Kingdom Hearts X(cross): Cadunt ad Caelum

"Similar to the Books of Prophecy?" you read off the notice, murmuring to yourself. You snatch it off the board before anyone else can get any funny ideas, bringing the slip of paper almost to your nose. "But the Books of Prophecy are the foundation of- of everything. A complete collection of the Master of Master's will and predictions, right?"

"Pretty much!" Chirithy agrees. "I mean, there's probably more to it, but neither of us are Leopardus. You're thinking this one?"

"Mhm. If something could get close to a Book of Prophecy, whatever it is, that's worth finding." You swing your head around a bit too excitedly, Chirithy yelps and has to cling onto your hair for balance. "I bet the Foreteller would love this! Quick, lodge it while I get ready!"

"You got it, partner!" Chirithy snatches the note from your hand and disappears with their customary poff. You sidle your way back out of the crowd, swaying to and fro between your fellow Anguis scouts as they jostle and jockey for position. You breathe deeper and easier once you're free, retracing your steps from when Ephemer led you away to the quiet spot. The roar of the crowd dulls into the distance, and blissful quiet returns. You tip your head back and take a deep breath, purging the jitters and worries from your body. Your nightmare is naught but a far-distant memory now.

Chirithy returns, teleporting into the boughs of the tree. "We are confirmed and officially Prydain-bound!" they exclaim excitedly. "D'you remember the classes on world-travel? I have the notes if you need a refresher!"

You shake your head. "Thank you, but I'm fine. (I think.)"

You stretch out your hand, slowly wrapping your fingers around empty air. Starlight flashes into existence, a familiar weight, a subtle warmth as pure light solidifies into its textured grip. You close your eyes and empty your mind of all you assume to be impossible. The worlds beyond the horizon are ever-distant but closer than you think. Though all live divided these divisions are an illusion, a stopgap only to those who are not enlightened. Two countries may be separated by a deep chasm too wide to leap, but they share the same sky. Starlight is your mark of passage, your key to doors only people like you can see. And above all, you possess a heart strong enough to guide your way - for someone with the will to wield a Keyblade can never lead themselves astray. You have never laid eyes on Prydain before, but you feel your longing for the mysterious artefact, and your burning desire to prove yourself to the Foreteller. The twin lights shine even through your closed eyelids, tracing the outline of a keyhole.

You open your eyes. Starlight's tip is glowing, primed and ready to obey. You slide your right foot forward and follow through with your Keyblade in a slow-motion thrust, sliding it home in an unseen lock. A brisk flick of the wrist to turn the key, and the echoing click is very much audible. You draw it back again, the tip still glowing, and swing it in a long, sweeping arc around your head. You point it forward once more, and this time the globe of light is flung forth on a thinner beam, striking the point in the empty air you were focusing on all along. The wind picks up, swirling and plucking at your hair and skirt as it rushes in to fill the void you just created. A portal of light, an open doorway to a brand new world, shimmering electric blue-white.

"Ooooh!" Chirithy claps. "First try! Been practicing?"

"Maybe," you reply. You dismiss your Keyblade and offer your open arms instead. "C'mon, let's go see the new world together!"

Chirithy springs from the tree with a soft 'nyoof' of effort, landing in your arms with the force of a thrown soft toy. You cradle them in your arms, their weight negligible and familiar, as you take one last deep breath. And then you step forward, through the doorway you made, and into the unknown.

You step through into Prydain and... honestly it's not very different. At first you spin around a few times, casting your gaze in all directions trying to figure out if you miscalculated and somehow landed back in the forest just outside the Citadel. Then Chirithy groans a little, so you let them down before they get all dizzy and fall out of your arms. The two of you have emerged in a forested clearing, surrounded on all sides by verdant greenery, empty save for a gentle slope down to a clear pond or spring. You hear birds calling distantly in the canopy, the gentle rustle of other animals shifting around in the undergrowth.

"Are... are we there?" you ask.

"Mhm!" Chirithy replies. "I can confirm we are no longer in the Citadel, nor Daybreak Town, nor any of the surrounding lands besides. 100% new world!"

"We're in a new world!" you exclaim immediately, making Chirithy jump. You spin around one more time to make sure you take everything in, balling your hands into fists and bringing them up to chest level. "All that time and training and we're finally here! Just think about all the things we'll see and find! Just think-"

Your hands drop. You stare straight ahead.

"... how are we supposed to find the not-Book," you finish, your tone distinctly less hopeful.

"Through hard work and sleuthing, I presume!" Chirithy replies.

"Yeah but- it's not a lot to go on, is it?" you counter. You turn and squat down to Chirithy's level. "I mean we don't even know if it's a book-Book. It could be a... a magic orb. Or a special mirror that shows you your future. It could be a crown or something!"

"That's no reason to start fussing right out of the gate!" Chirithy reminds you, hopping up to give you a dissuading bop on the nose. "We know it's like the Books of Prophecy somehow, so it must have some ability to tell the future. Everybody wants to know their future, so it can't be that hard to find if we start asking around!"

"Maybe." You straighten up and start to pace in circles, hoping to jostle your thoughts free. "Whichever way you slice it we need more information first - can't just start walking and hope to bump into some Heartless or a friendly native. And I need some landmarks to navigate by so I should..."

You slowly turn and look up. You see a rocky peak breaching the canopy not far from you. Perfect.

Five minutes later you find yourself halfway up and somewhat regretting your decision, but in much too deep to back out now. You eschew conventional climbing for the most part, instead leaping from ledge to ledge and foothold to foodhold like an upright mountain goat. You can jump pretty high, but you certainly find yourself wishing you'd spent a little more time on traversal training.

"So what -hff- do we know -ngh- about Prydain?" you ask through puffs and pants, eyes downcast to check that your precarious perches don't crumble away beneath you. "They must've -hah- told you something -gnhk- when you lodged it."

"I think it's a brand new world, or near enough," Chirithy replies, teleporting from ledge to ledge to keep up with your eye-level. "Information's kinda thin on the ground. But the Chirithy I spoke to did tell me something. Basically this world might be a bit on the primitive side but it's got its own knowledge of magic and darkness. Powerful enchanters and enchantresses, evil sorcerers, a wicked warlord who was narrowly defeated and driven back to his holdings once before, that sort of thing."

"Oh good, so it won't look weird when I start casting spells," you remark, taking a break to rest on a rocky shelf wide enough to stand on comfortably. The forest canopy below still lies relatively close, and dense enough that it could probably catch you as well as the crash-matts and protective barriers back at school. Not that you're in any real hurry to fall. You turn and reach up to grab an overhanging ledge, leaping and hoisting yourself ever skywards.

"So if we're strapped for ideas, maybe try to track down one of these enchanters and see what they know?" Chirithy suggests. "I mean, whatever it is can't be that great. By definition it'd be kinda limited compared to the Books of Prophecy. Confined to this world and all, where the Master of Masters saw the future of all worlds."

"Then why look for it at all, you think?"

"I'unno. Just in case someone had a bit of a breakthrough that might invite too much darkness into the world?" Chirithy muses, taking a stab in the dark. "Or maybe it's just the principle of the thing. Master Invi does have a fondness for secrets after all."

"-ngh- does she?" you ask, grasping the final ledge and hoisting yourself up to solid ground.

"I mean I assume? You probably wouldn't get far leading a Union like Anguis without being a bit like that."

You press your palms to the small of your back and streeeetch out, feeling your spine click as you work at the strain of the climb. The sun shines bright across the lonely crag, and you bring up your hand to shield your eyes from the glare. Your perch may not be spacious but it has plenty of room for you to stand up, even pace in a circle to make sure you've gotten the proper lie of the land. To the southeast lies a grassy clearing full of nothing but rubble, beyond that a wide and fast-flowing river, and beyond that some sort of settlement - a farm or small town maybe? Too far to tell. To the southwest lies more rolling forested hills, and beyond those a bank of mist so thick and cloying it seems as if you could walk up to it and cut it into pieces. It looks like some kind of marsh or wetlands, but no major paths lead in or out. A little odd maybe, but not noteworthy at first glance. And yet something about that mist seems... off. Maybe it's your mystic training talking, maybe you're grasping at straws, but you'd put good odds on it being a cloaking spell or other kind of protective enchantment to ward off all but the determined. And you're plenty determined, aren't you?

And far to the northwest you see... something far more overt in its unnatural nature. You see a mountain range that rises like a breaking wave frozen in time, or the jagged fangs of a petrified jawbone. The land itself seems to wither and die as it draws closer to that place, the grasses yellowing and turning tail rather than approach the base. The sky itself is darker, overcast by clouds the colour of blackened iron. You spy just a hint of battlements beyond, some great black edifice crowned in razored crenellations guarding some massive gate through which nothing good could ever pass. You certainly don't need to approach and check to know what that place is. You feel it in your bones, even from miles away. Chirithy concurs, hugging themselves with a "brrr!" and a shiver.

"So," they say at last, craning their neck to look at you. "Where do we start, partner?"

[ ] The farm. It's pretty out of the way, but it looks relatively normal and peaceful - perfect place to find some people to question. And who knows, maybe whoever lives there is having trouble with the Heartless? You'll feel a lot better about asking questions if it comes after fending off creatures of darkness.
[ ] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
[ ] The distant fortress. That land is tainted by darkness, that much you can be certain of, and heading straight there is certain to court danger. But you wield a Keyblade, a weapon forged to destroy darkness and bring light wherever its bearer goes. And hey, it might verge on interference, but maybe if an evil sorcerer lives there they're the one with the counterfeit Book? Then you don't have to feel bad about stealing it!