Kingdom Hearts: Gate to Paradise

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It was Halibel's child-like "oh~" that drew Kai's attention when the magic was done, and he gave short glance over his shoulder at first to make sure it was safe, then turned when the light show died down to a low hum of magic that flitted away across the floor. He saw the change, and with an approving nod gave a smile at how well it suited her. Much better for traveling to gods knew where. "Magic is really useful.. Makes me sad I didn't have it back home."

"Magic is useful, but all magic comes with a price, and none of it should be taken lightly my boy." Merlin explained as he slipped his wand away into the long sleeves of his jacket. And that was that.

Halibel was preoccupied doing a quick circle around Virie, clearly debating on what alterations would make it more "appealing". "...yer sure you dun want hali to help? She'll make it prettier~!" She insisted.

"No Halibel.. that-that-that'll be quite fine." Merlin said with a raise of his hand. "Besides, I believe it's about time you all get on your way."
 
"What kind of price?" Virie asked, curious to know these things before she started casting spells all over. Leon had said something about shortening her life if she overdid it but that meant it'd be fine in moderation and Merlin didn't seem to have such a short life at all. He was hundreds of years older than she'd probably ever live to be. However, one Hali popped up between her and Merlin pretty fast as the feline began the task of half undressing her with her eyes, completely in the ripping off of clothes kind of way she was sure.

"I'd rather you not start ripping, thank you very much," she said, stepping back next to Kai and Merlin, "Now how exactly do we get on our way?"
 
Halibel gave a slight pout, and turned her nose and tail up with indignation. "Yer no fun!"

Merlin pat Virie on the shoulder. "Depends on the strength of the magic. The higher caliber spells you cast the more you drain yourself, and there are darker spells.. EVIL spells, that are cast using much more than the casters life force to cast. But none of those spells are ones you'll need to worry about right now. All you must know is oyu must be careful not to exhaust yourselves using magic. There's plenty of problems that are better solved without. Meaning you'll need to learn how to strike without using your staffs Frozen Flames." he explained.

Kai nodded, sensing things finally getting a little more serious. They were going to leave the town? This WORLD? How? When? And would this world be destroyed in the process? He hoped not.. that would be a horribly impractical way of travel.. but it's not like they had some kind of weird space ship that could travel through space. "I'm with Virie on that one.. HOW do we go to these other worlds?"

Merlin smiled. "Well as you have come to understand by now, there are many worlds out there besides our own. These worlds are all connected. You can think of these points as sort of.. Portals. I'm sure you've seen the one for Traverse Town when you arrived?"

Kai took a moment to think..then remembered the giant doors in the First District and he gave a sort of strange look. "..Those doors?"

"That's right!" Merlin said with a nod. "That's our worlds entrance, but to exit a world isn't so easy. think of it as a one way portal. If you were to open the doors and try to walk out, you'd wander aimlessly through darkness until you found yourself right back in the first district again through the very door you tried to leave through even if you went in a straight line. That's where a shifter comes in."
 
Honestly, Virie could handle being "no fun" if it meant being able to keep her clothes on. Hali was so hyper and intent on stripping that she'd probably have to watch her back constantly. Turning back to Merlin, she swallowed hard, feeling like he was warning her about magic for more than a few reasons. It was odd for a wizard to be suggesting that she solve things without it as much as possible when he seemed to use it for everything from putting things away to walking around. After that, the conversation seemed to dance around till it wound up where Merlin started talking about a shifter, some device that was supposed to help that he had conveniently delayed explaining about as though waiting for them to ask. Honestly, she'd missed the massive doors, thinking that they just led to another district. She'd been more worried about finding Kai at the time. However, that begged a different question altogether.

"If the worlds have these portals that we come in from, why did we fall from the sky?"
 
He HAD been waiting for them to ask. Merlin was wise, old, and respectable in his craft, but he was also a bit of a braggart (as Virie had already picked up) and explaining things people didn't otherwise understand was something he so thoroughly enjoyed. Not that he ever aimed to humiliate anyone. That being said when the question was skipped, Merlin couldn't help a frown as he was prepared to explain it's entire history, but there was a time for everything.

"That would be because you were sent here using a dark portal. And that strange woman in white must've thought it amusing." He explained with a bit of distaste toward the clear abuse of magic, then explained a bit further. "That void is how most of us wound up here. Some fell from the sky, others dropped smack dab in the middle of someones dinner table! The dark voids and dark corridors used by the heartless are unpredictable and can open up just about anywhere without a ward to prevent them."

"So what makes this Shifter thing different?" Kai asked, not wanting to appear on someones dinner table in another world. Not only because it'd be rude, but because of the simple fact that it would be a horrible and awkward thing to try and explain.

Merlin opened his mouth to excitedly explain, but before he could get the option, Halibel hopped out in front of him with an excited bounce. "Hali's a WHO not a THING!" She giggled. "She is shifter. Shifters are people who use very special magic. Magic's that aid others in passing through other worlds without the use of darkness, Hali uses symbols!"

Merlin pushed Halibel aside and the feline gave a short "yelp" in shock as he did so. Then he adjusted his hat and opened his mouth again, but was instead interrupted by Kai this time.

"So...what? She writes symbols on the ground and a magic portal to another world opened up?" Kai said with a half gesture from his crossed arms. Trying his best to understand, it wasn't complicated, but he figured the more he understood, the more helpful he'd be to Virie.

Halibel gave a quick nod, appearing behind Kai and Virie in a small poof. "Yes! Hali can take you to many places! So long as she can rest."

Merlin waited, ....and eyed the group down for a moment, flustered and red in the face at being interrupted, then finally raised his finger to speak. "..Yes. That is all correct. Shifters are those born without the ability to use offensive magic but can bridge worlds by infusing their life force into specialized symbols. It's really quite remarkable and even a brand of magic I'm not able to perform."

Halibel swelled with pride at this and poked her chest out. "Hali show you?"
 
Virie blinked. So Halibel was basically their living doorway from world to world. She was a little odd, referring to herself in third person and seemed eager to help. Maybe it'd be best to forgive her a bit... not that she was letting her guard down. There would be no successful stripping during this trip if she could help it. Then the poofing began and Virie was truly lost. Popping from one place to another like Merlin did was something beyond her comprehension, healing wounds and shooting fire. Trying to understand just made her head spin so she might as well just accept it and take it at face value.

"Sure. Let's see it," Virie smiled, having eased up after deciding not to question this kind of stuff for a while. The little bit about infusing life force into symbols bothered her but she figured that Halibel knew her limits and wasn't going to burn herself out with this stuff.
 
Kai found himself curious but understandably skeptical of this kind of magic. Not that he was in any way a veteran in the disciplines of magic, but it seemed dangerous given all the warnings they'd been given up to this point. Pouring your life force into symbols? Bridging WORLDS? That seemed like something that took a great deal of magic to do considering her got winded after freezing a few enemies.

Halibel didn't mind the odd looks however, and when Virie gave her a smile the feline swelled with pride at showing the one ...CONSTRUCTIVE talent she possessed. "okay!"

Merlin took a step back, and gestured for Kai and Virie to do the same as Halibel stepped into the middle of the room, where it was conveniently clear of space. Not that she needed a terrible amount of it, but it would make it easier for Virie and Kai to see what it was she was doing. The Feline took a moment to make sure nothing was too close but also seeming to see something no one else could.

A few steps were taken to the side, and she watched the floor still before seeming to arrive at the place she thought would work best then she dropped to her knees and drew a circle no more than a foot wide in front of her with her index finger. At first, nothing happened and Halibel seemed a little frustrated at that. She drew a second circle, then a third, and then finally a fourth. All int he same place, and following the same exact direction and stroke. After the fourth was drawn however was when the magic seemed to react and the circle began to glow for all to see.

Satisfied, Halibel gave a smile and moved her hand over the circle and it flashed brilliantly, throwing Halibel's hair and ears back with the rush of raw magic washing over her body as the circle was suddenly more complex, now having several smaller circles within it with strangle glyphs and symbols rotating within them. Halibel turned her hand, and the circle grew four times it's size to easily cover the ground just beneath her.

Immediately her hands moved to three of the largest inner circles and stopped each of them at a specific angle as if dials on a very strange machine, and upon finishing the third the floor shifted to show the canopy of a forest in real time. The branches shifted to and fro under Halibel in a soft breeze the four of them could smell as it washed up through the incomplete portal.
 
Virie watched Halibel work and found that she seemed a lot more controlled when doing something constructive. Controlled enough for her to feel comfortable with the idea of being tossed into oblivion if she messed up, maybe not but it was a lot better than before. On the other hand, she seemed to be a bit of a show off, no surprises on that side of the fence. A world of trees seemed to form around them like there was no civilization at all, the exact opposite of Traverse Town. Maybe that was going to be their next destination though she was completely clueless, feeling silly for having the keyblade which was supposed to tell them where to go. Yet her guess was simply that, a guess. So for all she knew, they could spend half of their lives doing scratch and poke till they found where they were going, possibly longer. Or they could run into trouble and have very short lives. The thought made her blood run cold. Death was a scary thing when it decided to stare you in the face.

"Queeeeestion. How does the keyblade tell us where to go? It can't talk."
 
Kai looked over the trees and took in a deep breath of the forest with faint memories of the islands back home. It hurt him to think of it.. but the more he had gotten his wish of seeing new worlds, there was a homesickness beginning to take shape in his gut. He wanted everyone to be ok.. he hoped for their families to still be alive and well.

The question roused his attention, and her found himself curious of the same thing.

Merlin raised an index finger, but Halibel was on her feet quickly and poofed into thin air.

constructive time had passed...

Immediately Virie would feel soft hands on her chest where her heart was, and Halibel's head poked out over Virie's shoulder. "Instinct. Do what yer heart tells you...." Halibel grinned. "You'll know what to do!"
 
Virie lost track of Halibel for all of a few seconds while admiring the world that was forming around her and was plenty sorry for it as she was promptly and blatantly groped. Or at least she was sure that it was meant to serve that purpose more than any kind of normal encouragement. She totally didn't get any of this since Halibel was the one that opened the door and showed them where to go. She didn't have any control, did she? Oh well. No use fretting about it. Maybe this was just Merlin's way of telling them to get out there and cross their fingers. Or it might be one of those fate gigs that seemed to repeat itself in Kai's stories.

"Ok. Let's go... wherever we're supposed to go then. Before the shadow things start attacking this place too."

It wasn't that she didn't want to stay and that she didn't want to say goodbye to Leon and Yuffie but there was a tugging feeling in her chest that they should go. Like right now.
 
Kai stared when Virie was groped, and immediately he stepped forward, but before he could reach them with a sudden 'FWOOSH!' he was falling through the floor as he made the mistake of stepping over the doorway in his blind need to help Virie.

Halibel seemed un-moved, staring after him as he fell off into the trees. "...uh-oh..."

Merlin's jaw dropped and he almost yelled after Halibel, but with Virie's already giving them the green light, Halibel was already leaning to the side with an almost nefarious giggle and the two of them also were soon falling through the portal created for them. It felt no different than taking that first frightning and bone-chilling plunge into the pool. The floor that was once solid parted around them and washed over them as they were suddenly greeted with the fresh air of the forest as the canopy drew closer.

It was true, Halibel hadn't let Virie USE her ability to show them where to go, not a very smooth first step for a "guide" but that's just how hali was. A woman of Action and Adventure. Nothing normal or rational about her unless she was focusing on her "craft".

There was a brilliant flash of light in the trees where Kai vanished and as Halibel guided her and Virie toward it, something else caught the felines attention. a treehouse. Halibel thought quickly, and they were off in a flash. Appearing just in time to land safely of what seemed to be a a safety net surrounding the base of the treetop home.
 
Virie dropped through the portal before she was able to comprehend what was happening. It was supposed to be a demonstration, not a hop to a random world but it looked like they didn't have a choice. Worse, they seemed to have appeared somewhere aside on the ground, more above the trees and last she checked, she did not have the ability to fly. Halibel seemed to not be bothered nearly as much as she was that they were all about to go squish when they hit the ground. She closed her eyes instinctively and landed face first into... something that still hurt but wasn't all that hard.

"Ow..." she groaned, peeking through the net.
 
Kai wasn't so lucky as to fall into a net, but he got the next best thing as he slide down a ramp of ice he wasn't sure he could even make which changed his direction just enough to skid down the moss covered branches of the canopy before slipping off a sharp curve and sailing headlong into a large body of water. He was alone... but he was also alive. Something he knew all too well when he resurfaced with a flail and a gasp of air that roused some of the wildlife and cleared the area.

"...Damnit.. Real smooth Kai... I'd better see if i can find out where Virie and Halibel are. She's a pain, but i'm pretty sure Halibel wouldn't let Virie die.." He said to himself, looking up through the tree's toward the top of a tree house. He was far, but he knew getting higher would increase his chances.

Halibel bounced at Viries side on the netting with a laugh and a flip before landing on her feet with a triumphant stance, legs parted only slightly to grip the net with her bare feet and she was immediately looking around to take in their surroundings. "Boy, this place is pretty! Where should we go next!? The desert palaces? Maybe the vast ocean!"
 
Virie looked left then right and left again. Then she looked behind her as she was bounced up and down by Halibel's antics. Unlike her, she was paying attention to the world and had confirmed her fears. They were one head short.

"Hali, Kai is missing. Where could your portal have dropped him?"

Inside, her heart sunk as she looked down from their relatively safe perch at all of the unsafe landing spots in the forest from several hundred feet up in the air. Which was of course 99% of it. She couldn't really blame Halibel for it but it didn't make her feel any better.
 
Halibel stopped thinking of the new and more wonderful places she could take them when Virie's concerned voice reached up to grab her attention. The feline took a second to remember the flash and then joined Virie in looking down toward the treacherous forest floor. "Not too far.. maybe."

Careful eyes saddened at the thought of Kai getting hurt because of her magic, then she looked at Virie and saw the clear worry in the girls eyes and she felt even worse. Her ears dropped back and her tail hung low and nearly wrapped around her leg. "..Hali sorry.. don't be sad... At least Hali and virie are alright? That's good, right? we can go look fer him." She tried, nudging Virie slightly with her arm.
 
Virie slowly nodded and made her way back to the part of the tree house that included solid ground. The fact that they were fine didn't really comfort her much but getting too wrapped up in it wasn't going to do them or Kai any good. Best to start searching now. She tried not to look bothered so as not to make Halibel feel worse but she was a pretty bad actor. There hadn't ever been a need to hide things or be dishonest barring a little white lie here and there but this was a lot bigger than forgetting some pie. Unfortunately, they didn't even make it down the stairs before the realization hit that this was just a huge forest and there was no way to really find him aside random wandering about and hoping to get lucky.
 
(odd... I thought i replied to this post like a week ago ....let's see if i remember what it was.)

Kai was wandering in the direction of the tree house as thankfully it was one of the highest and easily recognizable thing in this place. His goal was simple.. get to high ground, find a way to signal the girls. As he trudged through the thick of trees and vines and shrubbery he thought back on when he was falling, he remembered seeing Halibel drag Virie in with her shortly after him but where they went he wasn't so sure.

Hoping for the best, he trusted Halibel to keep Virie alive as in a world of magic and fighting.. surely that cat knew SOME means of self defense... right? Of course... but just in case he began to pick up the pace.

~~~

"You... LOST them?"

"....Yes."

".. HOW? Drexten isn't going to like that..." Jaq asked, flinging her arms up in exasperation. She was standing in a dark room only lit by a wall of projected screens curving inward around her and one other. The other was a young boy, light haired with eyes that seems bored and lifeless. The boy wore the same cloak as Jaq but it didn't have a Kanji, he was only there to track and record information, and right now Jaq was furious with him. "FIND them you idiot!"

"... It'll take a minute." The boy replied in monotone, seated calmly in thin air within the dark room as the screens each were scanning a quadrant of space at a ridiculous speed. Then they all stopped and one of the screens expanded to fill the space of all the rest, showing the image of Virie and Halibel warily making their way down from the tree house. Halibel being the more nimble of the pair, was trying her best to help out and give pointers.

Jaq watched closely and observed Halibel helping Virie out. she recognized her instantly and gave a slight hiss as she clenched onto the back of the boys chair. "..It's HER.. find out who's closest to them..."
 
(Lol. Stuff happens.)

Virie quickly descended the stairs, unsure of how they were going to find Kai. After all, she was clueless at tracking so all she could really do was rely on whatever Halibel knew or hope to get lucky. At least he was in this world and supposedly landed somewhere on this side of the continent. She thought about leaving a trail but decided that that'd be a double edged sword, attracting the attention of any of the thousand things in this jungle that might want to kill them.

"Any ideas on how we should start looking?" she asked. Frankly, she was looking herself already but all there was out there was a bunch of green from the trees, nothing distinct. Maybe if she could shoot some flare up it might help but then again, Kai might not be able to move around right now. There was so little to work with here.
 
Halibel thought on it for few moments, then the smell of something cooking caught her attention. It was faint.. but there was the clear smell of cooked food amongst the thick musk of the forest greens and wildlife. Her ears perked, she'd wished she was a dog, it'd be more distinct, and she'd have a clear direction.. but as it was all she could hope for them was that the smell wasn't something lingering from campers who'd already packed up and left... assuming it was campers and not some manner of headhunter..

"Hali smells something tasty.. Maybe people close by? Maybe Kai head there?" She suggested.

~~~

"There's a hunter there.. There's dark in his heart.. susceptible to the nightmare." The boy answered.

Jaq thought on it for a moment, then grinned and threw up her hood. "That might work nicely.."
 
Virie didn't think that Kai would be cooking already but it seemed like a better lead than anything she had. Finding people was a good enough start and it was possible that Kai had been found by someone else.

"Alright. Lead the way. I can't smell anything so I'll just trust you on it," she smiled, vaguely aware that Halibel had been feeling some pangs of regret over what had happened and that she may have been a little less than considerate of that. As she walked along, she fingered her keyblade which was still tiny and not doing her much good at the moment, starting with it not cooperating with her wishes that it would point the direction they should go. After all, it hadn't been too useful for opening doors or fighting in any way that didn't put her immediately out of commission. She wished it would do something more useful than be a heartless and white people magnet but it didn't seem to care about her concerns at the moment.
 
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