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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Ventus χ Kingdom Hearts χ OTA
[Ven had woken up with absolutely no idea where he was, mostly because... well, he seemed to be alive. The last he'd known, he'd been a very definite collision course with erased. Not just dead, but no longer in existence in any way, shape, or form, considering that he'd pretty willingly blown up his heart to defeat Vanitas and destroy the χ-blade. So having a chicken in his face? Not exactly something he was expecting.
Even having been to several different worlds, wherever he was looked more or less nothing like he was familiar with. It had bits and pieces that were similar to a lot of places he'd been, but none of them were exact fits, and everything had a very... artificial feel to it. It wasn't something he could put his finger on, but the area made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up a little. And in any case, he wanted to be out of there - he had a job to do, there had been a fight, he needed to get off this world so he could find Terra and Aqua and learn what had happened and why he wasn't dead for some reason. Because if that meant Vanitas hadn't died either...]
I've gotta find the exit point.
[For some reason he wasn't sure of, all the worlds he'd been to had had set points where he was able to get through the barriers surrounding them, so it only made sense for this one to have one or two as well. Ven couldn't sense any around the small village, though, and the few people around didn't seem to be freaking out about a random boy showing up in their midsts, so it was time to try asking some questions. That's one place he can be found, as he queries three or four people and gets more or less the same answer in response every time, so eventually he takes the stick and heads off to the aforementioned caves with the distinct impression that most people in that town aren't all that good at answering questions.]
[The other place he can be found is in the caves itself - or, more specifically, speeding through them. Considering he wants to get out of there asap and dealing with the rats is an ordeal, Ven has decided that even his usual fast run isn't good enough, and so he's kicked himself into a series of Glides through the cave system that moves him at roughly four times his normal running speed, perhaps a little faster. He can't stay up forever so he's consistently having to jump as high as the ceiling will allow him and launch into a new glide with a gentle downward slope until his feet hit the ground again, but he's moving pretty quickly nonetheless. Quickly enough to probably plow into someone when he turns a corner or misjudges distances, or at least knock them to the side in his passing. Since Ven's a polite and friendly boy, he'll stop and make sure anyone he hits is all right, and apologize for it. Are you one of those people?]
(Phase 3)
[Why is he trying to cook a fish? Why? He's an absolute disaster in the kitchen and with cooking in general, to the point where he'd been banned from it in the castle. And yet here he was, trying to cook a stupid fish. Catching it hadn't been a problem, he had some experience with that and fast reflexes, but when he tried to just set it on fire with a spell, there had indeed been flames but they hadn't seemed to touch the fish at all. And the man in question had some sort of barrier around him that Ven couldn't break through, and any and all attempts he'd made to just jump over the river had amounted to naught.]
[He's a nice, friendly kid, but wherever he is, this place really is starting to get on Ven's nerves. He just wants out! He was in the middle of some very important stuff and he needs to get back to it! But no, he's staring at a fish in a frying pan on the stove, occasionally poking the handle to move it just a bit and hoping the stove doesn't blow up just because he's standing next to it (again).]
(Phase 4)
[The stupid fish is tossed back into the river as soon as he's across it, and Ven can finally see the wide open expanses beyond the village and he takes a few running steps, jumps, twists himself into a glide-]
[-and runs face-first into the barrier after having gone only about ten feet, tumbling to the ground since he seriously did not expect that. He's not hurt, but he is stunned as he pulls himself to his feet again, bracing against the invisible wall to do so, because really? Really? What sort of world is this where everything's so closed off and nothing makes any sort of sense and-]
[That's when he notices the red text hanging in midair in front of him and he can't help it. His jaw just drops.]
"Members O-?" What's that supposed to mean?! I have to get out of here, I have to make sure they're all right!
[Nice, friendly kid? Definitely. But even he has his limits, and he's quickly reaching the end of them.]
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That is, until he spots a kid glide into the invisible barrier and get knocked clean off his feet. A kid familiar enough that it makes his heart leap in his chest with hope.]
--Ven!
[It's not Roxas this time. He's sure it's not. He might have mistaken Roxas' identity a few times in the past, but there was no mistaking Ven himself for anyone else. Terra dashes over, hesitating only a few feet away. Hoping above all that this isn't another trick engineered by CERES.]
Ven, is that really you?
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Terra?
[Turning on his feet, he can't help it when he sees Terra - his jaw drops open, an unmistakably Ven look of relief and happiness spreading over his face as he realizes that Terra is right there and is alive and okay and-]
Terra!
[Better watch out big bro, because Ven's running right at you and is likely going to tackle you even though they're not really the hugging kind of family. He's just so happy you're okay.]
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I'm so glad you're safe... [Terra shakily puts a hand on his shoulder, both to get a better look at Ven, and to take a second to compose himself.]
Xehanort can't hurt you here. I promise.
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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.
Phase 1
He gets nailed and takes a nasty tumble to the unforgiving floor of the cave.]
Ow....
[Perhaps a healing arte wouldn't be misplaced. Once he stops seeing stars, at least....]
hiiiiiiiiiiiiii
I'm sorry! I didn't see you, I wasn't watching where I was going. [More like "couldn't see at all" where he was going because of the way the caves twisted. He extends a hand to Mikleo to help him up if he needs it, a sheepish expression on his face.] Are you okay?
;w; hiiiiiiii
I'm fine.
[His stumble to balance himself says maybe not totally fine, but it's nothing a healing spell or Apple Gel can't fix. He rubs his head gingerly, wincing at the knot forming.]
Seriously, I've taken harder falls than that. You seemed to be in quite the rush, though.
hi bb hiiiiiii~
That's not fine! I'm sorry, hang on- [He's good at this spell, having used it quite a bit on himself over the years, and it only takes a moment to cast and is no drain on his own resources. It's just the base-level Cure spell, but it'll do to patch up any bruises or twinged muscles from a run-in.]
[When he's sure that's set in and done it's work, Ven gives a smile that still has a sheepish hint to it, but is mostly friendly and open.] I just want to get through here - I don't even know where here is, but there were things going on that were important, and I need to find my friends again...
I'm so excite to play with your Ven again ;w; he's so precious
Okay, that's neat. I need to see if I can learn that one.
[Whoops, now is not the time to geek over things like that. He can understand that kind of urgency, and perhaps it's against his better judgment, but he relaxes a little around the teenager. The kid seems genuine enough. Plus, Mikleo owes him for the healing.]
I'm in the same boat. I'll help you look, but I can't go as fast as you can.
[That may be for the best....]
No *you're* the precious one bb
I can try and teach you later, if you want, but I've gotta find my friends. And I've never taught anything before, I'm still an apprentice myself.
[Mikleo's not seeing wrong: Ven's face is indeed a little red at the reminder of the crash, and he raises a hand to rub the back of his head in a habitual gesture.] I probably shouldn't be going that face myself, anyway - you're trying to get out of here too, right? We can just keep going.
[And ignore the chickens.]
Oh yeah, I'm Ventus, but everyone calls me Ven.
3!
he purses his lips again while standing a solid distance away from ventus. the resemblance is uncanny, exactly like it was back in sora's heart. most people probably wouldn't stop and think twice about approaching to say hi to 'roxas'. thankfully, riku isn't most people. alike they look, but different they feel. a boy who looks identical to roxas right down to the clothes... not hard to guess who that could be thanks to terra.
so both him and roxas are outside sora's heart. why? more time antics? or is something else at play? well, standing and making faces at him won't answer anything. only one thing left to do, right? right. without any further hesitation, riku approaches.]
You might wanna flip it over before one side ends up extra charred and the other extra raw.
A wild Riku appears!
[Since cooking is not Ven's favorite activity in the world, he's not aware Riku's there until he hears a footfall behind him. He jumps at the sound, spinning and starting to instinctively sink into a fighting stance, but he pulls it back when he sees the other boy isn't trying to attack him or anything like that. Sorry, he's a little jumpy right now.]
Really? Thanks - I don't know a lot about cooking. [More like nothing. Poor Ven has a bad track record with fire. He picks up the spatula that he managed to scavenge and sets about trying to flip the fish over, which is harder than it should have been because it's kind of stuck to the pan a little.] I need to get out of here, but I can't get past that river without doing this, for some reason.