Chapter One: Trouble Arises
An arrow flew through the air with considerable force. It hit the dead center of the bulls-eye. Over five hundred feet away, another arrow was loaded onto the bow. The holder took aim and released the arrow. It hit the dead center as well, splitting the first arrow in two in the process. The archer lowered his bow, and started walking to the bulls-eye to collect his arrow, and what was left of the other.
Nova, the archer, had practiced the same thing every morning. Two shots each time; one to hit the bulls-eye, and the other to split the first arrow. He had never missed. Nova grabbed the tips of the arrows and yanked them out, and started heading back. He had just turned sixteen in the previous month. Nova had shoulder length hair that was black. His eyes were a deep blue, nearly navy, but not quite. He wore a long sleeved shirt that was light grey, and wore gauntlets over that. He also wore a black vest over that, and had never zipped it up. He finished off the outfit with black pants and grey boots. And there was those racing goggles he had around his neck.
Nova folded his collapsible blade and stuffed it into the quiver on his back along with the arrow that was still intact. He kept the two pieces of the other clamped in his hand. And then he made his way back up to the castle. Hollow Bastion was always something spectacular to look at. It was a home to Nova and his friends. It was also home to many others, but Nova didn't know everyone. He got to the edge of the cliff at the rising falls, where a lift was waiting for him.
He stepped onto his, and waved his hand over the small blue crystal. The lift hummed to life, and began its journey to the castle. It didn't take too long, just a minute or so. Nova stepped off the lift and looked up at the door. Aerith, a friend of Nova and someone who lived at the castle was standing outside on the path that looked down to the waterways beneath the castle. Nova joined her by her side, watching as the sun rose over the horizon.
She looked at him, and smiled as she turned back to watch the sunrise. "Good morning Aerith," said Nova, breaking the silence. "Good morning Nova. I see you're up bright and early, as usual," replied Aerith. Nova held up the hand that held the two pieces of his split arrow. "And I see you haven't missed either," continued Aerith, noticing the pieces. "That's right," said Nova.
The two friends turned to go inside, to meet everyone else and enjoy breakfast together. Nova held to door open for Aerith. "Go ahead, I'll be there in a second," said Nova. "Alright," replied Aerith. As she headed to the dining hall, Nova ran up to his room to drop off his quiver and the split arrow. On his way back down though, he almost bumped into Cloud.
"Slow down Nova!" Cloud exclaimed as he saw Nova rushing through the hall. Nova tried to stop but even as his feet stopped moving they slid along the floor. Cloud sighed as he sidestepped, and stuck out his arm. Nova slammed right into it, and then landed flat on his back. "Thanks," said Nova painfully. "No problem," replied Cloud as he helped Nova up. "Remind me not to run on these floors," said Nova, half-jokingly.
Suddenly, the castle shook with such a force, followed by the sound of an explosion. "What was that?" exclaimed Cloud. "It came from somewhere this way!" said Nova, starting to head in that direction. "I'm going to check on the others!" said Cloud, heading in the opposite. Nova nodded, and headed to where he though it came from. He ran through a door and looked down the Lift Stop area. He was near the top, and as he looked down, what he saw took his breath away.
Little creatures that seemed to be made of shadows were creeping up out of the darkness. But that wasn't quite what shocked Nova the most. The darkness itself seemed to be alive, slowly creeping up, as if reaching out to the world. Nova stood there, both amazed and nervous about what he was seeing. But suddenly, the 'shadows' saw him, with their antennae vibrating in his direction. They melded into the walls, and starting crawling up to where he stood.
Nova backed away slowly before turning to run. When he looked back at the passage he saw a lot of those shadows pouring out of the Lift Stop, coming after him. Nova ran as fast as he could. He slid past his room before turning back into it. He grabbed his quiver that had his arrows and bow. Nova put it on quickly as he began to run back down to where everyone else was. He poked his head out from his door, and looked both ways down the hall. Nothing was there to be seen.
A little confused, he made his way to the Entrance Hall where Cloud would have gathered everyone. And they were all there. "What's going on?" asked Leon, his hand on his gunblade. Nova caught his breath, and explained what he saw. "I think it has something to do with those experiments Ansem has been doing," he finished. "That's quite an accusation," said Aerith, who held her staff close to her. "Look around! It's coming from inside the castle! I bet Nova's right," said Yuffie. The door to the library shook violently. A bunch of people who Nova didn't know ran up to it and fought to keep it shut.
"Say, where's Cid?" asked Nova, realizing he wasn't there. Leon just pointed to the library door. Nova looked up, and saw one of the people there was actually Cid, a friend and a man who works with gummi. Some yelling was heard from above. "They must be getting through. Leon?" said Cloud. Leon nodded, and the two of them ran up to the library door, where darkness had started to seep through under the door.
"Get back!" Nova heard himself yelling at the group. The doors blew apart and shadows poured through. Cloud and Leon began slashing through them, fighting them off. Cid joined them with his spear. Nova looked around to the entrance that led to the Lift Stop. He saw shadows coming from there. In the following second, he had taken out his bow and three arrows, pulled them back then released. The arrows flew between the people and found their mark.
"We need to go!" yelled Nova as he continued shooting arrows at the oncoming shadows. Leon and Cid ran down to where Nova and the others were as Cloud continued holding back the shadows that came from the library. "Cid, go. Get your ship. I'm going up there to help," demanded Leon, indicating the level above them where some guards seemed to be having trouble. Cid nodded and ran out, going to get his ship. Leon made his way up to the level above. Aerith was trying to calm down people while Yuffie joined Nova by throwing her ninja stars.
This continued for a few minutes, and the shadows seemed to be endless. They kept on coming, and for each one killed two would take its place. "Cid's here! Time to go!" Aerith was heard saying. Leon had returned, and Cloud had joined them. "Let's get out of here then," said Nova, slowly following the others as he continued to hold the shadows back. Once outside, he closed the doors, unsure if they would hold the shadows back.
Nova grabbed the rope ladder that was there. "Go!" he yelled, letting Cid know he had a grip. Above him he saw Cloud and Leon pulling up the rope ladder, to get Nova into the ship that much sooner. He looked down, and saw the shadows stealing hearts. Stealing hearts? Thought Nova. And that was what was going on. Nova watched as the shadows leapt up at people, and stole their hearts. As the bodies just faded away, the shadow would consume the heart, and change. They turned into something like a soldier, but still a shadow. It got bigger and had armor.
Two of these 'soldiers' jumped up at the ladder, grabbing hold of it. Nova began to kick at them, hoping they would fall. But they grabbed his leg, and began pulling him down towards them. Nova lost the grip he had on the ladder, and he fell with the soldiers down past the castle and down towards the Waterways. Nova looked back and saw the soldiers morph out, probably to safety. But he kept falling, and hit the water with a splash.