Chapter 4: Subconscious Rush

Note: I suppose this is another "to be continued" thingamajigger! And wow, this one came kind soon after the third chapter, huh? I'm eager to write this, because it's kind of freaking fun. This "note" is strikingly less formal than the previous...

Note 2: Personalities of certain Pokémon characters that I don't own may not be matched entirely. I'm hard on myself about that because I've played the darn game (Explorers) like fifty times, so I should know how to talk like... Loudred. Sort of. I'm pretty sure literally doing that would wake everyone up. BUT THAT'S ITS PURPOSE IN THE GAME! =D [/Pun]

Disclaimer: I don't claim possession over characters originating from the franchises of Square Enix, Disney, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company, Chun Soft, or Nintendo. They belong to their rightful owners. Few characters are original.

"Xemnas..."

The ethereal call came from within... and he was awakened.

He sat up as suddenly as one could, his head aching as if he slept wrong. Despite the pain, he glanced in both directions as quickly as he could. He lifted himself to his feet, paws pushing against the ground in order to rise. To anyone, it would have seemed as if the frantic boy was tormented by something along the lines of an important even gone missed. For, to everyone else, this mystical call was unheard. Yet it came again, this time far more distorted.

"Xemnas..."

He backed away, his vision darkening, the world spiraling into mayhem before his very confused eyes. The name was spoken again in the same demonic tone. Before a few seconds, all the young boy heard was a cacophony of menacing voices all speaking the same name, which remained a puzzle in itself. He refused to stop backing away, his arms spread as he witnessed the world he knew fizzle and fade away like a dying star... The ground beneath his feet vaporized into sub-cosmic ether. He saw the celestial mist rise, feeling the life from the muscles slowly wither out of existence. It was then that he came to the realization that he was the one evaporating... The ground was gone... He was falling, and he could see his own essence escape him with his body in tow. Entropy...

"The gears will fail to turn... The lights will die, stars will frown... Your heart will burn... On your way down." This voice came to his nothingness—he wasn't sure how he could hear it without ears—as he descended into spiritual subspace. He caught glimpse of a spherical radiance in the fuzzy darkness. It was climbing further away from him... It was his heart... Bright linings on clouds could be seen far above his ascending heart. How could this immersion possess a silver lining...? As they parted, he regretted considering this unasked question. An immaculate, heart shaped moon watched over his bodiless presence, its blue glow slowly illuminating the darkness... But just as his heart became a scarlet speck, at which he presumed it touched this moon, all radiant color left the world once again. The moon became a monochrome pane of glass, which then shattered before nonexistent eyes, shards of glass approaching the sinking boy... Before they reached him, they began to transmogrify, gaining light and color once again. Five very particular "shards" fell passed him. Each of them were turqoise colored, and shaped like gears.

And now they were gone...

…

Riolu sat up quickly with a desperate gasp for air, as if emerging from the surface of water. Ironically, it actually felt that way. Another nightmare, he thought to himself, crossing his legs and rubbing his eyes with his fists. Who is Xemnas...? He was no stranger to this question, though he was the only one to ever have asked it. He lowered his arms, palms pushing his knees against the ground. Sighing through his nose, he scanned the small Sharpedo Bluff... Someone was missing.

"Jovany? Hey, Jovany!" Riolu called out, hoping to get a response from someone who didn't even need to be green and snake-shaped, or recently evolved. When the only response came as the crashing of waves, which sounded oddly louder than usual, Riolu knew it was time to investigate. Maybe Eager McBeaver—not Bidoof—was already looking up jobs on the bulletin boards, he mused. He wouldn't have doubted that. It was beyond shocking that Jovany had managed to awaken before him.

And Riolu had waken up surprisingly early today...

...

…Prior to Jovany's examination of the beach...

In a more lively setting underground, a briefing was unfolding, or at least about to. The many Pokémon who, as usual, lined up in two columns watched their sleepy guildmaster and his assistant with estranged expressions. A few murmured amongst one another, wondering why a fellow apprentice had not yet returned...

This torchlit, or sunlit due to carved in windows, subterranean complex was known as the famous Wigglytuff's Guild. It had three layers, one of which was simply the entrance. A stable ladder led down to the layer where most jobs took place and were instigated on the bulletin boards. The last layer was where the workers of the guild lived, essentially. A few jobs were conducted here: a structure built by one of the apprentices that appeared to have a cauldron of some sort underneath it, a hole in the dirt that led to an deeper underground sentry post watching a grating on the surface, a dining hall to the far left of the central room, and, of course, Guildmaster Wigglytuff's quarters.

The guildmaster was quite round with a white belly and a tall, pointy ears. The rest of his body was pink, and almost shaped like an egg. His arms were slightly stub-like, while his feet were long and flat. His eyes were rather large, an ocean blue complimenting their size. This one seemed very capable of the trademark "puppy dog eyes". He was the Pokémon who the surface tent resembled and revolved around; a Wigglytuff, clearly. His partner was a Chatot, a colorful bird Pokémon. His deep blue wings concealed yellow and green feathers, which could be seen on his chest. His chest was often out proudly; a common gesture of the confidence of his own knowledge of the land. Above a white flower ish "collar" around his neck was his black, note-shaped head, a slightly annoying sigh emitting from his curved, red beak.

"Oh, honestly! I send him out for the simplest assignment, and what does he do...?" Chatot asked himself, bringing a wing up to his forehead as if stressed. "Should he keep us waiting for a minute longer, he will be getting a stern talking to!"

"Let's not be hasty, Chatot Maybe he's sleepy like the rest of us!" Wigglytuff stated, yawning almost silently thereafter, a paw in front of his mouth. This infected the rest of the apprentices with the urge to yawn, with the exception of Chatot, whose wings were folded at his sides once again.

"Guildmaster," Chatot began, turning to face his kindhearted and childish superior. "Shall we conduct our casual morning briefing without him? I've noticed he hardly recites our three cheers... He's such a suspicious one, that Futachi."

"Um, if I may...?" One of the apprentices spoke aloud. The others around her quickly became silent, facing in her direction. Her voice was serene and did not sound as if it were used when it didn't need to be. That was no surprise, seeing as how its owner was visibly shy. Her diminutive physique most likely suggested this, for she was known as a Minccino. Her type was relatively unknown to these parts. She appeared as a gray chinchilla with a brush-esque tail. Her white-tipped ears were almost as tall as she was. In her hair, which was honestly just two risen strands, was a small exotic and sunset-colored flower. It looked a cross between a rose and a sunflower. Upon each of her cheeks where three dots in a triangular order; a tribal symbol. Indeed, she was of Futachi's land... Her name was Chillarmy.

"Yes, Chillarmy? What is it?" Chatot asked the young girl, his head raised with the absence of a desire to listen to very much from a sleepy new apprentice.

"Um, is Futachi. He, um, has had difficult past with authority." She shifted her focus to the ground, paws now behind her back. "Um, Futachi may be stubborn, but he return soon. Will not leave me. Is, um, close friend." With her head held a tad higher, she smiled as best as she could through all the nervousness of speaking aloud and possessing all of this attention doing so. She hoped to overcome this ever present anxiety in her training alongside Futachi.

"Well, he will soon have to best this problem of his! We cannot stand for rebellious spirits." The guildmaster's assistant concluded, his head high and eyes closed with the sureness in having the final say. And upon having that say, two shapes were seen climbing down the ladder. One descended with one arm while cradling what appeared to be a young Pokémon in the other. Sensing the ground close beneath his feet, he hopped off of the ladder with a brief grunt, his other arm returning to its place under the Eevee's back. He stepped aside for Jovany, who simply climbed down the rest of the way.

"Well well! Look who is fashionably late!" Chatot teased predictably, flapping his wings twice as he did so. "Jovany? My, it is still shocking to see you as a Servine." He acknowledged with a sudden twist in demeanor. "What happened out there?"

"Oh no!" Wigglytuff gasped, both paws over his mouth. "Is that poor Pokémon okay?"

"Futachi found Eevee at shore. Seems water is rising, as predicted. Reasons still unknown to Futachi..." He finished for Pokémon to ponder, including himself. "Found Jovany at beach without partner. Futachi think he waken before Riolu."

"Oh my gosh, that's possible?" An outburst came from a sunflower-shaped Pokémon.

"Hey, hey. Shouldn't we be a little more concerned about the Eevee?" The question originated from a Pokémon who looked like something of a lobster.

"We should!" Wigglytuff agreed. He approached Futachi and held out his arms. "May I see him? I just love the little Eevees of the Mystifying—huh...?" Wigglytuff appeared to be interrupted as Futachi obliged to transfer the small Pokémon to his guildmaster's arms. There was a striking sense of urgency that filled the pink Pokémon with terror... He held the small creature in his arms nonetheless, accompanied by a blank stare... Silence fell like a curtain...

"...Guildmaster...? Guildmaster! Are you with us?" Chatot spoke out, hopping up to Wigglytuff and attempting to peek at the Eevee from behind. "What is the matter, Guildmaster?"

"You look as though you've seen a ghost, Guildmaster Wigglytuff." Jovany spoke aloud, stepping forward so that he stood beside a puzzled Futachi, whose arms were crossed over one another...

..At this moment, Wigglytuff raised his head and faced his apprentices with a look that would have otherwise invoked pessimism within the hearts of these young Pokémon, for they have rarely ever seen Wigglytuff with such an apprehensive expression... When their leader was unsure of something, that was the time to panic. Of course, no one really comprehended what could have been going on inside Wigglytuff's head. That was how it always was.

"Everybody... I think something very bad is about to happen to our world."

Jovany's eyes were closed tightly. He winced at this comment. He knew very will that Wigglytuff had the hunch for these things. He opened his eyes with a silent sigh. Deep down inside, he felt it as well. Something cataclysmic was about to happen, but he couldn't quite express how he had this knowledge. Perhaps it came from this Eevee? That didn't make any sense! How was the Eevee tethered to the rising of the ocean level? And-... What in the Hidden Land was that...?

Jovany's aware eyes caught sight of a swift black shape move about the ground behind Chatot. What was this and how did it wander over there without anyone noticing? Was it Duskull from the bank? Jovany had never known Duskull to frighten anyone, odd as the Pokémon might have been. He blinked a few times before shaking his head once. It was still there, and quite worse, it was now stationary behind Chatot. It appeared as a shadowy puddle, which was already beyond natural considering it had the ability to move on its own. Yet even more disturbing was the fact that it developed two glowing eyes before taking shape into what Jovany would have believed to be a cross between a bug-type and a ghost-type, or perhaps dark-type. It didn't matter. It looked hostile.

"Ch-Chatot!" One of the apprentices called out before he could. It was a round, blue mouse with a white belly and a zigzag tail tipped with a blue sphere. "Watch out! Behind you!" He shouted, pointing at the pitch black creature who had solidified completely. The guild members stepped back almost in unison, panicking at this interloper's presence. Chatot spun around immediately.

"Waahh!" He yelled in response at the shadow who was a bit larger than he. He spread his wings instinctively to protect the guildmaster now behind him. It was not something he was regularly successful at, seeing as how Wigglytuff was far more in control than he... The commotion was enough to awaken the esoteric Eevee.

As Wigglytuff turned to face the hostile shadow, eyes in his arms met his close presence. The leader was well prepared and ready to act to save his assistant. Before he could, however, the Pokémon in his arms leaped to the ground with shocking impulsiveness. He assessed the situation, ignoring most of the details that were otherwise impertinent to the shadow nearby. This was almost everything. Somehow recognizing the ability to maneuver on all fours, he dashed around Wigglytuff and Chatot, tackling the shadow to the wall near the guildmaster's room. A dextrous leap backwards cleared space between he and the Heartless... Words echoed softly in his mind.

"Remember..." They came to him as a familiar whisper.

He hesitated not! Hurriedly, he raised his head, mouth agape for but a moment! A magical radiance came from a source unknown, quickly shaping into a key only he knew. He shut his mouth tightly on this Kingdom Key, one fore paw in front of the other, ears and tail high! With a blank vengeance, the Heartless sprang forward with the intention to lash out at the prodigious fighter. It was of no avail. The Eevee duplicated the leap, albeit higher and more quickly. Just above the Heartless, he twirled in midair, his Keyblade slicing through the shadow once. He landed in the foe's previous position, gaze shifted has far behind him as he could see. Behind him, a black mist left the guild... He stood high, opening his mouth widely for a moment to let the key drop in front of him. He placed a paw on this Keyblade of his, staring down at it, head tilted.

Every set of astonished eyes were on the Eevee. There were absolutely no words for what they had just been but a few feet from. None of them predicted, let alone fathomed at this moment, the events that came to be. Seconds after bewilderment, a few frightened yet enthralled apprentices exchanged glances, eager to see each other's reactions... While Chatot was frozen with his wings expanded in something of horror combined with stupor, Wigglytuff made his way around the assistant, eager to know as much as he could about the little warrior here.

"Wow... You sure took us all by surprise! You were like... YOOM-TAH!" The guildmaster raised both of his arms with this strange method of expressing excitement or motivation. It was used often... "Could you tell us your name, please?"

...It took a few seconds for the boy to respond, the indication of which was the lifting of his head.

"That's right... I remember now! Wow, what happened this time...?" He blinked, an ear twitching a tad as he recalled he was being spoken to. "Oh, sorry," He apologized, lifting a paw off of the Keyblade. It soon disappeared in a sudden radiance. He turned to face all the strange creatures he couldn't even begin to describe. Shrugging this off momentarily, and the realization that he was one of them, he nodded and gave a lively grin.

"I'm Sora!"