And so, we have the next chapter of Keystone Chronicles Book 4. This chapter will be told from Aaron's POV. Now, let's begin.

Chapter 4

Tribal Invitation

I grunted as I sliced the last Heartless in half with my newly-acquired keyblade. The shaft of the weapon was coated in a stream of colors, with the teeth formed by a yin-yang symbol with the colors of my eyes replacing the black-and-white colors of the normal symbol. The hand guards took the forms of blended crayon wax, melting into the chain supporting a color wheel token. The keyblade Iridium.

Disney Castle was almost always in danger of Heartless attack, now that it no longer had the protection of the Cornerstone of Light. Those of us who had stayed behind had to protect the citizens of the town from the living darkness, and since King Mickey is has one of the strongest hearts in existence… well…

On the plus side, all of us were getting perfect training with our keyblades.

On the minus side… little to no time to catch our breath.

I'm serious. The Heartless had been coming at us in waves. One after the other, non-stop. Next thing you know, they'll start popping up behind us saying "hello".

"Hello,"

I screamed in panic at the unexpected voice I heard right behind myself. I turned around quickly, Iridium held in a battle ready position. I was reasonably surprised when I saw the figure standing there.

It was a really short, sixteen- maybe seventeen- year-old boy with blonde hair he had tied into a short ponytail in the back. Emerging from his rear end was a golden, prehensile monkey tail. He had no shirt on, but wore leather gloves, green silk pants, and knee-length boots. Smack-dab in the middle of his chest was a Heartless insignia… but there were three things wrong with it;

It was green and white instead of red and black.

It was upside-down.

The cross was coated in feathers instead of spikes.

I could only stare at him in mild shock and confusion. He seemed to notice the look I was giving him.

"What?" he asked. His deep voice sounded way too cheerful for him to be a Heartless. "Never seen an I.H. before?"

"I.H.?" What the heck is an I.H.?

"Inverse Heartless," he elaborated. I still gave him a blank stare.

What the hell is an Inverse Heartless?

The boy sighed dejectedly.

"This is an I.H. in a nutshell; the same as a regular Heartless, but composed of living light instead of living Darkness."

Wha? Is that even possible? Why is this guy even here?

"Zidane,"

"Huh?"

"That's my name. Zidane Tribal."

"Aaron."

I couldn't help but wonder… why the heck is this guy here? I know he isn't here just to strike up pointless conversation. I watched Zidane pull an envelope from his pocket, and then hold it out in front of me.

"I was given instructions to deliver this to you."

I took the envelope from him, tore it open, and pulled out the letter inside. I slowly began to read it.

Dear Mr. Skyhart,

You have been randomly drafted to be the male common entre representing Mobius in the Tournament of Legends. This tournament, held once every fifty years, pits legendary warriors, good or evil, against one another to achieve ultimate glory. To provide extra competition, two remarkably skilled warriors, one male and one female, from each world are drafted into the competition as well.

Here are the rules of the tournament;

You may choose to compete alone, or in a team of 2-4 warriors. However, the comrades you choose to fight alongside cannot be other draftees, and must be capable of following your orders.

You may use any abilities you have at your disposal to achieve victory, but no underhand tactics.

You win matches by forcing your opponent out of the assigned fighting area, or by bringing them to where they can no longer fight.

You cannot kill your opponent.

If you are capable of shape shifting, you cannot use vegetable or mineral forms. Only animal.

Keyblade apprentices who make it into the semifinals are elevated to Master Status.

You cannot tamper with rivals outside of combat.

Remember these simple rules, and you should be fine. The winner of the tournament is given 350000000000 munny, and bragging rights for a full year.

Mirage Arena Owner,

Laguna Loire.

Wait, WHAT!

"You came all the way over here to tell me I was drafted into a tournament that I have little to no chance of winning!"

"Yup."

I could only stare at the Inverse Heartless in undeterred shock. I took another look at the letter, my eyes drifting mindlessly to that one line… if I make it to the semifinals…

I'd have shown the Mark of Mastery.

"I see you're starting to like the idea of competing in the tournament," I heard Zidane stated outright.

"I'm competing in the tournament as well. Might be fun to fight someone like you."

I ignored the I.H.'s comment. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of warriors would be competing in the tournament. I knew Sonic would be in the tournament, he's enough of a legend to be automatically drafted in. But there are things about other worlds that I simply can't fathom. Warriors with abilities more amazing than my Chaos Fantasy. Maybe a few weaklings who got unlucky. I can probably picture quite a bit of competitors getting disqualified in the first round because they had inadvertently killed their opponents.

Maybe I should visit this Mirage Arena, and see what I can learn about the other competitors in this tournament.

Sorry, but I had supreme writer's block when wrapping up this chapter. The Tournament of Legends will be the subject of the next installment in the series. If you have any requesting regarding the characters who compete, please send them in reviews, or PM me. Now, please read and review.