By the city's edge, on a cliff overlooking the ocean, a cat like being, ears folded down stared up at the blanket of stars. His tail twitched, as he sighed, rubbing his hand through yellow bangs.
"She's out there..." he thought, the twinkling of starlight reflecting in his blue eyes like crystals "somewhere..." a brief silence passed, interrupted by a deep breath "It's getting late... I better head back..." The feline turned around, walking towards the city with arms casually folded behind his head, when suddenly, sudden pain surged through his body, a blow from behind. Many creatures of darkness surrounded him in an ambush.
"What are these things?" he asked himself, backing away. They were barely visible in the night, but their yellow eyes shone through like headlights. Each of them prepared to attack, and their dark presence slowly drained the boy of his energy. Before he passed out, something struck one of the shadowy creatures. As his eyes shut, he made out the blurry vision of an angel, or so he thought. Laying motionless for a while, he awoke to a blue aura surrounding him, and a young girl kneeling next to him with her hands above his chest.
"Who... Are you?"
"..." she stood in silence, backing away cautiously, she saved his life, yet she feared him at first. As she stepped back, he couldn't help himself but to rise to his feet and say "Wait!"
She turned around, ready to flee as a pain shot through her side, a straggling shadow from the rest of the group remained, one that was missed. It caught her off-guard, striking again with a mighty 'thwack!', but she countered its third attack as the creature sent out a wave of darkness. Spirit felt like leaping into battle to assist, but suddenly realized the darkness pulsed as the waves dispersed in blue light, causing the creature to disintegrate as the stranger fell to the ground. As she stared up, her eyes dilated in the pain, as she looked on in fear at Spirit.
"It's okay, I just want to help you." she looked deeply into his eyes, and could see he was telling the truth. "My name's Spirit, by the way."
"Marie." she replied timidly.
"My place is right by here. The least I can do is give you a home while you recover." he shyly walked over and lifted her into his arms, as short as the boy was, Marie was somewhat smaller. She smiled weakly as he blushed slightly, but still holding her gently.
His house seemed like nothing more than a run-down shopping mall, but with small touches to make it seem more like a home.
"Your house is really big." Marie said as Spirit carried her in and laid her down on a couch.
"I just expected to have a lot of new friends here, but it doesn't seem like I have any..."
"Oh..." she closed her eyes, purring slightly.
"Thanks for the help... at first, I thought you were a Feina... but seeing how you're not corrupt..." she paused "You must be of another race..."
He nodded "Never heard of Feinas..."
She opened her eyes once again, dark blue like two deep pools of water, almost entrancing as he stared on into them.
"Erm..." she blinked, finding this odd until he realized and blushed slightly. As she tried to reach out to him, she said "I'll be your friend..." and smiled before blacking out. Spirit couldn't sleep that night. He kept wondering what those black creatures were, and why Marie appeared. Though he found no connections between the two, Spirit was happy knowing that he now had a friend. The next morning, Marie awoke to the pleasant smell of food from her bedside. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she caught sight of a stack of waffles.
"I hope you like 'em... I don't have the ingredients to make anything else." Spirit said from in front of her. "They're my favorite! How did you know?"
"Lucky guess, but it seemed like you would like them." Spirit seemed happy, but showing it more in his eyes. She sat up, throwing off the bed sheets as she hopped out of bed, snowy white feet hitting the floor. She noticed her shoes left by her bedside and eagerly ran to the table, sitting across from Spirit with a stack of waffles, taking little time to finish her plate as Spirit stared on wide eyed "Hungry, aren't ya?"
She shook her head "No, I just like the taste of waffles...My body doesn't exactly rely on food..." She forced a smile, as she wiped away some syrup melted butter from her whiskers "This is good stuff!"
She started to try and clean away the syrup from her face, making a sticky mess in her cheek fur as she was handed a wet clothe "There's something about you that seems... Unique. Ever since I was young, it felt as-though I could see into people's hearts... It might sound weird, and I wouldn't be surprised if you don't believe me." Marie looked at Spirit, noticing a certain power about him.
"I don't think it's weird. Maybe you just don't know who you are."
He seemed surprised, as if now noticing "It's you... You're the one I dreamt about on Zarconia!"
She tilted her head "You... saw me in your dreams?" He nodded slightly, as she pondered "I.. never met you before coming here, but when I look into your eyes, I feel as if I've known you for the longest time..." she smiled "Ah well, let's not keep our minds on the mysteries of life too much... look to the future, but don't forget to keep your head in the present... or was it the clouds?"
She began pondering over nothing, causing Spirit to chuckle slightly. He started to figure out, 'she's just like a little kid...' her care-free attitude, cheeriness, optimism, and of course, innocence, he couldn't help but smile about it.
"I just wish I knew what those black things were that attacked us."
"They're called the Heartless... I don't know much else about them..."
Spirit knew there was something she wasn't telling him, but didn't want to make her uncomfortable by asking.
"I wonder what they were doing there... It seemed like they were guarding something." he snapped back to reality and smiled "Oh well, no use thinking about it now."
"Let's just hope they won't attack again..." she smiled in glee "Don't worry if they do! I'll protect you! Anything for a friend..."
"And I'll try to help you when you need it..." he said, nodding with a slight hint of red on his cheeks. For a few weeks, they never saw any more attacks, and kept their mind off them, enjoying each other. Marie developed this odd habit at night, coming into Spirit's room and curling up on his bed, laying her head on his stomach, whenever he asked why, she said "Kitties make softer pillows..."
Meanwhile, Spirit would bring Marie to places in the city, and to one of his favorite spots, the cliff that overlooked the sea. They would both lie back in the grass, and stare at the night sky, he never thought that anyone could appreciate the view as much as he did, but Marie proved wrong.
"This place is beautiful... Thanks for bringing me." she said with her head on Spirit's stomach(a habit he came to enjoy).
"I know. It reminds me a lot of my home planet, so I try to come here whenever I can." he closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath, listening to the waves crash against the rocks below. But as he started to relax, he suddenly heard something that didn't seem of this world. As Spirit opened his eyes, he noticed what looked like floating armor pieces. Marie saw it too, and pushed Spirit out of the way of its large feet.
"Is that a Heartless!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, you can see the symbol on its chest."
Marie then summoned a pair of energy daggers and drove them into the creature's hands. They both exploded into dark wisps, but the Heartless wasn't phased by this. It separated its parts and surrounded her on all sides.
"Spirit, run!" she had a glow in her eye that he never seen before, as she dove off the cliff, into the waves. Before anyone could think, the water began to swirl, becoming a whirl pool. Spirit's first thought was that she got caught in a rip tide, and was ready to jump in after her, even if he couldn't swim. Before he could do such a thing, a whirlpool rose among the waves, into the sky. The tip crashed into the heartless, as Spirit backed a distance away, a bit of water splashing on his fur. He blinked as water dripped from his bangs, and floating before him was Marie. Her wings didn't flap, yet she was suspended in the sky, with her staff, emitting a light that caused the rest of the armor to fall apart. As she descended to him, she opened her eyes, the original color they once were as she grabbed his hand.
"We have to get out of here!"
"Well, well, well... If it isn't the water goddess and a Zarconian child." a sinister voice echoed from around them. Marie was suddenly stricken with pain, but Spirit caught her as she fell.
"Who are you, and what did you do to Marie!"
"Who am I... I am the darkness that lives within people's hearts. Some call me the devil, others know me as the Grim Reaper..." A mass of dark energy appeared in front of them, and took the shape of a fully cloaked figure. A pair of ghastly yellow eyes opened and stared angrily at them "But you may know me as Zeetan."
As Marie struggled to stand, the pair of yellow eyes sent Spirit into some shock, leaving him immobile. "Spirit!" she yelled to him as if he was a distance away"Wake up!"
He couldn't hear her, gasping for breath, he fell to the ground, leaving her to defend them both off from the dark entity. With a growl, she held up her staff, running at him to strike, but met a dark wave of energy coming at her, shocking her as she forced it away with blue light.
Meanwhile, in the back of his mind, he was surrounded by darkness. Before him, a ray of light flickered, shining upon a sword in a pedestal. He was drawn to it, hearing a voice.
"Do you accept your destiny, young Gaia? To protect those you care and love for?"
He nodded, Marie on his mind as he laid his hand upon the hilt.
"Draw the blade... from its resting place!"
Without hesitation, Spirit reached out and drew the sword, his body surrounded by a blue aura that seemed to be giving the blade power.
"Go now... The one you care for needs you."
With that, Spirit awoke from his dream-like state and turned to face Zeetan. He had Marie by the throat with a spectral hand, she struggled against it as he laughed maniacally, letting dark energy flow around the two.
"Let her go." Spirit said in a righteous tone.
"This is a treat; it seems the mortal boy has feelings for the deity." Zeetan laughed. Spirit held out his hand, and a dual-bladed sword materialized in it that sent the dark one into shock.
"That sword! It's impossible! This weak little boy is the Gaia of Heart's son!"
Spirit held the sword, ready to strike.
"The goddess can wait... In my current state, the sword would decimate me."
He immediately let Marie go, letting her limp body fall to the ground as he phased into the shadows, leaving Spirit in worry.
"Please, don't be dead!" he rushed by her body, tears forming slightly "You're the greatest person I know!" Though she remained lifeless, something inside told him that she was still there, still alive, He picked her up, and her body shivered as her hand clung to his shirt, opening her eyes. He sighed slightly in relief; she survived.
"Spirit... Am I really the greatest person you know?"
"Of course you are. You're my best friend, and..." he paused, and blushed intensely "I love you!" he said quickly. Spirit turned away from her out of embarrassment, drops of sweat moving down his fur. Just then, he felt some thing on his cheek; a kiss. He turned to look at Marie, but she passed out, purring softly in his arms. He smiled with tears of joy in his eyes "Whatever lies ahead, we'll face it together."
He carried her home, laid her in his own bed, at this point, he worried that Zeetan would attack again, and didn't want anyone to take her away. As he stared up at the ceiling, hands crossed behind back, he began to wonder.
"Deity? Gaia of Heart?" he looked down to her, sleeping peacefully "Could she possibly be?"
He pondered on, letting out a yawn. The sword disappeared after battle, and he wondered if it could be summoned. Either way, sword or not, he was determined to keep her safe.