Well everybody it's been a while. I could blame the long wait, on my extremely busy schedule. I had SAT's I had to take, finals in school, my sister got married, not to mention some personnel issues with friends. I admit, my writing time got heavily reduced.

But I can't lie. It's mostly my lack of motivation to finish this thing. Anyways, this chapter is the beginning of the climax of this story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything mentioned in this story. If I did I would be living it up in my mansion instead of spending my time in front of a computer typing.

Note: This chapter was written by my friend Brenden. Also in light of future chapters, the rating of this story has been bumped up to M.

Chapter 15

Rikku

10:25 P.M. 6/11

Up in the Celsius, Yuna, Paine, and I were shining light where necessary in order to help our friends fight Nobunaga's cronies. Yuna and Paine were fine... But me? Not so much. Blame my fear of storms. When I was a kid, my brother accidentally blasted me with a lightning attack. It scarred me. Anyways...

I was scared to death, nearly crying, but I knew my friends were risking their lives out there, and me crying wouldn't help them at all. I felt it deep inside me, and I managed to get up, and go over to the window where Yunie and Paine were.

They were a bit surprised, but I just said "I'm okay."

They understood, and I started watching the battle, trying to ignore the booms and zaps from the storm.

"We're so high up. It's hard to tell who's who." said Yuna

"All the Genma look the same. It's our guys that are all unique." said Paine

I remained silent, watching all the carnage and fighting way down below. It was frightening, not only because of the storm, but also because of the fact that my friends could be dying down beneath me.

My eye was drawn to a big turtle guy with a spiky shell. I saw him breathing fire in the woods, and I wondered how exactly he was doing it with all this blood pouring down. I saw a few others with him, and I recognized that one of them was Meta! I saw them all fighting Genma, and doing really well.

"Ok! Keiji says we've held Nobunaga's forces off long enough. All forces are to take the offensive now. Push them back into the woods, and if you see Nobunaga, take him out!" I heard a voice in my head say.

It was Mewtwo, and he was giving the order to attack. I looked down, and saw Genma running deeper into the forest, with our friends chasing after them. Me and Yunie cheered, and I saw Paine smile.

"We're winning!" I shouted with glee.

Then there was an explosion.

"What was that?!" yelled Paine.

I looked down, and saw some of our allies getting blown through the air. I gasped, realizing that it was a trap. They were hurt, bad, and I became worried... (Nobunaga planned this!) I thought, (He lured us deeper into the forest and then ambushed us!)

As soon as that thought came across my mind, I saw many of our allies getting ambushed, struggling to hold off the fearsome assault from Nobunaga's ambush units. Yunie gasped, and I myself was very worried.

"What if they get killed?!" I said frantically.

"I-I don't know... I wish we could help more..." said Yuna

"We can." said Paine sternly

"Paine, no. We can't go down there. They need us here in the Celsius" said Yuna.

"Brother can take over for us..." I said, somewhat pleadingly.

Yuna was quiet for a bit, thinking on what action to take. She looked at Paine, then at me. She then sighed.

"Alright. Tell Brother." she said

"OK!" I said, somewhat happily.

I shouted at Brother in Al Bhed, who was on the other side of the control room.

"Brother! Lyh oui dyga ujan vun ic? Fa fyhd du ku ramb vekrd!"

10:40 P.M. 6/11

He nodded, and landed the Celsius. The three of us quickly left, and Brother took off again, providing support with the Celsius. We quickly took out our weapons, and took off, looking for our friends, so we could help them.

We decided to split up, in order to help more people. Yuna stayed near the Mansion, in case any of our allies was retreating and needed assistance. I went into the first chunk of the forest, so I could help people getting ambushed. Paine went REALLY deep into the forest, because she wanted to take out Nobunaga.

I immediately saw some people struggling. It was girl in a red armored suit, and a swordsman with spiky hair and red armor. I recognized the girl, her name was Samus, but I didn't know who the guy was. They were getting ambushed and struggling, so I took out a grenade and threw it at the Genma crowd. A good chunk of them were blown away.

I waved my arms.

"Hurry! Get back to the Mansion before more arrive!" I shouted.

They obliged, and retreated. Yunie would be able to help them the rest of the way.

I started worrying for Paine, but I pressed on. I saw the turtle guy from before surrounded on all sides. I could tell he was weak from fighting, and I quickly sprung into action. I dashed forward and stabbed the first Genma I saw in the back of the head with one of my daggers. The turtle guy saw me, and I could tell he was thankful for the aid. He squished a few of them by stomping on them, and I threw a couple more grenades at the crowd. The group fell back, and the turtle guy ran away.

"You're welcome!" I said, kinda sarcastically.

"SHADDUP!" I heard him shout back.

"Jerk..." I said, crossing my arms.

I ran further in, looking for more people. I didn't see or hear anyone fighting, so I decided to take a quick break. I leaned up against a

tree and caught my breath, when I got attacked by some guy with long black hair. He wasn't a Genma, but he wasn't on my side. He came lunging at me, and I gasped. I ducked, hoping to dodge, when I suddenly heard the sound of metal clanging together. I looked up, and saw an axe blocking the man's sword. I looked at my savior, and saw it was Meta!

"Meta!" I shouted happily.

"Not now!" He said, pushing the man away.

"Hmph. More than I bargained for. I'll get you two later ." The man said, running off into the night.

I looked up at Meta and smiled sweetly. "Thank you for saving me."

"Uh-huh, sure." he said, kinda awkwardly. "Look, we need to take these things out."

"I know... But we should help the others first. I saw them getting ambushed by bad guys." I replied

He was silent for a moment, eyeing me.

"Aren't you supposed to be up in the ship?" he asked, suspicious.

I blushed, embarrassed for whatever reason.

"Um... Yeah... But I couldn't just sit around and watch my friends die!" I said.

He shrugged and helped me get back up on my feet. He looked tired, and I could tell he was trying to hide it.

"Meta, you should get some rest. You look weak." I said worriedly.

"I'm fine! I'm just pissed at these bastards!" He replied sharply.

I frowned. "Fine..."

For a second there, he seemed sorry for making me frown, but he shook his head, made his axe turn into a trident, and ran off, wanting to fight some more.

"Hey wait!!" I said, but it was too late. He was gone.

"Dang..." I said, hoping he'd be alright.

"Just got word from the Celsius. The Genma have vanished. Nobunaga's nowhere to be found. All units, return to the Mansion. Get the wounded in beds, and get the healers up and ready." Mewtwo's voice said in my head again.

Mewtwo had been told by Brother that Nobunaga left. Worried for my friends and Meta, I started walking back to the mansion. A few people passed me, looking injured, and I just watched them walk ahead.

11:20 P.M. 6/11

Later on, almost everyone was back in the foyer of the Mansion, ready for a debriefing. Everyone was chattering about the battle that had occurred, sharing things they saw or hints they came up with. Keiji stepped up on a small stage, and everyone went quiet. Hanzo appeared behind him, and Keiji cleared his throat.

"Riiiiight... Things didn't exactly go smoothly." He said glumly.

"Nobunaga's a tricky one. He got our hopes up and then shot them down with cleverly placed ambushes. Lot of you guys got hurt, and I got some bad news... I'll let Hanzo be the bearer of it." Keiji said, stepping down.

Hanzo stepped up.

"There have been casualties." he said monotonously.

The crowd buzzed, chattering again. Hanzo waited patiently while they hushed down.

"Several men and woman perished. We don't have exact names, or an exact number of how many died so I'll leave it to you to find out who." He said.

Some jeers rose, but quickly died down. I was frantic. Many thoughts rushed through my mind. Who died? Who lived? Who's hurt? What happened to them? I felt dizzy, almost sick with worry, and I quickly went to my room. I lied down, and cried.

About 15 minutes later, I heard a knock at my door.

"Rikku? May we come in?"

"Yeah. Come in." I said, teary-eyed.

Yuna and Meta Knight walked inside. I was relieved to know they were okay, but I was still worried for everyone else, especially Paine...

"Are you alright?" asked Yuna.

I shook my head no. "Uh-uh"

Yuna sat down on the bed and stroked my hair. "You're worried for everyone, aren't you?"

I nodded

"We all are... I'm just glad to know you're safe." she said.

Meta walked over.

"So.. Uh... How you feeling?" Meta asked.

"Sick..." I said

"Oh... alright..." He replied.

I was a bit confused at his behavior, but I put it off.

"Where's Paine?" I asked after a moment's silence.

I could tell it was the wrong thing to ask. Yuna looked away, sadness in her eyes. Meta was quiet.

"We don't know... We haven't seen her..." Said Yuna after a couple minutes.

"What...?" I said.

"I'm sorry Rikku... B-but... I think she was killed..." said Yuna slowly and quietly.

My eyes widened and my heart leaped up into my throat. Tears came to my eyes, and I felt a fiery sensation in my chest.

"D-d-dead?...No..." I said, on the verge of crying.

"We don't know if she is or not Rikku." said Meta, breaking his silence.

"That's right! She might be okay." said Yuna. "...Look Rikku, tomorrow I'm going to hold a performance for those who were lost in the battle earlier. I'm hoping it will raise everyone's spirits, even if it's just slightly."

"Ok Yunie... I'll be there." I said.

Meta went quiet again and left the room. Yuna put her hand on my forehead.

"See you tomorrow... And try not to worry about Paine." she said. She kissed my forehead, and then left.

After the door closed, I let the tears flow. I cried and cried, and soon, I fell asleep.

7:00 A.M. 6/12

The next morning, I woke up, my pillow wet from all the crying I must've done. I sat up in bed, sniffled, and looked out the window. It was still raining blood. I wiped my moist eyes, and got out of the bed. I felt like I was in a haze... Nothing seemed 100 clear like it usually did, and everything just felt dull and lifeless. I coasted along in the hallway and saw I wasn't alone in this haze of despair. A lot of other people looked depressed, worried, and sick.

I saw a girl in a pink dress with white gloves in the kitchen, at the table. Her head was in her arms, and it looked like she was sobbing. I looked into the living room, and saw several people sitting there in complete silence, their eyes listless and dull. There were people wandering the halls aimlessly, lost in their thoughts. But no matter how many faces I saw, they all looked the same: Frightened, worried, or sad.

I started back towards my room, to try to clear my head some more when I noticed some kind of commotion going on in the living room. Curious, I walked in, to see Keiji and Hanzo once again standing on their small stage.

"What's going on?" A woman asked.

"There's something you all need to see..." Hanzo said.

He stepped down off of the stage, and walked over to a window, pulling it's curtain down. Outside of the window, was a large red hole in the sky. It was above the woods behind this mansion. (What is that?...) I thought as I gazed at it.

"It seems everything about the legend is true after all... That is the portal to Zodiac's dimension... It's increased drastically in size. Last night you couldn't see it with the naked eye."

"So what does this mean?..." Someone else asked.

"It means we're running out of time...We have an estimated 6 hours remaining before the portal opens up completely... Keiji and I are plotting an attack... If this one doesn't work... Well to be on the safe side you might wanna go ahead and say all your good-byes." Hanzo said calmly.

Everyone that was present in the room's spirits sank. Keiji and Hanzo walked out, to leave us to our misery and I continued my trip back to my room in an even more depressed mood. But then another sad thought crossed my mind.

...Out of all the faces I'd seen today...Not one of them belonged to Paine. She wasn't in the mansion, and she was deep in the forest last night when the battle was raging. I felt ill, and was forced to sit down in a nearby chair. My head felt like it was buzzing, and I felt like I was going to throw up. I was really dizzy for a moment, and then I blacked out. I passed out right in that chair.

I awoke about 30 minutes later in my room to Meta Knight shaking me.

"Wake up!" He said. "Yuna is about to perform."

I was groggy, confused. I looked at him, and then I realized what he had said. I looked around the room, then I got up and wandered into the halls. Meta followed me, confused at my behavior.

I didn't see anyone in the halls. I looked out a window, and saw the Celsius right by the mansion. There was a huge crowd gathered around it, and I saw Yunie on top of it.

"Yunie!" I shouted, running into the hallway, down the stairs and out of the mansion and up to the Celsius.

8:00 A.M. 6/12

I fought through the crowd, and climbed up to a spot far enough behind her to where I wouldn't get in the way. She saw me climb up, and smiled at me. I smiled too, and then she turned back to the crowd, speaking into a microphone.

"We've all been hurt by everything that the Demon King has done. This rain is further dampening our spirits and furvor... I want to dedicate this song to every last one of you. No matter what you all might think, you aren't alone in this. We all have the same problem. And to those who aren't with us today... Those who are now in a better place... I dedicate this to your memories as well." said Yuna.

The murmuring of the crowd died down, as some soft music began playing.

Thunder roared and lightning crackled as the rain poured down on the audience. The soft music got a little louder. It was pretty, and the whole crowd was silent. I heard Yuna take a breath, and she started singing.

"I know that you're hiding things, using gentle words to shelter me. Your words were like a dream. But dreams could never fool me... Not that easily" she sang, with grace and beauty.

The music picked up a little bit, and she continued

"I acted so distant then, didn't say goodbye before you left. But I was listening. You'll fight your battles far from me... Far too easily"

The song picked up a little more, and the Celsius's holographic display activated. The image of a cityscape appeared all around us, with the crowd and the Celsius seeming to glide along in it. Yuna continued.

" ...Save your tears, cause I'll come back... I could hear that you whispered as you walked through that door. But still I swore..."

Then something weird happened... Yunie's Songstress dress sphere glowed blue and interfered with the holographic display.

"To hide the pain when I turned back the pages! Shouting might've been the answer."

The display changed from a city and into fire for a moment. When the fire dissipated, there was a large robot thing. It looked kinda like an elephant. There was a man with spiky hair standing near the machine.

"What if I cryed my eyes out and begged you not to depart? But now I'm not afraid to say what's in my heart!"

Then something even weirder happened...Yunie changed. She vanished, and some girl who looked like her, but had longer hair appeared, dressed in the same outfit as Yuna, singing the song. The music picked up, and the man in the display hit something. Some lights flared up, and the girl kept singing.

"Cause a 1000 words, call out through the ages. They'll fly to you, even though I can't see I know they're reaching you... Suspended on silver wings!"

The man continued messing with the machine. A display of the girl who looked like Yuna ran to the man, yelling something at him. I think she was asking him to stop messing with the robot. He ran up to her, and all of a sudden, the images of several men with guns ran into the room with the two of them. The girl looked scared, and the man held her in his arms. The singing continued, seemingly in the background of the scene that everyone was watching.

"Oh a 1000 words, 1000 embraces. Will cradle you..."

The men with guns all aimed at the two.

"Making all of your weary days seem far away! They'll haunt you foreeeeeeeever!"

A soft guitar solo began, and the two looked into each others eyes, crying. The men with guns were about to fire. The girl let out a small smile at the man, and he returned the smile. Suddenly, the men with guns fired, and the two fell to the ground, wounded.

Then another strange thing happened. The girl kept singing, but Yuna suddenly appeared behind her, singing with her. While they were singing, the image of the girl and the man who were shot were looking into each others' dying eyes.

The girl sang. "Oh one thousand words"

Yuna sang "A thousand words..."

The girl again "Have never been spoken"

Then Yunie "Ohhh"

Their pattern of singing back and forth continued.

"They'll fly to you and carry you home..."

"Carry you home!"

"...and back into my arms!"

"Suspended on silver wiiings!"

"On silver wings!"

"And a thousand words"

"Ohhh"

"Call out through the ages."

"Call through the ages!"

"They'll cradle you!"

"Ohh yeah"

"Making all of your lonely years into only days"

"Only days!"

As the girl sang that, she started to dissipate while Yuna continued

Right before Yuna sang again, the whole holographic display vanished, bringing all of us back to the glum, depressing world we were in. But something was different...The thunder and lightning were distant... The rain had stopped... And the sun was shining for the first time in a while.

"They'll haunt you foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever!! Ohhhhhhh... A thousaaaand. Wooooords." Yuna sang as the song ended.

The crowd was completely silent, awestruck by the song and awestruck that the storm had stopped. Yuna gazed out at the audience, and fell to her knees, some tears falling from her eyes. I quickly ran up to her, and the crowd below started clapping.

"Yunie..." I said softly

"I'll be okay." she said, getting back up.

I stood up with her, and looked out at the cheering crowd. Yuna bowed to them, and I smiled, waving my arms. She rose back up, and spoke into her microphone once the applause died.

"Thank you all very much for coming. I know this performance helped... And knowing that it helped makes me feel happy. Thank you." she said, blowing a kiss.

The two of us went back into the Celsius. She sat down in a chair, and I sat in another chair near her.

"That was really touching and sweet..." I said to her.

"Thanks..." she replied

"But I still don't quite understand... Why'd your dress sphere glitch up the Celsius's hologram?" I asked

"I'm not sure myself... But when that girl appeared and sang with me... It felt right. Like I had known her for years or something..." Yunie said.

I was a bit puzzled, but I spoke again, realizing the possible reason for the glitch.

"Ya know... They say that all Spheres have some trace of their previous owner left within them. Maybe that girl was the spirit of the last person who had your Songstress dress sphere." I explained.

"Makes sense..." Yuna said.

"Yeah... That seems right." she said, smiling.

I smiled, but then she seemed to go deep into thought. After a moment, she looked up at me.

"Lenne" she said.

"Huh? Lenne?" I replied.

"The girl... Her name is Lenne" she said.

I was confused, but I shrugged and smiled, deciding not to press the matter anymore. I spoke to Yuna again.

"I'm sure your audience would like to speak with you Yunie. We should head back to the Mansion."

"Alright." she said, kinda quietly.

The two of us got up, and left the Celsius. The crowd had already dispersed and headed back into the Mansion.

8:30 A.M. 6/12

As I figured, people ran up to us as soon as we came in, thanking Yuna and what not. Soon everyone was called into a living room once more, where Keiji and Hanzo were in their now common spot on the small stage. Once everyone arrived, Keiji called Yuna up onto the platform with him and Hanzo. She complied and stepped up and waved to everyone once more, producing an enormous cheer.

"Di-did I really help that much?..." Yuna stuttered, embarassed from the attention she was getting.

"Help out? Lady. You just saved the world!" Keiji exclaimed.

"I-I did?" Yuna asked.

"See for yourself!" Keiji said, motioning towards Hanzo.

Hanzo walked over, and opened the same curtain from the same window from an hour ago. I gazed out once more. The red hole was still there in the sky...But it was a little bit smaller. The blood rain was nowhere to be found, and the sun was shining bright.

"We're not quite sure why. But for some reason, your song made the blood rain stop. No rain, means the portal to Zodiac's dimension can't get any bigger. Not only that, without the rain the portal will only get smaller and smaller." Hanzo said walking back to his spot.

"See? No portal means no Zodiac. You just saved the world!" Keiji said happily.

"Wo-wow...I don't know what to say..." said Yuna.

The crowd cheered once more, happily and a party was planned tonight to celebrate it.

Hearing all this, and getting in a much better mood. I went into my room, and relaxed for awhile until I heard someone knocking.

"Rikku? You in there?" I heard someone ask.

"Yeah, come in." I said.

Meta walked into the room, I smiled.

"Hiya Meta Knight." I said cheerfully

"Hi." He said.

"Look, I'm bored out of my mind. Wanna go for a walk or something?" He asked

I was a bit surprised, and I replied after a brief delay.

"Uh... You mean, like a date?" I said, blushing a bit.

"Er... I guess...If that's what you want to call it...I mean... I was just gonna call it a...err..." he said, obviously embarrased.

I thought for a moment, and decided to go. I didn't really have anything better to do.

"Sure!" I said, smiling and giggling at his embarassment.

"Really? Okay then. What do you want to do?" he asked.

"A walk's good" I said.

He nodded, and the two of us walked outside. It was nice to actually see the sun for once, instead of a torrent of blood. Though... Some things were still stained a bit. It looked kinda creepy, but I just went with it.

10:00 A.M. 6/12

We walked into the forest near the mansion, and followed a wilderness path through it. We walked for a little while, and stopped when we came across a pond

"Hmm..." I said.

"What?" he asked

I grinned, and pushed him into the water. He cried out and I laughed. I jumped in after him, since my outfit is waterproof, and swam around, laughing.

"What was that for?!" I heard him yell when he surfaced.

I stuck my tongue out.

"Just having fun." I said, laughing again.

I splashed him with some of the water, and he laughed a bit, and got out to remove his armor before hopping back in.

The two of us swam around for an hour or two, dunking and splashing each other until we got tired. We got out, and sat by the lake, letting the air dry us off.

"It's pretty..." I said after a moment's silence

"Yeah..." Meta said.

" I meant the lake you know." I said smiling at him.

"I did too!" Meta replied, embarassed once more.

I giggled and hugged him.

"Ok. What have I told you about the hugging?!" Meta said, struggling to get out of the hug.

I simply laughed and didn't let go.

"You know what? Forget it.." Meta said, giving up the struggle.

I laughed harder and set him back down. Things were looking good again. Noone was sad anymore, my cousin saved the world, and Meta was acting like less of a jerk everyday. He was even starting to become...Fun to be around. The extreme sadness I felt this morning, now seemed like a far-off memory.

We looked at the lake for a bit more, and then I got up.

"We should head back to the Mansion. The others might be wondering where we're at." I said.

Meta Knight nodded, and got up. We started walking back to the Mansion.

12: 40 P.M. 6/12

About 30 minutes later, we showed up at the mansion. The place was in an uproar! People were running around, panicking, and Meta and I were confused.

I saw a little man with a mushroom-hat on his head. He was wearing a vest and white pants. He was frantically running back and forth. I grabbed him, and looked him in the eye.

"What's going on here?" I asked

"S-s-some guy with long black hair and purple armor attacked the Mansion! He grabbed a bunch of girls and ran off into the forest, muttering something about a sacrificial ceremony!" the little man said.

"Who got kidnapped?!" I asked, almost yelling.

"Th-the girl who just sang earlier, Peach, Zelda, Samus and a few other ladies. He said.

My eyes widened with fear. Yuna had been kidnapped by the guy that attacked me last night! Not only that, but he wanted to sacrifice her in some kind of ceremony...

"What are Keiji and Hanzo doing?!" I said, officially yelling this time.

"Coming up with a plan. They recognized the man and he works for Nobunaga." He said.

I let go of the man, and he ran off. I turned around and faced Meta. I looked him in the eye, and he simply nodded, knowing that I wanted to track this guy down.

"We have to save her..." I said.

Meta nodded again, and we ran back to the forest, trying to find the man who took Yunie. We ran and ran for quite awhile, until we came across a clearing. Meta motioned for us to stop, and he drew his sword. He walked into the clearing slowly, as if expecting an ambush or something. Sure enough, once he walked in far enough, the man with long hair and purple armor busted out of the trees and attacked!

1:30 P.M. 6/12

I gasped, but Meta managed to avoid the lightning-fast slash the man delivered. The man stood there for a moment, then spoke.

"I'm assuming you chose to pursue me because you have a death wish." He said coldly and quietly.

"No, we came to kick your ass!" Yelled Meta as he dashed forward at the man.

"Hmph" the man grunted as he sidestepped and punted Meta into a nearby tree.

"Attempting to fight Mitsuhide Akechi will get you killed. I suggest you flee now, while your limbs are still intact..." He said.

So his name was Mitsuhide... I felt anger boiling up inside me, and I quickly drew my daggers and dashed at him, swinging wildly. He seemed to have no problem dodging all of my attacks, and before I knew it, he bashed me in the stomach with the hilt of his sword. I heard Meta cry out and I saw him fly down from the tree, full speed, at Mitsuhide.

I coughed up some saliva after getting bashed in the gut. I fell to my knees, clutching my stomach, the wind knocked out of me. I heard metal clanging together. I looked up, and saw Meta Knight swinging really fast at Mitsuhide with an axe. And once more, Mitsuhide dodged every single blow. He was way too fast for us...

"WHERE'S YUNA?!" Meta screamed, still attacking him.

"Yuna? Oh, you must mean one of the maidens my lord wanted." Mitsuhide replied, all too calm and cool.

(Maidens?) I thought.

"Maidens?! What the hell are you gonna do with them?!" Meta yelled, continuing his assault.

"You see," Mitsuhide said, still avoiding Meta Knight's attacks. "Nobunaga is a bit angry that the blood rain was stopped. So seeing as how we were foiled, we decided to go with the back-up plan..."

"Bac-back-up plan?" I stuttered, still catching my breath.

" As long as the portal is still up in the sky, we can perform the sacrificial rite...And bring Zodiac to this planet ourselves!"

"Your not making any sense!" Meta said, not backing down on his attack.

" Simple minded fool... 12 women... That's how many it will take to open up the portal completely. All we have to do is capture them, and sacrifice them a certain way...And the portal to the Destroyer's Dimension will open still. And my master's ambition will still be completed... That's it in a nut-shell. Figures I'd have to spell it out for such a stupid creature as yourself..." Mitsuhide said, not missing a step avoiding Meta.

"SHUT UP!" Meta yelled, taking a mighty swing.

Mitsuhide ducked under it, and stabbed upwards. I gasped as Mitsuhide's katana came into contact with Meta Knight. He fell to the ground, wounded, and then Mitsuhide turned to me, a menacing gleam in his eye. I was still on my knees, trying to catch my breath.

"But we did run into a problem... Where we were gonna get the women... But what better place, then the little house of miscreants, that defied us earlier? But due to some minor miscalculations... We only ended up with 10... Fortunely, we happened upon some insects wandering a little bit too close, and got one more... Now there's only one more left, and I just happened to remember a certain girl and a small puffball I ran into the other night..." Mitsuhide said, eyeing me over.

(No...) I thought, realizing what was about to happen.

"Rikku! Run!" I heard Meta Knight say.

I turned to look at him and saw him get up and charge Mitsuhide again, a giant gap in his mask from where he'd been hit earlier. I made a dash for the direction of the Mansion, when I suddenly felt something hit me in the head. I was knocked unconscious almost instantly.

?:?? 6/12

I woke up a few hours later. I didn't know exactly how long though. I couldn't move... I was tied up to a wall by my wrists and feet, and there was a gag in my mouth. My head was pounding, and I felt really dizzy. I tried to look around, but ended up noticing something first...I wasn't in my normal clothes anymore. I was in some sort of a gown... It was white, and it went all the way down past my feet, covering them up. There were no sleeves on it...And I didn't even have a bra or anything on under it...As disturbing as this fact was, plus my pounding head, I continued to look around.

We were in what looked like some sort of medieval prison cell. It was very dark, dimly lit by a torch on one wall. There weren't any windows anywhere, and the only other light was coming from a lamp of some sort on the ceiling outside the cell, which was also quite dim. Outside of the cell were two large tables, each with 4 shackles in their corners. There was some sort of object on the far table, but I couldn't see what is was. Between the two tables, was some sort of grating in the floor. And there was a couple of levers of some sort on the far wall. But most noticeably of all, there was a putrid smell. I don't think I've ever smelled anything as bad as this prison...But I tried to shrug it off and looked around the cell more.

I saw 11 other girls all tied up in the same way as me, despite the small size of the cell we were all in.. They even all had the same gown on as I did. I looked at all of them and saw Yuna! But she was unconscious... Then I saw Paine... I would've sighed with relief if I wasn't gagged. Unfortunly she too wasn't conscious.

9 other girls were in there too. Only one of them was awake however, and we didn't try communicating. There was a girl with long black hair and an eye patch over her eye. Then I saw a woman with a tiara, and long blonde hair. I recognized her from the mansion, she was crying at the kitchen table earlier. There was another girl with long blond hair but she had pointy ears. I saw another with blonde hair but it was tied back in a ponytail. She seemed familiar for some reason, but I wasn't sure why...

There were still other women. One had long blue hair. There was another blue-haired girl next to her, but she had a big bow of some sort in her hair.

I looked around some more... There was a another girl with brown hair, and there was a red bow in it. There was another girl beside her. Her hair was long and dark brown. There was one last girl tied up... She had long white hair, yet she wasn't old. She also had a long blue ribbon in her hair.

The only ones awake were the girl with the eye patch, and me. I felt scared, alone, worried... Mitsuhide had explained the ritual, before I was knocked out...Were these girls already dead? Was Meta okay? Are these other girls okay? Am I gonna be okay...?

All those questions were racing in my mind, when I heard an annoying voice call out.

"Hey Mitsuhide! One of em is awake!" he said.

I looked over at the bars between us and the room with the tables, and saw a scrawny looking man in yellow armor. He had a tri-nunchaku with him. Mitsuhide walked up beside him, and they both looked at me. I glanced over at the girl with the eye-patch. She wasn't moving! Her eyes were closed! But she was awake a minute ago! (She must be faking being unconscious...) I thought, as I looked back at Mitsuhide so as too not cast suspicion on the other girl who was really awake.

"Ah yes, the girl who was with the puffball. The last one I brought here, and the first to wake up...How ironic..." Mitsuhide said.

"My my, she's a pretty one." said the scrawny man.

"Enough Hideyoshi, you're a married man." said Mitsuhide.

"Oh I know, but can't a guy gawk every now and then?" said the scrawny man known as Hideyoshi.

Mitsuhide sighed. "Yes but must you comment on them all, while you were dressing them in the garbs?... Just leave the women alone. Nobunaga wants them in good health for the sacrificial rite." he said.

"Yeah yeah, I know." said Hideyoshi, still looking at me. "Hm... I'll come back to enjoy the view later. I've got business to attend to!" he said, leaving the room.

( THAT GUY, put this thing on me...Disgusting!...) I thought as Hideyoshi left.

Mitsuhide continued to stare for a little while longer, until a monster, some kind of Genma, came into the room. It mumbled something...But I couldn't hear him, but Mitsuhide flipped.

"WHAT?!... Sniveling insects!" Mitsuhide yelled angrily.

He turned back to face me.

"I will return momentarily ladies. Once I get back, the ritual will begin... Whether your conscious or not..." Mitsuhide said, walking out of the room.

I looked back at the girl with the eye patch and watched her stir. She opened her eyes once more and looked at me, she'd somehow managed to get her gag loose and she let it drop to the floor.

"Ugh..." she said.

I looked over at her once more, and she looked up at me. That was when I realized something. I'd seen this girl before. Just yesterday in fact! When Meta battled the scary purple guy in the woods. She was with him! I remembered it well from how scared I had been at that moment, when he had captured me. He called her Raveness, and she was just as scared as I was right now.

"Well... Things aren't exactly looking good...Rikku wasn't it?.." She said quietly.

I nodded my head.

"I wish I could say this was a good reunion...But I don't think I could even if we weren't trapped here right now... But now isn't the time to argue. We have to find a way to get out of here." Raveness said

I nodded once more and let out a muffled sigh, and looked at the ground, becoming lost in thought... Try as I might, I couldn't think of anyway to get out of here... And what had happened to Meta? Was he alright...Was he alive?... (No! This is defiantly not a good time to have thoughts like that..) I thought. Through quick thinking, Meta Knight had already saved my life twice now... Would he be able to do it now?...

(Come save me...Please...) I thought, as I stared hopelessly at the ground.

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