A/N: First of all, I would like to apologize for the extremely late update! Yea, even I think so... I had this chapter done almost 2 months ago, but didn't have the time to get it up on the 'net...busy and all. But it's here now...and...oh well.

nobody - I'm trying to keep them in-character, and I'm happy you think they are...though a little alteration might be unavoidable...I'll see what I can do.
BlueIrish - 20 minutes...I also don't know what I was thinking back then, but that's how it came out. I'm glad you like the story.
Yuriel-Castries - Thank you so very much! Oh, now I'm really embarrassed for updating so late...I'm not worthy of your praises... sob Thanks lots, really.
General Kimar - Haha...thanks. There's still some action to come in later chapters; I hope they'll be as good as you thought this one was.

Hah...I don't want to make this a/n too long. Here's the next chap! Enjoy!

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CHAPTER 4

Harbor

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"Seems like everything's in order," Locke stated after having received the three necessary items from the pair. "And you guys were really quick, might I say. The only other pair to complete the quest took, like, ages to arrive!"

"Well if you ask me, I thought we had also taken hours to do it," Blackrose said, shrugging. Apparently, she was still either skeptical about our feat, or was gloating indirectly. She managed to keep her hidden meanings...hidden...quite well, so much so that even Kite was puzzled at times. In this particular instance, however, he managed a knowing smile.

"Anyway," she continued, "let's get that gate open already! I'm really excited to see what's inside."

"One moment..." the sentry was busy weaving a string of data among the three quest items that Kite and Blackrose had recently retrieved, seemingly making as much a scene as he could of his rather dull task, "...there! And now, lady and gentleman...I give you," the tangled mass of data ribbon and quest items shrunk and then conformed into shape of a single small golden key, "the key to the Maharl dungeon!"

Kite approached the item and gingerly picked it from the ground. Looking up at the gray-steel gate before them, it took some time to notice the one keyhole between the engraved words of 'Sagreado' and 'Maharl'. At first, he had mistaken it for a nick in the metal, like many others strewn about.

Blackrose was busy having a one-sided argument with the sentry while Kite stood staring at the gate. "And you expect that one tiny key to open that humungous slab of steel?! What kind of fools do you take us for?!" Kite took that time to draw near and insert the said key into its supposed slot. No sooner had he done so that a loud rumbling echoed from the other side, and the gate slowly slid to one side, clearing the entrance to a stairway leading down into the earth.

Locke chuckled. "I wouldn't really call him a fool...nor you either for that matter," he continued even as Blackrose simply gazed at the shifting gateway, "though I'd do better not to take most things at face value. This is a virtual world, after all."

It was only after the gate had fully moved aside that Blackrose was able to speak. "Y-yeah...I guess..."

Kite was standing at the threshold as he spoke, looking very much deep in thought, "All those things that were needed to make the key...did they do anything by themselves?"

"And why do you ask that?" The sentry's expression grew just a bit less merry.

"Precious gold...scroll of All Skill...Orb of Pure Light. Wouldn't have only even one of those things have made anyone excessively richer or more skilled? The gold could have been sold. The scroll probably would have given abilities far more powerful than in any item. The orb might have done both. And yet all of these items had to be together to make that one key that served only the purpose of opening this one gate. I'm not angry or anything...the facts just made me wonder, that's all."

Locke first held his gaze with Kite, then turned to Blackrose, and then back to Kite. He shrugged. "You know, you're the first one to really raise that point. I'm not sure if I should start calling you a fool, or if you're just clueless about all of this..."

Kite now seemed a little irritated. "Then what is this all about?" He asked, still with a calm tone.

Again, Locke looked from Kite, to Blackrose, then to Kite again. "I can't answer you that, I'm sorry. You'll have to go on ahead and see for yourself," he gave a gesture of dismissal as Blackrose approached Kite. "Now go on; I've done all I can. The rest is totally up to the both of you. Good luck and Godspeed, then..." And with another wave, he was gone in the glow of golden rings.

It was a while before either even moved. Finally, Blackrose broke the lapse. "Well, let's get going, Kite. We've still got a ways to go down here," she stated as she began descending the stairs, glancing back at the Twin Blade. "...Kite?"

"Uh? Oh...yeah..." Kite was roused from what looked like deep thoughts, and his brow was knitted only very slightly. Still, he decided to keep silent for the moment; maybe these notions would go away as other necessities arose. He too then walked downwards, into the mouth of what looked like a more sinister darkness dungeon.

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The first level was lined with deep-red walls and ceiling that looked like the living bowels of a huge beast. The floor seemed stone enough, with occasional trails of steel strewn about.

Even though the motif was similar to that of other dungeons of its kind, the color was enough to make Blackrose a little queasy, if not more than a little grossed-out. Fortunately, upon the use of a fairy's orb item, no dungeon portals were present in the entire first level. The Heavy Blade let out a relieved sigh.

Strangely, though, Kite didn't even seem to notice the surroundings. His gaze was fixed downwards on the floor and his mind was somewhere even farther that that.

His detached behavior caught his partner's attention. As they walked in silence, she peered at him first without moving her head, through the corner of her eyes; then she tilted her head towards him slightly; and then bent at the trunk to look even closer; finally, she moved in front of him, walking backwards. In none of her attempts did he shift his gaze, or even blink, it seemed.

Infuriated, she shouted. "Kite! What the heck is wrong with you now?!"

The outburst was finally enough to rouse him from whatever thought was occupying his mind at the time. "H-w-wha?!" He let out a surprised sound that was loud enough to echo twice, even though acoustics didn't seem possible, given the features of the walls.

"You're walking around like a grief-stricken zombie, if that's even possible!" She spouted. And then, in a slightly less angry tone, she added, "If you've got a problem, you could tell me, you know...and we're pretty lucky there aren't any monsters right now."

Although startled at first, Kite soon regained his passive composure. He did begin talking, however. "Yeah, I know..." Whether he was referring to Blackrose's mention of lack of monsters or to her earlier comment about being able to tell her about his problems, he didn't make clear. "...it's just that I can't justify the need to use – to waste – such precious items to make such a transient one."

The Heavy Blade's voice was full of empathy as she spoke to him. "You're talking about those things we gave the sentry?" It was also laced with a hint of knowingness, which Kite utterly failed to catch.

Kite nodded. "The bullion of solid gold...The Scroll of All Skill...The Orb of Pure Light. If the enemies, the – creatures – that are in this dungeon are anything like those in the tower earlier, or even worse, then wouldn't it have been better to give us something useful to help us?"

"But then we wouldn't have been able to enter in the first place," she replied.

He took a moment to ponder on her very well-made point. "Then why the need for all three powerful objects of such rare value just for that purpose?"

A deafening silence enveloped them. Kite went back to mulling over his worries, and Blackrose was thinking of what to say to him next.

She finally decided on a statement. "C'mon. Maybe you're taking things too much at face value, like what the sentry said earlier."

"What else could a key be used for? Besides, it just vanished right after I put it in the slot, having served its only purpose, I'm sure."

"That may be true, but..."

"But why not have used them instead to help us in a more useful, a more permanent way?! Why not just give us even some of the power within them?!"

Another silence, though this one shorter yet more significant than the last.

"Kite, has power become all that important to you now?" Her tone was devoid of any emotion, so much that it almost frightened even her. Inside, she was sincerely wondering what had come over her friend; he didn't really seem himself.

He looked at her, and there was a mix of frustration and worry in his eyes. It wasn't difficult to tell he was fighting an internal battle within him. Two sides – part of him that stood for justice and what was right, and part of him that sought power and strength for the sake of that very same righteousness – were warring in his head. And for once, he was having a hard time deciding where to side.

Blackrose needed only one careful look to see what was wrong.

"So what you're saying is that maybe we could've benefited more if we had used probably one of those objects for what it primarily was? And that would have made us better off than we are now?"

Kite kept silent, only looking at the floor they were standing on.

"You were worried we might face even harder trials than the one at the tower, am I right? Well, I think we'll be able to carry on here just fine. Think, Kite. Do we really need even half the skills in that scroll? Or all the money we could've gotten from the gold bar? Or even whatever intense power from the Orb?"

He looked up slightly. "No..." Suddenly, one side was beginning to make more sense.

"That's right! And even if we did get those things, it wouldn't have made any difference since we couldn't even enter the dungeon in the first place!" Though her voice rose in pitch and volume, Kite could tell she wasn't getting angry; she was prodding him to break free from his melancholic thoughts; she could feel it working.

And he could as well.

"Yeah..." He said, a bit louder, already starting to feel his spirits lighten.

"And don't you remember who once said that quick thinking, vigilance, unity and determination were the most important factors in deciding the outcome of adversities; that even the greatest power alone will not ensure victory?"

Most of the uncertainty faded from his eyes at those words, his own words; a message he had sent to his online companions, when the threat of Magus and the Data Virus was once at its most ominous, when they had almost given up. It had been Kite who pulled through for them all...

...and now here he was, turning his back on his most fundamental principles, his deepest moral foundations.

For a while he was essentially alone again, in deep contemplation, as he continued walking and she followed. There was something different from his new silence, however. His face was no longer passive and despondent; rather, it was set in a determined stare.

Blackrose noticed, and smiled.

The dungeon minimap showed they were almost at the descent to the next floor. Kite had quickened his pace a little, which showed his growing excitement. The thrill of uncertainty in what seemed like a high-level, special-event, dungeon was beginning to occupy his mind once more; he was back to his old, reliable self.

Now standing at the top of the staircase that led into darkness, Kite took a deep breath. He then faced the Heavy Blade as he spoke, sounding more confident that ever since they had entered the place. "Thanks, Blackrose...for cheering me up back there. I guess something just got the better of me."

She tried to butt in, to tell him that no apologies were necessary, that she was only too happy to keep him out of misery, but he kept on talking.

"Haha...it was kinda out of place, huh? I mean, I don't really space out that often or give much attention to notions of power and getting stronger and all that much, right? I guess I sounded a lot like Natsume back there; she always talks about getting stronger and being of more help..." he was looking back at the way they had come with a somewhat wistful, if not solemn, expression on his face.

Blackrose made no attempt to talk, even when Kite had finished his pseudo-monologue. She just watched in a mix of mild frustration and slight dejection as he turned and began down the steps. She followed after him, her face and actions careful not to betray any inappropriate emotion.

Kite was already in high spirits at the second step; he looked back up at her with a big upward curve of his mouth. "So, you ready, partner?"

She managed a small, smug-like grin. "You kidding? Come on!"