"I need a break. I'm going to go rest up and make sure Naminé doesn't need anything," Riku explained, sounding as tired as he promised, as you both walked the streets of the strangely peaceful Twilight Town. This World had a strange effect on you... it was... hard to explain but there was a hint of belonging here that was alien and familiar.
"This place... Tell me, cookie, do you feel anything being here?" you had to ask. Riku shrugged.
"The urge to be lazy in the afternoon and have fun, but that's the kind of place this is. It's lethargic but not malicious," he explained then he nodded as if this made sense.
"DiZ said this world is between light and dark. It's the closest people can come to that line between either that is neither...a void before one force overcomes the other. Twilight, Dusk. The empty word between. Supposedly he's got a theory on a World that has to exist in the polar opposite of Twilight Town," he yawned.
Why did everything just lead to more questions?
"Maybe that explains this odd feeling within me. Emptiness recognizing emptiness," you mused. Riku shot you a look.
"Not really empty. I've fought the other Dusks, you're way better as a person," he argued. Sweet of him.
"Thanks, cookie. Still, I'm empty enough, I suppose. I am still without a heart after all." you reminded. Riku frowned.
"Don't let people that have Hearts look down on you. I had a strong Heart and it didn't help when I was being an idiot," he said quietly.
"It might not have helped you in the past, but it seems your heart is steering you right now. You are working to help your dear friend, as well as strangers you've never met," you said calmly and Riku gave you a surprised look but he merely smiled softly before you spoke on.
"Is there anything else you wish to do here? We seem to have been permitted to be here by a force of this world and we do have one person we could check upon." You paused before the crack in the wall that would lead to the mansion.
"I brought us here. So, don't worry. I'm heading on, do you have people to check elsewhere?" Riku asked, brushing his growing hair back.
"I should check up on people," you admitted and Riku grinned.
"Busy guy for someone with no Heart," he teased.
"I try my best. Remember to call on me if you ever need my help," you nodded once.
"Don't take my lines," Riku said warmly as he walked off, waving over one shoulder as he vanished into the shadowy forest.
You turned and focused on the space, deciding to track down Cindy. It had been a while. A portal opened and you stepped through.
Portal roll: Crit fail.
The portal destabilized almost instantly. It jerked sideways and violently to the right as World in the darkness between churned as a second World, almost like a shadow, shimmered in an overlapping appearance.
The only 'solid' thing in the mess was a large space-elevator like structure leading up to a large dome ship.
You crashed into a crack as something happening the world weakened a barrier that would have utterly splattered you or any other invader like a fly on a windshield at any other moment. One of the shadows was brimming with energy and vitality but at the moment, the energy in the World's Heart began to reverse, flowing to the withered Heart of the other World entwined with it. Like a series of pipes with precious water in it.
The disturbing thing was something was 'controlling' the process. The space elevator was the 'valve', but that was all you could see before you smashed at the bottom of the elevator which seemed to exist on 'both' worlds at the same time somehow.
You appeared, inside the space elevator tower, crashing with a slight flail as you landed on a strange floating box that was swirling in the air under some unseen force. "I suppose an unexpected stroll isn't something to get too worried about. Most of my more interesting friends are met this way," you muttered.
You took a long look at the box and saw it was a sleek coffin... floating in the air in a spiral of... hundreds of floating coffins. You looked down to see there was a central platform with some strangely colourful characters. The weirdest was the floating blonde girl, a dying man on the ground with a panicked tone.
"-ngel, the ultimate being, lose to a group of humans?" the man spat. The platform and space had massive roots wrapping around the platform like this whole shaft was nothing but a tube for some large tree to grow down. The boy in red ignored him, pleading to the girl floating with wings of light and energy lifelessly above.
"Colette, come back to us! I'm going to restore you back to your normal self! I promise!" he pleaded, reaching as if the space between them could be ignored by will alone.
The girl did not respond. Even from here, you could see something that would have made you recoil in revolution if you could feel the emotion. Her Heart, something you could sense had been slowly shut off from her body and soul. Like each piece of the Heart had been medically sliced and tied closed, trapping it in a green lattice, where it was held still, like a prisoner.
She was alive, but as a person. She was dead.
"Colette…have you really forgotten me?" the boy whispered, voice breaking into a thousand pieces. There was a pulse of the Heart inside Colette, but it could not find a way to the boy.
You floated there for a moment before someone stepped forward to look down at the group of two silver-haired people, a woman and boy, a ninja woman, and the red boy. The newcomer was a man in purple with deep auburn hair and a tight grip on a sword at his hip.
Your scan must have detected something wrong because it flipped on its own.
Kratos Aurion: Human/Seraphim
HP: 2500
MP: 5000
Okay, that was dangerous indeed.
"You're wasting your time. Not only did she lose her memory, but she has lost the soul to listen to your words. Now Colette is merely a puppet standing before death's door," the man said far too calmly. The rest clearly knew him, and even looked...shocked.
"Kratos!" the boy cried in alarm. The boy in red just looked pissed.
"Where have you been?! What are you saying?!" he demanded, hands on his swords. The man simply looked uninterested.
"The Chosen desired the regeneration of the world and chose this path herself. By the summoning of the Chosen to Derris-Kharlan, the seal will be broken and the regeneration will be complete," he went on coldly.
"Kratos?…What are you talking about?" the boy asked, almost pleading for the man to just... look at him.
"It is what you wanted as well, remember? To save this world. We will take the Chosen as the new body for Martel," Kratos reminded without any sympathy.
"What are you talking about?! Kratos…answer me!" the boy screamed in rage.
"Lord Kratos, have pity on me. Please…lend me your aid." the man on the ground crawled towards Kratos, his white wings bloody.
This was like a drama show, you were slightly hooked.
Kratos scoffed and glared down at the angel with such scorn that you felt slightly burned from it.
"Have you forgotten, Remiel? I was once of the inferior race…a human. Does the ultimate being seek help from that which he despises the most?" he asked with a humourless tone.
The man died, his last choking cries a curse at the man known as Kratos. You saw his Heart leave his body, far fainting than any heart you had ever seen. The Heart was almost immediately sucked up the tunnel and out of sight.
The red boy stared in shocked horror.
"Kratos…who are you?" he whispered and Kratos' body emanated a glowing light that came from both his Heart and the Gem on the back of his hand, a gem surrounded by a gold seal of sorts. The glow died down to reveals azure angel wings.
"…I am of Cruxis, the organization that guides this world. I am one of the Four Seraphim, sent forth to keep close watch over the Chosen," he announced and the scary thing was that you felt he was now more dangerous than before in this state.
"Kratos is an angel, too?!" the boy asked, aghast. "You deceived us!" the ninja woman accused, holding talismans like weapons. The response was a laugh.
"Deceived? If the Chosen merges with Martel, she will awaken, and the world will be saved. Is that not what you wanted?" he asked, perhaps sardonically smiling. This time, the mature silver-haired woman spoke up, her voice flat and tight.
"Once her body is taken by the Goddess of Martel, Colette will truly die," she said quietly to the shock of the others. You were slowly feeling for the hole in the barrier in which you came in. It wasn't like you were just watching the show.
"No. She will be reborn as Martel," Kratos said, his voice a verdict of the heavens itself.. The boy drew his twin swords and snarled.
"…Dammit! You think I'm going to let you do that?! Colette is our friend!" he warned and charged. They all charged.
Kratos raised his sword and his voice cut through the large space.
"Judgement," he intoned.
There was a flare of white light and several narrow beams rained down over the platform explode at the sides of each of the people, blowing them back or hard against barriers around the platform. The damage was immense, but each beam... missed the target entirely and the spell itself felt muffled as if it was messily cast.
Krato's face, for the briefest moment that the red boy came close to flying off the edge was... alive with alarm before it vanished as quickly as it came. That was... strange.
"Why... you were our friend! You ate with us... you fought with us... you promised we'd go on a boat ride to collect all the EX spheres and stop suffering!" the boy screamed, slamming his fist into the undamaged platform over and over in rage, tears flowing freely.
Kratos appeared before him, moving fast as hell, sword raised, poised to strike the boy down, but Kratos hesitated, the sword shaking once.
"Urgh..." he grunted.
That was when every inch of your physical form screamed in some primal instinct to run. To hide... some dormant animal remnant leftover from where your Heart trembled as a glass platform behind the floating girl lit up.
A man... no... a BEING floated forward on shimmering wings that were too many to count.
"I guess not even you could bring yourself to fight against such an opponent…" came a mirthful male voice from the glowing figure. Kratos turned and bowed with little fear from the boy behind him.
"Lord Yggdrasil," Kratos intoned. The angel wore a flowing white garb with gold hemming and a large gem imbedded in a necklace laid on his chest. His hair was the lightest of gold and his green eyes were bored...uncaring.
Your scan reported back weakly.
'Yggdrasil': Half-Elf/Arch-Angel
HP: 7500
MP: 10,000
Master of Eternal Sword.
The angel ignored Kratos.
"Are you Lloyd?" he inquired as if this was a normal everyday event for him. The boy, and you would give him credit for this, looked up and grinned in a cocky manner.
"Give me your name, and I'll give you mine!" he threw back. You got Riku vibes from him, but maybe dumber. Yggdrasill laughed with a cruel tone.
"Really…people need not introduce themselves to a dog," he said, dismissing the boy. Ouch...
The boy stood in anger and you saw Kratos twitched as if he wanted to yank Lloyd back.
"Maybe a dog would have manners compares to 'people' like you," he accused. The angel was eyeing Colette with a creepy gleam to his stare. He did speak after a moment.
"Fine, I shall tell you my name, wretched human. I am Yggdrasill. Leader of Cruxis…and the Desians!" he announced. Then those green eyes landed on you. There was no shock or surprise. He had known you were here the whole time.
"And for something that appears to be even more wretched than even a human. Join us," he ordered you.
You jumped and floated down easily. You could tell nobody but the shiny angel had noticed you.
"I would've preferred to let things blow over, but it appears that would be impossible now. Still, I must say I find what I've seen rather intriguing," you said and Yggdrasill hummed, floating around you slowly.
"What a bizarre oddity. I swore when I cut this world in twain, I made sure to keep your ilk...out," he said, almost whispering to you.
"Oh? Do you recognize what I am? That is also interesting. Still, I must say my appearance here was a fluke. A 'wrong turn' of sorts while travelling," you replied and Lloyd pointed, mouth open.
"What the heck is that weird...sock thing?!" he demanded. The world-splitter before you snorted.
"A vessel with no pilot. A boat without its captain. A tool with no master. I useful thing, but Martel will never be sullied by being hosted by such a pathetic existence," he announced.
"You are not brethren of Shadow, so I don't feel the need to rip you apart atom by atom and shatter the Heart inside. Do feel lucky," Yggdrasill announced and floated forward, flexing a hand. A round glass portion of the floor between the twin stairs that led to the portal glowed and a massive purple great sword with a golden handle and set red sem rose out of the glass like it was water. Yggdrasill didn't grab the sword, but simply gestured and the sword exploded with pure energy, slamming Lloyd into a pillar of the platform and making you take a step back.
"I tire of this distraction. It is time for the girl to fulfil her purpose," Yggdrasill announced. What a wonderful event. No good ways out, your two potential enemies were super racist angel and angsty traitor angel, and the blonde girl, Colette, look like she was as emotional as someone working an office job.
You knew the lack of feeling well.
What you didn't expect was for twenty or so men in metal helmets and one guy with aggressive hair and a neat goatee to storm in, firing lasers at the angels.
Like... you would take it!
"Damn! The Chosen has already become an angel! We have no choice. We're taking her back with us alive!" the main guy ordered. Yggdrasill looked like he could take hits, but he flipped out of the way. Were the weapons good or was he just not a fan of pain?
More soldiers poured in as the group and Lloyd were carried into a pad that rapidly unfolded itself to a glowing light. Colette was ushered into the portal as Yggdrasill began to slaughter the invaders with bursts of light, melting them to dust and light.
You were eyed by the man.
"Come with me if you wish to live," he said simply and ducked into the shrinking portal.
Why not? It beat the murder angels.
You floated through the portal just before it snapped closed and the pad exploded, leaving no way to be followed.
Kratos watched as Yggdrasill scowled, vanishing into the teleporter after... erasing the rest of the grunts. He stared at the space and didn't dare smile.
"Hmm…saved by the Renegades. Don't die, Lloyd," he said under his breath before closing his eyes.
"For your mother's sake," he finished, his Heart aching from the pain that would never heal.
They were staring at you. Lloyd was unconscious on the bed. Colette stared into nothing like a pro at being a Nobody. The women were tense, but...
"I'm Genis, who are you? Are you a monster? Are you an angel? How come you have no eyes? Why is your Mana weird?" the kid pestered.
"I believe it is more polite to give someone time to answer when asking them questions," you said dryly and inhaled.
"Nobody important, depends on your prejudice, no, rude, and I have none. In order of questions," you fired back. Genis rested back on his heels, resting his head on his arms.
"Genis, get away from it," the woman in the orange over-head cloak warned sharply. She glared at you and despite the anger, you didn't feel like it was...actually aimed at you. It took you a moment to place the emotion.
Grief and betrayal. The woman hovered near Colette, scared to touch her as the eyes never blinked. The body didn't even breathe anymore.
"She's not going to shatter. I can see it from here. Her heart is bound in chains, piece by piece cutaway and locked up in a crystal prison for each part. I'm not the best when it comes to emotions, but I can at least assure you she is still inside her body," you offered and the women shared a look.
"Given it turns out the state was inflicted by Cruxis and their gems... how did you know that? A traitor to the angels?" the woman asked coldly.
"Raine..." Genis said with exasperation at her attitude.
"When that Angel, Yggdrasil, was describing me, he wasn't waxing poetics. I am a body without a heart. A vessel held together by will power. When it comes to sensing for that which I lack, I am more than a bit capable. Not perfect, but I am better than most. This emptiness allows me to glimpse at others Hearts," you offered politely and calmly. This woman was in pain and her lashing out was... understandable.
"Like a familiar or a fetish? Just energy and a limited mind to adjust to outside stimuli?" the ninja woman asked, her soft purple outfit and almost shy expression did nothing to conceal her...
Training.
"No, my mind is not limited. I am what is left when the Heart leaves the Body behind. If the process of removing her heart had been less precise. I am an example of what she may have become," you corrected.
"I take it... you do not mean the organ. This is all so fascinating. Are you perhaps a creature from ancient times that the angels unearthed or made long ago? A caretaker of fantastic ruins?" Raine mused, her eyes lighting up with a...maniacal gleam.
"No," you said simply.
"It doesn't seem hostile, but we could have said the same about Kratos," Sheena frowned, clearly upset she had been fooled.
"Where's your Exsphere?" Genis asked curiously, checking you over. You tilted your head at him.
"Exsphere?" you echoed, the word unfamiliar. Genis held out his bare right hand where an intricate bronze crest surrounded a blue orb that looked like it was half-melted into the limb itself. It was... weird.
"Exspheres... they unlock your power and boost your strength twice over in some cases and allow you to learn new skills at amazing speeds," Genis explained then frowned.
"From that expression, I assume that there is a price that must be paid. I don't know the details of magic, but I do know that it must always come at a cost," you said and Raine spoke up.
"Absolutely nothing of the user is lost if the key crest is used to keep it in control," she said, face stiff as she examined her own. Sheena looked sadly at her own.
"They... they develop Exspheres by planting them in human slaves as Human ranches. People are used like livestock to make them and once they're ready, they are extracted and the host dies. The very life essence and soul are sucked into the Exspheres," Genis whispered.
"A friend of my, an old sweet lady Marble... this is hers, she died protecting me and I didn't know how they were made... I...We can't stop using them. Without them we're powerless," Genis shook before he collected himself.
"With them, we continue a cycle of suffering for the remanets of the people left inside. I don't even know who mines belong to," Raine said frowning. Sheena spoke up.
"In my world... the nobles use hundreds to power a bridge. I don't think they know where they come from, but they don't care. Exspheres are too useful" she said, sounding sick.
"That is... Profoundly disturbing, and I don't even have the emotional capacity for disgust, to begin with," you said seriously. Genis frowned, but you understood he wasn't judging you, but confused.
"No emotions? But wait, so... you avoiding fighting? Is that why you were spying on us in the tower?" he pressed on.
"Not necessarily. But when I arrived I had no idea what was going on. My arrival there was accidental. I just happened to be there and my intervention wouldn't have amounted to much more than me existing even less," you promised then added after a moment, "Only where I have yet to form any attachment to the ongoing conflict do I hide. It's easier that way," you promised.
"Are you from Tethe'alla? That angel, Yggdrasill said you were from the outside. Are you from my world?" Sheena spoke up suddenly, eyes focused.
"There are more worlds than are thought of in your philosophy. I come from outside, put simply. Outside the bubble that surrounds both your worlds," you explained as Lloyd groaned softly but didn't yet wake.
"The Underworld..." Raine whispered.
"Niflheim," Sheena said slowly in awe.
"No.. outside, not the demon world. We sensed demon energy before and this isn't it. You came from the stars!" Genis said excitedly.
"The small one's hypothesis is the most correct of those presented," you said as the bedroom of sorts slowly drew your attention.
"Angels and now aliens. What next? Are we to enter hell itself?" Raine muttered. Lloyd shifted and the others rush to his side, leaving you and Colette alone. You could introduce yourself or... you could examine this heart closer...
The girl's Heart was suppressed in every way possible. The energy for the body to live seemed to be coming from the crystal on chest. The thing wasn't loose but sunk into her body. Tiny white veins pulsed every so often from the gem to Colette. You got nearer and you had the barest sense that the Mana in the air around Colette was slowly diminishing, but the air was also becoming more... richer by the second.
As if this world was producing Mana for the first time in a long time. The girl's body was using Mana to cover all her needs. If she was ever placed in a sealed room from Mana, she died within the hour, you were sure of it.
"And what the hell is that thing?!" Lloyd's tone demanded as you turned. The teen was sitting up, glaring at you for being close to Colette.
"I am Eraqus, a nobody of importance. May I know your name?" you asked politely and the tone set Lloyd off as he sort dipped his head in greeting.
"Oh.. I'm Lloyd Irving. Nice to meet you," he said politely back before he paused.
"Professor... what am I talking to?" he asked blankly. Raine furrowed her brow.
"An alien, angel, demon, fetish... thing," she summed up.
"Like I said, a Nobody of Importance. What I am doesn't matter as much as what I do, right? I arrived here, quite by accident, and witnessed the ongoing conflict between you and that... Angel, it called itself. And now, seeing what has happened to this girl... I find myself drawn to the idea of helping you, if only that it might help me find a way to cure my own condition." you offered. Lloyd looked uncertain but nodded.
"Right, I don't quite get what you mean. But I'll be watching you... too much doesn't make sense right now. Dwarven Vow 32 'Cross even a stone bridge after you've tested it.' So, I'll see what you do before I judge you," Lloyd nodded sagely.
Oh, he was a tall Dwarf. Genis butted in with a grin.
"Besides, if you are evil then Vow number 7 will cover us. ' Justice and love will always win'," he said smugly. Lloyd flushed.
"I hate that one... it's so goofy," he grumbled.
"32 vows... Quite a lot. Are they all so wise in their messages?" you mused aloud and Lloyd flushed again.
"Those are indeed powerful forces, besides, goofy is good at times. Let's you have some form of light in the darkest of times," you promised as Sheena shook her head and explained to Lloyd how the people rescued you all, calling themselves Renegades.
Interestingly they dressed like a group called Desians. Desians were human slavers and Half-Elf supremacists. So, you had a faction of elves and angels not keen on the status quo of their extremely shiny overlord, Yggdrasill.
Human slaves made more sense if they used them to grow their super strength spheres over say pure malice. It didn't make it better, but simply more digestible if the suffering had a goal...any goal.
The door slid open.
"Everyone but the... hollow one is to follow me," a guard with metal helmet ordered in a red uniform.
You looked at Colette.
"That's not very nice, it's just a girl," you pointed out. There was silence before the guard clenched his teeth.
"Everyone with fingers," he stressed.
Damn, he got you there. The group slowly trailed out of the room and Raine paused as she passed, her voice low.
"Prepare to join us if things go sour. I'd rather you come with us than stay here. I've hidden some gels near the bed," she said and walked on as if she said nothing. Raine wasn't lying. You found three red bottles with gels in them and three more bottles with orange gels in them.
They also looked like gummies.
Apple Gel x 3 gained: +25 HP. Tastes of crisp apple.
Orange Gel x 3 gained! +10 NP. Does...not taste of oranges.
The room beside that was pretty normal. The king-size bed, the bookcase, the coffee table, the door, the dancing cactus in the corner, the painting of a desert, the beige rug, the vents, and so on.
You turned back to the cactus. It was tall with no legs but instead in a plant pot with a giant moustache under its merry eyes.
It wore a large cowboy hat. It was... nOrMaL.
You went over to it and touched it slowly. The entire thing exploded into a plume of smoke.
A man with blond hair, a dazzling smile in an emerald green chef's outfit with a fluffy white hat appeared, brandishing a massive fork trident.
"It is I, the Wonder Chef!" he announced.
"... I'm not sure what I was expecting, honestly. Hello, I am Eraqus. Where did the moustache go?" you asked. The man hummed.
"I am the Spirit of Good food and inventions. You are an outsider, but my gift is not to be limited from anyone!" the chef cried.
"Also, the moustache is in our memory and Hearts," he offered. He pointed at you with his fork.
"Without a Heart to teach I must instead impart a different gift to you!" the man mused.
"Oh, is this one of those signs that the world doesn't have it out for me from the get-go?" you mused.
"The world is quite torn on the subject," the chef said dryly.
"It looked quite torn in general," you countered. The chef merely sighed.
"Ask me not. Now, I plant the seed of great power inside you. A seed if this world does not survive. A sign that we existed!" he said grandly.
A fanfare sounded out and you shifted.
You have mastered Buttered Toast.
"Your gift... is toast...You- you do know cooked food exists on other worlds too, right?" you asked flatly. The chef coughed, blushing.
"Give it a second," he promised.
Then you felt something seed and... germinate.
A job class has been unlocked for selection for next class selection.
The bottler of Emptiness: Alchemist.
"... I don't know if I've ever been quite so thankful to someone in my entire non-existence, I now know the true power of toast. I will treasure this gift as much as I possibly can," you said and the chef nodded.
"Nothing left for you from here on out. Hit me up if you see me, but I got a gig to run so don't point me out. Only true chefs find me or those cursed," he winked.
"Fare thy well, Dry Shortbread!" the chef cried and vanished into more smoke.
That was... your...gimmick.