As we moved farther into the darkness it became colder and I could feel my body grow stiffer; something about this Citadel was affecting me in a way the filled me with fear and dread, there was something in this place that wasn't of this world but it wasn't Owen or his underlings…something else was in here. I turned to Kent to see him looking around franticly at every corner of the hall and brandishing his sword ready to strike at anything that moved; I might want to stay a safe distance away from him just in case.

"Keep your guard up Soren."

"Right!" I raised my blade and slowly moved forward as it became colder and darker; eventually it was pitch black and I could only hear my own and Kent's footsteps as we kept moving down the path, suddenly I heard the wind blow right into my ear and stopped in my tracks. In that moment torches lit along the wall revealing a circular room…with no way out; the hall behind us had disappeared and Kent and I were now stuck in a room with no exit.

"Here we are stuck in a trap. Because of you!" He turned his sword to me and I skid away from him.

"Now is not the time to be turning your blade to me!" I yelled back.

"Says you! I won't let you trick me!"

"This is insane! You can't keep doing this! No one will trust you if you keep acting like this!"

"That's fine…I don't need anybody except my fellow warriors!"

"And so you'll kill me?"

"I know who my enemies are…and you're one of them!"

Alice

"What the hell is happening?" I watched as Kent started attacking Soren from a strange cloud of vision; as Kent barraged him with attacks he backed up and parried his blade away moving around the room to avoid getting cornered. Why was Kent attacking Soren, when we entered the room suddenly the exit was gone and this vision came up; but what prompted him to attack?

"Is…is Soren an enemy?" Hana said trembling.

"No, Soren isn't an enemy!"

"But Kent is attacking him…he must be…and that makes you…an enemy to." As she finished that sentence she turned to me pointing her staff at me, what was happening to Hana, even if she's in a bad mood she wouldn't attack like this? As she looked me in the eye she had a glazed over look that seem like there was something else behind them…or something controlling her, "Firaga!"

Gareth

"What's wrong with her eyes?" Pent and I watched as Hana loaded spell after spell on Alice who stood there enchanting her blade with different power and either blocking or slicing through the spells thrown at her, "Why isn't she dodging?"

"Magic is impossible to avoid, it homes in on the opponent and won't let up till it hits. Alice is instead taking the attacks by countering them with other spells. It's a bold move but she's surviving…that's more than I can say for you!" I turned in surprise as he punched me knocking me onto the ground; rolling backwards I stood up and drew my battle axe, I don't know why he's attacking but I won't go down without a fight! Looking up at the screens for a minute I looked to see Alice and Soren still blocking and dodging there attacks not fighting back…damn it; he dashed at me and I dodged his punch and blocked his other punch with the metal of my axe and pushed him backwards giving me room to get into blocking position…this was going to be a long battle.

Lissa

She refused to budge as I tried shaking her awake; without her I couldn't leave this room and she was incapacitated, she wasn't dead thankfully but she seemed to be unable to wake by normal means…maybe I should try something else.

"Life!" I shouted as I raised the dull end of my scythe to the sky; the light from my spell traveled up the weapon and dissipated at the top reforming around Sena and being absorbed into her body. She coughed harshly as she sat up, "Are you okay?" As she looked at me she gave a gasp before taking my hand and getting up as I helped her.

"Who are you?" She asked pushing her glasses up.

"I'm Lissa. You're a Warrior of Light right?"

"…Yes, but…h-how do you know that?"

"W-w-well I know your other warriors." She really is like me, even down to the nervousness.

"Oh! So they're all safe…good." She said with a sigh of relief; she took a deep breath and then stepped towards me looking at my face, "So it's true there are dimensional anomalies within our world."

"What?" What was she talking about?

"They say the likelihood of two people looking identical is eighty-four thousand to one, of course that's based off the population." She continued to eye my face and body with a look of intrigue, "You look like me but without the glasses and with longer hair." She started touching my hair and touching my hips; she really didn't know about boundaries, "Even your chest is the same size as mine."

"Eep!" With that screech she backup with an embarrassed look on her face; guess she got lost in the moment, still…she groped me…I'd better be careful around her.

"S-s-sorry, I tend to get a little lost in research and interest."

"It's okay b-but be careful. I have a companion that might not be so understanding about that." Alice would definitely not be so nice about this incident…speaking of where is everyone; it's just me and Sena in this room so they must be beyond that stone door, "Can I get your help Sena, this stone door won't open." I pointed to the door and she took a long look at every corner and put her hand to it making the red orb symbol light up.

"So we're at the Citadel."

"Why do you think that?"

"The Citadel is known as a lost hero's dungeon that will test those who enter to become stronger. The Citadel knows how to bring people in and how to properly conduct a way to test them with their weakest traits; for some reason it wants us to work together based on this door." She said taking her hand on and off the door.

"How do you know all this?"

"I have an identic memory and have a tendency for reading books in my free time. If it was written in a book I know all about it." She said proudly before slinking back to her shyness, "S-sorry if it sounds like I'm bragging."

"Don't worry, I may not h-have an identic memory b-but I have a personal journal." I said pulling out my journal and handing it to her; she opened it up and skimmed through it before handing it back to me.

"That's actually pretty good. It's very detailed which is nice. M-most of the time I can't catch everything at first…it actually takes me a while to notice things that you've marked down."

"Well…th-thanks." I replied blushing from her compliment.

"Let's get this door; hopefully everyone else is beyond it."

"Right!" We both put our hands to the door and pushed as the symbols shinned and the stone floor screeched opening up to us; on the other side was a dark hallway that seemed to go on forever…what's this familiar feeling? It feels like something dark and dangerous is looming over us…it frightens me…no, don't cave in now, I have to find the others; if it's what I think it is then they're in deep trouble, "Let's move in, I have a bad feeling." She gave me a nervous nod feeling the same energy I did. We rushed into the darkness and as it became darker I began to slow down feeling the bitter cold and darkness envelop me and making me shiver…I know this feeling. This isn't the first time I've felt this, it's happen before, when I met Owen for the first time…doubt, it's the feeling of doubt and fear that's surrounding me. I stopped feeling something blow past my ear and as I stopped torches lit up illuminating a circular room with no exit; we looked around to see three different smoke clouds revealing three different fights. Soren vs. Kent, Alice vs. Hana and Gareth vs. Pent; it seemed strange though, while the Warriors of Light were on the offensive Soren and the group were staying defensive with their action…something must be wrong with the WOLs. I may not know Soren, Alice and Gareth very well but they wouldn't attack without reason and the way their defending something is definitely up with them.

"That's my friends but…their fighting their doppelgangers?"

"No, those are my teammates and their being barraged by the warriors." I turned to see Sena had a worried look on her face.

"Something is wrong…their eyes." Taking a second look I noticed that Kent, Hana and Pent all had a hollow look in their eyes; they looked just like every other traveler under Owen's command, something took them over! But why did they only take over the WOLs; they could have taken over Soren and the group and taken them out that way…when Sukia took me over how did she take full control…at the time I was being controlled I was riddled with doubt and inner turmoil…that's it!

"Sena is there a spell that can give me mental connection with others?"

"Not a spell but…I might be able to link items giving you connection to the person who has it. It's an experimental method but i-it might work." We don't have a shared item though…maybe I could count on the mythril in our weapons as a connection.

"Try the mythril on my scythe." She gave a confused look before putting her hands to it and muttering a strange language under her breath; suddenly the metal gave a glow and then Sena gave a confident nod.

"Now think about those you want to connect with and if they have a connecting item then you'll be able to communicate with them." All right…concentrate…Soren…Alice…Gareth…hear me…please; the metal began to glow and three faces appeared on them, I did it!

Soren

Damn it, he's tiring me out the more I work to dodge his attacks; I don't know why he has that hollow look in his eye but it's different than with Alice or Gareth, this isn't turmoil emptiness but something else is in control! As I dodged and blocked his attacks my left blade suddenly began to glow; pushing him back I looked to see Alice, Gareth and Lissa on the blade; what was happening?

"Guys listen!" Lissa said with a worried look on her face, "The Warriors of Light are being controlled by entities that have controlled other travelers."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked with a pensive look on her face; she wasn't faring any better than I was right now.

"Remember when I told you about the hollow look in the other traveler's eyes? I always thought that they were being controlled by something and I was right, that's what's happening to the warriors."

"But how can we break it? I'd rather not kill Pent." Gareth said with a worried and cautious look on his face.

"They are being controlled by their doubt, whatever is causing them to doubt you have to bring them around and be quick; if you don't hurry they might be lost to whatever took them over." So I have to break Kent from his doubt.

"I don't know how though." Alice said.

"Me either." Gareth added, "One minute we were watching the fight against Kent and Soren and the next he's trying to rip me a new one!"

"Same here." Alice added. So Kent and me started this? Taking a quick glance at where the screens were I noticed that Gareth and Alice were also on the defensive like I was as they were attacked by their respective enemies…that's it!

"Alice, Gareth when Kent and I stop fighting I want you to turn their attention to us again. Keep your eyes on the screen." They both gave a nod and the connection cut off. I returned to defending against Kent blocking and dodging his hits as I thought about how to get Kent back; that look wasn't wild like the others though, it was focused and seemed locked on me…maybe I could try that! With a quick block I rolled to the size and shakily stood up moving in front of the screens of the others; when he came at me I blocked his blade and when he came in with a shield bash I used my right blade pushing with all my strength and knocking his shield away from his center; quickly shoving his blade to the side I moved in and thrusted the hilt of my left blade into his chest sending him to the ground. As he looked up at me I moved to the side and motioned to the screens, "Kent I know you're in there; look up at your friends and look at their eyes." His hollow eyes seemed glued to the screen with a gaping mouth, "I know you see it, those aren't the eyes of your friends and right now they are riddled with doubt because of you!" He gave me a look of surprise before returning his attention to his friends on the screen, "I know you're the leader of your team but that gives you an even more important task. As a leader you're teammates look up to you and follow your actions, when you attacked me it made them doubt me and my friends and in that moment something else took over. There's still a chance though, you can still help them get back but you have to trust me and my friends; we've stood by you this long and I'm still willing to trust you but you have to open your heart, I don't know what made you so distrustful but if you want to help your friends than you need to open up and trust other people." He seemed frozen in place as I talked; I sheathed my blades and stepped forward extending my hand, "So please, give us a chance." I stood there frozen in time as I waited for either the open hand to grip mine or the blade to plunge through my heart…suddenly his hand extending dropping his blade and gripping mine; looking into his eyes I saw his depth return and tears well up.

"I'm…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry; what's important is that you came back." Looking up at the screens I could see Hana and Pent were glued to the screen, right at us I'm guessing, "Thanks Lissa."

Alice

I panted heavily feeling my magical strength exhausted at the constant magical blocks with my blade; luckily Soren made it quick otherwise I might have been in quite the bind.

"Kent has realized that were not enemies, I'm guessing that you've had some doubts about us because he's been very distrustful of us but you have to realize now that we're not going to fight you. So stop this; you're being stupider than usual." Her eyes suddenly went back to normal and she gave a pout.

"Sorry, I'm was being stupid." She said and then she hit her own head in shame.

"It's okay…it could have been worse, you've got some powerful magic though."

"And your magical enchanting is top notch."

"Hehe, damn right it is…and Lissa has skill to so don't doubt our group." I turned to the screen and looked at Lissa's screen, "Thanks Lissa, you…you did pretty well."

Gareth

Dropping my axe to the ground I flopped onto my butt exhausted; he's got some fast punches and their strength is amazing; if I had slipped up even a little it would have ended badly for me.

"I think we're done; Kent isn't fighting anymore; I know you've had reservations about us but we've never held any ill will towards you guys. I would have been up to fighting you but I didn't for two very important reasons. Soren never attacked Kent and I knew that he had a reason for that and two…you're our teammate; I learned that life is about more than just me and I can't just worry about my teammates which means you to." His eyes suddenly went back to normal and he stood up with a look of shame in his eyes.

"I apologize for the way I acted; as a monk I am ashamed to say I let my reason and sense waver."

"Yeah well…don't worry; if Soren or Alice said that you were evil I might waver to. Friends have that affect."

"Very true." Pent replied with a hearty laugh.

"Yeah…hell even Lissa would make me second guess myself." Turning to the screen I gave a thumbs up at Lissa's, "Thanks a ton, I owe you one Lissa!"

Lissa

"Thanks Lissa."

"Thanks Lissa, you…you did pretty well."

"Thanks a ton, I owe you one Lissa!" As they thanked me I felt my heart race and my body heat up; they thanked me for helping them in bringing back the Warriors of Light, as they all gave me a friendly smile I felt like I wanted to cry. For the first time in years I felt like I was cared about; to Soren, Alice and Gareth I didn't just feel like someone they could use like Owen saw me or a useless waste of space like my father saw me…it didn't feel self-delusional, I actually felt from their looks that they cared about me…brother, I finally found friends. As I was absorbed in my head I felt Sena tap my shoulder and turned to her.

"With your help my friends came back to their sense…thank you for saving them; you and your friends." She gave me a bow and I felt a blush of embarrassment come over my face.

"Oh n-n-n-no it was nothing r-really." Suddenly a sliding sound was heard and I looked over to see a path open up; looking up I saw the same thing happen in all the other rooms, guess we have to head into the hallway. With an assuring look Sena and I walked into the hallway towards a bright light at the end of the path; was there another trial in front of us we had to face or was it over? Guess we'll know when we reach the end.

Soren

As we walked into the light I felt my vision become blinded but I moved through pushing along with Kent behind me; on the other end of the light was a large room with a pedestal at the end of it, guess we were at the end. Looking around I saw the rest of the group had shown up through different entry ways; looking at the end I saw someone standing next to Lissa…it was that girl from our world!

"Lissa!" Alice, Gareth and I moved over to Lissa giving her general thanks for the support at which she shyly said it was no big deal; I turned to the girl next to her and she gave me a look of confusion.

"So you ended up here. I didn't expect it after meeting you at the library." She tilted her head confused.

"S-sorry but I-I don't think we've met."

"What?"

"Sena!" The Warriors of Light rushed past me at her with excited and relieved looks on their faces.

"We were so worried." Hana said giving her a tight hug.

"You're squeezing too tight Hana." With that Hana let go laughing embarrassed at her action.

"It's good to have you back, now I can fight to the fullest!" Pent said giving Sena a pat on the back.

"Be careful, I can't heal all wounds."

"I'm glad your back, it wasn't the same without you in our group." Kent said putting his hand on her shoulder sympathetically.

"I'm glad we're all back together Kent…and I'm glad you finally trusted someone after all these years."

"Well, I can't let my hang ups affect my friends...even the new ones." He said looking at us; it was freaky to think I made progress with…well, myself…but if that isn't the girl that I met back on earth then where is her earth double…it feels like she should be here as well if we met her double. As I thought I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Lissa had tapped me.

"I know what you're thinking…and your right; her double is here…it's me." Lissa!?

"But that would mean we've met before…on earth…just a few days ago!"

"I'll explain everything soon…I'm ready to tell you guys my story." We all gave a gasp; we've known her for a while and now we were going to find out what led her up to this point.

"Are you sure?" Alice asked.

"I'm positive…after all you guys treat me like a friend and I can feel it's genuine…i-it is genuine…r-r-right?" She asked getting nervous.

"Of course." I said confidently.

"You better believe it!" Gareth said smacking his chest with vigor and a big smile; we turned to Alice and she twirled her hair before looking at Lissa.

"At first I thought that I would never be able to trust you after what you did; I expected Soren to give you his trust and Gareth has a big heart so I knew he would open up to you eventually…but I tried my hardest to keep my distance…but then you risked your life for me, you protected me from Jarek and showed that you weren't the same person you were when we met and I believe that. You've saved us three times since you've joined us and proved that you are working with us and showed that your our friend…and I'm glad that I can now consider you as one…sorry for the way I've acted up to now." Suddenly Lissa moved in giving Alice a hug at which she blushed embarrassed as Gareth snickered while I looked at them glad with how far Alice has come, she's finally let go of the past and gave Lissa the trust that she has worked hard to earn.

"I can't tell you right now but when we get back to the airship I'll explain everything." She said ending the hug wiping her eyes; I should at least find something out.

"Can you at least tell us your real name?" She gave me a look of surprise and giggled.

"You've seen this enough time haven't you?"

"I had a hunch, mind telling us?"

"Sure, call me Lily…it's what my mother and brother called me."

"It's good to hear your real name, Lily." She gave me a shy smile in return.

"Lily…it sounds a lot better than Lissa I'll tell you that." Alice said reassuring her.

"Sounds like a pretty name." Gareth said making Lily blush deeply.

"Th-thanks." Lily said embarrassed at what Gareth said.

"It's great we've had this little heart to heart as a group but let's return to the situation at hand." Alice said pointing to the Warriors of Light who were currently climbing the stairs to the top; time for us to finish up here.

We climbed to meet them and looked to see an amazing sight; it was a giant dragon that sat on the throne of the Citadel, next to it stood smaller dragons that were only about as tall as Gareth and Pent who were slightly taller than us. The throne dragon opened its eyes and looked down on all of us eyeing each of us over with a stalwart look on his face; suddenly he extended his wings and hands overshadowing all of us.

"Warriors of Light; you have passed my trial with the aid of your companions and made it to the main chamber of the Citadel; I am the Dragon King and I look over the Citadel bringing those who are worthy of becoming heroes to this castle and testing them to prove their worth. You have overcome your doubts as a group by relying on each other and made it to me Warriors of Light." He turned to Alice, Gareth, Lily and I, "And you four have shown determination and trust in each other refusing to give up. Whether you fight or try to convince someone you do not give up; your will and faith in each other has brought you to me." This Dragon King wasn't just a tester of the Warriors of Light; that feeling I felt as I moved down the first hall came from him; he was more than he appeared to be, "Now I grant the eight of you the power of heroes!" He gave a fearsome roar and I watched as a column of light enveloped everyone around me eventually falling onto me blinding me; when it disappeared I looked no different but something inside me felt different…my heart and soul felt stronger, "Kent, you are now the Knight; capable of incredible sword skills and shield abilities as well as white magic spells. Hana, you are now a Black Wizard; you can devastate enemies to dust with your powerful black magic spells. Pent, you are now the Master; capable of powerful and diverse close combat power and skill that can take your enemies apart quickly. Sena, you are now the White Wizard; capable of healing spells that can bring those on the brink of death back to full health with the snap of your fingers." I turned to see they had confident smiles on their face and determination lit in their eyes, "Lily, you are now the Reaper; capable of incredible scythe skills and speed that can send your enemies to the grave with a single swipe; but as a reaper you have the power to bring those on the brink back into play as it is not their time in your eyes. Gareth, you are the Earth Breaker; with your large battle axe and skilled movements you can take apart you foes with your incredible strength with enough power to cleave the earth apart at your command and the strength to protect those in need at a moment's notice. Alice, you are the Enchantress; with the speed and skill of your katana you are a force to be reckoned with but with your magical enchantments you and your allies become a force of nature with your powerful magic added to your weapons. Soren, you are the Twilight blade; with your dual blades you not only fight with your incredible speed and skill but you power your allies and weaken your foes with your foes with you diverse back and white status altering spells, you become a source of power for your friends and a source of weakness for your enemies." So I was not only faster and more skilled but my magical talent was also increased…at least to help those around me…that's perfect for me, "Now go brave heroes and save this world from the darkness!" With that a bright light enveloped us again and when it faded I looked around to see we were back on the airship; we were still floating in the air but the sun had set and the moon was in full shine. Looking around everyone was here and each of us felt stronger in our own way and with this power we would save this world and show not only the villain of this world but Owen that we can't be stopped no matter how hard he tries to alter this world in his favor! You can't stop us, we've come this far and with Lily as a true friend of our group the three of us- no, the four of us were stronger than ever before. That wasn't just it though; soon we wouldn't just be stronger but we would have the answers we've been searching for since we ended up in this traveler mess; it felt more important than I felt I could even comprehend, whatever was happening it felt bigger than just one world…even bigger than the three worlds I've been to…and I would find out why!