Aced

Aced is a Keyblade Master who appears in Kingdom Hearts χ. As a Foreteller, he leads the Ursus Union and is an apprentice of the Master of Masters.

Before Kingdom Hearts χ
Aced is given a Keyblade forged from his own heart by the Master of Masters, who takes Aced, Ava, Gula, Invi, Ira, and Luxu as his apprentices. Aced eventually achieves the rank of Keyblade Master alongside his fellow apprentices.

Shortly thereafter, the Master gives a copy of the Book of Prophecies to Aced and grants him leadership over the Ursus Union as its Foreteller. As Aced and the other Foretellers read their copies of the Book of Prophecies, they are shocked by the final entry, which details an event known as the Keyblade War, during which light would expire and the world would reach its end.

Sometime after Luxu mysteriously disappeared to fulfill his role assigned to him by the Master, the Master meets with Aced alone in the Foretellers' Chamber and assigns him to be Ira's right-hand man when Ira takes over as the leader of the Foretellers. Aced is disappointed, as he was eager to inherit the position someday, but agrees that Ira is the most qualified among them for the role. When Aced expresses his confusion to why Ira is being promoted, the Master mentions that he could one day disappear, and it is Aced's job to support Ira if he does. Furthermore, the Master elaborates that Ira's leadership may be brought into question one day, at which point it is Aced's duty to step forward. With this in mind, Aced happily accepts his role and departs.

Aced and his fellow Foretellers are soon introduced to the Master's new creation, the Chirithy. Though the Spirit Chirithy are meant to aid Keyblade wielders in their endeavors, the Master warns them that if a wielder falls to darkness, so will their Chirithy, causing them to transform into a Nightmare. Aced suggests that they destroy any Nightmare Chirithy they come across; however, Ava refutes the idea. Ava and Gula then tease Aced over his identity as the bear because of his scary demeanor, much to the latter's embarrassment.

Without warning, the Master disappears from the world, and although the Foretellers actively seek him out, they are unable to locate him. Upholding the Master's teachings, Aced and the other Foretellers begin recruiting Keyblade wielders to each of their Unions, utilizing the powers of their copies of the Book of Prophecies in the form of Medals to aid their wielders in collecting Lux to maintain the balance of power.

Kingdom Hearts χ[chi]
Over time, the Foretellers notice Keyblade wielders utilizing bangles that provides them the power to collect dark energy, though they decide that using the bangles was acceptable for their Union members. Subsequently, Ira summons the Foretellers for a meeting in the Foretellers' Chamber, declaring that there is a traitor among them after discovering a Nightmare Chirithy snooping around their home. Knowing that he is the most likely suspect, Aced denies that he is the traitor. Although the other Foretellers argue that the traitor could be someone from their Unions, Ira reasons that the bangles are the Nightmare's doing and the traitor has to be one of the Foretellers since only one of them could have obtained the bangles. Aced condemns Ira for spreading doubt amongst them and storms off on his own, adjuring the meeting.

One night, Player is shown a dream by Chirithy, in which Aced and the other Foretellers meet with the Master in the Foretellers' Chamber, though Nightmare Chirithy quickly puts a stop to this dream.

A few days later, Aced invites Ava and Gula to meet with him in a warehouse, where he voices his frustration against Ira's suspicions. Gula concurs with Aced's sentiments, but Ava tries to defend Ira, which aggravates Aced further as he believes Ira should trust in them. Aced then proposes to form an alliance between their Unions, prompting Ava to remind him that alliances are forbidden. Gula inquires if Aced intends on joining forces to confront Ira, and Aced claims that he wishes to focus on fighting the approaching darkness while Ira is busy identifying the traitor. While Ava declines, Gula accepts Aced's offer for an alliance, but specifies that it is only between them, as he does not want to involve the members of the Leopardus Union. Gula then asks Aced if Ira and Invi are aware of his plan, who admits that he did not confide in Ira, but he had asked Invi to join them. Upon Invi's arrival, Aced reveals his alliance with Gula and extends the offer to her as well, but Invi rejects him, seeing this as a defiant act in pursuit of power and accusing that Aced has been tainted by darkness. Conversely, Aced retorts that it is Invi who has been tainted by darkness, as she reports their actions back to Ira and could possibly be conspiring with him. With this, Aced parts ways with his fellow Foretellers.

A few months later, Gula suspends their partnership, stating that the alliance is meaningless since the alleged impending darkness has yet to come and Aced has not rallied anyone else to his cause. As Aced starts to object, Gula accidentally slips that Invi agrees with the dissolution of their alliance. Aced realizes that Invi ordered Gula to terminate their alliance, though Gula defends that it is his choice to follow through with it. Aced reminds Gula that the traitor has not been discovered yet, though Gula cites this to be the motivation for his actions as he is unable to trust anyone else. Aced counters that Gula will not win against the darkness on his own, but an apologetic Gula remains firm in his decision and leaves.

A year later, an enraged Aced attacks Invi in Daybreak Town for her interference. Despite Invi's attempts to reason with Aced, Aced remains adamant that they need to defy the Master's teachings to protect the world and create alliances against the looming darkness. Invi deems Aced to be the traitor and attacks him with her Keyblade. When Ava and Gula arrive at the scene and join Invi in her fight against him, Aced launches himself into a vicious battle with his former comrades, from which he barely emerges alive.

A weakened Aced is soon confronted by Gula, who finds him collapsed in a warehouse. Gula reveals the incomplete nature of their copies of the Book of Prophecies and the contents of the Lost Page, and that the Master tasked him to find and stop the traitor, much to Aced's disbelief and rage. Unable to forgive Gula for silently standing by while the Foretellers fought each other, Aced cuts Gula down with his Keyblade. However, before he can finish Gula off, Ava arrives and begs Aced to stop, who consents and leaves Ava to tend to Gula on her own.

As Aced hobbles through the streets of Daybreak Town, he finds himself face-to-face with Ira. Believing that Ira had come to finish him off, Aced collapses to the ground and requests Ira make his end swift. However, Ira explains that he will not eliminate Aced, as he wants to fulfill the role he was given by the Master. As it is forbidden to change the events of the future, Ira wants to continue working with Aced to ensure that light lives on, stressing that they cannot afford to lose any of the Foretellers. Aced is touched to hear that Ira still considers him to be a comrade and informs him that Gula has the Lost Page and that he has been using it to discern the identity of the traitor. While Gula claimed this to be his role, Aced remains unsure, as he is incapable of forgiving Gula's actions. Advising Aced to keep Gula's role a secret, Ira sets out to find the latter and retrieve the Lost Page.

In the time that follows, Gula begins collecting more Lux in order to summon Kingdom Hearts and force the Master to return in order to avert the Keyblade War. Subsequently, in order to maintain the balance, Ira and Aced also begin collecting more Lux, as the Keyblade War draws nearer.

Hearing an argument between Player, Skuld, and several Keyblade wielders from different Unions in which one claims that the Keyblade War is already upon them, Aced affirms this as the truth. Aced lectures the wielders of the importance of unity within their Unions and that the strength of a Union is determined by its righteousness which is proven through battle. When Skuld begins to object, Aced notes that she is part of Ava's Dandelions and points out that what Ava is doing with the Dandelions is also a display of power. Player steps forward to challenge Aced, who then easily defeats them and disqualifies them as a Keyblade wielder. Upon Ira's arrival to the scene, he rebukes Aced for raising his Keyblade against another wielder. Despite Aced's attempts to defend himself, Ira tells Aced that his bloodlust that drew him to their location. Aced argues that the Keyblade War is not unavoidable, and that the other Foretellers, including Ira, are becoming desperate to collect more Lux, and blames Ira and other Foretellers for intensifying the situation. Aced reveals he will unify all of the Unions and appoints himself as leader once he banished Ira and the other Foretellers. Ira dismisses his foolish plot and warns Aced that his arrogance will lead to his downfall. Aced states that he will be waiting at the place of the final battle before he departs.

Design
Aced is a muscular young man who hides his face under a dark grey bear mask. His tan, hooded cloak covers a robe, shirt, and sash that are all light brown in coloration and have black embroidering. Gold tassels appear on the front of Aced's cloak.

Personality
Aced is an honest and fearless individual with a strong sense of justice. Prior to the Keyblade War, Aced wanted to take over for the Master of Masters someday and expresses great disappointment when he is not elected to lead the Foretellers in favor of Ira. However, it is because of his straightforward nature that the Master assigned Aced to be Ira's right-hand man and directs him to guide Ira on the right path, a role he gladly accepted at the time.

In spite of this, Aced is arrogant, short-tempered, and self-righteous, openly defying the Master's orders against creating alliances and later plotting to usurp Ira as leader of the Unions. He is rather puritanical in his behavior, and assumes the worst about people and Unions, thinking that Ava gathering the Dandelions, or the Unions collecting more Lux, are obscene displays of power which bring about disunity, and need to be stopped. His philosophy and mindset are that of bloodlust, holding an adamant belief that the righteousness of a person or a Union was proven through battle, and he is quick to shut down anyone who opposes his mindset.

Aced possesses an unforgiving nature, declaring that he will never forgive Gula standing by while the Foretellers fought amongst themselves while withholding knowledge of the traitor and attacking him when Gula assumed that he was the traitor. When he learns that Invi persuaded Gula to dissolve their alliance, Aced vows that she would pay for her interference and assaults her a year later as payback.

Abilities
Aced wields a Keyblade that is the bulkiest among the Foretellers' Keyblades. The handle is gray, and the guard and outer base are jagged and dark blue/teal in color. A brown bear with red eyes is set at the base. The shaft is brown with a very wide black area in the middle. Cream engravings adorn the dark area, the topmost of which resembles Terra's Mark. The end of the blade curves back towards the base, and this and a bit protruding from that side form the Keyblade's C-shaped teeth. The Keychain consists of red gems connected by a brownish chain and a brown token with an Gazing Eye at the center.

Aced is gifted in spatial magic, creating rifts in the air that can suck in enemies.

Etymology
Aced's name is derived from the word ', which means "sloth" in Latin and is represented by a bear in the '.

Notes and references
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