A/N: I'm not usually fond to these author's note shenanigans... but I shall make an exception for once. This is my first collaborative fiction: a small project me and Solis Knight have come out with in just a few hours. This is going to be a peculiar Final Fantasy VII/Klonoa crossover in which (similar to my Tails saga), everything has been basically reinvented for the sake of a more "logical" narration. This story happens in our world, in some unspecified zone of Germany, in the village of Nibelheim (which you know from the game). Chapter 1 has been written by me, Solis will write chapter 2 and so on... This fic is striclty experimental because of the two crossing styles, therefore expect some weird narrative contraption from now on.

With that being said, I wish you a good reading...

See you in Chaos.

Madhog thy Master 3:16.

P.S. This story will also be published on Solis Knight's account.

ATARAXIA

1.

As the dreadfully enchanting light of the blissful flames enlightened the age old room, its dust covered inhabitants seemed to glee in utter joyfulness. The light meant consideration, and for a book, which only purpose in life is to be read, it meant the world... The old library had definitely seen better days, or so the unmistakable trace of the merciless webs and spiders spread all over the room, suggested. Even the blazing fireplace couldn't give to this ancient bookshelf's misery the proper justice, but, on the other hand, the figure that lay on the still comfortable armchair could very well be seen in all of its sinister-ness, in the midst of that artificial twilight.

He was a man of average stature, physically speaking, and not so average intelligence… a gift, some would say, to be more of a curse, but that would just be a relative opinion. For this man, his brain was the most prized treasure, along with his overinflated ego… again, relatively speaking. The subtle dim light of the old fireplace managed to illuminate part of his features, revealing to the casual observer a peculiar white lab coat to be this man's trademarked clothes. The entire atmosphere seemed to revolve around this individual and his current course of actions: he was reading a book, which gave this library a reason to exist; his glasses' covered eyes were fixed on the humble unspecified volume that happened to be his current object of analysis… their ominous shininess only improved his mystery. A strange smirk appeared on his lips as he apparently managed to find the term he was looking for on the manuscript…

"Ataraxia: A rare mental condition, a state of mind, by which the individual is unable to feel basilar emotions such as anxiety and/or fear; in ancient Greek, the Ataraxia is considered a state of pure happiness and freedom from the negative emotions."

By reading the words "happiness" and "freedom", the man couldn't help but chuckle within himself. In his mind, such preposterous and worthless concepts weren't needed in his own vision of a perfect world… and his experiment just proved him right. With a rather scornful motion, the scientist closed the book and threw it in the fireplace, where its silent screams of agony would have been covered by the burning noise of its ultimate demise. Witnessing such spectacle, left to the doctor a few minutes to think about some of the latest developments in his prized work: the encouraging results of the running tests, the great improvements of both mental and physical skills, the overall amount of goals his science could achieve so far were a definitive testament of his superior intellect, which, obviously, made his glee in delight. There still happened to be, however, some peculiar twists in the Experiment's nature… specifically, the complex nature of his feelings (hence the Ataraxia problem), that only made the doctor's scientific curiosity dance in baffling amusement.

Suddenly, his concentration was ruined by the presence of a second human being, a person the deranged scientist knew all too well.

"Dr. Crescent… Is there any conceivable reason behind your rude interruption of my cognitive process?" He said from behind his still shining glasses; bemusement clearly depicted in his tone and facial features. His assistant's answer didn't late to be spurted out of her mouth.

"… The Experiment has escaped… again." The woman said in a visibly distressed and sighing manner.

"That's the third time this month!" He replied in annoyance… then he just smiled in a very sinister way, which made Dr. Crescent secretly tremble, and added: "Fine… let him 'play' for a while. My 'son' shall learn his lesson… the hard way!"

"It shall be done… professor Hojo." She concluded; disdain hidden in her voice.

The sun was warm, painfully warm, outside the small rural village of Nibelheim.

Everything looked so peaceful and tranquil, overall happy… just like the façade this world was engulfed in, a cold mask that hid its true denied feelings, its own foundation…

Sorrow.

The most hated among emotions, the most abused and avoided (when possible) and yet, it was such a fundamental part of a one's completion… sometimes, it was even the only real truth of existence, because it meant that you were alive and able to feel, not just pretend to.

As the warm rays crossed the green land, every life form, either animal or vegetal, felt their vital effects; everyone besides the lonely and sad looking child sitting on a broken tree log and hugging his knees tightly.

He was a very peculiar being, indeed. His furry and soft features suggested that his nature wasn't human but still resembled it, anthropomorphically speaking. A shaded green color, cold like his soul (which own existence was yet to be proved) covered the grandest part of his body, except for his torso, his belly and his muzzle… his nose-less muzzle. Long, bewildering fluffy bunny-like ears descended from his roundish head, easily reaching the grassy ground beneath them, giving this child's appearances a bleeding hearted innocence. Red rings circled his wrists and ankles as if they were cuffs marking his own identity… or lack of one. A golden/bronze colored collar, too large for his neck, hanged from his shoulders, a pair of long laces of the same flavor descended from it. Finally, his eyes… his unnaturally, deep red eyes were burning with suppressed feelings he could feel all too well, since they happened to be his only lifeline to this planet. The little kid, whose origins were uncertain, was clearly not of this world; he was something that logically, scientifically, practically speaking shouldn't even exist… and yet, there he was, sat on a log, with the saddest and most moving expression ever seen. His young looking gaze seemed to be frozen into a perpetual frown of pure and genuine unhappiness… something that went far beyond the typical teenage issues… far, far beyond.

He sighed as he hugged his knees even tighter and closed his eyes.

He knew he should be worried, he knew that he should be scared as hell since he was all alone in a world that basically rejected him and for the fact that some very bad people happened to be after him… the same people he had no choice but to call "family"… but instead, he felt absolutely nothing on that particular matter, in fact he couldn't possibly feel anything else besides the one emotion that fully occupied his heart's filling meter. He also knew that he should be worried about not feeling worried and so on… Meta-emotions were the only surrogates.

He couldn't stand the fake tranquility and happiness that surrounded him, it hurt him almost as much as the pain he already felt: the pain of a billion souls who dared to deny Sorrow and tried to erase it from their lives. Suddenly, his breath grew heavier and his heart began beating like obsessed, threatening the fabric of his furry chest… it was happening again, another crisis, another person trying to avoid the sufferance, to reject it in order to live in its own illusion of a perfect world. The ability to feel everyone's own displeasures was a burden beyond human capacity, it was astoundingly painful and hurtful turning such foreign emotions into his own form of sustainment; he was the embodiment of Pain, which granted him with the only name (or rather, title) he's ever known himself with…

King of Sorrow.

Free of worries. Free of fears. Filled with Sufferance… and incapable of Love. That's how he was meant to be, a vessel of pain, when he was created by the professor.

A subtle noise came from the bushes, attracting the small monarch's attention; red eyes fixed on it. What came out of it, was a being he'd never seen in his life, but only because he never actually met human kids. She was a little girl with brown hair and a sweet gaze printed with the typical curiosity of a child of her age. The two diverse creatures gazed each other in silent admiration, occasionally tilting their respective heads in bewilderment. Finally, the stony ice of awkwardness was broken by the childish voice of the girl.

"Uhm… hi? Never seen you before… where are you from?" She asked shyly, only to receive a cold stare in return that only improved her uneasiness. "My name is Marlene… yours?" She tried again and this time an answer actually came out of the creature's small mouth.

"I'm the King of Sorrow." He simply said, with a smooth, young voice full of hinted sadness.

"… It's a weird name." She replied thoughtfully with the typical unawareness of a kid.

"… It's just what I am." He said unemotionally, right before raising from his sitting position, revealing himself to be slightly taller than the 8 years old girl, just enough to be 10; his long ears didn't touch the ground anymore. "… And you? What are you, exactly? The Queen of Questions?" His involuntarily smart reply made the little girl giggle in delight, probably because of the seriousness he showed when he stated his remark.

As he watched the smaller being laughing in untainted humor, he found himself mysteriously attracted by her atypical emotional set: unlike adult people, her feelings seemed to be pure, uncorrupted by that dreadful veil of hypocrisy that seemed to cover the average people… needless to say, he found himself suddenly curious about the outside world and the things it could offer beyond its façade. As if on cue, the little bundle of chucking known as Marlene made an offer he couldn't possibly refuse.

"Would you like to see my home?" The king thought about it for a minute or so, then eventually nodded positively… never actually losing his perpetual sad looking that she was light-heartedly ignoring. "YAY!" She said right before grabbing her newly acquired friend's arm and starting to drag him, rather unceremoniously, towards her hometown.

If he could, he would have regretted his decision.

On the "bright" side, the pain in his torso was gone… at least, for now.