Night had fallen on the Glacial Mountains. The air was cool, the grass green, and sky clear- a perfect night for star gazing. Krepus lay back in that soft grass, staring up at the sky, the stars, simply thinking. It was a strange night- nice, but he had the weirdest feeling that he wasn't alone. Out in the distance, a star gave a peculiar twinkle- and then it's light vanished entirely. An odd site, to be sure, but before he could give it much thought, a slight rustling, like the pull of cotton over stone, sounded out from off to the side.

Though he made the motions, turned his head, glanced, Krepus didn't particularly expect to see anything. Which was why the sight of a slender figure in a long, black robe was more than a bit surprising. There they were, sitting on the top of a ruined wall with one foot dangling over the side and the other sat easily along the top. Nothing could be seen of them, not really, for a hood obscured their face, and heavy, black garbs covered every visible inch of their body. Slowly, their head tilted downwards, away from the sky, and though he couldn't see it, Krepus could feel their eyes upon him. Then, in a surprising turn of events, a rather bubbly giggle pulled out from under the shadows of that hood, followed by a soft, notably feminine voice. "Why hello there, Krepus." The voice took on a playful edge as it continued, "I've been watching you."





The sun had finally ceased it's relentless assault on the Desolate Dunes- a harsh world made more of sand than anything, save perhaps heat. Unfortunately however, the Desolate Dunes were rather aptly named in that the world was essentially a massive desert. And staying true to the nature of deserts, the temperature took a rather steady drop, falling and falling until the words "cold as a desert night" began to echo throughout the winds that pulled at the empty night sky. Alaster had never particularly cared for the cold. In fact, it was pretty far down on his list of favorite things. So it was little surprise when he pulled his coat a bit tighter about him, the fabric catching a sudden breeze and twisting up slightly as he did so.

Skylar and Naomi had already fallen asleep, he probably should have as well, but it was a rather strange night. In actuality, he felt more alive than ever. It was like the night was calling him, telling him that something big was going to happen. And then, someone from off to the side gave a wide, lazy sounding yawn. Alaster turned his head, slowly, then gave a bit of a start and took a step back as he turned on his heel, a bit of dust getting kicked up in the process. There, only three or four feet away, was a black, robed figure. He couldn't tell much about them, but they were about as tall as Alaster himself- the heavy clothing obscured pretty much any other details he might have picked up. Before he could say anything though, a the robed figure gave a sigh and looked down at his feet. "Man," he said, confirming his gender rather solidly, "why sand- sand on the ground, sand in the air," he shifted a bit, "sand in my boots... I tell you what man, this is a heck of a world you've got here."





Ethan sat in his bed staring at the shadows that played on his wall, as he wondered why sleep refused to take him. It was late, late enough that falling asleep should be more than easy enough. And yet, he could barely keep his eyes closed. With a bit of a sigh, he finally shifted to an upright position, throwing his legs over the side of his bed and resting his feet on the cool, hard-wood floor.

For a while, things were silent. It was as a night should be, with only the slight whistle of the wind pulling through the slightly cracked window at the edge of his room providing any notable noise. And then, a curious creaking sounded out from the opposite corner of the room. Ethan looked, hard, and finally the darkness parted to reveal a robed figure rocking slowly back and forth in an ornate, wooden rocking chair. In his hands was an open book, and from the way his hooded face was angled it seemed that he was reading, however improbable that was given the intense darkness. His head tilted upward for a second, glancing over Ethan for a moment before he held one gloved finger up, as though signaling for him to wait a moment. A few seconds later, he turned the page, slid a small white ribbon in between the pages to mark them, then closed the book altogether and deposited it in the folds of his robe. "Ah, Ethan," he said with a very slight accent, and a very noble voice, "apologies if I woke you."





A candle's wavering light flickered over the slightly worn pages of an equally worn book, which lay open on a wooden desk in an otherwise dark room. And there, sitting in with the light casting curious shadows over his face, was Kai. Turns out, being groomed for leadership of a guild wasn't all fun and games. So, here he was looking over some dusty old books which described the history of some random guild or another. Fortunately, it was a nice, peaceful night- not much was really going on. Or at least, that was the case until his bed creaked behind him.

At first, he ignored it. Then it got a bit louder, as though someone were laying back into his bed- but what got his attention, was the slight sigh that followed. Now that was definitely not something you'd expect to be hearing from a bed, and he turned to find a dark robed figure laying in his bed, with their upper back resting lightly against the headboards. They were slim, and though it was difficult to tell due to the poor lighting and the heavily obscuring robes, the black cloth seemed to be hiding a feminine figure. Another good indicator of this, in fact, was the stream of wavy, blond hair that poured out from either side of the hood, falling over the robed figure's shoulders and finally reaching down across Kai's pillows. After a couple seconds of silence, they spoke up, "Good evening, Kai." Well, if nothing else, it certainly seemed that the speaker was a girl- if not a creepy one who sneaks into peoples beds when they're not looking.





Snow fell over the world of East Naven. Big shocker right? I mean, the place was 'always' covered in a blanket of snow. But this time was different, 'cause... well okay, no, it was a pretty normal night. Dark, snowing, cold, and so on and so forth. The slight patter that sounded out as thick snow flakes fell from the sky to collide with Kibou's window was mercifully quiet- yet, for all the sleep he was getting, it might as well have been a deafening roar. A sigh escaped his lips, and was immediately echoed from the other side of the room. He turned his head, curiously, and found himself staring at a dark robed figure with one leg kicked up on his desk and the other helping him lean back back in the Kibou's nice, wooden chair.

In one hand, he had a tin soda can, which he happened to be drinking at that moment, though his hood still obscured his face. Finally, he sat the soda down on the desk and gave a rather loud burp before letting his head swivel sideways to stare at Kibou. "Oh, hey..." he said, voice confirming his gender- as though his demeanor didn't handle that well enough- "Man, I didn't wake you up did I? Huh... Well my bad if I did."





It was late and dark, or at least as dark as it could get with lights flashing through your window at regular intervals. Still, Karida found herself laying not so much in as on her bed. Despite the hour, she knew sleep wasn't coming, and so she now found herself staring absently at her ceiling as thoughts rolled by unhindered. Soon enough, or at least she assumed it was soon since time tended to get a bit skewed when one wasn't actually paying it any mind she could feel another presence in her room. Slowly, cautiously, she turned her head towards what was likely a figment of her imagination- and instead found a dark robed figure leaning back up against her wall, idly tugging at his also-dark glove as though trying to get the creases out.

He didn't look up, he didn't really move at all. But Karida could feel a smile growing on his lip. Finally, he turned to look at her, shifting the long, curving arcs of silvery hair that poured out from beneath his robes. Finally, he spoke. "Nice night, isn't it Kari?" His voice was smooth, musical, definitely not what one would expect from someone so ominously dressed. After a couple more seconds, he let his hand drop back down to his side, where it slid into his pocket. "I'm sorry if I startled you," he began again, "It wasn't my intention to do so."

Karida's eyes were wide in surprise, a bead of sweat falling down her right cheek. She blinked once and managed to regain her composure then glared at the man in her small apartment room. "Like hell it is! What do you think you're doing in my house!?" She questioned, clearly agitated. The pale light of the moon accompanied with the countless neon bulbs that lined the streets outside her window fell on her, illuminating her slim, athletic figure. Even in the darkness of the room the light filtering through Karida's window it was easy to see that she was only wearing a small tank-top with thin shoulder straps and white short shorts. "I'm not going to ask you again..." She said, reaching for her gun under the pillow.

The robed man gave something of a sigh. "Karida," his voice was just as smooth as ever, clearly showing that he was far from fazed by the girl's words, much less worried by her veiled threats, "Calm yourself." After a moment's toil, he pushed himself up off the wall, though he came no closer. "I'm not here to harm you, in any way. I'm simply here to talk to you. There are things beyond this world that you live in, things that your heart yearns to feel, even if you do not yet know it." His stone shifted to a somewhat lighter key, and he lifting a hand to point a gloved finger at the girl, "There's a light in you, in your heart. It shines brightly, clear even against the flickering light of this world." He took a step then, not towards Karida, but towards the window on the other side of the room, "There is more to life than the neon signs you're surrounded by. Look into the sky, see the stars as they shine through the darkness in between." The hooded boy smiled and placed his hands along the window sill, leaning in slightly as he tilted his head upwards, "Every star in the sky is a world- a world filled with light." He said it in a soft voice, and then, he waited for the girl to argue over his sanity, as they always did. ... Or almost always, at least.

Kai blinked, to make sure he wasn't seeing things at first.. Some people, would be pleasantly suprised, or even thrilled at the fact that they had girl in their room. Given the circumstances, however, Kai wasn't those people.
His hand quickly reached for the katana he placed beside the desk, quickly unsheathed it and pointed it at the hooded figure.
"Intruder!" Kai called out as he cautiously made his way to the door, keeping his sword pointed at the hooded person.

As Kai drew his blade and leveled it at the girl, she leaned up off the headboards of his bed, using her arms to prop herself up. She just watched him for a minute, though she certainly didn't seem threatened. Finally, she swung her feet over the side of his bed and pulled herself all the way upright to face him. She took a second to give an exasperated sigh, and though he couldn't see for sure, it definitely seemed that she rolled her eyes. "Kai," she began after taking a second to clear her throat, "come on, enough with the shouting. It's late, you're gonna wake everyone up. Now why don't you just have a seat so we can talk, hm?" She didn't seem concerned that people were going to be kicking the door in, and seemed less concerned at the katana being waved at her, despite being unarmed herself. "Just calm down- I mean, if I were going to hurt you, I'd have done it in the twenty minutes it took for you to realize I was behind you." Though it came off as a joke, the tone of her voice certainly seemed to indicate that the girl was serious, at least about having been there for so long.

"Well you're certainly dressed like someone who's after another's life," replied Kai, who refused to put his sword away. "I'll stay standing thank you. I'm not in the habit of dealing with someone whose face I can't see."

Karida blinked again and felt her fingers let go of the gun. No longer did she feel threatened by the boy in front of her, in fact something in her heart told her that she might be able to trust him. Trust him enough that he wasn't going to hurt her anyways. "A light..?" She suddenly asked after a long pause, her voice meekly escaping her lips. "Inside me? What do you mean? Who are you?" She had so many questions. "How do you know my name..?" Karida leaned forward on the bed towards the window where the boy was standing. Suddenly she stopped asking and let his words sink in. Every star is a world filled with light. Karida gulped. Talk about mind boggling. She sat back on her bed and sighed. "Interesting." She said with a small smile and afixed the dark robed boy with her one green eye.

Alaster studied the man, he didn't look like a raider, didn't act like one either. Alaster casually lifted his hand to the back of his head and pretended to scratch it, but really, he was trying to grab one of the throwing knives he kept on the belt across his chest. "So..." Alaster started, trying to sound casual, hoping the stranger didn't notice the bead of sweat dripping down his face, Naomi was sleeping across the fire, he'd never get to her, Skylar was not far from him, but was a deep sleeper, and a grenade going off in his face wouldn't wake him up. Looks like Alaster was on his own. "Not a fan of the sand, huh? Funny, most people here just get used to it... so I take it that you're not from around here? You from the skyscraper? Wait, no, nobody would've made it past the monsters... maybe the sun finally got to you and baked your brain inside your skull? Wouldn't be the first time that's happened. So who are you, and what are you doing near our camp? Forgive me if I'm being cautious, but, you know."

Kibou rubbed his eyes thinking he was imagining things, but yet the hooded figure was still there. He jumped from his bed and stared the man down. "What the hell are you doing in my house, wait better yet. What the hell are you doing in my room?!" he shouted.

For a moment, the robed girl just stared at Kai. Finally, however, she did something altogether unexpected- she lifted one black gloved hand and pulled back her hood. She was young, probably a year or so younger than Kai himself if looks were anything to go on, and she was definitely leaning on the pretty side of things. She fixed him with an almost pouty look and held up one of her arms, letting the robe's sleeve drift a bit, "It's the robes isn't it?" She didn't wait for an answer, but instead lowered her arm and continued, "Personally I never cared for them... I mean, they're comfy and all, but they're certainly far from glamorous." The girl was silent for a sec as she pulled her long, silky hair back, then clipped it into place. That done, she turned back to him with a smile, "My name is Veil, by the way."



The robed boy donned a look stuck somewhere between amusement and pleasant surprise- not that Karida noticed. Slowly however, he turned to face the girl, eventually coming to lean back against the window sill. "Interesting?" he said, echoing her response. For a moment he seemed to consider the word, and then he managed something of a nod, "It is, isn't it? So many worlds existing so closely that they can see each other- and yet none of them know of the others' existence." For a moment, it seemed as though he'd go on to speak more of those other worlds, which were evidently a fancy of his as well. But if he was planning on it, he stopped himself in order to address her other questions. "The light-" he smiled, and this time she could see his pale lips turning up, "the light that's inside of you..." He lifted a gloved hand to his chest and pressed his palm there loosely, "It's your heart Kari. Your heart is strong, true." He let his hand drop, "And within that light is power. The power to protect what's important to you."

Finally, after he'd let that answer settle for a few seconds, the robed boy went on to address her other questions. "I know your name, Karida, because I know you. You may not have known it, but I've been here for a long time- watching you, keeping you safe." He pushed himself away from the window, taking a step towards Kari more out of convenience than anything, "And as for who I am..." Slowly, he reached up and pulled back his hood, letting his long, silver hair pour out uninhibited. From the way he was standing, moonlight only just highlighted his gentle features, and his pleasant smile was only just apparent as he spoke, "My name is Vorin."



"Sand?" the robed boy said as he began his response, "Nah', I don't care for it. I mean, where I'm from you have to head down to the beach to find any sand-" He looked up at Alaster and gave a bit of a chuckle, "Though I guess you wouldn't really know much about beaches, huh? Doesn't seem to be an ocean here- wild man, I tell ya." ... "Wait- camp?" He took a look around, only noting the sleeping pair after a couple seconds. "Oh... Whoops- friends of yours huh? Well uh... Yea don't worry about it, I'm not here to hurt anyone." He quickly tacked a personal aside onto the end of that, one that Alaster wasn't supposed to hear, "Didn't even notice those two, anyways." There was a bit of an awkward silence that spread as the robed boy shuffled his foot into the sand a bit, then he gave a bit of a cough, "Well yea, anyways... I'm here for only one reason. I need to talk to you, Alaster. That alright with you?"



The hooded man gave him an ominous look, then answered Kibou with an almost booming, "I'm going to eat your soul!" A moment of silence followed that, then he kicked himself back even further and loosed a round of laughter. Unfortunately, he went back a little bit too far, causing gravity to overtake his balance and ultimately bringing him crashing down to the ground. He gave a dazed shake of his head, then rolled backwards out of the chair and pushed himself up, kicking the chair back into place as he did so, "Well that sucked." the robed man said, coughing awkwardly as he reached up to rub at the side of his head. "But uh... enough of that. You wanted to know why I'm here?" He turned to face Kibou, "Well, I'm here to talk to you. And yea, just talk, so don't get all loud and shouty with me, huh?"

"Yes... yes it is," bluntly replied Kai to Veil's robe comment, as a knock was heard on the door.
"Young master!" exclaimed a voice from the other side. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, Blanka. False alarm," Kai replied. He waited a few minutes in silence, listening to the footsteps gradually fade away. He then turned his attention back to the girl.
She was cute. Prettier than most girls Kai had met. But he wasn't about to take it easy on her just because of her looks. Afterall, a pretty face could hide an evil mind.
"Don't get any ideas," he warned, still keeping his sword pointed at Viel. "I'm not going to just 'trust' someone who has the nerve of sneeking into my room while dressed like some assassin or thief. If you want to discuss something, then you're going to first have to cooperate. Start by answering a few simple questions. Who sent you?"

The girl, Veil, seemed to think about Kai's question for a minute. As she thought, she fiddled rather absently with one of the zippers on her sleeve- then, finally, she looked back at him and gave a bit of a shrug. "Who sent me? That's kind of a vague question, you know. A better question, is where did I come from, or why I snuck into your room in the middle of the night." She gave a playful smile, then pushed herself up off the bed, "So how about I just tell you that so we can get done with your interrogation a bit quicker. My name is Veil, like I already said, and I'm from a place called Solus. Before you ask, no, you shouldn't have heard of it, and I'll get to that in a minute. First though, I was sent here by my master- and no, I'm not gonna tell you his name." The girl gave a small laugh, "I mean, I've got to be mysterious, right? Otherwise the robe's for nothing. Now then..." She sighed, then reached into a pocked in her robe- from which she pulled up a rolled up note. She read it over, then gave a sniff, "Yea, like I'm reading this. Way too dramatic- Vorin always does that. What with the "Oh there's light in your heart, and the sky is filled with love" and stuff." Amusingly enough, she even went as far as to emulate this Vorin's voice, albeit rather poorly. "Hm... Well, I'm just gonna say it, I'm not good at talking in riddles and being cryptic or whatever. Basically, you're special. That," she pointed out the window, probably towards the sky, "is filled with worlds. And uh... Okay, I think that's the gist of it. Now go ahead and ask me whatever questions you have, hm?"

Kai raised an eyebrow, perplexed by Veil's explanation. Indeed, he didn't know what "Solus" was. It wasn't the name of any of the guilds, nor was it a name of any region he had ever studied. The rest of her ramblings were nonsense. As a matter of fact, he was starting to think this veil person was a looney.
"Riiiiiiiiight..." he replied, unsure of how else he could possibly respond to that. "Did you suffer one too many head injuries or something?"

"How do you know my name? ...What the heck is a beach?" Alaster asked, as he slowly slipped a throwing knife from the belt and hid it in his glove. "Plus, why would you be looking for me? I'm just some desert raider like everybody else here, what's so special about me that you even went through the trouble of remembering my name?" Alaster slowly walked closer to the boy "You're not making a very convincing argument, kid. Now you've got ten seconds to explain yourself before I stick you with something sharp." Then Alaster began to unsheathe his sword.

Kibou frowned and scrunched up his face in confusion, who was this strange, clumsy man that appeared in his bedroom? "Okay, I give what are you here to tell me, if you keep this up there's gonna be a hole in the floor and you in my parent's bed, and something tells me that my mom wouldn't react the same way I did." he said.

"My...my heart?" Karida placed her small hand on her chest, absentmindedly as the boy explained it to her and told her his name. She looked at Vorin, her long dark blue hair falling to one side, allowing her to look at him with both eyes. Karida didn't say anything at first, she just stared at him. He was good-looking to say the least. "Huh....So it was you." She grinned, "Kinda pervy to be watching a girl like that for so long...don'tcha think?"

Watching me? Is this some kinda perverted dream of mine? Krepus secretly pinched his side, he winced, No, this isn't a dream. He couldn't help but stare at the figure sitting on the wall. "Uhm..." He looked away, face glowing red, he wasn't used to people just randomly appearing near him, actually now that he had thought about it a little longer, it seemed like this women or girl, litteraly appeared out of no were. "Not to be blunt...but..." He started fidgeting, "Who are you? I don't think I have ever heard your voice in this place before." After finally poping out the question from his mind, he felt a little more at ease, he looked up to her, awaiting the answer curiously.

With a roll of her eyes, Veil plopped herself down on the edge of the bed. "Right, I'm crazy, that's original. You're reaaal open minded, huh?" One finger slowly tapped on her chin, and her voice took on a more thoughtful voice, "Of course, in hindsight, I reacted pretty much the same way. Only with more screaming, 'cause I'd just got out of the shower." Another moment passed as the girl silently stared at the ceiling- then she just gave a shrug and pushed herself back up, clapping her hands together as her thoughts settled, "Well alright, I guess I'll do this right then." Rather quickly, she stepped over to the window, then pointed out into the sky, where stars lined the darkness, "Alright, you see the stars in the sky? Each of those stars in a world- a world filled with light. The light," she brought her hand back, and this time pressed it into her chest, "comes from people's hearts. And everyone has it- but some people, like you and me, are different. Our hearts are stronger, and so we're able to do things that normal people can't." She let her hand drop back down to her side, then seemed to mused silently for a moment, considering what, exactly, she should say from there. "Um... What would he say... Okay, well all of those worlds are different, but one thing is the same for all of them. They're surrounded by darkness- and while the light in people's hearts can help to keep the darkness away, it can't really stop it. So some people..." she smiled, "Like me and maybe you, help to stop the darkness from overflowing." .... "So... yea, make sense now?"



"Woah, woah!" The robed boy said as he took a step back, both hands popping up and waving slightly in a protective manner, "No need to get violent. You have questions- well I'm happy to answer!" He stopped backing up, then dropped his hands and fixed Alaster with a smile, "Why do I know you? Well, I've been keeping an eye on you. You might not know it, but you're special. Look around you," he threw a hand back up an pointed a finger out at the desert, "do you really think that this is all there is to life?" For a moment, he just stared at Alaster, and the question started to seem less rhetorical, when he finally continued, "Well it's not. This desert, or maybe I should say this world, is just one of many. Take a look up into the sky, you see all those lights?" he himself looked up as he posed the question, "Well, each of them is a separate world. All of 'em are different- some are just water, as far as the eye can see, and some are covered in mountains and trees. I mean, you think of something, and it's gotta be out there somewhere." He lifted a hand and scratched at the back of his head, which must have been kind of awkward given that he was still wearing his hood, "Now, the thing is, every world is in danger of being swallowed up by... well, let's call it darkness. And some people- special people, like you and me, are supposed to keep that from happening. So what do you say to that, huh?" At that question, he spread his arms and donned a bit of a grin as he waited for the impending response.



The robed man gave a bit of a chuckle, then pulled the chair back over and plopped himself down, arms lacing over the back as he leaned forward a bit. "Alright, I like that. So you wanna know what's what? ... Alright then, here we go." He thrust a thumb out behind him, pointing at the window on the wall beside the desk, "You see the sky? It's filled with darkness, and the darkness pretty much wants to swallow up the stars. Well, you know, big deal right- they're just stars. Well, wrong. All of those stars, they're all worlds, filled with people and places and uh... things and stuff." He brought his hand down and instead pointed between himself and Kibou, "People like me and you though, we can keep those worlds safe. What do you think, huh?"



The robed boy, Vorin, gave a short, soft laugh. "Well I suppose," he said, voice echoing his good humor, "it could be seen as such from a certain perspective." After a moment though, his demeanor shifted and, while his voice was still as light as ever, his words seemed more serious than before. "Like I said Kari, you are special. Others, they would dismiss what I've said as nonsense, perhaps even insanity. But you, you can feel it, as can I. There's more to things than just this world of neon lights, no matter how nice it is. Worlds lay beyond the darkness that you could scarcely imagine, places of wonder." A sigh escaped him then, and despite everything else he'd done, this seemed more of a personal thing, "But the darkness threatens to eclipse those worlds forever..." Vorin paused for a moment, quickly erasing the frown that had overtaken him and instead opting for a more neutral tone, "People like you though, with light shining so brightly in their hearts, can keep that from happening. Within you, and within some others, myself included, is the power to fight the darkness." His voice dropped off at the end, and instead of picking it up, he simply watched the girl, a burning question dancing along his eyes as he waited for her to absorb what all he'd said.



A soft giggle pulled from the shadows cast by the girl's hood, and she didn't seem particularly determined to stop herself. Eventually however, she did. Unexpectedly however, she simply leaned back onto her back and looked up at the stars. "Well, you don't recognize me because I'm not from here." She gave a silent, thoughtful hum, then decided to add on, "East Naven that is... And well, I'm not anyone too important." The girl was silent for a moment, then she started back up rather suddenly. "They're pretty aren't they?" she asked, "The stars I mean, shining so brightly against the night sky."

"Erh. . . wait what?" he stuttered, shocked. "There is no way that there are other worlds, and all this stuff about darkness wanting to eat the stars erhm. . . worlds, and what do you mean by you and me, I don't even know who you are and I can't even see your face."

The robed man was silent, for a second, then he gave a bit of a chuckle. "Right, right, sorry, I totally forgot about that." As he spoke, he reached up and pulled his hood back, revealing a strong looking young man, a year or two older than Kibou, with short, dirty blond hair and small, golden ear ring hanging from his right ear. "Well, I'm Des. And what I mean, is, we're both special. There's more of us of course, but uh, well, it's just us here, right now." He glanced back out the window, an impassive look crossing his face before he turned his smile back on Kibou, "And yea, basically, I mean exactly what I said. All that stuff between the stars? That's darkness, and it pretty much wants to cover the worlds that are filled with light, 'cause well, that's what darkness does. People like you and me, we've got light in us, and strong hearts, so we can fight he darkness and keep it from eating everything up."

Kibou sighed and shook his head and stared out his window at the sky. Either, this guy was crazy, this was one crazy dream, or this might be real and actually happening. . . "So, how exactly do we fight this 'darkness' do we have like really big flashlights or something?" he said sarcastically, turning back to Des, and shaking his head. He went over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it hugging his knees to his chest.

"I say that your brain resembles scrambled eggs about now." Alaster gazed up on the lights in the sky, different worlds? "Skylar says that those lights are just balls of gas and rock. Drifting in an empty space, alone... obsolete... but still..." Alaster looked around the desert and smiled sadly "A world full of water sounds nice. Maybe even a world covered in gumdrops with cotton candy clouds!" Alaster's smile faltered as he looked around the world "But they don't exist. To answer your obviously rhetorical question, yes; this is all there is to life. It's all I've ever known and all I ever will know, I was born in this desert and I'll die here, I've come to accept that." Alaster looked back up "Me a special person... why would somebody choose me when-" Alaster looked at Skylar and immediately his smile turned into a frown "Right. Stop getting my hopes up, kid. If you're not going to rob us or try to kill us then get out of here. Thanks for the bedtime story but I've got to get some sleep for tommorow, good night." With that, Alaster laid down on his mat, and stared into the sky.

East Haven? I've never heard of such a place...must be far away. Krepus looked back up to the blinking stars in the sky, "I agree they are quite pretty, but I find it almost ironic, they wouldn't seem so radiant without the darkness surrounding them." Krepus stood up, and wiped some blades of grass from his pants. He got up and sat beside her on the cold stony ruin, "You don't mind do you?" He leaned back, like her, and looked at the stars, "Sometimes I feel like they beckon to me..." A gleam of light flashed quickly as a shooting star flew by. "But stars aside, I must say, I'm quite curious about you. We don't get many travelers through here." Let alone anyone as suspicious as you.

Once again dodging the questions about herself, the robed girl just went on to comment on his other, seemingly irrelevant comment. "So, you feel like they're calling out to you, hm..?" It sounded like she was going to fall into a fit of... giggling, perhaps, but either way, she stopped herself. "That's not hard to believe. You know, some people say that every star in the sky is it's own world. That the light they give off comes from the good in people's hearts..." She reached up with a free hand and made to grab at one of the stars, however futile the motion. "Maybe," she said, drawing the "a" out a bit in a rather playful manner, "Someone from one of those worlds is calling to you."



"Oh come on man!" The hooded boy seemed somewhat agitated at Alaster's response, and for a moment, it seemed like he was going to sit there complaining. But then, surprisingly, he simply walked over and knelt down beside Alaster. A sigh escaped his lips, and he spoke in an almost curious tone, "Do you really believe that this is all there is? I know you feel it, we all do, all of us whose hearts hold the light." He glanced up at the sky, "The stars, the worlds, they call out to you, to your heart. Even if you don't know it." He let that sink in for a moment, then pushed himself up off the sand and shrugged, "But if you want to stay here, go ahead." He turned, and took a few steps towards the edge of the camp- then he stopped, rather suddenly. "I could show you," his voice was low, serious, "the world covered in water. I've been there. The sunlight danced on the surface of the water, sparkling like a jewel. And the people who lived there had huge, floating cities build above the water on massive wooden rafts." He turned back around, facing Alaster once more. "Aren't you at least curious?"



Des gave a low whistle, "Well, you sure hit the real question there." He seemed like he was going to continue, but gave a rather sudden stop. "But uh..." an awkward chuckle filled the air around him as he spoke up in an equally awkward tone, "Well, see, I shouldn't really be telling you that just yet. I mean, don't get me wrong man, it's pretty amazing. And you already have it, though you don't know about that. But my master, the guy who trains me to protect the worlds, he'd probably get a bit ticked off if I went and spoiled the surprise. I mean, the man loves to talk about it himself." He let his words trail off for a moment before he pulled a wide smile, "But hey, why don't you come with me and I'll introduce you?"

Ethan jumped to his feet and looked at the stranger with confusion and suspiciousness. He didn't recognize his voice.

"Who are you?", he asked, "And what are you doing here?"

He quickly tried to figure out who the man in the chair could be, but to no avail. He stood there, ready to summon his keyblade should the stranger try to attack him.

"Make sense?" asked Veil, as Kai attempted to let everything sink in. There was no doubt about it, this person was a looney.
"Nope," he nonchalantly answered, sheathing his sword. This girl was no threat from what he could tell, and even if she was, she wasn't worth his effort. "As entertaining as your ramblings were, you've overstayed your welcome. So if you'd be as so kind as to show yourself out of my home. I'd rather not waste my subordinate's time with the task of dragging you out."

Kibou frowned, now this dream or insane person was asking him to leave with him? "Erh, this is all going too fast, the truth is that you are either a dream or extremely crazy, I think that you should erh. . . leave now, please" Kibou said. He then crawled under his bed's blankets and closed his eyes thinking that this was a dream and that he'd wake up the next morning and go ice skating with Julie at the lake.

There was a moment of silence as the robed figure let himself rock slowly to a halt. Then, finally, he spoke. "Ethan," his voice was a strange mix of curiosity and cautiousness, "that stance..." He pushed himself up from his seat with a sigh, though the sigh was more from the movement itself than anything else, "Could it be that you are already attuned..? Hm..." One hand trailed up, pressing unseen glasses further up into place, "Now this is interesting. I'd heard that you were a hero, but I wasn't aware you'd already come to possess the light." The smile that crept to his face was sincere, albeit wreathed in shadows. Slowly he lifted one arm, holding it out level with his chest with his palm extended downward. "Tell me Ethan," he said as his fingers slowly closed in on the air beneath his hand, "have you ever seen something like this?" As he phrased the question, a flash of brilliant white light filled the air in front of him, his hand closing over a rapidly materializing object. Only when the light dispersed a moment later however, was that object fully visible. In the hooded boys hand was a long, elegant weapon. There was no blade, but rather a strangely flowing shaft, which curved and arched up to the top, where an odd, nearly indescribable design sat. There, from that design, spread a pair of contrasting wings, and as that last detail set in, the weapon's curious nature became clear. Though it was not like his, Ethan knew- this robe wearing young man bore a keyblade.



Veil sighed, "Oh come on, I even gave you the speech..." Her words trailed off, and she just sat there giving him a rather sad look for nearly a full minute before she thrust herself up once more, clapping happily as an idea came to her. "Alright," she said, bubbly attitude returning full force despite Kai's less-than-cheerful demeanor, "I know how to get your attention." She held a hand out to the side, palm face up, and spoke, "Correct me if I'm wrong Kai, but people don't use magic in your world, do they?" With that, she snapped her fingers, which curiously enough formed a spark that simply spun around and around, growing and growing until a ball of rolling flame about the size of a baseball was hovering a few inches above the palm of Veil's hand.



There was a silent rumbling that filled the air behind Kibou, like an uncaged beast preparing to leap upon him. "Uh..." an awkward laugh filled the room, "Sorry about that man, forgot to eat breakfast before I came over here." He waited for a second, then gave a bit of a huff, "Man, really? ... Nah, of course, it's always gotta be the hard way." He stood, sighing, "So what if I prove it to you then, huh? If I can prove to you that I'm telling the truth, would you stop acting like I've got a screw loose?"

"Of course I'm curious. With the way I live, the way I survive, chasing fairy tales is a hobby of mine. It let's me escape to other, better worlds, where people aren't afraid of the dark." Alaster sighed, then looked up at the stars again. "I'm going to regret this... show me your fantasy world, it's not like I was doing anything anyway. Give me a second, something tells me I'm not going to be back in a while." Alaster leaned over to his pack and pulled out a map and a worn out old pen, he wrote something on the back of the map and on the front he placed an "X" on a location and laid the map next to Naomi. Alaster picked up the pack and walked up to the boy, "You better not be lying." Alaster extended his hand, "You already know my name but what the heck? If we're going to be traveling together we might as well get properly acquainted. My name's Alaster Angelo, what's yours?"

Kai was taken aback by the sudden show of fire. It certainly looked real. He could even smell the air combusting, and feel the heat generated. This wasn't just some old parlour trick. Despite this girl's rather child-like nature, she was a serious threat, and Kai was going to have to tread carefully. Who knows when this girl could snap and just burn the entire place down.
"Alright, you have my attention," he finally spoke, trying to keep his cool. "But, how about we talk elsewhere?" He walked up to the window opening them before stepping out. Blanka wasn't going to let him leave alone, especially at this late at night. "Don't want anyone interupting this serious matter."

After only a moment's hesitation, the robed boy reached up and threw back his hood with something of a flourish. His skin was rather pale, and his features were a bit sharp, with dark red hair angling down to his shoulders at a rather sharp angle. "Heh, It's good to meet you Alaster," his voice was happy, ecstatic even, as he spoke, possibly due to Alaster finally agreeing, though it seemed just as likely that he was always that way, "The name's Zack. Now then, what do you say we get going, huh?" He took a step back and lifted his hand- a burst of light pouring out from the air above him before parting to reveal a most curious looking weapon. Graceful curves and curious angles seemed to make up the whole of the blade, or really the whole of the weapon, and the entire thing was a covered in splashes of color. Soon, the tip of the blade began to shimmer- and Zack brought the sword down in a slow arc. Eventually, once the weapon was held level with his chest, a thin, wispy beam of light shot out a few feet before punching into the air. The red haired boy turned the weapon as one would a giant key, and a spiral of light spun it's way into existence at the end of the beam's reach, eventually forming a kind of glossy, white portal. That done, Zack made his way over to the newly formed sphere and, after looking it over for a moment, turned his back to it in lieu of facing Alaster. The sword dropped down to his side, angled away from him, and his free hand reached out, open, towards the desert dweller. "Well then," he said, smiling, "take my hand and we'll be on our way."



With a wide smile, Veil snapped her hand closed, the orb of flame simply blinking out of existence without so much as a trail of smoke. "Well alright then," she said, obviously happy that they were finally getting somewhere, "go on and lead the way. It's good that you're finally listening, because you know, I was starting to run out of ideas there!" A giggle pulled from the girl's rosy lips, and she quickly made her way over to the window, hopping up onto the sill with a surprisingly acrobatic display before peeking out at the roof, which she carefully hopped down onto. "Alright, so..." Veil let the word drag on, since she wasn't really sure what to say, but from the looks he was giving her, she was sure Kai'd manage to think of something in her place.

"Yeah, I guess so" Kibou muttered with his eyes closed. If he did do something to 'prove' it then it was a dream, and then there was no harm in going, in fact now that he thought about it he hadn't had a fun dream in quiet a while. He opened his eyes and stared at Des.

Alaster looked at the boy, Zack, with his hand stretched out in offer, Alaster was still in shock that Zack was able to summon a rather weird looking sword and open what seemed to be a stargate. Alaster rubbed his eyes, maybe the desert heat was getting to him, or his brain had already fried? But no, when he opened his eyes the portal was still there, as was Zack with his hand still out. Alaster tugged his hair and sighed, "You're going to have to explain this on the way there." He turned around and looked at the camp, then turned his gaze towards the portal, "In for a penny..." then grabbed Zack's hand.

I wonder how brightly this world shines then? He took all of her words to heart, he so deeply wished that someone out there was calling just to him, to give his life reason, a purpose to live. "Wouldn't that be something..." He let out a light sigh and continued with his star gazing, many questions on the tip of his tongue, but he felt it just wasn't the time to ask, probably because she would just avoid it again. After a few more minuite though, he spoke. "Although I could just sit here and take about stars all night, and I must say I am enjoying it, I must ask, Why did you decide to show yourself to me now?" Why do I feel so at ease with this stranger around? Does she remind me of someone?

Kai didn't bother replying to Veil, instead leaving her hanging. He took a cautious step, making sure his footing was okay. While his room was only on the second floor, an untimely fall would spell the end. Of course, it wasn't like Kai hadn't done this before, and he knew the best way to get down.
He slowly made his way over to the edge. After checking to make sure no one had left a pitchfork, or something equally a hazard below, he jumped down, catching the ledge with his hands to stop the fall before finally letting to fall the rest of the way.
He looked back up to make sure Veil was following.
"You coming?"
Now that the hard part was over all Kai had to do was walk along the courtyard. The guard at the front entrance was always napping on the job, so it wasn't paticularly difficult to leave House Falzer's grounds.
---
The streets were deserted at this time of night, but Kai didn't take any chances. He stuck to the shadows, trying to remain out of sight from any possible spies who could be lurking the rooftops. He stuck to Falzer grounds as entering another Guild's territory was suicide, and at least this far out, the girl couldn't threaten the main family.
Kai turned around to make sure Veil was with him before speaking. "Alright, no more of that 'special light' BS. What is it that you want from me?"

Karida sat back on her bed and crossed her legs Indian style. She rested her right elbow on her right thigh and and then her chin in her palm. She stared at Vorin with an unreadable expression then, without a word she closed her eyes making everything to go dark for her and to allow her to think. She had power, she now knew that or at least believed the man in front of her enough to think so. The stars in the sky were in actuallity other worlds filled with light, however that light is in constant danger of being snuffed out by the darkness that surrounds them. For a moment she didn't move, in fact, it almost looked like she wasn't breathing at all. Suddenly, after a long time she opened her eyes and afixed Vorin with her focused gaze. "So." She said, "You're asking me to come with you, aren't you?" Karida smiled a little, waiting for the silver-haired boy to answer her.

Des gave a triumphant pump of his arm, "Alright man, then check this out!" With a quick movement, he jerked his hand up and pressed it flat against the window. A curious sheen of what seemed to be frost grew outwards, eventually spreading over the entirety of the glass. "Now then, why don't I just show you something cool, huh?" Des' voice held an odd echo, but it seemed to come from the air around him as opposed to him himself. Slowly, an image span into existence. A small light stood in the center of the window- a star. And for a moment, that's all there was. Then, suddenly, the image shot forward, through the darkness, through the sheen of light surrounding the star- and finally, it came close enough that a brilliant, blue world began to appear. Closer and closer it went, until the world itself became apparent. Endless oceans spread across the surface- then, a small dot appeared in the water. And the dot grew and grew, until it showed itself to be a massive, sprawling city built on a huge floating platform. Finally, the image slowed to a stop as it came to focus on a small wooden building on the outskirts of the city. It was small, unimpressive, but it looked rather cozy. "This," Des said, finally, his voice seeming to hold something of a nostalgic note, "is my old house. That used to be where I lived before I learned about different worlds and stuff."



There was only a split second to spare at that point, as light quickly filled Alaster's eye- but before he could see nothing, Zack's grin flashed in his vision. A soft humming sound filled the air around them as Zack spoke. "Heh, I'll tell you when we get there. No worries though, shouldn't take too long..." His voice trailed off, or maybe he was still speaking and Alaster just couldn't hear him, hard to say given the circumstances. For a few seconds, the young man simply felt as though he were floating through an empty, white void- and then, rather suddenly, his feet hit the ground. As the light faded, and his vision returned, a cool, sunlit castle came into view. Grass spread out around them in what must be the courtyard, though it was hard to say rather Alaster actually knew what the word meant, and scattered loosely throughout the expanse were huge, green trees and beautifully sculpted fountains, water spraying up in sparkling streams against a cloudy, blue sky. Then a voice came through, one filled with a bit of a playful edge, "Told ya."



A smile played across the girl's lips, "Why now..?" She looked up, the sky here was just like the one she used to peer into. "Did you see it? The star that stopped shining a couple minutes ago?" Slowly, the girl pushed herself upright, turning a bit to face Krepus, "The stars- if they are worlds, and the light went out, what could that mean? That the good in people's hearts was taken away? Or, maybe..." Her voice dropped an octave, and she suddenly seemed to be rather serious, "Could it be that their hearts are being taken away by the darkness itself?" Without giving him time to respond, the girl pushed herself off the wall and landed quite easily on the ground- a curious feet given how far she'd fallen. Immediately, she knelt down to the ground, placing a gloved hand on the grass below and turning her head up to smile at Krepus, "You know Krepus... From out there, this world looks just like all the others. But now that I'm here, it's actually rather beautiful."



With a light, happy step, Veil followed after the considerably heavier hearted Kai. In fact, she even went so far as to manage a soft hum, which stood out against the dark silence that surrounded the pair. Then, however, Kai's voice poured out. And as he posed his question the girl stopped humming, then, soon after, stopped walking all together. Quite suddenly, she reached out and caught hold of the young man's arm. And as he turned to face her, he found that her happy demeanor had darkened to an almost angry look. "Stop." she said, trying to hide how mad she was. "I am telling you the truth. There's worlds out there, and they have to be protected." She took a deep breath then released his arm, "Let me tell you where I come from. It's a small world, always cool, like the beginning of spring. On the surface, huge lakes stretch across the world, and scattered everywhere are big white trees, so huge that they stretch out above the clouds. Me, my family, and everyone else, used to live in those trees, way up in the sky. The leaves were blue and transparent, and they gave off a soft glow, all the time." She reached up, running a hand through her hair, as she gave a momentary pause, "The world was strong in magic. Most everyone there could use it in fact- although we only knew how to use magic to heal the wounded. You know what happened, though? That darkness, the stuff you said didn't exist? I didn't believe in it either. And guess what? If you look up into the sky, try to find the star that used to be my home- you're not gonna see it. Darkness came, and it swallowed everything." Rather suddenly, Veil pulled her hood back up over her head, turning away from him a bit as she spoke, "So before you go and say that things like that aren't happening, why don't you think about how you'd feel watching the hearts of your family, your friend, everyone you ever knew- being pulled out one by one." Slowly, and only after a brief spill of silence, she posed another question, "Is it really so hard for you to believe that you could be wrong?"



There was a moment of silence, then a soft chuckle escaped the silver haired young man. "Asking implies that I had a chance to pose such a question directly..." A smile lined his lips, "But yes. Kari, I've followed you, watched over you. I know that your heart is strong, that light dwells within you. So now I ask..." His arm drifted upwards, open hand extending out towards the girl, "Will you come with me and see for yourself the worlds that dwell in the night sky?"

"Talk about a one-eighty," thought Kai as Veil lectured him. It was obvious he struck a nerve with that last comment. Fortunately, those last words were enough to get the pieces to fit in Kai's mind.
"Well, so the little lady has a brain in that skull afterall," he joked, before getting his composure back together. He gave a quick pause before speaking up again. "I apologize for that last comment. But next time you attempt to explain this to someone, you might just want to skip right to your story. How was I supposed to take you seriously when you throw around some vague explanation about 'light,' and 'heart,' and the like?"
He turned around, walking a few steps forward, while staring up at the night sky.
"Frankly, I still have trouble believing all this," he began before turning back to Veil. "But I can tell from your words, you're serious about all of this." Kai paused again, letting everything sink in before continuing. "So if my understanding is correct... then somehow... you need me, to prevent what happened to your homeworld from ever occuring again?"

With an exaggerated roll of her eyes, Veil turned back to face Kai. "Whatever." she said, fortunately keeping herself from another rage filled speech. Finally, after taking a few moments to collect herself, she went on once more, smile back though slightly less easy than it had been before. "Yea," she said, "that's basically it. Worlds, all worlds including this one, are in danger. And it's up to us to stop the darkness from eating everything. Problem is, there are way more worlds than there are people to protect them, so it makes things a bit trickier than you'd imagine." Veil gave a bit of a sigh, "Basically, I'm here to ask you to come with me to another world, where we can train you to fight against the darkness." She blinked, once, then hurriedly corrected herself, "Well, when I say we, I mean, well, us as a whole. Personally, I couldn't train you if I wanted to, since I'm still far from being a master myself. ... But um, I suppose that's besides the point."

"I see," replied Kai. "So that's what it is."
He let out a long sigh. What a predicament he had, somehow, gotten himself into.
"I'm sorry Veil, but I can't comply with your request." Kai gestured as if ot look around. "In case you havn't noticed, this place is in the middle of a House War right now, and my Guild needs me more than ever. I can't just turn my back on my people for the sake of others don't even know."
It didn't exactly please Kai to say that. Afterall, he did bring up some bad memories for the girl. He felt rather guilty about that. Regardless, he did not want to associate with the girl anymore.
He took a couple steps, walking past Veil. An "I'm sorry" escaped his lips as he attempted to make his way for home.

Krepus let out a sigh, I give up, Lets just enjoy the time with the hooded stranger who talks about stars., he shrugged, and slowly slipped himself off from the wall, landing rather ungracefully on his feet, and quickly tumbling onto his his stomach. He looked up to the sky, straining his neck, Didn't I just see that happen too? before she got here... The image of a world being engulfed in darkness quickly flooded Krepus' mind, "...thats...horrible..." He muttered softly. Krepus stopped looking skyward and let his face rest on the grass as he tried to erase that thought from his mind, which wasn't hard once his guest mentioned how his world was beautiful. He picked himself up, rubbing his sore neck and spoke enthusiasticly, "The scenary near the river is a lot more spectacular if you ask me." He smiled, "Want to come see it?" He walked closer to her and held out his hand.

As he walked away, the girl shook her head, "Kai, I didn't want to tell you this- I didn't want to... Well, that doesn't matter." Slowly, she turned around and pulled her hood off once more, "Here's the thing, by being here, you may be bringing more danger to this world than any sort of war... The light in you- it scares..." she shuddered slightly, "Whatever it is that's in the darkness. It knows that you could stop it, and so that's going to spur it on, to make it hunt you down." There was a bit of an awkward silence that followed, but then she spoke up again, "The only reason you're still here, is that I've been following you for... Well, the point is that I've been here for a long time, protecting you so you'd have enough time to grow... Listen, I can't stay here any longer. It's time that I returned to Solus. When I leave, there won't be anything stopping the darkness. It'll come for you, and you won't be able to stop it. There's only one way to fight it- come with me, and you'll learn. And then, if you still feel this way, you can come back. At least then you'll have a chance..."



The girl gave a soft laugh, then stood and nodded, slipping her own hand into his. "Krepus, I have something I need to tell you," she said as they walked, "something that you'll have a hard time believing, but I want you to try and keep an open mind." She took a deep breath, "The story, about the stars being worlds, the light coming from people's hearts. It's true. And the stars going out..." a shudder seemed to pass through her voice, "That's true as well. But a balance must be maintained between the light and the darkness, and for that to happen, light comes to dwell in the hearts of some, special people..." She fell silent, letting that bit soak in and hoping he'd be able to put the pieces together with what she'd told him already.

"What are you talking about?!" answer Kai, turning around to face Veil. "I can't take any chances with my people! How would you feel if..."
At that moment, Kai could not briing himself to speak. The distance seperating him from Veil grew larger, until Veil was only a spec in the distance.
"Wha-what's going on?" he stammered, frantically looking around.
He then noticed the shadows on the ground looking more ominous than usual. It was even more shocking when the shadows began creeping towards him,
"No! Stay away!" screamed Kai, but it was too late. The darkness coiled around his leg and continued up his body. He could feel it's cold touch seeping his strength. The shadow closed it's grip around Kai's neck, and everything went black.
---
Kai's eyes shot open. He was huddled on the pavement, sweet pouring down his face. He wandered exactly when he passed out. Slowly, he attempted to pick hiimself up, but his body was shacking too violently to support him.

"Sh, it's okay." Veil's voice came out as more of a comforting coo than anything as she grabbed Kai's hand and helped him to his feet. Slowly, she circled around him, letting the shaken-up boy use her arm for support. Once senses had managed to extend all the way outward, though, he took note of the protective way the girl was standing- and a moment later, he took note of the strange weapon she held. It didn't seem to have any blade on it- and on the end that was supposedly used for hitting, a large, clear orb sat looking as solid as glass. Even more curious than the seemingly useless weapon, however, was the way that the orb glowed, a soft white light pouring out and coating the area around them. "Are you alright, Kai?" Veil asked without looking at him, "Because it's time we left. It's not safe here. Not for you."

A hard time believing? A strange, hooded girl appears, tells me somethings I feel to be true, and now she leads me on to assume I'm special...hmm... They finally reached the river after a short while of walking, before speaking Krepus removed his boots, and sat down on the river bed. The river's current was quite slow where they were, but the water was quite high. Krepus put his bare feet in. "Okay. I believe you." He leaned back a bit, slightly kicking his feet in the water, "All your words just solidify my feeling that I'm being called to." He continued to blissfully kick his feat about in the river, "So, what can I do to help?" He turned to her with a big smile on his face.

"What happened?" muttered Kai as he rested his head in his other free hand. He could feel his sweat soaking the skin. It ashamed him to be rattled up to this point. He finally managed to get his bearings together before asking, this time in a more demanding tone, "Is that what's going to happen to me if I stay here!?"
Silence. That was all Kai needed to understand.
Kai sighed, finally giving in. "I see."
He paused for a the longest time, thinking about what he should do before embarking on this quest he somehow got involved in. He knew he couldn't face the Guild knowing he was letting them all down. Besides, they weren't going to let him waltz out anyway, regardless of what he had to say. Perhaps it would be better to just leave without a word.
"Wait for me guys," he wispered to the world. "I'll be back to set things straight. I promise."

"I have", Ethan said, "Just like everyone in Etrosia. The entire gendarmerie uses weapons like this. Although, they're a bit different, they can't be summoned from thin air, nor do they have a keychain. Is there anyhting special about keyblades? And what do they have to do with this 'light' you're taking about?"

Kibou jumped up out of his bed and stared at the window this his mouth gaping. There was no way anyone could do that, it was impossible. . . "Erh, okay then how are we getting there, do you have a flying car or something, cause' that wouldn't surprise me after all of this." he said, his mouth still gaping in awe.

Alaster gasped, and fell to his knees, he had felt the weirdest sensation, being everywhere and nowhere all at once, Alaster was a bit shaken up. Alaster's eyes took a second to adjust after just being blinded by light. Alaster felt a weird sensation on his hands, spikey green stuff was poking his palms. "The heck is this?" Alaster noticed the fountains, "Rock people are the source of water on this world?" Alaster stood up, then reality hit him like a sack of bricks, "Oh my... we... we're... we actually... ah... holy mother of..." Alaster started to do a full 360, taking in the environment, feeling both excited and rather panicked at the same time, he started to tug on his hair, then turned to Zack, "O... okay, so either what you were saying was true... or the Vulpes got me while I was asleep and my brain is just melting into random..." Alaster stood up, his knees almost buckling. "Okay, Zack. Start. Explaining. Now. Please?"

"What can you do to help..?" The girl echoed Krepus' question, slowly. And then, without any warning, she laughed. And only after she'd gone on laughing for a fair while did she manage to get a hold of herself. "I'm sorry-" she said, a gleeful smile evident even through the shadows covering her face, "It's just... This is the first time I've tried to tell anyone about this, and I was pretty nervous. I mean, I'd thought it would be a lot harder to convince you, and you're..." her voice trailed off a bit at the end, then she just shook her head, "Well never mind it. Thank you for believing me. And as for your question... You could help by coming with me. We can go to Solus, and there the masters can teach you how to fight against the darkness. Then, when you're ready, you could protect everyone..."



There was a moment of silent apprehension, and then Veil gave a nod, "Alright, let's go then." A moment passed in silence, and nothing seemed to happen. A breeze rolled by, the wind whistling through cracks in the bricks in walls surrounding them. And then, suddenly, everything stopped. Sight, hearing, both were cut off as the world faded to white. Weightlessness overtook Kai, and the only thing he could feel was Veil clutching his hand tightly. Then after a time that felt much longer than it really was, their feet touched the ground. Warm sunlight fell down on the pair, warming them, and the sound of flowing water and songbirds now filled the air. They'd touched down before a grand castle made of pearly white stone, and all around them was a courtyard of green grass, scattered trees, and exquisitely crafted fountains. Veil's voice came out softly, "We're here Kai..."



A gloved hand reached up to push unseen glasses back into place. "Yes, keyblades are very special. They are not made of steel, not forged by the hands of man. No, a keyblade is born by and to the light that fills the hearts of people everywhere. It is a weapon, not for fighting against your enemies, not for slaying those who you find unworthy- but for defending the light of each world from the darkness that threatens to overtake them." Slowly, he lifted his free arm and held his hand out towards the younger man, "Ethan," he said, voice serious, yet smooth as silk, "take my hand. You wish to protect this world, do you not? A threat sits on the edge of this place- on the edge of every world there is. And you will not be able to face it without help, and proper training. I offer you both."



A hearty laugh rang out from Des. "Nah, nah," he said, grinning widely, "No flying cars. In fact, it's pretty simple." He turned himself, holding a hand out towards Kibou. "All you have to do," he said, his voice dropping a bit, showing how serious he was, "is take my hand." A moment later, as the edge of his lip quirked up a bit, he added, almost as an afterthought, "Just make sure you don't let go and we'll be there before you know it."



It had been a long time since Zack had been home. Or, rather, since he'd returned to Solus. It may not have been where he'd come from originally, but it was where his friends were, and that was good enough to put him in a good mood. ... Well, to put him in a better mood than usual. "Explain? Well, we just went through the crossroads. They're kind of like... a set of gates that lead from one world to the other. And this," he held a hand out, waving his arm in a wide motion to indicate everything around them, "is Solus. It's where I live and train- same for you, now, I guess. But you know, that-" Before his explanation could be finished however, wave of light rolled out a dozen feet to the side- a curious rippling effect pulling through the air. Slowly the light receded to reveal another pair. A young woman with wavy brown hair and a young man, well dressed and looking as confused as Alaster.