Disclaimer: I only own my OCs, the worlds I've created, and this story idea. Anything else belongs to their respective owners.
Chapter 21: Crystal Mountains
Looking out over the land before them Sol was enjoying the sight of the Crystal Mountains. He was standing at the top of a large hill waiting for the other three to catch up with him. They had already spent the last few hours traversing the rolling hills that seemed to make up this world. Off in the distance they could see a towering mountain that made it obvious where this world got its name.
The mountain appeared to be made up of pure crystal. When the sun was behind them they couldn't look directly at the mountain without being blinded by the reflected light. Now though the red sun of this world had fallen behind the mountain giving the normally blue looking crystal a deep red colour. It was simply a magnificent sight to see.
When they first landed on world and spotted the mountain it was a unanimous decision to head in that direction. That had been yesterday and so far they hadn't run into a single person on their way to the mountain. They hadn't have seen a village but they had seen clear signs of animal life. This led them to believe that either this world was filled with only animals or that the humans were well hidden. Roxas and Naminé favored the later as the last time they visited a world without humans they changed into lions to blend in.
Still standing on top of the hill waiting for the others Sol tried to gauge their distance to the mountain. As a crow flew it would only take them about three hours to close the gap between them and their destination. Sadly though there wasn't a single glimpse of flat land in sight and they'd be walking up and down hills for hours if not another whole day. Some might call the hills between the mountain and Sol mountains themselves but Sol didn't think they were tall enough to warrant the title of mountain.
"God... damn... it... Sol" Luna panted as she reached the top of the hill. "How the hell do you have this much energy?"
Roxas and Naminé came up not far behind Luna both looking as if they were about to collapse. Luna wasn't in much better shape as she stood upright catching her breath. Sol on the other hand looked fit as a fiddle. It was a new sensation for Sol to not be the one out of breath as he traveled with Luna. He was by no means out of shape Luna just was more fit than him.
"Come Luna surely you can feel the mana in the air. This place has practically a powder keg's worth of it in one square inch. I honestly don't think I've used my own energy since we've got here." Sol explained.
"You cheating bastard!" Luna shouted. "You know I can't sense Pure Mana. You should have told us when we got here!"
"Pure... Mana?" Roxas and Naminé asked.
"Mana that hasn't been touched by humans or any or creature." Sol informed them. "Pure Mana is the strongest source of power in the universe. It's so rare to find though and only a few mages can even sense it. Any spell used with Pure Mana is vastly strong than if you use normal mana."
"More importantly though you can use it to get rid of fatigue." Luna added as she glared at Sol. "Which is exactly what Solaris here has been doing?!"
"Not just that Luna. I've been sending trace amounts into Icebrand and therefore Flamberge. The one time I actually hate the fact they share another form."
"So can we use this Pure Mana stuff?" Roxas asked.
"Yes and no." Sol answered. "Without being able to sense the mana you need a medium to draw it in for you. In Luna's case she has Flamberge which was forged using Pure Mana." In a flash of light Icebrand appeared in Sol's hand. He held the hilt out to Roxas and Naminé. "Hold onto the sword and I'll try and see if I can get you two to sense the Mana."
Both Naminé and Roxas placed their hands on Icebrand's hilt slowly as if it would bite them. When their hands touched down Sol pulled some of the Pure Mana out of the air and channeled it into the sword and through it into the bodies of the two teens. Instantly Roxas and Naminé looked better as the power washed their fatigue away giving them new energy.
"I've felt this power before" Naminé said as she took her hand off the hilt. "It's what I used when I was working Organization XIII and messing up Sora's memories. I knew the power I was using wasn't normal magic but I didn't know it was this."
"Well Naminé you just got bumped up from Luna's magic class to mine." Sol told her dismissing Icebrand. "Don't get me wrong she's a good teacher but if you can use Pure Mana without knowing than you need a mage to teach you."
"Do I not cast spells" Luna grumbled. "Do I not set things on fire with my mind?"
Leaning in between Roxas and Naminé heads Sol whispered. "Let's get out of her before she starts setting us on fire."
With that said the mage bolted towards the crystal mountain. In his plight to get away from his angry girlfriend Sol did something they should have been doing before. He created an ice bridge between two hills. Skating across the slippery surface Sol made it to the other hilltop in seconds flat. Naminé and Roxas who had been stunned by Sol's suggestion were slow to follow. Luna on the other hand running her hands over the bottom of her shoes creating ice ice skates as she stood in front of the bridge. Literally skating across the bridge after Sol the raven haired woman shot fireballs at him.
"What do you mean she needs a 'mage' to teach her?!"
Ducking a fireball Sol responded. "Luna, honey, I just meant she needed someone who's better understands the elements of the universe to teach her."
"We'll see how much better you are after I burn you Solaris!"
Already Sol had another bridge made and was going across when a section in front of him melted. With a swift Mario like jump Sol cleared the gap and continued fleeing towards the mountain off in the distance. Roxas and Naminé watched in awe and concern as the couple made their way across the hilltops. Sol running, well skating, away and Luna trying to incinerate him.
"I suppose we should go after them." Roxas stated as he went to go try the first ice bridge.
Sol was getting worried. Luna's accuracy was improving. She was also getting more inventive with where she melted the ice. At one point she had actually melted a spot right as Sol passed over it. Only a quick magically enhanced gust of wind saved him from plummeting to the ground below. Even in the middle of his running away Sol could see that they were getting close to the mountain and that the Mana in the air was getting denser.
There was of course a downside to using Pure Mana and being able to sense it. Too much in one place could suffocate a mage. Their mental self wouldn't be able to stand the raw power. Using Pure Mana was also addicting and there were many mages that went crazy trying to find new sources just to feel the strength it gave them. Sol hadn't used anywhere near the amount to start driving him crazy but even he was feeling the temptation to use the Mana around him to rework the very foundations of the world around him.
"Luna stop" Sol said to her his voice taking a serious tone.
The warrior mage stopped dead in her tracks. She knew when Sol changed attitude so quickly that something was up.
"Whoa." Luna said as she could feel the Mana even without using Flamberge. "How concentrated is this stuff?"
"Exactly. I didn't think there could ever be a place where it was this dense. I don't know how much farther I'll be able to go."
As the two stood side by side looking at their destination that was so close to them. Only one more hill stood between them and the base of the crystal mountain. At the base the Mana was so dense you could actually see the power crackle in the air.
"Hey what'd you two stop for? We're almost there." Roxas observed as both he and Naminé reached the hill the older two stood on.
"Roxas I don't feel so good." Naminé said clutching onto his arm.
Sol turned to Luna. "You and Roxas will have to go alone. Naminé is already feeling the effects and I really don't want to test how far I can go."
"What's happening to Naminé and why can't you go farther?" Roxas questioned
"Pure Mana has a dangerous side effect. Too much can drive a person mad or even kill them. It only affects those who can naturally sense it though." Luna explained. "Which means that Sol and Naminé will either drop dead before they reach the mountain or they'll lose control and start channeling magic just for the sake of using the power."
"Someone has to live up there though. Look there's a door on that ledge." Roxas said as he pointed to a ledge that was about a three miles from the base. "You're telling me that people live that close to something so dangerous?"
"Good eye Roxas. But like I said the Mana is only dangerous to mages who can sense it. Me and you will be fine. We'll go in, find the Keyhole, have you seal it, and get out before you even miss your girlfriend." Luna teased.
"She's not my girlfriend!" Roxas shouted
"I'm not his girlfriend!" Naminé said in time with Roxas.
"Well that proves that you are." Luna mocked. "Do you know how often Sol and I put up with that back home? Now look at us."
"You're getting off subject hun" Sol told her.
"Right. Come on Chocobo Head let's get going. Maybe someone up there has a way through the Mana for our significant others." Luna said continuing to tease the blondes. She created her own ice bridge to the next hill and started skating over.
"I don't look like a chocobo!" Roxas shouted as he followed after Luna.
Since Roxas didn't have skates it was much more comical to watch him attempt to run across. He'd wave his arms in circles as he tried to regain balance. Roxas mustn't have had to visit a world where ice skating was a needed mode of transportation before. Once across the bridge both he and Luna started walking down the hill and out of sight of Naminé and Sol.
"Do you feel okay enough to sit here or do you want to go back a few hills?" Sol asked the girl standing next to him.
"I'll be fine here. I suppose this isn't the best time to ask for a magic lesion though is it?" Naminé joked half-heartedly.
"Nonsense. I can teach you how to cast without actually casting." Sol told her. "So what have Luna and Kairi taught you so far?"
-KotH-
"Come on Roxas pick up the pace." Luna shouted down through the cracking air at the Keybearer below her.
"Are you sure you don't have a pair of pants on you that you can change into?" Roxas bellowed up from his spot on the cliff. "It's really hard to look up when I can see up your skirt!"
"Take it like a man and climb!" Luna yelled back. "Honestly even Sol wasn't this shy. Though he did turn red the first time." She mumbled to herself as she kept going up the mountain.
When the two had reached the base of the mountain they didn't find a trail leading up and had decided to climb. It was tough work and it was made awkward for Roxas once Luna had pulled ahead. Now whenever he went to look for his next handhold he ran the risk of looking right up Luna's skirt.
She just had to wear a short skirt today didn't she? He thought to himself as he made his way up after Luna.
Hand over hand the made a progress at a snail's pace it seemed. Climbing up a cliff after walking up hills all day was not the easiest thing to do. It didn't matter that Sol had gotten rid of his tiredness Roxas' muscles were screaming from scaling up a vertical wall for twenty minutes. After about a half hour after the start of the climb they came a small ledge they could rest on.
"How much farther?" Roxas groaned as he lay on the ledge.
"Only about another two and a half miles of vertical cliff." Luna answered.
"Can't you make us fly there or something?" Roxas moaned.
"And blast us out of existence at the same time. The Mana is to thick here. I don't think anyone could cast here without their spell going awry"
"What happened to the simple magic I used during my time with the Organization?"
"You've moved up in the world Roxas my boy. Now you know that there's more out there than what your pathetic Organization thought there was." Luna looked up towards the ledge they were aiming for. "Well I think we've rested enough let's get going."
With a prolonged groan Roxas got up and followed Luna towards their destination. They finally made it as the world's moon bathed its white light over them. As Roxas had pointed out from the hill there was a large door on the ledge. It stood about twice as tall as Roxas and was a metallic grey color. What got their attention was the writing on the door. Roxas leaned in to read but the symbols on the door made no sense to him. Just as he was about to tell Luna that the symbols faded away and changed into words that Roxas could actually ready.
Ye who wish to enter the sacred mountain must solve the riddle below.
Mr. Black, Mr. Gray and Mr. White are fighting in a truel. They each get a gun and take turns shooting at each other until only one person is left. Mr. Black, who hits his shot one third of the time, gets to shoot first. Mr. Gray, who hits his shot two thirds of the time, gets to shoot next, assuming he is still alive. Mr. White, who hits his shot all the time, shoots next, assuming he is also alive. The cycle repeats. If you are Mr. Black, where should you shoot first for the highest chance of survival?
"Any ideas who he should shoot first?" Roxas asked Luna as she read the riddle.
"Well I'd shoot at Mr. White. He has a hundred percent chance of killing me." Luna answered. "But then again if I was White I'd be more worried about Grey than Black."
As the two tried to figure out the answer to the riddle a loud noise approaching them caught their attention. Out of the sky like a rocket came a flying person. He, or she, was moving at a very fast speed and Luna had a hard time figuring out what the person looked like as they barreled down straight at them. She didn't get the chance to get a good look before the person landed only a few feet in front of them with a metallic clink sound.
Standing upright before them was a man in a red and yellow suit of armor with a glowing center piece in the chest. The face plate was yellow along with parts of the limbs while the rest was a crimson red. The glowing chest piece was slightly blue. In the darkness of night Luna could see a faint glow in the palm of his hands similar to the one on his chest.
The face plate opened up to reveal a man's face underneath. He had black hair and blue eyes and even a goatee. Luna had to admit that the entirety of the man's face was attractive and she found herself wondering what he looked like underneath the armor.
"Haven't seen you two here before." The man said in a knowing tone that spoke of self-arrogance. "Need help getting in the door?" he gestured to the riddle door. "I can get you in you know. Dirk has yet to come up with a riddle I couldn't solve. It's sad, really it is. He's supposed to be the greatest mind from his world and he can't even put up a challenge."
"Wait just a second." Luna said. "Who are you and what makes you think you can get in so easily?"
"I'm Tony Stark. Surely you've heard of me, saved my world a few time, brought together a team of superheroes, I'm a genius. No? Oh well. Come on a good looking woman like you shouldn't spend her night out on a rock ledge. Come inside have a drink."
Luna rolled her eyes and glared daggers at Tony. Any attraction to him was gone the second his mouth had opened up.
Tony's face plate came back down as he walked over to the door. In a few seconds that was probably all he needed to read the riddle he pointed a finger at the door and engraved the answer with a laser. With a deep rumble the door slid upwards into the cliff face
"You two coming or you just going to stand there all day?" Tony asked them as he walked in.
"Come on Roxas let's follow this guy in." Luna grumbled as she followed Tony through the door. "I hope there's people in there with manners though!" she shouted at Tony as her and Roxas entered the cave behind the door.
The metallic clank of Tony's armor and the whir of the light bulbs that hung above them was the only noise as they walked down the tunnel. Luna got the impression that she wasn't supposed to be in this place though as she got deeper into the mountain. Her instincts were shouting at her to run away and not look back. Her curiosity of what was at the end of the tunnel though won.
At the end of the tunnel was a bright light like there was a well lit room at the end. When they reached it Tony gestured to the entire room and said "Welcome to Stark Interplanetary"
The room was filled to the brim with random parts of machines and work desks that had papers and beakers all over them. Many people were cluttered around tables working on something. Other people were off in the corner reading. The corner area seemed to be set aside from everything else and as a person walked over to it a small force field opened up to admit him.
"You wish Stark" a woman's voice said from Luna's right. A woman with blue hair that fell down to her shoulders stood in an orange dress. She most certainly wasn't a young woman though evident by the few wrinkles on her face. "Crystal Mountains isn't yours. If you want to feel special go back to your world."
"I'm special here to Bulma." Tony remarked. "Let's see how many inventions have you come up with while you're here? Huh what's that? Ten? That's twelve less than me and you've been here twenty years more than me."
"Oh please Stark. My inventions are worth three of yours combined and you know it." Bulma countered.
"Yeah well you keep thinking that I got people to show around." Tony said as he walked past Bulma and farther into the room.
"Bulma is it?" Luna asked as she approached the woman who Tony had argued with.
"Yep. I'm Bulma Briefs. You two friends of Tony?"
"Gods no." Luna and Roxas chorused.
"Since you guys know about other worlds I think it's safe to say this." Roxas continued. "We're looking for this world's Keyhole so we can seal it and prevent a group of evil warriors from taking over the universe."
"Roxas remind me not to let you tell our story to people. That has got to be the most unimaginative description of what we're doing that I've ever heard." Luna chided.
"I didn't want to waste her time though." Roxas replied. "We don't know what she's doing. We could be getting in her way of doing something important."
"It's alright Roxas." Bulma told him in a motherly voice. "I'm not working on anything so important I can't save you two from Tony."
Speaking of the Stark he finally noticed that Luna and Roxas weren't following him turned around and came back to get them.
"Hey I thought you two wanted a tour of the place." Tony said in a mock offended tone.
"Listen here Stark." Luna said. "I've literally known you for about five minutes and have had enough of you already. How can you be so full of yourself?!"
"Simple. I'm that awesome." Tony replied as if the answer was obvious.
"Anthony my boy!" a voice sounded from behind Tony. "Who's the dame standing there with you?"
"I don't know. Didn't get here name." Tony said clearly not bothered by that fact.
"Son you should at least learn their name before you take them out." A man that looked like an older version of Tony said.
"Oh gods above please don't tell me there's another one." Luna pleaded.
"Sorry but there is. That's Tony's dad Howard." Bulma informed them.
"Dad come on. How many girls did you bring home without knowing their names?" Tony remarked.
"That's different. The times were different then." Howard laughed.
A light surrounded Bulma, Luna, and Roxas. In a familiar feel of being teleported Luna found herself standing in front of another person, Tony and Howard nowhere in sight. A man in a white lab coat with a Santa Claus like beard stood holding a device in his hand that looked a lot like a gummi ship remote.
"Sorry for the sudden transport but it looked like you wanted to get out of there." The man chuckled. "My name is Dr. Light and I study and build robots to help the worlds."
"Okay. Can someone explain to me what this place is exactly?!" Roxas practically shouted.
"Oh course my boy." Dr. Light said. "Crystal Mountains is a stronghold for the collective geniuses of the universe. Many people such as myself will suddenly find ourselves transported here to this world and are given the riddle at the door. A young lad by the name of Dirk Provin is responsible for the riddles you see. Once we solve the riddle and come down the tunnel here to the main room we are given the option to continue our experiments here or we can go back home. Many chose to go home but a few stay here to work with other great minds to create things we normally couldn't on our home world. I hope that gives you enough of an explanation."
Luna and Roxas just nodded their head pretending the understood the entire speech Dr. Light had given them.
"Dr. Light they said they are looking for this world Keyhole or something like that do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Bulma asked the Santa Claus like man.
"I can't say that I do Mrs. Bulma." Dr. Light answered. "Rachel might though. She is the one currently studying worlds and the phenomenon that go with them."
"Alright then I'll take them to go see her."
"Wait." Luna said. "We have two friends outside that can't get in due to the high concentration of Pure Mana outside. Is there any way for them to get inside?"
"Are you sure you want to bring Sol in here Luna? He might not want to leave." Roxas joked.
"That's a good point Roxas" Luna agreed. "But it wouldn't be fair to leave him out."
"Where are they do you know?" Dr. Light asked as he moved over to a machine that was up against a wall.
"We left them one hilltop away from the base of this mountain. We could see the door straight ahead from the hill." Luna told the doctor.
Fiddling with a few dials and entering something on machine's keyboard the screen above clicked on and Luna could see the rolling hills they had traversed earlier that day. She could just make out the ice bridges that she had chased Sol down and couldn't help but smile at her antics.
"I take it I should follow those lines of ice." Dr. Light chuckled doing as he caused the camera the computer was hooked up to to move along the thing lines of ice. As they got closer to the mountain the camera zoomed in and on one of the hilltops two people shaped shadows sat. "Well then I'll bring them in." With a push of a big red button, cause every machine needs one, a light much like the one that had enveloped Luna minutes ago surrounded the two figures.
Appearing next to them Sol and Naminé appeared in a flash of light. Both of them looked surprised as they took in their new surroundings. Luna half expected Sol to pull out Icebrand but he must have spotted her before he felt the need to.
"What just happened?" Naminé asked.
"Our new friend Dr. Light teleported you and Sol inside the mountain." Roxas explained as he pointed to the mentioned man.
"How come the mana isn't concentrated in here?" Sol asked forgoing introductions or thanks, his curiosity overriding his manners.
"That's because the crystal shell of the mountain is what creates the Pure Mana." Bulma explained understanding the mage's need to want things explained to him. "Here inside there's no crystal to purify the mana in the air leaving us with nothing but normal everyday mana."
"If I could get a sample of that crystal and embedded it into Icebrand I could use Pure Mana whenever i needed to." Sol realized. "But that'd be too dangerous. I'd have to find a way to counteract the side effects."
"Told you we should have left him outside." Roxas said. Luna simply nodded her head in agreement. "Alright well Bulma you were going to take us to see this person named Rachel to help us find the Keyhole right?"
"Oh yeah. If you all would follow me." Bulma said in a fake tour guide voice. She had more energy than you would think an older woman should have.
"You three go on ahead I'm going to have a look around here." Sol said waving them off.
"Oh no you don't." Luna said pulling Sol by the ear after Bulma. "I'm not letting you loose in this place. It's worse than a library."
"Owowowowowow. That's the point though! Who knows the information these people have! Luna you have to let me talk with them!" Sol pleaded
"As if. You're coming with us. If you are even half as smart as you think you are you know what'll happen if you don't." She let go of his ear and looked up menacingly at Sol.
"You wouldn't" Sol whispered. "You promised that was the last time back at the lake."
"I'll break that promise if you don't come with us." Luna told him putting her hands on her hips. The sure sign she meant business.
Sol gulped. "Alright."
The two caught up with the others and followed Bulma down a hall that led up the mountain. As they walked through they noticed that there were large rooms. Bulma told them that those were for people whose experiments needed a separate space for either safety reasons or for getting away from the main room. Some experiments needed certain climates to be conducted properly and between magic and science of multiple worlds they could regulate the climate of each room.
Thirteen floors up was the sleeping quarters which is where Rachel was supposed to be at. Apparently she had just pulled a three nighter and was getting some rest. The four voiced their concern about disturbing her sleep but Bulma assured them that Rachel would be more than willing to wake up in order to discuss her research.
They stood outside a wooden door that had Rachel's name carved into it. Bulma knocked and a soft voice answered from the inside. Opening the door Bulma let the four into the room and walked away her job done.
The room was nothing more than a bed and four walls. Not even a carpet on the ground or anything on the walls. Just a lone wood framed bed sitting back against the wall across from the door. Sitting up on the bed wearing a white jacket like Dr. Light's was a silver haired woman. Her eyes were yellow, not that far off from the gold color of Sol's and Luna's own eyes.
"How are you four today?" she asked in a happy voice. "I assume you want to know something about the worlds otherwise Bulma wouldn't have brought you up here."
"Well yeah. We were wondering if you knew where this world's Keyhole was." Roxas said.
"Oh does one of you have a Keyblade?" Rachel asked her voice dripping with curiosity. Roxas and Naminé nodded their heads. "Can you two show me them please?"
They both called forth their Keyblades in the flash of light. Rachel's eyes went large as she stared at the two weapons in the hands of the teens.
"Unbelievable." She whispered. "I never thought that I would see one this close. Well I guess since you two can actually seal the Keyhole it would be best for you to do so. It'll also give me a chance to witness this phenomenon." Happily the woman shot off her bed and made her way past the four standing in her room. "Well come on slow pokes let's go. The Keyhole is down on level B19."
(A/N): It's kinda funny really. There's no height requirement for a hill to become a mountain. A hill becomes a mountain basically when someone dubs it as such. I didn't write the answer to the riddle for a reason. I want to see who can get guess correctly. Again those that review will get to learn about the next world Sora goes to.
Bulma Briefs: This Bulma is taken from the Dragonball GT time.
Anthony "Tony" Edward Stark: Marvel Universe
Howard Stark: Marvel Universe.
Dr. Light: Mega Man series.
Dirk Provin: Second Sun Trilogy (check my profile for some quotes by him)