Phase 1: Log No. 2
Ember recoiled, a snarl on her face, turned around and disappeared into the forest. The last look she gave me, of pure hatred, didn't shock me, but still, it hurt. Meanwhile, Ana was mumbling to herself about "There is only one key!" and "But why...?"
"Ember's leaving," I said.
"I know that. She seems to always leave when she knows she's outnumbered. It's probably no surprise to you that she's going away," said Ana, still distracted by her argument with herself.
"Yeah, I guess...," I said worriedly.
This finally caught Ana's attention. "Why do I have a feeling that you're worried about something?" she asked.
"I know that something bad is going to happen," I said, getting up. Pain rushed up toward my brain. My sight went black as I was struck by a premonition.
A young girl stood by a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was dusk, and the sun was almost beneath the clouds. Her dress blew along the light breeze, as did her burning red hair. Elenai – or me, really. But I was watching – looked behind her, and there was disaster. Bodies laid strewn around the ground, and the remaining buildings of the village was burning.
The girl turned toward Elenai and her lips moved, but no sound came out. She stepped back, and fell off the edge of the cliff. A flash of bright light.
Blood. Lots of blood. Women scream and run away while a figure approaches. Men run inside their homes, making sure that their wives and children are inside before they lock the door. Another flash.
A teen girl sits on a park bench. Her long hair hides her face as she sighs deeply. A ominous shadow slowly covers her, and – a flash, bigger than all the others.
"Come on, get up, Elenai!" yelled Ana in my ear. I stood up, rubbing my head.
"Is that... the future...?" I asked myself. I sensed another person nearby, a strange, unknown person. I looked over to my window, to see a shadowy figure bolt away from my house. I dismissed it as my imagination, and said to Ana, "How do you feel about camping?" A smile lit up her face, and I knew I had said the right thing.
We headed out, carrying days worth of supplies. I had a gummi ship hidden somewhere around the edge of the forest, but it was a two day hike there, and it being late afternoon, it would be impossible to reach there before midnight. We found a clearing a few miles from my cottage, and set up camp. I started a fire, and quickly started cooking some fish.
After we had eaten the fish, Ana curled up in her sleeping pad and went instantly asleep. I intently watched the flames until they died down, then went to sleep right were I was.
A scream woke us both up. Being the heroes that we liked to think we were, we dashed out of our sleep, leaving all of our things behind – save our weapons, of course. As we got closer to the source of the scream, a shadow heartless appeared in the ever-thickening forest. "It has begun," I whispered.
Finally, we reached a small clearing where Ember was lying motionless on the ground. I ran toward her, and took her pulse. "She's fine," I reassured Ana. Ana's eyes looked at me, cold and emotionless, almost like a Heartless. Her hands gripped her battle-axe tightly. She slowly walked toward Ember, and raised her axe.
Ember woke up, and seeing the axe that was raised above her head, disappeared. I closed my eyes and sighed. I heard a twig snap, and someone curse softly. I opened my eyes and saw the shadowy figure dash through the trees once again. "Hey, you!" I called after the figure, and they started running away from me. Ana was left behind wondering what had happened to Ember.
I slowly gained on the figure, ignoring the brambles and branches that scratched me. Just when I was about to catch him, he sent a large orb of darkness headed toward me, forcing me to stop to defend myself. He used this chance to take the lead. I looked his way, and where he was standing before I saw a crystal. I picked it up, and admired the glittering blue and gold particles dancing around inside. I stuffed it in my pocket, and headed toward where Ana was.
She wasn't there, so I went back to where we had set up camp. But the further I went into the forest, the more lost I seemed to get. I finally found myself at an old stone shrine, covered in ivy, with willows and oaks surrounding it. I walked through one of the half-collapsed stone arches, walking toward the center of the shrine. There was an altar in the center of the great shrine. I turned around, and saw six ruined statues – probably of saints or some other godly apparition – each holding a gem of these colors: jet black, sparkling gold, sapphire blue, lava red, magic purple, and forest green. I took the gem I had found out of my pocket, and stared at it. The blue and gold particles shimmered with such intensity that it made the surrounding area light up.
Some sort of force told me to go to the altar, so I did. Right in the middle of the altar was an imprint that fit my crystal perfectly. I pressed it in, and the crystal shone with a great light, so bright that I had to cover my eyes. A stream of magic went through me, and I knew I had my magic back.
Suddenly, someone clumsily came crashing though the shrubbery that was surrounding the shrine. I pulled out my sword, and Ana came into the shrine, tripping over some fallen stones. "There you are!" she exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you!" I sighed. "Let's go!" smiled Ana.
We followed the trail that Ana had come by back to the campsite, and then went to where I had hid my gummi ship.
"Wait," said Ana. "I thought there were impassible walls between the worlds. Aren't these gummi ships useless?"
"The Heartless returned nine years ago, and with the return of the Heartless, the walls have evaporated," I explained.
"Then can we go to Traverse Town? I've heard so many things about it from books, how that's where the Keyblade master first started his journey, about the heroes there, and how the people whose worlds get destroyed go there..."
I stayed silent, but turned the navigational system to Traverse Town, and threw our camping supplies in the storage compartment. "...and they have this great café , I hear, and the first class hotel..." continued Ana as she went into the backseat of the ship. I flipped several switches, and we started hovering above the ground. Ana stopped her inconsistent babbling to shout, "Take off!"
As we went through space, I turned on our shields and a cloaking device. "The Heartless ships won't notice us that much now." Ana just ignored me and turned on the interworld radio to a random soundtrack station. I set the ship to auto-pilot, and leaned back in my chair. The song that was playing was one of my favorites, from long before my time.
- I know I am true to myself
Though it cuts deep into my heart somehow...
Kindness is something I don't want or need
The sunshine would just dissolve me into light
Give me a pain as pleasing as your sighed
So I can feel you all the day and night
And keep me from fading away...
Kindness is -
The words faded away as the announcer's voice boomed through the speakers. "Do you want a shiny new car? A bag of french fries? Superpowers? Whatever the case, come to Jack's Service Barn! There's nothing we don't have! Located in the scenic second district of Traverse Town! If you don't come, then you're a loser!"
"Hey, El – it's okay to call you El, right – we should visit there! I've always have needed to get myself a coat or jacket of some type. Those nights at your place are cold!" said Ana.
"I don't know. They didn't mention anything about clothing in general. And to be honest, I don't feel that good about going to Traverse Town, either. I just have a gut feeling that something bad's going to happen..."
Lyrics to "Pain" © Namco and Xenosaga: Ep. 1
