A/N: Another update and not waiting three years for it! Yay! Oh, there's an OC that comes in this chapter, named Serenity. She's not mine, blame my friend Kaegoe. And I hope I got her personality down about right... Anyway, R&R plz!


"I see," Mizu said, counting out a few coins and handing them over to the man behind the counter.

"I'm really sorry, Miss," the old man said, looking like he meant it. "I've never heard of this 'Kairi' you're talking about."

"That's alright," Mizu replied, slipping the bottles she had just purchased into a pouch on her weapon's belt. "I didn't really expect much information. Thank you very much, sir."

"Nothing?" Cloud asked when she came back over to their table at the inn even though he and Riku had heard the entire exchange.

"Again," she said with a sigh, plopping down on the bench next to Riku.

"Well, we've only been at it for an hour," Riku pointed out, sliding a glass of wine over to Mizu, who thanked him with a smile and took a sip.

"Oh, good, it's been watered," she said after rolling it around on her tongue for a moment before swallowing. "The last thing I need durring an interrogation is to get drunk on wine."

"I still say you're too young for it," Cloud said, reopening a previous arguement with her.

"I still say you're paranoid," Mizu countered, taking another dainty sip. "Stop worrying, I know better than to guzzle it all down in one sitting. Besides, this wine's really weak in the first place."

Riku just watched the banter and sipped his cider, which he knew had no alcohol in it. He'd been warned away from the stuff too many times to try some with something as important as Kairi's life at stake. Alcohol slowed reaction time and deadened the senses, and Riku knew he needed to be at his sharpest while they were still looking.

"Anyway," Mizu said loudly, cutting Cloud off in mid-argument, "we need a better method for this. Randomly asking merchants isn't going to get us very far. Besides, I doubt anyone here will know where Kairi is. Not a backwater town like this. We're the most excitement these people have seen in years."

"You have a point," Cloud said, surreptitiously looking around. "You know, I keep getting this feeling that I know this place. Like I was here befo--"

"Big brother!" shouted a young girl with waist-length blonde hair and deep blue eyes, glomping Cloud around the neck and earning a surprised "Hoi!" as the breath was knocked out of him. Mizu snorted in an attempt to hold back her laugh, and Riku just stared in surprise.

"Serenity!" Cloud exclaimed as soon as he had his breath back. "What're you doing here?"

"You ass, you left me here!" Serenity countered.

"Oh yeah, I guess I did," Cloud said with an apologetic smile.

"You are such an insensitive asshole," Serenity remarked, plopping down in the seat next to him. Mizu snorted again, and by now had her fist shoved down her throat to stiffle her laughter. "And who are you, giggles?"

"Sorry," Mizu said, taking a breath and wiping a tear from her eye. "I'm Mizu Hikari, Cloud's, hmm... first sister? Unless he lied to me and isn't an only child?"

"She's as much my sister as you are, Mizu," Cloud said. "But I never got her to swear an oath with me."

"You never asked, ass-wipe," Serenity countered. "I can't swear anything if you don't ask me to!" Mizu went into a spate of giggles again. "You drunk?"

"Caught off-guard," Mizu replied. "Sorry, I just never expected to meet someone like you!"

"Should I be insulted?"

"No, no, no," Mizu assured her. "I kind of meant that I didn't expect to meet someone so much like me. The first thing I ever said to Cloud was 'leggo o' me, yeh spikey-haired jerk!'"

"Lay off," Cloud muttered, hoping no one heard it.

"Not a chance," Mizu and Serenity said at the same time. Riku settled for watching, but Serenity wasn't about to keep him out of the conversation.

"And who're you?" she asked, eying Riku up and down.

"Riku," he replied calmly, and didn't say anything more. Serenity raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't push the subject.

"So, Spike, what finally brought you back?" she said to Cloud instead.

"I'm looking for someone," he replied.

"Still?"

"No, her I've already found. She's been laughing up a storm over there. I'm helping Mizu and Riku look for a friend of theirs."

"You should be a bounty hunter, not a mercenary," Serenity said.

"There's not really much difference," Mizu pointed out, taking out a small throwing knife and cleaning her nails with it.

"You a merc, too?"

"Former," Mizu replied with a grin. "I've settled down a bit in the past year."

"You look pretty young for retirement," Serenity said, eying Mizu now. "You're not just pulling my leg, are you?"

"I joined AVALANCHE when I was six," Mizu said. "Just ask Cloud, he protested loudly." Serenity turned a questioning gaze to him, and he sighed.

"Yes, she joined AVALANCHE," he confirmed. "But she wasn't six, she was five."

"I had my birthday a week after joining," Mizu explained.

"Mizu," Riku muttered, lightly tapping her with his elbow and nodding to something he noticed in the crowd. "Company."

Mizu looked up to see what Riku had spotted, then raised her wineglass to her lips and swore.

"Shit, trouble," she said. "It's Hades." Now it was Cloud's turn to swear.

"Well, well, well," Hades said, coming over to their table and clapping Cloud on the shoulder, "if it isn't my favorite little mercenary." Cloud didn't so much as grace him with an answer, but his glare said it all. "Aw, not still sore about that little misunderstanding, are we? C'mon, it's not like that one little casualty was going to make any difference. Besides, all you had to do was kill Herculese and I'd have helped you find your little sister. One more chance?"

"I don't need your help anymore, Hades," Cloud said coolly. "I've already found her. Meet both of my sisters, Serenity and Mizu."

"Oh," Hades said, his face openly showing his disappointment. "Well, then... But you never completed your contract, so--"

"You negated it when you intervened," Cloud said, standing. "Sorry, but your contract has been terminated. Good luck beating Herculese on your own, I have bigger fish to fry. C'mon, kids, we're done here."

Mizu stood and pulled out a few coins from another pouch on her belt and left them in her empty glass, Riku downed the rest of his cider and followed Cloud, and Serenity gave Hades a menacing glare before joining the other three.

"Hold it," Hades called, and the entire group stopped and leveled an icy glare at him. "You and the girls are free to go. Riku, Maleficent's waiting for you."

"Tell her I found some more help," Riku said with a grin. "And I can make more progress with these guys. Take care, Hades." He turned with the rest and started walking away, but Hades grabbed him by the elbow.

"Maybe you didn't hear me," Hades growled. "Maleficent is waiting for you to come back." Riku yanked his arm out of Hades' grasp and scowled dangerously.

"Maybe you didn't hear me," he snarled. "I'm going with these guys to find Kairi, and that's the end of it. I'm not going back to Maleficent, got it?"

"You little twerp," Hades snarled back, grabbing Riku by the neck this time, "no one, and I mean no one, ditches when Maleficent says she's waiting for them. Once you join us, you're either with us or you're Heartless, it's your choice. Now I'm gonna--" He never got to finish his sentence. Mizu's dagger burried itself to the hilt in Hades' elbow, and he stared at her in stunned amazement. Mizu just grinned wickedly and twisted, causing Hades to gasp in pain and release Riku.

"Riku's with us now," Mizu said in a deadly calm voice. Then her smirk slid from her face. "Keep your filthy hands off of him. God of Death or not, I'll send you back to your Underworld in pieces if you threaten him again." She ripped the dagger out of Hades' arm, leaving a long, deep gash from his elbow to his wrist.

"You little--" Hades snarled, lunging for her, but she quickly sketched a rune in the air and held two stiffened fingers out before her, yelling "Ice2!" A spiked ball of ice errupted from Hades' chest, slicing from the inside out and wounding him greatly.

"I'll get you for this!" Hades snarled before stepping through a portal of darkness.

"What did you do?" Riku asked, gingerly rubbing the bruises on his neck.

"Second level Ice spell," Mizu replied calmly, slipping her knife back into it's sheath. "You okay?"

"It's a little sore," Riku admitted. Mizu gently slid her fingers over the bruises, inspecting them.

"He was just threatening," she observed. "His fingers were to far from anything important to do any lasting damage. We can put an ice pack on them back at the ship, but I don't think it's serious enough for a Potion or a spell."

"That's alright," Riku said. "One question, though."

"Yeah?"

"Is Serenity coming with? Because if she is, would we still have enough room on the ship for Kairi?"

"We could double up if we have to," Mizu said. "And as for Serenity coming...?"

"Only if you don't leave without me," Serenity said with a wink.

"We should probably stay here another day," Cloud said. "See if we can't get even a little bit of a hint about where Kairi is."

"Alright," Mizu said, letting her hands drop back to her sides. "But what if Hades decides to show up again?"

"I don't think he will," Cloud told her. "He's not the kind to risk his own hide if he can help it. You mangled him up pretty badly, so he should be avoiding us for a while."

"Good," Mizu sighed. "Okay, almighty leader, where do we start looking first?"

"There's no point in being subtle about this, I think," Cloud said, "so why don't you and Riku comb the east side of the market and Serenity and I will take the west? We can meet back at the inn at dusk."

"Fine by me," Mizu said, grabbing Riku's hand and wandering off.


"Still nothing!" Mizu complained, flopping down on the bed in her and Riku's room. She sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "This is giving me a headache."

"It's only the first world, Mizu," Cloud pointed out from his spot beside the door. "And it's going to take a while, too. Tomorrow we'll have to try different tactics."

"Alright," Mizu said with a growl, scowling up at the ceiling now. "But I want more Materia for it." Cloud tossed her a handful of the gems, four green, one red, two blue, and one purple. Mizu caught them in cupped hands, sitting up before they were halfway to her. She inspected the lot of them, and turned an amazed look to Cloud. "You're giving me Bahamut?"

"You can handle that beast better than I can," Cloud said with a shrug. "Here." He tossed her two more of the red Materia, and her eyes got even wider.

"Neo and ZERO, too? Cloud, what--"

"I still have all the rest. Besides, those are offspring Materia. I still have the parents."

"Ah, so only one level, huh?" Mizu asked, looking closer at the Materia. "You got ZERO built up to it's second level, though. Well, every little bit counts..." She pulled out her knives and rearanged the materia she had on them, moving some of the jems to slots on her belt and adding the new ones.

"What's so important about this Materia stuff?" Riku asked. "Can't you just concentrate and cast the spell?"

"Materia is my native form of magic," Mizu explained. "It's the only form of magic in the world I was born on, so it's the only kind I can use. It works almost everywhere, though, so it's not like it's that big of a deal. But I have been to worlds where my Materia was replaced by knowledge of how to cast spells in that world. Magic's a very confusing subject, I don't like to talk about it unless I have about a week of free time."

"Okay," Riku conceded, knowing that she'd explain it to him eventually. "But what do you need more for? You already work just fine with the ones you have."

"I'll be going somewhere really dangerous tomorrow," Mizu said, fitting the last Materia in place. "I need all the protection I can get."

"Then I should--"

"No," Mizu stated flatly, looking Riku straight in the eye. "I have to go it alone. Don't worry, I grew up on the streets, so I know what I'm doing. I'll be back by dusk tomorrow, promise. Cloud, Serenity, I should probably get to sleep now. I wanna be as rested as possible before I head out."

"I understand," Cloud said, grabbing Serenity by the shoulder and heading out the door. "See you tomorrow."

"Good night, kids," Serenity said, shooting them a conspiratorial grin and wink.

"One more question," Riku said when they had shut the door. Mizu got up and threw the bolt home, then turned and sat back on the bed.

"Hm?" she said, laying down and pulling the covers up over her shoulders.

"Should I be worried?"

"Riku," Mizu said with a smile, "you know me better than that." She blew out the lamp and rolled over onto her side, relaxing each muscle in turn until she finally fell asleep.

Translation: Be worried sick.