Hi everyone! I'm here today with another chapter! This particular one was actually supposed to introduce something about Sora here in this world, BUT it became something else entirely. Let's just say, summer vacation is on the brain, though... I'm taking summer classes again. Yep, yep.
Well, today's chapter is just something fun, it's introducing another job that exists in Daybreak Town. What's the job? You gotta read this to find out! Oh yeah, before I forget, we're skipping a bit, it's been a month or few after Sora met Eureka and Locke. They're still in χ[Chi] days, no Unchainedχ and no UnionX [Cross] yet.
So without further ado, enjoy!
*NOTE/SPOILER WARNING: It takes place AFTER KHIII*
NOTE 2: Lots of retelling of the experience of "Player" in KHUX, but in Sora's View
NOTE 3: Sora is NOT Player, he's just got similar experiences. Player exists somewhere doing the main story, but they don't cross paths... I Think...
DATE: May 16, 2022
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Chapter 10: Starlight Radio
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"GOOOD MORNING STARLIGHTS! This is 7-1-6.40 Starlight Radio and your hosts Sol and Luna! So what's the word on the streets of Daybreak Lulu?"
"Only news of the COOLEST treat to be restocked for the start of the summer holiday, Sea Salt Ice Cream!"
"Woah! It's that time of year again?"
"Exact-ta-absolutely! Days are getting hot, the island beaches are starting to open again, and most importantly, the ice cream of the summer is back in style!"
"You'll definitely be seeing me getting a couple of bars! So make sure to come with me to Moogle's Dining to purchase some!"
"After the show Sol, after the show."
"We now tune in to Lumi for the weather!"
"Thanks you too! Those treats will help you keep nice and cool as we're expecting hot weather all week! Be sure to keep hydrated too as~"
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Sora was enjoying his newest purchase and welcome addition to his room, a radio. He had been meaning to get his own for some time, but he always found himself borrowing the one over at [Insert Name Here]'s place when they met up for practice. She had been getting better with her Keyblade as the year progressed.
"A year…" he thought. Nearly a year ago, he met her. Nearly a year ago, he came here. The few weeks before that, he was in Shibuya. Then right before that, he faded away from Destiny Islands. Had it really been that long already? He hadn't seen home and he still hasn't found a way back yet. As much as Daybreak Town was fun, with meeting new faces, seeing familiar ones again, and enjoying a world before it split up into many different ones, he missed home. He didn't belong and he knew it, this was a place out of his time.
Chirithy was lazily resting on the bed, normally she would be out and about doing whatever it was she needed to do, but today, the heat was getting to her. She tilted her head back on the bed to get a better look at her wielder who moving about just fine, "Soraaaa," she complained, "how can you stand this heat?"
"Islander, remember? I told you, there was only ever sunny or stormy weather so this heat is nothing. The humidity also feels a little like home too." He had a wide goofy grin as he proclaimed this with confidence.
"Must be so niceee." She tiredly replied, prolonging the last word.
He heard someone knock, so he went to open the door. It was [Insert Name Here] and her Chirithy.
"Hey you two!"
"Good morning, Sora!" She greeted right back. Her Chirithy waved before squirming out of [Insert Name Here]'s grasp and watched her go over to Sora's Chirithy who didn't look like she was getting up anytime soon. They thought they heard her snickering as she spoke to the one who refused to get up.
"So, Sora," she looks back at him, "I see you're enjoying the radio you bought, so that must mean you heard the advertisement earlier today?"
"Advertisement?"
"The ice cream! They have it in stock for this season!" She jumped up in excitement, looking at him with sparkling eyes.
"Oh, I heard them talking about it on the news segment, I didn't know there was an advertisement too." He rubbed the back of his neck still smiling.
"Well, why not, let's go!"
"Go?"
"To Moogle's Dining! We gotta get some before they run out~" She said in a singsong way.
"Oh, but…" Sora looked over to the two Chirithy, his was still on the bed and her's was trying so hard to pull his up from her position. They looked at them and said, "Don't worry about us, we'll try to catch up to you two in a bit. Make sure to save us some [Insert Name Here], okay?"
"Of course Chirithy! You know we will!" She smiled as she grabbed Sora's hand, dragging him out the door and down the stairs.
"Wait [Insert Name Here], my shoes—"
The two Chirithy heard the commotion as their wielders left together. [Insert Name Here]'s Chirithy snickered, "You got this [Insert Name Here]! Sweep him away!"
Sora's Chirithy only sighed, "Still trying to get those two together even now, huh?"
"Oh you know me, I've been about it since day one." There was a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Sora's Chirithy was clearly tired from the heat, adding the other's antics just made her feel even less motivated to comment. She could only sigh before the other stopped talking and attempted to pull her up again. She refused to move from the bed.
[Time Skip]
Sora and [Insert Name Here] arrived at Moogle's Dining only to find an incredibly long line of wielders all waiting for the same thing, Sea Salt Ice Cream. He saw many faces he hadn't seen around and a few familiar faces, such as the boy he remembered saying he was saving his money for this treat during the newcomer's event. It made him realize that there were so many more people in this seaside town than he thought. It's been almost a year and he still doesn't recognize everyone. It felt so different from Destiny Islands, there, everyone knew everyone. Whether you lived in the beach village like he did, or the more populated area by the volcano, which he, Riku, and Kairi had to commute to for school each day. Pretty much everyone knew everyone on the Destiny Islands. Anyone from the neighboring islands, now that was another story altogether.
When [Insert Name Here] saw the long line, she wasn't discouraged by it surprisingly, she hurried up to the end of the line and waited. Sora blinked, she was being patient? It surprised him a little since earlier he was being dragged out the door nearly barefoot, why was she being patient now?
"Come on Sora! Come get in line with me!" He ran right to her spot and they stood in line together. As they waited, others came, making the line even longer than before. He really must have underestimated the popularity of sea salt ice cream. Then again, he remembered accidentally bumping into a garbage can back in Twilight Town that poured out nothing but ice cream sticks. He thought it was funny and joked with Donald and Goofy that the treat was the residents' three course meal, ice cream, ice cream, and ice cream. Now that he thought about it, maybe he should get use to the taste for whenever he gets back home; it was Roxas' favorite after all. He still prefers fudgsicles though.
It has been about ten or twenty minutes, they lost count, since they got in line when they realized the movement was really slow. How were they still somehow in the middle? To pass the time, the two played a few games of rock, paper, scissor before getting bored and changing to I spy.
"Is ittt, the purple roof?" Sora asked.
"Nope, try again."
"The purple house?"
"Still nope, try again."
"The clock tower?"
"Nope."
"You know, most of the things in Daybreak Town are purple."
"Weeeelll, it would have made the game too easy if I chose another color."
"Is it that purple—" It was mid guess when Sora was interrupted by the music blasting and the two noticed someone with a microphone, a device on their shoulders, and a couple of items in his hand.
"Gooood afternoon! It's Sol's Solving Segment, coming to you live from Moogle's Candlelit Dining! Today's report is the massively long lines out here for that amazing, SEA SALT ICE CREAM!" The crowd cheered as Sol said that word.
People in the crowd were a buzz with excitement, someone said, "Oh my goodness, it's Sol!"
Another said, "Ah, it's time for one of the Sol challenges!"
The wielders in line squealed with delight, making so much noise to grab the attention of Sol's microphone or Sol himself. Sora couldn't tell which. He turned his head back to get a good look at Sol. Despite the young sounding voice, Sol looked older than he sounded. Or maybe it was just because he was taller than what he thought was possibly a preteen on the air. He didn't really know for sure.
"So STARLIGHTS, if you're not here waiting in line, you're going to be wishing you did." The crowd was excitedly awaiting more of Sol's words. "Word on the street, or really word by Moogle, is that the ice cream supply is almost out for the day." The crowd was shocked, booing in the background before he continued, "But fear not! Cause I am here! Those who take part in my challenge will guarantee themselves a ticket to claim the ice cream for the next time! No waiting necessary! These right here," he holds up a few tickets and shows the crowd, "are fast passes to claim your salty sweet goodness! Courtesy of Moogle's Candlelit Dining!"
The crowd cheered and [Insert Name Here] turned herself to face Sora, grabbing his arm and shaking him, "We gotta participate!"
Sora was still swaying back and forth, "Yeah, let's do it! As soon as you stop shaking me first."
She realized what she was doing and immediately stopped, "Oops, sorry Sora." He gave his signature smile and assured her it was okay. They then turned their attention back to Sol. In the short time they weren't paying attention, Sol somehow set up a table and had the microphone set on a stand. On top of the table were two boxes. One box was really long, colored white, and was decorated with red question marks all around it and had three flaps, while the other box was a plain white and had a hole on the top.
"We'll now pick out the color of the day. Remember, all those who are wearing this color can participate in this challenge!" Everyone cheered as he stuck his arm in the plain white box sifting through whatever was inside. Once he decided on what to hold, he slowly pulled out his arm, allowing the suspense to heighten in the eagerly waiting line crowd.
"And the color is…." Everything was silent, all holding a breath wondering what he would pull out. His hand was completely out and he revealed a pure colored marble. "RED!" He announced. Some cheered, others groaned, and some sulked, wishing they wore red today.
"Now all of you who are wearing red please step up!" Sora watched as the people stepped up before he felt [Insert Name Here] pushing him out there too.
"Huh?" Sora looked at her cluelessly.
"Come on Sora, you're wearing red! Go on and win!" Sora looked down at himself and saw she was right. He was wearing red in his usual outfit so he went out of the line and went up to the group by Sol. Surprisingly, there were only about fifteen people out of the many who were on the line. It seemed that most people were dressed for a heated summer, choosing to favor the light clothing and bright colors. The few that were here were dressed only had the red as an accent in their clothing or it was part of their accessories, such as glasses or their sun hats.
"Alright then, we've got a bit of a competition!" Sol announced while the line crowd behind cheered. "We're going to start off with the trivia portion and trim it down to the best 5! Whoever remains after that will get to take place in the final challenge!"
The questions that were asked were trivia type questions, ranging from knowledge about Daybreak Town to the other worlds they were assigned to go to on missions. Sora actually passed this with flying colors. He surprised a lot of the crowd with his knowledge and remembering certain things that others didn't bother to commit to memory.
"Who's the princess of Agrabah?" Sol asked.
"Princess Jasmine!"
"Correct!"
"Which bottle on the table in Wonder Land do you need to drink to get smaller?"
"The Red Bottle!"
"Oooh Sorry..."
"The Blue Bottle!"
"That's right~!"
"In which world can you most likely find the most gemstones?"
"The Dwarf Woodlands!"
"You've got it!"
The questioning session went on like that for about ten minutes, with other participants dropping out one by one. Then finally, there were the final five, three boys, including Sora, and two girls.
"This is it! The final five will participate in the, say it with me STARLIGHTS," he raised his hands in a come on motion and the crowd shouted together with Sol, "Sol's Box Of Mystery!"
"That's right! Today's final challenge is the box of mystery! All five contestants will be given a paper and pencil. They'll each come around and silently feel what's in each section of the box. If they can identify all three, they're the winner! If not, whoever gets the most right will win!"
The remaining contestants and Sora all nodded. Each took their turn to feel what was inside the box. Sol had fun describing their facial features as they touched whatever items were inside the box. One girl stuck out her tongue when she felt what was inside the last box, Sol described for his listeners that she clearly felt the contents were icky. A boy who was feeling inside the first box looked perplexed, he wasn't sure what he was feeling.
Then it was Sora's turn, he went last. The first box, he felt something leafy and had a lot of gaps. Each piece felt smooth to the touch and he recognized that feel and the shape of what it was. Then he was told to move onto the second box and he felt a soft toy, it was very fluffy. But feeling around a bit more, he noted the shape was something else he was familiar with, having a triangular end and a round body. Finally, he was told to move onto the final box, it was soft but also broken. Whoever must have felt in the box might have accidentally broken it. Or maybe it was suppose to be that way? The texture was gooey and greasy or slimy, there were also some small, sharp delicate solid pieces mixed in that slime. Again, something he felt so familiar with, a piece of food he enjoyed.
Once everyone finished and were given a handkerchief to clean their hands, the contestants took a minute to fill their papers. [Insert Name Here] saw Sora, he was writing his answers down quickly before stopping to think, double checking if he spelled the items correctly. Internally, she was rooting for him, 'Sora, you got this!'
Sol raised his hand to drew their attention, "ALLL RIGHT! Time's up! Contestants show your papers!"
Each contestant showed what they had written, a lot of the answers were similar to one another, but with a few differences. Sol read each list a loud for the listeners at home. Everyone got box two correct by writing a fish or fish plushy. For box one, one person wrote plant, three wrote leaf, while Sora's answer was specific and had palm leaf. The final is what tripped a few up, two wrote slimy thing or slime and three wrote broken egg. Sora's list was all correct as well as the two others wrote the egg.
"Woo! You three! You're our winners!" Sol congratulated as the crowd cheered for the three who won!
"BUT WAIT!" Sol yelled, "There's a, BONUS CHALLENGE!" The crowd was alight with excitement, wondering what it was that Sol was going to add on as he pulled out a large folded up paper.
"All three items have a theme in common! If you can solve that theme that's written on this paper, there's a bonus reward waiting for you too!" He turned to the crowd to explain to them as well, "Keep in mind Starlights, the items could fit into more than one theme, but predicting the theme we have here is what wins our contestants the bonus."
They were all determined to guess the theme and so they were told to flip over their papers and write the theme on the empty space. They were given a minute and Sol played some music for the listeners and crowd while they were given time to think. Sora thought about the items that he could now confirm were in the box. What did a palm, a fish plush, and an egg have in common? The palm or leaf is from a tree, the fish is from the water, and an egg is from a bird like a chicken or a seagull or some other type of bird. Then he thought about it, two out of the three items were things he associated with being tropical, thought fish could also be found in colder places like he learned on his journey and the egg could be anything. It was probably wrong, but he was going to write down what he was thinking.
Finally, time was up, and one by one the three revealed their answers. The first winner, a girl, she wrote on her paper 'summer.' She explained that the leaf, after realizing it was a palm from him, along with the fish are things you can associate with summer. Cause the leaf is from the trees on the beach, the fish are in the water where they play, and the egg is probably used to make treats you can order at the food stands on the beach. Sol lit up and smiled rather mischievously, "That's a really great explanation! Now on to the next person."
The next person, a boy, he wrote 'the world' on his paper. He explained that the leaf is representative of land, where as the fish is representative of the waters, and the egg comes from birds who can also be associated with the sky. Then he nearly went into a lengthy tangent about the symbolism of the items before Sol put out his hand in a stop motion, "That's a really great answer, but we don't have THAT much time. Also, we have one more contestant to hear from."
It was now Sora's turn to reveal what he wrote on his paper. He turned it over for all to see, it said 'island.' He then said, "I put island since that's what I thought of when I felt all the items. They reminded me of a few things you could find there, like the leaves on the palm trees, the fish I could catch in the ocean, and the seagull eggs I use to climb up and grab before we would cook them." Sora spoke about this with a hint of melancholy, remembering his time on the island and again, being reminded of Riku and Kairi. When they were building the raft, Kairi made him go around and get a few items like the eggs, fish, and coconuts. Then when they were done, they'd sit on the paopu tree and enjoy being shaded by its leaves. He really missed them.
It was the hand on his shoulder that shook him out of his thoughts, "Congratulations! You got the theme right! An island! As a reward, you get this!" Sol presented a small booklet to Sora, "This right here is a ticket voucher book as well as a mix of fast passes to use over the summer for certain Moogle establishments. Enjoy and save up your munny for other things you need! Courtesy and proud sponsor of the Moogles!"
Sol turned to the crowd and shouted, "That's all for now everyone! Thanks for tuning into Sol's segment! Let's kick it on back to the studio with Luna!"
[Insert Name Here] ran up to Sora excitedly saying, "Congratulations Sora!" He smiled proudly as they fist bumped. Sora had taught her the version he learned from Baymax. [Insert Name Here] added her own twist with a high five to end it off. It was then she realized something, she had gotten out of her place in line. Now they would have to go back to waiting again. Fortunately, there weren't as many people as before, so they were able to get a spot closer to the front.
A little after Sol's segment ended and a few more people got ice cream, Moogle announced to the crowd that the ice cream was officially out for the day and that there'd be more made tomorrow. The crowd booed and slowly thinned out, leaving a few people who actually came here to eat dinner. Sora didn't mind as much since they had a fast pass to use for tomorrow, though [Insert Name Here] was a little upset with the development.
"Oh no, Chirithy is going to chew me out for this! She wanted ice cream..." Sora laughed as he observed her pouting.
"I'm sure she'll understand. It can't be all that bad, can it?"
When they got to his place, his Chirithy was still on the bed, and right beside her was [Insert Name Here]'s Chirithy who was panting heavily.
"Why are you so… so heavy? It's… It's like you're… glued to the mattress…" the other was struggling to form her sentence.
"It's hooooottt, I'm not getting upppp." His Chirithy was really set on staying there.
"Hey you two, we're back!" Sora announced. [Insert Name Here]'s Chirithy was alerted by the sudden voice and immediately ran up to her.
"Hi Sora! Hi [Insert Name Here]! Welcome back!" She looked over to her wielder expectantly, "Soooo, where's the treat?"
[Insert Name Here] paused, she breathed in and exhaled quickly. Then she looked at her Chirithy and spoke as rapidly as Tiny, "I'm-so-so-sorry-Chirithy! There-was-a-really-really-really-long-line! Then-there-was-the radio-contest-and-Sora-participated-which-was-so-fun-to-watch! Even-seeing-the-radio-host-Sol-in-person-was-so-cool! Then-I-went-to-congratulate-him-since-he-won-and-I-"
"So what you're saying is," her Chririty sighed, "you weren't able to get any ice cream today."
"I'm sorry, Chirithy. But...," [Insert Name Here] pulled Sora over, hugging his arm with one hand as she pointed to him, "Sora won some fast passes so he can cut the line and get ice cream for all of us first thing tomorrow after breakfast."
"Fine…" her Chirithy crossed her arms and looked away, still miffed at her wielder for not getting her a cooling treat today.
Meanwhile, Sora decided to pick up Chirithy and bring her some ice from the ice box, she complained at first but immediately relaxed once she felt the cold cube on her forehead. "Thank you, Sora!"
"You're welcome."
For the remainder of the day, they rested in Sora's place and kept occupied by telling their tale of the unexpected visit from Sol and Starlight Radio. The Chirithy oooed and aweeed at the exciting adventure. Then [Insert Name Here]'s complained that she should have left the radio on when they left, but she turned it off. Come evening, they prepared for their scheduled daily mission over in Agrabah. Sure, the desert was unbearable during the day, but at night, it was much tolerable since the temperature drops by a lot. It was the perfect place to go and keep nice and cool for the first day of the long summer.
TBC
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Yep, radio show hosts! They exist! The reason? If you rewatch the scene where Strelitzia is in her bedroom, take a peek over in the corner and you'll find one of those vintage radios on the table. If that exists, then surely radio stations exist in this time period in Daybreak Town. That's my reason and I'm sticking to it!
I actually thought about going another direction and treating it like the early days of radio, by making a silly Radio Theatre show that Sora listens to and becomes a fan of on his brand new radio. But then I thought a radio show host that travels the streets would be fun, so I went with that. The radio in Daybreak Town has seven channels that are theirs, five for the individual unions, one general to announce the weather and stuff, and the last is for music and the radio dramas.
Though, the original direction I was going for with this ended up being way too much of a time skip into the future. I'm not quite ready to write that yet. I just want to share more of the experiences of Sora and Daybreak Town before getting into the serious stuff. So unless I say otherwise in the coming chapters, I'll probably be writing these sillier ones for a while.
You're probably wondering where "7-1-6.40" came from right for the radio station channel? I won't tell, I'll let you try and solve it! Maybe you've used this in school before? Though, the 0 might trip you up a bit. Think you can get it? :3
One more thing, Thank You to those who favorite, follow the story, and read it! I appreciate it and you're all so amazing!
Anyway, that's all for now! If you have any ideas, suggestions, questions, or any comments for this story, feel free to let me know. Thanks everyone for reading! :D