Hey guys, sorry it's been a while, but I'm grounded again and being forced to update from school computers. I've also sprained my shoulder, which means I can't reach the keyboard with one hand, so typing's pretty slow.

Who knew I'd ever be writing from Sora's POV? I guess the kid's growing on me. Anyway, enjoy.


Ever haunted by the trappings of this life
Sweet redemption just in front of me
Well now it seems once again that I've lost another
One of the ones who have broke through the wall, damned
Fate won't compromise
I have sold my soul and now the devil's laughing
You did decide
- Disturbed, "Guarded"


The unnerving thing about the desert was, there was nowhere to hide.

Being a naturally sneaky person, hiding places and escape routes were something that Bruixe needed in order to be comfortable. But here, out on the open desert plain, she felt way too exposed, like an all-seeing eye was watching her.

However, it also meant that she and Ren saw the men-at-arms, nearly eighty of them, surrounding Isalena's manor before the men-at-arms had a chance to spot them.

"What the hell?" Bruixe hissed.

She dragged Ren down behind a scruffy patch of ocotillo, knowing that the bare branches would only hide them from faraway onlookers. She peered at the soldiers in the distance, trying to make out the insignia on their armor, but could only make out that the color was red.

"Can you tell who they are?" she asked Ren.

Ren squinted. "The symbol's a cardinal carrying a dagger," she said. "I think that's Councilor Rondot's crest. But why would Councilor Rondot's men be out here?"

Bruixe frowned, trying to remember the man Ren spoke of. Terra had told her that Rondot was new to the Council, only having been elected two years ago – but that was all Bruixe knew. "Does he have something against Isalena or something?" Bruixe wanted to know.

"I don't know," Ren said, shrugging. "I guess… well, they don't agree very often. He's kind of a proud guy, doesn't like to admit he's wrong."

"Power-hungry?" Bruixe guessed.

"Maybe," Ren murmured.

Isalena's not here yet, Bruixe thought, because she's still in Radiant Garden, theoretically. If Rondot knew that… then he came here for a reason. Waiting for her, maybe? Yeah, right, waiting with eighty soldiers. Sounds like an ambush to me.

She stifled a gasp. What if he's responsible for Danthus' disappearance? If he's killing… if he's killing Councilors, Isalena would be next on the list. With all the senior members out of the way, Rondot can seize power…

She quickly explained the situation to Ren. "We've got to get in that manor," Bruixe decided. "Isalena has a communicator to the rest of the Council, inside, in case she ever needs to speak with them quickly. We've got to let someone know what's going on."

"Why can't we just go back to the City?" Ren wanted to know. "Or just wait for Councilor Isalena here? It'd be safer."

"Going back would take too long," Bruixe told her. "And if we wait out here, we run the risk of being found."

"So we go back and wait," Ren suggested.

"And risk missing Isalena if she takes a different route home," Bruixe pointed out.

Ren looked worried. "But we'll never get through there… there's too many soldiers."

Bruixe smirked. "Girl, you don't know who you're talking to." She pointed to a tiny ribbon of brown to their right that wound across the cracked, dry plain before disappearing into an opening in the wall of the manor. "See that? That's our way in."

"A river?" Ren said dubiously. "No, not even a river. That's tiny. Like, a stream. You probably can't even drink it, it's so muddy."

"Isalena probably uses magic or something to clean it up for drinking. Out here in the desert, it's probably all she's got. Just keep as low as you can," Bruixe told Ren. "All the way in the water."

"They're gonna see us," Ren worried.

"No, they're not," Bruixe said confidently. "The water's flowing towards the manor, so it should cover up our movement."

Of course, if anyone looked directly at them, they'd be sunk. But Bruixe didn't say that.

They slipped into the water, oddly cool for the hot desert; Bruixe assumed the origin of the stream was up in the mountains, where the weather was colder. Idly she recognized that it would take forever to get the mud out of her jeans after this.

"Keep your head down," Bruixe whispered, leading Ren downstream.

They almost made it. With twenty yards to go till they reached the waterway, Bruixe heard a dull shout from her left.

Shit.

Three soldiers were running towards them, but the rest didn't seem to have heard. "Stay down," Bruixe ordered Ren, and clambered out of the water, her Keyblade Fallen Angel snapping into her hand.

She tried to knock them out without permanently hurting them – they were just following orders. It wasn't their fault their liegelord was a power-hungry maniac.

The first fell easily, with a blow to the side of his head with the flat of her Keyblade. The second was ready for her, though, and blocked her first two blows; she dispatched him with a swift rabbit punch between his eyes.

"Look out!" Ren yelled from the stream.

Bruixe whirled, instinctively flinging her Keyblade up to protect her head. A heavy broadsword clashed against her blade; with a feeling of dismay, Bruixe recognized the triple stripes of a lieutenant on the man's arm.

This one was no common soldier, then. He knew what he was doing.

Bruixe twisted around him, chopping at him from behind, but she hit wrong and Fallen Angel merely slid off the side of his armor. She dove closer to her opponent, trying to get in too close for him to use the heavy sword.

He simply kicked her away with a booted foot, and she sprawled into the dirt. The broadsword came up for a finishing blow – but suddenly the man staggered, a blue-feathered arrow sprouting from the gap between his helm and breastplate.

Bruixe sprang to her feet and lunged at the man, slicing through his throat.

Bile rose in her throat as blood coursed down her blade, and she immediately flung it to the ground, where it winked out of existence.

Don't think about it!

She sprinted back to the stream and half-dragged Ren, still clutching her silvery bow, to the opening in the wall. A steel grate blocked their passage; she blew it open with a blast of her unusual twilight magic.

They climbed out of the stream and immediately Bruixe bent over double, throwing up the entire contents of her stomach into the muddy water.

"You need help?" Ren asked worriedly, but Bruixe shook her head grimly, wiping her mouth with the back of her arm.

The image of the lieutenant's face – contorted in surprise and pain – was burned into her brain, a bloody vision of death. She retched again, nothing coming up this time, cold sweat running down her face and arms.

"I'm fine," she choked when the sickness had passed. "Fine. I just – oh, God, I've never – oh, God…"

Ren crouched next to her, wrapping the bigger girl in a hug. "Thank you," she whispered. "If you hadn't – then we'd be…"

"I know," Bruixe whispered. "Had to happen – but I've never…"

She brushed her hair out of her face and exhaled sharply. "I'm fine," she said firmly, more for her own sake then Ren's. "Let's just… get out of here, yeah?"

Bruixe turned and strode purposefully into the hall leading out of the waterway, trying to think about anything but the man she'd just killed.


"See what I'm talking about?" Sora grumbled. "The woman leaves behind a trail of bodies."

Kairi smacked him on the arm. "That's not very nice," she told him reprovingly. "I wonder what that guy did to tick her off?"

"If she broke his jaw and nose and threw him out of a wagon, it was probably something bad," Sora pointed out.

He shielded his eyes from the bright sun and squinted towards the horizon. "That's the Councilor lady's place, right? Where he said they were headed? Why are there soldiers standing around? What's-her-face shouldn't be home yet…"

"I don't like the look of this," Kairi said nervously.

The soldiers were swarming around like an upturned bucket of ants. "D'you think they caught Bruixe sneaking in or something?" Kairi wondered.

"You know her," Sora assured his girlfriend. "No one can catch that girl. Knowing her, she probably just caused some trouble or something. Well, it's a decent enough distraction for me. Hey, I'll bet Bruixe used this stream to get in. Are you coming?"

Kairi nodded and followed him into the waterway and then into the manor proper.

"Smells funny in here," she noticed. "Like someone got sick."

"C'mon," Sora said, motioning her to follow, and they walked through a long, winding hallway to a foreboding-looking door. He pushed it open with a creak, and they entered to find a huge, grey-tiled foyer, undoubtedly the entrance hall to the manor, with arched ceilings and a high-backed chair at one end.

"Who's there?" demanded a voice.

Sora held up his hands in the universal gesture of 'we come in peace' and replied, "I'm looking for a friend."

"Sora?" the voice replied, and then a tall, dark-haired figure stepped out from behind a pillar. "Don't you ever follow orders?"

Sora grinned at Bruixe, whose jeans were covered in mud and - blood? Sora wondered, but decided not to ask. The older girl was also wearing a black vest that Sora was pretty sure he recognized as Riku's. "Not when they're stupid orders. What, didn't think we could handle something like this? What did you do to get the soldiers out there so riled up, anyway?"

Bruixe shook her head and turned around rather than answer. "Ren, you can come out," she called. "He's a friend."

"Who's Ren?" Kairi wondered.

"A friend," Bruixe repeated as a blonde girl emerged from behind another pillar, just as muddy but without the gore. "Hey… if you're here, then does that mean Riku came along too?"

Sora and Kairi exchanged looks. "He's not with you?" Sora asked, though he already instinctively knew the answer.

Bruixe's heart skipped a beat, and she felt a twinge of panic grip her chest at the thought.

Riku, gone.