Chapter 2


They sat on the sofas in one of the clock tower's rentable rooms - Riku and Sora on one sofa, the man and Namine on the other. The redhead stood near the door as a lookout.

After scrutinizing the two men in front of him, the man seemed displeased. "I apologize if this sounds offending, but you both seem…very young. May I ask your age?"

Sora thrusted a thumb towards Riku. "Riku's 26, he's started this shit- er, business since 15. I'm 25. Both my mom and dad were mercenaries, so I lived with this job my entire life. Started going solo when I was 15. We've both had at least 10 years of experience... and we're still alive."

The man wasn't convinced. "I'm sure you are very confident in your skills. But this mission is much more significant than any of the petty guard jobs you've had before. It's of much importance that I am able to judge your skills objectively…"

Sora's eyebrow twitched. Before he could say anything, Riku quickly responded.

"Of course sir, many have questioned our skill before, but none has ever been dissatisfied." Riku drew a stack of papers from his sack. "Perhaps this can put your qualms to rest."

Without looking away from Riku, the man took the papers. As he flipped through the pages one by one, his expression changed from suspicion to surprise to respect. From the side, Namine managed to catch a few words. Fifth Consecutive Champion of the Hades Cup: Riku Stalvan, Victor of the Keyblade Bloodbath: Sora Strife.

The man looked up. "Strife? Wasn't he the man who stopped Sephiroth 26 years ago?"

Sora nodded. "Cloud Strife. He's my dad. He did it together with my mom, Tifa. I was their...celebration accident"

The man looked back at the paper.

Escorted Alice through the Lotus Forest, Sabotaged Captain Hook's Ship, Assisted Aladdin in the Cave of Wonders …. Halfway through the file, the man put it down. "There is no need to see any more. Though it would have been better if you were older, I am persuaded that you men are indeed capable."

Sora smirked.

The man continued, "I must ask though, why are such talented men not serving the Royal Army? With your ability, you'd be able to get yourself quite high a rank."

Riku answered with simple words. "We prefer freedom to titles."

"We want to decide and act on our own terms rather than on orders from some higher-up geezer who has many things other than helping the people on his agenda." Sora added.

Riku groaned inwardly. Sora.

The man stared at Sora. "It is long time I introduced myself. I am Duke Eraqus of Raymond Alley. I am also the higher-up geezer in charge of the Fifth Division of the Royal Army."

Riku narrowed his eyes at Sora. Sora looked back at him. What. I did it on purpose. I knew he was some kind of a big shot.

"The job lasts for at least 3 months, starting tomorrow. If you manage to finish the job, which you must, the reward is 1,500,000 munny a day and a 5,000,000,000 munny bonus on the last day if all is satisfactory. Will you do it?"

Riku's eyes widened, and Sora froze. They exchanged worried looks. The bigger the award, the more dangerous it was. Neither of them wanted to get swept up in something they didn't sign up for.

Sora spoke carefully. "Your grace, before we take on the job, we must know exactly what we are expected to do."

The duke shook his head vehemently. "It is essential that you promise to do the job before I can tell you what you are to do." He looked almost apologetic. "Though you men seem to be trustworthy, it is of utmost importance that the number of people who know about this is kept to the minimum."

"…Please give us a moment to consider," said Sora.

The duke nodded. "We will come back in 30 minutes. Please understand that we don't have much time." He hesitated. "If the reward is too small, we are willing to pay more."

As soon as the door shut and only Riku and Sora were left in the room, Sora stood up. "No."

Riku rose from his seat as well and smiled. "But the money, Sora. We could be rich. You could have as much chicken as you want."

"Don't fuck with me, you care for the money as little as I care for that duke. Riku, this reeks of danger. No."

"Aren't you even curious about what this secret job is about?"

"Not if it's going to cost me my life."

"It seems fun."

Sora ran a hand through his hair. "For god's sake, Riku. What's up with you? You don't even like this kind of shit.

Riku sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck. "You're right. I don't like this any more than you do. But I don't know, Sora. They seemed so desperate. They're searching for the best, and you know there aren't many who can get past the two of us… It didn't feel like the typical rich people's paranoia when the duke said this job was serious."

Sora was unmoved. "All the more I don't want to do this. I want to live to a ripe old age."


When the duke came back in exactly 30 minutes later with Namine and Kairi, the two mercenaries were sitting in their seats. Sora was chewing ferociously on dried chicken strips.

The duke looked stiffly at the two men.

Riku grimly regarded the duke. "Explain the job to us."

The duke tensed. "You accept?"

"For now, just as your grace has proposed. We'll talk more about the price after we hear what we have to do."

The duke nodded tersely. "That would be wise." He brought out a map from his ragged tunic and spread it on the mahogany coffee table. "From approximately a month ago, Heartless have begun straying from their usual grounds and have started entering palace grounds. If it were just the Pureblood ones, we wouldn't have been as worried. Wight Knights, Eliminators, Red Bandits, Large Bodies… Emblem Heartless have been appearing indiscriminately. The Royal Army have their hands full keeping them out of town."

Sora was startled. "Don't those live deep in the forest? It's hard to come upon one even when you're looking for them."

"Precisely. We thought it strange and with my division, I went deeper into the Dark Forest." The man involuntarily shivered. "We found the forest brimming with hordes of Heartless. They were crawling all over one another. Staying concentrated in one place was too strange a behavior for even the Heartless. They seemed to be under orders of some sort. We sent our best agents to find out what was going on."

Riku laced his fingers together. "What did they find out, your grace?"

"…Have you ever heard of Organization XIII?"

-tbc


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