Two Destinies: Chapter 1: The Falling Star
Author's note: Yay, chapter 1! I know the prologue was kind of short… And it didn't have any names in it… It was so that it seemed a little more… mysterious. Well, to make up for it, this chapter not only has names, but is THREE TIMES as long! :D
A flash of light appeared and then just as quickly dissipated, revealing four teenagers, among them a red-haired boy who wore a blue outfit that covered up the bare necessities, as well as wore cream colored pants and black boots with silver plates on them, a green-haired girl who wore an orange dress and a red vest that covered the top half of her torso, a boy with blue hair tied back into a ponytail and wearing white robes that covered up much of his aqua school uniform underneath, and, lastly, a girl with fluffy purple hair and a very conservative pink and green dress as well as somewhat frilly lavender stocking shoes. This last girl, unlike her pale companions, was dark-skinned and wore a jewel on her forehead. She removed a small blue animal that looked like the cross between a squirrel and a rabbit from her head and began to dance around.
"Hweel!" She said, "Quickie, we're back in Celestia!" The animal that the girl had called Quickie responded with a happy chirp. The green-haired girl giggled.
"Now, now, Meredy…" She said to the purple-haired girl. "Don't get too excited. We're not here just to dance around…" Meredy looked back to the other girl.
"Farah doesn't want to dance?" Meredy asked innocently. Farah was about to respond, but the blue-haired boy, whose head was in the gray clouds above, cut her off.
"That's odd…" He said. "The sky is gray here in Celestia, instead of blue as it is in Inferia…"
"Not only that, Keele…" The red-haired boy said. The blue-haired boy, or Keele, looked at the boy who had just spoken and was now shivering. "It's quite cold here…" Keele sighed.
"That's what you get for wearing just that 'man-bra' of yours, Reid…" Reid frowned at Keele.
"'Man-bra'?" Reid said, placing his hands on his hips indignantly. "It's not a man-bra, Keele. It's a hunter's outfit, made for mobility." Keele scoffed. Farah looked at the two of them and sighed.
"Guys, let's not start an argument here." She implored. "Let's have Meredy show us around Celestia!" Upon hearing her name, Meredy's face lit up.
"Meredy show you to Imen!" She exclaimed in her broken English. "Meredy live in Imen! Come!" She started skipping down the stairs of the Cape Fortress, the others following at a distance, unable to keep up with Meredy's endless energy. While walking, something caught Reid's eye.
"Huh?" He said, turning around to gaze upon a light that kept growing bigger.
"What is it, Reid?" Farah asked, walking over to Reid. She then saw what her friend had seen. "A shooting star?" She wondered.
"A shooting star!" Meredy repeated. "Reid can make wish!" She grabbed Reid's hand, and he began to glow. Reid quickly pulled his hand away from Meredy, wincing in pain.
"Ow ow ow!" He exclaimed. "Meredy!" He rubbed his hand that had seemingly fallen asleep when Meredy had touched him. A wish, though… He thought. I guess I'll wish for us to be able to stop the Grand Fall… He looked back up at the shooting star, and saw that it had grown to twice the prior size… And that it was headed straight for him and his friends! "Run for it!" Reid yelled. The four travelers ran down the stairs as fast as they could, but Keele tripped over his flowing robes and tumbled down five steps.
"Ow, my foot!" Keele exclaimed. "I think I sprained my ankle!" Farah turned around to assist the young scholar.
"Here!" She said, holding up a hand over Keele's foot. "Heal!" Her hand started glowing blue, but the blinding light of the meteor blotted out the glow at first, followed by the forms of the two travelers. Reid covered his eyes and strained to look back.
"Farah! Keele!" He yelled. All of a sudden, there was a loud crashing sound nearby, and then the light quickly subsided. Keele and Farah had reappeared, unharmed. However, the fortress had been badly damaged from the impact.
"Oh, no!" Meredy exclaimed. "Bridge of Light is gone!" She ran toward the rubble, and Reid shot a concerned look at the dark-skinned girl.
"Meredy!" He yelled. When Meredy did not respond and kept running, he sighed and followed her. Inside the ruins, he found Meredy stopped in her tracks, staring at something. Upon standing next to her, he gasped upon seeing what she had been staring at: two people, a boy and a girl, were resting on both rubble and the comfort of beds that had been placed inside the fortress for travelers and had seemingly broken their fall. Wow, that was lucky for them… Reid thought as he looked at the two people.
"Meredy gonna get Keele and Farah!" Meredy turned and left the way she came, leaving Reid alone with the two unconscious people.
The girl among them had short brown hair with three purple hairclips, two on one side, and one on the other. She also had a frilly pink dress and matching stockings on, as well as bright red shoes that matched the long ribbon on her outfit. She also had very pale skin. The most peculiar object on her person, though, was a large translucent pendant situated upon her neck.
As much as the girl's outfit was monochromatic and reserved, the outfit of the boy in the other bed was just as audacious, as if he were a blue and red peacock. His skin-tight shirt was red and covered up more of his neck than it did his belly. He also wore a dark blue vest over his shirt. The outfit also consisted of gray gloves that terminated at the edge of his sleeves, which were actually only half-sleeves, revealing the boy's underarms. He also wore light blue pants with white piping on the sides that cut off a couple of inches below his knees and were held up with a dark blue belt that was the same color as his vest with a buckle that looked a lot like the girl's pendant. His shoes were white with light blue spots on the sides. The most peculiar part of his appearance was what looked like a yellow mop with the handle removed placed upon his head, which was actually his hair. Both of them looked rather strange in their own ways.
Reid walked between the two of them and crouched down to examine the girl's face. Her facial features were very refined and small. She reminded Reid of a delicate flower. Then he turned to look at the face of the boy. His face betrayed his youthful age, with his small nose, large cheeks, and… big blue eyes?!?
Both boys leapt backward and yelped upon looking into each other's faces. The strange boy almost fell off the bed he was on. Reid nearly fell over onto the girl's bed, and the boy's face changed from one of surprise to an angry face quickly.
"Get away from her!" He yelled in a rather high-pitched voice for a boy his age as he stood atop the bed he was on. Reid was surprised by the boy's sudden outburst and he leapt to one side away from the unconscious girl. The blond-haired boy still wore a scowl on his face. "Who the hell are you and where am I?" He barked. Reid held up his hands at face height to show that he was not a threat to the boy.
"Relax, kid…" Reid said calmly, hoping he may pacify the angry child. "I'm not gonna hurt you nor your friend." He looked at the still-unconscious girl, then back at the blond-haired boy. "I'm Reid Hershel. And we're here in Celestia." The boy relaxed a little and dropped to his knees onto the covers of the bed, but was still a bit tense.
"…Celestia?" He asked a bit quieter, seemingly talking to himself. "I've never heard of a place called Celestia in my life… Dammit, where the hell did that witch send us now?" Now Reid was the one who was perplexed. What "witch" was he talking about? Just then, a realization hit Reid. This kid had neither a jewel on his forehead nor had dark skin. Was he from Inferia like himself?
"Say, kid…" Reid asked. "Where are you from?" The boy at this point was no longer tense, having realized that Reid was not a threat.
"I'm from a town called Cresta…" He responded. And now Reid was REALLY confused. Reid had traveled all over Inferia with Farah, Keele, and Meredy, but he had never run into a town called Cresta before. WAS this boy an Inferian? The boy looked at Reid in silence, and then turned to look at the girl that had fallen with him. Reid walked a little closer to the boy.
"Y'know…" Reid said, sitting next to the boy on his bed. "I don't think I ever caught YOUR name, Kid…" The kid gave a small chuckle, and then bounced on the bed, kicking his feet out in midair, as to land back on the bed sitting on his posterior. The bed lightly undulated under Reid. The boy flashed a wide grin at Reid, to which Reid couldn't help but smile in return upon seeing. The boy held out a hand to Reid.
"My name's Kyle Dunamis." He said, still grinning. Reid grabbed Kyle's hand and firmly shook it. If the handshake had told Reid anything about Kyle, it was that Kyle really was a friendly person when you got to know him a little better. The handshake had no extra tension, but wasn't weak and flimsy either. Reid had a feeling that he and Kyle were going to get along. There was a moment of silence, when all of a sudden, Kyle asked, "So, where are you from, Reid?" Reid sighed, then lay back upon the bed, brushing aside some of the remaining rubble that had remained from Kyle and his friend falling through the roof of the fortress. He pointed a finger up into the sky, toward his home – Inferia.
"From there…" He said. Kyle fell back upon the bed as well and looked up to where Reid was pointing.
"…From heaven?" Kyle asked. "And why is the sky so dark?" Reid turned his head towards Kyle and chuckled.
"Not heaven, silly…" He laughed. "On the other side of those dark clouds – of the Orbus Barrier – lies a whole other world… My world… Inferia…" Reid sighed, daydreaming of his simple life back home in Rasheans.
"Another world…" Kyle repeated softly. All of a sudden, he sat up quickly. "Wait, then what's THIS world called, Reid?" He said louder than before. Reid sat up as well.
"Well…" He paused for a second as he looked up into the gray sky one last time, and then turned to face Kyle, whose smiling face had faded to a concerned look. "This world is called Celestia…" Kyle frowned.
"Celestia?!?" He exclaimed. "But I'm from a world, called… REALA!" He shot off the bed faster than Reid's eyes could follow. His world is called Reala? Reid thought, but then Kyle repeated the word again, addressing the girl in the other bed. Oh… I see… Reid thought. He stood up as well and stretched out his arms. Kyle's words finally took form once again on Reid's ears. "Reala, are you okay?" He said.
"I-I'm fine…" Reala's voice was trembling a little bit. "Where are we?" Her brown eyes matched the color of her hair, and they finally moved down to meet Reid's eyes. Reala gasped. "W-who's that, Kyle?!?" She pointed at Reid. Kyle gently wrapped his hand around Reala's.
"Relax…" He said calmly. "That's just Reid Hershey…" Reid buried his head in one of his palms for a second.
"It's Her-SHEL, Kyle…" Reid sighed. Kyle placed a hand on the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.
"Oops…" He said. "Sorry, Reid…" Just then, the door to the fortress opened up, and a purple blur moved into the room.
"Hweel!" Meredy's high-pitched voice emanated through the room. "Sleeping people are awake!" Meredy's response was met with puzzled silence as Kyle and Reala looked at each other, as if they were asking a silent question between them. "…Something wrong?" She asked. Reala's quiet voice perked up.
"Excuse me, but what are you saying, Miss?" She asked. Just then, Meredy beamed.
"You cannot understand Meredy because you don't have Orz Earring!" She smiled at her burst of sudden insight. Just then, Keele and Farah entered.
"Who doesn't have an Orz Earring, Meredy?" Farah inquired. Just then, she noticed Kyle and Reala staring at her and Keele.
"Who are you two?" Keele asked. "You two seem to be Inferian… Did you follow us on the Bridge of Light?" If Kyle and Reala were confused before, they were even more so upon hearing Keele's inquiry.
"Bridge of Light?" Kyle asked.
"Inferian?" Reala asked soon after. Kyle whispered something into Reala's ear, and then upon receiving the answer to her question, she smiled a little more and said, "Oh, I see…"
"Guys…" Reid addressed his friends. "These two are Kyle Dunamis and Reala. They seemingly came from another world… No, not Inferia…" Reid smirked a little, obviously guessing the question Keele was ready to spring upon them. A new question, however, had crossed Keele's mind.
"If not Inferia…" He began, "Where exactly DID you two come from?" Reala spoke up once again.
"Our world is called…" However, Meredy's sudden impulse to begin jumping on the bed that Kyle had landed on had interrupted her, and Reala began to giggle. Not long later, Farah, Reid, and Kyle decided to join Reala in laughter.
"Meredy!" Farah laughed. "What are you doing?" With one final bounce, Meredy sprang off of the mattress onto the floor a few feet back, and then turned to face everybody else.
"Meredy want to go to Imen!" She exclaimed. "Meredy knows someone in Imen who can make Orz Earrings for Kyle and Reala!"
"Really?" Farah asked. "Well, that will make things easier for our two new friends to understand you, so let's go!"
"Wait!" Kyle's voice made Farah turn around. "You three know who we are, but who are you guys?" Farah grinned.
"I'm Farah Oersted." She said. "Over there with the blue hair is Keele Zeibel…" She pointed at Keele, who was staring up at the sky through the hole where Kyle and Reala had fallen through with much curiosity. "…And that's Meredy…" Farah once more moved her finger in the direction of Meredy, who was starting to get really anxious to get on the road.
"Let's go, everybody! Meredy want to get to Imen!" Meredy bolted out the door to the fortress in a flash... Reala chuckled.
"Let's not keep Meredy waiting, then..." She said after the giggles subsided. "Shall we go then, Kyle?" The blond haired boy had some kind of concerned look on his face.
"Is it okay for us to come with you guys, then?" He asked Reid. The red-haired hunter smiled.
"Of course. It's not like you'll be a burden to us, will you guys?" The concerned look disappeared off Kyle's face and was quickly replaced with a grin.
"Of course not!" He said happily. "We promise to not get in the way, right, Reala?" Reala nodded in agreement.
"Come on, you guys!" Farah said, beckoning the chatters. "Meredy's gonna get too far ahead of us if we keep standing around! Let's go catch up with her!" She opened the door, and there stood Meredy, ten feet away and still quite anxious. The other four exited the fortress... All of a sudden, a chill wind picked up. Various parts of clothing flapped in the wind, but the only one who recoiled was Kyle...
"Geez!" He complained. "Why is it so cold?!?" Reid too had thought it was cold, but he apparently hadn't been as affected by the cold as this poor kid. Kyle stared hard at Reid. "W-why aren't YOU cold, Reid?!? You're not wearing much clothing at all!"
"I AM cold, Kyle..." Reid responded. "It's just, I'm used to the cold. Sure, when I first got here, the cold caught me off balance, but I'm okay now..."
"Perhaps you should cover up your belly button..." Keele scoffed. Kyle glared at the blue-haired scholar. "Leaving that much of your torso exposed will eventually cause for you to catch your death..."
"Hey, what's THAT supposed to mean, Keele?!?" Kyle barked. "I'm not gonna die of a cold!" Keele ignored him. Meredy spoke up just then.
"Reason Celestia so cold is because of different Greater Craymels!" She said happily.
"Different Greater Craymels?" Farah asked. "Like what?"
"Celestia ruled by Gnome, Craymel of Earth, Celsius, Craymel of Ice, and Volt, Craymel of Lighting." Keele scratched his chin.
"So, there's no Greater Craymels of Water, Fire or Wind ruling here... Just Greater Craymels of Earth, Ice, and Lightning..." Kyle shivered again.
"N-no wonder this place is so cold..." He complained. "It's ruled by a Caramel of Ice..." Keele spun around.
"It's CRAY-mel, not Caramel..." The scholar corrected rudely. "CRAY-mel! Get it right!"
"Craymel, so-RRY!" Kyle retorted back. "What the heck is a CRAY-mel, anyways?" Just then, Meredy started boucing up and down again.
"Let's GO, everybody!" She said. "Meredy wants to go home to Imen!"
"Wait, so you live in Imen, Meredy?" Reid asked. Meredy spun around.
"Yep!" Meredy said happily. "Meredy have house in Imen! Meredy will let everybody sleep in my house for night." Keele sighed.
"Reid, Meredy said that already!" He scolded. "Why don't you try opening your ears for once?" Reid frowned. Just then, Everybody looked up.
"It IS getting kinda dark, guys..." Farah said. "Let's follow Meredy to Imen and rest for the night." Everybody else was in agreement.
"Perhaps we can finally get something so we can talk to Meredy when we're in Imen, Kyle..." Reala said. Kyle nodded. And thus, the six adventurers started their journey in Celestia, heading for Meredy's house in Imen...
Author's Nota Bene: This adventure is underway! :D Sorry for it being kinda lengthy, but it's to make up for the shortish prologue. Also, I have what will be two ongoing puns started. See if you can identify both! Furthermore, write reviews, please and thank you! ;)
EDIT: I made one kinda plothole-ish mistake... Fixed!