Lucian stepped off of the ship, and onto the cobblestone streets of Traverse Town. He looked around in awe. This place was completely different from the Destiny Islands. It was beautiful, but at the same time, it felt lonely somehow.
Lucian’s first instinct was to run around and explore this new world, but he knew he had a job to do. Lucian hesitated for a moment, before turning to Zac. “Zac… Morgan said something before we left the island. She said I needed to protect something… something important. And she told me to find an old man with great knowledge. Do you know who she might’ve been talking about?”
Zac had just climbed down from the ship and was about to check for new damage when he heard Lucian speaking to him. He listened as Lucian asked him about an ‘old man with great knowledge’ and only one person popped into his mind. He scratched the back of his head and said, ”Well, I do know someone like that, sure. He’s a pretty powerful mage and he actually lives here in Traverse Town, but getting to him is a bit tricky.”
After a few moments, he glanced back at his ship, then turned to Lucian again. ”How important is this? I really wanna get Sigrid taken care of, but if you absolutely need to get to him as soon as possible, I suppose I can hold off on it.”
Lucian hesitated for a moment. He felt conflicted. They wouldn’t even be here without Zac and his ship. At the same time, Morgan’s words rang loud and clear in his mind. “It sounded really important…Morgan… she didn’t say much, but the way she looked at me, the way she said it—it felt like this wasn’t something I could put off…
Zac sighed and looked at his ship one last time before he turned back to Lucian. ”Alright,” he relented. ”I’ll take you to him so you don’t get lost. The way’s kinda dangerous, anyway, since the fastest way we can get there is through the Second District. Stay close to me and I can show you a thing or two about using a Keyblade.”
Lucian nodded, grateful for Zac’s willingness to help despite the state of his ship. “Thank you Zac. I really appreciate it.” His Keyblade appeared in his hand, right on cue. “And if you’ve got any tips on using this thing, I’ll take all the help I can get.”
Zac nodded with a smile and led Lucian away from the ship toward a narrow alleyway. ”We’ll cut through here to get straight to the Second District,” he explained as he summoned his own Keyblade and rested it on his shoulder. ”There’s a waterway there that’ll lead straight to where we gotta go. I’ve heard there’s another way through the Third District, but since this was the first I found, I haven’t bothered looking.”
Lucian nodded, and followed closely behind Zac, gripping his Keyblade tightly. He couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and nervousness. This was his first real journey outside of the islands, and here he was on a dangerous quest to look for answers.
“So…” Lucian began, trying to distract himself from the creeping tension. “This old man. Who is he? And… how do you know him?”
The alleyway up ahead turned to the right and Zac moved up to the wall. He peered around the corner for a moment to check for Heartless before rounding it. ”His name’s Merlin,” he said after a moment. ”He’s one of the most powerful spellcasters I know. He and a few friends I made here were the ones who told me about the Heartless and how to travel between worlds. Merlin is also the one who taught me my magic.”
He looked over his shoulder at Lucian and added with a grin, ”He’s a likable guy and easy to get along with. Word of warning, though: he takes magic very seriously and a good way to tick him off is to insult or question his skill. I made the mistake once and ended up having to dodge flying furniture.”
Lucian chuckled nervously at Zac’s warning, gripping his Keyblade a little tighter. “Noted. I’ll make sure to keep my opinions about magic to myself.” If this man was truly as powerful as Zac said he was, he would surely have the answers he was looking for.
Right on cue, a bunch of Heartless appeared from the shadows. These were different Heartless from the ones back on the islands. They were colorful little cone shaped creatures. Some were red, some were blue, and some were yellow. Lucian’s eyes went wide. “Looks like we got company.” Lucian fired ice magic, which hit a blue one. The blue one shrugged it off like it was nothing.
”Ice magic won’t work on the blue ones,” Zac said as he leapt forward and swung his Keyblade through a red Heartless. As it faded, a pink, heart-shaped light floating to the sky from where it was, he continued, ”Remember back when I mentioned Heartless come in all shapes and sizes? They’ve also got their own resistances, immunities, and weaknesses.”
Just as a yellow one fired a bolt of lightning at him, Zac cast Reflect around himself. The spell hit his barrier and sent it back at the yellow one, which continued to float there as if nothing happened. ”Lightning won’t work on yellow ones, fire won’t work on the red ones, and the blue ones aren’t bothered by ice. There are also green ones that heal other Heartless that are completely immune to all magic, but they can’t attack.”
Lucian nodded, taking in Zac’s explanation as he dodged a fireball from one of the red Heartless. “Good to know.” He swung his Keyblade, striking a yellow Heartless and sending it spinning before it dissolved into darkness. “I guess we stick to the basics.”
The red Heartless that had shot a fireball at him earlier lunged, and Lucian sidestepped, slashing through its side. It dissolved into darkness. He glanced back at Zac with a grin. “Alright, I think I’m starting to get the hang of this.”
Zac grinned as he swung his Keyblade through another Heartless. ”Good to hear it! Your Keyblade is your best defense against the Heartless, so you’re gonna wanna get as good with it as possible. Eventually, you’ll be able to do things like this with it.”
With that, he threw his Keyblade at a blue Heartless, spinning end over end as it flew through the air. It sliced through its target as Zac held his hand out toward it. Using his connection with his weapon, he guided it through the air, taking out the last Heartless before his weapon vanished and reappeared a moment later in his hand. ”Keyblades have all sorts of tricks to them. Even I haven’t found them all, yet,” he said as he rested his weapon on his shoulder once more. ”Keyblades are born of a strong heart. It only makes sense for them to grow alongside you. The stronger you get, the more you experience, the more you’ll be able to draw out of your Keyblade.”
Lucian watched Zac’s demonstration with wide eyes. “Wow! That’s amazing!” He looked down at his own Keyblade. “I hope one day I can get on your level!”
They made it through the alley, and soon arrived at a stone building. Above the door was a carved sign that read “Merlin’s Workshop,” though the hand-painted “CLOSED” sign hanging just below it caught Lucian’s attention. Lucian frowned, turning to Zac. “Closed? After all that, and he’s not even open?”
Zac glanced at the sign and chuckled. Turning on his heel, he began to walk away as he said, ”It should be fine, go ahead and try knocking, anyway. He’s almost always there and even if he isn’t, I’m pretty sure he’ll show up when you knock. I gotta get back to Sigrid and get her fixed up, so I’ll leave you here and wish you luck. Remember what I said and I’m sure you’ll be fine!”
He raised his hand in farewell as he turned a corner, leaving Lucian on his own.
Lucian waved back, then took a deep breath, and went opened the door.
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