"Well if you fly out on the keyglider, you risk the chance of leaving without the lanes open. It's not exactly easy to explain but... it's easier to travel from the ocean and end up in another world.. than it would be to be on the keyglider and fly through the sky to get to another world. I know that probably makes no sense..." she paused the conversation when she got to the stand and asked for cake batter ice cream on a cone. When she had it she walked a bit away and said to the others, "We could buy one... or... uh. What's the word... commandeer one?" 30/31
At the suggestion of others, who all seemed to be interested in the idea of getting some ice cream, she turned around and looked over at Lilo and Nani, the whole team over there seemed at least distracted in their own conversations for the time being. She shrugged and said, "Alright, sure. We probably shouldn't be too long since we should proooobably give them a formal see-ya-later as opposed to just disappearing... but I think I need ice cream." she shifted her hair back and walked over back to them and said, "Maybe after that we could ask them about boats.." Kaida looked up the beach to see if she could see any ice cream stands around and there seemed to be a couple on the shoreline selling to some of the beach-goers. She pointed towards them and said, "There's some." and she started walking towards it to at least get the walk started. 29/31
Kaida tried to keep up with every point brought up since she wanted to acknowledge whatever she could. She heard Steel and Stratos' describing the Land of Departure and was curious about it, but then she kind of just looked up at the sky again for a while before she looked over towards the ocean. She didn't say another word before saying, "You know what... we'll probably do better with a boat. We're not gonna be able to directly get ourselves to the land of departure or anything like that, but it'll get us off this rock. There's just the risk we could die but that risk is more likely if we try to fly out at this rate..." Kaida started to wander away yelling, "I hate boats! I really hate boats! My world didn't have boats and everything was just fine. But we're going on a boat I guess. I would rather not because of how risky and unnavigatible it is, but I'm not gonna risk myself nearly dying in the oceans between again." she was already walking away from everyone kicking the sand up in the air and getting irritable about it. 28/31
Kaida looked to Stratos after hearing the others seem to sufficiently answer most of those questions probably more eloquently than she would have. When he mentioned asking about basic questions she said, "Hey, it's alright. We all had to learn this stuff eventually and there's no shame in getting some of this stuff known." there was only one part to his question not full answered was the last part, Kaida looked unsure and said, "It's uh, a little more complicated with Central Haven. It has a really strong barrier as a matter of protection because it's a world that's supposed to take in those who have lost their world or have been otherwise displaced from it. It's a... safe haven if you will. That wasn't supposed to be a pun. So while it is almost a melting pot, it's still well guarded. I know the Order specifically put it's security system in place to help with those who wished to enter it willingly." 27/31
"Locking keyholes? That helps protect the heart of the world from being consumed by heartless. If the world's heart is consumed, well, the world is destroyed. So us locking those keyholes is a form of protection and a really good thing." Kaida clarified for Stratos and reassured, "If there's one thing we should definitely keep doing cause it's a good thing, it's keep locking those keyholes. Also it's not really a 'for a while' type deal, if you lock a keyhole it should never be opened again." The blonde rubbed the back of her head and sighed, "I wasn't exactly able to ask anyone what the best way of travelling would have been, so what I'm hoping is that if we get a ship that we can leave the world with no problems and hopefully get to a place where we can meet everyone else." 26/31
"If there are heartless on the world, it is a safe conclusion to believe that the barrier is broken... we have not seen any heartless, so I don't actually know." Kaida looked up at the sky and said, "I have an itch that they may already be broken anyway due to the timeline mess going on anyway. But uh... it's easier to leave a world than it is to get into one. So we might get lucky. I don't like completely relying on luck but it's all I've got to go on." she bit her lip for a moment and shrugged, "Or maybe even the fact that Jumba and Pleakley are even on this world is evidence of a break. That's all the evidence I can bring to the table." 25/31
When Stratos said they weren't using armor, Kaida was quiet for a moment before she blinked and said, "Wait... what?" she paused for a minute to process it before saying in shock, "What?! You guys haven't been using armor?" she looked at him and the rest of them concerned and asked, "H-how? The strength of darkness in the paths between makes it so it could literally tear someone apart... how... hm..." Kaida looked around while she was in thought before saying, "Maybe it has something to do with the timelines merging together. Perhaps because of that it's not affecting us in nearly the same way it should be. I'm pretty sure our keyblades were the primary reason we were so protected in the realm of darkness, so maybe something involving that? It's so strange though." Kaida looked back over at Stratos and said, "Seiza and I were almost killed for having our gummi ship break down in between worlds, the darkness was leeching in at an incredible rate and we only got out of it in what honestly has to be considered a miracle. The fact that you guys could just travel in that way puzzles me completely... wait... you guys were the one's that had Master Yen Sid sending you places before, right? Maybe he used some magic on you guys to protect you. That might be the better explanation." Kaida shifted her jacket to open it up a bit to show her keyblade armor activator that was strapped to the shoulder of her shirt and she sighed, "I usually have armor myself but, it got broken when we transitioned from the realm of light to the realm of darkness. But since we can't travel through the lanes right now with the keyglider method because of the lockdown, I hadn't honestly considered armor protection." 24/31
"Okay so uh... you know how every world has a heart... right? Well, if you don't uh, every world has it's own heart. And each world's heart naturally protects itself from anything foreign. When a barrier is broken, that's when outsiders, darkness, and heartless are more easily able to get into the world." Kaida paused to give a moment for him to process that before she continued, "When you use a ship, you usually cannot travel to other worlds, the world will not allow it and it'll probably destroy your ship while you're at it. The lanes between are like... smaller routes that a keyblade wielder can make to allow themselves an entry point without causing harm to the world's barrier. Usually only a keyblade master can grant access to those paths and it's sort of a trade secret. The lanes are more dangerous technically because of the darkness and that's why we wear armor." when he mentioned other ways to get there she said, "There... are other ways to get to a world, but they're a lot harder to do? I don't really know how reliable boats are myself. But another way I suppose are portals. I... have no idea understanding of that one though." 23/31
When asked about her telling some history, Kaida almost wanted to sigh since she said that was her personal least favorite section of the bunch when taught, but since the two of them at the very least seemed curious about the subject, she looked between the group and shrugged, "Alright uh, what kind of history would you like to know about specifically? There's a lot when the topic is just other worlds or something broad like that." she tried to think of an example topic to delve into but she couldn't think of any topics besides super specific things, so she tried to think of one thing and shrugged and said, "Uh... hm... fun fact? Gummi ships are only able to be used when the natural barriers that protect worlds are broken. It's not exactly safe for the world when that happens which is why the lanes between is usually the primary way a keyblade wielder would travel between world. Though, if you're desperate enough and don't want to, you know, break the world's natural barrier, you can use gates and still use gummi ships. I just... don't really know how they work to be honest." she stopped and looked around and said, "That was... much less a fun fact and more just a rambling of three different facts... probably unclear too." 22/31
Kaida listened to his tales with fascination, especially over the idea of them having to fight a dragon and a rhino without keyblades. And the heartless that are another heartless. When he asked her about the order she shook her head and said, "Not really, no. Most of the teaching at Central Haven was catered towards helping maintain word order and keeping an eye on the princesses of heart. Sure we had a lot of history related topics and discussions about heartless and nobody types, but we never had a point where they talked specifically about what all the possibilities would be when we went to a world." Kaida looked a little embarrassed as she admitted, "If it were that interesting I probably would have learned a lot more. Instead I can answer really random history facts. Especially about the time of the Thirteen Xehanorts. I... I don't even like to think about it, it's way too confusing. Even my master who was there didn't fully comprehend everything, said something about the whole thing being nuts." 21/31
"...tossed suns?" There was a lot to unpack from what he just said but it was that particular thing that threw her off for a second before she rubbed her head and said, "I just wanna work on it because I uh... decided that I wanted others to be my shield since I knew others had my back... but I wanna at least be able to survive if I end up on my own..." Kaida thought for a moment before saying, "You seem to get in some exciting fights. What's the weirdest fight you've been in? Mine was probably that one we had with Mizrabel... but that last uh, heartless battle had some really odd moments in it too." 20/31
Kaida thought about his question for a second before saying in a question, "Maybe? Hm... a lot easier but I'm not sure about flying colors." she shrugged and said, "Admittedly I was hoping to try and get in a little training for taking hits since I don't do that very well. Maybe after some of that it'd be a flying colors deal." she stretched a bit and let out a yawn and said, "Or maybe we're so powerful now we don't even need to take a hit at all. Knock it down before it has the chance to flinch. Depends on how resistant they are to certain magic. I could probably keep casting stopga and we could hit it until it dies." 19/31
Kaida kind of chuckled at Stratos' comment about that being what they excelled at cause he was kind of right. She scratched her nose and said, "Man, we wander aimlessly until we find the right path. We just kind of help out aimlessly hoping it'll lead us to the goal. Really we should have been called the aimless ones or something. Instead we've got the... what does SOS stand for again?" Kaida shrugged and said, "I don't know, I just know it seemed like..." she looked down at her wrist quickly trying to make it seem casual before continuing, "...Hikaru named us, you know? What is it... I just know SOS for save our souls..." Kaida drifted off and looked horrified and asked, "Wait, are we the Symphony of Sorcerers? I wasn't prepared for the magic test. Is this why..." Kaida looked at her wrist again and continued, "...Hikaru suddenly became a mystic class when he was a guardian?" 18/31
"The land of departure?" Kaida had absolutely no idea what he was talking about for a minute before she placed her fingers under her chin to think and tapped at her chin a bit while she made tiny popping noises with her mouth as she tried to think before asking, "Is that like... castle oblivion or something? Um..." she paused for a moment before shaking her head and said, "Timeline stuff probably. Anyway, uh, I have no idea where or what that is. But if it was the original or one of the meet up places... maybe it wouldn't be a bad place to go? Unless the place was already compromised?" she didn't know the answer to that question though but she shrugged and said, "Maybe we're just gonna have to hope for a little luck and accidentally run into everyone. Though I remember the last time something like that happened we were following a beacon in the realm of darkness.... and I had the greatest concussion ever." she unintentionally looked straight at Aux with a slight look of indignation. 17/31
"Maybe we should ask someone on the island if there are any boats? Or ask Jumba if there is a way we could get our hands on another ship instead? I mean, they did promise us a ship, and they didn't specifically say we would be getting that ship." Kaida wanted to point this out so they didn't go on a wild goose chase over nothing, she looked confused and admitted, "I also have no idea what we would do with just a boat. How does that kind of transportation even work? I just chalked that last one up to a one time enchantment type deal. I could be wrong but... ugh I just.... I wanna make sure the others are alright at this rate. And I have no idea where we would even go anyway..." 16/31
Kaida was slightly confused by how Steel responded but she didn't know, maybe he always flipped on a dime like that. She kind of looked towards his eyes a little longer, curiously since it seemed like such an oddly specific trait but what did she know, she used to get sunburns in seconds. Kaida shrugged and said, "Seems interesting, is that some sort of like... adaptable trait?" When Stratos mentioned the boat they came in, she looked towards him and said, "I mean, that'd be pretty difficult. The boat we came in just kind of disappeared once we set foot on land." 15/30
Kaida would be lying to herself if she wasn't a little confused and curious over Steel's reaction. She didn't exactly feel comfortable prying, but she did watch as his eyes... seemed to leech out what she would have called a black smoke. She remembered how his eye glowed during the Trinity Limit, and perhaps this happened before and Kaida hadn't noticed. It seemed like something she would have noticed before, but then again she realized she hadn't exactly paid attention to Steel. He was always quiet, and despite his appearance seemed to slip away into the background easily, like some stealthy wolf assassin. It wasn't like the way he fought was much different, and the only reason he probably kept out of her attention as much as she did was because he didn't really demand it. She could respect that to a degree, but Steel's reaction to this was... interesting to her? She couldn't quite figure out if that was the word she was looking for but it didn't matter since she wasn't exactly phrasing them out loud. She shrugged and said, "You almost did, but you didn't, right? That matters more than you'd think, because it wasn't an empty promise if it came back to you." she didn't really know what else to say, thought she felt it odd to end on that, so she tried to think of something but only managed out, "You'll get it done soon, I'm sure. Maybe while you're here, I don't know... but you seem like the kind of guy who tries to get things done. Maaaaybe I'm wrong but I've personally never seen you flub something... except perhaps communication. But you seem more like a lone wol-" Kaida stopped herself unsure if that was going to make him think it was an intentional pun or get offended or something. Maybe he heard that a dozen times where people did intentionally use it as a pun before she cleared her throat and said, "Solitary gentleman type.... um... is your eye okay?" 14/31
Kaida smile at that rate was less sad as she saw others jumping into the promise with her. Well, Ananta seemed to just acknowledge he'll always be there, and Aux messed with her hair and seemed to acknowledge that she wasn't alone. But Stratos directly acknowledged the promise, which made her glad someone acknowledged it. When she heard Steel's words, she looked over towards the wolf and said, "I know they're important. But I never make promises I can't keep or at least do to the best of my ability." she never was good at reading Steel, she didn't know him very well. So she had no idea if he had a lot going on in his head, and she didn't try to figure it out. She knew for a fact her mind was all over the place too if his was. She saw the others focusing on the ship, having gotten distracted by the exploding ship herself, due to how sudden it was, before she turned her attention back over to Steel and said, "I can't make anyone promise anything, especially if they don't feel it's worth it. I don't know how you feel about it, but if you do I hope it's because you want to and not because you feel like you had to cause everyone else did... well... Maybe everyone? I'm not entirely sure about Aux exactly but he probably did..." Kaida looked over towards Stratos since he was still in the vicinity and said, "I'd be surprised if Aux and I got cheesy at the same time. If that ever happens at least one of us has been replaced by a lookalike or something is horribly wrong." 13/31
Kaida took a bit to calm her sobbing while she listened to what Aux had to say, she understood that he held his hand out towards her but she didn't full process he wanted to help her up. She took a couple more seconds before she took Aux's hand and stood up. She looked very out of it, but she seemed to be calming down. She took a deep breath and turned to look at everyone and smiled, "You guys are the best. You really are. I'm... not happy with it but... I know he'd rather have me keep going than be like this. And you guys have helped me process that more than you can ever know. So... thank you." she specifically looked over to Stratos at that point since he'd mentioned something about fighting it and she said, "I say instead of fighting against it, we fight this fight with him... we may forget but we can fight and say we're doing it for all of us. That way even if we forget... he's always going to be one of us." she reached towards her pocket and looked at the SoS ring and said, "That way he'll still be there every time with us to fight, even if it's just an inspiration we don't remember the root of." she looked to everyone and stated with as much certainty behind her voice as she could muster, "I don't care if it sounds corny... I need this promise. And I promise to fight for all of us." 12/31
Kaida watched as Steel wrote the name on her wrist and she smiled at him and said, "Thank you." before she looked at it for a little bit. It was only a small comfort, knowing the name was at least there and she knew where to associate it... but she knew when she stopped looking it would be gone. As she listened to Aux's explanation, Ananta's attempt at empathy, and Stratos' attempt at inspiration. She couldn't process it all, it was like losing him all over again but even worse. Kaida felt tears flood her eyes as she shook her head towards Ananta, not really even sure how to reply. Kaida's voice broke as she said, "This... this is worse than him dying. Forgetting him completely and the memories we shared?" she looked at all of them in pain and said, "Even the pain of losing him, the pain of seeing his sacrifice. I'm going to forget it all happened...? And there's nothing I can even do to stop that?" she gritted her teeth and felt angry as she hissed out, "Reality can shove it. I'm not going to let whatever forces may be causing it take... take..." she looked at her wrist and managed out, "Hikaru away from me. I won't allow it!" she gripped her wrist tightly and fell down to the ground, curling herself into a bit of a ball as she managed out, "I won't let him go... I won't..." 11/31
