On their way to the Land of Sands, Zero set aside some time to help Riku learn the power of song.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Yeah let's get this over with. So what do I have to do?"

"All you have to do is sing something, it's not that hard."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, whatever you want."

"It's that simple? But it sounds like you put a lot of thought into it whenever you sing."

"I make it all up on the spot. Just try something out, I doubt the Flower gives a shit."

"..."

Zero tapped her foot on the ground. "Well? What're you waiting for? We don't have all day."

He sighed. "Okay fine. Here goes..."

Verse ?

I'M RiIIiiIiiIKUUUUU

i'M a kEyybladE WieeeeLLLEeEelderrrr

I Fiiiiiiiiiiight Heeeeeartlessss

Yeah yeah yeah Woooooooooo!

"..."

"..."

After Riku's abysmal singing, there was a long, awkward pause as Zero tried to come up with something to say that wouldn't completely crush his spirits. "You sounded like a dying goat." She finally settled on.

Riku's face started to turn red. "So it was that bad..."

"Yeah, but all that matters is if your 'song' actually worked or not. So do you feel any different?"

"Not really."

"And you're not glowing either. Maybe it's not activating because you haven't fought anything, we'll try it out again when we face some enemies."

"What? There's no way I'm doing that. It's bad enough singing in front of you, now you want me to do it with the others around? Maybe I'm just not ready for it now, I'll try it again some other time."

"Whatever, since you wanna be a pussy about it." She turned to leave.

"Hold on, we still have a deal so you need to hold up your end of the bargain too. Tell me about the Flower."

"Like what?"

"Like...where did it come from?"

She shrugged. "Don't know, I just saw it one day and I've had it with me ever since."

"You think there's a source where the Flower originated from?"

"Who knows. You, myself, and the rest of the Intoners are the only ones who have the damn thing as far as I know."

"...You're not good at explaining things, are you?"

"You're the one who keeps asking these stupid questions. Are we done here?"

He thought for a moment. "Not yet. I just want you to confirm something...I already know you're immortal so I'm guessing your sisters are too...at least when they still have their Intoner powers."

"Pretty much. What's your point?"

"Immortality's pretty hard to beat. Which means you have something that can destroy the Flower, don't you?"

"You figured it out? Guess you're not as dumb as I thought." Zero pulled out her sword, then held it out in front of him. "Only dragons have the power to destroy the Flower for good so my sword is made out of the bones of a dragon."

As he further studied Zero's sword, Riku's eyes lit up. "That's it! I...think I have an idea to stop the Flower. I can forge a keyblade made out of Mikhail's claws. That should count as bones of a dragon."

"How would that be any different from the sword I use?"

"My keyblade has an ability that lets me dive into an Intoner's heart where I can fight the Flower. That's how I saved Four- by sealing her own powers...I thought I weakened it myself too, but if what you're saying is true, then I didn't really do anything to it..." He looked back up to Zero to see if she was following along, but she looked like she was out of it already. "You still with me there?"

"Yep." She lied.

"...Basically, if my keyblade has dragon powers then it should be just what I need to seal the Flower and keep it from leeching itself onto me like before."

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Let's say all of this shit actually works, how are you going to get rid of the Flower inside of you?"

"Eh, I'm not really worried about myself right now. I'll figure something out when I save the rest of you guys."

The way Riku was so willing to bear the burden of taking the Flower down, all without losing another life along the way, sounded downright foolish to Zero. And yet at the time, it was hard not to get swept up by his blind idealism. It meant that despite everything, apart of her wanted to believe in him, even if she knew that a future like that was unattainable.

Still, ever the cynic, Zero dismissed the very idea. "Doubt that'll ever work. Something's bound to fuck up along the way and we'll be back to plan 'kill everyone'."

"Then I'll just have to prove you wrong so that doesn't happen, but thanks for even thinking about me..." He smiled at her. "That's unlike you."

"Tch, you a fucking pansy now? Don't get all sentimental on me."

'Geez, why are girls like her always so friggin' intense?' "Anyways, I'll need all the help I can get so I guess I could also try working on the Intoner's song more."

"Heh, that's more like it."


Lucerious: Np! I'm so glad you liked Four by the end of it, she honestly grew on me too bc I never liked her in the game. All Three needs is the kh understanding of what a heart is and she's set.

ian12091995: Lol , that's good to hear

Anon: I do like all the designs of the pureblood but they don't make enough of them like they used to:/ I know Decadus was under the Intoner influence but I still think it's crazy he rarely if ever brought up Four, like even Dito was still talking shit about Five well after her death. I think Riku's a good dancer too tbh, probably break dances in his free time...Dito was apparently too lazy to leave Five? Idk, it says more about Five that her Intoner was Dito and not Octa. Looking forward to this year as well!

Keybladelight: Three's just a little mal-nourished, all she needs is a haircut, goodnight's sleep and all the darkness to be purged from her heart:) I'll definitely make an anti-Two sometime in the future. You'll see more about what happens in the story as it starts to unfold.


"A Tale of Two Intoners"

One Week Later

After Two's heart was corrupted by the darkness, Three found her to be of particular interest. For starters, she retained most of her traits from her former self; she cooked, was loving to Cent and was always cheerful, but behind that fake smile of hers hid a deeply twisted heart. That part about Two confused Three the most, although she had a heart devoid of emotion, she indulged herself as if she did. Three hypothesized many reasons as to why, flawed experiment perhaps? Or maybe she was mentally unstable. Whatever the reason, Two was wholly unpredictable to her in that regard.

However, today was a departure from the usual status quo that Two maintained where she had no qualms revealing how truly sinister she was. The day started out fairly normal, it was lunchtime and Two assumed her role of cook, Cent was waiting patiently at the dining table conversing with his lover, not expecting Three to join them at the table.

"I'm surprised you dragged yourself out of the basement today, Three. To what do we owe the pleasure?" Cent asked.

"Hungry. Need food."

"Ah, and I was just getting used to the malnourished look," He said jokingly, but Three wasn't the least bit amused. Rather than continue to sit in awkward silence, he changed the subject to one she would be more interested in. "So Three, any success with our dragon friend?"

"Not yet."

"Huh, really? It's been a whole week already. Maybe you haven't noticed, but he's been stinking up the shrine soooo..."

"So what?"

"If he's not going to be of any use to us then, uh..." He drummed his fingers on the table. "You know what I always say, the only good dragon's a dead one."

Two served out plates of sweet and sour ogre meatballs for everyone. "Oooh someone's a little murderous today, I know you're worried about Zero and her friend coming but Three's got something big planned for the dragon!" She turned to Three who was stabbing her meatballs with a fork. "I had a feeling you'd be joining us today, so I made yours extra soft because I know you don't like chewing the tough ogre meat."

"Thanks."

"Excuse me, but how come this is the first I've heard of this 'plan'?" Cent asked.

Three shrugged. "Forgot."

"Just like how you 'forgot' to close the gates and let all of those sandwolves trash the main hall?"

"Not my problem."

"On the contrary, you living here without lifting a finger to help is your problem."

"Hey- hey Cent! I really don't want you guys to fight- again. Yes, she's a little lazy, but she means well and she's, y'know, my sister! The same sister who saved me and gave me these awesome powers, remember? We owe her a lot," Two said.

"With all due respect Two, you are the only Intoner I serve and I've just about had it with cleaning up after your sister! Especially since all of our servants mysteriously disappeared, wouldn't be surprised if she used them for whatever freakshow attraction she's working on."

"Wait...'freakshow' a-are you saying that's how you see me?" Two asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"No-no-no! Of course not my love, that's not what I meant at all!" He shot up out of his chair to hold onto Two. "You are the one bright spot in my life. I was talking about those sorry excuses of soldiers your sister keeps making."

"How dare you mock my dolls! " Three hissed, only to be completely ignored by Two and Cent who were completely absorbed by each other.

She sniffled. "R-Really? You mean it?"

"Absolutely. My love for you is unquestionable."

"Awww Cent! You always know just what to say to make my heart flutter!"

Three rolled her eyes, both at Cent for his brain-numbing hokey lines and at Two for eating his words up like it was fine dining. 'Those two disgust me.'

"—Excuse me! Lady Two! Lady Two!" All of a sudden, a soldier came running up to them, abruptly ending the moment the two were sharing. "We've received word from the messenger that the Intoner Zero and the Demon Slayer have arrived in the Land of Sands! They are in the midst of attacking our base at the Surface Ruins!"

"Oh, they sure came back quick," Two said.

"And what of it? Our forces there will deal with them," Cent said.

"...Not necessarily. Most of our soldiers have been allocated to the shrine as per Lady Three's request and based on the reports given by the messenger, we've already accumulated a great deal of casualties."

"What?! No wonder you could keep on making those monster soldiers. Three, what were you thinking?"

"I needed them."

"So you went behind my back and messed up the entire war strategy I drew up?!"

"It would've failed regardless."

"Now listen here-"

"Cent, please don't start this."

"How can I not? Your sister is the one who's trying to get us killed all so she can play doll with her inbred demons."

"Don't say that! Look, he doesn't mean it Three, he's just upset right now."

Three stood up. "Your boyfriend sucks." With that she disappeared back into the basement.

Frustrated, Cent pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, how about we just re-allocate the soldiers back to their original positions?"

"It'll take a few days to locate and transfer the soldiers across the desert. Not to mention the..."

As Cent and the soldier were going back and forth on a makeshift war strategy that was bound to fall apart anyways with how little time they had to preapre, Two decided she would be the one to step up. "I'll just handle them myself."

Cent dismissed her almost immediately. "Enough Two, this is no time for jokes. We have soldiers for a reason."

She clung to Cent's arm. "Come ooooon! It'll be a chance for us to get away from the shrine, like a little date! I'll kill them in like five seconds, and then we can get some take out from Besaid for dinner."

"Two, enough of that already. Everything I've done was to keep those two as far away from you as possible so I could protect you. To march right up to them and take them out so early would be-"

"-A perfect opportunity. I've already made my mind up about this. It'll be less of a headache for Three if I just get Zero and her boyfriend out of the way now so she can focus on her project and we won't have to worry about them infiltrating the shrine. Besides...I want to be the one who kills them!" She started grinning like a madwoman, revealing the row of razor-sharp teeth lining her mouth, not unlike a deadly shark. "I don't think I can contain my excitement any longer... I- I've been waiting so long for when I could finally rip their throats out!"

Her downright animalistic behavior lied in sharp contrast to her usual gentleness. Even Cent couldn't help be unsettled by her drastic shift in personality, he gulped down, trying his best to hold it together. "That's, uh, r-rather bold of you. Naturally, I'll support you every step of the way!"

"Of course you will! You're my wonderful boyfriend after all!" Snatching Cent's arm, she dragged him out of the shrine.

Meanwhile, in the depths of Two's shrine, Mikhail was kept under heavy chains that restrained him to the ground. He thought being trapped in a dark place away from his friends for days on end would be a nightmare, but what truly terrified him was whenever Three came to visit and interrogate him.

Although Three did little more than ask a few questions since she was far too lazy to torture him, what Mikhail saw whenever he looked into her heart was deeply unsettling to him. It was a black chasm that spiraled into oblivion, barely tethered by the shreds of humanity that otherwise kept her from turning into a heartless. Just being in the same room as her would send chills down his spine, and while he held out for long enough, he never knew which day would be his last.

"Greetings." Three approached him and dropped a large cut of meat just outside of his reach. "You've grown quite thin over the last few days. I suggest you indulge in my offerings, otherwise you'll end up a mere pile of dragon bones." She did this charade with him every time, bribing him with the promise of delicious meat in exchange for information on Riku.

"No! I keep telling you...you're never gonna make me say anything so just..." He started off strong but quickly tired out. "...just give it up already."

"Then I suppose this method of negotiation is no longer viable. You'd protect your friends 'till the very end."

"That's right! So just give it up already...and let me go...please."

"Absolutely not."

He gulped. "S...So are you gonna k- kill me now? 'Cause I'll fight back! I'll bite you and-"

"If I wanted to kill you, I would've done so already."

Mustering every last bit of his strength, he raised his head to her. "Then what do you want with me huh?! You've been keeping me here for so long, but my friends are gonna save me—I- I bet they'll be here any minute now just you wait! You better let me go now or you'll be sorry!"

Three was unfazed by the dragon's pleas, in fact, she was even amused by his defiance because she saw it as an opportunity to finally break him down. "...Are you not tired? How many days have passed, yet you still call for your 'friends' like an infant who cries for the mother that abandoned it? Are you not tired of trying to fool yourself already?"

"What're you talking about?! Th- They haven't abandoned me! They're looking for me, I know it, I just know it!"

"Believe me dragon, I know how you feel more than anyone. I've been abandoned too many times... and deep down you must feel some sort of resentment. After all, you're the most important member, you carry all of them, but they can't even bother to save you when you're the reason why they made it this far in the first place. Doesn't that make you feel angry?"

"That's not true at all! Yeah, maybe Zero calls me a dummy sometimes but-"

"But she's not here to save you, is she? Although perhaps she would've been here already if you were a powerful dragon like Michael."

"No way! You're wrong! Michael he's..."

["Really. I'd never compare you two. Michael was amazing and you're just a dummy."]

["God, how'd you become such a fucking moron?"]

With the seeds of doubt planted when she prodded at his insecurity, combined with Mikhail's already dwindling strength, he was beginning to second guess himself.

"Maybe...Maybe Zero wouldn't, but Riku...he'd never..."

"'He'd never abandon you?' And yet he's not here when you need him the most. In the end, I suppose you really weren't that important to him, he's likely long forgotten about you by now."

"Riku..."

She went over to him, caressing his scales. "Oh, you poor, foolish dragon. You've been hurt and abandoned by the people closest to you, but if you yield to me, if you close your eyes...I'll give you more power than you'll ever know. You'll become a dragon even greater than Michael. So I'll ask you once more, are you not tired Mikhail?"

Mikhail was tired, without any food to sustain him, he had no energy. He was tired of being alone, he was tired of being afraid, he was tired of trying to fight back and most of all, he was tired of waiting for his friends to come.

"Yeah..." He whimpered. "I'm...I'm so tired..."

She grinned. "Than I'll make sure you never feel exhausted again." Grabbing the piece of meat off the floor, she threw it to him. "But first, if you want to become a big, powerful dragon, you'll have to eat. You'll do that for me, won't you?"

"Yeah..." He gobbled up the piece of meat fast, not realizing how truly hungry he was. "Now what...how is this supposed to make me all big and strong?"

"Patience Mikhail." Three sat down across from him, then pulled out an old, thick book from the darkness. "Hm...do you like long stories?"

"Uh, sure I guess."

"Good. This story is a special one, it's about the greatest dragons who ever lived."

"Even...greater than Michael?"

"Yes, because this one was mighty enough to go against God himself."

An Hour Earlier

Following a week's long journey, Riku, Zero and the disciples finally arrived in the Land of Sands. There was more than enough daylight to burn, so they infiltrated a nearby desert town, expecting to be met with an army of soldiers.

However, the only soldiers so to speak were a few men scattered around, hardly an adequate display of the Land of Sand's military might. In fact, their first real obstacle wasn't soldiers or even heartless, but a pack of ferocious sandwolves that ganged up on them.

"These bastards, huh?" Zero pulled her sword out.

Riku summoned his keyblade as well, but the sandwolves became substantially less aggressive, playful even when they saw his oddly shaped blade in comparison to the standard fare. A few of them wagged their tails and pressed their chests against the ground.

"Hold on, I have a better idea to get rid of these guys," Riku waved his keyblade in front of the sandwolves. "Hey- hey! You want it? Then go and get it!" He threw his blade as far as he could in the opposite direction and sure enough, the sandwolves chased after it. A few minutes later he called his keyblade back, and they were in the clear.

"Now we can cross animal cruelty off the list," Zero scoffed.

"Is it not better to avoid unnecessary bloodshed?" Decadus asked.

"They're just gonna come back and bite us in the ass later. Should've killed those fuckers while we had the chance."

"Wooow. I'm starting to think you like being pissed off for no reason," Dito said.

"Lady Zero is always upset over the smallest of things," Octa said.

"Perhaps there's an underlying reason," Decadus reasoned. "I read somewhere that women are prone to get irritable every month or so as part of a biological process."

"Yeah, but Zero's pissed off like every day. Waking up pisses her off, walking around pisses her off, fighting pisses her off... you get my point," Dito said.

"Maybe because I'm traveling with you dense motherfuckers! And I'm not pissed off ALL the time so shut the fuck up!" Zero snapped.

"You're kinda proving my point there. I bet you can't even go a whole day without your short fuse blowing up."

"You know what? Fine. I'll do it, but once I prove you wrong, you're going to shut up for the rest of the week."

He smirked. "So we're doing this? You're starting off with a pretty big wager too. Alright, then if you lose, which you probably will..." Dito went back and forth in his head on the proper payback for Zero until eventually landing on something that fit the bill. "Heh, got it! If you lose, you have to make out with Octa in front of everyone!"

"How voyeuristic..." Decadus said under his breath.

"Ohh, you're surely mistaken Dito, any form of intimacy with me would be immensely pleasurable for the Lady. I suspect she'd want to lose immediately if I were the prize!" Octa said.

"No, I'd actually rather slam my head against a wall, but it's not like I'll lose so it doesn't matter," Zero said.

"Y-You don't need to sound so disgusted..."

"Looks like we got a deal then, you're on the hook until tomorrow morning," Dito said.

"This'll be easy, just watch."

Without the typical hoards of soldiers to get in their way, they were plowing through the desert town. Dito was right, fighting was usually a source of frustration for Zero and since there weren't any enemies to enrage her, she was confident the rest of the day would be easy on her nerves.

"Perhaps Two and Three won't pose nearly as much of a threat as we thought if this first military base is anything to go by," Decadus said.

"I don't think so. They probably moved all their soldiers closer to the shrine to protect themselves," Riku said. "And it's not like crossing this desert won't be a challenge all on its own."

"So basically smooth sailing and then we're screwed when we reach the shrine. Sounds about right," Dito said.

"Not to mention they're holding Mikhail captive. I can only imagine what t- torture they're putting him through ohh...if only we could trace places," Decadus said.

"You think they turned him into a heartless or something?"

Riku and Zero turned back to Dito.

"What? I'm just saying. That didn't cross your guys' mind already?"

Zero shook her head. "That can't happen though, right? He's not a human so..."

"He has a heart so it's possible. We just need to hurry up to the shrine," Riku said.

"Great so if that dummy ends up getting turned into a heartless then..." Zero could feel Dito's shit-eating grin growing wider the more she lost her composure so she had to dial it back for her sake. "Then...uh, w- we can overcome it! Ha ha...!"

"That didn't sound forced," Riku said.

"...Okay, then how about this? Leeeeet's go guys! We'll defeat the Intoners and save my dragon! Woo hoo, I believe in us!"

"That was way, waaay worse," Dito said.

"Ooohhh, this second-hand embarrassment is so ... nnnghhh..."

Zero had to keep her murderous thoughts to herself for the time being, but she figured that would at least be the worst of it. Unfortunately, once they reached the gates that lead out of the desert town, they were in for a rude awakening.

"Heya guys, long time no see, right? How's everyone liking the Land of Sands so far? It's a little tourist-y but a perfect place for a honeymoon getaway, wouldn't you agree?" Leaning against the gates was Two herself, just about the last person they expected to encounter so early into the Land of Sands. She waved and smiled at them as if to be friendly, but her face was of one looking to murder.

"...She's already showing herself, huh?" Riku said.

"At least this makes finding the Intoners easier if they're just going to come to us," Zero said.

"Well, I figured I'd just kill you guys now so you don't cause us trouble later. That sound good?"

"Not if we destroy you first, you demon!" The sight of Two alone ignited the quiet rage within Decadus, and he rushed to her before all the others. "You will pay for your crimes against Lady Four! This is your JUSTICE!"

Right when Decadus' fist was inches away from punching Two's face, she grabbed hold of his arm, absorbing all of his momentum, then tossed him aside like he was nothing. While it appeared to be a light toss, Decadus flew straight through the thick, stone wall behind them.

Two cracked her knuckles and neck. "Whew! That was a great warm-up. So you guys ready to get started?"

"Yeah no, the rest of you guys can handle this," Dito said.

"Agreed. My frail bones simply couldn't endure that type of wear and tear," Octa said.

"Then make yourselves useful for once and find her disciple. She didn't come alone, he's probably waiting around so he can summon her daemons once we beat her ass."

"Yeah, yeah, we got it Z!"

"Ooh, nice observation, but I won't be needing any extra help to defeat you two." Not only did Two possess monstrous strength, but her nimble body was incredibly fast. She ran up to Riku and Zero's position in just a few seconds, nearly catching them off guard, but they split before she could cleave anyone with her sword. "Ah, you're both way faster than before! I'm almost impressed!"

Zero came at Two from the side and clashed blades with her. "Since you keep talking so much, what do you know about my dragon?!"

"Don't worry about that big guy, my sister's taking extra good care of him. I'd be more worried about yourself honestly." She easily shattered Zero's defense and was about to go in for a devastating strike, but she had to spin around to block Riku's attack. "And you're that demon slayer boy! Look at that cute wittle angwy face you're making, awww is someone still mad about Four dying? That's so pathetic!"

"Shut the hell up!" He pulled back to shoot a Blizzaga spell at her that she dodged so fast it nearly hit Zero instead.

"Watch where you're aiming!"

"Sorry, she's just moving too fast for me to get a hit on her!"

"Then you should use the Intoner's song! Mine won't be charged up for a while, but you've been fighting all those heartless, so yours should be ready!"

"Sure it'll work?"

"It's worth a shot! I'll cover you!"

"Nice, dinner AND a show, I like it!" Two exclaimed.

While Zero engaged with Two, Riku gathered some distance. 'This past week I've trained with the Intoner's song it still hasn't activated for me yet. I don't know if I even can pull it off this time around.' He took in a few deep breaths. 'Don't worry about that. I can do this!'

Verse ?

Ok... ok...yeah, it's Riku out here, this one's for the evil flower!

Yo, you out here growing inside but I'm gonna need that POWER!

Uh um, don't have a third verse never really got this far

But I don't need it 'cause I already stacked up all these sick bars!

"..."

"..."

Riku held his head down after showing no signs of his Intoner mode awakening. "That was a complete failure..."

"Wait-wait-wait...so THAT supposed to be a poor attempt at an Intoner's song? Wow, that sounded soooo bad! How embarrassing for you!" Two burst out in laughter from the sheer absurdity of Riku's 'song', and Zero would've done the same if she wasn't locked in a life or death battle.

Thinking Two was distracted, Zero took the opportunity to try and slash her, but she reacted as quickly as ever, immediately blocking the attack. "You're gonna have to be a lot quicker than that to catch me off guard." She let out a yawn. "You know, this is getting kinda boring, how about I show you how a real Intoner's song sounds and I can wrap things up already."

Verse 1-2

A drifting life cries to the heavens,

I see petals —

Although Riku failed to invoke the Flower's abilities through his song, it did help him in the most unexpected of ways. His distinct voice caught the attention of the same pack of sandwolves from earlier and just as Two began her song of ruin, they burst out from the empty structures and started running around all over the place.

"What the- where'd all these stupid wolves come from?!" Two swung her sword around at the sandwolves that were ganging up on her.

With the sandwolves keeping Two's hands busy, Zero was able to land a direct hit, the edge of her blade tearing through her back. At the same time, Riku cast bind on Two, before she even had a chance to dodge the golden chains wrapped around her entire body, rendering her immobile.

"GAAHHH!" Try as she might, Two couldn't break out of the chains. "Grrr...don't get cocky! As soon as Cent comes he's gonna—"

"He's gonna what?" Dito and Octa returned towing a tied-up Cent in their arms, once they joined up with the others, they dumped him on the ground besides Two. Cent was all bloody and looked like he was beaten within an inch of his life. Which was still a surprising amount of restraint for Dito, but he had other plans on his mind for him that would be far worse than death.

"Ceeent! You were supposed to heroically save me in the nick of time!" Two whined.

"My deepest apologies Two...I- I was blindsided, those cowards attacked me from behind..." He muttered, barely able to maintain his consciousness.

Two let out a disgruntled sigh in defeat. "Fine...I guess you win. So what do you even want with us? If you're trying to kill us you haven't been doing a great job at it."

Dito rubbed his hands together. "I vote we torture them for dirt on her sister until they're begging to get killed!"

"No, we're not doing that. Two, you're going to take us to your shrine and help us save Mikhail, then I'll seal both you and your sister's powers so you'll never abuse the darkness again," Riku said.

"Pssht, and why would I ever go along with that? Betray my sister AND get stabbed in the back when you guys are done? No way! Sounds like a lose-lose situation to me."

"It's more like a shut up and follow us or we kill you on the spot situation," Zero said.

"Oooh I'm so scared. I mean, we could go for a round two if you're not afraid of another butt whooping."

"Yeah yeah, says the girl who's tied up," Dito said. "Anyways, you guys sure it's even a good idea to bring them with us? They could fuck us over and leave us stranded in the middle of the desert."

"Don't worry about her breaking free from those chains, they're made of my magic." Riku looked down Two with that piercing gaze of his, underneath his cool demeanor was a quiet rage he could barely contain. "I'm the only one who can release you from those chains, so the faster you make up your mind, the faster you'll be free from them once you take us to the shrine. I'm extending you this kindness now, but I swear...if you murder someone like that again, I won't hesitate to cut you down. I've tried to give you Intoners the benefit of the doubt, but what you did to Four was unforgivable."

Seeing as how she was getting backed up into a corner, Two reverted back into her more threatening persona and she bared her sharp teeth at him "You're not getting away with this! I'll rip your goddamn spine in half before you ever step foot in MY shrine!"

Two's outburst spurred Zero to brandish her sword. "You'll be long dead before that happens. The second you try anything, my sword will be in your chest."

"I...I don't believe we have any other choice," Cent hacked out a mouthful of blood before continuing. "Wha...Whatever happens, I'll be by your side always. We'll get through this together...I promise you, my love."

"Oh Cent! You don't have to push yourself for me, I'll be okay."

"But being able to see your angelic face makes all the pain worth it, I rather—"

Zero kicked him in the head to knock him unconscious. "Then it's settled. Decadus, grab Cent and wait...where is he anyway?"

"Remember, he got thrown into that wall a while ago. In a rather barbaric way too might I add," Octa said.

"Probably made him all 'excited' and crap though..." Dito said under his breath.

"Decadus, if you're still alive then get over here already. We don't have all day," Zero said.

Not long after Zero called for him, Decadus pathetically crawled out from under a pile of rubble then dragged himself over to them. "...I- I apologize for my absence Lady Zero...I kept blacking out for the longest time, I believe I've suffered a concussion...ungh...I insist I get thrown through another wall immediately as proper p- punishment...ooooh!"

"Decadus is still Decadus, huh. You and Four sure did belong together," Two said.

"Quiet! You are not allowed to fondly reminisce over Lady Four!"

"Oooh so the backbone's included now?"

"I'd like to see how much of a backbone you have left after I'm through with you!"

"Hey, calm down Decadus. We need her to take us to her shrine. I'm with you, but just bear with it for a little while until we get there," Riku said.

"...As you wish."

"Pick up Cent and we'll get out of here," Zero said.

Riku adjusted the chains on Two so they'd fit around her wrists like a pair of shackles then they left the desert town to venture out into the greater desert.

"How far is your shrine from here anyways?" Riku asked.

"It'll take a few days to get there on foot but it'll be way faster if we use my daemons! How 'bout it?"

"So you can kill us with it? No thanks."

"Tch...that one's off the list." She mumbled.

"God, this is gonna be brutal! This sand's getting all up in my clothes too. No way this doesn't piss you off, Z," Dito said.

"Like I'm falling for that. Heh, this day's gonna be over soon and then you can finally eat shit~"

He rolled his eyes. "If you even last that long."

"Hm? Are you guys playing a game or something?" Two asked.

"That's none of your—"

"Yeah actually," Dito cut in. "I made a bet that she couldn't get pissed off for a whole day. She seems to be holding up pretty surprisingly."

"What happens if she loses?

"She has to make out with Octa in front of everyone."

"Oh, that's gross."

"I know right? It's the perfect punishment!"

"I'm still here..." Octa said.

"You got a pretty devious mind. I like it!"

"Well, I'm glad someone appreciates my talents. So you got any ideas?"

"This is Zero we're talking about so if she hasn't lost it already then she's probably gonna boil over soon. What usually pisses her off the most?"

"Uhhh there's so much it's hard to narrow it down...she hates whenever Mikhail says something dumb oh- and whenever she gets sidelined by-"

"You're just going to tell her that? I'm not mad... I'm just wondering why you're suicidal all of a sudden," Zero said.

"Hmm...so you hate whenever Mikhail says something stupid? It truly is sad what happened to him, he used to be such a great dragon too."

"Doesn't seem like it to me," Dito said.

"...Drop this already," Zero said

"Aw sore subject for you? Must be why you let this demon slayer boy follow around because he's a replacement for Michael. Hopefully you don't lead him to his death too~"

"Hey, she told you to drop it so lay off on her already!" Riku said.

"It's fine. I don't even care." She turned away from the others and walked ahead, showing an unprecedented level of restraint.

"It looks like it's already getting dark, let's just call it a night. I saw a town up ahead where we can rest at."

With the Second Intoner and her disciple under their thumb,

It seemed like the day had been won.

But in the depths of Two's shrine lied the dragon Mikhail,

Who called for his friends to no avail.

He was alone with the Third Intoner he once despised,

Forced to play a part in the world's foretold demise.

Flowers for the Dead


A/N: It's been a WHILE, really sorry for the late update! Anyways, check out my Ao3 for a Halloween style comic (A few months late:P) and a couple funny memes.