The final chapter of the Great Mouse Detective saga is upon us and also part II of the story... well it is at least in my notes. I can't tell you have many part there are or how long they are but so far we've had Part I (Rescuing Luna) and Part II (KRONOS). So with that said, enjoy the final part of this arc!


Chapter 48

A Winning Smile

The Queen of mousedom sat up in her bed, a book in her hand. Supposedly it was incredibly popular among women, and she could see why. A literature work expunging the male role in favor of a group of empowered females during wartime and their struggles. It was absolute fantasy of course. Complete tosh, but it was well written nonetheless. As she flipped a page, the sudden blaring sound of trumpets flaring to a rather jazzy version of 'Rule Britannia' from outside her room caused her to flinch.

"What the blast is going on? Guards, what in the world is that awful racket?" The Queen had to yell over the loud music. Her door soon flew open and two of her guards walked into her room.

"His Majesty requests your audience ma'am," said the guard above the music. Upon further inspection, the Queen realized that the guard was not a mouse but was in fact, a bat with a pegged leg.

"His Majesty? What in the world are you talking about? I am Your Majesty," replied the Queen.

"Not anymore. Now up with ya. Don't want to keep the supreme ruler of all mousedom waitin' now do we?" said the cockney sounding mouse next to the other guard. The Queen chose to remain composed and set the book on her bedside table before following after the two 'guards'. The number of guards playing trumpets on either side of the hallway was such that it was impossible for her to escape. They acted as a wall that restricted her movements and sent her down a linear path. The path, she soon found, led to the throne room where a strange sight greeted her.

"And who are you supposed to be? I don't recall ordering any clowns for entertainment," the Queen remarked.

Kefka smirked and wiggled his bottom in the royal chair for a bit before sinking in. "Pretty comfy, I must say. The whole palace is. Tell me something. During the entire time you've sat on this throne, were you ever once thinking about the world outside these walls?"

"What are you implying?"

"You've been living here with all the food and luxuries that anyone could possibly dream off. You've never lived on the streets or had to kill for warmth or food. You've never had to live in unsanitary conditions or cramped spaces, sometimes with more than one family. The world is diseased and all the while you're just stuffing your face with cake and treating yourself to your warm bed at night without a worry in the world. In a way, you've locked yourself out to the worries of your subjects. This isn't a palace, it's a prison and a really fancy one at that," Kefka said before resting his chin on the back of his hand lazily. "I imagine I could run this place better than you ever could. And that's precisely what I'm going to do. From now on you can call me Lord Kefka of Kefkatown. My first order of business as supreme overlord, a gift to my elder."

One of the faux guards walked up to her, a gift wrapped box in his hands. The Queen was at first reluctant to open the gift but when it was clear that she wouldn't be leaving without doing so, she pulled the cover off only to be knocked onto the ground by a springing red boxer glove.

"Hehehe! For a moment there I thought you wouldn't get the punchline!" Kefka let out a loud cackle and fell off the seat.

"You won't get away with this! The people will never allow you to rule over them. The sun never sets over the-"

"Yeah, yeah, keep your red and white spotted pantaloons on," Kefka said while digging into one ear with his finger. Recovering some ear wax, he flicked it aside carelessly.

"Wh-wha- How did you know I wear- um, I mean, just what exactly do you think gives the right to rule in the first place? I'm telling you, no one will listen to you!"

"You see, that is where you are wrong. I will have all the authority to rule and you're the one who's going to give it to me."

"The only thing you'll ever receive from me is a smile when I see you hanged!"

"Not you. The her that will be you," Kefka said. He pointed behind her and when the Queen followed his gaze she could only gawk in surprise, for nothing could have prepared her for seeing the mirror image of herself staring back at her.

"I the Queen, do hereby relinquish my title and my position as the sovereign head of this kingdom to someone much more suitable for the job," mimicked the copy in a voice much like her own. She eventually took her eyes away from herself and looked to the robot's right to see an overly grinning mouse.

"Professor Ratigan! You're working with him?"

"I'm back to settle the score, Your Majesty! Do you like it? A robot created in your own likeness. Life should often imitate art and not the other way around, don't you think? I have created a queen that is even better than the real one. A model example that will remind you of your failures. It's quite poetic." Ratigan pretended to wipe a fake tear from his eye before continuing, "You're no longer needed, Queenie. Take her away!"


Luna's eyes never once left Sora during their ride to Buckingham Palace. Ultimately, she blamed herself for his despondent nature. He had protected her from whatever horrors he had faced in that room shortly after their leaving but she should have stood strong. She should have said no, that she would leave him to do it all by himself. She had been under the impression that she had wanted to get Stephanie and Olivia away from it all, but now she wasn't so sure. She'd used it as an excuse because she couldn't bear to watch or even help. She was the coward, but she wasn't suffering, it was Sora.

Doing things like that… it changed people. Luna noticed a difference between the Sora before they entered the sewer and the Sora after leaving that sewer. There was no way one could take a look at him and say they were the same person. His warm, cheerful and optimistic smile that had encouraged hope in so many people's hearts was now hidden away by someone pale and exhausted, not even able to crack a smile. The sooner they left this world and returned to the Gummi Ship, the better it would be and yet there was still a fear in Luna's mind that he would never quite be able to recover from this experience.

She wanted to hug him, tell him everything was going to be alright and be whatever he needed her to be. She wanted him to smile again but she knew that if there ever was a day when she would see his true smile again, it would be quite a ways off from now. The feeling of letting someone down was a terrible one with guilt as its proprietor. She wanted to cry. She wanted to justify that these tears were for him but she couldn't be sure of even that. Maybe she was selfish.

"Oh, do cheer up everyone. We can't continue on like this if we're going to save the Queen. Where's your sense of adventure?" Dawson tried encouraging, though without much success.

"In any case, the game is afoot! We're here," Basil announced. Toby raised his head upwards at the ledge next to the closed gate, allowing the group (with the exception of Olivia and her father who were to keep Toby company) to climb up his nose onto the ledge and over the palace walls. Luna landed on the ground and immediately felt a strange presence, as if someone or something was watching them in the fog. She turned to ask Sora if he felt the same but he didn't seem to be paying attention at the moment. Donald and Goofy also seemed to share the same sentiments of worry when she looked their way.

"There's a mouse hole over there! We can use that to get in," Basil located, pointing to a hole not too far away from them, but still hard to see in the midst of all the fog. Luna would have been surprised that he had seen it but she supposed being a great detective also meant having a good eye.

The hole led them into a gigantic hallway with a majestic carpet leading all the way to a double door room which seemed important. On the walls hung paintings of what they presumed had once been of the royal family but were now desecrated with graffiti of smiley faces.

"How tasteful," Donald commented in an unimpressed tone. They followed the carpet on the ground to the door and opened it to see a large throne room, quite empty except for the person sitting on the throne. "It's the queen!"
"Hold on there, Donald. Something's not right. You would surely expect that we would have at least met a few of the royal guards on our way here. There were none at the front gate, none in the hallway and now none in this room," Basil said.

"Maybe they're on vacation," Goofy suggested. Somewhere in her mind, Luna wanted to think that Goofy didn't actually believe what he had just said but this thought was pushed out of her mind as soon as she heard a scream from behind her.

"Stephanie!" Luna called out. None of them had even noticed that Ratigan had come in from behind them and had grabbed hold of Stephanie.

"Drop your weapons or the girl dies!" demanded Ratigan. A thunderous clapping and laughter coming from behind them caused them to turn back to the throne to see Kefka appearing from behind the chair.

"You're Kefka. You were behind this whole thing, weren't you? You turned those children into Chimera and you were going to do the same to this entire world. You'll pay for what you've done, you monster!" Luna yelled, digging into levels of anger that she never even knew she had.

"Ah ah ah. I'd do as the good professor says, that is unless you're like me. Maybe you also want to see what it's like to see a little girl be fed to a cat. How do you think she tastes?" Kefka replied with a mocking tut. In the end the group had no choice but to drop all their weapons. Luna hated being at the mercy of the enemy but she had no choice but to play along for now if she wanted to keep Stephanie safe. It wasn't going to be as easy as doing whatever Ratigan and Kefka said unfortunately. Ratigan swept Stephanie into his arms and was off down the hallway before anyone could do anything about it.

"Stephanie, I won't let him harm you," Luna promised to herself before turning to the others. "We've got to hurry up and catch him!"

"You guys go ahead," said Sora for the first time in a while. His voice was weak and hoarse, but it was definitely his voice. "I'll deal with Kefka."

"Sora-"

"Luna, you said it yourself. You need to keep Stephanie safe. She's waiting. Be careful though."

Luna wanted to argue that she didn't want to leave him like last time, but this time he was also right. Stephanie was in danger but they couldn't let Kefka get away with what he'd done either. Luna wasn't sure what compelled her to make this next move, but she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Sora was completely taken aback by this and seemed to be growing a light shade of red. Not sure what she had done herself and also blushing furiously, she was out of the room before Sora could even say anything else to her.

Sora ended up receiving a sympathetic pat on the back from Dawson as well as being treated to hearing a passionate recite of "All for one and one for all!" from Donald and Goofy. Finally, Basil tapped his own right temple with his index finger twice before leaving the room. Even if it wasn't words, Sora had gotten the message. Brains not brawn were the best way to outsmart any opponent. That didn't exclude Kefka.

He heard the door close behind him and he followed up on Basil's advice by taking the time to analyze his opponent. It wasn't very conclusive. Kefka was wholly unreadable, something that didn't seem possible. Neuge had told him that the best way of matching an opponent's skill set was to predict their moves beforehand, but Kefka seemed so laidback, so lazy and uncaring that any type of speculation was useless.

Sora's eyes darted downwards to his Keyblade on the ground in front of him. Rather than picking it up, he stepped over it and started the long walk down the throne room towards Kefka.


Luna felt herself being slowly lifted in the air as the hot air balloon she and the others were on, ascended high above the city metropolis. Even through the fog, Luna could see her target dead ahead. A dirigible, and on it was presumably Stephanie as well as Ratigan. Her mind was also on something else. The kiss on the cheek she gave to Sora. In hindsight, it had most certainly been in hopes of cheering him up, but her running off like that in embarrassment probably hadn't fared well when it came to interpretation.

A loud screech pierced the air and interrupted her thoughts. She walked over to the side and leaned slightly over the edge, only to fall backwards as a giant insect flew above her before disappearing into the fog. The creature resembled a fly except with two antennae on its head and pincers on either side of its mouth. The creature was akin to something Luna had seen in a book she had read on mythological creatures. Beelzebub, it was called.

"A Chimera? Now of all times? Maybe it's behind the fog in this world," Luna said.

"You know after all this is over that you'll have to explain all this, don't you?" Basil said.

"I suppose it's the least we can do. Okay, we will. But let's deal with this thing first," Luna replied before taking aim with her Keyblade. Beelzebub soon appeared from the fog and zoomed over their heads at incredible speed, such that it blew the balloons in the opposite direction of the dirigible. Luna quickly grabbed hold of Olivia's hand as she flew up into the air from the force of the wind and held onto the basket with her other hand. She had chosen to come along with them after hearing that Stephanie was taken while Basil had made the request of asking Hiram and Toby to head to the nearest police station.

"That was a close one. You alright?" she asked the young mouse.

Olivia nodded. "More than Stephanie anyway. We need to get to her quickly!"

Luna nodded and walked over to the side of the basket where Beelzebub had passed them by. She steadied her Keyblade on the basket's edge like a turret and waited patiently. Beelzebub emerged out of the fog once more and Luna launched a barrage of Thundaga Shots along with Donald's own magic.

Beelzebub zigzagged from left to right, rightfully claiming the title of annoying fly in Luna's mind before moving in and cutting away one of the strings with its pincers, severing one of the balloons from the rest. Luna watched as it dived under the descending hot air balloon and started circling it like a hungry shark. Luna looked at Donald and Goofy and smiled mischievously before jumping out of the basket. She supposed, like jumping out of a moving vehicle, this idea had seemed quite good at the time.

The good thing was that she had calculated when she would need to jump in order to land on the fly. The bad thing—now she was screaming like crazy while riding it. Her fear of heights didn't help things and Beelzebub was constantly buzzing left and right in an attempt to fling her off. Being on a fly wasn't exactly the most appealing experience either so she without trying to think too much about how she came to even considering this insane plan sane, she plunged her Keyblade into the Chimera's neck and pulled upwards as hard as she could.

The Chimera was sent jerking upwards, a little resistant to Luna's control at first but soon submitting. There was some strange feeling that she had managed to connect with the person behind the Heartless. The other side, as it were. Luna could feel something human there, something that she probably wouldn't have if not for having been a Chimera herself. Maybe the creature also felt some connection, a way to tap into its human side as well as having someone who understood it. Either way, Luna pushed on and drove Beelzebub straight into Ratigan's blimp.

Luna leapt of the Chimera as its pincers pierced the rubber fabric of the balloon, releasing hydrogen gas. She landed next to Ratigan and pointed upwards, at the tear in the rubber balloon before casting Fire. The spell quickly set the balloon on fire due to the hydrogen and spread, engulfing the Chimera that was grabbing onto the balloon in flames as well. Beelzebub released its grip from the balloon and screamed in intense pain before dropping to the streets below.

"Luna!" Stephanie called only to have her mouth blocked off by Ratigan who was holding on tightly to her. She wiggled her head a bit to free it from Ratigan's clutches and bit down on his hand hard, causing him to yell and release her. Luna ran up to her and grabbed her before jumping off the blimp and landing on a clock tower that they had been flying past. They both looked up in time to see the blimp blow up completely. The explosion lit up the night sky briefly and pieces of debris fell to the ground in front of them. Any traces of Ratigan or Fidget, who had been with them on the blimp, were nowhere to be seen. Luna was certain they couldn't have survived.

"Steph, I'm so sorry. This is twice now I've let you down. I should have been looking out for you. I should have been looking out for Sora. I couldn't do either. I'm a lousy sister and a terrible friend," Luna insisted in a depressed tone.

"Sis, that's not true at all! You've made me happy. I've always wanted another family member other than mom. Ever since dad went away, I've been lonely, though I don't really show it," Stephanie said. She walked over to the edge of the clock tower and sat down, looking at the landscape. The fog was slowly becoming less dense allowing them to see more of the city. They could even see the river that laid home to Ratigan's lair. It was a long river that seemed to go on and on for miles, shimmering under the moonlight and possessing many boats.

"I'm lonely too. Stephanie, I may not always be there for you. Whenever I can, I will. But things are happening at such a fast pace that those moments will be few and far between. You'd love to live this life along with me, I know that… but you can't. You have to go back to Radiant Garden," Luna said.

"What? No, I don't want to go back! I- I'm having so much fun and-"

"It's fun, but it's also dangerous. There have been two times today where I thought I could have lost you. I know this might make me sound like an old woman but my heart can't take it." Luna let out a chuckle to lighten the mood but Stephanie wasn't playing along. "Also, you're not the only one who's lonely. Your mother is too. Can you imagine how sad she must feel right now, without you by her side for company? The two of you aren't just mother and daughter. You're friends. I- I don't have a mother or a father. As much as I want to pretend that we're real sisters, the bond between a mother and her daughter is stronger. I don't really have a home anymore, you do. Don't waste it."

Stephanie looked downwards and watched as he legs dangled over the edge. "I guess mom does miss me a lot. What would she do without me after all."

Luna chuckled. "There you go! Sometimes what you need is right in front of you and we tend to often overlook that. There's plenty of adventures to be had in your own backyard. You just need to go out and find them."

Stephanie puffed up her cheeks and feigned an annoyed look. "Fine, I submit. But few and far visits are unacceptable. At least every two worlds so you can tell me about them."
"Two? Err, that's a bit unreasonable don't you think?"

"No it isn't. It's perfect, sis. I mean, I'd say one world but be glad I'm gen-gene-generous, ooh, I bit my tongue."

"Just by saying generous? Wow, you're easy. Try saying she sells sea shells by the sea shore."

"Hah, easy. She sells sea shells by the she- I mean- ooh, now you're making fun of me! What kind of big sis are you?"

Luna and Stephanie laughed and laughed until they could hardly breathe anymore. The fog had now cleared completely revealing a city in darkness but beautiful all the same. A bunch of joyous yells soon turned their attention to the sky itself.

"Ahoy there!" Yelled a happy Olivia, waving at them as the hot air balloon neared their location.

After a much shorter trip this time than it took to chase down Ratigan, their mode of transportation soon touched ground outside of Buckingham Palace, where Sora had been waiting for them. There was an unexpected addition to the group however. Completely bound by magic rings constricting his body and in a sulky mood was Kefka.

"Believe it or not but this clown was all talk and no action. Just like most of them," Sora said. "We'll keep him locked up down in the engine room until we get to Radiant Garden. Though I'm not sure I like the idea of sleeping in a closed space knowing there's a lunatic on board with us but at least we don't have to see his face."

"But we'll have to feed him, won't we? What if he starves? Better yet, why am I even worried about that?" Luna asked.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of that so-"

"No!" Luna interrupted before she could even formulate what she wanted to say. "You're not going to do this alone. Not this time. We'll take turns and I won't accept no for an answer."

"Uh, yes, I guess? Stop fidgeting!" Sora warned, increasing the tightness of his grip on Kefka's arm.

"Ow! Not into foreplay, eh? I think you need to take things just a little less seriously," replied a wincing Kefka.

"Are we really going to have this guy on the Gummi Ship? I've never had a thing for comedians," Donald said.

"And what about the Queen? Is she alright?" Basil asked.

Sora nodded with a small smile. "Don't worry, I got Kefka to tell me where she was. I don't know, I think it's suspicious that he gave so much away so easily. He didn't even seem to care that we'd ruined his plans other than throwing a childish fit and even then it didn't seem real."

"Well at least we've caught him, that's a good enough start," Donald answered.

"The keyhole!" Luna exclaimed suddenly, pointing to the closed gate behind them that lead to Buckingham Palace. Indeed, a keyhole had formed there, which Luna promptly took care of with her before turning to a stunned Basil and Dawson.

"Oh, I did say I owed you an explanation, didn't I? You don't mind if we lock this guy up quickly before coming back, do you? I don't know about you guys but I'm looking forward to some more tea and crumpets again."

In the end, the great mouse detective himself had never been able to uncover the mystery of the strange aliens that had entered his home of 221 ½ Baker Street, at least not by himself. Luna prided herself on the achievement that they had created an unsolvable mystery that not even the ultimate detective could solve, but with her pride too also came loss. The Sora she had known would never be the same again.


As far as it pained Kairi to think it, she was ultimately forced to confront the reality laid bare to her. She had been coerced into spying on Namine. Well, maybe spying was too heavy of a word. It was more that she had to keep an eye on her at all times, but not to the point of stalking. Honestly, she didn't know what to define it as anymore.

The worst part was that she was sure Namine had some idea of what was going on. She was sure, but like always, if Namine knew something, she would rather say nothing about it. Through the entire time she spent with Kairi or anyone else, she just smiled. There was no doubt in Kairi's mind that Namine wanted to forget about the whole thing. Forget about this recent discovery of new powers, or the first prophecy she had made being one that had to do with a friend's death. She was sure Namine was thinking that because she also would've liked nothing more than to forget about it. But it had happened and there was no point denying it.

Now she was sitting on the ledge of the castle postern overseeing the majority of the town with Namine next to her, drawing in her sketchbook. When Kairi tried to peer at it, Namine leaned away from her and told her to wait patiently with a small smile on her face. It made Kairi even more intrigued, but she would do as Namine said and wait like a good little girl.

"Namine, do you regret meeting Yeul?" The words had slipped out before Kairi could even stop them. They had been in her mind for some time but she hadn't actually meant to say them.

Namine's right hand stopped moving and stayed hovered above the paper for a while before she decided to put it down.

"Don't worry, Kairi, I'm not angry. I couldn't ever regret meeting her. When I first met her, we were both lonely. I always felt different from you guys, even after gaining my own body. When I was with Xion and the others, I observed her and I always found it weird how easily despite a replica, she was able to assimilate into a normal life like she had been doing it her entire life. It was something I couldn't do. So when I met Yeul, I saw her in myself. We were like mirror images of each other, which is why it was probably so easy for us to relate to each other. I had found a true friend in her. That was something I've never been able to do before, Kairi! I went out and found a friend. And that experience made me grow. I… I want to meet more people, make more friends. But I've come to realize that it was only because I saw Yeul in myself that I was able to befriend her so easily. With others, I'm not so sure I can do the same thing."

"Namine… I see. You wanted to go out and prove you could form connections independent of myself. It wasn't just enough to make friends with Sora and everyone else associated with me. You wanted evidence to prove you truly could exist on your own, right?" Kairi said with a click of her fingers.

"Er, was that it?" Namine asked.

"You don't know?"

Namine shrugged and gave a smile before picking her pencil back up. "I wonder… am I trying to assert my own autonomy?"

"I know you want to figure this out on your own Namine, but that shouldn't stop you from asking for help when you need it. In a way, I feel that we're more than best friends. More like sisters, and I've never really had a sister so… it's a nice feeling," Kairi said. She was hoping that there was the slightest chance that Namine shared her exact feelings and that if it were possible, they could do more sisterly stuff together. It had made her realize how much she had neglected Namine after their split and she wanted that to change.

"It is, isn't it?" Namine whispered with her eyes still glued to her sketchbook. There was still something Kairi wanted, no, had to tell Namine. She had to let her know how bad she felt about watching over her like a hawk the entire time and that she would have no choice but to do it more now. If Namine wanted her autonomy then there was no way she would have it now with her own friends breathing down her neck every day.

Before Kairi could open her mouth, a dark corridor appeared from behind her and a figure came out, the lance in their hand poised to strike. Kairi grabbed Namine by the shoulders and threw the both of them to the ground. The figure soared over them having missed and instead landed on her feet.

"Who are you?" Kairi asked, summoning her Keyblade.

"That is of no concern to you. I was simply hired to perform a hit and that's what I intend to do. I'm sure you are well aware of the target by now. It's you," said the strange creature. She was an anthropomorphic rat, wearing a fancy red coat and hat, the latter item being decorated with metallic wings on both sides.

"You want me? Were you sent by Moira's Crescent? Or Kefka?" Kairi asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the lancer said unconcernedly before moving in again to attack. She thrust forward with her lance three times, each jab being countered by the Keyblade. Kairi jumped in an arc-like motion and attempted to strike downwards but her opponent met her attack head on and guarded without even a flinch. Kairi lifted the Keyblade off of the lancer's weapon and twister her body at an angle before delivering several quick but powerful strikes in an attempt to knock the lancer off guard.

"Kairi?" Namine called out to her in an uncertain tone.

"Namine, get help! Aeleus and Dilan are nearby. Go!" Kairi yelled. She didn't even have time to turn around and see whether Namine had obeyed her instructions. The lancer dodged to the side after a delay in Kairi's swinging speed and jumped into the air. When she next came back down, it with her spear pointed straight for Kairi. The redhead quickly shot out her hands at the ground in front of her and cast Aeroga. The surge of wind hit against the ground, rebounded and knocked Kairi backwards as well, just in time for her to avoid the attack. Kairi had also hoped that the rat would have been caught in that same burst of wind once she'd landed, but it looked as if the spear's tip had pierced through the wind shield and had broken it.

Kairi landed back on her feet and chuckled. "You're pretty tough, you know that?"

"I was trained by the best after all. I've had to endure the harshest winters, the perilous deserts, and because of that I grew stronger not just in body but mind," the lancer explained. "But you've also put up more of a fight than I expected. For that, the least I can do is honor you with my name. It is Freya."

"I see… Freya. I also want to become stronger, so I don't want you to hold back. I won't either," Kairi said. She could have sworn she had caught a glimpse of a small smile escape Freya's mouth, but that was soon discarded from her mind when Freya came at her again.

The two met each other's attacks with equal force, not shying away from being offensive for a second. Kairi felt the awesome power behind Freya's hits knocking her back, and her hands were starting to give in, but she willed them to take more of the pain. Even through that pain, she was learning. Freya was well guarded in all areas. She was incredibly aware of her surroundings and was definitely trying to make sure that Kairi couldn't even think rationally for more than a few seconds. The battle was definitely in Freya's favor at the moment, something Kairi needed to change quickly.

Kairi eventually backed away and kept backing away. She wasn't going to win by playing the way Freya wanted to. Feeling something dribbling down her mouth, Kairi swiped the liquid away with the side of her hand to see red. The lance must have cut her at some point and she hadn't even noticed it.

She looked back at Freya to see her moving in quickly, not giving Kairi the chance to breathe. Kairi sidestepped out of the way and continued backing away, at least until she saw three figures appear as they ascended the steps to the castle roof. As Freya attempted to throw her lance like a javelin at Kairi, Dilan countered by throwing his own spear. The spear connected with the middle of Freya's lance and sent into spinning off in a completely different direction from its intended target.

"You will not harm the princess, cease and desist at once!" Dilan yelled at Freya. "You'll be arrested and taken into custody. Once in the dungeons, you will be read your rights, do you understand?"

Freya closed her eyes and bowed her head. "It seems that I have failed. Very well, I'll heed your words, though I'd prefer if I kept possession of my lance. She would be lonely without me."

"Not a chance. We cannot afford to take any risks with you," Aeleus said. Faster than his large size would have led someone to believe, Aeleus' hand was already clamped tightly around Freya's arm before she could even think of moving.

"I would appreciate it if you could ease up. You're hurting my arm," Freya told him stoically.

"Not a chance," Aeleus repeated before dragging her off back down the stairs to Ansem's study. Dilan walked over to the two weapons lying on the ground and picked them both up before turning to Kairi.

"Are you hurt?"

"Huh? Oh, um, not really, just a bit flustered still. Thank you," Kairi said with a weak smile and polite bow. Probably not knowing how to express himself properly probably played a part in Dilan responding with a grunt before following after Aeleus and Freya. That left Kairi and Namine alone. Namine was about to run up and hug her friend but ended up having to catch her instead. Kairi had fallen unconscious.