Private/Closed Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Heartser

[Tailon]

OoC: You know who you are
---
Somewhere deep beneath the earth, a rumble began. It grew, and it grew, like music building, harsh, but melodic. High above the earth, the denizens of the underworld ended their revelry, forced away by the rising sun. As their music, ominous and dark, waned, the earth's rumble reached its crescendo.

From the Bald Mountain, defining feature of the tiny world called "Symphony of Sorcery", Destruction erupted. A spirit of lava and flame burst forth as its magical music gripped the world around it, shaping it into the Phoenix-like form of the Firebird.

The Firebird would rage across the planet for days before word reached a young man named Caesar.

---

Caesar had been sleeping, on a world far from the symphonic, a place known as The Land of Departure. He had been staying there for a short time, under the wing of the local Keyblade Master, Master Renwood, as the time approached for his Mark of Mastery Exam.

Word had arrived in the form of a letter, winking into existence without preamble, and handed off to him by one of Renwood's apprentices. Apparently, some kind of disturbance had popped up around a little world called Symphony of Sorcery, and he was to investigate. Caesar scratched at his head in frustration, slightly mussing up the pure white undercut he kept so neatly trimmed. He had liked hanging around doing nothing for a few days.

Caesar stopped off to thank the Master for his hospitality, then headed out to one of the open fields that served as combination training arena/launchpad, and tapped at the smooth, round pauldron attached to the shoulder of his jacket, summoning his full Armor. Like most Keyblade armors it took the basic appearance of his Keyblade's default Keychain, being mostly smooth, rounded, black and blue except for a stylized, six pointed star for a visor, and a circular sun shape attached to the backplate, which were golden yellow.

He summoned the weapon that had been his birthright, handed down to him by his father, the Keyblade. His Keyblade's unique form he had named "Starswirl" a massive, heavy blade with a smooth shaft, a stylized, six pointed ward, and a sunburst for a handguard, despite its cumbersome appearance he wielded it effortlessly, as though it were the finest steel blade, for that was the true gift of his inheritance.

Caesar dropped the blade, perpendicular to the ground, as it transformed, taking a strange shape roughly the size of a motorcycle, a star shaped platform with a large, ornate seat, and a small cockpit surrounding it, which was retracted to allow him to climb into the seat and take up the two mechanical, arm-like structures he used to steer the contraption, closing the cockpit around him.

He pushed forward on the steering arms, activating the throttle, and jetted off into the darkness between worlds. It was going to be a long couple of days.

---

Caesar's Glider arrived in a world of fire and devastation. The trail was obvious from the air, a volcano in the distance seemed to erupt continuously, and a wake of destruction flowed smoothly from it in only one direction.

Caesar brought his Glider smoothly around, following the trail of fire and lava as it spread and gathered again, burning through trees, grass, and even stone, until he reached the head of the trail of destruction. A massive flow of lava, wreathed in flames, taking the shape of a massive, horrible bird.

Caesar smirked to himself, it didn't seem like anything a Blizzard spell couldn't deal with, abdcame in for a landing ahead of the incoming creature, though he dared not dispel his Armor until he had cooled things down. His Glider shrink back down and transformed back into its true shape, floating into position ahead of him at his command. With a wave and a gesture, the Keyblade seemed to move of its own accord, creating points of cold which quickly grew into massive ice crystals. Another gesture, and the Keyblade swung at each of the crystals in turn, flinging them at the bird-shaped mass, where they immediately...fizzled, turned to nothing but water vapor against the intense heat and power of it.

Caesar's eyes widened beneath his visor as the entire flow seemed to -notice- him, turning the shape of a head to look at him. The massive bird reared back, wings and body emerging from the undifferentiated lava, and screamed at him, launching a burst of magma from its beak like a beam. It was all Caesar could do to summon a shimmering shield of glassy light, catching and absorbing the attack before shattering, sending the potential energy back out twofold as a burst of light, which managed to turn the bird back for an instant, giving the Keyblade wielder enough time to summon up his Glider and take off full tilt toward the sky. What it did next surprised him even more. Despite being apparently made of molten rock the entire bird-creature reared up further, screamed once, and actually took flight, slowly at first, as it pulled the form of a long, magnificent tail out of the lava, but quickly picking up speed as it gave chase. Quite alarmed, Caesar bolted into the fastest possible Lane Between, appearing on the other side instantly, the bird now far behind him, but still on his tail. Confused and frightened by the day's events, Caesar approached the World nearest the Lane's exit, its most prominent feature an elaborate church embedded in a city split by a sparkling river.

 

[Rex]

He was awoken by the bells. As the ringing in his head gradually subsided to be replaced by the bell's toll, he realized that he was lying on cobblestone. He also had a splitting headache. Not to be melodramatic, but he also felt a strange emptiness within him. He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but judging by the number of times the bell tolled, it was either early afternoon, meaning he was in somewhere shaded, or late at night, in which case he could be anywhere. Now that the bell had stopped, he could also hear water. A river, perhaps.

He sat up, and opened his eyes. For any other otter, not knowing exactly about this potential body of water by sound and smell would probably have been an embarrassment. He always was the oddball of his family, preferring fire and iron to water and wood. He was an inventor, and had just perfected his latest creation! But what had he done after that? He put a hand to his forehead, rubbing it, trying to think. Then he noticed, he wasn't covered in soot.

Okay. Woken up in a strange location with a gap in his memory, with a splitting headache and an empty feeling inside. He had also apparently taken the time to clean up from his lab. Perhaps he had had a few too many to drink. Would explain most, if not all, of those symptoms, though his emptiness didn't feel exactly like hunger or sickness. He got to his feet, trying to figure out exactly where he was. His headache seemed to be fading, which didn't quite seem right. If he was drunk enough to black out, and forget the night's happenings, he'd expect to be too sick to stand, let alone feeling better quite so soon.

Perhaps he wasn't drunk, then. Had he been attacked? Hit on the head? He had no idea why anyone would go after him, but sometimes people didn't need a reason. He checked himself over. He seemed to be perfectly fine. No head trauma that would suggest blacking out or memory loss. His calm rationality at the situation he was in surprised him. He had always been a fidgety sort, but here he was, in a strange place with no idea how he got here, logically running various possibilities through his mind. This was probably the part where he'd get frustrated, but he didn't feel that either.

Well, this new logical mind of his told him that he couldn't stand here forever and ponder things. Usually by now he would have freaked out and run to look for landmarks. He would try that, just, without the freaking out part. Right now, he wasn't even sure if he had the capacity to freak out at all. Perhaps he was in shock over something, and it was so terrible he blocked out the memory? Would that explain his lack of emotion? He was still standing here thinking, instead of taking action. He forced his legs to move towards the light.

He was in an alleyway between two sections of raised street. At the end of said alley was a walkway that wandered down the bank of a river. He looked out from the shadows, scanning for locals. There were none on the riverside paths, but on the upper streets he spotted a few. Humans. His species and theirs had a troubled history. Nothing he was going to soap box about, the injustices had always seemed so far away before, and now he couldn't work up the outrage. Still, this was his first time in a human city.

He approached the river and looked at his reflection, confirming with his eyes what he had felt with his hands. He looked perfectly fine. As stated previously, he was an otter. Not a feral sort, he was actually human sized. Bit of a runt though, he had to admit. Though the growth spurt that proved to be his last brought him to somewhere over five and a half feet tall by human measurements, he was still a head shorter than the average otter. His species tended to have long, thin bodies, and while he didn't measure up to the first half of that, his heritage showed in the latter. He was lithe, not very muscular, since most of his time was spent tinkering rather than working, but he burned what fat he gained extremely well nonetheless.

His fur was overall tan, the specific shade reminded him of sand actually. From elbow to fingertip and knee to toe, it darkened to a more proper brown, a color shared by his ears, and the two rings around his eyes. Cream fur ran down his front, from muzzle to tail tip. To go along with his fur, he also had what humans would more traditionally refer to as hair. Short and blond, sticking up a bit in the front, matched by a short goatee on his chin. His physical appearance came complete with a pair of blue eyes. Fur like the ground, and eyes like the waves, his mother used to say. It was a little too flowery for him.

As for clothes, he favored white and, surprise, brown. His shirt was white, his pants brown. Said pants were generally rolled up a little, though they still covered his legs to about halfway below the knee. His sleeves were likewise rolled up to expose about half of his lower arms. He wore brown gloves, which he had cut the fingers off of to less restrict his hands. He also wore a brown vest, which lacked sleeves, and a pair of thick goggles around his neck, with dark lens. Working with fire as much as he did, it was good to protect his eyes. His name was Raymond, he went by Ray. As previously stated, he was an inventor.

His visual examination was cut short by the sound of horse and wagons not too far away. And by the sound of it, there were quite a lot of them, too. He ducked under a nearby bridge, listening as the people went by above him. He wasn't exactly sure how these humans would react to someone like him. Better safe then sorry. Normally, he'd be panicking, caught as he was. Still, he remained oddly calm. He thought that he'd find that distressing, but he didn't. The only thing he actually felt was empty. Really not trying to be melodramatic, that was just the only way he knew how to describe it.

This recursive chain of thought was broken by what sounded like words, directed at him. He couldn't tell what they were saying, or how he knew they were meant for him, he just did. He glanced around, seeing no one. He didn't think to look up though, as a white... Creature, suddenly fell down in front of him, twisting around itself on the ground in an inhuman way. He didn't really have time to think about that choice of wording given the fact that he himself was inhuman, though.

The white thing's appearance did in fact surprise him. He backed away from it a bit, though it felt more like a personal space thing. He didn't fear this strange creature. He was curious about it, to be sure, but it didn't give him a fight-or-flight reaction. It untwisted itself from before him, that wording entirely accurate to the movements it was making, and soon stood before him. Still, it wasn't, well, still. It was moving constantly, in odd twitches and jerks. It made no move to come closer to him, or go away. In fact, it seemed to be waiting for him.

Seeing as it wasn't doing anything, Raymond took the time to examine this creature. It was thinner than he was, though looked vaguely muscular. It had a very large head. Or so he though, until he noticed the zipper. It was a suit of some kind. A white suit with a big hood, though otherwise appeared to be skintight. The suit had no digits, be they fingers or toes, and just sort of ended in bizarre points. The symbol on the hood was strange, three prongs meeting in the middle, before extending as one down to what kind of remind him of a stylized flower, seen in profile.

My liege, I have come to serve you.

These words rang in his head, clear as day. As they were said, the zipper on the hood was undone, though no hands touched it. The hood opened slightly, revealing a jagged black maw. Any other features this creature possessed under its suit couldn't be made out, and, for some reason, it felt wrong for Ray to attempt to look any closer. This strange creature referred to him as its liege, and offered its servitude, completely out of the blue. Ray wasn't sure what was the strangest thing about this day.

"I... What?" he managed to ask. He reached out to the creature, and in a flash of light, it disappeared.

Or, actually it didn't. It just... Changed, and got quite a bit shorter. He actually had to look down to see it. Dressed in a red coat, with a tall blue hat, carrying a musket in its hands. The hat had the same symbol as the hood. The coat's collar was popped, and the visor of the hat was down, all he could see of the creature was its black maw still. Well, that wasn't true. He could see its hands now, they looked... Mechanical? Indeed, so did its legs, peaking out from below the coat. Its joints, with the exception of those of its fingers, were all gears. It also had a wind-up key in its back, which was slowly turning. Instead of toes, its feet were still pointed at the end.

I shall fight for you in the form you have granted me, for it is the truest reflection of you.

He wasn't sure if he should be amazed or insulted by this strange clockwork soldier. He wasn't really feeling either, to be honest.

"What are you?" Ray asked, finally managing to complete a vocal sentence for the first time since woke up.

I am yours.

A little creepy, and not exactly what he was asking. Though, he supposed it was true, given the rest of what the creature had said. Perhaps a different line of questioning would be better.

"Why me?" He ventured.

We are kindred Souls, Bodies who lack Hearts. I was drawn to you, as my greater.

Raymond rubbed his forehead for the second time since he woke up. Every answer this creature gave only brought more questions. It was going to be a long day.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

The Dark Margin was called the “tip of worlds” for it was a vast ocean separating the Realms of Darkness and In Between. Gentle waves washed up on black sand as an ever present pale moon shown above in the eternally night sky. Tall, jagged rocks jutted from the ocean’s surface forming arcs over the steady waves marking the border between realms.

Sitting on the shore of the In Between side was a figure clad head to toe in black armor with silver trim and highlights around every piece. On the warrior’s helmet, the left half of the visor curved upward while the right half curved downward causing the visor to resemble a tilde. The armored figure sat in deep meditation with his legs crossed and his hands cupped together resting on his lap. Also on his lap, under his hands, was a sword-like weapon wielded by only the chosen few: the Keyblade. The warrior’s Keyblade’s long shaft was made of two thick black and white rods tightly spiraling around each other. The black rod continued slightly higher forming an arc at the top of the blade while the white arced beneath giving the weapon its eponymous key shape. The hand guard was made by the black rod curving left and the white rod curving right. Dangling from the base of the Keyblade, known as Boundary, was its Keychain which resembled the yinyang.

“Remember this well Tai. The World is balanced, made up of both Light and Darkness. So many of our brethren defend the Realm of Light so we’ll be the Darkness.”

Those were the words of the Keyblade wielder’s late Master who recently passed away of old age. After a period of mourning, Tai entered the Dark Margin for meditation. He found the quite atmosphere soothing and was able to match his breathing with the rhythmic waves of the dark ocean.

After a final deep breath, Tai rose, the clanking of his moving armor breaking the silence of this otherwise empty realm. That was enough meditation for now. Tai had yet to take the Mark of Mastery Exam and still felt he had much to learn. He decided that visiting other worlds to gain more experience and wisdom would hopefully give him a better understanding of how the World worked. Perhaps then he could seek another Master to test him for the Mark.

Tai held Boundary out in front of him opening a deep black portal. He was told that most Keyblade wielders utilized the Lanes Between when traversing to other worlds across the Realm of Light. Corridors of Darkness however were the most effective means to move about all the Realms. The Warrior stepped through his artificial passage only to find himself blinded by the daylight on the other side, even with the visor of his helmet shielding his eyes.

“Maybe I should have picked a world experiencing night.” Tai mused dryly. He dismissed his Keyblade before tapping the temple of his helmet causing it to dissolve. He raised his hand to shield his squinting amber colored eyes from the sun. This would definitely take some getting used to. Tai ran his hand through his shaggy black hair in frustration then shook his head in a strange attempt to adjust to the light.

Tai looked down at his armor while rotating his arms to get a good look at it. He hoped the armor didn’t give him away as an off worlder. Warriors of the Keyblade were taught day one to protect the World Order meaning no one could know that there were other worlds out there. Tai also couldn’t just dismiss his armor though, he’d feel naked otherwise. While his Master taught him respect and understanding for the Darkness, he also emphasized that the corrosive effects it could have on his heart if abused. As long as Tai continued to wear his armor, he could channel the Darkness without succumbing to it.

The deep booming sound of bells ringing drew Tai’s attention to a large majestic cathedral of the other side of a river.

“Well, might as well start looking around. Hopefully I don’t look like a tourist.” he said out loud.

 

[Tailon]

As Caesar swung down toward the planet surface, he felt the familiar tug at the back of his head that meant a wound in the universe had opened for a split second, a Corridor of Darkness. Because he really needed more piled on today.

He landed in a dark alleyway, away from the bustle of the city's streets, but close as he could to where he had sensed the Corridor, and dispelled his Armor and Glider. Caesar was now as close as he could get to being just another guy on the street with snow white hair and a leather jacket with yellow stripes. So not very close, if we're being honest, but it was good enough for sneaking.

As Caesar approached the spot where he had sensed the disturbance, he was surprised to find not a Heartless, but a fellow human, wearing what he recognized as a Keyblade Armor of their own. Caesar hesitated, unsure what to do, but ultimately summoned his Keyblade and leveled it at the other person, stepping forward into the open.

"Hey! Um, I felt a disturbance," Caesar said to the other figure, sounding much lamer than he wanted to, "Are you alright?"

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Tai had barely stepped out of the alley when a boy with white hair, a stark contrast to Tai’s black, approached him. Tai’s eyes widened when he noticed a Keyblade with a star motif in the boy’s hand pointed at him.

“Hey! Um, I felt a disturbance. Are you alright?” he asked awkwardly.

“Brother of the Keyblade!” Tai greeted in a mix of surprise and excitement. This was the first time he had met another Keyblade wielder other than his Master. He summoned his own Keyblade as if proving his identity to show he wasn’t a threat. Hopefully that would get the other warrior to relax his stance.

“Yes, I’m alright. I’m sorry, I haven’t felt any disturbances. I just arrived here wanting to learn more about the World. I never expected to meet a kindred spirit! So what brings you here? Oh, my name is Tai by the way.” he introduced switching his weapon to his left hand and holding out his right for a handshake.

 

[Tailon]

"Ah, I, right," Caesar said, continuing a theme of sounding deeply uncool that was apparently a side effect of fear, "I got chased here, I guess, I jumped through the first Lane I could get open."

As he spoke, Caesar released his Keyblade in a small shower of sparkles and relaxed his stance, "I got word of something at Symphony of Sorcery, it was a... A bird, I guess, made of lava and fire. Blizzard didn't work and I ran and it- it flew off-world and followed me so I just went as far as I could in a straight line so now we're here and why are you still wearing your armor, anyway?"

 

[Psycho Monkey]

The other Keyblade wielder explained his situation about how he was attacked and chased by some sort of lava bird from a world called Symphony of Sorcery. The encounter had obviously left him very shaken up for he never gave his name nor accepted Tai’s handshake.

“My armor? I just feel more comfortable wearing it.” Tai answered with a half-truth. His Master had said that there were some circles of Keyblade wielders that were vehemently opposed to the Darkness. With his fellow chosen so frazzled he didn’t want to further rile him up if he was a member of that camp. Tai would come clean about his affiliation once the other calmed down some. He dismissed his Keyblade as well in a shadowy cloud and put that same hand on his cohort’s shoulder.

“It sounds like you’ve had a long day. How about we find a place to rest?” suggested Tai. “That cathedral over there looks as good a place as any.”

 

[Tailon]

"Yeah, yeah the church. That sounds like a good idea, yeah," Caesar mumbled,

"Um, my name is Caesar, by the way," he continued, beginning to walk toward the cathedral. "I had been staying at a Master's castle for a few days when the word came in from my own Master, and I don't have any way to contact someone without going back. That thing is going to be here soon, I can't just leave..."

 

[Rex]

Further attempts to question the strange clockwork soldier got him nowhere. It was always happy to respond to whatever he asked, but its answers were always oddly worded and not exactly in response to the question he posed. Raymond had taken a seat on the pavement, still under the bridge where he had encountered this strange creature. Said creature was presently standing at attention across from him. Well, as at-attention as a constantly shifting creature could be.

"We are, yet we ought not be," was the creatures response to the last question he posed it.

By now, a frustrated Raymond would sigh, and rub his forehead. He wasn't feeling all that frustrated, for some reason. Perhaps this creature would know why he was so calm? It did call them kindred spirits, after all. He was about to pose this question, expecting the same strange non-answer he had been getting, when suddenly the creature tensed up.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Two blades of light have entered the realm. They threaten you, my Liege," the creature replied. He could sense them too, if he focused enough on the idea. Two sources of heat, pinpricks in the distance. The creature bowed to him, and said "By your leave, I shall track them down and deal with them."

If he understood it right, the creature was asking for permission to kill these 'threats.' That seemed like a bit much. Still, if the creature could keep an eye on them...

"Watch them, and report back their movements. If they see you, I want you to run away. Don't engage them," Ray replied. A rather sensible order if he did say so himself!

The creature bowed, and disappeared in a cloud of darkness.

---

The Clockwork Soldier appeared on the top of one of the many buildings in Paris, overlooking the two keyblade wielders. His liege had ordered he not engage. Though he wished to do all he could to protect his liege, a direct order could not be ignored. So the Nobody crouched low, and watched.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Tai stopped mid-step.

“Wait. You mean that firebird thing you fought is coming here!?” he questioned the other Keyblader, who gave his name as Caesar. “That’s just great.” he said with a sigh. Tai looked around at the blissfully unaware citizens going about their daily lives. So many innocent people were about to face something that they would never be ready for.

“Be honest. Do you think the two of us alone can face it?” he asked. Caesar made it clear he wasn’t planning to run a second time so that only left them two options. They could either risk breaching the world order by getting native warriors to help them defend this world or they would do this alone and hope they didn’t die fighting.

While he mused about their dilemma, Tai caught a strange scent. It didn’t smell like Darkness, but it wasn’t Light either. It had a unique scent entirely its own. Whatever it was, it was keeping still.

“Caesar. I sense something nearby.” he whispered slowly shifting his eyes trying to find the source. “Let’s keep heading to the church. If it follows us we’ll deal with it then. If it’s just passing by I think we should let it go for now. We’ve got more important things to worry about at the moment.”

 

[Tailon]

Caesar stopped a few steps ahead of Tai, not noticing he had stopped until he said, “Wait. You mean that firebird thing you fought is coming here!? That's just great."

Caesar turned to find Tai looking around at the innocent citizens of this world. Caesar glanced around as well, when Tai asked him, “Be honest. Do you think the two of us alone can face it?”

Caesar thought about it. The best Blizzard spell he could manage had fizzled out against this thing. Before he could answer, however, the other Keyblade weilder alerted him to a new presence, though he recommended continuing forward.

"No, wait," Caesar said, "We should investigate for security's sake. If it's a threat it could become a distraction when the bird comes here. Which way?"

 

[Psycho Monkey]

“No, wait. We should investigate for security's sake. If it's a threat it could become a distraction when the bird comes here. Which way?” Caesar protested. He brought up a good point. Tai couldn’t be sure what it was but if it was something that would cause more damage while they battled the firebird then it would be better to take care of it now. But if it was friendly…

Tai closed his eyes and moved his head slowly side to side while sniffing the air. If they were being watched, he was being careful not to alert the entity that they knew it was out there. He paused for a second and took a deeper sniff.

“Second rooftop on our back-left.” Tai informed. “But Caesar, we should approach whatever that is tactfully. We don’t know if it is friend or foe. If it means us or the people of this world no harm than perhaps it could be an ally in our upcoming fight. Well I think we’ve dawdled here long enough. We should probably get up there quickly in case it gets suspicious of us.” he proposed materializing his Keyblade which he turned into a chariot. The base of the chariot was a round disk with a black and white swirl pattern. Two handle bars, the right black and the left white, rose up to about mid-bicep. The chariot floated thanks to the propulsion on its base.

Tai didn’t need to ask the other wielder if he could transmute his Keyblade into a glider. Outside of the Dark Corridors it was the only means for their kind to travel world to world. Knowing Caesar would be right behind him, Tai lifted off to greet the unknown entity.

 

[Rex]

The Clockwork watched as the two Keyblade wielders spoke to one another. Its presence had been noticed, and its standing order was to flee. It had learned very little about these two strange keyblade warriors. One of them had mentioned a firebird, resistant to Blizzard magic, that seemed to have him on edge. This monster would prove to be a threat to his liege, if it arrived here.

One of the warriors was approaching on his flying key. The Clockwork vanished in a cloud of darkness, reappearing on the roof of another building across the street. It had to know of the two warriors could sense it. It could not allow them to follow it to its liege. It would lay its life down first, had its liege not forbidden it. For now, it waited, and planned. It needed to see how the Keyblade's chosen would react to its changed location.

 

[Tailon]

Tai sniffed around a bit more before he seemed to catch the scent. “Second rooftop on our back-left," he told Caesar.

Tai then summoned his Keyblade Glider, an impressive, black and white, chariot-like structure, and took off. Caesar was somewhat bewildered, but figuring, "desperate times", he transformed his Keyblade as well and followed.

As they approached Caesar scanned by eye, but he only just spotted the strange creature for an instant, a strange little clockwork soldier that disappeared immediately into a Corridor of Darkness. From what he had seen, the creature hadn't appeared to be what his Master had described as a Heartless, which were often dark in color and had no emblem to speak of, while from what he had seen the little Clockwork had been red and blue worth some sort of symbol on its hat.

"What now?" Caesar called to his compatriot, hovering several feet away.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Tai caught a glimpse of the creature he was tracking before it vanished in a dark shroud. It appeared to be a small soldier dressed in a red uniform with a blue hat. He slowly surveyed the city from above trying to see or sense its new location.

“What now?” questioned Caesar riding his own glider. Tai took a deep sniff. It was faint, just barely in his range, but the scent seemed to be coming from a building on the next block across the street.

“That way.” the Keyblade warrior motioned. “Although…” He paused for a second to collect his thoughts. Obviously jumping straight on the glider had spooked it. Tai had thought if he got to it quickly it wouldn’t have time to react, but it was clearly a wily creature, whatever it was. Not to mention the fact that showing off their power like this was forbidden outside of dire circumstances.

“Well, here’s what I think.” he continued having kept Caesar waiting long enough. “While flying is faster, I think we should approach slower this time. Maybe try to sneak up on it from behind if we can. I mean, we still don’t know if its friend or foe so I don’t want to start a needless fight by agitating it or waste time flying all over the city. What do you think Caesar?”

 

[Tailon]

Caesar shook his head, annoyed at his new ally's boldness, "Stealth seems like the way to go, but I can't cast Vanish so we'll have to do it the old fashioned way," he answered.

Caesar slid the nose of his glider into a smooth glide with practiced ease, flying under a bridge roughly in the direction Tai had indicated. Dispelling his glider, Caesar scanned up and down the river as he waited for Tai to join him.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Tai followed Caesar under the bridge as the latter surveyed the river. He also gave the river a quick once over just in case but didn’t detect anything.

“Alright, let’s go.” Tai offered his companion. He moved with a brisk yet cautious pace towards the building the soldier had fled towards. By his detection, the Keyblader knew I was still up there. It must not have realized yet that they were still tracking it. Now came the tricky part.

“What do you think Caesar? Should we walk inside and try to find a way to the roof from there or would it be better to scale the wall?” he deferred to Caesar.

 

[Tailon]

"It can just Teleport any time we try to catch up," Caesar replied, "We should try to keep out of sight and go I'm through the building. Follow my lead."

Having made his decision, Caesar made his way silently up the bank and across the street to the building. Finding the door locked and the place empty, he quietly called his Keyblade and trapped the door lightly, causing it to open with a click.

Inside, Caesar found a small, home with a second story balcony. He climbed quickly up the stairs and checked a window, finding that it lead to the roof, he climbed out and his himself from view behind the slope of the roof.

 

[Rex]

The keyblade warriors were coming. The Clockwork could sense them, to burning pricks of light below it, threatening to engulf the Nobody. It had to lose them, had to get back to its liege. When they burst onto the roof, it teleported again. This time, it was on the river, on a boat. The occupants were quite startled at its sudden appearance. It teleported again, a dark room in the cathedral bell tower, a severe looking man in black towering over a hunchback. It was gone before they noticed it.

A graveyard, a glorious palace, a catacomb, a caravan. Each time it vanished again, creating a trail it hoped would be too complex to find it. Finally, it returned to his master, under the bridge.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Caesar took point this time so Tai followed him into the house, which he was sure they were breaking into, then out the window leading to the roof. The two Keybladers got to the roof just in time to see the soldier teleport again. Tai closed his eyes and began sniffing the air again trying to detect it.

“It’s gone.” he finally spoke up. “Where ever it went, it’s completely out of my range. Sorry.” Tai turned his attention to the cathedral that towered above everything else in the city. It had been their destination from the start. He looked down at the townsfolk going about their daily routine. They were still in danger. The soldier might have left the city but the firebird was still coming.

“Caesar, we still need to prepare for the firebird. You’ve faced it before, is there anything you can think of that we can do to stop it?” he questioned urgently.

 

[Tailon]

"Maybe we should regroup, it seems like the Cathedral is empty right now, for some reason," Caesar responded, beginning to shake off the confusion and fear of the day's events so far. As he made the short walk to the ornate house of worship, the sun was just beginning to set, casting this world still lit by oil and flame into shades of orange, and elongating the shadows.

Inside, the cathedral was lit entirely by candle and lantern. Shadows were deep here, and it was little surprise when those shadows began to shift. It was of course, them, always appearing to hunt down warriors of the light wherever they may be, no matter how inconvenient their timing.

The Heartless, barely 3 foot tall, round headed little figures with sharp claws and gleaming yellow eyes set into the inky blackness of their heads. A pair of the decorative gargoyles also shifted, their carved stone creaking as they brandished an axe and sword, respectively.

In a flash of light and sparkles Starswirl was at Caesar's side, spinning in slow circles near his hand.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Caesar suggested they take shelter in the cathedral to plan their next course of action. Twilight was already starting to set in dyeing the sky a soft orange. Had they really been chasing that strange creature all afternoon? Whatever it was, it was long gone by now so Tai decided to put it out of his mind. There were more important matters to focus on.

Tai marveled at the architecture of the church as they came up its doorstep. From afar it was impressive but up close he could see all of the finer details that were put into it by its builders. Without a doubt it was the most significant structure to the people of this world. The two Keybladers pushed open the tall wooden door entering the long candle lit hall.

Upon entering the building, Tai stopped dead in his tracks as a foul stench entered his nose. Beings of Darkness and Light each carried a distinct scent and while Darkness itself wasn’t that odorous, the creatures born from the Darkness in people’s hearts were for they were bent on destroying light thus represented an imbalance.

“We’ve got company Caesar.” Tai spoke up as he materialized Boundary in a flare of Darkness. He seemed to have been pointing out the obvious as his comrade was already summoning his Keyblade at the sight of several lowly Heartless rising from the shadows cast by the pillars in the hall. What surprised Tai the most were the stone gargoyles coming to life, one with a sword the other with an axe.

He held his Keyblade with both hands over the right side of his chest in a traditional blade stance as he eyed the Heartless waiting for an opening. The Shadows were twitching about warily as if sizing up the two warriors before one leapt into the air with its claws reared back prepared to swipe at Tai. In response he performed a leftward diagonal slash cutting the Heartless in two causing what remained of its body to vaporize into a black mist. The axe wielding Gargoyle took the opening to lunge at Tai who spun around to block the swinging axe with the flat side of his blade. As he pushed back against the attack, Tai deduced that the Shadows would be easy. Taking out these two would be the hard part.

 

[Tailon]

Starswirl swung around in a wide upward arc, striking down a Shadow in mid jump, seemingly of its own accord, but before it could swing down again, it was caught on the stony blade of the other gargoyle. Caesar held back while his blade fought for him, parrying and striking inexpertly, but with enough power to keep the creature at bay as he gesticulated slowly and smoothly, rings of undefined magic forming behind him out of ether.

A renewed swarm of Shadows burst forth from the darkness, forcing Caesar's attention toward them, and weakening Starswirl's defense, allowing the Gargoyle Knight to advance in turn. With a quick cry from Caesar, the magic coalesced into a light green color, and a blade of wind crashed through a large area in front of him easily swiping through the Shadows. However, the gargoyle seemed to care little about the magic, the only indication it had been hit was a small ripple of darkness as the attack faded.

"Today is not my day..." Caesar sighed, as he drew the Keyblade close, so that its movements through the air matched his swings, and met the Knight's blade mid swing.

 

[Psycho Monkey]

Tai pushed Boundary against the Gargoyle Warrior’s axe, neither one gaining any ground over the other. Finally he spun his Keyblade in a circle to push the Heartless’s weapon away, then took a step back for distance. Tai thrust Boundary forward striking the Gargoyle Warrior but did little harm to the creature, only managing to chip the stone.

“At least you’re not completely indestructible.” he remarked dryly. As he regained his stance, Tai felt his hair blow to the side as a dramatic wind passed over the battle field. Since they were indoors it had to have been Caesar using Aero or some sort of other wind based magic. The Gargoyle Warrior made the first move by spinning around with its axe held out. Tai tried maneuvering to the side to avoid the attack but the Heartless simply changed its trajectory to follow him. He was left with no choice but to raise his Keyblade to parry the two follow-up slashes. Behind him he could sense a few more Shadows creeping out of their hiding places. It seemed like in order to win he’d have to use his magic as well. Darkness began to spiral between the black and white tips of Boundary forming an ever growing sphere. Tai held his Keyblade directly in front of him with the attack pointed outward before spinning in a circle firing off half a dozen Dark Volleys. Three of the comet-like volleys tore through the Shadows while the remaining three struck the Gargoyle Warrior doing about as much damage as his regular Keyblade strikes.

Tai momentarily shifted his gaze towards Caesar wondering if he saw the attack. Whether he did or not, Tai planned on confessing his affinity to his new friend after the two gargoyles were dealt with. Hopefully there weren’t any more to follow.