Kingdom Hearts X; The Forgotten's Keeper

Chapter V; Ephemer

Annora found herself running to the waterfront park on a request from a Moogle. Annora wasn't overly fond of Moogles, they were slightly annoying creatures. But this one had seemed to be desperate and needed a Heartless killed. Killing this Heartless would help Annora just as much as it would help the Moogle, so Annora decided it couldn't be that bad.

Arriving at the waterfront park Annora saw the Heartless the Moogle must have been talking about. It was about the size of a person and floating off the ground with small bat-like wings on it's back. Purple horns came off of its head and its tail had some sort of blade on the end. It held a sword in its right hand.

Facing off against this Heartless was another keyblade wielder. It was a boy with short silver hair that was a little messy, maybe from the fight or maybe just naturally. He wore a white shirt with a black short-sleeved jacket over top. He had a red scarf on and black gloves. His pants were brown and his boots black. He looked tired like he had been worn down from the fight. Annora doubted he would be able to win.

Annora darted at the Heartless from the behind. She brought her keyblade across the Heartless' back. The Heartless turned to face her, forgetting the silver-haired boy. The silver-haired boy smiled at Annora gratefully before dropping to his knees. He seemed to have picked a fight he wouldn't be able to finish. Annora attacked the Heartless quickly, hitting its chest area rapidly. The Heartless dropped it's sword and vanished into a puff of black smoke.

Annora let out a heavy sigh after defeating the Heartless before crossing the grassy area to the silver-haired boy. She crouched down in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and smiled again.

"I'm alright." He said. His bright blue eyes were looking at Annora in interest. Annora frowned at him, he didn't look alright.

"You sure?" Annora asked, removing her hand from his shoulder. The boy nodded standing up. Annora stood with him, watching him carefully. He stood perfectly fine, not showing any signs of serious injury. Maybe he had just worn himself out.

"Thanks, I guess I got a little cocky." He said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Annora crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. The boy attempted a smile at her.

"A little?" Annora asked. The boy grinned at her and shrugged. Annora felt herself smile despite the situation. This boy was light-hearted, and it seemed to be spreading on to Annora. Not that she minded. It wasn't a bad feeling to be able to laugh off such a close encounter.

"I'm Ephemer, from the union Ursus. Nice to meet you!" The boy said suddenly, holding out his hand. Annora took it without thinking.

"Annora from Unicornis." She said. Ephemer grinned yet again as he released Annora's hand. Annora wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Looks like we're on different teams," Ephemer said, pacing away. Annora nodded slowly, she had forgotten that unions didn't normally work together. It was always an afterthought for her, unions didn't mean that much in her eyes. "But I'm working on something other than my Union task today so think of me as Union free for today." Ephemer said, turning back to face Annora. He was still grinning broadly.

"What are you working on?" Annora asked curiously. It was rare to meet another who didn't put too much stock in unions. The last she could remember were the two lieutenants from Vulpes and Anguis.

"Hm, I guess I can tell you what it is since you helped me out," Ephemer said, resting a hand on his chin as he thought. He took a step closer to Annora and lowered his voice. "Can you keep a secret?" He asked. Annora nodded looking around. There was no one else, so she wasn't sure why Ephemer was lowering his voice so much. "The worlds we visit--the worlds of fairy tales-- are nothing more than holograms. You know projections. The light we collect there is actually this worlds light." Ephemer explained quietly. Annora looked at him in shock, her mouth hanging open just a bit.