A/N Happy (late) Halloween everyone! This is my (kind of) Halloween special, inspired by the quote below. It is based in the universe of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, which is a totally amazing yet overlooked game with a twisting story, well-developed characters, many many many hours of gameplay, and a large replay value. So please, give it a chance when you have the time! Is this a one-shot? A series? I don't know, only time will tell! The one thing I can say for sure, though, is that there will be more Ni No Kuni stories in the future. I will update "Double P" hopefully later today. Right now it is the end of the quarter, and I am just recovering from the huge boom of tests, so no date is guaranteed. Anyways, this is becoming very long, so without further ado, let the storytelling begin!
"Familiars can be born wherever there's plenty of what you might call 'life force,' see? The sky, the sea, the forest, the field… It doesn't matter where it is, Ollie-boy- when enough life force builds up, out they pop! In fact, they can even be born from everyday objects if they're used long enough and loved hard enough!" -Drippy from Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.
"Toko! Toko!" A shrill cry echoes through the precious halls of the ancient house, old, dusty paintings hanging off the faded, auburn walls. Excited footsteps clash against a worn wooden floor, bare feet gliding against creaking trunks of trees long gone. From the worn hall emerges a spirited boy, ruffled auburn hair clashing with pale skin and bright green eyes. He wears ragged jeans of faded brown, and a cream shirt flecked with dust and dirt, like the coat of a Siamese cat. The shirt gives the boy a wild look, the ends ripped and tasseled, and the sleeves drifting over his shoulders like wild rain clouds. The boy's tanned arms are stretched out behind him like the wings of a fledgling learning to fly, and he leans carelessly forward as calloused feet pound the ground beneath them.
Stopping with the grace of a rampaging rhino, the boy stands before a worn door at the end of the ancient hall, its wooden frame paling with age as the boy runs his hand over cracks in its surface. Standing proudly on the worn door is a rusting doorknob, shining with the gleam of care as its smooth handle hints of ancient age. Creaking with delight, the door lets the wild boy through, wonder and innocence constant in his emerald green eyes. With softer footsteps, the boy enters the room, looking carefully for what he is seeking.
Like the rest of the house, the room is ancient yet loving, with a dusty bookshelf leaning with the weight of well-loved books, as if comforting the cushiony black chair that yes, someone would come read in it again. In the opposite corner is a faded bed, neatly made with an auburn bedspread tussled with use. Across from the door is a welcoming window, with ruby-red curtains that can't help but let the light peer through miniscule holes torn upon them. Below the window is a wooden chest, too heavy for even the strongest man to lift, and so wide that the longest arm span could not reach both ends. The curved hood to the iron-plated chest was held ajar, unable to close as tides of toys overflowed onto the carpeted floor.
The whole room held a musty scent, one of age filled with love. And yet the boy who now stood inside it was young, younger than the ancient house which he had always called his home. Of all the years that the house had stood, weathered and beaten by the passage of time, only seven of them were filled with the innocent youth of this loving boy, this curious boy that called it home. The boy had many toys in that house and indeed, he was very happy, but the one he loved most of all was the one he was seeking for now as he rummaged through the colossal chest, carefully placing each loved toy on the soft carpet of the ground. Then, his eyes lit with a jubilous spark as he recalled the place where his toy stood, sitting watchfully on the maroon bed. It seemed as if it should look like a new toy, having been made not too long ago, but it was worn with the love of that boy, with the countless days of endless play. It had a spherical head of weathered metal, with two brilliant black eyes. On its forehead was a soft cream cog that emerged from the emerald green metal, and it had large, cream, robotic jaws. Two cream cogs acted as ears, attached to the creature with sturdy metal rods. The head was placed on an emerald-green body, a small rectangle with soft edges. It had large, webbed, dark green feet and short arms that emerged into three long silver claws.
"Toko!" the boy cried as he picked up his toy, for this was the toys name. He cradled it in his tanned arms, hugging the creature close to his body as through his mind went thoughts of all the games they were going to play. Without warning, his beloved toy started glowing an intense white, as sharp as burning magnesium. The boy cried out in surprise, letting the toy slip from his grasp and roll across the room as he brought tanned arms up to shield emerald-green eyes.
The moment lasted seconds, although it seemed to last much longer as the light from the gleaming toy danced through the door and into the hall. When the glowing white light faded, the spirited boy let his arms drop, blinking away black dots from his vision. In front of him stood his toy, leaping up and down on little webbed feet, waiting for the boy. "Toko?" the boy asked as the toy bounced in the air, as if it had come alive. "Toko… are you… alive?"
"Toko! Toko!" the toy cried as he bounced around in glee, "I'm Toko!"
The boy's emerald-green eyes shone in wonder, and the toy stopped bouncing, looking curiously at the boy. The boy crouched, reaching out one quivering hand, holding it out to touch his beloved toy. Toko took a step towards the hand, nuzzling it with glee. The spirited boy pulled his hand back quickly, before his eyes gleamed with realization, carefully picking up Toko and hugging him close. "Toko!" he cried with newfound joy. "Toko! You're really alive!" Untold words hung on the breeze, one's of promise and joy as the boy tossed Toko in the air, like that of a loving father, before the two ran off together beneath the ancient house's watchful gaze, to play the days away.
A/N Ok, I normally don't do this, but I am so curious that for this once there will be a question, or question of the day as some people call it. If you could live in any universe for the rest of your life, and if you could bring one thing with you, where would you go, what would you bring, and what would be the first thing you would do? I'm definitely heading over to the world of Ni No Kuni, and I would bring my friends. It is like my childhood dream to live there. I would start by finding an Astralynx and befriending it, and then… well, only time would tell. Anyways, thanks for reading this (very) short story, hope you enjoyed it, and please go check out Ni No Kuni if you haven't already! Keep on reading and writing!