Org. XIV (story)

"Oh, you son of a-" Sylvia was cut off as Lance took a firm hold of her, her teeth bared as she listened to his soothing words. "I hate magic. Using it to get into my head is a scumbag move," she responded with a scowl, glaring murderously at Rexial. "Screw swords, I have half a mind to squeeze the life out of him with my bare hands..."

>Fine, fine, I'll get her to calm down MYSELF. Watch this.<

"That wasn't magic. It's too complicated to explain..."

Rexial rolled his eyes, turned to go back into the trees, tripped on a rock, and fell facefirst into a tree. "Oww..." He fell onto the ground, and as he got up, a branch broke off of the tree above him, knocking him over the head and back to eating dirt. "...Can I get a raincheck on that fight? I sheem to have losht a couble ub teefsh. And there's that insheshant ringing shound."

>There. She'll write me off as an idiot, probably step on my spine for good measure, then leave. ... ...Can you make sure she doesn't crush my spine? I like it the way it is right now. And, while this IS acting, it STILL hurts like hell to slam your face into a tree.<

"J-just... carry on. I'm not here..."

<Obfuscating stupidity! Yaaaaay!>

Sylvia stopped struggling in Lance's arms, her jaw dropping at the almost comical display before her. A bemused smile suddenly replaced the scowl she had worn previously. "And that's the 'Skillful Swordsman?' Pfft. All talk, like I thought." She shook her head in disbelief. "I'm not gonna waste my time." She turned to Lance with a satisfied smirk. "Let's be on our way before I decide to rip the poor idiot to pieces anyway."

Lance couldn't help but laugh a bit himself, letting go of Slyvia, "Yeah, let's see about getting you a room then. There's always an empty guest room or two at the castle... though I don't know how please Thalia will be with me since we've already got two extra guests..."

He shrugged, "Meh, what the hell am I worrying about? She won't care."

>Thanks for that one, Rex. I'll pay you back sometime alright?<

"Huh. That Thalia person again..." Sylvia mumbled speculatively, as she started to walk away from the debacle Rexial had created. "She's the one you said was good with a sword, yeah?"

Lance smiled brightly, "Yeah, she's the one thing I've got going good for me. And she's wicked with a fuuma shuriken. Think a throwing star but big enough for each part to be conside a sword."

"A...fuuma shuriken?" Sylvia narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "Sounds an interesting kind of weapon. Not quite as interesting as that key, mind..."

Still, curiosity overwhelmed her, as a question spilled forth. "And the way you talk about her makes it sound like she's your sweetheart or somethin'. She your girlfriend? Oh, wait, kings don't have girlfriends..." She trailed off with a finger pressed to her lips. "Uhh...fiancee then?"

"I guess you could put it that way. Though I haven't popped the question yet, it's not the right time. Maybe after things settle down a bit more... but right now I don't think either of us would even consider it." Lance smiled, though he was not technically engaged to Thalia, she had accepted his royal mark, the necklace that marked him as a member of the royal family and continued to wear the necklace daily.

Sylvia nodded slowly, unsure why she had bothered to ask in the first place. That kind of thing didn't really preoccupy her thoughts much usually. "I getcha. Romance is a waste of time, in my opinion," she shook her head with a dark expression. "I got a lot more I want out of my life than to settle down and raise kids."

She yawned as she stretched her arms languidly. "At any rate. I wanna know more about this Organization you were talking about...you mentioned travelling to other worlds, right?"

"Well, yeah. But, it's only under special circumstances. And I use my powers to do so. If I tried to create a portal for you it would kill you." Lance lied to prevent her from finding out the whole truth that she'd more than likely had lost her whole ship to the Heartless.

Sylvia pursed her lips in disappointment. "Right..." She let out an annoyed sigh. "Well, guess I'm crashing with you in the meantime then, your Highness. Hopefully I won't step on your girlfriend's toes in the process." She added wickedly. "Although I look forward to fighting against her. Just not over you."

"Trust me, she's a sharp tounged as you are. If you get on her nerves, she'll be sure to let you know."

They reached the town center and the castle could be seen on the ridge not far away. On the roof of one of the flat towers, a figure could be seen probably a small girl, Maya, to be precise, "That's Synthisle Castle." Lance said pointing out the obvious.

Maya meanwhile on the rooftop, was scanning the ground for Lance, hoping he'd be home soon so she'd have someone else to bother seeing as how Pheonix was just waking up and Thalia had already angrily told her off for scaring her with an illusion of a giant Darkside dressed as a clown in the throne room. Maya had thought the illusory heartless just looked funny but it'd scared Thalia for some reason she couldn't quite comprehend.

Roland emerged from the third district with a look of dishevelment.

"I really do despise heartless" he said to himself. Steadying himself with his keyblade like a cane, he made his way slowly to the inn, seeking a bed for a quick nap.

Opening the front door, he saw the same girl from before, muddling around the lobby area. He looked over to the innkeeper, who shrugged in response. Roland, deducing what was wrong, made his way to the innkeeper's desk. Whispering into the innkeeper's ear, he handed the man a rather large pouch of munny, then left for one of the rooms. He collapsed instantly, barely having made it to the bed.

The innkeeper called towards the girl, handing her a key for a room.

Synthisle

Oxthmas appeared next to Maya.

"Good day miss Maya" he said, bowing. From one sleeve he produced a sea salt ice cream, handing it to her. He sat down on the rooftop.

"I take it he visited you?"

Maya nodded intently, snatching the Sea Salt Ice Cream from Oxthmas, "Uh huh... Scary man's wierd... So, Maya told him to try to fix himself before he tried to fix Maya. She's got it under control even if the stuff Mr. Bear makes confuses her sometimes."

Archer waved the innkeeper aside as he attempted to give her the key. She didn't take charity nor did she appreciate these people looking down on her like she was a helpless female. "Return it to him," she said brusquely as she left the inn.

She'd averted world crises, defeated godlike beings capable of planetary destruction and now she was reduced to peddling for money. Shirou would be proud. She wouldn't need a room to stay, actually. Just somewhere to lie low and recuperate.

She looked up at the sky with a frown. Those odd weapons Unlimited Blade Works had recorded listed them as Keyblades. How strange. She pondered her options as an idea entered her head. She'd need to get used to where she was. Any additional information helped... especially if she could get those kind of information.

Turning, Archer leapt onto the roof and vanished into the nightline.

Sylvia took in the looks of the rustic, old fashioned town and the large stone castle in the distance. "Wow, really? Never woulda guessed," she rolled her eyes with a sarcastic grin as they walked through the square. "So, who lives with you in that roomy little abode of yours?"

Daniel sniffed at the air. "I smell...metal." Normally, Daniel would have discarded this information. Most towns were very heavy on metal. But Traverse Town? Everything was stone or wood except for the lightposts. And the smell did not come from a lightpost. He looked toward the source, where that girl had vanished. It was strongest there. "Hmmm...Interesting...I'm gonna go check this out." He changed into his wolf form, with his even further enhanced sense of smell, and followed the scent left by the girl.

"So... you're a... Moogle," Archer blinked at the infuriatingly cute little critter and resisted the urge to ruffle the small, red sphere attached to their heads by an antenna. "And you're Mogki and she's... Mogrika. Right. I think I get it."

"That's us, Kupo!" a small one said, fluttering around excitedly. "You have a strange aura around you, Kupo! Did you lose your world too?"

Archer shrugged nonchalantly. "Beats me. I ended up here after I was summoned by the Planet to do something. So... where is this place?"

"This is Traverse Town, Kupo! Many people who lose their home worlds and survive end up here. We Moogles have lost our homes too," Mogki replied.

"Traverse town, eh? So this is like an orphanage to take in stragglers," Archer nodded thoughtfully as she looked around. "So umm... you guys run a shop here?"

"Kupo! This is a synthesis shop! We can take any items you have and make a new one!" Mogki said excitedly.

"Hm. I see," Archer silently noted the presence that had tailed her here while looking around the shop and recording all the items she was seeing for future use. She was beginning to get the hang of how this place worked but there were still questions she needed to ask. "So like, what were those things in the other districts?"

"Those, kupo? They're Heartless! Beings of darkness!" Mogki replied with a slight distaste in his voice.

"Heartless. Huh. Odd name," Archer recorded that information in her mind for future reference. "Alright then. What are Keyblades."

<So that Archer is Shirou's Servent? I can't help to find that a little ironic. lol >

Daniel stood outside the building with Archer and the moogles. He turned into his human form and listened at the door.

Lance shrugged, "Thalia, Maya, Pheonix, Dante, Enixo, So-" He cut himself short of the list, "Nevermind, he doesn't live here anymore..." He trailed off bitterly.

< Not quite his Servant XP You'll see... >

"I see. Interesting," Without warning, Archer's hand blurred and a sharp knife swished through the air and clean through the door within a split second. Her head turned, her crimson eyes glittering dangerously. "You know. I don't like eavesdroppers. If you've got something to ask, spill."

Sylvia shrugged, not pressing the subject further. "Sounds like quite a crew," she mumbled in amusement, her eyes focused on her surroundings. "So, you gonna give me a rundown on the town or what?"

Daniel replied, "You don't have to throw a knife at me to get your point across. Honestly, I followed you from the inn." He turned around and opened the door, looking her in the face. "Because honestly, you interest me. My name's Daniel. You?"

"You need better pick up lines," Archer replied dryly as she shrugged. "I don't have a name. Just call me Archer. So what do you want?"