Last repeated scene, I promise.

I sit at the foot of the altar's steps, waiting for something-anything to take me out of this boredom. Autumn zephyrs reach the island, brushing up against my clothes and blowing the leaves to my feet. How long can one stay here without losing their mind? I can take one more nap for today and then I need something to do to keep me alive.

When I open my eyes, the sunset's lights stretch across the desolate sky. Being a guardian seems to be a boring occupation for me, so clearly I am not fitted for this position. Maybe I should leave the island for a while and see what is out there. I stand up, ascend the steep altar steps and come face to face with Knuckles, slouching on top of the Master Emerald.

"I have a question."

"What?" responds Knuckles gruffly.

"Is there more to this island than this island?"

"What're you talking about?"

I have come to realize he is very dense. "This island cannot be all that is here in this world, am I right or wrong?"

"Right…" he answers skeptically. "You're thinking of leaving the island, aren't you?"

"I want to-"

He stops paying attention to me and focuses on something behind me. I look at whatever he is looking at and spot a white envelope on the ground. We exchanged stolid glances, walk down the steps, then I open the envelope, and read it.

To whom it may concern,

I know that you have traveled far and wide to get here. Meet me by the lawyer's attorney office on Coffee Boulevard. You'll see it when you arrive, tonight at 8. I will do my best to explain your current situation and give you the option of employment for supporting yourselves while you are here. I look forward to meeting you.

"Interesting," I mumble to myself, then look at a perplexed Knuckles. "I do have to leave the island for a small amount of time." Not as long as I would like though.

"What for?" he crosses his arms defensively as if keeping me here is the most essential thing in the world.

"I need to see someone," I briefly explain while putting the letter in my pocket. "Someone who will explain my current predicament. So are you going to aid me in getting off and getting back on?"

Knuckles ponders about the idea of me leaving the island, which I assume would bring him solace since he enjoys his solitude. Without giving me an answer, he heads off to the nearby lake with a determined countenance. Is it a yes or no?

He stands in front of the narrowest, medium-size boulder, lifts it over his head with ease, and walks over to me. I take a few steps back as he drops it by the island's edge and says, "Get on."

As I climb on top of the boulder, I reply, "I hope you do not mean to permanently expel me from the island. How will I get back?"

"Beats me."

When I am seated at the top, he cranks his arm back and sends a powerful punch that sends me off that forever-boring island.

'

I burst into the decrepit building and stop myself by slamming my hands on the desk.

"I am sorry for my tardiness," I bow my head slightly to the enigmatical man.

"Don't worry about it," his raised hand tells me to sit down. "I guess the others won't be joining us. I'll begin now-last night, you two traveled from other worlds and landed here. I know this because you two and another fell from the sky like shooting stars, which means that your own homes have disappeared-"

"Woah, woah, woah, what do you mean 'disappeared'?" a girl with some Oriental decent says aloud.

"I had a similar fate," I add. "I was running with a friend of mine away from a red sphere, surrounded by black creatures with yellow eyes and then I ended up on An-here."

The way Knuckles kept the origin of the floating island a secret from me, I should do the same, now that I am suddenly a guardian, which I still do not understand.

"The red sphere you both describe is like a vacuum that absorbed everything in your worlds."

"You expect me to believe this?"

"I know that this is hard for you two to take in, but do you have another theory of why you're not in your homes?"

"Maybe-! What if-"

"There is no use concocting an unreliable theory of why this occurred," I interrupt. "So far, it sounds very believable."

"Did either of you see a black door in your worlds?"

A door of blackness? Do I recall seeing anything like that jut out in the Village of the Willow?

"The black door means that your world has been 'marked' by the Heartless. They are monsters of darkness that feed off the hearts of every living thing in different worlds and the reason why you're both here. See, when the black door is opened, the Heartless have a way of entering. Only someone with vile Darkness can open the door," he further explains.

My heart plunges; how could all of this have happened? Me, the strongest and most acumen warrior of my village, could not see this danger coming? Normally, I would get a feeling, a mere inkling of something evil to come, but this time, I was too late. Not only is pain tugging at my sides, but concern for Clancy. Heartless are…

"Black monsters with yellow eyes…" I say aloud quietly as I remember the black creatures that surrounded us. At that moment, in a long time I felt helpless. I could not save Clancy or myself from this atrocity that has befallen my home. I shake my head and bring my eyes to the man's sunglasses.

"Rest assured, for at the moment, they cannot enter this world. Now, to business-you girls can do certain tasks that require some physical power and mental powers for the sake of others. When you traveled, you were tagged with the ability to locate hidden gateways to other worlds. Therefore, you can move about different worlds, but not without feeling some side effects like nausea, dizziness, and etcetera. By doing these tasks, you can get paid money to do whatever you want."

"How do you know all this?" the girl I met earlier says pungently.

"You said it requires some physical strength?" It reminds me of home for some reason, doing the norm with Clancy.

"I know all this because we have shared the same experiences. Yes, for most of these tasks, you'll need to know how to defend for yourselves. Otherwise, you will die out there. Anymore questions ladies?"

"You're positive there's no way of getting back home?"

"At the moment, no. If you have more questions, come back here and I'll give your tasks. Now before you girls leave, you should introduce yourselves," the man says comfortably as he gets ready to leave. After the other two girls exchange introductions, the girl who came later than me, I assume, asks leniently, "Your name?"

"Risa Willow-Greenhorn."