A/N: First: about Book I's title: it's Open World as in like the universe (technically plural in this case). It's the fact that there is exploration to be done and adventure to be had. It does not refer to a specific world of some plot importance. Just clearing that up, 'cause I realized that it had the potential to be somewhat misleading due to the Kingdom Hearts franchise's use of the term. I almost changed it, but nothing else sounded elegant enough. Not that "The Open World" is particularly elegant, but it's certainly not awkward like "The Open Universes".
Next, a note about horizontal bars. I typically use these breaks to indicate a POV change. It does not necessarily mean a change in time or location (unless the POV stays the same. Then there is definitely significant time skip or location change. Usually, however, I'll try not to use them in this capacity).
Also, please don't read my other story. Ever. I'm embarrassed by its low quality, and I only leave it up because I'm an electronic hoarder (effectively).
There is an important notice about an impending name change. It's at the southern AN. It would be wise to read it.
Weird thing happened the other day! If you don't care about my life, you can just skip down to the story. There won't be anything particularly important from here on.
So I got an email from a professor I haven't met, a mass email to all CS Majors, advertising a student that needed a tutor for web programming. Fifteen dollars an hour tax free is not something a college student passes up. I happened to be on my email when the offer came in, so I was able to respond quickly, and presumably first because I go the job. So when I went to meet the student who I was supposed to tutor, I was quite surprised to find out it was actually a man with multiple graduate degrees in physics, astronomy, and geography. At this point, I'm basically an unofficial consultant (or maybe sub-contractor?) for this guy as he builds part of a company's internal website; however, I can't know what company (though I've determined that it must be an oil company) or see any of the code. This is because I'm not a contractor or employee of the company itself, but of its contractor. I have no official relationship with the company. If they gave me the necessary nondisclosure forms, they would have to document all this and hire me as a contactor/consultant, which would mean tax forms (and an approximately 30% tax rate for self-employment), HR paperwork, and a bunch of other stuff. They wouldn't do that because I'm not working for them, I'm working for their employee. I doubt they even know about me, actually. My friends keep joking that I'm being tricked into helping with something shady and illegal, but we work out of his office in the Geological Sciences center, and nothing I'm doing is particularly dangerous or powerful. It's really strange, but it's really fun.
EDIT: I got too see some code under a license permitting "evaluation." To be honest, I think my client was wrong about the scope of the license and shouldn't legally have showed me, but that's at his discretion. It's becoming so intriguing, the things he's asking for help with.
Anyway! I have a chapter for you!
Book I: The Open World
§ - Chapter 2: Beginnings - §
"Now, you were about to tell me your name," she urged.
Uh oh, he though. "My name is," crap, "Sora," he said, with only the slightest of pauses.
So much for 'I am me. Nobody else!'
The slight pause did not escape Link's notice. "Is it really?"
"Don't be rude, Link! Why would you assume he's lying?" Zelda scolded him.
Link just looked at "Sora", awaiting a response.
"… no, it's not," he admitted, "but I can't tell you my real name."
Seeing his compliance, Link began to calm down. This young man didn't seem to be against them, just cautious. Farore's chosen couldn't exactly fault him for that. He himself was acting the same way. Taking the edge off his eyes and his voice, he asked, "Why not?"
The boy stopped and thought for a while, so Zelda interjected, "It's alright if you can't tell us. I understand that you can't just trust us with your secrets the first time we meet."
"I don't trust you completely, but I owe you. If you're telling the truth, you rescued me earlier. And it's also probably my fault you got attacked," stated the youth. "The man who attacked the village, Xemnas, named me. He has some sort of magic that lets him use my name to track me somehow. It has to do with the letter X, but that's all I really know. But wait a second, did you defeat him?"
Noticing the surprise on his face, Link worried about the strength of this new foe. He explained, "He had half a dozen white monsters with him, which he had attack. They were really weird. Different than anything I've fought before. After a few minutes, though, I started getting the hang of how they fought, so it didn't take too long to take them out. When they were all gone, this Xemnas guy said, 'It appears he is not here,' and then his disappeared.
"I don't know if he was looking for someone else," he continued, "or just didn't find you, but I think you don't have to worry about that."
"I don't know if he was looking for someone else or just didn't find you, but I think you don't have to worry about that," Link finished, looking to Roxas for a reaction.
"It appears he is not here"? he wondered. Maybe something in this world interferes with his magic? That or he really wasn't looking for me. Either way, I guess it doesn't really matter if I use my name. It probably doesn't make a difference in the first place what I call myself, my name is still Roxas. I've told them this much, I may as well give them my name.
"Roxas," he said.
Zelda looked at him in confusion, "What?"
"My name is Roxas."
"Well, Roxas," she addressed him, smiling warmly, "it's nice to meet you."
Her happiness was contagious, and both males couldn't help but feel a little bit more at ease as the last remaining tensions dissipated.
"So, do you know how I got here? I mean, not the village, but like… wherever here is," he voiced his curiosity, gesturing around him vaguely in an attempt to convey what he was trying to communicate.
"We were hoping you could tell us that," answered Zelda disappointedly.
Link spoke up with what little information they had, "I've gathered that Ghirahim did some sort of summoning spell, but that's all we know. I'm not sure how it works or why it brought you."
"A summoning spell?" Roxas questioned, "I don't really understand the details of magic, but I know that shouldn't be possible."
"Why is that?" Hylia's incarnation inquired.
He shifted uncomfortably and responded, "It just shouldn't." He really didn't want to explain to these two, who had already caught him in a lie, that he wasn't a real person. He was starting to enjoy their presence, especially after so long alone in the dark. He didn't want to ruin it by giving them another reason to distrust him. Not to mention he was not exactly happy about the fact himself.
Instead, he deflected, "So Ghirahim was the creepy pale guy who tried to kill me?"
"That would be him," grimaced the green-clad knight. "He's a self-obsessed Demon Lord with some really weird tendencies."
"Like?" Roxas asked, interested.
Link's scowl deepened, "Mostly just being creepy. He always does weird things with his tongue like licking his sword or just sticking it out and wiggling it around. And he teleports right behind you. And he's generally just disturbing. Oh, and also he tried pretty hard to kidnap Zelda as well."
Zelda shoved Link with her hand, although it didn't do much. "Kidnapping me shouldn't be a side note!" she exclaimed.
"You're right!" said Roxas, making Zelda smirk.
"See, he knows how to treat a lady!" she taunted.
"That thing with the tongue does sound really disturbing!" the former Organization XIII member said, doing his best to hide his own smirk as he turned the tables on the Headmaster's daughter.
Link made no similar effort to contain himself, chuckling as Zelda shoved Roxas indignantly, only serving to make the pair laugh outright at her expense.
"Boys!" she huffed, rolling her eyes and attempting to appear more mature than them. But even she couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from turning up at Roxas's jest.
The conversation continued like that, silly and comfortable. And Roxas felt at home. It felt like evenings on the clock tower. It felt like the summer vacation he didn't really have. It felt like those few times in his life where he wasn't worried about fading from existence, meeting heatless quotas, or figuring out which of his 'friends' were actually trying to kill him. Something about these two, Link especially, connected to Roxas in a very personal way.
Zelda noticed something, an unfortunate observation that made her sad for her new friend. The Triforce of Wisdom was not given meritlessly to the Royal Line of the Goddess.
Zelda believed that one of the major reasons Link had no real companions up until now was a simple, fundamental difference between him and any potential candidate for comradery. Link had no family. He never had. Obviously, he must have had biological parents, but he never knew them. As for who they were, it was a mystery to their whole generation, and if their parents and elders knew, they had never spoken a word about it. Link had long been self-sufficient, so this hadn't really been a problem. Obviously, somebody must have cared for him when he was extremely young, but neither Zelda, nor Link, nor anybody else their age could remember. And again, if the older generations knew, they had not informed their children.
This made interaction with others difficult on many levels. Family is a key part of anyone's life. A centerpiece everything else must accommodate. And yet Link could not relate. He had no frame of reference to what is was like when your mother scolded you, or your father punished you, or your sister stole your toy and your brother picked on you. He couldn't empathize with the delight of watching a sibling finally meet their loftwing or the warm affection of a parents embrace. It distanced him from everyone as he simply could not sympathize with these experiences. He couldn't commiserate over the annoyances or share joy over the beauty of family.
And family always comes up. When classmates see each other every day, the only new things to talk about are what their family has said and done. And family is important enough that even after long absences, it is often the first thing about which is spoken when people meet each other.
This difference had alienated Link to some degree from everyone in Skyloft. But here, like Link, this newcomer had not once mentioned an uncle or an aunt, a grandparent or a cousin. No sister, no brother, nor father, nor mother.
This caused very mixed feelings for the deity incarnate. For Roxas's sake, she hoped she was wrong. She wished deeply that he had a family who loved him and cared for him.
But for her hero's sake, she guiltily hoped that she was right. She hated herself for it, but she desired desperately that he be suffering so that Link's need, oblivious to it as he was, could be mended.
The duo once trapped in the Realm of Darkness made short work of the regiment of cards. They had never been anything more than an annoyance, but when Riku had the bright and somewhat sadistic idea of throwing great waves of fire, the paper-based people made a hasty retreat.
Alice had been hiding in the corner. The pair had noticed her the moment they entered the room, but fortunately the soldiers seemed sufficiently stupid to miss her entirely, meticulously searching virtually everywhere but her location. Convenient though it was, the human traveler couldn't help but gawk at their incompetence. It didn't really matter, though, as a few strategic infernos later and the battalion was scattered and gone.
"Alice?" Riku asked in her direction, "I'm Riku, and this is King Mickey."
"We think you might be in danger, so we're here to bring you somewhere safe," informed the mouse.
"In danger? From who? And who are you?" she questioned them.
Mickey looked around at the various entrances before answering, "We don't have a lot of time, and the Queen of Hearts seems to be after your head again. Just know that we're friends of Sora's, and we're going to take you to a strong wizard who can protect you for now."
"Oh my! Well, if you say so," she acquiesced.
"I know Wonderland is a pain, but still, I have a feeling the next princesses are not all going to be this easy to retrieve…" Riku said to Mickey as Alice climbed down off the shelf.
When she made it to them, Riku opened a Dark Corridor. The King went in first. Next, though hesitantly, Alice followed the platinum's prompt and entered the vortex. Last, the summoner himself went through, and the portal closed.
"How long do we have to keep doing this?" Tidus complained as he swatted yet more barrels.
"Well, it's about three o'clock now," said his human companion.
The duck added, "We reserved the arena until eight this evening."
"And then we have it tomorrow morning from seven to ten," concluded the dog.
"Five more hours!? And then three more tomorrow?!" the dirty blonde shouted at them.
The brunette didn't give him any sympathy, "What? That's not such a big deal. Besides you won't be just hitting barrels the whole time. In fact, you have an opponent to spar with right about now."
"Huh?" he asked.
"Hey, Sora!" shouted a man dressed in classical Greek attire.
"Hey, Hercules! Would you mind training my friend Tidus here while I take a break? I'll be back in half an hour," said the master, leaving his friend to his practice.
"No problem, Sora," the hero replied, walking toward the platform.
Sora found himself snickering at Tidus's shocked and nervous expression. He knew he'd be fine. Hercules was decent, but he wasn't incredible.
Sora remembered back to when he had faced Phil's student the first time. He had seemed like a bit of a challenge. Looking back at it, though, Hercules was really always asking to be taken down. He stopped to brag too much. Like, he literally stopped and dropped his guard just to build his own ego. Tidus wouldn't have a problem, especially not with Donald and Goofy with him.
He lay underneath a statue in the courtyard for a while, thinking of all the people who were suffering. All the hearts in pain connected to his own. There was Ventus, the boy who had taken shelter within Sora over a decade ago. Then there was Vanitas. Sora wasn't sure exactly what he was. He knew he was evil, but it didn't seem entirely fair to write him off, considering he never had a choice in the matter. But he was thought to be dead, so Sora guessed it didn't make a difference in long run. Next was Roxas, who he knew better than any of the others. Even though he was Sora's Nobody, he was virtually identical to Ventus. Who knew where he was at the moment? Sora really wished he could just find him and tell him he was free, but he knew that he would probably never get the chance. It seemed fate's cruel plan was to keep his Nobody constantly imprisoned in one way or another. Vague and incomplete memories from Roxas hinted at another, a girl. Another heart connected to his. But it seemed even Roxas didn't really know much about her, because there were nothing but fleeting impressions in the memories they shared.
"Gawrsh, Sora, what're you doing out here?" a familiar voice inquired.
He sighed and sat up, admitting, "I was just thinking about all the people who are suffering because of me."
"What do you mean," asked the other half of the pair.
"Well, if I had just been smarter, or stronger, or faster, or something, all those people connected to my heart could already be free," explained the Worlds' defender.
"Well, geez, Sora, I wouldn't say that was because of you," stated Goofy.
Donald nodded and expounded, "You can't blame yourself just because you haven't finished fixing the damage that people like Master Xehanort have done."
"Maybe you're right," Sora said halfheartedly. He stood up and started toward the arena. "It's been about half an hour. It's probably about time to move on with Tidus's training."
Sora walked in just as Hercules walked out, and he couldn't help but feel a bit proud of the bruises he saw on his friend's body.
Entering the stadium, he saw Tidus, doubled over and breathing hard.
"So you beat him," the veteran declared.
"Yeah well," the naïf replied, "he was good, but he wasn't all that special."
"Hey, give up yet?" mocked Sora, flexing his arms dramatically.
Mirth showed on Tidus's face as Sora imitated the line he had been hearing ceaselessly for the past thirty minutes.
"So he's still doing that, huh?" commented the Keybearer.
The trainee answered, "You'd think he would figure out that it doesn't really help him. Or at least Phil would… well, maybe not."
"Hey, don't get cocky," teased his coach, "you've got some pretty major flaws to take care of yourself."
Tidus, indignant, took a breath to begin his retort, but Sora cut him off.
"Luckily for you," he said, "we're going to spend the next few hours fixing them. Ready?"
"Yeah, I guess," said Tidus tentatively.
"Great, let's go!" shouted Sora, charging at his friend with keyblade in hand.
"Wait, hold on!" stuttered the beginner.
"I won't use magic," Sora detailed, slashing up and around with an exaggerated flair, knocking Tidus to the ground a few feet back.
"I won't use drive forms or special, keyblade-related abilities," he continued as he jumped and brought his weapon, in the form the Dream Sword, down onto the ground where Tidus had landed, forcing him to roll away.
His opponent got back to his feet, and he finished his list, "I won't put my full strength or skill behind my attacks, I'll be pretty obvious about my strikes, and I'll lower my defenses."
"Basically," he summed up, taking a laid back and decidedly not combat-ready stance, his blade resting on his shoulder, "I'll go easy on you. But not enough that you can stop trying. Even like this, I'll certainly be more of a challenge than Hercules was, so you you'd better be ready."
Seeing Sora's guard down, Tidus sprinted toward him, swinging the blade Phil had provided for him at Sora's request. Sora casually jumped out of the way, easily clearing the horizontal swipe.
"You've got to remember that any real enemy isn't just going to drop their guard in front of you. If they're monologuing, there's probably a reason. Sometimes they just really like the sound of their own voice, but usually they're either stalling or messing with your emotions to get you to make a mistake. So if they start ranting at you and seem to put their defenses down, they're probably trying to get you to make a sloppy attack like you just did."
Tidus was embarrassed by the correction, but he knew it was true. That only made him more frustrated and angry. But, not wanting to be humiliated again, he decided to try something a little different.
He ran at Sora again, this time bringing his blade down from above in a wide arc, hoping to intercept Sora's escape jump.
Much to his chagrin, Sora evaded fluidly by simultaneously ducking and propelling himself backwards, allowing him to slip out from under the swing without harm.
"That was better," encouraged the teacher. "It was pretty smart, and a lot cleaner. But you told me where you were going to hit before you even started, so it wasn't hard to dodge."
"What do you mean I told you!?" asked the student, exasperated.
"Watch," instructed Sora. Suddenly he flew towards Tidus, who was helpless before the rapid assault that impacted his left side below his ribcage, hurting him and knocking him off balance.
Sora lifted his hand, and a strange, plant-like object that looked like a trio of bells appeared over his head. Suddenly, Tidus's pain and exhaustion faded away, much to his surprise.
"Now, watch this," Sora instructed again. This time, when Sora dashed at him, Tidus smartly hopped over the keyblade trying to undercut his legs.
"Obviously," his mentor stated, "you could tell the difference. The reason is the first time, I controlled myself well, but the second time, I let my eyes and body point to where I was going to strike. I looked at your legs, I lowered my torso, and I brought my arm back for the swing much earlier than I needed to. Keep your eyes on my eyes or on my weapon as much as possible to avoid broadcasting your moves, and don't wind up your arms until you absolutely have to. In fact, it's usually better not to wind up at all. Start off with quick, weak hit to stun your enemy, then use the momentum from that strike to do something with a bit more power. That way, the only time you're making your move clear, they won't be in a position to notice."
Tidus listened to the advice, absorbing it all as best he could. It made sense, really. Almost everything Sora was saying seemed obvious in retrospect. But it was easier said than done. Try as he might, he couldn't keep himself from glancing at his target or turning his shoulders to face his mark. And each time, Sora effortlessly eluded his efforts to land a hit, sometimes parrying and counterattacking, leaving stinging welts, scratches, and cuts across Tidus's body. Of course, whenever he sustained a major injury, his teacher was quick to heal him, but that only irritated him more. And Sora noticed.
"Hey, Tidus, you need to calm down," he directed.
"How am I supposed to calm down with you beating me left and right!?" he exclaimed angrily.
"You figure that out yourself, I guess. But you won't stand a chance if you stay angry like that. Emotions are a tool to use in your fight, but they are not the only one. If you let yourself be completely driven by frustration, you're giving up other weapons you have, most importantly your mind. You've got to keep thinking in a fight. If you're losing, the only way to win is to change your strategy. But you can't do that if you're so obsessed with victory or vengeance or even happiness that you can't think straight. Besides, there's not a lot of reason to be so mad right now. I know your losing, but hey, I've got like two years of experience that you don't. A lot of this is just experience and muscle memory. You just sort of get a sense of how an enemy works once you've fought enough of them. And once you're comfortable enough with your fighting style, you won't feel like you need to look when you go in for a hit, 'cause you'll know exactly where your blade is headed. It's what people are talking about when they say cheesy stuff like 'your blade is an extension of your arm.' It just means you have a good feel for where it without having to look at it."
"So basically what your saying is I can never catch up, because whoever started before me will always have more experience than me," said Tidus, discouraged.
"Nope! Not at all," rebutted Sora, chipper as usual. "First off, if you train harder and more often, you'll grow faster. Second, you'll be more effective in your training if you find good teachers, and you already have a ton of people who'd be willing to help you out. Third, there's definitely a bit of luck involved."
"You know," Tidus began wryly, "After the first and second parts, I thought you had pretty much covered everything, so I was hoping the third was gonna be some big secret, or at least inspirational. It was kind of a disappointment."
Amused by his friend's reaction, Sora retorted, "Sorry, but I don't make the rules. That's just the way it is."
Checking the time, Sora looked around the coliseum and said, "It looks like we've got around three hours left. You go ahead and train with Donald and Goofy for half an hour and I'll find us some opponents to take on as a team for two hours after that. We'll use the last half hour to review things and go over and major issues with your fighting or our teamwork."
Turning to the Disney Duo, Sora set some guidelines, "Do a series of two-on-one matches. The two of you will alternate as the one, while the other will be with Tidus. Let him do most of the fighting, and whichever of you is his teammate should just be support. Since one of you will be helping him, the other can go all-out as his opponent. I'll be back later with some groups to spar with."
Tidus gasped as he was sent flying into the magic barrier that surrounded the arena and would have protected the audience if there had been any. He realized this Cloud could only charge a certain number of times. He tried to take advantage of that, but he had neglected the fact that Cloud often followed the final dash with a leaping stab. Luckily, he was able to partially dodge it, so it didn't hit him straight on. That would have been it for him. Despite this, the resulting blast of energy still launched him away. Once again, the weird flower-bells hovered above him, courtesy of Donald, and he felt renewed to continue the fight.
Sora had determined that, since he and Tidus had a similar focus on swordsmanship and a comparable style of close-range combat, it would be best if the team operated similarly to the way Sora, Donald, and Goofy had traditionally done things, but with Sora replaced by Tidus. That way, they wouldn't have to rethink their strategies or alter their deeply-entrenched patters. Tidus would take point, attacking the main enemy. Goofy would take out any smaller annoyances if present or increase pressure on the primary target if not. Donald would provide magical and tactical support by identifying weakness, assisting the others with spells, and healing them from the sidelines. Sora decided that for normal battles, he would alternate between Goofy and Donald's normal jobs as necessary, leaving Tidus to do the heavy lifting. Only on major matches would he take his normal place. This was, after all, a training exercise for Tidus.
If this were a bout in the games, Sora would be out in front with Tidus, the two of them using their similar styles and Sora's overwhelming skill to force the opponent into submission. But this was just an exhibition match Sora set up earlier to train, so Tidus was running the show with periodic advice from his tutor.
He looked over to see how Sora would admonish him this time, but Sora just nodded toward Cloud, telling Tidus to keep going. He nodded and turned to face his opponent once more. Just then, Cloud sprang forward, knocking out the duck, before quickly executing a three-sixty spin, eliminating the dog as well. Tidus felt panic rising inside him. Sora didn't seem to be interested in lending him a hand, so he was alone. Thanks to Donald, he was perfectly fine while Cloud was battered and worn, but Cloud was also much tougher of an opponent than Hercules had been.
As fear began to seize control, he knew he would lose this fight. He looked to Sora one more time, but he just looked back.
No, he decided, I won't lose. Cloud looked confident now that he only had one adversary left. Maybe he could take advantage of that… 'Any real enemy isn't just going to drop their guard in front of you,' he recalled. It's not exactly a monologue, but he could still be baiting me into doing something stupid. He's had some time to catch his breath, so he'll start his crazy rushing thing as soon as I get close. Tidus worked through the scenario in his mind as quickly as he could before nodding, steeling himself in determination.
Tidus hurled himself at Cloud, stopping just short and rolling to the side, barely avoiding the rapid strike. Rolling and hopping, he managed to evade each successive attempt, before diving to the side away from a heavy-handed overhead strike and jumping back to avoid being impaled from above. For a moment, Cloud would be stuck with his blade in the ground, and Tidus knew this.
A weak hit to stun the enemy, keeping my eyes the enemy's and not winding up, he recited as he locked his eyes on Cloud's and gave a sharp jerk with his sword to sting his arms and make it harder to free his blade. Then something with a bit more power. He continued his swing, adding force all the way around, and brought his sword down on his opponent. Three more strikes, each stronger than the last until the final attack behind which he threw all of his strength.
Cloud grunted, gave a pained sigh, and collapsed on the ground, the wrapped up Buster Blade still sticking out of the arena floor. As the adrenaline faded, Tidus found himself exhausted. But then he looked to see Cloud passed out, and his eyes widened in shock. He looked from Cloud to the Buster Sword, and then to Sora, who just stood there looking at him with a goofy smile on his face.
"Just not your day, I guess!" Tidus said cockily as he struck a victory pose.
Sora laughed and cast a curaga spell on each unconscious combatant, and thanked Cloud for his assistance, congratulated his friend, "Awesome job, Tidus!"
"Yeah, way to go!" agreed Donald.
Goofy lent his praise as well, "You beat him without us!"
"Well, not exactly. I mean, we did some damage together. I just finished the job," he said. He really wanted to take all the credit, but he knew by now that Sora probably wouldn't let him get away with that. Both of his partners were Sora's friends, and Sora had already made a point of bring down his ego a few notches, both by warning him against cockiness and simply by being so much stronger.
"You've done a great job with the teamwork, and you cleared up most of what we talked about in the last few minutes of the match. You're still rough—" there's that ego check again, thought Tidus, "—but you've improved a lot."
"I hope so, it's been over six hours since we started!" declared Tidus.
Sora seemed to disagree, stating, "Half a day. That's not really all that long."
Tidus wasn't sure whether that was a compliment or an insult. It was both an acknowledgment of quick improvement, but a reminder of how far behind he still was. He didn't know how to feel about it.
"Anyway," Sora continued, "we should go ahead and call it a day. We can finish training a bit more in the morning, and then we have a break again. The tournament doesn't start until 2:00, so that gives us four hours to restore our magic and strength after our practice. And after that, we'll try to find our way into the Realm of Darkness."
Tidus nodded his head. Tomorrow would be a big deal. Sora had mentioned something earlier about lining up a big fight for them during their morning reservation so they could practice with Sora being fully involved and taking the lead. Then, the real games would come. And then, their mission. Of course, the mission would barely be getting started tomorrow, but the weight of the quest had been repeatedly impressed upon him in various ways, not the least of which was through this intensive preparation. Tomorrow would surely be a big deal, and Tidus would be ready for it when it came.
A/N: So, in my mind, the basic spells used in-game like firaga and blizzara are rudimentary. Advanced magic is probably not quite so formulaically restrictive. So, in this story at least, the more advanced users of magic, which at this point does include several of our seasoned protagonists like Sora and Riku, will be exercising more fluid and adaptive magic, like "great waves of fire" instead of the normal blasts and bursts we can use in-game (unless, of course, the function the basic spell is exactly what they're going for, like when Sora uses curaga near the end). Also, I made the effects more realistic. Sending fire at the cards never burned them up in the game, but that wouldn't really make for a difficult battle in-game, so it makes sense. But in a realistic, story-based encounter between paper and fire, the paper is going to burn.
Ugh… every time I reread my old chapters, there's always something I wish I could change. I wish I had foreshadowed this earlier, I wish I hadn't been so cryptic about that. But I don't because that would be a problem for you readers who have been around a while. And since you are the main encouragement to write, I feel I would be cheating you if I did that. But still, sometimes I just have to ask, What was I thinking?
Regarding this, I have spent some extensive amounts of time and effort planning in detail the future of this fic. It certainly surprised me that the current conservative estimate puts the story at about 500,000 words of content plus some odd 200,000 words of ANs and extra bonus junk spread out over about 170 chapters. This is a very rough guess, but it seems for now that it would only likely get longer…
After finishing writing this chapter (I hadn't finished when I calculated the numbers above), that estimate seems decidedly low. Well, we'll see I guess.
IMPORTANT NAME CHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT:
In the course of my planning and reviewing over the past week, I realized that my original reason for referencing chess in the title and summary is gone. I debated for several days whether to change the name or reincorporate the motif, but the theme no longer works with the new (and better) course of the story. So, in three chapters' time or so, the name of this fic will be changing. I do not yet know to what it will change, but it will no longer be Every Last Piece.
Review response time!
unicron1000: I'm glad to have your reviews, but an identically repeated one-word review doesn't give me a whole lot to which to reply.
TheLegendaryBladeFalchion: Xion thought (at least in my little disclaimer thing) that she should have been brought to Hyrule when Nothingness was called. After all, as a replica made by Organization XIII, she is filled with Nothing like a Nobody. Most sources actually list Replicas as special kinds of Nobodies, because they have no hearts. I'm glad you liked the extra. I make no promises for the next one, 'cause I haven't even written it yet. I have an idea, but we'll see where it goes in a few moments.
Miyu Mizuki: I thought so! I hope you're still enjoying what I'm doing with (and to) some of our favorite characters.
And now, stuff that is not canon to this story, much less either the LoZ or KH franchises (and even less the Disney Universe). None of which I own (just in case one of my readers is an idiot with a lawyer and an applicable copyright).
Things that Didn't Happen
Volume 1: Things my Sword Says
§ - Episode 2: Interpretive Dance - §
"So, Zelda is Hylia," stated Roxas.
I looked at him and asked, "Yeah, why?"
"Well, I was just wondering, how exactly did things end up this way?" he inquired.
"Allow me to explain for you, Master," Fi said, looking at me.
She then moved back and, much to Roxas's surprise, began gliding along the ground, moving in large circles and performing jumps, twirls, and loops.
"What is she doing?" Roxas questioned hesitantly, almost as if afraid of the answer.
Seeing his worry, I decided to annoy him some more, "She's explaining."
"Really?" replied Roxas, "'cause I really think she's dancing."
"Oh, she is," I said cryptically, "but she's also answering your question."
My friend stared skeptically at the whirling sword spirit before declaring, "No, she's really not."
Finally, she stopped on a point in front of them and began to spin wildly in place. At last, she hovered back over to me and queried, "Did that assist you?"
Roxas tried to find a way to say no without making her dance again, and eventually settled on, "Not really. Could you possible tell me some other way?"
"Certainly!" she affirmed, eliciting a sigh of relief from Roxas. "I have several dancing sequences meant to communicate this message. Allow me to attempt to convey the information with an alternative routine."
"Do you think maybe you could help me out here," he asked me.
"I'm sure I could," I replied, enjoying his irate responses.
"Then help me!" he shouted.
I pretended (really pretty poorly) to be surprised at this, responding, "Oh! I thought it was just hypothetical. You want me to actually help?"
He nodded, utterly vexed.
"Okay then, I'll see what I can do," I told him.
"Did that assist you?" Fi repeated, finishing her second dance.
"I think he's still confused," I informed her. "Maybe you should try the first dance again."
"Yes, master," she agreed, beginning her gliding once more.
"I'm not sure who I hate more," muttered the Nobody, "the stupid unhelpful fairy with the unnaturally colored dress, or the sword spirit who follows him around."