OMG! There are quite possibly only 3 chappies left (though they be long ones)! AND THAT'S INCLUDING THIS ONE! gasp However, you can still expect an epilogue after that (aka, a preview of the sequel!)

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Sitting in the pub in Domina, the group of adventurers all agreed: something had to be done.

"Drakonis is not exactly being truthful." Paine said simply. Baralai nodded.

"So, what do we do?" He asked.

"Confront Larc." Yuna suggested. Paine shook her head.

"That'll send him running back to his master and then we'll be stuck as half-souls until we fade into nothingness."

"Then we stop him." Tidus answered.

"We're not going to kill him." Kairi intervened.

"Too much blood has been spilled on his behalf." Baralai added. There was a murmur of agreement.

"So then what do we do?" Yuna asked.

"We keep going like there's nothing wrong for now." Gippal answered. Yuna was going to argue, but Gippal continued. "There's still one more dragon. The fights are always confusing, so during it, we will take him aside and demand that he not take the last stone back to Drakonis on pain of death."

"But I just said we can't kill him." Kairi argued. Gippal smirked.

"I never said we had to follow through on our threat." He replied.

"How do we get our souls back from Drakonis then?" Sora asked.

"Larc isn't a bad person. I just don't think he knows that Drakonis is lying to him. Once we can convince him of that, we can return to the Underworld with him to retrieve our souls, and give Drakonis a fake stone instead of the real one." Kairi suggested.

"Do you think he'll fall for it?" Rikku asked. Kairi shrugged.

"I guess we could demand that he gives us our souls before we give him the stone." She answered.

"In the Underworld, he's in a position of power. If he decides he doesn't like that idea, he could just kill us and take it himself." Paine said, shaking her head.

"First things first, let's get Larc in with us on this. He'll probably know better than we do." Baralai said. That ended the conversation. They got up and started back to the house, getting ready for the task ahead of them.

The White Forest was a very pleasant place. There were so many bright flowers, and the trees made the sunlight dance green on the forest floor.

"My senses are slightly off in this place, but the dragon's presence is strong. I'll be able to tell you if we're going the right way." He said, taking the lead. They'd only walked a few paced when a figure dropped out of the tree branches onto the ground in front of them.

"Champions of Hell." She greeted them sarcastically. She looked at the red-armored dragoon for a long moment. "Larc."

"Sierra." He greeted her just as coldly.

"Larc, stop this madness. Drakonis is using you. He is plotting something terrible." She told him. Her voice was firm, but even so, there was that hint of pleading in it.

"I know." Larc answered. Everyone stared at him.

"You knew!" Paine asked, her voice deadly quiet. She was still for a moment, then, in a sudden flurry of movement, she took a swing at him with her sword. Larc made no move to react. Instead, Sierra stopped the attack with her knives, glaring at Paine.

"Let him explain." She commanded. Paine glared back at her.

"Why? You yourself seemed dead set against stopping him, why this pity now?" She asked coldly. Sierra's eyes hardened.

"Because he's my brother! Now let him speak!" There was silence. Larc cleared his throat.

"I know Drakonis is using the mana stones to return to this world. Drakonis would have found a way back to the surface eventually anyways, but this way, I still have control. As I take the mana stone for him, I gain as much power as he does, and when he gets the final stone, he will try to return to the surface, but I will be able to stop him."

"Larc, Drakonis is far more powerful than you, even if you have the powers of the mana stones as well. No matter what happens, you will remain his dragoon and he will have power over you." Sierra told him earnestly. Larc shook his head vigorously.

"I will return to the surface and rid the world of Drakonis forever." He answered softly. Then, he face went hard. "Now get out of my way!" He barked. Sierra shook her head in disappointment and disappeared into the trees. Larc started down the path and the others followed, each silently trying to figure out what to do now. Larc's plan had holes in it, but because of Larc's plan, so now did theirs.

"Vandise." Larc's grumbling voice snapped Kairi out of her thought. Oh no! It's the dragon! What do we do now? She wondered hurriedly.

"Larc." Vandise answered. This dragon didn't seem threatened or angry at Larc as all the rest had been.

"I'm here for the mana stone." Larc said, preparing to fight the majestic dragon for it. Vandise smiled slightly.

"Take it. It's through there." He answered, pointing his tail to a chamber underneath a tree root just behind him. Larc blinked, taking a moment to realize what the dragon just said.

"You're just going to let him take it?" Yuna cried before she could stop herself. Vandise nodded.

"Indeed. He would only have taken it anyways, had I chosen to fight for it, but all that would have created would be more bloodshed." He answered. They were speechless as they watched Larc walk into the chamber, watching Vandise suspiciously, thinking that perhaps it was a trap. Everything was stalk still for a moment. Then, Larc reemerged from the chamber, placing the stone in his bag. He brushed past Yuna and Paine, walking steadily out of the forest. After she reacted from her shock, Rikku turned and was about to run off after him in a last ditch attempt to stop him from going back to Drakonis.

"Wait." Vandise commanded. Rikku did as she was told. "There's no use trying to stop from happening what is inevitable." The dragon told them. "Drakonis's rise was inevitable, but so is his fall. Once he regains power, he will become arrogant. That is the time for you to strike at him."

"And there's no way you are going without me." Sierra told them, walking up behind them. Gippal looked mildly surprised and confused.

"I thought you hated us." He noted. Sierra shrugged.

"You're going after Drakonis. After what he did to my brother, I want a piece of the fun." She admitted.

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I know, I know, this chappie's unbelieveably short, but no worries! The next one will be unbelievably long! I promise! Review!