Chapter 2 - New Member

Miles… Miles, open your eyes…. Open your eyes, Miles…

Miles opens his eyes to see he's in a dark area. He takes a step, and the floor underneath him illuminates. Tons of butterflies fly out of the ground, revealing a dark, multi-colored stained glass floor. Miles is stunned to see a picture of him reaching out to a heart on the glass floor. It's just him there, all alone. Miles doesn't know why, but this place feels empty. It feels sad. Miles walks around to see if there is a way off this pillar.

Miles…

…Incomplete…

Heart…

Miles turns around to see a young woman. She looks at Miles like she knows him. "Who are you?" Miles asked, taking a step toward her. She gestures to him to stop. The young woman gave him a soft smile and then said something, but Miles couldn't make it. "What did you say?"

You hear it… Now it's time to get up, Miles…. Get up…

"Wait, I didn't hear what you said!" Miles shouted. He began to run to her, and the glass floor cracked with each step. "Who are you!? What is this place? Tell me!" The floor underneath him shatters, and he falls and falls and falls.

Miles slowly opens his eyes, looking around to see he's in a forest. It takes him a few seconds to realize where he is. Miles jolts up, scaring the few butterflies that were on him. "Where am I?" He walks around, rubbing his head as he thinks about that weird dream that he had. It's a lot clearer than the other times.

Miles then remembers what happened. All those heartless attacking his home. His world was being ripped apart. The hooded man. And more importantly, his brother Matthew. Miles feels sick to his stomach. He grabs the nearby tree and throws up. Why did his home get taken away? Why did his brother's heart get stolen? Why couldn't this happen to someone else? Why him?

When Miles finished throwing up, wants to yell. He wants to break something. But Miles stops himself. He thinks about what Matthew would say. 'Clam down. Assess the situation. Then ask yourself what to do now.' Miles closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, "...I'm calm." Hen then opens his eyes and looks around, "I'm in a forest. I was in a city, but the heartless took it. That's what the hooded man said. So, I'm in a new world." Miles sees the Keyblead on the ground. Stares at it for a bit before saying. "And that thing… What I need to do is to find that hooded man, beat his ass, and take back Matthew's heart back."

Miles then lets out a sigh, "Wait, how do I even find the guy?" His stomach starts to rumble. He then throws up, emptying his stomach. "I should find a place with food and people." Miles looks up into the sky. He should get moving before it gets dark. Doesn't know and doesn't want to know what comes out at night in this world. Miles is done with monsters at the time.

There is a loud sound coming from deep into the forest. Miles looks towards the sound, a bit scared of what might come at him. He needs something to defend himself. Before Miles can do anything, the Keyblade, Starlight, disappears off the ground and then appended in his hand. "Whoa…" Miles is surprised that the Keyblade can do that. His surprise doesn't last long as the sounds come closer. Miles gets ready in a fighting position and…

"Aaahhh, help!"

"Huh?"

What comes out of the bushes is a small dark green dragon with a few red scales on his claws and chest. He has two small horns, fur on his head, and the tip of his tail. The weird thing about this is that the dragon is wearing clothes. Goggles around its neck and black denim shorts. The dragon looked down at Miles, "Oh, hello."

Before Miles can say something, a bunch of Shadow comes out of the bushes. The dragon yelps and then flies into a nearby tree. Miles quickly rolls out of the way as one of the Shadows tries to pounce on him. "Damn, Heartless are here too!" Miles yelled, getting off the ground. He ready his Keyblade as the Heartless. "Alright, you guys are looking for a fight? I'll be happy to cut you into pieces, you fuckin' bastards!" Miles runs to one of the Shadows and swings his Keyblade down on its head, then thrusts the Keyblade into the Shadows's chest, defeating it.

Seeing the Heartless slang put a small smile on his face. Destroying Heartless is the only thing going through his head right now. They took everything from him. The more Miles thinks about what the Heartless has done, the more wild and sloppy his movements are. It gets the job done as he cuts down two more Shadow, but… It leaves him. A Shadow jumps at Miles, ready to claw his face off. Before Miles can react, a fireball hits the Heartless in the face, destroying it. "That was a close one." said the dragon, flapping his wing. He then flies down in front of Miles, his claws running through the fur on his head. "Hey, that something. Thank for-." Miles points his Keyblade at the dragon, cutting him off. "Hey, hey, man. Put that thingy down before you poke someone's eye out!"

"Why? How do I know you're not a Heartless?" Miles asked, not taking his eyes off the dragon.

"Heartless? So that's what those things are called, eh?" said the dragon. "Do I look like a Heartless? If I were, I wouldn't have saved you."

Miles is quiet for a bit before saying, "Yeah, sorry. New to all this, just on edge." Miles puts down this Keyblade. "First time seeing a talking dragon. It's not the weirdest thing I ran into."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, and thanks for saving me scaly butt." said the dragon. "Neo, that's the name. What's yours, big guy?"

"Miles," he said. "And thanks for saving my back."

Neo smiles and crosses his arms, "It's nothing for the mighty dragon, Neo!" He then looks at Miles's Keyblade. Nep gets a closer look, "So what's this thing?"

Miles inspects the Keyblade, "The only I know is this is a Keyblade, and its name is Starlight… It just appeared in my hand." Suddenly, the Keyblade disappears, catching Miles and Neo off guard.

"Whoa, what did you do?" Neo asked.

"I just thought about not carrying around…" Miles held out his hand; then Starlight appeared in his hand. "Yeah, just as I thought." Starlight disappears, and Miles crosses this arm. "Now, I need to get out of the forest."

"Oh, I can help," said Neo as he flew into the sky. After a few seconds, he comes back down. "North, I see a town with a castle."

"Really, thanks," Miles said as he walked away. "I want to get out of this forest before dark."

"Hey, wait!" Neo flying then lands in Miles's hood. "I'm coming too. It would be better if we went together so we could both fight those Heartless."

Miles rolls his eyes, "Fine, but do you have to sit in my hood?"

"...It's comfy."

And like that, Neo has joined the party.

As they head to the town, Neo asks Miles how he knows about the Heartless. Miles tells Neo everything about those monsters. How they attacked and destroyed his home. And how the hooded men took his brother's heart.

"Wow, that was some story." said Neo, "I can't believe Heartless can do that."

"..."

"And now they are here; that's bad." Neo worried, "Is there a way to stop them?"

"I don't know, but I think the Keyblade has the power to." Miles pondered. "Enough about me. What about you, Neo?"

Neo is quiet for a bit before saying, "I don't know…"

"..."

"..."

"What the hell do you mean!? I don't know!" Miles yelled, stopping in place.

Neo climbs to the top of Miles's head. "I just don't know. I know my name."

"Oh, you have amnesia?" asked Miles.

"Yeah," Neo replied.

"What do you remember?"

Neo ponders for a bit, then says, "Umm, I think I crashed here in the forest… Then attacked by those Heartless… And that's it."

"Maybe we get into that town; you might remember something," Miles said hopefully. This is the first time he has even run into someone with amnesia.

"...Well, I don't think that will work," Neo said disappointingly. "I have this feeling I don't belong here. Like you, I'm probably from another world…"

"Aaahhh! Someone help me!" yelled a voice.

"That's not going?"Miles said, looking around to see where the voice was coming from. "Damn, the forest makes it hard to tell where the voice is coming from!"

Neo flies up a bit and sniffs the air. "Oh no, Heartless! Follow me, Miles." Neo flies off, and he follows.

As Miles pushes for the bushes and tree branches, he says, "Wait, Neo, how can you tell it's Heartless and not a bear or something?"

"The Heartless smell." Neo replied, "It's the same smell as the Heartless that was chasing me."

Miles is surprised they have a smell; he never noticed it. "...What does Heartless smell like?"

"Ummm, they smell like a weird mix of sour, spicy, and nothingness." Neo said, "Miles, get ready! They are up ahead."

Miles and Neo break out of the forest into an open clearing. "Leave me alone!" They see a little boy being surrounded by Heartless. The Heartless are different from the ones Miles sees; they are Chief Puff and Puffballs. Miles summoners his Keyblade, and Neo blows smoke out of his nose. The Heartless attention from the boy to the two of them. Miles runs at the Puffballs, nearly tripping in the process.

"Hey, wait!" Neo yelled.

"Go get the kid!" Miles hits away a few Puffballs, but one sneaks up on him and hits him in the back. "Damnit," Miles muttered as gets off the ground. One of the Puffballs was about to pounce on him, but he rolled out the way. Miles then slams the Keyblade down, splitting the Puffball in two. More Puffballs start to swarm him. Miles swings his Keyblade, hoping to hit one; however, this leads him open for attack.

Neo picked up the boy and flew him away from the battle. The boy sees Miles destroy a few of the Puffballs. The Chief Puff gets a good hit on Miles's back. The attack sends him sliding across the ground. "Mr. Lizard, will he be okay?"

"If he keeps fighting, no," Neo replied.

Miles watches as the Puffballs group up and go under the Chief Puff, raising it in the air. "It's like a totem pole," Miles said. He grips his Keyblade, "I don't care how big you Heartless are, I'll take you down!" Miles charges at the tower of puff. The Chief Puff begins to launch a flurry of needle projectiles. Miles was about to dodge, but he tripped. He closed his eyes, ready to take the attack; however, he felt someone grab and pull him out of the way. Turning around, Miles sees Neo. He then looks down to see he's in the air.

"You really need to slow down," Neo huffed. "Keep fighting like that, and you'll get you or someone else killed."

"Every time I look at a fuckin' Heartless, it reminds me of what happened." Miles cursed. "I want them gone…"

Neo hits Miles up upside the head, "Well, stop thinking like that. Going into a fight without a clear head is very dangerous. You can't save your brother if you're dead, got it?" Miles nods and takes a deep breath. "Good, let's take down that evil dandelion. Also, you're heavy, so I don't know how long I can carry you." The little boy on the ground looks up at the sky. See Neo carrying Miles. It almost looks like he has dragon wings. Neo flies down to the ground. "Remember, cool head."

"What if I mess up?"

"Don't think about that," said Neo. "Now go!"

Miles charges at the puffball tower. This time, his steps are more solid. The Chief Puff begins to launch more needles. Miles rolls out of the way; he then retaliates with a flurry of slashes. Staggering the Heartless, Neo attacks before it can quickly recover. The dragon jumps off over Miles's back and then breathes out a fireball. "Spit Fire!" The fireball hits Heartless directly, destroying all the Puffballs and leaving the Chief Puff alone. Before the Chief Puff can react, Miles comes from behind and slices it in two. When the Heartless is destroyed, a Heart appears and flies into the sky.

"Nice job, Miles!" Neo smiled, "How do you feel?"

"My body hurts," Miles replied.

"That was awesome! You two are awesome!" gushed the little boy as he ran to them. "Thanks for saving me from those monsters."

"It's nothing," said Miles. "What's your name?"

"I'm Alphonse, but my friends call me Alph." He then takes off the hat. Miles and Neo are both surprised to see that Alph has dog ears.

"Alph, your ears!" Neo shouted.

"What about them? Did one of the monsters take one?" Alph cheek both his ears.

"No, what are you?"

"Oh, I'm a demi-human…" Alph said, looking down. "I hope that's not a problem?"

"No, not really," Miles said, crossing his arms.

"...Huh, you really don't?" Alph gasped. "Wish all humans were like that."

"So, what are you doing out here?" asked Neo.

Alph swings his arms back and forth, "...Well, my mom runs an inn, and she was out of blueberries. So I thought I could just pick some, then those monsters came after me."

"So you're from that town. Can you take us there?" Miles asked.

Alph nods his head, "Yeah, I can also take you to my mom's inn."

"Alright, let's go!" Neo shouted.

As the sun begins to set, the three arrived at the castle wall. Lucky for them, they didn't run into any Heartless. Miles looks at the wall, "Alph, what is this place called?"

"It's the Eiwivock Kingdom," Alph said, looking in the bushes.

"Hey, should we go through the front?" asked Neo.

Alph pokes his head out of the bushes, "Well, if you want to deal with the guards, go ahead. This is how I get in and out." Alph shows Miles and Neo the hole in the ground. "I hope you guys are not claustrophobic."

They made their way through the hole under the wall. Once they are out, they rush to the inn. When they walk in, Alph's mom is a demi-human like him, with dog ears and a tail. She's wearing a long and patch-up dirndl. Most importantly, she looks pissed. "Alph, where were you!? I was so worried!"

"Sorry, mom." Alph looks down, "I was just getting some blueberries. I heard that we were out, and the vendor raised the price again. I was then attacked, but these guys helped me."

His mom pulls him into a big hug. "You know you shouldn't leave the castle walls, especially with these monsters running amok. I don't care about some berries. I only care about your safety."

"I'm sorry…"

"And thank you for saving my son; I'm Diane," she said.

"It's nothing. I bet others will do the same," Miles replied.

Diane gets a sad look, "If they know he was a demi-human… Anyway, is there anything I can do for you two?"

"A place to stay will be nice," Miles asked. "If that will be okay?"

"That's fine. Alph shows them to their room." Diane said, "And when you're done. You're grounded, and I want you to do the dishes."

Alph huffed as he walked up the stairs with Miles and Neo. He shows them their room, "Here is your room. Have a nice night." Alph then walks out, going to do his punishment.

Miles falls onto the bed, "Today was a long day."

"You can say that again," Neo yawned, flying and landing on the edge of the bed. "So, what's next?"

Miles looks up at the ceiling; he really doesn't know what to do next. "...Can we talk about this in the morning?" He closes his eyes.

Neo blows out the candles, "Yeah, night, Miles."

"Night, Neo."

Outside of the inn, the hoodie man stays on top of a building. "You survived your first day in the other world… Let's turn it up a level… Show me why you have the Keyblade."