Dwarf Woodlands

[Bloodedge]

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7900/46987051781_8030d40697_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2eA5Vur)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7837/33111448108_1a879a5318_m.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/SrWPWm)

[Apollymi]

A young raven-haired lass with her locks dangling in two fluffy pig-tails bounded out of a portal she'd walked into second. When she landed she found herself standing in a clearing looking out in the distance at a large castle and down in the opposite direction towards a set of woods complete with a deep mineshaft. Her green and purple attire clung to her form in the shape of a single bodysuit with long sleeves, but it was ripped in various places exposing her midsection and lower back as well as her hands. She held a hand below her right eye, her index finger resting atop a beauty mark as she took in her view of this place, thinking up a plan of action. The Keyblade presently in her hand was that of the 'Eternal Flame' which was one she'd been using for the sake of keeping Master Invi out of the know about her true Keyblade a simple switch of Keychain would have her real thorny black Keyblade back in her hands. The glowing heart at the tip of it seeming to thump in response to the change as she did this. 'I missed you too...' she whispered mentally to the Keyblade. Though many found it unsettling, she had no problems with her Keyblade, she loved it, and she was presently learning to love and accept her own darkness as well. "So, we're collecting Lux today, but it's just the two of us~" she chimed seemingly happy about the prospect. If she was being honest, she was quite happy with the day as a whole, but she'd be much happier if Yuri returned to his usual self as well. Though she was willing to give that more time considering the day he'd had yesterday. But her own mood had been greatly improved by some ideas given to her the previous day, in conversation and adventuring with Master Luxu. Or rather it would be more accurate to say she was returning to her old self... the self she was before her Keyblade, her darkness, and the lingering gazes of others... changed her disposition.

[Bloodedge]

A second individual was fated to emerge from this portal. This one was a male figure sporting a purple waistcoat, pink cravat, a two-part cape of red and purple, a purple abbreviated coat with thick cuffs and gold shoulder bands with an amber-colored setting, fastened at the collar bone, and light blue pants tucked into silver-tinted leather boots. He had very short, thick, pink eyebrows and purple eyes. His hair was two-toned, uniformly violet with pink underneath and fringes extending to frame his face, with two pointing upwards. He stepped forth in time to witness the appearance of his associate's true Keyblade. It had been some time since he'd seen this tool last, but he supposed Kairos had legitimate reasons to keep it under wraps in recent times. Now though, they were indeed alone. He hadn't even been in contact with their master this day, so there was reason to believe Kairos was due for not restraining herself. "Just us, huh? I guess that's for the best," he stated. He wasn't fond of being watched over by the Foreteller Invi either, though the man's abilities would be of use, and it was worth the adventure in the end. "So which way? Weird castle or weird forest?"

'Just the two, she says. Well that's just not fair,' thought a certain hooded observer who remained obscured from view by the trees of the nearby forest. 'I wonder how far they'll go...'

[Apollymi]

The young man who stepped through the portal seemed to also be on the same page as Kairos about currently being without a watcher. Though she'd admit to the strength of one such as Hiro, him in her presence was something more hindering than she'd care to admit. Beyond all of this, she felt free in the company of her friend... well probably now friends, though she supposed much like Yuri hadn't initially seen everything about her, the other person she now considered her friend hadn't yet seen everything either. Though, given how he tended to operate that may have not held any truth at all... "Definitely for the best," she said about it being just the two of them. She had no intention of spending her day with any besides her friends and as such she would not be doing anything that involved anyone else. She began to spin in a circle when asked about the direction they'd be taking. Around and around in this circle she went for quite a few seconds, clutching her Keyblade between both her hands, a jolly giggle escaping her as she came to a stop, pointing her Keyblade surprisingly enough towards the forest. "Forest!~ Normally I'd have said castle, but... I'm trying something new today," she mused, as she banished the weapon. She'd take the time to perform several back-flips and other minor feats of acrobatics, almost as if she was re-acclimating herself to her own physical abilities. This sort of display was one she'd given this lad before, and her jolly disposition was normal to those she called friend.

[Bloodedge]

Following his query as to where they would be going, the boy named Yuri witnessed the spinning of Kairos until she settled on the direction her Keyblade pointed to. He raised a brow, but chuckled away whatever thoughts he had on the matter. The acrobatics of Kairos which followed her seemingly random choice would be commented on as he followed suit, using more... normal methods of moving forward. "Of course you'd pick the weird place! You seem happy though, so I guess it's fine. Who pulled you off the right side of the bed?" he asked, partially in rhetoric as he gazed upon the forest ahead of them.

[Apollymi]

It was commented upon that Kairos had chosen the 'weird place'. Upon hearing this, a grin broke across the girl's face as she righted herself from one of her flips, she'd pause only briefly sticking her tongue out at the lad in a manner most playful. "Weird? Nah!~" she mused. "I've been thinking about it and walking the road less traveled might not be a bad thing. You'll get to see new things that way~" she chimed finding everything to be in good fun as they approached the woods, as she thought about the other half of the lad's question and in doing so after a few forward steps on her hands flipped so that she'd land right beside and in-step with him as he trudged along at his more normal pace. "Master Luxu, I guess," she mentioned about her current good mood. Though it was likely strange she'd always give credit where it was due, and talking with that particular young man the previous day had given her the type of information she needed to feel more like her old self. "Something he said yesterday helped me out. I think... I was in a bit of a rut before and it made my heart heavy," she mentioned. "But now... I feel like its not heavy anymore... and I can breathe again~" she chimed seemingly happy. It was true that her conversations with the Master known as Luxu had helped her out quite a bit and as such she was capable of showcasing a mood likely unseen from her in quite a while.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah... weird yeah! This whole place is weird!" was Yuri's retort. In all fairness, this world seemed to be a bit on the plain side of things, yet there was something certainly strange about how well put-together it was while suffering from the influence of darkness. Speaking of darkness, it seemed Kairos had come to terms with hers in a way that didn't even register to Yuri. Whatever he thought she meant though, it did wonders for her demeanor, as she now showcased a persona Yuri hadn't witnessed for what felt like ages. This apparently had something to do with an interaction she had the previous day with the master named Luxu. "Master Luxu, huh? Still going after that whole apprentice thing? Ya can't just leave me behind with Master Invi, y'know? It's not cool."

[Apollymi]

If Yuri thought this place was properly weird, Kairos couldn't really disagree. Even so, she wasn't sure what it was about this place that made it seem odd to her. She supposed it was very neat, and even as they walked into this darkened forest, it seemed that there were clear paths to take and trees cleared through them in a natural way. Her playful demeanor was indeed the one she naturally possessed. As such, it wasn't very hard for Kairos in this moment to maintain something of a jovial air. "I was never going after it to start with..." she mentioned. Truly Kairos wasn't thinking much about being Luxu's apprentice, she had other direct concerns. Like the boy currently with her, one she knew had similar feelings to her own, not that they dealt with those feelings in the same way. "Leaving you alone with Master Invi, was never a thought that crossed my mind," she said, knowing that with the sort of abilities that Yuri showed leanings towards being alone with Master Invi might leave him in a worse way than she'd been in the days prior to this one. She looked to the lad at her side, her pace ever steady with a skip in her step, "Don't worry, Yuri. You're stuck with me!~" She offered the lad this short reply, and though there wasn't much to it, there was a depth to the statement she meant to convey.

[Bloodedge]

As they moved into the forest, the darkness around them grew. The atmosphere became one which better fit a world plagued by darkness, though the lack of disparity to the area itself remained bothersome. It seemed Kairos hadn't even been considering taking the position of Luxu's apprentice, and had no current intentions of abandoning the Anguis Union at all. "Really? You're really gonna pass on being the direct understudy of a master? I guess I'll take the flattery, but... that's pretty dumb for you," he said, and considering his closeness to Kairos after her return to a normal pace, he took the existing moment to nudge at her with his elbow. "It's cool though. So, know anything about this world?" When he'd agreed to this location, Yuri had given it no real thought. He'd simply decided to come along since Kairos had made the suggestion, and now that he was remembering the reason, he perked up and thought to let something be known. "Oh! I meant to tell you, I covered you when you disappeared yesterday. Master Invi thinks you just had sand in weird places."

[Apollymi]

It seemed what Kairos had to say about Master Luxu and whether or not she considered being his apprentice properly would cause a strange reaction in the lad known as Yuri. He apparently thought it was dumb of her to turn it down, but the gentle nudge against her side and prodding of is words belayed a hint of his pleasure knowing it wasn't her intention to leave him behind. "Hm... probably pretty dumb of me. I haven't gotten a chance to pick his mind about magic... oh and a bunch of other stuff too," she said seemingly distressed if only for a moment before a huge grin passed her face. "Just kidding!~" she said with a chuckle. "Actually I could probably do all of that even if I don't become his apprentice, and I've never been as about the Masters as everyone else..." she said, and this was also true. A lot of the other Keyblade Wielders were very much into the Masters of Master's apprentices, and wanted to know what they knew, but Kairos had different thoughts and didn't like the sorts of short-sighted people she came in contact with who were stuck on the other Masters. Regardless, she was asked about this place and she gave a gentle shrug.

"Dwarf Woodlands. So I expect some little people... apparently there is a mine where gems are found and a Kingdom..." she mused... as they walked further into the darkness, the shadows began to shift in a more obvious way keeping them from approaching the start of a more open area within these woods. But more important than this was the cover that Yuri apparently gave Master Invi about her disappearance yesterday. "YURI!" she exclaimed seemingly distraught, him saying such a thing to Hiro was a bit gross, but a grin spread across her face a few seconds after. "Thanks... I guess. We definitely have to work on your cover stories though..." she said, though she was truly grateful the lad had covered for her. "That Keychain I was using yesterday... I got from Master Luxu. He said I'd enjoy it. He gave it to me before I met up with you guys yesterday morning. He helped me hide my Keyblade from Master Invi," she explained of their previous situation as she summoned her Keyblade to her hand, those ever shifting shadows soon began to grow into little creatures with yellow eyes and small red noses. She'd never seen this form of Heartless before, but she supposed variety was good.

[Bloodedge]

"You mean like the places he tries not to get sand in?" Yuri replied when Kairos joked about prodding the master Luxu's mind about matters not involving magic. If she was going to kid around about the situation, he'd certainly do the same. With that alone though, he was content to continue traveling the world until they reached whatever destination was upon them. It seemed they were en route to the mines mentioned by Kairos in her explanation, but they were fated to be interrupted by the arrival of Darkness beginning to take form. Yuri halted all movement, summoning his Keyblade while addressing the matter of Kairos' new fire-based Keychain and the fact that his cover story hadn't been the best. "You're the one who was talking about the sand before, so I went with what made sense. Besides, you could have made the whole thing easier by admitting that you were cheating on Master Invi with one of his peers!" he said as one final joke before the Heartless appeared properly around them. With his Keyblade raised, Yuri took the initiative in assaulting this group of Heartless. "Zero Gravira!" All around Yuri, excluding Kairos, from the effect, his spell removed the hold gravity held on all things physical. As such, the Heartless beginning to surround them would begin to float and effectively be rendered incapable of approaching them directly by any normal means.

[Apollymi]

"Oh sure, and the best food, and what kind of music he listens to when he falls asleep... totally all things I need to know~" the girl mused. Of course, she couldn't say she had much interest in things like that. She was more interested in why his face looked so familiar to her, how he came to appreciate the darkness and the kinds of things he thought about while he was busy watching the rest of the world. As the darkness took form around them, Yuri summoned his Keyblade, but not without giving one final jab to the girl about her 'cheating' on her Union Leader with the unaffiliated Master Luxu. A melodic giggle escaped the girl as she watched every piece of living darkness float up into the air around them unable to make their proper approach. "Magnera!" this would cause every single piece of darkness to float together above the point of Kairos' Keyblade. "FIRAGA!" this strangely wouldn't create the standard form of this spell but instead the darkness enhanced version, which would burn each and every individual into nothingness, this would allow the darkness to clear their path. "I am not cheating, by the way... I just don't want to play twenty-one questions with Master Invi. He's a bit suspicious of me to start with, well-meaning though, apparently. You should have heard him asking about that Keychain I am passing off as my Keyblade~" she explained, knowing she'd left the lad in an awkward situation.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, all that good stuff!" Yuri agreed, even knowing there was a certain lack of seriousness in everything spoken by Kairos. The Heartless he'd sent into the air were brought toward Kairos by her own magnetic spell's use, and while Yuri was wondering how they were to be dealt with, she exemplified her control over Darkness by infusing an otherwise normal fire spell with it. Yuri looked at the blackened flames and thought this to be an application of Darkness he hadn't even considered until this moment. Other wielders of the Keyblade considered Darkness to be something awful, even if for reasons which differed from person to person. Yuri himself harbored Darkness within him and knew it, but he couldn't have brought himself to even attempt such a thing as what he'd seen here for fear of becoming like the creatures they defeated in their endeavors. He really never understood how one such as Kairos could embrace Darkness and have no obvious negative consequences. In spite of the thoughts he had regarding these developments, Yuri could only bring himself to speak regarding Kairos' relations with Invi. "Well... I guess he would have a lot more to be suspicious of if he saw anything else you did. Why wouldn't Master Luxu be just as bad though? I figured they were all the same; I can't see one of them helping you hide something dark from the others."

[Apollymi]

Kairos' good humor seemed to be working towards bringing Yuri back to himself. Her use of magic though was likely a bit strange, though she'd never properly hidden her use of Darkness from Yuri, she hadn't actually had a real conversation with him about it either. To be fair, he was one of now two people, who appreciated the look of her Keyblade, and as such she'd accepted that he likely had a bit of darkness in him as well. His use of it, showed in his spells too. When he commented though, it wasn't about this use of Darkness, it was simply his understanding of the Masters and his lack of comprehension as to why one of them would help her in such a way. "I'm not entirely sure why he chose to help me in particular. He said, that me falling to my darkness would be a waste..." she said about Master Luxu, which didn't sound that different from what people normally said about darkness. She knew this too, so she went on. "But they definitely aren't all the same. Apparently different things made them all Masters, but beyond all that Master Luxu, is using Darkness... more than I do even," she said a hint of excitement in her eyes. "He doesn't judge it, and it hasn't consumed him or extinguished his light," she said thinking about it more. The words he'd shared with her the previous day still made her heart thump, and at the point in her day, where she'd fully accepted the darkness and called upon it, she had a better understanding of it. "He said... if my heart has darkness, then its supposed to. He said..." she commented as her Keyblade disappeared from her hand again. "May your heart be your guiding key." Even saying that sentence again brought a strange warmth to her heart, made it thump within her chest and fill with that jolly, happiness she'd felt before. Her attitude about her own darkness had changed drastically when she paused to think that the way she was, wasn't necessarily wrong. And seeing a Master with darkness let her know her own abilities didn't need to be shunned, even if she was fine with hiding them from the masses. Walking a different path, didn't make her wrong... and one day, everyone else might see it.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course he said that!" Yuri said without hesitation, not even waiting to hear further explanation about why Luxu had said such a thing to Kairos. "It would be a waste; you're probably one of the strongest people around besides the masters!" he continued. However, it then became apparent that Master Luxu was even more prone to utilizing Darkness than Kairos herself. Suddenly, the entire situation made a lot more sense, and this revelation made Yuri take pause right away. "What..." he said. The statement 'may your heart be your guiding key' was one Yuri himself heard from Invi on the previous day while recovering from what befell him in Agrabah, but it couldn't be taken in the same way as he would have when hearing it from someone who used Darkness freely. What's more, someone strong enough to be a master being willing and able to use Darkness... meant there was more to think about than Yuri could have otherwise imagined. "I... I don't know what to say about that. It just seems so different."

[Apollymi]

Yuri's snap reaction to what Master Luxu had to say previously about saving Kairos from herself was something which gave the raven-haired lass pause. She knew she was stronger than a lot of people, but she didn't think about herself as scaling properly towards the Masters. Yuri wasn't the first person to point this out of course, Master Invi had mentioned this the previous day as well, though for reasons Kairos herself considered a bit illegitimate. "Eh?! I don't know if I'd say all that... I'm pretty strong I think, but I don't know if I'd make that sort of leap. Still though, comments like that do wonders for a girl's self-esteem," she managed a joke, despite being a bit taken aback by the lad's compliment, but more was settling in. Her words about the Master known as Luxu apparently caught Yuri by surprise, his response had been similar to her own. She hadn't the slightest idea of how to feel about it at first, but when giving it consideration, she was quite pleased. "I can't pretend to really understand it myself, but... if we are supposed to follow our hearts. Then I don't think it is meant matter whether there is more light or more darkness... I think... it only matters what you do with it," she said with an affirmative nod. "Or at least, that is the conclusion I came to after thinking about it yesterday when I used the darkness to help get you back. Something I would have struggled with otherwise, and seeing you alright at the end of that... is way better for me, than all of those speeches about the dangers of darkness," she mentioned with her own happiness returning. She'd come to the conclusion that such a statement could only really be felt in one's heart if it came from someone with a shared experience. As such she was more than willing to be this person for Yuri, since someone else had been this for her. With that out of the way she began walking further and further towards a small clearing which led towards marshes with deep waters and large leaves stretched out over them. The leaves didn't look like they should be used, but appeared to be set up in a way which was similar to footfalls.

[Bloodedge]

Onward they went while Kairos further explained her newfound philosophy on accepting one's inner Darkness. Yuri took this message to heart as best he could, though whether it was something to be retained by the lad or not was something only time would reveal. "Huh. Well... I guess you've got a point, at least... and I can't argue with something if a master says it's true," he muttered. If there was one truth in this world, it was that the Master of Masters' direct apprentices were leagues beyond what most holders of a Keyblade could dream of being. If there was one thing Yuri believed specifically though, it was that Kairos would not consciously lead him astray. He had much to consider as a result, but a distraction came in the form of marshes littered with strange, giant leaves creating something of a path across the waters. Yuri was a bit skeptical of these, but they were very much large enough that he believed they would support his weight. As such, he began walking across them without a care in the world. "You said Dwarf Woodlands. Were those guys we just fought supposed to be the Dwarfs or something?"

[Apollymi]

"You can argue, if you don't agree. And even if you do..." she said with unbridled cheer. "Consider it from all angles, and come to your own conclusions, just take a gentle nudge if it's presented to you..." Kairos said, which is how she considered the interference of someone like Luxu in her day to day activities over the past few days. As they moved into the marshes of this area the large leaves made Kairos smile. Whether or not she assumed these leaves to be capable of carrying her weight or not, she began flipping across them, to the point that she easily passed Yuri on a leaf while barely making contact with it with her left hand. "Um... I don't think so. I heard someone saying that some little people ran a mine here. I think the darkness here, simply tries to look like them..." she said with a chipper disposition, but as she landed on the last leaf the darkness congealed once more. This time at the base of a fallen tree which looked like it led deeper in. "Oh... seems like a pretty tight space~" she chimed as she looked in watching as red bulbuous noses and glowing yellow eyes formed in great amounts down this narrow corridor. All of them trying to force their way out but stumbling upon each other as they moved. On the far side of this log, where she couldn't see, cries of help could be heard. "HELP!" came these cries. Only to be overthrown by someone else. "I don't know what yer askin' for help fer. We're the only ones who live in these parts, gimme that pickaxe!"

[Bloodedge]

Yuri had nothing more to say regarding his own conclusion to the Darkness topic. He was quite conscious of his own Darkness, yet also fearful of its potential influence over him. Even so, just the idea of others using Darkness for good was a new and refreshing idea for the lad. He mulled over this while being so casually passed by Kairos and her acrobatics, and paused in front of the tree which produced their forward path. He looked at this tree and others that had yet to fall, thinking this adventure could have gone a very different way. "Ugh! These trees have creepy faces on them. Why can't you ever pick the cotton candy path?" he asked. If Yuri had any intentions of going another route, a call for help from the dank depths of the path ahead demanded attention. "Let me guess... We're going down the creepy path to help the creepy voice fight off the creepy monsters? I should have stayed home," he said, moving on without even waiting for the response he knew was coming. His Keyblade was at the ready for whatever offense the Darkness decided to throw at him along his way, but he clearly didn't care much for this particular excursion already.

[Apollymi]

"You have a creepy face!" was Kairos' only reply to the lad, though indeed in jest it was about the kind of thing she would normally say. For a lad who never led or chose their adventures, he was always full of annoying things to say while they were in the thick of things. His complaint this time was that they had to follow the voices of some unknown and potentially help them out of trouble. "Well, yeah... that's kinda the whole point of coming here. Collect Lux, slay darkness, help a random creepy person, because they don't normally get the help when they need it most..." she mused about the situation. Of course, she felt this way solely because she was exactly the sort of person others would normally look over if she needed help fighting off the darkness. Still there was a joke to be made here, and she'd make it as she landed atop the fallen log her Keyblade summoned in a downward position at the opening. "Besides you came here to enjoy my sunny disposition and the ice cream~" Her words belayed mischievous intent as magic began to swirl at the tip of her Keyblade. Several of the small darkness broke free of the confines of the space, lunging towards Yuri with their large and long noses aiming to swipe at him and overwhelm him with numbers. "Gravira!" all of the surrounding darkness, those caught in Kairos immediate radius and even those approaching Yuri were soon caught in a bubble of crushing darkness flattening those closest upon impact, and harming those farther away, but not affecting Yuri at all. This created a bit of a gap in the log that Kairos could see through, and there she spotted at the other end two short people one in a red shirt with a surly disposition and swinging a pickax and one in a green shirt with small round glasses, both of these beings with surprisingly large noses.

[Bloodedge]

"Well you have a creepy... butt!" Yuri retorted, seeming to have found nothing else to bring up on such short notice. There was nothing more to do at this point aside from push forward. They'd already come this far, and the Darkness was upon them, so there was no turning back even if Yuri wanted to avoid the unsettling trees surrounding them. "Fine, fine... But next time, we're going the other direction!" he said as the spawns of Darkness encroached. He scoped them out, so to speak, as Kairos took the initiative in applying her gravity magic to begin crushing the horde. These weren't particularly large creatures, so Yuri had what he thought to be the perfect spell to use in conjunction to Kairos' opener. "Magnet!" he called out with his Keyblade casting an effect which made the enemy swarm gravitate toward him. What he cast was the weakest variant of this spell, but he didn't need the spell itself to eliminate the stragglers; he had something else for that.

"Poison!" Yuri spoke the name of a magic which he was most proficient with, though it was quite arguably more versed in Darkness than any standard spell. An almost sickly green aura encased his Keyblade as he slashed about, striking at each one of the creatures as they floated toward him. With each strike, Yuri's Keyblade showed its power when casting magic. Yuri's strikes knocked the enemies away and applied his poison spell to him, and his Keyblade used the moment of impact to cast the same spell a second time on each target, allowing them to each be dissolved by the poison's effect before the Magnet spell brought them back toward Yuri. This combination assault continued for a few moments, but soon, Yuri stood with nothing surrounding him bar remnant wisps of poison magic in the air.

[Apollymi]

"Well you would know!" this was the only retort Kairos could manage. It wasn't like she spent a great deal of time looking at her own bottom, she had no idea what it looked like. Whatever the case, apparently Yuri simply settled upon the idea that the next time they went on such an adventure he was choosing to go the opposite direction. Kairos was fine with this, because she knew that things that looked good on the outside weren't necessarily so, but if it made Yuri feel better not to be surrounded by creepy faces, she supposed she could give in to such a request once in a while. After a moment, Kairos got to witness what was the follow up to her own darkness based spell. And what a follow up it was, as Yuri used a Magnet spell to pull forward the enemies and went on to use 'Poison' to dominate the lot of them. Though it took him a little while eventually every single one of the enemies was dealt with and he stood in all his glory surrounded by little wisps of poison and nothing else. Witnessing this, made Kairos smile, because it was a step in the right direction. "That is a pretty interesting spell there, Yuri~ Fine fine, you choose the direction next time. But for now... come on!~" she said taking off down the fallen log to approach the two dwarfs at the end of the given path, with the darkness now cleared from it.

At the end of the tunnel she'd find the two small people the one with the glasses and an angry one swinging a pickaxe at what was a large bodied piece of darkness. Because of the size of that one's body it was simply bouncing off it as it seemed to laugh at the little man below him. "That's all ye got?! I'll show ye what fer!" said the surly man. The more skittish man who was standing behind him with the glasses and the green shirt tried to offer a more moderate solution. "We could just go back inside, Grumpy. Work today seems like it will be dangerous," he tried to convince him even as he kept swinging. "If we go back, then the others will be in danger too!" this was from the man who kept swinging though he seemed to be a bit more tired than he had been when he started. Behind these two was a small cottage and in the dirty windows the little faces of several other small people appeared. The large body was standing between Kairos and the people she wanted to see and since it was facing them she had a fairly easy time reaching out. She opened her hand having banished her Keyblade and held within it a glowing ball of fire. "Out of my way! Fire!" she said, casting the lowest form of this spell creating a single fireball, tainted by darkness which caused the thing to explode even as the dwarf kept swinging away. She would then flip her body over landing atop the still swinging pickax with both of her hands to greet the man in an upside down pose in a manner surprisingly similar to a jester. "I think ya' got him there," she managed in a childish tone. "Who are ya'? Are ya' with them?" asked the grumpy man. The other one looked onwards and shook his head from left to right. "Grumpy calm down. They came from that way and cleared out everything else. Think rationally." he said. "Sorry about my friend. I'm Doc. Thank you, for helping us out there... both of you," he said while rubbing his round stomach in a manner which caused Kairos to chuckle though she hadn't moved at all from atop the pickax.

[Bloodedge]

"Gross!" said Yuri during the time in which he was finishing off the enemy wave. When it was all over, he took a moment to marvel at his own work. He'd used a spell such as this one before, but he could sense its underlying Darkness over time, and thus refrained from using it consciously until now. Now that he'd done it by choice, he was astounded by the amount of output it yielded. 'Can I actually control this if I try?' he wondered while looking over his Keyblade. Moving on, he followed Kairos, who eliminated a very rotund spawn of Darkness in her path to create a clear route to a pair of... what he assumed to be Dwarfs. They were very strange-looking individuals to say the least, and though Kairos didn't seemed bothered as she spoke to them from atop the angrier one's pickaxe, Yuri looked on with mild disgust. 'Ew. These guys are pretty ugly. What's going on with that one's face?' he thought, wondering more specifically about the expression worn by the Dwarf called Grumpy. "You're not with them, right? I mean..." He paused briefly to raise his free hand to his own face, tapping the tip of his nose to make his coming point. "You've got a few... similarities to the ones we saw a few minutes ago."

[Apollymi]

"YURI! Be nice!~" a chime which came from Kairos as the drawf swinging the pickaxe finally stopped as he realized there was someone on top of it. "What's with this crazy woman!?" he questioned as he stopped and with that hideous look on his face moved himself behind the one who'd called himself 'Doc' and apparently chose to speak for him. The one known as Grumpy turned his big nose up at Yuri's question even hearing his question he didn't answer. "She's not crazy she saved us. Be nice, Grumpy!" said Doc as he returned his attention to the girl who was now right side up and smiling. He also looked to Yuri and shook his head from left to right. "No, no we aren't with them. They look like us, but they aren't us. We've only been trying to go to work, and we can't leave the house because they keep chasing us back! We tried to make a stand today, but you see how that worked out..." he exclaimed explaining the situation. "We're miners you see.. all seven of us! And we can't get to the mines because of those creatures. And if they keep popping up in dark places... I'm scared of what will happen when we actually get there..." he commented while pushing his glasses up on his nose. "You guys seem to be pretty good at this though... if you could help us get to work. We'd be pretty grateful..." the small glasses wearing dwarf said. Kairos was always willing to do things like this, if only because it would get them through the day and help with their goals.

"Just a second~" Kairos mused as she moved over to Yuri with her back turned to the dwarfs while the two outside and the ones inside stared at her. She'd whisper to the purple haired lad with her since he apparently had so many problems with the things she chose to do. "So, if we take them where they are going, we'll likely meet quota and help them out a bit. We also get to see this mine with our own eyes which I think is quite exciting. But ya' know, you say I always do the creepy thing, so what do you wanna do this time?" she asked of the lad, with an acquisitive gleam in her eyes. She wondered what he would say. He was still working through some things, and helping the dwarfs would help everyone, but if he didn't want to do it, she wouldn't force the decision. "That crazy woman and her annoyed friend aren't going to help us get to work. Shouldn't have even asked, Doc. No one from the castle and no one from out there cares about us. We use our own hands and do all the dirty work, bringing light to things found in the darkness, but... Out here past the dark forest nothing matters so long as they get to keep living their life in sun. Why should they be any different?" Grumpy said of their current situation expecting no help loud enough to be heard while his companion tried and failed to shush him properly.

[Bloodedge]

Yuri banished his Keyblade during the time taken by these Dwarfs and their concerns. Beyond this, he also seated himself on the ground and crossed his arms, merely awaiting whatever came next between the Dwarfs and Kairos. The one Yuri decided was less atrocious-looking was the speaker from what he could tell, and it seemed his primary concern was getting assistance. This was about what he expected, but he didn't expect Kairos to approach him and ask his opinion on an adventure he'd already agreed to. Yuri wasn't one to back out of things after diving head-first into them, but before he could even open his mouth to mention this, he could hear the angry Dwarf's tirade. The words he spoke were quite bothersome. If Yuri was to feel anything from hearing this, he certainly felt something... and it was anger. "Who do you think you are?" he asked of the angry Dwarf, seeming to have become a lot like the small individual in this moment. He stood up, pointing at Grumpy with a blazing inferno in his eyes. "You don't know what I think matters! Watch, I'm gonna help the shit outta you, and there's nothing you can do to stop me! Come on Kairos, we're gonna have at that Darkness!" With that said, Yuri stomped off in the direction of the mine, even though he had no actual clue what he would be doing whenever he got there.

[Apollymi]

Kairos had indeed consulted Yuri but before he could speak on the actual intentions he had, he caught wind of something said by the dwarf aptly named Grumpy. Grumpy's words seemed to strike a strange chord with Yuri, causing the young man's eyes to burn with an inferno that Kairos had never properly witnessed before. Even though he came with a specific goal in mind, apparently helping this dwarf group in a way they didn't rightly expect. Grumpy himself had nothing to say about all of this and simply made a noise. "Hmphf, well you heard him. The rest of ya' get in gear. We're off to work!" he said the door to the small cottage opened and out came pouring out, some five other dwarfs with various obvious problems. Doc took up at the start of the line, and since Yuri had already headed off, Kairos did as well. The dwarfs singing as they moved carrying pickaxes, shovels and other manner of equipment with them. "Hai ho, hai ho, it's off to work we go~" whistles also abounded making Kairos flip along until such a time as she caught up with Yuri. "You tell him, Yuri!~" she teased the young man gently. Though she understood his reaction she was content not to comment further. As they moved along the mine itself came into view and Kairos' eyes enlarged once more. The darkness teeming in this place became obvious as well. "Hm, seems like it's gonna be pretty tough, maybe. Let's clear it out before they catch up~" she said her Keyblade coming to her hand. The small darkness was piling out of the opening of the mine, even before they reached it properly. The mine shaft itself would be one which required both of them to work fairly hard to clear it completely. Half of the ones that escaped immediately aimed to swarm this pair of individuals, while Kairos herself understood there had to be a much greater cause of the darkness within this place. Instead of relying on magic for this swarm, Kairos' body spun around in a circle her Keyblade, cleaving through the masses around her, dispelling the weakest of them with nothing but a single stroke. It'd been quite a while since she'd allowed herself to rely on her skill with this weapon, so she thought to enjoy it, and she did. The entire time she slashed away at this darkness the girl had a huge and genuine smile upon her face.

[Bloodedge]

Nothing was said by Yuri as he entered the mine. He was very alert, honing in on dark creatures as they materialized and keeping track of those which weren't struck down by Kairos. His own Keyblade appeared once more. Instead of attacking directly with it or casting a spell at range, he threw it into the shadows. Yuri's Keyblade spun as it cut through the air, coating itself in additional poison magic before striking the first target. Following this first moment of impact, it continued bouncing around and striking multiple foes one after another. After the Keyblade made contact with about seven enemies, it made its way back to Yuri, who was becoming surrounded. Now though, he had his weapon in hand to defend himself... with a strong offensive maneuver. Yuri slammed his Keyblade into the ground while it retained its poison coating, producing a burst of poison around him to affect his potential attackers. The moment the first wave struck, a second followed, and the surrounding creatures of Darkness faded. "Huff... I'm blaming you for all of this when we're done," he said in passing to Kairos. Still, he continued moving forward to whatever obstacles were in the Dwarfs' way.

[Apollymi]

"I think you're mispronouncing thanking~" Kairos chimed as she continued to move about. Her first slashes seemed to make contact well enough she mowed down several enemies even as Yuri's Keyblade flew past her. She turned her body easily past the swipe of a creatures claws only to flip over her hand against the ground for a second. "Gravity!" this magic cast directly from her, seemed to bind everything to the ground around her as she flipped away, as she righted herself in time to throw her Keyblade out, covered in darkness to combat several others. This room would be cleared with great ease and everything around her dissipated by the time it was officially good to move on. "So what? More ice cream? I'm cool with that... I missed out yesterday anyways~" she chimed as they moved forward. Their clearance here, would take them to the back. This was obviously where the dwarfs normally worked. The tunnel itself seemed to just end, but after the horde of darkness they'd faced to get here all that was left was a big body. But it was way bigger than any they'd encountered before this point. A gentle whistle would leave Kairos' mouth as she laid eyes on this one. "That's a biggun'~" she mused happily. It was a lot to take on, she wondered if it was even properly damagable by normal means.

[Bloodedge]

"I said what I meant. All the flavors in the shop couldn't save you from what you're gonna get!" the boy proclaimed. Whenever they made it back home, Kairos was certain to receive a stern complaining from the lad with dual-colored hair about the annoyance of this experience, and no amount of brain freeze could stop him from delivering. Speaking of delivering, it seemed someone had dropped off a very large... or rather, a very massive package to the mines this day. Yuri had seen his fair share of Darkness, even in this form. However, he'd never been warned that they came in such proportions as this hulking tub of lard. Following the observation of Kairos, Yuri also whistled and gawked at the creature. "Great big ol' biggun. Big ol' round, great big planetary, great big ol'..." His statement trailed on along a list of repeated claims that shifted only slightly from one to the next, until he settled on a singular thing which described this monstrosity with perfect accuracy. "That guy's really fat. He looks like that one master's butt," he said. Apparently, the young Keyblade wielder Yuri had some fascination with posteriors of varying types, but he was quick to move on to the next clause. "Up-smash?" he asked of the girl next to him in reference to a combination assault.

[Apollymi]

"Oooh~ I'm shaking in my boots~" said Kairos about what was apparently to be a verbal thrashing she'd receive regardless of the bribe she presented. If such a thing were going to happen irrespective of her potential actions, she supposed there was no need to be overindulgent with her ice cream purchase. Meanwhile her own observation of this great darkness, was one which paled in comparison to one such as Yuri. His explanation of the darkness was something for the ages, and Kairos was absolutely dying of laughter before he went on to compare it to some butt she hadn't witnessed. She had no idea what this lad's fascination with bottoms was but it caused her to sigh just a bit. "Still don't think I'm old enough to know the sorts of things you think about in your own head..." she mused moving right along though, there was the comment about the 'Up-smash' which was something they'd done before with these sorts of darkness but never one of this massive proportion. "Fine fine, might need a Wombo-combo too~" she said with almost song like quality, still retaining the smile on her face as she produced her Keyblade within her hand once more. The girl's body began to move once again, with incredible speed around this creature before she launched herself spinning and twisting into the air above it. "Magnega!" this created a vortex of strong magenetic force in Keyblade pulling even this large creature up towards herself as she aimed her Keyblade down upon his head. This would clear the ground beneath the creature leaving it's weak spot open to the second half of this attack.

[Bloodedge]

"Ask Master Luxu~" he teased in response to Kairos mentioning what sorts of things he thought. This topic wasn't one Yuri lingered on. Kairos began their combination and mentioned adding something a little extra to their combined efforts, to which Yuri nodded. Her maneuver to get over the head of the Large Body heralded a sprint forward by Yuri. As she pulled it into the air, he took the space beneath it to grind the pommel of his Keyblade into the ground until it could be properly lodged in there. Kairos hitting the creature was then followed by Yuri casting a spell of his own, while his hand remained on his Keyblade's handle. "Graviga!" he exclaimed. The activation of this spell created a gravity field around his Keyblade which would pull the pair's enemy down onto the weapon while Yuri ran out of the way using a self-enchantment known as Haste to quicken his escape. He would see it impaled by its weak side on the Keyblade while Kairos finished off their combination, and then they would know if they were successful against this larger breed. "Wombo combo!"

[Apollymi]

"I won't!~" the girl immediately responded to the idea that she should ask the Master Luxu about the things which floated around the other male's head. As far as she was concerned, whatever concerned the world, butts and other big round things in any man's mind, was absolutely none of her business. Still the entirety of their teasing/angry banter was always in good fun. They seemed to constantly be arguing but it was simply the way they spoke to each other, and both were aware that their friendship went well beyond things like kind words and gentle forms of affection.

On the matter of their actual battle situation, the large blob of darkness first lifted off the ground was now being pulled back onto it by force of gravity. Such a thing was completely out of this being's control and it aimed to thrash about only to be tapped by Kairos' Keyblade as she released her hold on the creature. This tap, came with the extra glow of the heart at the tip of her Keyblade, which caused rune like markings to spread. As badly as this particular thing found itself wanting to move, as runes spread across its body it would find it impossible. "And the grand finale!~" Kairos mentioned as she double jumped in the air and began to move forward her body encased by darkness as she aimed several rushing attacks across the body of this particular being only to finish with her body bouncing atop its head to send it hard against the Keyblade aiming to impale it. Such an action would cause this particular creature to let out a squeal before its entire body dispersed and Kairos herself was left to land from above taking the time to tumble into multiple flips before she took a bow. "Ladies and Gentleman~ The WOMBO-COMBO!~" she squealed with delight. "Thank you... thank you... I'll be here all week~" she joked gently before she caused her Keyblade to disappear from her hand.

[Bloodedge]

If one had any curiosity as to what the 'wombo' part of this combination meant, it would become apparent in a matter of moments that it represented the extra and unnecessary damage being delivered to their target. This clarity came the moment Kairos delivered an additional strike to the enemy whilst applying her Keyblade's special ability through it. This resulted in a rapid descent of the creature onto Yuri's upright Keyblade before Kairos bounced off their fallen victim into a series of flips to end her maneuver. Yuri took the time of her bow as his time to summon his Keyblade to hand once more, removing it from the Large Body with the belief that it was no longer necessary at all. "And I'll be here... until I'm finally allowed to leave!" he added to Kairos stating she'd be here all week.

In the meantime, this pair was still being watched by the master named Luxu. He made every effort to remain out of sight for the duration of his stay thus far, but his attention followed this set of Keyblade wielders - Kairos especially - in everything they did. He had to say, he was quite impressed with what he saw. 'That's a major statement. Still... I wonder if I can actually do that to someone else. If only I could see that far ahead...'

[Apollymi]

The disappearance of that thick piece of darkness was enough to leave Kairos quite elated, though not enough that she didn't take note of Yuri's apparent want to leave this place. "Yuri!~ You're killing my buzz... did you see what I just did? At least fanboy over me a little~" she said her arms crossing over her chest, and flipping her nose into the air, in a manner most expressive. Still, given how deep they were currently in this mine she was certain they'd dispatched everything worth taking on in this place. And having done what she set out to do, she would be fine with them leaving this place. "Alright then, let's go~ I got a taste for ice cream and I am fairly certain we've made quota and all~" she said, upon speaking this sentence the dwarfs wandered down into the depths of this place, with the one known as 'Doc' beyond impressed and thoroughly grateful. "You did it! You really did it! Thank you, thank you!" said Doc as he ran up to the girl and shook her hand furiously. Kairos managed to be a bit surprised, but smiled anyways. "Yeah, don't mention it. Have fun digging I guess..." she said after several moments of shaking which left her needed to free her arms for fear of numbness. Meanwhile the dwarf known as Grumpy looked to Yuri and they'd indeed done what they'd said, and they'd met not a single bit of resistance as they made their way into this area. "I guess you did help," and this was all the angry little gnome seemed to have to say. A chuckle came from Kairos as she understood this Grumpy being to have the same kind of disposition that she was already used to dealing with. Still it was time to leave this place and after it was obvious that everything they needed to take care of was done, Kairos would begin walking off, mostly so that she could summon her keyblade to her hand. But before she properly got away from this group a small very bald little dwarf approached her from behind wrapping himself around her legs and resting his head against her rear. This caused the young woman to turn and look down at the bright shining eyes of this short man with only a raised brow. "Uh... I mean... it isn't really that big a deal, ya' know?" she asked of the short man but he simply shook his head. "That's Dopey, he doesn't talk and he's kinda dumb, but... his heart is pure," said Doc who seemed to speak for most of them. 'These names are a bit spot on huh?' Kairos thought as she placed a hand against this dwarf's head and to give it a gentle tap. "Thanks I guess. Come on, Yuri, I owe you some ice cream!~" she chimed content to head off but not complicate this world by giving them too much information. The one known as Dopey was being distracted by one who was about to sneeze for whatever reason and this would be how such a situation ended.

Once they were clear of the group, Kairos would have but one thing. "It wasn't so bad now was it, Yuri?" she asked of the lad without any seriousness. "Hm, I don't know what kind of ice cream I want..." she said aloud as her Keyblade manifested in her hand out in front of the mine-shaft. And she used it to open the portal that would take them back to the world from whence they'd come. "After you~" she offered Yuri once more.

[Bloodedge]

"Nah! I was kinda busy thinking back to how creepy those trees were," Yuri replied, apparently having no desire at all to praise the efforts of his companion. Speaking of a lack of praise though, the Dwarf called Grumpy had something to say to Yuri... and it wasn't all too pleasant for the lad. His expression became one of disgust when he received the words of Grumpy. "You guess!? Why I oughta..." His statement never reached its end. Instead, in a huff, Yuri stormed off in the same direction Kairos traveled. He simply couldn't believe the audacity of this particular Dwarf to say such a thing after managing nothing himself against a lesser creature. There was no way he could deal with this sort of thing for another moment. Upon reaching Kairos, he heard her questioning of the experience. Yuri huffed again right away. "Stupid Dwarfs. You're paying for every flavor in the market," he said while making his way into the portal.

At that exact moment, Master Luxu finally made himself visible. He peeked out from the other side of the portal, looking inward to witness Yuri's departure. The shrouded figure of Luxu viewed Kairos from beneath his coat's hood, and if his identity wasn't immediately clear, it likely would be when he spoke. "He doesn't seem too happy, does he?" he asked somewhat rhetorically. "You're in rare form though. There's a Moogle shop with a lot of amazing specialty flavors worth trying, by the way."

[Apollymi]

Whatever issue Yuri had with the dwarf, Grumpy had no more animosity towards the lad. Or rather, he simply was just this amount of distastefully angry all the time. Yuri's anger seemed lost upon the drawf though Kairos found the entire situation funny. In fact, she giggled even as he stormed past her, claiming that she'd pay for every flavor in the market while he was angry. "Yeah, yeah, every flavor. You're lucky I'm feeling generous~" she managed as the lad tramped off, apparently upset to have met his dwarf counterpart. But before Kairos could join him through this portal, a hooded figure made himself known. This particular hooded figure, was one which she was steadily becoming more familiar with spoke to her, first about her rather upset. His secondary statement seemed to be about her own notable good mood, and mentioning what was apparently a good shop to get ice cream from. "Hm, well, that is about normal for him... I think he's cross having met someone as grumpy as he is~" she mused at her friend's expense but it was nothing she wouldn't have said directly to the lad. Moving right along there was the commentary about her and the ice cream to address. "Oh? Well, I am in a pretty good mood today... thanks for that. And for the tip, I'm sure Yuri will enjoy something new~" she said a bright smile on her face. "Though, I've got to wonder, how often we're going to run into each other like this?" she questioned before a grin broke out over her face, and she didn't immediately move towards the portal she'd created as she waited to see what would come of this deviation with Master Luxu.

[Bloodedge]

"Really? Interesting. I would never have guessed, considering how he fought the Tower of Darkness," Luxu replied, unknowingly referencing something that was likely part of an aborted timeline in this group's past... or perhaps future at this point. As to continue the discussion in a manner less strange than how they'd started, Luxu stepped around to the front of the portal to address Kairos directly. In doing so, he also raised a brow beneath the shadow of his hood. Something stated by Kairos was strange to him, so he thought to address it right away. "You're thanking me for your mood? We haven't even spoken today until now... have we?" he asked. In all honesty, Luxu had no idea what fate his own future held. If he happened to decide later that he needed to go farther back in time to speak with someone, it would be something he had no foresight on. "That's... sort of also my answer to your question. I don't know how often we'll meet like this. In fact, I've been wondering if we'll ever even run into each other again in the future."

[Apollymi]

"I have no idea what a Tower of Darkness is... but Yuri is just Yuri. He's always like that" this was Kairos' only statement on that matter. But if Yuri fought it, or would fight it, she figured she'd get to see something interesting at some point. Regardless, it seemed that Master Luxu found it odd that she'd thank him for her good mood. He was in fact, specifically to blame for the girl's increased happiness and she knew this, but for him not to know why she'd thank him for doing this sort of thing for her. "We didn't speak today, we spoke yesterday... a lot actually. You talked to me before I left for Agrahbah, gave me a cool keychain. You walked me through saving Yuri. Taught me how to make Keychains... saved me from some strange conversation with Master Invi. And we went to Olympus Coliseum, we had a grand adventure..." she said recounting her previous day with this lad as what it had been for her. She'd enjoyed the early moments of their blossoming friendship, and would be really happy for it to continue. Though the lack of surety in this man's statements was a bit disturbing, it was a bit more disturbing to her, that he didn't seem to realize how much he'd touched her heart the previous day. "It was really nice, and it helped me clear my head a bit... have you not done that yet?" she asked of Master Luxu. She didn't really understand time travel, but she knew she'd met him several times over the last few days with various effects on her life. She imagined such a thing was no less confusing for the man who actually did the travelling, especially if he hadn't actually done any of these things yet.

After speaking on this matter it seemed that Luxu didn't actually know if they'd be encountering each other a great deal, he didn't know yet what he was doing or rather what he was going to do. "Hm... I don't envy you, that all seems really confusing," she said, thinking about it for a few seconds longer her face broke into a wide grin and she simply shook her head from left to right. "Eh, I guess it doesn't really matter. Grabbing this moment is enough," the girl said in a reference to something strange she remembered from being a child. "We have fun whenever you pop up. Besides, we're friends now... so I'm sure we'll keep running into each other," Kairos said. This lad had given her a bit of his heart the day before, she felt that given this, she had nothing to worry about since she felt like the two of them were a bit more connected than she'd likely be able to fathom or admit.

[Bloodedge]

"... Oh," Luxu said upon having the realization that the Tower of Darkness had not actually been encountered. Such a thing happened previously due to his intervention at a certain point, but in this timeline, it hadn't been located at all yet. "The Tower of Darkness is... something you might not even get to see. If you do see it though, you'll know what it is." With that out of the way, Sion perplexedly listened to Kairos explaining her previous day in his company. He did indeed have memory of these events, but her 'yesterday' and his were two very different things. His own previous day had been spent in an amount of solitude that was almost maddening. "No, I've done it. That was... about two weeks ago for me, I think. I guess you're welcome though, even if I'm not sure that's worth any thanks."

Kairos admitted to having no envy toward Luxu and his time-travel. He laughed at the thought of this, but the girl went on to note that a single moment was enough time spent with one another to be satisfactory. While Luxu could understand the notion, he was also beginning to understand something beyond. Her reference to their apparent friendship brought this to mind, and he sighed. "I wouldn't say that. I don't really have the luxury of bumping into my friends for much longer. I'm allowed an apprentice... and that's all I get while I fulfill the role given to me."

[Apollymi]

Luxu's words about this supposed Tower of Darkness made Kairos' left brow raise slightly. She didn't know how she felt about such cryptic news, but she supposed it was an interesting thing to think about, and nothing that required her immediate attention. Regardless, it seemed that her yesterday and Luxu's were two very different things, and quite a large amount of time had passed for the lad since he'd last had contact with her. He also apparently didn't know if his last set of actions were worth thanking him over. "Hm, well... it was worth it because it helped... Two weeks is a long time," she thought about this a bit but before her mind was allowed to properly wonder if he'd spent this time alone or not, the lad confirmed it, if not outright, than by his words about what he was and wasn't allowed to do as far as friendship was concerned. "Hm... I used to spend a lot of time alone like that... it isn't really good for you. It gives you too much time to be locked in your own head..." Kairos said aloud, but she still managed to seem pretty cheerful. In her own time, she'd had an imaginary friend until a real one had showed up in her life. "So... until you choose an apprentice to keep you company. I'll keep you company, whenever we happen to cross paths~" she said. Having given ample time for Yuri to get where he was going the portal which would have led her back to town closed. "You're stuck with me for the moment. I won't be talked out of this behavior... yada yada yada~ So did ya' have a good look around this place? Take in the creepy face trees? I think they have good character, a bit of shock and awe, but a nice bit of decoration!~"

[Bloodedge]

Apparently, Kairos thought the thanks she gave Luxu were worthwhile simply because his efforts helped her in some way. He supposed he could agree with this, though part of him didn't enjoy being thanked so easily by one he was considering abandoning for their own well-being. It seemed Kairos also understood the bother of being alone without choice. She did, however, seem optimistic in her offer to keep him company until he located his apprentice. Sadly, Luxu was unsure if he would even have an apprentice until after most people he knew were no more. "That's probably not a good idea for you. If you become a part of too many events, things might not end well for you," he warned. As he did though, the portal Kairos opened to Daybreak Town closed. Kairos claimed he was stuck with her for now, and immediately initiated a bit of small-talk. Luxu sighed again. If anything, this girl was persistent about something... whatever that something happened to be at any given time. "I've had a lot of time to spend here. I haven't been doing any rewinding, but I did have a bit of extra time before you two showed up... since I had to join the two of you to come here in the first place. I don't know if this is my type of world, if I'm being honest. The trees are nice though, and I suppose that girl with the animals was alright. Weird choice of conversation topic, by the way."

[Apollymi]

"Yeah, yeah, if it ends badly just give me something. I'll get over it instantly~" Kairos said jokingly though given her nature she was quite easily pleased by gifts, something which had been true about her for her entire life. She didn't think too much about the immediate consequences of her actions. Whether he chose to abandon his friendship with her or not long term also didn't matter. She was a person of a single moment, and because of this, she was fine with just being there for him for the time being. As they moved on to a more tangible conversation, it seemed that Luxu had only been able to come here because Kairos and Yuri had done it first. He had an opinion about the world, enjoyed the creepy trees but wasn't fond of the place overall. He also met a girl he thought was alright during his time here. "Ah, a girl with animals now we're getting somewhere," Kairos said seemingly enthused. She didn't actually care very much but there were lots of things to talk about. "I didn't expect a normal type of person to appear in this place..." she mused. "And this topic of conversation was the first one that popped into my head. Well, since we already talked about food and the music question is bit invasive..." she said only to realize it was likely weird without the context of the earlier conversation she'd had with Yuri. "Scratch that, uh... my conversation topics are weird, but... we gotta start somewhere," she said with a curt nod only to think about something said earlier and not understand it. "Wait, why did you have to come here with us?" she asked confused, she figured everyone could travel as they pleased, given what she'd been told when she was given her Chirithy.

[Bloodedge]

"I... don't think it would be that kind of bad ending that you could get over. I just get the feeling you'd be better off nowhere near me," Luxu explained while crossing his arms and tilting his head. He really wasn't sure about his desire to take on Kairos as his apprentice, and from something he heard between her and the boy named Yuri earlier this day, it seemed she wasn't too bothered about the idea in the first place. He never heard everything they said to one another, so many pieces of information were missing. This included the context behind whatever 'music question' Kairos may have had. "Yeah, there's someone... sort of normal that I've seen here so far. Also, music question? Anyway... I had to come here with you two because I don't have my own method of traveling to these worlds. No book, no Chirithy. Just me. I hitched a ride with you two, then rewound time while leaving myself here."

[Apollymi]

Kairos heard out what the lad had to say about his apparent involvement with her. She found it strange that he was under the impression that her being around him would be the sort of dangerous for her that she likely wouldn't be able to recover from. He went on to say that he thought she was better off without him given this might be the case. She sucked in air through her teeth and clicked her tongue, whatever he thought might happen to her, she didn't really care about. "Uh-huh. If you spend all your time thinking about what might happen, you'll never really get to see what will happen..." she said shaking her head firmly. She had a rather simplistic view of life and the things in it, and it was obvious by their current situation that she didn't have any particular plan or outcome in mind when she was doing things. "Besides, better or worse are all about perspective... and that shit is crazy~" she chimed, her own life as an acrobat and circus performer let her know that the world looked different from all sorts of angles. And what might seem good to some might not be, and what might be bad, could be good, depending on where one happened to be standing. As she pondered her own philosophies, Luxu went on to explain what his day had consisted of before this particular moment and questioned the bit she'd said about music. This let Kairos know the man wasn't privy or following for the whole of her day. "Ah, I made a joke earlier about picking your brain for information... as a random thing I joked I should ask what sort of music you listen to when falling asleep," she explained seemingly without shame though knowing it was a lot less funny without the extra banter. About the rest she seemed to give a bit of a nod as she had a general understanding. "So, you don't get a union, you aren't supposed to go places by yourself and you don't get to know whatever is in those freaky books..." she said thinking about it for quite some time. "Hm... got nothing, so we should do something fun instead..." she said coming to this conclusion with a quick nod. "I only came here to dodge potential work from Master Invi anyways... So..." she paused, opening her hand and summoning her Keyblade which she twisted around in her hand numerous times simply spinning it as if she had no idea what she was doing with it. "Do we think really hard about something new. Or do we try to go somewhere we've been before?" she asked giving Luxu the choice of their next destination. She couldn't comment on whatever was going on with the Masters but she did know that being bored to death wasn't good for anyone. And if she could offer herself as a vehicle for a little adventure, she'd do so for someone she considered her friend.

[Bloodedge]

Kairos had an interesting outlook to hear when considering potential events. Briefly, Luxu considered that she may have been better-suited to this time manipulation business than he was. "That's a good outlook to have. I don't have much of a choice but to think about what might happen, though, as I have no way of knowing which future is best for my role," he said, knowing his ability to blur the lines of time itself were pivotal in fulfilling what the Master of Masters needed of him. Either way though, he was faced with the clarification of what music question Kairos had for him, and despite it clearly having a joking tone, he replied nonetheless. "Isn't it obvious? I listen to Soft Rock," he stated. With that, he observed the summoning of a Keyblade by the girl in his company. She'd once again offered up her free time despite his warnings. Sighing yet again, he uncrossed his arms and stared at her Keyblade. "You really meant I was stuck with you, huh? I can't be sure where we've gone already since I may not have done it yet, but why does something new have to require hard thinking? We're also going with the assumption that I don't have something else to be doing right now."

[Apollymi]

It seemed like Kairos' words were taken at face value, at the very least the young man with her knew what she was getting at, though he apparently still had some misgivings. His words didn't make him sound like the person she'd met in the days prior to this one, a bit of a smirk came to Kairos' face as she managed to look confused. "Eh?! I don't know about these roles or anything but... if the Master of Masters gave you a job like that, she probably trusts your judgement. You can probably just go with that and do what you think is right... and lighten up a bit~" she said holding her fingers together in front of her only a tiny bit apart to mark the amount of mood alteration she thought the lad needed. As they moved along in the conversation it became obvious that Luxu was shifting into a bit of a joker as well, as he went on to answer the question presented by Kairos' earlier joke. She seemed to take on a bit of an inquisitive air after this giving a gentle nod as if she was learning something amazing. "Hm, Soft Rock, huh? That makes a bit of sense. I might have to check and see what that is like. Might spawn some crazy dreams though," she mused happily. As she continued to converse with this particular companion her Keyblade spinning around in her hand, she found his understanding of the situation she'd captured him in to be funny. An amused giggle would escape the lass, "Yep, definitely meant it. And it requires hard thinking because..." she paused giving that point thought. "Actually, I have no idea about that, but it made sense when I said it..." she mentioned with that characteristic grin on her face. As for the thought of him being relatively busy and having something else to do, she laughed outright. "Hahaha~ Right. Even if you had something else to do... you control time right? So, if you really need to do something else you still can..." she decided thinking about the situation logically. "After we have ourselves a little fun!~" she stated that spinning Keyblade coming to a stop in her hand she pointed it to a space at Luxu's left and prepared to open a portal. Kairos was a little pushy, but she figured if the lad actually didn't want to go along, he had more than a few ways to get out of it.

[Bloodedge]

"Everyone has a role. They just... might not know it yet," Luxu explained. He wasn't sure if everyone had been given the full details of their tasks by their master, but he knew that if they hadn't already, they would soon. "I'm sure she does trust my judgement. I'm using my judgement now by telling you this, and you're suggesting that I do otherwise. This is where paradoxes come in, y'know?" he continued, even going so far as to wag a finger in the girl's direction as he spoke. Kairos couldn't seem to actually make sense of this hard thinking she'd referenced moments ago, but claimed it made sense to her initially. She moved on from this rather quickly to address his time-traveling capabilities and the fact that he theoretically had time to do everything he needed to do. "And now you're even suggesting that I abuse time travel. You know every slight alteration to time could fracture time itself, right?" he asked in what seemed to be a serious manner. Immediately afterwards though, he laughed. As measured as every alteration he made to the timeline was, one such as Kairos would appear content to let destiny run its course as if these alterations were meant to be in place. Perhaps they were. The Master of Masters would likely think so after all, considering she'd written books detailing events Luxu had yet to witness. Surely these were the truths of the universe different from the many aborted timelines he'd been capable of seeing and altering thus far. This train of thought led Luxu to a single decision, which produced a statement to follow his chuckle. "Destiny Islands," he said. "There's a place by that name that is said to have a fruit... and that fruit is said to influence destiny itself."

[Apollymi]

According to Luxu everyone had a role, even if they didn't know what it was yet. Kairos also knew this to be true, given the initial description she'd received of her duties within her Union. Even so, the boy with her began to wag a finger at her while explaining time paradoxes and apparently how her giving him advice was altering his judgement in some way. "Yeah, but I mean, obviously your judgement can be clouded by unnecessary stuff, like uh... thinking too much. What if your overthinking, is the thing that creates the paradox... 'cause you're so worried about your influence on everything?" Kairos countered with an equally haughty attitude her hands planted firmly on her hips. He also explained that she was suggesting he abuse his powers and alter time and he even seemed serious. Her eyes widened at this but then he immediately began laughing beneath his cloak. "I mean, abuse or use, bend or break... these are all matters of perspective," she added with a laugh of her own. "Besides, laughing means I win!~" she said, as the lad went into thought about whatever he was thinking about and soon he came to a decision. According to his own words there was a place called Destiny Islands with a fruit that could alter destiny. "Okay, Destiny Island for some kinda freaky life-altering fruit. I'm on it!~" she said pointing her Keyblade once more so that she could open the portal, this would be marked briefly by the appearance of a small cat-like creature which helped steer the path in the right direction, before it dispersed in a puff of smoke. "And it's open. After you, Master Luxu!~" the girl chimed content to follow him after to their new destination.

[Bloodedge]

"Overthinking... is what causes time paradoxes? That might be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," he stated as if there was some level of confusion within him. Moving on from the matter of paradoxes, Kairos addressed the minor discrepancies between things such as bending and breaking, and using and abusing. Luxu had a slight issue with this, but he stepped toward the portal she opened nonetheless. "I don't know how closely related those things are, but... I think I'm done questioning things at this point," he said as he stepped into the portal, disappearing through it to the world called Destiny Islands.