ToL: Chapter 15

Author's Note: The end of the last chapter was also when the four scenes merged, continuing into this chapter as one scene.

The snow-white dragon continued to roar like she was in pain from the transformation she went through. Iris then began to spread her wings to flap them, jumping up above her to fly over the outside walls of Radiant Garden! King Mickey noticed which direction she was heading; toward a tower of an abandoned castle further away beyond the walls, like she was trying to get away from them. The fake castle in the distance was called Hollow Bastion at one point.

"I-IRIS!" Katrina screamed out as she quickly got up from where she fell. She started to run in the direction that Iris flew off to before she stopped, falling to her knees as she realized there was no way to catch up with her.

Everyone else in the area decided to group back up at the dorm to recover while Eddy ran over to Katrina's side, with Atem walking behind him. Eddy could see how shaken up she was from what happened, "Katrina…"

Eddy then felt Katrina hug him tightly as she got up, crying into his shoulder, "Why did this have to happen to her?! WHY?!" she sobbed.

Eddy could only stand there in silence before hugging her back, trying to comfort her the best he could, 'Geez, some guardian I turned out to be…' he thought to himself; Eddy was equally upset about this turn of events just like Katrina, 'This is probably why the others were scared to have kids back then… They didn't want them to turn into dragons like this.'

Once Eddy and Katrina left their hug, they saw the man from before standing close by, "Oh, I-I'm so sorry if you're c-confused," Katrina stuttered to Atem, trying to regain her composure, "I know I summoned you here without explaining anything. I-I…"

"It's quite alright, Kisara," Atem replied to her, "Take your time. I'm not in any rush."

Both Eddy and Katrina looked at the man, realizing he called her by a name they did not know; but now was not the time to ask questions, "Okay, we can talk at the place we are staying at," Katrina stated.

Meanwhile, back in Peach Creek, we could see Adam driving to town in his car with Alexander in the passenger seat. They were both heading to a few places to buy Evan some clothes; both for casual wear and some adventurous clothes for when he needed to leave for Radiant Garden.

Adam could see Alexander looking out the window next to him, "So, Alex."

"Hmm?"

"King Mickey told us over the gummi phone that Nobodies don't have a heart when they are created, but grow their heart back over time," Adam stated, "Do you think that applies to you too? Can you feel anything right now?"

Alexander stared at Adam for a second when he turned back to look at him, "I don't know," he replied as he put his right hand to the side of his head, "I don't feel anything right now, but when you mentioned those two names earlier, my head started to hurt for a moment; almost like it was aching."

"Those two names?" Adam questioned, "Do you mean Eddy and Iris?"

Alexander gripped his right hand against his head a little, "Yes; the pain came back again just now."

He turned back to the window to look out of it again, "Who are they? Can you please tell me?"

Adam made a sigh, "Of course. I'll tell you everything in detail once we get to where we need to go," he made a small smile, "Though I can give you a small summary beforehand. Eddy is your present self; you were reincarnated into him when he was born. He's currently in another world with his friends, training his skills before they set out to find their kidnapped neighbors, and… Iris is your daughter. She was somehow brought here to the present 3000 years from the past; that's the period where you were originally from… Honestly, I'm unsure if the way you are now counts you as being her father, but we'll have to wait and find out for sure once you eventually meet them."

Alexander stayed silent about what Adam said, not exactly sure how to process the information he was told, "I see…"

"… It seems like the pains in your head might be your memories of them trying to come back to you; well, at least for Iris," Adam stated, "But I wouldn't try to worry so much about it right now; you need to take things slowly for now. I'm sure everything will be a lot clearer for you with time."

"… I hope so."

It did not take too long for everyone to meet back up at the dorm. Marie and Lee Kanker were still knocked out while Ebony was conscious but recovering from her fight. All three of them were resting; Ebony was in her assigned room while Marie and Lee were both in a room together, there was also a third bed there for May since this was going to be their assigned room while they stayed here in Radiant Garden.

Everyone was now sitting around in the rest area, deciding this area should just be a comfy conference room to discuss whatever they needed. The other wielders that were staying here were not present, presumably, they were still out in town due to the Heartless Warning that happened moments ago, which was still active now. They were helping people who could not get to the shelters in time.

King Mickey, Riku, and Kairi were here along with Ed, who was sitting by Double D and Shayla, trying to comfort him, as Eddy and Katrina sat on the other side of them. May was sitting further away from the group, still confused about everything that happened. May had a feeling that she was not wanted here by Ed or Eddy; she knew why that was, but she had to stay to know what was going on. It was a good thing that Double D was always the sympathetic one of the Eds compared to his two friends, especially Eddy. Atem was also nearby, leaning his back up against a wall near where Katrina was sitting, his arms were crossed across his chest.

"I assume she is one of the girls you three mentioned yesterday?" King Mickey asked the Eds, gesturing to May.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Double D replied with a nod, "It seems May is not under Belindra's control anymore, thanks to Ebony. And I assume her two sisters are also back to normal… I hope."

May was looking down at her feet, "I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on…"

May felt a hand being placed on her shoulder as she looked over to see Kairi trying to help with how she was feeling, "It's okay, we can try to explain a few things to you, but we need to do something else first. Please try to relax."

Riku looked over to where Atem was resting, "So, you're the person that was summoned here from Katrina's summon stone?"

"Yes," Atem replied, "My name is Atem. I used to be a pharaoh of Egypt 3000 years ago but was called back to the present thanks to someone who was connected to me. We both parted ways not that long ago, so I honestly thought I could stay resting for now; that is until she summoned me here for help."

The three Eds and the girls widened their eyes at the man when he mentioned he was someone who lived 3000 years in the past in his world; it was the same period that their past lives lived at in their world.

"You… you were alive 3000 years ago? In Egypt?!" Shayla questioned, "Do you happen to know of a kingdom called Atlantis?!"

Atem looked at her with surprise before nodding his head, "Yes, though it was a kingdom I never visited. It was destroyed several decades before I was born; a massive flood from a natural disaster struck the place, and the kingdom now lies at the bottom of the sea."

"W-Who cares about that kind of junk right now?! We can talk about it later!" Eddy started to yell in frustration to everyone as he sat up from where he was sitting, "We need to find Iris as soon as we can! She literally just turned into a dragon and flew off! A-And she—"

"Eddy! Iris will be fine!" Katrina stated to him, trying to calm him down, "You're not the only one that's worried for her safety, but rushing ahead without a plan isn't going to help her or anyone else…"

Atem looked at the two teens before scratching his chin to think, 'So, the dragon that flew away earlier was a girl named Iris… She looks a lot like the Blue Eyes White Dragon, but the color of the dragon was white like snow rather than silver,' he thought to himself before looking at Katrina again, 'And, this girl… Katrina resembles Kisara a lot… This can't just be a normal coincidence; they could be connected.'

"Pardon me, but can I talk with the two of you alone?" Atem asked Katrina and Eddy, "I want to confirm something for myself if you don't mind."

The two teens, as well as everyone else in the room, looked at Atem with confusion, "I-I guess so since I was the one who summoned you here so suddenly," Katrina stated.

The three walked away, going towards the room that Eddy was staying in to talk in private, "So, uh… What do you need to ask?" Eddy asked.

"I wanted to ask you more questions about the dragon that flew away earlier," Atem stated.

Eddy and Katrina looked at the man in confusion, "Y-You mean about Iris?" Katrina asked.

"Yes," Atem stated before gesturing to the device on his arm, "You see, in the past that I lived in, there was a dangerous game that sprung to life through magic; people summoned forth monsters to do battles with one another in a duel, almost destroying the world back then," he looked at Katrina, noticing her hair, "There were also a few people who were sacrificed, turning into the monster that the duelist summoned. A woman named Kisara was one of those people; she turned into the creature known as the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Your appearance to her is uncanny, but I'm unsure how this is possible. Kisara was never reincarnated to the present due to what happened."

Both Eddy and Katrina were stunned at what they heard, "T-That's impossible! How can my past self exist in two different worlds at the same time?!" Katrina asked out loud, "They don't even have the same name!"

Atem looked at the two teens before realizing something, "I had a feeling I was in a different world, now things seem a bit clearer," he paused to think for a second, "I guess that our worlds are similar or loosely connected, but not exactly the same."

Atem glanced down at the device on his arm again, "I would like to help you out, but I also wish I had someone else here with me to help. He's a young man who's also deeply connected with Kisara. I assume he's back in my world right now, running his company."

"Oh, you can do that," Katrina replied, explaining to him that he can summon anyone he wants for help, as well as telling him he is not stuck here and can be dismissed.

"Good to know," Atem stated to them, "Please summon me again when you begin to set out to find Iris."

"Okay," Eddy nodded his head, "Thank you so much for helping us…" Katrina stated.

Atem gave them both a thumbs up before being covered in light, disappearing as he did. Eddy made a sigh before turning to Katrina, who still looked sad.

"I can't believe it," Katrina started to say, mostly to herself, "There was another woman out there that went through the same pain we did, but never recovered… I feel so bad for her."

"… Yeah, same," Eddy stated to her before shaking his head from side to side, "Come on, we should tell everyone else what we learned and plan things out."

Katrina nodded her head in agreement before making a smile to him.

Author's Note (April 8th, 2024): This chapter was a lot shorter than I wanted it to be, but oh well. Next chapter will be typed up soon!