Author's note:Yo, been a while huh? I'm partially back, I still have two more finals, but they are this weekend, so next week I should be back on track. I wrote this chap a bit every day, and it turned out to be bigger than anything I ever put out, yes, even bigger than the last one. That aside, I hope you enjoy.

Pseudo-Blackmail: Reviews make me work faster.

An Unending Struggle

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The Imprisoned and the Metal of Legends

Fusoya hurriedly lead the scientists around the engine room, making the final preparations to what was going to be the longest voyage the Lunar Whale had come across. Normally, the flight would take at least four days, since the Lunar Whale wasn't conceived to be fast, but the crystal that guided the Lunar Whale only lasted for three, and to make it worse, Bartz told him that they had two at most. Luckily, Fusoya and Tron were already on track for a solution. He looked at the plans one last time before finishing the machine. When he examined it, there was not much to see. From the outside, the pedestal that held the motor crystal seemed the same, but it had been reinforced so it could take a greater pressure. Now he only needed to test it, and unfortunately, there was no time for a test drive, the test was going to be the flight. Nodding to himself, he called the scientists and pulled out Terra's crystal.

"Tell Cecil to get ready, would you?" He told Shelke as he put the finishing touches on Tron's program.

"You're actually sure that the engine won't blow up on before we get there?" Shelke asked with a cold glare. Fusoya coughed and looked at Tron who smiled very clumsily and looked at Shalua for help.

"Kind of sure…" Shalua finally replied.

"That's the best we're going to get, isn't it?" They all nodded. She scuffed and left the engine room.

"What are we waiting for?" Bartz was running around the bridge, examining it like a kid. "Uhhhh what does this button do?"

"Don't touch anything Bartz!" Lenna warned.

"Okay…"

"Anyway, why the rush?" Zack asked as he arrived on the bridge. "I HAD plans for today you know?"

"I'm not even going to ask…" Cloud shook his head as he arrived.

"You!" Zidane exclaimed as he jumped of his chair, landing on Cloud's shoulders. "You're coming with me chocobo head!" He began pulling strands of his hair like he was trying to drive him, all while Cloud desperately tried to get him off, thinking of what could have triggered this sudden change of behavior, he barely knew the guy and he suddenly treated him as an old friend. "You have to let Naminé touch you!"

"Bad choice of words!" Bartz mouthed as he waved his arms at Zidane to warn him.

"It was all like, she touches you, then you feel in heaven all of a sudden, your life flashes through your eyes! Then it's like, you're friends with everyone and the world's a better place and she's going to kill me isn't she?" He slowly turned his head back to see Zack slowly backing away from a red tinted Naminé, mouthing RUN as Zidane noticed that his Buster Sword now resting on her small hand. "She can't pick it u… OH GOD NO!"With a shriek she swung her sword at Zidane, who backflipped out of the way. "Crap crap crap crap crap!" He was running around in circles, Naminé wailing the Buster Sword as if it was made of paper, her face fuming from embarrassment and anger.

"Stop destroying my ship!" Cecil exclaimed, grabbing Naminé's hand just as she was swinging at the steering pad.

"Sorry…" Naminé and Zidane immediately replied, even though Zidane was apologizing to Naminé, not Cecil.

"Cecil, the engine is ready." Cecil felt a pang of mistrust on Shelke's ready.

"Do I detect some doubts?" The Lunarian asked.

"It's as ready as it will ever be." Shelke dismissed, turning her back and returning to her room.

"I guess we're set then…" Cecil sat on the control chair, slowly hovering his hand the ignition key. "Here goes nothing!" He closed his eyes, expecting the worst as he pressed the key.

Silence.

"Did we screw up?" Just as Shalua finished Terra's crystal began emitting a pale blue light. It began to take the form of a small blue flame as the engine slowly cranked up.

"All systems operational, take off in: Three, Two, One. Ignition!"

"Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Everyone on the bridge was catapulted backwards, forming a dog pile on the wall as the ship.

"The engine ain't gonna last! Get your ass to the bridge and slow down!" Cid yelled.

"Tron! Tell Cecil to slow down!" Shelke yelled.

"Acknowledged!" Soon, Tron's face appeared on the bridge's monitor finding Cecil already climbing towards the controls. "Cecil, Shelke asked me too…"

Cecil finally managed to reach the controls, quickly returning the speed to reasonable levels.

"This should suffice, we are sorry, we did not expect the crystal to have THIS much power, for now the engine can only handle this much."

"Don't… worry." Cecil was still trying to catch his breath after all of that, he was even more surprised when he looked out of the window to see they had already left the atmosphere. "We're going a lot faster though…"

"True, if we are really taking advantage of our engine's capabilities, we should arrive tomorrow morning."

"So soon huh? Alright, you have my thanks." Tron disappeared from the screen and Cecil decided to help everyone up.

"Alright, we're all here!" Zidane exclaimed.

"Define "all"."

"The ones who fought at the last cycle!"

"Terra's missing." Bartz pointed out. "That's strange… where could she have gone?"

Just then Zack slowly began to back out of the bridge.

"What did you do to them?" Zack heard from behind as he touched something soft.

"Nothing BAD." He told Tifa, turning his eyes. "And what do you mean them?"

"Shin's missing, and really Zack, this is just your kind of deal, don't try to hide it."

"I may, or may not have done them a favor."

"Just go get Terra so we can get this over with…" Tifa was already with her hand on her face when she said it, she knew Zack's definition of favor.

"So, you are awake."

Terra had just regained consciousness and was slowly trying to figure out what had happened to him. He scuffed as he remembered being sent to the Void by that girl, but then he realized it, if he was in the Void… Who was talking him?

"I thought you to be brighter, Xehanort." There was no body from where the voice was emanating, just a pair of giant yellow eyes. "You are in my realm now."

"You're the one who created the Void? Then you must be Enuo." Xehanort turned in midair and faced both yellow eyes. Their presence was frightening, a normal person would go mad at the mere sight of the amber void inside those spheres.

"You are wrong Xehanort, I did not create the Void, I was once a wizard of great power and immortality. For reasons time has erased I gave it all up for control of the Void. The rest, is history."

"They sealed the Void here, in the Rift wasn't it?"

"I still don't understand why you insist in that ignorant farce, I've been watching you for much longer than you imagine!" Enuo boomed, its echo shaking the very existence of the Void. "I only ask you how you were sent here, I was handling "other businesses" when you appeared."

"I'd be happy to share with you all I know, if you promise to send me out."

"One does not simply walk out of the Void, but I'd be content to oblige, if we find…. A suitable proposal, one that both sides can take advantage of."

"Terra Branford banished me here." Xehanort replied harshly, his pride still sour from that particular moment. A planned loss was something, but an utter defeat was completely different.

"That girl banished you this far… I should not be surprised, should I?" The entity chuckled in a heart chilling way.

"Do you know something about her I don't?" Now this was new, Xehanort was only looking to force him to let him out of the Void, but the Void Master kept getting more interesting by the minute. It wouldn't hurt to have a pseudo-ally.

"Let me tell you a tale, a thousand year old tale…"

Shin slowly regained consciousness. He remembered talking to Bartz and walking halfway to the ship, but the rest was a blur. He grunted and tried to lift himself up, until he realized his hands were bound to the other side of an object. Was he captured or something.

"What the heck happened."

"Hum, wouldn't it be a lot easier to know if you opened your eyes?" Terra's voice ushered.

"Wait, wha… how…when…" He realized that the object his body was attached to was Terra's.

"Explaining it would be hard enough… just read it." She swiftly rolled over, inverting their positions. Shin then noticed the paper that was glued to the ceiling.

"You will thank us when you're older. Signed: Zack & Edge Inc."

"OH YOU MOTHER-"

"In the cargo haul?" Really Zack? Really?" Tifa was used to Zack by now, but he still managed to impress her from time to time.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS!" Echoed through the corridor.

"Can you hear that?" Cecil asked.

"I can FEEL that…" Zack lamented.

"Can't you just get your arms over my head?"

"No, already tried. My left arm is tied under your right, and your right under my left." She explained.

"Clever bastards…"He mentally cursed ever having called those two his friends. "Sooooooo… I guess we're stuck here." He said as casually as he could.

"Pretty much." She replied.

"Anything you wanna do? Until, you know, we have a chance to kill those two?"

Just then a cheeky squeal was caught by Shin's left ear. Before he could turn his head to see what it was, the small puppy he had given Terra jumped on his face, isn't it for leverage to get to Terra's.

"I've been meaning to ask, what should we call him?" Terra asked as she dodged from his tongue.

"Let's see here, how about…"

"GOD! The emoness in the room is intoxicating! Say something! ANYTHING!" Sora began banging his head on the table, but not even that broke the tension in the environment. Ever since they arrived at the Presidential residence Laguna had instructed them to stay at the meeting hall until he finished calming down the populace, something he was better at than Squall. The only problem is that Squall and Riku were left to stare at each other, making all the room awkward.

"He's right you know! Whadaya say? Let's get to know each other! I'll start, name's Kid!"

"Why introduce each other when we'll have to do it again when Laguna and Rinoa get here?" Squall replied dryly. He knew what kind of person Laguna was, if he was taking so long, he HAD to have gone and get Rinoa. He insisted Squall was ten times easier to talk with when Rinoa was around, mostly because she was one of the few persons alive with the nerve to proud information from him.

"For once I agree with him…" Riku nodded.

"WHY ME!" Sora yelled, starting to cry on Kairi's shoulder, who smiled weakly to hide her embarrassment.

"Where is she…" Serge asked himself, his foot rhythmically beating the blue carpet. "Maybe I shouldn't have let her and that dragoon wander off, his attention span's the same as Kid's and he's VERY overzealous when he gets his head on something… I'm talking like an old man again…"

"We should probably find Serge now, don't you think?" A red haired girl asked her blond companion, who was more preoccupied with his dazzling white blade than with her.

"Never thought the Einlanzer needed to be sharpened… I guess that deep down, it's still sword." He mumbled as he admired the steel. It had lost some of its shine and the edge seemed worn down.

"Are you even listening?"

"Pardon?"

"Why do I get stuck with the blockheads…? First Serge and now this."

"I wonder if this one needs sharpening as well…" He now stared at an identical sword that he had pulled from his sheath. It was as if they were the same sword.

"WOULD YOU STOP STARING AT THOSE SWORDS?"

"How about… Star?" Terra suggested.

"Too girly, he's a boy." Shin replied. "Hazel?" He suggested as he saw the color of his eyes.

"Not bad… But it lacks the oomph." She gazed onto the puppy that was now fast asleep on their side. How did he manage to fall asleep so fast, she didn't know. "What's his color again?" She casually asked as she analyzed the brown puppy. He wasn't quite brown though… he had several clear brown patches of fur, but some of his fur was white, with brown fur mixed in between.

"If I remember well, the color is kinda rare. Chocolate roan was it?" It the crossed both his and Terra's mind. Simple, corny, cute, perfect.

"Chocolate!" They cried in unison. As if to answer it, the newly named puppy jumped awake, again using Shin's head to get to Terra.

"Get of my…" He tried to order before getting a mouthful of paw.

"So you locked them both here." Cloud said in a monotone voice.

"Yeah."

"Why?" Ceodore asked. He had to beg Cecil to come, but his father finally caved in.

"You'll understand when you're older." Zack told him, reaching for the door.

"You like it don't you?" He heard Terra say.

"I think I'm going to stick around for a bit." He mocked, gluing his ear to the door.

"You're so cute!"

"He's a master…"

"I just want to hug you! But I can't… so I'll just kiss you."

"WOAH! ALREADY?"

"Oh, the things I'd do to you if I had my arms free…"

"What have I done? I must stop this before it's too late!" Zack yelled, bursting into the room. "STOP! IN THE NAME OF BIRTH… control?"

Chocolate stopped licking Terra to take a look at the intruder. Terra on the other hand realized what her last sentences seemed to be building up too and almost blew up in a red hue.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, I thought we had gotten here in time for the good part…" Aerith lamented inside the crystal. "Nothing to see here girls." She dismissed various spirits of young girls that were watching with her.

"Ah, it was just the dog… nothing to do here!" He tried to make a dash for the exit, leaving a completely flustered Terra and a slightly confused Shin behind.

"Zack… don't make this worse than it has to be, just a friendly advice." Tifa told him as she blocked his way.

"Fine…" He walked up to them and carefully cut Shin's ropes, then Terra's. He then slowly backed away, quickly jumping behind Cecil, he had nothing to do with that, they wouldn't risk hurting him.

"Bartz wants you, Cloud and Cecil to go see Naminé, so let this poor fool be for the moment." Tifa explained.

"Okay… why?" Terra asked as she massaged her wrists, trying to get some blood flowing.

"Beats me."

While on the corridor Shin took Zack's side, pulling him from the center of the group.

"What was that about?" He asked in a low tone of voice.

"You know what that was about." Zack replied with a broad smile. "And it worked like a charm."

"Heh, prove it." Nothing had happened… right?

Zack's face was tainted by a cheek to cheek smile as he said in the calmest tone possible. "Either you or Terra could have just ripped through those ropes, even I Cuore could without magic. They were severely weakened by Edge, they would snap when you pulled them apart, provided you TRIED. Now I ask you, why didn't you?" And with that he accelerated towards the crowd.

"Well played…." Shin said dumbfounded as he looked at his hands. "Well played indeed."

"Why did you want to see us Bartz?" Terra asked the young freelancer, er mystic knight uh, Mime, whatever.

"Well Terra, we found out that Nam here can get your memory back!" He exclaimed, giving Naminé a slight push. She stumbled forward nervously and nodded.

"What memory?" Unless they meant…

"The one of the war!" Zidane exclaimed. He tried to remain cheerful, even with Kuja lying down beside him completely motionless.

"And the best part is, it doesn't take more than a couple minutes!" Bartz finished excitedly.

"That's… interesting." Cloud was… curious about that "war" everyone was talking about.

"It might be an enormous asset for all of us." Cecil punctuated.

"I doubt that you will discover something I don't already know… but it is worth a try." Golbez finished

"But… are you sure you want too?" Naminé asked.

"Oh, don't give me that Nam, did something bad happen to us?" Zidane interjected, being quickly cut off by Naminé.

"Some…" She looked at Cecil. "Have a better past than… others." She tried to hide her glance over Cloud and Terra, to no avail.

"I'm used to that kind of crap…" Cloud told her.

"It's not THAT bad." Aerith said.

"On your standards… nothing's THAT bad."

"Phoey!" She spat at him.

"My life's never been easy… I can take it." Terra told Naminé resolutely.

"Okay, but be careful… I don't know how." She snapped her fingers and they were out like a light. But not only the ones she had planned though.

"Bartz! You alrigh…" Zidane fell on top of him, just as knocked out.

"Was this supposed too uhhh.. "Casualty number 3, Zack Fair.

"Are you al…" And Shin bit the dust.

"I doubt I'll stay awake for much longer…" Sure enough, Golbez leaned against the wall and slowly sat down, fast asleep, as if he knew what was happening.

"Naminé! What happened?" Lenna asked desperately.

"Whoever it was, it wasn't me." She replied, crouching besides the ones that shouldn't be asleep. "But they seem alright, in fact it seems they are in the same kind of coma… If they don't wake up with the rest, we'll think it over, I'm not that used to using my powers on an area, maybe I flopped." Nobody seemed entirely convinced, but she had another thing she had to take care of. "By the way, does anyone of you know what this is?" She reached out from her drawer to pull out a shinning blue stone.

"No way…" Aqua gasped as she entered the room. "Naminé, how did you get this?"

"Crono…" A faint voice called to him. Familiar, like a remnant of his former life. He woke up, sitting on the side of his bed and analyzing his surroundings. No one was there.

"Crono!" The voice grew stronger, as blue light filling the room. He didn't feel hostility from it, but he grabbed the Dreamseeker and slowly walked in the direction of that light.

"Are you seriously going to point a weapon at us?" Just as he turned the corner he could see it. The wrapped cloth he had brought with him from the end of time. The one heirloom of his world. He didn't know how it got there, but he found it near the Epoch, wrapped in the same cloth it was now. He never got around using it, it wasn't his…

"Yeah Crono! Aren't we pals?" Two yellow creatures appeared beside the item, tiptoeing in the same place.

"We are the wind!" One exclaimed.

"We are the legend!" The other exclaimed.

"Masa, Mune…" Crono called as he approached the two. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Of course we're safe, the sword's safe isn't it?"

"If you were… why didn't appear up until now? The sword had lost its shine, I thought that since Frog…" He stopped at the mention of his late friend.

"Glenn might have died Crono, and I'm not gonna lie, it hit us hard." Masa or was Mune? Anyway, one of them started.

"But we are here to honor his last request, we are sick of moping around." The other one finished.

"Last… request?" Crono stumbled at the thought, no, he wouldn't. Just then, a badge appeared out of nowhere and started floating in front of him.

"From Cyrus to Glenn and from Glenn to you, the hero's badge." Masa explained.

"And of course, who better to wield us, than the man who crossed time to repair us?" Mune finished.

"Together! MASA!" Masa started spinning around, approaching the mid terrain between him and Mune.

"MUNE!" Mune did the same, and has they collided in the middle, a sudden flash covered the room. Where both of them stood, a big, burly yellow creature was floating, flexing his arms in an over the top way.

"We are… Masa&Mune, MASAMUNE!" The creature shouted, the cloth around the sword burning as the sword of legends started floating in front of the giant. "And you Crono, and our wielder!"

"I'm no hero…" Crono dismissed, walking away from the fused being.

"Now that's where you are wrong." The being teleported itself in front of him. "Didn't Glenn tell himself the same thing? Didn't he loose what was most important to him, and suffer an humiliation beyond death? But YOU helped him back on his feet, that was his last wish, to get even with you."

Crono grimaced at it, it was true, he was being just like Frog was… "But, I'm no Frog…"

"Correct, you are better." The being replied with a burly laugh. "And I don't say this easily, it's almost an affront to my late masters, but you are the best swordsman I ever saw."

"Heh, I don't know where do you get all that trust…" Crono lowered his head and slowly started laughing. "But you're on!" And without a moment to spare, he grabbed the badge, pinned into his right side, turned around, grabbed the sword and the scabbard, threw the sword in the air as he tied the scabbard to his back, just to have it fall right into it, resting on his back.

"That's what I like to see, you're the Crono I know. Now, when you get to firm land, just make a pledge like Glenn did, just to seal the deal. Until then, go show off!" Masamune split into two light, both entering the sword.

"Showing off was never my style… but I'll make an exception this time." With a smile that seemed to have been lost forever on his face, Crono left the room and went to look for the others. "Somehow… someday… everything will be alright."

Terra instantly knew what Naminé meant. She was ready for bloodshed and death but not for what she saw. Just like her whole childhood, the place where she vehemently covered with her ribbon was again stained by that damned crown. She saw herself taking orders from him like a dog, worse even. She pummeled Firion, she beat down Yuna and she obeyed every single of Kefka's commands.

"I was… on their side. Again…" But then the rest of her memories started reappearing. She saw Kuja casting a spell on her, somehow freeing some of her freewill. She fought Vaan and regained even more, enough to say no to Kefka. She then remembered the time she passed with Vaan and how he promised to comeback for her. She had to admit, the teen reminded her a lot of Locke. She then saw herself standing alone against dozens of manikins just to stop them from reaching the Sanctuary. Then Cosmos recognized the good in her heart and let her be one of her warriors. Then her heart sunk. On the next cycle… Vaan wasn't there, Yuna wasn't either. She shook it off when she remembered that deaths weren't permanent on that battle. She was now paired with that kid, the Onion Knight. He was still an insufferable rascal at that point, something she would never tell in his face, mostly because she was different… she was so insecure. Obviously the lack of memories reverted her personality to the one at Narshe. She didn't like it.

"Oh, here comes my FAVORITE PART!" The esper exclaimed with glee. "Fine, I wasn't quite myself back there, but that's what being imprisoned for so long does to you." Just then she saw herself lose control of her esper form and destroy the kid. She was horrified, of because of how she was beating on him, but because she had never assaulted a friend.

"Why did you do this?" She shouted at the esper.

"I didn't, as I said, you know how espers can lose control when their emotions flare up, remember when you opened the door to the esper's world?"

"That was because it was the first time they entered the human world in long time and…"

"And they had a lot of hatred stored, right?"

"Right…"

"And remember, this was the first time I entered the human world in a long time. As a side note, I'm a rose with thorns girl, you can't just assumed I'm the same as you, I just didn't hurt your "friends" because it would be conter-productive, capiche?"

"Somehow, I doubt that, at least right now…"

"Shut up and watch the rest!" And the esper was gone. Terra was rubbing too much on her.

After waking up, rescued by the kid, she noticed that he had become a lot more… interesting. It's almost as if every man around her had "Locke syndrome". Maybe she looked like a girl that needed protection, but what mattered was that the kid became a much more hero-like figure. And then she saw Kefka putting his hand on her path again. She saw the Onion Knight sacrifice himself to save her, she saw her solo quest to find him, which seemed to end prematurely when her esper tried to take over. Luckily Cloud rescued her, and by rescue I mean accepting to be her personal punching bag. She traveled with Cloud and found Kefka and the boy, along with the Cloud. The rest was history. She received her crystal, she saw Cosmos's "death" she fought Kefka again, gaining a new perspective of him, maybe he was a monster, but he had some reasons to be one. Up until the fight with Chaos. It felt unfair. Everyone fought better than her, she just had a superior body. Managing to hurt Chaos while he was a giant almost felt like cheating. Finally, she remember when she was called once again, on the 20th cycle. Not much happened, she and her friends followed the instructions of the moogle that they discovered to be Cid, he explained much of how the world they were was only a dream and how they could escape it. Then she saw Feral Chaos. She never felt so useless. Esper or no Esper, she was just a rag doll on the monster's path. Then Vaan died and…

Splash. Terra felt all her body cool down as she fell onto cold water.

"Wha…?" She slowly lifted herself up and saw that she was in the Order's Sanctuary.

"It's okay guys, she's awake, we can start now." Surprisingly, Aerith helped her up, like she was… you know, alive.

"Start what?" Terra asked. She looked around to see Cloud and Cecil, expected. Bartz and Zidane, not so expected. And what the heck were Shin and Zack doing here?

"I can answer your questions…" A melodic voice, one that Terra immediately recognized as Cosmos resounded. "I may not be able to participate in this fight, but I'll do my best to help you succeed."

"Cosmos, I would question why you brought me here, but I'll jump right on to business. Are the crystals that we have gathered yours?" Terra hadn't even seen Golbez, but he was the one with the most opportune question.

"No… my crystals were, in a sense, a copy of those crystals. Your crystals are the "heart" of your world, as manifested by its champions. Their form is a representation of you, such as its powers." Just as Terra arrived at the crowd she noticed Cosmos was a mess. Her normally pure blond hair was unkempt and full of dirt, she appeared to have not slept for days, or at least was very tired, she probably didn't need sleep. She would have to ask why. But first.

"Their powers reflect ours?" Cloud asked, just before Terra could.

"It's amusing you of all people would ask that Cloud, your crystal is…" She looked at Aerith, who started giggling. "Unique."

"So my power is to summon a really clingy Ancient?"

"Did… did Cloud just tell… a joke?" Zack and Aerith were awestruck, but as much as they wanted to enjoy the moment, the conversation was serious.

"I…" Cosmos started coughing violently, as it subsided, she looked at her hand and quickly hid it from sight. "I might be able to hold you here for much longer, so I'll be quick. I don't know Cloud, I don't know what your crystals DO. You have to find them yourselves."

"How? We don't exactly have a map, or an instruction manual." Bartz pointed out, observing his crystal with one eye.

"Be yourselves, I can't say anymore."

"What about Cid, have you seen him?" Cecil asked.

"As a matter of fact, he has been here several times recently. He told me what he was trying to accomplish, but at the same time, he made me swear secrecy until he told me otherwise, my apologies. But do not doubt that he is on your side." Her eyes seemed to twitch as she shook her head.

"Cosmos, I can see you can't hold us here for much longer, why have you brought us here? It surely wasn't for "a talk"." Golbez was all business.

"I have three gifts for you. First, this." She signaled Bartz to come forth and handed him an orange crystal. "We all know how Squall can be, this teleport stone will send you to Esthar, use it to make Naminé return his memories before the ship arrives… he's in a troubled state, earning his trust could be difficult."

"Yes m'am!" Bartz grabbed it and joined Zidane where they started bickering.

"The second one is…" Cosmos lifted her hand, with it all the crystals surrounded her, she muttered some incantations and then returned the crystals to them. "Now the crystals should shine if there is one in the same general direction. And finally, a sliver of information. You may not know who he is, you may even think of him as one of the ones that want to destroy the world, but inside the net of chaos, there is still a warrior that fights for us."

"Who?" Terra asked.

"Deep down, you know." Cosmos told her before starting to cough again. "I'll have too… let you leave now… But first… thank you Zack, for keeping the crystal safe."

"Dawwww, don't mention it." Zack playfully replied, even then flirting with her.

"And Shinryu… Everyone makes mistakes, don't martyr yourself over them."

"Not to be rude Cosmos, but I really don't care about my so called mistakes anymore, they aren't mine, I'm just helping to fix them." Shin replied in the most respectful tone he could muster.

"I was not talking to you Shin." Cosmos said weekly.

"Oh… sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, you've done a lot, to fix things that no one would hold against you, I'm grateful." Then they started to fizzle out as Cosmos had a serious attack of cough. This time she couldn't hide it, she was coughing blood. "Now we must part, until next time… my warriors."

"Are you sure Elfé?" Shin could hear Aqua ask. He slowly got up to see Elfé sitting in a table with a magnifying lens, analyzing what seemed to be a big blue chunk of metal.

"I can't be sure, I never saw a truly purified one, but this is by far the most pure I ever saw. Not that this comes easily, but even if I hadn't seen one before, just looking at it makes it obvious."

"What are you talking about?" Shin asked, getting closer to the center of attentions.

"You all sure took your time." Luso said.

"Yeah, I mean, now we'll have to explain what is this, all over again." Adele just pouted and took a seat.

"Well, you see, Lezard seemed to be investigating a pile of metal like this back in his lab, one day, he left them in my room, so I took one and hid it on my dress just before elaving, I don't know if it'll be any help, but…" Naminé was in the middle of her explanation just before the piece of metal bolted from the table in the door's direction. Grabbing it was Cid Lufaine.

"One hundred percent pure Orichalcum… Never thought I'd lay my eyes on a piece of metal like this. But this is strange, due to radioactive decaiment it should be impossible for metal this pure to exist on this day and age… unless…" He said as he stroked his beard, his deep blue eyes completely fixated on the piece of metal. "If we could find a smith that could work this…and a bigger supply… anything made from this would cleave Omega in half easily, left in the right hands. Pity no smith alive can do it." He slowly sent the rock floating towards the table and turned back into the portal he had come from. "But hope is the last to die, isn't it?" Just before anyone could interfere, he vanished into it.

"Did he just come here to tell us that?" Shin thought out loud.

"Seems so… but for now, let's think on our next step, it's obvious that this metal is something important, and may open a path towards our end goal, but for now, and until we can get a suitable amount, let's focus on sending Naminé to Esthar." Cecil advised, much to Naminé's surprise.

"Huh? Me?" She asked nervously.

"Yeah, we need you to get Squall's memory back!" Bartz exclaimed.

"No time to explain, up up and away!" He grabbed Naminé and Bartz and activated the crystal, god knows how he knew how to do it.

"Take me with you!" Edge shouted, jumping towards the group as an orange light surrounded them, the four disappearing in a orange colored blast.

"EDGE!" Rydia shouted as she entered the room. "Not another word." She warned as she left the room with a dark aura around her.

"She and dad had a disagreement." Cuore explained.

"Thank god she was taken…" Zack mumbled to himself.

"I must say, that was an interesting tale, I trust you left nothing out?" Xehanort asked, still trying to digest what he had just heard.

"I have no reason to lie Xehanort, you only leave the Void if I choose." Enuo said in an almost threatening manner, of course anything he said would threaten most people.

"But I'm too valuable to keep here, isn't that right?" Xehanort asked smugly. The incandescent yellow orbs closed for a second, only to reopen and simply stating.

"Yes."

"As I thought, now, would you hear my proposal?" If only he could pull this off, it was a guaranteed victory.

"I am listening."

"This is going to be way too easy." Bartz and the others had landed on Esthar, it was night, enough said. A team that consisted of the king of ninjas, an highly proficient one and a master thief could enter anything at night.

"Still, how do you know where to go?" Edge asked, he seemed to be relaxed, one would be if he had gotten rid of a life and death situation, this was going to be a stroll for him now.

"Like this!" Zidane excitedly extended his arm, holding his crystal, and slowly started to rotate. Sure enough, partway through the crystal started pulsing. "that way!" He exclaimed, jumping to a nearby roof.

"Get on princess, Uncle Edge airlines, last call."

"Thank you." Naminé climbed onto Edge and they were off.

"This is it huh?" Bartz and the gang were all standing on the roof next to the Presidential residence. Using his crystal, Bartz pinpointed the window were Squall was. "That one." He pointed out.

"Mid length brown hair and about one point eighty meters tall?" Edge asked, much to Bartz's and Zidane's surprise. "Skills of the trade boys, he's also asleep… do you really need me here?"

"We could send you back to the ship." Zidane bluffed.

"You wouldn't!"

"Don't try my hand." Sure enough, Edge immediately shut up.

"Fine, but let's do this my way." He said, grabbing a smoke bomb.

"What are you going too…" before he could finish, the smoke bomb exploded and he felt himself be pulled at an amazing speed. Between the jumps, the changes of altitude and the sudden bursts of speed he was sure he was going to hurl, but it didn't last for long, when he regained awareness he had been thrown into the carpet. When he managed to get back to his feet he saw Edge putting back one of the window's big, quadrangular pieces. "How did you do this so fast?"

"I've been a ninja for thirty-five years kid, I know my stuff. Now Princess, do your thing." He laid down Naminé right next to the unsuspecting Squall, nothing could go wrong, could it?

"Hey Zidane, check it out!" Bartz exclaimed with a… baby on his lap?

"Wow! Is it Squall's?" Zidane tried to get a better look at the baby, but just getting near it screwed him over. The baby woke up, crying and bawling as it was being kidnapped. This was enough to wake Squall up.

"Who are yo…" Edge quickly applied pressure on his shoulders with one knee and one arm, silencing him with his spare hands.

"Naminé, now!" He exclaimed.

"Damn Zidane, you're so ugly even a baby cries when it sees your face!" Bartz joked.

"Well, why don't we put a smile on yours?" Zidane replied playfully as he reached for his dagger. Bad move.

Just then, the door shot open, Seifer and Rinoa entering to see a complete stranger holding the baby, as another reached for a dagger and a cloaked man holding Squall down as a small girl touched his head.

"Huh… we can explain?"

Next Chapter:

"Dissidia's best team is back!"

"I was hoping it held out for a while longer…"

"It's not the sword that makes the owner, it's the owner that makes the sword!"

Post-Chapter Note: Crono's officialy not emo anymore, I replayed Crono Trigger during the Winter Break, and it bugged me how I had portraited him, even if he WAS a silent protagonist, so there. R&R.