EDIH

2: Resonance

In the land where stars and planets could be seen connecting to the branches of a silver tree, a young girl was sleeping in the roots of the tree. She was a small and thin girl with dark hair and black circles under her eyes. She was dressed in what appeared to be rags and she held a fan in her hands. She was breathing heavily and one of her bony hands was covering the side of her stomach.

Suddenly, the tree seemed to groan and a branch – that was connected with Universe 1, Dimension 177, Reality 10 – fell. The sound woke up the girl and she looked up, her green eyes turning light brown before shifting back to green. She bit her lower lip, "Things are getting worse. If this continues, Yggdrasil will die." She placed a hand over her heart before looking up, "First, this was a lousy time for you to disappear."

The girl shifted. She became a taller young woman with long, silky black hair, green eyes and a healthy-looking body. Her rags morphed into an off-the-shoulder midnight-blue dress with sleeves that made it up to her elbows. The fan that she had in her hand morphed into a golden staff with the emblem of Yggdrasil in it. The young woman, not recognizable by humans, was none other than the great Third Elder, one of the seventeen beings that had created the worlds.

She grimaced and the side of her dress turned darker. She cursed before looking at Yggdrasil, "You couldn't have tried dying after Erebus and Fifteen stopped their feverish rebellion?" The World Tree said nothing and that just made Third sigh. She was about to sit down when she heard someone land on one of the branches nearby.

"Fuck." She said before looking around and spotting one of her favorite universes, "I hope that they'll treat me well in the Granger dojo." With those words, she turned into a shower of golden sparks that headed in the direction of a very familiar dimension.

~~~EDIH~~~

Bey City, Japan, Earth

Tyson was the first to pause when they were close to reaching the third floor. He felt like he was suffocating and he paused to put a hand over his throat. He coughed, "What is this?"

"Rikku's power." Kaori replied then she also coughed, "It feels like Chaos's darkness, doesn't it?" She shook her head then leaned on the railing, looking exhausted, "I told you she needed help, Ty. Her beast is too powerful."

They continued going up and Kaori paused when she noticed a figure coughing at the top of the staircase, the trembling figure on his knees. She blinked, "Eden, is that you?" The male turned to her, a hand over his mouth. Piercing green eyes analyzed them before glancing at Kaori and answering.

"Kaori-sensei, I was going to try to stop Rikku!" He answered, his voice muffled by his hand. It was odd to see him address Kaori as "sensei", as he was older than her – probably twenty one years old. He had black hair with white streaks in his hair that looked like Aya's skunk spot. One of his hands was clutching a white Beyblade with a black attack ring and the bit-chip was glowing.

"Idiot, there's no way you and Anubis can stop her and Loki." Kaori said as they reached the top and helped Eden to his feet.

"Her bit-beast is named Loki?" Nami asked, suddenly before they looked into the hallway of the floor. Black tendrils moved along every room and they were about to wrap themselves around the group. Tyson grunted, calling forth the shard of Night's soul that dwelled inside his heart.

Light surrounded them and Eden took a deep breath, his pallor regaining color. He didn't let go of his blade but smiled in appreciation towards Tyson. They all did, panting loudly and the air being less stifling.

"Rikku? Rikku, are you okay?" Kaori asked. One of the doors opened and they could hear soft footsteps as a girl approached them. Finally, Rikku appeared before them and Tyson heard Aya take a sharp intake of breath.