The forest was darker than the island in general. You could sense that it was in these shadowed trees and out of sight places that Darkness, if any, would be found. The child in the green costume looked strange, but he blended so well in a forest you lost sight of him immediately. Slithering around trees, you decided to skip going the long way and floated towards the girl dangling from a tree branch. As you drew close, something about her... the faintest glimmer of-
Light escaping your chest. A beautiful golden light... a red heart...
You moved back as if burned. The memory fleeting. Shaking your head, you eyed the girl whose blonde hair curled up in a weird bob. Her red scarf and rough appearance did not hint at any such light you sense a moment before.
Distance war cries of the boy echoed through the forest. The boy was coming closer. To your surprise, dark shadows rose up off the ground. You had a strange desire to hate the action, but what appeared was not shadows... but ugly pig men.
They had jutting jaws, wearing orange coats that covered their almost black skin. Large bat ears and beady evil eyes were enhanced by a distasteful skull belt buckle. They lacked a weapon thankfully.
They both looked up at the girl and cackled gleefully. They had dismissed you. You did not like being dismissed. It was rude.
You turned and caressed your shotgun leaned forward, defying gravity as you cuddled the weapon to grab their attention.
"Hello boys," you said smoothly. Both of them blinked and then breathed out hot steamed breath out their snouts, flushing.
"Goodbye boys."
You fired.
The single round exploded out the weapon like a ball of crackling grey. It hit one moblin and tore through it, causing it to explode into a plume of dark shadows. The other one stared and ran at you with fury. It swung its fists at you. You curled around his clumsy attempts, ending above and behind the strange creature.
Your gun slammed into its head fiercely. The moblin fell forward, dazed.
Moblin hp: 31
You gave it another hard hit and it poofed away too. Leaving behind a glimmer red gem. You picked the thing up and it tinged nicely, it was a shame you lacked anywhere to put it... unless...
You channel nothing into the gem and it began to crackle loudly with energy... after a moment, someone speaks up as the energy died down.
"Call by the covenant... bound by brotherhood... by the bindings of oblivion you have conjured me..." the voice said gravely.
You turned to see someone in a weirdly familiar cloak.
This being floated four feet off the ground and had a large poofy red pom thing stick up through the hood.
"Kupo."
"I am the Moogle that never was. Account holder of all Organization Funds and resources. Are you here to make a deposit, Kupo?" the being asked. At your staring, he tilted his head.
"Greetings, Kupo... what is your name?" the thing asked.
"Eraqus," you said and the Moogle nodded.
"Your unique account has been created. Any currency input will be turned into universal Munny and changed to suit whatever World currency you need. The ratio is always 1:1. Worlds with multiple currencies will be accepted at the same conversion rate, Kupo." The Moogle explained.
"That is worth 20 Rupies, so you now have 20 Munny. Remember, using the Moogle Banking System to exploit or cause unbalance in a world's economy is subject to your account being frozen. Kupo, we help travellers travel... not rule," the moogle warned.
"Any other rules?" you asked as the girl above mumbled in her sleep.
"We don't store hearts; we're not arks. If you become infamous in a world or well known enough to be considered a fugitive, our services cannot be offered to you in that world," the moogle said and handed you a card.
The card vanished when you touched it.
"Now you will draw whatever money you need. Please keep an eye open for our sister branches 'Moogle Crafting Business' and 'Moogle Shopping Network'. May Oblivion be with you, Eraqus the Nobody... Kupo," the being vanished.
You turned to see the girl waking up, shaking on her branch as the green boy appeared, dirt on his face and leaves in his hair. The branch snapped and you watched calmly as she landed hard on her rear, yelping.
She stood up, turning to look at the boy then at you...
"What the heck? What is with that get up?" she pointed to the boy then at you.
"And what even are you? Someone's toy?" she demanded hotly. You saw she had a hand on her curved knife at her side. She pondered something.
"That bird grabbed me..." she said slowly, looking dazed and confused. If you were to avoid being shanked by the fireplug, you'd best speak now.
"I'm nobody of importance, you may call me Eraqus," you said, startling her. The boy spoke, his voice as quiet as a gentle breeze.
"Link..." he said shyly.
The girl eyed you both then grinned.
"A fairy boy and a weirdo came to save me? Don't know why, but that kind cheers me up a little... Alright, you have my thanks, the name is Tetra, Pirate Captain," she crossed her hands and winked.
"You're welcome on my ship for grub or a quick ride," she added and you felt a sincere thanks under the gruff uncaring facade.
Link blinked then smiled.
10 EXP gained.
You felt the bond to this world become clearer to you. Along with some more power filling your empty vessel.
Moblin x 2 = 10 EXP
You filtered it into the Sharpshooter and felt the power finally become solid.
Sharpshooter is now level 1: Gains +2 dodge on incoming close combat attacks.
In your meanders of power, Tetra and Link ended up walking you back to the entrance of the forest where some gruff looking pirate mothered and cried over Tetra's safe return. It was odd to see a grown man mothering so hard.
You walked out to the open exposed air on the far side of the bridge once more. You had a strange feeling when you caught a whiff of a scent on the air. It was bitter and cloying at first but revealed itself to have an aromatic core. The scent lingered about as if sticking to the world around you...
Your attention was caught by movement on the other side of the bridge. A young blonde girl was waving, wearing a pretty dress and showing a joyful smile.
"Link!" she laughed and Link waved back. A relative, perhaps? The girl began to jog cheerfully towards the group across the bridge.
A shape emerged directly from the angle of the sun, using the light as a blindspot to move in without anyone noticing. It covered the sky and a shape swooped past so fast a gale exploded a second after. The bird held the girl in its talons as it made a swift escape.
Link drew his sword and took a running charge, fear and anger on his face. He was going to try and leap the hundred of feet between the cliff and the fading bird. You reached out, but Tetra caught him before you did.
"Uhnn! Stupid kid! Get ahold of yourself! She's gone! There's nothing you can do!" Tetra warned as she struggled to pull Link back up.
You watched the fading shadow of the bird.
You didn't think this was going to be a simple thing to fix. Even you could only ignore reality for so long until you got tired...
E...qu...
You went still.
Eraq..s!
That sounded like... Riku. You tilted your head and wondered how long you had been gone? You watched as the giant pirate man that was Tetra's second carry the defeat looking lad across the bridge.
Tetra eyed you.
"You wanna bail, go for it. Ship rides an open offer. I'll have to tell the kid he can't come. He's all emotional and I... can't have wimps on my ship," she decided.
"Thank you, I need to return to a friend. He gets grumpy if I leave too long" you said and walked back into the forest. You opened a portal and returned as quickly as you could to Riku's side.
You entered to see Riku being slammed hard into the wall by a man in a black cloak. His slicked back spiky ginger hair and physically imposing stature was rather eye catching. Well, Riku just outted you a tad.
Ah well, it wasn't like you cared too much. Or at all. The no emotion thing was great for being stress free.
"Riku... just because I beat up an elephant didn't mean you had to go try fighting the next tallest thing you found," you said dryly. The man turned to stare at you.
"Dusk... you were not summoned," he rumbled as he held Riku's entire head in one hand, the boy's feet dangling in defiance as he tried to kick out at the man.
"Your child grabbing hands were not summoned either, but here we are," you pointed your shotgun.
You fired out a bunch of cubes that fly at the man, each one hot flushing pink. Perhaps due to some lingering effects of Link and Tetra's world, they sparkle as well. The man turned to move, but one got his knee, his stomach and the last one his face. Each made a puff-puff noise as they hit
He dropped Riku, who bounced out of reach with a heavy pant.
The blocks exploded as his aura blazed red and black.
"I, Lexaeus, will not yield to the frail heart, of an infantile coward nor his pet Dusk! Now, stop resisting, and let the darkness in!" Lexaeus proclaimed and the world turned purple. For once...
You were taken along.
The room changed to a huge round platform with symbols branded in white on it which a void spread out in all directions. You saw Lexaeus and Riku stare at each other.
What were they waiting on...
"2-5-1!" Riku rushed in and Lexaeus looked unimpressed.
"0," he retorted and slammed Riku hard into the ground. You stared, were they making cards that hovered over them?
You didn't have cards.
"You're lucky this castle restricts my power..." Lexaeus began and you shot the card he tried to put down. The 9 exploded and both of them turned to stare at you now.
"I prefer dominoes," you said calmly.
"What? How did..." he trailed off and stared at your body. You followed his gaze to see a golden zero blazing on your chest.
"A zero card on legs," the stoic man commented and turned to aim cards at you.
HP reduced to 1. Zero cards can defeat any card, but any card can defeat them. Play wisely.
Riku slid into view, blocking the next attack.
"I'll cover you. You take shots from a distance," he encouraged with a thumbs up. You, having a certain weakness fill you, decided to act first.
You cast another set of cubes to act as barrier around you. The reflect spell was much stronger but needed pinpoint timing to use...
You focused so hard on a barrier that a giant diamond shape box surrounded you then another... then another.
You cube spell had provided.
Tri-Cube Shield: Cost: All NP currently. Free cast due to crit. Learned. Summons 3 shields. Soaks up one hit or ten damage per shield. If an attack does 30 damage, all shields are gone. If attack does multi-hits, shields will fade in one go.
Lexaeus saw the shield and decided to swing his weird tomahawk weapon at Riku instead. The boy rolled furiously over the side slash and pointed his goth sword at Lexaeus' back. Lexaeus moved like someone his size should not.
He spun, hitting Riku hard with the flat end of his weapon. Riku cried out as he was flung hard. He nearly fell off the platform but managed to hang on.
Riku: 3025
Well, that just wasn't on. Lexaeus dashed over to Riku and you lined up your boomstick and fired. His dash was already in motion and he had ignored you to go after the obvious threat.
Not a smart thinker, but rather forward.
He must have heard the bang, because he pushed hard to the side and flew in another direction. Your shot flying overhead. It definitely bought Riku time. Lexaeus swung his sword and a pillar of earth slammed into one of your barriers, the outermost layer breaking apart. His aura returned, just barely a flicker over his skin.
Lexaeus looked between you and the now ready Riku. He shot straight up pointing his sword down.
"Shatter!" he roared.
You and Riku had a moment to act before he plunged down.
Riku threw his sword, a golden zero on the blade making Lexaeus' eyes go wide as his aura was smashed apart and his body sent flying.
Lexaeus HP: 50 46
You fired on his unprotected back with a fire spell, the embers burning white. It splashed hard against the man and he cried out as he was sent back the other way like a volleyball. Riku, surprised, almost let him fly past, but kicked off one of the pillars around the arena and slashed Lexaeus back at you.
Lexeaus twisted in the air and sent himself off the arena instead of letting you hit him.
Lexeaus HP: 4631
You watched as the guy shot into the air like an angry comet, his aura overflowing with rage. He twisted and from his body a giant comet of rock sailed towards you, quickly concealing Lexaeus behind its massive form.
Riku rolled like a demon and you turned to run but Lexaeus must have smacked the comet on the far side because it suddenly sped up and you felt both barriers crunch under the attack, but you were unharmed.
The comet carried you far off the platform.
"Eraqus! Riku yelled out but the platform was quickly becoming smaller. You felt his bond reach for you. How much he had appreciated you coming for him. How glad he wasn't alone...
And now he had gotten you killed.
How dramatic; that heart of Riku.
In that heart, a terrible darkness tried to overflow. It tried to leech off the pain and anguish Riku was feeling. You stared at it dispassionately.
"Deary dear... what is it with strays and getting attached?" you mused as you fell into the abyss, tugging on that darkness. In this realm, there was darkness... maybe even light.
But at the heart of it all?
Oblivion.
-
Riku lowered his hand as he shook his head. The comet in the distance hit some ground and imploded, most likely killing Eraqus... his only real companion in this castle.
"Such is the nature of Nobodies. Ethereal, unimportant, pitiful," Lexaeus said, landing on the platform. In his tone, there was no hate or bragging. Just a factual tone.
Riku gripped his hand and felt hate rising up in his own chest.
"Do not cry for it. It never truly existed-" the man went on and Riku turned, hands pulsing with shadowy fire.
"Shut up! Shut up! He helped save me. He brought me food! He told me where he went... stories. Eraqus was my friend," Riku pointed his sword with a shaking hand.
"You will join him soon if you do not accept Darkness into your heart once more," the man said gravely and raised his sword.
Riku squeezed his eyes shut, everything hurt.
Press △ to call out!
"Eraqus!" Riku screamed.
The pillar shook and both of them stumbled.
"I bring you snacks, I bring you soda... what more do you want?" a voice called. Riku turned and looked up and up as the giant figure that easily dwarfed almost any other Heartless he had seen. Four blue scarfs wiggled like live snakes over shoulders that pointed out sharply.
"Lot of nothing and darkness about here in this arena. Shame if someone were to use it," Eraqus's voice came out of the giant thing.
"How did... Dusks cannot do this!" Lexaeus pointed with his sword, looking furious. Riku jumped into the open hand, trusting his friend.
"Sorry ginger, but I'm no Dusk," Eraqus said calmly and with his other hand conjured a giant wizard's hat which he placed on his head, the scarfs coiling around it, attaching to the black ribbon.
"I'm Eraqus and I have snacks," he warned and Riku could feel the power in his friend's body.
The former Dusk snapped his free hand once and the sky exploded with light as a distant sun began to set. The clouds above turned dark, but light still lingered.
Dusk.
"Go... follow your heart," Eraqus said and threw Riku high into the sky. Lexaeus tried to rush after them but Eraqus swirled around, stretched and slapping him down. Riku closed his eyes, feeling Eraqus in his heart, showing him that thinnest of lines between the hungry dark and illusive light.
A path of twilight. His heart pulsed with light growing as Eraqus seemed to draw in the dark. The Dusk to his Dawn.
He focused on it and held his sword up. The orange and black clouds surged down as Eraqus leapt high up to Riku. He turned and held his hands out. A massive cannon that was bigger than the building at Hollow Bastion appeared in a swirl of dark and light. Riku landed at the top and saw something like a thin keyhole close to where Eraqus braced it on his shoulder.. He slammed his Soul Eater into it and the cannon powered to life with that same mix of light and dark.
Lexaeus must have been stunned, but he moved with a blazing aura to summon the biggest comet he could. He hurled it at them, the rock bathed in hot fire., but Riku turned his sword once more, sending the cannon into a shaking titan of power.
"Lexaeus... you shouldn't be so harsh on us nothings. We offer a lot," Eraqus said easily and pointed to the barrel which Riku saw when he was falling, looking like a giant twin barrel in the shape of a Zero.
"I guess Lexaeus just hit rock bottom," Eraqus added before he fired. Riku groaned but it was lost in the roar of the cannon.
"Era of Dusk: Cannon of Zero!" they both roared. The energy destroying the tiny realm they fought in.
-
The white room was blinding... It really was blinding. I stared at the man breaking apart into motes of nothing. He had looked so tiny before, but I knew that form wasn't going to last. It was... a friendship moment boost. I felt confident that I wielded it well.
"Darkness... you are weak. Even the Dus...Eraqus knows this. He uses it with abandonment because he has nothing to lose... be like him, Riku... and you shall go far," Lexaeus said through a pained whisper.
Riku just stared.
"I don't need the darkness, not like that. I can already feel him wriggling free... awoken thanks to my hate," Riku said regretfully.
"Zexion... forgive me. This fight was not to be... mine," the man closed his eyes and faded away. His body flaking away in wisps that felt sad rather than dramatic. You watched as something was left behind. It was an orb with a familiar weapon symbol on it. It glinted a deep earthen brown.
You pointed to it.
"Mind?" you asked politely but Riku just looked confused.
"There's nothing there," he said uncertainty. You picked it up and it sank into your noodle arm.
Many things happened at once.
Lexaeus fight 100 EXP.
Orb of Silent Hero Obtained.
Obtained: Warrior of Silence class to be levelled up.
Warrior class gets special bonuses due to defeating a member of Org 13.
If class is equipped: +5 HP. 1 Damage reduction from physical damage. Rolling double on an attack damage does critical damage.
All classes: Earth spell unlocked.
New power unlocked!
Earth Titan: Call upon this form to lose all magic and suffer -10 on speed rolls but gain +10 on attack rolls, +10 HP, and 5 damage reduction from Physical attacks and absorb earth magic. Lasts 5 turns. Warrior class will be unavailable until rest.