Darik used the ability on the Urborg Syphon-Mage almost as soon as he'd paid the two mana to keep the Reactor in play, stealing another two life from him and leaving him with only three mana to spend on spells, in turn spent to play a Vampire Nighthawk – a threat if Roxas ever saw one. A 2/3 creature with Flying, Lifelink and Deathtouch – the former giving Darik as much life as it dealt out, and the latter ensuring that any creature it dealt damage to.
Apparently with the Thorn Elemental in the field, there was no way he was going risk any of his creatures, and ended his turn early.
Roxas gave a vicious grin when he saw the new card for the turn – he recognised it from before the time between this game and the first one, when he'd looked through the cards Darik had given him.
Beacon of Tomorrows. For two blue and six other mana, this sorcery did not destroy creatures, or steal life. Instead, he could use it to make a player take an extra turn after his one. Used on himself, it would give him a second turn after this one, without giving Darik a chance to respond.
To make it more powerful, it didn't go into the graveyard after being casted, but instead was shuffled into the library – a never ending supply of additional turns when the library got down to just a few cards left.
With no other cards in the hand, and nothing else to spend mana on, naturally it went straight into play directed on himself.
He almost turned to the attack, but had another idea and looked back at the spell he'd used to send an image of him to Riku, looking in more detail at the limits and possibilities, then if he could have grinned any broader, he would have.
He decanted three doses of his memory restoring elixir into three tiny glasses, each one only just big enough for one dose – one for each of Sora, Donald and Goofy.
He wrote a brief note for Naminé, or anyone else who might stop by, explaining things. After Naminé walking in on his talking to Riku last night, he wanted to take precautions to ensure people would understand this time.
Then he set the three glasses into various pockets, and then making sure no one was around, "Are you awake yet Riku?"
"Have been for about three hours now, Roxas. I've been stirring up what dissent I can for you."
"How's it doing?"
"Not too badly. I've finally managed to convince a few people to give you a chance. You should be seeing the first of them arrive in a few hours actually."
"Good. Will it work without you for a bit?"
"Probably, rumours have a way of spreading. What have you got in mind?"
"Safe for me to appear there again?"
"Hold on," Riku answered, and there was a pause. A few minutes later he said, "It is now, but keep your voice down when you get here."
Roxas repeated the spell from before, but with the additional extras that would make the rest work, appearing in what appeared to be a sparsely furnished and probably cheap hotel room.
"You've been staying here?" Roxas asked on seeing it.
"The expensive places are all being watched," he explained. "What have I done to warrant the visit?"
Roxas pulled out the three glasses, setting them down on the table. Riku showed interested surprise when they clinked together on the side.
"They're real. Really real, and really here."
"And you?"
"I'm not. I had to modify the spell extensively to actually achieve this."
"Impressive. Darik?"
"Won't have noticed a thing. Now, I want you to go to him, and tell him you're turning traitor."
"What? Are you serious?"
"You won't really be doing it. It's so you can slip those to Sora and his friends. Darik admitted to a little magic on their memories to make them believe I was the one tricking people. Get those to him, however you can, tell them the truth and then don't let them reveal the truth to Darik."
"Then what?"
"Then report back to me as soon as you've got that. You've got the rest of today. If you really need it, I can give you tomorrow as well."
"What about Darik's turn?"
"Thanks to a spell I just played, he doesn't have one until I've taken one more after this one."
"Neat. But you'd prefer it done today?"
"Absolutely. If you can't do it today, try to tell me so, because I've still got an attack to make today. If I decide to."
"Why not just hold it off for a time?"
"Then he might start suspecting that something's up if I put it of too long. I'm going to get back before Darik manages to find out I've stolen this trick of his and expanded on it. Try not to call on me unless you need to."
Riku nodded, then Roxas cancelled the spell, senses returning to the tower. The lack of the bottles coming back meant he was slightly disoriented momentarily, but that was the cost of the addition. He'd known it was going to happen.
Tim was called on to destroy the Zulaport Enforcer before it became a threat, but otherwise everything could wait. No more cards to play or abilities to activate. If Riku could get Sora on his side soon, the four of them could cause a a little trouble for Darik before today's attack, and hopefully secure his victory for certain this time.
After the last time he'd thought that, he wasn't going to get his hopes up.
After breakfast, he headed back down into the town again, making arrangements and preparations for the new influx of residents Riku was creating. In order to make room, he quickly researched the original spell people thought he'd used to create the walls, and extended them again, adding yet another street and ring for them to build on. He might strain the town's resources a bit more, but it was hard to tell – the town actually had it's own mayor that ran it, something he'd only found out today when he'd been running around making the various arrangements in preparation.
And naturally if all else failed, he could lend a hand sustaining the town for a time if he had to – he was the one ultimately causing these expansions, he was responsible for it. It was only fair to do something to keep it running smoothly.
True to his word, the first of Riku's immigrants began to join them not long before lunchtime. They huddled in small groups of three or four, most likely families travelling together. They were very wary, keeping to themselves as much as possible. They appeared to keep some contact with each other, and eventually gathered together at the junction of Three Street and Second Ring.
Having little else to do, Roxas was out on the balcony of his tower watching this, as well as keeping an eye on the new construction efforts in the belt of land between the Fourteenth Ring and the new Fifteenth one.
As the frequent messenger between the town's watch and their resident Wizard, Ariel came up and out to join him.
"They came in today," she told him. "From the next town over, Dariksville."
"I know. I saw them coming in."
"They want to see you, but they're afraid to ask. Apparently the Wizard where they come from isn't thought of very highly, and they've little to no contact with other Wizards, so they seem to think you might be like them."
"Isn't seeing what I've done enough for them?"
"Apparently not. If you don't mind, I suggest meeting them on their own terms."
Roxas considered this, then answered. "Not exactly. Tell them they only have to look up here to see me, and if they want a closer look then they're welcome to come on up and see me in person. If they're still afraid, tell them they have my word I won't do anything to them. I'll clear up what's in the tower there to one of the other floors for now, and they can use the beam of light to come straight up."
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me, Ariel. They might be afraid of me, but I'm not going to turn them away. And even if they can't find it within themselves to come up here, they're also welcome to stay with us."
"You knew they were coming, didn't you? Before anyone else did, I mean."
"Naturally. That's why I started the expansions at the edge early. Go let them know for me Ariel. I've got some tidying to do."
Ariel nodded, electing to take the stairs to give him time to clear up, though it wasn't necessary. The contents of the tower room were transported to one of the many empty rooms lower down in the tower, with the exception of the index. This was called directly to him, and told to display the life totals in addition to the main game view.
As he noted the life totals stood at 33 to 14 in his favour, he was reminded of Zexion and his ever-present lexicons. The index was larger than the lexicons had been, but he held it similarly enough to bring back the memory.
It didn't last long though, as he glanced down to note Ariel almost at the bottom. The stairs seemed long, but a little bit of magic trickery made the trip up and down them far shorter than it should have been.
Word seemed to go through the crowd fairly quickly, almost like a tide of faces turning warily up to look at him. He glanced down, nodding to them, then turned back to the index, more for the show of it than any real interest. He didn't have anything to look up right now, and the game wasn't going to progress without him, so he sent it down to the lectern by making it vanish with a pop. Several parts of the crowd started back somewhat on seeing this, and at the same time several of the newcomers got up nerve to enter the tower below, to use the light to come up. Some didn't trust this, electing to use the stairs instead.
He was briefly apprehensive, but pushed the feeling aside as the first of them appeared in the tower room.
"Welcome to Roxille," he greeted them. "I believe you're looking for me?"
"Are you the Wizard?" one asked him.
"Naturally. Wizard Roxas, at your service." He gave a slight bow. "I protect everyone here, no matter who they are, what they do or used to do, where they're from – it doesn't matter to me, so long as everyone stays within the law. Set out by the watch, not me. I might make suggestions, but it's up to them whether to put them in place or not."
"So you have no say over what goes on in the town?"
"Oh, I have a bit of influence, but I never make demands or issue commands. I prefer to ask for willing cooperation, and I'll gladly help with the work alongside the common folk, whether with or without magic."
"What about other Wizards?"
"I don't go around picking fights with them," he answered. "But if I have to fight them, I'll do whatever I can to keep all inside these walls safe. I might play to win, but I consider the people too. You've nothing to fear from me."
Others came thick and fast from that, and most went away with at least a more open mind than before, if not the start of being convinced. Many of them said they'd have to see things for themselves to fully believe it, but it was a good start.
Naminé, unaware of their guests, joined him up top at one point and was quickly pressed on for answers about what he was like. After convincing them he wasn't a bad person, and explaining he'd even helped her out specifically they let her be. She went down into the town after that so she wouldn't disturb the constant stream of visitors.
As the light began to fade, the stream tapered off and eventually stopped entirely, allowing him to safely restore the furniture and such that had cluttered the tower's topmost room. It had seemed bare without it all.
Just after they'd had dinner and Roxas was washing the dishes – or rather, watching them wash themselves, an interesting sight – Riku finally called on him.
"Roxas, are you busy?"
"Nothing I can't leave to handle itself. What's the word?"
"Hey, Roxas," Sora's voice chipped in. "Guess we owe you an apology for that Golem."
"Riku cured you of Darik's influence then?"
"Yup, all three of us. He doesn't suspect a thing as long as I pretend to still hate you and everything."
"You can make up to me for the Golem, you know. Darik put a creature into play that I'd rather he hadn't."
"Let me guess. It's the Vampire Nighthawk, isn't it?"
"How did you know?"
There was an awkward silence, then Donald's voice cut through with, "Just tell him already."
"I kind of... suggested it to Darik. He showed me what he could play, and asked me what I thought would annoy you the most. It was before Riku got to me though," he added.
"I think I can forgive you for it if the four of you would be so kind as to make it 'happen' to disappear again for me."
"This is why you were holding off on your attack, isn't it?" Riku asked. "So you could attack without the threat of it taking out old Thorny."
"That's the one. Let me know as soon as it's out, guys. I want to send the attack as soon as possible. If you can keep Darik from finding out until I attack, all the better."
"We'll see what we can do for you," Riku promised. "We won't call again until we're done, or unless we run into any problems."