It was just another day in the city of Thebes. People were browsing the shops, looking to buy food, jewelry, or anything else that caught their eye. The weather was slightly warm due to the up-coming summer season, but the city dwellers didn't mind it. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but there was a black portal hovering above a deserted alleyway. It stayed motionless for a few minutes before it swirled and spat out a young man and girl. They both fell and landed in a cart filled with hay. The girl was the first to recover, spitting out a mouthful of hay.
"Ew! Blah!"
Alix shook the hay from her hair. She then jumped out of the cart and examined herself. Alix found that her hair was now brown and wrapped up in a bun, and she wore a long blue tunic and leather sandals. The only things that remained the same were her blue eyes.
"I hate using portals…" Alix muttered as she brushed the hay from her tunic.
A loud grunt then came from behind her, telling her that her partner was alright. Alix walked back to the cart and helped pull him out.
"Are you alright, Monsieur Shaxir?"
Shaxir, dazed and surprised, woke to the sound of a beautiful French maiden's voice, which belonged to his companion. He got up and made himself decent, removing hay from his raiment and fixing his hair.
"I am fine, my dear," Shaxir said with a bow. He grasped Alix's delicate hand, still bowing. "And you seem well also," he added before administering a gentlemanly kiss to her hand. He then made himself upright and brushed some stray hay off himself.
"This is our first time on a mission together, so let's make it through with the least amount of casualties. What is it we are to do exactly?" he asked.
Alix tapped her chin, going into a thinking stance. "Hmm, the mission details weren't specific. It just said to have an adventure of sorts."
The brunette made her way toward the opening of the alley and gazed out at the city's center. She saw nothing of interest from the people bustling around.
"How are we supposed to have an adventure here?"
Alix walked out of the alley further, glancing at the shops for a bit. She lightly touched a small pouch tied around her waist. It contained some broken glass shards that she always carried with her.
Shaxir followed his European comrade to the center. "An adventure is always found in unexpected places. This probably being one of them. Perhaps there is something here."
He noticed that Alix was carrying a bag with her. "What is that you are carrying? Perhaps our 'adventure' is in relation to its contents?" he inquired.
Alix opened up the pouch a little and showed Shaxir what was inside. There were numerous glass pieces shining in the sunlight.
"I always carry some glass around because of my element, Monsieur Shaxir. Just in case we are attacked."
She closed the bag as she started admiring some of the shops and keeping a close eye on the jewelry stands.
Maybe after this adventure is over, I should buy something before we leave.
Alix then turned to Shaxir. "Doesn't this world have monsters running around?" she asked curiously.
"Perhaps the reason we are in Thebes is because there is ONE Heartless here," Shaxir replied.
He noticed the confused look on Alix's face and explained further.
"You see, it's from my experience that when there are not many Heartless running around, or none at all, there is usually a colossal one hidden somewhere. I know it sounds confusing, but you'll see. I may be right."
Shaxir looked around and began to debate with himself. I wonder if there are any creatures of legend or, perhaps, great mass, that a Heartless could take control of.
He was sure his guess was right. In a place like Greece, with all their legends and myths, there was a good chance of it.
Alix crossed her arms. "Well, if there is a giant Heartless here, then it's our job to find it, right?"
The pair continued walking around, looking for any rumors about strange sightings or occurrences. The people Shaxir and Alix talked to said that they had seen something out in the fields, an odd creature that took hearts.
"We should go investigate what they told us," Alix explained as she and her partner left Thebes.
The land outside the vast city was covered in green hills with groves of olive trees off in the distance. The pair walked down a dusty path toward the place where the creature was spotted.
"Monsieur Shaxir, I'm curious. What exactly does your element do?"
"Sonicspeed," replied Shaxir. "I've also got a little bit of Dark powers."
Alix nodded. "How interesting."
They walked through the field until they came to a pond. The afternoon sun glistened across the watery surface. There weren't any ripples around to disrupt its serene appearance.
Alix stepped forward, to get a better look at the pond. "It's like liquid glass..."
"I wonder..." Shaxir muttered. He knew something about mirrors and small bodies of water that most people didn't. Several thoughts swirled in his head before realization hit him.
"Alix!" he shouted. "Stay away. I believe we have found our heartless..."
Sticking out two fingers, Shaxir lightly touched the surface of the water and watched the ripples make their way to the other side.
As she backed up, Alix watched intently and didn't see anything out of the ordinary, nor did she feel an odd presence. The brunette turned her gaze back to the pond; the ripples had traveled over to the other side. Alix slowly walked toward her partner.
3 seconds passed…
5…
7…
10…
"I do not see the Heartless," she said skeptically while looking around.
"Oh, it'll come! I can feel it," said Shaxir. He knew a lot more about heartless than anyone, or whatever little pride he had in himself told him.
Soon after he spoke, the Earth began to rumble and from the pond's abyss. The water gushed forth like Old Faithful and a giant Darkside heartless emerged from the liquid pillar. The once clear water turned as black as the heartless itself. Smaller heartless began spawning from the black water. Darkside gave out an ungodly, loud bellow filled with uncontrolled rage and wrath.
"And that," said Shaxir with a sly grin as he activated his Dark Sabre. "Is our target..."
Alix took her pouch and dumped the glass shards on the grass. She then knelt down, placing her hand over the pile. The glass started melding together and formed into her glaive. The brunette Nobody picked the weapon up and held it in front of her.
"I'm ready."
She waited until the smaller heartless were within range before swinging her weapon. The blade cut through some as the others jump away, evading her attack. She then shaped the glaive into a multi-strand whip that sliced the rest.
One thing Shaxir enjoyed was dancing, and he used such elegance as he slew the minor heartless. Darkside, however, had a different opinion of Shaxir's elegance as he pulled his arm back and hurled it like a comet to the earth where he Shaxir stood.
"Shaxir! Watch out!" Alix shouted at her partner.
Anticipating this, Shaxir twirled in the air and landed on Darkside's arm, charging up the long appendage and striking the monstrosity's face.
"Now you go for the head next, Alix! I'll take care of the minor heartless!" he cried as he fell from the giant's body.
Alix nodded at Shaxir and ran toward Darkside. The whip she held transformed back into a glaive. She jumped up, aiming her weapon at the creature's head. Just before the blade made contact, Darkside opened its mouth and shot out a dark cloud toward the girl.
"Darn it!" she yelled
The brunette shaped the glass into a shield to block the cloud. The force knocked her back toward the ground.
Shaxir, hearing her yell, tried to catch Alix as she fell...and ended up breaking her fall instead. A not-so-dashing rescue, but at least she was safe and that's all Shaxir cared about. He gently tossed her into the air, killed the heartless that were closing in on them, caught her again and launched her at Darkside's face.
"Get him!" he said in a cheering voice.
Alix started getting dizzy from the falling and the tossing. She shook it off and focused on the Heartless in front of her. Shaping the shield back into her glaive, Alix raised it over her head and brought it down on Darkside's head.
"Be gone, Heartless!"
Her weapon's blade grew bigger as it made contact with the creature's skull. Using all her strength, Alix sliced Darkside down the middle. The two halves split apart, vanishing into black particles as they fell toward the ground. The brunette Nobody landed on the ground and broke up her glass weapon back into shards. She gathered the shards up and placed them back in her pouch.
"T-That was very e-exciting..." Alix panted. Suddenly, she left light-headed and stumbled a bit; she had used too much power.
Shaxir caught her as she stumbled. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thrown you right back at it. Sure it was effective, but I still put you in some greater danger," he said as he embraced her.
He would rather, if things had not gone as well, that he be the one to perish and not her. The remaining heartless retreated and the pond turned back into the crystal clear body it once was. The mission was over and Thebes, nay, all of Greece was saved.
"Let's go check out the shops again, Alix. I'll buy you that necklace you were eyeing," said Shaxir as he put his arm around her.
Alix, giggling at Shaxir's offer, turned and faced him. Smiling, she then tapped his nose.
"Race you back to Thebes!" she said
In the blink of an eye, the glass-wielding Nobody ran off, laughing gleefully. The Swift-Lover Heart followed her with the same, child-like laughter.
-The End-