The Quest: In the Name of Friendship

by UkyoRafa

COMPLETE! A story about friends who are separated by the dark menace of the Heartless, and about their struggle against this dark force. Will they ever meet each other again? Crossover KH, Ranma 12, Final Fantasy VII, Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, etc...

37. Chapter ThirtySix: England's Undead

Hi, guys. It's been a really long time, eh? I'm really sorry about that... :(

The thing is, like I said in my last review/note, that this semester completely assassinated my social life, free time, and fun. Really, it's the worst I've had so far.

Either way, it's time for the good news; I made it. This freaking semester is over! I've never longed so much for vacation in my entire life! And now I'm free! So, back to writing:)

I'm going to write like mad and try to finish the story before the next semester comes along. I thought I'd be done by July, but I wasn't so lucky... That and the fact that chapters always turn out longer than I initially expect them to (I thought I'd finish this one in 40 pages or so... turned out to be 60 pages long). I'll finish it before next year, that's for sure, but I don't know exactly when. Whatever the case, I've got another four, perhaps five more chapters planned... then that's it.

Lastly, before we go on with the story, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all of my friends at the Engineering Campus. I wouldn't have made it without your support, guys. I especially want to thank Antonio and Javier – but most of all, I want to thank Adrián; without him, I would've gone down like a ton of bricks. I want to thank him for enduring me all this time, for being so patient with me, for helping me always. Thanks for everything, my friend!

Okay, now, on with the story. Enjoy:)

Chapter Thirty-Six: England's Undead

Narrator: Ryu

The trip had really felt eternal. From the moment we had set foot on the Gummi ship, I had felt a great tension among us. I hate to say it like this, but the source of it was Cid, no doubt. He had been restlessly complaining about us persuading the others to let Sephiroth join the party. Of course, since I had been the one that had defended him the most, I was the one most yelled at. Ken, Sakura, and Aeris tried to calm him down constantly, yet the pilot was, so to speak, inconsolable...

I learned a lot of nasty stuff about our new ally, thanks to him and to two of our other companions: Aeris and Tifa. I already knew Sephiroth had been a murderer in the past... Yet I had no idea of the things he had done to my friends (save for Aeris's experience)...

"Do you think I want to go along with him?" cried Tifa to some of Cid's many words of anger. "Do you really think I'm happy about traveling with the man that killed my father? Do you think I don't want to beat him down and smash his head with my foot? Because if you do, then you must think I'm some sort of crazy masochist, Cid! Of course I hate Sephiroth; of course I want him to go away, to die, even! But if he guides us to Ansem so we can end this and go back home, then it'll all be worth it!" The arguments went on and on.

Ken, Ryoga, and Sakura tried not to involve themselves in the fights, but only Leon and Morrigan truly succeeded in doing this. They never said a word about the matter, not even the slightest opinion. I suppose that was the smartest thing to do. If they had said even a word about the topic, Cid would've surely dragged them into one of those heated discussions.

I tried to do what they did. I failed, however, since Cid's insults and scolds were directed to me. I always replied calmly and tried to end the argument as quickly as possible, but he had his way of making things difficult. In the end, Ken constantly had to escort me into another room so I would calm down, while Tifa, Aeris, and Sakura told Cid to quit his rampage. I couldn't wait to get to Never Land, really.

Thankfully, things started to quiet down as we approached our destination. In just a mere six hours, we would get to this world and would disembark. I really needed to get away from Cid for a while. I've always been a calm person but, as I've said, it was a bit hard to be patient around the furious pilot. Well, I couldn't exactly blame him. His friends had suffered much because of the villain that had turned into our companion. I suppose you can't be very mad at someone who only wants to protect his friends.

Either way, it wouldn't be long before we landed. I hadn't slept much and I felt a bit tired. I was starting to get a bit sleepy, something strange in me, actually. We were in the room next to the cockpit and I was sitting down next to my companions. I was quietly beginning to shut my eyes...

"Ryu, you look beat." Leon pointed. "Why don't you get some rest before we disembark?"

"Yeah, man, you look like you could use some sleep." Ken added.

"It's likely we'll do a lot more fighting in Never Land." Cid intervened. He hadn't sounded mad, but his voice had been dry nonetheless. "Get some sleep. We'll need your help down there."

"Okay, if you guys say so." I muttered and headed for a quiet room on the ship.

"Night-night, Ryu." Sakura sweetly said as I passed by her side. I turned to her and smiled without saying a word.

I really couldn't believe I felt so tired. I've always been a traveler and I've always enjoyed fighting strong opponents. I'd been doing exactly that alongside my friends for a long time, now. That's what came natural to me, so to speak. Why was I feeling so tired all of a sudden? I pondered upon this for a short while and soon came to the conclusion that this had been my greatest adventure yet. I'd had many thrilling voyages in the past, but none as amazing as this. I'd fought fierce, lethal opponents with all my might; I'd laughed at the merry words of all my friends, new and old, and I'd wept at the death of the young man who had been my student, even if for a short while. Whatever happened, this adventure would remain in my heart for the rest of my life. In the end, I've had too much excitement. Perhaps even too much for my still frail, inexpert body to handle it. Maybe that's why I was tired...

I was about to enter the room when I suddenly stopped as I heard a sound coming from inside… Sobs. I froze as my hand closed about the doorknob. I knew that Aeris was inside and that she was crying. I didn't know whether to stay outside and wait for her to calm down or to go to her and try to comfort her. The thing is, I don't think I'm very good at soothing people, even though Ken and some others say otherwise...

Well, whatever the case, I decided to trust their beliefs. With a deep breath, I opened the door and came face to face with a tearful Aeris. I realized she was just about to exit the room...

"What's wrong?" I asked kindly, pretending that I hadn't heard her before. "Have you been crying?"

"I..." she began but found no words. I quickly entered the room, closed the door behind me, and locked it. "I..."

"It's okay." I said. "Come on, tell me what's wrong."

"I... I'm so afraid, Ryu..." she confessed and her face was filled by pain.

"Afraid?" I muttered. "What do you mean? What do you fear?"

She didn't answer. She turned around and sat on the bed. I sat next to her and patiently waited for a reply, yet she uttered no word.

"What are you afraid of?" I repeated, as softly as I could.

"...Dying." she acknowledged, at last.

"Are you afraid of Sephiroth?" I ventured to ask.

"No, it isn't about him."

"...You miss Wilheim, don't you?"

"Of course I do. As much as you do, I'm sure... but it's not about that, either."

"Then what? Tell me."

She buried her face in her hands and sobbed quietly. It took her a bit more time to answer this...

"It's because of what Sephiroth said." She murmured and before I could say anything, she quickly added: "Don't get me wrong. I'm not afraid of getting killed by him again. I know that Cloud won't allow it, and neither will Link. Especially Link. But... he said that, when Ansem dies, he'll go too... He's bound to him in life and death... Do you think my life is bound to this quest too, Ryu?"

"That's what's bothering you?"

"I was dead before all of this. And it's not like I was in a bad place or anything... but now that I've found my true love... I'm afraid I'll never see him again." She paused for a moment and let out a long, sad sigh. "That's not all. Suppose I don't die. What if I can't go back to Hyrule with him or if he can't come to our world with me?"

I confess that at the moment, I had no idea of what to say to her, how to comfort her. I had never thought of that. And it was a dreadful consideration. What if she vanished from the worlds when all of this ended (if we indeed concluded our quest, that is.)? What if she was just... an illusion came to life by the tragedy that bound us all? My heart beat fearfully at the thought of seeing her dissolve into thin air... I knew it was likely that I would never see her again, but I always thought that she would live.

I then wondered if anyone else had thought of that. Had it possibly occurred to Link that, if we did vanquish the evil we were seeking to destroy, it was likely that he would never see Aeris again? Be it by her death, by his return to Hyrule or by her arrival to her home world, they would by parted. The idea of it nearly made my heart freeze with ice of sadness.

And to think that I was about take a peaceful nap.

Seeing that I was unable to say anything to console her, she moaned softly and began to cry more desperate tears. I quickly put my arm around her and caressed her gently as she let her head rest on my shoulder. I had to tell her something before she would crumble.

"It's okay, Aeris." I muttered. Of course, it didn't help much.

"How can it be okay?" she replied, trying to get away from me, yet I didn't let her. She promptly gave up and kept holding on to me. "I don't want to die, Ryu. I'm so scared... I don't know what I could do!"

"I don't know how, but..." I interrupted as I finally thought of something intelligent to say. "We won't let that happen. Neither of us will let that happen. I promise. I'll give my life to save you if it comes to it. I'd die for any of you."

That seemed to calm her down a bit. Her sobs became softer as she squeezed my hand with hers. But I still had some things to say.

"And even if you did... die... it's not like it's going to stay like that forever. Remember Gabrielle, Aeris? Ukyo told us she could be powerful enough to bring Wilheim back to life if her powers return to normal. And that will surely happen when we beat Ansem. So, even if it comes to that, we'll make sure Gabrielle revives you. I'll rummage around every corner of Earth as long as there's strength in my feet to find her. I swear to you that you'll be alive and well."

She raised her head and looked at me with her pretty, green eyes and then she smiled sweetly.

"And Wilheim..." she whispered.

"And Wilheim." I repeated after her, firmly, nodding my head. "Yeah, he'll come back to life... no matter what Sephiroth says."

"Yeah..." she wiped her tears off her face and let out another long sigh, only that this one seemed to be a relieved breath. "...And if comes to it, now that I think about it... if Wilheim does come back to life and Siegfried dies because of that... then look for Gabrielle too. I'm sure that, out of all of us, Wilheim would've wanted to be next to Siegfried the most."

"Of that I'm sure." I agreed.

"Thanks, Ryu." She said, her smile growing calmer and tenderer.

"That's what I'm here for." I said. I remained silent for a few moments as a thought suddenly attacked me. "So... about Sephiroth... you're okay with it? You're not mad at me or anything for standing up for him?"

"Don't be silly!" she hastily replied, laughing sweetly. "Somehow, I trust him. I don't think he'll try to harm me or any of us, for that matter. Besides, I know you wouldn't let anyone come near me if you know he would hurt me, would you?"

"Absolutely not." I said firmly. "I don't want to put any of you in danger. Although Cid seems to think otherwise..."

"As funny as it may sound, I'm actually grateful to him for looking out for me like that. Though it isn't the best way of doing so..."

"Yeah, he keeps getting on my nerves."

"I'll talk to him." She said. "And this time, I'll put out the fire no matter what."

"I really appreciate that..."

"It's okay. You helped me too, Ryu. You're really good at it, even though you think otherwise."

"Are you a mind reader?" I asked, with a smile.

"No, but it's not hard to figure that one out." She replied, giggling. "I'm sorry. I suppose you wanted to rest, huh?"

"It's okay. I can always go to another room..."

"I was about to leave when you came in, remember?" she said. "I'm still thinking about doing that. Besides, I've got to talk to Cid." She started to walk to the door but suddenly stopped. She turned and gave me a sweet hug. I held her tenderly and kissed her cheek. "Thanks a lot, Ryu. You did help me a lot. I'm not kidding."

"Yeah, I can see that." I said, happy to see her smiling and without tears in her eyes. "Why don't you talk with Link about this? I'm sure he'll comfort you much better than any of us."

"I don't want to worry him with all of this..." she began.

"Chances are he's already thought about this too." I ventured to say, even though I wasn't sure of that. "My point is that you should try to comfort each other. Because if he's thought about this, then he's probably as worried as you were."

"...Good point." She murmured.

"Either way, try not to worry about it much. Like I said, I promise I won't let it happen." She squeezed me gently and let out another happy chuckle. I then sighed and said: "Okay... I'm going to get some sleep now. I want to be in good shape by the time we reach Never Land. I want to be strong enough to take on the Heartless as usual."

"Okay, then." She said. "I'll let you rest for a while. And thanks again."

"Stop thanking me so much. That's what friends are for, Aeris."

"Thanks anyway." She repeated, and left the room while giving me one last grateful glance. Then I found myself alone in that room.

"She's very pretty." I said to myself. "Link is a lucky man. I wonder if I'm destined to find someone...? Oh, well. Maybe when I finally finish my training. I still have much to learn." I mumbled and lied down on the soft bed. I closed my eyes and dozed off almost immediately...

(Change of scene)

"Hey, Ryu! Get up, will you? We're already on Never Land!"

Cid's voice had roused me. Surprisingly, I had sensed no anger in it whatsoever. In fact, he had sounded quite friendly. I suppose Aeris had already managed to calm him down. I smiled happily as I let out a yawn and got to my feet. Few were the times I had slept so soundly. I guess I had really been too tired.

"Ryu!" Ken cried as he came into the room. "Are you awake already?"

"Yeah, I'm up." I replied. "Man, that was a really good nap."

"Should've been a good 'nap', man. You slept almost six hours." He replied. "Either way, you look like a new man."

"Thanks for that."

"Any time, my clueless friend." He snickered. "Come on, let's get off this ship."

"Okay."

We exited the ship and joined the rest of our friends. It seemed to me that some of them were expecting some sort of a welcoming committee, for when we found ourselves alone in that strange but beautiful land, they sighed in disappointment.

"This is a real shame." Merryck mumbled. "A real shame... I thought Will, Peter and the Lost Boys would greet us."

"Come on, Merryck, it's not like they were expecting us to come here anytime soon, I should think." Cloud said. "I'm sure they'll be here at any moment. No doubt they spotted the ships."

"Well, I could very well do without their company." Sephiroth grumbled.

"Jeez, how touchy can you get?" Felicia intervened. There were a few laughs, yet they quickly quieted down as Sephiroth growled mutely and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Now, now, calm down, Sephiroth. We don't want to greet our hosts with long faces, do we?" Cloud snickered.

"Is there any way to shut you up?" he asked, gritting his teeth.

"Not as long as you live."

"Hey... there they are!" Tifa exclaimed as she looked at the skies and waved her arms. I turned my head up and gasped in awe.

Above us flew a great, majestic dragon, followed closely by a young boy clad in green. Both of them waved back at Tifa and smiled. I supposed those two were Will and Peter Pan. They quickly descended to the ground, with happiness in their eyes. The boy crowed like a proud rooster and Seyia, Merryck, and Tifa mimicked him merrily.

"Welcome back, my friends!" Will boomed. "I am glad to see you again... And so many of you!" but then, his eyes met Sephiroth's, as did Peter's. There was great disbelief in their faces for a few seconds, yet they were soon filled by uncontrollable rage... Man, I stupid were we... we should've seen that coming. "How is he alive!" the dragon bellowed as an aura of magical power engulfed him and as Peter hastily unsheathed his dagger.

"Whoa! Hold on!" Merryck quickly cried, raising his hands and placing himself between them and Sephiroth. "Please, wait a second, friends!"

"What are you doing, Merryck?" Peter shouted, desperately. "Get out of the way!"

"Has he bewitched you?" Will demanded. "Step aside, comrades! I will free you from this vile creature's curse right now!"

"Will, come on, dude, chill!" Cloud exclaimed, joining Merryck. As surprising as it may sound, we soon found ourselves all standing in front of Sephiroth, defending him. After all, the dragon did seem pretty menacing... What twists life takes, huh?

"What in God's name are you doing!" Will roared.

"Listen to what we have to say before you do anything rage, please!" Tifa pleaded.

"This is so pathetic." Sephiroth suddenly said. He made his way through all of us and faced both Will and Peter. "I don't need any bodyguards looking over me. Here I am! If you want to kill me, here I am! You will never get a better shot. I'm dead anyway. Go on, dragon! Breathe fire onto my body and watch me twirl in agony if that's what you want! Sink your blade in my heart, boy, and kill me if you desire so! What are you waiting for?"

This challenge took the dragon and the boy completely by surprise. They quickly comprehended Sephiroth, although still full of hatred, wasn't meaning to battle them. Slowly, Peter Pan sheathed his dagger and crossed his arms across his chest, while Will looked at him mistrustfully and thoughtfully...

There was a long, uneasy silence in which all of us kept our eyes on the fierce dragon, not knowing what he would do. Yet just then, Sora took a step forth and spoke.

"Will, right?" he muttered. "Listen... Wilheim told me a lot about you and Peter Pan. He said you were reasonable... Please, just hear me out, okay?" he let out a sigh and went on. "None of us like Sephiroth very much. And I don't want him to get offended by that, it's just the way it is: I'm just being honest. But he came to us with no intentions of harming us."

If I may say so, again we failed to mention the little battle between Sephiroth and Ukyo. As before, it would've only made matters worse.

"He says that Ansem, the Heartless' leader, revived him and tried to force him to work for him. He refused and Ansem took away his powers. If Ansem dies, he will too. He wants to help us find Ansem and beat him: that'll be the only way for him to be at peace with himself. That's why I don't think he's thinking about betraying us..."

"You are the Keyblade master, are you not?" the dragon asked, his voice was soft.

"Yeah... My name's Sora."

"The pirates spoke a lot about you in the past." He said. "And because of the things they said, I trust your judgment." He let out a long, loud breath and relaxed his tense muscles. "I will not harm him. Yet I will not, for one second, take my gaze off him."

"We weren't expecting anything like that, Will." Cloud intervened. "We aren't planning on doing that, either."

"I guess we'll have to do it your way, guys." Peter mumbled, not too happy with the situation, I should think. He then began to look at each and every one of us. He stopped after a few seconds and ventured to ask what we all knew either of them would ask sooner or later. "Speaking about Wilheim, where is he?"

"Peter Pan?" intervened Siegfried, as he walked towards him and Will. "Will?"

"Yes?" they both answered.

"My name's Siegfried." Our friend said. "I'm Wilheim's best f... I mean, his younger brother." He took a deep breath and explained: "I'm sorry to say this, but I'm afraid Wilheim died."

"What?" the dragon and the boy gasped.

"We lost him at Hollow Bastion." Camille said. "The very place where the Heartless took the Princesses of Heart. He gave up his heart to save his beloved... We all mourned him much. His death has been quite difficult to bear."

"He died to save me." Ukyo quickly added. "But don't feel too sad yet, guys. I've got a feeling we'll see him again... At least that's what I want to believe."

Again came a long silence. The dragon and the boy barely nodded, but managed to say no word. It had all happened to fast, I guess. They weren't expecting to hear one of us had died... I suppose they wanted to hear more details, to listen to the full story. But before that, there was something we had to do. I still hadn't forgotten our purpose. And so I cleared my throat loudly so everyone would turn to me and pay attention to what I had to say.

"Listen... Will... Peter Pan... We'll let you know all about it later. I know you guys want to know more about it, yet now is not the time. I take it you know that the Keyblade master has the ultimate weapon against the Heartless. Sora is the only one who can seal the keyholes and end with the menace of the Heartless in the worlds. He's the only one who can weaken Ansem... To do that, we need to find the keyhole in this world and seal it."

"Ryu's right." Vincent declared. "We have to find that keyhole as soon as possible. We need you to help us look for it, or better yet, to take us to it if you already know where it is."

"A... A keyhole?" muttered Peter, still too shocked about the grave news we'd just given him.

"Yeah, a keyhole." Dante said. "Just like it sounds. There's no great science to it... except that armies of foes can come out of them."

"Well... we have been getting random visits of the Heartless from time to time..." Will confessed. But before he went on, he had to know. "Was he in pain?"

"Wilheim?" Demean replied. "Will, my name is Demean. You have met Tish before." As he said this, the fairy gently nodded at the dragon. "I was with him when it happened. There was fear in his eyes at first. Nevertheless, valor triumphed and he died like a man."

"Enough about our deceased friend." Octavius interrupted. "We shall see him again someday. Yet now there are more important matters at hand. It is imperative that we begin our attack on the Heartless, lest we want to have another fierce battle on our hands."

"I understand your point." Will said, letting out a sigh. "Very well, then. But I am afraid to say we have not seen anything that resembles a keyhole in this place."

"Yeah..." Peter added. "I know Never Land like the palm of my hand and I've been flying about every corner of it since the Heartless arrived, searching for their hideouts and stuff. I still haven't seen anything similar to a keyhole."

"Then it could be somewhere else." Tish ventured to guess. "Perhaps there is another place near Never Land where we could look?"

"Um... I don't think so. Except..." Peter mumbled, thoughtfully.

"Yes?" We urged.

"Maybe it could be somewhere in London." He said, doubtfulness in his words. "You know, where Wendy came from. I dropped her off a few nights ago with her brothers. Maybe she can tell us."

"London?" Ranma cried. "The whole city? You mean we're going to have to look for one Keyhole in a whole city? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Come on, Ranma. We've had worse..." Akane murmured.

"You speak of London as if it were the largest city in all of the worlds." Octavius intervened. "Clearly you have never been to Mexico City. Now that is truly an endless sea of buildings and lights, where the horizon hides behind rows and rows of bricks and cars."

"No, I've never been there, but with any luck, we'll get to visit during our journeys." Ranma replied with a sarcastic voice.

"London, eh?" I murmured. "And exactly how are we supposed to get there?"

"Well, it's easy. We just have to fly there." Peter answered.

"...Surely that's easy for you, kid." Ken replied. "You're floating in midair. But what about those of us who don't exactly know how to hover, huh?"

"Everyone can fly! All you have to do is think a happy thought and... Oh, yeah! Tink! Where are you!" the boy called all of a sudden.

"A happy thought?" Ken mumbled in a low voice. "Jeez... I don't know what this kid's been smoking, but it's definitively not the same thing Cid's inhaling."

"Shut up, Ken!" Yuffie snapped in a low voice, yet I saw that she was struggling to hold back her laughter.

"See? That wasn't so bad. I got you your happy thought, eh?" my friend chuckled.

"I can't stand you!"

"Ah, here she is!" Peter announced. He then flew left and let us see the being he had called: a little fairy with short, golden hair and a splendorous glow similar to that of Tish's, although not as ancient or as wise.

"Well, I finally got to meet my colleague." Our fairy giggled. "I could not seize the opportunity last time..."

"Tinkerbell says she's glad to meet you all." Peter said. "Oh, by the way, don't bother trying to understand her. I'm the only one who knows what she talks about."

"Pay heed to that, my friends." The dragon said. He let out a long sigh and stepped forth. I could see in his eyes that he was still somewhat troubled. Nevertheless, Octavius had been right: now was not the time to talk about that. "All you fellows need is a bit of pixie dust to fly. Those of you who cannot think of any happy thoughts may ride on my back..." he silently eyed Sephiroth, hoping, I suppose, that he would manage to think something, anything that would make him fly, whatever it would be.

"Think about a happy thought?" Sora said. "That's easy! I've got lots of them!"

"I don't think it's that hard." Donald added, with a dreamy smile. I take it he was thinking about his companion, Daisy...

"That's the easiest thing we've had to do yet!" Goofy laughed.

"I'm ready for my pixie dust ration!" Felicia declared.

"Take a deep breath, Tink... it looks to me that these guys are ready to soar the skies!" Peter said, taking a hold of the little fairy by her wings. He gently shook her and golden dust fell from her body. He flew about us and spread the dust on us. It wasn't difficult for me to find my happy thought... And to tell the truth, I found lots of them, many of them related to this adventure and many others linked to my former journeys.

I thought about my many sessions of training with Ken when we were practicing martial arts under the watch of master Gouken. I especially remembered that one time when he gave me the red bandanna I always wear. I thought about the many tournaments I had entered and all of the friends I had made there (as well as enemies, but that was really unimportant at that moment). I recalled all the great moments our group had had... My mind returned to the friendly tournament we held on the Coliseum of the Olympus when we arrived there for the first time. I had been very excited back then. I remember my fight with Leon... I'm sure he didn't fight with his full power. I can't tell why, though, but anyway...

And I also remembered Shun, that little boy who thought he was my little brother. No, I mean, my little brother. I thought about all the happy moments he, Ken, and I had shared. I recalled his specialty, pork with beans. Man, that was tasty food... Although I missed him terribly, I didn't think about his passing. Just the fun we had had together and how he had looked up to me. And it was then, just as the image of his face appeared on my head, that I began to float.

My friends gasped in surprise as they found themselves floating beside me as well. Then we began to laugh. I had never felt a sensation such as that one before in my entire life! I think that there hasn't been a single person who hasn't dreamed about flying. And there I was! Even Octavius had thought of something, for he flew too!

Of course, not all of my friends needed the little fairy's dust to fly. Morrigan and Camille could very well fly on their own, as well as Tish... In the end, all of us were flying, except for one person. I suppose you can guess who that was.

"I feared this would happen." Will sighed. "Very well, then. I shall carry you on my back. Yet do not think for once that I will not be wary."

"I didn't think you would." Sephiroth replied coldly as he hoped on the dragon's back.

"Okay, then. Let's go to London already!" Peter urged. I could see excitement in his eyes; I'm not sure if it was either the sensation of having a new adventure or the urge to see that Wendy girl again. "Let's hurry up. We'll be there in no time!" and so he was off.

We soared across the seas of Never Land and flew up, up into the starry sky. Soon, a thick fog covered the waters of Never Land and then they vanished. There was a moment of uncertainty in which the fog only allowed us to see Peter's shape traveling forth without stopping. We followed him and Will without question. The moment soon came to an end and we found ourselves flying high above the streets of London. I felt a strange sensation all of a sudden, as if I was about to fall onto the ground, yet then I remember Tinkerbell's magical dust. Some of my friends couldn't help but to let out a cry of fear and surprise.

"Oh, crap!" Ken exclaimed. "Oh, man...! I never thought I'd see that city from this height without being inside an airplane and without a parachute in my back..."

"Lucky us, that we have invisible wings, my friend!" Demean cried with a laugh.

"Wait a second! Be quiet, guys!" Felicia said. Her ears moved forth for a moment and then she smiled, claiming: "I can hear the Big Ben!"

"If that is a bell tolling then I can listen to it as well!" added Link.

"Oh, yeah! That comes from the clock tower!" Peter exclaimed. "Come on, I'll take you there if you want!"

He flew faster than ever, with Will and Sephiroth right on his back. The rest of us, non-flying creatures, had a bit of trouble to catch up with him at first. Nevertheless, after a few moments, it appeared before us... the Clock Tower of London. It was still working, as breathtaking as ever.

Peter Pan landed right above one of the clock's four faces, while Sephiroth leapt off Will's back and landed near him. The rest of us quickly caught up with them and managed to stand on the tip of the tower. Except for Will, who still hovered in midair, making fierce drafts of air with every flap of his wings, we all stood right above Big Ben, I should think.

"Well, here we are." Will said. "This is truly a spectacular place. I never thought I would see a city of the sort."

"I've been here a couple of times." Ken said. "I picked up one or two fights, by the way. One of them was against this lady... you remember her name, Ryu? It sort of slipped off my mind."

"...Cammy?" I recalled.

"That's the one! Man, she was good. And hot. Though not as hot as Chun – Li, eh, Ryu?" my friend chuckled, elbowing my side. He knew I sort of had a weak side for Chun – Li, a woman as beautiful as they come, with incredible strength in his arms... and legs.

"...I guess so." I limited myself to reply.

"That is one story we will have to hear about later." Tish said. "But right now we have to find that keyhole and seal it. I can sense the evil of the Heartless about and it is making me feel uneasy. The presence I feel is more eluding and infinitively more powerful than the one we fought on Traverse Town."

"Don't worry on the elusive part, Tish." Felicia said. "After all, we have the Heartless-radar with us."

"I'm not a radar." Sephiroth growled. "And I'm a bit worried myself, too, because I can't exactly tell where the smell of this Heartless comes from. It seems to come from everywhere and nowhere, if you can tell my meaning."

"Yes and no." Morrigan said. "But either way, it sounds dangerous. We have to be on our guards."

"That is not all." Octavius added. "The city is almost void of humans. There some there, hiding fearful in their houses and in other places. But I smell other presences. And I am not exactly comfortable with them about." He ducked as he silently sniffed the air. "Yes, there they are. Here, there, all about. Those cursed undead... vampires."

"Vampires?" we all gasped. Siegfried gulped and then ventured to say in a low voice: "Of all the places..."

"Demean, did Wilheim have any acquaintances in London?" Ukyo asked.

"If my memory does not fail me, he did not meet any vampires here, but Magnus and Hommaph." The elf replied.

"Yeah, that's what I remember too." Ukyo sighed with a bit of anger and fright on her face.

"We do not have to worry much about Magnus, since he has already died." He went on. "And I very much doubt Hommaph would be here, in London. It is possible, yet not likely. One thing is certain, however. You are in danger, Ukyo."

"Me?" the girl asked. "Why me? What do you mean?"

"He is right." Camille added, snapping her fingers. "My dear, you carry Renamark."

"...Oh, damn." Ukyo murmured.

"Um, could you please explain what is going on to the rest of us, mortals?" Ranma asked. "I know that that sword is very powerful and all, but why is Ucchan in danger?"

"And who the hell is Hommaph?" intervened Siegfried. "Was he friends with my brother?"

"No way. Magnus and Hommaph forced Wilheim to do something terrible when he was here. But I don't want to talk about that now." Ukyo said. "The thing is, answering your question, Ran-Chan, that I'm in danger because Renamark is a very powerful weapon of the vampires."

"Oh, and you're not one of them..." Akane inquired.

"Well, that, and the fact that lots of vampires are after it. Wilheim said that he had to fight some of them when they came after him... and before him, his former owner was forced to kill many of them."

"Unlimited greed. How strange, to see that in a vampire." Octavius grumbled.

"Now, now, were-bear, we had already talked about this." Tish said.

"Besides, I sort of used to be one, you know." Siegfried added.

"Then I will keep my comments to myself." The were-bear said.

"Chill, Octavius! You're becoming almost as bitter as the Heartless-radar." Felicia said.

"I'm not a radar!" Sephiroth cried angrily while Cloud and some others laughed aloud.

"If there are vampires here, then let us hope they were friends with Wilheim." Demean said. "Otherwise, the Heartless will cease to be our only concern."

"Still... checking the streets of London one by one isn't exactly the best of ideas." Shun said. "It might take us forever."

"Perhaps we should wait until daylight." Hyoga suggested.

"The presence of the Heartless is way too strong." Ikki answered. "Maybe there is no day here. It could very well be a waste of time."

"Time is a luxury we don't have." Added Seiya. "I say we start looking for that keyhole now."

"I agree with Seyia and Shun." Leon said. "We have to start searching for the keyhole right away, and we should split up."

"I'm into that idea." Dante said. "But I say that we remain close to each other... mostly, we should remain close to Ukyo. If Demean and Camille are right, the vampires could strike at any moment."

"I hope you're wrong." Kairi said. "I'm not very fond of vampires."

"They're not all bad, Kairi." Sora mumbled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If that's how we're doing it, I'm going with Ukyo."

"So am I." Demean added. "I swore I would protect her at all costs. I intend to be true to my word."

"Let's hope you're all wrong, guys." Ukyo said. "I'm really not in the mood of fighting vampires."

"Neither am I." Siegfried sighed. "Aside from the fact that I was once one of them, I was ridiculously strong back then. I take it that I was nothing more than a cockroach compared to those guys."

"Don't feel that way, Mr. Siegfried." Merryck replied. "Even we, the 'weakest' of fighters, can do something well every now and then. Besides, you're strong. To tell the truth, I was quite amazed when..."

"There you go again, Merryck." Cloud chuckled. "Once you get going, there's really no way to shut you up, is there?"

"He's a little parrot, just like Wilheim." Yuffie added, with a giggle. The hobbit chuckled as well and remained silent.

We all remained quiet for a few more moments, looking at the streets of London. There was not a soul on sight. I had never seen something as creepy as that. Just to see such a big place, so empty, so silent, so dark can make your hair stand on end. I took a deep breath and tightened my headband. It was certainly just a matter of time before someone, anyone attacked us. I had to be on my guard...

"I sure hope that one of the vampires Octavius smells is Gustav." Ukyo said.

"That would be wonderful." Tish quickly agreed. "Let us hope he is here."

"Okay, time to get this over with." I declared. "Let's fly down there and find that keyhole."

"Since there are no men or women down there, I suppose it's okay for Will to come along, right?" Sakura inquired.

"I do not care if I scare people; my intention is not to harm them." Will said. "I am here to fight against the Heartless alongside you, friends, nothing more."

"That settles it, then, I guess."

"I'm gonna go and check on Wendy." Peter said. "You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up with you as soon as I see she's fine."

"Say 'hi' to her from us." Seiya said.

"Enough talk." Shiryu announced. "Come on. Let's go slowly and quietly."

It was a very long way down. Luckily, we reached the ground just in time before Big Ben started tolling again. I take it that would've made our eardrums explode. We looked at each other for a brief instant and nodded to ourselves as we all headed in different directions. Ukyo, Sora, Kairi, Siegfried, Demean, Tish, Octavius, Ranma, Akane, Shiryu, and Seiya took one of the roads to our right. I went down a center road, along with Ken, Hyoga, and Yuffie.

Keeping our eyes peeled and our senses sharp, we made our way through the dark street. There were just a few lights on, barely enough to let us know where we were going. Yuffie and Ken kept their eyes on the left while Hyoga and I scanned the right. There was nothing. No sign of the keyhole, of the Heartless, or of the vampires. Yet I could feel many presences. And what was most alarming was that sometimes they even approached us. And just when we thought they were going to pop out of the ground or behind a wall, they would simply go.

"They're toying with us..." Hyoga whispered. "They're beginning to get me very nervous. I'm one step away from blasting my Diamond Dust into the walls."

"Try to remain calm, Hyoga." I said. "That's probably just what they want us to do."

"I wouldn't know, Ryu." The saint replied. "I have never fought against a vampire before."

"Any bright ideas, Ken?" Yuffie asked.

"Kid, you know I'm not exactly the brains on the group." Ken answered. "At least not when it comes to how to fight an invisible opponent. Put me against a solid enemy and I'm your man, but otherwise..."

"I thought I was the best."

"Keep dreaming, girl."

"Stay focused, guys." Hyoga said.

We continued our search but found nothing. The street went on forever (at least at the pace we were walking), and the presences didn't seem to go. They kept harassing us silently. Hyoga seemed pretty nervous and mad, but Yuffie and Ken weren't very scared at all. As for me, I think that I was the one with the best chances of actually spotting something...

Yet suddenly, we froze on our tracks. A tremendously fierce howl filled the air about us. It had sounded like the wail of a wolf that chants to the full moon. It was then that we thought what was most logical to think, given that there were probably vampires all around us...

"Do you think there are were-wolves in here?" Yuffie murmured.

"It doesn't sound crazy." Ken said. "That doesn't sound crazy at all."

"Should we go see what that was? Or should we keep away?" Hyoga asked.

"Perhaps it would be better to let the... creatures of London be." I replied. "Although chances are we'll meet that thing anyways."

"Gee, thanks, Ryu. Now I'll know who to speak to whenever I'm scared." Yuffie growled.

"I'm not saying that to scare you, Yuffie. I'm just saying what I think will happen."

"Hence the statement, Ryu." Ken added. "Come on, let's quit wasting time."

We kept on walking through the dark street, but the cries of that being wouldn't let us be. The howls turned into menacing growls, fierce barks, and, from time to time, sudden yelps. It became clear to us that a battle was being waged. We soon came to a stop as our ears sharpened and listened to the fight more carefully. My alertness grew and I hastily realized something.

"There is a battle going on." I affirmed. "I can feel two great powers. And one of them seems to be fading."

"That's true." Hyoga added. "And the howls are getting weaker. That can only mean that our were-wolf is losing."

"Should we go and see what we can do?" Yuffie whispered in a frightened, yet curious breath.

"I don't think we should meddle in these affairs." I said. "Unless it would be the Heartless fighting, I think. But I don't sense any presence of the sort right now... Hold on a second..." I abruptly murmured as a third presence entered the fray. We heard loud yells of rage and felt how the newcomer engulfed herself in power. There was no doubt. We had all sensed such power before. "Oh, God! That's Felicia!"

"What the hell is she doing?" Ken gasped. "We have to go to her!"

"Let's go, then!" I cried and quickly started to run at the place where the battle was waged. I ran ahead of my companions with only one thought in mind: to save our friend.

But suddenly, I heard how my companions stopped running. I turned back and noticed they had been cut off by a large group of Heartless that had popped out of the ground. I hated them when they did that! I was about to throw myself at them when Ken raised his hand in the air.

"No, Ryu!" he cried. "We'll be fine, don't worry about us! You have to go and help Felicia!"

He was right. Her powers were beginning to diminish.

"Hurry up, Ryu!" Hyoga added. "We'll join you just as we finish beating these Heartless morons!"

"You're still here? Go!" Yuffie pressed.

"Okay! Good luck!" I answered and kept on going.

Felicia was no doubt giving the fight of her life. However, the other being battling her was too powerful and his strength wasn't waning, not even a little. It was as if her foe hadn't been touched by her at all, and knowing Felicia's quickness and power, that was very unlikely.

She must be fighting a vampire! I thought. That creature must be regenerating! That must be it! "Hold on, Felicia, I'm coming!"

They were just around the corner. The presence closer to me was that of the creature that my friend was fighting. With a speedy leap, I unleashed a powerful kick as soon as the wall at my side disappeared. I managed to hurt the being before I saw his face. He rolled over the ground and stood up a few steps away from us. Felicia quickly went by my side, breathing heavily. I could see she was wounded, yet she could still give battle.

"Are you all right?" I asked, concerned.

"I'm okay." She answered. "But this guy's power is amazing..."

"What?" unexpectedly cried the being I was now facing alongside the cat-woman. "Another one? This has got to be a joke! The world versus Adrian! I don't think it's funny, goddamn it!" his voice had been young, manly. And as I lay my eyes upon him, I no longer knew if I was facing a youthful enemy or an ancient adversary.

Just as I thought, the being in question was a vampire. I could tell from the magical glitter in his black eyes and the small but sharp fangs coming out of his mouth. He was tall and muscular and had long, lank dark hair. He wore a black coat, a black T-shirt, and black jeans. I expected that he would be wearing a pair of battle boots, but instead, he had comfortable, black sneakers on his feet. If his skin wasn't as white, he could've melded with the shadows about. In his hands, he held a razor-sharp sickle that shimmered as if it were a piece of moon. What surprised me most about him was his face: he looked so familiar and yet so unusual. I don't know exactly how else to describe him. But that wasn't all. Right across his nose, there was a large, angry scar that disappeared right by his cheeks. He must've gotten that while he was still I human, I supposed... And strangely enough, although his skin seemed soft and silky, it gave me the impression that he had fought more battles than any of us.

And just then, I discovered the vampire's former adversary. Again, we had been right: his opponent had been a were-wolf. His body was strong and tall and was covered by bluish fur, stained by his own blood. He only wore dark shorts and a red piece of cloth around his waist. I could see his sharp teeth behind his lips and a blue gaze that refused to let go of Felicia. I take it she had come to his aid. But the were-wolf had been beaten; there was no way he would give battle again any time soon without some healing spells or potions.

"Who's that?" I asked Felicia in a low voice, eyeing the were-wolf.

"That's Jon!" she answered.

"...Jon Talbain?" I muttered in a surprised breath. She had once talked about him with me.

"Yeah! He saved my life once... now it's time I returned the favor! I found this vampire beating him down! And I'm not going to let you kill him, do you hear me?"

"He, a were-wolf, saved the life of you, a cat-woman?" the vampire asked, seemingly confused. To be honest, it was a little hard to believe such a thing. "...Oh, well. Stranger things have happened."

"Get away from my friend, vampire!" I said menacingly, putting myself between him and Felicia. "Or I'll strike you down, you can count on that!"

"Hey, try to relax a bit." The vampire answered, quite calmly, I might add. "Either way, I've got a better deal for you both. You leave me the were-wolf and you get your butts out of here. This is none of your business."

"Jon is my friend, so this is my goddamn business!" Felicia cried.

"And Felicia is my companion." I added. "If she chooses to fight you, then I will join her. You should best leave, vampire, before we show you what we're really made of."

"So you really want to fight, eh?" the vampire murmured, his face turning serious and the grip on his sickly growing firmer. "First a were-wolf, then a cat-woman, and now a hunter. I'll have a lot to brag about if I make it..." and with that said, he raced at us with incredible speed. I barely had time to dodge his sharp weapon. I rolled over the ground and quickly got up to face him just before he took a swing at me again. But fortunately, I managed to evade his attack once more.

The vampire attacked with amazing speed and power. I instantly realized he might very well be the toughest opponent I had fought so far. At that moment, I really wished I could've seen Wilheim battle a bit more when he had been a vampire. I could've possibly thought of some strategy before the fight. But since that would never happen, I knew I had to come up with a plan right away before the vampire would cut my head off.

Felicia tried to come near us and take a swipe at him with her claws, but our opponent kept pushing her back with quick kicks. My friend didn't have the strength to evade them anymore, and the vampire knew this. Yet I wandered why he didn't go after her first if she was so weak. Perhaps it was his way of giving us just one last chance...

As the vampire tried to sink the blade of his sickle into my chest, I managed to grab his hands and threw him back as hard as I could, slamming his body against a wall. The foe twisted his body with ease and landed back on the ground without a scratch on him. This would certainly be harder than I had thought at first.

"Very good!" he said, sounding excited. It seems to me that he was a bit like myself: always thrilled to face strong opponents. But unlike him, I wasn't exactly fond of killing my adversaries... "I keep underestimating you, hunters. And I've told myself hundreds of times not to do it. Sometimes I can be stubborn, you know."

"Why do you call me hunter?" I asked.

"What, do I look like an encyclopedia to you? We're here to fight!" he answered, throwing himself against me once again. This time, Felicia successfully got in the way and knocked the vampire off his feet with a nimble kick. I leapt high into the air and tried to punch his back while he lay on the ground. But our opponent turned into mist and my hand passed right through his now ethereal body. He materialized himself right behind me and tried to cut me in half with his sickle. I rolled forward, getting only a superficial cut in my back. It could've obviously been worse.

Felicia took a hold of the vampire's sickle with her hands and struggled to take it away from him. As they thrashed about, I got up and readied myself to fire one of my energy waves at the foe. Felicia quickly realized this and leapt aside as I expelled a fireball from the palms of my hands.

"HADOKEN!"

My projectile hit the vampire on the stomach and sent him flying against a lamppost. He hit it so hard that he bent it with his body. Yet he hastily got up, letting out a growl of pain, the burns and scratches in his body already healing.

"I didn't see that one coming..." he muttered to himself. "Now I'm thirsty..." and without saying anything else, he dashed at Felicia with incredible speed and caught her between his strong arms. He sank his teeth into her neck and began to drink. My friend let out a surprised cry and tried to free herself from his grasp, but it was useless.

I braced myself to hit the fiend with a powerful attack and started to run at him. But just then, the vampire looked up and released Felicia. He quickly leapt back just in time to avoid a furious stream of fire. He then looked at the person who had saved Felicia and had just attacked him... it had been Ukyo. She had already unsheathed Renamark and was letting it thirst for blood, letting its magical fire flow.

Without losing a moment, I took a hold of Jon Talbain, who was now nearly unconscious, and raced to my friends' side. Felicia was weak, but could still stand up by herself. She could still fight a bit more. And Ukyo's strength was now beyond comparison, thanks to Renamark's power. At last, the vampire had no chance of winning.

"What in the hell...?" the vampire mused in a shocked voice.

"Get away from us, fiend, unless you want to taste Renamark's fire!" Ukyo threatened.

"How can...?" the enemy mumbled, his eyes fixed on the sword. Yet after a few moments of remaining quiet, he looked at Ukyo and said: "Only the true bearer of Renamark can understand its power. That can only mean one of two things. Did Wilheim give that sword to you or did you take it from his dead body?" his voice had been demanding and dead serious.

"...What if I told you I killed him?" Ukyo said, coldly. I was taken aback by the statement, but I then realized she had just said that so we could figure out what side was the vampire on.

And when he answered, I didn't know whether to feel worried or relieved...

"Then we're going to go medieval on your butts."

He banged the floor with his sickle once and remained silent and still. His face revealed intense anger, a desire to kill us all right at that moment. But he dared not move. I then sensed presences. They were far away from us at first, yet just a few seconds, they were all around us. I became very alarmed, and so did Felicia. I raised my fists and looked in every direction, only to find nothing but the shadows of the streets. And, despite our obvious preoccupation, Ukyo remained calm, with Renamark at the ready.

The shadows began to dissipate and the vampire's companions started to show themselves. The first one to appear on the scene was a tall vampire woman with long, black hair and bright, red eyes. Her skin was as white as the one of our adversary, and she also held a scythe. She too wore a dark coat, shirt and jeans, only that she did wear a pair of black boots instead of comfortable sneakers. Her face was very beautiful, very tempting, to tell the truth. Her small fangs, rather than augment ferocity, gave her a sensual look...

She appeared from behind one of the walls behind our opponent and looked at us with a serious glance. Then she noticed Renamark in Ukyo's hands. Her face changed into a stupefied expression and after a few seconds, changed into an enraged stare.

Behind the woman, came another vampire. This one was just a bit shorter than Octavius, his hair also long and black, as his eyes. He was slim and had strong, athletic arms. He carried a pair of bladed nun chucks under his arm and seemed eager to use them against us. Like the vampire woman, his face had first revealed surprise and then anger when he had seen Ukyo holding the sword.

From the opposite wall, appeared a fourth vampire. He was also dressed in black, but instead of jeans he wore elegant pants and a button-shirt. A white scarf adorned his neck. He wasn't as tall as his other companions, but his power was definitively greater. His skin was also paler and his blue eyes shone so magically that, with the right amount of light in them, they appeared to be as white as the rest of his body. This one held a rapier and was just as mad as the others.

Many other vampires started to come from behind other walls. Some others appeared on the ceilings of the houses nearby and looked at us with silent fury. Red-headed, dark-haired, and blonde vampires surrounded us. Some of them had beards, which seemed a bit strange to me: I had never thought of a vampire with a beard. But that was not my biggest worry, obviously.

"F-Felicia..." murmured the weak were-wolf. "G-get out of here... You and your f-friends should l-leave... I'll stay behind a-and..."

"I'm not leaving you here, Jon..." Felicia answered in a low voice, kneeling by his side and letting his head rest on his lap. "Whatever happens, I'll try to protect you. It's my turn, now..." she raised her head and her eyes became frightened as she saw that nearly thirteen vampires had answered our adversary's calling. "...Octavius, where are you?"

"Where are Sora and the others, Ukyo?" I asked in a low voice, but the girl didn't answer. She remained still, with a firm grasp on her sword, her eyes fixed on all of the vampires. I took it our other friends had been delayed by the Heartless as well. I could only hope they were okay... I could only hope we would be okay.

The ground abruptly shook under our feet. It seemed to me that something had hit it with great force. I turned around and nearly let out a surprised yelp as I saw a huge vampire. He was just, amazingly, a little bit taller than Octavius and just as large. He wore the same attire as the other vampires (all black), but he had the longest, most bushy beard of them all. It was white as snow, just a little bit whiter than his skin. His eyes were blue as well, only that his gaze was much deeper and seemed much wiser. His fangs were a bit larger than the rest of his friends' and his gaze was angrier too. I was shocked... that monster measured more than seven feet! I don't even want to talk about the power I sensed in him... His weapon of choice was an enormous iron hammer.

And just as I thought we were facing our most powerful foe, I felt yet another presence whose strength made me shiver. I looked around and found out that another vampire had entered the street. He walked towards Ukyo, staring at her with great rage. He was just a bit shorter than Octavius, but just as muscular. Again, he was dressed in black, only that he wore a purple cape. His hands were covered by leather gloves. In his right one, was a gigantic, razor-sharp sword. Its sheathe hung from his back. The skin of this vampire was spectral and beautiful, like the one of an angel or the one of a ghost. His eyes were the most magical and frightening of all the creatures... their furious golden glow was unlike anything I had ever seen. I supposed that was their leader.

The large vampire's eyes then drifted to Ukyo's right arm. There was Wilheim's bandanna, firmly tied against her skin. The vampire the looked into her eyes again and spoke with a grave, booming voice that made Felicia quail in fear.

"You dare to wear that thing as if it were the claws of a lion you have murdered? Is it a trophy of your victory against a warrior such as him? Too long had he suffered, too long had his gaze been plagued by sadness and despair. And you boast his defeat by wearing his headband in your arm?" he raised his sword at her furiously. "Step back, comrades. I will deal with these traitorous hunters myself!"

I raised my fists, knowing that, either way, there was no way we could win. But Ukyo, on the other hand, slowly lowered Renamark and her head. She removed her bandanna and, with a sigh, explained:

"This isn't a trophy. It's a memento..." she gulped, as she searched for the right words. I was really worried that the vampires wouldn't let her finish... "You know? He once told me that the rightful carrier of Renamark should be the one that doesn't wish to take it along with him or her... He was the just owner of the sword. That's what you said to him, correct?"

The rage in the vampire's eyes began to fade. All of the creatures began to lower their weapons as she kept speaking.

"That's... that's why I can't be the rightful owner of Renamark, even though he gave it to me." She said. "Because I want it. I want it because it's the only memory, along with his headband, that I have of him..." a tear escaped her eyes. She quickly wiped it with her arm, using the bandanna to dry her face. "It's my fault he's dead. He died to save me... Because he loved me. And I love him with all my heart... That's why I can't give you this sword, even though I'm not meant to be its rightful owner..." she paused and for a second, it appeared that she was trying to remember something. Then I realized she wanted to call him the same way Wilheim had called him. "...Herr Gustav."

The vampire slowly closed his eyes, the fury in his face completely vanished. All of the undead sighed sadly and put away their weapons. Felicia, Jon, and I sighed silently in relief...

A bloody tear escaped one of Gustav's eyes. He hastily wiped it off and remained quiet for a long while. Our opponent didn't cry at all, but he didn't seem too happy. All of the other vampires wept in silence, even the monstrous creature behind us. To tell the truth, I think he was the one who cried the most...

"Alas!" Gustav finally said. "Wilheim has gone. I was unprepared for this news. Not even six-hundred years of existence could prepare me for this. He was the one who had lived..."

"It's all because of the Heartless." Ukyo quickly said. "...But there is good news, I could say. For one part, I think that we can bring him back. I don't know how, but I can feel it in my heart... And also, Wilheim, my friends, and I achieved what no vampire had managed to do so far. Magnus is dead." When she said these words, all of the vampires turned to her in amazement. "I drove my former weapon through his body and Wilheim cut him in half with a swift blow. We set him free... and he became a human again, with Lady Gabrielle's help. He... he was my boyfriend. My beloved."

The vampires smiled... Whew! That had been so close!

"Shy, little Wilheim actually got himself a girlfriend!" the vampire-woman said with a low giggle. "I knew he would do it sooner or later."

"...So we're all cool?" Suddenly Felicia said, getting up.

"Like I said, there's no argument with you." The vampire who had fought us said. "But that son of Gaia there isn't quite off the hook, yet."

"Why? He has done you no harm! I know Jon! He's a good person... I mean, were-wolf!"

"Are you an acquaintance of Wilheim?" asked the vampire with the rapier. "Answer, cat-woman."

"Yeah! We all knew Wilheim!" she replied. "Except for Jon... But I'm sure he would've liked him!"

"Wilheim's friends are our friends." Boomed the biggest of the vampires with the gravest of voices. "Yet we are not precisely fond of the children of Gaia. For now, however, there will be a truce between us. There are more important matters at hand."

"What is your name, girl?" asked Gustav, his voice turning soft and gentle. He had addressed Ukyo.

"I'm Ukyo Kuonji." She answered. "My friends' names are Felicia and Ryu. I've just met Jon..." she stopped for a moment and then asked: "I haven't felt you invading my mind... Why haven't you read it?"

"I trust your words, dear Ukyo." Gustav said. "Moreover, who would ask such a question, if not Wilheim's beloved?"

"...Right." Ukyo giggled. "I'm sorry about the misunderstanding..." she said to our former rival, with an apologetic glance.

"Don't worry about it." The vampire replied.

"What's your name?"

"Your friends might've caught it when I was cursing my luck." The vampire answered.

"...Adrian?" Felicia inquired.

"There you go."

"By Wilheim's descriptions, I think I know who most of you are..." Ukyo said.

She was about to start guessing the vampire's names when we heard rapid footsteps behind us. We turned around and noticed Ken, Hyoga, and Yuffie had arrived. Their fists were raised and they were eager to fight. Yet when they saw us safe and unharmed, they slowly let their guards down.

"Um... hello?" Ken muttered. "Did we miss something?"

And before any of us could answer, the rest of our friends, all of them, arrived at the scene. They all froze for an instant, but then, the ice was broken.

"You!" cried Adrian, staring at Demean.

"Oh, dear God!" Demean laughed along with Tish. "I did not expect to find you here, my crazy friend!"

"Crazy? That may be, but you're still crazier than me! Ask anyone!"

"Demean and Tish." Gustav said, with a smile on his face. "I did not expect to see you here. It is quite a pleasant surprise. Ah! And the lady of the night comes with you, too!"

"I am also happy to see you once more, Gustav." Camille said. "This is a merry encounter. To see so many wise, strong vampires makes me feel at ease..."

"And there are three great elders, no less." Tish added. "Gustav, Rofell, Olaf... What a strange sight indeed. It is a pity, however, regarding the circumstances."

"Indeed." Gustav said. He looked at all of our friends and asked: "Do they come with you?"

"Yes, they do." Answered Demean. He took a step forward, his face turning serious and added: "I am afraid I have grave news, Gustav."

"Spare them. Ukyo has already told us many things..." the great vampire replied. And suddenly, his eyes were filled by amazement. His mouth opened, but from it came no sound. The rest of his companions seemed alarmed by this fact and hastily looked to where his stare was fixed. "This is impossible..."

"This cannot be!" added the vampire holding the rapier. I later found out this was Rofell. "Your image in Wilheim's head was supposed to be the memory of someone long departed!"

"...Oh! I... um... I don't really know what happened... I think it was because of what my brother did that I'm here." Siegfried said, realizing all of the vampires had thought him to be dead.

"...This is Siegfried?" asked the biggest vampire. He was the one called Olaf. "Wilheim's younger brother? Magnus's cruel halberd had supposedly finished you!"

"...I don't know..."

"Um, guys...?" intervened Sora. "I think we should talk this through some place else... or better yet, after having beaten the Heartless... you see..."

"The Heartless?" asked a blonde vampire who held a spear. "Are those the shadows that have been attacking London?"

"Perhaps we should talk after kicking their butts..." Dante intervened, but Gustav shook his head.

"The dawn is nearly upon us." He replied. "We must seek refuge from the sunlight. Yet we will not sleep today. There is much we want to hear. You seem to know more about what is going on than ourselves." And so he finally sheathed his sword. "I am confused and tired. I could use a bit of rest. And I thirst. There are not many humans about. We have barely fed."

"I suppose you have run out of resources, have you not?" asked Octavius in a defiant tone. "For that is what you vampires do: bring darkness to wherever there is light, death to wherever there is life."

"Dude, shut up!" Cloud whispered in a frantic breath as the vampires looked at the were-bear with a cold stare.

"So the rumors are true." Gustav said. "There is an immortal Narsua who wishes to spill the blood of the sons of Cain. Yet there is not much you can do and we intend to do nothing, for we shall not battle our comrades' friends. Nevertheless, stay your wrath, were-bear. You will have to come with us tonight."

"So be it. I only hope I will be able to stomach the stench of a vampire hideout." Octavius replied.

"Octavius, please be quiet!" Ariel pleaded, fear filling her eyes.

"You will have to wait for us in the streets if you are incapable of doing so." Gustav said, calmly. "Let us go. The sun comes."

(Change of scene)

We were very lucky the vampires didn't get mad at Octavius's remarks. Thankfully, we were all friends with Demean, Tish, and Camille, who seemed to be in excellent terms with all of the vampires...

We spent the day inside their hideout, except, obviously, for Will, who stayed outside the building we had entered. The vampires told him that they had felt no evil presence during their slumber, so he could very well rest his body with a good, long sleep. The tired dragon welcomed the opportunity and quickly dozed off. Tifa gently patted him on the neck and he smiled in his dreams as we all followed the vampires. The sun had already come out.

The place was, unbelievably, very, very cozy. It felt like an elegant bar from the fifties. There were even bottles of many types of alcoholic beverages all around. Wines, whisky, champagne... you name it. Some of my friends even asked if they could have a drink. Rofell, who was actually the rightful owner of the place, kindly said that we were all welcome to do whatever we wanted...

There were lots of empty tables with comfortable chairs about them. We took these and sat in a circle. There was plenty of space for all of us to form one. The dim light of the candles gave the place a welcoming feeling. Almost everything was made of fine wood carved into beautiful shapes. Everything was clean. It surprised me how nicely the place had remained despite the Heartless' doings.

During that time, we answered many of the vampires' questions and got some of our own doubts cleared. I got to learn a few interesting facts. For instance, I was made aware that most of the vampires present had taught Wilheim some fighting skills. Rofell had showed him how to use the rapier; Thor (the vampire with the nun chucks), had showed him how to fight bare-handedly (along with Olaf) and had also taught him the way of the katana, and Gustav had trained him in the art of the double-handed sword. No wonder he had been so strong. He had learned from the best.

Most of the vampires in the room came from the Gangrel clan. In fact, Gustav, Rofell, and Adrian were the only undead that didn't belong to said kin... You see, that's a long story. I'll just say that the vampires live in different societies. Those are the clans. Most of them get along just fine, but there are a few exceptions... Olaf was the elder vampire of the Gangrel, while Rofell was a leader of the Toreador and Gustav was the boss of the Malkavian. Adrian came from the clan of the Ventrue, a clan of vampires who especially enjoy fighting. He was no elder, however. The rest of the vampires were Olaf's underlings. I tried hard to learn all of their names, but there were twelve of them! I'm sure Ukyo knows all of them by heart; however, I only managed to learn three: Thor, Christen (the vampire with the spear), and Lucrecia (the beautiful-vampire woman). I think another one of them was called Balinerth, or something of the sort... Don't pay much attention, because the truth is I can't remember any more of them.

Some of our friends, remembering the vampires' need to feed, kindly offered their necks to them. I had always known that Wilheim had been shy and reluctant when it came to these matters. But these vampires were different. They accepted gratefully without waiting to find out if any of them had second thoughts. Of course, they barely hurt the volunteers. Rather than that, they seemed to enjoy the sensation of having their blood sucked, most evidently (and disturbingly), Camille and Morrigan. I mean... for God's sake, there were kids in the room!

"I... I thought you guys didn't drink human blood..." Ukyo shyly said to the Gangrel after having witnessed Christen drinking from Camille.

"On one hand, Camille isn't human." The vampire said, with a smile. "And on the other, beggars can't be choosers."

"You say that as if you had not enjoyed yourself, young vampire." The succubus mused with a sensual voice.

"Au contraire, dear Camille. I'm grateful and delighted."

"Well, you have had your fun, children of Cain. It is time we speak about the Heartless." Tish said, a bit maddened by the vampires and even our friends' lust...

"Um, Sora... have you ever had your blood sucked by a vampire?" asked Kairi in a very low voice. "What does it feel like?"

"I've never had the opportunity... although it does seem... OK, I'm going to shut up now." Sora murmured.

"Let us sit down, my friends." Gustav said, the veins on his face gone, his skin a little more lively. "There is much to talk about and the days in London have grown short. Come."

We all did as he said and waited for him to speak.

"Tell us your story." Rofell said. "You have been through much, have you not? That is why you surely know much."

And so we began to tell our tale to the vampires. They all listened carefully and with excitement in their faces. It seemed to me that they felt like little boys listening to a story told by their elders, even though only a handful of our friends were actually older than they. Everyone spoke about our travels and battles. The vampires occasionally interrupted to ask a few questions and then they fell quiet once more. The only ones that didn't say a word were Octavius and Sephiroth.

Well, now that I think about it, the latter did say some things... We did tell them about the fight some of them had had in Never Land (Peter Pan was the one who talked the most during this); however, although we mentioned an evil foe of terrible power, we never pointed out Sephiroth's name. Thanks to Octavius, things were already a bit tense (or at least for me. The vampires almost completely forgot about him as soon as we had started speaking). Nevertheless, it was not long before one of them pointed out the obvious...

"You, there." Said Thor after one of us had stopped talking. He was looking at Sephiroth. "The Heartless' emblem... you have it on your arm."

"Here we go again." Sephiroth murmured in an exasperated breath.

"I am curious." Thor continued, paying no heed to his interlocutor's words. "How is it that you became one of them? Better yet, how is it that you are now on our side? I do not suppose you are a spy of the Heartless: some of the beings that come with you are too intelligent and witty to be so easily deceived. For that, I am not uneasy of having you here. But I am still curious."

"...Well, you are the first creature that didn't freak out when you saw the emblem." Sephiroth said, calmly. "My companions have failed to mention a few things that happened to them during their travels. I suppose I should be grateful for that. But, what the hell? I think our hosts deserve to know the truth."

And so he spoke. I became nervous as he went on. I didn't know what to expect at the end. Some of my other friends seemed uneasy as well, while some others smiled in silence, hoping, I suppose, that the vampires would kick the living crap out of him. When he was done, there was a brief stillness, which was broken by Olaf's booming voice.

"You would have made a fine Assamite."

"Is that an insult?" Sephiroth asked.

"That depends. To you it might be a compliment, but I am not precisely fond of them."

"...Come on, guys, there's no time for verbal abuse." Ukyo intervened. "Let's just stick to our story and the Heartless, okay?"

"...As you wish, my dear." Olaf replied gently, smiling tenderly. The girl couldn't help but to smile back.

"So Merryck Goldengrass proved his worth as a hero, eh?" Gustav said, smirking and looking down at the hobbit. "It does not surprise me. Adventurer's blood has always run in your family's veins."

"...What do you mean, Mr. Gustav?" asked Merryck.

"I met your great-grandfather once." The vampire answered, to the hobbit's shock. "Demean and Tish asked me to see him. As I understand, he had lots of escapades because of his desire to meet fantastic creatures. That nearly got him killed a few times, if my memory does not fail me. So, rather than letting him go to dangerous places to meet these creatures, Demean and Tish thought it would be best to take one of said beings to his home. He was very excited to see someone like me."

"I don't believe it!" the hobbit laughed.

"That was a long time ago. Right about the time Rofell became a Vampyr, I believe."

"I have a question..." I intervened after a brief pause. "Adrian kept calling me hunter when we were fighting. Why is that?"

"I suppose I should be the one explaining that." Adrian said. "Garous are were-wolves, Bastets are were-cats, Narsuas are were-bears, Vampyrs are... well, that one is a bit obvious. Anyway, hunters are humans like yourself, that is, with supernatural strength. Humans who have managed to dominate the energies about them and channel them into their body to use them in battle."

"Oh, I get it. Thanks for the tip."

"Don't worry about it."

"So, guys, what can you tell us about the Heartless that roam these streets?" asked Leon. That was just the way he was: always to the point.

"I do not suppose they are unlike anything you have encountered before." One red-haired vampire said. "And even if they are, there is no need for you to be concerned. All of them fall quickly after a swift blow of our weapons. There is, however, one foe whose weakness we have yet to discover."

"What are you talking about?" asked Dante. "I thought you said they were all easy as pie."

"He was talking about the lesser foes." Olaf intervened. "Yet I am sure you, as a hunter, sensed the tremendous evil force that lurks about the streets. Right now it rests, but at nights, its foul power clouds our senses. It is that great."

"Yeah, I sensed it. I think we all did. Anyway, what about it? We know it's a Heartless but, have you seen it?"

"Just twice." Said Olaf. "For luckily, the fiend does not appear in the middle of the streets and attacks. He merely harasses us with his presence. There is only one place where he can be found: in the starlit sky of London, near the clock tower." He paused, as if waiting for one of us to say something. Since we all remained quiet, he went on. "He first appeared before us one night the Heartless had taken our battle to the skies. Many gargoyle-like creatures and wyverns had come from the shadows and had damaged many houses and buildings. We went after them and torn many asunder. But then they flew to the clock tower... we followed and stopped short as we felt how that malignant presence drew close. He then appeared before us: a specter with no face, fingers long and cold like ice, a blue cloak covering his ethereal body, and a strange, yellow orb floating below him...

"We decided to go after him first; let the other Heartless scatter, we would find them sooner or later. Regrettably, as we flew to him and attacked, we realized that our punches, kicks, and swings of our weapons did him no harm. They passed right through his cloak as if it were mist and bounced off the orb, which we assumed was his weak point, as if it were made out of diamond.

"The foe's attacks are vicious." Said the vampire, his voice darkening. "Although we cannot touch his body with our hands and legs, he is perfectly able to harm us with speedy, ferocious blows. One of those attacks was enough to knock brave, strong Lucrecia out of combat."

"His touch was something I cannot possibly describe." The vampire-woman interrupted. "It was like fire, ice, and lightning together. I have never felt so much pain. And though he didn't cut my skin, the pain was so great that I couldn't stand up against him any longer."

"But that is not all." Thor continued. "The creature uses another ploy, which is much more devastating. You see, he somehow takes control over our energies and makes them diminish one after the other. The numbers in the clock tower become lit with blue fire. As the hands of the clock turn, the flames begin to wane, and when all of them go out, the phantom leaves one of us with no more energy to even move a muscle. I know this, for I was victim of this technique. I failed to flap my vampire wings and plunged into the streets of London. I was lucky to have Christen by my side; otherwise I would have met a certain death."

"He also possesses one last skill." Rofell said. "He summons a red light from the palms of his ghastly hands and throws it at his closest victim. This spell is fierce: once it gets inside the body of its prey, it will drain him from all his energy. I myself felt I was having my blood sucked. In a matter of moments, the fiend had defeated me."

"The first time we met him it was an accident." Adrian added. "He practically mopped the floor with us. 'Course, that's not exactly correct, since all of us were fighting..." he shook his head, realizing that was... trivial. "Never mind. Anyway, the second time we faced it, we thought we were prepared. We fought with all of our strength and thought he would crumble. We were very wrong and got our butts kicked again."

"He used the same techniques." Rofell declared. "And yet we were unable to conquer him."

"Demean..." Gustav said in a serious tone. "You know that we are all fine warriors and that some of us are amongst the most ancient of vampires. I myself am the oldest of this small group, yet six-hundred years of wisdom and strength did not suffice to end with this demon. Though there certainly is a way to destroy him, I do not know it."

"I see..." the elf murmured, his eyes filled with confusion and despair. "So, not even the strongest children of Cain could undo this creature. This is more serious than I thought."

"Maybe he's only vulnerable to the Keyblade." Dante inquired. "In which case, Sora could beat him."

"One problem." Sora replied. "If he's only vulnerable to my weapon, guess who that thing's going to try to kill first."

"He'll try to kill you either way, since you're the Keyblade master." Leon said. "What confuses me is, why didn't he try to come after you now?"

"Do you suppose he only appears near the clock tower because there is something of utter importance there that he must guard?" Morrigan said.

"...You mean he's guarding the keyhole." Tifa murmured.

"That doesn't sound so preposterous." Adrian claimed. "Only that none of us saw something even resembling a keyhole, and we were all over the clock tower, flying like fearful crows."

"Then it's safe to assume that this enemy is a bit like Digaia." Cloud said. "Maybe the keyhole won't appear until he's been defeated."

"That could be true. Only that that brings us back to the first problem." I said. "How do we kill it? We have to find a way around his skills if we want to stay alive."

"I... I have an idea." Aeris intervened. "But... no. It's too dumb. I don't think it can work."

"Girl, we are desperate. There are no dumb ideas of any kind." Gustav said. "Please, share your thoughts with us."

"Go on, Aeris. Tell us what is on your mind." Link said gently.

"Well, it's about the hands in the clock tower." Aeris finally said. "You said that they kept moving and when all the numbers' fire went out, one of you lost all of his energies."

"One by one, he began to consume us with that spell." Christen said. "That's why we fled."

"Well, what if the clock hands couldn't move?" she went on. "Could it be possible that the spell lost its effect?"

There was silence for a few moments in which all faces appeared thoughtful. Personally, I didn't think it was a bad idea.

"Again, it doesn't sound so preposterous." Adrian said.

"But I've smelled the power of that Heartless." Sephiroth interjected. "It's like the vampires say: he's strong beyond comparison. Don't you think he'll be able to melt the ice that you're surely thinking about using to cover the clock hands to freeze their movement?"

"I wasn't thinking about ice. I was thinking about countering fire with fire." Aeris said.

"Do you know a spell that can stop objects in their tracks?" one of the vampires asked.

"Yeah. And I'm almost sure Donald knows it as well. Tish, Dante, and Sora might now it too, but if they don't, I could teach them. I don't consider myself strong enough to beat the Heartless' spell, yet if we all work together, maybe we'll be able to beat him."

"I've seen you conjure it once or twice." Sora said. "But I haven't learned it yet. You'd have to teach me."

"Same here." Dante added.

"I'll help with the teaching." Donald said. "I know what you're talking about, Aeris."

"I suppose I could try." Tish said.

"That would take care of one of our problems." Link said. "Yet we would still have to worry about an army of Heartless. I reckon they have not deployed all their forces against you, vampires."

"Perhaps we can help you there." Olaf answered. "If the Heartless unleash their fury, they will see the power of the children of Cain."

"That's a good idea." Sora said. "We should break up into two groups. The first one should attack this ghost, and the other should go after the rest of the Heartless."

"I sure hope your Keyblade can damage that phantom, sugar." Ukyo sighed.

"We have nearly three more hours before the sun goes down." Christen said. "That's enough time for the mages to learn the spell the sorceress spoke about, I should suppose."

"Right. Let's get to it, then." Donald exclaimed, getting up from his seat. "It's time to teach you all something to make you useful."

"I'm going to become Donald's student." Dante murmured. "This must be a bad dream. Dear Lord, it has to be."

"Yes... Perhaps it is not rest what we need, but to train." Thor said. "And speaking about training, I sense you could use some, young Siegfried."

"Me?" Siegfried stuttered. "Oh, but I..."

"Come with me, young Siegfried." The vampire went on, not giving him a chance to speak. "I see you have a sword and a shield. Though a couple of hours certainly are not enough, I am convinced that I can teach you a thing or two. After all, I am quite the weapon's expert. You may ask any of my friends."

"Don't you ever shut up with that, Thor?" Christen laughed.

"Well, I can't blame him this time." Lucrecia said. "I suppose it will make him feel better, to instruct Wilheim's best friend. I reckon it will make all of us feel better."

"When the time comes, I shall educate him, too." Rofell interjected with a smile, getting up from his seat and putting his hand on Siegfried's shoulder. "I do not feel much grief. Perhaps it is because of what you said, but to have you here is quite the miracle, Monsieur Siegfried. I am most certain that, when Wilheim returns, he will the happiest."

Siegfried remained silent for a few moments. Then he smiled and said, shyly:

"Thank you... though I don't know if you'll be able to teach me much in such a short time."

"Nonsense!" cried Olaf, walking towards Siegfried and slapping his back. The boy even lost his breath under the vampire's mighty hand. It was then that I recalled Wilheim telling us that the Gangrel vampires nearly killed him with their... 'warmth'. "Come now, boy! And you too, miss Ukyo! Even though I feel much power in you, there is always a thing or two which you can learn!"

"Be glad to!" exclaimed the girl.

"While our enthused friends learn new techniques, I suggest we start to think about a more profound strategy." Tish said. "This battle will not be easy."

"Some of us could do that, but I see some of you need a bit of rest." Gustav said. "Let some of us plan and some others sleep."

"I'm still good to go." I said. "Maybe I could help a bit with the planning."

"Excellent. The Heartless are going to wish they were never born... created... or whatever." Adrian added.

(Change of scene)

Considering the very short amount of time we had before night fell, I think we did quite well with all the training and the planning. To be honest, it didn't take us more than half an hour to get our strategy ready. All of the vampires would stay either on the streets or in the skies, looking for Heartless that might try to interfere with our battle and would take them out. The only two vampires that were going to come along with us were Adrian, who said he was sick of Heartless and needed to live a bit more intensely, and Gustav, the most powerful of the children of Cain. Of course, Jon Talbain was coming with us too. Although we trusted the vampires with OUR lives, we didn't quite confide them his... Either way, this plan suited all of us just fine; we were a huge force. I didn't think that the ghost would cause us so much trouble being as many as we were...

Anyway, many things happened during those short two and a half hours, so I'll just sum it up to you. First of all, Ukyo and Siegfried learned a few techniques from Thor and the young man even gain some knowledge from Rofell, who taught him a thing or two about the fast use of the rapier. It amazed me how fast those two found out so important (because they weren't exactly many) new things over so little time.

Even more remarkable than that were our group's mages. Although not particularly efficient in magic, Dante was the first one to learn the spell of time which stopped the movement of all things and he actually learnt how to cast it with great haste... his magic was not the most powerful one, however. Not the same could be said for Tish, who took the longest in learning this new spell. Nevertheless, her incantation, even though it wasn't easy for her to conjure it, was the most powerful of all, even surpassing the magical strength of both Donald and Aeris. It was remarkable. Adrian volunteered to be a Guinea Pig for the spell casters, knowing that nothing would harm him, and when Tish conjured the time spell on him, he didn't move again after nearly a minute.

"That's what I get for raising my hand." He said. "Without exception, Adrian is always living on the edge."

Meanwhile, Ken and Yuffie started to get along with Christen quite well. Like them, he was a natural joker. Demean spoke with Gustav about matters that I quite didn't get... most likely about friends of old. I did hear Wilheim's name being mentioned a couple of times, but I also heard lots of other names which I can't possibly remember. Octavius and Felicia looked after Jon Talbain; the later cleaned his wounds while the were-bear kept... an eye out for vampires. He still didn't feel safe at all. I can't imagine what they did to him so that he would hate them so much. What shocked me afterwards is that I later learned that he was actually in very good terms with one of them (not present at the moment). All I remember was that he murmured the name 'Tempest' once or twice to Felicia and Jon...

But most important of all was that which happened between Link and Aeris once she had finished training the others. They went to a corner of the place and sat one at one of the tables. There, I saw them talk to each other; Aeris had a terrified expression on her face at first. She was nearly on the verge of tears when she spoke and her hands trembled. Link noticed this and grabbed her tenderly. Her face never ceased to be calm, gentle, and comforting. When she was done speaking, he replied to her unperturbedly. I can't tell what words he said to her, but whatever it was that he spoke of, he achieved his goal: Aeris's face changed from a horrified appearance into a peaceful one as a small tear rolled down her cheek. Relieved and no longer trembling, she let her head rest on his chest as he put his arms around her, tenderly kissing her lips. Feeling much more relieved as well, I let out a happy sigh as I saw them together and decided that I had snooped around their affairs long enough.

I turned around and noticed that Cid had taken Adrian into a corner and was whispering something to him. Somehow, I had the feeling that I knew what he was up to. Knowing that I wouldn't be asked to leave, I went by their side.

"So you can really read minds?" the pilot asked in a low, anxious voice.

"As far as I'm concerned, yes." The vampire replied.

"Good. Because I need to ask you a favor." Cid said.

"Um, I'm sure you think I'm crazy (everybody does, anyway), but I'm not the sort of person... vampire, I mean, that likes to snoop around people's heads." Adrian replied. A most valid answer, I should say.

"I don't care! Didn't you hear Sephiroth's story? I want to know if what he's saying is true! If he's lying, then we're all in danger! You can't possibly imagine how powerful that son of a bitch is!"

"Ah, never fear. I can take him." The vampire said confidently, a big smirk plastered on his face. I nearly burst out in laughter as Cid's face was filled by exasperation.

"Has there ever been a moment in which you have been serious?" the pilot asked, almost greeting his teeth.

"Hey, try to relax a bit." Adrian said and stopped smiling. "Okay. I'll do this just because of what he's said." He took a deep breath and focused his eyes on Sephiroth. I quietly turned to our new companion and watched him as I waited for Adrian to speak again. For a moment, I even began to feel nervous... "Oh, man." He finally muttered in a grim voice, nearly bringing my heart to a stop.

"What...?" Cid murmured.

"He's lying." The vampire confessed. I couldn't believe it. How could I have been so blind? "He's still as powerful as he's ever been. He's just waiting for you guys to drop your guards so that he'll get even with each and every one of you."

"...I knew it..." the pilot growled. His grip on his spear grew stronger to the point where he nearly cracked it. For my part, I was without breath.

But after a few moments of staring firmly at Cid, Adrian began to laugh.

"Huh?" Cid muttered. "What's so goddamn funny? You still don't realize how powerful Sephiroth is?"

"I'm pulling your leg!" the vampire confessed, doing his best not to collapse on the ground from laughter. "He's telling the truth! He is planning to take you where he said! He isn't going to betray you! Well, he doesn't like you much, that's for sure, but..."

"You son of a bitch!" Cid exclaimed, filled by rage, which fueled Adrian's laughter even more. The pilot quickly got away from the vampire, who quickly tried to quiet down and exclaimed:

"Come on, don't be like that! I was only joking! Hey, wait, I'll tell you what: he's got hearted-boxers!"

At that moment, I couldn't stand it anymore and I too began to laugh. Cid didn't even glance at me, but I take it he wasn't too happy about that... I slowly walked to Adrian, who was on the verge of tears, leaning against a wall. I put my hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, trying not to chuckle:

"Is that true? Does Sephiroth really have a pair of those?"

"Of course not. I was only trying to cheer him up. Didn't work, though..." he admitted.

"Jeez... you really can't be serious, can you?"

"Sure I can. I could even be a monk if I wanted to."

"Yeah, right... In that case, I have a question I'd like to ask you."

"Shoot."

"It's about your scar. You see, I've never seen a vampire with a scar, nor I thought I'd ever see one, since vampires can regenerate their wounds..."

"Ah, if it's there, then that must mean that I got the wound when I was still a human, don't you think?" Adrian said.

"Yeah, that was exactly what I was thinking." I said. "So, anyway, how did you get it? If you don't mind telling..." I muttered.

"Not at all!" he replied enthusiastically. "It all happened a long time ago. It's quite a curious story. A bit sad, actually... When I was a human, I had a girlfriend. She was a beautiful woman, very lively. We had a great time together... Unfortunately, things were not meant to be. We got into a really heated argument and she tried to smack me. I moved my head back and... Well, she was a very strong girl and had long fingernails, you see..."

"Ouch." I murmured. "It still looks like a pretty nasty cut."

"Tell me about it." He said. "All my friends laughed at me when it happened. That hurt even more."

"Really?"

"No. They were quite sympathetic, actually."

"God..." I chuckled. He really couldn't be serious at all. "How long has it been since then?"

"About a hundred and eighty years."

"Whoa... how old are you?"

"About two-hundred years."

"You must be one of the oldest vampires around here, right?"

"Not really. Rofell is a little over three-hundred years old. Olaf is about four hundred and fifty... Well, and you heard how old Gustav is."

"Six-hundred years..." I mumbled. "Still, you're strong and, regardless having a lack of seriousness, you must be wise."

"I can be serious if I want to!" he interrupted.

"Okay, I believe you." I quickly said. "Anyway, my point is... why aren't you an elder?"

"And to assume so much responsibility? No way! I'm happy being a warrior. I like to fight. I don't like giving orders."

"I see. You and I aren't so different, you know."

"I can only imagine."

"It is nearly time, my friends." Olaf boomed. "It is best that we get ready. Night will soon fall and the shadows will favor the Heartless no longer."

"Well, at least now we'll all be fighting a common enemy." Jon Talbain said in a low voice. "Let's just hope all goes well."

"You should not fear. We were-beasts must remain together..." Octavius began to say, but Felicia quickly put her hand on his mouth.

"Please, just for once, try to calm down a little bit, will you? Really, right now you're just a bit less grumpy than old Heartless Radar."

"For the last time, I'm not a radar!" Sephiroth growled. He then turned to Cloud, who was struggling not to laugh, and added: "Yes, I can see you're very amused."

"It's a good nickname. You should learn to like it." The warrior replied.

"The Heartless we will be facing is unlike anything you have ever faced, of that I am sure." Gustav said, walking towards Sephiroth. "I feel your strength and I tell you know that you will not be a match for him. It would be best if you remained by my comrades' side."

"By their side? Now you wish to baby-sit me?" he roared.

"You are the only one who knows where this Ansem is, correct?" the vampire interrupted, calmly. "Then we cannot afford to have you killed. Although you long for death, we cannot let it find you so soon. Besides, you cannot fly, so you cannot face this foe, and I very much doubt that the dragon will let you fly on his back. I have heard he is not particularly fond of you."

"...Hmm. Whoever gave you that idea?" Sephiroth muttered, letting out a final, defeated sigh. "Very well. I'll go with you, vampires. But don't for once think that I'm in need of protection!"

"I can see why you became such a feared and magnificent warrior. You boast confidence and an unbreakable will. Yet know your place, lest you wish to be conquered by this enemy." Gustav said, firmly. This time, Sephiroth didn't make a sound.

I took a deep breath and tightened my headband and hand-gloves as Rofell unsheathed his rapier and put his hand on the door that led to the streets of London.

"Ready yourselves." He said and swung the door open.

Slowly, one by one, we exited the vampire's hideout. The night was a little cold and the streets were empty. Yet the Heartless presence remained. It had, as a matter of fact, grown stronger, as if the enemy had been somehow warned about our plans. Even then, they didn't come out of their hiding place. We stood close to each other, eyes vigilant, until every last one of us exited the hideout.

"...Hold on a minute." Sora whispered. "Where's Will?"

"Up here, Keyblade master." Answered the dragon in a low voice. He was on the roof of the building to our right. "I did not feel safe, surrounded by so many walls. I could not see much; that is why I flew to the building's roof. The view from up there is better, although it is not as good as the one of the clock tower."

"You did good not to stay there, dragon. Yes, you may be able to see much, but you would have also been in grave danger." Olaf said. "For the clock tower houses the fierce opponent you will be battling tonight."

"We? Will you not accompany us in this endeavor?"

"No, for we will stay behind and unleash our fury on the Heartless."

"The fiend we're about to face is truly strong, Will." Shiryu said. "Because of what everyone's been saying, we think that only Sora can defeat it with his Keyblade. But even if that's not true, one thing is certain: we're going to need magic."

"If that is right, then count with me. I know a great deal of spells that may prove to be useful." He said and flew down, landing right beside the Dragon's saint. "Then the vampires will stay within the streets and slay the Heartless that dwell around here?"

"Yeah. Sephiroth will stay with them, too." Seyia added.

"Very well, then. Let us waste no more time: to the skies, my friends. The time to face another fierce enemy has come."

"Good luck, lads." Rofell said. "We will see each other after the battle has come to an end, hopefully."

"Never fear, Rofell. Remember, I can take the ghost." Adrian declared, to which I silently rolled my eyes and smiled.

"I do not doubt that, my good friend, but do let the others aid you in your mission."

"Right. It's not like I want to steal all the fun..."

"Enough talk." Gustav boomed. "God speed, my comrades in arms. Come on, young lads. Let us go into the night."

"I wonder if Wilheim learned to talk the way he did from these guys..." Ken whispered in my ear right before we took off.

The biting wind of the night grew colder and colder as we flew higher. The sky was cloudy and I could hear thunders in the distance. It wouldn't be long before it started to downpour. Lightning stroke and illuminated all the streets of London for a brief moment. I looked down and saw how the vampires had already melded with the shadows; the only thing that gave them away was their phantasmal, speedy movement. If I wouldn't have met them, I would've sworn that every last corner of London was haunted by specters...

"...I can smell a foul presence." Jon Talbain said aloud. "It's skulking by the Big Ben... but I can't see a thing... and what's worse, it won't be long before the streets will be covered by a mist."

"What a shame." Camille muttered under her breath. She was flying next to me. I turned to her in silence and she added, looking at me: "I have always enjoyed hazes: I am fond of the romantic feeling they place upon the scenery upon which they fall. It is a shame that it will now play a role against us."

"Well, mists may be pretty, but since they tamper with one's visibility, this one won't help us at all." I said. "I wish the night was clear, like it was a while ago."

"Dear Ryu, remember that this is London. The city is beautiful, but the weather is not precisely anyone's cup of tea."

"Funny you should mention tea." Ken added. "Look: according to the clock tower, it's five o'clock in the afternoon..."

As he finished saying this, the bells began to toll, breaking the silence in the air about us, echoing throughout every single alley of the streets below. Some of us had to cover our ears because of the noise...

"Excellent way to wake someone up." Yuffie grumbled. "If this ghost wasn't aware of our presence, he will be now, thanks to that stupid racket."

"Oh, I would not be very worried about it." Octavius said. "I can smell him... He is flying about us. As if he is waiting for something."

"For us to drop our guard, that's what." Dante muttered. "Either way, we won't let that happen."

"Yes... you mages should keep an eye on that clock." The were-bear continued. "Spells at the ready, wizards."

"Let us just hope this being does not posses a counter-curse to put an end to our conjures." Tish muttered.

"Shush! You're calling upon bad luck, little fairy!" Adrian called.

And then, as if the sky had heard Adrian, rain began to fall. It wasn't a drizzle, it was a tempest. I think that the vampire was about to complain again, but as he opened his mouth and gazed at what was in front of us, he made no sound...

A shadow appeared in the clouds as lightning fell. Thunder roared and as the sky darkened, the silhouette became one with the clouds. We all remained still, on our guards, waiting for it to appear again. Lightning fell again, illuminating the sky and revealing the position of the shade. It was slowly moving closer to us. I couldn't see his face at all... instead of eyes, nose, and a mouth, all I could see was a shadow, darker than the rest of his body. His bony hands fell at his sides as he unhurriedly and menacingly floated forth.

"Be at the ready, warriors." Gustav said. "And let us hope the demon will find his demise this time."

As he said this, the shadow raised its arms and vanished from our sight. We all looked around, trying to find him desperately, his presence circling us as if he alone was a pack of lions and we were but a single deer...

I suddenly heard other noises and quickly glanced down. A battle had begun in the streets of London and I could listen how our vampire friends were waging it. I even listened to Thor's nun chucks as he swung them from side to side; to Olaf's hammer smashing the ground and walls to bits around him; Lucrecia's scythe cutting through streams of Heartless' skins, and Rofell's rapier piercing through enemies' hearts and legs. I could even hear Sephiroth's sword furiously going from one side to the other.

Yet I remembered we had our own fight to wage and looked up. I almost let out a yell as I found the phantom floating right in front of me. He raised his hands and furiously brought them down upon me. I barely managed to raise my hands to protect my face. I then felt his arms and wailed in pain as I spun in midair. His touch was somewhat like Lucrecia had described: cold as ice and fire-like hot at the same time. It was a pain I can't possibly describe. And it nearly took away all of my energy. Nevertheless, I forced myself to stop spinning and successfully retaliated with a quick, but puny Hadoken. My projectile hit the fiend directly on the red orb that spun beneath him and that had just became visible... my energy wave dissipated like a drop of water that falls on red-hot iron.

"Ryu!" cried my friends as they all attacked the ghost together. Many blows reached their target, but none of them hurt the phantom even a bit. Even so, we didn't give up; I felt a tranquil warmth flowing inside my body and I instantly knew that my sorcerer friends had cast a healing spell upon me. I was lucky they did, because I doubt I would've lasted five more minutes with that wound.

The Phantom fended off all of the attacks by swinging his hand against my friends. They all managed to block the blow with their weapons or to evade it; no one was wounded. Then, the enemy floated away from us and stopped near one of the clock tower's faces.

"So quickly?" Adrian wailed. "What's with this nutcase? All right, boys, heads up! Here comes the big one!"

The Heartless extended his arms to the sides and a cold wind began to blow. Slowly, the numbers of the clock face began to glow with blue flames. They were just as spectral as the ones we had witnessed when we had battled against the dark golden saints at the Sanctuary. The difference was that now we weren't so enthused about seeing all of them go out.

"It's now or never, guys!" Sora cried as he raised the Keyblade above his head. Aeris, Tish, Donald, and Dante came to him as if summoned and together they concentrated all of the strength to conjure the counter-curse. Tish was the one that took the longest to do this, but the aura that surrounded her was the one that shone the brightest. And then, all of them, cast the spell at the same time.

"STOP!"

Their voices echoed through the rainy skies as the Phantom, with obvious shock, turned around as a golden smolder encased the blue flames and stopped their flickering as well as the movement of the hands of the clock...

"It looks like it works!" cried Ken triumphantly.

The Heartless turned to us, and though he had no face, I could feel his anger. The orb underneath him turned white while his hands trembled with rage. He slowly extended his fingers; I could see red vapor coming out of his hands. I raised my guard and took a deep breath, bracing myself for another attack. The Phantom had no opportunity to unleash it, however, for Octavius hastily flew at him and hit the orb with an atrocious, wicked punch. Amazingly, the Heartless' orb broke into pieces as he was sent flying into the streets of London and became lost in the fog.

"What the hell?" Adrian cried. "That had never happened before!"

"Looks like you beat him, Octavius!" Felicia cheered. "Good job!"

"I damaged him, yes!" the were-bear said. "But I did not destroy him. I can still smell..." and before he could finish his sentence, the ghost appeared behind him and hit him with a quick, hard blow. Before our warrior became lost in the fog, Felicia and Jon Talbain took a hold of him and our other friends cast a healing spell on him. Octavius shook his head as he recovered his strength and became seemingly angry.

A new orb materialized underneath the Phantom; this time, its color was yellow. We all lunged at him with fury and hit the orb as hard as we could. I thought that, even though I certainly didn't match Octavius' strength physically, maybe I'd be able to inflict some harm upon him. But my hands quickly began to ache and not even the slightest scratch appeared on the orb. Even the Keyblade proved to be useless against the terrible foe. In the end, we all had to retread from the foe's vicious attacks, which hurt many of our friends. Luckily, the sorcerers rapidly restored their strength.

"I don't understand!" Siegfried cried. "Octavius nearly murdered him with that blow! Why can't we harm him?"

Thunder roared as the Phantom flew about the tower, attacking whoever stood on his way. We had no choice but to run away from him and attack him occasionally, hoping that at least one of our assails would hurt him.

Below us, the battle between the vampires and the Heartless raged on. I glanced below and saw the silhouettes of our companions and of our enemies on the mist. The wind blew fiercely and for a moment, removed part of the haze, allowing me to see Thor surrounded by countless Heartless. I thought about going to him and aid him, but mist covered everything again after a few seconds. And again, a current of air removed the fog for an instant. There stood Thor, about to be encircled by a new wave of Heartless; the others were agonizing or had already died under his strong nun chucks. And all the other vampires (and Sephiroth) were doing quite like him. There was indeed no need to worry about them. Rather than that, I had to start worrying about ourselves...

The creature now attacked Adrian who desperately tried to fend it off by swinging his scythe from one side to another. Whenever he found himself cornered, he would turn to mist and allow the Phantom to go through him. But the Heartless quickly caught up with him, hitting all other opponents out of his way, and wouldn't let the vampire have one moment's rest.

"What's with you now?" Adrian cried. "Goddamn it! Get off me!"

Things would've certainly gone ill with him, yet Gustav managed to unleash a fiery blast that, while not even scratching the creature's orb (or his body for that instance), successfully drove it back and let Adrian fly back.

"Thanks, Gustav." He said. "I owe you one."

"That matters not for the moment. Have you found any weak points?" the big vampire asked.

"I sort of thought that the answer to that was a bit obvious."

"I see. Then let us keep on battling!"

There was no way we could find that creature's weak point. Brains had helped, but they hadn't saved us. And by the looks of it, the spell of our friends was about to wear off. Sora and Dante noticed this too and got ready to cast the enchantment one more time. If all of them would've performed it again would've been great; nevertheless, the Phantom would surely now keep a closer eye on all of the spell-casters. Even if they managed to hold the hands on the clock for a short while, that would be nice.

As both boys started to conjure the spell, the ghost got rid of the attackers he faced and flew after them. I promptly flew to him and hit the orb as hard as I could. Again, nothing happened. The Phantom turned to me and tried to hit me with his bony hands. I skillfully flew underneath and tried one more time to hit the yellow orb. Nothing. The creature counterattacked again. However, I barely cleared the blow by flying to my right side. At that moment, I turned to the boys and noticed that they had already cast the spell; the golden fumes, which had been about to go out, became radiant again and stopped the blue flames' flickering. The Phantom grew mad at me for stalling him and tried to knock me out with a flurry of furious blows. I don't know how, but I miraculously dodged all of them. And then, just as I was about to run out of luck, Will flew at the Heartless at full speed, ramming him like a gigantic bull. He charged at him so fiercely that he made him plunge into the misty streets of London headfirst. Regrettably, I didn't notice any harm done to him.

"Are you all right, Ryu?" he asked.

"Yes, thanks, Will." I replied.

"Do not thank me yet, for there is still much battling to be done..." as he said this, the Phantom slowly emerged from the mist and slowly floated towards one of the clock's faces. "Damned be this fiend! I cannot think of a way to harm him whatsoever!"

"Have you tried using magic?" I asked.

"Yes, all sorts of spells, but not one has even hindered him! I was fortunate to have pushed him so far with that charge, I deem... Either way, we must fight on..."

"Yeah... I wonder what he's up to now?" I murmured as the Phantom slowly began to summon a red light to the palms of his hands.

"Fly swiftly, my friends!" Gustav cried. "Quickly! Behind the tower, at the back of the buildings about! Hide!"

Without asking anything, Will and I did as he ordered immediately. As all of us hid behind whichever wall was closest to us, the specter finished summoning his attack and threw it at us with anger. The flaming glowworm floated above his head for a split of second and then flew at the person closest to it with great wrath and speed...

Felicia had been too close to the Phantom when it had started to conjure his assault and hadn't had a chance to hide anywhere. She flew as rapidly as she could, away from the glowworm the Heartless had shot at her, but the fiend's incantation was gaining on her. She tried going behind several buildings and lampposts in the streets of London. She even sought to circle the clock tower several times to lose the thing. The glowworm, however, would not give up on its chase.

"Damn it..." I muttered.

"I do not know what will happen to her if that vermin reaches her, but I do not wish to find out!" Will said. He left our hiding place and hastily shot an electrical spell at the Phantom's projectile, yet not to avail. The glowworm swallowed it like a frog catching a fly with its tongue. "Impossible!" the dragon cried.

Demean too tried to stop the glowworm from reaching Felicia. He readied an arrow, allowing Tish to cast a fiery spell on it. After the tip of his projectile was engulfed in furious flames, he let it fly. The arrow reached its target, but was also devoured. The glowworm was relentless and unstoppable...

"FELICIA!" Octavius yelled as he watched the evil incantation reach our friend and turn into red flames that overcame her whole body...

We all watched in horror how the evil light twisted her arms and legs and suffocated her yells. Her skin grew pale as the glowworm grew brighter. None of us knew what to do to rid her of the evil power. All that came to my mind at that moment was to fly to her as fast as possible. Leaving my hiding place, I raced at her, rain getting in my eyes, although that didn't slow me down.

The glowworm faded and our friend closed her eyes as she began to fall headfirst into the misty streets. I wasn't the only one flying to her. Adrian had already folded his wings onto his back and flew nearly at the speed of a bullet. Jon Talbain also raced to Felicia with evident concern in his eyes.

Either way, I was the one that got to her first. I luckily caught her just as we entered the mist. Carefully, I grabbed her and descended as slowly as I could. I reached ground and gently shook her, for she was very still...

"Felicia, wake up...!" I pleaded.

I then glanced around and noticed that there were many Heartless running toward us. I slowly placed Felicia on the ground and raised my fists. But before they reached us, Jon Talbain and Adrian landed next to us. The were-wolf howled furiously as he threw his body at a small group of Heartless. His fur glowed with a bright blue flame as he crashed against the enemies. As the fiends fell before the blow, he bounced off them and charged against another group, howling again.

Meanwhile, Adrian swung his scythe from one side to another, cutting arms, legs, and heads with every lethal movement of his weapon. A few Heartless tried to attack him from behind, but the vampire hastily turned to face our enemies and used a quite surprising trick. Under his right sleeve, he hid a short sword, sheathed in a spring trap. He fired it and tried to catch it with his hand, but he wasn't fast enough. Even so, the blade flew at one of the Heartless and pierced his helmet and skull.

"Whoops!" exclaimed Adrian. "It slipped through my fingers. Sorry about that!" and without giving any more explanations, he cut through the fiend's chests.

For my part, I crushed the Heartless with my fists and feet as quickly as I could, not for once taking my eyes off Felicia, who lay still on the ground. Luckily, not many fierce enemies attacked us and before long, we had gotten rid of all of them.

Adrian quickly went to pick up his sword from the ground and returned to my side, the same as Jon.

"Is she all right?" the vampire asked. "She should be all right. That spell merely weakens people, but it doesn't kill... At least that's what happened last time."

"Is she breathing?" the were-wolf pressed. "Go on, man, see if she's breathing!"

"She's all right, it seems." I murmured as I put my ear close to her mouth and heard her exhaling. "Thank goodness... She's out cold, but she's alive."

"Thank God." Jon Talbain sighed.

"We have to heal her." Adrian said. "We can't stay here looking out for her. The others need our help, and the rest of my kindred are much too busy dealing with the rest of the Heartless and I wouldn't leave her at Sephiroth's care."

"You're right... We have to go to Aeris, Tish, and the others. They'll know what to do."

"Let's hurry!" Jon cried.

I grasped Felicia as firmly as I could and slowly began to fly over the mist next to my two companions. We ascended over the mist and saw our friends again. The storm had gotten stronger and lightning was falling all around. I was beginning to grow afraid that one of them would reach one of us. But as looked at my companion's faces and noticed there was fear and amazement in them, I grew much more worried, turning to that which they were seeing.

The Phantom floated still and quietly in front of Octavius. There was hate in the were-bear's eyes, anger unlike anything I had seen before. I could feel his power rising more and more... I was really alarmed, for the power emanating from his body was neither good nor evil. It was something else...

"Demean..." I muttered, silently at first. Then I turned to him and flew to his side, next with my companions following me closely. "Demean! What's going on?" I asked him, knowing that, as the oldest one of us, he would surely have an answer.

"The Rage of the Forests..." the elf muttered. "The curse that haunts those chosen by the elders of the Narsua. Octavius is no longer himself..."

"What?"

"He has gone into a killing frenzy." Tish went on. "He will no longer know friend from foe. We must keep away from him, for if we linger close to him, he will surely tear us apart!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Adrian cried, desperately, for the first time. "Tish, Demean, please explain that in English!"

"There is little time for explanations." Demean answered. "The transformation has merely begun..."

Octavius was howling mad with rage as the rain about him turned to vapor. Green serpent-like branches emerged from the mist and crawled up to his arms and legs and penetrated his veins. He began to grow, becoming even bigger than Olaf himself. His muscles also became immense and finally tore his clothes apart. All that remained on his body was a metallic brassard, which was seemingly the one of an ancient Roman soldier. And then, he started to become a monster. The hair on his arms and legs turned into thick, red fur. His fingers became sharp claws. Bony spikes came out from his shoulders, elbows, and knees and his feet turned into eagle claws. His hair became red and spiky, as if he were a maddened cat. Two great horns emerged from his head; his jaw turned long and protuberant and his teeth changed to sharp, glittering fangs. He poked out his tongue from his mouth: it was now forked. And his eyes turned black. But they were not empty – rage still dwelled in them. The most terrible and frightening rage...

"Dear God..." I whispered to myself, as the transformation came to an end and Octavius roared so loudly that he made us float back in fear. "...He can no longer tell friend from foe?" I asked in a low voice.

"Not anymore." Demean said. "I had heard of this curse before, but never had I seen it... He will seek to destroy everything that moves until there is no life around him or until he is tired and defeated."

"Now we have another enemy to deal with." Tish added. "And a most terrible enemy, he is..."

"Dear God..." I repeated. With Felicia still unconscious in my arms, I slowly turned to the clock tower and gasped. "The counter-spell has worn out."