A/N: Zidane and Garnet now had their own little one shot, literally based off Kuja's throwaway line of how they're soulmates.

For the record, Dissidia Opera Omnia is wayyyy better than NT. There. I said it. Totally said it. Opera Omnia is also better than Unchained, although that's mostly because the plot actually moves along instead of countless pointless missions

Published: 4/23/2018

Warnings: None

Chapter 25

To A New World

"What is this place?" Riku couldn't help but ask, looking around in awe and just a bit of fear.

Miss Branford's star portal has basically taken them into the shadow realm. The ground glowed a light purple and the skies shown dark above their heads, star light showering down upon them.

All in all, it was the strangest place Riku had ever found himself in.

"This is what's called a torsion." Tina explained as she led them through… Somehow. How she knew her way in a place like this with literally no landmarks was beyond Riku, but somehow, the woman managed. She looked back, starting right at Riku. "You could say it's the Realm In Between. Everywhere and nowhere."

"Cool!" Sora cheered.

No, not cool! It just added more to the mystery! How could Sora's mom do this? Since when could she do this? Where there others on the island with the magical ability to literally tear about time and space at a whim?

Oh, poor, poor Riku. He had no idea.

"Since when can you open these… Torsions?" Riku asked, bewildered.

"Riku! You don't have to be so rude!" Kairi scolded him.

Riku turned to shoot the redhead a glare. "It's a genuine question!" Riku snapped, causing the entire group to stop as everyone turned to look at him. Riku fidgeted a bit under their stares but held his ground.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to get to see another world, but aren't you curious as to the how?" Riku pointed out.

Sora titled his head in a manner that told Riku that the other literally hadn't considered it. Riku was not surprised. Sora was the kind of guy that could literally walk around with a device capable of unlocking any door and fail to realize he could use it to open a gate right in front of him.

Kairi, on the other hand, shot Miss Branford a contemplative look. Good! Someone was thinking with their head on straight other than Riku.

Riku turned back towards Miss Branford, expression smug. He was surprised to find her beaming right back at him before smacking Sora lightly on the back of the head.

"Owe! Mom, whyyyy." Sora whined, shooting the woman a betrayed look.

"Because, Sora, your friend is asking questions you should have asked me from the start." Miss Branford informed him.

Sora's face scrunched up in confusion.

"But why? You're my mom. It's not like your up to somethin' bad, and I assumed you'd tell me evetuallaly." Sora stuttered over the last word.

"Eventually." Riku supplied helpfully.

Sora shot him an annoyed look. Riku rolled his eyes. Okay, if Sora didn't want help in not butchering the English language, Riku could oblige.

Miss Branford's expression softened. Then, she ruffled Sora's hair, which didn't really do much. The whole thing was already one wild mess.

Riku had literally seen those spikes stay up while Sora was swimming. Underwater. Unnatural, really. Where the hell did he get them from anyways?

Elsewhere, trapped and enchained, eyes forcibly snapped shut. Zack Fair felt a feeling of pride rush him, even in his slumber.

Miss Branford then turned, looking right at Riku.

"I suppose I do owe the three of you a few answers. Very well. My name is Tina Branford. I'm a Demihuman from another world, the daughter of an Esper and a human, and I've lived for more centuries than I can possibly count."

…

"What?!" Sora broke the silence, staring at his mother in shock.

Poseidon was, Sabin confessed, one of the nicer deities he had come ever come across. Compared to others on that list, Poseidon was pretty chill.

Then again, anything is chill when compared to a Fal'Cie or an Occuria, so he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised by this. Stil, when the gods expression became serious, Sabin tensed. Anything that made a god serious was never good news.

"I come at behest of my sister." Poseidon spoke. "This… Game of hers. I understand that it has brought you all together, and for that I am grateful to her, but she knows not what she plays with."

"... Hera sent you." Jason pointed out the obvious.

Poseidon, however, shook his head.

"No," the Lord of the Seas denied. At the incredulous looks, he continued. "I was sent by another. I can confess that even I do not know what Hera plots, only that it no doubt, in her mind, will be for the benefit of Olympus."

Bianca scoffed at this.

"Of course it is."

Sabin could hear the resentment in the girl's voice. In her defense, she was basically the sixth wheel, which normally fits in just fine but in this case was left out because Hera, for whatever reason, hadn't deemed her worthy.

Learning that Hera had been behind Sora's dreams was disturbing to say the least. If the Queen of the Gods could cause such a bond to forge between Sora, who was literally worlds away, and his cousins, what else could the goddess do?

He and Tina would have much to discuss when they met up. Soon. He'd see her soon.

"Then what do you want?" Sabin asked, more curious than anything. Poseidon had already shown he wasn't hostile, which was good enough for Sabin. Well, for now at least.

Poseidon turned to Sabin.

"You intend to take them all from here. From this world. You intend to take them to the stars." Poseidon spoke.

Sabin heard Sally's breath hitch. Apparently, she hasn't believed it, but hearing it come from Poseidon's own mouth seemed to make all the difference.

Sabin frowned at the God. He didn't like the tone. The implication that Sabin would take these children by force. "I'm giving them a choice. They can come, or they can stay." Sabin crossed his arms. "Personally, unless they enjoy being attacked by psycho monsters that walk around literally sniffing them out, I can't see why they'd decide to stay, but it's up to them." Sabin replied challengingly.

Three voices all spoke up at once, their voices mingling

"What? I can't leave!" Jason cried out.

"Can you really guarantee there will be no monsters?" Sally sounded so hopeful that it was a little heartbreaking.

"How do you plan on taking us, anyways?" Leo asked, curious.

Sabin perked at the last question.

"I've got this super awesome rocket ship!" He stated cheerfully, resisting the urge to fist pump. Ha! And Setzer had said Sabin couldn't fly if his life depended on it, but that deranged gambler of a pirate had been wrong. He'd made it here just fine, hadn't he?

Jason stared at Sabin blankly.

"... you have a rocket ship that can cross worlds. And, instead of using it to get us here, you… Flew with us, even though you've never flown before."

The silence that fell was so profound that a cricket's chirp would have sounded loud and clear.

Sabin laughed, scratching the back of his head, eyes closed.

"Ahaha! I totally forgot I had it! Ahaha!"

Jason looked like he wanted to hit him. Leo, on the other hand, just shrugged.

"It was a fun flight." the boy said.

Jason turned to him, fuming.

"It was a goddamn death simulator, that's what it was!"

Then, the blonde started muttering about how idiotic Sabin was for forgetting he had a rocket ship and instead blasting through the air at gods knows what speeds.

Sabin sweatdropped before turning back towards Poseidon. The God had his arms crossed, a frown adorning his features, eyes staring unwaveringly at Sabin.

"I suppose you don't approve?" Sabin asked.

"I do not. Their place is here, Esperkin." Poseidon motioned to the children.

"Their place," Sally Jackson growled, raising a step forward, "is wherever they're safest! They are children, Poseidon!"

"I understand that."

"Do you? Then tell me, where is their sister."

Poseidon and Bianca both flinched at that, although Bianca's was better hidden. Sabin made a mental note to talk to the girl later about that, or at the very least tell Tina.

"Sally-" Poseidon began.

"I think this is a good idea! A great idea!"

"You don't even know them!"

"My son trusts them, and that is good enough for me!"

"Our son is a child!"

"My son is more of a man than you will ever be!"

Sabin edged away as Poseidon and Sally started outright bellowing at one another. Holy hell, it was just like that one time he'd walked in on Locke and Celes in the middle of a couples spat.

One quickly learns to not get in the way of an arguing married couple. And, seperated for years or no, that's exactly the air Poseidon and Sally were both excluding.

"Er. Come on, kids. Let's go to the room." Sabin negotiated. They looked up at him hopefully. None of them wanted to be caught in the backlash of this argument, except maybe Percy. He in particular looked like he was divided between fascinated interest or running for the hills.

Had the boy never heard the expression 'curiosity killed the tonberry'?

As one, the sea god and his former mistress turned on Sabin, their eyes burning.

"You stay out of it! No one is leaving this room, is that understood?!"

…

They even yelled at him in unison like Locke and Celes too! Sabin couldn't suppress the whimper that escaped his lips if he tried as he was subjected to the horror of flashbacks.

Piper McLean hated liars, and the world was just plain full of them. They always got her in trouble, too. Over and over and over again.

They were literally everywhere. She just couldn't get away! Was she cursed? Had she done some great terrible deed in a past life that deserved this sort of practically fanatical punishment?

If Piper didn't know any better, she'd say it was a goddam conspiracy. Yes. That's exactly what it was! A conspiracy, a plot against her in an effort to drive her insane!

The who, though, was the question. Who was doing why? Why were they doing this? Hell, how were they doing this?

It's not like Piper stayed in the same place. She moved around. A lot. Her dad's job always took him different places and of course he'd bring his little princess along for the ride. Piper didn't mind. She'd gotten to see so many cool and diverse places that she wouldn't trade it for anything.

On the other hand, her curse seemed to follow her wherever she walked.

Was it a curse of a conspiracy?

Of, worse… Some strange mix of both?!

A curspiracy, Piper decided.

Whatever the hell it was, it was annoying. Of that, there was no denying. The most annoying aspect of the whole thing?

It had started yet again!

"Miss, Piper stole my pen!"

"I didn't steal it! You told me I could have it!" Piper wanted to cry. She really did.

Sure, it was something little right now, but it would get worse. It always got worse!

Like the time she'd gotten extra food at the cafeteria and was then accused of stealing. Or the time she got perfect marks and was accused of bribing the teacher. It was an endless cycle!

"Piper, young lady, stealing is not nice!" Her teacher, an elderly man named Mr. Haines, told her, the wrinkles on his face scrunched up in disgust.

Piper whimpered under her teacher's stern glare. Her whimper earned her no sympathy. Every new school she attended was 'informed' of Piper's rather atrocious habits.

With a grumble, Piper handed the pen over.

Now, she had nothing to write with! She'd lost hers earlier, so she had asked around if anyone had a spare. And, Melissa had handed it over easily enough, no force necessary!

Piper supposed her eyes had looked a bit glazed, but that usually ended up happening when she talked to people for whatever reason.

Now, Piper was in trouble yet again for something that she did not do.

The door to the classroom rattled under the force of a knock. Mr. Haines turned away from them.

"Come in!" he called.

The door opened and a woman walked in. She was dressed in blue capris, a flannel shirt, and had her brown hair in a ponytail trailing down her back. She had that 'best mom' vibe Piper sometimes saw on tv. Her eyes sparked as they looked around before landing on Piper.

The woman smiled at her. Piper blinked. Huh?

Then, she turned to Mr. Haines.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Yes," the woman smiled. "I'm here for Piper McLean. Her father sent me to pick her up from school. They're going on a trip." with those words, the woman took a step forth and…

Waived her hand at Mr. Haines.

His eyes glazed.

"Yes. Of course. All is in order."

Piper stared. Her teacher sounded like a robot. Like an actual out of an old black and white movie robot. Looking around, Piper realized that no one else seemed to notice this.

If anything, she was getting jealous looks since she got to go home early.

Was no one else seeing what was wrong with this picture?!

Mr. Haines then turned and proved there was something wrong with him as he smiled. The man didn't know the definition of the word 'smile', much less how to perform one.

"Piper, make sure to finish your assignment and bring it in tomorrow morning. If you can't, email it."

"But- l- sir- she-" Piper gestured towards mom vibe. Then, she jumped when she realized mom vibe had crossed the room in the second she'd been turned away.

How had she done that?

"Come along, dear."

Then, Piper found herself dragged out, her feet moving of their own accord. Before she knew it, they were out the door and out the building, the woman's hand gently pushing against her shoulder to get her moving along.

And that was how Piper McLean met Hera.

Sora's head was reeling from the information dump his mom had subjected them to.

Because, really, what?

His mom was an alien. Literally. Not only was she from another planet, she wasn't fully human. Well, neither was Sora, but details.

Uncle Sabin was from the same world as mom, but he was… Mostly human. Mom said he'd been granted powers like hers, but was still human.

"Wait, so is he immortal like you?" Kairi tilted her head.

Mom shook her head.

"Neither of us are immortal. Rather, we're just better at remembering the past than others." Tina said.

"... Reincarnation." Riku spoke.

"Reinwhata?" Sora turned towards his friend, confused. Kairi, despite being the top in their class, looked equally as confused. Sora frowned. Crossing his arms, he shot Riku a look. "It's not nice to make up words!"

"I didn't make it up! It's a real thing!"

"Nuh uh! If it isn't made up, why doesn' Kairi know what it is either!"

"Maybe because I have a better vocabulary than the pair of you!"

"There! There it is! You did it again! You just made up another word!"

Sora was literally jumping up and down, wagging an accusing finger at Riku.

Riku himself was rapidly growing as red as Sora's shorts, which was pretty weird considering how pale the other usually was. Taking a step towards Sora, Riku growled.

"You know what, I am going to-"

"Boys!" Kairi cuffed the pair of them upside the head, causing both to yelp before shooting the girl wounded looks. "Get along," she commanded, followed by a sweet smile. "Or else."

Sora and Riku shuddered.

Kairi was usually the nice one. There is an old adage, as old as time itself which was been proven time and time again. Come on, say it with me, kiddos. You know exactly what it is. Got it? Good.

Mom started laughing then, looking at the three of them. Rolling her eyes, she motioned them forth.

"Now, if there are no more questions, we best be off. Sabin is waiting."

"Wouldn't wanna keep him waiting too long." Riku said, wagging his eyebrows at mom. Sora blinked at his best friend. Er. Okay? Mom seemed to take it differently though, since her cheeks went red for a second before it faded away.

Huh. Grown ups were weird.

"How are we going to find them here, anyways?" Kairi asked, looking around at, well… Nothing. There was literally nothing here in this pocket dimension. Nothing at all.

"Simple. May our hearts be our guiding key."

Sora's head snapped up.

Those… Those words. They were familiar. They resonated in him, like an echo long past. An echo he could hardly remember, but an echo there nonetheless. Mom turned, took another step, then her hand rose.

Rose, and once more tore right through the fabric of reality.

Into another world.