Alright guys! You have been awesome reviewers and readers! I've had midterms, papers, and finals to worry about, but I perservere and update because I know you dudes are out there. So, pat yourselves on the back! ^^ And I know you guys can totally breach 300 reviews! Go, readers, go! I have total faith in you!

And thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter: XxsneakydevxX, Shinimegami7, whitefire23, CloudedMirror89, Aindel S. Druida, Ultima Phoenix, xLion-Heartx, LiteraryMirage, 73n5Hl, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, FlurryDivider, ramen-is-my-goddess, Taryn Eithne, Sexy-Tacos-Emo-Waffles, Bronze Eagle.

You all should know how much I love you, so I'll spare you all the fluffy praise! ^^ You dudes are awesome. :D

O


Chapter 18


They had estimated that they had a few minutes to escape before anyone realized that the prisoners weren't in their rightful place in the dungeon. Since Xigbar could have only transported them one at a time anyway, they decided that it would be safer for them all to be together in a group instead of split up like that. Not to mention that Zexion was still weak and paler than he should have been, not anywhere close to a good enough condition to be transported when the ride already make him sick. Zexion could barely stand on his feet as it was, so Riku trusted that opinion. The kitchens were far from the main gate, but Xigbar had sworn that he knew a fast way to get there.

Riku made sure to keep a tight hold on Sora's hand as the ran down the marble halls, their swords in their free hands. He was not going to risk Sora somehow getting tripped up or left behind, even if the prince had never shown the inclination to do so before.

Their footsteps clattered against the hard floor, the sound echoing against the smooth white walls. In the front of the group, Xigbar suddenly twisted to the side, pushing a panel of the wall open which Riku hadn't even seen. It looked like a small, cramped, and dark corridor, low enough so that Riku knew that even his head would almost be touching the ceiling. It did not look like a place he wanted to go into but Xigbar glanced back at them with a smirk on his face. "Come on, dudes. Shortcut to the front courtyard, it'll cut our time in fourths at least! My boys in the gatehouse will open it up so we can get out."

Leon was running just beside the older man by his shoulder, and paused when he got to the secret exit. The lion turned around to face the others, helping them into the corridor one by one as he spoke. "We'll collect ourselves once we are free from the palace. It's too dangerous to stay here with all the Dusks and spirits still loyal to Xemnas. Watch your step, Your Majesty."

The lion helped Aerith into the passage, his eyes resting just briefly on Cloud as the blond followed after his mother. They shared a look before the wolf slipped away after Aerith. As Axel prodded Roxas in after them, Riku glanced back at the empty hallway behind them. He was surprised that they hadn't been discovered yet, but then again, it had been a rather smooth escape. Xigbar had spirited them all away with the blink of an eye. Despite this, Riku still felt uneasy, but he didn't know why until he saw a shadow growing on the wall across from them. He bristled as a silvery dagger-shaped hand pushed out of the shadow; it was a Dusk. "Leon!"

Leon's eyes immediately flashed over to him then to the Dusk coming out of the wall. His brow furrowed, the scar on his face distorting as he growled out. "Lexaeus, get everyone into the passage!

In the back of the group, Lexaeus nodded, moving his large body to block the rest of them as they began to hurry up. Riku looked over Lexaus' arm to see Leon raising his sword defensively as the Dusk pulled all the way through the wall. The silvery creature almost looked surprised when it saw that it had an opponent but quickly raised his dagger-like hands. With lightening speed, it whipped around Leon to get him in the back. Leon managed to meet dagger with sword in just the last second.

Riku wanted to help when he saw another Dusk beginning to appear, but Sora was his top priority and he ushered the prince into the passage. They were quickly swallowed by the darkness inside. Sora still tugged on his hand, "Riku, what about Leon?!"

Riku turned his head to look at Lexaeus. The burly man grunted then turned back to the hall. Riku was too far into the passage to see what had happened but a moment later Leon was nearly thrown into the secret passageway, Lexaeus quickly following after him and slamming the marble panel closed behind him, throwing them all into pitch darkness.

Feeling Leon's quiet pants on the back of his neck, Riku tilted his head up. "You okay?"

"Fine. I had barely gotten started when Lexaeus crashed into those things like a moving mountain." Riku could just hear Lexaeus grunt at the name but he couldn't tell if it was from offense or amusement.

Riku cursed when he suddenly kicked the back of Sora's legs as he tried to walk forward, his hand reaching out to press against the other's warm back. "I can't see a damn thing."

"Oh!" The passageway was suddenly lit with a white glow, the halo of light growing around Sora flickering a little as he twisted around. "Sorry! I wasn't thinking."

A second later, another light flared up ahead of them, showing that the tunnel continued for a lot longer than what Riku would have liked. It was Roxas. Probably anyway, Riku couldn't see the younger prince over the silhouettes of Axel, Zexion, Demyx, and Sora. "Is everyone okay back there?"

That was Axel's voice. Frowning irritably, Riku spoke up. "We're just fine. Why couldn't you have made any light earlier? Don't you have fire powers?"

"Are you kidding? I don't want to eat up all the oxygen in this place. It's like a tomb or something! Xigbar you bastard, how much farther is it?"

"Not too much farther. Keep your cool, dude."

"Keep my cool? Who built this damn tunnel anyway?! It wasn't here when I worked in this place!"

Riku chuckled to himself despite their claustrophobic circumstances. Noticing that Sora's light continued to flicker though, Riku put his hand on Sora's shoulder. "You okay?" He saw Sora's head bob in a shaky nod. Riku's expression softened as his eyebrow lifted. He squeezed Sora's shoulder, leaning down to kiss Sora's spiky brown hair as they walked. "Don't worry. We won't be here for long. You and your brother just need to keep lighting our way. I wouldn't want to trip over you again."

"Yeah." Sora sounded happier anyway. Riku couldn't see his face but he assumed he was blushing; the halo around him was now glowing steadily.

The princes' light was almost a curse as much as it was a blessing. It was helpful because everyone could see where they were going, but at the same time, the scene wasn't all that attractive. The walls were rough, the passageway appearing as if it had been sloppily chipped out. From the best Riku could estimate, they had been traveling alongside the main hallway for a while but then the passageway had turned to the side and now Riku was completely disoriented. All he knew was that it was small, cramped, and the air smelled stale. He sympathized with Axel and Demyx; both spirits were taller than him and had been reduced to hunching over in a very uncomfortable way. He didn't even want to know how cramped Lexaeus was behind them.

After a few tense moments of walking through the confined space, the minutes feeling like hours, light from the front flooded the tunnel. Xigbar must have reached the exit. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Riku stepped out onto a patch of grass. They were in what he assumed was the main courtyard. It was strange to think he had never seen the front gates up close until now, that he had always used a more stealthy way of getting inside the palace grounds. The courtyard was large, lined on two sides by the palace structure. Tall, thick walls enclosed the other side, a large and heavy-looking iron gate puncturing them in their center and dug firmly into the ground. The courtyard itself was mainly a hard tiled surface, probably allowing for visiting carriages. It was bordered by small rolling hills of grass with flower gardens decoratively scattered about. The strangest sight though, was the light. It was as bright as day in the courtyard, but the sky overhead was dark, and the brightness cut off exactly along the wall's boundary.

Outside the crisscrossed iron bars of the gate, it was night.

Riku was so distracted by the strange illusion that he didn't even notice Axel coming to stand beside him until the redhead spoke up. "You see now why we didn't just want to come in through the main gate? There are no trees in this area on purpose. It's designed flat, with no nooks or crannies to hide in, just in case some intruders somehow manage to get passed the gate. The guards up on the walls would be able to shoot them down before they knew what hit them."

Riku's eyes flew up to the walls. There were indeed guards patrolling the top of the wall. Xigbar was already up there with them, apparently having transported himself up there as soon as he cracked open the wall. After Axel's words though, Riku took another look at the courtyard they were in; this time with their safety in mind. It was true, there was no place to hide, no place to take cover. It was basically an arena, the least ideal place possible to be caught trying to make an escape. Great, now he was going to be paranoid until they got outside the walls.

Axel chuckled, standing by his shoulder. "Yeah, now you know how I feel. Being a Guardian really isn't easy on a guy's nerves."

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"You're entire posture changed when you went on the defense. Not too hard to see that. Pretty obvious actually."

Frowning, Riku tried to get his body to relax some. He straightened up and composed himself before looking around for Sora. He wasn't going to let Axel tease him about being skittish, and he wasn't going to lose his cool whenever he felt a little uneasy.

As they waited for Xigbar to get clearance for the gate to open, apparently it was hard to convince people to open a gate which had been closed for a few hundred years even if you were their captain, Demyx had coaxed Zexion to sit down on the ground. Lexaeus was standing next to them almost meditatively, his feet planted firmly on the ground as he balanced his massive tomahawk easily in one hand.

Aerith was standing with Namine, Roxas, and Sora. They were quietly talking to one another, cheering each other up perhaps. Leon and Cloud were restlessly next to them, probably feeling more like caged animals than Riku.

With a frown, Riku glanced over at Axel. "So, what's the plan after we escape?"

Axel snorted weakly. "Regroup, recover, and pray to whatever god you want that Saix isn't going to bring your brothers into this mess. As it is, our two sides are nearly evenly matched, we might even have the advantage. If your brother's come though, we're in deep shit. If your daddy dearest comes, we might as well just kill ourselves to save them the trouble."

"Father is not coming." Riku stated firmly. His frown deepened as he brushed a strand of his silver hair which had blown into his face from a slight wind. "As for my brothers, we can take care of them."

"But are you willing to kill them?"

Riku sharply met Axel's green gaze. "What are you talking about?"

"Could you kill them? I'm honestly asking you." Axel stepped closer to him, his face more serious than Riku had ever seen it. "When we go to battle next, we're going to be fighting to the death. The rest of us need to know if you can seriously fight against your brothers or not. If you don't think you can hurt them, or kill them even, we're going to have to plan around that. I know it's a hard question; damn, I wouldn't have been able to hurt Reno, but we're going to need to know."

Riku stared at Axel for a moment then looked down at his feet. He had been feeling so grown-up and independent but for some reason that question had made him feel like a kid again. Probably because it dealt with his older brothers. But what a question…could he really…? After a few more moments of thought Riku tisked and let out a low sigh. "I don't think I could…"

He looked up at Axel again, defensive, annoyed that the redhead might think him weak. But Axel met his gaze with one of surprising understanding.

Embarrassed by the bonding moment with someone who used to be his best friend, Riku looked away, crossing his arms as more wind cut across his face. He shook his bangs from his face again. Axel noticed what he was doing and frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing. It's just windy."

Axel's eyes narrowed. "Windy? No its-" His eyes suddenly widened and his head whipped around to the palace buildings as he called out. "We've got company!"

Before Riku could ask what he was talking about he felt the wind surge around him, so strong that it literally knocked him off his feet. He hit the grass with a thud, gritting his teeth as he felt it ripping over his head like a wind tunnel. The grass was rippling around him but he managed to lift his see a cloaked figure dropping down from a perch on top of the nearest palace structure.

"Riku, move!"

Without thought, Riku obeyed Axel's order, throwing himself to the side not a second before two long grey-blue lances struck the ground he had just been occupying. Heart pounding, Riku scrambled to his feet as the figure landed on the ground right in front of him. A glint of metal was all the warning he got before four more lances flew by his head, one so close that he could feel the wind against his cheek.

Hearing shouts of surprise behind him, Riku turned to see two lances in the ground right where Leon and Axel had been standing. Cloud had one in his hand, apparently having caught it, certainly the only one among them quick enough to do so. The fourth was stuck in the wall right between Roxas and Sora, the end of the lance still trembling from the hard impact. Snarling, Leon ripped the lance nearest to him out of the ground. "Axel, drive Xaldin back!" Axel grimaced but threw his arms out, the chakrams falling into his palms from thin air. The chakrams lit on fire and with a grunt, he threw one straight for Xaldin's neck. Xaldin's hood flew back as he jumped back for safety, revealing his face to Riku for the first time. As he fell back, Leon turned. "Lexaus! Some protection!"

"Right." Lexaeus hefted his giant tomahawk then brought it down hard into the ground. The ground split open from the blow, grass ripping apart, rolling in a wave like an earthquake, curling literally like the crest of the wave against the palace wall to create a sort of earthen bunker against it.

Aerith immediately led Zexion under the barrier. From up on the walls, Xigbar must have noticed the action because a second later he was down on the field, facing down Xaldin. "Man, what are you doing here? You're totally outnumbered, especially since my men are coming down. Don't be stupid, dude, back off before you get hurt."

"Who says he's alone?"

The palace doors opened behind a smirking Xaldin's shoulder. Riku quickly called Way to the Dawn into his grip as Larxene sauntered out, a number of guards behind her. "Really, Xiggy, you're in on this too?" Her voice was sickly sweet as always, playing the innocent girl despite the malicious gleam in her eyes. "I never would have guessed. But don't get cocky. Those Dusks you ran into found the Superior and we've all been called out to take you down. It'd be such a waste, but if I have to shed some blood to obey his orders, I won't complain!"

She tore forward with a giggle, knifes in her hands and already sparking with electricity.

While Leon and Cloud moved forward to fight, Riku fell back to where the princes and Namine were standing. The princes already had their Keyblades drawn; somehow Roxas had two Keyblades, one in each hand, looking fierce despite his young age. Skipping over both of the boys' faces, Riku stopped on Namine's, his voice clipped as he spoke up. "Namine, I want you with Aerith and Zexion where it's safe."

"I can take care of myself, Riku, don't worry."

Frowning, Riku grabbed her hand. "This isn't your kind of fight, you don't have a weapon." His frown softened a little, turning into a smirk, "Besides, you're my little sister, right? So it's my job to make sure you stay safe."

"Riku…" Namine frowned then after a moment nodded slightly, a soft blush across her cheeks. "I suppose, just this once, I'll do as you say. But you really shouldn't be allowed to use the family card anymore…"

As she left for the safety of the earth barricade, Sora tapped Riku on the shoulder with his Keyblade. It was just a tap, but Riku still felt the tingle of the light magic through his skin. "I'm surprised you didn't tell me to go along with her, Riku." Riku turned around to him as Sora continued, "Are you going to let me fight?"

"Why wouldn't I? You know how to use your Keyblade better than I know how to fight."

Sora blushed, about to say something more when Axel jumped back to where they were standing, his green eyes hard as his chest heaved. He grabbed onto Roxas's shoulder, twisting the smaller prince toward him. "Roxas, go with your mom."

Roxas scowled and with a glace over toward Sora and Riku then shook his head, turning defiant bright blue eyes to his Guardian. "I'm not going. If Sora is fighting then so am I."

"He's older than you. Roxas, let me do my damn job and go somewhere safe-"

Axel was cut off as a door on the wall burst open and a group of guards streamed out, apparently loyal to Xigbar by the way they hurried to fall into rank behind their captain, facing off those behind Larxene. Roxas took the opportunity of the rising tension, "We don't have time to argue. As Prince, I order that you let me fight, unless of course you don't think you have what it takes to protect me."

Axel growled low in his throat, sounding almost like Leon, then turned back to the intensifying fight. "Fine, whatever. Just stay behind me."

Immediately after Axel had made his decision, Leon bellowed back to them. "Riku, Axel, get to the front!"

Riku and Axel looked at each other. Then Axel smirked and hoisted one of his chakrams over his shoulder. "Well, Riku, let's see what you're made of."

Snorting, Riku lifted Way to the Dawn. He walked passed Axel then broke into a run to the others in the middle of battle. Two seconds later, Axel was running alongside him, the two of them breaking through the ranks of Xigbar's guards to see that two more cloaked figures had indeed come into the courtyard. One was a spirit with vivid pink hair, the other Riku recognized. It was Vexen. Next to him, Axel smirked dangerously. "Vexen's mine."

Riku didn't argue, instead he watched as Axel sprang forward toward Vexen, who had already spotted the redhead and lifted the large blue shield he was carrying, blocking the first chakram that Axel threw at him. After a second to make sure that Axel wasn't going to kill himself first thing, Riku turned to see what he could help with. In the back of his mind, he knew that Sora and Roxas were coming up behind him but keeping their distance at the moment. The man with the pink hair, Riku thought he had heard the name "Marluxia" shouted out at some point, was going after Demyx with what looked to be a deadly scythe. Demyx was holding his own, jumping back a few steps to dodge all of Marluxia's strikes. He had filled a canteen with water in the kitchen and was in the process of summoning two clones to his side.

Cloud and Leon were trying to pin down Larxene, their claws and swords the only things which could counter the female spirits fierce daggers. Lexeus had pitted himself against Xaldin; their elements of earth and air were incompatible, both useless against one another, so they had resorted to fighting with weapons only. Neither of them seemed concerned though, and Lexaeus was beating back Xaldin's lances with a speed not expected of such a giant man.

That left Riku to fight with Xigbar and his guards against those soldiers still loyal to Xemnas. He got in line next to Xigbar, on the spirit's blindside. Xigbar still smirked, raising his gun arrows. "Hey, little dude. Let's show this crowd who they're really dealing with."

Riku didn't even have time to respond before Xigbar disappeared, appearing a heartbeat later in midair of all places, the eye-patched spirit shooting down into the crowd of guards with merciless accuracy. On the ground, Riku found himself surrounded by a crowd of guards, their ranks crashing into Xemnas's guards being rained down upon from above.

There was barely enough room to raise his sword with everyone around him, but Riku managed and soon was cutting down any of those who attacked him. It was impossible to tell by uniform who was faithful to Xemnas and who was on his side; their uniforms were all the same, that of the palace guard. The best Riku could do was fight whoever came after him with murder in their eyes. It was frightening, certainly, and Riku found himself using Dark Shield as often as he could, encasing himself in the opaque bubble against the wild slashing of spears and swords around him.

Soon enough, he forced his way to the edge of the fight. The guards were having an easier fight against each other; they knew each other by face, they knew who was their friend or enemy. Though Riku was well able to hold his own against their weapons, not knowing who to attack was wearing him out. Plus, something inside his head was telling him to get out, and it wasn't just his mental fatigue.

As he broke through the last group of guards, his ears caught the sound of Sora crying out. He whipped his head around, eyes widening when he saw Saix standing over Sora, the Crown Prince's Keyblade having been thrown from his grip. Saix had a giant sword in his hand, the point radiating out like a blue sky. And the sword was lifted for a finishing blow.

Seeing red, Riku sprinted forward. He felt his black magic stirring in front of him, rushing so fierce through his body that he could feel Xehanort's Heartless tainting the back corners of his mind again. Allowing the black magic to pool into his hands, Riku without thinking threw the raw magic toward Saix. It shot out in the form of large orbs of dark energy. They crashed into Saix's side, sending the wolf spirit flying seconds before Riku managed to get over to them himself.

Once he reached them, he planted himself firmly between Sora and the wolf as both scrambled for their weapons and to their feet. As Saix picked himself up though, realization turned Riku's blood cold. Saix was back. That meant that he had returned from the portal which meant-

"Good, we're not too late for the party."

His brothers were here.

Riku turned just in time to see Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo entering into the courtyard from the palace, looking as if they owned the place in their signature black outfits. The moment of shock and horror was cut short though when he saw Loz raise his hand to reveal a strange device strapped onto his arm. The next second, Loz ran forward in a blur, crashing through the guards still standing.

At the same time, Yazoo lifted what looked to be a gun with two swords attached to its barrel. He fired without care into the crowd. Kadaj was wielding a katana, nearly the same sort which their father used, and had a maniacal smile on his lips as he began to cut through whoever came within his reach.

It was like the apocalypse had fallen on the small battle, turning it more into a slaughter than anything else. Cloud had broken away from his and Leon's struggle with Larxene, the wolf's blue-eyes turning to Kadaj and his rampage. Xigbar had turned his shots from the guards to Loz, trying to take out the silver-haired juggernaut with well-aimed shots. The first few missed due to Loz's incredible speed and Xigbar's face had twisted into an expression of irritation.

But there was no one left to focus on Yazoo, who was doing a large amount of damage with his hand gun, shooting spirits down without ever having to get into the middle of the danger. Riku grit his teeth then turned back to Saix, who had just about regained his bearings in the few seconds it took Riku to observe everything else. Before Riku had to make a decision about what he was going to do though, Roxas suddenly appeared behind Saix, the young teen distracting the wolf with a shout. "Over here!"

As his brother struck out at the enraged wolf, Sora ran forward to help him, calling out over his shoulder. "We can handle him, Riku. Do what you need to!"

Riku's immediate response was to protest. But someone with powerful magic needed to go against Yazoo. The guards were skilled, but they couldn't stand up to his overwhelming power. And though Saix was strong, so were Roxas and Sora. Riku knew that, and he knew the princes would take care of each other. Instincts were telling him not to leave, and he knew Axel would try and kill him for it, but Riku turned and ran for Yazoo.

Yazoo saw him coming. He turned his gun onto his little brother. Riku didn't know why he was so surprised when Yazoo fired, but his heart broke a little when he quickly brought up a dark shield. For some reason, he thought that out of all of his brothers, Yazoo would have been the kindest to him. Maybe Yazoo considered a bullet to the head to be the kindest way to die.

Whatever the case, the shield shattered against the bullet as Riku had expected. Running through the dissolving pieces, he brought his sword forward. He didn't have what it took to kill any one of his brothers, but he wouldn't regret simply hurting them for a single moment.

Yazoo blocked Way to the Dawn with the knives on his gun, capturing Riku's sword between his two blades. The beautiful silver-haired man twisted Riku forward, throwing the younger momentarily off-balance.

"So good to see you, Ri-ku." His voice was as cool and smooth as ever.

Riku scowled, wrenching his Keyblade away. "Why did you come here, Yazoo? What are you trying to prove?"

"Prove? I'm trying to prove nothing, dear brother. We're simply regaining what was rightfully ours, a life away from those putrid, horrible humans. We couldn't say no to power and respect. Unlike Father, we have not gone soft, we haven't bothered forming a life there. There was nothing tying us down."

Riku grit his teeth as Yazoo twisted Way to the Dawn to the ground, anger turning to surprise as Yazoo took the opportunity to kick out at him with a grace of any martial art. Riku took the hit, buckling under the blow to his side. There was going to be a massive bruise there in the morning for sure. Now on his knees, Riku found that the new angle allowed him to tear his sword out from between Yazoo's blades. He swung out a Yazoo's legs, forcing his older brother back a step as Riku stumbled back to his feet.

They were coming at each other again for another attack when suddenly, the ground underneath them rolled like a bucking horse. Both of them paused as a crashing roar echoed through the courtyard. A part of the palace wall had been completely demolished, leaving a gaping hole and stones still falling from the still-crumbling sides. It was only a few feet from where the earthen bunker had been set up. Tracing the wreckage and broken ground back to its source, Riku saw Lexaeus with his tomahawk buried deep into the ground, sweat rolling down the giant man's forehead. It was only then that Riku noticed the person struggling to rise from the middle of the wreckage. Xaldin must have touched ground and Lexeaus had taken his chance.

Pulled back by necessity into his duel with Yazoo, Riku could only spare a few quick glances as he watched Demyx sprint through the opening, green vines bursting out from the ground at his heels, stretching out to capture him as Marluxia followed with his scythe.

Riku couldn't blame Demyx for trying to run as he focused again on blocking Yazoo's lunging attacks. He could feel fatigue beginning to set in as he called up another dark shield just in time to take another of Yazoo's bullets. He had been too slow that time. Any time he held too still gave Yazoo another chance to aim the gun component of his weapon.

When Yazoo's eyes widened at the sight of something over his shoulder though, Riku couldn't help but take a second to look for himself, seeing his brother in such shock. A giant wave was crashing down over the palace walls, chasing Marluxia back into the courtyard. That's right, there was a stream that ran into the palace. Demyx must have been running for it. His power as a god rather than just an average spirit revealed itself now that he had so much water under his command. His power really was like a force of nature as the wave crashed down into the courtyard.

The water rushed over everything, avoiding only the small patch of grass around the bunker where the Queen, Namine, and Zexion were. Riku let out a shout as the water hit him, swelling underneath him and sweeping him off of his feet. Yazoo was also caught up in the swell and the two of them along with the rest of the fighters found themselves coming to crash against the sides of the palace buildings. For a few seconds, Riku found himself tossed under the wave, disoriented as he tumbled over himself, thrown around by the water. What happened next amazed him. He felt a hand grab onto his arm and when he broke surface again, he found Yazoo grabbing onto him, his older brother's silver-hair plastered to his face, neck, and clothes.

They hit the wall, knocking the breath out of both of them before Riku could say anything. Almost as soon as it had come, the wave retracted with all of its water, moving like something alive rather than a body of liquid. Coughing, Riku's first instinct was to look around for Sora. He found him clinging to Roxas in the middle of the field. Both of them were soaked but they looked alright, if not a little shaken. Axel, Leon, and Cloud were shaking themselves off; their expressions ranging from horrified to disgruntled.

"Don't take your eyes off your opponent, Riku!"

Riku turned just in time to block Yazoo's attack. He hadn't expected his brother to pick up the fight so soon again, but he returned lunge for lunge, parrying every attack he could. It was satisfying to see that he actually was holding his own. Perhaps he did have the advantage, Way to the Dawn was longer and made a quicker arc, but the point was that he was not significantly worse at fighting than his brother. He could anticipate the moves Yazoo was going to make, though he had less than a second to counter, and though he hadn't landed any strikes, neither had Yazoo.

He didn't even know who out of his friends were still standing. His focus was on Yazoo alone. Every few seconds, he would pause to send out a wave of energy to feel for Sora. Nothing was screaming at him to return to Sora's side just yet, so the best he could assume was that Sora was holding his own. The few glances that he could spare from his fight, he anxiously looked for the prince. He would find him in close combat alongside Roxas against Saix.

He had just turned back to Yazoo to find that his brother was taking another swing at him. Riku was just bringing his sword up for defense when suddenly, the entire world seemed to freeze. Literally. Riku found that his arms and legs had locked in place, and by the infuriated expression on Yazoo's face, so had his brother's.

Larxene's infuriated shriek cut through the now eerily still courtyard and Riku twisted his head around to see Xigbar frozen in mid-air, "What the heck's going on? Not cool, dude!"

He was cut off by the applause of a single person. Turning to the sound, Riku's eyes widened. Luxord was sitting jauntily on the palace wall, crossed legs draped over the collapsed portion of the barricade. His clapping trailed off once he had everyone's attention. "Bravo, a wonderful show indeed. Unfortunately it seems as if you forgot to seek me out before beginning such a gory maelstrom. Surely the Lord Superior is not so improper as to have forgotten proper procedure."

Vexen's cold voice cut into Luxord's monologue. "This has nothing to do with you, gambler. The Superior did not call for you because he did not want you present, regardless of any tradition which the previous rulers have kept. You and your wild magic are nothing but a nuisance."

Though Riku was naïve as to the traditional role of the god of fate, even he could guess that this wasn't the most diplomatic thing to say. Luxord's expression barely changed, though he did reach into his cloak pocket for something. "And that is precisely the level of disrespect which I have come to abhor. Though I have been bred to be impartial, I can say that I wouldn't complain if you get the worse lot in this game." He pulled his hand out to reveal his deck of cards. He shuffled them once before they shot into the air, the cards fanning out to form a ring around his head. "You may have disregarded me earlier, but let us now restart this battle with a spin of the wheel of fate as is proper."

The cards began to turn around Luxord's head, literally like a wheel, or some sick game of Russian roulette.

Luxord smiled down at the group, the expression somewhat sinister concerning the circumstances. "Someone must call for the wheel to stop so I can read the cards which fall in front of me, or else we'll never get anywhere, will we?"

There was a moment of tense silence before Sora's light voice called out a strong and confident, "Stop!"

The wheel of cards slowed then after a few heart-pounding seconds stopped turning. The five cards which were in front of Luxord's face dropped into his lap. "Excellent, Your Highness. Let's take a look at what we've got then."


O

O