a/n: Hello, and welcome to my first submitted fanfic on I know, the summary is kind of sucky, but meh. Anyway, Radiata Stories and Kingdom Hearts are two of the best non-Final Fantasy games made by Squeenix [in my opinion. Star Ocean is good, too. So, I decided to write a crossover. Enjoy!
Newcomers
He had always hated moving. He thought he had seemed to do it so much in the past two and a half years, but apparently that wasn't enough. He had never left the islands before he was fourteen years old…but, of course, that was when everything changed. He had always lived there, but for a year, he could never return home. The same predicament happened the following year only that it was ten times worse.
But, now, things had changed way more drastically than ever before. In his whole sixteen years of living, he was being torn away from his tropical paradise, and was forced to move - in the changing addresses way. The only thing that could console him was his other two friends were making the move as well, but that didn't change the fact that he was leaving his beloved islands forever. This was all he could think about on the ride to his new home, a home in a new world where he could start over.
It was a sunny day in Tottaus, the sun reaching to the farthest stretches of land. Even the dark Desneuf Region and Borgandiazo were looking a little cheerier today (or, well…as cheery as they can get.) The people of Radiata City were out and about, enjoying the weather; children were playing in Vancoor Square, knights were strolling within a couple yards distance of the castle, and even members of the Void Community had been seen outside of their gloomy abodes.
The door to Theater Vancoor opened, sunlight leaking in. The receptionist looked up, seeing who on earth could be coming in on such a day as this. Thanos smiled, seeing a familiar face instead of a nervous hopeful's.
"Ah, Jack. I haven't seen you in a while," he greeted the former sergeant of the Acht Squad. Jack grinned his trademark grin in return.
"Hey, Thanos. Things are pretty quiet at the castle, you sure you don't got any jobs for me?" he joked.
Thanos gave Jack a look. "You can just shut up. You're a knight again, not a Vancoor sergeant. Anyway, have you heard what's going on?" he asked Jack. Being the warrior guild's receptionist meant he did receive quite a bit of gossip.
"Thanos, you sound like an old lady with all of your gossip," Jack chided the older man, Thanos giving him an evil glare.
"Alright, alright. What's happening in Radiata today?" the knight asked.
"A couple of newcomers are moving into the Blue Town tomorrow," Thanos began. Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Like that doesn't happen every day?" he asked with a bit of sarcasm.
"These people are different. I heard that they aren't from Radiata at all," Thanos began. "In fact, I've heard they are from a completely different world."
Now Jack was interested. "Different world? What do you mean?" he asked. Thanos shrugged.
"I dunno, that's what the boy said," he answered. Jack inquired as to what boy, but Thanos replied with another shrug. "I don't know, he came in last night. Was askin' me if there were any positions open at the castle. I told him no, naturally. Do I look like those guys in the castle employment office? I didn't think so. I knew he wasn't from Radiata, though," he explained.
"Hm…kinda interesting," Jack mused.
"They better not be lookin' for a job here, atleast," Thanos thought aloud. When Jack didn't respond, Thanos looked up; the door was swinging shut as he did so. "The kid can't sit still for ten minutes…" he muttered.
Looking out the window past his own transparent reflection, the brunette boy awed at the view.
"Guys…can you see this?!" he asked his two friends, a silver-haired boy and a redheaded female. The girl turned around in her seat, looking back at the brunette.
"Sora…what has gotten into you? You didn't even want to leave the islands, and now you're all excited about this new place?" she asked.
Sora looked up at the girl. "Seriously, Kairi, look out the window! It's an amazing view!" Kairi sighed, doing as her friend asked.
"Wow…it is pretty impressive, isn't it?" she asked to nobody in particular. "Riku, how far away are we from landing?" she turned, asking the silver-haired boy who was driving.
"Our gummi ship should be landing in about ten minutes. Sora, you should probably fasten yourself in," he suggested.
"How'd you know I even unbuckled?" the other boy asked defiantly.
"Oh, it was just a lucky guess, I suppose," Riku replied sarcastically.
"So…what's the name of this place now?" Sora asked after buckling himself in.
"It's called Radiata City…in the land of Tottaus," Riku answered, not looking back.
Sora nodded silently, still looking out the window. "I wonder what that hole is," he muttered to himself as the gummi ship flew over Borgandiazo.
"We'll be landing soon," Riku said, Sora remaining quiet for once.
"Ridley!" Jack burst into his girlfriend and fellow knight's bedroom. She looked up from her bed, where she had formerly been resting.
"Oh, hello, Jack," she said, smiling as he arrived. "What are you all riled up about today?" she asked. Jack was panting, his dark blonde hair messy from his run.
"You'll never guess what Thanos told me today," he said once he regained his breath.
"What did he tell you, Jack? More gossip, I suppose?" she asked.
"Well, kind of. Not really," he answered. Ridley smiled slightly at his inability to choose a simple yes or no.
"What did he tell you, then?" she asked, halfway curious to know what it is.
"Some new people are moving into the Blue Town," he started.
She sighed. "Wow, Jack. That happens all the time!" she said.
"I know! That is what I said. But then he told me something else," the boy continued. "These people aren't even from Tottaus…not even from this world!"
Ridley looked surprised. "What do you mean?" she asked; Jack shrugged.
"I don't know; neither did Thanos. But these people are gonna be pretty weird! I mean, look at Sonata and Nyx. They aren't from Radiata and they look WAY different than everybody else," Jack said excitedly, bouncing up and down.
"Well, you're going to have to wait and see what these people look like, then, aren't you? When did Thanos say they are moving in?" the lighter blonde asked.
"Tomorrow, I guess. Maybe they're early and they are gonna arrive today!" Jack replied, getting more and more excited ask he kept speaking. "We should go find their house!" he suggested.
Ridley sighed. "Jack…you leave the castle too much! We really aren't supposed to leave if we aren't on a mission, anyway," she said.
Jack was always off getting himself into trouble. Jack shrugged it off, his stubbornness kicking in. "Well, fine. If you're gonna be a 'fraidy cat and not go, fine by me," he said, opening the door. Mentally slapping herself, she called out after Jack.
"Yes, Ridley?" he asked, knowing full well what she was going to say.
"I'll go," she said shortly, striding past him into the corridor; she mentally slapped herself again at her inability to say no to Jack, whom was smiling triumphantly.
---
Arriving in the Blue Town, Jack immediately began to look at the mailboxes, searching for a new name. "Nope…this is Clive's house," he said, Ridley following him. Looking up, he noticed something different.
"Hey…the vacant house has been fixed up!" he exclaimed, shuddering at the thought of the house. It had always been creepy, and after the mission regarding the princess, he hated it even more.
Ridley nodded, noticing it as well. "Yeah, the broken windows have been replaced."
Jack looked at the mailbox. "Sora, Riku and Kairi? Those are some pretty weird names…you don't think that those are the new people Thanos told me about?" he asked, looking back at the blonde girl.
"They probably are; I've never heard of them," Ridley answered. Jack shrugged.
"I suppose we'll just have to hang out here and see if they show up," Jack said, leaning up against the side of the house.
Ridley sighed. "Jack, I'm not going to stay out here and wait all night and wait for some people that might not even show up!" she exclaimed.
"Fine, you can leave. I'll just stay here," Jack said, crossing his arms. He wasn't going anywhere.
With a loud scraping sound, the gummi ship landed in a field outside of the city of Radiata. The door opened and the three friends walked out.
"What is this place?" Sora asked, looking around the expanse of yellow. Riku withdrew a map, looking at it with a bit of confusion.
"I think…we're in the Cuatour Region," he said, pointing south. "If we travel that way, we should reach Radiata soon." The other two nodded, and they began to walk down the path, their bags and things over their shoulders.
Their walk took about thirty minutes, and soon they saw the Echidna Gate of Radiata looming before them. "This is it? This is Radiata?" Sora asked.
Kairi sighed, "Well, we have to get into the gate," she said.
"Oh," Sora nodded; Riku just shook his head.
"Come on, before it gets too dark," he said, and they walked across the gate and into the city.
"Whoa…" Sora looked around the city in awe. It was so much bigger than the islands, even the main islands where the schools were.
"This is a big city, how are we ever going to find our house?" Kairi asked, looking down the streets.
"The house is in the Blue Town of Water and Wisdom…then we just find the house with our names on the mailbox," Riku explained. "But where is the Blue Town?" The other two shrugged. After asking around for directions, a kindly old lady pointed them in the direction of the borough.
"Hey…Ridley," Jack called out to the girl, whom had decided to stay with Jack, "D'you hear footsteps?" He looked over at her, and she nodded.
"Yes, I do," she replied, looking down the street. Sure enough, three people they had never seen before were approaching the old vacant house.
Riku looked at the house. "That's it," he said, pointing at it.
"But…Sora, who are those people in front of our house?" Kairi asked the brunette, who sighed.
"Why are you asking me all of these questions?" he whined. "I don't know who they are, why would I?"
Kairi sighed. "Oh…I'm sorry Sora. I'm just so used to you answering all of my questions," she apologized. "The move has me really stressed out." Their conversation continued as they got closer and closer to their new home.
"Are you guys Sora, Riku and Kairi?" Jack called out to the three friends.
"Yeah…I'm Riku, that is Sora and that is Kairi," Riku replied, pointing to the other two as he said their names. "But why do you care? And why are you standing outside our new house?" he asked.
Ridley sighed. "I am Ridley Silverlake, from the noble family of Silverlake, and this is—" she began, but was interrupted by Jack.
"And I am Jack Russell, son of the legendary Cairn Russell, the savior of humanity and co-leader of the Blanc Loup Brigade!" he announced, introducing himself. Ridley shook her head.
"He's been introducing himself like that for the past month," she explained. Jack laughed. "But, Ridley, you know it is all true!"
"Uhm…that is all nice, but that doesn't explain why you are hanging out around our house," Kairi spoke up.
"Oh! Thanos, he is the receptionist at Theater Vancoor, he told me that some people from a completely different universe were moving into the Blue Town, so I wanted to check it out!" Jack explained.
"Oh. How did he know about it?" she asked.
"He is one of the resident gossips of Radiata," Ridley said dryly.
"Oh, okay…" Kairi said meekly, thoroughly confused.
"What were you saying about being a leader of the Blank Loop brigade?" Sora said, speaking for the first time.
Jack sighed. "It's the Blanc Loup Brigade, not Blank Loop," he corrected.
"It is a brigade in the Radiata Knights, the protectors of the City," Ridley explained. "Jack and I co-lead the brigade." Sora nodded.
"But, didn't Jack say he was the savior of humanity, not a protector of the city," Kairi asked.
"Haha, you haven't heard the story? Well, of course you haven't," Jack said.
"Wonderful…this will be the five hundredth time I've heard this story," Ridley mumbled.
Jack gave her a look."If it wasn't for me, Ridley, you wouldn't be here. Anyway, this is how it began…"
Radiata is protected by a force greater than the knights. Six dragons guard all the different races of Radiata: the Fire dragon guards the goblins, the Water dragon guards the orcs, the Wind dragon guards the elves, and the Earth dragon guards the dwarves. There are two dragons left, one named Aphelion and one named Quasar. They are the Silver and Gold dragons, respectively. These two dragons guard the humans, but they require a human vessel to become alive. Once a human becomes a vessel, it is certain that the dragon will overtake them and they will die. These two dragons take turns guarding the humans.
The natural balance of all things was changed not that long ago. Humans, greedy for power, began to kill the dragons. The great Cairn Russell killed the Water dragon many years ago. A while after that, the other three dragons were killed by other prominent Radiata Knights, the worst of them all being Cross of the Noire Mouton, but he met his demise. The Silver dragon, Aphelion, had chosen the vessel of Lucian, a Lord in the castle. The Gold dragon had chosen his vessel as well: a young knight named Ridley Silverlake.
Jack, committed to protecting Ridley, deserted his own species to fight alongside the fairy creatures. Soon this path brought him to the City of White Nights, the location of the Gold dragon's castle. After a long battle, Aphelion had been killed and Ridley had been expelled of Quasar. It was a bittersweet ending, as Jack's friend Ganz had stayed back with his father, Gawain's, body as the castle crumbled to pieces. The two heroes returned to Radiata; to their surprise, the city was completely empty.
The people gradually returned to Radiata, the knights were reinstated by Lord Larks and the elements were put into balance again. Algandars disease had been vanquished, never to infect an elf or human again.
"…and that is how I saved humanity!" Jack exclaimed.
"He really doesn't get tired of saying that," Ridley sighed.
"Oh…that is so romantic!" Kairi cooed, sighing, "That was a wonderful story."
Riku looked up, realizing something. "Well, that is all good, but we'd like to actually get into our house now, and not discuss the history of Radiata right now," he said, almost coldly.
"Oh! I forgot this was your house…" Jack said, stepping aside.
"Jack, it is getting late. We better return to the castle," Ridley said, tugging on Jack's arm.
"Alright…hey, you guys should stop by the castle! There might be some openings for a job…maybe even a spot for a knight!" he yelled back to the three. "See you around!" Turning back to Ridley, he gave a disgusted sigh. "They didn't look any different than us…other than that Sora kid had Christmas tree hair!" he complained.
---
"Sir Jack! There you are," a man said, hurriedly walking up to the pair.
"Oh, heya Al! What'cha need?" he greeted Al, the steward, in a very familiar tone. Al gave him a slight look of disgust; he never got over Jack's being dismissed from the knights. Once dismissed, always dismissed, that was one of his philosophies.
"Lord Larks has requested to see Sir Jack and Lady Ridley in his office immediately," Al replayed the message for them, promptly walking away. "Don't be late, Jack," he said as he walked off, his voice trailing.
"Wonder what Lord Larks wants?" Jack asked as they entered the elevator, pushing the buttons to get to the fourth floor. Ridley shrugged, watching the floor numbers go up one by one. Reaching the fourth floor, the elevator doors slid open, the two knights exiting. They walked in silence to Larks' office, and once there, Jack knocked on the door.
"Come in," Larks' said, his cool and calm voice muffled by the heavy door. Pushing it open, the pair walked in.
"Hello Sir Jack, Lady Ridley," he said warmly.
"Hello Lord Larks," Jack and Ridley replied in unison.
"Please, have a seat," Larks offered, motioning towards two chairs in front of his desk. Jack and Ridley sat down, waiting for their orders. "I suppose you are wondering why I summoned you," he said; it was more of a statement than a question. Jack nodded, Ridley stayed motionless.
"There have been reports of strange monster sightings outside of the Radiata gates. These monsters have been even spotted as far south as Borgandiazo and as far north as Wind Valley," Larks explained.
"So you want us to go check out these monsters?" Jack asked, assuming Larks' intentions.
"Now, Jack, let me finish. These monsters are stranger than normal. It seems as if they cannot be attacked by even the strongest swords in Radiata; they are also incredibly strong. They are truly of another world," he finished.
Jack thought for a moment. "They are kinda like those new people who live in the Blue Town," he mused.
"What about new people?" Larks asked.
"Oh…some new people moved into the vacant house in the Blue Town. The only difference between them and other people are that they are from another world, kind of like those monsters you just told us about," Ridley explained, speaking up.
"Hm…interesting," Larks mumbled; he was deep in thought. "Sir Jack and Lady Ridley, you have a new mission. I want you to find out as much as possible about these new residents of Radiata. Report back to me in a week. You are dismissed," Larks said. Jack and Ridley stood up, bowing to their superior, and left.
"I didn't expect that…" Jack said, his sentence trailing off. Ridley nodded in agreement.
"Do you really think that those new people are responsible for these strange monsters?" she asked him. He shrugged.
"Larks seems to think so, but I'm not so sure. They seemed innocent enough to me," he said.
"But, maybe they did it subconsciously. Like, they didn't bring the monsters but the monsters followed them," she offered.
Jack nodded. "That could be possible...but we still need to find out stuff about them for Larks."
They walked in silence the rest of the way to Ridley's room. "Good night, Ridley," he said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you in the morning." He turned, heading down the hallway to his room.
"Good night, Jack," Ridley said, even though he was out of earshot.
Ridley had an interesting dream that night.
"Jack! Don't run any farther!" she called out after him. Jack turned, stopping for a minute.
"I'll be fine, Ridley!" he called back, and continued to run. She began to run as fast as her legs could carry her, the trees rushing by amazingly fast. Then the forest was gone.
"Jack?" she asked to the nothingness. A sinister laugh rang through the blackness, but its owner was nowhere to be seen. Hearing a strange whooshing noise next to her, Ridley looked over. A small black creature popped out of the blackness, blending into the walls and floor of the room.
"What is that?" she asked, forgetting nobody was there. She heard a different whooshing noise behind her; she turned to see that. A silver creature appeared that was ten times the size of the black creature.
"What…what is happening?" she asked. The laugh echoed around her again, this time speaking.
"You are now in an everlasting shadow…two paths await you. You will not be you anymore, but two beings. Be prepared," the voice said sinisterly, laughing again. The laughter faded as soon as it began, along with the nothingness and the two creatures.
"Jack! Where are you?" she screamed as she began to fall.
Soon her feet touched ground. Blinking a few times, she gathered her surroundings. "No…" she almost whispered; what she saw looked all too familiar: the Gold Dragon's cave. She began to run.
"Why are you running?" a voice said, and soon Jack appeared right in front of her.
She stopped in her tracks. "Jack! I found you!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him.
"Ridley, what are you doing?" he asked, pushing her away. On his face was a look of pure disgust.
"Jack…what is wrong?" she asked, thoroughly confused.
"Nothing. And stop saying my name so much…it is quite aggravating," he sighed in annoyance.
"Since when do you know words as big as aggravating?" she asked him. He gave her another disgusted look.
"Get out of my sight," he jeered at her. Her vision blurred with tears, she turned around to leave. But there was something blocking her path. Something that was big and gold.
She screamed. And then, everything was black.
Ridley woke up to see Jack's face directly above her.
"Ridley! You're okay?" he asked, a worried look on his face.
"What…are you talking about?" she asked him groggily.
"You were screaming bloody murder in your sleep!" he exclaimed.
"It was just a bad dream…" she sighed, lying back down.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Just…go get some rest, okay? I'll be fine," she convinced him.
"Alright…but if you have another dream where you wake up screaming, I won't leave so easily. Goodnight," he said, closing the door behind him.
Ridley sighed. "What…does that dream mean?" she asked herself, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.
a/n: If you have seen the D.N.Angel commentary with Greg and Illiych, you know what I'm saying when I say 'Christmas tree hair.' XD