When the train pulled up, Jacob had just been hanging onto his last thread of happiness. Relief came upon him that he may be able to find someone to help him, or at the very least go somewhere people could help him to find Ellie. However, it was ominous. This convenient train almost taunted him with promises of people and places, and as alone as Jacob was, he felt like the train was his company.
He slowly stepped of the platform and into this train, going inside and taking a seat. All the cabins were empty, but still Jacob didn't feel alone. He sat back almost excited about where he might end up. An adventure, a new world, this was what him and Ellie always wanted and he was slowly coming to that realization that as scary as it was there's a silver lining.
In a short while, the train stopped. Barely 2 minutes had passed and they were already at their destination, and with no windows to speak of, Jacob was walking out blind. Now he realized that new worlds require caution and courage, and quests require initiative and purpose. He gathered all that he had, plus his Keyblade, and took on step out the door.
"So when can I drive?" Ellie asked Leon in awe.
"Not right now. I haven't been in a Gummi for years, I'm trying to concentrate." Leon replied, backing up his statement with focus on the navigation computer and steering. "There's plenty of worlds but I'm not sure where to go to first. Perhaps you should choose." He asked Ellie. She quickly stood up and rushed over to take a look at the navigation computer and see what there was. Many spheres and circles were being shown. The spheres worlds and the circles courses, and many to choose from.
"What's that one?" Ellie pointed to a sphere with what looked to resemble a train in front of a tall tower.
Yuffie smiled and replied "Our next course! Step on it Leon." Leon input the course and went as fast as he could, however Gummi travel wasn't the fastest it could be. It'd be an hour to them before they get there, and even longer for those on this world.
Jacob was astonished at the sight of the tower. It was around fifteen stories tall, and in comparison he felt like an ant. It wasn't until he got over the tower he noticed the train floating off the edge. Bellow it the sky. All around the tower and the island it was on was a purple and blue sky with distant stars. "This has given me a whole new perspective on other worlds out there..." Jacob said, a huge grin on his face.
He walked towards the tower, taking in every sight possible. Every star, ever step, ever level of the tower. There was so much to look at, even the train was a glowing emerald green. When he reached the doors of the castle, which were two stories at least, he wasted now time on going inside. Of course, being as polite as he could, he knocked first before getting no response and inviting himself in, too curious to resist.
The doors were light considering their size, but the towers was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the out. "This really isn't the same architecture as Twilight Towns" he said jokingly. It was so perfect that not even the thousands upon thousands of steps spiraling up the towers walls daunted him. He felt like he was being fed energy, enough to get um them without any problems.
He took one small step before dashing his way up them like an escalator. It was magnificent to not feel loss of breath or aching joints like he'd feel on the island when attempting to race, and it was better to feel the wind cooling him without the need to stop for a drink. But it couldn't of been that easy, because when he got half way up, The Heartless attacked. Spawning in front of him as fast as he was making steps.
He made the obvious move and summoned the Keyblade, striking down each and every Heartless on his way. There was no stopping him from reaching the top, but in fact he felt like the Heartless were speeding up his progress, encouraging him to get there. He'd now reached the very end of these stairs and finished the remainder of the Heartless, and found a door which seems sealed by a Keyhole to this world.
He looked at his Keyblade and back at the Keyhole, and realized what to do. Just like Ellie had closed the Keyhole at Traverse Town, Jacob closed the one here. This revealed to him the sturdy old wooden door, which was all that was in his way of finding out why lies at the top. He slowly pushed it open, revealing a ransacked office.
He was quite shocked at what he found, there was an obvious struggle between whoever was here. Absolutely nothing to be found other than a notebook. The notebook contained details about the Keybearer, the Keyblade, and other various things, such as the sinister faction Organization XIII. He picked it up and sat down in one of the few unbroken chairs. Quickly he flicked through it, deciding that the information would be better off taken in later once he figured out what to do.
He started to look through drawers, desperate to find an answer of what happened and why. Instead all he found was keys and a note saying "Gummi out back. Take the teleporter to find it." He didn't understand that but he immediately knew to consult the notebook he found. Taking a look at the index which somebody had neatly ordered out, he found the page on teleporters, how to use them, what they looked like and where some were.
One of the teleporter locations was in this very room. He looked over at the desk then back at the notebook, then he heaved the desk to the side of the room. After he lifted up a rug which covered up the teleporter. Following the guidelines in the book carefully, he stood center in the circle and stamped his foot. He was surrounded by the same emerald green glow that he saw on the train, and as it cleared he saw a Gummi.
Hours later, Ellie, Leon, and Yuffie arrived her at the tower. However, there was no train to speak of. "We should tread carefully here. It's a sensitive world, you could see practically the universe and its end with a telescope here." Leon said, walking slowly towards the tower.
"I concur" Ellie said "There's no telling who or what we'll find here..." There was a chill in the air, the worlds started to look darker and the island and tower shadowed. A dramatic change from when Jacob had arrived. Yuffie looked around at the ground and saw the small markings of fresh footprints in the soil.
"Someone was here earlier... I guess we missed them." Yuffie said. They all walked closely together toward the tower, on the lookout for any Heartless that may lurk. When they reached the door, it was already wide open from when somebody had been here, and that worried them.
"I know this tower" Leon said "It's very old, magnificent at one point, not that it still is." They didn't feel the same energy force Jacob did. The tower was almost drained of its powers, dying. The spiral staircase would not prove a challenge to the experienced trio however. This took them straight to the top, and not a Heartless in sight. Despite that, they kept their weapons ready, their wits about them, and themselves together as they entered the ransacked room...