"I have a rough idea of where the Holy Lyre der Himmel might be," said Jean. "The conflict between Mondstadt and Snezhnaya seems to be stemming from the quasi-conflict between the seven nations and their respective Archons. The Cryo Archon's Fatui seem to be after Lord Barbatos's power."

"So they're gonna take over Mondstadt's defense and use it as an excuse to kill Dvalin?" asked Roxas.

"That seems likely, good thinking," replied Jean. "And if the Knights publicly attempted to protect Dvalin...well, I'm sure you get the idea."

"Which means the only way we can stop Dvalin is with the Lyre," said Paimon.

"The number of Fatui coming to Mondstadt isn't huge...but it's not that small, either," Diluc stated. "So I've already managed to...coerce a few reports out of them. I've found that the Holy Lyre isn't at the Goth Grand Hotel...which is where I'd initially thought it was."

"It's probably too obvious of a spot," Roxas mentioned. "And if this all blows up...either figuratively or literally...then diplomacy will go really far south."

Diluc scoffed. "The diplomacy of the seven nations, everyone." He sighed. "Roxas. Ready to go?"

Roxas cracked his knuckles. "Let's roll."

"Take this." Diluc handed Roxas a grey mask. "It'll keep you incognito when you encounter the Fatui. It's the mask all the standard grunts wear."

Roxas took the mask and donned it.

Jean laughed a little. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were a Fatui already."

"For once, we agree on something," Diluc remarked to her. "The coat really ties the look together. Roxas, try putting up your hood."

Roxas complied.

"Yep, definitely looks like he'd fit in with them," said Venti.

"Our actions are going to rile them up for sure," said Jean. "So it's best not to make it personal."

"One more thing: our timing tonight should be just about perfect," added Diluc. "There's a Fatui named Petrov moving into their hideout tonight to move the Holy Lyre elsewhere. If Roxas can intercept him and take him out, he can pose as Petrov and get the Lyre without anyone batting an eye."

"This couldn't be any more perfect!" Paimon said excitedly.

BGM: Hollow Bastion - Kingdom Hearts

"We'll wait over here," said Jean, "since we're not disguised. We'd love to help you, but..."

"Don't worry," Roxas assured her. "I'll take care of it."

He sprinted into action, jumping onto the top of a rotating flamethrower and leaping from there onto another one until he made it across a thin bridge spanning a pool of molten magma.

"G-Gah! Don't eat me!" A Fatui guard drew his dark-bladed broadsword. "Wait, you're human? Oh, Petrov! I was wondering when you'd show up!"

Roxas mentally sighed with relief. "Yeah, sorry to keep you waiting."

"I assume you're here for the Lyre?" asked the guard. "Man, I can't believe you were lucky enough for Signora to let you retrieve it."

"Y-Yeah!" Roxas replied with feigned confidence. "You know how hard she is to please."

"Do I ever."

"Where's the Lyre?"

"In the far room of this place," said the guard. "But it's locked real tight...and I don't know where the key is."

"I'll look for it, then." Roxas went further into the outpost and began searching for the key.

We've gotta act quickly before this Signora person gets wind of what's going on, Roxas thought. And I can't believe that idiot fell for my disguise! But...the door. I'd probably be able to use the Keyblade to unlock it, but that'd draw too much attention. Gotta look as painfully average as possible.

"P-Petrov!" stuttered a timid guard in one of the rooms. "I-It's you!"

Roxas nodded. "I'm looking for the key to where the Lyre is. Do you have it?"

"I...don't, unfortunately," replied the timid guard. "And I don't know who does. You'll have to ask Sergey in the next room over."

"Sergey!" Roxas called out.

Sergey, a Fatui grunt with slicked-back hair dark as midnight, turned to see Roxas enter the room. "Petrov? Shouldn't you be getting the Lyre? Didn't Matvei tell you where the key is?"

"He forgot," Roxas replied.

"What about Valentin?" asked Sergey. "Did he tell you?"

Roxas shook his head. "Nope."

Sergey was about to say something but then paused for a moment. "Petrov...you look...younger than I remember..."

Roxas's heart raced. "W-Well, it's been a while, hasn't it...?"

End BGM

"Um...we just had a drink together last week..." Sergey's eyes narrowed beneath his mask. "Don't think you can fool me, impostor."

Roxas jumped back and summoned his Keyblades.

"Hmph!" Sergey scoffed pompously. "You think you can stop the Fatui? Our will is as solid as Snezhnayan permafrost! Doroteya, dear, would you take care of this charlatan? I have some news to report to Signora."

A familiar purple-clad woman with green hair appeared in a flash of violet. "Oh, but of course, my darling. Ah! It's him. From the cathedral."

BGM: Scherzo di Notte - Kingdom Hearts 2.5 ReMix

Sergey escaped before Roxas had a chance to stop him.

Doroteya wagged her finger at Roxas, beckoning him to come towards her. Roxas did so before she could react, smacking her into the air with Oathkeeper before following through with a slash from Oblivion. Doroteya fell to the floor and staggered to her feet. Roxas charged again. Doroteya's purple lantern glowed, summoning a swarm of electrified bats before Roxas reached her.

The swarm split into two groups. One encircled Doroteya. The other engaged Roxas in combat. These were not Heartless, Roxas knew, but vermin all the same. With broad sweeps of his Keyblades, the bats dropped like flies.

From within her shroud of bats, Doroteya summoned an armada of lightning from above. Forking arcs of glowing amethyst ripped through the floor. Roxas was barely able to dodge.

"My, you're putting up a good challenge," Doroteya crooned. "But you haven't even-gaaah!"

She was cut off as Roxas charged, casting Firaga around himself to burn away her bat tornado along with part of the skin on her stomach. Doroteya fell, clutching her badly burned side.

End BGM

Roxas stood over her as she clutched her wound. "I don't want to leave you to suffer, so...do you want me to put you out of it or not?"

"Hmph!" Doroteya huffed. "Well, I'd rather die than live knowing I lost to a twink like you..."

"Is that a yes?"

Doroteya nodded. "You won this fight, after all. I intended to kill you, so perhaps it's only fair that you kill me now."

"You...seem awfully calm about dying right now."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Doroteya shrugged her left shoulder since her right arm was still clutching her burn. "I've got nothing else to live for anyway. Besides...you were holding back in that fight, I could tell. I've got this feeling that you're a lot stronger than you let on there. So, to die at the hands of someone with your strength...well, if anyone gets to kill me, it's someone like you."

"Then I want to make it as quick and painless as possible," said Roxas.

"Well, sword through the neck, then," said Doroteya.

"Got it." Roxas summoned Oathkeeper. "And...could you look away? I..."

"Can't bring yourself to look me in the eye? I get it." Doroteya turned away. "Do it, then."

Roxas raised Oathkeeper. "Farewell, honorable opponent," he said with reverence. "May your heart find rest."

He swung the Keyblade.

Not bothering with the actual key anymore, Roxas used Oblivion to unlock the little terminal in the center of the main room, opening the large door at the far end. He used Flowmotion to wall jump to the top of a sort of vertical corridor, finding himself in a larger, emptier room. The Holy Lyre der Himmel sat on a pedestal opposite Roxas's point of entry, encased in stainless glass. He ripped off his mask, not bothering with the whole 'Petrov' ruse.

Roxas pointed Oblivion at the Fatui Agent before him. "Gimme the Lyre and no one else gets hurt."

The Agent, named Zamenhoff, glared at Roxas. "So, you managed to get all the way here, eh? Well, this shit isn't gonna fly with Signora, so I'll kill you here and save her the trouble of having to put up with you herself."

BGM: Dance to the Death - Kingdom Hearts 2.5 ReMix

In a burst of flame and black dust, Zamenhoff disappeared. Roxas gasped, frantically looking around.

Zamenhoff reappeared, slashing Roxas's back with his edged gauntlet. The former Nobody cried out, quickly recovering and retaliating with his Keyblades.

Zamenhoff ran at Roxas with blades of fire spinning around him. Roxas dodged to the side and attempted a counter with Oathkeeper. Zamenhoff jumped back and disappeared again.

This time, Roxas stayed on the move, darting about the room. His mind raced. He may use fire, but that doesn't mean he's immune to it...maybe I can use his attacks against him!

Zamenhoff reappeared and charged with his spinning flames. Roxas thought of Lea for a moment.

"Aeroga!"

A small cyclone appeared around Roxas, forming a shield of wind around his body. The wind sphere absorbed the flames from Zamenhoff's charge. Now it was Roxas's turn to charge with a roar of fire. He wailed away on Zamenhoff with Oathkeeper and Oblivion, accompanied by a medley of orange flames.

"I'm not just fighting fire with fire," Roxas quipped as Oathkeeper and Oblivion clashed with Zamenhoff's bladed gauntlet, "I'm fighting your fire with your fire!" That sounded a lot worse out loud, he thought.

End BGM

"Signora is going to end you," Zamenhoff seethed as he limped away. "The songs bards sing of your demise will be so horrifying that the people of Mondstadt will never sleep again!"

"Big talk for a man who's got his nonexistent tail between his legs!" Roxas countered.

Zamenhoff tried to escape through an open window, but his retreat was less than graceful. Roxas winced as he heard what sounded like a leg snapping.

"Roxas!"

Jean, Diluc, and Venti rushed into the room. "There it is!" said the bard. "The Holy Lyre der Himmel!"

"Ah, the pattern of flowing wind carved into the rosewood...and strings oh so cool to the touch...man, this brings back old memories," said Venti.

"Can you summon Dvalin with it?" asked Jean.

Venti thought for a moment. "This is definitely the real Holy Lyre...but I doubt it'll work. See, it's been damaged after thousands of years of history. It's run out of Anemo power, so with the condition it's in right now, you couldn't play music even in a tavern, let alone for all of Mondstadt..."

"Hey, I'll have you know that bards are practically at each other's throats to perform here," Diluc scoffed. "Don't assume things."

Paimon scoffed back. "Is that really important right now!?" She turned to Venti. "And you. Did you seriously just borrow the Holy Lyre der Himmel just so you could play it for a bunch of drunkards!?"

Venti laughed.

"What's your deal!?"

"Anyway," Venti changed the subject, "we're definitely not calling Dvalin with this. The Lyre itself is fine, but the strings...eugh. Roxas, you're up."

"Hey, the only person I know with any musical experience is dead, so I'm not qualified to fix instruments." Roxas recalled Demyx and his sitar. Demyx himself had been nothing but a coward, but even Roxas had respected his musical aptitude.

"You don't need to fix the strings themselves," said Venti. "Just restore the Anemo power within them. You still have Dvalin's Teardrop Crystal with you, right?"

Roxas reached into an inner pocket of his coat and produced the glowing teardrop. "You...want me to use it on the Holy Lyre?"

"Precisely!"

"But...how?"

"Well, tears normally fall from people's eyes, right?" Paimon chimed in. "Maybe try dropping it on the Lyre?"

Roxas held the Teardrop Crystal by the thin top part, dropping it onto the Holy Lyre's strings. With a burst of green and a calm breeze, the Holy Lyre der Himmel went from lifeless wood to shining gold.

"Worked, as expected," Venti said confidently. "Thanks to our good friend, Roxas, having purified the crystal, the Holy Lyre won't continue to lose its power. That said, it's not fully powered right now. Maybe another Teardrop Crystal would do the trick."

"So we have to make Dvalin cry," said Roxas. "Diluc, do you keep any onions here?"

Diluc sighed. "You think cutting onions is going to make a dragon cry?"

It made Lea cry that one time he tried helping cook at Le Grand Bistrot, Roxas remembered.

"We won't have to cut onions," said Venti. "Because...Dvalin's probably crying as we speak. Suffering alone in some deserted place..."

"Dvalin..." Jean looked crestfallen.

"The poor thing..." Paimon said sadly.

Jean composed herself. "Roxas. Though you cleared out the Four Winds Temples alone, quelling Dvalin isn't something you can do solo, I'm afraid. I'll mobilize the Knights to assist you. Once you get another Teardrop Crystal, you can restore the Holy Lyre to its fullest."

Roxas nodded.

"Ah, the brave hero finally accepts the help of his ever-supportive comrades!" Venti said. "Now this calls for a song!"

Paimon sighed. "Is that all you're gonna do? Write songs?"

"Well, that's what bards do, isn't it?"

"Hmph, cheeky son of a female wolf...I'm giving you an ugly nickname!" Paimon spoke as though she were sentencing him to execution by a pack of hungry lions. "You're 'Tone-Deaf Bard!'"

"Hey, I like it!" Roxas joked. "Well, mister Tone-Deaf Bard, let's get to it, shall we?"

BGM: Byte Bashing - Kingdom Hearts 2

"What in the name of Kingdom Hearts is that thing?!"

Jean gasped. "A Ruin Guard! This can't be good!"

"Can't be alive, you mean!" Roxas charged the hulking automaton, somersaulting behind it and laying in with Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

The Ruin Guard knocked him back, spinning its upper body around the axis of its torso. Its arms stuck out like the blades of a helicopter rotor, sending Roxas into a pillar of stone. The column crumbled to pieces, almost crushing him flat. He got out just in time.

Maybe I can overload its circuits... Roxas thought. "Firaga!"

A barrage of fireballs shot from Oblivion's tip, nailing the Ruin Guard in what was likely its face. The robot titan twitched in place. Roxas had an opening and took it, tearing through its stonework body with his Keyblades.

The Ruin Guard recovered. It almost stomped Roxas into the ground. He rolled away and retreated, preparing to cast Firaga again.

"Wait!" Jean ran to his side. "I have an idea. Cast those fireballs again!"

Roxas nodded. "Firaga!"

"Go as one!"

Jean thrust her sword forward. A storm of Anemo winds formed from the tip and shot forth, engulfing the fireballs and becoming a cyclone of searing flame. The spinning flames hit the Ruin Guard, absolutely decimating its circuits.

Still, the automaton remained.

"Just go down, you hunk of junk!" Roxas yelled.

The Ruin Guard puffed out its "chest" and sent a barrage of missiles at Roxas and Jean.

Roxas stood firm in front of his ally. "Reflega!"

A barrier of translucent energy appeared around Roxas and Jean, sending the missiles back from whence they came. The explosions ripped through its stonework, revealing strange circuitry.

Roxas seized his chance, hurling Oathkeeper and Oblivion at the exposed circuits.

Orange lightning crackled from the Ruin Guard as its top half fell to the ground, soon followed by its legs.

End BGM

Roxas wiped his forehead, dismissing his Keyblades. "Man, that was close."

"Stellar work," Jean commended him. "And great thinking on the fly."

"Couldn't have done it without you." Roxas smiled at her.

"Paimon didn't think we'd find Dvalin's tears in a place like this."

"As Knights, we're taught to hone our investigation to as close to perfection as possible," said Jean as Roxas opened an ornate chest to retrieve Dvalin's corrupted tear. "In my experience, the secret to finding what you're looking for is to never look for it in the first place. In other words, don't think too much about it, and don't search too hard. Before long, whatever you're looking for will appear right before your eyes. It's how I would always find my pet tortoise whenever he went missing."

"Wait, you had a pet tortoise?" asked Roxas.

"Yes, why?"

"Oh, nothing, just surprised," he said. "I kinda took you for more of a cat person."

"I don't see why it's so strange," said Diluc. "I had one as a kid, too."

"I mean, the only pet I've ever had...well, I've never had a pet, but my friend Xion did for a while," said Roxas. "A few years ago, she met this dog named Pluto, who turned out to be separated from his home. So she took care of him for a few months until we could return him to his owners. And it turned out that his owner was a king!"

"A royal puppy!" said Paimon. "That's so cool!"

"Yeah!" Roxas agreed. "And the king - his name's Mickey, by the way - is a friend of mine."

Diluc laughed. "Look who's got friends in high places."

"Of course I do, you're one of them."