Fan Fiction Kingdom Hearts: Confessions of a Knight

[Noblesse Oblige]

Prologue: Awakening

Journal Entry: June 20, 110 DC

It’s hard to believe that it’s the 16th anniversary today. Sixteen years since the fall of the Lucid Empire. I remember that day as if was yesterday, and looking back to everything I did before and up till that point, all I could say was that I had no regrets, and I still do not to this day. I was a proud knight, one of the wielders of the legendary Keyblade, a proud warrior of the Empire. I loved my country, I always had. But now, after everything that has happened, was it really worth it?

Heh, look at me, trying to convey my feelings, asking a question to a notebook. Yet, after all this time, I still do not know.

These days there were stories being told of the Legendary Lucidian Knights, the best of the best of the Lucidian Military. We were of the aristocracy, the high class of our society, now destroyed by the war. But for those of us who fought, we moved on, managing to rebuild our lives and live them how we saw fit.

I remember when it all began, that cold, winter night in Walkure, the Lucidian Capital. Back then, there was a huge fire in the residential district, and my parents died in the blaze. I was cold, sad, alone…
----
January 20, 0089 DC
Outskirts of the Imperial Capital of Walkure, Lucid Empire

Theme: Ace Combat Zero OST-Prologue

The surrounding area was in ruins, though the fires were, for the most part put out, but the damage was evident. Many of the people there managed to escape with their lives, and for the fortunate, with many of their belongings. But there were those who were not so fortunate, such was the case of a young girl. She was barely thirteen years old, with beautiful black hair and soft, icy blue eyes. She had lain herself there, in tattered clothing, scratched and bruised up and laying on the snow covered streets of the Walkure suburbs. The girl stared up into the cold sky, snow falling down.

Suddenly, a man in a brown long coat appeared in front of her. She had seen figures like him before on TV, he must be a detective, or a secret agent or someone of the sort. He probably knew that she was still alive, albeit injured. He spoke in a calming voice, “Are you okay?” At first there was no response, the man asked again, "Bist du in Ordnung?"

The girl finally responded, “Yes…”

The man bent down, so the girl could see his face clearly. He had blonde hair and blue eyes; he looked as old as her father, around his early forties. “Mein name ist (My name is) Anton, what is yours?”

“…Cecilie”

“Such a pretty name, I can tell you have potential, potential you can use to help those, and prevent tragedies like this from happening.”

“Potential?” Cecilie said surprised, and Anton dusted off the thing beside her hand, it appeared as if she was gripping something. As Anton lifted Cecilie’s arm, she winced in pain, meaning she had broken it during the fire. She looked down to her arm and saw a large key, attached to a Keychain. “Yes, you are a Keyblade wielder, people like you are hard to find within Lucidia.”

“A…Keyblade wielder?” Cecilie said in a daze.

“Yes, we keyblade wielders are the vanguard of the Lucid Empire, we are chosen by fate to defend the Empire against those who threaten it, chosen to help the people in their greatest need.” Dr. Kupencho grabbed Cecilie’s Keyblade, it looked similar to a Keyblade he has only heard of in stories, the Stroke of Midnight. But this blade was different, it was completely white in color, with a wheel like teeth, 6 spokes representing the 6 colors in the rainbow.

“What do Keyblade Knights do? What can they do?" Cecilie had so many questions she could barely contain herself. "Mr. Anton, how do you know so much about the Keyblade?”

The Doctor laughed, “I’m not surprised.” Anton extended his hand and a beam of light appeared in his hand, temporarily blinding the teenage girl. When she regained sight, she saw that Anton had a Keyblade, albeit different looking than the one she saw in her hand. “I am a Keyblade Knight, a Lucidian Knight of the Order of Gault. Dr. Anton Kupencho.”

Raising his Keyblade into the air, he utilized a spell, and several green sparkles surrounded Cecilie, she felt the pain she felt in her arm and from her cuts and bruises go away. Raising her arm, she could move it around normally.

“I want you to make a choice; you could stay here and potentially die from who knows what could be out, or you can come with me, and work your way to make a difference for the betterment of your people?”

Cecilie did not have to think hard about her decision. She wanted to get away from here. To forget what had happened here. Dr. Kupencho was giving her the chance to escape her fate, and move on to become something she would have wanted the most. It was her dream to be a knight, and with his help, she was going to live her dream.

Anton extended his hand, which Cecille accepted, grasping the man’s hand and letting him pull her up to her feet.

“Come on, I will take you to the residence of a friend of mine.”

----
Before hand, I was scared, confused and alone. I lost the will to live that day, but Anton came, he gave me a reason to live, a reason to live my dream. I owed my life to him that day, even though I never showed it to him then.

 

[Noblesse Oblige]

Chapter 1: Raptor

I remember Anton taking me across the city, having me ride around trains to reach the Airport. From there, he took me on a Gummi Ship. At first I was afraid of what was going on. I never flew in a Gummi Ship before, but he told me “Everything was going to be alright.” He was a kind individual; he was the one who told me stories from his past.

Dr. Kupencho was once an active member of the Lucidian Knights. He was a member of the 18th Order, the Order of Gault. He told me many of his adventures during his 20 years service with the military. I didn’t understand then, but he was trying to comfort me through the trip.

He took me to Anfang, also known as the town of beginnings. Aptly named enough, it would be the place that I would begin my journey.
----
January 31, 0089 DC
Anfang, Lucid Empire

Theme: Final Fantasy IX OST-Terra (Arranged by Michael Huang)

Cecille looked out the window of the train she was riding, the beautiful beach was glistening purple, and the sands were red from the sight of the setting sun. The town was nothing short of beautiful too, with the pristine landscape and the beautiful houses; it was like a resort to many who travel here.

Once the train stopped, both Dr. Kupencho and Cecille both disembarked the train. The young girl hardly smiled during the initial part of the trip, but after getting to know him, she started to feel a bit happy. She told Dr. Kupencho about her family and her past, how her father was a carpenter, and her mother a restaurant owner. Her uncle was a Keyblade Master who passed away 5 years ago. Apparently, at least what Kupencho thought, was that she most likely took the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with her uncle not knowing about it.

The two walked down the street, with the girl looking out at various people. The people were unfamiliar, but they seemed to be very friendly to her. Finally the pair arrived at a house near to the beach. Dr. Kupencho knocked on the door and waited…and waited before knocking again.

“He never knows when to open the door.” Anton laughed. Finally the door opened and from behind came another man. He was younger than Dr. Kupencho, around his mid-twenies. He had silver hair and light-blue eyes. He wasn’t of the physical type, but he was the one that Kupencho was seeking so he had to be skilled to make up for it.

“Ah, Master Kupencho.” The man bowed, and Anton said back, “Cecilie, this is Keyblade Master Jakob Pfeiffer, my old Student.” Anton moved her head and ruffled Cecilie’s hair. “Hey, stop that.” Cecilie retorted. “Jakob, this is the young girl I found in the wildfire back at the capital. Her name is Cecilie Losavaize.”

“Come in.” Jakob said, and both Anton and Cecilie entered his residence. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“No, my friend, I just want to explain something to you. Have you had any luck in finding a suitable apprentice to train?”

Jakob took a sip of tea. “Unfortunately not, haven’t been many trainees, or is that why she is here?”

Cecilie was a bit nervous, but Dr. Kupencho was calm. He knew that it would be a learning experience for the both of them after all. “Indeed I have. Cecilie is a Keyblade wielder in need of a master to train her, and you of course are a Keyblade Master in need of a student to train her, so it fits.” Anton smiled at the thought of leaving her in his hands; after all he has his own apprentice to attend to back at his hometown.

“Mr. Anton…” Cecilie said, “…are you sure you do not want to train me?” She still felt nervous, it was the first words she spoke since coming to the house. "Hmm, she seems a bit shy, I wonder the same thing myself." Jakob thought.


“Do not worry, little one. Jakob was one of my best students, I am certain that you will do well under him, and you do need someone to train you in your weapon, now hold out your hand, and show him your Keyblade.”

Cecilie did as she was told, extending out her hand, a bright light emanated from it, until it formed the solid shape of a Keyblade. Jakob stood up, putting down his cup of tea, “Alright then, I will train you to be a Keyblade Knight of the Lucidian Empire, but the road ahead will be long and hard, will you be able to handle yourself?"

Cecilie was still a little nervous, squeaking out an answer. “I-I hope so.”

“Then we will see. We will begin training tomorrow.”

“Good, if you excuse me, I should be getting back to Holtz.”

“Take good care of yourself, Master Kupencho.”

“The same to you, my apprentice, I wish you the best of luck.” Turning his attention to Cecillie, Anton spoke, “Cecillie, I leave you in the hands of my apprentice. He will teach you everything you need to know about the Keyblade. I want you to learn from him.” As he walked closer to the door, Kupencho said, “I know you are a talented child. I know you will be a successful Keyblade Master one day." He smiled, and then left the house, closing the door behind him. Cecilie was once again alone, with someone who Kupencho entrusted her with. She was a bit nervous, but Jakob knew that, over time, she would get used to his company.
----
Master Pfeiffer was a nice young individual, and I felt happy that he was my master. I never thought I would be able to learn so much from him. He was a bit heavy handed though, and there were times where I had difficulty learning some things from him.

 

[Noblesse Oblige]

Chapter 2: Hearts of Iron

Master Pfeiffer took me all around the Empire, as he thought it was best if we learned and trained across all of Lucidia. From the rolling seas of Königlichhafen (Port Royal) to the town of Diapason, from the Imperial Capital of Walkure to the Mountains of Jovia, everywhere was a training experience and a learning experience for me.

I remember one time my master took me to train at the old mountain fortress known as Hydrian Festung, a chain of fortresses locating atop the Glatisant Mountains. A lot had changed in the period when I started and when I came to Hydrian, two years later.
----
July 7, 91 DC
Hydrian Festung, Lucid Empire

Theme: Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War OST-Glatisant

“Cecilie, come over here.” Master Pfeiffer said, looking up towards the fortress tower. The ruins of Hydrian Festung were dated to the era of the Keyblade War about 4,000 years ago, and while most of the Castle was ancient, it was still intact through the test of time.

Both master and apprentice climbed to the top of the tower in one of the five castles. The Area Castle was at the center of the five castles that made up the fortress world. The tower was very wide for its size, about a quarter of a mile in diameter and a perfect arena for a training match.

Master Jakob summoned his Keyblade, Ultima Weapon, which prompted Cecilie to summon her Lightbringer Keyblade. She had the weapon in front of her face, the blade facing her opponent. She then flicked her blade to the side into a low guard. Cecilie gripped her hand tightly, but not overly tight, as her master said, “Grip your weapon too tight, and you would not be able to move as fluidly as the fighting style would allow.”

Cecilie closed her eyes for a moment. She then opened them again, focusing her eyes on her master, who himself got into a high guard stance. To him, this was a test, to see if she has the fighting skill of a Master.

It was Jakob who made the first move, rushing forward with his Keyblade high in the air, launching a downward swing that was countered with Cecilie raising her Keyblade to block the attack, then just as quickly, launching a counterattack, a narrow swing to the chest. The Master quickly stepped back in order to dodge that attack. He then charged forward, launching a flurry of swings that Cecilie blocked. She was trying to hold to her defenses, as if she was stalling.

“Cecilie!” Jakob exclaimed as he got back into fighting stance. “Stop being too timid and fight back!” He charged forward, moving his Keyblade at a low guard, he swung upwards at his apprentice. Cecilie tried to counter, but the attack overpowered her and broke through her guard. This allowed Master Jakob to follow up with an elbow to the abdomen, sending her on her knees, gasping for breath. “Come on, if you are going to become a Master, you must fight better than that.”

Cecilie stood up with a fierce, determined look on her face. She got back into fighting stance, this time in a high guard, with her left arm out towards her opponent and her right arm above her head. Jakob continued his attack. Extending his arm, a glowing orb of red energy formed in his hand. “FIRA!!!” The Fireball shot out of the master’s hand, and Cecilie reacted accordingly, summoning as much magic as she could to her hand, before screaming back “BLIZZARD!” A bolt of ice fired off from her hand, traveling at a higher speed to counter her master’s spell. Both attacks connected, causing an explosion that knocked the combatants back. Cecilie landed back on her feet, and moved forward. She found her master in the smoke in a guard position, ready to block any incoming attack. Cecilie fired off two Blizzard spells in quick succession, which Jakob blocked, but she was hoping for that to happen. Cecilie quickly moved forward, and was able to return the favor with an upward swing that hit her master’s hand.

As Jakob clutched his hurt hand Cecilie panicked and spoke in a worried tone, “Master, are you okay?”

“I’m alright. CURE!”

Using his magic, Jakob’s wound instantly closed up. There was still blood on his hand, but the spell prevented any further blood loss. “You’ve done pretty well but, the day is not over yet, it’s time for your final practice match." Cecilie was simply happy that he was okay. She put back on a determined look saying, “I will, Master.”

The two took up positions atop the tower once more. Jakob went with a low-guard stance, with his Keyblade now on his side while Cecilie went back to her normal high stance from earlier. “Let us begin again.” Both master and apprentice ran forward toward each other, with the two clashing their weapons against each other, but it was Cecilie who launched the opening move, launching a barrage of strikes against her Master, Jakob managed to block all of her attacks with his tight bladework, trying to find an opportunity to strike. His chance finally came when he saw a hole in Cecilie’s offensive barrage. Cecilie swung her Keyblade downward at an angle, and Jakob responded by sidestepping and launching a spinning kick that knocked her back onto the ground, her Keyblade fell out of her hand and slid across the roof of the tower. It wasn’t all that powerful, but after prolonged combat, Jakob believed she should be at her limit.

Jakob sighed, “I guess that is enough for today…”

“No… not yet.” Cecilie said. Jakob once told Cecilie that you could do anything if you had the drive for it, and she wanted to prove to her master that she had the drive, by besting him in combat. She slowly but surely stood up, somewhat impressing her master.

Summoning her Keyblade at hand, she said “The battle is… not over. I want to be a master, to make my family and you proud of me.” Jakob smiled, “Well then, shall we continue?” He placed his free hand on his back, and pointed Ultima at his apprentice.

Cecilie ran forward, Keyblade in hand, headstrong and determined to get her master’s approval.

----
Despite my determination I still lost to him, it wasn’t a surprise though since he was very skilled, it was expected for a master though. It was only that I realized he wasn’t trying to gauge my fighting skill, but rather how determined to continue fighting even despite fighting a losing battle.

He was proud of me that day, and when we went back home to Anfang he bought some sea-salt ice cream which we enjoyed on the beach. To tell you the truth, he kind of was like the father I used to have before.

 

[Noblesse Oblige]

Chapter 3: Pendragon


During latter days of my training, I took part in a national defense project known as Project Pendragon. This project was the Lucid Empire’s most advanced weapons, science and technology division. I remember Dr. Kupencho explaining the details of a sub-project that I was going to be undertaking; something called the Pendragon Human Plus program.

At the time, I thought of being more powerful, I thought by doing so, I can protect everyone that I had held dear to me. If I only knew then what I knew now, I’d probably back down, run away from it all. Maybe so, but I was young and naïve. So I went headlong into this augmentation process hoping to become stronger and better than what I was then. This would become one of my most excruciating moments in my life. I underwent the surgeries that produced the super soldiers, and I was hospitalized for a 6 months, by the time I was ready, they wanted me to do some tests…

----

Theme: Ace Combat 6:Fires of Liberation OST-Towards Revival

February 22, 92 DC
Project Pendragon Research Facility, Yering Mountains, Lucid Empire

“Now Cecilie, we want to perform some physical tests, to see how well you are adapting to the changes we made to you.” Dr Kupencho said over the intercom. Cecilie closed her eyes to take in the moment. She had underwent hell and back for this, and now it was time to see how well it payed off.

“First, we need you to step onto the track zone.”

A Green Oval, spanning a full kilometer in diameter. “Your first test is for you to run one lap around the ring. Your par time is 2 minutes.”

“Two Minutes?” Cecilie thought as she got into the starters position. “How am I supposed to run a mile in two minutes?” Looking up, Cecilie saw the lights, the first red, then the second red, then a yellow light. Once the green light lit, Cecilie began sprinting. At first, she thought she wasn’t going to travel as much distance and would not be able to make the two minute mark, however she was determined to try and do her best and see it through to the end. Cecilie didn’t realize how long she ran until she made it to the starting gate again.


Taking a break to catch her breath, Cecilie asked, “What was the time?” Dr. Kupencho unsurprisingly responded, “1:09” Cecilie was amazed. Not only did she beat the time but probably would’ve set a World Record in doing so. Beaming from ear to ear, Cecilie said, “All right!”

“Don’t get too overconfident. We still have another test for you to do. Step into the next room, please” Dr. Kupencho chimed. While the Doctor was not surprised by the results,

A door opened next to the starting gate, Cecilie, doing what her old friend had asked of her, stepped through the gate to find herself in a much smaller room compared to the last one. Inside were 2 robots carrying very large and, in her mind, very heavy melee weapons, almost looking like large hammers mounted on a 2 foot long steel shaft.

“Now for your next test, we will be testing your strength and dexterity in combat. This will be another test for your reengineered bone structure, which is grafted with Ceramic Carbide, making bones virtually unbreakable, in addition to strengthening of your muscles. In theory, which has been confirmed in your first test, this increased your normal top speed by about 5 times.” Dr. Kupencho checked his clipboard and said, “Now we want to test your strength, you will be facing these two brutes in combat. Good luck.”

Cecilie nodded at the prospect of the situation, and summoned her Lightbringer Keyblade. The robot on the left began to move towards her. For a large robot, it was travelling fast. It was simulating a warrior who used Heavy melee weaponry to cause tremendous blunt force. Cecilie received spear training from Master Jakob in order to learn how to deal with opponents utilizing various pole arm based weaponry.
The Mechanical Brute charged forward toward Cecilie, the Heavy Hammer high in the air. The Brute slammed down on her, but she sidestepped to avoid the attack. The Second Brute did a sweeping swing with his hammer, and Cecilie blocked it with her Keyblade. The force of the attack would’ve knocked a normal person through the wall, but the Brute only managed to push her back for a moment. “My turn…” The Keyblader said as she broke away from the Blade Lock, and moved forward to slice away the Mech’s Arm, causing it to drop its hammer. Cecilie followed up with a powerful kick to the unit’s torso, creating a notable dent in the unit’s armor.


The first Mech finally released his hammer from the ground. It turned around to see its wounded partner and the Keyblade Knight wielding her Keyblade in one hand and the mech’s war hammer in the other hand.

Back in the control room, Dr. Kupencho looked at the field with one of his aides watching as well. “This is incredible. The test subject is able to lift weapons roughly twice her body weight with just one hand.”

“Not too shabby,” the Doctor said, “but let us see if her combat capabilities are decreased when wielding a heavy weapon on the off-hand."

The Mech charged forward in an attempt to take back its weapon, but Cecilie swatted its hand away with its own weapon, moderately damaging the hand in the process. The second Mech moved forward ready to crush the Keyblade Super Soldier, but Cecilie toss the hammer with enough force that it almost went completely through the mech. The mech landed on its back, short-circuiting and catching fire in the process. The second mech slowly moved forward, its gyros damaged but moving slowly as if to do harm. Cecilie raised the palm of her hand and an orb of ice energy formed around it. “BLIZZAGA!!!” the orb floated away from the woman’s hand and formed a giant Ice Spear which she hurled at the mech, impaling it in the torso. The mech went down on its knees, its head exploding.

“You have done well Cecilie. With that power, you would be able to take down enemy vehicles this way. Now we have one final test, which will be conducted here as well.”

A door to the ground opened up in front of Cecilie and a lift gave rise to a smaller robot, about Cecilie’s size. The mech came armed with a sword, nothing too remarkable. “This mech simulates the fighting skill of your master, Jakob Pfeiffer as of the end of the last war. Your objective would be to defeat it. Even though you may be more powerful than the normal warrior, it doesn’t make up for actual skill. But I believe in you, and you should be able to do well.”

Cecilie was a bit nervous even despite that bit of encouragement. She never bested her master in combat, despite their multiple matches together. Nonetheless, she prepared for the fight ahead. The robot began running towards her opponent, quickly moving to close the distance between it and Cecilie. He was fast and launched a barrage of strikes. Cecilie put up a staunch defense, blocking each and every one of the mech’s attacks. The robot, realizing that it could not punch through Cecilie’s defense, moved back, its hand sank in and aimed at a now charging Cecilie. The robot fired off an Electro Marble, which caught the Keyblade Apprentice by surprise. The bolts of electricity surged through her, and she yelped in pain because of it. However taken aback by the attack, Cecilie recovered quickly and countered a second Electro Marble with a powerful Blizzard spell. The Mech countered with a Red Fang Fireball Attack, the large Fireball attack aiming towards Cecilie, who was in a defensive position.


During her extensive period of training, Cecilie invented an ability utilizing the power of an opponent’s magic attack to either fuel her drained magical strength, or in this case, to redirect back at them with more power.


The Firaga-type spell connected with Cecilie’s Keyblade. As it pushed Cecilie back a moment, the spell was starting to become absorbed into her Keyblade. Eventually, the attack was gone. The Lightbringer was now glowing in a bright red color. The mech perceived it as charging for another attack, and moved in to close the distance, and attack Cecilie before she made her move. But what the mech did not register was it was a feint. Cecilie wanted the mech to get in close, and when it did, Cecilie without a thought swung her Keyblade in an upward diagonal direction, slicing through the mech’s titanium armor with the charged up Keyblade. The robot crumpled to the ground, shorting out and losing all function.

Dr. Kupencho smiled, “You have passed all of your tests. Congratulations Cecilie.” Cecilie was happy for that news. If she was able to use her skills and her newfound abilities, she might be able to do what her family would’ve wanted, to help her people.


----
The success in the Pendragon Human Plus tests had given those involved some notice among the upper echelons of the Lucidian nobility. This also included me, where I became the talk of the town. To them, being an upstart Keyblade Wielder from the Middle class of society was not a common sight, despite the fact that my uncle was a part of the same aristocracy. Yet my abilities and newfound strength was sought after by many Knightly Orders. It was very stressful meeting with the leaders of many knightly orders, trying to win me over to their group.

 

[Noblesse Oblige]

Chapter 4: Ascension
The day that I met the Kaiser was one of the most enjoyable moments of my life. He was a young man, roughly around the same age as my master. But he commanded a great deal of knowledge in politics when he became Kaiser a few months before his confirmation of my becoming a Master.
I felt tense as I walked through the corridors of the Royal Palace, walking to meet the man who is the head of all of the Keyblade Wielders within the Empire. Standing before him was, an uncomfortable experience at first, until I’ve come to know him better. Ferdinand had been the Lucidian Kaiser for almost 30 years now, and to be in his presence meant a whole lot to me at the time.

----
March 23, 92 DC
Royal Palace, Walkuere, Lucid Empire


Final Fantasy IX- Cid's Theme/Lindblum Grand Castle



“These are the four candidates who has fulfilled the Mark of Mastery.” An aide said

Cecilie was on one knee, along with four others before Ferdinand, the Lucid Kaiser. He was himself a old man, possibly around his mid-eighies, with short grey hair and tired,blue eyes. He wore traditional robes in the Imperial colors, black and white.

Standing up before the group of five teenaged Keyblade Masters in waiting, the Kaiser said, “You may all rise.” Cecilie and the three other individuals did as they were told and stood up in full attention. “First of all I wanted to say congratulations on obtaining the rank of Keyblade Master. However, as a Keyblade Master, you will be dispatched all across the Lucid Empire and beyond. All of you are valuable assets to our country, and our reputation rest solely upon each of your individual shoulders.”

The aide walked up and gave the Kaiser 5 rolled parchments. The Kaiser walked up to the young man on the far left, giving the man the parchment while whispering something. He then moved to the next person, closest to her, and did the same thing.

Finally, the Kaiser walked up to Cecilie. Ferdinand gave her the Parchment paper and then whispered in her ear, “From what my Generals and Grandmasters have told me, you show much promise. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. Glückwünsche.

The Kaiser did the same for the other two new Keyblade Masters before the aid said, “Now that the rank is made official, it is time to celebrate the crowning of our new Masters.

----
6 Hours Later
----

Victoria II OST- Johann's Waltz



The music was playing wonderfully, not surprising since it was being performed by the Walküre Philharmonic. But for Cecilie, she did not dance, rather just leaning on the wall with her fancy designed white dress, sipping on some fine white wine.

“Care for a dance, miss?”

Cecilie looked around and saw a gentleman in front of her. He had green eyes and short burnette colored hair, and was wearing a typical nobles outfit, with a stone grey tunic, trousers and gloves with black dress shoes. He had a warm smile, probably a type that nobles would have.

“Care to give me a name sir?” Cecilie gave him her hand to dance.

The young man smiled, “I am Albrecht, of the House of Freiherr, Crown Prince of Ivrea, and you are?”

“I am Cecilie Losvaize.” The newly made Master said as the pair made their way into the center of the ballroom. The music was soothing, graceful enough to waltz too. It was fortunate that Cecilie learned how to dance, both by her mother when she was alive and by her master, who was a minor noble, but a noble nonetheless. She held one hand on the man’s waist while he held her other hand out, and began twirling around, not a care in the world. Every step, every twirl, it was as if they were dancing the night away with an angel.

After the song ended, Albrecht said, “You make for a wonderful dancer, Cecilie.” The woman responded back, her face a little red, “You’re not so bad yourself.” She bowed in respect then left for the nearby balcony.
On the balcony, Cecilie looked out into the lively streets of her home town, Walküre. The Keyblade Master then looked up into the moonlit sky.

“Beautiful night, isn’t it?”

Cecilie turned around and saw her old Master, Jakob Pffeifer behind her. He was with a white, long haired woman with a fancy Royal dress, which meant that she too was a noble of some sorts. Cecilie bowed and greeted, “Master Pffeifer”

Jakob said with a smile on his face, “You do not have to call me master anymore, Cecilie. We are more like brother and sister than master and apprentice.”

Cecilie laughed, “Maybe so…Who’s your friend.”

The white haired woman spoke up. “My name is Christiane Freiherr, of the house of Freiherr. You’re the one who danced with my older brother, Albrecht.”

Cecilie felt a bit of nervousness, until Christiane said, “Don’t worry. It’s about time that he found himself a suitor. But that is not what I am here about. I am on behalf of the 7th Imperial Knightly Order, the Order of the Indigo Heron.”

The first thing that came to her mind was the fact of another Knightly Order wanting her to join, which Jakob continually refused them until she was finished her training. “I come on behalf of the Grandmaster of the Order, Lieutenant Colonel Dimitri Heinreich, he offers you membership into our order.”


“Master?” Cecilie said, in which Jakob said, “I feel you are ready to make your own major decisions now Cecilie.” The fact that Jakob was not going to intervene now meant that she would have to think hard about it. Cecilie said, “I will relay my answer to you in the morning, if that is okay with you, Lady von Freiherr?”

Christiane said, “I understand. Meet me at the Inn. I will be waiting with your answer.” With that, Christiane took her leave, leaving the balcony and heading to the inn.

“Cecilie, I came as well to give you this.” Jakob said, extending his hand. Cecilie took the item from his hand, a white fang, appearing to be from a wolf or a fox. “What is this?”

“It’s a gift from Master Kupencho to congratulate your promotion to Master. It is a summon stone, used to summon spirits.”

Cecilie knew about Summon Spirits. It was after all, Master Pfeiffer who taught her on how they work.“This summon spirit is of a wolf-like creature is it not, Master?”

“I see your intuition is well tuned, my friend.” Jakob said “This is the catalyst for the Summon Spirit, Fenrir. Dr. Kupencho got it as a war prize during the last war almost fifteen years ago. He said that he wanted you to have it.”

Cecilie looked at Fenrir’s stone closely. It had a warm feel to it, which intensified further as she closed her eyes and focused on the stone at hand. Her hand was glowing in a brilliant white color, as bright as the moon in the midnight sky. The stone slowly sank into the palm of her hand, as the warm feeling travelled throughout every corner of her body and mind. Before long the stone disappeared, and the white glow in her hand was gone as well. The first thing Jakob said was, “Are you alright?”

Cecilie responded, “I’m fine, thank you. Though, it’s been a long and eventful day, so I’ll be retiring for the night.”

“I understand, Guten Abend, Frau Losvaize.”


“Good night to you too, Master…er, Herr Pffeifer.” Cecilie bowed, and then left the balcony on the way to the inn.

On the walk there she heard a voice, “Are you my master?” At first Cecilie turned around, thinking it was another person behind her, but the voice said, “I am not behind you, girl. I am within.”

“So…you are Fenrir.” Cecilie said in her mind.

“I am, and you must be my master.”

Cecilie responded, “I am.”

Fenrir said, “Well, I will come to see how good you are in the future. I will guide you to do be a stronger warrior than you are, although I believe you think yourself to be an already powerful warrior.”

“I am a powerful warrior!”

“Hmph, we shall see.” With that, Fenrir faded from her mind. Cecilie looked around, then continued walking towards the inn.

----
The Next Day
----


Final Fantasy IX- Terra (Arranged by lonlonjp)



Cecilie woke up to the sound of knocking on the door. She gave herself time to take in everything that happened, becoming a Keyblade Master, having a Summon Spirit within her, and the opportunity to join a Lucidian Knightly Order. Getting up off her bed to stretch, Cecilie walked up to the door, still wearing her nightgown. Opening the door, she saw Christiane in the front. “Good morning, Ms. Losvaize. I see you slept well.”
“I have. Come in, come in.” Cecilie said, letting the noble into her room.

“So have you decided?”

“I have…and I will join your order.”

Christiane smiled, she knew what to tell the grandmaster now. “Okay, later this evening we will be heading to the Blue Heron Temple in Litchenburg with Albrecht, you’ll meet Grandmaster Heinreich when we get there."

“All right, I’ll be ready in a few hours.” Cecilie said. Christiane bowed then left the room. Cecilie sat down on the bed, looking out into the window.

----
Later that evening, the three of us left for Litchenburg. We arrived two hours later, where Grand Master Heinreich was waiting. He was a Lieutenant Colonel during the interwar period, and was a pure descendent from the Walkure Knights. We of course became fast friends due to the fact that we shared the same ideals.

As for Christiane, she would become a lifelong friend, and a personal ally during the Lucidian War. When we formed our team, Christiane was always there to back me up. She was stoic at times, not one to really express her emotions, but she was one of the pillars that made my team.

 

[Noblesse Oblige]

Chapter 5: The Lucidian War

The Lucidian War…
It was the period of conflict that ended the Empire, and killed thousands of people. It devastated worlds, and left a dark bitterness in the hearts of all involved. To be honest, I never did liked war. But if it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have been the humble person I am now.

The roots of the war lied in the Lucid Federal Law Review. The Empire, despite being as powerful as it ever was, was suffering from Nationalist strife after its many conquests. Because of it, it permitted its eastern territories to secede and sold part of its western worlds to the Union of the Realm of Light. But this failed to ease the economic tension.

This changed when Kaiser Ferdinand died, and Frederich IV, with the support of the extreme right-wing party came to power. They began using whatever money they could in the process of remilitarizing the country. When the Empire abolished the Law Review, and declared war, the 7th Lucidian Order was sent to the western front, to take part in the Hafen Königlich offensive. We were to be working with elements of various other Imperial Army units and retake this world in the name of the Kaiser.

----

March 27, 94 DC
Port Royal, Union of the Realm of Light

Halo Wars OST-Spirit of Fire

A Lucidian Heavy Command Cruiser flew overhead near the orbit of Port Royal. The ship, known as the Njord, was sent in as part of the offensive campaign to retake Hafen Königlich.

For Cecilie, who was looking out to space, all clad in armor, this would be the perfect opportunity to prove to herself that she could hold her own in combat.

“Lady Cecilie!” A soldier of the Lucidian Imperial Army said, “You are requested in the briefing room, ma’am!”

Cecilie turned around and nodded to the young soldier. He saluted, and then walked away. Cecilie looked out the screen, looking at the peaceful world. A second later, Cecilie headed towards the briefing room. The ship was large, it seemed that one of these would be enough to destroy a world like Hafen Königlich, but for the Lucidians, they wanted to retake the world, not destroy it. A fact that the Realm of Light knew was going to be the case.


Cecilie entered the briefing room, with her compatriots for the battle. Grand Master Heinreich was off with a few members of the Order of the Indigo Heron to fight in the Eastern Front against a group of breakaway worlds that joined together to form an independent state, the Republic of Jovia. This left Prince Albrecht, Heinreich’s apprentice, in charge of the order’s movements in the Western Front against the Realm of Light. Along with Prince Albrecht was Christiane Freiherr, who was her team’s adjacent member. She didn’t talk much, and wasn’t one to show her emotions much, but would be willing to work on a team.

Cecilie’s Number 3 member was a young gunner named Augustina Iifa Tarvis. Augustina, or Tina as she liked to be called was around Christiane’s age. She was a trained shot, and was a former Imperial Sturmtruppe before joining the order. Her long blonde hair was a stark contrast to the black bulletproof leather-Kevlar body armor she wore. Next to Tina was Christiane, wearing her own light armor. They were waiting for the briefing to begin.

“My apologies for lateness, sir.” Cecilie saluted at Prince Albrecht as she took a seat around the holo-table. “No worries, the operation will be beginning shortly.” Activating the holo-table, the table lit up in a light blue hue as streams of little lights formed around the board, until it showed a digital layout of the town.

“Since the offensive began, two of our scouts have landed at Hafen Königlich and destroyed their laser defense system, long thought to be impenetrable. However, they are trapped behind enemy lines and are most likely pinned down.”

“So our objective would be to rescue our friends down there?” Tina said to the Prince

“Precisely, you will actually be heading down there along with the first wave of our invasion force, but you will be landing as close to their position as possible.” Albrecht pointed at the area at where Cecilie’s team would be landing. “Once you locate our comrades, escort them back to the front lines. We will be receiving further orders once that objective is complete.”

“Colonel,” Cecilie asked, “can you identify the two we are looking for?” Albrecht turned off the holo-table and gave Cecilie the sheet which shows the two mugshots of the scouts trapped behind enemy lines. “The brown haired man is Lamar Wolkenmeer, he is the team’s communications expert. The female is Lina Lilie, of the Lucidian Landsknecht Brigade.”
Cecilie looked at the information given, trying to understand the objective. Finally, after looking at her comrades and receiving approving nods from both of them finally said, “When do we begin?”


Halo Wars OST-Bad Here Day


Several Lucidian Dropships began flying away from the Heavy Command Cruiser en route to Port Royal. On the way some of them were intercepted by Realm of Light fighters trying to prevent the ships from landing on the surface. This led to the Lucidian Command Cruiser to launch their fighters to protect the Dropships.

One such Dropship near Cecilie’s was destroyed, shot down by a Realm of Light fighter before it was destroyed by a Lucidian Gummi Ship. Cecilie’s dropship veered off course from the rest, headed towards the projected LZ behind enemy lines.

As they were hurdling down to the ground at top speeds, Tina said, “So, is this your first hot-drop, Cecilie?”

“It is, as I assume it is for the rest of us?”

Christiane didn’t say anything, but she did understand what was said, and she nodded, while Tina said, “Yeah, same here. It’s a bit smoother than I thought it would be.”

The Dropship, as soon as it entered the atmosphere, deployed the propeller, as well as a pair of parachutes as it slowed its descent into the world itself. Once close to the ground, a series of boosters activated, slowing the dropships descent to a crawl, before landing on the soft earth, on a street in Port Royal, behind enemy lines.

Cecilie stood up and summoned her Keyblade, whilst Tina took up her Rifle. “Alright, our objective is to rescue our comrades and bring them over to the front line. Commence operation.”

“Roger!” Both girls said in unison before the pod opened up. The three of them left the pod and traveled together in a line. Since Tina was a good shot and Cecilie was a magic user, the former took point while the latter covered the rear. Since most of the enemy was the local militia, they would not be hard to overcome. The majority of the enemy would be fighting on a definitive front line, using tactics that was obsolete, but for those who remained, they would have to deal with it.

Tina spotted a fortress atop a cliff. She said pointing at the fortress, “I think that’s where the enemy is holding our friends. But how are we going to get up there?”

“We’ll see when we get there, won’t we?” Cecilie said as walked forward, shrugging her shoulders whilst looking at Tina then running t the next alley, without attracting the guards and their inferior muskets. Cecilie and Christiane followed suit. The guard noticed something, which caused another guard to ask. “You see something, Simmons?”

“No, it’s probably just the wind.” The guard shrugged and went his way.

The three Lucidian Females slowly walked down the alley, coming towards the fortress overlooking the sea. The land entrance was guarded by the militia, and with Cecilie’s armor, it would be difficult, even for her to swim.

“Tina, we need to catch them by surprise.”

Tina pulled out her rifle, the Gewehr, and aimed down at one of the guards. Aiming for the heart, Tina pulled the trigger, the bullet twirling through the air and striking one of the redcoats in the chest. He fell with a thud, alerting the nearby guard. This provoked a reaction from Cecilie, who quickly ran over and slashed at the second guard, and he too fell down, bleeding to death. “Come on, let’s go save our comrades.”

The three moved into the fortress, Cecilie now took up point, while Tina went behind. One of the guards that was walking towards the front of the fortress wound up knocked out with a knee to the face from Christiane before they moved on.

The sounds of battle were heard nearby, it appeared that someone was shelling the other with cannons, but the locals used more primitive weapons. As the trio made it to the doors leading to the inside, Cecilie said, “Stay by me, prepare for battle.” Extending her right arm and her keyblade to the side, An orb of blue energy swirled around the palm of her hand, a powerful Blizzara spell that shot out of the Keyblade Master’s hand and hit the wooden door. The door froze on impact, a thick covering of ice coming in on both sides of the door.

On the inside, a young Keyblade wielder who took notice of the door freezing summoned his Keyblade, and said “Who’s there?!?” But before he could get into a decent fighting stance, the door shattered into multiple large blocks, most of which missed him completely, but the few that were in his way, he sliced away with his own Keyblade.


Kingdom Hearts II OST-He's a Pirate

Cecilie and the rest of her team walked in through the broken door. “All right! You definitely have the magic touch Cecilie.” But Cecilie never lost face, keeping the serious look the whole time as she looked upon the teenager with the Keyblade in fighting stance. “And who might you be, child?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Imperial pig!”

As a Lucidian Knight in war, it’s often best not to let anger get the best of people. Letting your emotions get the better of you is bound to end up with fatal consequences. Instead Cecilie told her comrades “Christiane, Tina, find the captives, release them and get them to the front line. I’ll see about this boy myself.”

Both women nodded then went in another direction to find the prisoners, leaving Cecilie and the boy behind. “Let’s do this.”

The boy moved first, firing off a bolt of Lightning from his fingertips. Cecilie put out her bare hand and took the force of the child’s Thunder spell. “What the?” The boy broke off the attack and decided to close in on the offensive, swinging his Keyblade in a downward diagonal swing, which Cecilie countered with a parry from her own. The boy continued swinging with a smashing sweep to her side, but Cecilie blocked that as well. The boy had some skill, using both hands to steady his Keyblade and bring some force in his blows, and keeping up with his quick and determined assault. Cecilie only had the use of one hand, the other one being used to hold the Keyblade Warrior’s base Thunder spell charging it with her own mana. Utilizing a quick defense and using much of her strength to hold off the boy’s wild attacks.


Finally the boy was panting, cursing himself for not being able to break through the Lucid Knight’s attacks. He resorted to a slower, more deliberate style interspersed with some quick and sudden strikes. Cecilie continued to fend his attacks off, and as soon as the boy’s guard slipped, Cecilie countered by sending his own spell back to him. The boy was stunned greatly with that spell and as he screamed in pain, he was forced back to the stone wall, dropping his Keyblade. He slumped to the ground, on the wall, out cold.

A radio message was heard on his communication link. “Hamilton, this is Maximillian Thermidor, the Lucidian military is pressing on all fronts, and we’re pulling back to your position. Do you comply?” After no response for a moment, he responded again, “Hamilton, respond!!”

The news of enemy forces pulling back to the fortress was a troubling prospect, hopefully, Christiane and Tina had found her allies by now. Heading in the direction that the two went in, Cecilie found a pair of knocked out redshirts and the prison door unlocked. “Cecilie, thank god you’re here.” Tina said as she directed them to the cell. “Cecilie, these are the prisoners we’re supposed to find.”

“Good job.” A green light glowed around Cecilie’s hand and first touched the first prisoner, Lina Lillie on the shoulder. Lina felt a warm sensation across her body as all the cuts and bruises on her body disappeared. Cecilie did the same for Lamar Wolkenmeer, who had suffered a broken leg.

“Thank you, Lady...?”

“Losvaize, Cecilie Losavaize.”

Meanwhile, Christiane was talking to her brother through the Comm Link, shortly after coming off, she told the four of them. “The Port Royal militia and the few Realm of Light soldiers in the area are pulling back to the fortress. It would be impossible for the five of us to punch through the enemy forces. My brother is sending in a Gummi Ship for extraction, and should be on the roof by the time we arrive.

“Thank you Christiane.” Cecilie said, “Lina, Lamar, can you two walk?”

“We can, let’s go before reinforcements come.”


Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II: U.S. Army Rangers Victory Theme

The five Lucidian Warriors headed up the nearby staircase, as RoL troops started retreating to the fortress and nearby buildings looking to establish a defensive perimeter. As soon as Cecilie and her friends reached the roof, they saw a Lucidian light freighter just landing at the fortress, and coming under fire from Cannon fire. The ramp opened up, revealing Albrecht inside.

He yelled “Come on!!!” as the ship inched closer to the fortress. The five of them ran forward hoping to avoid further damage to their only plan of escape. Lina and Lamar were the first to come in, followed by Tina and Christiane. As Cecilie was jumped on to catch the ship, the freighter was hit by a cannon round which damaged the Port Observatory and made the ship list to starboard. Fortunately, Albrecht was able to get a hold of Christiane’s hand. “Don’t let go!!!”

The Freighter moved away from the fortress and over the sea, away from fire. Christiane, who was near the exit ramp moved in to help Cecilie up onto the ramp with her brother’s help. Despite a few bruises, the mission was successful, now it was up to the Lucid Imperial Army to finish things up as the Freighter retracted the ramp and flew off into the Lanes Between.

----

Our success in Port Royal and elsewhere contributed to what I had once perceived as the overall superiority of the Lucidian Knights above all else. One by one, the allies were caught unprepared and loss massive battles against our military. Within a week, the Empire recovered 60% of the worlds we’ve lost over the course of the past 8 years, forcing the Union of the Realm of Light and Kingdom of Leon back, and nearly subjugated the rebel Jovian Alliance.

But that changed when news reached all of the officers that cold, fateful day in the month of April. A detachment of Lucidian Army troops along with some Knights engaged the last remaining rebel held world in Jovia, the Valois Mountains. It was there that the Empire suffered an embarrassing defeat, not to the Rebel Army, but to mercenaries. At the time, I couldn’t comprehend how all but three Knights were killed by mere mercenaries. Then again, I was young, naïve and stupid, and even then I knew that either the mercenary, or mercenaries involved were either skilled, or bold.