//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Future Masters 
// Story: Kingdom Hearts: Masters of Tomorrow 
// by Golden Flare 
//------------------------------//


Friday


The weekend was long over, and the week progressed just the same as any other; you breezed through your classes, the Shadow 5 kept bugging you, but something that seemed out of the oridinary...was that Sour Sweet was nowhere to be found. Not all week, not even during the weekend, and that's the best time for her to bother you. And for some reason, nowadays, the Shadow 5 were giving you the stink eye, not that they haven't before, but this was different.

It was pure, undying hatred.

What's going on?

You would have to ponder on that later, today was the Mark of Mastery exam, and all of the school's wielders were lined up outside, you were no exception. But...for the first time in your life, you seemed excited for it. You always deliberately failed and didn't care, so why do you care now?

The sound of the whistle squeals through the air before the coach speaks, "Alright, listen up! Today you all will be examined for the Mark of Mastery, so I expect you to give it nothing but your level best!" he shifts his gaze to you, "That goes double for you, Mr. Void." you hesitantly nod, "Now, I'm sure our honored guests, Master Celestia and Master Luna," he waves a hand towards the aforementioned Masters, "did not come all this way just to see the greatest students of Canterlot fail to be up to the expectations of the Mark." in your vision, you saw the two Masters roll their eyes.

Master Cinch, who was next to the coach, stepped forward, "Is everyone ready?" everyone, including you, nodded. "Then let the examination begin." she held out her hand and produced her Keyblade.





It always unnerved you how Master Cinch's Keyblade could look so sinister, almost as if she was...

Nah. Couldn't be.

She used her Keyblade to summon orbs of darkness to train the wielders with, but out of the corner of your eye, you saw Master Celestia whisper something, then all of a sudden, the orbs of darkness had a light within them. Did she whisper some kind of incantation? Either way, the orbs started acting wildly, like the light was disorienting them.

One of them headed your way, so you summoned your Keyblade and destroyed it in one fell swoop. You grit your teeth and ready yourself for quite a challenge, as do the other wielders. Together, you all destroyed most of the orbs, but a good portion of the wielders were disqualified from the Mark of Mastery. In the end, all that was left was you and four other wielders: Twilight Sparkle, Frosty Orange, Ginger Owlseye, and Taffy Shade.

"Well, that was quite unexpected, but one must keep a still mind in even the most trying of circumstances, I did not plan this, but it shows that some are not yet worthy to be called 'Master'." you could see Master Celestia and Master Luna scowl at Master Cinch's words. "Now, on to the final part of the exam."



You and the others lined up and was met with one of the Shadow 5; Twilight Sparkle vs. Sugarcoat, Frosty Orange vs. Indigo Zap, Ginger Owlseye vs. Sunny Flare, Taffy Shade vs. Lemon Zest, and you vs. Sour Sweet. Your opponent is looking away from you, like she believed you'd turn her to stone with one look.

"Hey." you said.

Sour turns to you.

You really think this is a bad idea, but...

"...Sorry."

That confused her, "For what?"

"Whatever I did to make you run off like that last week."

"You're still thinking about that? What, do you live in the past or something?"

"Got a lot on my mind."

Sour was rendered quiet by your words, "You? Of all people?"

You smile mirthlessly, "Guess so."

"Now remember," Cinch speaks up, "this is not a competition, nor a battle for supremacy, there are no winners, only truths; for when two equal powers clash, their true nature is revealed."

You figured out that the time for talk is over and called your Keyblade, everyone else did the same and you readied yourselves.

"...Begin!"

And so you did.



The battle between you all went well; you weren't paying attention to the others, and with good reason, Sour Sweet didn't make it easy for you, in fact, it's almost like she got even better since last week. Were your words some kind of reassurance that she needed?

Man, I ask myself a lot of questions. you thought.

"We have deliberated and reached a decision. You all performed exceptionally..." that seemed to raise everyone's spirits, "...however, there was one disappointment," they all smirked, except for Twilight, knowing it was you who failed. "Eternal Void..."

Other than Twilight, they all glanced at you, smugly.

"...is the only one who has shown the Mark of Mastery."

And then looked at Master Cinch in shock, especially Twilight.

"The rest of you failed to meet up to our expectations. But you all know the age old saying: better luck next time." she turned toward your direction, "Master Eternal, you will be granted permission to certain knowledge, please wait here for further instruction."

With that, the three Masters and the coach left, leaving everyone who failed to wallow in their despair and frustration.

You?

You hardly registered anything anyone said after hearing Master Cinch say that you passed the Mark of Mastery.

You just...don't understand how you could.

You don't know how you were supposed to feel.

It's like all of the emotions you kept bottled up inside were resurfacing all at once, adding your confusion and shock into the mix, makes a cocktail of stewing bitterness.

"So you're finally a Master now, huh?"

You look up and see Indigo and the rest of the Shadow 5.

"Guess you're not the wimp I thought you were."

You lowered your head back down, "Sorry..." you began to walk pass them, "...but I need some time alone."

You went to a different part of the field, leaving the Shadow 5 confused in your wake.



You sat down on the grass, thinking about your current predicament; you're a Keyblade Master now, but you didn't want to be and at the same time, you did. You couldn't understand yourself anymore and you don't know why. The only thing that could make this worse is that you deliberately went against your Master's words and made some friends.

"Why do you despair, young Master?"

You crane your head to the left to see Master Luna standing next to your sitting form. You turn your head away as she sits with you.

"I just...don't know." you answer.

"But I do." Luna says, making you look at her again, "The words of your mentor, Master Flintheart, has ruled your life for years to come, now when something new came along, like companionship, it clashed with all that you knew and it's taking a toll on your heart's strength." you were about to say something, but Master Luna put a finger to your lips, "And don't tell me that the matters of the heart are feeble. The heart is important to everyone, it's gives us the strength to persevere, to push forward and drive us to great heights towards our future. Believe it or not, you put your heart into your work as a Keyblade wielder time and time again, you just didn't realize it."

Master Luna's words hit you close to home, you never thought of the heart that way in a long time. You wanted to make friends when you were a kid, but after what Master Flintheart said, you didn't want to anymore, and now here is Master Luna, basically telling that his words were careless and wrong, that you tossed your childhood aside for nothing.

"But...I became a Keyblade Master. That's gotta count for something, right?" you ask.

"Yes, but only because you unwillingly allowed friendship into your heart."

"When did I—"

"The Apple Family."

And just like that, it suddenly clicked; you became a Master because of the Apple Family, but you don't resent them, you actually felt...grateful.

Wait, "felt"?

"Do you understand now?" Master Luna spoke, pulling you out of your revelation, "Friendship is Magic. That's a saying we at CHS live to uphold. Hopefully you'll do the same."

You look away again, "...I'll try."

Master Luna noticed you were still upset. Then she had an idea on how to lift your spirits.

"Hey Eternal...let's fight."

"What?"

Master Luna stood up, jumped backwards from you, and summoned her own Keyblade.





"Come at me."

You stared at her for a moment, then smirked as you called your Keyblade to your hand as you stood up as well.

"Now we're talking!"

"You're gonna be sorry!" you declare, getting into your battle stance.

From afar, Master Celestia watched her sister pull the new Master out of depression and get psyched up. After half a minute, you two charged and clashed your Keyblades against one another.



"I don't understand, Master Cinch! How did I fail?!"

Twilight pleaded with her principal/Master to figure out how she of all people couldn't have passed the Mark of Mastery exam.

"Sorry, Twilight, but the three of us decided fairly that most of you were not worthy of the Mark of Mastery."

"But Eternal?! I'm sorry for saying this, Master Cinch, but he hasn't been taking his education seriously, let alone his training to become a Master, HE'S the one who should've failed!"

"Not according to Celestia and Luna." Cinch muttered.

"What...?"

"I'm going to be honest with you, Twilight, but what I say stays between us."

"Of course."

"Celestia and Luna had me beat 2 to 1, if had my way, you and the other three would've become Masters, and Eternal would've failed. But, Celestia and Luna thought otherwise and outvoted me." Cinch turned to face Twilight, "We will discuss your reexamination another day, now, I have things to do. Good day."

With that, Master Cinch walked back to her office, leaving Twilight behind to think about her principal's words.



Master Luna fell onto her back as her Keyblade hit the ground next to her, you were still raring to go, not exhausted in the slightest.

"Are you tired?" she asked, "Because if you're willing, we can call this a draw."

Her words made you laugh, and soon she began to laugh as well. Master Celestia came out of her hiding spot and walked over to the two of you.

"Really, my sister?" she began, "What you drew is a big 'L' on your forehead, for 'loser', 'lame', and 'laughable'."

You shocked by how a well known Master can just throw childish insults around like that like it was completely normal.

"Oh, c'mon, Tia!" Master Luna whines, "Isn't this where you cheer me up? Say things like, 'you're just having a bad day', or, 'that's what you get for pulling punches on the newbs'."

"Oh, so you wanted me to lie, Lulu?" Master Celestia quipped.

Master Luna sighed, exasperated, "You see what I have to deal with?"

You all give out a good, hearty laugh, once again feeling that same warmth from before, but this time, you think you know what it is.

"Well, we'd better head back to Canterlot High School, our students are probably wondering where we are by now. Come, sister."

"Of course, Celestia." Luna stood up and walked away from you while both dismissed your Keyblades.

As you watch them disappear behind the building, you chuckle mirthlessly for the second time today.

"Must be nice...knowing who your friends are."