Kingdom Hearts; The Heartless Keeper

Chapter XXXVI; A Walk Among Tombstones

Yuki looked around her in wonder and disbelief. The area was desolate. The ground was dry and cracked dirt with no sign of life. Around her was rock walls that seemed to go up forever to meet with the sky. There were several dips in the ground that formed steps to a hollow. In the center of the hollow X and Y stood together. Yuki paced around slowly, taking in what was nothing.

"This place is a barren wasteland," Yuki said. She glanced over at the blonde twins. They were standing closer together than they usually did. Both were deathly silently, with a look that made it seem they would rather be anywhere than here. "Are you two ok?" Yuki asked. Y looked at X concerned, her mouth stuck in a frown that didn't fit her.

"I won't say we are." Y said in a soft voice. It made Yuki realize just how small Y really was. She was only a child, no matter how many years she had seen.

"What's wrong?" Yuki asked. Y looked towards a narrow ravine that led to a place Yuki couldn't see.

"This is where I lost my heart." Y said. Her voice was so quiet Yuki hardly heard her. She gazed at Y in shock. It must have been terrible, remembering the moment you stopped being human and having to return to the place that it happened. X stepped away from his sister, going towards the ravine.

"Let's get this over with," X said, sounding more reserved than Yuki had ever heard.

Yuki and Y followed X through the ravine. They came out in a vast open space. The sky overhead was overcast with thin clouds. Plenty of light was still escaping through the clouds. There was one path in the middle of what took Yuki's breath away. There were keyblades as far as the eye could see stabbed into the ground. There were even keyblades stabbed into the wall by the ravine entrance. There were a few rock formations that seemed out of place, blocking Yuki's sight line. Yuki stopped in her tracks, completely in awe.

"Welcome to the keyblade graveyard," X said bitterly. He swept his arm out over the land in a grand gesture. Yuki could hear the sarcasm in his voice and see it in his movement.

"Where did all of these come from?" Yuki asked. She really didn't like the use of the word graveyard.

"This is a battlefield." Y said simply. Yuki looked at Y in confusion and horror. A battlefield? X seemed to notice her look and took it upon himself to elaborate further.

"This is where the ancient keyblade war was fought." He said. Yuki put her hand up to her mouth to hide her gasp. So many keyblades. How many had died?

"This is horrible," Yuki said, taking in her surroundings. "How..?" She began to ask, but her question trailed off. She didn't even know what she meant to ask.

"The crossroads?" X asked glancing at her. "Or the random rock formations?" Yuki looked at him before returning her gaze to the graveyard.

"The crossroads." She said. That hadn't been her question. But it seemed like as good a place to start as any. X took a few steps towards the keys, his hands brushing over the handles of the ones closest to the edge of the path.

"The old story was each Union began in a crossroads until the fifth Union arrived and tried to stop the war. Then the battle started, and this was how they fell. Each keyblade is a tombstone." X explained. Part of what he said was lost on Yuki. Unions? But whether she understood everything or not, it was a horrifying prospect.

"That must have been terrible," Yuki said. Y nodded in agreement.

"It must have." She whispered.

The group began to separate, each drifting slowly away from each other. Yuki walked down the clear pathway towards the rock formations, looking up in wonder. X walked into the keyblades, his hands brushing over the keyblades he passed by. Under his breath, he was whispering. Y stayed as close to the entrance as she could but tried to follow her brother, staying at least within his earshot. Her arms crossed nervously across her chest.