Video Game: Kingdom Hearts SOS: The Road To Light

Welp, it seemed that they had been divided into three groups. People who were like "Alright screw the injured people let's race!", people who were like "BEUCE LOST AN ARM THEREFORE WE SHOULD COMPLETELY FORGET THAT ANYONE ELSE IS INJURED AT ALL BECAUSE HE IS WORSE!", and people who were like "Hand jokes are funny." Regardless of who was in what group, Beuce had received several mega-potions. They'd help for sure, but it wouldn't be just him they helped."I guess you're right cat. Those guardians won't be hunting themselves." Tossing the items into the air, they shattered into a light, bringing down a healing aura on everyone. With multiple items used, they'd be far from dying, but they'd still definitely be feeling their injuries in the morning.

"There. That should make you happy Karina. Now there's no 'oh don't worry about healing me. just heal yourself'. We both got healing. And so did everyone else that needed it." He said to her. That should appease her, since they were both no longer in critical condition. Injured yes, but the injuries could be handled now. Well...Most of them anyway. No longer barely able to drag himself, Beuce looked over to the tower. "So, Yen sid lives here?" He asked rhetorically. Like, six people had just said that. Of course Yen Sid lived there. Walking over to the door of the tower, he opened it with his single remaining hand and began his trip up the stairs. This place was kinda trippy. It really gave the feel of a wizard's home.

 

Disney Town

"Looking good guys!" She shouted. She loved the sound of the weapons flying through the air. The feeling of a weapon rushing past you. She wasn't blood thirty by any stretch of the imagination, but she loved to fight. "You got it Roe!" Cailyn smiled. She got into a battle pose. "Time to dance baddies." She gave them a taunting smirk. She finished off the Injured soldiers, and then she finished off 3 of the Guards. She left one with one BP.


OOC:
BP Used: 15
37/50 Guards, 1 BP to finish off the injured.

 

Luna felt herself being lifted as Karina threw her into Bertha the Behemoth. Before she knew it, Luna was knocked unconscious by the impact. Somehow the impact bounced Luna's body off Bertha and under Arma. She could barely see what was happening and blacked out as soon she landed. Luna entered the realm of dreams as she dreamed of a time in her past.

Spoiler: Flashback #2

Luna's brother, Akira had dragged Luna to a field of Jasmine Irises. "See! I told you it would be worth it!!" Luna looked across the field of flowers before her. "Wow~! This is so pretty!!" Her face lit up with happiness and joy. Akira picked one of the flowers and placed it in Luna's hair. "The Jasmine Irises represent grace and elegance. I thought it suited you sis. You been down for awhile and I thought, 'Hey! I should show Luna this field of Irises!!' and so here we are!" Luna touched the Jasmine Iris in her hair and turned to Akira. She looked down as if she was about to cry. "You didn't have to do that for me. But I appreciate your thoughtfulness." Akira walked over to Luna and hugged her. "After what has happened, it's about time we all see your smile again. Our people look up to the graceful, elegant, and kind smile and presence you have." Luna started to cry and hugged him back. They both stayed like that until Luna stopped crying. She looked up to her brother and smiled like she had done before. "Sometimes I think you're the best fit for our people." Akira chuckled a bit and smiled back. "And you'd be dead wrong!" Akira backed away and started to walk back. "We should probably head back now. Mom and Dad are gonna freak if we're out any longer." Luna walked alongside Akira walking back to their home with a grand castle in front of them.

Luna smiled as she dreamed of days past. She had felt someone carrying her. She opened her eyes slightly, leaving the land of dreams and into reality, and tried to get a sense of where she was and what happened to her. "W-w-what? W-where am I?" Luna tried to raise her head but an immense pain ran through her head. "Wh-wh-what happened to me? Wh-what's going on?" Luna tried to get up but the immense pain rain throughout her body.

 

Steel calmly walked through the white space around him, avoiding casting his glance towards the various crystals that littered the landscape between the entry and exit points. He walked slowly, taking an interest in the fact that his companions seemed to fly straight past the mirror realm: most of them didn't seem to notice it at all. He decided not to question it, seeing as how most of them had no knowledge about the extensive society magic mirrors had formed. Heck, they had probably taken his earlier comment to their traveling patron as naught more than but a joke. True, he had mainly thrown in the luncheon comment to throw them all off, but it was coming up soon nevertheless. As he neared the exit point, he saw a small standup mirror fade into view next to the shimmering portal. Normally, one might find this occurrence strange; they were inside of a mirror already after all. Steel however, merely stopped next to the exit portal and, still not making eye contact, gave a bow. "We pray for the safety of your reflection young one." For that was what it was after all; only a child among magic mirrors would still take the form of the object that bound it within it's own realm. That was not to say however that it had not been around for some time... or that it was not wise. He stepped into the portal quickly. He felt a twinge of guilt at how he had treated the boy, but he pushed it aside. it was not that he was afraid of the mirrors or that he intended to be rude to them; it was merely that the mirrors, while powerful, came with their own problems attached, and involving them much more than they already were would ultimately do more harm for their cause than good.

As he passed through the silver light, he felt the sense of imminent danger finally pass, causing his Ninja form to melt away. He stepped out onto the grass in his usual clothing. But something seemed different: He felt a severe lack of the usual weight. He felt a breeze passing through the fur on his hand, and looked down in shock to see the gauntlet on his right hand was completely absent. Sure, his hoodie sleeve covered most of his arm, but his black and blue colored fingerless glove simple could not hide his long sharp claws... if the fur itself wasn't obvious enough already, one would draw attention to the other. He really was surprised, but knew he was supposed to try and remain emotionless, causing the feeling to vanish altogether. "Well, that's interesting." He stated in his usual simplistic manner as he brought his arm up to his face. He gazed upon it silently, trying to find out exactly what had changed. Had it been his near awakening experience against the screamarch earlier? His thoughts were interrupted as he heard a loud beeping and felt a vibration in his pocket. Taking his now quite visible hand and digging in his pockets, he pulled out a cell phone. Blue, obviously. He flipped through the options to view his most recently received e-mail:

Dear Steel,

It has come to our attention that you are willing to attend our upcoming planning and advisory luncheon that we will be holding at our castle. We would be very excited to have you, and will look forward to having you with us. As of yet, the date and time are not yet set for certain. All we can tell you at this time is that it will be sometime within the next five years. It will most likely fall on the first Monday of an April. More details will follow as soon as we have everything more thoroughly planned out.

Sincerely
Mirror Executive Office
Aurelia
​

"That soon?" He thought to himself. He supposed he could probably still make the time; his current short term plans with the other wielders wouldn't likely go on for more than 3 years(In game time). Not wanting to ignore the mystical creature, Steel nodded and gave a quick "Thank you." to the disappearing light behind him. It was then that he took the time to finally notice the beautiful scenery around him. Starry skies, sunset colored clouds below a floating stretch of land, healthy plants; It was very much the sort of place he could see himself building a tower of his own. That, of course, led him to the current topic of discussion amongst the others. If you could really call it a conversation that is: Saying "Master Yen Sid lives here" like five times over with varying attitudes and levels of excitement didn't really seem to classify as such. There was little he could do about that however, as many of his allies began rushing into the tower, leaving him to sit with the others and muse: "Ah yes, the pointy man." He himself decided he would rather hang back and makes sure everyone was able to move forward, helping where necessary. With two having been knocked out and two severely injured, he deemed it the wisest course of action. Speaking of the injured, he wasn't sure how concerned he should be about Beuce. Kel's stab wound would surely be healed by a few simple spells, but a missing arm? That was something quite different. Perhaps Master Yen Sid could fix it, or perhaps he couldn't. Steel knew there was certainly some way to get him fixed up; whether or not they could find it remained to be seen.

 

The help was definitely better than fighting on her own. The two keyblade wielders were managing some friendly banter, and she found out their names. They would probably be introduced more formally afterwards, but at least it would be helpful for communication... granted, they did not know her name. Though Kaida was not sure if she just wanted to introduce herself while slashing at guards. It just seemed like there was too much going on anyways. She had not been paying attention to whatever Max was doing, since she was honestly more interested in seeing the other keyblade wielder's abilities. However she was not going to pretend that Max was absent from there, she just had no idea whether he was attacking the guards, helping to distract the guards, or if there were more guards outside of the current area that he was taking care of. Either way, she needed to be more focused on the fight rather than her thoughts, unlike last time where she went on inner tangents about irrelevant questions as if to fill some sort of invisible quota.

But the guards were definitely a lot easier than the soldiers were, she finished off one of the guards that were attacked already, then ran after the more able bodied ones. Kaida did a sliding dash towards two of them, but for whatever reason that seemed to not have the effect she was expecting. As she stood up from the position she was in, one of the weasels slashed at her and she let out a yelp in pain. She turned around and slashed the one that had attacked her down. Kaida chuckled slightly and looked over at Pete again, who...Roo...R...Roe? Roe had attacked prior and he was bouncing up and down still pointing at the weasels and telling them to go forth towards them. Clearly he was backing away at the sight of any of them getting anywhere close to him.

Kaida looked over at a guard she had attacked with Sliding Dash, the one she had not finished off before, and she slashed at it backhanded. She moved her keyblade from her left to her right hand and made her way towards another guard. She rolled towards it and slashed at it, knocking them down and out faster than she expected considering she thought her sliding dash was showing she was losing steam. Apparently not. She then made her way around the guards and behind Pete, managing to sneak up on him. She placed her hands behind her with her keyblade still in her hand, and she lightly tapped on his shoulder. He seemed to freeze for a moment before he turned his head around and then jumped at the sight of her. Kaida pulled her keyblade out from behind her back and slashed at Pete a couple of times before she had knocked him back towards... Ca...Cail...Cailyn! She looked around at the guards who noticed her little stunt and they started to circle around her angrily for attacking their captain.

Kaida let out a nervous laugh as she held up her stance to defend herself, "Probably not the best decision I could have made... hey uh..." the guards charged at her and she let out a shout before she felt herself attacked in almost a circle formation. She rolled out of there and ran as fast as she could towards Roe and turned around facing all the guards now facing them all, "No uh.. Roe? Yeah... no I think I do need more help than I let on...aha..." she held up her keyblade and used cure on herself before getting herself in a fighting stance.

ooc:
Total BP: 19
Word Count: 616 = 30 EXP

33/50 Guards Left [none with less bp than the usuals]
175/300 Pete

 

It was after Hikaru was finished speaking that Base opened the doors to the outside of the Mysterious Tower where he found all his friends and comrades. Excitedly, Base ran up to the group and left the doors open.

"Guys!" Base dashed to his battle worn companions and saw just how tired they each were. "What did I miss..." Base was apprehnsive and a bit taken aback to see everyone like that, and especially because he had no memory of where he last was. No wait, he remembered a new place called "Central Haven". He remembered going there, but he didn't remember staying there. Where had he gone afterward and why apart from everyone else? Was he really sleeping that whole time? Because everyone else looked like they'd been through a whole world of trouble. It was then that he noticed some of his closer friends.

"Beuce! D'daear!" It's great to see you- Oh." Base realized that Beuce was down one arm. It was then that he latched onto the other Keyblader and slowly collected himself to say, "I'm sorry I wasn't there. Whatever happened, I'm sorry." Base and Beuce had joined the brigade of Keybladers on the same world; they'd been to two of the three venturing worlds together. "I can't believe I just woke up, and you were all through... something. I don't even know what. This is all very confusing." Base tried to piece the puzzle together in his head, but found it useless to find pieces he was utterly missing.

He couldn't remember much. It felt like the last thing he really knew was getting his tailbone kicked into oblivion by the man in a dark metal suit that had betrayed Krowley. Wait. No. Not Krowley. Krowley was someone else; a mentor to someone else. The Krowley that Sebastian Noble knew was "Hikaru". A light kind of name; it really rolled off the tongue. Among the other Keybladers, there were also three ducks and an old man. Base stood to attention.

"Hi. I'm Sebastian Noble. Base. Call me Base. Unless... you already know who I am... You see, I'm a little out of sync right now, but I think I'm starting to catch up." It was a bit of a lie. Base didn't know much more than when he did when he stepped outside to see everyone gathered in the grass under the multi-colored, magical sky.

He remembered Beast's Castle, and that was it. He knew he'd gone somewhere else too; That "Central Haven", but as much as he struggled to retrieve the thoughts from his head, the more the search came up empty. It was aggravating and it made Base feel hollow inside. He wanted to shout then and there as if that would bring back his shattered memories. His friends had suffered an ordeal, and Base couldn't even make an excuse to himself as to why he hadn't been there to help.

"I said it to Beuce... and I mean it to everyone else too... I'm sorry."

"D'daear? Are you okay?" He turned to his apprentice.

Into the past...

"Is it a surprise? I need a little money to tide me over." Edgar Noble was far from what his last name suggested. Some time before Patricia and Collin ever met, there Edgar was... begging for money that he didn't have because he'd wasted his trust money in gambling. Standing about as tall as Collin, Edgar was as much equal in good lucks and physical strength, but had only half of his brother's intelligence and none of the Honor that Collin held so dear. Inside Collin's study, Collin's patience was quickly waning thin.

"What for?" Collin figured he'd humor his brother, the leech.

"There's this little thing I like to do every now and again. It's called: Not starve to death." Edgar didn't live in the family estate like Collin had the privilege to. "Not that you have to worry."

'I don't have to worry about making the same mistakes as you. If you didn't make them, then you wouldn't have to worry either.' Collin bit his tongue and decided against doing the useless thing of trying to degrade someone that was already at rock bottom. "I can set you up with some groceries. I can't do much more than that."

"How about you just give me the money?"

"If I do, I think we both know what would happen to it, Ed."

Edgar shot Collin a wicked scowl. "What's that supposed to mean?" He bit back, but he didn't have the teeth to scare Collin, and he didn't have anything to back up the reply. He spoke as if there was no reason to chastise the layabout for doing nothing but throwing money around when he had it.

"You know exactly what I mean. Don't even ask that again like you have some reason to be insulted by it." Collin stood his ground and practically breathed fire from his nose. He was going to do his younger brother a favor. The least the former juvenile delinquent could do was at least be grateful for a handout. Especially since Collin knew that the money wouldn't be going towards food if Collin didn't specifically order them himself. He knew his brother too well.

"How about I write you a list?" Edgar asked with a saccharine smile all too sweet and crooked.

"Whatever makes you feel better." Collin picked up a notepad and a pen from his desk to hand to Edgar. Edgar took them in hand and seemed to only write one sentence. That one sentence was all he wrote as he put the pen and paper down, started to walk away, and mumbled to himself. When Collin checked the paper, he found a sentence that, to Collin, justified decking his brother right of his feet with a left hook. The punch brought Edgar, with a weak constitution, right to the floor. He fell like a house of cards and Collin quickly regained his senses to regret what he'd down.

Collin loved his brother, even if knocking him out seemed like a good idea right before he did. That was why, when Edgar woke up, he was lying down on Collin's couch in the middle of the study. That's why he didn't starve as Collin took care of the grocery needs while Edgar was asleep.

OOC:
16/45 Experienced
3/25 Veteran

 

Disney Town

Cailyn took all of the hits pretty hard, and was running out of breath already again. She was back to wishing she had stayed in Max's hideout or whatever he called it. At least they were sitting down there. She regretted ever saying that she was bored. "This is totally not a 3 person job!" She huffed. "Come on Roe give me a bit of backup here! The Newbie seems to be doing alright by herself." Cailyn sighed. She slashed her Keyblade at the enemies with her left hand, while trying to protect her face with the right. "If they knock off my glasses I'm totally done." She thought to herself. Now was not the time to be going into battle blindly, literately. "Let's dance Kupos!"

Total BP: 15

30/50 Guards Left (Another Guard will only 1 BP remaining)
175/300 Pete

 

Kel could've sworn that Karina had smiled at him before she headed towards the tower. His back pain wasn't causing him so much pain that he'd start hallucinating, especially after all of the healing that he'd received. "Weird, guess there's a first time for everything." He started to make his way to the tower when he felt Luna move around. Guess she finally woke up. "Long story short, we're at Yen Sid's tower who hopefully will help us out." He left out the details pertaining to the fight against the behemoths, mainly cause he didn't want to think about that again for a long time. As he followed behind every into the tower, he looked up and saw how high the spiral staircase went. Good thing he wasn't afraid of heights, otherwise the ascend up the stair that he'd begun would have a added difficulty.

 

"Walk with me, if you please, D'daear.." Base commented to his apprentice, treading towards where Karina had gone. He'd left the doors open almost carelessly, but it was for the best; the doors were next to impossible to open from the outside, as Base had learned the hard way. Then again, Base had grown much stronger than the last time he tried. Both as a Mage and as a Warrior. He gave a reassuring nod to Karina. He'd made it clear that he trusted her enough to go wherever she would put her boot down, and he'd fight alongside her (and had) just like he would with many of the others in the SOS Brigade. He really did wish he knew what had happened during his leave of absence though, since it appeared like a lot of damage had been done.

It was then that Base started to remember the first time he'd ever come to the tower. He had been scared and all alone; Theate was falling into Darkness all around him, and then he was inexplicably safe in the room he'd just woken up in. Yen Sid had somehow traced in on him as a new Keyblade Wielder and it was the Light in Base's heart that truly saved him from the darkness pouring in all around to cast his whole homeworld into an insidious night. All of his first adventures had been in the tower, and all of his first lessons. It was where he learned how to wield the Keyblade and where he learned his first spell. It was also the last place he was before being sent along on his way to join those he would come to call friends and allies. It was then that he realized when he'd woken up. He'd woken up pretty much when they arrived; Base didn't believe in coincidences. Something was keeping the group together as much as it was splitting them apart to different tasks. He'd missed something, but he knew still he could make himself useful in the next mission to be undertaken. Base walked with purpose, knowing that the pathway up the stairs was longer than it looked from the outside and that many tricks could be waiting inside if Yen Sid wished it... or he wasn't in control anymore. Then Base thought of who he was thinking about. 'Nothing could overtake Master Yen Sid... could it' he thought to himself while his footsteps followed a few behind Karina's. 'Oh wait, I'm supposed to be listening to D'daear...' Base thought to himself once it flew past him that his mind had been wandering at 1000 miles per hour. "Sorry." He apologized again, absent-mindedly.

There were new people he didn't know in that group outside. There were some people missing. What had befallen his friends? Who were the new ones who seemed to be Keybladers (They had that sort of light aura about them; he could tell). He'd make a point of getting to know everyone, and firmly catching up. So, he did his best to listen to D'daear as they all walked.

In the farthest regions of his mind, far beyond his mind's eye, Base still knew what had brought him to the Mysterious Tower shortly after arriving at Central Haven, and why it was so hard to remember...

"Is that him, boss?" A weaselly voice murmured.

"Yes. Yes it is. You know what to do." A deeper voice returned back.

"Right, boss."

And that was the point at which everything went black, and Base had an opportunity to relive a memory close in his heart.

It was a run down apartment, practically a hovel where Patricia and Collin set down their few bags and looked at the dismal residence with apprehension.

"Collin, I know this is our only option, but I just can't get over the feeling that this is not what I had intended when I decided to bring a child into the world." Patricia watched Sebastian walk over to the window as the young boy stared out a window.

"He'll be fine, and so will we." Collin reassured her as he took her in his arms. They'd hit hard times. The Noble family estate had been run into the ground all thanks to Collin's brother having no idea how to handle money. Collin had made the mistake of not only loaning money to his brother Edgar, but he'd also foolishly implicated himself in another one of his brother's half baked schemes. This one was far more sidious and far more illegal than any Collin had known Edgar to undertake. The events in all brought ruin to the Noble name and Collin didn't know who lost more in the final stroke of the turn. While Collin Noble had lost his house, money, job, reputation, and livelihood,... Edgar had lost his life in pursuit of ill gotten gain.

"I want to hope to you're right." Patricia whispered because that was all the force she able to let loose from her lungs. Through the trouble that had befallen Collin, Patricia stayed. She never even thought of leaving. She could have. Where they were then wouldn't be much different if she were to set out on her own. The thought never even crossed her gentle mind.

"You all getting settled well enough?" A rough voice called from the doorway out to the hall. A tall, thin man in his 40's who resembled a worn leather boot as much as any white man could. His hair was brown, with a speck of grey on the tip of his tiny, pointed goatee. He removed his sunglasses with rock star flair and ran smashed, crooked fingers through greasy brown hair under a derby hat that he held up with the other hand until he placed it back on his head. He was a good man with a lot of bad things in his past; Collin knew him well.

"We'll be fine, Dean. Thank you again for letting us stay here. No one else would dare let us near them before."

"I know what it's like to be in trouble with the law, Cole." Dean's voice had quite a bit of a whiskey treatment and sounded like his vocal chords had been smoke dried and peppered. "You and your family are welcome here any time."

"The judge said we might be able to earn back the family estate if we can prove we didn't know what Ed was planning, and if we show what kind of people we are."

"The kind of people I know you are won't have any trouble doing that." Despite the inherent darkness in Dean's voice, his tone was warm and sincere. He was a good man with a rough exterior. "Let me know if you need anything." Dean trailed off and disappeared back down the hallway.

"I think we should learn from our son." Patricia had a calmer tone than she'd used in a long time, ever since the incident, and a tear peeled from her eye as she looked to her Sebastian who was looking out the window on Potsdam Street in the middle of Theate City as if it were the most fantastic place on earth. It didn't feel like home, but a four year old boy wasn't finding it hard to adapt.

OOC:
17/45 Experienced
4/25 Veteran

 

Cat looked back and saw the last of their group come through the mirror: the guy who'd formerly called himself Krowley. The ducks and Merlin seemed like they were trying to comfort him but she could only focus on what he'd muttered. "Seiza? Did he get hurt? Is he alright?" The thoughts poured through her head, most of them depicting a grim scenario, but her focus went to the boy who'd just burst through the doors of the tower. He ran down, apparently recognizing everyone, and asked about what had just happened. Did he really not know? There seemed to be more questions than there were answers, but she saw Karina and Kel start to make their way into the tower and knew that their only hope for anything right now was Yen Sid. She sighed, still uneasy at the thought of what had happened to Seiza. If the horde of Behemoths hadn't gotten him, then surely those masked freaks that were with Vanitas would've...

No. She couldn't think like that. Not if she wanted to keep her sanity. She passed through the doorway and saw a spiral staircase leading up into what appeared to be some kind of colorful portal. The tower was huge, and that probably only made it less of a hassle to climb up to the top, but it still made her feel uneasy. She was starting to get pretty tired of portals. She got herself up onto the first step and climbed with a heavy heart. There was so much weighing her down, even if she forgot all the struggles of home. She was afraid that it might all be too much.

Spoiler: flashbacks 4DAYZ

She walked her usual route, the breeze barely managing to keep her cool in this summer heat. She gripped her book in one hand, the other using her hat as a fan.

"Boy, you'd think someone could install some sprinklers or something." She chuckled at her dumb little remark. It was a stupid thought, but she hadn't really put too much effort into conjuring it up. It wasn't like anyone was there to hear her mutter pointless fantasies. At least, that's what she thought.

"You honestly think the council would go for that?" She rolled her eyes at the voice. She should be surprised, but after a few times his attempts at trying to catch her off guard barely had any effect. "Honestly Cat, you know they're more about saving munny than anything."

"Well a girl can dream, can't she? And anyway, who asked your opinion, Captain Obvious?" He laughed and she couldn't help but smile in return. The bright pavement seemed to grow darker, signaling that the sun had been blocked out by some clouds. She could already feel the temperature start to drop a few degrees and sighed in relief as she put her hat back on.

"Whatcha got there?" He pointed at the book in her hand.

"Oh right, because this is too old fashioned for you. It's called a book."

"You know what I mean." She avoided his gaze. Humor was the only thing that kept them from covering the topic she dreaded the most. And she just knew that he'd dive into it if she wasn't careful. She just wanted it to stop. She wanted to be treated like anyone else. She wanted to be normal. He sighed. "Ignoring me, huh? Is it because you're crushing on me?"

"Oh please! The day I crush on Sam Novak is the day someone needs to send me to the madhouse." She smacked him in the arm, playfully of course, and they laughed. She would admit that this was nice, just hanging out like any normal teen would. She wished she could afford to do more of it.

"Joking aside, did you hear about that big meeting tomorrow? Everyone thinks it's just a sham-"

"But you think it's real, right? Other worlds that need our help and all that?"

"Oh I don't think. I know. And I think you should go."

"What?" She was shocked. This was just some farfetched call to arms. There was no such thing as other worlds.

"Yeah. I mean, you can fight. You might even be able to take me." She glared at him as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He was a big guy, at least a few years older than her, and at least seven inches taller. There was no way she could ever "take him."

"You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm not. Look, just come tomorrow. Please?" She sighed.

"Fine, just don't expect me to be good." He grinned.

If only she'd known then what was in store...

 

He was distracted. Nothing around him could keep away the sinking feeling Base had in the pit of his stomach with each step taken up to the top of the tower. It was about halfway up that a fire lit beneath his feet to punctuate the point: something was very wrong, and he wasn't moving fast enough. Base flew off into an upward sprint, skipping steps on the stairs in leaps and bounds as he paced to get himself to the top as soon as possible. Greens, blues, and streaks of light that drew the eye in the magical stairway up didn't even register to him in his transfixed, fixated mood. 'What's causing this anxiety?' Base wondered to himself as the Wizard's door soon came into view, long after he'd left the others behind in a mad dash through other rooms and passageways that magically connected to the stairs. A crescent moon shone from the oaken door that Base threw open to reveal a grim sight that made him feel like he'd fall back.

The room had been ravaged and thrown apart. The study was strewn with broken remnants of book cases, thrown and scattered tomes, and the skull that held a candle on Yen Sid's desk had been crushed into dust. The desk had been thrown and laid vertically to block the doorway leading to another, adjacent room. The throne, however, was where it was supposed to be, but what Base found there made him come to grips with the sinking feeling that shot through his fingertips and ached at his brain. Yen Sid was sitting in his throne, and he'd been turned to stone. A shocking expression was on the wizard's face, etched in gray rock that bore true expression... of a grin? Beside the odd countenance, Base had seen someone turn to stone right before his eyes, and he knew what the difference was when someone had carved a statue in a person's likeness and when someone had physically turned into a frozen statue. Was it his own imagination? Why had the room been tossed and turned? Base knew the wizard kept many secret, but what secret was so important to find that they'd attack Yen Sid personally? Who was strong enough to take him on? That question made Base feel queasy since he knew how powerful Yen Sid was, and he didn't want to know who was more powerful if they were a force of evil that cursed good people into such a state.

Base took a step forward and nearly slipped as his sneaker made a sickening wet schlop where he put his foot. He steadied his footing by throwing out his arms and was forced to look down as he wobbled. His eyes matched a pool of some black substance beneath his shoe. He took a step back and cautiously took to a knee near the tiny pool. He smelled it from the level of his knees; it smelled of turpentine and it bubbled without provocation. It was gooey and slick like oil, but Base was familiar with art enough to know what it was. "Ink." He murmured, standing up to realize there were concentrated pools of ink all around the room. There was a whole trail of it treading from in front of Yen Sid to across the room where there was a large, ornate rectangular mirror atop a mantle. It just ended there without much clue to where it started or ended.

Base tried to clear his mind as he carefully stepped over each puddle of ink to reach the man who had taught him so much. What secret was that smile holding. It was one of his knowing smiles that Base knew so well. Sullenly, Base hung his head and started to weep since he had already been made weak by the anxiety that fueled him to the top. He weeped because he saw a problem he could not fix and saw no solution to bring back someone important to him. With each tear, it lightened his heart more and more to release the fear in a physical way, but his heart still ached. Just when he thought his heart would burst open, he saw a doorway he'd never seen before. Curiously, Base stepped forth towards the door, but dared not to open it. He instead waited for others to arrive. He was stuck there for that instant with the frozen remnants of his master.

It was then that he noticed a small book. Out of all the other ones littering the room, this singular novel caught his eye enough for him to pick it up and strangely turn to the very page that held an answer for him... He read:

Also, there is the book there that details all the events that happen (Like in LoD)
It reads;
"As Master No Heart prepare the onslaught, Yen Sid grinned. He turned himself to stone and told the man he would never reach the secrets he had within. Upon this setback, he still searched tirelessly around the room to no avail of the book he so eagerly sought.

The man in armor left unsuccessful, but only moments after, did a young and small mouse jump from his study's mirror into the scene. Curious and swift, his appearance sparked a hidden room to appear. The mouse entered the secret room and left with a book in hand before running back into the mirror."

A young, small mouse? But there was no young, small mou- Base was suddenly knocked aside as a scampering presence pushed past him and dashed through the room through the door that Base had noticed before. Base saw the new presence as a waist high mouse with big and black, round ears and a wiry tail. He saw the mouse leave the room that he entered holding a book and paying Base no mind before he jumped... through the mirror. Base stared wide eyed as ripples appeared in what looked like a solid object. For once, Base was utterly speechless.

OOC:
18/45 Experienced
5/25 Veteran

 

Cat approached the portal, not entirely sure what passing through would entail. Honestly, it was far easier than she'd anticipated. Apart from the change in her surroundings, it all felt natural. Of course, the staircase was now floating over nothing and a door with a crescent moon waited for her at the top, but that only gave her more time to think. She'd been so busy thinking about the negative parts of her past that she'd almost forgotten about Sam. They'd been through a lot together, and she owed him more than she'd care to admit. Honestly, he deserved to be here more than she did. Still, she could never bear the thought of her friend in so much pain. That had always been her burden. He was the happy-go-lucky guy with the apple pie life, and she hoped that that hadn't changed while she was away. She continued to climb, her body now ascending almost mechanically, and she let her mind wander back to the day.

Spoiler: flashback city

"You made it!" He grinned as she walked up the steps of city hall.

"Yeah, well, you'd never shut up if I'd just skipped."

"You know me too well." He put his arm around her shoulder and she would've protested the notion had he not seemed genuinely excited. It was almost touching. When they got inside, they noticed three or four other people standing around in wait, all of them older guys. The mayor was in front of a podium, holding a piece of paper in front of him. He grinned at the sight of the teens.

"Ah, yes, wonderful! Now we can begin." He cleared his throat and Cat rolled her eyes.

"As I'm sure you're all aware, we recieved a distress call not too long ago stating that the fate of all worlds hangs in the balance. Many criticized us for taking it seriously, saying that it couldn't be possible, but today I can confirm that this is indeed a real threat."

"Told you so." Sam mouthed, unable to keep from grinning like a little kid.

"It's a prank." She mouthed back at him.

"Now, this is not for the faint of heart. If you came today, it is because you felt the pull of this call! Just the same way I did when I was young." The mayor held out his arm, his palm open and eyes closed. Cat was just about to ask what was up with the gesture when suddenly a beam of light formed in front of him and dissipated to show an oversized... key? He gripped it tight and raised it to show to those in the room.

"This, dear friends, is what is called a Keyblade. It is a weapon that only chooses the strongest and purest of heart. I was told that I could summon it when someone who is worthy of the power is near. Because, you see, the Keyblade chooses its master. Not just anyone can be tasked with the power such a weapon possesses." Immediately, people began imitating the mayor's movements, even Sam joined along. But Cat just crossed her arms.

"Oh, don't be such a downer, Cat."

"It's called being realistic, Sam. What kind of weapon would choose me? I'm nobody."

"Come on! Humor me." She sighed and raised her arm to appease him. The Keyblade disappeared from the mayor's hand.

"It looks like we have our chosen one." Everyone turned to look, but no one dared move their hands. Well, almost everyone.

"Come on, this is all a sham."

"Gimme a break. What's it gonna take to convince you?"

"I don't know. How about an oversized key magic-ing its way into my hand? Because magic doesn't exist. Other worlds don't exist. Nothing good comes out of fairy tales, Sam. I'll start seeing things your way the day that I end up summoning a 'Keyblade'."

"Man, talk about karma."

"What?"

"Look at your hand." She looked and sure enough that giant key had found its way into her palm. She hadn't even noticed it until now. It just felt... right. Like it belonged there somehow. She'd gripped it tighter almost out of instinct. It was an odd feeling. And she might've been able to figure out more had she not been distracted by the ridiculous laughing coming from beside her.

"Shut up!"

"I can't. Of all the people in here, I never thought you'd get to leave."

"Wait, what?" She didn't understand.

"You called this a 'glorified call to arms,' right? Well, you're gonna have to go fight now."

"Oh no! That is not happening. You know I can't leave."

"Cat, I know... about your mom." She fell silent after that. Her arms fell to her sides, her grip on the Keyblade loosened and after a second it disappeared completely.

"How...?"

"Overheard my dad talking about it. Look, nothing in our world is gonna help her, you know that as well as I do. I wanted you to come so I could find a way to help, and this seems like a pretty good plan to me."

"No."

"No?"

"Sam, you expect me to leave her alone? You expect me to run off on some interstellar adventure and let her sit here worrying about me?"

"Cat, you can save her this way. You can do things I've only dreamt of!"

"But what if I like it here? What if all I've ever dreamt of is living a nice, NORMAL life?" Her hands balled up into fists and the blade reappeared in her hand, despite the awful timing. She looked at it, tears building up in her eyes.

"You want adventure so bad, Sam? You wanna leave everyone you love for some dream? Go ahead." She pushed the key into his arms and ran out the door. No matter how much he shouted, she just kept running. This all had to be a hoax. It was just some cruel prank gone too far. Destiny couldn't be so cruel that it wanted to rip her away from what she loved... could it?

 

Kross's ears picked up the sound of stifled crying and he looked behind him, his eyes widened as he immediately stopped, pulling his hand away and stepping away from her. His honey brown eyes stared at her for a long minute before he summoned his keyblade and cast Cure on Ananta. He then unsummoned it and rubbed his arm while looking to the side, his expression was one mixture of concern and confusion, then he quickly smiled."It's time for you to meet Master Yen Sid. I think you'll like him. And don't worry about him not liking you, I mean..he trained ME so there's nothing to worry about."He turned and gestured to her, hurrying up the stairs."Come on Ananta!"

 

Ananta nearly fell over on the stairs when Kross let go of her hand. Catching herself, Ananta sat there on the stairs and took a quick rest. She was tired, but she knew that right now, she couldn't just stop. There were others that were also quite tired as well. Heck, Ananta SWORE she saw Beuce needing a hand from Karina back there. Shaking her head, she felt a warm embrace from the Cure spell and looked up to see Kross hurrying up the stairs. Swallowing hard, Ananta stood up and headed up the stairs as quickly as she could. Looking down the middle of the spiraling stairs, Ananta could see others hurrying up the stairs, but none of them were as close to the stop as Ananta and Kross were.

Reaching the door, Ananta stopped and stared at it. "Kross, what is Master Yen Sid like? I never really got to know him before all of this started to happen." she asked, looking at him. She didn't really want to open the door, especially since she didn't know Master Yen Sid that well. "I was also one of the few that didn't get a letter to come and help you guys. I...don't even remember what made me go to the Castle of Dreams, I just woke up there." she admitted, rubbing her left arm.

 

Rain gazed up at the odd structured tower which appeared to be just resting on top of clouds. It was both fascinating and yet frightening for her since she wasn't really fond of heights. Her attention then quickly switched to a group who were attending a boy who was missing a limb but despite his condition he was rather healing up everyone else around him. "Ow, even for those with more experience had a tough time too." She shook her head to get the thoughts out and proceeded towards the tower thinking that that's where everybody needed to go. Rain couldn't help but to over hear some conversations that mentioned about the famous master yen Sid living here. It didn't really looked like a sacred place for someone at his rank to reside in but when it comes to wizards, almost any place can be called home to them. "Could this really be the place? Wow, hard to believe what once were stories to me are actually becoming events. Hopefully I'll get more info on what's really going on here." She said in a cheerful tone as she walked up the stairs.

 

Stratos had continued walking along when he suddenly felt better from the onslaught of mega potions being used all at once. Man those were good healing. Now with his body not screaming and felt like he was going to keel over at any moment, he could continue walking onward towards the top of the tower with nothing really stopping him anymore. It was then that someone stretched out there hand to them. The person in question stated that their name was Raisor, and that they were pretty thankful for his help in the battle against the one thousand heartless. Huh, that battle felt like it happened ages ago, despite only being a few minutes. Funny how time worked like that.

Taking his hand, Stratos shook it and said, "my name's Stratos. Nice to meet you Raisor." Scratching the back of his head he said, "besides, I wasn't anything too special during that fight. But you did pretty great during that time too, so thanks for all your help during it." He continued to walk forward, toward the top of the tower, having some sort of strange sense of foreboding of what was waiting for them at the top.