The Mysterious Journey
Chapter 33
The early rays of the sunrise were just beginning to peek through the hazy clouds when Riku and Hinata made their way back to the portal. Twilight Town was silent and still, the rush of the day still distant like a daydream. A soft rain drizzled over the pavement, mixed with a blustery wind causing stray bits of litter to tumble along the edges of the street.
Hinata looked up at the shrouded sky, feeling the warmth of the sun clashing with the cooling splash of raindrops speckling her cheeks. For a moment, her thoughts were brought back to her discussion the night before with Riku. A digital creation of a town, developing in ways they never could have foreseen. So much so that it even evolved its own system of weather. It was unpredictable, frightening, but as Riku had pointed out to her, also extraordinary.
Perhaps, she supposed, unpredictable things didn't necessarily need to be feared. There was a lot of beauty in it.
Reaching the alleyways, Hinata's attention drew away from her thoughts and instead towards the faint green light from the portal flickering against the brick walls. They wouldn't be nearing it for a few more turns, but its light carried throughout the alley, leading them home. Hinata's gait slowed, and she faintly realized that Riku's did along with her as well. Even with the entire night together, there wasn't enough time. But with the sun rising, so too did their responsibilities, and turning the final corner, the swirling portal stood beckoning them.
Hinata glanced up towards Riku, and he glanced back at her. There was a resigned exhaustion in his amber eyes, and if Hinata could see herself, she'd discover she was much the same. Exchanging soft smiles, they stepped through the portal together.
A mechanical hum replaced the soft distant thunder before Hinata could even see again. She blinked repeatedly, the spots of light in her eyes taking longer to disappear than she would have liked. The fresh scent of rain slowly dissipated along with the light, leaving all remnants of the town behind. Hinata looked around the empty room; so bare and lifeless, covered in metal and thin lights. Her hands went up along her arms, spreading the last bits of raindrops that were already evaporating.
"We have a few hours until we need to leave for the station," Riku broke the silence between them. His voice bounced off the metal walls, making him sound louder than he likely anticipated.
Hinata remained quiet, her fingers fidgeting in front of her until Riku's hand slid over them, clasping her hands between his.
"Do you want to try to get some sleep?" he asked, his expression softening with a lopsided smile when she slowly drew her gaze up to him. "Or I can go make some breakfast."
She returned the smile before her eyes drifted around the room. There were two doors, one on either end. One led back to their rooms, the other towards the labs where Lupe and Sam both had workstations of their own.
The lack of sleep was beginning to heave its weight on Hinata and she swayed gently. The idea of enjoying the last few hours in Riku's arms didn't seem like a bad idea, it was already what they were doing in Twilight Town. But first, there was something else she wanted to do.
"I'll meet you in our room," she told him, drawing her eyes back to him. "I think I want to check in on Sam."
Accepting her answer, Riku kissed the top of her head. "Make sure Ben hasn't driven her crazy," he teased, leaving through the door that led back to their rooms.
Hinata merely smiled with a nod, letting out a breath when the door shut behind him. Now alone, she made her way through the other door. The next room was longer and narrower than the last. Thin blue lights lined the metal seams that made up the walls, creating an array of circuits across the otherwise dull room. Another two doors awaited Hinata on the other side. These were considerably larger than the other doors in the mansion, and in turn felt more official; though Hinata knew they were merely the entrances to Sam's and Lupe's workstations respectively and in truth weren't very official at all.
Between the doors was a communications device embedded into the wall. A circular grated speaker took up most of the device, with a keypad of buttons beneath it. Hinata looked between the buttons, questioning which ones she was supposed to push to get Sam's attention. She vaguely recalled her dad's instructions about it, but found she was too tired to recall the specifics, so she resigned to simply knocking.
The resonating thud of her knocks filled the room, then faded, leaving Hinata with the droning mechanical hum. She waited, her hand grasping her locket while she drifted her weight from one foot to the other. Nearly ten seconds passed and she let out a breath, feeling a bit foolish to think that Sam would be awake at such an hour. Then the keypad below the communication device lit up with a blooming light.
"Um… yes?" Sam's voice came through the speaker.
"You're awake," Hinata replied, smiling. "Oh, you probably can't hear me." She looked between the buttons again, trying to pick the right one.
Sam chuckled. "Nah, I can hear you." The door whirred open. "Just wasn't expecting anyone else to be up."
Sam motioned her head for Hinata to enter, closing the door again once she was inside. She leaned against her cluttered desk and crossed her arms while Hinata looked around her workspace.
"This doesn't really compare to the plans you and my dad put together," Hinata said, grabbing a tool off the rack and examining it. She snickered, shaking her head. "Isn't this that brand you always raved about back on Montressor?"
"Yeah." Sam smirked. "Figured if I could do anything I wanted, might as well go for the best."
"You could have made your own personal brand," Hinata suggested, putting the tool back in its place. "Ainsworth Tech, or something like that."
"God, that would be weird," Sam laughed, getting Hinata to join in.
"Sam's Choice," Hinata suggested again, her voice riddled with snickers, growing when Sam snorted.
"Stop!" Sam ordered her with a laugh.
"I don't know Sam, Hina's got a point," Ben suddenly said, his eyes lighting up.
Hinata jumped with a yelp, causing another roll of laughter out of Sam. "Ben! Where did you come from?"
"I was just reading through this manual like Sam told me," Ben told her, holding up a thick book in a language Hinata didn't understand. He flipped through the pages. "It's all about light speed! DiZ found it somewhere, I don't know where, but who really knows with that guy? Anyway, found out that whole drive core thing we got in the Highwind is basically a quantum resonance drive! It bends the—"
"That's really interesting Ben, but how were you so quiet?" Hinata interrupted.
Ben laughed and waved his hand. "Oh Hinata, I can be quiet!"
Sam huffed out a laugh and Ben cleared his throat.
"And I-uh, shut up when she tells me to," Ben added.
"Ah." Hinata nodded, snickering. "Makes sense now. So what was it about the quantum resonator—thing?"
Ben opened his mouth to talk, taking a deep breath.
"Before that," Sam cut him off, putting out her hand and Ben quickly shut his mouth. "What are you actually here for Hinata?"
"Oh, I, didn't really have a reason," Hinata admitted. "I just wanted to check in. I got back from town and had a feeling you were still awake. I know you had a lot of work to do to finish upgrading your arm." She smiled and motioned towards it. "Looks great, by the way."
Sam smirked, holding up her finished arm. "Yeah, I'm pretty proud of it, honestly. I think it'll hold up better than the last one."
"You don't have the crystal out in the open like you did before," Hinata noted.
"Mmhmm." Sam carefully pulled off a copper plating across her forearm, revealing the Atlantean crystal embedded in the center of the mechanism. Thick wires and tubes twisted together in organized strands, connecting to a metal casing around the crystal. "This way it's more secure and it can even handle a heavier charge before it overheats. I'm hoping it might even be able to handle Velcia's power up spell, but we'll have to test it first."
She secured the copper plating back in its place, dowsing the brilliant glow of the crystal. The blue glow still leaked through the seams of the metal across her entire arm, seemingly coursing with power.
"It's amazing." Hinata shook her head in disbelief. "I have no idea how you did it."
Sam chuckled. "Ben helped a lot. And DiZ." She smiled softly, glancing at her dingy makeshift communicator on the table. "And Jim, for a while."
Hinata smiled. "I'm glad you had them. You all did great."
"We even integrated that frost artifact she got in Prydain!" Ben blurted out, struggling to remain quiet.
"No way?" Hinata asked, grinning. "I thought you couldn't figure it out?"
Hovering her real hand over the copper plating, a glowing hologram appeared and frost crawled over the metal fingertips of Sam's mechanical hand. Sam placed her hand against the desk and a thin ice spread over the surface, freezing everything it touched. With a snap of her fingers, the frost on her fingers disappeared in a puff of steam.
"Not as impressive as your guys' magic, but—" Sam shrugged, "it works."
"Still pretty amazing," Hinata countered.
Sam smirked, shrugging again.
"Any other surprises?" Hinata asked.
"Probably," Sam chuckled. "But I'll save it for debriefing. It's mostly stuff to help Lupe while we're on missions."
Hinata smiled, their conversation reaching a lull as her gaze drifted over the details of Sam's upgraded arm. The metal shined, polished and new, erasing the deep scratches from previous battles. It was like a fresh start, ready for their next adventure.
"I hope you didn't feel too much pressure to get everything done tonight," she said after a while.
Sam looked up from tinkering with her arm. Pursing her lips, she shrugged. "Nah, I didn't. Just didn't really feel up for sleeping."
"Probably couldn't sleep even if she wanted to," Ben revealed as he casually flipped through the pages of his book, unaware of the way Sam's face reddened. "Tomorrow's gonna be a doozy! Or—today, maybe?"
"Thanks Ben," Sam sighed, tossing a small tool onto the desk beside her.
"Uh-huh," Ben replied distantly, his eyes roving over a particularly interesting section on the page.
"If it's any help, I couldn't sleep either," Hinata admitted with a lopsided, tired smile.
"Velcia's still awake, too," Ben informed them. Vaguely noticing their questioning glances, he explained simply, "I scanned for her a minute ago. She's up in her new room, making some potions."
The corner of Hinata's mouth twitched downwards, her thoughts bogged by the weight of their upcoming mission while Sam questioned Ben's unsettling knowledge on exactly what Velcia was doing.
"Maybe I should go check on her," Hinata mused, interrupting the interrogation.
"Nah, I'll handle it," Sam assured her with a wave.
"Plus, you have Riku waiting on you already, Hina," Ben added, pointing to the little antenna on top of his head before anyone could possibly ask how he knew, as if it were common knowledge it was the thing responsible for his routine scans. "Your night out seemed fun!"
A warmth flushed Hinata's cheeks and she cleared her throat. "Y-Yeah, it was."
"Ben!" Sam groaned. "Stop being weird!"
"Did I say anything?" Ben asked with a higher voice. "I didn't say anything!"
"It's fine." Hinata laughed awkwardly. "I just hope we got some privacy at least."
"Oh! Of course, of course, don't worry." Ben waved his hands, flinging his book across the room. "Oops!" He scurried after it. "I didn't see anything you didn't want me to see. Like when—"
"And on that note, I'm leaving!" Hinata said louder than necessary, her entire face red.
The door slid open and she rushed out, barely hearing Sam berate Ben for scaring her away as it shut behind her.
Twilight Town bustled with life, even in the early hours of the morning. Golden light poured through the brick laden streets, bidding warm welcome to all the children on their way to school and to the shopkeepers opening their doors for the day. The bells of the clock tower glistened high above the town, ringing in the new hour.
Hinata breathed in deeply, savoring the fresh air. For all the talk and admiration she and the others shared for the digital worlds, there was something particularly unique and irreplaceable about the air in reality. Maybe it was the way it chilled her chest with every breath, or the specific tickle the scent of the trees brought to her nose. Regardless of the reason, it reinvigorated her for their oncoming adventure. She led the way through the town, her eyes set on the clock tower and a confidence in her stride.
Her fingers absently toyed with a bead on her newly braided band. The smooth glass was cool to the touch and gave her a consistent reminder to watch where she stepped. It had been quite some time since she'd gone anywhere with a perception filter dangling around her wrist. In fact, out of the entire group, Riku seemed to be the only one accustomed to threading through a crowd that couldn't see him. He walked beside Hinata, silent, but with a hint of amusement in his eyes at the sheer amount of apologies overheard from Sam and Velcia behind them bumping into one person after the next.
They made their way across the marketplace, then up the sharp incline towards the train station. The crowd thinned out the higher they went, a fact Sam immediately took advantage of by stretching her arms and yawning. Velcia, in turn, struggled to hold back a yawn and covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
Hinata heard their faint calls of exhaustion and her very being wished to reply in kind. A heaviness weighed on her eyes and a dream-like blur coated her vision. She hadn't managed to sleep a single minute the night before, and from the sounds of the others, it didn't seem like they had either. Despite it, she swallowed the urge to yawn and slowed their trek to a stop. The train station towered in front of them, sunlight reflecting brilliantly off the grand glass doors.
Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the handful of tickets King Mickey handed her the day prior. A slight glow radiated around the edges, going brighter the closer Hinata held it towards the station. Hinata blew out a breath, a nervous excitement fluttering in her chest.
"Are you ready?" Riku asked, his hand going to her shoulder.
Hinata smiled softly, placing her hand over his. "Yeah, let's go."
Riku went up the stairs first, pulling open the door for the others. Train whistles echoed across the massive station at a nearly deafening volume, leaving Hinata's ears ringing as the door swung shut behind her. She'd been here before, during the occasional visits to Sunset Terrace, but this felt different. Whether due to her exhaustion or the new mysterious destination, everything seemed bigger and daunting. She swallowed, sending a smile to her friends before she got in the ticket line.
Old posters plastered to the walls caught her attention as she waited. Advertisements of various events and landscapes of destinations in Twilight Town were painted across the papers. Hinata recognized most of them, whether from past experience or through word of mouth, but one place she didn't see mentioned anywhere was the Mysterious Tower. With tickets so elegant and intricate, she couldn't help but wonder why it wouldn't be more renowned throughout the town, or why none of them had ever heard of it.
Someone cleared their throat, gathering Hinata's attention and she snapped out of her thoughts to see she was next in line. An older gentleman sat behind a glassed ticket counter. A monocle sat over his right eye, nestled in place by plump white whiskered cheeks. His bushy brow raised, his wrinkled hand outstretched for her tickets.
With an awkward laugh, Hinata stepped forward. "Sorry about that, um, four seats for the Mysterious Tower at 8:30 please."
The man blinked at her before promptly rubbing inside his ear with his pinkie. "What was that, Missy? These old ears aren't what they used to be."
"It's hard to hear especially with how loud it is here," she empathized, then said louder, holding out the now brilliantly glowing tickets. "The Mysterious Tower at 8:30?"
He frowned, grabbing the tickets and readjusting his monocle. "The Mysterious Tower? I can't recall ever having a stop there…" He carefully read the ticket, and as he did the glow around them sparkled, particles bouncing off and landing on his hand. "Oh, of course. How could I forget?" he chuckled, getting out of his seat. "Right this way."
Hinata looked back to the others, matching their equally confused expressions. Without saying anything though, they followed the man to a single train car that stood out from the rest of the trains in the station. Golden accents swirled over the deep purple metal of the cab, depicting stars and moons. The windows themselves were shaped like stars, laden with polished gold. Hinata took the odd sight in, taking note of the pointed hat decorating the top as if belonging to a wizard. The door slid open, particles of light dancing out of it.
"Well, here you are!" the man informed them with a cheery smile. "One way trip to the Mysterious Tower."
"Did you just say, one way?" Sam asked.
"Will you be our conductor?" Velcia asked after taking a short peek inside. "I'm not familiar with these sorts of machines, but I don't see a place—"
The man laughed, interrupting her. "No, no, I'm needed back at the ticket booth, but I'll open the hanger bay for ya. It'll get you where you need to go." He blinked, the cheery smile faltering for just a moment. "I think."
"You think?" Sam repeated.
They all looked between each other and the strange train.
Velcia stepped forward, her head tilting slightly as she eyed the man. "Are you alright?" she asked him.
"Never better!" he chimed, then paused, glancing from the train to the ticket counter. "I think." Shaking his head, he resumed the large smile. "Well, enjoy your trip!"
He turned and walked back to the ticket counter, everyone watching him go.
"Um, okay…?" Sam said slowly. "That was weird, right?"
Velcia hummed. "I believe he was enchanted by the tickets."
"I was wondering about that," Hinata agreed, still watching the man as he went back to work.
"How could you tell?" Sam asked.
"I sensed the magic from the tickets on him, even though he left them at his desk," Velcia explained.
"But why?" Sam asked. "Like why would it enchant him or whatever?"
"Let's discuss it on the way," Riku cut in, looking around at the crowd milling in and out of the other trains.
"Are we sure it's safe?" Velcia asked.
Both Riku and Hinata nodded, causing Velcia to immediately relax with a breath of relief. She smiled and went on board without further questioning. The others followed suit and the cab door slid shut behind them, sealing them in.
The inside was just as eccentric as the outer design with star accents at every opportunity and plush orange carpet beneath their feet. It was entirely empty, spare for two long cushioned benches lining the sides. Sam plopped down on one of them, laying flat on her back and letting out a long, heavy breath.
It seemed like she had something to say, but a whimsical chime filled the cab and with a lurch, their ride began to move. Spare for Sam, they all went to the windows to watch their journey begin. It began like all their other train rides in the past, chugging along constructed tracks, until it wasn't. Within the blink of an eye, a portal surrounded them and the entirety of Twilight Town disappeared. Audible gasps filled the cab, even from Sam as she sat up and peeked out the window closest to her. They rode amongst a starry cosmos. Brilliant auroras danced above them, morphing from one color to the next. Beneath them, the once old constructed track was instead glowing blue, floating without support and leading into an infinite space.
"I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of magic needed to do something like this," Velcia muttered, shaking her head but not removing her line of sight from the window. "It's incredible."
"Also makes a bit more sense why we couldn't just take the Highwind there," Hinata noted. "We've been here for over a year at this point, and we've never known about it."
"Or we did at one point and that enchant thing made us forget," Sam pointed out, laying back down and putting her arm over her eyes.
Lupe's voice projected through Sam's mechanical arm. "Yeah, whoever this thing belongs to, doesn't seem like they really wanna be found."
Hinata took a deep breath. "I hope the King knows what he's leading us into."
"He does," Riku assured her. "Mickey tends to be a step ahead. He wouldn't lead us here if he didn't think it would help."
"Sounds familiar," Sam mumbled. "He met DiZ?"
Riku exhaled through his nose, a half smirk tipping his mouth. "Yeah, he has."
Sam yawned. "Well alright, wake me up when we get there."
There wasn't much of a reply, besides little assurances that they would. It didn't take long for Sam's soft snore to mix with the clatter of the train's wheels against the track. Hinata chewed on her bottom lip, pacing the train car. The confidence the morning had provided her was waning the further they went, trapped in the middle of space while traveling on a rail made of light. Velcia remained entranced by the sights passing by while Riku leaned against the doorway, watching Hinata and offering a supportive smile whenever their gazes met.
Velcia gasped, gathering Hinata's and Riku's attention. "Up ahead, I believe I see another portal."
Peering out the windows, there indeed was another portal of pure light forming amidst the darkness. It wisped like smoke, engulfing everything around it.
"Like the end of your Corridors," Hinata whispered to Riku while they watched the train head straight inside.
The light surrounded them, then blinked away, revealing a new location. Orange clouds coated the world beneath them, with the occasional green mountain peeking out from the shroud.
"It's as if we're above Twilight Town," Velcia said. "But that doesn't feel quite right."
Hinata stepped back from the window, deep in thought. "Maybe… in a version of it." She held out her hand, one of her blades flashing to her hand. "Like in Eos. The pocket dimension where all our stuff is stored. Could this be a place like that? It's part of Twilight Town, but only for those that know how to get there."
"Maybe we can ask inside," Riku said, looking out the door's window. "We're here."
The girls looked out the same side, seeing an approaching floating island. Upon it stood a towering structure, misshapen and crooked with smaller towers built off the sides of it. Gold statues stood atop the tips of each and every rooftop, shimmering with magic and reflecting the light of the stars like beacons.
Riku stepped away from the window and patted Sam's leg with the back of his hand. "Wake up, we're here."
Sam grumbled, lifting her arm enough to see out the window. "We're going in that thing?"
"Don't think we have much of a choice," Hinata told her, just as the train slowed to a stop.
Each of them stood up, waiting for the door to slide open. It did so with another sparkle of magic and each of them stepped out onto the grassy knoll. A comfortable temperature greeted them outside, but with no semblance of wind or heat. Even the trees around them stood perfectly still.
Hinata took note of it, already missing the fresh air in town and the reassurance it gave her that she could handle whatever they were about to face.
She joined the others in looking up at the tower, its peak reaching into the stars. Something told her they'd have to make it to the top and she blew out a breath. Just like Oogie's tree all over again.
"Um, guys?" Sam asked.
Hinata turned around to look at Sam, just in time to see a white sparkling magic coursing over the train before it disappeared in a flash of blinding light. They all stood in a silent shock as the starry particles left behind drifted away.
"I guess the guy wasn't kidding," Lupe said, his voice coming through Sam's arm. "It really was a one way trip."
"We'll be fine," Riku told them. "I can always use a Corridor to get us out."
"That's assuming you can make one in a place like this," Sam pointed out.
Riku looked at his hand, then held it out. A Corridor sprouted from the ground, forming a swirling portal in front of them. He glanced over at Sam, a brow raised.
Sam nodded, shrugging. "Okay, good to know."
Hinata led the way towards the tower, reaching a stone staircase that went up to two large wooden doors. A golden moon adorned one of the doors and a star on the other, both polished and perfectly reflecting Hinata's face gazing into them. Letting out a breath, Hinata pushed open the doors. They creaked, but opened without a fight, allowing all of them to enter.
"They aren't even locked?" Sam asked, going in and looking around. "Who leaves their front door unlocked?"
Lupe cleared his throat, his voice coming through the speaker on Sam's arm. "Um, a reminder that anyone can waltz into the mansion back in Twilight Town?"
Sam didn't reply, just nodded her head, accepting that her remark was admittedly hypocritical.
"And I imagine whoever lives here knows we're coming," Hinata added, looking up at the winding spiral staircase that seemed to go up endlessly into the tower. Her nose scrunched along with a frown. "Why does everyone insist on being so high up?" She grumbled under her breath as she started the trek up, "Would it be so hard to have things at ground level?"
"I think we'll be up there sooner than you think," Velcia said, joining Hinata's side. "It's difficult for me to decipher each individual spell here, but this stairwell is not what it seems."
"Oh God, not another endless one like in that stupid king's fortress," Sam groaned. "We were going up that thing forever until Jack found that magic thing to turn it off."
Riku chuckled. "I don't think we'll have to worry about that here."
"When was that?" Hinata asked.
"Wait, wait," Lupe said, the sound of pages in a book turning coming through the speaker, "I think I read about that mission. Back on Prydain, right? In the Horned King's Fortress. There was an artifact creating a realm shift to disorient you guys."
"That's the one," Sam sighed. "That bastard."
"You've been reading about our past missions, Lupe?" Velcia asked. "I didn't realize we kept records of that sort of thing. Besides Hinata's personal journaling."
"I think my dad keeps notes about the mission details we give him," Hinata replied, already feeling breathless from the stairs.
"Yeah, he does," Lupe said. "You should give them a read sometime, Velcia. I bet you'll like reading about how Hinata got her water powers in Atlantis. It sounds like it was amazing."
Hinata smirked, then felt a slight pang at the mention of Atlantis. Pushing it down, she nodded. "It was. I still can't believe Queen Kida let me do that ceremony at all."
"I would love to read about it," Velcia said. "I've always wondered about…"
Her voice trailed off and all of them stopped abruptly, looking up at a glowing door blocking their path on the stairwell. Hinata leaned over and glanced around it, seeing the stairs continuing upwards behind it.
"That wasn't there a second ago right?" Sam asked, rolling her eyes when Hinata grabbed the handle. "Aaand you're going inside the strange appearing door."
"What am I supposed to do, climb around it?" Hinata asked, pulling the door open.
Another set of stairs laid beyond, yet not the same ones they could see when peering around the side of the door. Hinata walked in first, her mouth falling agape. The new stairwell floated in midair, leading up to another glowing door with nothing behind it. Various short stairwells were scattered through the air, each a different color and at varying angles. Shimmering stars of magic danced around them, rising from a shining abyss below them. Hinata's trembling hand clung to the railing as she walked forward a few steps, allowing the others room to follow her.
Sam's knees went weak at the sight. "I am way too tired for this shit."
"Well figure it out, cause we got company," Riku told her, summoning Soul Eater to his hand.
As if on queue, white veiny portals appeared out the stairs, leaving wobbling Dusks in their wake.
"Nobodies," Hinata muttered, her blades appearing. "Here?"
Sparkling walls of magic shot up from the sides of the railing. Velcia held out her Keyblade with both hands as gold bits of magic danced off of it. "I'll keep this barrier up," she told them, sturdy and focused.
"Sam—" Lupe started.
"I know," Sam interrupted him, shooting a blast of energy, but the Dusk slinked out of the way instantaneously. "Dammit…"
"I was going to suggest using your staff," Lupe said and Sam sighed deeply.
"Yep," Sam realized, watching as Hinata and Riku dispatched the Nobodies. "I'll get the next batch."
"And you'll do great!" Lupe encouraged, making Sam snort out something between a scoff and a chuckle.
Hinata gathered up the clear magic orbs left behind by the final Dusk and watched them absorb into her hand. "Why would there be Nobodies here?"
"Maybe they're trying to get to whoever lives here," Riku guessed. "Makes sense the Organization would want someone with this much magic out of the way."
"How would they know how to get here?" she asked, turning towards him. "With all the hoops we had to go through to find it… How do we know the Organization doesn't already run this place?"
Riku looked up at the floating stairwells. "Could be that the Nobodies followed us here, but I don't think they've been here long enough to take it over. Mickey gave us those tickets yesterday."
"Which likely means it wasn't Nobody infested before that," Hinata finished the thought. "Or at least wasn't enough to be something to worry about."
"Right." Riku nodded, dispelling Soul Eater. "Let's just keep moving."
They continued upwards, reaching the next door. Upon opening it, they discovered a round room with glowing stars in various sizes scattered over the walls and ceiling. The door slowly shut by itself behind them once everyone was inside.
"This place feels like a fever dream," Sam said, spinning as she walked towards the center of the room.
"We're getting closer though," Velcia noted, running her hand along a large star. She rubbed her fingers together and commented softly, "It's so warm."
Hinata joined her in feeling the star, pulling back her hand and seeing light particles sparkling in her palm before floating away like embers. "Riku…" she looked over her shoulder to see him approaching, her hand going to her locket. "Does this remind you of the second part of our vision?"
The steely focus in his expression softened and his brow raised. He looked around the room then back at her, a warmth reddening his ears. Without saying anything, he nodded with a small smile.
She returned the smile. "Me too."
Velcia glanced between them, but didn't question what they were discussing. Instead she smiled and turned to rejoin Sam in the center of the room. "Are you ready to keep moving?" she asked.
With a nod, Sam walked forward. "Any guesses what we'll find behind this door?" she asked, reaching for the knob.
"Definitely more stairs," Lupe guessed.
Just as Sam was about to grab the knob, it lit up and disappeared with a fizzle of magic. With a groan, she pressed her head against the door. "Why am I surprised?"
Veiny pools of white oozed up through the ground behind them and everyone spun around, weapons readied. Dusks wobbled out of the pools, their lanky bodies reaching for anyone they could reach. Everyone jumped into action.
"Hey Sam," Lupe started, speaking quickly, "what do you think would happen if the Nobodies touch the stars?"
Sam smirked. "Let's find out."
Pulling out her staff, she swiped a Dusk into a spin, launching it straight into the center of a large star. The light encapsulated it, igniting like a firework before bursting out a shower of magic orbs.
"Hell yeah!" Lupe cheered, getting a roll of the eyes from Sam.
The Dusks were dispatched without much else fanfare, but as the last one disintegrated, larger pools of white appeared around them. Towering, metal Beserkers climbed out of the ground, their hammers appearing in their grasps with flashes of white.
Before anyone could move to attack, vines sprouted out of the ground, wrapping around the torsos of the Berserkers and flinging them into the nearest largest stars. Everyone covered their eyes from the resulting fireworks of pure light, then opened them to the sensation of clear orbs raining down around them.
"Velcia," Hinata said slowly, awestruck.
"That was amazing!" Lupe's voice peaked the speaker from his shriek of excitement.
"Oh," Velcia pushed back her hair, a gleam of sweat across her forehead. She laughed softly. "It was nothing. I simply followed Sam's lead. I hadn't thought of using the stars' magic against the Nobodies."
"It was Lupe's idea," Sam told them, then shook her head. "Anyone ever tell you that you're kinda scary powerful?"
"Am I?" Velcia seemed genuinely worried at the thought.
"I'm glad you're on our side," Riku commented with a smirk, patting Velcia's shoulder as he passed her.
With all the Nobodies vanquished, the knob reappeared and Riku opened it to another floating staircase. Stepping through, they all looked up at a blue swirling fog just above their heads. No more additional stairwells, they'd reached the top. This particular stairway went straight up, leading to a door larger than the rest they'd seen their entire journey up, lined with brilliant gold.
"We made it," Hinata breathed out with a forming grin.
"Glad we could be their pest control," Sam sighed, following Hinata towards the door.
Hinata wrapped her hand around the knob, letting out an even breath. She glanced up as Riku stopped beside her.
"Ready when you are," he whispered and Hinata smiled.
"I'm ready," Hinata replied, pushing open the door.
**Author's Note: Thank you so much for taking the time to read. I'm really looking forward to this next leg of the journey. Enchanted Dominion has been something I've been planning for years at this point. It's a bit daunting to finally be getting to.
There's going to be a lot of information in the next chapter. Between Yen Sid, Mickey, and the Good Fairies. That's why I'm going to be giving it its own chapter. So please forgive this bit of a cliff hanger. Not as bad as some I've forced on all of you, let's be fair.
I hope everyone has a wonderful New Years! Let us hope for goodness and peace this upcoming year. May our minds be creative and our hearts be kind.
Thank you again for reading!**