Namine sat huddled in the corner of a local tavern in the Lantern Kingdom called the Snuggly Duckling. Prishe was sitting near the center, surrounded by some of the shadiest characters Namine had ever seen, consuming huge amounts of food and downing entire barrels of ale and not seeming the slightest bit inebriated. She was even managing to maintain her figure for some inexplicable reason. She sat watching Prishe downing her fourth barrel of ale while the men all chanted…
"Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!"
When she finally finished the barrel she caused it to explode by smashing her fist through it and then casting some kind of magic spell, shattering it to splinters and broken metal hoops from the inside. The men all cheering as the barrel exploded, Prishe standing up with a triumphant grin as the cheering continued. She then leapt off the table and headed for Namine as the cheering died down in the background.
"What's with all the moping around Sev?" Prishe asked as Namine glanced away.
"It's nothing. Although, I guess I can see why you're considered the Sisterhood's Gluttony." Namine said as Prishe laughed, picking her teeth with a toothpick.
"Yeah. That's pretty much it but I don't have the ability to manipulate that emotion over others. Wouldn't be that practical in a fight really. But if it means I can eat all I want and not gain a pound, it for me!" she replied.
"Really?" Namine asked curiously.
"Yeah. Can't really do any of that sketchy stuff you and the others do. By the way, the reason I can't is the same reason you can't get into my memories." Prishe said, Namine scowling slightly and trying yet again to enter Prishe's memories but this time without any degree of subtlety. Prishe's pointed ears started to twitch in response.
"Knock all you want. I'm not opening up, Sev." Prishe replied with a smirk before a white gloved hand appeared on Prishe's shoulder. Prishe and Namine both looked to see a hooded Third standing behind her.
"I thought I might find you here, you filthy child." Third said to Prishe who smiled cheekily.
"No duh! We finished that mission so we came here to get a bite to eat. Right Sev?" Prishe asked as Namine nodded.
"Seven, I apologize for Prishe's tomfoolery but please do not be afraid to tell her 'no' in the future. She is a servant of the Sisterhood even though she is First's daughter." Third said but Namine remained silent, nodding understandingly.
"So who sent you? First or one of the others?" Prishe asked as Third glared at her.
"I've been sent to relieve the both of you. First has another mission for you Seven. Return to the Palace immediately." Third instructed as Namine rose to her feet.
"We will. Thank you Third." Namine said as she and Prishe headed for the door, Prishe pausing and turning towards the crowd of shady characters.
"Thanks for the meal boys! Next round is on the chick in the white dress!" Prishe yelled as the patrons all cheered and Third glared at her in anger, Prishe having deliberately put her on the spot.
"Get out of here you abhorrent brat!" Third yelled after her. She then glared at the patrons with a murderous glare.
"It's a good thing Fifth wasn't the one sent here. The bill would make her go insane." Third mumbled to herself.
In the Palace of Eternity…
Namine and Prishe arrived in the main hall where First stood rapping her fingers on the edge of the table impatiently, looking away from the door as the two walked in.
"Hey! We're back! Did you miss us?" Prishe asked as First glared at them.
"You're late." She said simply.
"Sheesh someone's in a foul mood." Prishe commented as First glared at her.
"You two were supposed to return the minute your mission was completed. However seeing as how this was Seven's first mission, I am willing to overlook that. Seven, the rule is that you must return to the Palace after each mission. Don't let this…thing…influence you." First said to Namine who nodded quietly.
"I understand." She replied.
"Good. Now in regards to your next mission. The World of Steadfast Stadium is a world that we have long left untouched, devoting most of our time and energy to the conquest of other worlds. They've grown complacent. It is considered a 'glittering world of light.' Many consider it a safe haven from us. It's time for us to correct them on the issue. Seven, it's time you were introduced to the worlds, to let them know that the Seventh Sister of the Sisterhood of Seven has arrived and that there are no worlds safe from our influence. Prishe will accompany you. She will prove…invaluable." First instructed as Namine nodded, while hiding a hesitant expression. She didn't want to harm anyone but if she were going to gain the Sisterhood's trust, she would need to do what she was told. She didn't expect someone else to object.
"Wait. I never agreed to this." Prishe said, defiantly. First proceeded to glare at her, looming over the young girl.
"Are you sure you want to challenge me? I will gladly follow through with my previous threat if you don't do as you're told, Prishe. Or would you rather follow my orders and allow me to, eventually, put you out of your misery?" First asked as she and Prishe glared at each other for a moment, daring the other to blink first. Namine quietly and subtly began to look through First's memories to try and figure out what was going on. It wasn't hard as the memory was at the surface of her mind and she quickly found a single memory.
It was a memory of a younger First, both of her eyes were undamaged, standing over Prishe in a purple and blue variation of her clothes but looking otherwise the same as she did now even in terms of age. Prishe had her knees pulled up to her chest and she was sobbing while her hand was clutched over her chest.
"Here's the deal, Prishe. Do as you're told and I will end your pathetic life. Defy me, and you will live forever while your friends are burned alive by my wrath, knowing that it was your defiance which destroyed them." First threatened as Prishe swallowed hard before nodding quietly and fearfully.
"Good. I'll let you sit and think about your…new situation." First said with a dark smile before slamming a white door with barred windows near the top. For a brief second, the door flickered with a number of hand drawn "keep out" signs, the exact same signs that covered Prishe's door in the basement below. Throughout the memory, Namine could sense the emotions that First had been feeling at the time: Pride, satisfaction, spite, but curiously two emotions stood out to Namine that didn't make sense: Fear and doubt. Why was First afraid and what was she doubting? What puzzled Namine the most though was the odd conditions for Prishe's cooperation. Refusal to cooperate meant life while cooperating meant death. Normally for most prisoners it's the other way around. Why was Prishe willing to cooperate, albeit reluctantly, when she knew that death would be hear reward? From what First had said in the memory, Prishe would likely be kept alive and forced to watch her friends be killed. The memory ended there and Prishe and First were still staring at each other. Prishe finally groaned and threw up her hands in defeat.
"Fine! I'll go." Prishe groaned as First allowed a small smirk to appear on her face.
"Good girl. Now get out of here." First said as Prishe grabbed Namine by the arm while heading for the door, an angered expression on her face. Namine also noticed something else, a faint twinkling at the corner of Prishe's eye, a tear. Prishe was upset and now Namine had an inkling as to why. Prishe wasn't First's daughter, she was First's prisoner. The fact Prishe had been around prior to First's losing her eye indicated that she'd been her prisoner for nearly ten years and since Nobodies didn't age like their Others would, it was Namine's only clue as to how long Prishe had been her prisoner.
"Does that have anything to do with her secret?" Namine pondered. They were walking down one of the halls in the Palace, Prishe still dragging Namine along by the arm, when Namine attempted to dive into Prishe's memories again but putting more effort into it, Prishe's ears twitching in response.
"Sev, I'm not in the mood right now." Prishe replied as Namine pulled herself free.
"Do we need to leave right away?" Namine asked as Prishe stopped.
"Uh yeah. Didn't you get that from the royal pain back there?" Prishe snapped back.
"Well…I'm delaying the mission. We need to talk." Namine said.
"There's nothing to talk about, Sev. Please…let's just…let's just get this over with." She said, clearly not wanting to go on this particular mission.
"What's the matter? You went on the last mission just fine. What's the big deal about this one?" Namine asked.
"I don't want to talk about it." Prishe replied, forcing herself to move forward. Namine could tell that there was something about this particular mission that made her hesitant to cooperate. Namine quickly followed after her.
"Then I won't press it. But if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you." Namine said as Prishe stop, glancing at Namine with a curious look for a second as if trying to figure out what Namine's angle was before continuing on. After a while of climbing a few stairs and passing through winding hallways, they finally emerged onto what at first appeared to be a large balcony but Namine quickly figured out otherwise. Namine quietly gasped at the sight of the world outside the Palace of Eternity itself: a barren and desolate landscape with black storm clouds permanently looming overhead. Namine now could partially see what the Palace itself looked like. It was a tall conical white structure that was so tall it nearly pierced the clouds above. Aside from seven stained glass windows lining the edges of the floor below them, the tower was otherwise devoid of windows. Only the large terrace that wrapped around the tower, the stained glass windows, and two large cathedral doors at the front were the only passages or windows into the Palace. Distant flashes of lightning could be seen in the clouds with the soft echo of thunder following after them. Namine could also occasionally hear a strange animalistic roar from above near the top of the tower but couldn't see anything that would indicate the source. Prishe put both hands to the railing lining the edge of the terrace, the ground floor being very far down below. Namine wasn't sure what Prishe was doing but after a few silent minutes, Prishe sighed and turned with a smirk.
"Well Sev, let's get going." She said as she opened a Corridor of Darkness nearby, motioning for Namine to go first. Namine quietly nodded, making sure the hood on her head was up, before walking through the corridor with Prishe following close behind. When they emerged from the Corridor, they found themselves in a city all aglow with neon lights, electronic billboards, and other fantastic marvels that made the city seem alive. There weren't any people around at the moment though.
"So…what do we do now?" Namine asked.
"You turn around and go back where you came from, witch!" a voice yelled from behind them. The voice made Namine freeze in shock. It was a voice she recognized. She spun around and saw a tall man in a clandestine black suit and sunglasses, long light blue hair and sideburns that dangled near his neck, a large sword sheathed to his back, and a large X shaped scar in the middle of his face.
"You must be new here, aren't ya?" Prishe asked with a smirk, cracking her knuckles as the man removed his sunglasses, putting them in his coat pocket, revealing a pair of marine colored eyes. Namine was shocked to see this man, the man she knew as…
"Saix?!" she yelped in alarm. The man looked at her curiously but with clear disdain.
"Saix? That name is familiar to me but I don't know anyone by that name. I am Isa, a member of the Steadfast Stadium Security Force, also known as the Turks, and you made a grave error coming here, Sisterhood Witch." The man said as he pulled a pistol from inside his coat, aiming it at Namine with his left hand. Before he could blink, Prishe had flown in, grabbing him and forcing his arm straight up, the gun firing harmlessly into the air, however they quickly realized that this was part of Isa's plan as the projectile wasn't an ordinary bullet but a blue flare.
"Now all of Steadfast knows you're here!" Isa hissed to Prishe who grinned.
"Perfect. Thanks for doing our job for us." She replied before leaping up and kicking Isa in the left side with both feet, sending him to the ground. Isa snarled angrily as he climbed to his feet, pulling the large sword from his back, revealing it to be a claymore sword. (Battle Music Cue: The People Fight – Final Fantasy VII, whichever version you prefer: Original, Advent Children, Dissidia arrangement, Crisis Core arrangement, take your pick). Prishe grinned and dropped into a fighting stance. Before she could make a move, she and Namine saw a red and white shuriken go flying past between them and Isa before boomeranging back towards its point of origin, into the waiting hands of Cissnei as she ran towards them, followed closely by Reno and Rude, Reno carrying a nightstick with a hand taser built into the base of the grip.
"Well look what we've got here Rude! Couple of Sisterhood flunkies. Heh, kinda hoping for the Sixth one but looks like we've got the short fry Fourth instead." Reno said with a grin.
"….." Rude replied.
"Whaddya mean she's too tall to be Fourth? Look at her!" Reno argued, motioning to Namine.
"Axel?!" Namine yelped but Reno rolled his eyes.
"What's with everyone calling me Axel lately? You'd think they could remember the name Reno. By the way, that's R-E-N-O. Got it memorized?" Reno asked with a smirk while Isa rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Lea, quit using that ridiculous nickname you gave yourself already." Isa snapped as Reno scowled towards him.
"Whatever, let's just deal with these two punks and be done with it." Reno replied but Prishe was grinning as she slipped her plated knuckles onto her hands.
"Good, I've been itching for a fight!" Prishe said before leaping straight towards them, rearing back one fist to attack and nearly hitting Rude in the head but he was a bit more nimble than she had anticipated, dodging the attack. He and Cissnei quickly teamed up to fight her while Reno and Isa turned towards Namine.
"So you're Axel and Isa's others…I see now." Namine said softly, glancing at Prishe as she fought with Rude and Cissnei.
"I might've been sent to attack Steadfast Stadium but I'm going to bolster its defenses instead…" Namine said mentally, looking at Isa and Reno and smiling beneath her hood, "…and I know exactly how to do it."
Namine then summoned her Keyblade and dropped into a fighting stance, the sight of the Keyblade mildly alarming the two.
"A Keyblade! I haven't seen one of those since…" Isa said as Reno grimaced slightly.
"Yeah since we met that kid back home…Venice was his name, wasn't it?" Reno asked as Isa rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Ventus, you idiot." Isa mumbled.
"Ri~ght. So mind if I ask whose butt we have the pleasure of kicking tonight?" Reno asked as Namine smiled slightly.
"I'm Seven, the Seventh Sister of the Sisterhood of Seven." Namine replied before charging forward, Isa and Reno quickly raising their weapons but Namine quickly slid to one side so as to prioritize Isa as her target. Isa let out an enraged yell as he swung his claymore at her but Namine deflected it, the power of his swing being enough to knock her back a bit.
"He's stronger than I thought! I need to get in closer if I'm going to pull this off!" She said mentally as she slid across the ground on her feet from the sheer force of the attack. She then adopted Riku's fighting stance as a white and yellow glow appeared around her.
"GIVE ME STRENGTH!" She shouted as she entered her Brave Form, a Drive Form based off of Riku's memories. She immediately started moving faster, a trail of light streaming off of her Keyblade as she charged towards the two again.
"Get ready Lea! Here she comes!" Isa ordered as Reno scoffed, resting his nightstick on his shoulder.
"I got this one." He said as he stepped forward and reared back his nightstick, preparing to attack when Namine suddenly slipped around him and looked like she was heading for Isa but just as Reno was caught off guard, she quickly spun around a full one eighty degrees so that Reno was to her left and Isa to her right, quickly placing her hand on the back of Reno's head while blocking defensive strike from Isa with her Keyblade.
"Remember!" Namine said mentally as she quickly searched Reno's memories and soon found what she was looking for. She smiled to herself as she unlocked the memories she had been seeking, causing Reno to drop to one knee with a yelp of alarm.
"Lea! You alright?!" Isa asked but didn't have a chance to help his friend as Namine came back around with an attack with her Keyblade. Isa attempted to defend himself but his claymore was smacked out of his hand, allowing Namine to slam her hand into his face.
"Remember!" she said mentally, finding the memories she was looking for and unlocking them within Isa, causing him to drop to one knee with a grunt of pain. Namine quickly leapt back, hoping her gambit had paid off. She glanced over to where Rude and Cissnei were fighting with Prishe and it was clear that Prishe had them both outmatched, Rude's sunglasses were broken and missing a lens while Cissnei's left arm was dangling limp like it was broken. Reno and Isa began to climb to their feet, perplexed by what had happened. (End Battle Music)
"Isa? You good?" Reno asked as he picked up his nightstick.
"Fine. You?" Isa replied.
"Ditto. Not sure what happened though but I feel a bit warm." Reno said as Namine smiled softly.
"Then give me everything you've got! Try and defeat me!" Namine said as Reno smirked, his nightstick suddenly catching on fire but he didn't seem too nonplussed about it. At the same time, Isa looked towards the sky and saw the moon overhead, his eyes beginning to glaze over. Reno's smirk turned to a grin as he pointed his nightstick at her, flakes of burning embers starting to rise from beneath him.
"Your wish is my command! IT'S TIME TO BURN, BABY!" Reno exclaimed as a pillar of flames erupted around him. (Battle Music Cue: 13th Struggle – KH2 version) At the same time, Isa let out an enraged roar of fury as a soft blue moonbeam shone down on him from above, enveloping him in a beam of blue energy. Namine was smiling, proud of herself as she saw the flames and energy die down, revealing Reno and Isa now clad in the black coats of Organization XIII, Reno's hair now heavily spiked but still wearing his goggles and carrying two familiar chakrams while Isa now carried a familiar claymore.
The Flurry of the Dancing Flames and the Luna Diviner were back!
"It worked." Namine said mentally. Isa suddenly launched forward, attacking with new ferocity as he swung at Namine, attacking with berserk fury and forcing Namine onto the defensive. She managed to nearly get away from Isa when she saw a pair of flaming chakrams come flying in, forcing her to block, both chakrams crashing into her Keyblade but continuing to spin in place, sending off sparks in both directions. Namine saw Isa come flying in towards her out of the corner of her eye when another blur flew across and intercepted: Prishe.
"Man, when did these guys get so tough?!" Prishe asked with a grin as she blocked Isa's attack and socked him in the jaw. However Isa didn't flinch and quickly retaliated by bringing his claymore around, delivering a hard blow to Prishe, causing her to fly towards a nearby building, smashing through the wall from the force of the blow. Namine managed a quick glance over and saw Rude and Cissnei both incapacitated nearby, battered and bruised from their fight with Prishe. Fortunately they were both still alive and watching with frustration. Namine's attention was quickly forced back towards Reno as he recalled his chakrams and charged towards her, swinging both chakrams at her as she dodged. She needed to try and fight them but her Brave Form wasn't going to last much longer despite the fighting advantage she got from it. She then realized there was something else she could do and quickly dismissed her Drive Form, her coat returning to normal.
"We're gonna burn you alive, kiddo!" Reno said with a smirk but Namine smiled. She wasn't about to try and beat the two but she had to defend herself and make it appear to Prishe that she was obediently doing her part. Namine then took a deep breath, thinking back to her memories of Kairi, feeling a surge of light around her as she did.
"OH PERFECT LIGHT!" Prishe exclaimed as her coat, gloves, and boots suddenly flashed with a red glow, turning a decided crimson color with pink heart outline decals appearing on the coat. Her Keyblade began to float in the air and her hair even turned a crimson color like Kairi's own. It was a new Drive Form: Virtue Form, a Drive Form based off of her memories of Kairi. She then pulled back her hood, a determined expression on her face. She didn't expect Reno and Isa to come to a stop, a startled expression on her face.
"Whoa wait a minute! We know her don't we, Isa?" Reno asked as Isa seemed equally shocked.
"She may look like her but we have to remember that's not her! Remember these Sisterhood types fight on a different level than we do! They mess with our minds!" Isa replied before charging forward, his claymore ready to strike but Namine flew up into the air, her Keyblade floating over her head as her hands started to glow with white light. She then reached up and grabbed her Keyblade and aimed it down towards the two, firing off a sudden flurry of long white ribbons of energy. Reno and Isa quickly defended themselves by conjuring their specific element, Reno with a burst of flames and Isa with a weaponized beam of moonlight but it wasn't enough as the barrage kept flying, knocking the two onto the ground. They were a little stunned but otherwise unharmed by the attack and easily got up to continue the fight when a white blur flew across in front of them, smacking them both hard across the left cheeks, sending them both spinning to the ground. (End Battle Music) Namine's eyes widened as she saw the source of the attack. The white blur was Prishe, completely unscathed with not even the slightest bruising or showing even the smallest hint that she was hurt. Isa was preparing to climb to his feet but Prishe quickly put her foot down against his back, keeping him pinned.
"Nah-ah-ah! You lost moon brain. Take your lumps and stay down!" she said, cracking her knuckles as Namine landed on the ground, her Drive Form disappearing while she pulled her hood back up. Namine didn't know what to do. She didn't know if Prishe was the sort of person to permanently injure someone or kill them but she had to do something. To her mixed relief and alarm though, she didn't have to as a loud gunshot suddenly echoed through the street where they were, the recognizable smoke trail of the bullet flying straight towards Prishe's chest, knocking her back and onto the ground behind Isa.
"PRISHE!" Namine exclaimed but before she could move, she suddenly found herself trapped in a strange sphere of energy made of several large hexagonal tiles similar to a Reflect sphere but decidedly different somehow. She knew it was magic but she could sense an almost mechanical nature to it.
"Oh relax. If that could kill her, she'd have been dead long ago." A voice said from nearby. Namine turned to see Laguna Liore standing near Rude and Cissnei as Ren Heartwing tended to their injuries with Angelo standing guard near her and with Judge Gabranth standing near Laguna with his weapons ready and a stern glare on his face. Laguna was holding a sniper rifle, leaning it against his right shoulder.
"What are you talking about?!" Namine asked, clearly horrified by what had happened. She then heard a groan from Prishe. She spun back around and saw Prishe, still lying on her back, a hole clear through the center of her chest but miraculously still alive.
"Laguna! Been a while! Still got that lethal accuracy with a sniper rifle huh? Good to know some things don't change." Prishe said as she climbed to her feet, Namine watching in awe as the hole in her chest started to seal up like magic. Even her clothes were unscathed. She then motioned to wait, making a sour face, before spitting out a pointed sniper bullet into her hand. It was the bullet that Laguna had fired into her!
"Prishe...so how've you been?" Laguna asked with a pseudo-friendly tone as his rifle magically disappeared in a flash only to be replaced by an odd rectangular machine gun.
"Same as I have been for the past eight years. You know me. Nothing changes for me anymore." Prishe said as Namine looked at Prishe in surprise. She and Laguna knew each other! She quickly turned towards Laguna and tried to enter his memories but the magic sphere seemed to be interfering with her powers.
"So First still has you wrapped around her finger, eh? What's your mission this time? Kill me?" Laguna asked, but Prishe shook her head.
"Nah. Our job's done now. We simply stopped by to put remind everyone here that Steadfast might look safe, but it's not. The Sisterhood of Seven is still active and our numbers are complete! The Seventh Sister stands before you!" Prishe declared but in a tone that indicated a complete lack of interest. Everyone but Laguna and Gabranth all scowled towards them in anger. Namine noticed this and also noticed several civilians had gathered around, all of them looking at her with fear and worry. It was at this moment that she realized that she and Prishe had indeed completed their mission: they had brought fear to Steadfast Stadium. (I recommend, if you have the FFVII Advent Children Soundtrack, cueing up track six: "For the Reunion" for the sake of ambiance at this time.)
"Well now that you're done putting the people under my care into a panic, I'll give you both till the count of three before I call down the lightning." Laguna said as Reno and Isa both looked towards him in alarm, the two quickly scrambling to get away from the two, Ren and Gabranth quickly grabbing the beaten Rude and Cissnei, pulling them back some as Laguna raised a strange looking red remote with a dragon motif to it. Prishe arched a curious eyebrow, her hands on her hips as she stepped over next to Namine.
"The lightning…oh you mean Ragnarok? That thing you and Professor Von Drake started working on ten years ago? Sweet. Does it work?" Prishe asked, legitimately interested, as Laguna smirked, putting a small key into the remote and turning it, the remote starting to glow with a blue light. Namine wasn't sure what was going on until she noticed a bright blue glow in the sky overhead. She looked and saw a massive red flying machine hovering high in the sky. It looked like a giant mechanized red dragon. What made Namine worried was that the "mouth" of this giant red dragon was glowing with blue energy and the machine was tilted down so that it was pointed straight down, right on top of the two of them. Sirens and alarms started going off all over town, the billboards flashing with emergency signs ordering the civilians to "Initiate Ragnarok Activation Protocols!" Namine was visibly worried as she saw the civilians running into buildings which began to glow with hexagonal magic shielding of their own, the neon lights shutting off even.
"One!" Laguna called as he started to back away from them, Ren, Angelo, Gabranth, and the Turks backing away in a hurry.
"Two!" Prishe yelled, anxious to see the weapon fire.
"Prishe! Stop!" Namine exclaimed. Laguna then tapped a button on the remote, deactivating the shield around Namine.
"You should run while you still can! Two!" Laguna yelled. Namine quickly opened a Corridor of Darkness back to the Palace of Eternity and grabbed Prishe by the arm.
"Prishe! Come on!" Namine pleaded but Prishe grinned.
"I've been waiting for this for eight years! Finally, it's gonna happen! Come on Laguna! Give me your best shot!" Prishe called. Namine grimaced and smacked her across the back of the head with her Keyblade, knocking her unconscious before carrying her through the corridor which closed behind them. (End ambiance.) Laguna frowned slightly as he turned the key on the remote, deactivating the Ragnarok, the glow in the mouth of the red dragon machine disappearing before the Ragnarok itself disappeared into the clouds. The lights across town began to return to normal and the shields all deactivated. Laguna then put away the remote, crossing his arms with a sad sigh as Gabranth approached.
"Forgive me President Liore. But what exactly happened just now? What is the Ragnarok?" Gabranth asked.
"It's our deterrent to keep the Sisterhood out. I actually hoped to use it on Prishe just now. I owe her a favor after all." Laguna replied as he turned to walk away, leaving Gabranth to ponder in silence.
Back in the Palace of Eternity…
Prishe's eyes flew open. She was lying on the bed in Namine's room and sat up with a start, looking around.
"Wait…what happened?!" Prishe asked, almost horrified.
"I knocked you out. They were going to destroy the city just to kill us." Namine said from nearby, drawing something on her sketchpad. Prishe glared at her in shock for a moment before storming over towards Namine and slapping her across the face, startling the young nobody.
"You IDIOT!" Prishe screamed. Namine looked at her, confused and startled by Prishe's reaction.
"Eight years. Eight years I've been waiting for that thing to be ready! It was supposed to put an end to all my problems! I almost had it in my grasp and then you snatched it away from me!" Prishe cried, tears streaming down her cheek.
"I…I don't understand. Did you want the city destroyed?" Namine asked as Prishe grabbed the sides of her head and threw her head back with a groan.
"No! Not the city! Just me! The city would've been fine!" Prishe argued.
"What?" Namine asked but Prishe let out another groan and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Namine sat staring at the door in shock for a while, a red handprint across her cheek from where Prishe had slapped her.
"Prishe…what happened to you?" Namine asked, confused. She then looked at her sketchpad which showed a drawing of what appeared to be a girl with brown hair riding on a star with a white haired figure in black riding behind her.
"I need more information…and there's one way I can find out." Namine said as she reached into her sleeve and pulled out a star shaped lucky charm on a white metal chain. It was an exact duplicate of the one she'd forged in Castle Oblivion a year ago. She then looked at the drawing again, her eyes focused on the figure in black. She then closed the pad, hiding it inside of a drawer in her desk, before rising from her chair, putting her hood up, and opening a Corridor of Darkness, stepping towards it.
"We need to talk." She said softly before disappearing into the Corridors…
End Chapter 27
What is Prishe's secret? Why is she behaving this way? What is Namine up to? Find out in the chapters to come…
A/N: I had to include Isa, simply so we can answer the question of "what happened to the Others of Organization XIII's members?"