//------------------------------//
// Real Life Now. 
// Story: Balance 
// by BioQuillFiction 
//------------------------------//

Dinky is a natural. Despite her claim on having no clue about combat  she managed to block the majority of my attacks and land a few surprise  hits on me. What really surprised me was that she cast spells with her  Keyblade. Once the others saw what she did they tried to do the same…  with less than wanted results. We all walked back inside before the sun  set and everyone dropped onto their sleeping bag beds, most of them were  out like a light.

Save for Button. He was tossing and turning like a fish out of water. "Darn it." He muttered.

"You alright?" I asked, kneeling next to him.

"I've just had trouble sleeping since the Nobodies came."

"... How long ago was that?"

"Three  months. At first people thought they were something that escaped from  Tartarus, but we couldn't capture them, harm them, not even touch them.  Wasn't long before Equestria went under Martial Law and royal guards  were posted everywhere. Not even the Elements of Harmony were very  effective, if they didn't dodge it they did burst into a grey light. A  month passed and that's when they started to either kidnap or kill  people. They came in force of thousands, I can only imagine how bad it  was in the cities.

"My mom hid me in a secret cupboard behind her  bedroom mirror and said not to come out until it was okay… I spent  almost two days in there before walking out. I found Scoot's, Dinky, and  Rumble when I was walking around outside looking for someone. We've  spent our time looking for others, but it became clear we were all that  was left in town. We've been in this store ever since."

"You're  pretty brave. My world was going to heck too… but the only enemies were  it's own inhabitants. Some old stone calendar written thousands of years  ago was gonna run out of days and everyone was either freaking out or  preparing for the worst since they all thought it was the end of the  world."

"Is that why you left?"

"Not exactly. Either way I  can't go back, not only has my world largely given in to it's own  darkness, but my family was gonna play a large part in it. I was the  black sheep in my family, I don't wanna get too much into it, but I can  say that out of my whole family I wanted to make things right, not make  them worse."

"Then why won't you fight the Nobodies?"

"I'll  only fight if I have to. Right now this is your world and you should  fight for it. You know, you for are my apprentices right now, right?"

"I guess?"

"Well,  one day, when the time is right, you four will have to take this thing  called a Mark of Mastery Exam. It's not written, in fact, it's  completely random what it will be. But if you pass, you'll become a  Keyblade Master, and one day, you'll have to take on apprentices of your  own."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but that's not for years though."

"... Those things you summoned, Heartless, what are they?"

"You  can say the whole reason Nobodies exist is because of them. They are  being of darkness, searching for the hearts of others. Once they take  someone's heart, they swallow it into darkness and then that person's  heart becomes a Heartless. The stronger someone's heart, the stronger  Heartless it becomes."

"So they're evil?"

"Just lost. Within  each Heartless, is the heart or hearts of others lost to darkness.  Because of this they can't break free. Keyblade wielders can destroy the  Heartless and free the heart."

"So what are Nobodies?"

"The  body of a person who lost their heart to darkness. The empty shell  refusing to float in the nothingness between light and darkness. They  are constantly searching for their hearts."

"So what would happen if a Nobody finds its heart?"

"The  person they once were comes back. There are special Nobodies that still  look like people, the people they were. They can't feel, they just have  memories of who they once were. The abilities they have are something  to fear, and they can control the lesser Nobodies, the ones that look  all silver."

"How do you control Heartless?"

"That power was  given to me, so I don't think there will be any unwanted side effects.  But if people dive into darkness, to gain this power, Darkness will  swallow them if they aren't careful."

"Are all Keyblade wielders good?"

"No.  Long time ago, least how the story goes, every star in the night sky  was once united as a single world protected by the light of Kingdom  Hearts, the heart of all worlds. There was a war, it split the world  into many and countless Keyblade wielders, good and bad, lost their  hearts, and lives. My Keyblade, the X-blade, co-exists with Kingdom  Hearts. It was made to protect the heart of all worlds, but since the  worlds are separated, I have to keep Balance in them."

"You said  it didn't look like how it does now before you came here, maybe it's  reacting to how our world is? Reflecting the damage?"

That… that  actually makes sense! If the heart of a world is out of balance then the  X-blade would reflect it! "You're pretty smart Button. Tell ya what,  how about since neither of us can really sleep you help me make some  dinner if we can find anything, kay?"

"Anything's better than a month of canned food. All the vegetables and meats went bad long ago though."

So  this Equestria eats meat? Perfect. "If anyone wakes up tell them I went  out looking for some real food and cooking supplies. If any Nobodies  make their way here, hide, and if that's not an option, fight. I'll be  back soon."

"And what will I do?"

"Make space for the makeshift kitchen, kay?"





I  walked into abandoned homes and searched through freezers and  cupboards. If games like Fallout have taught me anything it's that  abandoned houses at least have food in them. I managed to find some  important items in just three houses, namely, a gas camping stove,  propane tank, ice chest for frozen food, and a wagon to carry this stuff  in.

I walked a fair distance away from the Safe Spot so I better  head back, plus I think the sun is setting? Hard to tell with the cloudy  sky. As I ran back, dragging the wagon behind me, I was thinking about  what to cook. I had some frozen chicken and there should be barbeque  sauce and rice in the store, maybe some barbeque chicken and rice would  be good?

I turned onto the street where the Safe Spot was, and  dropped the wagon. Dinky, Scootaloo, Rumble, and Button were all  surrounded by three Samurai Nobodies. "Crap!" I summoned the X-blade and  ran up to one of the Samurai's. It blocked my attack, but I did send it  it back a few feet with a counter. "You guys okay?"

"Been… better." Rumble said.

As  another Samurai attacked, I blocked it. "If any of you can fight, then  fight!" I kicked the Nobody away and went in with a fast slash across  it's head. It hit, but it didn't die. I looked to my sides and everyone  was up. "Block their attacks and then try for an opening. If possible  split up in groups of two, we out number them."

As they attacked  in groups of two I went after the one I managed to hit. They moved  faster than any human I've fought could, but I was able to keep  blocking. Eventually I managed to stagger the damn thing and lunged  forward, stabbing it in the chest. It disappeared in a puff of  grey/black light.

I looked behind me and Scootaloo and Button  manager to kill the one they teamed up on and were helping Dinky and  Rumble. Once the last Samurai was dealt with I went up to them. "You  four okay?"

"That was… scary." Dinky muttered.

"It felt  good." Rumble said. "Finally we fought back against them. I didn't feel  helpless." I whacked him on the side of the head. "Ow! What was that  for?!"

"Don't play innocent, I could tell what you were thinking!  Keyblades are far from toys and above typical weapons. If you try and  take on more than you can take on, get arrogant, your heart might get  corrupted the closer you walk to darkness! Yes, you got payback for your  parents, payback for friends, but you're still just one person."

"Isn't that why you're training the four of us?"

"...  Looks like you aren't as hard headed as I thought. Come on, let's get  inside and I'll make some dinner. You guys just rest up."

Dinner  did end up being barbecue chicken and rice, and everyone was happy to  clean off the pots from the food. This must have been the first time in a  long time they had a proper meal. Since the plates and utensils were  all plastic we just threw them out. Soon everyone was sound asleep and I  was gonna join them in a bit. I unrolled my own sleeping bag I pulled  off the shelves and soon found myself in a deep, blissful sleep.





I  found myself in nothingness, empty darkness all around me, only my  Keyblade with me aside from my clothes. I could hear something like the  sea when you sit on the beach in front of the water. I opened my eyes  and saw myself in the realm of darkness, standing on the edge of a beach  of sorts.

"What made you so special?" I turned around and saw  someone standing some feet away in purple robes with a mask that was  completely blank, not even any eye holes. Just a flat mask made from,  wood I think?

"What?"

"You are holding the most important weapon to ever exist, the whole reason the Keyblade War began, why?"

"... I asked for it."

"Right, and he just gave it to you? That all?"

"Pretty much."

"But you are just some kid! Why would he give such an important relic to a mere mortal?! And how!?"

"Who are you?"

"I  should ask you the same thing." He said, lifting his left arm and in a  flash of darkness, a keyblade I had never seen before appeared. Its  handle looked like the Heartless symbol and the blade was an arm or  darkness that held what looked like a heart in its hand. They keychain  was a black heart. "I know, you weren't the only mortal from your world  to ask for that weapon in particular, he denied them all, so why did her  let you have it?"

"Not sure. Frankly I don't even know why he  chose me to receive the wishes. I get that I wasn't the only one to have  wishes granted, but I still wonder what it was that made me stand out, I  was just sitting in my room, took a nap, now all of this."

"He does as he pleases. We all exist for a reason I suppose. You took on the role of keeping the worlds in balance, correct?"

"Yeah, what's your role?"

"...  Let's just say I'm the reason stars disappear in the sky." He turned to  look at the moon across the ocean. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah.  Darkness doesn't mean just evil, there's a beauty in it few see. Nothing  is black and white." I said, looking at the moon as well.

"Maybe I can understand his reasoning for choosing you out of the others that begged to have that Keyblade."

"What do you know about it?" '

"Another  time, right now all I can say is that a forgotten survivor of the  Keyblade War is the reason behind the mess in the world you're on."

"What? How many are there?!"

"Only one is on the same world as you, but there are ten in total, none of them good."

"So the Nobodies…"

"You'll have to see for yourself, our talk is done now."

"What?"

"Wake up." He snapped his fingers and my vision went black.





I  jumped slightly as I woke up. That dream… it was… a warning? Who is  that guy? That can't be Huxley. I was about to move when I noticed a  blond haired girl wrapped around my waist in a deep sleep. Dinky "Huh?"

"She  does that from time to time." I looked and and saw Scootaloo whispering  near me. "Her mom and her had to share a bed in a small house before  all this, every now and then she sleepwalks into one of our beds and  cuddles with us in our sleep. Was awkward at first but now we don't mind  it."

I looked down and Dinky sleeping and realized I didn't have the heart to wake her. "How old is she?" I whispered to Scootaloo.

"Nine. Button is ten and Rumble and I are twelve."

"From my understanding, Keyblade wielders usually get a Keyblade when their thirteen or fourteen. She's so young."

"And  strong. She's the glue that kept this group together before you came  along." Scootaloo left and I eventually fell back asleep. I forget this  is now real life and they are just kids. Maybe tomorrow I can try and  find something fun for us to do?"