#keykidoc

Day 1: Introductions

Back again for another @khoc-week and as always so excited to see what everyone does. This week, I will be introducing and showing off Annora! Annora is my official keykid oc, who for the most part takes the role of the player. But things don’t completely go to plan, and as the week goes on her story will stray from the original players story.

Day 7~ Future

The final day of @khoc-week and its time to look towards the future. Annora has always had a curiosity towards the future. But with all that's happened her optimism has changed. As the next stage of the story unfolds, Annora finds herself back in the center of it all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annora had never believed you could predict the future. It was one of the reasons she had scoffed at the notion of the book of prophecies. At the time it had just seemed ridiculous even with all their magic. The future wasn’t something that could be set in stone. It was ever changing and fluid. Each choice someone made changed what was to come. She had thought her choices had to mean something.

It was only after she had watched so many things fall into line with the books prophecies she started to believe maybe life wasn’t something so novel.

She had watched as the foretellers fell right into the traps laid out before them, one by one. And no matter her screaming, no matter how many wielders cried against it, they walked right into the war. All their efforts had been useless. Though there was so much that could have been done, they wouldn’t do any of it.

And when it mattered most, Annora gave up. Because they knew what would happen.

And she had seen it again in Scala. In the societies that claimed to have the best interest of the people at heart. She had exchanged many snide remarks and sidelong looks with Brain, who had seemed to reach the same conclusions as her. They were slowly walking towards their doom in just the same way. And when Brain had his plan, the idea for the chosen one, Annora had hoped he’d be right. She had taken that child and raised him with the belief he would change it all. Not seeing that she herself fell into the same trap.

When it mattered most she did what was expected. What she was told, because they knew what would happen.

She hadn’t bothered trying to fight after that. Not in the next war. It wasn’t her job to act then. All she could do was guide the pieces to their place. Watch as what had once been her child turn into something else. To play his role so well a new war had come to pass. And just as the story had been told the Darkness prevailed and the Light expired. And the chosen one had changed it all at the cost of himself. Just as they said.

“Lost in thought?”

Annora turned her head, finding her master stood beside her with a black box she had almost forgotten about. Bitter nostalgia rose up in her chest. It was the same as after the last war. Though now he didn’t look the same. With long hair streaked with grey tied behind his head and a scarred eye covered by an eye patch. A new face in the countless new faces he had worn. It matched her own new face she supposed.

“You could say that, I guess,” Annora agreed. She glanced around them, at the barren wasteland filled with keys. Tombstones X had called them. X. Takiko. He would know best. He always did. “Nothing’s changed.”

“Oh?” Luxu asked, taking a step forward, away from the box. He held his keyblade. One that hadn’t been his for some time. It had passed from him to Brain and from there on and on until it became her childs. And now it was his again. Back to where it all started.

“This is where we started,” Annora said, eyes not leaving the key. “And it’s going to end here.”

“Well, that’s yet to be seen,” Luxu said, a grand gesture.

“I don’t think so,” Annora said. She put her hands behind her back as she walked. The hot air of the graveyard created a haze. Almost enough she could convince herself she saw visions of the past, though she knew it was just her own mind. “It always ends here.”

“Oh, you think you can tell the future now?” Luxu asked. His voice was playful, a hint of the teasing she had always known from him. She smiled over her shoulder at him.

“No,” she said. “But, that’s how its happened every time before.”

There was a slight pause. A moment to listen to wind through the keyblade charms. The clanking of metal on metal filling the air. An echo of the war that came before. Annora pretended she couldn’t feel Luxu’s gaze on her. The same gaze that had written the book of prophecies all those years ago. That was maybe still writing it. She didn’t think it was necessary anymore though. It never really had been. Not when it was so easy to see what was coming.

“You know,” Annor said. “I don’t think that book is all that special.”

“You never have,” Luxu said. “If I recall correctly, You always thought it was pointless waste of time.”

“Still do,” Annora agreed. “We don’t need it to know what’s going to happen.”

“Really sounding like you think you can see the future,” Luxu said, walking beside Annora now. They had always stood as equals. Side by side, instead of the blind way others followed their master. Perhaps that was why she had joined him in the first place. The need for someone who wouldn’t stand in front of her. Who wouldn’t look down on her the way Ira had.

“I can’t see the future,” Annora said simply. “But I can guess. You can too.”

“And your guess?” Luxu asked. Annora smiled bitterly.

It was always the same. People never changed. It would all play out just how they expected it to. All according to plan. They would be the villains. The traitors. The darkness. Whatever they wanted to call it. And there would be the heroes. The just and righteous. The light. And they would clash. And the heroes would win and they the darkness would be defeated. If only for a short time before rising again.

“The best indicator of future results is past behavior,” Annora said softly. “It will end the same way it always has. I don’t need a book to tell me that.” Luxu laughed, the bitter laugh she had grown so used to.

“Well, why don’t we put that to the test,” Luxu said, with a grin. “We have a job to do.”

Day 4~ Dreams

Today's prompt for @khoc-week is Dreams. The first note I made to myself is one that still holds true, and that is Annora avoids the realm of dreams. After all she's been through she struggles to find dreams to be peaceful, especially following the possession at the end of union cross. And without Chirithy around, her dreams easily turn to nightmares.

And in a less literal sense, she can't really picture a future she wants. It's all wound up and confusing. All she knows is she doesn't want anyone to suffer like she and her friends did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was cold. So cold it was starting to burn in her arms and fingers. She couldn’t feel where she gripped onto her keyblade. Was it her keyblade anymore? Or was it his? The one he had pointed at her. She wasn’t angry at him. She knew that though the cold was making it hard to think. It was her keyblade. She was still fighting him. And her. Her friends. And their friends too. She could see their faces, through the darkness that smoked in front of her eyes. Flashes of color so she knew. The silver stars. The red scarf. The feather. She could see it.

It was cold. She didn’t feel the strike that pushed her back. She couldn’t breathe, the crowding darkness freezing her lungs as she stumbled back. The last thing she could see was the look on his face, the sadness and resolve. The pain.

Then it was just darkness, shadows rushing around her. Flashes of all the things she wanted to forget. The sounds of the war. The thunder and rain. Her friends and all the blood. The hearts filling the sky as she sat back and did nothing. She could do nothing. All she could do was watch their pain. Play a role that she didn’t want. Change nothing. Change nothing.

Annora awoke with a start, gasping for breath as she gripped her sheets. The darkness that greeted her didn’t comfort her. Her heartrate jumped even more, pounding against her chest with a force that she thought might break her ribcage.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim light streaming through her window, she slowly managed to bring herself back to the moment. To her home in the new city. In Scala as Caelum. His city. She ushed herself up, first to sit with her legs over the side of the bed and then to her feet as she crossed to the balcony.

There was more light outside. With all the stars filling the sky and the city lights beneath her. She could see plenty of the city, though not all of it. From here, it almost looked like Daybreak Town. She could convince herself she wasn’t in a new city. That all her nightmares were just that. That the war had never happened and she would be able to meet with her party in the morning. That they would be able to talk and laugh and it would all be the same. They could dream of a future together.

“Chirithy?” Annora said softly, the words echoing into the air. There was no answer. There never was. She sighed, looking back over the city. It was beautiful. At least it looked it. With no way to seem the shadows that filled the world.

Calling for her Chirithy had become habit, from the moment she had regained her bearings and remembered Chirithy. This all seemed so much like a dream it was all she could do. It would only be right for a Chirithy to be here. At least one. Something to protect the dreams that made this place. A world built on dreams with no protectors was bound to turn into a nightmare.

Many days had been spent once, dreaming of the future with the Dandelions. They had all had so many ideas for the world they would rebuild. Ephemer and Brain had debated for hours about the best way to do things. And Annora had gladly listened then. Though she often had pulled them back down to reality, forcing them to take things more seriously. Great minds like theirs always ran wild.

It never came close to this. To the societies that might as well have been unions. They were at each others throats just the same. To the obsession with a book a prophecy that was yet to come. They had dreamed and dreamed and dreamed. And all that they saw was history bound to repeat.

Annora gripped the balcony railing, leaning forward. It all looked the same. Her dreams once again turning to nightmares even in her waking moments. There was the same choice she had been offered before.

There were dreams to protect, and no Chirithy’s to protect them any more.

She couldn’t protect her own dreams.

Maybe she could protect the dreams of others.

Day 3~ Connection

Today for @khoc-week we get to discuss the connections, a pivotal part of any Kingdom Hearts story.

Annora has had many connections over the course of her life, and many have shaped who she is and where she would go. But there are those that remain strong even as she goes on to her next life. Today we cross over into Missing Link, though kept vague as we really don't know where that's going yet. And we get to see where it all changed for Annora. Where her story isn't quite the same as the players.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Annora wished she had understood what she was agreeing to when she had agreed to it in the first place. The longer she was in Scala the more she remembered. And the more she remembered the more she realized there was a great deal of information missing.

The first thing Annora had really begun to remember was her friends. At first it had been Lyra she remembered. It was easy, when she now looked so much like Lyra had. Her once white hair colored mint green. The soft face she had grown with. And she knew they were supposed to be a pair. For a short time she had tried looking for her. Until she remembered Lyra had been lost even before the war.

Then she had remembered Ephemer, though that was probably because of the statute of him in the center of town. She had spent so long staring up at it, piecing together what she could remember of a friend she saw so little of. It wasn’t until the very end she had seen him once more. In the world after the war, but before the real end. She remembered the rage and anger she had towards Ephemer for so long. And how it had melted away in moments. It was back now. She didn’t like that he had left her all over again.

After Ephemer it was only natural she had remembered Skuld. The one who had become her partner in crime in all ways. She remembered adventures in Daybreak Town. Fighting Heartless and Foretellers a like. Their party and all the adventures they had together. Skuld’s bright smile and energy. The fierceness she would use to protect anyone, and the kindness she showed towards the younger wielders who were filled with fear. Sometimes Annora thought she might have seen Skuld in Scala. But it was looking more and more like she was just seeing a ghost she wished was real.

From Skuld Annora had been led to the memories of their party. The calm expressions of Jax, and Takiko’s bitter sarcasm, and Kamiko’s bright smile. All the members of the party they had lost to the war. The ones who wouldn’t escape it. Who couldn’t.

And then there was those from after the war. Ventus and Brain and Lauriam. Skuld and Ephemer’s friends. She hadn’t had the time to know them as well as she liked. And the thought of them was enough to make her heart ache. Ventus and his never-ending sweetness that Annora had felt such a strong urge to protect. Lauriam and his measured words and quiet determination. He had fought so hard for them, even when things were at their worst. And then there was Brain. All clever plans and complex thoughts. He was here too, in Scala if the rumors were true. Annora was trying her best to find him, though the societies seemed to treat him with such honor. It wasn’t as if she could just approach him. To share the load of their shared memories.

It was only after she remembered all the others she had remembered how she had ended up here in the first place. The plan she had joined, even if it weren’t exactly what they had expected of her.

Luxu hadn’t been clear what exactly he expected of her. All he had said was she would watch with him. It was seeming less and less like watching. And more like she was a guide, meant to keep things on the correct path. She was involved so he didn’t have to be.

Annora remembered the first time she had met Luxu. Up on the hills outside of Daybreak Town. She had been so surprised to find him there. And even more surprised no one else had thought to look for him there. It wasn’t exactly a discrete place. Not lost as the foretellers had said. He was in plain sight. Watching.

She hadn’t expected for him to be easy to find the second time. And even less so the third time. Eventually however, it changed from uncertainty to certainty. She would see him again. And up on that hill they had conversations again and again.

At the time she hadn’t thought it special. But it was that meeting that had changed everything. Had set her down this path. At the time it had seemed so simple. Just a walk to clear her head, until she had stumbled across the cloaked figure on the cliff.

Now the memory of his offer played in her head on repeat.

“You know, not many wielders would think to visit me,” Luxu said. He wasn’t looking at Annora. He usually wasn’t, instead watching the town with his keyblade stabbed into the ground beside him. Annora had been drawn to it, a dark keyblade with the bright blue eye.

“Not many wielders know where you are,” Annora countered. “The foretellers don’t, do they?”

“No, they don’t,” Luxu agreed. “It’s better they don’t. Wouldn’t want them to interfere with my role.”

“So all of you are just playing a part?” Annora asked, bitterness seeping into her voice. She had heard the way the foretellers defended these roles, even as they tore apart the town. To hear of another filled her with dread.

“For the most part,” Luxu agreed. “Some are going off script a bit, I will say.”

“So what’s your role?” Annora asked.

“Would you like to learn?” Luxu asked in return. Annora frowned once again.

“That’s why I asked, obviously,” she said, crossing her arms. Luxu laughed. Something about his laugh was comforting, warm and welcoming. For a moment, she forgot her annoyance.

“Not what I was getting at,” Luxu said. “I was more, offering for you to join me.”

“What?” Annora asked.

“Would you like to be my apprentice?” Luxu asked. He was looking at Annora now, though she couldn’t see his face behind the shadows of his hood. She could feel his gaze on her though. “I could use the help, and well, I like you.”

“Are you serious?” Annora asked.

“Of course,” Luxu said. “So, what do you say? Want to help with my role, it’s the only way you’re finding out what it is.”

Annora hesitated in that moment. She didn’t even answer him that day. It had been weeks, until just before the end, until she finally agreed.

Part of her wished she never had.

And the other knew there was no other way.

Day 2~ Past

Back again for day 2 of @khoc-week , Past.

Before coming to Daybreak Town Annora really doesn’t have much of a past. There was nothing particularly special about her life prior to being chosen by the keyblade. The only thing that she really had was her best friend, a girl named Lyra. So Annora’s real past is found in Daybreak Town, during the time of Unions and upcoming war. And in her fight against that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“They say there’s going to be a war.”

Annora frowned, not looking up from the ground as she carefully balanced on the railing of the path. Beneath her was one of the many channels and waterways of Daybreak Town. Before coming to the town she had never seen so much water. Their home had been something of a dry scrub land. She liked the stark contrast this new world offered.

“Yeah, Master Ira has made that pretty clear to us,” Annora agreed. She carefully kept moving forward her arms spread out beside her as she swayed from side to side. “Is Master Invi talking about it a lot?”

“No,” Lyra answered, her voice quiet. Annora risked a glance over, her frown deepening as she saw the way Lyra had pulled her arms close to her chest. She was looking at the ground rather than watching Annora the way she would usually. It made it hard to see her face, though Annora suspected she wouldn’t like whatever it was she saw. “Everyone else is though.”

Annora nodded her head, turning her attention away from Lyra once again. She couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard it, all the whispers throughout town about the ‘traitor’ and a war that would turn all wielders on one another. The whispers even dared to say no one would survive the war. Not even the foretellers who only became more and more reserved by the day.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Annora said. She glanced at Lyra ash the other girl looked at her. Annora was right. Lyra had dark bags under her eyes and her face was pale and gaunt. She looked terrible.

“You don’t?” Lyra asked, her head titling to the side. Annora flashed a bright smile.

“Of course not,” Annora said. She jumped down from the railing, landing in front of Lyra with a thud before falling into step beside her. She crossed her arms behind her head, looking up at the pink and blue sky of never ending daybreak. “Just think about it, no one wants this war to happen. Everyone is trying so hard to stop it. So what, because there’s a stupid book that claims to know the future we’re all going to forget about that?”

“They say the book is from the Master of the Foretellers,” Lyra said softly. “Wouldn’t he have to be so powerful?”

“Sure, but I don’t think you can predict the future,” Annora said. She smiled at Lyra brightly for a moment before looking away again. “We all are so different, and unique. People are impulsive and don’t always make decisions that make sense.”

“You would know all about that,” Lyra interrupted. Annora wrinkled her nose at Lyra, bumping her with her hip as they continued walking.

“Not the point,” Annora said. “The point is, we can’t even predict what we’re going to do. How can we predict what other people are going to do. The book is a hoax.”

Annora nodded to reinforce her words. Her gaze turned once again to the town. It was filled with life, even as it was drawing closer to night. Wielders with their Chirithy’s and party members chattered and milled around. There were bright smiles and laughs. So many continuing to exist without a care in the world. If they all thought the same about the war, there was no need for it happen. And when it never came the book would be forgotten, just a relic of ancient times.

“You really think so?” Lyra asked.

“I know it,” Annora said firmly. “We change the future every day. Something as stagnant as that book could never hope to keep up.”

“I hope you’re right, Nori,” Lyra said. She was smiling now, a soft smile that made her face soften. She didn’t look so gaunt now.

Day 5~ Unique

Today for @khoc-week we bring to mind that which makes our characters unique. And while of course every character is, Annora doesn't notice how she is unique. During the age of fairytales she was nothing special among the wielders. And though she walks with Luxu, she doesn't consider herself the special one. Just an accessory. So when in Scala, and forced to face her own uniqueness, she isn't ready for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annora had never considered herself anything special. She wasn’t particularly talented when it came to the keyblade. Her magic was far below average, if she was to be honest. She had never faired well in the pvp of Daybreak Town, and against enemies she had only done marginally better. Perhaps the only thing that had kept her from meeting a gruesome end before the war was her stubborn streak that had filled those around her with annoyance.

She didn’t like the treatment that came with being unique.

With a sigh she sat herself underneath the statue of Ephemer. It was a comfort that he was here, even in such a loose sense of the word. Something to say she wasn’t as alone as she was starting to feel.

There were other wielders around her often, and yet none of them made the feeling leave. Not all the aw of her skill with no training. Not the constant eyes on her rusted keyblade she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of. Not the jokes from Remus and the ponderings of Freya. It all only made her feel more and more alone. Someone who didn’t belong and slowly everyone around her was realizing it.

“How did you do it?” Annora asked. She waited a moment before looking over her shoulder at the statue as if her question would make him spring to life. There was something comforting that he looked the same as she remembered and not how she was sure the people of Scala remembered him. “You were always special weren’t you? That’s why she made you leave first.”

Ephemer had been something special the moment she had met him. The way he spoke about their world and his theories. Annora could have spent hours listening to him even if she didn’t understand a word of what he said. And even Master Ava had noticed. It was why he was chosen. And that specialness had carried over. He was the leader among the Dandelions. The leader of all of them. Even with Skuld beside him. And Brain. They all followed him, agreed he had to be the leader.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here,” Annora confessed. “Luxu definitely wants me to do something. But, I can’t remember what. And it’s not like I know where to find him. I can’t just ask.” She sighed heavily once again looking at the brick beneath her feet. “I don’t like being watched all the time. I don’t think even the foretellers watched me so closely.”

“Well, the foretellers weren’t exactly watching anyone all that closely.”

Annora jumped, looking towards the voice that had suddenly spoken. For a moment she wasn’t sure what she was seeing was real. Though she hadn’t spent a particularly long time with the Dandelions she had gotten to know them all well enough. And she remembered she had hated Brain’s hat.

The feeling had not changed.

“You come here pretty often,” Brain said, as he walked over to where Annora was sat. He sat down beside her, adjusting his hat on his head. Annora scrunched up her face in annoyance. She saw a flicker of laughter cross Brain’s eyes, though he didn’t make a sound. “And you talk to Ephemer like a friend. So am I to guess you’re the wielder of the rusted key?”

“Ephemer was my friend,” Annora answered, though she didn’t acknowledge his second question right away. Even he had heard of her, someone so special to the societies. To the Dandelions. “You don’t look any different.”

“You do,” Brain remarked. “Annora, right?”

“I’m not hiding it very well,” Annora said, giving a half-hearted grin. Brain chuckled. Annora felt the slight tension in her shoulders fade, her grin changing to feel more natural.

“No, you’re not,” he agreed. He leaned back on his arms, watching Annora from the corner of his eyes. His eyes always held a spark, some sort of curiosity and wonder. Like he was taking the world apart to understand how it worked. Annora was glad that wasn’t gone. “Makes the higher ups around here very interested. Might want to be careful.”

“I’ve never been good at careful,” Annora said, rolling her eyes as she looked away from Brain.

“You know, somehow I can believe that,” Brain said. Annora quickly shot him another glare, her face scrunching up in the playful annoyance once more. “Careful doesn’t trap themselves with several primordial darknesses.”

“It needed to be done,” Annora said, her words heavy again. It had to be done. And no one else could be lost. They were all too important. Chosen for a reason. Not just there. Not like her. It made sense.

“It did,” Brain agreed. He was being oddly agreeable, Annora could feel the wariness returning. She watched him from the corner of her eyes, just as he watched her. “I don’t think anyone else could have done it. You’re something else, didn’t even die right.”

“I’m nothing special,” Annora said softly. “I wish everyone would stop treating me like it.”

“Unfortunately, you’re special now,” Brain said. Annora glared at him, though it did little to sway his expression. He nudged her gently. “But I get it, being special for the things we’ve been through ain’t great.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re everyone’s hero,” Annora said. Brain shrugged in response. There was a slight pause as he looked over his shoulder at Ephemer’s statue.

“Just a left over really,” Brain said. “Somehow in Ephemer’s shadow after all this. I think you get it.”

“Yeah,” Annora agreed. She turned her attention fully on to Brain now, looking over him fully. “Why’d you come talk to me?”

“It’s lonely,” Brain admitted. “Thought you might like having a conversation with someone who got it.”

Annora smiled slightly and nodded.