Eternal Cycle
By Zexion72
Yes, it has come. The next part of Alex's Story. What sorts of twists and turns await him? There's only one way to find out.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean, Kingdom Hearts, Xenosaga, or Final Fantasy X/X-2
Chapter 1: Back Home
I stood in a dark cavern with a pale light shining down from a hole in the cavern roof. I could barely see anything in this cave. But ahead of me was a strange cross like shaped stone with a stone coffin in front of it. There was a light coming from the casket, a warm welcoming light. I wanted to approach it, but a foreboding feeling that I sensed held me back. There was something lurking in the darkness. Normally I would just summon the Dark Horizon and use my dark senses to sniff out the hostile. But something was telling me to avoid whatever was leering at me in the darkness. I could feel it's piercing gaze lock on me. That was when I noticed something move. I heard footsteps and then a figure began to appear. All I could see was just an outline. And then all of a sudden the figure whipped out a humming purple blade that was glowing with purple energy. Before I could react they lunged at me with incredible speed. I summoned the Dark Horizon and put up a guard.
As the figure just barely reached me there was a bright flash of light. And for a brief moment I saw the woman from that last battle against Vox last year. But this time I could see more details. She had black hair and tanned skin. She had light blue eyes, but they were coated with sadness. She wore a blue dress with a white cloth wrapped around her neck and upper shoulders. "Who are you?" I asked. She did not respond, she just continued to gaze at me with that sad face. Then the light got brighter and brighter till I had to shield my eyes.
I shot up out of bed with sweat covering my face. I took several deep breaths and looked around. I was inside a blue tent with multiple beds, some of which had people sleeping on them.
"Huh? Where am I?" I asked in my thoughts. For a moment I took in my surroundings. "Oh that's right. I found Spira during my travels and I landed down on Besaid to pay Yuna and the others a visit." I wiped the sweat from my forehead and sighed. "That dream again... why has that woman been appearing so frequently these past few weeks?"
"Did you have a nightmare?" Asked a voice. I looked up to see Paine standing there.
"I don't know what that was. A nightmare? Or a vision?" I said.
"Don't let it bother you. A dream's a dream," reassured Paine. I nodded.
"Yeah... you're probably right," I said as I looked down at the ground. After a few seconds of silence I looked back up at Paine. "What time is it?"
"1 hour past dawn," replied Paine as she began to walk towards the exit. She stopped and looked back at me. "Not that many people have woken up yet. You can do what you'd like. Breakfast is still a ways away." She left the tent and went off to wherever. I yawned and got out of bed. Afterwards I went outside and looked around. Paine was right, it seems like the village was still asleep. Since I didn't have anything else to do, I decided to go down to the beach. The sun was very low in the air, but it made the sky look beautiful. There was a small, cool breeze blowing around. It felt refreshing at this early hour. Finally I arrived at the beach and I looked around.
It has been 1 year since I began my journey. I have been to so many worlds and I have met countless people. Of course I have also encountered many types of Heartless and Nobodies too. Some larger, and far more fierce. But thanks to my experience with fighting them, they didn't cause that much trouble. Almost a week ago, I had found Spira during my travels and I decided to pay Yuna and the others a visit. Once I leave here, I will go to Disney Castle. Somehow, I sense that the peace that we all worked so hard to bring... is about to break.
There was a dark feeling residing in the air. As if something wasn't right. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it got stronger by the day. It would be best to let King Mickey know about this.
For what seemed like an hour, I sat there thinking about all the places I had been and the people I had met. It's hard to believe that it has been a year already. After my little trip to the beach I began to return to Besaid. Suddenly everything inverted and I heard a familiar chime sound. I looked behind me to see Nephilim standing there. Before I could say anything she vanished. There was something about her face that concerned me. She looked concerned about something.
"What was that about?" I asked in my thoughts. I returned to Besaid and I saw Yuna walking around. She walked towards me as she noticed that I was there.
"Morning," she said.
"Good morning," I responded. I looked around and noticed something unusual.
"Where's Tidus? Isn't he usually with you 24/7?" Yuna chuckled.
"He's still sleeping. I think I'll wake him up when breakfast is ready." Said Yuna as she looked over at the house that she and Tidus lived in.
"When is breakfast?"
"It won't be much longer now. You can ask Lulu about it."
"Yunnie!" Shouted Rikku as she ran out of Lulu's house and towards Yuna and I.
"What is it?"
"What else? Breakfast is ready!"
"Then I had better go wake up a certain sleepy head," said Yuna with a smile. She walked off towards her small house/tent. I followed Rikku into Lulu and Wakka's house. Lulu looked over at us as we walked inside.
"Good morning," said Lulu.
"Morning," I replied as I sat down at the table. Wakka was sitting at the table, Paine was too.
"You were up pretty late, ya? I'm surprised that someone didn't have to drag you outta bed," said Wakka.
"I don't need that much sleep," I said.
"Or is it because of your dreams?" Asked Paine. I hesitated for a moment and then I shook my head.
"No, that's not why. Nobodies don't require sleep so since I am half I don't have to sleep as much as others. But I like to anyway."
"Oh boy! Food!" Exclaimed Tidus as he bursted inside. Yuna followed in shortly afterwards. We all chuckled at how hyper Tidus was this morning... then again how is that different from any day?
"He really does think only with his stomach," I said in my thoughts. Tidus and Yuna sat down and we started eating. There wasn't much to talk about this morning, in fact I found it rather strange at how quiet the group was. Even Tidus seemed a little more quiet than usual. I guess it's just one of those quiet days. Suddenly my communicator went off. I pulled it out and checked to see who left a message.
"What was that?" Asked Lulu. I smirked as I read the message and saw who it was from. I cleared my throat and read it.
Alex,
How have you been? I've visited Disney Castle several times and you haven't been there once. You must be pretty busy, then again I can relate to that. Working in the Aquarian Military is a rather tiring job, almost on the level that our jobs at the Sphere Company were.
Speaking of Sphere I went and visited Blair and the others yesterday. Thanks to me giving them a little nudge, they have been able to make another Eternal Sphere. I must say it is even more impressive than the one we created. As a matter of fact, they have invited us to come and see the start up tests. If you are in the area, why don't you come and enjoy the show? For old time's sake, you know?
Well, hope to see you there!
- Luther Lansfeld
I put away my communicator and stretched. It had been awhile since I had heard from any of my old friends. I wasn't doing a good job at keeping in touch either.
"Sounds like you've got some stuff on your plate now, ya?" Commented Wakka as he was eating.
"You could say that. But it's a good opportunity to see some old faces again," I said. "There are many worlds I could visit that are on the way to my home world." I got up and began to walk towards the exit.
"Aww you're leaving already?" Asked Rikku. I nodded.
"Yeah, I was planning on spending a little more time here. But I have things I need to do. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. You'll just have to stay a little longer next time," said Yuna.
"And maybe next time we can all go to a Blitzball game in Luca," added Tidus as he continued to stuff his face with food.
"That would be great, I keep hearing about Blitzball and I have never seen a game once," I commented.
"It's the best game in all of Spira. You ain't seen nothin' if you haven't seen a game of Blitzball," said Wakka.
"Well I look forward to when I get to see one of those games. See you all again at some point."
"You are always welcome in Besaid," said Lulu. We all said our goodbyes and I headed over to my ship. I got onboard and launched off towards my home world. Some time later, I finally arrived and landed at Arkives. Unlike last time, I got very few stares from people. I guess it was because people either recognized me or it was because I wasn't with Sora, Donald, or Goofy. I headed to the Space-Time Transporter to get to the Sphere Company. As I got near the entrance I saw a familiar face. There stood Luther, as if he had been waiting for me.
"I was about to consider you as late," said Luther with a grin.
"Well, it's because space is so big. That's why it took me so long," I said.
"Yeah sure," said Luther. We paused for a moment, starred each other off, and then embraced for a few seconds. "How have you been? It's good to see you."
"I've been doing pretty good. It's been awhile since I have seen any familiar faces from before the battles with Organization XIII," I said.
"How long have you been gone exactly?"
"For about a year now." Luther whistled.
"One year? You've been traveling from world to world for an entire year now? Isn't that kind of life a difficult one to live?"
"At first it was. But, you get used to it as time passes. I have already had a taste of it when I was journeying with Sora and his friends. So, shall we go?"
"Yes, we had better not keep them waiting. Let's get moving," said Luther. We walked into the station and towards the terminal. We approached the security guy in charge of this terminal.
"Welcome! Where would you like to go?" Asked the Security Guy.
"We'd like to go to the Sphere Company," I said.
"Your names?" Asked the Security Guy as he pulled out an optical clip board.
"Alex Rothrock," I said.
"Luther Lansfeld," added Luther.
"Ah former staff members. Right this way," said the Security Guy. He punched in the coordinates and we entered the terminal. Within a second we were transported to the Sphere Company. Standing there to greet us was Azazer.
"Welcome you two. I was wondering if you were coming or not," said Azazer.
"We would have been here sooner if we didn't have so much distance to cover," said Luther.
"Yeah, I was near the outer rim of this galaxy when I got the message from Luther. Were it not for warp technology I wouldn't have gotten here for several weeks," I said. Azazer seemed rather surprised.
"The outer rim? What are you doing all the way out there?" Asked Azazer.
"Keeping the peace," I said simply.
"I can't believe you abandoned your life here for years of travel in uncharted regions of space. I believe that goes under the category of suicide." I laughed.
"Yeah there are some things out there that I wished I had never encountered. Especially some of those Heartless that roam about space. Or the time I found the abandoned space colony that was overrun by Heartless, that was..."
"I really don't care about the details. Anyway, let's go up to the Owner's floor. The demonstration will start shortly." Without another word we headed towards the elevator beyond the main lobby. Azazer activated the elevator and we went to floor 211. He then lead us to the office where Blair, Berial, and Belzeber were. There were several other people that I recognized who were all at various terminals.
"It's good to see you two again," said Blair as she walked towards us.
"Likewise My Sister, it has been a long time since I was here," said Luther.
"Right, when you came under the title of Raxiel and you brought back the Angel Orb for her holiness."
"At least you two aren't late," said Belzeber.
"So who is managing the company now?" I asked.
"Blair and I. We figured it would be best to have two Owner's to prevent another incident like two years ago with Organization XIII. So, shall we get started?" Berial nodded.
"Yes, I think it's time," he said.
"And here are our two guinea pigs," said Azazer as he pushed Luther and I forward.
"What?" I asked.
"I don't remember hearing that we would actually enter this new Eternal Sphere," said Luther.
"It is a surprise for the two of you. Thanks to the hard work you and Alex put into the original we were able to use this back up and make a completely new universe. We would be honored if you two were the first to enter it."
"Sounds like fun," I said.
"Hopefully we won't end up in a similar situation as two years ago," said Luther with a tone of slight worry. I looked over at him confused. "You know, when you got stuck in the Eternal Sphere."
"Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten about that," I said. "It's been so long since then." Blair started typing something in the main terminal in the center of the room. She looked back over at Luther and I.
"Are you two ready to go?" She asked.
"Ready when you are," said Luther.
"Yeah I'm ready. Let's do this!" I exclaimed excitedly. Luther and I walked into one of the spheres on the side of the room and the door closed. Despite this, we could hear what everyone was saying.
"Course set, you will be taken to a demonstration area. Then we will show you all the features of the new Eternal Sphere." Said Blair.
"I think you'll like the changes we have made," commented Berial.
"I can't wait to see what you guys have come up with without us," I stated as I looked around at the sphere I was in. The equipment was still the same as it was when the Old Eternal Sphere was still around.
"Here we go, transportation will begin in ten seconds," said one of the staff members. Suddenly an alarm went off and the screens started flashing red.
"What's wrong?" Asked an alarmed Luther.
"According to the computer, someone is hacking into the database!" Exclaimed Blair.
"What? But we just updated our security programs! No one should be able to get through them!" Said Berial.
"That's what I thought too. Looks like we are wrong." Blair looked over at one of the staff members. "What is the hacker trying to change?"
"They are changing the destination that the warp will take the two subjects," responded the staff member.
"Cut off access to the database! If they succeed in whatever they have planned not only are we risking data leakage and theft but Alex and Luther could die!" Said Berial.
"Alex..." Said Nephilim's voice. I looked around to try and find her but there was no one there.
"What the?" I asked in my thoughts.
"Cancel transportation!" Exclaimed Blair.
"It's no use! Our commands are being overridden!"
"Luther, what's going on?" I asked as I looked over at him.
"I have no idea," said Luther with a tone of worry. To be honest, I was worried too. I had a bad feeling about this.
"Transportation starting now," said the computer. There was a bright flash of light and we were suddenly transported. As the light faded Luther and I were no longer in the Sphere but now we were standing on a field with ruins. There were monuments, pillars, and remains of walls. In the distance was forest and mountains. There was a thick fog in the air and it made it hard to see.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"Not in the right place, that's for sure." Luther pulled out his communicator. "Blair, come in Blair. Where are we? Blair, do you copy?" Luther sighed and put away his communicator. "No response."
"That's not good, so what are we... huh?" I stopped as I saw someone in the distance walking off into the fog.
"Alex? What is it?" Asked Luther. I took several steps forward towards the direction the figure went in.
"I thought I just saw someone."
"Let's follow them. They might be able to help us. Of course, we can't be certain about that one. They might be an enemy."
"Only one way to find out," I said as I began to walk into the thick fog. Luther sighed and began to follow me. As we were walking, we talked about things. "What do you think this place is?"
"Beats me." Eventually we came to a small area where there was a flight of stairs that lead underground.
"Alex, I am sorry." Said Nephilim's voice. I looked around as if expecting to see the enigmatic, cryptic, little girl. But she was nowhere in sight.
"That girl... what is she trying to tell me or warn me about?" I asked in my thoughts.
"Did you find something?" Questioned Luther. I turned over to him and shook my head.
"No, it's nothing." We hesitantly began to walk down the stairs into where ever this lead. I gasped as I saw the next room.
"I know this place! This is the place from my dream this morning," I said. Suddenly the Dark Horizon appeared in my hand.
"This place, why do I feel like I've been here before?" Asked the Dark Horizon.
"Somehow I get that feeling too," I said.
"Well it was in your dream," said Luther. I shook my head and looked around at this strange place.
"No, it's not like that. It's more like I have been here. Like I know about this place."
"Do you now?" Asked a voice. Luther and I started looking around for the owner of the voice.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Exclaimed Luther. A man in an Organization XIII outfit walked out of the shadows and towards us. Both Luther and I starred in shock, how could this be? "What?" Luther looked at me. "Weren't all members of Organization XIII, excluding Roxas, killed?"
"That's what I thought too! According to Ansem's Reports and various notes I found in his study room, there were only 13 members, excluding Maria and Vox," I said.
"I was never with them," said the man. Luther and I both realized at that point that this guy was using a voice scrambler to hide his true voice. But why? As I took in his scent, I noted it as strange. It wasn't like the scent of an Organization XIII member. It was different somehow, I mean it smelled somewhat like a Nobody Scent but it was very unique.
"What are you doing in here anyway?" I asked.
"You could say, I'm here to lend a hand," the man said simply.
"Why would we need your help?" Questioned Luther with a tone of suspicion in his voice.
"Cause I happen to know how to get the two of you out of this place." The man walked towards the coffin nearby the cross and stroked the side of the lid with his hand. "There are two locks on this coffin. By releasing the locks, the two of you will be transported back to Sphere."
"What's in it for you? Is there something special about the locks?" I asked.
"Doesn't matter. Now, open the locks." Luther and I got in a fighting stance.
"Why should we listen to you?" Demanded Luther.
"Because..." The man snapped his fingers and in a bright flash of light countless Nobodies appeared, surrounding us. There were so many Nobodies that Luther and I were left with a small space to fight no wider than 2 ½ feet. "The alternative way of getting out of here is death." Finished the man. Realizing at the severe disadvantage we were at, Luther and I looked at each other and grinned nervously. We nodded and then looked at the man.
"Yeah, um, we are going with the first option," I said.
"Excellent." The man snapped his fingers and all the Nobodies left. "I knew you boys could be reasonable." I had thought of attacking this man once the Nobodies were going, but something was telling me it wasn't a good idea. So instead Luther and I walked towards the coffin and held our Keyblades out at the two locks. Silver energy swirled around at the tips and shot down at the locks. On impact, the locks vanished and there was a bright flash of energy. As this strange place faded away I could hear the man's voice. "Reuel, you are the only one who can save the universes from complete and total destruction."
Suddenly, a large object of some sort appeared in front of me. It was a large golden base with two large rings spinning around above the base. One was white and the other was black. On top of each ring was a circle of strange, illegible symbols that were glowing. In the middle of the circle formed by the two rings was a glowing, transparent, green cube that spun on it's side. It began to spin faster and faster.
"What is that thing?" I questioned in my thoughts. The appearance of this strange object surprised me. It just appeared out of nowhere. And yet, it seemed somehow familiar. As the familiarity came to mind, so did a name: Zarathustra. The light faded into darkness and in an instant I opened my eyes to see that I was standing back on the top floor of the Sphere Company. Still inside that sphere that Luther and I had walked into. The door to the office opened and Blair rushed over to us as we walked out.
"You're both okay, what a relief!" She said in a slight panic.
"Blair, what the hell happened back there?" I asked.
"Someone hacked the Eternal Sphere and changed your transport location. A place they themselves had created," said Berial.
"So what happened in there?" Asked Blair.
"Nothing good..." Started Luther. He explained everything that had happened in that strange place. Blair looked very troubled by this.
"Hmm, now the question is... who would do this? And why? And what is up with the locks?" We all thought for a moment but nothing came to mind.
"Beats me," I commented with a quick shrug. I looked over at Luther. "Well, I am going to go now. It's time I return to Disney Castle and report to His Majesty."
"Alright, I don't think this is going to become a big problem. But if anything comes up I will come to Disney Castle right away," said Luther.
"Be careful out there you two, I have a bad feeling about all this," added Blair with a tone of worry.
"Don't worry, we can..." Suddenly the Dark Horizon appeared in my hand. "What?" The main terminal started glowing. Realizing what was going on I put my Keyblade out in front of me. Energy started circling around the tip and the front of the blade. The Nobody symbol appeared beneath me and formed that strange place with all the brown, white, and black clouds of energy. The Terminal shot a beam at the 'cloud wall' and a Keyhole opened. I pointed the Dark Horizon up to the Keyhole and a beam shot from it towards the large opening. Upon impact the Keyhole started to glow and then the strange clouds faded away.
"What in the hell was that?" Asked Belzeber.
"A new road has opened somewhere in the stars... but somehow I am afraid of what is beyond that new path." I said as I looked at the Dark Horizon.
"This might be the end, the end of the peace we worked so hard to bring," said Luther. I shook my head.
"I don't want to think that. It could still be something small." I said. But I knew that I was fooling myself. I knew very well what this all meant. Looks like I have MORE things to report to the King now. And... there is some research that I must do. There is something out there, something that must not remain unchecked. I looked over at Luther.
"I've got to go. This new issue requires my attention, and I need to do some research."
"Right, good luck with that."
"Thanks," I said as I opened a portal of darkness and used it to go to my ship. I hastily got onboard and shot off towards Disney Castle. I could not idle, this was important! I switched on the warp function and I was at Disney Castle almost instantly. My ship was brought into the Gummi Ship Hangar and set to the side of the launching platform. I got off my ship and was greeted by Chip and Dale at the platform.
"Alex! You finally came back!" Exclaimed Chip.
"Let's go tell the King!" Exclaimed Dale excitedly.
"Yes, I need to go see His Majesty. There are some things I need to discuss with him." I said.
"Like what?" Asked Chip.
"Like a mysterious object that could be a potential threat, oh and the fact that the peace we all fought so hard to obtain may possibly break soon." Chip and Dale jumped up in shock and possibly worry as they heard this.
"That sure don't sound good Chippers!" Commented Dale.
"Then you had better go and see King Mickey right away!" Pointed out Chip.
"Yeah!" I said as I went up the stairs and out into the courtyard. On the side lawn, Goofy was sleeping while Donald was reading a book of some kind. As I closed the doors to the Hangar, Donald looked over at me.
"Wak! Alex!" Exclaimed Donald as he dropped the book onto Goofy and ran towards me. He jumped up and gave me a hug, then I let him down to the ground.
"It's good to see you again. It's been awhile." I said.
"Yeah, a year or so," said Donald as he was counting his fingers, remembering how long I had been gone. Donald looked over at Goofy. He looked back at me and snickered with an evil smirk plastered on his face. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out what Donald was planning. He raised up his wand and a bolt of lightning came down next to Goofy. He jumped high into the air and crash landed on his belly. He got up in a clumsy manner and then looked up at me.
"Hey Alex!" Said Goofy as he got up and rushed towards me with a large hug. After a few seconds he released me. "How ya been?"
"Pretty good," I responded. I looked around at Disney Castle. It hadn't changed at all, in fact it was as if I had only left a few seconds ago. "I see you guys have kept everything in good condition since that day that I left."
"Yep," said Donald.
"So how has your trip been so far?"
"Very long, but worth it. Say, do you know where the King is? I need to speak with him right away."
"He's in the library right now. So Alex, could ya' tell us all about your trip later then?" Asked Goofy. I nodded.
"Sure thing. See you guys later." I headed down the long hallway towards the library. I calmly opened the door, not to make it look like anything was wrong. It would be best to look calm and explain everything without any sign of worry. King Mickey looked over from his desk and at me. He seemed a bit surprised to see me but then he smiled as he got off his chair and walked towards me.
"Alex! Welcome back," said King Mickey. I bowed before the King and lowered my head.
"It's good to be back, Your Majesty." I said.
"Well first stand up," said King Mickey. Without hesitation, I got up from the ground. "So what brings you here?"
"First I came to report back here and tell you about some of the things I have seen. But there are other things we must talk about," I said gravely. King Mickey looked at my face and he put on his serious look.
"What's wrong? You look like something is troubling you."
"Well..." I explained what had happened at my home world. King Mickey looked troubled about this.
"It sounds like there're some trouble makers out there. So what are you planning to do?" Asked King Mickey.
"I am going to do some research. And I will be looking for that new 'path' as well." I said.
"Well, if things get worse you had better let me know. This could turn into another battle like last year and the year before that," said King Mickey.
"I won't let that happen, no matter what." I said.
"I'm counting on you." I bowed once again.
"I am honored, Your Majesty," I said. I walked over to a book shelf. "The first place to start..." I picked out a random book and held it up. "Is the closest library. I might be able to find something."
So will Alex be able to find anything? He doesn't have much time, soon everything will be thrown out of balance. Anyway, please review.
