suspended in the air for a moment. I let myself fall and smiled.
“Let’s see how far we can take this,” I said to myself. I jumped through the air and teleported to different spots in the air, moving about the garden area without touching the ground. I kept this up for a while until I started getting tired, then I returned to where Seth was. “That’s incredible!” I exclaimed. “You ready to go back to the room?” Seth nodded. Then an idea came to me. I opened up my arms. “Come here.”
Seth cocked his head at me, but came into my arms anyway. I picked him up, and was surprised by how light he was. “Let’s teleport back,” I told him. His eyes got really wide, but he didn’t try to get down. I concentrated on my room and took a step forward.
“Hey, we made it,” I mused as I looked around the room. Seth was shaking slightly, so I put him down. “So this means that I can go back tomorrow.”
Seth looked at me sadly and started hugging my leg. “I know you don’t want me to go, but I have to. I need to get back to the Organization. Zexion might be back by now, and I want to show him that I can teleport now.” I tried to pat Seth off me, but he just squeezed my leg harder.
“Well congratulations, Xion,” I heard a voice say dryly behind me. “Now you can go back.”
You found me here, waiting for your chance.
You would reach inside and take all of me.
You watch your lies smother me again. But now you can’t.
Don’t even try, you’re wasting time.
I’m turning my back on you.
~“Wasting Time,” Red
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For some reason, it felt like this chapter moved way too fast.