Hi! This is for the double update today! This and my other story, "A Place Of Forming Ideas," got updated with a new entry! This chapter is a little different from the usual ones. It was inspired by the Union X missions, but it won't be as pleasant. Just a fair warning, this chapter will be a bit sadder than the others, since I do mention a loss.
For now, here is the newest chapter.
*NOTE/SPOILER WARNING: It takes place AFTER KHIII*
NOTE 2: Lots of retelling of the experience of "Player" in KHχ[Chi] but in Sora's View
NOTE 3: Sora is NOT Player, he's just got similar experiences. Player exists somewhere doing the main story, but they don't cross paths... I Think...
NOTE 4: Talking about the history of Daybreak Town and the event that caused only the elderly, children, and some mothers to remain in town. This was mentioned briefly in earlier chapters.
DATE: October 15, 2022
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"Do you have the flowers?" She asked as she straightened her simple one piece dress.
"Right here sis!" He handed the flowers to her and she placed them in her leather messenger bag.
"That's good Locke. Let's get going and meet up with the family."
"Right!" Locke responded as he fixed his collared shirt and bowtie one last time.
Nearly thirteen years ago today now. Those were her thoughts as she exited the house with her younger brother Locke. She was only a little girl, her brother was not even one. Now, it was just the four of them left. It was still hard to think about even now, the fact that everyone was gone. The fact that they weren't ever going to be around anymore to… She really missed them.
As she looked over to Locke, he was thinking aloud to himself, sorting out all the things he wanted to say to them, to share all the adventures and talk about their new friend. Speaking of their new friend, she looked up and happened to see him coming from the opposite end of the street.
"Sora?" She looked at him curiously.
"Eureka? Locke?" He looked back surprised to see them.
"Big brother Sora!" Locke's face lit up at the sight of seeing Sora. Immediately he went over and tackled the keyblade wielder with a hug.
"Hey there! I almost didn't recognize you without the overalls." He playfully teased.
"We don't always wear overalls, Sora. By the way, what are you doing here?" Eureka asked.
"I have an off day today and so I just decided to take a walk by myself while Chirithy is going off and visiting her friends." He replied before asking, "What's with the fancy clothes?"
"We're-"
"We're going to meet up with our cousins and, oh! You should come with us Sora! I'm sure they'd like to see you too!" Locke had interrupted as Eureka gave him a quick look of disapproval before focusing back on Sora.
"I don't want to impose." Sora rubbed the back of his neck, slightly reluctant to crash their day.
She sighed, "It's okay Sora. Locke here was just a liiiittle excited, that's all."
"No way! I want to introduce Big Brother Sora to them. Please? Please? Pleeeaaaseee?" He begged, giving her those puppy dog eyes.
She looked down at Locke, then looked up to Sora before closing her think. Once she opened them, she gave him a look that basically asked if he willing to accompany them for the day. He smiled and gave a firm nod. Locke was happy as he ran on ahead of them, leaving the two behind.
"I'm sorry about Locke again. Although he's fourteen, sometimes I feel like he's four. Too hyper and still just a little kid."
"Don't worry, I get that." Sora laughed as Eureka looked thankful for him understanding.
Now the walk was filled mostly with Locke's chatter and excitement as Sora and Eureka hummed in agreement. That all stopped when they came to a certain place where they watched Locke enter a building along the stairways. This area allowed the three to gain passage to a portion of the canal below and make their way into the sewers. Sora had never really been to this part of town, so it was a brand new experience for him. He's had missions in the canals and sewers before, but this area was unfamiliar. Once Locke had stopped at the entrance into the underground, Eureka motioned for Sora to follow and she took the lead. They weaved their way through the walkways and carefully treaded through the slippery edges. Neither of the handy mechanics said a word until they came to a ladder and what looked like an open manhole above.
"Locke, you head on up first. Sora, you next. Then I'll head on up last." Both agreed and so they each went up slowly.
When Sora finally made it up the ladder, Locke offering a hand up, and that when he saw it. "So this is why they're dressed that way," he thought to himself.
What he saw, he could do nothing but keep quiet and be respectful. All around him, everywhere he turned, he saw names. These names were etched into the stone walkways and the headstones over on the grass. This place they came to, it was a graveyard.
Eureka had just climbed out of the hole as he offered his hand, still dazed by what he was seeing. She thanked him then went to Locke, giving the flowers from her bag. He took them and went off to a specific area of the grave. She looked his way, eyes wistful as she explained, "This area may seem like a strange cemetery to some. But to us who lived so long in Daybreak Town, it's more than that. It's a memorial site. All those who fought great battles for the kingdom and town lay resting here." She paused, eyes looking directly at Sora while at the same time lost in a memory. "Come Sora, I'll take you over to meet them."
Sora followed Eureka as they headed in the direction Locke had gone. As they got closer, Sora saw two others, one was a tall, lanky guy who's skin was really tanned, as if he'd been in the sun all day. He had thick oval glasses and brown hair with small streaks of ash-blond that were curling. The other was a young woman who was shorter than Eureka, but her posture made her seemed older. Her straight, fluffy hair was a cherry brown and only touched her shoulders. If he wasn't wasn't paying attention, he wouldn't have noticed that the group seemed to be dressed in a dark blue that could be mistaken for black.
Locke saw Sora and immediately got the attention of the two older children. "Sora! Over here! You finally get meet my cousins!" Locke's chest puffed as a big toothy grin grew on his face. "Sora, meet my cousins! Meet Anita and Reamer! But I call them big sister sleepy and big brother professor, or prof for short. She's always sleepy and he's always teaching something when he works on a new invention!"
"Locke." The young woman, now known as Anita spoke, motioning him remember where they were as she gave a look of disapproval. He tensed a bit, before relaxing his shoulders as he looked away.
"I'm sorry. I got carried away."
"Ah Anita, don't be so hard on him. He's just excited to introduce a new friend."
She crossed her arms raised her brow, "I understand, but he needs to keep quiet. Others are here for their day too."
At the mention of others, Sora quickly glanced around and saw others who were just coming in. Some were laying flowers at certain gravestones and bricks on the floor, others were at specific ones just standing there, quietly talking. He then focused on the group of four who had just finished their little disagreement on how Locke was being loud.
"So, Sora, it's nice to finally meet you!" Reamer offered a handshake while Anita bowed her head.
After the formalities were out of the way, the group invited Sora to help lay some flowers on a couple of stones. He helped and as he did this, he saw that many of them had today's date on them. Then finally, they came to stop at one last stone. He watched as the group laid their flowers there, arranging them neatly before Locke spoke.
"Hey Mom, Dad, we're back again. We're doing okay, and look, we even have our new friend with us. This is Sora. He's a keyblade wielder and he's so cool." He smiled at Sora who smiled right back at him. "I bet if you were still here, you'd like him too. Eureka sure does!"
"Locke!" Eureka raised her voice.
"It's true Sis. You know you think of him as a best friend! What did you think I mean?" He teased.
Sora covered his mouth a little trying not to laugh. It was then he felt a hand on his shoulder, it was Anita. She motioned for him to follow her so the two could have time to themselves. He followed.
When the three got far enough away, Reamer separated from them and went off to a different gravestone. That left just him and Anita alone. "You know." She started, "To most of you wielders, this town is a beautiful place by the sea. But to the few of us who remained, its tragedy still lingers with us. That's probably why most of our townspeople left. They didn't want to be burdened with the past loss, or they wanted the future to never know the strife the war left. Something we hope you all never have to face…" Anita went quiet, her lips pressed with an unreadable expression.
"What do you mean?"
"Do you really want to know, Sora?" He nods.
"Well then. There was… a war. The kingdom which Daybreak Town was under, they were fighting to protect us all from the outside forces trying to invade our lands. There was a decree passed throughout the kingdom, they needed all those who were ready and able to help the cause. Many volunteered, including both ours and theirs, our uncle and auntie. Our town, being a seaside town, as well as a port town, was crucial to the war. During that time, the town was the main place to receive and send out goods. But the enemy successfully attacked our town, catching all of its residents off guard. Everyone who was here fought valiantly, that battle was one of the last before the kingdom claimed victory over the enemies. But that day, that moment they were unprepared, that we were unprepared, almost all of us lost our families. That day, thirteen years ago, we won that war, but lost the battle. We were left defenseless. We were left to mourn. We were left to grieve. So our town was left to wither away as a new place was created to be the main port city."
Sora was shocked, he didn't really know how to approach it. Sure, he's been in war, one against the heartless, the nobodies, the unversed, and the organization. Sure, he's experienced loss, although it was temporary, but this seemed different. So many lives were lost, not everyone could be saved. It made him think, if he didn't go back in time, how many more would have been lost? How many worlds would be brought back to nothing? How empty would the world be?
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you down. I simply wanted to tell you this so you can understand. To Locke, they're the parents he never got to know, a missing presence in his life. To Eureka, they were her everything. What they did for the town, being the pillars of stability, that's what inspired her to become what she is today. She follows in their footsteps to continue their legacy and keep the town beautifully running." Anita glanced back at the two, whatever they were talking about, she was glad to see them laughing about it together. "They've grown so much. Sora," she faced him as a content smile graced her lips, "please continue to be a good friend to them."
"I will." His answer was so sure and fill with such confidence.
"Thank you, Sora."
As she said this, they noticed Reamer coming back with a basket and a blanket.
"Here's the stuff, so let's enjoy some food before heading back home."
Everyone cheered as they set up the blanket on the floor and enjoyed the lunch that Reamer had prepared. Locke complained that these were only cold cuts, sandwiches, and day old rice with leftover seaweed mixed in. Reamer huffed as he gave everyone their portion and skipped over Locke. He wrestled him for the last piece while the girls silently thought, boys. For the remainder of Sora's day with them, he enjoyed their company as they talked about funny memories and melancholic ones. His off day may have taken an unexpected turn, but it was a welcome one since he got to be there with his new friends and participate in something that was truly meaningful to them.
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BONUS:
Eureka was sharing her first experience baking a cake with her mom when Locke remembered something.
"Hey Big Sis! You owe us a cake from the diner!"
"Huh? Why?"
"Well you said, if I could get big brother Prof and big sister Sleepy to leave their room and meet Sora, you'd treat us to cake."
"What? I meant that while we were home. This doesn't count."
"Does so! You never said there were any other conditions like being a special day. So you owe us cake!"
"No I don't, it only applied to when they were-"
"No! You didn't make it clear. No writing, so it there's no extra condition."
"He's got you there, cuz."
"Oh be quiet, Reamer."
Sora could only laugh.
TBC
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So we finally meet the cousins of Eureka and Locke. Now here's something for you, I honestly didn't know what to name one of the characters, I won't say which. But yeah, as I mentioned above, this was inspired by that one Union X group mission. For some reason, you come to this enclosed cemetery / graveyard and you're fighting heartless in there. There were just so many stones, I just couldn't leave it without some sort of explanation. So this is it:
There was a war, cause this town is part of one world still. So this town had to be part of a kingdom or something, but after the casualties took away a lot of the stability of the town, its use basically faded. At least, until the Master of Masters stepped in and helped revitalize the town with his little foretellers in training and the eventual Keyblade wielders.
So, Eureka, Locke, Anita, and Reamer are all original residents who got to see this place change over the years of living here. We'll be seeing more of them in the future soon. So be on the lookout when you see them again in upcoming chapters.
Reminder to all, I'm just writing this as a way to imagine the story of Daybreak town. It's all in fun and nothing to be taken too seriously. I write down these ideas for Sora's experience in Daybreak Town while trying to keep the timeline straight. Uh, does that make any sense?
Well, that's all I got to share for now! If you have any ideas, suggestions, questions, or any comments for this story, feel free to let me know. Thanks for reading everybody! :D
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UPDATE OCTOBER 18 2022:
The Day I Posted: I like this! I'm posting this.
A Few Days Later: I am not satisfied with how this turned out.
So long story short, I'm rewriting this chapter. This is basically the direction and elements I wanted to use, but I'm just not feeling how I wrote it. So when I finish, I'll update this and replace the previous story.
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