Hello everyone! Been a while, I know, but don't worry! Iori and I have been working very hard to bring you another exciting chapter of Beyond Distant Worlds(That is, when school and college aren't killing us)! So without anymore rambling on from me, let's get this show on the road!

Disclaimer: We(as in Iori and I, not the voices in my head) do not own Fire Emblem, OR Kingdom Hearts. They belong to their rightful and respective owners and such. K let's go!!

A thick fog emanated off the shores of Valor. Through the thick, unsettling forest, past the abandoned relics, the Dragons Gate lay hidden within the veil of mist.

Irene strode down the halls of the building not built by man. Having successfully manipulating her "father's" murderers into believing her words, she now had to report her progress to the leader of the Heartless.

Though eager to reach what was now, only temporarily though, known as Maleficent's "lair", she was also irritated by the small, blue-haired child who was walking so closely behind her, that she actually managed to step on her heels a few times. Not only that, every few minutes or so, Lucretia even had the nerve to speak, every single word that managed to escape her lips more annoying than the last.

"What is a lair?" Lucretia curiously asked while following close behind her companion, naive of the thoughts going through her head. "I told you, already, it's like a base!" Irene grumbled, while trying to walk faster, hoping that the little girl couldn't keep up and would be lost within the dark, chilling halls.

Lucretia never did get the hint and only sped up, then with her tiny body, she started to cling to Irene's leg.

"A base for what?"

"Gah!"

Lucretia's sudden action caused them both to topple down to the cold, stone floor. Irene scowled and began to tap her finger on the ground, waiting for the girl to get off of her.

"The floor is cold…"

"OFF. NOW."

"Are you upset?"

"Of course not."

"You're so red…." Lucretia pointed out.

Irene let her head drop to the floor. Could anyone BE more annoying? "Get. Off." she repeated. Lucretia without another sound did so. The morph girl quickly stood up and brushed herself off and continued walking at a quick pace, with Lucretia following. Lucretia was used to this by default. That hadn't stopped her from staying by Irene's side, even if they were in a cold-floored base.

"Why are we here?"

"Because I have to tell Maleficent something," Irene answered keeping her eyes set forward.

"Why?"

"That is none of your concern."

"..." Lucretia wanted to ask more questions but had been distracted by the layout of the "lair." Has she FINALLY run out of questions? Irene wondered to herself. Smirking, she took advantage of the present silence until it lasted. Though a meek girl, Lucretia almost never held back when it came to curiosity. It had gotten the best of her when she remembered a question. "Who is Maleficent?"

Irene stopped dead in her tracks. "Maleficent is....well, I'm not really sure who she is, or what she is, but she's helping me get what I want."

"Is she your mommy?"

"....Yes, she is my mother..."

Lucretia gasped. "You....." she started getting Irene irritated, "Have two mommies?"

And at that moment, Irene completely lost it.

"NO, SHE IS NOT MY MOTHER! LORD NERGAL IS NOT MY MOTHER!! WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU, DID YOU FALL ON YOUR HEAD OR SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU ARE REALLY STUPID!!!"

Lucretia, who had been standing there staring at the enraged Irene found tears forming at the corner of her eyes, despite the usual apathy her face was portraying.

"....."

Irene folded her arms. "Oh geez, now I have to deal with your crying?"

"..."

Lucretia just looked down as if it was a routine. She was used to getting yelled at, she found it better to put her head down to avoid getting hurt.

"Hmph, that's better. Now come on, Maleficent might get angry if I have her wait any longer."

Lucretia dully nodded her head following Irene.

The inner sanctum of the Dragon's Gate was even darker than the halls it took to get to it. Torches hung on the columns, creating patches of light here and there. This large space was mostly empty, except for the giant doors at the other end of the room.

Irene walked all the way back to the doors and stood there for a moment before calling out.

"Maleficent? Are you here?"

Lucretia looked around for the so called Maleficent, she was half expecting an old hag like in the storybooks her mother would read to her.

"Don't do anything stupid," Irene muttered to Lucretia, "She might turn you into one of those stupid Heartless things." Lucretia was surprised Irene was talking to her again, normally her father wouldn't talk to her after yelling for a day, but maybe it was because his lungs were tired.

"You're worried about me?"

"I'm more worried about Maleficent seeing that as unsatisfactory on my behalf since you're with me."

"Is she here?"

"She should be. She's probably trying to make some sort of 'gloomy and glamorous' entrance like she always does. I don't see why she always has to make me wait for her when-"

"SILENCE FOOL." said a strict voice, Lucretia's face stayed emotionless as Maleficent walked out from the shadows, betraying her real thoughts of obscurities. "I've been here the entire time…"

"Oh there you are, Maleficent," Irene said folding her arms, "For a second I thought maybe the Heartless might have gotten you..."

"Don't depend on it," Maleficent said sharply while making a face, "Did you do what I told you to do?"

"Why yes I have in fact," Irene said smugly, "The fools were quite deceived and are en route to Bern as we speak."

"Good, now-"

Maleficent stopped as her eyes caught the cowering child behind Irene.

"What is that monstrosity?"

"She is nothing. Ignore her."

"Lucretia…"

"Stop talking," Irene muttered.

"Okay…"

Maleficent couldn't help but to notice the sigh Irene emitted.

"Is this your pet?"

"Exactly. She's pretty useless, but she won't leave me alone otherwise."

"And you haven't resorted to...other means?" Maleficent asked curiously knowing Irene knew what she meant. "Hmm, well I haven't figured out which method would be best yet," Irene answered.

"I see…" Maleficent said not believing it at all. For her it was like having that damned Riku boy and his precious Kairi here all over again. That's the last thing she wanted. If anything she'd be the one to decide how this would work in her favor.

"Well that is all, feel free to do whatever until I call you again, leave me. I must plan."

"Tch, fine. Let's go."

Irene quickly spun around and began to charge out of the room before she noticed that Lucretia was still standing. "I said LET'S GO."

Lucretia was taken in by Maleficent's cold eyes staring at her, she decided she did not like this lady one bit. Maleficent forced a smile and stated.

"You should run along child, the short tempered one will leave you behind…"

Lucretia continued to stare for a while then turned back to run to Irene's side. Odd child.... Maleficent thought while watching. "Idiot," Irene muttered, "I TOLD you not to do anything stupid."

"I apologize."

"Whatever," Irene said as she continued walking.

"Gotcha...." whispered a young boy at the tender age of 15, clutching his huge heavy metal bow, he aimed towards the rodent in the tree. This could be apart of dinner... he thought to himself.

A second boy, much taller than the first, at the age of 17, wandered around the forest until he spotted the younger one.

"Oh, there he is." He called out.

"HEY RYSEN!"

"A-AH!" yelled the boy called Rysen, the yells were too much for the squirrel who had scampered away.

"A-alden......my squirrel..."

"A squirrel?" The boy known as Alden walked up to him. "You were expecting us to eat a squirrel for dinner?"

"It's good meat, and if you don't eat it then we could always sell it."

"For 1 piece of gold, yeah, I don't think so. Maybe 100 squirrels."

"Alden...." was the pity reply back, "No wonder Dad says you're a bad influence, you're not being optimistic…"

"That's his job, not mine," Alden responded half-jokingly.

"Ok, today I'm going to get us a wolf no matter what, I won't come home until I do!"

"A wolf?! A wolf would eat YOU before you got so much as a chance to nibble a leg!" Alden joked.

Rysen's eyes widen when he considered the possibility. "But I...."

"It's ok, I wouldn't let a wolf do that to ya..."

"N-no, I don't want a wolf anymore...."

Alden laughed. "Would you prefer a bear?" He raised his hands to his ears. "Grrr!"

Rysen smiled at his brother's attempt to make him feel better, he was just being plain silly. "Only in winter."

"Alright fine, but let's see if we can get Father to wrestle with it first!"

Rysen could imagine that, their father was always the type into proving himself. He wanted the whole town to know he was a changed man. Rysen couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not though.

Before Rysen could answer his brother his eyes turned to a spot far from them.

"I...think I hear something..."

"What?"

They both remained completely motionless. Rysen was hoping in his mind it wasn't a wolf, he wasn't in any way mentally prepared for such a dangerous animal. Rysen then perked up when he thought he had heard a voice. Was somebody else actually in the woods too? "Who's there?" Rysen asked slightly more loud than his normal tone of voice."Did you guys hear that?" Rebecca asked hearing a voice in the distance. "Hear what?" asked Sain. "Just ignore it, it's probably some animal!" Hector roared who was up ahead with the other lords. "That was definitely a voice, Hector," Eliwood stated."Yay, a voice! Does that mean we're in Bern yet?" Serra asked. "We're a day or so away Serra, BE QUIET." Erk commanded. "Everyone please," Lyn pleaded trying to get a better hear. Donald couldn't help but to roll his eyes, traveling with these people was almost impossible. "I hear something ahead," Lyn started, "The voices definitely belong to people." "Oh good," Serra exclaimed starting to walk out, "Civilization! We can finally sleep in a real be-"

"Don't move Serra." Rhea had grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back. "What if whoever's out there decides to shoot at you with an arrow or something?" She whispered, "Have you forgotten the basics already?" "What basics?" Serra whispered back. Rhea clapped her forehead. "I swear..."

"Someone? Please?" said the meek voice from the distance. "I knew it!" Rebecca stated, "It's a young boy!" "He sounds so cute," Kairi added making Donald roll his eyes a second time.

"Still skeptical, Ms. Strategist?" Serra smirked to Rhea. She sighed. "Alright, everyone make sure whoever's out there knows you mean no harm..."

"We were gonna do that from the start!"

"Yeah," Hector said with his axe up high. "Down, Hector, down, put the axe down!" Eliwood said. "Alright, someone just go!" Rhea said irritably, growing tired of the whispers, and kneeling down in the itchy thickets.

Serra, naturally, was the first to emerge. "Hiya!" She was surprised to see not only one but two boys. The short one was probably the one who was calling out, both of the boys had distinct short green hair and mesmerizing orange eyes. "Oh, hello…" Rysen said, happy that it was a person and not an animal after all.

"I'm Serra, and who might you be?"

"I-I'm Rysen, and my brother is Alden…" Rysen replied finding himself getting nervous in the presence of an older girl. Alden stepped forward in front of his little brother. "Ok, now that that's out of the way, there are obviously others with you...from the sound of it, quite a lot of you...."

Serra yelled back at the bushes. "Guys, what's taking so long? Get out of there!""Seems we were spotted after all ahyuck!" Goofy said. "Well of course," Rhea noted, "It's a wonder how we all managed to get through these thickets 'unnoticed' anyway. Especially with the horses and Merlinus' caravan…"

She quietly stepped through, followed one-by-one by the others. Rysen's eyes widened when he saw the whole group, he even felt as if his eyes were betraying him when he saw what appeared to be a huge duck and dog.

"Who are these people?" Rysen muttered lowly to his brother, they were definitely outsiders. "If I knew that, we wouldn't be demanding names from them," he whispered back, then aloud, "Alright state your business here. No one usually comes out this way."

Rhea stepped up. "I apologize if we disturbed you, but we're merely travelers on our way to Bern." "And we're not lost or anything! We've come this way before!" Serra added. "....Right. We're just passing through..."

Rysen looked at his brother who still looked skeptical. "What about you guys!?" quacked the duck.

"Eeh!?"

"You heard me!"

"Donald!" Sora said trying to get him to calm down, "I think what he means is what are you guys doing here also? I mean, this forest is as dangerous for us as it is for you."

Rysen then saw a frown grace his brother's face. "That may be, but we're used to it," Alden responded coldly. "Used to it?" Serra asked. "How could ANYONE be used to this?!? Don't tell me you guys LIVE out here in the woods?!?"

"..."

The tension in the air grew. "T-that's not what she meant," Kairi spoke up trying to defend Serra. "Yeah it was..." Sora said blandly doing the exact opposite of Kairi earning a sock on the arm from her.

"Ow!"

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with living this way!" Rebecca piped up, "I think it's admirable, we honestly don't want to cause any trouble."

Sain nodded his head in agreement, "We got off on the wrong foot, forgive us!"

Alden calmed down a bit. "Alright fine then."

Serra walked closer to them. "Let's start over!" She outreached her hand. "I'm the wonderful and beautiful Serra!"

"...."

"Yes, you have permission to shake it, or kiss it, whichever you like."

Alden slowly went with the first choice and shook her hand. "Uh...yeah…I'm Alden, and this is my little brother Rysen..."

Having Serra break the ice made room for everybody else to introduce themselves. There were so many names for Rysen to remember. He had finally gained the courage to speak up and ask, "Why are you guys here? Not that I mind...." "We're on a quest!" Serra exclaimed. "A.....quest...?" Alden repeated. "It's a little hard to explain," Lyn started, "But in a nut shell, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy here all need our help in going back to their...home. Which is far from here…"

"But there are different circumstances than the usual 'let's just travel there,' we have to do certain things before we can go, and we believe one of the things we can do is available to us at Bern!" Sain finished for Lyn.

"Why there? What exactly is it that you have to do?" Alden asked.

"Well..."

The entire group looked at Sora and his pals. Sora automatically felt as if he was being put on the spot. "I guess you could say...a fortune teller told Sora." Kairi lied.

"A fortune teller?" Rysen asked curious. "Wow..."

"I suppose that's believable," Alden said though he still didn't really believe it. Just what was it that had royalty and mercenaries out here in the open? It had to be something VERY important...something this group obviously didn't want to discuss, let alone with two young boys they met in the woods.

Rysen on the other hand was less questioning than Alden, nothing really ever happened in the forest, nothing as exciting as what was happening now. Here he was, right in front of royalty! He couldn't explain it but for some reason, he was really happy. He grasped his bow tight to make sure he wouldn't drop it and began to walk from behind his brother to the group, when in an instant a flash of black bolted right past him.

"Eh?"

"No way!" Kairi yelled.

"You guys it's Heartless!" Sora exclaimed. He knew they were going to be around but he was hoping they'd only come by morph girl's will. She couldn't have been nearby...could she?

Alden tightly gripped the tome he had been carrying the entire time. "What's going on?!" he demanded. "We have to fight that's what!" Serra yelled. "B-but fight what?!"

His question was quickly answered when a small, black figure about half his size materialized in front of him. "W-what the-!??!" Alden stumbled back and tripped over a log. "Brother!" Rysen yelled. He was completely at a lost. He wanted to run to his brother's aid but at the same time he couldn't, the monster was standing right between them.

The Heartless turned around to face Alden. "Guys, we have to help them!" Kairi urged, for the rest could only stare in amazement. Before she could get a reply, her head snapped towards the scene again to see the boy called Rysen charging up what looked like a huge metal bow that was just as big as he was.

The ore that was made to be the tip of the built-in metal arrow glowed. With perfect aim, Rysen had unleashed blasts of energy towards the Heartless destroying it in one hit. Kairi couldn't believe it, and judging from their reactions, neither could the rest.

Rysen hurried to his brother's side with his heavy bow beside him. "Are you alright!?""Hey wait, watch out!" Hector warned as 3 more Heartless materialized around the siblings. Alden quickly jumped up and flipped open his tome book. He muttered incantations quickly, then raised his arm. "LUNA!"

A dark mist materialized in front of the Heartless along with dark symbols that swirled around them before engulfing all 3 of them into a dark abyss that would consume them and finishing them off.

"…OK...." Sora said as bewildered as the rest of his group. "What just happened?" "We got showed by a bunch of kids…" Donald replied bluntly.

Alden looked at the group with mixture of confusion and rage on his face. "Alright, what just happened?!?" he demanded, "What in the hell were those….things?!?!?"

Everyone immediately turned to Sora again. Again!? Sora thought. "It's kind of a long story..." he replied not really wanting to hold the group up. "They won't come back I don't think, so don't worry."

"….Oh, of course," Alden said closing his book. He knew they weren't exactly willing to tell, but for some reason he had a weird feeling that whatever those creatures were, they had everything to do with this group that stood before them. And perhaps the sooner they were sent on their merry way, the sooner the danger would leave along with them.

He walked over to his brother. "You're ok, right Rysen?" "Yeah…" Rysen replied. Sora felt a little guilty but if the morph was really around they had to find her and quick.

"Well let's get going everyone. Bern is waiting," Lyn decided. "Agreed, we still have quite a bit more to travel," Rhea said.

Happy they were finally leaving, Alden managed to smile. "R-right...Well it was nice meeting you all, right little brother?" He clapped his hand on Rysen's shoulder. "Please come back when you have the time!" Rysen spoke up surprising his brother, Rysen wanted to know everything about these new people. "Oh, we'd absolutely LOVE TO!" Serra exclaimed. "Bye bye then!" Goofy said frantically flailing his arms around.

Alden and his little brother watched as the group left. "That was amazing…" Rysen told his brother, "It's too bad we can't eat those monsters we just got though."

"..."

His older brother stood there silently watching as the large group went farther through the woods until they were out of sight. Lost in thought due to the previous events, he couldn't even hear Rysen calling his name.

"Alden...Alden....Alden?"

Just what the hell were those things anyway? And then again, who were those people? The 3 lords from Pherae, Ostia, Caelin, the others....and a talking and clothes-bearing duck and dog?!? What is going on?!?! Alden thought.

"Brother? Why are you so pale? What's wrong?" Rysen was starting to think his brother was ignoring him. Maybe I should resort to nudging him with a stick… he thought.

I know they're gone, but I have the strangest feeling that this isn't over yet....

"Brother if we don't start hunting again Father is going to think we've been playing all day…" Rysen pointed out. Alden finally snapped out of it. "Oh, Rysen!...Did you say something?"

"...." Rysen then just sighed. "No nothing, let's just go hunt now."

"Does anybody else think morph girl is in the area?" Sora asked when they were at a good distance. "You think every time Heartless appear it's her?" Sain asked.

"Well, yeah…"

"It is a possibility," Rhea noted. "I wouldn't bother looking for her though," Riku said crossing his arms, "She'll find us for sure."

"Oooh, quiet Riku speaks up again!" Kairi teased. She knew Riku was either quiet because he wanted to be or he was daydreaming. There was no way he was in any form daydreaming in the midst of all the chaos earlier. "We can't all be chatterboxes, Kairi," Riku simply stated. "I think Riku's talking about you again Serra!" Kairi stated setting Riku up.

"What?!? Riku that's so mean! You're almost as bad as Erk!" Serra stamped her foot. "Only ALMOST as bad?" Wil jokingly muttered to Matthew.

"But you guys, you just saw what happened? They appeared out of nowhere. Who knows when they'll show up again!" Sora protested. "I know you want to help Sora, but we can only do what we can, I agree with Riku- top priority is to find the next key item," Lyn consoled. "Not to mention I'm sooo tired of seeing nothing but trees, trees, TREES!" Serra so thoughtfully stated.

"Everybody stop complaining already!" Hector shouted in a tone that was not too far from complaining either. "We're going to find this item then leave alright?! Forget the morph."

Sora huffed and looked to his side. Rebecca gave him a sympathetic smile and said, "It's alright Sora, once we hit Bern it's not like the item will be right in front of our faces, we can check up on them later."

"You're right, thanks…"

Rhea couldn't help but notice how down Sora must have been feeling at that moment, and figured the sooner they reached Bern the better. But another thought also struck her.

"I was just thinking," she said to the lords, "What if this item IS the Fire Emblem? Do you think the King would be willing to let us actually get to it?"

"That thing again?" Sora muttered. "It would make sense if it was…" Lyn said thoughtfully. "It is important after all."

"Hey it's not like we're trying to steal it, we just need to borrow it," Hector replied to Rhea's question.

"Ugh, you're thinking about sneaking into the castle again aren't you?" Eliwood asked somewhat annoyed.

"Well why not?"

"Sneaking in the castle!?" Kairi asked horrified. "What if we get caught and have to go to the dungeon or something!"

"We're not ALL gonna sneak in!" Serra said. "It was just the four of us last time..." Rhea said.

"But sneaking in the castle!?"

"Aren't castles supposed to be highly guarded?" Donald asked.

"King Mickey's wasn't that one time-"

"Shut up Sora!"

"It was a miracle we managed to get in THAT time," Eliwood said with a sigh. "We could TRY to make an audience with the king..." Rhea suggested. "But wasn't sneaking in more fun?" Matthew asked with a sly smile.

"Forget about it Matthew. We'll get an audience, it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt....or slapped. Isn't that right Sain?" Kent said trying to make a point. Sain merely laughed it out. "What in the world are you talking about Kent? You're silly.""But guys, what if what we're looking for ISN'T the Fire Emblem?" Serra suggested. "Then we'll search the village first, and if we have no luck with that we'll make an audience with the King," Rhea explained, "Once we get TO the village, that is..."

"Yeah, we've been walking forever when are we going to get there?" Donald complained.

"In a day and a half's time."

"What!?"

"Does that mean we're going to have to camp out in this forest?" Kairi asked.

"It's not like we haven't done it before..."

"But…the Heartless...and bugs!"

"It'd be nice if this world had some bug repellent but nooo!" Donald pointed out.

"We do have tents guys," Rhea said crossing her arms. Do people from other worlds complain this much? she wondered.

"It's like that time me and Riku went camping at Camp Disney…" Sora reminisced. "It was at a forest in the middle of nowhere."

"At least you guys survived." Kairi pointed out. "That's nothing compared to sleeping in old ruined buildings!" Serra chimed in. "Why would you sleep in a old ruined building?!" Kairi asked with her curiosity getting the better of her.

"We had no choice unfortunately, " Sain said, "I was against it too, having our lovely ladies sleeping in a filthy, run down-"

"But if not for that, we wouldn't have met Dorcas or Natalie!" Rhea reminded. "Oh yeah, Dorcas and Natalie!" Serra said, "It's a shame they couldn't be here!"

"Who?" Sora asked. "Dorcas was a valuable member of Lyndis' Legion!" Wil said. "He was an axe fighter like no other!" Matthew began. "Of course, you're great too, Lord Hector!" he quickly added after getting a few looks from a certain axe wielding lord.

"Yeah, yeah," Hector muttered obviously annoyed.

"And Natalie?" Kairi asked.

"Natalie was his wife!" Serra explained happily. "When we first met them, Natalie had an injured leg, didn't she?" Wil asked. "Yeah, but I think they finally got enough to have it taken care of," Rhea said. "Ahh, I sure hope they're doing ok..." Serra said dreamily.

"I'm sure they are," Rebecca replied. "It's getting dark already, maybe we should stop and camp here for the night?" she suggested. "Ooogh, it's the tents again..." Serra sighed glumly. "Yes, the tents again, Serra," Rhea said, "Alright guys, prepare to set up camp for the night! We leave first thing in the morning."

"Father we're home!" Rysen announced while walking inside with his brother who was carrying a whole wolf. "Look what we caught!" Their father looked up from his window to his two sons. They were looking more and more like their mother as the days went by. "There you two are, do you realize how late it is?"

"We're sorry Father," Alden said setting the wolf on the floor, "We had a little trouble with the wolf. I'll hurry and skin him, ok?" "Please do," their father replied."Father it was amazing! Today we saw a group of people and 3 were lords! We even saw a huge dog and duck that had clothes and could talk! There were monsters who attacked us, but we beat them too!" Rysen exclaimed, amazed at how much he was saying.

Their father then in turn stared at Alden.

"....What? You think he'd lie?" Alden simply responded as his gathered all necessary equipment for skinning and cooking a wolf.

"Of course not," was the reply, "I think there's something wrong with him. Rysen you need bed rest."

"But it's true Father!" Rysen didn't want his father to worry more than he already does on a daily basis.

"Father, please, we're telling the truth. Why else would we be home so late? Do you really think it'd take us all day to take on a wolf?!"

"Enough!" was his stern reply. "I don't want to hear anymore about lords and talking ducks. That's childish."

Rysen didn't even notice the disappointment that was shown on his own face. Their father never used to be like that, the cause of his personality now was definitely because of their deceased mother.

Alden knew there was no way to convince their father when he became like this. Even though he himself was in disbelief of the previous events, not believing at all seemed even more childish.

"Yes, Father...dinner will be ready in a little while..."

"I'll be in the workshop then, call me when it's ready." With that, their father left outside to his heaven on earth.

Waiting until he left Rysen went over to the bread cabinet to take out a pastry.

"I can't believe Father won't even listen to us..."

"You know how he is, Rysen..." Alden said as he chopped up vegetables.

"No! This isn't how he is, when mother was alive...he was always happy and would believe in just about anything we'd tell him! He used to like cooking and sewing and now he just leaves that to you while he works all day..."

"Well he has to earn money for us somehow..."

Rysen remembered how when their mother was alive she was the source of livelihood, she was different from most women. She was brave, brash, and strong, all those qualities drove their father to be in love with her. He was quite the opposite, almost similar to Rysen.

He was known for being effeminate and meek, he was the son of one of the town's tailors while their mother specialized in jewelry making. Now that she was gone their father had changed drastically.

He was still in mourning, only wearing black, while Alden and Rysen wore their normal clothes he had made for them personally before. Their father had felt the need to fill their mother's place and be a proper male figure. He had given up his hobbies of cooking and sewing in exchange for working at the workshop, making weapons and armor and the likes.

Rysen couldn't say his father wasn't kind, but he definitely wasn't as kind as before, he was more isolated than anything, Rysen hated it when he would always baby him. He never did that with Alden.

The worst part of this change was how their father sold their mother's last creation, a beautiful peridot necklace. It had broken the brothers' hearts, the last memento they have from her was the wedding ring, and even that their father couldn't stand looking at.

"I know, I just hate it though..."

Alden smiled, though it was weak and rather cheerless. Naturally, he knew exactly how Rysen felt.

"Dinner's almost ready, could you go get Father?"

"O-ok.." Rysen replied as he went out in the pitch black night into the well lit workshop. "Father…" Rysen called out trying to be louder than the sound of metal banging on metal. When it finally ceased and his father turned around Rysen spoke up again. "Dinner is almost ready…." He paused when he saw his father's face, full of dread.

"W-what's wrong?"

"Rysen why are you here?!"

"To tell you about dinner?"

"Yes but look outside! It's pitch black! What if something or someone attacks you? You don't even have your bow with you!"

Rysen cringed at the obvious fact. "Honestly, can't you be considerate for once? For me? I can't turn around without you being reckless."

Father wants me to be like Alden... Rysen concluded. Never in his life has he felt like the child in the shadow of his older brother like now. "I'll be there in a minute, just let me finish this up…" His father said going back to his work. "Yes..." Rysen said, not like it made a difference with the sound of metal overpowering him.

He walked back inside the house. "He'll be here in a minute..." he announced to his brother. "Alright," Alden said walking from cabinet to cabinet with utensils and dishes, "Could you help me set the table?"

"Yeah..." Rysen said walking close to his brother, he watched as he took the plates and forks first.

"Hey Alden..." he started, "When Mother was here…did you ever...feel bad?"

"Feel bad? What do you mean by that?"

Rysen didn't know how to put it in words, "You know, like feel bad about yourself..." "Feel bad about...myself...well, I don't think so..." He silently pondered that question. Should he feel bad about himself?

"Oh.." Rysen said defeated, so it was just him. "Don't worry about it, I was just curious…" He took the rest of the dinnerware and went to the table.

It was bright and early in the morning, the only regret Kairi had at the moment was that she didn't have a watch. Being in this world made her realize knowing the time was such an essential. She didn't even get the whole look at the sun thing Erk was trying to explain to her yesterday. Which reminded her, she needed to talk to him. Time to see if he was awake. She parted her hair, perfectly put on her circlet then headed for his tent.

"Aww Erky, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?" came Serra's voice from nearby. "What bed, Serra?" went Erk's monotone voice.

Kairi could hear Serra's voice from a mile away, she decided to do a bit of eavesdropping, it wasn't wrong- she was just naturally curious. What better way to study Erk and Serra's relationship than hearing a normal conversation between them?

"Not having a nice, fluffy bed to sleep on is no reason to be so grumpy in the morning!...Or all the time!...Though I have to admit my back hurts a little..." Serra continued."How wonderful for you..." Erk replied."How is that wonderful?!?""...""Grr...I'm going to see if Lowen and Rebecca are done with breakfast!" Serra announced. Naturally she expected Erk to follow her, however..."You have fun with that.""...I will! And don't expect me to bring you any rolls!" And with that she stomped away.

...THAT'S IT!? Erk was worse than Riku if that was even possible. It made Kairi curious to get into his mind even more. She walked out from her spot like normal and crept up behind Erk. "Good morning~!" she said in her cheerful tone displaying a happy face. Erk quickly spun around, thinking Serra had returned already. Seeing Kairi there, he lightened up a little. Only a little.

"Oh...good morning Kairi..." he said dully. Kairi could see why Serra would be in love with someone like Erk, he was quiet and a bit stand-offish, but those were good and bad qualities. He was intriguing. "Could I sit here? Sora and Riku are still asleep."

"Um...sure..."

Kairi knew she had his attention now, she knew he was probably on guard. That was fine though. She took a seat right next to him and started to talk.

"Was that just Serra I saw? I thought she'd be talking much longer.."

"...Yes, that was Serra, she went to check on Lowen and Rebecca, if you wanted to find her..."

"Oh no, I'm fine, I can see Serra any time of day. I'm more interested in talking to you!" So he thought I was looking for Serra....is he usually this used to being so reserved?

"...I see...is there anything you need then?"

"Well, I'm still trying to adjust to this world, oddly enough, I think I'm doing better than Riku and Sora but still...I'd be happy if you could tell me some things!"

"Some things.....Like what exactly?"

"Well, I've been really curious about what happened in your last journey. There's still a lot I don't know…"

"What happened in our last journey you say?"

"Yeah!" Kairi replied happily. "All this stuff about the Fire Emblem and Lord Nergal, I want to know as much as I can!"

"I think you might want to ask someone else for matters like that. Perhaps Rhea would-"

"That's right!" Kairi said interrupting him. You're not going to get rid of me that easily, you're used to pushy girls anyways so nyah! She through to herself.

"Rhea is an intelligent person. Very reliable and kind too, I owe her a lot for taking care of Sora for me. If you don't mind me asking, what do you think of all the girls in our group? I really haven't found the time to find out what they're like."

"Neither have I..."

Never in her whole entire life has Kairi made such a blank face. "Oh really?..." she said in a slightly irritated voice. "But, you've known them for a while...I thought..."

"It's true, we have all traveled together for a while, but I haven't really felt the need to talk with most of the others..."

Kairi felt her face turning into something close to pity. "Oh...I see..." There was a reason for everything.

"At least you and Serra seem close."

"..........."

Oh don't give me that! Kairi thought. "Think about it, when's the last time you've had someone pour all their attention to you? It's kinda nice sometimes, even if annoying. Having a girl around...really isn't all that bad...."

"Kairi!" Said a familiar voice, it was Sora. "Oh hey Erk, is Kairi bothering you?" He teased. Kairi felt her eye twitch, so much love she was feeling right now. "...Well I'd better be off then..." Erk said quietly while standing up and walking away without waiting for the others to answer back.

"Geez Kairi. what'd you do to the poor dude?" Sora asked confused at Erk's actions. "Nothing Sora!" Kairi snapped. "Why are you here anyways?"

"Breakfast is ready."

"Really? Alright, let's go!" I hope I didn't upset him… Kairi thought to herself before following Sora.

"Hey is everybody here? If not...well, we're going to eat without them anyway," Hector announced to the group surrounding the food. "Everyone's here Lord Hector!" Serra pouted, "So let's eat!" "Agreed," Rhea said," We still need to hurry to Bern..."

"Alright let's eat!"

"He's probably going to be so into eating he'll start eating us next," Sora muttered to Riku. "That wouldn't surprise me," Riku whispered back, "Keep your keyblade ready just in case..."

"Hey you two, I heard that!" Hector said loudly gaining everyone's attention as usual. "Keep going at it and you're next!" he threatened. "Hear that Riku? We're dessert!"

"Why you little-"

"Hector..." Eliwood warned.

Hector huffed and went back to his meal, but not without giving Riku and Sora the warning eye. "Creepy.." Sora muttered. "Keep it up Sora, Riku, and you'll get what you deserve soon." Kairi said in a teasingly soothing voice.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Brother..." Rysen started as soon as he saw their father head to his workshop. "Could we go to the village today? Please?"

"The village? But why do you want to go there so much?" his brother asked. Alden then teasingly poked him. "You're not trying to go meet some girl there, are you?"

"Ah! No!" Rysen said embarrassed, he had to admit he had never seen such pretty women like he did yesterday but he'd never tell his brother that.

"I just....want to go out for a change..."

"Hmm, well I guess that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Alden agreed.

Rysen smiled, in actuality he just wanted to see if he could meet up with the group from before, he couldn't explain it but he just wanted to see them again.

"Let's go!"

"Alright, let me tell Father where we're headed then."

"N-NO!" Rysen yelled unexpectedly, the shocked face his brother had was somewhat expected. He was shocked also, but after last night....he didn't expect Alden to understand.

"B-but why not?" Alden asked recollecting himself after his little brother's outburst, "He'll just worry about us or think we got kidnapped unless we do."

"Because...can't we just tell him we're hunting or something?"

"And why is it so important that we don't tell him where we're going?"

"Alden, please..." Rysen found himself begging.

Alden sighed. He had no idea what had gotten into his brother all of a sudden, but even he was a little annoyed with their father having to know their every move. He smiled. "Alright, we'll tell him we're going hunting, then we'll head for the village," he agreed. Rysen was thankful he had such an understanding brother. He watched as his brother walked out.

"Finally! Bern!" Rebecca said happily as the group made their way into the village. "Well THAT took forever," Serra complained, "It's the middle of the day now! But yes! Finally a nice, warm bed to sleep in!"

Before she got the chance to prance off, Rhea grabbed her arm.

"Not so fast Serra, we still have things to do."

"Awwww, things?"

"That's right, we have to find the special item," Kent reminded her.

"Is this the part where we spilt up and look around and stuff then?" Riku asked. "That would be more effective," Lyn decided.

"Ok, ok great, I pick Erk, can I go now?" Serra asked.

"Who says I'll go with you?" was Erk's response.

Kairi's eyes widened. If he wasn't going with Serra that meant he was mad! At her! Oh gawd, it's my fault I know it! I'm such a horrible person! was all that went through her head.

Serra merely smiled.

"…That's too bad."

She grabbed his arm and started dragging him away. "We meet again by the entrance gate, yes?" she called back as she and the purple haired boy disappeared through the crowd.

Everyone else remained silent for a while. "Well that sounds like a plan right?" Rhea finally said. "Yeah…" Rebecca agreed. "I feel sorry for him…" Sora spoke up. "Alright let's divide up in groups of 3, or is 2 a better idea?" Lyn questioned. "Well gee, this village seems pretty....big, ya know?" Goofy said. "Perhaps 3 then?" Rhea presumed.

"I pick Riku and Kairi!" Sora piped up. "Hey!" Donald yelled.

"What, you wanted Riku and Kairi?"

"No stupid!"

Kairi understood where Donald was coming from, Donald probably felt like even though Rhea's group had gotten used to Donald and Goofy, they still were foreign to them.

"Sora don't be rude. Go with Donald and Goofy. Riku and I will find somebody else." "Alright…"

"I humbly volunteer to accompany Lady Kairi on our search!" Sain said cheerfully.

"So do I," Kent said annoyed.

"I don't mind!" Kairi replied happy that Kent was around.

"No fair Kent!" Sain pouted and crossed his arms.

"It's not fair I have to baby sit a grown man!" Kent retaliated.

"I think Hector and Eliwood would be fine with me in their group right?" Lyn suggested. "Are you kidding me?"

"You make it seem like you haven't been paired together before, Lord Hector," Rhea quietly noted.

"Nobody asked for your inquiry!" Hector roared.

"Enough Hector, we're a group and that's final!"

"In that case how about me and Florina, if that's ok with you that is?" Rebecca said to Florina. "Eh?!" Florina nearly jumped at the calling of her name, but she quickly calmed down.

"A-alright..."

"Hey, what about me?" Wil asked.

"What about you?" Rebecca snapped. Ouch! Kairi thought.

"Oh Rebecca...come on! Are you really still angry with me?"

"Come on Florina," Rebecca stated grabbing the poor girl's hand and dragging her off. "You'd better go after them before they get too far," Kent reminded.

"Grrr....Rebecca, Florina, wait up!" Wil yelled as he ran after them.

"I'll accompany you, Sir Marcus!" Lowen said dutifully. "Very well then," Marcus said simply, "You as well Oswin?" "Sure," Oswin agreed.

"So whose left?" Sora asked curiously. Everyone looked in the direction of Rhea, Matthew, Ninian, Riku, and the transporter Merlinus was riding in.

"I'm staying here to set up shop!" Merlinus announced."I'm just gonna go alone," Riku said.

"What? But Riku..." Kairi said sadly, "There's nothing wrong with a group of four! The group just isn't even…"

"Nah, it's cool," he simply answered.

"But it's really alright to have an extra member," Rhea protested.

"Do you guys think I'm gonna get jumped by Heartless or something? I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."

"No you can't," Sora said bluntly.

"Well ok, but if you don't show up at the meeting spot I'm never letting you out of my sight again!" Kairi warned. Sora couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. What was with him all of the sudden?

"That just leaves us then," Rhea said, referring to herself, the thief and the dancer. "Hey, you don't seem too excited about it!" Matthew teased."That's not it at all, I'm absolutely thrilled.""Oh really?""Yes really."Ninian merely giggled at their conversation.

"Alright everybody. Let's split up. I pray for the best to come out of this!" stated Lyn.

"Me too! Let's go everyone!" Sora replied right after.

"Right!"

I can't believe this... Sain thought to himself. I finally get a chance to talk to our newest beauty, and HE has to be here!

I can't believe this, a grown man acting so childish to a lady. I'll have to do everything in my power to set him straight for Lady Kairi's sake. Kent thought to his self.

"We could check this antique shop, it's filled with items." Kairi suggested. "Ah! An excellent idea, Lady Kairi!" Sain agreed, "Kent, perhaps you should wait outside? Just in case any 'special doors' appear there."

"Why don't you wait outside for any 'special doors' Sain?" Kent asked annoyed.

"If I do that, who's going to protect Lady Kairi from the inside? Certainly not you!"

"I don't see anything wrong with my protection Sain." Kent replied sternly, there was no way Sain was going to trick him out of this one.

"But I'm sure Lady Kairi doesn't want some serious, grouchy, boring old man 'protecting' her!"

Kent felt his eye twitch for a minute. "Old? Excuse me Sain, but as I can recall you're older than I am, now start acting your age!" Honestly how childish.

"Yes, Mother," Sain teased.

Kairi couldn't help but to giggle. Are they always like this?

Inside, the shop was filled with abundant antiques. "I suppose we have to look around until we find something that will entice us," Kent spoke up.

"Right. I'll look over here!" Kairi said pointing at the music boxes. It was going to be hard for her to not be enticed by anything in the shop. Everything was so beautiful and classic.

Sain, with his innate magnetism toward women, made sure to stay close to Kairi. "See anything yet?" he asked. Kent with his absolute magnetism to Sain when he was womanizing instantly was next to him to answer his question. "I'm sure she hasn't, for she hasn't even had the proper time to look at anything."

"Everything is so pretty, but nothing to the effect of that necklace from before…" Kairi answered.

Sain sighed.

"'Tis is real pity indeed. I guess we'll have to continue searching then! Kent! Didn't I tell you to wait outside?!?"

"Didn't I tell you no? Forget it Sain, we're here to search for the next item. Remember?"

"Tsk, tsk, you and your sense of duty. It's ok to relax a little bit, you know."

"This is important to Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, AND Kairi. It sounds to me like you don't care if Kairi goes back home or not!"

"Wh-What!?" Kairi stammered.

"Kent, don't be absurd!" Sain protested. "I am merely trying to make sure our Lady Kairi fits in with the rest of us and enjoys herself while she is with our group."

"Lady Kairi seems to be a very able woman, she is already friends with most of us. She seems fine, the only one who needs to be babied is you."

Sain laughed. "Oh Kent, you don't mean that, seeing as how we're both knights serving House Caelin."

"Yes, I do, now please do me and Lady Kairi a favor by staying on task." Kent insisted. This is going to be a long day....

"I can't believe we're doing this again, are we going to have to do this every time we go to a new town?" Hector complained.

"Yes Hector, if it's what we have to do then we'll do it." Lyn responded.

"Besides Hector, you agreed to help when you joined us on this trip!" Eliwood noted.

"Only to get away from home!"

"Well isn't that just selfish!"

"You're going to be Marquess Ostia in a few months! Start acting like it!"

"I will when I feel like it!"

"Honestly Hector, I worry for your people," Lyn sighed, she just didn't understand the pressure Hector was feeling, even when he had someone like Oswin to help him.

"I'm sure he'll get it together eventually," Eliwood said assuring. After all, Hector was his best friend, so he knew him better than anyone.

"Can we just go inside a shop already?"

Eliwood smiled. Perhaps some things never change after all.

"Oh fine, how about that weapon shop?"

Hector grinned at that comment making Lyn feel uneasy.

"What? It's not like I'm shopping for a weapon…"

"Of course not," Eliwood said, "We're on a mission, so let's look through quickly yet thoroughly and not get distracted by shining tools of destruction."

They made their way into the weapon shop filled with new weapons untouched and polished. "My, the quality of these weapons is amazing." Lyn noted. Hector had to agree.

"Hey!" he called out to the store clerk.

A tall, buff, bald man approached the counter. "Yeah, what can I do for you?" he asked in a voice just as loud as Hector's. Lyn couldn't believe her eyes, she may as well have walked out the store right then and there.

"Mind telling me where you get these weapons? They're pretty good."

"We get 'em from mostly everywhere, though most are made here. Everyone knows Bern has the best weapons in all of Elibe!"

"I have a right mind to get me a new-"

"No Hector, we all agreed not to!"

"Hey, you've got a pretty nice sword there, lady," the shop keep said referring to Lyn's Mani Katti.

"Why thank you, I treasure it very much."

"Not enough if you're looking at that one sword there."

"Shush Hector!"

Eliwood sighed. "I swear, you two...Mission? Doors? Special Items? Does any of this sound familiar to you?"

"Nope.""Of course! That's why I'm looking."

"Aw, lighten up, little guy!" the shopkeeper said.

"Little?"

"That's a mighty fancy rapier you have too! We have some pretty nice swords here for you as well!"

"I can see that!" Hector said loudly.

"Be quiet Hector, this is a small space." Lyn said then facing the shop keep. "Have you ever seen two boys with green hair and orange eyes? From the outskirts of here?"

She didn't know why she was questioning someone who probably had no idea about them, but she decided to ask anyways. The last time they had met, Lyn had a bad feeling about getting them involved with the Heartless.

"You mean Emory's boys? I see them around almost all the time. Heck, I get a good deal of my weapons from Emory himself."

"Their father makes weapons...." Eliwood said quietly.

"They make some darn good weapons, maybe we should go see them after all!" Hector noted.

That explains the good craftsmanship of the bow the smaller one was using… Lyn thought to herself. "Is there anymore you could tell us about them sir?"

"Well, I'm not one for gossip, but that family is rather unusual. Especially Emory, going from making clothes one day to making weapons another. Can't exactly complain though, his weapons make good money. I feel kinda bad for his sons though..."

"Clothes to Weapon?" Hector repeated. "That's more than odd!"

"Why, would you feel sorry for them?" Lyn asked curiously.

"Well, their mother died not too long ago, that's when their father started making weapons."

"How sad..." Eliwood said.

"Sad? That's a good thing! Better than making clothes, you know how much shame that can put a man in?"

"Hector!"

"Hey, I agree with blue here. Not to mention the money it's making me..."

"Yes, how great for you..."

"So you're saying before weapons he made clothes, while their mother saw to the children?"

"Seems normal enough to me, the guy probably realized he needed to man up and started a better choice of work." Hector concluded.

"Actually his wife was pretty good with her hands as well!" The shopkeeper added. "Really? What did she do?" Eliwood asked.

"She used to make the finest jewelry ya ever saw!"

"My, that sounds lovely....are any of her creations still around?"

"I know what you're thinking Lyn, and that's not even apart of the mission."

"Last time I recalled you had forgotten the mission even existed."

"Last time I recalled, BOTH of you had forgotten about the mission!"

"…Wow Eliwood, I never knew you could be so loud, good for you!"

"I hear you loud and clear Eliwood!"

He sighed. At times he really felt like he was walking around with two children, and he was the chaperone.

"Anyways, back to the jewelry, are there any of her works available? If her husband is this crafty in weapons imagine her work!" Lyn said cheerfully.

"Hmm, I don't think so, Emory went and sold most of it, he even sold her wedding ring..." "Even the wedding ring? I understand mourning but..."

"Hey! Maybe he needed the money!"

"A wedding ring is a sacred item Hector! To sell it is....like selling the memory of using it..."

"I told ya, he is a very unusual guy. He won't even live INSIDE the gates like the rest of us, he'd rather live outside in those deep woods!"

"That is very unusual, living outside of the gates isn't exactly the safest place to live…." "Does it matter? You saw the kids, they had weapons, they were even hunting. Looks like they love their wild lives."

Lyn could only sigh at Hector's deduction.

"Well enough about them," the shopkeeper concluded, "Did you guys-and miss- come to buy something or what?"

"I'll buy that one axe over there!"

"Hector!"

"What? It's rude to linger at a store and not buy anything!"

"Where shall we go to first Rhea?" Ninian had spoken up as soon as the huge group divided into their designated groups of 3.

"Well, I can hear Lord Hector's voice coming from that direction so perhaps we should go the opposite way," she suggested. "Awww, scared he'll find you?" Matthew teased."Um...why should I be? Clearly he and Lyn and Lord Eliwood have that area taken care of."

Ninian smiled at Rhea's excuse. "It's alright Rhea we understand, we'll go inside that armor shop then."

"Very well."

Upon entering the armory, they were immediately surrounded by all sorts of protective items, all gleaming and full of radiance. "Ahh, that's a mighty fine shield there!" Matthew said as he merrily skipped over to examine it further.

"Matthew! Just what are you doing?" Rhea asked.

"What does it look like? I'm looking at a shield!"

"Matthew please…" Ninian started. "At least not now."

He sighed. "Oh fine. Not like I need a shield anyway," he said as he tossed his lock pick into the air and caught it.

"Um, excuse me?" Rhea called out. "Yes?" said a tired man, presumed to be the shop keep, coming towards the counter. "Nice place you're running, old man," Matthew said.

"Excuse you, I'm 24!"

"Huh, couldn't really tell..."

"Uh, don't mind him," Rhea said before he had the chance to retaliate.

"Is there something you need?" the shop keep asked not so warmly.

"O-oh no, just looking around, right Rhea? Matthew?" Ninian asked.

"Indeed."

"Pretty much."

The shop keep made a face but said nothing.

"The armor around here is amazing, in such good condition and yet I can tell some of them have already been used." Ninian said to her group mates.

"Hm, you're right Ninian," Rhea agreed.

"Funny though isn't it? How this place isn't exactly the place for any of us?" Matthew wondered aloud.

The two girls silently agreed. Matthew was good for sneaking up on people and stealing, Ninian was graceful and elegant with her dances, though knew nothing of actual combat, and Rhea was good with books, and more recently, a knife.

"Then what are you three doing here?" said the shop keep while gritting his teeth surprising the group.

"Oh! Well, we're shopping for a member of our group, to find the best armor....for them that is!" Ninian said trying to make a valid excuse to linger longer.

"Nice one," Matthew whispered giving her a quick thumbs up. Seeing Matthew's reaction Ninian couldn't help but to wonder if she was doing the right thing, the last thing she wanted was to take the path of thievery.

"Ooh. In that case let me help you."

Rhea felt as if the shop keep was going to continue with 'so you can leave my store'. He pointed at the shining armor standing to Matthew's right.

"That over there is our newest one, got it last week from Emory's kids. Claimed they made it, but anyways it's pretty good quality if you ask me."

"Emory's kids?" Rhea repeated suddenly interested. It's not everyday that kids make armor after all.

"Yes, weird little kids of green hair and orange eyes."

Ninian gasped when she had heard the description."The two children from before in the forest!"

"So you've met them? I'm not surprised, they're always running around here, and hunting…"

"Hm, interesting," Matthew said.

Not even Rhea herself could believe the chances. "Could you...tell us a little bit more about them...by any chance?" she asked.

"Well you didn't hear this from me, but apparently their mother died. Their father Emory all of a sudden stopped making clothes and started making weapons and armor and all sorts of stuff."

"So, the loss of the mother caused change?" Ninian asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Probably, kids over here making weapons, armor, hunting all the time. Not normal if you ask me."

"Well they do have to cope with the loss of their mother somehow..." Matthew muttered quietly.

"I gotta say the father is taking it the hardest." The shop keep continued. "I mean COME ON, he's still dressing up in black and he's sold most of her stuff already."

"What?""Oh yeah, his wife wasn't like most women, very tough, she made jewelry. But I heard ever since she died he sold every last piece expect for the wedding band."

"But, what about the wedding ring?"

"Sold that too."

"How awful..." Rhea concluded, "It must have been so hard for him to lose her..."

"Yup, she was quite a woman, heck the whole family is famous. You're lucky you're asking me about them, everybody else has a bunch of odd rumors about them."

"How awful!" Ninian couldn't help but to say.

"I see..." Rhea said. It's to be expected perhaps...People always need some sort of tale to tell, just to keep themselves and others entertained.

"But they're good kids, you didn't hear that from me though."

Ninian gave a sad smile before pointing at a certain piece of armor. "This one seems fine for our friend..."

"Wil, how long do you intend to follow me and Florina?" Rebecca asked irritated.

"We're supposed to be a group remember?" Wil reminded, "Besides Florina doesn't mind right?"

"Ah, n-not at all..." Florina squeaked.

"Of course she doesn't mind, she's being nice!"

"But that's not true!" Florina protested.

Rebecca couldn't help but to blink but understood her fight was hers alone.

"Of course, Wil here just annoys me. As usual."

"Thanks Florina," Wil smiled.

Florina blushed and turned away. "A-ah, no pr-problem..."

Hmph, jerk! Smiling everywhere to any girl he sees, he's as bad as Sain!

"I'm going to check this bakery," she declared though in her mind there was every doubt that anything in there would be the next item.

"Great idea! Say, are you hungry Florina?"

"Um...a little..."

"Then I'll buy us all something good!"

"I'm not hungry, we're here to search for items." Rebecca retaliated.

"You're right! And right now, we're searching for items to fill our stomachs!"

Rebecca couldn't find it in herself to argue with someone like Wil anymore. He had always been stubborn. She only led the way to the bakery which was warm and welcoming with its scent of bread. "It smells so nice in here..." Florina quietly noted. Rebecca didn't want to admit it out loud even though she agreed. "Bern does have a way with its shops!"

"I'll say," Wil agreed.

He walked over to Florina who was taken in by the aroma of freshly baked bread.

"See anything yet?"

"Hm? Oh! N-no not yet..." She gave him a small smile.

"Maybe we can ask the shop keep what's popular lately," Rebecca suggested.

"Good idea." Wil said. "Hey! Hello? Anybody work here?"

His voice echoed but nobody replied. "Well that's odd. Someone HAS to be working here."

"Maybe they're baking something in the back?" Florina suggested.

"If that's the case we can wait…"

So they did.

"…Or not."

"Is anyone here?" Wil repeated. "JUST WAIT A SECOND!" came a voice from the back. The three waited patiently, not sure whether to be frightened or not. A few minutes later, an older woman appeared from the back, wiping her hands on her apron and then readjusting the cloth tied around her head. "Yes?" she said calmly though irritably.

"We were wondering if you could give us any suggestions on what's popular to eat lately." Rebecca explained before turning her eyes back to Florina and Wil.

"Well," the baker started, "A lot of people have been buying the croissants lately, and you can't go wrong with just a loaf of bread!"

"Well?" Rebecca asked her companions.

"The croissant sounds good...." Florina muttered. "Alright, I'll take one too!" Wil said then looked over at Rebecca. "How about you? That sound good?"

"I told you, I'm not hungry."

"Oh come on Rebecca! I'd feel bad eating in your face! Wouldn't you Florina?"She slowly nodded in agreement.

"Who says I'm going to watch you eat? Cut it out Wil!"

"Well if you won't let me buy you one would you let Florina buy you one?"

Rebecca sighed knowing this was simply Wil being Wil. She hated knowing him so well. "Would you please Florina?"

Florina nodded. "O-ok!"

"Alright! Two croissants then!" Wil said placing his money on the counter. "One croissant please," Florina said doing the same. "Coming right up," the baker said going into the back again.

Lowen didn't know what to expect out of his companions but complete dedication to the mission. He was blessed to be in a group with them. He steadily looked back and forth at Oswin and Marcus' conversation attentively listening to every word.

"...In which case we've searched nearly the entire south side of this town and still nothing 'special' to report," Marcus continued.

"That would be the case," Oswin agreed.

"Well it looks like we still have one area to check, so after that we should report back." "D-do you mean the arena area?" Lowen piped up.

"Correct," said Oswin.

"Dusk approaches, so we'd better be quick about it," Marcus stated. "I'm sure the arena will be filled with ruffians out to get themselves some gold."

"Right!" Lowen said following his companions to the arena. What they said was no joke, sure enough ruffians were around.

The trio entered the enormous coliseum. From the moment they entered the sounds of metal clashing, crowds cheering and jeering, and the jingling of money in bags echoed in their ears. "This seems like a place Lord Hector could get used to…" Lowen admitted.

Oswin sighed. "You're absolutely right, which is why I'm glad WE found it first."

Lowen couldn't help but to blink at the comment, not that anyone would notice.

"You think Lord Hector would waste time at a place like this?"

"Of course he would. Anything to get to spar with someone I think."

Marcus laughed. "As if sparring with Lord Eliwood isn't enough?"

"Let's just be glad it is!"

"Ah that's right, Lord Eliwood and Lord Hector are very close, but Lady Lyndis and Lord Hector...." Lowen said expressing distress in not being able to understand their relationship.

"Actually they've been sparring nearly nonstop as of late," Oswin noted.

"R-really!?"

"Hmm, it makes sense I think," Marcus concluded though mostly joking. "Why argue with mouths when you can argue with swords? Or axe."

"T-that's so dangerous, do they really hate each other that much?"

"Of course not!" Marcus laughed.

"They do it to test each other's skills and in turn improve their own," Oswin explained.

Lowen felt somewhat enlightened. "I see, so their relationship is somewhat close to that of comradery!" Marcus and Oswin looked at each other.

"Sure."

"Why not?"

"I've never seen Lord Hector in a light like that until now, I'll have something to tell during dinner tonight!" Lowen exclaimed.

"But enough of that, we must search."

"Indeed. Some of the contenders are starting to look at us funny."

Rysen smiled happily as he and his brother made their to the village, they were used to trips to the place, yet Rysen himself would never be used to the stares that came with their appearance.

"Grandmother and Grandfather live here, maybe we should give them a visit?" Rysen said softly to his brother. In truth he was lying through his teeth, he loved his grandparents but they were very boring. He was hoping to come across the outsiders from before.

"Oh, that's why you wanted to come so badly? We didn't have to lie to Father for that!" Alden said.

"But, then he would want to go..."

His older brother sighed. "Fine, whatever."

Rysen hated not being able to tell his brother his thoughts but it was for the best, he began to follow him.

Riku swiftly strode through the crowds of the village. So far, he hadn't had any luck in finding anything remotely close to what might be a "special item." Not only that, everywhere he went he seemed to get stares from the people in the streets, especially the girls. Do I stand out THAT much? He would often think to himself. Some people were even so daring as to try to talk to him to which he would quickly walk past them and ignore them altogether. He wanted to get home as soon as possible and the last thing he needed was some fan girl from another world perhaps trying to find him in his own.

In the midst of all the shops and homes, he found a small alley to take a break in. He sighed. "Stupid clothes, they're not helping me blend in at all!" he muttered, tugging at his shirt that stopped mid-waist. Riku was so distracted by his clothes he didn't notice that one of his "fans" was targeting him like a snake watching a mouse. She had finally caught him in the alley way and made for the kill. "H-hey wait!" she said running up to him. "Ah!" he frantically looked around for a place to hide, or a direction to run. No escape.

"Got you now!" The girl insisted running up to him and unexpectedly hugged him. "Now you HAVE to tell me your name!"

"Why should I?!" Riku retaliated. "I don't even know you!"

"That's why you date people silly!" The girl's hug was surprisingly tight. Riku couldn't help but to yell a "Help!" just to see if she'd let go. Of course not.

"Who needs help!?" said a voice not to far from Riku and the girl.

Riku was shocked for once, someone paid attention to his pleads. "It's coming from there Sora!" said a quaky voice revealing to be Donald as he walked to the scene with Sora and Goofy.

"Oh, it's just Riku. Anyways- these people just won't stop staring!" Sora yelled desperately as his group walked away once again.

"Sora you little punk, come back heeeeere!"

Riku could only watch helplessly with his arm outstretched as his spiky haired friend and his companions disappeared through the crowds.

"Sora, are you sure Riku can handle himself?" Donald asked questioningly. "Yeah, that stuff happens all the time to him, he'll be fine!" Sora reassured; they were walking until out of the blue a bunch of kids came up to them. "Huh? What's going on?"

"Yay, magic!""I want to play with the ducky!""Doggy, catch the stick!""My mum says you guys are dirty mutts and not to touch you."

Before Sora could protest most of the kids were already climbing and messing with Donald and Goofy as if they were mascot costumes.

"Hey guys, knock it off, ahyuck!" Goofy cried.

"What's the big idea!?" Donald yelled when one of the kid's tried to put their hand in his mouth.

"You guys cut it out!" Sora pleaded seeing all of the people around them staring.

"Brother? There's a big commotion going on up ahead, you don't think it's a fight do you?" Rysen asked as soon as he saw a crowd. "Wouldn't surprise me if it was," Alden admitted. The people around here tended to be very callous and some liked to pick fights. It was a shame they had to walk through to get to their grandparent's house but they had no choice, as they made their way through, certain people in their way were in the middle of the circle.

"Eh?" Rysen said curiously as he saw the opposite of what he expected. "Hey, what's the matter Rysen?" Alden then turned his direction to what his brother was looking at and blinked. "...Hey..."

"Stop it!" Sora yelled as a bunch of kids jumped him."It's the people from before...at least some of them!" Rysen noted. It was odd that the children were being so rowdy with the animals. "It looks like fun..." Rysen admitted.

"Um, I think they need help Rysen..."

"Eh? Really? But the children are so happy."

"...Would you reeeeally enjoy that?"

"Y-yes..." Rysen admitted slightly ashamed, if his father was with them he'd tell him to act his age.

Alden smiled and clapped his shoulder.

"How about we just give them a hand, ok? The duck looks REALLY mad." "Yeah...you're right...."

Alden and Rysen stepped up to the playing children and their entertainment.

"Oh look!" one of the children said. "It's the wilderness brothers!" Rysen really couldn't keep up with all of these nicknames. "Hello wilderness brothers!" one of them piped up.

"Hey! You two are.." Sora realized.

"Guys, leave them alone," Alden said to the children."But the animals talk!" A boy protested.

"And the duck has been saying really naughty words!" A girl said as she and two other girls started giggling.

"Yeah but, your parents say they're dirty and if you come home dirty you'll probably not get any supper." Rysen pointed out trying to reason. Several of the children looked at each other while some were unfazed.

"But mum's making porridge!""Oh come on, do you believe that?" one very daring boy said. "They're probably saying that cause they want to play with the animals themselves!"

"I kinda like the boy!" A girl giggled referring to Sora. "How do you get your hair so spiky mister?"

"A special hair item..." Sora replied referring to gel.

"We don't want to play with the animals all by ourselves." Rysen insisted. "We want to show them around Bern, if they like it, they might stay around longer."

Most of the children gasped. "REALLY?!?!"

Rysen smiled but noticed the duck's face, not a happy one. The boy and the dog looked willing though. "Yeah, totally," Sora agreed. "We'd be more than happy to play with you guys again, ahyuck!""HUZZAAAH!""Why don't you guys run on home now?" Alden suggested. "It's getting rather dark out and I'm sure you wouldn't want your parents to worry."

"Ok!"

"Alrighty!"

"Bye wilderness brothers!"

"Bye Ducky and Doggy!"

"Bye Spiky!" Giggle.

"'Spiky?' Sounds like a dog..." Sora complained.

"You're those two from the forest!" Donald pointed out once the children had left. "And you're that guy and...duck and dog from the forest," Alden pointed out as well. "There were a lot more of you before though, I assume they're around here somewhere?"

"Yeah, we split up to go searching." Sora explained, he noticed Rysen's eyes on him and said. "Thank you guys for saving us, I owe you one!""Are you guys really searching for something?..." Rysen asked.

"Yep!" Goofy said. "We're looking for the door to-"

"The inn! But first we have to meet up with the rest."

"Can we go with you?"

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Sora!" Donald quacked."What?"

Before Donald could answer a familiar silver haired boy made his way to the group.

"Oh, hey Riku-" Sora began.

Before he knew it, Riku had grabbed the collar of Sora's shirt. "I bet you thought that was REEEALLY funny huh?" he said with a smile that made his face twitch.

"I don't know what your talking about Riku!"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about ya little brat! Leaving me alone with that....GIRL! Do you even KNOW how long it took for me to ditch her?!? She was as bad as Serra!!!"

"You're so mean Riku…"

"I'LL SHOW YOU MEAN!"

"Now, now, fellas!" Goofy protested. "Best friends shouldn't fight ahyuck! Right Donald?"

"Yeah!" was the reply."They're friends?" Rysen asked disbelieving to his brother in a hush tone.

The two friends both turned in the direction of the brothers. "Hey, aren't you the guys from-" Riku started."Alden." the eldest brother responded.

"I'm Rysen!" the youngest piped up.

"They helped us Riku!" Sora informed. "Unlike you, we got attacked by kids, not girls!""They we're cute though!"

"Most of them were really nice!" Goofy added. "They gave us nicknames!"

"That's not a good thing!" Donald protested.

"They're actually good children, it's just that most of the adults are so busy…" Rysen stated."You guys seem kinda busy yourselves." Sora noted.

"Busy? How?" Rysen asked not understanding what Sora meant.

"We were just on our way to our grandparents' house..." Alden said hoping they wouldn't be questioned further.

"Oh really?"

"It is getting kind of late," Donald noted.

Sora looked up at the sky and sighed. "We haven't even found anything, just wasted time. If I have found anything I doubt the rest have..." Sora muttered.

"Ya never know!" said Goofy. "Ya have to stay positive!"

"Yeah, you're right." Sora said while smiling.

"Um..." Rysen started. "Yeah?" Donald asked. "What are you guys looking for?" Rysen asked.

He didn't know why but these strangers had some kind of force over him, he was curious and was definitely hoping to learn more about them. "Oh, it's nothing special," Riku said, finally letting go of Sora's collar.

Even though he said that Rysen didn't believe for a minute that they weren't hiding something. "But you're all scattered out...."

"Now, now Rysen," Alden started, "It's not exactly polite to pry." Obviously they didn't want them to know what was going on. Perhaps it was better that way.

Rysen never did have the same thoughts as his older brother. "I know, but I think it's our responsibility to help this travelers as much as possible being residents of Bern, kinda..."

"Well to tell the truth, we don't know what we're searching for exactly." Sora admitted.

"Well then how do you know where to find it?"

"I know this is the place! I just don't know the item..." Sora tried explaining.

"...." Not knowing what else to say, Alden whispered to his brother, "We should go..."

"Could we help you tomorrow?" Rysen asked right after his brother's comment. Sora looked at Donald, who looked at Goofy, who looked at Riku.

"What's everyone looking at me for? Like I care."

"I'd take that as a yes, ahyuck!" Goofy said happily.

Rysen smiled and nodded happily. "T-thank you!" he and his brother walked off on cue.

"Looks like we made some more friends!" Goofy said. "Yaaaay..." were Riku and Donald's responses.

"Come on don't be like that!" Sora responded. "We do own them leastwise this much for all the trouble last time..."

"They were able to take care of themselves though, remember?" Riku reminded.

"Doesn't mean I'm not worried!" Sora insisted. Riku then shrugged. "I wouldn't," he said.

Sora sighed, Riku was just too cold sometimes. Donald and Goofy seemed to get the issue between the two best friends and spoke up.

"Why don't we meet with the rest now?"

"Yeah! It's getting even darker now!"

"Ok..." Sora agreed slowly turning his gaze away from Riku.

"To the meet up point it is!"

At the meet up point, everyone gathered around. "Well?" Eliwood started, "Did anyone find anything?" He asked a question but everyone's silence said it all.

"Now what?"

"Looks like we'll have to make an audience with His Majesty after all," Rhea said.

"How do we do that?" Kairi couldn't help but to ask.

"We'll just have to go to the castle tomorrow and request that we see the Fire Emblem."

"Well let's go to the nearest inn. Today has been a tiring day." Lyn admitted.

"That indeed," Rhea agreed.

The group started walking back and Kairi had decided to question her boys about their search.

"Riku, were you ok by yourself?"

He twitched slightly but kept his cool. "Yeah, I was fine."

"What about you Sora? Did you have any problems?" Kairi asked more worried about Donald and Goofy than him. "We got mauled by kids but were saved last minute by the guys in the forest.""Really?"

"Yeah, I kinda promised them they could help us tomorrow though."

Serra, naturally, couldn't help but overhear them. "You saw those cute boys from the woods again? Why didn't you tell me?!?" Leave it to Serra to cause a scene… Kairi thought as everyone in the group stopped walking and stared.

"You'll see them tomorrow anyways!" Donald pointed out.

"Yay, how wonderful!"

"Sora, I admit I wish you consulted us before deciding something so risky." Lyn spoke up. "I don't see any harm!" Sora protested. "That doesn't mean we should get two young boys involved in our affairs either," Eliwood said. Sora eyes only could widen at Eliwood's comment, he couldn't believe how everybody was treating him. Like some kind of baby, he knew the consequences of his actions and he knew what he was doing!

The red-headed lord sighed. "At any rate," he continued, "It seems we have acquired more companions, so there isn't much we can do about it now."

"It's just for one day!" Sora snapped while continuing walking.

"Geez…" Kairi muttered to Donald, Goofy, and Riku. "He's as upset as Riku when girls flirt with him."

"Don't compare him to me!" Riku said. "He's just being childish."

"Ok what happened?" Kairi demanded to know as the group started walking again.

Riku naturally remained silent, leaving it to Donald and Goofy to explain. "Well, ya'see," Goofy began. "Riku let the boy named Rysen join us, Riku didn't care but didn't think it was a good idea, so Sora got upset!" Donald ended. Kairi couldn't say she was surprised.

"Riku, you know you and Sora are different! Like Night and Day! Light and Dark! Sky and Land! It'd be nice if you guys could try to be in each others' shoes for once, try to understand each other!"

"Gawd Kairi, you sound like someone's mom!" Riku said. Kairi only pulled Riku's ear in response. "Somebody has to make sure you two get along this time around!"

"Yeah!" Donald agreed.

"Ahyuck!"Riku sighed and endured the stinging pain from his ear. "Whatever..."

"Just promise me you and Sora will make up by tomorrow? Please? You two are my best friends."

"Yeah, fine..."

Kairi smiled, satisfied with the reply.

"What about you Kairi?" Donald asked.

"How was it traveling with the two knights?" Goofy continued. "W-what!? Well...." Kairi pondered. The experience was really nice for a girl like her, having attention pour on her like that, even if it was for one sole reason. That reason was Sain and it made her weary. But if he was the type she thought him to be she didn't have to worry about him flirting anymore, there were plenty of other girls in group.

"Knowing the green one and the red one, she probably had one hell of a time," Riku muttered. "Quiet Riku," Kairi said not admitting to anything.

"Finally a nice place to rest," Kent said exhaling. Looking after Sain was tiring enough.

"I really do hope the item is the Fire Emblem…" Ninian said quietly in response.

"That would make things easier, wouldn't it?" Wil asked."But what if the item ISN'T the Fire Emblem?" Matthew assumed. "What then?"

"Don't say that!" Rebecca insisted. "It has to be! It's so important! And if it isn't...."

"Sora and Riku will probably hang themselves," Kairi said, while walking past them, as a joke but the others didn't catch on.

"….It will definitely be the Fire Emblem!" Ninian said as soon as she heard that.

"Most certainly!" Serra nodded cheerfully.

"You agree too, right Rhea?" Rebecca asked their loyal tactician.

"Ah, yes, of course!" Rhea said nodding quickly.

"See! If Rhea says so it must be true!" Rebecca reassured to Sora who was just stand there dazed from being in thought.

"Yeah…"

And that's all for now, kiddies! Please make sure to rate and review, and we hope you enjoyed it! Please look forward to the next one!