*ding- ding- ding*

In the quiet town of Formouth, people lived and died by the sound of the church bells. Three times a day it rang and everyone could hear its loud chimes signaling a call to prayer and the beginning and end of service. However, once Five's rule over the Land of Seas came to an end, the church bells rang almost nonstop to warn of pirate raids. Soon, the mere sound of the church bells began to strike fear into the hearts of Formouth's townspeople, driving some of them to madness.

All of that changed one day when a mysterious young woman by the name of 'Sarah' arrived in their town and ever since then, the church bells no longer had to ring endlessly.

None of the townspeople figured out what had happened exactly, they suspected Sarah had something to do with it, but when they questioned her, she said that she was just a regular old sister of the church and left it at that. At first glance, Sarah did appear to be a quite unremarkable girl but there was far more to her under the surface...

Today, the Sunday service was in session, and once the priest finally wrapped up his long-winded sermon, he offered one final blessing to the worshippers; "Now...go in peace to love and serve the Lord."

"Thanks be to God," They replied in unison.

After the service concluded, the townspeople left the church and went about their daily lives, but before Sarah and her friend from the convent, Alice, could leave as well, the priest stopped them at the door.

"Ah, Sister Alice, if I could have a moment-"

She turned back to him. "Oh...Father Frollo, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I've recently conversed with Mother Weiss, she tells me you're ready to take your final vows and officially become a nun by this week's end and I just wanted to congratulate you." Frollo pulled Alice into a hug and Sarah could've sword she saw him sniff her hair just now. "...I've watched you grow into a promising young woman over the years and I could not be more proud of you."

"It's not a big deal, really."

Sarah squeezed her friend's arm. "What're you talking about?! That's a huge deal! Own up to it, girl!"

Frollo scoffed at Sarah's excitement. "Sister Sarah, I know you've just begun your journey into salvation, but need I remind you that excessive pride is considered a cardinal sin and an act of rebellion against God? One should not highly praise one's self when we only have Him to thank for all our blessings in this world."

She rolled her eyes, then said under her breath; "...pretty sure lust is a sin too."

"What was that?"

"Nothing..."

"Hmph, unless you decide to take more after Sister Alice, the convent will never recognize you as a nun I'm afraid. Be off on your way now you two, I still have important business I need to attend to."

Once they left the church, Sarah wasted no time in expressing her distaste for the priest. "...My goodness, Father Frollo sure loves to hear himself speak! Listening to him drone on is such a drag."

Alice let out a chuckle. "Someone finally says it! We barely get through a word of scripture each morning and no one sees that as a problem! Honestly, Sarah, it's so refreshing to finally talk to someone who can speak frankly about these things and not be called blasphemous."

"Mother Weiss has enough of that for us already. Speaking of, I'm going to pick up some ingredients for dinner."

"Uh y-you're cooking Sarah?"

"Why of course I am, you've worked so hard for this, the least I can do is cook you a delicious meal, darling!"

"While I appreciate the sentiment, the last time you cooked a 'delicious meal' it put Sister Aerith into a coma and she still hasn't woken up yet...bless her heart."

"Nonsense! She was just being overly dramatic, I'm sure she'll wake up any day now. Anyways, I'll meet you back at the convent!"

She waved goodbye. "Sure." 'I'll let Mother know we need to order out again.'

Sarah made her way down the streets of Formouth, taking the time to wave to everyone she passed by.

"-Good morning Sister Sarah, it's always a pleasure to see you around town! Are you off to perform your churchly duties?" One of the townspeople greeted.

"Why hello Ms. Marie, not today, I'm off to the market to make a wonderful dinner for my sisters!"

"Oh..."

'Why did her face recoil in disgust just now?' Reaching the local market, Sarah browsed the stalls of food. "Hm, since it's Sunday maybe I should go with a fish dinner...like sea serpent with apple sauce!" She went down to the fisherman. "Hello, Mr. Lucis!"

"Good morning Sister Sarah, tell me, how have you been adjusting to life in Formouth so far?"

"It's a much smaller town than what I'm used to, but it's grown on me over these past couple of days. I could really get used to living here."

"Ha ha ha! Glad to hear it, but y'know...you can't run away forever. You can't deny who you really are."

"...What?"

"I said what do you want me to wrap up for you, love? It's Sunday so I'm assumin' you want something like-"

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Sea serpent...do you have the head of a sea serpent by chance?"

He threw his head back and burst out in laughter. "Do I look like a monster slayer to you? Why don't you take it down a peg and start with some cod instead? Or maybe some trout- if that's sea serpent enough for ya, ha ha ha!"

"...I guess I'll have to make do with the trout. Wrap up a few for me, it's for my sisters! Sister Alice is taking her final vows and becoming an official nun in the coming days!"

"Right away ma'am and congrats to her, she's a sweet girl. Sure they'll love whatever concoction you have in mind."

After that, she picked up a few pounds of apples, made her way to the convent, and went to the main kitchen where she found a few of the sisters gossiping amongst themselves.

"-Did all of you hear the news? Apparently, Lady Four's making preparations to come to the Land of Seas and defeat Faris herself," One of the sisters said.

"Oh, bless her little heart. Lady Four is so selfless!"

"I wouldn't sing her praises so highly," Sarah said, walking past them.

"And what makes you say that?"

"No reason, just that I wouldn't be surprised if this is a glorified vanity project."

"Such a sharp tongue you have, Sister Sarah. You know, talking ill of the Intoners will land you in hot water in some places."

"Why, I'm simply speaking the truth. By the way, have any of you seen Sister Alice?"

"Last we saw her she was heading towards her room. I hope you're not planning to poison her as well."

"Very funny, you're just upset your palate isn't sophisticated enough to handle my cooking! Anyways, I should take my leave."

As Sarah made her ascent up to the nun's living quarters and towards Alice's room, she started to get an unsettling feeling in her heart. The old wooden floorboards creaked especially loudly and the shadows alongside the narrow hallway were so black it seemed like they went on forever. That unsettling feeling only worsened when she heard muffled noises like stifled screams and a hissing noise coming from Alice's room.

Sarah knocked on her door hesitantly. "Alice, could you help me with dinner tonight? I need some help peeling the apples...and maybe a taste tester if you're up for it~"

"..."

"...Alice?" She knocked on the door again but still received no answer. "Alice, I know you're in there, I can hear noises, a- are you okay?!"

Finally, Sarah heard Alice's trembling voice from the other side. "S-S-Sorry, I'm just re-retiring for the night...no need to worry, e-everything's fine!" But obviously she could tell that Alice was in distress so she did what any concerned friend would do at that moment and kicked the door down. Now, Sarah was prepared for many things, a monster attack, or even vengeful spirits, but what she wasn't prepared to see was Frollo holding Alice down on her bed while she was desperately trying to squirm away from him. In hindsight, she would've much preferred to encounter a beastly-looking monster than an actual one.

"What's going on in here?!" Sarah yelled.

Exposed, Frollo immediately let go of Alice, fixed his robes and had the gall to approach Sarah as if he were an innocent man. "Ahem, apologies Sister Sarah, uh, well as you can see... this- this temptress was in the middle of trying to seduce me! Of course, such vulgarness is rather unbecoming of a sister who claims to be a part of the church ah, and so close to the profession of her final vows too. It would be a shame to have to excommunicate her during a time like this, but I think should be able to overlook this grave sin if you can keep this under wraps, Sister Sarah."

"-Please Sarah, j- just listen to him. They won't believe us anyway, no one would, so just...just give up," Alice pleaded.

"That's correct, these commoners would never believe the word of an outsider who just arrived in town over the word of the respected priest of the church. It's best you keep your head down if both you and your friend are to remain welcome members of this community."

"Absolutely not! I'm not listening to the petty lies of some old disgusting man! 'Respected priest of the church' give me a break, when I'm through with you you're going to be exposed as the filthy pervert you are and you'll be the one excommunicated!"

That angered Father Frollo so much that he reached inside his robes and pulled out a cross with a blade attached at the end. "Then I'll have to permanently silence you!"

"No- no! Stop it! Please Father!" Alice cried out.

But Frollo had already grabbed Sarah's arm before she could get away and stabbed her in the neck. She soon fell down on her knees, choking from the blood filling up inside her throat.

Frollo then ripped out the cross-blade from her neck and threw it to Alice's feet. "A whore and a murderer. This is no simple matter of excommunication, I'm afraid you'll have to be executed for your crimes, Sister Alice. Pity."

Just as he was about to leave, he saw something that put the fear of God into his feeble heart. Despite being stabbed in the neck and seemingly choking on her own blood, Sarah rose to her feet, her wounds miraculously healing.

"Wh- What in God's name is this satanic magic?!"

Sarah snatched Frollo by his own neck and slammed him hard against the wall.

"J…Just…who…are….you?" Gasping for breath and unable to escape her death grip, all Frollo could do was stare into Sarah's golden eyes until he pieced together the truth. "Y…Y…o…u…"

Her hold on his neck grew tighter and tighter. "As a woman of the church, I will spare your life, but you will leave this town and never return or I will personally see to it that you'll live out the rest of your life as a eunuch." She let him go and he scurried away like a rat.

'That woman…no, that demon is the Intoner Five!'


ReignCord: Absolutely XD

Knight: Yup

Raximus: My girl down bad frl

Centurious the Azure: That's was I going for with Zero being nicer this time around, this chapter probability isn't the best representation of that tho lol:/ The depiction of Five rn is her coming right off the heels from her DLC invoice, so she's written a bit different than how she's portrayed in the game. Yes, Indigo's coming back at some point in the story for her revenge.

Anon: Yup and almost two months later is the second chapter :/ Oh ok my bad, I read somewhere Riku was 17 at the end of KH3 so he should be 18 by Re:mind, but I think him being a bit older better fits the story. Namine ends up being the big bad all along pulling the string lol. So to summarize for all the bs happening in Branch B, Indigo comes back for vengeance, Five's a nun, pirates are taking over and Zero did NOT save any puppies.

Keybladelight: Yeah, something along those lines will happen. Riku did lose the modified way to dawn keyblade, not sure if it'll come back or not


"For Whom the Bell Tolls"

"...Then One's brother stabbed me with his sword and that's how I died."

"Whoa...what happens after that?" Mikhail asked.

"I don't know, I died."

"So while Mikhail got taken over by the darkness, I used my powers to go inside your sisters and I- hey, what're you looking at me like that for, Zero?" Riku asked.

"No reason, go on about how you deflowered my sisters," She said, with her usual smirk that made Riku a little suspicious.

"Anyways, I 'deflowered' your sisters Four and Two, but I ended up getting this 'Flower' inside of me too because I wasn't using a dragonbone keyblade, right?"

She snorted. "Yeah, you could say you were going inside them unprotected."

He nodded. "That's a good way to put it!" Riku stood up, fired up now more than ever. "Now that we know what happened in the past, we won't be making the same mistakes again. We'll defeat this Flower once and for all and return light to Midgard and we'll start by using a cut of Mikhail's talons to create a dragonbone keyblade then we'll go to each country a-"

"Hey, slow down, before you talk about going to other countries, we need to find Five in this country first." Zero pulled out Indigo's bounty hunter log then flipped through the pages until she found Five's entry in quotation marks. "Here we go. She looks...different but this is Five alright. She's apparently hiding out in a town called 'Formouth' and goes under the alias 'Sarah'."

"Alright, I feel like we're one step closer to defeating this curse."

"And if this town has a blacksmith that's killing two dragons with one sword. Gotta say, it's kinda nice having a plan that doesn't have to end with literally everyone dying."

"Definitely. Well, we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, we should rest up for the night."

That's what he told himself, but he ended up staying up way late into the night, wracking his brain over what Zero had told them. "...Even with everything I know now, I'm still not any closer to figuring out why time reset. Maybe it was because Zero died, but...no, I feel like something else happened after that. I know the memory is etched into my heart I just have to—"

"-Why are you talking to yourself, Riku?"

Riku was startled by Mikhail's sudden intrusion but readjusted himself quickly. "Oh hey Mikhail, I was just thinking about everything Zero told us...what're you still doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep 'cause I was thinking about it too...I'm really scared Riku. You don't think it'll all happen again, do you? Me becoming a scary monster again?"

"I...don't know." Of course he wanted to tell Mikhail that everything would be fine, but he was sure he told him that same thing the last timeline and yet here they were repeating the same month over again due to a failed promise. Still, Mikhail was a child, not some cynical grownup, he understood that because there was a time when he was like that too so he added; "But...I think it'll be better this time around. We're starting off on the right foot and we already know what not to do. And look, no matter what happens, I'll always protect you guys from the darkness."

"Thanks, Riku! That makes me feel a lot better! Once I get stronger, I'm gonna use alllll of my strength to protect my friends!"

"Good. Well, you can't get stronger if you don't get any rest. You should go to sleep, Mikhail."

"Oh alright, but only if you go to sleep too, Riku! You gotta get stronger too, plus humans need lots of sleep or they get really cranky!"

He chuckled. "...Alright, you make a good point."

The next day they woke up early in the morning so they could make the most of the day and with Mikhail flying them, it didn't take long for them to reach Formouth.

"You remember what you're not supposed to do, right, dragon?" Zero asked.

"Yeah yeah, don't roll around in the mud, fly off too far or talk to any strangers while you guys are away."

"Good, then I better not see a speck of dirt on you when we come back. You smell bad enough as is."

"Hey! That was mean, Zero! Really mean!"

"What? It's the truth. Riku should get you on a routine sometime."

"Seriously? Why are you dragging me into this? He's your dragon..."

After Mikhail landed outside Formouth, Zero and Riku hopped off his back and made their way into the town. In stark contrast to every other miserable town and village they've been to in Midgard, Formouth actually appeared to be a pleasant town on the surface. The townspeople waved to them as they walked by, there were kids running down the street, it was a generally welcoming atmosphere.

"Surprised this place hasn't gone to shit with Five around," Zero said.

"Right, last time you said Five's heartless were destroying the Land of Seas, but I don't sense anything off here. Maybe we need to look around more."

"Yeah, let's check out the convent first."

Heading to the town's convent, Zero impatiently knocked on the door to which a nun answered shortly. "...Oh, aren't you Zero? Sorry, we don't have any money, so if you'll excuse me-" She almost closed the door in her face, but Zero propped it open.

"I'm not here to rob you, I'm just trying to find a girl named Sarah."

"Th- There isn't a Sarah who lives here in the convent, s-sorry!"

Zero could tell she was bullshitting her, call it a sixth sense, so she drilled her even further. "And what if I think you're full of shit?"

"W-Well you're free to think that but uhhhh," The nuns eyes darted between Zero's face that was growing ever more pissed off by the second and the sword at her hip. "Oh! I think I heard someone calling for me, it'll just be one second!" She quickly closed the door and locked it behind her.

"I don't know why you had to scare her off like that," Riku said.

"It's not my fault she's spineless." She clicked her tongue. "Whatever, Five's probably got all these idiots brainwashed to protect her slutty ass."

"-I hope you're not referring to me in that way." They turned around and saw Sarah, or rather Five, standing with her arms crossed and a peeved expression on her face. "Honestly, you have such a foul mouth. You should wash it out with a bar of soap."

"Fucking finally," Zero went up to Five. "Listen, you need to stop playing dress up as a nun and join us to defeat Faris."

"Mm, no thanks."

"What the hell do you mean 'no thanks'?"

"As in I'm not interested in your plight. Keep up, will you? Now if you could kindly move out of my way I have lunch to prepare for my sisters."

"When did I say you had a fucking choice in this? I was telling you to join me not asking!"

"...Look, I decided to leave that life behind me. Five was a horribly selfish person and even when she had the world in her hands, she couldn't find any love or happiness in it. Now since I've started my new life here, I've found everything I could ever need and I have no intention of going back to being Five again."

"But don't you care about what Faris is doing? Her pirates are going around looting villages and terrorizing everyone," Riku said.

"Of course I do, but her strength is overwhelming, especially with those demons at her beck and call."

"So fight with us! I can destroy the heartless, and Zero's really strong! Together we can-"

"Are you deaf? I already told you I'm not going along with you, if you want to try and stop her then be my guest, but I'm staying right here. This town needs me to protect them and I refuse to abandon them!"

"You goddamn coward!" Zero snatched Five up by her collar. "So you know that your country is going to shit, but you won't do anything about it?!"

Five gritted her teeth. "And what would YOU know about that?! All of you've ever done is try to kill your sisters and now you suddenly care about the world? Don't make me laugh!"

"Unlike you, I was trying not to let the world get destroyed and that was the only way I knew how! Now I'm actually trying to save all of your asses, but I'm starting to think it's a waste of time!"

"You coming to this town certainly was!"

The door to the convent suddenly burst open and the same nun from before ran out. "Oh my goodness, Sister Sarah! I heard yelling outside, I knew that Zero would be up to no good! Let me call some of the men over and we can remove her!"

Zero let go of Five. "Don't bother. We were just leaving."

"I see." The nun put her arm around Five. "I don't know what you two want but you need to stay away from Sister Sarah, she's been a blessing to our community. Now, let God guide your way to salvation."

When she slammed the door in Zero's face, the thought of slaughtering all of the nuns in there just like old times was seriously crossing her mind, but fortunately, Riku was there to steer her away from her murderous tendencies. "Hey, don't get worked up over them, we can't help her if she genuinely doesn't want it. Besides, it doesn't look like she's doing any harm so maybe we should just leave her be for now."

She let out a sharp sigh. "...Yeah, whatever, let's just let the Flower fuck her over so I can kill her later."

"Don't say that, I'm sure she'll come around eventually. Let's just look around for a blacksmith, there's probably one around this town somewhere."

Riku and Zero searched around Formouth for a forge, soon coming across one near the town's church. "Uh, hey, I was wondering if you could forge something for me?" Riku asked.

"Whaddya have in mind, boy?"

Riku took out a fragment of bone from Mikhail's claws and presented it to the blacksmith. "Can you refine this into a small medal?"

"Dragonbone, eh? Be a waste to turn it into some medal."

"Trust me, it won't."

He shrugged. "Alright, come back in about 2-3 weeks, you can't front me the gold now or-"

"What the- 2-3 weeks?!" Zero said.

"Yeah, I've been...short-staffed as of late, don't have as many hands helpin' out and I'm already backed up on jobs so that's how long it'll take for me to get around to it."

"If I help you finish a few of your orders will you let me use your forge so I can just make the medal myself?" Riku suggested.

"You know your way around a forge, boy?"

"More or less."

"Good enough for me, what's your name?"

"Riku."

"Okay Riku, put on an apron and get to work!"

"Sure. Oh, uh, sorry Zero, guess I'll catch up with you later."

"Whatever...I'll find something to do to kill the time."

Riku worked in silence until the blacksmith suddenly turned to him and said; "You know, you remind me a lot of my apprentice, you were about the same age as him too I think."

"Oh, cool."

"Yep, poor boy got kidnapped."

"Wait- WHAT?!"

"Anyways, how's that tea kettle coming along? It's seen better days, hasn't it? Ha ha!"

"So you're just not gonna talk about the kidnapping thing?!"

"Right, right. Well not too long ago pirates used to raid this town almost everyday, you'd think they just pillage the town, maybe murder a few people then leave it at that, standard pirate fare. Nah, they also rounded up all the...let's just say 'above average' young men in town and sent them off to Crestholm as per their captain's orders."

"That's...terrible. What do you think she's doing with all of them?"

The blacksmith shrugged. "No one knows for sure, but it can't be pretty."

'All the more reason we need to take her down.'

Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud commotion going on near the town's entrance and a bunch of people were crowding around someone. Sensing a lurking evil nearby, Riku left the forge to investigate.

Meanwhile, back in the convent, Five was more upset by Zero's abrupt appearance than she let on. She didn't even feel like cooking anymore so she threw her groceries on the kitchen table and stormed upstairs to her room.

"How dare she say those things to me! I don't care about my country? What a hypocrite! It's not like I don't care, there's just nothing I can do to stop Faris! And the people here need me-I can't just up and abandon them!" Tired of storming around in circles, Five fell back on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

Her room was small and simple, a far cry from her once lavish bedroom back at the shrine that was filled to the brim with expensive jewelry and clothes. It was a tough adjustment when she first arrived at the convent, but over time Five realized she didn't miss any of the things she used to have.

What the convent provided her was far more valuable than anything in that gilded room of hers—well that wasn't true exactly either. Against her better judgment, there was one possession she had that she didn't want to let go of. While she was wallowing on her bed, she took out a small toy, it was a cute little accessory that always used to hang off Dito's sword.

"To be honest...I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I'm happy here, I truly am, but I can't deny the fact that my body certainly isn't." She thumbed Dito's accessory in her hand. "No matter how many times I pray and beg to God to take these feelings away, it only gets worse, so what should I do? I know you don't care about me, well actually, you outright hate me, but I still can't help the way I feel..."

She let go of the accessory then let her hand slide down from her leg to her thighs. "...Maybe this body is just cursed."

["Hey Five, I gave it some thought and we should do some freaky shit tonight."]

["Mmm you really know how to get me going my sweet little Dito. What do you have in mind?"]

["I talked it over with Faris and she's totally down for a threesome, in fact she even suggested we spice up with a little rope play if you know what I mean-"]

["Ooh don't tease me anymore, I'm already starting to get soaked, I'll start getting undressed immediately!"]

["Aah, this is amaz- w- wait, what're you doing?! Ah- AAAAAAAAAAAH STOP! STOP, WHY ARE YOU-"]

*knock knock

"W- who is it?"

"It's Alice...I just wanted to talk, but if you're busy I can come back later."

'That girl sure has impeccable timing.' Five scrambled out of bed and went to open her door. "Alice! I'm so happy to see you, please come in!"

Alice went inside and sat on her bed while Five closed the door behind them.

"So how have you been feeling lately? I know a lot happened the other night, but I can explain-"

"You don't have to worry about me, Sarah. I'm more so concerned about you. I heard about Zero coming to the convent from the sisters."

She rolled her eyes. "And what of her? She's not still skulking around outside is she?"

"No, well not that I'm aware of- just listen to me. The time I've spent with you has been amazing, but I think the fact that Zero showed up here was for a reason."

"What're you trying to say?"

"I just...I mean... I think it's time you stop this. You're Lady Five, the Intoner of the Land of Seas, not a nun."

"But I'm so much happier here than I've ever been in my entire life, I thought you of all people would understand that."

"...When I watch you walk around the convent, you always seem so lost, like there's something more you're after."

"Well, the convent is rather large so it's easy to get lost."

"Don't be so daft now, that was a figure of speech and that's not the only things I've noticed about you, Lady Five. I often hear your stomach growling even after we've had all of our meals, you constantly fall asleep during the middle of the day because you spend all night defending the town from pirates and..." She started to blush. "And not to mention these walls are very thin and you're not discrete at all about your private actions!"

"What do you mean I'm not- ...oh. Well look I don't know what point you're trying to make here!"

"The point is that I know you're suffering here and I'm just...I'm just wondering if this is what you really want or if you're trying to run away from something else."

"I...I don't know ...I'll admit that it's not easy to be a nun and an Intoner, but I feel like this is what's best for everyone, including myself."

"Maybe it is, but Faris definitely isn't what's best for the Land of Seas."

"...I know."

Just now, Five could hear the church bells ringing outside, thinking there was trouble, she rushed down the stairs and was about to leave when there was a knock at the door.

"How strange..." When she opened the door, there Frollo was right at the doorstep surrounded by a crowd of townspeople. Five could clearly tell there was something off about him just from the veil of darkness that was snaking around his body. Still, regardless of the unknown amount of danger he posed, she didn't back down.

"Frollo, what're you doing back here?! I thought I told you to leave and never return!"

"I just came back to check up on the church, see if it's fallen apart by now. Honestly, I'm more surprised to see you, I sent an assassin after you, you know, but I guess the old saying 'if you want something done you must do it yourself' rings true."

"You sent a- ugh, I'm not even surprised at this point, but since you're here I'll finish you off once and for all!"

"Unlike you demonic Intoners, I've gained untold power from God Almighty himself! I have His divine protection and authority, you won't even lay a scratch on me ha Ha HA HA-"

Despite all of his talk, Five simply stabbed Frollo in the chest with her spear and that's all it took to kill him. "...That takes care of that." She started to walk away, thinking his pathetic existence was no longer of this world when out of nowhere she heard him continue to howl with laughter as if she didn't kill him just now. That's when the darkness radiating from him took full control and turned him into the truest reflection of his heart; a grotesque fly heartless.

Though Five certainly had her own name for the ugly thing, she dared not repeat it on holy grounds so 'Winged Menace' would have to do for now. "You can't be serious, well at least you look the part now."

"-Dear Lord, Father Frollo just turn into a demon!" One of the nuns screamed in horror.

"-Or maybe he got possessed by one! We need to get an exorcist."

"No, this one needs an exterminator." Just when Five was about to skewer the damn thing, it grabbed her with its slimy tongue and hurled her out of the convent, sending her crashing through the old walls and into the crowd of people.

Five used her spear to stand herself up, then brushed the slimy substance off her nun garb. "How disgusting, I'm gonna need a nice long bath after this."

"-Five! You okay?!" Riku ran to her side. "What's going on?!"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, someone's just trying to kill me!"

The battle took a turn for the worse when they heard a loud noise and suddenly a large swarm of flies bursts out of the convent doors, led by the Winged Menace. The flies started attacking the townspeople, trying to pluck them off the ground and feed upon them, but Riku and Five worked together to fight them off.

"You're Zero's friend, aren't you? Tell me, where do you think all of these demons came from just now?! They're just like the ones Faris commands, but she couldn't be here now, could she?" Five asked.

"Not sure. My money's on the priest, he has to be behind all of this!"

"No, you don't think...it can't be!" Five's nerves got the better of her and she turned to Riku. "I'm worried about the nuns, I haven't seen any of them leave the convent yet—I'm going to go check up on them, you fight off the rest of these flies!"

"Got it, I'll cover you!"

Five raced to the convent and unlike the chaos unfolding outside, it was eerily quiet inside. She frantically searched around for any signs of the nuns, but she couldn't find them. Either they were exceptionally well at hiding or her worst fears had come true. "Oh my...Oh my God...those flies...did Frollo really turn them all into..." Rather than fall into despair, she gripped the handle of her spear, manifesting her sadness into a burning rage. "Then I'll simply have to turn them all back into humans!"

Verse 1-5

Pure and strong are these white claws

And are these fangs

"Someday the flower shall bloom eternal," They say

"Someday the flower will destroy," They say

And that day will be now

When Five left the convent again, Riku was in the middle of a one on one confrontation with the Winged Menace. While she stood at the tops of the steps, she launched her spear straight at the heartless with a terrifying amount of strength, and even from the distance she stood at, she was still able to tear its body open in one shot.

Before it had the chance to even think about regenerating itself, she bolted straight towards it and sang an incantation to seal its fate for good. "Rise! Light of the ancients! Phanuel!" A giant ring rose in front of Five and shot a powerful beam of light point-blank at the heartless. "Have a nice trip to hell, Frollo."

After the light dissipated, it was lying on its backside like a dead fly. Riku put it out of its misery once and for all with a stab in the chest. "...It's over. You're a strong fighter, Five."

She shook her head dismissively. "Who cares about that, more importantly, where are my sisters?! They should be turning back into humans by now, we defeated that ugly demon, did we not?!"

Riku's shoulders sunk. "I'm sorry Five...it's already too late for them."

"What are you talking about?!" She cried. "We did NOT go through all of this just for my sisters to die in the end!" Once again, her world seemed to be closing in on her as she grappled with the weight of another tragedy that had befallen her. All she could do was collapse on the ground and plead to the God she so desperately wanted to believe in that they were still alive. That the world wouldn't be as cruel to them as it was to her.

"Please God, please! Let them all be safe, let them all be alive and well! Please- please God! All of this is my fault so I should be the only one punished, please...please..."

Midgard was not known to be a place for happy endings, if everyone in a town dropped dead, that was just another Tuesday. However, what happened that day in the small town of Formouth was a rare exception and what could only be described as a miracle. Had Five not heard those church bells ring in those lingering moments, she would've surely lost her mind right then and there, but the church bells rang loudly, its chimes reverberating across town.

*ding-ding-ding

Five lifted her head up, her face blotchy red and wet with tears, and saw the nuns pour out of Formouth's church and make their way to Five. "Wh- but- how did you all-" Her eyes searched the crowd of nuns and she found Alice smiling warmly back at her.

Alice stepped up to Five and picked her up off the ground. "I evacuated as many nuns as I could through the back entrance and we escaped to the church while Frollo was attacking, there was no way I was just gonna let the freak have his way with us."

Five embraced Alice, sobbing on her chest. "Oh Alice! You're amazing! I was so worried about all of you guys!"

"...Don't thank me. It's not like I saved everyone, we still lost some sisters along the way, unfortunately."

"And even then you still did more than I ever could, thank you. I'll make sure their lives will not be lost in vain." Letting go of her, Five faced the rest of her sisters. "...All of you listen to me, while the time I've spent at the convent has truly been a blessing and the memories I've made are something that I'll cherish...I don't belong here, especially not at the church. My name is Five, Lady of the Land of Seas, and as long as I am an Intoner, I will always be a danger to all of you so I must leave."

"Oh Sister Sarah er- Lady Five," One of the nuns held her hands. "Wherever you go, know that you will always have a home here with your sisters in the convent."

"But I'm an Intoner...I'm as far away as a nun as you can get."

"That's not true dear, all of us can see that there is goodness in your heart, despite what others may say."

"Ooh Sister Emily, you're gonna make me cry!" Five squeezed the life out of the old nun. "I'll miss you so much! I promise to visit all of you when I take the Land of Seas back and I'll make you all a delicious goblin cake!"

"...Oh dear God..."

"Oi, Sarah, so you've been Lady Five all along, huh? Hiding right under our noses," One of the townspeople commented.

"Eh well I had my suspicions since the day she came here."

"It's a good thing no one asked you, Harold. So what's next for you Lady Five?"

"...I've decided that I'll defeat Faris and reclaim this country. As long as she's here, then she and her demons will continue to terrorize my people and I've just about had it with her running MY Land of Seas to the ground!"

Alice smiled. "That's the spirit, Lady Five! The road ahead will be dangerous, but I have absolute faith in you."

"Thanks, I'll be needing it to stand up to Faris." Five turned to Riku. "Of course, I'll have to join you and Zero to defeat her, which speaking of, where do you think Zero ran off to anyways? She literally missed everything."

"Knowing her, probably up to no good."

"There's only one tavern in this town so I think that narrows our search down considerably. By the by, I don't believe I've gotten your name yet."

"It's Riku."

"Riku, you know, I was rather taken aback by how adamant Zero was about defeating Faris. It's not like her to care about affairs that don't directly involve her or killing the Intoners."

He chuckled. "Yeah, you're right about that one. Taking Faris down was my idea, but she doesn't want to kill you guys anymore, she's really trying to save all of you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Well, that sounds absolutely nothing like the Zero who tried to kill all of us last year at Cathedral City. I imagine you had something to do with this change of heart?"

He rubbed the back of her head. "I mean, I played my role, but I like to think she came to that decision on her own."

"Oh please, that girl is as stubborn as a mule!" She looked at him up and down. "For you to open her heart up like that she must really be into you! Aww that's so sweet, my psychopathic older sister has a crush on you~"

"What?! No way, you're looking way too deep into things! Zero goes out of her way to let me know how much she doesn't like me."

"Well, I'm sure she's not THAT mean to you, sweetie."

"Yesterday she told me to my face that she thinks I sound like a demented child whenever I talk about the darkness and that if it wasn't for how I looked, she would've committed me to a madhouse a long time ago."

"Perhaps she meant-"

He continued. "She said it would've been a good thing though, I would've cured a lot of patients-"

'He just keeps going.'

"Because then all of the crazy people there would've felt like they were sane after talking to me."

"...Oh."

"You see my point?"

"Ehhh, okay, I see your point, but maybe Zero's actions speak louder than her words? I read in a book somewhere that acts of service can be a way for someone to express their love! It's called their 'love language'."

"—Hey Riku and the other bitch who's with him!" Zero came from behind and put her hand on Riku's shoulder. "Hate to break it to you but we're probably never gonna be allowed in this town again."

"What- why?!"

"Let's just say I ended up dining and dashing at the wrong restaurant, some shit went down and now I got some guys after both of us."

"Why am I in this too?!"

"I put the bill under your name of course...and might have said some other things."

"Like what?!"

A random butcher knife came flying at Riku, just narrowly missing his head. When he searched around to see who threw it, he saw a burly-looking man along with some of his friends running up to them.

"—Oi! There's the Intoner girl...and that spiky-haired bastard! Go on, be a man and repeat what you said you were gonna do to my mummy you piece of shit!"

"ZERO!"

She shrugged. "What? They were pissing me off."

"You're as naughty as ever, sister. Mm, maybe your 'love language' is tormenting others!" Five cooed.

"My what language? What the hell were you two talking about?"

"Nevermind. Anyways, I'd pay for your tab myself, but alas I took a vow of poverty so we should leave town as soon as possible."

"Zero, you're gonna pay for what you did!" Riku yelled.

"Yeah and with what money?"

"That's not what I- argh, you know what I meant!"

Five fixated her gaze on Zero and Riku as an argument broke out between them. 'Well, I can't say traveling with them these next couple of days won't be interesting.'

While the pirate raids continued after the Fifth Intoner had left the village,

The townspeople held onto the hope that peace would soon be restored.

How sad is it then that would be the last time they would ever see the Fifth Intoner again.

Flowers for the Dead


A/N: Bonus points if you get the Sarah name reference :D