The time finally came for Logan and Sprig to spend a day together after the whole jealousy thing involving Aline during the Magical World Grand Prix. In hopes of being forgiven, Logan offered his frog friend to decide everything they would do that day. Sprig opted to spend the day at Hollywood Studios to witness the greatness of cinema history. At the moment, the duo was on a little visit to Walt Disney Presents' gallery and exhibits.

"So amazing!" the pink frog beamed whilst admiring a display of Jack Sparrow's costume. "And to think that all these things have come out of a single guy's mind!"

"Actually, it's not Walt Disney himself that created all these movies and attractions, Sprig; credit have to be attributed to other artists who used the platform he created to show their own pieces of art," Logan informed. He turned to look at the poster of Walt Disney himself with the famous title 'One Man's Dream'. "But you're right. If there's one man we have to thank for all of this, it's him... Hard to believe one man's dream was enough to bring so much joy in the world..."

"Dude, dreams are what make this world beautiful; that's why they're dreams," Sprig pointed out.

Logan stared silently at the poster for a while, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I wonder if I have anything like that in me..."

"What was that?" Sprig asked.

"Nothing, nothing. Wanna go to the exhibit's theater room? I heard they're gonna show a preview of the live action remake for Pinocchio."

"Great idea!"

As the two friends headed for the theater, the sound of a commotion and screams coming from outside interrupted them. "What was that?" Logan asked. They quickly turned around and rushed outside the building to see a crowd gathered in the middle of Mickey Avenue, where a fight seemed to be taking place. A skeletal figure go knocked to the ground; Logan and Sprig quickly recognizing it as Jack Skellington.

"W-What's he doing here?" Sprig asked in surprise, as Jack rarely visited the worlds outside his own home world.

"What I'd like to know is who's picking a fight with him!" Logan pointed out.

Jack yelped as he rolled back to avoid a sword strike from his attacker. A young dark brown-haired man with cobalt-blue eyes. He wore a gray shirt underneath a black armor that had blue marks and white sleeves on his arms. The scabbard of his sword was strapped to his lower back. As he kept pressing on his attacks against Jack Skellington, his face twisted by an almost sadistic grin, Logan couldn't help but feel like he had seen this guy somewhere before. Then, the realization hit him.

"Hey, I know him! It's Caim! From the Drakengard franchise!" Logan exclaimed.

Sprig gave him a confused look. "Who from what now?"

"Caim. The protagonist of the first Drakengard game. It's a franchise created by Square Enix," Logan explained. "Kingdom Hearts is a franchise combining elements both from Disney and from Square Enix's creations; my guess is that he was able to come here thanks to the pact allowing Square Enix to put their own creations in Kingdom Hearts, the same pact allowing characters from Final Fantasy and The World Ends with You to come around here. Though I must admit Drakengard is the last of their franchises I was expecting to see here."

The man named Caim kept swinging his sword at Jack, the skeleton using his long, sharp fingers to deflect his attacks. "You're gonna pay for your crimes, you monster!" he exclaimed in rage.

"Would you calm down, friend? I have no idea what you are speaking of!" Jack defended himself, dodging and deflecting the sword until he pushed the man back with a kick.

Recovering from the hit, Caim simply gave an even bigger smirk. "You really think I'm gonna eat? I'm sure you can fool a lotta people around here, but not me, jackal!" With a battle cry, he jumped with his sword raised, ready to hit Jack again.

CLANG!

The sword collided with another blade as a figure jumped between the two men. An anthropomorphic wolf with silver-gray fur, a black mane that was pulled into a medium length swept back hairstyle, and a black beard tied into three braids. He had amber-colored eyes, one of them being smaller than the other. Standing at 6'1 feet tall, he had enough muscles on his body for people to think he might be a boxer. His attire consisted of a green military camouflage vest he left unzipped at the chest and camouflage pants. A crossbow was strapped to his back, whilst two survival knives were tied to a belt around his waist - though one of them was in his paw, blocking Caim's sword. He had black fingerless gloves on his paws.

Caim groaned as he was pushed back by the canine intruder. "That was a bit too aggressive and intense for a simple sparing match aiming to entertain the crowd," he said with spinning the survival knife in his paw. "What's going on here?"

"Stay out of this!" Caim ordered, pointing his sword at the wolf. "You have no business in this - it's between me and this thief of a bone pack!"

"Actually, I do have business in all of this." The wolf reached a paw into a pocket of his vest and took out what looked like a badge. "My name is Roman Volk, and I'm one of the agents in charge of Hollywood Studios' security. Therefore, I'm one of the first concerned people, when a brawl occurs in this kingdom. Now explain to me why you're trying to take down Jack Skellington with your sword!"

Staring alternately at Roman and Jack behind him, Caim rested the tip of his sword against the ground and started talking: "Alright then, I supposed you have the right to know. I've been hanging around here for a few days now, and during that time, I heard shopkeepers complaining about their goods being stolen. Stories centering around a common theme: a dark figure appearing on their monitor and making it through their security measures through supernatural means. This can only be the work of a monster, ain't that right, bone bag?"

"First off, I'd appreciate you stop calling me that," Jack defended himself. "Second, what makes you think I'M the one who committed those acts of vandalism?"

"Because you're a monster. And you're supposed to be practicing Black Magic, aren't you?"

Having had enough, Logan decided to interfere. "Calm down, calm down, would ya? Jack isn't the kind of guy to steal other people like this. Sure, he can sometimes get over-enthusiastic and get in trouble, but by no mean intentions. Plus, he already has everything he needs to do Black Magic in his home world; why coming all the way here to steal stuff?"

Caim thought about it for a moment before giving his response: "Very well. But in that case, who's the thief?" He turned toward Roman. "If you're a security agent, then you must have an idea, right?"

"Yeah, I'm aware of those thefts that happened in the last few days," Roman sighed with scratching the top of his head. "The other agents and I have searched across the entirety of Hollywood Studio without success... Well, except for one spot."

"Which one?" Jack Skellington asked.

"The old Nightwish Mansion on the outskirts of the kingdom," Roman explained. "It's one of the oldest residences in Hollywood Studios, but nobody has visited it in ages-"

"Perfect! That must be where the monster thief is hiding!" Caim immediately deduced. "Let's head there without wasting another second! Let's go!"

"No, wait, you don't understand! This place has been abandoned for an eternity-And he's gone," Roman tried to explain in vain, as Caim simply ran away without listening to him. "What's wrong with this guy? He's even more impulsive George Darling from Peter Pan." After saying this, the security agent pulled his survival knife away and turned toward the crowd. "It's alright, move along, the issue has been solved."

"That guy's soooo coooool!" Sprig beamed, looking at the wolf with sparkles in his eyes.

The guardian wolf turned his attention to the two friends once the crowd moved away. "Sorry about this commotion, folks. I hope you weren't in the middle of a visit or anything?"

"We were just going to watch a movie preview in the Walt Disney Presents' theater. But don't worry about it; we're used to being in these kinds of situations," Logan explained. "I'm Logan Jindrak, by the way. Member of the Dream Defenders."

"Good to meet you, son," Roman answered, shaking hands/paws with Logan. "And who are you, little frog?"

"I-I'm Sprig P-Plantar, sir!" Sprig excitedly answered, the sparkles never leaving his eyes. "May I say that you're one of the coolest animals I have ever seen?!"

Roman chuckled at this. "Yeah, looking cool is one of the advantages I enjoy the most about my job. That, and also the fact it allows me to teach a good lesson to those who deserve it."

"So, what are you gonna do about Caim? The crazy guy with a sword who attacked Jack?" Logan demanded.

"Guess I have no choice but to follow him. With his reckless attitude he could get himself, or someone else, hurt. I'm supposed to prevent these things from happening."

"In that case, can we help you? Fighting monsters is our specialty," Logan declared, giving a thumb's up whilst Sprig practically jumped on the spot.

"Sure, I don't mind some backup," Roman accepted. "Now, let's get on our way before that kid gets in trouble again."


Logan, Sprig and Roman managed to catch up with Caim just as he was about to leave the populated part of Hollywood Studios. The quartet traveled all the way to Nightwish Mansion, a huge house standing on a little hill overlooking the forest all around. It honestly looked similar to Draculesti Manor, the manor of Drake Von Vladstone. Logan's arms, hands and shoulders started aching at the thought.

"That Caim guy is pretty hot-headed," Sprig mumbled to Logan whilst looking at the knight from behind. "What's his story exactly? What did he do in his games?"

"Huh..." Logan nervously looked around and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't think that's a subject I should openly discuss in here. You know, Square Enix is mostly known for Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, two franchises aimed at a young audience and for those who wanna fight monsters and be heroes... Drakengard, however, is more aimed at adults and teenagers with a solid stomach. That's why I was not expecting to see characters from the games here, in the Magical World. Caim's backstory and role in the games are so disturbing, my guess is that, just like with Cloud and Sephiroth, this version of the character is more kid-friendly to fit with everything. However, one thing hasn't changed about him."

"What's that?"

Logan narrowed his eyes. "He still has a very unpleasant attitude."

The group eventually arrived at the manor's entrance. A lightning briefly illuminated the dark skies, making Logan and Sprig jump. "Why is the sky dark? We're in the middle of the day," Roman remarked whilst looking up.

"Alright," Caim mumbled, cracking his neck and approaching the front door of the manor. "Time to get in there and catch this item-stealer..."

"Remember, Caim, we're not sure the thief's in here. So let's just politely enter, ask the resident a few questions, and see if-" Too late. Caim kicked in the door, slamming it open with force, and walked into the manor. Roman took his head in his paws, growling softly. "That guy's driving me crazy!"

With Caim taking the lead, the group stepped inside the manor, finding themselves in a big hall that looked exactly like that of Drake Von Vladstone: ancient portraits on the walls, relics on pedestals, and worrying shadows on the walls. None of this seemed to bother Caim as he advanced with a decided step and got into the next room of the manor.

This room in question revealed itself to be a gigantic library, with hundreds of books spread across three floors. And unlike the entrance hall, this room was occupied by someone seated in a chair, a book in hand, a cup of red wine in the other, and a music box playing a soft melody next to him. "It is not very polite to break a person's door and enter their home without being invited," he remarked without looking away from his book.

"Huh, yeah, sorry about that," Roman awkwardly said, trying to ease the tension. "Our friend, Caim, got carried away. We just visited you for-"

"We want answers!" Caim cut his wolf friend off and stepped forward, his sword pointed at the seated person. "Items have been stolen across Hollywood Studios - the kind that only a Black Magic user would have use for! Do you have anything to do with it? And don't even try to lie to me!"

The figure closed his book, turned the music off, and stood up from his chair to reveal his appearance as a loud sigh of exasperation was heard. A tall man standing at 6'4 with a Herculean body. His skin was beige, and his right eye was a bloody red, whilst his left one was white with a scar running across it. His hair was black with a long fringe in the middle of his face. He had the face of a 16-21 aged man. He was wearing a victorian vampire outfit consisting of a white shirt, a dark blue jacket and pants, and black leather shoes.

"The young people of this generation have no respect for anything nor anybody. Back in the days, this attitude would have costed you months of hard work under my responsibility. Alas, things do not always change for the better," the mysterious man sadly remarked, taking a sip of the red wine he hadn't pulled down yet.

"En garde! If you don't intend to tell me where the stolen goods are, I will beat the answer out of you!" Caim declared, taking his fighting stance.

"Caim, calm down!" Logan ordered. "We don't even know if-"

"Permit, it is fine by me," the mysterious man politely interrupted Logan. "If your friend seeks a duel, then I would be pleased to ease his incendiary nature. Let us begin." Reaching into his outfit, he pulled out a tiny knife that seemed more useful in the kitchen than for a duel.

In confusion, Caim blinked his eyes. "What are you doing? You don't actually intend on fighting me with this, do you?"

"I do, sir," the man confirmed. "It is the only object that can be qualified as a 'weapon' that I happen to have on me at the moment."

"Well, go get something more useful, and return to fight after!"

"Please forgive me, my young friend, but it is not my habit to use my best weapons for a simple sparring match of this caliber," the man politely refused. "I am more than capable of fighting with this. Now, en garde!" Pulling his cup on a table, he stepped forward and took a firm, dignified stance with the knife

A vein popped from the side of Caim's head, his teeth gritting against one another. "I'll teach you to underestimate me, jackal!" With a battle cry, he charged and swung his sword at the stranger. This last one simply blocked the strike with his knife, not even flinching a little. Caim widened his eyes in disbelief before pressing on his attacks, all of them getting parried, stopped or deviated by the kitchen knife. The stranger didn't break a sweat, eventually pushing the young man back with a well-placed kick to the chest. "Impossible! How come my sword can't break through this toy?!"

"Your sword is perfectly good, young one," the mysterious man corrected. "Your problem is that you lack technique and your attacks are so rushed and predictable that I have no problem countering them all. Try to take a deep breath and come with a good strategy to win."

Not taking this advice, Caim roared and once again charged at the stranger, ready to pierce him with his sword. With a sigh of annoyance, the more experienced fighter simply stepped aside at the last moment, hit a chop on the back of Caim's head to knock him out cold, and then grabbed him with his arm before he could hit the floor.

"This will not leave you any injury, but you will stay out for a few hours," the stranger mumbled. He then turned toward the other intruders. "You three seem a lot more reasonable, but I still have to ask: did you come with the intention to hurt me or destroy my manor?"

"N-Not at all, sir!" Roman quickly denied. "My name is Roman Volk; I'm a security agent of Hollywood Studios. These are Logan Jindrak and Sprig Plantar. However, I'm afraid what Caim talked about was true; there have been thefts committed across the kingdom - flasks of various potions, silver powder, sorcery items, and things like that. Do you have any idea what happened, Mister...?"

The stranger placed the unconscious Caim in a chair before finally introducing himself. "Nightwish. Darkmare Nightwish. You may call me Darkmare or Sir Nightwish; the choice is yours. As for your question, I did indeed buy all the items you mentioned, Agent Volk. I had to do it at night because an experience went wrong, and I unfortunately did not have the time to wait for the shops to open. I snuck my way into the shops and left with the required items after leaving the right amount of coins. Did I commit a mistake somewhere?"

Logan and Roman exchanged a look at those explanations. "Did you just say 'coins', Sir?" Logan asked.

"Indeed. We still have to pay for items we wish to buy, correct?" Darkmare demanded.

"Yeah, but we're doing it with dollars and virtual money; not with coins, Sir Darkmare," Logan explained.

Hearing this, Darkmare slapped himself on the head, like he had just remembered an important detail. "Of course! Am I silly? I always forget that the age of using coin in commerce is over. Pardon my mistake; I shall bring the correct form of money to every shop tomorrow."

"Thank you, Sir Darkmare," Roman gratefully said. "And sorry again for bursting into your residence like this. Any way we can make it up to you?"

"Actually, there is one way, Agent Volk. You and your friends could join me for a drink; it has been a long time since I last received a visit from anyone. It starts getting a bit lonely around here."

Sprig leaned toward Logan and mumbled: "I'm not sure I wanna hang around this guy for too long, Logan; he gives me the creeps."

"I don't know, Sprig; he looks pretty civilized to me. Plus, I'd like to know more about him," Logan responded with interest.


After laying Caim over an unoccupied table, Darkmare left to the kitchen and returned with drinks for everyone. Red wine for himself, milk for Roman, and fruit juices for Logan and Sprig. Whilst he was gone, Logan and Sprig couldn't help but admire the hundreds of books standing on the many shelves and the scientific equipment spread across many tables.

"Wow! This is even bigger than the Historic Wartwood Town Archives!" Sprig beamed, sparkles in his eyes.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Darkmare asked upon returning. "These shelves contain the knowledge from the start of this century and even that of the former one. I have so many books, in fact, that it would certainly take months to read them all in one go."

"You're a great collector, I see," Logan remarked, with taking a random book in his hand. "This book has to be at least a hundred years old. Where'd you get it?"

"I simply acquired it when it came out," Darkmare responded as he went to take the book off Logan's hand and pulled it back in place. He then offered him a cup of apple juice, along with Sprig.

"W-When it came out?" Sprig asked in disbelief. He then tilted his head to the side. "Just out of curiosity, how old are you exactly?"

Darkmare went to sit down and picked back up his cup of red wine before answering. "Oh, an interesting question indeed. I must be around a hundred-and-forty years old."

An awkward silence fell upon the library, lasting many seconds until Logan, Sprig and Roman all yelled at the same time: "WHAT?!"

A chuckle escaped Darkmare's lips. "I can see you are all being taken over by an ineffable feeling, so I will light up your lanterns. I first saw the light of the day all the way back in October 1880, in Oslo, Norway - though it was called Christania back then. That being said, I spent most of my life in Nice, France. You can, therefore, say that I have French and Norwegian origins, with some Italian added in the mix as well."

"Yeah, yeah, that's good and all, but what we want to know is how can you still be here, if you were born before the start of the previous century," Sprig said.

"This is quite a long story. But to make it short, the assassin guild I was part of during my youth discovered a sacred location called the Lifeblood Pool. This pool contains a sacred liquid that can heal any wound or disease, and can reset one's lifespan as well," Darkmare explained. "However, it can only work for a few lucky ones. According to my ancient guild leader, the Lifeblood Pool can only work on one person every three generations. The lucky one of the 19th century turned out to be yours truly."

"So you're immortal?" Logan asked in disbelief.

"As long as the Lifeblood Pool exists, yes," Darkmare confirmed with a nod. "I have been in this world for so long - back when people fought with swords and shields instead of guns and other weapons of mass destruction. I met many good and bad people. I have seen and heard more than any other man..." He chuckled a bit to himself. "You want to know something funny? Not so long ago, I actually considered letting my lifespan run out, thinking I had seen enough for one lifetime... However, my mind was changed by none other than the Dream Keeper himself."

"The Dream Keeper?" Roman asked with a raised eyebrow.

"G-Gabriel?" Logan asked, too.

"Yes. I heard about him when his journey began. When my interest developed, I followed all of his adventures through the newspapers and also through words of mouth from my good friends across the kingdoms. After you saved the House of Mouse, my interest extended to all the Dream Keeper's friends, including you, Master Jindrak," Darkmare continued.

"M-Me?"

"Yes. I have followed all the Dream Defenders' individual careers through the years. I must say that yours was the most interesting to follow, alongside that of Lady Aline and Lady Rachel," Darkmare confirmed. "Do not misunderstand me; you all have interesting careers. However, I do have my preferences."

"But I don't understand," Logan said. "If you were out there and followed our adventures during all this time, why didn't you help when the Magical World was in danger, like with Hex's invasion?"

"Pardon me, Master Jindrak, but I always believed that if the more experienced ones always interfere, then the youngest will never learn. Plus, I wanted to see what the new generation is capable of," Darkmare explained. "I can say that you have all been impressive. Say, Agent Volk, I wanted to ask: are you from Russia?"

"Yes, how did you guess?" the wolf asked, surprised by his host's correct guess.

The tall man pointed at Roman's vest. "It's this vest. It was created in Russia - I know because I was there when it was created and introduced to the public. A nice choice for hunting indeed."

"You're right; I like hunting, and that old piece of cloth never let me down," Roman confirmed with a nod. "But say, Sir Darkmare, there's something I'd like to know: if you were born before Walt Disney himself, and you live here now, does that meant you've met him in person? And did you actually assist the creation of the Magical World?"

Darkmare stirred the wine in his cup whilst thinking. "It is a possibility... I cannot remember for sure." He took a sip of his cup. "You see, one of the biggest problems with the Lifeblood Pool is that its use affects my memory. Every time I lay down to reset my lifespan, pieces of my past are lost, never to be found again. This is why I always try to take as many notes about my life as possible between two rests." Standing up, he went to pick up an ancient-looking notebook in his collection. "For example, according to this notebook, I learned the art of fencing at the start of the 20th century, but I cannot remember any of it at this moment."

"Forgetting moments of your life seems like a tiny price in exchange for immortality," Sprig remarked.

"Indeed," Darkmare agreed and went to sit back down. "Thanks to this extended life frame, I was able to acquire more knowledge than an average man in a number of departments, noticeably in politics, history, alchemy, supernatural, chiropractic, shooting, and swordsmanship. Even to this day, I do not understand what made me special enough to be chosen by the Lifeblood Pool..." He took another sip. "An hypothesis could be that it is all linked to my status as a vampire and a werewolf..."

Another awkward silence befell the library as the three guests stared at their host. "Y-You're a vampire?" Sprig managed to ask after a while.

"And a werewolf," Darkmare confirmed.

The frog panicked and went to hide behind Logan whilst taking out his slingshot. "Stay away from me! You won't have a single drop of this frog's blood!"

"Easy, easy now, my young friend," Darkmare tried to calm him down. "You have nothing to fear from me; I am no vampire nor werewolf like in those stories you tell children to make them eat vegetables. I may have the body of an immortal and the blood of a monster, but my heart is still that of a man."

Roman gave a shrug and took another sip from his cup of milk. "That's no big surprise; you can see every creature possible and imaginable in the Magical World. We were bound to meet vampires and werewolves at some point."

Darkmare stared at his red wine with a thoughtful look. "My transformation as a vampire and a werewolf happened many decades earlier - I can still remember it as clear as day. However, while both transformation opened doors to many skills and powers, I made the decision not to further develop any of them by fear of losing control and creating a desire to hunt human beings."

"So you have both vampire and werewolf powers, but you don't use any of them?" Logan asked.

"Just a little," Darkmare responded before taking another sip of his cup. He then looked outside the window. "It is getting pretty late. You should be on your way, if you want to return home before nightfall. What do you plan to do with your hot-tempered friend over here?"

"I'll let him know that the theft situation has been solved," Roman explained as he flipped the unconscious Caim over his shoulder. "If he tries to come back here and attack you again, I'll do my job as a security agent and arrest him. Goodbye, and thanks for the drink, Sir Darkmare."

The three friends headed for the exit, Logan stopping on his way. "Say, are we going to see you around again, Sir Darkmare?" he asked.

"I don't know if I am ready to go back to the Magical World, Master Jindrak. I have been locked in here for a very long time, so much has changed" Darkmare responded. "However, do not worry; I will still be following your adventures and that of your friends. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Logan wished back before leaving the manor. Now alone, Darkmare kept drinking his red wine whilst thinking about the possibility of leaving his manor...

Author's note: You guys have no idea how excited I was to introduce the two OCs of this chapter: Roman Volk and Darkmare Nightwish. Those folks are the creation of my real life friends, Dominic and Lana. Roman's a wolf who enjoys hunting and takes his job as a security agent very seriously, but is a pretty chill guy between two jobs, and also the kind of friend who would pay you a drink after a day at work. As for Darkmare, his story and character are deep and complex, I had to fill a big page to keep track of everything. I also had to take a few liberties with the character so that he could fit in the Magical World Saga. For example, being over a century old was a must, so I added his amnesia to avoid him knowing everything about the Magical World and turning him into a Mary Sue. I also made him reluctant to use his vampire and werewolf powers - he's strong and experienced, but not invincible. And he is immortal, but at a cost.

I bet none of you was expecting to see a Drakengard character in my story... If any of you knew Drakengard at all. It's actually the spiritual ancestor to the NieR franchise. The thing is, Drakengard was an M-rated game (depending on where you live), so I had to tone down the character of Caim to make him fit into a K+ story. But as stated, thanks to Kingdom Hearts, characters from Square Enix's properties can appear in the Magical World, like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest.

Don't worry about the OCs; there's only one left to introduce. And guess what, he's gonna be introduced in the next chapter.

Next time: A sleepover at Manor McDuck turns to nightmare...