Org. XIV (story)

<Yeah, the Ancient Magic is WAY too abusive. Of course, I found a workaround that would allow Rexial to EASILY survive any cheap-ass attempt to obliterate him with light via Ancient Magic... 'Cuz, see, it weakens with distance. If he gets far enough away (mind you, he has Shadowmelding and Dark Corridors, not to mention his obscene movement speed) then the attack would be diluted. Even something charged up for 200 years, for example, won't hit somebody on the other side of the universe. Or, say on the Edge, if you catch my drift.>

Aleri rolled his eyes, ignoring Nathan. Dunno who he's trying to fool... I couldn't see him that well, but I CAN SENSE HIM. Well, I'm sure he has his reasons for, uh... avoiding me. "Dante! You wanted to see the town, right? Come on through!"

<You don't get my messages within messages do you >.>

Nathan saw Aleri roll his eyes and facepalmed. He ran a bit farther, equipped his armor, and jumped onto the descending keyblade bike. He went to this random world that I can't bother to name and landed, looking for a place to rest. He found the most weird tree you might ever see, pondered sitting under it for a second, but proceeded to do just that.

Nick put the munny to pay for the service down on the front table, "Thank you again... um... sorry I never asked your name..." He slapped himself in the back of the head ashamedly.

"It's Panacea, typical for a healer wouldn't you think?" She smiled from under her hood at the young man's self-abusive antics.

"Heh, yeah. I guess so. Well, nice meeting you, Panacea." Nick smiled earnestly before turning to Archer, "Ready to go?"

"Hm, yeah," Archer said absent-mindedly as she stopped looking out the window. "Let's get moving before boredom kills us."

"Hmph, right. I'll go talk to Daidara about pay. You can come with if you want. Or head back to the castle. It's up to you really." Nick explained.

-Meanwhile-

As Sylvia arrived at the door of Synthisle Castle, she was greeted by none other than Thalia, the young woman was training in the courtyard with her fuuma shuriken inspired keyblade. As she saw Sylvia enter, she tossed the blade into the air and caught it with a flourishing twirl before dismissing it, "So, how'd your day go? You look pretty beat up if you don't mind me saying." The devious look on her face shown she really didn't care whether Sylvia was angry or not but there was some concern within her voice.

"I'll manage. Better see that girl back before she gets herself into more trouble," Archer shrugged as she walked after Sylvia back to the castle with a faraway look.

The trek to the castle had been more tiresome than usual, Panacea's spell only healing her wounds and rejuvanating her energy with minimal effect. Still, Sylvia was tired, and frustrated at her own self-realization of her own limits in a world where everyone seemed to be stronger and more apt in battle than her.

She needed to catch up, fast. And although Archer was the enigmatic sort, there was no one else Sylvia would prefer to train with. Lance after all, was consumed with his role as ruler. Nick seemed to have...what would she describe it as? An arrogant air about him? Either way, that was for another day. Right now, she was good for nothing, let alone training.

Her head perked up at a familiar female voice in the courtyard, looking up to see Thalia dismiss her Keyblade in a flash of light, before remarking on her appearance. Sylvia frowned, the wound on her pride still raw as she tossed her golden tresses over her shoulder. "Could've been better," she replied coolly, her blue eyes revealing nothing of her trouble in the woods. "Yours, Princess? Or have you just been twirling that pretty little thing around all day?"

Thalia gave wry smirk,"Could've been worse. I'd count as a good day. One of the few that where we haven't had to fight much in a long time. It's nice to just relax for once... So, what kind of trouble has Nick gotten you into? I heard from Daidara about the mercenary job he accepted from him. And since all three of you were gone from the castle today. I'm guessing you tagged along. Am I right?"

She seemed at ease around Sylvia for some reason, maybe she was finally someone that Thalia could see eye to eye with... Unlike the hot-headed Sally and the likeable but distant Pheonix.... That girl only seemed down to earth around Oxthmas. She still had her doubts about the pirate girl but she couldn't help but like her attitude.

"Just killing some heartless. No biggie," Archer replied for Sylvia as she came into view. "And you are? Thalia... right?" she vaguely recalled.

"What Archer said," Sylvia shrugged with a disgruntled expression. "Either way, my concerns lie with my bedchambers right now, so I'm not in the mood to yap." She rested her hands on her hips. "Where is your betrothed, anyway? Haven't seen 'im around much today..."

"Ah, the heartless out in the woods can be real nasty. They've been worse ever since the Ravain attack... And you mean, Lance? He's working on diplomacy with a scholar from god knows where. He can lead well enough... but public speaking off a battlefield? Good luck with that." Thalia commented.

"So your husband-to-be is more a warrior than a politician, huh?" Archer faintly cocked an eyebrow. "Then how does he keep things in order?"

"We're relatively peaceful here. Right now, everyone is just pleased that they're free from the previous ruler. So, Lance is working on his political leadership right now while it's still peaceful. Even then, he only has to work with foriegn policy, everyone here is relatively pleased with the way Lance runs things." Thalia explained the best she could.

"That's what they all say at first. I've seen it repeat countless times... the mark of a new King and all. And the end to their rule," Archer leaned against the wall. "I know... knew several myself. And killed a couple, of course." Archer yawned. "Well, he's a tough nut to crack so I suppose it depends on how his mindset will develop, I suppose."

"He can handle himself." Thalia reassured Archer, "Plus, he wants to change how things work around here. He really doesn't want to rule as King but the people want him to. He's planning on creating a... Contra- Consti-... Constitutional Monarchy. That's the word. He'd rather they have more power than he does. He can't stand worrying about whether he's oppressing his own people or not."

Sylvia yawned. Frankly, politics bored her. Not to mention they never helped her and her family back home... "Well, tell him I said hi," Sylvia said dryly, heading for the entrance. "Get one of your servants to call me down when it's time for dinner, ok?"

"A constitutional monarchy?" Archer snorted. "Democracy itself has enough problems, not to mention that the commoners themselves mostly do not know what they truly want. A King... must live a life larger than anyone else." Her lips curled into a smile as she remembered the words of a dear friend she had met through her travels across time and space and parallel worlds. "A shining example that people will want to follow... will yearn for." She shook her head slightly.

"Well then. I'll be off. I have a feeling our blades might cross one day... future Queen." Archer nodded tersely as she began to walk off.

Thalia nodded, "Sure thing. Don't be surprised if it's Maya though. She can just teleport around the castle so she tends to make communication more effiecient." She replied nonchalantly before casting an intrigued eye towards Archer, "Very well... We'll see what side you're on when the time comes."

"Justice," Archer replied simply. "Or that would have been my reply in the past," she muttered. "Now I'm not so sure."

Meanwhile, in Tri-Star Town...

Not to accuse him, but... something's unnatural about this. Adachi is kicking my ass, go figure, but it seems like he's... stronger. People don't spontaneously get stronger in the middle of a fight. ...Hang on... There's a faint glow around him. That's a sign that somebody's boosting his power with magic. It's obviously not him doing the casting. Is there somebody else here...?

Rexial jumped over another slash.

I can sense somebody else nearby... and there's definitely some magic being used.

He blocked one of Adachi's strokes, then tried a rapid-fire slashing method, but he found that penetrating Adachi's defense wasn't so simple.

...I've got it. "Heh, you're as good as done, Adachi. Time to beat you down!" His words dripped with animosity.

"Not today." Adachi replied, seemingly oblivious.

There it is. The intensity of emotion from our mysterious observer increased, as well as the power of whatever support magic is being used on Blue-Hair here. We're fighting, so it seems natural to him that I'd say something like that. But from another's perspective, I probably sounded like some kind of demon, or at least a jerk.

Rexial smirked. "But, before I finish this fight... Let's say hello to our evesdropper."

"Huh?" Adachi seemed genuinely taken aback. He obviously had no idea that they were being watched.

The Skillful Swordsman pointed to a nearby tree. "There's somebody over there, watching us. In fact, whoever it was, they want you to win, judging by the fact that they've been using support magic on you."

Thalia shrugged, "Justice all depends on the person, in my opinion." She pointed out, "Each person deals with things differently."

Archer shrugged. "Then whose Justice does the law represent?" With that, she was gone with a toss of her hair.

Thalia nodded with a smirk, "Good question." She resummoned her keyblade returning to her practice routine.

Tiredly, Archer entered her room with a low, shaky sigh. She winced as her body protested at the small movement, a scowl appearing on her face. "Damn it," she muttered, staggering over to the bed and falling onto it with a low groan. "The damage is that bad, huh?"

She was holding on but she had insufficient mana to provide her body with the necessary means to both function normally while repairing her internal systems. With her magic circuits out of whack and providing such a pittance of od...

"Mou... even Shirou would have more mana than me at this point," she grumbled to herself. First off, she'd need to find a suitable source of od to generate mana. There was no way she would kill humans to replenish her supply and those 'Ether' potions the White Mage told her about had zero effect on her.

That left... animals.

The more magical, the better.

<Just a warning, there is a awesome twist in this post>

"This place sure is different from when I was last here..." Nathan said to himself as he walked around the now hardly familiar area. He derped around a bit more until he saw a instantly recognizable wooden 'fort'. He went inside and it brought back so many memories. He saw a storage of food, back-up weapons, water, etc. A tear rolled off his cheek when he remembered how long ago this was.

He walked back outside of the fort and kept on derping around. He eventually came out to a perfectly circled, clear area with a golden item in the center. A mob of Heartless came out from ahead of him though and charged him. He summoned his keyblade





...And nothing happened.