Hi, everybody! If you're reading this, it's likely because you've read my other Golden Sun fic What is Happiness? Maybe some of you happen to be newcomers to my work, but regardless I say welcome and thank you for taking the time to check out this crossover!
This series is basically something my brain concocted because I have too much gaming knowledge in my head. I'm not trying to sound like I'm a know-it-all or something, but I wanted to mix ideas from four different games into a series of crossover stories, so this is the offspring of that brainstorm! I'm not expecting this to take off anywhere crazy – due to the randomness of games chosen, and the fact that most people may be stumped by at least one of them if – so if you find yourself getting confused, perhaps check out one of my other stories that isn't a crossover (self-advertisement win :P). That's pretty much all I have to say about that, so I guess I'll begin!
Disclaimer: I do not own any games, characters, or related terms mentioned in this story. All rights go to their respective owners.
Book One
Connection: Sol and Monado
Falling
The ocean waters lapped against the sides of the great ship. The tranquility of the world was a peaceful substitute for the hectic scramble it had been before. A soft breeze blew by as the sun warmed the boat's crew. It felt like a long time had gone by since the crewmates had felt the world in such a calming state. After such a long and arduous journey, each person was content to laze about as they sailed south towards Angara.
Leaning against a rail on the portside of the ship, Isaac gazed out towards the landmasses in the distance. A relaxed smile was on his face as he mentally thought of being back home in Vale. He hadn't been home in so long, and it felt odd to be ending his journey; however, he was glad to say that it was finally over and that they had rescued his father and Jenna's parents in the process. He'd even managed to meet a special someone, something he had definitely not expected to do on such an important adventure. A pair of arms delicately circled around his right arm, and he felt something rest upon his shoulder. Heh, perfect timing.
"Hey, Mia," he said casually, keeping his gaze out towards the ocean.
"Hello, Isaac," she responded, breathing out deeply as in a sigh of relief.
A silence grew between them, though not one of awkwardness. Words weren't necessary while they peacefully stared out to sea, heads leaning against one another. The sound of waves and light rocking of the ship was something that soothed and comforted both adepts in a way that some of the others were less fond of; namely the Mars adepts, Garet and Jenna. Isaac scrunched his face in thought. Perhaps it was just because they were Mars adepts, but seasickness shouldn't have anything to do with that. He spent his first time on a boat at the same time as Garet, but the Venus adept found no problems keeping his lunch. Whatever the reason, he was simply grateful that he wasn't prone to throwing up on a boat.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Mia, breaking his thought bubble.
"Oh, uh, nothing important," he said, not really wanting to share his thoughts on seasickness. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you always make a funny face when you're thinking," she giggled. "Your nose gets all scrunched up and then you kind of… I dunno, purse… no maybe it's a twist, but either way you make your lips do this weird thing."
"Oh, does it look anything like this?" he asked before giving her a kiss.
"Smooth," she said sarcastically, chuckling at his lame excuse for a kiss, though she'd still returned the gesture he noted.
As the day wore on, all of the members of the crew had gotten a chance to walk about the deck and converse with each other at some point. Piers and Felix were in charge of steering the ship, but it seemed as though they were content with the slightly lessened amount of social interaction they received from the others. Around lunchtime, Piers came down to the kitchen with an announcement.
"Hello, everyone. We're going to have to make a slight detour. Seems some rocks have inconspicuously shown up on our path towards Vale, and Felix isn't able to grind these ones down. It will take no more than a few extra days to reach home, but we will have to sail closer to Gaia Falls, so please be mindful of your steps. The waters are rough and it could be fatal if someone fell overboard."
They all murmured amongst themselves, but otherwise were unaffected by the news. Once he'd assured himself that they were prepared, Piers nodded and headed back up towards the control room. As if in response to his warning, all of the people in the room suddenly felt the boat lurch to the side, causing a few to stumble in their seats, and those standing to fall over.
"Egad!" shouted Kraden, "How close to those rocks were we?"
"Sorry!" they heard Felix shout from somewhere far above.
"Everyone alright?" asked Kyle, checking to make sure that Jenna's parents and Kraden were okay.
"Yeah, I'm good," said most of them.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Garet said groggily before darting out of the room. Jenna followed suit not long after, causing the others to chuckle at their unsettled stomachs.
Their travelling path now en route, the adepts continued going about doing whatever they felt like, mostly attempting to keep themselves occupied. There really wasn't much to do on a ship, and it had only taken them the first week of being out at sea to explain their adventure to the adults. Though it was peaceful, most of them agreed that it was rather boring on the ship.
"At least we aren't getting attacked as often," said Sheba as she and Isaac walked aimlessly on deck.
"I suppose… Call me a lunatic, but I kinda enjoy those moments when they come up on deck. It's like an adrenaline rush when I can slash through a turtle dragon's neck, y'know?"
Sheba shivered at the thought. She really wasn't one for causing a big bloody mess when it came to fighting monsters. Her choice of weapons was usually made for using psynergy or bashing them on the head. The goriest weapon she probably used was a spiked mace, but even then it didn't rip open a monster the way a sword or axe could. In her mind, she was being humane, even if they were bloodthirsty creatures with no remorse. No blood, no guts, no problem.
"I… I think I'm gonna go see what Ivan's up to," she said, dropping the subject of killing monsters.
"Alright, I guess I'll go… find something to do… if that's even possible," grumbled Isaac.
"Oh hush up, Isaac, I'm sure you'll find something to do," she said optimistically. Even if that something is Mia. She snickered at the thought and headed off for the crow's nest.
Climbing the ladder that led to the crow's nest was no issue for Sheba. Mia had told everyone that she was too afraid of the height, so they never put the Mercury adept on watch duty. Not that they really had to assign anyone, since Ivan spent most of his time up in the little tower. No, heights were not really something that made the young Jupiter adept quake and quiver in fear; after all, she'd had enough falling experiences that would make this look like tripping over a step. Okay, so maybe she had been too young to remember falling out of the sky as a baby, but she damn sure remembered falling from Venus lighthouse. Now that was a fall.
Pulling herself up to the platform, she was instantly met with two pairs of purple eyes. Smiling back at her was Ivan, holding his hand out to help her up. They'd done this many times before, but the touch of his outstretched hand always sent shivers down her spine. She had to be careful not to think about things like that when she was around him however. It was quite likely that dwelling on the subject would make it easy for Ivan to accidentally pick up on her thoughts. Thoughts of him. That would be pretty embarrassing.
Unbeknownst to her, Ivan was thinking about the exact same thing. In fact, they seemed to do it every time they came to visit each other up in the crow's nest, but given that they were too preoccupied trying not to think about one another, they wouldn't have had the chance to realize that the other person was thinking about them. Talk about complex.
"What brings you up here on this fine afternoon, Sheba?" Ivan said melodiously.
She giggled at his tone. Score one for Ivan! Oh crap, I hope she didn't hear that… In any case, it appeared she didn't, as she answered his question nonchalantly, "Nothing in particular, just thought I'd come look around with you. Everyone's getting kinda bored down there, especially Isaac. And to think he looked so content to stare out at the water earlier. Talk about a quick change of heart, huh."
Ivan chuckled at the thought. Isaac didn't like to think so, but he was more like Garet than the two of them cared to admit. Most people didn't notice, but it was times like these when Garet was… well, not around to make Isaac seem mature, that Ivan could see the similarities in their personalities. He wasn't expecting them to hang around each other when Garet was puking, so it only made sense that the Venus adept had so quickly run out of things to do.
"Heh, yeah, Isaac wouldn't be so bored if Garet wasn't puking his guts out. I don't know if I should say lucky for Garet that Jenna's there too, so I guess I can say at least Garet's spending time with Jenna, even if they can't exactly talk."
Sheba laughed and smacked Ivan's arm, "Ew, you're disgusting! I don't wanna hear about how much time they spend hunched over the toilet!"
That was pretty much how their conversations always carried out: Ivan joking about some harmless remark, Sheba hitting him, both laughing about nothing in particular. Meanwhile, downstairs, Mia smiled to herself as she heard the laughter from the two young Jupiter adepts. They needed to get together soon. They were the only ones not paired up, though she couldn't really say that Felix and Piers were paired up, just that they were completely straight, non-gay sailing buddies. She shook her head to wipe the bizarre thoughts from her mind.
"Mia, I'm boooored!" Isaac moaned from somewhere behind her.
For the past while she'd just been playing with a couple blobs of water that she'd taken from the ocean. It wasn't particularly fun to watch or anything, but it kept her occupied when the sights and sounds got repetitive. This was one of the rare times that Isaac acted immature, because it seemed like boredom was his worst rival. She curled her lips in, trying to stifle the laughter from her boyfriend's uncharacteristic, whiny tone.
"Why don't you go see what Kraden or your father are up to? I'm sure they'd be more entertaining than me right now."
"Ugh, did you actually just say that Kraden would be more entertaining than you? I think I'd rather eat a troll's loincloth before I listen to a lecture from Kraden right now. I'm trying to get rid of my boredom, not make it worse."
Trying to hold back her laughter was getting harder and harder. Isaac would probably be annoying if he wasn't so darn cute! "Well, what about your father?"
"He went to sleep. He and Jenna's parents are still exhausted from everything. Apparently turning into a giant three-headed dragon that's hell-bent on destroying everything really takes its toll on you… enough to make you sleep more than usual for the next… how long's it been? Four months?"
At that point Mia couldn't help but let her laughter burst forth. The small water blobs quivered in front of her, but they never fell to the ground. "I-Isaac, we've only been at sea for two weeks!"
"No way, it's definitely been four months! Three at least!"
She continued laughing, unable to get an entire sentence out without being interrupted by giggles. Isaac took that sign as his cue to leave. He loved her and all, but he didn't want her to have fun at his expense. Rather than sticking around to make more of a fool of himself, Isaac headed towards the control room, hoping to find something to do with Piers and Felix.
"Two weeks my ass," he grumbled as he opened the door. He scanned the room to see Felix with his hand over the Black Orb and Piers in the corner of the room reading a book. "Hey, guys."
"Isaac," Felix greeted flatly, not looking away from the ocean in front of him.
"Hello, Isaac," Piers said more enthusiastically than his Venus companion, "what brings you here?"
Isaac shrugged, "Nothing in particular, just kinda bored. I'm pretty sure I've read every book in your library and everyone's off doing their own thing."
"Ah, the ever constant problem with new sailors. If it isn't seasickness, it's boredom. When you become as travelled as I, you sort of outgrow these things." Gee, thanks, Piers. Now will you actually give me some useful advice?
"A-anyway, I came in here 'cause I thought there might be something to do. You don't look too busy, Piers."
"That I am not. I suppose you wish to partake in some sort of activity with me? A game or conversation of sorts?"
"If you don't mind…"
"Not at all, Isaac. I should have some cards or a chessboard around here somewhere. Just give me a moment to-"
Piers' sentence was suddenly cut off when an unexpected lurch shook the ship. This one was noticeably larger than the one earlier, causing Isaac to fall on the ground. He looked up to see what in Sol's name Felix was doing, only to see that Felix, too, had fallen to the ground. That was certainly not what he was expecting to see.
"Felix! Are you alright? What happened?!" Piers shouted as he quickly picked himself up off the ground.
"I dunno. Everything was going fine, and then I suddenly lost control."
Isaac quickly went to see if everyone else was alright, leaving the two captains alone. He looked up to the crow's nest to see Ivan and Sheba. Their eyes were wide, and they appeared to be breathing heavily, but other than being a bit shaken they seemed fine.
"You guys okay?" he shouted as he walked by the tower.
"We're fine!" Ivan shouted back from above. "What happened?"
"I dunno! Felix said he lost control for a second!"
Saying nothing else, Isaac ran towards the place where Mia had been. However, within a few steps from the crow's nest, a searing pain pierced his mind like a severe migraine. Isaac's hands shot up to the sides of his head, and he couldn't help his cries of pain as he collapsed to the ground. Something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what. All he could notice about that moment was the excruciating pain in his mind. The pain was unbearable, but without all the pain, it would have seemed like someone were reading his mind, albeit rather aggressively.
"Isaac!" shouted Sheba and Ivan, who were now descending the ladder as quickly as they could. The first person to come into his view, however, was Mia. She knelt down beside him, a look of fear in her eyes.
"Isaac, what's wrong?!" she cried, fearing to do anything without knowing the problem.
"My… uhnngh… My head… AAAAAAAAH!" he screamed as a raging pain throbbed in his mind.
Mia jumped back with a yelp, not expecting such a cry from the Venus adept. Ivan and Sheba ran up, but kept their distance when they saw him writhing around on the floor, hands gripping the sides of his head.
He could feel the sweat start to form on his head. Then everything around him went dark. He couldn't hear the voices of his companions anymore, but he hadn't been knocked out by whatever caused him to succumb to pain. In fact, he didn't even seem to be on the ship anymore. His pain was gone, but before him was nothing but darkness. He went to call out, but no sound escaped his throat. Touching his neck, he suddenly became aware of a city forming around him.
The city was unlike anything he'd ever seen. Futuristic buildings with glowing lights of some sort surrounded him. Despite the peculiar lights, the buildings were dark and ominous, giving him a feeling of unease. Before him was a very tall tower with many glowing lights. Isaac had never seen anything quite like what he was experiencing now. A big, glowing star lit up the area above the door to the building. The lights actually seemed to form words of a sort. What did they say?
Memory's Skyscraper
The World that Never Was
Uh, okay? The world that never was? Is that where he was... or never was? Was this some sort of crazy, make-believe place in his head? The building before him was called Memory's Skyscraper. Perhaps this is where his memories were stored? Regardless of what this place was, he had certainly never seen it before. Some of these things baffled him, like how a building could produce so much light! There must have been millions of candles hidden behind all of the glowing panels in this place.
Heh, skyscraper. 'Cause it's so tall it scrapes the sky…
…This was no time to be joking. He had to figure out where he was, and how the hell he'd gotten there. More importantly, how would he get back? Isaac checked his surroundings a bit more. It just seemed like there were dark ominous buildings everywhere with more of those glowing lights. He backed up to see if there was anything beyond this 'Memory's Skyscraper'. What he wasn't expecting to see was some sort of floating castle and a giant heart-shaped Luna.
Suddenly everything went dark again until he reappeared in an extremely white room. The brightness of the room was hurting his eyes, and he shielded them for a moment before he could adjust. From what he could now see (which wasn't much since it's kind of hard to see things in an all white room), he was standing on a circular platform of sorts, surrounded by thirteen very tall chairs, though none of them seemed to be the same height. It almost looked like some sort of interrogation room. He was getting a bad feeling about this.
Well in a room like this, he could only hope that things were going to be… wait for it… all white. (Badum tss)
…Again, not the time to be joking around. A whooshing sound and the sudden appearance of… was that black fire?! Seriously, he'd seen white-hot fire and blue fire, but black? Black?! Anyway, a large circular pillar of black fire appeared in front of him, causing him to leap a few feet backwards. Then, from within the black fire, a hooded figure emerged, face covered. The black fire disappeared as the strange figure stepped towards Isaac. The figure stood hunched, its white-gloved hands behind it's back. They both stared at each other for a moment before a menacing voice was spoken.
"Most intriguing. It seems that in my experiments I've connected to the heart of a light."
Light? Isaac was no light source. What was that even supposed to mean? His questions were piling on, but he still found that he could not speak.
The menace chuckled. "It's no use, boy, you cannot speak here." Way to point out the obvious, mister. "I must admit that I am surprised by your appearance. It is clear that you are not one of my vessels, though I seem to have found some in your world."
Vessels? His own world? What was this crazy old coot talking about? Well, he assumed the man was old, judging from the sound of his voice and his hunched position. If only he could speak, but the answers, it seemed, would not be revealed at this time. Isaac glared at the hooded figure, angry that he could not demand an answer.
"Heh, you remind me of someone, boy; a failed creation of my own doing. No matter, I cannot fathom that you shall prove yourself a problem. I have doubts that we shall even meet again. Besides, I couldn't actually kill you at this time, for you are not actually here; only your heart has found its way to my abode. I suppose you are curious as to what is currently taking place. I cannot give you a full answer, but I feel that one as confused and pathetic as yourself deserves somewhat of a response."
The sinister man held up one of his arms towards Isaac, causing said Venus adept to adopt a defensive stance. He wished he had his sword with him, but it seemed as though only the clothes on his back came with him to this strange place. Still, this person, or thing, was threatening him, and he wouldn't go down without a fight. Isaac snarled, his teeth bared in an angry fashion. The figure remained with his arm outstretched, though a sinister laugh escaped him.
"Ho ho, the boy has some fight in him, does he? Unfortunate that we must end our meeting here, I'm afraid, for I would have liked to see what sort of fight you might put up. Alas, such is life, so you shall have your answer, and then you will be on your way. Your world has been connected, bound by the darkness that ties all worlds together. My search for the lights and darknesses has not been in vain it would seem. Your world has offered more than you know, and for that I thank you. Now begone!"
With the shout of his voice, the sinister man pulsed his hand, sending a dark aura flying towards Isaac. He didn't even have a moment to react, as it hit him so quickly. There was no pain, but a force pulled at him like a strong wind. Before he knew it, he was flying through darkness, the sound of wind filling his ears as the white room faded in the distance. After a few moments he thought he could hear something else: a voice.
"…saac… I… …ke up…"
Such a calming voice, it was. Peaceful, familiar, and soothing. He could almost see light. Was his vision returning? It looked quite blurry. Suddenly he could hear more voices, and it was as if his body was being shaken. He forced his eyes open, light flowing in. Hard as he tried, however, he could only open them part way.
"Isaac, wake up! Please wake up, Isaac!"
The voices were clear. He could feel the hard deck beneath him. Why were his hands on his head? Oh, the deathly pain that got him in this mess, right…
"ISAAC WAKE UP! I DIDN'T COME OUT OF THE BATHROOM TO WATCH YOU SLEEP!"
Garet's voice was enough to make him flinch. His eyes shot open, but everything was still a bit blurry. In mere moments, everything cleared, and he could see everyone standing over him, their expressions laced with concern. Though he was confused and a bit dazed, he smiled, causing them to do the same.
"You alright there, Isaac?" asked Ivan.
"Uh, yeah, I think so…" he responded, only half paying attention. "What did he mean 'connected by darkness'?"
"Huh? You dreaming, man?" asked Garet, who seemed to be doing pretty well at not letting his insides out.
"I dunno… it didn't really seem like a dream. It seemed like… something was gonna happen…"
As if on cue, the boat lurched harshly, forcing the adepts to join Isaac on the ground. Felix and Piers were quick to their feet, rushing off to the control room. The rest of them slowly picked themselves up when they realized something horrific; the ship was moving. Not moving in the forward direction, mind you, but sideways, towards the starboard side. Felix came running out of the control room shouting orders at everyone.
"Everyone get to your posts! Isaac, Mia, into the control room now! Ivan, Sheba, see if you can make anything out from the crow's nest! Jenna, Garet, open all the sails and tie down anything loose! Go, NOW!"
No one questioned his orders and soon everyone was running about the ship. Kraden and the other adults rushed up to the control room to see what all the commotion was about. Isaac was just as confused as the others, though he had made it seem like he knew what was going to happen.
"Felix, what's going on?" Mia asked fearfully when they were gathered in the control room.
"I'm not sure why, but some weird current is pulling us towards Gaia Falls! We're trying to get all the sails open so that we can pull away from that direction. Right now, all four of us have to pool our psynergy into steering the boat away!" All four of them nodded to each other and began to pour their psynergy into the Black Orb.
"Couldn't we just fly?" Kraden asked.
"It's no use," answered Piers, "we can't seem to get the boat to lift. Something's wrong here, but we need to do this now if we're going to survive."
Felix looked at Kraden, then his parents and Kyle, and then back to Kraden. "Kraden, take our parents and get into the lifeboat. I won't risk losing you."
"And you'd sacrifice yourself and lose us anyway?! I think not, young man!" shouted his mother.
"There's no time for this, Mom! Kraden, go now! I'm sorry, Mom, Dad, Kyle, but this is the only way we can do this!"
Kraden reluctantly nodded and attempted to hurry them out of the room, but not without a final remark from Kyle, "The lifeboat won't save us! If a ship this large is going down, then we will too!"
Kraden shut the door behind them, leaving the four panicked adepts to pour their psynergy into the orb. They could feel the boat slow it's pull a bit, but the current was still bringing them towards the edge of the falls. Their attempts seemed to be inevitable as the white waters drew ever closer.
"Felix, what are we going to do?" shouted Isaac.
"Damn! I thought we might be able to get away from this." The ship suddenly moved faster as Felix stopped pouring his psynergy into the ship.
"Felix, what do you think you're doing?!" cried Piers. "We have to use all our energy if we're going to get away from this!"
"It's hopeless, Piers! There's something wrong here! The only thing we can do is help Kraden and our parents get away!"
Felix reached his hand over the orb again, but the ship didn't slow. This confused the other adepts, as he was clearly putting a lot of effort into whatever it was he was doing.
"What are you saying, Felix…" Mia asked fearfully.
"There's no use in trying to save ourselves. This boat's too big for us to get out of here. The least we can do is get Kraden and the adults away. We can easily get a small boat like that out of this current, but we will definitely not get away…"
"So… it's everyone's doom, or their survival…" said Isaac, wondering how his mother and father would react to such a rash decision.
"I'm sorry, Isaac. We've no other choice…"
Mia and Piers stumbled as the boat lurched and moved more quickly. They both stared incredulously at Isaac as he transferred his psynergy from the ship to the lifeboat. The Mercury adepts went to protest, but saw the futility with their own eyes. If the four of them couldn't stop a simple current, then there was no way only the two of them could either. Whispering 'forgive me's to Kraden and the others, the ship lurched again, heading full speed towards the edge of the falls. From outside, the small lifeboat dropped into the water and sped away from the edge with surprising velocity.
"I wish it didn't have to end this way," muttered Felix. "Forgive me, everyone."
Isaac held Mia close as the ship came dangerously close to the edge. Garet, Jenna, Ivan, and Sheba burst into the control room, fearful of being outside to face their inevitable dooms. Felix and Piers stood strong, waiting for the doom they were faced with. All the others held onto their respective partners, saying their goodbyes and sharing in their final moments.
And just like that, the ship reached the edge and toppled over, the screams of all adepts accompanying it as it plunged into the vast unknown…
(-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-|-/-|-\-)
Fallen Arm was the perfect place for a morning workout. What better way to go for a run away from old square-tache than on a sunny beach far away from Colony 9? He, Reyn, would have to thank Miqol for so generously flying him out of there on Junks. He did, however, feel bad that he hadn't told Sharla he was going to be gone for the morning. He should've at least left a note. Ah well, it wasn't like she'd do anything too painful.
Slowing down to a brisk walk, the redheaded lancer took a moment to look at his surroundings. Scraps of mechon bits were still laid around everywhere, and a few mechon were still walking around, too. Luckily, they seemed to avoid things that were stronger than them, something he was proud to say he was. Still, it didn't hurt to keep his trusty lance by his side, even if it did weigh a ton; it made for a better workout.
"Oi, izzat what I think it is?" Reyn said aloud as he took notice of something in the distance.
From where he was standing he couldn't be sure, but it looked as though there was someone lying in the sand on the other side of the beach. Of course, there was quite a bit of rubbish scattered about, so for all he knew it could be a piece of scrap metal or some kind of mechon debris. Meh, he shrugged; it couldn't hurt to check. He was stronger than anything out here (not to boast; just a reminder), so he had no fear of being attacked.
As the Colony 9 soldier got closer, however, his brisk walk broke into a run when he realized that it was, in fact, a person lying in the sand. As if the sight of an unconscious stranger lying in the sand wasn't odd enough, the kid (though he definitely looked around the same age as himself) was completely alone with no traces of injury or indication of how he'd wound up there. No footprints in the sand showed that he had walked, or if a monster or mechon had left him there. He couldn't have swum from somewhere because the Mechonis' poisonous fluids would have killed him before he reached the shore. And ever since the world had been restored to it's original form, there no longer was a Bionis or Mechonis that this guy could have fallen from. Sure there were still landmasses from where the titans had been, but the actual titans themselves were gone, leaving all the landmarks and cities laid out across a vast, relatively flat land.
Not quite sure what to do, Reyn flipped the boy over onto his back. No use leaving him to breathe in all that sand, eh? To be honest, the guy's clothes looked… primitive, and his weapon looked ancient. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen. The actual guy, on the other hand, was nothing special. He looked about seventeen or eighteen with soft facial features and spiky hair. Other than the hair and… knight clothing (since Reyn had no better word for it), the guy kind of resembled Shulk, if only slightly. After examining him for a moment or two, the stranger began to stir, groaning a bit like someone who didn't want to be waked.
"Uh…" Reyn said dumbly. What were you supposed to say to a random guy you found on the beach in the middle of nowhere? "You, uh… you alright?"
The stranger rubbed at his eyes and squinted upwards, clearly confused by where he was. Hell, he'd be damned if this guy knew where he was. Who the hell falls asleep face down in the sand on a giant, mechon-infested, severed arm? Sitting up, the stranger squinted his eyes at Reyn, apparently still adjusting to the brightness.
"G-Garet? Where are we?" the boy spoke shakily.
Huh? He must've been mistaking him for someone he knew. Guy had better be handsome to look like this stud. "Garet? I ain't no Garet, stranger. The name's Reyn."
The stranger rubbed his eyes again and took another moment to look him over. Oh yeah, Reyn was hot enough that even guys would check him out. Not that he wanted them to or anything…
"Oh, uh, sorry. You look a lot like my friend…" I'd like to meet this friend. He probably can't compete with this, but we'll see. "I'm Isaac."
"Isaac, huh? Alright, Isaac, I don't suppose you know how you got here, do ya?" he asked, rolling his right shoulder. Why was it always so tense?
"Um… kind of? Where exactly is… here?" he asked, looking around at the apparently unfamiliar surroundings.
"You're all the way out on Fallen Arm. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere. I can take you back to town if you want. It's not too far from here."
Isaac looked baffled. Reyn couldn't say he was surprised to see such an expression on the stranger's face. After all, this guy looked more lost than a bunniv on Valak Mountain.
"Fallen… Arm? That's… that's kind of a weird name… Am I still in Weyard?"
Now it was Reyn's turn to be confused. Weyard? What the hell was that, some kind of messed up way to say weird? Well, judging from the confusion of this guy, it didn't seem too farfetched for a guy like this to come for a place that sounded so… Weyard (Badum tss).
"Uh, I dunno of any place called Weyard… You're at the battle site of where the titans, Mechonis and Bionis fought; well, that is when they still existed. This is the Mechonis' arm, hence the name Fallen Arm. And this doesn't look like it's making any sense to you, so why don't I just take you back to the town. I'll have Linada take a look at you, and we'll fly back to Colony 9. Sound good to you?"
"I… I guess," the stranger muttered. Reyn couldn't blame the guy for sounding so unsure. Obviously he wasn't from around here, so it only made sense that he'd be overwhelmed by his surroundings.
Helping the guy to his feet, he noticed Isaac's eyes go wide at the sight of a small mechon flying by. Reyn had to stop himself from laughing at the stranger's odd behaviour. If he thought that thing was crazy, just wait until he saw the big guys.
"What was that?!"
"That," he said, pointing at the fleeing machine, "was a Mechon M37 Worker Bee Unit. They're pretty weak and don't really like to fight. Never seen a mechon before?"
"M-mechon? But it was just a metal… thing! How did it move like it was alive?"
Now Reyn was stumped. He was no engineer, so he had no idea how all these mechanical doodads and whatnot worked. To him, they worked, they did their job, and they moved on, same as any machine these days. Where was Shulk when you needed him? Why was this guy curious about that, anyway? Little mechon like that were probably some of the simpler things around, especially in a place like Fallen Arm where there were Machina living just over in the hidden village. Then again, this guy probably didn't know what a machine person was. Judging from his reaction to the little mechon, he didn't even know what a machine was.
"Look, let's just get you to the village. I don't know where you came from or what you're doing here, but it doesn't look like you meant to wind up unconscious in the middle of nowhere. Sounds like there's a lot of stuff you don't really know about, so why don't you save the questions for later? Shulk's probably better for answering them, anyhow."
"…Okay…" he answered, sounding defeated. It was a little depressing to see this guy looking so down, but Reyn realized that it would probably be better not to delve into it. After all, he didn't really know this guy, and his problems would probably just confuse the daylights out of him, so it seemed best to leave it at that.
"So, uh, Isaac, what's with the getup?"
"Getup? You mean my armour? Is there something wrong with it? Everyone else with me had something similar…"
"Everyone… else? I didn't see no people with you."
Isaac looked around, but cast his gaze back downwards while they walked towards the hidden village. Apparently he'd gotten separated when he mysteriously wound up on the shores of Fallen Arm. Man, it was not gonna be easy to find people in a place as vast as this. Then again, they'd probably stick out like a sore thumb if they wore clothes similar to Isaac's.
"Y'know what, let's just drop it. We can save the talking for later," Reyn suggested, trying to make sure that no more awkward silences occurred. Isaac nodded his head silently, and the two continued on their way to Junks.
Though neither of them knew it yet, this was probably the least surprising of the events that were about to unfold for them.
Whew, didn't expect the chapter to be so long, and I definitely didn't think that the intro would seem so random :P. Also wasn't planning on having random bits of weird humour every now and then, but I don't think the few people that read this will mind.
Anyway, if there are actually people out there reading this, please take the time to review! I always appreciate feedback, and I'd be grateful to confirm that there are actually people taking somewhat of an interest in this.
If you're confused by Isaac's amazement by the modern buildings and such of The World That Never Was then you probably forgot that he's from a time period where electricity doesn't exist and buildings are all hand-crafted. Hopefully that explains his skyscraper moment and odd explanations of the neon signs. I tried to have Reyn elaborate on that fact a bit, but just in case you didn't get the subtle indications.
Also, I'm hoping to become a composer of game music in the future, so I'd appreciate if you guys checked out my soundcloud (link on my profile). I'll admit, the stuff that I've uploaded isn't great, but I'm hoping to grow as a composer as time goes on.
Thanks for checking this out! I'll probably update my other projects more regularly, but this one won't be ignored, I assure you!
-GengaJupite