"A Change of Heart"
This is a crossover story with a difference. It is quite difficult to describe into a simple summary, so If you are interested, please, just read on :D
Chapter 1:
New In Town
"It doesn't seem to look that bad a place..."
A Raven haired man stared out of the window of the train carriage he was in. The clacking of the wheels on the train track were smooth and soft, and the carriage rocking side to side as it continued towards the destination.
The sun was making its way towards the horizon, ready to trade places with its smaller white counterpart as the sky began to darken. Pink, purple, and orange colours were thrown from the gleaming golden orb as it continued to settle.
Large sparkles caught the man's attention, and with a slight squint, he noticed that the source was the top of a large tower. A clock tower to be precise.
"Excuse me sir... Zack is it?"
The raven averted his gaze from the window towards the conductor that was in the hallway.
"Yes?"
"Twilight town is the next stop sir. Your luggage is ready at the doors, and the guards are ready to help you to your destination. We shall arrive in about 10 minutes."
"Oh, Thanks"
The conductor bowed, and smiled when his eyes caught the small figure of a young girl leaning against Zack, fast asleep. She had raven locks just like the older man and a slight hint of blue could be seen through her partly open eyelids. With another small nod, he turned on his heel and made his way down the carriage.
"Hey, wake up" The man nudged the girl gently before poking her a few times on the nose. That was enough to wake her up, her eyes fluttering a few times followed by a long yawn.
"What, are we there yet?" she still sounded dazed, sitting up and rubbing her eyes to get a hold of herself.
"Yeah, we are"
At that note, the girl was immediately wide awake and looked out the window.
"Wow!" she exclaimed. She simply ignored Zack's smile and climbed on his head and over him, pressing her hands up against the window to get a better look. He chuckled at this and gathered his things into her bag, then getting up to grab the other small backpack which was on the railings above their seats.
"Alright, let's get going then!"
The train hissed and slowed to a halt as it came to the platform of Twilight station.
"Well lookie here. Are you the newcomers?"
As the two siblings stepped onto the platform, they were approached by a few young adults decorated with blue badges, and flattened hats to signify their authority around the place. The tallest one, a slim young man with wavy blonde locks that were almost curled. The middle, a dark haired boy that was rather round and plump, the chubbiness also evident on his face with rounded cheeks, and spiked hair fountaining out of the headband that appeared to be a little too tight for his head. A brunette girl also accompanied them; long wavy hair complimented with green eyes, her slim figure made her the shortest in the small group. Zack offered a soft smile as he placed a carrier bag on the floor next to his feet.
"Uh, Yeah. We-"
"Are the new ones moving in here? We know" The blonde boy rudely interrupted. Zack glanced over at the Ravenette with a raised eyebrow before looking back at the helpers with a sarcastic nod.
"Alright then, let's get you to your new home" The boy gave another sigh.
"I'm Hayner by the way. And they're Pence and Olette" He quickly introduced as he picked up a couple of bags and began to walk off. The middle boy, Pence, followed in his example and took a few of the larger bags, while Olette took the remaining smaller cases and followed the others. Zack gave a sigh and stayed behind the small ones, his ravenette sibling right by his side.
The walk was made short, as Hayner made it clear that he really didn't want to be doing this service and moved rather swiftly to their destination, and wasn't even bothered to give general information about the surroundings. It was only a few streets away from Twilight Station, and right next door was a small courtyard garden decorated with flowers and a small fountain glorifying a Royal Mouse. The street it was situated in was wide and flat, a few passers-by craning their necks to have a look at the new people in town.
"Ah well, here it is" The blonde placed the cases down on the doorstep and pulled out a set of keys from his right hand pocket. After fumbling around with the metal for a few short moments, he pushed the correct key into the door, nudged it open with his knee and again, hastily grabbed the bags and rushed inside. Pence and Olette followed suit and gave apologetic expressions to Zack, somewhat embarrassed that Hayner was being rather grumpy to newcomers.
Upon entering the house, Hayner turned around and tossed the chain towards the man. Zack caught it with ease, and gave it a quick once over, before putting them in his pocket and taking in a deep breath.
"Well, those are the keys. Welcome to your new home I guess. If you need anything, we'll be at Twilight station. But you could also ask around, the folk around here are pretty good" He paused a moment, then made a beeline for the door.
"We'd best be off. See you around" He gestured Pence and Olette to follow, and they waved as they hurried off down the street, back to the train station.
"What a kid..." Zack sighed. He paced about, looking around at the rather nice place. It wasn't too small, a decent size for 2 people. The walls were washed a navy blue colour, the ceiling complimented it with pale blue finish. The ceiling light was also rather bright, the opaque glass casing shaped like a star with rounded corners.
Quite a nice place indeed.
"It's pretty nice, isn't it?" He smiled, continuing to take in the details of their new home. When he got no response, his attention was pulled away from the room and towards the girl, who was standing by the window staring fixedly at the Clock Tower down the street.
"... You okay?"
Again, she didn't respond. Instead she slowly raised her hand, lightly placing her fingertips against the glass as she looked past her reflection and again towards the distant sunset that was quickly slipping below the horizon.
"Nova, what's wrong?"
Hearing her name was enough to get her head back from the clouds.
"It... feels grouchy"
Zack raised an eyebrow? Before looking around the room, giving another quick observation.
"The room doesn't look too bad, we could paint it a different colour if you-"
"It feels really sad for some reason, almost like someone's crying" The girl continued, not noticing Zack's out-of-place comment. The man looked back over towards his sibling, and gave a sigh before he walked over, placing an arm around her shoulders and looking out in the same direction.
"You're just a little restless from the move. In a few days, you'll be back to your happy, loud, bubbly self in no time!" He tried to lift the atmosphere, but she didn't really seem to notice it.
"I feel hurt" Nova's words were almost whispered, her mind deep in thought. The man knelt down and faced her towards him, smiling and playfully pinching her cheek.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine"
In another part of town...
"Wh... Why won't you wake up?"
A brunette man sat at the edge of a bed, fear and worry tainted his handsome features as he continued to watch the young figure. A young blonde boy lay asleep on the bed, motionless, and almost as if there were no life in him at all. His hair swept up and rightwards, almost like a spiky tidal wave of soft golden locks. A soft knocking at the bedroom door got the brunette man's attention; he slowly lifted his head to look towards the visitor.
"Terra?"
A young woman revealed herself at the door, peering past the frame and placing her hand gently on the doorhandle.
"2 weeks Aqua... 2 weeks... He hasn't woken up in 2 weeks!" The brunette man raised his voice, but quickly settled down, clenching his fists and resting them on his knees. The blue haired woman's expression softened, and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and letting her gaze fall onto the young blonde boy in the bed.
"Don't worry Terra... It'll be alright. Master Yen Sid said he needs rest; after his small illness from his school trip, his heart became fragile... But he'll come back to us, I promise."
Although she spoke her words confidently, Terra was still unconvinced that his younger brother would be able to pull through this.
"Alright..." The brunette reached over and gently ruffled the boy's hair before adjusting the covers on the bed.
"You hear that Ven? We're here for you."
Back at the new Residents...
The kitchen was in a slight mess as Zack was cooking dinner, his casual clothes simply of loose trackies and a long sleeved shirt. A white towel was draped around his neck, damp from the shower that he had just finished and caught the remaining moisture from his raven locks.
"Nova, dinner's nearly ready!" He called out, tossing the food in the pan and placing 2 plates out with his free hand. Zack portioned out the food with a wooden spoon and gathered the utensils from the drawer.
In the other room, the young girl had the ceiling light set to low and sat in the dim atmosphere. In her lap was a small suitcase, and held the assorted soft toys and plushies she had received as gifts from friends back at Midgar. Her favourite one was the yellow chick with big feet and large blue eyes.
It was a Chocobo plushie that her brother's friend, Cloud, had given her on her birthday a couple years back.
"Come on, Eat time!" Zack called from the kitchen, the thud of the plates being placed at the table got her attention, and she placed the Chocobo toy on the lounge pillow and headed over.
The girl took her spot next to the man and slid herself down onto the wooden chair, staring at the food and analysing it.
"Don't worry; it's not Tofu or anything. I'm not feeding you that stuff Angeal recommended, no matter how healthy it's supposed to be" Zack shuddered and pulled a face when he remembered the 'delicacy' that Angeal offered them once, a type of tofu that was artificially coloured and shaped to resemble real meat and vegetables, however the taste was awful.
The raven haired man pulled out 2 separate dishes full of assorted bite sized pellets of some sort. He walked out to the open area in the dining room and placed them in the centre, taking a few steps back and dusting his hands on his pants before heading back to the table. In the centre of the table, just in front of Nova's plate were 2 small orbs. Divided horizontally, the top half was red and the bottom was white, the separating line consisting of a thick black line with a white button on the front of it.
Zack clicked the buttons, and the little capsules increased in size slightly. Then throwing them into the air, they both simultaneously burst open at the dividing line. A bright laser-like light trailed down to the ground in a lightning-bolt-type manner, and 2 strange creatures appeared, before the light faded and the little capsules closed and returned to Zack's hand.
The one on the left, a Black cat-like animal with several large spikes of fur along its head, and at the base of its tail, the entire creature being the size of a very large dog. Its long black tail had a 4 pronged star at the end, and its hind legs were blue, along with its abdomen and lower muzzle and ears. It gave a shiver and shook its fur off, small sparks of electricity sparking from its fur before it gave a large yawn.
"Luxray, Dinner's ready. You too Lairon" Zack called out to the large cat-one. As the said Animal turned to Zack, it walked to its bowl and began to eat.
The one named Lairon was clearly the other creature. Although it was slightly smaller than Luxray, the cat-like animal, it was far more impressive in its build. Mass bulk of onyx coloured body and distinctive metal plates were in Segments along its back, also forming part of its face. With bright blue eyes, it peered at Zack and gave a little smile, shivered, and shuffled off to its own bowl of food. The floor shook at its every step, but that didn't seem to bother Zack, Nova, or Luxray.
Zack smirked, pausing a moment as he watched the two pets eat, then turned and took his seat at the table next to the girl. He felt slight relief when he realized that the girl was eating, not just watching it.
"So, you gotta admit that his place isn't that bad right?"
The girl didn't seem to respond verbally, just a slight nod and a shrug of shoulders before she took another small mouthful of food and continued her meal.
"I think I saw a park on the way here, why don't we take the Pokémon there with us tomorrow and have just a nice peaceful day out and explore the place?" Zack tried to lift the glum mood, but it didn't seem to work. Nova looked up at him, gave a very small smile but it was quick to fade, before she simply turned back to her food. Zack opened his mouth to start another conversation, but he could tell that she wasn't in a good mood. He just gave an assuring chuckle, and then got to his dinner.
"Lux!"
The two at the table quickly looked up, their attention turned to the large cat, sitting patiently by his bowl with an expectant look on his face. Nova raised an eyebrow, but then turned back to her food as Zack stood from his seat.
"Oh, you finished already buddy?" The raven haired man walked over, smiling as he reached down for the food bowl. "Do you want seconds?"
"Lux! Luxray!" The cat called back, smiling back at the man with a nod. Zack laughed.
"Alright then!" He walked back to the kitchen to give the Pokémon another serving.
Across the street from Zack's new home, at a small cafe...
"The new guy that lives just there, looked a little dreamy don't you think?"
A blue haired woman, Aqua, turned to the blonde girl that sat opposite from her. Aqua's eyes widened a little before turning her head to face the house that her friend was talking about.
"Hmmm? Just there? We have new neighbours?" Her tone of voice was of a confused one, she was normally the one that knew the latest news that happened around Twilight Town.
"Yeah, There's a cute guy that just moved in. I saw him earlier" The blonde smiled, glancing at the open window of the house, seeing the silhouette of the man before she turned back to her cappuccino. The blue haired woman giggled as she turned back to her blonde friend.
"Have you met him yet, Namine?"
The blonde girl took a sip of her drink before looking up at the woman.
"Oh, No I haven't. I only saw a glimpse of him on my way to Sora's earlier" She quickly dismissed, feeling a little flustered when she remembered first seeing Zack.
"Hmmm, Alright then" Aqua smiled, amused to see Namine embarrassed. She giggled before returning to drinking her coffee.
First chapter!
If you are confused with anything, Feel free to message me and ask.
But things will be explained and answered as the story goes along, so if youwould like to be surprised with explanations later on :D
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Hope you enjoyed!
