"You know, it feels good to be here again," Sora said as he lazily stretched his arms into the air.
The group walked through the familiar plaza of the First District of Traverse Town. Not much had changed, save for a few more colourful residents occupying the streets. One of them in particular stuck out to them; a white, fluffy little creature with a red pom on its head and a penchant for calling people 'kupo'.
Akira was in the middle of getting a scolding from one of them for touching its pom when Yuffie approached them, waving a greeting to them. "Hey, guys! How goes the adventuring?"
Sora put his hands behind his head, ignoring the commotion behind him. "Great! We've been to three worlds so far and found some strange gummi blocks. We thought we'd ask Leon what he thought about them."
"Leon's probably at the underground cavern. He trains there often. You can get there from the channel in the alleyway, but you might need to bust a path through the iron bars," she explained.
"Thanks, Yuffie!" Goofy said with a smile.
Yuffie nodded. "No problem! So, uh… what's going on there?"
She pointed to the argument unfolding behind them. The little creature rapidly flailed its arms as it tried to get its point across to the stubborn girl.
"How would you like it if someone touched your pom, kupo?"
"I don't have a pom!"
Donald let out an ear-piercing quack, effectively silencing the argument. The fluffy creature floated away in a huff while Akira slumped her shoulders, exasperated. "Would you take this seriously?" he quacked angrily.
"But he was being so rude!" she retorted.
"I don't wanna hear it!" he snapped as he grabbed her arm and dragged her across the plaza amid her complaints of the little creature's discourtesy.
Sure enough, the entrance to the cavern was on the other end of the waterway connected to the alley, which needed a little brawn on their part to smash through. They waded through the waters of the canal until they caught a glimpse of Leon swinging his sword on the dry part of the ground, Aerith watching him train from further away.
"Hey Leon! Hey Aerith!" Akira greeted as they stepped out of the murky water, shaking their feet in an attempt to dry them.
Aerith smiled sweetly at them. "What brings you back to Traverse Town?"
Sora spoke as Donald pulled out the two gummi blocks they had collected during their travels. "We found some gummi blocks while we were in other worlds and were wondering what we should do with them. This orange one fell out of a keyhole behind a door's –"
"You found a Keyhole?" Leon interrupted, swinging his gunblade over his shoulder.
"Yeah," Sora said with a nod, "And both times my Keyblade shot out this weird light, followed by a locking sound."
Aerith closed her eyes. "So, you locked the Keyholes? Good."
"Are these 'Keyholes' important?" Akira asked.
"Every world among the stars has a Keyhole," Leon explained, "And each one leads to the heart of that world. There must be one in this town as well."
"What do you mean?" Sora questioned.
"It was in Ansem's reports," Aerith answered.
Leon crossed his arms. "The Heartless enter through the Keyhole and do something to that world's core."
"So, what happens to that world?" Sora asked again.
Aerith solemnly shook her head. "In the end, it disappears."
"What?!" the group cried in disbelief.
"That's why your key is so important," Leon said, keeping his calm amidst their small outburst.
"Please lock the Keyholes," Aerith pleaded, "You're the only one who can."
"I don't know…"
Sora lowered his gaze as he stared at the weapon in his hand. He felt honoured to be chosen as its master, but he never asked for all the responsibilities that went along with it. It was simply thrust into his hands without any consent of his own.
"Seeing other worlds will probably serve you well," Leon said, uncrossing his arms.
"Leon's right. We've gotta find your friends! And King Mickey too!" Goofy said.
"Wherever they are, they're waiting for us, Sora," Akira said with a smile.
Sora nodded, convinced. "I guess you're right… Okay!"
Leon smirked as he ran his fingers through his hair. "As for your gummi blocks, you should ask Cid. He should know."
Cid was exactly where they imagined he would be. They greeted him as they entered his accessory shop, the roar of the fire in the fireplace giving the shop a warm and inviting glow.
"Hey, kids! What brings you four back here?" he asked as he flicked his nose.
Sora made the executive decision to ignore his casual use of the word 'kids' around them as Donald pulled out the gummi blocks they had found once more. Cid almost dropped the tobacco stick he had in his mouth in shock. "Hey, hey! Well if it ain't a gummi block!"
He hungrily took the blocks from Donald's hand, excitedly examining each one like a kid with a present. The group shrugged at each other in confusion; who would have thought this honest shopkeeper had such a passion for aircrafts?
"What's this one for?" Goofy asked.
Cid almost fell over in shock. "You're kiddin' me! You're flyin' a gummi ship and you don't know nothin' about navigation gummis? Bunch of pinheads. Interspace ain't no playground."
Sora crossed his arms. "There's a lot we don't know. So what! We have to use the gummi ship to go to other worlds. We don't have a choice."
Cid scratched his head, feeling a pang of guilt. "Whoa, easy, I didn't know. No hard feelings, all right? I guess I could lend y'all a hand, then." He sighed as he watched the now silent group. "What you brought me was a navigation gummi. Basically, with navigation gummis, you can go to new places. You want one on your ship, right?"
The four of them looked at each other before nodding as one, seeming slightly confused at all this new information. Cid chuckled; it's a good thing he was around to take care of their ship. "Okay, I'll install it for you," he said while scratching his nose, "But I got this thing I gotta go deliver first."
"What do you need to deliver?" Sora asked.
Cid reached below the counter, pulling out a worn and tattered book. "Just this book. It's real old. When the guy brought it in, it was practically falling apart; too beat up to restore it to the way it was. But overall, I did a decent job puttin' it back together," he said with a proud grin, "Anyway, you mind deliverin' it for me? It's the old house past the Third District. Look for a big fire sign."
Sora nodded as he reached out his hands. As Cid handed the book over to him, a loud bell rang through the district, its deafening sound almost shaking the accessory shop.
"Huh," Cid said in a curious tone as he watched the lamp shudder on the ceiling, "The bell at the gizmo shop is ringing... That's strange. Darn thing hasn't rang in years. Well, forget about it for now. Oh, and when you're done delivering that book, stop by the house in the Third District. I'll be there."
"Is this it?" Sora asked, pointing to a strange door.
They had followed Cid's instructions and made their way towards the Third District, but the 'big fire sign' clue was still a mystery to them; that is until Sora found a door hidden in a dark corner with an odd painting of a fireball on it.
"You suppose this is the door Cid was talking about?" Goofy asked, scratching his chin as Sora attempted to slide the door open, but to no avail.
Akira sighed. "If we need to cast Fire on it to open it, I'll be pretty disappointed."
Sora stepped back as Donald released a small fire ball from his staff. The emblem suddenly lit up in a soft red glow as the door released itself from the ground, rolling upwards into the wall and revealing a dark passage to another area.
"They weren't even trying to be subtle," she said as she rolled her eyes, following Sora into the opening with Donald giggling at her side.
Secluded among the dark passage behind the not-so-secure fire door stood what seemed to be the remnants of a small house atop a massive island in the middle of a lake. The four of them hopped on the stone trail leading up to the island, taking care not to fall as some of the stones began shifting back and forth as if they had a mind of their own. The welcome sign in front of the house was missing some pieces and the front door refused to open no matter how hard Sora tugged at it.
"It doesn't look like anyone is home," Akira said, peering into the unlit house through the window.
"Then how are we supposed to deliver this book?" Donald asked impatiently, tapping his foot on the ground.
"Hey, guys!" Goofy called from behind the house, "I think I found a way in!"
The three scurried to their comrade's side to find a massive hole on the house's side, bricks laying every which way on the ground with nothing but a flimsy cloth curtain covering the entrance. Whoever lived here obviously harboured very little value in home security. Sora shrugged his shoulders and walked in with his friends following close behind.
The interior seemed just as barren and desolate as the outside. The entire room was empty, save for a single raised platform in the centre. It must have been uninhabited for quite a long time; Donald and Goofy were surrounded by pockets of dust the moment they took a few steps into the house. The group slowly tip-toed around the room in an effort to limit the amount of dust they kicked up, examining every crack in the floor and every stain on the walls for any kind of clue.
"There's something about this musty place…"
Sora blinked twice. He was certain the voice he had heard sounded nothing like Akira's, but no one else stood beside him…
He watched in surprise as a familiar young teen slowly paced forward into the room, her arms placed behind her back like she always used to have them.
"It reminds me of the secret place back home, where we used to scribble on the walls," Kairi said in wonder as she passed beside a curtained window. "Remember?" she asked him with a smile.
Sora couldn't differentiate between reality or illusion; all he could do was reach out to his lost friend and attempt to speak amidst his cracking voice. "K-Kairi?"
He felt a hand on his shoulder and snapped back to reality. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, but Kairi was no longer there. Maybe he really had imagined everything…
He turned to face Akira, who watched him with a concerned gaze as he spoke. "…Sorry."
"Kairi."
"Huh?" he asked, perplexed.
"You said 'Kairi'," she said firmly.
Sora dropped his gaze to the ground with a pained expression on his face; he knew that image of Kairi wasn't real, yet it invoked so many feelings of sadness within him. Akira felt the pain in his heart from the look in his eyes, but she said nothing. Unlike Sora, she rarely knew the right words to say when her friends were down. All she could offer was an encouraging hand on the shoulder…
"Well, well… You arrived sooner than I expected."
Akira dropped her hand as Sora straightened his posture. Donald and Goofy joined them to greet the new stranger by the door, a most peculiar-looking old man. He had a long white beard and wore blue magician's robes. The pointed hat on his head solidified their assumptions that he was a mage of sorts.
"You… knew we were coming?" Sora asked.
"Of course!" the old man said merrily, stroking his beard, "My name is Merlin. As you can see, I'm a sorcerer. I spend much of my time traveling, and it's good to finally be home. Your king has requested my help, you see!"
Donald and Goofy clapped their hands to their mouths, looking at each other with excitement in their eyes. "King Mickey?"
"Yes, indeed!" Merlin confirmed, "You must be Donald and Goofy. And you two are?"
Sora cleared his throat, still reeling in surprise. "I'm Sora, and this is Akira."
"Ah," he responded as he gazed at Sora, "So, you've found the key."
"We did," Donald responded, "But what did the King ask you to do?"
Merlin snapped out of his daze and shook his head. "Ah yes! Just a moment."
Merlin picked up his bag from the entrance and climbed atop the raised platform. He pulled what looked like a magic wand out of his billowing sleeve and popped open his bag. The others watched curiously as he began to dance, wondering what brilliant trick he planned to pull off.
As Merlin danced and flicked his wand, several small objects floated from his bag in a line, slowly growing bigger and bigger as they floated around the room. Amidst the dust that flew around the room, there were desks and chairs, books and dressers, and even a tea set. Merlin completed his dance with a twirl, dropping all the furniture into their respective spots.
The room looked miles above the empty shack it was before. The ceiling lamp was lit and illuminated the entire room; the desks and books arranged themselves neatly against the walls along with a feather bed. The raised platform had a beautiful little tea table with a porcelain tea set and surrounded by plush chairs. The four friends gazed at the room with mouths agape, taking in the striking new scenery.
"There, much better," Merlin said with a smile, "Now, where were we?"
The group approached him atop the elevated platform, still at a loss for words. Merlin chuckled at their bashfulness. "Come now, no need to be shy! The King asked me to train you in the art of magic. We can start whenever you have a free moment, though it seems you have already begun your studies." Merlin adjusted his glasses as he examined the four of them once more, as if he was assessing their magical prowess through his eyes alone.
Donald cleared his throat. "I've been teaching them!"
Merlin nodded, staring at Sora. "Yes, yes, I see. Marvellous work, Donald. Though, Sora could use some more practice."
Sora slumped his shoulders and sighed. Akira chuckled at his slight misfortune as Merlin switched his gaze over to her.
"I see Donald has been teaching you well, though you lack a more diverse repertoire of spells," Merlin concluded as he stroked his beard once again, "Excellent. I can arrange some simple courses for all of you. Of course, there is no experience more valuable than the kind you gain on the battlefield but do return here every so often, and I would be delighted to train you."
"Thank you, Merlin!" Goofy said happily.
"Oh, right!" Sora exclaimed as he pulled out the book Cid had given him, "Cid wanted us to deliver this book to you."
Merlin squinted at the book he had taken from Sora's hands. "Ah yes… So, Cid asked you to bring this. Thank you. You know, this book isn't mine," he said with a chuckle as he adjusted his glasses, "Somehow it found its way into my bag one day. It was such a curious book, I asked Cid to repair it for me. Well, I guess I'll put it here somewhere, for now." He walked over to the nightstand beside the bed and set the book down. It easily blended in amongst the plethora of books that were strewn around his bed.
"Thank you, my boy," Merlin said as he approached them once more, "Now, you'd best go see Cid before going anywhere else. I assume he must be waiting for you."
"Yeah, he said in the house in the Third District," Goofy said.
"Well, then, hurry along! That man can be quite the grouch," Merlin said rolling his eyes. Sora cocked his head to the side. It seemed Merlin and Cid had quite the history.
"Oh, just a moment," Merlin called as the group began to leave, "Young lady, what kind of staff are you using? Although spellcasting does mostly rely on the mage themselves, a mediocre weapon will only take you so far."
Akira quickly looked at Donald before approaching him once more, wondering what kind of staff the old wizard was expecting. She summoned her staff and gingerly held it up with both hands for him to examine, half expecting a snarky comment to ring through her mind. But her staff once again remained silent, much to her dismay but not at all surprising.
"Goodness," Merlin said in surprise, squinting at the blade as he adjusted his glasses, "This is quite a staff. Where did you procure it, my dear?"
Akira gulped. "I didn't get it anywhere. It... came to me." She hoped with all her heart that her nervous expression didn't tip them off to the voice in her head that came along with this regal staff.
"Do you know what it is, Merlin?" Goofy asked.
"Yuffie kind of gave us an idea, but she said it was from some old story," Sora mentioned.
"I see…" he said softly, still examining the staff, "Then, it cannot be…"
"Huh?" Akira asked, blinking, "Did you say something, sir?"
Merlin shook his head as he raised himself once more. "Nothing, my dear. Well then, it is a fine blade and a fine tool for spellcasting. Keep practicing, and you will get the hang of it in no time. And that goes for all of you as well!"
Sora and Donald gave a salute to the wizard, a silent promise to keep training. The wizard chuckled at their silly antics. "Now, run along. Before Cid really gets upset."
The group gave their promise to return soon to practice their skills before bidding the kind wizard goodbye, leaving the house through the same hole they had entered from. Oddly enough, the front door was still locked.
"It's a shame he couldn't tell us anything about your staff, huh?" Sora said casually as they watched Donald slip and fall into the lake when the stone decided to move beneath his feet. They still weren't certain whether the moving stones were Merlin's doing or some other devious act of witchcraft, but they chose not to ask too many questions on the matter, lest their curiosity come back to bite them.
"Y-yeah," she said amidst the duck's angry quacks and splashing.
She watched Sora and Goofy sprint towards the flailing duck, helping him to safety as she hopped on the stones to join them. She didn't expect to find too many answers about her new weapon or why she had it, but something Merlin had said still stuck with her and filled her mind with so many questions.
"Then it cannot be..."
Did he come up with some idea, only to discard it when he realized it wouldn't work? Did he know what it was, but elected not to share it? Did he speak a string of words just for the sake of saying something even though he didn't have any idea at all?
"What are you exactly?" she whispered as she followed her friends to the lake's shore.
She had come to expect receiving no response.