A Reason To Smile

Chapter 15: Hollow Bastion

You stood proud on the stage as you were being cheered for by the populace of Olympus. Hercules himself walked up to the stage to give you your reward.

Hercules: Here is your tournament champion, Y/n!

The crowd cheered louder as Hercules held your hand up.

Y/n: Uh... didn't they see me turn into some dark monster? Shouldn't they be scared of me?

Hercules: Nah, I told them that was all staged. One of the perks of being a God of Olympus, is that they will listen to anything I say.

Y/n: Huh, that is pretty cool.

Hercules: Isn't it? Anyway, here is your reward.

He gives you a gold armlet. It had the designs if Olympus going all around the band.

Hercules: This is called a Heroes Armlet. It was made in Mount Olympus itself and is said to grant more strength and durability.

Y/n: How does... that work?

Hercules: Beats me. All I know is that you can take some punishment while also deal it.

Y/n: Thanks Herc. And sorry again for all the damage we caused.

Hercules: Hey, don't worry about it. Trust me when I say that this is something that happens pretty much everyday.

You nod and take his outstretched hand and shook hands. After that, you head off the stage and head towards your two friends. They congratulate you and Bobble gives you a kiss.

Riku: Alright, we have one more place to go. It's not too bad, but last time I was there, there were some Heartless and Nobodies there.

Y/n: Anybody from the Organization,

Riku: There was one. I believe his name was Demyx.

Y/n: Then it looks like I've got nothing to worry about.

Bobble: But he's an Organization member, isn't he?

Y/n: Yeah, but he's not that worrisome. In fact he's kinda... useless.

You almost felt bad for saying that. Out of all of them, he was probably the kindest besides your friends. But he was also the laziest and the easiest to be frightened.

Riku: Alright, well then, let's go. To Hollow Bastion.

Once more he opens a Corridor of Darkness and you all go through it. After a moment of walking you all appear in the middle of a small town. The three of you walk around the town, waving to the locals every now and then. Once you reached a large building, Bobble noticed something rather surprising.

Bobble: Are those... Inklings? Wait, and Octolings?!

You looked in that direction as well and indeed, there were Inklings and Octolings. Two of each in fact. The Inklings colors were orange and purple, the Octolings were black and light blue. Bobble, excited to see more of her kind her in another world, ran over to them.

Y/n: Bobble, wait!

Before you could reach her, a man jumps in front of her and points some kind of sword at her. When he looks up, you notice that he looks... almost like you, but with a scar on his face.

?: And just who are you?

Orange Inkling: Hey, calm down Y/n! Can't you see she's an Inkling like us?

Bobble: Wait... Y/n?

Y/n 2: That is my name.

You take note that his voice was much deeper than yours.

Bobble: But... his name is Y/n too.

She points over and all attention was directed to you.

Y/n: How can...

?: I knew that this would happen at some point.

A blonde haired man walks out of the building. He walks over and looks at both versions of you.

?: Alright, this is gonna get confusing, so you.

He points at the taller version of you.

?: You will be... Leon for now.

Leon: Leon?

?: Yeah, Y/n Leonhardt. Leon. And you're not impressing anyone with the Gunblade.

He just looks away and slides the... Gunblade into a sheath in his back.

?: And you will continue to be called Y/n.

You nod.

?: Now me... I guess you could say that I'm the guy that has to help you. My name is Devin.

Y/n: Um... it's nice to meet you.

Devin: Well... it's not the first time I've met you.

You just look at him, confused.

Devin: Allow me to explain. You see Leon here is a part of a separate universe. Think of it as the multiverse theory.

Y/n: The what?

Devin: Right, this universe actually supports world hopping. Anyway look, you know how there is the whole Darkness and Light here in your universe, correct?

Y/n: I suppose. But what does that have to do with this?!

Leon: I agree with him... me... uggh, my head hurts.

Devin: I'm getting to that. You see, there is a more powerful Darkness out in the Multiverse. A Darkness so great that it can destroy entire Universes. That is exactly what happened to Leon here.

Leon: After my mission, something happened. The sky turned dark, these... creatures came out of no where. Then this guy showed up and brought me and my girlfriends here to some kind of library.

Devin: It was the only way I could save them. Besides, what kind of teammate would I be if I just left ya hanging like that?

Y/n: Okay, but I'm like... really confused.

Riku: Same here.

Devin: Look, I wish that I could say more, and make more sense, but for now you guys just need to rest. Get to know each other. I'll explain more later, but for now, the old man needs me to go somewhere else.

He begins to walk off but then stops.

Devin: Oh right! Here Y/n.

He hands you a small crystal. The blue gem glowed brightly as you held it.

Devin: Whenever you need help, just call out with that.

And in a flash of light, he disappears. After shaking your head, you talk with the others in the group. It turns out that what Devin said was true. They were from a completely separate Universe. You also learned that the Inklings names were Clementine and Maya, while the Octolings were Julia and Emily. And they were indeed all dating the Gunblade wielding version of you. Speaking of whom...

Leon: So Y/n... that's going to be really weird. You feel like sparring for a bit?

Y/n: Ha, you know it!

You jump off the chair and land across Leon, who drew his Gunblade. You summoned Fate Rebellion and you stared each other down.