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[OOM] Day 250, Part 1
Daybreak Town has alarm bells, apparently. Who knew.
They’re ringing now.
Eden is lounging on the roof of Leopardos Union, sunning himself in the perpetual morning, when the bells begin to chime and the clouds start rolling in, somehow more solid and more three-dimensional than the flat, unchanging surface of the sky.
And then, and then, the shadows start to fall.
Eden rolls to his feet lazily, stretching out his shoulders, and ambles to the edge of the rooftop, crouching there and surveying the town. He hears Chirithy materialise next to him, leaning over the rooftop to watch as the Heartless smack against the ground.
“Those bells …” Chirithy murmurs. “A Heartless encroachment onto Daybreak Town.”
“Heartless have been encroaching on the town since the day I arrived, Chi.”
“This is different,” Chirithy replies, a little irritably. “Look. A Corridor to the Realm of Darkness is open. It will send forth Heartless until it’s closed.”
Daybreak Town’s sky is usually static, suspended either in sunrise or in a halfhearted mimicry of night, with the clouds pinned in place and the colours set like paints drying on canvas. But this is different: A roiling, churning cloud of pitch black squats on the sky, with lightning flickering from its depths, and from it Heartless peel off like fat droplets of rain, and go tumbling down towards the town.
“This is just like my dream,” Eden says.
Chirithy’s gaze flicks over to him, just for a second. “Dream?”
“Yeah! People at the bar told me the word,” Eden says, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. “I guess it was fifty days or so ago? You were there, and I was here, and we had this conversation.”
“Oh? And what happened after that?”
Eden pulls in a breath, and slowly rises to a standing position, settling his hands loosely behind his back and tipping his chin up, letting the facade of Eden Llyx drop away some. “Who knows? I step off this rooftop to join the fight, and the dream ends before I hit the ground,” he throws a grin at Chirithy. “Worried?”
“I am always concerned by the encroachment of darkness upon the world,” Chirithy replies, stiffly.
“Don’t be!” Eden chirps, and waves a hand towards the Heartless. “What’s it they say? ‘All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end.’”
That makes Chirithy turn, staring at him. “Where … did you hear that? Who said that to you?”
Eden flashes him a sly smile, stepping up to the edge of the rooftop. “On second thought, though,” he says. “It’ll be a pain if I have to find somewhere else to live.”
He steps off the roof, summoning his keyblade as he falls, and lands deftly on his feet.
---
Everywhere Eden goes, there are Heartless. Some of them are the tiny, antenna’d Shadow Heartless he sees everywhere, some of them are big, bulbous Darkballs, but they all go down the same way: He flits in, shreds them with his keyblade, then dashes away.
Every keybearer from every Union is out in the streets fighting, but as more and more Heartless fall from the sky, the numbers shift from two Heartless to every keybearer, to three, to five, to ten. They can’t defeat them quicker than they can fall.
“Ed!”
Luso’s voice. He and Adelle are hurrying over to him, cutting their way through a street clogged so thick with Heartless that they’re starting to pile over each other. Eden raises a hand, closing the distance with a quick Hastega to appear in front of them.
“Have you seen Izana?” Luso asks, breathless. He bats a Heartless away with a swing of his blade, turning it to black mist. “Or Alvis? Queenie? Anyone?”
“Not yet,” Eden replies. “Either they’re around or they’re dead. Doesn’t help us whichever one it is.”
“Dude,” Luso says, frowning.
“It’s true, but you don’t have to say it,” Adelle adds, sweeping her blade in an arc through several Heartless. “Where are the Foretellers? Why haven’t they closed the Corridor yet?”
“Who knows. I was at Leopardos, but I didn’t see Master Gula at all,” Eden says. “I don’t think we can rely on them sweeping in to save us.”
Adelle says a word that Eden doesn’t recognise, but which certainly doesn’t sound good. “Then let’s head to the Clocktower. If they’re anywhere, they’ll be there.”
“Sounds good!” Luso chirps.
“Fine by me,” Eden says easily. “Let’s cut a path.”
---
Eden’s just going to say it.
“I think I’m carrying this team, guys,” he calls as they near the bridge to the Clocktower. “You guys are just not keeping up.”
“Dude. Don’t be mean,” Luso replies. “We’re pulling our weight.”
“Are you, though.”
“Yes. Stop complainin’,” Adelle says. “We’re nearly there anyway.”
“Ri -- …”
The vision hits Eden without warning. One second he’s preparing to cut down a Darkball, and then a spike of pain lances through his head.
>A Heartless towers over them. The body of a six-legged horse and, rising from its front, the shape of a man, topped with massive, curling horns, clutching a sword in each hand.
“... What the hell is that thing?” Luso asks.
“It doesn’t have an entry in the registry,” Adelle says, skimming a finger over her Text. “It’s got to be something new, right?”
“... Again?” Eden hears himself mutter. “This is happening again?”
The Heartless gallops forward, bringing his sword down towards Luso and -- ...
Eden snaps back to reality as something crashes down onto the bridge, sending Heartless scattering. Luso takes a step back, keyblade raised defensively in front of himself, as Adelle pulls out her text.
Slowly, the shape solidifies, the black miasma around it sucked back into concrete shapes and outlines, looming taller and taller.
It towers over them, as the last of its features solidify. The body of a six-legged horse and, rising from its front, the shape of a man, topped with massive, curling horns, clutching a sword in each hand.
“... What the hell is that thing?” Luso asks.
“It doesn’t have an entry in the registry,” Adelle says, skimming a finger over her Text. “It’s got to be something new, right?”
“... Again?” Eden mutters. “This is happening again?”
The Heartless gallops forward, bringing his sword down towards Luso. Eden darts forward, bringing his keyblade up to block. The blow rattles him, forcing him down onto one knee, and the Heartless keeps pushing, its blade shuddering and straining against Eden’s.
“Limit Break!” Luso yells, pointing his keyblade over Eden’s head. “Skyfury Blade!”
A spiral of flame crashes into the Heartless, driving it back across the bridge. It gives a roar, stomping a hoof against the ground like it’s throwing a tantrum.
“Nice save, Ed,” Adelle says. “Luso would’ve been paste.”
Eden ignores her for a moment, reaching up to touch his face, skimming two fingers around his eye. What was that? Twice now he’s seen something before it happens, and this time he didn’t even need to be asleep for it.
“Ed? Focus,” Luso says. “We need to take this thing down.”
“Right,” Eden says, offering Luso a smile. The question of what exactly is going on with him is one he’ll have to ask when they’re not dealing with some huge, unknown Heartless. “Let’s do this.”
They’re ringing now.
Eden is lounging on the roof of Leopardos Union, sunning himself in the perpetual morning, when the bells begin to chime and the clouds start rolling in, somehow more solid and more three-dimensional than the flat, unchanging surface of the sky.
And then, and then, the shadows start to fall.
Eden rolls to his feet lazily, stretching out his shoulders, and ambles to the edge of the rooftop, crouching there and surveying the town. He hears Chirithy materialise next to him, leaning over the rooftop to watch as the Heartless smack against the ground.
“Those bells …” Chirithy murmurs. “A Heartless encroachment onto Daybreak Town.”
“Heartless have been encroaching on the town since the day I arrived, Chi.”
“This is different,” Chirithy replies, a little irritably. “Look. A Corridor to the Realm of Darkness is open. It will send forth Heartless until it’s closed.”
Daybreak Town’s sky is usually static, suspended either in sunrise or in a halfhearted mimicry of night, with the clouds pinned in place and the colours set like paints drying on canvas. But this is different: A roiling, churning cloud of pitch black squats on the sky, with lightning flickering from its depths, and from it Heartless peel off like fat droplets of rain, and go tumbling down towards the town.
“This is just like my dream,” Eden says.
Chirithy’s gaze flicks over to him, just for a second. “Dream?”
“Yeah! People at the bar told me the word,” Eden says, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. “I guess it was fifty days or so ago? You were there, and I was here, and we had this conversation.”
“Oh? And what happened after that?”
Eden pulls in a breath, and slowly rises to a standing position, settling his hands loosely behind his back and tipping his chin up, letting the facade of Eden Llyx drop away some. “Who knows? I step off this rooftop to join the fight, and the dream ends before I hit the ground,” he throws a grin at Chirithy. “Worried?”
“I am always concerned by the encroachment of darkness upon the world,” Chirithy replies, stiffly.
“Don’t be!” Eden chirps, and waves a hand towards the Heartless. “What’s it they say? ‘All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end.’”
That makes Chirithy turn, staring at him. “Where … did you hear that? Who said that to you?”
Eden flashes him a sly smile, stepping up to the edge of the rooftop. “On second thought, though,” he says. “It’ll be a pain if I have to find somewhere else to live.”
He steps off the roof, summoning his keyblade as he falls, and lands deftly on his feet.
Everywhere Eden goes, there are Heartless. Some of them are the tiny, antenna’d Shadow Heartless he sees everywhere, some of them are big, bulbous Darkballs, but they all go down the same way: He flits in, shreds them with his keyblade, then dashes away.
Every keybearer from every Union is out in the streets fighting, but as more and more Heartless fall from the sky, the numbers shift from two Heartless to every keybearer, to three, to five, to ten. They can’t defeat them quicker than they can fall.
“Ed!”
Luso’s voice. He and Adelle are hurrying over to him, cutting their way through a street clogged so thick with Heartless that they’re starting to pile over each other. Eden raises a hand, closing the distance with a quick Hastega to appear in front of them.
“Have you seen Izana?” Luso asks, breathless. He bats a Heartless away with a swing of his blade, turning it to black mist. “Or Alvis? Queenie? Anyone?”
“Not yet,” Eden replies. “Either they’re around or they’re dead. Doesn’t help us whichever one it is.”
“Dude,” Luso says, frowning.
“It’s true, but you don’t have to say it,” Adelle adds, sweeping her blade in an arc through several Heartless. “Where are the Foretellers? Why haven’t they closed the Corridor yet?”
“Who knows. I was at Leopardos, but I didn’t see Master Gula at all,” Eden says. “I don’t think we can rely on them sweeping in to save us.”
Adelle says a word that Eden doesn’t recognise, but which certainly doesn’t sound good. “Then let’s head to the Clocktower. If they’re anywhere, they’ll be there.”
“Sounds good!” Luso chirps.
“Fine by me,” Eden says easily. “Let’s cut a path.”
Eden’s just going to say it.
“I think I’m carrying this team, guys,” he calls as they near the bridge to the Clocktower. “You guys are just not keeping up.”
“Dude. Don’t be mean,” Luso replies. “We’re pulling our weight.”
“Are you, though.”
“Yes. Stop complainin’,” Adelle says. “We’re nearly there anyway.”
“Ri -- …”
The vision hits Eden without warning. One second he’s preparing to cut down a Darkball, and then a spike of pain lances through his head.
>A Heartless towers over them. The body of a six-legged horse and, rising from its front, the shape of a man, topped with massive, curling horns, clutching a sword in each hand.
“... What the hell is that thing?” Luso asks.
“It doesn’t have an entry in the registry,” Adelle says, skimming a finger over her Text. “It’s got to be something new, right?”
“... Again?” Eden hears himself mutter. “This is happening again?”
The Heartless gallops forward, bringing his sword down towards Luso and -- ...
Eden snaps back to reality as something crashes down onto the bridge, sending Heartless scattering. Luso takes a step back, keyblade raised defensively in front of himself, as Adelle pulls out her text.
Slowly, the shape solidifies, the black miasma around it sucked back into concrete shapes and outlines, looming taller and taller.
It towers over them, as the last of its features solidify. The body of a six-legged horse and, rising from its front, the shape of a man, topped with massive, curling horns, clutching a sword in each hand.
“... What the hell is that thing?” Luso asks.
“It doesn’t have an entry in the registry,” Adelle says, skimming a finger over her Text. “It’s got to be something new, right?”
“... Again?” Eden mutters. “This is happening again?”
The Heartless gallops forward, bringing his sword down towards Luso. Eden darts forward, bringing his keyblade up to block. The blow rattles him, forcing him down onto one knee, and the Heartless keeps pushing, its blade shuddering and straining against Eden’s.
“Limit Break!” Luso yells, pointing his keyblade over Eden’s head. “Skyfury Blade!”
A spiral of flame crashes into the Heartless, driving it back across the bridge. It gives a roar, stomping a hoof against the ground like it’s throwing a tantrum.
“Nice save, Ed,” Adelle says. “Luso would’ve been paste.”
Eden ignores her for a moment, reaching up to touch his face, skimming two fingers around his eye. What was that? Twice now he’s seen something before it happens, and this time he didn’t even need to be asleep for it.
“Ed? Focus,” Luso says. “We need to take this thing down.”
“Right,” Eden says, offering Luso a smile. The question of what exactly is going on with him is one he’ll have to ask when they’re not dealing with some huge, unknown Heartless. “Let’s do this.”