Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, or Danmachi. All of them belong to their respective owners.
Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter.
Looks like it took a while to update this. Well, all I can say is that real life got me super busy, and I got a bit burned out with writing fanfiction. Not to mention a huge helping of writer's block. Dialogue was a bitch to get through.
Other than that, I managed to get Wanderer in Genshin Impact. I named him Vanitas, because Wanderer reminds me of Vanitas. They're born incomplete and filled that void with nothing but hatred and negative emotions, both seek a form of completion, both are absolute jerks, and both have a form of dark rivalry with the protagonist.
A very close second was Xion, because they're both puppets / artificial beings with no Heart (from the start), a member of an organization ranked by numbers, becomes a giant armored robo-boss at some point, and they're wiped from everyone's memories (except one person).
Let's start the chapter.
Chapter 25: A Twister of Surprises
Silence was made throughout the field.
Sora stood there, looking absolutely gobsmacked at who was before him. Meanwhile, Bell could only blink in confusion at who the person was before him. But one thing is for sure, is that Bell can see that Sora seems to recognize the person before them.
Sora could only remain silent, shocked to see someone he knows, standing before him.
That is, before a massive grin grew on his face.
"...Neku! Oh man, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" Sora happily greeted as he ran up to Neku and placed his hands on the teen's shoulders out of relief and happiness.
Neku impassively stared at Sora for a short moment, before a small relieved smile formed on his lips.
"...Feeling's mutual," Neku returned.
"Same here!" Sora agreed, before he blinked at the appearance of Neku, "Say...you look a lot different the last time we saw each other!"
Sora was right in that regard; compared to the sleeveless black shirt with an indigo stripe in the middle and white shorts, Neku's clothes were in total contrast to both color and length.
"It's not like I wear the same clothes every single day Sora," Neku deadpanned, "I can only thank Shiki for all of this, since she was rather insistent on me trying new clothing aside from my usual clothes."
It was then Neku gave Sora a good look over as well, and noticed the different appearance of his fellow teen.
"You're not that different either," Neku remarked with a raised eyebrow, "and is it just me, or do you look...older than the last time I saw you?"
"Oh, that? I was like that because Master Yen Sid made me and Riku younger in order to help us train for Mark of Mastery while we were in the Sleeping Worlds." Sora explained.
"...I only understood 25% of what you just told me," Neku told Sora with a flat look.
"Really? What was hard to understand?" Sora asked with a confused look.
"It's called context," Neku retorted.
"...Oooh, right," Sora sheepishly chuckled while scratching the back of his head. It was then Sora began to realize something about Neku.
"Wait...you're here in this World!? How did you end up here? I thought you'd be back at Shibuya!" Sora said with surprise.
A frown formed on Neku's face.
"That's...a bit of a long story," Neku said while grimacing a bit.
Sora could only blink at Neku's shift in attitude, while Bell could only look at the two with confusion.
"Sora...do you know him?" Bell asked, confused and curious seeing how Sora was familiar with the teen before him.
Sora turned to Bell with a grin, still beaming from his reunion. "Oh, right! Bell, this is Neku. We met back in Traverse Town, during my time in the Sleeping Worlds," he explained, gesturing towards Neku.
"Sleeping Worlds..." Bell muttered, before his eyes widened in shock and realization, "wait, that means you're not from this World, just like Sora!"
Neku blinked when he heard this from Bell, and glanced towards Sora. "...He knows?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, I told him about it. You can trust him to keep this a secret," Sora reassured.
"I see...," Neku muttered, before he looked towards Bell, "Guess I don't need to watch what I say then."
"Yep!" Sora nodded in agreement, before he gave a befuddled look, "but seriously, how are you here Neku? Oh, did you manage to get here by Gummiship?" Sora asked with a hopeful look.
Neku just gave a raised eyebrow at Sora.
"...I have no idea what that is," Neku pointed out, which caused Sora to blink dubiously upon hearing this.
"You don't? Then how did-?"
The three immediately heard pained groans, and they all turned their heads to see the two robed figures staggering to pick themselves back up.
Neku narrowed his eyes at the sight of the two robed men, and quickly put on his headphones while he closed his eyes in concentration. Sora didn't notice Neku's actions as he approached the two men.
"Alright, start talking," Sora said with a frown as he pointed his Keyblade at the two men, "who or what gave you the power to control the Heartless? That kind of power isn't meant to be used by anyone."
"Tch...!" one of them tried to move, but Sora immediately caught onto his actions as he snapped his fingers, casting Bind on them.
"What the-!? I can't move my body...!" one of the men cried out in shock.
"That's the plan," Sora said with a frown, "we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Tell me what you know, and I'll convince Ganesha to reduce your sentencing. If not, then you'll be sitting in a cell for a long time."
"Don't bother," Neku spoke up with a frown, opening his eyes while taking off his headphones, "they're the type to commit suicide just to prevent their enemies from gaining anything."
"T-They do!?" Bell said with shock, aghast at the fact that these people are willing to kill themselves so readily.
Neku nodded as he held up his hand, and his hand glowed for a bit. Immediately, objects began to fly out of the men's robes and flew to his hand. They appeared to be tools meant for explosions.
"Apparently, these bombs will do the job for them," Neku commented while looking at the bombs in his hands.
"Good catch Neku," Sora thanked.
"Bombs to blow themselves up..." Bell looked even more unsettled at the revelation.
"Damn it...!" one of the robed men cursed while struggling to break free.
Sora then pointed his Keyblade towards them once more.
"Alright, start talking-" Sora started, before his eyes widened his instincts screamed at incoming danger.
Immediately, Sora formed a Reflect barrier around him, Bell, and Neku. Bell looked surprised by the sudden action, before he yelped in shock when his vision was suddenly met with black flashes occurring all around him.
"An ambush...!?" Neku muttered in alarm.
The assault of black energy continued for a short moment, before it died down. Seeing that there was no more rain of black energy, Sora released his magic barrier and looked around to see who or what attacked him.
When the smoke and dust began to clear, he soon spotted a particular figure up on an earthly elevated platform.
The figure appeared to be robed, while also wearing a mask to obscure their face.
Sora narrowed his eyes at the sight of the figure, alarm bells ringing when he saw the robed figure. At first, he thought it was an Organization 13 member. However, it wasn't black, but dark purple; also add to the fact that no Organization 13 member didn't wear an eerie mask.
"Who are you!?" Sora questioned, prepping his Keyblade.
"Someone not friendly, that's for sure," Neku remarked.
"That black energy...it looked like Darkness...!" Bell muttered in alarm.
The robed figure stood there silently, before a small click of the tongue was made.
"...Such useless followers," the figure spoke.
"Followers...?" Bell muttered in confusion, before he glanced to the side. His eyes widened in horror and shock.
The two captured men were lying dead on the ground, having been caught in the dark blast.
"Wait, followers? That means, they were your comrades!? How could you do that!?" Sora angrily questioned.
The robed figure didn't say anything in response to Sora's question, but simply turned around and began to walk away. Sora was about to give chase, but his eyes widened in shock when he saw something that shocked him.
A Corridor of Darkness manifested and immediately engulfed the figure, allowing them to leave the area immediately.
"...They left so quickly...!" Bell muttered in shock.
"The way they left...don't tell me...!?" Sora muttered with alarm.
"Reminds me of that hooded figure we encountered back in Traverse Town," Neku remarked with a raised eyebrow.
"...That coat didn't look like an Organization 13 member, that's for sure," Sora commented with a frown, "still...to use a Corridor of Darkness..."
"You're just a magnet for these kinds of things, aren't you," Neku said with a raised eyebrow, before he turned to the two dead bodies before him. "So much for getting information out of them."
"Yeah...we lost our chance to get any information relating to whoever is controlling the Heartless," Sora said with a frown.
Bell looked around their surroundings and noted that there was nobody around to pose a danger to them.
"...I think we're in the clear," Bell told the two.
"Seems like it," Sora agreed and turned to look at Neku, "if that's the case, then we can go back to what we were talking about: what are you doing here Neku?"
"...That'll take some time to explain," Neku said with a frown, "we're going to need a change of scenery if I'm going to explain-"
"Whoa, what happened here!?" a new voice said aloud in surprise.
Sora, Bell, and Neku blinked at the voice, and turned their heads to see a group of people approaching the pit that they were in. Ones that they're familiar with.
"Oh great..." Neku muttered with his eyebrow twitching.
"Tiona?" Sora said with recognition.
The Amazoness noticed the three standing in the pit.
"Huh? Argonaut? Sora? What are you doing here-" Tiona was about to ask, but soon paused at who she saw, "oh, it's you!"
"Tiona? Who did you find-" Lefiya walked into the scene with a confused look. When she looked into the direction where Tiona was looking, her eyes widened in shock.
"You-!?" Lefiya screamed while pointing towards Neku.
Sora and Bell could only blink at Lefiya's reaction, while Neku looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
~ Break ~
The return back to camp has been rather tense and silent, as Sora and Bell have noticed. The moment the Loki Familia arrived, Neku's mood immediately took a downturn as he put on his headphones and didn't talk to the Loki Familia, giving only "mh-hm" and grunts at anything that they said to them.
Sora only glanced around him, and saw that Lefiya was giving Neku an apprehensive look. He looked over to Tiona and Tione, the former trying to get Neku to hear her say "hello" or any small talk questions. So far, he was pretty much tuning her out.
Sora found it rather concerning, to say the least. Why is Neku giving the Loki Familia a cold shoulder?
The group soon arrived at camp. Once they did, Lefiya immediately went off in another direction, as if she didn't want to be in the same area around Neku. It was something that concerned Sora.
However, Sora's concerns came to an end when he heard someone scream in annoyance and fury in their direction.
"You!" a familiar voice screamed.
Sora could only blink at the voice, while Neku's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. The two turned to see a certain werewolf stomping up towards them.
"You're..." Sora said with recognition.
"You're the one who brought those antidotes, didn't you!?" Bete yelled as he pointed towards Sora.
Sora blinked in confusion.
"Well, yeah...I did," Sora answered with a confused look, "can't exactly leave your Familia being poisoned."
"I was going to take care of that!" Bete indignantly yelled, "I had to haul ass just to get to the surface, get the antidotes, and bring them here to cure them! And you just made all of my work amount to nothing!"
"...Wait, you went to get them?" Sora said with surprise, "Huh, didn't know that. I wonder why Finn didn't make any mention of that."
This made Bete blink upon hearing this.
"...Wait, he didn't tell you!?" Bete exclaimed, before a scowl appeared on his face, "that son of a-! He better have a good explanation for all this-!"
Bete stopped midsentence when his gaze soon fell onto Neku. Neku, on the other hand, could only look at Bete with a raised eyebrow.
"...What the hell are you doing here!?" Bete yelled while pointing at Neku.
Sora could only blink in confusion even further. How does Neku know the Loki Familia?
"It hasn't even been 5 seconds since I got here and you're already screaming," Neku snarked with a raised eyebrow, "and I thought pi-face was obnoxiously loud."
"The hell did you say!?" Bete angrily screamed.
"...You're not really helping your case with all your shouting," Neku pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"You...!" a vein was soon formed on Bete's forehead.
Before Bete could even make a step forward, both Tiona and Tione grabbed onto Bete and began dragging him off.
"Alright Bete, that's enough," Tiona said with exasperation.
"Yeah, you're really losing your temper over someone pointing out your habits? Talk about pathetic," Tione remarked.
"Let me go! I need to teach that brat a lesson on manners!" Bete angrily screamed.
The group could only watch Bete being dragged off, and Sora turned to Neku.
"...What exactly did you do to make him mad?" Sora asked with confusion and curiosity.
Neku simply shrugged.
"Beats me. He seems to be mad all the time, so it's rather hard to discern what he's mad at," Neku said.
"...True. He does have an attitude problem," Sora recalled his brief experience with Bete.
Seeing that they were alone, Sora turned to Neku.
"Hey, why exactly are you giving the Loki Familia a cold shoulder? They're a decent bunch to hang out with," Sora told Neku.
"Of course you would say that," Neku sarcastically said while twirling around one of his hair spikes, "not all of us can easily make friends with a bunch of strangers. And I can't bring myself to interact with the Loki Familia for multiple reasons."
"Like...?"
Neku sighed as he looked around the camp.
"...I'll tell you when we get some privacy," Neku told the Keyblade wielder.
"Oh, well...alright."
When the group began to walk towards their tent, something was caught in Neku's peripherals.
"Hey, Sora...is that...?" Neku said while subtly pointing in a certain direction.
Sora looked towards the direction where Neku was pointing and gave a distasteful frown at who he saw.
It was Hermes. He was at his Familia's camping area, but the state he was in was something notable. Hermes seems to have gotten out of his icy prison, but didn't escape unscathed. The Traveler God was wrapped in a blanket while his feet were planted into a pan of hot water. Hermes was shivering while giving an occasional sneeze.
"Oh, that creep. Let's just say Hermes got his just desserts," Sora huffed while he kept moving forward.
Neku, who stayed behind for a bit, was staring at Hermes. The more he looked at Hermes, the more he was being reminded of a certain someone. A certain someone that brought Neku a mixture of feelings, but was leaning more towards negative feelings.
Neku narrowed his eyes at the sight of Hermes, before he looked forward and began to follow Sora.
~ Break ~
"Master Bell! Master Sora!"
Both Bell and Lili heard Lili call out to them in surprise the moment they entered the tent.
"Hey, where the hell have you two been?" Welf greeted the two with a wry smirk, "I thought we were going to explore Rivira after we took care of this morning's task, but you two just ended up disappearing most of the day. What's up with that?"
"Oh, um, well..." Bell looked tongue-tied on where to start. Even Sora looked unsure of how to explain it.
After all, they didn't want to tell Lili they went exploring the 18th Floor because they needed to cover Bell's tracks on being tricked into peeking at women while bathing. Thankfully, they didn't need to talk about it, as a new presence made themselves known in the tent.
"...I take that this is the tent that you're talking about?" Neku asked, being the last to enter the tent.
When Neku entered the tent, Lili and Welf blinked owlishly at the new arrival.
"...Master Bell...Sora...who's he?" Lili asked with a confused look.
"Oh, well, this is Neku. He's a friend of Sora," Bell introduced.
"Hey," Neku simply greeted.
"That right?" Welf said with a raised eyebrow and looked at Neku's clothing, "gotta say, your choice of clothing is similar to Sora's. You two come from the same place or something?"
Hearing this type of question made Sora give a nervous chuckle and smile.
"W-Well, I guess you could say that," Sora answered.
Lili kept staring at Neku for a short moment, before her eyes slowly widened upon realization.
"...Master Bell, Sora..." Lili spoke up with an unsettled expression, "don't tell Lili that Neku is...?"
Neku looked at her with a raised eyebrow, while Sora and Bell shared looks, and then looked towards Lili and nodded. Seeing the silent confirmation, Lili's eyebrow heavily twitched while giving a sharp inhale. She then rubbed her forehead in irritation and exasperation.
"...Lili takes Lili's eyes off of you two for a moment. How in the World did it result in...this!?" Lili gestured to Neku.
Neku looked at her with a raised eyebrow, while Sora and Bell could only give sheepish chuckles.
"Does she also...?" Neku had to ask to confirm. Both Sora and Bel nodded at Neku's question. "I see..."
Neku then looked to Welf, something that caught Welf's attention.
"What about him?" Neku asked.
The two shook their head.
"...I see. That's going to be rather difficult to explain things then," Neku sighed with discomfiture.
"Oi," Welf said with a frown, "is there something you don't like about me?"
"No no! It's nothing like that at all!" Bell hastily spoke up before Welf could get the wrong idea, "It's just...really personal matters that Neku wants to share with us...well, more specifically, the Hestia Familia. Neku doesn't feel comfortable sharing it with people outside of our Familia!"
"...That so?" Welf said with a raised eyebrow.
"...Sorry, you mind giving us some privacy?" Neku asked.
Welf gave Neku a raised eyebrow, and looked to his fellow party members. All of them gave hesitant nods. Seeing this, Welf sighed while he scratched the back of his head.
"...Do what you gotta do. I wouldn't want to butt into someone's personal business," Welf told the group, and then proceeded to leave the tent.
Bell inwardly winced upon seeing Welf leave. He felt really bad that he was forced to exclude Welf for this. Under less pressing circumstances, Bell would've loved to have Welf join their circle regarding Sora and the Worlds beyond. However, it's absolutely essential that they need to keep everything under cover to preserve World Order and Sora's otherworldly status.
Once Welf left the tent and after a short amount of silence to confirm that he was not around, Neku turned to the Hestia Familia.
"Right, guess I can speak freely then," Neku said.
"Well Lili certainly hopes so! Lili didn't expect Master Bell and Sora to just bring in another person who comes from beyond our World!" Lili pointed out.
"W-We're just as surprised as you are Lili," Bell said.
"Speaking of," Sora spoke up while looking at Neku with a raised eyebrow, "how DID you end up here anyway?"
When met with that question, Neku gave a mixture of a tired and annoyed sigh.
"I've been asking myself that question ever since I woke up in this World," Neku answered.
"Wait, so you don't know how you ended up here?" Sora asked in surprise.
"If I did, I would've told you from the very start," Neku exasperatedly replied.
"Oh, good point..." Sora said while blinking at Neku's response, "...still, what exactly were you doing before you ended up here?"
"...That's going to take some time to explain," Neku said with a complex expression.
"Believe Lili when Lili says that we're no strangers to long stories. Isn't that right Sora?" Lili asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sora could only give a bashful chuckle.
"...Right," Neku trailed while giving Sora a raised eyebrow, "where to begin? Well, to start with, after Sora managed to defeat that Nightmare, we were finally given the chance to return to Shibuya."
"Oh really? Glad to know that worked out!" Sora chirped while crossing his arms behind his head.
"My friends and I had the same thoughts as well," Neku agreed, "we finally thought that our troubles were over and we were done with the Reapers' Game."
"Reapers' Game...?" Bell repeated with a frown.
"You did mention something about a Game when we first met in Traverse Town," Sora noted, "but a Reapers' Game? Sounds ominous."
"It's not a nice picnic in the park, that's for sure," Neku deadpanned, "to save you time and details, it's basically a survival game: win the game and you get to live."
"...Ah," Bell winced, seeing why it's called the Reapers' Game.
"Wait, so your lives were on the line!?" Sora said, appalled to hear such a concept.
Neku gave a hapless shrug.
"Yeah, it's a twisted game where your life is literally on the line. You fail, you face erasure," Neku explained.
"But why would you participate in such a dangerous game?" Sora asked with an incredulous look.
"Believe me when I say I had no choice in the matter and leave it at that," Neku simply answered.
"That so...?" Sora muttered while crossing his arms. That certainly explains why Neku was so focused on beating the Game when they first met in the Sleeping Worlds. He never knew that his friend was at risk of losing his life in this Game.
"Moving on," Neku began once more, "we thought we returned to our normal lives. However, out of nowhere, Beat and I suddenly found ourselves in another Reapers' Game."
"Another Game?" Bell repeated in confusion.
Neku nodded.
"This time, it was declared as Reapers' Game: Expert Mode," Neku revealed.
"Expert mode?" Sora repeated with a raised eyebrow, "so...a Reapers' Game that's harder than your usual one?"
Neku nodded at Sora, "Yeah, it was certainly more challenging than the last one. Beat and I were confused about why we were dragged into another Game when we shouldn't, and a Reaper named Coco approached us about it."
"Wait," Sora spoke up, "since you're mentioning Beat, what happened to Shiki and Rhyme?"
"They weren't involved in the Game this time, thankfully," Neku answered, before he gave Sora a small irked look, "look, I'm sure you have a bunch of questions, but let me finish my story. Otherwise, we're just going to be here all day."
"Oh, right. Sorry," Sora gave a sheepish chuckle while scratching his cheek, to which Neku gave an exasperated sigh.
"Anyways, Beat and I were approached by a Reaper named Coco, who claimed that she was just as lost as us when it came to another Game. All of us decided to investigate what was going on with Coco. I'll spare you the details of what we did and just tell you that Beat and I began to understand what was going on and figured out who was the main perpetrator behind this Game."
"W-Who was it?" Bell asked.
"The same Reaper who approached us at the beginning of the Game," Neku revealed with a frown.
"Wait, so Coco is the one behind it all?" Sora asked in surprise, "but she approached you guys for help at the beginning."
"She certainly gave us a convincing act, that's for sure," Neku said while giving a frown when remembering Coco, "after she was revealed to be the main culprit, Beat and I had to defeat her Tapir Noise in order to break out of her Game."
"Tapir...Noise?" Bell repeated with a confused look, "so you had to make her go quiet?"
Neku's eyebrow twitched and began tugging on his hair spike in irritation.
"Right, you don't know. Just as this World has Monsters, my World also has monsters that we call Noise," Neku quickly elaborated.
""Oooohhh..."" both Bell and Sora gave a noise of understanding.
"So...you and Beat defeated the Noise, right?" Sora asked.
"We did," Neku answered with a short nod, "after we defeated the Noise, we broke out of the Reapers' Game and returned to the Realground."
"Realground?" Lili repeated with a confused look.
"Another term for reality," Neku told her.
"So you and Beat managed to break out of the Game," Sora said, just taking these new terms with stride, "what happened after that?"
"Oh, that," Neku said with a frown, "I got shot by Coco and ended up dying as a result."
Stunned silence was made in the tent at Neku's reveal.
"...Huh?" Bell looked very lost and confused.
"You got shot and ended up...dying..." Sora repeated with a bewildered look.
"Wait wait wait, hold up!" Lili spoke up while looking incredulous upon hearing this, "what exactly do you mean you ended up dying!? We can clearly see you standing in front of us alive!"
"Well I've certainly died," Neku deadpanned, "and I don't mean it metaphorically, or rhetorically, or poetically, or theoretically, or any other fancy way. I ended up dying, straight up."
"Wait, if you died then...you're a ghost?" Sora asked with a confused look.
"Do I look like a ghost to you?" Neku asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sora didn't say anything but walked up to Neku and then poked him on the side a few times, much to the headphone user's annoyance.
"Knock it off," Neku told Sora as he swatted Sora's hand away, where the Keyblade wielder gave a sheepish chuckle.
"...You feel pretty real to me," Sora remarked with a grin.
"Glad that's cleared up," Neku sarcastically replied while looking unamused with all of this.
"Say that you did die," Lili spoke up with a doubtful expression, "how exactly does this factor into you ending up here?"
Neku sighed while twirling around his hair spike.
"That's the thing. After I got shot and ended up dying, everything went dark for me. At first, all I could hear were disembodied thoughts around me, and they were hard to make out what they were. Before I knew it, I suddenly found myself waking up on the 50th Floor of the Dungeon," Neku began, recalling the time he arrived in this World.
Everyone blinked in surprise upon hearing this.
"Wait...," Bell spoke up with confusion, "...so your supposed death led you to wake up in this World? And on the 50th Floor of the Dungeon of all places?"
"How does that work?" Lili asked with an incredulous expression.
Neku gave another hapless shrug.
"That's a question I've been asking myself ever since I got here," Neku said.
"Guess we're in the same boat then," Sora remarked, as he was also confused about how he ended up in this World after fighting Yozora, "What exactly did you do from there?"
"Oh, that?" Neku said, "you wanted to know earlier how I know the Loki Familia? Turns out they were doing an expedition in the Dungeon and were camping on the 50th Floor of the Dungeon. That was the same time I first woke up in this World, and ended up meeting them."
"That's how you met them?" Sora asked in surprise.
"Yeah, and let's just say I left quite a...memorable impression with them," Neku drawled.
"W-What kind of impression?" Bell couldn't help but ask, to which Neku gave a frustrated sigh.
"Where to start..." Neku sighed.
To begin with, Neku was very confused and lost on where the hell he ended up. He clearly knew that he was no longer in Shibuya, but instead in some large underground area filled with trees. And as soon as he gained a semblance of awareness of where he was, the Loki Familia found him.
His very presence made the Loki Familia confused, wary, and suspicious, as no on else besides the Freya, Zeus, and Hera Familia made it to that Floor, yet he was there alone. He was taken to talk with Finn and the higher executives of the Loki Familia. During the whole talk, Neku quickly began to realize that he was in an entirely different World, and wasn't sure how the Loki Familia would react if he revealed that he wasn't from this World.
Even though Neku didn't know about World Order, he knew that sharing this kind of reveal would lead to complications, and would cause the Loki Familia to look at him like some nutjob. As a result, Neku decided to keep quiet and give vague answers about how he ended up on that Floor.
His vague answers only drew more suspicion from the Loki Familia, and Neku was afraid that he would be stuck under more questioning. Fortunately, or unfortunately, their talk was interrupted when Virga came from the 51st Floor and attacked the Loki Familia. The whole situation turned chaotic as the Loki Familia was busy fending them off.
"There were a lot of Virga that attacked the Loki Familia," Neku explained with a frown, "so much that they were all over the place, and even managed to reach where I was."
"A flood of monsters to give the Loki Familia trouble..." Bell muttered with a frown, "the Deeper Floor Monsters aren't to be taken lightly."
"The quantity was concerning," Neku agreed, "and I thought I was a goner when they managed to reach me."
"Really? Are they that strong to give you trouble?" Sora asked with surprise.
"Not particularly," Neku shook his head, "I fought plenty of Noise to know that they wouldn't give me any trouble. The problem, at the time, was the fact that I lacked a Partner."
"Partner?" Bell repeated.
"In the Reapers' Game, you need to form a pact with another Player and become Partners in order to use the Psychs. Otherwise, you'll be a sitting duck for Reapers and Noise," Neku explained.
"Oh, so that explains why you were in a hurry to find Shiki! You needed her with you in order to fight," Sora said with realization.
"Yeah, and I didn't exactly have a Dream Eater to summon," Neku said, but then looked at his open palm, "I thought I was a goner and I instinctively thought about using my Pyrokinesis psych to get me out of this mess. And much to my surprise, I was able to manifest it."
"Pyrokinesis...?" Bell muttered in confusion.
"So you were able to use your powers? Isn't that a good thing?" Sora asked.
"Normally, I would be glad to be able to use my Psychs, as they help me survive the Dungeon," Neku agreed, but then gave a confused frown, "but...let's just say that it brings up a lot of questions, both for myself and the Loki Familia."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Lili asked with a raised eyebrow.
"...Well for one, how am I still able to use my Psychs?" Neku asked, "This isn't the Underground. Everyone here is a living being. And before you ask, the Underground is another location back at my World."
"Does the Underground have something to do with your powers?" Sora asked.
"It does. It's the only location where I'm able to use my Psychs. Though, I was able to use it Traverse Town, so I guess location doesn't really factor into it..."
"Does that mean...we're in the Sleeping Worlds?" Sora wondered aloud, before he shook his head, "no, that wouldn't be possible. If we were in the Sleeping Worlds, my Dream Eaters would've been able to stay with us indefinitely."
"Another weird thing is that I don't have a Partner, yet I'm able to use my Psychs," Neku noted.
"Oh right, you did mention that you need a Partner in order to fight," Sora recalled, "does that mean Shiki or Beat is in this World?"
"...I really hope not," Neku muttered with a frown, "it's bad enough to be stranded in this World. I don't want to drag them down with me. And even if they were, our powers won't manifest if we're too far apart from each other."
"...I guess I could understand the sentiment," Sora said with a frown, as he wouldn't want to drag his friends into the consequences he made when he misused the Power of Waking.
Bell noticed the atmosphere was getting somber, so he cleared his throat a bit.
"Y-You also mentioned something about the Loki Familia questioning your powers," Bell pointed out.
Thankfully, this broke the two out of their trance as Neku nodded.
"Yeah. Turns out, my Psychs aren't exactly considered the norm here in this World. I've used more than three 'spells'" Neku said while air-quoting the 'spells' part, "as well as not doing chanting. That alone just made the Loki Familia look like I'm an anomaly."
"...You've already painted a pretty big target on your back," Lili couldn't help but remark, "and Lili thought Sora was bad in that regard."
"Hey!" Sora protested.
"In any case," Neku continued, ignoring the remark made towards him, "because of my performance, the Loki Familia decided to bring me with them. I decided to take them up on their offer, because I needed them to guide me out of the Dungeon."
"Huh, so that pretty much explains why you and the Loki Familia know each other," Sora noted, but then blinked in confusion, "but...that still doesn't explain why you're not so keen on interacting with them. I mean, I'm able to keep up my secret and still be friends with them."
"Like I said before Sora, not everyone has the ability to easily make friends with a bunch of strangers," Neku deadpanned, "It's not that I have any personal issues with the Loki Familia. Though, I prefer to not deal with Bete, considering his anger issues..."
"His temper could give Donald a run for his Munny..." Sora remarked.
"The reason why I don't want to interact with the Loki Familia is because of Loki herself," Neku revealed, which made the Hestia Familia blink owlishly upon hearing this.
"Loki? What does Loki have to do with any of this?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow.
Neku gave a deep frown, as if he was reminiscing certain memories that weren't pleasant.
"When the Loki Familia took me with them to the surface and had me talk with Loki...the moment I saw her, I immediately knew that she was someone I could not easily trust," Neku revealed.
"I mean, we aren't supposed to reveal any critical information about ourselves to the Gods," Sora said, "but something tells me that there's something more to it."
Neku gave an ambivalent look.
"...Let's just say I've had my fair share of dealing with schemers and manipulators. Loki gives off a similar vibe to what I've dealt with in the past, and I'm not taking any chances with her," Neku said.
He should know what he's talking about, considering his complicated history with Joshua.
Neku trusts and even considers Joshua a friend. However...he can't bring himself to forgive Joshua for how he manipulated and used him for his own goals. Not just yet. The scars that Joshua inflicted on Neku are relatively fresh in Neku's Heart, and it takes time for that scar to heal.
It's those particular scars that made Neku easily recognize that Loki is similar to Joshua: behind that irritating facade lies a more cunning and manipulative individual that you can't take lightly. The only difference between Loki and Joshua is that Joshua acted more like a condescending smartass, while Loki acted more like a perverted clown.
"Well, I can certainly say that I've had my fair share of people who can manipulate others for their ambitions," Sora agreed while he crossed his arms behind his head. Xehanort is a prime example of someone who can easily manipulate others for his plans.
"Is that right?" Neku said with a raised eyebrow, "then you should know that people like Loki should be kept in the dark. The less they know about you, the less likely they can form some kind of plan to manipulate you. That's why I don't talk to the Loki Familia that much."
"Because anything you tell them will be reported to Loki?" Lili asked.
"Exactly," Neku nodded, "it's troublesome enough to be stuck in this World. I don't want to deal with Loki's schemes if she learns more about me."
"That's a fair reason," Lili noted.
"So what did you do after you've met up with Loki?" Sora curiously asked.
"After that? Well, I began to spend a lot of time in the Dungeon..." Neku began.
After having a very short talk with the Goddess, Neku thought it was best to get away from that Familia as much as possible and figure out a plan on how to get off this World. Based on what he knew from the small conversations he had with others, he learned two fundamental facts: this world is filled with Gods who descended onto the mortal plane, and the Dungeon is a place where Adventurers go into and explore.
With the first fact, Neku knew he could not get involved with any of the Gods. The Gods are driven by their desire for entertainment, and if they discovered the abnormality that he is, they would stop at nothing to recruit him for his powers and status. That alone is a huge bother to Neku, as he doesn't want his life dictated by a God's whims. He wants to leave this World, not become bound by it.
"Wait, so you've been going into the Dungeon this whole time without being in a Familia?" Lili spoke up with a confused look, "then how did you manage to get Valis from the Guild? You need to be part of a Familia if you want to exchange magic stones and monster drops."
"I never really bothered going to the Guild," Neku shrugged, "instead, I chose to stay on the 18th Floor of this Dungeon during my entire time here in this World."
"Wait, you did!?" Sora said in surprise, "weird, I've been on the 18th Floor a couple of weeks ago. I wonder why I never saw you."
"Time out, you were here before?" Neku said with surprise, to which Sora nodded. Neku gave an aggravated sigh while pinching his nose.
"I can't believe it. We could've met earlier, but we missed that chance. I guess I was on a different Floor of the Dungeon at the time, and you passed by."
"...Huh, who would've thought," Sora remarked with bewilderment.
Bell then realized something.
"...If you stayed on the 18th Floor, then how were you able to afford to stay here? You need Valis to stay at Rivira's inn, don't you?" Bell pointed out.
"It was certainly a problem at first," Neku admitted, "but during my time here, I became acquainted with Bors, the guy who more or less runs Rivira," Neku explained, "he and I struck up a deal: I give him whatever magic stones and drops I find in the Dungeon, and he gives me a place to stay."
"So that's how you were able to afford to stay here," Sora remarked with surprise.
"Yeah, but I'm certainly getting ripped off, seeing how the quality of the magic stones and drops I get should get me enough Valis to stay a few nights. Instead, I only get one night..." Neku said with annoyance, "I swear, these Adventurers are willing to do anything to get their hands on Valis, even if it means risking their own lives in this Dungeon."
The concept alone didn't sit well with Neku. To risk your very life so you can put bread on the table? Neku wants no part of it, because he spent 3 weeks in a death game in order to earn the right to live again. To Neku, being an Adventurer is the worst kind of occupation that he wants to get involved with.
"...Moving on, I really wish we could've met sooner," Neku exasperatedly groaned, "progressing through the Dungeon would've been easier."
"You need help getting through the Dungeon? Why?" Sora asked in confusion.
"...There's the possibility that if you were to reach the bottom of the Dungeon, then it's possible to get ourselves back home," Neku revealed.
This made everyone look at Neku in shock.
"Wait, you can!?" Bell looked shocked upon this.
"You mean we can return to our Worlds!?" Sora asked in surprise.
"How did you come up with that theory!?" Lili questioned with disbelief.
Neku, once again, sighed as he twirled around one of his hair spikes.
"You should take what I say with a grain of salt," Neku told everyone, "I came up with this theory because of how...foreign this Dungeon is to this World."
"What exactly do you mean by foreign?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow.
"From what I've learned, the Dungeon existed long before the Gods descended to this World. Even the Gods don't know much about the Dungeon and its origins. The fact that the Dungeon reacts violently to the presence of Gods also says something about it." Neku told everyone.
"True...still, what does it have to do with going to other Worlds?" Sora asked in confusion.
"Well, if the Gods don't know about it, and the people here consider it a mystery, then there are two possibilities," Neku postulated, "one, it's a foreign existence that settled itself onto this World; the second possibility is that it's been on this World since the very beginning, but nobody completely explored it. I was leaning toward the former, hoping that there's some kind of foreign power source that made it manifest in this World. That foreign power could be used to get us back home."
Everyone went silent upon hearing this.
"Lili can't help but wonder that you're doing all of this based on an assumption," Lili pointed out.
"Give me a break, it's the only thing I got to work with," Neku gave a resigned gesture, "because other than that, I have no idea how to get off this World. Exploring the Dungeon is the only option that I'm working with."
"Huh...perhaps I should check that out if I have the time," Sora noted with interest, but then frowned, "but before that, I still need to take care of the Heartless."
"Heartless?" Neku repeated with a raised eyebrow.
Sora gave a brief rundown on what exactly a Heartless is. By the end of the explanation, Neku simply hummed in thought.
"...These Heartless sound a lot like the Noise I fought," Neku noted.
"Really?" Sora said with surprise, "Were the Noise capable of stealing people's Hearts?"
Neku shook his head.
"It's nothing like that. The Noise are manifestations of negative human thoughts and emotions. The Reapers gather that negativity and give it a form, which are the Noise," Neku explained.
"...That sounds a lot like the Unversed," Sora remarked.
"Unversed?" Neku repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"Alright, time out!" Lili said while raising her hand up, "Lili can barely keep up with whatever terminology you two are talking about! Lili wants to focus on the main issue that we're talking about!"
Hearing this from Lili caused Sora to give a sheepish chuckle while Neku simply shrugged.
"Sorry about that," Sora sheepishly apologized, "in any case, Neku's theory is certainly worth checking out. As I said before, we need to deal with the Heartless first before we begin finding a way off this World."
"Speaking of Heartless..." Lili spoke up, "...Neku, since you were in the Dungeon for the majority of the time, did you spot any Heartless?"
"Heartless? You did tell me that they have those black heart symbols on them..." Neku recalled, and gave a small nod, "yeah, I've been encountering them. They were certainly a pain to deal with. They're the main reason why I've had a hard time progressing through the Dungeon."
"I can certainly agree with that," Sora nodded in agreement, "speaking of which, did Heartless cause any trouble on the 18th Floor? We're currently investigating the Middle Floors's Heartless."
"...The 18th Floor did face trouble, but it wasn't Heartless-related," Neku recalled.
"Really? What kind of trouble was it then?" Bell asked with curiosity.
Neku simply gave an annoyed sigh when remembering the incident.
"...I believe it all started a few weeks ago, back when Rivira was dealing with a murder case..." Neku began.
~ Break ~
The Rivira Murder Incident
Ais found herself on the back foot of this fight.
Her opponent, Revis, is proving far more of a challenge than she initially thought. She thought that using Ariel would give her the needed edge in this fight. However, Revis has shown that she was able to overpower her overall abilities.
Revis managed to land a pretty good blow on her, which sent her flying towards an earthen wall. To make matters worse, the blow she received made her unable to move her body
"You're finally finished," Revis declared, raising her arm to smash her skull in.
Ais could only watch as the fist closed in on her...
Only for the fist to be blocked by something.
Or rather, someone.
Ais could only blink in surprise at who she saw before her.
"You...!" Ais whispered in surprise.
Her savior was none other than Neku, who was standing in front of her while manifesting some kind of barrier made out of fire.
Neku didn't spare Ais a glance, but was instead focused on his opponent before him.
"...I guess she's the one behind all of this mess?" Neku asked.
Ais couldn't help but blink in befuddlement at the question, and didn't get to answer as Neku dismissed his barrier and used his Pyrokinesis to summon to bring forth a burst of flames.
Seeing the flames forced Revis to jump back from it, which also gave some space between her and Ais.
Neku could only give an irritated sigh at the situation he was in.
After attempting to get through the Dungeon, it proved to be too much work considering how difficult it is to navigate through it, as well as dealing with the horde of monsters that were getting in his way. So he was forced to return to Rivira to get some rest.
However, the 18th Floor was already in chaos with Violas growing everywhere. Just his luck.
And there was a fight going on, which involved the Loki Familia for some reason. And based on what he observed, the woman Ais was fighting looked like she was behind all of this.
If that was the case, then peace should return if he defeats her.
Revis narrowed her eyes at the sight of Neku and immediately sped towards him while raising her fist to kill him.
Neku raised his hand, and his hand began to glow with power. When Revis saw this, the Creature narrowed her eyes and prepared to deal with whatever attack was going to come from Neku's hand.
However...
A large crystal slammed onto her side, and was sent flying to the sides along with the large crystal that slammed onto her. Revis was then slammed between the crystal and wall that both ended up crashing into.
"...I hope that took care of her," Neku quietly said, as he used his Psychokinesis psych to pick up a large crystal that was off on the side and use it to crush Revis.
Unfortunately, the crystal that was used to crush Revis soon moved, and was pushed off to the side. It revealed that the Creature didn't look too harmed by the attack.
"...She's more durable than I thought," Neku commented as he walked forward.
Revis, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at Neku. The teenager before her is more dangerous than she initially thought. He's able to use flames and levitate objects around him. And he's doing so without a chant, which adds another element of unpredictability to him.
This time, Revis cautiously looked around to see what other object Neku could use against her. However, Neku wasn't going to rely on the same trick twice, as he had another plan in mind.
Neku held up his hand and began to fire off Energy Rounds, which unleashed a widespread barrage of energy bullets that headed toward Revis's direction.
The Creature immediately began to move to avoid the rain of bullets heading her way. However, the spread of the bullets was too widespread, and the Creature was unable to avoid some of the bullets that came her way. The Creature thought she could endure the blasts, just like how she resisted a magic blast from Lefiya's magic. However, the strength of the bullets was far stronger than they were expected to be, as she felt the damage against her body.
Revis clicked her tongue and decided that it was best to close the distance between her and the mage, as mages are vulnerable when fighting up close. The Creature then ran forward raising her arms to cover her head and chest from the bullets.
When Neku saw Revis running towards him, he stopped firing off his Energy Rounds and used Pyrokinesis once more to drive away the creature.
However, to Neku's surprise, Revis forced herself through the flames to close the distance between them, even though it badly burned her body.
"Got you," Revis declared, finally closing the distance between them as she raised her fist and launched a punch towards Neku's head.
However, the Creature was caught off guard when Neku drew his fist back and performed a Vulcan Uppercut. Normally, she would use her other arm to block the incoming punch while her other arm finishes off the human. The Creature didn't expect magic to manifest from the attack, as she was struck by the energy and was sent flying to the air.
'He's able to fight in close-quarters combat!?' Revis thought in alarm.
The Creature wasn't able to have any further thoughts, as Neku suddenly appeared in front of her and struck her down, courtesy of his Grave Marker psych.
She crashed into the ground from the strike, making the Creature cough from the impact. Just as she was about to pick herself up, the Creature was soon engulfed in flames once more; this time, the flames were blue and more intense than the previous flames, thanks to his Flame Blast psych.
Neku narrowed his eyes.
'This should finish her off...right?' Neku thought, hoping this battle would come to an end soon.
His hopes were dashed, as Revis quickly emerged from the flames. This time, her body was covered in third-degree burns. The Creature, however, chose to ignore the burns on her body as she drew her fist back and slammed it onto the ground.
This caused the ground to shatter underneath the two, which also caused Neku to lose his foothold. When Neku lost his balance, the Creature closed the distance between the two of them and appeared underneath Neku.
"You're in the air. Nowhere to run," Revis declared, as she believed that Neku wouldn't be able to perform his close-quarter technique. And even if he were to use his flames or bullets, she would choose to endure it and finally bring down her opponent.
Neku, on the other hand, wasn't panicking at all. Instead, he simply narrowed his eyes at her.
"Fat chance!"
Before the Creature knew it, he disappeared from her sight. The Creature's eyes widened when she saw Neku vanish from her line of sight, before she immediately swung her arm to the air above her. Revis thought that Neku would perform that weird technique that enabled him to appear above her.
However, he was nowhere in sight.
Instead, the Player was standing a fair distance away from her, thanks to the Teleport psych that moved him to another location.
And now that he has appropriate distance...
"Face the music!"
A massive blue speaker manifested above Neku, and four smaller speakers appeared next to the blue speaker.
Before Revis could even do anything, the speakers blasted at full volume.
Revis's eardrums practically exploded from the sheer head-splitting noise that was sent her way. In fact, the sound blast was so intense for the Creature that blood began to spill from her ears, eyes, and mouth. Revis could only collapse onto her knees while covering her ears to save herself from this torture, though covering the ears did little to no effect to save her from Neku's Street Jam.
She was given a chance of relief when Street Jam came to an end. However, because she was staggering from all of the damage she suffered from the attack, Neku simply brought up his finger upward. Before Revis knew it, she was stabbed straight through the abdomen, courtesy of Piercing Pillar.
Revis could only cough out blood with the icile pillar piercing through her body. The icicle pillar soon dissipated, letting the Creature plop onto the ground.
To Neku's surprise, the Revis began to pick herself up, albeit in a shaky manner.
"...She's still alive...?" Neku muttered in surprise.
Revis wiped the blood off her mouth while giving Neku an alarmed stare.
"...An unknown Adventurer with abnormal magic abilities. I'm at a disadvantage," Revis muttered.
Revis then turned tail and began to run away.
"Hold on, you're not going anywhere!" Neku said as he used his Entanglement Psych to summon chains to bind his fleeing opponent.
Revis barely dodged the incoming chains, but one of them caught her wrist.
For a moment, Neku thought he caught her. However, he looked shocked when Revis proceeded to tear her right hand completely off, freeing herself from the chains.
"She tore off her wrist...!?" Neku said aloud in shock, disturbed at what his opponent did.
That shocking action was the only thing that Revis could do to have a chance to escape and proceeded to jump straight into one of the lakes on the 18th Floor to escape.
"...Tch, she got away," Neku muttered.
"Well, you've managed to drive her away at the very least," a voice said.
Neku turned around to see Finn standing before him. Behind him, Lefiya and Riveria were next to Ais, casting healing spells to take care of the Sword Princess's wounds.
"Thanks for helping us out. You were just in time to save our princess from danger," Finn thanked with a smile.
Neku passively looked at the Familia Captain before him, and then gave a small grunt as he turned around.
"...She was making a mess out of the place I was staying at, that's all," Neku simply told the pallum, and walked away from the scene.
He didn't want to interact with the Loki Familia any more than necessary.
~ Break ~
Present
"...Thankfully, they didn't pester me after I left the scene," Neku finished.
Everyone in the tent was looking at Neku with astonished expressions.
"...Something like that happened in Rivira...?" Bell muttered in surprise.
"It happened right under our noses," Sora remarked, and then gave a frown, "still...you said Violas were attacking the 18th Floor, right? Did they have a dark color scheme to them?"
"No, they were vibrant green," Neku shook his head, "I guess this has to do with the Heartless?"
"I've encountered Violas before, but they were Heartless hybrids," Sora clarified, "and then there's the recent encounter. Something tells me that they're all related. And whoever they are, they seem to have some kind of control over the Heartless."
"Well ain't that wonderful," Neku sarcastically drawled, before he gave Sora a raised eyebrow.
"...So you intend on taking care of the Heartless here?" Neku asked.
Sorab blinked at the question and nodded.
"Yeah. As a Keyblade wielder, the presence of the Heartless is something I can't ignore," Sora answered as he slammed his fist onto his palm, "there's no way I'll let the Heartless do as they please!"
"And how long will this task take?" Neku asked.
Sora hummed in thought while folding his arms.
"...Well, this World has an unusually high amount of Heartless lurking around. Normally, it would take a few days or a week at most to take care of the Heartless whenever I got to a World. It's been weeks since I've been here, but I don't think I'm halfway there if I'm being honest."
"...That so?" Neku noted, "so when the Heartless are dealt with, you'll begin searching for a way back home?"
"You got it!" Sora said while giving a thumbs-up of affirmation.
Neku silently stared at Sora for a short moment, before he gave a small exasperated sigh.
"...Yeah, that sounds like you alright. Always willing to lend people a hand, even if they're complete strangers," Neku said with a bit of mirth in his tone.
The Player then nodded to himself, as if he decided on what to do next.
"Alright then. If that's the case, guess I'll have to lend you a hand in all of this," Neku declared.
This made everyone look at Neku with surprise.
"Really!? You'll help out!?" Sora said with excitement.
"Seeing how you're experienced in traveling to different Worlds, I'll leave that matter up to you. It's not like I'm making any progress," Neku said while shrugging, "the faster we deal with the Heartless, the quicker we can find our way back home."
"Sounds like a plan!" Sora chirped before he turned to everyone, "seems like we got ourselves a new party member!"
"Glad to have you on board Neku!" Bell welcomed with a smile.
"Lili can't believe that our new party member is an outworlder like Sora..." Lili muttered while rubbing her forehead in exasperation.
With that in mind, Neku felt his throat dry from all the talking.
"I believe I've explained enough about myself," Neku said, before he felt his throat parched, "...hang on, I need a drink."
Neku held up his arm, and a soda can suddenly manifested itself from thin air and landed on his hand. He then proceeded to crack the can open and sip the contents of it. Neku gave a small exhale as he finished drinking.
He blinked when he saw everyone, save for Sora, looking at him with surprised expressions.
"...What?"
"...You just manifested some container out of thin air," Lili pointed out.
"...Yeah, and?" Neku retorted.
"...Are people outside of our World just able to bring objects out of thin air?" Lili incredulously asked.
Neku blinked before he realized what he performed in front of the two.
"It's more or less an ability that I can use, thanks to a Psych I have," Neku explained.
"Your power allows you to create a drink out of thin air?" Sora asked with an interested look, "that's pretty neat. I wish I could conjure up food with the snap of my fingers. Then again, it takes out the spirit of cooking the food."
"Conjuring up food? What I would give to have that convenient ability ever since I've found myself stuck in this World," Neku mused, and took a sip from the soda can. "What I would give to have a bowl of shoyu ramen right about now."
"""Ramen?""" the trio repeated with a lost look.
"The fact that you don't even know what it is says a lot about this World's food," Neku sighed with disappointment and then looked toward Sora.
"I think I've explained enough about myself. How did you end up here Sora?" Neku asked.
"Oh, that? Well, it all started when I went to fight Xehanort in the 2nd Keyblade War..." Sora began.
~ Break ~
It was almost time for the Loki Familia to leave the 18th Floor and return to the surface. Everyone was packing up all their stuff and checking to see if they didn't forget anything. That meant time for Lefiya to have some time to herself, considering that she had to run into HIM of all people.
Neku Sakuraba.
The mysterious boy she and her Familia encountered on the 50th Floor. It was surprising to see the boy before her on the 50th Floor, with no Familia being around. Could it be that his Familia abandoned him? But...which Familia managed to get this far? It didn't look like he belonged to the Freya Familia.
Neku never really shared what Familia he belongs to.
But that's beside the point.
The biggest issue is that Neku makes her magic look like an absolute joke.
Lefiya, despite her confidence issues, thought that her magic was impressive. After all, her Elf Ring allows her to cast spells that are used by other Elves. This kind of spell allows her to cast more than three spells, which also earned her the Alias of Thousand Elf.
But then Neku entered the picture.
The moment the boy decided to fight the Virga on the 50th Floor, Lefiya was shown how capable the boy is when it comes to magic. He didn't bother chanting. Every single spell he casted was powerful enough to rival high-level magic spells. He used more than three spells.
He's pulling off all these feats like they're nothing more than a walk in the park!
How? How could that boy effortlessly pull off such a thing!? That's just straight-up cheating!
Or...could it be that he's just far more talented than her? That even with all of her effort, she amounts to nothing-
"Hey Lefiya."
Lefiya squeaked in surprise and fright, jumping up a bit in the air, and suddenly turned to who spoke to her.
"S-Sora!?" Lefiya yelped in surprise.
"Hey," Sora greeted with his trademark smile, but then gave her a concerned look, "you alright? You've been pretty upset for quite a while."
Lefiya's cheeks went red, seeing how Sora saw how she behaved when it came to Neku. How embarrassing!
"It's...nothing you need to worry about," Lefiya waved off with a forced smile, "i-is there something that you need Sora?"
Sora frowned at the sight of her state.
"Not particularly. I'm more worried about you," Sora told her with a concerned look.
"W-Worried?" Lefiya repeated with a dubious expression, to which Sora nodded.
"Yeah. I can't exactly ignore a friend who's upset. You've been like this ever since you saw Neku," Sora pointed out, "is there something that he did wrong? Despite Neku's attitude, he's a pretty decent guy once you get to know him."
'I-Is that really the case...?' Lefiya thought with doubt.
Throughout her brief interactions and observations of Neku, Neku didn't seem keen on interacting with her or her Familia. He tends to keep his distance from them and barely says a word to them. Though...that isn't the main issue.
Lefiya doesn't want to show Sora her sorry state over something like this.
"Again...you shouldn't worry too much about it, really. Neku...didn't exactly do anything harmful to me," Lefiya tried to reassure Sora, even if Neku hurt her self-esteem.
"That so...?" Sora muttered while giving her a raised eyebrow, doubtful of the claim that she was making.
Then again, it seems like Lefiya is going through something rather personal, and doesn't want others to see it. If that's the case, he'll give her the space that she's needed.
"Well, if you say so..." Sora relented, "still, you can't exactly leave looking like that!"
Lefiya blinked in astonishment.
"Looking like what?" Lefiya repeated in confusion.
"This!" Sora gestured to his lips, which were frowning. He then gave his signature grin. "No frowning. No sad face. This boat runs on happy faces!"
Lefiya could only look flabbergasted upon hearing all of this.
"What does a boat have to do with this?" Lefiya asked in confusion.
"Oh, it's something Donald told me when I first met and set off on a journey with him and Goofy," Sora explained.
"Donald? And...Goofy?" Lefiya said, perplexed at the name Goofy. Who in the World would be called Goofy of all things?
"Yeah. Well, even if there isn't a ship involved, my point still stands: you shouldn't look so gloomy! You should be ending your expedition with a smile as you return to the surface!" Sora told her.
"That's..." Lefiya looked a little flabbergasted at Sora's optimistic mindset, "I mean...you certainly have a point, but..."
She can't exactly shake off these feelings of inadequacy that are bringing her mood down. It was something that Sora caught onto.
'So she has a hard time to be happy? Well, maybe I should provide her with a bit of motivation...' Sora thought.
Initially, Sora thought about using his goofy smile face, back when Goofy and Donald asked Sora to smile when they formed a team in Traverse Town. Though, it mainly works on Donald and Goofy, as well as Boo. With anyone else, it gave a more awkward feeling if anything. Leon and Yuffie were clear examples, as they looked at Sora with awkward and weirded-out faces.
Though...there was that time when he made that silly face with Riku, back when Riku asked how could he face anyone back at Destiny Island after everything he's done. That face made Riku laugh, bringing him out of his funk.
An idea popped up into his head.
"Well, if you need help smiling, then there's one idea," Sora suggested, which made the elf mage blink in surprise.
"Y-You do?"
"Of course!" Sora said, before he pointed to his cheeks, "just squish my face."
Silence was made as Lefiya could only give a bewildered look upon hearing this.
"...H-Huh!?" Lefiya squeaked, "you want me to what!?"
"Squish my cheeks," Sora told her and gave a reassuring smile, "trust me, it'll be worth it!"
"W-What could you possibly be planning?" Lefiya questioned.
"C'mon, please? I promise you won't be hurt or anything!" Sora reassured once more.
Lefiya could only dubiously blink at Sora's request. The teenager before her is really insisting on this, and the fact that he's promising nothing bad will happen to her...well, it's not like Sora fails on his promises.
"A-Alright..." Lefiya quietly said, as she hesitantly reached out to Sora's face.
Once her hands made contact with Sora's cheeks, she noted how...warm and soft his face was. She shook those thoughts off, as she focused on what she had to do. She applied some pressure to Sora's face, squishing his face as he requested.
As she did, she could only watch as Sora closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue in a rather derpy manner.
"Bleh~" Sora made a noise to add in as well.
Just seeing this silly, yet oddly innocent and adorable, expression coming from Sora made Lefiya feel a mixture of emotions.
The first thought that came to mind, though...
'So...cute...' Lefiya thought, entranced by the derpy yet oddly adorable expression Sora was making. The negativity that was plaguing her was slowly fading away.
The final blow was dealt when Sora opened and crossed his eyes to add to the derpy look. Just seeing the expression was the final blow to Lefiya, as she couldn't suppress the giggle that escaped her lips.
"Pfft...! What is with that expression...!?" Lefiya asked while trying to hold in her giggling.
"Hey, seems like it worked!" Sora chirped, seeing Lefiya laugh at the expression he was making, "Now that's the kind of expression I wanted to see!"
Lefiya blinked, and her cheeks went a bit red in embarrassment as she turned her head away. She cleared her throat a bit.
"W-Well, it's rather hard not to laugh with that expression that you've made," Lefiya huffed.
"Well that was the intended goal," Sora chuckled, "so, you feeling better now? Feel like ending your expedition on a high note?"
Lefiya went silent when asked this question, before she gave a small nod.
"...Yes, I think I am," Lefiya answered.
"Great! Hey, once you return to the surface and when I'm done with whatever I need to do here, we should totally meet up for training once more! I want to see how far you've come in Cocurrent Chanting!" Sora told her with an eager smile.
That idea didn't sound bad in Lefiya's opinion. It made her look forward to it more than she could've felt.
"...Yeah, we should," Lefiya said with a smile of her own, "...thank you, Sora."
"Hey, what are friends for?" Sora replied with a carefree grin.
And that's a wrap to this chapter.
Yep, this was pretty much a chapter focused on Neku and his story in Danmachi. And that meant writing through a lot of dialogue. And let me tell you, writing dialogue between the Hestia Familia and Neku was painful to get through. It was the main obstacle that took me forever to get through, which explains why it took a while to update.
(Neku's Characterization)
Neku's characterization in Kingdom Hearts is rather...weird.
After the events of TWEWY, Neku began to open up to people and took a level in kindness, which is shown in TWEWY NEO. However, in Kingdom Hearts, he was back to being anti-social and moody at the start, though not as anti-social as he was during the beginning of TWEWY. Though, he did begin to show a more friendlier side as KH3D went on.
I guess this has to do with the fact that he was essentially stuck in another Game, he's in an entirely different World, and separated from his Partner. I'd imagine he was stressed the hell out and wasn't exactly in the mood to be friendly. But once he reunited with Shiki and Sora being Sora, Neku returned back to his post-TWEWY self.
With that in mind, I guess history tends to repeat itself with Neku's circumstances: he was killed and sent to an entirely different World, completely separated from his friends, and not knowing a way out. I'd imagine Neku wasn't in the best of moods, which explains why he's not so friendly with the Loki Familia (among other things).
Considering that this is Neku after TWEWY: A New Day and before TWEWY NEO, I guess you could say that this story is also a development for Neku's kinder side. Once again, Sora is going to have a hand in this development.
(Neku, the Isekai Deconstructor)
It occurred to me that Neku is a classic example of your typical isekai protagonist in this story: a Japanese teenager who dies, sent to a Western-Medieval Fantasy world, and has cheat-like abilities relative to that world.
However, I've also realized that Neku deconstructs/subverts your typical tropes:
1) Isekai protagonists just embrace their new lives in the new world. Neku, on the other hand, doesn't want to live in that world. Neku finds the isekai world to be utterly boring, as it lacks the modern comforts, technology, and entertainment that his original world had to offer. He wants to return to his original world and reunite with his friends.
2) Neku doesn't like being an Adventurer, unlike most Isekai protagonists who love to explore Dungeons, fight monsters, and/or complete quests. Being an Adventurer means putting your life at risk for a profit. Neku had to go through 3 weeks of a death game in order to earn the right to live again. Neku isn't exactly thrilled to risk his life just to put bread on the table.
3) Neku misses modern foods like ramen and burgers. Medieval settings typically don't have modern foods and serve your typical Western-medieval-style foods. Even if there are Eastern-style foods, none of them have the modern foods that we know today. And unlike your typical Isekai protagonist, he doesn't have any convenient knowledge or talent related to food, nor a skill that can create food (other than Cure Drink).
He's more or less the equivalent of Shizuka Nanahoshi (Mushoku Tensei) in this story, but doesn't suffer magic illness.
(Fun Fact of the Day)
The initial project that eventually became Kingdom Hearts stemmed from Tetsuya Nomura's desire to make a game like Super Mario 64. Hence the platforming elements in the first game.