Acacia: Finally! Wow and I thought I would be posting more since it was summer. But all summer brought was writer's block. Sorry guys. :(

Oh and thanks Dewdrops-Rose for the idea. I may have not gone along your idea but it did spark something!

Hazel's POV

"What are they doin' here. I thought we just get one half the US and they get the other half." I said, breaking the silence between Ven and I.

"I sure would like to know." He answered. We managed to keep a conversation going and Roxas and Namine woke up half way there.

HQ was hectic. People were crowding the halls and in an orderly kind of panic. How can panic be orderly? It's panic for crying out loud! Yet there seems to be some kind of order. The four of us managed to get to Cloud's office.

Cloud looked up. "I guess it's safe to say ya already know." Ven said.

"Yeah, but why are they attacking? They were fine before! And of all times, they pick now!" It was clear Cloud wasn't exactly sure what to do. The world might as well be ending.

Xion's POV

This could ruin everything. But hey, what's a risk? I will get my Roxas, SH and EH or not. "Queen Xion!" My cousin, Sean, kneeled before the steps.

"What news do you bring me?" I said.

"The Saphire Hunters, they're pulling out for an unknown reason. The Emerald Hunters, they seem to be preparing for war. Whether the war will be against the Saphire Hunters or us is unsure." He looked up, waiting for a response.

I smiled, glad for this news. "Good, I do not want to have to deal with the Saphire, we need to focus on the Emerald. But they have left each other alone for centuries. So why did the Saphire Hunters attack the Emerald Hunters? They fight for the same thing."

Sean licked his fangs, "Your guest has arrived as well."

"Well what are you waiting for? Show him in!" Sean left and returned with a tall boy in his late teens. "Hello Seifer, I would like to speak to you in your true form."

A wicked smile spread across his face. His skin began to ripple until they were covered in scales and change to a venomous purple. "My lady, you have called for me?"

"Yes, and I have an offer you cannot refuse."

Namine's POV

I stared at the emerald mosaic behind Cloud's desk. I never understood the significance of it. It's alway's just... been there. Cloud was still trying to figure out what to do, and sometimes one thing will lead to the other. I was about to speak when one of the informants burst in.

He was breathless, "Sir, the WSA are pulling out!" He took another breath and opened his mouth to speak, but Cloud interrupted.

"That's good. Wait... why are they pulling out? They attack then just pull out? What sense does that make?"

"Maybe they're in need of medical attention." Ven suggested.

"Probably. Wait... what did you do?" Cloud said, "Never mind, save the story for another time. Now Pence, you have anything else to report?"

Pence nodded, "Remember the snake-head infestation ten years ago?"

"Yeah, how can I forget? What about it?" Ven froze up. It looked some major phobia had just come into play, and he was staring right at it.

Hazel started shaking his shoulder, trying to snap out of it. I looked over to Roxas, hoping for an explanation. Guess I was in luck. Roxas whispered to me, "He developed a really bad case of ophidiophobia when he was six. He still hasn't gotten over it, but it's bad enough to where just the topic will scare him."

"Oh, thanks." I whispered back.

Pence continued, "Well it seems that the Vampire Queen Xion has made an alliance with them, and a slayer has reported a sighting, and an assassin has been attacked by what they described as a human copperhead."

Fear flashed through Hazel and Cloud's eyes. Ven state got worse and was looking like he was about to pass out.

Roxas's POV

I knew the second part of the news was bad, and Ven's phobia was bad, but I've never seen him freeze up like this at the mire mention of it. Namine explained to me that WSA stood for Western Supernatural Agency. My guess for their attack was that they wanted to get the rest of the north-western hemisphere, I even heard that both organizations were spreading into Canada. So, basically territory control.

Now that I think about it, a huge amount of people did suddenly become ophidiophobic around that time.

*cue flashback*

"Daddy! Daddy!" I ran up to the large man with a picture in my hand.

"What is it Rox?" he peered over his glasses at me. Ven was watching a TV show where people got covered in slime.

"Can I have a indoor pet? All to myself?" I asked, obviously excited.

"What type is it?" Dad asked. Ven had come over, wanting to see the picture. It had only been a month since the accident, so he was still limping and had a broken arm.

"A snake!" I proudly said, showing him a picture I printed off the Internet. Ven screamed and ran, falling a few yards away. He had curled up into a ball, trembling crazily, eyes wide with fear. This confused me.

"Ventus, you know you're supposed to stay off that leg as much as possible, and running is out of the question. Plus, it's only a picture."

"What's wrong with Venny?" I asked, not understanding any of what had just happened, "Why did he scream at my picture?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Right now it's bed time." Dad answered, carrying Ven upstairs.

"I don't wanna go to bed!" I stamped my foot.

"Even though tomorrow is your first day of kindergarten?"

I sucked in my breath and ran to bed.

*end flashback*

To this day I do not get why I was so excited about kindergarten, but back to the topic. That was the first time I saw Ven's phobia come into play. Sometimes I wonder why I'm still way into snakes, but when you think about it, I was the one who always had to deal with the snakes.

"We'd best inform everybody, and hope that Ven's phobia here is the worst we have to deal with." Cloud decided. Hazel was still to snap Ven out of it.

I guess there's no alternative to this, "Do you have any sleep injections or those knockout wipes? He won't come out of this unless we put him to sleep and shut down his mind for at least an hour."

"Um, yeah. I'll go ahead and get an injection from upstairs. You three go ahead and train or something. Pence, see if there's any updated information on the WSA or the other concern." Cloud left. Pence went down a corridor that I didn't recognize, but I've only seen a small fraction of this place.

"Well, I'm gonna take a look at some of the VHO's old records. I wanna know what's so significant about that mosaic." Namime went the same direction as Pence.

"I'm gonna take-up Cloud's advice and train a bit. Ya wanna join? I could teach you some tricks yer brother neva' picked up." Hazel offered.

"Yeah sure, I could use all the practice I could get."

Acacia: ophidiophobia is a phobia of snakes, for those of you who don't know your phobias, and yall know where that phobia came from.

And if you don't know what a copperhead is, it's a large snake with not a lot of venom but it's bite is strong enough to break your leg. I know that from other people's experiences.