Guardians' Tales

Chapter XI: Growing Concerns

Era: Tranquil-Mystic Calendar

Cycle: July 13, 2548

Time: 21:00 Galactic Standard Time, 13:43 Resident Time

Star Cluster: HUB

Location: Ragnarok

Shin's POV

We ran through the hallway after those figures in the cloaks. Cosmos knows what they'll do to Terra and Roxas. You're probably wondering how we got out of those barbs from earlier, huh? Well thanks to weeks of training to control my thunder spell, I managed to generate enough magnetic force between my limbs and the vines to make them snap and free me, Isaac pulled the same trick and we bolted up the stairs, leaving Riku and Xion to burn and freeze the vines off of Naminé and Kairi.

We made it to the Airlock lift in record time, Isaac peering at the ceiling and giving me the play-by-play of what was going on above us as we ran. "Looks like the flamboyant one just locked the airlock door." He told me as we ascended up the lift.

I bolted toward the locked door the moment we reached the top of the lift. "For the love of-! He activated the auto-cycle!" I tapped furiously on the access pad only to receive the Access Denied message over and over again. "We can't get in until someone cancels it from the other side." I hit the door out of frustration after the seventh try. "How are we supposed to get to them now?!"

"That's the least of our problems." I heard Isaac comment next to me with a worrying tone. I saw him standing with gritted teeth as he stared through one of the glass panels on the door.

I looked through as well and saw the most terrifying thing that has happened to us today. Terra and Roxas were frantically gripping the safety rails of the airlock corridor. "What the heck happened?!" I shouted, but was cut off by the blue glow of Isaac's arcing body.

"I don't know, but now is not the time to worry about that." He suddenly gripped my wrist. "Hold your breath!"

He cannot be serious right now. "You cannot be serious right now." Unfortunately for me, he was serious.

Isaac slammed his palm against the door and I saw a brief flash shoot up the center, followed immediately by the sound of air being sucked through the opening as the door rapidly slammed open. I immediately saw Roxas and Terra start floating away as their grips loosened and their consciousness fade as they ran out of air. I was about to react when Isaac suddenly did something that was too reckless for how well it worked out. He threw me. Yep, he threw me into the airlock, directly at Roxas and Terra.

I'm not sure what he was getting at, but I quickly reacted and tried to grab Roxas only to barely graze his shirt. It seemed like Isaac had planned for this and flung his winged chain around Roxas' waist, quickly pulling him towards the rail and wrapping the chain around the safety rail. I refocused my attention on Terra and tried my best not to miss her. I wrapped my arm around her waist and used my free arm to grip the lip of the airlock roof.

'If I survive this, I'm gonna hit Isaac in the head.' I quickly ignored the thought and focused on trying to pull myself and Terra back into the ship, but the force of the airlock decompressing was more than I could manage with an unconscious Terra occupying my other arm. I felt my fingers begin to slide along the frigid metal plating of the interior and magnetized my hand to stop myself from slipping further. 'We need to do something about this hatch! Even if I managed to pull myself in, it's pointless if the hatch stays opened!'

I suddenly felt my torso tighten and looked down to see my waist was gripped by Isaac's second chain. I looked down to see that Isaac was arcing again, keeping his feet anchored to the floor and his right hand attached to the railing. His left arm was wrapped in the chain that was holding me steady, somehow the chain was retracting around his arm like an automated tow cable without cutting his skin like a thanksgiving ham…you know what? I have more pressing issues than figuring out how that works.

Isaac managed to pull me and Terra back into the airlock and tied us to the guard rail, I gripped the rail and held Terra tightly around the waist. By now I was starting to feel myself lose consciousness, I wanted to shout that we had to do something about either the hatch or the door, but shouting into a vacuum is about as useful as a chainsaw in a balloon factory. Luckily, Isaac had started making his way toward the airlock controls at the far end of the hallway, keeping himself anchored to the floor through the use of his powers. He eventually reached the controls, after what seemed like an eternity, and deactivated the auto-cycle. The hatch slowly slid closed and the room soon pressurized and I found myself able to breathe again.

After a few lungful's of air I checked to see if Terra was breathing; to my relief she was. I looked over to Isaac to see him reclaiming his winged chains from around mine and Roxas' waist and then gave me a relieved smile before falling to a tired sitting position with his back against the wall.

After I got my breath back, I calmed myself to say what had been bugging me for the past while. "That was reckless." Isaac gave me a confused look, as if he didn't know what I was talking about. "Throwing me through the air like that? What were you thinking?!"

He just chuckled at the response before he answered. "I had to do something before these two were lost in space."

I did my best to keep from shouting my next statement. "By throwing me?"

To which he simply replied: "Yep."

I had to pause for a moment just to glare at the dread head. "I can't tell if you're short sighted or just plain crazy."

"You'll figure it out." The airlock door slid opened again and we heard some refreshing concern emanate from the opening.

"Are you four alright?" I turned my head to see Aqua and Rinoa standing at the door way.

"We are now." Isaac replied.

"These two need medical attention." I quickly interjected before we got too lax.

Aqua quickly picked up Roxas while Rinoa took Terra from me. "You two come with us as well." Aqua ordered over her shoulder. "Who knows what effects prolonged exposure to space without environment suits will have on you."

We hurried to the medical bay halfway down the hall on our right. It was different from the rest of the ship since there wasn't red panels or teal-grey metal walls. It had a white ceiling with a number of bright lights to keep the room well lit. There were four beds mounted into the walls and three movable stretchers mounted on the back wall in case the medical staff needed extra space for patients.

Rinoa and Aqua placed Terra and Roxas onto two beds on the wall and hooked them up to monitoring equipment for vitals, cerebral signs, and IV drips.

Rinoa examined the monitors closely and breathed a sigh of relief. "There seems to be no adverse effects on their health."

Aqua walked over and examined our monitors as well. "Brain activity normal. Heart beat and blood pressure stable." She looked to me and Isaac who were hooked to heart and brain monitoring equipment. She examined my equipment first. "You appear to be fine, Shin. Heart rate steady. Brain patterns appear normal, but..." I don't like the sound of that. "It may be nothing, but I'm going to need you to stay here for more tests." She looked to Isaac's equipment and raised a brow at the readings. "Are you feeling okay, Isaac?"

Isaac raised a brow at the question. "I feel fine. Why do you ask?"

Aqua took a moment to answer, looking his vitals again. "Your Heart Rate spiked for a moment. Faster than any normal heart rate I've seen." She looked back to the monitor and scrutinized it again, before continuing. "It seems to have returned to normal so it must have been a momentary anomaly."

"Must be. I feel just fine."

Aqua looked over the monitor with a concerned expression before finally relenting. "Alright, you're free to go, Isaac. Just take it easy. I'll send these statistics to the school medical office when we land, just to be sure."

Isaac stood from the beds we were seated on. "In that case, I'll be in the passenger room." He left out of the room and made his way down the corridor.

Aqua moved over to Roxas' bed and checked on a few of the stats that were coming in before moving over to a drawer and retrieving a small syringe. She filled the syringe with some form of liquid before returning to Roxas and injecting it into the sleeping blonde's arm. She returned her attention to me and rechecked a few readings.

"Okay, Shin. Time for a few tests." She told me with a weary smile.

"I hope I pass."

Kairi's POV

I was walking through the corridor on the lower levels. We were all on edge after those guys managed to teleport aboard the Ragnarok after we had escaped the planet's surface at way past escape velocity. After we freed ourselves of those annoying thorns we tried to rush after Aqua and Rinoa only to find Isaac trudging his way down the corridor. Riku was the first to ask what happened and we promptly got the whole story. We breathed a sigh of relief at hearing the ship was free of intruders. Naminé rushed to the medical bay to check on our dorm mates, more specifically Roxas I'm sure, while Riku and Xion opted to check the ship for more intruders. Isaac went toward the passenger room to rest while Sora went to the cockpit.

I'm certain everyone was exhausted from the whole ordeal. The only thing going through my head at the moment was those three people. 'Those guys were on a whole other level. I don't even think that they were human. If they were, they must have made a packed with Chaos to get those kind of abilities. I wish I had that kind of ability. That kind of power must feel so…wonderful…being able to take on a rising Keyblade Master, a hand-to-hand fighter, and nine students, all of which are either fast, powerful, or completely insane with their problem solving skills; I can't even begin to imagine what euphoria that must be… I almost want to…'

"I did not sign up for this when I agreed to attend SOLDIER!" There was the loud shrill of Sora's voice to interrupt my thoughts…again. At least he's not singing in the shower. "I don't know what's worse. Virtual Life or Death situations with mental scaring or actual Life or Death situations with actual scarring." I turned a corner to see that I had made my way up to the second floor and into the resident section to find Sora in the recreations room. A large wall mounted couch that ran along the left and far wall with red cushions sewn into the teal-grey frame and Sora with his back to the door. He had taken off his jacket and was standing around in his sleeveless blue shirt, his jacket tossed over the back of the couch

I decided I would tease the guy. See if I could scare him a bit. We could both use a laugh right about now. "Sure was easier when it was all a game." He jumped back and tripped back onto the wall couch and I couldn't help but laugh at the display.

"Geez. Don't do that Kairi! You nearly gave me a heart attack."

I just laughed it off and walked over to the couch. "Did you think I was one of those three?"

"Yeah!" He replied with that over dramatization that you hear most snarky characters reply with.

"It doesn't look like they're coming back." I replied and sat down on the couch, well it was less sitting and more laying on it.

"They can appear through portals of darkness." He reasoned with visible worry in his tone. "They could appear anywhere at any moment."

"That's a good point…" I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about those three returning. "But with that kind of power there has to be some kind of catch."

"Like?"

"Like maybe they have to be able to see or know where they are going?"

"But they already know about the Ragnarok." That was also a good point. Man, Sora is getting better at wording an argument.

"Maybe it's more difficult with a moving target? That would explain why they haven't appeared again."

Sora just released a sigh and leaned back into the couch. "I'm not sure if we'll see them again. Roxas did throw them out into space."

"Unless they were wearing environment suits under those robes, I doubt we'll be seeing them again."

"I certainly hope so."

We sat in silence for a few moments. Either Sora was too tired to stir up conversation or he just did not feel like talking. I got bored after a while and rather than getting up to leave, because I wanted to be lazy, I decided to strike up conversation while turning on the large wall mounted holo-TV and flicked it to a random channel where Evangelion was playing. "Sora."

"Yeah?"

"There is something I want you to make clear for me."

I didn't see it myself, but I could tell that Sora was looking at me with a very confused expression. "What would that be?"

Honestly, I'm not sure why I want to know the answer to this. It's either my curiosity or I'm just that bored. "Do you still think you can attend SOLDIER after what we went through today?"

I turned to look him in eye, fully expecting him to give me a disapproving scowl. To my surprise he had a different look on his face. The look was neither full of malice nor that overly goofy expression. It was the most neutral look I've seen him give since we first met. It was as if he was saying 'Are you seriously asking me that?' like I was already supposed to know the answer to that question.

Sora just sighed and leaned back into the couch. "No." Huh? "I don't think I can attend SOLDIER after this. But I'm not going to leave."

At that, I had to rise from my laying position and look him in the eye the same way he had looked at me earlier. "What?"

"I'm not going to leave SOLDIER."

"Why?" A perfectly logical question after what just happened. "Why would you stay if you don't believe you belong?"

"Xion."

"Your sister?"

"Yeah…she's all I have left. Thanks to our mother's unfortunate passing, we were going to be separated and placed in foster care."

"I know, Sora. You told us already. Going to this school is the only way you two can stay together, but why stay here? Aren't there other schools that would serve the same end?"

"If there are, I wouldn't have time to find it. Not back on Spira. This was the quickest solution offered to us."

I just had to smirk at the reply. It was so ridiculously simple that I almost had to laugh at it. "That's some dedication for an older brother to go through just for his little sister."

"Wouldn't you do the same?"

My smirk disappeared at that. "Of course I would. That's why I'm here."

He just scoffed at the reply. "Sure it is." I jumped my hand up to his collar and grabbed a hand full of his shirt before pulling him close to my face.

"You're saying I'm not?!" I'm sure he must have been scared by now. Most boys usually piss themselves after I do this…most boys. Sora is not most boys.

"I'm not saying anything. My only concern is keeping what's left of my family together and making sure she keeps that smile on her face. Since Xion loves it here and enjoys being with everyone in our dorm, I am more than willing to put my concerns aside to make sure she keeps smiling." That was…surprisingly mature for Sora. I was not expecting that, not even from someone like Shin. "I may have gotten into SOLDIER by luck, as you put it, but that does not mean I'm useless."

I leaned back onto the couch and returned my attention to the holo-screen, a wide and amused smirk on my face. "You never cease to amaze me, Sora. Here I had you figured for a goof ball. Guess I was wrong."

"And I had you figured for an uppity diva. Looks I was mostly wrong." I eyed him out of the corner of my eye, waiting for him to deliver his obvious punch line. "You're only a little uppity."

"Am not!" And there is that goofy grin again. It's actually starting to grow on me a bit. I actually laughed at it a little…after I hit him in the arm.

Sora just chuckled and shrugged off the hit while he returned his attention to the holo-TV with a sly smile. "Are too." I could see where this was going. My more mature side would normally not allow me to stoop to that level; however, my childish side was bored and demanded I be entertained.

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Am. Not!"

"Are. Too.

"You trying to start something, Spikes?" I challenged him with the most teasing tone I could manage.

"What if I am, Red?"

I tried to suppress a laugh when he replied with that ridiculous grin, but it was useless as I ultimately started laughing out loud at the goof ball's face. "You are too much sometimes, you know that?"

I heard him start to laugh at the response. "More than once."

"I'm not surprised." After I recovered from my laughing fit, I returned my attention to the screen to see the show had ended and we were left in silence until the next show decided to start or until Sora had an idea for fun.

"You up for a little challenge?"

I eyed him with a raised brow. "What did you have in mind?"

"Up for a game of Street Fighter?" He nodded to the game center below the holo-TV and I just had to smirk at him.

"You think you can beat me?

"Oh, definitely." We met each other with competitive stares before picking up the morphing controllers. The controllers shifted into two PlayStation controllers as the character select screen booted up and the characters were selected. "M. Bison Versus E. Honda!"

Riku's POV

We searched the ship high and low for any sign of our pursuers. We checked the airlock again just to be certain that they were gone from the upper levels. We wondered back through the halls and checked each of the resident rooms, Xion took the right side of the hall while I took the left. In total we looked over eight rooms.

I made certain to check each inch of the room, not hard since the rooms were six meters long and four meters wide with two wall mounted bunk beds placed in the center that were two meters long each. There was a desk on either side right next to the door when you first enter and two small closets at the back of the room.

"You find-" I quickly whirled around and drew my sword before I could be asked any questions, only to find an equally frightened Xion jump back with her hands up.

I breathed a sigh of relief and sheathed my sword. "You shouldn't sneak up people."

She didn't seem to take too well to that response. "And you shouldn't be so jumpy!"

I shrugged off the comment and continued back down the hall. "You can't blame me for being cautious."

I heard her release an exhausted sigh. "I suppose not. We don't know if or when those three are going to show up again."

"I wouldn't be surprised if everyone is still on edge after all of that." I say that, but to my surprise I heard a lot of laughter coming from the recreations room. I peered through the opening to see who it could be that was laughing despite our current situation. I had a hunch as to who the first voice was, he's the only one who could disregard the severity of the situation by doing something as stupid as laughing…just like Zack…

I turned the corner to find myself right about Sora being the one who was laughing. What I wasn't expecting was to find Kairi laughing on the couch right next to him. She usually acts like she's better than him and rarely laughs with him as much as she does making fun of him; even then she rarely does it when a threat is around during simulation missions.

"This is new." I heard Xion comment next to me.

"I'll say. I never would've expected them to get along during an actual mission." I continued down the hall, ignoring those two and continuing with the search.

"You're not going to say anything to them?" I heard Xion comment behind me.

"Why should I?"

"You're just as much of a perfectionist, if not more so, than Kairi."

We reached the showers and I drew my blade since the door was closed. "No I'm not." I hit the open switch and the door slid open. I stepped through the door and looked around the sterile sea blue room.

"Puh-lease. All you ever do is study or train in the simulator room for hours." I made my way to the showers and checked them one by one until I checked all four and moved on to the four toilet stalls. "You rarely ever interact with us unless we do team simulation tests!"

I spared her a glance as we walked out of the room and made our way to the medical bay. "I don't see the need to."

Xion reacted about as well as you would expect. "Excuse me?!" yep.

"You're excused." That probably didn't help any.

She stormed in front of me and stepped in my way. "What is your problem?!"

I tried to sidestep her, but she kept getting in my way much to my frustration. "Do you mind? We have to finish searching the ship."

"After you tell me what your major malfunction is." It's clear that Xion is not going to budge unless her curiosity was sated.

"I don't have a 'major malfunction' I'm just doing what I'm here to do. Learn. Nothing more." I managed to side step her afterwards, my response having stunned her apparently.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I'm guessing she got over the shock and followed after me.

"Exactly as I said. I'm here to learn. Everything else is a secondary concern."

"You are such a jerk! How can you possibly be related to Zack?"

That made me stop in my tracks. I turned to face her, I couldn't tell what expression I had, but I'm certain it was far from cheery since Xion took a tentative step back. "I am nothing like him!" I realized I was being harsh the moment the words left my mouth and calmed myself a tad, but I was still very annoyed at the comparison. "Zack is an unfocused, uncaring, and inconsiderate moron trying to chase the childish dream of being a 'Hero'. I'm actually trying to make something of my life and I will not let worthless sentiment get in my way. Am I clear?"

Xion looked me up and down with a disapproving glare. I guess her image of me must have been shattered. "Fine." She huffed before continuing toward the medical bay. "Just remember that when you're alone with only your success to keep you company."

She was trying to get under my skin with that last comment. I don't personally care as long as I don't have to hear about it again.

Naminé's POV

I sat next to Roxas while he slept, he was running a fever at the moment. Being exposed to a cold vacuum can have adverse effects on the average immune system. Terra had recovered a little while ago and was sitting up straight while Aqua tended to her. She didn't seem to have any negative health problems from what Aqua told me. I guess it's due to her high magic affinity. Kind of like how Shin and Isaac have a slight immunity to electrical attacks. Shin was being unhooked from the cerebral monitor he had been hooked up to. I don't know the full details, but apparently he an anomaly in his brain patterns that supposedly cleared up a little while ago.

Rinoa came over to Roxas and placed a cold wash cloth on his forehead. "He should be fine after the medicine kicks in." I just nodded in compliance. Now that Terra was conscious all we could do was wait for Roxas to recover. "He'll be fine, Naminé." I felt her place a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Trust me."

"…Okay…" It was the best response I could manage.

"You must still be in shock from that fight." I heard Aqua comment as she finished putting away some medical equipment.

"I wouldn't be surprised." I heard Shin comment as the medical bay doors opened. I looked to see Riku and a visibly annoyed Xion standing off to the side of him.

"Wouldn't be surprised about what?" Riku asked.

"Nothing really." I replied. "We were just talking about the ordeal we just went through."

"Who were those guys anyway?" Shin asked. "They seemed very interested in Terra."

"Especially that creep with the shield." Xion added after moving to the right side of the room and leaning against the wall. Did something happen between her and Riku? It's like she wants to stay as far away from him as possible.

I looked to Terra who was rubbing her head. "I have no idea. He kept screaming about me being a…a test subject." Rinoa walked over and gave Terra a glass of water and some medicine for her headache. "He never even said what it was I would be testing."

"From the sounds of it, I don't think you would want to take the job." Riku commented.

"Losing a limb isn't the best selling point." Shin added.

"Anyway…" Riku interjected. "Things seem to be fine here. I'm going to bed." He turned and left out of the room, leaving Xion behind.

"Aren't you going to follow after him?" Rinoa asked.

Xion just glared at the door briefly before giving Rinoa a less hostile look than she gave the door. "I'd rather follow those guys through a corridor of darkness."

"Did something happen between you two?" Aqua asked.

"I'd rather not say."

Aqua exchanged a concerned look with Rinoa before looking back to Xion. "Okay, Xion. Just remember to talk to me if anything is bothering you, before it starts to affect your health."

Xion just released an irritated sigh and sat down on one of the patient beds. "If it does, you'll be the first to know."

"Ugh…" I turned my head when I heard Roxas groan.

"Roxas?" I asked in a hopeful voice only to find him still asleep.

"He should be fine soon." I heard my sister over my shoulder. "You can stay and help me keep an eye on him if you'd like."

"I will…"

"In the meantime, I recommend you get some sleep, Terra. Your magic helped you recover, but you shouldn't try to over work yourself so soon."

"I will, Aqua." Terra rose to leave for the exit when she stumbled slightly only to have Rinoa catch her by the arm.

Rinoa placed her hand on Terra's head and checked her pulse. "Maybe I should walk you back to your room." She looked at Shin, who seemed to be fine. "Xion, can you help me walk Terra and Shin back to the rooms?"

"I'm fine, Rinoa." Shin commented.

"No buts from you, mister." Rinoa firmly, if somewhat playfully, insisted. "Last thing I need is for you to fall out in the hall and suffer a concussion."

I heard Shin mumble something before he walked out of the room with the others. Aqua continued to organize the medical equipment while I continued to look after Roxas.

A few moments passed in silence until: "This is something I never expected from you, Naminé." What is that supposed to mean? "You're probably thinking what I mean by that, aren't you?" …I hate it when she does that. "No you don't." …I got nothing. "I never thought I would see quiet and reserved little Nami fall for a boy. And a handsome one at that."

"Aqua!" I'm not sure which was redder; my face or the Ragnarok's exterior. And Aqua just laughed, she was actually laughing at me right now!

"Oh relax, Nam. I'm just teasing you."

"Thanks a lot." I turned away with a huff.

She recovered from her laughing fit slightly and tried to apologize. "I think it's a good thing, Nam. You and Kairi have never been very social people."

"I was social." I denied firmly. "I talked to everybody at the art competitions who visited my display."

"But do you remember their names?"

"Of course I do. There was…there was…" Okay, maybe not.

"See?"

I just sighed in response. "I guess you have a point. I rarely left the house." To which Aqua just chuckled in response.

"You're as pale as a ghost Nam. Rarely leaving the house is a bit of an understatement." We had a small laugh together. If anyone was just passing by they would probably think that I was a ghost. Wearing this white dress doesn't really help anything. I bet if you saw me in a window you'd properly make up some kind of haunted mansion story or something. "I've never even seen you interact with a boy your age, let alone have a crush on him."

"I don't have a crush on Roxas. I'm just worried." And~ Aqua starts laughing again…I'm starting to wonder if I should try stand-up comedy instead of art.

"Keep telling yourself that, Nam." She got up and went to the medical bay door. "I'm going to check on Terra and Shin. Make sure they're not pushing themselves too hard." She exited through the door for a second, but immediately came back to tease me again. "Oh, and don't try to pull a Sleeping Beauty on Roxas, Sis."

"Aqua!"

She started giggling again. "And work on your shouting. You sound like a crying kitten." I conjured a ball of Mist and threw it at Aqua out of sheer embarrassment only to have Aqua dodge out of the way with that same teasing smile still on her lips as the mist hit harmlessly against the medical bay door.

"…Idiot."

Sora's POV

"Winner! M. Bison!" I lost…

"Yeah!" Kairi jumped up from her seat and preceded to gloat…again…by prancing around in front of me like she won the lottery…again. "Take that Spikes! Told you I'd win!"

"You got lucky." I stubbornly replied.

"You know, Sora; that only works if it's the first time you lost. This is the twelfth time in a row."

"And most people stop prancing around after the seventh victory." I plopped the controller down. No, not throw, plop. After Dark Souls II came out parents kept complaining about buying controllers their children broke after a few too many deaths. Afterwards, they decided to create a controller that bounced…and they have been known to bounce back into people's faces…even if you throw them across the room. You know, transference of momentum and energy.

"How can I not when you even switched to Balrog half through…after hitting random and switching to Dan."

"Don't remind me." Dan…who seriously uses Dan when trying to win an actual fight. He's like Diet Ken except more flamboyant somehow.

She plopped down next to me and leaned her back against my arm and crossed her legs on the couch, showing her white and sea-blue tipped knee-socks since we had taken our shoes off by now for some reason, I didn't care I was just trying to beat Kairi…which I failed miserably at, as you all know by now.

Sora~!

I know, I know, fourth wall and what not.

Anyway, I wanted to try to retain what shattered remains of my masculinity I had. So I just opted to stay quiet and not give her the satisfaction of another taunt…Which Kairi immediately saw through.

"What's the matter, Sora? Trying to maintain some sense of manliness around the superior player, hmm?"

'Don't answer her, Sora. That's what she wants.'

"Come on, Sora. Don't be mad. How about a game of Smash? That should be fun." I didn't answer. I just sat there and leaned my head against the couch. "It'll be fun. We'll just play a few rounds of free-for-all."

I looked over to see a playful pleading look on her face. I could tell that she just wanted a distraction from all of the craziness. How you ask? Because Xion gave me that look when she was bored and wanted me to entertain her. And guess what? It always works, right now is no exception; because Kairi has the cute factor going for her…Did I just say that Kairi was cute? I must've got hit pretty hard during that fight.

"Alright, alright, I'll play some smash with you."

"Yes!" She beamed as she picked the controller up again.

"But we should at least try to get the others to join us. It's more fun that way."

She leaned back and switched the system over to Brawl. "I guess you're right, but everyone is either resting or in the medical bay."

"Not everyone." We turned to see Xion and Shin standing in the doorway with Terra leaning on Rinoa.

"Just in time. You want to join us for a few matches?" Kairi beamed in a surprisingly chipper tone.

"I don't think so." I heard Rinoa comment. "We need to get these two in bed so they can rest."

"I'm alright, Rinoa." Shin replied. "If anything, only Terra needs to rest."

Terra just smiled meekly, she seemed a little unsteady on her feet, but was otherwise fine. "I'll be okay if I just sit down for a little while."

"How about sitting with us for few matches?" Kairi suggested. "The couch is pretty comfy and you can stretch out if you need to."

"Not today, Kairi." Rinoa replied for the blonde. "This one needs to lay in a bed."

"I think I'll be fine resting on the couch for a while." Terra weakly insisted. "My legs are starting to feel a little weak."

"Well~…" Rinoa looked around the room before looking up at the ceiling. "I really should get you to the rooms. But if you're having trouble walking, then it would be best not to force you to do too much." There was another moment of silence as Rinoa thought it over. "Okay. You can rest here."

"Thank you, Rinoa." Terra replied with another weak smile.

"But," Rinoa quickly interjected. "Only for a little bit. Your magic still needs to recover before you can do anything extraneous."

"It's a deal then." Terra replied and they came over and sat on the couch, Rinoa laid Terra on the part of the couch that ran towards the holo-TV. Shin and Xion sat next to me.

"What about Isaac?" Xion asked. "You think he would like to play Smash?"

"He should be in the Passenger Room." Shin told us.

"You mind getting him Xion?" I asked my sister and she gave me an annoyed stare.

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Because I'm older and asked you to do it."

"But you've been sitting here playing games the whole time!"

She had a point there, but I didn't feel like getting up so, yeah. I was gonna be stubborn. "And I'd like to continue sitting on the couch."

"Sora~!" Xion whined.

"Xion, please go get Isaac. After that I won't bug ya for the rest of the flight back home."

Xion just rolled her eyes and rose to her feet, leaving her cowl behind. "Whatever."

"Thank you." I replied with that half-grateful half-tired tone that you use when you're relieved to be done with something. But I didn't expect Xion to reply with with…well…

"Besides, you just want to flirt with Kairi some more."

To which I shouted. "XION!" And again, I didn't expect to hear Kairi shout with me or expect to see her cheeks to turn slightly pink. I turned back around to see a triumphant smile on Xion's lips. I am going to get her back for that when she least expects it.

Isaac's POV

There is nothing quite like watching the stars in space through my Aura Gaze. Why? Ever seen the northern lights? Imagine that except instead of a curtain or veil, it's the ocean during a cloudless night during a full moon while you're overlooking it from a cliff or a tree. Calm and shimmering waves rising and falling ever so slightly while the stars glistened and danced upon its flowing stage. I look at it sometimes in order to relax at night when I cannot get myself to sleep. I had hoped it could distract me from my thoughts long enough to process all that I had learned today…that was not the case this time.

I sat in one of the middle right seats in the passenger room, I had dropped my cloak off in the room we would be using to sleep in so I wouldn't have to worry about lugging it around unnecessarily on the ship.

'People in black cloaks. A break in at the Archive on Cocoon and at the Institute. Three Head Hunters out to get us. I'm starting to think going to an interstellar school was a bad idea.'

"I wouldn't say that, Moses." The Old Man replied, reminding me that I am never truly by myself. But I wasn't annoyed by this. Sometimes, it helps to have another perspective around to help you think through things.

My curiosity piqued I decided to press the topic. 'And what would you say, Old Man?'

He just chuckled at the query. "Traveling is good for the mind."

'Maybe. Just was not expecting all of this after two weeks.'

"That's life for you, Kid. It's up to you to decide how to proceed next." I don't mind having company so much, but I don't like it when people get cryptic while I'm trying to think. Gives more to think about than I want to.

'Right now…I think I'll just sit and wait. The others might need to know about this sooner or later'. That is not a conversation I am looking forward to having.

"A wise decision. Just pray that it is later, rather than sooner. We are still recovering from the war."

'Hard to believe it's only been four years since it ended.' The war…I'd rather forget that ever happened, but it's just too fresh in my mind to truly suppress.

"Many were lost during the fight. If it weren't for that Time Lord and Seraph-"

'Do not. Utter. That traitor's name, ever again!'

"Sorry. I forgot about that being a…well…let's forget about that shall we?"

'Let's.' The thought of that guy trudges up sore memories that I would rather forget. Even dead, he still annoys me.

Luckily for my sanity, the Old Man decided to switch topics. "What do you think they were looking for in the Cocoon Archives?"

'A better question is what does it have to do with our dorm.'

"I think it is less your dorm as whole, and more specifically a person or persons."

'What are you getting at?' I don't like it when he figures things out before I do. It usually ends with me in some kind of pain or distress...or a massive headache. Then again, that could just be my migraines acting up.

"Simple. There is a reason for their interest in the dorm's residence."

'Do you think they might be-?'

"That is an option, but I think it is more likely that they are after our fair magician girl."

'Terra?'

"Did you think I meant the red head?" Your sarcasm is noted.

'Why would they be after her?'

"The same reason why you feared to use your full potential when you were younger."

'The second soul.'

"Now you're thinking. I sensed a great power within the girl. Power that both she and the other are well versed in harnessing. But whereas our fair Terra is gentle and benevolent. This other presence is violent and malicious."

'The perfect weapon for a terrorist cell. Especially after the proposal Terra was given by that scientist guy. Then there is the planet we visited. Just silence and decay. I don't like it one bit.'

"I sense dark forces at play, Moses. Be vigilant. If Necron is on the move, the Fallout Wars will be the least of these people's problems."

'Aren't I always?'

"…"

'Point taken. I do tend to miss things from time to time.'

"Like the other twin souls."

'Who? Verus? I noticed that already.'

"But you missed the other two among the dorm."

"WHAT?!"

"Who are you talking to?" I quickly stood from my chair and whipped around with my hands up and my body arcing with electricity to see Xion standing in the doorway with a less than pleased look on her face. "You know, that's the second time that one of my friends has tried to fight me."

I relaxed with a slump and placed my hands back at my side and returned to my Mortal Sight. "Sorry. I guess I'm just a little bit jumpy."

"More so than usual?" I raised a brow at that remark. "I've never seen a guy more wound up on energy. You jump off of everything you see in simulation runs. Even if we're just doing something as simple as searching warehouses for a special chest."

I had to smirk at that. I used to annoy my mother with my antics. "What can I say, I have a hard time standing still."

"You can say that again." Xion walked across the wide room and seemed to gaze at the stars for a moment before looking. "Anyway, the rest of us are in the recreations room getting ready to play a few rounds of Smash Bros. You in?"

Smash Bros? Yeah, that could be fun. "Sure. I've got nothing better to do." Besides, sitting and staring at the stars, while relaxing, can get boring after a while.

"You could use the distraction."

"You're telling me."

"Who are you talking to?"

…Right~. No one else can hear him. "Just the voice in my head." Not the best thing to say in hindsight, but I'll be damned if it wasn't comical seeing her raise a brow with an extreme cringe factor showing visibly across her face.

"Uh~…"

"Smooth."

'I know what I'm doing.'

"Are you having fun with me?" She asked with a uncertainty and a small amount of offense.

"Maybe." I replied with a conniving smile as I left out of the door with Xion in tow.

"Why are boys so annoying?" I heard her mumble behind me.

I decided to have a little more fun, just to pass the time. "The same reason why girls are so confusing."

"And that would be~?" I could see the raised brow I was getting without even looking over my shoulder.

"How should I know?"

"Then why say anything on the issue?!"

"Just being a little pretentious. That's all."

"Ugh, I give up." I just laughed at the, otherwise pointless, victory.

As we continued down the corridor we passed by the rooms. I saw that the girls' room was empty while I saw Riku sleeping in one of the bottom bunks in the boys' room. That's weird. I thought I would find Roxas and Terra in each room respectively. I guess they must still be in the medical bay. Though I would've expected Riku to be in the recreations room with the others, despite his rather anti-social personality. If nothing else, I figured he would at least be sitting with everyone. To find him sleeping is a rarity, even back at the dorms he would be up till two in the morning just studying. I also heard Xion mumble something next to me. Did something happen between these two?

"You alright, Xion? You seem a little annoyed."

"It's nothing." O~kay…I don't think I've seen Xion this irritated before, even on a Monday morning.

"You sure?"

"Yes, Isaac, I'm certain. I've already had a talk with Aqua and I will deal with it later. Before it becomes a problem."

"…If you say so."

We eventually reached the recreations room to find Kairi, Shin, and Sora playing a stage from the game. If I'm not mistaken it's the Kid Icarus stage.

"Come on, Shin. Is that the best you got?" I heard…Rinoa? Yeah, I heard Rinoa taunting and noticed that Sora and Kairi were actually out of the match. I couldn't tell who was who, but from the icons on the screen, one had played a Star Fox character and the other…I think that's a Fire Emblem mark. Rinoa and Shin? Considering that one character, which happens to be Solid Snake in the snake eater alternate, has one life and over ninety-seven percent damage while the other, which happens to be Peach in a blue-purple dress, had two lives and twenty percent damage, it was not hard to deduce which character was which player respectively.

"How is she so good at this?" I heard Sora comment with the controller in his lap.

"And with Peach no less." Kairi added.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." Rinoa replied in a song like voice and threw a turnip at Shin who managed to side-step the move and make a run towards the constantly endangered princess of a constantly invaded kingdom. Rinoa, instead of trying to dodge, decided to set up a smash hit via golfing wedge from Peach's bottomless…you know what, I think I'll stop there. Shin suddenly fell into a pit, indicating an earlier prepared pit fall trap, and was promptly sent flying by a fully charged golf swing promptly followed by a: "FORE~!" from Rinoa Woods…do NOT make a twenty some odd mistress joke.

Dang it Isaac, not you too! I don't have enough spackle to cover breaking the fourth wall by every character!

Then I feel sorry for you in later chapters.

DID YOU JUST-?!

I ain't saying nothing.

Oh for the love of-!

At any rate, Snake went sailing off of the stage and into the unknown, and C4 lined, abyss known as THE EDGE OF THE SCREEN. I'm trying out my announcer voice, what'd you think?

ISAAC!

I'm having so much fun right now, you don't even know.

"Ah, come on!" Shin shouted after the words GAME showed up on the screen in blood red and black letters. The screen then switched to the victory screen showing Marth, Falco, and Snake begrudgingly clapping in the background with Marth in fourth place, Falco in third, Snake in second and Peach, obviously, in first.

"Don't be a sore loser, Shin." Rinoa commented.

"No, no. Not that. Just forgot Sora threw that pit fall a few seconds ago."

"I was going to get Rinoa with that, but then you strapped C4 to my back." Sora replied before leaning forward. "At any rate, good fight, Rinoa. I did not see that coming at all."

"Thanks, Sora. You three did pretty well yourselves." Rinoa looked up and finally noticed that we were standing in the doorway. "Hey there, you two. How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to see you follow through and drive Shin up the back nine." I replied and went to sit down a little way from Xion's cowl, which she promptly sat down with the cowl between her and Shin as she removed her shoes and drew her legs up to her chest. I noticed Kairi had done the same thing except she opted for one leg instead of both.

I noticed that Terra was laying on her back and was ever so slightly pale. "You okay, Terra?"

She looked at me and smiled weakly. "Just a little weak from our little airlock adventure."

I raised a brow at that one. "What about, Roxas?"

"He's still sleeping in the medical bay with a slight fever." Rinoa replied as she moved to hand me the controller. "Aqua and Naminé are looking after him right now."

"Okay." I returned my attention to the screen and proceeded to select my character, the one and only, Fox McCLoud while my thoughts processed the information and Terra's current state. 'How can she be that weak from being exposed to a vacuum for that short of a time? I understand that her blood would start to boil in the zero vacuum and low heat environment of space. But it was only for about thirty seconds, not to mention her magical healing factor. So how can she be that weak?' Before I could ponder further, the Old Man decided to enlighten me.

"I sense that the second soul may have had a hand in that one."

'What do you mean by that?' Xion selected her character, Samus Aran, the upcoming Galactic Federation's soldier that's been making a name for herself in the galaxy.

"Did you not sense the two energy spikes during the fight on the planet's surface?"

Now that he mentions it… 'I figured that was just one of the cloaks using some strange power and that Terra responded in kind to defend herself.' Sora selected Ness and Kairi selected Marth again.

"No. Those spikes were from Terra. And each spike was different in nature and vying for dominance while both were completely out of control. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

'Give me a break, old man. I'm not use to sensing magic. It's hard enough sensing any kind of magical energy around me. Sensing the magical essence of each unique life is next to impossible.'

"That's why you need to travel more. At any rate, that much energy being released back-to-back must have taken a toll on the young girl's body."

'Nearly being thrown out of an airlock didn't help things, I'm sure. Roxas is unconscious with a fever while Terra got off with a headache…and looking paler than a ghost that's been locked in a suit of space tight armor for twenty years.'

"Now you're getting it. You just need a little practice."

'I'll keep that in mind.'

"Now the question is, how dangerous are these spikes?"

'Or how useful they could be later.'

"Oh~?" He asked in that twisted twin-toned voice with an amusement that can only be described as a grandfather chuckling at the antics his grandchildren. "And I thought I was manipulative."

'Not manipulative. Just optimistic.'

"That's my boy."

"Alright, Isaac. You ready to get your butt handed to you?" I heard Kairi call to me with an elated smile as she hit random on the stage select and we were warped to Brawl's Star Fox stage.

I couldn't help but smile back with a sense of satisfaction at her ignorance. "I feel I should warn you. I've been playing Fox since the sixty-four."

Aqua's POV

I returned to the medical bay after seeing Shin and Terra in the recreations room. I had my reservations about those two not getting into bed, but since Terra was too weak to continue walking I can let it go as long as Rinoa keeps an eye on her.

I checked the readouts of Roxas' monitoring equipment. His body temperature had begun to recede back to normal levels. And his heart rate had slowed to a steady pace. All and all he seemed to be fine except for one glaring problem. His thought patterns were split across the board, and not in the way of he's having a weird lucid dream.

I looked to Naminé to see her swapping out Roxas' dry rag for a wet one. I figured I would take the time to tell Tifa and Leon what's going on with our residents.

"Hey Naminé, I'm going to tell the other upperclassmen how you guys are doing. You mind keeping an eye on Roxas?"

She looked and nodded with a smile. "Sure, Sis."

"If anything happens, contact the bridge using the communications panel." I exited out of the medical bay and went to retrieve Rinoa from the recreations room. I walked in to see Xion, Kairi, Sora, and Isaac playing a round of smash and from the looks of things, Isaac and Sora were cleaning up. "Rinoa, we're needed on the bridge." She raised a brow at the request, but figured out what I was asking soon after. "If anything happens with Terra, call the bridge with the communication panel." They nodded in agreement and continued with their match.

As we made our way to the bridge, Rinoa asked the obvious question a medical student would ask. "How is Roxas doing? Does he still have a fever?"

"Fortunately no. He has made a decent recovery. I have Naminé looking after him right now."

"Good. I would've come back to check, but with Terra looking like a bed sheet ghost, I couldn't afford to leave her unsupervised without a good reason."

"I got you…but there is a problem with his brain waves." We reached the elevator and rose to see Tifa at the navigation and Leon piloting the ship.

"How are our passengers?" Tifa called, still keeping her eyes on the wide range sensors.

"They're doing alright for the most part." Rinoa replied and went to take a seat in the co-pilot's spot.

"Naminé is in the medical bay keeping a sleeping Roxas' fever down." I took a seat at the communications station and swiveled around so I could face everyone. "The others are playing Smash Bros. in the recreations room with Terra laying on the couch regaining her strength. I told them to contact us if something goes wrong."

"Okay. So what is the problem?" Leon, the ever astute realist.

I exchanged a weary glance with Rinoa before I inhaled to calm myself before telling them the current situation. "It has to do with Shin, Isaac, Terra, and Roxas."

"What? Are they mutants?" Tifa commented as she swiveled around to face the rest of us with her leg folded on the other. Surprisingly enough, she was not far from the truth.

"Well…" I began with some uncertainty in my voice. "From the initial scans, everyone except Isaac has no physical abnormalities. At least, I'm not sure if Isaac has a physical abnormality." That got some stares, even Leon stopped piloting the ship for a second and put the ship into auto-pilot. "During his examination, I saw a few momentary spikes in his heart rate. He probably yawned a few times during the exam so that could explain a few of the spikes, but one in particular caused me to raise a few brows."

"And why is that?" Tifa asked to which I looked to Rinoa to explain it better.

"Actually, it was not a spike that you saw, Aqua. An increase in heart rate just means the heart is beating at a slightly faster rate than normal, but what Isaac's heart did was not a simple spike. It was beating as if his rate had been squared. The same heart rate repeated twice in half the time of a normal human heart. And that's only possible if he had two hearts in his body."

"Hold on a moment." Tifa interjected. "Are you certain that it wasn't just a discrepancy in the medical equipment?"

"We thought that at first when the anomaly disappeared just as suddenly as it appeared, but the equipment was tested before we loaded it onto the ship and everything was in working order. The only explanation is that someone tampered with the machine before it was hooked up or during."

"Which means Isaac must have done something to the machine." Leon concluded.

"Do you think he did something to machinery with his powers?" Tifa asked. "That could explain what happened."

"If that is the case, then why would Isaac want to hide the fact that he had two hearts?" Leon asked Tifa to which she couldn't give a proper response. I'm not surprised, I'm not even certain why Isaac would want to hide this from us. We were dumbstruck until Rinoa gave us the most incomparable answer anyone could give.

"Do you think Isaac's a Time Lord?" We gave her the most, 'Are you serious right now?' look we could muster. "What?"

"Think about what you just said, Rinoa." Leon answered for us since Tifa and I were still recoiling from the shock of the answer. "The last known Time Lord fought in the Celestial War and hasn't been heard from since. Why would he turn into a teenager and attend college when he has knowledge of Time Travel?"

"Maybe he's trying to reintegrate into society?" She replied sheepishly, uncertain of the answer herself.

"Isaac's anatomy aside…" I decided to move on since Isaac's anatomy was the least of our concerns. "There are other problems. The other three seem to have some adverse brain activity."

"That doesn't sound good." Leon voiced his concern, but Tifa seemed to be especially worried, more so than usual. My guess, it was because of Roxas. Since she is close to Aerith it only makes sense. I heard he had some mental trauma when he was younger, but I'm not certain what actually happened to him.

"Shin's thought patterns were abnormal, but were within acceptable limits for being exposed to a vacuum. Terra's brain waves were erratic, even after she woke up. From what we could tell, Terra seems to have a split personality."

"What would give you that impression?" Leon asked me.

"It was difficult to tell at first, what with her brain waves looking like an etch-ya-sketch being handled by a two-year-old on a caffeine trip, but if you look closely, there is a clear and active line of thinking that is the polar opposite of the Terra we know."

"Our little chocobo lover might be a psychopath?" I could feel the unsteadiness in Tifa's voice, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't thinking the same thing. "I don't think I like the idea that the most magically attuned member of the dorm might be a ticking time bomb."

"I know it seems dangerous right now, Tifa." I could tell I made a big understatement when Tifa scoffed a little. "And we'll bring it to Master Eraqus' attention when we get back."

"Okay, okay. We'll check her into the Headmaster when we get back." Tifa rubbed her temple and I noticed the bruise on her arm. That blonde did a number on her during that maelstrom, but that was the least of her concerns. "Now what about Roxas? He's been unconscious for the last half hour right?"

"He's physically fine, only a fever so far, but mentally…" I saw the fear and concern flash across Tifa's face when I hesitated for a moment. "I don't know how to explain it. Where Terra has a split personality, it's almost as if Roxas has a whole other person in his head."

That got Tifa to raise an extremely, if not understandably confused, brow. "What are you saying?"

Roxas' POV

"Where am I? A-and who are you?" I looked around the dark void to see a person covered by a white sheet sitting on an extremely bent tree.

"Your brother is in great danger."

'Cloud?' "What do you mean by that?" I tried to reach for my blades, only to find myself without them.

The figure raised a hand as if to tell me to calm down. "I am not your enemy, but beware our brothers."

The covered figure suddenly vanished into a flock of doves, leaving me with more questions than I came in with. "Wait! What do you mean our brothers? Get back here!"

After a long Hiatus I am back! Sorry about that, last few months were hectic to say the least. At any rate I have a few things to address. One, the title is not a typo. During my time off I started thinking a bit and my brain came up with a title it felt rolled off the tongue better, what do you think? Two, In that time my brain decided to redo a few things in the earlier chapters. Nothing too big, just a name change that will be mentioned in the next chapter. That will be done later. Let's see, anything else? No I think that will be it. As always, leave a comment and tell me what you think.