Fakir shook his head as the group stood outside the castle gates. "I don't like this plan." He said.

"Just trust me on this." The captain said. He turned and nodded to Femio. The scout smiled and confidently walked up to the gate. In a loud voice, Femio called out. "Bonjour, mes amis!" Many raven soldiers gathered before the gate and opened it. They quickly surrounded him.

"I still don't like it." Fakir whispered.

"Wait…" The captain said.

(Trepeak, Russian dance)

As a few began to seize Famio, he unsheathed his candy cane sword and created a spin attack on the closest ravens. The ravens panicked and began to back away. Femio leaped over their heads, turned around and jabbed a few enemies. He jumped over the next set, using his hand to help flip over the closest raven's head. In quick succession, Femio slashed across the next set of raven soldiers. He spun around and made quick slashes at any enimies still standing. One by one the ravens fell to Femio's candy cane sword.

However, one managed to stay standing. The raven huffed as he tossed his sheath away and pointed his sword toward Femio. Femio, strangely enough, glowed with excitement at this action. The boy flicked his wrist a moment to prepare for his next move. He lunged forward to swing at him, but the raven blocked it. The raven swung next, only for Femio to stop him. The two suddenly got into a rhythm of swinging and blocking the other's attack. Femio stepped back and grinned. He leaped off of the balls of his feet to flip over the raven. Just as before, he spun and slashed the back of his enemy. However this raven was prepared! The raven pivoted to perry Femio's attack. Femio seemed strangely delighted in this move. Picking up his pace, he continued to make many strikes and blocks at the final raven. The raven rushed desperately to keep up. All according to Femio's plan. As the raven began to lose steam, Femio flipped over his opponent one last time, and in one decisive stroke he stabbed the raven through its chest.

(Stop)

He finished by turning and bowed to the other soldiers behind him. He carefully sheathed his sword. Fakir stood mouth agape as Femio stood proudly. The captain chuckled. "He may be an idiot, but he's a useful idiot." He patted the nutcracker's shoulder and headed to congratulate Femio. Fakir sighed and followed them. "Let's keep moving. We have to get to the throne room." They agreed and made their way into the castle.

(Coffee, Arabian Dance)

As they continued to fight their way through the castle, three small young women quietly followed them. Ahiru was still resistant to being dragged here. However, Pique and Lillie insisted they could help. As they headed through the gates, Ahiru got a good look at the castle. Despite the Raven's magic covering most of the area, it was quite beautiful. What Ahiru failed to notice was with every step she took, light began to grow. It was small flashes, but it seemed to be gently spreading through the castle behind her.

Ahiru was still uneasy as they further explored the castle. She did her best to temper Pique and Lillie from running off too far ahead. She felt bad enough to be here when Fakir begged her not to. No need to have to chase after a few fairies into danger.

"Wait!" Ahiru whispered sharply. She grabbed Pique and Lillie to hide behind columns. As they hid, they watched as Lysander took care of the next group of raven soldiers. It was incredible to witness. Using great strength and precision, the captain could twirl his sword and take out a raven soldier behind him, then slash upward to cut down the next raven soldier in front of him. He stared down at the next raven. It cawed in a low voice as it drew its sword.

"Go on ahead." The captain said over his shoulder, "I can handle him."

The others ran off ahead as the captain began battling the raven. Lysander reached into a small bag on his hip. "I hoped I didn't have to use these." He mumbled. Ahiru, Pique and Lillie watched carefully for what the captain had in his hands.

'Are those coffee beans?' Ahiru thought. The captain tossed the beans at the feet of the raven soldier. They popped like smoke bombs, unleashing a dark cloud up into the raven's eyes and nose. The raven's senses were overwhelmed! That gave Lysander the opportunity to strike.

"What should we do?" Ahiru whispered.

"You two go on ahead. I'll keep an eye on him." Lillie whispered. She nudged the others ahead. "Go on." She said quietly.

The other two nodded and slipped past the battle, going deeper into the castle.

(Stop)

By the time the girls had reached where the boys were, they could see Autor was in combat with more ravens. Ahiru wasn't surprised to see how Autor would strike with such precision. However, while his strikes were effective, they were very slow. He was very easily overwhelmed. Ahiru and Pique watched as he grit his teeth to try and keep up.

(Tea, Chinese Dance)

It didn't last long however. Femio stepped up. Just like before, he did incredible flips and jumps while making strikes. With Femio's help, they started to thin-out the crowd. While the ravens were distracted with Femio, Autor reached into his pouch. Ahiru peered cautiously to get a better look. 'Tea leaves?' With the leaves in his fist, Autor glided his hand along the back of the sword, making it glow a soft green. Now Author's strikes were even stronger when he struck the ravens! Femio looked at Autor as if an idea crossed his mind.

"No!" Autor said quickly.

In between flips, Femio put on his best pouty face. Autor groaned. "Fine." He bit out, making Femio's eyes glow. He looked back at the nutcracker. "Go on ahead. We'll handle this."

Fakir nodded and ran to the main door. The throne room was before him now. He slowly entered, leaving the door still open behind him.

Meanwhile, Autor held his sword horizontally in front of him. One hand held the handle while the other held the tip of the sword. In the opening he created, Femio cartwheeled into it. Continuing that momentum, Autor was flipped upside down and tossed into the direction of the ravens. From the toss, Autor took out another batch of soldiers.

"Worked like a charm, no?" Femio said happily.

Autor pinched the bridge of his nose. "I hate you…" he said flatly before continuing to fight the ravens.

While this was happening, Pique pushed Ahiru to the entrance of the throne room. "Go!" She whispered.

"But I can't do anything to help!" Ahiru protested.

"Yes you can! You'll know what to do." She continued to push her forward, "Don't worry about these guys. I can look after them."

Ahiru gulped as she moved forward, realizing now that she and Fakir would be facing the Raven King alone.

A/N: If there was a chapter I really wanted you to listen to the music alongside the story, it would probably be this one. (especially with Femio's part haha)

Thank you so much to Thor Cosmic for following! And of course to you for reading this far with me! Only one chapter left!