They looked around.
"This is a big city, but there's nobody here." Takato noted.
"Scala ad Caelum was abandoned a long time ago." I stated. "A very, very, very long time ago. Though what they left behind remains, the people are long-since gone."
"What happened?" Takato asked, a bit more somber.
"Time." I answer. "Scala ad Caelum was formed by a relatively small population of people. This, by itself, would not have been too much of a problem; most of that population consisted of powerful Mages, however... They were afflicted with a blight by a power and scourge they attempted to escape. Unable to grow, that population slowly shrank, until, inevitably, it was too small to completely sustain itself. The people, as such, left this World behind." Learned that from Scala ad Caelum itself.
"Power and scourge?" Henry asked.
"I'll tell you about it shortly."
Tunnel entrances are here... About two meters wide, nestled between the buildings neatly.
We enter. The inside of the tunnels are an expansive network of white and gold. It's a wide enough space, with a great deal many maps all over the place, especially at entrances.
Takato paused for a moment, looking back at the entrance with a confused note. "Are we... in another space?"
I nodded. "It's amazing that your senses are that good already." I noted. Takato had always had the best senses. "Those tunnel entrances all connect to a single sub-dimension, which is compressed spatially. Maps on the walls, floors, and passageways will tell you exactly where you are in relation to the city itself." It shouldn't be too hard to navigate, not with this many references. The phones I had prepared had an app for it, but they didn't have those yet. "This way."
It was only about a minute and half of walking. Down here, there wasn't anything to really see. Sure, the architecture was pretty, but it was all the same.
When we emerged from the tunnel, we were a little ways up the central mountain, close to the entrance of the Central Tower.
Their necks craned back as they looked further and further up. This close, the white, gold, and traces of red were nothing less than resplendent. Seeing the awe in their Hearts brought more than a little joy to me.
The doors opened as we came close. The movement caught their attention, and they quickly looked back.
The reception hall was an elegant place. The mural on the floor was a complex one, a trinity that incorporated the symbols of a heart, a crown, and the letter 'χ'. Taken alone, they weren't much of interest. Taken together, it was a reference to Kingdom Hearts and the χ-blade.
The number of people who would pick up on that, however, was low indeed.
There were stairs leading up. That, however, was a long walk, so I went past them and headed to the lifts that linked the upper floors with the lower ones.
The moment we were all on, it went up.
There weren't many windows out of the Central Tower. Nevertheless, we still passed by one of the big ones, catching, for a little bit, a good view of the city from it. They were suitably impressed.
Finally, we came to the destination. Near the top, though not quite there. The corridor was a simple one; a path straight ahead, and another two to the left and right.
We went forwards. It was another short trip before we arrived a set of relatively plain, though still somewhat decorated double door. The crest on it was the only major identifier; formed from the symbols of the Heartless, Kingdom Hearts, a five-pointed star representing the Worlds, a Keyhole, and, of course, a 'χ'.
It was also bright blue, a shade matching my eyes.
Rika looked at it. "Your room?"
"Among other things." I agreed.
As we approached, the symbol flashed, and the door opened.
It was a fairly simple room. A window directly opposite the door, protruding outwards slightly so that one could sit next to it. Not a bad idea, with the sunlight streaming through it, and the view it provided of Scala ad Caelum. Bookshelves lined both of the walls to the left and right, though the doorside wall was plain.
A large desk, with a bunch of gizmos and gadgets on it, was set to the left side, while on the right, there was a crystal that floated in the air, surrounded by a cloud of faint lights and three golden bands that slowly spun around it.
"What's with the crystal?" Henry asked.
"First, it's a great conversation starter, and second, ambience."
He paused. "Ambience? What, it's just there to look pretty?"
"Well, that's one part of it." I said. I pointed at it, and the crystal started glowing, the network of lights shifting. In but a moment, the slow notes of Dearly Beloved began to fill the room.
"Ambience." Rika repeated, her voice flat. "You made a giant magic crystal for literal background music?"
"Unashamedly." I agreed. "Can't tell a great story without the proper music for it."
I flicked a finger, and the curtains closed on their own, leaving the room much darker, though still visible. I held a hand up, and a book flew off the shelves, coming to my hand.
"The story is a long one, but also important. Knowing how we got here is just as important as knowing where we're going, so we will start at the beginning." I said, waving my hand a bit more. A table, a half-circle in shape, materialized between the three of us, several chairs around it. Four, for myself and the children, a fifth, of a different shape for Renamon, and a sixth, which was more a lounge, for Guilmon. Terriermon, of course, remained perched on Henry's head.
I took mine. "Take a seat. You're going to be here for quite some time while I tell you some history."
They quickly took their own, and I smiled.
I placed the book down, towards them, and it flipped open, showing a completely black page.
"Our story starts a very, very long time ago." I started. "Before time itself, really. Before the beginning, there was Darkness, and from that Darkness..." The page shifted, a white spot slowly inking into existence on the page, like a tiny little star. "There came a Light, and that Light was called Kingdom Hearts."