Giving Squall an amused, easy smile as she herself fell into step with Yuffie – leaving Squall and Kuromaru on the extreme left and right sides of their group, respectively – she laughed softly in amusement as Squall shook his head. The four of them continued on in that same fashion for the rest of their trip through the Second District, and soon enough they had made it to the large, double-doors that separated the Second District from the Third. Squall pushed them open, and the four of them made their way though into the comparatively smaller Third District.
Crossing the purple-checked courtyard that this particular district had seemingly been built around, the four of them made their way to the far end of the courtyard relative to where they had come in from, and made their way to the left of the large, lighted fountain that served to illuminate the majority of that section. She still found it rather amusing that whoever had built that fountain had chosen to commemorate Lady and the Tramp, but as ever it was a passing amusement. She'd always had other things on her mind when she came this way, and today was not the exception to that rule.
The familiar door, marked in runes rather than the Greek lettering that had stuck in her head precisely because it had been so incongruous, retracted upward into its housing as their small group approached; Sarah could only hope that they weren't going to have to deal with that damned jumping puzzle again.
It was annoying enough in-game, without having to confront the same damned thing in what had become a real world.
"Sora," Squall called, prompting Sarah to turn her attention back to him. "This defense system of Merlin's was designed to keep the Heartless from reaching his workshop, on the off-chance that they managed to breached the barrier."
When Squall paused, seeming to have run out of words, Sarah smiled and took up the narrative. "So I might want to do something about Kuromaru, yeah?" turning back to the Shadow that had chosen to throw in its lot with her, she briefly patted the little thing's head to draw its attention, then cocked "her" thumb to point at "her" back. "All right, boy; up you get." Kuromaru needed no further prompting, and had no sooner settled itself firmly on "her" back like some sort of, almost imperceptibly light it must be said, backpack and then their group set off once more.
When she saw the oblong rocks whose presence always heralded a greater or lesser amount of annoyance – even with Glide, those things were a bitch to land on – twisting around until they had formed a neat path to the vaguely teakettle-shaped house at the far end of the cavern they all now stood in, Sarah didn't even bother suppressing the wide smile on "her" face. Well now, this is more like it. When the three of them, and one passenger, had made it onto the small island, Sarah turned back to consider the rocks as they all started moving again.
"So, are the Heartless like vampires in that they can't cross moving water," it'd been too dark on her TV – or else that was one of the many things about this universe that the games set in it had glossed over – to see the turbulence of the water that those rocks were floating in, but with "her" eyes having previously adapted to the low light of the cavern they were all now standing in, Sarah saw and she wondered. "Or is there something in particular about that water we just crossed that would ward them off?"
"Merlin's the one who created the defenses in this cavern, so you'd have to ask him about any of that," Squall said, and she turned to see a considering look on his face as he regarded her.
Giving both Squall and Yuffie a smile as their group made its way into the greenish-brick house that Merlin had set up for himself, Sarah was mildly surprised to find the place already furnished, and Merlin himself sitting down for a meal with Donald and Goofy.
"Ah, good morning to you all!" Merlin called out, the old wizard sounding as cheerful as she had ever seen him – she couldn't quite remember if there had been any voice actor tapped for his parts, of if it'd all just been colored text-boxes, but that wasn't particularly relevant now - in the game. "We were just sitting down to breakfast, and these two had just finished telling me about your rather fascinating traveling companion, young man."
"He named a Heartless," Squall said, still sounding dubious.
"Why, of course he did," Merlin said, in the tone of a teacher with a new lesson to impart. "Names, Squall Leonhart, have a great deal of power. Particularly in the case of Heartless, who have lost not only their previous existence, but their true names as well," the old wizard paused for a long moment, looking immensely thoughtful. "However, I don't know of any wizard that had managed to the True Name of a Heartless, and then to conjure them by it. Naming a True Being is a very old type of magic," Merlin chewed thoughtfully on the long stem of a pipe that Sarah hadn't taken much note of when it had just been sitting by his right hand. Then he smiled, turning to look at Sarah with an expression of grateful fascination. "Thank you, my boy. I do believe you've opened up a new angle that Yensid and I might be able to use to solve this problem that the known worlds are facing."
"You're welcome," she said, and then paused for a moment in consideration. "Who's Yensid, by the way?"
Merlin's smile widened slightly, remaining as warm as ever. "He is one of the greatest of Keyblade Masters, and a very good friend of mine." Merlin patted "her" right shoulder, his manner becoming more businesslike, though no less jovial. "Now, come and have breakfast with us," he chuckled softly, a knowing look on his face. "I dare say you're going to need the energy for what comes next."
"I thought Mana was exterior energy," Sarah said, allowing herself to be lead to the table situated in the center of the smallish, one-room house; it turned out to be just large enough to seat the eight of them comfortably, and Sarah couldn't help but wonder if Merlin had done his little space-warping trick just beforehand, or if he'd had it all prepared before they even came. "You know, energy generated by the surrounding environment."
"Yes, that is one type of Mana," Merlin said, looking rather pleased at her level of understanding; she wondered briefly what he'd think if he knew that said understanding came from anime and Visual Novels, particularly the Nasuverse. "However, as Mana is the energy of life itself, you will be able to channel your own personal stores of Mana to accomplish great feats."
"What about the ambient Mana?" she asked, deciding to leave off explaining the other classifications that the Nasuverse used unless they came up in conversation; or unless she herself needed to use them. "Can you do anything with that?"
"Indeed, but as it takes a great deal of time and training to properly sense the background of Mana that all life generates, and yet more to properly channel it, very few people bother," Merlin paused, and expression of thoughtful melancholy settling on his face. "Particularly these days."
"Well, I'd like to learn," Sarah said, after she'd served herself some bacon, sausage-links, hashed browns, and even a small bowl of home fries to go with her pancakes; Western-style breakfasts seemed amusingly commonplace, for all that the Kingdom Hearts franchise had originated in Japan.
"I would, too," Donald said, putting his fork down rather sharply upon making that pronouncement.
"So would I," Squall said, his voice quieter, though his tone was no less firm.
"Yeah, me too!" Goofy exclaimed.
"Yeah," Yuffie said, just after she'd set her glass down. "That sounds like a good thing to know."
Merlin looked both surprised and rather pleased to have so many new students so suddenly; but then he had seemed to be something of a teacher at heart, and every good teacher enjoyed their subject enough that they'd be happy to take the time to educate a willing pupil. At least, that was her experience on the matter.
"Very well, then," the old wizard said, the surprise on his face resolving so that he merely looked pleased. "All of you enjoy your breakfast, while I go and prepare the training room."
He left without another word, the pleased smile lingering on his face even as he called down a platform from his ceiling and rode it up into what was presumably the training room he'd spoken of. Turning her attention back to the meal she'd only been nibbling at while Merlin had been speaking to the table at large, Sarah began to eat in earnest.
Taking the time to savor her food, both since she could afford to and because this was the kind of food that truly deserved to be savored, Sarah had soon cleaned her plate and settled back into her chair. Looking down as she felt something nudge "her" left leg, she scooted the chair back so that Kuromaru could hop up "her" lap. As the little Shadow made itself comfortable, Sarah smiled in gentle amusement, patting it between its twitching antennae.
"Hey, boy."
Smirking at the dubious look Squall was leveling at the two of them, she heard Yuffie snickering and grinned at the other girl. Neither Donald nor Goofy seemed to know quite how to react to their little byplay, but Donald did flash her a sort of gimlet eye. To which she rolled "her" own, of course. Before any words – pleasant or unpleasant – could be exchanged between the six of them who were actually capable of speech, Merlin arrived once more.
"Everything has been set up properly now," the old wizard said, a wide sweep of his wand clearing away their used dishes. "So, if you would please step onto the platform," the chunk of ceiling that had descended to the floor seemed to glow with a subtle light, and as Sarah got up and pushed her chair back in, she felt the subtle weight of Kuromaru jumping onto "her" back. Once the six of them had managed to fit themselves not-quite-comfortably atop the platform – Squall side-eyeing Kuromaru even as they all searched for a place on the smallish piece of ceiling – Merlin smiled in amusement. "Yes; well, I suppose I shall have to expand things a bit, if I'm to continue having so many students."
The platform raised smoothly back into the ceiling before any of those who were actually capable of speech could say a word in response, and Sarah found herself in a new and wholly unfamiliar room. She'd never been one for practicing the spells that she unlocked throughout the course of the game, simply using the "thunder-cure" combo she'd found most useful during the course of her various playthroughs, and leaving the third slot free to be assigned on an as-needed basis.
Still, none of that was really going to be an option for now; it wasn't like she was capable of using those button combinations without a controller, and she sure as hell wasn't going to be in the same mindset wading into combat as she had been level-grinding. Besides, this was actual magic she was going to be dealing with, as strange a thought as that still was; there wasn't much chance that it'd be as simple as pressing a mental button, or even throwing a switch.
The room itself was rather simple: unfurnished, hexagonal, and painted in subtle tones that mimicked the night sky of some alien world. She rather doubted that it was Traverse Town in particular, owing to the twin moons, but some world that he'd been on before. Some world whose stars he didn't want to forget.
"Well now," the old wizard said, clapping once to draw attention back to himself. "If you would all take your seats at," a sharp snap-flick of his wand conjured the same kind of table that she'd seen down in the main room of his little house. Or maybe it was the same one. "Then we can begin." Just as she was about to join up with the four other members of the group she'd come in with, Merlin stepped in her path. "A moment of your time, Sora?"
"Sure, what'd you need?" she asked; since he was doing all of this for them, it was only polite that she allowed him some of her time in return.
In lieu of any kind of verbal answer, Merlin tapped "her" head with his wand. A new kind of energy rushed through "her" entire body at the contact, and as Sarah closed "her" eyes to try and follow its progress – not an easy thing, since the energy itself was so ephemeral – she could only sigh softly as she caught the last of said energy – she'd be willing to bet nearly anything that what she'd just-barely felt was Mana – as it rushed out through the palms of "her" hands and the soles of "her" feet.
When she turned her attention back to Merlin, Sarah found that the old wizard had a rather thoughtful expression on his face.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, my boy," he said, offering her a calm – and what seemed to her to be rather false – smile in return for her concern.
Still, if the man didn't want to talk to her about his problems, then that was his business. "All right, then."
Making her own way over to the table where her four fellow students had seated themselves, Sarah found that Goofy had pulled out the chair next to him and was now clearly offering it to her. Thanking the anthropomorphic dog for his consideration, she settled down in the offered chair and looked down at the table. There weren't any of the typical settings atop this particular table: instead, there were five circles, each of them divided into quadrants, and all of them seeming to have the same type of runic markings – placed on in front of each of them.
"Now, to feel the Mana around oneself is quite different than sensing it within one's own body," Merlin said, sounding as pleased as any good teacher to have students again. "It may be easier for some, and quite a bit harder for others," his gaze swept the entire table though it lingered on her for a few moments; she didn't think that anyone else had noticed, or at least no one else reacted in a way that suggested they had. She herself met Merlin's eyes without hesitation, however, and the old wizard seemed to nod subtly. "Now, these Rune Circles will aid you in attuning yourself with the natural Mana of the surrounding environment. However, as this place is my own workshop, this will be a great deal easier than it would be otherwise," the old wizard paused for a moment. "As well, since Mana is the essence of life itself, the less life you find in an area, the more difficult you will find it to draw upon environmental Mana. Not impossible, but simply more difficult the less life you find."
"If Mana is the energy of life, does that mean it comes from people who can't do magic, too?" she asked, wanting clarification while at the same time wondering just what Merlin himself would say to that.
"Yes, my boy, that is very true. However," the old wizard became stern once again, almost looking angry at what he had to say. "The act of two thinking beings sharing Mana is one of the greatest acts of trust imaginable," Merlin's stern, implacable gaze swept the entire table, clearly meaning to impress upon them the deadly-serious nature of what he was saying; she'd been wondering just what kind of taboos this new world she was in would have, and it looked like she'd just found the biggest among this particular subset. "It must never be forced."
Everyone at the table agreed at that point, and Merlin settled into the last of the chairs spaced equidistantly around the table. The five of them were instructed to place their hands within the Rune Circle in front of them – one in each half, far enough apart that the fingers didn't overlap – and allow themselves to relax so that the Mana within the room could wash over them, and they could become aware of it in turn. It seemed a lot like the meditation exercises that she'd started learning from the various senseis Dad had sent her to when she'd started to learn to fight in earnest. She didn't want to disturb anyone else at the table, which she knew she would if she started singing or tried standing on "her" head – two of the things she most often used to quiet her mind so that she could properly focus during times like this – so instead Sarah drew as deep a breath as she could comfortably manage, then slowly, silently counted out the time it took her to exhale.
Soon enough, she was able to delegate the task to that part of her conscious mind that would have otherwise been bored by the proceedings, and leave her awareness free to take in what was going on around her.
The first thing she really became aware of was the fact that, each time she breathed in, she could feel some new kind of lightness to "her" body; as though each time she breathed it got easier to breathe, somehow. She wasn't exactly feeling the Mana all around her, so much as she was feeling its effects on "her" body. However, it was more than possible that she would need a great deal more experience working with the energy, as well as magic itself, before she'd be able to feel anything more than just its effects on her. It was something to consider, the fact that she'd barely begun to harness this new energy.
Only Alex Mercer could master complicated skills in under half an hour, and he cheated.
There came a fast ripple of… something from Merlin's section of the table, prompting Sarah to open "her" eyes and look toward the old wizard. She wasn't the only one doing so, Sarah found.
"You've all done quite well for your first time," he said, favoring all of them with a wide, kindly smile. "And, as some of you have doubtless learned during the time you spent here, respiring Mana in this fashion can be as simple a matter as… respiring." Merlin seemed rather amused at his wordplay, and she herself had to admit that it had been rather cute that corny sort of way that such things often were, so she favored him with a smile of her own.
"Wow," Yuffie said, her purple eyes as bright and cheerful as the smile on her face. "That was really something." The ninja stretches as well as anyone could manage while still seated. "I haven't felt this refreshed in awhile."
There was a general consensus on that particular point, and Merlin seemed rather pleased to hear it.
"Indeed," the old wizard said, nodding with a smile of his own for the other occupants of the table. "In fact, as you all become more adept at sensing and drawing upon the Mana of the environment around you, you will find that it is much easier to banish fatigue after a battle, or to recover your stamina after large spell-workings."
"Sounds good," Squall said, sounding pleased but stoic at the same time.
Quite a feat, Sarah mused. "Is there anything else that you wanted to cover?" she asked, tilting "her" head curiously, after a few moments of anticipatory silence.
"Actually, my boy, there is one other thing that I would like to attend to," Merlin said, rising from his seat and beckoning her to do the same. "If you would come with me?"
"All right," she said, suiting actions to words as she paced the old wizard to the far side of the training room.
Before she could ask just what was going to happen next, Merlin turned around smoothly, and the two of them locked gazes. She wondered, for the first few moments, if the wizards in this part of the 'verse were capable of the same kind of soul Gaze that she'd read about in the Dresden Files and various fanfictions thereof, or if this was something entirely different beyond those superficial similarities. When nothing seemed to happen for a few moments, Sarah raised an eyebrow and then Merlin blinked.
"Does this mean I win?" she asked, grinning slight as Merlin seemed to work to get his bearings.
"What?"
"The staring contest," she said, grinning wider. "Pretty much everyone knows that the first person to blink during a staring contest loses."
Merlin laughed. "Very amusing, my boy," the old wizard said, reaching out to pat "her" head, and gently ruffling "her" while he did so. "Now, if you would kindly draw your Keyblade and channel some of your stored Mana through it, we can continue."
"Very well, then."
A moment's concentration saw the Keyblade back in "her" right hand, and Sarah breathed deeply in and out as she saw a sparking line of electricity leap from the Kingdom Key to impact and dissipate against the far wall, just below the crescent moon on that side.
"How was that?" she asked, curious if Merlin would want anything else from her, or if just that would be sufficient for now.
When she turned to look back at the old wizard, however, she found that he had a rather thoughtful expression on his face.
"What is it?" she asked, tilting "her" head slightly in ever-growing curiosity.
"Nothing terribly pressing, my boy," he said with a kind, grandfatherly smile.
She chuckled softly. "Come on, that was not the kind of face that someone makes for nothing. That was a thinking face," she said, turning around so that she could face Merlin squarely, and not worry about getting a crick in "her" neck while they talked. "So, what were you thinking about?"
Merlin, for his part, seemed rather pleased with her line of questioning. "I was simply considering the implications of the first magic that your heart reached for once it was opened to your own Mana. Thunder magic is powerful, yes, but even as natural lighting will strike where it may with little regard for whatever stands below it – and seldom strikes in the same place twice – Thunder magic has that same willful unpredictability to it." The old wizard smiled again, more thoughtfully this time. "It takes a disciplined sort to handle Thunder magic properly."
"Well, I don't know about the rest of that," Squall said, striding calmly forward even as Kuromaru abandoned even the pretense of waiting for her and Merlin to finish talking in favor of rubbing against "her" legs like the cat the Shadow so resembled at times like this. "But I think we can all agree that Sora here is unpredictable," he finished, looking down at Kuromaru as the Shadow climbed up onto "her" back.
She smirked, leaning "her" head back slightly as Kuromaru nuzzled "her" left cheek. "Flattery will get you nowhere."
Squall scoffed. "Funny." He turned to Merlin, his entire demeanor becoming far more respectful than it had once been; it was a fascinating transformation to observe. "Thank you for the lesson you gave us today, and for continuing to share what you know about magic with the people who need you."
"Yeah," she said, stepping forward so that she herself could sketch a courtly sort of bow. "Thank you for all of your assistance, I'm certain it will be useful in the future."
Merlin chuckled kindly. "There's no need for you to be so formal, my boy. And you are quite welcome."
Merlin dismissed them after that, letting the five of them – six, if you counted Kuromaru on "her" back – ride that same piece of ceiling/floor that they had climbed atop when they'd first come into that cozy little room in the first place, while he reappeared there through some other means. Probably teleportation; he was a wizard, after all.
As Merlin bade them all a final farewell, even reaching out to pat Kuromaru's head, Sarah couldn't help but chuckle.
"You know, you're one of the few people I've met who seems okay with this whole thing," she observed, wondering idly what the old wizard would say in response, or if he'd say anything at all.
Merlin smiled kindly, though not without a hint of mischief. "Under ordinary circumstances, my boy, you would find me perfectly opposed to anyone consorting with the Heartless," he paused for a moment, his smile becoming rather more reflective. "But, the way I have seen you interact with Kuromaru, even down to the mere fact that you gave the Heartless a name at all, suggests that you see the creature as a friend. I highly doubt that such a sentiment is shared among those who have truly lost their Hearts to Darkness."
There wasn't really anything that she, personally, could say to such a gesture of confidence, so she merely thanked Merlin for the sentiment – and once again for his lessons – and left with the other members of the group. She noticed that Squall had a rather thoughtful look on his face as she'd been turning, but at the moment she was more grateful for Merlin's forethought in providing them with that extra food than interested in finding out just what Squall was thinking. She really would have been a great deal more hungry if the old wizard hadn't been so generous as he had been in that instance.
Then again, considering how long he'd likely been dealing with magic, it was more than reasonable to presume that he understood its effects on the body.
"Sora," Squall's voice brought her attention back from the journal entry that she'd been mentally composing, and so she turned her attention to the man, raising an eyebrow to let the man know that she was interested in what he had to say.
"Merlin was right: you don't act anything like someone gave themselves over to Darkness," he smiled slightly, then. "But I, think you, of all people, would be able to understand why I had to be so suspicious."
"Yeah, I get you," she smirked, inviting him to share in the humor, morbid as it couldn't help but be. "After everything that happened, I definitely get you."
Squall barked a sort of chuckle in response, which she got the feeling was as close as he ever got to a laugh, and the five of them continued on their way out of the cavern and back into the comparatively bright lights of the Third District.
"So, where in the heck did you learn to sing in Wutaiese, Sora?" Yuffie asked, a grin on her face that hinted at both amusement and mischief; she also got the feeling that the other girl wouldn't be particularly heartbroken if the rest of their company wasn't in on the joke, such as it was.
So, she lowered "her" eyelids and smirked. "Sore wa himitsu desu."
Yuffie burst out laughing, while the rest of their group just looked confused, which of course only prompted the ninja to laugh harder.
"Nicely played, Sora," she said, in that language she knew as Wutaiese and that Sarah herself knew as Japanese. "I knew I could count on you."
"I aim to please," she said, not even remotely surprised that the other girl would use the pronoun "boku" to refer to herself; she really did seem the type.
It was something they had in common; at least during these sorts of informal circumstances.
"So, you know any other songs in my native language you might like to share, Sora?"
"In the time we've got?" she turned a sidelong smile on the other girl. "I think I could manage."
So, the two of them sang "Period" as they made their way back into the Second District, with the other members of their group joining in as best they could manage without really knowing the words. When they all made it back to the hotel at last, finishing the song as Squall had just reached out to push open the doors nearest the entrance to the Third District, as well as a couple other buildings whose purpose Sarah had always been too busy to think about when she saw them, their small group split up to head for their separate rooms. All except for Yuffie, who tagged along with Sarah herself as she made her way back to the room she'd claimed as her own. Stopping before the rich, blue door that lead to the space that she had temporarily made her own, she turned back to Yuffie, and found that the ninja had stopped just as she had. There was a rather thoughtful expression on Yuffie's face, something that Sarah hadn't really seen in-game; but then, asking for lifelike facial animation in a PS2 game had probably been asking too much.
"You're not a native speaker, are you?"
"What gave me away?" she asked, wondering if it could be the same tell that non-native speakers back home had.
"It's your accent," Yuffie smiled; apparently it was. "Most people don't sound like that when they speak, unless they've had formal instruction." She grinned more widely. "Though I don't think anyone who isn't a native speaker would have noticed."
Sarah chuckled softly. "Well, they do say that one of the ways you can tell a native speaker apart from someone who learned in a class is their accent when speaking," she said thoughtfully, reaching back to pat Kuromaru's head as the Shadow nudged her.
"Well, I have to say, it's been nice hearing my native language again," the ninja said, smiling as she leaned lightly against the wall just beside the door to Sarah's hotel room. "If you don't mind my asking, why'd you go learning a second language if you didn't have to?"
"Because I liked the sound of it," she said easily. "It may not be the one I speak the most back home, but I still enjoy the sound of it. Besides," she smiled a bit wider as Kuromaru rested its head on "her" right shoulder. "The singing was fun, yeah?"
She decided against bringing up just how entertaining it was to cuss someone out in a language they didn't know; she and Yuffie weren't that close.
"Well, if you know any other songs in Wutaiese, don't be shy about sharing them," Yuffie said, grinning as she reached out to ruffle Sora's hair in passing.
"I'll keep that in mind," she called to the receding form of the ninja, as Yuffie made her way back down the hall to the room she might or might not have opted to share with Squall; Sarah would have been the first to admit that she hadn't paid any particular attention to the sleeping arrangements of anyone else in this particular hotel.
Yawning briefly as she made her way over to the blue-sheeted bed – freshly-made once again, so this place was at least well maintained – and sat down on it with a somewhat lighter "thump" than she was quite used to at this point. Taking the journal out of the nightstand she'd put it in, to keep it out of sight of anyone who might have otherwise been interested in the contents of that particular notebook, Sarah unclipped the pen from the spiral wire, and wrote down what was probably going to be the last entry she made before going farther offworld.