Down the Twilight Path

Know Your Proper Place

A/N: A short piece to serve as a bridge between the previous chapter and the next one. We will also dive into our mysterious protagonist, and how he and the rest of his family fit into the Kingdom Hearts universe. So enjoy, my fair readers!

Scene 7: Learn Your Proper Place

Location: The Station of Delusion

Jason once again opened his eyes to find himself standing on the glass construct in the center of his heart. Awaiting him was Shadow Jason, who looked as if it was expecting the visit.

"I presume you're here for power," it said.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Jason countered. "We are one and the same, so any power that can be found here would already belong to me. Furthermore, I'm not exactly in the best position right now, so any advantage I can gain would be appreciated."

Shadow Jason nodded in approval to his counterpart's words. "The question, then, is what power can be gained here? What suits you the best?"

Jason recalled what he had been doing before he had been whisked away to the world where he was being held prisoner.

After I got injured while sparring with Mika and Reika, I discovered I could heal my own injuries. By the logic that my shadow half has presented so far, I've always been able to do that. But then when did I-?

Suddenly, Jason's head begin to ache fiercely as images flooded his brain.

"Are you sure we should be doing this? This magic stuff looks really dangerous."

"It might be dangerous, but only if we aren't careful. And offensive magic isn't the only kind of magic that exists. Here, this is a book about healing spells."

Jason gently lifted the green-covered book from Eileen's hand and looked over it.

Healing spells? If this magic is real, then my path to becoming a doctor just became a lot easier, he thought to himself.

The memory had no further context than that, but the meaning was clear: Jason had learned magic at some point in the past. But why hadn't he been able to remember that until now? Wouldn't something like studying magic be too important to forget?

When Jason was able to refocus his vision, he saw a pulsating green orb in front of him. The orb seemed to be roughly half as big as his head. Normally, Jason would hesitate to grab mysterious objects floating in midair, but as this was his own heart, he couldn't see the harm.

Jason grasped the orb and it slipped through his hands and into his chest, causing his entire being to vibrate. At the same time, the glass pane below him glowed with an intense, blinding green light.

When the vibrating stopped and the light faded, Jason looked down. Both the cracks and the stain had shrunk considerably, revealing more of the image beneath. Dotted around the image of Jason were some circles in an arc. There was something in the circles, but that was still obstructed.

"You have reawakened the power of the 'Neophyte's Vulnerary'. With this ability, you now have access to minor healing spells and a 1.2 buff to the same."

Jason looked over at his doppelganger with a look that screamed, Are you serious?

The Shadow shrugged. "It seemed like a better thing to say than just 'You've remembered the basic spells that you learned previously.'"

The world around them began to break apart.

"Well, looks like you're being called away," Shadow Jason said as everything began to fade. "You're about to enter a very unpleasant place. Try your hardest to survive."