Chapter Text
The Ark remained on its side, and Ephemer stirred uneasily. Even though their fight with Darkness in Daybreak Town had just recently ended, he was already restless because the Ark still hadn't opened, and he didn't want to take the chance of doing so at this time.
Furthermore, he didn't want to be left alone with his thoughts at this moment. He was unwilling to consider how his friend—
He asked not to think about it, please! Still, it was much too soon.
Fortunately, for his waning sanity, the lifeboat eventually collided with something substantial and hard. Finally, the Ark parted, revealing to Ephemer a chilly, gray-blue sky with specks of cloud. An eager man to at last loosen up his muscles, he stood up in the surprisingly stable craft and looked outside to see where he was.
But taking in the view of where he was, Ephemer quickly felt horror fill him as he wondered why he even wanted to leave the Ark in the first place. Where he was... whatever longing he had felt before, it was not worth this.
There was grey, murky water, as far as the eye could see. Despite its size, though, it didn't look like an ocean, but it was just one of many problems. There was something that really frightened Ephemer, and it was the wreckage surrounding him. Soaked, darkened wood floated by, shattered in fragments of all sizes and with their edges sharp and rugged. Beige rubble and stones barely cling to the surface, but many had already disappeared into the murky depths below.
Out of grief, Ephemer almost fell to the floor. Why did he have to wake up in this hellhole, of all places? These ruins are impossible to salvage. Even as the Keyblade War raged on, he hoped he'd never see his home like this, but he didn't expect it. How could he have?
At the very least, he may have expected a time in which the buildings were all torn and crumbling from disuse, something that he would still be able to salvage and rebuild, some kind of foundation on which he could see hope again. But now he could see only the cold, cruel water and the remains of what had once been a beautiful and bright city, which had been reduced to rubble before his eyes.
He wondered hysterically if the universe was pulling a cruel joke on him. As if having to depart from the world he loved so much, separated from his companions, wasn’t enough; as if having to kill his best friend and leave them behind wasn’t enough.
With closed eyelids, Ephemer slumped against the Ark, frantically praying that this was all a terrible, overly compelling nightmare. But deep down, he understood that this was real and that this wasn’t a dream. He understood that the scarf that was torn around his neck was real, even though the bone-chilling air that fell around his body wasn't there to constantly remind him of that fact.
He hoped that this wasn't the way things had to be. Now that he was cut off from everyone he had ever known, thrust into a world that was both familiar and damaged, and alone and isolated unlike anything he had ever experienced, what was he meant to do?
Ephemer believes that throughout his whole life, he has never felt such tremendous grief. Shortly following the Keyblade War came the Keyblade War, but at least there was hope then. Dreams and light and something to help them go forward, at least, existed then.
He allowed himself to sink back into the Ark, his feelings overwhelming yet depleted at the same time.
Did continuing in this manner even make sense? All he had left was nothing. Not a single individual. Not even a location he could really call home. Just what remained of his world, if anything. This place has nothing left over for him.
For a moment, Ephemer worried about what might happen if he simply lay in the Ark forever.
At that notion, he shook his head. He would never forget his friends' tenacity and their sincere hopes and prayers that they would be able to thwart their destiny, make an escape, and eventually find one another again through all possible means. Together, they battled to end darkness and usher in a time of peace and light so that the worlds may have hope for the future.
Ephemer was aware that continuing was his only option. If he simply gave up now and threw everything that everyone had given up into the proverbial trash, he would never be able to forgive himself.
Furthermore, with somewhat more will, he forced himself out of the Ark once more.
Ephemer sincerely hoped that he might once again see his friends' happy faces. It seems like an eternity ago that he last saw them genuinely happy and smiling. Brain claimed that the Arks were extremely erratic and unpredictable, and that their last minutes together were undoubtedly not ideal.
Even so, Ephemer believed that one day they would all meet again. He did not know how or when, but somehow, he believed it in his heart.
And that gave him hope. At the moment, it really wasn’t a lot, but it was something, and something could go the right way in the right circumstances.
Such as now. Ephemer turned around and saw the large purple pipe that the Ark had bumped into. He was still unsure of the path that he wanted to take from here, and he didn’t know what kinds of trials lay ahead of him. But the little bit of determination that his friends had given him through their hearts would have to be enough to take that step forward.
And so, finally, he did.
His boots softly clanked the echoing metal, sounding even over the sound of the rippling water and rubble. It was a rather large piece of pipe, so he luckily had a pretty stable walk on it even though it floated uncertainly on the water.
As he continued to walk, he wondered what he should be looking for. A sign of land? Is something still structurally sound? At this rate, he didn’t think that he would find either of those.
Ephemer looked around him, trying to see more of the mess that was left of Daybreak Town. It seemed like most of it had already sunk down into the water, since most that was left on the surface were small pieces of rubble, some more hollowed-out pipes, and the occasional knick-knack here and there.
He tried not to think about it too much as he continued his search for anything that could help him.
Soon enough, he reached the end of the pipe, but sadly, there really wasn’t much else ahead, let alone something big or sturdy enough for him to stand on. He sighed, and he sat down to think and take a bit of a break. Right now, it doesn’t seem like there is much else to do anyway.
Ephemer summoned his keyblade. Well, it hadn’t been his for long, but the Master Defender that Blaine had gifted him already felt special in a way that he couldn’t describe. While Ephemer’s usual Keylade, Starlight, was more simple and balanced, the Master Defender seemed elegant and protective. It definitely had a longer reach, too, and, after a short test swing, was a bit heavier. It was definitely going to take some getting used to, but using this keyblade would be the best way to honor his friends, especially Brain, who was the one to give it to him.
He wondered how the magic on this keyblade worked. Ephemer knew that different Keyblades had different affinities for different kinds of attacks, such as Starlight, who was pretty good at magic and physical attacks and held no particular affinity for an element. Looking at Master Defender, it was honestly hard to tell at a glance what its strength was or if it was just about as balanced as Starlight.
Ephemer adjusted himself so that he was sitting a little more comfortably, his legs dangling over the edge of the pipe. Then, he pointed his keyblade forward in order to test a spell, but before he could even do that, Master Defender started to glow of its own volition. He gasped as the keyblade pointed downwards towards the water and subsequently fired a thin but bright line light down into the murky depths.
And with a large splash (leaving poor Ephemer drenched), a decent chunk of land rose from the depths.
It wasn’t a big piece of land, by any means. If he had to guess the size, he would say it could fit around six Daybreak houses, plus a bit extra. It didn’t have any trees, or any shrubbery, for that matter. Just a few sad clumps of grass didn’t do much to add any color to the island. However, there was actually a house that stood, though “standing” was probably an exaggeration.
The bottom half of the building was almost completely gone, so it almost looked like the building was cut horizontally in the middle, and they put the top half of the building on the ground instead of the bottom half. However, it hadn’t been “cut” perfectly, so it was leaning a little bit, and it had a large hole that looked big enough for at least three people to walk through it at once.
As long as the building was still at least structurally sound, Ephemer guessed that that would be his shelter for a while. He doubted that the Ark would feel very comfortable to sleep in for long periods of time. Plus, he didn’t want to float away.
Anyway, the island wasn’t too far from Ephemer’s pipe, though sadly, it was far enough to where he would probably have to swim to reach it. Unless he used the Ark as a boat,. Which actually wasn’t a bad idea, now that he thought about it. While he was already sort of drenched from the island appearing in the first place, he didn’t want to risk getting even more wet and then getting sick. And getting sick would be the worst thing to happen right now.
And after twenty minutes of finding something that was long enough to use as a pseudo-oar and rowing the Ark to the island, he finally made it. He got out of the Ark, and luckily, it was light enough to drag it past the shore and high enough so that the water shouldn’t be able to reach it.
Ephemer then walked over to where the house was, and as he got closer, he could see that it really wasn’t in great condition. The usual bright bricks looked worn and faded, windows were either completely gone or broken into jagged pieces, and some parts of the roof had already thinned and crumbled. Amazingly enough, though, the whole thing was actually pretty dry, despite being in the water only a few minutes ago. He chalked it up to being the result of magic, and he entered the hole in the side in order to take a look around.
It wasn’t terribly spacious, but it was enough to fit several beds if need be. The structure on the inside looked surprisingly good as well, though one half of the roof was pretty much nonexistent. Ephemer then tested all the walls of the building, pressing against them and seeing if they were particularly weak in any areas. And of course, he had a barrier spell ready just in case it started to fall apart.
None of the bricks ended up giving in, and he took it as a good sign. His main worry was the roof, but it looked like it should hold for at least a few more days. He would definitely have to get to work fixing it before it started raining or something.
He let out a sigh. Ephemer was faced with the task of repairing a shelter in a destroyed world, something he had not anticipated, requiring knowledge of architecture and related subjects.
And now it was time for his next problem: food and water. He wasn't sure if the water around him was saltwater or freshwater, but he was aware that it would be full of debris of all kinds because of all the destruction. And while he knew how to filter freshwater, he didn’t really know if he could do the same with saltwater. He would have to fiddle with some spells if that were the case, but magic, especially practical magic, wasn’t exactly his forte.
Brain and Lauriam were better at that type of thing.
Besides water, though, Ephemer hoped that there were fish. There was a lot of water, but if it came through more unnatural means, then there wouldn’t be a lot of fish, if any at all.
Or maybe, for now, he would just rest against the wall.
He wondered how the rest of his friends were doing. He knew that the Arks weren’t exactly the most stable, but was it possible that they also came here? How much did time affect their journeys, if at all? Or were they perhaps scattered through the worlds that Ephemer knew would be separated now?
Wait, that’s it! They’ve all traveled through lanes before without any issues. Shouldn’t it work in the same way? Or at least in a very similar way? He knew that the worlds were separated now, but it was worth a shot.
He quickly got up from the ground and walked outside. The sun was setting, but he should still have plenty of time to test if this worked. He summoned the Master Defender once again, and he aimed it in front of him, willing for a lane to appear.
And one did appear, though it looked different than normal. Instead of the swirling pastel purples, blues, and whites, the purples and blues were just a bit darker. So honestly, not that much different. The fact that it was still so similar to the usual portals gave him hope.
While usually the portals were almost instantaneous, just a short walk through the light to the other side, this one was different. The moment he stepped through, he was thrown into the air. Ephemer yelled out in surprise at the action and tried to right himself up, but he was spinning rather uncontrollably.
Finally, after what felt like several minutes of trying to fix his position, he was finally still. Looking around, he could tell that he was in a place filled with darkness, almost like the night sky, except that light seemed to pass him by in all directions.
While Ephemer was amazed at the sight, he was still floating in the air, and it didn’t seem like there was any ground in sight. He couldn’t even tell if he was moving at all since there was no wind, and the lights around him made it difficult to tell.
Plus, Ephemer had a feeling that something wasn’t right here, and it wasn’t just because the Lanes were different than usual. No, there was something seriously wrong with this place, but he just couldn’t figure out what it was.
And he was answered by the heartless.
Heartless of all kinds flocked to the lone Dandelion as if they were moths to a flame before he even realized it. Ephemer did his best to swat them all away, but it was difficult because he had no footing to stand on, and so there was no real power in each of his strikes. The flying Heartless, on the other hand, had no such problems, shooting him with lasers and trying to crash into him at any given opportunity.
Ephemer gritted his teeth as he deflected yet another charging attack. There was no way he could handle the heartless like this! They shouldn’t have even been in the Lanes, but the more Ephemer tried to fight, the more he realized that the Lanes were no longer filled with light.
Darkness existed in the space too, as freely as light used to. And he could feel it encroaching on the hearts around him, making them stronger. And he could feel it trying to reach into his heart and his fears, attempting to make him weaker and have him fall into darkness.
He couldn’t stay here much longer.
“Light!” He used the strongest light spell that he knew, and luckily, it pushed back the Heartless just enough so that he could point the Keyblade ahead of him in order to open another portal. And just in time, too, as a large Heartless crashed into him and pushed him through.
And Ephemer promptly crashed back onto the island on which he had started.
He groaned as he got back up from the dirt, which now basically covered him from head to toe. It was too bad that he didn’t have the time to bring an extra pair of clothes with him or something.
Luckily, it seemed that the portal had closed right when he had crashed through it, since it was gone and the Heartless didn’t seem fast enough to follow him. They weren’t around, at any rate.
So Ephemer guessed that he was stuck here until he could find a way through the lane without getting too overwhelmed by Heartless. He figured that that would be easier said than done, though, so he definitely wasn’t going to try that again anytime soon.
He took a step forward to hopefully wash himself down in the water, but he winced as his leg almost gave out from under him from the pain. He looked down at his leg, only to see his pants almost completely sliced through and his calf with an alarmingly deep cut in it.
How did he not notice how beat-up he was?? A simple cure spell was not going to be able to heal him up properly, especially since he used most of his magic on the Heartless so that he could get away.
Ephemer decided to sit down again, and he took off his jacket, took off his trusty scarf, and tore off the rest of his pants leg so that he could get a better idea of his injuries.
He winced again, but more from the sight of his injuries than the pain he felt. There were several spots that he knew would be bruised badly for several days, and his body was littered with all kinds of cuts. Most of them were small, thankfully, but there were a few that were bleeding pretty badly. The worst one was the one on his leg, though, so he used the rest of his magic reserves in order to heal that one back up, along with a few of the other large gashes that were bleeding the most.
Ephemer was definitely in less pain now, but he knew that he would feel like absolute shit by the time he woke up the next day.
He groaned as he closed his eyes. He was cold from the night air, but he just couldn’t bring himself to move after the long day he'd been through. It felt like it had been several days since he had gone through the Ark and landed in the real Daybreak Town, when in reality, it had only happened within a few hours of each other.
And at that moment, Ephemer felt it all crash down on him again. He couldn’t stop the tears that started to fall down his face. He couldn’t stop the sadness that welled up in his chest and threatened to turn into sobs.
And he couldn’t stop himself from praying that things could go back to the way they used to be.