Terra and Ninten made their way through Podunk. As they went, the boy made a small stop at a burger joint. "It'll be my treat!" He insisted, buying food for him and Terra both.
The young man was thankful and let Ninten treat him a bit. Especially since the Keyblade wielder hadn't had anything to eat for a long while. Munching on the burger with content, he glanced down at Ninten. "So, where are we going next?"
"I don't really know." Ninten replied, mouth full of food and barely able to be understood. "I was gonna go towards Merrysville. It's the next town over to the east." The boy explained.
Terra had already understood that Ninten didn't have too explicit of a goal in mind, so he just accepted the answer. This investigation he was doing was lacking a concrete foundation, and that was pretty unfortunate. Still, the young man was willing to help out however he could for the time being. There was always a chance he'd have to leave midway through Ninten's exploits. He couldn't stay in this one world forever…
"Is there any specific reason?" Terra asked. "Any specific phenomenon you've heard of?"
"Nope!" Ninten replied simply, as if it didn't matter in the slightest. "It's just the next closest town, that's all."
Well, that was fair enough, Terra supposed. He had to wonder just what was going on in this world. It was clearly something that wasn't normal to the inhabitants, and that Starman Jr. probably wasn't working alone. Why would it just be making zoo animals go crazy for no reason? Was it an alien? Was all of this caused by an alien invasion…?
Too early to say.
The two went to the northeast in silence as they finished their burgers, the trip itself was normal, nothing jumping out and attacking them. Pretty soon, they reached a bridge blocked by two police officers.
"Well, we got radioed and apparently a lot of the craziness died down, so you can go past." One of them said.
"There's been rumors about a weird rock in a nearby cave, though. You should avoid that." The other added on as Terra and Ninten walked by.
As soon as the officers were out of earshot, Ninten piped up. "We have to find that cave. Maybe it'll link with some of the stuff that's going on…"
"You think so? That Starman Jr. thing seemed like an alien. Do you think that's the cause of all of this?" Terra asked, getting his Keyblade ready just in case as the two went on.
"Maybe! He really did look like a space man, didn't he?" The boy recalled, seeming more excited than scared. "Maybe the rock is an alien rock or something." As he spoke, he started to get more serious, a look of concentration on his face. "…Actually, I think I do feel a bit of a pull…"
Terra wasn't able to feel anything, so he assumed it was connected to Ninten's mysterious PSI abilities. "The rock, maybe?"
"I think so…! Let's follow it!" Ninten said, leading Terra towards the east. The two didn't have to travel far, a cave opening making itself known to them.
Once they entered, the found themselves in a small stone passage that was surprisingly bright for a cave. Whatever was lighting the way was unclear, though. Now that they were in the tunnel, Terra started to feel something as well. Not a pull like Ninten had described, but some sort of faint energy.
The way was silent, neither of them daring to make a noise until they found themselves in a round area, a single large stone standing before them. It was blatantly unnatural, pink in color and with a spiral pattern and an XX etched into it.
"Is this the stone? I feel some kind of energy coming from it." Terra remarked. It wasn't a menacing feeling, like when Unversed came about. Instead, it actually felt welcoming.
Ninten didn't say anything, approaching the pink stone without fear and placing his hand on it. He flinched, but out of surprise rather than pain. "Those words…" He murmured, digging through his pockets.
"Words? What words? Are you okay?" Terra asked, still having Earthshaker at the ready in case something dangerous appeared.
"The rock spoke to me…through my PSI abilities." Ninten explained, taking a small, worn looking book from his pocket. "The words were in my great-grandfather's journal." He opened up the old pages and cleared his throat, reading from the book. "The forgotten one of the ship that sails the cosmos."
Without warning, a bright pink light enveloped the cave.
Just as suddenly as the light appeared, it went away…but the two were no longer in the cave. They were outside somewhere…but very blatantly not anywhere near Podunk. The world around them was very pink, the ground itself seeming to be made of some sort of pink cloudlike material. The sky was a gorgeous, hazy sight, and all around them were pink spirals with doors on them. Houses?
The two stood before a white spiral structure sticking out of the ground, and around them was a green river with a bridge leading to the mainland. Across the bridge, by the odd houses were people in robes and pointed hats. Some pointed out the two newcomers, each one seeming very excited. The homes were surrounded by a sort of fence made of more white spirals, with only a single opening leading elsewhere.
"Ninten…what is this place?" Terra asked, keeping his guard up. There was a feeling of peace and tranquility, as if nothing bad could happen. Yet he was still paranoid, in an unusual new land that he was dragged into.
"Magicant." Ninten murmured, as if prompted to do so by an unseen force. "I've never seen or heard of this place…but I know that's what it's called."
Terra didn't get it, wondering if this was still connected to Ninten's powers. "Well…it seems safe enough…" From what he could tell so far, at least. "Or, I guess it feels safe, somehow…"
"I know what you mean. I think this place is fine." Ninten remarked, once more walking forward without fear, crossing the bridge with Terra close behind him.
One of the figures, a man, approached. "You two wear such strange clothes. Monsters will surely come after them!"
A young girl spoke up, staring intensely at the two as if studying them. "You're outsiders, the first we've ever had. You should speak to Queen Mary."
Monsters A queen? These people seemed a bit…out there to Terra. "Why? We're not in trouble, are we?" Was trespassing in this dreamlike world a crime? The Keyblade wielder felt this was a world entirely separate from the one he met Ninten in…
"Goodness, no!" The man remarked, shocked. "We're all glad you're here! Well, Ninten at least. We don't know you." He said this last bit to Terra only.
"You know my name?" Ninten asked, also shocked.
"What? No. What do you mean, child?" The man replied, genuinely confused. "Please, go to Queen Mary if you have questions."
"Right…We'll do that." Terra said, leading Ninten off out of earshot. "There's something odd with these people. Should we do what they say?"
Ninten nodded, seeming sure of his decision. "I don't think they want to hurt us. It feels so peaceful here, I can't imagine it's bad at all." The boy said, seeming almost confused as he spoke, as if not sure where he got this information from. "I don't know what else we can even do."
That was a good point. They were sort of stuck. If anyone in this odd land knew how to leave, surely it'd be the Queen. "Well, I don't see a castle around here." All the houses looked exactly the same, after all. "Maybe it's outside the fenced area."
"Yeah, let's go take a look!" Ninten agreed, leading Terra towards that part of Magicant. The robed people watched the two go, some of them giving friendly waves, which the pair politely returned.
It seemed Terra's hunch was right, because once they left the small settlement, they saw a large palace straight ahead. It too was fenced off by the white spirals, three guards in front of is only opening. The palace was grand and was also made up of pink shells like the homes.
"That has to be the place. For some reason, that one guy knew your name…maybe he also has PSI?" Terra suggested as the two made their way towards the palace. "Though then again…he didn't know mine…"
"This place…I think it's tied to my great-grandfather somehow. Or maybe he knew of it. That stone in the cave talked to me…mentioned a line like one in my great-grandfather's diary." Ninten explained. "That's all I know, though…"
A possible alien invasion…and now some sort of world connected to the one where Podunk resided? Terra was baffled as to what was going on and what he was getting himself into. "That makes sense…it's all so unusual…" He said, still keeping Earthshaker out, just in case.
The two remained silent for the rest of the trip, stopping in front of the trio of guards blocking the way to the palace. "You may enter…but only if you can guess the answer to my riddle." The middle guard said.
"Alright, shoot." Ninten said with a grin. "I like riddles!"
None of the guards said anything, staring expectantly at the two. "…The riddle?" Terra pressed, wondering if silence was somehow the riddle itself.
Ninten's eyebrows raised. "Wait…" He murmured, concentrating on the middle guard, and reaching out with his telepathy. "Ah! Two alligators!"
"Very good!" The guard said, sounding genuinely excited. "I didn't come up with the riddle yet, but that was the answer. You may pass!" He got out of the way, allowing Terra and Ninten to walk through.
When the duo entered the palace, they were met with a refreshingly cool interior that was a calming shade of green. The walls, ceiling, and even the reflective floor, had a green tint to them. Lining the hall were men in odd uniforms, creepy sacks covering their faces with only holes for the eyes. They stood at attention with spears, clearly the guards.
"You two! Guests!" The nearest one exclaimed, like the guard seeming sincerely ecstatic to see the pair. "Queen Mary will want to see you! Please, follow me!"
Terra and Ninten did just that, walking close to the guard. "Say…what does Queen Mary want with us, exactly?" The Keyblade wielder asked, still having Earthshaker out. This didn't seem to alarm the guards, though with the sacks on their heads, their expressions were impossible to gather.
"What is this place?" Ninten added on. "Magicant. It's all so strange…we don't really know how we got here, exactly."
"Magicant…" The guard replied, as if hearing for the word for the first time. "Magicant." He repeated, slower as if trying to taste the word. "I've had dreams that Magican vanished…it was awful…"
Terra frowned, getting a little annoyed at how hard it was to get a straight answer from anyone. "But where is this? Another world?" He asked directly.
The guard went on, as if he didn't hear Terra. "Queen Mary has nightmares too. She'll sometimes shout out that she's scared, in a tone as if scolding a naughty child. Then she starts to sing a tune, just a simple one. After that, she always awakes in a sweat, and forgets the tune." His voice grew somber. "We're all afraid she's sick…"
"A tune?" Ninten piped up, turning to Terra to speak to him. "I think it may be the tune bits I've been hearing…"
"Maybe." Terra replied, not bothering to ask the guard. Chances were his question would just be ignored again. "Hopefully Queen Mary can answer that."
Not long after this exchange, the two found themselves in a grand room, a pink carpet on the floor leading to a throne. On it was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. As the guard mentioned, she didn't seem too well. She appeared tired, as if simply sitting there exhausted her.
Despite this, she smiled at the two as they grew near, shaking her head as Terra moved to kneel. "No, that's unnecessary." She gently chided. "Stand tall, young man." Queen Mary smiled when Terra did as told. The woman then turned to Ninten, seeming happier to see him. "Welcome, Ninten. Here in Magicant, everyone is your friend, and we all love you. What is ours is yours, as much as you want."
Ninten seemed perplexed at this. "I, uh, appreciate that." He replied, clearly not knowing how to handle such an overtly generous statement. "With all due respect, Your Majesty, but why? I don't even know what this place is."
"It's Magicant." Queen Mary replied, as if it answered everything. "You probably want to hear me sing, don't you? I'm afraid I can't…for some reason, I simply am unable to." She sighed, seeming quite weary, as if the short conversation had already exhausted her.
"The song…I think I've been hearing the tune your guard told us about." Ninten replied, giving up on getting clear answers on what Magicant is. "Is this it?" He whistled once more, letting out the song he had Terra listen too.
As Ninten's whistle faded, Queen Mary's eyes widened. "Oh! Yes! Ninten, that's it! Those notes!" She seemed partly energized just hearing them, but it quickly faded. "Oh…Yes…there are eight parts to it. Please, I implore you, learn the other five, and then sing them to me. I don't know why, but…it's so terribly important!"
The boy seemed hesitant for a moment, but ultimately nodded. "Okay…but…how do we leave?"
"Hm?" Queen Mary at first didn't seem to understand what Ninten meant. "Oh! Yes…you must venture into the Crystal Cavern to the southeast. There, you must slay The Fish to gain an Onyx Hook. This will allow you to return whenever you want. As for leaving…the exist should be in the caverns, yes…"
"Should be?" Terra replied, frowning lightly. "Your Majesty, do you not know for sure?" Normally he would be far more polite, but the unusual nature of the people in this world were starting to get to him. This had been the most straightforward any of them had been, and even then it sounded strange. Killing a fish to get an Onyx Hook?
"It should be…" Queen Mary repeated. "It's dangerous in there, so please be careful…" She rested into the throne, clearly feeling tired.
Terra and Ninten took this as their cue to leave. "Thank you, Your Majesty." The boy said, the same guard leading the too out.
Once they had left the palace and were heading southeast, Terra broke the silence. "Do you want to do as she said? With the Onyx Hook and the melodies?"
"I do." Ninten said simply, humming in thought. "I don't know why, but…I really want to help her. Something about her seems so familiar, but I know we've never met…" He sighed, frustrated. "I don't get this place at all! At least there's a goal in mind…maybe somehow this is all tied to the aliens."
Well, this was another world, but didn't seem like the type of place that the Starman Jr. would come from. Then again, what type of place would it have come from? "Well, I can't stop you. Let's see if we can't find that fish she mentioned…"
The two didn't have to walk too far, a large opening with a ladder becoming visible within the pink clouds. As they got near, they felt a cold draft, an unsettling feeling washing over them for the first time since entering Magicant. "She did mention monsters…" Ninten murmured, climbing down first.
After Terra followed Ninten down, he looked about the Crystal Cavern. It certainly seemed like the walls were made of some sort of crystal, so that was accurate. These walls seemed to actually glow on their own, providing enough light for the two to move around.
Still having his Keyblade at the ready, Terra walked in front and kept his eyes and ears at the ready for oncoming danger. The two stayed quiet at first, quickly realizing that the area had a number of different passages and routes. Who could say how big it really was? With no real way of telling which way was best to go, the two picked their routes randomly.
"If we're hunting a fish…we need to find a body of water of some sort. There just doesn't seem to be any around here…" Terra remarked after about fifteen minutes of walking about. It was hard to tell if they were going in circles or if they were actually making progress, which made things more difficult.
Before Ninten could reply, something appeared before the two! An odd entity floated before them. It resembled a massive pair of human eyes attached to a bulbous nose with a scruffy mustache beneath. The two prepared themselves for it to do…something…yet it just floated there. "Hello!" The creature spouted out in a very distinctly human voice before floating away harmlessly.
"…H…Hello…?" Ninten called after it, blatantly unsure of what to make of things. Turning to Terra, he shrugged. "I…guess it's friendly?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Terra remarked, watching the strange being as it floated out of sight. "Let's hope everything in this cavern is that harmless. I'm just glad there doesn't seem to be any Unversed…" He was so turned around earlier that it slipped his mind to ask Queen Mary about Vanitas or the Unversed. Given there was no Unversed activity yet, it seemed safe to say they hadn't gotten to this world.
Naturally, soon after Terra said this, the two rounded a corner and saw something far more menacing. A massive red dragon was curled up in a chamber, facing the two as they froze in place. They quickly, however, realized something very important…
The dragon was asleep.
Even from a distance, Terra and Ninten could hear its snoring and saw its chest rise and fall as it snoozed away. "Jeez…that thing is enormous…" The boy said with a heavy gulp. "We shouldn't go that way…yet…" He added on the last word as though it were an afterthought.
"Yet?" Terra asked, speaking quietly in case the beast head them. "Why would you ever want to go near that thing?" As he said this, the two went back the way they came to look for another route.
"I dunno…something tells me I'll need to come back here." Ninten replied, letting out a sigh of annoyance. "I keep getting hunches about this place, but I can never explain them properly! It's really getting on my nerves!"
Terra felt bad for Ninten but didn't know how to really help. "Hey, it'll be fine. I'm sure if you keep finding those tunes, it'll all start making sense." Really, he had no idea how true that was, but it made sense to him.
All Ninten did was grunt in response, clearly still not sure of things.
The two felt as though they wandered about the cavern for hours. Time seemed to flow oddly in Magicant, though. Some points it seemed minutes passed by in seconds. Other times a single minute seemed to take ages. It was impossible to tell just how much time went by.
As it turned out, not all the monsters were as harmless as the floating face. Terra and Ninten encountered odd bears with green fur as well as floating eyes that chased them about, neither of them feeling up to slicing or smacking giant eyeballs.
Just when the two thought perhaps they'd never get out, a large yellow object appeared on the ground before them. It took the two only a few moments to realize what the scaley thing was. "Is that The Fish that Queen Mary talked about…?"
It most certainly was a fish! Massive, about as big as Ninten, and covered with golden scales. Its eyes were closed, and its mouth hung open to reveal razor sharp teeth. "It's gotta be…looks like it's dead already…" Terra replied, looking around. There wasn't even any water nearby, so how did it…?
As Terra pondered the riddle, The Fish's eyes snapped open, and it lunged at the two. Letting out a startled cry, they backed away, Ninten putting up a barrier that The Fish crashed into.
"It's alive?! Looks at how its moving!" Ninten blurted out as The Fish recovered from bashing into his shield. The scaley creature floated about as if it were in water, staring at the pair with large, bulbous eyes.
"Not the weirdest thing in this world…" Terra replied, lunging forward, and swinging at The Fish with Earthshaker. To his shock, the animal weaved around the attack and sank its sharp teeth right into Terra's arm, causing him to cry out in alarm and pain.
"Hold on!" Ninten shouted, slamming his baseball bat down on The Fish's body, having to hit it two more times before it let go and turned its attention on him. It swam through the air at the boy, quickly turning its body so it slapped its tail right in Ninten's face, knocking him off balance.
Terra went back on the offensive, ignoring his injured arm as he swung Earthshaker at The Fish once more. Frustratingly, it was able to weave through the attacks, darting about as if it really was a fish pushing itself through the water. The Fish was an awkward opponent to fight, so the Keyblade wielder wasn't faring as well as he should.
The young man got between The Fish and Ninten, aiming Earthshaker right at it. "Fira!" He shouted, unleashing a wave of flames at the floating creature. It was stunned, clearly not anticipating its opponent to unleash fire at it, allowing the attack to land and singe The Fish all over.
Recovering from his previous attack, Ninten rushed forward and smashed the stunned, burnt creature with his baseball bat so hard that it slammed into the ground. As it did so, it let out a horrid retching sound and coughed up a hook before lying still.
"…Geez…that thing was weird…" Ninten murmured, rubbing his face, a bruise forming where he got smacked. "You alright, Terra?"
The young man winced a bit but nodded. "Yeah…I've had worse. You okay?"
"Just a bruise." Ninten remarked as he went over and picked up the hook, grimacing at the slobber that coated it. "I think this has to be the Onyx Hook." He said, wiping it off with his shirt. "So, this'll take us back to Magicant…" At that, he put the item in his pocket.
"Seems pretty convenient. Now we just need to find a way out of here." Terra said, glad the fight was over. A giant, flying fish out of water…what else would he run into during this trip? Between The Fish, there were zombies, rabid animals, aliens, floating eyeballs…if anything, the Unversed were the least of everyone's problems!
Without delay, the two went forward, still looking for a way to leave. Thankfully, they didn't have to travel much farther, the two stumbling along an opening in the wall. As they approached, a figure appeared! It was a man, but he just…was there! One second the space was empty…the next, this man just popped into existence!
Making out the man's features was hard, especially since he was facing away from the two, staring into the darkness ahead. All they could really make out was that he wore blue clothing. Even the type of clothes was hard to tell, it was as if staring at him made their eyes go unfocused!
"Uh…sir? Who are you?" Terra asked, gripping Earthshaker, just in case. He didn't seem hostile, but with all the oddities Magicant had thrown at them…who could say?
Without looking at the boys, the man spoke. Despite facing away, his voice was still loud and clear. "I am a forgotten man. I'm not really here. You didn't have to notice me... Please ignore me…" He rambled, his tone so very empty.
"…Sir?" Ninten asked, neither he nor Terra having any idea how to respond. "What do you mean? Is this the way out?"
The Forgotten Man went on, it not entirely clear if he heard what Ninten even said. "I am a man who does not exist. You talk so kindly, I don't know what to do. If I miss people, I cannot live alone anymore."
Terra was starting to really get annoyed, his temper flaring a bit. "Please, just move! What do you mean you don't exist? We're talking to you!" The nonsense that the people of Magicant kept spouting out was really getting under Terra's skin. He tried to peer around the man's shoulder to see his face, but he just couldn't make it out…
"My conversation is always a monologue. I've been alone from the moment I was born…" The Forgotten Man said, it still not clear if he even really knew that Terra and Ninten were actually there.
"Hey…you're not alone, though. We're here!" Ninten remarked, trying to sound optimistic. "Are you lost? What's wrong?"
Yet again, The Forgotten Man ignored what was said to him. "Lucky, unlucky... It makes no difference to me. Sometimes, even breathing becomes too much." He sounded so broken, as if all the emotion had been wrung out of him…
"Are you sick? Like Queen Mary?" Ninten asked, frowning. "Do you have asthma too? I know how that feels, sir."
"Why do you insist on talking to me? Are you a forgotten man, too?" The Forgotten Man asked, finally acknowledging the two explicitly. Still, he didn't turn to face them.
A forgotten man? What did he mean by that? Neither Terra nor Ninten knew what to say. One couldn't be forgotten so easily, especially in the company of others. "Um…yes…?" Ninten replied, not sounding sure, as though he wanted to just say what the strange man wanted to hear.
"Don't give me that garbage. Just leave me alone. You have a girl waiting for you. A girl you haven't met yet." The blue-clad figure mumbled, still staying very much still.
"A girl…? Someone I'm supposed to meet…?" Ninten murmured, confused. "What do you mean, sir?"
"You. The other one." The figure piped up. "Are you a forgotten man?"
Terra was put on the spot…and decided to do the opposite of what Ninten did. "No, I'm not."
"That's right. That is right, right? Go ahead, ignore me, like everyone else." The Forgotten Man replied, sounding very defeated.
Once more, Terra was unsure of what to do. This backwards logic was almost making his head hurt. "…Fine. We will." This was what the opposite of what he'd normally say in this situation, but given the nature of Magicant, he felt this would make it the correct thing to do.
"That's right." The Forgotten Man said, almost with a sort of snort. "Thank you."
No sooner did those words escape those lips that the figure vanished. Like before, it was instantaneous. One moment here was there, then the very next instant he was gone!
"…How'd you know that would work?" Ninten asked, staring at the empty space where The Forgotten Man was.
"I didn't." Terra admitted with a sigh. "I just gave the answer I didn't think would be right. With how odd this place is, that turned out to be the right answer…" He had to wonder who that man was…and what scarred his heart to make him say such things. "Do you have any idea what girl he meant?"
Ninten shook his head. "No…but I think she's someone that will help on this journey. Maybe she also has powers, so she knows we'll meet…Then again, the people here say such odd things, it could be a total lie…"
"I guess we'll just have to see. Come on, let's see if this is the way out." Terra said, walking forward with Ninten close behind.
No sooner did the two cross the threshold of the opening did the world around them change. No longer were they in the Crystal Cavern, or Magicant for that matter. They were once more in front of that pink shell structure with the XX engraved into it. Except…they were in a different, much smaller cave, with the entrance just behind them.
"We're in another cave!" Ninten exclaimed. "So…we got dumped here instead of in that first cave…" He murmured. "I hope we're still near Merrysville."
"I'm so it's fine. Let's go out and take a look. Maybe you'll recognize the area." Terra remarked, once more leading the way as he started to exit the cave.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Sorry, about all this, Terra! I've never actually been to Merrysville before, honestly.." Ninten said, following Terra closely. "I think maybe there was another way to get there, I think the way that took us to that cave was the long way…or maybe just the wrong way entirely…"
Well, that wasn't good! Terra decided to keep things positive, the pain in his arm fading as the two walked. "Well, it seemed like it was important that you found Magicant, so it's no big deal."
The two quickly found themselves out of the cave and outside once more, no time seeming to have passed since they left. They were in a grassy area with trees, a large grey building nearby them. From their angle, they could see the sign over the door. It said 'Sweet Little's Factory' in bold letters. The building itself seemed like it was abandoned, or maybe just closed and a bit rundown…
"Wait! I know this!" Ninten exclaimed, pointing at the building. "I've heard of that factory, it's just to the south of Merrysville!" He sounded relieved, letting out a happy sigh. "Thank goodness, we're still on the right track after all!"
"Glad it worked out. Come on, let's see what we can find in Merrysville." Terra would yet again lead the way, heading north as Ninten followed behind him.
As it turned out, Ninten was entirely correct. Not long after leaving the factory behind them, the two saw a town ahead, a sign welcoming them to Merrysville. The town was about the same size as Podunk was, with a mix of tall buildings, homes, shops, and all sorts of other things. Right off the bat, the feeling in the air was a lot more relaxed than in Podunk. The citizens were going about their business, not seeming concerned about anything.
"Mmm…I thought my dad said stuff was happening all over…" Ninten murmured, confused. "Things seem cheerful here."
"There could still be something up. We only just got here." Terra pointed out. "Besides, whatever's going on can't be effecting every single city or town, right?"
Ninten nodded at that. "Good point…"
Though as Ninten said that a scream erupted from behind the two. Turning around, they saw a terrified man running away from something unseen. "The school!"
"What is it, what's wrong!?" A young woman asked, fear evident on her face.
"Monsters at the school!" The man shouted, continuing to run away. "Out of nowhere!" This made the people about murmur and gasp out in shock, looking to a large white building in the direction the scared man came from.
Instantly, Terra sprinted towards the building. "Unversed! They've just gotta be…!" He grunted.
"Hey! Wait up!" Ninten yelled, running after Terra, but not able to catch up too easily.
As Terra approached the building, he saw students and adults fleeing, a number of Floods by the entrance and going after them. With a cry, the young man threw Earthshaker at the nearest Unversed, the weapon going right through it and into the ground, dispelling the Unversed in an instant. He soon reached the weapon, grabbing it as the Floods stopped chasing the students and staff and brought their attention to Terra.
All the Floods attacked Terra at once, but even with a dozen of them going at him, they didn't stand a chance. Lifting up Earthshaker, Terra unleashed a Magnet spell, lifting the Unversed into the air where they were sitting ducks, allowing him to slice through the creatures with ease until they were all a dark mist.
It was only at this point that Ninten caught up, huffing lightly. "Hey…! Come on, don't run ahead like that! Your legs are longer than mine!"
"Sorry, but I can't let the Unversed hurt anyone. I'm going to make sure the school is emptied out." Terra responded, quickly entering the school.
Ninten nodded, following Terra into the building. Thankfully, a vast majority of the students and staff had already cleared out. The ones that remained only suffered some scratches or bruises at worst, the remaining Unversed being cleared out as the duo climbed up the building.
Before long, they reached the staircase going to the roof. "Should we check up there?" Ninten asked, panting lightly after having taken out quite a few Unversed with his bat. "Might be more of those things there…"
"We should, just in case. Someone could be cornered up there for all we know." Terra sad, climbing up the stairs in a hurry. He was just thankful no one had been seriously injured, though the school was in bad shape with busted in walls and doors knocked off the hinges from Bruisers.
When the two reached the roof, they saw nothing of note. No Unversed, no people. Just a metal trash can in the corner. Off in the distance, there was the view of a massive mountain with the top covered in white clouds, an unusually ominous aura coming from it…
"Nothing here…" Ninten commented, about to say something else when the trash can suddenly shifted a bit startling the two. The boy put his finger to his lips at Terra and slowly crept towards the trash can. When he got there, he tapped at it with the end of his bat, causing it to flinch violently.
"H-Hey! Go away!" A boy's voice called from inside the trash can. "Leave me alone!"
"What the?!" Ninten exclaimed, jumping at the sudden occurrence. "What are you doing in there, kid?!"
"I'm not coming out!" The voice from the trash said. "Just go away, I know you're trying to bully me!"
Ninten frowned at that, looking to Terra and then back at the can. "Hey…that's not true. Haven't you heard the commotion! There's monsters!"
There was a bark of sarcastic laughter from the trash. "Monsters? I don't believe it! Just leave me alone!"
"Look, there's really danger." Terra remarked, approaching the trash himself. "Come on, everyone else has evacuated."
"Wait, is that…an adult?" The boy in the trash can said, the lid lifting ever so slightly. There was the glint of a pair of glasses from inside, but it was still to dark to make out more than that. "I've never seen you two before…"
"We're not from here." Terra remarked. "Listen, creatures are attacking the school. We cleared them out, but more might show up…"
Instantly, the lid closed up again. "I don't believe you! Go away! You just want to bully me!" The boy shouted stubbornly.
"Hey, come on, we're not gonna do that!" Ninten argued, frowning heavily. "Come on, didn't you hear the people yelling? Let's go!"
"No! No, just leave me alone!" The boy in the can shouted, far more desperately this time. As he did so, a negative feeling blanketed the air. Instantly, three Scrappers appeared between Terra and Ninten.
"More Unversed?!" Terra exclaimed, instantly slicing through the nearest one.
Ninten yelled out, charging the one closest to him and giving it a few good whacks with his baseball bat and destroying it. The last one swiped at the boy a few times, making him run away as Terra shot a single fireball at it, destroying the creature in an instant.
"Whew…that was weird…" Ninten said with a sigh of relief. "They came out of nowhere!"
Terra had too wonder about that. They appeared as the boy in the trash can got really upset. It made him recall something that happened a while ago, back in Hyrule. At one point, Link had gotten very stressed after talking to that large owl, then some Unversed appeared. This boy in the can got very upset, then Unversed appeared. Could just anyone summon the creatures by accident if they felt nasty enough emotions? The Unversed were directly tied to such things, after all…
As the Keyblade wielder pondered, he glanced over and saw that the trash can lid was off, and the boy inside was standing up, mouth agape. Luckily for him, it seemed the trash can was emptied before he got into it. The boy himself had, oddly, stark white hair. Along with that, he wore a big pair of glasses and a red shirt and with a backpack on. He seemed pretty frail and was shorter than Ninten. Apparently he had peeked out with the commotion going on.
"M…Monsters…they were real?!" The boy gasped as he reached over and pinched his own arm. "Ow…not a dream…"
"See? We told you! We weren't trying to bully you, we just wanted to help." Ninten replied, staying pretty patient about all this.
"…Sorry…" The boy replied, stepping out of the trash can. "That was pretty cool…did that thing shoot out fire?" He asked, pointing at the Keyblade.
Terra nodded. "Sort of…hey, let's just focus on getting out of here. More of those might appear. Come on." Only waiting enough to see that Ninten and the boy were following, Terra turned and started back down the stairs.
"What were those things? I've never seen creatures like that!" The nerdy boy asked. "Oh, and I'm Lloyd, by the way. Thanks for that rescue…"
"Those are called Unversed, and uh…I don't really know what their deal is. Nice to meet you, Lloyd. I'm Ninten, and that's Terra." Ninten said, giving Lloyd a friendly grin. "All sorts of weird stuff has been going on…"
Lloyd nodded, humming in thought. "I've heard rumors…about poltergeists and things…but I thought it was all fake."
"It's pretty real. We even saw an alien, and visited a strange world called Magicant!" Ninten exclaimed, seeming more excited than anything about all the craziness.
"Mmm…I'd normally be skeptical…but with what I just saw…I don't know what to think." Lloyd replied.
"What were you doing up there anyway? It's a good thing we found you when we did." Terra kept his guard up as they went down through the school again, but thankfully there were no more Unversed.
Sighing, Lloyd fiddled with one of the straps of his backpack. "Hiding from bullies. They like to pick on me…call me names…that kind of stuff."
"Oh…well, I'm sorry Lloyd. No wonder you wanted to stay in there." Ninten replied. "At least you're safe and sound now, though."
Lloyd nodded before quickly changing the subject. "Where are you two going anyway? Apparently you've been doing all sorts of dangerous things."
"It's hard to explain…but with all the craziness going on, we're sort of investigating." Ninten replied. "We're a bit at a loss of where to go exactly, though. Is there anything weird going on in Merrysville? Usually, we find what we're looking for by going to places with oddities."
Terra realized that was a good point. Investigating the zoo let them find the monkey, going to the cave got them to Magicant…and Ninten also found two of those melodies at some point, surely under equally unusual circumstances. "It's true, though we're no closer to finding out what's going on."
"Here? Aside from the monsters just now…not really." Lloyd remarked after a moment of thought. "I have heard about a girl with powers in Snowman, though."
That really got Ninten's attention. "Powers? What powers?"
"I don't know. All I know is that people call her magical, but I've never heard any real details." The boy in glasses said with a light shrug. "Does that help?"
"Mmm…I think so." Ninten said with a light nod. "That weird guy in Magicant said a girl was waiting for me. If she knows about me, she'd surely have powers. So maybe it's the girl you're talking about, Lloyd."
At this point, the three had gotten out of the school, where they saw police starting to arrive. Quickly, they made their way across the street and away from the area to avoid being held up.
"So, we're going to Snowman, then?" Terra asked, putting Earthshaker away for the time being. He'd stick around with Ninten a bit longer, but it wasn't like he could stay in this one world forever. There was no evidence Vanitas was around, after all…
"Yeah! And I think there's a train that goes there nearby." Ninten remarked, looking over to Lloyd. "Hey, thanks for the help. See you around, maybe!"
With that, Terra and Ninten turned to leave, but quickly turned back around as Lloyd shouted out. "Stop!" The white haired child gulped as the two looked to him expectantly. "I…um…take me with you!"
Terra was pretty surprised at that. Not in an attempt to be mean, but he had noticed that Lloyd seemed…less than capable of combat. "What? Why? It's pretty dangerous out there, you know…"
"I know! That's why I want to go!" Lloyd explained, sniffling lightly. "All my life, I've been called weak and picked on for it. I want to change that…if I can go on this adventure, it'll prove I can hold my own! It'll help me grow!"
Ninten hummed in thought, tapping his baseball bat against his shoulder. "I mean…if you really want to…but what about your parents?"
"My mom's sick…and my dad's always out looking for some rare flower to help cure her. She's in the hospital, so if I left, neither of them would probably notice before I came back." Lloyd explained, once more fiddling with the strap of his backpack.
"Well…okay!" Ninten replied without much thought. "I don't mind! Do you, Terra?"
The young man wasn't really happy with the thought…but it wasn't like he could tell Lloyd what to do. It wasn't his job. If things got too much for the white haired child, Terra would probably strongly urge him to leave, but until then…he felt his hands were tied. "No problem here. Do you have anything to fight with?"
"Wow! Really?!" Lloyd remarked, eyes widening behind his glasses. "I didn't think you'd say yes! Um…I have my stun gun in my backpack. I have it in case of a severe emergency. Not just bullying, though…that's too much firepower…"
That was a pretty nasty weapon, which surprised Terra. "Alright, then it's settled. We'll travel together. You said there's a train station nearby, right Ninten?"
"There is, yeah." Lloyd interjected. "I know where it is, it's not too far outside of town, I'll lead the way." He started to walk, leading the trio. "On the way…how about you two tell me what's been happening…"
"Alright sure, it's a lot to tell…" Ninten agreed with a chipper smile.
As the three made their way north, Ninten started to explain everything from the start. He recalled the poltergeist that had attacked his home, the strange tune he heard from one of his sister's dolls, the call from his dad, his great-grandfather's journal, the second tune that he heard from Laura the Canary, and then everything he and Terra had been up to. He even whistled the first three parts of the song he had learned to Lloyd.
By the time Ninten was done, the trio had made their way out of Merrysville, walking next to some train tracks. "Wow…that's a lot…" Lloyd remarked with a shake of the head. "A part of me doesn't even want to believe half of it…but I have no reason to doubt you. What do you think will happen when you sing the whole song to Queen Mary?"
"I don't know…something that will explain what's going on, maybe." Ninten offered, not seeming too confident.
Soon after this, the three arrived at the Union Station, a small crowd of people there awaiting the train to be ready to depart. "Never been on a train before…" Terra remarked, looking at the vehicle. All of them had been destroyed during the massive war in his homeworld. At least all of them in his country…
"You two wait, I'll get some money. My dad probably deposited some into my account." Ninten said, going to a machine in the corner, putting a card from his pocket into it and then withdrawing money. Not something Terra had seen before…
After buying the tickets, Ninten started back to his companions, but an elderly woman came up to him, a small pink hat in her hands. "Excuse me young man…" She said, her voice quiet but very sweet. "Are you going to Snowman by any chance…?"
"Huh? Oh! Yes, ma'am. Why do you ask?" The boy replied, confused.
The old woman offered Ninten the hat. "A girl named Ana dropped this, I think. The name is embroidered in the hat…I know she lives in Snowman, could you deliver it to her?"
Taking the object carefully, Ninten looked in the hat. Sure enough, the name 'Ana' was embroidered into it. "Yes, ma'am, not a problem!" After getting a thanks from the elderly woman, Ninten went up to Lloyd and Terra, who overheard the ordeal. "I wonder if Ana is the one that's waiting for us."
"Probably. Things have a way of working out like that." Terra remarked, recalling how he just so happened to come across Link and Navi, who were friends of Ventus, or how he, Ventus, and Aqua all happened to end up in Radiant Garden at the same time.
"Attention! The train for Snowman is now departing! Attention! The train for Snowman is now departing!" A pleasant female voice called from a loudspeaker.
Quickly, the trio got onto the train, a couple other passengers doing so as well. The three quickly took their seats, and within a minute or so, the train started to move. Terra let out a sigh of content, glad to get a bit of a rest. "Did the guy selling the tickets say how long the trip will be?"
"He didn't…but I don't think Snowman is that far away, is it?" Ninten asked, the pink hat in his lap. He directed the question at Lloyd.
"I've never been there myself, but I think it should only be an hour or two." The glasses wearing child said.
Terra sat back in his seat; arms crossed. "I'm going to sleep, then." It suddenly hit him just how tired he was as he closed his eyes. He hadn't gotten any sleep since leaving The Land of Departure. He just hopped from one world to the next! The young man slowly closed his eyes as Ninten and Lloyd chattered to each other about something or other…
"…Hey…Terra…wake up…" Ninten's voice called, causing the young man's eyes to open. "We're about to pull not the station!"
The Keyblade wielder hadn't even noticed falling asleep. He was getting settled in and then was out like a light. Apparently he had been far more exhausted than he had realized! After that nap, though, he felt a lot better. Rubbing his eyes lightly, he looked out the window.
Before Terra was a field of white with the ground, hills, and trees all coated in snow. It was then that he realized how cold it had gotten! The young man shivered, eyeing the quaint little houses within the town. He'd be able to tolerate the low temperatures until they met up with Ana, assuming the girl with the missing hat truly was the one The Forgotten Man mentioned.
After the train pulled into the station, the trio departed and went out into the cold. "Really wish I had a jacket!" Lloyd complained, rubbing his arms as his teeth shattered.
"Yeah, let's get Ana and leave quickly!" Ninten agreed, looking around at some of the various people in Snowman. Like in Merrysville, there was a lack of fear or stress in the air. The bundled up citizens went about with little care. Though they did give the three newcomers odd looks, surely because of how little they had prepared for the cold weather.
"Excuse me, sir?" Terra said, walking up to a nearby man in a poofy black jacket. "Do you know a girl named Ana? We're looking to return her hat." He gestured to Ninten, who showed the hat off to the man.
"Oh, Ana?" The man asked, brows raising. "Yes, she's an odd one. No surprise that he hat found its way back to her. She lives in the church over there." He pointed to a large, fancy looking building with stained glass windows. "She hasn't come to school for a while, so a lot of the town's worried about her…"
An 'odd' one? Maybe because she possessed PSI powers like Ninten? Either way, Terra nodded. "Thank you, sir. Come on, let's hurry." He said the last part to Ninten and Lloyd, the three rushing to the church so they could get out of the biting cold.
Thankfully, the church doors were unlocked, and the trio entered the place of worship, snow already speckled in their hair and on their clothes. The atmosphere inside was very peaceful, and there was hardly anyone in there at all! There was a priest near the back of the church, eyeing the travelers and giving them a friendly grin.
The only other person in the church was a young girl sitting in one of the pews. She was even shorter than Lloyd was, with blonde hair and blue eyes and wearing a pink dress. This girl was reading a thick book bound in leather. As the door to the church closed, she turned to the trio and gave a smile as she closed her book and put it in her bag.
She approached the three, looking at them as though they were old friends coming for a visit. "I've seen you three in my dreams." The girl announced, cutting right to the chase. "Ninten. Lloyd. Terra…" She went on, looking to each of the three as she said their names. "My name is Ana, it's a pleasure!"
That was certainly a bit unnerving, a complete stranger knowing all their names. At the very least, it confirmed their suspicions that Ana was the one they were supposed to meet with. Ninten in particular had a bit of red in his face. From the cold, or…?
"It's nice to meet you two." The black haired boy said, offering the pink hat to Ana. "Uh, here, an old lady asked us to return this."
"Ah! Thank you!" The girl chirped as she took the hat and placed it on her head. "Much better! I knew it'd find its way back once I had lost it."
Terra quickly recovered from the oddity of having his name said aloud by a complete stranger. "So, you saw us in your dreams? You have powers like Ninten?"
"That's right!" Ana replied, seeming pretty chipper about it. "I've seen you three in my dreams, and I knew you'd be coming soon. I want to go with you on your journey."
"You too?" Lloyd asked. "Why do you want to go with us?"
Ana frowned a bit, fiddling with the hem of her dress. "Well…it's my mother. She's gone missing…I want to go to Youngstown and investigate. A lot of adults have gone missing there, so maybe their disappearance and my mother's are linked." She sounded distressed, but quickly put herself together.
Missing adults too? Was it linked to the aliens, maybe? Terra was starting to wonder just how big this all was. "I have no objections…it'll be dangerous, though, but I'm sure you know that."
"I do." Ana admitted. "I don't like using my powers, but I will if I must. I am frightened…but my father and I have discussed this, and it's something I must do."
"The more the merrier, right?" Ninten asked. "I don't have a problem with it! We'll find your mom, Ana!"
That really cheered Ana up, giving a bright smile. "Thank you, Ninten. You have a good heart. All three of you. Maybe with a bit of darkness…but such things can always be overcome." She glanced quickly at Terra as she said this.
Terra supposed it shouldn't be much of a surprise that Ana could read hearts since she was able to see into the future in her dreams. Once more, he was worried about a child coming along on this journey, but if she had powers like Ninten, it'd surely be fine. And, again, it wasn't Terra's place to stop Ana, especially if her dad agreed.
"Then it's settled. Do you need to say goodbye to your dad?" Ninten asked.
"No…we've said all we needed to." She turned to the man in the back, who was watching the four intently and giving him a wave, which he returned a bit nervously. "Let's go to the train station and out of here. We won't need to stick around Snowman."
Ninten's brows raised at that. "You know where we need to go?"
Ana hesitated before speaking. "I think so, yes. There's word of a haunted house in Spookane. We'll need to go there first. We'll have to go to Yucca Desert after that…the rails from Union Station to Youngtown is broken, so we'll have to walk…"
"Wow, those powers of yours really come in handy!" Lloyd said with a breath of relief. "At least we have a good route now!"
"I'm glad I could help. I'd like to know more about what's been going on though. I see the future, yes, but not so much the pats…" Ana admitted, leading the boys out into the snow.
The quartet rushed to the train station and Ninten bought the tickets to Spookane. It was a shorter trip, only a little over thirty minutes. During this trip, Terra stayed awake, idly listening as Ninten and Lloyd talked to Ana about everything that's been going on since the poltergeist attacked Ninten's house. The girl listened intently, fascinated by the talk of Magicant and the fragmented song, which Ninten whistled for her.
"…and then we went to Snowman." Ninten finished as the train neared its destination. "Do you know why we need to go to this house?"
Ana shook her head. "Not exactly. I have a feeling, though, it's connected to that song you've been learning piece by piece."
The train soon reached the station, the quartet disembarking. "Well, it can't be worse than the graveyard or the zoo…" Ninten remarked. "I hope it's another poltergeist. I don't think I can fight actual ghosts…" As he said this, he swung his bat gently and idly.
"My stun gun wouldn't work either…" Lloyd said, not seeming all too happy about going into a haunted house.
"I think I can handle them, leave the fighting to me." Terra said, feeling as though Earthshaker would work. Keyblades weren't simply durable hunks of metal. They were imbued with complex, sometimes subtle, magic that even Master Eraqus admitted to not knowing the limits of.
"I think my PSI might work…I just hope I won't have to…" Ana said, once more fiddling with the hem of her dress, apparently a nervous tic.
"Well, glad that's settled…sort of." Ninten said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ana, do you know where the house is?"
Ana pursed her lips in thought. "Mmm…I think so…or at least, I think I can find it…" She said, not sounding too sure of herself as she lead the quartet out of the station. Spookane was smaller than Podunk, Merrysville, or Snowman. It was built into the mountains, but still had tall buildings like hotels.
Unlike the past two towns, however, there was a heavy feeling in the air. People were out and about, but…they didn't seem happy with it. In fact, there were tents scattered about right outside of people's homes.
"What…? What's going on here?" Terra asked, looking about. He got Earthshaker out, just in case things went south…
"Excuse me, ma'am!" Ana called to a nearby woman who was walking by. "Why are there tents everywhere, and why do people seem so sad?"
The woman seemed shocked, as if Ana just asked what color the sky was. "You mean you don't know? The town is haunted!"
"Wait, the entire town?!" Lloyd exclaimed, shifting so he was behind Terra a bit. "I thought it was just one house!"
"You mean the Rosemary's house?" The woman asked. "That's where it all started, but it soon spread to the rest of the town. Or at least, it spread to the houses. The hotel and hospital is fine, but otherwise…" She shivered. "Look, you should just move on…"
"Which house is the Rosemary's?" Terra asked, then quickly thinking ahead. "…So we know to avoid it. It's probably the worst one, right?"
Nodding, the woman pointed to a large, ancient looking house up on a hill, seeming to overlook the entire town. It was in disrepair, and most certainly looked haunted. "It's there. Like I said, though, you should just leave. Whatever business you have here isn't worth it…" Without waiting for a reply, the stranger went off, seeming to be in a hurry.
"Huh…well, the house kind of sticks out when I look at it." Ninten pointed out with a bit of an amused tone. "Come on. Maybe we'll find a way to stop the hauntings if we go inside."
Terra nodded, taking the lead this time with Lloyd still using him as a human shield. "Right. It's worth a shot." He wasn't sure how it would help, but maybe there was central force they could take out that would end the hauntings? Terra also wondered why there were no Unversed about considering the negative emotions in the air. The woman only mentioned ghosts, not monsters. Maybe these ghosts were able to muscle the Unversed out somehow?
The three children stayed behind him as they went towards the house, a feeling of dread coming over them. When they got to the front door, they realized it was slightly ajar. "Oh…I really don't like this…but I have to be brave…" Lloyd murmured, mainly to himself. Despite what he said, the white haired boy was the last to enter the house with Terra, Ninten, and Ana going ahead of him.
The inside of the large home was hardly better than the outside. It was dark, dusty, and with little furniture. The wallpaper was peeling, the floorboards had holes in them, and there was a soft murmuring in the air.
"This doesn't feel like the poltergeist in my house at all…" Ninten remarked, readying his bat.
"You'll never make it out of here! Hee hee hee!" A disembodied voice rang out, sending shivers through the children.
"Who are you?! Show yourself!" Terra demanded, brandishing Earthshaker. He wasn't afraid, ready to fight ghosts or spirits or whatever was in the home.
The voice laughed; its origin impossible to pin down. Though it presumably came from a ghost. "Never make it out! Never make it out!" It taunted, cackling, and fading until it was silent.
"I really don't like this…" Ana said, clutching the leatherbound book of hers tightly.
"Don't worry. I've faced a lot worse than ghosts." Terra remarked, taking a few steps into the house. The atmosphere was pretty creepy, yes, but he wasn't actually scared.
The three kids followed behind him. Ninten had his bat, Lloyd had his stun gun, and Ana surprisingly took a frying pan from her bag and put her book away. "What's with that?" Lloyd asked, nodding at the pan.
"I try not to se my powers." Ana explained. "So, I brought this as a weapon…"
And as Ana said this, the four were suddenly surrounded! Half a dozen shapes appeared, bulbous, transparent masses with faces and large grins. Ghosts, to be sure! Right away, Ana shrieked and raised a hand in front of her. Right away, a blast of fire shot out and erased two of the ghosts within the blink of an eye.
All was still, even the ghosts seeming hesitant to proceed. "I thought you didn't want to use your powers!" Ninten exclaimed.
"Oh! Um…" Ana sputtered. "…I got startled…"
Terra was surprised to see such force come from the girl. He expected her abilities to be passive like Ninten's. Still, he seized the opportunity at hand, and attacked the ghosts while they were stunned. As he expected, Earthshaker was effective! The blade went right through the specters, and in doing so, it caused them to vanished. He took out the four shapes before they had a chance to counterattack.
"II think maybe Ana should lead the group…that fire's dangerous." Lloyd suggested, still staying behind everyone else.
"Lloyd! I've never fought with my powers before…" Ana whined. "I just got carried away…" As soon as Ana said this, a ghost appeared above her, shrieking loudly and lunging towards her. Once more, she let out a scream and a bolt of thunder shot from the palm of her free hand. This bolt went right through the ghost and destroyed it.
"…Right…So you use it when you get scared?" Lloyd asked, actually holding back an amused smile.
Ana huffed. "Never on people! I've never hurt anyone with my powers! Don't be mean!"
"Hey, we should really focus!" Terra called out, still on alert. "More spirits could appear, and we need to find something that would produce music of some kind."
That got the kids to focus, following Terra as they went further into the massive house. As they went, more spirits appeared. They were thankfully dispatched relatively easily with Terra's Keyblade or Ana's PSI. Ninten and Lloyd tried fighting with their weapons, but they simple phased right through the ghosts…
The quartet went from room to room, not finding anything of note. At the very least, nothing that would produce a tune of any kind. Eventually, they ran out of rooms to go not…except for the basement.
"We really have to go down here?" Lloyd said with a gulp, once more taking the rear as the four went down the rickety wooden steps into the basement.
"I know it's scary, but this is the only place we haven't looked." Terra pointed out. "If Ana's right, the fourth piece of the song should be in here…"
"I just hope I am right. My powers have never been wrong before…but I've never dreamed of such important things…" Ana said with a heavy frown.
With that, the four reached the basement. It was a single room with only a few things in it. Two large suits of armor against a wall, each armed with a metal spear. Between them, however….
"A piano!" Ninten called. "That's gotta be it!" He started to approach the instrument, but as he did so, the suits of armor came to life and charged at him. "Oh, geez!" The boy quickly ran backwards, ready to call upon a barrier.
Terra was faster than Ninten or the knights, though, slashing at one of the nights with Earthshaker. To the young man's surprise, the knight was able to guard his attack and keep on its feet.
The other knight went for the kids, who dispersed as the armored figure swung its spear about. Ninten went around and slammed his baseball into the side of the knight, but it just ended up making his arms shake violently from the impact and made him cry out.
Lloyd kept back away, brandishing his stun gun, which would just be useless against an opponent with no flesh of any kind. Ana, meanwhile, pointed her palm at the knight. "Ninten, look out!" She called. "Get back!"
The boy did as told, running from the knight. Before it could properly give chase, Ana let out one last type of attack magic. A chilling air erupted from her palm, encasing the knight, and covering it in ice and frost. This caused it to slow down, and then eventually it was frozen in place.
Ninten tried with his bat again, this time the blow breaking the knight into pieces, which fell uselessly to the floor and showing the suits of armor were indeed totally empty. "Nice one, Ana!" He praised.
Terra was still locked in with his knight, which moved surprisingly quick against his blows, but it was distracted when its brethren fell. The young man took this chance to attack swiftly, cutting the 'head' off of his foe. The rest of the suit of armor instantly fell apart at this. "Even haunted suits of armor…" The Keyblade wielder murmured. "Ninten, hurry over to the piano!"
"Right!" The boy replied, going over to the instrument, though thankfully nothing impeded his progress, and the rest of the group followed. When they all approached, the piano sprung to life, playing four slow, haunting notes into the empty manor around it.
These notes felt so soothing, and in fact the house itself seemed to sigh in relief and the despairing atmosphere vanished as the last note faded. "That was beautiful…" Ana murmured. "A shame it was so short…I wanted to hear more…"
"Well, that's the fourth melody, right? So, we can go?" Lloyd asked, still seeming freaked out even with the oppressive atmosphere gone.
"Yeah…I have it memorized…" Ninten said with a sigh of relief. "I think somehow the notes cleaned this place up. It doesn't feel dangerous at all anymore."
"I felt that too." Terra agreed, looking around. He still kept Earthshaker ready, just in case. "Come on, let's get going though."
With the remnants of the notes in their minds, the quartet quickly made their way out of the abandoned home. As Ninten said, the place wasn't dangerous anymore, and nothing impeded their progress. When they went outside, the nasty feeling that hung over Spookane was gone. They even saw people starting to go back into their homes!
"Wow, I can't believe that helped everyone!" Lloyd remarked, letting loose a sigh of relief.
"It's off to the Yucca Desert, then." Ana said. "And to Youngtown…"
Ninten sat down on the grass. "…I think I need a break first. I'm exhausted!"
"Oh...yeah, you've been through a lot more than the rest of us." Ana said, putting her frying pan away. "Do you have money for the hotel? We could stay a night or two!"
"Yeah, my dad put a lot of money in my account. More than enough for that." Ninten said with a smile.
A night or two? Terra pondered quickly before making a decision. This was probably a good time for him to go. As much as he wanted to help Ninten, Lloyd, and Ana…he couldn't stay in this world for too long. Certainly not, potentially, two days. He still had to track down Vanitas, after all.
"…Well, this is where we part ways, I'm afraid." Terra informed the kids, who all looked to him in confusion. He felt bad about leaving them in the middle of all of this, but this could take days, or even weeks to finish. The Unversed were a potential threat to all the worlds, so he couldn't stay behind for just one of them.
"What? Why?" Ninten asked, frowning. "Are you okay, Terra?"
"I'm fine…but remember how I mentioned that masked boy, Vanitas? I still need to find him…but I don't think he's around here." The young man explained. "But you three are strong, I know you are. Your hearts will lead you on the right path, and you'll get through this."
Ana frowned too. "It'll be a shame to see you go, even though we just met. I hope you find whoever you're looking for."
"Yeah…and thanks again for saving my skin back at the school roof." Lloyd added on, seeming bummed too.
Terra was starting to feel guilty with how disappointed the kids were, but he had no choice. "It was nothing. Good luck to you three too, you'll all be fine, I know you will. Maybe we'll even meet up again one day." He wasn't sure on that, though. Terra really did hope he'd see all the friends he made along his journey again one day.
With a final round of farewells, Terra walked off into the trees near Spookane as the kids went to a nearby hotel to rest. This world certainly had its share of…unusual problems, and that was without factoring in the Unversed. They didn't even appear too much compared to other creatures, and Terra wondered if they were somewhat muscled out. There were poltergeists, ghosts, and what seemed to be an alien invasion!
Still…Ninten, Lloyd, and Ana all had good hearts. Together, they would surely be okay. Lloyd needed to toughen up more than the other two, but friendship really went a long way. Terra just wished he could travel alongside with his own friends. He still felt bad for pushing Ventus and Aqua away, but for this one situation, he felt it best to travel alone.
Once Terra had gone far out of sight from anyone in Spookane, he donned his armor, summoned his glider, and left the world behind…
Ventus watched as the arena's owner and Inspector Tawashi fought, feeling pretty awkward as the adults had gone back in forth for a while.
"…I'm not going to accept vigilantes in this city!" The Inspector argued, crossing his arms and giving the owner a bit of a glare.
"Well, he did a lot more than you did!" The owner retaliated, crossing his arms as well. "Look, I'm sure he'll never do it again, so how about just letting him off the hook since he saved my life. That doesn't sound too unreasonable, right?"
The teen gulped lightly, giving a nod. "That's right. I swear, I'll never interfere ever again." He wasn't sure how much this would help, but…
Inspector Tawashi grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath before sighting. "Fine! Fine…" He relented. "I don't have time for this anyway. I'll let you and that friend of yours off the hook this one time. Next time, you're going down to the station, you got it?!"
Ventus nodded fervently. "Y…Yes, sir. Understood!" He still felt nervous even as Inspector Tawashi and his force got into their cars and started to leave. Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned to the arena's owner. "Thanks…I really owe you one!"
The man let out a laugh, shaking his head. "Well, you saved my life, so I'd say that makes us more even than anything. Honestly, Inspector Tawashi seems…standoffish, but he's really not as terrible as he puts on. I think you would've gotten off with a warning if you had behaved yourself anyway…"
Well, Ventus had no choice but to believe in the owner, but he was glad he didn't have to find out. "Still, I appreciate the help. I should go, though, and let you get things back under control here."
"Mmm, yes, I suppose." The owner said with a sigh. "It'll all be up and running before the matches start. Sorry you'll have to miss them. Next time, though, I'll reserve a seat just for you!"
With more words of thanks and some goodbyes, Ventus walked off back into the city as the arena's owner went back into his building. The teen was still so conflicted…
Even though he was grateful, Ventus still felt lost. What should he do? Zack was off preparing for a fight that he couldn't even watch. Maybe it was time for Ventus to leave this world…? He didn't even know! It felt like he was going about things in an aimless fashion, and it frustrated him. He never got a chance to ask about Vanitas…but chances were he wasn't around. With all the police about, they'd have run into him far before Ventus could.
As he walked down the sidewalk, Ventus heard a cry from inside a nearby alley, one belonging to a child! Quickly summoning Wayward Wind, the teen sprinted into the alleyway to see what was the matter.
There he saw a young boy cornered by half a dozen Scrappers, the Unversed closing in on him as he backed into the alley wall. This boy was smartly dressed with spiky black hair.
"Hey! Get down!" Ventus called to the boy as he prepared to throw his Keyblade. The child did as asked, ducking down as he threw Wayward Wind, the weapon spinning wildly as it soared. It cut right through the Unversed, reducing all of them to a dark mist which quickly evaporated. After the Keyblade returned to his hand, Ventus went over to the boy. "Hey, are you alright?"
The boy, who seemed to be maybe ten or so, let out a sigh of relief as he looked up at Ventus. Right away, something seemed…off about him. The best way to describe it was that he looked too…perfect. His skin was free of any sort of blemish or scar. It was spotless and clean. His eyes were unusual too, but Ventus couldn't put his finger on the reason why. Even his hair seemed odd, it having two spikes that seemed sharp at the ends, like they could legitimately cut through material, and the rest of his hair was absolutely perfect, not a strand of hair out of place.
"Gosh! What was that you just did? That was amazing, thank you!" The boy chirped, getting over the danger he had just been in remarkably fast.
"Oh, well…it's just a special weapon is all." Ventus said, playing it off as no big deal. "It's just a good thing you're okay."
The boy nodded, looking over Wayward Wind for a moment before looking over to Ventus. "My name is Tobio, what's your name?"
"I'm Ventus, but you can call me Ven." The teen replied, looking about. "Hey, uh…where are your parents? Aren't they around?"
"Mmm…I just live with my father." Tobio replied. "We got separated, and I should be able to find him easily, but I'm not supposed to fly in the city."
Wait, what?
"Fly? What do you mean fly?" Did Ventus hear that right? The kid looked a bit too old to be playing make-believe in such a strong manner.
"Oh!" Tobio exclaimed. "It's…nothing. Anyway, thanks for helping me out! I…" Suddenly he stopped and cupped his ears, apparently listening hard to…something. Whatever it was, Ventus wasn't able to hear it. "Oh! My father!"
The teen was really confused, what was with this child? He was about to further question him when a man's voice called from the alleyway entrance. "Tobio! There you are!"
Walking down the alley and giving Ventus a bit of a glare was a man with fluffy black hair and a strange black beard which in combination sort of gave him a rooster-like appearance. His large nose certainly didn't help. "Father!" Tobio called, running to the man, and hugging him around the waist.
"I told you to be careful, Tobio!" The man scolded. "What were you doing, running off like that? And who is this? Was he bothering you, son?"
"Oh! No, father!" Tobio said, letting the man go and shaking his head. "He helped me! Those monsters from the news were attacking me, but he fended them off!"
At this, the man's negative attitude quickly deflated, a look of relief on his face. "Is that so? Well, I suppose I owe you a word of thanks, then."
Ventus lightly waved it off with a shake of the head. "It was nothing. I was just glad to help, Mr., uh…?"
"Dr., actually." The man replied. "Dr. Tenma."
"Wait…I've heard that name…!" Ventus remarked. "A friend of mine mentioned you."
"Yes, I'm sure you have." Dr. Tenma said, not seeming too fond of where the conversation was going. "Once more, I thank you, but we must be going. Come along, Tobio."
Tobio seemed more hesitant to leave, however. "Father, can't I be friends with Ven? He's really nice, he saved me!"
"You'd have been fine, surely." The man replied vaguely, apparently confident that some monsters were no match for his son. "We have to return home. Now."
The boy was disappointed, looking sadly to Ventus. "Well…maybe we'll see each other again sometime. See you later, Ven! Bye bye!" He called, waving as Dr. Tenma took him by the hand and nearly dragged him off.
Ventus watched as the two went quickly out of sight, a bit perplexed. There really had been something odd about that boy. His appearance was a bit off…and he mentioned flying too, and then seemed to know his father was approaching by listening really hard?
He also felt…off. Ventus could feel the boy's heart, but something about it wasn't quite right. Not that the young Keyblade wielder could really determine the specifics. There wasn't an excess of darkness, but…
Oh well.
Sighing, the teen realized he'd probably never get the full answers anyway. It was kind of endearing how the kid wanted to be his friend. It almost reminded Ventus of himself when he looked up to Terra as they first met. He had been so young, and looking back it was a wonder that Terra wasn't put off by him…
But Terra was too nice for that.
Thinking of his friend made Ventus feel melancholy, wondering how Terra and Aqua were doing. Better than him, surely. This just made him want to leave the world even more. If only to move on with this seemingly fruitless journey and providing a way to distract himself. He donned his armor and summoned his glider, hoping the next world would provide more answers for him, maybe the teen able to figure out friendship a bit more.
Flying off, he thought of Zack. They seemed like good friends, but they barely knew each other. They went back and forth like Isa and Lea, but was that all there was to a friendship? He just had no idea…
Aqua, meanwhile, had not landed on another world since leaving Disney Town. She moved slower than usual, stressed about all the difficulties ahead. Hunting down Vanitas, helping Terra, helping Ventus…it was a lot to have on her shoulders. Sure, she was a Keyblade Master, but she had been so for less than a day before all this insanity started! Could she really handle this? Maybe she should go back to get Master Eraqus' help?
No…she couldn't. She wanted to prove to him she could handle this. She was too ashamed to go back with her tail between her legs to seek help. If Master Eraqus really thought she was worth of being a Keyblade Master, she had to at least try to stick it out. Aqua just had no idea if that was even remotely the right choice!
Sighing, the young woman flew on, trying to speed up a bit as she let her heart be her guiding key.
A/N: And with that, two more world visits down.
With an unseen third world left in this set, just another seven to go before the endgame. This chapter was longer than I wanted, but I didn't want Terra or Ventus to stay in either of their worlds for much longer. It also meant I had to rush through a few bits with Podunk. A lot to cover between the third and fourth Melodies. As for Astro Boy, I just wanted to get "Tobio" introduced, and I didn't plan for Ventus to do any more after parting ways with Zack, no matter the length of this chapter. I'm sure most people reading know little of Astro Boy, but don't worry, it's by far going to be the most obscure piece of media I draw from for a world visit. Speaking of worlds, did anyone catch the two worlds Terra passed by the in the last chapter based off pieces of media? They were explicitly so, in fact. This isn't the case for any worlds before the last chapter, though, those ones I just made up. I did mention a few gods near the start of the story, did anyone catch what those were from without having to look it up? Let me know, perhaps.
Also, a big thanks to those that edited the Tropes page for this story. I'd have spruced it up myself, but it's just not right for a creator of a work to edit a trope page based on it...