A/N: I have returned! Hopefully this chapter will be as exciting as I hope it to be. It should be, considering this is the climax… only two more chapters after this one!

Well, enough talking. Review Replies!

Melody: It happens, though I'm unsure of which of my readers you are, haha (if you HAVE read and reviewed before, that is…) Thanks for reading! You'll see what happens now!

Now, ONWARD!

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Chapter Nine: The Two Keys

"Kill him," Hertz commanded of Alfendi, pointing at Eric. My heart dropped in the general direction of my feet as I watched Alfendi step away from Eric. Eric staggered slightly at the sudden lack of support, hissing softly at his side, before looking up at the teen. Alfendi turned to face Eric, raised his sword…

…And suddenly spun around, taking a slash at Hertz, who gasped in surprise, jumping back just in time to avoid the blade.

"What…?" Eric asked in confusion.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Hertz demanded, glaring at Alfendi, who's amber eyes were burning with anger and hatred.

"This is as far as this goes, Hertz," he snarled. The woman scowled at the boy, but retreated.

"No matter. I still have the Chalice of Youth," she spat at us, before turning and running. I darted over to the bars closest to the boys.

"Alfendi!" I gasped in relief. "You broke her control?"

"Ha. Right," Alfendi snorted, laying the sword down and coming over to the cage I was trapped in. "It was an act, Flora. I thought you were smart enough to realize that much," he said. I tipped my head in surprise, confused.

"It… was a convincing act," I said, catching the amused smirk that flashed across Alfendi's face before he lowered his head, inspecting the lock and shaking his head.

"A puzzle lock," he muttered, getting to work on it, before glancing up at me. "Didn't you see all the clues I left for you? Not to mention how much I held back when we fought." There was a click as he finished the puzzle. "You're getting rusty by the way," he added with a smirk.

"I didn't want to hurt you," I said, before throwing my arms around the boy. "But I'm so happy you're okay!"

"Ack! Flora! Get off!" Alfendi yelled, his arms flailing as he tried to push me away. I didn't let go for a few more minutes though. "Flora!" he groaned again. I laughed and finally stepped back.

"So, that's the Staff of Wisdom," Eric said, moving closer to study the silver rod I still held in my hand. Alfendi, once straightening his jacket, also turned an interested eye to it. I nodded, looking down at it as well. We were quiet for a few minutes, before Eric looked at me.

"Well, do you feel any smarter?" he asked. I chuckled softly, before growing serious.

"No, but we should definitely return to Caneopa. Ten to one, that's where Hertz is headed. And… who knows what she'll do once she gets there," I said. Both boys nodded in determination, and we began to make our way out of The City of Silver.

…

The return trip still took a while, thanks to Eric. It's not like he purposely went slow, but without any pain medicine (the bottle in the river, thanks to Hertz, was the only one I had), he really couldn't help it.

When we did return, however, we found everyone in the center square. The festival was underway, and everyone was gathered for the show…

…except that it was Hertz on stage. Alfendi suddenly whipped the front of his shirt up over his mouth and nose.

"Don't breathe the powder in!" he said, pointing up. I looked up, noticing a fine, white powder drifting down over the crowd. Eric did as well, and we followed Alfendi's lead.

As it reached the heads of the crowd… Hertz began to sing. I felt my focus begin to narrow in on the sound, but fought it.

Unfortunately, everyone who breathed in the powder, which I now knew, without a doubt, was spread by Hertz, turned towards the woman on stage, focusing solely on her. She smirked, her eyes sweeping over the crowd… until she spotted us.

"Get the staff!" she yelled, pointing towards the Staff of Wisdom I still clutched. Everyone turned in our direction, and Alfendi suddenly snatched the staff from me.

"Get the Chalice!" he yelled, before taking off through the streets of Caneopa. I nodded after him, before looking at Eric.

"Call Scotland Yard," I told him, before quickly making my way towards the stage. The powder had settled by now, allowing me to breathe freely. I climbed up onto the stage, noticing that it was set up for a show that included some sort of battle.

"You," Hertz spat, narrowing her eyes at me.

A true English Lady prefers her wits over her brawn, I thought, remembering the words of the Professor. "Roma Hertz," I said, taking a deep, steadying breath. "I challenge you to a puzzle duel!"

"Interesting," Hertz mumbled, walking towards me. She stopped just for a moment, picking up one of the swords, which, with dread, I realized were real. "But I think I'll pass!" She suddenly swung the sword at me in a wild backhand swing. I rolled out of the way and towards the other swords, grabbing one and turning to face the woman, who had turned and was coming at me again.

Her footwork and blade work were clumsy. It didn't take a genius to see that she had no training with the blade. I stood my ground, easily parrying most of the blows, swaying out of the way of others. I hoped she would realize she was outclassed and would back off.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and I was forced to start pressing forward. She gasped softly as I took a step forward and thrusted the blade at her, but the woman managed to twist out of the way of the sword. I narrowed my eyes, noticing she was off balance, and pressed my advantage. There were many times where I could have easily skewered her, but that wasn't my goal.

She continued to back up, her eyes growing wide with surprise, until finally, I managed to land one good blow with the flat of my blade against her temple. She collapsed, stunned. I knelt next to her and quickly searched her bag until I found what I was looking for: the Chalice of Youth and the Book of Hypnotic Songs. I then turned to the front of the stage, seeing Alfendi race across the square, carrying the Staff. Behind him followed most of the hypnotized town.

Taking a deep breath, I began to sing the song that I had burned into my memory so many years ago in Seacreast. The song that would break the hypnotic hold Hertz held over the town.

Thankfully, it worked. The townspeople slowed to a halt, mostly looking confused. Alfendi didn't notice, however, and disappeared down another road on the other side of the square. I smiled, shaking my head, knowing he would notice soon enough.

I suddenly noticed a shuffling sound from behind. As I turned, blinding pain seared through my head, originating from just above my right ear.

The world faded to black.

…

A/N: Yeah…. So that happened!

I'm actually kind of happy Wolfiered23, for once, didn't see the plot twist with Alfendi coming, since they always guess the plot twists in my story! Well, I think I'll just go ahead and finish this one before continuing with my other story on my other account (Ace Attorney: Apollo Gramarye). The next two chapters are quite short, to be honest… heh.