Kingdom Hearts - Blades of Three Realms

[[XIII] Roxas]

While Shiro went on his little pilgrimage up the mountain to find himself a Caster Gun, Axel was off attempting to find himself a high tech cellphone, and Roveth spent the next several hours suffering through what remained of his hangover, the rest of the group remained at the inn where Crystal, Roxas, and Xion decided to get in a little more time just soaking in the hot springs. Crystal and Roxas in particular really just needed the time to relax and get over some of the stress that had been building because of the rebounds that were being triggered by the black blood and all. Shiroi Kumo left the teens to their own devices, not wishing to intrude on the cozy atmosphere with his own awkward brooding, wondering over just how much of Kaze's memory had been altered and how long it might take for him to be returned to normal. Just because they were on the same side and had parted on more or less positive terms when last they met, Shiroi Kumo had it on fairly strong authority that he wasn't exactly regarded as a friend by the demon gunman. Even once his memory was restored it was still very possible that Kaze might lash out at Makenshi for one reason or another out of some sense of lingering antagonism. Still, Shiroi Kumo was going to have to stick around at least long enough to help teach the young man who had inherited his brother's sword how to properly wield it, even if he did have to contend with Kaze again in order to do so.

"What a troublesome fellow," the white-haired swordsman murmured softly to himself.

*~Twilight Town: Mansion~*

Once Shiro and Axel both eventually returned from running their respective errands it wasn't long before the whole party left Hot Springs Planet Tenrei behind them to head back to Twilight Town, arriving once again at the familiar setting of the mansion on the outskirts of town.

"You know, that last world was fun and all, but it feels great to be back in my normal clothes again," Crystal was glad to finally be rid of having to wear her silver bikini for the time being.

"Maybe while we're in town we should do some shopping so you can find something you like better before you forget about it again," Roxas suggested. Sure, he didn't mind seeing Crystal in the silver bikini, but he understood that she had her reasons for objecting to it so strongly.

"That's a really good point," Crystal had to admit. "It might even be fun."

"Not to mention you should have plenty of time for it since it might take a little time for Namine to sort out Kaze's memories," added Xion.

"Yeah, you two should make a date out of it," Riku chimed in with his patented smirk. "Take your time and try to enjoy yourselves."

"Hello again to you too Riku," Roxas eyed him levelly. He wasn't at all surprised to be seeing him considering this situation did concern Namine.

"Don't forget me!" Sora waved enthusiastically in greeting. "And Kairi's here too."

"Don't worry, we're here on orders from Master Yen Sid so it's not like Sora's trying to slack off on his training or anything," added Kairi.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that," Sora had the foresight to appear at least slightly embarrassed about it.

"What is it this time? Does he want you to spar with Shiro again?" Roxas wondered what reason Master Yen Sid would have for sending Sora and Kairi down to meet them at the mansion.

"Um... actually, he said I should spar with Crystal for some reason," Sora looked confused as he tried to explain himself.

"Because you might learn something," Kairi reminded him.

"Oh yeah, that was the reason, wasn't it?" Sora still sounded skeptical. "I don't really get it though. I mean, what could she possibly have to teach me? I already know how to fight and use magic so it kinda sounds like a waste of time if you ask me."

"Oh, you're going to be sorry for that later," Roxas smirked at him. "She's going to wipe the floor with you and you won't even know what hit you."

"Sounds interesting," Crystal stretched and cracked her knuckles in what was meant to be a menacing fashion. "Don't worry Sora, I won't go too hard on you. I don't like to hurt people so I'll be pulling my punches, but you still might get a few bruises if you aren't careful."

"Wait, what?" Sora underwent the rather comical transformation confused and surprised to actually sounding just the slightest bit nervous about this looming confrontation.

"Hey Roveth, want to get the dojo simulation ready for us?" Crystal decided it would be best to get him on board so he could oversee things directly and make sure Sora didn't try to tamper with any of the sensitive computer equipment.

"And maybe while they're going at it we can finally have a proper rematch," Riku suggested while smirking at Roxas. "Unless maybe you think you're going to be too worried to concentrate."

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you," Roxas rounded on him. "Sure, I'll take you on. And I'll beat you again too."

Makenshi was rather amazed by how suddenly they were becoming so incredibly competitive.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro had been more than glad to be in his own clothes again, given how much he cheered and hugged his own cloak and pants and red shirts once more, before putting them on again, in either case when they met up with the others and all, he now sported a a black version of a Caster Gun similar to Gene's make, either way he was currently looking amused at all the banter, while putting his hands behind his head smiling regardless, he'd glance to see Makenshi's confusion, since Kaze was off with Namine at the moment to have his memories restored Roveth would have to sit outo n training for the MaGan, he'd speak up lightly "don't worry about the competitive-ness of us, Riku tends to put his foot in his mouth more often than not as well as tease Roxas royally, so that's going to be Roxas's stress relief, and Sora also has 'insert foot in mouth' syndrome as just proven in his words about Crystal." he just shook his head lightly before lookign over to Sora "by the way.. be glad its not me facing you right now with my current.. condition." he said, obviously meaning the Black Blood, given the link he had with crystal he couldn't train on it too much to master it and all ,but he'd glance over to Roveth, who was keeping a sharp eye on Sora regardless.

Roveth just hummed a bit, lightly nodding to Crystal's suggestion as he looked over the various people "lessee.. two training dojo simulators, one rolling plains world for Shiro and Kumo-san here..." he ticked off the various worlds in his head "i'll have to set one up for myself and Kaze when he's finished with Naminé and all." he then headed off to go get things set up, but he did turn to look sora right in the eyes, and sure enough, he was focusing a bit of his miasmic killing intent on him "Sora... you will -behave- when you're in my basement and not touch -ANYTHING- that you are not supposed to touch. is. this. clear?" of course, with Roveth, you -know- he was going to protect what was his, and if he had to make certain by leaving unclear consequences that, with coupled by his killing intent will mean something nasty for Sora? yeah.. you can bet very few would ever willingly piss him off. one said willing person would be Braig, but thankfully Roveth doesn't know of what he did on Tenrei, as Shiro kept it quiet, as did Axel.

speaking of Axel, he was chilling and relaxing, having some leftover foods from when Shiro cooked before their trip to Soul Eater happened and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Oh, I'm not really worried. If anything, I think this proves what good friends you all are to be able to have these interactions without any true malice between you," Shiroi Kumo assured Shiro. "You're all very fortunate to have found each other."


Sora was understandably unnerved by Roveth and remained on his best behavior the entire time he was setting up the training dojo simulations. Once the simulations were ready and they were split up into their respective training arrangements he began to relax because he couldn't cause any harm to the computer from inside meaning there wasn't any reason at that point for Roveth to get mad at him anymore. Of course, even then, Sora was still confused and nervous about not knowing what exactly Crystal was going to do to him.

Crystal had already flicked out her left hand to materialize Light's Shadow and pointed it at Sora causing him to flinch. "Relax, Roxas and Shiro were only trying to scare you. Sure, I'm being serious, but this is only training so it isn't like I'll be trying to kill you. Now, first thing's first, Regen! Protect! Shell!" she then rattled off her assortment of supportive spells, casting them both on Sora and on herself. "There, that should do it. Now we don't have to worry so much if we take a few hits while we practice. The magic will patch us right up."

"Oh right, you did the same thing when you were practicing with Kairi," Sora realized with a more relaxed look to him once he understood what was going on.

"Exactly, we aren't enemies so there's no reason this should be more painful than it has to be," Crystal responded with a grin. "Even so, I wouldn't let my guard down if I were you. Getting hit still hurts."

"Yeah, well we'll see about that," Sora materialized his Kingdom Key and got into a ready stance. Then he went into a lunge followed by a rapid flurry of blows and winced sharply when he felt Crystal strike him in the wrist, not with her own Keyblade, but with the blade of her right hand before grabbing him by the arm and flipping him over her shoulder to toss him onto his back on the floor of the virtual dojo. "Uh... what just happened?"

"Let's see, I disarmed you and flipped you over with a judo throw," Crystal stated simply by way of explanation. "Still think fighting me isn't going to be worth the effort?"

Sora picked himself up and began sizing Crystal up a little more seriously now that he'd been knocked down once already. "Don't you usually fight with two Keyblades like Roxas does?"

"Well, I can, but that's more something I do for the purpose of dual casting my magic," Crystal explained mildly. "Besides, fighting like this gives me a little more flexibility in my options."

"Huh, I never thought of that," Sora admitted. This time when he lunged at Crystal he activated his Sonic Blade technique attempting to string the blows together in a chain, but of course Crystal deflected each strike with ease. "Wait, how are you doing that?"

"You learned that move from Cloud, didn't you?" Crystal mused as she made very minimal movements to deflect each blow with very precise timing. "I know the timing so you aren't going to be able to hit me with that one either."

Next up, Sora went into his Ars Arcanum combo which Crystal parried with Light's Shadow up until he floated up into the air to unleash the follow-up barrage of magic projectile blasts. Crystal waited for the blasts to converge toward a single point, very near to impacting with her directly, and flung her own blade into the space where the blasts collided using a Strike Raid. Sora saw the opening and went in to take another swing at Crystal, but instead of waiting for the blade to return in boomerang fashion Crystal had already called Light's Shadow back to her hand to intercept Sora's swing.

"So, are we having fun yet?" Crystal smirked before pushing back on the Kingdom Key to force Sora back slightly.

"Now you're just asking for it!" Sora declared while striking back with greater force. After having so many of his special moves deflected or stopped outright he was definitely starting to take this match seriously.


Meanwhile, in the other dojo simulation, Roxas was issuing a no holds barred beat-down on Riku that no amount of spamming his Dark Teleport was going to spare him from when Roxas could easily anticipate what Riku was doing and could move fast enough to circumvent Riku's attempts to evade him for the most part. Compared to Crystal's mostly friendly match against Sora, Roxas was being positively brutal to poor Riku, not that Riku couldn't take the punishment and wasn't giving as good as he was getting. It was a very useful trick, but his Dark Teleport was far from the only move Riku had at his disposal. Granted, his Dark Shield didn't help much against Roxas's many and varied guard-breaking combo finishers so Riku still had to be careful of facing off against Roxas at close range. Roxas naturally made this difficult by capitalizing on his speed to force the fight into a close quarters battle to keep Riku on his toes. Even so, Riku wasn't going to go down easily and was matching most of Roxas's blows with a similar display of strength even if Roxas's dual wielding did give him a dangerous edge that Riku was entirely too aware of. Paired with Roxas's highly aggressive fighting style, however, it was practically impossible for Riku to find any real openings while fighting him.

Okay, maybe this wasn't my best idea, Riku thought as he did his best to continue blocking and evading the powerful blows from Roxas's Oathkeeper and Oblivion Keyblades. There was no denying that Roxas was definitely stronger than the last time they had fought.


And, finally, Makenshi would have entered the rolling plains simulation with Shiro to begin teaching him how to wield his brother's old Ma-Ken as well as the power of Mist. From the way he handled himself, Shiroi Kumo was highly confident that Shiro was going to be a very fast learner.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro of course would have normally struggled to learn how to use a new weapon, but it seemed this time, between the flowing memories of Madoushi, Makenshi's own instructions, and his own instincts when it came to learning, it seemed he was quickly getting the hang of wielding the Ma-Ken in combat, as well as using mist to attack, immobilize, or even learning how to properly breathe it out even, it seemed touching the blade had also imparted some of the... qualities? of Madoushi, namely the red mist, and his ability to paralyze people with it outside of entrapping them. the sword dragon summons were a bit harder only due to the fact Shiro had to learn the techniques of making the mist bottles and filling them appropriately, but those were easier once he got the hang of tracing them, and with a good bit of theory behind it he did achieve semi-permanent tracings, but he could only do it on small mundane things liek taking the concept of 'damage' out of the object, thus the world's will couldn't tear at its fabrics, but the more.. mythical the item, the less of a chance he had of doing it, so he used it instead to create the mist bottles, and making them impervious to everything sans a blow from his sword. of course, he also learned how to use Flare Sword, and by association, he managed to even upgrade it to a Flareja Sword, and learned the fire based spells in sword form as well, it seemed that having touched a relic much like the Ma-Ken has definitely awakened Shiro's drinking in of Knowledge again, and was soaking it up like a sponge. even summoning, once past the initial problems of getting working bottles, was easy, and he'd be able to fight Makenshi on an almost even level, by almost, it still meant Makenshi beat him hands down due to the gap of experience, but he was getting very comfortable in things, not only that, due to a quirk or something in his body, or something leftover of Madoushi's DNA, merged with Shiro, and allowed him to breathe out mist naturally like Makenshi, though his was, as expected, red in color. thankfully, a few generous applications and designs from Makenshi and some help from Roveth to go procure and make it, Shiro would also sport a mask similar to his, looking slightly embarrassed, though thankfully it was red and black in color.

Roveth would, of course, get into the system itself, but would leave a message for Crystal to show Sora out of the bacement once they were done, since Kaze was just released from Namine's clutches about halfway into the learning process for Shiro, or in relative terms, halfway through Roxas beating Riku down into a pulp and all. once Kaze and Roveth were inside a similar plains one like Shiro and Shiroi Kumo, the MaGan users got to work in the arts of Soil, and Kaze, remembering his times being taught by his lone companion that had sacrificed himself to end that blighted piece of Chaos, would be an immeasurable teaching experience, especially when they got to Dueling with summons, and learning various combinations, of course, Roveth also learned, through the MaGan about a certain bullet set that was once used by a certain water idiot named Pisto, and that it was not a true combination, but close enough to two different combinations that had relatively the same name, so stories were swapped, soil was fired, and the Ma-Gans were put to their full test, thankfully between the two learning duels of Kaze and Roveth, and Shiro and Makenshi, the computer system managed to hold up well, much better than the water Labryinth thingy Pisto had and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Sora became increasingly frustrated by his profound inability to land any decisive hits on Crystal while they were training together inside the dojo simulation. It was like she could read his every move the same way that Riku often did, only she wasn't being mean about it. She was genuinely giving him a chance to recover between attacks and waited patiently to see what he would try to do next. This went on for nearly six hours until Sora started to get tired of being given the run around and finally noticed that Crystal hadn't made a single direct attack against him the entire time they were fighting. And from that he realized that Crystal had been toying with him by allowing him to tire himself out while she remained on the defensive to avoid over-exerting herself in the process.

"Hey, no fair making me do all the hard work!" Sora cried out in protest once he realized what was really going on with his so-called training.

"Oh, so you've finally caught on, have you?" Crystal seemed utterly unfazed by Sora's highly visible frustration at realizing he'd been tricked. "Although I suppose it is probably getting to be time we wrapped this up," she added in a slightly more serious tone as she switched gears and went on the offensive, rushing at Sora with a rapid flurry of horizontal and vertical swings.

"Now that's more like it!" Sora's usual enthusiasm came back into his voice as he swung wildly to counter the swings from Crystal's blade and started to force her back with some liberal application of brute force. What Sora didn't realize was that he had fallen into yet another trap. Crystal seemed to be deflecting and countering the swings of Sora's Kingdom Key, but as she was doing so she was strategically maneuvering the both of them into moving in a spiral motion.

"It's over!" Crystal declared the instant they reached the center of the spiral.

"Huh?" Sora blinked at her in confusion as he suddenly found the Kingdom Key locked in place by Crystal's Light's Shadow Keyblade.

"Hiryuu Shoten Ha! Flying Dragon Ascension Strike!" Crystal formed a fist with her right hand and thrust it into the center of the spiral, causing Sora to become launched within a vortex of his and Crystal's combined battle auras through the roof of the simulated dojo. Sora remained aloft within the draconic tornado until the wind eventually died down and he plummeted back down to earth, slamming down on his back in the middle of the floor of the dojo now with its own sunroof. The Kingdom Key had already vanished from his grasp the instant Sora was flung into the air and by the time he hit the ground again Crystal had already dismissed her weapon as well so she could offer Sora a hand up.

"Sorry, I think I maybe overdid it a little," Crystal admitted while appreciating the damage to the simulated dojo. "But you did want me to fight seriously."

Sora was in a good amount of pain after hitting the ground, but that faded quickly as the Regen magic was still in effect. "What even was that?" he asked while accepting Crystal's help getting back on his feet.

"A trick I picked up on one of the many worlds I've visited," Crystal admitted with a grin. "How it works is you get your opponent to move in a heated spiral, either by them having a ton of fighting spirit or by getting them angry first, and then applying a blast of low temperature or a cool battle aura at the center to launch them into the resulting vortex. Generally, it works best on an opponent significantly stronger than you are when you've run out of other options for dealing with them."

"And I walked right into that one," Sora realized looking suitably embarrassed with himself.

"Not a bad send off, right?" Crystal inquired while getting ready to exit the simulation. "You certainly aren't lacking in power and you've got plenty of raw energy to keep you going, but you should really try to pay more attention to what your opponent is doing. Take it from me, there's nothing wrong with slowing down to come up with a plan in the middle of a fight."

Once they exited the simulation Crystal would find Roveth's message to escort Sora out of the basement if he and Shiro weren't finished with their respective training exercises yet. Roxas and Riku had finished their battle hours ago, with Roxas gaining the upper hand in the end when he managed to knock the wind out of Riku by smacking him down on his back. Granted, while Crystal and Sora were entirely unharmed after their training courtesy of Crystal's Regen magic, Roxas and Riku were both covered in bruises and what was left of a pair of comically mirrored bloody noses. Naturally, the only reason they were both still down in the basement was because they had stayed to watch Crystal run circles around Sora throughout the majority of his training session.

"You doofus, you might have had her if you hadn't let things drag on so long that you let yourself get frustrated," Riku jumped right into teasing Sora with an amused smirk.

"Oh, I seriously doubt it," Roxas interjected. "She would have found some other way to beat him if it would have come to that."

"Still, that was pretty surprising," Sora had to admit. "She's really tough and you wouldn't know it from looking at her or by the way she acts. And I know I would have been in trouble if she was really going all out because then I'd have to deal with that scary magic or those summons she uses."

"You might want to keep that in mind for the next time we clash like this," Crystal pointed out to him. "But, for right now, let's head back upstairs to grab a bite to eat. I might be able to run circles around you, Sora, but that doesn't mean it isn't exhausting."

"Yeah, I'm kinda tired and hungry too," Sora admitted without complaint. At least the very least he wasn't being any trouble after the fact.


Inside the simulation with Shiro, Makenshi was certainly very impressed by how quickly the boy was learning how to wield his newfound weapon and the abilities that went along with it. Shiro was proving to be an ideal student.


Roxas and Riku both refused to be treated with Crystal's healing magic, both apparently wanting to savor their respective bruises. There was still plenty of food to snack on in the kitchen so Crystal and Sora helped themselves, with Roxas and Riku both joining in a little more modestly since while their battle had been rather brutally intense it wasn't anywhere near as physically draining as the drawn out battle that had taken place between the other two. Not long after they arrived in the kitchen, Namine also appeared since she knew they were finished with their training and she had long since finished with restoring Kaze's memory quite easily, in fact, as there wasn't too much that really needed adjusting and the pieces were all still in one place so that made her job a great deal easier. However, even though the situation with Kaze had been sorted, Namine still looked like there was something that was bothering her.

"Roxas, Crystal, there's something I need to show you," she spoke hesitantly knowing there was a good chance Crystal wouldn't be too thrilled to discover that Namine had been viewing some of her recent memories.

"What's this all about?" Roxas wondered, obviously becoming more than a little bit worried.

"It'll be easier to explain by showing you, but I think you already know that Crystal's memories are becoming unstable," Namine informed them both. "It might be pretty serious too."

Crystal's hand clenched around her fork, snapping it expertly in half. She wasn't angry though. She was just kind of freaked out that Namine could read into things like that.

They left the confused pair of Sora and Riku to carry on with eating and went up to Namine's white room which, for today, had its walls covered in drawings taken straight from the visions of the memories that Crystal had while being influenced by the black blood both while on the Soul Eater world and again while on Hot Springs Planet Tenrei.

"Are these the scenes that you've been seeing?" Roxas looked to Crystal for some confirmation and she merely nodded.

She placed her hand on one drawing in particular. "Namine, I've got to hand it to you, as eerie as this is, you do an excellent job of capturing these moments on paper. Jake, Tyriel, Blaze, Scythe, and even Silver and Master Shiva. They're all here."

"You've led a particularly difficult life, hailing from a war torn world in constant conflict," Namine addressed the matter at hand. "Motivated by loss and betrayal, you've been traumatized more than once. The Keyblade War took away everyone precious to you and left you stranded in an unfamiliar time with no one to turn to. You were strong, resilient, and your heart did mend itself in time, but the patchwork is coming undone because you aren't ready to face it yet. The madness produced by Shiro's black blood rebounding into you by the link between you is using that vulnerability to try to take control of you, but I'm afraid that before that happens you might just break completely."

"What do you mean?" Roxas demanded.

"Roxas, if she keeps fighting herself like this, it could kill her," Namine answered seriously.

"So, the black blood is that dangerous, huh?" Crystal didn't seem especially surprised. But then, she'd felt it, hadn't she? When she clashed with that image of her younger self on the platform of her Dive Into the Heart. She felt like she might wind up destroying herself.

"The way it interacts with your memories of the past and present makes it dangerous for you especially," Namine confirmed. "Shiro needs to be told not to overuse the black blood until we find some way to sever the link that exists between you two."

"Well, right now we don't even know whether or not Shiro can sustain himself on his own, but if what Kaze and Shiroi Kumo told us is true and he really is an Unlimited, then I guess I'm the one whose really in more danger in this situation," Crystal had to admit. "So, I suppose I'm open to suggestions."

"There is one thing, although I'm not certain how much it will really help you," Namine pointed out one drawing in particular. A drawing of an oddly stone-looking orange flame.

Crystal stared long and hard at it. "The Frozen Flame. A powerful magical artifact no one is even certain exists. Naturally, that means I've never seen it, but I'd recognize that shape anywhere," Crystal acknowledged while she looked it over some more. "Well, if we're going to find it, the only place to look is El Nido. That's where the legends come from so if it's going to be anywhere it's probably somewhere among those islands."

"Then we're just going to have to go there and find it," Roxas agreed without hesitation.

Crystal nodded. "And we'll have to keep Shiro on a short leash while we're at it." She looked to another drawing in particular. "And Namine, get rid of that before anyone else has a chance to see it. That's one place Shiro should never, ever know about."

The drawing in question was, of course, a picture of the notorious Keyblade Graveyard.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

it would probably be a few hours further after the others, more particularly Crystal and Sora's fight ended, that the first one to arrive back of the two learning ones was Shiro and Makenshi, the former of the two having at least gotten a good hold of everything skill wise, and needed only experience and learning how to possibly turn others into mist via using it on enemies, among other ideas Shiro had in mind. , of course, the boy also would at least have opened up a bit to the white swordsman about him slef a bit, as well as offering a place in the mansion for Makenshi to stay whenever he dropped by Twilight Town, since Shiro figured, much like Kaze, Makenshi was a wanderer and it'd be at least nice to have a free open room so he didn't have to spend cash or find someplace uncomfortable to stay. also once they were out, shiro would get to work after snatching Axel up for kitchen duties and start making a particularly large dinner for everyone, even though some ate snacks already, food was still good, as Hunger is the enemy.

Roveth would appear probably an hour later with Kaze, the same offer extended which the Silent man had agreed to since his.. student was here, and if he found or used new combinations then he'd teach Roveth them, as it was the boy learned quite a lot, even how to summon Soil on his own directly without needing to have sacrifices, outside of a certain bullet combination at least. Roveth would get to work in setting the dojo's and plains worlds aside in the computer system and putting up anti-hacking firwall bubbles around them to keep them from being accessed, and re-hooked up the two twilight town simulations, one that was the struggle simulator for Hayner, and the basic Twilight Town that was originally in the system, for other uses of course. after that, he'd head up stairs with the gunman to check on everyone.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Kairi and Xion had both left the mansion not long after everyone got settled into training or, in the case of Namine, locked up in her room busy with something. At Kairi's insistence they ended up at the Usual Spot to find Hayner, Pence, and Olette to hangout for the remainder of the day. It proved to be a rather nice diversion from the usual craziness that seemed to surround the different factions within the steadily growing group of friends at the mansion.


Shiroi Kumo graciously accepted the offer of a room at the mansion for his use when he was in Twilight Town. He would certainly be wanting to check up on Shiro to look into his progress with the Ma-Ken and he also wanted to keep in touch with the young princess now that he knew she about her situation in this strange era. The white-haired swordsman ended up settling quietly into the kitchen, pulling up a chair to wait for the meal that was being prepared by Shiro and Axel.

Sora was still chowing down on the snacks while Riku was giving him a few pointers about Crystal's fighting style and how to try to counter it, but Sora wasn't really listening.

"So, where are you guys going to be headed next?" Sora piped up between mouthfuls addressing Shiro and Axel in particular. "Or are you maybe going to stay in Twilight Town for a while now that you're back?"


Crystal turned her attention to the drawing of the Frozen Flame again. "When you find something you want, you take it. When you get your hands on what you're after, you hold on tight and don't ever let it go. You don't let anyone or anything try to stop you. Even if a thing might not exist, you go out and you find it anyway because that's what being a thief with the Radical Dreamers is all about. There are no limitations, only an infinite amount of possibilities that haven't been realized yet."

Crystal slammed her fist into her open palm with a smirk. "I haven't been bested yet and I don't plan to be. The universe can kick me around all it wants to. I'm used to it. And I'm still not giving up!"

"I wish I had that kind of confidence," Namine was somewhat taken aback by the transformation in Crystal's attitude.

"It's not confidence. I'm just incredibly stubborn," Crystal scratched behind her ear looking slightly embarrassed. "Really though, you don't have to worry so much about me getting mad. Sure, I'm not thrilled that you've got such direct access to what's been going on inside my head, but I'm not going to hold it against you. I don't do grudges. They don't solve anything. Besides, we're friends. It wouldn't be right. So yeah, don't worry about it. And rest assured, somehow, someway, I'll be fine." She slammed her fist into her palm again looking to some of the assorted drawings of her old friends from her old life. "I promise, I won't let anyone else down. Not when there's still something I can do about it."

"Okay, why don't we head back down to find something to eat before Sora eats it all?" Roxas suggested while patting Crystal on the back lightly. It was strangely comforting to see her so fired up like this though. And he did wonder a little where that abundance of inner strength had come from, but it didn't seem right at the moment to ask.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Crystal quickly agreed as her stomach gave a not-so-subtle growl. "Keeping up with him for that many hours was exhausting and I'm seriously hungry. And it smells like Shiro is cooking again."

Crystal and Roxas excused themselves from Namine's room to return to the kitchen. After they had done so, Namine would remove the drawing of the Keyblade Graveyard from the wall to dispose of it so that the others wouldn't find out about it like Crystal had wanted. Naturally, she understood what might be at stake if Shiro were to learn of it and agreed that it should remain a secret from him for that very reason.


"It looks like everyone finally got done with their training," Roxas noted as they poked their heads into the kitchen to find a place to sit down while waiting for Shiro and Axel to finish with the cooking. He and Crystal were in much better spirits after that odd little motivational speech Crystal had given herself before they had left Namine's room.

"We might not have planned on it, but today ended up being pretty busy for all of us," Crystal added before she just had to laugh because Shiro just had to always wear that particular apron whenever he was cooking. "Shiro, where the heck did that even come from?"  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

said apron, of course would be a red apron with a skillet and a spatula crossed like swords, with the words underneath 'I am the bone of my Skillet.' of course Shiro just sweat-dropped a bit after setting down a few of the first plates coming out "it actually was something given to me by a friend of my mentor's, after my mentor taught me cooking to go along with my thaumaturgy and all." he started back towards the kitchen "something about 'being sinfully good at cooking while having a Reality Marble just made the apron fit.' didn't help my mentor had one similarly to it as well as a gag gift one christmas if i remember his stories right." of course, he went back into the kitchen while Axel started coming out with the next batch of plates and all as well. Shiro would stick his head out though as he hummed a bit in thought "well, i'm all for staying, but it seems Crystal has an idea of someplace to go, so as usual, my wandering days are far from done."

Roveth just chuckled a bit lightly "apparently the poor girl who was said mentor's Friend, was a bit of a tsundere, but she meant well about the gift, since in a way it did fit Shiro, with his good cooking and of course, the parody of the first line in his aria." of course he'd start digging in savoring on the food and passing some for Kaze, who had also sat down to enjoy a good meal, of course using his free hand as Roveth hadn't yet figurted out how to modify the MaGan to be able to use both arms and all more appropriately outside of sliding the MaGan casing off, which for Kaze he was a bit self conscious of it not being there so.

Axel of course had sat down after finishing his part of the dinner, and would start eating "well, i might stay here in Twilight Town for a bit myself, but given from what i can tell on Roxas's expressions.. i think i might follow the group again, if only to play the moral support." he said with a small smile, granted, he didn't mind taking a back seat and just watching the fireworks, since he figured things won't get too tough for the moment.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Once dinnertime rolled around Kairi and Xion headed back to the mansion. When they mentioned that Shiro was back in town with everyone else Hayner, Pence, and Olette decided to tag along to take advantage of his hospitality and his cooking. Thus, by the time Shiro and Axel were bringing out the food they were greeted by an especially full dining room.

"It's not so much an idea as it is a necessity," Crystal admitted while trying not to sound overly concerned about it. The little speech she had given herself up in the white room had gotten her motivated, sure, but she knew there was still plenty of risk involved in what they were going to be trying to do. "Namine just told me and Roxas that those rebounds I've been experiencing from the black blood are having a worse effect on me than we thought. Being dragged down into my past memories while the madness is taking hold and I'm still fighting for control is re-opening the old wounds in my heart. The madness has taken the form of my feelings of loss and betrayal, a version of myself who resents the worlds and everything in them. I don't think I need to explain why that's a very bad thing and why I've been struggling so hard to keep myself at the reigns the way I have been."

"Geez Crystal, I didn't realize you were so fragile," Riku knew perfectly well that she was being serious. He'd certainly seen the drawings when Namine first started working on them. But being overly serious about it was only going to bring down the mood of the whole room and these were the times when keeping everyone's spirits up was most important.

"Very funny," Crystal shrugged mildly. "Anyway, we might have come up with a solution to sever the link between me and Shiro while also possibly stabilizing his heart back to normal so he can sustain himself again, but it's a bit of a long shot. We need to find a legendary artifact that might not even exist, the Frozen Flame. I know the world it might appear on, but beyond that I have no leads unless I can meet up with an old friend of mine whose been searching for the thing for years now. And even then, she might not know anything too helpful. Still, it's the best chance we've got so we're going to have to return to El Nido to search every inch of those islands, on both sides of the dimensional divide if we have to."

"Obviously, I'm going with them," added Roxas. "It will probably take some time so we might not be back for a while."

"Man, this all sounds way too heavy," Hayner didn't really understand most of what they were talking about, but he knew it sounded pretty bad.

"Well, I'm going too," Xion spoke up. "Crystal is my friend too and she needs all the help she can get. Otherwise she'll just find some way to get herself into even more trouble somehow."

"So, basically, you'll all be sticking together just like before," Sora pointed out seeming entirely unfazed by the dire nature of the conversation thus far. "And you just need to keep Shiro from utilizing this 'black blood' that you mentioned in the meantime so you want to avoid combat as much as possible until you find this Frozen Flame thing that you're going to be looking for. Don't worry, the rest of us will pick up the slack while you're doing that," he assured everyone. "Although, if you guys need a little downtime before starting that search on El Nido, you might want to check out Atlantica. It's a peaceful world without any Heartless and I'll bet Sebastian would love to borrow Shiro's singing talents for one of his concerts."

Just like that Sora had somehow succeeded at disarming all of the tension in the room at once as all eyes, even those of persons who weren't even going to be accompanying the group off world, fell onto Shiro.

"Oh, we're so totally going," Roxas grinned entirely too much at the prospect of Shiro getting coerced into more singing antics.

"Yep, definitely," Crystal nodded sagely. "How could we not after a pitch like that?"

"It'll be fun," Xion was also in total agreement. "Plus, we get to hear Shiro sing again."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth blinked at Sora's suggestion, while apparently mildly surprised he knew of Shiro's singing talents, he then grinned a bit too amused himself, much like Roxas as he turned right towards his light half who was in the kitchen, but if one could see the nervous sweat on his face, you can -definitely- tell he's been overhearing the conversation all too easily "oh yes... Shiro's singing capabilities that outstrip even Demyx's... yes.. i think Atlantica would be a definite good detour." he'd say, grinning even more as the sweat increased, thankfully Shiro came out with more food, since he saw the increase of people, and continued to work to keep himself busy from not minorly freaking out about having to sing -again-.

Axel of course just chuckled, seeing the conspiring twinkle in everyone's eyes about Shiro's supposedly 'impossible' singing talents "hmm... that does sound like a good idea to me, even though Sebastian might beg and plead for Shiro to stay and continue singing, as would the mermaids i bet, dunno bout King Triton." he commented while Shiro started to get a bit paler at the mention of that, but he still managed to produce quality food so it was all good teasing and all as he continued eating... yum.

Shiro would bring out the next plates for the newcomers, while looking pleadingly to Crystal since she was the one who took hold of the idea and was running with it "come on Crystal! don't we have more urgent matters to deal with?" he said in an almost whine leaving Axel and Shiro laughing at his begging to -not- sing.. yeah like that was going to work.of course, Chibi-Apocalypse would pop out once more from the back of Shiro's neck, sparing his shirt and looking around a bit lightly "what's so good about my host's singing anyway? seems like i missed some interesting stuff before i was created." Shiro would look up to Apocalypse "not you too! come on, can't we just let the singing go?" Roveth and Axel looked between each other and then the other conspirators before grinning widely "Nope! not going to miss this chance in a heartbeat!" Kaze just sweatdropped at the antics, and continued eating, though he did speak up at least so as to distract people (probably unhelpfully) ".... this is very good food." he'd comment while resuming his eating and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"It's not like a quick detour to Atlantica will make much of a difference," Crystal shrugged with a highly visible smirk. "We don't exactly know where to begin searching for the Frozen Flame once we get to El Nido so taking our time getting there by visiting a friendly world we know to be safe isn't exactly putting my life in jeopardy. We're just going to have a bit of fun first to take the edge off. It's just a happy coincidence that you'll be the one providing the entertainment."

"I'd be fine with doing my part to help out too, but we both know that you're the one Sebastian is going to be more likely to pick to sing the lead," Roxas added encouragingly although the conspiratorial nature of his expression was insanely obvious.

"Shiro's cooking really is the best," Xion decided to join Kaze on the other front, thereby targeting Shiro's sensibilities from two sides at once.

"It sounds like you're all decided then," Riku was also smirking his patented smirk in amusement at Shiro's expense at the moment.

"You sure lead some pretty busy lives," Pence chimed in. "But definitely let us know whenever you do make it back to Twilight Town again."


Once dinner was over there would be a sizable gathering atop the clock tower to indulge in some sea salt ice cream. Then, by the following morning, the group consisting of Crystal, Roxas, Xion, Shiro, Roveth, and Axel would be departing for the next world of Atlantica.

*~Atlantica~*

"Are you kidding me?" Crystal took one look down at herself and scowled in defiance. "A silver clam-shell bikini top? Really? How? How is this even a thing? Where did they even get the silver clam shells? That's it, I swear the universe is out to get me!" She didn't mind the electric-blue scaled tail fin though. That she could totally deal with.

Xion's tail fin was something of a marvel in and of itself, with prismatic black scales that shown in different colors depending on how the light was hitting them to rather spectacular effect. Her clam shell bikini top was a somewhat more normal dark purple in color. It was hard not to want to laugh at the way Crystal so immediately took offense at her silver clam-shell bikini top.

"I find it hard to believe you didn't expect that this would happen," Xion pointed out while giggling.

"Oh, I fully expected it," Crystal continued to flail. "I was just kind of hoping I'd be wrong for once."

"Come on, it really isn't so bad," Roxas commented while breaking in his new dolphin tail by zooming around like a complete natural. His dolphin tail was notably sleeker than Sora's and seemed to have salmon pink markings on either side to resemble racing stripes. "Besides, it looks good on you."

And cue instant and immediate blushing from Crystal.

"Hey, Sora's back!" the group was soon greeted by the arrival of Flounder.

Roxas twitched mildly. "Oh boy, here we go again," he grumbled to himself.

"Hey Sora, it's been a while... oh wait, I don't think that's Sora... he looks kinda different," Ariel noticed Flounder's mistake and quickly corrected him.

"Yeah, that's because I'm definitely not Sora," Roxas reiterated pointedly. "I'm Roxas. For some reason we get mixed up a lot."

"But we are friends with Sora," added Xion.

"He was the one who recommended we should visit," Crystal decided to tact on quickly. "And we've brought along rising new star to audition for Sebastian's next concert."

She sure was laying it on thick today now wasn't she?  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth had a tail similar in looks to a Killer whale, or Orca in the other case of name wise, as he crossed his arms looking to Crystal in amusement at her flailing over the world transformation and all. of course he also looked over to his light half who seemed to be sulking in his own silent masked way and just chuckled "well, at least when we can get him to stop feeling self conscious about his singing." he said with amusement.

Axel just was swimming around himself, getting used to his own tail, in which he actually looked the part of a lionfish. probably made him more flamboyant than ever though as he grinned swimming back over to float next to Roxas and Xion "plus, if Sora -was- here, then Donald and Goofy probably would be too." he'd point out with amusement while looking at the sulking Shiro and all.

Shiro himself had been given a tail similar to a Great-White Shark, however he was pouting behind his mask, because he A: didn't have the comforting weight of the Ma-Ken, but also B: would be singing again "i'm not -that- good.." he muttered, clearly thinking otherwise from everyone else while looking off to the side, brows furrowed in concentration and all as he mentally grumbled to himself. clearly his scars were also showing on his chest and back, which was -another- thing he was not so happy about.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Sure you are!" Crystal clapped Shiro on the back to give him a little encouragement. "But you've still got to audition first!"

Roxas really had to admire the way Crystal was able to stay upbeat like this even though she knew what was at stake. Her cheerfulness wasn't being forced either. She was just being herself having fun by messing with Shiro to lighten the mood because he was being way too uptight, even though Shiro himself was partly responsible for her predicament in the first place. It wasn't about tossing blame around and there weren't any hard feelings. In fact, right now Crystal was more concerned with convincing Shiro to stop being so embarrassed about his singing talent. In moments like these it was easy to see that they really were best friends, considering their more usual interactions were much more subtle to the point that the only way of picking up on it was by the fact that they always seemed to be traveling together.

"Here's an idea, why don't we all audition?" Roxas suggested. "That should take some of the pressure off of Shiro, plus it'll be fun to see what we can all come up with."

There was an audible squeak from the vicinity of Xion given that she hadn't yet been coerced into singing during any of their karaoke night antics and this was going to be a first for her if she let herself get talked into it. Crystal looked slightly embarrassed at first, but then her expression changed into a thoughtful smile.

"Yeah, if we all audition it'll be fine, won't it Shiro?" Crystal eyed him mildly.

"You're serious?" Xion squeaked again.

"Why not?" Roxas did his best to sound encouraging. "Even if we don't all make it into the actual concert, just auditioning should be plenty of fun, right Axel?"

"Hey Roveth, what about you? You'll give it a shot too, won't you?" Crystal chimed in.

"Oh wow, with so many of you showing up to audition, Sebastian is going to be thrilled!" Flounder was practically bursting with excitement himself.

"We should hurry up and see if he can squeeze you all in before the next rehearsal is set to begin!" added Ariel.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Axel had hummed in thought, shrugging lightly "well i can't say i'm as good as Demyx or Shiro, but i can at least maybe sing a little, so why not?" he said, while scratching his hair a bit in thought and looked over to Shiro, who was looking rather conflicted and all about singing in general while seeing everyone try to get him to sing and all. of course he knew he wasn't a great singer like Shiro himself, but Axel could belt some tunes to at least keep up with Demyx, he had to really, given the lazy slacker kept pulling him into a small competition via the karaoke machine...

Roveth meanwhile hummed a bit in thought, glancing over to Shiro, then to Crystal and Roxas both, as if contemplating saying no, but he figured even if he hadn't uttered a note of singing himself before, he probably wasn't as good as Shiro naturally was, so he shrugged a bit, giving off a smile and such and put his hands behind his head looking over to Crystal "i'm game. though i probably won't be as good as Shiro , i'll still do it." of course this got a surprised look from Shiro, given that Roveth usually would -never- participate in the so called Karaoke nights due to usually wanting to be outside and alone and all, which is true, but for this once he didn't go against the crowd since he did really want to hear his light sing.

Shiro just stared at everyone with eyes wide as he then glanced to the side, seeming in thought given he could see they were honestly wanting to join in, but the fact he'd have to as well was pressing him into a corner as he sighed, and shook his head finally in relenting amusement before letting the mask part and open up to reveal his face, despite his scars showing completely and all "alright, alright, i get the hint, you want me to sing.. i'll join in.. i just considered our eventual destination more urgent because who knows when the Black Blood might act up even when i'm not under duress or attack." he said, while frowning a bit lightly befor sighing, and scratching his cheek a bit in nervousness, probably more the fact that he had his scars on display and the fact he was about to be singing again and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Alright, alright. I'm a busy crab so we haven't got all day," Sebastian was looking even more stressed out than usual as he fumbled with a selection of music sheets he was going over before the group managed to find him. "So make it snappy and decide which of you will be auditioning first."

Shiro was still practically a raw nerve of embarrassment and awkwardness so once again Roxas decided to have some fun with taking the lead. "How about if I go first so Shiro has a little more time to pull himself together," he suggested it like he was trying to be nice, but really he just wanted to make Shiro feel like he had to actually work for his success instead of just relying on his raw talent. He picked out a song and found the sheet music for the band. Apparently these guys have sheet music for everything, not unlike the obscene music selection in Demyx's karaoke machine.

"Everyday we just keep going through the motions and we don't know why // Seems like we never stop to take the time to know this life as it goes by // But there's a whole world out there, it's a miracle to see - // Like the colors of the rainbow, it's a living symphony" Roxas started off with just singing, but as the first chorus came up he then materialized Oathkeeper to start stirring up some bubbles and making pretty flashes while he got more involved with dancing through the environment to really start showing off. Oh yes, he was really getting into this. "So open your eyes // It's easy to do // Just take the time // And look around you // Never forget: // This is a beautiful world" He also began mingling with the various colorful sea creatures in the band as he continued to sing. "Do we really celebrate the beauty that surrounds us every single day // Or ever realize the gifts that we've been given might just go away? // We can't let it happen, it's up to you and me // We've got to work together, it's our responsibility" If they hadn't already cleared up that whole misunderstanding about Roxas being confused for Sora, then the familiar choreography he was using for his dance moves probably would confused the issue even further. "So open your eyes // It's easy to do // Just take the time // And look around you // Never forget: // This is a beautiful world" Roxas slowed down a little to focus on the lyrics for the next verse to be sure he got the delivery just right. "There's a whole world out there // Be thankful everyday // And grateful for the magic // It touches us so many ways" And then it was back into the chorus again with plenty more flashy flourishes using Oathkeeper to accent his dancing before the music eventually faded out. "So open your eyes // It's easy to do // Just take the time // And look around you
Never forget: // This is a beautiful world (Oh, yeah) // So open your eyes // It's easy to do // Just take the time // And look around you // Never forget: // This is a beautiful world // Just take the time // And open your eyes // Never forget: // This is a beautiful world // It's a beautiful world, oh // Oh, just open your eyes // This is a beautiful world // It's a beautiful world"

Roxas dismissed Oathkeeper once it was over while seeming quite pleased with his own performance. Sebastian eyed him quizzically, "Are you sure, boy, you haven't performed here in Atlantica before? That voice and those moves, you seem awfully familiar."

"Heh, I get that lot, but it really is my first time here," Roxas merely grinned in amusement.

"Okay, whose next?" Sebastian couldn't place him so he decided not to dwell too much on that.

"You were great!" Crystal naturally began pouring her attention onto Roxas, for the moment forgetting that they still hadn't heard Shiro's performance.

"Wow Roxas, I didn't know you could perform like that!" Xion was similarly impressed.

Roxas blushed a little looking slightly embarrassed by the praise, but then he smirked over at Shiro. "So, think you can top that?" Yeah, that's right, he just made it into an official challenge.