Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Jake and Jinx. More subplots show up in this chapter. Enjoy.

..:-X-:..

064 – The Unanswered

"I'm telling you," Cloud said emphatically, "she knew who I was, but I know I had never seen her before in my life."

Across the table from him in the Magic Department, Merlin looked over the rim of his spectacles at Cloud. "Are you certain? Surely you can't remember every single person that you have ever seen, Cloud."

Exasperated, Cloud straightened, running both hands down his eyes. "Not…This wasn't like some passerby kind of recognition. This was…she looked…" He shook his head. "She knew me. Really knew me."

"And you got that from one look?" Merlin questioned.

"She looked terrified, Merlin." Cloud said firmly. "Why else would she look so scared?"

"I think you may be mistaking that fear as fear directed at YOU personally, rather than perhaps the general situation?" Merlin suggested.

Cloud folded his arms, glancing toward the window. "Well, there was that whole…zombie guy with the black snake thing around his head…but Merlin—" He looked back at the old wizard. "She snapped his neck clean…like it was nothing. She was no civilian. She had had training. She knew what she was doing."

"And have you searched the Alliance records?"

"Of course." Cloud ran a hand through his hair, tempted to start pacing. "I scoured the database. The only person who I can think of with that kind of precision training is Tifa, but she would never train her department interns to KILL people in combat."

He gave in and started pacing the wizard's office. None of this made any sense. Ever since the strange woman had vanished from that alley over a week ago, Cloud couldn't get her out of his head. She looked…familiar…but he had never seen her before. He was CERTAIN of that much. Where had she gone? Who was she? Who had that man been? What had been wrong with him? What was that creature that had been latched onto him? Why had the woman disappeared so suddenly? Why had she been afraid?

Merlin looked pensive.

"What?" Cloud honed in on the older man's reserved expression.

Merlin pursed his lips, busying himself with a large text on his desk. "Nothing."

Cloud bristled. "You know who she is."

"No. I don't. But I may know where she came from."

"Tell me." Cloud stepped toward the desk.

Merlin straightened, adjusting his glasses. "Why are you so eager?"

Cloud exhaled, "I don't…I don't know."

The woman was a mystery. Cloud didn't like mysteries…particularly when they were associated with zombie-men and black snake creatures. She had left nothing behind, no physical evidence or proof that she had ever existed…only this unexplainable and burning curiosity in his gut. Merlin looked apprehensive.

"Please." Cloud hesitated at how desperate he sounded. He tried again. "What do you know?"

Merlin gave him a long look before straightening, "At the end of the Sorcerer's War, there was an incident when a woman showed up out of nowhere—"

"The Sorcerer's War…I've never heard of—"

"—She turned the tide of the battle and played a key role in the salvation of Radiant Garden, all those years ago." Merlin continued. "No one ever saw her after that, and only a handful even saw her at that moment in time."

Cloud swallowed, "You think it's the same girl?"

"No." Merlin said sadly. "I'm afraid the woman from the war is long…long gone." He looked mournful for a moment, but in the next moment his expression changed to one of mystery. "I believe you met a time traveler that night."

Beat.

"Time travel." Cloud blinked, "There's no such thing."

"She knew you…but you didn't know her…yet." Merlin said, stroking his beard. "I've encountered one in my years…but my encounter was with a woman far less…violent than the one you appear to have met."

"When are these…time travelers from? What do they want?" Cloud pressed.

Merlin sighed, "They are never very thorough in their explanations. They come, they do what they must, and then they leave. That would be the blue flash of light you saw."

"You're saying you've met a time traveler. That time travel exists." Cloud clarified. "They 'do what they must', what does that mean? They change time? Who could bear that responsibility? To change people's lives, their histories…" His eyes widened, "Have they altered Radiant Garden's history before? And now?"

"We are their past. Fortune telling is a forbidden magic for a reason." Merlin looked wistful again. "I was one of the handful who met her at the end of the Sorcerer's War."

Cloud narrowed his eyes, "What Sorcerer's War?"

Merlin offered only a small smile. "Exactly." Sensing Cloud's doubt, the old wizard sighed. "Anyway. It's just a theory. She could have been anyone."

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065 – The Shameless

Yuffie tilted her head, hands planted on her hips, "A little to the left."

Leon glared down at her from his position on the ladder. He begrudgingly shifted to the left, raising the banner higher and hastily pegging it in place on the wall before his balance could be compromised.

"That's better." She chirped.

"Good, because that's as left as it's getting." Leon grunted, climbing down the ladder to the floor again.

Boxes and boxes of Halloween decorations had materialized all over Merlin's house, and Yuffie had been digging through them all afternoon. Yuffie and Aerith had been planning a Halloween party for a while now, but Leon noted that Aerith had been MIA for most of the week, so Yuffie had essentially taken over party duties.

Which meant that she was roping everyone within reach into helping her.

"You know it's a costume party, right?" Yuffie teased, rummaging through a box of plastic pumpkins and witch hats. "I've already got my outfit all set to go."

Leon grunted noncommittally at that, hoping his lack of enthusiasm would get him a quicker escape from her excited yammering. No such luck.

"Are you sure you can't get out of that Enchanted Castle mission next week?" She pried. "You're gonna miss all the fun."

"Fortunately for me, no I can't get out of it." He remarked, helplessly taking the mass of string lights in the shapes of pumpkins from Yuffie.

"Well, maybe Belle will be throwing a Halloween party of her own and you will be forced to dress up…like…like a scarecrow or something." She prattled on.

Leon groaned, "Ugh, scarecrow, really?"

Yuffie snickered, "Knowing you, you would dress up in some lame costume…like a soldier or something…" At Leon's sharp look, she recanted, "Not that soldiers are lame; it's just that you already are one. You're supposed to dress up like something that you aren't: like a cowboy or an astronaut or…a sexy firefighter or something."

"Then I guess your costume is of a sensible person?" Leon said flatly.

The younger woman laughed sarcastically at him. "Har-har, but you know, every year, Private McCallister just shows up in her fatigues and says that she's dressed as a soldier for Halloween?"

Leon snorted into his fist.

Yuffie gave him a deadpan look. "She's lame, and you're lame for thinking that's a clever costume."

"Whatever." Leon waved her off.

Aerith's grey cat Piper suddenly darted out from under the couch, pouncing onto a stuffed, green-faced witch doll that had fallen out of the nearest box. Both Yuffie and Leon started in surprise. Yuffie squeaked and hopped up onto the couch as though the cat was a mouse, and Leon staggered backwards out of the feline's trajectory of attack.

A beat passed, and Yuffie and Leon exchanged a quick look before going back to what they had been doing. There was a silent promise there to never mention their getting startled by a cat to anyone else.

"Speaking of," Leon went on abruptly. "…Jake keeps talking about this date—"

Yuffie groaned dramatically, "Ugh, I wish he'd just shut up about it. It was one little date. It meant nothing, and I'll probably never see him again."

She spun around to glare, but noted Leon's confused expression.

"You…went on a date with Jake?" He lifted an eyebrow.

"No." Yuffie barked incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

"What are YOU talking about?" Leon repeated.

Yuffie blinked, "I was talking about the blind date that Jake set me up on a few weeks ago."

"I was talking about Jake and McCallister's date. Apparently it was a disaster." Leon remarked.

Yuffie huffed and straightened her blouse. "Well…mine wasn't much better."

"Oh?" Leon grimaced, realizing that it had come off as a question, like he was curious.

Unfortunately, Yuffie had gone on longer rants with less expressed curiosity.

"His name's Trevor. And he's…a gentleman." She started. "We had great conversation and he thinks I'm awesome. He even walked me home. Do you see my problem here?"

Before Leon could respond, the front door to Merlin's house opened and Jake sauntered in. Both Leon and Yuffie stared blatantly, as the man was wearing a poofy, sequin-covered green dress, complete with heels and elbow-length silver gloves. He was wearing a name tag that simply said "Hello my name is Never Doubt Tifa Again".

"Looks like somebody lost a bet." Yuffie snickered.

Jake looked unashamed. "You're just jealous 'cuz I make this look GOOD."

Leon calmly set down the decorations that he had been untangling, stood, and walked out of the house. His weird meter had officially been maxed out for the day on that note.

..:-X-:..

066 – The Nameless

The desert air of Agrabah was hot and dry, whipping sand up from the dunes to distort where the golden earth ended and the cloudless blue sky began. Aerith had wrapped a wide pink scarf around her head to shield herself from the sun and the violent wind of the outer desert. The city of Agrabah was a glint in the distance, and she had her back to it. She was more interested in the structure in front of her.

The stone walls of the prison blended in almost imperceptibly with the desert sand. That was the point. The most dangerous criminals and psychopaths in the Alliance were within those four walls, surrounded by a five day walk through the desert in all directions. Any escapees would never reach water or civilization before the elements claimed them. And there had never been any escapees.

With a hard swallow, Aerith stepped away from her Gummi ship and toward the front doors of the prison. This place wasn't supposed to exist. It didn't even have a proper name. It was simply known as Jinx. It seemed ironic that she would come here now, to talk to an inmate who didn't even have a proper name either. The letter was burning a hole in her hand, where it was clenched between her fingers.

She was escorted wordlessly through the musky halls. The corridors were lit only by the tiny windows in the stone walls and the occasional torches on either sides of the doors. No communication was ever allowed in or out of this prison. These prisoners had no one on the outside to talk to. Most of them were locked in solitary confinement anyway.

"The cell at the very end of the hall." Her escort, a burly man with a bald head, said.

He stopped walking with her, and she nodded, continuing on alone. Her footsteps seemed to echo down the hallway, but none of the other occupants in the cells stirred. This place unnerved her, but the letter in her hand and the cell at the end of the hall unnerved her more. She stopped two feet from the door, solid steel with only a small slot to peer inside the room beyond.

Aerith tugged the scarf from her head and reached up, sliding the slot open and looking inside. She said nothing and could see no one on the other side of the door. The occupant said nothing, but she knew he was there. She narrowed her eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?" She snapped.

The inmate stirred. "I believe I should be asking you that. You're the one who just interrupted my solitary afternoon, m'dear."

Aerith seethed, lifting the letter. "Don't you dare—There's no way you could have access to this information."

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was able to make out the wiry figure of the man as he stood, sauntering over to the door. His voice was low and silky.

"Clearly." He whispered.

Aerith recoiled slightly. She would have to tread carefully with him. She hadn't been prepared for this molten rage that had erupted from her core upon being this close to him. To this monster. To this beast who had destroyed entire lives. She thought she had been strong enough to face him alone…but this…this hatred that was boiling inside her…She hadn't expected it to burn so strongly.

"Why did you send this to me?" She asked, as calmly as possible.

He leaned closer, eyes almost visible from the darkness of the room. "Conflict is interesting. And I have been very, very bored."

His nonchalant, almost teasing tone sent her over the edge. Aerith snarled and lifted her hand. Her mind snapped down to her fingertips, and she felt energy pour out of the stone and the fire around her. The essence spiraled toward her arm as though summoned and then jettisoned out of her palm. The magic illuminated the cell and twisted in thick vines around the man, slamming him against the opposite wall.

"Hey!" The bald guard was running up behind her. "You said you were just talking!"

Aerith hissed and withdrew her hand, flexing her fingers at her sides. The man staggered as he was released, but the fading light of the undercurrent magic illuminated his haggard appearance and grinning, twisted lips. The climate of this world made the core of Agrabah dry, hot, and temperamental, and as she had channeled the undercurrent, Aerith felt her own emotions being compromised.

Horror began to set in.

She had almost…

"You're done." The guard said, cautiously moving her away from the cell.

"I'm done." Aerith lifted a hand to her forehead, trembling suddenly.

She had almost lost control. She could have easily…

"Very interesting." The inmate said fluidly from inside the cell.

She turned her back to him, closing her eyes as she retreated down the hallway.

"You would have made an excellent specimen in Project Stasis." He called after her.

Aerith felt nausea sweep through her and she staggered out of Jinx and back out into the open air of Agrabah. She leaned against the outer wall and lifted a hand to her mouth, mortified. Things were starting to get out of control. What was she doing?

The letter in her hands was singed from the magic, and as she looked down, she could only make out three words amidst the long letter of secrets and upheaval.

He is alive.

..:-X-:..

A/N: Although it may seem disjointed, A LOT of stuff was just revealed in this chapter. Some of it pretty obvious; some more obscure. Lots of teasers in this one for Sentient Midnight. Mwahaha.

Preview for next week: What had started as a mere costume party under Aerith's direction at Merlin's house had, under Yuffie's reign, mutated into a block party of glow sticks, dry ice cauldrons, and so much candy that you could FEEL the sugar on your skin just by walking through the Borough.