The last few steps of the long spiral staircase crumbled away as they reached the top, the floor just beneath the roof and the hopefully newly opened path to the central tower. Kira caught Tinker by the scruff of the neck before he could fall with the stone debris and found herself at the heart of, all puns aside, a suffocating bear hug.

"Your welcome. Now, a little breathing room please, hard enough to come by in these clothes as it is." She put him on the ground and then looked back at the opening in the wall when they all heard a strange high pitched whine followed by a dragon's roar of light and flame. Damien quickly moved Kira out of the way and pulled the new arrival into the questionable safety of the hallway when the rockets built into his armor cut off.

Straitening his armor and pulling himself into a proper and refined erect position he looked at the group he had startled with his appearance. "Gracious. I had not been aware of others unfortunate enough to be stuck within these demesnes at this frightful hour as well. My lady, I apologize for giving you a fright, with those stairs gone my armor was of course the only way to ascend to these heights. I am Sir Cumulus of the Order of the Crystal Sun of the Rocket Knights. You all of course may call me by my given name of George."

He opened the face plate of his helmet to reveal an aged, careworn face that had seen decades of sun and combat. Though his hair and mustaches were still a vibrant dark brown as though age had no power to worry him beyond a few wrinkles. The bright, humorous twinkle in his gray eyes was only matched by the warmth of his smile.

"Sir Cumulus, it is good to see that our guests are able to enjoy our hospitality here in the heart of the Kingdom, and I am glad that you were able to get yourself safely this far in an emergency. I am sorry that you had to be delayed upon your return to your Order." With a courtly bow he answered. "Nonsense my dear lady. This reminds me of my days of training. I haven't had this much fun in years. Oh, I found this on my way up, if any of you has a key that can open it, you can keep it."

George reached into the backpack he carried away from the rockets on his armor and pulled out a curiously decorated gold chest. Its body and polished gold lock were simple, bare metal while the lid was graced by the symbolic imagery of a glaive, not the pole arm generally associated with the term but a three bladed open disk like a chakram that if used properly can either embed itself in a target or come back to its user like a boomerang. It was also covered in a great deal of dust and small debris and rubble from whatever crumbling hole George had pulled it from.

"Well sir knight, you are welcome to join us. The more of our people we can get safely out of range of our own traps, the better. I would not want any good people of any race to die by the very devices set to protect them." He bowed respectfully to her and held out the chest invitingly.

"Don't worry, I'll pop that pesky lock for you." Damien tried to put actions to words by aiming his Keyblade at the lock. A small beam of blinding white light shot forth from the end of the key and fragmented when it hit a multifaceted honeycomb shaped energy barrier just above the lock. He frowned in discontent but stepped aside so that Dante could try. Dante fared no better except for the light show at the end as the sparks burst into minuscule fireworks of rainbow colors. "What's the deal with that?"

"When obvious won't work try subtle." Dyme pulled a pair of sturdy stainless steel lock picks out of his tool belt but Tinker slapped him before he could even try. "Foolish child. Even if you were to manage to slip those past that barrier gold is far too soft for anything other than the proper key. You would end up bending or breaking the internal mechanism with those."

"Boys and their toys. If subtle hadn't worked what would you have tried next? Brute force? No, I think not. Not this time. This is obviously a Forgebound lock. Only the proper key will open it. It is an old and powerful magic that even a Keyblade cannot penetrate. Allow me to demonstrate."

She pulled the key from her hiding place, under the watchful eye of the men and fit it to the lock. The barrier appeared, flashed and shattered like a stained glass window. The key went in and turned as it was meant to.

The chest opened. Inside was a belt that seemed to be part of a set with the gauntlets as it was made of the same Dragon's hide and had the same odd bits of metal and glowing crystal like that of the Heart of All. Set within the metal buckle was a crystal shaped like a fixed three bladed glaive.

With the belt was a platinum key and another letter. She pulled all three items from the chest, and prepared for it this time only laughed when the chest disappeared startling the rest of the party. She read through the letter noting that it was written in the same mode as the previous one though the author of this one seemed an artist with a pen.

It seemed that the Spectral Glaive, as the weapon on the belt was named, was sentient and like a Keyblade, chose its master. However unlike a Keyblade the Glaive could run in a family line for generations before finding someone else worthy of its use. The letter also stated that the only way to learn its full ability, and even to use it, one had to be chosen by it.

"Well, as interesting as that is," Kira began as she carressed the softly glowing crystal as she buckled on the belt. "How does one know if one has been chosen by the Glaive?" Looking about she could see that none of them had any ideas as to how this was done either. Damien stood scratching the back of his head with both hands. Dante just shrugged and looked at his feet. George seemed deep in thought. And then there was Dyme, he just looked completely blank. As for Tinker, he was taking a moment to examine the belt and the gauntlets for the first time.

"Hmmm. Very interesting. Shadow Dragon hide, armored Moonsilver plates and I have no idea what kind of crystal this is, but it looks very rare." Tinker jumped back in alarm when the crystal flashed and a Glaive, about as big around as a bowling ball rather than the golf ball sized one set into the belt buckle, appeared floating in the air before Kira spinning slowly like a miniature galaxy.

A strangely echoing female voice sounded, not in their ears, but in their minds proving the weapons sentience and its telepathic ability. "I find you worthy Kira. For centuries uncounted I have lain in wait in that box. We are now connected mind to mind and normally I would speak to you alone but your friends need some explanation as well. How fortunate it is that the one who released me from my solitude is also the very person worthy of me. Honor will be served admirably with us working together. I sense a purpose for you, and I shall of course join with you to fulfill it. All you need do is take me up in your hand and our joining will be complete."

Kira reached out a little nervously with her right hand and grabbed the Glaive around the middle. A burst of power nearly knocked them all from their feet and set off an ominous rumble from the hallway around them. There was a flash from the crystal in her hand and the Glaive disappeared, leaving behind a mark in its shape on the palm of her hand. "Okay, on that note, who votes for moving on?"

"Quite right my lady, enough of this tower, let us take our leave. No offense to you of course, but being the only one in armor here I shall go first as I stand the greater chance of surviving further traps."