Hello everyone! It's been a while, hasn't it? Don't worry, Legacy and I have been hard at work for most of the time! Honestly, this chapter started and was planned to end at a COMPLETELY different part, but we decided we liked this a lot more! And the characters agreed, haha!
Before I say anything else: we went back and edited all the previous chapters, but the biggest edits have been made to chapter 1 (2 in the chapter count)! What is this big edit, you ask? Why a brand new character that Legacy and I designed together! Let us know what you think of them once you read about them (even if the encyclopedia DOES spoil them, lol).
Moving on! Thanks to Antext-The Legendary Zoroark (Thanks! And don't worry, we're on it, just very VERY busy!) and ShadowWolf223 (I'm glad we surprised you! We both love Kairi a lot, so we're giving her a starring role with her very own arc here, with Roxas and Xion tagging along!) for reviewing, all 6 followers, 5 favorites and 215 readers!
Now, as for this chapter, it's kinda a mix of Legacy solo writing, me solo writing and us tag teaming it and we're both pretty happy with the result. So I hope you all enjoy too!
Chapter 3: Ansem's Apprentices
Location: Radiant Garden - Ansem's Castle - Courtyard
The tip of a cobalt blue spear scraped against Faerie Whitkin's rose pink shaft, creating small sparks every time they clashed. In one clash, Gia and her opponent, Dilan, locked their weapons and their gazes. Gia pressed up against the man's spear with one hand on her keyblade's hilt and the other near the tip as she smiled up at the grimacing man.
Behind her, Ryo held his head with both hands as he stammered, "M-Ms. Gia! Is t-this really what we should be d-doing right now?!"
As Gia was about to answer, one swift thrust of the spear almost jabbed her stomach, but she was quick enough to push against the blade with her own weapon. The girl was caught off balance however, so Dilan, the spear-wielder, pulled back and swiped at her feet. Gia fell backwards, left completely open to a strike from above.
"Ryo!" Gia yelled.
The young apprentice ran forward and with all his might, swung his Starlight Keyblade against the spear's blade. Silver and cobalt scraped against each other, sending sparks into the air. Ryo had narrowly blocked the attack, sparing Gia from a critical hit. As the summoner fell to the floor, Dilan staggered. The boy's swing was much stronger than he expected. Dilan used the momentum given to him by Ryo's strike to spin and distance himself from the two as he put himself into a defensive stance.
"Thanks for the save," Gia said as she got up from the ground.
"Your form leaves much to be desired, Little Sprite," Dilan said as he twirled his spear behind him and placed a foot forward to prepare himself for a sprint.
When Ryo heard the man call her "little," he winced and closed his eyes, expecting Gia to rampage like she did with him on the Land of Departure and that's exactly what she did. The silver-haired woman shouted, "Who are you calling 'little,' Noodle Head?!" She then charged forward with her keyblade raised over her head for a violent slash. Unlike Dilan's insult, Gia's did no kind of damage to the man's composure. In fact, he almost cracked a smile.
When Gia neared Dilan, he readied himself to parry her strike but she took a different approach by using Aerora on herself to leap over her opponent. While in the air, she cast a Fire spell down onto Dilan. The man noticed the tip of her Keyblade as it began to glow brightly with yellow and orange colors so he was prepared to dodge the attack. What he was not prepared for was Gia's next spell as she launched a small yellow ball of light, which flew right past him. Dilan held his spear in front of him to guard but realized that she had missed so he charged forward. That's when he heard her say, "Haste!" By the time he turned around, Ryo was in his face midswing. The man had no choice but to throw himself to dodge the strike.
"Good going, Ryo! You almost got him!"
"That was a crafty little trick, but no amount of magic will turn the tide of this battle." Dilan held his spear forward and pressed a button. Some latches on the spear's handle unlocked and the weapon split into two. He caught the second spear as it transformed itself to become complete and the first did so as well.
"'No amount of magic will turn the tide of this battle'," Gia mocked the man childishly. "Well no amount of spears will turn the tide of this battle, you cowlicked freak!"
"Ms. Gia, sh-should you really be insulting him so much?"
Gia ignored her ally's concerns and charged forward again. "Watch my back, Ryo!"
Dilan began twirling both his spears to make it difficult for his opponents to predict his next attack When Gia was close enough, he slammed the tip of one spear in the ground and used it to lift himself into the air. He then flipped and used the momentum to add extra power behind his spear toss. Dilan's weapon flew across the courtyard that the three were fighting in. It moved so quickly that Gia had to slide to dodge the attack. Dilan sprinted forward and lunged blade-first towards Gia. Ryo also ran forward with his enhanced speed to block another attack but Dilan planted the blade just behind Gia's shoulder to use it as leverage to kick Ryo in the side of the face and send him crashing to the floor. The man then landed with his boots on the ground and twisted to lock Gia by the neck with his spear's handle.
With Ryo knocked down and Gia's pinned, he said in her ear, "You lose."
As Ryo rose to a kneeling position, he watched Dilan nervously. It was then that Dilan let Gia go and walked away to retrieve his other spear.
Gia fell forward onto her hands which caused Ryo to spring forward out of concern. "M-Ms. Gia! Are you okay?"
Gia slammed the ground with the side of her fist. "Darn it! I was so close that time!"
"I had four opportunities to kill you," Dilan stated flatly as he approached the girl and offered her a hand, which she took. "What kind of training is Lea giving you? It seems he isn't keeping you on your toes. Strange considering he was quite adept as a combatant during his time as Axel."
"A-Axel?" Ryo thought aloud. This caught Gia and Dilan's attention which made him sweat.
Dilan nodded curtly and said, "Yes, that was Lea's name while he was a Nobody."
"M-master Lea was a N-Nobody?!"
Dilan responded, "One of the more underhanded and sadistic, at that."
"You're one to talk, Husband of Medusa. I heard you toyed with a certain Princess of Heart," Gia countered with an eyebrow raised.
Dilan put his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Well...yes…" he admitted, "but so did Lea."
"He did?!" Gia asked out of shock.
"I see he hasn't been completely transparent with you. As Axel, Lea kidnapped Kairi."
"M-Ms. Kairi?!" Everything Dilan was telling them completely changed Ryo's perception of Lea. He may not have known the redhead until the day before but he had no idea that a master could have such a dark past.
"That's right. In an attempt to see his best friend and Sora's Nobody, Roxas, Axel took Kairi hostage. He thought that doing so would make Sora look for him, though I'm sure he hadn't thought out how he would retrieve Roxas from inside Sora's heart." Dilan noticed that Ryo seemed to grow more confused as the man spoke to which he said, "You really are new, aren't you?"
"I'll explain on the ship," Gia said.
Dilan nodded. "So what did you want to ask me before we began our sparring match?"
"Oh! Right! Do you know anything about the missing materia?"
Dilan rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb as he responded, "We did notice the shortage but we have yet to properly investigate the matter. Is this your latest mission?"
"Yeah, that's right," Gia said with a nod. "We have a good idea of what part of the universe we should look in but it's more like a hunch."
"Well, regardless, I have full confidence that the New Order of Keyblade Wielders can resolve this issue."
"Right!" Gia said confidently. She then turned to Ryo and said, "Well, we should return to Cid's shop now."
At that moment, a ringing sound erupted from Ryo's pocket. He pulled out a Gummiphone to which Gia said, "Aw what?! No fair! How does the newbie have one before me?!"
"H-hello?" Ryo asked as he answered Riku's call.
"Ryo, where are you and Gia?"
"By the large castle. We're here with one of Lord Ansem's guards." He then turned the phone to Dilan who saluted to Riku.
Riku said, "Good. Dilan, could you take Gia and Ryo inside? There's been an incident. I'm with the rest of my party in one of the guest rooms."
"Does Mr. Ansem have some information on our mission?" Gia asked.
"Not exactly. It's actually Lia…"
"Lia?! I'm coming sister!" Before Riku could explain anything else, Gia spearheaded to the front door of the castle and waltzed in as if it were her own home.
"W-we'll be right up," Ryo said as he followed Dilan to the castle.
Location: Radiant Garden - Sewer System
Lia honestly still did not understand just how she and Marta got into this situation...all she knew was that she was currently in the sewers, watching some kind of fight.
Two men were fighting. One was a dark skinned man with wild brown hair wearing black shorts with an orange sash and a red headband. He wore no shirt, but there was a large black tattoo right in the center of his chest. The other man was light skinned with light blonde hair wearing a light brown trench coat over jeans and a shirt Lia couldn't see and a black beanie. He also had black gloves to protect his hands.
"You're quite the cocky boy, aren't ya?" The dark skinned man, announced to be Jecht just moments ago, grinned.
"I'm a hero, so I've gotta be." The light skinned man, announced to be Snow, returned. "I need this money, so I can return to the people important to me...so I'm gonna beat you, old man!"
"Heh...a man after my own ideals…" Jecht grinned. "But sorry, boy, ya ain't winning this one!"
The men charged at the same time, punching and blocking as blow after blow came at them. Neither had a weapon but they were very good with their fists. It was like Lia was watching a dance as she observed it all.
When Snow moved to punch Jecht back, the dark skinned man caught his fist before he pulled the blonde man towards him, kneeing him in the stomach once he was close. Snow didn't go down, however, instead using his momentum to twist his body just enough to change the hold from Jecht to himself and flipping the man over his shoulder. Jecht managed to land on his feet, however, and kicked out in an attempt to knock Snow on his back. Snow simply jumped back with a bright grin before landing a good undercut on Jecht's jaw.
The two went back and forth, one after the other, blow after blow, until Jecht managed to hook his leg around Snow's while he restrained the blonde's hand and forced the blonde to the ground. Snow struggled to escape, but the hold Jecht had on him was a sturdy one that couldn't be broken so easily.
"Ya give up, boy?" Jecht smirked.
"Not on your life, old man!" Snow grinned before kicking right in the middle of the older man's knee, giving Snow just enough room to escape. However, before he could get very far, Jecht quickly got up and trapped him in a choke hold.
"Good try, boy. But ya ain't winning this one. Give hell to the next sorry bastard though…" The dark skinned man smirked before he used his hold to slam Snow into the wall hard enough to knock him unconscious.
The referee came out then and raised Jecht's hand in the air, to the cheers of everyone around them. Lia still didn't understand why they were fighting, even as Jecht told Snow he'd get the next unlucky bastard in a fight before he was led away, and she really didn't understand how Marta was fast asleep next to her throughout all of this. Lia knew that it was an uncontrollable condition of hers but the ruckus was not easily ignored.
"Alright then! Who's willing to challenge the champion of the ring? The Sky Splitter and Silent Enemy? Who thinks they can take on the great and mighty...Lexaeus?!" The referee suddenly cried.
Apparently, that yell was enough to startle Marta awake as her hand shot up and her eyes snapped open.
"We will!" She grinned brightly.
"We'll what?!" Lia whispered. She tried to get them out of fighting but were ushered into the ring by some very scary-looking men. Lia and Marta could have easily disabled them but they figured that they should keep a low profile.
"Alright! We've got a fight then! Everyone place your bets!" The referee grinned, resembling a shark. Lia didn't like this. "And now...let's get ready to fiiiiiiiiiiiigggggghhhhhhht!"
As soon as the words left his lips, Lia sensed a presence above her and looked up. She froze for only a moment before she roughly pushed Marta aside and jumped aside herself.
Thank the Crystals she moved when she did. As soon as the two apprentices were clear, a man landed right where they had been previously, creating a crack in the floor from the force of his axe-sword.
Lia breathed a sigh of relief as the man straightened up. Perhaps they could handle this...of course, then she saw the man's face and froze. Shit. She thought. She remembered hearing about a Nobody in the old Organization XIII who had been named Lexaeus. And this guy...was probably him, given the giant axe-sword he wielded like it was nothing. The former Nobody was glaring at her, obviously playing whatever role he was playing, considering he was not wearing his standard uniform, but a simple black tank top and jeans. His iconic orange hair had been dyed a bright violet. She had seen a picture of him once in a portrait in the castle at the Land of Departure. Having heard of such a powerful warrior, she wished to one day come face-to-face with him but facing against him was most decidedly not good.
Putting her doubts aside, Lia looked over at Marta and said, "Protect the world order."
Marta already knew that the masters were very protective of the world order and made all of the apprentices swear to work to keep the existence of the many worlds a secret from those who were unaware. They would not be able to use their Keyblades for this fight, not in front of Radiant Garden's scum.
"Ninjutsu Arts: Hidden Armory!" Lia made a hand seal and a large white cloud appeared around her hands. When it disappeared, a long silver katana had magically appeared in her hand. "Marta, stay back. I'll try to open him up for a sleep spell." Marta nodded.
Lia lifted the katana to her chest-level in a reverse grip. She watched Lexaeus intently and he returned the analytical gaze. The spectators began to throw bottles into the ring as they yelled for the fighters to start going at it. When Lexaeus looked over at the crowd, Lia went in for her strike. This did not go unnoticed by the colossal warrior who swung his weapon in a horizontal arc. Lia flipped over Lexaeus and spun upon landing to deliver a wide slash. Lexeaus had predicted this and pulled his axe-sword over his shoulder to protect his rear.
"Now!" Lia yelled.
Marta cast a sleep spell, emitting a wave of mental energy from her hand, which would knock Lexaeus to the ground asleep, or at the very least slow him down. Unfortunately, at the last moment, he side-stepped the entire wave, forcing Lia to Flash Step to avoid the attack, ending up beside Marta once more.
"That was close…" She sighed before glaring at her partner. "Why the hell did you get us into this anyway?!"
"I dunno...fun? I had a dream like this once!" Marta grinned, enjoying all of this way too much.
"Of course…" Lia sighed before she whispered under her breath, "If I got you a weapon, think you can implement your magic into it like with your Keyblade?"
"I think so." Marta nodded. "If I get a solid opening again, of course."
"Then I'll get you one." Lia nodded. "Ninjutsu Arts: Hidden Armory!" In another instance, a white cloud covered her hand and when it faded away, it revealed a second sword, a wakizashi that she slid over to Marta. The drowsy girl lifted it off the ground and held it like she normally would her Keyblade.
Lia coated her blade in gravity magic before launching a small sphere at Lexaeus which connected. As soon as the spell took hold, Lia shot forward, landing a cut on Lexaeus' face with his lowered defense.
Lexaeus grunted before he swiped his axe out at her, catching her arm. Lia grunted from the pain, but managed to not land on that arm and make it worse. Instead, she met Marta's eyes and saw the girl grinning as she waved the wakizashi. Understanding dawned on Lia and she smirked behind her cowl. In unison, the girls shot out and cut Lexaeus' legs.
Lexaeus grunted. "That won't help you," he said lowly.
"Maybe not...but this will!" Marta winked before she snapped her fingers, activating the spell she had imbued in her sword. "Slow!"
Lexaeus grunted as a white light surrounded him and his movements slowed.
"Now, Lia!" Marta cried.
Lia didn't need to ask what she meant, making another hand seal to summon several shuriken which she threw at Lexaeus. This threw him back and trapped him to the wall.
Of course, what she hadn't counted on was a bracelet Lexaeus wore to suddenly glow. When it faded, Lexaeus was now moving normally.
"What?!" Marta cried.
"Shit, a Counter Bracelet!" Lia cursed. "Marta, now!"
Marta shot forward and used Lexaeus' moment of distraction from removing the shuriken to use the wall as leverage to jump up and wrap her legs around his neck, locking tightly. As soon as the former Nobody was free, his hands grasped her legs.
"Not gonna be that easy, Mr. Silent Giant!" Marta grinned before she yawned.
"No, not now!" Lia cried, but it was too late. Lexaeus used Marta's weakened guard to slam her back into the wall, nailing her in the head and leaving her limp. Whether she was asleep or unconscious, Lia couldn't tell. As soon as she was slumped on the ground, however, Lexaeus turned to her and grasped his axe in both hands. Gulping, Lia raised her own weapon, prepared for anything.
Lexaeus ran at her, faster than she expected and batted her sword away as if it was nothing before stabbing his axe in the ground, causing the ground under Lia to rise just the slightest bit, throwing her over his head. Just as she righted herself, she felt Lexaeus grasp her neck and slam her head first into the ground.
As a last ditch effort to possibly survive this fight, Lia raised a hand and whispered a stun spell, causing Lexaeus' arm to go numb at the last moment, thereby lessening the blow Lia was about to suffer. Instead, she only suffered a strong sense of dizziness, instead of a possible concussion. Small mercies, she supposed as she reversed her grip on her katana and stabbed it directly into Lexaeus' leg, sending him kneeling to the ground beside her.
"Lexaeus...you fought...Master Riku...twelve years ago...in Castle...Oblivion…" She whispered as she felt her vision going dark.
However, she was gratified to see the realization settle over Lexaeus' face at her words.
He whispered, "Shit...he's gonna kill me...again."
Lia managed a small chuckle, before everything went dark.
Location: Radiant Garden - Marketplace
Kairi sat in an alleyway with her arms wrapped around her knees and her back against the wall of a church. Her eyes were glued to the floor, trained on a discarded ice cream rapper. Now that she was alone, she began to think - mostly about Sora. She thought about the mission they were on and she wondered where he was and what he was doing. More than anything, Kairi thought about his well being, hoping that he was okay.
The redhead was so lost in thought that she failed to notice when Roxas and Xion approached her. It was only when they stood right in front of her, Xion waving her hand in Kairi's face, that she realized they were there. The bounty hunters understood that Kairi had been lost in thought when her eyes fluttered as she exited her dazed state.
"Hey Kai…" Roxas began. "Everything okay?"
Kairi licked her lips and nodded with a forced smile. "Yeah. I was just thinking about what Vanille told us back in Villain's Vale."
"You mean about her home?" Xion asked.
Roxas added, "Yeah, I wonder what she meant about her home being destroyed."
"Did you guys tell Aerith about that?"
"I pulled Aerith aside while Xion took Vanille to look at some flowers to fill her in on what she said. I doubt that Aerith will push Vanille for any more information that she doesn't volunteer. She should be in good hands with Aerith."
"True…" Kairi said. "Well, we haven't ran into Naminé yet but I feel like her presence is getting stronger and stronger."
"Funny you mention that…"
The three instantly turned around, Kairi wincing as soon as her eyes met Naminé's.
"Hi...Naminé..." The redheaded Princess of Heart smile awkwardly.
Naminé simply glared at her, before sighing. "Not that I'm not elated to see the three of you, but would you care to tell me why you're here?" She asked. "It's not every day that you all visit, especially without a call beforehand."
Roxas and Xion looked at each other uneasily but their attention was drawn to Kairi when the redhead said, "Sora's missing."
Naminé's eyes widened and she automatically moved her hand to her chest. "W-what?! What do you mean he's missing?"
Kairi told Naminé everything. She told her that Sora had not been home the previous night, that they were currently in search of him, and that a small circle of people in their friend group knew.
"Riku doesn't know?" Naminé asked. That was the most confusing part of Kairi's explanation for her.
"If I told him, he'd worry too much and decide to go after Sora himself and he can't do that with all his responsibilities." Kairi shook her head. "I know that things have been a bit uncomfortable between you two, and I know that I'd just be putting you in the middle of this, but Naminé, I-"
Now Naminé shook her head and said, "No need to ask. I owe Riku for giving me a second chance at life but you and I are practically twin sisters, Kairi - even if I wasn't born naturally. That being said, sisters need to have each other's backs."
Kairi moved in to hug Naminé tightly as she whispered with a cracked voice, "Naminé, you're the sister I always wanted."
A warm smile formed on Naminé's gentle lips as she returned the hug and softly ran her hand up and down Kairi's back to comfort her. When the two separated, Naminé placed her hands on both of Kairi's shoulders and asked, "So, what now? What can I do to help?"
Roxas chimed in, "Kairi's heart led us here for a reason. I know you're just hearing about this but could you ask anyone back at the castle if they've had any contact with Sora?"
"I can ask but I need to be careful with who. If I just go around asking all the scientists and guards, it'll raise suspicion. Would you feel comfortable if we went to Master Ansem?"
All eyes were on Kairi. She sighed and said, "I guess there's no way around it at this point."
Naminé rested a hand on Kairi's shoulder. "Kairi, I can't push this onto you so if we go to Master Ansem, I need to be sure that you're okay with it."
Kairi hesitated. The more people that found out about Sora, the worst she felt about keeping this a secret from Riku. It was bad enough that he was not the first person she told but she couldn't even imagine what he would say if he were to be the last. Then again, she had very little direction for this quest. She saw no other option so after taking a deep breath, Kairi looked at Naminé, sure as ever, and said, "Yeah. Let's go to him."
Naminé felt herself relax after finding confidence in Kairi's resolve and with that, she said, "Okay, follow me."
Suddenly, a menacing growl caught all of their attention. It was loud and deep, like that of a beast, but He was on His own home world so it couldn't have been Him. No, this growl came from close by - very close by. Kairi went absolutely stiff as the others looked at her with puzzled expressions. After a quick moment of silence, they all erupted into laughter.
Xion asked, "Kairi have you eaten anything all day?"
Kairi's cheeks were as red as her hair. "Come to think of it, I haven't." She noticed Roxas was still giving her a funny look so she snapped, "What do you want me to say? I've been worried sick over your maker!"
Roxas crossed his arms, a smirk barely noticeable on his face. "Oh, so I should start calling him Daddy now?"
Xion laughed and said, "When we find him, you should totally yell that at him and run to him with arms wide open!" This earned a laugh from the others.
As Naminé's laughter died down, she offered the others lunch. "I know you're all in a hurry and such but let's get something to eat at Scrooge's Bistro."
"He has one here too?" Kairi asked.
Roxas nodded. "He put one here like two years ago."
"Oh wow."
"What is it, Kairi?" Xion asked.
"Well it's just that I never realized until just now how long it's been since I've even been off of Destiny Islands. After Sora and I left the Land of Departure, we never really found a need to go to other worlds." Kairi's gaze fell as she looked at one of the nearby barrels that sat against one of the stone walls. Kairi then looked back up at Naminé and said, "Anyways, you know that I can't risk being caught by Isa or anyone else that we know, right? We can't just have lunch out in the open. I appreciate it though, Naminé."
"How about this? I take you three to Master Ansem through the secret passages and while you guys talk, I'll go prepare you some lunches for the trip?"
Kairi smiled and said, "Thanks, Naminé. I really appreciate it." The two smiled at each other before walking with Roxas and Xion towards the castle, making sure to stay away from the main roads and walkways. Kairi knew she was going into the belly of the beast but Naminé did an excellent job of not being detected as they slithered their way through the city and inside the castle.
Location: Radiant Garden - Ansem's Castle
While Riku was undergoing his investigation of the missing materia, he received a phone call from Ienzo who told him that two of his students were at the castle. Ienzo had treaded carefully with his words but Riku put it together pretty easily that Lia and Marta had gotten into it with Aeleus for some reason. Before making any judgments, he was going to make sure the girls were okay and get the facts. He was level-headed like that.
Riku was greeted at the castle entrance by Leon, now an official guard, who led him through the maze-like corridors of the castle until they arrived in one of the guest rooms. Leon then left Riku to return to his post. Inside the room were Ienzo and Lia. From what Ienzo told him on the phone, the girls were still unconscious when Aeleus brought them back to the castle, but Marta had woken up since then. When Riku noticed her absence, he asked Ansem's apprentice for her whereabouts.
Ienzo rubbed the back of his neck and said, "When the young woman woke up, she rushed out of here unexpectedly. Aeleus went to look for her."
Riku nodded. "Well she seems fine then. What about Lia? Has she woken up since Aeleus brought her in?"
Ienzo shook his head. "Unfortunately, she hasn't."
"Did Aeleus say if the girls used their Keyblades down there?"
"Not to worry, Riku. He said that Lia, here, produced regular weapons for them to use against him."
"That's just the thing. There's a reason to worry even if Lia doesn't use her Keyblade." Riku confused Ienzo. "The thing about Lia is that she has a unique power that can sometimes overwhelm her."
"A unique power?"
"Yes. It draws on some innate arcane magic from her homeworld that she doesn't quite have the best grasp of. In our three years of training she's been working to control that, more than anything. It's the original reason why I chose to do the rite of inheritance on her. She can wield a Keyblade with very little problem, but sometimes she relies a bit too much on her other power."
"I see. Aeleus did mention that she made weapons appear seemingly from nowhere, though I can't imagine it's much different from making a Keyblade appear."
"We don't fully understand it but she can do much more than just create weapons. That's actually one of the least draining abilities of her power."
"Not to step on your toes, Riku, but we'd be more than glad to run an analysis of her if you'd like. We could do a few studies and record our findings."
"Thank you, Ienzo. I'll mention the offer to her after our mission is over, but considering this outcome, I might have to send for someone to come get her and take her back to the Land. Until then, I should call my other apprentices to come here. Please excuse me."
Ienzo nodded as Riku exited the room with his gummi phone to tell Gia and Ryo to come to the castle. It did not take long before Gia was running down the corridor with breakneck speed.
"Master Riku! Where's Lia?! Is she okay?! Is she…?!" The thought of her sister being hurt, or worse, brought the silver-haired girl to tears.
Riku took a step back and waved his hands in front of her. "N-no, Gia. Lia's fine. She just used her Ninjutsu Arts."
"But she's not supposed to!"
Riku straightened out and said, "I know." He shot a disapproving look at Gia, which she did not immediately catch. She was so used to Lea that she forgot her place around other masters. Normally, this would not have happened but when it came to Lia, all forms of respect and manners took a back seat.
"Then what are we going to do to help her?!"
"Gia!" It was not Riku who shouted her name. The voice came from the doorway, where Lia clung to the doorframe, still weak. "Mind your manners around Master Riku. Please."
"Sis!" Gia shouted, running forward and practically launching herself into her sister's arms. For a moment, Riku was worried the green haired ninja would fall over with the surprise and added weight of her older sister. But his worries were for naught, as Lia managed to catch herself against the wall, leaning against it heavily to support her body. "What were you even thinking?! You know you can't use your Ninjutsu Arts right now! And what are you doing out of bed, you look ready to collapse at any second!"
"I'm up because I heard you screaming your full head off." Lia huffed, returning her sister's hug against her words. "And besides, I had no choice but to use them. You try fighting a guy with a giant axe sword without a weapon."
"What were you doing fighting Aeleus?" Gia gasped. "Did he confuse you for me?! I'm so sorry, sis! Lea told Ansem's guards to spar with me any time they saw me. It's my fault that you got hurt. I'm such a horrible sister!" She was devolving into a sniveling ball of snot and tears as she curled up on the floor. Her head shot up. "No! It's Lea's fault." Suddenly, her emerald eyes were filled with a burning rage. "I'm going to make him pay!"
The entire time, Lia was trying to get her sister's attention. It wasn't until she slapped Gia's face that she got the silver-haired girl listened. Lia sighed, "Finally. I've been trying to tell you that it wasn't anything like that."
Ienzo entered the conversation. "You sister unfortunately got caught up in the middle of an investigation that Aeleus was doing in the Underground Fighting Circuit. Recently, we've been having a problem with illegal fighting that Aeleus and Isa have been trying to get to the bottom of."
"I still don't know how we ended up down there, honestly, but once we were there and they asked for volunteers, Marta got us into that." Lia sighed. "And I didn't know any better with Aeleus, so I had to treat it like a real fight, which meant I needed to protect the World Order. Thus, I used Ninjutsu Arts."
Gia protested, "But that was still too dangerous! You risked your health for something stupid! Wait 'til I find Marta. She's going to get an earful."
"Gia, I'm fine. Really."
Riku shook his head. "Lia, I think you should go back to the Land. I'll have Master Ventus come for you." He turned to Ienzo. "Would it be okay if she stayed here?"
"Master, please. I can keep going. I promise I won't use my Ninjutsu Arts anymore. If I'm faced with another situation in which I must defend myself without using my Keyblade, I'll use hand-to-hand combat. That's what you trained me for."
"What if you come across an opponent as strong as Aeleus? Hand-to-hand combat is an option but against someone as experienced in combat as he is, it might not be enough."
"Then I'll die fighting."
Gia did not like that answer. She liked what Riku said even less.
"The World Order comes before anything else. This is the way."
Lia repeated, "This is the way."
Riku nodded. "You should at least get some more rest. While we wait for someone to bring Marta back and for Ryo to catch up. Speaking of which, I thought he and Dilan were with you, Gia."
"W-we're right here, Master Riku." Ryo and Dilan had barely caught up with them, both out of breath.
"Wait, what happened to Marta?" Lia asked.
"Here." Aeleus walked up to them with an unconscious Marta over his shoulder.
"Did you knock her out again?" Ienzo asked.
When Aeleus noticed Riku looking at him, he flinched slightly. "N-no. She fell asleep."
"Yeah, Marta does that," Riku responded. "We'll take her off your hands. Just stand her up."
Aeleus gave him a questionable look but did as he said. To Ienzo, Dilan, and Aeleus' surprise, the girl stood up on her own once Aeleus let go. Her head was tilted but she had no problem keeping her balance on her own.
"Now that we're all together, may we continue with the mission?" Lia asked.
"Well Cid still needs to finish installing the Warp Gummi."
Ienzo suggested, "Well until then, why not stay for something to eat? We have plenty of food and you'll need to replenish your strength before you depart."
"Thank you, Ienzo, but we don't have much time to waste. Two of my own apprentices were attacked en route to rendezvous with us. We're on our way to meet with another apprentice on Crescentia."
"I've never heard of that world," the scientist responded.
"Well it's not like you're off this one much," Riku teased.
Ienzo laughed, "You got me."
Riku continued, "It's found in the Etherium Galaxy. It's a distant section of the World. I've only ever been once for exploration. Ienzo, I apologize for any inconvenience my apprentices and I have caused you and your colleagues, especially to you, Aeleus. If there is anything we can do to help during your investigation, the other masters and I would be willing to lend a helping hand."
Aeleus nodded. "That's very kind of you, Riku."
"I would also like to apologize for any injuries Marta and I caused you, Aeleus." Lia said with a bow as a sign of humility and respect. "It was my fault for encouraging Marta as I did."
"Do not worry, child. I did not give you much reason to trust me." Aeleus shook his head. "Besides, I did not recognize you, either, because I was focused on my investigation."
"We've never met before," Lia said. Aeleus glanced over at Gia then back to Lia. "Oh. Right."
Gia then asked, "What's your investigation even about, Mr. Aeleus?"
"Gia," Riku said sternly.
"But Master, if we're going to aid him, we might as well ask what's going on."
Riku shook his head. "We already have our mission. He can discuss the details with Master Ventus and Master Aqua."
"He's right, Gia," Lia said.
"M-Master Riku…" Ryo spoke hesitantly. "What shall we do in the meantime?"
"We can go back to Cid's shop. He should be close to finishing up and I didn't get any leads. Any luck on your ends?"
The apprentices, even Marta, shook their heads.
"What is your mission regarding?" Ienzo asked.
Dilan answered, "Gia mentioned something about missing materia. I told her that we knew very little of it. Just that we noticed the matter."
"Actually…" Aeleus began. "I believe that the underground fights might be pulling the materia away from the legal trade into the black market."
Gia shot Lia a look with her eyebrows raised.
Riku looked over at Gia and smiled. "Well, looks like we'll need to hear this after all."
Location: Radiant Garden - Unknown
"So, you wanted to see me? I'm honored!" A man with messy red hair hidden under a fedora smiled as he offered a bottle of wine to his guest. "Would you care for a glass? It's the finest wine I own."
"Oh, you're much too kind." The guest, a man with shoulder-length silver hair wearing a black leather outfit, smiled. "But you see…" he took a long pause before giving the other man an eerie smile, "Mother would disapprove."
The fedora-wearing man nodded as he gestured for one of his men to leave the bottle on the table and walk away. The boss then took a seat, sighing as he savored the taste of the wine. "Now then, what can I do for you?" He asked after he took a sip.
"Oh, this is nothing more than a status report, of course." The silver haired man smiled. "My brothers recently ran into a trio of brats and it appears they may become a bigger nuisance than expected."
"Oh? I thought the three of you would easily be able to handle some brats." The fedora-wearing man mused. "Is it possible you truly aren't as strong as you claim to be?"
"Oh, no, nothing of the sort." The silver haired man laughed before he sighed. "But it seems Big Brother has taken an interest in them...and of course, the brats' weapons are quite unique."
"Unique?" The fedora-wearing man repeated, now intrigued.
"Yes, it appears they wield large keys as swords from the information we've gathered and we've seen them use magic first hand." The silver haired man informed. "They're quite talented, but not nearly as much as we are. They shouldn't be too much trouble, but there are rumors that there are more of these 'Key-Wielders.'"
"How fascinating...this sounds quite like the stories of that boy from all those years ago...very curious…" The fedora-wearing man smirked. "And why would you share this with me?"
"Simple. If they show up here, Mother would like you to eliminate them." The silver haired man smirked. "Unless, of course, you're not nearly as committed as you've let on."
"Now, why would you ever doubt me?" The fedora-wearing man questioned, faux serious.
"Quite easily. I only trust my family." The silver haired man flipped his hair as he spoke. "However, I think I can trust you, just this once, that this 'New Order' will be no issue?"
"Not at all."
The silver-haired man smirked. "Very well then. That's all I'd like to speak with you about for now." He stood up and walked toward the exit. He then stopped and turned his head slightly. "We'll be in touch."
"Yes. Do give my regards to Our Lady." The fedora-wearing man tipped his hat.
The silver haired man said nothing. He simply smiled before vanishing through a Corridor of Darkness, leaving the fedora-wearing man to stew in his plans. "A New Order, eh…?"
And there we are! So, yeah, our original plans have shifted around quite a bit, but the characters are telling us where to go, so we're just following their lead.
First off, the words Lia and Riku use, the "This is the way"? That's a reference to The Mandalorian on Disney+, courtesy of Legacy! I heard it's good (and has baby Yoda) so go see it!
And then there's Final Fantasy cameos galore! I'll admit, this was my first time writing Jecht and the first time I've written Snow in a LONG time, never mind our silver haired and fedora wearing men (guess who they are, everyone!). It's definitely fun finding ways to implement all of them and give them new stories in the KH universe (yes, Jecht will probably take his money and go to Destiny Islands to find Tidus, no I don't know if we'll ever show it). I have no idea who else we'll be adding, but there's a lot of possibilities!
Let's see...is there anything else...oh, don't forget to go back and check out the previous chapters and the encyclopedia! I promise, our changes created a very adorable character and I want to hear everyone's opinions on her! Leave a review to let us know what you think!
May your heart be your guiding key!