Gabriel stood with Toren on Main Street, the raven holding the Hundred Acre Wood book in hand as they stood in front of the theater. "So, you wanted to speak with me before I went off on my Keyblade Exam?" Gabriel asked.
Toren nodded. "Yeah, I just wanted to say that… I'm going to be leaving my position as Co-Dream Keeper."
"What!?" Gabriel exclaimed in shock. "But you worked so hard for it!"
"I know, but something came up recently," Toren said. The Jaquin pulled out a scroll and handed it over to Gabriel.
The raven took the scroll and opened it, his eyes widening as he read it. "No way, you've been adopted by Skylar and Nico's family. Congradulations!"
"Yep! Skylar's family adopted me as my Christmas present, so I'm officially Prince Toren now," the Jaquin chuckled. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be gone for a while learning how to be a prince and all that. I just won't have time to do my Dream Keeper duties."
"I get that," Gabriel nodded. He hummed, then snapped his fingers to summon a piece of paper and a pencil. The raven wrote down a note before handing it to Toren. "Here, give this to Logan for me. I'm putting him in charge of your duties in the Animal Kingdom while I'm doing my Keyblade Exam. He already lives there so it probably won't change much for him. I think he told me he has a falcon friend that lives there as well… Tomada, was it? I'm sure the two of them will do well filling in for you. I'll pick out someone to formally take your postion when I return."
Toren nodded, then gave Gabriel a big hug. "Thanks for everything, Gabriel. To think we first met just because I was pranking the princess."
"Thank for you being my friend as well, Toren," Gabriel replied, smiling as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Let our friendship continue forever and onwards."
"Yeah," Toren said. He spread his wings and adjusted his goggles. "Well, I'll make sure Logan gets this letter. See you whenever we meet again, Dream Keeper!"
Gabriel waved goodbye to his friend. Once Toren was gone, the raven turned to the theater and looked up at it. Night was falling on the Magical World, and with a nod to himself, Gabriel stepped up to the theater and went through the doors. Passing by posters for various Disney movies, the raven grinned as a ball of yellow light soon flew up to him.
"Ah, Master Gabriel!" a British voice said. "Glad to see you've returned after all this time."
"Good to see you too, Percy," Gabriel greeted. "Man, I can't believe we haven't seen each other since Yen Sid invited me to become the Dream Keeper. We had plenty of adventures together, didn't we?"
"Us and Scout," Percy said. "You two did get into a lot of trouble, what with the Noise incident."
"Hey, we sorted it out just fine," Gabriel laughed, swatting at the magic ball. "Anyway, I'm here to take my Keyblade Exam. Yen Sid said that you would be guiding me through it."
"Indeed, I am," Percy replied. "Well, I'll be guiding you through the first part of your trial, at least. This will be a five-part trial, and you will gain a piece of what will become your Keyblade with each test you pass. The first part should be easy enough."
As the two went into the theater proper, Gabriel looked into the screen to see the vastness of space before himself. Stepping "through" the screen, the raven now stood at the top of pillar, with stars and galaxies all around him. It looked very much like the scene of Mickey conducting comets from Fantasia.
"Let me guess: you want to be show off my Fantasia skills, don't you?" Gabriel asked.
"That is the idea," Percy said, his body bobbing up and down in a nodding motion. "Just raise your hands whenever you're ready and begin."
Gabriel nodded, stretching out his arms before raising them to the sky. An imaginary orchestra started warming up, only to stop when Gabriel tapped a finger in the air like a conductor's baton. With that a heartbeat-like sound began to play, with Percy pulsing along to it was Gabriel concentrated. He threw a wing out to his right, causing a drumbeat to kick in. With his other arm he threw out a wing to the left, making guitars start to play. Finally, throwing both hands upwards, vocals kicked in, before it all went silent again.
"This is "Simple and Clean", as remixed and performed by Lollia and FamilyJules," Gabriel announced. He took a deep breath, then began conducting, vocals and instruments playing as he let Fantasia flow.
When you walk away
You don't hear me say:
Please, oh baby, don't go
As he conducted the music, the stars moved around the air in time with Gabriel's movements.
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go…
The song soon slowed down, with Fantasia turning blue as Gabriel did what he did best: make music. "Yes, you're just as good as you were back then," Percy said.
You're giving me too many things
Lately, you're all I need
You smiled at me and said:
Gabriel remembered this song from his childhood, hearing it the first time when he played Kingdom Hearts all those years ago. As his memories flowed, they appeared in the stars around him.
"Wish I could prove I love you
But does that mean I have to meet your father?"
In one of those memories, a young Gabriel is seen playing with a stick, imagining it to be a Keyblade of his own.
When we are older, you'll understand
What I meant when I said:
"No, I don't think life is quite that simple"
The image of young Gabriel soon fades back into stars, with Gabriel looking thoughtful as he continued to conduct Fantasia. Soon a triangular bipyramid (a six-faced diamond shape) appeared, the shape reacting to Gabriel's movement. "I'm sure you remember how to use these?" Percy asked rhetorically.
When you walk away
You don't hear me say:
Please, oh baby, don't go
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go…
"Of course," Gabriel nodded. Grabbing the shape, the world faded to black as an accordion-like line appeared between the raven's hands. Moving his wings accordingly, Gabriel created a new electric piano part, which soon became part of the song when he returned to the Fantasia space. The Fantasia soon turned pink as he continued the song.
The daily things (like this and that, and what is what)
that keep us all busy
Are confusing me
That's when you came to me and said:
Within the stars more memories appeared, but this time they showed iconic moments from the Kingdom Hearts games: Sora, Riku, and Kairi on the Destiny Islands together, Sora meeting Donald and Goofy for the first time, Roxas fighting Riku in the World that Never Was, etc.
"Wish I could prove I love you
But does that mean I have to walk on water?"
Gabriel smiles as he watches the scene of Sora and Kairi sharing a Paupu fruit together on the night before the final battle against Xehanort.
When we are older, you'll understand
It's enough when I say so
And maybe some things are that simple
As more memories are shown, Gabriel tapped into Harmony, creating a spectral dragon that soared around him as he conducted. "Fascinating. A brand-new power for you," Percy said.
When you walk away
You don't hear me say:
Please, oh baby, don't go
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go
Gabriel conducts as various battles against Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed, and Nightmares happen in the memories around him.
Hold me!
Whatever lies beyond this morning!
Is a little later on
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all
Nothing's like before…
Some emotional scenes play out: Aqua, Terra, and Ventus holding their Wayfinders up to the stars, Roxas holding a dying Xion in his arms, the Keyblade Wielders of the past moving on to the Final World at the end of Union Cross, and Sora's cry of despair in the Keyblade Graveyard in Kingdom Hearts 3.
When you walk away
You don't hear me say
Please, oh baby, don't go
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go-
The Fantasia soon turned green, with the lights dimming as Gabriel let it all build up around him. "Yes, bring this song to its brilliant conclusion!" Percy cheered.
Hold me!
Whatever lies beyond this morning!
Is a little later on
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all
Nothing's like before-
Memories of all of Sora's allies appear from all the different Disney worlds. Summons appeared and jumped around between the memories. A point-cut diamond appeared in front of him (an eye-faced diamond) and Gabriel grabbed it to add his own sounds to the song.
Hold me!
Whatever lies beyond this morning!
Is a little later on
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all
Nothing's like before!
Within the void Gabriel saw a wheel appear before him. Turning and stretching the sides added a synth effect to the song, which fit in well as the ending guitar solo kicked in. Gabriel conducted flawlessly to the end, raising his hands to the sky before giving a bow at the song's conclusion.
"Wonderful! You did great, Master Gabriel," Percy said. A beam of white light appeared next to him. "Here is your reward for showing how far you've come with Fantasia, and the first part of your Keyblade."
Gabriel reached into the beam of light and pulled out a small medal. "Huh, a blank medal," he said, scratching his head.
"All will be revealed in time," Percy said vaguely. "In the meantime, your next task will be taking you to… Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it? All I will say is that you'll be meeting your mentor there, so good luck."
"Nice meeting you again, Percy," Gabriel said. "And say hello to Scout next time she's in town!" With that a spectral staircase appeared next to him, with the raven eagerly climbing it to continue his journey to become a Keyblade Wielder.
Author's Note
A shorter chapter this time, but after the massive Christmas chapter I needed to take it easy.
For those wondering, no, Toren isn't leaving the Magical World saga as a whole, just taking a break from the main team. His creator, AvalorianJaquin, told me about how he wanted Toren to be adopted into Skylar and Nico's family as a finale to his character arc, so I granted him that wish. If you didn't know, Toren now also has an official backstory that you can read over in the site AO3 (Archive of Our Own) titled "Magical World: Jaquin Style."
This chapter is a big send-up to "Fantasia: Music Evolved" which is the video game that Gabriel's entire magical skill set is based off of. The game is in my opinion the best game to ever come out on the Xbox Kinect and it sucks that because of its unique control style that it will probably be lost to time due to it not being able to easily port to other consoles. The song is "Simple and Clean" the main theme of the first Kingdom Hearts game, though here I used a remix that I really enjoy.
If you know what the medal Gabriel got is, you get a gold star.
Next Time: Gabriel meets his mentor and starts his second task!