Discovery (Open)

[ages]

Seiger waved his hand, closing the portal behind him as he strode forward into the strange town. Using a spell Angel had 'taught' him, he had opened a portal and stepped through, knowing that the source of his power, the Light, would command where the portal would take him. Glancing about, he noted several shops surrounding him, as well as a lamp-post with a sign that said, "First District".

"More than one district?" Seiger mumbled to himself, wondering what his purpose was here. Would he find this "Sora" and "King Mickey"? Or would he simply be drawn into another man's story, another factor in someone else's fate? Seiger shook his head, clearing the quesitons, and moved off to a nearby restaurant, pulling out a chair and making himself at home.

"Good evening, sir!" the waitress greeted him pleasantly, "What would you like to have?"

"Anything will do, miss. Just give me the most popular order here," Seiger smiled at the waitress, who curtseyed and moved off. The teenager leaned back in his chair, relaxing, and noted the quiet activity of the town square just next to him.

[globber]

Powerful gusts of cold air began circling around one particular spot, nearby a restaraunt, as one can tell due to the picked up leaves. As the winds circled and circled in their little dance, the ground in the middle of the small twister began to crack open. From within the crack appeared various white wisps, the orb-shaped souls of the underworld. The souls, altogether resembling a small cloud of fog, swirled with the winds before disbanding and flying into many buildings. Most especially, the restaraunt was filling with these immortal grim spirits. Emerging from the same port hole was Pain and Panic, the afterlife's best employees. With them were two Furies. Furies were dark, man-sized reptillian birds of the underworld, armed with silver claws and razor sharp teeth.

"Aaw man! MORE souls got away! We need ta put a LEASH on those blasted things!" complained the taller imp, Panic. "Exactly my plan! -Not the leash, though- Today's errand is ta recruit newbie suckers for the Underworld! What's a better way to get their attention than releasing a few souls?" Pain said with a fiendish grin. "A FEW?! This is an entire ARMY of souls?! Two furies aren't gonna get them all back!" "Nooo, but two furies AND a sucker in that there restaraunt oughta help out!"

The winged furies smashed their way through the restaraunt's windows, already trying to snap at the bumbling souls. The two demon imps followed into the building. "Hey! Quit snapping!" "Someone please help us out here!"

[ages]

"Heartless?" Seiger wondered as he leapt from his seat, twisting his body in the air to face the two reptile-birds that crashed through the windows, even as they smashed his table and chair. The teen noted that though the candles were knocked and there was a lot of wind, they remained lighted and did not fade. Two more creatures followed the birds in, one was fat and pink, the other tall, skinny and blue.

"Demons?" Seiger was taken aback, "You two! Are you responsible for these souls and heartless running about?" he called out to the two demons even as he continued to dodge the souls and the mindless beasts chasing them.

[globber]

The imps tried calming down the two Furies, mainly by pulling hard on their tail feathers, but all it did was anger them some more. The birds thrashed and crashed throughout the restaraunt, mainly chasing after souls while clumsily wrecking the place. Amidst the unintentional chaos, Pain and Panic noticed some guy yelling at them. He was quite loud and clear when mentioning souls and the foul, dark heartless. "Huh?! Wha-?!!" "HEARTLESS??!! Where?!" The spines of the two imps were completley chilled, and their eyes were bulged with the filling of fear.

Ignoring the large birds and souls, Pain and Panic ducked under a fallen table, trembling enough to shake their hiding spot. They had nothing to fear from heartless in the Underworld. In the underworld, heartless were more obediant to Hades and the souls. But in the outside world, heartless were as deadly to them as they are to most anyone else. "Uuum, I-I-I d-d-d-d-don't SEE any heartless. D-do yoooouuu?" "I'm too scared ta open ma EYES!" Meanwhile, the chaos of souls and furies continued within the restaraunt.

[ages]

Seiger leapt and summoned his sword, Tarazed, thrusting it into the wall and standing atop his blade. He saw the demons hiding under a table, their fear causing them to shiver so hard the furniture around them were all shaking violently. Clearly they were fearful of heartless, but did it mean these were not demons? Or.. Did demons have hearts?

Seiger leapt to the floor, tapping his sword to make it disappear back into the other-worldly pocket of his. He grabbed one of the birds by its tail and spun it around, throwing it at the other bird as it circled around. The attack sent both birds tumbling back into a wall, hitting one of the white orbs and snuffing out the light. The teen prepared himself as the birds recovered and unleashed terrible cries of anger, charging towards him, one streaking towards his head and the other to his gut. Seiger quickly fell backwards onto the floor, raising his left hand and summoning his sword once more. Tarazed blasted back into existance, sending a shower of sparks and light all about, materializing through the two birds, impaling both creatures. The creatures uttered one final gutted screech even as they faded to blackness, leaving Seiger laying on the floor, panting in exertion.

[globber]

Pain and Panic's eyes were shut so tight, glueing their eye lids together would've had the same effect. The violent chaos all around them was quite intense, they would never want to risk recieving pain from something like it. However, the imps realized that the thrashing, clashing, smashing, and breaking all ceased very suddenly. Their eye lids popped open, revealing large bulging yellow eyes. They peeked out from under the table to see that human panting. The Furies were nowhere in sight! Pain and Panic's eyes then looked at eachother. Did this kid REALLY destroy those Furies?" "Well .... Some have done it before ..." "Still .... a fighter could be really useful."

Pain and Panic smiled proudly as they approached the human. Not because they were happy for the kid, but because of the plan they had in mind for him. "Gee, chump. Ya sure did take care of them Furies REEEAL well!" "Yeah! I mean WOAH! You must be a professional at battles! I'm Panic." "And I'M Pain ..." The imps offered their hands to him with their big toothy smiles .....

[ages]

The two demons burst from their hiding place, bubbling praise, naming themselves Pain and Panic, the blue and pink respectively. "So, those things are called 'Furies'..." Seiger thought to himself as he sat up, his sword shimmering away from his hands. The two demons stuck out their hands at him at their introductions, and he eyed them warily.

"Ah, that was nothing. Hi guys, I'm Seiger, Seiger Talis," he decided it was better to feign ignorance than to show his suspicions. He shook his head and smiled back at the two creatures. "So, those 'heartless' have a name, Furies? Why were they after those white orb thingies?" a quick glance told him that several orbs were still floating about the room, hovering at the roof, as if afraid to come down.

[globber]

Pain and Panic eyed the human strangely before looking back at eachother. "Heartless?" "Furies?" The two imps looked up at the ceiling as they thought this through, taking up a few seconds of time. When they finally got the connection, they both chuckled a little. "Oooooh! Hehehha! Aw. Those weren't Heartless! They were just Furies. Heartless are waaay different than those birdbrains." "And those white orb thingies are .... well .... people. DEAD people." The imps explained.

"Panic and I, well, we work in the after life! Organizing the dead, seeing how things 'r goin' aaw. You know. That basic boring stuff." Pain usually forgets that people on other worlds might not get the concept of an Underworld, and so usually talks about it like a normal thing. "But you don't wanna hear about UUUUS. We aint all that special" Panic realized a warrior like this would have some potential. Maybe putting him on an errand would get him used to what after life could be like .... "Well kid, nice meeting ya. But, we're a little busy right now." "Yeah. We're MIGHTY busy. Having ta take all these souls with us down THAT portal." Pain pointed at the lrge hole in the ground, outside the restaraunt. "Oh yeah, it'll be HAAARD work. Having ta round up every single soul outside. Our arms, legs, eyes, everything just shuts down fer a while after such a chore. We might as well be as dead as the souls around us ...." Panic stood there looking pathetic. "Buuut, you wouldn't be interested in hearing our pains. Go on, have fun while we work."

[ages]

"Souls?" Seiger was taken aback. Souls meant that they either came from Heaven or Hell, and since demons are not found in Heaven, that must mean...

"Yeah, I'll do that then, having fun and all, wouldn't wanna get in your way," Seiger laughed and got up, dusting himself off, "You guys work hard now! I'll buy you guys a drink another time, k? See ya!" Seiger turned and left the restaurant, moving off towards the second district, using the signs as his guide. When he was finally out of sight of the restaurant, he broke into a run and quickly passed the entrance to the second district, dashing to his left into a nearby hotel.

0...0...0

Sometime later, Seiger was in his newly found hotel room, lying on his bed, lost in his thoughts. A white orb floated through his window, startling him, and he sat up to observe the soul as it moved lazily through the room. He held out his hand, and sure enough the orb came to rest on his palm, pulsing with a warm light.

"Bound for hell, hmmm?" Seiger spoke to the orb, "Wish I knew how I could free you, maybe even send you up to Heaven if I could..." The orb pulsed once and drifted away, moving towards the door. It stopped just before the handle and hovered there, as if waiting for something.

"You want me to follow you?" Seiger asked the soul. The orb pulsed once more, still hovering by the handle. "Okay, I'll play along," he leapt off the bed, putting on his traveller's cloak and pulling the hood up. The orb passed through the door, leaving Seiger to turn off the lights, and leave the room after it.

[globber]

Pain and Panic looked at eachother boggle-eyed. "Is it just me, or did this hero NOT follow reverse-psychology?!" "Maybe this guy, Seiger, ISN'T a hero, but a villian?" Well this was a mix up situation. They planned on baiting the fool to help them catch these souls, not run off. "Maybe we should'a sounded more sarcastic?" "Hold on .... Seiger seemed ... suspiscious. Maybe w oughta ... ahem .... look up on him?" Panic's eyes suggested they kidnap the mortal. Pain's smile replied with a yes. Pain and Panic disguised themselves as purple and blue owls, respectively. They took off, flying high above until they reached the second district. There, they spied out for Sieger.

[ages]

"So then I opened up a portal and kinda ended up here, not really knowing where 'here' specifically is," Seiger and the orb had walked a little ways from the hotel, into a plaza just outside. The stroll did Seiger good as he took in the cool night air, and at his last sentence the white orb did a small spin and rose, tracing words in mid-air. "'Traverse Town'? Oh, okay, thanks, err..."

Bob

"Hmmm..." Seiger could not help but smile, "That's a... Boring name," the white orb came back down and smacked his head, causing the sword-master to yelp. But before Seiger could respond, a cold feeling suddenly swept over the area, causing the white orb and Seiger to remain still. Several orbs nearby pulsed as if alarmed and swept over to the teen and Bob, all of them moving quickly. One did not move quick enough however, and was a little too far from the group.

Suddenly, a four-legged creature rose from the ground behind it, leaping at the orb. The creature was pitch-black with a pair of antennae on its head, its eyes glowing an amber light. It leapt onto the orb and the light was immediately snuffed out, as if consumed by this "shadow".

"What is that?" Seiger whispered, "A heartless?" the orbs around Seiger began to quake violently as the Shadow shook its head and surveyed the area, finding another lone orb floating nearby. It leapt toward the orb, but at the apex of its leap it hung in mid-air, its leg caught in Seiger's hand. The teen had dashed out to catch the Shadow and he spun, throwing the creature at a nearby wall. The creature struck the wall hard, causing it to crack, and landed on the floor motionless.

"You! Join the others over by the fountain!" Seiger ordered the lone orb, which hastily moved to join the others. The Shadow finally came to and looked up, only to see its prey hovering away in a hurry. It gave a small cry and melted into the ground, chasing after the orb, moving along the ground just like a shadow. Seiger leapt and summoned his katana, Tarazed, reversing his grip and stabbing the blade into the ground on the shadow, hoping the catch the creature, but to no avail. He quickly withdrew his sword from the ground and held it at the ready, waiting for the Shadow to emerge from the ground that he may finally kill it. In his focus, he failed to notice the Shadows creeping out from the darkness around, slowly surrounding the plaza.

[globber]

Pain and Panic, still flying in their owl disguises, scanned the area below them. While it would be hard to spot out on little mortal, it wasn't at all hard to spot out a whole group of souls huddled together in a group. "HEY! Is that OUR flock of sheep?!" "I see that kid with em' too!" The owls transformed back into imps and fluttered downward. They immediatley stopped in mid-air however, as a small army of shadows were creeping about, surrounding the kid and souls. "Oh-oh ..." "This DEFINITLEY won't end well ...." Pain said with a smile. "What IF those heartless take his heart? They COULd turn it into a heartless .... And what IF they kill him? Then his soul will be in the underworld. heheheh." "IF? .... ooooh ... If is good .... heheheh." "Hey kid! Watchout!" No matter what happens to the mortal, it's a possible win for Pain and Panic no matter what.

[ages]

The Shadow finally emerged from the ground, leaping at the mass of orbs. Seiger leapt forward and swung his sword in a horizontal arc, cutting the heartless in half, forgetting that his long sword would cut through the orbs as well. To his relief, the blade passed through the orbs, for they were light, and Tarazed could not harm the light.

"Hey, kid! Watch out!" a familiar voice cried out, and Seiger hastily leapt into the air to avoid any attack. He spun in the air and surveyed his surroundings, horrified to see that almost the entire plaza was covered in Shadows, all slithering along the ground towards the orbs. The two demons, Pain and Panic, were hovering nearby, watching the spectacle, no doubt unable to do anything to help. Seiger twisted in mid-air and landed in the middle of the group of orbs, a plan forming in his mind. He flourished his blade as several Shadows emerged from the ground, their hungry eyes upon the orbs and the warrior himself.

The heartless froze, and even time itself seemed to hold its breath, waiting to see what would unfold. Unable to contain themselves, the heartless finally leapt towards the group. On cue, more Shadows emerged from the ground, hurling themselves at the group, realizing too late that every Shadow that got close to the ground was immediately destroyed. Several Shadows struggled to turn in mid-air, but were destroyed in spite of their efforts. The rest of the creatures who had not attacked quickly melted back in the ground, circling the group, trying to find out what was hindering them.

"I can't keep this up for long, Bob," Seiger panted. He had been slashing his sword around them in a flurry of blows, effectively forming a barrier around the group. The sword passed through the orbs, destroying the heartless, but his strength was not unlimited, and the effort to maintain the nimbus had drained him of his strength. As the heartless prepared for another attack, Seiger gripped his blade tighter, readying himself for the next onslaught of attacks, even as he desperately tried to figure a way out of the situation.

[globber]

Pain and Panic were now sitting above the fountain, watching the battle with fierce instigation. "Woohoo! Yeah!" "Uuuh, Pain, won't Hades get mad at us fer losing those souls?" "Aaah, it won't matter. He's got dozens of em' anyway." As the imps chatted, a shadow heartless appeared behind them. The black monster slashed at them both, sending the imps flying down to where the souls and Seiger wwere.

Pain and Panic have the qualities they need to do battle, mainly their shapeshifting, but are usually too bumbly to use it until the last second, like now. Panic grew larger and larger in size, until he stopped and changed into metal. It then shifted into the shape of a dark blue, demonically decorated bulldozer. Pain transformed into a fat human construction worker, dressed in purple. The bulldozer scooped up most of the remaining heartless, then smashed them all against a wall. Pain simply had to fart, releasing a wave of gas that blew up one shadow. As soon as the beasts were gone, the imps reverted back to normal form. "WOAH! That was fun!" "Kinda a bummer ...."

[ages]

Sending his sword away, Seiger breathed a sigh of relief as the two demons reappeared and took out the rest of the heartless. The orbs about him pulsed in unison, as if alarmed, and whisked away in a hurry, apparently frightened by Pain and Panic.

"Wha-? Wait, guys!" Seiger spun and reached for the nearest orb, trying to pull them back. His knees buckled from the exertion and he fell to the ground, panting heavily as his body made its protest known. The use of such a high-level technique had cost him a great deal of energy, especially since he was not fully recovered to begin with. He gazed up at the shape-shifting demons as they reverted back to their old forms, approaching him.

"Why didn't you help sooner?" the question came as a whisper, and darkness overtook him