The next chapter's ready. I just hope I get all the other characters' personalities right. Oliver seemed easy to keep in character, as he speaks semi-formally for his age. Least that's my impression. Come to think of it, I hope I was being accurate enough with Marcassin and Pea's personalities in the previous chapter.

There's a time-skip at the start of the chapter, and another one shortly after. Esther shows up briefly in this chapter as I had an idea what to do with her. I don't know how I want Swaine to appear in this story.

I know I don't really need to say that, but thoughts are ', " is spoken word, - is change in point of view or time skip. Also, the name of a world or town with - on either side of the word indicates which world the event is happening in, just so it doesn't get too confusing.

Now for the disclaimers: Ni No Kuni and its characters were created by Namco Bandai/Level 5. And again, the song Unwritten was written/sung by Natasha Baddingfield. The song portion is in italics.


Platinum Storm

The rest of the day went smoothly for Oliver as he called Davis to let him know he's going to stay with the Carwrights. That evening, at dinner, Oliver and the Carwrights were eating some sandwiches and soup for dinner as they had a discussion.

"Basically, Rusty thought about letting me stay here with you guys. But I don't want to impose, what do you think, miss Betty?" Oliver finished explaining a few things to Myrtle's mother.

The older woman thought for a moment and replied around a bite of soup"I hadn't heard of Allie's death, I'm usually too busy to watch the news. That must have been hard on you, Oliver. Didn't Leila offer to take you in?"

"She's been busy with the store, but she does check on me sometimes. As it is, she barely makes enough money for herself, I don't want to add to that" replied Oliver around a bite of his sandwich.

"Minding a store and caring for a child at the same time would be very difficult for her to do, I imagine" said Rusty, thoughtfully.

"Oliver, if you want to stay with us, I don't mind. Its just that Rusty and I are very busy. Do you have your things with you? If a new family is moving into your old house, you'll want to be sure you have everything you need" said Betty.

Oliver shook his head"I left most of my stuff behind, I didn't know if you would let me to stay with you, Myrtle and Mister Rusty or not."

Betty stood"Well, would you like me to go with you to pick them up?"

"Sure" replied Oliver.

"I'd like to come, too" piped Myrtle"I want to see your house for a moment."

"Its getting close to dark, but as long as you kids stay close to Betty, you'll be fine" said Rusty.

Oliver, Myrtle and Betty stood after they were done with their portions, took the dishes to the sink and went back to Oliver's old house. Myrtle addressed Oliver"My parents and I all have jobs, so would you like to maybe come help out at Miss Leila's store?"

"I wouldn't mind. And I think I'd like to practice my cooking skills, I learned how from my mom when I was twelve" said Oliver, thoughtfully.

"You should probably do that with me or Rusty there to supervise you, cooking can be a little dangerous" replied Betty as they walked. Now, Oliver had done dangerous stuff before, but he couldn't say anything about that.

They arrived at Oliver's old house, where the teenage wizard rushed in to grab his Wizard's Companion, going to his old room to put it in his bag. Making sure he had all of his wands and otherworld outfits put into his bag as well, Oliver packed his extra Motorville clothes in a suitcase and headed downstairs. Myrtle and Betty were waiting for him.

"Do you have everything you needed to pack?" Myrtle asked.

"Yes" Oliver nodded.

Betty offered to help Oliver with his luggage"I can carry the suitcase if you'd like."

"Thanks" said the teenage wizard, giving her the suitcase and holding onto his bag.

The three headed back to Myrtle's House, Myrtle chatted with Oliver about what to do once Summer Vacation began.


-The Other World-

The sunsets of the desert kingdom of Al Mamoon were by no means as harsh as the heat of the scorching sands in the daytime. A blond girl with blue eyes, her hair in a braided ponytail, gazed at the sunset from the entrance to her hometown, reflecting on her previous journeys with a certain wizard and a certain thief-who-turned-out-to-be-Prince Gascon, the older brother of Marcassin.

'Sure is nice and peaceful, a pleasant change from two weeks ago' thought the blond, heading back inside after a few more minutes. The streets were nearly empty as people were headed home, the blond had just enough time to finish some errands she was doing for a man who kept losing his diary and the item shopkeeper.

Receiving some money and a few herbs for completing the errands she accepted from the guild after returning the dairy and delivering some items, the girl headed home. Her father, a dark-haired sage with a brown complexion and white garments, was reading a letter from one of his fellow sages when he looked up"Ah, Esther. Are you finished doing whatever you needed to accomplish, today?"

"Yes, father. What's in that letter?" she asked, seeing the note in Sage Rashaad's hand

"Its difficult to believe, but it seems that Queen Cassiopea heard a voice alluding to an entity known only as the Emissary of Jophielium. What's even more mysterious is this Platinum Sentinel. However, I never saw reason to doubt my fellow sages, we'll just have to take Sage Marcassin's word for it and not warn the Cowliphia about this supposed new threat until further notice" said Rashaad, wisely.

"I understand, father. But what about Swaine and Drippy?" asked Esther"I'm feeling a little worried for Oliver, too."

Rashaad put down the note and went to put a gentle hand on his daughter's shoulder"Whether you should tell your friends or not is up to you. For now, let us have dinner and then retire for the night."

Esther nodded, understandingly. Though she felt a bit queasy about what she just learned. There was no way the letter Marcassin sent them could've been a hoax, and the Al Mamoon sage's daughter had a sinking feeling in her chest for some reason.


-Motorville-

Oliver slept uneasily that night, despite the relative comfort of the bed the Carwrights let him use, for he began to have a strange dream in which he was surrounded by a purplish void one minute, then he was on some sort of cloudy landscape. A palace of marble green stone and the silhouette of a mysterious man with the same hairstyle as him, only with black hair and green eyes.

The young wizard jolted awake when a bolt of thunder shot from the sky in the dream. Breathing, Oliver regained his composure and checked the clock on his nightstand, it was roughly six in the morning. School started at eight, so Oliver slept a bit longer before waking up an hour later to go downstairs.

Myrtle, Betty and Rusty Carwright arrived in the kitchen at the same time as Oliver. The blond girl spoke"Good morning Oliver, did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, but I had a really bizarre dream last night" shrugged the young wizard. He had returned to the Carwright household with Myrtle and Betty, changed clothes and gone to bed after a quick shower.

"Dreams are often weird because they aren't usually real. Myrtle claimed this morning she saw an odd vision... Something about a platinum-clad warrior" shrugged Betty, getting three bowls and some cereal out.

"I'm pretty sure it was just a dream, too. But then I wonder" Oliver muttered that last part to himself, not wanting to continue the subject.

Myrtle addressed Oliver"But you know, we had strange experiences before"

'True' thought Oliver as the four of them sat at the table to eat a quick breakfast of cereal and fruit. As soon as they were finished, Oliver and Myrtle got their school things ready and headed out. The better part of twenty minutes walking to school was spent making small talk about further plans for Summer Vacation.

Philip and a girl with short red hair, green eyes with a white blouse and skirt awaited them. The school bell was about to ring any minute. Oliver smiled"Hey, Phillip. Who's with you?"

"Oh, she's a new student. That Davis guy dropped her off around the same time I got here" shrugged the older boy.

The girl shyly looked at Oliver and Myrtle"I... I'm Marisa."

"Marisa? That's a cute name. I'm Myrtle" the older girl addressed the red-head.

Marisa nodded"Thanks... Nice to meet you, Myrtle."

The bell rang, prompting the group to join their classmates in the school building at Classroom A. Their teacher, a woman in her late twenties-early thirties, smiled pleasantly as she greeted the class"Good morning, class. Oliver, Phillip, glad you can join us, today on the last day of school before summer vacation. As a couple of you may already know, we have a new student. Marisa, care to tell us a little about yourself?"

Marisa shyly sat at her desk for a moment before standing up"Hello, everyone... I'm Marisa. I'm not particularly confident and not as determined as I'd like to be... But I hope I can get along with everyone."

The teacher smiled and said"Thank you, Marisa. Now, those of you already familiar with multiplication and division will receive your test sheets. Please remember to show me all your calculations."

Oliver went to receive his sheet while turning his homework in. The class lasted for about an hour before the students had all finished. Except for Marisa, who was given addition and subtraction worksheets to work on and study. Oliver and Myrtle received and 'A', each, but Phillip scored a C, having neglected most of his previous homework, much to the teacher's disappointment when he admitted it. However, he was encouraged to try and do better.

As they headed to the auditorium for the assembly, Myrtle asked Phillip"Want me to help you a little, next time?"

"Ah, who cares? Say, Ollie. I've been working on a new car. Want to give it a test run sometime?" said Phillip.

"Maybe we shouldn't try to do it without adult supervision this time" shrugged Oliver, thinking on how he almost drowned and his mother sacrificed herself to save him. Of course, he didn't doubt that Rusty might not approve. After all, driving cars isn't exactly child's play.

At the auditorium, Marisa was invited to sing with Oliver, Myrtle and some of the other kids, but declined at first, feeling too shy. Oliver, Miss Miko and Myrtle were concerned, but it wasn't their business to dwell on it. However, Rusty, Betty, Davis and a woman with magenta hair and green eyes showed up with a few other of the kids' parents who had gotten permission to hear them sing along with the school staff and principal.

Oliver and Phillip were given toy guitars, and Myrtle held a microphone as a couple technicians set up a karaoke machine for the kids to follow the song with while Myrtle had a stand with the lyrics placed in front of her. Music filled the room as Myrtle, Oliver and a couple of the other kids who were doing the singing began:

'I am Unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined. I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned.

Staring at the blank page before you, open up the dirty window, let the sun illuminate the words that you can't find. Reaching for something in the distance, so close you can almost taste it, release your inhibitions. Feel the rain on your skin, no one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in, no one else, no one else, can speak the words on your lips, drench yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms right open, today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten.

The audience clapped as the song went on for another minute or two. When it was over, the kids took a bow before leaving the stage to greet their parents. Another group of kids were getting ready to do a song when a platinum flash was seen out the window.

"Huh?" Oliver went over to see it. Myrtle and Phillip joined him.

Their teacher went to look out the window, too. Shocked to see what looked like flashes of lightning and platinum rain falling, the weather news didn't say it was going to rain. But never had this type of weird weather occurred before.

"What are we to do?" asked Myrtle.

Before anyone can say anything, Oliver felt a strange tingling sensation in his head. A voice unlike any he'd heard spoke directly into his mind'Resign thyself.'

"What?" Oliver shook his head.

"Are you okay?" asked Phillip, worried.

"Nothing, I'm just a little tired" replied the teen. Still, something was wrong, and the young wizard couldn't put a finger on it.

A crack of thunder shook the school building, shaking the floor. The teachers, staff, students and parents were shocked.

"This isn't logical at all" frowned the woman with magenta hair.

Oliver glanced out the window again to see a strange platinum haze begin to cover the sky. He hadn't seen anything like it, not any that he remember, anyway. Myrtle looked at it as well before turning to Miss Miko"There's only so many different kinds of weather, right?"

"Correct, and this is unlike any I've ever seen. It seems harmless so far, though... Save for the building shaking a bit. We'll just call it a day, but we'll have another assembly sometime in the middle of August. I don't want to think about what will happen, otherwise" said Miss Miko, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Wise decision, there. Kids, I am proud of how well you've done in all your classes so far, cite that two of you were absent for a long period of time and one of you frequently skipped out. Everyone, to your homes" instructed the Principal.

Oliver rushed out first, followed by Myrtle and Phillip. They made it outside when Oliver saw four platinum shades with blades drawn, lurking in the streets. Oliver was puzzled, these were unlike the monsters he'd fought before.

"What are those things?" whimpered Myrtle.

"You can see them?" asked Oliver.

A rain of platinum shards poured from the haze-covered sky, right onto the streets. Oliver was at a loss for a moment, he didn't have Mornstar or Astra on him. Taking a deep breath, the teenage wizard closed his eyes in concentration, summoning his Mite Familiar.

"The source is converging near the park" said a strange voice.

"Huh?" Oliver was puzzled, but managed to have his Mite take out the nearest Platinum Shade.

The source of the voice, an armored figure with platinum body armor, purple cape and a black lining around the armor emerged from the shadows. Oliver, Phillip and Myrtle had immediately moved out of the way for the others to evacuate and stopped when they saw the strange figure.

"I shall take care of these for you, but beware, pure-hearted one, we may not be friends when next we meet" the mystery man spoke, pulling out a dual-bladed weapon.

Oliver hesitantly called back his Mite and went back to the Carwrights' House with Myrtle. Phillip had gone another direction towards his house. Whatever was going on, Oliver knew he'd have to investigate. If his world was in danger, then the other world might be as well.


Finally got another chapter ready. I just hope I was making enough sense, as I wanted to kind of end this chapter with a bang. As for how the 'minions' of the Emissary of Jophielium could be seen by Myrtle, I'll try to explain that better, later. Also, I didn't want to get the story off at too slow of a start. I'll think about getting a Beta Reader, if I feel I need one.

I saw another fic in another category with the subtitle Shadowed Hearts, so I might need to change the title of this story as soon as I can think of a better one. I hope I didn't bust the guidelines with the song above.

Please feel free to review. I'm open to ideas if there's any you'd like to share, as I'm still trying to flesh out the plot and a few subplots. Constructive criticism and critiques are fine with me, but no unnecessary flames, please.