Kingdom Hearts - Blades of Three Realms

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Axel would sigh in relief mentally as he smiled "yeah, it's me Isa, quick question, do you remember any reports of mine from Vexen's Research about a certain crimson haired gunman being brought to Castle Oblivion, if not, can you check with Naminé and see if she remembers anything? it would be better if i can ask Vexen and Zexion but at the moment they're still within Xehanort's clutches at the moment, so the next two i can immediately ask would be you and Naminé." he said, sounding serious "because if those reports are true, then i think i may know that gunman and he's with myself and the others here, in fact Shiro had to stop him from causing untold havoc over fighting a supposed mutual ally."

Shiro meanwhile had immediately paled, and sighed, knowing this was coming the moment he realized he had no shirt on, if not from either Makenshi or Kaze, but from Crystal, since he told Xion about the time already ".... technically, i was at the wrong place, and the wrong time, and got involved partly in another world's affairs the moment i stepped out of one of the rifts i walked through, but it was when i met my mentor who taught me magecraft and what i now use quite well: Tracing." he said, bringing up his hand, as he focused on it "Trace... On." he would say, before a flash of greenish blue mana could be seen, and sure enough, the weapon that had pierced his heart appeared in his hands, one he knows Crystal has seen him use against enemies seriously, like the Heartless Generals "Gae Bolg, the Barbed Spear that Pierces with Death. this cursed spear was what was driven through my heart back then.. originally, i -did- die back then ,but i was handily revived by help of my mentor and his... well ,friend that's a girl, in his words, so as to not confuse her with being his girlfriend." he chuckled a bit hollowly "though...due to the secondary nature of the spear, its cursed nature, the wound was never supposed to heal, but i had heard later from this weapon's owner that if the spear isn't activated then while the curse would still make it hard to heal, it'd at least be harder to heal by normal means, even with magic, so it took years for that hole to finish healing, but the scar is still there, as fresh as can be." he said, rubbing a hand along it, only stopping to feel the familiar twinge of it's pain, before crushing the copy of Gae Bolg in hand to return it to prana and all. "the one and only time someone had actually been successful or close to it, in killing me, every other time was the rest of the scars in their attempts to not to kill me, but to incapacitate me and make me watch as those i'm close to died because i tried to stop their plans." he sighed lightly, rubbing his head a bit "helping others really bit my hand in the end huh?" he said sarcastically, but he just chuckled, and smiled a bit "but i don't really regret it, i did try..." he whispered that more to himself, as if trying to convince himself more than others.

Roveth of course was water-logged and drunk, but given how Shiro was acting he knew to keep quiet, so instead he'd just let Shiro talk, while idly poking around with the platinum casing on his arm a bit, as if curious and all about what he now had.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Let me think," Isa contemplated what Lea was asking him about carefully for a moment before the answer finally struck him. "Actually, I don't even need to consult your reports. That red-haired gunman caused quite a lot of trouble for Xemnas by infiltrating the Castle That Never Was. We discovered not long after that the strange man wouldn't die and we couldn't simply keep him in a normal holding cell in the castle because of that peculiar gun he carries, but then Marluxia came along with Namine and he recommended we transfer the man over to Castle Oblivion where Namine could alter the man's memories to remove the threat he presented. It worked and that same power was later used to manipulate Sora. I don't recall what happened exactly, but as I said before, it was impossible to keep him contained as long as he wears the peculiar firearm so not long after his memories were altered he managed to escape from Castle Oblivion by his own power. Frankly, this is the first I've heard about him since. Anyway, I'm sure if you bring him with you to Twilight Town we can arrange for Namine to undo whatever memory alterations she might have made back then since there isn't any reason to leave him in such a sorry state."


"My Master and one of my closest friends both lost their lives during the Keyblade War. I didn't have to watch them die, but I might just as well have been the one to send them both on their way because we decided someone should stay behind to guard my world. All they wanted to do was to try to put a stop to the fighting because we all knew it was wrong," Crystal slumped back into the hot springs a bit. "Doing the right thing isn't always easy, but someone still has to try. Otherwise, what's the point in wishing for a better future for everyone?"

Crystal thought back to a time when she sat along with Blaze and Scythe up in the great tree overlooking the waterfall as the sun had begun to set, howling at the barely risen moon and waiting for the wolves to answer their call.

"So Crystal, what are we going to do tomorrow?" Blaze had asked that day.

"What are you asking me for?" Crystal had responded in a mild huff. "Who the heck made me leader?"

"You did," Scythe chimed in. "Because you always have the best ideas."

"Um... well," Crystal stammered for several long seconds before pointing off toward a constellation of stars on the horizon. "I don't know what's out there, but that's where we're going!" she stood up on the branch dramatically for emphasis.

"I know I couldn't live with myself if I ever stopped trying to help people," Crystal added after a slight pause from her reminiscing. "That's who I've always been. As far back as I can remember, I would see people being bullied or mistreated and all I ever wanted to do was to rush in to help them and chase away their tormentors. I know one person alone can't make a whole lot of difference, but if I can make just one life better, then I think that makes it all worthwhile. I've gotten into a lot of trouble thinking that way, but I feel like I've probably done some good too."

"It sounds to me like you two really are cut from the same cloth," Xion pointed out. "It's certainly no wonder you became friends."

"So, that must be part of what you didn't want to talk about after that rebound from the black blood earlier," Roxas added while also gently placing an arm around Crystal.

"Er... yeah," Crystal nodded a bit while leaning against him. "That dose gave me a major blast from the past." She gave Shiro a meaningful look. "I'm still not exactly thrilled about it, but I guess you needed to utilize the black blood to do whatever it is you did to put a stop to the fighting out there so I'll forgive you this time. Just don't make a habit out of it."

"Well, I must say, as surprising as it is to be seeing you again, it is also a relief to see you've gathered such dependable friends for yourself," Shiroi Kumo made his own observation while otherwise quietly watching everyone as he settled himself into the hot springs as well. He was, of course, much too polite to comment on the obvious closeness between Crystal and Roxas, even if it was remarkably apparent at the moment.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Axel of course looked surprised, but nodded a bit thoughtfully as he chuckled a bit "actually, we ran into him a while ago, but this apparently was before he found who he was looking for, his mutual ally in a Shiroi Kumo." he said, sighing "but thanks, tell Namine we'll be back hopefully soon, and definitely with Kuroki Kaze." he said, before giving his goodbyes, and hung up, proceeding to head back to the others quickly and sat back down next to Xion with a sigh "looks like we're in luck, Isa just told me who actually had Kaze's memories altered, technically it was Marluxia who recommended him to be transferred to Castle oblivion to be used as a guinea pig for Naminé's power over memories, after he caused a major ruckus at the Castle that Never Was, so if anything, we can blame Xehanort once again. either way, once we finish relaxing here on this hot springs planet we should take Kaze over to Twilight Town, Naminé will probably be more than willing to set things right for Kaze."

Kaze just looked up to Axel, having heard what was talked about, and frowned, apparently it seemed his mind has been tampered with, but he at least glanced to Roveth, and two Shiro, both of whom were looking either at Roveth's... own MaGan, or in Roveth's case, looking at Shiro's own Ma-Ken, while he eventually turned to Makenshi with a thoughtful look in his eye "... we should help these two with their new gifts." he mentioned, while at least showing he was going to try and not be antagonistic, but he did take an offered cup of sake from Roveth raising an eyebrow, before shrugging, and drinking it down with a sigh, apparently needing it since he was a pretty anti-social individual and with his memories screwed with and making him, well, more antagonistic, he needed something to take his mind off things.

Roveth just chuckled a bit as he watched Kaze, before looking to Crystal with his head tilted, almost saying in a sing-song tone of voice despite trying to be sarcastic "get a... *hic* room you two~ *hic*" Shiro of course sighed, and proceeded to bring up his arm "Shiro... CHOP!" and cue Roveth back underwater with bubbles forming due to the sudden cranial trauma once more.

Shiro just looked to Crystal while rubbing the back of his neck "Well... at first the black blood activated because.. of Kaze's Soil Bullet called Sword Viridian, seeing Shiroi Kumo's blade, and then the back to back summons of Shiroi Kumo's sword dragons and Kaze's Knights of the Round..." he shuddered lightly, remembering the intense convulsing pains he had in his head ".... yeah, let's just say i very nearly broke my mind right then and there with all that information at once." he commented, before scratching his cheek "once i got out of it though i had Apocalypse help reinforce my limbs with black blood to handle wielding the twin Goldion Hammers i traced to take out Giga Phoenix and two of Makenshi's Sword Dragons."  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Right, we'll look forward to your return," Isa also said his goodbyes to Lea before placing the receiver back on the wall with a strangely satisfied expression. Perhaps he missed all the liveliness the mansion seemed to have when the others were all at home.


"Indeed," Shiroi Kumo nodded to Kaze's words. "But first we should let them rest." Shiro was clearly still overwhelmed from everything he had experienced already and Roveth was most likely too drunk at this point to retain any useful information.

Speaking of Roveth's antics, his attempt to embarrass Roxas and Crystal was rather unsuccessful as his nearly sing-song tone at the moment caused them both to start laughing instead.

"Oh man, Roveth, how much have you had to drink?" Crystal snickered in amusement. Of course, said person was unable to answer on account of having his cranium flattened by another Shiro-Chop and all.

"Okay, I'm definitely understanding now why you warned us not to have too much," Roxas acknowledged through his laughter.

Crystal's laughter quieted down as she listened to what Shiro had to say about what had happened earlier. "I guess that must be why the rebound I felt was so much worse than the last time. Not to mention the fact that the black blood seems to be making our connection even more unstable than it was before. And it's scary because I can't always control what I see when these rebounds happen."

"You know, that's something else we should probably try looking into once we get back to Twilight Town," Xion suggested.

"Based on what I've read over from Ansem's research, there was never any record of anything like this," Crystal pointed out. "And the one who directed me to save Shiro by linking his heart with mine after he was separated from Roveth was Sora, although he guided us unconsciously and I don't think he even realizes he did it. Either way, there wasn't exactly a set of instructions for how to reverse the process after the fact. And I didn't exactly think about it at the time considering I thought I was going to lose my best friend if I didn't act immediately. I guess I kind of figured it would happen automatically once Shiro's heart stabilizes and he doesn't need my support anymore to sustain it."

"Come to think of it, why does Sora even have that kind of knowledge to begin with?" Roxas wondered vaguely. "Even if it's just on an unconscious level, doesn't that strike you as more than a little bit strange?"

"Well yeah, but so does a lot of the stuff that Sora has somehow managed to do without thinking about it," Crystal answered with a shrug. "If he doesn't know how he's doing it, then we're not going to get very far trying to pick his brain for answers anyway."

"That's true," Roxas nodded, although anyone watching could see the way he was holding onto Crystal had become visibly more protective. What was happening to her now was, Shiro's problems aside, in no small part because of Sora's meddling and that was kinda pissing Roxas off at the moment. It wasn't technically Sora's fault that these things were happening and Roxas understood that, but he needed someone other than Shiro to blame and blaming Sora was easy.


Tensions were elevated for a while after that, but became more relaxed a bit later on once the sun had set and those who were inclined to set foot outside to commence with the stargazing. Of course, they were also conveniently supplied with bathrobes and sandals for the occasion. There was also a distinct possibility that Crystal had gone against her earlier reservations and had a few more saucers of sake, although she was nowhere near as far gone as Roveth on that front. She was more just back to being calm and distancing herself from all that angst that had been bubbling over earlier in response to some of the heavier memories she had suffered the misfortune of revisiting under the influence of the black blood. Plus, Crystal was totally right about the view of the night sky from their place on the mountain.

"It's even more amazing than I thought it would be," Crystal practically beamed while looking up at the stars. There were tons of them to see too because of how clear the atmosphere is at this kind of altitude.

"It's beautiful," Xion agreed. "It's too bad Shiro didn't want to come with us."

"Yeah, I guess I hadn't really thought about it, but he's really not as passionate about stargazing as I am," Crystal admitted. "It's more out of habit because it's what I did every night hoping that I might have a chance to see my brother if he could get away from his royal duties. Of course, I kept doing it even after he was gone because I really just like to look up at the stars anyway."

"Well, you've got to hand it to Roveth, this place he found for us to spend the night is a great spot for it," Roxas pointed out.


Meanwhile, back at the hot springs Shiro would find himself caught between yet another red-haired man wielding yet another strange gun and a dark-haired woman assassin wielding a deadly sharp looking katana with what Shiro would certainly recognize as lethal precision. Suffice it to say, Shiro was likely to be very surprised by the sudden ambush.

"What the heck, Suzuka, what are you doing here?!" the red-haired man waved his strange gun in defiance of the katana wielding assassin.

"Gene Starwind, I could ask you the same question," the woman brandished her blade at him in clear agitation. "This one is my prey. Go find your own."

"No way Suzuka, me and Jim need to collect the bounty on him to pay for the maintenance on the Outlaw Star," the man argued back. "Unless you're planning to contribute to the repair and docking costs, stand down!"

And so it happened that Shiro's would-be assailants commenced bickering amongst themselves like a couple of children... or like an old married couple. Take your pick.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro had been settled down back into the Hotsprings, and was currently only in his swim trunks since he had not went to go find another shirt to deal with his self consciousness over his scars, instead he had a wet towel over his head with his eyes closed trying to at least relax and get his muscles to calm down, given they were still aching in general from going into Square Accel just to get in the air fast enough to deal with those summons, when the sudden noises made him open his eye underneath the towel, at first, he was about to say 'hop right in but please don't talk too loud' when he started hearing the bickering as he groaned, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose through the towel before proceeding to take it off his face and turning his head to look at the two bickering 'wannabe' bounty hunters "... look, i don't know why in the world you're here bringing your couples tiff with you, but can you please keep it down, or better yet go find a hotel room away from the hotsprings and go do your make-up sex already? the yelling is making my migraine worse thank you very much." he said with the most hollow and cold voice he could muster through the headache, and given how his eyes were 'silently' trying to show signs of molten steel in them, it was clear that the snark was out in full force right now, something even Roveth would probably call top tier.

Roveth meanwhile would be sitting in the background with the others as they stargazed, it was more of a passion for him given he loved the night sky, especially the moon-light and those twinkling little stars, which reminded him of beads of hope across the universe, worlds not yet discovered or visited... "hehehehehe... 'hic' good plache indeedsh.. good for making wishhhes and kisshes and 'hic' fuhhhneee fasches~" yup, he was drunk, he was -definitely- drunk. he's going to rue it in the morning that's for sure. (and given this isn't another version of Roveth.. he's going to -HATE- himself in the morning.)

Axel of course would be walking along to at least get some rooms for everyone, even if they had to be bunk rooms or something, before spotting something odd out of the corner of his eye, and proceeded to turn and inspect what had caught his eye at the moment, since Kaze and Makenshi were off somewhere else to talk and at least catch up without trying to kill each other at the moment.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

The embarrassed and agitated sputtering that followed after Shiro's snarky remarks was palpable in the air. "Oh, so you're a real wise guy, huh?" Gene's gun was pointed at Shiro directly now as the red-haired man shot a glare at him. "I was gonna go easy on ya because yer a kid, but I guess I don't have to feel so bad for shooting at you now."

"What a rude, unpleasant, and vulgar child," Suzuka sounded deeply offended by Shiro's accusations to say the least as she once again had her blade at the ready.

There would very likely be shots fired and the clang of steel on steel before this was all over and done with. Poor Shiro.


Roveth's drunkenly slurred speech was enough on its own to get Crystal, Roxas, and Xion all to start laughing, but his actual word choices were what got them positively rolling with laughter.

"He's actually pretty hilarious when he's like this," Roxas had to admit.

"Yeah, but Shiro probably won't let him near the sake again for a while after this display is over," Crystal pointed out. "Not to mention Roveth himself will likely be adverse to the after effects once he wakes up tomorrow. So, you know, enjoy the show while it lasts."

"Still, considering how distant and aloof he is normally, this is a surprisingly easy-going side of him," noted Xion.

"And it's important to let him unwind sometimes," Crystal agreed. Although this was honestly the first time Crystal was considering the fact that being Shiro's self-sworn protector meant that Roveth must have been under damn near constant stress. No wonder he seemed so uptight at times.


Shiroi Kumo was indeed chatting with Kaze about things in general, catching up on the centuries since they had last crossed paths. It was certainly rare for them both to arrive on the same world at the same time, even when Kaze was in fact pursuing Makenshi deliberately. And this reunion was proving to be one of the strangest yet with the mysterious reappearance of the lost princess, her peculiar band of traveling companions, and the mysterious boy who was chosen to wield the second Ma-Ken and his dark counterpart who had received a copy of the Ma-Gan. No doubt, something very big was going on in the universe and this unlikely group was somehow at or very near to the center of it all.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would just deadpan at them both, as if they were not even worth commenting on their insults, before standing up and facing them fully, letting his scars be seen, but he was not in a mood to care when he has a gun and blade pointed at him, he instead thought to himself 'Trace.. On.' before tracing Kanshou and Bakuya into existence as he held the familiar pair of swords in a grip that made his knuckles crack a bit while his flickering molten steel and ice blue eyes before looking to the gunman with his cold killer gaze "going easy on anyone because of age is a foolish mistake, especially when there are probably people who are much stronger than you.. and yet as young if not younger than i." he said, glancing to Suzuka once more "i'm only rude and unpleasant because you two barged in when i was -trying- to get over my migraine, so if anything you are a rude and unpleasant woman." oh yes, Shiro is in a bad mood, but thankfully not in-so-much that he would use his Black blood, but the slight glow to his legs and arms were definitely more than likely meaning he was reinforcing his limbs once more.

Roveth of course giggled like a schoolgirl and slumped sideways, before moving up using a bit of shadows, and starting to spin "yoush shpin me right round baeby right round lahke a recoord baeby right round~" he sung out, yup, definitely good to get your kicks in now, because he will be even more surly in the morning that's for sure! "ping pong bing bong~... the time is time for table tennish!~" and he fell of his seat with a hick and drunk giggle. sorry, but pathetic.

Axel would frown, snatching up the piece of paper that interested him, hardening his eyes given he recognized the handwriting on it "... oh man, Shiro is -not- gonna be happy about this... and this has that goddamn sniping b*****d's handwriting all over it.." he muttered, before putting the piece of paper away, and turned, having to start fighting through the crowd heading in to get some sleep and such to try and get back to Shiro.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Careful Gene, he might be as foul mouthed as you are, but he's no amateur with those blades," Suzuka could see from the way Shiro held his swords that he was a skilled swordsman without even having to fight him yet.

"Oh, so now you're concerned for my safety, is that it?" Gene practically oozed with sarcasm. "Well I ain't falling for it!" So, while Suzuka was putting some distance between herself and Shiro while searching for an opening, Gene went in blind firing off a few normal rounds from his peculiar weapon at Shiro hoping to take him down quickly.

"I wasn't joking you idiot!" Suzuka naturally yelled at Gene for his arrogant stupidity, but it was very likely already too late.


"You know, I'm pretty sure I saw a ping pong table back at the inn," Roxas mentioned when Roveth started with his rather comical singing antics. "You know, maybe we should play a round once we head back."

"Yeah, that could be fun," Crystal agreed. She was definitely feeling better than she had been that whole afternoon.

"Maybe we should start heading back soon so Roveth doesn't pass out out here in the snow," Xion suggested helpfully.

"Good point," Roxas nodded. "It would probably be better if we didn't have to drag him back."

So saying they would take in one last look at the majestic view of the night sky before starting to make the trek back toward the inn to warm up with a round of ping pong before bed, somehow completely missing the shenanigans going on with poor Shiro out in the actual hot springs, mainly because they didn't take that entrance to get back inside the main building where they were going to be staying.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro just stared at the incoming Gene as if he was calling him an idiot in his look alone, but he would at least start moving at the moment the shots were fired, bringing up the blades at lightning fast reaction speed, and proceeded to slash the bullets in half and away from his body with loud 'Ping!' noises being heard, before he'd continue his walking towards the charging in Gene, and pretty much walking past him, but nto before using his own reinforced max speed to trip the gunman while mid charge, and expertly slice the clothes he had on into scraps, with a bit of piece de reistance~ being a large curved S being slashed onto Gene's chest, though only shallow enough to cause slight bleeding instead of deep like he normally would, and stepped past the gunman, stepping out of the hotsprings and onto the solid ground while looking right at Suzuka, with his presence slowly leaking out, thankfully he was keeping it generally contained so as to not alert anyone else, most particularly anyone from his group or the two Unlimiteds that something was going on "you should listen to the lady, Gene was it? might save your life one day from possibly biting off more than you can chew." he coldly said as he didn't look at the gunman anymore, solely focusing on the swords-woman now as he kept his calm, yet cold, unrelenting eyes gazing, calmly watching the movements carefully.

Roveth of course would probably lose horridly in table tennis during his round of it, especially when he tripped- into- the table a couple of times trying to catch a shot, so when it was all said and done, Roveth would go take a room instead of his usual finding a roof to perch on, to sleep off the alcohol.

Axel would eventually make his way through the crowds and finally make it to the hotsprings, but upon seeing Shiro facing Suzuka, and well, the currently taking a dunk Gene before sweatdropping a bit lightly "looks like i'm too late and someone actually fell for them..." he said, sweatdropping lightly with a groan.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Suzuka still had her katana drawn and ready up until Gene sputtered up to the surface and stood up in all his naked glory causing the woman to blush profusely, dropping said blade in embarrassment while averting her gaze from him immediately. "Perhaps I will reschedule this assassination attempt for tomorrow night."

"Geez, this kid sure packs a punch," Gene rubbed at his chest mildly which only made the bleeding worse. He glanced over at Suzuka with a grin forming on his face. "Still can't handle my manly physique, eh Suzuka? Well, never you mind, I'll take it from here." He procured a different looking kind of shell than the casing that had fallen from his peculiar gun thus far and placed it into the compartment. "Let's see how you like a #3!" And then he pulled the trigger causing the turbine to glow red as he fired off a large-ish red colored beam at Shiro.


The noise from all of Roveth's tripping before he finally decided to call it a night proved loud enough that the group indoors didn't even hear the ruckus from outside. Xion stayed to watch as Crystal took over Roveth's spot at the ping pong table against Roxas, the game rapidly devolving into a high speed volley match with neither side truly gaining the upper hand as it became more about balancing how fast they could hit the ball back and forth without it smashing through the table directly. Obviously, the rapid-fire bouncing of the ball on the table would negate any external noise from Shiro's ongoing battle with a certain Gene Starwind.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would turn once again to let one eye stare at the incoming shot from the odd gun, and proceeded to crush the hilt of his swords, while maximizing his reinforcement in his arms, and proceeding to to adjust a bit, before using his left palm to literally slap that beam upwards into the sky, to at least prevent more damage to the hotsprings than someone's pride and clothes, before once more using his reinforced speed to get in front of Gene and proceed this time to punch him in the throat. thankfully however he -did- lower his reinforcement on his arms so as to not hit Gene's throat with enough force to be like a battering ram, so instead it was a regular punch, still would do damage though. he did catch an eye towards Axel who had been watching with surprise "are you going to tell me what's going on Axel or am i going to have to subdue these two and interrogate them?"

Axel sweatdropped a bit, while sighing, and holding up a bounty poster "seems someone put up fake bounty posters on you, and if it's who i know it is via the handwriting.. the money is not happening for these people, not only that, he probably did it just to stir the pot even more." Shiro frowned a bit, and looked at the bounty poster ".... i do not recognize the handwriting, so i assume you do?" Axel nodded with a frown on his face "all pointing towards that smarmy good for nothing sniper, Braig." Shiro would grit his teeth, but turn away from Axel and Gene and proceed to sit down back in the springs, disarming himself of the fight since he was now too pissed off to even deal with these wannabe assassins, so he grabbed that towel he tossed aside from earlier, put it back over his face, and closed his eyes again, but stil very alert at the moment as he spoke up "next time i come face to face with Braig, he is getting Gae Bolg shot as an arrow at him."  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Gene was sufficiently surprised by Shiro using his bare hands to deflect the blast from the Caster Gun that the punch totally nailed him into submission and he went down sputtering into the hot springs. At the same time Suzuka listened as Axel explained the situation to Shiro all the while frowning.

"I should have guessed there was something suspicious about that man in the eye path who tipped me off on where to find the boy on the wanted posters," Suzuka was deeply embarrassed to say the least. "And, if what you say is true and there will be no payment, that means my work here is done. Sorry to cause you so much trouble. Oh, and this imbecile can show himself out," she added while gesturing to Gene who was still gurgling in the hot springs.

"No... bounty?" he managed to choke out before his throat ceased up on him and he lost the ability to speak completely.

Suzuka vanished into the night leaving a stunned Gene still flopped over in the hot springs looking like a naked idiot.


Inside the inn, meanwhile, Crystal and Roxas were now finished with their round of ping pong, predictably without bothering to keep score. Of course, going at it with such speed meant it was time to get re-hydrated and as luck would have it they finally managed to find a host who could provide them with some actual tea or just plain water or juice if they weren't feeling like more sake so that was kind of a relief. Xion was still with them for the moment although she was thinking about turning in soon so she could still have a choice of the remaining rooms.

"You two are still going to be sharing a room, right?" Xion decided to ask since there was always the possibility that Roxas or Crystal might want to have some time to themselves, as unlikely as that seemed.

Naturally, the pair hadn't even given it any thought as they both blushed a bit looking to each other for confirmation.

"Um... well, yeah... I mean, I can't think of any reason not to," Crystal was all kinds of embarrassed to be admitting that and knew Roveth would lament having missed such a fine blackmail photo opportunity.

"It's totally fine with me," Roxas added quickly. Crystal had been through a lot today what with that huge rebound from Shiro's abuse of the black blood and all. If there was ever a night when she was going to need him by her side, then this was definitely that kind of night and knew very well knew it by now.

Xion couldn't help giggling at how they both reacted. It was hard to get over how cute it was to put Roxas and Crystal on the spot like that. If no one called them out on it they were pretty quiet about how they were getting along, but draw attention to them even just a little bit and they could both turn so red!  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would sigh, picking up the towel from his face and setting it aside while looking to Axel, who had somehow tossed Shiro a bottle of aspirins he managed to find, after taking three and using a small swallowing trick he knew to take the meds without needing water, he'd look to Gene as he sighed "... pretty much, no bounty, he probably did it to annoy me since that seems to be his MO: piss everyone off until they want to kill him. normally, anger clouds one's judgment and leads to bad decisions... unfortunately for Braig.. he apparently didn't get the memo to -not- anger me." he said with a mental grumble a bit, while lightly humming a bit "so what's your name anyway, and what's that strange gun you have there?" he asked, curious since he was at least sitting here and all.

Axel would snort, but nod politely to the leaving assassin as he turned to head off as well "i'm gonna go turn in Shiro, be sure not to stay up too late." he said, Shiro humming a bit and waving his hand in a later/dismissal manner about the warning while wanting to talk to Gene about the Gun while he had a chance and all given he didn't know how long they were gonna stay at this world until they headed back for Twilight Town so Naminé could restore Kaze's memories to normal and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

It took several minutes for the thoroughly defeated and severely disappointed figure of Gene Starwind to recover from the protests of his throat after Shiro punched him, but he did eventually manage to find his voice again.

"The name's Gene Starwind," he grinned widely. He twirled the Caster Gun in his hands with a smirk. "Not surprised you haven't heard of it. This little beauty is called a Caster Gun. They're pretty ancient and you don't see them being used much nowadays, but if you can find the right shells for them they pack one hell of a punch. Kinda like you, kid. You're one tough customer. And hey, if you're interested, the manufacturers happen to live on this planet. Truth is, I actually came here to stock up on ammunition, but I got a little sidetracked when I saw those wanted posters. Figures they'd be fake. Seems like that's always happening to me and my crew. I swear when it comes making ends meet we've got the worst luck. I'm actually headed up to the summit of Mt. Nantai to negotiate with the crazy wizard lady to give me some shells if you're interested in meeting her. Men aren't supposed to be allowed up on the summit, but she'll probably make an exception if you're interesting enough and don't cause her too much trouble."


Crystal woke up the following morning to find Roxas still had his arms around her. It was really sweet how he worried about her and the fact that Roxas was worried certainly wasn't lost on Crystal. A lot had happened and some pretty drastic changes had taken place since their stay on the Soul Eater world. Crystal couldn't control what went on with Shiro any more than she could control what happened to her whenever the black blood became activated by him and her connection to him caused the resonance to rebound onto her. Roxas must have been scared every time she collapsed and the whole time he couldn't seem to do anything to help to snap her out of it when she fell into those uncomfortable trances. Truth be told, Crystal was scared too. She didn't always show it and it was difficult to put into words what she was feeling whenever she had those visions, but there was at least one feeling she was having that she could express quite easily and that was the sense of gratitude she felt whenever she did finally manage to drag herself out of that dreadful place to find herself back here, in reality, to see Roxas again. The painful memories and the fear of having to relive those memories again and again didn't go away, but it would have been so much harder if he hadn't been there.

Without really thinking about it, Crystal reflexively hugged Roxas. He was still asleep, of course, so that woke him up. Roxas blinked blearily first, a little surprised and confused by the unexpected wake-up call. "Huh?" he murmured still half-asleep. "What brought this on all of the sudden?"

"I'm just glad you're here," Crystal answered burying her face against him.

Roxas pulled her close to him and tightened his arms around her. "I guess we've both been pretty rattled by what's been happening lately."

"I used to always know what was going on with me at least so I only had to wonder about what went on with Shiro, but now I have no idea what might happen and it terrifies me," Crystal admitted quietly. "I know I don't always show what I'm feeling and I put on this brave front to keep everyone from worrying so much about me, but I'm not sure how long I can keep this up."

"We'll find a way to fix this," Roxas tried to sound comforting. He really had no idea what was the right thing to say in this situation or if there was even anything that could be done by anyone to fix what was happening. That was the real test though, wasn't it? Honestly, he didn't think there was anyone, not even Axel, who could give him advice about how to handle this. "We have to find a way to fix this," he corrected himself after a slight pause. He wanted for Crystal to be back to normal again. As much as he appreciated her being more open with him and with everyone else, she didn't deserve to be going through this, especially not the way it was happening in such a dangerous and uncontrolled fashion. If she didn't think she could handle it, then she probably knew what she was talking about.


Nevertheless, the two did emerge a little while later once Crystal had finally calmed down enough to snap back to her more usual personality of being cheerful and adventurous, although the carefree attitude was tinged with the looming weight of the visions she'd been having. Roxas would stick close to her, knowing very well now that his presence and support were making a very real difference because Crystal had said as much to him. Sure, it might get them teased slightly more than usual by Roveth, unless he was reading between the lines and understood the reasoning behind it, but Roxas at least intended not to let that get to him. Roxas could tolerate the teasing as long as he knew what he was doing was really helping Crystal.

It wasn't exactly early when the two emerged however. They hadn't actually overslept or anything like that, especially considering they hadn't actually set a schedule for when they would be leaving for Twilight Town. Still, it was definitely later than usual for Crystal as she was very usually more of a morning person although Roxas could have slept well into the afternoon if anyone might let him. Again, he didn't complain about waking up early when he was woken up by Crystal because she was nice about it and not annoying like, say, Sora. Not that Sora was an especially early riser. It was more the fact that as soon as he was awake he had to make sure everyone within range knew about it.

Shiroi Kumo was already awake and lurking outside near the hot springs enjoying some freshly brewed tea in the crisp mountain air. Xion was also just now emerging from her own room so clearly Roxas and Crystal weren't the last ones getting out of bed at least.

"Good morning," Roxas greeted Xion with a smile.

"Morning," Xion returned the greeting. "It looks like we're still missing a few people."

"I suppose it could be this relaxing atmosphere," Crystal suggested. "Or they might have gotten up early and decided to explore more of the nearby mountain range."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth of course was probably one of the few last people out of their room, looking pretty much like death warmed over, and clearly after grabbing the aspirins fromAxel who offered them and got a glass of orange juice to take them before collapsing in a chair near the others with a groan "guuuh... okay, now i know why people warned Shiro off of booze even if he desperately looked like he needed it, hangovers are the worst." he said, while pinching the bridge of his nose "though... i vaguely remember when i was throwing up earlier that Shiro got up earlier than everyone, mumbling about heading up the mountain to go meet some sage woman or something..." he said, glancing over towards where Kaze was, who looked over to Roveth, and then looked away calmly back towards a window it seemed, while Roveth just slumped over a bit "yeah yeah.. when i get better." he said with a croaky voice, before nursing his glass of water.

Shiro meanwhile was climbing up the mountain, thankfully he managed to buy a new shirt that morning with a quick bit of munny, and also gave a bit to Gene in good-will for the information about the Caster gun before they parted ways, as Gene had his own path to take up the mountain, Shiro would take the main route that's travelled instead of sneaking around, crossing his arms a bit while in mild thought, the sword at his back of course being one topic running through his head, before he felt his neck tilt forward again to make him look a moment at the ground before Apocalypse popped out looking at Shiro "s'up, meatsack?" of course that got Shiro swatting Apocalypse in the face causing the chibi demon sword to flail back a moment before coming back frowning "what was that for!?!" Shiro just looked at him with a deadpan of 'really?' before making the sword sweatdrop and shrug "so where are we going anyway?" shiro hummed in thought, before sighing "to see a female sage that lives atop the mountain here, unfortunately the inn and springs in the area near the peak are female only, so if you plan to be a pervert i am -so- going to suppress you." apocalypse chuckled a bit, waving a cartoony balled hand a bit "only if the girls have hot bods would i perv." of course, shiro eyerolled as he glared at Apocalypse, who got the hint and went back in his body once more, before continuing on his trek up the mountain.

Axel would be out and back down in the complete tourist attraction areas searching for a shop to get a cell phone with trans-dimensional connections and all, of course, that'd also take Roveth's help, but that'd be later in the day when Roveth felt well enough to let it happen.