One great thing about The Gummi Ship gifted by Queen Minnie is that as it was almost the size of a small house one with just enough rooms for a group of three to travel comfortably, although now that they had four at first it seemed like that might cause an issue. But Cloud needed no such room of his own to sleep as they all found out when the three woke up the next day and saw him just leaning against a random wall sleeping while standing up. It certainly made for a humorous sight in the morning and after breakfast, the four were seated and traveling the cosmos in search of their next World. "Why would you even sleep that way, it looks uncomfortable." The boy asked his new teacher.
The man with a shrug explained. "Standard procedure for Soldier Training, during the War it was expected at least someone would sleep like this as a way to stand guard and be ready to fight just in case the enemy attempted a surprise offensive."
That got Sora's attention, he didn't know much about Cloud or even where he came from. "War?" The curiosity oozing from his voice and despite himself, the young man couldn't help but smirk. It was nice to be around someone naive about such things, the battle, the bloodshed, and the death that often occurred he could see Sora had no real idea on such things. It was like a breath of fresh air compared to the many others he had met these recent years.
Figuring the kid could use a brief history lesson Cloud closed his eyes remembering times when things were simpler. "I come from the World of Hollow Bastion, you might have heard of it since that's where Maleficent currently resides." At seeing the raised eyes of the trio he surmised they did not know that part. "Long before she arrived it was a beautiful place ruled by a man known as Ansem The Wise our King who even before I was born had saved the World from a mad scientist named Hojo who plotted to take over using monsters he created which is how both Soldier our Military Program and SeeD The Police Force of the World were created. I had been promoted to Solider right before she attacked our home and for a few years we did everything we could to defend it against that Witch." His stoic tone now taking on an edge of bitterness. "Even then it wasn't enough, I lost my home, my family, and even my best friend during that War."
Sora found himself shocked, he knew Maleficent was a villain but had no idea about the sheer destruction she had caused. It only strengthened his resolve to stop her from doing that to any more Worlds. "Well, then I guess that means we'll need to make sure I'm good and ready to face her." Just then they came upon another World one that looked like nothing but forest. Donald went to move past it but Sora protested. "We can't just leave Riku and Kairi could be down there for all we know." And for a moment the two began to fight over the controls.
That is until Cloud stepped in shoving both away having no desire to crash land or even worse go out of control in space. "Let's settle this with a simple vote." It ended in a 3-1 majority favoring Sora's side as Goofy wanted to just help his friend and the blond swordsman saw this jungle as a good chance to help train the boy. With a huff, Donald began to pilot the ship down grumbling about how they were wasting time.
Meanwhile, Larxene and Kairi strolled down past trees after being given directions from Lazy Susan. "You think for an apparently popular tourist attraction the guy would build it somewhere not in the middle of the woods, that's what I'd expect from a recluse who wanted to hide from the World." The blond considered wondering if maybe this Stan Pines was hiding something important.
Kairi hearing her friend's theories rolled her eyes. "Or maybe he just wanted peace and quiet when off the clock, not everything has some super-secret agenda." She got the feeling Larxene was sort of paranoid or at least extremely cynical always trying to find the worst in people. Heck, she even made Riku look optimistic by comparison which was a bit concerning.
At hearing that the antenna-haired female considered that and for a moment Kairi wondered if maybe her friend was beginning to see reason. "You make a decent point, from the way these townsfolks are I would wanna get as far away from them as possible. Heck, we saw that big guy punch a random clock on the street and nobody batted an eye." Or maybe not, yea so far the town seemed a little off but the redhead was sure Larxene was exaggerating. As they arrived towards the shack the two already saw a small group of visitors with that same old man leading them around. Instantly upon getting a look at it Larxene could tell what exactly this place was. "This is a glorified tourist trap." She'd seen a few like this in her day so it was easy to spot.
Getting closer the two overheard what Mister Mystery was saying. "And if you look over here you can see this giant footprint." He gestured to the left where on the ground laid the shape of a foot that was bigger than any normal print. "No one knows just what exactly could have made this print, perhaps it was a Sasquatch searching for food, or maybe the last surviving dinosaur from the uh... dinosaur age!" The man speculated earning a series of shocked gasps from the crowd.
Larxene was not buying this for a second it must have been faked, Kairi remained skeptical but wasn't going to rule out such a thing especially after seeing that Officer Heartless back on Destiny Islands. "Come on let's head inside, maybe there's something cooler we can find." The redhead suggested and walking past the group opened the door up only to immediately be hit by mountains of glitter, thankfully Kairi managed to bring up a barrier to help shield herself from most of it but Larxene was not nearly as lucky.
Instantly her face became a series of greens and blues with some of it having even gotten in her mouth. "Who throws that much glitter?!" She shouted trying to get out of range unable to see as she blindly stepped forward until by some miracle it seemed the girl had found something soft. Reaching out she felt what seemed like a rag and quickly began to wipe her face off. It must have been a used rag though as she could smell some sweat and other stuff on it but right now she didn't care. By the time she finished Larxene let go and rubbed her eyes glad to finally be able to see again and immediately spotted a question mark that had been smudged with glitter.
Tilting her head she felt a pair of eyes on her and looked up to see a face starring down at her with a smile bordering on creepy. "I'm Soos." He introduced himself and Larxene was just left as confused as the man's shirt.
Meanwhile, the two kids who were watching him each had different reactions. The brown-haired girl smiled her eyes practically carrying hearts as she looked at the two. "It's just like a romance on TV, the girl stumbles into the boy's arms in a moment of vulnerability who helps her in this time of need."
The boy who wore a cap with a pine tree on it simply sighed. "One, you were the one to cause that, and two I don't think by the look on her face she would agree." The more level-headed of the two pointed out.
With a dismissive wave, she replied, "Trust me Dipper we girls can sense these things, and come on that glitter shower was a success!" She yelled triumphantly.
This earned Kairi's attention who walked over certainly more amused by the display than her friend. "I don't think I've ever seen that much glitter used before." She laughed. "I'm Kairi nice to meet you... Mabel" The girl introducing herself to the two while reading the name on the child's sweater.
Immediately the girl's smile grew wider. "See I knew people would like my glitter shower, let's set up for the next round." The girl exclaimed.
The boy used to this pulled out a notepad. "We don't have anymore glitter, you used it all up just now." Before looking up at the redhead. "I'm Dipper Pines and this is my sister Mabel. By the way, what was that thing you used back there, it looked like some invisible shield that kept the glitter off of you." The boy noted with interest as he then pulled out a strange book with the number 3 written on it.
Kairi guessed Dipper had never seen magic before, after all, it was a recent concept for her aside from storybooks that had been read to her by the girl's adopted mother. "That was a barrier spell, a simple use of magic taught to me by a friend." She informed and the boy began to rummage through the pages.
Soon he settled on a page written close to the end of his book. "I knew it, I thought something like that was listed in here. I bet the rest of these are just as real as well." Although Dipper would usually be very secretive about his Journal at the knowledge someone may actually be able to verify some of it sent much excitement down his spine. Looking at it Kairi saw a two-page spread with the first page showing off an armored figure wearing a cape holding what looked to be a Keyblade.
Turning back at her friend Kairi called out. "Hey, Larxene come check this out." Glad to have an excuse to get away from the odd man The Savage Key walked over and was directed to the page. Upon looking at it the blond noticed up top the words, "Keyblade Master" Up top with a description she didn't care about reading. "Have you ever seen anything like this before?" The redhead asked as to her knowledge the blond was most likely to know about something like this.
Unfortunately for her, the only response was a shrug of her shoulders. "I wish, would certainly be a load off my back if I had something like this with me." It sure would beat just having her normal clothes as the only protection against attacks. Squinting as to get a good look at the Keyblade in this drawing Larxene noticed compared to hers it was certainly more key-shaped with the end of it reminding her of the letter E, whoever drew this was a pretty good artist all things considered. It also seemed to have a strange symbol on its helmet that sort of reminded her of a heart. "Hold on let me see that." Snatching the book she flipped it upside down and noticed how this symbol was quite similar to the Nobody symbol. "(I wonder if the two bear any connection.)" Her mind already bouncing with wild theories.
Kairi then took back the journal looking a bit annoyed at her friend. "You can't just swipe things from people, sorry about that Dipper." The redhead apologized and handed it back much to his relief. "What about the second page did you recognize any of the magic shown there?" She asked, secretly this was also a way to gauge the blond who had remained quite secretive about herself and her abilities. All Kairi knew was that Larxene had mostly used a set of Knives before getting her Keyblade and knew a few spells, otherwise she was incredibly tight-lipped.
Taking a peak and after having to request seeing the book which Dipper was incredibly hesitant towards until Mabel reminded her brother that a bit of trust could go a long way Larxene peaked through the pages seeing sketches of spells along with descriptions this author had jotted down. "Chains of Light, never heard of that one before. Didn't even know you could manifest light like that besides a ball or two. Oh hey an Aero spell, yea I know this one uses the power of wind although I haven't gotten the hang of it yet. Zero Gravity? Here I thought you could only use it to make things heavier." She briefly reminisced as a memory of Xigbar training her on the basics of Gravity Magic came to mind.
Stuck to the floor Larxene desperately tried to move yet to no avail as it felt like she had a bunch of weights strapped to every inch of her body. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET OUT OF THIS!" She yelled up at her tutor for the day who simply stood upside down eating a sandwich.
Pausing for a moment to swallow the older man replied, "Use Gravity." As if that was the simple answer to all of her problems before continuing to eat.
Only for a few seconds did the girl remain quiet before bellowing out in empty rage at the one-eyed sniper. "WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS I'M GONNA TAKE THAT OTHER EYE OUT!" And she would continue to hurl all sorts of insults for the next hour until by her fortune the spell had run out and she was able to move again now only having to deal with very stiff muscles and a cramped neck.
Was it any wonder why she practically hated everyone in the Organization? Shaking herself out of that memory she looked through a few more basic spells and apparent attacks before coming to the final one with depicted a Keyhole along with an arrow to it. "My exploration with the mysterious Keyblade Master led us to a strange area on the outskirts of the Northwest Estate and eventually came upon what looked to be a large Keyhole. In it, the Master inserted an item inside and quickly left thanking me for my assistance and swearing me to secrecy which is why I chose not to write down any specific details on how to find this Keyhole. And perhaps as a word of warning informed that only someone chosen to wield the Keyblade could ever access whatever he had hidden inside it before quickly leaving soaring into the air by transforming his weapon. On my way home I would find a mysterious cave filled with knowledge, but that is a story for another time." And that's where it ended.
Dipper upon hearing this was immediately interested in the tale wondering just what this mysterious item could be, he imagined perhaps a super magical weapon of power, perhaps a book filled with all the wisdom of the Universe, or maybe even one of those Keyblades he had heard so much about already. Meanwhile, Mabel imagined something else, perhaps a magical unicorn had been hidden inside the Keyhole waiting for a pure of heart damsel to free it. Larxene curious herself at this potential hidden goody found herself tempted to stay in this town for a while and try to find whatever could seemingly help her on this quest. And Kairi just wanted to seal up the Keyhole to make sure Maleficent and her heartless couldn't cause trouble for this friendly town. "I wanna go on an adventure to find it!" Mabel proclaimed already stoked at the idea.
But then Dipper coming back down to reality realized that there was no point. "But we can't the author said that only someone with this Keyblade could find it, even if we do it wouldn't work."
Not one to let a bit of gloating go unwasted Larxene carrying a glint in her eye suddenly summoned Dark Desolation and brought it to the ground similar to a cane now leaning on it. "Well, it's a good thing I happen to have one in stock then." Immediately a plan began to come together as the four realized they had a common goal and could assist each other.
Dipper and Mabel knew far more about this World so the two newcomers could use their help navigating meaning that soon an alliance between them all occurred which was soon joined by a potential fifth member in Soos who wanted to join them, but Larxene wasn't particularly keen since the man didn't seem all that useful. "I got snacks dudes." The handyman added hoping it would sway the opinion in his favor. Clearly, snacks were very important so in a democratic vote on whether to elect Soos as a member it was 3-1 in favor of accepting their now fifth companion earning a grumble from the blond.
On the other side of town, someone else seemed to be watching as using a small hidden camera a certain child who was certainly as cute as a button watched. You see he often preferred to spy on the lovely Mabel Pines who he just knew would become the future Mrs. Mabel Gleeful if he played his cards right, or so what the spoiled child repeatedly told himself. Yes, it was the hit celebrity of Gravity Falls himself Li'l Gideon Charles Gleeful with his puffy pompadour hair and freshly clean light blue suit, and he had been paying attention to the conversation those four had. "My oh my quite a bit of juicy information we have here and a Keyblade to boot, just what I need to get things rolling." The boy proclaimed and ran around his room.
Gathering a few items he deposited them on the floor and began a strange otherworldly chant before a portal appeared along with an image of a Witch he had been in contact with for several months now. "Gideon Gleeful, I thought I informed you to never message me without proper notice." Maleficent stated with a stern tone as it seemed he had caught her at a bad time. Truth be told after seeing her initial plan fail to get rid of the Keyblade Wielder and lack of success managing to find the other Princesses her arrogance had begun to give way to a bit of worry, options were becoming limited and if things did not pick up soon then her plans seemed more and more likely to go up in smoke. She did have some intel on the next Princess but currently had no one she could count on to get the job done as for some reason a force was running interference and the rest of her group were preoccupied finding their own Worlds Keyholes.
The ever chipper boy's normal smile chipped as he was never used to being treated so disrespectfully, if it wasn't for the fact he knew Maleficent had access to mystical powers he oh so greedily vied for then he would never have even spoken to her. "You did, but a little birdie informed me of something I thought you might find quite interesting." He then showed her the images he had taken from his camera and almost immediately Maleficent seemed to change her tune now showing not only interest but even smirking as ideas came into her head on how to use this new information to her advantage. "Way I see it the two of us could strike a mutually beneficial deal. I help you take down these two and in exchange, I want access to all of your magic books along with joining this exclusive club of yours." A bold offer one that was perhaps signifying the boy was too big for his britches considering who he was dealing with.
If the situation were any less dire for Maleficent she would have certainly demonstrated why it was a terrible idea to bargain with the Mistress of All Evil, but currently she was in a more generous mood if that could even be applied to such a fiend. Still, after leaving those fools in the last World to do it on their own she couldn't make that same mistake again, so she decided a compromise was in order. "I can agree to those terms, provided you do the same for some of mine I shall add-in. An... underling of mine shall arrive shortly to assist in your mission. He will follow your orders and serve as an advisor on how to use the Heartless effectively."
Although he wasn't exactly trustful of the Witch having someone else under his command sounded pleasant. "You've got yourself a deal." But before he could sign off Maleficent held her finger indicating she was not finished.
"One more thing, the girl with the red hair is to be captured and unharmed at that unless it is absolutely necessary. She is a vital piece to my plans and if my underling informs me you did not follow this rule then I can promise it will not end well for you young Gideon." The threat managing to unnerve the boy who as he felt the room go slightly darker.
Taking a moment to recompose himself the heir to the Gleeful name replied, " T-that's acceptable. I doubt a pretty thing like herself will cause much trouble." And seeing nothing else was needed to be said cut communications.
Back in Hollow Bastion Maleficent took a moment to relax before feeling the young ball of energy that was Riku walk in the villain having sensed him coming this way. "Something I can do for you?" She asked seeing his eyes full of determination that piqued her interest reminding her just a bit of the boy she had spoken to only minutes earlier.
The silver-haired teen remembering what he had discussed with his real teacher spoke. "I want to be the one to get the next Princess for you." That sentence for once taking Maleficent by surprise as she had figured Riku held no desire to seek them out himself. "Look, I know you don't exactly trust me so consider this my way of showing I'm not gonna stab you in the back and am willing to help as long as you continue to teach me and more importantly find my friends." Now that made more sense to the Witch, and the proposition even worked well with what she had just learned. By now she had concluded the girl that joined Larxene was in fact one of Riku's friends as she fit his entire description.
She had chosen not to inform the boy yet as like he stated she did not entirely trust him, the boy was secretive and something told her he had other ideas in mind, so securing this Kairi as a bargaining chip would give her so much control over him. And it would be much easier to do if he was off-world along with being able to better secure her forces and not spread them out on two fronts. If the boy could secure the Princess then he would become perhaps her most valuable asset. "You seem quite sure of yourself, well I suppose I can agree to this proposal. I do not know of her exact name but the Princess you will be sent to find is on a World called The Castle of Dreams, and I would caution you to be very careful young man. A fairy one who has been a nuisance to me in the past presides over the realm and has made it difficult to spread my Heartless along the location, so I would advise yourself to remain inconspicuous. Go prepare for your journey and meet me back here in one hour." She then waved the boy off signaling she had other things to do in the meantime.
With a bit of pep in his step, Riku left ready to not only prove himself but also excited to visit a new World one hopefully less gloomy than this one. Now alone the Witch summoned a Dark Corridor and soon a large dogman walked through looking a bit puzzled. "I have a new assignment for you."
Journal Profiles
Mason Dipper Pines: A young boy who seeks to expose the mysteries of Gravity Falls he along with his sister Mable get up to many interesting adventures whether it be by bad luck or their own actions. He is often the level-headed sibling but every so often can be the one getting them into the situations, his dream is to find the Author of Journal 3 which he found upon coming here for Summer Vacation. Legends say he sneezes like a kitten but this has yet to be confirmed.
Mabel Pines: The optimist of the two she is often touted as boy crazy by her sibling as she can be seen trying to date most attractive young men she comes across. Armed with her pig Waddles and signature grappling hook the girl despite her small size is always ready for action. She also enjoys shipping different people which can tend to get her in trouble.
Soos RamÃrez: The longest employee at The Mystery Shack Soos due to his lack of parental upbringing views his boss Stan Pines as a surrogate father figure who is only below his Abuelita who has taken care of him his entire life. Often seen as a man child it has allowed him to get along great with both Dipper and Mabel becoming one of their closest friends. On the plus side, he is a great repairman such as when dealing with the Mystery Cart which often tends to get nearly destroyed due to the wacky shenanigans of everyday life in the town.
Gideon Gleeful: Perhaps the most powerful individual in Gravity Falls even with such control he only desires more which is how during one of his experiments was able to come into contact with Maleficent and since then has sought to gain influence across the Worlds and perhaps even rule them. As Stan Pines mortal enemy due to competing business, he seeks to take over The Mystery Shack and more importantly the love of Mabel Pines who often rejects his advances. Thanks to owning Journal 2 he has gained much knowledge on the mystical arts which was what allowed him to become so successful and have practically the entire town in the palm of his hands.
AN: By now I imagine most of you who are fans of Gravity Falls have realized this story takes place during Season 1, the reason for that is I wanted to not only save the possibility of using Season 2 for perhaps the future but also because Bill Cipher just wouldn't work with the story of KH1 while Gideon can fit right into the overall plot no problem. Also my apologies for taking so long in an update but life has been pretty chaotic as of late, until next time my wonderful fans.