Two and the others were waiting around in the hot sun for the rest of the group to return, with little else to do to feign off the ever-growing boredom, they talked amongst themselves.
"Oooh, how my loins miss the touch of Lady Zero's love tunnel," Octa groaned, going on his usual tirade.
"Wait, does that mean Zero's been cheating on Riku with ...you?" Two asked.
"They're not even dating," Dito said.
"So Zero's with OCTA?!"
"Oh heavens no dear, her and I are merely bedmates. That's the role most of us disciples fulfill anyways, you and Cent being the sole exception."
"I get Four and Decadus, but none of you guys were in loving relationships with your Intoners?!"
"Fuck no, I hated Five," Dito said.
"While I hold no such contempt for Lady Three, she was in no way the 'loving' type."
"Wow...true love really doesn't exist."
Dito rolled his eyes. "Yeah, obviously, you're just now realizing this?"
Two's heart pretty much ripped in half from hearing that. "That's...seriously depressing..."
"Dito! How dare you depress my lady!" Cent hissed.
He rolled his eyes. "I thought this was common knowledge. Hate to break the news to her about shit like Santa."
He gasped. "I've just about had it with you spreading your frankly not very good lies! Next you're gonna say dragons don't exist!"
"...You actually believe in Santa? How old are you again?"
"Ah, you poor, ignorant fool. You're just not a true believer because you get nothing but a big lump of coal for Christmas, I feel truly sorry for you."
"Uh-huh, let me guess, did Two tell you that Santa was a thing?"
"Yes, that's right! In fact, Lady Two, tell Dito how wrong he is!"
"..."
"Lady Two...?"
"Cent, Santa isn't real."
"But that's impossible! What about all of those presents?!"
"How do you think he knew exactly what brand of cologne you wanted?"
"I thought it was Christmas magic! Why didn't you tell me it was all made up?!"
"It was just something I told the children, I didn't know you believed it too!"
"No way...does this mean the Easter Bunny doesn't exist either?"
She shook her head.
"Then what are people celebrating them for?!"
"They're religious holidays?"
"WHA- so...Santa Claus isn't real...the Easter Bunny isn't real...I mean what's next? Babies DO come from a woman's uterus?!"
"No, that part is actually true..."
"Everything I know is a lie!"
"And now I'm questioning all of those 'fun facts' you told me!"
"Well this was...unexpected," Octa said.
"—I've returned with the water- oh my goodness." Decadus ran over to join them and after seeing the wrecked emotional state Two and Cent were in, he could only assume the culprit was Dito. "Dito! What did you do?!"
"I don't even know man."
"...In any case, this water should last us throughout the day, but please do ration it carefully. I was chased by a group of heartless on my way here so I'm not sure if it'll be safe returning to that area for the time being."
Dito snorted. "Since when did you care about your own safety?"
"Don't listen to him. Thank you for taking care of everyone Decadus, really," Two said.
"Of course." Once the water was rationed out, he brought the remaining portion to Yuna who distanced herself from the rest of the group. "This is for you miss Yuna and please do hydrate yourself. I'm the only one who gets to suffer from severe dehydration."
She reluctantly took Decadus' offering. "...Thank you for your consistent kindness... I appreciate it."
"It's my pleasure. Oh and uh," He rubbed the back of his neck. "Just so you're aware...you're not alone in what you're going through. I lost someone incredibly important to me due to Lady Two's actions, but it really wasn't her who did all of those terrible things."
"I-I know...Riku explained everything to me yesterday. It's just hard for me to come to terms with everything."
"Understandable. I hope we can make arrangements to get you back to your village as well so you won't be dragged any deeper into this conflict."
"Yes, that would be nice."
As the day dragged on, they assumed they would be free from the usual suspects that brought death and destruction or rather the usual suspect; the heartless, but their illusion of peace was shattered when a typhoon of shadows swarmed around them. Without Riku or the other more capable members around, they prepared themselves for what would possibly be one of the toughest battles of their lives only for the shadows to be blasted away by cannon fire.
"What's going on?" Decadus asked.
Three massive airships flew towards the group, stopping just before them.
"That looks a lot like One's airships, what're they doing here?" Two asked.
One of the soldiers on the airship threw down a rope ladder, then a prominent general of One's military went down to greet them. "Greetings, I am General Barret of the 13th division." When he spotted Two amongst the crowd, he approached her first. "Ah, Lady Two! What a pleasant surprise, I never thought I'd see you on the outskirts of your own country, but I suppose times have been troubling as of late."
"Tell me about it, but I didn't know One had much of a military left."
"Yes, well, myself and a handful of my comrades were among the few survivors after the first wave of those demons devastated the city. We evacuated as many people as we could then tried to go back for Lady One, but there were simply too many of them and we were forced to leave. I know it was cowardly to turn our backs on her, especially during a time of need, but it would've been like pigs to slaughter if we tried to fight those demons with what little men we had. Instead, we decided to travel around Midgard and gather as many soldiers and weapons as we could in order to stage a proper rescue attempt for our lady."
Even after he explained himself, he took his helmet off and kneeled down to Two in apology, but she stopped him before he could open up his mouth again.
"There's no need to apologize or anything like that, you guys couldn't have arrived here at a more perfect time!"
"Hm?"
"Right now, there's a much bigger threat in the world and we need as much help as we can get to fight against it. You guys made the right choice to live another day rather than die unnecessarily and it's about to pay off ten-fold when we save the world. Let's go to Cathedral City as soon as possible so we can support One."
"Ah, that's wonderful! I'm glad to be in such service to the Intoners!" He stood up. "We'll depart at once, you may even bring your companions along if you so desire."
"-Wait!" Yuna scrambled over to General Barrett. "I don't want to be a part of this, please, I just want to go back home to my village!"
"I see, it seems you're just a regular civilian. I'll have one of my soldiers escort you back."
"Thank you." But before she walked off with the soldiers, she turned around to wave goodbye to Decadus who happily waved back at her.
"Alright, let's head out," Two said. "Yuna...and everyone else in Midgard won't be safe until we stop Three."
Vulcunniko: No thoughts, head empty
Raximus: We'll see about that
HelelBenShahar: Thanks for reading!
Centurious the Azure: *nervously laughs at the rest of the chapter* and thanks for reading! Your fic is always a gem to read as well.
Anon: Back again over a month later :D Yeah I was thinking of what single word I could use to describe each conflict. Tbh if I had my hand bitten off by someone, I wouldn't be mentally there either lol. Two runs away after literally berating Zero for trying to do the same thing, shameless. One was a bit of a challenge to portray, but I think I already expressed this before. The rest of the chapter will bring One out into a new light. Nothing forced an epiphany faster than literally almost f*ckin dying!
Keybladelight: Lol the flower is definitely gonna put up a fight before it's ultimately defeated. That scene with Riku was more or less just him ranting to himself, Zero just put two and two together to figure out that Sora is the friend he mentioned wanting to find prior. Tbh I was thinking of putting Accord more towards the end and for her to meet Zero sometime in branch B. Riku ofc wants to find Sora, but he's prioritizing Midgard atm.
"'Til Death Do Us Part"
Despite being surrounded by the heartless for so long, Brother One wasn't showing obvious signs of the effects it had on his heart, namely the signature golden eyes, but that perception changed when he opened his mouth. "Tell me. What made you want to show your face here again?"
"...I apologize for whatever I did. Lately, I've realized that I haven't been the best at well, anything, but I'm working to fix that. Please just put your sword down and let's start over, I'm here now and I won't leave you anymore."
"Funny you should say that. I've already long found someone who's stayed by my side throughout your absence so I no longer need you. Well actually, let me rephrase that, I do need you for one last thing."
"Tch, and what would that be?"
"To die of course!" He unsheathed his sword, then ran towards her.
Although One was shocked that her own brother would dare raise his sword to her, she had no choice but to adjust to the situation accordingly and pull her own weapon out. With her impeccable reflexes, she blocked Brother One's attack, locking blades with him. In terms of raw strength, One should've been able to easily outclass her brother, but the darkness granted him such a formidable boost in power that he was able to stand on equal footing to her.
"Are you surprised that I could ever match you in strength, sister?"
She scoffed. "This pathetic display is not strength by any stretch of the imagination."
"Typical. Still so haughty even as you struggle to maintain your footing, but perhaps this will change your mind-" Jumping away from her, he swiped his sword through the air and a wave of darkness emitted from the blade.
That wave of darkness was not only incredibly fast, but powerful as well. While One managed to dodge it in time to avoid a fatal outcome, her right arm got cut clean off and fell to the ground. However, the only pain she felt in that moment was witnessing the library she held so dear be utterly shredded apart by his attack, it was as if he took a giant sword and cut through her own heart.
Brother One pointed his blade at her. "Next is your head."
She squeezed the nub where her arm used to be, forcing the bleeding to stop. "Nice work catching me off guard, but that'll be the first and last time you ever get a hit on me."
"-Let me help you, One! You don't need to do this alone!" Riku said.
"Stay out of this! This isn't your fight, this is a family matter."
"No way! I'm not gonna let you die!"
"Who said anything about dying? Don't forget who you're talking to." She snapped her fingers together. "Now, I suggest both of you leave, otherwise you'll get caught up in it."
"Heh, go ahead and run. I'll find you both," Brother One said.
The ground started trembling so hard that it felt like it would split apart at any moment, not to mention huge chunks of the ceiling dropping down on them like rainfall. Whatever One had up her sleeve, Zero didn't want to stay behind to find out so she grabbed Riku's hand and dragged him away as the entrance to the library got closed off.
"What're you doing?! We can't leave One!"
"She can handle it, we need to focus on not dying!"
Eventually, they reached a somewhat safe spot near the entrance of the cathedral where they would have to wait it out until the conclusion of the fight.
"Talk about a one on one fight," Zero said after she got a chance to catch her breath.
"That was a bad joke even for you."
"Shut up. Like you have better material."
"What's so funny about One's life being in dang- actually don't answer that. I just hope she'll be okay."
Zero waved it off. "She doesn't die easily, trust me. She'll be back before long to order us around."
And so they waited on One's return so they could continue their mission together. Fortunately, she did come back to them albeit in a much worse state than before. Her previously white clothes were stained blood red and there were noticeable bruises on her face, showing just how tough of an opponent her brother was.
One hobbled over to them, clutching her arm. "Riku, Zero. Are both of you alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine, but you look like shit," Zero said.
"-Let me help you," Riku offered.
"That's not necessary. My Intoner powers will kick in soon enough."
"Oh that's right. I guess that's how you were able to heal your arm."
"Correct."
"So...your brother. Did you, you know..."
She nodded. "It couldn't be helped. He was too far gone to be saved. Regrettably, I also lost Gabriel in the encounter so I've made some slight adjustments to the overall plan."
"Wait what?!" Zero dragged her hands over her face. "We're fucked without Gabriel, how could you just let him die?! And weren't you two pact partners so you should also be dead!"
"...I had no choice but to break the pact between us otherwise we would've both become heartless and what would that have solved? There's no room for emotions right now, we need to think logically if we want to succeed."
Riku shook his head in frustration. "Damn it, I knew I should've stayed behind...at the very least I can free your friend's heart if you tell me where its heartless is."
"Thank you for your offer, but I rather you not needlessly chase it down."
"So what's your big master plan if Gabriel's out of the picture?" Zero asked.
"I have the greatest military in the world, I'll think of a backup plan soon. I'm more concerned about what your plan of action is, Riku."
He summoned his keyblade. "I wanted to forge a new keyblade so I could protect myself from the Flower, but I needed the bones of a dragon. Without Gabriel, I'm at a loss here."
"And you absolutely can't carry out your duties without it?"
"Don't get me wrong, if it comes down to it then I'll use the Power of Waking on Three with or without the dragon keyblade, but I didn't want to risk hurting anyone around me by taking in more of the Flower. We still don't fully understand it yet or what it's actually doing to any of us."
"Fine, then just take my sword. Problem solved," Zero said.
Riku and One turned to Zero.
"What? It's made from the bones of a dragon."
"Yeah, but ...don't you need that?" Riku asked.
"Clearly you need it more than I do."
"What happened to plan 'kill everyone'?"
"Just take the fucking sword already! Besides you're gonna need it so the Flower doesn't make you its bitch again."
He begrudgingly accepted the sword from her. "...Thanks."
"What a fortunate outcome for you. I believe there's an old forge outside the cathedral, just be careful leaving the premises. Heartless aren't the only enemies to worry about in this city," One said.
"Guess I'll have to come with you so you don't get yourself killed," Zero said.
"You really don't have to-"
But Zero already made her mind up so the two of them left the cathedral together and made their way towards the forge.
"Is it just me or does One seem a lot different?" Riku asked.
"Yeah, she's a little off. That battle with her brother must've really screwed with her head."
"I get it though. Must be tough to lose your brother and best friend all in one day, we'll just have to put up with it for now- hold on, I think that's the place," Riku ran over to a cobblestone building infested by heartless, he used Aeroga to clear them away and revealed the long-abandoned forge underneath. Now that it was accessible, he went straight inside and assessed his new workspace. "Not bad, it's still in good shape."
Zero followed him inside then plopped herself down on one of the empty workbenches. "You know how to do this stuff?"
"No, but I watched other people do it so it shouldn't be that hard."
"I swear to God Riku, if you ruin my sword I'll-"
"You'll kill me, right? Or make a really good attempt to. Don't worry, if something goes wrong I'm sure some magic can fix it." With a clear goal in mind, he went straight to work on reforging Zero's sword. Though he was only making a keychain, he took great care when he handled it. Not just in lieu of her threat, but because he intimately understood what she meant when she gave him her sword, and that spoke so much louder to him than any words could've.
For a while, they sat in comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company. Even though something as hands-off as watching someone else blacksmith would've typically bored Zero to tears, she didn't mind it this time around. In fact, she could've probably spent the whole night just watching him tinker away and wouldn't feel like a moment of her time was wasted, but of course, Riku just had to go and ruin what little goodwill they had when he turned to her with a semi-serious expression on his face.
"Hey so... I've been thinking about something for a while. I know you said you wouldn't make any promises, but now that I'll have this new keyblade, maybe ...I could use my powers on you?"
"Sure, anytime."
Knowing that Zero's mind was terminally in the gutter, he could only assume she took it in the worst way possible. "Wait, I didn't mean it like that."
"Oh?" Now she was full-on smirking. "You're just gonna assume I meant something dirty?"
"Considering your track record I kinda have to. Besides, this is important, you wouldn't agree so easily."
She was annoyed that he already knew her so well. "...I don't know. It's not like I ever planned to live this long so I wouldn't even know what I'd do with my life."
"You don't need to know right now, you can figure it out along the way."
"Easy for you to say. I'll probably just fall back into the same shit that put me in this mess in the first place."
"Nah I don't think you will. You're different now, you're not as terrible a person as you were before and if that's not enough then Mikhail will set you on the right path."
"That's the nicest thing you can come up with?"
"I don't know Zero, maybe if you were actually nice I would have more nice things to say."
"Tch, maybe if you weren't such an asshole I would be nicer!"
"Yeah right, you like being a jerk just for fun."
She shrugged. "It's out of habit."
He let out a sigh. "...You still didn't answer my question yet. There has to be something more you want in life than to just die at the end."
She scoffed at the idea. "I was lucky to live another day, let alone think about a couple of years into the future. Can't really imagine myself doing anything other than fucking or killing people, that's just my shitty life."
"Don't say that, just keep thinking about it, okay?" After putting the finishing touches on his keychain, he used some magic to speed up the cooling process, then threw the finished product to Zero. "That's everything I need to end the Flower once and for all."
"You melted my sword down into this?"
"That keychain will change the appearance of my keyblade and give it new properties."
"Oh, that simple?" She thumbed the small, embellished piece of metal. It was still warm to touch, but that made it comforting in a way because it was like she was holding hands with someone. What struck out to her the most was the design, it wasn't anything she'd ever expect to come from someone like Riku. "...Why a rose?"
"I thought it would be the most fitting. It is your sword." He sat down next to her. "When I come back here with my friends, I want you to at least be there. I can't tell you how to live your life, but maybe I can show you a little bit of mine and, you can see what you've been missing out on all these years." He bit his lip, preparing for Zero to laugh at his face because he knew it was pretty corny, even for him, but she was transfixed on every word he said.
"That...actually doesn't sound half bad. Waiting around for you to come back is gonna be pretty boring though."
He bumped her shoulder. "Oh, so you're gonna miss me?"
"Don't flatter yourself, you're just a piece of eye candy. "
Now it was his chance to tease her. "Just a piece of eye candy, huh? Then why's your face getting all red?"
"Because this place is a goddamn furnace!" Shoving the keychain into Riku's face, she jumped off the workbench then went outside so she could finally breathe. "God...what the hell's gotten into me?"
"—Hey Zero, wait up!" Riku joined her. "Let's walk back together, you have a bad habit of attracting heartless."
"I don't blame them. They just can't get enough of me."
"That's...one way to look at it."
It was already nightfall in Cathedral City, but the moonlight shone bright enough so they could easily make their way back to the cathedral. However, it wasn't long before trouble arose as a dark shadow overcast the moon. When they looked up, they saw several airships flying above them towards their destination.
"What's going on? Is Three here already?!" Riku asked.
"Doubt it, I would've smelled Mikhail's stench by now. Could be the rest of One's military dogs."
They hurried back to the cathedral and reached One first.
"Hey, there's a few airships outside. You know anything about them?"
"No, I don't. Let's see what this is all about."
The three of them went back out and met with General Barret along with a handful of soldiers outside on the steps.
"Lady One." General Barret and his soldiers kneeled down before her. "We abandoned you during a critical time in the outcome of Cathedral City, but we're here now and we'll serve you until the bitter end. We were recently made aware of a world-ending threat orchestrated by the third Intoner, please use us however you see fit in ending this conflict."
"Ah, you have impeccable timing and how did you know of Three? Unless she's already advancing to Cathedral City."
"Your sister Two told, fortunately, we've yet to see any organized military on our travels."
"—One!" Two pushed through the soldiers so she could hug her sister. "I'm so happy you're safe! I was so worried about you!"
One pat her on the back. "It's...good to see you too."
Two suddenly pulled away from her, while her eyes could see that it was One, her heart felt the touch of a stranger. "I- I should go back to the ship, I probably interrupted something important. Sorry for bothering you."
"You're not a bother to me at all, feel free to talk to me anytime."
"Yeah, definitely..." She weakly replied before returning to the airship.
"In any case, I'm sure all of you are wondering what my plan is on how we should take on Three. Not only does she have an army of heartless and soldiers, but she also has the power of a dragon to use to her disposal and since I've recently lost Gabriel, we're already at a major disadvantage...if we remain in Cathedral City that is."
"Are you suggesting we invade the Land of Forests instead? Wouldn't that also put us at a disadvantage?"
"Look around, general. If we sit on our hands and wait for Three to come to a city that's already fallen, we might as well be burying our own graves. Not taking the initiative is how I lost Cathedral City in the first place, I won't risk losing again. Besides, we truly only have two targets; Three and the dragon, if we make a concentrated effort to take both of them down then so will her entire army fall."
"Still, that's way fucking easier said than done," Zero said.
"You've come this far. So what's a little more heartless to fight and blood to shed? You should be used to it by now."
"You do make an excellent point, Lady One. It's decided then, we'll draw up some strategies and formations at once. When will we depart?"
"Tonight."
"So soon?"
"There's no telling when Three will decide to carry out her attack and we can't afford to wait even a day longer. It'll take a day of travel to breach the Land of Forests, that's more than enough time to get everything together."
"Yes ma'am!"
INVASION ON THE LAND OF FORESTS: MISSION START
HOURS UNTIL OPERATION BEGINS: 24
Meanwhile, back on the airship, Two was pacing around on the top deck, at odds with herself. 'Maybe I'm just overreacting from all the stress. If that's not the real One then that means something bad happened to her and there's no way that could've happened. The darkness probably got to her, that's all, it happened to me too.'
But as much as she tried to reason it through, she still couldn't shake off the feeling that something wasn't adding up. 'Then again, no matter how steeped in the darkness Three was, I always knew it was her underneath it all. This One is like a really, really convincing fake. Ugh I'm losing my mind, I need to get to the bottom of this and fast.'
"-Lady Two, is something the matter?" Cent asked, approaching her.
"Huh?" 'I should just keep this to myself for now.' "Oh it's nothing, I just really want everything to work out, you know?"
"Of course it will, we're in good hands with Lady One on our side. She's always been two steps ahead of everyone."
"Ha ha...yeah."
Cent could still see that something was bothering Two, but luckily he had just the solution. "Hey, I know just what you need! The disciples and I are gonna be playing a game sometime tonight and you should consider joining us!"
"Thanks, but I have to sit this one out."
"But this is a perfect opportunity to relieve some of your stress before the big fight, and it won't be nearly as fun without you around!"
"I would've loved to play with you guys, but I wanted to catch up with One tonight. We haven't talked as sisters in such a long time and there's so much I still want to tell her."
"I understand, family always comes first buuuut if you happen to change your mind, I'll have a seat saved just for you~"
She smiled. "That sounds nice...maybe I can even drag One along so we can all play together."
"I'll look forward to it. 'Till then I shall await your return my lady." Cent awkwardly stepped away from Two, in the past they would've shared a goodbye kiss, but Two simply left their exchange at that and walked away. As ashamed as it made him feel, a part of him deep down wanted a kiss from her. 'So even after everything I've done, how can I still be so selfish? I need to be a better man for her.'
After they parted ways, Two waited outside on the upper deck until One boarded the airship. 'Okay, it's go time, I have to figure out what's going on with One without her finding out my true intentions.' "Heya One!" She ran up to her. "I thought I should take you up on your offer. Do you have time to talk?"
"Sure, just try not to take up too much time if you can. There's still some unfinished business I need to take care of."
"It won't be long at all, I just wanted to have some girl talk, heh heh. Mind if we go somewhere private?"
"That's fine. Follow me."
They went to the bottom deck of the ship, then down a narrow hallway. "This should be where the captain's quarters are. We won't be bothered here." They both went inside and she closed the door behind them.
There was a slight chill in the room, the window outlooking the sky was left open from whoever was in there last.
Two crossed her arms, trying to keep herself warm."It's kinda cold in here, huh."
"You'll get used to it." One directed Two to the table where they would be having their 'girl talk'. Curiously, there was a map of Midgard spread out along the perimeter with a knife sticking out on a specific area of the Land of Seas.
'I wonder why that's there.'
One soon joined Two with an expensive bottle of red wine in her hand. "Would you like a drink as well?"
"No, I'm fine, thanks. You know you don't usually bust out the wine unless it's a really special occasion."
"We're together now, aren't we? I can't think of a better occasion to celebrate." She poured herself a glass.
"Yeah, you're right. This reminds me of that time when the five of us all got together at the cathedral a while ago, do you remember? I made those homemade noodles in tomato sauce and you loved them, it made me really happy."
"Yes, how could I forget? It's a memory I cherish."
"You decided to serve red wine because it was a special occasion that all of us were together." She started to chuckle. "But then you immediately regretted it because everyone got so drunk."
"I remember that part too, you all made such a big mess. The cleanup afterward was terrible."
"...Except, that's not what actually happened. You didn't serve us any wine because you didn't think we could handle it, even when Five begged for it you still refused." Two shot up from her seat. "I know you're not One so you can drop the act already! Tell me exactly who you are and what you did with my real sister or else!"
One took a sip of her wine before setting it back on the table. "I'll let you in on something, when I'm given a task, I see through it until the very end. I don't let anything or anyone get in my way." She slowly rose from her chair. "And right now, you're in my way. That being said, I'm not completely unreasonable, if you don't go around running your mouth, I'll allow you to live."
Two pushed her away. "If you kill me they'll just figure you out sooner, so just give it up already, you lost."
"Lost? I've only just begun." A dark aura surrounded her. "Looks like I'll have to play dirty."
HOURS UNTIL OPERATION BEGINS: 23
While Two was met with an uncertain fate, just one level above her, Riku was up against one of his worst enemies: forced social interaction.
"Hey, there you guys are. Me and the others are playing a game tonight. Want in?" Dito asked.
Zero's face scrunched in disgust. "Ugh, another game?"
"There's gonna be booze."
"I'm in."
"I'll pass," Riku said.
"Come on, loosen up for once. This'll probably be the last fun thing we do together," Zero said.
"Don't care. Answer's still no."
"Whatever, you'd lose anyways."
Zero's comment struck a chord with his competitive side. "What do you mean I'd lose?"
"Just saying. It's better you sit this one out so you don't get your feelings hurt."
"You know what? Sign me up. I'll play this stupid game and make sure you don't win!"
'He's so easy.' "Fine, if you can even get that far."
"Uh huh...well you guys can come with me."
They met up with the rest of the disciples in an empty cabin room where Octa was already setting up for whatever game they were gonna play. "Oh ho ho, I'm glad you could both join us tonight for a game of... charades!"
"...Charades? That's the best game you could all come up with?" Zero asked.
"Don't look at me. This was all Octa's idea," Dito said.
"Charades may be a simple game, but I assure you all that my version will be a crowd pleaser! Now let's divide up into teams of three, naturally Lady Zero will be on my team."
She glared at him.
"I mean I will be on Lady Zero's team! Not the...other way around."
"I'll take Dito too, you can have the leftovers Riku," Zero said.
"Leftovers? OooOOooh, how demeaning," Decadus groaned.
"What the- don't just take that!" Riku said.
"Heh, nothing like a bit of trash talking to bring out some friendly competition," Cent said.
"Doubt we'll have much a competition. This'll be nothing."
"Then we'll go first since you're so sure of yourself," Zero said.
"Sounds good to me."
Zero was up first, she took a card off the table then after reading the topic, she understood what Octa meant by it being 'his version' of charades. Still, she figured she could at least get some enjoyment out of it so she let out a long sigh and went to the front of the room.
"I'll start the time, ready, set, go!" Octa said.
She cupped one of her hands into an 'O' shape, then with her other hand she stuck a finger inside the O. That was it, it was pretty obvious what she was doing, but Riku and his team thought it was the most abstract concept they ever saw.
"Wow. We're already starting off with a challenging one. It looks like she's performing a poking action of sorts..." Cent said.
"Oh- oh I think I know! You're branding someone with an iron rod!" Decadus suggested.
Zero shook her head.
"Ah, but I feel as though we're close my friend. Is this the proverbial 'poking the bear'? Fun fact, did you know bears are close relatives-"
"You can tell us later Cent, we're still in the middle of a game here. And she's not poking anything, she's inserting an object into something else," Riku said.
Zero slowly nodded her head.
"You're unlocking a chest!"
And she went right back to shaking her head.
"You're unlocking a door? Or maybe you're unlocking someone's heart...so like, making a friend?"
"I like that interpretation," Decadus said. "By making friends, we are inserting ourselves into someone else's life..."
Zero pressed her face into her hands. "Octa, give me a new card. These dumbasses will never figure it out."
"Right away!"
He gave her a new card.
"...This is the same topic."
"The same topic?! But this is clearly a different position, as someone as well versed in the field as yourself I thought you of all people would have a finer appreciation for the many nuances of this art form!"
"Wait a second-" She went to the table and shuffled through the cards. "Don't fucking tell me all of these cards are about sex! You had ONE job Octa!"
"Absolutely not! There's plenty of topics about giving yourself a 'hand' heh heh heh."
"Only a sick pervert would know what half of this shit even is."
"Damn, sometimes you set the jokes up yourself," Dito said.
"And sometimes you set up your own grave! The point is we can't play this, not even I know what the 48 hands technique is."
"It's an ancient enjoy-"
"I didn't ask for an explanation either."
"So you're admitting defeat?" Riku asked.
"You obviously lost! You couldn't even guess the universal sign of fucking!"
"Just admit you weren't that good at charading."
"Yeah, I was getting a lot of mixed messages from you," Cent said.
She picked up a bunch of cards, then threw it at them. "You try acting this shit out!"
As the three of them read through the cards and attempted to decipher Octa's layers upon layers of euphemisms, a sudden cold front brought the cabin room down into freezing temperatures.
"It's not just me who's freezing their ass off, right?" Dito asked.
"No..." The cold was accompanied by an even more chilling presence, one that Riku knew all too well. He summoned his keyblade and went to the door. "Something's off. I'm gonna check it out."
"Might as well follow you so we don't freeze to death either," Zero said.
"Suit yourself."
Once they left the cabin room, they were practically walking into an ice cavern. The floors and walls were all covered in a thin sheet of ice that made it difficult to just down the hallway, then of course there were shadows crawling all over the place, heartless were practically a given at this point.
"With all these heartless around, don't you think there would've been more commotion? It's strangely quiet," Decadus said.
"I know, I'm guessing there's another heartless responsible for that too."
Venturing deeper within the airship, they heard a low growling noise erupt from somewhere close to them.
Decadus held onto Riku for comfort. "Dear god! What terrible monster was that?!"
"Decadus, let go! You'll be fine!"
"Wait! Lady Two! I- I need to find her to make sure he's okay!" Cent said.
"Hold on, it's too dangerous if you go alone!"
But he already broke off from the rest of the group to descend to the bottom deck.
"Looks like we'll just have to follow him!"
Cent was rushing down the hall, crashing through icicle blockades and stumbling across the icy floors in a desperate bid to find Two. "Lady Two, please, please, please be okay! Please! I can't lose you!" He slid around a corridor and right in front of him was a monstrous beast in the middle of devouring the hearts of soldiers, turning them into shadows right before his eyes. He tried to take cover but the beast had already noticed him and turned its attention to him.
The beast had the head of a deer skull with piercing yellow eyes that signified its heartless status. It was so massive that it had to hunch itself over so its antlers wouldn't scrape against the ceiling, but despite its lumbering size, it had no problem snatching up Cent with its giant claws.
While Cent counted down his last moments, the beast stared at him for the longest time, studying him, then eventually it set him back down on the ground and continued to feast on the hearts it amassed.
"...What?" Before he could even piece together what just happened, a voice from behind called out to him.
"—Watch out! That thing is dangerous."
Cent turned to see One limping over to him, clutching the deep claw mark etched into her stomach. In stark contrast, the beast reacted with an uncontrollable amount of rage to One's presence and lunged at her specifically, fortunately for her, Riku came just in time to protect her from its rampage. He managed to slash it across its body before having to fall because it started swinging around its giant arms and destroying the ship's interior.
"Come on, let's take this to the upper deck so we'll have more space to fight!" Riku yelled.
"But what about Lady Two?!"
"We can't do anything with this heartless around, we have to defeat it first!"
"...Okay, fine. Let's go!"
The deer-skulled heartless was hot on their trails as they retreated back to the upper deck, shooting out icicles from its mouth which they had to continually keep dodging. However, Decadus just couldn't keep up with everyone and as they were climbing up the last ladder, he slipped on the ice, leaving the heartless to snatch him up in an instant.
But Riku was just as quick to slice its hand off and save Decadus before he could lose his heart. He even had the foresight to employ a Protega spell, knowing that it would immediately try to retaliate. When it predictably swiped at his shield, Riku seized the opening to attack and blasted it with Firaga, consuming it in a blazing fire.
Fire must've been its weakness because it went berserk after that, screeching and thrashing around until it ended up burying itself under a huge pile of debris. For now, that gave Riku and Decadus a chance to escape to the upper deck.
"Everyone alright?" Riku asked.
"For the most part," Zero said. "So where the hell did that thing come from?"
"—I'll tell you, but you won't like the answer." One said. "The heartless...they attacked us and turned her into one of them."
They were all shocked by the news, but none took it harder than Cent who was in complete and utter disbelief. "Two...turned into a heartless?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so."
"You're wrong! There's no way in hell that happened!"
"You can choose to believe it or not, but I'm telling you exactly what I saw. Two turned into a heartless and ended up attacking me, that's the truth of the matter."
"No...no no, not Lady Two...she would never...she's not..."
"Lady Two!" He pounded his fists on the ground, breaking down into tears.
In wake of the devastating news, Cent wasn't even allowed to grieve for long because the pile of debris burst open and the deer-skulled heartless revealed itself once more.
TWO'S HEARTLESS: 𝓦𝓮𝓭𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓭𝓪𝔂
Due to Riku's previous attacks, much of the fur covering Wednesday's body was singed, burnt down to its flesh, and as a result, it adopted a far more ghastly appearance. It punched a hole straight through the deck, grabbing a fistful of wood and other materials, then launched it at everyone.
"Damn it, it's destroying the ship! Do something Riku!" One yelled.
Riku decided he would slay Wednesday the old-fashioned way; death by a thousand cuts. He charged at the deer-skulled heartless with his keyblade lit on fire, then scaled the beast all the way up to its head. His emotions were especially heightened during that moment, but because there was no time to stop, not even for a second, the only way he could express them was through his blade. He unleashed all of his sadness and anger in a relentless series of slashes and strikes that seared straight through Wednesday's flesh and bones.
Within seconds, Riku whittled down the terrifying beast to mere a head and torso barely clinging onto what little darkness it had left. He was about to free Two's heart once and for all when it suddenly screeched out and activated its desperation move.
An army of shadows and neoshadows alike rose from the darkness, a living grave of the soldiers that lost their hearts. They surrounded their master, then Wednesday outright ate all of them in order to regain the power it lost. After cannibalizing its own, Wednesday was back to full power and more ferocious than ever before. Riku ran up to it and shot another Firaga spell, but it learned from its previous encounter and jumped out of the way, landing harshly on the wooden floor.
Following Riku's long string of fire-based attacks, Wednesday blasted a series of Blizzard spells that turned the upper deck into an icy wasteland. The rapid change in temperature put an immense strain on the structures of the airship which was already hanging on by a thread at that point.
"—Looks like you're having trouble," Zero said, catching up with Riku.
"Not even close, I just need to find a different approach."
"This ship'll break down by the time you figure that out, but I think I have an idea." She took out the bottle of booze from before.
"You... brought that with you?"
"I didn't want it to go to waste, but it looks like I don't have much of a choice." She pulled off the cap, then proceeded to make an improvised molotov cocktail. "Here: light this thing up, then I'll throw it into its mouth and it'll burn up from the inside. This rum's pretty damn strong so it should burn nicely. That should put the nail in its coffin."
"Sounds risky, sure it'll even work?"
"Sure fucking hope it does. Just do something about that deer thing so it doesn't move around and I'll handle the rest."
"Alright, you got one shot at this. I don't have that much magic left so this has to be one and done."
"Yeah, yeah I got it."
Raising his keyblade in the air, Riku summoned black lightning that electrocuted Wednesday enough to fully paralyze it. After that, he lit up the moltov cocktail then it was up to Zero to finish the job. She closed in on the deer skulled heartless and was about to throw the bottle of liquor inside its open mouth, but she was intercepted by Cent. He raised his sword against her and forced her to engage with him instead.
"Get the hell out of my way, Cent! I don't have time for this!"
"Not on your goddamn life! If this is what's left of Lady Two then I'll protect her until the very end!"
Rather than entertain Cent's antics, Zero slashed him across the chest, thinking that would be enough to take him out, but through sheer tenacity he managed to stand his ground.
"You'll have to ...kill me... if you want to get through ...that way...I can at least die an honorable... death..." He said between gasps of breath.
It would've meant nothing for Zero to stab Cent right then and there, but instead she chose to punch him in the face, decisively knocking him unconscious. With the time Zero wasted on Cent, not only was the molotov cocktail seconds away from detonating, but Wednesday's paralyzation was already starting to wear off.
"It's already starting to move again?! Fuck it, I can't waste this opportunity!" Zero suited up in her gauntlets, smashed an opening through Wednesday's skull, then shoved the bottle of booze inside. An intense fire soon burned within Wednesday, eating away at the darkness inside. Before long, all that was left was Two's body lying cold on the ground.
"Look at this mess. I'll have to assess the damages and see if this ship is still salvageable. Everyone remain on standby," One said.
"What's wrong with you?! Aren't you even the least bit sad after your own sister died?!" Riku yelled.
"I am, but crying about it won't bring her back." And then One left without so much as a passing glance at Two.
'Can I even stay mad at her? Maybe this is just her own way of how she deals with everything.' His eyes drew back to Two. 'But all of this really is so messed up. After everything it took to save her, why did she still end up becoming a heartless?'
As frustrated and saddened Riku was, it was nothing in comparison to the depth of emptiness Cent felt who, after finally waking up, now had to watch the love of his life fade away from existence. Instead of dragging himself over to Two's corpse and wailing over her dead body, he traded what few moments he still had with her to ask Zero a question he already knew the answer to, but he asked anyway, "...Why didn't you just kill me?"
"I don't kill men who still have use to me," Zero said.
"I'm sorry Cent...I don't even know what to say, I wish I could've stopped all of this from happening," Riku said.
Cent didn't even look up to acknowledge what Riku said, he just kept silently staring at Two until she was finally gone. "Well I guess that's a wrap, no use crying over spilled milk!" He stood up and bowed down to Zero. "I suppose from this point on...I'll be serving you Lady Zero."
"...You got over her fast."
"I just want to serve an Intoner, I really don't care which one. Besides, like you said, I already have a use, don't I? And I'm about to show you just how useful I am all night long~"
"No, now's not the time to carry on as usual," Decadus said.
"Man, talk about a wet blanket. What is it this time?"
He lowered his voice. "...There's something important I'd like to discuss with you all concerning Lady One."
HOURS UNTIL OPERATION BEGINS: 20
The Intoner and the Keyblade Wielder fall into the hands of the enemy,
And sing of the world's now imminent demise.
Will they break free of this melody,
Or will an untimely demise come at their surprise?
Flowers for the Dead
A/N: Yes it took over a month for me to update, will not comment on that any further! Anyways, artwork of fallen rose + memes is up on ao3 check it out!
