Hello, everyone!
Lilith here, and I afraid you're in luck. I've brought in a few more guest appearances, and I assure you with the former it won't be the last time he'll tease our intrepid protagonists.
Anyway, let me apologize for taking a while on this. During the writing process, I've been forced to deal with changing internet browsers and the goddamn laptop freezing on me once in a while. I'm not gonna ask whether any of you had to fight your computers if you had any, so don't respond to that if you please.
Also, if this chapter feels rushed anywhere, I apologize in advance.
So, with all the melodrama out of the way, before we make our travel plans to the richest plum of all England, I'm gonna need a little help on a petty hurdle: with the next world involving animals behaving akin to people, do you darling viewers have any ideas on what animal forms Luna and Nero would (or should) take on to explore incognito? Please leave your ideas in a review or PM me. Whatever two animal ideas is most prominent will be finalized when I start writing the next chapter.
Without further ado, enjoy!
To Mattman: Honestly, I didn't view the ReMind business too much. I did view the data matches, though. It was a huge "HOLY S**T" with what they did with the data matches. Also, don't get me wrong, the Yozora character was...kinda interesting to put it lightly. Keep in mind, I can't pay attention to everything. My interests have a tendency to shift. I'm sure everyone's been there. -_-;
I own nothing of Kingdom Hearts except my OCs.
Read, leave me a review, but flames are not acceptable in my books.
Chapter 4: Day 83 – A Man of No Consequence
"Man, all this cleanin' and fixin' was a pain in the ass!" Medea sighed loudly, "As much as I like how much better it's comin' around, I'll be pissed if I find one more damn rat hole!"
"At least we made good progress," Luna said with optimism. "I'm sure Naminé would love a more hospitable location than a castle."
"Damn right she would. Hell, I'd say we'd be better caretakers than those jackasses," her Guardian agreed. "I wouldn't count that DiZ guy on my list of guardians, though."
Several days have passed since they arrived in Twilight Town, and working on extensive cleanup and repairs at the Old Mansion has been quite a long one for Luna and her party. Things have been working out for them so far, especially since they've acquired help from Axel, Roxas and Xion, who all agreed to pool their knowledge of the Organization into ensuring nobody in her group is found by one of their own. Occasionally Noir or Riku would pay a visit to update them on the moving process or just to have a chat with them and catch up with each other, so it didn't get too lonesome in the mansion.
For today, Luna and Medea decided to take a break from their cleanup duties together and see what more of Twilight Town they can explore. After all, a large town like this must have plenty of places for them to visit and people they can interact with. Maybe they can learn more about Twilight Town's history and stories if they're lucky. Of course, they'll probably have to keep an eye out for Seifer and his gang in the meantime, given the bad first impression they gave them when they first arrived in town.
Fortunately for them, everything in town is relatively peaceful. The streets are a little busy with various people going about their day without concern for trouble, from mothers and children shopping for essentials to civil servants working hard to keep the town as neat and clean as they possibly can. No Heartless can be seen anywhere so far, but from experience, one can never know when they'll surface again – hopefully, though, they will be nowhere near the local populace, which would be a huge problem. It's just a normal day in the neighborhood for the time being.
"I wonder what else we can find in this town," Luna wondered. "A big place like this must have something new to learn about."
"As long as it doesn't involve Heartless or a crazy-ass monster haunting a damn house," Medea commented, "I'm golden on any local tours."
"The Heartless part, I can understand," Luna agreed to an extent, "but with the latter, I'm not sure if that's avoidable."
"Dammit."
After passing through the tram common and the sandlot, the women ventured further in town to find a street with a selection of shops much like the other one they've been shopping from, but the noticeable difference is the stalls and buildings are wider with a wider assortment of goods to offer to whoever is interested in other products. Another thing noticed is the few houses either fused with the shops or completely separate from the rest of the club, all of them colored like the rest of the buildings in Twilight Town except with slight additional décor on the home and yard to distinguish themselves from the rest of the locale. The appearances and wardrobe style of the people there also gave away that the residents who live here live a different lifestyle.
"Damn, either this place makes us invisible to the crowd," Medea in disbelief, "or we stick out like sore thumbs."
"Maybe these people are influential in town," Luna suggested. "It would explain how this part of town looks."
As much as they wanted to stay and have a look around at what this part of town has to offer, they opted to wait on it a moment and keep exploring the streets to see what else they can do in this idyllic landscape. After all, it might be a little busy at the moment, and nobody seems to be aware of their presence right now. There's always another day to learn about the locale and how they lived.
In the next part of town, they found themselves facing a row of buildings set in a wide upside-down capital T. Judging by the quality of the construction and the architecture of the buildings, it seemed as though they were built to be as practical as possible with lesser materials acquired just to keep the elements at bay. The square and streets stretching across are made of the same stony material used for the market square and beyond, but with some patches scattered about attempting to maintain usage while it still can until proper repairs can be made. Three gates can be seen from all three directions leading to the outside of the town, but upon second glance they could swear they're seeing cracks hiding behind the houses, exposing small traces of land outside of the town's walls. What else is beyond that point is anyone's guess?
"Whoa, who would live in this kind of place?" Medea questioned, looking around.
"I wonder about that… Maybe the people who live in this area are involved in dangerous occupations?" Luna guessed.
"Where the hell would they be working on if it's something dangerous?" the Guardian asked.
"Perhaps we can see where the people are past one of the gates," Luna suggested, pointing at the gate ahead of them.
Since the street is not so busy around here, Luna and Medea just pressed on until they reached the gate standing right in their line of sight. As they moved closer, however, they quickly noticed something is amiss. Though the gate is open to walk past, what stopped them from going further out is the blockade cutting them off from the path. Not only are there wooden barriers arranged around the gate's vicinity, there are also rows of white and blue colored tapes held by several thin poles arranged past the barriers.
"What the hell is this? What's the deal?" Medea fussed.
"Why would this gate be blocked off?" Luna wondered, equally confused. "There isn't anything dangerous outside, is there?"
"I'm afraid you're out of luck, my dears."
The sound of the smooth, deep male voice startled the girls, prompting them to turn to their right to find they aren't alone. They are greeted by the sight of a peculiar stranger neither of them has ever seen since first arriving in Twilight Town, casually leaning against the wall of an empty house without a care.
The stranger appeared to be a middle-aged man with red-violet hair and amber eyes, and standing much taller than both girls. He is dressed in a long black trench coat and pinstripe trousers with a black waistcoat over a white tunic and unusual boots both decorated and slashed put together. He is also accessorized by a red scarf around his neck and a gray hooded mantle across the coat, black fingerless gloves, and a black fedora on his head.
"Pardon me, sir, but is there something wrong out there?" Luna inquired politely.
The man raised a brow at her. "You don't know, young lady? It's utter chaos out there. There's an army out in the countryside investigating a strange phenomenon. Nobody is allowed out there until it's all taken care of."
Confusion crossed the girls' faces. They were aware of security operating in Twilight Town, but an army? They weren't made aware of anything like that.
"How the hell are we supposed to know about that?" Medea grilled impatiently.
"I'm sorry, sir, but the people we know would take care of problems are the security," Luna explained. "We haven't been in town long enough to know everything."
Intrigue crossed his face as he removed himself from the wall of the house. "Ahh… Newcomers, are you? No wonder you ask many questions."
For the girls, it's yet another instance of being caught red-handed. However, the way this man spoke his observations and the knowing look in his eyes told them he might've already known something they hadn't told him.
"I presume neither of you are residents in this town," he deduced, "perhaps from…somewhere far away?"
Luna went wide-eyed in shock. "What…? How…how did you know?"
"Who the hell are you anyway?" Medea demanded to know.
He grinned as he casually shrugged his shoulders. "A man of no consequence."
Then, he gave a little farewell wave as he walked away from them to parts unknown, leaving them alone to ponder what in Kingdom Hearts they just experienced.
"That guy was just so damn weird," Medea commented, her voice on edge. "Not to mention WAY too damn nosy."
"…Maybe we should have a talk with the security guards about that man," Luna seconded the observation. "Perhaps they might have an idea who he is, or keep watch for him."
"Yeah, I'm with ya on that. He doesn't look like someone of no consequence to me," her Guardian agreed warily.
After that bizarre encounter they had, the two ladies made their way back to more familiar parts of town. By the time they neared the sandlot, their attention is grabbed by multiple voices bouncing off one another followed by the sound of something eerily moving around. Worrying there might be trouble and thinking someone might need serious help, Luna and Medea quickly booked it to the sandlot to find a squad of Heartless surrounding Nyx and Circe alongside three young teens. They can tell both security guards are trying their hardest to fight off the pests with what they've got on hand, but it's clear the creatures won't go away that easily.
Not the type of people to ignore danger everyone else wouldn't fully understand, the girls hurried into the area to help. Medea leaped into the chaos head-on, her Claws already formed in place of her hands as she tore through a bulky Heartless like a cheap pillow before moving on. Luna, on the other hand, stretched out her hands, summoning several Shadow Hands at the flick of her wrists that emerged from nowhere and detained the lesser fodder. The disruption caught Nyx's attention first as he just briefly caught Medea charging right in and the Hands capturing the creatures surrounding them at the command of Luna. At the same time, Circe lowered her weapons for a brief moment, dumbfounded at what she realized was happening in front of her. Then, Luna herself arrived at the scene to join the fray, unaware of the surprise given to the security guards as they turned to her.
"What are you doing?" Circe asked sternly, "You know it's dangerous, right?"
"I know, but Medea and I have fought these things before," Luna confessed hastily. "Please, let us help."
"Now I have seen everything," Nyx deadpanned jokingly. "First these black animals, then people in black outfits randomly strolling in town, and now this."
"Just get the kids outta here!" Medea demanded, interrupting the debate. "Luna and I can get these pests outta this street!"
With the Heartless already struggling to break free of the Hands' grip, there's just no room for argument by this point. Acting fast, Nyx and Circe grabbed the three youths and hurried them away to someplace safer while Luna and Medea prepared to face the rest of the Heartless directly.
By the time the Heartless broke loose and started scurrying the new targets that arrived on the scene, Luna and Medea are already prepared for them. Almost immediately, Medea charged right in and pounced on every Heartless her claws can get ahold of, tearing through the larger groups like wet paper. On Luna's part, she summoned her Hands to clean the streets of the smaller rabble, mopping the floor with them like petty trash not disposed where they should've been. Of course, several more had to show up as soon as the majority of the Heartless had been beaten to a pulp. That's to be expected, given their past experience while with Sora.
Finally, all of the Heartless were wiped away from the sandlot. Though, they couldn't help but notice how harder it is to do so since neither of them have a Keyblade, let alone anyone who is in possession of one. This is an issue that needs addressing with the rest of their group later down the line.
"Ugh, about damn time we got 'em," Medea groaned in annoyance. "Those buggers wouldn't let up."
"Well, we are fighting fire with fire…" Luna sighed.
Now that the sandlot is cleared of the threat, the security guards returned to the area, looking around in surprise to find everything cleared out with no trace of the creatures left. The three young teens followed not too far behind them, feeling much better now that the danger has passed. That's when Luna got a better view of what these youngsters looked like.
One is a young boy with blond, slightly spiky hair, light skin and brown eyes. He is dressed in baggy camo capris pants and a short sleeveless grey shirt over a black muscle shirt decorated with a white, crudely drawn skull and crossbones. He also wore belted camo shoes on his feet, a white necklace with a yellow X charm on it around his neck, and a brown bracelet with silver pins on his left wrist.
The second is a young boy shorter and heavy-set with brown eyes, light skin, and black hair held up by a headband. He wore a white shirt underneath a red jersey with black and white lining, and the jersey is patterned with a black skeletal dog with three bones above it and the phrase 'Dog Street' printed in large white letters on the left side. He also wore blue pants, blue and white shoes with grey soles and a purple bandana around his neck.
The third is a girl with bright green eyes, light skin, and brown hair. She is dressed in an orange tank top with white floral patterns at the bottom, khaki-colored capris pants, and orange socks with white hems under cream shoes with black and yellow accents and black laces. She also wears a beaded sky blue bracelet on her right wrist and a black necklace decorated with a spherical sky blue charm.
The shorter boy looked around before commenting with wide eyes, "Whoa… They're all gone?"
"Holy crap! What just happened?" the blond boy exclaimed, "Seriously, what just happened there? Pence, Olette, did you see that?"
"Hayner, I think we all saw what happened," the girl, Olette, replied the obvious.
Then, a little beeping sound is heard within the sandlot, which is answered when Nyx is noticed to tap by his ear and a familiar voice is heard from where his finger is placed.
"Hey, Nyx, had a little trouble out there?" Libertus inquired.
"Yeah, the black creatures wouldn't let up," Nyx answered. "Lucky for us, we got some unexpected help."
"…Well, that's fine and dandy, but you'd better hope the captain can take that answer as well as I can," his friend said with a warning.
Nyx let out a chuckle. "I don't think he's gonna reassign me over getting help from visitors or civilians."
Luna and Medea looked at each other, curious as to what they just heard. They've met the members of the town security when they first arrived, but they hadn't had the opportunity to learn more about how the security team actually worked. This might give them a chance to find out who is in charge of security.
A little tug on the coat sleeve caught Luna's attention as she turned to see the shorter boy next to her along with his buddies.
"Hi. I'm Pence. Thanks for the help," Pence greeted her in gratitude.
"Hello to you, too. My name is Luna. It's nice to meet you," Luna reciprocated politely. Then, she shifted the subject. "Are the three of you okay? How did you and your friends get caught by the Heartless?"
The blond boy, Hayner, tilted his head in confusion. "Huh? That's what those things are?"
"Well, whatever they were, it was pretty scary," Olette answered. "We tried to retreat to the usual spot as soon as they appeared, but they wouldn't let us leave the sandlot."
"That would explain why they were being a pain in the ass for the security guards," Medea commented.
Hayner immediately gave her a weird look. "Wait…did you just –"
The conversation is interrupted when a new face entered the sandlot, momentarily silencing the environment. Entering the scene is a middle-aged man with short brown hair and a slight beard, blue eyes, and scars on his otherwise light skin. He is dressed in a dark red leather jacket with black pants, black leather gloves and black leather boots. On his jacket, it's noticeable he wears proudly a few medals, probably from past feats of great service in the line of duty.
"Nyx, Circe, report," the man commanded sternly.
"The black animals – or rather, 'Heartless', as we've come to learn – gave us more trouble than we thought, Captain," Circe replied, thankfully adjusting identification on the enemies. "It would've been much worse for the civilians had help not arrived at the right time."
His brow rose in suspicion. "You called for backup?"
"Actually, the help came of their own volition," Nyx clarified, gesturing to Luna and Medea behind him. "It's these two we owe thanks to."
The man turned to Luna and Medea's direction. "And you two are?"
"Oh, um…my name is Luna," Luna introduced herself shyly, "And the lady accompanying me is my Guardian, Medea."
Despite the effort to not make a negative impression to the head of security, both women couldn't help feeling a bit uncomfortable when the captain approached them, inspecting the pair with an inquisitively piercing gaze they swear could pierce through their bodies and peer into their true natures. Maybe he's the type of man in charge that doesn't want to take chances of finding anything dangerous about them, or doesn't trust them for the moment?
"Neither of you are from around here, are you?" he interrogated them, "Where did you two come from?"
"A long ways off," Medea replied bluntly. "That's as far as I'm saying."
"They said they're refugees seeking shelter, Drautos," Nyx clarified. "From who and why, we don't know…yet. However, I promise they aren't a danger to the townspeople."
Drautos didn't seem too impressed in the slightest. "Don't go easy on them too soon, Nyx Ulric. Resident or refugee, security must properly document identification of anyone who comes through town."
Luna turned to Circe with a confused face while Medea gave a frustrated scowl toward the security captain. Since when did they have to give information to proper authorities? None of them were informed of such thing when they first arrived in town. In retrospect, they doubt the subject was ever brought up to Roxas and his friends, and they likely might've popped in and out of Twilight Town without being held up by security for their troubles. But as far as both women are concerned, they don't want to divulge too much about themselves at the risk of giving away their location to their enemy. Also, has DiZ ever considered the possibility someone might give them weird looks because of the fact they don't mingle with everybody? They don't think that'd likely happen.
Circe sighed in annoyance. "Okay, okay, we'll bring these ladies to the station and make arrangements with them, Captain. I can't promise they'd be willing to share everything about them, but we'll do what we can to ensure they understand their rights and what lines to not cross under any circumstances."
As frustrating as it is to have to comply with orders, it seemed to pacify the captain enough to depart from the sandlot to other parts of town. Of course, what didn't help matters is the fact that the three teens who witnessed the whole thing couldn't help cringing at the subject of conversation; probably because they have a quiet awareness something is not going to entirely go the captain's way, whatever it might be.
"Sheesh…what a stick in the mud," Hayner grumbled aloud. "I know he runs security and all, but he doesn't have to act like he's got a bug up his butt."
Luna turned to Pence. "Um…is that man always this harsh to people? He doesn't seem to trust anyone."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. Drautos can be ridiculously strict, but he's not stupid to assume everyone's up to no good. Well, maybe he'd give Seifer a hard time because of his behavior. Just don't take everything he says too personally, and you'd be able to move along under his radar."
"Strict, my ass! He was totally judging us," Medea huffed irritably. "Did ya see how he was looking at us? I swear he's trying to find something nasty about us."
"Maybe he'll lighten up when you get the hang of things in town," Olette suggested, offering a little optimism.
"I hope so…" Luna reluctantly agreed.
Nyx sighed as he shook his head. "Well, there's not a lot we can do." He turned to the youths. "You three are free to continue on if you wish. Circe and I have to head back to the station and report back what happened here."
"Luna, Medea, would you two please come along with us?" Circe requested.
The Guardian let out an exasperated groan under her breath. "Alright, alright, let's just get this over with…"
"Maybe we can ask a few favors from them while we're at the station," Luna speculated.
At the request of Nyx, Hayner and his buddies made their departure, albeit reluctantly, from the sandlot while Luna and Medea are escorted along by security to the station under the captain's orders. For a moment, though, it's noticed at least Pence gave a small wave of 'good luck' before departing around the corner with the rest of the group. It may not be much, but the least it dis is it gave the girls some ease preparing for what they might have to deal with.
The Twilight Town security station, as far as the girls can see, is much simpler in model in contrast to the rest of the buildings in town. While some businesses have bright glowing signs attempting to attract customers or houses have tiny details to help individualize the lodgings of its residents, the station is colored a darker shade of red and brown on the outside, and the interior is a mix of tan and blue. There might be a lot of offices within the place as far as the girls are concerned, but they couldn't tell because the closest they were led is the entrance where a few offices are opened wide in invitation while others are closed tight, alerting anyone passing by there is private business being conducted. They can see a few people passing in and out of the halls, but most aren't recognizable as they seem completely oblivious to the new faces being lead inside the building.
Fortunately, the monotony is broken when Calypso turned up at the entrance just as Nyx and Circe have brought the girls in. She immediately gave a friendly smile when she recognized the familiar faces.
"Hey, guys! Everything went alright at the sandlot?" she asked casually.
Her sister gave a long, dismayed sigh. "The pests gave us a hard time, and the captain just had to lecture us about supervision over new arrivals after having just been helped out."
Calypso's smile dropped bit. "Oh, no…what criticism did Drautos bring up this time around?"
"The jackass snipped at us just because we helped your buddies out, and he wanted to have us written down for some dumb reason," Medea answered with a growl.
Nyx shrugged. "Yeah, the captain insisted any newcomers should be recorded."
"To be honest, I don't remember hearing we have to do this beforehand," Luna confessed, "Still; I don't feel comfortable talking about us here and now…"
"I'm with my master on this one. I'm not keen on spilling any beans to just anyone, not a single detail to save our asses," Medea agreed stubbornly.
Well, this provided an interesting dilemma. The security team's captain wants to have information on the latest batch of visitors making a temporary stay in Twilight Town, and it's not hard to understand why given the things that have been going on in town. At the same time, however, it's a serious invasion of privacy to pry deeply into the affairs of people security hardly knows from the beginning. Besides, what are the chances said visitors are escaping from something or someone too dangerous for even them to handle?
Then, an idea crossed Calypso's mind. "Did the captain say the documentation needed to be done today?"
Luna and Medea looked at each other and back. "We don't think so."
"Well, then, there's our answer. We can make documentations, but we just have to arrange an appointment beforehand," she explained, "After all, depending on what other parties are involved, we'll want to be verifying connections before we confirm temporary citizenship."
"So what can we do until then?" the Guardian inquired.
"Well, if nothing else for now, you can rely on us for information or accommodations you need," Calypso replied. "Ask us anything you need to know, and we'll answer as best we can."
Now that's something they can come to an agreement with. Since they don't know any place where they can acquire information, it wouldn't hurt to seek out security for information on the town if it's more convenient for them.
In fact, Luna knew just where to start. "Well…in that case, I'd like to ask a question: do you know anyone who wears a black fedora?"
That caught Nyx's attention very fast. "Anyone with a black fedora? That's a bit concerning. Where did this happen?"
"While Medea and I were exploring town, we encountered a man near a blocked gate," Luna explained. "We spoke with him only briefly, though, and he called himself a man of no consequence."
"What did he look like?" Circe asked.
"Reddish hair, amber eyes, black and grey clothes with bits of white, and a hell of a lot taller than even I am," Medea summed it up. "Do I even need to mention how nosy he was? I tell ya, he somehow knew we're newcomers from the get-go, and we didn't even tell him who we are whatsoever!"
"Is he someone familiar to you?" Luna inquired.
Calypso shook her head, her face already showing unease. "No, I don't think we know this man. The way you both described him and how your encounter with him went down, however, is a concerning matter. We'll have to investigate whether anyone else saw him before we post any warnings."
Alright, that's one situation addressed, so they'll just have to wait to know the results. Now what else could they ask from security while they're here?
Thinking back in the early stage of settling in the mansion, when Luna and Medea were asked to investigate a world for any sign of trouble by Riku (in which it was an order from DiZ passed to him to relay on available allies), a hurdle that wasn't handled too well is regarding how to communicate their findings or whether they need to discuss anything of importance. In the girls' defense, they were just starting cleanup and they haven't been able to acquire reliable resources for them to use in order to improve communication and maintain some level of anonymity among the townspeople. They have the help of Roxas, Axel and Xion regarding averting the Organization's attention, so they only need to arrange additional help they can get while they're in the town itself. Granted, someone within the town will start asking questions about them, but if they can keep identification on them as minimal as possible, it would help continue to delay the Organization's hunt on them. Because of this, it would be a good idea to acquire the means to communicate to each other no matter where they are.
An idea crossed Luna's mind. "Could I ask another question?"
"No problem. Ask away," Nyx said with enthusiasm, happy to have something else to focus on.
"Do you have anything my companions and I can use to keep in touch with each other?" she asked, "My Guardian and I went somewhere else for a while, but we didn't have a way to talk to the others at the time. I mean…it's something we should've thought about earlier. Besides, if we have a problem, I don't know how we'd be able to call for help if we need it."
She didn't know how much the security officers understood with what information she gave, but the instant she mentioned her concerns about being able to call for help, Circe immediately marched her way into one of the nearest offices and came back with a package box the size of a hardcover book and a skinny book the length of a novella. Inside the box is a set of earpieces attached to small microphones that can be worn around the ears, much like the ones seen on Nyx and Circe's person after the Heartless situation.
"I don't know how tech-savvy you guys are, but I hope these would help," Circe said as hand over the goods. "They're a slightly older set, but they should still be functional so long as you handle them with care."
"That stuff what you use to talk with each other?" Medea questioned.
"Yep. It's part of security policy to keep these on our person at all times should security have an emergency," Nyx replied.
"Oh…are you sure you want us to take them?" Luna asked them, feeling a bit guilty for taking security property. "I don't want you all to get in trouble for this."
"Like my sister said, they're an older piece of equipment. Don't worry about it," Calypso said, waving it off. Then, she leaned in to whisper, "Besides, I'm sure the captain won't mind us donating the set for a good cause."
Well, that explains why they're insistent on permitting the girls to take the earpieces without charging them. If anything, it has to be done partly out of genuine generosity to new neighbors and partly because they wanted to do something a little rebellious without causing too much trouble to their workplace. Oh, well. What can they do? Anyway, after chatting a little longer with the security members, Luna and Medea had to continue on their way through town and return to their own business for a while. Though they didn't disclose where exactly they're living, the girls are thankful nobody is being nosy as to their affairs so far.
By the time Luna and Medea have returned to the Old Mansion, they're greeted by Nero carrying two large cans of white paint down the stairs, both of them already emptied after having been used up for another part of the renovating projects for the mansion rooms. When they entered the main entrance, he stopped at the bottom and shifted his attention to them.
"Back already? Did you find anything new in town?" he inquired.
"Well…there is more to Twilight Town than we initially thought there is," Luna replied, "I think we might be able to meet more people soon. Though, we did have a few…interesting encounters while we looked around."
"Seriously, you should've seen the new faces we met today," Medea emphasized. "First, there's a creepy guy in funky clothes who we know jack about and yet he figured out we aren't from around here like it's already obvious. Then, after we helped those security guys get rid of the Heartless scaring some kids, we met their boss who was very damn judgmental about us even though we hadn't done anything to peeve him off."
Nero raised a brow, intrigued at the news. "Well, that's new. I guess we'll have plenty to look forward to during our stay."
"You don't sound surprised at all," the Guardian deadpanned.
"Well, Twilight Town is different from places both of you would be more familiar with," Nero reminded them. "You'll get used to it. We just need to watch ourselves with the Organization wandering around. But then again, I don't have to tell you two twice."
True, they didn't have to be reminded about their enemies and exercising caution, considering what they experienced before and what they heard from DiZ. However, it doesn't mean they have to stay on edge 24/7 since Axel and friends made potential friendships between them very promising. Granted, regarding that situation, they'll have to make sure to keep this union under the nose of DiZ since he probably wouldn't take the matter too kindly. Oh, well, it's not like he needs to be in the know about everyone's personal affairs if he's focused elsewhere by the time they've assembled their base of operations.
"So, is everything ready, Nero?" Luna asked, changing the subject. "I know you've been pretty busy the past few weeks repairing everything in the mansion."
Nero sighed deeply. "It took a lot of work to fix the machinery and restore parts of the mansion for reliability, but at least the place will be hospitable for us while we're here."
"Great. I'd be happy to have plenty of downtime in the mansion – assuming the old man doesn't throw me in the middle of a swarm of Heartless," Medea said sarcastically.
"Still, hiding in a mansion is better than being in the middle of the town streets," Luna said with optimism. "And with the townspeople being friendly for the most part, I think it would make blending in a little easier for us for a good while. I don't think the people Axel and his friends are involved would think of searching here…at least, I don't think so."
"Yeah, true. I guess all we have to do is figure out who's using which rooms," Nero agreed.
