PHASE I [ 9 00 ] You open your eyes, and there is a chicken pecking at your face. It's not a very happy chicken, either, but if you can manage to fend it off, then it will be clear that you are in a village. It is... medieval-esque, in that video game sort of way; the details don’t seem too clear, but if you look to your left, there’s a cow! And to your right, a well! Ignore the clear evidence of modern technology in the buildings such as lights, gas, and 21st century plumbing; CERES is dedicated to authenticity.
Looks like the new ViViD level has finally been released, and everyone is invited to play, whether they want to or not.
The game (because this time, that's surely what it is) will start simple. Everyone begins in the same place and every NPC villager will say the same thing: to get out of here, you have to go through the caves. They’ll shove a stick at you (“take this, it’s dangerous to go alone”) and off you go, into the caves… !
Which are full of tiny rats and more chickens. They will try to fight you, but it’s really not very effective when they’re perfectly small and average (especially when everyone still has their typical powers and abilities -- CERES didn't mess with those at all this time). The caves are winding and circular and maze-like, and to make matters even worse, the only ones around are the other poor saps stuck in this situation.
But if you kill enough of the rats, you’ll get to hear the satisfying level up jingle. Congratulations! You are now level 2. It's probably satisfying just for a minute or so until you finally find your way out of those maze like caves and -- You're back in the village again. Great.
PHASE II [ 930 ] You’re carrying a bag. No matter what you do, you can’t take it off, either; it’s stuck with you through thick and thin. But it is awfully heavy. Maybe you should actually open it and see what’s inside?
The problem is, it’s going to take a while.
The bag has clearly tapped into its true hammerspace nature; there are items for days in there, and they’re all very, very strange. You might end up covered in hats of all sorts, buried in logs as you pull out one after another, or look like you have an odd fetish for pickaxes.
Maybe there’s 1/3rd of an evil turnip, half a piece of pie and an egg.
Geez, what in the world are you supposed to do with all of that?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] Eventually, you make it out of the caves the right way despite the harassment of the rats and chickens and the fact you'll keep perpetually getting lost. Hooray! You come out into a large, peaceful, scenic meadow, with a small river bubbling off to one side, and a house.
You'll immediately notice that there’s a bridge to cross the river, but there’s someone standing in the way of that bridge. When you approach to go past him, no matter what you try to do, you won't be able to. Asking him why he won't move will only get one thing in response -- “Bring me a fish. Cooked.”
Then he’ll shove a fishing rod at you and expect you to get to it. You can’t attack him, you can’t get past him -- looks like the only thing to do is to catch and cook that fish. Time to sit back, relax, and get to work. Or maybe you’ll team up with someone else and be the person in the house making sure that the fish gets cooked properly. For some reason, if you leave it too long it turns right into a pile of ashes.
Weirdly though, no matter how good you are at cooking or fishing usually, it’s as if you’re right back at the metaphorical level one. Any sort of seasoning or effort to cook it faster falls flat and in the end you'll only be able to place the fish in the pan and set it on the stove, whole. This may take awhile.
And if you try to cross the river itself, well... no, really, don’t try to cross the river.
At least if you get eaten, you’ll just respawn back in the village, but do have fun traveling through the caves again!
PHASE IV [ 1430 ] You made it through the caves. You made it across the river (with a slightly burnt fish). You’ve made it to the wide open world, and you can finally adventure to your heart’s content. You take a step forward on the road and --
A message pops up, bright red and in your face.
[ Restricted Area: Members Only ]
No matter what you do, you can’t go past that point. In fact, if you’re not careful and you’re going too fast, you might run face-first into it like it’s an invisible wall (which it is).
Then, just like that, you're back in the village. Again. Only this time, there's a nice, blinking message -- Pay a small subscription fee to access member's content. Oh well. No big deal, you can just start again.
Except then you see a cool sword and when you try to pick it up, you'll get that same message, and end up transported back to the village yet again. And again, with some shiny new armor. And again, with that attention-grabbing NPC over there. Looks like you're caught in an infinite loop here but no matter how much you inspect the pop up, there's no... actual way to pay the subscription fee (and why would you want to?). But at least you have company, because you can't be the only person who thought that sword was cool.
(It was really, really cool.)
BONUS [ xxxx ] What’s that on the ground in front of you? It looks like… some bunny ears? Or maybe it’s a chicken head, or a pumpkin head. Either way, the moment you touch it, you have a strong need to put it on your head -- and once it’s on, it’s not coming off.
To make matters worse, each hat has an effect associated with it; the bunny ears will, in fact, randomly turn you into a cute fluffy bunny for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour before you pop right back to yourself, whereas the pumpkin hat will, in a complete reversal, turn you into Cinderella for a bit -- complete with beautiful ball gown and the ability to talk to all of those cute fluffy bunnies.
Also the rats will love you, so maybe you should go back to the caves again.
Meanwhile, the chicken hat won't transform you into any odd creature, but it will inspire in the people wearing them a very real, persistent desire to build a nest. This will involve picking up twigs, trash, shiny things and whatever else catches your eye to try to build a nest out of it. You'll also try to pick up whatever food you find on the ground to eat, have the weirdest desire to lay an egg, and basically have all sorts of odd chicken-like instincts inflicted upon you.
At least you look festive!
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After you were hurt with that ice spell, I was fighting Xehanort and Vanitas. But Vanitas got away, and Xehanort stopped me from following.
[Terra's hand drops from Ven's shoulder, where it clenches into a fist, and he looks away from him.] Ven... I'm sorry. I told you me and Aqua would take care of you... but I guess we couldn't after all.
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[And just when that thought crosses his mind, Terra proves that Ven was right in thinking that would happen with his apology. Ven's eyes widen a little at the words, but he sighs and shakes his head before looking up at Terra with an expression Terra hasn't seen before: the same one of calm determination he'd found himself wearing when he decided to break the χ-blade, and therefore his own heart.] And I told you that if you had to... [He can't bring himself to say the words again, not now, but it's obvious what he means.] I had to do it myself, to save you and Aqua, and to keep him from destroying all the worlds - and I'd do it again if I had to, Terra, I know it was the right thing to do.
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Terra's response is shaky, the grief and rage he's tried to hold back these past two months in Cerealia now springing to the fore.]
How is giving yourself up the right thing to do? You've already been through enough... I could've found another way!
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[And he doesn't regret it, not one bit. Not as long as Terra and Aqua - and all the worlds - were safe.]
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[His voice is edging on desperation now. He doesn't even know where his argument is going. The one thing that had kept him going was his hatred of Xehanort, flickering like a dark fire that was slowly searing out his insides with its rage. He'd kept it at bay, that constant dark urge to destroy his foe. But now -- what Ven is telling him is compounding every fear that had built up since meeting Riku and Roxas here.
His knees buckle from under him. Something, somehow, went wrong. And he knows that in the future, Xehanort isn't gone at all.]
I failed you... I've failed everyone.
[He'd tried to be strong. Now he knows that was a lie, and the weight of it, of his guilt, threatens to crush him.]
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Either way, this is a chance to speak with his best friend once more. He has to blink and force himself to focus on Ven's face to pull himself back to the present.]
What happened to Aqua? Is she--?
[Is she still alive? he wants to ask, but he doesn't dare to hear the answer.]
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[Fortunately Terra seems to get a hold of himself, enough to meet Ven's eyes, but this time it's Ven who looks away at that question.] I don't... know... When Vanitas took me over, she was unconscious, but she was alright otherwise...
[He couldn't have done anything about Master Xehanort, and he knows that. Ven's job was to handle Vanitas, which he'd seen to. That meant Aqua had a better chance, right?]
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...I'm sure she's okay.
[The reassurance is hollow, and more for Ven's sake, when Terra has been sure for months that Aqua is probably dead. Terra's never been much good at insincerity. But it's starting to sink in that somehow, despite everything, Ven is here. And criticising himself for his failures doesn't change that.]
Sorry, Ven. [He draws himself to his feet, still feeling shaken, but putting himself back together. He has to be strong again.] I... I don't know how CERES saved you, but I'm glad they did.
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...Yeah. I'm sure she is.
[Ven follows Terra to his feet, standing back enough to be able to look up and see him clearly, and no matter what's been going on or how much he's experienced and how much he's grown from that, he can't help but be comforted by Terra being there in front of him and pulling himself together again. He gives a smile to the older student, heartfelt and full of relief.]
I'm just glad to know you're okay. That's all I wanted, was to protect you guys.
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[Terra can't return the smile, though his expression looks a fraction less solemn than before. He was the one who was supposed to protect Ven -- not the other way around. But he's here, and he can protect him here too. Or so he hopes.]
Hey, once we get out of this ViViD level, there are some people I want you to meet.
[Roxas, especially, but Riku too. Terra's proud of his successor, even if he had no part in his achievements.]
And I can show you around the city, too. It's a weird world, but there's a lot to see.