DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!
A/N: Never fear!! I'm still here! HORRAY! I'M STILL HERE!
So, I sincerely apologize for the extensive delay during the last month. I would prefer to go back and post one chapter either once a week or every other week, but unfortunately I have been TOO busy with unavoidable tasks and such.
Either way, it appears many of you are wondering what Disney Movie I was referring to in the Hint at the end of Chapter 28. Am I Correct?
Well, to find THAT out, you'll just have to read ahead.
So, that's all I have to say today. Just remember to Keep A Watchful Eye Out!
Go ahead! IT'S TIME TO READ - AND HAVE FUN, TOO!
CHAPTER 29
A Magic-Ful Land
Soaring through the beautiful tunnel of serene Light, Sora started to believe it was having a calming effect on him. He silently shut his eyes and took a deep breath. The air smelled as though someone had recently sprayed a bottle of beautiful perfume through it. He smiled; this was what any ordinary person would consider to be complete paradise. A home away from home. A dream come true. For a few minutes, it appeared nothing would interfere with the sensation of such a soothing environment.
All at once, a bright flash formed in the tunnel. Reopening his eyelids, Sora took note of how the tunnel was quickly coming to an end. He clenched his hands while both Riku and Violet approached from behind and settled in on either side.
"Well," the brown-haired youth announced. "Looks like this is our stop."
Riku nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "We're not done yet."
"Remember," Violet reminded. "Let's be very cautious. These next few Sleeping Worlds may not be as safe as the others."
Sora gave a short nod in return. The Angel of Dreams had previously stated the same thing moments before the trio had ended up in the all-too-familiar land of
The 100-Acre Wood. Their adventure there had been nothing like Sora assumed it should have. Not only had there been enemies in the world, but the environment had seemed significantly darker than his previous visits there. Had it been the actions of the stranger in the black-hooded coat? According to what Riku and Violet had claimed, that guy had not been keeping Christopher Robin prisoner. The child had simply ventured into the cave while searching for his friends.
"Let's get this over with," Riku confirmed, taking Sora away from his deeper-than-normal contemplation.
Sora was puzzled. "You don't want to take forever?"
Riku shook his head. "Never mind," he stated firmly.
"Come on!" Violet declared. "We are about to venture into another unknown territory."
No sooner had the angel's words filled the group's ears did the tunnel of Light come to a sudden closure.
Sora was on his feet in a matter of seconds. The crunching of the soft grass was filling his ears as the sixteen-year-old Keyblade wielder marched up to a nearby rock. His eyes swept this way and that. All he could see was a large clearing in the middle of a forest. The trees surrounding the glade were lacking leaves and appeared to be no different than the ones described in a book Sora still questioned why he had been required to read for school four years ago — The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The depth of the shadows and the vanishing of the moon had been more than enough to make the teenager certain disaster was awaiting on the next few pages to come. The mentioning of the legendary "Headless Horseman" had bothered his thoughts for months. Thank goodness it was only a story!
Taking a closer look at the foliage, Sora realized the woods seemed to be in season of Fall. However, it was the intense heat of the Sun blaring down that caused him to accept the fact it was actually the middle of Summer. So, why were the leaves not on the trees? How was it possible for an entire forest to possess no leaves? That didn't make any sense!
He paused to think it all through. Once the tunnel of Light had ended, Violet, Riku, and him had flown out into a patch of grass. As the Light-filled passage sealed up and vanished out of sight, Sora took notice of where they had arrived and hopped to his feet. Although the world was entirely unfamiliar to him, the spikey-haired youth was eager to explore the surrounding landscape. The only thing that prevented him from doing so was his recollection of Violet's warning. Chances were, it would not be a wise decision to rush off and charge into a strange land at this point in the quest. Last time he had done so, Sora nearly was taken captive by CLU's Black Guard and attacked by the program he later learned was a reprogramed Tron; Rinzler. Even before all that occurred, Jiminy's voice had forced the teenager to screech to a halt in his footsteps. Way back in Corona, Sora had dashed off to Rapunzel's tower before anyone could say otherwise. Never again would he just jump straight into things without thinking things through. His immediate reactions had almost resulted in all sorts of trouble for both him and his friends.
As he strode up to a log lying beside the rock, Sora casually climbed over and took a seat. His eyes continued to search for anything unusual when a violet-glow appeared in his peripheral vision. Swinging his head to the left, Sora relaxed. The glow was only the Angel of Dreams perched upon the stone. Her eyes were moving gradually across the landscape like a lighthouse beacon shining over the ocean's surface.
"Hey Violet," Sora perked up with a cheerful tone in his voice and a great, large smile on his face.
The angel nearly leapt into the air when the Keyblade wielder had spoken. Taking into account the sixteen-year-old's surprised expression, Violet allowed herself to give a relieved sigh. The next instant, her face was full of anger. "Do not scare me like that," she scolded. "I could have fallen and gotten injured!"
Sora was waving his hands across his face forming an "X" while a look of worry was in his eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Violet. I was just wondering if you saw anything."
Violet's scowl faded away. "Is that so?" she inquired. "Well, I have not spotted anything atypical around this meadow. Have you?"
Sora crossed his arms and shook his head. "Nope," he admitted. "Perhaps Riku has."
The pair turned their focus to where the silver-haired youth was standing on the edge of the forest. His eyes were wide and alert and staring at the surrounding scenery. To Sora, he appeared to be frozen in shock. His arms were halfway between being at his sides and at the outstretched point. He just stood there, not moving a single muscle.
"Riku?" Violet called out. "Are you okay?"
The seventeen-year-old Keyblader snapped back to reality and swung his head around. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm… fine."
Sora and Violet stared at one another doubtfully. Was Riku hiding something from them? If so, his actions suggested it had something to do with the local environment. But what could it be? Was this landscape familiar to him?
Before the sixteen-year-old Keyblader or the Angel of Dreams had the opportunity to ask Riku anything, they heard a loud shout echoing through the air.
"Whoa! Wait! Whoa!"
Swiftly spinning around on their feet, Sora and Violet caught a mere glimpse of an arrow soaring into the treetops of the nearby forest. Another voice loudly snapped, "Why you clumsy buffoon!"
Riku sped over in a hurry. "What was that?" he enquired.
Sora hurriedly swept his eyes across the meadow. His field of vision fell upon a pair of individuals moving beside a fallen tree with a giant branch still attached on top. One of the figures was a tall, muscular man sporting messy red hair that appeared to be partially covering his eyes. He was wearing a brownish-green shirt and matching skirt. On his back was a pouch full of arrows.
Sora's mind whirled around. Since when did men wear skirts? Although he recalled visiting many different worlds over time, not one seemed to contain quite an abnormal fashion as what he saw. He turned back to the strangers only to notice the man was swinging his large bow at a small boy of about twelve years old. The scrawny, thin boy had yellowish hair and was dressed in a brown T-shirt and small skirt, too.
Unable to comprehend what was occurring, Sora cautiously stepped out from behind the log where the three had been observing from. Watching his every step, the brown, spikey-haired youth crept up to the fallen tree.
"Sora? Where are you venturing off to?"
Freezing in his footsteps, Sora whirled his head back to see Violet gesturing him to come back. The former put a finger to his lips. Once the angel noticed this, she gave up trying to beckon the Keyblader back and leapt over the log to join him. Riku was seconds behind.
From where the trio now stood, they could see the tall man had tripped over a half-shrouded log in the clearing, allowing the boy to dart into the edge of the forest.
"When I get my hands on you," the man threatened. "I'll wring your scrawny, little neck! So help me, I will!"
"I'll get the arrow, Kay!" the boy nervously sputtered in reply. "I promise!"
The man must've assumed this was the joke of a fool. "Don't tell me you're going in there," he scoffed. "Why it's swarming with wolves!"
"I'm not afraid," the boy countered with determination.
The man marched in the opposite direction. "Well, it's your skin then — not mine. Go on, go on!"
As she witnessed the boy darting into the forest, Violet's eyes filled with worry. If what the man said was true, there were wolves living amongst those trees. Since this was one of the Sleeping Worlds, there could even be Nightmares waiting in there, too. To make matters worse, the young man in the black-hooded coat might be lurking about in there. Whatever the case, that boy was probably in serious danger and didn't even know it.
"Come on!" Violet declared, sending startled looks onto the other's faces. "We have to defend him!"
"What?!" a flabbergasted Riku exclaimed.
"Have you 'Gone Goofy'?" Sora stated. "There might be monsters in there!"
Realizing what he had just said, Sora paused for a moment. While it was true Goofy often seemed to be getting into all sorts of trouble, it was largely due to his clumsiness. Other than that, the knight was clearly much more intelligent than anybody typically expected. He nearly snickered silently when he imagined what Donald's response would be to this hidden piece of trivia. Sora quickly added, "Okay! Let's help him."
Although he was showing signs of uncertainty on his facial expression, Riku followed the others as they stepped into the deep, dark forest of withered, leaf-less trees. The group had just started their journey in the Sleeping World of Camelot.
The more they crept through, the darker the shadows of the woods seemed to become. On top of that, the occasional SCREECH, SNAP, or HOWL made Riku feel more and more uneasy. Though the world was clearly not as filled with Darkness as Hollow Bastion had been when Maleficent was in control of it, the silver-haired teenager could detect strong stenches from thick blankets of Darkness scattered all around the landscape.
When the group had first arrived in the world, Riku had frozen in astonishment. He knew this land, recognized the forest, and even recalled some of its inhabitants. However, he refused to allow any more of the memories to return back to him. The hurtful, terror-filled memories he kept shoving aside, only to have them resurface at random intervals later. How could he explain what had happened? What would people say? How would Sora respond if he found out? What would Violet think? He didn't want to think about it. It was too hurtful.
As the group continued to walk through the forest, Riku heard a voice call out, "There it is! Oh, there it is!"
Craning his neck upwards, the silver-haired youth noticed how the boy from the meadow was clambering along a lengthy, thick branch high above the ground. A few inches away from the end of the branch rested the trapped arrow. Pointing out the scene to both Violet and Sora, Riku said, "He's up there."
Violet's hands flew to her mouth to prevent a scream. She removed them a few seconds after. "He could fall any second," she exclaimed. "We must get him down!"
Forgetting what he had told himself earlier, Sora nodded before darting to the tree. "I'll take care of it!"
In no time, the spikey, brown-haired Keyblader had scaled the tree and was attempting to crawl along the length of the branch. He slowed his movement to a snail's pace as the branch grew thinner and thinner. His eyes fixed to the path ahead, Sora noted the patch of yellow sunlight shining through the trees above the spot where the arrow had gotten stuck. The boy in front had reached the end and was reaching out to grasp the item. By this point, Sora was only five inches away from grabbing the boy's ankles and pulling back across to safety. Unfortunately, the former was now noticing how the branch was bending more and more due to such a large amount of weight on it. Before Riku or Violet could yell for him to move backwards, the limb snapped. Sora found himself descending rapidly onto the ground below. Before him, the boy disappeared into patch of straw below.
"Whoa! What? Whoa!" the boy hollered as he landed on the straw and it collapsed beneath him.
Even though Riku and Violet rushed over to make sure Sora wasn't injured, the latter was feeling as astounded as ever. "He just," Sora sputtered. "That boy… he just fell through that roof!"
"Roof?" Violet questioned. Her eyes gave hints of doubt. "There are no buildings around here."
Before he could nod in agreement, Riku glanced upwards only to stare in shock. He pointed up at a stone house shrouded by a labyrinth of shadows from the trees towering overhead. Still, the shape was easy to make out among the deep foliage. "Then what's that?"
Both Sora and Violet spun around to see what had grabbed Riku's attention. There stood the house, which had not moved since the brown-haired teenager first noticed it. After Riku had claimed to have seen it, Violet took a double-take, recognizing the shape of a peaked roof like the shops from Traverse Town. To that end, why had she been the last one to identify the structure? Had she just started to lose her touch on the dreams? Was this due to her ability to wield a Keyblade now? Or were Sora and Riku simply beginning to take better precautions from here on out? How would she know which explanation was accurate? Just because she was the Angel of Dreams did not mean she could understand everything that had the potential to happen.
"Hey!" Sora called out, breaking Violet's train of thought. "Look!"
Turning to see what Sora had, Riku and Violet simultaneously spotted a wooden door in the side of the house. To Riku's eyes, it appeared to be five times the height of King Mickey — or "Mickey" as he preferred to say — and too narrow for Pete to enter. The top of it was curved like the end of a skateboard and there was a large, iron handle that strongly resembled one of the donuts Sora had seen Goofy devouring when the two (along with Donald, of course) had stopped at Scrooge McDuck's shop in Hollow Bastion (aka Radiant Garden) for a small snack before heading off to see Leon and the others about the increase of the Heartless and the looming shadow of Darkness covering the world. Scrooge had been upset about not recreating his "favorite ice cream flavor" yet. Looking at the doorway before his eyes now, Sora thought it looked somewhat familiar. Had he seen it someplace else before? Or was that only his imagination acting up — again?
"Let's check it out," Sora decided as he strolled up the door. He gave the handle a few bangs, which consequently echoed through the surrounding scenery like a series of gunshots. The handle broke off in his hands following the fifth clanging.
A moment later, the door opened and a figure stepped into view. Sora was as astounded as he had been since he had recognized Tinker Bell back in the dreams of Pixie Hollow. The individual was an elderly man with a long, white beard that seemed to reach almost to his feet, and was wearing a long blue cap, a blue gown, blue shoes, and spectacles for eyeglasses. There was only one person Sora recalled who possessed all this description. He was certain he knew who it was, too.
When the man saw the broken handle in Sora's hand, he sighed. "The dark age indeed," he grumbled aloud. "The age of inconvenience! No nothing!"
Scooping up the handle from Sora's open palm, the man muttered, "Everything complicated! One big medieval mess!"
Taking a closer look at Sora, the man smiled and gave a little chuckle. "Well now," he said. "Who might you be young man?"
"Sora sir," Sora replied. He gestured toward Riku and Violet standing in the background. "He's Riku and she's Violet."
"My, my," the man marveled. "So many guests and all on the same day… I must be more popular than I thought!"
Gesturing inside, the man added, "Come in! Come in! There's enough tea to go around!"
Sora nodded as the man marched back indoors. Riku and Violet strode up a few seconds after. "Sora, you know you're not supposed to trust strangers," Riku stated.
Sora was instantly taken aback. "He's not a stranger!" he retaliated. "That man is my friend, Merlin! I'd know him anywhere!"
Riku was beyond speechless. How had he forgotten the wizard Sora had told him about while explaining the adventures he'd had with Donald and Goofy?
"Just a second," Violet blurted. "You already became acquainted with that man long ago?"
Sora's nod was plenty to confirm the angel's query. "Yeah," the spikey, brown-haired Keyblade wielder admitted. "Merlin taught me how to use magic spells. Even Donald learned a thing or two… when he wasn't being jealous of me."
"I see," Riku said softly. He smirked a miniature grin when the thought of Sora accidentally setting Donald's tail ablaze crossed his mind. Had such an incident actually occurred? Then again, Sora might have set Merlin's house on fire… or froze the ground, allowing Goofy to ice skate everywhere. Just the idea of such results made the seventeen-year-old Keyblader snicker to himself.
"So, how 'bout it?" Sora inquired. His hands flew behind his head. "You want to meet him?"
Violet crossed her arms in thought. "I cannot say for sure…"
Riku gave a slight nod. "Yeah," he smiled. "I'd like to meet this friend of yours, Sora. Maybe I can tell him how lazy you really are."
"So are you," Sora countered with an enormous smile on his face.
Violet uncrossed her arms, only to notice the pair's smiles. With a shake of her head, she strode forwards. "I will join along, too. Wait until he hears about how lazy both of you are!"
Sora and Riku glanced at each other in surprise. In the blink of an eye the trio were laughing together. After the laughter subsided, they all speed-walked to the open doorway.
When he stepped into the wide, open space of the one-room house, Riku noticed how the ceiling was peaked like the roof above. As he strode inside with Sora and Violet, the silver-haired teen took into account a number of bookshelves in the room. A red-brick stove was located near the center of the room with a round table covered by a white tablecloth nearly five feet away. To the left of the stove was a mound of hardcover books that were all neatly arranged in perfect rows like awaiting shelves from a library. A long bed was situated near the opposite end of the room from the table. A group of chairs were set around the table, the largest being a red armchair. Hanging from the ceiling was a small birdhouse and a red model airplane. Also present on the ceiling was a decent-sized hole in the roof, which led straight down to a small, blue chair.
From the large, red armchair, the man Sora had claimed to be "Merlin" spotted the three coming in and smiled. "So," he chuckled. "You decided to drop in for tea after all."
"Hey Merlin," Sora spoke up. "How's it going?"
Merlin smiled. "Well now," he stated. "You must've heard of me from someplace else, eh? My popularity just keeps on growing… "
"Yup," Sora nodded. Recalling how this wasn't the real Merlin he was talking to, Sora added, "It's a long story, but we've met a looonnnnggg time ago."
Riku shook his head. Hopefully Sora's comment was not going to make Merlin suspicious. If first came the worst, there was about to be a deep discussion about how this place was trapped in a Sleeping World, and everything going on within was an illusion of a dream full of figments. He clenched his left fist to prevent a sudden burst of anxiety from taking control of him.
Fortunately, Merlin simply nodded. Riku relaxed, certain the wizard hadn't caught on to Sora's carelessness. Taking note of how the three were still standing in the middle of the room, Merlin gestured them over to the table. "Well don't just stand there," he called. "Come! Have some tea!"
Sora, Riku, and Violet raced over to the table and each took a seat. Sora found himself beside Merlin with Riku to his right. Violet was on the opposite side of the table next to the boy who had fallen through the roof. Gazing upwards, Sora realized the hole in the ceiling was directly over where the boy sat in his blue chair. Was that just a coincidence? Knowing how Merlin was especially intelligent for someone his age, Sora didn't think so.
Once the group was gathered around the white tablecloth, Merlin asked the boy to introduce himself. The spry, young boy said, "My name's Arthur, but everybody just calls me 'Wart'."
"Oh," Merlin murmured softly.
"What a horrible nickname," Violet commented.
Sora was puzzled. "Why would they call you that?"
Wart shrugged. "It might be because they say I'm always getting in the way, but I don't know for sure."
"It's alright," Riku said, glancing over at Sora. "Sora's a thorn in everyone's side."
"So?" Sora smiled brightly. "You can't be perfect, right?"
Riku shook his head when he thought he saw something strange in his peripheral vision. Turning his head slightly, Riku spotted a small, brown owl with big, yellow eyes and long, dark eyebrows. He quickly tapped Sora on the shoulder and pointed the owl out. When he saw it, Sora was impressed. Then he was mystified. "I don't remember Merlin having a stuffed owl."
The owl jumped up in alarm as its eyes began to blink rapidly. Sora and Riku nearly leapt out of their seats when they realized the owl was alive. "Stuffed?!" the owl scoffed. "I beg your pardon!"
"He can talk?!" Riku questioned in alarm.
Overhearing all this, Merlin gazed at the owl with a stern face. "Come, come now, Archimedes," he scolded. "There's no need to yell at our guests."
Archimedes was not amused. "Guests?" He swept his eyes around the room, purposely avoiding eye contact with the individuals below. "I see no guests!"
A few moments later, Archimedes flew up and into the birdhouse hanging from the ceiling. Sora sighed deeply. "Guess I made him upset, huh?"
Merlin shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry," he chuckled. "Archimedes is just too sensitive."
"'Sensitive?'" Archimedes called out from within the birdhouse. "Who? What?"
Riku took the opportunity to shake his head and smile. He could tell Archimedes was treating them the very same way he pictured Donald would have treated Sora when the two had first met with Goofy. The duck magician was constantly getting annoyed for one reason or another. His short fuse and extremely bad temper showed possible hints of Darkness on the outside, but on the inside Donald was a deeply caring person with a positive heart and strong Light. Sure, Sora hadn't considered intelligence as a factor when picking Donald and Goofy as his friends. Then again, what difference did that make? Who couldn't be friends with Donald and Goofy? Riku just couldn't picture someone refusing to be friends with the pair.
A moment later, Merlin asked if anyone wanted some sugar for their tea. When both Sora and Wart accepted the offer, Merlin clapped his hands. The result was a small, blue container that resembled a mini suit of armor grabbing a spoon from the table and marching up to where Merlin was. When Merlin saw it, he snapped, "No! No! Manners! Manners! Guests first! You know that!"
As the sugar container marched across the table to where Wart was sitting, Violet shook her head. Recalling how Sora had been an extremely sloppy eater back during dinner in The Grid, the Angel of Dreams had learned the very mentioning of the word "manners" meant nothing in Sora's dictionary.
"So Merlin," Sora suddenly perked up. "Did you know 'we' were coming?"
Both Riku and Violet stared at each other from opposite ends of the table. What was Sora talking about? Did Merlin happen to know more than anybody else they knew? Or was Sora teasing the wizard?
Contrary to what Sora had anticipated, Merlin shook his head. "I'll admit, I wasn't expecting you three for tea. Other than that, I have the power to see the future — centuries into the future!"
Now both Riku and Violet were amazed beyond understanding. Apparently Merlin was not an ordinary wizard who uses magic as the silver-haired Keyblade wielder had assumed. Now he could see the future? Talk about impressive! Maybe the wizard could tell Riku if he and Sora were going to pass the Mark of Mastery Exam…
Noticing he had the group's completely undivided attention, Merlin continued, "I've even been there."
Gesturing to a nearby shelf covered with various models and pieces of paper, Merlin added, "And I've seen all these things. They're only plans and small models, of course."
Picking up one of the models, Merlin brought it over to the table and set it down. From every detail he could see of it, Sora automatically knew it was a model of a train. "This, for instance, is a steam locomotive. It won't be invented for hundreds of years!"
Spotting the sugar container dumping some sugar into Wart's cup, Merlin said, "Now, just say 'When'."
Wart immediately said, "'When'," which resulted in the sugar container moving on to Sora's cup. Once he had had enough, Sora said, "'When'," and the sugar container moved on back to Merlin's cup.
Turning back to the conversation at hand, Riku spoke up, "So, you can see everything before it happens?"
"Yes," Merlin proudly stated. "Everything."
"Ah-ah!" Archimedes called out from his birdhouse. "'Everything', Merlin?"
Realizing what Archimedes had indicated, Merlin shook his head. "No, no! Not everything!"
Riku sighed in disappointment. Perhaps Merlin would not be able to tell him if he was going to successfully conquer the Darkness or not. That query would remain unanswered until all the Sleeping Worlds were unlocked and the current mission was accomplished. Yet, that day still seemed far off.
Striding over to Wart, Merlin added, "I'll admit, I didn't know who to expect for tea."
Pulling out a long, black cane, Merlin pointed it at the hole in the ceiling and then down at Wart's chair. "But as you can see, I figured the exact place!"
Wart nodded. "You're very clever, Merlin sir," he complimented.
"Never mind the 'sir'," Merlin said. "Just plain 'Merlin' will do."
As Merlin strode up to the pile of books, he asked, "Now Wart, have you had any schooling?"
"Oh yes," Wart confirmed as he stuffed some cookies into his mouth. The entire display made Violet sigh; Wart was acting just like Sora had earlier. Unknown to everyone, the sugar container was busy scooping sugar out with its spoon and dumping it into Merlin's teacup. Sora and Riku had decided to remain quiet as they followed along with the conversation at hand.
"I'm training to be a squire," Wart continued. "I'm learning the rules of combat, and Swordsmanship… "
"Yes, very nice," Merlin commented as he pulled a few books from the pile and walked back to the table. He paused for a moment, realizing what he had just said. "I mean, no! No! I meant a real education. History! Biology! Mathematics! Natural Science! English! Latin! French!"
By this point, Merlin had returned to the table, only to discover the mountain of sugar the container was continuing to dump into his cup of tea. "When!" he hollered. When the container didn't respond, Merlin shouted, "Blast it all! When!"
Fear clung to the container as it rapidly sped away and hid behind the large, blue teapot in the middle of the tablecloth. Sora spotted it peeking out long enough to watch Merlin use his excessively long beard to wipe away the mountain of sugar from the table. Noticing how his chair had seemingly vanished, Merlin gestured it over with his finger. To Riku's amazement, the chair obeyed and came hopping over at a steady pace. Within seconds, Merlin had opened the first book and was starting to clean his eyeglasses.
"Now," he explained. "I'm going to be your tutor."
Sora was awestruck. He hadn't thought of Merlin as being a teacher. Did the wizard really have the capabilities to instruct someone in anything besides the concept of magic? Or was there some other reason why Merlin had decided to be Wart's tutor?
Wart rose from the table with such haste, the chair behind him almost fell backward into the stone wall. "I've got to get back to the castle," he stated, snatching another cookie from the plate in the middle of the setting. "They'll want me in the kitchen."
Sora, Riku, and Violet all rose from their seats and walked towards the door.
"It may be dangerous out there," Violet spoke up.
"We're coming with you," Sora announced.
"Yeah," Riku nodded. "You'll need some protection."
Seeing all this, Merlin leapt from his armchair. "Oh, very well then," he declared, scooping up a small, blue suitcase from a side table. "We'll pack and be on our way. Now stay here. You'll all like this."
Wart stopped at the door with Sora, Riku, and Violet beside him. In the middle of the room, Merlin placed his suitcase directly in front of a small, three-legged stool. Standing upon the stool, he held up his cane and tapped the stool three times with it. He started to twirl his cane, inadvertently getting his beard wrapped around with it. Reacting swiftly, he yanked his beard off. Reaching his arms out, Merlin proclaimed, "Higitus Figitus Suma Kazig! I want your attention everything!"
All at once, every item in the entire room leaned into the direction of Merlin's position. To Riku, they all appeared to be eagerly awaiting more instructions.
"We're packing to leave," Merlin explained. "C'mon! Let's go!"
Spotting the sugar container trying to hurry over to where Merlin's suitcase was, Merlin called out, "No! Not you! Books are always first, you know."
With that, the books Merlin had placed on the table less than ten minutes before rose into the air and began moving towards the wizard. Their movement gave Sora the impression of a marching group of soldiers in training. In no time, every book in the room had formed a single file line heading for the suitcase.
"Hockety, pockety, wockety, wack, abra, abra, dabra, nack," Merlin chanted aloud. When the books began to enter the suitcase, they all shrank down until they were smaller than a mouse. "Shrink in size, very small. We've got to save enough room for all."
As the last of the books marched over to Merlin, the wizard chanted, "Higitus, Figitus, migitus, mum! Prestidigitonium!"
Once the books were all in line, the teacups and teapot rose from the table and headed in the direction of Merlin. The sugar container was running a tad behind and darted in front of the teapot. Merlin was so busy chanting away, he didn't notice the container slapping the teapot with its spoon until he glanced in that direction. He yelled, "Stop!" and everything instantly came to a halt.
Rushing over to where the sugar container was located, Merlin scolded, "Now see here, sugar bowl, you're getting too rough! That poor, old tea set's cracked enough!"
Returning to the stool, Merlin tapped his cane, only to realize he had lost track of what he had been doing moments before. Looking at Wart and the others, he asked, "Where was I?"
Wart replied, "Um… 'Hockety, Pockety?'"
"Yeah," Sora acknowledged. "I think that's right."
Riku shook his head. This was another one of those times with the brown-haired youth had to insert one of his random pieces of feedback, even though no one really cared much for it in the first place.
"Oh yes, yes," Merlin agreed. "That's right."
In the blink of an eye, the wizard began chanting away once more. "Hockety, pockety, wockety, wack, abra, abra, dabra, nack!"
When the birdhouse started to move from the ceiling, Archimedes swooped out with a fiery rage in his eyes. "Y-You bungling blockhead!"
Merlin had not noticed the owl's put-down as the larger pieces of furniture had risen from the floor and were crowding around the wizard. "Easy there!" Merlin demanded as a passing chair knocked off his hat, which he caught and placed back onto his head. "This is the best part now! Higitus, Figitus, migitus, mum! Prestidigitonium!"
As Merlin proceeded to chant away, Sora, Riku, and Violet found themselves jumping to the left, right, and even ducking to avoid the flying pieces of furniture. From his perspective, Riku saw the entire red-brick stove shrink and dive into the suitcase with the fire still going. Merlin's large bed was seconds behind it. The bookshelves, a globe, and even an iron model for designing wings swooped into the suitcase. Once more, Merlin called out, "Higitus, Figitus, migitus, mum! Prestidigitonium!"
The last item to enter the suitcase was the stool Merlin had been standing upon, which knocked the wizard off his feet and onto the floor. With everything inside, the bag sealed itself up. Merlin chuckled once he saw the bag was closed.
Sora was speechless; he had seen Merlin unpack everything from the suitcase, but never had the wizard packed it all before his eyes. Last time this had happened was when Donald, Goofy, and him had first met the wizard in the secluded house on the edge of Traverse Town. Even then it was not as impressive as now.
To say Riku was astounded would be an understatement. He had never seen something so unusual. Probably the only exception would be when he had first met Niccole… but that had happened a long time ago. For all he knew, she was gone and he would never see her again. Besides, who'd want to be with a "flower-girl" anyway? He didn't know and didn't really care anymore.
Violet was flabbergasted. When Merlin had stopped his chanting just to scold the sugar container, she had rolled her eyes, even as Sora and Riku had shown smiles, with the latter shaking his head. All the Angel of Dreams could think of doing was just continue watching.
However, Wart clearly was the most amazed of all. "Wow," he exclaimed in awe. His eyes were filled to the top with wonder. "What a way to pack!"
Scooping up his suitcase from the floor, Merlin stated, "Just a minute now, boy. How else would you get all this stuff into one suitcase, I'd like to know?"
As Merlin opened the door leading outside, Wart said, "I mean I think it's wonderful."
"I see," Merlin acknowledged as he stepped outside with the suitcase and his cane. Archimedes flew through the air above, gently perching upon Merlin's tall, blue hat. While Sora, Riku, and Violet followed them out the door, Merlin turned to Wart and stated, "Now don't be getting any ideas magic will solve all your problems, cause it won't."
"But sir," Wart retaliated. "I don't have any problems."
"No problems?" a confused Sora enquired as he stepped through the open doorway. Never before had he heard such an atypical statement uttered. How could someone not have problems, let alone challenges to overcome through life?
"Wish I could trade places with you," Riku teased. This resulted in a look of disapproval from Violet. In turn, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder added on, "I meant I wish I had nothing to worry about like you."
"Pish-posh!" Merlin declared. "Everyone has problems. The world is full of problems."
As he finished speaking, Merlin shut the door behind, only to quickly get pulled back as his beard had gotten stuck in the door. As he yanked on it, the wizard complained, "There! You see what I mean?"
Following a gigantic tug, the beard pulled free and rapidly wrapped around Merlin's head. He pulled on it yet again, only to have his entire face become shrouded in white hair. For a second, the sight made Sora think of a dandelion flower covered in seeds. The next, Merlin had unrolled his beard from his face, resulting a secret snicker from Wart.
"C'mon," Merlin demanded. "Let's be on our way."
As he strolled off into the forest, Merlin suddenly came to a halt in his tracks about twenty feet from the door. He glanced back at Wart. "By what direction is this castle of yours?" he asked.
"I think it's north," Wart specified, pointing in the opposite direction. "The other way."
With a grumble of realizing he was headed in the wrong direction, Merlin strolled off back to where the group was waiting. Archimedes remained perched upon the wizard's hat as Merlin gestured for the other to follow. "Come now," he instructed. "Let's be on our way, again."
Wart sped off to catch up with the fast-paced Merlin. Sora, Riku, and Violet were directly behind them. Along the way, Riku began to sense something amiss in the world around them. Whatever it was, he didn't want to find out.
Nightfall had already descended by the time the group had arrived at a small castle on the edge of the forest. Once they had crossed a wooden bridge, Wart led the group through a large Courtyard covered in darkness and through a doorway leading to a large, open room.
Once they had arrived, Sora watched as a pair of dogs rushed forward to greet Wart. As the two hounds were busy welcoming, Sora took the opportunity to sweep his eyes across the room. The size of the chamber was so colossal, a normal-sized yacht could stand on end and still not touch the ceiling. The walls, floor, and ceiling were entirely built from stone. Through the space were a bunch of tables covered with an assortment of dishes, cups, and bowls. On the walls were decorations consisting of deer heads, bears, and other animals. Also on the wall were shields of different sizes and colors. On one corner of the room was a large pile of leftover bones, which were clearly intended for the dogs.
Next to the bone pile was a chair in which sat the man Sora recognized from the meadow. He was busy devouring meat at a rapid pace and tossing the bones over his shoulder and into the pile. Standing in the middle of the room was a tall, large man with red hair including a mustache, and wearing a yellow shirt and matching skirt with a red vest on top. When the larger man saw the dogs licking Wart, he yanked them off of the boy. Spotting Wart, he snapped, "Wart! What's the big idea scallavanting off and worrying the living daylights out of everybody?!"
"I'm sorry, sir," Wart apologized as he rose from the floor.
"Sorry's not going to cut it," the man stated firmly. "That's four demerits — four extra hours kitchen duty."
Pointing down a nearby corridor, the man added, "Report to the cook!"
"Yes sir," Wart replied. "But I'd like you to meet—"
"Hop to it, lad!" the man ordered with a strong tone of voice.
In the blink of an eye, Wart hurried down the corridor and out of sight. Seeing all this, Sora started to wonder why the man was being so mean to Wart. The latter was just a boy. Everyone makes mistakes — Sora knew that much for a fact.
Strolling up to the group, the man looked them over and proclaimed proudly, "You've gotta keep a tight schedule to run a place like this. Gotta have rules for small boys. I'm Sir Ector, owner and operator of this land. Who are you?"
"I'm Sora," Sora introduced.
"Riku," Riku confirmed.
Violet said, "My name is Violet."
"My name is Merlin," Merlin stated. He indicated Archimedes with his cane. "And this is Archimedes, a highly educated owl."
"'Educated owl'?!" Ector exclaimed. He started laughing with such intensity, he nearly choked. "Say, I know! You've got him under a spell, Marvin!"
Merlin seemed less than pleased with the mispronunciation. "The name is Merlin, and I happen to be the world's most-powerful wizard!"
Ector had heard enough. He was now laughing harder than ever before. "Come off it, old man! Gadzooks!"
"He's telling the truth!" Sora argued.
Ector just went right on laughing. In turn, Merlin said, "All right, then I shall demonstrate."
Waving his cane in the air, Merlin called out, "Higitus, Figitus, migitus, mow! Wind and snow, swirl and blow!"
In the blink of an eye, a miniature snowstorm formed above Ector's head and started dumping the frozen water onto the man. As he became engulfed in the snow, Ector began shivering like he was started to catch a cold. Merlin smiled and chuckled to himself. "That's what I call a 'wizard blizzard'."
Although Riku and Violet were surprised, Ector was awestruck. "Kay," the latter exclaimed towards the man in the chair. "Look! An indoor blizzard! And in the month of July!"
Kay was not the least bit interested. Tossing another bone aside, he muttered, "So what?"
Taking in account Kay's reactions, Sora had to smirk a smile. If Donald had ever met Kay, the two would have gotten along better than any pair the spikey, brown-haired Keyblader had ever known. The personalities appeared to be nearly identical.
"Okay, you can turn her off now, Marvin," Ector shivered. "I'm convinced!"
With one swift wave of his cane, Merlin ordered the snowstorm to stop, which it did so immediately. Wiping the snow off his body and clothing, Ector exclaimed, "I hope you don't go in for any of that 'black magic'?"
"'Black magic'?" Sora murmured softly. Through all of his adventures, nowhere along the way had the term "black magic" been used. Then again, the powers Maleficent controlled were full of Darkness, and the color of Darkness was black, so perhaps "black magic" was the power of Darkness? If that was the case, then somehow Ector was aware of the powers of destruction the Darkness was capable of. Fortunately, Sora also knew Merlin would never use such powers — not even if his magic wasn't strong enough to save the day.
"Oh, goodness no!" Merlin denied. "Never touched the stuff. My magic is mainly used for… educational purposes. In fact, that's why I'm here. I've come to educate the 'Wart'."
The instant the words had registered in Ector's head, he scowled at Merlin. "Oh no you don't!" he snarled. "I'm running this place, and if you think you can fiddle-faddle with my schedule, you'd better just pick up your bag of tricks and be gone!"
No sooner had the word "gone" left Ector's mouth did Merlin simply vanish into thin air. Ector was speechless. "By Jove," he awed and turned to face the other man, again. "Kay, he's gone!"
Kay was still as uninterested as he could be. "Good riddance!"
Sora shook his head. The two had no clue Merlin could easily teleport himself between worlds using his magic. The single time Sora had experienced this action himself was when Merlin had decided to investigate the situation in Disney Castle for himself — rather than take Donald's word for it. This had left Donald upset and discouraged.
A few seconds later, Merlin's voice echoed through the air. Riku and Violet swept their eyes around, but the wizard was nowhere in sight.
"I'm gone, but then I'm not gone. If you think I'm gone, then I'm not really gone. Now am I?"
"Gadzooks," a flabbergasted Ector stammered. "Well, you got me there, Marvin. Well… you and the others are welcome to stay."
A moment later, Merlin reappeared in the room — exactly where he had disappeared minutes before. "Thank you," he stated. "You're very kind."
Ector strode out of the chamber, gesturing for Merlin, Sora and the others to follow him. They all walked outside and onto a walkway along one of the stone walls.
"All we can offer is room and board," Ector said. "Let's set you all up in the northwest tower. That's the guest room. It's a bit drafty in the winter, but in this blazing, hot weather, it's the best room in the house."
Looking up at the tower from the other side of the wall, Sora thought the structure seemed unsteady. The middle of the tower was half-crumbled and some of the wooden framework was showing, and it appeared to be unsteady, too. Overall, the entire tower seemed unsafe. Yet, unless a strong wind were to suddenly form out of the blue and blow it down, the tower probably would hold long enough for the remainder of the quest.
"Why thank you," Merlin said in return as he strolled up to the tower with Archimedes flying behind.
"Just make yourselves at home, Marvin," Ector finished with a smile.
Even after Ector had returned to the inner chamber, Merlin was complaining about how Ector had continuously referred to him as "Marvin". Sora, Riku, and Violet simply followed the wizard up a rickety flight of stairs and into the tower's single room. Until the next day, Sora knew nothing new was going to happen.
As for Riku, the first glimpse of the castle had made him more than uneasy. Nevertheless, he successfully kept the reason why a total secret.
'Never,' Riku thought to himself. 'It will always be a secret.'
A/N: "Always be a secret", huh? Wonder what THAT'S all about...
Oh yeah! I nearly forgot you were STILL here!
So, now's the time to reveal which Disney Movie CAMELOT is based upon. As obvious as it may be now, I'll just say it anyway.
CAMELOT is based upon the Disney Movie, THE SWORD IN THE STONE (1963).
I know the Riddle-For-A-Hint Idea probably wasn't the BEST decision for a Hint, but it seemed to do pretty well anyway.
By the way, I did give a reference to the Disney's House of Mouse episode: "Gone Goofy" in case you didn't notice.
Well, that's all I can say for now. Next time, we MAY learn more about this "Inner Conflict" Riku is dealing with.
Since I've run out of anything else to say, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!
This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"