Okay, so I said I wouldn't get on with the story until chapter 20. Well, I'm just too impatient. So here is your very revealing chapter that I so wanted to hold back for dramatic purposes.

The quote for this chapter is nothing short of clever: it is by Greed (from FMA:B), which totally fits what Don'yoku means: Greed. Very nice, no?

…Anyway, please R&R this lovely chapter, just for all of you who wanted to get back to the plot. (And let's pretend that the warriors have all successfully found their crystals.)

Also, just because of all the 8-Bit references, Light, Mage, Thief, Black Mage, and Red Mage are not the same characters. They're just really similar, since I think they'd make the best bunch of characters. Their real personalities are going to be explained later (hint hint), as well as their back stories. So hang tight, alright?

Chapter 19- Don'yoku

There is no such thing as no such thing.

((((()))))

"Is it almost done?"

"I believe so. All that I need now is that stone from Zidane, and it'll be ready."

Jecht scoffed and crossed his arms. "Is this thing even going to work?"

Kuja irritably looked away from the staff and snapped, "Of course it will! Besides, having those crystals will serve as a backup along with a power source if it fails."

Bikke laughed as he pointed out, "You're starting to look like Garland- hunched over some stupid contraption." He smirked and quickly jumped back to avoid the chuck of brick Kuja threw at him.

The four of them couldn't help but flinch in surprise as Terra and Celes let out a sharp scream behind them.

The stunned two ceased their screaming when they realized it was only the somewhat-possibly-still-evil guys. "Oh… sorry," Terra apologized, giving them a nervous smile.

Celes sighed in relief. "We thought you all were another illusion." She suddenly blinked and slowly gaped. "…B-Bikke…?"

He ran a hand through his bright silver hair. He had quickly grown tired of parading around as Bikke, and had decided to finally reveal himself.

"Actually, my name is Astos."

((((()))))

Cecil and Kain stopped once they made it to the Rift, hearing a cacophony of arguing voices. Putting his finger unnecessarily to his lips, Cecil waved for Kain to follow. He leaned against the wall and listened in.

"…told you to leave this all to me! You grabbed the wrong one!"

Exdeath, Cecil thought.

Growling, the person next to him shouted, "The rest of them had already gone! Regardless of it being Gilgamesh, the Light Warriors will come anyway!"

The Cloud of Darkness snarled as a bright light flashed before the two hidden warriors- Exdeath must have started a fight. "What are you doing here?" she hissed. Or maybe someone had teleported in.

"Where is he?"

"Where is who?" Enuo asked, having been with the two during their argument.

"That darned failure of mine! Where is Kuja!" Garland burst.

Out of the corner of Kain's eye, he saw something duck behind a tower. He tapped on Cecil's armor, pointing to the figure. The two could see the barest bit of yellow on the ground. A shoe, maybe? Cecil's eyes went wide with realization. Tidus?

The blitz player turned the barest bit to give them a grim shake of his head, nodding towards the Chaos warriors. He mouthed, "They've got Gil."

"Gilgamesh?" Cecil mouthed back. "Wasn't he supposed to be with Terra and Celes?"

Tidus shrugged, ducking back behind the wall. Kain and Cecil exchanged fearful glances. If they had kidnapped Gil, what about Terra and Celes?

Tidus reappeared with Yuna. "We're going to ambush them," he silently informed them. "You guys will them take them from the west, we'll get them from this side."

Eyes wide at the two running in, Cecil shouted, "Tidus, no!"

((((()))))

"A-Astos!" Terra burst. "But, why were you dressed up as Bikke? A-and, why are you working with Kuja? Aren't you one of Light and Mage's archenemies?"

He quieted her down. "I'm doing this for revenge on Garland and Chaos- they killed my son, Drizz'l."

Terra and Celes didn't know what was more confusing- the fact that Bikke was Astos all along, or the fact that Astos had a son named Drizz'l. "…What?" Celes dumbly asked.

The dark elf sighed. "When I wasn't able to keep the Orb of Earth from the light warriors, Garland punished me by killing my son."

"Didn't they kill you?" Celes asked, still hopelessly confused about all of this.

"They almost killed me," Astos replied, "but not quite. I'm surprised, however, that Thief didn't finish me off, being an elf himself."

"Thief was an elf?" Terra exclaimed. "But Light told us-"

Astos continued. "He must have lied. Black Mage was also a rogue taking up the job for money. Thief only wanted to enact revenge upon me and the other dark elves, stealing money along the way to help the Elf Prince I poisoned so he could get more status in Elfland. Red Mage was only in for the money as well, until he came up with the stupid idea of rebuilding the Sect of Red Mages with their help. Black Belt was hired to be White Mage's- you know her just as 'Mage', now- body guard, because she was some traveling priestess intent on making sure the other warriors actually did their jobs. And Fighter… heh, I've never seen a warrior more childish than him. He was just a traveling vagabond who decided to join them in Corneria. Always playing the stupid one, always sure to get on everyone's nerves- really, all he was there for was to master his fighting style. I guess when Garland came close to killing them all, he finally grew up a little."

The two girls, along with Golbez, Jecht, and Kuja, were silent with this new revelation. The light warriors… they were nothing like how Light and Mage made them out to be. Light had told them all that they were courageous soldiers for the Light, fighting valiantly against Garland and Chaos. To hear this, now….

Terra numbly shook her head. "That's a lie."

"It's not, I'm afraid."

She dazedly sat down amongst the rubble of Mobliz. "It can't be… Light wouldn't have lied to us…." She finally understood why he chose to keep apart from the rest of Cosmos's chosen ones. He was afraid that they'd learn that he had lied. All along, he had built up a façade to make himself seem like someone invincible, when in truth he was just a vagabond caught up with a motley group taking on the job of fighting evil. Light… was never the man he had made them all think. Terra shook her head again, putting her face in her hands. She mumbled again, "It just can't be true."

"Light would never do that to us."

((((()))))

"Tidus, no!"

Exdeath, Enuo, The Cloud, and Garland turned to see four Light Warriors rushing towards them. Before Tidus could reach Gilgamesh, he and the Cloud of Darkness teleported away. He grunted out a curse and drew his sword. "What are you guys planning to do with Gilgamesh?" he demanded.

"We'll kill him, of course. Not only is he useless, but he's also a traitor," Exdeath said. "And just like those fools out to trick Chaos, we will send anyone who apposes us to the Void!"

Tidus and Yuna jumped out of the way of his magic blast as Kain jumped over head to stab them. Cecil changed into a dark knight and jabbed at them with his lance at the same time.

Garland used kinesis to through the four warriors against the wall of the Rift's towers. "We don't have time for fighting these children. We've more pressing matters to attend to, like destroying my two genomes."

Sighing with frustrated annoyance, Enuo asked, "And why is that just so important?"

"Zidane is bringing Kuja a magic stone created by Cosmos that will draw out Chaos. If he gets that stone to him, we will only have a few minutes to wipe them all out at once before Chaos obliterates everything! Forget about that stupid knight and these little warriors; we must stop those two!" he shouted.

The two warlocks teleported away. Garland turned to the four. "Report back to Kuja and tell him that the life he so values will be shortly taken." Then he too teleported away.

As soon as Garland left, his spell released them all. Cecil reverted back into a paladin, drawing his sword. "Tidus, Yuna, hurry and tell Kuja and my brother what has happened. Kain and I will go find Light and Mage."

They nodded and took off running.

((((()))))

"Fighter…."

Light stopped at hearing his old name. He turned to see the Mage of Light with Red Mage's hat in her hand. "What is it?"

She looked to the dusty ground of the Western Keep before asking, "Why have you lied to them?"

He leaned against the dirt wall and sighed. "Cosmos declared me their leader. Who wants a scatter-brained vagabond as a leader?"

"They certainly don't want a liar as their leader, either," she pressed, walking in front of him. "Look at me!" she snapped, when he turned away, unable to meet her emerald eyes. "Listen, Fighter, we're almost at the end. After we get our crystals, we'll have the final battle with Chaos, and we'll go back home. Neither of us will ever see any of them again. Don't you want to tell them the truth before we separate forever?"

"But they-"

"No buts! They're your friends, aren't they?" Mage continued. "Do you remember when we mistook Zidane for an imposter? He said that the only reason he knew it wasn't you was that you wouldn't separate the warriors intentionally on their own so they wouldn't get in trouble. Squall told me about the time when you fought him to knock some sense into him. He has a lot of respect for you, you know. Luneth looks up to you as a big brother. Didn't you realize that when he sat guard with you back at the Tower?"

She waved her arms. "But of course you didn't, because you're too stubborn to notice anyone but yourself! Did you know that even Black Mage missed you?"

Light had to look up at that. "What?"

Mage nodded. "After we fought Chaos, the first thing out of his mouth was, 'Where is that stupid Fighter?'. Then he went on to say later, 'Fighter had better not be dead.'"

"Did he include something about how he was the one who was supposed to kill me?"

"…That's not the point."

"That's what I thought."

She sighed again, leaning on the wall beside him. "Fighter… I'm worried about them. Zidane has almost died once, as has Dagger. What if someone else gets hurt like that, and we aren't able to save them? What if someone dies?"

Light frowned. "Of course that's always a possibility, but…."

"Even so, you're content with letting them die not knowing the real you?"

"Who said anyone was going to die, White Mage?" he finally burst, making her flinch. "I'm not going to let anyone die! Not you, not me, not anyone else here in Dissidia! There is no reason for them to know anything about me, so long as I keep them safe! That's why Cosmos brought me here- that's why we've both been sent here!"

Mage forced her face to go calm, hiding her shaking hands behind her back. "Alright, then. I just thought they deserved that much, is all."

"It's not something to 'deserve', White Mage. Nor is it something to earn. I'm not going to tell them how truly worthless I am. That would only make it harder to protect them, once they know I'm a fake."

He stormed off towards the exit of the Keep, fist clenched tight around the long, thin crystal.

Mage shook her head and softly said, "But you're not a fake, Fighter. You really are the Warrior of Light now."