Jakette

Jake’s eyes slowly adjusted to the world around him. There was a hazy fog in the air, overwhelming his long dormant senses. His nostrils flared and his eyes stung. Most of his body was covered by waves as they desperately reached for him, soaking him every so often. His injuries, surprisingly, were gone. Slowly, Jake leaned up and nudged himself away from the water, looking around the coast. The cool air signaled that it was morning, with a light wind making it even colder. All was quiet across the coastline, with the ocean being content with softly seeping into the sand.

As Jake began to take in his surroundings more, he noticed the weird stuff on the side of his face. He pulled at it, but a sharp pain came from his scalp. Hastily, he felt around more, noticing the long sheet of hair he had. Even more panicked now, he ran his hands up to his face, his eyes, and finally his chest.

“No...oh no…” Jake held his mouth shut just as he spoke. He rushed over to the sea, cupping water in his hands and pouring into a small hole. The overcast day made the backdrop for a mirror, allowing Jake to see his reflection in the water. His entire form was feminized. His hair drooped down, as if his usual hair grew in length. His eyes were bigger and brighter, and his voice was soft and light.

“What the hell did those girls do to me?! I’ve become one of them! Oh god my voice” Jake scrambled up, unable to look at himself any further. He was long far away from civilization given the landscape around him. High and jagged mountain ranges surrounded him, with only a few natural archways providing an exit.

Everything around Jake was so much taller, grand structures formed after millions of years of history. There was a certain emptiness to it, however. Like there was one thing off from it, one imperfection. Jake shook the thought from her head and reached in her pockets, in the deep reaches of her pants lied the pen and pendant. Jake slowly drew both of them out, the items still perfectly intact. Both of them had an aura of energy to them, pulsating as if they were calling to her.

“C-Come on..take me back, or at least turn me back into a guy…”. Jake clicked the pen a few times, trying in various arrangements to summon herself back to her world, Aerith had told Jake plenty of times about parallel worlds, but never how to exit them. Jake shook her head frustratingly and threw the pen on the floor. The pen hovered where it landed, spinning around as it generated a bright yellow energy. It violently spun for a few moments before it suddenly clicked and gently hovered down on the floor. Jake looked at it, scared to pick it back up again. The pen quickly flew back into her hand, what was more strange was that her hand involuntarily grabbed it.

Another breeze passed by, freezing Jake even further. She coughed and fell down to her knees, hugging her body with what little warmth she had in her. Again, the pen jolted out of her hands, it’s glow hardly visible in the pale and barren illuminance of the sky. It sparked with energy and, rather slowly, created a velvet coat. It hovered in the air briefly before dropping down. Jake opened her eyes just in time to see it, and quickly rushed to the coat before the waves got to it first. She dropped it over her shoulders crudely, desperately nudging herself away from the waves.

“You create coats then huh?” Jake shivered a little more. In reaction, the pen flew back out, flowing itself over the coat, making it thicker and even more advanced. Jake let off a faint smile, still too wet to put her arms through the fabric. Jake finally stood up and began to slowly trot her way close to a naturally formed arch way, listening to the faint waves of the ocean besides her. The Pen seemingly had a mind of it’s own, hovering around Jake as it pleased. Particularly attracted to her pockets, it poked around at it more and more until Jake noticed it.

“What’d you want? I don’t have anything on me except..”. Jake quickly drew her pendant out for the pen to see, to which it poked it more again. She only tilted her head further, slowly waiting for a response as she put it on. The pen made the closest action of a nod that it could. As Jake draped it over her neck, the pendant itself buzzed wildly. It’s light saturated the surround area, glowing a brilliant hue. Jake stopped in her tracks to admire it, it’s light was gorgeous.

“R-RIGHT...C-CAN you hear ME!?” A static and noise filled the back of Jake’s head. Her back tingled as if someone was right behind her, sending the back of Jake’s hair on edge. She turned around, only to see no one. She dismissed the feeling of panic she was having and forced herself to settle down. The voice was an even higher pitch than hers, but it was louder and more energetic,

“OOOKaAY! T-TTHat’s GOOD! G-good! Good!”. The voice was getting less distorted now, though Jake was unable to cover her ears or block it out. “Ahem…Is the voice better? Yes, no?”. Jake looked around and nodded, her breath growing slightly more weary. The voice seemingly organized a few things before it began to speak again.

“Hiya Jake! It’s mom...the real one, but I’d prefer it if you called me Spirit-fawn. You don’t mind that do you?”. Spirit-fawn waited for a response, but Jake only looked around at the sky, desperate for a source of the voice. Eventually she knelt in the sand, the pen still circling around her. Her expression was shocked, yet emotionless, she only stared at the ocean in front of her.

“M-Mom?” She softly let out. She weakly reached out a hand, and her pen began circling around her faster.

“W-where are you? In the sky? T-this doesn’t make any sense, I-I’m dreaming”

“I assure you, Jake. You’re not dreaming, you’ve been brought here for a reason. A very important one”

Jake shook her head again, only thinking of her pen now. She willed it to stop and take her out of it, she willed for her sister or one of her friends, but none of them came. She looked around, terrified of the large rocks around her, it was all so huge, so much bigger than she was. She but a mere speck in the sand…

“I-I…” Jake felt tears forming in her eyes, “I-I...M-mom it’s been so hard. A-Aerith, she’s a mess, she doesn’t even go to school, and Dad...Dad’s always working...We moved around until we landed here...A-and, you’ve been here all this time”

“Do not worry, my son” Spiritfawn responded calmly, “Everything will be explained in due time. I take it you’ve noticed your changed in appearance? Do you like it?”

“Wh-Wha? N-no, c-change me back.” Jake finished her crying and stood up weakly, still looking at the cloudy sun while she waited for a response, or at least some type of emotion.

“In this world, Jake, you can look like anything you’d like! I’m sure if you really want to, you could change yourself back right now!”. Spiritfawn laughed to herself.

“Okay…” Jake shut her eyes and concentrated, focusing on his appearance and how it was back home. Her mind wandered towards how her hair used to look at first, but none of it quite worked. Eventually her brain shot back, causing her to open her eyes, still her same self.

“Hm...you must not want it enough then. I’d stick with this if I were you…It might hurt if you try to hard”

Jake only stood and stared. She glanced at her pen and pointed to it, “What’s that then?”

“Aha!”

Slowly, an apparition formed in the clouds. It descended just above the water, glowing a bright blue. Made from various shapes and runes was a young fawn, though it’s antlers were grown, forming a symmetrical and elegant shape. Two talisman draped from the horns on either side, only cementing her presence further.

“That is why you are here, Jake. To do what I am unable to; You must kill the Volcano Dragon”

Jake gasped, then frowned, “That’s what this is all about…”. She looked down in disappointment, forcing the pen seemingly against its will to stick itself in the wet sand before her. It crashed with a pathetic sound, utterly dwarfed by the loud explosion that followed. The source of energy was the pen itself, scattering the sand everywhere it could’ve been found. The hole was directly in front of Jake, who didn’t move or give a reaction. Though deep inside she wasn’t even sure how she did it. Likely the weight or some other enchantment.

“If this is just about that dragon, take me back and do it yourself” Jake said blankly. Spiritfawn only laughed, unaffected by the reaction.

“Oh my, you’re eager to test your abilities out aren’t you? Child, this pen has been infused with every Viz Shard, every aspect of my abilities. Nothing you do with this can surprise me, this object is my equal. The pen is unable to touch me and I it…”. Jake still didn’t move, to which Spiritfawn elaborated further, “This is a gift, young one. One that I can’t take back. Money, life, any element you can think off save for death, they are all yours so long as you can control them”. The pen proudly swept across Jake, slashing through the air with incredible speed. Jake only stood.

“Bring me back, or at the very least bring my friends here…” She demanded silently. Spiritfawn only hovered in the air like some angelic force, light radiating from her body at all times.

“You’ve had that power since I gave you that pen…Go if you must and come back as you wish”. Jake nodded and thought long and hard, the pen’s energy sparking around her. She felt light, just as light as she was when she was transported here by…

“W-Wait!” Jake stammered, “Someone sent me here! Was it you?”

“Someone?” Spiritfawn pondered, “Oh, it must’ve been the fire child, I’m sure you’ll get to know her soon enough...I shall see you sooner than you think Jake!”

Just as the words were spoken, Jake felt her consciousness subside into the deep reaches of her mind. Slowly fading away as the final wisps of sight and sound were overcome by a deep buzzing sensation. Vibrating every part of her body until everything suddenly came to black.