Sadu

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

I will say, I was expecting a bigger reaction out of Merlin for Zen-Aku's transformation, being that he canonically hates Black Magic.

@mattmanganon

I take that as him talking about 'dark magic' like witchcraft/cultist stuff in the movie. But with Kingdom Hearts being a merge between Disney and Final Fantasy, in this case Black Magic has a different meaning, that it is just a school of magic. So when this version of Merlin says he'd never touch 'Black Magic', he means that school of magic which he finds far too dangerous and destructive since that's the only purpose Black Magic really serves is to destroy.

Morgan herself uses Black Magic. (Elements such as Ice, Fire, and Lightning fall under Black Magic)

But overall in general, I'm just playing him as the kinda guy who isn't going to judge people for what methods they use when it comes to magic, as long as he's not hurting anyone as far as Merlin can tell. And as long as he's not doing necromancy or something right in front of him, or sacrificing people. So even if someone is using darker magic, he puts more weight in their attitude and how much respect they show.

After all, he was still nice to the supposedly 'evil witch' even after she tried to kill him. Well, nicer than she wanted him to be.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

@Crimson Flame

The book Merlin gave him basically just gives details on what a heart really is, a lot of information on the light and its connection to hearts, and most importantly somewhere in there talks about Princesses/Princes of Light.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Listening to each person one at a time, he chose to answer Zen-Aku first, as he was the one Merlin understood best. "Oh there is nothing to apologize for, I understand having to hear it all nonstop could be quite stressful. But the youthful very rarely understand the powers they are gifted with. Why, Morgan there used to be much the same, thinking magic was something for trickery and fun. Perhaps my own fault, why I was just saying to young Lucian here a short while ago that my own magic is a bit, unique, and doesn't often give the best impression of the incredible power magic can be." And after he gave his idea on the statues, Merlin simply said "Quite right you are. These statues were created in the image of the greatest Knights of the Court of Camelot, known as the Knights of the Round Table. They may just be statues, but they hold some portion of the personalities the original Knights had. So it is only natural they kneel to their Princess. And not just her." He looked to Lucian as he said "They show respect to you as well my boy. Royalty is Royalty after all."

Morgan wasn't sure how to respond to the whole thing, a bit awkward as she had no memories of being any sort of royalty, and here a bunch of statues were kneeling to her. She made an awkward gesture as her face was turning red, and fortunately the statues understood it to mean their 'performance' was unnecessary, and so, all the statues stood again, and took their places as actual statues again. That except for one, the one with the sword that still kept its head turned as if watching them. With a long sigh of relief that it was over, she let the others talk as she walked around, inspecting each of the statues one at a time. She figured she should have some familiarity with each of them, and as she read off their names, she felt, something at least. It was almost like she could pick out a single trait that, at least in her mind, defined each of the names she saw. There was Sir Bedivere, which Morgan associated with loyalty. Sir Galahad, which she imagined as entirely pure. Sir Gawain... who she got some sort of an overly serious feeling from. She passed by other statues one by one, until she reached the one with the sword, that had been watching her the entire time. She read the statue's Pedestal, 'Sir Lancelot', and a whole wave of feelings she didn't understand washed over her.

Merlin of course was being absolutely ACCOSTED with questions... which was actually normal for him. He motioned for Zek-Aku to stand, as he said "Yes yes, everybody needs the help of the Wizard. Let's take things one step at a time here. First I promised aid to the young Prince there." He watched as the shelf was put back in place, and the books were being returned to it, motioning for Taivas to hand him one of them as he picked it up. "This should be the one I'm looking for." He dusted it off, and handed it to Lucian. "This book was gifted to me by King Mickey. Most just call him 'The King' but it's a silly title, there are many Kings here and there." The book was titled 'Of Hearts and Light', and wasn't the heaviest of books. "That should explain many of the questions you have, but as for anything about your own origins, I'm afraid I cannot say. I am sure you will learn much about yourself on the journey ahead of you. What you need to know, is that no matter what you learn about yourself, you are still you. Finding out you are a Prince doesn't change who you are. In the grand scheme of things, important, not important, it doesn't matter. Who you are is something you yourself decide, so long as you stay true to your heart."

Once that was said and done, he turned to Taivas next, as he opened the locket and adjusted his glasses before nodding. "Why yes, I have seen them, where was it, let me think..." He had a moment to think before he let out a short "Aha." Closing the locket and handing it back to Taivas. "A curious duo, I can't recall every detail of our meeting, but I do recall they took interest in the mention of a world of Heroes and Gods, and set off to a place called Olympus. I'm afraid beyond that, I couldn't say what they did or what became of them. The path to Olympus has been shrouded for some time now. If you are to go searching for them, you may find yourself having to visit other worlds in the meantime to open the path."

Then finally, he turned back to Zen-Aku. "And now for you, tell me of these, many questions you have. I will do what I can to help, but just know I don't have all the answers in the universe."

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

@Eviledd1984

What if any information do you want Merlin to have for Taivas?

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

I'm here, but at what cost.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Would making Star Wars a musical make it more Disney-Like and therefor more accessible from a Kingdom Hearts PoV?

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Merlin lead Morgan and Lucian into what looked like a broom closet. He motioned them both inside, before squeezing in himself, and then he said a few words even Morgan didn't understand, and there was a flash of light, and the door flung itself open. Merlin stepped out, and they were now in a completely different place! In fact it was rather dark, and so with a wave of his wand, torches lit up down the hall, and toward the stairs.

"Come come, this way... I'm sure the book should be downstairs somewhere, guarded, by..." He heard quite a bit more noise than he expected from his own home, considering nobody else was supposed to be here. "What in the blazes... did I leave the door unlocked again? Confound it I need to put an automatic lock on that thing." He went marching down the stairs to see what all the fuss was about, when he nearly jumped out of his own skin as someone came running right back up at him. He raised a wand, ready to turn them into... a weasel, was the first thing that came to mind. However, he saw someone behind them as well, and as soon as Taivas came into view, holding a Keyblade, Merlin's eyes went wide.

"Oh my, quite the eventful day isn't it. Here I was about to turn you into something quite strange and send you on your way to start a new life in the wilderness." He gave a hearty laugh, before he reached out, giving the puppy, and then Dotty a pat on the head. "Alright, let's go fix this little misunderstanding. But I trust you will know better in the future than to waltz right into a Wizard's home uninvited."

Walking down the stairs, he raised his wand, and said "Alright everybody, very well done, but it's just a misunderstanding. Back to your pedestals." And with that, the statues paused for a moment, before turning to their pedestals and walking back to them, taking on the poses they had first been in when Taivas and Dotty first entered, although... the one that had given Taivas the most trouble, the one with the sword, seemed to keep its head turned toward the group for some reason.

"There we are, now, what brings the two, three, er, however many of you to my home?" Merlin said, though before they could answer, he said "Ah right, the book." and wandered off to the bookshelf that had been toppled over. "What a mess, would you mind assisting me?" Sure he could have fixed it with magic... but Taivas had to fix his mistake himself.

About that time, Morgan came down the stairs, and she was about to say something to Taivas, happy to see someone else who had survived the island. But before she could say anything, in an instant, every statue in the room dropped down onto a knee, bowing their heads toward her... just a little dramatic.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

I'll go ahead and throw out that there's a potential turning point in the 'Organization XIII' storyline we'll do after KH1 for loyalties to be mixed up as far as Nobodies go and all that.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

No intention of this fight lasting too long, figure one more post and Merlin will stop it.

@Eviledd1984

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

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.