Oh September, you have been a glorious month to me. First Doctor Who coming back, then TGS and now the trailer for Legend of Korra Book Four? And I'm sure next month will be even better. Feel like watching Frozen again for some reason. Anyway, ignore my energetic self right now and here comes your next chapter.
Chapter 4
By Acts of Absolute Power
Kairi's warning had given them very little time to act. Heartless rose up from the ground and attacked giving the surprised Riku and Sora no time to defend. It was Kairi who had been anticipating the attack, and quickly erected a powerful barrier after quick summoning her Keyblade. Various sparks of light flashed as the Heartless smacked against the barrier and were repelled. Kairi dispelled the shield with the resulting shockwave taking out the creatures.
"We need to move quickly, Quasi's waiting for us." Kairi said before leading them out of the bell tower.
"Do you have any idea where we should go? I mean the Gummi Ship can't really be found but we'd be leaving Quasi and Esmeralda in danger." Sora reminded them. The way he saw it, now that they were wanted for whatever reason, it would be impossible to back out of the situation now.
"The court of miracles. Have you figured anything out yet Kairi?" Riku asked. Just as Sora expected, his friend was always thinking one step ahead of the curb. After Xehanort's defeat he had become much more confident in his own abilities while still being able to be humble about. Surprising and not really known to many others, at least not on the islands, was that while Riku appeared to possess a cool and serious demeanour (and had certainly gained a reputation for it amongst his female fan base at school), he was often quite cheeky and mischievous when around Sora and Kairi. Sora figured that it must have been harder for Riku to act normally in front of others compared to the two people who had been with him through so much in their last journey.
"Yes actually. Well I thought of it from a different perspective but Quasimodo was the one who expanded on the idea. Anyway, this-" Kairi pulled out the talisman from her pocket and showed it to them proudly, "is a map. The cathedral is right here in the centre of the talisman, the centre of the city. And if you follow this pattern it goes past the inner ring or walls of the city and to somewhere north east."
"Somewhere near the old town. And here I thought X never, ever marks the spot. Well it's worth a shot, better than staying here." Sora said. With a unification of approval expressed by everyone, the trio quickly caught up with Quasimodo and together the four descended downwards into the interior of the cathedral. Being here only brought bad memories to Sora. This was the place where his and Luna's friendship had almost broken down. His forcefulness in telling her that he didn't want her to travel with him had done more harm than good and had set about a chain of events that had worked in Abraxas' favour and had almost destroyed Sora's spirit.
Sora could even recall which bench he had sat down at and what he had been doing before then. Thinking about this made his heart pound and thud more wildly with fear that he would never see her again, that she was truly lost to him.
Sora was stolen from his thoughts by a hand that had latched around his arm and had dragged him backwards. "What was that for?" he asked looking at the hand's owner.
"You're not paying attention are you? The guards over there." Riku replied nodding his head in the direction of a guard posted by the cathedral doors. Sora attempted to look their way but a quick warning by Riku told him not to stare at them directly.
"So what do we do now?" Kairi asked.
"It's a single guard. We can probably slip out if we had a distraction. Still, you'd think there would be more guards in the cathedral if they wanted to find someone." said Riku in an undertone. He had his chin resting on his hand and his eyebrows were furrowed making it quite easy to tell that he was deep in thought.
"Well it's not like they know we're here right? The Heartless found us but Kairi managed to get rid of them so unless Frollo know then we're safe for now." Sora said.
"I think the archdeacon can help. I'll see what I can do." Quasimodo told them and walked over to the archdeacon while Sora, Riku and Kairi concealed themselves by the stairwell where they watched the two exchange a few words. A few seconds later, Quasimodo rejoined them and guided them to the door, making sure to stay glued to the walls in the process and observing as the archdeacon made his way to the guard. The calmness of the subdued archdeacon made his words hard to decipher from where Sora was but whatever he said to the guard must have worked because the two men had soon parted from the door and had moved down the nave of the cathedral. Riku moved in and opened the door wide enough for the group to slip through before carefully closing it behind him.
The sound of a sword hitting against flesh brought the group's attention to Phoebus who was swatting away at a bunch of Hook Bat Heartless around the centre of the square. One of the Hook Bats evaded an attack from Phoebus by flying out of his sword's range before flapping its wings releasing ultrasonic waves that paralyzed Phoebus allowing the other Hook Bats to move in and attack. Phoebus was sent flying to the floor letting out a long groan soon afterwards.
Riku was the first to rush in and cut through three of the bats with Sora following up with blizzard magic. The shards of ice connected with the remaining Heartless taking them out and allowing Sora to proceed to Phoebus freely where he helped the ex-captain up.
"Those things really are too fast for their own good. I couldn't even get a single hit." Phoebus said drawing back in a tense yet subdued agony. To Sora's surprise, the man was still able to let out a laugh even after all of that, probably either due to his stubborn pride or because he had just come face to face with a life-threatening situation, probably both.
"I take it Esmeralda got out safely then?" Kairi asked.
"Out of the cathedral? Yes. Out of the city? I have no idea. She thought it best we parted ways here. Makes sense since as we were on our way out, one of the guards told me that they were also looking for three kids in weird looking clothes. Esmeralda was worried about you guys and had me warn you but I guess I didn't need to do that in the end." Phoebus explained before rubbing the back of his head. "It's kind of embarrassing to be honest. As a man sworn to protect this city, it's my duty to protect kids like you from danger and yet I find that the situation has been completely reversed. Thrusting my life into the hands of three kids, huh? It's just not right. I would tell you to stay in school but you clearly know a lot more about these creatures than anyone else here, that and you're more equipped to handle them apparently. You really aren't from around here are you?"
"We don't really have time for this. If Esmeralda is alone then she may be in danger. She's probably headed for the court of miracles so we need to head there immediately." Quasimodo said. It was impossible not to notice a change in attitude from his usual reserved and depressed self to a more confident and determined figure. His question to Sora about Kairi being a beacon of light for the brunette hadn't been lost on Quasimodo it had seemed. Now he too was fighting to protect something important to him.
"You alright Riku?" Sora asked noticing that his friend had appeared rather distant as of late.
"No but I need to confirm something first. It's just… something strange…" Riku fell back into his ponderings causing Sora to give up. With little more to say and with time quickly slipping away, the party departed from the square and headed towards the gates of the inner wall.
A combination of Quasimodo and Phoebus' knowledge and the map provided by Esmeralda had led to group to the graveyard, just outside the inner walls. Sora had to admit that transitioning from the clean, densely packed renaissance-style city to a dark, gloomy and morbid graveyard was somewhat hilarious, if not a little creepy.
"Trust the court of miracles to be hiding in a place like this, it's pretty clever. Who would ever think about staying in here long enough to find out? It's like our secret place on the islands when I think about it." Riku said. True, as Riku had said, the secret place had become renowned for its rumors involving monsters and ghosts among those who knew about it thus making sure that everyone had stayed far away from it as possible.
"Selphie would love a place like this huh?" Sora light-heartedly quipped only to receive a punch on the shoulder from Kairi. "Ow. So, do we start defiling coffins or something to look for a secret passageway? Well, it's nothing personal, the dead won't mind anyway right?"
"Urgh, you are just unbelievable!" Kairi screamed in frustration only for Sora to laugh.
"Oh come on, it's just a joke Kairi." He patted her on the shoulder before walking past and looking around. "It could take us a while to find this entrance so we might as well get down to it."
"Actually, I think I've already found it!" Quasimodo declared pointing at one graves in the centre of the area. He pulled out the talisman and held it up matching it up with the symbol on the gravestone. "The symbols match." He soon confirmed to the others.
"Great. Now how do we get it open? A secret password or…" Phoebus' words were interrupted as Quasimodo places his hands on the side of the grave's lid and pushed. The lid gave in easily and fell to the ground revealing a staircase that descended deep underground, "or that." Phoebus finished with repeated blinks of surprise.
Sora followed after the rest down the stairs keeping his eyes on Riku. It was strange. The silver haired teen had been unusually quiet since they had left the square and it was starting to agitate Sora. He knew that Riku was usually the type who didn't express his thoughts but if something was troubling him, then surely it only made sense to tell him and Kairi about it before it was too late.
As soon as he stepped onto flat ground, Sora's analysis was cut short upon finding that he was ankle deep in what felt like water but it was too dark to make anything out for sure. Kairi intuitively solved this problem by lighting up her Keyblade but immediately screamed when the first thing she saw in the now luminous room was a skeleton.
"Haha, we must be in the old catacombs then I guess." Phoebus said. "And that weapon of yours can also light paths? Where can I buy one?"
"N- not for sssssale." Kairi stuttered standing frozen and aghast, not able to take her eyes away from the skeleton.
"Oh Kairi, don't tell me you're afraid of a little skeleton. He's dead Kairi, probably has been for years, he's not gonna hurt you." Sora said. He walked past her and grabbed the skeleton's hand, shaking it satirically. "See? Oh hello Mr. Skeleton, how's the weather down here? You know I know a skeleton just like you, maybe I'll take you to Halloween Town to see hi- AAAAH!" Suddenly Sora let out a scream as the skeleton's hand grasped around his hand and dragged the helpless teen towards its skeletal figure… or at least that's what Kairi thought. It had been enough to cause Kairi to scream again, and Sora laughed releasing the skeleton from his grasp. "Oh Kairi, you should see the look on your face right now. It's amazing!"
Kairi blushed furiously and stamped her food down, creating a splash in the water below them. "Sora, you are a complete and utter ass!" she yelled pointing her finger accusingly at Sora, in the end though Sora could see that Kairi was struggling to maintain her fake displeasure.
"Yes kids, please keep yelling, I think someone didn't quite hear you two by now." Phoebus said sarcastically before looking at Riku. "Be like this guy. He seems to understand the situation we're in."
"It's Riku, and 'understand the situation we're in'? Are you really sure we understand anything right now or do we only think we do?" Riku replied.
"Okay Riku, you've been holding something from us since we left the cathedral. Just tell us what's on your mind." Sora said.
"You didn't see them?" Riku asked vaguely.
"See what?"
"Exactly. On our way here we stumbled across barely any guards. Don't you think that's strange considering we have an arrest warrant on our heads? Even at the gate or while we were passing that crystal pillar on our way to it, there were no guards. There should have been more at the cathedral as well. Remember what Phoebus had said? On their way out, he and Esmeralda were told by one of the guards that they were looking for the three of us. The key phrase there is 'one of the guards' meaning that there was more than one and yet when we left there was only one guard." Riku explained before asking Phoebus, "Can you recall how many guards there were in the cathedral?"
"Exactly? No, I didn't bother to search every nook and cranny for one but there was definitely more than one. At least four if I recall correctly." Phoebus answered.
"Then what happened to the other guards? Do you think Frollo's found the court of miracles?" Sora asked.
"If that's the case then we need to hurry. Let's just hope we're not too late." Quasimodo said. The damp and flooded passageway, which Phoebus guessed to be the catacombs, twisted and turned often managing to confuse the group. Their only source of aid was through Kairi's illuminated Keyblade and the walls that connected the vast tunnel network. Something that could not be missed was that the catacombs played host to more than just one skeleton, with many scattered throughout the passageways. Sora couldn't see anything below his knees but had certainly felt as if he had heard the sound of crunching more than a few times, enough to send shivers down his entire body. What he was thankful for though, was that the level of water, or sewage as Sora had come to learn, that they were walking through gradually seemed to decrease until there was none left.
Just when it looked as if the catacombs would never end, a light could be seen up ahead. Sora and Kairi exchanged looks and grinned before running on ahead of the others. As Phoebus watched them, his eyes caught sight of human-shaped shadows given away by the braziers that lit up the passageway.
"You two, don't go any farther!" Phoebus' warning was too late. The human figures moved in when Sora and Kairi were just within reached and grabbed them, clutching the two to their own bodies tightly. Kairi watched as the Keyblade slipped from her hands and dropped to the ground with a heavy thud before disappearing.
"Now what's this trickery? Frollo must have really gone out of his way this time." said the man who was holding Kairi captive.
"Let go of them or you'll have to deal with us." Riku ordered them loudly. He summoned his Keyblade and raised it above his head, ready to attack quickly if necessary.
"Oh no, we're outnumbered. Whatever will we do?" Sora's captive remarked in the most annoyingly sarcastic voice that he could muster.
"Uh oh." Riku said. He lowered his Keyblade and made it vanish before raising his hands. The amount of guards or traps in the area had been rather lax so it was no surprise that they were being ambushed right now. Multiple eyes and weapons were trained on their bodies from various hiding places and they soon found their hands tied up and their mouths gagged with a soft cloth.
"Sorry, what's that?" One of the members of this group asked as Kairi yelled inaudibly into the cloth gagging her mouth. His gaiety was unrivalled by even the most eccentric comedian. He seemed to be the ringleader of the group, dressed in bright and colorful attire and yet even through this cheerful guise he seemed to display the most sadistic and sinister of intentions. "You wish to be executed quickly? Well, why didn't you speak louder?"
The mask-wearing crowd howled with animalistic laughter for Clopin Trouillefou knew exactly how to get them riled up. But the fun was only just beginning, and the real festivities would begin in the court of miracles.
"You think their Frollo's spies?" asked Sora's captive. Sora tried to move out of his grasp but found it impossible under the man's strong grip and in terms of size, the man also had him beat. Even if he were to somehow find a way free, summoning his Keyblade would only put the others in even more danger.
Clopin snickered before starting off in a sing-song voice:
"Oh you came so far
Seeking myth among myths
And now you've seen bizarre
You'll not be leaving with gifts
The holiest place thou hast ever been
Said absolutely no one whatsoever
Filled with scoundrels and vandals and devils within
Yet you've found our hiding place, how clever… not."
Throughout the song, the crowd clapped and cheered at Clopin and jeered at Sora and the others. The gypsies began to move towards the light now while Clopin continued his song:
"Oh yes, we have a method for intruders like you
Close your eyes, we'll surprise, all you need do is count five
For here in the court of miracles there are very few
Who ever leave alive!"
Sora rolled his eyes as the group cheered at Clopin's song. "It wasn't even that good!" was what he wanted to yell at them and would have done so were he not gagged. He simply wasn't in any comfortable position to speak without managing to upset or anger them any further. Of course that wouldn't matter anyway if the lyrics in the song were anything to go by.
The gypsies, surrounding the defenceless group like a hive, led them up the stairs and out of the oppressive atmosphere of the catacombs into a welcoming light which would have been much more so were they not in a dangerous position at the moment. The Court of Miracles was lively and full of many other gypsies and beggars who had gone into hiding because of their beliefs or the circumstances they were in.
Like the players in Traverse Town, Sora could see that fear was what had coveted the minds of certain people which had ultimately led to this segregation. Even if this was the case however, it didn't seem to stop the gypsies from going about their daily lives. They had found a way to adapt and were making the best of it.
He quickly attempted to scan the crowd for any sign of Esmeralda but it was too compacted for him to find her. Their eyes diverted from their daily processes and were all on the group as they were escorted up a stage where three nooses were already lying in wait. Sora made an audible gulp that's end product became slightly muffled.
"Good 'noose' everyone, it looks like Frollo's little spies couldn't help but poke their noses into our business. I don't know about you but I'd certainly enjoy it if they 'hung' around for a while." Clopin announced a little too ecstatically. The crowd cheered and yelled out in truculent contempt at the so-called spies saying things such as "String 'em up" and "Make it slow and painful". Clopin nodded as if taking these suggestions into consideration but it was clear that his mind was already made up. "So who should we start off with then? Ooh, I think the ugly one, the pretty one and the feminine yet muscular looking lad over there." Clopin said and pointed to Quasimodo, Phoebus and Riku.
"Mmph!" Riku let out a grunt of incomprehensible grievance upon hearing him be labelled as feminine looking. The long silver hair that he had kept after defeating Xehanort certainly didn't help his case.
Once again, Sora let out an annoyed sigh and scouted the court of miracles once more for Esmeralda. If they thought that Riku would allow them to take him that easily then they had another thing coming. As calm as always, Riku stepped onto the stage and grimaced as one of the gypsies took the cloth from his mouth.
"Any last words?" Clopin asked. "Because depending on what you say, you may die faster, or slower."
Ignoring the laughs of the excited and hungry mob, Riku wasted no time in explaining their situation. "We're not with Frollo. We've come to warn you actually, we think that he's coming here so you need to get out of here as fast as you can."
This seemed to have thrown a few people's expectations of guard and murmurs started to spread like wildfire amongst the residents of the court. Clopin however was not so convinced. "This coming from a spy of Frollo is not so convincing. Do you really expect us to believe that?"
"They're telling the truth!"
In truth, it had felt as if an angel had appeared to save them from an almost certain death. Sora supposed that in a way, that title he had bestowed to Esmeralda was almost true. The entire court of miracles suddenly became quiet and parted like a wave gradually vacating land and heading back into sea. It was clear that Esmeralda had the entire respect of the gypsies and Sora could even imagine them putting her on a pedestal.
"Esmeralda, do you know these- these-" Clopin struggled to find the right words for the sake of making sure that he did not offend Esmeralda.
"They are my friends. Let them go." Esmeralda confirmed placing her hand on her hip.
Clopin pursed his lips together tightly and cast his eyes downward as if weighing up something in his mind. Eventually he ordered for the group to be released. Both Sora and Kairi let out sighs of relief once their mouths had been freed and the thick rope binding their hands had been untied and rushed over to join Riku, Phoebus and Quasimodo on the stage.
"Well that was a little rough, but at least we're alright." Kairi said stretching out her arms towards the cloudy sky. She had no problem in expressing openly that she was very glad to be away from the person who had taken her captive.
It was Phoebus who Esmeralda first ran up to and had given a hug much to the sadness of Quasimodo. "You took a terrible risk coming here, even if it doesn't look like it shows amongst most of us but I'm just so glad you came!" she professed to the ex-Captain with a hint of need in her voice.
"Well, let's just say you should be thanking Quasimodo and Kairi. Without those two, we wouldn't have figured out a thing." Phoebus commended much to the illuminated faces of Kairi and Quasimodo.
"Sorry to interrupt but Esmeralda, you and the others have to get out of here now. Frollo may already know where this place is located and he's taken control of the Heartless. He definitely won't squander this chance." Sora told her after glancing at Riku. Esmeralda nodded and was about to call for the rest of the gypsies to start clearing up when she caught sight of the judge staring back with hawkish eyes and a victorious yet sick grin on his face, almost to the point of torture. Esmeralda's frozen appearance had caused everyone to turn to where she was looking but and anxious utterings in the court turned into screams of terror.
"Take them all! Allow none to escape." Judge Frollo ordered the guards behind him before walking up to the stage to meet with Esmeralda and the others. "Well boy, you must know me so well. You're right that I wouldn't squander a chance, especially not after you led me directly to the court of miracles."
"So you never knew where it was in the first place. And the lack of guards," Riku started.
"All a trap I'm afraid. You were the lure we used to reel in the fish and now all that is left for them is to be cooked." Frollo answered before looking at Quasimodo. "Good work Quasimodo. Once again, you find ways of proving yourself useful to me even when you try to disobey my orders. Hopefully this serves as a lesson to you."
Quasimodo's eyes moved downward, unable to meet his master in the eye. It was Kairi who stood up for him. "How dare you talk to Quasi like that! He's not some little henchman that you can just order around. He's a human being like you or me. You may have talked down him while you and he were alone but that's not the case anymore. He's not alone, and he doesn't have to put up with this because he has us to help him." Kairi proclaimed a passionate defence of the sullen looking bell ringer.
"Quasimodo's place is none of your concern. And friends? Let me ask you something. Did you walk through the cold on a dark night and happen across a baby on the street with deformed features that not even a mother could love? Did you take that baby into your arms when no one else would to save it from an otherwise sure death? Did you ignore the rumors and hisses of those who called you insane as you stuck to your principles, nurturing and feeding the child for so many years? No? Because friends could never have helped him with that no matter how much you might think, especially when those friends come from a world entirely different from the one he does." Frollo countered. He seemed to stare right through them as if they weren't even there, at least that was until he had mentioned the keyword where his gaze became fixed on Sora, Riku and Kairi as if studying them.
So Frollo knows about the other worlds? So the reason Kefka was here then was to meet with him, Sora concluded before asking, "Are you working with Kefka and the others?"
"So you know them too. Hm, their problems do not concern me. They wish to cause meaningless havoc across worlds and watch as despair takes mankind. No, I will fight with righteousness and justice on my side. And with these creatures serving my purpose I will set an example to those who dare defy the sanctity of Paris." Frollo replied. He raised his hands and as if to imitate his movements, a group of Neo Shadows rose up from the ground. Their movements were automated and unnatural with their heads twitching in the most horrific manner. The heaving of their bodies was unsettling much like their commander. Sora usually found it the case that the more darkness a person had in their heart, the stronger the type of Heartless they were able to control, and if a bunch of Neo Shadows were already under Frollo's control then his heart was probably reaching its limits and it was just about ready to overflow like water reaching its container's point.
"You have to stop this Frollo. You think what you're doing is right, and because of that you've become blind to the truth, that the very righteousness and justice you're promoting is being destroyed by you. You're allowing those thoughts to take hold of your heart and if you don't let go of that hate you're just going to turn into one of them." Sora reasoned.
"Forget it Sora, he can't be reasoned with anymore. What you're seeing now is a man who's desperate, and when you're desperate you do pretty crazy things. This is what happens when a person has made it to the top and there are no checks and balances to suppress that power and hold them in check. This is the madness of Judge Frollo. He's even become the rumors he's hated so much." Riku said.
"I am beyond your petty insults. No, what I need is of much more importance and that starts with those Keyblade currently in your possession." Frollo said.
"Why do you need it?" Sora asked. Frollo's answer baffled him.
"You possess the power to unlocking the secrets of the universe and you don't even know its potential… how ignorant. I suppose then the word Atlantis must have no meaning to you."
No, it wasn't that the word had no meaning to Sora; it was exactly because it did that Sora would have questioned Frollo's sanity. A city lost to the ocean's depths, a utopia brought down from the heavens possessing technology and magic more advanced than anyone could imagine allowing the sustenance of life for a very long time. That was the extent to which he knew about it, only because Kairi herself had told him about it once.
"But that's just a myth, right? A fairy tale." Kairi rejected. She was definitely having a hard time believing what she was hearing. And just how had Frollo come across the term anyway?
"Of a fictitious quality one might say. But how can we truly say it doesn't exist just because we cannot see it? My research into the roots of alchemy has taken me to one place and now all the pieces are falling together. I shall make this prompt, hand me these Keyblades and I shall spare your lives." Frollo said. He seemed to be driving for something that was a lot bigger than he could even imagine but the realities of the situation would be unkind to him. Sora wasn't sure whether this Atlantis existed or not, but he wasn't going to doom the gypsies and the other worlds to Frollo's selfishness. Not only that, but this was the key that would guide him to Luna.
"I guess he neglected to tell you that the Keyblade chooses its user. I once craved after power in order to find something as well, or someone I should say," Riku said looking at Kairi, "but all it did was lead me further away from my goal. I had lost sight of the light, and it took my friends to bring me back. But you're too caught up in your own hubris to see that, so we're just going have to do this the normal way." Riku's words probably reached Sora more than Frollo. He wondered how far he would go to rescue Luna. Given the circumstance, could he say he wouldn't have done what Riku did back then? No, the roles could have easily been switched, and while Sora wanted to become stronger he wasn't willing to trust himself on the lengths he would be willing to go to gain it, especially when he blamed himself for what had happened to her.
"Sora, watch out!" It was sudden and completely unexpected, but Kairi's voice snapped him out of his thoughts just in time to see one of the Neo Shadows fling itself at him. Riku's Keyblade came in between his body and the Heartless and cut through it in time.
"Are you okay?" Riku asked him while looking at the other Heartless.
"Yeah, sorry. Where's Frollo?"
"What do you mean where? He and the guards have gone off with Quasimodo, Phoebus and Esmeralda," Riku said before adding, "of course you were too busy spacing out to notice. Before we think of doing anything else we need to take these things out."
Sora nodded and breathed in deeply. More than anything he wished he could be rid of these thoughts that constantly invaded his mind, and yet wanting to not think about them only made him think about them more. Sometimes he had barely gotten any sleep because of them. He soon recovered from his pensive state and summoned his Keyblade before springing into action.
A bright light revealed the shape of a female figure having just reverted out of her armor. Her raven colored hair was tied up in a plaited bun; her warm honey brown eyes expressed fatigue as she shook off the annoyances associated with her armored form quickly.
Almost immediately she felt lighter and more flexible. While she admitted that her protective gear was good for cloaking her from the darkness and allowing her to travel from world to world, it wasn't very comfortable to wear. There was an extra pressure that was added to her torso and it sometimes felt completely hot under the helmet. The best way to describe it was like being in your own little universe, and in a way it almost made it seem like there was a veil separating the person from reality. All the sounds, the pain, the emotion, intensity and rhythm of the battle were suppressed and she hated that so she tried to wear the armor only when necessary. If it was a choice between safety and comfort with an added feel of gaining adrenaline on the side, she'd definitely choose comfort and adrenaline in this case.
She hadn't intended to come back to this place originally. Although the world was fast blooming and becoming the garden of beauty it once was (at least as seen in the photographs she had seen), in the bed of beauty sometimes lay the horrors of the beast. It was circumstances that had been beyond her or her friend's control that had separated them.
Of course, feelings tend to change when the circumstances align and the girl saw no reason to run away anymore. Her friends had given her the tools, the equipment and the training of a year and a half's worth in the short span of nine months and now all she needed to do was put them to use effectively. Putting on a brave face, Astra started walking, her mission of rescuing Luna in the forefront of her mind and the memories of that night in Radiant Garden, even closer.
And here comes a new challenger! And yes, Frollo was talking about Atlantis though I have to give a special callout to Zetra Emblem and say that El Dorado was a good guess. It's just that we already know a certain Disney movie has Atlantis so it was the best choice to use. Please look forward to it, you know, if it's actually real in this universe anyway.
