A/N: FFXII remaster coming 2017, you say? Why yes, please. With E3 drawing near, let's hope for some juicy KH3 news, though the 2.8 trailer will be coming out the day after this is published so we'll see what that has in store (Aqua Gameplay in UE4 please!). Anyway, last time we were here, Sora and Celes were about to break into the Turm des Himmels. Let's get right back into the action, shall we?


Chapter 84

Something Worth Fighting For

Following Eleftheria's directions, Sora and Celes navigated their way through the sewers with little difficulty. It was a straight north path, as the journalist had described, when they finally came to a ladder leading up to a square access panel that would probably take them straight into the basement level.

"You know, I think this was a bit too easy," Sora said.

"Oh, don't jinx us. We were doing so well," Celes replied with a sigh.

"Can't help it. When you've been out there fighting as long as I have, you kind of expect things to go wrong," Sora said. He pointed at Celes' hand, with which she was holding her sword. "You seem rather tense yourself. You've been gripping the handle of your sword a bit too tightly."

"You can tell that much? I'm impressed," Celes said.

"Because I've done that before. It's nerves. My master, well I don't really treat her like one, but she taught me these techniques to help calm myself in battle. It's all in the breathing. You can't rely on fight-or-flight response to kick in, is how she worded it. You need to control your breathing throughout the fight because sometimes your breathing can give away your intention," Sora said. "Not that I want you to fight, but if we're going to have to then here—do as I do."

For the next few minutes, Sora laid down the basics of the breathing techniques he had learned from Neuge. Celes listened in attentively, practicing for a bit and relaxing her muscles. By the time she had finished, Celes was much calmer than before and looked pleased with herself.

"I feel better. Thank you," she said.

"Where did you get that sword anyway? Is there a weapon shop in Alexander?" Sora asked.

"Not exactly. It's military issue, awarded only to those of high ranking status. It was my father's before he retired," Celes said.

"Your father was in the army?" Sora asked.

"He was a general and a pretty young one at that. They call this sword in the military 'Save the Queen' after the birth right Queen of the throne, Queen Rosa," Celes said. "Before the bank could repossess our house, I took this sword and buried it in our back garden."

"I'm really sorry to hear about your father. He must have done a lot to deserve a sword like that," Sora said.

"It's no problem. I'm only hoping it can give me the strength to do this," Celes said.

"Alright, I'll go first," Sora said. He waited for Celes' affirmation before beginning to climb up the sewer ladder's rungs. At the top, Sora pressed his right hand up against the panel and pushed. As the panel swung open, the first thing he saw was an incoming leg in front of him. Unable to dodge, the shoe connected with his face, causing him to fall backwards. Celes, who was climbing behind him, was caught by the fall and crashed onto the ground with Sora on top of her.

"Alright, I was not expecting that," Sora groaned as he rolled off Celes.

"Says the guy who said this was too easy," Celes replied as Sora's assaulter dropped down into the sewers and landed next to them. He was a tall man, built as wide and as burly as an impenetrable brick wall. His armor and mask made him seem like something out of a completely different time, like a samurai.

Celes was the first to stand. She quickly helped Sora up before dragging him away until they were some distance from the strange man.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"No, no, no. The question is, who are you? I'm not interested in you. There's only one person I'm after and he's standing right behind you," the man said. Brandishing one of the swords on his back, he pointed it at Sora. "Heh. I've got a bone to pick with your little girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? What are you talking about?" Sora asked.

"Does the name Gilgamesh ring a bell?" the obsolescent warrior asked.

"Gilgamesh? Luna mentioned him… wait, are you him?" Sora asked.

"Bingo. First she denies me an honorable fight to the death and then she strips me of my Chimera powers. Try as I might, I can't transform anymore," Gilgamesh said. "So the way I see it, is that if I kill you, she might seriously begin to regret not having killed me. I'll lop of your head, put it on a pike and force her to look at it. Sounds good to you?"

"Doesn't matter what I say. You shouldn't have shown yourself in front of me," Sora said, his expression darkening. "I'll take you out and any other KRONOS goon that gets in my way."

"Now that's what I'm talking about. The mother of all battles awaits. Master swordsman versus master swordsman!" Gilgamesh yelled and laughed aloud. He pulled another sword out and got into his battle stance, one foot in front of the other and one sword held in front of him with the other behind his head.

Sora grinned and summoned Oathkeeper. "Oh, you give me too much credit. I usually find just beating them with the blunt end works pretty well."

"I'll help too-"

"Celes, don't," Sora said, much to her surprise.

"Sora, I though we were in this together. Besides, this guy is clearly not all there to begin with. I don't trust him to not pull a fast one," Celes reasoned.

"We are, just not for this fight. Also, don't take this the wrong way but I kind of believe him— that he just wants a good fight, and I kind of want to give it to him. I don't think he'd like it much if it were two on one. That and I want to test something out," Sora said. Before he had left Radiant Garden, one of the preparations he had made was asking Namine for something. Because she had control over his memories, he needed something specifically from her. He just felt that it would help out in the long run, and now he would see whether he could still pull it off.

"Sora, what are you planning to do- HUH?" Before Celes could finish her sentence, a bright light erupted, seeming to come from within Sora. When the light disappeared, she looked back in surprise to see him holding Oathkeeper in his left hand and Oblivion in his right.

"Two Keyblades, huh? Now we're talking. Give me a good fight, SORA!" Gilgamesh yelled, flying forwards in a spiralling attack. Sora backed away a bit, parrying the blades in the process. Gilgamesh swung wildly, aggressive but quick allowing him to press Sora back farther away from Celes. Sora blocked each attack with his own before dodging under a swing and travelling behind Gilgamesh. He pivoted on one foot and swung both his arms in a spin, meeting Gilgamesh's swords again.

"Ha, you're every piece the warrior I was told about. This'll be interesting," Gilgamesh said. He lifted his sword closest to the teeth of Sora's Keyblade and performed a vertical slice. Sora saw it coming a mile away and leaned his body to the left, throwing his left hand up and using Oathkeeper to block Gilgamesh's second sword, giving him a chance to distance himself from Gilgamesh.

Alright, time to go on the offensive, Sora thought while looking over at Celes. He preferred to end this quick, just in case Celes were to get caught up in their fighting. He sprinted towards Gilgamesh and unleashed a flurry of blows, Gilgamesh being just as quickly to meet them with his own. As Gilgamesh swung his right hand low to catch Sora's legs, the teen jumped over his sword and continued his onslaught. He pushed back, swinging both Keyblades and slamming them against metal. He combined these with his teleport technique, disappearing and appearing around Gilgamesh in a whirl of blue to attack.

"Now THIS is living!" Gilgamesh roared. He crossed swords before swinging them down. A gust of wind knocked Sora out of his warping and was knocked back to the wall. Sora flipped in the air before he landed and kicked against the wall, using it as a spring to launch himself forward. Before he reached Gilgamesh, he twisted and slammed the back of foot downwards on Gilgamesh's head, sending the warrior staggering backwards into the wall on the opposite side. Gilgamesh flung his swords at Sora who knocked them aside with his Keyblade as he ran towards Gilgamesh. Before he could move out of the way, Sora warped in front of him and plunged both Keyblades into his stomach.

"Heh, heh, heh, that was exciting, wasn't it?" Gilgamesh coughed out.

"More for you than for me, I suppose. Fighting isn't something that should be done just for fun. Killing others for fun is even worse," Sora said.

"You really think so? Open your eyes. This world was built on conflict and enforcing supremacy on others. We create clans and groups merely for the purpose of highlighting our differences and warring with each other. Don't deny it. You felt it too, while we were fighting, didn't you? The adrenaline, the excitement. We're animals, no better than the lion who hunts the wildebeest merely for fun. No, maybe we're even worse. For all our superior intellect and independence, we still use it to benefit from others' pain. That is why I do what I do with no regrets. Collecting others' weapons is merely an excuse for me to sink my blade into them as many times as I can… just for… the excitement of it all. Isn't that why you fight too?"

Sora shook his head and pulled the Keyblades out. "No. What you say is somewhat true. The world is built on struggle and pain, but I won't embrace it and let it consume me. I don't know if you've realized this, but a girl is about to be locked up for something she didn't do. She's suffering and her belief is wavering. I don't fight for me. I fight for those who are afraid to face whatever's hurting them inside. I fight because I want to see them smile. Right now, I fighting for her and I won't stop until I see her smile again. That's just who I am."

"And he doesn't have to do it alone, either."

Sora turned his head to see Celes walking up to him. She offered him a smile before looking back at Gilgamesh. The warrior sunk to the ground, clutching at his inflicted wounds. He chuckled, a soft sound that soon became a reverberating laugh that travelled down the sewer passage.

"The only time your fight is truly over, is when you win," Gilgamesh said.

"However long that may be," Sora added with a nod.

"Then be prepared to face an entire existence of conflict. Your fight will never be over if your goal is that simple."

"But yours will be," Sora said.

"Indeed. You were every bit the warrior I anticipated. Anyway, I digress. You should go. Climb to the top of this tower where yonder maiden lies, and you shall find quite a surprise," Gilgamesh said.

"The top?" Celes asked. "What's at the top?"

"I'll let you find out for yourselves. Let's just say it's gonna be a blast," Gilgamesh said.

"Gilgamesh, what is it? Gilgamesh!" Sora yelled but it was too late. Gilgamesh took his last breath before disappearing into shards of light that rose into the sky before disappearing.

"Forget it, Sora. I have a pretty good idea what he means. It's a bomb," Celes deciphered for him.

"A bomb? What are they doing with a bomb?" Sora asked.

"No idea, but we need to hurry up," Celes said.

"Yeah…" Sora let the Keyblades vanish and made to follow Celes, but something stopped him. He looked back at where Gilgamesh had once been. It was like the whole affair hadn't even happened. The sewer was just as quiet as it had once been, devoid of its brutal clangs in quick succession. Something about this whole thing was worrying him, he just didn't know what it was yet. Because he didn't want to delay, he did the only thing he could—he pushed it in the back of his mind and began walking again.


Footsteps rang out in the empty hallway as Sora and Celes made their way down through the basement level of the tower. There was a slight chill in the air, perhaps coming for an air conditioner somewhere nearby. Sora checked each of the doors as he had done so the last time he had come here, when the tower had been under Maleficent's control. Behind the doors remained no sign of any of the presences that had once been there. The Chimera behind the bars had all but disappeared.

At the end of the hallway, next to a set of stairs they found an elevator. Celes pressed the chevron and looked up to see a red light slowly moving down the cue of numbers corresponding to the floors of the tower.

"Elevators are funny things, aren't they?" Sora said as they waited. "We didn't have any elevators back where I come from. All the buildings aren't nearly as big as the ones here."

"No elevators? They just seem natural to me, really. It looks like I've been taking them for granted," Celes answered with a soft smile. "Where do you come from?"

"Oh, just an island in the middle of nowhere. I'm not exactly a city boy, let's put it that way," Sora said. "That said, if you're looking to catch a nice sunset, it's a great place to be. You should see the water when it's evening. It's almost like a sea of fire."

"Sounds like a beautiful and quiet place. It would be nice to get away from the fame every now and then. Go somewhere secluded where I can enjoy a good book in the sun without prying eyes," Celes said.

"Yeah, and to think, I once thought about leaving that place for good," Sora said. "I mean, I like what I have now, you know? If it was always just that life, I probably would have grown bored of it eventually. I only ever left because I didn't want to be alone. My other two friends were going and I was afraid of being left behind. Now that I've seen all these places, I think I'm a better person for it though. People should be able to experience different ways of living so that they can make their own even better, you know?"

"You sound wiser than me and I'm the older one," Celes said.

"Heh, don't worry. I think you still have a few more on me. Trust me when I say I have a long still to go," Sora said. A dinging sound caused them to turn and look at the elevator in anticipation. The metal doors eventually slid open and the two stepped inside. Among the buttons on the panel in front of them, Sora noted that they went up from the first floor to ninety-nine. Because ninety-nine buttons would be too many to fit on the panel however, the buttons went up in tens instead. As flabbergasted as he was at the number of floors to this building and that he had managed to climb so many of these floors without an elevator the last time he came here, what was more interesting was that there was no basement button.

"I'm guessing this keyhole here probably leads down here. We'd need a key to come back here," Celes said, pointing at the keyhole at the bottom of the panel as if she had read his mind.

"One might say the keyhole is the 'key'. He he, get it? The- the key, it's the only way- I'll stop now," Sora said.

"Yes, that would be best," Celes replied frowning. Without delay, she moved her finger up top and pushed the highest button: 90-99F. The door closed in front of them and the floor began to move under their feet.

"Up the tower we will go. Where we'll stop, no one knows," Sora sang. When Celes looked at him questioningly, he shrugged. "Just trying to lighten the mood. Hey, why don't you sing for me?"

"Pardon? I'm afraid I misheard you," Celes said.

"Oh no you don't. You heard exactly what I said. How about it, Miss Opera. Hit me with your best shot," Sora said with a sly grin.

"In an elevator? I'm not sure that's the best idea. Maybe, when we get Luna back?" Celes dodged.

"Then I'll just have to prove her innocence extra quick. It's gonna kill me if I have to wait too long for this," Sora said. The floor underneath suddenly jerked to a halt and the elevator remained still for a while, the doors unopened. "We haven't gotten to the top yet, have we?"

"No, it stopped somewhere on or past floor sixty," Celes said. She jabbed at the '90-99F' a couple of times with her finger but nothing happened. She then moved down and pressed a switching showing two triangles pointing in opposite directions of each other. Once again, nothing happened. With a resigned sigh, she fell back and leaned against the wall. "This is just a lovely day for unfortunate things to crawl out of the woodwork."

"I hate to say this, Celes, but I don't think me and technology mix," Sora said, summoning his Keyblade. He aimed it at the door and cast Fission Firaga, blowing a hole completely through.

"Well I was about to say that it could have just been a power outage, but I would think the backup generator would have come on by now. I suppose now it doesn't really matter either way," Celes said. Looking outside, they could see they were stuck in between two floors. Sora crawled out of the space first and stood up to look around. Aesthetically, the room he was in looked completely different to the basement. Opposite the elevator was a door and glass partition walls leading into what looked like a cafeteria.

"A cafeteria all the way here on the sixtieth floor? Is that normal?" Sora asked.

"They probably have multiple cafeterias on different floors for convenience. I would be annoying to have so many people crowding out in the hallways waiting to use the elevator," Celes said.

"I suppose that makes-" Sora was cut off as the glass shattered next to him. He felt himself being lifted off the ground and smashed into the wall behind him, the Invisible grasping onto his neck.

"SORA!" Celes yelled. She ran forward and jumped before bringing her sword down on the Invisible's head. The blade cut all the way down, coming out at the Invisible's side. Sora fell back to the ground and landed on his feet and hands.

"Thanks for that," Sora gasped out. His mind was muddled by what had just happened to him.

"Our work's not done," Celes said. Sora walked up to her side and looked into the cafeteria through the now glassless window. The Heartless were popping both out of the floor and out of thin air: Neoshadows, Shadows, Invisibles, Darkballs, Angel Stars…

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Sora threw his hands up in the air and looked at Celes. "Okay, if we're going to have to fight, then we'll fight. Just… stay behind me- CELES!"

The opera singer rushed past him and down the hallway, smacking away the Heartless that got in her path. Instead of following her, Sora jumped through the window and cut across the room, taking out the Heartless on the way with Oathkeeper and Oblivion. He quickly raised his Keyblades and fired off two rounds of fire at the window in front of him before jumping through the cracked glass and landing in front of Celes.

"Yeah, maybe you should listen just a bit longer next time?"

"No time for next time. I'm worried about what's at the top. We need to hurry," Celes said.

"Yeah, well our 'friends' from the dark don't seem too happy with that," Sora said, watching as more Heartless appeared in front of them. Sora widened his stance a bit and looked to Celes to see if she were ready for the long fight ahead. With a single nod, Sora and Celes bolted forwards, their enemies in their sights.


The next twenty some floors seemed to go by in a blur for Sora. He had been taking out Heartless in every single one of them so far after all. It had occurred to him that he had never thought so many Heartless before; at least, not ones this aggressive. He had given it everything he had that by the time he had reached the ninety-eighth floor, he was surprised he was still standing. Sonic Blade, Ars Arcanum, Ragnarok, Strike Raid… rinse and repeat, over and over until he and Celes were the only ones left standing.

As another Angel Star flew straight at an extremely fatigued Celes, Sora stepped in the way and growled, batting it into the wall with what little strength in his arms was left. His two Keyblades had long since reverted to its regular Kingdom Key, unable to retain its separate forms for long. He had expended too much mana and found himself to be sweating profusely. When he looked up, he saw a slightly blurry Celes. He waited a bit for his breathing to regulate before putting a hand on Celes' shoulder.

"We're… almost there, yeah?" he tried to encourage, both to her and himself.

"Yeah, just one more," Celes said, barely pulling off a smile. Sora looked down the hallway to see a few more Heartless, only Shadows and Neoshadows this time though. That was better than the previous floors. He didn't want to think someone was watching them right now and had decided to giver them a breather or something. He didn't even know how that could possibly work and if someone was strong enough to even control the Heartless.

Sora looked at his Keyblade and pressed it slightly against his forehead. He didn't know why it had taken him this long but he could feel something. It was a beating heart, most surely not his own. He could feel the coolness of the Keyblade calm his nerves. It was almost as if it were whispering to him, instilling confidence in him once more.

Sora paced himself, walking forward a bit at a time. The Neoshadows bounced left and right as if trying to confuse Sora. His tightened his grip and slowly raised his Keyblade. The Neoshadows all suddenly pounced at him from different directions in unison. He ducked under the first one and caught the second with his Keyblade, driving it into the nearby wall. He quickly warped past a third Neo Shadow and used a Strike Raid, taking out the two other Neoshadows. Once he was finished with them, he checked to see that all that was left were the weaker Shadows.

"I'll do the honors," Celes said, walking past him. The Shadows advanced and circled her by sinking into the ground. She drove Save the Queen down onto one of them before lifting it back up and started spinning on the ball of a single foot like a tornado. Her sword caught all of the Heartless and cut through them cleanly, leaving only a dizzy Celes in the aftermath. Sora grabbed her by the arms and steadied her, grinning as he watched her eyes wander about.

"That was fun," Celes laughed.

"I didn't actually think that would work but then again, this day is just full of surprises," Sora said. "Anyway, let's keep going."

Taking hold of her hand, Sora guided her up the stairs at the end of the hallways and soon reached the last room—a penthouse with an amazing view of the evening sky, is what would have immediately come to Sora's mind if not for the strange device that was placed in the middle of the room.

"Oh no, we're too late!" Celes yelled, running over to the device. On the front was a timer that was counting down. Ten seconds left.

"We need to go," Sora said. As he turned however, the appearance of more Heartless in the room sent his slightly uplifted mood crumbling under an already weak infrastructure.

"No way. We're done for. I can't do more," Celes said in a defeated tone.

"Whatever you do, stay close to me. Reflect!" Sora cast. The shield came up just as the timer reached zero seconds. Sora closed his eyes and waited for the sounds of an explosion or something similarly associated with bombs but none reached his ears. He opened his eyes and looked around, dumbfounded at what he was seeing.

The Heartless in the room were all acting strangely. Some were running about wildly while clutching their head while others were slamming their head repeatedly on the floor, wall or any nearby object they could find. One Neoshadow ran towards Sora's shield and tried to jump into it but was knocked back. Very soon, Sora found himself watching as the Heartless in the room all started fighting one another. The barrier around Sora and Celes fell and they were left to wonder what was even going on.

"Um, Sora? What's happening?" Celes asked. The creatures of darkness were tearing into one another, slashing and squashing until nothing was left of the other. Had they all lost it or something?

"I… don't know. More importantly, shouldn't this place have blown up by now or something?" Sora asked.

"Either the bomb was a dud, or it's not that kind of bomb. I mean, those Heartless started acting like that when the bomb went off," Celes said.

"Well, whatever it is that's happening, as long as they aren't after us, I guess I can count this as a blessing in disguise? Let's just… look around the room for a bit but keep your guard up," Sora said. He had to remind himself that they had in fact originally come here for a reason other than the bomb. If there was proof of Luna's innocence, he hoped to find it somewhere in this room, otherwise climbing thirty floors had been a complete waste of his time.

Sora and Celes moved around the fight until they got to the desk on the other side of the room.

"Who owns such a fancy place anyway?" Sora asked.

"Director Casel Harbor. He's been noted for doing a lot of research into extending life, though I have no idea where he is right now." Celes paraded through the stacks of paper on the desk as she explained to him. "That's top secret though. I learned about it through my daily trips. I'm sure Zorn and Thorn are connected to it too."

"Extending life?"

"You know? Immortality. Instant self-repair of damaged tissues and the like," Celes answered.

"I know what it means, I'm just scoffing. Immortality doesn't strike me as being something anyone would do better with. It's a waste of time," Sora said.

"You really think so?" Celes stopped rummaging through the papers to look at Sora. Suddenly, Sora realized the room was awfully quiet. He turned around to see that none of the Heartless were left. "You've never seen someone die before their time and wished that they could have had the chance to live out the rest of their life?"

"That's different, that-" Sora stopped and looked down.

"You lost someone," Celes concluded from his expression.

"I don't want to talk about it. All I know right now is that I can't lose Luna," Sora said. "What's done is done, and I can't change that. So all this talk about immortality and extending lives means nothing to me."

"Sora, I'm so-"

"Hey, look in here. It's a letter," Sora said. He took out a piece of paper from the drawer he had been looking in and smoothed it out on the table before reading it:

My dear friend,

As preparations near their completion for this project, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to you and your team. You have persevered against all odds and, despite a few minor setbacks, have managed to hold up your end of the bargain.

As a new dawn approaches, we must be wary as ever of those who would oppose our plans. At the heart of this opposition lies one particular group of peoples that has me concerned. As such, I have taken the necessary steps to eliminate the threat. Your instructions for the next week are as follows: You are ordered to immediately clear out any instruments and projects that may be deemed as revealing of Project Rebirth within seven days of having received this letter. Finally, with exception of the basement floor, all other floors must be evacuated on said seventh day.

With any luck, after a short period of time following that day, you will receive further instructions from his majesty. I remind you that it is imperative we must not fail for the burdens of the people of Alexander rest heavily on our shoulders. You knew this task would not be easy and that it would carry heavy responsibility. We must execute without fail, regardless of the sacrifices that must be made along the way.

By yours most honorable, King Cecil

"So we follow the trail and it leads us to the highest authority in the land? I was afraid of this," Celes said.

"We need to meet with him then. This…" Sora held up the letter again. "Proves there was something going on three days ago. Not witnesses at all that saw Luna? No one from this building and there were only eighteen people here on that day? She was definitely set up."

"And the people who they mention are a threat?"

"It would have to be Luna, I and all of our other friends. What I don't understand is why your king would want us taken out… unless…" Sora's eyes widened and he shook his head. "No way. But how? Since when?"

"Sora?"

"Celes, I know who Zorn and Thorn are working for, and who you've been taking orders from," Sora said.

"Wait a second. There's something else." Celes picked up another piece of paper with a table on it and turned it sideways. "It's a cargo manifest for all the packages that have come in and out of the Turm des Himmels this month. If you look here at the first column, there's an ID list that corresponds to different companies around Alexander. I've done my fair share of deliveries so I know a few of the IDs but there are recurring ones here that aren't familiar to me. XE-78, XE-79…"

"You know, I'd prefer if we don't make this more complicated than it already is. Why don't you take it with you and we'll hand it to Eleftheria, see what she's able to dig up," Sora said. "And as much as I don't like keeping this bomb here, I don't want to touch it. Who knows what will happen if we do."

"Alright." Celes handed the manifest over to Sora who folded it and put it in his pocket along with the letter. "If we can have the detectives investigate this room too then that will be enough. Let's get back to the elevator. Maybe it's working again."

"Uh, maybe we shouldn't. I prefer taking the faster way actually," Sora said. He walked over to the sliding glass door and slid it to the left, exposing them directly to the terrace outside.

"I'm sorry, I fail to see your point," Celes said.

Sora held out his hand. Celes slowly took it and he flashed a grin at her. "Trust me. This is more fun."

Celes screamed as she found herself falling some 1,400 feet in the air.


Luna had started playing a game. She noted all the times that a certain Inspector Lenoux had come into the interrogation room and all the times the temperature seemed to drop in the room. She wasn't sure whether his presence actually did cause the temperature in the room to drop or whether he had done something to the circulation in the room to make that happen. Either way, it was definitely a tactic that was aimed at messing with her.

"It doesn't have to be this way, you know? All it takes is a confession. The evidence is as decisive as it could possibly be and you were in a place you had no right to be at the time," Lenoux said.

"I can't tell you what I don't know. What do you want from me?" Luna asked.

"The truth." Lenoux walked behind Luna and rested his hands on her shoulder, leaning in so that their heads were next to one another. "I don't know what thoughts your friend conjured inside that head of yours but see reason. You can't deny it. Were you there at the scene?"

"Yes," Luna acknowledged meekly.

"Did you have a knife with you?" Lenoux asked.

"Yes, but I didn't kill-"

"Now do you really believe that? Or is that a lie you told yourself to help you sleep at night. Let me tell you this, if that's what you think, then you should stop right now. An act such as this is one you should never try to forget. Innocent lives were taken three days ago. Their friends, families, they'll never see those people again. Do you know what it's like to come home from work or school thinking you'll get to spend time with a loved one only to find that they still haven't come back from work. And then they watch the news and find out the ugly truth. When not even they can run from the truth, do you really think you deserve to?"

Lenoux expected Luna's silence and sneered before drifting away and back in front of her. He folded his arms and started tapping away rhythmically. "Shall I help piece things together for you? You entered the Turm des Himmels sometime before before 11:20 PM. You had murder on the mind from the start, making this premeditated. That is also evidenced by the knife in your possession. The scientists, startled at your appearance, had no reason to believe you to be a threat, at least at first. Then you took your first victim's life, and the next, and the one after that. I'm sure some of them tried to ask you to spare their lives but you didn't listen. Is that ringing any bells for you?"

Luna glared at him and leaned out of her chair. "And let me guess. Little old me with such a petite frame was able to overpower eighteen scientists? With one short knife, no less? I'm afraid you're going to have to try harder, detective."

Lenoux's cold eyes met with her piercing stare but soon relented. He walked over to the door and put his hand on the doorknob, only to look back.

"About what happened to your parents? I'm sorry. I'm still looking for that truth even to this day," he said with such remorse that Luna could have perceived it as another deceptive tactic. "I remember when I first met your mother. Kaylah came into the station one day with no idea where she was. Amnesia."

"What?" Luna asked, surprised by this piece of information. She had never heard from her mother before that she had once had amnesia. Maybe the story hadn't been worth telling if it was a hit on the head or something but still… it was a funny coincidence.

"She never told you? I suppose she didn't think it was necessary then. Anyway, I'll be back in half an hour," Lenoux said.

Take your time, please, Luna thought as the door closed behind him, leaving her in isolation once again.

"He has a point, you know."

Luna's eyes looked up from the desk to see Abraxas standing next to the door. She looked away but his voice pervaded her senses without regard.

"You try to be innocent, but you know you're not. You knew as soon as that detective mentioned that he was looking into the truth of your parents. You know you can't escape who you are. What I've made you. My masterpiece."

"Not now. Not now. You're not real. You're not real…" Luna repeated in a whisper, closing her eyes shut.

"I'm sure you'd know all about what's real, after all it's not like you're smack dab in the middle of an existential crisis right now, right? Luna, open your eyes. You're completely right. This isn't me doing this to you right now. This is you doing this to you." Abraxas walked over to the table and placed both hands down. "How about I give you some incentive? Unbeknownst to him, Sora is walking right into a trap. He's giving his all fighting for you right now. But I'm afraid as things stand, he might not make it. Also, you just know he's one of those types that, if he has to, is ready and willing to sacrifice himself just to save you. Of course, if you're fine with that, well, nothing on my conscience I can't handle, if I had such a conscience to speak of anyway. So, what's it going to be? Should you stay or should you go? As the song says, if you go there'll be trouble but if you stay it'll be double. Ah, great song. Classic."

"Sora's in danger?" Luna asked. She gritted her teeth and placed her hand on her head. She felt incredibly lightheaded and her body felt alien to her, like she suddenly had no weight.

"That's right, and guess who's the only one that can save him? All you need to do…" Abraxas took hold off the doorknob and twisted it, pushing it open. "Is go through the door."

Somewhere outside of her perception, she could barely hear the voices of three others in the room. They almost sounded like Yuna, Rikku and Paine. Maybe at some point she could even feel one of them touch her cheeks and stare into her empty eyes with their hands. She didn't know if any of it were real or not, nor did she really care. All she knew was what she had to do. Abraxas disappeared from her view as she stepped out of the room.