Kingdom Hearts - Blades of Three Realms

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth had looked away from Shiro, given he knew all too well the story behind his origins, or at least the origins of Unlimited Blade Works, though he hadn't told anyone but Crystal, Shiro kept it close to his heart, as a reminder in a way that he continued to survive while countless others suffered. Axel of course was definitely in awe, but he was more focused on the gears more than anything, as shiro spoke "yes well, mostly it is Instinct that tells me what to choose, as well as my mind taking stock of the situation and supplying me with the tools needed to fight." he said, as Roxas would be oddly enough taken by his own feet towards what looked to be a hill of blades, though there seemed to be some oddities, one which was a giant golden hammer with a large silver pole sticking out of it, a chain wrapped around it ended with an anchoring like tip of sorts, and the oddest thing that could be seen, it had a golden hilt much like a sword, but at the same time it was no sword in particular, it had red circuitry like veins go through each black segment, and it seemed each would spin in different directions for some reason, though it was inert and unmoving.. the raw.. presence that one weapon held would tell anyone this was not a weapon to wield willy nilly. of course, not including these oddities, if Roxas had looked closer, he would see a man with hair as white as snow, wearing black underarmor, and a red sleeved vest of sorts, with an attached red waist-coat ending along his waist, at the same time his skin would be a clear bronze tan unlike Shiro's stark white.. but the similarities would be unmistakable, but it'd only last for a second before vanishing within the next blink as Shiro had moved to the hill himself, seeming to look around for a blade in particular.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"What was... that?" Roxas was taking in the sight of these strange weapons while keeping a slight distance as the raw power of a certain blade in particular made him understandably uneasy, although he himself didn't know the reason for it. And then he had a vision of a strange man who very strongly resembled Shiro only to have the vision vanish in the next instant to be replaced by the real thing. It was unpleasantly like being back in the simulated Twilight Town when DiZ and Riku kept futzing with the program to keep him in line while also making him feel like he was slowly losing his mind.

"There isn't anyone else in here with us, is there?" Roxas had to ask because the uncertainty of what he had just seen made him more than a little nervous.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro of coursel ooked over to Roxas a moment stopping his search for the sword he was looking for, before shrugging "no one here but us really, though i remember Crystal mentioning seeing something too the first time she saw the Hill of Blades before..." he said, frowning a bit, while looking to Roveth, who shrugged, though when Shiro returned to his work as Roveth moved over to whisper in Roxas's ear 'what you saw, more than likely, was a vison of what Shiro could become... what his ideals and mentality will drive him towards.. and trust me, its not a pretty picture, especially if it's who i think you saw...' he then would pull away, before looking over to Shiro "just call the damn thing if you can't immediately see it!" Shiro would turn around, and sigh, before bringing his hand up "Good point, Roveth... Trace.. ON!" with that, a wind would blow through the area, and within a golden aura springing from his hand, a large english broadsword would appear, along the glittering golden and blue hilt grasped tightly, would look ornate and the blade was a brightly shining silver, with runes or words written in a language not known to mortal tongues, the language of the fae, and the light radiating off it would -clearly- show its presence as a 'Weapon of Hope', a 'Last Phantasm'.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Roxas was more than a little confused by Roveth's explanation for what he had seen. If it was a vision of what Shiro could become, then that meant a vision of the future, right? There were definite similarities, but the person he had seen was also clearly quite different. It all just seemed a little too weird, but then there were a lot of mysteries surrounding Shiro. Crystal had an abnormal and complicated history too, but it was at least coherent enough to be explained. Shiro, on the other hand, was an absolute enigma. Where did he come from? Why did he have a wasteland full of swords imprinted upon his soul? Roxas wondered how much Crystal even really knew about Shiro because he really didn't seem to be very forthcoming with regards to giving answers.

Crystal and Xion would have come up to the Hill of Blades by that point as well to see Shiro finally finish fishing out Excalibur.

"Wow, that's really pretty!" Xion was immediately impressed.

Roxas had to agree with that at the very least. "I can see why you think so highly of it." He could feel it too. Much like the other blade that had an aura that seemed to command he stay away, Excalibur seemed to have an aura of its own and its presence seemed to inspire feelings of hope, although Roxas still wouldn't soon forget the other things he had witnessed here within Shiro's Reality Marble.

"Thankfully there haven't been many situations that call for actually using it," Crystal pointed out. "But it's here if Shiro ever has need of it."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro nodded, bringing down Excalibur after he had finished calling it, looking at the blade with a reverent smile of sorts, before gently stabbing it into the ground "too true, i haven't had need of it in a while, which is good i suppose, since if i tried bringing it out outside of my Marble... it'd be for a desperate one shot blast." he said with a chuckle while Roveth just rolled his eyes "well that should be everything, short of exhibitioning some of the weapons powers." he said plainly, while Shiro nodded, and with a shrinking in ring of fire forming, the Reality Marble retracted from reality, returning everything back to normal in the command Center, and shiro's body starting to cool off by a soft hissing sound of steam coming from his body, thankfully he wasn't even close to tired, but it was a bit draining to deploy the marble regardless.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"That's quite an ability, that's for sure," Roxas did have to appreciate just how elaborate a technique Shiro's Reality Marble was even if there were some unsettling truths hidden in the details. It was probably for the best that Shiro didn't continue on into exhibition mode with his weapons as while Crystal might be familiar with the next world they planned to visit that didn't mean they wouldn't encounter Heartless upon their arrival there. As cool as that all was they really didn't need for Shiro to exhaust himself so early into the day.

"So, we can probably make it to Treasure Planet via Corridor of Light or Darkness, although Shiro might object slightly to the latter, or we could take the road less traveled along the Unseen Roadway of the Forgotten Passage," Crystal suggested while also bringing out World's Rift. "I know it sounds a bit dubious, but I've never met another soul along that path, not even the Heartless, so it's pretty darn safe."

"A path untouched by the Heartless, now that's definitely interesting," Roxas was certainly intrigued. "But I guess if there's no one there and no hearts to steal, then there isn't too much point to them appearing there either."

"It wouldn't be much use for the Organization or Master Xehanort either if there are no Heartless to eliminate," added Xion. "Only you could stumble into a place that no one else even knows exists," she looked rather pointedly at Crystal.

"The first time was an accident, but every time after that was on purpose," Crystal chuckled. "It was a very useful way to get around considering I don't have a Gummi Ship. And I didn't learn how to use Corridors of Darkness until much, much later."

"Yeah, that definitely sounds like you," Roxas noted with some amusement. "At least you seem to be equally talented at finding your way as you are at getting yourself lost in the first place."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro didn't mind stopping his showing off, as he knew he could show more off as he fought later on. either way he frowned a bit hearing mention of the Corridors of darkness "hmm... well ,as to the corridor of Light, if i haven't been to a world personally i can't go to it via Corridor of Light, just something my instinct tells me." he said, while Roveth nodded a bit lightly as Axel piped up "same goes for corridors of darkness, if i haven't been there at least once from random tries, i can't go directly there through the corridors." Roveth of course responded with a shrug "looks like we get to utilize Crystal's method of travel for once, been a while eh, aibou?" shiro chuckled a bit, shrugging "it might have been, but we've managed to get by with our wanderings before we came to Traverse Town." Axel of course looked over to the man in red "speaking of.. how -did- you travel?" Shiro blinked, and blinked again, before shrugging helplessly "kinda hard to explain really.. so i walked." of course, cue facevault from Axel from that lame explanation.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"It sounds to me like he doesn't actually know how he was doing it," Roxas interpreted from Shiro's incredibly vague answer as to his own travel method. "This being Shiro, though, I'll bet it probably wasn't very safe."

"More like unstable and unreliable," Crystal nodded. "Which is why we generally just use my method." She pointed the blade of World's Rift straight ahead as it began to glow and emit pulses of light that gradually formed into a stable portal leading into what appeared to be a massive hallway with polished marble floors and enormous stone columns interspersed between walls and supporting a ceiling that appeared to be a projection of the sky itself. "And the way is open," Crystal nodded while resting World's Rift lazily on her shoulder.

"It looks ancient," Roxas observed as he looked through the portal. "But I guess that makes sense."

"Kinda makes you wonder who could have built such a place, doesn't it?" Xion also peered through the portal.

"Legend has it these pathways were originally placed here to connect the mortal realm to the land of the gods," Crystal replied. "But no one has seen the ancient gods in quite some time. Neither light nor darkness, this is the realm of spirits."

A Moogle-shaped blur dressed in the familiar Organization coat appeared from the portal and immediately latched onto Roxas who blinked in surprise and confusion.

"Yay! It's my favorite customer, kupo!" the Moogle greeted him.

Roxas stared hard for a brief moment and then recognized the Moogle as the same one that had set up shop inside the Organization headquarters. "Um... what exactly are you doing here? Don't you work for the Organization?"

"The Organization hasn't been giving me any business so I left," the Moogle explained. "I've been searching for a new place to set up shop, but it's tough to find a place that doesn't already have a merchant, kupo!"

Roxas glanced at Crystal. "I thought you said you've never met anyone on this pathway before."

"I haven't," Crystal confirmed. "But Moogles are mysterious by nature so I'm not surprised that they'd be making use of this as a means of travel too."

"It would explain how they seem to be on every world," Xion agreed. "And can still somehow remain in communication with each other so easily."

"Not to mention how they stay stocked with so many items," Crystal added.

"Well, I suppose he could stick with us for awhile," Roxas suggested. "I mean, we're going to need to restock on supplies again eventually."

"If you need to buy anything or synthesize new items, I have everything you need, kupo!" the Moogle cheered happily.

Xion picked him up and volunteered to carry him for the time being. "Okay, now let's get going."

She, along with the Moogle, Roxas, and Crystal would finally head into the portal to start making their way toward their destination. Crystal brought out the Dimensional Distortion Grid, appreciating the upgrade from Roveth as she could now read the labels on the nearby world positions without having to try to decipher the incomprehensible dead language the unit was originally coded in. "Looks like we should go this way... unless Roveth gets a different readout."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would look to Roveth as he had pulled out his own map and enlarged it enough to be seen and studied by both him and Crystal "my map looks like it's pointing the same direction, so off we go~!" he said, Shiroi senkou following beside Shiro while Axel also followed, of course, Shiro just shrugged thinking about his method of travel "well, at the time it wasn't unstable in dangerous-ness, but more unstable as in random as to where i'd end up. if we see one of the paths i normally took before i met up with Crystal i'll point it out to people so you'll know. even though i have the Corridors of Light now at least." he said while continuing to follow Roveth and Crystal who took the lead, since they had the maps.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

*~Treasure Planet: Space Port~*

They reached their destination without incident and emerged through the connecting portal onto the vastness of the world of Treasure Planet's famous crescent moon shaped Space Port. Majestic space ships, unique in that they resembled the sea faring variety rather than conventional space ships from other worlds, docked into the station while others departed for other nearby worlds. Roxas was momentarily stunned into silence as they emerged onto this totally bizarre new world with streets bustling with the most diverse collection of alien lifeforms he had ever seen. Xion was stunned too. This world was so much more expansive than any of the worlds either of them had ever been to.

"So, from here we can take a ship down to the planet Montressor which is where Solar Sailing is all the rage or we could explore the Space Port a bit if you all prefer," Crystal explained while slipping into tour guide mode for the moment. "The Space Port is a technological marvel, using artificial gravity to maintain its own self contained ecosystem. Races from all across the galaxy use the Space Port as a central hub for reaching other distant planets and planetoids in the vicinity. Naturally, being such a galactic hot spot, they do occasionally have problems with pirates."

"Right, let's avoid those," Roxas was feeling overwhelmed at the moment so getting into a skirmish with space pirates was definitely out. "Anyway, we came here because you were looking forward to Solar Sailing so maybe we should start planet-side and work our way back here."

"Sounds good to me," Xion was hugging the Moogle to herself in an effort to remain calm. This place was a little too much. Fortunately, the Moogle really didn't seem to mind the attention.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro and roveth came out not too long after everyone as they looked around, Roveth was in awe and wonder, Shiro seemed to be neutral, but the apprehension in his gaze was quite apparent, sure, he didn't know why, but he felt off... like the hairso n the back of his neck standing on end for a hidden reason, but he said nothing on it as Axel came through and went wide-eyed "duude! this place looks awesome!" before Shiro spoke up about going planetside "sounds like a good idea." he said, figuring being out here in space was a bad idea at the moment for Roxas and Xion, as he was nuzzled by Shiroi senko, which earned the chocobo some pets and a chuckle. Roveth kept silent but his curious gaze all over -clearly- showed his curiosity was going nuts.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Okay then, planet-side it is," Crystal nodded and pocketed the Dimensional Distortion Grid. It was useful for knowing how the different worlds were mapped out, but not so much on an individual basis. Crystal took Roxas and Xion each by an arm and started leading them to the appropriate dock where they could board a ship, not a huge one, but one of the small local ferry-sized space boats. They got themselves situated aboard the space boat and awaited their departure down to the planet Montressor.

"If it gets to be too much for you, go ahead and hang onto me," Crystal assured the pair. "I've done this before so I can handle it."

It was a small thing, really, but Roxas did notice how Crystal's mere presence made him feel calmer. This place was huge and crowded, not to mention very loud, but with Crystal being her levelheaded self as she guided them on their way it became far less daunting. Considering how prone to embarrassment she could be it was also funny that she didn't seem to mind letting him and Xion cling onto her if they were feeling nervous at the moment. It was hard to believe there was ever a time she actually believed herself to be a coward considering she would jump into these situations as though without any fear at all. And the things she did run away from, those were things anyone would have been frightened of.

"This all seems a little impractical," Xion commented. "Whoever built this place must have really loved boats."

"Well, it is pretty amazing to look at," Roxas admitted. "Over-the-top, for sure, but definitely cool."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth had pocketed the Star map as well, and followed onto the boat, Shiro just silently followed on, though looked a bit pale, probably because his mind was thinking that the boat thing should be impossible, but he kept to himself and moved to join the others, Axel, well, he was looking around taking pictures like a tourist.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

They would eventually depart from the Space Port. Then, after a seemingly harrowing descent through the atmosphere they would come to land on the planet Montressor safe and sound. They would disembark the space boat and take a short trip via horse-drawn hover wagon to a canyon area near a huge derelict industrial complex of sorts. This was the area where the Solar Sailor races were held.

Roxas looked on while Crystal signed herself up for a practice run, mounting the rather precarious looking solar-powered rocket board. She wasn't kidding when she said this sport was dangerous. But, once she was up in the air rocketing through the canyon and performing aerial stunts, including flying upside down while feeling the wind in her face, she did seem to be having a lot of fun. And it definitely looked very cool.

"So, anyone else want to go for a spin?" Crystal grinned widely, practically beaming as she eventually landed to rejoin the group.

"No thank you," Xion was quite comfortable down here on the ground.

"You'd probably have to show us how it's done," Roxas pointed out. "It looks pretty complicated."

"Sure, that's no problem," Crystal was just all smiles today. "You can ride with me until you think you've gotten the hang of it."

And, just like that, Roxas would be dragged off to learn how to ride the Solar Sailor. Xion watched with worry hoping Roxas would be okay up there. But it looked like everything was fine. Crystal was a good teacher and refrained from pulling any crazy stunts while she was showing Roxas the basics of how to navigate and control the crazy contraption. Not long after Roxas would be flying around with relative ease on his own Solar Sailor.

"They really do seem to be having fun," Xion eventually conceded.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Axel of course watched with an interested face, but more from the spectator point of view, Roveth was tinkering with a Solar Sailor he had managed to buy from a vendor himself, mainly by selling a few of his tech upgrades, so on that would be useful selling to get the munny for his own, meanwhile Shiro seemed interested himself, but of course, stayed out of it as he spoke "yanno, with her normal fight with gravity and water you'd think something like this isn't possible, but i guess she's finally managed to tell murphy to stop screwing with her and gravity." he said in amusement, while roveth poked Shiro "why not go play on one too?" Shiro shrugged with a nervous chuckle "me, with- my- penchance for danger and trouble?" Roveth shrugged "you know i can have Kuribohs catch you if you fall. Shiro hummed, and would go look into renting a solar sailor himself then.