(Later that night.)

Silence filled the Foretellers mansion.

They were all in the living room wallowing in their defeat. Kira was on the couch disinfecting one of Alex’s wounds. Jenny was leaning against the wall, contemplating with herself. Finally, Lan and Dan were sitting at the coffee table, both with contemplating looks like Jenny.

Jenny sighed, “Well I’ll be the first to say it. That sucked.”

“You got that right!” Alex yelled. “Ow! Kira, be careful.”

“Then stop moving so much.” Kira said as she applied the alcohol rub.

“We got our asses handed to us.” Dan stated frustrated. “By that Bastard Crow no less. He is also the one responsible for the Unversed in this world. And who is this ‘Master’ he was speaking of?!”

“Calm down Dan.” Lan tried to calm his friend from his rambling.

“No I will not calm down!” Dan shot up. “There is too many things happening for us to be calm right now. First Huxley shows up and warns us about Ventral and the X-Blade. Now we are dealing with Crow who has the power of the Unversed, and whoever this Master is!”

“Dan Shut Up!” Jenny yelled. “We were all there. We were all beaten! We’re all confused and on edge, but screaming at each other won’t help anyone.” Silence filled the room once again.

“But we did loss today. Badly at that.” Alex said sadly. “How are we supposed to go up against Crow now?”

“J-just remember what we were talking about earlier. We just got to get stronger and fight together! Like always.” Kira tried to lighten the mood.

“Yeah and what if we’re not strong enough?” Jenny asked. “I could tell. He was toying with all of us today. He could have killed us if he wanted to. Even if we did get stronger, who’s to say will will be able to beat him that time around. And I’m not hearing anything from you fearless leader. What do you think we should do?” All of their attention moved towards their leader who remained quiet.

“I… I don’t know.” Lan said. His fist tighten in frustration. So much so that his knuckles were turning white.

The other’s eyes widened. They have known Lan for most of their lives, and come to trust him as a leader and beast friend. But what they had never seen in Lan was doubt.

Jenny sighed again. “Thought so.”

“Man it’s so gloomy in here. What did someone die?” An unfamiliar voice said. The whole team became alert, looking around for the source of the voice. Suddenly, the kitchen door opened and walked in a mad wearing an Organization XIII cloak.

“Huxley?” Lan asked.

“BZZZT! Wrong! Guess again.” The mysterious man said.

“Wait, that voice.” Lan’s eyes widened. “Master of Masters?” The others also looked shocked.

“Ding! Ding! Ding! Correct! Good guess kid.” The Master said. In an instant, all five of them rushed forward and bowed to him. “Whoa! What’s this about? I mean, I know I’m awesome but this is a bit much.”

“Well you are The Master of Masters after all. We’d imagine that you’d want some respect.” Alex said.

“Now, now, no need to bow. I mean I may be THE master but I’m not exactly your master. Even though you use the powers of my former students.”

“But you disappeared without a trace centuries ago.” Dan said. “Why did you disappear? And why are you here now?”

The Master paused before sighing. “Yes I did disappear. I knew that the events that were gonna happen no matter what anyone did. Since I gave my eye to Luxu in that keyblade, I was able to see all the events to come. I saw what was to come was inevitable, so I did my best to prepare my students for it. I tried to think of a way to prevent what was to come, but I knew that the future I saw could only happen if I let the inevitable Keyblade war happen first.”
If one would look closely, they could see a single tear escape the darkness of the cloak's hood.
“There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t wonder what could have been if I didn’t disappear. That maybe if I tried hard enough I could have prevented the war, and the future I saw could exist also. But I knew what my role was, and I had to fulfill it.”

The Foretellers lowered their heads in respect for the Master, and those he left. They may have known what future he saw, but they knew what a broken man looked like.

“But anyway!” The Master said back in his playful voice. Startling the Foretellers. “As for why I’m here. Well I’ve always been here in a sense.”

They were confused. “You were always here? What do you mean Master?” Kira asked.

“Well, your god had asked me to watch over the five of you from time to time. He knew that when the time came you would need my guidance. Like how I was with the first Foretellers. Who do you think sent the letter about the Chirithy spirits? So since he wanted me to immediately show up now, I’m guessing something bad happened. So tell me. What happened to make you five so gloomy?” The Master asked.

They had explained everything that happened so far. From Huxley arriving to their most recent defeat.

“Hm, sounds like you all got your asses handed to you pretty badly.” The Master said bluntly.

“That’s what I said.” Dan quipped.

“So what are you all going to do now?”

The Foretellers look confused.

“What do you mean?” Jenny asked.

“I mean, what are you all going to do now? What’s your next course of action? Next on the itinerary? The next scene in the fanfiction?” They were silent as the Master let out another sigh. “I see. So you were all going to just sit here, wallow in your defeat, and let your enemy get stronger while you all did nothing. Great plan.”

“Well what else is there?!” an unexpected shout came from Lan. “So we train and get stronger. What if it isn’t enough. What if we lose again? What if there’s more at stake than just oure lives next time?”

“What if, what if, what if. What if my aunt had a mustache, then she’d be my uncle.” The Master said nonchalantly. Making the team sweat drop. “You ask these what if questions because you’re too scared of a future that you don’t know. Are you all too scared to fight for what you believe in just because of one loss?”

They all looked down in shame.

“*Sigh* Look, ever since you received these powers, you have all been doing a lot of winning against these Unversed.”

“And what of it?” Alex asked.

“Well you don’t learn anything by winning.” They all looked at the Master expectantly. “So, are you going to let this one loss define who you are from now on? Or are you going to learn from it, and let it drive you into becoming stronger than you could ever imagine. To be strong enough to not lose again.” The words sunk in, and without anymore hesitation, they all nodded. Their stance held the utmost confidence, and their eyes were shining in determination.

“Good answer!” The Master cheered. “And now for the real reason I’m here.”

“Wait what?” Alex asked. “You mean you weren’t here to snap us out of our funk?”

“That’s only part of the reason. The main reason was to prepare you all for what’s to come.” they looked at him questioningly. “From what you told me you’ve already meet another survivor, so you all probably know that things are gonna become more hectic around here. You’re going to be apart of a larger story. But to do that, you five are going to have to create your own Unions like the Foretellers before you. You need to train apprentices and pass the keyblade on to them. But to do that, all of you are going to have to become Keyblade Masters.”

Their eyes widened.

“Y-y-you mean?” Kira stuttered.

“That’s right!” the master pulled out a party popper. “You are all going to be taking the Mark of Mastery Exam!” He popped it, and confetti went everywhere.

“Are you sure Master?” Lan asked. “Do you think we are ready?”

“Well ready or not, what’s gonna happen is gonna happen. I’m just here to commence the Exam.”

They all sighed at the Master.

“Alright. When do we start the test?”

“Right now actually.” The Master stomped his foot on the floor, and darkness coated the ground. When it reached the Foretellers, they started to sink in.

“What’s happening?!” They asked as they slowly began their descent.

“Don’t worry kids, this is all part of the test. You gotta face your inner darkness.” The Master said. “And remember… May your heart be your guiding key.”

It was the last thing they heard before they were completely consumed into the floor. The next moment, the floor returned to normal, and all that was left was The Master.

“Now… what do they have to eat around here?”

Author's Notes:

What is up everybody!

Yes, it's finally here. This is the arc where the Foreteller's take their Mark of Mastery Exams. There will be separate chapters for each of them going through their own Exam. This is where we get to see their back grounds and Their inner darkness. So stay tuned!

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