The screen flickers for a bit the author appears.

*Hey guys Hakuorofan7 here and welcome back to another chapter of the Familiar of Twilight.*

*It's been almost 6 months this time, but at least I got this chapter out sooner than last time.*

*Honestly I was going to post this chapter in December of last year, but life got in the way and I decided to take a break from writing. That and I spent a majority of the last week editing this chapter to get it to it's current form, so I hope that you all will enjoy this chapter.*

*Speaking of which, you all have waited long enough for the next chapter so let's begin.*

*First I do not own Kingdom Hearts or The Familiar of Zero.*

*Finally just sit back, relax, maybe put some music on, and enjoy. I will see you all at the end of the chapter.*


Fouquet


The next day had come around and seated in one of the Academy's court yards was a whole audience of nobles and students in front of a large stage for the Familiar Exhibit. Students of the first and third years to see what the familiars summoned by the second year and what they could do. With the same being said for nobles attending as well. With them coming with Henrietta the day before, live around the academy, or had just found the time to attend from their duties.

Not that far from them was a purple tent that was set up, with Osmond and Henrietta sitting in there to watch the exhibit. Surrounded by her guards as she watched the exhibit.

This is where Louis was keeping her eyes on before turning to face her familiar, who wasn't making eye contact with her.

She could hardly sleep after last night and since this morning Roxas had been acting cold to her.

He seemed less upset than when she had saw him last night, but he would hardly speak nor look her in the eye.

As more and more of the familiars and the masters went up to preform, Louis continued to grow more and more nervous what her familiar would do. Depending on how upset he was at her, Louise would what he could do here.

If he was particularly upset than he could easily do something to embarrass or shame her in front of everyone.

In front of Henrietta.

Louise wasn't sure what Roxas would do, dread building up as when it had come time for him to walk onto the stage.

The Nobody entered onto the stage and Louise could only watch and bit her lip nervously, waiting to see what her familiar could do.

As Roxas approached the center of the stage, the crowd was bristling in anticipation.

The Academy's students curious on what Louis's familiar would do, while the nobles were more curious on why a commoner was doing on stage.

But none of that mattered to Roxas at all, only for him to get this over with.

"My name is Roxas and I am Louise's familiar." Was all Roxas said before he began to walk off the stage. Uncaring of the murmurs and whispering going on in the crowd.

Roxas didn't have any idea on what he was going to do for the exhibit in the first place. Especially with what happened last night soured his mood for the event, so Roxas decided that it would simply for the best not to preform at all.

Louise let out a small sigh of relief as Roxas was walking off the stage. While she was relieved that he didn't do anything, she didn't know if she should be alright or upset at him for doing nothing. Although she was leaning more towards the former feeling.

He could have shown off any of his spells, just proving how much more talented that he was at magic than she was. Or even worse shaming her in some way in front of Henrietta.

And now that she thought about it, Louise realized and would never reveal that she should've have realized that her familiar would never do any of those things.

Roxas has made it quite clear that he preferred not to display his abilities unless he wanted too. Along with from what he said last night, she should have known that he wouldn't intentionally try to start anything between herself and the princess.

Instead all Roxas did was introduce himself.

While he did leave the crowd confused and a bit apprehensive, Louise could at least be satisfied for that. Along with the audience having a better reaction than what Guiche was trying to do with his familiar.

She had no idea on how he thought that it would work.

The Nobody walked off the stage, sparing a quick glance at her before disappearing into the crowd.

As she watched him walk into the crowd, Louise decided to follow her familiar with a determined look on her face.

While she preferred how things were compared to last night, by the Founder she could not let this go on. And she needed an answer.


While everyone was distracted by the Familiar Exhibit, Fouquet was walking among the outer wall of the vault. Using her magic to stick to the wall and checking the thickness of it.

"The main tower is as strong as it looks, although it would withstand more than one dragon attacking in order to break in." The thief said to herself before shaking her head.

It had taken Fouquet longer than she had wished to slip away from everyone, but the exhibit should be over soon. And given the thickness of the wall meant it will take her golem quite a few hits to break through.

Meaning that she wouldn't have long before she got the attention of the guards.

Yet Fouquet smirked as she jumped off the wall, levitating and slowing her descent to that of a feather as she quickly approached the ground.

But when has that ever stopped her from robbing a heavily guarded place in broad daylight.

She had already come far enough, so Fouquet was going to make sure to take both the Staff of Destruction and the Staff of Storms.


"And the winner of the familiar exhibit is Tabitha!" The announcer said, getting the crowd to erupt into applause.

In the crowd, Roxas smiled as Tabitha and Sylphid stood up on the stage. The former wearing her usual expression while the later was preening herself while basking in the attention. With Princess Henrietta personally approaching the two of them to congratulate them.

However the Nobody's smile vanished and he let out a sigh as he sensed Louise approaching him in the crowd. It only took a minute to single her out, the pinkette having a determined look on her face.

Roxas turned away and began to walk away from the crowd and her.

While he had calmed down somewhat, he was still upset and didn't want to deal with Louise at the moment if he had to. Especially if she had anything to say about his lack of performance at the exhibit.

He wasn't sure what he would do if she did so.

"Roxas, stop!" Louise called after her familiar as they continued to walk away from the crowd. She caught up to the Nobody and grabbed his sleeve, only for Roxas to pull away from her.

"If this is about the exhibition than forget it." He said before continuing to walk away.

"No it is what happened last night, we need to talk about this." Louise said, getting Roxas to stop in his tracks before turning to face her and glared at her coldly.

"There is nothing to talk about. You are afraid of telling Henrietta the truth of how you view commoners and lied about it to her and losing your friendship with her, am I right?" Roxas asked coldly, getting Louise to pale and tremble.

But she was not backing down from this, as much as she wants to.

"Y-You are right. I am afraid." Louise admitted, surprising both Roxas and herself. "But I do not wish for this to go on. You said that you were in the princess's place, what did you do once you learned the truth?"

Louise hated to admit that she was afraid of this. To admit this to just about anyone including her familiar.

But she didn't want this treatment to continue, nor does she want possible lose her best friend.

Roxas studied her for a minute, surprised that Louise would even admit that in the first place. Figuring that she wouldn't be to prideful to admit it. Yet with him seeing how much both she and Henrietta cared for each other…

The Nobody sighed as he might as well tell her. While he was still upset with Louise, she at least needed to hear this.

Whether she does with it will be up to her.

"After seeing everything last, she will be upset with you. There is no doubt about that, but Henrietta will break off your friendship with you. You mean too much to her for that to ever happen." Roxas sighed out, getting Louise let one out in relief.

While the thought of Henrietta being disappointed in her was a thing that Louise wanted to avoid at all costs if she could.

Yet if it meant that she could keep her from losing her only friend…than it was worth Henrietta's ire.

Not that she could have more time to ponder the Nobody's words as he spoke again, still giving Louise an icy glare.

"However are you able to tell the truth to her at all?" Roxas asked, getting Lousie to pale.

"Of course." She said, trying to sound confident.

"Then are you confident on how she would react to you knowing your opinion on commoners and how Henrietta would react. You might be starting to get over your disdain for them, if you saw their treatment elsewhere would you feel like that you could stop it like she would want?" Roxas said, getting Louise to pale and shake.

He waited about a minute for her to respond or come to her own answer, before sighing and beginning to walk away once again.

"The sooner you tell her the better, but for now leave me alone Louise." The Nobody said.

While he was still upset at Louise and would prefer not to be around her, he would prefer that Henrietta didn't to experience what he had with Axel. That was if Louise could even do so in the first place.

The pinkette tried to chase after him again, but the both of them were stopped in their tracks as the ground started to rumble and crack beneath them.

Noticing this and something rising out of the ground, Roxas quickly rushed towards Louise and picked her up. Louise didn't react as she was caught by surprise as he carried her away from the area.

The ground started to form into a massive humanoid figure that was towering over the Academy's walls into a massive creature of rock. Larger than any Heartless he had ever faced before, it could rival the clock tower in Twilight Town in size.

As rocks and dirt began to fall off of the creature, Roxas put a still shocked Louise onto the ground as it punched the central tower.

While wondering what could create such a thing, Roxas noticed a figure wearing a hooded cloak on top of it. Seemingly directing the golem's attacks through a wand as it punched the wall again.

The Nobody tried to get a sense of the figure's heart as he grabbed Oblivion from his bag and summoned Oathkeeper.

Only to be surprised when he could barely sense their heart at all.

Sure he could sense that it was their, but that was just about it. The light and darkness inside their heart was blurred and the Nobody couldn't tell if he had sensed this figure or not.

While he was curious on just what that could mean, he was more focused on dealing with this creature.

And it seemed that the crowd watching the exhibit finally noticed the tower sized golem, most looking in fear while various students started to reach for their staffs while Henrietta began to lead her guard towards it.

"It's Fouquet, she's trying to break into the treasury!" Roxas heard a student say.

"We need to stop her!" He heard another student say before they launched a few spells towards the golem.

However they did nothing but brush off the golem. On top of the golem Fouquet took some amusement at their futile efforts before flicking her wand. A small chunk of the golem's arm broke off and shattered into pebbles.

Which immediately began to rain down upon the students, getting some of them to scatter and Roxas to once again carry Louise out of the way.

Normally Louis would have protested being picked up like this by her familiar, especially twice now. Yet she was more concerned when she saw Henrietta with her guards approaching Fouquet with their weapons and staffs drawn.

"Stop Fouquet. She must not break into the treasure valut!" Henrietta ordered as she raised her scepter into the air. Her guards going around the princess with Agnès leading the charge.

"You heard her highness, attack!" Agnès ordered, the guards rushing forwards. The musketeers among them load and firing their firearms while the few mages among them launching spells at Fouquet and the golem.

The spells and musket balls did little more than to chip away at the golem and those that did reached Fouquet she simply raised and hardened an earthen wall that blocked the projectiles. Before having the golem lower both of it's massive fists towards the assembled guards, causing them to scatter or risk being squashed.

As soon as the fists slammed into the ground, the guards split up in order to get a better shot at Fouquet.

However the thief grinned once she realized that they had left the princess wide open and had an opportunity to buy herself some more time.

Fouquet had her golem raise it's fist and trained it to the princess of Tristain, shocking most of the crowd.

She knew that if she was ever caught, than she would be immediately executed for regicide by killing princess Henrietta. So Fouquet would settle for battering her aside. The thief flicked her wand and the golem rapidly dropped it's fist towards the princess.

Roxas saw this and immediately opened a Corridor of Darkness and jumped through it.

Henrietta tried to back away from the golem's fist, but it was coming down too fast for her to react. As the princess braced herself for the inevitable, she felt something wrapped around her waist and was immediately pulled back as the fist impacted the earth.

Creating a massive dust cloud that obstructed the guard's vision.

"Princess Henrietta!" Agnès called out as the golem's fist lifted out of the earth, rocks and dirt falling off of it and into the newly formed crater in the ground. She looked in it for any trace that the attack could have killed the princess before looking around once she found none.

Only for cough to emerge from the dust cloud, which cleared up to reveal Henrietta on her knees and coughing while Roxas stood next to her. Oblivion planted into the ground next to him.

Agnès stared at him in shock before looking towards where Louise was, before shaking her head and rallying towards Henrietta.

While she wondered how Louise's familiar could have gotten to the princess that fast, Agnès was more concerned with making sure that Henrietta was okay and making sure not to leave her unguarded again.

Henrietta was still coughing as whoever had grabbed her had knocked the air out of the princess. Followed from the force of the impact from the golem's fist to the ground shortly afterwards. She had no idea who had managed to save her before finally looked up.

Seeing that it was none other than Louise'e familiar.

"Roxas?" Henrietta asked, looking at the Nobody as he pulled Oblivion out of the ground and summoned Oathkeeper once again.

"Henrietta are you alright?" Roxas asked as the golem once again battered it's fists against the tower's wall. Fouquet staring him down from up above.

"I'm alright." She breathed out while getting back on her feet.

"Good, I'll hold this Fouquet off. You organize your guard." He said as he saw Agnès run towards them before opening another Corridor of Darkness infront of them before reappearing on the golem's arm.

He rushed forward, intent on making sure this Fouquet pay for attempting to harm Henrietta.

The thief looked in surprise as the princess was unharmed from her attack, but she wasn't surprised to see Louise's familiar to have intervened. Honest Fouquet had somewhat expected him to have done so after what happened with the former Count Mott.

What she didn't expect was for him to have vanished into what appeared to be a pillar of black fire or hold two strange sword wands.

Fouquet began to look around for Roxas to appear from anywhere.

Before she quickly raised an earthen wall to defend herself from him nearly striking her with both of his Keyblades.

As Roxas pulled back from the wall, he finally managed to get a good look at the thief.

Fouquet was an older woman in a blue robe that reached her thighs and the center of the midriff being grey in color and black at the sides. Besides that anymore of her features the Nobody couldn't really tell as they were obscured by her hooded cloak. The only thing that he could see were two long bangs of light green hair and the smirk she wore on her face.

There was something familiar about her, but Roxas couldn't tell what. Whatever she was using to mess with sensing her heart wasn't helping at all.

But he could figure that out later after dealing with Fouquet.

"Fire!" Roxas casted, launching two fireballs at the thief.

With a flick of her wand she raised another earthen wall to block the spells before raising a dust cloud to obstruct his vision.

The Nobody had tried to sense her through the dust cloud before rushing out of it to see that Fouquet had retreated to further down the arm.

And the golem trying to swat at him with it's other hand.

Roxas jumped back from the strike as it impacted the golem and jumped onto it's hand and sunk the teeth of both his Keyblades into the hard earth composing it's body.

The golem than tried to smash it's fist into the tower wall with Roxas still on it, only for him to train wind to the bottom of his feet and propelled himself into the air. Gliding as the golem's fist once again propelled himself into the air and towards Fouquet.

She frowned while trying to swat Roxas out of the air with her golem's other hand, but the Nobody sunk the teeth of Oathkeeper into the arm before landing on it and running toward the thief.

Fouquet waved her wand and pieces of the golem's body broke away into jagged shard of rock before being flung towards Roxas.

However to her surprise, Roxas just batted them away or outright smashed through them with his Keyblades. She would have thought that at least one of the shards would have smashed into him by now.

Settling for a more desperate measure approach, she raised a large earthen spike from the ground behind her. Before levitating it and launching the massive projectile towards Roxas.

He stalled in his tracks as the spike came towards him at break neck speeds. Roxas quickly coated himself in a barrier of light as the earthen spike crashed into him.

Fouquet smirked as she finally got him, only to be surprised when the remains of the spike crumbled apart and thirteen pillars of light raced towards her. She hastily created several walls of earth to block them, only for the pillars to smash into them and raced past her.

"Is he using light magic?" Kirche asked Tabitha besides her, as she and other mages looked at the battle being waged between Louise's familliar and the thief.

While most of those watching where previously unaware of how strong he was, those that knew were still wondering just how strong he truly was. Especially with the ways he used light was practically unheard of.

Back on the golem a slightly winded Roxas rushed back towards Fouquet as she hurriedly dodged the last light pillar before seeing the Nobody closing in one her. Through gritted teeth Fouquet waited until Roxas was nearly in-front of her before training her wand downwards.

A small pit opened up beneath him and Roxas quickly climbed out of it to see the thief retreating away him. Roxas quick rushed after Fouquet and swung Oathkeeper at her, only for wall to block his strike.

He quickly broke through and Fouquet hurriedly created a dust cloud that obstructed his view.

"Blizzard!" Roxas casted, launching two shards of ice from his Keyblades in order to see if his spell would manage to tag Fouquet before rushing out of the dust cloud.

Only to groan in pain as one of the golem's hands grabbed him and began to crush Roxas.

As the dust cloud faded, most of the mages looked on in shock as Roxas was slowly being crushed in the golem's fist.

Roxas looked to see that one of his Blizzards had managed to hit Fouquet, with the thief giving him an annoyed from as she tore part of her cloak that had been frozen to the golem. With a flick of her wand she incinerated it, before waving it towards the tower's wall.

The golem slammed it's fist against the wall once again, but this time with Roxas still trapped in it's grip.

He barely held back from yelling out in pain from being slammed into the wall before being pulled back and slowly being crushed. It was like the worst parts of facing the Infernal Engine and the Leechgrave all over again…

Roxas was dazed and groaning for a few moments before he started to regain his composure and noticed that the golem was winding up another punch.

And that Louise was rushing towards the golem with her wand drawn.

"Let go off of Roxas!" Louise called out, trying her best to remain confident with her wand pointed at the golem's fist.

"Louise get away from here!" Roxas yelled at he as he struggled to get lose.

However his words fell on deaf ears.

"Fireball!" Louise casted, praying to the Founder that the spell would work this time.

Instead Roxas found himself in even more pain as he was almost point blank in the middle of a massive explosion that engulfed himself, the golem's arm, and the tower's wall.

Fouquet shielded her eyes from the blast for a moment for it fade to reveal a quickly dissipating cloud of smoke.

The Nobody groaned as his ears were ringing and his vision was blurred, feeling nothing but pain and his face was cut in several places. And that he had reached way past his limit.

When the smoke cleared Fouquet most of the golem's arm and the tower's wall was covered in soot and that the wall to the treasury was effectively broken. She knew just how much damage one of Louise's explosions could do, but for it to damage the wall of the treasury when her golem couldn't…

The thief noticed that light started to spark in the golem's hand and quickly waved her her wand.

Louise could only watch in horror as the golem slammed it's fist and Roxas into the wall once more. Finally breaking through the wall and the impact causing Roxas to go limp from the impact, knocking him unconscious.

"That should take care of him." Fouquet said as the light died down and she had the golem pulled back it's arm containing Roxas.

Before she could even move the other arm, the thief noticed noticed Tabitha closing in on her on the back of her dragon. Fouquet smirked as she looked over to the prone form of Roxas and with a wave of her wand the golem tossed him high into the air.

Tabitha diverted Slyphid towards Roxas as he quickly began to free fall back to the ground while Fouquet resumed her theft on the treasury.

Tabitha quickly had Slyphid go into a nosedive after Roxas as he continued to plummet to the ground. Slyphid extended her hands and caught him before the Nobody could impact the the ground. The dragon held onto him tightly as she flew back into the air.

Fouquet emerged from the treasury with her prizes in tow. In one hand she held a violet case with silver markings. And under her other arm was something wrapped up in various white cloths covered in runes.

She smirked while climbing onto her golem's head, noticing that the royal guard was regrouping and preparing to attacking her once again.

But it was too late.

"I couldn't have done it without you!" Fouquet yelled out towards Louise with a wide grin as her golem stepped over the outer wall.

Only for her to joy to quickly evaporate as a musket ball managed to punch a hole through her hood.

"After her!" Agnès ordered as the princess's royal guard began to open fire on the golem while moving towards the Academy's exit in order to make sure she didn't escape.

Slyphid landed on the ground and the dragon set Roxas down gently as Tabitha jumped down from her back. Looking at the his condition his face was covered in soot and blood, and every breath he took sounded like he was in pain.

But it looked like that he should pull through.

"Roxas!" Tabitha heard Louise cry out from behind her.

The bluenette turned to see her and Kirche running towards them. With the princess trailing behind them.

When they got close to Roxas they gasped in shock at seeing how banged up he was, with Slyphid standing over him while they approached him.

"Is he alright?" Louise asked shakily.

She could hardly believe what she had did to her own familiar.

All that she meant to do was help him escape from the golem's grasp. Instead her spell only caused an explosion once again, and this time Roxas had been caught up in it.

"Yes." Was all Tabitha said, getting Louise to let out a sigh of relief.

But that soon died out when Kirche approached her with a furious expression.

"What were you thinking Louise, you nearly killed your own familiar!" Kirche said, getting Louise to look away from her.

"It was an accident, I didn't mean to do it." Louise said while bitting her lip. Kirche just stared at her with a frown before turning her attention to Tabitha.

"Can't you wake him up? His healing spells or one of his elixirs should be enough to fix this." She said to Tabitha as the former stoically raised her staff and waved it over Roxas's head.

The Nobody gasped for air as he woke back up, feeling like he had been slammed into by Infernal Engine's battering ram once gain. With a groan he raised Oathkeeper into the air.

"Curaga!" Roxas casted, creating a green field of energy to surround him. He dispelled Oathkeeper and leaned against Oblivion as his injuries began to heal and he noticed that he was still in Halkeginia.

Roxas let out a sigh of relief at that.

The last time anyone had knocked him out he was after fighting Riku. Which had resulted with him in DiZ's virtual prison with his memories wiped.

An experience that Roxas wished to never repeat again.

As his injuries quickly began to heal, he noticed Henrietta, Kirche, Tabitha and Slyphid were looking at him with relief while Louise looked away from him. With the reason why being plainly obvious to the Nobody.

Roxas was about to speak to them, before he sensed someone rapidly approaching them and groaned once it made impact with him.

"Roxas!" Siesta cried out as she wrapped her arms around him, nearly causing him to fall down from the impact.

He managed to straighten himself up in her arms to see Siesta looking at him with a mixture of worry and relief. Siesta reached into her apron to pull out a rag and began to wipe the dried blood off his face.

"Are you alright Roxas?" She asked him, the Nobody could practically hear how worried she was. "I was in the crowd when I saw what happened, and I-"

"It's alright Siesta, I'm alright. Believe me I have been through worst before, but I will be okay." Roxas said, cutting Siesta off while trying to show that he was alright.

It seemed to work a little as Siesta nodded with a small smile before removing the rag from his face once the bllod had been wiped off.

"What happened with Fouquet?" Roxas asked, turning to face Henrietta.

"She broke into the treasury and got away before I could organize an attack." The princess sighed out.

"Then it seems like I wasn't able to hold her off for long enough then." Roxas said with a frown.

"It wasn't exactly your fault Roxas. You were doing fine until Louise blew you up." Kirche said, narrowing her eyes at Louise.

Who glared at Kirche in turn.

"It was just a mistake. I was trying to help!" Louise yelled out.

"Stop fighting the both of you!" Henrietta ordered, getting both Kirche and Louise to back up from each other. The later looking a bit mollified before trying to regain her composure.

Henrietta turned to Roxas, briefly musing to herself if she should inquire more about himself after seeing him fight Fouquet. However with what she learned about him last night and all that he just went through just now, the princess of Tristian decided against it.

"Thank you saving me and your assistance Roxas. This could have gotten a whole lot worse if you hadn't been there." Henrietta said with a smile.

"Your welcome, I just don't want to lose those that I consider my friends." Roxas said, already considering Henrietta a friend. "I don't want for them to disappear once again."

He had no idea where Axel was, he had lost someone he considered a friend and their memories altered, and he had nearly lost Siesta to the former Count Mott.

Roxas had no intention of letting that to happen again if he could.

Louis, and Tabitha stared at the Nobody curiously at his declaration. Wondering what he meant by that. Kirche having already known that, was wondering just what exactly happened. Siesta as well, but was shaking a little while remembering what happened and stood closer to Roxas.

Slyphid just tilted her head in confusion and let out a small roar while Henrietta beamed at him.

"Of course you are my best friend's familiar after all. You did promise me that you would protect her. So I guess we are friends, thank you Roxas." Henrietta said with a smile, before she was was surprised by Agnès rushing towards her.

The blonde haired woman immediatly began to fuss over Henrietta to her dismay.

Roxas would have thought that the sight was amuzing, if he wasn't on guard from what he had sensed.

The princess's guard from what he had seen so far seemed to take her saftey very seriously, something that Roxas would have expected for guarding the future queen of Tristain.

No it was what he could sense from her heart that had the Nobody on edge.

While he had sensed her heart before it was always from a distance, but it was fairly powerful and near perfectly balanced.

But being close to the woman he could sense what he could best describe as something off about her heart. It was a lot like DiZ's own heart in the way that it felt.

Roxas couldn't put his own words to describe it, something just felt off about her heart. However the feeling was much more suddued with DiZ's heart, he couldn't sense it without have been physically close to him. But with the woman he could sense that strange feeling from just a bit further away.

So despite the woman's intentions for Henrietta's wellbeing being obvious, Roxas would be ready for anything she might try just incase.

Except it seemed like for Kirche to suddenly embrace and hug him from behind. With the Nobody feeling that same strange sensation that he felt over a week ago when he felt something soft press against his shoulders.

"Roxas that was amazing, you even went one on one with Foquet and her golem. But I didn't think that you could use light magic at all. Nor do I think anyone could use it like you do. Where did you lean how to do thatand why didn't you tell us?" Kirche inquired while pouting, looking him straight in the eyes.

"I've always been able to do that and it didn't matter." Roxas answered honestly while gently pushing her away.

"I should have expected such an answear from you." Kirche said with a amused grin.

While she had already expected such an answer from Roxas,s she couldn't help but be curious about him. Especially with what she had heard from him and seen him do.

Roxas was perhaps her greatest challenge she had ever encountered and she was certain to break through and learn more about him one way or another.

"Your name is Roxas?" Henrietta's blond haired guard said as she stepped away from the princess.

"That is correct." He said.

"I am Agnès, personal guard to her highness." Agnès said, before giving the Nobody a small bow. "Thank you for protecting the princess. I shouldn't have left her alone and if anything had happened to her…"

"It was nothing, I was trying to make sure that she was alright." Roxas interjected, getting Agnès to nod as she straightened herslef out.

"Of course, the kingdom would have fallen to chaos if anything happened to her highness. Whoever Fouquet is, I swear she is going to pay for what she did." Agnès said, Roxas feeling the strange feeling in her heart soike briefly before turning back and walking towards the princess.

The both of them heading back to the Academy not a moment later.

As they departed, Roxas saw Henrietta brightly smile at himself and Louise before turning away.

"Roxas-" Louise started to say as she approached her familiar.

Only to be cut off as he began to walk away.

"Not right now Louise." Roxas sighed out as he began to walk away from them. "I just need to be alone for a few minutes."

Before anyone could do anything to stop him, Roxas disappeared into a Corridor of Darkness.

"You really need to get a control on your explosions Louise." Kirche said with a frown.

However to her surprise instead of getting rilled up, Louise looked almost crestfallen as she lowered her head.

"I know, I just wanted to help. But all I did was mess everything up once again like I always do." Louise said as her eyes started to water as they teared up. With her not even caring at this moment if everyone saw her.

Kirche stared at her in surprise, not expecting the normally prideful mage to be on the verge of tears.

She sighed at that before shaking her head.

"Louise, would you like to talk about it?" Kirche sighed out, surprising the pinkette.

"What, why?" Louise questioned, suspicious about whatever Kirche could be planning.

And that was something the later instantly pick up on through her glare.

"It is because it looks like you need to talk to someone right now. I know from your look that you don't trust me and as much fun as it is too mess with you at times Louise, now is not one of these times." Kirche sighed out. "So do you want to talk about it or not?"

Louise looked at her and contiplated on what do before sniveling and lowering her head.

"I would like to." Louise said, getting Kirche to nod before turning to Siesta. With the maid looking at the pinkette with surprise and concern, never expecting for her to act like this.

"Siesta, can you please bring us some tea to my room?" Kirche asked, breaking the maid out of her stupor.

"Of course Lady Kirche." Siesta said, getting Kirche to nod before she walked over to Louise and placed an arm around her shoulder.

"Come on." Kirche said, only for Louise to push her arm off with a small huff.

"I know where your room is Zerbst, you do not have to lead me around like a child." Louise said, getting Kirche to laugh as they began to walk off.

"Oh I know, I just wanted to see that you were still in their Louise." Kirche said with a smile as the two of them continued to walk off.

At that Siesta turned around and began to walk towards the kitchens she saw that Tabitha and Slyphid were in her way. The dragon looking at her with a tilted head.

"Your worried about him?" Tabitha said, confusing and once again surprising Siesta before she nodded.

"I am, I take it that you are as well Lady Tabitha?" Siesta asked.

While the mage's expression remained the same, Slyphid letting out what sounded like a soft whin was telling.

Tabitha looked at Siesta for a few moments before facing the Academy's central tower and pointed her staff at the top. The maid followed where she was pointing with her staff and knew what she was doing.

She had heard enough from Roxas on what he did back in homeland.

"I should have known he had been up there. Are you trying to say you would take me up there?" Siesta asked, getting Slyphid to perk up at that.

"Yes." Tabitha said simply.

"Then can you please wait a few minutes Lady Tabitha. I need to fulfill Lady Kirche's request first, Roxas did say he needed a few minutes. He should still be there when I am done." Siesta said, getting Tabitha to nod and Slyphid to let out a soft warble as the maid walked off towards the kitchens.

As much as she wanted to be there for her friend, it might be for the best to leave him be for a few minutes. Especially if she was right on what might be troubling him.


Roxas sighed out as looked down below at the chaos of the aftermath from Fouquet's raid, with the knights departing out of the main gate to chase after her golem. Although the Nobody knew that by the time they could have caught up to the thief she probably would have been long gone.

With himself contemplating what had happened with his fight with Fouquet.

He had been knocked out in the middle of a fight, although that would have been partly Louise's fault with the spell.

Though Roxas wasn't mad about that part, he was more annoyed than anything with her from that. Part of the reason he had left once Henrietta then was to get away from Louise for just a little bit.

But what he was mainly upset about was that he could have lost someone once or something he cared about once again.

Last time he was knocked out he had wound up in DiZ's virtual prison and had his memories erased. And at the time he had thought that he had lost Axel for good. That he had practically lost everything and had no choice but to reunite with Sora.

Thankfully it seemed that was not the case this time and Fouquet was more focused on stealing whatever she wanted from the vault. If she had she could have easily attacked Louise like she had attempted to do with Henrietta earlier.

Even if he was still disappointed with Louise, he didn't wish for that to happen to her. Or what it could have done to Henrietta if anything happened to her.

Roxas had spent enough time inside of Sora worrying about wether Axel was alright or not to have a decent grasp on what the princess could have felt.

In fact, it might now have been worse for him now then it would have been when he had lost to Riku.

Back than he had practically nothing, Axel was gone to the wind and now he was trying to put the pieces together the Organization had erased of another friend he had.

Now it seemed that there was more people that he cared about now, and the number seemed to be increasing with the more people he met.

Siesta, Tabitha, Slyphid, Henrietta, Marteau, Kirche, the commoner staff at the Academy, and even Louise.

The more people Roxas came to know, the more he wanted to make sure that nothing bad happened to them.

He had nearly lost Siesta to Count Mott and had now could have lost Henrietta to Fouquet. And the thief had clearly shown that there was still plenty of people on this world that were more than a match for him. And if they had come after those he cared about, the Nobody wasn't sure of how he could protect them if he could.

Whether he could or not, Roxas just didn't want to lose those close to him again.

"How can I protect them all though?" The Nobody sighed out as he looked skywards, seeing the sun starting to go down. "Sora has tried to do the same thing and even than he could barely succeed with his friends over multiple worlds. What am I supposed to do on just one?"

Although he only had to worry about those close to him on just Halkeginia, Roxas never had the need to do so before coming to this world. And maybe he was being a little paranoid, but if there was a chance to prevent himself from losing them.

Suddenly Roxas felt the runes on his hand heat up, and groaned as he felt a strange sensation surge through his body.

He groaned as he felt it coursing through his body, the light around him began to flicker, and his coat began to glow silver as he felt the twin presences inside him pulse for a second before the everything returned to normal.

The Nobody looked himself over, the sensation all but familiar to him.

Before he grinned and focused on that feeling again.

His coat beginning to glow silver and the light beginning to flicker around him once again before it began to die down.

"Drive, guess I picked a few things up from you after all Sora." Roxas said as he tried to activate the Drive, but to no avail. "It might not be much, but it is a start."

Roxas got up from his position and was about to open a Corridor of Darkness when he sensed something approaching him.

It was Tabitha, Sylphid…and was that Siesta?

The Nobody looked down curiously to see the dragon flying up along the tower's walls. With Siesta clinging onto the dragon's back.

He took a step back as Slyphid landed and began to nuzzle her head against his body. Tabitha calmly slid off Slyphid's back while Siesta shakily climbed off the dragon.

"Are you alright Siesta?" Roxas asked, getting the maid to nod shakily.

"I-I'm fine, just never flown before." Siesta said as she composed herself and walked up to the Nobody. "I kind of figured that you would be up here from what you have told me, or at least one of the other towers. But I didn't think I would ever come up here."

"Neither did I, but I can guess you all were worried about me." Roxas said with a smile as he scratched one of Slyphid's ridges, getting the dragon to preen at his touch. With Siesta smiling at the sight.

"We were, Lady Tabitha offering to take me up here." Siesta said as said mage went back to reading in her book. Before the maid frowned while looking at Roxas. "Still are you alright Roxas?"

"I am now, why?" The Nobody inquired.

"I was wondering if what happened with Fouquet had anything similar to do with something from your homeland or Axel?" The maid said, surprising Roxas. "When you woke up and asked to be alone for a bit you had the same look you had when describing the good times back then."

Roxas looked to see Tabitha looked out of her book briefly, curiosity clearly evident in her gaze. Siesta also looked at him curiously, although the look of concern on her face far outweighed it.

He stared at them for a minute before smiling a little.

"The last time I was knocked out during a fight, I nearly lost everything. It was also shortly after that I last interacted with Axel. Honestly the first thing I thought when I woke up that is what happened once again." Roxas sighed out. "Never been happier to be wrong once I realized that."

"And I hope you never have to think or experience that ever again." Siesta said, getting Roxas to nod.

"Same here, I am not going anywhere anytime soon." Roxas said as he continued to scratch at Slyphid's ridges, the dragon still preening. "So do you want to head back down soon?"

"Not right now, I can see why you come up here everyday. The view from here is breathtaking." Siesta said in awe as she looked over the edge of the tower and into the surrounding areas.

"If you think that it is the case, then you should see it at sunset." Roxas said, getting her to smile.

"Then do you think that we could see the sunset then. Once things have calmed down of course." Siesta said while looking down at the soldiers still leaving to look for Fouquet.

"Of course, just tell me and I could bring you up here at any time." Roxas said with a smile.

Siesta smiled and nodded at that before going back to enjoying the view.

Tabitha leaned against her familiar as she continued reading her book, glancing up to look at the Nobody curiously before shaking her head focused on her book.

She could save her inquiries for another time.


The silence in Kirche's room was unbearable. She sat at her desk drinking the tea Siesta provided. While Louise sat on her bed looking sullen and unsure.

It had been like this for a few minutes now, the silence had been grating since they had arrived at Kirche's room and Louise had barely responded to anything. The only time that she did so was when Siesta had brought the tea to them and it was just a quiet thank you.

Louise had barely touched her tea since then. The awkward silence between the two for so long had been enough for Kirche and she decided that Louise had had sulked enough.

"Louise you can tell me what is wrong? That is what you wished to do, to talk to someone. Otherwise you would have rejected my offer." Kirche said while setting her tea down on the desk.

The pinkette sat there for another moment before speaking.

"Why…" She said as her eyes turned misty.

"Why what?" Kirche asked.

"Why can't I do anything right? Why can't I use magic without everything blowing up?" Louise said as she started to cry. "Everyday I study and practice, trying to use magic. Instead I just struggle to use it and everytime I do it just causes something to explode, usually in my own face. While everyone else including you can cast a simple spell with hardly any effort."

Kirche did her best to contain her surprise at seeing Louise starting to choke back a sob and crying even more. She had thought that she had an iron will to match her pride.

Evidently she was wrong.

"It is humiliating, I am a noble and I should be a mage. Especially since with my mother's reputation. Instead I am practically a commoner with a noble title who can't cast a single spell right. Everyday here for nearly a year I have been called a Zero for my inability to use magic and unable to make any friends. I can count the number of people who didn't care at all about my lack of properly casting a spell on both hands, as almost everyone I know never held faith in me being a mage. If I didn't manage to summon a familiar I would have been sent home days ago with my status as a mage revoked. Making me truly a Zero, a nothing." Louise cried out, getting Kirche to cringe.

While she wasn't the first person to call Louise a Zero, she was the one to have started to spread it around the Academy. It had meant to just be a way of teasing her in class, especially after how Louise had been acting to her concerning her family's rivalry.

Kirche didn't really didn't think anything at it at the time other than just teasing Louise. Especially since Louise didn't really react all that much to it other than annoyance, but that was something she had seen in a lot of her fellow female students concerning how she behaved. Especially with those native to Tristain.

Yet it would seem that Louise hadn't really been brushing it off, only hiding the pain much better than Kirche could have given her credit for. But it seemed like that she had hit her limit.

And Kirche didn't want to think of what she would react if she was to be have been sent back home if she didn't summon Roxas.

"However, summoning him was the first time that I managed to use magic correctly." Louise said, breaking Kirche from her thoughts as she noticed the pinkette had calmed down a little. "Despite his stuborness and I am sure he is purposely annoying me by vanishing away from me whenever I look away from him, Roxas is the proof that I am a mage. That if I could summon him, than I am not a failure of a mage. That I can amount to something. Along with Roxas not caring or thinking different about me not being able to use magic."

"That and he treats you like everyone else." Kirche said, getting Louise to nod as she bit her lip.

"Correct, but I messed it all up yesterday. My familiar is ashamed of me." Louise said as she tried to tear up once again. "And when I tried to help him, I ended up hurting him even more cause all I do is fail! I am sure that if he wasn't going to leave before he would leave me now!"

With that the floodgates burst and she started cried into her hands, uncaring of her rival seeing in such a state as Louise let every emotion that had been building up go.

Kirche watched as Louise broke down completely, something that she had never thought possible unless she had saw it. Frowning at the sight, she got up from here seat and sat down next to Louise on the bed.

Before reaching an arm behind her and gently pulling the crying pinkette close.

Normally Louise would of protested and pushed Kirche away for being so close to her. However she was too distraught to care at the moment. Only that no matter if it was Kirche or not, that someone was there for her.

Kirche let Louise cry onto her shoulder for a few minutes, holding her close until the crying began to stop as she calmed down.

As the crying turned into a light sobbing, Kirche smiled while looking at Louise.

"Have you ever wondered why I enrolled at the Academy here in Tristain, instead of one back in Germania? Partially because I was forced to move to this kingdom." Kirche said to Louise.

She said nothing and refused to look Kirche in the eyes, but the lack of sobbing showed that she was listening.

"Well I chose to move to Tristain. Yet I was forced to move from my home and the Vindobona Acedemy of Magic in Germania due to some trouble I caused over there. I thought that I could get a fresh start here, but I suppose my frustrations would bleed through eventually. I meant to call you Zero as a means to tease you. But with how keen you are our family's rivalry it would made you and easy target. Especially on days that I couldn't stand the attention the boys keep giving me." Kirche said, smiling as she heard a small choking noise from Louise.

"And here I thought you loved the attention Zerbst." She said quietly.

"Oh I do, however it could be especially frustrating as most of them can not see my beyond my body. While it is flattering but it is not as passionate as I would prefer. Reminding me all too much of my ex-fiancé at times." Kirche said, getting Louise to blink in shock.

Well honestly what was more surprising to the pinkette was that Kirche actually had one. Usually the Zerbst family rarely made or broke such an agreement themselves. While they did not have such convictions if they wanted to seduce someone who was already betrothed.

Such an instance one of the main reasons the Valliére and Zerbst families held such bad blood with each other for years.

Kirche looked amused at Louise'e reaction before sighing as she recalled that man.

"He was a disgusting old geezer that my parents chose to be my fiance. Believing that he would 'keep me in check' and bolster the family's reputation with him being a marquis. But I could see that he only wanted me for my body." Kirche sighed out with a shudder. "Although the way he looked at me, I would have never thought I would see some with a similar look in Tristain. By the Founder I hope he isn't as depraved as Mott was."

Louise shuddered, silently praying to the Founder that Kirche was right.

She was didn't need the thought that there were more men like Mott anywhere in Halkeginia to add to her nightmares.

"Though I suppose it would help with what he did once I rejected him." Kirche said while shaking her head. "That old geezer has some friends in high places. Naturally it created bad blood between our families, but he used those connections to ruin my reputation and made things difficult in my final year there in Vindobona Academy. My so called friends turned against me and most of the teachers would slander my name amy chance they could get. There were a lot of things I would rather not describe, but I was left all alone in the end." Kirche said with solemn smile.

"And that's when you came to Tristain last year, to get a fresh start." Louise said softly, not used to seeing Zerbst so sullen.

"Well my father had me sent out of Germinia while my mother wanted to resume the engagement, but that is right. Only I found more of the same here, especially with how insecure most of the you Tristain mages seem to be." Kirche said with a small grin while Louise simply huffed in annoyance. "At least I met Tabitha and she is a great listener."

At this Louise raised an eyebrow in question.

"It might not seem like it but she pays attention to everything around her while reading. I wouldn't be surprised if she knew more about your familiar than either of use with much she listens. Or how much Slyphid seems to enjoy being around or leaning against him." Kirche said with a small laugh. "I can't figure that out but Flame is the same way."

"I doubt he even knows as well." Louise said flatly.

"Anyway Tabitha is the only real friend I have, but I do not mind it too much. The girls here are jealous and insecure and the boys are usually a good way to vent." Kirche said. "Stringing them along is easier back home, it's no longer as fun as it used be. There is hardly any challenge left, but it helps with any frustrations I have."

"Expected nothing less from you Zerbst." Louise huffed out with her cheeks dusted pink. Which faded away at seeing Kirche's amused grin. "Still if you were in such a similar situation too me, why did you start calling me Zero in the first place you meant to tease me?"

"A way to forget the pain of what happened, and I couldn't figure out a way to get through to you without your family's rivalry. Nothing else seemed to work and it made me feel a bit better by myself if only temporary." Kirche said, getting Louise to nod before starting to pale.

The pinkette silently thanked the Founder that Professur Colbert and and Osmond had talked some sense into her after she summoned Roxas. She didn't want to know what would have happened if she pushed her familiar too much earlier.

It was not a pleasant thing to imagine.

Nor what Cattleya would do to her if she had found out what Louise originally planned.

"I know that feeling all too well, I have been mean to him since I first summoned him. Still we mainly kept to ourselves and Roxas been as patient as he was with me. He has made attempts to get closer to me, but I only ended up pushing him away. And I kept pushing him until my own familiar is ashamed of me." Louise said with a frown. "Kirche, what am I supposed to do about him?"

"Do you know exactly why he is ashamed at you? And no I do not mean with what happened with Fouquet. I doubt he would blame you anyway." Kirche suggested, knowing enough about Louise to guess what she would ask.

She mulled over what to tell Kirche before sighing.

"I lied to my best friend about my true feelings about commoners right in front of him. He is more upset that I lied to her because I am afraid of losing her." Louise said, getting Kirche to nod.

"Do you still see commoners the same way?" She asked, getting the pinkette to shake her head.

"Not anymore, I was raised into thinking that way…that nobles were above them. But that all changed when I saw Mott's basement." Louise said, getting them both to shudder. "Roxas at least seems to believe me on that part, he is more upset I lied to my best friend on that."

"I see." Kirche said as she got up from the bed and sat back at her desk. "All I suggest is that you give him sometime, at least for today. And to show him how your views have changed through action. Seeing it with his own eyes should be enough convince him more than just saying it. Along with telling your best friend the truth as soon as you can."

Louise winced at that before nodding.

She was planning to anyway, especially after today. But Louise did not know when that she could see Henrietta.

Her guards were going to make sure that she didn't disappear from their sight after Fouquet's break in. And she was pretty sure that they would head back to the capital after the events of today.

Yet Louise hoped that she could get a chance soon enough, perhaps she could look for a way after everything with Fouquet settled down.

Both Kirche and Roxas were right, she needed to tell Henrietta the truth. They had been friends for years and she deserved to know.

"Thank you." Louise said while looking down, a small smile on her face.

"No problem." Kirche said with a small grin. "It only took you about a year."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Louise asked with a huff.

"This is the first time we haven't tried something since we met. Though if you ever want to talk about anything feel free to come by. Just don't think I will be any different around you, it is just too much fun to banter with you Zero." Kirche said.

Louise glared at her for a few moments, before she smirked.

"I expected nothing less from you Zerbst." She said.

Both of the mages grinned at each other before Louise got up from Kirche's bed and began to head to the door.

"Louise." Kirche said, getting said pinkette to stop in her tracks as she reached for the door. "Since our first day I never planned to continue or cared for our families's rivalry. Still I enjoyed our banter up to this point, but now I believe it will be a lot more enjoyable to continue it as friends. Wouldn't you agree?"

Louise's eyes started to water, but this time with a small smile on her face.

Trusting herself not to speak at the moment, she just nodded and exited from Kirche's room and began to walk back to her own. Wiping the tears forming in her eyes.

Louise felt exhausted both physically and mentally after everything that had happened today, but she also felt better than she ever had in awhile.


Osmond sighed as he read the message that had been carved into the vault's wall.

I have taken the Staff of Destruction and the Staff of Storms.

Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth

It was her calling card, left at each crime scene that she has robbed in the past several months.

Currently several royal guards and teachers were in the treasury to make sense of everything and to make sure Fouquet didn't take anything else. Just because Fouquet mainly marked her main targets on walls, she had been known for sometimes pilfering minor treasures that went noticed from her crime scenes until later on.

He had left Colbert in charge of checking the contents of the treasury while he checked if the treasury had experienced any other form of tampering.

Given how creative Fouquet was with her thefts it was certainly within the realm of possibility.

But aside from what seemed like her spells didn't work against the enchantments protecting it, she simply brute forced her way through the walls with a golem.

Although he suspected that she had accidentally gotten some help from Louise's failed spell, otherwise it would have taken the thief a little longer to break into the treasury.

Perhaps it would be best to leave that detail not slip to anyone else for her sake. He could already tell that there were those trying to pin the responsibility on the princess. While there was little he could do there, it would be for the best to make sure any of his students didn't get caught up in the politics of the kingdom if he could.

"Sir, Fouquet has escaped without a trace. The guards pursuing her had only found a large dirt mound before the trail grew cold." A guard said as he stood at attention, getting the Headmaster to sigh. Having expected as much.

"I see, what about her majesty?" Osmond asked.

"She is currently being escorted back to Tristania as we speak, the rest of the guards stationed at the Academy will depart tomorrow. We will have several guards check over the area you specified until tomorrow as well. Are you certain the Staff of Storms will appear there?" The guard asked, getting Osmond to nod.

"The staff has disappeared from the treasury four times in the past 31 years, once the cloth around it has been removed then it will appear in that location. The knowledge about the cloth is seldom known and the curse surrounding it as well. If Fouquet didn't know about that information then the Staff will possibly appear there." Osmond said.

The guard seemed satisfied with the information before moving on, the old mage sighing as his familiar clambered onto his shoulder and squeaked into his ear. Osmond just sighed as he scratched his familiar.

Osmond silently prayed that whatever was the true nature of the curse on the Staff of Storms had mercy on Fouquet.

All the other times had been accidents, but this was the first time it had been stolen. And anyone who crossed the Staff while unwrapped had been terrified by it's effects.

And he dreaded to know the effects that it would have on the thief when it had been taken on purpose.

Even three decades later he still could not figure out the exact nature of the curse his old friend had placed on the Staff of Storms and he hoped to never find out.


Later into the night Louise was preparing herself for bed.

It had mainly been quiet throughout the rest of the Academy with what had happened earlier. Fouquets break in had shaken the Academy, especially with most of the students.

One of the most secure locations in Tristain had been breached for the first time in years and the princess's life was put in danger. And that Henrietta had been escorted back to the palace not that long after.

While she was glad that Henrietta was safe, Louise hoped she wouldn't have to wait years to see her again. She needed to tell her the truth.

Besides that she had hardly seen Roxas for the remainder of the day. She didn't know what he has been doing when she hasn't seem him, but Louise could care less about that at least for today.

Her familiar was still distant from her, but Louise would focus on starting to correct that tomorrow.

Right now she was more worried about Henrietta.

The longer Fouquet remains on the lose there would be those who would hold her friend responsible for what the thief had stolen. Given she had been plaguing Tristain for months with no one able to catch her, what happened today, and Henrietta being set to take the throne from the queen soon there would be those gladly do so.

Louise could hope that Henrietta would be alright and they would catch Fouquet soon enough.


Are you alright my liege?

"I'm alright, just give me a minute and we will try again one more time." Roxas said, getting the Samurai to nod at him.

He was currently in a forest not that far away from the Academy, having summoned a Samurai to help him train with his Drive form.

Roxas had been working with it off and on throughout the rest of the day after spending time with Siesta, Tabitha, and Slyphid on top of the tower earlier. After that he mainly helped Siesta and the rest of the staff with chores around the Academy with how things became chaotic after Fouquet.

He was still trying to get a decent handle on his Drive. While he was making progress it was slow and he couldn't keep it for as long as Sora. Or call it up as easily as he does.

Still he knew that if he could get a decent handle on this Drive form, he would lessen the risk of being blindsided by anyone like Riku and Fouquet again.

"Alright, I'm ready to try again." Roxas said, getting the Samurai to nod before it drew it's blades.

The lesser Nobody rushed at Roxas as he began to call upon his Drive, his coat glowing silver and light starting to flicker around him.

He needed to continue to improve on his Drive, then he might be able to protect those close to him after all.


Late at night, on the rolling hills not that far from the Academy laid a small cliff face. There wasn't much to not of there except for what rested on top.

On top of the cliff was a small polished tombstone. There was nothing carved upon it, and no sign that the ravages of time had chipped away at the stone. It looked as pristeen as the day it was carved.

A Corridor of Darkness opened onto the cliff and a figure in a Black Coat walked out and kneeled in front of the grave.

"It has been a while since I have come to visit, but I wish that it was under better circumstances." The figure said with a sigh. "It would seem that your Keyblade has slipped from Osmond's possession once again, this time on purpose."

He had trusted the man with one job, figuring that it would be safer than someone unworthy trying to claim the Keyblade or collecting dust and rust in the Keyblade Graveyard.

Yet it has slipped away quite a few times under the man's watch. While it was an annoyance, he had forgiven any past transgressions. Perhaps he had been too forgiving.

"I will collect it soon enough, when the cloth is removed once again. This time I will lay your Keyblade to rest in the graveyard after making sure the thief pays the price." The figure said he he stood back up. "I will visit again soon enough, but for now I must continue my search."

With that the figure turned around and began to walk back towards the Corridor.

He had a wayward soul he needed to find. While he wished to stay longer, the task ahead outweighed his need to reclaim the Keyblade.

That and he could reclaim it at anytime he wished. All he needed to do was wait for the right moment. And make the thief suffer for what they had done.


The screen flickered for a few moments before the author reappeared.

*Hey guys Hakuorofan7 here and I hoped that you all enjoyed this chapter.*

*As you can all see this chapter mainly takes after DrWriter21, but with my own twists throughout. Along with developments for everyone around.*

*For Roxas it was mainly unlocking his Drive and knowing everything is alright. Fouquet was a much more difficult opponent than Guiche and Mott due to her experience and mastery of earth magic. While there was a good chance Roxas would have won against her, it was going to be a difficult fight alone. Though him taking the brunt of Louise's explosion was enough to ware him down enough. Being knocked out in such a way shook him up a bit as his lose to Riku and being bound to Sora are still fresh on his mind. The thought of the same sceanario happening again was enough to shake him briefly. He was snapped out of that belief, but Roxas is now more determined to make sure he will never have to experience losing everything he holds dear again.*

*And as for his Drive form, well all I can say that this form isn't like Sora's. Sora's was created through the magic of the fairies and merging with Roxas that evolves due to his own growth as a Keyblade wielder and his bonds with Donald and Goofy. A similar principle with Roxas's growth as well, but this Drive form is of his own…with a little help from a certain someone and remembering Sora's experiences using it.*

*Of course it comes with a few drawbacks like him not being able to use it for long like Sora could, but that can easily fixed with enough training. As for it's full capabilities you will all see it next chapter.*

*As for Louise…it is as mentioned earlier she had reached her breaking point.*

*Frustration at being unable to properly being able to use magic, constantly being looked down on by a majority of her peers, expectations, constant nightmares about Mott, what happened last night, nearly thinking her best friend would be killed, exploding Roxas, and inadvertently letting Fouquet successfully rob the treasury. That would be enough for most people.*

*Thankfully Kirche was able to help her vent and the two somewhat bonding, although they are still are going at each other it is a lot less heated…well somewhat considering Kirche's passion and Louise's temper. Once again mainly using bits from DrWriter21 and traits of Kirche from the novel and anime. I hope that you all enjoyed this interaction, as it was the most difficult part of this chapter to perfect.*

*Still Louise is now looking for ways to improve herself, but it will be slow going given the present circumstances and the tensions between her and Roxas. She will act the same more or less, but will be more open to those close to her such Kirche and Roxas soon enough while keeping her more towards the novel.*

*Finally there is the figure that appeared at the end…I think I have given enough clues as to who it is. Let's just say everyone is in the fight for their lives next chapter.*

*So let's move on shall we.*

*Next chapter Fouquet is located and a confrontation erupts. But a new threat enters the fray and things take a turn for the worst while a few new surprises emerge.*

*And don't worry there will be more chapters this year, as I am going to finish this arc this year.*

*Anyway if you have a question leave a review or PM me and I will get back to you when I can. Until next time, ciao!*

The author waves goodbye as the screen fades to black.