Kingdom Hearts: Gate to Paradise

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The girl smirked form under her hood, weaving her large sleeves around to bring her hands up to her mouth in a dainty stance to mock Virie. " 'I'm what?' " The girl then scoffed and put a hand on her hip, pointing toward Virie. "Your world is going to get REALLY crazy, really fast, kid... For example."

Her hand dropped and the air surrounding her began to shift and bend like an army of something vicious was trying to claw and gnaw their way through some sort of elastic.

Kai took a step back, holding his hand out in front of Virie. "..Virie.. I don't have a good feeling about this. RUN!"
 
Virie stood there, almost paralyzed at the sight in front of her. She could make out little bits of things that obviously weren't there. In fact, she didn't even know what they were but every shred of common sense told her that her eyes were playing tricks on her and that there was nothing there. They were on a beach. On the Destiny Islands. Nothing happened here out of the ordinary. On the other hand, her gut told her that this was not safe at all. After a few long moments more than she should have stuck around, she grabbed Kai by the wrist and ran in the opposite direction. He might have all sorts of dreams about being a hero but right now, she had no intention of letting him be one.
 
As the two of them tore off at a run the creatures beyond the world tore through like a pack of wild wolves. Shadows twisted and surrounded her in a sea of beady yellow eyes and sharp claws razing the ground as they rushed out after Virie and Kai.

As Kai was pulled along he couldn't help but to look back as the beasts broke through. It was terrifyingly amazing, he wanted to understand how it could happen...or if any of this was a dream. Then the reality of things gripped him and a fear began to take hold. Virie was in trouble...and the whole town was in danger. He sped up to run along side her and began to think of just where the hell they could do.. what could they do against a horde of shadow monsters? They needed to run.. but where?

The beasts showed no mercy.. ripping through everything.... and everyone who got in their way. People screamed and ran for their lives, hiding in dumpsters, locking their doors and doing what they could to get out of the way of the creatures. Nothing helped, they tore through steel and doors as if they were sheet paper, and the people unfortunate enough to get in the way disappeared in their wake as if they were being swallowed hole.


On the beach the girl hopped slightly with joy before quite literally sidestepping out of sight and through thin air. "Fun fun!"
 
Virie's blood ran cold. They'd been just running for what seemed like forever. People were dying left and right, people she'd known her whole life, some she'd liked and some she didn't but when they were being torn limb from limb by shadow monsters, it didn't make a difference. They were as defenseless and afraid as she was. Soon, she found what oh so many others on the island had found. There wasn't a safe place to run. It was the Destiny Islands, a place where nothing bad happened... but also the place where there were almost no people who could fight and even fewer places made to be safe. About the safest place there was at hand was under some rocks but the shadow wolves sniffed them out in no time at all.

"I can't run anymore..." she wheezed. Her legs were about to give out. The wolves were still coming after them but there really was nowhere to run. Just running more meant that it'd take a little longer to get caught but it wouldn't change a thing.
 
"You have to!" Kai insisted, but after taking a look at her noticed she was just teetering on her last leg. Whatever her body hadn't already given up, her will certainly had. He could see it in her tired eyes. There was no hope.. she'd come to the same conclusion he had... They were on an island...there was nowhere safe to go. No where they could hide that the hounds wouldn't sniff them out.

Kai's eyes grew very serious all of a sudden, alight with determination. Virie was no athlete... He pulled her along as fast as he dared to keep her from stumbling and get a ltitle more distance between them and the wolves, then rounded a corner and ducked again, off the road and into an alleyway, pressing Virie's back against the wall and holding her close.

The wolves stampeded past the entrance to the alleyway and Kai made sure ot hide Virie from sight as best he could. If they caught them now... he'd be the one to go, a last chance for Virie to get somewhere safe. He wanted to tell her everything would be alright... wished he could give her a light in the darkness... but where was it? How could they hope to escape? Then he glanced to the side as a wolf stopped right at the mouth of the ally. But he didn't move to enter, and hardly seemed to notice them. Ears perked upon his head, and intelligent eyes searched, but it was as if there was a wall suddenly between them, and being the creatures next meal.

It snarled and growled, sniffing at the air with drooling fangs and a mark on it's back among tufts of ragged black fur. A dark symbol of a heart wrapped in thorns.
 
Virie stared at the ground as she was dragged along, legs more mechanically moving to keep her balanced than running. By the time they rounded the corner, she was just barely conscious, about to pass out on her feet. She could barely move but had more than enough sense to tell what was happening and she didn't like it. She wished and wished that she could survive but some thing did not have a price. They could not and would never have a price, even if it gave her a chance at survival. It'd be like sacrificing her heart and soul so she could go on with some pathetic shell of a life.

""You are not allowed... to play... hero," she huffed. Her breathing was heavy and the rest of her was about to collapse but she gripped Kai's wrist to make sure he stayed put. There was no way she was going to let him run out there and by the look in his eyes, she could tell he was considering it. One of the wolves came to the end of the alley and she fell silent, afraid that she'd been heard. Her breathing sounded louder than ever and her head pounded. There was no way in her mind that they couldn't be spotted. It was over.
 
Kai had considered it. If it meant Virie would have had a chance, he was more than willing to run headlong into the horde. Though he was held before he was allowed, and before he could even respond the eyes of the wolf was on them.

Then the unexpected happened, they began to fall.

All Kai could remember was there being a sudden bright flash of light between him and Virie, and then.. they were falling through the air. Bit it wasn't like any manner of falling one could... or should have been able to do. It was more like they were floating down through the asphalt as it parted beneath their feet and gave way to an endless darkness as the wolf, the alley, and the town all slowly began to fade above their heads.

Below them was a platform made entirely of stained glass that glowed with a light that rivaled the warmth and beauty of a setting sun. On it was the portrait of a beautiful woman in a blue and yellow dress with skin as fair as fresh snow, and hair as black as night, and the whisper of voices in the surrounding darkness as they grew nearer to the platform.
 
When they dropped through the floor, Virie thought for a second that she'd just died without noticing and that they were on to Heaven or whatever lay beyond life. Then she realized that she was still holding onto Kai and that this place seemed more like a dream than something real. It was breathtakingly beautiful yet odd. A stained glass floor seemed unnatural, beautiful as it was. Her legs gave out and she would have collapsed if it had done any good but they were already falling anyway, just really slowly.

"Do you hear those?" she asked Kai. There were countless voices all around, none of which she knew, tons of them but she could see no one. It was just the two of them in a strange place that at least should have made Kai happy. This kind of surreal vision was exactly the kind of thing he liked, the kind of place that he wished he could go to, the kind of place that she wasn't quite sure that they actually were in or not. If her free arm wasn't heavy as lead, she'd have pinched her cheek to make sure she was awake but she didn't. Throughout the drop, she didn't let up her grip on Kai's wrist. Whether this was real or not, she was not letting him run off and disappear without her. Besides, doing that helped ground her feet and make her feel a little more safe in the knowledge that she wasn't going insane. Maybe.
 
They touched down so lightly and carefully that Kai felt his legs bend out of instinct to re-adjust to the sense of gravity. He checked himself for a moment, then looked around to listen to the voices in the shadows.

"..Yeah.. I do!" He smirked, he loved this place.. so obscure and unnatural. A world with no way in but to fall from the sky, and no sigh of an end. Just a tranquil beauty rivaled only by the sense of peace and belonging he could feel in the pit of his soul. His hand gripped Virie's back when she seemed so afraid of losing him. Given how they'd gotten here in the first place, he wasn't opposed to the precaution. Who knew when they'd fall a second time.. but he hoped it wouldn't be soon.

Kai knew Virie's legs were about to give out, so supported her in his arms and took to examining their surroundings from where they stood. Then a voice came to them... though it hadn't really. No sound came to them, but as if in a dream where you recall being in a conversation, they knew words were being said without hearing a sound or seeing anyone there.

"...You seem tired....but don't worry. You'll be able to rest soon... "

 
When they touched down, Virie would have fallen if Kai wasn't still holding her up. Her legs still felt like jelly. Rest sounded really good right about now but at the same time, she didn't want it to be eternal. She didn't want to die. Even if she had to fight for it in her pathetic state, she wanted to live. No, she wanted them both to live. Even in a wondrous place like this, eternal rest was not so appealing that freedom would be given up for it.

"Who is it?" she asked in a slightly wary tone, "If you're out there, come out where we can see you."
 
No response came, not right away. It was an uneasy silence where even the voiced beyond them began to fade into the background. Like they were being analyzed. Kai didn't like it.. but at the same time he felt like they had no reason to fear. Like somehow this place was safe for them to be... at least more safe than the Destiny Islands were right now.

Taking a step forward, Kai was about to call the voice to come to them much like Virie had, but the floor shifted before their eyes. There was a crackling sound and the floor before his feet shifted upward. Stained glass breaking down and raising to about his chest before solidifying into a podium with a pillar of light coming out of it's top. Kai examined it, but did not understand. It all seemed so familiar... and yet...

"The journey ahead of you is a treacherous one.. Should you so choose to fight you will need to be properly equipped.. Reach into the light..Your heart will do the rest."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Kai asked stupidly, but crossed his arms over his chest and shut his eyes in thought. He then turned his attention to Virie and and took a deep breath before throwing his hand out into the light of the podium. He expected it to burn for some reason, and in a way...it did. It was a strange sort of burn...one that he could feel deep inside his chest.

"You... dreamer of worlds beyond your own... a brave heart that yearns for adventure and a strong will to overcome any obstacle.. Your Heart speaks for you.. and so chooses it's form."


Kai listened closely and tried to focus, but there was a sudden gust of wind that blew back his hair and enveloped his body. Blue sparks ignited a blistering inferno that covered his entire body and at first he yelled out in fear of burning; but the longer he stood there, the quicker he'd began to realize the fire wasn't hot at all, in fast, it was freezing cold. Whats more, there was something pressing up against his outreached hand.

Pulling back, the flames dispersed, and Kai nearly fell over with the sudden weight of a weapon falling into his hand. He stumbled for a moment, then found the weapon was incredibly light just as he recognized what it was. A sturdy staff made of a powerful oak and infused with some form of magic that he could feel radiating from it.

"A staff forged in the light of your heart..easy to wield and powerful. Capable of devastating your foes, but holds no edge to harm your allies. "
 
Virie just stared at the stained glass as it broke and reformed into something else. This was ridiculous in more than a few ways but before she could give that any more thought, Kai had already stuck his hand into the light. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Was he so eager to be a hero that he was acting without thinking? They didn't even have a clue who this voice was. It wasn't like they could really expect a bunch of answers but any answer would have been good before blindly obeying. That was about when he screamed. Hauling herself to her feet, she grabbed his other arm with both hands and yanked. Screaming was not good. Unfortunately, she stumbled and was shoulder deep in the light before she had any idea what was happening. However, instead of getting burnt down, the light was gone as soon as it had come.

"Oof..." she groaned, landed face flat into where the podium had once been. In Kai's hands was an oak staff that she'd have pegged to be fit for some kind of magician. In front of her lay a keychain with a key on it about as long as her finger. Peachy. This place was making less sense by the minute but she was too tired to go demand answers from the strange voice.
 
Kai didn't have time to admire the staff as he rushed to Virie's side and took a knee. It hadn't made any sense.. perhaps her way of thinking wasn't too far off without him even knowing what she really WAS thinking? If he had to guess... she'd be thinking him an idiot for blindly throwing his hand into the light. For now knowing if it would take his hand or even worse...his life in the process.

By all rights and purposes she would have been completely right too. How DID he know what would happen? He was so carefree that what if his approach of "act first and ask questions later" ended up getting them in worse trouble than the shadow wolves?

Kai closed his eyes. Virie was tired... he could see the exhaustion in her eyes and sense the weariness in each haggard breath she took while laying there. And yet she'd been so fast to yank him free of the light when he called out. He was an idiot...perhaps too wrapped up and carried away by his curiosity that he forgot all reason. He patted her on the back, and at the very least, got her seated upright before reaching out to take up the Key, dangling it from the keychain.

"..This heart is uncertain... So full of fear and questions.. yet fosters a love and compassion for others that knows no equal. Your weapon will be the greatest of all...Should you learn to wield it.."
 
Virie felt Kai sit her up against something and wearily looked around, even more unsure of things than she'd been before if that was possible. The voice was not helping as it was almost mocking her. It obviously knew she had questions but didn't plan on answering any of them, content to give her bits and pieces in riddles. Learn to wield this thing, this key? Sure. Right on, voice. She could totally run up and stab that wolf in the nose with it and hopefully give it a nosebleed except that it'd still eat them after tearing out their throats. Greatest weapon of all? Who was it kidding? It was a teensy, tiny key ornament in the hands of the most painfully average girl on the Destiny islands. There was nothing that seemed so great about it, about as great as she was. At least Kai had come out in one piece and had even gotten something that he could actually fight with. But what she feared most was being forced to sit in the back. She had no way to help herself so ultimately, Kai would end up going out to the front to fight for her and she'd be powerless to help, only a target for him to have to defend. Even a shield would have been more suiting.

"Some greatest weapon, huh?" she joked, slipping over onto her side in exhaustion. By fantasy law, they'd probably be right next to the shadow wolf again soon and that thought scared her to no end. She'd seen those things rip limbs off of people and eat them alive. The thought made her stomach turn. Honestly, even if they killed the wolf, then what? If the wolf died, more would come and even if they all just left, they would be left in the middle of a burning graveyard. She hugged her knees, trembling and felt the key in her hand though she hadn't actually picked it up.
 
Kai frowned when looking over to Virie and seeing her lay down to rest. Soon he was joining her, laying down on his back like he did in the grass on the hill, arms crossed behind his head as he could feel the concerned thoughts just pouring off of her.

He then held the key up to the light and smiled faintly. "Well.. it IS sorta cool looking. But it's not a sort of key people keep around anymore. It's like one of those old keys you imagine for fairy tales and see in childrens books or something." He thought out loud, and held it between his thumb and index finger. Then he blinked when the key disappeared in a flash of light and appeared in Viries hand. He then chuckled. "...Whatever it's for.. It want's you to be it's holder."

Kai then focused on Virie who looked on the verge of breaking down, curled up into a ball to keep from getting sick all over the floor. He frowned.. this wasn't what he wanted..he'd wished for adventure.. but why did Virie and the islands have to be caught in the crossfire. He reached out a hand to rest it on her head. A comforting weight being placed on her beautiful white hair as he looked her in the face. "...I won't play hero, but I will play guardian. I'll never let anything bad happen to you, and even if I don't really understand what's going on.. I'm sure we'll figure this out Virie, and we'll do it together. No matter what, I'll never leave you alone, and you'll never BE alone." He said with a reassuring smile.
 
"Well don't I feel special?" Virie joked. The key had definitely taken a liking to her even though she hadn't any idea what she was supposed to do with it. It seemed old and worn, kind of lik one that was to be used for an old treasure chest but what was it doing here? Treasure didn't really mean much to her at all right now. What good was it when everyone except Kai was dead and the islands overrun with monsters from who knew where without a hero to save it when it needed one the most? She felt Kai reassure her, making a promise of countless things but mostly one to not be so reckless while protecting her from whatever was thrown their way. She had nothing she could say to him. The knot stuck in her throat would not even allow a word of thanks for fear it'd become his license to take that promise to the grave. Tears welled up in her eyes and the voice came back again, saying something she didn't quite catch but she got the idea of it all too quickly. Her tears dropped not on the glass but on the cold, hard ground of the alleyway. A howl sounded, telling her that they were back on the Destiny Islands. Though she knew that it couldn't really be avoided, it seemed that fate had seen it fit to watch and see if he would make good on that promise while leaving her on the sidelines, able to do little more than watch. She dragged herself to her knees, clutching the key, praying for it to turn into something she could use even with that weak body of hers but it didn't seem to want to listen, being about as silent in return to her as any key should be.
 
Kai looked around them as they were suddenly back in the alleyway, and he was on his feet at the first sign of the howls. They were back home...or at least what was left of it.. and the Wolves knew it. The skies of the destiny islands that were once so clear and pure held nothing but contempt with stormy black clouds looking ready to burst as a light drizzle had already left the air muggy and everything around them damp.

Then came the low growl of something from behind him and Kai's blood went cold. He wanted to run... but thought better of it. Where would they run? How long before they'd need to catch breath? The wolves didn't tire... they weren't normal wolves. He didn't know WHAT they were, but whatever it was it wasn't anything of this world and there'd be no escaping them.

The wolf took a step into the alley then, whatever it was that kept it back before was no longer there and it could see them as plain as day. With a snarl and sudden lunge, the wolf was barreling up the alleyway toward them, fangs bared and howl sounding to call it's kin.

Kai didn't know how, but his staff was suddenly in his hand in a brilliant flash of light. As the wolf approached, Kai charged as well, raising his voice to a howl of his own to steel his nerves. Something inside him echoed, like a whisper and his senses heightened as the wolf lunged at him and missed when Kai strafed quickly to the side. His eyes intensified, training on his target when bringing his staff up and down with a loud CRACK! over the side of the beasts head slamming it nose first into the ground with a blazing blue impact the left the wolf completely encased in ice.
 
Virie gasped as the Kai hammered the wolf on the head and it skid to a stop in front of her, frozen solid. She reached out and touched it with her hand ever so lightly but the ice still shattered, beast and all. It was an amazing sight, not one she wished she'd have to see again but she knew she'd have to if they were to stay alive. Dragging herself to her feet sakily, she looked around and confirmed exactly what she already knew. More shadow wolves had gathered around the alley, even from the other direction and from the ground, highlighting just how unnatural they were.

"Kai..." she called back behind her. She counted at least ten of these... things around and was sure there were more too around the island. Turning around to look, she could tell how ridiculous it would be to try to pull this off with Kai doubling back to help her constantly. The key from before flickered with a small but bright light and she again willed it to become something more than just the little bronze colored key that it was to no avail. Growling, the first wolf closed in and then the second and a third. Without anything better to do, Virie hurled herself off to the side, against the wall, at least out of the way of the first set of jaws but that couldn't continue forever. There were far more wolves than just those and wolves hunted in packs.
 
Kai looked at the end of his staff for a moment in disbelief, then as they were surrounded at either and of the alley he found himself taking in a deep breath. "...You've got to be kidding me."

Wolves fell on his side with the brutal swings of his staff. Blue fire licking through the air and engulfing each on comer to freeze then shatter as more came in. Each step he took was careful given the small space and his longer weapon, resorting so almost a dance of blue fire that he grew more adept at using with each wolf felled by it.

When Virie called his name, Kai's eyes snapped back to see the wolf that had missed her and ducked low to the ground to let the beast pass over his head and crash into it's pack mates. Then Kai ran to the side Virie was on, lunging into the air and slamming his staff down with his one hand. Trying with all he had in him to make something stronger. In his mind all he could think of was "WALL!" but it didn't come. That would have been too convenient, but what did happen was almost just as so.

The blue flames howled and roared from the base of his staff in a mighty explosion that could be seen nearly anywhere in town. Virie was left unscathed, but the entire pack of wolves were fused to the ground, not frozen like the concentrated strikes, but covered in a sheet of ice that hell them still like horrid statues.

"...Close... enough." Kai gasped, breaking into a sweat and falling to his knees, staff falling from his hands.

From the rooftop she watched, the sleeves of her robes clapping together for Kai's Valiant effort. "Well done! Well done! Tehehe!" she giggled. "The valiant hero saves the day! but at what cost, at what cost?" She hopped slightly.
 
Virie watched Kai in awe. For being someone who had never had any kind of hero training, he did it pretty well or at least made it look good, then proceeded to shoot something that she thought was going to level the block for a second but it hadn't. Instead, it had somehow selectively frozen all the wolves under a sheet of ice. As soon as he went down, she hurried over and placed a hand on his back to see if he was okay.

"That was amazing," she said, still trying to digest all of it. At the sound of clapping, she turned her head up to a familiar face. It had been the same robed woman that had released them. As much as Virie hated to admit it, despite the fact that he'd saved the two of them, it seemed like nothing but a dead end for them in more ways than one. For starters, everyone else on the Destiny Islands was probably dead and then that woman was still there, looking like summoning all those wolves had just been a little warmup, a parlor trick.

"Who are you?" she asked warily, bringing herself to her feet and placing herself between the woman and Kai like it was supposed to make a difference. Her legs were shaking, still as close to giving out as they had been before and it must have been obvious to all of them.
 
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