Heart or No Heart

by StrangerFromParadise23

Born when Sora gave up his heart to save Kairi, Kuro is the manifestation of Sora's Darkness who is left to fend for himself in a new land. Follow Kuro and his Shadow Heartless Companion named Dusk, navigating through Disney worlds to find his place in the world. Follow him as he battles SHINRA, a Cabal of Disney Villains and Organization 13. Current Arc: Don Bluth's Anastasia

31. Chapter 31: The Red Republic Part два

The Red Republic

St. Petersburg

The city of St. Petersburg was gloomy and bleak, that was what Xion first noticed when she crossed the dark threshold into this new land. The other worlds that Xion had visited had a level of life and joy that was brought to them. Twilight Town was home to good spirited folks and basked in the warmth of the setting sun. The City of the Bells, while it was still around, had the festival that livened up the town and brought laughter and enjoyment for a short period of time.

This world seemed to have been cast under a gray lens, painting the people that dwelled within in an oppressed, depressing light. The constant smog of industry and the pitch black smoke from random garbage fire filled the skies above the city as though it were the shadow of a boot stamping upon the once beautiful face of the city. Leaving an industrial overcast that refused to relent or falter for even a moment.

What could have been a warm sun filled day was instead shadowed by a dour, barely perceivable glow of the morning star through the dense fumes that gathered over the cityscape. The tender snowflakes trickled through the air before ending up as mushed piles of wet snow beneath the boots of the townspeople as they walked along. Their clothes were colored in muted earth tones, made up of drab grays, dirt browns, and swamp water greens.

Xion's mission was similar to the mission she was on previously with Demyx. Much like the previous excursions from homebase, including exploration and Heart collection, this was a necessary mission to scout for potential Heartless to collect and hunt for. Roxas was being sent on collection missions that were mostly issued for him to get his strength back due to having been asleep for over a month. Xion was tasked with investigating this new world and reporting back to base as soon as she could. This time she was saddled alongside the member Xaldin, Number III.

The Whirlwind Lancer was one of the highest ranked members, with the only members that were higher being Xemnas, their superior, and Xigbar, the second in command. Xion had often wondered if there was a sequence that followed the command based on seniority or based upon power? Xemnas was number I and was the first one to start the organization. Although, Saïx appeared to be more of a second in command than Xigbar did. Saïx was the one who was issuing out missions to the other members, coordinating their efforts and instigating their excursions onto new and foreign worlds. But what Xaldin did have that Saïx didn't lack either was a commanding and imposing presence. People fell in line when Xaldin spoke. Outside of Lexaeus, Xaldin was the broadest and biggest member that the Organization had to offer.

He stood at a menacing six and a half feet tall and stood as broad as most doorways would. His long black hair tied off and pulled into dreadlocks that hung down the center of his back with strands of locks that were not pulled down into the intricately neat tight rows hung along his face and rested along the fronts of his shoulders.

His thick brows became more pronounced against his light fair skin, with sharp mutton chops that ended in the middle of his cheeks before crossing over towards the outer ridges of his nostrils.

The organization coat was more strapped and tight around his shoulders, biceps and forearms. Highlighting the formidable strength that he held outside of his proficient use of his lances in combat. Xion had only seen him enter combat once in her ventures out with him, and the only word she could use to describe such a display was the man's power was reminiscent of a force of nature. Xaldin called forth a hurricane with his lances and decisively destroyed all that were in their way. What was a troop of nearly two dozen Heartless were no more, his six lances and his control over the element of wind made the encounter a bore for Number III.

Due to Demyx being placed on office work following the destruction of the world with the Bells, Xaldin took it upon himself to keep an extra eye on Number Fourteen. They needed seniority out in the field alongside Xigbar, and Xemnas was preoccupied with the agenda to make a presence. They had recently lost Roxas to a sudden coma, and he would be damned if they were to lose Xion to a mishap such as a world falling to sudden darkness without so much as a warning.

"What is wrong with this world, Xaldin? Everyone seems so… sad. It's so dark here." Xion noted as she sees people walking as though they were carrying weights on their shoulders. Their eyes focused on the ground as if they were afraid to look up, their voices low enough not to catch the attention of anyone passing by, and the whole world appeared to be lacking strength and vigor as she had felt in previous worlds. "What happened here?"

"Pay attention. Let this be a lesson for you, Fourteen. There was a rebellion a decade ago that left this world nearly in ruins. Rebellion ends either in the death of the insubordinate, or they get spiritually crushed by the changing of the guard." Xaldin glowered at Xion with a crooked scowl, a miniscule attempt was made to smirk at the raven haired girl. "Like those miscreants at Castle Oblivion."

That made Xion's feet suddenly feel as though she were carrying cinder blocks in her own shoulders. Her feet came to a standstill, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Xion inquired, seeing Xaldin glance over his broad shoulder and glared at the younger member. Xaldin also came to a stop, his thick arms crossing over one another as he peered down at the girl. Eyebrow raised.

"Did you truly believe they happened to have died by unfortunate circumstance? No. They were executed, Fourteen. Do you think we wouldn't track down who killed them and cull them like a rabid animal if it wasn't something we were supposed to care about?" Xaldin turned his attention back forward, crossing his arms over one another as he continued down the street. "Let that be something you carry with you from here on out. Step out of line, and you too shall perish with being given a second thought."

"I was told that they were killed, but why did we never go looking for who killed them?" Xion said pensively, the rumble of Xaldin's voice making her quake in her boots. Saïx had a fury that when unleashed would scald and burn like a raging fire.

However, Xaldin's voice held an anger that froze blood and made the crisp winter air feel sweltering in comparison. Xaldin's rage came in the form of a subzero ferocity, his words ice that would begin to burn against the listener's skin.

"Oh, Fourteen… you naïve child." Xaldin huffed in a way that made Xion feel pathetic, as though she wasn't worth the breath he gave her. He loosens his shoulders with a roll and nudge of the chin. "Onward."

The two walked along the snow laden path before them, Xion marching right besides the imposing Xaldin as they walked along together.

"Although the Czar did not survive, one daughter may still be alive!" A passerby stated with a fevered breath, eyes squinted, a hand cupped around their mouth to keep those that walked past from reading their lips. Xaldin's ear perked at his words, his interest piqued at the apparent secretiveness of this fact. The woman that accompanied the man clapped her hand against her mouth.

"Princess Anastasia?" The woman they walked with asked with bated breath. The man raised a finger to his mouth to hush her as he brought her close.

"Dimitri is looking for her! But please do not repeat!" The man requested, as he glanced around to make sure no guards were nearby to hear their conversation. Xaldin pulled to an immediate stop, grabbing Xion by the shoulder and bringing her close to him. She barely had time to react as they are now walking deeper into the intricate pathways between buildings both full of life and others with blasted out windows and poorly boarded up doors.

"We will be doing some information gathering, Fourteen. Stay alert. Listen." Xaldin spoke surely and sternly, as they walked through the market square, eyes focused on the task at hand. Xion had hardly had a reconnaissance mission ever stray past taking notes of landmarks and goings on of the world. But actively walking past locals and listening to their problems? That was new to her. But she did, at the behest of her commanding chaperone this trip. Xion perked her ears as she walked past stalls and pop up tents to listen for anything worthwhile.

"They say her royal grandmama will pay a royal sum to someone who can bring the princess back!" A woman stated as she offered a snow globe to the passing by Organization members as they walked along. Xaldin squinted in thought, glancing over at Xion with a plan formulating in his head. He had not heard of there being a Princess of Heart in this world, and the past princesses that were pure of heart belonged to royalty. Xaldin wondered if this would be a premier opportunity for the Organization. It was always good to know where these fair maidens are located. Xion noted that they are all talking about this princess that is in need of being found.

Xion pulled her eyes away from the vendor to focus on the market, her eyes bouncing from stall to stall until she came upon a portrait of a man dressed in fine dashing red attire, his dashing blue eyes focused on some horizon that wasn't in the portrait, his face wore a royal scowl that harbored power and authority.

"A ruble for this painting!" The Marketer stated, taking the portrait off of its stand to give Xion a close look. Notably, his thumb is just under the signature of the artist that painted the vignette. "It's Romanov, I swear!"

Xion is grabbed by Xaldin to be pulled away from the marketer trying to make a quick sale, only to have a pair of clothes shoved into her arms. A long simple nightgown and a pair of long bright red underwear.

"Count Yusopov's pajamas! Comrade, buy the pair!" The other marketer offered, only for Xaldin to grab the clothing and shove it back into the salesman's arms.

"I got this from the palace. It's lined with real fur!" Before the marketer could shove the fur into the passerby's face, Xaldin shoves a flat palm into the man's chest and pushes him hard into the stall. Nearly toppling it over as he leads Xion out of the rambunctious market and into a secluded alleyway. Xaldin is less than courteous when he shoves Xion into a nearby wall and takes a few steps away to create some breathing room. Number Fourteen crashes against the brick wall, sliding down onto her knee before she bites down a groan of pain and gets back up on her feet. Xaldin rubs his chin, eyes unfocused as he paces around the dank alleyway. The wheels of his mind spinning as he attempts to engage with the plan that he concocted with such an inexperienced girl.

"Fourteen, report. What did you find?" Xaldin asked, peering down at her with a voided stare in his eyes. Xion wiped off the sleet off of her pant legs and the grime off of her shoulder as she started to speak.

"Well, they are all talking about a missing princess. They think very highly of the Romanovs, so we could be looking for a Romanov Princess?" Xion noted, getting a nod of approval from Number III. Xaldin smirked, mildly impressed that the puppet was able to gather such information so quickly.

"An opportunity has just arisen for us and we need to strike while the proverbial iron is hot." Xaldin stated, as he continued to walk along. Rolling his broad shoulders back and pointing to the young member. "Time for you to prove your worth, Fourteen. Seek out this Dimitri and investigate to see if you can help locate this Princess."

"Yes, sir." Xion said without a second of delay. She sees Xaldin begin to walk off towards the end of the alley, adorning his hood as he goes to join the crowd. He glares at Xion under his hood, his jaw clenching.

"Don't bother RTC until the Princess is found." Xaldin grumbled as he took a few steps and disappeared into the crowd. Xion straightens her back, leveling out her breathing before walking back out into the crowd and begins searching for the one called Dimitri.

It took a great deal of time, many questions asked of locals that she wasn't comfortable with before she was told to head towards the direction of a once proud theater. The doors were slightly ajar, and she slipped on inside. The windows were boarded, dust gathered along the floor and her boots kicked up the soot accidentally with every step. She followed the sound of bemoaning groans and disappointed sighs into the main parlor. She walks through rows and rows of abandoned theater seats to find a pair of men sitting at a table overseeing the talent on the stage. She heard the voice of a woman rolling out the line that they prepared for her to say.

"Grandmama. It's me, Anastasia!" Her voice is low, sounded as though she were chain smoking cigarettes since she could properly light one by herself. She looked to be in her early fifties, with blonde hair and green eyes. Xion cringed at the sound, the bigger man slammed his forehead into the tabletop and the younger man clapped his hands to his eyes. The older man had thick mutton chops with a single long goatee that was combed to a point. He was a huge man, with broad shoulders, a rotund stomach, with arms and legs that jiggles with every small movement. His stubby hands combed over the sides of his hazel colored head, his palms gliding down the silver wings that had begun to sprout given his advanced age.

"Thank you! You may go." The young man was more slender than his comrade, his hair a few lighter shades of brown and his dark eyes aglow with a constantly concocting plan. Although, he seemed to be more out of sorts given his demure appearance and his irritation with the choice of 'Anastasias' today. None of them even looked close to the Czar's daughter. Dimitri gets up to stretch his legs and he hears some movement behind him and sees Xion walking down the stairs.

"Short, raven hair. Has blue eyes. Round face." Dimitri noted with a quick shake of the head. "Sorry, sweetheart. Auditions are closed. You can go home."

"What?" Xion asked, only to see Dimitri wave his hand away and turn his back to her. She didn't even come close to looking at the part. "No, I'm not here for an audition. I want to help someone named Dimitri find the Princess."

"Ok, sweetie." Dimitri said with a roll of the eyes. He walked over, crouched down until he got eye level with the organization member and pinched her cheek. "How about you run along and go find a stray cat or something? What are you going to do? Flash your baby blues until the bad guys go away?"

Xion smirked, extending out her hand, and in a flash of light, her weapon was called to her hand. Its silver barrel and teeth, golden handle hummed with energy and power. Dimitri jumps back, hands up as he stares at the weapon in her hand. Images of the night the House of Romanov fell, the trio of heroes that rushed to the aid of the guests and the one in the mask who was responsible for the deaths of the Romanov family.

"The Blade! You have one of the blades!" Dimitri shouted, clapping his hands together as he glanced over at Vladimir and an idea popped into his mind. Having a weapon of legacy and power that The Dowager would definitely remember noticing over a decade ago. Dimitri grins from ear to ear, chuckling like a madman as he sees Xion reflect his smile. "You're in luck… we are in need of someone with your skills. Particularly with a Keysword…"

The Red Republic

The Dilapidated Palace

It's when she hears the sound of the barricade breaking that she tells Dimitri and Vlad to not be alarmed and that she'll investigate, summoning her weapon to go inspect the noise. Following them to the palace to regroup and come up with a game plan was easy enough, and this was an opportunity to show her worth as a bodyguard for the Princess should it be a Heartless causing a ruckus down in the abandoned palace's grand hall.

That is when she happens upon the dancing Kuro and Anya in the center of the hall. That is when Kuro raises his hand and the Keyblade defects from her hands and reappears in his own. She hits the floor when her tugging to keep the weapon in her hand is wasted on a disappearing Keyblade, and the knocking of her body against the wood rapidly brings Dimitri to her side with Vlad approaching. That is when the conman sees the still dancing woman and the silver haired man sitting in the center of the room.

"Hey!" Dimitri approaches the railing of the second landing and begins shouting. Startling Anya and causing her to run. Kuro, with an empty mind and blank stare, simply followed the leader and began to chase off after the local with Keyblade in hand. Too focused on the flood of memories to think properly. Dimitri chased after them in a mad sprint. "What are you doing here?!"

Anya breathes heavily as she is forced to run up the long flight of stairs that lead to the landing of the ballroom. Kuro right after her and Dimitri following after the pair. Once they reached the top of the landing, Kuro went to break right and Anya went to go up to the left. They glance over their shoulders, seeing that the other is going in a different direction. Without communicating their intention, they both took a back pivoting step and moved to go in the direction of the other.

They ran into each other, with Anya's forehead crashing into Kuro's elbow and Kuro's chin bumping into Anya's forehead. They exchange pained grunts as they rub their respective areas to dull the pain.

"Hey! Hey!" Dimitri's voice came out in barking orders, at a volume and tone so heavy that it snapped Kuro out of his hazy thoughts and back into his own body. An arm immediately grabbing hold of Anya's waist and pulling her behind him, he drew the Keyblade and took a step forward to defend her. Dimitri felt the flat of the barrel against his collarbone as the teeth of the blade dug right under his chin. He raised both his hands, eyes going wide as he saw the Heartless' eyes shift from wide and unfocused to sharp and deadly. His face contorting to a cold scowl as he shoved the Keyblade further into his chest. Dimitri's words came out quickly, knowing first hand the kind of damage these weapons can do. "Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, hold on a minute. Hold on! No need to get feisty here. You broke into our home. And we-"

Dimitri's eyes pull to a reading squint, his thin mumbling something under his breath as he stares at Anya as she stands directly in front of the image of the Romanov family, particularly standing side by side with the youngest daughter, Anastasia. He notices the striking blue eyes, the fiery flowing red hair, the fair light skin. Dimitri's hand goes to shove the barrel out of his chest only to feel it get readjusted and Kuro shove the blade even harder against his chest. Dimitri sneered, glaring at the silver haired man.

"Easy there with the key, Marx Jr. Lady, want to call off your silver greyhound here?" Dimitri groaned as he glanced over at Kuro. Anya walked over to Kuro's side and tapped on his extended arm. Kuro didn't hesitate, following Anya's instruction as he lowered the blade and took a step back.

"Thanks. Now, Vlad! Vlad!" Dimitri called out, his pot bellied friend waddling over to his comrade. His cheeks flushed, his beard becoming wiry and a few loose bullets of sweat trickling down his temples and demeaning his hair. Dimitri smirked, his eyes never breaking the sight of Anya's face. "Vlad, do you see what I see?

Vladimir glanced at the girl, and the moment he noticed the red hair and the blue eyes, his jaw dropping and his eyes going wide. "Oh yes, yes! Perfect!"

"Are you Dimitri?" Anya asked intently, seeing Dimitri reach up and rub his chin inquisitively. Eyes pulled into a focused stare. Making some quick assumptions and making some mental notes while he tapped his fingers against his cheek playfully to keep his mind going.

"Perhaps, that depends on who's looking for him." Dimitri chuckled lowly, his thin hands shoving into his pants pockets as he shrugged his shoulders. "Who's looking for him?"

"My name is Anya and this is my friend Kuro… We need travel papers…" Anya began to say in her normal speaking tone, before she leaned forward and got close to Dimitri's cheek. Her lips pulled into a devious smile as she began to whisper. "They say you're the man to see even though I can't tell you who said that."

Xion walked along to stand beside Dimitri and Vlad, her eyes focused on the fact that her Keyblade was currently in Kuro's hands, not her own. She flexed out her hand a few times to call it back, only for it to not respond to her call at all.

"So, Enya-" Dimitri mumbled as he walked slowly around her and noted every feature that he could see on this woman under his breath. "The Romanov blue eyes. Nicholas' childish smile. She's even got Olga's chin."

"It's Anya. Anya, with an A." Anya with an A clarified, a rising irritation to her voice. Her eyes followed the man as he circled around her with his eyes dressing her down and up. "You a vulture in a past life, what's going on?"

"Anya, it's just … just that you look an awful lot like …" Dimitri grumbled under his breath, taking a few short glances at the massive family portrait behind her for good measure. "Now, you said something about travel papers?

"Uh, yes … We'd like to go to Paris." Anya explains with a warm smile. Dimitri chuckles in response, the coincidence was too perfect. It was as though she came prepared to the audition with the right script and just the right look.

"You'd like to go to Paris?" Dimitri chuckled, glancing from Anya to Kuro. The Heartless flares his nostrils and pulls his eyes to an intimidating squint. Dimitri is taken back, nervously laughing before flashing the Heartless a cocky grin before focusing back on Anya. "Let me ask you something, Anya. Is there a last name that goes with that?"

"Well, actually … This is going to sound crazy … I don't know my last name. I was found wandering around when I was eight years old." Anya grumbled as she tugged at the loose hairs that hung around her forehead and twisting them anxiously with her fingers.

"Look, oh look, I know it's strange but I don't remember. I have very few memories of my past." Anya shrugged, before gently pinching her petal leaf necklace and showing it to the two conmen. Their eyes darted from the girl to the necklace and back. "Well, I do have one clue, however, and that is Paris."

"Hmm, that's, that's perfect." Dimitri said with a quick glance towards Vlad. Who nods with his comrade's subtle notes and tone.
"Right. So, can … so can you three help us or not?" Anya asked, glancing over at Kuro who was staring at the Keyblade in his hand. Examining the weapon intensely, seemingly blocking out the outside world. Ignoring everything that was happening around him.

"You know, God, we would like to, implore to, we urge to … in fact, oddly enough, we are actually going to Paris ourselves." Dimitri clears his throat as he shows her the tickets that he held in his hand. Shaking them to emphasize them. "I've got three… well, this one is, but I've got tickets here. Unfortunately the third one is for her," Dimitri points at the young red headed girl that stood besides the Czar in the painting. Anya's sights follow his finger. "The Princess Anastasia."

"We are going to reunite the Grand Duchess Anastasia with her grandmother." Vladimir noted, with a warm smile and several hand warming claps that echoed in the halls. Pointing at the picture as well, but keeping his eyes on Anya. "Blue eyes. Red hair. Fair. Perhaps shy of just… eighteen years old. Sound Familiar?"

"Sound famili- Wait, wait. Are you trying to tell me that you think that I am Anastasia?" Anya asked with a bewildered expression. The thought of being the long lost daughter of the killed Czar sounded too fantastical to be true.

"All I'm trying to tell you is that I've seen thousands of girls all over the country and not one of them looks as much like the Grand Duchess as you do. I mean look at the portrait!" Dimitri said with a conniving grin, his eyes flashing in devious energy as he walked over and patted the front of the painting to drive the point home. "You look just like them!"

"I knew you were crazy from the beginning, but now I think you are both mad." Anya shook her head, punctuating her statement with a short laugh. Glancing between the two con men with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, you really think I'm a princess?"

Dimitri glances over at Vlad and subtly nudges him to step in and assist. Vlad picks up on the wordless request, as he rushes to Anya's side with his hands closed together and his smile breaking across his face.

"Look, listen to me. Listen to Vlad! You don't remember what happened to you…" Dimitri leads with and answers immediately with a point to her shoulder. "No one knows what happened to her!"

"You're looking for a family in Paris." Vlad stated. "And her only family is in Paris."

"Just, just imagine for a moment. Just a second." Dimitri closes his eyes for her, making a rolling motion of waves coming and going with his hands. Giving Anya the moment and second he asked her to imagine. "Have you ever thought about the possibility?"

"That I could be royalty? Well I don't know … it's kind of hard to think of yourself as a Duchess when you're sleeping on a damp floor." Anya said as her eyes glanced up at the portrait of the royal family. Her eyes focused on the Czar and his children. "But sure, I guess every lonely girl would hope she's a Princess."

"And somewhere … One little girl is." Vlad claps a hand on Anya's shoulder and jostles her playfully. Grinning wildly with huge flushed cheeks. "After all, the name Anastasia means 'she will rise again' . And I believe she will rise again!"

"Really wish we could help, but the third ticket is for the Grand Duchess Anastasia. Which, if you find her, let us know. Vlad?" Dimitri clapped his hands, darting his eyes over to Xion with a beaming grin. "Young lady? May we depart?"

Vlad scurried off after Dimitri, Xion glanced at the Keyblade in Kuro's hand and marched over towards him. Even if Kuro stood nearly a foot taller than the girl, that did nothing to stop his shoulders from pulling together and cowering from the fast approaching Nobody.

"Xion?" Kuro whispered only to receive not a single word in response. With a sour scowl on her face, her nose scrunched up and her eyes pulled to squints, she pulled the weapon out of his hands and followed after Dimitri. Chasing after the two con men.

Holding the Keyblade close to her chest, she didn't even bother to look back at The Heartless when he called out to her. Kuro sank down onto the top stair, his elbows resting along his knees as he stared at the silver metal blade that rested in his friend's hand. Watching the Keyblade get pulled out of sight.

"What should I do, Kuro?" Anya asked, walking up to the family portrait of the hall, staring at the little redheaded girl at her father's right hand side. Kuro blinked and resettled back into reality. Anya was having some personal issues and he needed to push his own problems down for the time being. He glanced over his shoulder, rubbing his chin in contemplation before opening his mouth to speak.

"I'm not sure… but you do look like her. Like, look look like her." Kuro noted as he glanced between the portrait and the living woman. Nodding gently. "You could be her sister even… I mean, do you want to risk being on the other side of a pissed off Duchess?"

"I mean… I don't. It's Paris, Kuro! Paris!" Anya pulled her hands to her chest as if to catch her beating heart if it were to thump out of her chest. "My dream!"

"Well," Kuro smirked, squinting a single eye as he stared at the portrait. Particularly studying the small girl that they wanted Anya to pretend to be. "You don't remember who you were before, right? Like, at all?"

"Right!" Anya stated with a growing, excited grin on her face. Her fingertips tapping together in thought as she paces the landing from step to step. "And if I go and she realizes I am not her granddaughter, well! Memory is a fickle thing, she'll understand! Then I can focus on finding whoever gave me my necklace."

"Then it sounds like Anastasia needs to go catch up with Dimitri." Kuro said, seeing Anya nod her head quickly before chasing off after the pair of men and the raven haired girl. Kuro glanced over at Dusk, who sat down beside him on the stairs. Feeling their small companion nudge his thigh with their noggin.

"We need to be careful, Kuro. We are involving ourselves a lot here. This could end really badly if it goes wrong." Dusk whispered as they stared up at Kuro with their pure golden stare. Their pink tongue slipping out and wetting their little black nose. The sight of the small puppy licking their tiny nose made Kuro chuckle from the cuteness. "What if they figure out that this is a ruse, they will retaliate. This is a woman's family they are trying to mess with. We can't lie about that."

"We aren't lying , Dusk. Anya doesn't remember. You heard her herself. So, who's to say she isn't some Princess. " Kuro rolled his eyes, shaking off the idea before turning his attention back towards Anya as she managed to reach the middle of the room and catch up to Dimitri. "Besides… She doesn't remember who she was before whatever happened to her. She was alone in this world for years. I need to see this through to the end. I would want someone to do the same for me."

"Empathy is a beautiful shade on you, Kuro. Now, pick me up." Dusk murmured, the Heartless scoffing as he reached down and scooped the ebony puppy into his arms. His free hand scratched behind Dusk's ears as they walked to join the others. Kuro felt his lips be pulled into a somber smile, before his eyes grew dull and his voice fell to a whisper that only his companion could hear.

"I remember Dusk." Kuro muttered into the small Heartless canine's ear. The puppy's eyes darted to meet Kuro's with a wiggle of their floppy years. "I remember… who I am."

"Well!" Dusk barked happily, reaching up to lick Kuro's cheek in excitement. Kuro chuckling softly to himself as he pulls his face away. "Don't make me beg! Do you remember your true name?"

"My true name is… Sora." Kuro said, the weight of his words causing his shoulders to fall and his breath to exit out of his chest in a huge sigh. Dusk mewled in response, looking around in a confused manner. Trying to make sense of it.

"You… You can't be. Sora has a heart! You are a heart! How can there be two hearts at the same time?" Dusk asked, whining softly in a high pitched puppy noise, wiggling their tail to try and calm themselves down.

"I don't know. But I need to ask Naminé about it when I get back. She said she messed with Sora's memories. Maybe that's why mine were all scrambled? Besides…" Kuro grumbled as he glanced towards Xion, who held the Keyblade to her chest as though she were trying to pass it through her chest and out her back with how tight she held it. As though it were to leave her hands again. "I need to talk to Xion about the Castle, and if she's going to be traveling with them, I need to be with them too."

"Onward." Dusk muttered, as Kuro rose to his feet and carried the puppy to catch up with the locals and Xion.

"I got it all under control, All right… but walk a little slower." Dimitri's voice fell to a whisper as he spoke to Vlad and Xion, raising up three fingers as he slowly began to count down to zero. Snickering to himself. "And we are a-go in… Three … Two … One!"

"Dimitri!" Anya shouted after them, "Dimitri wait!"

Dimitri grins from ear to ear when he hears his name, Vladimir's thick cheeks pulled apart as he lets out a hearty laugh.

"Ha, right in the palm of our hand." Dimitri mumbles, one hand rubbing over the other. As he clears his throat and faints an innocent disconnection and. "Di … Did you call me, miss?

"If I don't remember who I am, then who's to say I'm not a princess or a duchess or whatever she is … Right?" Anya said as she shrugged her shoulders and glanced between the two conmen. "If I'm not really this Anastasia, the Empress will know right away … and it's all just an honest mistake on my end."

"But if you are the princess, then you'll finally know who you are and have your family back!" Vlad said with a hopeful tune to his voice, his lips pulled into a wide grin. "And worst case, you are where you want to be!"

"He's right! Either way, it gets you to Paris." Anya puts her hand out for a handshake. Dimitri, a little taken aback, shakes it'. She gives him a solid shake. He rubs the center of his hand in pain.

"Right!" Anya said with a beaming smile, watching Dimitri pull his hands away with a wiggle of pain. Kuro joined Anya at her side, their dog in his arms.

Dimitri flexes out his hand as he glances between the blue eyed girl and her orange eyed companion. Wringing out his wrists before clearing his throat. His heels slamming into the floor, to gather the attention of all the ghosts that gathered in this hall over the years.

"May I present her Royal Highness, the Grand Duchess, Anastasia Romanov!" Dimitri spoke with gravitas and bravado, enough that the room seemed to have fallen silent in respect for the royal title of the, 'Grand Duchess.' The sudden updraft of the room billowing cobwebs and sheets that covered beautiful countryside portraits and paintings of the family. Answering the call of their princess in its own way.

"Come no! We've got a train to catch!" Vlad shouted, as he clapped his hands and began ushering the group out of the dilapidated palace and mentally preparing for the journey ahead. It would require finesse,

Up above the rafters, a small ivory bat waddled over to the side of his seat, staring down at the group of people that had infiltrated the very palace he himself was squatting in as well.

Bartok, the small bat that was a servant of Razputin over a decade ago, rubbed his needle point eyes as he peered over the edges of his nook as he took inventory of the people who decided to start yelling and dancing in his home. Then one of them summoned a Keyblade and started discussing the logistics of cross country travel with each other. Bartok was not surprised. He had seen four of them, why wouldn't there be five? Maybe even six? Bartok, however, was more focused on the clear lie that Anastasia was alive. That couldn't be possible.

"Anastasia? Anastasia Roman- Oh, ok. Yeah, sure. Just one problem there, fella, Anastasia's dead. All the Romanovs are dead. Most of them were killed by the boy in the mask or by my master. All of them are dead. They're dead, dead, dead, dead …" Bartok noted. A malevolent creature then slithers out of the Reliquary, snaking up besides the talking Bat unknowingly. Bartok, even when he glanced to his side, was too caught up in the absurdity at the thought of one of the Romanovs being alive to notice at first. "… Am I right my friend? I mean, how could that be Ana-"

It was when he began to speak her name did he notice that his company was transparent and appeared as a vile green apparition beside him. One by one, sinister smoke specters began to drain out of the open maw of the glass vialed trinket. Circling around the bat as they snickered in their deep, rumbling voices.

"Oh, come on now. Am I supposed to believe that thing woke up after all these years just because some guy claims she's a Romanov? I mean, that old man down there has one of those dohickeys Keyswords that all those people had a while ago." Bartok asks The Reliquary, and in response to the question it begins to glow bright, even shaking violently in its spot. Bartok raised his tiny hands in defense, as if to attempt to ease the rising anger that is present in the glass trinket. "Okay! Okay! I get the message! Enough already with glowing and the smoke people!"

Bartok stares down at the red headed girl, squinting his eyes in curiosity as he takes a quick glance back at the Reliquary. He sees the green ooze in the vial pulse and hum as a dormant energy reawakens and then back to her. Who caused the vial to restart and take life again. "If that thing comes back to life it must mean Anastasia's alive… and that's her."

The Reliquary begins to vibrate and to tremble, before sinking into the floor and heading down into the depths of the earth. Unfortunately, the chain that looped through the skull had knotted around the bat's ankle and proceed to drag Bartok down with it. They dive straight through the wooden floor, down several layers of earth and dirt at high intense speed. Bartok covered his eyes to avoid getting dirt in his eyes as he was dragged through the muck and the dark into a different world.

"Whoa!" Bartok shouted as they continued to be dragged down into the depths of the earth. The Reliquary pulled him down through the last chunk of dirt, the dark space the bat found himself in soon filled with what felt like the icy river water pulling him further and further down towards the core. Bartok's small fingers pull off of his eyes to desperately attempt to untie the knot around his foot to no avail. "Mayday, Mayday. Hey I ooh, ooh,,ooh, waah! Hot it's hot, aah, oh oh … wow …"

The Red Republic

The Netherworld

"... Wow, help, oh,,oh, oh, oh, hot it's hot, aah, oh oh … wow!" Bartok's rapid descent finally ends when he is pulled into a space beyond the confines of space and time. A ethereal void with floating large meteors floating still in the vacuum of this malevolent space.

The skies around him were dark and chilling, the constant rolling of deep gray clouds surrounded the volcanic boulders. The only light being the constant striking lighting from within the depths of the condensed gray fog clouds, which lit the room in an uneven rhythm flashes of light. The bat is pulled into a specific floating boulder, one that was hollowed out from the inside. The walls were curved, with huge gaping holes that were smoothed down to a consistent floor level, with the rough textured floor rising into a circle low podium in the center of the room that served as a table and gave the space a much needed center point. The bat crashed onto the floor, the trinket landing on top of him and crushing him momentarily.

"Oh boy. Ow. what. Ow! I tell you what." Bartok groaned as he rubbed his soar rear as he stood up and glanced around. Looking around with a nervous holding of his own hands, gulping loudly. He clicks his nails together and clears his voice. "Hel-"

"Who dares intrude on my solitude? Get out! Get out! Out!" His voice thundered in the room, marching over towards the small bat and scooping him up with his thin spindly fingers. His long, dirt encrusted nails digging into the ivory bat. The Mad Monk Rasputin picks Bartok out of the rubble, squashing the very breath out of Bartok's little body as he planned to squeeze him into paste. When he hears a familiar grunt of pain, Razputin stops and gasps in surprise.

"Bartok?" Razputin inquired, his lips pulled to a rare, sincere grin. A feeling that resembled happiness flashed across his face. "Is that you?"

"Master? Alive …? You're-" Razputin's right eye pops out of his socket, the small fleshy orb landing in Bartok's lap with dripping with clear mucus. Bartok grabs it, the slime dripping through his fingers as he scales up Razputin's arm towards his shoulder. "Whoa, that fell right out of there, sir."

"Barely alive. Something's happened, my small minion. I could feel the dark forces stirring but I cannot engage! I've been stuck here in limbo ever since I was sent back to this damned place!" Razputin groaned, his free hand clapping across his eyes as he howled in anger. "Damn! Damn! Damn!"

"I'm not surprised you're stuck here, sir! But-but! I know why because I saw her. Anastasia! My lord! She's alive!" Bartok said with a wild cry in his voice.

"Anastasia? Alive!" Razputin walked over and slammed his fist into the column of ivory white volcanic rock, with its vesicular veins of white on the surface contrasting hard with the dark channels of the cavities in the rock beside him. His knuckles made contact with the stone and his bony hand crumbled against it. His brittle bone breaking on contact. "That Romanov brat! She still draws breath?"

Razputin doesn't seem to notice or even phased that his bones were crumbled into gravel in the loose skin bag that was his left hand at the end of arm. The wrist loose and swung around the balled up sack of dry bone and shriveled tendons in his hand. Bartok felt his hairs rise on end as he attempted to fight off the rise of bile at what sounded like jumbled up gravel tumbling around in a loose leather bag.

"Wow … Yeah, ain't that a kick in the head? I guess a curse just ain't what it used to be, huh sir?" Bartok mumbled as he stared into the eyes of his master. Bartok snaps his fingers, an idea sparking in his head. "Maybe you should send an Ogre after her! I hear Ogres are very in nowadays with the big teeth and the stomping and the, 'Answer riddles three'-"

"That's why I'm still here… My curse is unfulfilled!" Razputin shouted and threw his small minion against the wall, the small bat crashing against the rock and sticking to it. Razputin clears his throat and lets out an irritated sigh. Taking his good hand and pinching the bridge of his nose. That is when Razputin hears the sound of heels hitting the floor behind him. Razputin glances over his shoulder, his back straightening and his chin being held high when he realized he was in the presence of royalty. "My liege ."

"Razputin." The rumbling voice of the Horned King echoed out as he slowly meandered around the cooled volcanic rock platform. His coat in a train behind him as his claws tap against the tips of each other. "I had sent you back to your world in hopes you could reclaim your power. Why haven't you yet?"

"I am stuck in this purgatory because I lacked my gift from the dark forces and my curse is incomplete. I need the key to my powers! They locked me out of the living world because of it!" Razputin complained, recalling that he had lost his Reliquary that night when the Romanovs were killed. Specifically when he was knocked into the freezing waters by that brown haired Keyblade wielder.

"What? You mean this doohickey?" Bartok asked as he held up the Reliquary that held the illuminating emerald shine behind its glass. "This darned thing that nearly killed me four times over?"

Razputin takes his Reliquary from Bartok, his devious laugh echoing in the expanse of this limbo as his lips are pulled into a devilish grin. His crooked teeth shining in the dark. Razputin raises his trinket, his emerald shaded vial flashing in magnificent power as he turns towards the Horned King. The Horned King nods his head in approval, his fanged maw grimacing in such a way, the right angle could be perceived as a smirk.

"You have the essence of the Master, The Blood of the Black God. His vile, wretched power held in such a simple bauble. So, what will you do now, Razputin? Now that you have nothing to stop you?" The Horned King inquired, turning his attention to the sparks and thundering green lightning that cracked along the surface of a nearby rock podium. A flashing image of shimmering light courses in the center of this hovering sphere, that clears into a snow covered landscape and the rising smoke of a train engine is seen.
"I'll show you, Comrade. Witness the power…. Of the Mad Monk!" Razputin shouts as green vapors and emerald smoke drain out of the skull topper of the trinket, swirling out and into the imagine of the locomotive as it races in the valley of snow towards its destination…

The Red Republic

The Locomotive - Baggage Cart

The rocking of the locomotive could have put Kuro to sleep if he wasn't determined to watch Xion on the other side of the cart consistently fail to summon her Keyblade back to her hand. Secretly hoping that she would be able to recall her weapon to her hand as she had done numerous times before. Her occasional groans of disappointment and a boot to the wall made it clear that the Keyblade wasn't going to be returning to her anytime soon.

The conman had only three tickets for the train that would take them to Paris. Which meant that the Heartless and the Nobody were snuck onto the baggage cart and left there until they would reach their next stop. The cart's rolling wide doors were left partially open, as Dimitri wanted them to enjoy the view and have some fresh air throughout their journey.

The interior of the baggage cart was dark and somber, with the only lights being the flickering lightbulb that seemed to highlight shadows rather than make them disappear, and the ray of sunlight that shone through the opening of the door and its frame that cut through the space. Creating what appeared to be a barrier of golden light, with shimmering waves of heat that rested on the wall it landed on and separated the two sides in total darkness. Xion on the side closest to the coal and caboose, Kuro on the side closest to the passenger cart.

Kuro turned his attention to his right hand, taking the wool black glove off and staring at the callouses that had formed on the inside of his palm. Inspecting his hand thoroughly as he tried to recall what was going on. His palm was roughed and ragged from the handling of blades and firing of firearms, rotating his hand over to stare at his darkened knuckles. The force he threw into his punches rattled people to their core, and caused serious damage. These were his hands. These were Kuro's hands.

How were these the same hands that held Kairi's hand when they would stroll across the beach when they were younger, or that would arm wrestle with Riku to prove who was stronger or carve out images in the secret cave back on Destiny Islands? Kuro could feel the residual warmth when he - no, Sora - felt when he thought of Kairi. He stretched out his hand to call forth his flared, purple hued blade to his hands. Call forth his weapon. Lo and behold, the Keyblade appeared into his hands again in a stream of light.

"Goddamn it." Kuro cursed as he placed the Keyblade against a nearby stack of crates and ran his hands through his hair. This was Sora's weapon, this was Sora's Keyblade. Kuro was a Heartless, he couldn't and shouldn't have a Keyblade. Since they do such a great job of killing Heartless. He squinted his eyes shut as he tapped the heels of his hands against his forehead. This wasn't his responsibility, this wasn't his weapon. Sora had the Keyblade. Xion had the Keyblade. Arthur had the claymore. Kuro had his sword. The weapon he earned. The one he's used to defend himself and those he cared about.

He glanced over at the silver casted Keyblade that was rested up against several containers and listened to the jingle of the keychain as it bounces to the rhythm of the train's rocking. If this was Sora's weapon, then it would be Kuro's as well. Right? But it was Sora's heart that earned that weapon. And if he had Sora's heart-

Kuro shut that thought down with a thought stopping tap against the forehead. Kuro didn't earn it. Kuro couldn't have. Kuro sat on the crate and was so lost in his own thoughts that he found himself staring at a pair of boots without even hearing the footsteps. He turned his attention ahead to see Xion standing in front of him. Her eyes pulled to needle points and her hands coiled into fists. Xion saw the evening sun paint the right side of his face in a golden hued light, with the occasional flash of darkness from passing trees leaving him completely hidden in the shadows. Only his orange eyes aglow in the dark.

"What did you do? How did you do it?" Xion walked over and crossed her arms. Glaring at the Heartless with her lips puckered and her breathing growing heavier. "Why can't I summon my Keyblade back?"

"I don't know…" Kuro grumbled as he stared at the weapon and shrugged his shoulders at the question. He grabs it by the handle and taps the flat tip of the barrel into the floor. Letting it knock and resound off of the metal walls of the baggage cart. He looks at the golden handle of the Keyblade, beside himself. It felt so right in his hands, even if it shouldn't be. "I… This… It just… happened."

Xion moved to grab the Keyblade, a flash of Riku taking Sora's Keyblade at Hollow Bastion away from him echoed in Kuro's mind, that feeling of helplessness and disappointment that he felt in his heart resounded through his body as though he were struck by a bolt of lightning. Kuro thoughtlessly pulled the Keyblade away from her hands, placing himself between Number Fourteen and the weapon. Xion took a step back at the sight of this, her jaw dropping in complete shock.

"Kuro. Give me my Keyblade back!" Xion shouted, only for Kuro to slam the tip of the weapon into the floor with a commanding knock against the floor. Kuro's eyes are pulled to a squint as he meets Xion's blue eyes. She didn't back down, glaring up at him. "Now, Kuro!"

"Why do you need your weapon right now?" Kuro asked, cocking his head to the side as he met her gaze. He glanced her over, seeing her shoulders square out and her left foot take a step behind her right to make her thinner, which Kuro noted would make her harder to hit. Was she preparing to hit him, or was she preparing to dodge him? "What? Are you scared?"

"Are you? " Xion inquired, reaching for her weapon once again. Kuro once again pulled it out of her grasp. "Why don't you want me to have my weapon?"

"Castle Oblivion." Kuro said pointedly and harshly, the words rolling with venom hot off his tongue like a curse. Xion's eyes go wide as she takes another step back and scans over the Heartless. Her blue eyes squinting as she tightens her fists. Kuro lets out a harsh sigh, seeing her get defensive at the mere mention of the name. "That got your attention."

"You know about that? How-How did you find out about that?" Xion asked with an inquisitive stare into his orange eyes. She had assumed that no one else knew about Castle Oblivion except the members of the Organization. How did this stranger know about it? She saw him pull his eyes to a tight close while he shook his head with disappointment.

"You know about it, huh?" Kuro sneered, shaking his head and letting out a grim chuckle of disbelief. "Huh. This Organization you work for… you hurt people. You know that right? Innocent people."

"Excuse me?" Xion scoffed, shaking her head. She stared at Kuro, wondering how he knew about the Organization's outpost despite never mentioning it before. "What exactly do you do?" She grabbed his hand and showed off the darkened ridges of his knuckles with a sigh of discontent. Kuro pulled away and scowled at her, tightening his hand into a taut fist. Xion gestured at the fist with the raise of her brows and a look that seemed to drive the point that she was talking about home. "Did you get these bruises by holding hands?"

"Everyone I hurt deserved it." Kuro retorted with a grunt, through gnashed teeth. Xion's eyes went wide as his voice rose to a shout. "That's what is different. I don't regret it."

"Even me?" Xion asked fast and sharp, enough so that it knocked Kuro's breath out of his chest as though he were struck. Kuro shook his head. "Did I deserve it?"

"That is not what I meant." Kuro clarified with a stern look in his eye. "You have to know that… Right?"

"You didn't specify." Xion shot back as she took a step back, before glancing over him with a pointed stare. Kuro appeared to be on the offensive, with his shoulders tight with one hand on her Keyblade and the other in a fist. "I don't know a lot it seems. Can you ask you something, since we are just… doing this?"

Kuro shrugged with a dour expression on his face, eyes bouncing from her to the open cart door on his right. Xion crossed her arms, staring up at him.

"How did you hear about Castle Oblivion? Do you know what happened there?" Xion asked, squinting her eyes as she looked over him. He cocked his eye at her, squeezing his hold of the Keyblade. "Did you go there?"

"Why?" Kuro huffed, thinking of the only other member of the Organization that he can name. "Trying to protect Axel and what's left of your club?"

"What's left? Axel?" Xion's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide as the Heartless name dropped the only member of the Organization to come out of the Castle Oblivion Massacre alive. And with the remark about 'what's left' made her connect some quick dots. Kuro's surge in power, Kuro's ability to travel between worlds. Knowledge of Castle Oblivion and the deaths of those who inhabited it. He knew who did it… and a dark thought in the back of her mind thought that he might have been the one to do it. She straightened her back and let out a short sigh. She had to ask him another question. "The world, with the hunchback. What happened there? All I know is that the world got overrun with Heartless-"

"Quasimodo." Kuro corrected her, his voice never rising above a somber rumble. "His name is Quasimodo."

"And Quasimodo is dead." Xion said, seeing Kuro's face contort with a sudden breath and a roll of his neck. Seeing him become physically uncomfortable in his skin. Xion thought Kuro would be dumbfounded by the thought of his friend being gone, perhaps begin to cry or ask her how it could have happened. Instead she saw him chew his bottom lip for a moment before he eased his breathing to remain focused. Xion's face dropped, as did her arms to her side. The evening sun vanished behind the dark horizon, his half shaded face that basked in the glow of the sunlight was now cloaked in the darkness of the dank train cart. The glow of his amber shaded eyes returned. "But you knew? You already knew he was dead?"

Kuro sniffed and couldn't bring himself to face her, instead taking the Keyblade in both of his hands before he slammed the flat of the tip into the floor to vent out his frustration. Xion slowly approached him, seeing him shuddering and seeing his hands constantly flexing around the handle of the blade. As though he were trying to keep himself calm or to distract himself from the hurricane of emotions in his mind.

Kuro's mind was flooded with the images of fire and death, the devastating destruction of the bell that led to the plummeting of the world into chaos. His vision blurred with images of Quasimodo getting torn to shreds by a horde of Heartless all trying to get a piece of his near perfect heart. Kuro growled to himself, his jaw clenched so tight that his teeth started to shift in their slots. Xion could see the quarrel that ran rampant on his face and in his mind, the kind of conflict that only occurs if he were somehow involved.

"What did you do?" Xion asked solemnly, her hands moving to cup her mouth as she stared at the Heartless. His orange eyes finally peeked out behind his half lidded eyes as he turned to face her. His mouth motioned to open before he kept them shut. He turned away from her, his head hung in shame. Xion shook her head in disappointment, walking over towards the other side of the cart and turned to face away from him. Her arms crossed and her shoulders tense from her frustration.

"Why don't you RTC? What are you still doing here?" Kuro asked aloud with a caustic tone, not turning to face her as he spoke, his voice bouncing off the wall and sounding louder than he meant it to. Xion shook her head.

"I'm supposed to help find the princess. And I was told to not come back until I find her." Xion explained in a low rumbling voice, digging the toe of her boot into the floor. "What about you? Why are you here?"

"I like to help people." Kuro responded with a sincere tone, his thumb rubbing over his chin tenderly as he let out a sigh. "That's why I'm here… I just want to help people."

With his face turned away from her, he pinched his eyes shut and tried to ward off the tears that tempted to flow down his cheeks. He just wanted to help and he's caused so much damage. He ate Rowan's heart, he killed so many SHINRA soldiers, he destroyed a whole world. He wondered if he would ever be able to make things even with Quasimodo and his world, the dark thought being that he will never be able to repent for the damage he had caused.

With her back towards him, Xion let her face fall into her lap as she tried to keep the stress and the hurt from showing on her face. She lost her weapon, which gave her purpose. She lost what made her valuable to the Organization, and if she returns to Xaldin without her Keyblade in hand, he'll either drag her to be Dusk'd or kill her himself for now being useless. She wondered what she would do, she was without a heart, without a Keyblade, and with only the chilled air to comfort her at this time. And there was the chance someone who she thought was her friend could be responsible for the deaths of five of the Organization's number. The silence between them chilled the air even more, with Kuro's chest feeling tight and Xion's hands feeling colder because of it.

The Red Republic

The Locomotive - Passenger Cart

Dusk curled up near the window beside Anya's lap, their back pressed against her thigh as she absentmindedly stroked the small roll of their belly and ended each rub with a quick scratch along their hind leg. Anya's free hand focused on the petaled necklace that hung along her neck, with the rush of adrenaline of actually going to Paris. Butterflies in her stomach and her heart racing in her chest, she had to keep her mind right or else she would have started kicking her feet and giggling.

"Stop fiddling with that thing! And sit up straight! Remember, you're a Grand Duchess. Act like one!" Dimitri barked, annoyed that she stared at that thing for the fifth time in the last hour with the same look of wonderment in her eyes. To be transfixed to such a simple thing annoyed the conman. Anya was taken aback by his sudden order, her heart jumping in her chest in response.

"How do you know what Grand Duchesses do or don't do?" Anya asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she glanced over at Dimitri. Sizing him up as she retracts her hands into her warm heavy sleeves.

"I make it my business to know. Personal experience." Dimitri combs over his brown locks and lets out a short and exhausted sigh. "Look Anya, I'm just trying to help you out. Alright?"

"Dimitri…" Anya asked thoughtfully, her eyes glancing from her small pendent to the conman with a quick shift of her bright blue eyes. Her lips pursed to a small smile. "Do you really think I'm royalty?

"Anya," Dimitri smirks, squinting his eyes deviously as he nodded his head towards her. Looking at her from her darling blue eyes to her small booted feet and back to her icy stare. "You know I do."

"Then stop bossing me around!" Anya growled through gnashed teeth, scrunching her nose at the young man before turning her attention back towards the window. "If I'm royalty, I expect to be treated like it."

Dimitri opens his mouth to speak, his nostrils flared and his eyes growing wide with disdain. However, with a few deep chested sighs, he centered himself and let the frustration roll off of his back as snow was falling off the roof of this very train they were on. He turned to Anya, reaching out to cup her hand tenderly. Seeing her quickly gain a sour expression as she feels his hand.

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot here, Anya. I tried to be respectable…" Dimitri noted, to which Anya turned towards him with a furrowed brow. She thought for a moment, and agreed to that sentiment. "You're being… yourself."

"Well, I think we did too." Anya nodded, shutting her eyes thoughtfully as she smiled disingenuously towards the conman. "But I appreciate your apology."

"Apology? Who said anything about an apology? I wasn't going to…" Dimitri began to say, only to groan out a heavy breath and turn away from the woman. "Forget it."

The silence they share is laden in tension, the very air became thick and muggy from their locking of verbal horns. Anya's eyes shifted from the window to the man across from her, then back when she saw his eyes flicker up towards her. She focuses on St. Petersburg, a thought popping into her head.

"You think you're gonna miss it?" Anya asked out of the blue, her gaze lingering on the passing sight of the city in the growing distance. "You know, Russia?"

"Nope. Not even a little."

"But it was your home." Anya tapped on the glass, pointing out the buildings and the homes that were becoming harder and harder to see as the train moved further and further away from St. Petersburg. Eventually the train passed a small snowbank, which hid the large city from their sights. Anya felt a twinge of sadness for a moment, leaving such a beautiful city forever. "These are your people."

"It was a place I once lived. Those people are the same ones that would just as quickly ignore me as they were to kick me when I was at my lowest." Dimitri said with a hint of venom, kicking his feet over the other bench and spreading out his body. The nights he spent without food in his stomach or a warm place to sleep echoed in his mind, pulling his jacket closer to his chest and letting out an annoyed groan. "End of story."

"Well… then you must plan on making Paris your true home." Anya said with a hopeful tone, flashing him a warm grin. Dimitri rolled his eyes at the thought, which pulled that grin off of Anya's face immediately and replaced her attempt at a good natured smile with an irritated scowl.

"What is it with you and homes?" Dimitri asked, with a scrunched nose and his fingers scratching at the back of his neck. "You hate the orphanage that much?"

Anya stands up with arms crossed to leave the compartment. Dimitri, seeing that she is trying to escape, swings his legs and places them in Anya's way, blocking her from the exit.

"Well, for one thing, it's something that every normal person wants and for another thing, it's a thing where you …" Anya goes to move over his legs, watching him shift his legs from left to right to get her to hike her legs further apart and make it more difficult for her to leave. Purposefully annoying her. "Oh my God! Just stop!"

Vladimir, who had gone to use the lavatory down the hall, charges into the room when he realizes that he can hear them clearly from the other side of the restroom door. He throws open the door and runs into Anya as she stumbles over Dimitri's legs.

"Thank goodness it's you!" Anya shouts as she turns and points at the annoying Dimitri with a strained high voice. "Just please remove him from my sight!"

"What is this? What is going on?" Vladimir listens to Anya's complaints, and wastes no time in walking over towards the standoffish Dimitri, taking his wide paw and smacking it hard against Dimitri's skull. "What have you done to her?"

"Me? It's her!" Dimitri shouts in the compartment as soon as he is struck. Hearing Anya start to laugh. "She's being difficult!"

"Ha! As if! I was just trying to have a simple conversation." Anya stands in the doorway of the compartment, glaring at Dimitri before shooting that scowl over towards Vladimir. That icy stare of her blue eyes sending chills down his spine. Even if she didn't intend to, she had that Romanov icy glare. Just like the Czar had. "He was being rude to me."

Anya slams the sliding door closed with great anger. Both Vlad and Dimitri cringing as the door is sent crashing into the frame. The pretend Princess storms off in an unfocused direction, needing some space from the irritating conman. Vlad sees Dimitri stare out the window, his foot tapping and his face flushed an infuriated red. Vlad squints, before a flash of realization echoes in his mind.

"Oh no … an unspoken attraction!" Vladimir teases, nudging Dimitri with an elbow and a short chortle. Dimitri felt a bile rise in his throat at the thought, shoving the older man back with his own elbow. "Feeling for the girl, Comrade?"

"Attraction? To that skinny little brat …" Dimitri rolled his eyes with a short chuckle and rolled his eyes. "Vlad, have you lost your mind?"

Dimitri slides open the compartment door and exits the car, slamming the door behind him. He also stomps down the other end of the corridor. Also heading off towards an unknown direction to get some space.

"Attraction…" Dimitri ponders the accusation as he marches down the corridor. He briefly imagines her waving red locks and that sparkle in her blue eyes. That thought was right when he felt it make his tongue go sour in his mouth. He slaps it out of his mind with a few quick claps on his cheeks. Even when she was angry, she had a cute look about her. Shaking it out of his head immediately. "Ridiculous! Ridiculous!"

The Red Republic

The Locomotive - Baggage Cart

Kuro and Xion stood at opposite ends of the cart, Xion stood with her arms crossed staring out the passing snow banks and the dark wood trees that were towering blurs against the beautiful rolling hills before her. She shivered in her coat, shivering slightly as she pulled on the tassels of her coat's hood and scrunched it to keep warm. Kuro sat cross legged on a nearby crate, staring at the metal wall of the baggage cart. He rubbed his hands together before folding them under his chin. Kuro glanced over at Xion out of the corner of his eye, not liking the fact they were giving each other the literal and figurative cold shoulder to one another. Kuro got up off of the crate and walked over towards Xion with the Keyblade in hand. She hears him approach without looking at him, only to see him hand over the weapon to her with an open palm.
"I don't like this." Kuro noted with a sullen tone to his voice. His grin tugged harshly on his lips to form something on a grin for her to see. She didn't notice it. "I don't like not talking to you."

Xion grins somberly under her coat, the gentle rumble of his voice when he wasn't rudely talking eased the humming of the noise in her chest. She takes the Keyblade tenderly, her fingertips trailed along his wrist all without looking at him. He simply nods, moving to return to his space before he hears her let out a short shivering sound and sees her shoulders shake in response.

Seeing and hearing just how cold she is. Xion hunches over to try to consolidate heat only to feel a hefty weight drape over her shoulders and Kuro walk step in front of her. Kuro had disrobed out of his wool jacket, standing in a pair of gray trousers and a white button up shirt. With two black leather suspenders that rested taut against his broad chest.

"Put your arms through the sleeves." Kuro grumbled as he thumbs over the lapel and assisted her in donning the wool jacket. It trained behind her and gathered on the floor, and her finger tips barely peeked out of the sleeve. He smirked, she was so small. He reached down and tenderly held her wrists, his hold hand swallowing her dainty small hand in his fist. "There we go… Nice and warm. "

However, Xion couldn't help but appreciate the heat that resided within the coat. She pulled it close to her, feeling Kuro's hands tighten the belt down to the last notch to make sure it was latched firmly on her. Xion took a sigh of relief, the lingering scent of earth and charred wood that bled into the fibers of the wool. It brought images of a bonfire on a beach, with the smell of ocean water, dense smoke and crackling burning logs. The feeling of his hands, enough though rough and tried in combat, held her sweetly and softly. As though she were delicate and fragile.

Kuro squeezed her wrists in two quick flexes of his hands, raising his hands up to pat her shoulders to secure her new jacket with a sweet tap. He then began rubbing his hands over his bare arms as he started walking back to his spot and sitting down to return on waiting out the train ride. His thick arms crossed over one another as he tugged firm on the brim of his cap to reaffirm it on his head. Vladimir, Anya and Dimitri come rushing through the train cart's door, Vladimir shutting the door behind them and barricading it with a few of the heavier duffel bags.

"What's going on?" Xion asked, placing her Keyblade back against the wall and approaching the three locals with an inquisitive stare. Rubbing her gloves hands together to warm them up. "What's happening?"

"They are asking for papers! Papers with red ink!" Vladimir stated as he kept adding bag after bag to the barricade he was creating with hat boxes, carpet bags and the occasional suit bag draped atop. Xion shrugged nonchalantly, not understanding the issue. "Papers with red ink! We have black!"

"It's no big deal! We just have to wait it out here until we reach Paris." Dimitri noted as he walked over to the other end of the car and crossed his arms over one another. Rubbing his arms as he tried to desperately warm himself up. "It's not so bad."

"We will freeze to death in here!" Anya argued, shivering in the wind before tucking her hands into her armpits. Bouncing in her spot to keep the blood circulating.

"You can thaw in Paris. Besides, our bodyguards survived this long in the cold." Dimitri said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly as he walked over towards Xion and noticing the extra jacket she wore. The thick wool jacket that looked to be twice her size. He glances from Kuro, noticing now that he was jacketless, then back to Xion with the multiple layers on. He smirked, winking at her playfully. "You warm enough there, sweetheart-"

The undercarriage of the passenger cart is met with a sudden and loud explosion, the train carts unlinking together by the green hued blast. The force of the discharge tearing apart the back half facing the passenger side off of the ceiling of the baggage cart. Half of the roof intact and the other half blown into pieces, revealing the interior of the baggage carriage to the night sky.

The group reverbs from the explosion's impact and they all crash into the floorboards. Kuro's body immediately dove for Xion to protect her, encasing her with his entire frame before taking the brunt of the damage as the two of them slam against the steel floor and glide into the metal wall behind them. The back of Kuro's skull and shoulders bangs hard against the metal wall and causes his ears to start ringing. Xion's cheek pressed to his chest and her head tucked underneath his jaw.

Dimitri and Anya collapse atop of one another, before the mountain of bags crashes atop of them and buried them. Their shouts of discomfort echoing in the cart as they attempt to pull the luggage off of them. Vladimir's stumble was the smoothest, having simply rocked in his spot with one hand holding onto a grab bar bolted to the wall and the other securely holding onto puppy Dusk. Who barked and whined from the loud noise.

"What was that?" Anya asked, as she attempted to pull the bags off of her. With Dimitri attempting to assist in the bags that landed atop of him as well.

"I don't know! Let me check!" Vladimir approaches the blasted open door frame that once connected the engine, the coal tender, and the baggage cart to the rest of the train. The other carriages lost their momentum and disappeared amongst the blistering snow storm they rode through. "Uh oh! There goes the dining car! We are on our own!"

Anya and Dimitri continue to struggle to get out from under the avalanche of luggage while Kuro and Xion get up onto their hands and knees. Kuro rubs his aching skull as Xion pushes herself off of Kuro's chest and gets up on her feet.

"Xion? You ok?" Kuro inquired, barring his teeth as he blinked quickly to resettle his vision. Xion simply nods, extending her hand down to him and pulling him up onto his feet.

Vladimir waddles to the intact railcar door facing the engine, peering through the open window in the center of the metal door. There he sees flashing sparks of hot white and roaring flames consuming the engine hull. The smoke rising out of the train's smokestack was a swirling mix of dense black coal smoke and fuming emerald shaded smog. Trailing along the purple shaded night sky with streaks of green and black that reflected off the clean white snow and painted the train in a verdant hue.

"I think someone has flambéed the engine!" Vladimir shouted over his shoulder before stepping away from the compartment door. "The train's goose is very much cooked!"

"Something's not right here! Where are the engineers?" Dimitri noted to himself as Kuro and Xion hear the whistling sound of something cutting through the night air and followed the noise. They looked out the open door of the cart and saw the glowing green shades racing across the night sky and heading towards the train engine.

Kuro glanced at Xion who already grabbed up her weapon and walked towards the door leading to the coal cart for the engine. Throwing open the door and heading towards the engine without issue. Ready to take this situation head on. Kuro opened his palm on instinct, only to close his hand into a fist fast. She needed her weapon, and as far as he knew, he could only summon that damn Keyblade.

Kuro scanned around for weapons, seeing nothing immediately jumping out at him before grabbing one of the crates and tearing the top off with a quick tug on the wooden panel. The crate was filled with hay and straw to keep the contents dry, Kuro began reaching inside to start pawing around for something to grab. Inside he feels two handles side by side, pulling one out with one hand and diving in for the other.

In his left hand is a club hammer, with a wooden handle and an iron head with flat faces on opposite sides. In his right hand, a short hand farming sickle, with a wide crescent moon blade screwed into a wooden handle. Kuro holstered the working equipment into his belt as he walked towards the doorway leading to the coal cart.

"You guys stay here, me and Xion will figure out what is going on with the engine." Kuro opens the door and begins to approach the ladder leading to the coal tender in front of him. Kuro climbs up and hops down into the cart, the rolling and jumbling of the coal makes for a difficult surface to try and stand on. Kuro, after several trips and slips back onto the black coals, ended up having to crawl from one side to the other and scramble up the metal bucket walls of the cart. He grabbed the edges of the room, not caring that he was covered in black coal dust that stained his shirt and pants, began climbing up onto the roof of the employee cart that separated the baggage and coal tending carts from the twin cart that housed the engineers and the roaring engine. Kuro sees Xion had already dropped into the engine cart, examining the damage done to the machine.

"What's going on?" Kuro shouted, Xion turning up to him and shrugging with a confused look in her eyes. Her hand on her blade letting it rest the tip against the floor and the hand clapping on her thigh. Kuro shook his head in response. "What does that mean?"

"It means I don't know! There are levers that are stuck, dials that are in the red, the engine appears to be really on fire and everything is written in Russian! I don't know how to stop this stupid thing." Xion shouted back, watching Kuro drop his head in disappointment before he slammed his fist on the roof in frustration and turned back towards her. His orange eyes caught the glow of the roaring engine flames. Brief images of Notre Dame aflame in his glare, which he warded off with a groan and another fist to the roof. He had to focus on the here and now. Stopping this train.

"We need to get this engine to stop! What can we do to-" Kuro is interrupted when a green blur crashes into his chest and drags him against the smooth rooftop. Kuro immediately swings his arms out to clamp his hands around the long tipped ear and throat of this quick attacker. Tearing off the ear with a twist and pull, and crashing a hard fist into the top of the skull of the monster.

"Get off!" Kuro roared as he followed the hammering strike with a headbutt to the beast's nose. The beast is knocked off of Kuro, its thin verdant shaded flesh wings catching the rapid up current left by the fast moving train and carrying it up into the chilled air. The wings expanded and it sailed across the skies, effortlessly keeping up with the speeding locomotive.

The winged beast exuded a dense green vapor that flowed off of its lithe body, its whole form vibrating with a bright glowing energy. Its lips pulled back to reveal a mouthful of fangs as it snickered and sneered at the Heartless. The Dark Minion dive bombed back towards the Heartless with its thin claws at the ready to stab into him. Kuro withdrew his sickle and hammer from his belt, catching the minion in the inward facing blade of the sickle, the Minion scrambled to pull itself off before catching two quick hammer strikes to the side of its head. Smashing its skull into a pile of green mush before it fizzled away as though it erupted into steam against the blade. Kuro followed the vapor trail as it trailed along the evening sky, seeing a horde of vicious minions flying against the wind and chasing after the rogue locomotive engine. Kuro glanced at his working tools, shrugging at the sight.

"Damn it… We have some company!" Kuro shouted, as Xion steadied her foot placement and pointed her Keyblade towards the engine. From the tip of the blade, she sends a steady stream of freezing ice into the grated metal to attempt to snuff out the roaring fire.

"I'm going to try and freeze it to kill the fire! Keep them busy!" Xion shouted up at Kuro, who let out a short sigh of agreement in response as she stood her ground and sent wave after wave of Blizzard spells into the train's firebox.

"Got it!" Kuro roared as the group of flying minions descended upon the train cart. They dove towards the Heartless, Kuro rolling his wrists and preparing for the assault. The first minion was caught with the blade of the sickle, bisecting it thanks to its fast speed and Kuro's hard swing. The second minion slammed into Kuro's sternum, their claws dug deep into his chest before Kuro slammed the hammer into its cheek, dazing the green devil for a moment and slicing through its throat with the sickle. The body fizzling into smoke as the head rolls off its shoulders. The third minion crashes into Kuro's shoulder, followed by a fourth and a fifth. Kuro's dragged to the floor as he throws his arms over his face to cover his eyes as he feels nails drag and snag along his waist, thighs, and his forearms. Leaving deep gashes and tearing through his skin.

Xion stops the stream of Blizzard, huffing softly to see that the engine was nowhere close to being frozen. Xion shakes her head, realizing this flame was stronger than the magic she could currently prepare right now. She chose to start crawling up to the cart roof to put some distance between the engine and the group. They needed to leave now. When she reaches the roof, she ends up seeing a currently overwhelmed Kuro getting clawed at and attacked. Xion rushes over, slamming a Keyblade's barrel into a minion and destroying it. The second is caught when Xion pierces it with the Keyblade and follows the last one with an overhead strike that smashes it into the floor.

Xion turns to Kuro, who props himself onto his knees while he turns to look up at Xion. She straightens her back, staring down at the Heartless with Keyblade in hand. Kuro shudders, images of Sora cleaving through Heartless appearing in his mind as he throws his arms in front of himself to ward off what he perceived as an incoming strike. He let out a cry of fear, huffing and panting in terror as he saw starlight twinkle off the metal of the blade.

He felt a pair of gloved hands tenderly grabbing his forearms, feeling Xion pull them away from his face to come face to face with him.

"It's ok, it's ok." Xion whispered as she tightened her hold on his arms to ground him. His breathing eased and his frantic eyes froze and focused entirely on her. She stroked his forearms with her thumbs, feeling the gashes the claws met. She saw him shut his eyes and focus his energy. The wounds closed with steam rising against the harsh winds as the wounds close and heal. "I'm here, I'm here…"

That's when there is a huge blinding verdant light that pulses beyond the train's engine to a chasm further down the rails. Kuro and Xion look to the light, seeing a massive green Minion crash through the wood and steel, destroying the bridge in a powerful swing of their arms. The valley below the now destroyed bridge didn't have a floor for what looked like several miles, and the Nobody and Heartless could only laugh at the absurdity of the sight. The Minion disappears when a stern blow of wind, crumbling into green dust and is carried off by the winter winds.

Meanwhile in the baggage carriage, Dimitri walks over to try and get the brake latch to apply to the wheels of the train car only for the lever to snap off as he swings his arms down on the metal bar. Dimitri throws it away in frustration, running out of options fast. The cart was zooming down the rails, the engine was on fire, and the world appeared to be falling apart around him in a blur of smoke and frost.

"We aren't slowing down enough! We're going way too fast!" Anya shouted as Dimitri rakes his fingers through his hair in a frazzled response as he glances out from the rapid moving train carriage and lets out an exasperated sigh. He sees the snow and comes up with a single idea left to try.

"We're gonna have to jump." Dimitri mumbles to himself as he stares at the snowbank and rolling hill that they were riding past. "Damn it, we are gonna have to jump."

"Did you say jump?" Anya laughs at the audacity of his suggestions, pointing to the occasional tree and steep chasm that they passed. "By all means! You go first!"

Kuro and Xion rush through the door frame, Xion walking over to grab ahold of Dimitri and Kuro pulling Anya into his arms. They approached the open broken side of the cart, staring down at the snow banks they passed.

"We're gonna have to jump! The train isn't stopping and the bridge is out!" Kuro shouted as he turned to the group and let out a short breath to steady his nerves. Anya onto the Heartless tightly, keeping it close to her chest as she glances between Dimitri and Vlad with her face pale in fear. "Ready?"

"Well, I guess this is our stop!" Anya shouted, which led to all three locals jumping off of the moving baggage cart, crashing hard into the snowbank. Vlad carries Dusk, and not a moment too soon do they land in the freshly laden snow. The on fire train engine and the destroyed baggage car don't lose any momentum as the locomotive dives off of the broken bridge and falls into the chasm below. The engine exploded into a huge fireball, with pitch black smoke rising from out of the bottom of the gorge…

The Red Republic

The Netherworld

Rasputin watches in the green lensed portrait Anya and Kuro's embrace as they crash into the snow bank, frothing in absolute rage. He moans, grasping at his skull in frustration, his fingers actually sinking into his skin and leaving gashes as deep as his untrimmed dirty curled nails.

"No, Not again!" Razputin shouted, his anger filled voice echoing throughout the void. "Not again!"

"Easy, Master, now, now. This is no time to lose your head." Bartok whispered, wondering if his master could live if he truly lost his head. Which had barely begun to heal back into its proper form as the deep gashes began to get invisibly laced up by an invisible thread and needle..

"You're right." Razuptin takes his fingers and begins to rub them against his skull, easing out a mellow breath and attempting to regulate his frustration and his rage. " It's alright. 'I am calm. I am heartless. I have no feelings whatsoever.' "

"That was a rather disappointing display, Razputin." The Horned King muttered through his fanged maw, his spindly claws interlacing together as he walked along the small rough and ragged earth table. Their crimson eyes staring into the image of Kuro brushing off the excess snow off of his arms and shoulders before trying to help Anya back up onto her feet as they try to crawl out of the snowbank. There is a slight rise of the chin and a rolling hum that echoed out of the hooded shadow of the cloaked man as he watched. A hum of begrudging respect for the tenacity of the Heartless to continue to persist against the forces of both the Horned King's Cabal and SHINRA Electric Company. "The Twins failed to confront The Heartless back on their home world which led to him seeking counsel with Mim and Arthur receiving his sword. The Judge couldn't reign in their lust, their fury and it cost him his life. The Heartless soon sent his world into the Abyss. I wonder what this World holds for him?"

"The Heartless?" Bartok asked as he stamped around the table top and approached the image of the silver haired man on the glowing floating mirror. Rubbing his round chin and scratching himself with his tiny nails. "That guy? That's the destroyer? He reminds me of the Masked Boy, boss. You know, with the scary and the yelling and the swinging and killing."

"Vanitas is gone, Bartok. He perished a decade ago." Razputin noted with a sneer and a roll of the eyes. He did regret not having the helmeted boy with him now, his ferocity in combat and his ability to control the Unversed assisted him greatly in killing the Romanovs. "Then those blasted Bolsheviks helped distract the armed guards while I made my move."

"There is no Vanitas to support you and your efforts this time, Razputin. The revolution is done, so no more angry proletariat to kill the soldiers for you. Nor are there a trio of Keyblade warriors to stand in your way… It's just you and the girl. He-he-he." The Horned King stated with a diabolical chuckle. His deep red eyes cut over towards the Mad Monk, a smirk hidden under his shadowed hood. The King scratched his claws over one another, his dry tongue clicking against his sharp fanged maw as he glanced over at the lingering image of Anastasia. "That is… unless you believe you are satisfied with the fact that one Romanov was able to escape your wrath? Which is acceptable to some, I would say. I do feel pity for you. You were not able to eat every bite of your dish. I suppose complete revenge is just too rich for your taste…"

Razputin glares at the Horned King, the shadowed profile of the dark monarch hiding his lipless smirk, which he was sure was hidden in the darkness of the hood. Razputin marches up to the Horned King and stops mere inches from the hooded figure.

"There is no dish too 'rich' for my palette, you ugly swine! Revenge is a dish I am willing to devour at a moment's notice." Razputin growled, his hands curling into fists and teeth gnashing together as he began to get more and more irritated with the Horned King's presence. "I am the Mad Monk, Razputin! I've eaten maggot pieces of bread out of the gutters with beggars and I've had delectable dishes that took days of preparation with kings in their banquet halls! I've eaten every single bite and I always left the table craving one more bite! You don't tell me what is too rich or too much for me! Revenge is a dish I'll gladly lick the plate clean every time!"

"Your words are simply a fork that is left on the table. Useless unless you do something with it." The Horned King began to square his shoulders and lean forward, now towering over the Mad Monk and glowering down at him with red eyes. Razputin immediately reached for the trinket at his side, his hand beginning to tremble as he noticed just how imposing and large the monarch was. Wondering if his reliquary would be powerful enough to engage in combat with one such as the Horned King. The fur lined collar was as wide as Razputin's thin shoulders, so the Horned King had a size advantage. His claws tapping along each other as his pitch black pupils meet Razputin's frenzied glare. The blood red glowered expression that illuminated in the dark and flashed images of Hell in Razputin's eyes. The Horned King's maw opened as he continued to deride the Mad Monk. "Unless of course… Are you willing to pick up the utensil and finish that meal yourself? Tell me comrade, does one Heartless terrify you that much? That you hide under the earth from him like a mouse avoiding a raptor's claws?"

Razputin hears the challenge in the King's voice, and sneers back at the Horned King with a contemptuous smirk and a lour expression. He almost wondered if the Horned King purposefully made the implication that Razputin was afraid of Kuro, and that he couldn't finish the meal of revenge and could live with leaving Anastasia alive. He glanced over at Bartok, still holding that grimaced look on his face. His lip pulled towards his ears, one side resting higher than the other and his eyes pulled to needle points and his cracked teeth illuminated by the flickering flames.

"I feel a sudden onset of clarity, Bartok. The time has come. I'll have to kill her myself. In person." Razputin said with a sense of power and a rising commitment to the cause. He gripped his trinket and held it taut in his hand. He glances over at The Horned King, whose hands intersect in the other's sleeve as he nods in respect towards the Monk. "The Romanovs are to die by my hand!"

"What, you mean…physically?" Bartok said with a hesitance and a very real fear. His eyes glance back at the fury displayed through the projection of the train's destruction. The way that the Heartless and the Nobody were able to destroy such a powerful creature. "But-but they have a Keysword! They are dangerous and they are scary, look what they did to your minions!"

"You know what they say, Comrade. If you want something done right…" Razputin holds up his reliquary, inspecting the green ooze that bubbled and glowed within the vial. The emerald glow now blooming in the eye sockets of the glass vial. "You need to do it yourself."

"But that means … Are we going topside? To the world?" Bartok inquired, fiddling with his tiny claws as he glanced between the Horned King and the Mad Monk.

"Exactly. Oh! Bartok, I have so many fond memories of Paris. The food, the women. The perfect place for killing the last of the Romanovs with my own two hands! Oh! It will be so delicious !" Razputin grinned madly, pulling his pursed lips together and wiggling in his spot. He turned to the Horned King to rub it in his skull face that Razputin was willing to handle this business with his own two hands. But the monarch was not there when he turned to face him, with a dissipating Corridor Of Darkness being where he once stood. "Well, time to go!"

"But you're dead! You're falling apart!" Bartok stated as he stared at the decaying skin along his master's cheeks and hands. The cheek spread so thin, in certain lights he could see the ridges of his teeth through the fine skin. His fingers were battered and ragged so roughly, that Bartok could see the ridges of white bone and the occasional ripping of muscle in the open sores that were scored all along the Monk's body. "Sir, how do you expect to get to Paris in one piece?"

"I thought we'd take the train!" Razputin raises the Reliquary as thunder and lightning crack throughout the Netherworld. Just as Bartok was brought to this realm, did he and Razputin leave. Being rocketed through the earth and digging through layers of earth towards the surface. Determined to end The Romanovs once and for all…