Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
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Ch.18 Merlin
After Goofy and I managed to prevent Sora and Donald from breaking into another argument I took the controls, and piloted the ship back towards Traverse Town. Once there we found Leon in the waterway beneath the main part of town, and told him of what happened in the Deep Jungle. "So, you found the Keyhole," he said. "Yeah. The Keyblade locked it automatically," Sora said. "Good," Aerith said, and Leon explained "Every world among the stars has a Keyhole. And each one leads to the heart of the world. There's probably one in this town as well." "There is; I can feel it. This world has a Keyhole, but I can't tell where," I said. "What do you mean?" Sora asked. "It was in Ansem's report," Aerith said.
"The Heartless enter through the Keyhole and do something to the world's core," Leon said. "What happens to the world?" Sora asked. "In the end, it disappears," Aerith said gravely. "What!" Donald and Goofy called, while I nodded. "That's why your key is so important," Leon informed him. "Please lock the Keyholes. You're the only one who can," Aerith requested. Sora looked unsure. "I don't know..." he began. "I think we should. We don't want what happened to the islands to happen to any other worlds," I said. "Yeah!" Donald said. "We gotta find your friends! And King Mickey!" Goofy added. "I guess you're right... Okay!" Sora said, and I smiled.
It was a good thing that Sora had agreed to seal the Keyholes, because in truth I couldn't anymore. When I had lost all of the Keyblades I had power over except for Stormfell I also lost the power to seal Keyholes. It was frustrating, the amount of power I had lost in that incident. But I still existed, and that was more than what had happened to the others. I was pulled out of my thoughts when Sora asked "Hey Leon. This gummi is different from the others. Do you know what it's for?" Leon was silent, thinking, and Aerith said "Ask Cid. He should know." We nodded and left the waterway, returning to the city above. Cid was in the accessory shop, as usual, and when we asked him what the Gummi was he looked at us like we were crazy.
"You're kidding me! You're flying a Gummi ship and you don't know nothing about navigation gummis?! Bunch of pinheads. Interspace ain't no playground," he said. "There are a lot of things we don't know. So what! We have to use the Gummi ship to go to other worlds. We don't have a choice," Sora said angrily. I blinked in surprise at the outburst, and apparently Cid shared the sentiment. "Whoa, easy. I didn't know. No hard feeling, all right? Well, I guess I could lend y'all a hand, then," he said. I nodded and said "Thanks." "Basically, with navigation gummis, you can go to new places. You want one on your ship, right?" Cid asked. Donald and Goofy nodded, and he said "I'll install it for you. But first I gotta deliver this thing."
"What do you need to deliver?" Sora asked. "Just this book. It's really old. When the guy brought it in, it was practically falling apart. Too beat up to restore it to the way it was. But overall, I did a pretty decent job putting it back together. Anyway, you mind delivering it for me? It's the old house past the Third District. Look for a big fire sing," Cid said. I nodded and took the book, but when I saw the cover the air was punched out of my chest. No way… it was the Hundred-Acre Wood. "What's up, Dexal?" Donald asked. I shook my head and pocketed the book. "Nothing. Let's go," I said, but then the ground shook and the sound of a huge bell rung through the air.
"Wh-What was that?" Sora asked once the ground stopped shaking. Having barely noticed, Cid said "Hmm? The bell at the gizmo shop is ringing. Go check it out if you want, but deliver that book for me first. When you're done, stop by the house in the Third District. I'll be there." We all nodded and left, but just as we did a pack of Heartless appeared. There were five Soldiers, three Shadows, and one Large Body. "Oh, perfect," I said, drawing my Keyblade. Sora did the same as well, and charged forward while Donald and Goofy attacked as well.
"Come on!" I said, and used Sonic Blade. I charged back and forth between the Heartless at rapid speed, destroying one of the Shadows in the process. Donald cast Blizzard and froze another, which promptly shattered when Goofy bashed it with his shield. The Large Body hit its stomach and charged at Sora, who fell back from the hit. "Heal!" I called, and used Cure. Sora's body was enveloped in green light before he stood straight again, nodding his thanks before charging. While we were distracted two Soldiers tried to attempt a pair of spinning kicks. Sora blocked one and countered, actually cutting the Heartless in two with Jungle King. "What-?" he began, and I blocked the other before smiling.
"The Keychain Jungle King not only changed the appearance of your Keyblade, but also gives a boost in Strength and Magic," I explained, before casting Thundaga and blasting the Soldier with lightning. It exploded into shadows and faded away, while Goofy hit a Shadow on the head hard enough to send it into the ground, flat as a pancake. "Cool!" Sora said, and decided to give his new strength a try against the Large Body. No luck though, because the moment he got close the Heartless hit him with a right hook hard enough to send him onto his back. "Sora!" Donald called, and cast Blizzard at the Body before using Cure. Sora stood again and thanked him, and I countered a strike from another Soldier before killing it.
The Shadow that Goofy had flattened sank into the ground and moved behind him, jumping up and slashing at his back. Goofy shouted in pain and turned around, accidentally hitting his very target with the edge of his shield. It fell back and good glared, before calling "Okay, try this!" He put his shield on his head and his feet began glowing, before he shot off of the ground like a rocket. My eyes widened as I had to duck, while Goofy flew around wildly and smashed into any Heartless in sight. The Shadow was knocked off of its feet and into the air, where I threw my Keyblade and destroyed it. Now all that was left were three Soldiers and the Large Body. They seemed to notice it too, because then they took the offensive and struck.
The Soldiers jumped forward and swung with her claws, while the Body slowly walked towards us while left and right. Goofy came back down to the ground and blocked the attack with his shield, the attack striking sparks. He hit back hard enough to double the Heartless over before it received a harsh uppercut. Donald cast Fire and blasted the Soldier targeting him off its feet, and when it hit the ground Sora stabbed it in the chest. Both the last Soldier and the Body targeted me, and I smiled before saying "Nice try. Transcendence!" An anti-gravity field spread outwards and caught the two, and with a swing of my hand they began flying all around the First District. They knock into walls, posts and various building, until finally I waved my hand and made the two Heartless collide hard enough that they both burst into shadows.
With the Heartless gone we kept going, and arrived in the Third District with no trouble. When we did there was indeed a door with a large fire sign on it, which somewhat ironically needed a Fire spell to open. Inside there was a large cavern, and a large house sat in the middle of a huge pond. Stones moved from side to side in a path towards it, and once we made it across we entered through a hole in the side of the wall. But surprisingly, no one was here. "Hello?" I called. "Anybody home? We have a delivery for you!" Donald said. Sora walked forward, and suddenly his eyes widened. I tiled my head to the side and followed his line of sight, but there was nothing there. "Sora?" Goofy asked, and he blinked before looking at us.
Before he could say anything though, a voice said "Well, well… You've arrived sooner than I expected." We all turned and saw an elderly man walk through the hole, one that recognized. He was tall and thin, wearing a blue robe, pointed and hat, and had a longer silver mustache and beard that fell to the ground. A pair of glasses adorned his face, behind which black eyes had a sense of old wisdom. He was carrying a brown bag, and I smiled. "Merlin!" I called. He jumped back in shock. "Dexal? My goodness, is that you?" he said, looking at me like I was a ghost. "Dexal, you know this guy?" Goofy asked. I nodded. "I met him once, a long time ago. Then after the… incident… where I ended up in Ansem's apprenticeship, he taught some things about magic that I didn't even know. Made me a lot stronger, this guy," I said, clasping a hand on his shoulder.
"Well now, I hardly call it teaching. The power was already within you; I just awakened it," Merlin said. I was about to refute that when he waved his hand, gently putting an end it. "Either way, it seems you are not the only Keyblade wielder in my company now. As I expected," he said. "Wha… you knew we were coming?" Sora asked. "Of course," Merlin told him, and he replied "Are you… a Heartless?" "He doesn't look like one," Donald remarked. "Oh my, no. My name is Merlin. As you probably guessed, I am a sorcerer. I spend much of my time traveling; it's good to be home. Your king has requested my help," Merlin. "King Mickey?" Goofy asked. "Yes, indeed. Donald, Goofy. And who might you be, young man?" he asked.
"I'm Sora," Sora said. "Ah. So, you have found the key," Merlin said, looking at Donald and Goofy. "What did the king ask you to do?" Donald asked. "Just a moment…" he said, placing his bag on the ground in the center of the room and pulling out a long wooden wand the length of half his arm. "Presto!" he said, waving it. A tiny chair rose out of the back and floated in the air, growing in size while other furniture rose out of the bag. There was a flash of light, and suddenly the entire room was transformed. Books upon books were placed haphazardly in small mountains around the room, while a fireplace was roaring and a table with chairs was in the center. A bed was placed in the corner, and Merlin looked at it for a moment before sitting down.
"There, now. Ahem. Your king asked me to train you in the art of magic. We can start anytime you like. Let me know when you're ready to begin the training," he said. I nodded my thanks, when suddenly I remembered why we had come there in the first place. "Oh yeah! We were asked to deliver this," I said, pulling out of book and handing it to him. "Oh, that book... So, Cid asked you to bring this. Thank you. You wish to know what kind of book it is? I don't even know myself. In fact, it's not mine. Somehow it found its way into my bag one day. It was such a curious book, I asked Cid to repair it for me. Well, I guess I'll put it here somewhere, for now. This book holds a great secret. The missing pages will unlock it. I'll leave the book over there. Do look at it whenever you like. My best regards to Cid for repairing it for me," Merlin requested. I nodded, indicating we would, and asked the others if we were ready to go. They agreed, and we left the Magician's Study for the rest of Traverse Town.
Little did we know, an old friend was waiting for us just back in the Third District.
xxx
The gummi block is soon to be replaced, and the journey will continue. But first, a surprised encounter and another Keyhole!
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