Persona X TWEWY X Kingdom Hearts
Summary: Trapped in an unfair game? Fighting against society? Changing the hearts of evil adults? Save the world? Discovering oneself? Nothing out of the ordinary for these teenagers.
Chapter Eighteen:
Expanding Horizons.
*Evening: Monday 4/25*
*Seven days until Expulsion*
*Wildkat*
Pacing around the empty café, Roxas occasionally clenches and unclenches his fists as he storms back and forth waiting. His teeth-gritting behind his closed mouth while his shoulders were tensed like he was expecting someone to punch him, and his eyes were constantly glaring at everything around him. All the while the other members of the treasure thieves were no different in their antsy affected bodies, Ventus was cleaning up the dishes they had used for a bit of lunch/dinner at the sink, but from the minutes passing by it seemed to the others he must have cleaned the dishes at least three times.
Xion was lying on the couch blankly staring up at the ceiling with the occasional sigh and tosses and turns on the couch until she either smothers her face in the leather armrests of the couch or returns to stare at the ceiling to count the number of tiles again. Naminé is near the windows absent-minded painting something on a blank canvas without much thought and more as a means to keep her mind off things, but a keen eye could see the tension in her shoulders and occasional tightening jaw.
"GAAAAH!" Eri yells as she slammed her magazine down on the café table, "WHERE THE HECK ARE THEY!? Ren said they were right behind us!". Unlike the others who concealed their voices of frustration within their mouths, Eri had been very vocal over the disappeared friends and had lasted no longer than five minutes to keep her frustrations quiet. Not that anyone could harp on her for the obvious disdain for the situation they were in.
After the five had escaped the Palace with at least twenty heavy bags full of treasure, Naminé and Eri waited near Shujin (where they all transported to the Palace) to wait for the others to come back while Roxas and the other two keyblade wielders took their bounties back to Wildkat. But after an hour of waiting, the two girls return to reveal with worry that their friends hadn't shown up, and worst of all when they tried to go back to the Palace, the navigator app refused.
"Destination being deleted my ass!" Eri scoffed when she tried for the eleventh time for it to work, "If the Palace or whatever is gone, then where's Shiki and the others!?". She groans and then falls back into the couch with a huff, grumbling about the app while the other guardians glance at each other, Xion pouting more worriedly as she sat up and hugged her knees. "Do you think they got lost?" she asked out of the blue, resting her worried chin on her knees.
"Not sure…Morgana didn't explain if the Palace extended all over Shibuya…" Naminé argued as she lazily dragged her brush down the canvas, "But I suspect the others must have at least escaped the Palace before it collapsed".
"We can't even go and look ourselves without the Palace…" Roxas grunts and punched his fist into an open hand, "So for all, we know they could be stuck in the Metaverse or whatever Morgana called it".
Ventus sighs to Roxas' aggressive tone as he places the same mug he's cleaned for the fourth time back on the shelf and skirts around the counter to join the others. "Look, I know we're all on edge and worried about the others, but there, sadly, isn't anything we can do for them," he says, standing before everyone, "Unless we know someone who can help us, we can only wait until they find their way back to us".
"But what about Mr. H?" Naminé suggests, "Surely he would know where they could be?". Eri looked at her oddly before Xion whines that they don't know where he is nor do any of them have his number. "Coffee man didn't tell us his number…" she pouts with a childish frown/pout appearing on her face. Naminé sighs in response, confessing that bit of information has escaped her common sense, lamenting they were living with a guardian without even having his contact details. "How the heck did you guys survive without him…heck, when was the last time this place was opened?" Eri asked.
"How should we know? We always come here after hours!" Roxas says throwing his hands up, and then turned to Naminé and asked: "Come on, there's gotta be someone we can ask right? I mean…".
"Pfft, ya know at this point? Maybe we should just wish for the others to come back," teases Eri with a weak smirk on her face. The three teens gave her a bemused look, grateful for breaking the tension in the air. Xion, however…
"I wish my friends will come home now, please!" she wishes clapping her hands together and even bowing her head as if she were pleading for donations. The four other teens just looked at her, Naminé quietly giggling while the boys gave her a sheepish smile and Eri rolling her eyes at the childish naivety of the raven but couldn't find it in her heart to tease her about it. At least one of them was finding some form of hope in stupidity.
Just then they heard a bizarre sound, the guardians immediately sensing magic in the air and shot up to their feet, startling Eri from the seriousness in their eyes. And then…
"ROXAS MOVE!".
He blinked and looked up to see it was raining Phantom Thieves from above, screaming and yelling for him to move before it was too late.
It was.
Dogpiled, Roxas bore the full weight of his friends landing on him with heavy thuds that likely shook the entire café and probably got a few onlookers to turn head to the sudden tremor occurring in the café. Inside, the Phantom Thieves were all a pile of co-joined bodies with clear signs of aches, pains, and discomfort in their expression while the ones on the bottom were clearly in agony. All the while the other four teens just stared at the pile of bodies, some with jaws wide open and eyes wide as dinner plates.
Clapping her hands and bowing again, Xion gleefully cried: "Thank you!".
"G-Guys…" Naminé whispered, turning pale, "I-is Roxas okay?".
Slowly with some help from the onlookers, the pile was taken apart and at the bottom of it, apart from a nearly turned pancake Roxas was Kairi laying on top of Sora, face smothered into his chest while the boy had a large bruise on his forehead. Xion helps up the poor Roxas while Naminé and Roxas separate the two teens, Kairi shaking her head dizzily while Sora incoherently greeted his friends with a dizzy smile.
"Are you guys okay?" Eri asks, helping Shiki to a couch.
"I think we've all either broken or fractured something…" Ren grunts as he has settled into the couch thanks to Xion, "But everyone else is here…". Once he had Sora settled into the couch with Eri and Shiki, Ventus quickly runs to grab more chairs for everyone else to sit down and rest while Naminé runs to grab some medicine for the wounded party and potentially near-dead Roxas. The poor former nobody groaned in pain as Naminé hands him some medicine while the Phantom Thieves took the medicine quietly, some groaning and then sighing in relief.
"Well, that…was something…" Neku grunts, rolling his shoulders and cracking a few joints. "What happened to you guys? Did Kamoshida do something?" Xion asked while sitting next to Beat and Rhyme. Neku shook his head and explained what happened after they defeated Kamoshida up until they reached the door, that they just barely escaped the Palace before it completely collapsed behind them, and what happened to the pervy king.
"So you guys think it worked?" Ventus asked, looking at Morgana curiously. "Probably…" was his response. This made the others frown and lament that did little to comfort the others, especially Ryuji when he brought up their school lives was literally on the line and they had less than a week to resolve it. Morgana once again repeats this was his first time stealing a heart and even worse was this was his first success as well.
"Hold on, let's not lose our heads," Rhyme says kindly with a touch of exhaustion, "Remember how much Kamoshida's personality changed back in the Palace? With his treasure stolen and Palace crumbled, this must have had a severe impact on his personality in the real world". She reminds everyone that the Palace was gone, and has Naminé confirm her words, but Beat grumbles that they weren't even sure it worked and didn't have a way to see any changes.
"I don't think we have a lot of options…unfortunately for us the only way we can see if there is indeed a change of heart from him is to…wait for the deadline," Ren sighed as he plucks his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The hot-headed teammates grunt in annoyance and anxiety while the others ruefully accepted the plan as it is. With all the gloomy expressions from both the combatants and Eri's group, Morgana whined.
"Oh come on! What's with those gloomy looks? Be happy! We managed to steal his treasure with great success!" he lectures with annoyance mixed with optimism. Kairi runs a hand through her messy hair and reminds Morgana that none of that is going to matter if Ren and the others still end up expelled and Kamoshida continuing his horrible ways. Morgana tries to boast that they were successful in their efforts and is sure things will be okay, but Ren reminds him of the numerous occasions where he always added "I think so" or something on the lines of doubt regarding his explanation.
"Hold up, speaking of treasure, did you take his?" Eri asks, gesturing to the thieves. At this, Sora lazily leaned forward and pulls out something from his back pocket. In his hands is an Olympian medal with a red and white ribbon attached to it. The five looked at it with confusion, recalling Ren saying it was a crown instead. "Morgana says the medal was the crown in the Palace, because it was the most important treasure to Kamoshida," Sora explains, flipping the medal in his hand.
"He was clinging onto past glory and couldn't let it go…pathetic…" Neku scoffed, laying back in his seat, "Doesn't excuse the shit he's done through".
"At least if this does work, not only will we be spared from expulsion but those students he's abused will finally get some justice for everything he's done," Ren reminds, "That alone will be worth it". Everyone nodded and hummed in agreement, and as Naminé clapped her hands with glee, she offered everyone some tea or even snacks before they all head home for the day. She doesn't wait for a response, as everyone's stomachs spoke for themselves and she gets off her chair with Ventus following her.
"Hey that sounds like a good idea…think we're gonna need it," Neku says with approval, "Could have a good coffee…especially when you guys explain to us who you are". Naminé and Ventus turned to him with confusion, but then Ren looks at them and says: "And maybe tell us what world you all came from?".
Roxas immediately tensed up while Xion looked confused and the other two guardians narrow their eyes, while Eri blinked. "…eh? World? What do you mean?" she asked the two leaders, "They're from Shinjuku aren't they?".
Neku turned to his friend and says: "During our escape, we went through a blue ghost door and next thing we knew? We were on an island".
"I believe you called it, Destiny Islands, right?" Ren added in, looking at Sora. The four guardians looked at Sora and his fellow thieves, sheepishly scratching the back of their necks though Riku had the look of regret in his expression. Ren leans forward and rested his elbows on his knees, eyes sharp with questions and wonder about the boy while Neku leaned back into the couch, more curious about Sora than anything else.
"Ghost door…wait…" whispered Roxas before he shared a glance to Kairi, who nodded in confirmation. He lowly swore as their teammates awaited for answers, except Eri, who looked even more lost. "Can somebody fill me in here? What are we talking about?".
"…we're not from Japan…or anywhere else in this world…" Sora confessed with a sigh, "Me, Kairi and Riku are from a world called Destiny Islands." Eri snapped her head to Sora, blinking and more confused while Riku explains that the door they all went through had brought them to Destiny Islands, their homeworld, and then they found their way back hereafter. "Okay…then what about you guys?" Shiki asked, turning to Naminé and the other three. They were silent, and none had dared to break the ice or disclose any more information about themselves.
"They're a complicated subject, so let's just focus on us for now and tomorrow we'll explain them soon," Riku says firmly, and for the first time since they met him the thieves were slightly shocked by the tone of his voice. Neku narrows his eyes with suspicion, but a voice in his heart told him to just trust them. He has so many questions regarding everything he had seen in that world, and the game he played back in that city of dreams with Sora and Riku came back to him like rushing waters. Just like that boy from his past, he may have issues with the secrecy Sora is carrying but he trusted him.
So if he trusted him to tell him, it was time to play that card.
"Show me that weapon," he says. Sora looked at him with hesitation, but instead of deflecting or even trying to change the topic, he shows acceptance and stands up from his couch and outstretched his right hand. Riku frowns with knowledge but withholds his voice out of respect for his best friend following his heart instead. Everyone watches him, Ren's team confused but bar Eri, Neku's group had looks of expectations as if they knew what was coming.
A brilliant flash of light encompasses Sora's hand and then the sound of a weapon being equipped is made as the light takes the physical form of a sword-shaped key. Kingdom Key appears in Sora's hand, polished and shining so bright like a beacon of light. Ryuji jumps backward over the couch with a shout while Ann backed away with a yell and Morgana's jaw dropped to the ground, and Ren watched in awe.
"HOLY SHIT!" Ryuji says, scrambling back up, "What the actual hell is THAT!?" he asked. Even Eri's jaw slammed to the ground in shock while her friends looked at the weapon with familiarity, exchanging glances with each other. "It's a keyblade, it's how we fight…" Sora confessed, swing it a few times, more because he nearly forgot how it feels to wield a weapon like this after such a long gap of time between use. The blonde blinked and soon enough the other wielders (minus Naminé) of the keyblade summoned their weapons, Xion doing it with more flair.
"…eh?" Eri squeaks, looking at the weapons and teens, blinking, "What the hell are you people…? No! On second thought! How? Why!? When did you two figure out they aren't from Japan!?".
The guardians dismissed their weapons and sat back down, and Riku says: "Let's go back to a few moments ago and explain".
*Destiny Islands, moments ago*
"WHERE THE HELL ARE WE!?" screamed Ryuji as he frantically looked around the new world himself and the other Phantom Thieves were currently trapped in, everyone bar three guardians trying to make sense from all this. "Seriously!? Nobody said anythin' about ending up in…! In…! WHEREVER THE HELL WE ARE!".
"Morgana? Care to explain this?" Rhyme asks, scratching her cheek while looking at the now normal-looking cat. The furball dryly remarked they were likely on an island, or a rather a small one judging by the mainland just a few rowing minutes away. But beyond that, he has as much of an idea of where they were as the other confused members of their thieving team. The youngest member sighed in response to his dry comment, and says: "I mean what happened? Is this part of the Palace crumbling or something entirely new?".
"I did SAY numerous times this was a first for me as well…" the cat replied, hopping onto Ren's shoulder to avoid burning his sensitive paws from the hot hand. "But I can safely say ending up on an island was the last thing I thought was gonna happen after we stole the treasure…".
"Is this Hawaii or something? The Canary Islands? Where in the heck are we?" Shiki asks as she laid Mr. Mew on her head to protect herself from the beaming sun, "How is this even possible? We went from Japan to another country?".
"Can't even get a signal…" Neku grumbles as he stuffed his phone back into his pockets, "So we've no way to contact Eri or the others".
As the others question everything about their new predicament and world, Kairi and her boys were glancing at each other with panic in their eyes. Quietly Sora asked Kairi to confirm that door they entered was for sure the very same one she and the others "used" to get to Japan, and like he feared she confirmed it was. "Didn't you use that door too?" Riku asked quietly, looking back at Sora. "Yeah, when I was stuck in the Final World, that door appeared, and a voice told me to trust it…and then I ended up in Kamoshida's dungeon…" revealed Sora.
"Do you think that voice knew we needed an exit after we took down Kamoshida?" Kairi asks, clasping her hands behind her back, "But why would it take us here…?".
"I dunno…but we've gone into a deep end here…" Riku laments, gesturing the whole island for them. His two friends nodded in agreement as they quickly joined the others to look as lost as the others on the whole ordeal. All the while Ren was trying to understand this as best as he could, thinking back to Igor's words for a clue to their situation. As far as he could recall, that door should have taken him back to the Velvet Room, something that pointy-nosed goblin man foretold him a little while ago, but instead, it took him and the others to an island.
"The hell do we do now…?" Ryuji asked, crossing his arms, "Like do we go askin' somebody where the freak we are?".
"That depends, who can swim from here, all the way to the mainland?" Riku offers, gesturing the mainland with his thumb. Rhyme quietly mentions the distance alone was a challenge enough but combined with the waves and potentially some very hungry aquatic creatures within the blue would make this challenge just a bit too much. And Shiki and Ann had checked the "bay" nearby and found not even enough wood to make a raft or anything.
"So the mainland is off-limits…we have no signal to contact anyone, and we've still no clue as to where we are…" Ren mentions, "Maybe we'd do better to explore this place and see if there is anything we can use to help".
"Aight…" Beat says with a shrug, "We don't get any thin' else ta do".
"Wouldn't hurt to have someone stay here in case somebody comes here though," Neku offers, "Any volunteers?". Rhyme offers to stay behind with Beat, Ryuji, and Ann while the others go explore the island. Sora's group taking the back of the land while the other thieves head along the shoreline, leaving the others behind.
However after an hour had passed, Ryuji took off with Ann to find something to eat while Beat decided to laze about in the sand, leaving Rhyme to quietly walk off towards the fountain for something to drink. Approaching it, she cups her hands and quenches her thirst easily, relishing in the fresh cool waters. "Least we have water to survive on should we be stuck here…" she says after wiping her jaw from the water. She turns to go back to the beach until from the corner of her eyes she spotted something.
Amidst the fauna and even some branches, she noticed there was a trail hidden within, and it looked like she could fit should she crawl. Deciding that everyone was doing their own thing, it'd be best if she at least scouted out more of the islands.
She crawls through the fauna and branches, breaking some off just to make her journey back as easy as it can be. Rhyme finds herself in a tunnel, small and a bit cramped for even herself, she feared how'd Riku or the other taller members would fare here as she walks down the tunnel. She comes to the intersection of this place and stands in the middle of a room decorated with drawings all over the walls and small boulders. Drawings were children's based on what she sees, dinosaurs, flowers, and people with houses.
The girl guessed children must come here a lot based on how little bare walls remained, almost everywhere was home to a drawing. Her eyes fall onto the end of the area and to her delight, she finds a door. The same door they had entered to escape the Palace's collapse, and just from grazing it with her fingers, she sensed it was working. "If I'm right, this door could take us back to Japan…or somewhere worse," thought the girl, folding her arms and weighing the pros and cons. Considering they were out of the Metaverse and luckily not in the UG, if they ended up somewhere else that could be a hundred times worse they would be defenseless.
Then again they ended up on an island where it seemed to be vacant from visitors. For all, she knows they would end up in wonderland the moment they entered this door. "Maybe I should bring the others here…then we can decide the best course of action…" she thinks to herself before nodding, "No sense in jeopardizing ourselves with more trouble than needed". Rhyme turns to leave until her eyes spotted something else.
Or rather something familiar.
Near the door was a carving, drawn likely by stone. It is a picture of two heads facing each other, one was carved like a sketch while the other is completely carved in like a colored drawing, two arms outstretched to each other each offering a star-shaped item. At first glance she smiled softly at it, thinking it was some sort've kiddish crush drawing until her eyes narrowed. She kneels to the drawing, then her eyes open wide.
"Sora…Kairi?" she asked quietly and brushed her hand on the stone. "This…this is them…" she says, then stands up. "B-But how…? They're from Shinjuku! …right?". Rhyme crossed her arms and leaned against the boulder, thinking deeply and dug deep into her memories. The city they were in, the dream city that the game took place in where they met Riku and Sora for the first time. Yet the more she thought on the subject and her memories of that place, more and more questions started to appear and form within her mind. Their clothes, abilities, and appearance didn't add up, and even when Beat explained to her how Riku and the others were "nerfed" as he said, they were still something entirely different compared to Ren and Neku.
Their sudden appearance was too much of a coincidence, the fact that all seven of them were attending Shujin out of the blue, how Kairi reacted to seeing Sora after they escaped the Palace for a second time, and then how Mr. H just offered them a home…
"They don't even know that much about Japan, or Shinjuku…Sora and Riku weren't part of the game yet they were able to fight without psych…the way they fought was nothing like Personas or Players…and now this place has drawings of them…" she says to herself. She dropped her hands and looked at the ground.
"Are they…from this place?".
"RHYME!? YOU IN HERE!?".
She jumps in her spot with a yelp, turning to see Beat rushing down the tunnel to her, slacking in the shoulders with relief when he spotted her. "Damn it, Rhyme, warn me when ya walk off alone, aight?" he says with a huff before the punk looks around. "Yo, the hell is all this?". He entered the inner sanctum with amusement in his eyes, commenting on the place like it were an art gallery for kids. When he turned on his little sister, he sees the look of realization and confusion in her eyes, prompting him to ask.
"Beat…I…I think this is Sora and the others' home…" she says simply, gesturing the drawing of Kairi and Sora. Beat blinked and looked at the drawing, frowning when he sees the similarities. "Yo…. that's weird…you fo' real?" he asked, looking at his sister. "Beat think about it," she says standoff the boulder and then lists all the things about them, reminding him about the city they had to go to nearly two years ago, how he asked Riku why he wasn't doing anything from his time there and now the convenient timing of them just showing up together.
"And this drawing is just confirming to me that they're likely not from Japan," she further argued. "So they're from an island? Who cares?" Beat argued. "Beat, you and I, Neku and Shiki included, know darn well there's more to those guys than they're letting on," persisted Rhyme, "Think about that weird city we had to go to for the Game to continue, those weird abilities Riku and Sora, and their Personas don't add up either!".
The youngest member revealed to Beat she had been studying everyone's Personas ever since Ann and Shiki awakened theirs, on the grounds of understanding how they played into the rebellious role, but when she tried to study Sora and his friends' Personas, she found absolutely nothing on them. "Yet they're on a level unlike us, dare I say even a reaper wouldn't hold a candle to those three if they were going all out," she expressed, "And now this island, with their drawings, I'm thoroughly convinced that they aren't from Japan".
"Okay, say you're right bout them not being from Japan…where da hell else could they be from?" he asked crossing his arms. The girl gestures to the cave then refer to the mainland and state that maybe this place was indeed their home. "This place has their faces on it, they barely panicked when they woke up here and…I dunno Beat, I can't help but truly believe this place holds a significant weight to them".
"But Rhyme…why they lie to us?" he asked.
She shakes her head, unable to answer. While it certainly threw her trust for the three in a loop, a strong part of her firmly believes they earned at least a chance to explain their reasoning for keeping such a secret from them. Considering the amount of trouble they were dragged into, granted mostly at Ryuji's insistence, they were still alive because of them, and if Morgana is right, they would have saved Ren and the others from being expelled by Kamoshida. There had to be a reason why they kept their mouths shut.
"YO! Beat, Rhyme!" Ryuji yelled, from outside, "We found some food!".
The siblings glanced at each other before secretly agreeing to keep this to themselves and headed out of the cave. Outside, they see Ryuji and Ann standing near the fountain, the girl chewing on something and swallowing while Ryuji carried a strange yellow piece of fruit in his hand. Curious, Beat asked the fellow punk what he and Ann were eating. "This? See that weird-ass tree over there?" Ryuji says, gesturing to the outstretched tree on the small island connecting to the main island, "I saw one ripe so I grabbed it for me and Ann".
"Sorry we didn't wait for you two, it was delicious!" Ann says, using a tissue to wipe her chin from the juices. Rhyme frowns and lightly chastised the two for careless consumption, especially when for all they knew the fruit could be dangerous or poisonous. But she may as well be talking to a wall because Ryuji only shrugged and assured her he was fine and Ann even teased her for being a worrywart. "I swear…if it won't be shadows or failing your exams that will be your undoing…" she sighed as she sat down near the fountain.
"Come on, don't sweat little Rhyme!" Ryuji teased, tossing them coconuts, "Sides plenty of those to go around!".
Later after a quick snack, the others finally return with less than pleasing results, save for some fruit Sora found. Their looks of defeat changed when Beat tells them about the blue ghost door within the secret place, and Rhyme confirmed that it should still have whatever power it possessed that brought them here. "Okay great," Ren says, "Then we'll just head through and hope we don't end up somewhere else bar home".
Rhyme glanced subtly to the guardians, Kairi and Sora sharing a look that rivaled two lovers being caught by their parents while Riku had a "we're doomed" resigned look on his face. It only confirmed the girl's suspicions that those drawings were not just there by chance. Biting her inner cheek, she wanted to speak up and reveal to the gang about the drawing but having everyone here suddenly now, what if tensions or worse tempers flare-up? After everything that's happened, having the others come to blow with Sora's team…
"Right, let's get going then," Neku says as he took a bite out of the fruit Sora gathered up, "Sooner we get home the better…".
"…this place is called Destiny Islands…".
The non-guardians blinked, then turned to Riku who pinched the bridge of his nose, ignoring the surprised looks from his two friends. "It's a small world that is pretty isolated from most worlds but it's probably one of the safest places we could have ended up on," he explained some more, folding his arms, "And…this is our home".
Silence falls to the group, Neku staring at them with a raised brow while Shiki blinks while occasionally opening and closing her mouth as if the words were unable to form. "…eh?" Ann asked with wide eyes. "This is our homeworld…at least, the mainland anyways," Riku clarifies, gesturing the mainland, "The island here is called the Play Islands since only kids come here for fun and to get away from parents".
"…what?" Ren says as he turned to the silver-haired teenager, "Did you hit your head or something? You're saying the door took us from Japan to…another world? And you guys live here?". The three nodded, while Morgana laughs to himself. "HA! Looks like the sun's gotten to him! Otherworlds? Islanders? Yeah right!" laughed the cat, "I think the whole stress of all this made him go loopy!".
Sora rolls his eyes and then spots a small stone near the fountain and plucked it from the sandy ground. "Watch this," he says before walking to the shore. Curious the others followed him, and along the way, he said: "Neku, you remember that city you guys went to?". Close by the boy, Neku nodded as they stopped at the shoreline, and then Sora asked him if he remembers what he and Riku were capable off, to which again Neku nodded in memory. Morgana raised his voice in the question of the boy's action, and then without so much as a build-up, Sora chucked the stone.
Except where everyone bar Neku expected the stone to start skipping, instead, Sora threw it with such force the stone splits the waters like a speed boat splitting the waves. The waves grew as large as a building as the stone speeds off across the blue ocean, startling everyone and even causing Ryuji to fall on his backside in shock. The rest watched in awe as the waves finally died as the stone sunk into waters, Sora then turned to his friends.
"…now do you believe us?" he asked softly.
"W-Wha…how'd you do that!?" Morgana asked, "Even in the Metaverse, you weren't that strong!".
Sora almost blurts out the Game, but pauses and then scratched his neck, excusing himself by saying the Metaverse did something to him and the others, hence why he was restricted. But he nearly missed the look of doubt in Neku's eyes, yet the teen says nothing. Instead, he folds his arms and asked: "If we never came here, would you have told us about this place?".
"No," Riku answers, "Trust me if we could have we'd keep it a secret until we left Japan".
"Wait, CAN you even leave Japan without that door?" Shiki asks, "I mean…". Once again like Sora, she reframes from asking about their time back in the strange town, realizing in doing so she'd be inviting Ren and his friends to ask about the Game. Kairi clasps her arm and asked Rhyme if she saw the drawing of her and Sora in the secret place, and when the girl confirms this, Kairi reveals that why Riku told them about this place.
"That drawing was done by me and Sora when we were kids…err…minus the addition of the stars but everything else, yeah," she answers, "And the moment we left you guys we knew one of you would check it out".
"Hence why we figured it'd be better if we just came clean about this place then let things play out," Riku added, "But…you said the door we used to come here is there now?". Rhyme nodded, repeating what she said earlier but Sora shook his head and said: "That can't be. There IS a door there, but it should be big and made from wood without a keyhole or knob". "Yo spikes, we have been there, no big door bar that ghost one," Beat argued while scratching his head, "Maybe it got replaced or somethin'".
"Either way…" Ren says, adjusting his bag while facing everyone, "I think this is a discussion we should have back home with Eri, and the others present. If we're gonna talk about this, then everyone should be present".
"To be fair, the only one who should be here is Eri…" Kairi says, rubbing her arm, "Roxas and the others are the same as us".
"…I knew Xion was from another world…" Ren admits, chuckling softly, "But come on. Time to go home". Together the thieves, after a very cramped journey, entered the inner sanctum of the secret place and just as the Bito siblings say, the door Sora mentioned isn't there but the ghost door certainly was. The three islanders shared worried glances, Sora weakly chuckling that he wasn't sure if the door was an improvement or the next place it'll take them would be a hundred times worse than what was beyond the original door.
"Well…may fortune favor the bold…" Rhyme gulps as Ren approached the door. The ghostly door opened, and they all enter…
*Present*
"Then we fell through it and landed on Roxas…" Sora finishes, shooting his former nobody an apologetic look. The more tempered teen grumbles something under his breath but slumps on the couch, ignoring the giggles from Xion.
"For real…and here I was thinkin' Morgana was the weirdest thing to come out of meeting you guys…" Ryuji sighed as he slumped into his seat, "Other worlds? Magic keys? Super-humans? Sounds like a comic book!".
"Oh what? Like the whole traversing into someone's cognition was just a regular day in Shibuya?" Neku asks before he frowns and then quietly folds his arms. The more he thought on it, considering all the bizarre things that have happened in this city, maybe they should expect the extraordinary to become the ordinary at this point. Morgana lets out a small huff, questioning why Sora and the others didn't say a word about their origins and even accusing Sora of holding back his real strength, particularly the keyblade.
Beat, surprising the cat, defended him. "Eyy, you're the last furball to ask about keeping secrets! You would have kept the whole "maybe killin'" Kamo-dickhead if Phones didn't call you out!" Beat reminds with a gruff scoff, and Rhyme added at least Sora knew what he was talking about and never ended his explanations with either an "I think" or "Maybe". The cat huffed in response, pouting and laying down flat on his stomach while Ann asked more about the keyblade and why couldn't they use them instead of Personas, but like before Sora clammed up.
"So you all completed your heist?".
The teens jumped, some yelled, and snapped their heads towards the owner of the café, Mr. H. Casually just entering his establishment and carrying a cup of coffee in his hand, he salutes his guests of honor and gives Neku a nod of greetings, then approaches his counter. "Gotta admit for your first heist, I wasn't expecting it to go as well as I thought," he admits, "Bit of a few stumbles sure but hey you got the treasure in the end".
The gang looked at each other, then Neku says: "You…knew about the Metaverse?".
"Yup. Knew it the moment Sora and Riku showed up. Was just waiting for you all to steal Kamoshida's heart and see if you still got what it takes, Neku," he explains casually before setting his coffee down, "And kudos to you three for pulling your weight despite the entry fees". Neku frowns in horror as does his fellow Players, turning to Kairi and Sora when they looked down at their feet. Neku turned back to Mr. H, who was sporting a smirk and says: "Just so you know, those three aren't allowed to use their abilities while in the Metaverse, that's their entry fee after all".
"Entry fee?" Ren asked, "What a second, there's a fee to enter?".
"What the heck is this guy talking about? I've never had to pay to go to the Metaverse!" Morgana says, eyes wide. Then the café owner turned on the cat with a knowing smirk and revealed: "Well no wonder furball. You don't have to pay an entry fee since you've been to the Palace long before things were set in motion".
"Wait…you can understand Morgana!?" Rhyme says, "B-But I thought…y-you have to had been to…".
"The Metaverse to hear the kitty talk? Not unless you're part of the newest Game, Rhyme," says Mr. H, sipping his coffee.
"GAME!?" shouts the four former players, nearly falling out of their seats, "Wait yo! What Game!? Reapers Game!?" Beat shouts before he slammed his hands to his mouth too late.
"Wait… "Reapers Game?" Ren asked, turning on Neku, "What are you guys talking about?". The four shared looks, realizing they had revealed something terrible to their new friends while this horrible sense of dread washes all over them. Were they truly in a new game, one that could be even more dangerous than the last one? And if so, have they perished in the RG without knowing, or was stealing Kamoshida's heart the way to enter this brand-new hell for Neku and his friends?
"Oooh…I think I might have missed something," Mr. H laments with a chuckle, "Guess you were all keeping one too many secrets from each other".
"It…seems like it…" Ren says with uncertainty, looking at the groups with more questions in his mind. "B-But…maybe we could continue all this tomorrow? We've had quite the day and I think some sleep is in order…".
"A voice of sense and reason? Heh, looks like Igor choose well," Mr. H laughed. Now it was Ren's turn to look at him in shock, eyes widened behind his glasses as Mr. H casually smirked at the teens like he knew everything they were thinking and more. He shrugged and says he was closing up the place, so it'd be best for everyone who wasn't underneath his care to head home and unwind while telling Sora and co to skedaddle off to bed. As the group begin to disperse and bid each other with confused and uncertain goodbyes, leaving with even more questions than possible as well as a terrible sense of pressure.
"You're all in this together…" Mr. H says before the party splits, "Whether you all know it, like it or not, this chance of meeting wasn't part of the plan. But one thing you all need to know is this: If you wanna survive and avoid whatever devastation in the future…you gotta follow the golden rule".
"Trust your team", he finishes before the gang disperse.
*Lunchtime: Tuesday 4/26*
*Six days until Expulsion*
Tapping his foot against the wall while taking a sip from his can, the orange-haired teenager leaned against the wall, deep into his thoughts. The school day was breezing by rather quickly for a Tuesday, the day seeming speeding. Of all the times for things to go quick, it had to be on a day where he was probably going to be spilling his guts out regarding everything he and his friends had been through, while he was thinking on his mentor's words.
"A new Game…and for all I know we've been playing it the moment we set foot in Kamoshida's Palace…" he thinks quietly, looking at the can in his hand. "But we didn't die…so how come we're back? If we were dead, then shouldn't Ren and the others be too? And if we were back in the UG the whole time, where are the Noise? Why can we physically interact with people who aren't players? Is the Metaverse the new UG?".
He had so many questions regarding this, and it kept him up all night despite all the activities he had taken part in yesterday. From fighting a small horde on his own, fighting a giant pervy monster, ending up in a world that belonged in one of those RPG games Rhyme loves so much, and then having a giant bombshell dropped onto his lap should have put him out of commission for the week. But no, so ferocious was the storm in his mind he didn't even feel tired to even close his eyes for just a few minutes.
"Sora can't use the keyblade because that's his entry fee? But that doesn't make any sense. Your entry fee is something important to you…and if that's the case, then surely Kairi would have been taken away like Shiki was back then…" he ponders, "Plus it's been over a week since this started right? Usually, we have to deal with the Game Master or something…and we didn't get a single mission either during the week…".
He groans in pain, clutching his head with a small hiss. This was too much for him right now, and he's even more lost than ever. Who is Igor? How are Sora and the others able to come and go to other worlds? And what was the point of this game?
"Neku?".
He opens his eyes to see a worried Naminé standing in front of him with an equally antsy-looking Ryuji behind her, tapping his foot repeatedly while hissing through clenched teeth. The orange-haired teenager gave her a small nod and salutes Ryuji as the punk sat down against the locker. "Are you okay?" asks the gentle blonde-haired girl.
"…not really…" he admits, sighing and chucking the can into a nearby trash can, "After everything that happened…kinda wish I was antsier about the Palace than anything else…". Naminé adjusts her bag over her shoulder, quietly apologizing for practically lying to them from the moment they met. "I know we should…have at least said something…but its… it's just we…couldn't," she says while stumbling before ultimately she sighed in defeat. "I am sorry for what we did".
"…Riku said you guys couldn't say anything about the islands…is there, a good reason for it?" he asked, looking at her. When Naminé nodded, Neku then waved her off. "Then that's enough for me". She looked at him, eyes wide and even jaw dropped, so he clarified. "I don't like the secrecy, but I trust Sora and you guys…so if you say there was a legit reason why you had to keep us in the dark, then that's all I need to hear".
"…no. That's not good enough," she says, shaking her head, "That's why…well after school, we're going to Wildkat and we're…we're going to tell you guys what's going on with us". Neku looks at her, and she adds that considering they were part of this "Game" Mr. H was talking about and that somehow the Palaces were connected to it, if they were going to work together they needed to be able to trust each other. "Riku is still on the fence about this but Sora insists we let you know who exactly we are," she says.
"You guys sure you wanna do that? I'm not even sure what this Game is all about," Neku argued.
"True but you know more about than us…and this Igor Mr. H mentioned, it feels like Ren is connected to him in some ways," she added, "And I believe Ren might concur with us when I say we should come clean about what we know".
"I don't even know what half of all this means…" Ryuji groaned, "Can we talk about something else for a while before my brain explodes?".
The two give him small looks of irritation, unamused and slightly envious that he's handling all this information better than all of them. Reluctantly however they sighed, deciding to adhere to his request and talk about something else. Luckily for them, Neku had another subject.
"So…have you guys seen Kamoshida today?" he asked as Naminé sits on the windowsill. The blonde shook her head and said: "Not today. And I texted Ann and the girls since their classes were nearby the gym and would occasionally bump into the volleyball members, but they haven't seen him at all".
"Yeah same here," Ryuji says, "I've texted Beat and the other dudes but they haven't seen him anywhere". Neku crossed his arms, both relieved that the pervy teacher wasn't around but that only worried him more. "You guys think he's changed, or worse?" he asks, not finishing the second part of the sentence. Naminé hummed that if he did have a mental breakdown like the ones they've been seeing on the news then the school would have informed the students or likely someone would have said something.
Just then, Kawakami shows up.
"Oh, perfect timing!", she says approaching the three, "Study hall will be held instead of PE today. Just in case you haven't heard, I'm just letting you all know". The three teens nodded before Naminé asked why the sudden change in classes. "Mr. Kamoshida has taken the day off," she reveals. This made the three share a glance before Neku asked why. "I mean, Kamoshida didn't seem ill last time we saw him, and as far as I understand there aren't any meetings regarding PE or the volleyball team, is there?" he asked.
"Well no, none of that…" Kawakami says before she glanced around as if she was worried they were being eavesdropped on before continuing: "Don't tell anyone you heard this from me…but we received word that Mr. Kamoshida is putting himself under suspension".
"Huh? Under self-suspension? Before the tournament?" Naminé asked, "But why would he do so at such a time?".
"You got me. Principal Kobayakawa went to talk to him about it, but he supposedly wasn't making any sense…" the teacher admits, "And before you ask me, nope, I have no idea what he was saying to the principal".
"Suspension…self-imposed…that doesn't sound like Kamoshida…" Neku remarked, "But what does that mean for the volleyball team?".
"And Sakamoto and the others' expulsions?" she asked with a knowing yet tired look, "To be honest I think at best they'll be put on hold. I don't know much else what's coming, but until then I strongly suggest you just behave yourself, okay?". She then nodded to them and walked off and left the three to discuss what happened.
"Well, at least it wasn't a mental breakdown…" Neku remarks, "Something happened to him". "But is this linked to the change of heart or something else entirely?" Naminé asks. They all hummed quietly, but ultimately Ren sighed and said: "I guess all we can do is just wait for the change to either happen or when he returns. Morgana didn't say when exactly the change was gonna happen…right?".
"Furball didn't say anythin' like that…" Ryuji grunts.
"Then we have no other choice but to wait…" Naminé says as the bell rings, signaling their next classes were about to start. "Well, I'll see you guys at Wildkat, okay?". They nodded before splitting up.
A/N:
So this was a bit of whiplash of a chapter!
Now that the secrets are out in the open, the team is gonna need to come clean with a few points and perhaps reveal more of what they know~
Sorry for the abrupt ending, I wasn't getting much for the ending and didn't wanna throw in the lore in this chapter. So next time is gonna be LORE (and yes KH lore so prepare your braincells) and hopefully clear a few things up!
Questions:
Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?
Q2: How was the island part?
Q3: Curious about everyone's side of the lore?
Q4: What do you wanna see next?
Q5: Who should get more screen time?
Q6: If I update Possibilities, would you check it out?
Q7: Phantom Thieves feast party?
Q8: Ryuji and Ann unknowingly sharing a Paopu fruit?
Q9: Whose your favourite character from this and why?
Okay so four things:
First: Futaba romance? Who in the party, bar Ren and Ventus (got plans for him) should (if you're into it) romance her?
Second: As you all know (If you played Persona 5) there is gonna be a few free days in between the change of heart and the next target, so do you have an idea for a day for a pairing or character?
Third: Are you sick of my questions and don't want me to ask?
Fourth: To the guest who was asking, and for those who don't speak the same language, their asking are the KH cast gonna explain what's going on, and the answer is next time.
As always everyone, thanks for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!