Video Game: Kingdom Hearts SOS: The Road To Light

Steel was a silent fixture in the background, merely observing as everyone else went about their business. Karina had been... fair, but ultimately he had still gotten no where. Not anything new really. He was generally still ignored as everyone who gathered went about discussing... things. Even if they didn't necessarily care about him, he would have expected to draw a few glances at least; especially considering his condition. True, he wasn't beaten horribly as Karina had no doubt expected, and he still wasn't showing any signs of blood, but... well... actually maybe the inky blackness emanating from him (again) was blood.

Whatever the case, it wasn't long before Dreamer popped in. He tried talking normally to them all, he had an awkward time of it. They all got to meet Bianca and Bernard (The two of whom Steel personally thought were just the most adorable things he had seen in a long time, but he wasn't going to say that to their faces.), and they finally learned the meaning of SoS.

"Servants of Sanctuary." Steel mused to himself. Dreamers words had some rather... interesting... implications.

"Yen Sid was 'familiar' with these keyblade wielders?" Then what did it mean that all of them had been called? Were they merely the new SoS? Or... did this have to do with the time travel stuff again? He shook his head as he came to the conclusion that thinking along that line would not lead anywhere right now. More to the point was the title he had unknowingly been bestowed. He had certainly always had the intent to be a 'Servant of Sanctuary', but he doubted that he had really done his best to protect any sanctuaries recently.

One by one, keyblade wielders left for the castle halls. With several of them gone and others trailing behind, it wouldn't be long before everyone was off traipsing through memory lane. He supposed he might as well go next.

Even though he dreaded it. Opening the doors of the castle, Steel walked down the hallway, observing all of the numbered doors that lie along it. Passing numerous into which his allies had already disappeared into, until he came to one marked with a large XXV. It was pretty easy to tell it was his: It had his name emblazoned underneath the number on the plaque in bold blue letters. His real name. Not the name he gave to everyone else.

Sors Alexander Hope

He didn't open it. Finally becoming overwhelmed with all that had happened, Steel turned around and slumped against the frame instead, slowly lowering himself to the ground. He sat there and tried to just think. "Is that really me anymore?" He had already discovered that his memories weren't exactly the most accurate depiction of himself at the moment. He was quite sure now that he had been delusional: living a lie about some life he remembered, but never actually happened. What lie beyond that door? Dreamer said it was a memory of their home world, but... what would appear if what he remembered was not his actual home? What if the person he was... wasn't the person he remembered being.

A tear rolled down his cheek.

Steel gave a start and reached up to feel his face. It was wet: that was an actual tear. When was the last time he had actually cried himself? From his physical body? With, like, his actual eyes and everything? It had seemed like such a long time... but he felt like... whatever lay beyond that door... he would find the place covered in rain. He would come across the world drowned in a never ending torrent from the skies; a torrent brought about by the sorrow of it's ruler, and forever bound to him as well. Thus fated to disappear.

A world choked by his tears.

He didn't want to go, but he knew he had too. He remembered what Dreamer had said.

"Your heart always remembers the connections you've made."

That gave him resolve: It didn't matter what he remembered, or what he saw beyond those doors. In some small corner, his heart knew the truth and always would. That meant that there was the potential for him to know it too. Even if he died without ever finding it, wouldn't it be better to look? He needed to know. He took one less breath to gather his thoughts: to remember his words to Karina, and to prepare all that he was for what lie beyond.

He wasn't going to be like her.

He wasn't going to delude himself anymore.

He wasn't going to run from the truth that was before him.

He opened it. Beyond was darkness. An infinite darkness that seemed to stretch endlessly. Gazing into it, he somehow knew it was a gaping chasm that he would have to leap into.

So he leaped.

--------------------------------------------------------

He plummeted through the depths for what seemed like forever. Falling, fading, faster than he could fathom, yet somehow he was bored. Eventually, He began to feel droplets of water touching his skin, and saw that he was surrounded by them. With each soothing touch of the water, he felt some sort of strange power. A power that seemed to search through him and seek out all that he was.

He saw land beneath him.

Righting himself in the air, Steel braced for impact and landed with knees bent against the cold, hard ground in a quite audible manner. The material beneath his feet had formed cracks, and the sound echoed briefly before dying off. Looking up to observe his surroundings, Steel was slightly surprised at where he had found himself.

 

XXXVIII- The Tale of Kaida
Part 2 of 5
"Paradise"
​

Kaida was not sure how long she would be willing to play along with the scenario. She still didn’t know what day it was, or what this memory was. Was it supposed to be something important that she had long forgotten? As she sat there helping Seiza with repairs, her body and speech sort of happened on its own for a while. Like she was being controlled by an outer force, which was the memories she had been placed in. But her awareness was strange to her. She was working tools to repair and build that she had not used in years. She knew the names of the tools, but at the same time she didn’t. She knew how to operate them, her muscles remembered while her mind forgot. And this resulted in her continuing on until there was a noise in the distance. A large banging noise was heard, and a blue flair shot into the air as a sizzling noise could be heard temporarily. This continued until the sound died down, but the flair remained in the air.

Kaida remembered the color codes of the signal flairs without a problem, it wasn’t something she could forget. The blue flair meant it was wrap-up time for the workers, especially the apprentices, who would return to start at dinner before wrapping up for the night. There were other flairs as well, ones not used quite as often. An orange color shined when a meeting was to be held by those in higher ranking positions, usually around mid-moon. A red color shined when something dangerous was nearby, usually wild creatures beyond their control, or sudden weather that was fierce. The only other color was purple, a color Kaida only ever saw once, to indicate someone had gone missing.

The memory of the purple flair, when remembering the codes engraved in her, made Kaida remember what day this was. And she froze a bit at it. Seiza stood up from his space of work and said, “Well, that does it for the day. I think this is progressing nicely, wouldn’t you think?”
“I’m still not sure what we’re building… I don’t know what it is. Why can’t you tell me yet?” Kaida crossed her arms, she knew the answer, but the memory did not.

“I will tell you when the time is right. I promise I will. But for now, it is safer if you do not know.” Seiza picked up a few more supplies and they began their walk to the peak, to a safe space created for Seiza and Kaida to march down what her mind remembered in two contradicting names: The Forbidden Hill, and the Sacred Laccolith. As they marched down, Seiza began to say, “Today, if they ask, we learned that the wind gusts above are much faster. If we wished to send messages faster, heading up the side, not fully, is the best course of action.”
“Why couldn’t they figure something like that out on their own?”
“Who else is going to willingly walk up the mountain except for us?” They reached a safe ledge with a lift, created by Seiza and a few workers willing to help, so they would be able to get down faster when the signals fired. Kaida and Seiza worked together to bring the lift down using a rope, until they were at the ground and they stepped off and continued their walk until they reached the village.

Kaida reached the front of her cabin, which was Household Q, and she felt something she didn’t expect, dread. She dreaded the idea of standing in front of it. Seiza stood for only a moment before saying, “Same time tomorrow. I will see you later.” He placed a hand on her shoulder before walking away and Kaida responded, “I’ll see you later.” Then she walked into the cabin.

As light filled her vision, blinding her from the adjustment to the night’s lights, she walked forward and closed the door behind her and stepped to the right slightly. She counted to thirty in her head as her vision corrected itself to the light, to look inside her home. There was only one other person in the front room, an older man with his hair tied back into a type of bun. He had a clipboard and stood there saying, “L-3MN. You’re late. You were expected five minutes sooner. Was there a problem with your way back?”

Kaida forgot her code number after all these years, she was surprised at that. She also hadn't thought she could forget something so integral to her days on her home world. She also never considered that maybe her nickname, which she thought was based on her colors and her personality, was a pun based on her code. Maybe it was awareness with age, but it made her feel the slightest bit stupid.
Kaida took a step forward and said, “No sir, things went as they were meant to. We are always five minutes later than the others due to our work location.”
The man made a mark down and looked at the board, “I would like to have a meeting with you, if that would be okay?”

She nodded, she didn’t truly have permission to say no, it was an illusion of choice. She followed him into a room where she sat across from the man and she adjusted her posture to seem more confident than she actually felt and the man spoke, “L-3MN… Lemon. They also have the name Kaida written down. Was that your chosen name?”
Kaida nodded and said, “Yes sir, it’s a combination of my L caretaker’s name Ida, and my teacher Kaoi’s names. If you could use that name, it would mean a lot.” It was a big step for people to accept someone’s chosen name. Sometimes they never did, and they never gave you a name. Kaida held her breath waiting for his response.

He soon began, “L-3MN, it is my understanding that you have always operated better under crafting related jobs. One of your hobbies from when you were younger was whittling with wood, and your speed with jobs could only be matched by the head craftsman, Yori, himself. We understand that you have been working under Seiza’s tutelage for the past six years, but we feel you are not putting your skills to their advantage.” He placed the clipboard onto the table next to him and said, “We understand the bond between a master and apprentice can grow, but Yori has asked that we tell you to reconsider your positioning. It is the best for our Paradise.”
Kaida felt a shiver at those words as she spoke, “I’m sorry but, I truly feel my skills are being put to an advantage with Seiza. I don’t feel crafting is my natural calling. Plus, who else would be a better fit for Seiza?”

The man looked bothered by the comment and spoke out, “Your master’s job does not actually require an apprentice. In fact, his working alone may greater change his effectiveness as well.” Kaida thought about this, and wondered if they somehow knew the project he was creating, and that it was too massive an undertaking for one person to handle. It was in hindsight, but thinking about this memory made Kaida wonder if it was a form of damage control.

Kaida looked up at him and said, “As unnatural as it may sound, I feel I must decline.” There was an uncomfortable silence between the two before the man spoke, “At least consider a trial run, for one week, if you try your hardest and your productivity is not at the peak that it is with Seiza, we will let you stay with him. It is the best thing you could do.”
“The… best thing I could do?” Kaida thought about those words and he repeated, “Wouldn’t you rather work with Yori and become one of the best? You could be the next head craftsman with the right determination.”

“I… don’t want to be compared to someone else. I want to be my best because that’s how I am… not because of obligation…” Kaida felt the words come naturally, and the man suddenly looked angered and Kaida stopped as the man said, “The Paradise does not and can not base itself on singular achievements and wishes. If everyone did what they wanted, nothing would get done. No one would fight the dangers outside, no one would clean, no one would light the flairs. Is that what you want, L-3MN?”

Kaida knew her choice was gone and she closed her eyes and said, “Fine…. I’ll do a weeklong trial…”
“A week of your best work.” The man’s voice echoed, and Kaida opened her eyes and she was not in that room anymore with the man.

---

She was sitting at a table, in a crafting shop that smelled of wood shavings and a burning smell. There was also a distant smell of clay and some sort of refiner. Kaida felt her hands moving, and when she looked down she was working at an extremely efficient rate, finishing off what looked like a type of doorknob. She placed it on the table and rang a bell on her left side and she waited until a man picked it up and inspected it, “Well done, I haven’t seen work like this since my own master taught me how to craft.” Kaida looked up to see a man with his hair long and black, pulled into a ponytail to work better in a workshop scenario. He was closer to an elder age than anyone else she had seen in this flashback, making her wonder just how much time was left for him in the working environment. Kaida nodded and said, “Thank you, sir.”

“It’s been almost a week and your work is quite astounding. We could finish some larger project with you here. I really think you should consider fully signing on as my apprentice.”
“I am sorry, Master Yori. But I truly feel I work most effectively under Master Seiza.” She looked confusedly at him as Yori seemed to roll his eyes at the name, “Right… Seiza. You know...” He placed the doorknob back in front of her and continued, “There is such a thing as, weights, on the community.”

“What do you mean?” Kaida asked as she looked at Yori who walked to the other side of her crafting table and leaned in front of her with his palms on the table, “Weights. People who hold our Paradise down. They are people who refuse to help us achieve greatness, but rather, do things for their own gain. And Seiza works amazingly at writing and research. However, he stopped writing and reading the plans the community wanted, and instead began reading older books and legends, soon he stopped reading these altogether and would disappear on his own adventures. One day, he came back and suddenly he had a weather apprenticeship, with you.”

Kaida watched his hands shift as he stood up straight and said, “You can be amazing at this job and lead us to greater things. You don’t have to be selfish like Seiza has taught you to be. You belong with us, working to your advantage. You are not a weight, you should never be. Do things because you are good at them, not because they feel good, Kaida.”

When Kaida heard, him use her preferred name, she felt like she should have been honored. But she felt insulted. Kaida felt anger build up in her, and taking her out of her catatonic state of efficiency. Kaida stood up from her chair and she ran out of the workshop with Yori shouting her name behind her.

Kaida kept running, as far as she could. She didn’t care where she ended up necessarily. She wanted to get away. She ran into the woods that she was told to stay away from, soon her body kicked into exhaustion before her mind did, and Kaida tried controlling her breathing as she slowed down, and sat down in the woods with her head covered. She tried to calm herself down as best as she could, it was just a memory. But the memory affected her far more than she ever expected. A series of memories that at the beginning of all of this she could not remember, was now hurting her more than when Aux had punched her in the head. She felt the tears come, probably from the memory more so than the reality. Until she felt a comforting presence from someone who was not from these memories and the voice of Max asking her out of concern, “Are you alright?”

 

The story of Andrew ‘AJ’ Jacob Canvasback

Part 2

"The Dream"​

Andrew closed his eyes from the light and then he opened them. He found himself in bed. A dream, but what did it mean? He got out of bed and walked over to the window. He looked out the window and there was not much to say about Euterpe. It was a name of a place. Euterpe was interesting for a lack of a better word. People for the most part were not that friendly. Euterpe was not always like that, well according to the stories that went around. People now were mostly in it for them self. Very few people were in it for others. Now Euterpe and where to start? Andrew began to think of the stories he read and the ones his mother told him. They went something like this...

...Euterpe was peaceful in ancient times and everyone worked together towards the better of the land. Long ago it is said that a person of unknown gender had some sort of magic. They were happy with the way people had worked together. So one day they told the people of the land. 'If you wish for the land to remain as it is all you have to do is rejoice in the way things are. Work together and you shall find the Well of delight. To the first who find untold wealth and a wish awaits you. Stay as one you will not find anything but remorse and anger. Together you will find what you desire. If you do not one of heart and mind will be able to find what was lost but can be found. Clues you will find to point you the way to untold treasures. The desert of want and needs, the sea of deep wonders and the forest of wonder and thought you will get what you all desire.'

That day the person left without a trace and was never seen from again. At first people began to work together to find the unknown Well thing the person had talked about. As the years went on people began to look for the Well them self. As the years went on people began to figure out that there was no sea, desert or forest with names in the prophecy the person had said. The was not even a sea or a desert anywhere to be found. The forest that was near was searched but nothing was found. Years and years went on with no Well being found. With the years going on and on some began to give and lose hope. Most began to work for only there benefit. This continued until the current day where and glimmer of a clue was taken from you and was used to find the Well. Not many clues were found and the ones that were did not lead to anywhere. And that was how the story went.

As for the person that told the prophecy no one ever could figure out if it was a man or a woman. The person was cover from head to toe in a white cloak. The only thing that was to see on the person was the face and even then the details were lost.

He once found an object, which was taken shortly after he found it. He was not even looking for and clue of the Well. Just one day he was walking on the outskirts of the forest and the fields. The object he found was an amulet. The amulet itself appeared to be made of gold and was rather small. The metal on the Amulet was not gold according to those who looked at it. The amulet was light. Some thought that there might be something inside but no one ever found a way to open it. After the whole using the amulet as a clue to help find a Well, the Well of a wish, the Well of treasure and the Well of delight or whatever Well it was not found. Really that was no surprise. The amulet was then given back to him. From that day on he always had the amulet on him. Then one day he dropped it on the ground and it opened up and out rolled a silver look disk. Not telling any about it he kept the disk inside the amulet.

The outside was nice this time of year. The trees were starting to turn color but most of the trees remained green. The colors on the trees were a rainbow of colors. Really it was a nice looking time of year. He looked out the window. There seemed to be a slight wind but nothing too big. The leaves on the tress moved ever so slightly. Thinking back to the days and weeks before nothing was odd just the unusual amount of rain. While rain was not odd this time of year the amount of the rain was. Today was not one of those days. The sun was just coming up. It looked like it might rain later today.

He tried to put a smile on his face but it did not come. He did not know what was so special about today that could not be said about the days and weeks before. The only thing that seemed to change around here was the weather. The people were the same day in day out. They acted the same and it seemed that as friendly as he was the people around did not care or change. Sometimes he wondered why he even try with them at all. He guessed that it was the way he is. He has to help people no matter who they are or what they do to him. In the end it was all about finding that Well for most and for some it was all that they lived for.

He turned away from the window and back to the bed he just got out of and let his thoughts go by. He looked at his room. The room was rather simple. The room its self was simple. The room had a bed up on one wall. There were two bookshelves full of books. He enjoyed reading none of the book had anything to do with the Well. Then there was a desk with a chair that he sometimes sat at. That was about it.

He still could not stop thinking that today would be somehow different then the days and weeks before. He guessed that today would be however it turned out to be. Today he felt like something would happen but he did not know what it would be. He walked over to the bed and made it. His mind was mostly a blank, while he made the bed. He did not even know what he was going to do today. Undoubtedly someone from around here would make fun of him or something along those lines. The only questions was who would it be today and when would it happen. Everyday someone would bully him or make fun of him or they would do something. The only time it did not happen was when he stayed home and even them it was an issue.

 

XXXVII
The Story of Stratos
Act 3 - Chasm
​

Spinning around, a stunned look on his face, the last person that Stratos was expecting to be standing in Rennshalt. "M-Mickey?" Stratos exclaimed, dumbfounded. He looked at the small anthropomorphic mouse that stood there, starkly contrasting the scenery around him. Donned in a long, over sized (relatively speaking,) red cloak that seemed to have sleeves that extended beyond his arms. Contrasting even more to the scenery around him, the mouse had his familiar vibrant blue hat with patterns of stars decorating it. This was, without a doubt, Mickey Mouse standing before him. More specifically it was the Mickey Mouse that he and his friends had met in the Symphony of Sorcery world not all that long ago. Upon hearing his name said, the mouse perked up with, giving a wave to the boy before he pressed on further. "Wh-what are you doing here Mickey?"

The mouse shrugged, saying, "well, I'm not too sure myself." He looked as though he was going deep into thought as he started to recount what had happened. "I think I was just working in Yen Sid's tower, and then suddenly felt something calling to me and then bam. I was here." He seemed to be just as confused as Stratos was in regards to what was going on here, yet, after saying he said, "but it's good to see you again Stratos."

"Yeah, yeah, nice to meet you again too." The boy still baffled by this odd turn of events and wondering just what was going on here. It was then that he realized something even weirder happening, when he noticed that Mickey had known his name. "Wait, how do you know who I am?" The mouse was taken aback by the question, confused for a bit, before Stratos explained further. "Yen Sid, he said that once we left your world you'd forget all about us."

Mickey placed a finger to his chin, tapping it with a pensive look on his face. "Hm, well I don't know what happened. Maybe," he mulled over it some more before seemingly coming to a conclusion. "I got it! We're in a world made by your memories right?" Stratos nodded. "Then maybe I can remember everything you can remember about me." The explanation only furthered to confuse Stratos, causing more questions than answers to appear. The two most prominent being how did he know he was in a memory, and how did he know this was his home world? The more he thought about it, the less he thought it made sense, and only drew him to one last question. Was the Mickey before him the real Mickey, or was it simply some construct made from his memories, created to assist him through whatever issue or trial he had to face here. While trying to figure out the answer, Stratos's train of thought was interrupted as Mickey piped up again. "Well, it seems like you were in trouble, so it's a good thing I came. So, why are you looking so glum?"

Stratos stood there, his confused yet relieved expression turning more somber. Averting his eyes from the mouse he said, "well, my world is a bit of a sore spot for me. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't like the place," he shook his head. "No, despite how this place might look compared to where you come from, it's still home to me. I still had friends here and still had good memories for me, it's just..." He paused for a bit, thinking how to phrase it before saying, "it's just I didn't leave on the best of terms from here."

"Well then maybe that's why you're here." Mickey's idea caused the boy to face him again before he continued, "maybe we just gotta go through your memories so you can be sent off with a smile this time." Stratos looked at the mouse, a brief look of confusion crossing his face at the sheer simplicity of the suggestion, and couldn't help but shake his head.

As he finished a slight grin formed on his face before saying, "maybe you're right. But, it's not exaclty -" before he could finish his thought, he was cut off by a loud, sharp voice.

"Straaaaaaattooooooosssss!" Turning around to look for the source of the voice, he saw a figure running towards him. It was a female, one Stratos was quite familiar with, and her voice was one of urgency. The girl rushed to him, seemingly not noticing the mouse near him at all, eyes filled with worry and panic as she looked up at him. "It's bad, it's really bad. You gotta help him, you gotta-" the girl seemed at a loss for words as she continued to stammer at him.

"Ph-Pheera?" The boy stammered out her name. The young girl before him was a long time friend to him, the younger sister to one of his best friends, Meso. Being roughly three years younger then Stratos, he had a good deal of height over her, and this allowed him to look and see clearly the severity of the situation of the situation in her eyes. She had looked as though she rushed here before doing anything else, and the more he took in, the more he realized what was about to happen. A sharp pain hit through his head, as a slideshow of memories ran through his head, knowing exactly what scene was playing out in his head. And while he knew where this was going, he still couldn't help but ask, "what's wrong Pheera?"

She seemed to gather her thoughts a bit better as she attempted to explain, "it's Meso. My brother- he, Tro, and Ther went to, they went to the Chasm. They told me not tell any of the adults but but- they've been gone for awhile and I don't really know what to do and-" She seemed at a loss for any other way to explain what was going on before just pleading, "please Stratos, you gotta go help them. I-I can't really do anything but you've got that thing of yours, right? Please." Pheera had seemed nearly hysterical as she tried to explain to him the situation.

The scene had played out in his head as it had last time. He, Meso, Tro, Ther, Exos, and Pheera had always hung out together. Of all the friend groups in the village of Himmel, they were probably the tightest nit. Meso was the reckless leader of the group who always figured out new and fun things for the group to do in their little hole box of a home. He had gotten them into trouble a bunch of times, but he was reliable, dependable, and had been like the entire group's older brother instead of just Pheera's. Yet the day before this one, Exos had gone missing, presumably taken by one of the monsters. Stratos had stayed locked away in his house the day this was found out, wondering what he could have done differently to save him. Yet while no answers came to him, one did to Meso. He had rallied the crew together into an expedition force to find Exos, and decided on going to the Chasm. He had not asked for Stratos's help originally when he began his journey, and Pheera had been opposed to the idea entirely. Yet there was no stopping Meso, and the other two followed swiftly behind him. When the young girl began to worry more and more, as time went on, she had come to Stratos for help, wanting him to go and find and possibly save the trio from any harm that would have found them. In the past, Stratos was frightened to go near the place, frightened to leave. He didn't want to go out of the village and rush into the horde of monsters, and he definitely thought that this would have been a task far better suited for Lith.

In the past he had hesitated. He had tried to talk her into looking for an adults help. He had tried to avoid the issue entirely before giving into her plea. This time, however, he put a hand on her shoulder, bending down to be at eye level. His voice was steady and calm, his face confident and eyes assured as he stated, "don't worry. I'll be sure to bring them back. Just you wait." The girl, who was on the verge of tears had seemed surprised by the boy's sudden resolute nature. Standing back up he further reassureed, saying, "like I said, be back soon." And with that, the boy had started his dash.

"Hey, wait!" Exclaimed the mouse, who had been standing there all that time just kind of watching the conversation unfold. Rushing after the boy, both of them making their way towards the place known as the Chasm.

The run was a long one, stretching on for around seven miles and passing by various plumes of smoke from the ground, causing their journey there to be impeded by creatures of light and dark alike. As they had gotten closer and closer, the grass started to receded and the once dirt terrain had slowly become akin more to a purple rocky kind. Beyond that, the ground slowly started to slope downwards until it became a complete vertical drop. The ground had appeared to be split in two, the drop stretching on for as far as the eye could see, and the drop itself going who knew how far down. With a foreboding and dark aura seeping from the large crevice, the appearance itself was enough to send chills down one's spine. This was the Chasm.

In the past, Stratos had stood before the scar in the world, terrified to go in. It was an area he had never been in for good reason, and one he didn't ever want to go through. In the past, he stood there for a good five or so minutes, debating on whether or not he had made a mistake in coming here, before forcing himself down there. This time, however, without looking over to the mouse near him he said, "let's go." While Mickey seemed to have just caught up, being a bit out of breath, he reached out his hand as Stratos slid down the side of wall. It was not a long slide, the part of the wall ending in an indent in the wall that could be used as a walkway to traverse the area.

Mickey, jumping in after him, caught up with the boy again and said, "wait. Why would your friends want to be in a scary place like this?"

Stratos had started walking down the path, no pause in his stride whatsoever as he continued down the dark ravine. "They were looking for Exos." The mouse seemed confused by the statement before Stratos decided to keep explaining. "Exos was one of the friends that I had here. And, from when we are now, he disappeared yesterday. So, I guess wanting to find him, Meso decided to lead the old troupe down here to find him." Stratos still wasn't sure why he never was asked to come along, even if he obviously would've thought it was a bad idea anyway and disagreed. That had never stopped Meso from including anyone in his schemes before.

"So are we here to save your Exos friend?" The mouse inquired.

Stratos shook his head. "No, Exos is probably already gone for good. We never found him this day and, knowing what I do now it makes sense. We didn't really understand how heartless and the like worked. So, when they attacked, and someone vanished, we needed an explanation for it. So, we had come up with the myth that they just took them and brought them down to the Chasm, never to be seen again." Stratos pointed in the opposite direction they had come from before saying, "there's another Chasm, not that much further from Himmel then this one over that way. It's got all those weird light creatures coming out of it so, the story fit for either kind." After Stratos explained the story he then said, "though, now I know he probably just got his heart stolen or was eaten by the darkness or something." After completely explaining the whole thing, Stratos then stopped his descent down the Chasm before, as shadow heartless began to seep out of the ground. Instinctually, the boy flicked his wrist, hand opened in order to call his keyblade to his side. However, nothing appeared. Sighing, he instead balled up his hands into fists, getting ready to find some way to plow through them.

 

XIX: Reflection​

Raisor walked outside and saw Ray mess around with a giant gun-looking object about the size of a cannon's barrel, like what he used in the Wasteland. Interestingly, if he hadn't traveled around to different worlds, he wouldn't even know what a gun was, or what technology was for that matter, but when he looked at this piece of machinery, he knew it was something much more advanced than anything he'd seen before. In fact, from what little he saw in Central Haven, he'd have to say even that was pretty low-tech compared to this thing. Ray did say that before the world reset, the world was working with science and magic together, so he guessed they managed to make some pretty advanced things. But he also remembered Ray saying everything disappeared 5000 years ago and technology hasn't been around for that long, so how was it that this thing was here now?

Lance, Marie, Korin, and Mulan walked from the front of the house down a path on the cliffside to a little sand island that was at the bottom of the cliffs next to Korin's house. Raisor and Marie fought against Korin there in a test of strength, so he knew where they were going. What he didn't know was "why".

"Hey, Ray, what is that thing, and what do you plan on doing?" Raisor questioned.
"Oh this? Just something I made to help those who were stuck with that little curse to get their bodies back. Although it doesn't exactly remove the curse so much as give the person a helping hand. Basically," he hoisted the thing up over his head and turned toward Raisor, "the idea of this is that, say you only had a 20% chance of removing the curse. Well, this would help push that percentage up somewhat, to maybe forty or fifty percent. It might not sound like much, but to those who need it, it's a blessing, let me tell you."
"Okay, so why is everyone going going down to the beach?"
"Simple. This thing creates a giant field to hold in the magic that's used to remove the curse, as well as contain the spell after it's released. That thing is on so tight, it's like letting lose a spring after pushing both ends all the way together. The magic that's released explodes outward in a giant shock wave. And let me tell you, that shock wave can cause quite the damage, so it's important to keep it in. Plus, being at a lower level than the town might keep them from being pulled in too."
"Pulled in, what does that mean?"
"How about you stop the questions and we get started already? Then you'll get your answers." Ray grinned as he walked down the cliff.

Raisor wasn't entirely sure about what Ray was talking about, but he was going to follow anyways. He had been stuck in this body for four years, and he was ready to get out of it if he could. It held nothing but bad memories for him. Following Ray, he walked down the cliff as well and followed the sand trail across the cliff and into a nice big sandy area that was at the end of the cliff. It wasn't massively big, maybe about the size of two houses or so, maybe larger, but it did give some freedom. Compared to up on the cliff where you had the house and the cliff itself to watch for, this gave a lot of liberty to move about and do what you needed. Korin even had a dock put in with some supplies stashed as well. Raisor wondered what Korin would need the dock for, but he figured maybe she just liked to fish or something on her off time.

The four ahead of Ray and Raisor gathered up on the dock, as far from the center of the island as they could get. Raisor watched as Ray put the gun-thing on the ground in front of the group and walked over to the side, between it and Raisor.
"Okay, so what's going to happen is Korin is going to use her magic to power up the machine and fire it. It consumes a lot of magical energy, so she and I are the only ones who could even think to use it. Normally I'd power it up while the person on the receiving end went through this on their own, but with her help, I'll be able to join you as well."
"I think I should join you." Mulan walked up from the group and spoke with slight demand in her tone.
"I'm not sure you should miss, I don't want you getting hurt from what's about to happen." Ray motioned his hand, trying to keep Mulan from coming closer.
"I came to this place in order to help Raisor. It's the reason I came to this place." She starred at Ray, firm in her decision.

Ray thought for a moment then turned in head to Raisor. Raisor knew if Ray said it wasn't safe, Mulan probably shouldn't join, but he also knew Mulan wasn't from this world, so if she was here, it was for a good reason. He nodded his head to answer Ray, and Ray allowed Mulan to come closer. She walked to the group and stood to the side of them, making the three form a triangle in their positions.

"You guys ready for this?" Korin asked, preparing to fire up the machine.
"Whenever you're ready. Just remember to keep it running, we don't want it running out of juice in the middle of this." Ray answered back.
"You think I don't know that? I'd rather not have this thing explode and take half of this peninsula with it." She sat down comfortably next to the machine and placed her hand on it. Her hand started to glow a little green and then the machine began to glow and make whirling sounds.
"So Ray, if you said there hasn't been technology in this world, how did you make that thing anyways?" Raisor asked curiously.
"What, you think I was going to go against Alek without some kind of help? I did tell you I was working on away to stop his immortality didn't I? I'd need help with technology from the old world since magic alone isn't enough, so I worked from scratch and made it. I've got a couple hideouts around this world that have some bits of the world before in them, but we'll worry about that another time." He scratched his head and laughed a little. "Guess Korin was right about there being some things from the old world you just couldn't live without."
"Or maybe you're just spoiled rotten with your toys." Raisor joked back.
"Maybe, I won't deny that." Ray replied.
"Seems like you two get along pretty well, all things considering." Mulan smiled at the both, waiting for them to finish.
Ray and Raisor responded with the same thing, "What, me get along with this guy? Are you kidding?"
"Okay boys, it's charged! Hold on to your pants, it's going to get rough!" Korin yelled over the sound of the machine.

At the tip of the machine a light started to form and then the next second a laser fired at Raisor and things started to get crazy.

The moment the light his Raisor energy formed around him and began to expand itself. It wasn't like a simple energy like the light shot from the beam, but more like magical energy being blown out of proportions. The best way he could think of it was like a balloon wrapped around him and then suddenly filling with air. Except this air was violent and strong. Raisor felt the world shaking and tumbling, and he couldn't tell if that was just him, or the magic doing it to him. He watched as the energy expanded ever more, eventually enveloping Ray and Mulan as well. He watched as they both started to shake as well and figured it must have been the magical energy that was doing it. The energy expanded every more, forming dome around them, with the enter on Raisor. It expanded until it encompassed the whole island, short of the dock the others were standing on. Then the energy surrounding them began to churn, like a million strands of magic had gotten loose. In the light he noticed red spots, which, when touched, seemed to bring extreme moments of heat. Along with that, blue bits flowed around, which were cold, like touching ice. The strands grew ever more, eventually filling the whole area with either red or blue. The moment they touched however, it seemed like black nothingness followed. Dark energy erupted from where the two collided and flowed forth in all directions, like a flood. When the darkness touched Raisor and the other two, he felt nothing but weakness. His vision began to blur and his knees began to buckle. Eventually he fell to the ground and couldn't move. Soon enough the darkness covered the whole area and Raisor couldn't make out anything but black. He coudn't even see the two in front of him, even though he knew they were only a feet away. Raisor eventually felt his eyelids feel heavy, and felt them close, unable to keep the sleep at bay.

---

"Hey, kid, wake up."
"Is he okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine, just the shock of the energy."
"But you and I woke up sooner."
"Yeah, but you and I aren't covered in the spell that's being hit by the machine. He got the worst of it."

Raisor listened as the two voices continued to speak while he had his eyes closed. He wanted to open them but they were so heavy that all he wanted to do was keep them closed.

"Kid, if you don't wake up soon, I'm going to have to resort to drastic measures."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, let's see, there's a giant pond right there. You take a guess."
"You wouldn't."
"Want a bet?"

With those words, Raisor felt his body lifted off the ground, and two seconds later thrown through the air, and then splash. Raisor opened his eyes quickly and tried to breath, but since he was under water, all he got was a load of liquid. He quickly swam upward and broke the top of the water, gasping for air. Grabbing the edge of the pond that he was thrown in, he pulled himself out and stared at the ground, only thinking about breathing.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." Ray commented to him.
"Are you kidding!? That thing is way deeper than it looks! Calling it a pond shouldn't even be allowed!" Mulan yelled at Ray, annoyed by his laid back attitude.

Raisor on the other hand just got up and wondered what he was going to do about his clothes. Then he noticed something different about his body. It wasn't the same body that he had for the past four years. He was slender, and noticed that his hair was much longer, all the way down his back. He noticed his chest was also larger, and wasn't that of a males. He quickly turned around and saw his reflection, or rather, her reflection. Raisor had turned back into his previous body, albeit slightly older just as if he had aged in it for four years.

"Well, what do you say to having a sample of your real body back?" Ray asked, waiting for an answer.
"What's going on, Ray?" Those were the only words she could say at the moment.
"Oh nothing, just that when that light hit you and that energy expanded, it was the spell being released upon you, while at the same being another field being put on top of it to keep it from blowing off. Right now the magic that was cast on you is pulled away, but it's not gone. If you can't sever the chains connecting it to you, you'll go back to being me." He looked down slightly and his face turned a little red, then quickly turned around. "Sorry about the rude awakening, but while Korin can keep the machine running for a good while, she can't keep it going indefinitely, so I had to get you up sooner or later."
"You could have just splashed a little water on her face instead." Mulan still had the sound of annoyance in her face.
"Yeah, but what fun would that be? Anyways, you want to tell us where we were exactly, just to make sure everything's all good?"

Raisor looked around for a moment and realized they were surrounded by green grass and trees, with a giant lake to their side. Raisor wasn't sure how Ray could call it a "pond" but he was going to ignore that at the moment. Across from the trees a little there were building stretching for what seemed miles in all directions. There were people walking by every direction, all of them different ages. She looked to her left and noticed a giant hill with a mansion on it. Then she realized where they were.

"But...this is..."
"Ah, so it is Crystilvale huh? Good, that probably means it's from your past right?"
"Yes, but...how did you know?"
"Well, this machine creates a dome with magic that brings up the memories that tie you closest to the spell cast, and allows you to figure out how to show "yourself" from the spell. Usually the first place is always the one where they cast the thing."
"Okay, that's great and all," Mulan interjected Ray's speech, "but can we get her some clothes first? She's soaking wet."
"Ah, quite right. We should get going." Ray took a couple steps then stopped and raised a finger and slightly turned his head. "By the way, do you still want to keep using the name 'Raisor'?"

Raisor didn't even need to think about that. She took that name to hide her identity, but now that she had her body back, even for a while, she didn't need to do that.
"No, you can call me by my real name now."
"Alrighty then Ignis, let's get to work finding you some clothes and breaking this curse, shall we?" He trodded off to the market street.

Mulan watched and turned to Ignis, wondering what to do next. All Ignis could do was take a breath and feel the wind. She knew it wasn't real, but for the first time in four long years, she was finally home.

 

Blood of the Covenant​

Beuce walked with the others for a good while, talking with them as though no time had passed. He'd forgotten the feeling of being so beside himself with joy. He looked once more at each of his friends as they walked toward the iron fortress grafted into the side of the mountain, from there, they could pass through the mountains and head on the road to the capital city of Astaroth. The four of them had been inseparable comrades, and were a force to be reckoned with in battle. "Beuce, you're a lucky *******, you know that? This is a huge chance for you. If you win the fight with Sorenia, you single-handedly secure victory for us. " Zaktus said in the gruff voice which was typical of him. He was shortsighted and a bit zealous toward their cause, but none of them were more loyal to their race than he was.

Despite his large stature and weathered features, Zaktus was, in fact, a learned mage. Nearly the only thing which might betray his skills was the tome he carried at his belt and lack of alternative weapons. Beuce thought back to when they'd been teenagers, and saved Mari's carriage from a group of attacking bandits. Well, saved is the story they used, at least. The real turn of events was a tad different from the exaggeration they enjoyed in their minds. Beuce was falling behind Zaktus as he flung spells, only able to use a blade. Even in his weapon of choice, his skill was nothing to write home about. The two of them had seen the attack happening, and jumped into help. The bandits turned their attention to the duo and off the carriage, making the last mistake of their lives.

From the carriage, the death of the highway thieves stepped down and cleaved four of them in half with a single sweep of a massive axe. The boys, in the height of their youth, had stood awestruck as a beautiful woman, now covered in blood, stepped out. Her hair was straight until a few blonde curls fell onto her noteworthy chest. An expression on her face as though an unpleasant odor had just assault her nose. The remaining bandits encircled her in an attempt to win over her by sheer numbers, but Beuce and Zaktus stepped in to bar their path. To say the three of them fought together wouldn't be entirely true. Beuce hardly got the chance to get more than a few strikes in, as the other two had obliterated the opposition with little effort. Beuce was entranced at the overwhelming strength of Marianna, and the raw magical talent possessed by Zaktus.

To reward them for their bravery, Marianna invited them in her carriage to accompany her to the capital. They'd only just enlisted into the Umbrian army, and, as it turned out, Marianna was something of a high ranking officer. She wasn't much older than the two of them, but had excelled at martial combat beyond any expectations. To thank them, she offered to train them so as to expedite their climb through the rankings. The training was grueling, but in time, achieved the purpose. Beuce's skill with a blade now rivaled nearly anyone he met.

"Zak, you're truly a mystery. Magic is a practice that requires intense concentration and discipline. How you can be so talented and so dense at the same time is baffling." She commented in response to Zaktus' comment. "It can't possibly be as easy as 'Oh I'll just walk up and stick her with a sword. Maybe throw in a fireball or two. Job done. War over.' " She said, mimicking Beuce's voice with frightening accuracy, which incited a laugh from their other female companion.

To be honest, once he'd thought it might have actually been that easy. He could never understand how horribly ill prepared he would be for the confrontation that came upon him faster than he knew. The quartet continued conversation as they headed home, to where Beuce would have to face his destiny eventually. The trip was long, and took what seemed like days, though Beuce suspected that outside this room in the castle, mere moments had passed. Finally, in the distance, they saw the pinnacle of their achievements. Astaroth. The capital city of Umbrel. Most of their land was barely inhabitable. Alone, they were nothing, but together, anything could be achieved. This city was the most prominent symbol of that. Of the way of their people. It didn't matter what was thrown at them. Nature, Dominus, Fate? None of it would be able to break them. When they stood together against the oppressive light, the shadow they cast would stretch across the entire world. United, they would become one capable of standing against the odds. That was the way of Umbrel.

And so, under the shadow of a great rock formation that branched out into a half dome over the city from the wall behind it, stood the symbol of them. A massive city of silver and obsidian. Seeing the city once again brought back a flood of memories. There, he'd lived most of his life past childhood. There, he'd been deemed the king. The hope of their race. There, he'd failed and lost everything he sought to protect. The very concept of the king went against the ideal of their race. They were all about fighting together, and yet he'd been deemed the sole person who mattered? Beuce had always been skeptical about the idea, but welcomed a chance to defeat Dominus at the time.

His mind was brought back to when he'd met Alana. She was the last person to join their group, but she was welcomed by them as though she'd always been there. Alana was a healer, living in the city making ends meet by curing cuts and bruises and sending away sniffles. She was naturally gifted at the craft, but no one, not even her, realized it at the time. A dominesian assassin had snuck into the city once. How was beyond any of them to identify. It was the singular time such an event happened. Some people theorize that there was a hidden path underneath the city in the sewers. Some people say they managed to bribe their way in. There are a select group that even think they scaled the mountain overlooking the city, and managed to climb along the roof above and managed to drop down past the gates and guards, though that's a tad farfetched. Regardless of how, the reason why they were there became apparent to all. One of their leaders who they were tasked with guarding was attacked in the streets. A knife was shoved into his gut and pulled to slice open his belly. Beuce and his group made short work of the assassin afterwards, but the damage was done. As the man lay bleeding in the streets, no one had the knowledge or skill to step forward and help him.

Except for her. She worked the light of magic carefully around his wounds, stitching them closed and replacing lost blood. Just barely, Alana had managed to save his life, earning her recognition all around. She was brought and put to work as a healer for the army, until she was assigned to Beuce's unit. Beuce went out of his way to make the girl feel welcome, and in time, she did. She blended in with the group as though she'd been a part of it forever. It brought pain to his heart to remember the times he spent with his friends. His mind jumped forward in time. To something that hadn't happened yet in the memory he was living. His mood grew dark, but he hid it as they passed through the enormous arches of the gates.

They stepped onto the smooth black marble streets. All around were buildings made of the same dark stone, with silver metal decorating the rims and creating a shine. It was here, more than anywhere else, that their people gathered together. The gates let out immediately into the open market district of the city. Shops of all varieties lined the streets. Scents of food filled the air. The sweet smell of freshly baked pastries drifted from a shop right to their left as they walked in. People entered and left buildings near constantly, and the many conversations going on at once all blurred together into one massive noise of a crowd. Several young couples spent their day in the enjoyment of their partner's company. Seeing this place once again brought a smile to Beuce's face, and reminded him of why he picked up a sword in the first place. What was most important to him? His people.

 

Standing in front of the doors that he had to pass to enter his own variant of the castle of illusions, Glen had been eager at first but now hadn't moved an inch. He was standing with both of his hands on the doors, hands shaking but other than that barely moving at all. He needed to go in, he knew that, but a large part of him was terrified of what he would find on the other side. Dreamer had said that the castle would hit them where they're most vulnerable, and Glen had no doubt whatsoever where he was most vulnerable. Throughout the time he had spent away from his homeworld, one key issue had always kept him upset, one issue he had always tried to run from and tried to forget, hell he'd tried to outright change, and now here he was about to confront it head on.

He was about to see his father die, he was sure of it.

With an incredibly deep breath or two, he stepped back from the door and looked back to the others as if he required some reassurance. The few that remained and hadn't gone through were not people he had formed particularly close bonds with, but the ones that had gone through already had faced their daemons, was he really going to stay behind and leave the work to them? With a half hearted laugh, he shook his head and turned around, facing his door once more. "Alright, Aatarsilu, let's see what you've got for me" he said, placing his hands on the door and giving a hefty shove, slamming the doors open and walking inside.

XXIX - The tale of Glen Senka
"Reunion"
Part 1 of 4​

The first thing Glen noticed was the light. After being in literal darkness for so long, he hadn't been ready for it and found himself squinting at the scorching summer sun overhead. Once his eyes had adjusted somewhat, he scanned the environment. Yep, things were exactly as he remembered them. He hadn't expected them to feel quite so real though. He knew it was an illusion, but he had to remind himself for fear of getting lost in what lay before him. The grass felt so soft to walk on, and damn if it didn't make the area look so alive. In fact, the only thing that could be seen around the area he was in was the huge, stony cliff that was behind him. Wait, behind him? "Well of course the door vanishes when I entered, why wouldn't it vanish and leave me stuck here?" he asked, venting his frustration a little as he did so.

Stepping forward now, he put both hands on the cliff before him and began to climb. From what he could remember, there was a path around the side of the cliff that led to the top, but he hadn't climbed anything in years and he needed to get the urge out of his system. It wasn't amazingly high, but it was something. For the next few minutes, he worked hard and made it to the top quite quickly, quicker than he had when he'd actually been there anyway. It was a little rough, but he'd done it. Letting out a huge sigh of relief, he stretched his arms and yawned a little, still standing near the edge.

"Gleeeeeeeen!" came a cry from below. Glen's heart skipped a beat as he heard the voice. He'd know that voice anywhere, how could he forget his best friend, especially when she'd come to mean even more than that eventually? However, the shock had made him quite literally jump back a little, and he found himself wobbling on the edge of the cliff. Waving his arms frantically trying to maintain his balance, he soon found out how ineffective that was and he fell backwards, crashing into the ground with a thud.

Letting out a groan, he allowed himself to simply lay there, staring up at the clear, blue sky for a moment. Well, at least now he knew he could still feel pain, even if he was in an illusion. Stupid castle of illusion, why couldn't it make it more distinct that it was a fake? Sitting up, he rubbed his back with his hands and stood up. No sooner had he stood up though than he found himself on the ground, crash tackled there by Kara Dawlinstrus. Getting up quickly, he dusted himself off and looked at the person who had sent him back to the ground. Kara had long free-flowing blonde hair, pale skin and the deepest blue eyes Glen had ever known, but what really got to him was the smile that was on her face. The smile showed genuine happiness, and was easily the most beautiful thing he had seen in a long time. "Uh...hey Kara, long time no see" he said, not quite sure what to say.

"Sure, if by long you mean two days. Did you hit your head hard when you fell off of the cliff?" she asked, at first being a little sarcastic only for her voice to switch immediately to concern. Typical Kara. Still though...two days. It had been two days for her, and two years for him. He couldn't even tell her that, there was no way to explain everything that had happened. She'd believe him, he had no doubt about that. Hell, he could probably run naked with a sign around him that was proclaiming the world was going to end and she'd strip down and run with him, believing him just because he was the one who said it. Stripping down wasn't the kind of thing she would normally do, but seriously the amount of support she had shown him over the years was unbelievable. He sighed as he looked at that face, the look of worry that was evident. He hadn't seen anyone look at him like that since he'd left, it really made his heart hurt a little knowing it was all a lie. This was going to be a long, long trip down memory lane.

 

XIX: Reflection​

Even though Ray had said this world wasn't real and only formed from her memories, Ignis still couldn't get past how much this place was like her home from four years ago. Everything she had taken for granted was in front of her again, and in a sense, it was almost torture for her. She knew it wasn't real, and while she could enjoy the sound of the people and the look of the city, the moment they finished up what they were doing, it was all going to go away again. She knew that the first thing on her agenda after she finished with SOS and came back to her world to finish her fight, she was going to restore Crystilvale to its former glory, if not make it even better.

The trio gathered around a cafe in the market place and ordered some food and drinks. From what Ignis could make out, it seemed to be about lunch time, so they had some time to kill.
"Now that I think about it, what exactly are we waiting for, Ray?" Ignis asked.
"You tell me." Ray took a sip of his drink and turned his head this way and that, "This is your world, and the day of the event, isn't it? What is it that you think would be the thing that shows who you are?"
"Sorry, but I don't understand," Mulan raised her hand like a student in class. "What exactly do you mean 'shows who you are'?"
"Guess you could use some context, huh?" Ray put his drink down and took on a serious look. "Ignis here put a spell on herself, though I personally consider it a curse, to gain power during an event that happened in her past. She was trying to save some people, but it didn't work the way she was expecting, and she ended up being pretty much helpless. The point is, the spell cast a 'skin' of sorts around her, giving her my powers and skills, as well as the body I had back 5000 years ago."
"Wait, you're saying you're 5000-years old? I find that a little hard to believe."
"That's usually what everyone says. Me and a couple of other people were exposed to an event long ago that made us immortal and ageless. A spell was made that copied the strongest person in history, me, and allowed the user to take on that strength. It was basically used as a military application, but that problem was that the spell wasn't able to be removed as it was first designed. Soon enough there were a bunch of Ray's wondering the world that weren't me. It was even worse when people started discovering the spell after the world reset, but we'll talk about that another time."
At this point Mulan looked like she was lost in a mountain range.
"Basically it's like this," Ignis interrupted Ray so she could give the short version. "Ray has told me that this 'spell', as it were, was designed to change every part of the caster into him. But the spell has a habit of clinging on to people. So a backdoor was created that could let someone try and remove the spell."
"Bingo. And the way to do that was to prove who you were to the spell, so that it would understand that you weren't me," Ray continued. "The only way for our friend Ignis here to get her original body back and keep the power she attained from casting the spell, is to prove to it her sense of self, who she really is, and to knock that shell of me off of her."
"Okay, so what's so hard about that?" Mulan questioned.
"Well, do you think you could automatically tell me what it is that makes you?" Ray leaned his head to Mulan, waiting for an answer.
"....No, I guess not," Mulan replied.
"Exactly. And this spell is aggressive. We need that machine I made just to give us a better chance to loosen it. Trying to take it off is like trying to separate two pieces of paper that have been super-glued together. We want to get if off without damaging her in any way."
"Ah, I think I got the gist of it." Mulan still had a puzzled look on her face.
"At least all you did was wear a suit of armor and tied up your hair to look like a man. I was stuck living as one for four years. I never thought I'd get my real body back until I met this guy." Ignis took a sip from her own cup in front of her. "I on the other hand have to prove to myself and this spell who I am, and not some copy of this moron here."
"Hey, I take offense to that." Ray covered his chest, pretending to be struck in pain.
"Yeah well, everyone knows you are one."
"Sure -- a moron who created a machine with technology that died out 5000 years ago and is the only one who could help you get rid of the curse and free your family. Let me know when you stop need thing moron's help." Ray chuckled as he laughed at his own joke.

Ignis understood for the most part what she needed to do, but what she didn't understand was the "how". She understood they were in Crystilvale because she was here when it was attacked, but she didn't know what day it was. Then it hit her, the only thing that connected her to this spell and this city was the night of the attack. The reason she even cast the cursed thing was to help everyone. She quickly got up and looked around the area. She hadn't even realized it, but this was around the time that that ******* Nosh had left the house, and they were sitting right next to the main road where he would have left. She wondered if maybe she could spot him and stop him now before he lead the attack at night.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ray asked, taking another drink nonchalantly.
"What do you think? I'm going to see if I can't stop that ******* Nosh before he destroys the city." Ignis kept looking frantically, getting impatient.

At that moment, she spotted the old man walking through the crowd of people. His wrinkled face and dark hair stood out like a tree in the middle of a grassy field, at least to Ignis, who'd been hunting the same guy down for four years. She readied to jump at him when She felt a tug at her clothes and looked down. Ray had grabbed her shirt.

"Let go of me," She demanded.
"You remember where we are, don't you?" He kept his grip on the clothes, keeping Ignis from going anywhere. "This is a world of your memories. It's not the past, just a realistic vision of it."
"Then explain to me how we were able to eat and drink this food?"
"Simple. We interact with what we need to, and can't with what needs to be left alone. Besides, even if this were the past, you attacking him now wouldn't change anything."
"Are you serious!?" By this point Ignis was ready to cut Ray down as well to get what she wanted. "That man destroyed this city!? Murdered thousands of people! Took my brother, sister, and father hostage! And you want me to let that all go!!?"

Ray let go of Ignis's clothes and she was just about ready to pounce on the man when Ray jumped out of his chair, causing the table to fall over, and grabbed Ignis by the front of her shirt and pulled her face to his.

"And what do you think would have happened if you attacked the minister of an entire country!? You think the kingdom would just let that slide!? Don't forget you were taken in by the Marista household, not born into it! You'd have gotten thrown in jail just from attempting it, or better yet, executed the day after! You need to remember why you're here! What do you cherish most!? What are you most afraid to lose!? What is it you want out of life, Ignis!?"

Ignis did nothing but stare into Ray's angry face. She was stunned by the words that Ray had just said. It wasn't just because it was something she wasn't expecting, but it was also what Dreamer had told them. They were to face a trail here, and she forgot for a moment that she wasn't just in a memory of her past, but in a memory of her world. She'd forgotten that she was here as a trial.

Ignis watched as her long-time target simply walked past and she felt the energy out of her. She knew she had forgotten her mission, and felt so stupid over it. She slumped down on the ground and tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Ignis..." Mulan tried to speak, but Ray stopped her.
"Leave her, she needs to go through this herself. We're not here as guides, but to stand by her side as she goes through this."
Ray walked past Ignis and into the crowd. "Remember those questions I just asked you. They'll give you a hint on what you need to regain yourself. Now if you excuse me, I'll be back in a little while. We still need to do something about those clothes of yours."

Ray walked away through the crowd of people, but Ignis didn't see. She saw nothing but tears fall to the ground as she continued to cry over her stupidity. Mulan seemed to take a minute then spoke to Ignis.
"He says we're not here as guides, but there's nothing wrong with offering advice. Just remember, I broke the rules and took my fathers place in the army to save him. Now think about what it was that caused you to do what you did that night." She left Ignis to go with Ray through the crowd, as Ignis stayed on the ground crying.

---

A couple hours later the sun had shifted to the other side of the sky and it was beginning to look like a nice color of red, orange, and yellow. Ignis was still at the table the group sat at when they arrived, thinking about the questions that Ray asked, and in turn, Dreamer asked. She also thought about the words Mulan told her. Why exactly had she done what she did four years ago? What was her reason for running off and casting a spell she knew might put her in danger, or not have any effect whatsoever? She tried to think about it, and she knew the feelings behind it, but she couldn't put words to it. And if she couldn't put words to it, she knew she couldn't convince anyone, including herself. If she didn't understand it fully, ther was no way she was going to get through this trial. She was never going to get her body back, she was never going to help her friends from SOS, she was never going to get the keyblade again, and she was never going to go on another journey. At least, not if she failed this trial. But she wasn't going to give up. Ignis had fought hard to make it this far, and she wasn't going to quite now. If she was going to fail, she was going to fail trying.

At that moment, Ray and Mulan came back through the crowd of people. Ray had a shopping bag in hand and Mulan was walking with her arms crossed, like she was angry, or upset, or a little of both.
"What, did you guys have a fight while I wasn't around?" Ignis asked.
"Something like that. Mulan here wanted to pick out clothes for you, but I didn't quite agree with them. Here," he hoisted the back in his hand toward Ignis. "Try these on, they should fit you fine, and work in combat too."

Ignis grabbed the bag and looked inside. She looked back up at Ray and gave him a "are you kidding me?" look. He simply grinned and gave a thumbs up, like it wasn't a big deal. Well, since she was still wearing the clothes she'd gotten wet this morning, or afternoon, or whatever time it actually was when they got here, she figured it was time to change into something a little more appropriate. Though maybe "appropriate" wasn't quite a word for this outfit. It certainly didn't fit Ignis's style, but it was better than wearing soggy clothing. She walked inside and ask for some place to change, then took a room in the back. After some fiddling around with the outfit, she managed to get it on and walked outside.

Ray nodded as he looked at Ignis's face. "Looks like you're ready to go."
"What, you think I was going to sit here doing nothing and ignore this little test?"
"I hoped not. Otherwise there'd have been no point in me saving you that night and bringing you along with me."
"I'm pretty sure I'm the one who brought you along with me."
"Keep telling yourself that kid."
Mulan interjected yet again, probably starting to feel like she was being forgotten. "Alright, if we're all good, what are we doing next?"
"That's simple." Ignis turned toward the mansion at the top of the hill overlooking the city. "We go pay my family a visit."

Spoiler: Ignis outfit

 

XXXVII
The Story of Stratos
Act 4 - Meso​

The heartless had made their way up to the boy who, without a keyblade, was hard pressed to defend himself. The only thing he could immediately think to do was throw a punch at the creature. While there was a solid impact on the hit, surprisingly, and the shadow heartless tumbled backward, it did not dissipate from the strike. Stratos knew he had never been strong, and he knew that keyblade really helped in dealing with these heartless, but he had never realized just how much of a difference it made. As he stood there, unsure of what to do, the memories reeled through his head of what had happened last time he was here. In the past he had come down, slowly trekking across the path that he was on now looking every which way, paranoid of the heartless and where they might have been. When they had finally shown themselves he had faltered in the face of them, only going into attack once they had. And when he had finally gone to attack, it was more flailing about with his keyblade and hoping that he struck them more than anything. This time, however, he didn't even have that kind of leisure at his disposal. He couldn't charge at them since they would overpower him, but he couldn't afford to waste any time against them. Silently cursing to himself, Stratos simply got ready for them to leap at him again, in order to slug at them again.

"Watch out!" He heard the cry of the mouse as a shadow jumped at him. Before it could get anywhere close enough, though, it burst into a puff of darkness as a fireball had impacted and exploded against the heartless. Looking to its source, Stratos saw the gloved hand of Mickey, embers across it as another orb of flame started to coalesce in his hand. "Don't worry Stratos, I got your back," the mouse reassured.

"Thanks," the boy said, nodding his head. Looking at the attack again, Stratos realized that that might have been what he needed to do as well. Even if he couldn't use his keyblade right now, he could probably still use magic. He hadn't tried it since his heart was reset so who knew. Placing his palm out, nothing came out first. And so, the boy tried to focus more and more on the feeling he had when he first learned to do so. He knew the power behind it was a lot weaker than it had used to be, and his font of mana was far lower than it was as well. Without a keyblade to channel it through as well, the difficulty of casting had risen, but it wasn't as though he hadn't done it before. And so, with just a bit more focus, he had found it. With the feeling of magic flowing through his hand, sparks started to race across it before he flicked his wrist, discharging the energy into the air around him. After it had done so, lightning started to rain from the sky, striking heartless after heartless and causing them to burst. While he couldn't get them all in one fell swoop, a similar, yet much stronger, storm of lightning rained from the sky, taking out the remaining shadows. Giving a thumbs up to the mouse, he returned one in kind and the duo began to start hurrying down the rest of the Chasm.

As the duo continued to move forward, not letting any heartless bar their path, eventually the sounds of struggle could clearly be heard. The sounds of exertion, grunting, and injury were all echoing through the air, and Stratos had already knew what they were. However, they sounded different then he remembered. "Come on, we're almost there!" The boy shouted back. As he kept running forward, he eventually found the source of the noise. As he saw the sight of his friends, the memories replayed through his head once again. Only Tro had been left standing, unable to defend himself against the menace that was the heartless. He never really was one much for fighting and by the time Stratos had arrived, he had been in a complete panic with injuries all around his body, practically begging with the dark creatures to not kill him. Near him on the ground was the wounded and barely conscious body of Ther, having been unable to deal with the unending horde of heartless herself. And then next to her had been Meso, beaten, bruised and bloodied on the ground, completely unconscious. When Stratos had come to deal with them, he was barely able to hold his own, and even then was swarmed by the heartless, on the cusp of defeat. Had Lith not arrived back then, it was likely that all four of them would have died that day. However, this time had been different. This time, it would end different.

Standing, with injuries covering his body, Meso was fighting off what appeared to be a wave of shadows and darkballs that stretched much further down the Chasm than anyone could see. He seemed to be exhausted, wound clearly across his body, and looking as though the sword in his hand was starting to shake from fatigue. Near him was Ther, in better shape, though similarly tired. Finally was Tro, who seemed to be pleading with the others to get leaving from the area. Still pressing forward though, Stratos could here the frustrated, yet undaunted voice of Meso yelling at the heartless, "is that all you got!?"

Not having the energy to charge at them, Meso stood back, awaiting for them to come to him. However, before they could approach any further, lightning rained from the sky once more, decimating the heartless in the front row. The three, thoroughly surprised by this, turned their heads around to see the, slightly out of breath, Stratos standing there. The boy, looking past them and instead at the heartless, shouted, "you leave them all alone!" With that, he charged downward, Mickey hurriedly following after him.

As he passed by, Tro's face lit up a bit, with Ther being slightly taken aback by his sudden declaration. Meso, however, looked at him with one of both disbelief and, what looked slightly like disdain. "Stratos?" He seemed to mumble, as the boy ran straight past him and into the horde of heartless, unflinching, fists balled and ready to go. With one shadow jumping at him, he punched it straight back away from him, knocking it to the ground. He didn't have limitless mana, so fighting what appeared to be a small army away with nothing but two spells and his fists seemed daunting, to say the least. Yet, he was determined to make sure things ended differently this time. He was going to make sure that everyone made it out of here this time, and so, he his hand erupted with magic, sending a ball of flame straight into a dark ball encroaching upon them. Meso, looking as his friend had simply dealt with these things that he had been fighting, had his expression tighten and become more perturbed before yelling, "what the hell are you doing here?"

Stratos turned back, his tone shifting to as if he were stating the obvious, saying, "I'm here to get you out. What else?" As he was turned, the heartless had started gaining on him, only to be blasted back by a series of fireballs. Turning to see Mickey, a large orb of flame floating above him with a constant stream of fireballs shooting from it. Looking back to Meso he said, "so take the others and go."

"What?" Meso's voice and expression seemed almost completely dumbfounded. His grip around his sword tightening, along with his free hand balling into a fist, he yelled, "just who the hell do you think you are?!"

"What?" Stratos's expression had turned into one that seemed more baffled than anything else.

Tro then shouted out, "I think we should really get goi-"

"Shut up!" As Meso's angered and loud voice cut through, Tro quieted down, with Ther looking at him and shaking her head, as if to just tell him to let it play it out. Meso, turning his attention back to Stratos shouted, "what, do you think you can just walk in here and be the big hero? Do you think your can just wave that sword thing of yours around and save the day?"

"What-"

"No! I came here to save Exos. I came here to bring someone back from here. And do you think you're just going to come in here and tell me what to do? Do you think you're going to be the big hero instead, is that what you're looking to do? Just go back home! Let me-, I have to do this!" Meso was practically raving at this point, walking closer and closer to Stratos.

"Meso, what are you talking about? Why would-"

"I said shut up and leave!" And with his clenched fist, he punched Stratos in the face.

After his head had been jerked back from the sudden force, he just stood there, stunned for a moment. In the past, Stratos had always crumpled and folded against Meso. Even when he thought it was a bad idea, he followed his word to the ends of the world. He was never particularly violent with the other members of the crew, outside of playful fighting. When he was angry, no one spoke up, everyone would just follow along and let him vent on them. Standing there limp, unable to answer, unable to respond, unable to speak out. But this was no longer the past. Clenching his own fist, Stratos's stunned expression started to become one of anger as he yelled, "are you kidding me!?" With that, he punched Meso in the face, causing the other boy to stumble back a bit. "What the hell do you even think your saying right now? You can't keep going or you'll die!"

Despite being stunned by the sudden outburst of the green haired boy, Meso had regained his anger as he dropped his sword. Running, fists bared, he continued punch at Stratos, shouting, "I told you I have to! I have to do something big, something that people will think was amazing, something that we thought was impossible!"

Returning a punch of his own to the Meso's gut, Stratos looked back up saying, "is that what this is about? Was this whole thing, was everything that happened just part of some great ego you had!?"

"What do you know?! All my life, I've been nothing but Lith's son. He's always been the best of us, best at fighting, farming, hell there's not a person who doesn't like him. It only makes sense that everyone would look up to him. But I didn't want to look up to him. I didn't want people to think of me as some sort of accessory to him. I wanted to be strong, stronger than him, strong enough to change this whole goddamn mess of a world. Everything I did was always to prove myself; any adventure we had, every plan I made, even leading that group in general. And it was working too. But then, then you. You had to get that ****ing sword. You had to be so special that everyone couldn't help but notice you. And me. Well, I went from Lith's son to Stratos's friend. No one cared about someone who wasn't-"

"Shut up!" With that, Stratos grabbed the boy by the collar, headbutting him. "Do you think throwing yourself at the world will make it know you better? Do you think any of us ever thought of you as less than Meso?"

"It doesn't matter. A shadow can't do anything, no matter how much anyone thinks otherwise." As he said this, Meso's eyes seemed to have sort of resignation in them, as if he had accepted some kind of cruel fate before him.

Stratos, however only had a fury grow in his. Tossing Meso to the ground, he then rushed after him, getting on top of continuing to beat into him. "How do you think I felt? Every day, every moment of my life no matter where I've been in someone else's shadow. When I got this stupid keyblade thing I didn't even want it. I was happy being in your shadow, I didn't care that no one was paying attention to me. But when I got it how does someone who's never been special suddenly pretend that they are? I couldn't. And so I tried my best, all the time to stay in everyone's shadow. But people wanted me to stand out, and you're right, a shadow can't do anything. That's why I could never succeed in saving others. That's why it always falls out of my grasp. That's why I failed all those times. Because if all I think of myself is a shadow, then that's all I'll ever be. And you're no different!" At this point, he had stopped striking at Meso's face. "But what does it matter if you're "Stratos's friend" or if I'm "Meso's friend"? That just mean a part of us lives in the other. And you think that'll make you weak? It'll make you worthless?" With one final punch to the face, Stratos shouted, "now get over yourself!"

"Guys!" Tro had shouted, trying to draw their attention to the horde of heartless that, even with Mickey's aid weren't relenting in trying to get the kids.

Sighing, Meso then looked up, with a defeated yet accepting expression across his face. He looked as though he were trying to process everything he was just shouted at with, but rather than saying anything on that he said, "damn. When did you learn to hit like that?" The two of their expressions turning from scowls to grins, Stratos stood back up, extending his hand to Meso, helping the boy back to his feet. Looking at the situation around him, and feeling both exhausted and an incredible amount of pain, Meso said, "alright gang, let's get back. We're done here." Ther and Tro seemed to be relieved at this, only for the panic to set in again as he realized that they still weren't safe. Limping over, having Ther support him up, Meso then looked to Stratos saying, "well then 'Meso's Friend,' shall we?"

A smirk crossing his face, Stratos picked up Meso's blade, saying, "yeah. Let's." With that, the group of five began to make their ascent out of the Chasm.

 

XIX: Reflection​

Ignis, Ray, and Mulan walked through the streets of Crystilvale as the sun began to set. The closer it got to nighttime, the more Ignis got the urge to just scream into the air and tell everyone to get out. Her experience from that night traumatized her so much she doubted she'd ever be able to fully get it out of her head, but she knew that even if she couldn't do that, she'd have to face what happened and work past it. That didn't stop her from wanting to at least try and change it. She knew that there was no way to avert the disaster that was going to happen, and she hated that. She watched as kids were playing in front of houses, families walking through the streets, and just random people in general going about their daily lives. It was too much to bear, knowing what was going to happen and try to ignore it. Ignis was pretty sure Ray had read her mind, because he spoke up after a couple minutes of walking.

"Remember, it's just a memory. Nothing you do here will change the present. We're just here to break the spell on you," he said calmly.
"I know." She looked forward and kept walking. "That doesn't stop me from wanting to change it though."
"I never said it should. That fact that you even want to change it means you care about everyone here, even though you always seem so cold to everyone around you."

Ignis kept walking and thought about what he had said. After she cast the spell and got her new body, she did seem to be a little distant toward everybody. Thinking on it, even Marie, who she had lived with for four years, and was Ignis's closest friend, wasn't entirely aware of how Ignis felt most of the time. Then she thought about that time in the wasteland and how she felt her body get lighter all of a sudden, like a weight had been taken off her. She remembered wondering how nice it was to have friends helping her, and her helping them. It seemed like she had finally managed to open to someone, even if she wasn't verbal about it. There was a part of her that hated that she had to learn that away from her friends though, since they were the ones who started helping her with her problems even before she started this whole thing with SOS. When she got back to her world—her real world that is, not this memory one—she would have to apologize and thank her friends first thing.

By the time they arrive to the cliff with the stairs leading up to the mansion, the sun had basically set. The sky was losing the final bits of its color, and the clouds were beginning to roll in. She noticed the lighting flashing in the sky, and remembered the storm that night as well. She figured they maybe had about two or three hours before the attack started. She wasn't sure she wanted to stay around that long.

"Come on, let's get moving, I think I have a clue on where we need to be." Ignis began climbing the steps with furious determination.

Ray and Mulan followed quietly, not even speaking with each other. Ignis figured by this point they were just observers and not going to do much, but Ray did say they weren't here to guide her so much as stand by her. But she also remembered Mulan giving her some advice, and Ignis figured that when Ray said "guide", he didn't mean to show her the way, but they would be there to give a hint.

Eventually the group came to the top of the stairs and there stood the Marista Manor. The building was ginormous, being two stories that spread though most of the plateau. The front door lay before them, and then to their left and rights, about 30 yards each, the building stretches back out toward the cliffs. She thought of the library on the right side of the building, and how her father was always there. Then she thought about the left side, where there wasn't much of anything but storage, and a cellar. She thought about the cellar and stopped in her tracks for a second. Ray and Mulan stopped right behind her.

"You okay?" Mulan questioned.
"Hold on. She needs to find the courage to do this." Ray stayed back watching.

Ignis thought about the event that happened and how everything was ablaze. There were monsters all over, and dead bodies laying on the ground. She thought about how she was in her room quietly, oblivious to everything happening. How she opened her door to find Hell spread out before her. She remembered being afraid. But she wasn't just afraid for her life. She was afraid about everyone in the city. She had taken her life for granted, and when everything came crashing down, she realized what it was that was important to her. Now she was back to this same building, facing that night again. Except this time it wasn't a dream, and it was her only chance to move past it completely. She had to prove to herself that she believed in what she was doing, and wasn't merely copying the words her family and friends used to say.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed one foot forward. Then another step, and then another. She found herself walking to the door, breathing heavily. Her heart was running at a million miles an hour. She was trying her hardest, but she wasn't sure that she had the strength to keep going.

"Ignis!" Ray yelled behind her.
Ignis turned around and looked at him.
"Cheer up! Don't forget, you're not going through this alone. You've got help in the both of us," he took his arm and wrapped it around Mulan's shoulder, "and don't forget about everyone outside waiting for you."
Mulan didn't seem happy about Ray's arm placement, as she grabbed his arm with her hand and elbowed his jaw with the other arm. Ray fell to the ground, with his annoying grin on his face.
"It's fine that you want to be helpful, but how about you think before just playing your hands on a lady?" Mulan glared down at his, arms folded.

Ignis tried to hold it in, but eventually laughter poured out. She had completely forgotten. She wasn't in this alone. She had her friends, memories of them or not, and they were all waiting for her to come back. She couldn't freak herself out now before getting started. It just took a blow to Ray for her to realize it.

"Thanks Mulan, I needed that." She gave a thumbs-up to Mulan than turned around.
"You're welcome!" Ray yelled as he was on the ground.
Ignis was never going to admit it, to the memory of him or the real him, but she did enjoy having him around, and in the short time he's been with her, he's acted like a second father figure. She was going to make sure that at some point she paid him back in full.

With strength renewed, she put her hand on the door in front of her, which was a giant wooden gate more than a door, and pushed. The door creaked slowly and nothing but darkness lay inside. She figured this was a part of the magic around them, because even at night the Manor wasn't this dark. She took a step through the door and continued walking. As soon as she passed by the doorway, however, the doors slammed shut behind her. Ignis spun her head around, surprised by the event.

"Okay, so that's not normal." Ignis felt like she needed to talk to herself out loud at this point, to keep herself from going crazy.
"And just what about this place is normal?"
Ignis quickly stopped moving and listened. She knew that voice, but wasn't sure how it was happening.
"Oh please, you know this place is made of magic. You shouldn't be surprised by anything at this point."
At that moment, a flame lit in front of her. However, it wasn't a normal fire. This flame was some kind of black flame. It didn't seem sinister so much as...empty.
"Who are you? Are you my trial?" Ignis questioned the flame.
At that point more flames appeared around Ignis. It wasn't just one or two though. There were thousands of flames that light themselves up around her, filling the dark scene with nothing but dark light. Soon the lights began to fly around and dance, creating streaks of black, blue, and purple flames across the air. They whirled all over, then immediately stopped. Ignis wasn't sure she appreciated the light show, and wished whatever was happening would happen already. As if by reading her thoughts, the flames all sprung into action, flying in the same direction. Every single one of the flames flew to the spot right in front of Ignis where the first flame appeared and the flame grew larger and larger with each new flame. Eventually there was a giant inferno blazing in front of her. Ignis wasn't sure how, but instead of heat from the flame, there was nothing but cold. The cold blew like a blizzard across the darkness, making Ignis grow colder and colder. As the cold blew, a figure stepped out of the flames. Ignis wasn't sure if she should have said "I knew it.", or "How in the world?".

The figure that was standing before her was her former self, or present, or whatever you call a body your currently have but don't have at the moment. The figure was wearing the same exact clothes she was wearing before entering this world. How it was possible, she'd never know. The figure didn't seem evil either, though. Instead it seemed just as empty as the flame. It was like a souless figure that somehow had come out of nothing.

"Do you really not have a clue as to who I am?" The figure spoke, in a cold, empty voice.
"I can take a wild guess." Ignis tried to keep her confidence about her. "You're me, aren't you?"
"Yes and no. I am the you that formed after casting the spell. I am alone, empty, soulless, uncaring. And yet, at the same time, all I am is a visual form of the spell that you cast the create the power you desired."
"Can't you just give a straight answer?"
"When does magic ever come with anything that's 'straight'?"

Ignis had to give the creepy magic figure a point for that one. Ray had once said that magic sometimes seemed to act like it had a mind of its own. Didn't change that fact that she was tired of all this beating around the bush.

"So I don't suppose I could just ask you to go away and you'd do so?" Ignis asked.
"Now why would I do that?" The figure spread out its arms and images appeared around Ignis, like watching through holes in space. "You've been through so many battles, haven't you? Some of which haven't even taken place in this world."
Images began to appear from Ignis's past, showing battles she had since joining SOS. She saw fights she had in Baker Street, The Great Forest, Central Haven, and other worlds. She also saw the fight they had in Disneytown, when they all fell to Aux.
"It seems to me like you need my power still. So why would I want to abandon you and leave you to die?"
"I never said you had to take your power. I just want my body back." Ignis started to get irritated by the thing.
"Ah, but it doesn't work like that my dear. You see, to have this power, you must have the body of the one who first donned it. Without that, you wouldn't be able to take the shock to your system."
"The hell I need that body!" By this point Ignis was past irritated. "I've had that body for four years; cover who I was for four years! You think I want you around hiding who I am!?"
"But my dear, I am simply showing you who you are." The figure brought a hand to its chest, "I am the you who desired power. You simply wanted to be alone with the strength to do what was necessary. You never even cared about those around you. All you wanted was strength."
Ignis watched an image of her fighting year ago, ignoring her comrades and taking down monsters on her own. Then she saw images of her fighting in SOS, caring only about the fights that were in front of her.
She thought about what it was saying. It was true, growing up all she wanted was strength. She wanted strength that surpassed everyone else. But it wasn't just strength that was her reasoning.
"You've got it wrong. I didn't just want strength. I wanted to protect those who took care of me." She took a step toward the figure, fighting her fear of it. "I grew up in a crappy orphanage, barely living through each day. Some days I starved, while other days I had to eat nothing but bread crumbs. When my father came to grab me, my brother, and my sister, I promised myself from that point on all I'd do is get the strength to take care of them."
"Yes, but your desire was still strength nonetheless, was it not? You still need me to help you in your fights. How else do you plan to face these upcoming challenges on your own? When you fought Aux, and lost I might add, you wouldn't even interact with your comrades. Kaida wanted nothing to do but get reassurance, but what did you do? You kept walking in silence, thinking about nothing but how to get the strength to beat Aux the next time you meet him."
ignis thought about what this thing was saying. It was true. When she lost to Aux she thought she had taken it with pride, but she wasn't able to let it go. She didn't talk with the others while walking through the Realm of Darkness because the only thing she could think about was how to get the strength to win.
Then she remembered what Ray said before she came in here.
"I may need strength to beat him, or whatever enemy may come my way, but I've learned something in this short span of time."
"Oh, and what may that be?"
"I don't need to be strong enough myself to beat my enemies. I have allies—no, I have friends, to help me through whatever comes my way."
"And what of the keyblade, my dear? You won't be able to do much in your travels through worlds without it. How will you have the strength to face your enemies?"
"So what if I don't have the keyblade? I'll find some other way to fight. And if I can't keep fighting with SOS just because I don't have a keyblade, I'll find some other way to fight. If I have to fight a different battle, then so be it. I joined this adventure, and it'll be a cold day in Hell when I decide to leave everyone be."

The dark figure stood for a moment. Ignis hadn't realized it before, but now that she had stopped talking with the figure, she noticed the air didn't seem as cold. And the flame in front of her seemed to have died down somewhat. Maybe that was a good sign? Whatever it was, hopefully it meant something good for her.

"Let me ask you this, Ignis Marista. What's most important to you?"
"That's simple. My friends and my family, and everyone else. The people I have met, and the people I have yet to meet."
"Very well, then what do you want out of life?"
"I want nothing more than a peaceful world for everyone. Whether that's just talking about my world, or every world out there. Everyone deserves to have peace in their life."
"Next, what are you afraid of?"
"I'm afraid of losing what I have, and losing what I could have. I'm afraid of failing myself, and failing my friends."
"Final question. Who are you?"
"I am Ignis Marista. I am a mercenary from the Marista Mercenary Household. I am daughter to Gradent Marista, sister to Furin and Kazan, ally to the SOS group. I am a keyblader." Ignis stood firm and let her answer loose for the whole world to hear. "And I am the one who will claim my body and save my family and friends!"

Spoiler

With the last words spoken, a light shone from behind Ignis and illuminated the whole area. The darkness around her dissipated and the black flame in front of her withered away, eventually dissolving. Soon enough there was nothing but light shining in from all angles and the shade in front of her. She knew now what it was. It was her insecurities, her fears, and her past that she had to overcome to move forward to the future. At the same time, Ignis felt a burning sensation in her hand and looked down. She saw orbs of light gather together in her hand and eventually a shape appeared. Ignis knew what it was the moment she saw it. It was a keyblade. Her keyblade. She wasn't sure if it was real or not, but the weight of it certainly felt real enough for her right now.

"Very well Ignis Marista, I shall accept your conviction to break this spell. However, there is one more thing you must do to finish your trial."
"And what would that be?" Ignis was ready by this point to take whatever the thing had in store for her.
The figure clenched its hand, and in it, a keyblade formed, a shade's copy of what was in her hand.
"Fight me, and prove you are worthy of my power."
Ignis took her stance and grinned. "Why didn't you say so? Fighting's my specialty."

 

XXXVII
The Story of Stratos
Act 5 - Noir​

Standing on the outskirts of Himmel, Stratos looked to the village with a somber look in his eyes. He and his friends had fought their way out of The Chasm, making it back to the surface and catch their breath. Stratos and Meso hadn't talked to each any more after that had happened, both seemingly content with having gotten everything they did off their chest. Both accepting the other, and needing no other words to express their thoughts, they had made their way back to Himmel. Once there, though, Stratos did not follow them in. Instead, he had left them behind, wandering back and away from the village, not willing to meet with everyone for one last time. And so, with nothing left to do in his village, he simply said, "goodbye," and continued his walk forward, into the distance.

A joyous smile on his face, Mickey said, "you did it Stratos. What'd I tell you, all you needed to do was make sure you could be sent off with a smile."

A grin appeared on the boy's face as he said, "you did, you did. But," his expression became more stern. "I'm not done with here yet." The mouse looked confused at his answer before Stratos said, "there is one more person I have to see."

"Whatdaya mean? We already met all of your friends right? And you helped save them all. Wasn't that the thing in the past holding you back?"

"Sort of. I will admit, that whole thing with Meso was not something I was expecting to face. Hell, I didn't even know it existed. But, that's not what I came here to do, what I came here to face."

"What was it?"

"There's a man here. One that has a lot of myths surrounding him, being the main cause for the state of the world we live in here. Being the person who invited darkness to our world and making it become what it is today. We, Meso and my other friends, used to call him the 'robot overlord' because he was said to have a lot of gears and machine parts in him, you know like you'd find in those stories about robots and stuff." Giving a bit of pause to let the idea sink in, Stratos then continued. "Well, the events of here changed greatly from what they were back then. Following our return from the Chasm, Meso and Ther were bed ridden for a few days. Seeing the state of his child and deciding this way of life couldn't go on any longer, Lith sought to change the world. And so, the only way he knew how to do this was bring down the man who started this all. Despite his existence being treated as myth, it was practically common knowledge where to find him. It wasn't too far from Himmel either, and so, with a feeling that he had nothing to lose and could only gain from this, Lith set out. He did not return."

Stratos's expression became more solemn as he continued with his tale. "He was gone for roughly a few days, and once Meso had learned of this, he seemed completely broken up about it. He wanted to go out and find the man himself, but with the injuries he had, could barely move. So, he basically begged me to go in his stead. Practically forcing me to promise him to bring his dad back. I didn't want to go. It sounded terrifying, especially if it was something Lith couldn't handle. But what could I do? So of course, I left to go find him. I traveled to where I figured he'd be. And there I saw him. The man who was said to bring ruin to our world, with the corpse of Lith not too far away from him, wound still fresh from the battle they had. I was scared. I didn't want to fight him. But, I knew that I was expected to and had to. So I fought him." With slight pause settling over again, Stratos then continued. "Naturally, I lost. It wasn't even really a fight. Anyway, after I lost, I didn't feel like I could go back home, and I didn't want to face everyone after failing one last time. So I ran. Left my world without a word."

"So ya think you have to beat him now?"

"Something like that." Without much more on the subject, Stratos continued to walk forward, bound on a set destination. The world around him felt much stranger all of a sudden. The journey there, by foot, took a day or two. However, sights and landmarks he knew of were appearing a lot faster then they should have. As if the world itself was pushing him along, cutting out all of the unnecessary time with the travel. And after only and hour or so, Stratos paused a bit, taking in the sight before saying, "we're here." The scene around him was one that looked like it had just been through some kind of incredible war. Weapons of all kinds lined the ground, some shattered, some stuck into the earth sticking hilts up. Some looked to be coated in a thick layer of rust, some seemed to have fresh stains across them and some were merely scattered to the wind. All around them, bones were shattered, separate from bodies, decaying and rotting into the ground. Parts of structures, large cogs and ancient looking gears towered above all else, a testament to a ruined civilization. The ground itself seemed to be one that had been scarred as well. No grass for as far as the eye could see, merely dirt and dust all around. Plumes of white and black smoke, like those around Himmel, were clearly visible. Yet they seemed to all be bending away from the area, no matter which direction the wind was blowing and no matter where they were, they seemed to be trying to distance themselves from the center of this wasteland. Walking forward, Stratos and Mickey made their way through the ghastly scene. While Mickey seemed to be unsettled by the whole surroundings, yet Stratos seemed to be laser focused on a single goal. As they made their way through the field, a single figure could be seen, sitting in solitary next to a large gear rooted into the ground. His voice still even in level and volume, Stratos merely said one word. "Noir."

Upon hearing the name, the man stood up, looking straight at the boy. The man was not particularly tall, having only what seemed to be a few inches on Stratos. And yet, his figure seemed to be as tall as the ruined buildings that lied behind him. His clothes were loose, swaying gently in the slight breeze of the wasteland. At his side was a long, curved blade, sheathed in its scabbard and attached to his side. He himself did not seem at all bothered by his surroundings, as if they were all simply the norm to him. His eyes opened, looking straight at the duo. Blue as the sea, his eyes seemed to be equally vast within, as were someone to look into them they would see no reflection in it. Instead, they would see gears, cogs, pendulums, all sorts of machinery working in tandem like a clock in motion, stretching infinitely within him. As if eternity itself could be seen within him. He stretched his arms out to the side, as if making a welcoming gesture to the boy and the mouse. Though he seemed warm in his expression, there was an incredible pressure coming from him, one that caused Stratos to instinctively take a step backward, as an animal would in the face of its predator. His voice was soft, yet even still that was imposing as he responded, "Stratos. It's been awhile."

Raising an eyebrow, Stratos asked, "awhile? I don't think we've met yet."

Cocking his head, in mock confusion, Noir said, "oh, haven't we? Well, it matters not, really." Waving his hand, as if to dismiss the thought, he asked, "so for what purpose to you wish to see me, former keyblade wielder?"

Stratos was confused by the knowledge the man seemed to possess, but tried his best to ignore it as he said, "I'm here for answers."

"Oh, and what questions might you have?"

Stratos paused, motionless. He knew he had all kinds of questions regarding why the man did what he did. Why he would break their world. Why he would kill all those people. Why he let him live. He knew all of these questions, but they weren't the ones he wanted to ask now. He stood there, unsure of what to say. Clutching Meso's sword, Stratos looked back up and asked, "I want to know if I've grown."

Sighing, the smile never leaving his face, Noir looked back up and said, "I would imagine the answer is obvious. Then again, here you are, after all of your journeying, right back at the starting line." Stratos did not have a retort to that. "Let me ask you a question. What do you think power is?" While Stratos was about to mull it over, Noir did not give him time to answer. "It is the right one has to change the world as they see fit. If you have more power than someone else, then it stands to reason that your vision of what is right will only end up more valid then someone else's. So tell me, do you think you possess power now?" Thinking on what had happened, Stratos nodded. "Yet, you are missing the most key element still. That which gives almost any one who wields it undeniable power. You are still missing the keyblade, are you not?" Stratos averted his look away from the man. "So, let me ask you another question. Do you know why it chose you in the first place? Why of everyone in the world, nay, all worlds, you were deemed special enough to obtain a keyblade?"

Stratos thought about it for a moment. Trying to figure it out. He remembered when he first got it. How he was surprised. How he was hopeful. And how he was terrified. How he wished to be rid of it. How he wished to go back to simply residing in someone else's shadow. His grip around the hilt of the blade tightened as he shook his head. "I don't know why it chose me. I don't think I'll ever know why it did. But, I don't care now." He looked back up to Noir, confidence in his eyes as he said, "I don't know why it chose me then, but with the power I have, I'll force it to choose me this time!"

Despite his proud declaration, Noir seemed rather unfazed. Instead, shaking his head he said, "well, you're almost there. You've got the right idea, but are just missing the crux of what you need." Thinking more on it, he then said, "and if I leave you to your devices you will likely never find it. Instead, you may just end up losing it all again." Stratos went a bit more on guard as Noir seemed to be thinking out loud to himself. "So instead, I'll just have to force you to your answer." Drawing his blade out, Noir flicked it, keeping it to his side before pointing it at Stratos. "So, until then, show me this power you have."

Pointing the blade back at Noir in response, Stratos looked to Mickey. Nodding at the sorcerer's apprentice, he nodded back, before looking back to Noir. "Yeah, I'll be sure to show you've everything I got. This time, I won't just crumple and back down. With the power of my friends, with everything I've learned, this time, I will beat you!"

A grin stretching further across his face, Noir said, "then come."

 

XIX: Reflection Finale​

Spoiler

Ignis assaulted the shade with attacks of every kind. Strikes, slashes, thrusts. If it had a name, she used it to attack the thing. The shade on the other hand kept dodging and blocking her blows with little effort. Ignis was beginning to get annoyed at how she couldn't even land a blow. She needed to beat this thing to finish the trial, and she wasn't going to let herself get over it if she said that whole speech and got her nerve up only to fail at the last stretch. While she was deep in thought, the shade through some attacks of its own. Ignis block the best she could, but the hits began to feel heavier and heavier. Somehow this thing was pushing her back.

"You poor thing. You thought you could beat me? I'm sorry to say, but you'll never have the power to beat me."

The shade kept attacking with speed even Ignis couldn't follow. She tried her best to block, but blows kept getting in, and eventually a single blow got in, right in the middle of her chest. She bent forward, losing all of her air at once. After the blow, the shade backed away and waiting for Ignis to correct herself. In the meantime, Ignis was kneeling on the ground, bent over in pain. The world may not have been real, but the pain certainly felt real. She struggled for air and tried to climb back up. It proved difficult however, as her legs seemed to be shaky and felt like they could give way any second.

"You know, if I ever get a hit on you, you're going to be in so much pain—"
"Ah, but see, that's the thing. You'll never be able to hit me. I know all of your moves after all."
Ignis stopped moving for a moment then look up at the shade.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I am you. I did say that, didn't I? I know every move you're going to make, and I have the skills to surpass you. You're fighting a losing battle. You can never hope to defeat someone who knows everything about you."
"Is that so?" Ignis struggled to keep her balance as she readied herself for another attack. "Guess I'll just have to learn everything about you then, huh?"
The shade shook its head and sighed. "You just don't get it. I know everything about you because I am you. So how is it you don't know everything about me?"
Ignis tried to understand the question, but the shade didn't give her much time to think. It moved so fast that it completely disappeared from view, and Ignis started looking around for it. She tried to find out where the next attack was going to come from, but she had no idea.
"Boo." Out of nowhere, the shade appeared right in front of her.
Ignis tried to attack, but it simply swept her arm away like a fly and kicked her, sending her flying. She tried to get up, but when she did, she started to think she was hallucinating. Instead of the shade, all she saw was an image of Aux walking toward her.
"You claim you can be strong with your friends, but where are they right now? You're all alone, with no help." It came forward and punched Ignis again, and grabbed her hair and started delivering blow after blow. "You can't do anything by yourself! You're living a fantasy! Wake up you silly girl!"
The Aux-shade thing finished punching her and threw her to the ground, then pointed its keyblade at her. "You said a lot of things a minute ago, but they were just empty words. You can't stand by them no matter how much you try."
Ignis lay on the ground in pain. She tried to think of how to beat this thing, but she wasn't sure she could. Then the thought came to her.
"Wait a minute. You just said 'empty words'."
"What about it?"
"Before, you said you were me. But you took the form on Raisor. The me that was lonely. The scared child who fought to hide his pain." She laughed a little as she looked up at to her foe. "So tell me, why are you lonely?"
The shade stopped moving and silently stared at Ignis. It seemed like it was trying to process what was going on exactly.
"You're a lonely, empty shell who takes the form of someone who fights to try and fill the emptiness in his life. But that's not me anymore. I've learned to take pride in the bonds I've formed. So what is it that still makes you take that form?"
"Why don't you tell me?"
"It's simple. You also said that you were the personification of the spell I cast. You're the bit of me that doesn't want to let go."
"Hmph, so what of it!?" The shade kicked Ignis in the stomach, beginning its attack all over again. "If being lonely gives me strength, that's all there is to it! I shall keep you lonely as well and we will be the strongest there is!"
Ignis kept taking the hits, but for some reason they didn't seem to hit as hard as before. Now she knew exactly why those blows were getting heavier each time. As the next kick come on, she grabbed the shade's foot. As she did, the illusion of Aux disappeared and she simply stared at the shade as it was.
"Don't you see though? You won't be alone. I think Ray had it wrong. It wasn't that the spell acts like it has a mind of its own. When they copied him, I think they copied a piece of him that had personality too. I think the spell they created was given a personality all its own. And you've gone through so much these past 5000 years."
"Let go of me!" The shade tried to gets it's leg free of Ignis, but failed to do so.
"You just wanted someone to be your friend and see you as you were. You wanted someone to come along and not see you as a "thing", but as a person."
"No...I...I just...."
Ignis felt her body feel better, like her wound were starting to heal. She knew what it was she had to do now.
"I think I understand why you don't want to give me my body back now. You want to stay so people will see you. To know that you actually exist. You don't want Ray to make you disappear forever." By this point the shade had stopped struggling altogether. "Look, I don't want to completely forget about you. After all, I spent that last four years of my life with you. Plus, I still need your strength. But I won't feel like I'm doing my job and saving my world if I'm doing it in the body of someone else. All I'm asking is that you let me have my body back."
The shade stared at Ignis, almost seeming like it was going to cry. "Are you sure you won't forget about me? It's because of me that you lost your family that night. That you went through so much misery."
"Are you kidding?" Ignis giggled a little. "How can I forget about you? Sure, you weakened me, and stuff went pretty south. But after that, I ended up meeting Marie, and later Ray, Korin, Lance, and everyone in SOS. If it weren't for you, I never would have made the friends that I did. But I have to finish things my way, and that includes being myself, body and all."

The shade flickered a little and all of a sudden the flame around it disappeared. What seemed like an illusion of flames was actually Ray, or rather, the younger body of Ray who developed its own personality. It stepped back a little and looked at Ignis in the eyes.
"So if I let you go, body and all, will you come back and visit me some time?"
"Uh, and just how do you plan I do that? It took a 5000-year old scientist and a machine for me to get to you this once."
"That's alright. As long as you believe that we're still connected, there'll be a way for you to talk to me."
"Jeez you're selfish. Alright, but what do I call you? "Shade" seems a little strange, just saying."
"Just call me by the name you gave me. Raisor." The figure began to flicker in a flash of light as it said that line, like it was fading from existence. "And if you're ever in trouble, make sure you call, got it? That idiot out there can only handle so much, even if he doesn't want to admit it."
"You got it. It's too bad he can't actually talk to you. I wonder how he'd react if he found out his own personality was cloned."
"I'm sure he'd just try to ignore it. His ego wouldn't let him believe there was another one of him."
"Fair point there. Guess I'll catch you later," Ignis smiled then remembered to call it by name, "Raisor."
Raisor grinned happily, cheerful that it had a real name for itself. "Thank you Ignis, for being my first friend."
The body began to shimmer some, and eventually it disappeared, leaving only orbs of light trailing behind.
Ignis groaned, "Well, glad I could make him happy, but it'd be nice to get out of here, just saying."

As if on queue, the orbs that were left in place of Raisor began to shine and grow, eventually creating a doorway of light. Ignis wasn't sure where it would lead, but she knew that at this point, it was going to take her wherever she needed to go. She trusted that by the time she left this world, she would still be in her own, proper body, and hopefully she had found her keyblade. Not wanting to wait and find out, she took a step through the light.

Surprised by what was next, there seemed to be a hallway of some sorts, with nothing but an exit in front of her. Ignis turned around to see if she could go back, but there wasn't anything but a wall.
"So, you finished your trial huh?"
Ignis turned around in surprised and out of nowhere were her friends from her world, and Mulan as well. She didn't know where they came from, but she was tired of all this popping in and out of places.
Ray was the first to speak. "Let me just say that we're all proud of you."
"Yeah, you finally got your body back!" Marie yelled.
"Looks like you can continue your journey." Lance chimed in as well.
"Make sure you come back, okay?" Korin stated last.

Mulan walked up and put her hand on Ignis's shoulder. "I'm glad I was able to help you with your trial, even if it was only a little bit."
"No problem, you gave as much advice as you needed to." Ignis replied.
Mulan stepped to the side and watched. "Well, we don't want to keep you, so go on ahead okay?"
The others did the same and made a path to the exit. Ignis wasn't sure if this was still a part of the memory world or what, but she wasn't going to ask. She was just happy to see her friends one last time for a good while. Not wanting to ruin the mood, she said no word and simply marched on proudly past everyone to the door. As she got there, she turned around one last time.
"Hey guys, thanks—" Ignis's eyes widened as she looked back.
There wasn't anything there but the white hallway. Absolutely no trace of her friends being there could be seen. Ignis wasn't sure what to chalk that one up to, but smiled anyways. She knew she had her friends at home waiting for her, and she had friends waiting for her elsewhere as well.
"Guess it's time I get back to the group." Ignis said gleefully as she opened the door in front of her, blinded by a light and not knowing what was coming up next.

 

XXIX - The tale of Glen Senka
"Stories"
Part 2 of 4

Glen simply stood there, finding it difficult to keep in mind that this person before him was not the real Kara. "Kara, I'm not quite sure what to do" he said suddenly. It was a little out of the blue, and maybe he shouldn't do what he was about to do, but he wanted things to be different. He had the opportunity to see what things would have been like if he had done them differently, if he'd listened to his head more than his instincts.

"Must've hit your head harder than I thought. What do you mean?" Kara asked, playful smile on her face as she asked. She was going to be like this the whole time, wasn't she? A bit of a tease, a little playful, but always concerned. "I mean...hey, remember when we were kids, and we made that promise to each other to have each other's back, no matter what?" he asked.

At this, Kara actually blushed a little, before nodding. "How could I forget that? That was the first time you really opened up to me, the first time anyone had been that nice to me, the first time I'd felt like...like things were right" his friend responded, speaking somewhat softly. Her words had him stumped. He hadn't realised that moment had impacted her that much, how much else did he not know about Kara? Regardless, it made him feel a little more at ease. If she remembered that memory, it would make telling her what he was about to tell her that much easier.

"Alright, I'm going to have to invoke that. What I'm going to tell you is going to sound really, really strange. It's going to sound like i'm absolutely crazy, but I swear to you, Kara, that every word I say is true. Even if this is hard to believe, I need to tell you this, it's really important that I have someone I can trust here" Glen said. Was he making a big mistake by being so upfront like this, would she back away? Thankfully, his fears were put to rest as she nodded once more and sat down on the grass. And so he told her everything. His lineage as a keyblade wielder, his father dying, his journey to find others like him, and his adventures with the group of SOS. He kept it as detailed as possible, talking for a good portion of the day before he finally finished explaining the castle of illusions. Once he'd finished, he allowed the information to sink into his friend's head and they sat there in silence for about ten minutes, before he was surprisingly embraced in a hug. "Kara?" he asked.

"It's weird being told that you're not real. I can't say I believe that part of it, but I don't think you'd lie either. If you say that's what happened, then that's what happened. Even...if it is hard to accept" she said, speaking softly once more, before letting go of him and sitting up straight, looking Glen right in the eyes. "So, is that what you were asking me? What you are meant to do in this illusion?" she questioned. If the ex-keyslinger was expecting any kind of reaction, that had by far been the least likely in his mind. Outright, straight up acceptance. Lost for words, he nodded.

"Well, you've always been one to train. I never saw you with this key...blade thing, but just with sticks and wooden swords. It was kinda cute, actually. But yeah, you always seemed to be trying to get stronger. Every day you would go to this one place and fight against your father, like getting stronger was your whole reason for existing. So what changed?" she asked.

Glen was taken aback by her question. What had changed? Nothing, really. He'd wanted to be stronger, and he had become stronger. He shrugged his shoulders. "I got...older? I don't know!" he exclaimed, only to be met with the sound of pure, beautiful laughter, causing him to laugh with Kara. After a few minutes of laughter, she stopped. "Glen, I'm really grateful to have you as a friend. Even if i'm not the real me, i'm thankful all the same. You always manage to make me happy, even when I probably shouldn't be. I mean, who laughs at being told they don't exist?" she said suddenly, and once again Glen found himself surprised. However, before he could respond she stood up and held out her hand, helping him up as he took it.

"You're wrong, you know. If nothing's changed, you won't be able to change things here. You wouldn't be here if they hadn't changed, even a little, so I guess what you should do is find out what did change. What have you been doing since you left here that made you stronger? Find that, cling to it, use it to slingshot you forward. I believe in you, I always have. You'll save your father, and everyone else" Kara said with a reassuring smile. At first, the ex-keyblade wielder smiled back, but it quickly vanished as panic set in. "Wait...What do you mean 'everyone else'?" he questioned, worry in his voice, but Kara had already begun walking back towards the village they had grown up in, too far away for him to reach.


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He woke up the next morning in the house he'd grown up in. His mother wasn't there (when was she ever?) and neither was his father. He didn't let it worry him too much, rather he tried to focus on those last few words Kara had said. "Everyone else?" he echoed. What could she mean? Nothing bad had happened to everyone else, his father had died trying to repel the heartless, and he had succeeded. Maybe the castle wasn't all that great with replicating his memories. Shrugging it off, he went and took out the clothes that were in his wardrobe, as well as the scarf that he had hanging there. He hadn't worn these clothes since....well, since he had left Aatarsilu. He'd changed from them pretty quickly, not wanting anything that reminded him of his time on his homeworld, except for his scarf. His scarf was less of a reminder of where he had become, and more an item that brought comfort to him. The one he had on was a little damaged though, from his adventures through the other worlds, and so he got changed into the clothing before him. No sooner had he finished getting dressed than he heard a furious banging sound on the door to his home. Getting up and racing over to the door, he opened it to find an out of breath Kara.

"Glen, you have to go" she stated, huffing between breaths.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Strange creatures attacked. Your father, he went to go and stop them"

The moment Kara finished speaking, Glen started to go forward. However, Kara started to go with him. Immediately he turned and stopped, standing in her way. "Kara, you're not coming with me" he said firmly.

"If they killed your father, there's no way I'm staying back here and letting you face them alone" she replied, standing her ground just as stubbornly as the male before her.

Giving a half hearted smile, Glen stepped forward and hugged the girl tightly. "I'm not going to risk losing you, too. Please, stay here...for me" Glen requested, his voice a little shaky from the multitude of emotions in his voice. He waited until she stepped back a little bit, then he let go of her. "Things will be fine. I promise you, I will change this. It's all I've wanted out of life since I joined the SOS guys, there's no way I'm going to fail now. See you later" he said, giving Kara a quick kiss on the cheek and then heading off in the direction he knew his father would be in. He knew because he'd seen the body, ravaged and torn up, about a day after he'd died. Running at full pelt, he could feel how much faster he was moving now that he had one thought, and one thought alone racing through his head.

This is my chance. I'm not going to lose you again, Dad. No matter what it takes, I will save you. No matter what it takes...


(For the record, this is what Glen looks like after changing his attire there, and what he will look like for the remainder of this RP. I didn't draw this, all credit goes to CCDooMo of Deviantart)​

 

A few hours later....​

Ananta laid on her bed, reading a magazine and giggling at the pictures. It was a kids magazine and it was talking all about the drags of school life and tutoring that many kids went through. There were even some stories about kids being asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. Stories like that were Ananta's favorites, since her destiny was predetermined long ago. Her eyes scanned over a story about a boy who wanted to be an architect. He practiced by building small toy houses for his sister that he changed and rearranged as she saw fit. Ananta sighed unhappily and laid her arms outwards beside her. She stared at the ceiling and closed her eyes a moment before sitting up and climbing out of bed.

Since she was done training for today, she walked to her closet and grabbed some plain clothes to wear. She then hurried off to the bathroom and stripped down to take a bath. She decided a nice bath with bubbles would be pretty awesome, so she jumped in. Laying back, she stared up at the hologram of an ocean on the ceiling. In her head, she was still replaying what happened earlier that day. It worried her greatly, making her anxious about what was going to happen at dinner tonight. That's what made her sink into the bubbles and close her eyes.

By the time she opened them again, she was rather pruney. Standing up, Ananta stepped out and rinsed herself off real quick before turning to dry off. Her hair was dry in a matter of seconds with magic, so she headed for her room. Along the way, she braided her hair and was humming to herself to try and calm down. In front of her, Anta stood there and put her hands on her hips.

"Ananta." she spoke sternly. "You left long before your studies for the day were over. So you'll need to study all day Saturday instead of half a day like the rest of the young ones."

Ananta frowned and looked down at the grown, playing with her hair after that. She didn't dare speak from fear she might get yelled at even more. Or worse, she might get sent to bed with no dinner.

"Dinner's ready!" Manini called from downstairs. Not wanting to spend another moment in her Grandmother's presence, Ananta rushed downstairs and sat right down in front of her mother. Dinner went by smoothly and Anta didn't bring up the events of the day, or at least the events that transpired between her and Ananta, and dinner was over with before she could barely blink. Ananta took her plate to the sink and washed it, setting it to drain as she started on the other dishes.

Behind her, Anta stood there and crossed her arms. "Ananta, I'm sorry for earlier." she said. "I didn't mean to scare you or make you feel like I was trying to force something on you."

Ananta sat a dish down and grabbed the last one, scrubbing it slowly was she thought of a way to make her Grandmother understand that she didn't do anything wrong. It was all her own fault for running away. It was her own fault for crying to her mother. It was her fault for running away when dinner was called. Nothing was Anta's fault. It was all Ananta's fault.

She sat the last dish in the drainboard and turned to her Grandmother with tears in her eyes. She walked forward and hugged her, sniffling to herself. She then looked up at Anta.

"I want to try it again. Is that alright with you?" Anta asked. Ananta nodded with a smile.

They headed out towards the Mother Crystal, hand in hand, squeezing tightly together. When they were at the base of the Crystal, Ananta stood in front of Anta, gazing at her Grandmother in anticipation. Anta held her hand out once again, producing her keyblade and stretching out the grip towards Ananta. She even knelt down to try and make this less scary.

"Ananta, this is a burden and a curse. I know you might hate me one day for bestowing this upon you, but know that this is a choice. If you do not accept this, then I will find a new chosen. They will take the mantle and you are free to do as you please." she spoke softly. "Do you accept becomming my apprentice? To learn in the arts of magic and combat. Healing and fending off evil in any form?"

Ananta took a deep breath and reached her hand forward, grasping the keyblade. "I do!" she squeaked out to Anta's surprise. A light shown from her hand that began to blind Ananta.

Back in reality....​

Ananta's eyes opened and she swiped her arm in front of her, casting Aero to soften her fall as she landed next to the Mother Crystal. She looked upwards and gasped, wondering what was going on. "I thought my world was gone! What's going on here?!" she called out, hoping somebody might answer.

"Well, it's simple! You are in just a memory, my beautiful." said a voice nearby. Ananta turned to see a bird that looked rather familiar. "Hey, wait, aren't you um...." she started, trying to rack her brain.

"What? You've forgotten?" he tsk'd, hopping all the way over to Ananta's shoulder. He was actually pretty small, so he weighed practically nothing. "I am Jose Carioca and I am part of the Three Caballeros. Surely you remember me now?" he said, smiling at her and tapping his cigar.

"Oh yeah. I do remember now! Where are the others...?" she asked, taking a look around. Jose took his hat off and placed it to his chest. "They are lost in other memories. I wish I knew exactly which ones...but, I at least have you! That's all I need. A beautiful lady." he said, smiling at her.

Ananta smiled and scratched her head. "A-Anyway. Do you know where I should go?" she asked him.

"Why not home? Perhaps you're missed." he shrugged, sitting down and leaning back, tipping his hat.

"True....I...I'll do that." she nodded, turning to head down to the street and walk home.

 

Luna listened as Dreamer explained about the SoS. "Servants of Sanctuary?" She whispered to herself as Dreamer continued to explain the current situation and what the next move would be.

-----------A few minutes later----------​

Luna walked up along the hall of doors before her. She continued to walk along until she came across a strange door that had read:

XIV: Luna​

She reached her out toward the door before pulling her hand back toward her out of hesitation. Did she want to see what lied beyond this door? Did she want to venture into what could be unknown territory? Did she want to leave the door be? So many questions ran through her head over this door. Luna shook her head and placed her hand on the door. She pushed the door opened and walked through it as a white light consumed her. Just in the distance behind her stood a young woman with short jet black hair and red eyes, "You'll be fine Luna...I know it....I'll see you when you get back...It's about time we met face-to-face...don't you think?".
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XIV: The Story of Luna
Legacy....
Division 1 of 4:
Homecoming ​

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Luna slowly opened her eyes to help her eyes adjust after the flash of bright light. When her eyes fully opened, she couldn't believe what was right before her. In front of her very eyes, the fallen kingdom of Solara Lua was right before its returning princess. Could her eyes be deceiving her? Was Luna so homesick that she was seeing her own home when it wasn't really there? "How can this be? How??" What should've been, a kingdom in ruins, was a kingdom fully restored with people smiling and laughing while the sun, high in the sky, shining ever so brightly. Luna just stared out at the scene before her in awe for a few moments before looking behind her for the door that led her here. However, there was no such door behind the girl. She turned her head back to the scenery in front of her. "It's definitely Solara Lua but it just doesn't feel like it...Could this all really be an illusion?" Luna kept pondering it for a few moments before hearing a very familiar voice. "HEY SIS!! HEEYY!!!" Luna looked toward the bottom of the hill she was standing on and her eyes had widened at the sight that greeted her there. A young man had shouted out toward her as he waved his entire hand to her. Luna slowly started walking before she even realized that she was running toward the man with tears forming in her eyes. The man she called her own twin brother, "AKIRA!!!" Luna jumped up and reached out toward her brother to hug him close to her as she started crying. "Whoa!! What's gotten into you??......Luna...." He chuckled a bit before hugging his sister back with a smile om his face.
After awhile, the twins separated and started walking back to their home. "Geez sis, I knew you missed me but I didn't think you missed me this much. Let's get you back home before Mom and Dad send out a search party for you. They've been worried sick about you. Oh!! Before I forget, loving the new outfit sis!! It's an entirely new you!! Makes me wanna think about getting some new outfits soon! But that'll have to be for later!! First let's get you home!!" Akira grabbed Luna's hand and started running through the town to get to the castle that was just a few ways away from them. After their long trek, they finally reached their home. The twins walked up to the gate leading to the castle. Akira had yelled to the gate guards to open up the gate. Once past the gates, the twins made it inside. Luna stopped in her tracks to look around the home that she knew and loved. In that moment, memories before the fall of the kingdom struck through her mind. She shook her head to throw away that memory for the time being. Akira called out to his sister and motioned for her to enter the throne room. Luna ran to catch up with her brother. She entered the throne room and her eyes began to fill with tears once more at the sight of what awaited her at the end of the room.
It was the two people in this entire universe that had brought her into this life. It was her parents. "Lunala?! Lunala?! "Her parents rose from their seat with tears threatening to spill from their eyes at the sight of their only daughter back in her home. They rushed over to their children hugged them as if it's been an eternity. Luna wept while she was in the embrace of her beloved parents. She smiled in the embrace but somewhere deep down, the fact that everything in front of her was an illusion clung to her as if it was a string tightly connected to her.

 

XXXVIII- The Tale of Kaida
Part 3 of 5
"Responsibility"
​

Kaida lifted her head to look up at the dog-like teenager. She did not really have much to respond to him with, but he asked a direct question, and she felt a direct answer was probably the most appropriate. Kaida wiped her eyes and said, “I… should be.” she did not know how to continue, but she attempted to open her mouth and respond, before the sound of a flair went off and Kaida stood up and turned in the direction to see the purple there.

“What’s that?” Max asked and Kaida sighed, “It’s… the flair for when someone goes missing… it went off on this day when I ran off… I hid in the woods for about two days… then…” the lighting changed and the moon shifted as she spoke until she heard Seiza’s voice call out, “Kaida! Where are you?” Kaida turned her head and said, “Until Seiza found me… then I…” she turned fully in the direction Seiza called from and she said, “I didn’t try running away, since I was starving… and cold… in fact, Seiza was the one I was willing to talk to the most…"

Kaida walked and Max got on his skateboard and got himself a distance away as Kaida ran looking for Seiza. When she saw him they both stared and Kaida said, “I’m sorry, don’t be mad at me… I just-"

Seiza immediately grabbed her and pulled her into a hug and she was surprised as Seiza said, “You little lemon-haired brat, you had me worried sick. Don’t you know how much people are freaking out right now? This is unheard of.” Seiza let go and had his hands on her shoulders and said, “Why did you run off like that?”
“I…” Kaida backed away from him a bit and took a deep breath and said, “They… were telling me to join Master Yori… because joining you would just make me a weight like you…”

Seiza was quiet as well, it was a solid half a minute where they didn’t say anything. Finally, Kaida broke it continuing, “I was just, angry. They were telling me to just abandon you, I couldn’t handle that. I couldn’t listen to him insult you. Like you weren’t a person…” Seiza finally smiled, Kaida could tell in reflection that it was forced, “You’re a silly kid, Lemon. But… thank you.”
“Let’s both get out of here. To one of those worlds we know are out there! We don’t have to deal with these people forcing us to be something we aren’t. You don’t have to be forced in that cramped library and studying pointless things. We can be out there.”
“Things take time, Kaida.”
“I have time. I have nothing but time.” Kaida insisted.

Then she felt the world disappear instantly around her, everything went black and Kaida freaked out and said, “S-Seiza?” Kaida kept walking and looking around, but she could only hear her voice echo. She spun around a bit and walked forward yelling, “Max?!” Kaida started running in a random direction when she suddenly stopped as she heard a deeper, older voice.

Do you ever consider that whenever you try to benefit yourself, you just end up destroying more you care about?

Kaida froze and looked around before a flash made her cover her eyes in pain, when she opened them again she saw Seiza on the ground and Kaida was in a very cramped space. She recognized it, it was the one Seiza and she had been building for years, even though she had only known for about a year since he hadn’t told her. Kaida walked forward and said, “Seiza, are you okay?”
“Kaida. Stay away from the board. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Seiza was breathing heavily as he tried to stand up, Kaida tried to rush forward to help him but he held his hand out, telling her to stand back.

Kaida looked out the window and said, “Are we going to be able to move? We look stuck.”
“The ship wasn’t ready to be piloted Kaida. We only had enough to launch. We didn’t have enough energy or fuel. And even though I had a bit stashed away in our secondary engine, it is flawed and I don't trust that it won't break. We’re stuck.” Seiza said bluntly, “That’s why I told you not to activate it.”

Kaida was angry and asked, “Why couldn’t you have told me exactly that?!”
“I hoped you would listen to me for once Kaida! You haven’t exactly shown me you treated me seriously at any point and I had faith after everything that happened a year ago, you would trust me and not do anything rash!” Seiza moved to the panel and took a deep breath and said, “Maybe I can relay a message out or something. Something… make shift… maybe…” he was moving quickly trying to figure something out. Kaida shook in fear and anger.

After what felt like too long, Kaida moved forward and leaned behind the chair to look at what Seiza was doing and it slipped and Kaida pushed Seiza into the panel and he panicked and turned, “Are you trying to kill me?!”
“No, I’m not!”
“Then sit down and stay put. Don’t. Touch. Anything.”

Kaida sat in the chair and suddenly a ship flew by. She saw Seiza attempt his signals but the ship went too quickly, he pounded his fist against a safe metal part to do so and said, “No!” she saw Seiza tearing up, he was clearly in fear, and Kaida couldn’t handle that. She jumped forward and said, “We can try and use the fuel we have to catch up. Come on!” Kaida touched the switch and pulled it as Seiza said, “Kaida stop!” then suddenly a light shot out from the engine area straight towards Kaida, not for no reason but because it was directly in her path. Seiza pushed her out of the way and took it straight to his chest. Which made him let out a scream before he fell to the ground, knocked out, not breathing.

Kaida grabbed him and teared up, “No, no! Seiza! I’m sorry! I just wanted to help!” Kaida started crying and placed her head against his and felt everything go pitch black again before she was overwhelmed with light. When her vision came to, she was on the ground and staring up.

“Can…. hear…?” the voice strangled through as her vision tried to set itself and Kaida managed out, “Seiza… save Seiza…”
“Can you hear me?” the voice broke through clearly but Kaida’s eyes closed as an exhaustion consumed her.

Your selfishness killed Seiza’s dreams. He wanted to leave that scholarly life, wanted to leave that world of perpetual nightfall. But instead, you damaged his heart. He could only get a job at a library. He could never travel again. He was stuck on the side of the world that was always nighttime. He never gets the chance to visit the day side, he is worried it will stress him out too much.

You ruined his life. What makes you think you won’t ruin other’s lives?

Kaida opened her eyes and she was in a room. When she sat up she could look around to see it was her room. The one she was given when she became a new resident of Central Haven. Kaida slowly slugged herself up and picked up a picture frame she had on her desk. She stared at it to see a picture of Hikaru, Kaida, and Aux together, in their uniforms in a group photo pose. Kaida stared at Aux and glared at it, her hands shaking before she had to force herself to place down the photo.

Kaida walked to look out the window and saw the sun shine down on the courtyard of the building. She took a deep breath before she heard the distant calling of her name and looked around to see Hikaru outside, jumping and waving his arms at her. Not knowing any better for an instant, Kaida quickly got herself dressed up in her armor and ran outside and towards Hikaru, “I can’t believe you’re here!”
“I can’t believe you’re late! It’s not like you, Kaida.” Kaida froze for a moment out of confusion before he said, “There’s that big announcement today that the Order was going to do, ya know. For the new one replacing- “
“Right, right. That’s today…” Kaida realized this was just the illusion making Hikaru out of her memories, which bothered her quite a bit and he said, “Well you sure don’t look excited about it. Do you know something about it I don’t? Krowley won’t tell me.”

Kaida did know, because she was the new member of the Order. They had to tell her in advance. Kaida forced a smile and said, “Nah, I’m just tired… where’s Aux?”
“Haven’t figured that out yet myself. But I’m sure he’ll catch up. Come on.” Hikaru moved his head pointedly in the direction of the building and Kaida followed him. She took a deep breath and asked, something not on script of that day, “Hey… Hikaru… you’re my friend… right?”

Hikaru laughed and said, “Of course you’re my friend. Where did that come from?”
“It’s just… do you think I do a terrible job at protecting you and Aux?”
“Aux and I don’t need protecting Kaida, we’re not afraid of the sun.” he jested.
“I mean, if I had to protect you, do you honestly think I’d do a good job at protecting you?”

Hikaru stopped and placed his index finger and thumb up to his chin and thought, “Hm.. yeah, you’re pretty strong. You’ve got that keyblade after all and you’re pretty fast. So, I would think you would. I mean, if anything, even if we both got pummeled by Aux together you would at least be there for me.”
“What?” Kaida looked thrown off by that and Hikaru replied, “Well, you know how strong he is in our brawls. You know some day he’s going to be even stronger and worse.”

Kaida thought to herself about how he had no idea, and Kaida said, “What, you don’t have faith that I could kick his butt?”
“I was just kidding Kaida. You guys are almost an exact matchup.”
“Okay now you’re really making fun.”

Hikaru laughed and said, “Come on. Now we’re really gonna be late.” And he immediately ran ahead. Kaida watched him run ahead for a moment until she couldn’t see him in his vision and she said, “Hey Max… I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out one question… but I can’t figure out this second one…”

Max suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere as he said, “Well, your first one was about what was most important to you…”
“Which was me being my best without being compared to someone else…”
“And your next one was, what do you want out of life?” Max asked. Kaida stared and turned to Max and said, “I swear, these questions were never asked to me, because that kind of question can change on the daily.”
“Well, how do you feel about it right now then?”

Kaida was quiet before saying, “I feel like this is stupid.”
Max kind of let out a bit of a laugh, with a “h-yuck” which he covered his face for embarrassed but then said, “But it’s not stupid. It’s important… isn’t it? Does it have anything to maybe do with your friends?”
“Friends… heh… well if we’re on about friends, I am pretty sure I’ve only got Hikaru now. And he’s not exactly here.”
“Really, only Hikaru? No one else? What about those others you were with in Disney town?”

Kaida quietly thought about that as she kept walking, “I… don’t know… we’re just acquaintances. I’m not sure if I’d think of them as friends…”
“Well maybe you need to let yourself think of them as friends.”

Kaida stopped cold when he said that and turned to look at him but he was gone. But Kaida wasn’t sure why she was so stunned to even think about these guys like that.

What makes you think you won’t ruin others’ lives? Just stop it.

Kaida kept on walking towards the ceremony as the voice echo’d to her.

It’s easier on everyone if you just give up. If you give up, you can’t ruin everyone else’s lives. Just stop. Just let yourself disappear into darkness. You’d save everyone that way.

Kaida walked into the building and headed into the back room pained as she listened to echo’d noise and cheering.

Just give up.

“Today, I would like to announce my replacement now that I’m retiring. I know they will do a good job stepping in my place…” they motioned for her to walk out from the side of the stage as they introduced her, and she bowed to them, a bit scared, not really able to think of anything to say, like she’d reverted to how she felt in the memory, but it was really because of the echoing voice.

Give up.

 

The story of Andrew ‘AJ’ Jacob Canvasback​

​

Part 3​

​

"The Forest"​

Andrew walked to towards his bed and made it without thinking all that much. He walked over to his desk and put a book mark into the book he had open and shut it. He left the book where it was from the night before. He enjoyed reading. Some of the stories were where people mad friends. There were others where most got along. Then there were some with quest that lasted years. Then there was him who never did anything that made him stand out. He did not have a story to tell and he was no hero. He did not know what to think or do. He got ready to go. He grabbed his bag and walked out the door of his room without much thought. Thinking about his dream the night before as he walked, the outline of the key unsure what to think or do. What did it all mean? There was these dark dogs that made no sound. Really to come to think about it there was no sound at all. Then there was the darkness in every direction. Also there were the humans that he saw. It made him wonder who they were. He also wondered if they wanted anything in his dream. He guessed that it might be best not to think about it. Some thought that dreams were clue to find the Well others did not share this thought. He himself really did not give it much thought. He was quite tired of this whole Well thing. He hoped that one day everyone would forget about it but so far this was not true. He looked at his mirror on his way. He had golden blond hair. His hair was normal length. He was quite tall and rather skinny. It was a wonder that his mother was able to find anything in his size. He was not all that strong but what he did not have in strength in outsmarted with his brain. It was how he got out of situations so far. For the most part he had been lucky. What stood out as he looked at the mirror were his light blue eyes on his face. Most people had rather dark eyes and very few had light eyes. The color of other hair ranged from a light brown to black. He guessed he was unique in a way. He turned down a hallway in his house and went down the hard wooden stairs. He walked into the kitchen to his mother standing there. The kitchen was rather simple with wooden floors and cabinets all around. On one end sat a table with a four chairs that surrounded it. On the other end of the kitchen was a sink next to a window that over looked the fields and then farther on was the forest. On the table sat a bowl of fruit. While they did not have much they got by. Compared to others who got as much as they could inside their house. It was all about the greed. The treasure was important too and then there was the wish. It was what people could get. Not many but few still helped others.

He looked at his mother who had golden blond hair and light sky blue eyes. Today she had on a brown shirt and dark blue pants. She was a simple woman and one of the few people that cared about the way things should be and the other people around. As he entered the kitchen his mother said, 'Andrew, what do you plan on doing today? Where will you go?' He had not gave it much thought. He tried not to think about the outside too much. "Well you know how things are out there. I really do not know. You know that it..." He stooped himself in mid-sentence. There next to his mother were two people. A woman and a man. This could not be good. What did they want? The only time someone came around here was to get something. Only question was, what did they want? It was most likely something to do with the Well. The woman had jet black hair that went down to the middle of her back. She had on dark red top and black pants. The man had short light brown hair. He had on a dark blue top with black pants. He was sure that they had found a clue around here and that was the only reason that they were here. "What are they doing here?" He looked at his mother for an answer that he was sure he already had the answer to. 'They found something' "Of course they did. What was it they time?" 'Come on 'AJ' we might finally find the Well with this’ the woman said to him. "Don't..." Very few people... it was not worth it. He was far too nice to let this woman get to him. 'Zoey just wants to be your friend' his mother said. Please the only time someone wanted something from him was to find this Well. Help with the clue. "Ok, so what is it they need?"

The man steeped forward and thought for a moment. 'Name is Lucas. We want to search the land around here, Andrew.’ He knew something was up. "You are not going to find anything. We lived here forever. I been here sixteen years at this home and never found a thing on the land." 'This time we might' the man said. "Go for it. Search the land all you want." This whole Well thing was getting old. 'We were hoping to get your help to search' the woman said. Keep on hoping he thought. "Um, no thanks, I am sure you will do fine with what you have." 'This is your land.' He let out a sigh. "I am not going to be able to find anything any better than anyone else." The only good thing about this was it would give him something to do. 'Don’t you want to find the Well Andrew?' the man said. "No it will be found or be hidden just as always." All it was, was a tale, a story. "People searched for this Well for hundreds of years, today is not going to be any different than the days before." 'Alright I guess we will go without you.' They looked at him for a moment and the woman said, 'one day someone will find the Well.' With that the man and the woman left the house. "What was that all about?" 'It was what it is always about Andrew,' his mother said. He looked at his mother for a moment. 'The Well it gives people hope.' No it gives people greed, he thought. It might be hope there but there would be no need if people just worked together. There was the treasure and the wish. Lucky they had pictures of the way things used to be. The pictures were few but they could be found. He saw himself what Euterpe had looked like hundreds of years ago. He did not see why people would not just work toward the way it was instead of what people wanted it to be. He thought it was fine the way it was but no longer was the case. "I think that I will be going." 'Have fun and don't stay out to late.' Yea 'fun' that was the word he thought of whenever he left the house. He put on a smile for his mom, grabbed his bag and went out the door of his house.

He did not know where to go. He knew that he did not want to see the two people that just showed up at his house. They were most likely deep into the forest now so there was a slim chance into running into them. To the north of the town was a forest, where people were sure more than anything that the Well was somewhere inside, despite people searching high and low of the thing in the forest. Then to the east was a small lake where most went to in the summer. Now it was too cold to swim in. To the south was where the farms and a nearby river ran into the lake. Then to the west was more of the city. He decided to walk north east with no reason. He continued to walk past the lake that had many leaves from the tress in it. Not many people seemed to be out at all. Soon there would be less with the incoming winter. He continued to walk north with the lake on his right. He walked tell he saw someone in the distance next to the forest. The forest was rather close now. He walked in a different direction trying to avoid whoever it was. The leaves beneath his feet made a crunch and well it did not turn out well. Luck was not on his side and he saw the person turn around and spot him. As the person walked towards him he saw who it was oh no anyone but him. Bob, in terms of bullies he was the king of them all. Bob was well to put it nice nicely rather large. His arms were huge. The one thing that could be said that he did not have was brains. Today he had on a black jacket with a red shirt underneath. He had on black pants and shoes. His hair was the oddest of all. It was short and what use to be black hair was now red from the die he had always put in it or so they say. Some thought that it was not die at all but something else and others thought it was some kind of red food and it died his hands and he put it into his hair. He himself did not know what to think of it. The first option was just as likely as the second. both ways he tried not to think about it. It was something about making look cool or something and anyone that questioned well it was best not said. Why did the leaves on the trees need to be falling? The only thing going for him was that when he was younger he took some self-defense classes. Bob walked up to him and said, 'What did I tell you about coming around here?' He did not answer right away. He wanted to avoid this incoming fight. It was not going to end that well for him. The question in his mind did not really require an answer. He slightly wondered where his followers were but he was sure that they would show up at some point as they always did.

He turned to walk away to signal that he was leaving. 'I did not say that you could not leave boy', Bob said. What did he want? A fight that he was certain that he did not want. Bob always wanted a fight. He wanted to hurt everything that was not on his side. Bob wanted everyone and anyone to suffer. Most if not all the people were ether friends with him or afraid of what he might do. It was once told that he threw someone into the lake in the middle of winter just because. "I won’t come back this way again." Bob looked at him with a questioning look. 'I want something to punch.' Andrew thought for a moment. "Well there is a tree right there that you can practice on if you want," he said with a smile. Bob then came at him and he moved to the side. He did not understand why Bob wanted to fight so badly. This whole fighting thing was getting old. As far as he was concerned he was done with this. "I do not want to fight you Bob." Bob looked at him for a moment and then said with a smile 'I know you don't, but I do.' He wondered what Bob would try to do this time. He got the feeling that today his luck might end.

 

Her footsteps echoed on the floor as she walked through the fairly empty halls of the Academy that surrounded the Mother Crystal. By the looks of the sky, night time had begun to settle and classes were over. Ananta was thankful for that, because it gave her time to think of things. From what she understood, she'd be undergoing some type of trial in these memories. Perhaps she'd gain her keyblade back if she passed the trials. Perhaps not. Either way, she was determined to try and change things this time. She wanted to try and prevent the fall of her world, even if only in a memory. Maybe if she were to save it, the real world would return and she'd be able to go home to it some day. That's what Ananta was hoping for and it's what made her step forward through this place.

"Oh but what will my Grandmother think of me..." she stopped, sighing and staring at the front door. "She's gonna see these clothes and she's gonna freak out that I'm not wearing my usual training clothes...but I like my clothes now, they're cute...."

Ananta knelt down and stared at her hands. "She's gonna be so disappointed that I don't have my keyblade...maybe she won't remember me gaining it?" she seemed a little optimistic in that moment, but she didn't hold onto it for long before she sighed deeply. "Regardless, I've still got to go home and I've still got to face her. And my parents...." she stared up at the glass ceiling. "They'll be proud of me anyway. That's what they do. They stay proud and smile at me."

"You have good parents, I'm sure they'll be happy." Jose complimented from under his hat. Ananta jumped when she heard him, only because she forgot he was actually there. "Thank you, Jose..." she smiled, standing back up and walking hurriedly out the building.

Towards her home she walked, smiling to herself and passerby who stared back. This was the happiest Ananta had ever appeared before, seeing as she always acted so solemn and scared before. The journey has made her grow as a person, at least she thinks so, and she's not so scared of being thought of as different anymore. If this was the same old Ananta from long ago, she'd be shivering and looking down at the ground, fearing somebody would try and torment her for her hair. Instead, her hair was shown off brilliantly and beautifully, braided and twisted around. That was one thing that made Jose smile. He was proud that Ananta was able to flaunt her individuality so readily now. He may not have known her long, but he knew from her memories that she was scared of how she looked.

Finally, she reached her house and saw the lights were already on outside. She ran forward and almost didn't open the door before she stopped and looked around for the spare key. She unlocked the door and walked inside. "I'm home!" she called out, shutting the door behind her. Udbadhi walked from the living room and smiled. "What has you so worked up? Oh, your clothes! They're quite different from what I usually see you in." he said, reached forward and patting her head. "My, you are growing so beautiful as a person, Ananta."

"Now now, don't spoil her dear." Manini said, stepping away from upstairs and hurrying down. "Ananta, I thought you were lost. You didn't come in with Anta, so I was scared maybe something happened. But Anta told us you'd be alright. So I'm happy to see you. Ah! New clothes! But what will Anta think...?" she tilted her head, looking at Udbhati.

"I think she'd best changed back into her traditional clothes. We have a prayer session to attend and she's late." Anta said, grumping at the door behind Ananta. Anta looked far older now, almost like she was shriveling up. It made Ananta jump at first, but she had tears in her eyes from her memories flooding back of that fateful night.

The last images of her world were of Anta fending off the heartless and trying to protect Ananta to the very end. She smiled sadly as the heartless engulfed her. She pushed Ananta off at the last moment, sending her off into the unknown with nothing but her keyglider and the clothes on her back. Ananta fell to her knees and covered her mouth, choking back tears and digging her fingers against the floor. "Crying won't make you get changed any faster." Anta said, sighing. "But are you alright? Suddenly crying like that means something's upset you."

Ananta shook her head and stood back up. "I'm....I'm fine. Sorry, I just felt sad all of a sudden." she chuckled awkwardly.

"Liar." Jose whispered to her, hidden by her hair from the others.

"Anyway...I...I'll get changed Grandma." she said, hurrying upstairs. She changed quickly and returned, wearing clothes similar to the ones that she wore as a child. "I'm ready." she said, following Anta as she walked out of the house, returning towards the Mother Crystal. Ananta kept her mouth shut the whole way, knowing it wasn't her place to speak at the moment.