Draconai: You know, I'm starting to think you guys just don't like Roxas. Or is it yoko in general? I mean, yeah, Kuyo's a jerkass, but that's no reason to hate on Roxas. I don't know what's up.

Okay, I am so so so so so so so so so sorry about how late I am on this, guys. I got Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy and I have a bad habit of playing a game and then wiping my file to play it over again. Damnation.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

Chapter 38: One-Winged Bruiser

The crowd burst into a panicked scream, everyone trampling towards the door. Xion rocketed out of her seat, grabbing the Keyblade that had fallen at Roxas' side - and without so much as a sideways glance at Riku or Naminé, she grabbed the edge of the stage and dragged herself into an icy dash, frost wrapping around her helm as the last of the audience left.

A flare of light, and her own light Key was in her left hand as she leapt at Loz, her hair flaring into icy spikes.

"You son of a bitch!"

She lashed the demon-guarded Key, but Loz raised his left arm, blocking the strike his pile bunker. Her angel-guarded weapon flew at his helm, but he beat it aside with his Velvet Nightmare as Xion landed, spinning into a kick that slammed right into his gut.

The snow fairy hopped backwards on one foot as Loz lashed the gunblade to his side.

A surge of darkness sounded a jet-black angel wing rising from his right shoulder.

He struck down with the Velvet Nightmare, but she beat it against Roxas' Key before lashing out with her own. He grabbed the shaft - as she had hoped - and when he tried to pull it out of her hands, he ended up pulling her into a full out head-kick. The snow fairy landed with a spin, driving the dark blade into his stomach.

A click of the weapon caused her to raise her gaze to the barrel of his gunblade.

One step sent the bullet flying right past her, and she slipped the weapon between the shafts of the angel, twisting it out of Loz's hand. He tried to surge forward with his Dual Hound, but she only braced her foot against the teeth of the demon, gripping it backhand for more stability as he forced her back. With a wicked battle cry, she lashed out with the dark Key backhand before leaping into a spin, Loz's blind strike hitting air.

Xion landed down the flight of steps, raising the light Key towards Loz and whirling Roxas' to forehand once more.

Loz smirked.

Then he lashed out with a kick, sending one of the theater seats flying towards Xion.

The demon shattered it.

The angel was braced to throw when Loz grabbed her arm.

From behind.

Xion screamed as the brute hurled him across the theatre, her cloak and limbs hooking on seats until she hit the back wall like a rag doll.

Kairi shot across the theater, rushing to Xion's side as Sora moved in. His Key flew from his hand, but Loz only beat it away as the Keyslinger grabbed the fallen Keys. He arced into a spin, striking out; but Loz was too fast, catching one strike against the bottom of his foot and using it for leverage to leap over the next before landing behind him and driving the Dual Hound into his back. A surge of voltage tore through Sora, who flew across the room and collided with the wall next to Kairi as she knelt at Xion's side.

"Xion, are you alright?"

Another blur caused Loz to turn, stepping back as Riku's earthward blow slammed into the floor. The two began to strike against each other, Soul Eater and Dual Hound clashing as the two became little more than blurs locked in place. From the stage, Naminé hurled magic at them - flames, wind, bolts of lightning - but the two evaded, and she could only focus on suppressing Roxas' wound as the yoko's blood stained the stage.

It didn't take long for the two speedsters to end their clash, and it didn't take a genius to figure out who it was. Loz had managed to pick up the Velvet Nightmare when no one was looking; he drew the gunblade in his right hand as the Dual Hound on the other arm was locked against Soul Eater, driving the bladed barrel into Riku's side and causing him to fall to the floor, gripping the cut.

Xion pushed Kairi away, her breath heavy with a low growl on her voice. Ice began to streak down her face from her frost-formed helmet as she got to her feet, glaring at Loz menacingly as he holstered the Velvet Nightmare once again.

She lashed her left hand down, and icy claws wrapped around it.

She lashed her right hand up, and icy claws wrapped around that one as well.

Her right went down, her left went up, and with a flare of white light, her claws closed around the angel.

It was braced over her shoulder as her right rose to cross it, and with a surge of shadows, her claws closed around the demon.

And a wicked storm of frosted flames roared around her as she hurled them to the side, the twin Keys whirling around her like some kind of hellious hurricane.

"You're finished!"

She leapt forward, the Keys still screaming around her in a maelstrom of icefire. Loz glared, moving so fast his body seemed to warp as he dashed around her. He didn't have enough room to go at full speed; the chill hurricane stopped him from getting a hit in without completely freezing over. With a low growl, he leapt into the air, his wing rising and suspending him in the air long enough for him to grab the wall. His speed picked up again as he shot across the wall, leaving a trail of blue Lozes as he shot across the walls before surging at Xion at incredible speed, soaring with his wing wrapped over him.

Xion raised a claw to catch his blow.

Dual Hound's pistons shot forward, shattering the ice.

It was still fragmenting when Loz drove it into her stomach - and then the charge tore through it, sending a wicked shock through Xion's body as she was dragged out of her own maelstrom and slammed into the ground, still volting.

The twin Keys fell to the ground as the icefire faded.

Loz grinned, his wing unfurling, flaring out as he grabbed Xion by her cloak and dragged her upright as the pistons drew back.

Then a Keyblade hit him in the forehead.

He grunted, releasing Xion and raising his gaze to see Kairi standing there, Sora's Keyblade in her hands. A look of shock crossed her face when he only smirked in response, and she let the weapon fall as he leisurely got to his feet, rolling his arms and wing back before stepping forward.

Sora rushed at him.

Kairi's hand flew out.

Loz shouted in horror as her fingers closed around the crown, and she pulled.

Her hand was caught when the chain went taut.

All three of them came to a stop, glancing at the rosario. Kairi narrowed her gaze, pulling on it again, but it didn't work. She tried again, harder this time, but Sora only tumbled forward. With an irritable growl, she surged her hand against his shoulder, shifted her fingers against the loop of the crown, and pulled as hard as she could.

Sora gave a yelp of pain as something cracked on his neck. "Ow, ow, ow! Kairi, Kairi, you're hurting me."

Loz only laughed. "This is too easy," he mused, the pistons on his Dual Hound drawing back as he took one step forward.

Pitiful.

Everything came to a complete stop.

What, is Diabolos late to the party?

A horrified look rose on Loz's face.

Well, maybe Shiva can pick up the slack.

"No..."

Loz turned around and screamed.

The fox forged of fire that was Roxas Kaigara was standing where Xion's maelstrom had died, two of his tails curled around Xion's fallen Keys. The third curled towards Loz, beckoning him forward menacingly as he bared his teeth, fangs gleaming.

"No!" Loz shouted, stumbling back. "You... you're supposed to be dead!"

Roxas narrowed his gaze.

His empty tail surged forward, closing around Loz's neck, and he shouted from the burning pain as he was dragged forward, forced to a kneel eye-to-eye with Roxas' canine face.

Then you better pray that Shi-oh is not, he warned.

His Keys were whirled on his tails, flames gathering around him as he turned and hurled Loz, still burning, across the theater until he collided with the door through which he had come in.

Or I'll find you, Roxas threatened, and put you in Ifrit's maw myself.

The Keys faded, and his tails whirled as one, the flames they had gathered becoming a whirling inferno.

Vortex of Fire!

The hurricane of flame surged across the theater, and they could see Loz try to move - but he was already on the floor, and he stood no chance of evading as the blazing tornado enveloped him.

The explosion muffled his scream as the flames burnt his wing to ashes.

Roxas bared his fangs once more. Nothing is faster than fire.

He turned towards Xion, who was starting to shift from unconsciousness. The snowgirl raised her gaze to see Roxas stepping over to her, his trio of tails low behind him as he knelt next to her.

Are you alright, Shi-oh? he asked.

Xion gave a grim smile, nodding her head before letting it fall back. "You are in so much trouble right now, Rokusasu," she murmured.

Roxas blinked. Wait, what?

"You're the Western prince in a rock performance of Draco and Maria," Xion replied.

The yoko looked away akwardly. Right...

+x+x+x+

The group of Sora, Kairi, Riku, Naminé, Roxas, Xion, and Setzer arrived at Castle Baron Hotel in the dead of night - Fenrir didn't exactly fit seven people, although Sora wasn't naive enough to leave it at the theater. Rosa wasn't at the front desk - in her place was a figure in jet-black armour with demonic spikes at every edge. As they stepped forward, he raised his head, his eyes lighting up white behind his helmet, and reached for his hip. A clattering emerged - like gauntlet against hilt, and sheath against greave.

"Who are you?" His voice was valiant - and tired.

"I'm Sora Kingdom," the Keyslinger up front insisted. "We have a reservation. We should be on the list."

The dark knight groaned irritably and reached for the counter, pressing the button that Rosa had hit to call Rydia. A moment passed; then his gaze narrowed, and he pressed the button again. Still nothing. He reached up, sliding the facial piece of his helmet up - revealing skin paler than moonlight, eyes like silver, and what looked like lipstick - and narrowed his gaze at the panel before pressing the button five times in rapid succession.

A nearby door opened. "What do you want, Rosa?" Rydia protested, stumbling out. She caught sight of the dark knight, and her expression softened - and reddened. "Oh, um... Cecil..."

The dark knight, Cecil, didn't seem to notice; he raised his hand to his armour and slammed the facial piece back down. "Rydia," he murmured, "do these people have a reservation?"

Rydia turned. "Kingdom, Karui, Chikai. Right?" she prompted. Glancing over the rest of their group, she gave an irritable groan at the sight of Roxas. "Not you again," she hissed, grabbing her whip and cracking it down. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you," she snapped.

"And I'm not in the mood to give you a reason to deal with me!" Roxas insisted, raising his hands. "Look, I'm tired, you're tired, your dark knight buddy is asleep again," - at that, everyone in the crowd turned to see that Cecil's eyes had dimmed behind his helmet - "we just got out of a fight, and Sora said they have rooms here. I swear, on my life that I won't do anything to provoke you, as long as you don't hit me with that! That hurts, damn it!" As he finished saying that, he closed his hands behind his head and lowered his gaze to the floor.

The whip was lowered to the floor as Rydia blinked several times. "Um... alright," she murmured. "Uh... right this way, sirs and madams..."

+x+x+x+

Sora arranged the rooms when they got there - Setzer, Riku, and Naminé would be sharing a room, while Sora, Kairi, Roxas, and Xion took the other. Naturally, this resulted in a lot of protests.

"Don't even try to fool us," Riku protested. "You guys are just trying to heat things up in there. It's like you want us back together. I can tell you right now, that's not going to happen."

"Right," Xion mused with a dark glare on her face, "I'm sure that's why you were kicking Rokusasu's ass in front of a hundred people with Naminé sitting three metres from the curtain."

"Don't even go there," Naminé snapped. "This son of a bitch has been playing on and off for over a year now, and unless you're willing to get him off my hands, Fair, you sho-"

"Don't you dare address me by my father's name," Xion snapped. "I'm more than capable of freezing your ass should you piss me off, and your petty white magic won't stop me."

Naminé growled. "Floe is the white mage," she reprimanded. "I'm a witch, and I'll melt you down on Rydia's skinsuit right now if you try and-"

"No, you won't," Roxas threatened.

Riku huffed. "I'm with her on this one, three-tail, and I'll kick your ass again if you try and stop her."

"You moonlit tsundere," Roxas growled.

Darkness volted from Riku's hand. "Are you insulting me?"

Shadow surged from Roxas'. "You can bet your fur coat I am."

Naminé's chain began to glow. "Don't even try that, fireboy."

Light streamed twin shafts out of Xion's fingers. "Are you trying to-"

"Enough!"

Kairi's shout echoed down the hall, bringing everyone to a halt as she stepped between them. Her hair seemed to flail around her like the snakes of a medusa, her eyes gleaming as leveled a finger on Roxas, Riku, Xion, and Naminé. "Look, I will slap each of you all the way to Pandaemonium if you don't cut it out. Riku, Naminé, get your split-up asses in 721 right now. If you didn't notice, I'm wrapped in enough holy chains to bind Alexander, and these two know how to deal with it if the seal starts acting up. Meanwhile, Sora's rosario isn't working and I need to talk to that bloodsucking sadist of a clawslinger before something goes wrong. Neither of you two knows anything about either of these, so stay the hell out of it!"

The argument defused quickly after that.

+x+x+x+

"What's wrong with your dad's name?"

Kairi's question caused Xion to fall still. "I... he..." She sighed. "My parents and I had a bit of a falling-out, last time we saw each other before Yokai. I never use my mom or dad's names. I know that sounds petty, but I just don't want any ties to them. Besides, now I have a very good reason for it."

"Well, yeah," Kairi agreed. "Zack's supposed to be dead and Aerith's believed to be the same."

"Is it weird," Xion mused, "that you guys know my parents on a first-name basis, or is that just me?"

"Not important," Roxas insisted. "Kairi, what did you mean, Sora's rosario isn't working?"

Kairi sighed. "It just... the seal won't release. I tried to free the clawslinger so we could deal with Loz, but the crown won't come off. This has never happened before."

The yoko turned to Sora, who was sitting on one of the beds in a meditative pose. "What are you doing?"

Sora didn't respond.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," Roxas snapped, stepping towards him.

The Keyslinger still didn't respond.

Roxas reached out and set his hand on Sora's shoulder.

Then he yelped, pulling his hand away as though stung.

Sora didn't even react.

Slowly, Kairi stepped around him, facing him from the front. The rosario was gleaming against his crown, the gem in the middle shining. There was a long moment of silence; then Sora sighed, opening his eyes as the light show faded.

"He won't respond."

Kairi blinked. "Won't respond? You mean, like that night-"

"No, it... it's different," Sora insisted. "Then, Van was shutting me out. After you pulled the rosario again, the cut-off was broken. But this time... it's like he's not even there. Something-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Kairi interrupted. "What did you just call him?"

Sora blinked. "Call him? I didn't-"

"Yes, you did," Xion realized. "I didn't realize before, because there was always something more important you were bringing up, but... you've been calling the clawslinger 'Van' ever since..."

She trailed off, and Sora turned to face her.

"Ever since the ghoul was locked away," she murmured.

Kairi turned to the Keyslinger, who glanced down at his rosario. "And he... last time I talked to him, he was explicitly referring to you as 'Sora'. There's something going on here. I thought... But you... What's going on?"

Sora closed his eyes, a heavy sigh passing through his lips.

Then he slammed his nail into the gem of the rosario.

"Answer me, damn it," he snapped.

No response.

+x+x+x+

"Alright, so what's the game plan?"

The group had checked out and found a fast-food breakfast stop. Through a mouthful of pancake - halfway through his second serving, while everyone else was finishing up their first - Sora replied, "Some paladin called Zest Kessho." He swallowed heavily. "He's supposed to be somewhere in Altair. We need to find him. He'll know how to do something about a holy lock."

"Wait, 'Zest'?" Naminé asked. "That... that sounds kind of familiar..." Her gaze shot up. "Wait, Floe! She was the fairy priestess. She said something about being part of a group. Mentioned a guy named Zest. He knows magic in a really archaic form."

"Crap!" Sora muttered. "Where can we find her? Is she still going to be at Hilda Fynn Theatre?"

"Maybe," Naminé admitted. "That was Five Mime's send-off, though. She won't be-"

Sora had managed to empty his platter. With a rush, he got to his feet. "Naminé, come with me. We've got to talk to her before she goes somewhere out of reach."

"O-Of course!" Naminé assured him, draining her drink.

"Wait, where are you going?" Roxas snapped.

"Hilda Fynn Theatre," Sora replied like it was obvious. "We need to talk to Floe. I've got Fenrir, we should be there in no time."

The two were already out the door.

There was a long moment of silence.

"He's going to be dragging that monster bike all the way back to Yokai Academy," Setzer muttered, pulling his lips off his straw. "It can't take any more than three."

+x+x+x+

They skidded to a stop outside the theatre. "You go inside and find her," Sora stated as Naminé got off the bike. "I'm going to stay out here in case she comes out."

"Right." Naminé dashed in.

After a few moments, a girl in a white dress trimmed with crimson triangles emerged from the front door. One sight of Sora, perched on Fenrir with one foot on the ground, elicted a loud yelp. "A-Are you with... Do you know... Who are you?"

"Kingdom," the Keyslinger replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the girl insisted. "I just... you looked kind of... frightening. Like you were waiting for someone."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "By 'waiting for someone', you mean 'not in a good way', right?"

The girl nodded.

A sigh passed through his lips, and he dangled his right arm over the handlebars. "You wouldn't happen to be... Floe Naoru, would you?"

"Um... yes...?" She looked worried.

"You were the faerie priestess in that Maria and Draco performance yesterday," Sora continued. "I was impressed. The costume's just a bit over-the-top, so I had to ask. You pulled it off rather well."

Floe nodded. "I didn't do it alone... but thank you," she replied.

Sora glanced around.

"Naminé tells me you're a white mage."

"You know Naminé?" Floe asked, shocked.

Sora nodded. "We're looking for a guy named Zest Kessho. I was told he was really particular about powerful energies. Do you know him?"

"I... um..." Floe glanced around. "This really isn't the best place to be talking about this. Can... can you meet me-"

"Not really," Sora replied. Dropping his voice to a whisper, he stated, "I've got a ghoul bound in holy chains with a ninety-six hour time limit. We need to talk to Zest ASAP."

Floe gulped heavily. "Look... can you, and this... ghoul... and whoever else come to Gatrea? That's all I ask. Please."

Sora sighed. "Yeah... yeah, we can make it."

"Alright..."

+x+x+x+

The trip to Gatrea was long and painful. Seven Yokai students and a motorbike designed for highway battle will do that.

When they arrived, they found Floe waiting at the bar, sitting at one of the tables with a drink almost empty in her hands. Sora rolled his eyes and stepped up to her. When Floe raised her gaze, she was surprised to see the crowd that he was with.

"I'm trying to deal with a ghoul, and you go to the bar and get a drink?" he asked under his breath.

A sigh passed through the white mage's lips. "It's your own fault," she murmured, lifting the glass to her mouth and finishing it off. With a sigh, she set it down and pushed herself to her feet, gazing at the group for a moment. Then she pointed at Kairi. "You're the one with the ghoul?"

Kairi nodded grimly.

"Alright," she murmured. "You, Kioku, Kingdom, and whichever one of you owns that airship, come with me. The rest of you, board the thing and we'll talk about it when we get there."

She led the four of them out of the bar and through town to a small cottage on the outskirts. When they stepped in, Naminé gave a cry of shock - the entire building was covered with otherworldly symbols and casting tools. Mystic staves were lined up on a rack near the wall, there were several arcane-looking volumes on a bookshelf nearby, a couple hammers were on chain loops, and there was a crystal ball sitting next to a very comfy-looking chair of white velvet.

Floe didn't even react. "Naminé, I told you about me and my friends, right?"

Naminé was distracted by the stuff adorning the entry room, but she nodded. "You, Sauber, Daewoo, and Zest. Right?"

"Yeah," Floe confirmed. "We're good friends who have known each other since grade school. Since I'm... what did you say, Kioku, magus-human?"

"Magi-human," Naminé corrected. "Human infused with magic." She had explained the scenario to the others earlier that morning.

"Right." Floe seemed kind of absent about it. "Point is, me and Daewoo have magic, Zest is hell with a blade, and Sauber's fast with his fingers. The four of us are kind of freelancers who try and help whoever needs help. About a month ago, some things happened... and we sort of went our separate ways. We've kept in touch, but really... we're trying to live out our own lives."

Sora sighed. "Can you put us in contact with Zest?"

"I can take you to him," Floe stated. "If that really is a ghoul under those chains, you're going to need it."

She turned and stepped up to one of the walls, picking up one of the staves as she went. She stepped forward and set the head of the staff against the crystal ball, silent for a long moment.

"Gabianni, was it?"

Setzer raised his gaze. "Yes?"

Floe turned to him. "Can you take us to the town of Melmond?"

The gambler nodded. "I can."

"Then get it done," Floe insisted. "I've got things to prepare. You guys go. I'll meet you at the airship."

The four of them left, leaving Floe with a heavy sigh as she turned to the crystal ball again.

The image within the crystal ball was a graveyard.

Draconai: Once again: sorry I'm late, guys.

Oh yeah, if you haven't figured it out yet, Floe and her team are representative of Final Fantasy I. Those were the official names given in the (Japan-only) novelization for the Warrior (Zest), Thief (Sauber), White Mage (Floe), and Black Mage (Daewoo). Whenever I play Final Fantasy I, I fail, utterly, at giving them more original names, so those are the ones I gave them.

...Okay, their first names were official. Their last names, not so much.

Sorry guys, I'm still not going to be on for a while, I've gotta give Scenario 000 a run! {glares at self reflected on PSP screen} Quit cowering away and play the thing, damn it! I know full well what my problem is: I want to be able to play and then replay with linear storyline and Scenario 000 apparently doesn't let you do that.

Wait... holy shit, I have a fanfic idea.

ASURA DAMN IT, DRACO!