Nessa's Story
[theme song] Count Your Last Blessings; Sum 41
Space. Such an interesting term for the universe surrounding all the different worlds that are places. In a way it doesn't fit its name at all. There is nothing there, nothing can fill the emptiness which makes it turn to space: an unoccupied area.
So it seemed impossible to myself now that I was floating along in the nothingness. I could feel no breeze against my skin, nor could I open my eyes to see if I was surrounded by brilliant stars and small planets. But I knew. I knew I was moving through the nothingness of space to somewhere.
I had no sense of time, but I began to feel weary and I lost consciousness again, and I continued to drift through the nothing.
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When woke I was lying on a soft bed covered in big blankets that tucked in the heat around me. I kept my eyes closed and enjoyed their warmth. My thoughts hit me suddenly.
We had been racing into the heartless, the room with the television giving off white noise and the smooth flight through space. Now I was in a bed with absolutely no clues as to where I was.
Were Meg and Rachel here too? Were we all safe and back at Meg's house like we should be at the end of the game? I peeked one eye open and as it focused all the colors surrounding me came into view. With my one eye I could see a wooden table in the center of the room. I opened both eyes
Surrounding the table were piles of books stacked unevenly and tossed across the table. There was a large computer system lighting up the room along with the sunshine that spilled through the two lightly curtained windows. The floor was stone and the walls were a soft shade of wood. There was a little kitchen around one of the corners and a doorway that presumably led to a bathroom.
I stood up slowly, checking how much my legs could take before I stood, but instead of falling I found myself sturdy and ready to move. I was still dressed in the same tattered PJ-s I had left Meg's in.
It was then I noticed the sudden urge of my bladder and I decided to try the door on the other side of the small kitchen. I moved my way slowly over to the door, knocked lightly, and when there was no response opened it.
When I came back out the hairs on my neck instantly stood up, there was someone else in the room. I was careful to look around before proceeding into completely exposure. At the table sat someone with their back to me. They had longer brown hair and a jacket with red wings on the back.
"I'm glad you're awake." It was a man, the voice was extremely familiar… where had I heard it before?
"LEON!" I suddenly realized vocally. He turned around and flashed me a small smile.
"How are you feeling Wanessa?" he asked. I thought about it.
"Confused," I simply stated.
"Logically. I meant physically first? No pain?" "None at all, I feel brand new in fact."
"Well you definitely do not look brand new!" Another voice joined our party, a female. I looked around. I spotted a little woman with knee high chucks and shorts with a black jacket and tank top. "The names Yuffie, it's a pleasure to meet you!" She introduced herself with extreme enthusiasm.
"Yuffie!" Leon muttered sharply, "She just woke up." It was then I became a little self conscious and Yuffie seemed to realize my predicament.
"No worries, Wanessa right?"
"Just Nessa," I corrected.
"No worries Nessa, Aerith and I have gotten you all taken care of!" She opened up the door. "If you'll just follow me." I looked from Leon to Yuffie. He just shrugged and turned back to doing whatever he was doing. "Come on!" she grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the house and into the brilliant sunshine.
I followed Yuffie through the bright streets. There were high stone walls and houses with thatched or tiled roofs. There were a few people walking around doing business. They took one look at me but continued on their way without a second glance.
"Yuffie where are we?" I asked. The town was completely unfamiliar to me.
"Hollow Bastion."
"But-"
"Don't worry we'll explain everything later, first lets get you cleaned up!" She continued her fast paced walk that my newly tired legs had a hard time keeping up with her even though she was tiny.
Eventually she stopped outside of a building that was cleanly kept with a nice little garden out front. A woman and her young girl walked out the door and Yuffie held it open for them. The familiar scent of a hair stylist odor immediately hit my nose when I walked inside.
The front room was just wooden floors with a light blue wall paper. The chairs lining the walls matched the wall paper color and between them on little wooden tables were potted flowers with a beautiful smell coming from them. The first doorway on the left looked like a reception area and had a woman standing behind a counter with a pencil in her ear and her hand halfway reaching to it as she looked at a piece of paper.
Her hair was long and brown and pulled back behind her head in a braid. Her bangs lifted from her head and behind them I could see a large pink bow. Her dress was long and pink.
"Aerith!" Yuffie called hello. We walked into the reception area. The young woman looked up and smiled warmly.
"Yuffie." Her voice was soft and sweet. "Hello," she said, including me in her welcome.
"Aerith I would like you to meet Nessa," Yuffie pushed me forward to meet her, I smiled, "Nessa, meet Aerith she is our healer."
"It's wonderful to meet you," she said even more pleasantly than before. I liked her voice. I just smiled.
"So," Yuffie looked around anxiously, "Why don't you get her cleaned up and I'll get her some clothes. Nessa what kind of weapon do you have?" I thought for a moment and focused on the energy I knew rested around me. My shield magically appeared on my arm. I suppose Leon had tried to take it off when I arrived at his house or wherever I ended up. "Lovely. I'll get you something to match." She skipped out of the room.
Aerith smiled, "Would you follow me please?" I did. She led me up a hidden flight of steps and into a room with a large shower and bathing tub. There were so many bottles of shampoo, hair care products and soap that I was overwhelmed. She first looked at my skin and decided on a soap and put it in my arms.
Then with a quick flit of her fingers through my hair she picked up a bottle of shampoo and conditioner and handed them to me.
"Take all the time you need," she opened a cabinet and got out a set of white, fluffy towels and left them on the ring next to the shower. I looked at the shower and smiled. I would be clean.
Half an hour later I was back downstairs wrapped up in a huge towel and sitting in a chair with Aerith combing out the tangles. Soon my hair was cut back to shoulder length and was already started to curl as it dried. She checked me for wounds or other injuries and when she found none she called in Yuffie as she swept up the hair clippings.
Yuffie came gliding into the room with a bundle of blue in her hands "Here's new clothes for you Nessa," She said. After she set them down she handed me some undergarments and I sheepishly hid underneath my towel to put them on. When I was wrapped up again Yuffie was holding up a pair of pants. I grabbed them and once again shyly put them on.
Once I was dressed Yuffie fastened two pouches around my waste. They hung loose but when I moved they didn't bump around or upset my walk at all. Aerith helped me lace up the black boots that tucked the loose bottom of the pants into them.
"Alright look at yourself!" Yuffie said excitedly. Aerith graciously pulled the cover off the mirror. I turned around and gasped.
The basic color of the outfit, jacket, pants, shirt, pouches and wrap were sky blue. The jacket itself was the beautiful shade of blue with gray protective pads across the shoulders and a bold black outline along the zipper, hood and short sleeves. At the tips of the sleeves there were bright orange, red and yellow flames. The pants were also outlined by the bold black strip and where the tops of my tall black boots touched the flames burned again. The shirt was gray armor with a blue wrap pulling it tight around my body.
"Do you like it?" Yuffie asked.
"I love it!" I smiled at her.
"EXCELLENT!" She yelled, jumping up and punching the air. Aerith smiled.
The extent of the city in Hollow Bastion was not very large. People were packed into only two districts this time. There were less people than in Traverse Town but there was still a lot of people.
The city ended in the Bailey. It served as a protective gate from the parts of Hollow Bastion that hadn't yet been cleaned of heartless. I followed Leon and Yuffie down here before we took a tour of the town. We stood on the other side of the gate looking down into the ravine surrounding the ruins of the old castle.
The castle was just a bunch of charred stones and crumbling towers. It looked as if it had been blown apart by a bomb. The room where Meg, Rachel and I had stood with the man in the cloak was at the very base of the castle with a wall blown out and I could see straight in.
In the ravine below there were heartless upon heartless swarming in a black lake around the castle. I gasped.
"But aren't they all destroyed?" I asked, spinning around to look at the solemn face of Leon and Yuffie's permanent amused expression.
"We had hoped that once Sora sealed off the heart of this world that they would disappear like they had on the others. We were wrong," Leon answered. "Once the castle was blown apart the heartless swarmed from that opening there," he pointed to the room where we had stood with the man in the cloak, "and filled in the ravine. We have patrols that come down and fight off the braver heartless but mostly they just stay down there and they haven't tried the gates yet."
"Not to mention they usually tear each other apart before we even get there," Yuffie smiled as she said this, I just shuddered.
"So what exactly are you guys doing here?" I ignored her and asked.
"We are the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee," explained Leon, "This was our home so we're trying to rebuild it to the glory it was before Ansem's research led to destruction."
Yuffie pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to me. It was purple and on the front in bold letters it said 'Honorary Member of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee' and on the back was my name.
"Thanks," I smiled.
"Since you're here, we decided to put you to work," Yuffie smiled boldly. I laughed.
"Well thanks."
"No problem. Now I'll be off. I have to help Aerith out with some more clients then I'm going down with the patrols. LATER!" She took off running.
Leon and I stood in silence for a moment before he turned to leave.
"Uh, Leon," I called.
"Yes?"
"Where will I be staying?"
"Well," he paused. "There is an empty apartment above mine that you could stay. We'll go find you some furniture."