Into the unreal lands
Atop a skyscraper a figure confidently stepped to the edge, entirely unconcerned by the possibility they might fall. Hands folded behind his back, he observed the expanse of the city around him, the wind making his black coat flutter. He turned his gaze upwards. He lifted his hands towards the moon and created the shape of a heart with his fingers.
"Well… I suppose it is time at last. It was a nice enough vacation while it lasted." He said to himself.
Riku had not quite known what to expect when making the jump. He had travelled to many worlds, though darkness and through other means. But all the talk that Quadratum would be *on the other side* made him think this would be anything but business as usual.
When he passed through the gate it was like he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. All his thoughts ceased, as did the senses from his body. His sense of self ceased to be for a time. For how long he could not say. All he could really remember was the faint sense of passing through somewhere extremely cold, before being embraced by a welcoming warmth. The sensation was like moving from a glacier to their home beach on Destiny Islands at midday, all in the space of a few seconds.
And just as quickly the dream was over. His eyes opened and he rose to his feet.
"Here. This is it. The city I dreamt of. I made it." He realized, seeing the forest of skyscrapers all around him.
He started to walk down the street. He might have seen this place in his dreams, but he still felt in shock upon seeing it with his own eyes. Not to mention there was the strangest sense of Déjà vu. Every step he was taking right now was also one he had taken in his dream.
That reminded him of another thing he had seen in his dream. He turned his face up. He got the strange feeling that high overhead… someone was watching him. But from this distance he could not see anyone. With no immediate danger he turned his attention back to the current dilemma.
How was he ever going to find Sora here? The city looked to be endless. His first instinct was to use the connection between them to find him. To let his heart be his guiding key. So he reached for the connection and… nothing? Wait… how could that even be? Before, no matter how far away they were the connection was still there. That had always been their solution, their saving grace when they had been at their lowest. How could it just be gone like this? And wait… not just the connection between the two of them… all of them. He could feel the heart of no one else but his own. He was alone in a way he had never been before.
To Riku that realization felt like a lance driven through his heart. He stumbled, almost falling down.
The discomfort was so intense he almost didn't notice the Heartless emerging from around him. When he spotted them he snarled and called his keyblade. Doing his best to ignore the pain in his chest he began to cut the dark monsters down, like he had done so many countless times before.
"HIYAAA!" Someone suddenly shouted, accompanied by the revving of an engine. A motorcycle charged into the scene. The rider braked hard, crashing through several Heartless as they swerved to a halt. The rider promptly hopped off calling a keyblade and swiped at a Heartless that had been pinned under the front wheel, destroying it.
"A keybalde? Who-?" Riku asked.
"Later! Them first." A female voice answered.
Deciding to get his answers in a few moments Riku nodded and turned his attention back to the remaining Heartless. They fought them together, and in about a minute they had defeated all of them.
"I can't believe it. Heartless? Here? Boss is going to freak out when he hears…" The biker muttered to herself, dismissing her keyblade.
She turned her attention to Riku. "So you're a Keyblade wielder too? Wow. Not a whole lot of new Arrived that have them these days."
"So… how did the Heartless get here? You didn't do anything to bring them did you?" She asked.
"What? You're asking that of me? I just got here. And who are you even?" Riku countered keeping his keyblade in his hand.
"Oh, right, sorry. I guess we skipped the introductions with all the excitement." She said.
She removed her helmet, revealing a girl with grey hair.
"I'm Urd. Pleased to meet you. And you are?" She said, smiling.
"Riku." He said. "But where…?" He asked before being cut off by a phone ringing in Urd's pocket.
"Hold that thought." She told him before answering the phone. He hear her responses as she talked to someone on the other side:
"Urd here. Yeah, I just got to him. And there's something else: When I got here were a bunch of Heartless attacking. Yes, of course I'm serious. Nope, I'm not seeing things. We fought them together. I know there are not supposed to be any, that's why I'm telling you about it. Huh? Really? Right now? What about my patrol? Well… okay then. We'll be there soon."
"Well aren't you special? My boss asks to speak with you. Face to face. Cancelled my whole patrol because of it too." She said, returning her phone to her pocket.
"Hold on now. I'm not about to go anywhere with you when I don't understand what's going on." He said.
"…Okay." Urd said after a pause. "It's understandable to be a little confused when you first get here. Most everyone is. I was. So let's give you the quick version to mull over for now, so we can go over the rest in good time."
"This is Quadratum. It's an afterworld for the Arrived, which means people like you and me who are from the other side. Our reality. Welcome to your second life. My job around here is to find people like you and help you get started. Give you a kind of tutorial of how this world works. And check on you now and then if you think you need me to." She explained.
"So, with that out of the way, are you willing to come see my boss now?" She said, motioning at her bike.
Riku shook his head. "I can't. I have things to do. I'm looking for someone."
He sent his keyblade away and began to walk in the opposite direction, but she caught up to him, standing on his path.
"Well I presume that someone is an Arrived, like yourself. Has to be, since you just got here. In that case we can help you. We have people we know, things you can use and we keep tabs on all the Arrived. You'll find him much easier with us.
"I'd rather do this on my own. I don't know you." He said. He tried to walk past her, only be blocked again.
"Well, you're free to try that, of course. I'm not about to take you anywhere against your will. But the city is as big as it seems. Bigger actually. And it's full of people, most of whom aren't Arrived. They don't even know what that means. And you don't yet know where anything is or how anything works. I'm sorry to say it but I don't think you'd have much of a chance without help. Just come have a quick meeting with my boss and let us give you the means to succeed. Then you can go wherever you wish. No one is going to try to stop you." She told him.
After a pause, Riku sighed, defeated. "Okay then. Let's get going." He said with a shrug.
"Great!" She said with a grin and turned back toward her bike, with him following behind.
"So who is this boss of yours that we are going to see?" He asked.
"His name is Ephemer. He's a real nice guy, you'll see. I don't really know why he wants to see you, but he sent me here specifically for you, so I guess he must've been expecting you." She said.
"He knew I was coming?" Riku said.
"We have this piece of tech that lets us know when an where and Arrived is going to appear a few days before they do. Makes our job a whole lot easier. And… he sort of is able to know things that are going to happen before they do. No idea how he does that though." She explained.
When they reached her bike she put her helmet back on and pulled a second one from the bags on the motorcycle.
"Here, this is for you. Better you be safe during the ride." She said, tossing the helmet to him.
Riku caught the offered helmet and was about to put it on. But then he paused, rubbing his chest. With all the adrenaline from facing the Heartless, he had almost forgotten the pain he had started to feel. But now it was back, worse than ever.
"Woah. Are you ok? You don't look so good." She asked, having noted his pained expression.
"My heart… it hurts... so much. And… I can't feel anyone. My friends…"
"Disconnection sickness…" She said with a low voice.
"What?" Riku asked, not understanding.
"I mentioned that newly Arrived need a tutorial. Because this world operates with a different logic. That pain you're feeling is one of the more unfortunate features here." She told him.
"I'll explain the particulars later if you like. For now just know it's going to stop hurting given enough time." She said.
"Do think you'll be able to keep conscious with it for now? Please be honest." She then asked.
"Y-yeah. I think." Riku said with a nod.
"Good. I wouldn't want you to falling off mid ride. Now sit down and hold on tight." She said.
She got on her bike and he sat down behind her, and off they zoomed into the night.