I'm pretty sure that Sephiroth fans are gonna kick my ass for not putting a fight with him in here.

In all honesty, I wanted to insert a bonus boss chapter in at least one of my fics. But rather than do Sephster like other people would, I decided to do this my way. So, since I inserted FF characters of my own choosing, I decided to have Luna and Medea have a confrontation against the long-lost Vayne Solidor, who has been missing for years (if any of you read Scattered Hearts, you'd know where this is going).

The kicker with it is that this confrontation is more a little hint that it won't be the last time our ladies will be seeing him. He'll show up again...eventually.

Anyways, we're getting closer to concluding this storyline, and you know what that means. Oh, yes, Chain of Memories is creeping closer.

I might consider starting other fanfics when I have the opportunity, but I'll need to think over what new one to get a start on.

Regardless, I hope you're still enjoying this. So without further ado, hope you like this chapter!

I own nothing of Kingdom Hearts except my OCs.

Read, leave me a review, but flames are not welcome.

Chapter 20: Vayne

At Sora's suggestion – and the common sense that a little extra training would help in the long run for the battle to come – they made a detour at the coliseum to prepare themselves before tracking down Ansem. They made pretty good timing apparently, since a few tournaments are being hosted by Phil, and even Hercules is participating in one of them. Luna willingly joined in with Sora, Donald and Goofy to duke it out in a two of the games, dealing with various Heartless that attempted to overpower them to no avail while Medea watched from the lobby as they made progress through the rounds.

But when it came to the third part of the tournament, Luna opted to sit it out and let Sora get more practice in the ring and watched him plow through the Heartless efficiently, eventually leading to the one-on-one match against Hercules himself.

Before she could enjoy the start of the match, though, Luna suddenly detected the faint aura of darkness flickering outside of the coliseum itself. It didn't feel like Ansem, but she didn't have the slightest idea who – or what – was bearing the malicious presence. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about was just…uncanny. Even Medea quickly caught on that something doesn't sit right, and it's bothering her.

"Medea…something's here," Luna said cautiously. "Did you sense it?"

"Sure did, and it doesn't feel familiar to me," Medea replied tensely.

Though she didn't want to wander off on short notice behind Sora's back, Luna knew that she couldn't ignore the aura forever; she had to investigate what it is, and do something about it on her own. Quietly and quickly, both ladies slipped away from the entrance to the arena and hurried out of the lobby to inspect the outside – and were surprised to find a lone male human figure standing outside the gates, gazing out into the distance as though lost in thought.

At first, they couldn't clearly tell who it is because the stranger's back is facing them; but when they slowly started to make an approach, the mysterious visitor began to turn around and warily notice them from the corner of his eye.

"You noticed…I suppose that shouldn't be too farfetched," the stranger commented calmly. "A person with strong ties to the shadows would notice things faster than others."

Luna didn't answer him at first, mainly because she finally got her chance to see the face of the uninvited visitor…and she was quite stunned when she got to look at him directly.

The man who faced her seemed no older than somewhere in his twenties, with blue eyes and shoulder-length black hair, and skin that seemed fairly light at best; he was regally dressed in a dark-green pullover and pants, and a sleeveless scaled green armor complemented by white-and-gold shoulder pads and armlets with white gloves covering his hands, and a gold belt holding a cloak of dark blue, red, and white.

Although he appeared to be a normal human being, there was something about him that didn't feel right. It's almost as though something sinister has clouded the otherwise dignified visage of a man.

But the stranger paid no heed to Luna's gawking and spoke to her, "I see you don't recognize me too well…such a pity. In that case, allow me to refresh your memory a little: I am Vayne Carudas Solidor, older brother to Larsa. The last time we met, you were but a small child, very fragile and had to be handled by someone trustworthy until your illness affecting your mind is diminished."

It took a few seconds for her to process what she was hearing, but hearing the name gave her an idea of who she was talking to…even though her memory was still foggy, preventing her from remembering the bigger picture. Perhaps, if it's possible, he might have part of the answer for the gaps lingering in her mind?

"…Vayne? You're Larsa's brother?" Luna questioned, uncertain if it's true. "If…if you really are Vayne, can you tell me what happened to you? Why were you not in Traverse Town, like your brother or Gabranth?"

He didn't answer her for a moment; his face was almost unreadable, making it hard to discern whether he was contemplating her questions or if he was analyzing her behavior.

But then he gave a strange response. "If you knew of the horrors I had to endure, would you be willing to do anything to protect your loved ones in the hell to follow? As a Shadow Mage, you would've had great power over a force not many would dare to tap into without facing prejudice or repercussions from others. I have already endured hell years ago, and in the process have stained my hands with a sin too great for even my brother to behold." He paused. "Answer this, Luna: should you meet Larsa again, do you have the courage to tell him what his brother became after years of absence?"

"What? What do you mean?" Luna asked, confused as to what he was talking about.

Medea was having none of that. "I dunno what your problem is, but if you're not gonna give us a clear answer on what the hell your business is, then I'm making you spill it out!"

With her Black Claws formed, Medea instantly charged forward at Vayne, intending to attack him head-on. But just as her claws were about to hit the mark, she got a big surprise when he raised his arm and effectively blocked her with just his hand. Then, all of a sudden, he delivered a strong kick to her stomach and was sent crashing into the columns to the left.

Stunned by the strength, Luna glanced to Medea as her guardian was recovering from the impact, and then over to an unfazed Vayne as he reverted to his noble posture.

"How…? Why did you do that?" Luna wanted to know.

Vayne, with his calm, stained voice, answered, "Do you really want to know, or do you intend to stay by the sidelines?"

Perceiving it as a challenge to fight him, Luna cautiously summoned her Shadow Hands just as Medea joined her to team up against their unexpected opponent. Thankfully, because Phil is not around to reprimand them for battling outside of the ring, it meant that they can duke it out without possible interference to hinder them. However, this didn't mean that Vayne was pulling any punches on them, and he was definitely letting them know that he won't be lenient on them simply because they're women. If there was one way to describe their battle, it would be like trying to punch through a reinforced metal wall.

Medea's offensive approaches with her claws were either countered with ease with well-timed blocks or tripped up with a counteroffensive that forced her back a few yards. On Luna's part, she first attempted to use her Shadow Hands to shoot out different magic spells against him just to test what he would do against it; but she found that he either didn't feel fazed by the blasts of magical energy or he was able to fluently evade the oncoming projectiles that launched towards his initial position.

But in the process of their assaults, Vayne didn't hesitate to make his move against them and showed how easily he can close the distance between him and the Hands that Luna set up in defensive positions to protect her blind spots. In fact, neither of the girls expected him to be capable of fending them both off bare-handed when every sorcerer or actual weapon masters who tried to get rid of them failed miserably at working around their abilities (but then again, given the villains they had fought throughout their travels, the baddies that gave them trouble were not the brightest bulbs they've encountered aside from Maleficent to an extent).

"What the hell?" Medea growled in frustration. "What did he do to get strong enough to trip us up, and with only his hands?"

"I don't know…" Luna replied, "I've never seen such strength."

As the fight continued, Luna actually opted to change up her approach and attempted to rely solely on the might of her Shadow Hands just to test how Vayne might respond to her usual method of attack. True to her suspicions, he proved more than capable of holding his ground against the fingered tendrils she would unleash against him irregularly. Worse still, he would not let up on his evened shifts between offense and defense against them.

"You certainly have potential, which is true. But what is holding you back?" Vayne questioned her like he was interrogating her. "Even if you do destroy your intended foe, what good will your current skills do you if you do not break the restrains placed on you by whatever held you back from the start? You are a Shadow Mage, are you not? Then show me what power you have, and expand upon it beyond what others will never be able to match!"

As much as Luna wanted to determine whether he was actively provoking her or secretly trying to offer a word of wisdom, she forced herself to push those thoughts aside in order to keep her focus on the fight at hand.

But the fight only became more difficult when Vayne charged up a force of energy into one of his fists and, with a single punch, sent out a focused shockwave towards the girls and knocked them a good distance from his position – Medea being knocked back with tremendous force and Luna barely being able to keep herself from slamming into a wall with one of her conjurations holding her by her back. In the process, a booming rumble could be heard within the area as the entrance shook from the force of the quakes spread across the ground. This attack was used at least two more times between strikes until they found their backs against the wall.

So, left with no other options to fall back on, Luna decide right then and there to attempt to go all out on her conjurations; but unlike those moments where she simply summoned giant versions of her Hands (like she did against Cerberus and Riku), she opted to also defend herself from Vayne's assault as much as she possibly could.

"Medea, you'd best stay back a moment," she ordered her guardian, "This might get a little dangerous."

Medea, facing exhaustion and having too few options to keep up the confrontation, reluctantly backed away just to see what her master has planned.

As she raised her arms slowly, a dark energy oozed from her shadow like a puddle until a large Shadow Hand emerged, picking Luna up and cradling her like a bird in a cage, and several Hands of various shapes and sizes surrounded her at her beck and call.

"I didn't want to do this," she warned her opponent, "but you gave me no other choice…"

With waves of her arms and flicks of her fingers, Luna unleashed a horde of Shadow Hands one after another on Vayne, all of them intent on seizing him and pounding him to the ground. But the first wave failed to capture him when he sidestepped the tendrils one by one, allowing them to latch against the ground upon failing to capture him; when the second wave was sent to pursue and pummel him into the ground, she wasn't prepared for another attack that would throw her off – and warn her of what she should've known about.

Just as his originally normal eyes gleamed sinisterly, Vayne suddenly unleashed a powerful barrage of punches and kicks, repelling the second wave of Shadow Hands coming to him without even breaking a sweat. Then, he pulled back his fist, channeling enormous amounts of energy until – at maximum power – he let loose a single punch devastating enough to smash through the swarm of Hands with one blow; even Luna herself experienced the full force of the blast of energy as she was sent sliding across the ground whilst barely protected by the fingers entwined around her body, almost causing her to crash into the wall from the impacting force that pushed her an incredible distance.

Not far from her, Medea was stunned to witness Vayne's attack and what effect it had on Luna, confounded as to how he was able to punch through her defenses that easily.

After a few moments, once the dust and winds caused by the overpowering attack had subsided and cleared away from the area, both ladies found Vayne still standing strong; however, instead of ending the fight personally, he shifted his attention away from them and brushed his shoulders of any dust that managed to flutter on him.

It baffled the two women to see that he was able to do to them and how absurdly overwhelming he was in his power, and yet he willingly acknowledged they were at standing against their enemies thus far. But now, he stopped what he was doing, and didn't even try to exploit their weakened state; instead, he stopped confronting them and turned away from them like nothing happened at all.

"What the hell? He beat us down like it's no problem," Medea grilled, confused at the change of mood, "and now he's acting nothing happened to either of us. What's he really doing?"

Luna shook her head as she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't understand either…"

"You're both presuming too much. I'm not here to destroy you," Vayne answered for them like he read their minds. "If I truly intended that, you both would've perished already."

That answered their questions…sort of. But it still didn't explain as to what his agenda was for showing up at the coliseum without warning.

"Then, let me ask one thing, Vayne," Luna requested carefully, "Given how you claim to have known me, and that you are Larsa's brother, why did you attack me and Medea? For what gains did you have us fight you?"

"Before I answer, let me propose my question: why do you fight?" Vayne asked her, getting to the heart of the matter.

"Plenty of reasons: saving the worlds from being devoured by the darkness, beating the crap out of the jackass causing the problems," Medea retorted. "And that's just the tip of the iceberg."

"Medea's right on a few parts, but I have my own reasons, too," Luna answered, "I have a friend, and he needs help. Someone horrible - who looks like someone I should know about years before – took him from me; just like he did…my brother. I want to return to the islands, with all of my friends together, nothing more."

There was a momentary silence as Luna watched Vayne analyze her like he was determining whether she spoke honestly or not.

But then he said simply, "Childish words, but noble words as well."

Turning away from them, he raised an arm up towards the archway leading below the stairway, and a shadowy dark portal appeared before their eyes. Both women were shocked to see this, but Vayne paid no heed to the abnormality of the presence he brought forth.

He then turned to the two and said to them, "There is still so much for both of you to learn. Should our paths cross again, I expect you and your Guardian to become stronger…for I will not be lenient on you a second time." He paused a moment. "And kindly don't inform your compatriots of our encounter. I doubt the boy you're traveling with would be able to understand the part I play in this madness."

Without another word, he walked away from them and vanished into the portal without a trace, leaving Luna and Medea alone to ponder over the strange events that they experienced without the boys to keep an eye on them.

"What the hell was that about? And why did he say he won't be as lenient on us the next time we meet him?" Medea questioned, "He managed to beat us around like ragdolls! I'm only surprised that he didn't try to kill us."

"I don't think dispatching us was his plan," Luna speculated, "I think he has something else in mind, but he won't tell us what." She paused. "But he is right about one thing: we won't be able to fight him again as we are now. He wants us to get stronger, and though I may not know how we should, we might as well take his word for it. Clearly he must have a reason to place such an expectation on us."

Medea couldn't argue with her master on that one: ten years ago, Luna was able to pull through the tragic adventure because she relied on her older peers to help her through thick and thin. But now that they aren't around, she was forced to advance what she learned to another level on her own. The both of them would have to search for what it is they lacked according to Vayne, and then determine what they could do with whatever it is he wanted them to seek out for themselves.

"You're probably right about that," her guardian agreed reluctantly.

"All the same, it's best if we don't tell Sora," Luna added, "I don't want to burden him with the knowledge of what we encountered. I'd rather we deal with it on our own when we next meet Vayne."

Medea nodded cautiously. "If you say so…"

After taking a few moments to recover their strengths (with a little help from elixirs and ethers), Luna and Medea returned to the lobby to find out what went on at the arena while they were away. Not one minute after entering inside, they were immediately approached by Sora and the others as Donald interrogated them as to where they were during the match and Sora tried to convince him to chill out and let them explain themselves.

But true to their words of secrecy, both girls lied that they thought they had heard something, but they got caught by Heartless and had to get rid of them before they tried to invade the arena on their own. Quite surprisingly, the boys bought their words rather quickly and thanked them for their efforts – but not without Donald warning them to let one of them know whether they needed help the next time they unexpectedly encounter Heartless on their own. Sora and Goofy recapped what went on while the girls were elsewhere, explaining that Sora was able to beat Hercules himself in the finals by himself and that they found – and locked – the coliseum's keyhole concealed underneath that heavy block the whole time. At least this was good news for Luna; that meant any Heartless invasion of the magnificent world will be greatly diminished from here on out.

With that out of the way, the party returned to the gummi ship to learn that Ansem's location has finally been pinpointed. Before leaving, they took the time to enjoy themselves before preparing for the hardest confrontation to come – knowing that when they do find Ansem, there is no turning back from their journey. Their friends are counting on them, and they have to win this battle at all costs.