Event I: Welcome to Traverse Town!

[Chromatic]

"Oh yeah. Leon. Right." Zach's eyes shifted between Shlay and Sleif and the designated "dark trio" several times over. Each time he looked to the trio, he considered Shlay's words. "Well," he said, hesitantly rapping his fingers against the hilt of his sword. "If they're not intent on attacking us at this point, we might as well leave them be for now." Leaning close to Shlay, he continued in more of a whisper. "And if they ARE after Kingdom Hearts, then I can't imagine they'll get to it all that quickly. We might as well take a bit of time ourselves." He gave a half-sigh, silencing himself on the realization that he had been doing that more than usual since he arrived in Town.

"Anyways." He withdrew from Shlay, now addressing Sleif as well. "Leon should have an idea what to do. He's staying over there at the Inn; Green and Red Rooms booked so far, though he told me it's only temporary. Ah. Speak of the devil." He had turned towards the nearer entrance to the Inn, where Leon's silhouette was visible against the light from the hallway. While his expression was obscured under the lighting, his movement spoke clearly when he when he waved for Zach to return to the room. The swordsman turned to his new companions, cracking hint of a smile. "It looks like he's expecting us. Shall we?" Glad to finally be getting some sense out of the past hour or so, Zach hurried up the stairs and towards the Inn, trusting the other two were behind him.

 

[SwagStarIV]

Shlay was liking the observative nature of Zach. He definitely seemed more stable than most, but yet odd enough to gain her interest. His judgement on the trio seemed accurate plus he was level-headed. Zachs whisper of this Kingdom Hearts also sparked another interest in Asi. As he quivered, "Kingdom Hearrrrtsss... I haven't heard the ring of said thing since the last world wars. If we run into this trio on a continuing basis... Who knows the type of issues we could run into." Shlay, though slightly startled from the unexpected close encounter before Asi's response, kept her eyes on the trio and hand on her hilt. Her stern facade was slowly draining into a dreadful slouch. Just as she thought this couldn't get any more uneventful, she heard Zachs voice.

"Leon should have an idea what to do. He's staying over there at the Inn; Green and Red Rooms booked so far, though he told me it's only temporary. Ah. Speak of the devil."

Shlay thought, Suprise suprise. Looks like things are actually picking up. I wonder if this guy has an army! Or fangs that extend pass lower lip due to some crude accident. Hmm... With a name like Leon, he's bound to be strong. I hope he can keep up. No one likes a flat.

"It looks like he's expecting us. Shall we?"

As Zach took towards a nearby lodging area. Shlay followed him diligently, thinking,The best thing we could do is ignore these guys like he said. Man oh man Asi. Looks like the real fun is just getting started.

 

[sephiroth2]

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Sleif still didn’t like leaving the three alone. The sight of Zero slowly drifting to the ground, still latched onto the woman’s broom, still annoyed Sleif with the way he was acting so untouchably proud. The sound of Shlay’s ‘Musky Rears’ jab at the three was enough to cause Sleif to chuckle a little under his breath, the tall man having returned behind his still embedded weapon before he promptly rested against it, one of his hands firmly on the top/bottom of the handle.

The sound of the device in his other hand though was what caused Sleif to glance away from the three in front of himself, Shlay, and Zach. Though the counter had disappeared, ending some time ago in the middle of all waiting, nothing eventful had actually happened. The noise coming from the little watch shaped machine this time was like that of a reminder, as was the little blinking symbol currently flashing on one of its sides. Though he knew what this meant, the tall dark haired man still pressed the button, the new display of symbols as well as miniature charts and graphs showed him exactly what he thought.

He wasn’t going home any time soon…

“Just great…” Sleif said quietly to himself, the once playful tone from before having now slipped in place of the annoyed tick in his voice.

"Leon should have an idea what to do. He's staying over there at the Inn; Green and Red Rooms booked so far, though he told me it's only temporary. Ah. Speak of the devil. It looks like he's expecting us. Shall we?” Zach mentioned as he waved towards the lone figure across the district at the inn, a figure which he soon started to make his way towards as Shlay followed close behind.

Returning the watch inside his coat pocket, Sleif’s familiar playful voice returned as he faced the three one last time.

“Guess we’re all going to play nice this time. Let’s try to keep it that way, hmm? I really don’t like doing anything if I can help it.” Said Sleif, smiling to the three as he bowed his head towards the familiar woman on the broom, what with all the supplies he had bought from her whenever he came to this place.

“I do trust you’ll keep them in check, Alice. You’re always so good to your favourite customers.” Said the dark haired man, smiling more as he snapped his fingers behind his back while standing up straight, the dark portal created by Mack suddenly fading out of existence while Sleif swiftly made his way towards the stairs to the inn, weapon still lodged back in the stone ground.

That was, until a second snap of his fingers caused the mighty looking sword to suddenly rip free from the stone slabs and shoot towards Sleif, the weapon firmly planting itself flatly against the man’s back as if it was all just a normal occurrence.

 

[OmniChaos]

"Leave the idiots be," the Eclipse Prince mumbled, watching the group from the corner of his eyes. He watched as the other three, who had not traveled through the portal with the others, passed by, the eldest of which made a snide remark concerning them. With the three passed, the Eclipse Prince turned his attention back to Zero, meanwhile eyeing the witch that floated just above them with slight amusement. "As are, they are little threat to us; I believe we have largely established that just now. Who knows? They could always prove useful in the future." The Eclipse Prince smiled darkly. "Never know when you need a disposable idiot.

"Besides, we have more interesting matters to attend to. You." The Eclipse Prince turned his attention upward toward the witch. "If I overheard correctly, you're a proprietor of sort, yes? What with that fool mentioning your, uh, 'favorite customers,' correct? If that is truly the case, then perhaps we can come to a sort of arrangement, one that greatly benefits both of our parties. I won't ask you to join us or to pick a side—you playing off both sides to benefit yourself is of little concern to me—just that I am granted to, say, exclusive deals or first grabs at rare or valuable commodities you acquire, in exchange for whatever compensation you might desire. All details can be discussed and ironed out later, should you agree.

"So what do you say, interested?" The Eclipse Prince held his hand out toward the witch, extended in a gesture of accordance. "After all, we will be needing quite a bit of materials and supplies in order to reach our goal. And the exclusive provider for someone about to flip the worlds onto their backs and bring them under heel, well, I can imagine that an exceedingly profitable investment, wouldn't you agree?"

 

[Cassette-Disk]

Alice only nodded once as Sleif addressed her. The phrase 'Never a dull moment' flashed in her head briefly before vanishing instantly, like a lightning bolt in a starless sky. Without another word he left to attend to his own devices as everyone else agreed to avoid a fight, which meant the shopkeeper would have to throw out her idea of setting up a temporary shop in order sell potions to the combatants. That was most likely for the best, however. She didn't want to lower herself to the point where she might be paralleled with a lawyer chasing down ambulances. But when fate closes a door it opens a window, as was evident by the boy's offer.

"First, I'd like to clear up the misconception Selif gave you," She answered, emphasizing on her customer's name, "I don't have any 'favorite' customers; I only have loyal ones." The shopkeep took the moment to land and stand on her own two feet instead of relying on her broom. "That being said, I'm more than a little open minded when it comes to selling my wares. If the price is right I can obtain nearly anything for you, as well as placing you on the top of my priority list... For a fee, of course." The witch easily shook hands with the aspiring boy as she went on. "I've seen many men trying to accomplish similar goals to yours, I've even helped them in the same way as this yet they've all failed. Will you be any different? You may not want it nor need it, but this is a free piece of advice: don't underestimate anyone. The pup you ignore today could grow into a beast tomorrow. At any rate, I hope my wares will assist you."

 

[Chromatic]

Zach sat with an awkward sense of deja vu. Not much more than an hour earlier, Leon had dragged him into the Green Room by the scruff of the neck. This meeting had started off the same way; no sooner had the door opened did Leon grab hold of Zach's collar and pull him into the room with Sleif and Shlay, no doubt amused by the occurrence, filing in afterwords. With a monstrous heave Zach found himself tossed onto the bed, where he stayed seated, thoughts alternating between his anxiousness to get on with it and wondering if Leon conducted all of his business this way.

The waiting game took a while to play out. Leon, customary to his methods, leaned his back against the wall next to Zach for several minutes, brooding over one subject or another. When the silence did break, it was Leon that broke it. "Well, you've done well for yourself Zach; seems to me you've pulled together a formidable trio; meaning now I can entrust you with a more productive task."

"What sort of task might that be?" Zach asked.

"More of the same." Leon sprung from the wall and paced across the room towards the door and back. "Only this time, it won't be as easy. I overheard that Eclipse Kid's speech... We can't let him succeed."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" The doubts rang in Zach's voice. He pushed off from the bed, intent on moving closer to Leon. He had just affirmed his feet to the floor when a poof of smoke exploded next to him, knocking him back to the bed in sheer force of surprise. The smoke cleared to reveal a younger, dark haired girl sitting on the bed next to him, clearly pleased with her job of startling him.

"We cut him off silly!" The girl cheered. "Right Squall?"

"It's Leon." Leon scowled at the girl the second the name "Squall" exited her mouth. "What Yuffie means," he continued, "is that we need to get more headway on his goals than he does." The Gunblade slinger held up a hand to belay any interjections, and set on explaining himself entirely before entertaining anymore questions. "There's a world, far off from this one, who's king performed research on the Heart and the Heartless. Somewhere on that world, there's bound to be answers. But..."

"But what?" Zach tried to stand a second time, only to be pulled back down by Yuffie.

"The problem," she explained as she continued keeping Zach's rear end on the mattress, "is that the world is completely overrun by Heartless. It'd take nothing short of an army's worth of strength to reclaim it."

"And what does that mean for us?" Zach finally broke free of the Kunoichi's grasp and stood in front of Leon. "Could you just cut to the chase?"

Leon smiled cockily, as though his plan was already succeeding. "How do the three of you feel about making some more friends?"

 

[KingdomKey]

"Finnnne... have it your way." Zero whined playfully, drooping his shoulders and feeling dejected. Buzz kill. I want to play some more.

Zero cracked a smile, ignoring the three that made their way to leave. The sound of a massive sword latching itself free from its resting place was a feat in itself; almost making him whistle in appreciation at the badass trick performed by Sleif. At the same time, it astonished Zero how quickly changing sides could make a drastic impression left on those he briefly called comrades. So much for having a charming personality. At the remark of "disposable idiot" did Zero contemplated how he felt about it; making sure not to let any of his thoughts appear on his face. No need to give Eclipse King the wrong idea. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he stayed silent during the exchange between Alice and Eclipse King.

Except his mind backtracked to Sleif again. What would it be like to go up against a guy like that personally? I'd love to give that a try. The itch for a fight was starting to set Zero's nerves on edge; imagining what the sound of his twin daggers would sound like against a massive sword. Clashing metal against metal. The taste of iron and blood on his mouth. What he wouldn't give to- did somebody say squashing something beneath a heel. Damn, that's hot. Zero let out a shaky laugh, hoping no one was paying attention to him; allowing the conversation to become drift back and sound crystal clear. (see what I did there?)

Zero let his gaze linger on the witch. I'm surprise she felt comfortable enough to stand among us instead of the safety of her broom. Wonder what we need to take over the world? Worlds. Zero amended, enjoying the way she spoke with confidence, and didn't pull any punches. Alice has a point about whom we should or shouldn't underestimate. Well, I wouldn't mind seeing how the tides go. We'll be different and be a force to be reckon with.

 

[Mason Stark]

[WOO CRAPPY POST INCOMING >:0]

Rena was just so... lost. What was going on? Some big scary guy showed up (it was the same kid as before...) and everything turned on its head. Zero was gone, others were fighting or leaving all together, and Rena just wanted some stable ground to stand on (well, metaphorically speaking) so she could figure out what exactly was happening.

But someone tried to help her. As the girl watched, lost and distressed at the sudden disappearances, Sleif stepped up beside her. Looking up at the towering man, she would've probably panicked and run away before... but, right now, his words offered comfort; something that she desperately needed right then.

Hey now, everyone’s going to be just fine. I’ll be right here by your side until they come back. Promise.

Blinking, she looked up at him for a moment, taking in his words. Then, hesitantly, she smiled and nodded, giving a small 'Thank you' when she did.

But... things quickly changed.

"Ahh!"

Allez-oop! My sincerest apologies!

Panicked, Rena watched the world race past her. Someone had grabbed her! Wait... it was that weird Heartless guy!

"No!" she squeaked, trying to free herself from his grip, "Lemme go! I wanna go with him!!"

But it was too late. As they quickly slipped through a dark world and into another, the girl finally managed to free herself, crashing onto a stone ground below. Hissing as her back throbbed, she looked up towards the sky, wincing as she did.

Wait... this wasn't the same night sky as Traverse Town! It was something different -- it was daytime, and the sky was a bright blue...

But that wasn't right! What happened to Traverse Town?

Quickly sitting up, the girl frantically glanced around, trying to figure out where they had ended up. Instead, she found a courtyard with a fountain in the centre of it all, surrounded by towering buildings and shops. She scrambled to her feet, still looking around and trying to take everything in.

A sign caught the girl's attention. Dashing forward while trying to keep quiet (in order to keep anyone from noticing her), she stepped over to the sign.

"Twilight... Town...?"

[END OF EVENT ONE]​