Kingdom Hearts: Gate to Paradise

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The man smirked and shook his head. "As of right now, You can't."

Kai growled at that, annoyed.

The man raised his gloved hands, sensing the boys annoyance. "I said as of right now. I honestly wouldn't begin to understand why it's not taken it's full form. The only other keyblade I've seen was full size and powerful beyond measure, so my only suggestion is that you take some time to figure it out by yourself somehow... Though jamming it into the mouth of heartless may destroy them.. there are some that come in forms you may not want to get so close to." Leon lowered his hands to look at his watch, then rubbed his head and pulled out a cell phone. "Tell you what, I'm hungry and you guys have a lot to digest mentally before all of this sinks in. I'm sure you have loads of questions.. and I'll do what i can to answer them, but you really sure get some food and rest before you start down this path."

Kai stepped forward, a bit at a loss. "...Well..you see.. we don't really have anywhere to --"

"Don't sweat it, I've got a good rapport with the keeper at the hotel. I'll give him a call and you two can stay there for a while. I'd give you the grand tour, but there's someone I need to call and fill in on the details of your..." And the man paused at this, eyeing viries key before he shook his head and sighed. "...Situation."
 
Virie would have deflated if she hadn't already. It seemed that she wasn't going to get a simple "You twist this knob and it turns into the weapon of awesome its supposed to be" kind of answer that she hadn't been expecting but was still hoping for. Oh well. It wasn't like she ever got a break that easy.

"I think I already figured out that sticking the key into their mouths isn't the safest thing," she said, holding up her right arm which had several gouges in it from the teeth of that armored one. It hurt like heck but right now there was a guy in front of her with some answers and that meant a whole lot. She gave him a nod, though. They might have a lot to digest mentally but she'd already collapsed twice today so she was pretty sure she should get around to digesting something else too. Besides, she had every intention of bombarding him as soon as they got to sit down and her stomach got something to fill itself.
 
In a few minutes the man had led them down the steps and through the main markets of the 1st district to a quaint little diner/cafe not too far from another pair of doors that towered high over any normal sized person and seemed large enough to fit a house through. The doors weren't explained, but it was almost instinctively understood that those were the doors leading somewhere.. new.

The man called over a pretty young thing in a green dress and white blouse and with a quick but respectful request they were brought a meal for three consisting mainly of hot sandwiches and fries, as well as some large mugs of hot chocolate. After placing the plates, the woman then pulled out a small green vial of green liquid and placed it on the table beside virie's plate as well as a small roll of bandages.

"You should wrap that up soon before it gets too much worse. Drink this with your cocoa -- and trust me you're gonna want the sweet taste -- and your injuries should heal up pretty quick." The girl said with genuine concern in her dark green eyes. "Keep them wrapped up for the night just to be safe though. It's not an instant heal like some video game or something." she said with a slight giggle, before bowing to the table. "Anything else for you guys tonight?"

Kai raised his hand. "do you guys have any sweets?"

"Chocolate Cake sound good?"

Kai grinned form ear to ear. "That'll .. that'll be perfect."

The girl grinned. "Anything else? How about you, miss?"
 
Virie would have bothered admiring the city if her arm wasn't stinging in pain and if she didn't have 1500 other problems on her mind, her lack of food being one of the many. After sitting down, they were greeted with the wonderful thing called hot food. Right after that, she was given some strange vial and bandages which were also welcome. Thanking the waitress, she downed the vial of green stuff. It was bitter, extremely bitter. Whoever had said that medicines were bitter because bitter things were good for you wasn't kidding. Instantly, she downed the hot cocoa, taking all of 3 seconds to accomplish it. Sure, it burned her mouth but it was better than nothing. The bitter taste lingered but wasn't nearly as bad as before.

"Sure. I'll have some more cocoa," she said, putting on pained smile. The waitress gave and understanding nod. Virie went back to her other two issues, first dragging one of the sandwiches over and took a bite out of it. Food in her stomach felt good again. There were people that worked up appetites and then there were those who weren't heroes and burned enough energy to massively overkill monsters. She proceeded to rip off most of her sleeve a few bites later. Honestly, the holes in it made having it at all pretty pointless. Then she got to work, bandaging it up with her off hand.

"So this lady in white showed up on our island, set a bunch of shadow wolves on us, probably killing everyone else there, then split the sky, made a thunderstorm, and brought over this big black thing that sucked everything up," she said, turning her attention back to the guy who had been helping them which she realized had also never given his name, "I'm Virie and this is Kai."
 
Kai wasted no time in pulling a sandwich for himself, and as he was taking the first bite he was caught off guard by Virie downing the piping hot cup of cocoa in record time. Whatever that stuff was.. he hoped he'd never need anything like it anytime soon. He chewed his food and when the girl returned with his cake and Virie's second cocoa, he set it casually to the side and washed his mouthful down with some cocoa.

The girl then smiled to them with a friendly "Enjoy your meal, call if you need anything" then went on to serve the others in attendance.

The man listened to Virie explain their situation, and almost immediately sensed the bombardment of questions about to go under-way. He was tempted to crack a smile at her straight-forwardness with the information, a blitz tactic that left the kind of topic that only a heartless sort of man would be able to shrug off without explanation. She was either someone who didn't realize her potential to get what she wanted from who she wanted.. or "Kai" had no idea what he was in for should he choose to date her. Either way, introductions were started, and The man sat back in his chair and nodded. "Well pleasure meeting you Virie and Kai, My friends call me Leon."

He then sat forward, resting his elbows on the tabletop. "And as for what happened to your island, I'm really sorry.. no one should have to see what you've seen..." Leon said with downcast eyes, thinking back on his own past for only a moment before something caught his attention. Something new in the equation. "...A lady in white? I've heard of large heartless splitting the sky to swallow up worlds... but I've yet to hear about any girls in white."

Kai arched a brow, "I thought you knew all about this kind of stuff? What happened?"

"I know about the Heartless and the Keyblade. I never said I knew 'all about' anything." Leon corrected, then focused on the two intently. What had they seen...? WHO had they seen? What was with the person in white? Someone the king would know about probably... "And your lady in white is the first I've heard about."
 
So Leon hadn't been aware of the lady in white. He had seemed like a pretty knowledgeable guy so she'd figured that he'd have known about her too but apparently not. The loss of the islands had hit her hard but there were several things she wanted to ask first before cementing any feelings. Well, better get started.

"What happens to a place that gets sucked up into the black thing in the sky? What happens after it gets sucked up, leaving a hole in the ocean? Can it come back? What happens to everyone who was on it? What are those shadow monster things? What happens to people who get killed by them? What kind of person could actually summon those things and control them? How did I get chosen to have this keyblade minus the blade? What is a keyblade in the first place? If the place that makes keyblades makes keyblades, what is Kai's staff? Who would know how to make my key grow into something bigger than a toothpick? How is it that you can shoot fire and stuff?"

There was a brief pause for a deep breath and some attention to the sandwich. Then it was back on with some more.

"Who's the other person who had one of these keys? Where are they now? What good is a keyblade if you could beat me up with a wooden stick? How did I get thrown somewhere else in the world? ... And what was the point of sucking up the islands?"
 
The barrage of questions had caught Kai off guard, but as most of the questions asked was on his mind too, he chose not to interrupt her and instead looked to Leon for answers. Poor Leon was left with his mouth hanging open and a quirk to his brow while looking at the white haired girl driven by pent up frustration, hurt, and a clear need for some answers as to why her world was turned upside down the way it must have been.

"Whoa now.. one question at a time." He took in a deep breath, then calmly looked between the two before shutting his eyes. "..I can't answer all of your questions. Why your Keyblade is the way it is and why you were chosen specifically can go to any number of factors. We don't know why the keyblade chooses who it chooses, but we've come to understand it chooses those with incredibly strong hearts.. "

"I remember you saying something about that at the door." Kai chimed in, curious. "You said it was the strongest weapon of light that can fight the darkness, right? So it must choose people who are pure of heart or something.. right?"

"Not true." Leon said with a sad look in his eyes. "The Keyblade chooses who it chooses without discrimination. It only seeks a strong heart as it's wielder, but that wielder can be either good or evil of intention, and that will reflect in their keyblade." Leon then looked up. "A keyblade can bring about salvation or ultimate destruction to everything we know at the whim of the user. All we can do his hope Virie here doesn't choose to use her powers for evil... when she uncovers them."

Kai looked to Virie, then shook his head. "Virie doesn't have an evil bone in her body."

"Grief over lost loved ones, and the need for revenge can twist a heart in terible ways, Kai. Don't forget that." Leon added, before moving to the next question. "speaking of weapons, I'm not sure WHAT it is that gave Kai his staff, but it is clear that it's a weapon infused with his essence just like a Keyblade would be and channels his lifeforce through it in the form of blue flames that freeze instead of burn. It seems to pack quite a punch too, but until he learns how to control it, all he's doing is wasting power and shortening his life in the process." Leon explained. "That's what allows me to use fire, and why you probably could too, Virie, with the right teaching."

Kai looked confused somehow, and gave a stupid sort of smile. "...What?"

"Magic is made possible by channeling your life-force -- heart, magic energy, soul or whatever you'd like to call it -- and manifesting it into the real world through a form of projection. Most people can only use one element. For example I can only use Fire. This is the only form my life force can take, but through control and focus I can increase the intensity of my fire by using more energy, but just like overworking your body, your magic energy can be overworked and you'll really be in rough shape, which I'm sure the both of you already know."

Then Leon looked toward Virie. "Lucky for you, the Keyblade allows it's wielder to have more than one element, though the one native to your heart will always be strongest."
 
Virie picked up on several things really quick. Leon had opted to answer her questions out of order, skipping what she'd wanted to know the most and instead talking about the keyblade. That meant one of two things. Either he didn't know what the answers were or he did and just didn't want to lead off with it which meant that all or most of them were probably answers that would wrench her heart. The train just kept on rolling as the conversation shifted towards the fact that a pure heart was completely unnecessary and that grief and revenge could twist her, leading her straight towards the worst conclusions possible. It meant that he was priming her before telling her all the bad news. She put what was left of her sandwich down, ready to steel herself for what was coming. Or at least she had made herself ready. The matter of Kai shortening his life made her take a couple steps back mentally and turn her attention to it but unfortunately, it seemed that there was nothing to be done about it. It was just how it was and the only way she could help would be to never allow him into situations that would force him to burn himself out. Like that was ever going to happen. Staring down at her food, she stayed silent and waited for the rest of the bad news to roll in. Little things like being able to use all types of magic seemed pretty inconsequential.
 
Leon seemed to have fooled Kai into not noticing he hadn't answered the question, but it appeared his female counterpart was a bit more intuitive by her nature and the way she seemed to steel herself for the news was almost worthy of admiration. It wasn't as if she were some 12 year old kid who could be be easily fooled and manipulated, what sat before him instead as a young woman, a bit wet behind the ears, and full of flaws, but beyond that was ready to face the truth with an almost cynical realism.

The man watched her as she watched him, then he lowered his sandwich and shut his eyes for a moment as if thinking for the words he needed to explain it. "The world you call home has been erased.. Twisted and torn apart by the darkness. I'm not sure what your lady in white did to gain that sort of power, but what you described sounds exactly like a Void of Darkness, think of it like a black hole. Everything gets sucked in, and where they go, no one really knows. The only people who come out the other side are people like you and me who have strong hearts to shield them from the effects."

Kai sat silently as the reality set in, his eyes looking down into his cake with a sudden loss of appetite and a churning in the pit of his stomach. His mom..dad.. and even his cat Marcuis..all gone? Even if they'd somehow managed to survive the wolves... they were "erased" just like that. Another reality then began to settle in.. he hadn't even wondered about them until just now.. he'd been so high on having an adventure and keeping Virie safe wile throwing around frozen flames that the thought of his own world having been sucked into a black hole hadn't crossed his mind a second time.

To him it was as if this new town was his home already and he'd almost forgotten where he came from. This scared Kai, but he calmed his mind to listen on.

"The wolves you speak of are probably a new form of heartless, and if that's the case, the hearts of the people slain may still be lingering around in the darkness. And hopefully.. they will be restored, along with your home when you unlock the door to Kingdom Hearts." Leon finished.
 
Virie's blood ran cold as the worst case turned up to be true for almost everything she'd asked. Basically what it meant was that everything was erased and everyone with it. It was unlikely that any had survived. What was almost worse was the fact that the one shard of hope to cling to only applied to those who had been slain by the wolves, almost as though those who had been killed had been lucky. A knot formed in her heart.

"What is Kingdom Hearts?" she asked. If it was a way to possibly bring them back, or at least almost everyone, she'd do it but she hadn't a clue where to begin. But even then, she had to remind herself that it wasn't a guarantee. Glancing over at Kai, she hugged him, seeing that he had just now come to feel the gravity of what had happened. It hurt her just as much but when there was still a chance to fix it all, there was no way she could sit still and mope.
 
Kai closed his eyes when she hugged him, forcing the kind of smile only a true friend could see through. The kind of smile that told you there was a deep sorrow clawing under that "pleasant" facade. Kai wasn't one to share his feelings, nor was he the type to let anyone in when he felt down. Though running off the sleep on the hill, or lay silently there with Virie by the side to look into the blue skies of their home were now a thing of the past. There was no where for him to run, so the truth of the matter was, like her, he had no real choice but to trudge forward.

"Kingdom Hearts can be best explained as the heart of all worlds. In that it supplies the universe with life and the hearts to govern them. Because it's such a great source of power, it has always been guarded and cleverly hidden from those who would seek to use it's power for evil." Leon explained.

"That's why there's the Keyblade, right?" Kai added as an afterthought, and Leon nodded.

"That's right, the Keyblade is directly connected to kingdom hearts and one of the only thing capable of opening the doors the keep it locked away. Of course, half the battle will be to hunt it down in the first place. But if you are able to find it, when you open it, the power of kingdom hearts will grant you the wish of your hearts desire. Like, restoring the worlds swallowed by darkness, including your home." Leon stated, then frowned. "But if someone evil were to get there first..they could use that power to claim victory over good, and well.. I don't need to tell you what that means for the people still around by then."
 
"Then the keyblades are pointless. If they didn't exist, it'd still supply the worlds but it wouldn't be able to be accessed and used for evil. The way it is, it just allows people who want it as a weapon to use it as one and all it does for anyone else is let them bandaid bad things," Virie groaned. Sure, it would let them fix things but without it, the islands wouldn't have been destroyed in the first place. The idea of being able to grant any wish was scary. It was like being a god, some divine being. It would be too easy to get absorbed in that and do things without even realizing the consequences. Her stomach growled again, sending her back to the sandwiches and fries but the food just didn't taste so good with such sobering news still on her tongue. The way she understood it, these keyblades were still important but still had no idea what to do with it.

"What should I do with this thing?" she asked. The shadow things called the heartless were a problem, sure, but they were also mostly just acting like wild beasts drawn to a good meal. She got the idea that running off into the second and third districts, killing them wouldn't do much or help anybody.
 
"Now hold on a second." Kai said, understand where Virie was coming from, but thinking it over a bit more. "If we destroy the keyblade.. Wouldn't that mean no one could get into Kingdom Hearts? We'd be able to prevent this from happening to anyone else in the future since it's the only thing ---"

"--ONE of the only things." Leon corrected, raising a finger. "If there was no keyblade, the worlds would still be destroyed, but we wouldn't have a way to stop that destruction. The keyblade was created to fight darkness.. now what do you think would happen without such a weapon? The keyblade can open Kingdom Hearts, but so can Darkness if someone were to grow powerful enough to do so. And left unchecked, it'd only be a matter of time before we're all enslaved or destroyed at that beings whim."

"That girl in white.. " Kai thought, then remembered how she COULD have killed them.. could've taken the key from them, but didn't. Instead she let them go and even seemed excited about them going on an "Adventure". "...No. There's got to be someone else.."

"Exactly, and if I were you, I'd start preparing to face them." Leon added, then stood up from his seat. "I have some friends who can lend a hand in that. I'll even send out a call to the King to see if he can help us figure out what to do next. Right now, try to get some rest, you can't expect to have all of your answers in one night."
 
"... How do we fight someone who can summon armies and suck up worlds?" Virie asked. Being able to wreck a building was great and all but armies and world destruction was on another level entirely. She understood that not everything was going to be answered in one night but the idea of sending them off to fight someone like that was just ridiculous. Plus, it was like she hadn't even been trying. Another question tugged at her mind too. If darkness could make something strong enough to open it without the keyblade, couldn't light do it too? The keyblades weren't specifically light or good by any means based on the explanation. She hated the feeling of being used but at this point, she didn't have much of a choice. If they sat still, the lady in white would win eventually and if they moved, they'd be doing exactly what she wanted. But even if she got stronger, she was pretty sure there was no way she'd ever be able to compete with that level of power. So why not leave it up to the other person Leon had mentioned that had had a keyblade? As it turned out, she didn't manage to hear the answer anyway as the thoughts ran through her head and she drifted off to sleep, passing out on the table while barely missing the plate of fries. Her body had gotten what it wanted and was calling it a day whether she had planned to or not.
 
Kai heard the light thunk as Virie's exhaustion finally caught up to her. To spite all the questions she had and the aloof answers of a man who seemed to be hiding more about himself than meets the eye, her body had given up where her mind had refused to. kai leaned over to touch her head, then looked up to Leon with suspicion, but he held his tongue. Well up until Kai was laying Virie down in the bed of a room with red accents save within the walls of the hotel of the second district. He wasn't sure what kept the heartless from invading the building, but given how they had so few options, he figured it better to trust him on this one.

Though as they left the room, Kai couldn't help but to glance back at the sleeping Virie with her one sandal still clinging to her foot and the now torn sleeve of what was once a beautiful black and purple dress. Ruined by circumstances beyond her control and what? For a stupid Key?

It wasn't long before the thoughts on Kai's mind was festering in the pit of his stomach. Why was this man so keen on sending some kid with a toy key across the universe to stop someone who he could very well probably stop himself? What stopped him from joining them? Why not he take up the keysword thing and go fight the girl in the white robes. Though something tugged at the back of Kai's mind.. a question he wasn't sure about asking, something he'd been curious about but knew the answer to. "..What if she can't do it? What if she loses?"

"..Then the world will fall into darkness." Leon said, raising an eyebrow and making a quick phone call.

"So instead of taking up arms yourself you're gonna send Virie to fight your battle?" Kai said with disgust in his tone.

Leon pocketed his phone, fixing Kai with a look that spoke of nothing but a challenge. "So that's what's been keeping you so quiet? You think anyone can just take up a sword and go stop the darkness?"

"Why not? You've got magic don't you?" Kai suggested, gesturing toward Leon. "You can throw fireballs and that sword of yours doubles as a shotgun or something. You speak about magic in a way that leads me to believe we're not the only ones who know how to use it. So why not rally an army of your OWN together, and just take out the darkness?"

"Because no matter how hard we try, just magic and weapons aren't enough. I'm sure you noticed it too, kid. The more you kill, the more heartless that pop up afterwards. When we fight them, even with magic, they don't die, they disperse temporarily then come back ten fold." Leon said irritably, then calmed his breathing and shut his eyes. "Only the keyblade can rid us of those monsters, and only the keyblade actually stops them."

"The irony in that is that it's the keyblade that draws them to her." Kai said glaring off to the side.

"Exactly, which is why she'll need someone strong at her side. Someone she can trust to keep an eye on her back while she's out there." Leon added, noticing Kai's glare. "Don't worry.. you guys aren't going to be alone. Like I said. I'm going to call the king and see if he knows anything."

What Leon DIDN'T tell kai was that he'd been trying to call the King all night, but no one answered. The king always carried a phone or some means of communicating with others on his person...but at the same time.. the king wasn't the type to sit back and wait while things around him were in turmoil. The chances of Kai and Virie getting help from the king or some of his men didn't seem too good, but Leon wasn't going to drop that bomb on the kids. No, if it came down to it, Leon could always send one of his own men to help them... though the only one available was a bit... odd.

A few more words were exchanged and more or less the two split directions on good terms. Kai chose to take the room next to Viries as even in this new world, Kai wasn't so bold as to hop in bed with a girl without at least taking her out to dinner. The boy was a class act, and whats more he found this mental dialogue amusing and chuckled to himself while laying down his head, and eventually going off to sleep.
 
Virie had slipped into the world of dreams. Being her first real bit of sleep since having landed in this strange town, it was equally strange and none too pleasant. Her mind had too many things to think about. She didn't really trust Leon 100% but she didn't doubt everything he'd said was true, just that he was holding back some stuff. If the heartless were the army of darkness, why was there no balancing army of light, just the neutral power of the keyblade? Why was it that he was answering their questions and seemed to be on their side yet never offered to help them, preferring to be more of a question answerer instead. She got the feeling that his direct help wouldn't be happening all too often but if the heartless were so dangerous, why was there no coalition to stop them other than the random keyblade master every now and then, starting with the one he'd mentioned before. Where was that one? She'd asked but had gotten no answers. Even in her dreams, her body ached, exhausted from burning itself out both with more exercise than she usually got in a couple weeks in a span of a few hours and from apparently burning herself out of magical power in one go which may or may not have snipped a few years off of her lifespan.

The dream itself was unimportant but it was eventful and highly stressful, running over the events on the island in mind wrenching detail. Her heart sank at the fact that she'd been able to really do a thing at the time and how they'd run while the wolves tore everyone apart. It was to be expected as they couldn't have done a thing... but really, could they have? If they'd confronted them faster, would Kai have gotten his staff in time? Her mind told her it was a moot point but it didn't make the facts hurt any less. Their situation hadn't improved much from then either. She could almost feel the strings on her arms and legs pulling her along, as though she had no direction of her own, just the ones that others gave to her whether it was from Leon or Jaq. As much as she didn't want to accept it, she was clueless of the reality of things, only taking it what she was told and it did not feel good. Maybe even this was her being pulled along by the strings. Sure, she'd tried to show as strong a face as possible when she was out there before but that was all she could do. It didn't change anything. Without anything to stop her here, she just curled up and cried.
 
It was in this despair that a voice reached out to Virie from the shadows. A kind, and mellow tone that was almost alluring by nature. He spoke, but his face was missing, hidden within the shadows surrounding her, but it was clear he meant her no harm. "...Why do you cry, Child? What is it that troubles you in the realm of Sleep?"
 
Virie looked up, not sure if what she was hearing was real or not. This had to be a dream but things had stopped making sense a while ago. The voice was soothing and at least she could see a body this time even though the face was hidden in the shadows. It was a step in the right direction. On the other hand, it was kind of a dumb question. Of course she'd cry. Anyone who had had everything ripped asunder would... or maybe it wasn't so dumb. Maybe he couldn't see her dreams. Not everything was seemingly all knowing like those other voices from before.

"My island, my home was destroyed and I got dumped in some strange town after," she croaked out, skipping most of the details. This voice didn't need to know about stuff like how her world got sucked up or the lady who summoned shadow wolves or about all that other unnatural stuff that'd give him the impression that she was crazy. That was, unless he was on the crazy train too which wasn't all that unlikely but he still didn't need to have her whole story tossed at him. The basics were enough. But then again, what normal person could visit others in dreams?
 
He stood a man taller even than Kai, clothing casual, blue jeans and a white jacket of a black shirt. Kneeling beside her, a hand reached out to gently pat her on the head. A comforting weight like a father or an older brother. Someone that meant something though he shared no relation. Even though his face was hidden, his frown was somehow made clear in his tone.

The man sighed, then nodded his head. "How about I help you? What was your home like? Describe it to me. The people... the places.. was there a beach?"
 
Virie's mind blurred. He was obviously not normal. He knew something. He knew lots of somethings. Her mind told her that this was something to be wary of but she felt compelled to tell him anyway. What could it hurt? In one sense, it couldn't directly hurt at all. In another sense, she just had a bad feeling, one that she didn't heed. Slowly nodding, she swallowed hard and began, telling him a whole lot more than she'd first intended.

"They were the Destiny Islands. It was a peaceful place, almost devoid of the temptations of city life. Everyone managed to get along mostly. Sure, we had our scrapes sometimes but it wasn't bad at all. There was a little town in the middle with a hill overlooking it and a big beach on the west side. Then this lady in white came and summoned these black shadow wolves. Kai and I ran but the wolves chased us and killed everyone. We ran away while the wolves ripped our friends and family apart. After that, the island was sucked up and we got dropped in some strange town. I don't think anyone else survived..." she sobbed. A couple random names could be made out in the rest of the mumbling, Kaze and Ruko being among them but the rest was too garbled to get in one piece.
 
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