Morgan was batting her eyes in ever increasing confusion, even as Lucian hugged her. "I don't remember anything... the last I can remember was, we were about to get on some sort of, flying boat, and the island was falling apart, and then everything went dark..." She had no memory of speaking to Lucian about anything important, nor giving him any sort of thing to protect." With a sigh, she said "I can't even remember where my home is, and now I can't even remember things I have done recently... but, thank you Lucian. I feel like, I wouldn't be here anymore if it weren't for you. So whatever it is I did, I guess I picked the right person."

Merlin leaned forward, stroking his beard. "Memory issues is it? I see... that is unfortunately something you will need to recover from on your own in time. Using magic to heal memories is a touchy subject, and very dangerous. One could easily erase memories entirely, or create new false ones that never happened. Plus, my blue magic is far from the best for such an act regardless. I see you remember me well enough now that you have seen me. Perhaps throughout your journey you will find new things to return your memories to you." He looked between the two before saying "Assuming that is, you will be accompanying this young lad on the journey he must take."

Morgan thought about it, before nodding, but there was a moment of realization as she looked at Lucian, asking the question he was no doubt asking himself. "Wait, where is everybody else? Did everyone get on that flying boat? Why is it only you here?"

-After giving Lucian a moment to respond to Morgan, Merlin answered his own question. "That's how it is, is it? Another world has fallen to darkness. Troubling news indeed... I am terribly sorry lad. I wish I could say something to give you some amount of comfort but, little is known about the fate of worlds that fall to darkness, only that those who are left behind, are typically never seen again. The King will certainly want to know of this... ah, tell me, what did you call your world? Or, what was your home's name as you would best know it?"

Once again he would let Lucian answer, before continuing with his answer. "Parents often raise their children up on pedestals, telling them they are greater than they can imagine, to instill in them a great confidence. Many a young girl are called Princess by their parents and treated like royalty in their younger years, though few actually hold the title. But for you, I feel they perhaps were a touch more, literal in their meaning." Stroking his beard, he gave it some thought, before he headed toward the door. "I remember a book given to me by the King, it may hold the answers you seek, if I can just remember where I left the blasted thing. It wouldn't be here in the shop, no no, far too rude to make it seem as though I would sell a gift such as that. And so it must be in my tower." Looking back, he added "Under normal circumstances, I would caution rest given your previous condition. But seeing as these are no normal circumstances, I believe you may 'walk it off' as they say! Come on then, the both of you. We will travel to my tower and there I should be able to find the book that can tell you what you need to know, if such information exists of course. Worry not, we will travel by magic, we'll be there before you can say Alaka- ah, no, best not do that again. Right, off we go!" he marched his way out the door and down the stairs, assuming the two would follow.

@Crimson Flame

---

Meanwhile, back in the tower that Taivas and Dotty had entered, a symbol on the floor had begun to glow after they entered. And when the bookcase was knocked over, much more started to happen, though they likely didn't notice as they dealt with their own... issues. It was only after Dotty questioned whether they should seek out the wizard now or later, that Taivas might notice a nearby statue had lit up, with glowing greenish gold lines all over it. There was a terrible sound of grinding stone, as its head turned to look at Taivas, before it stepped down from its pedestal, sword raised, and started to move toward the two.

Worse yet was, as they were focused on the lost puppy, the statue nearest them was far from the only threat, as at least half a dozen other statues had stepped down from their Pedestals, each with unique weapons and appearances, including names on the Pedestals, no doubt of the Knights they were statues of. They moved slowly, but were covered in magical runes that would absorb any magic used against them. Not to mention being made of stone meant they were quite sturdy to begin with.

@mattmanganon@Eviledd1984

@mattmanganon @Sadu

Taivas

Tavias looked annoyed at Dotty, who just picked up the puppy. He assumed it would try to bite her as soon as she tried to scoop it up. But was more surprised by her oddly sniffing the poor dog. Hiding a smile as Dotty was told to shut up about Poodlewolf, whatever that was. “Nice to meet you, Freckles. I’m Taivas.” He waved his hand before limply resting it on his side. He was in disbelief that he had just introduced himself to a dog. “Umm yeah, please don’t try and sniff that poor dog's butt. I bet you’re those dalmatian’s kids. Better take ya home before…” Of course he could see some statues coming alive before he could finish.

“Keep that dog safe, I’ll handle them.” Taivas smiled, summoning his keyblade. He summoned some shadowy arrows, firing them at the farthest statues. He ran towards the statues, and he raised his keyblade to try to take down the closest statue.

Dotty smiled as Taivas reached over to the puppy to introduce himself. "No, silly, i'm not one of Pongo and Perdita's kids, didn't you hear me? They're my grea-great-great-" As she continued the loud crunching and grinding of stone suddenly disrupted her train of thought. "Ummmm... Han?" She asked wondering what the sound was. She sniffed the air. "Doesn't smell good"

"A dark presence approaches. Quickly, put the mask on." Zen-Aku ordered.

"No, Han says to look after Uncle Freckles!" She sighed.

"Which you can do a lot more effectively if you put the mask on." He said. Although, from the looks of things, Taivas was strong enough to deal with them on his own for the moment. Probably better not to put the strain on Dotty making her transform so soon after the previous one. Plus, this might give the ghostly Org a better opportunity to study his form and function if he didn't also have to focus on keeping himself safe. "Alright, sit there and watch, but if one of those statues gets too close, put the mask on to protect him." Dotty sat down and watched the battle start to unfold. Freckles sat next to her and barked his adorable high pitched bark at them.

"Is that strange pet something like Thunderbolt?" Freckles asked her between barking "And that would make you Lil' Lightning." Dotty looked almost horrified at the drawn parallels.

"UNCLE FRECKLES, ARE YOU BLIND?! THAT'S CLEARLY HAN THE HANDSOME!!!"

"Well, obviously you aren't being that you're pets, but he does act a lot like ol' Thunder." The puppy responded.

"Uncle Freckles, how many times have i told you, nobody watches your old Black and White shows anymore!"

"Never, this is the first time we've met." Freckles responded.

"Wait, you don't remember me?!" A small tear rolled down her face. "But i was your favourite!" She then realized something. "Unless..." Zen-Aku watched the gears in her head grind together, before quickly hyper fixating on Taivas, to try and block out the inevitable reference to- "Episode 71! Twisted Terror of the Time Terrier! Like when Han doesn't recognize Poodlewolf because he goes back before they even met!" She looked up at Zen-Aku with a beaming smile "That's why Han doesn't recognize us! We went back in time! He always said he didn't want to say his name before he was Han, Taivus must be his REAL name!!! Dylon's gonna be so jealous that i know something he doesnt!" She laughed maniacally as if suddenly the deepest knowledges of the unknown universe had been made clear to her.

As shadowy arrows flew toward one of the statues, there was a light that glowed on its chest with a symbol of an arrow. However, before they connected, the statue blurred, and in a flash, switched places with another statue, this one having a symbol of a magical scepter on its chest. In fact, that was the very weapon it held in one hand, a large staff-like scepter. The statue now standing in the way of the attack raised its hand, as if to catch the arrows, absorbing the magic into its arm, before turning to Taivas to fire it right back at him.

The other statue that Taivas moved to attack directly had the symbol of a sword on its chest, and considering they seemed capable of swapping places, this one must ahve been content with its opponent, as it raised its sword to parry his keyblade, locking the blade with him, intent on holding him in place as his magic was deflected back at him by the other statue.

Not that Taivas could know, but he had chosen his opponents, as all the other statues stood and watched, as if prepared to step in only if necessary. But by attacking two of them, two had attacked him. Not that the one with the sword seemed particularly interested in waiting to be picked as a target, as it was the one initially moving in to attack on its own.

Slow though the statue was, it pushed back against him with incredible power, breaking the connection of their weapons to shove Taivas back, so that he slid away. It held its sword up, pointed at him as it took on a prepared stance, taking one step at a time toward him.

Just then... there was a flash of light from up the stairs, and voices that followed.

@mattmanganon @Sadu

Taivas

Tavias pushed his foot forward, trying to overtake the statue. But it was much more challenging than it looked. It was obvious to him these statues were under some powerful spell. “Tsk, bastard.” He cursed under his breath while applying more body weight to his attack. His hands and arms became quickly consumed by the shadowy mist that had appeared before. "If you guys can switch places to negate the damage, let’s see if you can survive a black hole.” Pushing away from the statue by kicking it. One hand was held high up in the air as the shadow was forming into a ball in his hand.

The ball was slowly becoming larger and larger. The light in the room started to dissipate and dim. The room was quickly filled with the sudden feeling of foreboding. But Tavias’ attack slowly disappeared when he noticed the light coming from above a flight of stairs. “What the hell is that?” He said softly, looking back at the statue. His ears tried to listen carefully to the voices that were speaking. Two males and one female were having a conversation. Tavias tried to focus on recognizing the voices, but he couldn’t remember them. “Follow me, Dotty; whoever controls these statues is up there. Maybe we can get them to deactivate these things.” He said, standing between the statues and Dotty. Looking back to make sure she was still holding onto the puppy. Tavias slowly started moving backwards towards the light. His keyblade was held in front of him in cause they tried to attack them.

Lucian looked down when Morgan asked where everyone else was. “I… don’t know,” he admitted quietly. “Zac got some of us onto his ship and we escaped, but… we couldn’t save everyone… Alias, Hoshi, and uh… well you? Stayed behind…” He swallowed, then quickly added “But they’re tough. I’m holding on to the hope that they’re out there, somewhere.”

When Merlin asked what world he came from, Lucian quickly responded with. “Destiny Islands. Up until today, it’s the only world I’ve ever known…” He rubbed the back of his head.

Lucian was hopeful when Merlin said he had a book that might have answers. And followed him down the stairs.

Dotty got up as she was told, holding Freckles with his paws on her shoulder, with her hand supporting his backside. "Absolutely!" She chirped with a stiffled giggled. "Taivas!" She continued to hold back the excited giggle as she said his name, thoroughly convinced that her insane theories were indisputable facts. She started running up the stairs towards the light, then running into the boy, the girl and the wizard. "YOU'RE THE WIZARD POODLEWOLF AND TAIVAS NEED TO TALK TO!!!" She yelled at the old man, accusatorily.

"Is that really a wizard?" Freckles asked, sheepishly. She then pulled him from her shoulder and held him up to look at Merlin, as if pointing a gun at him.

"Big pointy hat, long white beard, glasses, yup, definitely a wizard." She replied to the puppy. She then looked the other 2 up and down. "Hmmmm..."

"There's something bout teenagers with attitude that is getting under my skin..." Zen-Aku growled. "Be prepared to give me control." Dotty turned to the invisible spirit.

"Nah, it's a wizard, they're always helpful. So, what did you want to ask him?" She asked. Zen-Aku stood and thought for a second, so many questions, but now wasn't really the time.

"Ask him to help us with he monsters downstairs." He replied. She gave him the thumbs up.

"There are weird killer statues downstairs, Poodlewolf asks if you can help us?" She asked the wizard.

"Manners" Both Zen-Aku and Freckles replied at the same time.

"Mother says to always ask nicely and remember please and thank you." The puppy replied. Dotty rolled her head around her shoulders, clearly annoyed by being told off by the pair of them.

"Ok, Uncle Freckles." She then put Freckles down on the stairs and curtsied, holding her skirt wide as she bowed "Please?" She asked, politely this time.