Sell you a Bridge chapter 291

June 14th 2016 Hollow Bastion 7:00 PM EDT

We followed the ruin platforms as far as we could get rather than mount  the floating islands. I had wings but most of us couldn't fly, so it  seemed like a good idea to save the whole defying gravity thing for the  last possible moment, since we were going to end up carrying anyone who  didn't have that gift. It didn't end up being necessary. When we got to  the edge of the ruins, a weird line of light arched down from the  castle, slamming into the archway at the edge of the stone circle we had  just reached.

As we all watched in shock, a circular  platform on some kind of hook slid slowly down the line of light like it  was solid, approaching slowly from the distant castle. Even for people  like us, it was a weird thing to see. Zee was staring in awe as the  platform slowly approached. "Ok...what the fuck is that?" She looked to  her mother. "Like, do you know what that is? Because I don't know a  spell that can conjure corporeal lines of light like a fucking green  lantern. Maybe that's my lacking education though?"

Jim strolled up to the archway, pulling his cane from mid air and tapping it against the stone. Tapping it right THROUGH the line of light, which  didn't interfere with the beam at all despite it being solid enough to  support a huge slow moving platform.I saw the others all staring at him, even Kit, who had been unusually quiet, following Jim's motions worriedly. He shook his head. "Semicorporeal.  It appears to only be real the the platform itself. Which is a much more  impressive trick than hard light constructs. Those may be rare, but  they aren't the sole province of ringbearers. This is extremely advanced  magic. Morgan, give this a once over with your aura sight?" 

I did, and I whistled loudly. "That...wow. That's wild. I've seen spell  work that was densely packed before, but this is much more structured  than anything I've seen in wards or combat magic. It's closer to  computer code than normal spellcraft. It's clean too. I know code pretty  well, and this is tight. I've seen a lot of coding languages and this  has the feel of something that's been iterated to near flawlessness.  This isn't a recent creation. Who ever invented this spent either  generations or centuries perfecting it. I can see the care and focus in  the lines of the aura."

As I was talking the platform came  to a stop right in front of us and I exhaled loudly. "Ok. Well, we  still have to get up there before dark hits, or at least, I don't want  to be stuck here when theres no light. So since it seems stable I say we  take the platform. We can look around inside the castle and see if we  can find some magic books or something if you like. I'm sure more than  one of you would love learning to cast spells like this." I shot a not  so subtle glance at Zee who was staring hungrily at the platform. I was  glad she'd gotten distracted.

The platform itself really  was fascinating. It was a circle of dark metal, embossed with a gold  symbol that looked like half moons on either side of a small diamond,  both interior curves facing the middle shape, surrounded by a sun. All  suspended by gold bars that would seem like a cage if they weren't far  too widely spaced to contain anything, and hanging from a glowing blue  crystal prism that was interacting with the line of light. The bars were  golden and shaped like rose stems, complete with thorns along their  length.

The sheer artistry of the thing was staggering,  and as we mounted the platform and began to ascend toward the castle, I  couldn't help but turn and stare back at the retreating shape of the  ruins in the center of that ring of waterfalls. It was absolutely  gorgeous. Turning back to the castle, I took in the place we were  actually headed. It was pretty mindblowing too. Very clean lines, lots  of marble and bronze pipes. Sort of a steampunk post modern aesthetic if  I had to couch it in earth terms, though not exactly that.

At  the top of the lift line, we stepped onto a huge overhanging marble  balcony, and rather than move any further, we all stopped. I turned to  the others. "Alright. I can't say if this is safer or anything, but at  least we're on the actual structure. I say we take a second to look  around and make sure we aren't about to get jumped by something before  moving on. Anyone have any ideas for what to do from here? My plan is  basically 'go inside, call my daughter' and I'm definitely open to  suggestions."

Jim's head was drifting back and forth as he  took the place in, and I waited for my mentor to make his decision, but  eventually he just sighed and shook his head. "No. I don't see any  obvious spots we should examine. Getting inside before dark seems a good  idea. Do you see any traces of danger in the aura of this place?"

That  was a good question. I stared into the aura around us, paying extra  attention to the details to try to suss out what was happening. "I...do?  I think. I can barely tell. This place is swirling with dark energy and  stagnation, but that could just be a function of the world we're in.  Not to mention the magic wrapped around the castle is getting in the  way. That hyper structured form of magic script is baked into the stones  of this place. It's probably how it even exists, given the  decomposition this world seems to be suffering."

Thinking  about it like that, I should have figured out that no world this damaged  would be able to support a structure this stable. The ruins themselves  were the best evidence of that, and the wear and tear around the edges  made a lot more sense. To be protected from that kind of effect, the  defenses on this place were clearly top notch, and I could see a serious  amount of power when I looked at the stones around us, I just couldn't  really see much else. I would have no fucking chance of recreating these  wards or this castle without literal years studying the aura and  learning this magic style either.

Still, with no clear  path, we could only go inside and try to figure out our way in by  searching. So we set off to look. We followed the balcony around, coming  to a spot around the corner where we found some weird eight pointed  crystal statues. I reached out to touch one once I read the aura to make  sure it was safe, and another of the lines of light popped up, another  platform lowering from above to stop in front of us. The line of light  went right through the bottom of the platform, spearing through that  same kind of blue gem.

We climbed on, me going first  because wings, and I was fine so the others joined me and we ascended  into the air, heading for a higher balcony. The sight from here was even  more amazing, taking my breath away as I watched the castle's base fall  away. When we reached the higher balcony. We stepped off and  suddenly...we weren't alone. Black creatures of living shadow rose from  the ground, surrounding us, yellow eyes blazing from their darkened  forms as they glared up at their newest trespassers.

The  others got into defensive positions, readying weapons, but I just raised  a hand to stop them. I called to Tartarus, the black metal filling my  hand, and when I held the keyblade up, I felt a connection with these  things. Not as strong as with my soulless, or with Morana, but a  connection all the same.  Sadly, that connection wasn't enough to  control them, simply to understand the fundamental truth that none of my  friends could actually kill these things. They couldn't be harmed by  mundane means.

They all attacked, and with my speed,  power, and reflexes I shredded them before they could even get close. My  domain spread out, allowing me to flicker in and out of existence  instantly wherever I needed to be to intercept them, sometimes a dozen  of me and sometimes none at all. I winced when I came to a stop, I  hadn't mastered that yet, it was still developing, and my head ached at  the effort of using my power so directly.

"Sorry." I said  when I was done. "They aren't really smart enough to scare off. Not at  this level. They're not sapient. Lets go inside. We might need to fight  more, but I'm pretty sure the outside of this place will swarm when it  gets dark." I recognized the familiar traces of the magic here now.  Magic like I'd woven in my summonings and into my daughter. The magic of  the void. The connection between heartless and the void was  complicated, but it DID exist. After all, what were heartless but a void  inside our hearts.

We finally made  it inside after a few more platform trips and some more heartless  attacks, arriving in a well appointed library. The place was absolutely  huge. With several criss crossing shelves and a large circular staircase  wrapping around it on one side. orange light flooded the room through  stained glass windows and a chandelier hung from the ceiling supported  by what looked like golden pipes made to look like roots that covered  the ceiling.

I  turned to the others. "Alright, the aura in here shows a bit less of  the darkness that I think enables heartless to spawn. Block off the  doors, we'll spend the night in here. Zee, feel free to comb through the  books, I'm sure there's some fun magic in here. Hell, any of you can if  you want to. I'm going to give Rana a call and see if she can help me  figure out how the fuck to get us home. She should be able to reach us  here easily enough with me to lock onto."

My  girlfriend looked a bit unhappy she wouldn't be in on that meeting, but  I shot her a smile. "Don't worry, I won't send our girl off before you  can see her and introduce her to her grandmother. She's spent the last  month or so with my mom, so it only seems fair she spend some time with  you and Sindella." I felt a surge of bubbly joy from the bond and leaned  down to give Zee a quick peck on the lips. "Alright, go do your  research, I'll send her over after we talk."

She  kissed me back hungrily, yanking me back down against her as I tried to  pull away. When I finally got loose, my eyes a little glazed, she  winked and patted me on the ass. "Just so you don't get too used to  expecting me to entertain myself. Just because we haven't had as much  time together lately doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it  lately." She leaned over and grabbed Drea, yanking our goddess against  her. "You owe us a date night sometime soon. Or we're just going to have  on without you."

I  leaned down to kiss her again, then kissed Drea even more deeply,  earning a pout from Zee as I made a point of paying her extra attention.  I winked at my sorceress before stepping back. "I'll keep it in mind."  Then I wandered off to a secluded corner of the library where I could  find an open spot, and reached out through the bond for Rana. My  daughter felt the intent, and there was a burst of roiling shadow as she  bolted through, diving into my arms for a hug. My eyes widened as I  realized she was crying, and I held her close. "It's alright sweetie.  I'm here." I guess the bond had done something weird when we came  through after all.