ToL: Chapter 5

[Revelations]

It was now 3 p.m. in Twilight Town. We could see Roxas and his many friends sitting at their hangout spot on top of the bell tower, eating some sea salt ice cream. A few moments later, they could hear Xion, Olette, and Iris approach them. Iris seemed very nervous from being so high up, so she decided to continue standing further away from the edge.

She then reached into her pocket and took out the flower her father gave her, wondering what kind of flower this was. Strangely, it looked like the flower was not wilting away like a normal flower would do. She decided to put the flower back around her right ear.

"Hey, Iris," Xion started to say as she approached her with a bar of some sea salt ice cream in both hands. Iris noticed that the ice cream itself was almost the same color blue as her hair, "Would you like some ice cream?" she asked, handing out the bar of ice cream in her left hand to Iris, "It's sea-salt flavored."

Iris looked at the bar of ice cream for a short moment before taking it from Xion. She examined it before taking a bite into it. Her eyes widened at the taste and texture of what she ate; it was a very different taste than what she was expecting, "I-It's salty like the sea!" she stated, almost wanting to spit it out before realizing the flavor started to change on its own in her mouth, "Wait, now it's different. That's weird!"

"The ice cream is salty at first before turning sweet," Xion explained with a chuckle, "It's a very popular treat here."

"I-I see," Iris replied, "I'm so used to eating a lot of fish, it took me by surprise."

The two teens then walked back over to the others with Xion sitting down and Iris continuing to stand, seeing that there wasn't enough space to sit down with the others.

"So, Iris," Lea stated to her, turning to where she was standing, "You said you lived on an island, right? Was it a place called Destiny Islands?"

"No, not that I'm aware of," Iris stated, "Mother and Father told me they escaped to the island I grew up on before I was born. I don't think it ever had a name," she looked at the ice cream bar she was eating, "There were also four others with us: their friends. I consider them all my aunt and uncle, even though we're not related."

"That's neat," Roxas said with a smile, "At least you had company with you. Was there anyone else your age there?"

Iris shook her head, "No, I was the only kid there. I did ask why I was the only one; but they never gave me a clear response until I was older," she lowered her head, "They told me my aunts and uncles were scared to have any kids, saying there was the potential for those children to turn into dragons later on in life, and they did not want that to happen."

There was a small awkward silence for a split moment, "Huh?!"

"What do you mean dragons?!" asked Pence, "That sounds weird out of context."

"W-Well, a short while before I was born, my parents told me that my mother and my two aunts were transformed into some creatures called dragons by a curse from an evil king they used to serve," Iris explained, "They told me I was inside my mother's stomach at that point, but nothing bad happened to me during that time. It was when they escaped to the island that my mother and my aunts transformed back into how they used to be, and then I was born shortly after. Because of how they escaped, they became stranded there, but decided to make the most of it; mainly for me," Iris looked out at the perpetual sunset on the horizon, taking a small bite out of the ice cream before continuing, "While I would have liked to have some friends my age, I can understand why."

Isa narrowed his eyes a bit, "Did they ever say if you had the same powers, Iris?" he asked.

"I don't think they did, but I can use ice, water, and cure magic. It's only those spells and not any others," Iris stated, "Oh, but I can catch fish and garden, and I even know how to sew a blanket!"

"Uh, some of those things are not like the others," Hayner stated.

"They also said I had some sort of hidden power called Holleys… I think that's what it's called, but they never told me exactly what it was," Iris lowered her head again at a thought, "I guess I'll never know what that is unless I find my way back home to my father."

"Hmm, all the more reason for us to travel to Radiant Garden, starting tomorrow," Isa stated, "I believe Merlin could find some of the answers for you."

"You think so?" Lea questioned, "I know he's old and wise, but I don't know…"

"He's also a wizard, Lea," Roxas stated with a laugh, "He would know all kinds of spells."

Lea blinked at Roxas for a short moment, "Oh, right."

"You even trained with him," Isa sighed, "How did you forget that?"

"Isn't your thing all about remembering people?" Olette chuckled.

"Alright, alright! I get it!" Lea grumbled as the others laughed, even Iris made a small chuckle, "No need to be sassy with me."

Iris looked back out at the sunset in front of them, 'I wonder what's going to happen now?' she thought, 'They said I could find some answers if I go to this garden place; hopefully sooner rather than later.'


Meanwhile, back in the Peach Creek Cul-De-Sac…

"… You did WHAT?!"

The sudden yelling that came from Eddy's front yard almost shook the whole neighborhood.

"Ouch!" Riku muttered to himself, "You're kind of loud," Kairi stated after she (and mostly everyone else) covered their ears from Eddy's sudden outburst.

"Yes Eddy, I'm just as surprised as you are," Double D stated to his friend, seemingly unfazed by how loud he was, "But there was no need to shout."

"Umm, do you mind showing us your Keyblades?" Mickey asked with a few cartoony swirls in his eyes; his ears were still ringing a little, seeing he had more sensitive hearing from having the biggest ears.

"Okay!" Ed cheered.

Ed and Double D held out their right hand before summoning the Keyblades to their hands. Ed's appeared upside down in his hands for some reason before turning it right side up, "Oh, oops!"

"Interesting," Mickey started to say after recovering from the ringing in his ears as he looked at their blades, "These are indeed Keyblades, but it also looks like they've adapted into different forms to better suit who holds it."

"Their past selves used an axe and a battle lance as their weapons of choice," Adam stated, "So it makes sense that they would continue to use them in some way."

The two dismissed their Keyblades, "I guess this means we'll both be training alongside Eddy, correct?" Double D asked.

"Yes, but we'll start on that tomorrow," Mickey stated, "It's been a long day for everyone."

Ed turned to Eddy, "Hey Eddy! Did you learn any magic tricks while we were gone?" he asked.

"Uh, kind of? They said I can use ice, water, and cure magic, as well as something else they couldn't figure out what it was; but I haven't tried doing anything yet," Eddy stated.

Adam remained silent for a few seconds after hearing that, 'Water and ice were the elements that Irene's dragon possessed. I thought Alexander didn't have any powers like that, but now Eddy does?' he thought to himself, 'Is it possible that Irene gave Alex her powers later on? Or did they have them all along? I wonder if it's the same for the others…'

"Hey, Adam," Olivia stated to him, "I think we should invite Riku, Kairi, and Mickey to stay with us at the hotel. They'll need a place to stay until they leave."

"Good idea," Adam replied, "We can also still learn more things from them if we do."

Meanwhile, the girls were sitting off to the side of Eddy's front yard, watching the others discuss their plans.

"You know, maybe what happened earlier is a blessing in disguise," Ebony started to say to Shayla, "Your dad won't be bothering you anymore, and now you get to stay with your boyfriend at his house until we leave."

Shayla widened her eyes at what Ebony said, "What? No! H-He's not—"

"Oh, come on Shayla!" Ebony giggled, "I've known you for years, and I can tell what you're thinking half the time!"

"N-No you don't!" Shayla stated to her with a glare, a blush came across her face. Ebony only laughed at her reaction.

Katrina stayed silent for a moment before speaking, "… Maybe I should stay here too."

Ebony and Shayla looked at Katrina with a bit of surprise, "Will your place even allow that?" Shayla asked.

"Maybe, maybe not," Katrina replied, "But I'll stay here anyway, just for one night. I'll take the risk of breaking my curfew."

"… You know what? I'll do the same!" Ebony cheered, much to the surprise of Shayla and Katrina, "I'll talk to my parents later to get their permission."


It was now 7:15 p.m. in Peach Creek. Adam, Olivia, and the others all went back to the hotel they were staying at, while the three Eds and the girls stayed in the Cul-De-Sac. Ed and Eddy's parents had not come home from work yet, and Double D's parents were still out of town.

Naturally, both Ed and Eddy were anxious about their parents. Ed was beyond scared about his parents learning that Sarah was taken away, and Eddy was beginning to get nervous when Katrina decided she wanted to stay for the night, wondering what his parents would think about that.

Ed's parents were the first ones to arrive back home. Ed could feel his body getting tense as they walked in through the door, even with Ebony sitting beside him.

"Hey there, Edwin!" Ed's dad greeted.

Ed's mom noticed Ebony sitting beside him, "Who's your new friend with you?" she asked.

"Hello, my name's Ebony," Ebony greeted back to Ed's parents with a small smile.

Ed's parents looked at each other before a smile came to their faces, "Oh, you must be one of the girls those people mentioned the other day!" Ed's mom stated as they came up to them in the living room, "It's nice to meet you!"

Ed's dad made a bigger smile at his son, "It looks like you found your special someone and wanted us to meet them, am I right?" he asked with a wink.

"Huh?" Ed muttered in confusion, not getting what his dad was saying.

"U-Umm, that's not why I'm here!" Ebony replied to them, trying to steer them away from that conversation, "There's something you need to know that happened earlier."

Ebony then explained what happened earlier this morning; that Sarah and almost the entire neighborhood were taken away by the person who kidnapped Ebony earlier this week. They were both horrified to hear that Sarah was gone. Ed stayed silent the whole time, not sure how to respond to them.

"S-So… Both of you are going to go find my daughter?" Ed's dad asked.

"Yes sir, along with everyone else that was taken," Ebony replied. She glanced at Ed; his head was still hung low in sadness.

"… I'm sorry that Sarah was taken!" Ed finally blurted out to them, "I know she's your favorite, and I failed to do anything for her!"

His parents widened their eyes at what he said; the comment hit them like a truck, "Edwin! Is that what you think?!" Ed's mom gasped.

Ed's dad made a sigh to him, "Listen, son. We would never pick a favorite between you two."

"H-Huh…?" Ed lifted his head to look at his parents in confusion, "Really?"

His parents nodded their heads, "Yes, back when we grounded you a lot, we started to see over time that we were too harsh on you," his mom stated.

Ed was a little stunned to hear this from them.

"We can tell how much you've matured alongside your friends," his dad continued to say before turning to Ebony, "And we're both confident you will find everyone that was taken."

Ebony made a wide smile at them, "We will find them, I promise!"

"Good to hear!" Ed's mom chuckled a little before she and his dad got up from where they sat, "I bet you kids are hungry. I'll go get dinner ready!"

"You two just sit tight for a moment, okay?" Ed's dad stated as his parents both went into the kitchen, leaving Ed and Ebony in the living room.

The two teens both made a sigh with relief in their voices, "That went better than I expected," Ebony stated. She turned to Ed beside her, noticing that he was still quiet, "What's wrong?"

"… All this time, I thought they didn't care about me; with me being a useless kid," was Ed's reply to her, scratching the back of his head a little in embarrassment.

Ebony was silent at that remark, thinking back to the day Ed and his friends helped save her and the others from Belindra's grasp. He also called himself useless in comparison to his two friends back then.

Ebony reached out to Ed's left hand and started to hold it with her right, much to Ed's confusion, "Ed, please listen to me!" she started to say, "I don't know why you keep thinking this, but you are NOT useless! Don't you remember? When I was the black dragon, you saved me your way with your strength, even before I transformed back to normal…"

She started to scoot closer to Ed on the couch as she leaned in on his left shoulder and hugged his left arm, her cheeks becoming a bit redder than before, "You and the others are all important to me, you're all my best friends! I would never call ANY of you useless!"

Ed blinked a little at Ebony before he realized how fast his heart was racing. That's when it finally clicked in his head; the fuzzy feeling he kept having was him developing feelings for Ebony.

Ed started to blush, realizing how close she was to him, "E-Ebony?"

"Yeah?" Ebony asked as she got out of her hug from Ed's arm, looking back to him, "What is it?"

Ebony noticed how nervous Ed looked now, along with the blush on his face, "I don't think I've felt this way before!" he replied in a panic, "What do I do about it?!"

She smiled a little at what he said, "I have an idea about how to solve that."

"Really? You do?"

Ebony nodded her head to him. Before he realized what was going on, Ebony leaned in to kiss Ed on his left cheek. He widened his eyes in shock at her before she separated from him a few seconds later.

"H-Hey! That didn't solve anything!" Ed stated back to her as he tried to hide his face in his hands.

Ebony started to chuckle at him before clinging to his left arm again, "It'll be okay. Just trust me."

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, we could see Ed's parents peeking their heads around the corner at them, both smiling at the two teens.


About 30 minutes later, at Double D's house, we could see Double D in his kitchen, washing the dishes that he and Shayla used tonight. Shayla was in his living room, deciding to walk around a little to look at some things, trying to make herself get used to his house before they left in a few days.

As she was walking around, Shayla found a framed picture that was sitting on a side table. She picked it up to look at it in detail. It was a picture of Double D when he was younger, probably when he was eight years old, reading a book in his hands. Leaning over him was a teenage girl with dark blond hair who looked to be fifteen, it looked like she was helping him read the book. She could also see that Double D was wearing the same hat as he does now, even in this old photo.

"Oh, right," Shayla stated to herself in a quiet voice, "He did mention to me that he had an older sister. I'm guessing this is her? She ran away with her boyfriend after her first year of high school…"

It was while she was looking at the photo that something crossed her mind; the incident that happened earlier this morning when everyone was taken away. Not only was her mom and Ebony's twin brothers taken away, but there were two people that no one recognized that were near Eddy's brother: a woman and a young girl. Eddy said he does not know much about what his brother has been doing for years; he mostly kept to himself and away from his family. After learning that, everyone assumed that the woman and the girl were probably his wife and child… The teenage girl in the photo sort of looked like the woman that was taken.

"… Wait a second," Shayla started to say aloud, widening her eyes more and more.

Making a connection in her head, Shayla rushed into the kitchen with the framed picture, only to see Double D finishing his chores, drying his hands off with a rag.

"Shayla?" Double D questioned as she came up to him, he noticed that she was in a panic, "Is there something wrong?"

"We have to go talk to Eddy, right now!" Shayla stated as she grabbed his right wrist, dragging him towards his front door, "I'll explain it when we get there!"

"W-Wha—?!"

As Shayla continued to drag Double D out of his house, they could see a car driving up to Eddy's house; his parents had just come home.

"Oh! Hello Eddward," greeted Eddy's mom and she and her husband exited their car, "What brings you over here this late at night?"

"We came to talk to Eddy about something important," Shayla replied for Double D before rushing past them with him in tow, "Pardon us for the sudden visit!" Double D shouted back in apology.

Eddy's parents only stood there for a moment in confusion before shrugging their shoulders and locking their car.

Shayla rang Eddy's doorbell, only for him to answer it a few seconds later with Katrina standing further away, "Double D? Shayla? What're you—"

"Shh! We gotta talk about something, okay? Bring Katrina with you too!" Shayla stated to him as she dragged Double D into Eddy's house. She finally let him go when they entered, "Is there a place we can talk in private?"

"Uh… I guess my room?"

"Good enough!"

Double D, Eddy, and Katrina all looked at each other in confusion before walking toward Eddy's room with Shayla.

As soon as the four teens entered the room and closed the door, everyone turned to Shayla, "Shayla, please tell us what's going on!" Double D started to ask with worry, "Why did you drag me over here?"

Shayla took in a few deep breaths before she started talking to them, "Do you remember the woman and the girl that was captured alongside Eddy's brother this morning?"

"Yeah?" Eddy stated with a bit of annoyance, presumably from her mentioning his brother, "The others think it could be his wife and kid, but we don't know for sure until I ask my parents. Why?"

Shayla pulled out the framed photo she found, handing it to them, "Does the girl in this photo look similar to the woman we saw this morning?"

Katrina took the photo so she and the two Eds could look at it in detail. Double D's face started to turn pale as he started to remember the strange feeling he had when he saw the woman this morning; he knew exactly what Shayla was trying to say to them.

"Huh, I guess they do look similar?" Katrina commented, "The woman seemed older than the girl in the picture. But Double D is also in the photo, so this was probably taken years ago."

"It's just a picture of Double D and his old babysitter if I had to take a guess," Eddy stated, not understanding what Shayla was getting at, "What's so special about it?"

Thud.

Everyone turned to Double D, only to see he had blacked out, falling to his knees for a moment in shock.

"Whoa!" Eddy yelped as Shayla went to check on him, "What's with him all of a sudden?"

They soon noticed Double D starting to regain his composure, "Are you alright?" Katrina asked.

Double D stayed silent for a second as he was getting back up before saying anything to them, "I-I didn't expect this at all. Not in a million years."

Eddy and Katrina look at Double D in confusion, "Uh…"

"Double D," Shayla started to say, placing her hand on his left shoulder, "You should tell them about her."

Double D sighed at what she said, "I know."

He looked back at the picture in Katrina's hand, "This photo I'm in was taken about seven years ago when I was eight years old… The girl in the photo is my older sister, Melody."

There was a tense moment of silence before it was broken.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THE GIRL IN THE PHOTO IS YOUR OLDER SISTER?!"

Double D, once again unfazed by Eddy's loud yelling, only glancing down to the floor, "W-Well, this happened long before I moved here, but…"

He then began to explain the story he told Shayla about a week ago, about his older sister Melody and how she fell in love with a senior in high school when she was a freshman, running away with him after he graduated.

"And that's basically what happened," Double D finished explaining, "I haven't seen her since she ran away, nor did I ever find out the senior's name she left with."

Everything became tense but quiet again for a short moment before Eddy went to his door and opened it. He started to walk out into the hallway, heading towards his living room; he knew his parents were home by now.

"Oh dear…" Double D gasped as he, Shayla, and Katrina went after him.

Eddy soon sees his parents starting to sit down in their usual chairs to rest, "Hey."

His parents jumped a little at hearing Eddy's voice; it was rare for their son to approach them most of the time, let alone talk to them.

"Yes, Eddy? Is there something you need?" his dad asked.

"I need to know the answers to something," Eddy started to say as his friends came up behind him, "Can you tell me about Evan and what he's been doing?"

Eddy's parents looked at him in confusion for a moment before seeing he was serious about what he was asking.

"Eddy, you know Evan does his best to avoid us a lot of the time," Eddy's mom started to say, "Though the last time we talked to him, he mentioned his daughter Colette was about to start 1st Grade. This was about two weeks ago."

"Umm… P-Pardon my intrusion for a moment," Double D started to say to Eddy's parents, "This question may sound strange to you, b-but… What is the name of his wife? I-I need to know, it's important."

"Evan's wife?" Eddy's dad questioned, "He's only mentioned her name a few times to us, but I think her name is Melody."

The four teens were completely silent after hearing that statement as their faces grew paler. The truth was now out: The woman they saw with Eddy's older brother Evan this morning was his wife Melody, Double D's older sister. Evan was the senior Melody ran away with, even having a daughter a year later, judging by her now being in elementary school. Melody even shouted out her daughter's name before disappearing; her name was Colette.

"Why are you asking us these questions?" Eddy's dad asked with uncertainty, "Is there something going on?"

"… I think I'm gonna go lay down or pass out. Maybe throw up. Today's been too much for me," Eddy uttered before turning back towards the hallway where his room was, walking to it with his right hand clutched to his forehead.

Double D was also feeling unwell at the revelation but was hiding his feelings from the others, "Umm, w-we can explain everything to you, don't worry!" he stated to Eddy's parents, trying to reassure them nothing was wrong.

Katrina glanced back toward the direction of Eddy's room with worry. Today was too much to handle; from this breaking news a moment ago, to them both finding out that Alex and Irene's child might still be alive somehow 3000 years later. Not to mention the Heartless appearing because of Belindra's return and the Keyblade Eddy and the other two Eds now wield.

'Tomorrow will surely be better… At least, I hope it will,' Katrina thought to herself with a small sigh.


Author's Note (August 27th, 2023): Oh yeah, things are now being put into place. The next chapter might be one more 'filler' chapter, or they might be ready to leave for Radiant Garden, or it could be both! I'm unsure yet.