Chapter XXIV

AC: Animal Children

"Hello? Anyone on board?" Bergljot called as she and Sephiroth entered the dark ship. She looked around nervously. "No one's here."

"Don't be so sure. Let's look farther in. Come on," Sephiroth insisted. He gripped Masamune cautiously as he walked deeper into the ship.

"We really should stick together," Bergljot called as he disappeared into shadow. With an exasperated sigh, she followed close behind.

"Stop," he ordered, an arm extended to stop her. They could hear footsteps farther down. "There's something up ahead."

"What is it?"

"I don't know. Be quiet."

"Let's go look. We won't find out what it is unless we do," Bergljot insisted. She brushed past his arm into the darkness. "Come on."

"Bergljot!" he hissed. Sephiroth waited a few minutes before a figure showed itself.

"Nice ship, isn't it?"

"Who's there?" Sephiroth gasped, glancing left, then right, and back to his left.

"Behind you," the voice whispered. As Sephiroth turned, the voice hissed again. "Hello, father."

"Huh?" Sephiroth gasped. No one was there. A silver-haired boy suddenly leapt at him.

"BOO!"

"AH!" Sephiroth screamed and jumped backwards. The boy cackled as Sephiroth tripped, hit his head hard on the wall, and fell unconscious to the floor. The flashlight Sephiroth had been carrying rolled to the kid's feet as he faded away.

"Sephiroth? Seph! Are you okay?" Bergljot yelled a moment later. She and a young man quickly approached the limp form.

"He's out cold, but still alive. Let's get him to your ship. He's got a large lump forming on his head," the man said. They picked up Sephiroth and hurried to Bergljot's ship.

"He'll be fine," Anselm assured them a few minutes later. Sephiroth was laying on the bed, oblivious to everything around him. They left him to rest.

"Good. I don't want to lose anyone useful," Bergljot sighed. The stranger muttered something under his breath. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," he shook his head.

"So what did you say your name was?" Gwandoya asked as the three of them came into the cockpit.

"My name is Raj, and I'm the very great-grandson of King Mickey. I've been searching for you for months. The Heartless have only just come to my world, but without the Keyblades, I was powerless to stop them. Since my kingdom was destroyed, I've been traveling in my Gummi Ship. Unfortunately, in my hurry to escape the shadows, I forgot to bring an extra supply of fuel. I've been floating through space for days," he explained. "Thank you for your assistance."

"No problem," Bergljot smiled. A moan behind them made her turn. Sephiroth was rubbing the back of his head and groaning.

"Ah… what the hell happened?" He looked up at Raj. "Who are you?"

"You hit your head on the wall and my name is Raj," he grinned. His hair was short and black, his eyes were beady and brown, his voice was slightly high-pitched, and he wore a black raincoat. He seemed to be no older than the boy Sephiroth had been seeing. He gazed at the new man suspiciously. Raj extended his hand in greeting, but Sephiroth only nodded in return.

"Hmm," he muttered. Raj lowered his hand, the smile fading slightly.

"So this is the infamous Sephiroth," he whispered. He leaned in close and stared into Sephiroth's face. The angel looked away, chills sliding down his spine. "I've heard about you. How is it you're on the good guys side?"

"You mean your side?" Sephiroth asked.

"Of course. Pardon the slip of the tongue," Raj said hurriedly. Sephiroth only looked at him and made to return to the bedroom.

"Bergljot, I feel an urgent need to speak with you," he said quietly. She nodded and followed.

"You'll have to forgive him. He takes awhile to warm up to people," Anselm apologized to Raj.

"There will be no hard feelings, I assure you," Raj smiled.

"I've never seen anybody so suspicious of others," Gwandoya muttered thoughtfully.

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"What's wrong with you?" Bergljot asked angrily. Sephiroth only stood by Gemini and Genesis silently. "He's on our side!"

"I don't like this at all. He gives me a bad feeling. Nobody's that polite," Sephiroth whispered. He looked at her, a hint of fear in his eyes. "I don't want any of us getting hurt. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"Sephiroth, if something's bothering you, I want you to come to me. Promise me?"

"Yeah."

"Well, is there anything?" Bergljot asked, arms crossed. Sephiroth looked surprisingly close to tears, but he shook his head and brushed past her.

"Nothing at all. Just…" He trailed off before falling silent for a moment. "Tell me something, Bergljot."

"Hmm?"

"Will we be going to a world called Ruya?" Sephiroth turned to face her nervously. She only shrugged in reply.

"Who knows? I don't even know if we'll ever be going back to Drummond, to be honest. Is there something else?"

"Oh. No, nothing more. We should get ready to land soon," he sighed. Bergljot stared at his retreating back and called after him.

"You're a bad liar. You know that, right?" When he didn't reply, she sighed heavily, collected her son and daughter, and followed Sephiroth to the cockpit.

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"Your children are so cute!" Raj laughed, holding Genesis so Bergljot could strap in. She looked past his shoulder at Sephiroth and her son. There was no mistaking the glare in his eyes as he stared at Raj and the baby.

"Thanks," she smiled, still staring at Sephiroth. "Hey, Raj?"

"Yes? What's this?" he said in surprise. Bergljot was handing him the gold Keyblade.

"You're a descendant of Mickey and need one, right?" she pointed out. Without another word, she pushed the blade into his hands. She found it hard to ignore the glare Sephiroth was shooting in their direction.

"Ready? I think this is going to be a bit bumpy," Anselm glanced over his shoulder.

"Just get on with it!" Gwandoya snapped jokingly.

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"Simply beautiful," Bergljot gasped.

The ride had been perfectly horrible, but the planet itself more than made up for it. The sky danced with stars, more than any of the group had ever seen. The four of them stared up at the sky in awe while Gwandoya stood by quietly.

"Even you have to agree, eh, Sephiroth?" Anselm smiled.

"I must admit. My world was filled with so much light pollution, it made it very difficult for one to stargaze. This is truly a magnificent sight," he sighed.

"We should go," Gwandoya said suddenly.

"Can't we stay a bit longer?" Raj asked.

"No. There're-" Gwandoya began to explain, but growls from the surrounding woods drew them away from him.

"How did you know?" Bergljot asked as they all stood ready.

"I heard them coming."

"GRR," a red-furred, dog-like creature moaned. It leapt out of the woods and charged at Raj. He held the Keyblade parallel to the ground and, when the animal had a hold of it, flipped it over his shoulder.

"RAR!" another beast was crying.

The group looked up at the treetops to find a tall, blue, dog-or-cat-like beast leaping down at them. It had a lance strapped on its back. The monster reared up onto its hind legs and screeched again. The team promptly noticed the broken horn on his head. He expertly drew the lance and pointed at Bergljot.

"Intruders leave. Humans not welcome here. Go now! Cernunnos and Lycou kill if not leave now!" he yelled. The team stood in shock. This was a mistake; the animal became angry and snarled. "Cernunnos say to leave!"

"If you'll please listen! We mean you no harm!" Bergljot pleaded.

"Then why did you draw your weapons?" the red creature asked, circling the humans.

"You scared us!" Anselm snapped.

"Lies!" Cernunnos snapped. With a loud scream, he leapt at Sephiroth.

"Stay off!" he yelled, his blade connecting with the lance. Sephiroth allowed himself to fall backwards onto the ground, thus causing the animal to lose balance. As Cernunnos tumbled, Sephiroth brought his legs up, pushed Cernunnos head-over-heels, and rolled onto his feet in one quick movement.

"Are you okay?" Bergljot asked quickly.

"Look out!" he replied. She turned to find Lycou leaping at her face.

"No!" a voice called out. Everyone looked around to find the source. All they saw was a large, blue bird walking into the clearing.

"A Chocobo," Sephiroth whispered. It pecked at the ground and stared at the two creatures.

"Emer, what are you doing here?" Lycou muttered.

"Cernunnos want Emer to leave these humans to friends. This not your fight."

"Don't hurt them," the bird replied, ruffling her feathers. "What's her problem?"

Bergljot fainted promptly at the sound of the bird talking.

"She's not exactly accustomed to hearing birds speaking the human tongue," Sephiroth said, carefully lifting her from the ground. "Come to think of it, neither am I."

"Put her on my back. I'll get her to our cave," Emer said.

"I think I ought to go, too," Anselm said. "She's my wife, you see."

"I'll go," Sephiroth said immediately after. "I know how to ride a Chocobo, and you don't."

"Perhaps I can help?" Raj spoke up.

"No," Sephiroth replied quickly. He sighed and mounted the bird. "Chocobos generally carry no more than two passengers at a time."

"Emer should be ashamed of self," Cernunnos groaned. "Emer lets strange human ride on back for first time in one century."

"Oh, go chase your tail," Emer squawked. She took off with Sephiroth and Bergljot.

"I guess we get the kids," Anselm said quietly. He looked around. "Where's Raj?"

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"They suspect nothing, master."

"Good. Do you have the blade?"

"Yes, sir," Raj nodded. He drew the Keyblade as proof. "They handed it over before we knew each other for an hour. But… there is still one small problem."

"What?" Ansem snapped. The screen flickered with his anger.

"I think Sephiroth suspects something. He took one look at me and refuses to acknowledge that I'm a team member."

"Oh," Ansem sighed. "Try not to do anything to arouse his suspicions."

"If not too bold for me to ask, sir," Raj began. "How are the preparations for his reunion?"

"Aisling awaits your arrival, so be swift," Ansem replied. They both jumped at the sound of voices just outside the ship.

"Good bye, my lord."

"Remember what I said," Ansem hissed. He was gone from the video the next moment, leaving Raj standing in the dark ship alone.

"There you are," Anselm called. "What are you doing in here?"

"I was just going to get the twins for you," Raj smiled innocently. "I was trying to find a light."

Anselm reached over, found the switch, and the lights flickered to life. The two of them collected the children and began to walk with the feline-like creatures to their home.

"Why do humans suddenly come to Selvaggia?" Cernunnos asked gruffly.

"We come seeking creatures called the Heartless," Gwandoya began to explain. "They steal the hearts of living things. We're on a mission to destroy their leader, Ansem."

"Who is that man with you? The silver-haired one? He said he can ride a Chocobo, but they have not been ridden for a thousand years," Lycou inquired.

"His name is Sephiroth," Raj said absently.

"What?" Lycou growled angrily. He stopped and bared his teeth at Raj. "You take that back!"

"Huh?" Anselm asked, growing very confused. Lycou turned away.

"My very-great-grandfather was supposed to have killed him hundreds of years ago. He helped a man named Cloud Strife to complete the task of saving the planet."

"Cloud?" Gwandoya perked up. "We know his grandson. Please, you must forget about the troubles your ancestors had with him in the past. Sephiroth has completely changed since then."

"We shall see," Lycou huffed, resuming the walk to the cave. The rest followed silently.

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NM: Finally got an update for both stories at once! (sort of) Hopefully, there'll be more updates for KH:FD now that FF7:FLA is done. This chapters not as good as others (I'm starting to run out of ideas, sorry people), but we do have five new characters to contend with:

1- Cernunnos, the human-hating Ronso

2- Lycou, descendant of Red XIII (Nanaki) and his hate for Sephy

3- Emer, the hyper, fun-loving blue Chocobo (more on that next chapter)

4- Raj, double agent of Ansem

5- the silver-haired boy that's haunting Sephy (Advent Children anticipators should know who he is by now!)

Kadaj: So when are they gonna find out who number 5 is?

NM: ((menacingly)) Soon, 'Daj. Very soon.

Kadaj: ((skulks)) Don't call me that…

NM: Okay, what do ya'll wanna know?

Master of the Dark Trio: No problem 'bout the 4 reviews. I just didn't think about that. As for the Dark Trio, no offense, but Sephy and Ansem don't scare me one bit. I, however, have no idea who Adremmelech is, and thus I am afraid of him until further notice. And I hope you liked Emer. She'll have a bigger part later, promise.

SV: Well, after today… you know what? I'm not gonna mention it on a public website, cuz I don't wanna get mauled by scissors and claws.

Mediciner: Sorry it took so long. I hope I didn't make you made by not updating.((cowers nervously))

Merielle: If you like stories about Sephy's past, you may wanna check out the fic I just finished (For the Love of an Angel) and my songfic if you haven't already. The songfic is major Seph past, but the other isn't. Actually, I suppose in a way it is… (last chapter explains that one). Please read them, even though they're done!

NM: Like I said, the next few chapters should be up sooner. I hope.

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