"I remember this place," Fait whispered to herself.
The world looked slightly different upon entering through the World's Door but it was still recognizable from the cobblestone floors. Traverse Town seemed a tad larger than what she remembered. There was a Welcome Center built next to the coffee shop now, and it looked like the coffee shop had been extended to a more spacious sitting area. There were even more lights around it to show someone was working there. The smell of coffee filled the air and she saw a small line of people at the window waiting to place their order. The Item Shop caught her eye as well. It used to just be a little spot in the corner that you hardly ever noticed, but the Item Shop looks like it extended and combined itself with another shop. To her right was actually a decent-sized Gummi block shop with small models of Gummi ships in glass jars lined up at the front windows like a series of model ships in glass bottles. That was a new addition much like the Welcome Center because neither of those were there before.
Removing her hood, Fait took down her hair from its confines and let her dirty blonde locks drop down her back. A cup of coffee sounded like a nice idea but she had to check on her brothers, Melvin and Shinnosuke, since they split up to do Maleficent's new set of missions. Fait's mission was terribly easy, though: investigate Traverse Town and its new changes. Well, the world definitely added a few things here and there. It looked like the world was still being worked on with the construction workers walking around the First District and all. A door was being barricaded to her right side, so she didn't bother to try to sneak in there. Instead, Fait decided to thoroughly explore some of the changes in the First District. The tree in the center was still there but some night-blooming jasmine vines and a small moat were surrounding it now. There was even a nice bit of fencing surrounding the small garden display. The flowers weren't ready to bloom just yet. Right as Fait was about to walk away from the garden, she caught a plaque being covered by the vines. She reached out to touch it but the vines reacted to her immediately and coiled around her hand to stop her from touching the plaque.
Fait hummed to herself and then whispered, "Jasmine vines don't do that. Magic's influencing this display it seems. I think a wind spell should be okay. That way I don't damage the plant."
Summoning a small Aero smell into her free hand, Fait lowered her hand to gently use her magic to stroke the aggressive vine and get it to loosen its vice grip on her hand. That calmed the vine enough to release her before coiling back and resting along the fence. The jasmine flowers managed to gather the remnants of Fait's magic spell while they were still closed buds and passed the fragments of power to mother vines surrounding the plaque. The plaque then absorbed the wind spell and revealed the words etched onto its surface. Fait walked up to the plaque and read the message to herself in silence.
Welcome, visitors, to the charitable world of Traverse Town!
Founded approximately 25 years ago, this town was once a vacant land forever trapped
In a picturesque landscape of a romantic and dreamy starry night and filled with bodies
Of fresh water and bits of forestry. With time, the land became a refugee camp for many
Travelers who had lost their home world to darkness but managed to find themselves in
The sweet embraces of this empty world. Frightened but hopeful, the camp transformed
Into a center of diverse inhabitants from different corners of the universe who were able
To look passed their various origins to simply help each other. The need to maintain world
Order proved to be less important in favor of peace for the town, but this need was a
Valuable lesson to those who perhaps found a means to return to their world or visit
Others. As can be seen, several changes have been made since then. What was once a
Collection of tents and humble belongings evolved into a bustling town where generosity
And many talents were used to rediscover the light within the people and the world. We,
The people of Traverse Town, hope that you will also be able to find the light within you and
We hope that you never lose it when you look into the faces of those who continue to
Fight, serve, befriend, and guide others to a better and safer place.
~ Courtesy of the World Independence Movement Committee
"Beautiful," Fait said to herself.
She had no idea Traverse Town had been around for that long. Twenty-five years is a long time for a place to be a refugee camp, which meant that the people of Traverse Town who never returned to their original home worlds were going to make Traverse Town into an official world, and that means this world is going to potentially form into a business center. That could be both good and bad. Bad because the world can then be taken over by Heartless like a regular world and those people who lost their worlds to darkness will have nowhere to go anymore and the people of Traverse Town would be repudiating the world order tremendously. This would also destroy other worlds on an alarming level. However, those significantly damaging things aside, Fait found that she supported the cause. It makes no sense to have a refugee camp remain one when it's this advanced. Looking back at the Welcome Center, Fait could see the initials W.I.M. on the side of the building. That meant the Welcome Center and perhaps the new Gummi block shop were all connected to this movement.
"If this world is seeking such a form of validation, it must have a map of the other worlds somewhere. Coordinates to other worlds would be beneficial, especially for the efficiency and functioning capabilities of a Gummi ship," Fait mumbled, voicing her thoughts. "But... the location of Traverse Town is unique by itself. It's the only place that can see other worlds as stars and even Gummi ships going through wormholes or hyper speed. World order here can literally be revoked or forgotten as the plaque says because so many people from different places can reach this place easier. That would also mean someone examined one of the other worlds to draw comparisons to this one. In order for this world to be classified as a proper world, a system has to be in effect somehow."
"You're awfully intelligent for a newcomer," a voice said, disrupting Fait's train of thought.
Fait turned to her left and saw the man connected to the voice. He was an attractive boy in every sense of the word: tall in height, lean build, shiny hair the color of a light purple to lavender, sharp hazel eyes, and strong facial features like his eyebrows and mouth. He was dressed in simple attire: quarter-sleeve shirt, royal blue vest with W.I.M. in gold on his right chest, black and orange jeans, and colorful shoes. His gloves were the most eye-catching to Fait, however, because of the magical elements surrounded by a seal of sorts. This particular person was a magic-user - a good one even.
"Not sure if I should be saying thank you or something along the lines of an insult," Fait replied, putting a hand on her belt to place the thumb in one of her belt loops. "But I'll stick to gratitude for now. Thank you."
The man raised an eyebrow in curiosity and said, "Not too many people know magic as extensively as you do. Those who do often use the wrong spell to read the plaque there. That's why the vines are so sensitive to new readers."
"Explains the burn marks and peeling from the wood," Fait said, turning her attention back to the plaque. "Too bad the flowers aren't in bloom yet. The smell of jasmine is beautiful."
"They'll be ready by next week. Winter is on its way," the boy informed. "You haven't been to the Welcome Center yet. I can escort you there to meet the mayor."
"Thank you, but I'd like to look around first if you don't mind," Fait responded. "It's been a while since I've visited this place. There's so many new things here."
"I've never seen you here before," the boy noted, folding his arms with some suspicion. "Your clothes are distinctive."
Fait shrugged and then said, "There's not much to combat attire. I didn't speak to a lot of people when I came here the first time. I just walked around and trained most of the time."
The boy's eyes narrowed at that before he questioned, "I only knew a handful of people who fought and used magic. You're not either of them. You're especially not the keyblade wielder who frequented here. What is your name?"
"I'm not looking for a fight, dude," Fait said, holding a hand up in surrender. "Calm down. I haven't been here in years. I'm just visiting. If it's such a detriment, I'll leave. Tell the mayor he's got a nice display there."
Right as Fait was about to head for the World's Door, the unnamed boy stopped her by saying, "Wait! I'm sorry. I'm just on edge because of the Heartless appearing here. They're stronger than I remember."
"Stronger?" Fait questioned. "How strong?"
"Enough to destroy entire districts. That's why the third district is closed off there," the boy said, pointing to the barricaded door. "Their appearances have slowed down construction dramatically. Even the mailing system was shut down!"
Fait hummed with thought at the challenge, curious of how strong these new Heartless were. Destroying a district solo is powerful, but the Third District wasn't big the last time she was there. With the changes she was seeing in the First District, that meant the Third District was expanded and probably the Second District as well. She then said, "Alright, I'll check it out."
"What?" the boy shouted more than questioned. "I said it was too dangerous for - !"
"No, you said the Heartless were stronger than you remember," Fait interrupted. "You also said there were only a few people who you knew that fought the Heartless before they all left. We just met so you weren't aware that I've fought the Heartless before or that I even used to visit here. You never said anything about danger. With that being the case, however, I should probably really take a look around. That means the people are defenseless. I'd hate to see all this hard work go to waste from something I could've stopped while I was here, especially when you're trying to be your own world. Right?"
The boy blushed from Fait's determination to help but quickly turned to his side to hide his relief. While he still didn't approve of the girl walking around idly, he was thankful to hear that someone cared about Traverse Town's progress. By the time he looked back up to express his gratitude, Fait had already left and was walking passed the Accessory Shop to enter the Second District. He looked at the plaque where she was reading and blushed at the memory of her taking the hood off and letting her hair down. She was a pretty girl and fast from the looks of it.
The boy gasped at his sudden realization and whispered to himself, "We didn't exchange names."