"Why did that dragon hafta go against God? Was he being mean to him?" Mikhail asked.

Three nodded. "You could say that. Once you have enough power, you terrify those who no longer have a means to control you. This dragon was so powerful that his strength defied God himself."

"Really? So what happened next?"

"God sent his army of angels after him. Of course the dragon amassed a great army himself so a war soon broke out, but ultimately, the dragon fell. The end."

"Huh? That's it?"

"Yep."

"You're kinda bad at telling stories, no offense."

She closed the book. "Then you'll just have to tell the rest of this story, Mikhail."

"What do you mean?"

"With my guidance, you will become that great dragon and write history yourself."

"Does that mean I have to fight God and his army? That stuff sounds scary, I just...I just wanna be strong so my friends will recognize me, that's all."

Three held Mikhail's chin in her hand. "Dear child, I will never steer you wrong. Worry not about those ills because I will be by your side, always."

"So then... what're you doing all of this for?"

"Me? I simply desire to create a world where no one has to suffer."

"That sounds really nice..."

"Then join me Mikhail. Open your heart up and prove you are stronger than the dragons that have come before you."


Reader: Not in this timeline bc Ending A will end in like 4 chapters. I wasn't originally going to bring Nobodies bc I thought it would complicate things but I might think about it for a different timeline.

Centurious the Azure: Yuna's are just naturally good girls. Tbh writing Two evil like this hurts me sm lmao, even if/after Riku saves her, she's still going to be fundamentally broken. Bruh Sora suggesting he share Kairi with Riku had me cracking tf up XD Only Sora would say that with sincerity. If there's a Dod1 remake coming out, I hope the rest of the series will also get a remake.

Raximus: Thank you-thank you-thank you! I feel much better now so hopefully more chapters will be coming out at a faster rate!

Anon: Oh wow I didn't know Riku was little Forrest gump, that's so unexpected! I have a ff naming scheme for every land, all that's left is Cathedral City which I might have the naming scheme be based off of ff7. In regards to Yuna, the characters with ff names are usually in name only, but sometimes they share the same characteristics. Trolling Zero is best Zero, she's def getting back at Two for all the dragging she did to her. Feel bad for Zero who knows where Octa's mouth's been...Riku can't read the room sometimes, or maybe he can't smell the room XD

Keybladelight: You'll see how Two's getting handled in this chapter! Um actually put a pin on that idea because that might be brought up in a future chapter so hold onto that. If I were to have a sequel it would probably be a NieR: replicant crossover but idk if I have it in me to write another long term story after this one so idk.


"Always On My Mind"

"God Cent, you look so pathetic. Come on and help me summon my angel so we can end this already."

"No...I don't think I will. I'm sorry Two, I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have, just stop this...please...stop this. I love you."

She started cracking up with laughter. "Oh you love me? HA HA HA- are you KIDDING me?! Yeah I'm sure true love is fucking someone over not once but TWICE! Just be sure to keep that bed warm for me babe since that's clearly the only thing you're good for."

He was so devastated that he couldn't muster up anything to say in response. All he could do was watch while the woman he loved turned her back to him.

As Two was walking away, Yuna burst into the room, scimitar in hand. "Two! Enough of this, stand down and let us help you... let me help you. I don't want you to suffer like this anymore!"

Two stared at Yuna for a couple of seconds, her eyes focusing on her sword that she sorely lacked, then her lips curled in delight. "Sure...you can help me." She was so steeped in her own insanity that she clamped down onto Yuna's hand, biting through all the muscle and bone, then tore it off like a feral animal so she could wield the scimitar in her mouth.

There was deafening silence as both Yuna and Cent processed what exactly happened before their eyes. But by the time the blood curdling screams set in, Two was already well on her way out of the room and waiting for her final confrontation with the others.

Once everyone else arrived, Two snapped into action. "I'm so glad you guys could make it! How about we start off with—"

Riku rushed in on Two mid-sentence, just barely missing a slash that would've tore straight through her body. When he tried to go for an upward attack, Two maneuvered her body so she could block it with her sword. Even with her overwhelming strength, she was struggling to not buckle under the immense weight and ferocity that Riku was pushing down on her.

"Wow! Someone's aggressive today."

"How did you get that sword?!" He demanded.

Rather than be direct with him, Two grinned at Riku so he could clearly see the pieces of flesh and bone stuck in between her teeth. "Wait...did you actually...? No..."

When Riku pieced everything together, he burned with a rage so intense that it made everything he ever believed in up until now seem like a lie. "...I'LL KILL YOU!" Those words he swore he would never say to another living being and yet they rolled off his tongue so easily. He gripped his keyblade and without holding back an ounce of his strength, threw everything he had into ending her life.

"Oh you're super angry now! Alrighty- time to stop playing around!" Two drew back and began her song of demise.

Verse 1-2

A drifting l̴̲̔͛̈i̸͍̒̊̄ͅf̴͎̖̼̒̏̈́ḛ̶̣͉͗̇̾ ̷̤̬̀͛cries to the ḧ̴̢́̄è̴̮̐̈́̚ą̶̼̌̈̉v̴͙̪͍̆̋̽̑ͅe̵̯̲̒̀́͑n̶͚̺͖̋̿ṣ̸̪̈̚

I see petals f̶̜̎̋͂a̷̮͒̊͊l̷̩̣̿̔l̴̫̻̐i̸͈͖̫̘̅͐͘͝ǹ̷͎̙͉̝̐͘g̷̞̖͙̚̕͜,

Though they're b̴̛̖̻̠̤̎͝ė̴̞ȃ̴̰͍̘̣̂́͑u̴̝̳͙͋t̷̮͂͑̈́̽i̸͍̙̯͍̿f̷̙̫̏̂̑ŭ̵̺̄̿̅ļ̶͇̣̜̅̚, unseen, they wither away.

"Should we go help him?" Decadus asked.

"He'll be fine," Zero said.

"But last time Two overwhelmed us, so wouldn't it be advantageous for all of us to work together to defeat her?"

"...He's trying to kill her this time, he's got this. Let's just take care of her disciple."

"Yes ma'am." 'Oh, I do fear the worst for Riku. The path to revenge only ends in destruction.'

Zero and the disciples ran to Bass's treasure room where they saw Cent watching over Yuna as she bled out.

"-Ah, she needs immediate medical attention!" Decadus tore off a swathe of fabric from his shirt then tended to Yuna's wounds as best he could.

Meanwhile, Zero approached Cent, dragging her sword against the ground. "Your bullshit ends today."

*rumble-rumble

"Damn, what is it this-"

Right before their eyes, all of the rotted corpses from the treasure room fused together into a horrifying creature.

Decadus scooped Yuna up in his arms. "This looks like the work of a heartless!"

"Yeah, no shit! When is it not heartless?!"

The darkness emitting from practically every crevice of the treasure room created the homunculus heartless. A towering beast that was composed of an amalgamation of rotting flesh and bones.

Octa gulped down. "H- How terrifying..."

"Dito, Octa, listen up! Decadus is taking care of that stupid brat so I'm gonna need to count on you two for once, think you can handle that?"

Dito was practically drooling over the homunculus heartless and all of its disgusting glory so he definitely wasn't listening to a single word she had to say.

On the other hand, Octa was being Octa. "Perhaps a reward kiss will give us the drive to fight harder, hm?"

She slapped her hand on her face. "...I'm fucked."

While Zero prepared to take the homunculus down on her own, Dito actually walked up to it so he could admire it even closer.

"What the hell are you-" Zero stopped herself. 'Actually I wouldn't really lose much if I let him get eaten alive.'

The homunculus extended its arm and tried to swat at Dito like the annoying fly he was attracted to that garbage, but in an unusual display of agility, he managed to slash the giant hand clean in two with his small spear.

"Don't be such a bad boy now, come on, let daddy get a closer look at that ugly face of yours!" He jumped on the arm, then dragged his spear through all of the loose limbs and torsos as he made his way up to the head of the heartless. "Whoa- ho ho! You look so much better with your guts spilling out everywhere! Now I wanna see more!" The homunculus tried to use its other arm to stop Dito, but he chopped up the hand into small pieces of flesh in a matter of seconds.

While Dito was going on a rampage, Zero and Octa stood by on the sidelines in complete shock. Somehow, the chunks of rotten flesh flying all over the place posed more of a threat than the heartless itself.

"Octa, explain to me what the actual fuck is going on here?!"

"It seems as though Dito was a far better swordsman than we gave him credit for."

"Tch, or he has a fetish for this type of thing."

"He is enjoying himself, I don't think I've ever seen him this uh- 'lively' before."

"This motherfucker..."

By the time Dito got to the head, he unleashed a series of rapid sword strikes on the nape of the neck, taking immense pleasure as the heartless began wailing out in misery. Before long, he had the homunculus heartless down on its knees and the small shadows possessing the individual sacks of flesh scurried out of the body, not wanting to be anywhere near Dito.

"Oh, that's it? Kinda lame." Bored, Dito returned to the others covered in so much blood that even Zero would call it excessive. "Hey, what's with that look for, Z?"

She put her hands on his shoulders then violently shook him back and forth. "Where the hell was that every time we were getting our asses beat by the heartless?!"

"That takes waaaay too much energy. This one just happened to hold my interest."

Zero pinched the bridge of her nose, seriously contemplating whether or not she wanted to kill Dito on the spot. Then she remembered Cent was still pathetically lying on the ground so she directed her frustrations to him.

When Cent saw Zero walking back to him, he scrambled to save his own skin. "W- Wait a second! If it's possible...could I see Lady Two one more time? I want to apologize to her at least."

"...Fine. Riku should've killed her by now anyways."

However, just outside of the treasure room, Two and Riku were still interlocked in combat. With Two being under Intoner mode thus impervious to all of his attacks, the battle was looking increasingly grim for Riku. He couldn't land a single hit on her, magic or physical, while she had no problem tearing through every inch of his body.

'Damn this isn't looking good.' Riku was losing so much blood that he was becoming lightheaded and couldn't react as fast anymore. When Two slammed her leg into his stomach, an attack he would've easily dodged if he was in better condition, it sent him flying across the room and crashing into the back wall.

'Crap. I can't hit her while she's powered up like this. If I want any chance of beating her, then I have to try going into Intoner mode too.' Riku took as deep of a breath as his broken ribs would allow. 'Don't think about it, just say whatever comes into your head first.'

Verse I

I think back to a time long ago,

When we were all just kids, the sky seemed so bright.

Little did I know, I would rarely see that light again

And stand in an endless night.

Two burst out in laughter. "No friggin' way! That somehow sounds WORSE than your shitty poetry from the other day! Do you get off on humiliating yourself or what?"

She was so busy cracking herself up that she didn't notice this time around that his powers had activated.

Riku's entire body glowed a deep indigo color and a black tattoo of rose thorns wrapped around his arm like a veil. Even his own keyblade seemed to react to the song's influence as the black thorns that were usually tightly wound around Way to Dawn's blade retreated into the black flower at the hilt.

This time when Riku swung his keyblade at Two, the exposed blade ripped straight through her flesh with ease. Before her wound could rapidly heal, he began whaling at her left and right, letting copious amounts of blood spray on his body. Once Two's Intoner's mode had run out, she realized how much deep shit she was standing in and tried to desperately get away from him.

However, the moment she tried to escape, Riku snatched the tail end of her long scarf and yanked her to the ground where he planted his foot on her chest. "These tunnels will be your tomb." He raised his keyblade, positioning it over head, then just as he was about to stab her, he stopped because he saw tears in her eyes.

'She's...crying.'

Riku stared at his blood stained hands. 'I'm becoming just like everyone else in this world and for what? I can't lose myself in this madness, I'm better than that.' He withdrew his sword, then cast Curaga on Two. "That should heal your flesh wounds, but you won't be truly healed until I get rid of the darkness in your heart."

She chuckled. "...I rather you just kill me."

"There's no way I'm doing that."

"—That's the last time I trust you to kill someone," Zero said, storming over to him. "What the hell happened? You looked like you were out for blood before."

"I came back to my senses." He turned around and saw Yuna in Decadus's arms. "Is she... alive?"

"Yes, she has tremendous strength. She was able to cling onto her life even with all the blood she lost."

"That's a relief...so I almost killed Two when she was alive all along." He held his keyblade out. "It's time to bring the real Two back."

"So we came full circle with this same bullshit again? Why can't you just wait until you get your stupid dragon sword? That was the whole point of why we kept her ass around like this!"

Riku motioned to the pool of darkness enveloping her body. "Because there's not enough time! She'll turn into a heartless any minute now and I'm not letting that happen!"

"Who gives a shit about her?! You don't even know her but now you wanna act like she's the most important fucking person to you?"

"I won't be able to live with myself if I just let her die knowing that I could've saved her! I'm sorry Zero, I have to do this even if-"

Tired of hearing his sorry ass excuses, Zero went over to Riku and forced him to the ground. "You're just being a suicidal moron! I swear to god, make one move and I'll cut your goddamn legs off if I have to!"

"Why do you always keep fighting so hard to stop me?!"

"Because I don't want to lose you!"

"...what?"

Realizing what she said, her face went red and it wasn't from blood splattering on her face. She frantically searched for a reason to justify her vulnerability with him. "Damn it, that's not what I meant! Ugh, just listen! You've only ever had a fraction of the Flower inside of you and your ass could BARELY handle it at that! All that thing wants to do is to control you and we're all dead if that happens!"

"You don't think I already knew that?! I know it's trying to make me lose my mind, but I'm not scared at all! Maybe things didn't go as planned, but I promise I'll be okay no matter what happens, you just have to trust me! You're supposed to be my friend so have my back for once!"

"...You're always so damn sure of yourself, it pisses me off." Zero got up off of him. "But fine, even if I did cut off your legs, you'd still drag your sorry ass to Two so there's no point in stopping you."

Still, as Zero watched him approach Two's limp body, in the pit of her stomach, she couldn't help but feel he was making a fatal mistake...

.

.

.

Two's Dive to the Heart was so fundamentally broken that the entire pillar was fragmented into several large pieces suspended within a bottomless darkness. 'Not sure where this begins or ends, I'll just have to keep walking until I find the source of her darkness.' While he traversed across the floating platforms, he heard a voice echo out of nowhere.

["Ah, Lady Two, are you well?"]

["Cent come on, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? It's just Two, at least while we're alone, 'kay?"]

["I'm sorry, it's hard not to."]

'These must be her memories.'

["You'll always love me, won't you Cent?"]

["Yes of course, no matter what happens I will always love you."]

Who could ever love a monster like me?

"...Two? That was your voice, wasn't it? If you're here, let me see you!" Riku yelled out. He waited for a couple of seconds only to be met with silence. "...Guess you're not ready to talk just yet."

He dropped down on another platform and heard more of Two's memories play out.

["Yay! Auntie Two's here! Auntie Two's here!"]

["You know, you're quite gentle with those kids."]

["Yeah, it's just that I've been getting super strong lately so I have to be extra careful not to hurt them. Even though it's kind of been taking a toll on my body, I don't mind at all!"]

["Is that so? Well I'd be happy to alleviate your pain, I just so happen to be a top tier back massager! How about I show you some of my techniques once we get inside?"]

["Yes, I'd love that~"]

...

["No...no...if I knew this would happen I would've...I should...I ...I..."]

["Lady Two, please snap out of it. Allow me to shoulder your pain!"]

["Ha Ha! Cent...Cen.. Ahhhh hah ah ah ha Ahh ha ha ha!"]

["Cen...t...Help...Help meeeeeee..."]

["Lady Two, know that I will accompany you to wherever your broken spirit takes you."]

In the days that followed, he took care of me day and night.

Everyday he would make sure I was fed and bathed.

And even though he struggled, he tried his best to take care of me.

["I made this oatmeal for you Lady Two, it's probably tasteless. I'm sorry about that."]

["..."]

["Uh...Oh- that's right, I almost forgot. Lady Five came to visit today, she wanted to check up on you. She told me how much she misses your cooking so I got the bright idea to follow one of your recipes and whip up those sweet and sour ogre meatballs for her."]

["..."]

["Heh, I don't think I've seen someone rush to the bathroom as fast as Lady Five once she tried my food. Then she scolded me like a child afterwards, it was pretty embarrassing."]

["..."]

["If you were cooking I'm sure none of that would've happened of course. In fact she would've asked for leftovers to take home with her. Do you...miss cooking Lady Two?"]

["..."]

["Well I do...I miss those days when you used to cook and laugh and smile and... and talk to me."]

["..."]

["I don't want to push you or anything, it just gets so lonely without you. I miss you...I really do, the only thing that's keeping me going at this point are the memories I have of you. I'd give anything to just go back to the way things were."]

["..."]

["I'm sorry, I've been rambling on to you for far too long. Let me get you to bed."]

He wouldn't say it, but I knew he began to resent me.

It's not like I could blame him, I was the one who left him alone after all.

["This is the seventh day in a row you've only drank water. Look at you, your body's getting so frail and your hair's beginning to thin. Everyday you keep getting worse. It's like I'm just watching you slowly die."]

["..."]

["I mean...is that what you want...?"]

["..."]

["I -It would be so easy to put you out of your misery. All I would need to do is wrap my hands around your beautiful neck and then...No...No! Forgive me for even speaking about such terrible things. I promise, no I swear that I will make you happy Lady Two. I'll make you happy again and we can be together once more just like we used to."]

It's my fault.

If only I were happier, then I could laugh and smile like I used to.

I could be with him again.

So I wanted to forget everything

'I figured Cent was a bad boyfriend. Makes sense.' He reached a sliver of Two's Dive to the Heart that seemed to be the center because surrounded by everything else was the pillar that collapsed around her. On that small platform, a shadow of Two stood across from him.

"Where did I go wrong? Maybe I wasn't happy enough? If I was happier then the deaths of those children wouldn't have affected me so much and I could've gotten over it. "

Several black tendrils crawled up Riku's body and wrapped around him. They slithered to his face and tugged at the corners of his mouth to force a smile onto him.

"No...that's not it, if I was just weaker to begin with then I would've never hurt them."

The tendrils around Riku grew tighter and tighter the more Two's emotions spiraled out of control.

"E...Even if I were weak, I still probably would've messed something up! If... I just never existed then none of this-"

"Don't say that! Not everything's your fault so stop blaming yourself! You're not responsible for every bad thing that happens!"

"But I'm the one who killed those children...and... my sister...and then what I did to...Y- Yuna...It's my fault...it's my fault...I'm a monster...I'M A MONSTER!"

Riku had to quickly break free of the tendrils before they could squeeze the life out of him. He then jumped back to avoid the dozens of tendrils that sprouted out from the darkness.

'Damn, they're still following me.' He ran across the floating platforms, swatting back at the tendrils that were in pursuit of him. When there was nowhere left to rum, he let himself fall off so he could airstep onto the mass of tendrils and grind down on the bridge it created back to the center platform. "Listen to me Two! You didn't kill Four or hurt Yuna, the darkness did! And Three was the one who forced that inside of you in the first place!"

"... but...but the children...that was entirely my fault!"

"I don't know what the full story is with those children, but I believe in the kind person you used to be so search deep inside and tell me exactly what happened to them! Was it really all your fault?!"

["So everyone's a monster now because of...my song?"]

["It's too early to say. Besides, this is my fault. I'm the one who borrowed your song's power."]

["I'm the one who borrowed your song's power."]

["I'm the one who borrowed your song's power."]

"It's not...my fault?"

"No, it's not your fault other people used you and forced their expectations onto you!" Riku slashed through the mass of darkness spiraling towards him, then cast a Firaga spell to burn them away. "So stop calling yourself a monster! You're not a monster just for being a victim!"

"...M-Me?"

Riku finally made his way back to Two. "Don't worry anymore. I'll take the burden of the Flower from you."

.

.

.

After a long battle, Riku and Two finally awoke from their slumber.

Zero kicked him in the head. "Took you long enough asshole."

"Aw, were you worried about me?" He teased.

"I should knock you unconscious again."

"What about Lady Two?" Cent asked. "I see her appearance has returned to normal but-"

Two's eyes finally opened after what felt like an eternity. "Yuna...is she okay?"

"She's alive, just unconscious."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "...thank goodness."

"So...how are you feeling?"

"I don't know...but for the first time it feels like I'm...awake." She turned to Riku. "I don't think I can thank you enough. You never gave up on me even though I was being so horrible to all of you."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Don't mention it. Let me free you guys from those chains too while I'm at it."

When she was freed, the first thing she did was get down on her hands and knees. "I'm so, so sorry to all of you! I should've never allowed that evil to control me the way it did... I just wanted to be happy again, but all I did was run away from my problems. I hope you can forgive me."

"That's all in the past now. Just keep moving forward and become a better person than you were yesterday," Riku said. "And...it's always good to take responsibility but don't blame yourself for everything."

"...Sorry...I'll try to keep that in mind."

"We still have a job to do tomorrow. Tell us everything you know about Three so we don't run into this blind," Zero said.

"Oh right...I-" She held her head in her hands as a wave of throbbing pain overcame her. "I...I don't know if I'm ready just yet...there's a lot of things I still need to sort out."

She tapped her foot in annoyance. "We don't have all day to wait on your ass."

"I know...I'm sorry."

"Hey, take it easy Zero," Riku said. "You don't need to push yourself or anything. Take however much time you need. Come on, let's give her some space."

"Whatever, let's just get out of here then."

The last portion of the tunnels weren't nearly as perilous as the first and they were able to make it outside to the desert with Two's shrine just out on the horizon, but at that point, it was pitch-black outside.

"We'll sleep here tonight then tomorrow we beat Three's ass," Zero said.

"Sucks that it's freezing out here now," Dito said.

"Ha-ha! Then it's a good thing I brought spare wood with me. I knew a situation like this would arise while we were in the desert," Decadus set Yuna down, then took out a bundle of sticks from his belongings and set it on the ground. "I leave the rest to you Riku!"

With the fire lit, they were given warmth from the chilly desert.

"Damn, it's still pretty cold out," Zero said.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Riku asked.

She smirked at him. "Sex is always a good way to warm someone up."

He quickly took off his jacket, taking her by surprise.

"Wait, you actually-"

Then he dropped the jacket into her lap. "That should warm you up."

"..."

"Lady Two, here you must be freezing-" Cent took off his jacket and promptly wrapped it around her.

"...You're doing it again."

"Wha- but I was only-"

"You didn't even ask if I was cold, you just put it on me."

"I'm sorry, I thought I was..." He went quiet.

"Hey, got something to eat?" Zero asked.

"Yeah, hold on." Riku walked away from the campsite then returned to Zero with a scorpion in his hand. "How's thi-"

She snatched the scorpion out of his hand then tried to force feed it inside his mouth.

"Are you hungry Lady Two?"

"No."

"But it's been so long since you've last eaten any food, surely you must be starving. I'll see if I can find any animals around."

"I already said no, Cent."

"Well yes, but you can't neglect eating."

"Cent, please."

"...Right."

"By the way, I learned the power of song."

"Yeah, I heard your awful singing-" She slapped him on the back. "Not bad even though it took you forever!"

"I might've gotten it sooner, if you weren't such a bad teacher."

"Not my fault you're a slow learner. So what, did you hit your head against the wall or something and you suddenly figured it out?"

"Honestly it all just came from the heart. Before I used to force it but that time it felt natural. Is it the same for you?"

"Sure, I guess."

"I see, then your heart must be in a lot of pain."

"What?"

"You always sound so sad whenever you're singing, it's your heart speaking, isn't it?"

"..."

'Why is she looking at me like that? And why isn't she saying anything?!'

"So...Lady Two uh..." Cent nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, I don't even know where to begin."

"Cent..." She took a deep breath. "I don't think we should be together anymore."

He felt his chest tighten. "Yeah...I know. I wouldn't want to be with me either. I...I was so damn selfish...I thought I was helping you, but all I've ever done was hurt you." He wiped away his tears on the back of his hand. "I'm sorry Lady Two...I'm so sorry. I'm so ashamed of myself."

She stood up suddenly then said, "...I think we should join everyone and talk about Three...I just want to get this night over with already."

"...r-right. Me too."

Two went over to Riku and Zero. "Uh...hey guys. I realize that my sister's going to be a...handful for us to deal with so I want to share the stuff that I know about her. I just...have one request."

"What's that?" Riku asked.

She bowed down. "Please allow me to fight alongside you guys on the battlefield!"

Zero scoffed. "What was the point of saving your ass if you just wanted to die anyways?"

"Wh-What do you mean?"

Riku let out a frustrated sigh. "...She's actually not wrong. I sealed your Intoner powers so you can't use or benefit from them anymore, it'd be way too much of a risk to let you fight. I don't want a repeat of what happened to F-"

"That's why I HAVE to fight!" She rubbed her arm. "Sorry...look, I know what I'm asking for is selfish, I just don't want anyone to go through what I did! If Three wasn't above using the darkness on her own sister then there's no telling who else she'll try to corrupt. In fact—that's exactly what she's doing to Mikhail right now!"

"Wait- what?!"

"Three told me she wanted to turn Mikhail into one of her dolls, but at the time I didn't know what she really meant by that. She never did anything to him, she actually treated him fairly well for a prisoner so I thought it was her being lazy again, but...all this time, she was just waiting for him to crack so she could poison him like she did to me."

"I get it now. She wanted Mikhail to be in a state of mind where he would willingly accept the darkness rather than just outright turn him into a mindless heartless," Riku said. 'Even though she's an outsider, she understands the power of darkness and wants to abuse it within other people. She's like this world's Xehanort in a way.'

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Zero asked.

"Come on Z, we're 17 chapters deep in this crap, keep up," Dito said.

"Don't give me that shit! You're the one who calls it nerd talk!"

"Yeah, but I still know what he's talking about. Basically Three's gonna use her dumb darkness powers to make a badass version of Mikhail when he's too weak to fight it back or whatever."

"That's... actually pretty accurate," Riku said.

"Great. Worst case scenario we're up against a competent Mikhail and a batshit crazy Intoner who can summon hundreds of heartless," Zero said.

"If we run in there blindly we'll lose. We'll need to come up with a strategy first."

"Any bright ideas?" Zero asked.

Decadus raised his hand. "Yes, I was thinking-"

"From anyone else?"

Cent cleared his throat. "Um...I hate to be the one who says this, but maybe you could act like we're still enemies? Three thinks we're on her side so we have the element of surprise there."

"That's not a bad idea," Riku said.

"We'll be able to get past her soldiers that way too. Most of our forces are protecting the shrine anyways so it'd be less of a hassle if we didn't have to deal with them."

"Hold on..." He summoned his keyblade to draw visuals in the sand. "How about we try something like this: Two and Cent will bring me and Zero to Three as prisoners while the disciples sneak inside. If she's alone then we can easily overwhelm her and I can put her in chains. If she's not..."

Riku drew a large figure in the sand. "Then we'll have to go through Mikhail first to get to her."

"Your drawings suck," Zero said.

"Shut up. Anyways, in the case that Mikhail is with Three and he's been corrupted by the darkness, me and Zero will take care of him and the rest of you guys will deal with Three. In this scenario, you guys have to take down Three as quickly as possible. Keep in mind she'll use anything from her heartless to soldiers or just attack you herself so be prepared for that."

"Yeah, quick question, how the hell are we going to do that?" Dito asked.

"It'll be five of you against one of her. I think you can figure something out."

"Four actually," Decadus said. "We still have Yuna with us and it would be irresponsible to take her inside that shrine so one of us will have to stay behind and take care of her."

"I'll do it," Dito said.

Riku glared at him. "You just wanna get out of fighting and you'd probably let her die anyways. It should be Decadus, he's the most competent disciple between all of you."

"A c-compliment?" He shuddered. "I rarely receive those, I'm n-not even sure how to feel."

"Fuuuuck we're all gonna die tomorrow, aren't we?"

"Octa, Three was your Intoner, right? Perhaps you're aware of any weaknesses she may have," Decadus suggested.

"Erm well...not really."

"Can you tell us what type of person she was at least? Was she any different before she turned to the darkness?" Riku asked.

"Yes, very much so, before she went off the deep end she used to be rather gentle with her dolls and took precaution in her experiments so no harm would befall onto anyone. Then one day she suddenly stopped caring."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but I believe it was around the time when Lady Two lost consciousness, she fell into a deep depression after that."

"...Me and Three were really close back then. Four and Five would always tease her and One wasn't around that often, so she would always talk to me about her experiments and interests. I guess after what happened to me she just felt...alone," Two said.

"And me leaving certainly didn't help her mental state either. Oh, I should be ashamed of myself," Octa said.

"Don't beat yourself up. She did want you to become a test subject," Riku said.

"Nah, it was mostly because he wasn't getting sex," Dito said.

"Seriously?"

"Yes...it was."

Riku pinched the bridge of his nose. "I should just stop expecting anything from you."

"I'm glad that all of this will finally be over tomorrow at least," Two said.

"Yeah. We'll have Mikhail back," He elbowed Zero. "I know even you're happy about that."

"Tch, all I know is that idiot's got hell coming for him."

At the expense of his own sanity,

The keyblade wielder saved the second Intoner from her misery.

And as they prepared for the great battle ahead

The darkness filled the dragon's heart with dread.

"...Are you awake? Tell me do you still feel tired, Mikhail?"

His voice rumbled the walls of the dungeon as he spoke. "Not anymore."

"Good. I fear we'll be receiving unwanted guests tomorrow. Would you mind taking 'care' of them for me?"

"Not at all. I'll burn them down to ash."

Flowers for the Dead


A/N: Check out my ao3 for artwork and memes