Disclaimer: You know the drill by now.
Extraneous: Ditto.

It took some convincing,
but the Assembly believed him.
Of course, something went wrong...
The Oracle was kidnapped, along with two others,
and it was now up-to the mage to get them back.
First, however, he had to face the Assembly again,
and then he had to proceed deep into the Item World,
in order to locate the Dark Court...
-Prophecy di luce e di ombre: Lines CXLV-CLII

Chapter 3: Facing the Dark Assembly and the Dark Court
Last time:

There was trouble brewing shortly before Saito arrived, but events soon came to a head. One of King Krichevskoy's old vassals, a former Divine Majin named Saul, had a nasty habit of stirring-up trouble wherever he went. That, and he had a grudge against Saito. So, it was no surprise that the man was an active participant in the kidnapping of three of Saito's colleagues: the Oracle Pram, his cleric, Maria, and his fist expert, the Adept Ninja Senrael. However, the other participants were well-known. The alternate Laharl lead the attack, but his blows fell-short of the shock that occurred when the younger Overlord revealed his wings. There was a brief lull in the fighting when the alternate Kurtis (still a Prinny) put-in his appearance, accompanied by Yukimaru's older brother, Fubuki. The battle then restarted again, only to come to a complete stop when Saito utilized a Cross-Fusion to combine both versions of Kurtis. After informing the Overlord that any other Cross-Fusions would be failures without both Oracles being combined, Saito inquired as to her location. Adell had good news and bad news. He knew where the Oracle was, but two bills had to be passed in the Dark Assembly before Saul could be pursued. The catch? Only one bill could be passed by force. We now rejoin the Oricaltos as he prepares to address the Dark Assembly of Veldime...

Dark Assembly: Adell's Castle: Veldime: Alternate Timeline
Time: Ten minutes after the Cross-Fusion involving Kurtis

As Saito approached the podium, he turned to look at Adell. "Which bills do you need me to pass?" "Well, there are two in particular that warrant attention. Those are the bill to create Chaos Soldiers, and the bill to reopen the gates of Beauty Castle." Saito nodded solemnly before standing behind the podium. He waited for the room to fall silent, and then he began to speak. "I am sure that all of you know who I am by now." Most of the senators nodded, and the Alternate Priere snorted once before settling into her customary seat. "I come before you today in order to propose two bills. The first of these is for the creation of Chaos Soldiers..." This announcement was greeted by silence, and then laughter. "You can't propose that bill! You have to be a senator first!" one of the Gunners called from the fifth row, and Saito shrugged. "Well then, how do I go about doing that?" "Simple. Saul won't allow it!" the man called, howling with laughter. The eyes of the Oricaltos narrowed to slits as he stared at the man. "In case you haven't noticed, Saul isn't here right now to save your sorry ass," he stated, and it was suddenly silent as the allies of the Chaos Soldier frantically scanned the upper rows for him. Indeed, Saito's words were true: Saul was nowhere in sight.

"I propose that we allow the Oricaltos to become a senator," Pram called. "Are there any objections?" There was absolute silence. "Well, it looks like that's settled," she called with a smile, and Saito grinned as well. "Before you all cast your votes, I want you to hear me out. Listen to why I want to pass this bill, and then make your decisions." He took a deep breath, and then launched into his explanation. "My colleagues and I came from an alternate timeline, and all we want to do is return home. However, that is impossible because of one simple fact: Saul kidnapped our Oracle." A rash of surprised oaths rang from the benches, and Saito shook his head. "In addition to our Oracle, he took two others who are of vital importance to me. But, I guess nothing compares to the loss of our copy of the Sacred Tome. All we want to do is return to our place and time. I just wanted to see how things were different here, and not be involved in any massive sort of struggle. Please keep that in mind, ladies and gentlemen." Saito let out his breath in a heavy sigh, and then he lifted his head once again. "Let the voting begin...now."

After all of the votes had been tallied:

One of the youngest Senators descended from the top row, carrying a clipboard. This she presented to Saito, who nodded and smiled. "Thank you, young lady." "You're welcome, sir!" she responded cheerfully, turning back to her seat before yelping slightly. Saito had grabbed her wrist, and was gently twisting it. "Stop it! You're hurting me!" "I suppose that is a small price to pay when you tried to steal one of my daggers right out from under my nose," he whispered, and the young woman stopped in shock. "How did you know?" "I felt your fingers go into my pockets. That's how I knew." Adell looked-over at the conversation, and slowly shook his head as he approached the Oricaltos. "Sita, I thought you would have known better," he chided, and the small thief hung her head. Her long blonde hair was tied at the bottom with blue ribbon, and her golden cats-eyes were downcast. "I wasn't sure if he was really the Oricaltos. I just had to see for myself," she responded, defending her actions. The Oricaltos put a hand over his eyes and shook his head, chuckling. "Well, you certainly know now." "Yup," she responded truthfully, but then she froze when Saito asked her another question. "Do you want to come with us?" "Wha...? What do you mean?" she asked, giving him a rather curious look. "Do you want to join us when we return to the Makai Kingdom?" Her golden eyes lit-up as she raised her head. The goggles on her hat were glittering as brilliantly as her eyes when she responded. "YES!" "As long as you help us to free our Oracle, then you can come." "Thank you!" she cried, wrapping her arms tightly around Saito's waist. The mage smiled as Adell pried her away, and then he checked the results of the vote.

He blinked in surprise. Looking at the results, he went over and tallied the votes once more. There was no mistake. "Hey Adell! You're not going to believe this!" "What is it, Saito?" the Overlord of Veldime asked as he walked over to the mage. Saito passed him the clipboard with the results, and Adell, for once in his life, was at a loss for words. "How did you do that?" he whispered, and the Oricaltos shrugged. "I guess my speech really got to them," he responded in the same manner before raising his voice once more. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have counted the votes, and the results are as follows:"

Total combined level of those against the bill: 3,138
Total combined level of those in favor: 6,897

"The motion passes," Saito said, and there was a moment of silence before the hall erupted into cheers from his supporters. The Oricaltos smiled and then he raised his voice to be heard over the noise. "Onto our next proposal..."

That motion also passed, without Saito having to so much as lift a finger. But that was only the first part of the task...
Item World Entrance: Adell's Castle

"The Dark Court is located on the twenty-first floor." "There's something else, isn't there?" Saito asked, and Adell sighed aloud. "I'm afraid so. It's on the twenty-first level of a Legendary Arcadia..." "which means that the enemies are going to be incredibly strong, and it's going to be far from easy," Laharl groaned, shaking his head. "Can it get any worse?" "Yes, it actually could. We might be forced to fight both Saul and the entire Dark Court, just to get to Pram." "You're probably right, Adell," Saito concluded, scratching his head. "That's why I want you and a few others to accompany me." "Are you sure about that?" he asked, not quite believing what he was hearing, and the Oricaltos solemnly nodded his head before answering. "Trust me, Overlord. I know what I'm doing." "Well then, count me in!" he called before turning to look at Rozalin. "Are you coming, dear?" "Naturally," the young woman responded, prompting a smile from the crimson-haired Overlord. "Can I come too?" a rather timid voice asked, and Saito smiled before turning to look at Sita. "You most certainly can, young lady. Besides, I need someone who knows their way around."

"Well, I guess that the debate is over," another voice added, and Adell turned, slightly incredulous, to the young man who had appeared. Even though he had white hair, the demon appeared to be fairly young. He wore a small pair of square-lensed spectacles, even though he rarely needed them. However, it was extremely easy to tell what he was, due to the clothing he was wearing. Saito smiled as he recognized what had once been a concealing mask resting atop the man's head. Laharl was also quick to notice this, and he came to the exact same conclusion. "You're a Skull, correct?" he asked, and the young man nodded solemnly. "My name is Alan. I sometimes act as a courier for the Dark Court." Looking at Saito, Alan directed a mental question to his Overlord. Is that who I think it is?You better believe it! You should have seen what he did earlier. What did he do? Alan asked, his interest piqued. He passed the Chaos Soldier bill...on his first attempt. There was a moment of stunned silence from the brown-robed Galaxy Skull. He did WHAT? I thought it was impossible! Nope, but there's something more about the way he passed it...What is it?He passed the bill without having to resort to force. ...DUDE! That is just awesome!I know, Adell replied, a smile on his face. He truly IS the Oricaltos.

While Adell is busy introducing Alan to the other leaders, let's head down to the Dark Court to check on Pram's current situation...
Main Courtroom: Dark Court: Floor 21: Item World: Arcadia

"This is getting nowhere," Pram grumbled as she listened to Saul present his case against her. It had been a long and grueling process, but the Chaos Soldier was only getting started. "...And now, I call upon my first witness. Aries, bring me the cleric." The warrior bowed before exiting, but something went horribly wrong outside. Five minutes passed, and then the brown-haired man burst back into the courtroom, his eyes wide with shock. "MASTER SAUL! I checked everywhere, but I couldn't find her!" Saul exploded. "WHAT? She couldn't have just escaped on her own!" "...No, she had help," a rather weak voice called from outside the doors. Aries proceeded through the back door, and then returned, supporting a badly-beaten Gunner. Saul narrowed his eyes. "Tell me exactly how it happened," he demanded, and the man sighed once before launching into his tale.

"I was following your orders to retrieve the cleric when I arrived at her cell. She appeared to be meditating, but then she looked at me and spoke. 'You will regret this when the Oricaltos arrives. You, and that idiot whom you serve,' she whispered, and I kinda lost my temper. I put a bullet in her left hip before hauling her out and tying her hands, and she fell silent after that. On the way back here, I ran into the courier and insulted him. To say the least, he took it rather badly. He grabbed me, and I lost my grip on the cleric when I turned to break Alan's left wrist. By the time I had turned back, that stupid girl was free, and she clocked me in the right eye. Normally, I have a thing against hitting women, but not when they hit me first. I took a swing at her, but, somehow, she managed to duck. Then she landed two blows. The first one hit me square in the stomach, and the second one was a little lower." Saul winced in sympathy, while Pram tried (and failed) to stifle several giggles. "Then something hit the back of my head, and that's all I can remember. When I woke up, she was long gone, and so was Alan." Pram merely shook her head and smiled, while the Chaos Soldier fumed. Things were definitely looking-up, just not for Saul. Damn that courier, damn that cleric, and damn the Oricaltos as well!

Ah, poor Saul! (laughs aloud) Too bad for him. Also, I feel a little sorry for the Gunner (but not THAT much). Anyway, back to Saito and the others...
Item World Entrance: Adell's Castle: Veldime
Time: Twenty minutes after Alan's introduction

A slender figure approached from behind and plucked at Alan's sleeve. The brown-robed Galaxy Skull turned and smiled when he saw who it was. "Come on. It's time that I introduce you to everyone, especially the Oricaltos." "The young woman sighed before gently shaking her head. "There's no need to do that, Alan. Even though my appearance has changed slightly, I'm still the same cleric. Besides, they already know me," she remarked, smiling playfully. The young wizard sighed before gesturing. "Go right ahead, then. Prove me wrong." "With pleasure," the cleric whispered as she strode forward, making a beeline directly for the Oricaltos. Saito was discussing a few matters with Adell when a rather polite cough interrupted his speech. Turning, he stopped and whistled lightly at the sight before him. The clothing had remained the same, but the cleric bore a more mature figure than any of the others that Saito had seen, not to mention the fact that she was nearly his height. She was moderately endowed, and her crystal-blue eyes were downcast. However, upon studying her more closely, Saito's eyes widened in disbelief. He recognized the subtle shifts in posture when she was resting, the way she carried her bow slung over her right shoulder, and especially important, he recognized the short sword that had been sheathed across the back of the woman's waist. "Maria?" he asked, stunned, and the young Dimensional Gatekeeper smiled before wrapping her arms around Saito's waist and hugging him closely, tears streaming down her face. "I never want to be left like that again!" she cried, and Saito gently patted his cleric's head. "You won't be, Maria. I promise." Maria sniffed once and wiped away her tears before her eyes hardened with resolve. "I'm coming with you," she declared, and Saito turned to the Overlord of Veldime, grinning. "You see what I was saying earlier, Adell? She never gives-up, even when things appear to be hopeless." Adell chuckled and shook his head. "I see what you mean, Saito. Let's get going. I don't want to take all day." "Me neither," Saito responded with a laugh. "Lead on, my friend."

Into the Arcadia we go!

Saito arrived in the Item World and looked at the floor indicator before turning to Adell. "How did you manage to get down this far?" he inquired, and Rozalin smiled. "The old-fashioned way, of course! We just beat the living daylights out of anything that got in our way." "Typical," Maderas snorted with a laugh. "This shouldn't be too hard." "Don't count on it, Maderas," Saito warned. "This is going to be anything but a walk in the park, even though we only need to descend three floors." "Here they come!" Laharl yelled, and then the madness began.

The Oricaltos didn't even turn as multiple Ghosts, Warriors, and even two mobile Geo Prisms, approached him from behind. All kept a respectful distance, with the exception of the red Geo Prism monster. It rather cautiously approached the Oricaltos, and then tentatively poked him. Saito turned, raised a curious eyebrow, and then crouched down to get a closer look at the monster who had poked him. Sita wandered over and also crouched down, tilting her head to one side in curiosity. "Hello!" she called happily, and the rabbit-like monster looked at her in disbelief. "What?" "No one has ever talked to me before," it whispered, and Saito smiled. "There's a first time for everything," he said, and the monster nodded in agreement. The Oricaltos then noticed the crowd that was behind him, and slowly turned to face them. His eyes narrowed to slits. "Who do you serve?" he rumbled, and the monsters answered simultaneously. "Saul." The mage slowly rose to his feet and shook his head once before extending his right hand. "Then you must suffer for taking the Oracle and the Tome from me. Tsunum!" he yelled, and watched in satisfaction as the monsters disintegrated under the barrage of silver fireballs. The mobile Geo Prism flinched once before staring in awe at the carnage caused by that one attack. "Oricaltos?" it asked rather nervously, and Saito nodded before making a shooing gesture. "Get outta here, little guy. Your task is done." "Yes sir!" it responded, and scurried away, leaving a clear path to the next gate.

Despite the challenges, the Oricaltos and his allies made excellent progress. After taking a break between floors 20 and 21 to heal and restock a few items, Saito and the others made their way through the torturous path of Floor 21, until they reached the nexus for the Dark Court...

Sita looked rather worriedly at the scene unfolding before her, because she did not have the strength to turn away. Three Chaos Soldiers were crowded onto a single-span bridge, and beyond them, blinking like some sort of demonic eye, was the nexus for the Dark Court. Saito stood alone on the tiled floor in front of the bridge, his white-bladed sword before him. The Oricaltos knew that if any of the Chaos Soldiers survived his next attack, then they would be exponentially stronger. His eyes narrowed to slits, and then he began to move. Adell and the others could only stare in awe as Saito adopted a stance that they had never seen before. The Oricaltos slid his left foot forward before leaning down and crossing his left hand over his body, planting it on the floor in front of his right leg. His sword arm was back, and there was a feral smile on the hybrid's lips as he slowly drew his left hand across the ground in a perfectly straight line until it was outside of his left leg. His claws made a scraping sound that resembled nails being dragged across a chalkboard. Saito then dug his fingers into the tile, and lunged His blade flashed twice; once on the initial lunge, and once on the return lunge, and the end result was devastating. All three of the Chaos Soldiers fell from the bridge, each of them in three separate pieces. The eyes of the Oricaltos were burning with rage as he motioned for the rest of his allies to follow. "It's time to get what we came for."

OUCH! I wonder what Saito has in store for Saul when the two cross paths again...
Main Courtroom: Dark Court: Item World

Aries burst into the courtroom, followed closely by a large number of Gunners, just as Saul was about to address the jury. "Master Saul!" "What is it now, Aries?" the Chaos Soldier snapped. Everything had gone horribly wrong for him ever since Maria had escaped, and he was certain that things could not get any worse. Wrong answer. "The Oricaltos! He's here!" Saul's vibrant orange eyes narrowed in rage. "But that's impossible! I put three of my best out there!" "They weren't enough to protect your sorry hide, Saul," a familiar voice called from the doorway, and the former Divine Majin once more found himself facing the Oricaltos. He snarled. "Stay out of my way, or the Oracle dies!" he snapped, and Saito's eyes changed from blue to gold as his wings revealed themselves once more. "Prepare yourself," was all the Oricaltos said before lunging at the Chaos Soldier, his hands already wrapping around the man's throat. Aries was about to make a move to help his lord when he felt a rather sharp prick at the small of his back. "One more move, and my blade severs your spinal column," Yukimaru whispered, her dark eyes shimmering as she watched the mage throttle Saul. The warrior knew by her tone of voice that the young kunoichi was being dead serious,and he immediately stopped struggling. The Gunners, however, had noticed the other allies, and they had begun shooting, causing a rather massive firefight to erupt.

Saul reached-up and grabbed Saito's wrists before tightening his grip, forcing the Oricaltos to slightly loosen his. Gulping air, the Chaos Soldier struggled to escape, but to no avail. Finally settling for a stand-off, he nodded to one of the more accurate Gunners before staring into Saito's eyes. "If you strangle me, then your precious Oracle gets a bullet in the brain," he managed to gasp out, and the Oricaltos unceremoniously dropped him onto the floor before lifting his left hand. Immediately, his allies ceased firing and took cover as all eyes focused on the immortal King of Dragons. "If you're so confident that you can beat me, Saul, then I have a proposal for you." "What is it?" the Chaos Soldier asked, slightly curious as to why Saito was suddenly willing to bargain. "The two of us fight one-on-one, with no outside interference. If you win, then you can do whatever you want with Pram, Zetta, and Senrael. But if I win, then you release the prisoners and call-off your Gunners so that we can leave in peace." Saul paused for a moment, and then tilted his head sideways. "What if you beat me, but I refuse to yield?" he asked, and the response of the Oricaltos chilled him to his core. "Then I will kill you, take my allies, and leave. You won't be able to stop me. For that matter, no one will be able to stop me from doing that. Agreed?" The Chaos Soldier swallowed hard before nodding his head once. "Agreed."

"Cease fire!" Saul yelled, but the Gunners looked at him like he was nuts before resuming their attack. You see, they had never stopped firing while Saito was speaking, but all of that was about to change. They continued firing until their guns were literally yanked from their hands by a mental pull from the Oricaltos. "That's enough," Saito warned, and then the Gunners realized just how serious the mage was. Bowing rather quickly, they grabbed and holstered their guns before scrambling away from the center of the room, leaving an open area where the Chaos Soldier and the hybrid could duel. Saito nodded his approval before beckoning to Saul. "Come on. It's time that we settle this once and for all." "I couldn't agree more," Saul snarled, drawing an axe before lunging at the mage. Swinging his weapon overhead, the Chaos Soldier tried to split Saito's skull open, only to have his blade stopped by the flat of Durend, the mage's white-bladed sword. The Oricaltos smiled rather wickedly before kicking Saul in the stomach and vaulting away, drawing his blade in an arc just over the man's head. The Chaos Soldier had the wind knocked out of him, and he doubled-over in pain for a few critical seconds. It was all the time that Saito needed to end the duel. He "flickered" his hands into claws before lunging towards his semi-prone adversary. By the time Saul had caught his breath and once again stood upright, he felt a razor-sharp edge pressed against his throat. Saito's eyes were glittering, slightly amused. "It's over, Saul, and you lost. Release the Oracle, the Tome, and the Adept Ninja into my custody," he ordered, but a voice coming from the judge's seat stopped him.

"Gunners, detain this so-called 'Oricaltos'. Saul, ignore his orders." Adell looked over at the judge and raised an eyebrow. It was plain to see that the Overlord of Veldime was not happy at all with what was going on. "You can't do this to him, Judge! He already proved that he was the Oricaltos to the Dark Assembly..." "But, he has yet to prove it here in the Dark Court, Overlord," the Prinny sneered, pointing his gavel at the crimson-haired man. "Now sit down, or I will have you thrown from here for contempt of court!" Adell swallowed rather hard before nodding his head and taking a seat. Allowing his eyes to wander, he made eye-contact with the Oricaltos and sent him a telepathic message. I'm sorry that things worked-out this way, man. Eh, it wasn't really your fault, Adell. I know that, but I should have seen this coming from a mile away. DAMMIT! Adell, stop blaming yourself for this mess. If the fault lies with anyone, then it lies with the judge. ...You have a good point there, Fubuki, Adell conceded, but I can't help it! Cry me a river, build a bridge, and get over it, Overlord! Neither you nor I have any power to stop this, but we can certainly make this judge's life a living Hell. Agreed, Saito. If you go down, then I'm going down too. And if that happens, then we take the Dark Court with us. I absolutely LOVE the way your mind works, Adell. Why, thank you.

Author's note1: DAMN... It certainly looks like things took a turn for the worse for Saito. Anyway, what is the judge trying to do by having Saito arrested and put on trial? Will Saito win his case, or will he be trapped in the Dark Court? What about Pram and the others? Will they stay to support Saito, or will they just leave? And what will happen to Saul if Saito manages to survive this new ordeal? Find out in my next chapter, Oricaltos on Trial. As always, please remember to both READ AND REVIEW. Thank you.