Author's note: Thanks to my betas, Number 15 and Obscene Ninja. I apologize for the lecture within, but I can't be sure if everyone has read Discworld, so there's some information on it so we're all starting from about the same page. I'm willing to answer any and all fandom based questions. Thank you for reading!
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts, and all related characters and places, belongs to Square Enix and Disney. Discworld, and all related characters and places, specifically the Unseen University and staff, belongs to Terry Pratchett. Some phrases come directly from Discworld novels, and I do not own those words, either. I do own most of the books, but not in the copyright sense.They used to play on that island every day, and dream of escaping to other worlds. They would run across the beaches, the sun always bright and pleasant, and enjoy their paradise. They wished for more, for something new, for something magical. They wished for other worlds, beneath palm trees and blue skies. They wanted adventure as they explored their island, before returning home every night. And as they grew up, they changed, and became different versions of themselves. And one night, in the middle of the storm, the shadows came and took them from their homes.
The darkness gave them everything they dreamed of, and turned it into a nightmare. One gave in to the darkness, and he regretted it too late. Another repelled the darkness, and she remained pure of heart. And the last fought off the darkness, and he became the hero of them all. And after travelling to more worlds than they expected, facing more dangers than they imagined, and growing up more in two years than most do in ten, they came home. They didn't want escape and adventure anymore, as they already had their fill of it. Now, more than ever, they wanted peace and quiet. So they remain at their peaceful islands, still dreaming beneath the sunny skies. They don't play on that island as often as they used to. But sometimes they sail out to their childhood paradise, and dream of yesterday.
Sora's brown hair had gotten increasingly spiky over the last few years, so that from behind it looked like a giant sea anemone. At least, that's what his friends found themselves thinking as they paddled their canoes. As always, Sora was in the lead, with Riku, his silver hair fanning out with the wind, close behind. Kairi didn't seem to care about such things, so she paddled with care and ease. This always worked out well for her, since she'd arrive at the island ready to run and swim, while the boys would have to take a rest for a few minutes. Kairi laughed at a passing memory, one that came from a sunny day long ago, as her friends raced each other. It just goes to show that some things never change.
"We're getting too old for this," Riku said as he lay on his back, resting for the moment and gazing at the cloud-filled sky. Meanwhile, Sora fought off waves with a stick, a handful of rocks in his pocket and a look of concentration on his face. Kairi wandered around the beach, picking up flowers and plucking petals from them as she hummed a song to herself. Her chestnut hair was held back with a pink scrunchie, and every few moments, she would stop her aimless walking to play around with it.
"Well, yeah. But we've always been too old for this, right? So this isn't so different," Sora replied in between stick strikes.
Riku shook his head. "Not this time. We're not children anymore," he said, after a moment of deep thought. "And they don't come here anymore. Even Tidus doesn't. Shouldn't we move on like they have? We're not the same as we used to be, so why are we still coming here?"
"It's different for us. This place is important to me. And you and Sora, too. I don't think we can ignore that. Maybe we'll stop coming soon, but I don't think we should be worrying about that now," Kairi said, letting a flower petal go. It got caught in a breeze before spiraling to the sand.
"Yeah, I agree with Kairi," Sora said, whacking at the waves with the stick. He let go of it, and it was carried away by the waves.
"You always agree with Kairi," Riku said as he crossed his arms.
"There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" Sora said. "Besides, can't we just enjoy a little sunshine here?"
Riku shook his head, smiling slightly as he shifted in the sand. "Well, I can't really argue with that, now can I? Fine, fine, no more complaining from me," Riku said. He glanced upward again, at the swirling, gray clouds above and smiled at a private joke.
"Hey, we didn't go that far. You wouldn't be yourself without a little complaining," Sora said with a laugh.
"Obviously. Just like you wouldn't be the same if you had common sense," Riku said.
"Hey! I'm not stupid!"
"I never said that."
"Hey! At least I don't have a knack for moping!"
Riku shrugged, a difficult feat to pull off while lying in the sand. "At least I didn't decide that stabbing myself with a keyblade was a good idea."
"Yeah! Well…I saved Kairi by doing it!" Sora said with faux-indignation. He shrugged, though, and added, "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"A lot of things do. Doesn't make them any less stupid."
"I suppose…but you've made stupid decisions, too. So it's not something that only happens to me."
"Boys…" Kairi said with a sigh as she released more plucked petals. "Isn't there anything better for you to do?" She dropped the rest of the petals, and watched them flutter away. A sandy, graveled path led away and towards the shacks and little cliffs. Pink, red, and yellow flowers dotted the sides of the path, like landing lights. She picked up the right side of her clean and simple skirt, a pale pink shade, and with a little hum, started to follow the path. Every few steps, she'd bend down and pick a flower, and would clutch the lot of them in her left hand. "Would you like to take a walk with me?" she asked without turning around.
Sora turned around, and ran to catch up with her. He walked next to her, and like her, would occasionally stop to pluck flowers, hiding them behind his back. Most of his were red so far, just like his shirt. After a few steps, he turned around so that he was walking backwards, keeping his eyes on Riku. "Come on, aren't you coming with us?" he asked as he continued walking backwards along the path.
Riku shook his head, now sitting up and watching the waves roll in. "No thanks. You want some privacy, am I right?" he replied. Sora grew red from embarrassment from the remark, while Kairi was off in a world of her own at the moment, and didn't hear it. After a moment of stammering and a glare, Sora shrugged. He turned around on the balls of his feet, and continued his walk with Kairi uninterrupted.
Riku stared at the ocean for a while, watching the patterns in the waves. When that was growing boring, and the sounds of conversation from Kairi and Sora faded out of earshot, he began to glance at the beach around him. Kairi's flower petals were being swept away by the tides, and a tiny turtle was trying to escape from the white foam before high tide. The turtle had managed to find a piece of driftwood, and rode it like a surfboard to safety. Riku shook his head, and continued to watch the tides roll in and out.Far away, there existed another turtle, infinitely larger than its tiny cousin on the beach. A gigantic sea turtle, which swam through space instead of oceans. It was known as the Great A'Tuin, and upon it's back were four enormous elephants. Made of gold, iron, silver, and fat, they held a flat, pancake-like world on their gigantic shoulders. This world, elephants, turtle, and all, was known as the Discworld, and it existed on the very narrow ridge between reality and the impossible. This means that more often than not, unreal things happened, the least of which is a flat planet held up by elephants and a turtle. The world bent to the Laws of Narrative, Metaphors, and Belief more often than the Laws of Physics. Which was a very good thing for the Discworld's university students, magical or otherwise.
Magic was more than just an idle theme, toyed around with by everything and everyone. Sure, fireballs were lots of fun, and the temptation to turn someone into a frog was not to be denied. Still, magic was not to be toyed with, not anymore. There were still places that no one dared go to, as there was no guarantee they would return home in the correct shape and with all their pieces. It proved to be more of a challenge to have the power to turn people into triangles, and constantly refuse to use it. That's where the Unseen University and it's ilk came in. Instead of teaching, which was an activity hated by the faculty just as much as the students, they simply tossed the young wizards in the vicinity of a lot of books.
The Unseen University was located in the largest, dirtiest city on the entire Disc, Ankh Morpork. Unspeakably evil things took place, and that's not even getting into the crime of Cut Me Own Throat Dibbler's "sausages inna bun", which could barely be called food in any sense of the word. Poisonous berries were better for digestion than one of Dibbler's sausages inna bun. Even so, his sales pitches routinely fooled people. Usually only once, and never again. They tended to toss whatever was left away, and the trash, in turn, went directly to the river. The river Ankh, which flowed through the metropolis, could only be called a river in the technical sense, as there was more filth, silt, and newts than water in it. It's said that the River Ankh is the only body of water where someone could die of suffocation.
Still, the city worked, thanks in part to the surprisingly alive Patrician, Lord Vetinari. Somehow, under his leadership, the city became a place were people actually wanted to live. He was responsible for the rise and fall of numerous guilds and powerblocks, simply because it made it easier for him to do whatever he liked. By having the Guilds, which ran everything from crime to music to beggars, all hated each other more than they hated him; the city was allowed to actually grow. More importantly, it allowed Vetinari to have a relatively coup free reign.
The city sprawled out for miles, the numerous towers spiking upwards to the sky. Nowadays, these towers were semaphore towers, nicknamed the Clacks, and they relayed messages all day and all night. They made the city look almost beautiful at night, with little golden lights flashing on and off. Still, none of these small towers could possibly compare in size with the Unseen University's Tower of Art, which reached above the entire city as a gigantic spire. There is a rumor that the city grew around the University, and that the University grew around the Tower, the stairs inside long since gone and crumbled into dust.
The University building that was open to the public was the library, which housed books that haven't even been written yet, among other things. Magical books were restrained to the shelves by chains, and expulsion was sure to follow any student who managed to read one of the more dangerous tomes. Of course, with that much magic restrained to one place, expulsion was the least of their worries. Books constantly popped into and out of existence, and the sheer size of the place was beyond belief. No matter how far a person wandered, there was always an enormous glass dome above his head. The layout of the library was constantly changing, being rearranged on the slightest whim.
Words have power, no matter the dimension or magic contained within. Put enough of them together, and the power of the written word does strange things indeed. One of the more important things is that it warps space and time around them, especially in places where reality can be confusing, such as the Discworld. This is why the Library constantly changes shape and size, and why all libraries are interconnected. Even the smallest libraries have thousands of books, yearning to be read, and this connects them to Discworld's Library. It is theoretically possible to travel through the L-space, but if you weren't paying attention, you'd never know it. Also, due to the sheer size of Discworld's major library, the chances of running into someone to prove it are infinitely small. Not impossible, just very, very improbable. A million to one chance, to be perfectly honest. Unfortunately, in obedience of the Laws of the Narrative, million to one chances happen nine times out of ten.
In a relatively isolated corner of the library, a man sat on the marble floor. His pointy hat was floppy, and was currently folded against the bookshelf behind him. It was a dull green color, and didn't quite match his sea-green cloak. His robe was somewhat special in the fact that it had a rather nice hood, and all of it was lined with warm fuzzy wool. That, and it wasn't completely covered with sequins, random mystic symbols, horrific color clashes, or a mutant crossbreed of all three. Rounded glasses were sliding down the bridge of his nose. In his lap was a large book with faint, printed letters in it. Next to him was a notebook, and occasionally, he would scribble a few important notes into it with his quill. On the other side of him was a rapidly cooling cup of tea and a plate with the remaining crumbs of his breakfast on it.
His name was Ponder Stibbons, and all things considered, it wasn't that bad of a name. The book he was reading wasn't that bad either. It could have better language, and a less confusing and contradictory plot, but since he was used to dealing with less intelligent people, it wasn't that much of a problem. Ponder would very seldom read a book like this one, but it's authored date was thirteen years from now and another world away. He couldn't miss an opportunity to study like this.
The book was about memories, and a teenaged boy losing the old ones, to be replaced by edited new ones. It was rather fascinating, although the logic and reasoning about it was off. An organization seemed to be behind these edited memories, and it was filled with traitors, scientists, sadists, and flat-out bastards. Their goals were as obscured as their identities. This book in particular was strange in that it seemed to be trying to tell two stories at the same time, and every few chapters it would switch the point of view. The title was printed in rich, gothic letters on the metallic grey cover. It was called Chain of Memories.