Kingdom Hearts - Blades of Three Realms

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would blink a bit, looking over to Riku as he set down the last few plates, before sitting down to eat himself "huh... so you heard about it from Roxas huh?" he said, thinking about it as he took a bite of sausage "well, i don't mind showing everyone, if it'll keep the hyperactive one from begging to see it." he said, idly wagging a finger towards Sora, the obvious hyperactive one of the group at the moment. "as for what a reality marble is... well, i'll make the complicated parts simple. imagine within your soul, lies a very different world than what reality is. this is usually brought on by having a completely different mindset from humans in general, also known as being.. distorted. this inner world, this world within my soul.. is the reason i consider myself a distorted individual." he continued eating "due to my.. unique capabilities i guess as an unlimited and other factors, i learned how to do magic from my mentor, who taught me Projection Magecraft, Gradient Air, Reinforcement, so on, all to work in looking within myself, to find that world, and the aria, the poem, about that world, to be able to overwrite reality, literally rip apart reality by the seams and then restitch it back together as my personal inner world. there are also some unique benefits to it for me, which make me so dangerous to fight if i ever decide to not hold myself back on tracing." he said, finishing up a pancake and taking a drink of orange juice "this world, which you will hear the name later, is... quite interesting." he summed it up lightly while looking to Demyx and Axel "you're both welcome to join too before you go do your errands."

Axel hummed in thought, as he glanced over to a shadow coalescing in the corner "well, i guess i can watch you bring it out again, since you did say earlier that it has evolved." Shiro nodded, while looking over to the corner a bit, just as the shadows formed into Roveth as he wandered over to get something to eat "at it again with your Marble, Hikari? well, i'll come look too, just to see if i need to smack you or something." Shiro sweatdropped in the background and all.

Demyx meanwhile had finished eating as he glanced to Roxas, before shrugging "sounds interesting, anyone want to fetch Isa and tell him?" he said, looking to Axel as he waved it off "lemme finish eating first." he said, while doing that as he did so, given he only had a few more bites to eat when Crystal and Roxas returned from the Library and all "wow, Quistis must've made you quite an audacious and studious student huh?" he quipped, while Demyx just stared at Roxas a moment, then looked at Sora's reaction with a clear 'how the hell did Roxas come out of -you-?' given that was the obvious thing he could say.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Uh, well, I don't think I'd go quite that far," Roxas looked slightly embarrassed. "I mean, I was definitely roped into taking those classes at first, but after a little while I actually kind of enjoyed it. Not to mention studying turned out to be a simple way for me to find out the answers to things without having to rely on someone else telling me. You know, it might have helped me to grow as a person too."

"Of course, there's no denying that Trepe-sensei is a bit of a harsh task master carrying that whip around," Crystal pointed out.

"She's definitely kind of intense," Roxas readily agreed.

"So then I guess that's something else you both have in common," Xion noted after hearing that momentary exchange. And sure enough it caused Crystal and Roxas to pause for a second to glance at each other.

"Huh, I didn't think of it like that," Roxas admitted sounding slightly surprised.

"Well, it just means it's something else you both can do together," Kairi decided to take it from there. "You could make it a study date."

Roxas and Crystal both looked surprised by this brand new revelation, although their surprise and embarrassment paled in comparison to Sora who went very red in the face and looked thoroughly embarrassed. His thoroughly flustered reaction earned him a knowing smirk from Riku.

"Wait, is that like an actual thing?" Roxas hadn't actually heard of it before.

"I think so," Crystal confirmed. "Although I think it's usually used by couples as an excuse to spend time together without being met with disapproval from their parents... which doesn't really apply to us."

Sora gulped down an entire glass of orange juice to prevent himself from choking in his embarrassment. "Can we please talk about something else?" he coughed out once he was finished inhaling his beverage.

"Um, sure, Sora... but why are you getting so worked up about this?" Roxas couldn't resist asking.

"Look, it's nothing," Sora insisted hastily. "Just forget it, okay?"

Meanwhile, Riku was struggling very hard not to laugh and Kairi of course elbowed him, nearly toppling him out of his chair, although Riku was quick enough to re-balance the chair before anything too disastrous happened.

"Anyway, let's get back to the topic at hand!" Sora raised his voice even louder as he opted to change the subject. "We're going to see Shiro's Reality Marble!"

Although Roxas had agreed not to pry, it was surprising to see Sora being so defensive for a change. It seemed like Crystal was feeling obliged not to pry into it either so unless someone with less restraint, like Roveth, decided they wanted to make Sora even more uncomfortable by pressing him on it, it was unlikely anyone was going to find out what exactly had gotten into him all of the sudden.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth of course, being the prickly little cactus of a teaser when he wants to be, perked up at this opportunity "ohohohoho...? Sora, actually embarrased by something innocent like a study date?" he said, getting an -all- too familiar shark grin that showed he was going to start his 'magic' so to speak. "my my... been wanting to propose such a date with Kairi, be nice, alone, in a safe spot.. steal a few little kisses all the while studying for say your next test?" he said, playing the innocent/PG card at least instead of going straight for the gutter talk like he does to provoke Crystal "sounds to me you're a little nervous about that~" he said in a sing-song tone of voice that clearly said 'i'm going to pry it out of you if you don't tell us now~'

Shiro of course just continued eating, letting the banter between the others continue, pretty much keeping out of this until Roveth decided to pitch in himself about Sora, and just sighed, shaking his head at his dark half, well, least he wasn't going full tilt provoking Sora... either way, he'd also let Apocalypse out to have a cup of Coffee too, though in Chibi form so as to not crowd the room with his full form and all.

Demyx of course had finished eating about that time and got up, heading to go check on Isa and try to lure him out to see Shiro's Reality Marble before he went out to do his side jobs and all, and also tell Isa exactly -why- he was locked away in the recording studio to get him off his back and all about not providing income and all. after that he'd return to see the Sora Meltdown, if all too curious and all, given Axel seemed to be eating still and watching with way too much amusement at the whole mess it seemed.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Finding Isa wouldn't be terribly difficult for Demyx given when he had managed to get in a few words with the lazy bard he had been very upfront about his somewhat embarrassing part-time job. It also wasn't especially far from the mansion given all he actually had to do was wait around by the shops in town posing with children who wanted their photos taken with Santa's reindeer. The hardest part of the job, by far, was forcing a smile consistently. Of course, Isa's shift was nearly over so by the time Demyx did find him he would be all too eager to return to the mansion so he could get out of his ridiculous looking costume and get changed into something more sensible.


"It's not like that!" Sora's face went even redder as he flailed his arms at Roveth in embarrassment.

"Come on, Roveth, you saw how he was underneath the mistletoe," Riku spoke up conspiratorially. "He's embarrassed because he was too nervous to make the first move."

"Riku!" Sora practically shrieked at his friend. "It's no fair saying that!"

"But it's true, right?" Riku persisted. "That's why you're acting so flustered."

Sora shot a rather unconvincing glare at him. "That isn't the point!"

"Maybe not, but if you really think about it, Kairi has always been more forward than you are," Riku pointed out with an amused look. "So you see, it really isn't something to be ashamed about."

Sora continued to glower at Riku a bit, but he did start to appear a bit less angry about it. "Huh, now that I think about it, you might be right..."

"Which means, Sora, that you'll just have to try harder next time," Riku continued matter-of-factly.

"I'll be looking forward to it," Kairi added thereby causing Sora to topple over backwards in his seat as his face went an even brighter, luminous shade of pink. "Sometimes he makes this too easy."

Roxas found himself almost beginning to feel sorry for Sora, but honestly, his reactions were too priceless and Sora had very clearly brought this all upon himself by reacting as he had in front of Roveth of all people. It seemed like Roveth had even gone easy on him. Roxas was also somewhat relieved that as awkward as he felt at times, he somehow wasn't anywhere near as inept as Sora was at this very moment.

"Well, I guess that's one more mystery out of the way," Crystal commented before taking another long sip of hot cocoa.

"He'll get the hang of it eventually," Riku noted encouragingly. "He is Sora after all."

"Riku, I really don't think that's helping..." Roxas sighed and shook his head.

"It really isn't," Sora concurred as he rolled off the chair so he could work on getting up and sitting on it properly. "Thanks Roxas. At least someone around here gets it."

"Right," Roxas shook his head again. "Just do me a favor and don't go trying to hug me for it."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth hummed a bit, almost thinking of continuing to poke, but given how Kairi said it was too easy of a mark compared to Crystal and Roxas now.. he liked the challenge more, so he would at least give a small shrug and let Kairi and Riku tease sora now and finish eating, since he was probably holding everyone up by taking it slow to needle people with his comments this time.instead, he'd finish his last few bites and stand up, before stretching a bit lightly "well, i did my daily poke at someone routine, so i think i'll let Kairi and Riku take over the teasing on Sora, for now though, Aibou.. ready to reveal your Reality Marble?" he'd ask, glancing on over to Shiro, who had also finished eating and Apocalypse had sunk back into Shiro's body as he let out a sigh.

Axel just chuckled a bit lightly and got up as well, finishing his food as well "yeah, let's take this to an empty room however, don't we still have a few unfurnished ones, Roveth?" Roveth did nod a bit with a yawn "yeah, i have a few still empty due to not having any ideas in what to put in yet." he said, waving it off while leading people upstairs to an empty room as asked, Shiro right behind Roveth however so they'd also make sure to drop by and warn Demyx and Isa to follow if they want to see.

Demyx of course didn't laugh at Isa's part-time Job, whether or not he was sympathetic or just plain apathetic was a clue, but he figured he'd cut Isa some slack, though he did chuckle more at the false smiles Isa had to put up for the kids, sure the outfit looked ridiculous, but at least said nothing on it in particular, but thankfully would follow the group to the empty room, curious on what Shiro's so called 'Reality Marble' looks like and all, since he doubted that was why the brat had a much better singing voice than he does.

once everyone got inside the empty room, and Roveth closed the door behind him, Shiro finally focused, idly taking off the apron he wore, and proceeded to toss it to Roveth, who used a quick Shadow Realm portal to put it back in the kitchen as the light half of the two partner closed his eyes, and started focusing, prana starting to waft off him in small wisps and waves before he began drawing something in the air, pointing to the corners, and soon enough, a boundary field was in place, to at least make sure the reality marble didn't encroach on the outside of the room "there... now then..." he said, opening his eyes and turning to everyone, letting his prismatic eyes shine quite ominously as he spoke in a hallowed, almost trance-like voice "I am the Bone of my Sword..." (Cliffhanger! Evil Time! XD)  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Roxas and Crystal had already experienced this part before so they weren't especially bothered by the energy coming off of Shiro, although Roxas did finally notice the correlation between the incantation and the words written on Shiro's apron that always seemed to make Crystal laugh when she saw Shiro wearing it. Naturally, realizing this, Roxas couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself. Even though Xion had also seen this once before too, she was still surprised by the amount of energy being radiated off of Shiro to accomplish this.

Sora and Riku, meanwhile, were already both standing there gaping in surprise as Shiro started going to work on summoning his Reality Marble. This was in contrast to Namine who seemed amused, mainly because she had also gotten the joke about Shiro's apron with relation to hearing him speak the beginning of his incantation, and Kairi who seemed impressed, but otherwise wasn't too surprised by any of this so far.

"Talk about intense," Riku commented while sounding a little freaked out.

"No kidding," Sora agreed going wide-eyed. "I had no idea Shiro had this much power inside him."

Their reactions naturally earned more laughter from Roxas, although that was mainly because it was priceless to be seeing Riku losing it over something for once. Sora seemed to notice this too because he actually regained his composure a little looking at Riku.

"Wait, don't tell me you're surprised too!" Sora cackled in amusement. "I thought nothing surprised you anymore!"

"Hey, this is my first time seeing this so why shouldn't I be surprised?" Riku countered while also cracking a smile.

Isa, meanwhile, remained calm and neutral, although he did raise an eyebrow at the energy permeating the room as Shiro went to work. So, this was his real power, huh? As expected, it was very interesting, to say the least.

Crystal, for her part, simply braced herself for the part that came next, knowing full well that the energy dispersal was only going to intensify in the next few minutes.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Demyx would raise an eyebrow at the chant, as he did recognize the words he said as being part of the apron he usually wears, but the power radiating off of Shiro actually kept him from laughing as he gave off a bit of a gulp "yup, totally a good thing i was -never- asked by any of the organization to follow this guy, he'd kick my a** in a heartbeat!" he said with a bit of a squeak, even as the Prana started to increase in saturating the room now.

Shiro just ignored the snickers and chuckles, knowing too well they were laughing because of the 'joke' about his apron, but he was more focused on his inner world, his new inner world, as he brought a hand to his chest, clenching the hand to a fist, focusing even harder "Steel is my Body... and Fire is my Blood." he intoned, a bit more pressure began to form in the air, as small blue flames started to pop up in the air, as well as the illusions of swords. "I have created... over a Thousand Blades." he continued to intone, an unspoken wind starting to kick up, bringing the small embers to slowly circle around Shiro as his prismatic eyes continued to glow and shine "Born within the Light of Creation..." sure enough, a faint light started to shine around the room, reflecting in the sunset of Twilight Town and yet turning it more a white color "yet become an Engine of Destruction..." of course, the fires started to increase, as more and more swords started appearing as images, though they seemed to grow more and more solid, not to mention what looked to be faint white glows underneath them. "This very Soul.. possesses Infinite Potential..." the rustling of grass beneath their feet could be clearly heard, as well as a melodious sound of crystal tinging against crystal in the background was the winds around Shiro intensified, slowly turning the small embers into a blue tornado, which did nothing to add heat to the area thankfully, or scorched anything "and these hands... were made to hold everything." he said, though it did seem conceited, it seemed his words were definitely reflecting on something new within him, which made him utilize the words given to him as the flames started to encroach and grow, slowly enveloping the area as Shiro's eyes could be seen once more if only faintly "my Life has Become... Unlimited.. Blade Works!" he called out, swinging his arm around to sweep the area, and the tornado quickly went wide-spread, engulfing the room entirely in blue flames and a flash of light, once things died down, everyone would see the lush grassland, the rising dawn sun, the crystalline gears shining light around as if blessing the grassy plains with the sun's rays in different colors, and on white marble pedestals, with golden plaques stating the names and even owners of them... were... "an infinite number of swords... the finest of finest swords!" he said in a deep timbre, almost matching a certain Counter Guardian's voice as he said it, of course, not too far from their position was, as always, the Hill of Swords, only with the swords on pedestals instead of stuck in the ground like grave markers.

Axel had at least brought up his hand to cover his eyes, even if he could utilize some light magic, his thing was fire, but he could tell those blue flames were not harmful at all, more an illusion of Shiro's power and all, when they were in the new Reality Marble, he looked around, positively stunned, especially seeing the crystalline gears in the sky churning away almost melodically compared to the grinding, almost breaking sound of the rusted gears in Shiro's original version... "... beautiful..." he said, his breath taken away at how changed the place was.

Roveth meanwhile just seemed to be staring hard at Shiro, focusing entirely on him in fact, as he narrowed his eyes lightly, almost as if wondering if Shiro really was a threat, but once he thought that, he immediately remembered Cosmos's words, and looked down, before shaking his head and smiled a bit to push back his own inner turmoil at least "i have to admit, this marble suits you much better than what it was before." he would say, leaving Shiro a bit embarrassed and rubbing the back of his neck and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Somewhere between the room being engulfed in the blue flames and the bright flash of light exposing the landscape of Shiro's Reality Marble, Sora lost his balance. He stumbled backward several paces, collided with Riku who had been standing slightly behind him, and causing them both to fall on their asses onto the lush grassland that had formed beneath them. From this position Riku stared in awe at his surroundings, leaning back to appreciate the crystalline gears in the sky, and generally ignoring Sora until the smaller boy started leaning into him while attempting to do the same. Riku wrapped his arms around Sora's waist and started tickling him mercilessly in retaliation.

"Gah!" Sora cried out in protest. "No, stop! That tickles!" Sora squirmed in defiance as tears filled his eyes and he started to laugh uncontrollably. Truth be told, Sora was extremely ticklish.

Roxas watched with a raised eyebrow, but seeing as there were better things to look at shrugged it off as he started taking in the transformed landscape of Shiro's Reality Marble. Now that the countless weapons were resting on their own individual pedestals instead of being stabbed into the ground it was a lot easier to see them in their full glory. The overall tone of the place was a lot less ominous than the last time Roxas had seen it. The crystalline gears in the sky and the lush grassland made the environment seem more peaceful.

"What a transformation," Xion was also amazed by how different the entire landscape seemed compared to the last time Shiro had shown off his Reality Marble to them. Even in the presence of all those weapons, the new scenery was somehow serene.

At first, Kairi was slightly distracted because she couldn't help laughing at the antics between Sora and Riku, but that didn't last long as she became much more intrigued by the weapons and the profound landscape of Shiro's Reality Marble. It was really something.

"This is quite a place you've got here," Kairi commented while continuing to have a look around.

Riku did finally let go of Sora, allowing Sora to wriggle off his lap to get back on his feet before shooting Riku a dirty look for tickling him like that. Riku brushed him off, deeming that it was Sora's own fault for landing on top of him like that, and worked to get back on his own feet so he could look around Shiro's Reality Marble more easily.

"It really is quite extraordinary," Namine noted thoughtfully as she also took a look around.

"This is unreal," Isa was understandably taken aback by what he was seeing, looking genuinely surprised now that he had lost his earlier calm and neutral demeanor.

"Well, I still think it's really cool," Crystal decided as she had her own look around at the new landscape of Shiro's Reality Marble. "It's more tranquil now. And you can really appreciate the swords now that they're all so neatly on display. It's almost like an outdoor museum."

"Well Shiro, it looks like you've really outdone yourself this time," Roxas had to admit. He was glad, for now, that he didn't see or sense the presence of the Counter Guardian in the immediate vicinity. That would have made him more than a little uneasy.

"This is amazing!" Sora naturally became excited once he started really looking at his surroundings. Riku naturally took it upon himself to restrain Sora from wandering off to touch anything.

"I'll say," Riku agreed, in awe of the many glorious blades. "I can't imagine how long it must have taken to forge all of these."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Demyx was also quite in awe, sure he hadn't seen the original version of Shiro's Reality Marble, but seeing the new and improved version was definitely breathtaking just like how Axel was awed, thankfully he just kept silent, but seeing the swords, the plaques, this was actually starting to make things turn in his head, while starting to come up with new inspiration, sure, he'd try to get Shiro to help sing it with him, as it'd be a song based on this... this work of art indeed.

Shiro meanwhile had stopped looking embarrassed too much by all the compliments and all, while at the same time registering the fact that Riku stated something not actually true, as he sighed, and looked over to Riku "actually.. that's not entirely true. yes my soul has these swords engraved in them, but i did not forge them from the real world, or here within the reality marble.. you see, Unlimited Blade Works, has a peculiar effect due to my unique spell-set with it... it literally records and stores away the blueprints of any weapon i see, most notably bladed weapons. sure, you'll find some armor and shields here and there amongst it, but those cost more prana to bring out said items basically, with my Structural Grasping, i can see down to how things are made, their components, and various other data i need, whether to fix it, or to trace it, the more complex an object, the harder it is to keep the blueprints in mind unless it has the concept of 'Sword' within it, thus, it'd be forever stored here, within Unlimited Blade Works." he then would raise his hands, just as he focused, a pair of blades would rise up off their pedestal, before spinning around and launching to Shiro like boomerangs, letting him catch them without any hesitation or thinking he'd miss catching them at any cost anyway as he spun them in hand before letting them rest in his hands calmly "a good portion of these weapons are what is known as 'Noble Phantasms'. Noble Phantasms are... Crystallized Mysteries, the most powerful of armaments made using the core of the Human Imagination, and are frequently weapons and abilities owned by Heroic spirits, legendary spirits that have etched their names into human history, myth, legend, and lores alike." he smiled lightly "some may be blessed by the light, and others may be demonically cursed, by nature, such as is known for the legends these weapons came from... basically, these are a Heroic Spirit's trump cards, their ace in the hole, so to speak." he said, idly humming a bit "Tracing... well, it lets me bring what i have stored blueprint wise into reality through projection magecraft, however.. as they are only images brought forth from my mind, they are.. not as powerful as the originals, well.. normally.. but... after touching the Frozen Flame... they've felt different.. more whole, so to speak." he said, frowning lightly "almost as if they're a part of me, as i them... and that they are at their fullest power, and i just need only call them into existence..." he sighed, shaking his head a bit "well, i can test that some other time at least when i go into a plain area within the simulation worlds Roveth's set up." he said, shrugging helplessly with a smile.

Roveth would roll his eyes hearing his Hikari speak of things "you also forgot that with tracing, particularly your seven steps... you copy everything ,right down even to the weapon's history, and when in your hands, it's like you're channeling that particular wielder and their knowledge and experience with those weapons, which makes you highly unpredictable in a melee fight. add in the fact that normally traced weapons can be... made into broken phantasms, basically one shot boosted weapons of sorts, Ranged is also a high danger against you as you could summon a bow, and literally snipe people with highly explosive projectiles that enact their effects on the world on top of that." he pointed out, while Shiro nodded in truth to that.

Axel of course meanwhile had moved away, seeming to see something else that intrigued him, more to the point, it was his chakrams when using them instead of his keyblade, and sure enough, once he got closer, he could see a translucent form of himself hovering behind the pedestal " i think... i think Shiro is capable of channeling the spirit of the wielders through him now, making himself even more in tuned with them..." of course, sitting atop the hill, though if anyone noticed it'd be only brief, was the very person Roxas was probably uneasy and wary about, the Counter Guardian, however, even he seemed more at peace, almost like he was peacefully slumbering within that sitting position hugging a knee close to his chest.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Of course, that Structural Grasping is also why when Shiro is introduced to many new weapons at once or a single weapon with uniquely phenomenal properties he can sometimes become overwhelmed and might collapse and start to bleed from the eyes," Crystal added. "So, it's important for him to be extra careful whenever we visit new worlds for the first time because otherwise the overload might make him go catatonic."

"Makes sense," Riku nodded. "I've certainly never seen anything quite like this, although I do find it interesting that I don't see copies of any of our Keyblades floating around."

"From what I understand, Keyblades are more difficult to replicate because of the innate quality they have of choosing their wielder," Crystal explained. "On top of that, Shiro himself didn't become a wielder himself until quite a bit more recently than the rest of us and even since then he's only been able to wield his own." She then raised an eyebrow at a certain new addition to Shiro's collection that proved to be one she very easily recognized. "Wait a second, is that the Einlanzer?"

Roxas was only half listening to the conversation as he looked around at the selection of blades, but when Crystal mentioned the Einlanzer he had to stop and stare because he also recognized the blade as being identical to the two he had seen being carried by Glenn during their stay in Termina. "Why would there need to be three of the same sword?"

"Wait, where do you even know a sword like that from?" Sora hadn't been listening to much of anything at all, but he was certainly puzzled by the way that both Roxas and Crystal had reacted to that particular sword being in Shiro's collection.

"There was a guy named Glenn I met while we were in El Nido and he was carrying two of them," Roxas explained.

"Right, and his two are actually the same unique sword, one taken from each of the two parallel dimensions of that world," Crystal explained. "I guess when the other dimensional variant of the world underwent the temporal reset it also replaced that world's version of the Einlanzer and Shiro must have found it somehow."

"It sounds to me like that's a pretty unique world," noted Riku. "No wonder you were having so much fun exploring it."

"Wait, did any of that even make sense to you?" Sora was even more confused now than before he'd asked about it.

"Try not to think about it too hard," Riku casually told him off. "You're only going to hurt yourself at this point."

"Still, you have to admit, this place is pretty neat," noted Kairi. "I can't imagine what anyone would need so many weapons for, but seeing them like this is kind of incredible."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Sora could at least understand and agree with that much. "I might not understand how any of this works, but it's definitely cool to look at."

"I think you could be right about Shiro's potential capabilities," Namine noted to Axel. "Even so, his present intuitive prowess is insufficient for making full use of that potential. It isn't something he can do based on instinct alone."

"So basically what you're saying is that he still needs to hone his new abilities or he won't be able to make use of them," Isa clarified.

"Exactly," Namine confirmed. "Right now it's just latent potential. In fact, there's a lot of untapped potential still sleeping inside of Shiro."

"Even if that's true, how exactly is he meant to get at it?" Xion wondered.

"Most likely by some method of training," Isa suggested. "As for what sort of training, I have no idea."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro had perked up from his staring off into the distance while the others talked when he heard mention of the Einlanzer as he idly sweatdropped "Actually... the reason why i have its blueprint here is because like you said, i did manage to see it in the Home World, oddly enough, it was because something directed me to it, probably the sword itself, it resided in i think called the Isle of the Damned? being guarded by a soul named Garai, who tested potential wielders of it in battle.. i.. well... kinda proved my worth, so i not only have the Einlanzer stored within here, i have the real made one as well." he said, idly using a bit of prana to dismiss the illusion around his waist, sure enough, aside from Madoushi's Blade, which had taken to rest upon his back, on his belt was a sheath holding the Einlanzer as well, as he unsheathed the blade to look at it, comparing it to the blueprint image of it, seeing actually no flaws, and no degrading of power made him harden his eyes slightly, as if seeing something others couldn't "... but in either case, it was kind of a side trip that happened before i managed to get to the Dead Sea." he said a bit, while humming in thought before nodding to Namine "i was planning to train after this in doing just that, most of the knowledge is in my head, and some of them have been explained to me already, but others i need to get a feel for figuring out my style with them." he said, knowing too well he had to work on not just his work under mastering more of his marble's contents, but his other capabilities, like those weird drive forms he takes, the black blood, his Persona's, hell, he hadn't even visited the Velvet Room in a while! not to mention working more on his Power Ranger stuff -and- his stuff with Madoushi's blade, make some Caster Shells for his gun, so on.. gahhh! seems he has a lot more to do in mind...

Demyx had been listening a bit, actually looking a bit serious, it seemed Shiro had the potential to be quite a powerhouse, a true threat to Xehanort it seemed, but it bothered him that Shiro didn't seem all too keen on tapping into that potential like his life depended on it. "hmm... seems like he has too many abilities at the moment that he's drowning himself a bit so he's relying more on his capabilities he's used to the most, like this tracing stuff and this place." he said, tilting his head a bit as small cracks began forming around the world, before it shattered like glass, revealing the Bounded field filled room once more as Shiro called the dying embers into himself and twitched a bit in thought. "he might need to take a step back and prioritize working on his lesser used skills, at least until he gets them on par with his main capabilities... s'what i'd do in his position, but eh, i'm not that good in fighting anyway so what do i know?" he said with a lame shrug and all.

Roveth sighed, just turning as he looked to Axel, who had already reached the door, just as the bounded field faded, and allowing him to exit, before shrugging lightly "maa... seems Axel's got things to do, so i guess i better head down to the basement and ready up Shiro's simulation area." he said, humming along as he walked past everyone, though he did speak up for one last thing "just because you didn't inherently see -him-... doesn't mean he's not still there present within that marble, within Shiro's future." he said more to a whisper to Roxas and Crystal, before passing along, waving as he headed off downstairs to head for the basement and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"You keep saying that, but I seem to recall otherwise," Sora shot a look at Demyx. "You nearly clobbered me with those water clones."

"Anyway, Demyx, it's not like you have to worry about anyone here forcing you to fight," noted Riku. "So really, you can relax about that."

"Heh, I guess all he really has to worry about now is Shiro hogging the karaoke machine," Xion commented.

Crystal nodded to Roveth as he left. "Yeah, I know."

"So, shouldn't we start heading for the library?" Roxas decided they probably shouldn't dwell on the subject of the Counter Guardian for too long.

"Good idea," Crystal agreed. So saying they left the room and headed out of the mansion to make their way into town.

"Well, I guess we should probably be heading back to Master Yen Sid's tower," Sora glanced to Kairi. "He only gave us yesterday off so we could visit everyone in Christmastown, but we really shouldn't keep him waiting."

"Maybe you shouldn't keep him waiting," Riku snorted mildly. "But from what I hear, Kairi is doing very well in her training."

"Still, I'd like to get back to it," noted Kairi. "It's going to take a lot more work for me to catch up with the both of you."

"So Riku, what are you going to be doing anyway?" Sora wondered as he decided to change the subject.

"Well, you see, Master Yen Sid kind of wants me to keep an eye on Crystal and maybe see if she can be convinced to reconsider taking the Mark of Mastery exam," Riku explained. "But I honestly don't know that I can pull that off."

"Master Yen Sid must be getting pretty desperate," noted Kairi.

"He's convinced that we need seven guardians of light," Riku nodded. "And if we can't gather all of the people he means for us to find, then we're going to need some dependable backups. Crystal is a solid investment because she's already undergone most of her training as Keyblade wielder and simply needs to be tested, but that can't happen as long as she's unwilling to take the exam."

"But she knows what's at stake so it probably won't be as hard as you think to change her mind about taking the exam," noted Sora. "Plus, I don't think Shiro is the only one who changed as a result of that trip to El Nido. Crystal seems a bit different too."

"Right, well, anyway, I'll see what I can do," Riku waved him off. "Now go on, get out of here. Don't you both have training to get to?" he added with a slight note of emphasis directed at Kairi.

"Come on Sora, let's go!" Kairi took him by the arm and dragged him out the door, leaving the room where Shiro had performed his Reality Marble demonstration and heading out of the mansion to start heading for the train station so they could reach Master Yen Sid's tower.

"He's right, you know," Namine pointed out to Riku. "Crystal is a little bit different now. The turbulence I sensed within her has dissipated."

"Okay, but what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Riku had to ask.

"I think being a vessel for the Goddess of Light was causing memories of her past lives to bleed into her present self," Namine tried to explain. "Because of that she would have felt like she was being led down many avenues all at once. Think about what she said to Master Yen Sid about wanting to master the way of the sword. That wasn't really her talking. It was a memory being echoed from one of her past lives. Now that Cosmos has been released it stands to reason that the only memories still present within Crystal are her own from her current lifetime. She's no longer regressing into her past selves without meaning to."

"And you think because of that she might reconsider becoming a Keyblade Master?" Riku pressed.

"In fact, I think she's already begun to reconsider that on her own," Namine confirmed. "All you have to do is wait."

"You know that's going to be easier said than done," Riku sighed while rubbing the back of his head. "Hopefully making up her mind isn't going to take too long."

"You can always wait here with me," noted Namine. "You know she's going to figure things out on her own. Being impatient with her isn't going to do you any good because she's stubborn and if you try to force the issue she'll fight you on it on principle. The best you can do is to stay out of her way until she comes to you."

"Should I be feeling sorry for Roxas?" Riku wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"Unlike you, Roxas doesn't go out of his way to tease her at every opportunity," Namine reminded him.

"So, it's my fault then," Riku had the foresight to look slightly embarrassed. "Sounds about right."


Isa had left already to return to his own room to follow through on getting changed out of his reindeer costume and into some casual clothes. In this case he was wearing some beige cargo pants and the long-anticipated Gabumon-print hoodie.


Upon reaching the library Roxas and Crystal soon discovered Hayner, Pence, and Olette already there. They weren't there for school, though, as Hayner lounged purposefully in an armchair with a stack of shonen manga volumes on his lap as he flipped through one of them while Pence and Olette were busily digging through the occult section where they seemed to be very much enjoying themselves as they exchanged notes back and forth while flipping through the visibly aged volumes on the shelves.

"Oh hey, we didn't know you were back in town!" Hayner greeted them just a little too loudly earning a shushing hiss from the librarian.

"So what brings you both to the public library?" Pence inquired.

"Aren't you supposed to be studying abroad or something as a cover for all that world hopping stuff you guys are doing?" added Olette.

"Something like that," Crystal admitted rather sheepishly. "Although at the moment I'm actually trying to find out more about Twilight Town."

"Unfortunately, there weren't any good books in the library inside the mansion," added Roxas. "That's why we decided to come here instead."

"Well, if you need to find anything specific, you can definitely count on me to point you in the right direction," Pence practically beamed.

"That'll be a huge help," Crystal nodded.

"He's not joking either," noted Hayner. "Pence probably knows his way around this place better than the folks running it."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Demyx proceeded to look a bit green in envy, before shooting a dirty look to Xion for even reminding him of Shiro's singing, before heading off to collect his own stuff so he could at least get his album to the publishers and all, restart his rise back to being a singing sensation and all that jazz.

Axel of course would head off as well to go talk with Barret as well as use the forest to find a spot to summon a few assassin nobodies to find out what hobbies they might have, and if they wanted one as well. of course after that he'd probably head to get some sea-salt ice cream and head for the Station tower to go watch the skies and all.

Roveth, and eventually Shiro, would find themselves back in the basement with Shiro having followed, a few quick typings, and a glare at his inbox a bit more, as if trying to ignore his burning curiosity about those unknown emails, either way he'd bring up the plains area that Shiro and Makenshi had trained in before, and readied it for Shiro's insertion, once he finished that he'd turn to give Shiro a thumbs up, neither not seeing a small eyeball popping up from the inbox, before closing again as Shiro chuckled "thanks, Mou Hitori no Boku." Roveth just chuckled, waving it off "not a problem, Aibou." he said, as Shiro had stepped into the beam of light, which instantly turned him into data, unfortunately, that was when -something- sprung up, and hijacked things, when Shiro opened his eyes, he was not in the plains area he was used to.. in fact.. he was in some odd as hell place looking like a trash bin or something similar ".... wait what the hell?" of course, cue Roveth also panicking and furiously typing and trying to find Shiro.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would give off a small frown, before putting his hands in his jacket pockets, his eyes lowering to a half-open state and their prismatic glow staring all too well at the peculiar dressed woman, then glancing around as his eyes seemed to study the odd glitched and distorted people in the area, only paying attention to those looking at him with curiosity before looking back at the woman once more "...while this place is.. interesting, to put it mildly.. i wouldn't exactly call it paradise." he said calmly enough, though at least he was being civil since the one who had brought him here seemed to be "you do know that once said 'user' finds out exactly what happened you're probably going to get traced and virus bombed to hell, if not physically tracked down and sent to the shadow realm for this, not my threats, but his given i know how my other half thinks when something happens to me." he said while tilting his head a bit "so what do i call you, and what is this place exactly?" he asked, deciding to get most pleasantries out of the way, and having more information is paramount, since for some reason he couldn't get anything going with his eyes at least, which was... strange, very strange.

Roveth of course continued looking, left, right, center, even thinking outside normal dimensions of binaries to dig deep in the system, before growling, and letting his eyes leak towards becoming inverted and blood red, before continuing to work, but the teeth gritting was definitely happening and Roveth was trying -incredibly- hard to not let -any- of his killing intent leak out right now with his anger starting to fray closer at the fibers of his sanity. "son of a b***h.... if i ever get my hands on whoever hijacked Shiro i'm going to dissolve them into tiny little molecules and then obliterate those molecules from existence!" he hissed out as he continued to type and all, trying to find Shiro amongst all his work within the network system, so on.