I yawned as I leaned back in the chair, watching Jay and the others eat. They put on a good concert, I admit that, even if I'm not a Metallica fan. Garden sure seemed to enjoy the show. A few SeeD cadets even came up to talk to the band every now and then since the concert ended
"Hey Fishie, whats up?" I turned to look at Dam as he sat next to me. He smiled a little but I could tell he was tired.
I shrugged and sighed. "Eh, just thinking." I shoved one hand into my pocket, pulling out my cell phone and flipping it open. "Still no connection made with our world…our families have to be freaking out right now…"
Dam nodded and smiled. "Yeah. Wonder how my parents are reacting"
I laughed a little. "Yeah…" I looked down and frowned, glancing at my cell again "i wonder if he's realized somethings not right.."
Dam sighed a little. "Fishie, don't worry about him. Give him time. I would think you'd want your family to know you were safe first anyways. He looked up at little and glanced around. "With the techonology around here, I would think they'd be able to set up a connection to our world soon."
I couldn't help but sigh, pocketing my phone again. "Yeah…I guess you're right.. " Yawning, I stood up and pushed my chair in before stepping away. "I'm gonna take a walk. I guess I'll catch up with everyone later."
Dam nodded and waved while some of the others waved too. I waved back before walking out the cafeteria, pulling my ipod out and switching it on before returning it to my pockets. I couldn't help up feel like I had to listen to music. I had so much going through my mind that it was starting to give me a headache and I hoped that distracting my mind with music would help my thoughts simmer down some what.
I could see and feel the stares of some of the SeeD cadets as I walked through Garden, heading in no particular direction just as long as I kept moving. Wasn't the first time people gave me weird looks and I highly doubted it would be the last. I just shrugged it off and kept walking, sighing a little as I managed to wander outside.
Several paths cut through the open park outside the main building. The grass and trees spread out about 300 feet from Garden before reaching the edge of the strange floating school were a strong fence could be seen. I could only guess that there was a unseen barrier just outside the fence to keep people from falling to their deaths if they were stupid enough to climb the fence.
I smiled a little as I walked towards a tree and sat down in the shade, leaning my back against the trunk. I pulled my headphones out and sighed, closing my eyes and taking in the sounds of Garden around me.
So strange….it all feels like a dream. Its all so surreal… I opened my eyes and glanced up through the foilage of the tree above me at the sky before getting to my feet and walking toward the closest segment of fencing. Grabbing the railing, I peered carefully over the egde, ignoring the uneasy feeling in the back of my mind as I looked at the land below.
"Wow…"
"I thought you were afraid of heights, Madison."
I turned my head to see Tiamatt walking towards me, smiling. I nodded a little and looked back at the ground far below. "I am..i guess curiousity just got the best of me."
Tiamatt laughed lightly and leaned against the fence next to me. "I see. So what are you doing out here when all you're friends are inside?" I only shrugged and looked up a little at the clouds nearby. "Just a lot on your mind?"
I nodded and sighed. "Yeah, it just seems so strange." I looked over at Tia and smiled a little. "Just never thought anything like this could happen. "
"I know what you mean. I had my world thrown upside down when I first came here as well, remember?"
"Oh, yeah" I laughed a little before sighing. "But Tia, something bothers me."
"Hm? What do you mean?" She blinked and looked at me curiously.
I stepped away from the fence and sat down a few feet away on the grass. "You guys are preparing for a war with Dilex right? Won't me and the others just get in the way? I mean…we're just ordinary people. We don't know magic or how to use weapons or anything like that. We'd just get in the way."
The Cetran woman blinked again and looked at the sky. "Well…we could start training you all how to fight and how to use magic. "
I just shook my head. "Tia, that could take months if not years for us to get strong enough to defend ourselves let alone fight. Keep in mind, we're just ordinary human not to mention that we're still pretty much kids…"
"You have a good point…hm…" she turned around, arms folded acrossed her chest as she leaned against the railing. "Well…I guess you'll just have to stay here at Garden till this war is over."
"I don't think the others will be too happy about that, Tia."
She shrugged. "So what if they're unhappy. At least you'll all be safe."
"I guess…"
Tiamatt looked at me curiously, stepping away from the fence. "Is something wrong?"
I leaned back on my hands and looked back up at her. "Tia, its me. I hate just being dead weight. Theres got to be ways we can help a little."
"Hm…well, I guess we could find something but for now I think its better you all stay here at Garden." She smiled and held her hand out to help me up. "Now why don't you go back inside with your friends."
I ignored her hand and picked myself off the ground. "Thanks Tia." I started to walk back towards the main building before looking back at Tia. "Oh, theres a pool here right?"
The Cetran woman blinked and laughed a little. "Sure. I guess you want to swim a few laps right?" I smiled and nodded. "Alright then, I think we can set that up. Follow me."
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"Terri! Terri wake up!"
The young Aurion moaned and slowly opened his eyes, letting his vision clear to see his sister and Alcana above him. "…Where are we?" He sat up, leaning back on his hands and looking around.
A young, tall, orange hair boy sat in a chair near by. "My friends and I found you three laying in the middle of the park. You didn't respond so we brought you to Urahara's shop."
Terri blinks. "um…Urahara?"
"Yo!" An older blonde haired man gave a two finger wave to Terrance, looking out at him from under his green and white striped hat. "Glad to see you're awake. You guys sure seem like an interesting bunch. That axe we found with you guys is pretty weird too."
Terrance glanced around quickly before jumping to his feet. "The gun axe! Where is it?"
Urahara chuckled. "Its perfectly safe, Terrance. You'll get it back soon enough."
The young cetra paused, blinks at the strange man. "Wait, how do you know my name?" He glanced at his sister who just smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.
"I told them, Terri. They were nice enough to help us so when they asked for our names, we told them." Terri blink again at his sister's word and nodded as she looked at the orange haired teen, a slight blush crossing her cheeks. "oh um, Ichigo…thanks again for helping us."
Alcana's fist clenched slightly under his cloak at the sight of Eria's blush, his glare hidden behind his shades but it didn't stop Urahara from chuckling. Ichigo on the other hand gave a small smile as he got to his feet.
"No problem. I'm gonna go find the others and tell them you're all awake now." He gave a two finger wave was he started towards the door, shoving his other hand in his pocket. "Later."
Terrance blinks, rubbing the back of his head as he glanced around the room before his gaze rested on his companions. "So…this is where Truth pulled us to this time?"
Alcana nodded, relaxing now that Ichigo was out of the room. "It appears like it. Though I'm still not sure exactly where 'here' is."
"hm?" Urahara blinked as he looked at the young teens. "Just what is it that you guys are talking about?" All three teens looked at each other before looking back at Urahara, all giving him a questioning gaze. The blond haired shop owner gave a sheepish laugh in response. "Is it really that big of a deal?"
"Yes it is. What happening affects not only this world but all the worlds."
Urahara seemed surprised at this, his eyes showing a seriousness previously not seen before as he lowered his head a little. "All the worlds? Does he mean Soul Society and Hueco Mundo too?" He mumbled it quietly to himself, his voice barely being caught by his own ears.
"Soul Society? Hueco Mundo? What are those?"
The shop keeper's head snapped upwards, eyes wide in mild alarm. "How did you-"
Terrance rubbed the back of his head, his brother's trademark grin plastered on his face. "We kind of have really good hearing...sorry to eavesdrop…"
"I knew Alcana wasn't human but now you've confirmed my suspicions that none of you are." Urahara leaned his back against the wall, arms folded over his chest as he looked at the teens from under his hat. "Just what are you three and why are you here? Explain to me whats going on."
Eria blinked up at Urahara, sitting on her knees. "Well, it's a long story but my brother and I are Cetra, or at least half Cetra. We can communicate with the planet and spirits easily. Well…at least we're supposed to be able to…me and Terri are both deaf to the planet…but apparently so was our mother for a long time."
Terrance nodded in agreement, taking a seat in between Alcana and his sister. "Our world is called Aselia but we have connections to other worlds through special gates our mom and her friends made. The main one we work with is Gaia, Mom's original home world."
"However, lately we've been forced to previously undiscovered worlds against our will. First it was Nikotu, followed by Dilex's fortress world, Terresia, and now here. " Alcan finished, folding his arms across his chest as he carefully watched Urahara take in all the information before he finally nodded.
"I see. So basically, you're world jumpers, right?" the three teens all nodded. "hm..then let me ask a few ques-"
"Hey Mr. Hat-and-Clogs, we're back!" Ichigo yelled, sliding the door open and walking into the room, several people following him.
A tall red haired girl smiled at the three otherworlders, a snowflake like pin keeping her bangs out of her eyes. Another shorter girl with shoulder length black hair followed, blinking at the group before taking a seat on the floor near Ichigo. Following her was a tall, tanned hair boy, his dark brown hair covering his eyes from view as he silently entered the room. Lately was another boy with black hair and a plain white dress shirt. He pushed his glasses up as he looked at the strangers.
Urahara smiled at the group while they sat down around the room. "Ah! Ishida! Chad! Orihime, Rukia, and Ichigo! Just in time! Our guests were about to fill me in on some important information!"
The dark haired girl blinked and looked at the teens before looking at Urahara. "Information?"
"Yep. They're apparently nonhuman world jumpers that accidently ended up in our world." Urahara smiled and nodded to the girl before shifting his attention to Terrance, Eria, and Alcana again. "Now as I was saying, who is Dilex and what was this thing about 'truth' you mentioned earlier?"
Terrance looked at the new group of people in interest, is attention getting pulled away by Urahara as he blinked. "Oh, right. Well, Dilex is this weird cloaked demon guy. He got a whole league of followers and lackies. He keeps sending them after these weird weapons call FORGE weapons. The Gun Axe is one we found in Terresia. We don't really know his full motive though."
Urahara nodded while Ichigo and his friends listened in interest. "Alright, now tell me about this 'truth' thing."
"Truth is a Keeper, a higher spirit that apparently governs everything. We've encountered him several times now. I can only guess that our families have met him by now too." Alcana explained, pulling the sleeve on his coat down further over his dragon arm to keep it hidden from view. "Truth was actually the one that brought us here."
Urahara, as well as the short dark haired girl, eyes went wide at the mention of the Keeper, a look of utter shock and disbelief on they're faces. Urahara quickly regained his composure before looking at the girl. "Rukia, return to Soul Society and inform Yamamoto of what we've learned. I'm sure he'll take great great interest in this."
Rukia nodded and got to her feet. "Yes sir." Pulling a strange badge from her pocket, she pressed it against her pocket, a small flash of energy from the badge forcing the young woman to stand as seemingly two copies of the same person, each with different clothing. The new Rukia stood beside her body in a black kimono, a katana tied to her waist. "I'll inform him right away." With a quick bow, she turned around, a strange doorway suddenly appearing before her and opening before disappearing as quickly as it came.
Urahara could only look at the surprised looks of Eria, Terrance, and Alcana as Rukia's body sat back down. "It seems we also have a lot to explain." The shop keeper laughed as all three teens nodded, still in obvious shock. "Alright then, now where to begin."
Sorry for the short chapter but at least its an update ^^; and a much needed one at that. I decided that since my writer's block seemed to fade for once, I wouldn't waste the opportunity to write and so…tada! Anyways, some of the stuff talked about at the beginning was written when I was going through some issues in real life but things are better now so no worries ^^ anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Hopefully my writer's block will stay away for while
