Seventy-Four
Traversing to the Town

Chestnaught felt exactly like he was floating and sinking at the same time.

To be more specific, he felt like he was in a tug-of-war with two teams who eventually forgot they were using an object to tug and were just taking each other on in metaphor-hand-to-hand combat. And he was still the item, sitting in a field with a bunch of combat going on, occasionally being fought over by two before they gave up and went back to punching each other.

Catch his drift?

But, eventually, he felt the metaphor-hands of the metaphor-combat with the two metaphor-teams of the metaphor-tug-of-war metaphorically wear off, and he was placed on something cold.

"…that was a lot of metaphor," he noted while waking up.

"Indeed it was, my spikey friend."

"WHO GOES?!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet before falling back on his rear.

"OW—you IDIOT it's ME, TREEKO," Treeko muttered from under him.

Chestnaught slowly got off him, letting Treeko get his bearings and sword ("I was sitting on a sword unharmed?!"). But when the clueless leaf-lizard looked into Chestnaught's face, he regretted it.

"WHAT…DID YOU JUST CALL ME?"

"…well, shoot…"

Alright, let's do a different POV since that is not going to end well and you know it.

"What the heck is this place?" Zoroark asked, her voice being amplified and echoed in the vast, gray area they were in.

'They' were Zoroark and Absol, who had been far from the others during the teleport and were now just wandering about in a large, empty, gray chasm of absolute and utter grayness.

"You don't think this has something to do with the darkness, do you?" Absol asked, pitch-black claws clicking quietly on the hard floor.

"Come again?" Zoroark asked while shooting her army-commanding-partner a wary look.

"This looks a lot like the place Riku was in at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. And if that's right, then we're on the verge of darkness and light," he explained calmly. "Of course, he was weightless in that—"

They both started floating.

"…GREAT. Now we're lost and LEVITATING," Zoroark groaned, crossing her limbs and looking ridiculously like an angry Donald Duck.

"Speaking of angry ducks—or copying them, anyway—where are the others?" Absol asked, floating upside-down.

"Not a clue..." Zoroark pondered, now mimicking Shulk. "…HEY, want to do something cool and random?!"

"No."

"Aw, why not?"

"When we are lost is not the time to do something random."

"But it'll be FUN!"

"Anything random is fun in your prospective."

"You know me so well."

"What happened to the 'Absol said' and 'Zoroark said' parts?"

"Maybe we ventured so far into darkness we now can't see each other?" Zoroark suggested hopefully. "…never mind, I found them."

"what a pity," Absol sighed back, "I like trying to figure out who said what—though it's pretty easy to find out around here."

"Oh, is it now?"

. . .

"Okay, I didn't say that," Zoroark said, pointing to herself, "and you didn't say that, so…"

"If you're Ansem, we'll kick your sorry rear into next decade," Absol snarled.

"Whoa whoa, getting a little defensive, aren't we?" the voice asked.

"Are you kidding?" Zoroark huffed. "ATTACK is our best stat!"

"Good to know," the voice chuckled.

Absol flicked her in the head (causing Zoroark to spin several times on the spot) with a 'what-is-wrong-with-you' glare.

"So…mind telling me your names?"

"NO," both said with malice in their voices.

"Fine, fine, but I'll say mine…"

Five minutes later, in a different area…

"So THIS is what Hollow Bastion looks like," Kirlia whistled.

"It's very…town-y. Yes, very much so. Maybe it's a town," Serperior mock-pondered.

Charizard did an eye-roll and kept walking along.

The three and Goofy were walking down one of Hollow Bastion's many areas—after recovering from the fact that they were in Kingdom Hearts in the Pokémon's case. Now they were just concerned over finding the others…

Suddenly, clouds started to appear. Big, dark, sparking clouds.

"Well, that was sudden," Goofy noted.

"Should we be concerned?" Charizard asked.

"No, I'd much rather stare at them like my inner idiot," Kirlia muttered somewhat-sarcastically.

"You'd better be glad Chestnaught isn't around to hear that."

All the lighting suddenly diverted to the top of a house, where a small, shadowed figure was waiting. The lighting illuminated it as it turned around, revealing to be—

"ROTOM, WHAT DID WE TELL YOU ABOUT SUMMONING RANDOM LIGHTNING STORMS?!" Serperior moaned.

Rotom was too busy cackling like some sort of Organization XIII member to notice.

"That's kind of scary, actually…" Goofy said slowly, backing up a few steps. "Is he mental 'r somethin'?"

"…IT'S TIME TO BE AFRAID," Kirlia declared.

"Why now? Why not ten minutes ago back when we were panicking in the alley?" Serperior asked.

"Serperior," Kirlia stated, "if THAT CHARACTER—" she pointed to the intimidated Goofy "—is AFRAID of something after facing THE STORYLINE OF KH, IT'S TIME TO BE AFRAID."

"…o…kay?" Serperior trailed.

One of the bolts of lightning struck something previously unnoticed in the sky, igniting it and sending it spiraling to the ground like a comet of fail.

"SHRAKA!" it squawked as it hit, a smoldering pile of burning feathers and ash.

"OH MY ARCEUS A PHOENIX!" Charizard gasped. "ONE OF THE MAGIFICENT SUBSPECIES OF MOLTRE—oh, never mind, it's just Swellow."

"Well EXCUSE ME for not being an involuntary fire bird!" Swellow shouted weakly, coughing up ash. "I thought we told Rotom no more electric storms?!"

"That is what I said!" Serperior shouted, helping him to his talons.

"Hey there, Swellow!" Goofy greeted warmly. "Sorry ya got struck by lightning, though…"

"No worries, it happens all the time with no side effects!" Swellow chirped happily. "It happens all the time with no side effects! It happens all the time with no side effects! It happens all the time with no side effects! It happens all the time with no side effects! It happens—"

"UGH, where's his post-lighting-struck medication when he needs it?" Charizard groaned in a face-claw as Swellow continued ranting that there were no side effects no side effects no side effects no side effects—

NOW HE'S GOT ME DOING IT!

"Reev's here!" Kirlia gasped. "I heard her say something just now!"

"From where?!" Goofy shouted excitedly, glancing around wildly as if the author was going to appear in a flash.

. . .

"We lost her," Swellow sighed. "We lost her. We lost her. We lost her. We—"

"That was REALLY CLOSE, though!" Serperior encouraged. "She must be in Hollow Bastion somewhere!"

"And if we find her," Goofy said, "we can find the others, too, with her magic author-powers or somethin'!"

"I bet you five bucks she doesn't call them that," Kirlia rasped as they ran off in the narration's direction.

"Are you sure you wanna gamble over finding your author?"

"Sure! I gamble with Treeko all the time, don't I?"

…Is the scene over? It's over!

Back with Chestnaught and Treeko…

Treeko laid on the ground in a disheveled mess, bruised and battered and down to 3 HP.

"So cold…" he whimpered at the fringe of his voice, "everything's as cold as a Glaceon…"

"That's what you get!" Chestnaught huffed before returning to his cheery, curious self. "Now, where are we?"

"Hollow…Bastion…" from Treeko.

"That's from Kingdom Hearts, isn't' it?" Chestnaught asked hopefully.

Treeko nodded weakly, slowly getting up while using his sword as a cane.

"Then we're on the right track! Let's find the others!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"…you realize I just saw that whole fight scene, right?" Flygon said from an alley nearby.

Shaymin was hiding behind him while Fennekin was sitting in front. She looked disappointed, asking, "Aww, it's over already? I've got to try those moves on Frogadier sometime!"

"No," Flygon scolded before looking back to Chestnaught. "Come on; we ought to stick together. I hear Hollow Bastion's an Absol-ute maze."

"…HAHAHAHA, Absol-ute," Fennekin laughed.

Chestnaught flung the broken Treeko onto Flygon's back, Shaymin tagging along (and showing a genuine mistrust of Chestnaught in the process) as they headed off to find the others.

One entire morning and afternoon of looking later…

"Alright, is that everyone?" Sora asked, exhausted.

Quilava, Buizel, and Luxio had been found logged in a trashcan together; Frogadier had been swimming in a sewer-water river next to Flygon's party and gave Fennekin a repeated experience of the Animals are Crossing chapter; lastly, Sora and Donald showed up with a bunch of suspicious, Heartless-originating black spots on their clothes.

"WAIT! Where's Zoroark?!" Serperior exclaimed, panicked. "And I haven't seen Absol, either!"

"Relax, Serperior," Quilava comforted, "they're two Dark types in Kingdom Hearts; what could possibly go wrong?"

. . .

"…well, your author didn't say anything about it," Sora noted, "so I betcha they're fine!"

"Speaking of the author," Donald spoke up, "we heard her in one of the alleys!"

"WHAT?!" all the Pokémon who weren't present at the time exclaimed.

"Yea!" Swellow added. "She complained about me repeating myself! She complained about me repeating myself! She complained about me repeating—"

"Did he get struck by lightning AGAIN?" Flygon moaned.

"What, as if the burnt feathers didn't tell you that?" Kirlia deadpanned.

"Hey, can we get back to finding the author?" Charizard interrupted.

"When would she speak up in your book?" Sora asked before pausing. "…or is this her book now…?"

"I think we're still in her book, since you're here," Goofy started, jesturing to the Pokemon, "but we're in Hollow Bastion, so it isn' her book, but we heard her in the alley, so—"

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Donald squawked.

NO IDEA!

"Who was that?" Sora gasped suddenly.

"That was Reevee!" Serperior answered cheerfully. "QUICK! SOMEONE STATE THE OBVIOUS!"

"Uh, THE SKY IS BLUE!" Rotom shouted.

O…kay?

"That way!" Chestnaught determined, mimicking Christopher Columbus for a brief moment before running off in the directing.

The small stampede that followed ended up at the Hollow Bastion Recreation Unit's main base.

…that IS what it's called, right? I'll check a wiki real quick…

Oh, NEVERMIND, it's Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. Main base. You know what I'm talking about, right? That one house…?

"She's definitely in there, I can SMELL the naivety!" Luxio declared, taking in a dramatic breath through his nose to prove it. "And naivety smells a lot like dairy products!"

Quilava gave him an odd look before shaking his head and propping the door open a crack.

Sora and several others put their ears to it, hearing the conversation inside:

"So, seventy-four chapters' worth of work—and then some—completely gone."

"Yup."

"Just….gone."

"Yes."

"I SPENT MY LIFE'S WORK ON THAT!"

"And we don't even know if the guys made it out alive!"

"Wouldn't Reevee know?"

"Heck, if I'm not there, they'd be dead already!"

Quilava gasped. He put his eye to the crack, seeing none other than Reevee21 and the rest of the Narrative Platform alive—angered and bleary-eyed, but alive and standing in front of a handful of certain Final Fantasy Characters.

First ?: Well, I guess we know how it ends up from here.

Second ?: Hey, who knows? Reev's probably got something REAL good cooked up for them! That's what they said, anyway.

First ?: Whatever. To the readers, be sure to review, follow, and favorite, she appreciates the care even if she's in Hollow Bastion with a bunch of Final Fantasy characters I will never hope to memorize.

Second ?: *mumbling* those guys are from Final Fantasy? Who knew…?

First ?: And…*facepalm noise* hug an Eevee. THERE, I SAID IT.

Second ?: We make good narrators!

First ?: That phrase will forever haunt me…

?: Axel, Demyx, what are you doing?

First and Second ?: OH SHOOT-