AN: Hi, everybody! I'm back with another multi-chapter Ni No Kuni fanfic! This time I have a couple of OC's in the spotlight. It's a NNK sequel! However, this fic isn't strictly connected to my other fics like "Of Machines and Familiars" or "Frozen Love". It depends on how you look at it and it's not necessary to have read them beforehand to fully enjoy this story. I was also kinda inspired by this other NNK fic called "Ni No Kuni: The Heart of Doubt", another interesting fic.

Pairings are mentioned and OC's are used in this story.

I do not own Ni No Kuni or it's original characters. I'll make notes at the bottom of each chapter about the OC's.

Ch 1: The Girl of Magic

Pale moonlight spilled into the bedroom, flooding the floor with its radiance. The night sky wasn't the only light source, however-a cute lamp standing on a bedside table was turned on as well. Its bright light cast over the pages of a thick book open in a red-haired man's hands while a young girl of ten or so with caramel colored hair stared at him with awe at his words, reading aloud the story of the crimson-and-gold covered book.

"The scruffy thief backed away on the dock, eyeing his surroundings for a way out of this mess. Meanwhile the blonde, fairy, and wizard glared at the lanky man.

'Hey!' Oliver cried. 'Give that back!' He thrust his hand forward for the portrait still dangling in the thief's hand.

'What's the matter? It's just a portrait of some pretty boy.' The tall pickpocket held the flimsy paper to his face as if it was nothing of great importance. 'No need to get your knickers in a twist.'

'It's important! It must be!' The boy pointed accusingly at the man. 'Why would you steal it if it wasn't?'

Smirking, the thief waved the paper in the air. 'Let's just say I can't have it doing the rounds.' His dark eyes suddenly lit up. 'Tell you what-I'll buy it off you. That's fair, right?' He cocked his head hopefully.

But the wizard wasn't ready to give up. 'No! It's not for sale! We need it!' Right behind him, Esther and Drippy nodded in agreement.

'Oh yeah?' The man took a few cocky steps forward with a hand on his hip. 'Need it for what? Go on, this should be good.'"

"I know!" The young girl suddenly chirped from under the flower-patterned quilt. "They need it to find the man in the picture! It's a picture of the Great Sage Marcassin! In the city of pigs!"

"That's right, Patti." The man with red hair nodded. "That's what they told the thief. But how did he react?"

"That grumpy thief laughed in their faces, but then decided to take them to the sage."

"You remember every single detail, don't you?" The adult smiled as the girl's eyes sparkled back at him.

"Mm-hmm. I love your stories so much." She hugged a stuffed toy in the shape of some unknown animal close to her heart. "Especially Mr. Drippy. He's so funny!"

"I'm glad you like them, Pat." He gently rubbed his thumb against the pages.

"I wish I could visit that world…" She whispered. "Even if it doesn't exist, it still sounds so magical…"

Unknown to the girl, the man's eyes flashed with a strained emotion. However, he replied, "…I wish so too, sweetie. But do you remember how you felt when you heard those words?"

Patti nodded with curious eyes that bore a strong resemblance to the man's dark blue eyes.

"Well, that's the magic in books. They can take you anywhere and let you feel everything in that world. Or any world, really." He placed his hand on top of her smaller one. "So every time I read you that story, or every time you read that book, it takes you to another world."

"Another World…"

"Yup, that magical, wonderful world." He suddenly stood up from the bedside, closing the book that was titled in gold letters The Another World. "Well, that's all I can read for tonight."

"Huh? Why?" Patti crawled out from the blankets. "You usually read more than that."

"Uncle Phil needs me to help him carry this old couch to a friend's house tomorrow, and we have to leave in the morning, so I'm going to bed early."

"Oh, okay…Will I see you tomorrow morning?"

"I don't think so, Pat… I'll be waking up pretty early…" He bent over and tucked the girl back into her bed. "So, I guess this is good night…and good morning."

She yawned, "Okay…Good night, dad…and good morning."

The man ruffled her hair with his hand before placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "Night, Patti. Sweet dreams."

He flicked off the light, slipped the book back onto the bookshelf next to his daughter's bed, and quietly shut the door behind him.

Patti closed her eyes, already imagining the world described so vividly in the book. A world where familiars were noble creatures from your heart, where dragons fly through the skies, where the most unlikely people can become your friends…

And where you could meet another you, or a soulmate.

"I wonder what my soulmate would be like in that world…" She murmured. Pulling the covers closer to her small body, she turned over and was embraced into a gentle, deep slumber.

Patti woke up to the smell of sizzling bacon and cooking eggs. Her nose tugged her stubbornly from her warm bed and into the Saturday morning. She walked down the wooden stairs to the first floor of the home and turned to the kitchen, where a blonde woman in a blue dress was hovering over the stove.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." She turned to the girl with a spatula in her hand.

"Good morning, mom…yawn…" The young girl rubbed her eyes from sleep.

"Maybe some breakfast will wake you up." The mother flipped some sunny side up eggs onto a pair of plates with some crunchy bacon. She handed one plate to the girl.

"Here you go."

"Wow, thank you, mom!" Patti sniffed at the meal. "Mmmm…it smells so yummy."

"You can go ahead and eat it at the table."

"Okay!" Patti placed the plate onto the already set kitchen table and slid into her chair. Curling her hands around a fork and knife, she began to eat the delicious breakfast. However, after a few bites she noticed the empty chair lonely standing at her right.

The chair that her father usually occupied.

"Did Dad already leave?" The girl turned in her chair to her mother, who was pouring some hot tea into a red mug.

"Yes, just a few minutes ago." The mother picked up her cup and a glass of orange juice. She turned around and placed the glass next to her daughter's plate. "He said he'd be back before dinner."

"Okay." Patti took another forkful of eggs into her mouth. The woman took the chair directly in front of her and sipped at her tea.

"What about you, mom? Are you going anywhere today?"

"Well, actually Daisy and I were going to run some errands in a little bit." She said as she gazed into her mug and then back at Patti. "Do you want me to pick something up for you while I'm out?"

The girl swung her legs in thought before nodding. "No, thank you."

Just before she could take another bite of her eggs, the doorbell chimed.

"Oh! That must be Daisy." The woman got up from her chair. Patti stuffed the last of her meal into her mouth and followed her mother to the door. When she opened the door they were greeted by a lady with short brown hair.

"Good morning, Mrs. Daisy." Patti stared up to the lady's face.

"Good morning to you too, little Miss Patti!" She chirped. "How are you today?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Wonderful." Daisy turned to the mother. "Are you ready to go, Myrtle?"

"Mm-hmm." The blonde bent down to Patti and looked at her sincerely in the eye.

"We'll be gone for a couple of hours, Patti. Don't answer the door and call Grandpa and Grandma if you need anything. Okay?"

Patti nodded her head surely. The mother smiled and pecked the girl's cheek before standing back up. She grabbed her pearl-colored purse hanging off a coat rack and hoisted it over her left shoulder.

"Be good, Pat!"

"I will!"

"Bye, sweetie." Myrtle waved at her daughter, who waved back.

"Bye Mom! Bye Mrs. Daisy!"

Grinning, the woman gently closed and locked the door, leaving the brown haired girl alone in the house.

With enthusiastic fingers, Patti scribbled her blue crayon against the paper. She laid out on her stomach near the fireplace of the living room while her legs swung back and forth in the air behind her. Humming a melody to herself she continued to draw on the paper. After a few strokes, the butterfly sported blue wings.

The little artist smiled and reached for another crayon. She suddenly froze, noticing the yellow one was missing.

"Huh? Where did it go?"

She looked around. A flash of yellow caught her eye by the fireplace.

"Ah! There it is!"

The girl crawled over and reached for the crayon. She raised the brightly colored wax to her face. Her gaze then shifted to the ash-covered fireplace.

"Maybe I should draw the fireplace next…" For a moment she pierced her curious gaze into the dusty area. She carefully poked her head into the fireplace and cranked her head to look up the chimney. All she found was an endless pit of darkness. Squinting her sapphire eyes, she glanced at the ashes below her nose.

Those very ashes began to tickle her nose teasingly. A swimming sensation blossomed behind her face.

"Ah…ah…ah…ah-CHOO!"

Her sneeze sent clouds of ashes up in the air. She covered her coughing mouth with her arm and waved the dust away with her free hand.

When the ash had settled back onto the ground, she sniffed and returned her gaze into the fireplace.

"…Huh?"

Patti narrowed her eyes. Something unusual was sticking out from beneath the grey powder. She dusted away the rest of the fine particles, uncovering the treasure hidden in the fireplace. Sitting in the dead center was a thick brown book with golden designs on the cover. There appeared to be some sort of strange writing on the front, like from a civilization long forgotten.

Blinking, Patti pulled the book out from the fireplace and inspected every single side.

"A…book? But how? Wouldn't it be burned up?"

Thirsty for answers, she gingerly opened the book. When she did, a foot long stick stuck between the pages suddenly tumbled out. The girl picked it up in her small hand. It was actually a nice stick, straight as a needle and not too thick or thin. A few tiny branches coiled around it like decoration, along with barely visible markings.

"…What's this?" She tried to comprehend what the faded runes said, but it was not use; they were simply too faint to read.

The girl shifted her attention back to the book. The page illustrated a rune and some words in English below. In the lower right corner was a detailed drawing of a person with a wand standing with outstretched arms. Before him or her the sky opened up like an enormous door.

Patti snatched up the book, eagerly scanning her eyes over the sentences.

"Step out of one world and into another. The gateways formed by this spell are the only way to travel between this world and one of the many other worlds in existence. Casting Gateway requires you to focus your thoughts upon the world to which you wish to travel. It is also imperative to imagine that you have already left the world in which you cast the spell."

"A…spell?" She whispered. "Gateway…?" Suddenly the child gasped. Patti dropped the book and wand and dashed upstairs. Feverishly searching her bookcase, her finger came to rest on a thick red book before pulling it out. She ran down the stairs as fast as her little legs could take her and fell to her knees before the fireplace.

Not wasting any time, she quickly flipped through the pages of her book. She came to a stop at a page with a picture of a young boy holding a wooden wand, standing in awe before a tall, gleaming entrance leading into a hallway of reflecting lights. Sitting at his sneakers was a book.

The wand in the boy's hand and the book at his feet looked exactly like the ones hidden in the fireplace ashes.

"H-huh? Is this…really…" Patti stared at the yellowed pages of the other book.

"…The Wizard's Companion?"

Still confused, the girl looked at the stick next to her knees. She moved it in her hands, observing every tiny crevice and crack of it.

"If that's The Wizard's Companion…then is this the wand?"

The child caught sight of the spell on the open page. Gateway, the symbol of a door that would teleport its caster to another world. The first spell the boy in the story cast with his stick wand.

"I wonder…"

Patti got onto her feet, clutched her hand around the stick, and pointed the wooden tip in front of her. She drew the shape of a gate in the air and finished it with a downward motion.

"Gateway!"

…Nothing. For a moment the world froze while she held her breath. A soft shade of disappointment flowed over her eyes.

Then a flicker. Then a spark. And then a few more dancing sparkles of magic. The wand quivered in her hand as a glowing symbol of the spell floated in front of her. A magical wind swirled around her dotted with enchanting glitters of power.

"W-whoa!" Patti gasped while her bangs fluttered in front of her eyes. A circle appeared around her feet that grew into a column of bright blue light, embracing the girl.

"Did…did that really work? Wait, I have to stop it before-"

"Aah!" She shielded her face with her arms, still tightly holding the wand in her right hand. A split second later, the light vanished into thin air, along with the girl and her two books. All that was left were a few forgotten crayons scattered about the floor and a half-finished butterfly picture on a paper.

An: Patti and Daisy are OC's. Everyone else mentioned in this chapter do not belong to me.