Georgia was relieved that the sharp dressed young man said what she'd been thinking, when just wish he hadn't said it here. Surrounded by these peoples men. The emperor then dangled a bit of information he'd been looking for in front of him, trying to entice him back like a cautious fish. They also agreed to pay the bounty hunters fee. That meant they were either desperate or rich enough that throwing that money away didn't matter.

As the hologram changed and the royalty began to explain their entire mission Snope's attention had been arrested from the smell of new discovery toward the new robot raptor in the room. He pulled against the rope, and Georgia glanced over and gave him a little slack. He clattered slowly across the floor to this new friend, leaning in to give it a cautious few sniffs before ducking its head low and wiggling its hips eagerly. Then it started to jump side to side while letting out happy little chirps, trying to entice this new friend to play while everyone paid attention to the lecture.

And what a lecture it was. So not only were there these heartless things, but nobodies. Ghosts, and zombies by her understanding. She wondered if any of those were also spooking around her world.

"It's kind of comforting knowing my world's not the only one that went up in smoke." She said as she watched the missiles fly in only to get wiped from the sky. "They held it together eight years longer than we did. I have to give them props for that."

"Yep," she said when Ascot, given unlimited power, did what people always did what they always did when given unlimited power and paid for it. "Just had to push it, didn't you?"

The part about the old Keyblade Order made her uncomfortable. They were imitating the people that had ruined everything, and in their midst a villain rose up and used the ancient knowlage they'd preserved to destroy everything they'd built. Illuminates hadn't had their own Leo yet, but who knew when some stodge was going to spring up and try to reform Illuminates into a new version of the Illuminati.

Still, she could sympathize with this Leo guy. It was standard practice to question things where she was from, but any sympathy she had disappeared when she saw who he had allied with. "That's the Annunaki!" She said, eyeing the animal headed "gods" of The mathematicians army with contempt. "Noting but a bunch of delusional monsters looking for pets to pour their wine. Yeah, get him!" She shouted as she watched the gut impale Zeus.

So, independent of everything else, this Leo guy was an enemy of mankind. The humans had been slaves to the Annunaki in ancient times. Being a slave race was one of the things that made them kin to the Greys and Reptillians.

She listened intently to the great of the lecture, only just keeping herself from piping up upon learning that Tocsax was one of those Nobodies. She bit down on the questions that surged up into her mouth. Later. She could find out whether or not he had to eat later.

"So, why not just take out some of the twelve?" She asked. "Cut out the middle man, send that army right for the people looking to manipulate the world. Can't you find them on your universal spy-o-scope here?" She said, nodding her head toward the display.

That was assuming that this whole story was even true, which she had no way of confirming, but she wasn't going to bring that up in the seat of their power.

"Oh, do you now? And I suppose your spy sphere devices cannot show me who is responsible?" That question went unanswered for the time being, the Emperor had a longer explanation that needed to be given to the group as a whole. Of course, there's no way it would be that simple. If it were, Noel could have probably tracked the culprit himself by now. The Emperor got him to stop, sure enough, but Noel remained unmoved. He'd listen to whatever purpose this War Council had, but it was clear that he was not making any promises yet.

The actual explanation itself was long, and most of it sounded like it had little if anything to do with Noel and the missing Masks. He failed to see how they fit into all of this. Perhaps if this Leo simply wanted a means to empower some of his followers, but that wasn't made very clear. It also seemed rather unrealistic that someone as powerful as Leo would bother going to the trouble of going to someone else's world line just to steal a collection of masks. Why not steal some of the considerable magitek firepower the Global Police possessed? No, something told Noel that this was personal. But he had no idea how.

"I don't know anything about Heartless, Nobodies, or Princesses. I still don't see what any of this has to do with me..." he said, appearing to protest again, but added, "...but whatever you've heard or been told about those masks, know this: They're dangerous, every single one of them. Even Arsene was supposedly reluctant to use any of them unless someone forced his hand. Any fool that tries to put one on thinking it'll grant them superpowers will just end up being a danger to himself and those around him. Better they stay locked safely away where they can't be used or abused by anyone. So if these so-called Seekers possess the masks somehow, then I guess I'm obligated to partake in this madness if it means I can steal them back. Besides, it's not just the Masks I'm looking for." he didn't elaborate on the last part, preferring not to tip his hand. Whether he liked it or not, thieving was in Noel's blood, and with that came an almost innate distrust or apprehensiveness of authority of any kind.



"I said to identify yourself!" Ace ordered, repeating himself when the stranger said nothing at first. They took a step toward him, and then another. Soon they were practically pressed against the muzzle of the Hyperion. Only then did the stranger finally say anything.

"I come in peace, officer." a feminine voice, it was a woman, "No need for such crude violence. I merely wish to help the Sword of Justice to strike true." she said, and although her face was completely obscured by her hood Ace could swear she was smiling and winking at him under there, "The criminal you seek, I know where you may find him."

That got Ace's attention, "Then where did you see him go? Tell me, quickly!"

"He's gone I'm afraid, Officer. He's left this world behind."

Ace gave a confused look, "What's that supposed to mean? Stop playing games, if you know where Lupin is then where is he?"

"But I did tell you." she held up her hand, waggling her finger, "He's left this world behind, and you as well. As you are now you'll never be able to catch up to him."

Ace's blood began to boil and he raised his voice, changing his tone, "The hell I can't! Now stop screwing around, and TELL ME WHERE HE IS!" he fired his weapon, a warning shot, as a sign that he was losing his patience.

"Temper temper, Officer DeLeon." replied the stranger, unfazed by the warning shot and by his anger, "You wouldn't want to be charged with police brutality would you? As I said, you can't catch up to your quarry as you are now... but I can help you change that."

Ace put his weapon away back into the Arms Changer, but his expression never changed, "Then start talking."

From under her hood, the stranger smiled.

Now Playing: Temporal Spire

Upon exiting the Gummi Ship, Asher took a moment to marvel at his new surroundings. The Palace of Blachernae was a sight to take in. He definitely considered it a far cry from the murky streets of London. Reluctantly, the young rogue shifted his focus unto the group of people nearby. Just by looking at each individual, he could tell that, like himself, all came from different walks of life. Some were finely dressed and oozed that type of confidence only people wearing such garb could bolster. There were others, however, that very much seemed like they had undertaken their own hefty amount of hardship. Hell, there was a man that looked like he had just been sprung from prison and a girl with a raptor. If those two didn’t scream, “I’ve been through some shit”, Asher didn’t know any better examples. Upon meeting the welcoming party in the form of Girogios, Damianos, and a few other guardsmen, Asher couldn’t help but get a Royal Guard vibe from these fellows. They were soon escorted within the confines of the palace, leading to what he assumed could only be the throne room. As they walked, he heard two of their party members introduce themselves; Georgia the raptor tamer, and Harris Dione, whom seemed like an intellectual bookworm type at first glance. While he in turn would have loved to continue with the banter, his line of work made him lean more towards staying cautious and not dropping his name too soon, or to just anyone either. He hid in the shadows for a living, after all.

Two regal individuals, identifying themselves as Michael XIII Sideros and Maria d’ Italia, as well as a figure clad in black stood before him. Little did he know that this was merely the introduction of a very long, purposeful recollection the worlds’ “Original History”. This divulgence of information didn’t really surprise Asher. He recalled reading a similar retelling of this history back in his youth, but the way that thread was spun, it was more of a myth than reality. Not even the surveillance of his actions worried him. It was only natural for clients to keep tabs on the people they were hiring. The main things that caught his attention were the outbursts and questions cast by his alleged partners in this assignment. While the idea of also requesting a surplus of riches was appealing, the sudden talk of a set of masks belonging to the Arsene Lupin got his thief blood pumping. In his world, Arsene is a legendary individual. No one knows exactly if he still walks this, or HIS earth specifically, to this day, but to have the sudden knowledge that one of his treasured belongings was out there made him reasonably giddy.

“Hehe...now you’re speaking my language!” Asher approaches the sharply dressed individual. He habitually takes out his Coin of Fate, and begins rolling it across the knuckles of his right hand. “If you’ve got some sort of stake in the Arsene Lupin...well, I’d be more than willing to take a gamble on you, kiddo.” He catches the coin between his thumb and index finger, it facing towards Noel with the heads side. He gently places his free hand on the boy’s shoulder and leans in to whisper, “I can tell you seem reluctant about all of this, but, why don’t we see what Lady Luck has in store for aspiring thieves like us, hm?” Without waiting for a response, Asher simply turns and walks back to where he was originally standing amidst the group, casually flipping the Coin of Fate until he reaches his intended stopping point.

Arrival at the palace came sooner than Hirutila would have hoped. The first moments of peace he's had in 5 years and now he was back on his feet to meet with someone the Moogle only identified as the Emperor of this nation. He yawned as the ship docked into the airbase, being nudged to his feel, lazily stepping off. It was at that moment that he caught sight of his surroundings with any kind of focus for the first time, the sight nearly knocking him back down to his feet. The beauty of the palace was stunning for sure, but the true bizzarity was in the city itself. Was this still earth? How could a place like this exist? The sheer size and design of the buildings of Constantinople were like something from another world entirely. Hirutila considered for a moment if he had in fact died and been reincarnated in the Dewis realm, but perished the thoughts immediately as impossible. He could not place his finger on the exact reason, but despite the alien nature of this place, it felt familiar, like he had been here before, though he could not understand what would be causing that feeling. This was unlike anything he had ever seen, a true marvel of architecture and technology.
However, Hirutila's marvel was cut short when he was taken by the arm by a pair of escorts who lead him into the palace.
Oh, humans! Hirutila thought to himself when the guards took hold of him. "I had expected that I would see more of your kind," he remarked to the Moogle who had accompanied him.
The guardsmen's target was a small gathering of others. Hirutila's eyes widened at the sight of other's in his situation. And so young, just what was the reason that they were all gathered here...one of the assembled caught his eye, a young girl. She looked no older than what his daughter, Dammania, would be. Dammania..., he winced at the thought of her, heart aching with the hope she was still doing okay. But any musings on the youth of those before him were killed when his eye caught sight of what was accompanying that girl.
What is that thing? A dragon? Possibly, to Hirutila it looked to be some kind of giant wingless bird with teeth and the skin of a lizard. He turned his eyes away from the repugnant creature towards the two new arrivals who seemed to be leading the guards.

Ack!

Hirutila barely had time to throw his arms up to brace impact as he saw one of the two young men swing his hand at Hirutila as if he was going to throw something. The ensuing Flash of light was likely the glow of death as he passed into Hell, he was sure. However, opening his eyes, he was still standing right where he was....In Chainmail and proper clothing that were not stained in blood and piss, and lacked that distinctively horrid torture victim odor too.

"What the hell..." Hirutila exclaimed in surprise as he looked over the new vestments. How did he do that? That one who changed his clothing. A bodisatta? Perhaps, it would explain the seeming reality manipulation. He was so fixated on the strange little dragon creature that he had missed the introduction of the two young men. Shame, but maybe he could get some clues about where exactly he was by their clothing. Constantinople sounded distinctively Greek, and the temperature was a pleasant warm like back home.

Good, he could be anywhere in the Middle East, North Africa, or the Balkans...

The clothing of the men was unlike anything he had seen. They weren't Ostrogoths, though this seemed to be the closest to the Bosphorus area by his own memories of the climate while travling there as a merchant. Definitly was Europe, he could tell that much. And yet they were so foreign, yet so familar. That was when Hirutila caught sight of the sheild of one of the men. Ah, a distinctive insignia, finally a clue.

A double-headed Eagle

Yeah...useless. He had never seen anything like that before being used for a nation's insignia.

"The armor suits you. You know, I've met actual knights in shining armor that didn't pull off this look half as well as you do. Have you been here before?"

A what in shining armor? Knight...that word he didn't recognize. The closest thing he could think of was a word in his own langauge, kneht, but that word...it meant servant or slave.

Wait...that language wasn't Vandalic, nor anything else he could recognize. How did he understand it? Could he...

"No, I've never seen this place before. I don't know where I am."

What the...how did he do that? Something wasn't right about this place. But then the guards began to lead everyone into the palace. Hmm, perhaps everything will be explained in there. He hoped that would be the case. The War Council introduced themselves, The Emperor and Empress stated their case, speaking of some kind of collection of different words, all supposed different timelines, alternate paths of time. The concept of their being multiple worlds existing within each other was far from novel for a Buddhist like Hirutila, but this tale of different timelines, that was something that caught his interest.

They they showed that threat, the Heartless, and Hirutila's interest was peaqued once more. Contact with the outside world was limited after he was thrown away in the Pharaoh's dungeon, but the image of that little creature recalled a memory long ago.

------------
"Stab it in the eye, twist it around real good!"

Hirutila shifted to the tips of his toes, looking over the shoulder of one of the hunters, who plunged a hot poker deep into the downed beast's eyes, shifting it around as the smoke wafting out of the wound stunk the air with the smell of burning flesh. Curiously, not even this seemed to get a reaction from the creature.

The men around here, Danes they were called, were complaining about these strange beasts showing up. They killed livestock, kidnapped women and children, sometimes they even took men, and left behind mutilated corpses when they left anything behind at all. Supposedly they had made it to Daneland though Slavic lands to the east. The Danes suspected that they were created by Slavic Witches, or were the corrupt ofspring of Slavic farmers and their animals. Whatever they were, they had become a massive problem, as nothing seemed to keep them down. Hirutila and Rago had come to the Danish lands to trade with their fence, an old man named Hrothgar. He and some friends had caught one of the beasts, what they had termed a 'derkvette'. The creature had been bound up, and the men were doing everything they could to kill the creature, though nothing seemed to really even bother it. Rago suggested just cutting its head off, though the farmers noted that previous decaptiations seemed to just cause the creature to just dissappear.

"Disappear?" the Chadian pirate responded incredulously

Hrothgar nodded, "I don't understand it, but they just...won't die"

Rago responded by pulling out his own axe, slamming it upon the creature's neck.

As if it was never theyre, it vanished.

Rago whisled at the sight of that, "Huh, now that's weird."
-------------------

When the two left Daneland to return to Corsica, Hirutila thought nothing of it, he suspected that it was a minor problem endemic to Europe. Now he was being told these things not only were everwhere, but they were an existential threat being commanded by some guy named Leo.

To be fair, the explanation made it quickly apparent that Leo was more than just 'some guy'. The demonstration became intersting when the War Council put up a display of the beings Leo was in cahoots with. The emperor described them as Gods of old, but Hirutila knew these deities were still being venerated back at home, even if they looked a little different back in his own time. But then the girl shouded out something that seemed to make things make sense.

"That's the Annunaki!"

"Annunaki?" he said in surprise at her, "Those are just dewos."
The name was a little off but he recognized it. The Canaanites back in Vandalia called the 'fallen' Gods who did not side with the Buddha as the 'annunoth'. And the girl's contempt for these creatures seemed to match the hatred that Canaanites held for these fallen gods. "unless...You're not some kind of Canaanite, are you?" he asked Georgia inquistively.

The thought lingered in his mind. Why would this Leo ally himself with fallen dewos?

The emperor claimed it was to give the Dewos vengence upon 'those who worship one god' in exchange for aiding him in his misguided light versus dark philosophy. Hirutila cared little for the specifics of a crazy man's philosophy, even if this crazy man had apparently destroyed a major organization and paved the way for destruction. But the talk of the worship of one god got his attention. Perhaps he had something to do with that warlord in Africa back home.

When the explanation was over, Hirutila spoke up once again.

"Look," he said, speaking directly to the council. "I get the need to take out this Leo, given he looks to be an existential threat on a scale I can't even fully comprehend because aparently we're far beyond the year 1455 Etos Ptolemaiou and technology has gotten to the point that I've stopped trying to figure it out because I feel like my head will burst trying to wrap around this all, but I think I have to decline your offer." Hirutila continued his speech, "If you really were spying on me you'll know very well I'm not a hero, I'm just some guy with bad luck who took to stealing on the seas to pay back debtors. I'm too old to be doing this whole, save the world thing."

It was pretty obvious that this was Capella's first time on a Gummi Ship, seeing as she left the flying to auto-pilot and the Moogle, and that she was too busy pacing back and forth to really pay attention to anything else going on around her. Her eyes remained focused on the slightly crumpled letter in her hands. She still couldn't quite believe it. Why was she of all people chosen for something so important? There has to be more people without a doubt. But why send her off by herself then? Crumpling the letter up a bit more with her grip was all she could do to let out her frustration.

"Star Child, kupo? We've made it to Green Sahara." The Moogle spoke up after some time. Capella smiled faintly as she made her way to the wheel, steel eyes widening a the sight below her. Of course she was expecting something new and different, but this was on a whole different level! She wanted nothing more but to head down there herself and take a look around. And that's exactly what she did; plus, now that they were in the world, she'd need to be a bit careful with how she presented herself. They did mention what she had to do, but ensuring her own safety in a foreign place was key.

Parking the Gummi Ship a safe distance away from the city, Capella caroled the Moogle into her arms and took off on foot. Capella didn't realize how big everything would be once she touched ground, but as she approached the city, she could barely pull her attention away from the building that towered among anything else she's ever since before. Everything...everything seemed so polished and bright. So bright that she could've sworn she would be able to see her reflection in some of the inner buildings if she walked past them. This place already seemed much more lively compared to her home; pretty ironic since she lived in the stars.

A quick glance at the wall segmenting the city immediately brought up some questions, but she chose not to dwell on them now. Right now, she stuck like a sore thumb and needed to find some clothes and possibly someone that could take her to her destination without any trouble.

---

Capella had only been in Jerusalem for about an hour, and was more than happy that she'd spent most of her life learning about the most mundane things she would have never thought she needed. She knew enough Hebrew to be conversational, and it seemed like her money magically converted into the correct currency, so she was able to buy a deep purple garb with golden accents for herself and her Moogle, although not without a bit of a struggle with what she originally had on. Making sure that the veil on her head was secure, Capella thought back to everything she managed to listen in on, as well as getting a few peeks at the maps one market had up for sale.

Much like back at home, she'd be following Sirius.

Now all she needed was a way to get to Bethlehem. Hopefully she wasn't too late... Venturing to the outer parts of the city, it didn't take long for Capella to find someone willing to take her to Bethlehem, especially since the little group already seemed to be heading there was well. Capella didn't pry any more than she needed to and instead paid generously before hitching onto their ride and waiting as patiently she could for their departure, looking up to see if she could find her namesake.

Palace of the Blachrenae, Renovation

"Well," said Tocsax to Georgia, "The Twelve can revive themselves as long as Leo - Master Leo - is alive and the X-Blade uncompleted; Ascot's rebirth is one of the conditions to end them."

Then to Hirutila, "You have a Keyblade; a weapon that can permanently destroy a Heartless. Keyblades are manifested only by people with strong hearts, therefore you have a strong heart. And tell me, knowing what you know now, will you really leave the salvation of the Multiverse to someone else? Will you really risk the survival of your world and those living in it on the chance that people you don't know will succeed?"

Emperor Michael XIII then interrupted, "Either way, you people have full liberty of the Palace except for my private chambers and the imperial armory. The Palace's Gardens and the Imperial Library, as well as various dining rooms, are the parts most open to you; just don't bother the workers. You can also access the training rooms or even Damianos' magical chambers."

"Hey!" Damianos himself shouted, "That contains a lot of dangerous stuff!" A pause. "But all right, if those are your orders."

The Emperor then said, "Keys to one of the Imperial guest suites will be granted later this afternoon, should you choose to stay."

Empress Maria then interrupted, "And if you do choose to stay, I recommend that you study the Original Timeline; Damianos will help you in said studies."

Damianos was visibly frowning.

@Double@Gentlemanvaultboy@Ryteb Pymeroce@ShadowVentus@Nerevarine@Tenma Tendo@Jareth

"Shishishi... what's the matter Dan?" Felix laughed, slinging an arm around the mage's shoulder, "I thought such a skilled mage would be glad to teach the new generation of keyblade wielders? I personally am looking foward to tort- training them. Gods know some of them need it..." He snickered wondered who would be stupid enough to rise to his bait.

The rooms themselves had been prepared indeed, prepared for a prank on a scale heretofore unseen since the Jam Incident. Toscax was still bugging him on how he managed to get all his coats in that. For raptor girl, he had set up a varient of the Toad spell to transform them both into chickens.

The pretty boy scholar was going to find himself drenched in honey and then the box of feathers would fall on him. The box that he was currently holding. Huh... so that would mean the fireants were in that room. Crap. He quickly motioned for one of his minions to switch the boxes round before anyone got killed by the mutants he 'borrowed' from R&D. Those were for one of Leo's fleshpuppets.

The red haired thief would find his floor had been replaced with quicksand and itching powder. He wouldn't drown, as there was a teleport rune... right into the women's showers. He was about 70% sure the women wouldn't kill him. Okay 50%.

The desert dweller was going to encounter a slime monster, some of the more ambitious mage students created them after playing too many RPGs. Apparently they make decent XP for low levels... except these ones tend to get a bit handsy with people. Eh, not his problem if he loses his virginities to a slime.

For the 'noble' thief, he had an elaborate obstacle course set up with humilating traps, including one that forces him into the stereotypical robber outfit. Best of all was the fact he had recording equipment set up to capture some juicy blackmail. He might even share some with Dan if he asked nicely.

"It doesn't matter what name they have. They've had a lot of names." She said in answer to Hirutila. "Annunaki, Dewo, gods, Gentry, it all comes out meaning the same thing in the end; bad news for the rest of us." She hoped the old keyblade order had gotten them all, and it showed in her tone.

She was pulled out of her anger when the old guy asked whether she was some sort of Canaanite. She didn't have the best grasp of geography considering that she'd had to learn brands new geography, but she remembered from old Aaron's rambling about bible codes that it might be some biblical place. She wasn't positive, that was his specialty not hers.

He also could have been asking if she was a vampire, and that was a whole other can of worms she didn't want to get into. She decided to give a non-committal shrug. "I was born in Nevada. My family moved out there from New York...they had family down in North Carolina..." she answered, throwing her hands to show she didn't know much more than he did. His world probably didn't even have a Nevada. "Before that, I don't know, Africa? That's the safe bet." She figured Africa would have to be universal enough to be a clear reference point regardless of what world line you were from. If there wasn't an Africa something was fundamentally wrong with the foundation of human history.

---

She felt sorry for Hirutila. She knew what it was like to get a whole lot of new context dumped on you all at once, and she'd been lucky. She'd been young enough to have not experienced a lot of the world, to let truths settle in and calcify into the bones of how you understood reality. She'd been able to flush away the things she'd found to be wrong. The old timer, though, was clearly overwhelmed from trying to take in all this new information.

She heard the Emperor try to coax him along, with words of duty, and decided to help out with a bit of pragmatism. She held out her hand and put out a little thought into the universe to call the thing to her hand. There was a flash, and there it was. Perception plus effort equals reality, in a more literal sense than the philosophers back home probably meant it. She showed it off to him. "Besides, if these things are really a threat to this Leo guy he'll probably be after you no matter where you are. I'm still not 100% sold on this whole thing, but I think no matter what comes at us it'd be better to stand together and look it in the eye. When I think about it like that there's no downside to hanging around a little longer, right?"

Now, with that out of the way their good host had mentioned something about a library. She whistled, and Snopes stopped playing around and loyally trotted back over to her. She dismissed the blade with another concentrated thought, reached into one of the dinosaurs saddle backs, and pulled out a blue fountain pin that she spun on her finger as she turned to Damianos. "Lead the way to that library, Mr. Wizard. I've got a long night of copying textbooks ahead of me."

Now Playing: Temporal Spire

It was sounding as though the introductions were drawing to close, with the emperor and empress setting the boundaries of the palace. While immediately going to his quarters to have some peace of mind intrigued him, what piqued his interest even more was the library. He was not only eager to learn more about this world and the ones left out there to discover, but also to quench his thirst for knowledge on the Darkness. “If I can get a better handle on the enemy...well, I’m more than certain that the scales will tip further in my favor.” Besides, it seemed as though Georgia also had plans of her own to investigate the library. If there was anyone he believed it would be best to begin bonding with and getting a good read on immediately, she was certainly one of the first individuals to come to mind. But of course, as his own tradition dictated, he would place this decision in the hands of luck. The Coin of Fate in his hand once more, he gives it another whirl. Heads, he’d move to parley with Georgia. Tails, he’d check out his quarters. It hits its peak height in the air, followed by an entrancing downward spiral. Catching it in his outstretched hand, he places it on the back of his other hand. He unveils it to reveal that familiar wheel of fortune. A grin finding its way unto his face, he pockets his bit of gold, and strides toward the trio of raptor, girl, and wizard. “Pardon the intrusion milady, but I hope you don’t mind me joining you lot. I have some research of my own I wish to indulge in.” He gives a brief bow, aiming to be as gentlemanlike as possible. Being kind has got him into many a place. He highly doubted it would be any different for the people of various worlds walking amongst him.

((Collab between Letter Bee and Ryteb Pymeroce.))

Felix snickered as he felt the raging volcano of a wizard bubble on the edge of eruption. It was always amusing to get him to snap, though it was boringly easy. Toscax was a lot harder to get angry, probably the whole no heart thing. Who came up with these names anyway, they make no sense.

Incidentally, Tocsax was approaching Felix, his black cloak still immaculate. A wry smile was on his face for a moment as he reached Felix, before he asked the Guardsman, "A moment of your time, Captain Vulpes? We need to talk in private; in the upper levels."

"Shishishi... Sure thing boss man, after all you're the chi blade master," Felix snarked, simultaneously glad to escape Danny's meltdown, but pensive about what Toscax wanted. This better not be about him 'borrowing' prank supplies from R&D. Seperating from his fellow mage, he followed the boring black coat out the room.

Tocsax led him to a newly-installed elevator, which then went up to one of the uppermost floors of the Blachrenae Palace, a floor which led to a room overlooking the gardens. Once in said room, Tocsax then said to Felix, "I was friends with your Nobody, you know that? Well, friends once I started regrowing a Heart, which wasn't easy." His smile was thin and sad this time. "He was much like you."

"Shishishi... what are you talking about Boss. I can't have a Nobody, after all when could I have died?" Felix laughed off, while inside he was going over the mantra of: crap, crap crap... stupid Toscy and his memory. Definitely should have hit him over the head a few more times when they were sparring.

"Not quite died; being consumed by a Heartless is not the same as dying," Tocsax said. "But it's quite obvious that you were 'reconstituted' at some point without any memory of your Nobody self. The only alternative is... I dare not say, but it'd be calamitous for security if said alternative were true. So I hope it isn't."

A wry smile on Tocsax's face again, which slowly shifted to a smirk.

"Has anybody ever told you that you're a massive troll, Toscy." Felix said, his tone more stoic and refined than normal, "So where do things go from here, you know a fight between us would wreck the castle and disrupt my pranks. And I like my pranks."

Tocsax's smile turned pencil-thin as he said, "Of course I'm a massive troll, Psilvux; my 'dark and angsty' apperance is... Misleading. And quite frankly, I'm not here to fight; you and I both know what Leo did to our friends." A sigh as a flash of pain showed itself on Tocsax's face. "The Emperor says that you that if you're going to pose as his loyal guardsman, though, that you should at least try and find the original Felix's Heartless so that the Princesses can change it back to the original Felix. Can you do that for me?"

Psilvux said nothing, before sighing. "Felix turned in the Realm of Darkness. If his heartless survived, it's probably become a part of the Abyss. I'm never returning there, not even on pain of death. You should know why." To further his point, he released his Form Change for a second to reveal his broken and rusted blade. With a grunt of force, he turned the blade back to his pistols and sheathed them.

"Then I'll go to the Abyss myself, when it's time," Tocsax said. "I'll talk to the Emperor; he really misses the original Captain. Until then, keep doing what you're doing unless you're inflicting serious harm to the group." A smile once more. "It's good to talk to you as yourself again, even if it's just for a small while."

Giving his trademark grin, Psilvux patted his friend on the back. "Shishishi... na, I'm saving my good pranks for the Leos. Great thing about this situation? I finally have a good enough excuse to kill that bastard ex-leader of ours..." The Nobody walked off, cackling as only one who has an opportunity to murder a hated boss can.

"Bye for now!" Tocsax kept smiling. "Let's troll the others more sometime!"

((Collab between Letter Bee and Nerevarine.))

Zekaraya

Zekarya's eyes darted back to back as he took in the sights of the city. This place was so unlike anything he had ever seen, his head throbbed in agony as he took the cacophanty of sensation into his eyes, trying to make heads and tails of the strange architecture of the city's buildings, the unusual clothing that the people wore, and monstrous mechanical beings that seemed to be present everywhere he looked. However that was all overshadowed by the aching pain he felt as the faced the direction of the Palace. A burning agony, like white hot iron being poured into his eyes, burning into his skull. The sensaiton was like that he had felt when he encountered that Keyblade wielder in the prison, but magnified greatly. What was this power coming from that place?

Ioannes spoke up as they approached the gates of the palace, "Well, here we are, the Palace of the Blachrenae," he spoke with a chipper inflection, as he cascaded his arms towards the imposing structure. "So, what kind of business you have over here?"

"I have a meeting," Zekaraya replied, as he walked up to the gate of the palace, leaving Ioannes to simply scratch his head in confusion as his guest left him behind, only for him to shake his head and walk down the street.

A single guard was present, though Zekaraya made quick work of him. The swordsman pointed the tip of his blade at the surveying guard, and with a quick incantation, a dark bolt shot out of the tip of the sword, hitting the guard, who fell to the ground. The spell rendered the unfortunate guard blind, silenced, and paralyzed, a special concoction created by Malachi to deprive prisoners of their senses for depravation torture, though it also worked for taking out pesky watchmen. Zekaraya waltzed past the incapacitated guard, opening the door and entred into the palace.

The sensation of burning heat would intensify, even as voices began to be heard in the direction of the throne room. Then suddenly, a voice whispered to him in perfect Hebrew, and the pain receeded, as a layer of some sort was placed between him and the heat. The words of said voice were, <Zekaraya, Faithful Servant of The Messiah; hear me. I am the messenger who hath told Emmanuel of his destiny, and now guide you to yours'.>

He felt something poking at his mind, something guiding him to a set of maintenance stairs with a steel railing. <Zekaraya, go to the bottom of this Palace, find your way to the False Cornerstone, and destroy it.>

An image flashed before Zekaraya's eyes, that of a white slab of rock, rooted to the ground, that radiated light.

The warrior knew what must be done. He scanned the area to find the pathway to his goal, seeing a staircase that lead to the lower levels of the palace. As he descended into the palace, he readied his swords, which began to glow briliantly with with hot red flames as the weapons became infused with magic.

Behind the door in the corridor leading into the basement of the palace, two guards, were stationed, chatting among themselves. That was until they saw the iron door behind them begin to glow a faint red, growing into a radiant orange.

One of the soldieres pointed at the anomaly, "What is that?" he asked, as the other readied his own weapon. "Be on guard, I don't like the lo-"

The two soldiers were cut off as a hot chunk of semimolten door flew out, striking one soldier in the head, as the other turned to look at his companion, only to be cut down by the firey blade, burning the man into a crisp as his body was filled with the magical flames as the blade cut into his flesh. Zekaraya advanced onward, cutting through the second door in his path in much of the same way.

A soldier above had taken notice of the noice coming from below, and descended down the staircase to investigate, only to find the door looked as though it had been cut clean through, with some kind of heated instrument. He persisted forward again, taking note of the horrific sight of what looked to be a man burned with molten iron, and the armor of another, with burned ashes inside. He quickly ran upstairs, attracting the attention of another soldier.

"Quick, tell the Emperor, we have in intruder, whatever it is it is armed and dangerous," as he expained what he had seen in the basement passage to the other, "We have to tell him now!"

The Emperor receieved a message through the intercom, saying that there was an intruder close to the Cornerstone of Light. Turning to his wife and saying, "Prepare the Palace defenses," he then walked off towards a shortcut to the Cornerstone of Light that only he knew...

In the meantime, Zekaraya was led by the voice to the Cornerstone of Light, which radiated brightly in response, burning away the insulating layer that had guarded the warrior.

<Destroy the stone, and begin your destiny, oh Lion of Judah>. Zekaraya took two blades, one in each hand, and focused, as the swords began to glow with a radiant, angelic light, as he inflused the blades with the Holy spell. The Palace's defenses began to swarm towards the Cornerstone, armed to the teeth as the quickly and methodically approached the structure.

However, by the time they reached the stone, Zekaraya swung the two blades into the cornerstone, unleashing the full power of the Holy that he had bulit into the weapons, a shockwave sent out that rocked the entire palace, hitting all present with him with a powerful blast of holy energy, and shattering the cornerstone into fragments. Zekaraya then turned to face the defenses, raising his two swords, each that glowed different colors, one orange, the other blue, and cloaked him in magical defenses against both the physical weapons of his assailants, and any magic they could throw at him. He then charged, swords out to fight his way out of the cornerstone room.

But the use of Holy, a Light spell, on the Cornerstone of Light made sure that extra effort had to be taken to damage the slab, and that the fragments were large enough to still radiate Light, though weaker than before. It was then that Emperor Michael arrived alone, his Keyblade already out while his eyes shone in fury.

"Guards!" he shouted, "You can't take him alone; go reinforce the outer defenses!" Turning towards Zekaraya, the Emperor said, "I have many things to say to you, but right now I don't have time to say them - Thundaga!"

A bolt of lightning crackled at Zekaraya.

Important to Everyone (Except Tenma)

A gigantic Corridor of Darkness opened in front of the palace gates, and Heartless flooded out of it in huge numbers. There were 'Pureblood' Heartless, Emblem Heartless; the entire host was led by a Possessed machine; a Gundam itself!

@Double@Gentlemanvaultboy@Ryteb Pymeroce@ShadowVentus@Nerevarine

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hirutila

Hirutila pondered over the words that Tocsax and Georgia said to him. there was a truth that indeed he had nothing to go back to. What little was left of his old life was impossible to return to. He closed his eyes and spoke, "Very well, I suppose there's nothing to lose. But you better make it worth my while. He said to the Emperor, "Get me out of debt and back home to my daughter, and I'll give you my help." So that was it, he would help in exchange for a chance at his old life again. Multiverse be damned, he just wanted to see Dammania again.

Hirutila's eyes roled over to the strange little foxish boy that was present the whole time. It seemed like the others were going to be off doing their own thing, he might as well unwind a little bit before they take off to where ever it is they're going. "Hey, you look like the type, you know where I can get a drink in this palace?"

However, before he had a chance to get a responce, the Emperor excused himself after a message was played informing them of some kind of intruder. Intruder? What was going on?

A massive shockwave roled through out the palace shortly after, as soldiers began rushing out stammering about Heartless showing up in mass numbers.

"Oh...that can't be good." he spoke out loud.

"That's the spirit, old timer. I guess." Georgia said. It wasn't a big turn around, but he was at leat agreeing to hang around this shady castle. She had a feeling she'd need as many friends as she could get going forward.

Speaking of friends, one of these guys was actually talkative. She turned to face the coin flipper and gave a smile. "Oooo, 'milady.' Haven't been greeted like that since the Round Table conference. Of course you can come, the more the merrier. We can split...the..."

She lifted her head unknowingly toward the main gate, a quizzical look plastered across her face. The pen spinning on her finger slowly lost it's momentum and clattered noisily to the floor, but she didn't pay it any mind. "Who is that?" She said to no one, narrowing her eyes. "Who's...is somebody there?"

She didn't even pay attention to the Emperor excusing himself as she slowly walked toward trying to pinpoint whoever this was. This was some kind of psychic anomaly, the impression of an impression of a person, like being alone in a room and feeling someone's shadow on your back. That was nonsense though, she wasn't trained to pick up this sort of thing. Whatever this was couldn't be this faint if she was feeling it, it would have to be incredibly powerf-

Then the connection became concrete and the suddenness of it sent her to her knees. Memories flooded in, people she had never me, places she had never been, wars she hadn't fought. It had been a shadow, the shadow of whatever it was that was casting this pressure. Thunderclouds, a psychic hurricane throwing out wave after wave of feelings, memories, impressions.

"Gyaaaaa, stop, who are you?" She cried out as the waves kept pounding against her brain. She'd heard stories from abduction survivors, how they'd been assaulted like this until it a scrambled their brains and left them with holes in their memories forever. Then, as though in respond to that memory, she felt the pressure pull back leaving behind an impression of confusion. Like it hadn't expected that reaction, like nothing like that had ever happened to him before.

"Yeah, well, I don't think we're working on 100% the same wetware here." She said crossly, shaking her head and staggering back to her feet with the help of Snopes who had so kindly slid his head under her arm and was now growling in agitation at the thought of his master being hurt. She noticed the guard had rushed in to inform them of that giant wave of heartless that had appeared at the palace gate. She didn't notice that her nose was now gushing blood until she felt it on her lips. "It's like you're a quantum computer, and I'm a CB radio. You can't expect that to be wholly comparable, Amuro." She paused for a moment, before clutching her head. Cripes, she had a headache. "Good, you left your name in there. What else?"

She searched her thoughts, and her eyes widened. "Evacuate the castle!" She shouted at the guard. He stood there, confused, before she walked up and grabbed him by the armor. "That thing has a gun that can punch through whole battleships, you think a bunch of stone is gonna be able to stop it?"

The man looked at her like she'd gone crazy, then looked over her shoulder at the Empress. Georgia growled, "Sheep," before pushing her way past the man and sprinting down the hall. "It's a machine! It's a giant war machine!" She called back behind her.

The comforting clicker-clack of claws of stone followed her, but she wasn't sure how much good his claws would do against that white devil she'd seen in her mind. Truth be told she didn't know what she could do against that thing, besides treat it like an ornery t-rex and tie it down till it stopped struggling. She just knew that this was the first modern city she'd seen in ten years and there was no way she was letting it burn before she got to enjoy at least a little of it.

"FUUUUUUUCK!" Came the yell of a figure as he fell out the sky. Clad fully in some strange armour, the figure cursed to the five wizards that every time he changed worlds the fates thought it funny to drop him several hundred feet above the ground. Freak'n magic and it's stupid rules.

And, of course, he had to land in the middle of a force of invading darkness. In his stunned state one of the minions managed to strike him... only for nothing to happen. He sent the creature packing with a burst of lightning before summoning Fenrir. Behind his helmet a savage smirk appeared on his face as he blasted through the heartless with his blade.

With a slash and chop the weaklings succumbed to his blade. Lightning sparked through the battlefield as the warrior searched for a true challenge. When he realised what was leading the heartless, he had to laugh.

"Well, that's just not fair."

Somehow these heartless had gotten their hands on a version of Travellion, though this thing was far sleeker in design. It looked like it was originally white, but the black ichor of the dark creatures was spreading across its body. Seemed to be more designed around fighting larger opponents, so might be a good idea to break into the cockpit. Volgel above, this was going to a bigger pain than that world where the cities ate each other. Sighing, he leaped and used his blade to gain a foothold on this iron giant.

Noel mostly ignored the other thief. He could tell right away that they were nothing alike, "Why would anyone aspire to this kind of life?" he asked, half-joking and half-serious, "Stealing from people who did nothing to provoke you? Living one's life with the law as their enemy? I don't aspire for this life, I aspire to get out of it." he pulled himself away from the other thief and left the throne room rather abruptly. He could have waited for a room key, but why bother? The Calling Card would open any room he would ever wish to gain entry to, and from the sounds it it seemed like none of the others had fully realized this fact yet.

"The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can salvage whatever's left of my life back home." he muttered to himself as he began to wander the halls. He didn't get much time to explore, as alarms were sounded throughout the palace. Hmph, they hadn't even started and were already under attack? This was either very good news or very bad, depending on this how this all played out. One look out a nearby window told Noel all he needed to know. A massive force of Heartless led by a giant machine of some kind. That settled it, he was officially out of his mind for considering working with these people. Police, Soldiers, even Heartless were all one thing. But that giant metal thing? How was anyone expected to deal with that? Still, Noel had to do something because like or not, he was caught up in this mess.

"Were you looking for me?"

Noel looked around quickly. Someone was watching him, even taunting him with laughter. Noel darted around the corner of a corridor where he believed the voice was coming from. It spoke again, but this time coming from directly behind him. Noel spun around to catch a glimpse of who he assumed was his enemy.

"Catch me, then... if you can." a black coated figure in a mask that covered his whole face spoke with a taunting tone, even giving a bow as if wishing Noel before stepping back into a dark portal that opened behind him. Noel didn't hesitate.

"You're mine!" he lunged forth after the masked intruder, through the corridor and without any thought given as to where it led to or how in the world he would ever get back.



Eagle Land ~ Twoson
Playing: F-F-Fire!

The skies darkened over the once peaceful Twoson. Creatures previously identified as Heartless appeared en masse from the shadows and from several portals opening around town and even above in the sky. This was not the first time these monsters appeared in Eagle Land, but this attack put the previous one to shame. No, it wasn't just an attack, this was a full on invasion! The defense system created by the Moogles did as much as it was able, but the Heartless's numbers were overwhelming compared to their first appearance in this world. To make matters worse, a giant Heartless appeared in the center of town and went on a rampage. It had long, beefy arms, a heart-shaped hole in it's chest, and everywhere it went it seemed to conjure up pools of blackness that summoned smaller Heartless in its wake.

A small child ran for his life right behind his parents. He looked back in panic and to his horror tripped and fell to the pavement. He scrambled to get to his feet as his parents turned to help but one of the monsters was already jumping in for what they thought was the kill. Time almost froze for a moment, but then an arc of lightning struck the Heartless and reduced it to nothing. Another boy, this a little bit older came running forth, scrambling to pick the fallen child back up on their feet and rushing them to their parents. They ran as a group for a bit before the older boy stopped and turned to face the oncoming wave of monsters. He placed his forefingers on his forehead to concentrate his mental energy. And then, as a small cluster of Shadows moved to attack he thrust his palms forward.

"PK Fire!" a small amount of psychic energy shot from his palms that shortly exploded into a gout of flame that incinerated the attacking Heartless. But the large kept walking forward, slowly and menacingly.

"Vic!" two voices cried in unison. At that moment, the boy named Vic was joined by two other young people: an older boy named Terrence and a girl named Ashley. Vic let a smile appear on his face at the sight of friends. Around them, he felt strong, stronger than he ever felt he was when alone. He reached out a hand, and in a flash of light the weapon known as the Keyblade appeared once again in his grasp.

"Right then..." Terrence grunted, brandishing a pitchfork he'd grabbed from the farm, "... y'all ready to kick monster tail or what?"

As if they were a well-oiled machine, the trio appeared to dart out in different directions. Terrence charged forward, unafraid of the monster staring him down and bracing himself for a nasty fight. Ashley darted to right, and started setting off a series of fireworks and bottle rockets she'd managed to prepare ahead of time. As for Vic, he hung back, and just as the giant Heartless tried to spew forth a series of dark energy balls, he used another of his handy Psychic powers, "PK Shield!" and before Terrence could be struck, a barrier appeared around him and took the blasts in his place. That was when Terrence started swinging away with his pitch fork, letting the three prongs dig into the monster as much as it could. That was also about when the fireworks and bottle rockets came soaring in and knocking the monster for a loop as well.

"He's open! End him, Vic!" Ashley's voice, calling out from the place she'd launched her last rocket.

Keyblade in hand, Vic ran forward. He used PSI to launch himself up for a clear shot at the monster's head and hit it with the blade with everything he possibly could. The Heartless reared back and slowly melted back into the darkness from whence it came. The trio of friends cheered, believing this would put a stop to the invasion. But rather than slow, the invasion only picked up more momentum! Three more of the giant Heartless appeared, and the three friends looked around with expressions of terror. But Vic swallowed down his fear and readied himself to fight again. Giving up simply wasn't an option. But then, another made their presence known.

"It is you, then." the invasion almost seemed to pause, as silence fell around the area. The voice that spoke, actually it wasn't speaking at all. It was using PSI to project its thought as a form of telepathy. Vic sensed a presence coming from a nearby roof and looked to see it. He saw someone, wearing a black coat and hood. Everything about their features was completely masked and shrouded by their attire. Still, Vic couldn't afford to be afraid. He launched a PK Thunder at the stranger, but their figure simply disappeared into thin air before they could be hit. In an instant the figure reappeared, right in Vic's face. This startled him enough make him stumble back, even falling down to the pavement. He looked up at his attacker, seeing nothing but a menacing red glow where his eyes likely were under that hood, "No power is greater than mine." the figure declared, once again projecting their thoughts using PSI.

Vic scrambled to his feet and swung the Keyblade to attack. Even Terrence and Ashley joined in, the latter using one of her heavy wrenches as a makeshift weapon. But all three froze in movement before the hooded figure. He was using his PSI to hold them still, frozen and helpless. With a small gesture, all three attackers were flung away as if they were nothing. The Keyblade slipped out of Vic's grasp and vanished the same way it had appeared earlier. Before Vic could do anything else, an invisible force picked him up and held him in place the air, Vic feeling like the very air and life was being squeezed out of him by this person's psychic grip.

The figure teleported directly in front of Vic and glared from under their hood, the glowing red seeming to intensify even further. They appeared to move as if to finish Vic off, but suddenly reared back. Whatever grip the figure had on Vic was now gone and the boy dropped to ground with almost lifeless thud. He was rapidly losing consciousness, but before he was out completely Vic watched through blurred vision as the hooded attacker almost seemed to... glitch out of existence. Then everything when dark.

Palace of the Blachrenae, Renovation

"You heard her!" Empress Maria said to her guards, "Evacuate the palace; send word to the Senate and the City to evacuate as well! As for me..." she said as she began to glow brightly, "I'll stand my ground!"

Facing the white mech flying at them, prepared to fire its beam rifle, she yelled out, "ZettaBarrier!"

A dome of interlocked planes of clear energy appeared in front of the Gundam's line of fire, shielding the entire palace from its energy weapon... Once. As the beam rifle fired, the ZettaBarrier held out, enduring its entire shot, flaring brightly as the energy of the weapon clashed with its magic.

But as the Gundam's attack faded away, so did the barrier. And Empress Maria, thoroughly exhausted, collapsed forward; she was saved from a broken nose by Girogios catching her fall, and laying her gently on the floor.

Tocsax, meanwhile, was pondering a new strategy. With a cry of, "Strengthra!" he opened a Corridor of Darkness into the cockpit of the Gundam, plunging one arm into the cockpit and ripping out its Pilot, who turned out not to be a Possessor Heartless - That was elsewhere in the Mech - but a confused redheaded Human, who was barely able to stumble incoherently across the halls before facing Georgia and saying, "Lalah? Is that you?" before collapsing right on top of her and giving her a big hug; clearly, he thought the Keyblader was that 'Lalah' person.

Then the Nobody Keyblader smirked trollishly, and cast aside his black cloak, sending it floating away with a quick Aero. Now in his 'battle fashion'; a purple shirt and black jeans, he said to the other Keybladers, "All of you, are you just going to stand right here?! Mass Hastega!"

And with that, every Keyblader in the area, including Zane who was clambering on top of the possessed mech, felt a boost to their Physical speed. Then Tocsax howled out, "Half of you take on the horde of Heartless, the others help me against that Mech, which is still moving due to dark powers! Note that I won't be stealing your spotlight any longer, so I'll only be providing support spells after this!"

@Double@Gentlemanvaultboy@Ryteb Pymeroce@ShadowVentus@Nerevarine@Tenma Tendo

BGM: The Ark

The year is 2018. From the outward skies above to the extensive sea of clouds below, the Royal Sky Capital of Lizeria kept floating ever still, separated from the rest of Earth down below. Although not entirely disconnected from humanity, the inhabitants of land lived under the flag of freedom: the Church and the Council of Europe had no hold to the lands of Lizeria. They lived under the long forgotten "liberal system", where humans, angels and demons can live altogether.

From the end of a bridge lying at the south of the Central District lies a Teleporter, which connects the people of Europe to Lizeria and vice versa. There, a human and a demon appeared, one of them completely tired. "That... was nervewracking. What just happened down there and what were those things?" The youngest one asked. "They did not seem as if they were demons. At least, they did not belong to the ones we are familiar with." The eldest one asked. With a last sigh, they walked towards the Central District, aiming to reach the castle right behind it. "By the way, Agni, what happened to the Achromatic Executioner? Why did the guns disappeared and that strange... weapon suddenly appeared?" He asked, curious to see the response from his brother. "I don't know, Ignitio. Maybe that was another of Mom's experiments. She could've at least warned me first, just so that I wouldn't be taken by surprise like this." Agni answered. "You do realize that explaining her experiments is the last thing Mother would do, right? It would be weird for her to pop out something like this and tell us about it." Ignitio said. "Yes, it would. I'd love for this weird thing to happen someday." Agni spoke once more, bothered.

After the conversation, they reached the Central District. As they passed by, the inhabitants greeted them as they kept walking. Amidst the calling, a different voice called upon them. "Big Bro!! Bigger Bro!!" A girl screamed in the distance. When they saw, it was Claire, the youngest Princess and child of the Blackheart family. She waved at them from the distance and immediately ran, jumping at Agni for a big hug. "Big Bro, you look completely beat! Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?! Who was it?! Just tell me and I'm gonna pummel them so hard, they won't be recognized anymore!!" Claire asked, after seeing Agni tired as he was. "Don't worry, we've already dealt with them, Claire. Besides, you know how I can't let you go down there alone. The Council isn't exactly fond of you and Ignitio roaming around down there without me, remember?" Agni spoke. "Do I look like I care if some old men are sitting on their chairs, complaining things like 'Oh my, but that girl is a heretic barbarian. How can she be the brave Oracle's sister?' and those other whatnot? Well, I ain't having that BS! Now, who messed with you?! TELL ME!!" Claire looked completely serious as a 15-year old, thug-like kid could muster. Agni could only laugh and pet her a little bit before Ignitio could speak. "Moving on, Claire, but why are you here? Is the training session over?" He asked. "Oh, righti, right, right! There's this cute Moogle at the throne room and it wants to talk with you, Big Bro!"

A Moogle? At Lizeria? That was uncommon. The modernization progress was dealt directly with Rosangela and Sidney, so why would a Moogle come and talk with Agni if he isn't the one responsible for it? "Claire, did you tell the Moogle to look for Mom and Dad, since they're the responsibles for Lizeria's technology issues?" Agni asked. "Well... no. But he said that this was something specific to you and looked at me with those cute little eyes! I couldn't just resist his adorable face so I just came looking for you instead!" She answered. Wait... Moogles have eyes? They always are closed, so no one pretty much saw how a Moogle's eyes are. "A topic specific to Agni... this is normally reunions with the Council, but they would not send a Moogle for this sole reason. Now I am somewhat curious and nervous as well." Ignitio commented. "We won't know until we see it. C'mon, let's head back to the castle and speak with this Moogle." Agni spoke. The other two brothers nodded and went along him to the castle.

---

BGM: Female Turbulence

Upon reaching the castle, the gate guards saluted them and opened the doors. Once they were inside, the last of the siblings went downstairs at the main hall. "There you all are! The Moogle is waiting upstairs and he's kind of anxious." He spoke. "Thanks, Victor. Hey, can you go fetch something for us to eat, please? The Moogle might be hungry after waiting for long like this." Agni asked. "Oh, I'll go! I'll go! I'm gonna fetch some cookies! I know Moogles love cookies!" Claire said before rushing to the kitchen. "W-Wait, Claire! We can't eat cookies like this, it'll be bad for our stomachs!" Victor spoke, while running after her. The two of them seemed energetical as always. Hardly something would bother Victor and Claire... except for each other, in some occasions. Agni and Ignitio laughed as they kept going. When they reached the throne room, there was the Moogle, floating all around as if he was in a hurry.

"Kupo! Kupo! There you are, Mr. Oracle kupo!" The Moogle spoke once he saw Agni and Ignitio. "Sorry, things were a little hectic down there. Anyway, I heard you have something for me, although I don't have any idea of what the could be." Agni spoke. "If it is related to technology, we shall call the responsibles for you. It will only take a second, so if you could just wait a moment-" Ignitio said, but the Moogle interrupted him. "No no no, kupo! This letter I have is adressed to the Oracle, kupo!" The Moogle explained while giving the letter to Agni. As they checked, it was indeed for the Crown Prince. It didn't have any seal belonging to the countries of Europe or to the Council, so it was definitely something different from any sort of request. "O...K then, I'll just open it and see what this is about." Agni said as he opened the letter. Not trusting the Moogle, Ignitio took out his gunblade and pointed it at the creature "K-Kupo!!" The small scream made Agni stop momentarily. "Turn the weapon down and don't hurt the Moogle, please." He asked. "We cannot take risks. This Moogle might be an enemy spy, trying to take your life and-" Ignitio spoke worried, but Agni interrupted. "Ignitio, put your weapon away. You're scaring the Moogle." Agni spoke. Seeing as how Agni trusted the Moogle, Ignitio put the weapon away and followe Agni on reading the letter.

"The Heartless Plague has spread to World after World. To find out the reasons for these beasts' rampage, come to where we are; the key to defeating them lies in the wielders of the Keyblade acting in concert. Free Passage via Gummi Ship has been provided; elude whatever enemies are watching you and come to the version of Konstantinopolis/Constantinople that exists in the World of Renovation."

... Constantinople? Isn't that an extinct kingdom that has been replaced by Istanbul? Those were the words everyone would speak if they saw the letter. However, the other part called attention: it was on another world. Its existence isn't valid here, but it's valid somewhere else. As they moved on, another part called their focus. "Keyblade? What is that? I have never heard of something of the sort before." Ignitio asked. "... Maybe... wait, let me try something." Agni spoke. He extended his arm and opened his hand. A strange weapon appeared right in front of him. "The strange weapon for earlier! Wait, so this weapon must be..." Ignitio spoke. "So, I became a Keyblade wielder? It still doesn't explain why my weapons vanished, but at least I'm not defenseless. In any case, I suppose that I should be going with you now, right?" Agni asked. "Yes, kupo! And we need to hurry, because the other people are already there, kupo!" The Moogle spoke. Suddenly, a strange ship appeared right on the bridge connecting the castle to the Hollow Lands. The Moogle flew towards the bridge, signaling Agni to come with him.

"Wait, you are not thinking on going with that Moogle. You do not even know how to wield it right! What if something happens to you?!" Ignitio asked. "I've been summoned. People from another world need my help. I can't turn my back to something like this. I'm going with the Moogle." Agni spoke. Ignitio already knew that discussing with Agni would be fruitless and he wouldn't turn back on his decision. He knows his own brother and old host, after all. "Alright, but I'm coming with you, no discussions! Also, we need to warn Mother and Father about this." Ignitio spoke. "Hurry, Mr. Oracle, kupo!" The Moogle called. "They might be seeing and hearing us now. They know about everything that happens, so we don't need to worry. Now, let's move out. Constantiople and Revelation awaits us." Agni spoke. Ignitio nodded and they followed the Moogle to the ship. Once they boarded it, it left to the space and beyond.

At last, the door opened. "Hey, I brought the cookies for us to... eat." Claire spoke excited, only to find nothing there.

Hirutila
Palace of the Blachrenae, Renovation

Damn, damn damn damn. This was not the way he was planning on jumping into the action. Hirutila grimaced in a mixture of agitation and sheer terror at the sight before him. The Heartless were one thing, the horde of little imps was damn frightening in its own right but the real awesome might was that humanoid mechanical monstrosity that was suddenly threatening to tear the whole palace down around them. The Empress may have managed to defend the place for that bit of time, but

"Damnable Mock-Man, we don't stand a chance against that thing!" Hirutila yelled out once the sheer scale of the Gundam had really sunk into his mind. How could something so huge even exist? Was it autonomous or was it more like a suit of armor?
He found his answer when Tocsax ripped the pilot out before his very eyes. So it was a suit of armor, but the pilot there obviously wasn't really controlling the mech. Hirutila gritted his teeth at the challenge. How was he supposed to fight against *that*? The damn palace was like paper to it, there was no way he wouldn't be killed instantly upon even attempting to challenge it.
But better to die trying to fight than to be just a casualty in a building collapse. He had some idea on what to do. The only weapons that were going to take down the behemoth were the ones it was carrying. Certainly whatever Heartless was possessing the Gundam wanted to wipe anyone out it got in clear sight, so why not turn that against it.

Hirutila looked around the room rapidly, trying to eye out anything he could use to get up close to the mech and get away before it could vaporize him. It was then that Hirutila took note of a display in the corner of his eye, a halberd of sorts with a plethora of long parts. He ran over to the weapon, pulling it out of the display and snapping the head off of the weapon, tying a long piece of rope around it.
"Alright, let's hope this works," he muttered out, before running off up a staircase, shortly after Tocsax had cast the haste spell on him. Hirutila was amazed at how fast he was moving, even better than back in his prime in the pirate days. This was just like pirate days right, boarding a ship to take it out? That's what he kept telling himself as he ascended the staircase, each footstep pounding in his heart as he approached a heightened point.

If I can just get this into one of its joints..., he thought as he stepped onto the windows sill, the vast drop of the castle below and the Gundam there before him. Hirutila swung the makeshift grappling hook around in a circle, turning back and throwing it with all his might. To his amazement, the hook landed into one of the robots arm joints. Now for the hard part. Hirutila took a deep breath, looking down at the drop before him. In his mind, it was just water, just the cold dark blue of the sea. He repeated it over and over in his head.

Nothing below me but sea, nothing below me but sea.

And with that, his feet left the stone of the castle window as the began careening towards the Gundam, hoping that Tiw was looking over him, and praying that his feet would make contact with the robot's metal and not his back splattered against the ground.

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Just outside of Bethelehem, Israel, 1250 AD, Green Sahara
@Tenma Tendo

The cart of pilgrims returning home were all busy chattering among themselves, though whispers concerning Capella could be heard being carried among the wind.

You don't think she's royalty do you? Whispered one of the women to the other, who chattered back

A Hasmonean in a cart ride to Bethlehem? What would royalty be doing here?

The other woman looked back at Capella, staring back at her for a short while before whispering back at the other, "But those clothes, how can she afford purple and still ride back in a horse cart?"

The ride back was slow, yet calming. There was much to see on the road back, groves of date palms resting in the moonlight, nestled within the mountainous terrain that seemed to gently slope with the clouds. At the same time, the calm had an eerie and sinister undertone, like static in the still air. The full moon cloaked the entire roadway in a hazy bluish tinge, adding to that underlying dread hidden in the calm. Capella's concentration on such thoughts would be broken by the intrusion of a young man, who attempted to get a few words in with her.
"You're not from here, are you?" The young man inquired, "What brings you out to Bethlehem. It's not exactly the most interesting place in the world. The bustle of Jerusalem to much for you?"

But any small talk was cut off with the sudden cry of the horses as the cart approached Jerusalem proper. The driver let out a shriek of horror as well, as the cart became surrounded by Heartless.

"They....They're everywhere!" one of the pilgrims exclaimed, pointing a shaking finger at the village, which was swarming with the little imps, running through the streets like wild beasts. Among the hoard of creatures were three more like disembodied suits of armor, bearing some kind of emblem, that were herding the other Heartless like dogs in search of something. The creatures tore through houses at the command of their superiors and watching them, the message of the letter would echo in Capella's head once more.

There, a legion of Heartless seek to slay a child named Yeshua, a child born of a Virgin Birth. Do not let them touch him, or all is lost.

She would need to act fast to save the cart of pilgrims, the people of Bethlehem, and the Child before all were lost to the swarm of Heartless. They numbered 100 in total, scattered throughout the village.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Valley of the Moon, Canaan, 2288 AD, Green Sahara

Audry stared at the discolored ceiling once again, letting the image burn into her retinas as she lay on the old cot, the stuffing long rotten away, nothing more than a glorified blanket wrapped around springs. She closed her eyes, though no sleep came. It wouldn't come any time soon. She lifted her hand up, taking a look at the device now affixed to her forearm, at the scar when that ancient technology had buried its way into her flesh, digging deep into her. The uncertainty of what was to pass was much like that same burning pain, though it radiated out of her spine across her body rather than merely in her arm now. She balled her fist up and slammed it against the worn down mattress, cursing and groaning loudly as she turned herself over, only to hear the creek as the door to her room opened. Audry simply layed on her side in silence, as the monk spoke to her, urging the young woman to wake up. The day was upon them. Audry rose to a seated position, nodding her head in silence as she rose to her feet, and followed after the monk without saying a word.

"You understand the necessity of this, do you not?"

Audry nodded, though she could not say that she fully knew what would happen. Worlds were at stake, a future worth getting out of bed for, a future with a mother who wouldn't die of a bad cough. The Galileans believed it rested in the Middle Ages, a time so long ago it was the stuff of legends now. She was to find the Legendary Hero, and go with her to face the Emperor who resided in the Horn of Africa and kill his minions.

"The Son of Aaron must die, remember that Audry, he must die at all costs."

"...I know." She uttered out quietly, as the Monks began to power on the ancient machines that filled the chamber. The Abbot looked at her one last time. "When you are there, follow her trail, you'll find her eventually. The Hero must complete her quest, and you must make sure all loose ends stay down. From there, you're on your own, our knowledge can't help you once you leave our timeline."

And with that, the conversation ended, once the gate was identified.

Audry closed her eyes as the Chronodex activated, and she felt herself break apart, as the particles of her body accelerated, faster and faster and faster until, she was moving backward in time. When her eyes opened once more she felt her self being placed in the middle of nowhere, in seeing in the distance, the walls of a great canyon, What must have been the Valley all those years ago. Audry stood herself up, looking intently at the cliff faces. However she shook off the thought, right now her goal was to find the Legendary Hero, the so-called Child of the Sixth Brightest. Now, just where in the world was she supposed to start looking?

Felix floated down next to Toscax, again using his trick with Aero to levitate along. In his lap was a bowl of white chocolate. Suspiciously familier white chocolate. Being fair, Toscy should really guard his stash better if he knew his fellow chocophile was around. But the fox was nothing if not generous, so offered some to his ally in trolling.

"Shishishi... so do you want to handle buffs or healing? I'm fine with whichever." he snickered, watching the others try to fight. Honestly, it's like they have never encountered a heartless invasion before.

Now Playing: Vim and Vigor

Asher was just about to run after Georgia when a resounding blast echoed throughout the room. For him, it was like being uncomfortably close to an array of cannons firing volleys. He instinctively covered his ears to protect them from the sound as he looked towards the direction of noise. The only reason they weren’t obliterated within that same moment was thanks to the empress’ barrier. He glanced behind him to see said empress already down for the count, being aided by Girogios as she had collapsed to the ground. One would think seeing one of the strongest individuals in this world’s hierarchy go down so fast would strike fear into his heart, but the young rogue simply chuckled in response to the sight. “It’s best you royal lot leave the dirty work to us…” As he says this, Asher feels the familiar heightening of his senses as Tocsax casts Mass Hastega, the rush of adrenaline-like energy flowing through his body.

"Half of you take on the horde of Heartless, the others help me against that Mech, which is still moving due to dark powers! Note that I won't be stealing your spotlight any longer, so I'll only be providing support spells after this!"

Asher couldn’t help but laugh at the Nobody’s idea. In his eyes, he had yet to prove his mettle as a leader. He felt he had no proper reason to follow his commands, and as a result of this, Asher decided to stick to his original plan of providing back-up to Georgia. He took off at a breakneck pace in the direction she had ran only a few moments ago. With this boost, he knew it would take little to no effort on his part to catch up to her. As he drew near, he saw right away that she was already in the middle of an encounter, grappling with an individual unbeknownst to him. Using the momentum of the Hastega, he grabbed Amuro by the collar of his suit, prying him from his comrade, and pinned him against the wall. This mystery pilot would find a dagger held up to his neck, making his position very clear. “My my..I do hope you don’t mind if I get up close and personal as well?” This was a trick question of course. “Milady! Care to explain the situation with just a tad bit more detail?” He inquired, not taking his eyes off of his captive as he asked.

BGM: Today's Contract

The Gummi Ship, as it was called, was flying throughout the endless space, at fast speeds. THose who were inside didn't seem to feel the pressure much. Even Agni and Ignitio, who weren't used to such things as those airships were feeling rather comfortable. Although, there were some details that brought a little of unease and discomfort. "The ship has no handle. How are we even moving without any sort of definitive direction? Are we going on the right way? Are we near?" Ignitio bombarded the Moogle pilot with questions. "Don't worry, we're going in the right direction, kupo!" The Moogle spoke. "And how can we be sure? I do not see any maps around us. What is that displaying in the monitor? Is it a map? Also, where are we? Why the ship is somewhat windowless? And why is it made full of blocks? Besides, what does Gummi even mean? Is it some sort of candy or-" Ignitio kept asking until Agni interrupted him. "Can you please stop with the questions? You're acting as an antsy kid and not even Claire, who is the youngest, ask around that much." He spoke. "I am trying to have some certainty that we are headed to Constantinople and not somewhere else. Why are you so calm?" Ignitio questioned once more. "Just trust in the Moogle. Now, we've heard enough questions so let's stay quiet for a moment." Agni said.

"We've arrived at Constantinople, kupo!" The Moogle warned. Once he did, both Agni and Ignitio got up as the space suddenly changed.

---

The ship passed throughout the clouds and the empire of Constantinople reached their range of vision. It was a beautiful and enormous city, with the Imperial Palace standing visible for all eyes to see. Agni and Ignitio rose from their chairs to look at the scenery. "Wow, it's enormous... I never thought Constantinople was actually this big." Agni commented. "It is indeed impressive. I still hold preference to our home, but this empire has its own charm." Ignitio commented.

BGM: Eden's Threat

But the time for admiration was cut short. On their sights, a gigantic robot was attacking. Not only that, but the mysterious creatures who attacked the citizens of Europe back at their world were now here, invading the palace. "In the end, we are to be thrown in the middle of the fire ever still... what are we facing anyway?" Ignitio complained. "They are the Heartless, kupo! And that big robot is a Gundam, kupo!" The Moogle told them about the enemies. "We don't have time to question anything anymore. If we don't join the fray now, the town will be destroyed. Moogle, land us someplace near the palace." Agni told him. "Kupo?! But we're near the palace! The Gummi Ship is set to land there, kupo!" The Moogle spoke. "Entering the palace might be a good idea, but if the problem came from the outside then best to remove the probelm by its root. Someone might be controlling these creatures from the exterior." Ignitio spoke. "I agree. Besides, the ship might get into the range of that robot. It's heavily armed and I don't think this ship will last for long if it decides to attack us." Agni said as well.

After listening to their opinions, the Moogle tried to change its route, but to no avail. "I-I can't change the route, kupo! It's set to fly directly in the castle!" The Moogle spoke, worried. They were getting closer to the palace and the risk of their ship to be targeted was big. Ignitio looked around and decided to point out a crazy idea. "Open the back door! We are jumping out of the ship!" He said. Both Agni and the Moogle looked at him surprised. "Are you crazy? It's going to be a huge fall! We won't be able to survive such thing!" Agni pointed it out. "Either we get out of this ship or that robot with blast us away soon enough! Our choices are few and we need to pick one now!" Ignitio answered. Agni didn't want to, but he had no choice but to agree. He nodded back at the Moogle and the little creature began to press buttons everywhere. Soon, what looked like a back door opened and the wind blew strongly. "Alright, we need to escape now! Jump!!" Ignitio screamed and was the first one to jump. Agni held the Moogle tight and jumped away from the ship, which entered in the range of the Gundam.