Search Results

Jim awkwardly waved at Aria, still confused about the situation but now feeling more comfortable around these strangers. They all seemed happier upon the girl--Aria's arrival. "Uh yeah thanks. It's not mine though." There was a lot of story between these strangers but they all seemed friendly enough. "So...where'd you guys come from anyway?" He curiously asked, taking a few steps up the stairs. Just as he made his way up, once again Morph flew forth and stared at the latest newcomer to show up. The pink blob shifted into a telescope as he eyed Aria, literally since only Morph only formed one eye to look through the glass, and began to circle her squeaking all the while. "Haha come on Morph that's enough." Jim ran up to try to catch the little shapeshifter in his hand but Morph zipped out of his reach and flew behind Aria to take cover. "Sorry about that. He just likes new people."



"Oh come now, lassie, it's not that bad." Silver spoke smugly as the group reached the brig which was a dark room with three cells lined up against a wall. Scroop shoved Illiana towards the metal bars and Silver nudged Glyde forward some more. They opened two of the cells and pushed the two young keyblade wielders into their cells before locking the doors. As soon as Silver pocketed the keys he pushed a button near the lock which caused the bars to glow ever so faintly and emit a faint humming sound.

"I don't recommend touching the bars there. It'll give you a shocking surprise if you know what I mean."

Scroop grumbled and glared hatefully at Illiana but said nothing before he turned to leave. Silver shrugged and spoke once more, "Don't worry, I'll make sure ya don't starve here. Wouldn't want you kids to perish before you had a taste of me famous family stew." Silver tipped his hat at the two and turned to start walking away, his metal leg thumping up the stairs until the sounds of his heavy steps faded off.

​

"We don't have many rules, Master Choma. Yet somehow you and your accomplice managed to break one."

"Do you even realize what's going on out there? World are being swallowed whole and our own people are vanishing!"

"We are aware of the situation and it is the only reason why we are allowing this transgression to pass."

"Then WHY have all of you remained silent? I thought you were all dead or missing until I saw that this world was untouched. Do you know how many other worlds I've traveled to? Do you know how many worlds are missing? Every master I tried to find has gone missing. Every world taken by darkness and you've done nothing!"

"And what would you have us do? Spread panic and have every keyblade wielder with delusions of grandeur play hero? You know very well the kind of damage that would cause."

"Not only that but we simply have no way to predict what worlds will fall. You are aware that we cannot simply just cause a mass migration only to have the destination fall to darkness as well."

"Right. Ever heard of not putting all your chickens in one basket?"

"I don't think that's how it goes..."

"Whatever. Point is, making any action without a plan would've been a stupid one that would end up with more people dead or more worlds being damaged by our actions. If it comes down to us or the world order the choice is clear."

Choma clenched his fists tight but they were right and he hated it. Preserving the world order was more important than any one life. But so many were gone now... "So why stay silent? Atmos and I needed you. Master Thallasa needed you and she's gone now! She was searching for answers when all of you were too afraid to leave your damn sanctuary!"

"Simple. We needed someone to ask that very question and come here."

"What?" Choma stared at the others in disbelief.

"We couldn't risk anyone overhearing anything important. Got it?"

"There is another power at play here. How it is related to our current predicament we do not know but the risk was far too great to send any messages off world."

Choma laughed and shook his head. "And so you cowered here? All it took was just one of to contact us. If you couldn't send a message out then one of you could have left to deliver the message personally. Don't tell me that the most capable keyblade masters of our generation are too afraid to venture out of here. Gero's death was six years ago. So is that the reason you're hiding? Are all of you afraid another of you will die? Or is sending a damn message beneath everyone in this room?"

"Calm yourself, Master Choma."

"You have heard of the one going by that ridiculous alias, correct? The Light Chaser."

Choma nodded but his expression was cold, anger clear in his eyes and his fists shaking.

"He's been active for some time now gathering apprentices of his own."

"But it's not them we're worried about. Nah. Leaving this world even one man--"

"Or woman."

"...Leaving this world one man or woman short would be stupid."

Sighing, Choma crossed his arms revealing several new scars on his forearms left there by the hordes of Heartless he had to cleave through on his journey. "And what about us? Our students are untested. We've...we've already lost one. If we're going to stand a chance for whatever's coming, from the darkness or the Light Chaser, we're going to need an edge. Are there any other masters who can help?"

"I am sorry Choma but we are in the dark in regards to the others. But perhaps there are alternatives that may prove just as useful. Particularly for your students."

"Hmph. I'm listening."

​

"So, what does any of this change? I've heard Ria speak in different voices already. Pretty sure we all have by this point. That thing is made up of darkness from just about all of us." He scratched his head and folded his arms before looking over at Daeni. She never seemed...stable from what little he had seen of her but hearing what she said piqued his curiosity somewhat. "Any idea whose memories you're seeing then? And how did you even manage to have memories that aren't yours?" He scratched his chin. Ria had memories from all of them and since Chrono was lacking memories, the situation seemed plausible but...strange. He knew it had been caused by the Extractor but without a chance to reexamine it he wasn't sure if he had the right memories to piece together....something. Whatever that something was.

"Let's pick up the pace. We've been stuck here too long."

​

Torrin blinked, almost amused with Aria's temper. Though justified, it wouldn't have accomplished anything. He was getting ready to make his exit when she mentioned Mika and caused him to freeze in place. He took a deep breath. He didn't want to speak those words. Not yet. "She's..." Torrin turned away from Aria. "Damn it..." He muttered through gritted teeth. "It happened while you were away. I...I should've been there." He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled loudly.

"I'm sorry." Torrin shook his head, clearly not speaking towards Aria when he said it. "Take care of yourself, alright?" He closed his eyes and tried to focus back on where Atmos was but that beacon of light he sensed from before was gone now. His stomach sank deeper than before. Every step forward was a hundred back and there wasn't anything he could do about it. Now the very least he could was try searching for her even if he knew it would be next to impossible to find that world again. I have to try. I owe Atmos that much.

"Tell the others that Master Atmos is okay. If she doesn't turn up soon, I'll be bringing her back." Realizing he didn't give her a name yet he took the moment to introduce himself just as he opened another portal. "The name's Torrin by the way. Let's hope our paths don't cross again any time soon. It'd be safer for you that way." Torrin spoke with a faint smile. He turned and stepped through before vanishing in a flash of light.

​

Atmos stared up at the evening sky, angry at herself for letting her pride get in the way of her sense of caution. She could hardly move yet the only thing more bruised than her body was that same pride that got her into this. Yet she was still conscious. Using her keyblade to prop herself back to her feet she laughed to herself. "I'm getting the sense that underneath that smug look you must have under that hood is a great deal of...anger? Or is it hate? Or...perhaps fear?"

"Amusing observation. But I know I saw fear in your eyes when I knocked you to the--" Atmos launched a massive shard shard of ice at him mid-sentence only for it to be shattered before ever reaching him, having crashed into a magical barrier that now faded away after the collision, causing glittering ice crystals to rain down. "That was rude." The Light Chaser tilted his head, seeing that Atmos had left his line of sight. The man immediately turned and raised his hand, catching Atmos's keyblade as she brought it down intending to cleave into him. "And that was obvious." He released her keyblade and she jumped back to get some distance from him.

Realizing this just wasn't her day Atmos raised her keyblade to make a portal. ...But nothing came. Atmos's eyes widened in shock.

"Those corridors of light everyone's so fond of using? They're corridors of light. I'll give you a hint why you cannot open one now. It's in my name. I'm sorry that it had to be this way." He stepped closer towards Atmos.

"Me too. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to use this. I never bothered learning how to use them." Just as the Light Chaser took another step towards her she pulled out a Star Shard from her pocket and instantly zapped out of the Light Chaser's reach, bouncing around as a beam of energy before shooting off into the sky and vanishing from sight.

"You always were a clever one, Atmos."

Scroop's claw snapped at the arm Illiana was using to insult him and squeezed it tightly up until the point where it nearly would have broken. "What did you say, brat?" The insectoid growled upon being called a child by a child.

"Calm down, Scroop. The lass was only joking." Silver chuckled, genuinely amused that she had hurt Scroop's pride. The red alien relented and released Illiana's now bruised arm. "Did ya hit your head or something, girl? A spaceport is a port in space. You know, a place where ships dock." He sighed. "No matter, just sit tight and this won't become any more unpleasant than it has to be." As Silver spoke Illiana and Glyde were now being forced to head down another deck where it was darker and a little colder. Still, given that the ship was the fancier sort it was far from grimy or ill-kept. "Almost there now."


Jim laughed at the way Take responded, treating Chrono sort of like a pet, and nodded when Chrono told him not to give him a nickname. He knew how that felt as Jim was never too fond of being called "Jimbo". "So what brought you guys here? And...how did you get here? Are you stowaways or-" Jim cut himself short when something near where the captain's cabin caught his attention. There was a brief flash of light that caused his head to turn towards it. Then there was the sound of someone speaking though the voice was too far away and too quiet to discern any details about it. "What's...that? Are there more of you?"

​

Torrin looked at the two girls and resisted the urge to make an exasperated sigh when the conversation barely moved along. Whatever Chrys was thinking didn't matter but it was curious that she didn't seem to be making an attempt to stop them from leaving. Torrin's eyes narrowed at Chrys suspiciously but he made no effort to continue the argument or fight with her. "We're done here." Torrin grabbed Aria by her arm and led her towards the portal, whether she chose to follow or not, and closed it behind them.

On the other side the two stood on the upper deck of a ship quietly sailing through colorful nebulae being propelled by shimmering sails. The sounds of engines humming could be heard as well. In front of the two was an unmanned wheel that gently moved by itself, presumably being directed by some sort of autopilot, to their sides were staircases that would bring them down to the main deck, and behind them was a door that led to the captain's cabin.

Torrin's fist clenched. He could only hope that Atmos would be able to make it out on her own. "Chrono, Illiana, Takehiko, and Glyde should be nearby." He leaned against the railing and began tapping his hand against it. "I'll...I'll leave you to it then. I should get going."

​

Atmos wiped her brow and hunched over as she took some time to catch her breath. Two of the Chasers were unconscious before her and she had a few new cuts and bruises to show for the effort. The black dress she wore was torn and parts of it were either singed or covered in frost. "Impressive...but not enough..." She straightened out, having caught her second wind and picked up her keyblade once more. She looked around, planning to head in the same direction Torrin had gone now that things had been settled on her end but she had not taken one step when a voice rang out in the courtyard where she stood.

"You don't mess around, do you, Master Atmos?"

She looked around but couldn't find the source of the voice. "Where I'm from it's considered rude to--"

"Introduce oneself without showing one's face. Yes, I know. But this is good enough for now." Atmos spun around, holding her keyblade in her ready position as she came face to face with a man wearing a black cloak, his hood obscuring his face. "I'm grateful you didn't hurt my students too badly but I'm afraid I can't let your transgression stand."

Atmos had listened to Torrin's warnings about the Light Chaser but even now as she stood before the man a part of her couldn't help but feel that he must have been--

"You're thinking that if you give it your all, you might have a chance to defeat me. No doubt the boy has told you to turn tail the moment I appear and now you're wondering if his bias has led him to exaggerate."

"Well he left out how perceptive you were. Unless you have magic that allows you to read minds."

"Nothing of the sort. I merely have perspective. So then," he folded his arms, "I assume you would like me to make the first move, correct?"

Atmos slowed her breathing and bent her knees to get ready to move out of the way of whatever was thrown at her. "And I assume talking things out is out of the question."

"We can continue the conversation once you regain consciousness."

The cabin boy crossed his arms. "I have time to listen but for now...How about some names for starters?" He placed a hand to his chest. "I'm Jim Hawkins, and you two are?" He looked at the two, glancing over at Take then at Chrono for some response. As he watched the two strangers a pink substance began to slip out of his pocket, forming globules as it leaked and began to float at his side. And then, the pink floating mass of shapeless...pinkness opened its eyes and stared at the newcomers excitedly. It flew around Chrono and Take, making circles around their heads as it examined each of them closely and scooted in to each of their faces within just a hair's breadth before retreating back to Jim's side. He laughed nervously and held out his palm where the pink blob floated onto and rested. "Oh and this is Morph. Don't mind him."


"That's a great idea. Killing them would be a snap." As he enunciated the word snap Scroop clapped his claw right in front of Illiana's face and began to lower it towards her neck.

"Now now Mister Scroop, we can't be stainin' the deck with the blood of children, can we?"

"Why not?"

"Because I said so you idiot!" The cyborg glared at Scroop.

"Aye aye, Silver." Came the angered response of Scroop.

"Sorry kids but I can't have you ruinin' me plans." He tapped the pistol against Glyde's back. "Come on now, get moving before my generosity wears out." As Silver spoke his comrade gripped onto Illiana's shoulder tightly and yanked her up to her feet forcefully. "Don't worry. When we come across another spaceport we'll drop ya off but until then, to the brig."

​

Torrin growled in response to Chrys's attempt at offering help, likely trying to expose some weakness in him. Was she just trying to stall for time? If the Light Chaser showed up now they would have no chance to escape. Every second they spent just waiting around and talking made him more anxious. Aria had given up any idea that she would have joined him to take down Chrys and run. That made matters more complicated. Much more. "I'm fine. You don't need to fake concern for me." Not that a curative spell would have done any good. It was almost ironic that a girl named Light would continue to be a thorn in his side.

"If I wanted you dead I would've done it by now but it's obvious you'd be a waste of the effort. I'm after your master but you keep getting in my way." He glanced over at Aria, annoyed with her efforts to play peacemaker despite what he had told her. "There's one thing you're right about." He spoke lowly. "We won't be fighting Chrys today."

"You call me a liar but you're not the one who's been with the other keybladers." Torrin aimed his keyblade behind Aria and opened a portal. "Aria, they lied to you once. Who knows how much more they've lied to you about. I can't promise you'll be safer with your friends but I can promise you that I'll return you to them." Torrin's eyes were now fixed hard on Chrys, daring her to stop him and prove him right. To prove that she really was holding Aria against her will. "Besides, if I'm lying I'm sure our mutual friend here will be more than happy to chase us down."

The boy stared at Takehiko and narrowed his eyes. "So you're not pirates?" He seemed to relax somewhat. "Guess that explains it. I mean, you guys don't even look like spacers." He looked around but now the deck was clear save for the three of them. His hands went into his pocket and he looked back over at the mop and bucket he had left behind. He had to get back to work but an excuse to get out of it was all he wanted right now. "Well I can tell you that you're on the RLS Legacy." He chewed on his lower lip and decided against telling Take where the ship was heading. "Where did you come from?"



When Illiana looked back the crew had continued speaking amongst themselves but with one difference. The cyborg was no longer there. "Didn't anyone tell you not to eavesdrop?" In that instant Scroop leapt down from the ceiling onto Illiana, pinning her down with his claws. The slight pressure of the barrel of a pistol pressed on Glyde's back. The cyborg had turned his arm into the gun aimed at him.

"Look at what we have here, Mr. Scroop. A couple of stowaways. I think the brig will be just the place to store 'em."

​

"Yeah, Tinarah. Her brother was pretty pissed when he couldn't come here to find her. Sure he'd be disappointed by now." Torrin responded, eyeing Aria. She wasn't going to be much help given her own answer. "Just keep close to me and you'll be fine. The Light Chaser was probably lying about why you couldn't leave as well." When he and Atmos arrived it was true that the world's former location had been surrounded by darkness but, to him, it could have just been a convenient coincidence for the Light Chaser to make up some lie about why he never returned Aria. It had to be.

​

"Sure, that'd be a great plan if Ria wasn't hoping for us to walk out of here in nearly the same state we entered." Alder retorted, mimicking Cerdic's tone and clearly annoyed by being challenged at every turn. "But fine. Maybe it's too far back to head to now but our only other option really is to just get out of here and duke it out with Ria. There isn't anything we can do to prepare in here unless someone has something new to offer." Alder crossed his arms and glanced over at Chrys who seemed concerned over...something he knew. It at least sounded important.

"Alright Chrys, what is it? Better we hear it now."

"Rrrriiiiggghhhtt..." The cabin boy eyed Takehiko suspiciously when he started muttering under his breath about a "problem" one of the lifeboats had and, to add to that suspicion, just a few hours ago he and Silver had been checking up on them just before he was put to work on the deck. It was his map. He shouldn't have been made to do all of this. "Well it's uh...good that we've got such a uh dedicated night crew picking up the slack." He stepped over towards the captain's cabin once more. These had to be pirates. Who else could board a ship so easily? But...they didn't look like pirates. In fact, the ones that he could see appeared to be around his age. "How about I let you have at the captain after I'm done talking to her? I've gotta give her a big update on uh the decks. Yeah these things are really coming apart. This ship is a real mess. Really big mess. Really...really messy. Yeah..." Even as he spoke he continued to drag the mop backwards along with him. His eye's darted from Takehiko towards the cabin quickly. The cabin boy laughed nervously and then suddenly dropped the mop to make a run for the captain's cabin.


"Alright that's enough of the lot of ya! Get back to your posts and if any of ya sorry lot makes a mess of things again I swear I'll-" The cyborg stopped speaking for a moment as the sound of one of the wooden steps creaked upon Glyde's descent to the lower deck. "I'll make sure you won't be around to regret it." A red light shined from his eye towards Scroop then over towards the corner where Illiana had been hiding. Scroop vanished from view as he went deeper into the room and into an unlit corner. The cyborg continued to speak as if nothing had happened, his mechanical leg thumping against the floor with every step he took. "Now then. For our next order of business." His voice grown calm and the blade his arm had transformed into had once more returned to being a metal hand.

​

Torrin came to a dead stop and narrowed his eyes at the girl who challenged him. "Long time, no see." He spoke, impatience driving him to quickly step back and swing his keyblade to knock Chrys's out of his face. The other two he incapacitated were caught off guard but Chrys would be a different story. On any normal day he would have felt confident facing against her but this wasn't a normal day for him. The pain in his side from his last encounter with the Light Chaser had faded but the damage left behind remained. Still, the only way forward was through her and it wasn't like talking was going to do anything but kill time...time that would be spent behind enemy lines and right in the Light Chaser's domain.

"Kidnapping little girls never seemed to be your style but I guess Chasers aren't above anything, are they?" Torrin scowled, keeping himself between Aria and Chrys. Atmos must have still been fighting and as he racked through his brain of the logistics of getting through Chrys, finding the Atlantean princess, regrouping with Atmos, and escaping with everyone in one piece the odds just weren't there. Aria had been saved for a reason and if she was important to the Light Chaser's plan then there wasn't any cost too high for keeping her away. Even...

"Hey, how good of a fighter are you?" He asked Aria, now gripping his keyblade with both hands as he readied himself for combat.

"Uh...who are you? I don't remember seeing anyone like you being on the crew." The young man spoke towards Take. He tightened his grip on the mop which was still dripping water onto the deck and tilted his head, leaning to the side to see the others not far behind Take. He blinked and looked over towards the captain's cabin then back at the group of strangers again as he slowly but not-so-inconspicuously tried to inch his way towards the cabin. "So uh...you guys the night crew? Maybe that's why I haven't seen you." He laughed nervously as he inched away from them, dragging the mop across the floor as he went and leaving a trail of water in its wake.



As the crewmen continued to speak amongst themselves Illiana would have caught on bits and pieces of their conversation. Mostly it seemed to be angry questions directed at the cyborg.

"When are we going to blow this joint?"

"Yeah and where's the map? You said we'd have our hands on it by now!"

"Is there a reason why we haven't already killed the captain and thrown the brat into deep space?"

"Are ya all a STARK-RAVING TOTALLY BLINKING DAFT!?" The cyborg's robotic arm folded inward and out came a curved sword in place of a hand as he swung his blade at the other crewmen causing them to retreat back. "Are ya willing to risk them destroying the map to keep it out of your grubby claws if your impatience gets the best of ya?!" The cyborg continued to wildly swing his sword about cutting nothing but air. He stomped his metal leg against the deck and cracked the wood. "We stay on course until I say otherwise. So there'll be no whining nor doing anything that'll blow our cover." He walked over towards one of the aliens and glared at him with a glowing red eye. "Do. You. Understand. Me. Scroop?"

"Perfectly." Scroop hissed in return.

​

Torrin opened his mouth to tell her what had happened to Mika but couldn't bring himself to say the words. He looked away. Now was not the time to sit around and chat. "Come on. Let's get going. Atmos might be a little preoccupied but we need to regroup and get out of here." He chose not to tell her that he had left Atmos behind so that she could serve as a distraction for the enemy. Torrin led Aria out of the inn and onto the streets, remembering that even if Tinarah wasn't here there was still someone else here that needed to be rescued.

"The Atlantean princess was taken as well. I can only assume that she was brought here too. We just have to...find her." He headed forward and rounded a corner to put some distance between them and the others. Torrin looked over at Aria as he led her forth. "Did you see anything else suspicious? Someone else who didn't belong to this world?"

​

Kord raised an eyebrow on hearing the scuffle going on above. A part of him was tempted into just wolfing out (again) and jumping through the deck, tearing through wood and into flesh in one instant. The idea was glorious but given that he spent so long in a cold dark area of the ship he wasn't really feeling it at the moment. And he was hungry. "This...this isn't going anywhere." He muttered under his breath. Leaving was an option but unless he wanted to swim back or continue waiting in his corner until everyone left the only way out was through.

"Should've thought this out better but it's too late now." He spun his hatchet in his hand and paused for a moment feeling that he would probably regret making another reckless action but at the same time...at leat he could claim it was for a noble cause if anyone asked. And if he survived.

"Hello there! Mind picking a fight with someone not chained up?" He called out to Thorvald.

​

Enok placed his elbow on the bar and watched the elf woman step closer towards a girl he felt eyeing him earlier. Unfortunately, he did not believe she was looking at him in any kind of seductive manner. Not that he was interested in such things these days but it meant that he likely made her uncomfortable and that often happened when he lingered anywhere for too long. It was difficult to play the part of an ordinary drifter when part of your personality was comprised of a murderous vengeance spirit and the other part was perhaps even less pleasant.

His mind had already begun to wander even as Dayla answered him requiring him to refocus on the reality in front of him. "I suppose you should hire more help then. This place seems to be doing well enough." He finally responded towards Dayla, his eyes now shifting over towards the girl who looked his way. The Hym didn't like her much either from what he could tell but the draw towards Dayla was so much stronger he barely even felt it. "Good help must be hard to find these days though." He added, still watching Alyse.

​

"That castle you mentioned." Alder spoke up as he walked over beside Mora. "Have you been inside it? A former residence of a keyblade master sounds like it would have something relevant for us. Books on dealing with darkness, techniques, equipment for keyblade wielders, something. I'm not looking for some Deus ex Machina but having something else to give us the edge over Ria would really help right about now." Alder scratched his chin. "If all else fails it'd probably make for a great place to lock down and make a stand." It took some effort to leave out the word "last" when saying they could make a stand against Ria at the castle. He didn't want to sound defeatist since the last thing they needed right now was more pessimism.

​

Arctus scratched the back of his head feeling like he was missing a few things. Namely, how he went from one place to another and why his body felt sore. No, that wasn't entirely true. It felt like he had just woken from a dream but now that he looked around he realized that the dream was reality. The girl who had been the cause of the chaos was now out for the count...permanently. A bad move considering she could have been interrogated. Or perhaps it might have been for the best if she had more tricks up her sleeve. It didn't matter much now.

Still, he felt disgusted that his body had been used like toy. He wasn't going to be sorry that she was dead. His gaze hovered over Karina and rather than feel a wave of guilt wash over him he simply felt awkward about what had happened. Arctus folded his arms and shifted uncomfortably in place while he considered the ramifications this would have had if this had been done on home soil. Though...the rules never said anything about it only applying there. He grumbled to himself and chose not to say anything or join in on the overkill that was going on. Was stabbing Krista in the neck even necessary?

Arctus took a deep breath and shook his head. "Well, I don't think she'll be showing up in the sequel." He joked morbidly.

​

The girl had some guts to stand between him and Koa but he didn't strike just yet when she began to speak with Tinarah with some level of familiarity. Torrin's eyes narrowed at the girl as he gave her a look over. She didn't appear to be one of the Chasers...but then what was she? A memory came back to mind when he first met the other group. By the time he had traveled with them to Atlantis they had already lost one of their own. A girl named Aria. It was unlikely but if anyone could pull someone from the brink of death... "Your name...is it Aria?"

The entire time Koa began to look uncomfortable, his eyes darting from Torrin to Aria until her name had been spoken. Rather than answer Aria nor give her the chance to respond to Torrin he leapt at Torrin, darting around Aria to do so. Torrin swung his keyblade upwards to knock Koa's weapon out of his hand and raised his weapon to strike him down where he stood. Koa stood still, stunned that he had been disarmed so easily. Torrin hesitated then kicked Koa down to the ground.

"If you're Aria then something's wrong here. Tinarah never made it back to the others. I'm with Master Atmos and we're going to get you out of here." He spoke urgently even as Koa began to scramble back to his feet. Torrin aimed his keyblade at Koa and shook his head, warning him to stay down. Anger flashed in the younger male's eyes but he made no further effort to stand in their way.

From where Illiana stood she would have been able to hear the sounds of angered whispering deeper in the ship. If she followed its source she would have been able to catch what appeared to be a secret meeting between the crewmen of the vessel and, if she took a glance at them, would have seen that they appeared to be a rough and rowdy bunch of aliens. One of them even appeared to be some sort of vaguely humanoid angry-looking crab but it was clear that the aliens were all intent on listening to the man at the center. A man with a mechanical leg, arm, and robotic eye. A cyborg.

Topside, there was some sounds of water sloshing about. A young man in a black jacket was on the opposite end of the ship moping the deck a little too aggressively while leaving the wooden floor wet as he went along. Other than him and the students who went up there was no one else to be seen.

​

Koa had barely even finished half of what was on his plate before Aria took notice of what was going on outside. It was almost a sense of relief that he felt when she saw it because now it meant that he could finally jump in on the action. "Someone's here. This isn't good. We should get mov--" Something was coming at them at a great speed and, whatever it was, didn't care that it was going to come crashing through the window. "Move!" Koa shouted as he pushed Aria to the side and jumped out of the way as a person came smashing through the window and landed on their table, breaking it on impact.

The person who made their entry was lying unconscious on the floor, covered in bits of food and shards of glass. Koa looked closer. It was Dentro. "Not good." He looked at the direction Dentro had been sent flying from to see Torrin standing there, keyblade at his side. Koa summoned his blade immediately but Torrin made no effort to go on the defensive and merely raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't give your friend the time to get his blade out but do you really think you'd stand a chance here?" Torrin began to walk closer making Koa step back, keeping the tip of his keyblade aimed at him. There was a crunch of glass as Torrin stepped over the window frame and into the building which, by now, had been cleared out by people running to escape from getting in the way. "So where is she?" Koa instinctively looked over at Aria then back at his opponent. Torrin's eyes did the same but lingered over Aria for a moment but he didn't seem to recognize her so paid her no attention. "Tinarah. Your friend there wasn't any help but you match the description of the one who brought her here." Now Torrin's blade was aimed at Koa.

"Hand her over now and I'll only break one limb."

​

Atmos readied another spell to put Zeno down and just as flames began to form on her keyblade she felt a presence behind her. Atmos slid to the side but felt her right arm sting. Her arm had but struck by Chrys's blade and was now dripping blood. Her confident smile vanished and her eyes narrowed at her two opponents. She had overestimated her current state. "Your master took someone from us and we're here to get her back. The same goes for the Atlantean princess." The likelihood of getting them both was looking slimmer now that their plans to steal them away in secret had been dashed. Their chances of getting out at all were not looking so good either.

"Why are you doing this anyway? We should be working together, not fighting."

"The Master knew you traditional wielders wouldn't understand. It doesn't get more complicated than that." Zeno spoke up as he charged forth and swung at Atmos. She dodged out of the way but he kept up the chase. "Go now Chrys! I can distract her!"

"The sheer arrogance that you can do that alone--"

"Excuse me, he's not alone." A wall of ice formed separating Atmos, Dentro, and the newcomer from Chrys to buy her time. A young boy jumped down from a nearby rooftop brandishing a keyblade that looked a size too large for his small frame.

​

"You're in our territory now."

I still play but it'd be cool to one day see the server updated with a later version of Minecraft. Skyfactory seems cool too but I dunno how that'd be implemented on the current server.

​

Koa in front of Aria with a plate of pancakes that were still steaming by the time he took his seat. He raised an eyebrow at Aria as she almost immediately began eating excitedly but he did not touch his own food. He glanced out at the nearby window and saw several flashes of light in the distance knowing exactly what it was. Even now it still amazed him how the master's mind worked to be capable of predicting this happening. His homeworld could have used more strategists like him. Well, actually, even one would have been more than enough.

"Don't eat too quickly. Your stomach will hurt if you do that." He warned. "Trust me, I used to do it all the time as a kid." He looked back at Aria then down at his own food, using the knife and for to begin cutting it into pieces. This felt odd to him considering what was going on outside. He wanted to join in with the others but the master had instructed him to stay put and watch Aria. Following orders were easy but sometimes Light Chaser's orders just confused him. What was the point of the charade anyway? He stuffed his face with food to avoid making some kind of dramatic sigh from being lost in thought. At least the food tasted good.

​

Atmos managed to back away out of the reach of Chrys's blade thanks to the extra speed her spell gave her. From the girl's posture it was obvious that she had gone through more than enough training to keep her from being defeated with ease. At least, not unless Atmos was willing to play her whole hand and unleash her full power. Atmos's eyes darted around to see that the buildings around the area were inhabited. She'd have to be careful not to cause collateral damage just because she had the power. "Hard way it is, then." She muttered under her breath.

"Perhaps you need to cool off." Atmos fired off several Blizzard spells from her keyblade towards Chrys's legs in an attempt to freeze her in place.

"Puns make for the worst kind of humor." The sound of a keyblade slicing through came from behind Atmos though she managed to avoid being hit yet again with her speed, skating out of Zeno's reach. "Not so fast! Allow me to return the favor! Thunder!" Zeno's spell was much less focused than Atmos's and more chaotic, randomly striking the area and breaking several lamp posts to cause them to fall over. Regardless of the nature of the spell, Atmos continued to slide around gracefully avoiding the lightning that came down. The keyblade master smirked as if she was just playing with him.

​

"Uh, thank you." Koa returned the smile as the image of his sister's face flashed in his mind's eye. She would have disapproved of his actions but when he reunited with her he would make her understand why he did the things he did. He wasn't entirely sure how she'd react though. The situation was...complicated. He snapped back to the present when Aria's stomach broke the silence. "Oh right. Breakfast is served downstairs. Let's have something before heading out." He led the way downstairs to the ground floor where the warm sent of bread floated through the air.

Koa took a moment to sniff the air and heard his own stomach growl. "Oh right...I haven't eaten either." He shook his head and continued forth to the dining area that looked like a buffet and was filled with pastries, pancakes, waffles, and all other sorts of breakfast foods--some of which Koa couldn't even identify.

​

Torrin took in a deep breath and looked at the group who stood in his way. He shook his head slowly at their words. "Well I'm still not at full strength. My magic it's...it's not all there. Wouldn't be much of a party."

"What? Why?" Atmos seemed confused over not just his words but the sense of familiarity around the others. She must have been wondering how long this had been going on but there wasn't time to give her the exposition.

"Light Chaser. Just...if he shows up, run. You'll know him when you see him." Atmos looked at him with disbelief but she nodded in response to accept his course of action. Torrin spoke up to Chrys and Zeno, knowing there wasn't any path forward but through them. "We can cut the witty banter. We all know where this will end." He glanced at Atmos and she nodded at him.

"Fire!" Torrin stabbed his keyblade forward and a massive burst of flame erupted from the tip. Just before it came into contact with either Chrys or Zeno it exploded harmlessly in front of the two. When the smoke cleared both Torrin and Atmos were nowhere in sight.

​

​

"Thunder!" Atmos stood alone behind Zeno and Chrys, her keyblade held high as bolts of lightning began to rain down on the two. Zeno rolled out of the way of one only to be struck by a second and yelp in pain as the shock threw him onto his back. The two had spoken of what was to happen if they were attacked upon arrival. Torrin claimed he was still injured from a previous battle and so Atmos, with her experience as a master surpassing his, decided she would hold them off so that he could search for Tinarah. Atmos spun her keyblade in her hand, immediately calling forth Aero magic to turn the tides in her favor. Her feet rose an inch off the ground as the current lifted her and she instantly felt lighter and more agile...and ready for combat.

Most of these I made for Light Chaser. Yes, there's one reused character image there which happened by accident due to the timing of when they were made. Enok's banner down there was made for the same RP as Kord's (Monsters and Men) and...uh...I kinda got lazy for them.

Spoiler

​

​

"Farm girl, huh? That's a pretty humble beginning for you." Well that was one trait that might have made her more princess-like though he did not exactly have many examples to go off of. It surprised him that she even cared to ask about his home but as nice as the gesture was he wasn't comfortable talking about it. At the very least, he did not want to give away every detail. "Well...uh...my world was nearly taken by the darkness. My sister and I were powerless against it and she fled but we got separated. Light Chaser came during that mess and kept the world from being taken before offering me a chance to grow in power so that I'd be able to defend those I love. It's because of him that I can wield the keyblade." He summoned his blade for a moment before making it disappear.

"Once the darkness is gone from the Realm of Light I won't have to worry anymore about losing someone to it."

​

Atmos laced her fingers together and extended her arms, cracking her fingers as she did so. Glyde, Take, Illiana, Chrono, and Torrin were all present and it was time to move out. "Good luck, everyone. Make yourselves proud and, more importantly, stay safe out there." She hid her worry well but knew she could not go with them. This was the only plan and she wished Choma had returned by now so that one of the two could go with the students. But he wasn't here.

"If any of you have disputes amongst yourselves, talk them out. You have to depend on each other so look out for one another." Master Atmos called her keyblade and opened a portal for them to head through. Torrin said nothing the whole time and kept a silent watch on the group of four. "Good luck." Atmos bade them farewell until the last of the four was gone and the portal faded from existence.

Atmos turned towards Torrin, her light expression disappearing. "Shall we?"

The group stepped out onto a creaky wooden floor. The area was dimly lit but it was easy to tell that the group was inside an old ship. Starlight filtered through the cracks in the wooden planks above and aside from the creaking of the ship and a strange but gentle humming sound everything was silent. The majority of the crew must have been on a lower deck working or asleep. Stairs led topside to the top deck where the students would have gained a view of their surroundings. Upon looking around it would have become instantly noticeable that this ship was no ordinary vessel. This ship was not sailing through open seas. No, it sailed through the stars.



​

​

"See? I told you we didn't make a wrong tur--wait..." Torrin and Atmos looked around their surroundings only to find that this place was familiar. Both their blades were already out and ready for anything that came their way. Both of them had to do a double take of their surroundings. They had been here before. It was Eventide Town. "How...?" He was certain he had seen it fall when the Heartless came but here it was looking relatively intact.

"Can you feel it? This world is sleeping." Atmos commented leaving him to look around some more before nodding in agreement though he was still unsure how this even happened. The world should have been destroyed yet here they were standing on it. It gave him the chills to think about what kind of power the enemy had if he could just force a world into sleep to keep it from breaking apart. He didn't want to stay here any longer than they needed to.

"I'm not sure where we'd start looking. The mansion's my first guess though."


"Where do you think you're going, Tory-boy?" A haughty voice rang out and the sound of boots hitting the ground clicked against the brick floor.

"Shi--Wait how did they know!?"

​

"You brought a friend along so why don't you stay put and have some fun with me until my own friends join in? Then we can have a party just like the good old days." A keyblade flashed in the young man's hand as sparks of electricity began to circle the other.

​

Master Atmos smilled at the students when they walked in looking refreshed from the night's rest. "We're ready. Just waiting for the stragglers to arrive before we head our separate ways." She spoke with confidence in her voice. She looked at Take then back at Illiana. "I trust you both slept well? It's good to start with some breakfast." She commented with a tone of amusement on the fact that Take was still chewing when he entered the room.

​

"Light Chaser. Come on, others must be waiting for us by now." He spoke dismissively, not wishing to discuss the matter further. Thinking about it nearly made him wince. "The world you're going to, I've seen it once before. It's an interesting place but try not to get caught up in the excitement. Darkness needs to be cleared out and as long as that's taken care of you don't need to worry about anything else unless it's a Princess of Heart. If they're not in danger of being attacked by Heartless the other residents of that world aren't your responsibility." Mika was gone and Tinarah had apparently been knocked out defending a guard so there was no more need for these students to be taking more risks than they had to. They were still so green. They shouldn't have been fighting this war but there was just no one else left.

​

"Trouble sleeping? I mean it might be because we're in the realm of sleep...though maybe that should make it easier..." Koa shrugged. "As for how he sees you...He's told us before that he can just see a person's light. It comes as naturally to him as breathing apparently. I guess you could say it'd be like reading someone's aura I suppose. He's said that masters can do the same with more training but that's how it is." Koa watched as Aria struggled a little with the bracelet and crossed his arms, tilting his head at her as he wondered how exactly this girl was supposed to be one of the seven. He squinted at Aria trying to see if he could dig into whatever senses it took to see light in order to see what his master saw but...nothing. That's what he saw. Nothing. And Aria.