Chapter VIII

Next Stop: Back to Before

"Thank you for everything," Bergljot said to Renatus as she prepared to board the ship. "We may not return before the Final Sealing, so be ready for the next time you see us."

"Of course. And thank you for helping us in our time of need," Renatus bowed. "Good luck on your journey."

"Good-bye, Maester!" the trio called as the Gummi ship took off. Renatus waved as her people gathered to watch the unusual group disappear into the mid-afternoon sky.

"So where are we off to now?" Anselm asked his brother as they traveled through the stars. Bergljot was setting up the autopilot as he and Gwandoya plotted their course in the map room.

"That's what I'm looking at…" Gwandoya answered quietly. He was judging the distances of the planets in relation to Ogden.

"You mean to tell me you two still haven't found anything?" Bergljot asked as she walked into the room.

"No, now let me plot the course," Gwandoya said irritably. He did a double take. "How did you get in?"

"You left the door ajar, smart one."

Bergljot and Anselm waited by the door impatiently. It was nearly twenty minutes before Gwandoya finally took a light and placed it on the platform.

"This…" he began dramatically. "Is our next stop."

"Huh?" the others said blankly. There was a castle and village on the planet. The castle was bordered on the front by a valley. The walls of the valley were waterfalls that fell up, covering the planet in a large lake. Platforms were at the 'foots' of the falls and led to the castle entrance. The village was behind the castle on an island, a bridge leading from castle to town.

"You don't know where this is? It's Itziar. You may know it better as Hollow Bastion."

"We're going to have to encounter Him then, aren't we?" Bergljot asked fearfully.

"No, I doubt it. It's highly unlikely that we'd have to fight him for anything or that he'd even be there," Anselm said. "Still, I don't believe we're coming this soon."

"We won't speed up this time. Not that it matters… They already know our plan."

"We still have a chance if we stay at a constant speed," Bergljot pointed out. "I say go for it."
"Fine then. Itziar it is," Gwandoya agreed as he returned the globe.

The group returned to the control room, where Gwandoya immediately took the controls.

"You aren't supposed to be piloting," Bergljot said.

"We'll get there faster if there's the same person behind the wheel at all times. We won't have to wake each other up or look for the one who'll pilot next," Gwandoya explained. "Besides, I'm expecting Gilda to call."

"WHAT?" Bergljot cried. "How can she call this far from home?"

"Ace has a special video phone at his garage, and I told him that if Gilda needed to speak to me, she should call from there. She called while you were saying your good-byes to the Guado, and left a message saying she'd call back later," Gwandoya turned to Bergljot. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone when she calls."

"Oh. I guess I'll go wash up and go to bed then."

"I still don't understand why you can't come home for at least a couple of hours."

Bergljot awoke from her deep slumber a few hours later to the sounds of two people arguing. She climbed out of bed quietly so as not to wake Anselm or alert Gwandoya and slipped out to the cockpit. Gwandoya was sitting in the pilot's seat, his wife's face across the screen in front of him.

"I told you, we have to go to Itziar for some answers. I'll be there in a few days," Gwandoya argued angrily.

"Zita is so afraid that you're going to die. To be honest," Gilda said with tears in her eyes. "I'm afraid for you, too."

"I know. But you've all got to be strong until I get there."

"It's not just that we're afraid. It's awful lonely, especially at night," she whispered flirtingly.

"I told you before I left. I can't have sex with you until this is over. It's the same situation with you as Bergljot. If you get pregnant, I have to stay there to care for you."

"No you don't. I can take care of myself. One of my girlfriends could get me to the hospital…"

"But I couldn't live with myself if that happened," Gwandoya said sadly. "Look, I have to get back to piloting. I'll call you soon."

"Okay. I love you, my sweet," Gilda said finally.

"I love you, too. Tell the kids I said hi and I love them."

Gwandoya turned around as he and his love hung up, and Bergljot was shocked to see him crying. She received another shock when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" Anselm asked as Bergljot turned around swiftly.

"Yeah. Did you hear any of that?"

"No. What was it?"

"Come on, I don't want Doya to hear and be embarrassed."

The couple slipped back into the bedroom where Bergljot commenced to recap the parts of the conversation she heard. An awkward silence followed.

"I can understand what he means," Anselm said quietly. "Still…"

"I don't want that to happen to us," Bergljot whispered. She looked at her husband. "One more time?"

Anselm turned, smiled, and kissed the young woman.

Two days later, the trio was getting tired of waiting to arrive at the next world. Gwandoya didn't know what had happened the other night, and Anselm and Bergljot wanted it to stay that way. Bergljot felt slightly different, almost ill, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She decided it was nerves about where they were going. Finally, a small planet came into view. Gwandoya had gotten only about three hours of sleep, and Anselm now took the controls so he could rest.

"So that's where the Heartless came from," Bergljot whispered in awe as she wrapped her arms around her husband's chest.

"Yeah…" Anselm sighed. "We aren't ready for this."

"We'll be okay as long as we stick together. If the descendants of Sora's allies are there, and they're as strong as their ancestors, we'll be fine," she looked down on the planet. "I wonder what the people down there are like…"

The rich lady opened her purse and dropped quite a large sum of gil on the floor.

"Whoops," she smiled. The woman turned to pay the merchant.

The young thief watched eagerly nearby. This was the moment she'd been waiting for all day. She had stalked the buyer all through the market. As the rich woman paid, the thief slipped next to her and scooped up one thousand gil. She walked swiftly towards the exit, talking quietly to herself as she walked.

"That had to be the easiest heist I've ever pulled," she slipped the currency into her pouch. "This'll make the guys really happy."

"Halt!" came a voice from behind her as she stepped into the square. "You are under arrest for the thievery of fifteen thousand gil over the course of- HEY! GET BACK HERE!"

The thief bolted in the opposite direction. The citizens of Itziar stepped out of the way quickly. As she turned into an alley, a bullet whizzed by, nicking her shoulder. The woman cried out in pain, but continued to run.

"Stop or we'll all shoot!"

Despite the threat, the woman kept running, only to be slowed by bullets aimed at her. Fortunately, she was the fastest ninja in the world. As she reached the end of the alley, the woman turned, pulled out her Shurikens and threw them at the guns. The weapons were split in half, spilling gunpowder and bullets on the ground. The police officers fumbled with the ruined guns, not noticing that the thief and sharp stars were gone.

"Phew. That was close. Leilani had better cure this cut. I better lay low for a while," the thief said quietly a few minutes later as she rested on a rooftop. "Maybe I can talk Strifer or Ken'ichi into going. Huh?"

A meteor was falling through the sky. It was heading for a small field just outside the town. Curiosity getting the better of her, the thief made her way quietly to the field.

She made it there with no encounters with the law, and was amazed to find a ship in the middle of the clearing.

"What the hell?" she whispered as she crept over to the ship. The interior was dark, and no movement was seen inside. A rustling in the tall grass behind her captured her attention. "Who…Who's there?"

"ROAR!" screamed a creature. It leaped out of the grass at her.

"EEK!" she screamed. The creature was walking slowly at her. More came out of the grass. "Shoo! Leave me alone!"

The monsters continued to stalk her. The thief walked slowly backwards, stopping as she backed into the ship. As she did, a door opened next to her. Three people, two men and a woman, stood ready to attack.

"Leave them to us," the woman said. Two large keys were in her hands. "We'll take care of them."

As the people jumped out and the door closed, one of the monsters leaped at the frightened woman. The thief pulled out two daggers and slashed at her attacker, making it disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"Or you could pull out twin daggers and help us," said the man holding a shield.

"Who are you, anyway?" the thief asked a couple of hours later. The monsters had refused to back down, and dozens more popped up at random points. The group was standing by a large bonfire that one of the men had lit.

"We're travelers from another world," explained the mage that had lit the fire. "Your world is in great danger. We're fighting monsters called Heartless. Those were the things that attacked us. They were first unleashed here, one thousand years ago. That was when this world was called Hollow Bastion."

"This world hasn't been called that since our leader died one… thousand… years… ago…" the thief trailed off. "He was killed in battle, and his cousin took over. He was overthrown, and the dynasty that's ruled for the past thousand years has been horrid."

"Ansem, perhaps?" the knight said quietly.

"Ansem… That name is familiar. We'll check my library," the thief said. She turned to the woman that was crouched by the fire. "Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" she moaned, turning from the fire to face them. She stood. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Let's go to your library. I'm Bergljot," she said, shaking the thief's hand.

"Anselm," said the mage.

"Doya," introduced the knight.

"I'm Yuffeth. Pleased to meet you all," smiled the thief.

She helped put out the fire and led her friends to her house. Little did Yuffeth know that this meeting would change her life… forever.

"This is it," Yuffeth said quietly. Before the group stood a shack that needed to be painted in the worst sort of way. The windows were boarded, and the door was nailed shut, leaving a space barely large enough for the group to step through. A large condemned sign was hung across the door.

"Don't you ever worry about a demolition crew coming and destroying this place?" Bergljot asked.

"No. The government puts these up all the time, but they never actually destroy the houses. Too much time and money involved. This way," Yuffeth directed as she slipped through the small hole in the door. It took five minutes each for the others to wiggle through.

"Come on," Yuffeth whispered as she walked to a rug in the floor. Upon lifting it, the newcomers saw… nothing. There was only the floor. Yuffeth pulled out a dagger and ran it along the floor in a rectangle. When she was back at the beginning, Yuffeth stuck the dagger under the rectangle and pried it up. She explained what she was doing as the group watched. "Nobody's here, so I have a harder time opening it. We have to put putty to hide the hole when we leave or come in. We all have a sword, dagger or pocketknife to slice the putty and get in. If somebody's home, they open the door for anyone arriving."

She pulled up the floor and told the group to jump in. After she was in, Yuffeth pulled the rug and door after her and spread putty through the cracks she made.

"Why so much defense?" Gwandoya asked. Yuffeth cringed at he question.

"All of us here are on the run. I'm a thief and ninja, Leilani is a healer and flower girl, and Strifer and Ken'ichi are fugitives. They've been trying to overthrow the law, as did their ancestors. In fact, all of our ancestors did. I was nearly captured today. If they found any of us, we'd suffer either a firing squad or being burned at the stake, whichever one the king thinks is more painful for us."

"We'll keep you safe," Bergljot promised. She began exploring the cavern. There were four beds in this room, along with a radio, lamp, computer, fridge, and table. There was also a heavy steel door at the other end of the room. "What's behind that door?"

"Our library," Yuffeth said. "But you can't tell anybody. These are the only books in the kingdom, save those in the castle."

She led the travelers to the door and pushed hard. The door gave way to a large library, full of shelves.

"Here's where we keep our history," Yuffeth smiled. "Here, The Leaders of Our Past. Ansem… Ansem… AHA! Here:

Ansem was the king of Hollow Bastion one thousand years ago.

He experimented with the darkness in people's hearts, thus creating

the Heartless. He began to thirst for power and left the world to pursue

others. He was killed in the year 2002 by Keyblade master Sora. For more

information, see The History of the Keyblades.

Keyblades… Those were what you were fighting with, weren't they?" Yuffeth asked Bergljot.

"Yes."

"So, you are the descendant of Sora?"

"Yuffeth!"

"Oh, shit," she whispered. The group turned to find two men and a woman standing in the doorway. The men ran at the trespassers and pinned them against the wall with their swords. The woman went up to Yuffeth to heal her shoulder and make sure she wasn't hurt otherwise.

"What are you doing here?" snapped the man with blond hair as he held his sword at Bergljot's throat.

"Yuffeth, you know better than to bring strangers here!" the brown-haired man said. His sword was pointed across the men's chests.

"They came from another world! They needed help!" Yuffeth cried.

"We want to help overthrow the government," Anselm whispered. This caught his captor's attention.

"How do you know about that?"

"Yuffeth told us," Bergljot explained. "We'll be willing to help, but you have to do something for us, too."

"What would that be?" the blond asked.

"Help us destroy the cause of the government's corruption," Gwandoya said.

"What do you mean?" the new woman asked.

"Ansem has returned. If he hadn't been killed one thousand years ago, his cousin wouldn't have taken over and he would not have been overthrown. The only reason Ansem was killed was because he created Heartless, monsters that have returned to destroy this world," Bergljot told them. "If you help us get rid of the Heartless, we'll help you get rid of the king."

"Fine," the brown haired man said. He and his partner lowered their weapons. "I'm Strifer. That's Ken'ichi and Leilani."

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Chapter 8! Yea! Okay people, I'm going to make yet another disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hollow Bastion in any way, shape or form. Except the new name. Yeah. I would also like to say Muchas Gracias to Soul Vagabond and Mediciner, my two main reviewers. bows the bow of Yevon Keep an eye on the next few chapters; there'll be a part reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII. As for the invincible one, he should be arriving in the next four or five chapters.

In the near future: Sealing the birthplace of the Heartless, and a capture.

Shortly after: Return to Drummond, the deaths of loved ones, and an unexpected hiatus in the journey.

Thanks also to Robo, even though he keeps getting turned off.