A/N-Alright! Another chapter done. ^^ Based on some heavy estimated guessing, I'd say we have 10-15 chapters left (but when has my estimated chapter planning ever gone as scheduled, hahahahaha!). I'll just keep plugging away and hopefully you guys enjoy. J
As strange as it was to find out who Oswald was, I found it stranger for his reasoning. What could I do to get him back to the throne? If he was going after Zexion's throne it would make sense but King Mickey's? If he wanted Mickey's throne he should have gone after someone from Disney, or better yet Axel or Roxas as the King was well acquainted with them. Even though I was next in line for Hollow Bastion's throne, it wasn't like I wanted it. I was content with my brother ruling over the world.
Although…
No, what he said didn't make any sense. What he said must have been out of spite…right?
XxXxX
Lexaeus hummed and tapped a finger against his arm. Across from him Vexen mirrored the gesture from his chair, both deep in thought as they pooled their thoughts in the medical bay. News of Demyx's party leaving Atlantica had reached them via King Triton when Zexion decided to finally attend one of the conferences. He didn't have much of a choice with the enclosure of Atlantis in a dome of rock over a mile thick. If there was anyone left living inside, they wouldn't be living for much longer. The worlds had given up hope on survivors like they had with the Enchanted Domain. There wasn't much anyone could do to help. So the topic then changed to how they were going to prevent Sin from destroying more worlds while Demyx and the other summoners raced to get the last of the Sacred Aeons before the other Temples were destroyed or sealed off.
The head of the guard hummed under his breath again as his mind came up short once more. Vexen sighed and swiveled in his seat, slamming a fist down on his desk. "Damn it!" he roared. "Why can't we think of anything? We made Xemnas those blasted weapons using research on Sin so why can't we use it in reverse?"
"Maybe because we're not supposed to," Lexaeus mused, opening his eyes. He turned his gaze to the disgruntled doctor flipping over notes he had read almost a hundred times already.
"We must have missed something," Vexen determined, his eyes madly scanning the pages.
"Such as?" Lexaeus pressed.
"I don't know! The King didn't seem to know either. Everyone's too worked up about Sin destroying their world next to figure out a solution. It can't be this difficult!" Vexen slammed his palms against his desk and stood up, his chair skidding backwards on squeaky wheels. "What am I missing?"
Lexaeus hummed again, his finger resuming its tapping. "Perhaps we require more minds to determine a solution."
"Perhaps you are right. The question is who should we send for? Ansem and Yen Sid would be a great asset but even then I don't think we'll come up with a solution."
"What about reaching out to the other worlds?" Lexaeus offered.
"They can't get their heads out of their own asses to send someone here to brainstorm," Vexen snapped.
The burly man shrugged. "You never know until you try."
"Alright, then. Who should we send for?" Vexen pulled out a sheet of paper and dug a pen out of his lab coat pocket. "Merlin may be of some help," he muttered.
"May I make a suggestion?"
"Be my guest! We're roving out in the dark anyway," Vexen ranted. Lexaeus uncross his arms and found a pen on the desk. He jotted down some names on the sheet of paper and Vexen's eyebrow arched curiously. "Interesting choices. What prompted you to ask for them?"
"Just a hunch," Lexaeus replied. Vexen nodded thoughtfully.
"Alright. I'll think of some more and I'll send for them. If we can meet in the near future I feel that would be most ideal. Time isn't on our side in this battle." The researcher retrieved his chair and set to work on finishing his list.
XxXxX
"Alright, this is just weird," Cloud muttered as he walked into Hollow Bastion with Leon beside him. The brunette was in a similar vein of feeling awkward about the sudden request to meet in the rebuilding world but he felt like it was for a good cause.
As they headed towards the intended meeting place, an old cottage home in the heart of the community that Yen Side was residing in during his stay in Hollow Bastion, they spotted more G. Ships arriving at the hangers. Leon recognized the Destiny Island Militia logo on the side of the Ships and his unease began to grow by the minute. When they reached the cottage, they found they weren't the first to arrive. Lexaeus and Vexen were already present with Merlin, who had left earlier than the other pair from Traverse Town. Ansem and Yen Sid were conversing quietly in the back while King Mickey stood with a frown in the middle of the room, Donald and Goofy standing behind him. A few minutes later, Sora, Riku and Kairi entered the cottage, making it start to feel rather cramped.
Last to arrive was Zexion himself, the man looking just as exhausted as usual. He was offered the last remaining seat, which he gladly sank into. Leon noticed the man nodding off and wondered if he would fall asleep during their meeting.
"I assume you all know why I asked you to come," Vexen started, the chatter quieting down.
"Sin, right?" Donald replied. Vexen nodded.
"We're missing something," Merlin stated. "Yet it's so close I feel like I can taste it!"
"What are we missing exactly?" Sora asked. "Don't we just need to find a way to hold Sin off until Demyx and the others can defeat him?"
"It's not that simple," Leon spoke up. "When Braska tried defeating Sin all those years ago, he failed."
"Right. They said it was because something went wrong," Riku remembered.
"So then what knowledge are we missing that we are not armed with now?" Vexen queried. He looked to each visitor in turn as he continued to speak. "I have asked you all here for your insight on the matter and, perhaps, we can come up with a solution."
"Well, I may just be shooting this out of my mouth, but maybe it has something to do with the Sacred Aeons," Kairi assumed. "Don't they have to be combined to make the Final Aeon?"
"Indeed," Ansem agreed with nod. "Lord Braska was the only one in history to ever have created the beast and yet it still somehow slipped from his grasp."
"Maybe he didn't use the right glue?" Sora offered, earning a whack across the back of his head from Riku.
"Glue? No, maybe he's onto something," Cloud chipped in. "Did they say what happened to the Final Aeon Braska summoned?"
"Details are sketchy at best," Yen Sid stated, tucking his hands into his baggy sleeves.
"What if it's like a potion?" Goofy brought up. "Not only do you need the right ingredients but you have to make it a certain way or it won't turn out right."
"Right, the whole thing sours," Donald murmured.
"He had the parts to make the Final Aeon, as he actually made it, but then what went wrong from there?" Leon mused.
Kairi's lips turned into a frown as a thought came to her and her gaze shot to the floor. It didn't go unnoticed, as King Mickey asked her to speak her mind. Kairi swallowed the thick lump of saliva in her mouth and hoped she was wrong. "What if…what if the Final Aeon is like Kingdom Hearts?" she muttered. The room fell quiet. "I mean, it makes sense when I think about it. Seven Sacred Aeons, seven Shards of Eternal Radiance. The light and darkness held Kingdom Hearts together so maybe Braska mixed the light and darkness together wrong."
"Or maybe it was taken from him," Riku commented. "Remember what happened when we freed Roxas from Axel?"
"He collapsed," Lexaeus remembered.
"Right. Maybe something interfered with the Final Aeon and it pulled out a part it needed to remain whole," Riku hypothesized.
"That could be a potential outcome," Vexen agreed. "However, that doesn't help us with the current issue."
"Oh, I disagree," Mickey interrupted, earning a myriad of confused looks. "I think we have been looking at this the wrong way. I think we need to turn our thinking around and approach this at a different angle altogether. What we know as fact may not actually be what happened."
"Right. No one survived after all," Merlin agreed.
"So then what did happen?" Goofy asked.
"What if merging the Aeons didn't make the Final Aeon?" Cloud started off.
"Then what does it make?" Yen Sid asked.
Ansem's face light up and he cursed under his breath. "Of course. How could I be so blind?" he muttered.
"What is it?" Zexion asked, seeming to wake up a bit from his doze.
"In my field of research, I came across an interesting piece of text I disregarded until recent years. In fact I had forgotten about it until this moment. Most information from Radiant Garden I have gathered suggested that Kingdom Hearts was the Heart of All Worlds," Ansem continued.
"It's not," Leon corrected. "Anyone from Radiant Garden would have been able to tell you that."
"Aye, but remember that most of the survivors of Radiant Garden reside in Traverse Town. During the war with Xemnas, we were not privy to your knowledge as many were frightened of travel, particularly once Twilight Town was destroyed," Ansem reminded. "If what I read was correct, then there is another Heart out there that we have been missing this entire time. The actual Heart of All Worlds."
"You mean there's another Heart out there like Kingdom Hearts?" Sora gaped. "Shit, that's dangerous. We barely scraped by with our teeth when Kingdom hearts got its hold on Axel."
"Damn, it all makes sense," Cloud thought aloud. "The Aeons, the pieces, they all come together like keys to create another Heart. One created by connecting the worlds around it."
"Oh, fuck," Riku breathed.
"Wait, you mean that Demyx is gathering Sacred Aeons to create the Heart of All Worlds?" Zexion pressed. "That kind of power can't be tamed!"
"That's why it's ideal for destroying Sin," Ansem noted. "However, remaining in control of that sort of power takes a strong heart. One only another vessel could provide."
"That's insane! You make them sound like some sort of sacrifice," Kairi protested.
"Life isn't without sacrifice," Yen Sid stated, looking at Zexion where his empty sleeve sat limp in his lap.
"That means someone from Demyx's party is going to have to try and control that thing," Leon realized. "That's why Braska failed. Whoever was controlling the Final Aeon failed to keep it under control and it tore itself apart."
"That's awful," Lexaeus muttered under his breath. The muscles in his arms tensed as he thought of Ienzo stepping up to take the sacrifice, making him wish the teen never had left on the journey in the first place. It appeared Zexion was having similar thoughts as his face suddenly paled. Mickey knelt next to the young King and patted his hand, offering words of comfort. It wasn't hard to see the worry in the Disney King's eye either.
"We have to stop them," Zexion protested.
"We can't," Leon countered. "Sin isn't going to wait around much longer. It knows we're gathering the Aeons and it knows we are closer than ever to completing what Braska did. Why else would it start targeting the worlds with the Sacred Temples?"
"Should we start evacuations?" Riku asked. "Those worlds aren't safe anymore."
Cloud scoffed. "As if you could get Midgar to move," he retorted.
"And the Cait Sith are too proud to leave their home," Yen Sid added. "They might as well start digging their own graves at this rate."
"So then what should we do?" Kairi asked. "We can't just let them throw away their lives for something that may or may not work. What if we fail again? We're one Temple short already and I don't think we'll be able to dig it out again in the next thirty years. It's not like Yu Yevon is going to come back from the dead to bless a new Temple."
"I think we're getting off track again." The others turned to Mickey as he stood, the King squaring his shoulders to face the matter head on once more. "Sin has had ample time to go after the Sacred Temples yet he chose to destroy the Enchanted Domain before all of that. And let's not forget that somehow, against all odds, Demyx was somehow able to summon the damn thing twice!" Several people flinched as Mickey raised his voice. "This isn't a strategic plan! He's after something. Why would Sin agree to be summoned by Demyx, a novice summoner in his own right? Demyx wanted to save Atlantis and Sin decided it wanted to be a savior? No. I think Sin tried to destroy Atlantis before but Demyx was too weak of a summoner to channel it long enough to finish off the world."
"Are you serious?! That means it tried to destroy Destiny Islands!" Sora exclaimed.
"But it didn't," Zexion noted.
"There was something different about how Demyx summoned Sin than he does his other aeons," Kairi recalled. "Don't you two remember? His eyes started glowing."
"Oh yeah! It was super freaky weird," Sora recalled. "But wasn't that just him using his Atlantis stuff?"
"That's it!" Vexen shouted, causing several people to jump. "It destroyed Atlantis so cut off Demyx! Without the connection, Demyx won't be able to summon Sin anymore."
"So then that brings us back to why it let Demyx do it twice before," Mickey stated.
"Do you think Demyx has a Shard like essence in him but from the Heart of All Worlds?" Kairi wondered. "I mean Atlantis is one of the worlds with a Sacred Temple so it's possible."
"I don't think so," Yen Sid brought up. "Ienzo has a talent for reading hearts beyond the ability of anyone here. He is able to determine who the Shards are at a glance so I'm sure he would be able to see a Shard of some sort from the other Heart."
Zexion rubbed his face with his hand, his head throbbing. "We're going in circles and I feel like we are getting no farther to a conclusion. Why Atlantis? Why Destiny Islands? Why the Enchanted Domain? Why does Sin want to do anything?" he ranted.
"I think that's the piece we're missing," Ansem interrupted.
"What do you mean?" Vexen pressed.
"We seem to forget that Sin also destroyed Radiant Garden and Twilight Town. It was summoned using your research, was it not?" Ansem asked of the doctor.
"Well, of course. But I was merely a co-researcher. Xehanort had his sticky little fingers in most of it and he's vanished without a trace," Vexen stated.
"And why, like Demyx, do you think Sin allowed himself to be summoned by some scientific gadget?" Leon said, catching onto Ansem's train of thought.
"What do all of those worlds have in common?" Mickey mused. A serious silence fell over the cottage as their minds began to churn out ideas that bore no fruit. Some muttered under their breath while others stared at some part of the room with a vacant stare.
It was Zexion who broke the silence. "What if, by chance, there are two Sins?"
"Two?!" many gasped.
"One allows itself to be summoned and another that does as it pleases?" Zexion tried.
"That's just dumb," Sora countered, making the King scowl. "Only aeons can be summoned by summoners."
"Holy shit! That's it!" Everyone turned to stare at Donald, who had clamped his hand over his mouth. He apologized to Mickey for his profanity before clearing his throat to remove some of the awkwardness from the room. "What is Braska's final Aeon never died?"
"You mean…?" Goofy started.
"The Sin Demyx is able to summon, the one that destroyed Radiant Garden and Twilight town, is a different Sin," Mickey mused. "That would explain why those worlds are just ghost towns while the Enchanted Domain and Atlantis are stewing in earth and fire."
"Then the one that Demyx summoned in Atlantis wasn't trying to destroy the world. It might have just been doing what aeons and Sacred Aeons do: do as their summoner requests," Cloud corrected from their previous train of thought.
"If that's the case, then where does this second Sin disappear to?" Zexion wondered.
"I'm more worried about the fact that if Demyx's group fails there will be a third Sin running around," Kairi reminded.
"I feel like we need more information on the current situation," Merlin noted. "If we ignore the doings of the corrupted Final Aeon, or the second Sin, then all we're left with is the current worlds destroyed by Sin. If we recall, Sin has been around for some time and there have been previous worlds destroyed in years past."
"That's right. Besaid was one I recall when I was a young boy," Ansem remembered. "It was flooded and anyone who dared to enter the waters was pulled into the depths."
Yen Sid stroked his beard. "Yes, I do recall other worlds being lost in the years past. Usually they were smaller worlds with no significance," he muttered.
"Remember the whale?" Merlin asked of the elder gentlemen.
Ansem chuckled. "Aye, Monstro! It had fled its world into the space between when its world was destroyed and ate G. Ships happening to fly by. It caused a lot of rabble fifty years ago," he said with a smile.
"Then I think we should leave our thoughts as they are today," Zexion decided. "There is much we have discovered and much we need to reflect on. I think it would be wise if we pool our knowledge and look into the past a bit closer. Maybe there will be some truth we have yet to discover that will reveal more to us." The group muttered their agreements and broke up.
Mickey paused as he heard his name being called and turned to find Ansem beckoning to him. The King excused himself and went for a stroll with the advisor through the streets of Hollow Bastion. They were quiet for awhile, most likely to get out of earshot, when Ansem hummed under his breath.
"It's not like you to be so calm," Ansem noticed.
"Who said I was calm?" Mickey shot back. "I'm shaking in my boots."
"One cannot say the same for our young King."
Mickey frowned. "Zexion? Of course he's upset. His brother could sacrifice his life for nothing if things take a sour turn."
"Mickey, my friend, I don't know if you have noticed but Zexion's health is declining," Ansem brought up. The King frowned, thinking back to how exhausted and sickly the mage appeared.
"I thought he was just overworking."
Ansem shook his head, clasping his hands behind his back. "Zexion took ill about a year ago. Since then his disposition has been a bit, how should I say, odd." Mickey pressed for Ansem to explain further and the blonde nodded, continuing his thoughts. "I understand stress and pressure can change a man but what I've been witnessing is rather unusual behavior. I'd say almost in the line of obsessive."
"What is he doing?" Mickey asked.
"I, myself, do not know. Rumors have begun to float around the castle that he will slip into the basement through the computer rooms but where he goes from there is a mystery. Every time someone attempts to follow the King vanishes. I suspect there is a secret room within the bowels of the castle that we need to investigate."
"And what does this have to do with his illness?" Mickey inquired.
"I fear he discovered something down there that is killing him. He wants to break free but as much as it is killing him it is also keeping him alive," Ansem speculated.
"Like a time bomb."
"Of sorts. Zexion is worried about Ienzo because if his brother does not return, than there will be no one line for the throne once he expires. Hollow Bastion could be thrown into chaos once more." Ansem shook his head, releasing a long sigh. "What a time to be stuck in a world of thought. There is too much we still don't know and much more we need to learn in such a short period of time. I fear that such a weight is driving our King mad."
"Mad? Zexion seemed fine to me," Mickey recalled.
"He did today but he's been in a foul mood as of late. At times he lashes out at people over the most trivial things and many are starting to worry he'll turn into what he promised would never happen: another Xemnas," Ansem stated. "I also fear something of the nature is brewing within his troubled heart. I have come to ask you a favor, Mickey. Help me keep an eye on him. I fear, should we turn for the worst, we may lose a well-loved ruler."
Mickey thought it over for a moment. "Alright. I think I may have just the ticket we need too." Mickey brought his fingers to his lips and whistled sharply. For a couple minutes the pair stood alone in the street as they waited until a blob of golden hair raced towards them. Pluto gave a happy bark as he bounded around his master, tail wagging a mile a minute. "Down boy." Pluto sat, smile still plastered on his face. "I have a job for you. It's super important." Pluto instantly became serious, impressing Ansem with the quick shift in attitude. "Watch over Zexion for me, okay pal?" Pluto gave a nod. "Good. Now go with Ansem back to the castle." Mickey turned to the advisor. "I'll take my leave here as my Ship is waiting for me. Please, take care until we return."
"You as well, my old friend," Ansem replied. Mickey gave Pluto's ears a quick scratch before he hurried down the streets towards the G. Ship hanger. Ansem looked down at the dog parked by his feet. "Shall we go?" he asked. Pluto gave a happy bark and the man chuckled. Then the pair headed back up to the castle.
XxXxX
Oswald leapt from the top of the G. Ship and rolled between Axel and Seifer. As he stood, he hooked Ienzo in the crook of his arm and darted off to the side, throwing the teen over his shoulder in the process. The man shot a grapple towards a narrow window on the outer wall and shot up to it, sitting down upon the sill with a grin.
"Oui! How's it going down there?" he called.
"You bastard! Leave Ienzo alone!" Axel barked.
"Sorry, mate, but I have business I need to attend to," Oswald shot back. The man winced as Ienzo rammed his elbows into the man's back. "Oh, so you have some fight to ya, eh?" Oswald shifted Ienzo so he was being held over the courtyard by the front of his shirt. The teen panicked as he felt himself slipping out of his shirt and he latched onto the man's wrist, causing the stranger to bark out a peel of laughter. "That's right. You can't do anything to me." Oswald's eyes flickered back to the courtyard. In a flash, he twirled the gun in his fingers and there was an ominous click. Ienzo felt a cold barrel being pressed against his forehead.
"Shit, he has a gun," Ienzo heard Axel growl.
"What do you want with him?" Roxas called.
"Him? Collateral. We both know who this kid is, right? Little baby Ienzo, heir to the throne of Hollow Bastion. It just so happens I want my throne back. Doesn't do to have me get ousted right before coronation, now does it?" Oswald asked.
"Who is this guy?" Roxas muttered so the stranger wouldn't hear.
"Sir Oswald," Jiji replied frankly. "He's the elder brother of King Mickey, who I assume you're familiar with. He's the true heir to the throne of Disney, however he has always had a hand in the underground and it came back to haunt him before he was declared King himself. Now he's a pirate, a sadistic bounty hunter Hell bent on getting the throne back."
"Mickey has an older brother?" Demyx mused.
"Must be a black sheep kind of family member," Axel guessed.
"We have to do something! We can't just let him take Ienzo," Naminé reasoned.
"If we move he's going to have a bullet in his head," Seifer reasoned. The girl scowled but she held her place.
Ienzo struggled to keep his grip on Oswald's wrist. With a last ditch effort, he let go with one hand to rip off one of the chains on his ear. There was a small burst of light and a yellow-green sparkle appeared next to Ienzo's head. Ienzo let go of Oswald completely and slipped out of his shirt, free falling ten stories to the ground below. He heard the sound of tinkling bells zip around him and gravity soon slowed. His toes brushed the ground and he released a sigh of relief. It didn't last long as he felt something land on top of his head, covering his face. When he reached up to grab it, finding it was his shirt, he let out an 'oomph' as Oswald swung across the courtyard on his grapple, scooping him back up in the process.
"You're a slippery one," Oswald chided. The bounty hunter landed and his feet slid over the ground for several yards before he came to a halt. Ienzo swore under his breath as he heard the familiar click next to his head, this time pressed against his temple. "You just can't sit still, can you?" Ienzo clenched his jaw together and snagged another earring off of his ear. The area erupted into a cloud of smoke and Oswald gave a shout as he felt Ienzo kick his knee sideways. The teen darted out of the smoke, which was manifesting itself into the shape of a lion, and covered his ears. The smoke lion roared, dazing anyone close by and causing several of the Cait Sith to yowl in protest as the sound hurt their sensitive hearing.
"Give it up, Oswald!" Roxas ordered, unsheathing his blades. Ienzo darted past his friends, who formed a protective wall around him with their bodies. The smoke dissipated and onlookers were astounded as the bounty hunter had vanished without a trace.
"You'd prefer to live under a poisoned King?" The group looked up to find Oswald standing on the ramparts of the outer wall with a scowl on his face. "You think that your worlds are safe with Mickey on the throne? Because they're not! He'd rather watch the worlds burn."
"How can he say that about his own brother?" Naminé hissed.
"Oswald, leave this place!" Jiji ordered. "If we see your sorry hide again I will have you executed!"
The bounty hunter laughed, wiping a fake tear form his eye. "Oh, so sorry. Send my regards to Zexion for me." Oswald gave a sweeping bow, a sadistic grin breaking out on his face. "Long. Live. The. King," Oswald seethed. Then he broke out into laughter once more before leaping off the rampart and vanishing on the other side of the Stronghold wall.
"What was that about?" Roxas wondered aloud, sheathing his blades.
"Beats me but he's not getting his sticky hands on Ienzo," Axel growled.
"Good thinking with the summoning stones," Demyx mentioned to the rattled teen. "They're really coming in handy."
"Yeah, but I can only do each summon twice. I'm down to five already," Ienzo stated, his fingers brushing the remaining chains on his ear with a bit of unease.
"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll come to good use as they're needed. Like today, for example," Demyx reassured him. Ienzo managed to crack a smile but it didn't last long as he felt far from reassured. Being nearly kidnapped wasn't what was bothering him but the fact he was picked out as a ransom was. He didn't voice his opinions to his friends, as they had more pressing matters to focus their thoughts on, and decided to keep the bounty hunters last words in the surface of his mind.
The group turned as Jiji cleared his throat, giving a small cough into a closed fist, before clasping his hands behind his back. "Thank you for being so patient. I will escort you all to the Queen now," he stated. "Please stay close to me. We are not kind to visitors who stray from their intended path or who move about without escort."
"We understand," Demyx said. Jiji nodded and turned, the group of travelers falling in line behind him as they were escorted deeper into the Stronghold.
While the outside was impressive, the inside was nothing to discredit either. Many Cait Sith worked hard on fortifying just about every nook and cranny of the Stronghold with anything from large sheets of metal to bits of scrap welded into place. Axel noted it wasn't the most effective way to fortify a wall, nor the sturdiest, but it worked in a pinch. Based on the materials they were working with, it didn't look like they had much left to work with for resources. The Stronghold was in desperate need of some trade if they wanted to keep the building from crumbling beneath them.
Weaving through the maze of hallways, in which the humans were all utterly lost within the structure, they were led towards the heart of the metal. Jiji nodded to a pair of guards standing outside a pair of doors and the guards heaved the twelve inch thick barriers open. Axel thought it looked more like a safe than a room. As they were led inside, he noted the inner room was far better crafted than many of the newer halls they had passed through. In fact, the Stronghold appeared to only get stronger the closer to the base they traversed. At the end of the room was a small white cat with a large, fluffy tail. She wore a platinum crown on her head and a matching ring around her tail. Her arms had several gold bangles while her ears were pierced with silver and opals which complimented her pale silver gown. Her shoulders were wrapped in a thick fur muffler and her long hair ran down to her knees, gold beads dotting the strands like stars in the night. She sat upon an iron throne with a pair of broadswords strapped across the back and a large crest branded into the wall above her head.
"My Queen," Jiji greeted with a sweeping bow. "I have brought the visitors as you have asked."
"Very good. Thank you, Jiji. Hello, humans. My name is Queen Duchess. I trust you all are well from your travels?" she asked, her head tilting to the side.
"For the most part," Demyx replied.
The Queen giggled, holding a hand over her mouth as she did so. "Then it must be going well. Most summoners do not get this far into their journey. Three Sacred Aeons already under your wings with another one soon to be underway. Or so we hope." The Queen's tail swished across the floor as a sly grin broke out on her face. "The Cloister of Trials awaits for the summoner and the summoner alone. I must ask for his guardians to remain within the Stronghold while he works his way to the prayer chamber. However, we are wary of your skepticism so we will allow you one escort who may await by the doors to the Cloister once he is finished."
"I'll go," Axel offered.
The Queen nodded. "Very well." She turned to Jiji. "Please escort this young man and his summoner to the Cloister of Trials. The rest may be escorted to the training facility to either rest or bide their time. May your journey be honorable," the Queen said with a bow of her head. The humans gave the Queen a bow and they split into two groups. Axel flashed Roxas and Naminé a smile before following Demyx farther into the depths of the Stronghold.
Jiji remained quiet as they traveled down what seemed like twenty stories of spiral stairs and twisted hallways before they reached a large set of doors the Queen had been sitting behind. The two Cait Sith on guard nodded to Jiji and pushed open the massive barriers, revealing a dark hallway beyond. Axel and Demyx exchanged nods before the summoner stepped inside and vanished into the gloom. The red head watched as the doors shut behind his friend, leaving him to wait in the hall with the guards and Jiji. He looked around for something to occupy his mind and noticed the lines running along the walls. Axel ran his fingers over the marks with a frown.
"Did you take the time to carve all of these?" he asked, looking back at Jiji.
"Yes. They were part of the original Temple so we had them integrated into the Stronghold to keep it as authentic as possible," Jiji replied.
"That must have taken a long ass time," Axel remarked.
"Several years, actually. The lines were instated inside the Cloister of Trials as well." The red head hummed under his breath as he ran his fingers over the marks again. He remembered seeing Seifer copying the marks down on a scrap of paper back in Djose and began to wonder if the Captain wasn't onto something.
"You wouldn't by chance have a piece of paper on you, would ya?" Axel asked of Jiji.
"What for?" the Cait Sith inquired, his eyes narrowing.
"One of our group members thought it would be a good idea to take some sort of memento from the Sacred Temples, seeing as you don't get to travel there every day. Since we're not allowed to take anything, he started to copy down the marks on the walls at each Temple to have a unique design to help us remember," Axel partially lied.
"That is rather noble of him. If you wish to copy down the marks, then I may have something that may suit you better. Wait here," Jiji stated. Axel watched the Cait Sith leave, wondering where he was going to go as he couldn't leave the doors without being mauled by the guards on duty. It was about a half hour later when the feline returned. Jiji handed over a post card with the design mapped out perfectly on it. "This is a copy of our reference guide to recreating the marks of the Sacred Temple. Please consider it a memento to add to your collection."
"Thanks," Axel replied, accepting the card. "Do you ever wonder what the marks are supposed to mean?"
"I'm not sure what you are asking," Jiji replied.
"Well, each Temple has a unique design to it. Isn't there some sort of special significance to the engravings? I mean if there wasn't I don't think you wouldn't have taken the time to recreate them," Axel noted.
Jiji smirked, his ears flicking playfully. "I leave that for you to decide." Axel wasn't sure what the Cait Sith was getting at but he at least knew he was on the right track in keeping track of the engravings. Now all that was left was to get the remaining three and decipher what clues they were holding.
XxXxX
It took awhile for Demyx's eyes to adjust to the dimly lit passageway. Not to his surprise, there were more stairs waiting for him to take him even deeper into the Stronghold. He felt a draft and shivered, knowing he was probably underground by this point. He hugged his arms around his chest as he delved deeper and deeper with what appeared to be no end in sight. Soon he found himself locked in a rhythm of his footfalls on metal stairs and reminding himself to relax by repeating calming mantras in his head.
When his foot landed on a flat surface for two paces, he felt a wave of apprehension wash over him. 'Why is this Sacred Temple located so far underground? What could it be hiding?' Demyx wondered. He pressed onwards down a long corridor, the walls making eerie shadings with their engravings in the dim light of sparse lightbulbs. He found himself entering a room and, from the sound of the prolonged echoes, it was a massive one. Demyx peered upwards in hopes to see the ceiling with no luck. With a frown, he pressed forward until he reached the other side.
"What the fuck?" Demyx walked the perimeter of the room but the only way out was the way he came in. "This can't possibly be right." His head whipped to the side as he heard scraping metal and ran over to the door to find it locked tightly. Demyx cursed under his breath and looked around the room as another echo joined his voice bouncing off of the walls. Demyx had to shield his eyes as the floor light up, revealing six circles of light on the metal surface. He didn't have long to gape as there was a loud screech from up above. Demyx stumbled as the circle he was standing on began to rise with the other five, lifting him higher into the room.
His eyes widened as the lighted circles brightened the area around him. Suspended in the middle of the circles was a large snake like beast with horns covering its head like a helmet and spindly arms snaking out of its sides. At the end of each arm and its tail was a large, scythe like blade ready to slice anyone to pieces. A pair of leathery wings sprouted from the base of its neck and fanned out behind the strange Keeper of the room. Large fangs dripped with venom as it anticipated the battle to come. Demyx pulled his sitar from his back and steadied himself.
"Bring it on," he whispered. The Keeper screeched again and Demyx plucked his first chord.