Sell you a Bridge chapter 342

July 3rd 2016 Traverse Town, 11:00 PM EDT

"Scala  ad Caelum?" I said blankly. "Stairway to heaven? Only one I can think  of is a fairly overrated song that everyone learns to play on guitar  when they start out." I knew plenty of Latin from my time researching  for Jim, but I'd never heard that phrase used in that language.

Merlin  chuckled. "An amusing reply, and one I quite enjoy. You know, I was on  earth during the nineteen eighties. I actually attended a Led Zeppelin  concert in person. I have a house in Bermuda, but I like to pop by New  York and Paris and London to take in the sights when I'm in world.  Sadly, I'm afraid I'm not referring to the lyrical stylings of Robert  Plant. I speak of something of much more...consequence."

I  sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "Merlin, I thought we weren't  doing the cryptic doublespeak thing right now? Because this is not  helping me understand anything." I walked over and sat down, gesturing  the girls out because this seemed like it was going to take a while.

"Quite  right." He said in embarrassment. "Apologies, dear boy. I'm afraid when  one reaches my advanced age habits can be hard to break. Scala ad  Caelum is not a song. It is a place. In point of fact, it is THE place.  The original hub of all worlds in the multiverse. Scala ad Caelum was  once a flourishing kingdom of powerful scientists and scholars that  existed in a sliver of reality called the Monitor Sphere."

I  furrowed my brow. "Is that in the Sphere of the Gods? Or is it somehow  adjacent? I've never heard of it, but the way you said that makes it  sound like more than just a world."

He gave me an  acknowledging nod. "Indeed. It is adjacent to the Sphere of the Gods.  Scala ad Caelum was created on the bones of the world forge. An even  more ancient and powerful location that one played host to the World  Forger himself. When he was consumed by his dragon, whose name you know  but dare not speak, the remnants of the World Forge's technological and  magical principles were used to found a grand kingdom. In time, this  kingdom too fell, and its remnants were in turn conquered by Xehanort,  the true leader of the Organization, at the behest of his master."

Raising  an eyebrow, I made a hurry up gesture. "This is all fascinating stuff. I  love a good history lesson for worlds I've never been to and had no  intention of ever seeing, but I'm assuming you brought this up because  it was important to me for some reason?"

Merlin just  chuckled, sipping his tea again. "Impatience, my boy, is the doom of  reason. But very well. Yes, I bring this to your attention because it is  indeed relevant to your situation. I assume that Delirium told you of  what you require to reforge the Dark Multiverse?"

"Yeah." I  said in annoyance. "A shit ton of keyblades to make this X-blade thing.  Then we use that to repair the Dark Multiverse, creating a new,  functional multiverse of darkness of which I become the first Endless  and Bar- and the B-guy is tossed out on his ass." I already knew all  this. I'd collected MOST of the wielders already, and once I got them  together I'd make a magic sword thing and then...do world creation...or  something. Fuck. "I don't know what we're supposed to be doing with the  X-blade."

The old wizard smiled like a proud grandfather.  "You see, I knew you would get there. You see, when Delirium told you  that you could repair the dark multiverse, she wasn't being exactly  accurate. The word she should have used was rather 'reforge'. While it  is true that your power is the flame that can reshape the Dark  Multiverse, and the X-blade is the hammer to temper and  purify those  worlds, you're still missing one more important ingredient."

"An  anvil." I said with a start. I'd worked on forging with Artemis a few  times, and with my memory it wasn't a stretch to remember the  requirements. This was an easy one. "The world forge will act as an  anvil to allow me to hammer the imperfections from the Dark Multiverse,  while my Deception ability will allow me to simply change those worlds  instead of crushing them with what I can only assume is a normally  devastating creation event."

Merlin gave a pleased nod.  "Even so. But if it was simply that I could have left a note. It is  important that you study the way Scala ad Caelum interacts with the  multiverse. It is a linchpin, a keystone, a hub from which all worlds  spring. To properly forge the Dark Multiverse into a healthy system of  worlds, you need such a linchpin. A Dark Stairway. To use the world  forge to rework the worlds is not enough. You must guide the energy to  create a dark mirror to Scala ad Caelum itself. You must make a new  world."

That was...heavy. Really heavy. Reforging the  multiverse was one thing, I was just changing something that was already  there, and I was using prepared tools with shit loads of power to do  it. But to create a new world. To forge my own fucking universe. And not  just any universe, a central universe that the entire Dark Multiverse  would be connected to. I didn't even know how I would begin.

Except...that  wasn't true. Sure, it was much more complicated than anything I'd done  before, but I DID know how to begin. The void. The dark mirror on the  other side of existence. I'd used the void to create Rana, even if I  hadn't really meant to. Granted, I'd used the keyblade too, and hearts,  but...I still had those other things. Not just any keyblade either. I'd  be using THE keyblade. All things had a shape in the void, and creating  that shape would be my first step to actualizing a world. I had a whole  book on how to do something just like this, but I hadn't come even close  to actually mastering it.

Come to think of it, what was  the end goal of that book? What was the ultimate level of void shaping. I  wasn't sure, but I suspected it was making a world. A void world. My  power really had been preparing me for this for longer than I knew.  "I...I think I can do it." I said slowly. Not now obviously. I'd need to  invest in some serious mental enhancement to finish studying the void  grimoire in time. That book might look like one volume, but given the  absurd system of dictation it had more information than most library  planets. Still, it was a start.

"I never doubted that, my  boy." Said the old wizard fondly. "If I didn't think you could do it, I  should have interfered much more in your business." I shot him a  grateful smile, but he cut me off with a casual shrug. "Of course, I've  been wrong before. But in the end what will be will be. I have faith  that you can see this through...and if not. Well, I suppose we'll have  to prepare for war eventually. As a true Endless he would be a much  greater threat."

I hadn't been sure that capturing me  would let him become a real Endless actually, Del had never come out and  said it, and I had allowed myself to at least hope. Sadly it didn't  seem like it was meant to be. That was fine. All I had to do was follow  the advice Tifa had given me before we left to fight Luxord and his  thugs. 'Don't fuck up.' It was hard not to smirk at how annoyed Cloud's  aura had gotten when she said that.

"The issue becomes." I  said slowly. "That I don't know where Scala ad Caelum IS. If I have to  use it as a template and as an anvil too, I should probably figure out  how to get there. I don't suppose you have some sort of portal device.  Or coordinates. Or even a map would work, it doesn't matter as long as  it can help me find my way." Granted, I still needed to find the other  three wielders, but this seemed just as important.

Sadly,  that wasn't to be. Merlin just sighed. "I'm afraid not, dear boy." At my  frown he just held up a hand. "Don't lose hope. Once the X-blade is  forged it should open the way to Scala ad Caelum. The X-blade was the  hammer used in the creation of the multiverse, after all. Despite being  fragmented under the direction of the first king of Scala ad Caelum, it  knows its way back to the world forge. You need only continue your  quest."

That was good, but it opened up another problem.  "I'm guessing that they'll be guarding it. You said the organization  leader, who I thought was named Xemnas no Xehanort but whatever,  conquered it for B-guy. There's no way they don't have forces stationed  there right?" So now not only did I have to gather and combine twenty  keyblade wielders, I had to break into some weird fallen kingdom to use  the damn thing.

Actually...that  kind of worked. I could just think of it as one big heist. We were just  stealing access to the world forge. Between Jim and I we could  definitely swing that. As expected Merlin didn't hide the bad news.  "Almost certainly." Agreed the old wizard. "However, I know for a fact  you have your people training with an old friend of mine. Twenty  keyblade wielders is no small force. You should be more than up to the  challenge."

"Which  means." I said. "We need to get started finding the last three. I don't  suppose this burst of helpful interference includes a roadmap to the  other three wielders?" Having talked to Sora, I was pretty sure I knew  who they were. Kairi, the girl Sora seemed to have a huge crush on,  Riku, his best friend, and King Mickey, an apparently anthropomorphic  mouse that I remembered someone mentioning when we were in the Sphere of  the Gods. Sadly that didn't help me FIND any of them.

Merlin  chuckled. "That I can help with. If you're looking for Riku, you can  find him in Quadratum. Mickey is there looking for him as well. As for  Kairi...I cannot say. I've searched for her for some time, but sadly to  no avail. I know you find her in time. I would look to Sora to guide  you. That boy's heart is stronger than almost any other, and it is  connected to hers in a way I doubt even the two of them really  understand."

Huh.  I might actually be able to understand better than he thought. After  all, my heart was connected to someone else too. Two someones. I hadn't  actually checked Sora's aura to see about connections, but give Roxas  had used one to find him, that might be a good start. I stood up.  "Alright. Quadratum next then. Do you happen to know a way to find the  place? Because my ability to navigate worlds is...not great."

I'd  never learned any of this shit. We'd just been randomly using keyholes  to jump through to get back to the world of light, until we hit the  tower and Master Yen Sid brought us here. Merlin just smiled. "Don't  worry. Donald, Goofy, and Sora have a gummy ship, and are quite  experienced. They can help you find the way." He stood as well, holding  out a hand. "Be safe, dear boy. Your task is almost done."

Taking  his hand, I shook once and then left. As I opened the door I saw Rana  leaning against it, ear to the surface, but she stumbled back,  pretending to have been raising a hand to knock. Rolling my eyes, I  gestured for her to follow me and started filling them all in. Once  thing was for sure. I hoped Merlin was right. Once this was over, I  could finally rest for a while. Maybe another beach trip with my girls.  I'd have to add that into the new world I was creating.