Pascal didn't get paid enough for this BS.

Which was saying something, considering the obscene amounts Ms. Gothel did in fact pay him.

But little white spindly monsters with zippers where their mouths were supposed to be and could defy the laws of physics by squeezing themselves through the cracks beneath doors? Hordes of shadow demons with razor sharp claws and ravenous glowing eyes making people vanish into thin air? It was almost distressing to think that the fact that he was currently aiding in the kidnapping of a minor seemed to be the least of his worries at the moment.

...wait…

"Just how old are you anyway?" Pascal suddenly asked, narrowing his copper gaze on the delinquent they'd picked up back near the police precinct.

Jakob's eyes widened and shifted about, apparently nervous at the odd question from out of the blue. "...er… n-nineteen?" He squeaked out, then paled and cleared his throat, adding a hasty but emphatic, "Sir," for good measure.

Correction: they'd kidnapped a just-barely-no-longer-a-minor-but-still-basically-a-minor-in-all-but-name young adult. Great. Because that was so much better.

Not.

He heaved out a low grumbling sigh as he closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered under his breath, "Remember, this is all for Rapunzel… for Rapunzel…"

If anything bad happened to that poor kid while she was supposed to have been under his watch, he'd never forgive himself.

Unfortunately, leads in tracking her down were slim. All he and Ms. Gothel had to go on at the moment were the words of this meathead punk they'd rescued from that shadow… thing, and even then he hadn't had much of anything useful to say. Apparently, he and his twin brother had parted ways with this Flynn Rider guy before the "master thief" or whatever he was had even broken into the condo and made off with Rapunzel right under Pascal's nose.

Best they could glean from this punk was the building Flynn had taken them to for his little heist right before ditching them for the cops to arrest. Which admittedly wasn't much to go on, but Ms. Gothel seemed to be hoping if they could get more info from the place where the thief had been, maybe they could then figure out where he (and thus Rapunzel) were going next.

It was a long shot, but it was all they had at the moment. Which is why the ragtag trio now found themselves all crowded into an elevator that was slowly climbing its way up the tallest building in Corona. Pascal just stoically stood there, still as a stone and doing his job of looking intimidating. He seemed to be doing it well too because Jakob was beside him, looking quite thoroughly intimidated. As for Ms. Gothel, she was currently turned away from them both, having a hushed but very clearly heated phone conversation that she seemed to be trying to keep private. A rather difficult task, seeing as how they were all on a very small, very not private elevator car.

Suddenly she gasped, jerking the phone away from her ear to scowl down at the screen. "She hung up on me?!" she snapped in indignant disbelief. "I can't believe she'd- to her own mother, why I can't even- I raised her better than this!"

"Was that Rapunzel?" Pascal asked. "She's okay?"

"Oh-ho, she won't be by the time I'm through with her!" she growled, jabbing a button on her phone so hard it was almost a surprise the screen didn't crack under her thumb. She then held it back up to her ear only to scoff in annoyance when it immediately went back to that infuriating voicemail message. Waiting until after the beep, she snarled into it, "When I get my hands on you, missy, your heiny will be grounded for the next century. You hear me? A century!" With that and a tiny harrumph, she mashed the end call button.

Jakob decided to take this opportunity to clear his throat again. "Uh… Ma'am? Crazy lady who-" he choked on his words as she turned a dark glare on him and he scrambled to rephrase, "Er, that is… Nice lady who…" Jakob muttered the next part out in a rush, "forcibly abducted me, interrogated me, and is now holding me hostage with an oversized goon in a monkey suit packing heat…" Insert nervous laughter before he spoke up once more, "Now that you know everything that I know, how about say, oh I dunno, maybe, possibly… letting me go?"

Ms. Gothel lifted her chin with a regal little sniff as she jammed her phone back into her purse. "We'll see if the information you gave us pans out first. Until we decide we no longer have a use for you, I suggest you remain quiet."

"But-"

She shot Pascal a look. That was all the silent command he needed to lock gazes with Jakob, droop his eyelids, and pound his fist into the palm of his other hand.

Jakob gulped. "Shutting up now."

Pascal inwardly groaned.

This didn't feel right.

But for the time being, he had to do it. For Rapunzel's sake.

The elevator chimed as it finally slowed to stop. They'd reached the top floor at last. The metal doors parted to reveal a long hallway lined with busts and statues, ornately embellished doors stretching as far as the eye could see, and cops crawling over practically every inch of the place. Only one of the doors partway down the hall sat open that was blocked off with police tape and had officers periodically entering and leaving it.

Eyes bulging, Jakob darted to duck behind Ms. Gothel, apparently trying (and failing miserably) to hide his huge frame behind her tiny form. Why was he trying to use her for cover when Pascal was clearly the better option here? Good question. Far be it from Pascal to fathom the mind of a teenage imbecile.

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Ugh, what are you doing now?"

"'Scuse me, Ma'am, but you sure you want me returning to the scene of the crime with you?" Jakob peeked past her shoulder to warily eye the small army in blue ahead before hunching down behind her once more. "What if the brass recognize me? Remember, my brother and I are s'posed to still be back in a holding cell, but we broke out. Coppers generally don't like it when you do that."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "Just relax, act like you belong, follow me, and keep your mouth shut. No one will give you so much as a second glance." She swiped his grip from her shoulder with a disdainful flick of her hand and stepped out into the corridor. Jakob hesitated, but only long enough to make eye contact with Pascal who gave him a warning scowl with a curt growl and gestured with his chin for him to get a move on. Jakob hastily exited the elevator as well with the bodyguard bringing up the rear.

With all the airs and confidence of someone who was supposed to be here, Ms. Gothel marched forward, making a beeline straight for that solitary open doorway that had all the police activity surrounding it. Just as she approached it however, a man in uniform moved to bar her way. He crossed his arms, gracing her with a flat look.

"If you would step aside, my good man, I have business in there," she informed him matter-of-factly.

He eyed her up and down, looking profoundly unimpressed. Then he gave a dry snort, "No you don't."

Unperturbed, Ms. Gothel lips parted. Before she could spin whatever lie she had prepared to get herself in there however, a new voice from beyond the guarded doorway suddenly called out, "It's alright, officer, you can let them in. They're with me."

As the policeman reluctantly moved out of their way, Ms. Gothel visibly stiffened at the sound of the voice. It seemed to be one she recognized, but not with fondness. Lips twisting sourly, she stepped forward and ducked under the police tape to enter the room, her two companions following suit. The inside of the room - a private vault of some sort - was crowded with cops as well, combing every inch of the place for any possible clues that might have been overlooked as to the whereabouts or true identity of the infamous Flynn Rider. Standing at the center of the room next to an antique table was one individual who stood out among the rest, as they were quite clearly not an officer.

She had her back to them as she appeared to be reviewing the contents of some sort of folder she had in hand. She was tall and willowy and dressed in an expensive looking business skirt suit. Her black hair was done up in a tight bun held in place by a hair clip fashioned into the shape of a raven with eyes that flashed gold.

With a bitter curl of her lips, Ms. Gothel grumbled, "Should have known you were in town, what with all the Heartless scampering about underfoot."

There was that word again. Heartless. Pascal had heard Ms. Gothel use it before back at the police station right before it had been ambushed by those monsters. Is that what those things were called? Why? And how did she seem so unfazed by them?

None of this felt right.

Closing the folder, the other woman turned to favor them all with a gracious smile. "Ah, Zoe, what a pleasure it is to-"

She interrupted her with an angry clearing of her throat, narrowing her eyes.

The woman frowned. "Oh dear, forgive my familiarity, old habits and whatnot. But that bridge was burned a long time ago, now wasn't it? Very well then. It's a pleasure to see you again after so long, Ms. Gothel."

Pascal heard Jakob suddenly make a surprised, tiny strangled noise beside him. Shooting him a brief glance, he saw that all the color had drained from his face as his wide-eyed stare had fixated on something. Following his gaze to figure out what had gotten the kid so spooked, Pascal spotted the folder the woman was holding. More specifically, what was partially slipping out of it - what appeared to be a black-and-white photo still from the security footage of Jakob (or quite possibly his twin brother, Pascal supposed) sporting quite an impressive display of bejeweled finery, including but not limited to a tiara.

Heaving a sigh through his nose, Pascal subtly shouldered the kid to get his attention and gave him a flat look that sent a very clear message.

Chill, doofus.

Jakob grimaced but nodded, using his sleeve to swipe away at some sweat that had begun to bead at his temple.

Seemingly oblivious to the silent exchange as her gaze remained focused on Ms. Gothel, the woman politely went on, "I see you're looking quite well."

"And I see you've been robbed," she replied bluntly and without the least bit civility, apparently having decided to forgo the pleasantries.

The lady gently shook her head, "Oh no, none of this is mine. I'm only here to oversee Corona's finest while they conduct their investigation, as well as ensure none of the valuables that still remain are damaged in the process. Merely a proxy on behalf of my client - a mutual acquaintance, in fact, which might interest you to know."

Ms. Gothel fixed her with a dull stare. "If it's who I think it is, I can assure you it most certainly does not."

She hummed a soft chuckle, her blood red nail polish prominent as she brought a curled finger up to hide her smirk. She opened her mouth, but whatever reply she had died on her tongue as her gaze shifted, seemingly distracted by the two new men in the room. Particularly Jakob. She cocked her head slightly. "...I'm sorry, but have I met your companions before?"

Stiffening, Jakob shrank in on himself and stared down at his feet, rapidly shaking his head, "Uh, n-nope! No, can't say that I've, er… that we've had the, um, the p-pleasure, ma'am!"

Folder momentarily forgotten, she set it down on the table, furrowing her brow as she took a small step towards him. "Are you certain, young man? There's something very… familiar about your face."

"G-guess I just have one of those faces, heh," he mumbled as he oh so discreetly yanked the collar of his shirt up to hide said face.

Pascal facepalmed.

The woman still looked unconvinced but before she could take another step closer, Ms. Gothel moved to stand in front of Jakob, halting the lady in her tracks with a withering look. "If you're quite finished wasting both of our time," Ms. Gothel said coldly, "there are more pressing matters to discuss."

"Oh there are, are there?" The woman quirked one sleek eyebrow, seemingly in subdued amusement. "My apologies, I was not aware. By all means then, enlighten me on these pressing matters."

There was a moment of hesitation before Ms. Gothel responded, her face clearly showing her internal debate over how much she actually wanted to reveal to this lady. In the end, she relented, "It's my daughter."

"Rapunzel?" she blinked. "Why, I haven't seen the dear child since she was no more than a babe. Just how is the lovely little flower?"

Pascal was surprised, though his years of training helped him mask it, his face remaining expressionless. His employer was a very private person, especially when it came to her daughter. He suspected the number of individuals who were even aware of Rapunzel's existence could be counted on one hand, so the fact that this stranger knew about her came as a bit of a shock. Just what exactly was Ms. Gothel's history with this mysterious woman?

"She's gone missing," Ms. Gothel further explained.

The lady looked dutifully startled by the information before giving a soft tsk. "Oh dear, what dreadful news, simply awful. You have my sympathies, but beyond my wishing for her swift and safe return, I'm sadly not sure what assistance I can be to you."

Ms. Gothel took a quick glance around. Though the room still bustled with the activity of the ongoing investigation, the police all seemed too wrapped up in their own work to be paying any mind to the civilians' conversation. Even so, she took a step closer to the other woman and lowered her voice, "The Heartless. They are your eyes and ears, are they not? And they're practically swarming over every last millimeter of this city at the moment. One of them has to have seen something, anything that could point me in the right direction in tracking her down."

Frowning with a somber little sigh, she said, "My dear Ms. Gothel, you know I haven't seen the sweet girl in nearly two decades. How would I even begin to know what to look for even if one of my pets had been fortunate enough to cross paths with her?"

"You have your ways," came her reply, her tone cool and even.

Her eyes crinkled. "Hm, I do, don't I? Well, should anything turn up, I'll be only too happy to pass the information along to you. Now that I know she's gone missing, I'll be sure to keep my pets on the lookout for her."

That… didn't exactly sound like a good thing to Pascal. From the way Ms. Gothel's eyes narrowed into slits, he suspected it didn't sound all that great to her either. However she made no comment on it, instead saying, "I saw a Nobody earlier tonight."

Pascal's eyebrows knit together.

A Nobody…?

"It all but scared the life out of my bodyguard," she elaborated.

Ah. The freakish zipper-mouthed thing. Got it.

Again with his employer talking about strange nightmare creatures as if they were nothing out of the ordinary. As casually as if she was merely commenting that she'd seen a squirrel at the park. First Heartless, now Nobodies.

Just who really was Ms. Gothel?

She went on, "And where there's one, there's usually hundreds. Have you caught wind of anything possibly leading you to suspect the Organization could be operating in town?"

And now there was some sort of Organization? Who the hell were they and-

You know what? None of Pascal's business. He was paid more than enough to make it none of his business.

But wait… dammit, should he be worried about the kid overhearing any of this?

Glancing to Jakob, Pascal's eyelids drooped. Nevermind, nothing to worry about there. The kid was so busy still burrowing his way deeper into the confines of his shirt in his continued efforts to keep his face out of sight, he probably wasn't even aware of half the things being said around him at the moment.

"The Organization?" The woman echoed, arching a slender eyebrow yet again. "Dear me, they'd certainly make frightful guests to have in town at this very moment, wouldn't they? However, I've yet to have anything brought to my attention that would be cause for alarm."

Ms. Gothel's glower would suggest she didn't quite fully believe this woman. She stewed for a few seconds before finally releasing a small huff of agitation and turned away. "Let's go," she hissed to Pascal, starting to stalk off towards the exit.

"Take care, Ms. Gothel," the lady called out after her, causing her to pause and glance back out of the corner of her eye. "If the Organization does have its vile little underlings skulking about town, I'd suggest you make haste in locating your daughter. What a shame it would be if they or any other creepy crawlies that go bump in the night were to sink their nasty little claws into her first, now wouldn't it?"

Her scowl darkened but she remained silent, merely forging ahead to duck under the crime tape and back out into the hallway. Seeing as how Jakob still had his head lost deep within the folds of his shirt, Pascal placed a firm grip on his shoulder, ignoring the yelp it startled out of the kid as he guided him towards the exit and outside.

...what was Pascal getting himself into?

It didn't matter. All that mattered was Rapunzel and getting her home safe.

The business woman watched them go, a hint of a smug glint dancing in her eyes. Then she looked to the rest of the room, considering all the officers at work as she delicately tapped a finger to her chin for a moment. One of her hands came up, flicking through the air a couple times in a bored shooing gesture.

All of the cops currently occupying the vault suddenly stiffened and went very still, their backs ramrod straight and their eyes briefly flashing a ghastly green color. Abandoning whatever tasks they had been doing, they all almost robotically began to file out of the room one by one. Soon, the lady was all that remained.

Retrieving her cane that she'd left propped against the table beside her, she made her way towards the large dragon statue that towered in one corner of the vault. "Now, my scaly friend," she purred, the emerald adorning the top of her cane starting to glow as she waved it before the massive stone figure, "show me what you've seen."

The statue's eyes began to shine that same noxious green.

"He got away… I had that no good, shifty Rider bastard within my grasp, dead to goddamn freaking rights, and the dirty sneak got away…"

Maximus was not having a good day.

And what exactly, one might wonder, was making it all less than stellar? Well, let's see here… for starters, he'd been led on a wild goose chase by a flying sock pocket from hell with a zipper for a mouth. He'd had the everliving stuffing zapped out of him by a ginormous freaking lightning bolt that'd sent him crashing out a window. He and the whole nightclub he'd been in had been attacked by little shadow freakazoids from another planet or dimension or who the heck even knew where. Then said shadow creepers had all up and disappeared as mysteriously as they'd appeared in first place and when Maximus had reported the attack to the first patrol car to arrive on the scene, they'd all but laughed in his face and told him he must be losing his marbles.

Yeah, today royally sucked.

But the cherry on the sucky sundae of it all?

Flynn bloody Rider had gotten away.

Actually, make that two cherries. The second one being that off her rocker broad who'd tried to convince him the flying sock puppet from hell was her cat Fluffy? The one who he'd told not to leave town? Welp, looked like she'd up and left town.

Or maybe not. Maybe she was just out getting her nails done and her hair permed. All he really knew was that wherever she was, she wasn't home at her condo. Neither was her giant gorilla of a bodyguard.

Maximus pounded his fist in frustration against the condo door, spinning around and pressing his back to it as he plopped down in a huff on the carpeted floor.

Once the chaos had died down at the nightclub and all those little shadow jerkwads had poofed all "ninja vanish" style, Maximus had done his best to track down Rider and his cohorts. Unfortunately, they'd pulled just a good a disappearing act as those dang critters of darkness, for he could find no trace of them. Nothing. Not a goddamn thing to indicate where Rider and crew had gone skipping off to next. With the trail having gone cold, he'd decided to come back here and see what other info he could get out of this shady dame. Maybe she still knew something that could eventually lead him straight to Rider so he could finally slap the creep in irons and throw him behind bars.

...maybe Rider'd been right. Maybe Maximus really did need to re-examine his priorities. C'mon now, here the city was under assault from honest to god monsters and all he cared about was hunting down Rider. But damn, he'd watched those things blink out of existence before his own two very eyes to god only knew where, how was Maximus supposed to do anything about that? Now Rider, he understood. Maximus was a detective after all, chasing criminals is what he did best. Best just to stick to his own lane, right?

But now it looked like he'd hit a dead end, what with the closest thing he had to a lead not being goddamn home. What was his next step from here? Was there even any next step? He supposed he could just wait here for the lady to return. But he could be waiting a long time, if she even returned at all. And even as he sat here, Rider could already be fleeing the city and long gone. No, every second counted here, he needed to come up with something else.

C'mon, Maximus, think, you crusty old bastard…

His mind began to replay the events at the nightclub. Maybe there'd been a clue right under his nose and he hadn't even realized it at the time. Could have been anything… something he'd seen, something he'd heard…

Wait! There was something… something Rider had said... back when he'd been talking to that girl with the hair that had to be any stylist's worst nightmare, back right before Maximus had interrupted them and tried to arrest Rider. Damn, what was it he'd heard him shouting to the blonde? Something about a… a…

...a festival! That was it! A festival that they were going to tomorrow.

Could it be this Starlight Festival that Maximus had been seeing all the flyers and banners for around the city? Had to be, right?

But why would Rider be going there of all places? Maximus would assume the crook would be doing his best to get out of town with the goods as fast as he was damn well able, or at the very least trying to stay out of sight and off anyone's radar. Yucking it up at some street fair didn't exactly scream low profile.

Regardless of it making sense or not, it was the best lead the detective had to go on now. If Rider was going to be at that festival tomorrow, then so would Maximus! He probably wouldn't be too hard to spot in the crowd even, not if he still had the girl with the mile-long glowing hair at his side.

Maximus tapped the side of his fist into his other palm with a self-satisfied smirk. It felt good to have a plan of action again. In fact, it-

His phone suddenly rang in his pocket, distracting him from his thoughts. Digging it out, he read the caller ID to see that it seemed to be the local police station before accepting the call and holding it up to his ear.

"Colt here," he answered, then fell silent as he listened for a moment. Both his eyebrows shot up his forehead. "I'm sorry, the precinct's been attacked by what now?!" Further quiet as he let the person on the other end speak once more. Then he barked out a victorious laugh, "Ha! I told you bastards I wasn't crazy!"

Elsa woke with a start, eyes wide and breath rapid. It took a second of her glancing about the dim hotel room to remember where she was and to realize she must have been having a dream. Or more rather, a nightmare. About what, she couldn't recall. She never could, though she seemed to be having a lot of them lately.

Windows indicated it was still dark outside. Yawning, her gaze shifted to the bedside clock. Sunrise couldn't be too far off.

A loud snore drew her attention to the next bed over. Sora. He was passed out and sprawled on top of the covers oh so gracefully with his head at the foot of the bed and his shoes occupying the pillows at the other end. He sounded like a congested hippo. Luckily, it seemed like Rapunzel was a heavy sleeper, for she was flopped right beside him in just a dignified manner, only rightside up with her head actually on the cushions.

Elsa couldn't help a small smile to herself. So those two had finally worn themselves out. With how they'd been excitedly going on and on about the festival into the wee hours of the night, she thought that they might not sleep at all.

As for Elsa herself, she'd probably been the first one to doze off. She was thankful to see that her companions seemed to have decided to let her have this other bed all to herself. She'd frosted over more than her fair share of pillows in her sleep over the years, so she'd have hated to have a person near at hand to be another potential target. But then she had to wonder where had the other boys slept?

Squinting about in the dark again, she spotted Flynn first. It seemed he'd drawn the short straw and had wound up curled up on the floor with a few extra blankets and pillows. At least it had to be one of the comfier floors in existence to sleep on, what with all the lush carpeting that came with a five-star penthouse suite. She supposed that meant then that Axel had snagged himself the couch for him to slee-

Scratch that. The sofa was empty, though a rumpled bedsheet still there suggested it had been occupied not too long ago.

Huh. Where could he be?

Eyes scanning about once more, she finally spotted him through the double glass doors leading out onto the suite's balcony. All she could make out of him was his back as he hunched forward, elbows propped against the railing while he watched the city below. Pushing the covers away, Elsa rose from the bed and, quietly so as not to disturb the others, made her way towards the balcony to join him.

As she stepped out and clicked the sliding door shut behind her, Axel turned his head slightly at the noise, glancing at her out of his peripheral. She grinned, quirking an eyebrow at him as she moved to take a spot beside him, leaning against the rail as well herself. "So along with all the other cool powers Nobodies get, you also don't have to sleep?"

One corner of his lips tugged up as his gaze returned to studying the streets below and he chirped, "Nope!"

She blinked, both eyebrows reaching for her hairline. "...wait, really?" She'd only been joking.

He snorted, shaking his head. "Nah, but you should see your face right now. C'mon, you gotta know I'm just yanking your chain, you saw me sleeping on the train. What, did you think I was just doing it for kicks?"

"I don't know, maybe," she shrugged sheepishly.

"Our bodies are practically all us Nobodies got left, 'course it's gonna need to eat, breathe, and sleep just the same as any of you normies," he teased, lightly nudging her shoulder with his. "Just me personally? I'm used to running on lil to no sleep. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of sleep. I'd nap six times a day if they'd let me. But I got so used to the Org making me run around doing their icky jobs at all odd hours of the night that I guess I'm just wired that way now I s'pose. Bright side though?" He spread his arms wide towards the horizon beyond the city skyline where the barest hint of sunrise was just beginning to glow and said with a bit of overembellished theatrics, "Most days I'm up early enough to greet that great big life-giving daystar as it makes it ascent towards the heavens above."

Elsa breathed a tiny, soft huff of a laugh through her nose, shaking her head. "Guess it's important to see the silver lining in everything."

"Mm," he nodded, bending to brace his elbows against the handrail once more and tucking one arm behind the other. "'Sides, when I'm not snoozing, I can play lookout in case any Organization trash try to sneak up and catch us off guard."

"The Organization?" she frowned, turning her eyes to really take in the view herself now. However, all seemed relatively quiet in the pre-dawn activities of the city below. Just a few early commuters here on their way to work possibly, and a few other people there who seemed to be taking care of setup for today's festival. No red flags as far as she could see. "You think they might have possibly found us again already?"

"Naw, relax, Snowflake. That'd require they have at least one remotely competent bone in their body, a thing I can guarantee you not a single one of those knuckleheads actually has. Still, never hurts to be too careful, ya know?"

"I suppose," she murmured, and for a moment they fell into a companionable silence as they observed Corona slowly begin to wake up bit by bit. Then almost against her will, Elsa's focus drifted to glance at Axel once more out of the corner of her eyes. She gnawed her bottom lip as a question buzzed at the back of her mind. It'd been something she'd been wondering about for a while now, but hadn't fully mustered the courage to ask. A cool breeze began to play with her braid and her fingers unconsciously went to fidget with it, though it was more so out of nervous habit than anything else.

Seemingly sensing her gaze on him, Axel turned his head, green eyes abruptly meeting hers. Face warming at having been caught staring, she was startled into blurting out, "Why'd you do it?" As he cocked an eyebrow in silent question, her blush deepened as she realized she'd left out a word or two. "Leave them, that is. Why did you leave the Organization? What made you decide to… to help me?"

"Ah," he breathed, propping his chin in his hand now as his gaze returned to studying the streets down below again and he was quiet for a few seconds. Then he shrugged, "It's hard to explain, since I don't really have any feelings anymore. But I just get a sense, I suppose... that you seemed like someone my Somebody would've liked and wanted to help."

Her head tipped to one side. "...why do you keep doing that?" As his eyes flicked back over to her once more, she elaborated, "Keep saying 'he' instead of 'I' when talking about your Somebody? As if you're two entirely different people?"

He gave a low, derisive snort. "Cuz we are. My Somebody was nothing like me and I'm nothing like him. He was a weak, spineless coward and I'm glad he's gone," Axel grumbled, giving another shrug, this one more flippant than the first.

Elsa' brow furrowed. If she hadn't known any better, she almost would have thought she'd struck a nerve. But that couldn't be right. Axel couldn't get annoyed, not really. Still, maybe it was best not to push any further. Looking away from him to observe the city once more, she opted to make no comment and a hush fell over them again.

"...Lea."

The single word was spoken so softly, Elsa almost didn't hear it. She blinked, returning her attention to him, "Pardon?"

He scratched his cheek, then heaved out a sigh. "His name. It was Lea. Figured since you've been so curious 'bout me and my past lately, I'd answer that question before you even asked it."

"Oh." She frowned thoughtfully, mulling over this new bit of information and what exactly she was supposed to do with it. At last she settled on a gentle smile, "...thanks. For telling me."

He merely shrugged again and said nothing.

To be quite honest, the thought had never even occurred to her that his Somebody would even have a different name. It was probably something that never would have even come up. In fact, the confession seemed to open the Pandora's Box of further questions more so than it had really answered anything.

But those were probably best left for another time. Sensing maybe a subject change was in order, she said, "So… do you really think we'll find the Keyhole at the festival?"

A tenseness in Axel's shoulders evaporated that she hadn't even fully realized was there until she saw him relax them somewhat now. The first true rays of dawn began to light up the sky as he turned his head, flashing her a big grin now.

"It's a brand new day, Snowflake. Anything could happen. Guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Author's Note: SURPRISE BITCHES, I'M BACK! Yeeeeeah, it's been a while... too long! If you were paying attention to my profile page, back at the end of 2021 I said I was working on this story and was determined to get it written all the way to the end before posting any of the new chapters. And I was doing well with that and got all the way up until I had just 3 measly chapters left to write… only to have it all come to a grinding halt when once again I had a resurgence of health issues throughout 2022 and 2023 :( Unfortunately they're still ongoing, but I managed to fight through it so that at long last I could return and update one of my stories! That's the good news. Now ready for some PHENOMENAL news? I finished writing those last 3 chapters of this story! That's right, The Heart of All Worlds: Split Ends (Book 2) is complete all the way to the end, all that's left to do is post it all!

I think I'll have it on a sorta weird schedule where I post a new chapter every 6 days. I've always been curious to know if posting on certain days of the week affect who sees my updates and how much feedback I get, so this is just kinda a lil experiment, we'll see what findings I get xD

Anyhoo, this felt like a good chapter to come back on as it had a reminder of where a lot of the various important groups are and what they are up to. Got some questions for you: Do you remember the mysterious lady Gothel was talking to as a lady Sora bumped into in an earlier chapter? Do you remember Jakob is one of the Stabbington twins and how he ended up currently getting bossed around by Gothel? Do you remember Detective Colt, the human investigator version of Maximus the horse from the original movie? Do you remember why Sora and crew are up in this super fancy hotel suite and all they discussed in it? Do you remember Sora's magic bracer and that it's currently busted? Do you remember the person in Riku's hoodie (who didn't make an appearance this chapter, but will again very soon!) and what they did to Josef only 1 mere chapter ago? Do you even remember who the heck Josef is?

If you answered "no!" to any of the above questions, now might be a great time to go back and re-read Split Ends from the start to give yourself a refresher. Heck, why not start from the beginning and re-read Ice Breaker too xD

Whew, this author's note got a bit longer than I hoped it would. I know it's me and my notes always are whoppers xD But going forward I'm planning to keep them shorter! It'd just been so long since I'd updated, couldn't help this one running on a bit longer than I intended!

In any case, since I'll have a bit of a wonky posting schedule that may include posting at different TIMES of the day as well as different DAYS of the week, now would be a wonderful time to fave and follow me and/or my story if you haven't already! That way, you won't miss any future updates whenever they go live! Now is also a great time to leave a review and let me know what you think about my story! Remember, reviews are not only welcome, but strongly encouraged and hella appreciated!

Thanks for reading, I'm super duper grateful to all of you still around and that have stuck with me this long! And an extra BIG thank you to the beautiful, generous peeps who've faved and followed so far, as well as those who reviewed last chapter! Hearing from you guys always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!