Chapter 23

The Lion of the Rose

Beast's Castle - Roslyn Castle - West Wing

Roxas laughed. "Naomé! Sora! Stop teasing!" He tipped Anton a wink. "So, Anton, how are you feeling? Better, I hope?"

Anton returned the wink. "Yes indeed, Roxas. I'm feeling a lot better than I was a little while ago, thank you. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I suppose," Roxas replied with a shrug. "As far as I know, there isn't anything wrong with me. I was just more concerned about you, my friend."

"Thanks for the thoughtfulness," Anton said with a polite inclination of his head.

Roxas imitated the gesture. "You're welcome."

Sora grinned. "If I were you, Beast-"

"Anton," Naomé corrected him.

"Right. Sorry. If I were you, Anton, I'd consider myself pretty lucky to be able to pull off breaking the enchantment that'd been holding me prisoner inside of myself for so long at the last moment. That was a little too close."

Anton nodded. "You don't have to remind me. The last thought I remember was that at least I wouldn't have to live out the rest of my life as that…creature that I was, that I would be able to rest in peace. Then, the next thing I know, here I am, alive and Human." He gave Belle a playful hug. "And it's all because of Belle."

"Hey!" Sora snapped. "What about Naomé and I, huh?"

"Yeah!" Naomé barked, folding her arms across her chest and giving Anton a fierce glare. "Who were the ones that went into the South Wing and faced down that Heartless monster to protect Belle for your sake while looking for the Ring of the Heart for your World?"

"Naomé and I!" Sora cut in.

"Who was it that found that dumb poem inside of that block of ice they brought in from the broken fountain in the Gardens that basically gave you the answers as to how to go about breaking the cursed spell that you just successfully broke?"

Sora stalked up next to Naomé. "Naomé and I again!"

"And who, may I ask, were the ones that rallied the troops and fought Gaston and his men when they came barging in while you were sitting up here in your room crying like a big, furry baby?"

"That would be Naomé and I again!" Sora growled.

Roxas flinched. "Geez, you two! Lay off!"

Belle laughed. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped laughing and began to stare in shock behind where Sora and Naomé were standing. She grabbed Anton's sleeve and tugged on it. "Uh…Anton?"

Anton looked down at Belle. "Yes, Belle? What is it?"

"I…uh…don't think you were the only thing restored by the spell breaking."

"Oh? What else could've been?"

Belle pointed. "That."

"Hm?" Anton turned his gaze to follow the direction in which Belle was pointing. Then, it was his turn to gawk. "What the…Sora! Look! The rose! Look at the rose!"

Sora, Roxas, Naomé, and KazeRyu whipped around as one to turn and look at the dead enchanted rose inside of the bell glass jar on the table. But, when they saw what'd happened, they couldn't help but stare in wonder.

The rose wasn't dead anymore! It was fully restored! The enchanted flower now appeared as normal as if none of its petals had fallen off. It sparkled with glistening dew despite being inside of a jar, almost like it'd just been picked from the garden. The petals were of a fiery crimson, like that of a brilliant sunset, and the stem of the rose was a deep, vibrant green with just a few short, sharp thorns.

"Whoa…" Sora breathed. "Roxas, do you see…?"

"Yeah," Roxas replied just as breathlessly. "The rose. It's…alive!"

"It's beautiful," Naomé said, awed. "I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."

"I believe I must agree with you, Naomé," KazeRyu remarked. "It is indeed the most beautiful rose that I, too, have perhaps ever seen. I have seen many flowers in my lifetime, but few compare to the beauty of this one."

Sora stared at the rose. Something kept churning around in the back of his brain. There was something else that he knew had to do with roses, but he just couldn't think of it at the moment. If only he could remember it…

Naomé, too, was wondering about why the sight of the rose was making her mind tick. Then, all of a sudden, she gasped and gave Sora a crack on the shoulder, making her friend's attention divert to her.

"Ouch! What was that for, Naomé?" Sora asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"The rose! It reminded me of something about that poem we found!" Naomé replied. "Remember?"

Sora screwed up his brains again. "I think so…" He shot his gaze over to Naomé. "Hey, Naomé, do you still have that poem with you?"

Naomé tentatively reached inside of her jacket and searched a pocket that had been sewn to the inside of it. "Yeah, I've got it."

"Well, take it out, stupid!" Sora snorted.

Glaring in sharp reproof at the Master of the Keyblade, the Second Keybearer removed the scroll from within her jacket and undid the tie on it. She silently scanned the stanzas until she found the one she was looking for. "Call me stupid again, Sora, and you'll be sorry! Ah! Here it is! Listen:

"Lastly, seek the lion for which the Hero is named,

Then shall a Heart be set free and a kingdom reclaimed."

Roxas scratched his head. "That doesn't make any sense to me! It's just a bunch of words all thrown together! I know that it's supposed to be a clue, but it doesn't sound like much of a one in my opinion!"

"Well, it worked to get Anton this far," Was Sora's rejoinder. "So, that means to me that the last lines of the poem can get me what I want: that dang-blasted Ring!"

"It sounds to me like the poem is telling you where it is," KazeRyu remarked. "Furthermore, from what I am getting from hearing the verse, if this 'lion' is found, then not only will Beast's Castle be freed, but Anton can finally claim the dynastic seat of power in his kingdom."

Naomé nodded. "Okay, so first off is that we need to find this 'lion.' Anton, do you know of anywhere in the castle where you can find a lion?"

Anton scowled in deep thought. "There was at one point. It was, in fact, a small statue that used to be kept here in my chambers. My patriarch had had it created after he first founded the Verain dynasty. However, it was several generations before mine that the statue and its prized possession disappeared. No one knows what happened to it, and all attempts to find it have failed. There was, at one point, talk about it being hidden 'behind a rose,' but that was never proven to be true or false. Sorry."

"How can you hide a statue behind a rose?" Sora asked, confused.

"There's always a rosebush," Commented Roxas.

"No, no, no," Naomé growled. "Who would put a statue outside?"

KazeRyu chuckled. "Did you happen to see all the statues that exist out on the castle grounds or upon the castle itself, young Second Keybearer?"

"Very funny," Snorted Naomé as she stalked into the West Wing. "If I were any of you numbskulls, no offense Belle and Anton, I certainly wouldn't just be standing there doing nothing and talking about flower gardens and statues! I'd be looking for the one thing that can set everything in this World back to the way it's supposed to be!"

Roxas winced at Naomé's sharp reproof. He knew she was right…they shouldn't be hanging around outside on the balcony and enjoying the sunshine. There was still the daunting task of finding the Ring of the Heart of Beast's Castle, not to mention Sealing that Heart!

The Master of the Keyblade, on the other hand, didn't seem to be bothered by the comment. He just stood there, staring off into space, preoccupied with some random thought of one design or another. It was obvious that he was ignoring Naomé's vicious tongue lashing, waiting for the moment that things cooled down enough so he could start his own independent search for the Ring.

Naomé paced about Anton's chamber, agate gray eyes roving over the expanse of the room. "That Ring's got to be in here," she muttered irritably to herself. "It just has to be!" She paused every time she saw a rose or anything close in resemblance to it in the chamber, poked at it, then grunted in dissatisfaction and went to the next rose she saw. Occasionally, she would glance at the newly restored enchanted rose resting on the table in the bell jar, grunt again, and then go back to searching.

Sora scowled. "Naomé, don't get so nasty! There are hundreds of roses here in Roslyn Castle besides the ones in here! Why don't we try and search-"

"No!" Naomé barked, making her friends jump. She turned her gaze on Sora, icy agate-gray irises glaring angrily at irritated light ocean blue. "That Ring is in here, I can feel it! Think, Keybearer! Do you see anything in here that could provide some kind of answer?"

His friend's abrupt manner immediately alerted Sora to the fact that he needed to trust Naomé's judgment. Her intuition had proven to be a godsend in several occasions since his return, more often than not providing the solution to the problems he was facing at that time. Naomé had a good, logical head resting on her shoulders, and only a fool would not take heed to her words. If the Ring of the Heart of Beast's Castle was in Anton's chambers, then it was in Anton's chambers. Naomé's instincts were rarely wrong…thus far, anyway…

Roxas, amused by Naomé's sense of stubborn reasoning, decided to help her search rather than just stand in the doorway between chambers and balcony. Walking past the enchanted rose, he immediately righted a desk chair that had roses carved into the woodworking. Carefully straightening out the mess of stationery and dusty books (one of which had a rose imprinted into the leather cover), he began poking and prodding at the various carvings and décor that made up the desk, which, like its matching chair, was carved from rosewood. "Naomé, my friend, just what exactly am I looking for?"

"Anything suspicious," Naomé replied. "You know, something that looks a little bit out of the ordinary? I'm willing to bet it will look like a rose or have something with a rose on it or in it, but it will probably appear to be out of place. Kind of get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," Roxas replied with a smile. "Anything that doesn't belong, right?"

Anton groaned. "That's going to be tough. I made a mess of things in there."

Naomé shrugged. "Not to be rude, Anton, but beasts aren't exactly neat freaks."

Belle sniggered.

KazeRyu noticed Sora's irritated countenance. He gave him a rough shove. "All right, you spoiled little cub, you. What is wrong?"

Sora scowled even more darkly. "I still think we should search the rest of the castle first," He grumbled, folding his arms huffily across his chest and leaning against one of the marble columns that framed the doorway. "There are hundreds of roses in this castle, and Naomé's bound and determined to stay in this one chamber until she's basically analyzed the smallest speck of dust before she says that we should move on! We should just split up and look! It would be faster that way!"

"Quit your complaining," KazeRyu grunted, flicking Sora in the back of the head with a taloned finger. "Perhaps if we help them straighten the room back out, then things will go a lot smoother, eh? Then we will be able to search the rest of the castle like you want. We are right here, so this is where we might as well begin."

"Oh, all right," Sora replied. "Where should I start picking stuff up?"

"Anywhere where Roxas and Naomé are not doing it already," KazeRyu replied with a fanged smile. "Where else would you think, Keybearer?"

Sora shoved the celestial werewolf warrior. "Very funny, Wind Dragon," He growled like Anton used to as he walked into the chamber and headed over towards where the bathing chamber was on the other side of the room. "I guess I'll go in here and start picking things up. Who knows? Maybe the Ring got squashed into a bar of soap or something."

"At least it'll be clean!" Roxas remarked as Sora walked past him.

Naomé rolled her eyes. "Good one, Roxas."

Roxas laughed.

KazeRyu, on the other hand, righted the toppled night table and began to put the drawer and doors back into and on it. He carefully reset the doors on their hinges and spent quite a few minutes grumbling and swearing various expletives under his breath as he realigned the pins that kept the hinges together with his talons, which kept slipping off the greased metal pins. That done, he took to crawling around under the four-posted bed, carved from rosewood and adorned with intricate carvings of the beautiful flower like the rest of the furniture in the chamber, talons scratching at the "grout" between the stone "tiles" and checking to see if any of them came loose. He sneezed on the dust as he meticulously sniffed along any cracks he spotted for air leaking through, his pale eyes glaring beneath his hooded brow as he found himself running straight into a dead end.

Roxas, meanwhile, was helping Naomé clean up around the fireplace, which included clearing out the old ashes. The two friends, like KazeRyu, sneezed and choked on the powder-fine dust, but they were able to sweep it up with a tattered old sheet turned into a rag mop and brush it into a dirty, old linen pillowcase and tie it closed like a trash bag.

"I don't think the maids are going to appreciate that when they see it, Roxas," Naomé teased. "You've no idea just how awful it's going to be to get that all out!"

"Oh, well," Roxas replied, dusting his hands off. "We had to use something. I think it would rather rude of us to leave a pile of ashes in the middle of Anton's bedroom! Besides, those sheets and stuff needed to be washed, anyway." He turned around and saw Naomé jumping around inside of the fireplace, her stomps as gravity brought her back down to the ground raising a cloud of sooty dust. "Naomé, what are you doing?"

"Well, we didn't find the Ring in the ashes, did we?"

"No, but that doesn't explain what you're doing in there."

Naomé growled in frustration and came scrambling out of the fireplace. Sneezing a couple times, she furiously and hastily brushed herself off, and then suddenly hoisted herself onto the mantel and began tapping at the stones with the fire poker.

This made Roxas even more confused. He tilted his head to one side and cocked one eyebrow in a curious gesture at his friend. "Naomé, this isn't the time for you to be practicing your Keyblade skills."

"It's not that, Roxas," Naomé replied distractedly. "I'm using the poker to tap around the chimney here and see if maybe I can find any spots where the sound is different. You know, like a stone might be missing or something might be in the place of that stone so that the chimney doesn't look like it's been damaged?"

"You mean, like a hiding place or a hidden safe?" Roxas asked in wonder.

Naomé nodded. "Yep. Of course, I can't reach up inside the flue, so I'm just going to have to listen up. That is, unless you want to help me get up into the flue so I can take a look-see." She said, turning to regard her friend over her shoulder.

Roxas scowled. "You? Get up into the flue? Naomé, that's really dangerous. I don't think that's such a good idea. You could get stuck."

"That's Santa, and he's about ten times bigger than I am. I could fit in here with no problem, and I'd still be able to move around, too. I wouldn't go too high, anyway…if I found something, I might not be able to get back down with it."

"The Ring wouldn't be that heavy!"

"No, unless it was kept inside of something," Naomé replied matter-of-factly. "So, are you going to help me out or not, Avalon?"

Roxas smiled at Naomé's attempt to imitate Sora's gruff querying. "All right, Windom. You win. Let me help you out in there." He walked inside of the fireplace with her and crouched down onto one knee. "Here, get on my back, and make sure that your standing mostly on my shoulders. When I stand up, you'll be able to look up inside of the flue. Sound good?"

Naomé was concerned. "Are you sure, Roxas? Won't you hurt your back?"

"No," Roxas replied with a smile. "I have a strong back. It must be from my training with the KeyStaff for the last several years. C'mon, Naomé. Get on! I promise that you won't hurt me."

"All right. But, I warn you, I'm heavy," Naomé cautioned as she scrabbled up onto Roxas's back and placed the front half of her boots just over the edge of her friend's shoulders. "I'm ready when you are, Roxas."

Roxas smirked. "All right, Naomé. Hold on tight!" He said, suddenly standing straight up with his friend and fellow Keybearer coming to stand perfectly straight on his shoulders and able to look straight up into the flue of the fireplace. "How's that? Better, I hope?"

Naomé laughed, her voice echoing. "Yeah! This is much better! Thanks, Roxas!"

"No problem," Roxas replied with a nonchalant shrug. "Anytime."

"What a gentleman," Naomé teased.

Roxas laughed again. "Thanks!"

Sora popped his head around the corner of the entryway that lead into Anton's bathing chambers. He gave Roxas a confused look when he saw his friend standing up in the fireplace, the only part of him visible being everything from the bottom of his chest down. "Roxas, what in the name of the gods are you doing in there? Santa isn't supposed to come for another several months, dude!"

"Very funny," Roxas's voice echoed sarcastically out of the flue. "Naomé and I are looking into the chimney flue to see if maybe the Ring got hidden up here somehow. You know, Maleficent and Xemnas might've tried to be a couple of sneak thieves?"

Sora groaned. "And how, may I ask, are you going to succeed in looking around in there? They don't have flashlights here, buddy!"

Roxas shrugged again. "I'm sure we'll find a way." Suddenly, he yelped in surprise. "Naomé! What the heck are you doing, you crazy woman, you?"

Naomé grunted as she began scaling the inside of the chimney. "Well, since, like Sora so casually pointed out-"

"Casually?" Sora said, pulling a puzzled face.

"Yes, casually. So, as I was saying, since we don't have a flashlight, I'm just going to have to climb around and feel the walls until I find something! Stay right where you are, Roxas! I'll need your help when I come back down, please!"

"All right," Roxas replied, smiling at his friend. "So, Naomé, what's it like up there, anyway?"

"Well, for one, it's black as night in here, and…eeyuck…the entire walls are completely carbonized with soot deposits!"

Roxas wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Eeeww…"

Suddenly, Naomé yelped in shock as her foot got caught in a hole in the wall of the chimney flue. "Yeow!"

This made Roxas leap in terror. His head shot into the fireplace, and he craned his neck back to see his friend up in the chimney. "Naomé! Are you hurt? What's wrong?"

Naomé started laughing. "I found a hole in the chimney wall! It feels like there's some kind of a box in there! My foot struck a padlock!" She shifted around and put her hands inside of the opening. "It feels like there's two bricks missing…the one to create the opening, and the one below it to create the storage space." She grunted as she struggled to get the strange box out of its resting place, hissing through clenched teeth and cursing vehemently under her breath as she the flesh of her hands was scratched and torn open by the rough calcified soot deposits that'd hidden the opening from view.

Roxas listened as his friend snarled and growled in exertion and pain. "Are you okay up there?"

"I'll be fine, Roxas!" Naomé snapped. "Give me a minute! I've just about got that stupid, moronic, confounded box out of this hole in the wall! I'm going to try and take my jacket off so I can lower it down to you!"

Suddenly, she saw something flash past her face. Startled, she glanced over to see that the Oathkeeper end of Roxas's KeyStaff had popped up right beside her. "What the…? Roxas! What on Earth are you doing?"

"Here, Naomé!" Roxas called up. "Loop the padlock over the end of that Keyblade! I'll be able to pull it down from there!"

Sora had given up searching Anton's bathing chambers, and now he and the restored Prince came over to investigate Roxas and Naomé's excavation of the fireplace. Anton ducked into the fireplace and craned his neck back so he could look up into the chimney. He burst out laughing as he saw Naomé's lanky body firmly planted in place by her own uncanny gymnastics skills. "Wow, Naomé! How did you get up in there?"

Naomé laughed back. "It's pretty easy when you're as skinny as a twig! Hold on a second, Anton! I'm giving Roxas something that I found up here! Roxas, be careful! It's a hardwood box about the size of the jewelry box in Belle's chambers! Furthermore, it's covered in that carbonized soot deposit stuff! It's virtually encased in it!"

Roxas clumsily balanced his KeyStaff as Naomé sent her jacket, which had the bundle tied up in it, sliding down his weapon like it was a greased pole, finally having the heavy object come crashing down into his arms and nearly making him drop the thing. He banished the KeyStaff and handed the box to Anton, who took it out onto the balcony to start chipping away at the carbon.

Sora howled when he saw the box in his friend's strong hands. "All right! Maybe that box has the Ring in it! Hurry up and open it, Anton! Let's see what's inside!"

"I would if I could get the lock undone," Anton replied. "Naomé was right…the box is completely covered in rock-hard soot, almost like it's been encased in stone. I'm willing to bet the lock is useless, too. It looks to me like the inner workings of the lock are covered in that rocky material, as well. We may never be able to open the box."

KER-RUNCH!

"Sora? What are you doing?" Anton yelped.

"Cracking a safe, that's what!" Sora replied, striking the Keyblade down as hard as he could on the carbon-crusted box. "Stand back, Anton! Some pieces might fly off of this thing, and I don't want anybody except me to get hurt by them! Now, look out!"

CRUNCH! CRACK! KUNCH! CRIK! KRASH! The Keyblade hacked and bit into the crusty fireplace deposits, chipping away at them and slowly but surely cracking the thick casing like he were breaking a geode open to discover the crystals inside.

Roxas, meanwhile, had crashed into the floor of the fireplace with Naomé landing heavily on top of him. In order for the Second Keybearer to escape without getting her white T-shirt dirty, she had to freefall from her place in the chimney and into her friend's waiting arms. He smiled a goofy grin as Naomé brushed her hair and soot out of her eyes. "Hi, Naomé."

"Hi yourself, Roxas," Naomé replied, returning the quirky smile. "Good catch."

"Thanks," Roxas said sheepishly as he allowed Naomé to help him back to his feet. "Good fall. I hardly felt a thing when I caught you."

Naomé shoved him playfully. "Idiot! You're stronger than I am!"

Roxas smirked mischievously as he handed Naomé back her jacket. "Not as much as you might think, Naomé Windom."

"Don't lie to me, Roxas Avalon," Naomé threatened, wagging a teasing finger at him as she put her jacket back on. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a liar."

"I'll remember that," Roxas remarked. "Honestly, I will."

Naomé playfully cuffed him. "Idiot."

Roxas chuckled.

KazeRyu and Belle noticed that Sora was still chipping away at the carbon-encrusted box Naomé had discovered up in the chimney. The Keyblade Master was dripping with sweat from exertion, his clothes damp and sticking to his skin as if he'd just come out of the water. When both of them went over, they noticed that Anton was helping Sora out by turning and holding the box in place so it didn't go skidding all over the place. Occasionally, the recently freed Prince blinked as a piece of carbon flicked his way, but he otherwise seemed to not have a problem with the Keyblade being so close.

"Sora," KazeRyu said. "There might be an easier way to get that off."

"How?" Sora gasped, taking a break to wipe the sweat out of his eyes.

The celestial werewolf warrior grabbed the box and set it on the balcony railing. Drawing SaigaSama, he carefully lined up his swing, mentally judging the trajectory and angle of his attack. Then, once he was certain that he had his aim just right, he let the lock on the box taste the fullest power and might he could unleash in one swipe.

KER-RANG!

SaigaSama struck the lock dead-on, the blade shearing the lock in two and having the two carbonized halves fall away to the ground. With a confident smirk, KazeRyu placed one of his talons under where he assumed the gap between the box and its lid were and gave it gentle flick backwards, flipping the lid open. He turned and flashed the same smirk to Sora, who was standing next to Anton in open-mouthed shock.

Both Anton and Sora scowled darkly. "Very funny, KazeRyu," They grunted as they came to see what was in the box. Naomé and Roxas joined their friends only seconds later, looking on in shock as Anton carefully lifted an object out and into the light of day.

Naomé was amazed at the sight of the object. It was a beautiful statue of a male lion done in solid gold with eyes of light blue sapphires, similar in color to Anton's eyes, with fangs and talons crafted out of the finest ivory. The lion's mouth was open in a roar, and its right paw was raised up and resting on the hilt of what appeared to be a type of sword. Around the lion's neck was a silken ribbon of a creamy ecru white and trimmed with forest green velvet, and hanging from it and perfectly centered on the lion's chest was a medal of white gold, formed into a rose in full bloom.

It was the sword-like weapon that attracted Naomé's attention the most. Forged from steel of the superlative quality and with a hilt of the absolute highest grade of platinum, it was truly a blade to behold. The blade had an image of a vine with roses on it engraved into both sides that ran from the end of the blood channel up to where the steel met the platinum hilt. High grade leather of the deepest black possible was wrapped around the grip of the hilt, as fresh as if it'd just been cured.

The area where the hilt, cross hilt and blade joined together had a beautiful depiction of a rose on each side, made from beautiful deep rose gold, guarded and strengthened by intricately designed matching yellow gold leaves set into a trinity-like pattern and with thorny vines of the same winding around the cross hilt. The pommel stone of the weapon was the most beautiful piece of the entire thing, a piece of rose quartz carved into what else but a gorgeous rose with many petals, and polished until it gleamed like a diamond in the early morning sunlight.

Sora, also, was mesmerized by the blade the lion was holding. "Whoa…that is perhaps one of the most beautiful weapons I have ever seen! Anton, what kind of a weapon is that?"

Anton smiled fondly as he ran his hands along the lion's body. "That weapon is called a dirk, Sora. It is halfway between a dagger and a short sword in size, and it is just as deadly as either one. It can be thrown like a dagger or used in combat like a sword would. I learned from my father how to use this kind of weapon. What amazes me is that the rumors I'd heard of the dirk being separated from its possessor were actually false. It was once believed that one of my ancestors stole the blade, and then was responsible for the statue being hid, so as to hide his theft of the weapon. But, now I see that's false. The dirk is still here in Roslyn Castle, and it is still being protected by the Lion of the Rose."

"The Lion of the Rose?" Roxas echoed. "That title certainly fits it well."

"I know," Anton replied. "This magnificent animal is depicted on my family's crest and coat of arms. As the story goes, my ancestor, the first to call himself by the Verain surname, was known as 'the Lion of the Rose' because of his lion-like courage and because his armor had a rose engraved into the breastplate. It is said that this dirk had even belonged to him! He became the ruler of this country after he secured the town of Sophia Rosé from an outside threat. Since then, the Lion of the Rose has come to represent the Verain family. I was always proud to hear myself be called 'Prince of the Verain…' I have a feeling that was what started this whole thing with my being cursed so many years ago. I let my pride get the better of me, and I paid dearly for letting it get that far."

Naomé frowned. "That may be a possibility, Anton, but you've no need to beat yourself up for it any longer. What's done is done, and you are no longer cursed, so there is no need to worry about it anymore. You're back to normal, you've got your happy ending, and that's that." Sora laughed and playfully cuffed Naomé's shoulder. "Well said, Naomé!"

Roxas smiled. "Yeah, Naomé! That was very good!"

Embarrassed, Naomé turned to Anton. "Anton, is it possible I might be able to look at the dirk? I want to take a closer look at it, if you don't mind my curiosity."

Anton shrugged. "I don't see why not. I trust you. All you have to do is tilt the dirk towards you and pull straight up. The blade will come right out of its resting place, almost like you would if you were unsheathing a sword."

Naomé very carefully pulled the dirk out as Anton had instructed, coming away with the beautiful weapon in her hand. She allowed it to shift about in her slightly loosened grip, mentally getting a feel for the weapon's weight. However, when she went to examine the pommel stone, she noticed something rather peculiar about it. If she looked closely enough, it appeared that the center of the rose was another, smaller rose that was similar in design as the rose it was situated in. Hmmm…a rose within a rose…that's something you don't see everyday…

Roxas noticed Naomé's sudden change in expression. "Naomé, what is it?"

"There's something about this pommel stone," Naomé mused. "Roxas, Sora, take a look at this. I have reason to believe the center of the rose is in fact another rose itself."

"A rose within a rose?" Sora asked, coming over to look at the dirk. "That sounds kind of interesting."

"I thought so myself," Naomé replied. She held the dirk out just slightly away from her, so both Sora and Roxas could get a better look at it. When she noticed their matched looks of amazement, she smiled at them confidently. "You see it too, guys?"

Both men nodded.

KazeRyu seemed puzzled. "Naomé, why is that so important? Some roses look like they have a rose inside of a rose. What is so special about this particular one?"

Naomé allowed the celestial werewolf warrior to see the pommel. "The rose in the middle is slightly darker than the rest of the pommel stone, Kaze. See? That's a slightly deeper shade of rose than the rest. That's what's confusing me."

I can see your point," KazeRyu remarked. "I, too, find that a bit puzzling."

The Second Keybearer nodded. However, when she brought the dirk back close to her body, she suddenly seemed to become more alert. She began to search the dirk more thoroughly, especially up around where the stone met the hilt.

Belle was intrigued by Naomé's sudden spark of curiosity. "What is it, Naomé? What do you see?"

Anton also noticed Naomé's expression. "Is something wrong, Naomé?"

Naomé was now eyeing the pommel stone with a very extreme gaze. "Anton, I do believe that the pommel stone is not fully attached to the hilt."

"It's not? Whatever do you mean?"

"From what I understand, a pommel stone is usually set into the hilt so that it is firmly lodged into place and is thus unable to come free and cause the weapon's balance to be thrown off kilter. Well, from what I'm looking at, I have a strong feeling this stone is not set into the hilt like it should be. In fact, it looks like it could come loose. May I?"

Anton shrugged again. "Be my guest."

Sora watched in amazement as Naomé carefully twisted and tugged at the pommel stone until she was suddenly able to twist it like the lid of a jar and pull back on it like she was uncorking a wine bottle. The rose had indeed not been set into the pommel like it normally should have been! "Naomé, you were right!" He said in shock. "The rose came free from the hilt!"

Naomé nodded in satisfaction. "It did indeed, Sora…just like I suspected." She set the blade down into the hardwood box it'd come out of and took to examining the rose quartz pommel stone. "Hmmm…the rose was threaded like a screw would be…see the hilt here? It's almost like a corkscrew." She flipped the rose over and looked inside of the hole in the bottom of it. "Hm? What's this?"

Roxas watched as Naomé began to fiddle inside the rose. "What is it, Naomé?"

"I think there's something in here," She said distractedly, her fingers fiddling with the object of interest inside of the stone flower. "Whatever it is, it's stuck in here. Whoops, gimme a minute…I think I might've got it…" She gave the object in question a slight twist, and was rewarded with her tiny treasure agreeing with her desire for it to move and coming loose. Carefully so as not to damage her find, she slowly retracted it out of the rose and into her hand. "Well, look at what we have here!" She laughed. "I think I've just found what we've been looking for, Sora!"

"What?" Sora yelped, coming to Naomé's side in a heartbeat. "No way! Lemme see!" He said, reaching for the ring Naomé had discovered hiding within the pommel stone. He laughed at the sight of the rose gold ring with the rose carved from rose quartz set into the top of it. "Anton! Is that it? Is that the Ring to the Heart of your World? Is that it?"

Anton smiled. "You're absolutely right, Sora. That is the Ring. It's kind of odd the Lion of the Rose was protecting it…normally, I would've been it's protector, not the Lion. It's no wonder to me now why my father had always felt afraid he couldn't protect his Kingdom…he didn't have a way to protect its Heart from danger. But, regardless, the Ring's been found, and now it's yours. Go ahead, Sora…do your thing."

Sora chuckled and shook his head. "Anton Verain, you know me too well." He gently took the Ring of the Heart of Beast's Castle out of Naomé's hand and looked it over. "Now, the only question is how we get that stupid Keyhole to appear so I can Seal it. Any ideas, anyone?"

Roxas shrugged. "I'm clueless, Sora. I have no idea how the Ring works. Sorry."

Naomé examined the Ring further, but she too was stumped. How do we get the Ring to work? C'mon, Kingdom Hearts…give us a clue here! We're not super geniuses! Help us out here!

KazeRyu suddenly got an inspiration. "Naomé! Sora! May I see the Ring?"

Sora gave KazeRyu the Ring. "I don't know what you're going to find, Wind Dragon, but maybe your years of experience might give you an edge here. Give it a shot. Maybe you'll figure it out."

The celestial werewolf warrior gently took the Ring into his sinewy paws and began slowly turning it about his furred fingers. His pale irises seemed to barely shift as he brought the Ring up close to his face and proceed to inspect it with a trained eye. All of a sudden, a strange grin came across his muzzle, making those virtually colorless eyes glimmer. "Aha…Sora, I think I have figured it out."

"Really?" Sora said. "If you did, share with the rest of the class!"

"Yeah!" Naomé and Roxas chimed in in unison. "Show us, Kaze!"

"All right," KazeRyu replied. "However, you will think I am a bit crazy here…"

Naomé was perplexed. "Crazy? How so?"

Instead of answering, KazeRyu turned around, walked towards the middle of the balcony, and then suddenly did the most unexpected thing. Whipping his left arm back and aiming for the right angle, he instantaneously flung that same arm forward, his wrist snapping as he sent the Ring flying out and away from him, far beyond the balcony's reach.

"You fool!" Sora screamed. "What'd you do that for? Now we'll never find the-"

He never finished his sentence. Instead, Sora Kasasagi stood next to his friends and fellow Keybearers Naomé Windom and Roxas Avalon, thunderstruck into silence, as he witnessed the most amazing thing he'd seen since his resurrection only days before.

The Ring, although it'd apparently vanished from sight, gave a great flash from the stone rose set into it and disappeared from view. However, in what seemed like only a few split seconds, the flash reappeared and shaped itself into what appeared to be an ethereal image of an old-fashioned hole for which a key was to enter to lock a door.

Naomé gaped in shock. "What the heck is that?" She squeaked.

Sora grinned. "The Keyhole!"

"The what?" The Second Keybearer squawked.

"The way to Seal a World's Heart!" Sora explained. "That's how we save the Worlds from the Darkness, Naomé…we Seal their Hearts from the Darkness! That's the real purpose of the Keyblade…to Seal the Worlds with Light so the Darkness can't get in." He tipped Naomé a wink. "Here, Naomé. Let me show you how a World is Sealed!"

Sora did a daring move and leaped up onto the balcony railing. Summoning the Keyblade from its hidden magical location and to his hand, he gave it an expert twirl to situate it in his grip and then aimed the Keyblade straight at the Keyhole. A bluish-white beam seemed to shoot forth from the end of the fabled weapon, striking the Keyhole dead center like an arrow hitting the bull's eye of a target. The bluish-white light spread out to the edges of the spectral image like ripples in a pool, filling the Keyhole with its light in seconds. A loud click! that boomed like a dungeon door being slammed shut in a chamber came from the Keyhole, along with a flash of yellowish-white light come flashing back at the Master of the Keyblade and his friends like a solar flare, as though recognizing Sora and his Keyblade's signature power. Then, the Keyhole and the light flashed and disappeared, leaving a view of clear blue skies.

A glimmer of rose gold sparkled in the warm morning sunlight. Sora stretched his hand out and found that the Ring of the Heart to Beast's Castle had returned to his hand instead of KazeRyu's, almost like it knew that it "belonged" to him now. The rose quartz rose glinted at him with a final glitter of its hidden powers and then fell silent, its connection to the Heart returning to its peaceful slumbers. He stared long and hard at the ring in silence, pondering some secret thought.

Naomé was amazed. She gasped in shock as the remainder of the shining white light vanished. "Whoa! So that's what the Keyblade does! That was amazing!"

Her friend and the Keybearer of Kingdom Hearts jumped down lightly from the balcony railing and back onto the balcony, his face lit up with a triumphant smile. "I know. And as many times as I've seen that happen in all the years that I've been here, it still amazes me, too. Something about seeing that kind of power and knowing that I was the one that made it happen just kind of makes me feel good inside. You know, it gives me the feeling like I'm doing something right?"

"Well, you are," KazeRyu said with a slight smile. "You are helping a lot of people, Sora. You are protecting the hearts of those who live here from the Darkness. That is a noble thing to do, my young friend. You should feel good about what you are doing, not to mention feel proud of yourself. Sealing a World is an accomplishment worth noting. You did well, Master of the Keyblade."

"Yeah," Sora replied with a proud grin. But then, the smile turned into a scowl. "Yeah, and I've got to do it twelve more times…just absolutely wonderful. And I bet the Infiltrators I'll be facing will be a lot more difficult than Gaston was! They'll probably make him look like a piece of cake! And I can't forget about the Organization! I've got to handle them, as well!"

"True," Naomé replied. "But, don't forget, Sora, that you have your friends to help you every step of the way. You won't be fighting this alone."

The smile returned to Sora's face. He chuckled at Naomé's words and playfully punched her shoulder. "Yeah…you're right, Naomé…thanks for reminding me."

Naomé shrugged and returned the quirky smirk to Sora. "No problem. After all, that's what friends are for, aren't they?"

Sora's grin was a strained one as he groaned and rolled his light ocean eyes to the bright blue skies above. "Blast you, Windom…you got me."

Naomé pumped the air with a fist. "All right!"

Her, Sora, and Roxas burst out laughing.