Thank you all who reviewed! Here is the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean or Kingdom Hearts
Chapter 9: Homecoming
The ship continued to fly through space towards our next destination. Our encounter with Raxiel was still on my mind. I wasn't sure if Sora and the others could tell but this Raxiel person was using a voice scrambling device. It's a device that can be bought in my home world. It basically scrambles the sounds that come from the users vocal chords so that they can't be identified. But why would he want to use a device like that? Was he trying to hid his identity? And how did he obtain it anyway?
"Hey look, it's the next world," said Sora.
"Yeah but..." Started Donald.
"This one seems different," said Goofy. I looked out the window. It looked like an ordinary planet. The ones that I was used to.
"Let's check it out anyway," I said.
"Yeah, Riku and the King might be down there," said Sora. He piloted the ship down onto the planet. As he landed on a large open space I gasped as I recognized the place.
"This town... it's... Arkives!" I exclaimed.
"You've been here before?" Asked Donald.
"Yeah, this is where I was born. This is my home world." We landed the ship. That alone attracted a lot of attention. Seeing Donald, Goofy, and Sora attracted MORE attention. And it seemed like I was attracting some attention too.
"Alex... why are they all starring at us?" Asked Sora.
"They aren't used to seeing ships land in the middle of a town. Plus, you guys do stick out a little bit."
"A little bit?" Asked Donald.
"He's got a point." Sora looked around. "Wow, this place seems a lot different than any other world we have been to."
"It sure does," said Goofy.
"Alex? I can't believe it!" Exclaimed a familiar voice. Flad ran over to me.
"Hey Flad, long time no see," I said.
"You know him?" Asked Sora. I nodded.
"Yeah, he's a friend of mine."
"Blair told me everything that happened. She also said that you and the Owner of the Sphere Company had died," said Flad.
"I thought I was a goner too. But then I somehow was brought back to life," I said.
"Amazing!" Said Flad with a grin on his face. "You must be indestructible, or something!" He looked over at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "Who are these guys?"
"These are some new friends of mine."
"I'm Sora," said Sora.
"Donald Duck," said Donald.
"I'm Goofy," said Goofy.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Flad Garrand," said Flad. He looked over at me. "By the way, Blair was here recently. She said she is going to go to the Memorial Shrine to pay respects to you and her brother."
"Thanks, I'm going to go over there and speak to her," I said. Flad nodded.
"Alright, see you guys later," said Flad as he ran off.
"Who is this Blair?" Asked Goofy.
"She is one of the people who developed the Eternal Sphere. She is also Luther's sister," I said. "Alright, let's head to the transporter to go to Memorial Shrine." I lead them towards the transporter. As we were walking the three of them looked around.
"Wow, this place is incredible," said Sora.
"Yeah, I have never even seen stuff like this before," said Donald.
"I guess it doesn't seem too strange to you since you were born here," said Goofy.
"Yeah, that's right. This seems perfectly normal to me," I said. We walked up to the transporter.
"We'd like to go to Memorial Shrine," I said.
"Yes sir, please step into the transporter," said the station guard. We walked into the transporter and we were transported to Memorial Shrine.
"Whoa," said Donald after being transported.
"That felt so weird," said Sora.
"Gwarsh, I feel kinda disoriented," said Goofy.
"The first time being transported always feels the weirdest. You'll get used to it the more often that you do it," I said. I looked around at Memorial Shrine. There were holo-screens all over the place. This place was decorated like a massive temple with a large garden.
"What is this Memorial Shrine anyway?" Asked Donald.
"This is the place of the dead. The bodies are burned and then they make a holo-screen with info about the person that died."
"So it's a graveyard," said Sora.
"That's about the size of it." I looked around until I saw a familiar person standing in front of two holo-screens. I didn't need to see them to know who those graves belonged to. I walked towards her, Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed behind me.
"It's been about a year now since you guys past away," said Blair. She looked down and sighed. "It's a shame that we had to lose you two, you were among the best programmers in all of Sphere. We could really use your help and guidance now."
"Seems like everyone jumped to conclusions a bit too soon," I said. Blair shot around as she heard my voice. I grinned. "Come on, did you really think the Eternal Sphere being deleted would take me out?" Blair ran over to me and hugged me. She looked as if she was about to cry.
"Your alive! What a relief," she said. She let go of me and took a few steps back. "So how did you pull this off? How did you survive?" I shrugged.
"Sure wish I knew the answer to that myself," I said. Blair looked over at Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
"And who are these people that you brought with you?"
"I'm Sora," said Sora.
"Donald Duck," said Donald.
"And I'm Goofy," said Goofy.
"Nice to meet you all. I am Blair Lansfeld," said Blair.
"So how are things at Sphere?" I asked. Blair shook her head.
"Not well. We decided to create another simulator world but we are having trouble creating the foundations. The original was created by Luther, and only he knows how to do it."
"And he took that secret to the grave. And who is the current Owner?"
"No one right now. It's still up in the air. But our problems don't end there."
"What else is wrong?"
"Strange black creatures have started popping up. They come out of nowhere and just attack, and always in groups."
"Sounds like Heartless," I said.
"Then we had better take care of them," said Sora.
"You'll help get rid of them?" Asked Blair. Donald nodded.
"Yup, we are pros at taking out Heartless," said Donald.
"We could use the help. I'll take you over to the Sphere Company," said Blair.
"I can do that," I said. I raised my hand and a portal of darkness appeared. Blair gave me a confused look.
"How did you do that?"
"It's an ability I have learned ever since I acquired this new body."
"A new body?" I nodded.
"Yeah, my former body got destroyed when the Eternal Sphere was deleted."
"I see... but how did you get a new body?" I shrugged.
"Your guess is as good as mine." I looked over at the portal. "Anyway, let's go." We walked through the portal and it closed. Next thing we knew it we were in the Sphere Company.
"So this is where you used to work?" Asked Sora.
"Yeah, this is where I have spent many years of my life. We never got that many breaks."
"Everyone is on the 5th floor. They are in for a shock when we come," said Blair. We headed over to the elevator.
"Wow, this place becomes more amazing the more we see," said Donald as he looked around.
"I guess you aren't used to these sorts of things," said Blair.
"No we aren't," said Sora. We walked into the elevator and went up to the 5th floor. We headed down to the development department and opened the door. Everyone stopped talking and starred in shock. Mostly that shock was a combination of seeing Sora, Donald, and Goofy along with seeing me.
"Alex?" Exclaimed Berial.
"I don't believe it!" Exclaimed Azazer.
"Are you immortal or something?" Asked Belzeber.
"I see you guys are all doing well. That's good," I said.
"More friends of yours?" Asked Goofy.
"Yup, these guys, Luther, Blair, and I go back a long way."
"Who are these weirdos that you have brought with you?" Asked Azazer as he looked directly at Donald.
"Who are you calling a weirdo?" Exclaimed Donald.
"Yeah, we aren't weird!" Said Sora.
"So you said there was a Heartless problem here?" Asked Goofy.
"You mean those black creatures? Yes, we have a serious problem. On the next floor we can't go two steps without getting attacked," said Azazer.
"They just suddenly started appearing. We ordered an evacuation of the building until we find a way to take care of this problem," said Berial.
"We were in the middle of discussing what to do when you guys came in," said Belzeber.
"Was anything decided while I was gone?" Asked Blair.
"We believe that someone is controlling these creatures that those weirdos call Heartless. And we think that this someone might be on the top floor. If we go there and take out the source then it will solve this problem," said Azazer.
"Let's head on up there then," I said. We all left the room and headed towards the elevator. "What I want to know is why someone would summon Heartless here..."
"That's what I was wondering," said Blair.
"It's because I am summoning them here!" Shouted a voice. Suddenly a pillar of green fire appeared and there stood a woman of some sort with a black outfit, green skin, yellow eyes, and horns sticking out of her head.
"Maleficent!" Exclaimed Sora.
"Who the hell is this ugly biddy?" Asked Belzeber.
"It's Maleficent. An evil witch who uses Heartless," said Goofy.
"More freaks, that's just wonderful," said Azazer.
"You insolent fool! You dare to call me a freak?" Exclaimed Maleficent.
"What do you want with this world? Why did you come here?" Asked Blair.
"This world is unlike any other with it's unusual technology. I have decided to make this world my own and this building shall become my castle!"
"If you think that we will just hand over the company to you, you are nuts," said Azazer.
"Really? I just sent up one of my minions to go and fetch a little girl I saw running around in the building. I am sure that you wouldn't want anything to happen to the hostage," said Maleficent with a grin.
"You! That's a coward's trick!" Exclaimed Sora. I looked over at Blair, Azazer, Berial, and Belzeber.
"Little girl?" I asked.
"Could it be?" Asked Blair.
"Maybe, let's ask," said Azazer. We looked over at Maleficent.
"What did this kid look like?" I asked.
"She was really small, had light blue hair, pointy ears that drooped down, blue outfit with a white skirt, and a spear that was much too big for her to use. Why do you ask?" Blair, Azazer, Belzeber, Berial, and I looked at each other as we recognized who she was talking about. Then we all sighed at the same time. Then Belzeber started cracking up.
"What is so funny you imbecile?" Demanded Maleficent who seemed rather mad.
"Are you a complete idiot? Who in the right mind would attack HER? Your minion is as good as obliterated," gasped Belzeber while he was laughing.
"Is this little girl that powerful?" Asked Sora. I nodded.
"Yeah, very powerful," I said. Suddenly Pete came running down from the other hallway. He looked like he was in a major panic. But when I saw who was behind him I could understand why. Lenneth was chasing him while shooting lasers at him. Pete ran behind Maleficent and looked around.
"Maleficent, we had better get out of here! There's no way we can win against that little girl!" Exclaimed Pete.
"Fool! We are not leaving this place," said Maleficent.
"B-b-b-b-but there's no way we can defeat her!" I looked over at Blair, Belzeber, Berial, and Azazer.
"Shall we take care of these clowns?" I asked. Azazer pulled out his laser gun/sword weapon.
"Yes, they don't belong here," said Azazer.
"They are starting to annoy me," said Belzeber as he pulled out his energy whip.
"We'll teach them to mess with our company," said Berial as he cracked his knuckles. Blair's hand started glowing.
"I don't like fighting but this is the only option," said Blair. I summoned my katana and Sora, Donald, and Goofy pulled out their weapons.
"I'll teach you for trying to take over my home!" I said. Pete looked over at Maleficent.
"This place is his home! He might get his Organization XIII buddies and seek revenge for this!" Exclaimed a really worried Pete.
"What are you mumbling about? That boy is a renegade, he's not with those fools anyway. Besides, we can easily defeat everyone here," said Maleficent. She raised her staff and a bunch of Heartless appeared. They slowly started crawling towards us.
"Summon as many Heartless as you want it won't make a difference," said Belzeber.
"Indeed it won't," said Lenneth as she walked over to where we were standing. The Heartless raced towards us and we started fighting them. I cut through any nearby Heartless, Blair shot powerful energy attacks all over the place at Heartless, Azazer slashed up a group of Heartless, Belzeber was pummeling Heartless left and right with his whip, and Berial pulled out his trust magical-bazooka-that-comes-out-of-nowhere and started shooting at Heartless. Sora destroyed a few Heartless with his Keyblade, Donald unleashed a fury of spells, and Goofy pounded Heartless down with his shield. Lenneth was jumping around shooting and slashing at Heartless. It didn't take long to finish them all off. We all looked at Maleficent and Pete.
"Your next!" Said Sora. Maleficent glared at us.
"You may have won this time, but I will have my revenge on you yet," said Maleficent as she disappeared in a burst of fire, Pete teleported away too. We put away our weapons.
"Ha, they didn't stand a chance!" Said Belzeber with a sneer.
"Only cowards flee," said Berial. Lenneth looked over at me.
"I heard that you had died. Yet you are standing here in front of me. How have you come back?" Asked Lenneth.
"Beats me, I still don't know how I did it," I said.
"With the Heartless out of the way we can turn our attention to more important things. Thank you for your help, Alex," said Blair.
"I don't know how you managed to return from the netherworld but nevertheless, it is good that you have returned," said Azazer. Berial nodded.
"Yes, we are having trouble with setting down the foundation for the new simulator. We can't figure out how Luther did it. I am sure that Blair told you this," said Berial. I nodded.
"Yeah, Blair told me what the situation here was," I said.
"What's so hard about it?" Asked Sora.
"Starting a simulation universe that people can enter is one of the hardest programs to create. The Creator of the Eternal Sphere, Luther, had set down the foundation which is the hardest part. But he didn't tell anyone how he did it," said Blair.
"No one else was involved in this?" Asked Donald. Berial shook his head.
"No one, except for one other person," said Berial.
"Who is this other person?" Berial looked over at me.
"Alex was the only one who was there when Luther created and set down the foundation."
"Then can't you just ask Alex?" Asked Sora. He looked over at me. "Surely you could tell them."
"Well..." I started.
FLASH BACK
Luther and I stood in the darkness that was his private lab. I looked around but didn't see anything. I looked back at Luther.
"Not much here for the Creator's private lab," I said.
"That's because we haven't set anything down yet," said Luther. He held out his hand and two computers appeared with two seats. He looked back at me. "I will create and set down the foundation. In the meantime, create the textures, objects, structures, and all other data related to it. Use the blueprint that I gave you yesterday."
"Are you sure you don't want help with creating the foundation? That's a lot of work for just one person to do." Luther shook his head.
"It's fine, don't worry about it. As the officially dubbed Creator of this universe, I will set down the foundation. I am counting on you to take care of the design of this lab." I looked over the blue print.
"This is a rather weird concept for a private lab if you ask me. Why exactly did you want it this way?" I asked. Luther grinned.
"What can I say? I just like this style. I mean, I am technically the god of this new universe so it fits for someone 'divine'."
"Yeah, I suppose. But if you are the god of this universe what does that make me and everyone else back at Sphere?" Luther folded his arms as he thought about that.
"I guess all of you would be my angel servants." I smirked.
"Oh please, do you really see me dressing in a white robe, having wings with feathers, sitting on a cloud, playing a harp, and singing happy-flowery songs?" Luther and I didn't say anything but then a second later we burst into laughter.
"That's got to be one of the funniest mental pictures ever," said Luther. After we had stopped laughing he straightened up. "Anyway, we need to get to work. We have lots to do." I nodded.
"Yeah, we'd better get started," I said. We sat down at our computers and started working. For three weeks we continued to create programs. Blair would provide us with food programs that she had written up (along with super-highly caffeinated drinks). It helped that some programming here had been temporarily re-written so that we could last longer without sleep but it only helped a little bit. At the end of the third week we had finished. I looked over at Luther.
"Are you ready?" Asked Luther.
"Ready when you are," I said. Luther nodded and typed in the upload command. Suddenly thousands of lights that looked like stars started appearing. Next the platform that would be the floor appeared under our feet. After that the main terminal appeared along with the steps that lead to it, then the large pedestal the terminal was attached to and the pendulum that swung from it. After that the platforms where the status of the galaxies inside of the Eternal Sphere would be displayed appeared. And finally the outside borders of the private lab appeared. Watching this happen before my eyes was something almost unbelievable. It was almost like we really were gods creating a universe. Luther and I smiled at our accomplishment.
"We did it!" I exclaimed. Luther nodded.
"Yes, we have completed the first step," said Luther.
"But an empty Universe isn't too exciting now is it?" I asked. Luther shook his head.
"No it is not, we wouldn't get any business if we left it like this," said Luther. A screen popped up with Blair and the others looking at us.
"Well done you two, now we can start work on the Eternal Sphere itself," said Blair.
"Yes, the real work begins now," said Luther.
"We will transport you guys back." Luther and I started to get up but were having difficulties doing so.
"It's been so long since I last stood that I can barely walk," I said.
"Same here, my legs feel like they are solid rock," said Luther. We put an arm around each other for support. We would have both collapsed otherwise. Then we were transported back to Sphere.
"Welcome back, it's been awhile," said Blair.
"I am impressed that you were able to go that long without sleep," said Berial. Luther nodded.
"It was difficult but we..." Started Luther, but then he stumbled and fell to the ground, taking me down with him. I looked over at him.
"L-Luther? Are you okay?" I asked. The only response I got was a loud snore. I looked up at Blair. "He... fell... asleep..." My eyes closed and I fell asleep too. Luther and I slept for almost three days after that. Blair was afraid that we had died or something.
END OF FLASHBACK
"But he never told you how he did it," concluded Belzeber. I nodded.
"Yeah. I remember looking over at his computer and seeing something really complicated, it was beyond my understanding," I said. Belzeber put a hand on his forehead.
"I don't believe this! Will we never figure this out?" Exclaimed Belzeber.
"That aside, there is something I need you to see," said Lenneth. I looked over at her.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"While everyone else was down here debating, men in black cloaks went up to the top floor."
"Organization XIII!" Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I exclaimed all at once.
"Not them again! Why can't they just go away?" Said Blair as she clenched her fist. Obviously she still remembers what they did. Then again, so did I.
"They are up to no good, we had better stop them. I don't want history to repeat itself," I said.
"Oh that's right. Organization XIII is responsible for manipulating Luther. But it sounds like they did more than that. What have you been not telling us, Alex?" Asked Sora. I shook my head.
"I didn't want to tell you this, it will be a nasty shock." I sighed and then continued talking. "Because of their manipulation, billions of people died."
"WHAT?" Exclaimed Donald.
"That's horrible!" Exclaimed Goofy as he put a hand to his mouth.
"No way! That's horrible. How could they do that?" Asked Sora who seemed rather enraged about this.
"That's one reason why I am tagging along with you guys. I want to uncover the truth about what was really going on last year during the Executioner incident. I want to know why Organization XIII would go so far as to manipulate Luther into creating those monsters," I said. I looked back over at Blair. "Let's go! We have to do something about this!" Blair nodded.
"Alright, let's go. Are you all with me?" Asked Blair. Azazer, Belzeber, and Berial nodded. "Then let's go." We ran to the elevator and went to the top floor. We walked into Luther's office and looked around. It was a complete and total mess in there. Everything was destroyed and there was a hole in the ceiling.
"What happened here?" Asked Azazer.
"Looks like there was some sort of fight," said Sora.
"And there is the one who lost the fight," said Goofy as he pointed over to the center of the room. Azazer, Blair, Belzeber, Berial, and I looked over and we all gasped as we saw who it was lying on the ground. Our own goddess, the Supreme Deity, the Ethereal Queen was lying on the ground.
"NO!" I shouted as I ran over to her. I lifted her upper body up and I shook her a bit. "Are you okay? Say something!" She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at me.
"Alex? You're alive?" Asked the Ethereal Queen.
"Never mind that, what happened here? Where are the men in black cloaks?" I asked.
"They came and asked for the Angel Orb. I refused of course, something like that should not fall into just about anybodies hands. Then they threatened to steal it and attacked. One of them created the hole in the roof, and then another one of them went berserk. With all of their strength combined they defeated me and took the Angel Orb."
"You know this girl?" Asked Sora. I looked over at him and nodded.
"This woman is in fact the Goddess of this world. The staff of Sphere and her share this place. While we use it for work she uses it for a living space. We all go back a long way so she is one of our friends too," I said. I looked back at Eva (the Ethereal Queen's name.) "What exactly is this Angel Orb anyway?"
"It is an object of great power. Sealed within that Orb is the Apocalypse itself. Should the power within it be unleashed, the universe will be doomed to destruction," said Eva. She started to get up, I gave her a hand and she summoned her Angel wings so she would be floating in the air again. "Alex, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, all of you must get that Orb back. It must not be used."
"Don't worry we will get the Orb back," I said as I got up. Sora nodded.
"We will get it back! Don't you worry!" Said Sora.
"So Organization XIII must have detected this Angel Orb thing..." Started Donald.
"And they decided to take it and use it's power against their foes," said Goofy. Eva sighed.
"Those fools. The power within that Orb answers to no one," said Eva.
"Then we had better stop them before they do anything," I said. Eva nodded and smiled.
"I am counting on all of you." We saluted.
"Don't worry we will get the Angel Orb back!" Said Donald.
"So what does this thing look like exactly?" Asked Sora.
"It is a large red sphere, it's unlike anything you have ever seen before so it should be easy for you to identify," said Eva.
"Good luck out there," said Blair.
"Go give them hell," said Belzeber.
"We will be rooting for you," said Berial.
"Come back soon, we need your skills with programming back," said Azazer.
"Don't worry, I will come back when all of these events are over," I said.
"Alex," said Lenneth. I looked over at her. "I left a bundle of useful items for you and your friends at your computer on the 200th floor."
"Oh boy!" Said Donald as he jumped up excitedly.
"Thank you," I said as I bowed. We left and headed down to the 200th floor. We walked into my office. There was no one there right now and it looked like this place was starting to collect dust. I walked over to my computer to see a bundle sitting at my desk. "Here they are." Goofy walked over to my desk and opened it, he gasped as he saw the contents.
"What is it?" I asked. I looked inside and my eyes widened. "Wow..." Donald jumped up and looked in.
"Whoa..." Sora ran over and looked inside the bundle.
"No way! These are all Mega Elixirs!" Exclaimed Sora. He reached in and pulled out a small pouch. "And this is..." He opened it and looked inside. "WHOA! There is almost 10,000 Munny in here!" We all grinned and started dancing.
"We're rich, we're rich!" Exclaimed Goofy. I looked inside the bundle again to see if anything else was in there. I pulled out a... yellow rubber duck?
"A ruber duck?" I asked.
"I wonder what that is for," said Donald.
"Well maybe it has some sort of use that isn't apparent right now," said Goofy.
"Are you sure about that?" Asked Sora as he pulled out another rubber duck and looked at it.
"Well you never know, it just might," I said. I sat down at the seat in front of my computer. "This used to be my Father's office when he would work here undercover. Hiding that he was really a Nobody," I said as I activated my computer. Donald walked over to part of the keyboard.
"What does this do?" Asked Donald as he touched one of the buttons.
"Wait, Donald! Don't just type any button. You might..." I was cut off as a text box popped up.
"One result found," said the Computer.
"Display." A screen popped up. I read the title of the file that just popped up. "The Genesis Circuit?" I accessed the properties to determine what sort of file it was. "The creator of this program... my Father?" I continued searching the file. "It looks like it's some sort of blue print for creating some sort of program."
"A blue print? You mean it shows you how to build something?" Asked Sora. I nodded.
"Right, but I can't figure out what. I have never heard of the Genesis Circuit."
"Let's find out what it is."
"You read my mind." I accessed the file and looked over the Blue Print. "This is unbelievably advanced. I have never seen a program like this."
"Can you figure out what it was for?" Asked Donald. I shook my head.
"No. But if I do a search I might be able to find something." I ran a search on the computer.
"One result found," said the computer. I opened the file and a bunch of diagrams popped up. One included two rotating models of me. One was of me in my old body. The other was of me in my new body. Under the old body it said: Emulator. Under my new body it said: Original Body. One other diagram was a history of recent activities with the program, it said: "Process completed, Original Body now active. Emulator destroyed, conditions met, Genesis Circuit activated."
"Could it be... could this thing have been responsible for bringing me back?" I asked as the facts began to dawn upon me. "Now I understand. It all makes sense now. My body was destroyed but then this program quarantined my soul before it was deleted and then transferred it to where my original body was, back in Twilight Town."
"This program was responsible for bringing you back to life?" Asked Sora. I nodded.
"Yeah, this must be it. But this level of programming is beyond anything I have ever seen. My Father was a genius." But then I realized some parts didn't fit. "Wait a minute, something isn't right here."
"Yeah, how did he know that you would get destroyed?" Asked Sora.
"There is no way he could have possibly anticipated the creation and deletion of the Eternal Sphere. That's just not possible."
"This is kinda creepy," said Goofy. I nodded.
"Seriously." Just when I thought I had gotten some answers... this happens. Another question rises up. Suddenly my computer started glowing. Sora did his unsealing of the gate thing and put away his keyblade.
"We'd better get going," said Sora. I got up from my chair.
"Yup, it's time to go," said Donald. We headed back to Arkives where our ship was, got onboard, and shot off into the distance.
So Alex uncovers the truth of how he returned. But another question rises. What awaits our heroes next? Find out in the next chapter. Anyway, please review.
