Chapter Text
(Ness' Point of View)
Ness had enjoyed the summer off after beating Giygas and saving the world. All the adults didn't seem to believe him or just played along whenever he talked about his adventures. Actually, other than the other Chosen Four and a few friends, such as Tony, Apple Kid, Dr. Andonuts, and all the Mr. Saturns, no one believed him. Ness was actually relieved at this. It was nice to be able to live a normal life and to not worry about crowds of people wanting your autograph, or even worse, secret government research agencies interested in dissecting you.
A week or two after Giygas was defeated, a bunch of refugees showed up in Onett from a place called Tazmily. No one knows how they got there and some of the Onett townspeople are resentful at their presence, but many others have accepted them with open arms. Ness himself likes them and has even made a bunch of new friends. His new best friend is none other than Lucas, a boy his age who is also a psychic. He is friends with Duster, a lame thief; Kumatora, a tomboyish princess; and Fuel, the only other kid his age from Tazmily. Of course, Ness still has his friends from his proper adventure: Paula the healer, Jeff the engineer, and Poo the prince. During the course of the summer, they ran into another kid who looked like and dressed just like Ness. He wore a bandana, but otherwise the two were like twins. His name was Ninten, and with his outgoing attitude and his good-humored jokes, he made quick friends of Ness and his friends.
Ness likes Lucas' friends, and Lucas likes Ness' friends, and they all get along well with each other. That isn't to say that they never get into arguments - they do - but they're all strongly aligned by their shared morals. In short, they're all good people who like to make people happy and hate to see people hurt. They like things to be fair, and they dislike cheating and bullying.
Eagleland, the nation-state to which his town of Onett belongs, was founded by refugees and immigrants, and as is its custom, it provided generous aid to help the newcomers settle in. Land was cleared on the east side of town. In this place, housing went up for the people from Tazmily, as well as a mental health clinic. Onett had been growing and had been in need of its own school for a while, and with the influx of refugees, funds were provided for a new school.
Speaking of which, Ness and his friends were going to go to that school. Ness had always had to take the bus, and it was a long ride to his old school. Starting tomorrow, he'd be able to walk to school, and he'd have plenty of friends. Ness thought that things couldn't get any better.
(Lucas' Point of View)
After pulling the last Dragon's Tooth, Lucas had unleashed a world-cleansing cataclysm. The Nowhere Islands, where Tazmily was located, were destroyed by the forces of nature. The dragon did not hurt the denizens of the Nowhere Island, himself included. The dragon reached into Lucas' heart, and used Lucas' thoughts and desires to shape their future.
Lucas had woken up on a lawn next to a kid with a red hat who also liked striped shirts and jean shorts. He was looking over him. He was a bit puzzled, but neither scared nor upset. Instead, he was smiling, and welcomed Lucas to the land of the living. His name was Ness, and he apparently had found Lucas just sleeping there in his back yard. The two instantly knew they were psychics through their mental links, and it wasn't long until they were sharing stories about their adventures.
This world was new, but unlike Porky's dystopia, Lucas actually enjoyed Onett. Ness had brought Lucas down to the makeshift refugee center on the lawn of Town Hall, and helped reunite him with Flint, his father. Hinawa (his mother) and Claus (his twin brother), were nowhere to be found. Lucas felt a little sad, but there was no reason to expect them to be there. They had died in his world, and only wishful thinking had him even hoping to find them here. Still, it was nice to find Flint.
The two were promised a house and were even given a map with their lot circled with a red marker. They could have borrowed a trailer or entered into a lottery for spots at the Onett Hotel, but Ness' mom would have non of that, and both Flint and Lucas were taken into Ness' house. Flint slept in the living room while Lucas got to sleep in the same room as his new friend. Ness' mom had quickly gone out and bought a second bed, knowing that Ness and Lucas were too old to share a bed.
Still, Lucas was nervous. The world was very new, and while he trusted Ness with all his heart, his world was scary. Some places were nice, like the Library. It had lots of nice books and the staff and other patrons were friendly and would help him. However, other places, like the arcade, were scary. People with shark costumes liked to hang out around there, and Lucas didn't need Ness to tell him to watch out.
While Ness was visible excited about his first day of school, Lucas was nervous. Luckily, Ness' enthusiasm was just contagious enough to coax Lucas into giving it an honest try, and Lucas was believing that he might actually enjoy it.