((Collab Post by Letter Bee and Arty Fox))

"We have a simple strategy," said Tocsax in response to Jupiter, "basically, we send you guys to gather the Princesses of Heart, while we follow with a fleet of Gummi Ships and attendant troops. That way, we can secure their safety, as well as continuing to purge the Heartless from the worlds; of course, as only the Keyblade can kill the Heartless without them coming back, the [I]Basileus[/i] will be coming with said fleet."

"Not merely that, but in light of this crisis, the Byzantine Senate - I mean, Roman Senate - is willing to work closely with Michael and you guys, giving you almost unlimited resources; Troops, Money or Munny, Magical and Mundane Items; you name it, it is yours. And that includes Gummi Warships, too. This, of course, is if you don't abandon the quest, and at least show a listening ear to any instructions we might give."

Then Ninty just had to make her outburst, drawing a weapon in the hall as she did so. This caused 1.) the rows of soldiers in the sides of the hall to draw their guns at the group, and 2.) for Damianos Sardis* to grow red with rage, before pointing his wand up in the air, creating a large fireball that looked like a miniature sun. However, despite his anger, the Mage retained the presence of mind not to burniate the group immidiately.

"How dare you call our Emperor a Mongrel, you [REDACTED], [REDACTED] Elfling with a superiority complex?! You're the one who comes from a backwater world, while this is the [i]Queen of Cities[/i]! Your world would not have [i]existed[/i] in the first place if not for Humans!" Damianos was fuming, about to do something stupid if not for Giorgios Kyros coming over and putting his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"It's okay, Damianos, it's okay; calm down. Besides, an explanation was what the Elf asked, right? I'm sure the Emperor can give it." All the while, [i]Basileus[/i] Michael was unflummoxed by the whole commotion, waiting until Giorgios had calmed down Damianos. Then, facing Ninty, he, with a flash of sparkles, caused a crystal ball to appear, then float, right in front of him; said crystal ball showed visions of Ninty's world.

"The Old Keyblade Order, in its mission to keep the Heartless from consuming the worlds, had to find ways of keeping themselves...apprised of how things were progressing in said worlds. To do that, they used a combination of 1.) Magic, and 2.) keeping local allies among the 'Gods' and 'Goddesses' of each world." How he was able to say the quotation marks was a mystery. 

"Before your 'God of the Future' slept, he gave the Old Keyblade Order information about the future of your world, including your emergence and manifestation of the Keyblade. Tocsax managed to acquire said information from where Leo had hidden it, as well as the magic stones that kept us up-to-date. Does that answer your question?"

"I...I suppose?" Ninty was very much taken aback by this latest development. "So Font Ri is real?" She asked with some hesitence with a wary gaze flickering from the large orb of fire to the crystal ball and back again.

"Yes; the old man is real - he seems scary at first, but is actually really nice. I found his' hiding place in my travels, and he told me some lore that helped give me a better picture of Multiversal cosmology," Emperor Michael spoke a bit happily now, with a tone of nostalgia.

At first Ninty scarecly believed it but as she looked through to the scenes on the other side of the crystal ball there was no denying that that was her world. The ball obviously acted like a television of some sort nly much larger and in full colour as well. In one vision she saw the back alleys of Brazen, in another an empty kicthen whilst another showed a colourful festival occouring in a small cobbled square. 

"Hang on." She moved a bit closer to the ball to get a closer look at that particular vision. "How come that place has people in it and Brazen's practically empty?" 

She pointed at the scene which shone brightly in sunshine and in jubilation of the harvest, a stark contrast to the ghostly streets of the city.

"Blame the Heartless," Damianos spoke, his anger fading. "They go into worlds, consume Hearts that become more Heartless, and, when 'killed' by mundane weapons, would only reform elsewhere; only the Keyblade can purify them. But, before you go and blame us for taking you away while the Heartless consume your world, here's a secret: Should Leo the Second Mathemathician be defeated, all the worlds consumed by the Heartless will be restored, and all the people turned into Heartless will be brought back."

"Brought back?" Ninty's gaze caught Micheals own. "What do yo-"

The two thoughts clashing together in her mind could be seen by everyone else in the room and Ninty's eyes grew wide with a gut wrenching twist of realisation.

"Everyone in Brazen is dead." Her voice was barely audible, a weak little whisper of defeat where a roar overflowing with rage had once been. "Edios, Harevy, Trime. My little brother and all my mates. They're all dead and those things ate their hearts."

In her mind the images played through of those little yellows eye happily wacthing their claws of shadow make quick work of the fragile fabric and soft flesh. Then she thought of those people enjoying the sun. How long did they have left of blissful ignorance before they too were killed and wiped away from the world without leaving even a single trace of them being there. Ninty took a deep, ragged breath and vissibly shook.

"I'm going to murder those Heartless bastards." Her grip on the key blade tightened. "I'm going to choke them with their own arse-holes!"

"Did she miss the part about how everyone will be brought back if Leo is defeated?" Damianos muttered.

"No, I think she got it just fine," Giorgios replied. "Now, you'd better dispel that fireball, it's getting hot in here..."

*It's Damianos, not Daimanos; my spelling was bad.