yes?

[sparrowthelink]

Link is a boy born of spite, a union between the queen, Hylia's descendant, and a descendant of Demise. Of course, Hylia didn't like this, so she gave him the hero's spirit. His entire existence is two deities trying to one up each other. He starkly chooses neither and prays to none.

Because of the contrasting nature of his bloodline, his magic is chaotic and had to be sealed away when he was young, after an outburst from the then toddler killed his father

His mother treats him like he's glass, sheltering him and never allowing him to go out in public

He has no hero title, as those are usually given by the people of the kingdom or by historians, and he has done nothing heroic before

---------

Timeline

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She takes the bottle, confused by it.

“What- what’s this for?”

*She notices the cat, gently and carefully scooping it up and moving it closer to Sparrow.

*Heal him. She can heal him.

“Can you- can you um, make sure that his arms are- are properly set? Sora says that you shouldn’t heal a broken bone without knowing it’s set properly.”

[sparrowthelink]

"Green potion, it restores energy"

*he hums, looking at the arms* "I can set them, if the magic seems to slide off, then stop, it means we have to break the seals first"

*the cat meows gratefully, curling up in Sparrow's lap* *Ghirahim begins setting the arms, using sticks and bits of destroyed rubble to create splints, ensuring they stay straight* "that should do it, drink the potion and then give it a try"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi looks at the potion again, hesitating. She sets it down on the table, grabbing a cube from her pocket and — after another moment of hesitation — smashes it against her own forehead. The magic inside absorbs into her body, and she blinks.

“..Okay, I don’t. See why the guys like to do that,, it feels weird.”

*She approaches Sparrow, gently putting a hand on his arm and using her magic to heal it. Her touch is so gentle he can’t even really feel it.

*She corrals her light, directing it to fuel her magic.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim jumps slightly when she does it, but calms when there's no glass in her forehead*

"yeah...it looks weird too. You alright?"

*the seals on Sparrows arms squirm under the magic, tightening around him as he lets out a pained groan*

*Ghirahim shakes his head*

"looks like we're going to have to break the seals first. Think you have the energy for it? We'll have to focus on specific runes"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Mhm! Ethers are made to be smashed like that; practicality over anything else.”

*She stops immediately, pulling her hand back in a snap. She takes a breath, putting one hand into her pocket. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead — this time, Ghirahim can see the pieces fizzle into magic and absorb as well.

*She has five left.

“Mhm. Tell me what to do.”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods, pointing at a rune* "focus your power on this one first. there is three runes you need to break, and they need to be broken in a specific order. it's like a passcode"

*Sparrow grumbles in his sleep, curling into Ghirahim* "he's not going to like this..."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Well, unfortunately it’s either the seals or- or his life. Isn’t it?”

*Corral the light. Calm it, sooth it, and use it. Let it wash over her, refreshing, powering her magic.

*She channels it gently into the rune, trying to use not too much power in order to break it.

[sparrowthelink]

"yes. At this point, it is."

*as magic flows into the rune, and it snaps. The seals begin to move slowly*

"perfect." He points at the next rune, harder to hit with the movement "focus on this one next"

*Sparrow tries to roll over, to protect his arms, but Ghirahim holds him still and the cat meows. Him struggling would only make this harder.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She hums that song she got from Sora again, moving her focus to the rune Ghirahim tells her too, letting her light help her. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead after it breaks. That’s four left.

[sparrowthelink]

"alright...one more and it's over... we're almost there little prince I promise, just a bit longer"

*Sparrow doesn't process the words. He's still unconscious. He processes that something hurts and that there's weird magic prying away at the seals that aren't supposed to come off.*

*he begins to struggle, kicking and shifting, Ghirahim grunts as a fist connects with his jaw, he shifts to put more pressure on the boys chest, holding him down*

"the last rune should be glowing now that it's taking the brunt of supporting the seals, we need to break it now! Kids small but there's not much to do locked in your room but read and work out. He's strong."

*a rune glows on Sparrow's chest, the one that connects both arms. That's the one you need to break while hopefully not getting kicked*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*The light soothes, it calms, it tries to relax and reassure. Kairi keeps humming, moving to Sparrow’s side. She tries to avoid getting hurt, even as she takes out and smashes another ether against her forehead. She corrals the light into the rune, cracking it, breaking it, breaking the seal.

*She needs to be able to heal him.

[sparrowthelink]

*the rune snaps, and the seals peel away from his skin, dissipating and floating away in the air like shards of broken glass*

*Sparrow stills when they break. You can feel the magic in the room growing, just by him being here.*

*how much power does this kid have, if destroying this whole castle was something he did while sealed away?*

*Ghirahim sighs in relief*

"right...we should be able to heal him now"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi does so, smashing yet another ether to refill her magic. Despite it, she’s only growing more and more exhausted. She’s never used her magic this much.

*Regardless, she starts to heal Sparrow’s arms, pouring the light into them to help. She thinks she’s going to take a nap after this. Yeah, a nap sounds nice.

[sparrowthelink]

*slowly, the arms heal, patching together, thought Ghirahim does notice the exhaustion* "that should be enough, we can heal the rest with potions"

*something shifts at the other side of the room* "Link? whats going on-" *the queen is awake, she see's Ghirahim* "what did you do to my son?!"

"What did I do?! You're the one who caused this! You took away his support system, of course he lashed out!"

*Ghirahim has put himself in front of Kairi and Sparrow now*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Right, yeah, uh..”

*The light doesn’t want to stop, but she pulls it away. She draws herself to her feet, unsteady but determined.

“Ma’am, you can’t jus… You can’t isolate him. Isolation is what leads to darkness festering in someone’s heart. He could wind up hating you.

[sparrowthelink]

*the queen snaps her head over to look at you* "What do you know?! I'm protecting him! if people saw what he could do they would kill him! it's best no one see's at all" *Ghirahim has had enough* "well doing this almost killed him too! you almost killed him!"

"Which would have never happened if you weren't such a bad influence! he is coming with me and you- BOTH of you will never see him again!"

*Ghirahim summons his sword* "Like hell he is! you're not going anywhere near him!"

*Sparrow shifts slightly. He's awake, but he's pretending he isn't*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi holds a hand out in front of Ghirahim, to stop him from using that sword. How would Sora do this?

“I’ve watched people, and places, lose themselves to the darkness. If you want him to hide it, teach him how to control it! Even that would be better than- than this!”

*She’s reminded of Elsa, of Rapunzel.

“The last time somebody tried to keep someone hidden, she escaped! She left, and she met so many new people, and then someone died when she was being forced to go back. And when someone told a woman to hide her powers, eventually the entire kingdom was stuck in a blizzard in the middle of summer!”

“Your choices are to cause the death of your son, or to let him be who he is. He can learn to control it. There are people who can teach him, who can show him, but if he stays trapped here your entire kingdom is doomed!”

[sparrowthelink]

*The queens face falls at that*

"no- no- you don't understand...he's a descendant of DEMISE. It's too dangerous... they'll hurt him... he'll hurt THEM! I have to protect him- yes, maybe the seals were a mistake, but he still needs to stay home, to stay with me!"

*a small tug comes on Kairi's sleeve. It's Sparrow, pale and shaking, but with a fire in his eyes that reminds her of Sora's*

"help me up, I need to talk to her."

*he gets it now, why she's doing this*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“He needs to learn how to control them! There are people out there — Sora, and Riku, or even Axel! — people that can help him learn to control it, or else your entire world could fall to darkness. That happened to me when I was young — it sucks!”

*She pauses at the tug, her gaze softening when she sees his determination. She helps Sparrow to his feet, supporting him as much as he needs her to.

[sparrowthelink]

*Sparrow leans heavily on Kairi, but he doesn't let his head droop, staring directly into his mother's eyes*

"you're scared I'm going to disappear like dad did."

*he states it plainly, blunt and stilling. The queen freezes.*

"you're scared of being alone. But what you forget, is that so am I. And you've forced me to be alone since I was a toddler."

*she looks like she might cry. He pushes forward.*

"you're not protecting me by keeping me isolated. You're trapping me in a cage. Do you remember what dad said about putting a bird in a cage?"

"a bird would rather die then never be able to fly."

*she's crying now*

"I'm only trying to protect you-"

"but you're not. You're killing me. And until you can understand that.." the boy looks to Ghirahim "I think we should go."

*the queen doesn't try to stop you*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She takes the bottle, confused by it.

“What- what’s this for?”

*She notices the cat, gently and carefully scooping it up and moving it closer to Sparrow.

*Heal him. She can heal him.

“Can you- can you um, make sure that his arms are- are properly set? Sora says that you shouldn’t heal a broken bone without knowing it’s set properly.”

[sparrowthelink]

"Green potion, it restores energy"

*he hums, looking at the arms* "I can set them, if the magic seems to slide off, then stop, it means we have to break the seals first"

*the cat meows gratefully, curling up in Sparrow's lap* *Ghirahim begins setting the arms, using sticks and bits of destroyed rubble to create splints, ensuring they stay straight* "that should do it, drink the potion and then give it a try"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi looks at the potion again, hesitating. She sets it down on the table, grabbing a cube from her pocket and — after another moment of hesitation — smashes it against her own forehead. The magic inside absorbs into her body, and she blinks.

“..Okay, I don’t. See why the guys like to do that,, it feels weird.”

*She approaches Sparrow, gently putting a hand on his arm and using her magic to heal it. Her touch is so gentle he can’t even really feel it.

*She corrals her light, directing it to fuel her magic.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim jumps slightly when she does it, but calms when there's no glass in her forehead*

"yeah...it looks weird too. You alright?"

*the seals on Sparrows arms squirm under the magic, tightening around him as he lets out a pained groan*

*Ghirahim shakes his head*

"looks like we're going to have to break the seals first. Think you have the energy for it? We'll have to focus on specific runes"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Mhm! Ethers are made to be smashed like that; practicality over anything else.”

*She stops immediately, pulling her hand back in a snap. She takes a breath, putting one hand into her pocket. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead — this time, Ghirahim can see the pieces fizzle into magic and absorb as well.

*She has five left.

“Mhm. Tell me what to do.”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods, pointing at a rune* "focus your power on this one first. there is three runes you need to break, and they need to be broken in a specific order. it's like a passcode"

*Sparrow grumbles in his sleep, curling into Ghirahim* "he's not going to like this..."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Well, unfortunately it’s either the seals or- or his life. Isn’t it?”

*Corral the light. Calm it, sooth it, and use it. Let it wash over her, refreshing, powering her magic.

*She channels it gently into the rune, trying to use not too much power in order to break it.

[sparrowthelink]

"yes. At this point, it is."

*as magic flows into the rune, and it snaps. The seals begin to move slowly*

"perfect." He points at the next rune, harder to hit with the movement "focus on this one next"

*Sparrow tries to roll over, to protect his arms, but Ghirahim holds him still and the cat meows. Him struggling would only make this harder.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She hums that song she got from Sora again, moving her focus to the rune Ghirahim tells her too, letting her light help her. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead after it breaks. That’s four left.

[sparrowthelink]

"alright...one more and it's over... we're almost there little prince I promise, just a bit longer"

*Sparrow doesn't process the words. He's still unconscious. He processes that something hurts and that there's weird magic prying away at the seals that aren't supposed to come off.*

*he begins to struggle, kicking and shifting, Ghirahim grunts as a fist connects with his jaw, he shifts to put more pressure on the boys chest, holding him down*

"the last rune should be glowing now that it's taking the brunt of supporting the seals, we need to break it now! Kids small but there's not much to do locked in your room but read and work out. He's strong."

*a rune glows on Sparrow's chest, the one that connects both arms. That's the one you need to break while hopefully not getting kicked*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*The light soothes, it calms, it tries to relax and reassure. Kairi keeps humming, moving to Sparrow’s side. She tries to avoid getting hurt, even as she takes out and smashes another ether against her forehead. She corrals the light into the rune, cracking it, breaking it, breaking the seal.

*She needs to be able to heal him.

[sparrowthelink]

*the rune snaps, and the seals peel away from his skin, dissipating and floating away in the air like shards of broken glass*

*Sparrow stills when they break. You can feel the magic in the room growing, just by him being here.*

*how much power does this kid have, if destroying this whole castle was something he did while sealed away?*

*Ghirahim sighs in relief*

"right...we should be able to heal him now"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi does so, smashing yet another ether to refill her magic. Despite it, she’s only growing more and more exhausted. She’s never used her magic this much.

*Regardless, she starts to heal Sparrow’s arms, pouring the light into them to help. She thinks she’s going to take a nap after this. Yeah, a nap sounds nice.

[sparrowthelink]

*slowly, the arms heal, patching together, thought Ghirahim does notice the exhaustion* "that should be enough, we can heal the rest with potions"

*something shifts at the other side of the room* "Link? whats going on-" *the queen is awake, she see's Ghirahim* "what did you do to my son?!"

"What did I do?! You're the one who caused this! You took away his support system, of course he lashed out!"

*Ghirahim has put himself in front of Kairi and Sparrow now*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Right, yeah, uh..”

*The light doesn’t want to stop, but she pulls it away. She draws herself to her feet, unsteady but determined.

“Ma’am, you can’t jus… You can’t isolate him. Isolation is what leads to darkness festering in someone’s heart. He could wind up hating you.

[sparrowthelink]

*the queen snaps her head over to look at you* "What do you know?! I'm protecting him! if people saw what he could do they would kill him! it's best no one see's at all" *Ghirahim has had enough* "well doing this almost killed him too! you almost killed him!"

"Which would have never happened if you weren't such a bad influence! he is coming with me and you- BOTH of you will never see him again!"

*Ghirahim summons his sword* "Like hell he is! you're not going anywhere near him!"

*Sparrow shifts slightly. He's awake, but he's pretending he isn't*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi holds a hand out in front of Ghirahim, to stop him from using that sword. How would Sora do this?

“I’ve watched people, and places, lose themselves to the darkness. If you want him to hide it, teach him how to control it! Even that would be better than- than this!”

*She’s reminded of Elsa, of Rapunzel.

“The last time somebody tried to keep someone hidden, she escaped! She left, and she met so many new people, and then someone died when she was being forced to go back. And when someone told a woman to hide her powers, eventually the entire kingdom was stuck in a blizzard in the middle of summer!”

“Your choices are to cause the death of your son, or to let him be who he is. He can learn to control it. There are people who can teach him, who can show him, but if he stays trapped here your entire kingdom is doomed!”

[sparrowthelink]

*The queens face falls at that*

"no- no- you don't understand...he's a descendant of DEMISE. It's too dangerous... they'll hurt him... he'll hurt THEM! I have to protect him- yes, maybe the seals were a mistake, but he still needs to stay home, to stay with me!"

*a small tug comes on Kairi's sleeve. It's Sparrow, pale and shaking, but with a fire in his eyes that reminds her of Sora's*

"help me up, I need to talk to her."

*he gets it now, why she's doing this*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She takes the bottle, confused by it.

“What- what’s this for?”

*She notices the cat, gently and carefully scooping it up and moving it closer to Sparrow.

*Heal him. She can heal him.

“Can you- can you um, make sure that his arms are- are properly set? Sora says that you shouldn’t heal a broken bone without knowing it’s set properly.”

[sparrowthelink]

"Green potion, it restores energy"

*he hums, looking at the arms* "I can set them, if the magic seems to slide off, then stop, it means we have to break the seals first"

*the cat meows gratefully, curling up in Sparrow's lap* *Ghirahim begins setting the arms, using sticks and bits of destroyed rubble to create splints, ensuring they stay straight* "that should do it, drink the potion and then give it a try"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi looks at the potion again, hesitating. She sets it down on the table, grabbing a cube from her pocket and — after another moment of hesitation — smashes it against her own forehead. The magic inside absorbs into her body, and she blinks.

“..Okay, I don’t. See why the guys like to do that,, it feels weird.”

*She approaches Sparrow, gently putting a hand on his arm and using her magic to heal it. Her touch is so gentle he can’t even really feel it.

*She corrals her light, directing it to fuel her magic.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim jumps slightly when she does it, but calms when there's no glass in her forehead*

"yeah...it looks weird too. You alright?"

*the seals on Sparrows arms squirm under the magic, tightening around him as he lets out a pained groan*

*Ghirahim shakes his head*

"looks like we're going to have to break the seals first. Think you have the energy for it? We'll have to focus on specific runes"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Mhm! Ethers are made to be smashed like that; practicality over anything else.”

*She stops immediately, pulling her hand back in a snap. She takes a breath, putting one hand into her pocket. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead — this time, Ghirahim can see the pieces fizzle into magic and absorb as well.

*She has five left.

“Mhm. Tell me what to do.”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods, pointing at a rune* "focus your power on this one first. there is three runes you need to break, and they need to be broken in a specific order. it's like a passcode"

*Sparrow grumbles in his sleep, curling into Ghirahim* "he's not going to like this..."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Well, unfortunately it’s either the seals or- or his life. Isn’t it?”

*Corral the light. Calm it, sooth it, and use it. Let it wash over her, refreshing, powering her magic.

*She channels it gently into the rune, trying to use not too much power in order to break it.

[sparrowthelink]

"yes. At this point, it is."

*as magic flows into the rune, and it snaps. The seals begin to move slowly*

"perfect." He points at the next rune, harder to hit with the movement "focus on this one next"

*Sparrow tries to roll over, to protect his arms, but Ghirahim holds him still and the cat meows. Him struggling would only make this harder.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She hums that song she got from Sora again, moving her focus to the rune Ghirahim tells her too, letting her light help her. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead after it breaks. That’s four left.

[sparrowthelink]

"alright...one more and it's over... we're almost there little prince I promise, just a bit longer"

*Sparrow doesn't process the words. He's still unconscious. He processes that something hurts and that there's weird magic prying away at the seals that aren't supposed to come off.*

*he begins to struggle, kicking and shifting, Ghirahim grunts as a fist connects with his jaw, he shifts to put more pressure on the boys chest, holding him down*

"the last rune should be glowing now that it's taking the brunt of supporting the seals, we need to break it now! Kids small but there's not much to do locked in your room but read and work out. He's strong."

*a rune glows on Sparrow's chest, the one that connects both arms. That's the one you need to break while hopefully not getting kicked*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*The light soothes, it calms, it tries to relax and reassure. Kairi keeps humming, moving to Sparrow’s side. She tries to avoid getting hurt, even as she takes out and smashes another ether against her forehead. She corrals the light into the rune, cracking it, breaking it, breaking the seal.

*She needs to be able to heal him.

[sparrowthelink]

*the rune snaps, and the seals peel away from his skin, dissipating and floating away in the air like shards of broken glass*

*Sparrow stills when they break. You can feel the magic in the room growing, just by him being here.*

*how much power does this kid have, if destroying this whole castle was something he did while sealed away?*

*Ghirahim sighs in relief*

"right...we should be able to heal him now"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi does so, smashing yet another ether to refill her magic. Despite it, she’s only growing more and more exhausted. She’s never used her magic this much.

*Regardless, she starts to heal Sparrow’s arms, pouring the light into them to help. She thinks she’s going to take a nap after this. Yeah, a nap sounds nice.

[sparrowthelink]

*slowly, the arms heal, patching together, thought Ghirahim does notice the exhaustion* "that should be enough, we can heal the rest with potions"

*something shifts at the other side of the room* "Link? whats going on-" *the queen is awake, she see's Ghirahim* "what did you do to my son?!"

"What did I do?! You're the one who caused this! You took away his support system, of course he lashed out!"

*Ghirahim has put himself in front of Kairi and Sparrow now*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Right, yeah, uh..”

*The light doesn’t want to stop, but she pulls it away. She draws herself to her feet, unsteady but determined.

“Ma’am, you can’t jus… You can’t isolate him. Isolation is what leads to darkness festering in someone’s heart. He could wind up hating you.

[sparrowthelink]

*the queen snaps her head over to look at you* "What do you know?! I'm protecting him! if people saw what he could do they would kill him! it's best no one see's at all" *Ghirahim has had enough* "well doing this almost killed him too! you almost killed him!"

"Which would have never happened if you weren't such a bad influence! he is coming with me and you- BOTH of you will never see him again!"

*Ghirahim summons his sword* "Like hell he is! you're not going anywhere near him!"

*Sparrow shifts slightly. He's awake, but he's pretending he isn't*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She takes the bottle, confused by it.

“What- what’s this for?”

*She notices the cat, gently and carefully scooping it up and moving it closer to Sparrow.

*Heal him. She can heal him.

“Can you- can you um, make sure that his arms are- are properly set? Sora says that you shouldn’t heal a broken bone without knowing it’s set properly.”

[sparrowthelink]

"Green potion, it restores energy"

*he hums, looking at the arms* "I can set them, if the magic seems to slide off, then stop, it means we have to break the seals first"

*the cat meows gratefully, curling up in Sparrow's lap* *Ghirahim begins setting the arms, using sticks and bits of destroyed rubble to create splints, ensuring they stay straight* "that should do it, drink the potion and then give it a try"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi looks at the potion again, hesitating. She sets it down on the table, grabbing a cube from her pocket and — after another moment of hesitation — smashes it against her own forehead. The magic inside absorbs into her body, and she blinks.

“..Okay, I don’t. See why the guys like to do that,, it feels weird.”

*She approaches Sparrow, gently putting a hand on his arm and using her magic to heal it. Her touch is so gentle he can’t even really feel it.

*She corrals her light, directing it to fuel her magic.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim jumps slightly when she does it, but calms when there's no glass in her forehead*

"yeah...it looks weird too. You alright?"

*the seals on Sparrows arms squirm under the magic, tightening around him as he lets out a pained groan*

*Ghirahim shakes his head*

"looks like we're going to have to break the seals first. Think you have the energy for it? We'll have to focus on specific runes"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Mhm! Ethers are made to be smashed like that; practicality over anything else.”

*She stops immediately, pulling her hand back in a snap. She takes a breath, putting one hand into her pocket. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead — this time, Ghirahim can see the pieces fizzle into magic and absorb as well.

*She has five left.

“Mhm. Tell me what to do.”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods, pointing at a rune* "focus your power on this one first. there is three runes you need to break, and they need to be broken in a specific order. it's like a passcode"

*Sparrow grumbles in his sleep, curling into Ghirahim* "he's not going to like this..."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Well, unfortunately it’s either the seals or- or his life. Isn’t it?”

*Corral the light. Calm it, sooth it, and use it. Let it wash over her, refreshing, powering her magic.

*She channels it gently into the rune, trying to use not too much power in order to break it.

[sparrowthelink]

"yes. At this point, it is."

*as magic flows into the rune, and it snaps. The seals begin to move slowly*

"perfect." He points at the next rune, harder to hit with the movement "focus on this one next"

*Sparrow tries to roll over, to protect his arms, but Ghirahim holds him still and the cat meows. Him struggling would only make this harder.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She hums that song she got from Sora again, moving her focus to the rune Ghirahim tells her too, letting her light help her. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead after it breaks. That’s four left.

[sparrowthelink]

"alright...one more and it's over... we're almost there little prince I promise, just a bit longer"

*Sparrow doesn't process the words. He's still unconscious. He processes that something hurts and that there's weird magic prying away at the seals that aren't supposed to come off.*

*he begins to struggle, kicking and shifting, Ghirahim grunts as a fist connects with his jaw, he shifts to put more pressure on the boys chest, holding him down*

"the last rune should be glowing now that it's taking the brunt of supporting the seals, we need to break it now! Kids small but there's not much to do locked in your room but read and work out. He's strong."

*a rune glows on Sparrow's chest, the one that connects both arms. That's the one you need to break while hopefully not getting kicked*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*The light soothes, it calms, it tries to relax and reassure. Kairi keeps humming, moving to Sparrow’s side. She tries to avoid getting hurt, even as she takes out and smashes another ether against her forehead. She corrals the light into the rune, cracking it, breaking it, breaking the seal.

*She needs to be able to heal him.

[sparrowthelink]

*the rune snaps, and the seals peel away from his skin, dissipating and floating away in the air like shards of broken glass*

*Sparrow stills when they break. You can feel the magic in the room growing, just by him being here.*

*how much power does this kid have, if destroying this whole castle was something he did while sealed away?*

*Ghirahim sighs in relief*

"right...we should be able to heal him now"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi does so, smashing yet another ether to refill her magic. Despite it, she’s only growing more and more exhausted. She’s never used her magic this much.

*Regardless, she starts to heal Sparrow’s arms, pouring the light into them to help. She thinks she’s going to take a nap after this. Yeah, a nap sounds nice.

[sparrowthelink]

*slowly, the arms heal, patching together, thought Ghirahim does notice the exhaustion* "that should be enough, we can heal the rest with potions"

*something shifts at the other side of the room* "Link? whats going on-" *the queen is awake, she see's Ghirahim* "what did you do to my son?!"

"What did I do?! You're the one who caused this! You took away his support system, of course he lashed out!"

*Ghirahim has put himself in front of Kairi and Sparrow now*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She takes the bottle, confused by it.

“What- what’s this for?”

*She notices the cat, gently and carefully scooping it up and moving it closer to Sparrow.

*Heal him. She can heal him.

“Can you- can you um, make sure that his arms are- are properly set? Sora says that you shouldn’t heal a broken bone without knowing it’s set properly.”

[sparrowthelink]

"Green potion, it restores energy"

*he hums, looking at the arms* "I can set them, if the magic seems to slide off, then stop, it means we have to break the seals first"

*the cat meows gratefully, curling up in Sparrow's lap* *Ghirahim begins setting the arms, using sticks and bits of destroyed rubble to create splints, ensuring they stay straight* "that should do it, drink the potion and then give it a try"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi looks at the potion again, hesitating. She sets it down on the table, grabbing a cube from her pocket and — after another moment of hesitation — smashes it against her own forehead. The magic inside absorbs into her body, and she blinks.

“..Okay, I don’t. See why the guys like to do that,, it feels weird.”

*She approaches Sparrow, gently putting a hand on his arm and using her magic to heal it. Her touch is so gentle he can’t even really feel it.

*She corrals her light, directing it to fuel her magic.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim jumps slightly when she does it, but calms when there's no glass in her forehead*

"yeah...it looks weird too. You alright?"

*the seals on Sparrows arms squirm under the magic, tightening around him as he lets out a pained groan*

*Ghirahim shakes his head*

"looks like we're going to have to break the seals first. Think you have the energy for it? We'll have to focus on specific runes"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Mhm! Ethers are made to be smashed like that; practicality over anything else.”

*She stops immediately, pulling her hand back in a snap. She takes a breath, putting one hand into her pocket. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead — this time, Ghirahim can see the pieces fizzle into magic and absorb as well.

*She has five left.

“Mhm. Tell me what to do.”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods, pointing at a rune* "focus your power on this one first. there is three runes you need to break, and they need to be broken in a specific order. it's like a passcode"

*Sparrow grumbles in his sleep, curling into Ghirahim* "he's not going to like this..."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Well, unfortunately it’s either the seals or- or his life. Isn’t it?”

*Corral the light. Calm it, sooth it, and use it. Let it wash over her, refreshing, powering her magic.

*She channels it gently into the rune, trying to use not too much power in order to break it.

[sparrowthelink]

"yes. At this point, it is."

*as magic flows into the rune, and it snaps. The seals begin to move slowly*

"perfect." He points at the next rune, harder to hit with the movement "focus on this one next"

*Sparrow tries to roll over, to protect his arms, but Ghirahim holds him still and the cat meows. Him struggling would only make this harder.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She hums that song she got from Sora again, moving her focus to the rune Ghirahim tells her too, letting her light help her. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead after it breaks. That’s four left.

[sparrowthelink]

"alright...one more and it's over... we're almost there little prince I promise, just a bit longer"

*Sparrow doesn't process the words. He's still unconscious. He processes that something hurts and that there's weird magic prying away at the seals that aren't supposed to come off.*

*he begins to struggle, kicking and shifting, Ghirahim grunts as a fist connects with his jaw, he shifts to put more pressure on the boys chest, holding him down*

"the last rune should be glowing now that it's taking the brunt of supporting the seals, we need to break it now! Kids small but there's not much to do locked in your room but read and work out. He's strong."

*a rune glows on Sparrow's chest, the one that connects both arms. That's the one you need to break while hopefully not getting kicked*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*The light soothes, it calms, it tries to relax and reassure. Kairi keeps humming, moving to Sparrow’s side. She tries to avoid getting hurt, even as she takes out and smashes another ether against her forehead. She corrals the light into the rune, cracking it, breaking it, breaking the seal.

*She needs to be able to heal him.

[sparrowthelink]

*the rune snaps, and the seals peel away from his skin, dissipating and floating away in the air like shards of broken glass*

*Sparrow stills when they break. You can feel the magic in the room growing, just by him being here.*

*how much power does this kid have, if destroying this whole castle was something he did while sealed away?*

*Ghirahim sighs in relief*

"right...we should be able to heal him now"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She takes the bottle, confused by it.

“What- what’s this for?”

*She notices the cat, gently and carefully scooping it up and moving it closer to Sparrow.

*Heal him. She can heal him.

“Can you- can you um, make sure that his arms are- are properly set? Sora says that you shouldn’t heal a broken bone without knowing it’s set properly.”

[sparrowthelink]

"Green potion, it restores energy"

*he hums, looking at the arms* "I can set them, if the magic seems to slide off, then stop, it means we have to break the seals first"

*the cat meows gratefully, curling up in Sparrow's lap* *Ghirahim begins setting the arms, using sticks and bits of destroyed rubble to create splints, ensuring they stay straight* "that should do it, drink the potion and then give it a try"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi looks at the potion again, hesitating. She sets it down on the table, grabbing a cube from her pocket and — after another moment of hesitation — smashes it against her own forehead. The magic inside absorbs into her body, and she blinks.

“..Okay, I don’t. See why the guys like to do that,, it feels weird.”

*She approaches Sparrow, gently putting a hand on his arm and using her magic to heal it. Her touch is so gentle he can’t even really feel it.

*She corrals her light, directing it to fuel her magic.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim jumps slightly when she does it, but calms when there's no glass in her forehead*

"yeah...it looks weird too. You alright?"

*the seals on Sparrows arms squirm under the magic, tightening around him as he lets out a pained groan*

*Ghirahim shakes his head*

"looks like we're going to have to break the seals first. Think you have the energy for it? We'll have to focus on specific runes"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Mhm! Ethers are made to be smashed like that; practicality over anything else.”

*She stops immediately, pulling her hand back in a snap. She takes a breath, putting one hand into her pocket. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead — this time, Ghirahim can see the pieces fizzle into magic and absorb as well.

*She has five left.

“Mhm. Tell me what to do.”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods, pointing at a rune* "focus your power on this one first. there is three runes you need to break, and they need to be broken in a specific order. it's like a passcode"

*Sparrow grumbles in his sleep, curling into Ghirahim* "he's not going to like this..."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Well, unfortunately it’s either the seals or- or his life. Isn’t it?”

*Corral the light. Calm it, sooth it, and use it. Let it wash over her, refreshing, powering her magic.

*She channels it gently into the rune, trying to use not too much power in order to break it.

[sparrowthelink]

"yes. At this point, it is."

*as magic flows into the rune, and it snaps. The seals begin to move slowly*

"perfect." He points at the next rune, harder to hit with the movement "focus on this one next"

*Sparrow tries to roll over, to protect his arms, but Ghirahim holds him still and the cat meows. Him struggling would only make this harder.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She hums that song she got from Sora again, moving her focus to the rune Ghirahim tells her too, letting her light help her. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead after it breaks. That’s four left.

[sparrowthelink]

"alright...one more and it's over... we're almost there little prince I promise, just a bit longer"

*Sparrow doesn't process the words. He's still unconscious. He processes that something hurts and that there's weird magic prying away at the seals that aren't supposed to come off.*

*he begins to struggle, kicking and shifting, Ghirahim grunts as a fist connects with his jaw, he shifts to put more pressure on the boys chest, holding him down*

"the last rune should be glowing now that it's taking the brunt of supporting the seals, we need to break it now! Kids small but there's not much to do locked in your room but read and work out. He's strong."

*a rune glows on Sparrow's chest, the one that connects both arms. That's the one you need to break while hopefully not getting kicked*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She takes the bottle, confused by it.

“What- what’s this for?”

*She notices the cat, gently and carefully scooping it up and moving it closer to Sparrow.

*Heal him. She can heal him.

“Can you- can you um, make sure that his arms are- are properly set? Sora says that you shouldn’t heal a broken bone without knowing it’s set properly.”

[sparrowthelink]

"Green potion, it restores energy"

*he hums, looking at the arms* "I can set them, if the magic seems to slide off, then stop, it means we have to break the seals first"

*the cat meows gratefully, curling up in Sparrow's lap* *Ghirahim begins setting the arms, using sticks and bits of destroyed rubble to create splints, ensuring they stay straight* "that should do it, drink the potion and then give it a try"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi looks at the potion again, hesitating. She sets it down on the table, grabbing a cube from her pocket and — after another moment of hesitation — smashes it against her own forehead. The magic inside absorbs into her body, and she blinks.

“..Okay, I don’t. See why the guys like to do that,, it feels weird.”

*She approaches Sparrow, gently putting a hand on his arm and using her magic to heal it. Her touch is so gentle he can’t even really feel it.

*She corrals her light, directing it to fuel her magic.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim jumps slightly when she does it, but calms when there's no glass in her forehead*

"yeah...it looks weird too. You alright?"

*the seals on Sparrows arms squirm under the magic, tightening around him as he lets out a pained groan*

*Ghirahim shakes his head*

"looks like we're going to have to break the seals first. Think you have the energy for it? We'll have to focus on specific runes"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Mhm! Ethers are made to be smashed like that; practicality over anything else.”

*She stops immediately, pulling her hand back in a snap. She takes a breath, putting one hand into her pocket. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead — this time, Ghirahim can see the pieces fizzle into magic and absorb as well.

*She has five left.

“Mhm. Tell me what to do.”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods, pointing at a rune* "focus your power on this one first. there is three runes you need to break, and they need to be broken in a specific order. it's like a passcode"

*Sparrow grumbles in his sleep, curling into Ghirahim* "he's not going to like this..."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Well, unfortunately it’s either the seals or- or his life. Isn’t it?”

*Corral the light. Calm it, sooth it, and use it. Let it wash over her, refreshing, powering her magic.

*She channels it gently into the rune, trying to use not too much power in order to break it.

[sparrowthelink]

"yes. At this point, it is."

*as magic flows into the rune, and it snaps. The seals begin to move slowly*

"perfect." He points at the next rune, harder to hit with the movement "focus on this one next"

*Sparrow tries to roll over, to protect his arms, but Ghirahim holds him still and the cat meows. Him struggling would only make this harder.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She takes the bottle, confused by it.

“What- what’s this for?”

*She notices the cat, gently and carefully scooping it up and moving it closer to Sparrow.

*Heal him. She can heal him.

“Can you- can you um, make sure that his arms are- are properly set? Sora says that you shouldn’t heal a broken bone without knowing it’s set properly.”

[sparrowthelink]

"Green potion, it restores energy"

*he hums, looking at the arms* "I can set them, if the magic seems to slide off, then stop, it means we have to break the seals first"

*the cat meows gratefully, curling up in Sparrow's lap* *Ghirahim begins setting the arms, using sticks and bits of destroyed rubble to create splints, ensuring they stay straight* "that should do it, drink the potion and then give it a try"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi looks at the potion again, hesitating. She sets it down on the table, grabbing a cube from her pocket and — after another moment of hesitation — smashes it against her own forehead. The magic inside absorbs into her body, and she blinks.

“..Okay, I don’t. See why the guys like to do that,, it feels weird.”

*She approaches Sparrow, gently putting a hand on his arm and using her magic to heal it. Her touch is so gentle he can’t even really feel it.

*She corrals her light, directing it to fuel her magic.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim jumps slightly when she does it, but calms when there's no glass in her forehead*

"yeah...it looks weird too. You alright?"

*the seals on Sparrows arms squirm under the magic, tightening around him as he lets out a pained groan*

*Ghirahim shakes his head*

"looks like we're going to have to break the seals first. Think you have the energy for it? We'll have to focus on specific runes"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Mhm! Ethers are made to be smashed like that; practicality over anything else.”

*She stops immediately, pulling her hand back in a snap. She takes a breath, putting one hand into her pocket. She pulls out another ether and smashes it against her forehead — this time, Ghirahim can see the pieces fizzle into magic and absorb as well.

*She has five left.

“Mhm. Tell me what to do.”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods, pointing at a rune* "focus your power on this one first. there is three runes you need to break, and they need to be broken in a specific order. it's like a passcode"

*Sparrow grumbles in his sleep, curling into Ghirahim* "he's not going to like this..."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She takes the bottle, confused by it.

“What- what’s this for?”

*She notices the cat, gently and carefully scooping it up and moving it closer to Sparrow.

*Heal him. She can heal him.

“Can you- can you um, make sure that his arms are- are properly set? Sora says that you shouldn’t heal a broken bone without knowing it’s set properly.”

[sparrowthelink]

"Green potion, it restores energy"

*he hums, looking at the arms* "I can set them, if the magic seems to slide off, then stop, it means we have to break the seals first"

*the cat meows gratefully, curling up in Sparrow's lap* *Ghirahim begins setting the arms, using sticks and bits of destroyed rubble to create splints, ensuring they stay straight* "that should do it, drink the potion and then give it a try"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi looks at the potion again, hesitating. She sets it down on the table, grabbing a cube from her pocket and — after another moment of hesitation — smashes it against her own forehead. The magic inside absorbs into her body, and she blinks.

“..Okay, I don’t. See why the guys like to do that,, it feels weird.”

*She approaches Sparrow, gently putting a hand on his arm and using her magic to heal it. Her touch is so gentle he can’t even really feel it.

*She corrals her light, directing it to fuel her magic.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim jumps slightly when she does it, but calms when there's no glass in her forehead*

"yeah...it looks weird too. You alright?"

*the seals on Sparrows arms squirm under the magic, tightening around him as he lets out a pained groan*

*Ghirahim shakes his head*

"looks like we're going to have to break the seals first. Think you have the energy for it? We'll have to focus on specific runes"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She takes the bottle, confused by it.

“What- what’s this for?”

*She notices the cat, gently and carefully scooping it up and moving it closer to Sparrow.

*Heal him. She can heal him.

“Can you- can you um, make sure that his arms are- are properly set? Sora says that you shouldn’t heal a broken bone without knowing it’s set properly.”

[sparrowthelink]

"Green potion, it restores energy"

*he hums, looking at the arms* "I can set them, if the magic seems to slide off, then stop, it means we have to break the seals first"

*the cat meows gratefully, curling up in Sparrow's lap* *Ghirahim begins setting the arms, using sticks and bits of destroyed rubble to create splints, ensuring they stay straight* "that should do it, drink the potion and then give it a try"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She starts to carefully make her way across, but at some point she slips, falling off the table with a surprised cry. Shes quick to climb back onto the table, but now she feels like she wants to take a nap.

*But she pushes past it, continuing to move until she can hand the flower to the sword-man.

[sparrowthelink]

*Ghirahim makes a sound when you fall in, clearly concerned, but when he gets the flower he looks back to Sparrow*

*he does pass you a container full of green liquid though*

*Ghirahim holds the flower under Sparrows nose*

"Little Prince, I need you to take a deep breath, ok? Just keep breathing it in...there we go.."

*Sparrow breaths, and breaths, and then goes limp, caught by Ghiri before he lands on his arm, who holds him as close as he physically can, digging through his bag for something*

"ok, we've got him. We need to heal him before he loses any more blood. I'm not sure if magic will work..the seals keep magic in, they might keep it out as well"

*the gloom recedes, allowing you to move around freely. A cat appears out of nowhere, clearly tired after probably being caught in the gloom, but determined to get to her owner*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She yelps when the spear comes near her, she doesn’t know what to do.

*..She figures that it should be safe enough. So she gathers up the light inside her-

*She summons her Keyblade, points it to the sky-

*And she calls out the name of the spell-

“Holy!”

*Light rains down around her, but she centers it to the skeleton. It strikes the target, and she’s running as soon as it crumples, headed for the other door.

[sparrowthelink]

*the skeleton crumbles quickly under the light, and you make it to the door easily*

*gloom has begun to creep up on the table, but you can still cross. Just be careful where you step*

*Sparrow is still sobbing, painful gasps that make your heart clench*

"quick! I don't think he can take much more of this"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She doesn’t give a reply, making her way carefully back across the tables as she mumbles the information under her breath.

“Five from the door..Three from the ground..”

*She manages to find it without too much trouble, and is on her way back in just a few minutes. She holds the flower in one hand, away from her face.

[sparrowthelink]

*when you get back into the large hallway, one of the doors is blocked by debris, and something is moving around.*

*a living skeleton (bokoblin stal) swings around to face Kairi, spear in hand*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She winces at the sight of his arms, trying to think of what in the Realm of Light Sora would do here.

*What was that song Sora was always humming again?

*She starts humming it as best she can, hoping it’ll help to calm him down.

[sparrowthelink]

*the song...does seem to calm Sparrow a bit, atleast so he can sorta talk*

"I can't- sorry- can't calm-"

*his sentence keeps getting interrupted by sobs*

*Ghirahim seems to understand though*

"Little Prince, do you remember the backup plan we made? I'm going to have to use it, ok"

*the boy nods, a jerky movement that could have just been how badly he was shaking. Ghirahim looks to Kairi*

"down the stairs across from this room is the armory, hidden behind a brick, five bricks from the door, three bricks up from the ground, is a purple flower. Do not Inhale the pollen, it's made to daze people, and it should put the kid to sleep."

*Ghirahim continues talking to the kid, giving him something to focus on*

"I can't leave him right now, can you get it?"

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right!”

*She follows him, losing her balance once or twice. Something swirls in her stomach, she doesn’t like the way he hates her. She doesn’t know why she’s trusting him, either.

“Do I break the seals, then? After he’s calm?”

[sparrowthelink]

"we might have to break the seals, but I don't know. Sparrows scared of losing those seals...he's scared stuff like this will happen without them."

*Ghirahim tenses slightly*

"but that doesn't matter right now, if we have to break the seals then break them. We'll deal with the consequences later."

*soon they get to the kid, from here you can see the seals, tightening around his arms painfully. There's already a bone poking out of one. Tears leak from his eyes, mixing with blood from his arms, but his face is blank.*

*Ghirahim kneels down on the table, getting as close to the kid as possible*

"Link, hey, Link, Little Prince, Sparrow. Can you hear me? It's ok, it's ok now, I'm here. I need you to take a breath for me"

*he doesn't respond*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*Kairi Is on the beach at home, doing something, maybe collecting shells, maybe training*

*and then a portal opens under her feet, and she's thrown into a collapsible castle.*

*the magic of the portal is not dark, but laced with desperation*

@sparrowthelink

*Kairi had been practicing what Twig taught her, at least the best she could. She cries out in surprise when she falls, landing on her arm with a grunt. It doesn’t feel broken, though it does hurt. She gets to her feet, and—

*Something is wrong. She can feel it so intrinsically.

*She rushes out of the room she’s in, following where the light guides her.

[sparrowthelink]

*the entire building shakes as she comes to a set of stares, you hear the clatter of metal as a man runs past*

*looking around, it seems like he dropped a sword. Sealing magic coats it, but it struggles, desperate and afraid like a cornered animal*

*part of the ceiling falls, blocking the way back*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She cries out in surprise when the ceiling falls behind her. Regardless, she hurries over and picks up the sword, the light that protects her wants to break the seal. She spends some effort fighting that off, but she doesn’t try too hard.

*Regardless, she keeps moving, heading toward the source of all of this.

[sparrowthelink]

*when Kairi makes contact with the sword, she hears a quiet, distorted voice*

"don't- hurt... can't control...it.."

*making it up the stairs, you find a door leading to a large room, a strange black substance, with flickering white covers the walls and parts of the floor, your light pulls away from it, almost fearful. You shouldn't touch it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She flinches in surprise, startled by the voice.

“I..Wasn’t planning to hurt anyone.”

*That’s good to know, at least.

*She stops at the entrance to the room, staring inside.

“What’s…happening here?”

[sparrowthelink]

"hurt...scared....lost control...hurts...to use....he could... die"

*it sounds so scared...*

"help him, please"

*inside the room, the substance covers the floor, looks like a game of the floor in lava for you. At the other end of the room, barely visible curled up and covered in the strange substance is...a boy. A child no older than 12.*

*his eyes are blurry and unfocused as tears leak from them. He's the source of this, but he has no control over it*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Okay. Um. What would Sora do? He would, he’d…”

*She focuses her light, trying to overpower the seals on the sword.

*She looks at the substance, poking it lightly with her Keyblade, trying to see what it does.

[sparrowthelink]

*the seals fall away easily, and then the sword shifts, and a man is standing next to you, stretching*

"much better. I wouldn't touch that, even with your blade. It eats away at metal and drains energy."

*he's not lying, even touching it with your blade, you feel tired*

*it's raining outside, the rain is blood red.*

"the kids name is Link, but he prefers Sparrow. He can't control his magic, usually I can calm him before it gets this bad, but the idiot queen sealed me away. His magic is sealed away, pushing past the seals like this could kill him. We need to be fast."

*the man talks fast, scanning the area for a way to get to Link*

"we can use the tables to cross."

*another woman lays in the substance, unconscious. You'd guess that's the queen then.*

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

*She dismisses the Keyblade, pulling her hand back. The light she holds doesn’t like this.

*She jumps at the appearance of the man, startled, but decides against questioning it.

“R-right.”

*Theres no way she can do this. She doesn’t know why she was brought here, but they should’ve found Sora. He’d have a much better time.

“What if I fall?”

*She shifts, trying to get the confidence to *jump*. Sparrow could die, it’s no time to be selfish.

[sparrowthelink]

"then get out quickly, before it can drain you. It won't kill you, this is Sparrow we're talking about. He can barely even get himself to kill monsters"

*Ghirahim jumps first, landing easily. And holding a hand out*

"it's not that far, I know it's a bit scary, but we don't have time. Hylia wouldn't have opened that portal if we didn't need your help. And that means you can do this."

[keyblade-wielder-sora]

“Right. Yeah.”

*She takes a breath, then plasters Sora’s normal grin on her face and jumps onto the table with Ghirahim.

*And if she can do one, she can do the rest of them. So she keeps going, trying to keep the light inside her heart at bay, she can tell it’ll just make things worse.

“What- what do I do when I get to him?”

*She finally notices the woman.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

[sparrowthelink]

*he nods once you hop onto the table, going first to find a good path*

"we need to calm him down...and if that fails...knock him out....then we need to heal him, those seals hurt him a lot when he pushes past them, his arms are probably broken"

*He glares at the woman on the ground, pure disgust In his expression*

"she's getting exactly what she deserves. She won't die."