On Today's Episode: The trinity returns to Terca Lumireis just as Brave Vesperia comes back to Nordopolica in order to deliver Raven's letter to the mysterious Belius. But who or what, exactly, is Belius? Is there once again trouble lurking in the shadows of the coliseum city? And not only is Ripto running around causing trouble, but apparently this world is being monitored by another member of the Organization. What exactly is their aim, and why do they truly seek the power of Kingdom Hearts?
For Today's World: Here's a familiar sight, huh? Today, we're revisiting the Coliseum City of Nordopolica from Tales of Vesperia, which was the Olympus Coliseum stand-in during the first re:Verse. Today, we're specifically highlighting the second major visit, when Raven finally gets to deliver the Don's letter to Belius. We'll probably be expanding outwards to more of Terca Lumireis in the second visit, and I'm not sure if I'm going to do the tournaments this time around. We'll see, though.
Episode 5: Ballad of the Blastia
"Well, well, if it isn't our old friend Nordopolica," Maylin chuckled as they all disembarked in familiar territory, landing just outside of Nordopolica before walking into the city itself.
"It doesn't really look like much has changed since the last time we were here," Haruka quipped as they looked around. "Hey, do you wanna see if they're still holding tournaments? I bet they've found some much better opponents since our last run."
"Hey, in case you missed the memo, I kinda got forced to level down," Nick sighed.
"Say, that was one thing I never got to ask when we hooked back up," Maylin wondered. "Who, exactly, was watching over you while you were 'indisposed'?"
"Apparently, it was some girl named Lillie," Nick explained. "I don't really remember much of it myself, but when I finally woke up, Lillie said that something happened that damaged my heart about six months ago, and she and someone else brought me into an isolated pocket of the Metaverse to keep me safe until I recovered."
"It was most likely to guard him from any external threats like the Heartless," Sophia responded as she jumped out of the Gummiphone. "I still do not know if the Heartless and Nobodies can enter the Metaverse, after all."
"And here's the most interesting part," Nick continued. "Apparently, Lillie's a keyblade wielder like me. She even has an exact copy of my own keyblade."
"Yeah, that is strange," Haruka admitted.
"Hey, at least it seems like Lillie is on our side, and that's enough for me," Maylin quipped.
"Wait, wait, is that Brave Vesperia I see over there?" Nick asked, pointing towards an area near the bridge leading into the coliseum, where all seven members of Brave Vesperia were convening.
"I wonder what they're talking about," Maylin stated.
Patty peeked out from behind a nearby port, having noticed the trinity approaching.
"Ahoy there, mateys!" Patty laughed.
"Well, well, if it isn't our favorite little travelers," Raven chuckled. "You look like you've learned quite a bit since the last time, eh?"
"Oh, trust me, that's a story in and of itself," Nick replied.
"So, what was that you mentioned, Raven?" Judith asked.
"Oh, yeah, there's not as many knights around here as I figured there'd be," Raven admitted.
"Yeah, it seems like the security is normal, even after all the commotion at the last tournament," Rita noted.
"I wonder if we should tell them about our tournament exploits," Haruka chuckled.
"Later," Nick retorted.
"To be fair, it looks like everyone had their hands full dealing with the monsters that almost escaped," Estelle responded.
"I don't know," Yuri sighed. "It seems way too quiet, especially when you consider what happened at the checkpoints in Cados. I'm starting to think Raven was onto something after all. The Knights are planning something, and I don't like it."
"I guess we can still stay in town as long as we don't stand out, right?" Karol asked.
"So, then, we'll meet with Belius on the evening of the new moon, which is thankfully tonight," Judith stated.
"Then how about we go freshen up at the inn, and then go see about meetin' her? Oh, I'm so glad to finally be getting rid of the Don's letter," Raven laughed.
"Wait, why is Patty hiding over there?" Sophia asked when she noticed that Patty was trying to make herself look inconspicuous over by the docks.
"Remember what happened last time we were here, Sophia?" Maylin replied. "Those shop owners tried to gaslight Patty about Aifread and Nick gave them a piece of his mind?"
"Nice to see you remember that, Maylin," Nick sighed.
This seemed to be enough to convince Patty to walk out of her hiding spot and towards Brave Vesperia.
"So... is it okay if I stay with you guys for just a little longer?" Patty asked.
"Of course," Karol replied. "The more, the merrier!"
"Besides, I just have this feeling that even if we parted ways here, we'd still end up running into each other again regardless, so there's really no difference between us being together or not," Patty admitted.
"...not sure I get that logic," Maylin admitted.
"And besides, I know we're all technically heading in the direction of the Maris Stella, so..." Patty noted.
"So, basically, you're saying you want to come with us, right?" Yuri answered.
"It's much more profitable to travel in a group than all by myself," Patty responded.
"If you wanna go with them, then go right ahead, Patty," Maylin stated. "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind an extra traveling buddy or two by now, right?"
"That's the spirit!" Patty laughed.
Yuri glanced towards the coliseum just up ahead. "You know, I wonder if Flynn's already here," Yuri quipped.
"You think?" Estelle gasped.
"Once we've wrapped up all of our business here, I've definitely got a few things to ask that guy," Yuri responded.
With that in mind, Brave Vesperia started for the coliseum, only for Nick to notice someone running towards them.
When he noticed it was a figure in a black cloak, Nick quickly summoned the Kingdom Key, only for the figure to seemingly run right past them and into a corridor of darkness, vanishing as quickly as they'd appeared.
"...okay?" Nick wondered.
"Wonder what their hurry was?" Patty asked. "They looked like they had some kind of hungry fish on their tail like a shark to chum in the water."
"Regardless, if the Organization is here, we might have to stay on our toes," Nick quipped. "Trust me, you guys, they're bad news."
The entire group decided to relax at inn until that night, per Raven's suggestion, and Brave Vesperia decided to tell the trinity stories about the adventures they'd been on since the last time Nick and his friends had been in Nordopolica.
"So you guys really braved a hellish desert only to find a mysterious town that's supposed to be thousands of years old?" Maylin chuckled. "Sometimes I wish our adventures were as mundane as that..."
"And we actually got to party in Mantaic once Flynn and his brigade came and liberated the town, too!" Karol laughed. "That was a lot of fun."
Nick did notice that Yuri's expression darkened slightly when Mantaic had been mentioned, before returning to what it typically was. It was so quick that nobody else noticed it, but Nick did.
Despite thinking something had happened in Mantaic that Yuri didn't want to talk about, Nick realized it wasn't really his business and decided not to push it, figuring Yuri would spill the beans when he was ready to do so.
It didn't take much longer for night to fall, and Brave Vesperia reconvened around the coliseum's item shop, with the trinity backing them up.
"All right, is everyone ready to do this?" Yuri proclaimed.
"Whoa, Karol, you okay?" Maylin asked when she noticed how nervous Karol looked. "You're shaking like a leaf."
"To be fair, confronting the big cheese of a major guild about their involvement in the Great War would be pretty intimidating," Raven quipped.
"I'm sure he's just a normal person like us," Yuri replied. "There's nothing to be afraid of."
"You're definitely being a lot braver than I thought, Estelle," Raven chuckled. "Gotta say, I'm impressed."
"You don't have to come with us if you don't want to, Estelle," Rita offered.
"No, I'm coming with you," Estelle retorted. "I don't want to run away anymore. I want to know more about myself and who I really am."
With that, everyone set out for the coliseum reception lobby, though Karol stopped briefly, having thought he'd seen something.
"...was it just my imagination?" Karol wondered as he rushed to catch up with his guild.
If they had stayed there any longer, they would have noticed Clint, Tison and Nan of the Hunting Blades walking into the lobby.
"All right, Ripto, I know you're here," Clint growled. "Show yourself."
A corridor of darkness opened up, and Ripto walked out of it, casually waving his staff.
"Where do they dig these freaks up?" Tison groaned. "Jeez, you're lucky we didn't just end you on the spot when you first came to us with that offer."
"That's because I can help you," Ripto laughed. "After all, with my help, you can get rid of both that monster you're hunting and those annoying keyblade wielders that I'm sure will be poking around."
"I don't care who gets in our way," Clint proclaimed. "If anyone interferes with my hunt, I will end them."
"...that's what I like to hear," Ripto cackled.
Up at the door to Belius, the group all talked to Natz, who was guarding the doorway.
"Oh, you were the emissaries sent by Don Whitehorse, I presume?" Natz proclaimed.
"Yup, and this is a pretty urgent matter, so if you wouldn't mind letting us through..." Raven responded.
"You may enter, but I must ask the rest of you to withdraw," Natz answered.
"W-Wait, are you saying you don't trust us or something?" Rita snapped.
"I'm afraid that is basically what it amounts to," Natz sighed.
"Hey, you can trust that we'll be tighter-lipped than a giant clam," Patty replied.
"Let them pass. I have spoken."
"...okay, looks like we're getting somewhere," Nick chuckled.
"Very well, then, you may all enter, but I only ask that you not speak of anything that you see here to anybody," Natz conceded.
"...but why not?" Sophia asked.
"It is one of the guild laws of Palestralle," Natz responded.
"All right, then, our lips are sealed," Maylin proclaimed as everyone entered the hallway beyond the door.
About halfway up, however, the group was forced to stop when a corridor of darkness opened up in front of them, and out stepped a figure in a black cloak, no doubt the same one they'd seen earlier today.
"Oh, goody, you're back," Haruka taunted as her, Maylin, Nick and Sophia all summoned their keyblades.
"E-Eep, I've been found," the figure gasped in a distinctly feminine voice, eventually pulling her hood back to reveal a young woman who resembled a humanoid dolphin with scaly skin in differing shades of red and white, and a long fish fin sprouting from her head in place of hair, along with yellow eyes and a serene face.
"She doesn't look too dangerous," Karol admitted. "Kinda looks like she doesn't even want to be here, really."
"...oh, Mipha, why did you get picked for this one?" Mipha groaned as she remembered the instructions she'd been given. "...'if the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition'. ...I'm really not suited for this. They should have sent Daruk for this and not me..."
"You're a bizarre one," Maylin groaned.
"You know, there's no need to be rude," Mipha retorted, raising her right hand and summoning her Lightscale Trident to her hands in a small burst of water.
A force field of water surrounded Mipha, and suddenly, water-y clones of her started to appear en masse and march towards the guild.
"All right, I guess we're doing this now!" Nick exclaimed as he rushed in to start attacking the water clones.
The clones were pretty weak, going down in only one or two hits, but they were still coming and multiplying rapidly.
"We need to do something quickly, or we're going to get overwhelmed!" Sophia shouted as she blasted a few clones with a Kougaon spell.
"Let me try something," Estelle answered, raising her glowing hands.
Circles of swirling light formed a larger circle around a cluster of water clones.
"Come, o silver light," Estelle chanted. "Angel Ring!"
The circular pattern quickly compressed in on itself and caused a burst of light to erupt upwards from the ground, pulling a large number of water clones into the center of the pattern and destroying them instantly upon impact.
As more clones came bouncing towards them, Nick swung Kingdom Key to strike one in the head, then noticed the head fin had bent down. A devious idea coming to him, Nick reached out to grab the clone by its fin and start swinging it around like a battering ram, swiftly vaporizing any clones he hit with it. After a couple swings, Nick spun the clone in a wide spinning attack around him, taking our even more clones.
Repeating this process allowed Nick to thin the herd quickly, so much so that Mipha couldn't keep up and fell to her knees, both her water shield and the remaining water clones vanishing.
"...you're good, I'll give you that," Mipha conceded. "I won't forget this."
Before anyone could move in to attack, Mipha got back onto her feet and vanished through another corridor of darkness.
"Is everyone in the black coat brigade a bunch of broken records?" Rita groaned.
"Considering that's only the second one of them we've scrapped with, we're not entirely sure," Nick admitted. "But let's get back to business and meet Belius while we've still got the chance."
The group entered the nearby room, only to come out in complete darkness.
"Everyone still here?" Yuri asked.
After a chorus of responses from the others, the lights in the room suddenly came on to reveal a large, yellow four-legged creature with long, wing-like ears sitting down at the opposite end.
"E-Eek, a monster!" Karol exclaimed.
"Here I thought we'd be getting a gourmet meal and not a trap," Yuri chuckled as he drew his weapon.
"Calm down, both of you," Haruka retorted. "I'm pretty sure that's Belius."
"The very same," Belius responded. "I am Belius, Duce of Nordopolica and founder of Palestralle."
"Okay, I definitely didn't see that coming," Raven admitted.
"You work with Don Whitehorse, and you didn't know?!" Maylin gasped.
"Hey, there are some things even the Don won't tell me," Raven answered.
"And she can speak our language," Nick quipped. "At least we won't need a translator, then."
"You encountered Phaeroh some time ago, did you not?" Belius stated. "I would think that our ability to speak your tongue should not be a surprise, then."
"So, you must be an Entelexeia," Yuri noted.
"W-Wait, so you mean that the ancient race that built this city was..." Karol gasped when he made the connection.
"Yes, my brethren and I," Belius answered. "We have indeed governed this city for many ages.
"Thanks, Don, for keepin' me in the dark about that," Raven groaned.
"Oh, and who might you be?" Belius asked.
"Oh, just a humble servant of Don Whitehorse with a letter from him for you," Raven answered as he walked closer to finally deliver the letter he'd been instructed to. "I guess I've known that old fossil far too long to be surprised by the people he knows, but how exactly are you two connected?"
"I am in his debt for his assistance during the Great War," Belius answered.
"Wait, wait, so the rumors are true, then?" Karol gasped. "You were one of the masterminds of that war?"
"Well, I did participate in the war," Belius admitted. "But I never exceeded that which my duty as an Entelexeia required. I was no 'mastermind' of anything. At any rate, my acquaintance with Don Whitehorse dates back to that time. I have long lamented that a man of his skill and talent was not born as one of us."
"That's the first I've heard of the Don having anything to do with the Great War," Nick quipped. "Wonder why he kept it a secret?"
"It is a subject he does not like to discuss," Belius stated. "But the Don has requested my mediation in this situation with Phaeroh. It seems that even a man of his strength could not withstand my brother's brazen attack on his city. And such a request cannot be just lightly brushed aside. So, I will offer my assistance however I can."
"So, some of you tear down cities and some of you run guilds," Maylin chuckled. "You Entelexeia are definitely some interesting folks, and we've seen a lot of strange sights on our travels."
"The same could be said of humans, I would imagine, especially ones who are keyblade wielders like yourselves," Belius chuckled.
"W-Wait, how did you know that we're keyblade wielders?" Haruka gasped.
"I am well-versed in legends, having lived as long as I have," Belius explained. "And I have indeed heard of what keyblade wielders like yourselves are capable of."
"You can rest assured that we're on your side, Belius," Nick answered.
"That is good to hear," Belius replied before glancing towards Estelle. "Now, then, this letter is not your sole reason for coming here, is it, Child of the Full Moon?"
"H-Hold on, you know about Estelle?" Rita gasped.
"Yes, we Entelexeia can sense when a Child of the Full Moon is near," Belius responded.
Estelle realized that this was probably the best chance she was going to get, and stepped closer to address Belius.
"My name is Estellise, and please, I must know, what exactly is the Child of the Full Moon?" Estelle asked. "Phaeroh called me an 'insipid poison'. What is that supposed to mean?"
"I do not know whether or not your fate will be swayed by the answers you seek," Belius admitted.
"I think she at least deserves the right to know," Nick responded. "Whatever the case, we can go from there, and..."
Before Nick could continue, he spun towards the door when he heard a ruckus going on just outside the door. All of a sudden, the door itself was caved in, sliced in half, and thrown aside, though Maylin cast a Thunder spell to blast down the door pieces and keep them from hitting anybody.
"All right, who the hell was responsible for that stunt?!" Maylin growled.
Suddenly, both Tison and Clint forced their way into the room, and Nick wasn't sure he liked the crazy look on Tison's face.
"We've found you at last, Entelexeia, leader of monsters and origin of evil!" Tison cackled.
"W-Wait, boss? What are you and Tison doing here?" Karol gasped.
"Well, well, if it isn't the little runt," Tison chuckled. "You and you so-called friends have some real twisted tastes if you're hanging out with freaks like this."
"How dare you keep monsters to use in your sick coliseum games," Clint growled. "You're an enemy of all humanity, and now you're going to pay with your life."
"Hey, don't the Hunting Blades hunt monsters?" Haruka retorted as she summoned Divewing. "Wouldn't less monsters be better for your bottom line? Why don't you just spare me the hypocrisy already?!"
"You know, for a friend of Karol's, you're quite the barbarian," Patty taunted.
"And who the hell is this little brat?!" Tison shot back.
"Unfortunately, I don't give my name to rapscallions like you," Patty retorted.
"You tell 'em, Patty!" Maylin laughed.
"In case you're wondering where Nan is, she's probably leading a raid on the remaining monsters in the coliseum right about now," Tison laughed. "We of the Hunting Blades will give no quarter to anybody that obstructs the justice we deal out, humans or not."
"You know, maybe you should be more worried about Nan and the others," Nick retorted as he summoned Kingdom Key. "If your little ruckus is causing chaos, then that could very well attract the Heartless, and even you monster-obsessed lunatics would be in deep trouble!"
"Yes, the Heartless are not to be trifled with," Sophia responded as she summoned Super Yo-Yo.
"If you won't strike first, beast, then I will!" Clint bellowed as he unfurled his massive axe-sword and rushed towards Belius.
Tison attempted to charge in and scatter the group, but Nick jumped in front of Tison and knocked him into the air with an upwards slash, then leaped towards him in a series of four acrobatic somersaults with Kingdom Key extended.
"Ooh, that was cool," Maylin giggled.
Nick finished the combo with an overhead slash that spiked Tison into the ground.
Clint swung his axe-sword, only for Belius to effortlessly catch it in one of her hands.
"It seems that these men will not be stayed lest I take arms against them," Belius proclaimed. "I know this may be asking much of you, but please, help Natz."
"But what about you?" Estelle gasped.
"Do not worry about me," Belius stated quite proudly. "I will not be outdone by mere humans."
That was enough for everyone, who dashed out of the Duce's room to assess the current situation.
"Who do these Hunting Blades clods think they are?!" Patty exclaimed.
"I kind of thought the Knights were the ones who had business here," Yuri admitted. "Never would have thought we'd run into the Hunting Blades."
"What do you think they're doing here?" Haruka asked.
"Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it's got something to do with Belius, if what mister giant sword guy tried to do is any indication," Maylin answered.
"Do you think that's why Flynn came here, too?" Estelle wondered. "Because of Belius?"
"We'll have to ask her once this whole situation is under control," Nick responded. "For now, I think we'd better split up. Yuri, you take Brave Vesperia and go help out Natz like the Duce wanted. We're going to make sure there aren't any Heartless floundering around. That would only make this bad situation even worse."
"Be careful out there, okay?" Judith asked.
"Same to you, missy!" Maylin chuckled as the groups split off to deal with the chaos.
Back out in the reception lobby, Nick quickly noticed a bunch of plant-like Heartless attacking the panicked citizens.
This particular Heartless had a round, silver-lined head with a small face, two glowing yellow eyes and a jagged maw, four large flowers petals bordering its head, two orange and two yellow, four orange and yellow spikes protruding from its head, a thin and green vine-like neck extending from the back of its head to its small blue-green body, with four root-like legs extended from its corners and burrowed into the ground.
"Guess we've gotta do some pruning, huh?" Nick chuckled.
"Those things are Creeper Plants, by the way," Haruka explained to Nick. "They usually stay in one place and try to pelt you with seeds from afar, but their roots can follow you pretty much anywhere close by. But, if you can grab that root, you can yank 'em out and leave them sitting ducks."
"Allow me to start us off, then," Maylin stated as she cast Thunder, dropping a rain of lightning bolts on the Creeper Plants so the other people could retreat in time.
Nick dodged around a seed shot from one of the plants, only for another one to extend its roots to try and grab Nick. Much to its surprise, Nick swerved around it and grabbed the root, pulling upward to violently uproot that Creeper Plant and unleash a shockwave from that point that damaged all the other nearby Creeper Plants.
Sophia made short work of the remaining Creeper Plants by summoning Pandora and casting Makougaon to destroy them in short order.
"That seems to be all of them here," Haruka quipped. "But we'd better keep moving and make sure of it."
"I think I saw some of those Hunting Blades guys heading towards the arena," Maylin stated.
"Come on, let's go!" Nick exclaimed.
But as the keyblade wielders entered the arena, there was even more chaos inside here, with Nan overseeing a bunch of Hunting Blades as they attempted to overtake the area.
"Hey, this whole city is now under the jurisdiction of the Hunting Blades," Nan ordered when she saw both the trinity and Brave Vesperia approaching. "I order you to withdraw immediately."
"Nan, you have to stop this!" Karol shouted. "You know that fights between guilds are strictly forbidden by the laws of the Union, right?!"
"K-Karol?! Why are you here?!" Nan gasped. "And what do you mean, 'forbidden'? This job was given to us directly by the Union itself!"
Before Karol could make heads or tails of what that meant, Raven noticed somebody walking by, a younger man with blonde hair.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" Raven gasped.
"Hold on, didn't we see him back in Dahngrest?" Rita wondered.
"That's the Don's grandson," Raven quipped.
"You're here under the same orders, right, Raven? To collect apatheia?" Harry asked.
"Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with all of this?" Raven retorted.
Judith stared towards the other Hunting Blades that were surrounding Natz and charged in to attack, the rest of Brave Vesperia following suit.
"Oh, what, down to your last friend?" Yuri taunted. "Why not play with us for a while?"
Before the trinity could do the same, they noticed that somebody else had appeared nearby, and now they were concerned.
"W-Wait, that's Ripto!" Maylin gasped.
"You mean the little dinosaur guy that was trying to break into Lady Eris' tower?" Nick answered. "If he's here, that can't be good news."
"Well, well, if it isn't the little brats again," Ripto cackled. "I was wondering when I'd get to play with you again."
"Sorry, but you don't look that threatening to me," Sophia admitted. "And I literally know a talking cat who's tougher than you."
"What was that, you little cell-phone punk?!" Ripto snarled, waving his staff in a threatening manner. "I was going to just leave things alone and see how they played out, but I think now I need to deal with you all personally."
"Bring it on, shorty!" Maylin taunted, knowing exactly how to get a rise out of Ripto.
"Ooh, that does it!" Ripto growled. "It's bad enough that the pesky little dragon mocks me, but now you?! You're all dead!"
Ripto surrounded himself with a spherical, crimson-red barrier before charging forward to attack, forcing all four keyblade wielders to scatter in different directions.
"Okay, so how do we fight this guy?" Nick asked. "I'm pretty sure you two have some experience with that, right?"
"Ripto's mostly a magical fighter, so we just have to weave through his spells and he should be easy pickings," Haruka answered.
"But that does raise the issue of how to get past that barrier," Maylin quipped.
"Oh, just try and get past me," Ripto cackled, waving his staff to conjure fireballs that rained down from above. "You can't break it so easily!"
"Oh, I would not 'run your mouth', to quote Ryuji," Sophia giggled as she summoned Pandora and cast Rakunda, which caused Ripto's barrier to shatter.
Before Ripto could comprehend what had just happened, Sophia was already on him, hitting him an upward slash from her right leg to her left shoulder, followed by the same slash from the left, and finishing by jumping into the air and performing a spinning slash tinted with light energy that knocked Ripto back.
"Urgh, you won't be so lucky again!" Ripto exclaimed, renewing his barrier before waving his staff to conjure a barrage of dark spikes that thundered towards Sophia, only for Maylin to cast Reflect, surrounding Sophia with a prism-adorned silver bubble. The dark spikes struck the bubble and dissolved, but Ripto made the mistake of moving in closer to attack, and the Reflect barrier shattered outward in an explosion of silver lights, dealing all the reflected damage back to Ripto even through his barrier.
Sophia cast Rakunda again to destroy the barrier, and this time Nick went on the offensive, switching over to Earthen Heart and jumping to hit Ripto with a Blitz, followed by a swift three-hit combo and ending it with a jumping backwards spin attack.
"Argh, you meddlesome little brats don't know when to give up, do you?" Ripto growled. "You're lucky that I have business to attend to, so I'll let you off easy for now. But next time, I won't be so nice!"
And with that, Ripto slammed his staff down into the ground and unleashed a flare of red light that he used to make his escape.
"That... was surprisingly easy," Nick admitted.
"Yeah, but he's never gone down that easily before," Maylin responded. "He's usually a lot tougher than that, and the only times he's ever gone all out is when he's fighting either us or that purple dragon he hates so much. Spyro, was his name...?"
A loud crash from above caught everyone's attention as both Belius and Clint were thrown from the upper window, landing hard on the arena floor.
"Oh, jeez!" Maylin gasped.
"Natz... you are unhurt," Belius stated in relief before turning to Clint. "You would still challenge me, human?"
"Your kind... is the root of all evil in this world," Clint growled as he picked himself back up.
"Um, I think you've got that backwards, you dumbass," Haruka taunted. "Just take a look at what you and your goons are doing!"
"Oh, spare me the platitudes," Clint snarled back. "All monsters serve the same evil, and it is up to us, the Hunting Blades, to hunt them down..."
Exhausted from his battle with Belius, Clint collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.
"Man, these idiots must have rocks for brains," Raven groaned.
"You monsters are all the same!" Tison laughed as he bum-rushed Belius, only for Nick to place himself in his path.
Time slowed down for Nick and the teeth of Earthen Heart suddenly sparkled, and Nick realized that he'd learned something.
Nick raised Earthen Heart into a parrying stance, blocking Tison's attack and sending him stumbling back, then Nick followed up by snapping his keyblade out and unleashing a burst of energy in front of him that further damaged Tison, causing him to collapse to his knees as well.
"Yeah, suck on that," Nick chuckled.
Despite her earlier boasts, Belius also collapsed to her knees as well, her battle with Clint taking its toll on her.
Estelle quickly rushed over to Belius, raising her hands to use her healing artes.
"Y-You mustn't..." Belius groaned. "Y-Your power... your power is..."
"But you're hurt!" Estelle answered. "I can't just stand by and do nothing!"
"Wait, wait, back up, Estelle," Maylin responded, gently pulling Estelle backwards. "Save your strength, okay? I can heal her just as well."
Maylin re-summoned Counterpoint and raised it towards Belius. "Force, know my plight, release the light! HEAL!" Maylin chanted.
A ring of emerald green light surrounded by yellowish-green leaves surrounded Belius, fully healing her injuries.
"...why wouldn't you let me heal you, Belius?" Estelle wondered. "Does it have something to do with what Phaeroh told me?"
"In simple terms, yes," Belius answered, glad that Estelle had been pulled back in time. "Your power is quite different from normal blastia. I did not wish for you to heal me because... your power as the Child of the Full Moon... is poisonous to us Entelexeia."
"W-What?" Estelle gasped. "So... Phaeroh was right? I am a poison?"
"No, not in the slightest," Belius responded. "You were only thinking of saving me. Please, never lose that kindness, the compassion you show so readily to others. Now, you must go to Phaeroh, if you still wish to learn of your destiny."
"O-Of course," Estelle answered, now very glad she hadn't made a massive mistake. "After all, I have even more questions now..."
However, before Brave Vesperia could regroup and discuss those plans, Belius lurched forward and began growling in clear agony.
As Belius stumbled forward, everyone could see the clear cause, that being Ripto, who had returned and stabbed the jewel on his staff into Belius' side, the jewel feeding a steady stream of darkness into her body.
"W-What the hell?!" Yuri gasped.
"You puny little bastard," Maylin growled when the pieces clicked together in her mind. "That's why you retreated! You just wanted to catch us unaware!"
"It's such a shame that all of this insight came far too late for you to do anything to save her," Ripto cackled. "I hope you all have fun getting trampled to death!"
Ripto retreated through another corridor of darkness, cackling madly the whole time.
Belius roared loudly, her fur shifting to a sinister shade of dark blue and the feathers on her wings turning razor-sharp, and the Heartless emblem appearing on her chest fur.
"She's been turned into a Heartless?!" Sophia gasped.
"Ooh, now Ripto's gone way too far," Maylin growled.
"Um, I think we have bigger things to worry about," Raven proclaimed. "If this keeps up, the whole damn coliseum's gonna come down on our heads!"
"Guess we have no choice but to stop her by force," Yuri admitted.
"Yeah, but we're dead if we hold anything back against someone like this, got it?!" Rita shouted.
"It doesn't look like we have a choice, really," Patty answered.
"We're with you guys all the way," Haruka responded as the trinity all summoned their keyblades. "Let's get this over with!"
Shadow Belius roared again before lunging forward and swiping her massive tail outwards, forcing everyone to jump back. Not giving any chance to recover, Shadow Belius galloped forward and tried to trample Estelle, but Nick was over there in a flash to parry the stomp before using his new ability, Counterguard, to knock Shadow Belius back and stun her long enough for Brave Vesperia to go to work.
Rita started flinging magic spells left and right to attack Shadow Belius, while Raven hung back and fired his bow from a distance. Yuri and Patty both got in close and started attacking with their bladed weapons, and despite the shock, Estelle began to chant her healing spell to keep her allies in tip-top shape.
After a bit of this, Shadow Belius stomped the ground, creating a small tremor that disrupted Yuri and Patty's pattern so Shadow Belius could lower its razor ear-wings and charge towards them.
"Oh, no you don't!" Maylin shouted, firing a Blizzard spell into Shadow Belius' face to stop her charge. "Go get 'em, Patty!"
"Already on it, me heartie," Patty chuckled as she reached into her coat pocket, jumped into the air, and threw out eight separate knives around Shadow Belius. When all the knives were embedded into the floor, a golden magical circle appeared underneath Shadow Belius.
"Hail, falling stardust!" Patty shouted as she aimed her pistol towards the sky. "Burst Arte: Glittery Rain!"
Patty fired a shot into the air that quickly came back down as a rain of star-shaped projectiles that battered at Shadow Belius before finishing off with a much larger star that sent Shadow Belius crashing to the ground.
"We have to find some way to snap her out of it!" Karol shouted as he struck Shadow Belius in the back with his Reaper Knock skill.
"...I don't think she's snapping out of this one," Maylin sighed.
"W-What?" Estelle gasped.
"Once you turn into a Heartless, there's no going back," Haruka answered.
"Then... all we can do is put her out of her misery," Judith sighed sadly before knocking Shadow Belius into the air with a Luna Rondo.
Shadow Belius flapped her ear wings and recovered her balance in mid-air before colliding with the ground, knocking Judith back a few feet in the process.
Patty took advantage of this opportunity and moved in to strike with Little Big Chef, a move where she clonked Shadow Belius on the noggin a couple times with a giant frying pan, and this somehow produced an ice cream-looking treat that gave the entire party an energy boost.
"Instant food creation, huh?" Maylin chuckled. "Methinks Charmy would love that."
With this energy boost, Estelle raised her hands to cast Angel Ring, pulling Shadow Belius back with the eruption so that Yuri could attack her flank with a Dragon Swarm, a flurry of spinning slashes and kicks.
Unfortunately, Shadow Belius broke out of the attack and suddenly split herself into two identical copies, the lights in the arena suddenly going out.
"Oh, great, now we have two of her to deal with!" Karol groaned.
"Everyone, spread out!" Rita shouted as she cast Tractor Beam to lift one of the Shadow Beliuses up into the air helplessly. "Don't let either of them get anywhere near you!"
Estelle once again cast Angel Ring to slam the two copies into each other, giving Brave Vesperia some room to work.
"Anyone have an idea on how to stop this double trouble?!" Raven shouted as he hit Shadow Belius with a Wind Blade.
That was when Nick noticed the torches lining the outside of the arena, which had all gone out before Shadow Belius had cloned herself.
"Hmmm..." Nick hummed as he turned towards one of the torches and hit it with a Fire spell. Maylin did the same as well, and they both started moving around the arena to relight the torches.
Shadow Belius noticed this and both copies of her started to charge, only for Haruka to slam Divewing into the ground and create a tremor around her that stumbled both copies long enough for Nick to light the last torch, fully returning the light to the arena and swiftly dispelling Shadow Belius' double.
"I am sorry, Belius, but I must end this," Sophia proclaimed as she summoned Pandora to her side and cast Rakunda to lower Shadow Belius' defenses before casting Makougaon, surrounding Shadow Belius with a widespread field of light energy that did tremendous damage.
Nick jumped off of Sophia's shoulders to get enough elevation to deliver the finishing blow, slashing Kingdom Key across Shadow Belius' neck.
This caused Shadow Belius to collapse on her belly, her body returning to its normal colors and the Heartless emblem disappearing.
"...did we do it?" Patty wondered.
Belius struggled to even lift her head, knowing she was doomed. But she still had some words to say.
"Natz... I owe you much. Please, do not harbor a grudge towards these people," Belius proclaimed. "Everyone... thank you... thank you for setting me free."
And with that, Belius had spoken her last, collapsing to the floor and disappearing completely. All that remained of her was a glowing blue crystal.
"Hold on, isn't that the same kind of crystal as the one we found on that ghost ship?" Rita gasped.
"It's... it's apatheia," Karol realized.
Convey my soul, this Cyano Ciel Crystal, to my ally Don Whitehorse.
Estelle took the crystal into her hands.
Young boy with the keyblade, I bestow upon you this, the last of my power.
A light formed in Nick's free hand, eventually forming into a keychain token. Nick attached the token to his keyblade and swung it horizontally, the keyblade transforming mid-swing. This new keyblade had a pink and gold handle, a handle guard shaped like the 'wings' of Raven's bow, a hilt that resembled one of Rita's spellbooks, a blade shaped like Yuri's sword topped off by the tip of Judith's spear, teeth in the shape of Karol's axe, and the token shaped like Estelle's heart-shaped shield connected by a keychain made of five jewels of different colors representing different types of blastia. The words Blastia Core ran through Nick's head as he studied the weapon.
"...so this must be what Harry meant," Raven sighed.
"Pathetic humans," Clint groaned as he slowly picked himself up. "We'll be taking that stone now."
"You can not be serious right now," Maylin growled. "Do you really think we're just going to let this go?!"
"Then we'll just pound on you until you reconsider," Clint responded.
Suddenly, someone else ran into the arena, her uniform clearly marking her as an Imperial Knight.
"Everyone, throw down your weapons now," Sodia proclaimed.
"Oh, this can't possibly be good," Nick groaned.
"Take anyone in the coliseum who's still standing into custody," Sodia stated as a bunch of Imperial Knights came barging into the arena.
"I think we might end up in chains if we don't blow this scene," Raven quipped.
"For what?! We haven't done a damn thing to warrant getting arrested!" Maylin shouted.
"I have this feeling they'd cook up some kind of excuse to lock us up regardless," Haruka admitted. "And that means we need to blow this pop stand!"
Thankfully, Repede and Patty teamed up to secure the group's escape route, with Repede knocking down a pair of Imperial Knights and Patty throwing down a smokescreen grenade.
The trinity and Brave Vesperia booked it as fast as they could towards the harbor, knowing that with the Imperial Knights now swarming the coliseum, escaping on the Fiertia would probably be their best chance of escaping.
However, someone was waiting for them right before they could reach the Fiertia.
"Flynn?" Estelle gasped.
"Guess there's no putting one over on this guy, huh?" Haruka sighed.
"Return Lady Estellise and the stone, if you would," Flynn Scifo proclaimed.
'Wait, what do you want with the apatheia?" Estelle asked.
"So the Knights are looking for this thing, too, huh?" Nick retorted, raising his keyblade. If he had to, he would. "That's the only plausible reason that the Hunting Blades were here."
"Isn't it like what that guy in Yormgen said?" Patty wondered. "He said 'the apatheia brings only chaos to humanity'. I guess it was true..."
"Hand it over, now," Flynn stated, ready to draw his own sword.
"Hey, now, just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Yuri growled, getting right up in Flynn's face. "Don't you think using the military to take control of the city is taking it just a little too far?! You might be doing your 'duty', but running around doing everything by force isn't the answer. I thought you joined the Knights to change crap like that. And I don't know why I'm the one who has to say it when you know damn well what I'm talking about."
Flynn didn't have a response to that.
"What, cat got your tongue?" Yuri proclaimed. "How is what you're pulling any different from what I've come to expect from the empire?! Are you gonna follow the examples of those scumbags Ragou and Cumore?!"
"...if I did, would you just kill me, too?" Flynn countered. "Would you just do away with me like you did to both of them?"
"If you go and turn yourself into a villain, then I won't have much of a choice," Yuri retorted.
"Hey, not to interrupt the moment, but can we save this charming little squabble of yours for another time?" Maylin shouted. "We're really in a hurry here!"
With that, everyone rushed past Flynn and onto the Fiertia. Flynn just stood there, not wanting to admit that Yuri's words had gotten to him.
Though a bunch of Imperial Knight boats tried to blockade the area, the Fiertia managed to speed through just in time to escape.
"H-Hey, we broke through!" Karol exclaimed.
"Wait, what's going on with the ceres blastia?" Rita wondered when she noticed that the ceres blastia powering the ship was shining a bright red...
...as was the apatheia in Estelle's hands.
Both Rita and Estelle were so confused as to what was happening that they initially didn't notice Judith walking towards the ceres blastia, her polearm unfurled.
"...Judith, what do you think you're doing?" Nick quipped, suddenly apprehensive.
"H-Hey, don't even think about it!" Maylin shouted.
But it was too late, as Judith had ignored their warnings and slashed her polearm through the blastia, handily destroying it.
"W-Why... why would you...?" Rita gasped.
"I'm sorry, everyone, but this is the path I have chosen," Judith proclaimed.
A loud howling noise caught everyone's attention, and they all saw a small, sleek, dragon-like creature approaching the Fiertia.
"Wait, should we be worried about that?" Haruka wondered.
"...you're that dragon freak, aren't you?!" Rita growled when it finally sank in.
Judith simply chose to ignore them, jumping onto Ba'ul's back and flying away without a word.
A little bit later, Yuri was resting in the lower cabin when both Raven and Patty walked in to update him on the situation.
'Well, our genius mage is giving the old ceres blastia her undivided attention," Raven stated. "Looks like the core of the new one we were using is pretty much completely totaled."
"It's a good thing that merchant lady changed out the ceres blastia for us, huh?" Patty chuckled.
"That's Kaufman for you, always going above and beyond in keeping her word," Raven quipped.
"So, we had the old blastia the whole time, huh?" Yuri answered. "Either way, it looks like we're going to be stuck drifting out here for a while."
"Looks that way," Raven responded. "Why don't you go check on everyone, Yuri? They're pretty down in the dumps."
"I think you'd be better at that, old man," Yuri chuckled.
"Hey, you know I'm not cut out for that stuff," Raven teased as he headed back to the upper deck.
After a moment to reflect on everything that had happened, Yuri made his way back upstairs as well. The rest of the guild was spread out across the ship, all processing recent events in their own way, and the trinity was making sure that there weren't any Heartless or Nobodies nearby.
"Well, that was... a thing that happened, huh?" Nick sighed.
"I seriously wasn't expecting Judith, of all people, to turn into a blastia destroyer," Maylin admitted. "What, exactly, is her angle?"
"She's gotta have a reason for it," Haruka stated. "Judith doesn't strike me as the type who would just go around busting up priceless historical artifacts without a damn good reason."
"Sometimes, logic will not get you very far in situations like this," Sophia answered. "It is one of many things I learned alongside the Phantom Thieves."
Estelle walked towards Yuri as he came out, still carrying the apatheia in her hands, but suddenly, the apatheia started glowing brightly.
"Wait, what's it doing now?" Rita gasped. "The ceres blastia isn't powerful enough to cause this kind of reaction, is it?"
Just then, Blastia Core flashed into Nick's hands.
"I think I know what's happening," Nick answered. "Stand back, just for a bit."
As the apatheia began to float into the air, Nick held Blastia Core aloft as light energy began to swirl around the keyblade's teeth before projecting the image of a crown symbol, same as his pendant, underneath him.
Wind began to swirl around Nick until he found himself in the middle of a rusty-orange starry sky. The apatheia shined brightly before firing a burst of light into the sky that eventually formed into a large keyhole.
Nick jumped back and twirled Blastia Core around a couple times before firing a beam of light from the keyblade into the keyhole. Reality seemed to shatter around the keyhole for a brief moment before light began to shine from it, and after a loud "CLICK" resounded, Nick found himself back on the deck of the Fiertia.
"That looked like it was important," Yuri admitted. "I guess that means you've gotta head out yourselves, huh?"
"Yeah, other worlds are calling, and we must answer," Maylin responded.
"Please come back soon, okay?" Estelle stated.
"Oh, I'm sure we will, Estelle," Nick answered. "Besides, it sounds like you all need to have a nice, long talk about everything that just happened, and we'd probably just be meddling if we stayed any longer."
"I really do hope you can resolve this snafu with Judith," Sophia proclaimed.
"Me, too, Sophia," Yuri sighed as the trinity all warped back to the Gummi Ship to continue their own journeys. "...me, too."
Ripto re-emerged from the dark corridor inside the tower, just in time for his 'boss', Kuon Ichinose, to walk into the room as well. Even she wasn't entirely sure how she'd come back to life, but she'd sweat the details later.
"And where is everybody else?" Ichinose wondered.
"Heck if I know," Ripto admitted. "They must have had some other matters to deal with."
"What do you mean 'matters'?" Ichinose growled. "You mean these idiots have more important affairs to attend to than my unexpected resurrection?!"
"Well, to be fair, there's this weird group, Organization XIII I think, that keeps getting in our way," Ripto answered.
"Oh, let those fools play their little game," Ichinose responded. "They'll regret muscling in on my territory."
"But what about those little runts with the keyblades?" Ripto asked. "They've been a real pain in the neck, too, you know."
"...oh, have they?" Ichinose chuckled. "I would assume that my creation is still among them as well. Very well, then, Ripto, maybe you should just go ahead and tell me what's been happening while I've been gone. I suspect it's quite the story."
Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Clow, Queen Su Yung was busy rifling through the castle library, searching for a specific book that might help them understand more of what was going on.
All of a sudden, the door burst open and both Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji rushed into the library, both of them looking very panicked.
"Y-Your Majesty, we've got a major problem!" Sakura shouted.
"What? What is the matter, Sakura?" Su Yung asked.
"Something's gone wrong in the Hall of the Cornerstone," Tomoyo answered. "There's incredibly sharp thorns everywhere!"
Though still unsure what that meant, Su Yung allowed Sakura and Tomoyo to guide her through the hallways and into the Hall of the Cornerstone just past the throne room. Su Yung looked up and gasped in shock. Indeed, sinister-looking thorns has completely infested the room, just barely missing actually touching the Cornerstone itself.
"This is not good," Su Yung sighed. "Oh, Clow, my love, I wish you could hear me. The castle is in terrible danger, and we need to do something soon..."
"Do you want me to contact Maylin and Haruka?" Tomoyo asked. "It sounds like we could use their help with this."
"Yes, please hurry, Tomoyo," Su Yung answered. Tomoyo wasted no time in rushing out of the Hall of the Cornerstone and towards the Gummi Ship Control Room, Sakura following closely behind.
"Do you have any idea what's happening, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked.
"No clue, Sakura, but it can't possibly be anything good," Tomoyo admitted. "All we can do is hope that Maylin and her friends can do something about this."
To be continued...
Keyblade acquired!
Blastia Core
Strength: 4
Magic: 3
Length: 137
Ability: Drive Boost (Allows greater restoration of the Drive Gauge during MP Charge. Equip more to increase the effect.)
Description: A keyblade representing a guild who was formed to forge their own path in an ever-changing world.
On the next episode...
Maylin: Hey, I think that's the Kingdom of Clow!
Haruka: Wait, we're heading back to the castle?
Nick: I don't know, girls, something really doesn't feel right here.
Maylin: Yeah, for one thing, why are there Heartless in the castle?! That shouldn't be possible!
Haruka: Wait, you don't think someone's trying to mess with the Cornerstone, do you?
Sophia: Is this Cornerstone that powerful?
Maylin: Darkness shouldn't be able to enter the Kingdom of Clow, period. If someone's trying to take the Cornerstone, we might be in a lot of trouble.
Nick: Then I guess we'll have to find out who's trying to futz with everything here and smack them into the next millennium next time on Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse II, "Echoes of Eternity"!
Nick, Maylin, Haruka and Sophia: May your hearts be your guiding key!