Chapter 3
A World Inside a World
"Are we there yet?" Rex complained form the back of the ship. I was busy looking at the complex navigation program in front of me.
"Uhh…" I used my newfound magical ability to hone in on Xion's heart fragment, and found it to be not that far away. Well, in space terms. The ship was locked onto a world through my ability, and a timer appeared on the small screen. "About five minutes if we don't hit anything."
"I wonder what the world will be like…" Xion wrote. I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it'll be unlike anything we've seen, most likely." I saw the world before the ship said we arrived. It was round like mine, and looked rather the same. Blue oceans, green land. But I knew it wasn't Earth- the continents were wrong. I manipulated a few of the buttons when we entered orbit, and scanned the surface with pictures.
"Hey, I know this world…" Rex said, thinking. When a yellow mouse-like creature scurried across the ground, he exclaimed, "This is my world! I'm home!" Rex danced around a little, happy and giddy. More so than I've ever seen him, actually.
"Well, almost, my Lucario friend. Your world isn't connected to the others. Only a Keyblade Knight can enter them, according to Yen-Sid." I thought for a second, then said, "Only I can enter it. But if I'm correct, you can get home after I seal the world's Keyhole, which connects the world to the others." Rex nodded in silence, but walked over to the food locker.
"Hey, I've waited about a year to get back. I guess I could wait a few more hours."
"Do you even know how to get down there?" Xion asked. That got me thinking.
"Yen-Sid mentioned something called a 'Dream-Drop.' I just don't know how to do it." I paced around for a second, then it hit me. I summoned my bow, and looked at the vambrace on my right arm. On one side was the arrowhead holder I knew and used often, loaded with my normal Keyblade. I turned it around, and saw a small, heart shaped indent. I took out the emblem Yen-Sid gave me, and slid it in the opening.
I felt a surge of energy flow through me, and I noticed a small, armored plate appear on my chest, latched to me with strips of the same material circling my chest. It was small, and covered my heart only, being bronze in color. A small white orb was on the armor, but I had no idea what material that or the armor was made of. Knowledge filled my head, too. Not much, but I knew what to do now.
"Xion, open the airlock." I said, the girl nearby shocked by my request. "Trust me, Xion. I know what I'm doing." I stepped into the airlock after she opened it, and thought to myself, I'm either a genius… or I'm going to die. I pressed my hand to the white orb on my new armor, and felt energy envelop me. I opened my eyes to find myself falling through space, almost weightless.
I dropped to the ground below as nothing more than a spirit, falling at a speed that was way too slow for entry to a planet; I learned that much from science class. I landed on the world below, and my weight returned, letting gravity carry my full weight for the last few feet. I landed at the edge of a town, and decided to go in for information on the world.
I entered a large, red and white building, to be greeted by a woman with long, pink hair, looped around her head in two large circles. "Hello, welcome to the Pokémon center. Do your Pokémon need any healing?" she asked.
I cautiously responded, "No, they don't. I'm just looking for some food."
"Oh, then the cafeteria is over there," she said, pointing to the left, "We hope to see you again!" She scurried off to the next person who entered, a young boy with blond hair. I walked over to the food area, and purchased a "Tauros Burger" with my ever-changing munny. The taste wasn't bad, but not that great either.
"Hey, who are you? I've never seen you around before." The blond-haired boy said, walking up to me.
"The name's Zack. You?"
"Barry. What brings you to Hearthome City?" He sat down across from me, after buying the same thing I did.
Taking another bite, I responded, "Not much. I'm not from around here, and I came to see the sights." I wasn't really lying- getting to be the first one from outside the planet to visit was exciting.
"In that case, how about I show you around?" Barry offered. "It would be a great way to see the sights around Hearthome, anyway."
"I think I'll take you up on your offer, Barry." I said, finishing my burger. Barry took me outside of the red and white building, and led me around the town.
"Here's the Pokémon contest hall, where the Sinnoh Region's Grand Festival takes place, and over there is the park, where a lot of people like to hang out. And if you're a Pokémon trainer, here's the Hearthome gym, led by Fatina." He rambled on and on about the finer points of the town, and even introduced me to his Pokémon Empoleon. The large, imposing penguin looked very proud of himself, and stayed mostly silent.
"Thanks, Barry. I'm a little tired- mostly travelling. I'm going to go relax in the park for a bit." Now, that was a total lie. I just wanted to get away from Barry. As nice as he was for showing me around, he was too full of himself and wanted to talk about how much he was the best or something similar.
I sat down on a bench in the park, looking out onto the lake nearby. Several Pokémon, the kind I don't know, swam on the surface. However, I saw a dark flash appear on the water's surface. It didn't look ordinary, and it scared the Pokémon away. I cautiously stepped into the water, finding it to only be a few inches deep anyway.
I summoned my bow, ready if Heartless attacked. This world, like all others, was always open to them before the Keyhole is sealed, but the Heartless found them only so often. The dark flash occurred again, right where I was standing. I crouched low, inspecting the water, but then- well, I blame magic and bad timing for what happened.
The water opened up underneath me, into some sort of portal. I couldn't move out of the way, and I fell not into the pond's bottom, but into another world entirely. The world was a sea of darkness, and islands dotted the landscape, varying in size and shape. That's when I heard the voice.
"Human… turn around… come closer…" It said, a deep, commanding voice. I turned, and viewed a large cage, made of darkness, holding inside of it the source of the voice. It was some sort of dragon, black with golden armored accents, sitting on six legs. Its wings were ragged and black, with six red cones on them, three on each wing.
"What are you?" I asked.
"I am the Lord of the Reverse World, human. But you may call me Giratina." He inched towards the cage's bars, to talk to me face-to-face. "I have been trapped here by forces from another plane of reality, human. Ones that have threatened all. They have placed me in this cage, to doom me slowly to their darkness, waiting for it to consume me."
"Can't you break free? You seem like a god to me."
"I AM a god, human. But these forces are beyond even my power, at least without my Griseous Orb. I cannot have my full powers without that orb, and I can sense it somewhere in this realm."
"Well, I could help you, but I'm kind of on a mission of my-"
"I know, human. I know that you seek this item, right here." Giratina moved out of the way, letting me se into the cage. I saw the pink form of one of Xion's heart fragments sitting in the middle of the cage, way out of my reach. "I will propose a deal, Human. Get me what I need to restore order, my Griseous Orb, and I will give you that which you seek."
"Well, when you put it that way, how can I say no? You have a deal, Giratina." I summoned my bow, since it had banished itself when I fell, and asked one last question. "How can I find it?"
"You can sense the essences of others, can you not? It is how you found this gemstone. Feel my essence. My orb is a part of me, and shares the same soul."
I concentrated deeply, able to use my magical abilities to hone in on Giratina's heart. I felt a similar presence far away, to the west in relation to the direction I was facing.
"I'll be back."
(A/N: one more chapter down. Now, what will happen when Zack meets Zack? Keyblade Knight meets Pokémon Trainer? Find out… whenever I feel like writing the chapter. See you all then! ~Nano.)
