Video Game: Kingdom Hearts SOS: The Road To Light

Anora had unwittingly confirmed Steel's suspicions about Lea. He wondered momentarily what the man had to hide before shrugging it off; He wasn't untrustworthy after all. He also took note of the way her hand went to her heart, but he decided not to say anything and opted instead to answer her next question. "Destroying a world isn't really a matter of power, It's a matter of knowledge. If you know how a worlds internal clock works, you'd also likely know a worlds one weakness." He paused for a moment. "In short, you don't have to do much yourself."

"Although, the Land of Departure is something of an exception since heartless can't get in very easily." He thought to himself. "But that's why we're still in the speculation stage."

"So they would still need the Princess's of Heart." He finished.

He was slightly encouraged by Anora's enthusiasm, and was the first to answer her question. "I'm a Hunter." He said with a small bow.
"I gave up the power of the Warrior."

 

Cat was more than a little surprised that Kaida just left like that. Though the apologies seemed to be mutual, and that made her feel a lot better. She turned back around to see Beuce and Seiza talking about that Mark of Mastery. She moved closer to them, and heard the basics: it's a test of Keyblade mastery, difficulty depended on the state of the worlds, and you couldn't face a guardian without passing it. He accepted the challenge blindly, and Cat sighed. Clearly, he wasn't the type to think things through. She moved forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "Whoa, mister big shot. You really wanna take a test you know nothing about?" She knew it couldn't be that easy. How many wielders had been sought out by that first message? How many more had been around before then? And how small was the percentage of them who'd go on to be masters? She had a feeling that the answer would only kill the mood. Still, she knew that taking on the guardians was likely the best way to get what she needed. "Well clearly I can't let you go at it alone." She grinned at him and looked back to Seiza. "Is there any chance we could take the exam with someone in this world?"

 

Ananta waved at Aden and smiled. "Hi Aden." then she heard Anora say the other guy's name. Pointing at Raisor, she confirmed. "So, you're Raisor then?" she said, nodding her head. "Interesting names, guys." she said. Looking at Anora, Ananta tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at her placing a hand over her heart. Not wanting to turn things sour, Ananta chose not to press Anora as to why she put her hand on her chest. Instead, she listened to what Anora said next.

"The princesses all have a light in them that's very warm and bright. I felt that in Castle of Dreams. It's like they have no darkness inside of them; like their hearts are just filled to the brim with light. It was a nice feeling." Ananta said, smiling sweetly at that. Perking up, she heard Anora's small speech about light winning over darkness. "You're right, Anora. Light can most definitely win over darkness. There's always a small light in the deepest darkness, I'm sure of it." Ananta nodded.

Blinking her eyes when Anora asked about her world, Ananta frowned at it. It still hurt that Crystallis was gone, but she couldn't let that cloud her heart. Instead, she looked up at Anora again. "Well, our world is pretty odd compared to a lot of other worlds. Everyone has some magic capability that they apply into their every day life. Everything on Crystallis is made up of energy, as is everything else in the universe. The Mother Crystal on my world would create and gather energy and give it back to us through the water that pours from the bottom point of the Mother Crystal. In turn, we drink the water and use it to water the plants and food and everything else. People on our world are all able to use magic freely and for whatever they want. In turn, the crystals around our necks-" she held hers up as an example "-all house the energy that we collect from eating, breathing, and living on Crystallis. If we stay away from our world...we get a little deprived. I mean, naturally, everything has energy like I said, so eating food and drinking water helps restore a little, but my people need a lot of energy to live. I'm fine, though, since I eat like crazy. Speaking of eating..." Ananta said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out an energy bar and began to eat it.

"Oh, and to your question of the paths we chose, I of course chose Mystic. I sacrificed the path of the Guardian." Ananta finished saying, eating her energy bar happily. "I could go on forever about Crystallis, but I'll stop for now. Don't want to bore you and all." she laughed, pulling more energy bars out. "Anybody want one?" she offered.

 

So the Mark of Mastery was a kind of test then. Least he was right about that much. Though hearing that it varied depending on the situations didn't exactly leave him feeling relieved or anything. For all they knew, if or rather when they took the Mark of Mastery, if may be the hardest thing that they ever had to do before. Or if luck was on their side, it may turn out to be somewhat easy. Before he could add in onto any thing, Beuce had agreed to take the Mark of Mastery while Cat chimed in, saying to help him out. Sure, leave him out of the picture why don't ya.

"I guess I'll lend a hand as well." Kel finally chimed in. Upon hearing Cat's question, he wondered was there actually someone here that could administer the exam. If he had to guess, he would say Merlin, after all, he was knowledgeable on other world plus it was his magic that got him here in the first place. If not him then he doesn't know who might have the capabilities to do that.

 

"I'll take one." Steel rose his hand before politely taking an energy bar from Ananta. He figured she probably knew by now that he ate as much as her; though for entirely different reasons. He opened the wrapper and brought it up to his mouth before he realized his scarf was in the way. This was a bit of a problem: When he had been back in the Land of Departure, no one was around to see him eat, so he could move the cloth out of the way enough to eat. Now, however, he was with six other wielders. Ananta knew some of what lie beneath his blue exterior fabric, but the others... he wasn't sure how they would react: especially Anora, as she seemed rather full of light. Rather than dwell on it too long, he sent a simple message with his mind.
"Kai." He silently addressed his servant and friend.
"Right away sir." The ever present creature responded.
Steel's own response to this was to push the bar through the fabric that hid his face. He took a bite and pulled it back, as if here just eating normally. The scarf hadn't become transparent, nor had it deteriorated any in appearance. He had just... pushed it through. He didn't spare much room in his mind as to what the others would think of this: He was already known to be quite a bit odd, and Ananta would just think of it as typical.

 

Well if Steel took one, Kross might as well too. He carefully took the wrapped energy bar and watched Steel eat it. It looked like it didn't effect him much, or at all so it was safe to eat. He looked at the bar and carefully unwrapped it. He murmured "Ek'tak minan.." (Gods bless) and broke a piece of the bar. He took a ginger nibble at it. It was..oaty with some indistinguishable fruit flavor. It was good, unlike anything he ever had before. He was way too poor to afford these. He looked at Ananta."Thank..you Ananta."He said shyly. As he heard the explanation of where he was and how they got here, Ananta mentioned something strange, she was polling if anyone was a com-pewter genius. He could only shake his head."These machines are too cold..they don't have any warmth to them."He said, barely a corner was bitten off at the bar that he now held to his sword."It's very much unlike the Land of Departure and Master Yen Sid's tower."He lowered his head."I hate this place."

 

Raisor put up his hand, "No thanks, I don't usually do well eating anything right after doing exercises." He put his hands in his pockets, trying to keep himself from fidgeting around.
Raisor turned his head toward Kross,"Not sure what you mean by the machines being too cold. I mean, yeah, maybe they're not living beings, but ask DJ and I'm sure he'll tell you something differently....at least, that's my opinion. The guy acts like each and every one of his machines have their own names, if not their own personalities. I tell you, he's definitely one of the stranger people I've met."
Then again, he didn't mind much of anything most of the time. Whenever he went to a new world he just took it as it was and accepted whatever was there. Though he had to admit, the machines did have their usefulness. Especially if he needed to check on his fighting stance and review it front a different angle, mainly, an angle that doesn't involve him having to physically try it every time.
Raisor felt like they were running low on conversation talk, and tried to keep it going, if not just to keep the time going by. "So, how long have you guys had your keyblades? Did you get to train with them a lot before this whole mess started?"

 

Steel took another bite of his energy bar as the subject of machines was brought up. He agreed with Raisor; even if they weren't 100% guaranteed to be living beings, anything was capable of having a heart.... and DJ indeed seemed to be a very strange person.
He promptly answered Raisor's question as he pulled the energy bar out of his scarf once more. "I only got mine briefly before I first arrived at the land of departure, so I haven't practiced too much more than you. Although, I do have had prior experience with swords and magic; Combat isn't a stranger to me."

 

Anora listened to Ananta's explanation of her world. The blue eyed female could almost imagine the river that flowed in this world, how it connected and gave everything life. Anora especially got excited when hearing about a world of mystics. "In my home of Vamacara, most of us are mystics as well. Magic is apart of our everyday lives and it is granted to us by the gods of our realm. Where I was born, the center of Vamacara, the temple of Spirit is the most powerful and those born under the God's protection are marked." Lifting a strand of hair she gave a shy smile before letting the long strand fall pass her waist. "It's very odd I'm sure to some, but i wear it with pride now that I am allowed to expose my blessing." She smiled.
Anora listened to the others speaking about the situation at hand. Noting how odd Steel ate. She tilted her head trying to figure out how he did that, blue eyes wide in curiosity as she tried to understand how that was possible.
Chuckling at Kross's reaction to this place, she patted his shoulder lightly. "Some worlds are strange, but they all hold their on beauty. Central Heaven's technology is far beyond anything I have seen or known. Their healing ways are astonishing to behold." She said with such wonder in her voice, her family excelling healers with their magic and potions.
Anora looked to Aden and she nodded her head, a memorie of Aden's first time gliding expierence. "Yes, but you have gotten better." She encouraged, ruffling his hair.

(so sorry for this post guys!)

 

Ananta smiled, finishing the energy bar, and turned to throw away the wrappers in a nearby trash bin. Returning to the group, she listened to them talk. Turning to Kross, Ananta smiled lightly. "It's alright, you have friends and we have all the warmth you need." she nodded, patting his head. Raisor asked a question now and that caused Ananta to turn towards him and lower her head. "To be truthful, I haven't had anything amazing happen. I...I left my world just as it fell to some dark creatures. All I remember was my mother telling me I possessed the greatest weapon of all. Then I fell down and felt a very warm light. I passed out and appeared in the Castle of Dreams." she scratched her head.

Hearing Aden's story about his keyglider caused a light chuckle to escape Ananta's lips. "So you had to hitch a ride with somebody, then?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Don't worry, I had no previous training with my keyblade. Although, I do remember some weird dream I had, but that doesn't matter. Anyway!" she said, clapping her hands. "When I went back to the Land of Departure, I asked Sebastion to give me a few pointers about keygliders." she chuckled. "Not to say I didn't have any accidents, seeing as I hit my head with my keyblade a few times, but after awhile I was able to make my keyglider appear. In fact, if I can time this right, I think I can make my keyblade armor appear..." she said, scrunching her face and holding her keyblade, Spellbinder, in front of her. A light emitted from the end and enveloped her, causing her keyblade armor to appear. It didn't stay around for too long, seeing as it poofed once more. Ananta blinked and frowned. "Well, I guess I can't have it out for a long time without my keyglider or something..." she sighed.

"Anyway, I want to relax, Kross, do you want to sit with me?" she asked him, turning her emerald eyes towards him. "I actually would really like to speak with you about your world, if you don't mind."

 

Luna walked around the Hall of Records as she heard Seiza mention the Mark of Mastery. She walked over to Cat and listened to what Seiza mentioned about the Mark of Mastery exam. She turned her as she heard Beuce confidently speak saying he was ready to take the exam. Not long before she heard Cat and Kel saying they had wanted to take the exam along with Beuce. "You guys don't honestly think you're taking this exam without me right?" Luna chuckles a bit as she smiled toward the group. She walked over to them and looked at Seiza waiting for his response to Cat's question.

 

As they awaited an answer from Seiza, Kel unexpectedly heard another voice chime in. He turned to see that Luna had found her way here and had overheard their potential plan regarding the mark of mastery. "So that makes four people here willing to take the mark of mastery now." He wasn't sure whether that helped the odds of passing, but there's strength in numbers and numbers was something that they definitely had.

 

Glen, having recovered from his bump into the barrier known as reluctancy, was ready to continue the battle, before something occurred to him. "You said testing our own strength, making fun of me for using summons, and then you use Mushu against me? Mushu you're a treacherous lizard...thing, and Karina, you are a hypocritical dog!" he insulted, prepared for the oncoming wrath he was about to receive.

As Karina rushed towards him with her keyblade ready, he saw the murderous intent in her eyes and for a brief moment he panicked. This brief moment would have been longer had he not had gravity magic. Damn that thing was turning useful. Pointing his keyblade at Karina, he cast the gravity magic and chuckled a little as she began floating upside down. She could easily get herself out of that though, he knew that much himself because he abused the crap out of it as it was. Turning away, he began racing away a little bit. He would fight her and he would do his damn best to win, but he needed more time to plan a strategy. Some way of distracting her, some way of stalling things out. If he didn't, she would probably beat him to the point he would cry like a-

He had an idea.

He hadn't used Blend since he had gone to Baker Street, and even then that had taken a little bit of practice, but he only had one chance this time. It was all or nothing. Focusing intensely for a brief moment, he activated his magic and was covered in magical light, before his body shrunk a little bit and he found himself with the appearance of a baby. He had to play the part though or it wouldn't work, that much was certain. So he began waving his arms around in an adorable manner and began giggling a little bit.

 

Kross patted down his hair when Ananta patted it and frowned. He hated when people did that.. He looked to the side at the machines."It's not that I don't like these machines, they're amazing, it's just..um."He trailed off."They make me feel claustrophobic."He murmured. He preferred the wide open, not anything with metal towers left and right. He didn't like something so confined. He sighed, calming down, complaining about it would do him little to no good. Energy bar forgotten, he only wrapped his arms around himself and rubbed his arms. Ananta's proposal for him to sit beside her. He would be more than happy to, were it not for her telling him what happened to his world. The memories still stung, he could only look to the side, refusing to sit at all."I don't wanna talk about it."He said in a monotone voice and asked no one in particular."When can we leave?"He asked again, this world was something he couldn't see himself being comfortable with, it was much too metallic, no sand or soil between his toes, just metal and electricity.

 

Ananta's eyes stuck to Kross like glue and she saw how uncomfortable she had made him. The guy even held himself for whatever reason! Looking down at the ground, she listened to him some more and she could easily tell he was uncomfortable around here. Glancing back up, Ananta opened her mouth to speak, but was cut short by Hikaru coming from the elevator. He seemed to be preoccupied with talking to Anora, Raisor, and Aden, considering what he had just said. Ananta's eyes glanced over Kross and then returned to Hikaru. She could tell he was referring to those three, simply because of the way he called out to them. Not wanting to interrupt their reunion, Ananta grabbed Kross by the arm and stepped off towards a corner of the Main Hall that had a few plants sitting around each other. Letting go of Kross' arm, she turned to him and smiled awkwardly. "I know it isn't like being outside, but I thought you'd be a little happier with some plants nearby." she chuckled, clearing her throat and leaning against the wall. Slowly, Ananta slid down until she was on the floor. 'What do I say now? Can't ask him about his world, seeing his reaction and all, so what do I say?' she sighed, tracing circles around on the floor. Pulling her legs closer to her body, Ananta crossed her arms on her knees and hid her face away, racking her brain for things to talk with Kross about. 'I really want to talk to Kross, I want to make friends, but the last time I tried, the person hated me. So now I'm better off not trying.' she sighed heavily. This was going to be difficult.

 

Her name was called and for a second, coming from the voice, it sounded a lot like someone he knew. Turning her head, her blue eyes took in the man in confusion. She had never seen his face, yet he knew their names. But than she took in his uniform and her eyes widened, eyebrows lifting in realization as his voice clicked something in her memory. "Krowley!' She said, a warm smile greeted the man as he stepped closer to the group. "It has been a very long time, I almost didn't recognize you without the mask." She said, taking a better look at him. "It's nice to see what's underneath your mask. I always wondered what you were hiding, at least it wasn't what I thought." She gave a little chuckle at what she thought was under his mask since they first met each other in Deep Jungle. It wasn't like the others also wondered, she just never said anything...

 

Raisor looked up toward the person who had called over to them. He was slightly nodding off to sleep, even while standing up, since he was having a hard time keeping up with the conversations. That, and he might have missed out on a meal without remembering. He gave his eyes a moment to re-adjust and saw a person in a suit with blue hair coming toward them. He tried his hardest to remember the guy, but his memory wasn't doing him any favors. Anora called him Krowley, and he felt a little "bing" go off in the back of his head. It definitely sparked some kind of remembrance. He waved to the guy, just to make sure he didn't seem rude.
He whispered toward Aden and Anora, "Hey guys, could you remind me who that guy is? I can't remember him at all." He felt his ears go red hot. It was always a little embarrassing that he couldn't remember people sometimes without being around them for a while.