ATWN: Chapter 15

A few minutes passed by after the strange incident a moment ago. Everyone who saw what happened followed the six older teens to the beach nearby, close to where the girls set up their tent last night.

The six new teens all looked like they stepped out of some fantasy anime series that would have been made in Naomi, Lily, and Amelia's world; right down to how they looked with their 'art style', despite everything else around them being very cartoony. It was very jarring and easily noticeable by everyone. Somehow, their appearance did not change when they came to this world, unlike the girls when they came to visit and whenever the Eds visited the girls' world.

The leader of the group was the oldest of the teens there, being 18 years old. He had short but messy dark red hair and dark, ocean-blue eyes. He had a broadsword to his side. He was a strong warrior or soldier of some kind.

The girl standing next to the leader looked to be the tallest girl of the group of teens, being 17 years old. She had long platinum blond hair that was pulled back into a braid that went a little past her hips and hazel brown eyes that were very close to being a yellow color. She had a wooden staff that she had hanging from a strap on her back and a book of some kind hanging from inside a satchel on her belt. She was a white mage, a healer.

The second teen boy there looked to be the youngest and shortest of the six, around 16 years old. He had short, dark blond hair that was very spiky and dark, brown eyes that looked redder than the usual brown color. He had two hunting daggers with him that were in their sheathes on his belt, one on each side of his hips. He was some sort of stealthy class like a thief or ninja.

The second girl there looked to be the youngest of the girls and the shortest one of the group of teens, being 16 years old. She had long, light pink hair that went past her shoulder blades and dark, grass-green eyes. She had a long staff with her, which was hanging on her back thanks to the strap she was wearing. She was a black mage, a magic caster, complete with a black steeple witch hat on her head.

The third and final teen boy there was the tallest boy at 17 years old. He had very short, dark black hair that had a shade of dark purple in it and bright blue eyes. He had a huge mallet/battle hammer that was hanging from his sheath on his back to help him carry it. He was a defender class of some kind, fitted for tanking hits for himself and others.

The third and final girl there was 17 years old as well. She had short forest green hair that went to her shoulders and teal blue eyes. She had a bow with her and a quiver for the arrows she used with her bow. She was an archer or sniper.

The purple-haired teen with the large mallet was carrying Eddy's brother over his shoulder, seeing that he was still unconscious from what happened. He flopped the man down near the tent with a bit of a small thud.

"Wow, I didn't expect this guy to be so heavy," the teen with the big hammer said as he tried to rub his neck where he was carrying Eddy's brother, "It felt like I was carrying a sack of rocks!"

Lily looked towards Double D, relieved to see that he was okay. She then noticed Lynn was close by to both Double D and her but looked to be nervous about saying anything or speaking to him.

The six older teens looked towards everyone who was there, with the leader of the group clearing his throat. Before he could begin to talk though, he was interrupted.

"S-Sorry, umm, sir? Can I say something before you begin to explain things?"

Everyone turned to Lily, who had raised her hand as if she was in a classroom.

"Uh… sure?" replied the leader, "What do you need to say?"

Lily could feel herself becoming nervous, everyone's eyes were on her. She knew what she would say would also reveal Double D's secret, the one that he was always trying to hide from everyone… But this was important for him to know right now before anything else happened.

Lily turned to Double D, who was standing to her right, "I think there's a reunion that needs to be addressed here," she then turned to Lynn, who was on her left, "Don't you think so, Lynn?"

Double D took a moment to process what she said before he saw the girl next to Lily walk over to him. The immediate thing he noticed was the color of her hair, along with the stretchy red and white hairband she wore… He KNEW who this girl was, but now she was older!

Double D's face began to grow pale, not believing who was standing in front of him, "Oh my goodness… Are supernatural things happening now o-or am I starting to go insane?!" he started to ask himself out loud, closing his eyes and turning away a little and shaking his head in denial, "H-Have ghosts become a real thing too?! To haunt me for my past failures and mistakes?!"

Ed and Eddy were extremely confused about why he said that as well as everyone else who knew him.

"Double D, she isn't a ghost," Lily started to explain, trying to calm him down from having those kinds of thoughts, "Evelyn is alive. She's right here, standing in front of us; in front of you!"

That was when Double D's eyes snapped open, widening them before making a loud gasp. He looked again at the young girl in front of him, slowly realizing that she was standing there, alive. He collapsed to his knees in disbelief and shock, beginning to break down at the news that his sister was still alive, "I-I can't believe this!" he said while continuing to sob. Double D quickly got back up to regain some of his composure before he rushed towards his little sister, giving her a tight hug as he did, "You're really here, Lynn!"

Lynn hugged him back, despite Double D still feeling like a stranger to her because of her lack of memories. The two siblings could then feel themselves being picked up into one of Ed's familiar 'Ed-Hugs', "I'm so happy for you Double D!" Ed said to him, trying to comfort his friend from what he was crying about.

"You don't even know what's going on, Lumpy!" Eddy said to Ed with a heated sigh before making a facepalm, "Then again, neither do I."

Ed soon let Double D and Lynn back down to the ground from his hug. Double D turned to face everyone after letting his sister out of his hug, "I-I… I'm sorry, you guys. I need to be excused for a moment," he started to say, wiping away the tears from his eyes, "I need to talk with Lynn so, umm, please inform me of the details later… okay?"

"Yeah, we will, but you should tell us what's going on afterward too…" Eddy replied as he stared at his hat-wearing friend with a harsh look of suspicion, but then his stare softened a little, "But do it whenever you want, alright? No pressure."

Everyone who knew Eddy stared at him in shock and disbelief. Just like Double D thought to himself a few days ago, Eddy's demeanor seemed to have changed from 'angry all the time' to 'mostly calm, but with a few exceptions' since they met their new friends two weeks ago, and it looked like he was making the change in his attitude more obvious to other people, instead of only to his friends.

"… Don't worry, I'll explain everything on my side later," Double D replied as he and Lynn walked away to talk, toward the water at the beach nearby. Lily followed behind them a second later.

Marie was still standing next to her sisters, restraining herself to not running after them because Lily was walking away with Double D. But, judging how he was acting when he saw the young girl named Lynn, she decided to back off; it seemed like something happened to them, and she did not want to make him extra mad or upset. Even Marie had boundaries she did not want to cross. For once. She will just have to bother Double D later when he feels better.

Author's Note: These two scenes take place at the same time as each other. I'll give an indication later when the scenes combine into one. Like usual.

Everyone heard the teen leader clear his throat once more, trying to get everyone's attention again, "I'm unsure what was going on there, but I'm guessing we're good to start explaining things now?"

"Y-Yeah," Eddy said before making a small glare, approaching the leader in an intimidating sort of stance, "Who exactly are you all? And what was the heck that… t-that shadow thing?!" he could feel his right hand curl into a fist for a second, "That dumb shadow keeps showing up every SINGLE night to me in my nightmares! I need to know WHY this keeps happening!" he shouted.

Amelia looked at Eddy with surprise, 'He was having nightmares this whole time?' she thought to herself, 'I think Lily said she kept having nightmares as well; dreams about Double D, and a lot of bad things that were happening to him…' she could feel herself beginning to blush a light pink before brushing off the thought that forming, 'Wait, there's no way any of those dreams were about me… right? Why did I even jump to that kind of thought?!'

"Easy there, kid, we'll tell you what we know," stated the black mage girl, "Just settle down."

The leader stepped forward to everyone, "My name is Benjamin, but you can just call me Ben. I serve as second in command for the army of my kingdom, Perscia, but I'm currently taking up the role for my father temporarily while he's currently busy with other things," he gestured to the five others at his side, "These are my companions and my friends: Hazel, Ethan, Stella, Jacob, and Tori. All of us come from Earth in the Triangulum galaxy, one that's very different from the two Earths you know about since you all seemed so surprised at our appearances. It's an Earth where everyone is born with at least one element of magic they can control."

The five other teens greeted the group back, some with great enthusiasm, while some sounded cautious or tired. The other group of kids also introduced themselves to the six new teens, despite some of them not understanding what the heck the leader meant by 'the two Earths' and 'another galaxy', or anything else. They all decided to let the Eds, and the girls talk to the older teens without butting in with their questions; at least not yet.

"Now then…" Ben started to say as he looked to the group, "Which of you kids have been traveling back and forth between your worlds?"

"… It was us," Amelia replied to Ben before gesturing to Ed, Eddy, Naomi, Carter, and herself, "Two of the three that walked off earlier have also traveled back and forth with us."

"HUH?" The rest of the kids screamed/yelled/shouted in disbelief.

"How honest of you to reveal that so casually," Ben chuckled, "I do need to ask this, how did you manage to find a way to cross back and forth?"

"By two white doors and two fancy keys!" Ed replied with a toothy smile.

"… Wait, that's it? Really?!" questioned the ninja named Ethan in disbelief, "I'd thought it be like an airship or boat that could travel instantly through space!"

"I'm pretty sure this confirms that the doors and keys they found were conjured up by really powerful magic," the black mage named Stella stated, "And we might have an idea who made them."

"Someone MADE the doors and keys with magic…?" Naomi asked with a bit of awe.

Eddy made a small glare once again, "Is that weird shadow person the one that made the doors and keys?"

Everyone looked at Eddy after he said that; everyone could tell he seemed very stressed, probably from the fact that this shadow had been plaguing his nightmares, as he said. Whatever the nightmares were about must have affected him very badly for him to want answers like this.

"We suspect so," the archer named Tori replied with a nod of her head, "The man you keep seeing in the shadows was sealed away about twenty-eight ago in our world, but somehow freed himself from his prison…"

It was then that the white mage named Hazel noticed something as she was examining the group, "… Ben, I think I know why Ultima is doing all this," she whispered to Ben, gesturing to the three Eds and the girls next to them in particular, "I can see the resemblance, from the statues at the memorial sites. He's probably plotting some kind of revenge on them for what happened… Or he might be considering conquering all three worlds."

"… You might be right," Ben replied to her with a heated sigh.

Double D and Lynn walked a little further away from the big group near the tent with Lily behind them, heading toward the shoreline nearby. They stopped once they were close enough to stand next to the tides going in and out on the shore; they could not see the group near the tent from their point of view.

"I… I didn't think I would ever see you again, Evelyn," Double D started to say with a smile of relief before making a small frown at the memory, "I thought you… y-you died. How did you survive the fire?"

Double D felt Lily place her hand on his shoulder, "Double D, she doesn't remember what happened that day, or anything about herself at that point."

"What…?" Double D questioned with surprise looking back at Lynn with sadness.

"All she can remember is the nickname you called her; she didn't even know her real name was Evelyn," Lily continued to say, "The only reason I found her was because she was trying to sneak into the fairgrounds without paying for a ticket, and I recognized her hairband. It's the same one from the photos you showed me."

"… A fire…?" Lynn muttered to herself when she heard what her brother said before looking toward him, "Umm… Can you keep a secret?"

Double D and Lily looked at Lynn, "A secret?" Lily asked.

Lynn nodded her head, "About a week ago, one of the workers at the orphanage was teaching us how to cook and make things using the stove in the kitchen, so we can know basic techniques and safety when we want to make something for ourselves," she glanced down at her right hand before continuing, "I was doing the instructions I was told to do, but then I heard one of the kids next to me start yelling, telling me to take my hand off the stovetop, because I was burning myself."

Lynn then showed them her hand, only to see it was completely fine, "I could see there was a small flame around my hand, so I took my hand off the stovetop when the kid called for the workers for help, saying to them they saw me put my hand on the stove for over a minute and then caught on fire… But there was no burn or anything on my hand, I didn't even know my hand was there when the stove was on until the kid yelled at me. The workers were really confused and worried, a-and I was too. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that."

Lynn looked up at the two teens, "You said I was in a fire t-that killed me, but… Maybe I'm fireproof? Is that how I lived?"

Double D and Lily were speechless for a moment at what Lynn told them.

"I-I don't know how that would be possible, but if that's the case… You must have gotten separated from us because you ran inside and then wandered off, going in the wrong direction when you left. That's why they never found your body afterward! You were not there!" Double D concluded to himself before making a heavy sigh of relief once more, trying his best to hold back his tears and not cry a second time today, "T-This is… this is incredible. I'm so relieved."

Double D felt Lily wrap her right arm around his left arm, standing next to him while leaning onto his shoulder, "I'm so happy for you two," she said with a smile.

Lily's actions only surprised Double D for a second before making a warm smile back to her, "Thank you, Lily. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been reunited with my sister."

The two teens continued to stand close together, looking out at the ocean in front of them.

Double D could also feel Lynn give him a very big while they stood there before separating, "Lily said you live in Peach Creek, big brother," Lynn said before asking, "Aren't mom and dad worried about you being so far away right now?"

That question made Double D's body suddenly tense up for a split second, which Lily noticed immediately since she was latched onto his left arm, "I-I'm sure they are," Double D replied to Lynn before turning back to where the group was, still standing next to the tent, "Maybe we should meet back up with the others. There are still several questions I want to know the answers to…" Double D glanced at Lynn for a second, "I just wanted to speak and rest my mind for a moment while everything's still relatively calm."

"Okay," Lynn replied as she went on ahead of them. Double D and Lily began to walk back to the others together, with Lily holding Double D's hand instead of his arm.

Lily looked at Double D while they made their way back, thinking about how he reacted to Lynn's question about his parents. It was then she remembered something; while they never fully showed or heard any adults on the show, Double D's parents were always an enigma compared to everyone else's parents. They only left behind sticky notes to talk to their son instead of face to face, and it seemed they were never actually home. When she visited his house the other day, she noticed there were no sticky notes around, and there were also none the first time she visited there on the day she and her friends teleported there; that was two weeks ago.

'… Oh my god. Please don't tell me,' Lily thought to herself with sadness, 'Did his parents leave him behind for some reason without a way to contact them? Why would they do that?!'

Lily bit her bottom lip, restraining herself from asking him if that was the case. She already felt bad that she had to ask what was under his hat. But then again, if she had not asked about it, which led him to open up about his past, Double D would not have met his sister like this.

Author's Note: And now, the two scenes merge into one!

"Sorry for suddenly departing like that, everyone," Double D stated as he, Lily, and Lynn walked back to the big group. He and Lily had let go of their hands before they arrived.

"About time you got back," Eddy grumbled to himself before making a sigh, turning back to Ben, "Anyway, who is that shadow? And WHY did he even make those keys and doors we found?" he asked, "What does he want with us?!"

Ben looked to his five comrades before replying, "Well… about thirty-three years ago, there was a man that took over the kingdom of Perscia, as well as a fellow neighboring and ally kingdom named Solumar for five years. He could wield dark and very dangerous magic; something that people in our world had not been able to do for a very long time. Others thought that this kind of magic died out over a hundred years ago."

Ben paused for a second before he continued to explain, "The man never revealed his actual name, only calling himself Master Ultima. He could create shadow copies of himself, as well as harness the powers of darkness in general."

"… Wait a minute," Lily interrupted suddenly, catching her friends off guard as she turned to the three Eds with them, "Isn't 'Ultima' part of the name of the animation studio in OUR world that makes the show you're on?! You know, the studio that we couldn't find any credits or information on when we tried to look them up online?!"

"Whoa, you're RIGHT!" Ed gasped, "That's so weird!"

"An… animation studio?" questioned Ethan, "Never heard of whatever that is."

"Care to explain to us what you mean by that?" Ben asked.

Double D made a small sigh, "Well…"

The Eds and the girls began to explain how the girls knew the Eds for a few years before ever meeting them two weeks ago. A cartoon show made by a company named Tri-Ultima Productions started airing two and a half years ago, showing everyone in the girl's world the whacky scenarios that happen with the Eds in Peach Creek. The Eds had no idea that they were being 'broadcast' like that while the girls had no idea that the show they were watching was from a real place with real people, but in a different galaxy. The rest of the kids from the Cul-De-Sac also heard what they were describing to the older teens; they were shocked, to say the least.

"That's basically what we found out for ourselves so far," Double D stated, "Besides living our lives like normal and visiting each other when we can, we still haven't found out why this situation happened like it did."

The six older teens were silent for a second before any of them responded, "I see, so Ultima was sending out some sort of magic signal from this world to yours, making it so that you six would eventually meet up before acting out against you," Hazel concluded, closing her eyes at a thought, "That's too cruel. It's a miracle you are all alive right now."

Ben looked to Hazel, understanding what she meant, "Right… There's something important you kids need to know."

Ben cleared his throat once more to get their attention, "Twenty-eight years ago, about five years after Ultima took over our two kingdoms, there were six warriors that faced off against him. One of the warriors was a prince of Perscia and the other was a princess of Solumar. The other four warriors were their friends, and together they could perform special attacks with their magic alongside their partner, their Soulmate. It's called Soulbond, a rarely seen form of power in our world that does not manifest in other people often…"

Ben paused for a slight moment, wondering how he could explain the next statement, "Anyway, it was while the six warriors were fighting Ultima that they could feel themselves exhausting their strength, so they sealed Ultima away with what energy they had left… sacrificing themselves," he looked to the six teens in front of him, "I suspect that when they died to seal Ultima away, something happened that made the six warriors reborn into these two different worlds, and Ultima found out about it somehow."

The three Eds and the girls were silent while he explained, but it was Double D who quickly caught on with what Ben was saying, "P-Pardon me…? Are you trying to say my friends and I are those six warriors? Is THAT why we are being targeted?!"

Everyone turned to Double D in shock at what he said, "Yes, I'm almost certain of it," Hazel replied.

There was an extremely long pause between everyone at what they learned from the older teens.

"… I feel like I gotta lay down now," Eddy muttered before falling to the ground on his back, putting his hand up against his head as if he had a headache, "This is too much."

"I'm also feeling a bit overwhelmed by this…" Lily stated, sitting down on the ground as well to clutch her head.

"So, now that we told you about what's going on…" Ben started to say, "We need your help with our task of defeating Ultima, once and for all!"

"… WHAT?!"

Author's Note (January 18th, 2024): Sigh.

That's it, just sigh.

What's going to happen next?! Stay tuned to find out!