Kchan: Hello! Welcome to chapter 3!
Naomi: Woot.
Kchan: Before I start I wanna mention a little error I made in ch 2
Naomi: Script mode.
Kchan: Yeah, sorry, I totally forgot it's not allowed. Won't happen again
Naomi: Yeah right.
Kchan: Anyway, on to the disclaimer! We do NOT own Fire Emblem OR Kingdom Hearts!
Naomi: Because if we did Kchan would make it all a yaoi.
Kchan: WHAT?!? Nuh uh!
Naomi: Right.
Kchan: grr...
Naomi: On to the story.

Ch. 3
Naught of Night

The inn the party was staying at was relatively quiet. Everyone was awake and ready to head out except for Sora who was still sound asleep in his room. Rhea walked up to the door for the third time that morning. "Ugh, he's STILL asleep?!?" She knocked loudly on the door. "Sora! Time to get up! Wake up!"

Wil, Serra and Erk walked by. "Wow, that kid can sleep!" Wil exclaimed cheerfully. Erk remained silent as always. Serra giggled. "Good luck with him, Rhea!" she said and they all walked on by. "...What does THAT mean?" Rhea said, not noticing that she was blushing.

"Nghn..." was the noise Sora made as he woke up to find himself in the bed same as last night's. "I'm still here...and still sleepy," he said wishing they had a clock in the stupid room; he dug himself into the bed deeper.

Rhea could tell she wasn't getting a response from him so she started banging on the door. "SORA GET UP! YOU LAZY BUM!" Rhea then cooled down a little for she knew that she was getting a few looks from the other guests. "If all you can do is call me names, then I'm not coming out!" was the only reply she got.

"Geez, it's like they're married or something!" Hector teased as he passed by with Lyn and Eliwood. "Hector!" Eliwood said. "Don't tease her!" Lyn said. Hector only snickered as they passed by. Rhea stamped her foot and called at them. "It's not like that at all!" she let her agitation go away, "Grr...ok...fine...Can you PLEASE come out? Everyone's already eaten breakfast and I'm sure yours has gotten cold by now." "No!" Sora yelled running out of the bed feet making contact with the cold wooden floor, running over to open the door half naked, "You had breakfast without me!?!!" Rhea blushed and turned away. "Um, well...it is rather late...almost lunchtime actually..." "Lunchtime!? I have to hurry!" Sora yelled for the whole inn to hear, running off not taking notice that he needed his shirt. Rhea sighed, "What an idiot."

Later that day, Sora found himself apologizing to the rest for a certain "incident."

"Heh heh...sorry about…you know...what happened earlier…I...never mind," Sora said embarrassed while looking away to avoid the looks of the others. Rhea had her arms crossed and was looking in another direction as well. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again...ok?" "Ok…"

"We should get going now," Rhea said, eager to change the subject. "Right!" Serra said, "Where to?" Rhea pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. "There's a town due west of here. There may be some information of some sort," she explained.

"Wow, you seem to know a lot, little miss," Hector teased. "I travel a lot, Lord Hector. I don't spend my days in a castle," Rhea responded. Sora didn't feel much like talking but if anything he wanted to ask if he could search for his friends.

"Should we stock up before leaving or are we ok?" Lyn asked curiously. "Yes, it definitely couldn't hurt to buy a few things." Rhea said. "Let's split up then! I go with Erky!" Serra squealed clinging to him. Erk only had an expression on his face of utter annoyance and self-pity.

"Yes, yes Serra, just please don't buy anything we don't need like last time. That goes for you too, Matthew." Rhea warned. Matthew's ear perked up. "What did I do?" He smiled. Rhea sighed. "Cool! I'll go...somewhere," Sora said not hesitating to be the first out the door. "Now, now, since our little Rhea has been there and done that, she apparently knows the sights so she should go with you!" Hector said pushing Rhea towards Sora.

Rhea gave him Hector an I-hate-you look. He gave her the you'll-thank-me-later look in return. "Well then, I suppose Oswin would have to tag along with you, now wouldn't he? After all, he is your guard," Rhea retorted. "Yes, she is indeed correct, Lord Hector," Oswin said, "I shall accompany you." Hector gave Rhea the I-hate-you look, which in response she gave him the you'll-thank-me-later look.

Eliwood addressed the party. "Well then, let's all meet up at the entrance later. Is that good?" "Yes," they all (or most of them) replied as they made their way to the door.

The outside was pretty lively. Sora was among the people looking everywhere and anywhere while they were walking. Rhea spent her time doing the shopping. Of course she didn't mind since she figured Sora wouldn't know what to buy.

"Hey wait, we haven't checked this store out!" Sora pointed out in the middle of shopping. "Oh! I guess I overlooked this one..." Rhea said. Sora quickly looked through the shop. "Never mind-who cares, this shop now!" he said going to the shop across from it. He's just like a little child...where does all that energy come from? Rhea thought.

"Nope not this one!" he said running to the next one as Rhea was in thought. He'd just better make up his mind soon... She thought then suddenly realized he was almost out of sight and decided to follow.

"Let's check the other side of town!" he decided looking at her. "Alright, but hang on a second. I should probably give you this." Rhea looked through her bag and pulled out a small bottle with liquid inside. "Is this a potion?" he asked. "Well yes, I guess you can say that. It's called a vulnerary. It heals minor wounds. Use it when you don't have a cleric like Serra around," she explained handing it to him. "Ok! Thanks," Sora said quickly running off to the other side. Rhea stood there for a moment. "You're...welcome..." She sighed and followed him.

It seemed like they had been searching for hours, but still Sora had no luck. "Aw, they're not here. But maybe they've been here! I'm going to ask some people, ok!?" Rhea gave a small smile and said, "Knock yourself out." Sora smiles at her happily before asking random strangers if they had seen his friends.

"Rhea," Lyn said walking up to her, "Have you made your shopping?" "Ah, yes! I believe we managed to get all that's necessary." She responded. "All right. We're all waiting for you then." "Ok." Rhea then called out to Sora, "Sora! It's time to go!" "AW! But I still need to talk to the people on the other side!" "Don't worry! We're heading for another village! They may have more information there! Now let's go!" "Ok," Sora said a bit disappointed but he had to stay positive. He walked over to the rest.

"Welcome back," Eliwood said cheerfully. Serra clung to Erk as always. "Didja have fun?" she asked. "Serra," Rhea sighed. "No! I didn't find out anything! Half of the time people asked why was my hair like this!" Sora complained. "Well it IS an odd style," Serra said. "Stop being rude, Serra," Erk muttered.

"Now now, cheer up," Eliwood said, "I'm sure that sooner or later we will get a lead of some sort." "Yeah, kid! Cheer up! Don't be gloomy like little Rhea over there!" Hector said patting Sora on the back. "Hmph!" Rhea folded her arms across her chest and turned her head. "Ow!" Sora yelled almost falling to the ground when getting smacked on the back, "And my hair isn't weird! It's cool! You guys wouldn't understand, you don't even have TVs!" The whole group looked confused. "Tee...vees...?" Serra repeated. "Argh! I can't wait to find Riku and Kairi! Maybe they can explain to you guys. It's like something you watch: sitcoms, and cartoons, and the news!"

The party looked dumbfounded. "Sit...comes?" Lyn said. "Car...tunes..." Rhea repeated. Hector wrapped his arm around Sora's neck and gave him a noogie. "You're a strange one, lad!" "Owowowowow! Give, give, give!" Sora said in surrender, easily reminded of Riku who'd always do that to him but not as hard as the green giant himself. "Enough fooling around, you two," Eliwood said, "Are we all ready to go?" "We're all set!" Lyn replied. "Good then, let's move out." Hector let go of Sora, "Let's go, kid." Sora rubbed his head, "Right."

Soon enough they reached the designated town. "Gawd, they all look the same!" Sora exclaimed surprised. Rhea looked at the sky and the coming sunset. "Already dusk, huh," she said to herself. "Well Marcus, I believe you know what to do," Eliwood said. "I shall go book our rooms in the local inn at once!" Marcus said riding off.

"Yay! Erk! Let's go see the sights!" Serra exclaimed dragging Erk along before he could even respond. Sain of course, already spotted a local village girl and was flirting with her, Kent following to pull him away.

"Hey Rhea, can I start searching now? I want to start at that tent place!" Sora asked. "Of course. Let's go," she said, leaving the rest of the group to basically relax in the village.

They walked into the tent. "Look at all the stuff!" Sora said. The merchant had his back turned to them. "Welcome to my shop! Have a look around!" Rhea instantly knew who he was by his voice. "Merlinus!"

Merlinus jumped at the mention of his name and turned around. "How do you know- Wait...I know you...Rhea? Rhea! It IS you! My, you've grown!" he exclaimed. "Well met, Merlinus." "You know him?" Sora asked. "Merlinus was our merchant on our last journey," Rhea explained. "Merlinus the merchant at your service! And who might you be?" Merlinus said. "I'm Sora! Nice to meet you!" "The pleasure is all mine!"

"Ummm, hey," Sora began, "I'm looking for my friends, Riku and Kairi. Riku is THIS tall and he has silver hair and-" "Silver hair! Oh my! There was a boy in here just the other day with silver hair! And he was with this little girl with red hair! I must say he was the prettiest boy I've ever seen! Almost like a lovely little girl!" Merlinus exclaimed. Rhea remained silent.

Sora couldn't help but have his eye twitch at the comment. "Right. But you saw them!?! What were they doing!? Where were they going? Are they still here!?" he asked, questions going through his head. "Sora, calm down," Rhea said. Merlinus tried to answer all of his questions. "Ah, let's see, they came in here looking for a map. They paid me with the strangest things...'munny' I think they called it-but who cares, because I made a profit selling them at the auction!" Rhea cleared her throat. "Ah, yes I was getting off topic there. Anyway, I'm not exactly sure if they're still here or not. After they left, the village went into a panic for some odd reason. I just hid in here until the commotion subsided."

"Maybe they're here!" Sora exclaimed, "I have to find them!" "So, little miss Rhea, are you on a journey again?" Merlinus asked. "Er...yes. We're helping him find his friends and then get him back to his own world..." "Another world? How delightful!...Is anyone else with you?" Rhea was reluctant to answer but did so anyway. "Just a few of the people from our journey before: Lyn, Lord Hector, Marcus, Oswin, Ninian, Erk, Serra, Wil, Matthew...Lord Eliw-" "Lord Eliwood is here?!? Oh my! You must tell me where!" "Don't you have a business to run?" "Oh, as of late I haven't been getting many customers. No one would miss me. Now come! I must say hello!" Merlinus exclaimed rushing out of the tent. What have I done...? Rhea thought.

"I can't believe they sold him munny! I could have done that!" Sora said as he walked out with Rhea. "Quickly, Rhea! Where is he?" Merlinus demanded. Most likely he's off somewhere with Ninian. I'd better not tell... "Um...well you may want to check...um...the woods?" "Splendid! Lord Eliwood! I must say hello to youuuu and give you many thaaaaaaanks!" Merlinus ran off in the direction of the woods.

"...He'll be back," Rhea said plainly. "Why'd you lie?" Sora asked curiously. "Well, Merlinus is really...attached...to Lord Eliwood," she sighed, "At times like this I really wish Hannah were still here. She'd keep him at bay." "Who's Hannah?" "She was an old fortune teller who was in our group for a short time. Basically Merlinus, and nearly every other person in our group, was scared of her. Aside from predicting what would happen in battle, she would always tell us our fortune," she giggled, "This one time, Hannah told Serra that she would grow a wart on her nose because she had called her an old hag. Serra had nightmares about it for several nights straight!"

"Whoa," Sora said amazed, "Is she dead?" "Well, I hope not. She just left the group suddenly, then Ninian's brother Nils took her place..." "Wow...so she can tell fortunes. That's cool. I wish she was here!" Rhea sighed. "So do I. Only she could really make Merlinus not act so...strange..."

Just then Merlinus' voice could be heard from the forest as well as screams by two others. "LORD ELIWOOOOOOOD!"

"Oh no...They really WERE in the woods...what have I done?" Rhea slapped her forehead. "Wow. He sounds like a girl from here..." Sora said. Rhea sank to her knees dramatically. "Lord Eliwood's gonna kill me..."

Just then Hector and Lyn ran up. "I heard someone scream Eliwood's name...Merlinus isn't...here...is he?" Hector asked. Rhea looked up at him and nodded. Lyn giggled. "Oh crap. We'd better go save Eliwood then. Where is he?" "Woods." "Let's go Lyn!" "Right behind you!"

"Wow. They act like he's going to chain himself to him or something," Sora said. "He just might," Rhea sighed, "anyway, they'll take care of it."

Sora smiled. "Should we continue searching then?" Rhea stood up and brushed herself off. "Yes, I suppose." "Great, let's go!" Sora said grabbing her hand and pulling her alongside with him so they wouldn't lose each other. Rhea blushed and followed quietly.

As they predicted they weren't anywhere in sight. "Talk about disappointing," Sora sighed. Rhea put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, they were only here yesterday. The next town is some days away. They couldn't have gotten far." "Yeah ok," Sora said while doing an uneasy smile. There was always someone or something making him feel better on a journey somehow. Rhea could tell he was feeling down and tried to change the subject. "Let's go get something to eat," she said. "As long as it isn't bread!" Sora responded. Rhea laughed, "Alright!"

"Did you just hear something?" Kairi asked while she was walking with Riku through the woods. "I think all this walking has finally gotten to ya, Kairi," Riku joked, even though he knew he was as tired as she probably was. "Very funny. What's to be paranoid about?" "Nothing. That's the point. But then...there were those heartless..." "You'd think they'd show up when we're around. Unless…somebody's controlling their every move." "Maybe so. Either way, we need to be prepared for anything. But you don't have to worry, with me around you're safe." "I know. Thank you Riku." "Sure thing. Anyway, it's getting pretty dark out..." "So we should camp. I was afraid of this. The other town is a few days away. So I guess we're going to be camping for a while." Kairi said, dreading the idea of sleeping on the ground. "Don't worry. We can start walking again first thing in the morning if you want." Riku said. "All right."

"It's them," Lucretia muttered to Irene who was secretly watching them from behind a thicket. "Perfect! Let's wait until they fall asleep. Then we strike!" Irene said quietly. "Why?" "Because then I can take their quintessence! The girl is all right, but the guy seems to have a considerable amount of it." "Oh," was the only reply Lucretia gave. She wasn't big on surprise attacks. Or any kind of attack at all. But attacking them while they were sleeping just sounded dirty.

The girls watched as they got themselves settled and ready to sleep. In a matter of minutes they were asleep. "This'll be a piece of cake!" With that Irene snapped her fingers and made a small army of heartless appear. "Now go! Feast upon them and I'll take care of the rest!" The heartless obeyed the command as they slowly made their way to Riku and Kairi.

A single shadow heartless crept up to Riku, only to be suddenly kicked away by him. "I knew it! Kairi! Get up!" Riku yelled brandishing his weapon. "Right!" Kairi said automatically waking up to the sight of danger.

"How?" Lucretia asked Irene. "Hmm...very interesting...it would seem that they knew this would happen..." Irene said to herself. Lucretia remained silent.

Kairi took out her keyblade. "Whoever you are, come out, we know you're here!" she demanded. Irene remained completely still and quiet. "Stop hiding!" "..." Irene finally stood up. Riku looked at the girl. "You-?!?"

"You're the girl from the shed!" Kairi pointed out to her disbelief. "Me too," Lucretia said. "Yes, and what of it?" Irene asked. "You...it can't be...you're..." Riku started. "What? Extremely cute?" Irene asked arrogantly. "You're just a kid!" "Hmph! You stupid, rude, son of a-" "How did you control the heartless!?" Kairi asked. "I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you!" "You'd better if you want to leave here in one piece!" Riku warned. "Oh please! I can take you on any day!" "Really? It looks like you just use the heartless. Or the other way around," Kairi said. "Of course! The heartless gather quintessence for me. And if they give me none, I take theirs." Irene explained.

"Quint-essence?" Riku repeated. "The very source of a person's being." "Sounds too much like a heart...please! Stop this! The heartless are known for using people!" Kairi cried. "Using people? Ha! Well I'll have you know that I'm no ordinary person! Or...I could say that I'm not really a person at all..." Irene said. "You're somebody's heartless?" "Of course not!" Irene cleared her throat, "I am a servant of Lord Nergal." "Lord Nergal? Who the hell is that?" Riku asked. "Oh, you shall know soon enough," Irene smirked. "No, we wont!" Kairi said quite rudely, "You're being used! You obviously don't know anything about the heartless!" "And YOU obviously don't know who you're dealing with! Hmph! I've had enough of you imbeciles! We're leaving now, Lulina!"

"Lucretia," Lucretia corrected.

"Lily!" Irene stormed off.

Kairi watched as the girl known as "Lucretia" followed, noting that the heartless disappeared as soon as they left. "Do you think she's possessed?" Kairi asked Riku. "...I think she's completely nuts. Crazy brat..." "Still, she's an enemy. We have to warn Sora as soon as we find him." "Yeah...I wonder if he knows about her already..." "Could. I hope not, she's kinda crazy," Kairi said pondering on whether Sora might have known or not.

"Hey, this stuff it pretty good!" Sora said when he and Rhea were eating, "I'm already on my second plate!" Rhea smiled lightly. "It's...just...mutton..." she said. "It's still good! Whatever it is!" "Yes, it is good." I'd better not tell him what it is then... "So what is the stuff? Chicken?" "Um...yes! It's chicken! That's right!" "It's really good! Better than the chicken back at home! Do you guys have apple pie here?" Rhea laughed. "Lucky for you!" "Awesome! If only there was ice cream..."

"Hey kids!" Hector said walking over with Lyn. "Hi!" Lyn said. "...I'm not a kid..." Rhea responded. "Right. You guys on a date?" Hector asked. "Very funny! I'm just hungry!" Sora said. "So...how'd it go with Lord Eliwood?" Rhea asked, very eager to change the subject. "Well, we didn't tell him that you led Merlinus to them by incident ("But I almost did!" Hector added.), but for circumstances that I'm sure you understand, Merlinus will be accompanying us on our journey," Lyn explained.

"Now I feel even more like an add-on," Sora said sadly. "Don't worry about it," Rhea said. Hector sighed. "It's gonna be one crazy trip now, isn't it?" "Don't say that, Hector!" Lyn said, "Merlinus isn't THAT bad!" "Can he cook?" Sora asked curiously. The three looked at each other then back to Sora. "Actually, he can," Hector said. "Rather well," Lyn added. "WOOT! SCORE! No more gruel, no more bread! Now I'm actually gonna get fed!" Sora chanted happily causing a scene.

The three looked at him with surprise. Hector put his hand on Rhea's shoulder. "Good luck with him, kid!" He said teasingly. Lyn giggled. Rhea put her hand to her head and sighed. Sora was all too busy singing his song to really ask what they meant.

It was later on when everyone had met up in the middle of town. "What are we going do now?" Serra asked. "I must gather all my things from my tent for the trip ahead!" Merlinus said. "Take your time," Hector said. "Of course! This takes time and if I rush I may forget something!" "...Er, right. Hey Rhea, if we sleep at an inn tonight does that mean tomorrow Riku and Kairi will already be at the next town?" Sora asked curiously. "The only way for them to reach the town in time is if they're still traveling as we speak. But I highly doubt that." "Oh good." Sora sighed, "So we sleep at an inn?" "Tonight, anyway. Tomorrow we may have to set up camp." "Just like old times," Hector said. "Ewww! We have to sleep outdoors again? Erky! Don't let the bears get me!" Serra complained clinging to Erk. "That was nothing but a prank by Matthew, Serra. Let go of me," Erk said.

Sora then had a smirk on his face. He didn't think such stiff people would play pranks. "No more pranks, please. They're nothing but a waste of time," Rhea said. "She's only saying that because she was one of the victims of a prank," Hector whispered to Sora before starting to howl with laughter.

Sora looked shocked for a nanosecond before laughing it off with Hector; Hector immediately stopped when Rhea started glaring at them. Sora stopped laughing a while after Hector did. "Um, right. Guess we'd better get to the inn then."

"Yeah, let's go! I am soooooo tired Erk!" Serra complained. "That's wonderful, Serra," Erk said in a way that obviously meant that he really couldn't care less. "Are they a couple?" Sora muttered to Hector. "Yeah, though it REALLY may not seem like it." "Wow…"

It was just like one of the love manga Kairi read. She cherished those things so much. He missed her a lot, down to her girly taste in clothes to how he knew she was somewhere close just by the scent of her perfume. Of course he also missed Riku. He couldn't wait to tease him when they find him!

"Well, I'm going to head in then. G'night all!" Sain said, going the opposite direction of the inn and in the direction of a female villager. "Sain, you get back here this instant!" Kent called, running after him. Sora watched as they caused a scene.

The inn was pretty cozy. Just like the last one. Sora had felt the need to walk with Rhea to her room for the night.

"Thanks...for all you've done. You and everybody else. I promise I'll make it up to you," he said to her. Rhea blushed. "Ah...don't worry about it. We're glad to help." "Wait 'til you see Riku and Kairi!" She smiled. "They sound like really interesting people." "They are! I mean well Riku; he's pretty much the pretty boy! Everybody thinks he so perfect! But I can beat him!" Sora said while smiling, "And Kairi! She's fun to talk too! Even though I think she'd rather talk to a girl than me or Riku." Rhea smiled, "Ah, I see." "Will you be her friend?" Sora asked out of the blue. "Of course." "Thanks," Sora said as then made their way to her room.

"Well here we are..." She suddenly got nervous. What's wrong with me? Just ask! She thought to herself. "Do you...do you want to come in for a second?" Sora looked a little confused. "Sure!" He decided it was better to talk to someone rather than go to his own room and not go to sleep for another 20 minutes.

Rhea closed the door behind them and then sat down on her bed and motioned for him to sit next to her. Sora did so. "Is this the part where we confide in each other like we're best friends?" he asked directing to a manga of Kairi's that he'd read. "Uh, I guess you could call it that...?" "Cool! Go ahead!" "Well...I really wanted to ask you if you were all right...if you had gotten used to how things are here..." "Not really. I really miss home. But I'm used to adapting to different worlds!" "Well, that's good then..." "I guess. I mean, it has to if you're friends with Donald and Goofy!" "Donald and Goofy?" "Mah dog! And duck!" "Oh, your pets then?" "Nah. They're my companions! They helped me fight the heartless, seal the doors, save Riku and Kairi and stuff," he said making himself comfortable by laying the rest of his body on the bed while looking at the ceiling. "A dog and duck who do things like humans..."Rhea laughs, "how interesting!" "Yeah! I know!" Sora said noting Rhea had laughed for the first time when he was around her.

He then started telling her all these stories and things he used to do. Riku, Kairi, the keyblade, traveling, Organization XIII, he told her everything.

He had fallen asleep even though he was the one doing most of the talking. I'll let him rest here for the night...It must be so hard on him though...to try to get used to so many other places and now this world...Rhea thought to herself. She then went to the small desk that was in her room, took out a small journal, and started writing in it.

Dear log, it's been a while since I have written. A lot has happened in only a matter of days. It all started when I met this boy named Sora...

And she began to write about when the two first met...

Kchan: Ok, that's it for ch 3! Thank you very much for reading!
Naomi: R&R.
Kchan: Please! It'd be greatly appreciated!
Naomi: Chapter 4
Kchan: Yes! Stay tuned for chapter 4! (And I would NOT turn it into a yaoi. Honestly...)