Disclaimer: I do not own Ash Ketchum from Pokemon nor do I own characters from Square Enix, Disney, Biohazard, or any other company.
Fandom: Pokemon/Kingdom Hearts
Title: Where They Wait For Him! The New Journey Begins: Radiant Garden!
Character (s): Ash (18), Snow (21), Hope (14), Merlin (Unknown), Cid (44), Leon (27), Aerith (22-24), Yuffie (18), Tifa (22-24), Cloud (24), Maleficent (Unknown), Pete (Unknown), Jafar (Unknown), Oogie Boogie (Unknown), S (Somewhere in the 20's), Hades (Unknown), Dr. Drakken (Unknown), Shego (Ranges within the 20's), and Albert Wesker (Currently unknown)
Genre (s): Adventure/Friendship/Slight Drama/Slight Romance/Slight Humor
Rated: T
Word Count: 4,451
Pairing (s): Ash/Aqua, Ash/Cynthia, One-sided Ash/Harem, and One-sided Other Pairings
Summary: Ash's world has fallen to the darkness due to the Heartless and now fate has taken him onto an adventure where he must save many worlds from the forces of evil. But at some point, fate will lead Ash to the one he first loved, Aqua. He will encounter new friends, new foes, and new worlds! Can Ash handle it? We will have to wait and see if he is capable of doing so!
Where They Wait For Him! The New Journey Begins: Radiant Garden!
新しい旅の始まり:輝ける庭を!
Radiant Garden
1st Visit (Part II-II)
"Now, lads, the reason why Ash was brought back here in the first place was because…" No sooner, Merlin took a dramatic pause, causing most of the members to lean forward. Well? Is he going to tell them or what? What is up with the whole dramatic pausing all of the sudden?
"Uh…aren't you going to tell us, Merlin?" Snow asked while being a little annoyed with the old wizard.
"Yeah. What's the big idea stopping in the middle of the sentence, Merlin?" Yuffie too, looked a little a bit annoyed with Merlin.
"Oh, yes, yes, yes, lads. I was about to. My apologies. I just wanted to add a little suspense into this when I stopped. Did it work?" In a response to his question, the old wizard would receive a round of groans from the group. This was not the time to play games.
"Come on, Merlin. Stop stalling already. Just tell us already about Ash. We don't have all day." Yuffie said rudely to the old man.
"Why, I never!" Merlin looks offended by the ninja princess's impoliteness towards him.
"Just ignore her, Merlin." Leon interrupted with a sigh. "It works for me, every time Yuffie gets on my nerves." Yuffie puffed her cheeks.
"Well, excuse me, Squall!" The ninja sounded pissed. Leon could not help, but rolled his eyes at her child-like behavior. He did not have the time or energy to waste his breath arguing with the annoying ninja.
Completely ignoring the steamed girl for just a brief second, the Gunblade wielder returned his attention right back onto the old wizard. "However, Yuffie is right about one thing. Just tell us already."
"Very well, Leon." After a brief second of silence, Merlin quickly turned his attention to the young key bearer who was staring at him anxiously. Merlin took a deep breath. It was now or never. "Ash, the reason you were sent back here again is because fate has brought you here for a reason."
"Fate?" Ash sounded pretty confused when he heard this. However, he was not alone on this. Some of his friends were just confused as he was while others, like Leon and Cloud might have a clue on what Merlin is talking about. "What do you mean by that, Merlin?"
"I believe you know what I mean, my dear lad." Merlin said to the confused teen. Ash felt so lost now.
"I-I…do?" The old wizard nodded.
"Indeed, you do, but you just don't know it yet." Okay, now Merlin was not making any sense at all.
"Eh….okay…? I really don't understand all of this at all." Snow interrupted as he scratched the back of his head.
Merlin completely ignored Snow and the others as he continued to stare at the former prince of Radiant Garden. "I know all of this sounds very confusing, Ash, but I know you can figure it out."
"I hope so…." Merlin chuckled.
"You need to think positive, lad. I have total confidence in you. After all, you might be the "winning key" to all of this." The old wizard explained.
"The winning key?" Ash said confusedly, titling his head to the side.
"But of course. After all, fate did choose you." There is that word again. "Fate", what does that even mean? How can fate choose someone, especially like him, of all people? Or, was it the fact that fate was already with him to begin with? Either way, all of this sounded just a bit too farfetched to believe.
"I still don't understand, Merlin."
"You're not the only one, Ash." Merlin spoke with a chuckle. "None of us here really understand it at all, but don't worry, lad. Everything will come clear to you and all of us in due time. Just give it a little more time and I'm sure you will figure it out soon."
"Okay. I will keep that in mind." Ash said with a small smile. "Thanks, Merlin." The old wizard could not help, but smiled at the young teen.
"No problem, my dear-…"
"Sorry to interrupt this…" All eyes suddenly fell on Cloud when he suddenly spoke up. "…But this still doesn't tell us why the kid is here, Merlin."
"Oh, there is where you are wrong, lad." Everyone suddenly blinked in confusion at the old wizard. What did he mean by that?
"What do you mean, Merlin?" Aerith questioned, still looking a little confused.
"You see, my dear. Ash is very important." Merlin started before he was interrupted yet again by someone.
"Uh…I think we can see that, Mr. Merlin." Hope said, eying at his new friend.
"Of course you do, my boy." Merlin said with a smile. "But…not even close…" The silver-haired boy didn't quite understand what he just said to him.
"Excuse me?"
Merlin decided to take this opportunity to tell everyone a little bit more about Ash's background. The old wizard started off by telling everyone that Ash is the rightful son to the previous ruler of the world. To everyone's eyes, they already know that. And clearly, Merlin can tell by the looks on their faces. But soon their expression changed when they heard something shocking from Merlin. The old wizard went deeper into Ash's history. Merlin did not leave any detail out. Merlin went down the line from Ash being the last descendant of the Aura Masters to where he was force to be abandoned because of his father believed that he would bring a terrible tragedy and corruption to the universe. At this point, Ash did not want anyone to give him any sympathy. He did not want that. Ash knows his life was pretty mess up, but this was not the time to worry about the past. No matter how much it hurts, there was no way to change the past, so they should let it be.
Once everyone respected Ash's wishes, Merlin decided to finish things up. However, before he could, the old wizard quickly turned his attention right back onto the young key bearer. Ash took notice of the elderly man's stare. Was there something on Merlin's mind? "Ash, if you don't mind, please show us your Keyblade."
At this moment, all eyes were all on Ash who also looks surprised. How in the world did Merlin figured out he could use the Keyblade? "H-How did you-…"
Merlin chuckled at the teen's expression. "I might be a wise old man, but that doesn't stop me from sensing the presence of the Keyblade within its wielder's soul. And plus, my dear old friend, Yen Sid told me about it. He told me that a new key bearer was born and sensed that it was you who was the one." Merlin explained.
'Yen Sid?' For some strange reason, Ash heard that name before. It sounded so familiar to him. Why? Did he meet Yen Sid before? It looks like it, but he did not have time to think about that right now. "Uh…sure…"
Without wasting another second, Ash quickly placed his right hand and before long, his Two Become One appeared within his grasp. Everyone was pretty amazed with Ash. No one was more amazed than Hope and Snow. This was their very first time having a close encounter with the legendary weapon.
"Wow, nice blade, man. It looks awesome." Snow complimented with a grin.
"Thanks, Snow." Ash said with a happy grin on his face.
"You're so lucky, Ash." Everyone can tell Hope was pretty jealous of Ash, but not in a bad way.
"Well, this is a first. I would have never imagined that an Aura Master like Ash would be capable of wielding the Keyblade like Sora and King Mickey." Leon stated in a calm tone.
"The kid is something all right." Cloud commented, not budging a muscle from his composure. But somewhat, the blond swordsman did sounded pretty impressed. It is not everyday you see an Aura Master as a Keyblade Master.
"What do YOU expect? Ash is far more special than Sora. Isn't that right, Ash?" Yuffie beamed with a happy-going grin on her cute face. Ash sweat dropped.
"Uh…"
"Either way, this is great. Now we have another Keyblade wielder on our side." Aerith gleamed with happiness. Tifa nodded in agreement.
"With Ash on our side, it will make our job a lot easier now when we are dealing with the Heartless." The martial artist said to her group.
"Even so, we can't always rely on Ash, like we did with Sora when it comes to the Heartless, guys." Leon interrupted.
"Way a go on ruining the mood, SQUALL!"
"How many times do I have to tell you, Yuffie? My name is not Squall, it's Leon." The Gunblade wielder corrected with an icy-cold glare.
"Whatever you said, SQUALL!" Leon was on the edge of losing his patient with Yuffie.
"But Leon is right though…" All eyes fell on Cloud who interrupted the little quarrel between Leon and Yuffie. Thank god he did. Leon was about to use his Gunblade to kill Yuffie. "We can't always rely on the kid and his Keyblade most of the time. Sometimes we need to handle things on our own, or else we won't learn anything if we continued to relay on a kid and his magical sword."
"CLOUD!"
Surely enough, Cloud would completely ignore both of his longtime fan girls for speaking out his mind. "Don't "Cloud" me, you two. Out of everyone, you two should know that I'm right." Cloud said in a sternly voice, not looking at them.
"Yeah, but you didn't have to say it in a rude manner, Cloud." Tifa scolded at her longtime friend and crush. Cloud rolled his eyes before turning his attention to Merlin, completely ignoring the two women.
"Merlin, don't you think you should tell Ash about his objective." Cloud said to the old wizard, in an effort to remind Merlin about something.
"Oh, yes, you're right, Cloud. Thank you for reminding me." The blond swordsman gave the wizard a slow nod before returning to his composure once again.
"My objective?" Ash looked a bit curious about this. What was it? Quickly, Merlin turned his attention to the young teen.
Quickly, Merlin took a brief moment explaining the every detail about not one, not two but three of his main objectives. Clearly, the objectives were plain and simple. Well, maybe to Merlin, but not to Ash. You see, Ash's first objective is mainly simple. It was basically taking Sora's job of protecting the other worlds from the Heartless. The second objective was for him to learn and master not only his aura power and abilities, but also fulfilled his role as the Keyblade's Chosen One. Sounds simply, right? Not really. But moving on, Ash's third and final objective was probably his most important one, out of all of them.
Apparently, his final objective was related to him and him alone, which was… No matter how bad things may look, he must not use the Dark Aura, or better yet, fall into darkness at all cost. If any of these events come in realty, then the terrible tragedy that his father foreseen since the day of his birth will come true. They cannot let that happen, no matter what.
Right away, the young key bearer promised to all of his friends that he will never let that happen. Once he promised that, everyone, including Cloud, smiled warmly at the young teen's response.
With Ash's objectives out of the way, Merlin decided to give Ash a little extra information about the other worlds he might encounter and also his role as a key bearer. Once everything was narrow down to a simple matter, Merlin decided to bring up another topic before he forgets.
"Oh, there is one thing I need to tell before you set off to your journey, my boy." Merlin started, causing Ash to stare at him once again.
"Oh? What is it, Merlin?" Before the old wizard could tell him, he first needed to summon out something for the young teen to look at.
*POOF*
Suddenly, a small capsule with light blue pills inside appeared within Merlin's right palm. Immediately, Ash quickly recognizes what Merlin was holding. "Are those my aura pills?" By asking that, every single person quickly turned his or her attention to Merlin. They were pretty curious on what were these aura pills?"
"Aura pills? What are they? Some new type of medicine or something?" Yuffie asked.
"Are you sick, Ash?" The flower woman asked with great concern on her face. By then, everyone except for Merlin, Cloud, and Toad Cid, was glancing at Ash's direction with concern looks.
Before Ash could tell his friends that it was not a serious case, Merlin cut him off. "There's nothing to worry, lads. Ash is not in any serious condition and all. He just needs to pills to help him rejuvenate his aura."
"Why?" Hope asked for everyone.
In a quick explanation, the old wizard told the group that Ash is unlike normal people since Aura Masters like him are born that way. Merlin moves into detail that Aura Masters need methods, in order for them to rejuvenate their aura properly. You see, being born as an Aura Master or descendant does have its difficulties, which sometimes can lead to serious problems. Quickly, Merlin went down a list of ways that can or in terms, maybe can help Ash. The first two methods were pretty simple: rest normally or take special pills known as Aura pills. Unfortunately, those two methods were the slowest procedures.
However, there was a fast method, but it was somewhat embarrassing to mention it. But even so, he had to mention it. Once he did, a burning shade of redness appeared on everyone's faces. Even Cloud and Leon were blushing, but not much as Ash who was blushing, like a steaming hot tomato when Yuffie, Tifa, and Aerith were staring at his direction. Why can't Merlin just leave that one out?
Once the awkward moment was gone, Merlin refocused his attention right back onto Ash who was avoiding any eye contact from the three ladies. "Okay…Ash, here you go. These pills are likely to help you much better than the ones you had. After all, I made these for you."
"Really?" Merlin nodded.
"Why, of course, my boy." He started with a chuckle. "During my time, I did do some research about Aura Masters. Therefore, I was able to come up with a new type of pills for you, but be careful not to take them often. They are still testing process."
"Uh…okay…" Ash said uncertainly. Now that Merlin mentioned that. Ash felt a little bit worried about taking them now. But what choice does he have? "I'll make sure I don't." The young teen accepts the small capsule from the old man before giving him a smile. "Thanks, Merlin."
"Anytime, my boy." The old wizard returned the smile with his own smile. "But I advise you to head off to your journey as soon as possible. The other worlds are calling for you."
"Sure…um…when?" Ash asked.
"Let's worry about that once you have some rest, Ash." Leon butted in, causing the young key bearer to stare at him. "If what Merlin just told us about Aura Masters, then we can't let leave until your aura is fully restore. So just rest up until then."
Ash thought for a minute. Maybe he should rest up for a bit. After all, his body is still weak along with his aura. He needed time to recover, but at the same time, he was getting restless. He wanted to start his journey as soon as possible. After all, he did have a promise to keep. But after some reconsideration from his friends, Ash decided to stay for a while. "Okay….I'll stay for a bit." His decision made most of his friends happy to hear that.
"Wise choice, my-…"
*SPLAT*
Before Merlin could say another word, Toad Cid suddenly launched himself at the old wizard's face. "Oh, dear. Get him off ME!" The old wizard cried before running around back and forth, trying to get the angry toad off his face. Everyone sweat dropped.
Well, this was going to be awkward stay for Ash. Let's hope nothing like that happens to him.
(~ The World That Never Was ~)
The World That Never Was is, or used to be the home world of Organization XIII and the home for millions of Heartless and Nobodies, but now it was Maleficent's world. After the defeat of Organization XIII, the evil witch simply took over the empty world and placed it under her new management. It has become her world of darkness with the Heartless in her control. No one can stop her now.
And speaking of which, when Maleficent took over The World That Never Was, she also took over Organization XIII's former fortress, Castle That Never Was. Now it is her personal domain for her and for her evil alliance, The Council of Evil.
Waiting patiently inside the castle's meeting room was Maleficent who was staring out through a window, eying below her city of Heartless.
Apparently, Maleficent was keeping herself entertain while she waits for her buffoon of a right-hand man to show up with her special guests. It appears that she wants to have a special board meeting her alliance about something important, which involves with a certain Keyblade bearer. No time sooner, Maleficent would hear loud knocking.
*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*
"You may enter." Maleficent said in her everyday cold tone, with her back still turned against the doors.
*BAM*
Suddenly, the doors bust wide open and in a second, a familiar black, chubby cat by the name of Pete, walked inside with a big grin of his face. "Ooooooh, Maleficent! I'm back and brought our guests with me!" He claimed.
Slowly, the evil witch turned around when she heard more footsteps entering the room. Immediately, Maleficent recognize some of her council members.
The one with a grey burlap sack for a body was Oogie Boogie from Halloween Town.
The one who looks like a tall, bony man dressed in extravagant clothing with cobra scepter was Jafar from Agrabah.
The one with blue skin and blue flaming "hair" in a black Roman toga was the Lord of the Dead himself, Hades.
The one who looks by far the most intimidating, one-winged man with long, silver hair with long bangs that frame his face in a black leather coat and carries a long katana is very known by his peers as Sephiroth. To Maleficent's eyes, Sephiroth is one of her best and strongest assets. Even she is intimidated by the heartless man's presence.
With the familiar faces counted for, the evil witch focused her attention to those who are quite new to her.
The first one appears to be another blue-skinned man in a blue double-breasted coat with a small scar across his face. His name is Dr. Drakken. Accompanying him was his right-hand man who appears to be a young woman with long, black hair in a green and black jumpsuit. Her name is Shego. They are from Middleton.
Last and not least, the third one appears to be a man with short, faded blond hair with a pair of sunglasses in a black leather trench coat. His name is Albert Wesker. His home world is currently unknown.
A small smirk appeared on the evil witch's face. She was slightly happy that most of her council members actually shown up to the group's meeting, but at the same time, she was slightly angry that some of the members did not attended. She will deal with them later. For now, it was time to start their meeting.
(~ Radiant Garden ~)
"Are you sure you want to leave now, kid?" Cid who is now back to his normal self, asked Ash who was standing right in front of him and his friends, outside of Merlin's place. Ash nodded.
"Are you sure it's not too soon for you to be leaving, Ash?" Aerith asked, looking very concerned for the young teen's well-being. Ash nodded.
"I'm positive, Aerith." The young woman did not look too convinced. "And no worries, I'm fine." The young key bearer reassured her with a warm smile.
"Okay, but be careful, all right?"
"I will."
Soon Leon step forward with something in his hand as he slowly approaches Ash. "Well, Ash, good luck on your journey."
"Thanks, Leon." Ash grinned. Leon could not help, but chuckled. Ash reminds him a little bit of Sora.
"No problem, Ash. But anyway…here…." The Gunblade wielder shows Ash a device that looks like some kind of a communicator. "…Take this."
"What is it?" Ash asked as he takes the communicator away from Leon.
"It's a communicator, kid." Cid explained, gnawing his toothpick. "It will help us keep in touch. AND YOU BETTER NOT BREAK IT!" Ash sweat dropped.
"Uh…I promise I won't." Ash said awkwardly, pleasing Cid.
"Good." Everyone rolled his or her eyes at him.
"Anyway, we will contact you immediately when Sora and his friends arrive at Radiant Garden, all right?" Ash nodded. "From what I heard, Sora and his friends won't be arriving until one week." Leon informed.
"So don't be a stranger now. Come back anytime when you get tired, all right?"
"I'll keep that in mind, Yuffie." Ash assured the hyperactive ninja with his trademark, causing her to blush slightly.
"I'll keep your word on that." She said shyly, which made Ash nodded.
Soon Ash would receive goodbye hugs from the girls while receiving handshakes and pats on the back from the guys. Once the goodbyes were out of the way, it was time for Ash to depart. However, before he could, something unexpected happens.
*GROWLS*
Suddenly, all eyes fell on Ash who was blushing madly from the embarrassment. It seems like he was hungry. "Um…I guess I'm little bit hungry, guys." He chuckled sheepishly.
Same old Ash. When will he learn? Probably never, I guess.
A/N: Finally, the chapter is done. I hope this chapter explains a little bit about Ash. If you were wondering about the third method, it has something to do with women and their um….you know. I got that idea from my one of my stories. I hope it does not bother you. Apart from that, sorry if there was not much moments between Ash and the three Final Fantasy girls. But do not worry, there will be later on. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! Please R & R! Thank you! Until next time! Peace out! ^_^
P.S. - I need your guys' help. I need FIVE more villains to be "missing" members of Maleficent's Council of Evil that I did not mention yet. If you guys have any suggestion, do not hesitate. ANY villain came be from another Final Fantasy game, another game, an anime, a Disney cartoon show, or a Cartoon Network cartoon. Hope you guys can help! Thank you! ^_^
Johan07!
