Takeo: A Fractured Heart (Wattys 2019)

Chapter 4: Keyblade Training

Leon, Cid, and Takeo all made their way into the third district, and into a wide open courtyard. Takeo look around, confused about what it was he was going to be training with. He looked up at Leon, "Hey, what gives? There's nothing here to help me train."

Leon let out a slight chuckle, "Yes there is. Look over there." Leon pointed to an alleyway that was leading in, and sure enough, three Pureblood Heartless came running into the courtyard. They then became fixated on Takeo and the other two men who were with him. Takeo stiffened up.

"Are you sure I should be practicing on live targets right away? I mean, I could get seriously hurt since I don't know what I'm doing." said Takeo, expressing his concern to Leon.

"I'm sure. Now, summon the Keyblade to your hand, and ready yourself." Leon said, commanding Takeo. Takeo held his hand out in front of him and closed his eyes. The Keyblade materialized in his hand, much quicker this time, and he got himself into a fighting stance that he had grown accustomed to in the past. "Good, now wait until one comes to you. You don't want to take on all three at once. At least, not yet you don't."

Almost on queue, one of the Purebloods sank into the ground and made it's way towards Takeo. He held the Keyblade in front of him, almost aiming it at the Heartless. The Pureblood sprang out of the ground, and flew through the air towards Takeo's head. But Takeo was ready, and he slashed through the Pureblood almost effortlessly, causing the Heartless to disappear into a cloud of smoke. Leon and Cid cheered on Takeo, who then charged the other two Purebloods.

At the same time, the Purebloods lunged at Takeo's head, but he did a baseball slide underneath of them, slashing his Keyblade from left to right, hitting both of the Heartless at the same time, causing them to disappear. Leon and Cid ran over to him. "Say, that was really good Takeo! Are you sure that you've never done this before?"

Takeo looked down at the Keyblade that rest in his hand. "I'm positive that I've never used this thing before. I had never even seen it until I had that weird dream..." Suddenly, Takeo's chest had a sharp stabbing feeling in it, causing him to fall to the ground, yelling in pain.

"Tak! What's wrong?!" Cid yelled, running up to him. Takeo was holding his arms close to his chest and yelling.

"It hurts! Please make it stop! I just want it to stop! Why is this happening?!" Takeo kept yelling for well over a minute, before suddenly passing out from the pain. Cid and Leon looked at each other with horrified, confused look on their faces.

"Don't just stand there! Pick him up and bring him back to the apartment! I'll go grab some potions from my shop and meet you there!" Cid said, ordering Leon. Leon nodded his head, threw Takeo over his shoulder, and headed for his apartment.

Why could this be happening? Takeo was fine all day, up until he summoned his Keyblade. Are they connected? Or is it just coincidental timing that his happened right after fighting the Heartless? Leon couldn't think about the possibilities now, he had to get Takeo to the apartment, and quick. Maybe he could find someone to help him, before it was too late.

Leon ran into the door shoulder first, and placed Takeo onto the bed. This time, two women were in the room, and were caught off guard by what had just happened. One was dressed in a long pink dress, with a pink bow on the back of her head. The other girl was dressed in shorts, long socks, and yellow boots. She was also wearing a green top being held up with blue suspender like holds, and a yellow scarf around her neck.

Leon shouted towards both of them, "Aerith, Yuffie, watch for Cid! He should be here any minute!" he shouted as he laid Takeo onto the bed. The two girls looked horrified as they watched the scene unfold in front of them.

"Leon? Who is that?" asked Aerith with a calm voice, a tone which she seemingly always had.

"I'll explain later. Just go watch for Cid!" Leon shouted again, pointing towards the door. Takeo started to twitch back to life, and Leon's eyes widened. "What is going on?" he thought to himself.

Takeo opened his eyes, albeit it slightly, and looked over to Leon. "Leon...? What's going on?" Takeo asked weakly.

Upon hearing Takeo speak, Leon suddenly regained his composure, almost not wanting Takeo to see that he was worried. "I'm not sure kid. You just collapsed and passed out. I brought you here, and Cid ran to get you some potions." Takeo tried to let out a smile, but was too weak to do so.

"Thank you... Leon..." Takeo said before passing out again. Leon let out a slight gasp, then went to go and sit down in the chair that was in the corner of the room.

A few minutes passed, and then Cid burst through the door, potions in hand. "How is Tak doing?" he asked, looking back and forth between Leon and Takeo.

"He woke up for a minute and asked what happened. I explained that he had passed out after collapsing, but then that was it. He went under again." Leon said, arms crossed and eyes closed, still sitting in the chair.

"Well, I sent a message to a friend. He'll be here soon and he'll take a look at Takeo and tell us what is going on. I guess those Moogles are good for something after all." Cid said, breaking a potion over top of Takeo in an effort to help him feel better. He then sat on the end of the bed, and waited for his friend to arrive.