Standard disclaimer: I don't own the series.

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AN: Good day! So, um yeah. So, last chapter marked the more than halfway through the second act. Yippee! So, what does that mean? Well, it means that this story should be over soon. Don't you all feel excited?

Well, anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Everything was not going according to plan. Ryu was meant to die when Gideon took his powers. But the dragon bastard was still alive and kicking. What made matters worse was that the little bastard had somehow regained his powers. He didn’t know how he regained them, but he figured that the snake witch had something to do with it.

Legence frowned as he paced the inner sanctum of the palace of Dragnier. Yes, he realized that it was pretty stupid to return to Dragnier, but really, what choice did he have? Besides, he figured that the Destined figured that he and Gideon high-tailed it out of there a long time ago.

So, not only had they lost two of the four Holy Swords, but also one of them was not obeying orders. The elusive Dante was as fickle as she was flighty. He practically had to force her to go to Worent. He figured that the Dark Key was no longer in Worent as the Light Key was no longer in the Sea of Trees, but he knew that they knew who had the Dark Key.

Other things bothered Legence. He knew that Lucien and Leigh were still alive, even though one of them recently sacrificed themselves to save Ryu. He knew that woman was going to be a problem. Another bother was that Ryu’s group had taken Gideon’s youngest child, Nunnally, as well. The girl did not know of his plans, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

Legence stopped pacing and balled his hands into fists. He turned on his heel and resumed his pacing.

Ryu’s party was turning out to be full of surprises. An Avatar, two Overseers (one active and another not), the Destined Princess, an android, and a girl that could warp reality. He knew that Fate would be back on the game board sooner or later and he knew that Leigh had stepped down from her spot and gave it to the green haired girl.

There was also something else that bothered him. He knew nothing of the girl named Mary that helped them. He knew that brat was becoming quite an annoyance, but since she could slip reality, he could do nothing about her.

Another loose cannon was Gideon himself. The king of Dragnier was fighting Legence’s own spell. The king had not wanted to hurt Ryu at first. This was going to be a problem later. Legence could not afford to loose control of Gideon. He didn’t even half to worry about Transell betraying him. At least that man he knew was loyal to him.

He knew that he could stand there and dwell on the matters all day and get nowhere. He knew that he was running out of time. His link to the Goddess was fading fast with her Awakening close at hand. The Destined figured that the Goddess had already awoken and was the cause of their grief. Legence, however, knew better. He knew that she was not yet awake and aware. He knew that she did not know that he was siphoning power from her.

He knew that she didn’t know that he was draining people of their life forces, and now that he had two of the pieces of Ladon, he was more powerful than ever. Even though he didn’t have any of the Goddess Keys, he had the Gate and that was all he needed.

Legence stopped short of the crystallized form of Dragnier’s second queen. He placed his hand on the arm of the statue and froze. Some how, he could feel a faint pulse running through the crystal. The queen was somehow still alive. He smiled slightly to himself.

Was it living crystal, or the queen herself? Legence didn’t know what to make of it, but he knew that he could use it to his advantage.

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The old man had returned a few hours earlier with an unconscious Ryu hefted over his shoulders. The Professor had explained to them in simple words that Ryu now held the powers of the Kaiser once again. It took a moment for everyone to realize that exactly that meant.

Ryu had the old man’s powers now.

Troy had helped the old man take Ryu to one of the side rooms and placed him on one of the beds. Nina had holed herself up in the room with Ryu ever since. Troy knew just how close they had come to loosing Ryu once again. Troy also knew what price they had to pay in order to save and literally revive Ryu.

Troy was saddened over the fact that Yuki and Wyatt had died in the attempt. He had also heard about Rekks from Sari and what he had done at the last moment. He knew that Sari would not take something like that lying down. For the past hour or so, Sari had been trying to reject what happened to Rekks and Yuki. When that had failed, she had tried contacting Miyuki. That had also ended in failure.

Troy glanced over at the green haired hybrid. The girl had gotten herself into quite a situation. He knew what she was planning. If there was a way to revive their fallen friend, Sari was bound to find it. Sari would stare down Ladon himself if she thought it would help.

Troy glanced around the room. Manna was once again standing next to the large window, staring out of it. Jin was seated on the couch with Momo curled up on his lap, sleeping. Sari was currently pacing the room and would mutter “objection” every once in a while.

Where she had gotten the phrase, he’d never know. He had a suspicion that it had something to do with a video game about lawyers. Why he thought that, he didn’t know. At first, he thought it had something to do with Yuki, but that was quickly dismissed when he found out Yuki suggested “I reject!” as Sari’s battle cry.

Sari finally growled in frustration and sat down on one of the chairs. Troy gave her a sympathetic smile. He knew that she was shaken over what happened. It was, after all, Yuki that had entrusted Sari with the task of carrying her powers and saving Ryu.

“This isn’t working,” Sari said in a calm, cool voice.

Manna glanced over and looked at Sari, her face neutral. “What do you mean? Are you trying to bring her back?”

Sari nodded. “Yuki and Rekks, actually. So far, it doesn’t seem to be working. I thought that Yuki was Destined. Nothing has been able to kill the Destined… unless it was their time.”

Troy looked at the two women. He glanced back over at Jin, who had apparently begun to drift off. Jin caught himself and jerked his head up. Troy smirked and turned his attention back to the two women.

“Didn’t you say that Yuki willingly gave her life? That she knew what she was doing?” Troy asked. Sari nodded. “Well, maybe that changed the plan, or whatever we’re calling it.”

Sari looked thoughtful. “That could be it. Everything up to this point has been predetermined. Maybe Yuki giving her life changed something.”

Troy shook his head and looked over at Manna. “No, that was meant to be.”

Manna frowned at the look that Troy gave her. “What are you saying?”

“Things changed when you first came to me and told me of Deis’ plan,” Troy said. “You said that no Overseer has intervened up until this point. The sole fact that you are here speaks volumes.”

Manna merely sighed. “Yes, but…”

Sari looked curious. “Maybe it’s not the Master Plan that has changed, but Legence’s plan. Maybe they are running scared?”

Troy smiled. “Hey, I kinda like that idea.”

Jin finally decided to add to the conversation. “We still don’t know where Legence and Gideon are hiding. And while we’re on that line of thinking, we don’t know where Aaron is either.”

Sari gave Jin a wry smile. “You seem to be more concerned with Aaron’s whereabouts than you are with Legence’s.”

Jin frowned. Troy chuckled and turned to face Jin. “C’mon now. You gotta admit that she’s right. I remember when you would whine about Aaron and talk about how you were going to take him out the box.”

Sari glanced over at Jin and tried to imagine him whining and stomping his foot. Sari giggled and earned a venomous look from Jin. Sari merely waved him off. “Okay. We need to act serious here for a moment. What are we going to do about the remaining Goddess Keys?”

Manna, Jin, and Troy looked at each other. Manna cleared her throat. “Okay, there are still three Keys missing. Obviously we are running out of time. The longer it takes us to find the Keys, the more powerful our enemies grow.”

“And now, we are down two people,” Troy said.

“I have a solution to both problems,” Sari said. “We split the party up into two groups. One will go to Worent with Captain Johnston and the other will return to Dragnier and look for clues to Legence’s whereabouts.”

“That only solves one of our problems,” Jin said. He tapped the armrest with his pointer finger. “We are still short some people.”

“My second solution was to go with one of the groups,” Sari said. Jin gave her an amused look.

“Why am I not surprised?” Jin shrugged. “But what of Shevat? Who will govern while you are away? Unlike Wyatt and Nina, you are the sole heir.”

“I have spoken about this in length with Leon and Salla. They will take over while I am gone,” Sari said with a hint of authority in her voice. “I am much stronger than I look.”

Jin smiled slightly. “I never mean to imply you were ever anything but. I’m just saying. You just have to be prepared for whatever happens.”

Sari nodded. “I know. Now, the only question remains, who will go with what group?”

Jin looked pensive. “I suppose we will have to wait for Ryu to wake up before we are able to plan a course of action.”

“We spend a lot of time talking, don’t we?” Troy grinned slightly.

Sari nodded in agreement. “And nodding.”

“We just like to show our agreement with each other,” Manna said.

Jin sighed. “All three of you are crazy…”

Sari frowned. “We are not crazy. We merely have a different way of viewing the world, that’s all.”

“Yeah, we’re just tragically misunderstood,” Troy added.

“Besides, I have recorded evidence of that one time of you getting drunk off of your ass,” Manna grinned evilly. Jin paled at Manna’s comment. “And who are you calling crazy? Have you looked in the mirror lately, Mr. I’m-gonna-use-myself-as-a-human-meatshield?”

Jin coughed and gave Manna a pointed look. “Oh, and this is coming from the woman that told us if we were going to travel with her, we were going to have to have ‘fun flasks?’”

Manna smiled and shrugged. Jin merely groaned and held his head in his hand. Sari looked over to Troy for an explanation, but all she got was Troy laughing his head off. Troy finally waved at Sari and shook his head.

“Long story,” Troy said between chuckles. “You really don’t want to know…”

Sari merely shook her head. He was right. She was probably better off not knowing. But there was one thing she had to say. She just couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t say it. Sari glanced over at Jin and gave him a sly smile.

“So, we finally get to see your true colors, eh? Now I see where Yuki got her craziness from.”

The look on Jin’s face was priceless. Troy and Manna erupted into fits of laughter while Sari wore a serious look on her face. Soon, however, she started to giggle and soon after burst into a fit of laughter.

Jin sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “This is going to be a long trip, isn’t it?” He looked over at Sari. “And here I thought you were the sensible one.”

Sari gave Jin a look of triumph and held her chin up high. “Never underestimate your opponent.”

“Duly noted,” Jin said in a dry voice.

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The pink had to go. It just had to. Nina would not, could not deal with the pink anymore. She knew that Yuki had chosen the look for the cuteness and the pinkness. She had mentioned that she thought it made Nina look like a battle mage. Nina thought it made her look like a girly video game character.

Nina was more of a Kill-You-Ten-Times-Before-You-Hit-the-Ground kind of girl than a girly magic user. Besides, she NEEDED to maim something with her fists. Hurling fireballs or whatever was just fine, but it lacked the joyous feeling of the impact of skin on skin. Nina shook her head. She needed professional help.

So, Nina got rid of the pink outfit. Earlier, she had shifted through Sari’s wardrobe and found a cute outfit. Never mind the girl probably cosplayed the outfit once, but that was beside the point.

Nina grinned to herself as she inspected the new outfit in the full-length mirror currently in front of her. Nina was dressed in a black tang-top and a light blue mini shirt with black biker shorts underneath the skirt. She had on black, ankle length boots and had on a sleeveless ankle length jacket on over the outfit. Nina had also pulled her long hair into a high ponytail.

Nina gave herself one final look over and nodded. At least she looked somewhat imposing. At least the color scheme was not PINK.

And more importantly, it was something she liked. Even though it made her look like a video game character. Nina glanced over at her wand and the two short swords that were lying discarded on the couch in the room.

Yuki’s short swords… Nina had hardly any experience in wielding the swords, but she figured that if she whined to Jin enough, he would teach her. Nina walked over and picked up the blades. She turned them over and stared long and hard at the ruins etched into the silver blades. She could barely make out the ancient writing, but she thought one of the swords said “oath keeper” and the other said “oblivion.”

Nina nearly dropped the swords. She thought she had heard of a pair of long swords called by those names, but those were supposed to be only legends. Apparently, there was something more to the pair of short swords that Nina currently held. She thought that Manna or Jin might have an answer.

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Ryu groaned as consciousness finally deemed him worthy for it to return. He muttered something and sat up. He was lying on a bed in one of the side rooms. He scratched the back of his head and tried to figure out why he was lying there in the first place.

He then remembered what the old man had done. Geez, was he always going to lose consciousness when gaining a new power? It did not bode well for his reputation as a battle hardened warrior if he kept fainting over the least little thing.

Ryu sighed and glanced around the room. He stopped when he saw the young woman that was seated over by the window. He blinked, at first thinking it was Nina, but soon came to the conclusion that the brown haired girl was NOT Nina.

“Uh…?” Ryu asked as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and placed his hands on his lap. The girl merely stared back at him with the same hauntingly green eyes as his mother. As him.

“Hello Ryu,” the girl said in a calm and quiet voice. The girl vaguely reminded him of Saria, for some reason.

“Yeah… hi,” Ryu said. “Um… trying not to sound dumb or anything… but who are you?”

The girl smiled slightly. “I am Nunnally.”

“Oh…” Ryu mumbled as he tried to process what the girl said. Apparently, his reaction time was not up to par.

Nunnally merely gave Ryu a bemused look. “Your younger sister.”

“Oh… OH!” Ryu’s head snapped to attention. He gave the girl a more thorough once over. What he thought was a normal chair was in fact a simple wheelchair. “Oh, okay. Right. Demus told me about you.”

“You do not remember me,” Nunnally said.

“Un… ‘fraid not,” Ryu said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“That is fine,” Nunnally said. “I do understand.”

“I don’t see how,” Ryu said. “If I was in your position, I would not be happy.”

Nunnally smiled slightly. “Brother always said that about you. He always said that you were impulsive and impatient.”

Ryu gave Nunnally an odd look. “Demus said that? Arg! Figures he would said that.”

“No, you misunderstand. He does love you and he feels horrible for what he did. He wants nothing more than to make it right with you.”

Ryu frowned. “Right. Sure. And next you will say that Gideon loved us all and all HE wanted to do was help, too.”

Nunnally looked thoughtful for a moment. “Actually, yes. I was going to say that… but… something has changed with Father. He’s not the same person he was… not ever since Legence came and Father named him his heir.”

Ryu leaned back, supporting himself on his arms. “Really… I can’t say that I remember much about Gideon… can’t say I remember much about anything, really. I guess I made myself forget.”

Nunnally nodded. “I understand. You know, I have waited a long time to get to meet you. I must say, I am rather… surprised…”

Ryu snorted. “Heh, expected a knight in shining armor? A noble and honorable, valiant soul that would give his life for the greater good?”

Nunnally seemed to shrink back from Ryu’s comments. Ryu smiled slightly, indicating that he was merely joking. “Nah, I understand. This isn’t how I wanted to end up either… but things have changed. Yeah, sure I would give my life to save those I cared about, but I’d probably be a smartass while I was at it.”

Nunnally smiled slightly. “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant to say that you look so much like Mother.”

Ryu’s face softened. “Really? How do you remember what she looks like? Do you have a picture of her?”

Nunnally frowned slightly. “No, I mean, I have seen pictures… but Father keeps her… remains… inside the castle…”

“What?” Ryu asked in a deadpan voice. “Tell me that he doesn’t…!” Ryu jumped up. “ARG! That bastard! Can’t he at least give her the dignity of a proper burial!?”

“No! You misunderstand!” Nunnally said. “It’s the only sign that I have that Father… OUR Father… is still in there, somewhere underneath all of that evil that seems to consume him.”

“Nunnally,” Ryu said. “Gideon… is no more. You didn’t see him when I faced him. He ordered Legence to kill two of my friends and another man.”

Nunnally frowned. “Ryu, you are wrong. There is some part of Father that’s still alive, fighting to regain control of his mind. Legence is controlling him. Please, believe me!”

Ryu shook his head and ran his hand through his blue hair. “Nunnally…”

“Father is still in there!” Nunnally said. “That’s why he hid me… he was trying to protect me. He… needs our help Ryu! Please!”

Ryu frowned. “I don’t know how much of Gideon is left…” Ryu stared down into Nunnally’s pleading eyes. “Damnit! Fine. If I can, I will try to save him.”

Nunnally smiled. “Thank you Ryu… thank you brother.”

Ryu sighed. “Nah, don’t mention it. I’m just a sucker for cute faces.”

Nunnally smiled. “Thank you, Brother.”

Ryu merely waved Nunnally off. “Eh, let’s just keep this between you and me, okay? I already have enough drama to deal with… ya know?”

 

To be continued…