"What was your world like, GLaDOS?" Sora asked, looking at the device in his hand as he lied on his bed.
After leaving Mob's world, Donald and Goofy quickly steered the Gummi ship back out towards space and carried on with their adventure. The mage told Sora to just go rest in his room, and the teen complied. Not without a few audible grumbles, of course. He at least demanded to bring GLaDOS along with him to talk to, not that the A.I. seemed too pleased.
"Why do you want to know that?" The computerized voice chirped back at him. "It's gone, so it's not like you'll see it."
"So? Doesn't mean we can't talk about it." Sora replied with a shrug. "I can just take you back to Donald, if you want."
There was a small pause. "I suppose you're easier to deal with than the duck, Clown Shoes." GLaDOS responded, not seeming all too enthused.
"That's Sora. Not Clown Shoes." The brunette said with a huff, wondering why GLaDOS was so nasty to everyone. She never even called anyone by their actual names! "But come on, tell me about where you're from!"
GLaDOS gave off a digital sigh, and Sora practically felt her rolling her eyes despite her lack of them. "Fine. If you must know, I ran the Aperture Science Enrichment Center and performed countless tests."
Sora had no idea what 'aperture' meant, but it sounded pretty fancy! "Well come on, what kinds of tests?" The teen urged, wanting to learn more about other worlds. They didn't get to stick around with Mob for too long, so he wanted to get all he could from GLaDOS.
"Portal technology mostly. In the past, there was the use of various gels and…mantis DNA." The A.I. explained, sounding displeased about the last bit. "Anyway, we had developed a Handheld Portal Device and after some…issues with a test subject, the world came to an end. I was only able to get what you see before you on a space capsule at the last moment."
Mantis DNA didn't sound very exciting, but a device that opened portals?! That sounded great! "What kind of device was it? Is it like in the movies?" Sora pressed further, quickly realizing that the movies he saw and GLaDOS would know about would be very different.
"Why do you want to know so much? It's gone forever, you know. Destroyed along with the rest of my world." GLaDOS sighed again. "Just after I got rid of her…"
Assuming that the 'her' meant the test subject, Sora shrugged again. "Can't I be curious? That's what scientific tests and stuff are all about, right?"
"There's a big difference between actual tests and just badgering people for facts." GLaDOS said with an annoyed tone "I agreed to come along to catalogue this journey, not answer all your questions."
Sora huffed again, frowning openly at GLaDOS. "I was just trying to talk a bit." He insisted, surprised that what was essentially a robot from his point of view could be so moody! "How is the cataloguing going, then?"
"You underestimate my abilities." GLaDOS started, sounding a bit smug. "I can read the entirety of my world's library within a few seconds. If I wanted, I could write every detail, every step and action anyone around us took, and every word spoken. And it would be very, very easy."
"I didn't realize how advanced you were…but uh…I guess that means it's going good, then?" Sora asked, not having gotten what he considered a clear answer.
Once more, GLaDOS let out a sigh. "Yes, it's going very well. I had already catalogued all that I thought was important within seconds after we boarded the ship again. It's not enjoyable, but I suppose it gives me something to do."
After that, the conversation between the two died down, Sora placing GLaDOS off to the side as he had a nap. The A.I. insisted that staying in the teen's room was better than being in 'that loudmouthed duck's' pocket. As worried as Sora was for Riku and Kairi, he knew that he was doing about all he could, going about on the Gummi Ship to look for them. That, and going to a new world really just took the wind out of the teen's sails, allowing him to fall asleep rather easily.
"Sora, get up here!" Donald's voice rang out urgently via the intercom.
Jostled from his sleep, Sora shot up and looked around. "Huh?! What?" He blurted out, not realizing Donald wasn't in the room with him for a second due to his daze. Not that he was able to tell, but the teen had been asleep for several hours at that point, a rest that he very much needed…
Once more, Donald's voice squawked into Sora's room from the intercom. "Sora! Are you asleep?!"
Rather than replying to someone that couldn't even hear him, the teen shook his head a bit to try and wake himself up before swiping GLaDOS and carrying her to the cockpit. As he got to the top of the ladder, he saw Donald and Goofy looking out the window at something. Glancing between the two, Sora fought back a yawn. "What is it? Why'd you call me?"
"We kinda thought you'd wanna see this." Goofy answered, still looking out the window. "I did, at least…"
Getting into the cockpit proper, Sora's eyes widened as he looked out to space as well. Before them was a world, which wasn't exactly new, but was still awe inspiring. No, what was odd was that unlike before, this world was very close to what seemed to be dozens more! A number of them looked uninhabitable, one of them being covered in some sort of acidic green material while one seemed to be little more than rocks, volcanos, and ash. Another, very small, world seemed to be made only of dark grey clouds with purple lightning streaking along them. Yet another was covered in water, but still had land with red rocks, sand, and even jungles dotted along it.
Gaping at all the worlds gathered in such a small space, Sora looked between Donald and Goofy. "Why are they all bunched together like that? Mob's world and Traverse Town were all by themselves!"
"Beats me!" Donald admitted, tapping his foot in thought as he crossed his arms. "Maybe they're connected somehow?" It was the only thing that made sense to him.
"Ya mean like ya can travel between 'em easily? I think I heard the King talk about worlds like that before." Goofy piped up, scratching the side of his head as he searched his brain for the memory in question. The Knight wasn't quite sure if the King had even said that or if it was something else but misremembered…
As Goofy spoke, a very large world came into view. Frankly speaking, it was a lot more diverse than a lot of the others they passed. It had forests, rolling hills, marshlands, deserts, oceans, mountains along with frozen sections at its north. One very noteworthy section was a part of the world that looked unusually dead and barren, as if someone had set fire to an entire country and left it to rot. When the ship got even closer, it became clear that the world was inhabited, with large towns dotting the landscape.
"Maybe we should go to this one." Sora suggested. "This one is the biggest, so maybe Kairi, Riku, or your King ended up here over the others?" Not too sound of logic, but it made sense to the brunette.
"I do sense the same energy that came from that Keyhole. I imagine you'd want to go there." GLaDOS piped up. "Thanks to helping myself to your ship's own sensors, I can tell that from up here."
"Hey! Who said you could do that?!" Donald demanded, snatching the A.I. from Sora's hand. "And how did you anyway?!"
GLaDOS let out an unimpressed noise at the mage's anger. "I don't need to be plugged in to your ship to gain access to some of its functions. And if you're thinking I'd do something nefarious, don't you suppose I'd have done it by now?"
"Aw, it's fine, Donald!" Goofy said before Donald could reply. "She's just tryin' to help us out! So, uh, where is that energy stuff comin' from?"
"That's a problem." GLaDOS replied. "There are a lot of unusual readings on this world, so I can't pinpoint where the Keyhole is exactly."
Scoffing, Donald rolled his eyes at the A.I.. "Some help you are! Can you at least get us close?"
"I'm sorry, would you like to scan the planet for this energy reading?" GLaDOS snarked, pausing as the mage didn't say anything. "I thought so. I can get us relatively close, but it could still be a way's away. There really are a lot of strange sources of energy on this world." She reiterated, sounding both annoyed and yet somehow excited.
"What does that mean, though? Is that bad?" Goofy asked, not knowing what to make of such vague terms as 'strange sources of energy' which could mean just about anything.
"I suppose you could say there's a lot of…magic." GLaDOS almost spat the last word like it was a nasty swear. "Since that's apparently a thing that exists. And the Keyhole gives a similar energy. Lots of magical hotspots are on this world, I'd guess it's far more normal here than where we just came from."
Sora was getting a bit anxious with all this back-and-forth! With an annoyed groan, he pointed at the world before. "Can't we just go take a look? We won't get anywhere by just talking!"
"Yeah, I agree. The quicker we get down there, the quicker we can find the Keyhole!" Goofy agreed, looking to Donald.
"I guess so. Just get us as close as you can, alright?" Donald demanded of GLaDOS.
"Since you asked so nicely." The A.I. sarcastically replied. Yet, she still did as asked. Utilizing the ship's controls, she activated its teleporter and in an instant, the quartet was warped down to the world below them!
The four outsiders found themselves in one of the nicer, life-filled parts of the world. Around them were large expanses of grass, trees, and immediate signs of civilization with a stone-laid road stretching to the horizon in either direction. To the northwest, there was a snowy mountain, but aside from that there were no immediate landmarks. The rolling hills that went on in every other direction hid what was beyond the shortened horizon.
It took only a few moments for Sora, Donald, and Goofy to realize that GLaDOS wasn't kidding about how much odd energy there was in this world. The sensation wasn't quite like when they were at the revealed Keyhole, exactly. It felt like the world itself was alive and giving off its energy through the plants and even the rocks. Letting out a hum, Donald spoke up. "It does feel really weird around here…"
"Yeah, but not in a bad way exactly…" Sora added on. The energies around them felt unique from each other, like they came from countless sources. It wasn't overwhelming, and it seemed they only really noticed because they were just standing there and concentrating on it. "Where do we go first?"
Looking to GLaDOS, Donald tapped his foot. "Yeah, where do we go?" He asked the device, not even attempting to sound pleasant as he reached out to her for help.
"I'm sorry, I didn't understand that. It was too much like brutish squawking." The A.I. coolly.
Before Donald could blow his top, Goofy gingerly took GLaDOS from his grip. "Aw, come on. Ya can help us out, can't ya? If there's a Keyhole nearby, the King oughta be close to it!"
"Or my friends!" Sora interjected, a bit annoyed. Sometimes it felt like Donald and Goofy only remembered their King and not Kairi or Riku!
"That will do, I suppose." GLaDOS snarked. "Without your ship's systems, my range is nowhere near as large. You're on your own."
Donald snatched GLaDOS back, letting out an annoyed cry. "You mean you couldn't have helped us outside the ship anyway? Why didn't you say so?!"
"Why didn't you ask?" The A.I. smugly remarked. It was clear from her tone she was having a lot of fun messing with Donald.
The mage made a motion like he was going to slam GLaDOS onto the ground…but he stopped himself at the last moment and just stuffed her in his pocket. "Well, we gotta go somewhere!" He squawked at Goofy and Sora.
"Well, maybe we oughta head to that mountain." Goofy suggested, pointing off to the northwest. "It's the only thing we can see, so…"
Sora had to wonder if Donald and Goofy's King got tired of all the bickering that seemed to go on, mainly from the duck, it seemed. "I agree with Goofy. Maybe there's a village near it or something and we can ask around." Someone had to know about the Keyhole, right? Dimple sure did! The teen wished he understood what these Keyholes were for, the three of them having discussed the matter when they boarded the ship. They came to the conclusion that more worlds had to have more Keyholes, explaining why Donald and Goofy's King wanted them to travel about to other worlds. GLaDOS picking up the signal of this world's Keyhole just solidified their little theory.
"Alright, it's settled! Come on, let's hurry!" Donald ordered, starting to walk towards the mountain with Sora and Goofy quickly caught up to stroll on either side of him.
"What do you think all that weird energy is? It wasn't like that in Mob's world." Sora pondered, the sensation still strong, but weaker than before. Maybe it was because the three were now mobile?
"I remember the King mentionin' once that different worlds got different laws." Goofy offered. "Maybe some sorta magical stuff is in the air here. It sure does feel funny, huh?"
No one offered an answer to that. As the three walked towards the looming, icy mountain, Sora looked about. While to many, the world didn't seem too interesting on the ground, it was at least new to Sora. Large expanses of grass and trees like this, with the rolling hills…they just weren't there on Destiny Islands. Not as much to marvel at than in Seasoning City, but still a new experience for him.
The three went on for about twenty minutes when the sound of a struggle reached their ears. It came from dead ahead, past the roll of one of the countless hills in the area. "Hey, I think someone's in trouble!" Sora exclaimed, hearing a man's voice call out in effort from what sounded like combat.
Summoning their respective weapons, the trio dashed over the hill to see what was going on. Before them, in a small clearing, was a man fighting a group of Heartless! The man was certainly equipped for it, wearing unusual blue armor that covered his entire body. Even his face was covered by a visor from the helmet he was wearing. In his right arm was a large sword that was also made of the odd blue metal, and on his right arm was a large shield that too was made of the same material.
There were about thirty Heartless around the stranger of various sizes. Like the pests they were, there were numerous Shadows, with some Soldiers as well and a few Large Bodies. Among them were new types of Heartless, ones that wielded bows and arrows, Bizarre Archers. Some of the Shadows attacked the man, who swiped them away with his large sword. The archer Heartless fired at him, only for him to use his shield to protect himself from the projectiles.
Without hesitation, the three outsiders sprang into action. Sora raised his Keyblade to cast a spell, and when he did so, he felt something odd. Letting this sensation surge through him, he was surprised that ice magic came from his weapon, rather than Fire! The Blizzard spell shot out towards one of the Large Bodies, hitting one of its feet. While this didn't damage the Heartless much, the resulting ice anchored it to the ground as it struggled to get free. Donald shot out several fireballs, destroying a few of the Soldiers before dodging away from some arrows that came his way. Goofy threw his shield with great precision, the attack bouncing off of the belly of one of the Large Bodies. The ricochet then cleared through three of the Bizarre Archers, destroying them swiftly.
Sora was pretty surprised at the new spell that came seemingly from nowhere, but he then recalled how Merlon mentioned that over time, he'd naturally learn new magic. He just wasn't expecting it to happen so fast!
Startled by the sudden help, the armored stranger quickly recovered from his surprise and started to fight again. Shockingly, he wasn't merely a melee fighter. Raising his right arm, a white energy focused on his hand. Thrusting the limb forward, blast of air came forth and scattered the remaining Shadows and Soldiers that were grouped together. This allowed them to be quickly picked off by Sora who dashed to each one, taking them out with a swing of his Keyblade. The man raised his right arm again, and this time a fire spell was used, hitting the partially frozen Large Body in the head, destroying it. The rest of the Heartless went down quickly, Sora and Goofy rushing to the stragglers as the others were destroyed by the spells of Donald and the armored stranger.
Within a few minutes, all the Heartless were cleared out, leaving the quartet panting as they cooled down from the fight. Letting out a chuckle, the armored man looked to the three strangers. "I appreciate the help. Those weird creatures have been popping up all over the place lately!" He declared, placing his sword and shield on his back.
Dismissing his weapon along Donald and Goofy, Sora offered the man a friendly grin. "Hey, no problem. We're used to that sort of thing. They're Heartless and we're kind of experts in dealing with them!" He somewhat bragged, placing his hands behind his head.
Rolling his eyes, Donald butted in. "We've only been fighting them a little bit!" He clarified. "How long have they been around?"
"Heartless, huh? Never heard of those before." The armored man said after a moment of thought. "Experts or not, the help's appreciated. My name is Zamansis, by the way. What are your names?"
"I'm Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy." The brunette introduced, gesturing to his companions in turn, the latter giving Zamansis a friendly wave.
Zamansis removed his helmet, revealing his average looking face along with his black hair and brown eyes. "So, do you know where these things come from? Everyone seems to think they're Zamorak's doing somehow, but I'm not so sure…"
Sora wasn't about to pretend like he had any idea who or what Zamorak was. "Actually, they come from the darkness in people's hearts. They've become a big problem all over." The teen clarified, keeping things vague enough as not to hint about other worlds.
"Really? All over Gielinor? I've mostly been around Varrock and Falador lately, only as far as Lumbridge since these things started to crop up." The armored man explained, concerned. "You guys sure seem to know a lot about them. What else do you know?" If Zamansis was suspicious, he was hiding it pretty well.
"All we know is where they come from, not any permanent way to stop them." Sora confessed. It really made him think about the exact goal of their journey. At the moment, he was just going from world to world, hoping to find his friends. Even if he found Kairi and Riku…what then? At that thought, he suddenly remembered he had to ask! "Hey, have you seen two kids around my age? Their names are Kairi and Riku."
"And have ya seen a King? King Mickey?" Goofy added on, only just remembering to ask thanks to Sora. If Zamansis had been to a bunch of places, he seemed like the right guy to ask!
Zamansis thought for a moment, but then shook his head. "I know a few monarchs, like King Roald, but no King Mickey. What kingdom does he rule?"
Sora realized at that moment that this was the first time he had actually heard Mickey's name. Donald and Goofy just kept calling him 'The King' over and over. The teen really wondered what he was like.
"Uh, well, our kingdom is pretty far. He'd have traveled all the way here." Donald answered, making things up as he went.
The armored warrior paused, as if contemplating something, but gave a nod. "I see. Well, I've never heard of a King Mickey. I don't know about any Riku or Kairi either, sorry."
"Oh, well, that's okay." Sora said, trying not to sound too dejected. He couldn't help but feel down, even if they only asked a single person in this world. The brunette just worried about his two closest friends so much!
"Say, how about somethin' called the Keyhole?" Goofy asked. "It's also somethin' we're lookin' for!"
"A Keyhole? Just one?" Zamansis asked, tilting his head a bit in confusion. "You want me to find you a door something?"
Donald was about to scold Goofy for just talking about something like that…but he then figured if there's a Keyhole in each world, said world's residents knowing about it wouldn't be too bad. Asking around would be easier than relying on GLaDOS, that's for sure. "A really big Keyhole. It's special!" The mage clarified.
"Does this Keyhole do something? Lock something special?" Zamansis urged, seeming a bit impatient. "You guys sure speak vaguely a lot. What's the deal?"
"Well, we don't know what it does, exactly." Sora confessed, opting for honesty. "We only found one, and it was underground. Does that help?" If one was underground, maybe others were?
Zamansis paused, looking between the three. "Okay, this is getting weird. Just who are you guys, and what's going on? There's a lot you're not telling me. Where are you even from? Some other world?"
The bluntness and casual nature of the question really took the trio by surprise. They were pretty new to this, so they never really had their stories straight on how to interact with curious people in these foreign worlds. Zamansis saw right through them, and his lack of surprise spoke volumes! He said it like it was an everyday question!
"What do you mean? Other world?" Sora replied, playing dumb. He wasn't sure if he should've just come clean or not, feeling that continuing the charade was what Donald or Goofy would've done.
"Oh, come on. I know there are other worlds. I've been to a couple! You didn't think this was a secret, did you?" Zamansis inquired, letting out a laugh. "It's pretty common knowledge, especially among scholars and wizards, that this world isn't all that there is out there."
With that explanation, the trio really calmed down. "So, we were trying to hide that we're outsiders for nothing?" Donald asked, a bit annoyed he had to do the charade at all. If it were up to him, he wouldn't bother with it. But he knew that'd just cause trouble in worlds that are totally isolated.
"So, it's really that easy to go to other worlds here?" Goofy asked, remembering his little theory. It seemed all those other nearby worlds and this one really were connected to each other!
"Well, it depends on the world. A lot of the smaller ones are easier to get to, like the altars used in Runecrafting. Very small, but with a device pretty easy to make, anyone can get there." Zamansis explained. "I don't know why you felt the need to hide you're not from here, but you really don't have to do that. No offense, but you're pretty bad at it anyway."
Letting out a sigh of relief, Sora flashed Zamansis a grin as he nodded. "We're kind of new to this whole world traveling stuff. I guess it just makes things easier now, right?"
"Yeah, sorry about all that. We were still honest about a couple of things. Heartless really come from the darkness in people's hearts, and they're actually in a whole bunch of worlds." Sora clarified. "And we're also looking for something called a Keyhole. We dunno what they're for, but we found one in a basement in another world, so I bet they're all underground."
Zamansis grinned, nodding along to Sora's words. "Well, I still don't know anything about a Keyhole, but if it's important, I'm willing to help." He said, putting on his helmet. "If it's something underground, then we should go to Keldagrim. That's where the Dwarves have their kingdom, they'd know better than anyone."
"You'll really help us that easily?" Donald asked, a bit surprised. "We just met!"
"Yeah, but you helped me against those Heartless things. Besides, I was heading there anyway." Zamansis explained with a shrug. "I've heard things have gotten tense there, and I'm worried about my friend Veldaban. If you don't mind, I'd like to check up on him."
"Well sure, I don't see why not!" Goofy exclaimed, speaking for the trio. "If someone needs help, we oughta help 'em, right? Where is this Kelder…Keldaj…uh…"
"Keldagrim." Zamansis said, coming to Goofy's aid. "There's a mining cart we can use underneath Ice Mountain to get there." As he said this, he pointed to the mountain the group was heading to. "Believe it or not, the trip's actually free. Pretty convenient, huh?"
"That's pretty lucky. We were actually headin' towards there." Goofy remarked with a hyuck of laughter.
"Great! Let's go! Never thought I'd actually meet a Dwarf…" Sora remarked, remembering how he read of such creatures in fantasy books as a kid. Or, rather, he mostly looked at the pictures. It made him wonder what things only existed in books or movies back on Destiny Islands truly existed in other worlds…
Zamansis started to lead, with the three walking alongside him. "A good plan, then! So, where are you three from anyway? If you really want to keep things secret, I won't tell…" He seemed a lot more curious than his words implied, given his tone.
"You never really told us about where you're from, Sora!" Donald pointed out.
"Well, you never asked." Sora countered, rolling his eyes a bit. "But I'm from an island, Destiny Islands. Really small, not much going on." He let out a small sigh, already feeling himself becoming dejected. "It's why I wanted to go see other worlds with Riku and Kairi." The teen stopped himself there, thinking about how the Heartless showed up and his world was swallowed by darkness…
The armored man nodded along, letting out a chuckle. "I'd never be able to stay on a single island like that! I need to stretch my legs, you know? That's why I became an adventurer!"
At that, Sora perked up a bit. That's right! Zamansis mentioned going to other worlds before. He certainly looked the type to be a bold adventurer, what with his armor and his sword. "Have you been on a lot? Where have you gone?" The teen asked, excitement creeping into his voice.
"Didn't even ask us about our castle…" Donald grumbled, speaking too quietly for anyone but GLaDOS to hear. The mage scowled as he heard a light tittering from his pocket, one that only he was able to hear.
"All over Gielinor, and to some other worlds like I said." Zamansis lightly boasted. "The names won't mean much to you, but I've been from Lumbridge to Camelot, and even up to Lunar Isle. From Al Kharid and the desert to its south to the Mort Myre Swamps. I've even went into the Wilderness up north a few times..." He spoke about the Wilderness in a sort of hushed tone, almost like it was bad luck just to say its name.
While Zamansis was right, the names meaning little to Sora, but just listening to those names conjured up dozens of images in the teen's mind. Scorching hot deserts, dangerous and dark swamps, and even the thoughts of different types of monsters that the warrior may have fought! "Wow, you really go around! What do you do in all those places?"
It was clear from his body language that Sora's questioning was quite welcome with the armored man, who let out a chuckle. "I go on quests, usually. I've fought dragons, helped find ancient treasures, put ghosts to rest, and even became a pirate! Not everything was so fun, though. I remember having to help with 'one small favor' which became a huge pain…" He murmured, clearly upset by whatever the resulting mess of such a favor became.
Sora's eyes practically lit up. "A pirate?! There are pirates here?!" Ever since he was a little kid, he had always wanted to be a pirate, or at least meet some! "You're not kidding, right?"
"Gawrsh, Sora, ya really get excited about this kinda stuff, huh?" Goofy noted, surprised at Sora's attitude. It was nice, at least. He remembered how dejected the teen was when he first met him, which made sense given his circumstances. Seeing Sora all chipper and excited was a treat!
"I've always wanted to be a pirate! Of course I'm excited! Besides, Zamansis has been all over, that's what Riku, Kairi and I were trying to do!" Sora explained, still looking to the armored warrior for answers.
"I'm not making it up! I've really met some pirates! Nice to see someone so eager to explore. You kind of remind me of myself when I was a kid…but my hair wasn't nearly so spiky." Zamansis joked.
Sora let out a small huff of annoyance. "I'm fourteen, not a kid! But you've got to tell me about your adventures!"
"It'll help the trip go by faster…" Donald pointed out, figuring they had quite a ways to go before reaching Ice Mountain.
Letting out another chuckle, Zamansis nodded. "Okay, sure. I'll tell you a story or two. Let's see…how about…"
For the next few hours, Zamansis told numerous tales of his adventures to the trio. He talked of the time he slayed a terrible dragon, how he discovered a place called the Elemental Workshop, and even his times of piracy at Sora's request. The warrior also spoke of creatures called Void Pests, stopping a powerful warrior-mage called Nomad, a group called H.A.M., about a being called Lucien, and even his defeating of an unusual sounding mage called the Culinaromancer. Most importantly, he gave a brief description of the events that had happened in Keldagrim a group called the Red Axe and its leader, Hreidmar, using corrupted Dwarves called Chaos Dwarves for nefarious purposes.
"So, this Hreidmar guy is changing his own people? That's so awful…" Sora murmured, feeling a growing desire to stop the nefarious Dwarf. "Still, I had no idea there was so much out there, all in one world!"
"It's pretty nice, yeah. And honestly, it's also refreshing getting to tell stories like this. Aside from a friend of mine named Juna, I don't really have a chance to share most of my tales." Zamansis said, practically wearing an audible smile underneath his helmet. At this point, the quartet was about twenty minutes from Ice Mountain, and luckily things had been peaceful in terms of Heartless attacks. "Say, any of you hungry?"
Goofy nodded, speaking up before Sora or Donald could. "Yeah, I sure could use some grub! Ya got anythin' in that bag?" He asked, gesturing to said object.
"You know I do. This bag is actually pretty special." Zamansis answered, stopping to reach into his bag. Sora, Donald, and Goofy paused as well, shocked to see what appeared to be a white void within the bag.
"Hey, what's going on? Why's your bag like that?" Sora asked, watching with mild concern as Zamansis rooted around. It didn't seem like it was anything dangerous, but it was pretty uncanny to look at.
Zamansis let out a small laugh. "Oh, yeah, you'd never have seen anything like this, huh? A wizard friend of mine used a little magic trickery to essentially make it bottomless. I can store whatever I want in here as long as it can actually fit within the bag's opening. Best part is that food stays just as fresh or cooked as when I put it in!"
As he said this, he sat on a nearby rock, the other three sitting on the grass as Zamansis pulled out some loaves of freshly baked bread. On top of that, he got out jugs of water, some cooked chicken, and a chocolate bar! Placing them on a blanket he also got from the bag, the man took his helmet off and looked down at the small feast with a pleased expression.
"That all sure looks yummy! Didja cook it yerself?" Goofy asked, ripping the leg off of the chicken and taking a bite into it. Immediately, he let out a pleased "Mmm!" as he chewed noisily.
"You've got to show me that trick! This is amazing!" Donald exclaimed, taking some of the bread, biting a huge chunk out of it. The mage knew a lot of spells, but making a bag bottomless was still pretty beyond him.
Taking a chunk of the chocolate and taking a small bite, Zamansis nodded. "Oh yeah, I cook. I've gathered a lot of skills over the years. Cooking, fishing, herblore, farming, multiple forms of combat like using ranged weapons and magic, hunting, and even mining and smithing. It's how I made most of this Runite armor I've got on. The platebody was a gift bestowed upon me for defeating the mighty dragon Elvarg." He explained, speaking in a humble tone. "I can do a bunch of other stuff too, sometimes I like to just spend time honing my skills for days at a time."
"Runite? Now that sounds familiar…" Goofy murmured to Donald, scratching his head in thought.
Rolling his eyes, the mage turned to his old friend and whispered back. "It's what your shield's made of. Uncle Scrooge said he found some when he and King Mickey went on their travels, remember?"
After a moment of thought, with a wide grin, Goofy nodded. "Oh yeah, I remember now!"
Not paying much mind to Donald or Goofy, Sora kept talking with Zamansis. "Is there anything you aren't good at?" Sora asked in a good-natured manner, sipping at some water before nearly devouring a loaf of bread in a single bite.
"I mean I'm a novice at some of these things." Zamansis admitted with a light shrug. "Been meaning to take up something new. Maybe sailing? I don't know if that's something I want to end up doing or not…" He shook his head a bit, disregarding the subject. "But tell me more about these Heartless. You said they come from the darkness in people's hearts? I've never heard of that before."
Swallowing a mouthful of bread, Sora shook his head in turn. "We really don't know a lot about them except…they're somehow behind worlds disappearing. My own world vanished because of them." Once more, he felt a sense of melancholy and even guilt, despite having no real way of stopping what befell the islands.
Zamansis nearly choked on his chocolate, eyes widening in alarm. "What?! An entire world just…gone? They're that dangerous?! They didn't seem nearly that bad…"
"We don't know how they do it, but that's what our friends told us. They know a lot more about this than we do." Sora explained, nibbling a bit more at his bread and suddenly not feeling so hungry anymore.
The armored man ran a gauntleted hand through his hair, exhaling loudly. "If I knew this was so serious, I'd have insisted we ran to Ice Mountain!" He confessed, stopping to think for a second. "But hey, you think that Keyhole thing might have to do with it? You said you don't know what it was for, and you don't know how the Heartless take out worlds. Maybe there's a link?"
Honestly, none of the trio had thought of that, looking at each other for a moment before looking back to Zamansis. "Well…Sora's Keyblade can take the Heartless out, and also sealed the Keyhole, so…maybe?" Donald guessed, feeling stupid for never having thought of it.
"I'm surprised it took that long for you to figure it out." GLaDOS' voice suddenly rang out, loud and clear so even Zamansis heard her. The man jolted a bit, looking around for the source of the voice.
"What was that? Does one of you have a Commorb or something? I know I heard someone talk…" Zamansis murmured, looking between the three.
Huffing in annoyance, Donald took GLaDOS out of his pocket. "Just a loudmouth, don't mind her! You're supposed to keep your mouth shut!" The mage scolded, directing the second sentence to the A.I. herself. "And did you know the Keyhole and Heartless were connected?!"
"What mouth? And I thought it was okay since Blue Armor knows we're not from here." GLaDOS said with a blatantly fake innocent tone. "And I didn't know, but I surmised it. Not like you asked my opinion anyway."
Zamansis looked in confusion as Donald let out a small, angry noise and shoved GLaDOS back into his pocket. "What a strange thing that was…" The man murmured before shaking it off. "We should hurry, then. We can move and eat, let's go!"
The four scrambled, picking up the food and water as they started to really hustle towards Ice Mountain. "I dunno if you're right or not Zamansis, but I sure hope ya figured it out!" Goofy exclaimed, eating more of the chicken as he went.
Eating the rest of their meal as they rushed to Ice Mountain, the quartet of fighters arrived there within ten minutes rather than twenty. When they drew near, the temperature started to drop, and the outsiders saw there were a few buildings partially up the mountain. Zamansis lead them towards the structures, gesturing towards the north as he did so.
From the elevated height, the outsiders saw a large expanse of scorched earth, the same one they were able to see all the way from the Gummi Ship. It really did look like someone set the entire area on fire and just left it to its devices. No plants grew, with only the dead remnants of trees acting as the flora. Aside from that, it was just rocks, dust, ash, and cracks within the earth with ominous orange glows coming from beneath. "That's the Wilderness, by the way." Zamansis said in a warning tone. "I don't know how long you three might stay here, but if we go our separate ways, never go there. Nothing but monsters and death…"
Just the sight was enough to deter any of them from wanting to get close to such a location. They could practically feel darkness emanating from the dead earth itself, but none of the trio was sure if it was their imaginations or not. "Point taken…" Sora murmured, shivering a bit, and not from the cold. "Hey, there was something else I wanted to ask. When we got here, the air felt so…weird. What was with that?" He had been so distracted from meeting Zamansis and hearing the adventurer tell his tales that Sora had nearly forgotten.
"Well, a lot of magic goes around in Gielinor, lots of wizards performing spells all over and spots with power like those Runecrafting Altars I mentioned before. I guess if you're not used to it, it'd feel weird. Since I was born here, I never really noticed it." Zamansis explained with a shrug. "Nothing to worry about, though."
It certainly explained why GLaDOS couldn't narrow down where the Keyhole was. With all the magic energies in the air, it'd sort of blend in. As much as this new world amazed Sora, he'd rather find that Keyhole and have it be boring instead. The teen wondered if Zamansis' theory was true, and somehow the Heartless were using Keyholes to end worlds. Dimple seemed to know that utilizing the Keyhole of his world would give him some sort of power, so they were clearly something not meant to be tampered with lightly.
As the quartet climbed, things got colder and colder. Thankfully, the cluster of buildings was below the actual snow and ice of the mountain, so the group was able to get there without much issue. The outsiders stopped to look as short, stout men with beards were milling about the encampment. Carrying boxes, arguing with one another, and one even working on what seemed to be a large cannon! There was no mistaking it, these had to be Dwarves! They didn't seem to mind the cold, some wearing a bit of warmer clothing, but none were bundled up in large jackets or anything of the sort. It was clear the buildings were workshops of sorts, as the hammering of metal and workman chatter could be heard from several of them.
Sora kept looking around, marveling at the new sights as the Dwarves paid the outsiders little note. Apparently people passing through this area was hardly anything new to them. "So, we can really reach a new kingdom from here?" The brunette asked. He just expected a larger, more impressive area to travel to somewhere so important.
"That's right, just a bit below ground." Zamansis said, nodding to a ladder in the ground. "Like I said, the Dwarves of Keldagrim would know about some underground marvel more than anyway. We could see the Oracle at the top of the mountain, but it's just so cold up there." He rubbed the back of his neck with a small sigh. "That, and she speaks in riddles, so who knows if her answer would help. Maybe as a last resort…"
"You'd know more than us. I'd rather go in a cave than on some cold mountaintop!" Donald exclaimed, feeling like this feathers would freeze and fall off if they went much higher.
Nodding, Zamansis went down the ladder, with the trio following suit. Despite going into the mountain itself, things felt a lot warmer than out in the open air. The underground was a series of lit, large tunnels that stretched far ahead. These tunnels were clearly manmade, and expertly done. They all seemed very sturdy without risk of collapsing.
After the last of the group made footfall Zamansis looked around with a happy sigh. "Ah, the Dwarven Mines. I remember I learned a lot about mining here. Had a few bad run-ins with some Scorpions, giant ones mind you, but it helped hone my combat skills!"
Looking about, the trio quickly spotted an opening in the wall with a minecart on a track sitting outside of it. Leaning against it was a Dwarf in a cap, arms crossed and seeming to be asleep. Beside him was a lever, presumably to make the cart actually start moving. "That's where we gotta go, right? Looks a bit snug…" Goofy commented as Zamansis led them towards the cart.
"A bit, but all four of us should be able to fit." The armored man said. "It's not too long of a ride, those carts go pretty fast." As they got close, Zamansis cleared his throat loudly to stir the snoozing Dwarf from his nap.
"Hrngh?! Hm?!" The short man snorted, looking about to see he had company. "Oh! Yes, yes. You four want to go to Keldagrim? Only stop, so not like you got much choice."
"That's right, the four of us. Think we can squeeze into this cart?" Zamansis said, gesturing to the vehicle.
The Cart Conductor looked the quartet over, humming in thought. "Well…the steam engines involved are pretty strong…so it should be okay." The Dwarf guessed with a nod. "You want to leave now, then?"
"Yeah, right away! We really need to get to Keldagrim!" Sora insisted as the Cart Conductor opened the metal door, allowing the group to pile into the cart. It really was pretty snug, but they were just able to squeeze into it.
"Alright, the trip'll be pretty quick, so just hang on, alright?" The Cart Conductor instructed, pulling the large lever beside him with a grunt of effort.
Instantly, the cart started to roll, heading towards the opening ahead. Sora, Donald, and Goofy braced themselves, ready for the trip ahead of them, hoping to find some answers within the Dwarven Kingdom of Keldagrim…
Deep in the Wilderness, there was another visitor to the world of Gielinor. A blonde man in his early twenties with striking blue eyes and a tattered red cape. His blue outfit was adorned with numerous belt along with a single metal shoulder pad on his left side, a metallic claw covering the same side's hand.
The outsider wielded a massive, bandaged sword, needing two hands to properly use it. Before him was a large, furious Green Dragon that was eyeing the young man as its next meal. Snarling loudly, the creature swiped at its opponent, who parried its sizable claw away with a single swipe of his sword. Frustrated further, the dragon's mouth dripped with fire and embers onto the scorched ground beneath its maw.
Anticipating what was coming, the young man swiftly dodged to the side as a pillar of intense flames shot out at where he had just been a moment prior. Untouched by a single bit of the flame, the blonde fighter dashed towards the Green Dragon at a high speed! While the creature tried to bite its foe in half, it wasn't fast enough. The man swung his hefty sword right across the beast's neck, dropping it instantly.
Letting out a light sigh, the man stood up straight, looking at the other five identical dragon corpses all around him. "It's a start…" He murmured to himself, his tone cold and almost emotionless. "Not strong enough, though. Not if I'm going to fight him…"
"Oh, yes, that's for sure! Green Dragons are just about the weakest dragons out there!" A jovial, male voice called out. It didn't seem to have any real origin, sounding more like it came from everywhere around the man at once.
Getting his sword ready, the young man looked around, surprised to hear someone else out in the wasteland. All he had seen of the Wilderness was monsters of all swords. "Who is that? Come out and show your face." He demanded, keeping his composure even in this odd situation. The man suddenly sensed a presence behind him and turned to see a cloaked figure! It was as if he appeared out of the shadows, as there was nowhere to hide in the immediate area.
"If you insist! Hard to talk to someone you can't see, I suppose." The cloaked figure said, his hood failing to hide an unusual, skeletal face. "You know, most humans are smart enough to avoid the Wilderness. I guess you aren't too bright, huh?"
Not deterred by the man's appearance or insults, the young man simply kept his eyes on him. However, he was poised to dodge or strike if the situation called for it. "Who are you? Why were you watching me?"
The skullfaced man sighed, shaking his head. "Not even paying attention…" He murmured, purposefully just loud enough for the blonde man to hear. "It's unusual for humans to be out here, so I was curious. And you're right, you'll need to grow stronger. Green Dragons are for novice warriors. Did you even try facing the King Black Dragon? I bet not!"
"Okay, so you think I'm too weak still. Is that all?" The man asked, still poised for combat despite the calm, friendly tone of the stranger.
"Of course not! I'm going to help you! I can sense a darkness in your heart, and you want to combat this foe of yours. I can help you with all these things, even help you find the man!" The cloaked figure assured.
"Why should I trust you? What's your name?" Once more, the blonde man didn't move from his combative position, clearly not sure what to make of the unusual person before him.
The skullfaced figure let out a noise of annoyance. "You know, you're supposed to give your name when demanding someone else's! No manners, but fine. I'm Sliske, and I have a certain…knack for shadows and darkness. Like I said, I can sense there's quite a bit of it in your heart. Do something for me, and I'll help you. How's that sound?"
At that, the man paused to think for a few tense moments. After a bit, he lowered his sword, but kept his distance from Sliske. Apparently the strange man's offer was just too tempting to blow off entirely. "…Fine. We can talk details. And if you must know my name, it's Cloud Strife."
A/N: Glad I didn't have nearly as big of a hiatus as last time. And a new world after what feels like absolutely forever. It really made me feel kind of nostalgic to base something off of RuneScape, an MMORPG I've played on and off for over fifteen years. So I sort of dumped a lot of little references such as the literal joke of a skill with sailing and numerous quests. I decided to give the player character of the game, the future World Guardian, a name and a face. It'd feel too weird for me to make him never take his helmet off or give his name, so I made one up for him. He really needs to upgrade his armor, though, but I like the idea of it upgrading in possible future appearances of this world. Also, I was originally going to have Goofy's shield be made of Vibranium or Adamantium, but in part of cutting out most Disney stuff, I want to avoid Star Wars or Marvel things too, even small things like Goofy's shield material. Fox, however, has such a wider and diverse umbrella that it something owned by it may show up at some point down the road. No idea for certain, though.
Also, I know I made Sora really splurge a lot here, but I always found it odd how little Sora seems to marvel at the outside worlds he goes to. Him stopping to gawk at every little thing would be annoying, I know, but outside of like, the Doorknob, he only has very soft reactions to the oddities he encounters for the most part. Him meeting a seasoned adventurer that's traveled to other worlds, and met pirates, was something I wanted to really set him over the edge and make him excited. He won't do this in every world, though. I was also going to make Cloud appear in a far later world, but decided to make him appear sooner since he appears in one of the first few worlds in the game itself. Sliske works well as a Hades stand-in so it works pretty well. I also have the idea that people that traveled to other worlds are okay for the trio to reveal their secret to. Zamansis also helping with the urgency of the Keyholes by correctly guessing they're somehow linked to how the Heartless can end worlds which helps.
One last thing is all the nearby worlds to Gielinor are indeed other worlds/planes from the game. Since they're linked, they're near each other. For those curious about the ones I mentioned specifically, in order, they're Yu'biusk, Freneskae, and the Killerwatt Plane for something more obscure.