AAAANNNNNDDD... here's chapter 2!

Dis: i don't own Baten Kaitos, though i really wish i had a copy of the new game...


The word 'bond' made something twinge in Willow, and suddenly she felt herself being drawn towards the boy as if she was being pulled by a string. She collided with him, and everything vanished except for the pounding heartbeat in her ears. When the world came back, everything was clearer than before.

"Hey," the boy said, "you really are here! My name's Brennan, and you're my new Guardian Spirit!"

Willow's mind flashed back to her grandmother's stories and her aunt's paintings.

'You're Brennan,' she said. He nodded. 'My name is Willow.'

Brennan gave a lazy grin and started to walk out of the forest. Willow absently followed him, until she fully realized where she was. Or wasn't.

'First question, Brennan,' she said, causing him glance in her direction as he walked. 'Where am I?'

"You're in Nekton, in Mira," he answered, looking baffled.

'That tells me nothing. Where am I?' Brennan looked even more puzzled until realization dawned on his face.

"It's true," he said, "you really ARE from another dimension, my father was telling the truth…"

'Alright, one: what are you talking about? And two: WHERE AM I?' Willow demanded.

"My father told me that a Guardian Spirit is someone who left their body behind in another dimension, and when he had one, her body was in a coma or something, and Spirits transcend space and time to bond with the person that their destiny intertwines with," Brennan said. "In this dimension, there's seven nations, and Mira's the one we're on right now, since it's the only place where the barrier's thin enough to let Spirits pass through."

'That makes sense, I guess…' Willow said. 'What are the seven nations?'

"Mira, Capital of Illusion, where my dad's from; Alfard, the Empire, ruled by Emperor Lyude; Anuenue, the Rainbow Nation, ruled by Lady Savyna while Queen Corellia is on holiday; Wazn, City of Ice, where my mom rules; Diadem, Land of the Clouds, ruled by King Ladekhan II; Sadal Suud, the Frontier, ruled by Lord Cedr; and Duhr, the Land under the Clouds," Brennan listed off, counting off on his fingers. The names struck chords in Willow, and she found herself remembering her grandmother's stories and her mother's comments.

"It's colder than the Ice Cliffs…"

"…the young Duchess, heir to the Duchy of the Illusion Nation…"

"…the polite young Imperial soldier…"

"Andri's new painting looks kind of like Diadem…"

'Your father's Guardian,' Willow murmured, the pieces clicking in her mind, 'what was her name?'

"Her name? I think it was Ari-something… He only ever said it a few times… Arietta, I think it was…" Brennan trailed off, thinking. Willow felt a flash of what felt something like beginner's stage-fright.

'Brennan, that's my mother's name,' she said when her Guarded gave her an odd look. His gold eyes widened.

"You don't think…?" he asked.

'Considering I fell out of a tree to get here?' Willow scoffed. 'My mother was in a coma for three years when she was my age.'

"Alright, enough with the thinking, it's hurting my head," Brennan said, ending that train of thought. "Come on, I want to get back home before my parents realize I snuck out again, if they haven't already."

'Where's 'home'?' Willow asked curiously. Brennan kept walking quickly towards the town.

"Wazn. Mom's the Queen, so naturally the Prince has to sneak out to go anywhere alone," Brennan answered with more than a hint of sarcasm.

'Are you serious?' Willow asked, now more than a little intrigued. 'You're the Prince of… what was it… Wazn?'

"Yeah," Brennan said, shrugging as if Willow had said that the Sky was blue and the grass was green. By this time, they were well into the heart of Balancoire. "This is the capital of Mira, Balancoire."

'There's a lot of mist… it's hard to see anything,' Willow commented, looking around. She could faintly see the glow of windows on the homes, and the manor in the distance, but other than that, she felt blind. She could hear the burbling of what she assumed was the waterway, but nothing else. It was stifling, and she was uncomfortably aware that she was nearly blind in the mist.

"Yeah, it's bad today…" Brennan said, confidently going along the streets. How he didn't break his neck on the stairs, Willow didn't know, but within minutes, they were out of the city walking toward a fork in the forest path. Brennan stopped, and then went left.

"The right leads to Deltourne, and that place confuses me because everything is constantly shifting and symmetrical, and I can't navigate it like my parents can, so we're going around it. This path leads straight to Parnasse," he explained.

'So this Deltourne place is like a kaleidoscope?' Willow asked.

"What's a… ka-lie-dou-scope?" Brennan asked.

'Something that's perfectly symmetrical when you look into it, and it's shaped like a telescope, and when you turn it, the colors inside shift around while staying symmetrical.'

"Yeah, like that."

'And what's Parnasse?'

"Confectionary Village. Everything's made of sweets except clothing and people."

'Are you serious?' Willow thought back to her grandmother's stories.

"Yeah, Dad even said that a friend of his had to eat his way through a wall once."

'Wow.' Willow looked up the path, and could see the brilliant pinks and oranges of Parnasse. What she also saw puzzled her. 'Uh… Brennan? You know who that is?' Up ahead, in the Confectionary Village, was the most unusual person. They were dressed in the gaudiest, most colorful clothing Willow had ever seen, and had some sort of odd hat on, and they were floating about two feet or so off the ground. As Brennan walked closer, Willow could tell that the person was a woman with teal hair. Willow was able to identify six different patterns on the woman's clothing before they were seen.

"Brennan, that be you?" Willow blinked. That was the weirdest voice she'd ever heard! "And there be a Spirit with you!"

"Oh, it's just you, Mizuti." Brennan turned to Willow. "Will, this is Mizuti, a friend of my parents. Mizuti," he turned back to the strange woman, "this is my new Guardian Spirit, Willow."

"I be the GREAT Mizuti, Brennan!" the woman corrected, smiling. "Never forget!" Brennan laughed.

"Okay, okay, I won't forget."

Mizuti nodded and looked directly at Willow.

'Um… Hi?' Willow said, not sure what to make of this person.

"They Great Mizuti hears you, Willow, and greets you as well," Mizuti said. Then she turned to Brennan again. "Brennan, where be your parents? The Great Mizuti went to Wazn, but nobody be there! Then the Great Mizuti was told to look in Balancoire, but then the Great Mizuti got a little… lost. Confused. Just took a little wrong turn. Then the Great Mizuti ended up in Parnasse, and found you!"

Brennan looked puzzled.

"But I just came from Nekton, and I went through Balancoire, and they weren't there. I thought they were still in Kaffaljihdma Castle back home!" he exclaimed. Willow suddenly felt a flash of panic, but it wasn't her own. Her real feeling, confusion, increased.

"Brennan and Willow will come with the Great Mizuti back to Wazn to investigate. The Great Mizuti's ship be in port. Come!" She started to walk off, feet still not touching the ground, in the direction of what Willow assumed was Mira's port. Brennan took off after Mizuti, intent on finding out exactly what happened.


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