Attempted Fantasy Chapter Three
"Trials in Traverse Town"
Authors Note: Hello, and thanks for reading c: I don't have anything really to say other than, long chapter is looong. Heheh.
~Enjoy
"Waiting on a Sunday afternoon,
for what I read between the lines, your lies..."
It was dark. That's all she saw, for the longest time, was darkness.
Then, she felt wet and cold pavement pressed against her cheek. The darkness went away when she opened her eyes, a large fountain in front of her.
Ebsolon raised herself to her knees and looked skyward.
Large buildings cluttered the skyline, and street lamps gave the area an orange glow.
"Where… Am I?" She muttered, getting to her feet, she grasped the sword at her side. She looked down at the cobble stone street. "What's going on…"
She turned to her left where a set of large stairs took you to the upper level of the town. She walked towards them and made it halfway up when she was stopped by a loud, "HEY!"
She turned, drawing her sword, and pointed it in the direction of the yell.
An older woman, most likely in her late 30s, was standing on the opposite wall top. Her dark brown hair was tied back into a long pony tail that came to her mid back, with short bangs that came just above her lime green eyes. A pale purple cape was clasped by a crescent moon pendant at her neck, and a jade green shirt fitted to her chest. A brown belt was clasped around her waist, separating her top from her brown slacks.
She grasped a long staff, where at the top an ice blue orb floated in the center of small branches which surrounded it.
"What's yer name?" She demanded.
Ebsolon remained silent, continuing to point her sword at the woman.
"Answer me dammit! Or I will attack you!" She pounded the staff on the ground, ice shards spitting from the contact.
Ebsolon flinched slightly and lowered her sword."…Ebsolon." She frowned.
The woman lowered her staff and gaped. "No..."
"Can I go now-" Ebsolon began.
The woman jumped from the wall to the bench below, and sprinted across the plaza to the other side where Ebsolon was half way up the stairs. She climbed up the wall with cat like grace and flung her arms around Ebsolon's neck shouting, "It's mah child!"
Ebsolon, slightly freaking out at the sudden change in attitude in the woman, pulled herself away from her grasp and pointed her sword at her.
"I think I would know my own mother when I see her," Ebsolon spat.
"Well, obviously you don't." The woman sighed, "Eb. It's me…" The woman closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, her pale skin changed to a grey color and fur grew in it's place. A long tail also came from behind her cape. "Tempo." She smiled slightly.
Ebsolon lowered her sword and gaped, "M-…Mom?!"
Tempo held out her arms, "Hey." She smiled.
Dropping her sword, Ebsolon clung to Tempos shirt, tears falling down her cheeks, "Oh-oh Tutela! I thought you-you died!"
Tempo laughed, "I thought iyou/i died. I'm so glad you're alright."
Removing herself from Tempos grasp, Ebsolon looked around. "Where's… Dad and Riley…?"
Tempo shook her head, "I don't know."
"Oh…" Ebsolon averted her eyes.
Tempo took Ebsolon's head in her hands, looking at her. "Listen, I'm sure they're alright. Now, come back with me to the Green Room, I wanted to introduce you to some nice humans I've met, and you can explain to me what's happened over the past 3 years."
"Oh! Speaking of humans, Mom." Ebsolon picked up her sword and sheathed it, "Have you seen some friends of mine? One of them is a girl, a little taller than me with mahogany hair? The other two are boys, one with short spiky brown hair, and the other is taller, with shoulder length silver hair…"
Tempo shook her head, "I'm afraid not… I'm sorry Eb. Maybe you'll run into them here?"
Ebsolon sighed, "I hope so…" She followed Tempo through the town to a small house.
"So the island you were staying at was attacked by heartless, and now you don't know if your friends are okay… Oh, Ebsolon I'm so sorry." Tempo sighed, hugging Ebsolon on the couch.
Ebsolon shrugged, "It's alright… I just hope that I can find them… Along with Trellia and Luminari… I don't know how I'll do it though…"
"Well, when Leon and Yuffie get back, we can ask them." She smiled.
"Why are they looking for this keybearer person? Do they have something to do with all of the worlds disappearing?" Ebsolon asked.
"Oh Tutela no! The keybearer is going to help restore the worlds back to their normal state." Tempo explained.
"I'm sure Leon and Yuffie will explain it to you once they get back- Oh! Speak of the devil!"
The door opened to reveal an unconscious Sora in Leons arms, followed by Yuffie.
Ebsolon stood up, "SORA?!"
"So you do know him?" Leon said in a melancholy tone.
"Well, yeah I know him, but I didn't know he had that." Ebsolon pointed to the keyblade. She watched as Leon placed Sora down on the bed and moved the keyblade to the wall next to him.
"…You knocked him out!" She shouted.
"He asked for it." Leon shrugged, crossing his arms.
Ebsolon stared at Sora, then turned back to Leon. "You still knocked him out!"
Leon sighed. "Listen, it's for his own good. He needs to listen to what we have to tell him, and if you're his friend, you'll listen too." He leaned against the wall, "He'll wake up soon… ish."
Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Ignore him, he's just upset because he almost go beat by a 14 year old."
"Shut. UP. Yuffie." Leon growled from the corner.
Sora shifted his position, "uhh…"
"He's coming to…" Yuffie walked over to him.
"You alright?" She asked.
"Y-Yeah… I guess."
"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade." She explained to the barely conscious Sora.
"I'm so glad you're okay… Kairi." He smiled slightly.
"Kairi? Whose that? I'm the great ninja Yuffie!" She crossed her arms, slightly taken aback.
Sora got up slightly, "wha-?"
Ebsolon muffled a laugh in her hands.
"I think you might've overdone it, Squall." She turned to Leon.
"That's Leon." He frowned.
"Oh, yeah…"
Sora turned to the keyblade that rested against the wall, "The Keyblade…"
"Yeah… We had to get it away from you to shake off the heartless… Come to find out, that's how they were tracking you." Yuffie sat next to Sora on the bed.
"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't
work for long…" Leon picked up the keyblade, and examined it. "Still, hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one…" Disappearing from Leon's hand, It reappeared in Sora's possession.
"I suppose beggars can't be choosers." He sighed.
"Why don't you start making sense! What's going on here?" Sora demanded.
"Okay, well… There are many worlds out in the universe besides your own. Ebsolon and Tempo here are proof of that." Yuffie waved a hand at them.
Sora turned to Ebsolon, "Yeah… Who-?" He pointed at Tempo who was still in her Felina form.
"She's my mum." Ebsolon smiled.
"Your… Mom?" He gaped.
"Yeah… Long story short, I didn't forget where I came from… I didn't tell you guys because I figured you'd think I was off my rocker… Which would make sense considering…" Ebsolon sighed.
Sora nodded. "Yeah but… I understand why you did it Eb." He smiled.
"Alright, well…" Yuffie continued to explain, "These different worlds are supposed to be secret. People aren't supposed to know that they exist. The only ones that originally knew about each other were the Frozen Forest and the Startide Islands, since they're sister worlds…"
"But that's an entirely different story." Tempo waved a hand, motioning for Yuffie to continue.
"Right… So, these different worlds have been unknown to each other because they've never been connected, until now… When the heartless came, everything changed…"
"Heartless?" Sora asked.
"The ones that attacked us on the island, and here, remember? The shadowy black creatures." Ebsolon defined.
"Those without hearts." Leon began, "The darkness in peoples hearts is what attracts them…" He turned to Sora. "And there is darkness in every heart."
"Oh hey, Have you heard of Ansem?" Yuffie asked, turning to Sora.
"An…sem?" He shook his head.
"He was studying the heartless before they took over. He recorded all of the information he found in a detailed report back in our old world." Leon explained.
"Where is the report now?" Tempo asked, changing back to her human form.
"No one knows." Yuffie sighed. "The pages were scattered when our world was destroyed."
"Scattered?" Ebsolon pressed.
"To different worlds. Which is why we need the keyblade to help find these pages. They will unlock the secrets we need to figure out how to stop, or at least delay, the heartless. It's pretty much the key to our, all the worlds', survival." Yuffie stood up, walking next to Leon.
"So… this is the key." Sora examined the large key shaped weapon.
"Exactly." Yuffie nodded.
"The heartless have great fear of the keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming at you, no matter what." Leon lowered his head, leaning against the wall.
"Well… I didn't ask for this." Sora looked up.
"The keyblade chooses it master, and it chose you." Yuffie smiled slightly.
"So, tough luck." Leon waved a hand.
"How did all of this happen? I remember being in my bedroom…" Sora shook his head, then rose to his feet, "Wait a minute, what happened to my home?! My island?! Riku!... Kairi…" He looked to Ebsolon.
She shook her head, a look of sadness on her face, "I… I don't know."
Sora sighed, "We might as well go and look for them then, huh?"
"If they're here, then yeah. Sora, they could be in any world…" Ebsolon crossed her arms.
"Well, we gotta try! Don't we?" He walked up to Leon.
"Sooner or later the Heartless will find you. Are you prepared?"
"Prepared…?"
"To fight for your life." Leon took out his gunblade.
Sora looked to Ebsolon who nodded, then back to Leon, "Yeah."
"Ebsolon, remember. Whatever happens you can always come to me alright? Here, take these potions. You'll need them." Tempo kissed Ebsolon's forehead. "be safe."
"Let's go and join Aerith now, she should be there with the other visitors…"
"Leon!" Yuffie shouted.
A soldier heartless appeared in front of Sora and Ebsolon, Leon took his gunblade and swung at the creature, tossing it outside the window.
"Yuffie, Tempo go!" He commanded.
Nodding, Yuffie opened the other door and ran through it, followed by Tempo. Another voice was heard and the footsteps began to get quieter. "Sora, Ebsolon, c'mon." Leon jumped out of the window and waited below.
"Err…" Sora was uncertain about jumping out of the second story window.
"Oh come on, Move!" Ebsolon pushed him out, she followed him, landing in a crouching position next to him.
"Don't bother with the small fry." Leon slashed through a shadow beside him. "Find the leader and get rid of it." He ran off towards the exit to the ally way.
"Ready, Eb?" Sora turned to her.
She unsheathed her sword and readied it in front of her. "Yeah."
The two of them followed Leon to the exit and eventually found their way to the third district doors. "I haven't been in this district yet, so let's see what's here." Sora pushed against the large doors and walked through, Ebsolon right behind him, her sword in hand.
"Sora, be careful… I have a feeling that-" Ebsolon was cut off by a loud explosion and rumbling noise.
The two of them looked to the sky to see two other figures flying towards the ground.
Sora began to run but was toppled by a large duck and anamorphic dog creature.
They looked at each other and then at Sora. "The Key!"
"What-?" Sora got up, and another loud rumble came through the district. Large pillars blocked the exit and Soldier heartless made an appearance.
"C'mon Eb!"
After defeating the heartless, Guard Armor appeared, a giant purple and black heartless that immediately swung it's detached hands at the group.
The group defeated the heartless fairly easily, coming out of the battle with only some minor injuries. Soon after, they joined up with Leon and the others in the first district.
"So, you were looking for me?" Sora asked.
"Uh huh." The two creatures nodded
"They too have been seeking the wielder of the keyblade."
"Hey, why don't cha come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel!" the dog said, turning to Sora.
"I wonder if we could find Riku and Kairi…?" Sora looked over at Ebsolon. She shrugged.
"Of course!" the duck nodded.
Taking the duck to the side, the dog bent over. "Do ya really think so?" Ebsolon heard him say.
"Who knows, but we need him if we're going to find the key." The Duck shrugged.
Ebsolon frowned and crossed her arms. "Jerk," She mumbled under her breath.
"Sora, Ebsolon, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends." Leon edged Sora forward.
"I guess…" Sora averted his eyes.
"But you can't come along looking like that! Understand?" the Duck pointed at him, "No frowning, no sad face. Okay?
"Yeah you have to funny like us!" The dog exclaimed, and was quickly pushed away by the duck.
"This boat runs on happy faces."
"Happy?" Sora averted his eyes for a moment, then looked back up, saying, "Cheeeeese!" with an incredibly stupid looking grin on his face.
The group bursted out in laughter.
"That's one funny face!" the anamorphic dog laughed.
"Heh. Alright, why not? I'll go with you guys. Ebsolon can come to right?" He looked over at her, smiling.
The duck quacked, "We can't bring along outsiders!"
"Outsiders-? I'm his-!" Ebsolon stopped herself. "Never mind. Sora, I can stay here."
Tempo looked down at Ebsolon and frowned.
"No, Eb. Riku and Kairi are your friends too, I'm sure you want to find them as much as me right?" He asked.
"Well… yeah." She nodded.
Sora turned back to the two creatures. "Then I don't see why she can't come along."
The duck sighed. "Fine. She can come. Just don't get in the way!"
Ebsolon rolled her eyes, walking up to Sora. "Whatever."
"Donald Duck-"
"Names Goofy-"
"Ebsolon-"
"I'm Sora."
The four of them placed their hands in the middle of the circle, "All for one and one for all!"
"…Feelin' like a hand in rusted shame, so do you laugh or does it cry? Reply?..."