Traverse Town...
Goofy and Donald had arrived in Traverse Town without any further mishaps. After parking the Gummi Ship, they had set out to follow the king's orders and find Leon, then the 'key.' Goofy, his mind wandering, turned his gaze up to the late night sky.
"Look!" he said as he pointed. "A star's goin' out!"
Donald knew that could only mean one thing. "Come on! Let's hurry!" They started off down another street of the relatively small town setting of Traverse Town. The third, quiet, member of their party, the royal dog Pluto, didn't follow them. He had put his nose to the ground and was sniffing out something interesting.
"Where's that key?" asked Donald as they continued to go opposite of Pluto.
"Hey, ya know, maybe we ought to go find Leon," suggested Goofy. Then he looked back and saw Pluto tracking something. The orange dog disappeared down an alley. "Uh, Donald. Ya know, I betcha that..."
"Aw, what do you know, you big palooka?" Donald interrupted and dismissed him.
Goofy thought about that a moment, "What do I know?" He turned halfway around. "Come on Pluto."
Pluto turned down the alley and began to sniff and a spiky brown haired boy who was lying on the ground. Pluto began to lick him on the face. Sora woke with a start.
"What a dream..." Sora started to say, but trailed off when he realized he had no idea where he was at.
Pluto began to jump around him, acting like a big puppy.
"This is no dream!" gasped Sora. He rose to his feet. "Where...am I?" He turned to his canine companion. "Do you know where we are?"
Pluto turned and started to leave the alley, looking over his shoulder once to see if Sora was following. Then he raced off to join Goofy and Donald.
"Hey!" exclaimed Sora as Pluto disappeared into the strange town.
He looked around in wonder. Several small shops lined the courtyard, as well as a café. A few people roamed the streets, some looking extremely confused, others extremely sad. This place was like nothing Sora had seen in the Destiny Island.
"This is totally weird..." Sora said to himself. "I'm...I'm in another world!" That thought would have thrilled him had he not been so worried about Kairi and Riku.
Sora began to meander through the square, having no idea what to do. Exploring was his best option, so that is what he did. One shopped seemed especially welcoming for some reason, so that was the one he headed to. It was the Accessories Shop.
"Hey there," greeted the owner, a beefy man with blond hair. "How can I..? Aw. It's only a kid."
"I'm not a kid!" protested Sora. "And the name's Sora!"
"Okay, Okay, simmer down," said the owner. "So, why the long face, Sora? You lost or somethin'?"
"No! Well..maybe.. Where are we?"
"Huh?" asked the owner, then he sighed. Cases like these were becoming more and more common. He quickly explained everything he could.
"Traverse Town..." muttered Sora. "So gramps, is this really another world?"
"Don't call me gramps!" he snapped. "The name's Cid. Anyways..Not sure what you're talkin' about, but this sure ain't your island."
"Hmmmm.." Sora thought out-loud. Well, he had always dreamed of being in another world, there was just one thing missing. "Guess I'd better start looking for Riku and Kairi."
"Well, good luck with whatever you're doing," said Cid. "If you ever run into trouble, you come to me. I'll look out for you."
"Thanks," replied Sora, whose mind was already wandering to the possibilities that lay ahead.
"Well, wanna prepare yourself?" asked Cid as he gestured to his merchandise.
"No thanks, all I'm doing is looking for my friends," said Sora as he exited the shop.
"Good luck," repeated Cid as he shook his head. He knew he'd be seeing that boy again. "You're going to need it."
Sora exited his shop and roamed around the courtyard some more, doing a slow loop that was taking him farther and farther from where he started. He attempted to ask people if they had seen Kairi or Riku, but most of them were as lost as he was. Some even told depressing tales of everything going dark, of everyone being lost.
Around the courtyard were mostly shops and a few homes which seemed to be locked up. There was a mailbox and some strange marks on the ground, but beyond that there was nothing that could help him find his friends. Sora wandered around until he came to a big set of doors. He had heard it mentioned that Traverse Town had three districts, so Sora guessed that this lead to another one of those districts. He pushed his way and found out that he was right. The second district was almost completely empty, and it didn't take Sora long to figure out why.
As he entered an older man fell in front of him. The man gasped once, then went still. Dead. Sora's eyes went wide. But what happened next was an even bigger shock. A crystalline object shaped like a heart rose out of the man's chest. As Sora watched a shadow also formed. It had claws and long ears that were bent back. It had a rounded head and stooped figure. It was completely black, save two beady yellow eyes. It looked familiar, way too familiar. To make matters even worse, several more rose from the shadows.
"It's those creatures from the island!" gasped Sora.
The Heartless attacked. Sora was ready, Keyblade in hand.
He sliced the first one in half across the chest. Then he spun and caught another, returning it to the shadows. He felt claws digging into his side and jumped backwards to escape from a third Heartless. That one glared at him, then charged and jumped. Sora raised his Keyblade and sliced through it. It never lived long enough to hit the ground.
That only left two more, one on his right, one on his left. Sora's eyes darted from one to another, waiting for them to attack. When they did it seemed like it was at the same instant. Sora jumped backwards and the attackers collided in mid-air. Sora didn't hesitate. He cut them both down with one stroke.
"What is going on?" asked Sora, double-checking for enemies. Each time he had seen those creatures nothing good followed. He doubted if things would be any different this time. It only seemed to put more pressure on him to find his friends.
He had taken a few more steps into the second district when the shadows began to shift again. Sora froze as he once again found himself encircled by Heartless.
"What is going on?!" he demanded. The Heartless did not answer; they only attacked. Sora once again fought them back into darkness. Something was nagging him, telling him this wasn't right. Nonetheless he pushed on, fighting off the Heartless that appeared every few minutes. He wasn't really able to check out the buildings in the area, or even look for his friends, he was spending too much time fighting.
In the corner Sora found another large set of double doors, much like the first he had crossed through. Sick of fighting, Sora threw them open and raced in, slamming them behind him as Heartless tried to pursue.
"This is nuts!" he exclaimed.
But as Sora leaned against the door, catching his breath, even more Heartless showed up. Sora groaned, turned again, and raced back the way he came. More Heartless formed as he ran back through the second district, but Sora wasn't interested in fighting. He didn't stop running until he was safe in the first district.
"What am I going to do?" he asked himself as he started at the Keyblade. The black blood of the Heartless had evaporated off of it. But the enemies still came and he had no clue on how to find his friends. Shrugging, Sora began to circle the first district again. He saw the Accessory Shop and remembered Cid's words, that he would help him. Having no other options, Sora entered again.
"Still haven't found them?" asked Cid. The answer was obvious by the look on Sora's face. "Well, no one said it would be easy."
"That what would be easy?"
"Well..anything. But just because it isn't easy doesn't mean you should give up."
"Yeah, I'd never give up on my friends!"
"That's it, keep your chin up," said Cid. "Take another look around town."
"Thanks," replied Sora. As he backed up to leave he almost stepped on a small marshmallow-like creature. "Um..sorry."
"Kupo!"
Sora looked at it, puzzled. "What kind of creature is that?"
"A moggle," answered Cid. Three more appeared next to the first. "They may not look like much, but they are excellent at forging things from junk. Just you watch. If you ever happen to find some useless object, those moggles can make it into something useful. I guarantee it."
"I'll remember that," said Sora as he left the shop.
He had just rounded the corner and started up the stairs when some approached him.
"They'll come at you out of nowhere," said the stranger. He had dark black hair, a small black jacket that was open to reveal a white shirt, a leather belt, and black pants. A strange silver necklace hung around his throat and a sword was strapped to his side. He had to be about twice as old as Sora was.
"Who are you?" asked Sora.
"And they'll keep coming at you," continued the man, "as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." He paused. "But why? Why would it choose a kid like you?"
"Hey!" protested Sora. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Never mind. Now let me see that Keyblade."
"What?!" gasped Sora. He didn't know how, but he knew the Keyblade was important. There was no way he was handing it over. Besides, it might be the key to getting Kairi and Riku back. "There's no way you're getting this!"
"All right, have it your way," shrugged the man as he reached for his sword. Sora stood ready with his Keyblade.
The strange charge and cut loose with a swift series of strokes from his weapon. Sora barely had time to defend himself. The stranger swung high and Sora raised his Keyblade to counter it. Then he threw off the man's weapon and delivered an attack of his own, right across the man's chest. He jerked back, surprised. Sora was also surprised. Before that attack would cut through Heartless like jelly. But the Keyblade did not have the same affect on people as it did shadows.
Sora took a step right, ready to charge, but the man attacked first. He held his weapon straight in front of him and pulled the trigger on his Gunblade. Sora was not prepared as a wave of energy washed over him, sending him sprawling backwards.
Sora struggled to his feet. He figured he had some time to recover before the man began charging again. He was wrong. The stranger began to glow red. Sora tried to figure out what it could mean, but the answer came a few seconds later when the man began to shoot fire at him.
"Woah!" exclaimed Sora as he started running. He could feel the heat the attack came so close.
As Sora ran he circled around and began to attack again, while his opponent was finishing his spell. Now, the stranger was the one to raise a defense. Sora swung across his chest and shoulders, hoping to get the man to raise his weapon high. He did and that was when Sora lowered the Keyblade and struck him across his lower abdomen.
His combo was short-lived, though, because the man recovered quickly and began to right back. CLANG! CRASH! SLASH! Gunblade crossed Keyblade. Sora was fighting his hardest, but it was clear that the man had more experience. CLASH! Their weapons hit once more and each began to try to over-power the other, a struggle that Sora was quickly losing.
Then he noticed something dangerous flash in the stranger's eyes. Sora jumped back and to the right just in time. His opponent had pulled the trigger on the Gunblade again, and a burst of energy at point blank would not have been good. The man turned and aimed at Sora once more. This time Sora did not try and dodge it.
The Gunblade fired again. Sora held his Keyblade in front of him like a shield and deflected the attack back at the man. It took all his strength to hold his Keyblade steady. The man was sent stumbling back as his own attack struck him. Both fighters stopped fighting, each breathing hard. The stranger dropped to one knee.
"Now..you're gonna..you're...gonna.." stammered Sora as he panted for breath. He never finished that thought, though, because he collapsed from exhaustion, completely unconscious.
A girl with short black hair walked up. She wore a short green top with a yellow scarf and beige shorts. She also wore long white socks, brown shoes, and brownish-orange gloves. Several weapons, namely throwing stars, dangled off of her blue belt. She took one look at the unconscious boy and turned to the man. "Aw, you're slipping Leon."
"I went easy on him," replied Leon, coldly. "Looks like things are worse than we thought." He looked at Sora once more. "A lot worse."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Donald and Goofy were still roaming Traverse Town with Pluto, coming no closer to what they were looking for, either. A young lady with long blonde hair in a straight pink dress stepped calmly up behind them. She reached out and tapped Donald on the shoulder.
Donald flipped out, leapt into the air, and clung to Goofy. Goofy turned, enabling them both to see the young lady.
"Excuse me," she asked, politely. "Did the king send you?"
**************************************************************************** **********
Crossroads....
Gonzo landed the Pipsy Ship and only managed to destroy two docks and a pile of crates, pretty good for him. Kermit, nonetheless, was shaking. Rizzo had fainted a long time ago, so the last half of the trip had been relatively quiet.
"Yahoo!" exclaimed Gonzo. "We made it! This is so awesome!"
"Yeah..awesome.." agreed Kermit, half heartedly.
"A whole new world!" continued Gonzo. He was rubbing his hands together he was so excited. "I can't wait to see what weird stuff we find!"
Rizzo, who had just started coming to, was doing his favorite pastime, complaining. "This is probably a land filled with vicious cannibals.. They'd probably love a dish of rat stew, with a side of frog legs, finish it with a dessert of..well, whatever. Oh, we are all going to die."
"Really?" asked Gonzo, eagerly. "That sounds like so much fun!"
"Can we focus?" asked Kermit. "We are supposed to find the truth-seeker."
"Looking for some guy with a big flashlight. On it!" chimed Gonzo as he raced into the streets.
"Wait!" exclaimed Kermit as he followed.
"You're not leaving me alone!" protested Rizzo as he scampered after them.
"So, where should we begin?" asked Gonzo as he poked his long nose into a barrel.
"Um..I don't know," answered Kermit, thinking hard about the answer.
"Can we just go home?" whined Rizzo as he gazed back at the Pipsy Ship longingly. Then his eyes caught something in the sky. "Oh look! A star shower!"
"Falling stars? Cool!" exclaimed Gonzo.
"That's not good," said a wide-eyed Kermit. "It means a world is dying. We must hurry and find the truth-seeker; we don't have much time. If we don't find him..." He shuddered.
"Okay," agreed Gonzo, who seemed more interested in poking his nose into weird places than anything.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ugh..what hit me?" groaned Verity as she started to wake up. She was laying on a pile of crates. Her Divining Rod lay across her lap, right next to Our Other Worlds. She rubbed her head and looked around. Then she rubbed her eyes and looked again. She was in a place she had never seen before.
The streets were brown cobblestone and the buildings matched. A statue of a horseman stood in the middle of a four-way crossing. Nothing even remotely resembling the city was around. There were no cars, no trash, no electric lines. A few lanterns lined the streets, and Verity could tell these were fire run. Flowers sat in boxes on window sills. The streets went on as far as Verity could see in any direction like a big grid. They were perfectly lined.
"This cannot be happening," she told herself. "There is no logic to this." She looked around for a third time. All her senses were telling her it was real, but her mind refused to accept that. She glanced down at the book. "No! I refuse to believe it! There has to be a logical explanation to why I am here. I am not in another world. Therefore, I am either A) dreaming, B) somehow I sleep-walked here, or C) someone took me here as a prank. If it is C, I am going to strangle them.. Okay, fine, if it is a dream I have to wait for it to end. If I really am here, I might as well find a phone and call home." Feeling better because she had a plan and a logical (if incorrect) explanation, Verity slid off of the crates and entered the town.
A few people on the street looked at her as she walked by. But most seemed busy with their own problems. Almost everyone had some form of worry written across his or her face. That did very little to help Verity, who was already on edge. She kept trying to see a familiar face among the strange, preferably Scott or Meg, but no luck. She was all alone in this strange land.
She did a small circle around the horseman statue, taking in the scenery. The streets all looked the same, same width, same pavement, running in the same four basic directions. The house weren't much different. But there was one shop that seemed to stand out. The lights seemed brighter in this shop, and several books sat in the window, a welcoming sign for Verity. So she walked over to it. The sign above the door read 'Bishoff's Odds and Ends.' Verity timidly pushed open the door and entered.
Five girls about her age sat in the shop. One sat on the counter, one a table, and one on a chair in a circle. They seemed to be in deep conversation. Judging from their looks, they had to be triplets. Two of them had pure black ankle length hair and laser blue eyes, the third had waist length black hair and deep brown eyes. They all wore jeans of some form with a long sleeved shirt. The fourth girl sat on the stones of the fireplace. She was intimidating, with cropped light brown hair and tattered clothing, sitting on a bear skin and holding a spear. The last girl sat in the back in the shadows. She had stringy dark hair and haunted eyes that watched everything. Her clothing was as dark as her hair.
(AN/ These are MY OC's, so hands off! The do appear in their own storyline, Princess of the Forest, which is on fictionpress.com)
"Oh! A customer!" exclaimed the second girl. "Come in, come in, and look around."
"Um.." stammered Verity. She glanced at the shelves that lined the walls, but that wasn't what she was interested in.
"What are you looking for?" asked the third girl. "Maybe we can help."
"Can I use your phone?" asked Verity.
"Phone?" echoed the third girl. She shared a look with her sisters.
"You won't be finding one of those around here," answered the first.
"In fact, most people don't even know what one is," added the second.
"What are you talking about?" asked Verity, nervously. The girl by the fireplace snorted with annoyance, causing Verity to jump.
"Well, I guess someone had better tell her," sighed the first.
"Let the Wolf, she handles people the best," said the second, turning to the third.
"Lay off!" protested the third, whose nickname is Wolf. Nonetheless she sighed and explained to Verity that she was in another world. Verity found that very hard to accept, luckily the girl was very technical and scientifically minded, so she could explain it in a way that Verity could understand.
"This..I still find it hard to believe," stammered Verity.
"Believe it," said the first. "Oh, my name is Sylvia. This is Sonya, my double." She gestured to the second girl.
"Hello," greeted Sonya.
"My name is Sasha," introduced the third girl. "We are the Bishoff three."
"The one by the fireplace with the scowl is Sadia," added Sylvia.
"Bite me," snapped Sadia to Sylvia. Verity could tell those two weren't the best of friends.
"I'm Verity," answered Verity. She looked at the girl in back, who had yet to speak. "And you are?"
"S-Saskia," she answered, then went silent.
"Another world," sighed Verity, to fill the silence. "I guess Meg was right all along. I guess I'd better find her."
"Friend of yours?" asked Sasha.
"Yeah, her and Scott. They were there last night.. I really should be trying to find them. Do you have any idea where I should start?" asked Verity.
"That's a hard one," sighed Sylvia. "They could be in town, or they could be on anyone of a billion worlds."
"What?!" gasped Verity. In her surprise she dropped Our Other Worlds and nearly dropped her Divining Wand which she caught at the last minute. Sasha eyed the wand, then shared a silent message with her sisters.
{It's magic,} she said.
{We knew it was coming...} said Sonya.
{I can't sense magic, remember,} reminded Sylvia.
Saskia, too, had not taken her eyes off of the Divining Wand.
"You dropped this," said Sasha as she handed the book back to Verity.
"Thanks," said Verity.
"Better keep a better grip on things," joked Sonya, but she was being quite serious.
"Well, thanks for your help. I'm going to go find my friends," said Verity. In part, she wanted to leave because Sadia was making her incredibly nervous with her glare.
"Good luck," called Sasha as she walked out the door. When the door was shut the girls broke into frenzied discussion.
"We need to keep an eye on that one," stated Sonya.
"Saskia.." started Sasha, but the quiet girl had already melted into the shadows to follow Verity.
"That book she had.." started Sylvia.
"Yeah, we know," agreed Sonya.
"She won't be alone, there will be others," said Sasha. "I'm going to find them." With that she, too, bounded into the streets.
Sadia seemed to be taking everything less well. "Of all the half-wits in the worlds! We could do some much more... CURSE THOSE RULES!!!!!" With that she threw her spear into a moose head that had been mounted on the wall. It went in deep and wobbled there a moment. Surprisingly, Sonya and Sylvia weren't surprised, they rolled their eyes at their friend's outburst.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Verity glanced down the streets and started heading right, why, she didn't know, but it was a place to start. After passing several rows of merchant, middle-class homes, Verity realized the town had changed a bit. The houses now seemed more aristocratic, as if the upper class lived in this area.
"Great," muttered Verity. "Even in other worlds they have class systems." That was something Verity had never liked, considering she really didn't have the fashion sense to make herself fit in anywhere. That is why she normally spent more time with books then people.
She did a slow circle, once again taking everything in. Verity was an observer at heart, which helped her greatly in her love of details. Unfortunately, she could see nothing here that would even remotely help with finding her friends or her way back home. A slight chill rose in the air, causing Verity to hold her arms across her chest. It was very still, until a scream shattered that.
Verity looked up and gasped, then only had a second to dive out of the way as a person fell off of a balcony above her. The man laid on the ground, twitching. Verity watched him, wide-eyed and slowly crept over. She put a tentative finger on his neck to find his pulse. He went still, completely still. Dead. Verity gasped and crab-walked backward in shock. It was very disturbing. She had never seen anyone die before, and she didn't like it.
She was even more surprised when a crystalline heart floated out of the man's body. But she didn't focus on that for too long because a shadow was forming as well. At first Verity thought it was a trick of the light, but as claws formed, she wished it was. A Heartless rose near the dead man. Soon, several more had joined it.
"Oh no!" gasped Verity. "Those things from the library!" The Heartless had very quickly surrounded her. Verity's eyes darted for an escape, but fighting seemed to be her only option. The Divining Wand grew warm in her hands as Verity nervously prepared herself for the attack.
It came all at once. The five Heartless leapt forward, claws raised. Verity threw up her arms around her face out of reflexes. The Divining Wand flared and disintegrated the first Heartless before it could land a hit. That didn't do much to save Verity from the other four. They came at her from all sides.
"EEK!" shrieked Verity as she felt claws tearing into her. She ducked and ran, trying to get away from them, but they kept coming. She ducked again and as a Heartless sailed over her she realized she would have to fight.
Verity did a 180 turn and held her wand in front of her. She tried to focus on the light as she had before, making it brighter and brighter. The Divining Wand responded, showering the area in light. Two more Heartless feel as the remaining two crept backwards, waiting for the light to fade, waiting for another moment to strike.
Verity's eyes darted around again, looking for more danger. It was tiring to use the Divining Wand like that, meaning she basically had no clue what she was doing. As the light waned the Heartless attacked again.
One came at her from the front left. Verity gasped and jumped backwards. The creature hit the ground where she was a second ago. Verity held out her wand close to it and blew it to dust. Verity then jerked up straight as she heard a noise behind her. She whirled around and raised her wand into to find the fifth Heartless. Her wand wasn't full raised. The Heartless slashed at her. Verity held the Divining Wand sideways, blocking the attack. She remembered when she tried that before with her prop and it had been shredded. But the Divining Wand held true. Verity quickly threw off the last Heartless, changed the angle of her wand, and blew it to bits.
She glanced around for another enemy, but she was alone. She slowly slid to the ground, breathing hard. This was too bizarre for her. There was no logical explanation, no pattern she could find. And things were getting dangerous. Verity wasn't sure if she liked this.
After she calmed her nerves, Verity rose to her feet. She glanced around one more time. She figured that Scott and/or Meg would never linger in the rich residential section, so she had best try somewhere else to find them.
To get to the other side of town, Verity once again found herself in the town square. The odds and ends shop was still open. People milled about with seeming no purpose. Another shop, this one an Accessory Shop was open on the far side of the square. Above most of the shops were apartments; Verity knew that the shop owners had to live in those. Verity shook her head to focus. She could sight-see with Scott and Meg later, after she found them. Verity stopped observing the buildings and focused on looking for street signs. Strangely, there were none. The closest thing she could find were symbols in odd corners of the square.
"I guess I'm on my own," sighed Verity as she walked across the street and down another, into another part of town.
It wasn't long before all the identical streets gradually fell into disrepair. The houses also seemed not to be up kept as well. She had managed to find the poor section of town. No one roamed freely here. Verity paused, trying to see if there was anyone around. As she did a slow 180, she thought she saw someone watching her from behind the corner of the house.
"Hey!" called Verity. The shadowy figure disappeared. "Wait!" Verity started towards the person, but when she got to the corner, that person had completely vanished. Verity looked around, surprised. The only way the person could have gone was into a dead end alleyway with high walls. The alleyway was empty.
"Was it my imagination?" asked Verity. Somehow she doubted that. But before she could wonder anymore, the shadows by her feet began to grow solid.
"Oh no!" groaned Verity as she ran out into the open street again. The Heartless followed. "Leave me alone!" she yelled. They still came. Verity raised her Divining Wand. They all stopped their charge and eyed her warily, doing slow circles around her.
"I don't have time for this!" she growled lowly. She summoned the power of the Divining Wand and blasted a beam straight through two of the Heartless. Without waiting for the light to fade, she raced through the opening and down the streets.
She hurried back to the town square. Heartless were rampant everywhere else, so Verity was hoping she'd be safe in the square. She hurried as fast as she could, but she wasn't terribly athletic. The town center was in sight, about two streets away, when she saw something flying at her out of the corner of her eye.
FWIP! Verity came to a dead halt as a dagger wedge itself in the cobblestones a yard in front of her. Verity stared at it a moment, the looked for her attacker. She didn't have a long wait. Sadia walked over and picked her dagger off of the street. Verity got a good look at it in the late evening light. It was a danger made out of a large bone. The one end had been sharpened, but the hilt still had the ball joint in tact.
"W-What do you want?" stammered Verity as Sadia eyed her up. Sadia seemed even more intimidating when she was moving. She had thrown her bearskin over her left side, forming what could be called a cape. Half of the bear's face covered half of her face.
"What do I want?" asked Sadia. "I want to know how you could have been chosen."
"C-Chosen?" stammered Verity, who was looking for an exit.
"A weak little thing like you. What can you possibly do?" sneered Sadia. "There had to be a mistake. Why don't you just hand over that little stick of yours and I won't hurt you."
"What?! Never!" gasped Verity. The words were out before she could stop them.
"Fine then, have it your way," growled Sadia. She held her bone dagger in her right hand and pulled another dagger out from under her bearskin. This one actually was the paw of the bear. Its nails had been pulled out and replaced with ones of steel. Sadia charged forward.
"Ah!" gasped Verity, caught of guard. Sadia was faster than she ever imagined. Verity jerked backwards and fell. Sadia stood over her.
"Pathetic," she spat, glaring at Verity. She raised her daggers.
Verity cringed, but was already drawing on the power of the Divining Wand. As Sadia brought down her weapons, the wand flared brightly. Sadia gasped and stumbled backwards. Verity was on her feet a second later.
The light faded and the fighters glared at each other. "Light might work fine against shadows," growled Sadia. "But not against me!" She charged again.
Verity only had an instant to react. She held her wand up and met the bone dagger inches from her face. She could see Sadia's sneer, a half a foot from her face. Sadia, with her free hand, raked her bear-claw dagger across Verity's stomach. Verity gasped and recoiled in pain.
Sadia smiled evilly and dove in for another attack. She began to slice at Verity with both her weapons. It was all Verity could do to defend herself. Sadia was stronger than she looked, and faster than Verity would have thought possible. Verity slid to her knees, breathing hard and bleeding as Sadia took a step back and glared down at her.
"Truly pathetic," she sneered, then prepared for another attack.
This time Verity was ready. She had been focusing all her power into the Divining Wand for one attack. As Sadia charged, Verity raised her weapons and created a tremendous wave of power and light. It picked Sadia off of her feet and threw her into the nearest wall, where she collapsed into a pile of crates.
Verity, her energy gone, passed out.
Sadia rose from the crates. She was scratched and bruised, but still more than able to fight. She growled low once, then, tightening her grip on her daggers, she walked over to Verity.
FWIP! A dagger once more embedded itself in the cobblestones. This time it was at Sadia's feet. It was a normal steel hunting knife, about 8" long.
"Huntress!" called the person who threw the knife. She was no more than Sylvia. "What do you think you are doing?!" Sylvia walked out of the shadows and stood on the other side of her knife, between Verity and Sadia.
"Lay off," snapped Sadia. "I was just testing her."
"Do you want to get in trouble for meddling?" demanded Sylvia.
Sadia ignored her. "If the worlds are waiting for a heroine..they are going to have a while to wait." She glared past Sylvia to Sadia, crossing her arms defiantly.
"Like I am going to believe that act," said Sylvia, also crossing her arms. "You were holding back."
"Grrrr..."
"You could have finished her in under three seconds had you used your spear," continued Sylvia. "And not much longer with those knives of yours." Sadia glared at her, an unspoken challenge. "Ease up. Do you have a problem with people knowing you actually have a heart?"
"Shut up. You know, I may be forbidden to 'meddle' as you call it. But that doesn't mean I can't fight you whenever I want," spat Sadia. With that she turned and walked away. As she did her bearskin flared out, revealing her spear strapped to her hip. It came up to her shoulder from the ground, meaning it hid perfectly under her bearskin.
Sylvia watched her go and sighed. She then picked up her dagger and looked down at Verity. "She is right about one thing," Sylvia said to herself. "You aren't much of a heroine."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey, Rizzo! Look over here!" called Gonzo as he poked his head into yet another barrel.
"I'd rather not," groaned Rizzo.
"Can we please focus?" asked Kermit. "Lady Piggy ordered us to find the truth-seeker."
"Yeah, and he might be in here," said Gonzo as he began to check another barrel. Kermit sighed and looked around. Some people were watching them strangely. Others didn't really care. But none held the anything that could remotely be described as a 'torch of truth.'
Kermit stopped short. A large grey dog sat further up the street they were on, right in the middle of the road. It was watching them with its deep brown eyes. It seemed very odd. The canine seemed to be waiting for them.
"Gonzo," called Kermit.
"What? You want to try?" asked Gonzo, who had emerged with a can stuck to his overly large nose.
"Look," said Kermit, gesturing to the dog and ignoring the last comment.
"At least it isn't a cat," said Rizzo. The dog rose and walked away.
"I think it wants us to follow it," said Kermit.
"Cool!" exclaimed Gonzo and he took off after the dog. His comrades followed.
As they rounded the corner that the dog had disappeared behind, Gonzo collided with someone. The girl looked at them curiously. She was Sasha.
"Pardon me," said Gonzo, nasally, because his nose had been bent in.
"Are you after the truth?" she asked.
**************************************************************************** **********
Midridge....
Link nearly blacked out during his flight from his world. He wasn't fully conscious when he came to a stop in another world. It was quite an abrupt stop, meaning the Foxstar came to a dead halt. Unfortunately, Link didn't. He tumbled off of the ship and onto the foreign streets. Fortunately, a very confused passer-by broke his fall. They hit the ground hard.
"Get off of me!" exclaimed Link. He jumped to his feet without even looking at the person he had landed on. His mind was too preoccupied with other things. Once he was on his feet he took off running, desperately looking for Zelda, looking for something, someone who could help him find her.
"I have to find Zelda!" he said to himself. "But if she isn't here, and the path is lost... Then I must find the path-finder, or all will be lost!" He raced on, not knowing how close the pathfinder actually was.
"What was that about?" asked Lee as he ran through the recent events in his mind. First there was the bizarre shadows in the forest, his friends and the door, then his own shadow attacking him. Lee remembered blacking out, then waking up in this strange place. He had taken two steps when a Robin Hood impersonator had landed on him, then raced off.
"Where am I?" asked Lee. "Adeola! Devan!" He picked a general direction and started out. He started walking very fast, but he slowed as he realized he had no idea where he was.
This place was strange. There wasn't a tree in sight. The air was moister than the forest. The streets seemed to follow no set pattern. They swirled around and crossed at the weirdest places. The buildings was all short, mostly one story each. They were all made of wood and few were painted. Wooden signs labeled the few that were shops. Lee had the strangest feeling that he had just fallen into the medieval ages, except there was no castle. He continued on, a bit more cautious this time.
"This is way too bizarre," commented Lee. "I wish the others were here to see this. .. Maybe they are!" With that thought Lee smiled and walked bravely forward.
He wandered from street to street until he was at a large five-way intersection. The streets were larger here, forming a sort of town center. A few benches sat outside the buildings, and Lee was convinced he saw a hitching post or two. It was relatively clean here, and Lee could see some were symbols in the ground which seemed completely out of place. People seemed to congregate here, so it was as good a place as any to start.
Lee started talking to the locals, but most seemed as lost and confused as he did. Many told tales of living shadows which Lee could easily relate to. Other than that they knew of nothing that interested him. Lee had no idea about his friends, other than a driving urge to find them. He assumed that since the people on the street had no clue about anything, maybe those inside would. A few stores were in the square; they looked no different from every other building save a fading sign that labeled them. He decided to try his luck and entered one of these.
"Hello, how can we help you?" asked a girl with brown hair in a ponytail and pink bangs. A tiny red bird flew around her shoulder. She wore a dark, tight outfit that was clearly designed for easy movement.
"Um...where am I?" asked Lee.
"You are in our Accessory Shop," said another girl. She had short pink hair and wore a yellow outfit much like the first girl. A tiny bunny hopped on the counter next to her.
"And where is that?" asked Lee.
"Oh great, another one," sighed a girl Lee had not noticed before. She had shoulder-length black hair and was clearly the oldest. Her outfit was black spandex, much like a gymnast's outfit. She seemed annoyed by the whole situation.
"Another what?" asked Lee. "And I have a name, its Lee."
"Hello Lee," said the second. "I am Kalin. This is Hina." She pointed to her bunny.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Julin," said the first. "This is Juliny." She pointed to her bird. "And that is our older sister, Seilin."
"Hi," said Lee. "Now, about this place..?" The girls started to explain as best they could.
(AN/ These girls are from Shaolin Sisters. It's an obscure little manga, but it is quite cool. Y'all will probably notice this as this story progresses, but anime will be in just about every story set. That is because it is my addiction!)
"Midridge? Another world?" repeated Lee. "How bizarre..Oh! Have you seen a girl with brown hair who looked like she just slept outside and a guy with short hair and large biceps?"
"No...not that I know of," said Julin. "Have you, Kalin?"
"Not me," she said. "Sei--?"
"I haven't," said their oldest sister, who really wasn't paying attention to their conversation.
"I wonder where they could be," sighed Lee. "I hope they are okay."
"It must be terrible to be separated from the ones you love," sighed Julin. "I remember when I looked so hard for the two of you."
"And now we have each other!" exclaimed Kalin as she and Julin hugged.
"Do you girls have any idea about where I should look?" asked Lee.
"No clue," said Kalin. "Why don't you look around town?"
"That sounds like a good idea," agreed Lee. He started for the door.
"You'd better be careful," warned Seilin.
"Yeah..." said Lee as he turned back. His eyes fell on the counter.
"Want to buy anything?" asked Julin.
"I have no munny, sorry," sighed Lee as he walked out.
"If you ever need any help, you know where to find us!" called Kalin as he left.
Outside, Lee began to aimlessly wander the streets. "A whole other world! I can't believe this! I really wish Adeola was here, she'd probably have some idea about this..." With that thought, he strengthened his resolve to find them.
There was no logic in how the streets were arranged, thus Lee was often sure he was lost, only to find himself back in an area he had been through several times before. Shops sporadically were set up around town often mixed in the residential districts, which only made everything more confusing. Lee had given up trying to map his progress and just roamed. Normally, Devan would have been the guide, but he wasn't here.
Lee took a right hand turn and found himself in a dead end, the first he had seen all day. A man staggered out of the shadows in the corner and fell to the ground.
"Oh my gosh!" gasped Lee. "Are you okay?!" He ran over and shook the man, but the stranger was completely still. Dead.
Lee jumped backwards as a light floated out of the man's chest and formed into some sort of heart-shaped crystal. That floated off into the night.
"Agh!" groaned Lee as he felt something sharp digging into his back. He reached back with his non-shield hand, pulled something off, and threw it into the street. It was the same creature that had attacked him before in the forest.
"Not again!" groaned Lee. That Heartless was quickly joined by four others. Lee glared at them. "What did you do with Adeola and Devan?!" The Heartless attacked. Lee put up his shield in time to feel the weight of his enemies behind it.
"Grrr..." he groaned as he struggled against them. The light in the middle of his shield flared. Two Heartless disintegrated and the rest backed up warily. The light faded and the Heartless began their attack anew.
The remaining three charged him at once. Lee managed to stop one, but the other two began to tear at him with their claws. Lee cried out in pain, then rolled to get them off his back. He stood on his knees and faced them, glaring daggers. He held his shield forward, willing it to beat the enemies. The light glowed faintly.
The Heartless charged. Lee, too, charged forward. He collided with one of the Heartless. Using the Guide Shield and his own momentum, he threw one Heartless against the wall where it splattered back into a shadow. He then whirled around and faced another Heartless as it was coming after him. Its claws raked against the shield, causing it to flare. The Heartless disappeared in the light.
Lee rose to a full standing position, breathing hard. He had not expected to fight these creatures again. All he wanted to do was find his friends. He was worried that the Heartless would attack them and his friends would have no way to defend themselves.
"Agh!" gasped Lee as he once again felt something sharp in his back. The numbers made sense even as Lee was throwing it off. There was still one more Heartless. He jumped and the Heartless fell to the ground. Lee turned and confronted it. His dark eyes glared at the beady yellow eyes of his enemy. They paused a moment, then attacked.
The Heartless lunged, claws raised. Lee ducked behind his shield as a burst of light shredded the Heartless in midair. Lee quickly looked around, making sure he was alone. Then he ran out of there, not wanting to wait for more to show up.
He was soon tired of running, mostly from all the fighting he just did. It seemed like Heartless were forming in all the shadows as he hurried by, but Lee was in no mood to find out. He went through street after street without finding any clue of his friends, only strange shadows. Lee was starting to get mad, namely because he feared for them.
"UFF!" he rounded a corner quickly and collided with someone. "Sorry..." Lee looked at the stranger. It was the same guy who had fallen on him earlier.
"Out of my way!" snapped the Robin Hood look-a-like. He raced passed Lee without even an apology.
"What is wrong with him?" wondered Lee as he went on. He shook his head. The whole situation was bizarre, and he more things to worry about than a weirdo with poor manners. Lee returned to his roamings.
After a while of finding nothing useful on the streets, he began to explore shops and buildings that looked open. Most people were unwilling to deal with his because he had no munny. Outside, just a corner away from Lee it seemed, Link too was searching. They always seemed to disappear out of the others sight before they found each other again, though.
"This is starting to get annoying," sighed Lee as he was asked to leave another shop because of the size of his wallet. He sat on the curb and sighed again. His stomach was tying in knots over his worry about his friends, and he still was uneasy about being in another world. The random attacks by shadows weren't helping either.
Lee jumped to his feet as he heard something strange. He listened again, it was the sounds of a fight. Lee hurried to where they were coming from. He could tell there was one person fighting against several enemies. That person seemed to be struggling, but wasn't giving up. Lee rounded the corner and was shocked by what he saw. The stranger was there, fighting against seven Heartless. He had his sword raised, waiting for them to attack again. Lee could tell the odds weren't in his favor, so he decided to help.
As Lee raced towards the battle the Heartless attacked Link. Link hacked at one with his sword. Since it wasn't a weapon designed to hurt Heartless like the Keyblade, it took several swings to defeat one. He pulled out his boomerang and threw it into the air. It cut the Heartless, but only managed to disable one. Link cut that one in half, after catching his weapon. The remaining six Heartless closed in around him. Lee took a battle pose, determined not to lose. Claws and steel slashed through the air. Link was getting battered and cut, but he was fighting with his whole heart. Two more Heartless fell. The last four jumped on him, taking him to the ground. Link threw two off, but he was bleeding in several places now.
Those two Heartless charged in for another attack. Link gasped as one leapt into the air and aimed right at his face.
CRASH! That Heartless was stopped short as Lee put the Guide Shield between it and Link. Then, like he did before, he used the attacker's momentum against it and threw it into a wall where it went splat.
Link took this diversion to shred another Heartless, leaving only two left. Link and Lee each sized up one, but Link was glaring at lee out of the corner of his eye. The Heartless attacked. Link destroyed the nearest in a series of rapid strokes. Lee positioned himself behind his shield and let the light in the center dissolve the last Heartless as it attacked. Then he turned to Link. Link was already glaring at him.
"I don't know who you think you are," said Link. "But quit getting in my way!" Lee looked at him, amused and surprised. "What do you want?!"
"Well, a thank you for saving you just now would be nice," said Lee.
"I didn't ask for your help," snapped Link.
"Doesn't mean you didn't need it," said Lee.
"Out of my way!" snapped Link as he shoved past Lee.
"What is your problem?" asked Lee.
Link turned and glared at him. "I have important things I must do, and I cannot be delayed by some child!"
"Child?!" exclaimed Lee. "Between the two of us, you are the one acting like a kid!"
"Take that back!" growled Link.
"Why? It's true," counted Lee.
"Fine, then prove to me what a man you are!" said Link as he drew his sword. Lee gulped. He hadn't been expecting this. "Don't tell me you are afraid!"
"Not of you!" snapped Lee as he raised his shield. Link charged and began slashing. Lee followed his movements with his shield, blocking every attack. It was tough, Link was fast, but he was also mad to the point it was clouding his thoughts.
Link backed off, plotting a new approach. "Why do you hide from me?"
"Erm...." stammered Lee.
Link charged again, using an intense amount of combos. Lee was struggling to keep his shield up on the onslaught. While Lee was busy dealing with the sword, Lee threw his boomerang. It sailed past without Lee noticing it.
Lee was trying his hardest to figure some way to beat Link. Deep down, he had no desire to hurt or kill the stranger. He tried to some the light from his shield, but he couldn't focus on that and defending himself. The crystal in the center of the shield only pulsed slightly, because it was not Lee's desire for it to destroy.
"You cannot win a battle by defending!" snapped Link as Lee continued to block him. "You cannot tell me you only carried a shield with you!"
"Well..." stammered Lee.
Link looked at him in disbelief. He gave him the 'what an idiot' look.
"Lay off!" snapped Lee as he shoved Link's sword away.
THUNK! The boomerang crashed into Lee's exposed side. He slid to the ground, his free hand clutching the injury.
"Some fighter," muttered Link as he approached Lee with his sword raised. Lee realized it was all or nothing. He tilted the Guide Shield a little and began to focus on its hidden power. The crystal glowed in response.
Link started his neck attack. But as he raised his arms, the Guide Shield blasted him with an intense beam of light that sent him sprawling head over heels. Link gasped once in shock, then passed out. Lee, too, was breathing hard. He slid to the pavement, completely unconscious.
It was quiet and empty in the street for several minutes until a couple wandered down it. They were completely different in looks. The man had jet black hair and wore black leather that matched. The only thing light about him was his right eye, which was white. The left was as black as the rest of him. The lady was lovely, wearing a white robe. She had vibrant, golden heart and a simple, sweet smile.
"Oh my!" she gasped when she saw the two fighters unconscious.
"Looks like they got into a fight," commented the man.
"We need to help them," said the lady as she placed a hand on Lee. The Guide Shield pulsed slightly. She looked at it. "Oh my!"
"Well, they'll probably need a doctor," said the man. "Good thing we live with one."
"Yes, Shuichiro should be able to help them, Kokuyo," agreed the lady. "Let's get them there."
"Yes Hisui, my love," agreed Kokuyo as he approached Link.
(AN/ These characters are from Wish by CLAMP, another anime permeation.)
**************************************************************************** **********
Ani-Intersection....
"Mama-mia!" exclaimed Luigi as he stood up. "What was that that hit us?"
"Whatever it was, it took the princess!" exclaimed Mario.
"Oh no!" gasped Luigi.
"We have to find her!" exclaimed Mario as he started to walk away.
"But..remember what she said?" asked Luigi. "We are to find the guide."
"I do not want to leave our princess in peril," said Mario.
"This is what she would have wanted," said Luigi. "We must go on and find the guide." Mario looked torn between the choices. "Maybe the guide will guide us to Peach."
"Yes," sighed Mario. He help up his shield. "For Peach!"
"For Peach!" agreed Luigi, raising his plunger-wand. Their eyes wandered up to the night sky. A star twinkled, then disappeared. The brothers shuddered. For all they knew, that was their world that vanished.
"We cannot delay," said Mario and they started out.
"Do you know anything about this guide we are trying to find?" asked Luigi as they started down the street.
"Absolutely nothing," admitted Mario. "But we must try!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Tamsin...Faye...?" groaned Crysta as she woke up. She was in a gloomy alleyway. A few crates were tipped over, probably from her arrival. But other than the crates, the alleyway was empty. Crysta's eyes began to focus. She jumped at the shadows, then realized they were just shadows.
"Pull yourself together, girl," Crysta told herself. She tightened her grip on her Compass Razor, which made her feel more confident. She jumped to her feet and began to look around.
Crysta wandered out of the alleyway and got her first look at a new world. She paused and just took everything in with wide-eyes. The streets were grey stone and the houses were made in a style that was so old Crysta didn't think it existed anymore. Several large flowerpots decorated the corner of buildings and streets. People wandered around, taking everything in. A few windows were lit, and some shop signs swung in a gentle breeze. It was nothing like the place she left.
Crysta did a slow circle where she stood. Beyond the square she was in were more buildings and streets like the ones around her. The streets were all circular, looping around themselves. There seemed to be no direct way to any place, so one could expect to do a lot of wandering. Everything else about the town seemed rather quaint. Except there was no way Crysta could explain how she got here.
Nonetheless, Crysta was never the one to back down from anything. She shrugged her shoulders and set her face with determination. Crysta walked up to several people in the square and asked for directions, but the common answer she got was a blank look. That did little to faze her though. She head to the nearest shop and entered.
"Oh! Come in!" greeted a girl with crimped blonde hair. "You're out late."
"Um...yeah," said Crysta. "What is this place?"
"This is our Accessory Shop," said the girl. "I am Meiko and I run it with my husband, Nachun."
(AN/ From Marmalade Boy.)
"I'm Crysta. And...where is here?" asked Crysta.
"Ani-Intersection," answered Meiko. "Sit down, I'll tell you what I know." Meiko quickly explained everything she could to Crysta.
"Another..world?" stammered Crysta. "That sounds just like the star guardian!"
"Erm..." stammered Meiko.
"Well, anyways, where do you think my friends ended up?" asked Crysta.
"I don't know, you're going to have to find them," said Meiko. "It took us awhile to find each other when our world was destroyed. But now we all have shops on this world. You might want to check them out."
"Thanks for the advice," sighed Crysta.
"Don't worry," said Meiko. "I am sure everything will work out."
"I hope they do," said Crysta. "Faye, Tamsin, and I promised we'd do everything together, from the universe to the fishbowl. I have to find them!"
"I am sure you will," said Meiko.
"Thanks," said Crysta as she headed for the door.
"Be careful, though!" warned Meiko.
"I will," said Crysta. "I have made my choice and I will not let 'destiny' control me." With that she left, leaving Meiko rather confused.
Crysta took to roaming the streets, hoping to find her friends or some information on what was going on. Since the streets were circular, Crysta often found herself going over the same area several times. She felt like a moth circling a flame. If she was just here to sight-see she wouldn't have minded, but she was on a mission. Distractions bothered her once she was set on something.
As the streets took her farther from the square, Crysta noticed less and less people milled about. Everything was getting strangely quiet. Crysta began to feel uneasy. Then, a man staggered into view. He seemed exhausted and haggard. Crysta hurried to him, but he fell over before she got there. He twitched once and then went still. Dead. Crysta gasped in surprise.
Then, she gasped again as a heart-shaped crystal floated out of the man's chest and into the night. Crysta watched it float away with amazement. But when she looked down again, the shadows were shifting.
"Oh no!" gasped Crysta, her hand tightening around the Compass Razor. Five Heartless rose from the ground. She glared at her enemies. "You have caused enough trouble for me!" With that she let her Compass Razor fly. Two Heartless never even lasted long enough to hurt her.
Unfortunately, that still left three more and Crysta without a weapon. The moment the ring was out of her hands the Heartless charged, claws bared. Crysta gasped in pain as they tore into her, but that only fired her resolve to beat them. She shook her attackers off and ran into the open, catching her Compass Razor.
Crysta turned and glared at her foes. Fighting had awoken something dangerous inside of her that had always slept just under the surface. She eyed up the three remaining ones, deciding which one to strike first.
The Heartless charged as one entity. Crysta threw her weapon, but only one fell before she felt the sting of claws again. Crysta cried out in pain and held back tears as she struggled with just her own strength against the Heartless.
"I have to do something about this!" growled Crysta as she thought through how her weapon left her defenseless. She quickly put distance between herself and the remaining Heartless as he weapon buzzed through the streets. She glared at the Heartless as they prepared for another attack.
Crysta saw her Compass Razor returning to her. Remembering how she could direct it, she raised her hand and willed it further to the left and a hair lower, so it would take out her enemies. The Heartless charged forward. When they were almost on top of her, the Compass Razor returned, slicing them both in half.
Crysta checked to make sure there was no others, before falling to her knees. Her flesh felt like it was on fire from all the scratches she had received. It was a lot more tiring to fight than she realized, and the utter bizarreness of the whole situation was taking its toll.
After she had caught her breath and reorganized her thoughts, she continued her search. Crysta was now paying acute attention to her surroundings. After all these attacks, who could blame her. She was developing a skill of spotting growing shadows before she approached. When she saw them, she let her Compass Razor fly, dealing with most Heartless before she ever got near them.
Nonetheless, their very presence caused Crysta to head back to the safety of the town square and the people there. For some reason the Heartless did not get this far into the city, but Crysta wondered how long that would last. She was beginning to feel the overwhelming desire to make every single one of those shadows suffer for all they had put her through. But she set in her mind that her first priority was to her friends. She had made her choice, and she was going to stick with it.
From the middle of Ani-Intersection Crysta took another path and began to spiral outwards again. She took her time and looked for anything that could help. But Crysta had never been much of an observer, she was more of a doer. The fighting she could handle, though she viewed it as a distraction. Trying to figure things out was a bit much, so Crysta resolved to let them work their own way out.
"They keep coming, don't they?" a strange voice asked. The speaker stepped out of the shadows. He had dark hair and wore a pair of sunglasses. A long trench coat was over the dark, uniform style outfit he wore.
"Who are you?" demanded Crysta.
"Do you even know who you are, or what destiny has chosen you for?" asked the stranger.
"I chose my own destiny!" snapped Crysta.
"And that is why you carry that weapon," responded the man.
"Huh?"
"Do you not know its destiny? Hand it over."
"Never!" spat Crysta.
"Then we will do things the hard way," he said as he took of his coat and it fell to the pavement.
"I like the hard way," growled Crysta as she readied her Compass Razor.
The stranger merely smirked and held out his hand. As Crysta watched, his skin began to crawl. A kind of dagger, a stiletto, formed out of his own body! Crysta eyed him warily.
"Are you still ready to fight?" asked the stranger.
"Yes!" snapped Crysta, unable to back down from any challenge.
The man nodded, then he charged. Crysta gasped in surprise as he opened with a series of swift strokes. She was forced to hold her Compass Razor like a shield in order to hold him at bay.
"Not much of a fighter, are you?" he asked.
"Take this!" snapped Crysta as she let her weapon fly. Her aim was true, but the man dropped to the ground, thus ducking it.
He rose again, and once more, Crysta was without a weapon. The stranger grabbed her by the wrists and raised her hands high over her head while shoving her against a wall. Crysta fought and squirmed, but he was stronger than she was.
"How sad," said the man. "I knew there had to be a mistake."
"Let go of me!" yelled Crysta as she kicked him in a place no man ever wants to be kicked.
Her attacker jerked back. Then his ears caught the sound of the Compass Razor returning. He rolled out of the way as it sailed into Crysta's arms. She caught it soundly and smiled down at him. He rose again and returned her look with a completely blank one.
"You want to continue?" asked Crysta. "It may be your life." She held her razor at an angle so it glittered dangerously in the low light.
"You are confident," said the stranger. "But very foolish."
"Grrrr!" growled Crysta as she threw the Compass Razor.
Once more the stranger dodged it with ease. Seeing her again weaponless, he charged. Crysta had expected this. She began to direct the Compass Razor, willing it to fly after her attacker. The stranger turned and gasped in surprise as the razor began to chase him. He began to dodge it. The stranger and the weapon seemed to be doing a dance on the street.
"You won't beat me!" said Crysta.
"You are so naïve!" retorted the man.
He stopped, ducked, and did a handspring. Crysta wasn't expecting this, and her weapon overshot him. In this instance the man charged straight at Crysta. She raised her arms defensively, but he threw those aside. His weapon hand circled to the back of her neck. He hit her with the hilt of his stiletto and Crysta slumped in his arms, unconscious.
"Trying to find a date, Toya?" asked a lady who stepped out of the shadows. She had long dark hair and wore a Japanese school uniform. That seemed odd, because she looked to old to be a student.
"Ceres?!" gasped Toya. Ceres didn't reply, she just calmly plucked the Compass Razor out of the air and held it.
(AN/ These characters are from Ceres.)
Ceres looked at the weapon. "Oh? So this is what is going on?" Toya nodded.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Where would a guide be?" asked Luigi to Mario.
"I don't know, but I hope that that person will lead us right to Peach," replied Mario.
"Excuse me," said a lovely woman with dark hair in a pretty kimono. "I couldn't help but overhear you. Maybe I can help you." A younger man with dark hair and a headband nodded from behind her.
**************************************************************************** **********
Goofy and Donald had arrived in Traverse Town without any further mishaps. After parking the Gummi Ship, they had set out to follow the king's orders and find Leon, then the 'key.' Goofy, his mind wandering, turned his gaze up to the late night sky.
"Look!" he said as he pointed. "A star's goin' out!"
Donald knew that could only mean one thing. "Come on! Let's hurry!" They started off down another street of the relatively small town setting of Traverse Town. The third, quiet, member of their party, the royal dog Pluto, didn't follow them. He had put his nose to the ground and was sniffing out something interesting.
"Where's that key?" asked Donald as they continued to go opposite of Pluto.
"Hey, ya know, maybe we ought to go find Leon," suggested Goofy. Then he looked back and saw Pluto tracking something. The orange dog disappeared down an alley. "Uh, Donald. Ya know, I betcha that..."
"Aw, what do you know, you big palooka?" Donald interrupted and dismissed him.
Goofy thought about that a moment, "What do I know?" He turned halfway around. "Come on Pluto."
Pluto turned down the alley and began to sniff and a spiky brown haired boy who was lying on the ground. Pluto began to lick him on the face. Sora woke with a start.
"What a dream..." Sora started to say, but trailed off when he realized he had no idea where he was at.
Pluto began to jump around him, acting like a big puppy.
"This is no dream!" gasped Sora. He rose to his feet. "Where...am I?" He turned to his canine companion. "Do you know where we are?"
Pluto turned and started to leave the alley, looking over his shoulder once to see if Sora was following. Then he raced off to join Goofy and Donald.
"Hey!" exclaimed Sora as Pluto disappeared into the strange town.
He looked around in wonder. Several small shops lined the courtyard, as well as a café. A few people roamed the streets, some looking extremely confused, others extremely sad. This place was like nothing Sora had seen in the Destiny Island.
"This is totally weird..." Sora said to himself. "I'm...I'm in another world!" That thought would have thrilled him had he not been so worried about Kairi and Riku.
Sora began to meander through the square, having no idea what to do. Exploring was his best option, so that is what he did. One shopped seemed especially welcoming for some reason, so that was the one he headed to. It was the Accessories Shop.
"Hey there," greeted the owner, a beefy man with blond hair. "How can I..? Aw. It's only a kid."
"I'm not a kid!" protested Sora. "And the name's Sora!"
"Okay, Okay, simmer down," said the owner. "So, why the long face, Sora? You lost or somethin'?"
"No! Well..maybe.. Where are we?"
"Huh?" asked the owner, then he sighed. Cases like these were becoming more and more common. He quickly explained everything he could.
"Traverse Town..." muttered Sora. "So gramps, is this really another world?"
"Don't call me gramps!" he snapped. "The name's Cid. Anyways..Not sure what you're talkin' about, but this sure ain't your island."
"Hmmmm.." Sora thought out-loud. Well, he had always dreamed of being in another world, there was just one thing missing. "Guess I'd better start looking for Riku and Kairi."
"Well, good luck with whatever you're doing," said Cid. "If you ever run into trouble, you come to me. I'll look out for you."
"Thanks," replied Sora, whose mind was already wandering to the possibilities that lay ahead.
"Well, wanna prepare yourself?" asked Cid as he gestured to his merchandise.
"No thanks, all I'm doing is looking for my friends," said Sora as he exited the shop.
"Good luck," repeated Cid as he shook his head. He knew he'd be seeing that boy again. "You're going to need it."
Sora exited his shop and roamed around the courtyard some more, doing a slow loop that was taking him farther and farther from where he started. He attempted to ask people if they had seen Kairi or Riku, but most of them were as lost as he was. Some even told depressing tales of everything going dark, of everyone being lost.
Around the courtyard were mostly shops and a few homes which seemed to be locked up. There was a mailbox and some strange marks on the ground, but beyond that there was nothing that could help him find his friends. Sora wandered around until he came to a big set of doors. He had heard it mentioned that Traverse Town had three districts, so Sora guessed that this lead to another one of those districts. He pushed his way and found out that he was right. The second district was almost completely empty, and it didn't take Sora long to figure out why.
As he entered an older man fell in front of him. The man gasped once, then went still. Dead. Sora's eyes went wide. But what happened next was an even bigger shock. A crystalline object shaped like a heart rose out of the man's chest. As Sora watched a shadow also formed. It had claws and long ears that were bent back. It had a rounded head and stooped figure. It was completely black, save two beady yellow eyes. It looked familiar, way too familiar. To make matters even worse, several more rose from the shadows.
"It's those creatures from the island!" gasped Sora.
The Heartless attacked. Sora was ready, Keyblade in hand.
He sliced the first one in half across the chest. Then he spun and caught another, returning it to the shadows. He felt claws digging into his side and jumped backwards to escape from a third Heartless. That one glared at him, then charged and jumped. Sora raised his Keyblade and sliced through it. It never lived long enough to hit the ground.
That only left two more, one on his right, one on his left. Sora's eyes darted from one to another, waiting for them to attack. When they did it seemed like it was at the same instant. Sora jumped backwards and the attackers collided in mid-air. Sora didn't hesitate. He cut them both down with one stroke.
"What is going on?" asked Sora, double-checking for enemies. Each time he had seen those creatures nothing good followed. He doubted if things would be any different this time. It only seemed to put more pressure on him to find his friends.
He had taken a few more steps into the second district when the shadows began to shift again. Sora froze as he once again found himself encircled by Heartless.
"What is going on?!" he demanded. The Heartless did not answer; they only attacked. Sora once again fought them back into darkness. Something was nagging him, telling him this wasn't right. Nonetheless he pushed on, fighting off the Heartless that appeared every few minutes. He wasn't really able to check out the buildings in the area, or even look for his friends, he was spending too much time fighting.
In the corner Sora found another large set of double doors, much like the first he had crossed through. Sick of fighting, Sora threw them open and raced in, slamming them behind him as Heartless tried to pursue.
"This is nuts!" he exclaimed.
But as Sora leaned against the door, catching his breath, even more Heartless showed up. Sora groaned, turned again, and raced back the way he came. More Heartless formed as he ran back through the second district, but Sora wasn't interested in fighting. He didn't stop running until he was safe in the first district.
"What am I going to do?" he asked himself as he started at the Keyblade. The black blood of the Heartless had evaporated off of it. But the enemies still came and he had no clue on how to find his friends. Shrugging, Sora began to circle the first district again. He saw the Accessory Shop and remembered Cid's words, that he would help him. Having no other options, Sora entered again.
"Still haven't found them?" asked Cid. The answer was obvious by the look on Sora's face. "Well, no one said it would be easy."
"That what would be easy?"
"Well..anything. But just because it isn't easy doesn't mean you should give up."
"Yeah, I'd never give up on my friends!"
"That's it, keep your chin up," said Cid. "Take another look around town."
"Thanks," replied Sora. As he backed up to leave he almost stepped on a small marshmallow-like creature. "Um..sorry."
"Kupo!"
Sora looked at it, puzzled. "What kind of creature is that?"
"A moggle," answered Cid. Three more appeared next to the first. "They may not look like much, but they are excellent at forging things from junk. Just you watch. If you ever happen to find some useless object, those moggles can make it into something useful. I guarantee it."
"I'll remember that," said Sora as he left the shop.
He had just rounded the corner and started up the stairs when some approached him.
"They'll come at you out of nowhere," said the stranger. He had dark black hair, a small black jacket that was open to reveal a white shirt, a leather belt, and black pants. A strange silver necklace hung around his throat and a sword was strapped to his side. He had to be about twice as old as Sora was.
"Who are you?" asked Sora.
"And they'll keep coming at you," continued the man, "as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." He paused. "But why? Why would it choose a kid like you?"
"Hey!" protested Sora. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Never mind. Now let me see that Keyblade."
"What?!" gasped Sora. He didn't know how, but he knew the Keyblade was important. There was no way he was handing it over. Besides, it might be the key to getting Kairi and Riku back. "There's no way you're getting this!"
"All right, have it your way," shrugged the man as he reached for his sword. Sora stood ready with his Keyblade.
The strange charge and cut loose with a swift series of strokes from his weapon. Sora barely had time to defend himself. The stranger swung high and Sora raised his Keyblade to counter it. Then he threw off the man's weapon and delivered an attack of his own, right across the man's chest. He jerked back, surprised. Sora was also surprised. Before that attack would cut through Heartless like jelly. But the Keyblade did not have the same affect on people as it did shadows.
Sora took a step right, ready to charge, but the man attacked first. He held his weapon straight in front of him and pulled the trigger on his Gunblade. Sora was not prepared as a wave of energy washed over him, sending him sprawling backwards.
Sora struggled to his feet. He figured he had some time to recover before the man began charging again. He was wrong. The stranger began to glow red. Sora tried to figure out what it could mean, but the answer came a few seconds later when the man began to shoot fire at him.
"Woah!" exclaimed Sora as he started running. He could feel the heat the attack came so close.
As Sora ran he circled around and began to attack again, while his opponent was finishing his spell. Now, the stranger was the one to raise a defense. Sora swung across his chest and shoulders, hoping to get the man to raise his weapon high. He did and that was when Sora lowered the Keyblade and struck him across his lower abdomen.
His combo was short-lived, though, because the man recovered quickly and began to right back. CLANG! CRASH! SLASH! Gunblade crossed Keyblade. Sora was fighting his hardest, but it was clear that the man had more experience. CLASH! Their weapons hit once more and each began to try to over-power the other, a struggle that Sora was quickly losing.
Then he noticed something dangerous flash in the stranger's eyes. Sora jumped back and to the right just in time. His opponent had pulled the trigger on the Gunblade again, and a burst of energy at point blank would not have been good. The man turned and aimed at Sora once more. This time Sora did not try and dodge it.
The Gunblade fired again. Sora held his Keyblade in front of him like a shield and deflected the attack back at the man. It took all his strength to hold his Keyblade steady. The man was sent stumbling back as his own attack struck him. Both fighters stopped fighting, each breathing hard. The stranger dropped to one knee.
"Now..you're gonna..you're...gonna.." stammered Sora as he panted for breath. He never finished that thought, though, because he collapsed from exhaustion, completely unconscious.
A girl with short black hair walked up. She wore a short green top with a yellow scarf and beige shorts. She also wore long white socks, brown shoes, and brownish-orange gloves. Several weapons, namely throwing stars, dangled off of her blue belt. She took one look at the unconscious boy and turned to the man. "Aw, you're slipping Leon."
"I went easy on him," replied Leon, coldly. "Looks like things are worse than we thought." He looked at Sora once more. "A lot worse."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Donald and Goofy were still roaming Traverse Town with Pluto, coming no closer to what they were looking for, either. A young lady with long blonde hair in a straight pink dress stepped calmly up behind them. She reached out and tapped Donald on the shoulder.
Donald flipped out, leapt into the air, and clung to Goofy. Goofy turned, enabling them both to see the young lady.
"Excuse me," she asked, politely. "Did the king send you?"
**************************************************************************** **********
Crossroads....
Gonzo landed the Pipsy Ship and only managed to destroy two docks and a pile of crates, pretty good for him. Kermit, nonetheless, was shaking. Rizzo had fainted a long time ago, so the last half of the trip had been relatively quiet.
"Yahoo!" exclaimed Gonzo. "We made it! This is so awesome!"
"Yeah..awesome.." agreed Kermit, half heartedly.
"A whole new world!" continued Gonzo. He was rubbing his hands together he was so excited. "I can't wait to see what weird stuff we find!"
Rizzo, who had just started coming to, was doing his favorite pastime, complaining. "This is probably a land filled with vicious cannibals.. They'd probably love a dish of rat stew, with a side of frog legs, finish it with a dessert of..well, whatever. Oh, we are all going to die."
"Really?" asked Gonzo, eagerly. "That sounds like so much fun!"
"Can we focus?" asked Kermit. "We are supposed to find the truth-seeker."
"Looking for some guy with a big flashlight. On it!" chimed Gonzo as he raced into the streets.
"Wait!" exclaimed Kermit as he followed.
"You're not leaving me alone!" protested Rizzo as he scampered after them.
"So, where should we begin?" asked Gonzo as he poked his long nose into a barrel.
"Um..I don't know," answered Kermit, thinking hard about the answer.
"Can we just go home?" whined Rizzo as he gazed back at the Pipsy Ship longingly. Then his eyes caught something in the sky. "Oh look! A star shower!"
"Falling stars? Cool!" exclaimed Gonzo.
"That's not good," said a wide-eyed Kermit. "It means a world is dying. We must hurry and find the truth-seeker; we don't have much time. If we don't find him..." He shuddered.
"Okay," agreed Gonzo, who seemed more interested in poking his nose into weird places than anything.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ugh..what hit me?" groaned Verity as she started to wake up. She was laying on a pile of crates. Her Divining Rod lay across her lap, right next to Our Other Worlds. She rubbed her head and looked around. Then she rubbed her eyes and looked again. She was in a place she had never seen before.
The streets were brown cobblestone and the buildings matched. A statue of a horseman stood in the middle of a four-way crossing. Nothing even remotely resembling the city was around. There were no cars, no trash, no electric lines. A few lanterns lined the streets, and Verity could tell these were fire run. Flowers sat in boxes on window sills. The streets went on as far as Verity could see in any direction like a big grid. They were perfectly lined.
"This cannot be happening," she told herself. "There is no logic to this." She looked around for a third time. All her senses were telling her it was real, but her mind refused to accept that. She glanced down at the book. "No! I refuse to believe it! There has to be a logical explanation to why I am here. I am not in another world. Therefore, I am either A) dreaming, B) somehow I sleep-walked here, or C) someone took me here as a prank. If it is C, I am going to strangle them.. Okay, fine, if it is a dream I have to wait for it to end. If I really am here, I might as well find a phone and call home." Feeling better because she had a plan and a logical (if incorrect) explanation, Verity slid off of the crates and entered the town.
A few people on the street looked at her as she walked by. But most seemed busy with their own problems. Almost everyone had some form of worry written across his or her face. That did very little to help Verity, who was already on edge. She kept trying to see a familiar face among the strange, preferably Scott or Meg, but no luck. She was all alone in this strange land.
She did a small circle around the horseman statue, taking in the scenery. The streets all looked the same, same width, same pavement, running in the same four basic directions. The house weren't much different. But there was one shop that seemed to stand out. The lights seemed brighter in this shop, and several books sat in the window, a welcoming sign for Verity. So she walked over to it. The sign above the door read 'Bishoff's Odds and Ends.' Verity timidly pushed open the door and entered.
Five girls about her age sat in the shop. One sat on the counter, one a table, and one on a chair in a circle. They seemed to be in deep conversation. Judging from their looks, they had to be triplets. Two of them had pure black ankle length hair and laser blue eyes, the third had waist length black hair and deep brown eyes. They all wore jeans of some form with a long sleeved shirt. The fourth girl sat on the stones of the fireplace. She was intimidating, with cropped light brown hair and tattered clothing, sitting on a bear skin and holding a spear. The last girl sat in the back in the shadows. She had stringy dark hair and haunted eyes that watched everything. Her clothing was as dark as her hair.
(AN/ These are MY OC's, so hands off! The do appear in their own storyline, Princess of the Forest, which is on fictionpress.com)
"Oh! A customer!" exclaimed the second girl. "Come in, come in, and look around."
"Um.." stammered Verity. She glanced at the shelves that lined the walls, but that wasn't what she was interested in.
"What are you looking for?" asked the third girl. "Maybe we can help."
"Can I use your phone?" asked Verity.
"Phone?" echoed the third girl. She shared a look with her sisters.
"You won't be finding one of those around here," answered the first.
"In fact, most people don't even know what one is," added the second.
"What are you talking about?" asked Verity, nervously. The girl by the fireplace snorted with annoyance, causing Verity to jump.
"Well, I guess someone had better tell her," sighed the first.
"Let the Wolf, she handles people the best," said the second, turning to the third.
"Lay off!" protested the third, whose nickname is Wolf. Nonetheless she sighed and explained to Verity that she was in another world. Verity found that very hard to accept, luckily the girl was very technical and scientifically minded, so she could explain it in a way that Verity could understand.
"This..I still find it hard to believe," stammered Verity.
"Believe it," said the first. "Oh, my name is Sylvia. This is Sonya, my double." She gestured to the second girl.
"Hello," greeted Sonya.
"My name is Sasha," introduced the third girl. "We are the Bishoff three."
"The one by the fireplace with the scowl is Sadia," added Sylvia.
"Bite me," snapped Sadia to Sylvia. Verity could tell those two weren't the best of friends.
"I'm Verity," answered Verity. She looked at the girl in back, who had yet to speak. "And you are?"
"S-Saskia," she answered, then went silent.
"Another world," sighed Verity, to fill the silence. "I guess Meg was right all along. I guess I'd better find her."
"Friend of yours?" asked Sasha.
"Yeah, her and Scott. They were there last night.. I really should be trying to find them. Do you have any idea where I should start?" asked Verity.
"That's a hard one," sighed Sylvia. "They could be in town, or they could be on anyone of a billion worlds."
"What?!" gasped Verity. In her surprise she dropped Our Other Worlds and nearly dropped her Divining Wand which she caught at the last minute. Sasha eyed the wand, then shared a silent message with her sisters.
{It's magic,} she said.
{We knew it was coming...} said Sonya.
{I can't sense magic, remember,} reminded Sylvia.
Saskia, too, had not taken her eyes off of the Divining Wand.
"You dropped this," said Sasha as she handed the book back to Verity.
"Thanks," said Verity.
"Better keep a better grip on things," joked Sonya, but she was being quite serious.
"Well, thanks for your help. I'm going to go find my friends," said Verity. In part, she wanted to leave because Sadia was making her incredibly nervous with her glare.
"Good luck," called Sasha as she walked out the door. When the door was shut the girls broke into frenzied discussion.
"We need to keep an eye on that one," stated Sonya.
"Saskia.." started Sasha, but the quiet girl had already melted into the shadows to follow Verity.
"That book she had.." started Sylvia.
"Yeah, we know," agreed Sonya.
"She won't be alone, there will be others," said Sasha. "I'm going to find them." With that she, too, bounded into the streets.
Sadia seemed to be taking everything less well. "Of all the half-wits in the worlds! We could do some much more... CURSE THOSE RULES!!!!!" With that she threw her spear into a moose head that had been mounted on the wall. It went in deep and wobbled there a moment. Surprisingly, Sonya and Sylvia weren't surprised, they rolled their eyes at their friend's outburst.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Verity glanced down the streets and started heading right, why, she didn't know, but it was a place to start. After passing several rows of merchant, middle-class homes, Verity realized the town had changed a bit. The houses now seemed more aristocratic, as if the upper class lived in this area.
"Great," muttered Verity. "Even in other worlds they have class systems." That was something Verity had never liked, considering she really didn't have the fashion sense to make herself fit in anywhere. That is why she normally spent more time with books then people.
She did a slow circle, once again taking everything in. Verity was an observer at heart, which helped her greatly in her love of details. Unfortunately, she could see nothing here that would even remotely help with finding her friends or her way back home. A slight chill rose in the air, causing Verity to hold her arms across her chest. It was very still, until a scream shattered that.
Verity looked up and gasped, then only had a second to dive out of the way as a person fell off of a balcony above her. The man laid on the ground, twitching. Verity watched him, wide-eyed and slowly crept over. She put a tentative finger on his neck to find his pulse. He went still, completely still. Dead. Verity gasped and crab-walked backward in shock. It was very disturbing. She had never seen anyone die before, and she didn't like it.
She was even more surprised when a crystalline heart floated out of the man's body. But she didn't focus on that for too long because a shadow was forming as well. At first Verity thought it was a trick of the light, but as claws formed, she wished it was. A Heartless rose near the dead man. Soon, several more had joined it.
"Oh no!" gasped Verity. "Those things from the library!" The Heartless had very quickly surrounded her. Verity's eyes darted for an escape, but fighting seemed to be her only option. The Divining Wand grew warm in her hands as Verity nervously prepared herself for the attack.
It came all at once. The five Heartless leapt forward, claws raised. Verity threw up her arms around her face out of reflexes. The Divining Wand flared and disintegrated the first Heartless before it could land a hit. That didn't do much to save Verity from the other four. They came at her from all sides.
"EEK!" shrieked Verity as she felt claws tearing into her. She ducked and ran, trying to get away from them, but they kept coming. She ducked again and as a Heartless sailed over her she realized she would have to fight.
Verity did a 180 turn and held her wand in front of her. She tried to focus on the light as she had before, making it brighter and brighter. The Divining Wand responded, showering the area in light. Two more Heartless feel as the remaining two crept backwards, waiting for the light to fade, waiting for another moment to strike.
Verity's eyes darted around again, looking for more danger. It was tiring to use the Divining Wand like that, meaning she basically had no clue what she was doing. As the light waned the Heartless attacked again.
One came at her from the front left. Verity gasped and jumped backwards. The creature hit the ground where she was a second ago. Verity held out her wand close to it and blew it to dust. Verity then jerked up straight as she heard a noise behind her. She whirled around and raised her wand into to find the fifth Heartless. Her wand wasn't full raised. The Heartless slashed at her. Verity held the Divining Wand sideways, blocking the attack. She remembered when she tried that before with her prop and it had been shredded. But the Divining Wand held true. Verity quickly threw off the last Heartless, changed the angle of her wand, and blew it to bits.
She glanced around for another enemy, but she was alone. She slowly slid to the ground, breathing hard. This was too bizarre for her. There was no logical explanation, no pattern she could find. And things were getting dangerous. Verity wasn't sure if she liked this.
After she calmed her nerves, Verity rose to her feet. She glanced around one more time. She figured that Scott and/or Meg would never linger in the rich residential section, so she had best try somewhere else to find them.
To get to the other side of town, Verity once again found herself in the town square. The odds and ends shop was still open. People milled about with seeming no purpose. Another shop, this one an Accessory Shop was open on the far side of the square. Above most of the shops were apartments; Verity knew that the shop owners had to live in those. Verity shook her head to focus. She could sight-see with Scott and Meg later, after she found them. Verity stopped observing the buildings and focused on looking for street signs. Strangely, there were none. The closest thing she could find were symbols in odd corners of the square.
"I guess I'm on my own," sighed Verity as she walked across the street and down another, into another part of town.
It wasn't long before all the identical streets gradually fell into disrepair. The houses also seemed not to be up kept as well. She had managed to find the poor section of town. No one roamed freely here. Verity paused, trying to see if there was anyone around. As she did a slow 180, she thought she saw someone watching her from behind the corner of the house.
"Hey!" called Verity. The shadowy figure disappeared. "Wait!" Verity started towards the person, but when she got to the corner, that person had completely vanished. Verity looked around, surprised. The only way the person could have gone was into a dead end alleyway with high walls. The alleyway was empty.
"Was it my imagination?" asked Verity. Somehow she doubted that. But before she could wonder anymore, the shadows by her feet began to grow solid.
"Oh no!" groaned Verity as she ran out into the open street again. The Heartless followed. "Leave me alone!" she yelled. They still came. Verity raised her Divining Wand. They all stopped their charge and eyed her warily, doing slow circles around her.
"I don't have time for this!" she growled lowly. She summoned the power of the Divining Wand and blasted a beam straight through two of the Heartless. Without waiting for the light to fade, she raced through the opening and down the streets.
She hurried back to the town square. Heartless were rampant everywhere else, so Verity was hoping she'd be safe in the square. She hurried as fast as she could, but she wasn't terribly athletic. The town center was in sight, about two streets away, when she saw something flying at her out of the corner of her eye.
FWIP! Verity came to a dead halt as a dagger wedge itself in the cobblestones a yard in front of her. Verity stared at it a moment, the looked for her attacker. She didn't have a long wait. Sadia walked over and picked her dagger off of the street. Verity got a good look at it in the late evening light. It was a danger made out of a large bone. The one end had been sharpened, but the hilt still had the ball joint in tact.
"W-What do you want?" stammered Verity as Sadia eyed her up. Sadia seemed even more intimidating when she was moving. She had thrown her bearskin over her left side, forming what could be called a cape. Half of the bear's face covered half of her face.
"What do I want?" asked Sadia. "I want to know how you could have been chosen."
"C-Chosen?" stammered Verity, who was looking for an exit.
"A weak little thing like you. What can you possibly do?" sneered Sadia. "There had to be a mistake. Why don't you just hand over that little stick of yours and I won't hurt you."
"What?! Never!" gasped Verity. The words were out before she could stop them.
"Fine then, have it your way," growled Sadia. She held her bone dagger in her right hand and pulled another dagger out from under her bearskin. This one actually was the paw of the bear. Its nails had been pulled out and replaced with ones of steel. Sadia charged forward.
"Ah!" gasped Verity, caught of guard. Sadia was faster than she ever imagined. Verity jerked backwards and fell. Sadia stood over her.
"Pathetic," she spat, glaring at Verity. She raised her daggers.
Verity cringed, but was already drawing on the power of the Divining Wand. As Sadia brought down her weapons, the wand flared brightly. Sadia gasped and stumbled backwards. Verity was on her feet a second later.
The light faded and the fighters glared at each other. "Light might work fine against shadows," growled Sadia. "But not against me!" She charged again.
Verity only had an instant to react. She held her wand up and met the bone dagger inches from her face. She could see Sadia's sneer, a half a foot from her face. Sadia, with her free hand, raked her bear-claw dagger across Verity's stomach. Verity gasped and recoiled in pain.
Sadia smiled evilly and dove in for another attack. She began to slice at Verity with both her weapons. It was all Verity could do to defend herself. Sadia was stronger than she looked, and faster than Verity would have thought possible. Verity slid to her knees, breathing hard and bleeding as Sadia took a step back and glared down at her.
"Truly pathetic," she sneered, then prepared for another attack.
This time Verity was ready. She had been focusing all her power into the Divining Wand for one attack. As Sadia charged, Verity raised her weapons and created a tremendous wave of power and light. It picked Sadia off of her feet and threw her into the nearest wall, where she collapsed into a pile of crates.
Verity, her energy gone, passed out.
Sadia rose from the crates. She was scratched and bruised, but still more than able to fight. She growled low once, then, tightening her grip on her daggers, she walked over to Verity.
FWIP! A dagger once more embedded itself in the cobblestones. This time it was at Sadia's feet. It was a normal steel hunting knife, about 8" long.
"Huntress!" called the person who threw the knife. She was no more than Sylvia. "What do you think you are doing?!" Sylvia walked out of the shadows and stood on the other side of her knife, between Verity and Sadia.
"Lay off," snapped Sadia. "I was just testing her."
"Do you want to get in trouble for meddling?" demanded Sylvia.
Sadia ignored her. "If the worlds are waiting for a heroine..they are going to have a while to wait." She glared past Sylvia to Sadia, crossing her arms defiantly.
"Like I am going to believe that act," said Sylvia, also crossing her arms. "You were holding back."
"Grrrr..."
"You could have finished her in under three seconds had you used your spear," continued Sylvia. "And not much longer with those knives of yours." Sadia glared at her, an unspoken challenge. "Ease up. Do you have a problem with people knowing you actually have a heart?"
"Shut up. You know, I may be forbidden to 'meddle' as you call it. But that doesn't mean I can't fight you whenever I want," spat Sadia. With that she turned and walked away. As she did her bearskin flared out, revealing her spear strapped to her hip. It came up to her shoulder from the ground, meaning it hid perfectly under her bearskin.
Sylvia watched her go and sighed. She then picked up her dagger and looked down at Verity. "She is right about one thing," Sylvia said to herself. "You aren't much of a heroine."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey, Rizzo! Look over here!" called Gonzo as he poked his head into yet another barrel.
"I'd rather not," groaned Rizzo.
"Can we please focus?" asked Kermit. "Lady Piggy ordered us to find the truth-seeker."
"Yeah, and he might be in here," said Gonzo as he began to check another barrel. Kermit sighed and looked around. Some people were watching them strangely. Others didn't really care. But none held the anything that could remotely be described as a 'torch of truth.'
Kermit stopped short. A large grey dog sat further up the street they were on, right in the middle of the road. It was watching them with its deep brown eyes. It seemed very odd. The canine seemed to be waiting for them.
"Gonzo," called Kermit.
"What? You want to try?" asked Gonzo, who had emerged with a can stuck to his overly large nose.
"Look," said Kermit, gesturing to the dog and ignoring the last comment.
"At least it isn't a cat," said Rizzo. The dog rose and walked away.
"I think it wants us to follow it," said Kermit.
"Cool!" exclaimed Gonzo and he took off after the dog. His comrades followed.
As they rounded the corner that the dog had disappeared behind, Gonzo collided with someone. The girl looked at them curiously. She was Sasha.
"Pardon me," said Gonzo, nasally, because his nose had been bent in.
"Are you after the truth?" she asked.
**************************************************************************** **********
Midridge....
Link nearly blacked out during his flight from his world. He wasn't fully conscious when he came to a stop in another world. It was quite an abrupt stop, meaning the Foxstar came to a dead halt. Unfortunately, Link didn't. He tumbled off of the ship and onto the foreign streets. Fortunately, a very confused passer-by broke his fall. They hit the ground hard.
"Get off of me!" exclaimed Link. He jumped to his feet without even looking at the person he had landed on. His mind was too preoccupied with other things. Once he was on his feet he took off running, desperately looking for Zelda, looking for something, someone who could help him find her.
"I have to find Zelda!" he said to himself. "But if she isn't here, and the path is lost... Then I must find the path-finder, or all will be lost!" He raced on, not knowing how close the pathfinder actually was.
"What was that about?" asked Lee as he ran through the recent events in his mind. First there was the bizarre shadows in the forest, his friends and the door, then his own shadow attacking him. Lee remembered blacking out, then waking up in this strange place. He had taken two steps when a Robin Hood impersonator had landed on him, then raced off.
"Where am I?" asked Lee. "Adeola! Devan!" He picked a general direction and started out. He started walking very fast, but he slowed as he realized he had no idea where he was.
This place was strange. There wasn't a tree in sight. The air was moister than the forest. The streets seemed to follow no set pattern. They swirled around and crossed at the weirdest places. The buildings was all short, mostly one story each. They were all made of wood and few were painted. Wooden signs labeled the few that were shops. Lee had the strangest feeling that he had just fallen into the medieval ages, except there was no castle. He continued on, a bit more cautious this time.
"This is way too bizarre," commented Lee. "I wish the others were here to see this. .. Maybe they are!" With that thought Lee smiled and walked bravely forward.
He wandered from street to street until he was at a large five-way intersection. The streets were larger here, forming a sort of town center. A few benches sat outside the buildings, and Lee was convinced he saw a hitching post or two. It was relatively clean here, and Lee could see some were symbols in the ground which seemed completely out of place. People seemed to congregate here, so it was as good a place as any to start.
Lee started talking to the locals, but most seemed as lost and confused as he did. Many told tales of living shadows which Lee could easily relate to. Other than that they knew of nothing that interested him. Lee had no idea about his friends, other than a driving urge to find them. He assumed that since the people on the street had no clue about anything, maybe those inside would. A few stores were in the square; they looked no different from every other building save a fading sign that labeled them. He decided to try his luck and entered one of these.
"Hello, how can we help you?" asked a girl with brown hair in a ponytail and pink bangs. A tiny red bird flew around her shoulder. She wore a dark, tight outfit that was clearly designed for easy movement.
"Um...where am I?" asked Lee.
"You are in our Accessory Shop," said another girl. She had short pink hair and wore a yellow outfit much like the first girl. A tiny bunny hopped on the counter next to her.
"And where is that?" asked Lee.
"Oh great, another one," sighed a girl Lee had not noticed before. She had shoulder-length black hair and was clearly the oldest. Her outfit was black spandex, much like a gymnast's outfit. She seemed annoyed by the whole situation.
"Another what?" asked Lee. "And I have a name, its Lee."
"Hello Lee," said the second. "I am Kalin. This is Hina." She pointed to her bunny.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Julin," said the first. "This is Juliny." She pointed to her bird. "And that is our older sister, Seilin."
"Hi," said Lee. "Now, about this place..?" The girls started to explain as best they could.
(AN/ These girls are from Shaolin Sisters. It's an obscure little manga, but it is quite cool. Y'all will probably notice this as this story progresses, but anime will be in just about every story set. That is because it is my addiction!)
"Midridge? Another world?" repeated Lee. "How bizarre..Oh! Have you seen a girl with brown hair who looked like she just slept outside and a guy with short hair and large biceps?"
"No...not that I know of," said Julin. "Have you, Kalin?"
"Not me," she said. "Sei--?"
"I haven't," said their oldest sister, who really wasn't paying attention to their conversation.
"I wonder where they could be," sighed Lee. "I hope they are okay."
"It must be terrible to be separated from the ones you love," sighed Julin. "I remember when I looked so hard for the two of you."
"And now we have each other!" exclaimed Kalin as she and Julin hugged.
"Do you girls have any idea about where I should look?" asked Lee.
"No clue," said Kalin. "Why don't you look around town?"
"That sounds like a good idea," agreed Lee. He started for the door.
"You'd better be careful," warned Seilin.
"Yeah..." said Lee as he turned back. His eyes fell on the counter.
"Want to buy anything?" asked Julin.
"I have no munny, sorry," sighed Lee as he walked out.
"If you ever need any help, you know where to find us!" called Kalin as he left.
Outside, Lee began to aimlessly wander the streets. "A whole other world! I can't believe this! I really wish Adeola was here, she'd probably have some idea about this..." With that thought, he strengthened his resolve to find them.
There was no logic in how the streets were arranged, thus Lee was often sure he was lost, only to find himself back in an area he had been through several times before. Shops sporadically were set up around town often mixed in the residential districts, which only made everything more confusing. Lee had given up trying to map his progress and just roamed. Normally, Devan would have been the guide, but he wasn't here.
Lee took a right hand turn and found himself in a dead end, the first he had seen all day. A man staggered out of the shadows in the corner and fell to the ground.
"Oh my gosh!" gasped Lee. "Are you okay?!" He ran over and shook the man, but the stranger was completely still. Dead.
Lee jumped backwards as a light floated out of the man's chest and formed into some sort of heart-shaped crystal. That floated off into the night.
"Agh!" groaned Lee as he felt something sharp digging into his back. He reached back with his non-shield hand, pulled something off, and threw it into the street. It was the same creature that had attacked him before in the forest.
"Not again!" groaned Lee. That Heartless was quickly joined by four others. Lee glared at them. "What did you do with Adeola and Devan?!" The Heartless attacked. Lee put up his shield in time to feel the weight of his enemies behind it.
"Grrr..." he groaned as he struggled against them. The light in the middle of his shield flared. Two Heartless disintegrated and the rest backed up warily. The light faded and the Heartless began their attack anew.
The remaining three charged him at once. Lee managed to stop one, but the other two began to tear at him with their claws. Lee cried out in pain, then rolled to get them off his back. He stood on his knees and faced them, glaring daggers. He held his shield forward, willing it to beat the enemies. The light glowed faintly.
The Heartless charged. Lee, too, charged forward. He collided with one of the Heartless. Using the Guide Shield and his own momentum, he threw one Heartless against the wall where it splattered back into a shadow. He then whirled around and faced another Heartless as it was coming after him. Its claws raked against the shield, causing it to flare. The Heartless disappeared in the light.
Lee rose to a full standing position, breathing hard. He had not expected to fight these creatures again. All he wanted to do was find his friends. He was worried that the Heartless would attack them and his friends would have no way to defend themselves.
"Agh!" gasped Lee as he once again felt something sharp in his back. The numbers made sense even as Lee was throwing it off. There was still one more Heartless. He jumped and the Heartless fell to the ground. Lee turned and confronted it. His dark eyes glared at the beady yellow eyes of his enemy. They paused a moment, then attacked.
The Heartless lunged, claws raised. Lee ducked behind his shield as a burst of light shredded the Heartless in midair. Lee quickly looked around, making sure he was alone. Then he ran out of there, not wanting to wait for more to show up.
He was soon tired of running, mostly from all the fighting he just did. It seemed like Heartless were forming in all the shadows as he hurried by, but Lee was in no mood to find out. He went through street after street without finding any clue of his friends, only strange shadows. Lee was starting to get mad, namely because he feared for them.
"UFF!" he rounded a corner quickly and collided with someone. "Sorry..." Lee looked at the stranger. It was the same guy who had fallen on him earlier.
"Out of my way!" snapped the Robin Hood look-a-like. He raced passed Lee without even an apology.
"What is wrong with him?" wondered Lee as he went on. He shook his head. The whole situation was bizarre, and he more things to worry about than a weirdo with poor manners. Lee returned to his roamings.
After a while of finding nothing useful on the streets, he began to explore shops and buildings that looked open. Most people were unwilling to deal with his because he had no munny. Outside, just a corner away from Lee it seemed, Link too was searching. They always seemed to disappear out of the others sight before they found each other again, though.
"This is starting to get annoying," sighed Lee as he was asked to leave another shop because of the size of his wallet. He sat on the curb and sighed again. His stomach was tying in knots over his worry about his friends, and he still was uneasy about being in another world. The random attacks by shadows weren't helping either.
Lee jumped to his feet as he heard something strange. He listened again, it was the sounds of a fight. Lee hurried to where they were coming from. He could tell there was one person fighting against several enemies. That person seemed to be struggling, but wasn't giving up. Lee rounded the corner and was shocked by what he saw. The stranger was there, fighting against seven Heartless. He had his sword raised, waiting for them to attack again. Lee could tell the odds weren't in his favor, so he decided to help.
As Lee raced towards the battle the Heartless attacked Link. Link hacked at one with his sword. Since it wasn't a weapon designed to hurt Heartless like the Keyblade, it took several swings to defeat one. He pulled out his boomerang and threw it into the air. It cut the Heartless, but only managed to disable one. Link cut that one in half, after catching his weapon. The remaining six Heartless closed in around him. Lee took a battle pose, determined not to lose. Claws and steel slashed through the air. Link was getting battered and cut, but he was fighting with his whole heart. Two more Heartless fell. The last four jumped on him, taking him to the ground. Link threw two off, but he was bleeding in several places now.
Those two Heartless charged in for another attack. Link gasped as one leapt into the air and aimed right at his face.
CRASH! That Heartless was stopped short as Lee put the Guide Shield between it and Link. Then, like he did before, he used the attacker's momentum against it and threw it into a wall where it went splat.
Link took this diversion to shred another Heartless, leaving only two left. Link and Lee each sized up one, but Link was glaring at lee out of the corner of his eye. The Heartless attacked. Link destroyed the nearest in a series of rapid strokes. Lee positioned himself behind his shield and let the light in the center dissolve the last Heartless as it attacked. Then he turned to Link. Link was already glaring at him.
"I don't know who you think you are," said Link. "But quit getting in my way!" Lee looked at him, amused and surprised. "What do you want?!"
"Well, a thank you for saving you just now would be nice," said Lee.
"I didn't ask for your help," snapped Link.
"Doesn't mean you didn't need it," said Lee.
"Out of my way!" snapped Link as he shoved past Lee.
"What is your problem?" asked Lee.
Link turned and glared at him. "I have important things I must do, and I cannot be delayed by some child!"
"Child?!" exclaimed Lee. "Between the two of us, you are the one acting like a kid!"
"Take that back!" growled Link.
"Why? It's true," counted Lee.
"Fine, then prove to me what a man you are!" said Link as he drew his sword. Lee gulped. He hadn't been expecting this. "Don't tell me you are afraid!"
"Not of you!" snapped Lee as he raised his shield. Link charged and began slashing. Lee followed his movements with his shield, blocking every attack. It was tough, Link was fast, but he was also mad to the point it was clouding his thoughts.
Link backed off, plotting a new approach. "Why do you hide from me?"
"Erm...." stammered Lee.
Link charged again, using an intense amount of combos. Lee was struggling to keep his shield up on the onslaught. While Lee was busy dealing with the sword, Lee threw his boomerang. It sailed past without Lee noticing it.
Lee was trying his hardest to figure some way to beat Link. Deep down, he had no desire to hurt or kill the stranger. He tried to some the light from his shield, but he couldn't focus on that and defending himself. The crystal in the center of the shield only pulsed slightly, because it was not Lee's desire for it to destroy.
"You cannot win a battle by defending!" snapped Link as Lee continued to block him. "You cannot tell me you only carried a shield with you!"
"Well..." stammered Lee.
Link looked at him in disbelief. He gave him the 'what an idiot' look.
"Lay off!" snapped Lee as he shoved Link's sword away.
THUNK! The boomerang crashed into Lee's exposed side. He slid to the ground, his free hand clutching the injury.
"Some fighter," muttered Link as he approached Lee with his sword raised. Lee realized it was all or nothing. He tilted the Guide Shield a little and began to focus on its hidden power. The crystal glowed in response.
Link started his neck attack. But as he raised his arms, the Guide Shield blasted him with an intense beam of light that sent him sprawling head over heels. Link gasped once in shock, then passed out. Lee, too, was breathing hard. He slid to the pavement, completely unconscious.
It was quiet and empty in the street for several minutes until a couple wandered down it. They were completely different in looks. The man had jet black hair and wore black leather that matched. The only thing light about him was his right eye, which was white. The left was as black as the rest of him. The lady was lovely, wearing a white robe. She had vibrant, golden heart and a simple, sweet smile.
"Oh my!" she gasped when she saw the two fighters unconscious.
"Looks like they got into a fight," commented the man.
"We need to help them," said the lady as she placed a hand on Lee. The Guide Shield pulsed slightly. She looked at it. "Oh my!"
"Well, they'll probably need a doctor," said the man. "Good thing we live with one."
"Yes, Shuichiro should be able to help them, Kokuyo," agreed the lady. "Let's get them there."
"Yes Hisui, my love," agreed Kokuyo as he approached Link.
(AN/ These characters are from Wish by CLAMP, another anime permeation.)
**************************************************************************** **********
Ani-Intersection....
"Mama-mia!" exclaimed Luigi as he stood up. "What was that that hit us?"
"Whatever it was, it took the princess!" exclaimed Mario.
"Oh no!" gasped Luigi.
"We have to find her!" exclaimed Mario as he started to walk away.
"But..remember what she said?" asked Luigi. "We are to find the guide."
"I do not want to leave our princess in peril," said Mario.
"This is what she would have wanted," said Luigi. "We must go on and find the guide." Mario looked torn between the choices. "Maybe the guide will guide us to Peach."
"Yes," sighed Mario. He help up his shield. "For Peach!"
"For Peach!" agreed Luigi, raising his plunger-wand. Their eyes wandered up to the night sky. A star twinkled, then disappeared. The brothers shuddered. For all they knew, that was their world that vanished.
"We cannot delay," said Mario and they started out.
"Do you know anything about this guide we are trying to find?" asked Luigi as they started down the street.
"Absolutely nothing," admitted Mario. "But we must try!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Tamsin...Faye...?" groaned Crysta as she woke up. She was in a gloomy alleyway. A few crates were tipped over, probably from her arrival. But other than the crates, the alleyway was empty. Crysta's eyes began to focus. She jumped at the shadows, then realized they were just shadows.
"Pull yourself together, girl," Crysta told herself. She tightened her grip on her Compass Razor, which made her feel more confident. She jumped to her feet and began to look around.
Crysta wandered out of the alleyway and got her first look at a new world. She paused and just took everything in with wide-eyes. The streets were grey stone and the houses were made in a style that was so old Crysta didn't think it existed anymore. Several large flowerpots decorated the corner of buildings and streets. People wandered around, taking everything in. A few windows were lit, and some shop signs swung in a gentle breeze. It was nothing like the place she left.
Crysta did a slow circle where she stood. Beyond the square she was in were more buildings and streets like the ones around her. The streets were all circular, looping around themselves. There seemed to be no direct way to any place, so one could expect to do a lot of wandering. Everything else about the town seemed rather quaint. Except there was no way Crysta could explain how she got here.
Nonetheless, Crysta was never the one to back down from anything. She shrugged her shoulders and set her face with determination. Crysta walked up to several people in the square and asked for directions, but the common answer she got was a blank look. That did little to faze her though. She head to the nearest shop and entered.
"Oh! Come in!" greeted a girl with crimped blonde hair. "You're out late."
"Um...yeah," said Crysta. "What is this place?"
"This is our Accessory Shop," said the girl. "I am Meiko and I run it with my husband, Nachun."
(AN/ From Marmalade Boy.)
"I'm Crysta. And...where is here?" asked Crysta.
"Ani-Intersection," answered Meiko. "Sit down, I'll tell you what I know." Meiko quickly explained everything she could to Crysta.
"Another..world?" stammered Crysta. "That sounds just like the star guardian!"
"Erm..." stammered Meiko.
"Well, anyways, where do you think my friends ended up?" asked Crysta.
"I don't know, you're going to have to find them," said Meiko. "It took us awhile to find each other when our world was destroyed. But now we all have shops on this world. You might want to check them out."
"Thanks for the advice," sighed Crysta.
"Don't worry," said Meiko. "I am sure everything will work out."
"I hope they do," said Crysta. "Faye, Tamsin, and I promised we'd do everything together, from the universe to the fishbowl. I have to find them!"
"I am sure you will," said Meiko.
"Thanks," said Crysta as she headed for the door.
"Be careful, though!" warned Meiko.
"I will," said Crysta. "I have made my choice and I will not let 'destiny' control me." With that she left, leaving Meiko rather confused.
Crysta took to roaming the streets, hoping to find her friends or some information on what was going on. Since the streets were circular, Crysta often found herself going over the same area several times. She felt like a moth circling a flame. If she was just here to sight-see she wouldn't have minded, but she was on a mission. Distractions bothered her once she was set on something.
As the streets took her farther from the square, Crysta noticed less and less people milled about. Everything was getting strangely quiet. Crysta began to feel uneasy. Then, a man staggered into view. He seemed exhausted and haggard. Crysta hurried to him, but he fell over before she got there. He twitched once and then went still. Dead. Crysta gasped in surprise.
Then, she gasped again as a heart-shaped crystal floated out of the man's chest and into the night. Crysta watched it float away with amazement. But when she looked down again, the shadows were shifting.
"Oh no!" gasped Crysta, her hand tightening around the Compass Razor. Five Heartless rose from the ground. She glared at her enemies. "You have caused enough trouble for me!" With that she let her Compass Razor fly. Two Heartless never even lasted long enough to hurt her.
Unfortunately, that still left three more and Crysta without a weapon. The moment the ring was out of her hands the Heartless charged, claws bared. Crysta gasped in pain as they tore into her, but that only fired her resolve to beat them. She shook her attackers off and ran into the open, catching her Compass Razor.
Crysta turned and glared at her foes. Fighting had awoken something dangerous inside of her that had always slept just under the surface. She eyed up the three remaining ones, deciding which one to strike first.
The Heartless charged as one entity. Crysta threw her weapon, but only one fell before she felt the sting of claws again. Crysta cried out in pain and held back tears as she struggled with just her own strength against the Heartless.
"I have to do something about this!" growled Crysta as she thought through how her weapon left her defenseless. She quickly put distance between herself and the remaining Heartless as he weapon buzzed through the streets. She glared at the Heartless as they prepared for another attack.
Crysta saw her Compass Razor returning to her. Remembering how she could direct it, she raised her hand and willed it further to the left and a hair lower, so it would take out her enemies. The Heartless charged forward. When they were almost on top of her, the Compass Razor returned, slicing them both in half.
Crysta checked to make sure there was no others, before falling to her knees. Her flesh felt like it was on fire from all the scratches she had received. It was a lot more tiring to fight than she realized, and the utter bizarreness of the whole situation was taking its toll.
After she had caught her breath and reorganized her thoughts, she continued her search. Crysta was now paying acute attention to her surroundings. After all these attacks, who could blame her. She was developing a skill of spotting growing shadows before she approached. When she saw them, she let her Compass Razor fly, dealing with most Heartless before she ever got near them.
Nonetheless, their very presence caused Crysta to head back to the safety of the town square and the people there. For some reason the Heartless did not get this far into the city, but Crysta wondered how long that would last. She was beginning to feel the overwhelming desire to make every single one of those shadows suffer for all they had put her through. But she set in her mind that her first priority was to her friends. She had made her choice, and she was going to stick with it.
From the middle of Ani-Intersection Crysta took another path and began to spiral outwards again. She took her time and looked for anything that could help. But Crysta had never been much of an observer, she was more of a doer. The fighting she could handle, though she viewed it as a distraction. Trying to figure things out was a bit much, so Crysta resolved to let them work their own way out.
"They keep coming, don't they?" a strange voice asked. The speaker stepped out of the shadows. He had dark hair and wore a pair of sunglasses. A long trench coat was over the dark, uniform style outfit he wore.
"Who are you?" demanded Crysta.
"Do you even know who you are, or what destiny has chosen you for?" asked the stranger.
"I chose my own destiny!" snapped Crysta.
"And that is why you carry that weapon," responded the man.
"Huh?"
"Do you not know its destiny? Hand it over."
"Never!" spat Crysta.
"Then we will do things the hard way," he said as he took of his coat and it fell to the pavement.
"I like the hard way," growled Crysta as she readied her Compass Razor.
The stranger merely smirked and held out his hand. As Crysta watched, his skin began to crawl. A kind of dagger, a stiletto, formed out of his own body! Crysta eyed him warily.
"Are you still ready to fight?" asked the stranger.
"Yes!" snapped Crysta, unable to back down from any challenge.
The man nodded, then he charged. Crysta gasped in surprise as he opened with a series of swift strokes. She was forced to hold her Compass Razor like a shield in order to hold him at bay.
"Not much of a fighter, are you?" he asked.
"Take this!" snapped Crysta as she let her weapon fly. Her aim was true, but the man dropped to the ground, thus ducking it.
He rose again, and once more, Crysta was without a weapon. The stranger grabbed her by the wrists and raised her hands high over her head while shoving her against a wall. Crysta fought and squirmed, but he was stronger than she was.
"How sad," said the man. "I knew there had to be a mistake."
"Let go of me!" yelled Crysta as she kicked him in a place no man ever wants to be kicked.
Her attacker jerked back. Then his ears caught the sound of the Compass Razor returning. He rolled out of the way as it sailed into Crysta's arms. She caught it soundly and smiled down at him. He rose again and returned her look with a completely blank one.
"You want to continue?" asked Crysta. "It may be your life." She held her razor at an angle so it glittered dangerously in the low light.
"You are confident," said the stranger. "But very foolish."
"Grrrr!" growled Crysta as she threw the Compass Razor.
Once more the stranger dodged it with ease. Seeing her again weaponless, he charged. Crysta had expected this. She began to direct the Compass Razor, willing it to fly after her attacker. The stranger turned and gasped in surprise as the razor began to chase him. He began to dodge it. The stranger and the weapon seemed to be doing a dance on the street.
"You won't beat me!" said Crysta.
"You are so naïve!" retorted the man.
He stopped, ducked, and did a handspring. Crysta wasn't expecting this, and her weapon overshot him. In this instance the man charged straight at Crysta. She raised her arms defensively, but he threw those aside. His weapon hand circled to the back of her neck. He hit her with the hilt of his stiletto and Crysta slumped in his arms, unconscious.
"Trying to find a date, Toya?" asked a lady who stepped out of the shadows. She had long dark hair and wore a Japanese school uniform. That seemed odd, because she looked to old to be a student.
"Ceres?!" gasped Toya. Ceres didn't reply, she just calmly plucked the Compass Razor out of the air and held it.
(AN/ These characters are from Ceres.)
Ceres looked at the weapon. "Oh? So this is what is going on?" Toya nodded.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Where would a guide be?" asked Luigi to Mario.
"I don't know, but I hope that that person will lead us right to Peach," replied Mario.
"Excuse me," said a lovely woman with dark hair in a pretty kimono. "I couldn't help but overhear you. Maybe I can help you." A younger man with dark hair and a headband nodded from behind her.
**************************************************************************** **********