Thanks for the anonymous reviews XD...I promise I'll try my best, and I'm having fun writing this. I had this posted before, but I saw so many flaws and edited a few tid-bits here and there. I really hope you enjoy it.

Should I write shorter chapters? Because so many people these days like to read short stuff. Ah, the rise of ADD and ADHD! How SWEET! XD

Chapter 2

The four of them sat round a square table in the vibrant food court, sipping on hot coffee that Kael bought for them all.

"I've never been to one of these kinds of malls," Kael said. "Similar, but the shopping districts are all outdoors with small shops. Well, with the exception of Shibuya 109."

"What kinds of fashions are there? Apart for Paris. It's really popular for fashion!" Ritz said excitedly.

"Pretty much the same, with a little variation," Kael said. Marché looked at his watch and motioned to them.

"Come on, it'll be sunset soon. We should get to my house. Is it okay for you to come over, Kael?"

"Should be, my grandpa closes his shop around nine o'clock on Fridays," He replied. They all got up and walked outside, following Marché. Thick clouds crept over the town and a light snow began to fall.

"It's this way? I can grab my katana from my house, if you'd like," Kael offered as they rounded another corner. Mewt nodded hopefully.

"Sure," Marché said. The other three waited outside of his house. It was two-stories with three bedrooms, one of which was for guests. It was rather empty except for furniture and boxes that were filled with their luggage piled around. Although the house was rented, it was in rather bad shape, however it could be comfortably lived in. Kael went up stairs to his small room and reached for his sword on the floor, which was covered only in the middle by a red carpet and a bed in the corner of the room with a window that looked through part of the neighborhood. He jumped back downstairs, went outside and locked the door, and followed them as they turned to leave.

He showed them it as he pulled the blade out, taking their eyes off the sidewalk. It was a simply designed blade with a soft but protective black sheath. A black nylon wrapped around the hilt in a diamond pattern for grip with a thick blue ribbon was tied just below the round gold-colored guard. He showed them the sharpness and perfect shape of the slightly curved blade. It gleamed slightly in the setting sun.

"Very cool!" Ritz said. "I myself prefer rapiers and fencing."

"If magic was around, I'd be using staves." Mewt said.

"Broadswords or blades for me. I like katanas as well, but I just don't use them that much. Never learned how to properly handle one, either. You good with it, Kael?" Marché asked. Kael was just surprised they all seemed to like a certain kind of weapon. "I have two blades; one's red, and the other blue. It once belonged to…" He added but broke off suddenly, shaking his head at the ground. Kael ignored it but wondered why.

"Pretty good. I'd show you, but I really can't, not for real," Kael laughed.

"That may depend." Ritz muttered. He watched her glance at Marché, but it was not returned.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

They rounded around a final corner and started descending down wide snow-covered steps, Mewt almost slipping on one but caught the streetlight pole. They moved down a series of identical looking houses until they came to a yellow colored, two-story house, where Marché and the others turned onto the driveway. At the door, they took off their shoes and Marché opened the front door, beckoning them all inside.

It was a simple house, mostly made with wood. It was decorated with a mountain-theme to it. A few moose trophies were mounted on the wall, and all the furniture matched the brown color of the house.

"Anything to drink?" Marché offered, even though they all still had their coffees. He shrugged and then called, "Donned! You home!"

"Yeah!" Came a younger sounding voice from a distance.

"We're coming up! We have a new friend!" He said, leading them up stairs. Kael flushed for a second. At the top of the stairs, he led them straight across the hall and opened a mahogany-colored door and led into the room.

It was slightly small like Kael's, but had a lot of clutter on the floors and a steaming teakettle on a small heated stove. A young boy with bright blue eyes and brown hair the same color as Kael's looked at all of them and grinned. He was confined to a wheelchair, just as he was told. Man, I stick out like a sore thumb with green-eyes! He thought somewhat bitterly, watching his reflection in the mirror in the room.

"Hi there! Who's this?" He asked, wheeling toward the door to shut it behind them.

"Kael Nitsuhara," He answered, smiling. "You must be Donned, right?"

"I am, nice to meet you, Kael," He replied. Kael followed them to sitting in the middle of the floor, but Donned went over to a bookshelf and pulled the ancient book down. Kael nodded.

"That's the book alright," He confirmed. Donned handed it to Marché, who opened it in the middle of the small circle. Mewt leaned over and began flipping the pages. "So what's wrong with it?"

"Well, we have a theory, but we can't exactly share it without you thinking we're all nuts." Mewt said, focusing on the book and darting his eyes around the strange runes.

"Try me. I've seen this book do strange things."

Marché heaved a sigh. "Well, what we can tell you without confusing you is that it's definitely not from around here, or at least no one knows of this civilization."

"I could figure that out on my own. But wait…are you saying not from around here as in Ivalice, or…?"

"Exactly," Ritz said, looking at him, propping herself up with both arms and sitting in seiza. She brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes.

"…What?"

Ritz stood up and outstretched an arm at Kael, closing her eyes. A fireball erupted from her hand and launched upward, just missed touching the roof, and came back down toward Kael. Instinctively, Kael ripped the katana from its sheath and swung to deflect it. The flames split in two and sizzled out of life on the floor. It all happened so fast that he kept his mouth open and didn't blink, looking right at Ritz.

"Ritz!" Marché shouted. She just swung her head to look at him.

"It's not gone, now it's confirmed. Something's up…oh, sorry Kael!" Ritz said, smiling awkwardly at him. Recovering, Kael glared at Ritz, panting from surprise.

"What. Was. That?" He demanded. Ritz looked at him apologetically.

"Sorry! It's just that…well, you saw it! I can do that, and you responded. No regular blade could deflect that. It took something from within you," she said. Kael didn't release his glare, but relaxed his muscles.

"You've been exposed to the book a lot, haven't you?" Marché asked calmly.

"Three good years," Kael replied. "Now, are all of you nuts, or am I?"

"There's little to explain, it seems. Only you weren't here that night that we all discussed what we dreamed for...and then what happened to us. And now, it hasn't gone away since then!" Marché said. Kael was still lost, but sheathed his katana and removed his stare from Ritz just in case.

"You must learn not to be so quick to anger, kohai," his sensei, Onizuka from Nagasaki, had once told him with a smile. "Glare only at those who intend you or others harm. Never one's that simply test your skill." Kael was astonished that somehow he was tested just like Onizuka had sad to him, feeling stupid for getting angry like that.

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Donned was shouting. They didn't realize it until then. He was pointing frantically at the television.

"Unknown beasts and humanoids have begun running through Los Angeles wildly, slaughtering many! The death toll has risen to over 2,000 in the past hour in the city alone, and this is happening around the world! It's hardly believable, and the military is mobilizing all possible…"

"What does this mean?" Ritz asked, her breath short as she watched it. They all stared at the television, silent. The air grew tighter. Kael narrowed his eyes again and cleaned out his ears with a finger to make sure what he heard was right. He then checked to see if it was just a TV series or something. It wasn't.

"It…It…It looks like…we need to go back! Somehow, the worlds have merged! I know it sounds crazy, but we have to go. NOW!" Marché said loudly, stuttering at first. "This ISN'T the real world after all! Mewt, is your dad informed!"

"Yes, I told him last night about our theory! I…don't know what to say!"

"Can we all agree to keep our memories, nothing changed, and stay together? We need to wish this as a group! You too, Kael!" Kael's head was swinging in confusion.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!" Kael shouted. His brain was working frantically, watching the news, listening to Marché rambling about something, and the piercing stares.

"Yes!" Mewt answered.

"No…Maybe…Yes! I guess there's no choice!" Ritz said loudly.

"I'm sure!" Donned said.

"KAEL?" Marché shouted.

"WHAT, DAMMIT!"

"YES OR NO? WITH US OR NO! YOU'LL LOSE YOUR MEMORY IF YOU DON'T!"

"YES!" he answered on impulse.

The book began glowing a deep yellow, and all of their hands slapped down onto the pages of the old book by an invisible force. Kael tried to pull away, but the force kept pulling. Suddenly, a strange fluent language began spilling from all of their mouths. Kael's head began to get dizzy. Blackness slowly revolved around the room until there was no more color or light. The last thought ran through his mind in an echo. Dead? Dead? Dead? Dead?

The same shadowy figure suddenly appeared in his mind, pointing a gnarled, rotting hand at him with long yellow nails, glaring with those yellow eyes through the concealment of the hood.

"YESSSSS!" A roar echoed at him.

He felt himself lose consciousness.