First Meetings: A False Beginnings Spin-Off (1X1)

[Mssr Miles]

The cup held within the Time Witches’ hands made a soft clinking sound as she returned it to the table, her dark eyes locked onto Sabin’s gaze. The man was so perceptive... a natural talent that he used with little thought. A talent that he didn’t seem to trust as much as he needed to if he was going to survive the oncoming darkness... though, no matter which path Yuuko looked down, it seemed that not many of them survived the coming darkness – though, as long as Locke and Reno kept on their set path, then they had a chance to bring them back... eventually.

Yuuko’s hand came foreward, brushing a few stray hairs back into place, and she smiled as she drew her hand back. Sabin wanted to know her wish... how sweet of him. He wouldn’t be able to grant her wish, of course, no matter how hard he tried. Even if he bore a strong heart, he could not wield the Key that would lead the worlds to the balance it needed... Ah, but back to Sabin. All her thinking had distressed the poor man.

Tilting her head to the side, she stated, “I have a wish, like many others do, one deep in the recess of my heart that I would be willing to give anything for it to come true. But, of course, before I can focus upon that, there are other things that must be done.” She chuckled softly, flicking the man beneath the chin. “The worlds are not going to save themselves, Sabin.” She leaned foreward, taking the cup into her hands again, letting the heat from the tea warm up her fingers. Though... it was past noon. Perhaps it was time for some sake, and some of Sabin’s little treats. They were good, almost as good as Watanuki’s had been.

As she eyed Sabin out of the corner of her eye, she told him, “There is something that I would like to discuss with you, if I might have your ear for a moment?” She didn’t wait for him, knowing that she already had his rapt attention. “Your time with me is coming to a close, Sabin. I have enjoyed your company, and there is one little bit of advice I would like you to understand before I send you on your way.” The hidden meaning of, ‘if you don’t understand it, you’re not leaving,’ hung in the air, not being needed to say. “Don’t follow what is said, but instead, follow what is unsaid. Meditate on it while you make me some tempura to go along with my afternoon sake, would you?”

She’d be damned if she would send the boy out into the woods without a compass...

--

Locke had taken in a breath to tell Reno exactly why he wanted to see the man, but decided against it as the man said he didn’t care. He knew it was probably just a thrown out there comment, but... it kind of stung. Alright, so the clown guy was crazy, it was obvious, but... He had lived in the same town as his parents. If there was a chance that Kefka Palazzo got away from the world, then there was a possibility that his parents got out, too... For the first time in a while, he actually felt a little bit of hope surge through him. Mister Palazzo got out, Sabin got out... then it was definitely possible that others got away. Definitely – at least, that was what he kept telling himself.

Turning his attention away from Reno and towards the guy in the armour, Locke smiled slightly. “Yeah, we should talk to them first, anyway. That’s where Yuuko told us to go, so...” he tried to shrug the whole situation off, turning his thoughts back to their task at hand – though, it was kind of hard. With the thought that he could actually meet his parents again, to see their faces again.. it was a little nerve wracking. They’d want to see him, right? Ahh, but he shouldn’t think like that. Of course they’d want to see him.. he was their son, of course. Sending a smile Cecil’s way, he turned around, kind of wishing he could actually see Cecil’s face. It was weird talking to a set of dark armour all the time, even though he knew that there was a body inside that was doing all the talking and walking... it was just weird not being able to judge someone’s reactions through their facial expressions, which was what he was used to. Oh well, minor inconvenience and all that..

All in all, Cecil was right. If the Returners were well-known, then they could find them in next to no—holy crap, what was that?

Locke jumped, whirling back around as he heard a hurried yell and a crash of metal on stone, taking in a sight he was definitely not expecting. Cecil, on the ground, with some wild kid who looked younger than Locke on his back... He watched the exchange with wide eyes, wondering if the kid was actually, well, dangerous... He was tempted to say yes, with the sharp looking teeth he could spy, but they were really only dangerous if, y’know, he used them to bite one of them... Cecil would be saved from that, with his fancy armour, but Reno and himself might want to keep their distance – well, only if he was a threat, right?

As Reno dragged the kid off Cecil, Locke stepped forward, but kept more than a bit of his distance, leaning down near Cecil and asking him if he was alright – Yuuko had told him to watch out for the weird armour guy... but he was pulled away before he could try and help Cecil to his feet by a hand on his elbow, and Locke looked up at Reno as he was dragged quite easily away. “Hey, Reno!” he said in a way to voice his slight displeasure for being dragged away. “Relax, he’s just a kid, y’know?” The poor little guy must have had a weird life, if he was acting the way he was, right? They were the sums of all of their experiences, and all, if he remembered the quite properly, and so the kid was only acting in the way he knew how to act. “And hey, if he’s from around here, maybe he knows where the Returners are?”

It was a bit of a long shot, but it was worth a shot. If this little guy that had quickly befriended Cecil could show them where they needed to go, it was worth it to try and get to know the guy. At least, it seemed that way to Locke... even if Reno seemed to think differently, with the weirded-out way he was acting. Locke put his hand on Reno’s, patting it before he gently pried the guy’s fingers off his elbow – his grip was a little tight.

He walked a few paces foreward, crouching down near Cecil. “Hey little guy..” he started off, knowing he didn’t have any food to offer the kid.. and hoping it wouldn’t make a huge difference.. “Uh, sorry we got off to a bad start, I’m Locke, and that’s Reno back there – heh, and Not-Shadow over here is named Cecil. Your name’s Gau?” Locke paused, tugging his lower lip into his mouth, before smiling at the feral child. “We’re just wondering, we’re looking for this group of people called the Returners – we’ve been sent to help them out. Do you know where we can find them?” There... a nice and simple explanation that anyone could understand – even a feral child.

Well, at least he hoped so...

[X Accelerando X]

Gau’s wide eyes stared up at Locke as he spoke to him, his mind grabbing familiar words that he’d heard before. ‘Guy’--that meant ‘Gau’. ‘Sorry’ was the next word he knew the meaning of, since Swiefer always had to say it to Mr. Thou every time he teased Gau. The new friend was pointing towards the other people. “Lo--ocke. Re-no. Sea-shell. New friends! Locke! Reno! Sea-shell!” He bounced in place a moment, grinning widely as he did, teeth bared in a huge smile. “Re-unners! Gau take you to other friends! They know Re-unners! Mr. Thou will help new friends!” He turned and dashed off down a side street, leading them back towards where Mr. Thou was working with the others. Ever since they had gotten here, Gau had been forced to go out in the town to stay out of everyone’s way--they were busy trying to fix up the flying boat, and Gau didn’t know how to fix it like the others did. “Hurry! Mr. Thou right here!” he called back over his shoulder as he dashed through the city, the people of Radiant Garden a bit more accustomed to his presence, and thus, not nearly as startled as they had been initially; he was curious and little troublesome, but generally harmless.

“You think these Re-unners are actually the Returners?” Reno asked Locke as he chased after the feral child. He had to wonder just what kind of people these Returners were if they had a wild-boy with them. Maybe they were like super heroes and Gau was the ‘mascot’ or something? “Hey! Gau! Wait up!” the red-head shouted after him, though Gau seemed to ignore him or just plain didn’t hear him as they rushed along to wherever the heck this kid was taking them.

=============

“Look, you know how to handle a woman, right? This is just like that, Edgar. You handle her gently. The Falcon is just as much a lady as any other, and so she needs to be treated like one. Nails should be inserted firmly but also tenderly, got it?”

Edgar rolled his eyes as Setzer reiterated for the third time how delicate they needed to be when they were working on the repairs. Anything from stroking the wood to telling the ship that she was a ‘pretty girl’ or ‘you’re going to be just fine’ seemed to be the choicest of compliments one could give to the ship and that Setzer would approve of the most in the end. Frankly, it was just getting plain annoying. Edgar understood the love a man could have for things like a ship, or a recently reconfigured debilitation device that was capable of reducing any target to an elementally susceptible ball of nothingness in ten seconds flat (and make a wicked cup of coffee at the same time), but really, this was ludicrous. Setzer was going to have performed all the repairs himself, but they were pressed for time, and thus, anything that wasn’t directly involving machinery or the functions of the Falcon were left to the others--except Gau who had found throwing hammers to be a fun pastime.

“Seifer, you’re needed on the aft deck!” he shouted down the side of the ship to the wharf just below. The blond had been found by Gau, and though Edgar was certain that Gau wasn’t completely innocent in the whole affair, that still did not justify the threatening that the young man had put upon the feral child. The king of Figaro’s hand slipped into a pocket where rested a particularly lovely picture (though the content was to him disturbing to say the least). It was lovely in that it was the one thing that kept Seifer around, and Edgar was bound to milk every bit of work out of the aggressive (and strong) youth that he could--a nice little trick he’d learned from Yuuko. The thought of the witch gave him pause, his mind going back to his little brother for a moment. The man was still there, he was sure--Yuuko had promised to keep him out of trouble and he knew she would keep her word. And if he knew his brother, Sabin was utterly oblivious to the whole thing, probably even now cheerfully wearing a pink apron and headband, dusting a shelf, or beating a rug, or whatever other menial chore would have normally been beneath a crown prince and rightful heir of Figaro. But then, that was Sabin to a tee, wasn’t it?

“Now, Seifer!” Edgar called again, taking up a drill to set to work on a stubborn board as Setzer slunk away to get back to work on the engines. “Or I may just empty my pockets at dinner time in front of everyone~!” Smirking at his own cleverness, he wiped the sweat from his brow then set back to work again, glancing up as Setzer came back up again from below. “It doesn’t matter how many times you go down there and stare at it, Setzer, that part isn’t going to appear out of thin air. Is it so bad to simply go and ask Farris for--?”

“I refuse to ask a pirate for help,” the gambler sniffed, flicking away his somehow still perfect hair. “They are an uncouth and vile sort, and I won’t stoop so low as to ask them for anything. I’m sure the spare part is down there somewhere, and I’m going to find it.” A Gambler had to have pride, after all. Farris, the p***k, was more or less Setzer’s rival, if nothing short of enemy, and he would not stoop so low as to ask for help from that despicable pirate.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go and--hello. What have we here?”

Edgar’s eyes lit up as Gau came rushing back down the wharf, closely trailed by three individuals. A less then regal word passed Edgar’s lips, his mind instantly jumping to images of Gau, once again, causing some sort of trouble. Two were young men, maybe younger then even Seifer, and the third didn’t look any more promising; that dark armor spoke volumes about the person even before they said a word. “Maybe we should tie Gau up in the hull until nightfall--at least then he can cause trouble for the Heartless and not the actual city folk.” Sighing, he shook his head and rose to his feet, Sezter joining him at the railing. “I’ll take care of this, Setzer. You go and pretend you have that missing part, and ask Celes to go see Farris.” Without waiting for a response, the king jumped the railing of the airship, gloved hand catching the rope that was used to haul up supplies, and slid down easily, landing with perfect timing in front of Gau, a stern look on his face, arms crossed.

“Gau, what did I tell you about stirring up trouble? Didn’t that little fight with Seifer teach you anything?”

“No trouble! Gau find friend! Sea-shell, Reno and Locke! All friend, not like Swiefer! Ask for Re-unners!”

“Returners, Gau. There is a ‘T’ in there,” Edgar sighed, giving a helpless smile before turning his gaze up to the trio. “I apologize if he has caused any trouble,” he nodded as Gau skittered up the rope to the deck, where a playful cry was heard, followed a by thump and some angered yelling from Setzer. “He’s excited to be here in such a large city, and he forgets that some people have space issues.”

“It is not trouble,” Cecil replied, stepping forward, shaking his head as he lifted the face plat of his helmet. “We were looking for the Returners, and he said he would lead us there. I think he mistook me for a friend, however, but beyond that, he was--entertaining.”

“To say the least, I’m sure,” Edgar chuckled, glancing to the two boys, his gaze going from Reno to Locke. “Ah, a fellow from Balance, right?” he smiled, glad to see that another had survived the cataclysm. “I know what you’re thinking--how could I tell? Easy--you got the same feel.”

“Feel?” Reno asked, quirking a brow. “Like…?”

“Like how a person can just tell. When you’ve been around like I have, and seen enough of Balance, you just get a feel for the people. Am I wrong, kid? Are you not from Balance?”

[Mssr Miles]

Seifer had just finished running a small errand for Setzer, and he was dropping the bag of long nails off at the area the scarred man had told him to drop them when he brought them around, when Edgar called at him to head to the aft deck. Which he already knew, thank you very much, so he just did what he needed to before collecting the tools and supplies that Cyan had requested a little while ago... which was when the second call from the blond ‘Leader’ of the Returners came, making Seifer bristle. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch, I’m going!” Seifer called back with a scowl at Edgar, hefting a few sheets of metal that were going to be used to patch up the inner hull of the airship around the engine room over his shoulder, his other arm tucking the box of tools under his arm with not so much as a grunt of effort.

If only he had not let his wallet, and said ‘blackmail material’ be stolen, he wouldn’t be in this situation... Damn it all.

He quickly walked to the end of the docks to the second rope ladder that had been placed, carrying up the sheets of metal in one trip, before making it down for the box of tools, scaling the rope latter a last time, seeing Cyan doing a little detail work while he waited for Seifer to bring him the right tools he needed.

“Ah, so thyne hast returned to us,” the man said, looking up from his work with a smile, taking the box of tools from the blond man, heading towards the stairs that would take them down to the lower level. “Come hither – thyne help will be greatly needed if the repairs shall be finished before the midday meal.” Yeah, if that made this near slave labour any better... If only he had access to a thief of some kind, he could get out of working for the Returners on a regular basis... Well, the blond man didn’t actually mind going on the nightly tours of the town to fight the Heartless, it was just this menial labour that angered him.

Sighing, Seifer followed. Well, that was until he was pushed from behind as the idiot wild-boy crashed into him, before rushing down to the lower level, the sheets of metal crashing from his grip to the ground. “GOD ******** DAMMIT, GAU,” Seifer called down after the boy, but was silence by a quick word from Cyan. Bending down, he began to collect the large sheets of metal, muttering about stupid children that deserved to be left in the middle of a desert in the middle of the summer with no water and no way back home...

--

Mister Thou? Locke wouldn’t deny it, it was an awfully weird name... but then again, the kid was calling Cecil something that sounded oddly like ‘Sea-shell’... At least the kid had gotten Locke and Reno’s names right – that was something, right? The boy only paused for a moment, watching the way that Gau had dashed off towards on all fours down the street, before he took off after him, sending a quick look back to make sure that Reno and Cecil were following. Not that he was worried that they wouldn’t come along, but it was his job to make sure Cecil stayed out of trouble – Yuuko had given him the task and he really didn’t want to fail it and all...

Keeping up to the young wild-child rather easily, his speed coming in handy for him once more on this journey, he shot a look back over his shoulder as Reno asked his question. “Hope so!” Locke replied, not yet breathless, though after this crazy chase he was sure he would be. “If not, then they might know where to find them!” He was pulling away from Reno and Cecil a bit as they twisted and turned through the streets, though Locke refused to slow down – he didn’t want to lose Gau... His sandals thumped rhythmically against the cobblestones as he went, surprised that they weren’t causing too much of a scene with the locals, which lead him to believe that this happened more often than Locke liked to think about. Maybe the kid was just leading them on a wild goose chase..? Well, he guessed they’d see pretty quick – it looked like they were coming to the edge of the city...

At Reno’s call to ask Gau to wait up, Locke shouted over his shoulder, “I don’t think that’s gonna happen! C’mon, move those legs of yours, Reno!” His gaze turned back foreward, his face flushed slightly after looking at Reno’s running form. The man looked rather good with his hair blowing in the wind, his face rosy with the effort he was putting into moving his legs as he tried to keep up with Locke and Gau.

Arriving in a shipyard filled with a conglomeration of varying styles of crafts – some air based, others meant for the open sea. It was an awesome collection, and it left Locke a little speechless as he skidded to a stop just in time to see a blond man jump down from a rather impressive height to give Gau an earful. Locke did feel sorry for the kid, but smiled as it completely didn’t faze the wild child in the slightest as he hopped up to the ship, things crashing here and there as the boy got up to who knows what. In this time, Locke was able to catch his breath, rising from his slightly hunched over position, his necklace having slipped from the confines of his shirt as he ran, settling on top of the light material. Letting go of the hitch in his side as it loosened, his heart slowed from its insane pace as he breathed a final sigh, straightening up with a smile. That had been a good run.

Rolling his shoulders slightly, Locke took a moment to look over the man before them with a calculating eye. He was tall, looked fairly strong, well groomed... and there was a certain air to him that almost screamed royalty, though that wasn’t even the oddest thing about the man. Locke could have sworn that he had seen the man before... which was impossible, wasn’t it? Locke’s eyebrows shot up past his blond curls that hung below his bandana as the man before him mentioned that he was from Balance – he hadn’t been wrong, but how the hell had he known? Was he a mind reader? Oh gods, he really, really hoped not – if he had then the guy would have known that he was just thinking of, ah, well... that wasn’t important in the slightest, now was it?

“Feel?” he and Reno asked at the same time, and Locke sent Reno an amused look before he turned his attention back to the man before them that looked very familiar. The boy didn’t know what it was – maybe the hair? The face? The eyes? It was just something awfully recognizable about him that he couldn’t exactly put his finger on, but he was sure that he would be able to once he spent a little more time around the guy.

Locke’s face lit up like he had just been given the biggest gift under the tree at Christmas time when he mentioned that he had been around Balance for an extended period of time, and he smiled widely at the blond man before him. “Yeah – yeah I am, I was kind of off-world when I heard the things with the Heartless started up,” he said simply, looking up at the man that had yet to introduce himself. His eyes grew a little wide, though, as he remembered where he had seen the man before.

“Holy crap, you’re the King of Figaro-“ Locke stopped himself from speaking very abruptly, bowing at the waist, hand placed over his heart as per the custom of meeting royalty on Balance. “Ah, I mean, it’s very good to meet you, Sir! I’m Locke Cole, from Kohlingen.” It was a great thing that the King of one of their countries on Balance was able to survive the Heartless attack, and it was odd seeing the man in something less than the finery he had seen him in the times his picture had been put out in the newspaper and in the current history books at school. “This is Reno Valentine, and that over there is Cecil – ah, guys, this is King Edgar Roni Figaro. He’s the King of a country named Figaro on my homeworld.” Turning his head slightly to the side, wondering what else he could say, he had to ask, “Are you the leader of the Returners, sir? We, ah, me and Reno were sent by Miss Yuuko to help with the Heartless here in this world.” As an afterthought, he mentioned, “Oh, and Cecil’s tagging along with us.”

The boy was excited that he was meeting the King of Figaro – he hadn’t really met anyone that famous in the town he grew up in. Probably the most famous person who had come through his town, not even stopping at an inn or anything, had been that singer that his mother had liked... A pretty blond woman named... Marie? No, it was Maria... His mother was always going on about how beautifully and emotionally she sang, and how she would love to hear her live one day... She even had a poster framed and set up on the wall--

And speak of the devil, there she was... walking up behind the King of Figaro, a sour look on her face. Locke’s eyes widened, and he couldn’t say a word as the woman walked past the King, slapping him on the back of the man’s head as she passed him. “You’re lucky that I like Farris, Edgar – next time just make Setzer go himself, alright? You give the man too much leeway, I swear...” Turning her eyes upon the small assembled group in front of Edgar, she raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. “I will be back in an hour! And don’t wander off to play with the ladies while I’m gone, or you know what will happen!” She walked away, golden hair shimmering in the sun, heading towards the other side of the docks.

“Was.. was that Miss Maria? The opera singer?” he wondered aloud, looking to the man before him questionably before remembering that he was addressing a King, and shouldn’t really be asking such trivial questions..

[X Accelerando X]

Edgar had to laugh as Locke came to his ‘stunning’ realization concerning his identity. “Well, have to say, it’s the first time anyone has managed to work ‘Crap’ into the same sentence as my title, but it’s still a pleasure you meet you, Locke Cole of Kohlingen. And please, Locke, we’re not on Balance anymore, you can drop the whole ‘King’ bit. Kinda stuffy and makes it hard to get around, if you know what I mean?” He hoped the mid didn’t, since he was way too young to know that girls didn’t want to fool around a whole lot with a man they knew was royalty--maybe if he was just some noble, sure, but the dames seemed to get cold feet when ‘King’ was added into the mix. He glanced to Cecil and Reno, giving them both his trademark smile, extending his hand first to Reno, and then to Cecil. “And it’s nice to meet you both as well. Sorry I look a mess, but we’re busy with the repairs to the Falcon, so things have been pretty hectic--even a guy of my standing has to get his hands dirty this time--not that I’m bothered, mind you. I get to play with power tools, even if Celes thinks it’s a bad idea.”

Reno had to admit, he was pretty impressed that the guy was a king. Never figured he’d bump into one working for Yuuko, though she had said there were perks that came with this job. Still, he did smile a little wider as he shook the man’s hand. He could see it in his eyes, the way he carried himself--this guy was what Reno wanted to be when he grew up; not a king, since that was damn-near impossible, but this king was definitely a player who knew how to turn a phrase to get a gal into the sack. Not that Reno had actually ever tried to get a girl in the sack. Oddly enough, until now, the thought hadn’t really crossed his mind about it--why did he skirt-chase anyway?

“My lord, it is indeed an honor to meet you,” Cecil bowed as they shook hands, his training kicking in as with Tamaki all over again. “We apologize that we have come when you are busy, but as Locke stated, we have pressing matters from Miss Yuuko to--“

It was then that Edgar was ‘assaulted’ from behind by Celes, his highness taking the blow in stride as she went by complaining. Locke asked a question then, a kinda weird one that Edgar didn’t quite pick up right away seeing as he was distracted by the retreating (and very shapely) form of Celes for a few moments until she disappeared in the crowd. “Huh? Maria?” he asked, looking back to the smaller boy with a bemused smile, before snapping out of it. “Oh, right, the opera singer. No, that’s just Celes. Frankly, I’d take Maria over her any day--they look the same, but Maria’s a sweet girl and probably doesn’t hit nearly as hard. They do look alike though, huh? I wonder if Celes could learn to sing like her…”

“He’s kinda chatty for a king, don’t you think?” Reno muttered to Cecil, giving the dark knight a quirked look.

“I would expect that royal life is difficult. One cannot always speak their mind, after all, so now that he has the opportunity, I would guess that he is taking advantage of that fact,” Cecil responded with a sheepish tone in his voice. Man not seeing his face was annoying. How’d the guy eat like that anyway? Sure there was the little bit of his face that he could see, but how could you, like, sleep in that thing if you couldn’t take it off? Or shower even?

“Walk it off, Seifer!” Setzer’s voice from above was heard, and Reno stopped dead in the conversation at the sound of the name he recognized all too well. “Gau’s not that heavy! Sabin could carry the little guy around with no issue at all.” The speaker then leaned over the railing and called down to the group, or more precisely, to Edgar. “Oy! Edgar! You’re indentured servant’s getting pissy again! I think Gau’s just screwing with him now. Kid’s got a mean streak in him for sure.”

“Hey, wait,” Reno interjected as Edgar let out a heavy sigh, the king of Figaro looking to the red head with a bit of curiosity. “This guy named Seifer. He wouldn’t happen to be like, six-somethin’, with blond hair, a big ol’ scar and smells like a gym locker room, would he?”

“Built like a Gigas?” Edgar asked, folding his arms and quirking his brow. This Reno guy knew Seifer?

“Uh, I dunno what a Gigas is, but he’s pretty big, yeah.”

“Yes, we have him,” Edgar nodded, his smile growing a little. That was good to know. Maybe if Seifer saw someone from his own world, or at least someone that he knew, the guy would calm down a little. Cyan was working on him, but he couldn’t be expected to cool the…rambunctious teen’s temper all by himself. “He’s been helping us repair the ship and fend off the Heartless. Kid’s a good worker, but he’s a little--“

“Bitchy?” Setzer called down from the ship, his tone sour.

“I was going to say ‘cranky’ thank you, Setzer!” Edgar retorted coolly, grabbing the rope ladder that Seifer had ascended not but a few minutes earlier. “Go ahead and bring him back out, Sezter. Tell him we have someone who wants to see him.”

“Like hell we do,” came the snorted answer from Reno. “The guy tried to pound Locke into mush last time we saw him, and nearly did us both in.” Reno knew though, that Seifer was important somehow, to his family. Like, really important somehow. Like ‘big-secret-that-Reno-probably-shouldn’t-know-but-knew-anyway’ sort of important, though he couldn’t remember what the hell that secret was. Damn that was annoying, since something in his gut told him it was a really juicy one too, one that he had intended on sharing with Locke. Then again, maybe if he saw Seifer, he’d remember what it was?

“Now now, the big guy may be a bit of a grump, but he’s still a person,” Edgar half scolded, and Reno had to admit he was surprised. Edgar’s face softened a bit, his tone getting a little quieter. “It sounds like you three had issues. But, if you’ll pardon my saying so, I’m going to guess that if you’re hear, you don’t have any place to go back to, and frankly, having anyone from ‘home’ is better then no one, right?” He looked back up the ladder and frowned. “Right now, you have to take whatever little graces you get without complaint--you may not like him, but he’s what you have. Try and take this chance to see things differently and start fresh, or else you may end up missing out on the only link back home you have right now.”

“He is right,” Cecil agreed quietly. “A familiar face, and the knowledge that they are safe is better then knowing that they disappeared without giving you a chance to make amends.” He sounded distant, and Reno got the distinct feeling that he wasn’t just saying that--he was remembering something, and it sounded like it hurt him to think about it. Man, this whole ‘worlds disappearing’ thing was really ugly all around. Yuuko made it sound like he could fix it though--could that big key of his actually take care of everything that easily?

[Mssr Miles]

Locke got over his initial shock finding out that Seifer was still alive, and not only that, somehow got himself working for one of the Kings of Locke’s homeland. It was nothing less then a miracle, the boy was sure, though it didn’t change that Seifer was still a very large guy and probably still wanted to punch Locke’s face in. Leaning over as Edgar and a man covered in scars were talking to each other, Locke mentioned to Reno a little bit of knowledge that the boy had learned in school back home. “Gigas’ are giants, basically. Monsters that are hella dangerous, and they’re almost.. nine feet tall? Something like that...” The boy tapered off in his comment as he thought back to his Local Beasts classes – common in his world, though not so common on Destiny.

“They’re both right,” Locke said quietly, looking up at Reno, frowning. He didn’t like it any more then Reno did, but now that Destiny was gone, they couldn’t be picky about who they called friends – especially when they were up against the Heartless. Those beasties didn’t differentiate between people because of the way they looked, or the way they acted, so how could the ones fighting the Heartless do it? Didn’t make Locke feel much better about seeing Seifer again, but hey, he could try and rationalize it like that, right? “Better get this over with, huh?” Locke smiled nervously at the red head and, nodding at Cecil as he tucking away the thought that he would ask the Dark Knight about his home-world sometime, he looked to the edge of the ship.

Should they go up? No – definitely not. If Locke was going to see Seifer again, he wanted to make sure that he had a way to escape. Y’know, just in case things got a little uglier then Locke liked. He didn’t quite like having his face punched in, thank you very much. He could still feel how strong the man’s punches were... Seifer had never been easy on him just because he was younger and smaller. And if he had, then Locke really, really didn’t want to feel a not-pulled punch. That would be very... ungood.

But hey, if they had Seifer on their side against the Heartless, Locke was certain that the tall blond football nut would give the Heartless a run for their money, that was for sure. If those fists could leave the boy bruised for many, many weeks after an assault, then against the weirdo-shadow bodies of those beasts... he could probably destroy even the big guys with a few well aimed attacks.

...or Locke’s face in one poorly aimed strike.

The boy had little more time to think about it, because Seifer appeared, peering over the edge of ship, looking rather... pissed. Yeah, not a good sign. Blue eyes hard, they turned from Edgar to Locke and Reno, widening in surprise, confusion as he looked around the area and didn’t see anyone else, and then to a dangerous look that made Locke want to high tail it out of there... right then and now, thank you very much.

Locke somehow remained rooted to the spot as Seifer made his way quickly down the ladder and then towards them, the man’s boots on the wood of the docks rather loud and ominous, the look on the man’s face somewhat hopeful and angry all at the same time. What on earth could make Seifer look that way, Locke had to wonder. The man was dressed in a pair of simple dark pants with a pair of heavy work boots, his upper half covered in nothing save a sleeveless black top. His hair was slicked back as it normally was, though a lot messier then Locke had really ever seen it. The small pickpocket tried his best to smile, and he opened his mouth to sound a greeting, when Seifer walked right past him and, grabbing onto Reno’s shirt, pulled the red head up onto his tip toes and stared him in the face, asking, “Where the hell is your brother?”

The blond boy was speechless for a moment, and he closed and opened his mouth a few times before saying, “Ah, Seifer—“

“Wasn’t talking to you, yah little puke,” Seifer spat, sending a glare Locke’s way, before he shook Reno a little by the collar. “Where is he, Valentine? Is he alive?” Locke was flabbergasted – why was Seifer so stuck on finding out about Vincent? They seemed like awfully terrifying enemies back home... Another thought took him, and he looked to Reno in a worried fashion. Locke had refrained from mentioning anything about Reno’s family around the red head, so how would this affect him? Locke had to do something to stop Seifer, otherwise what could happen to Reno?

Grasping one of Seifer’s wrists with both of his hands he tried to pull the larger blond man away, saying, “Seifer, please, just listen for a sec—“

The boy’s hands were knocked away without a second thought, and Seifer demanded, “Why isn’t he with you? Where is he?”

“Seifer, he’s not here!” Locke finally yelled at the man, which caused Seifer to drop his grip on Reno’s shirt, letting the man fall back off his tip toes. Seifer was obviously taking the words to mean the worst, Locke supposed, and as the man turned his gaze to look upon him, his face white, the boy couldn’t just leave it at that. “He’s alive, but-“

“But?” Seifer demanded, keeping his fists at his side.

Locke shook his head, looking between Reno and Seifer with a distressed look on his face. “I- He, he’s alive, just.. I can’t say, but something’s wrong with him, I..” He shrugged his shoulders helplessly, and he could see Seifer tensing. What could he say? That Vincent was working for the Heartless? They didn’t even know that it was entirely true and exactly what was happening with Vincent, so what could he do?

[X Accelerando X]

Reno may not have remembered too much about his life before he’d saved Locke’s life and all, but he sure as hell knew he didn’t like having someone, especially Seifer, grab him like that. He wished he could remember what the big secret was that he knew about Seifer--unfortunately, having the larger young man lifting him almost off his feet and screaming in his face really wasn’t helping with his memory too much in that respect. He tried to get a word in, that he didn’t know what the hell the guy was talking about, or who his brother was, or anything like that, but he kept being interrupted by Seifer, who was in turn interrupting Locke. The shove that he gave the smaller boy just about pissed Reno off, so by the time he had been set back down again, he was in no mood to talk, even if he did know where his brother was--the only good thing that came out of all of this was the confirmation that he did, in fact, have a sibling.

Still, he didn’t want to give Seifer the benefit of knowing this apparent brother was doing alright, or that he knew where he was, so Reno did the only thing he could--bluff. He moved up beside Locke, adjusting his rumpled coat with a sneer that could only be matched by his sibling (even if he didn’t know it), as he dusted himself off. “Damn, Seifer. Just because you’ve got sucky clothes doesn’t mean you can mess up someone else’s.” He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “No manners at all. Course, what should I expect from you? A Neanderthal like you probably can’t even spell the word ‘Manner’. But since I feel sorry for you-- ‘M-A-N-N-E-R’. Got it memorized? I’d use the plural, but hey, that might just confuse you more.” He snickered and looked to Cecil who, despite giving a disapproving look, had his face covered, so it didn’t matter anyway. “Anyway, you better chill, unless you want me to tell everyone about what I saw that one time.”

As he spoke that lie, he was hit with a sudden wave of déjà vu. It was weird, because it wasn’t like it was something he’d said to Seifer. No, it was more like…well, it felt like the line was something he practiced; like he’d planned on using it numerous times, but never actually got around to using it. He paused, thinking about it a moment more, before his eyes widened. “Holy--I remember now!” And indeed he did, at least a little. That Vincent guy--Seifer had known him. Was that what he meant by Reno’s brother? He must have been mistaken about that, since Reno knew that Vincent couldn’t have been his sibling, but there was no mistaking this memory in his head. His lips turned up in a cruel grin as he looked back to Seifer. “Oh, yeah, I bet you’re totally interested in that Vincent guy, huh? Probably wanna know everything about him? Kinda hard to believe that, since you an’ I both know that you already know so--“

He stopped, blinking. The moment of insight had passed, and now…nothing. “Uh, what was I talkin’ about again?” he asked, glancing back to Locke, thoroughly confused.

[Mssr Miles]

Seifer’s gaze turned dark as soon as he saw the expression that he recognized so well – how many times had Vincent thrown that look upon him and those around him? Too many for the blond man to count, that was for sure. He knew that this was going to end ugly before Reno even opened his cursed little mouth – that look said all that he wanted to hear, but he stayed silent as the youngest Valentine spoke. He fumed, was a little shocked, and then he got just downright mad. He should have seen right then that Reno was acting very strangely, what with the stopping and being very confused about what he was speaking of, but Seifer didn’t see it right then. After he let off a little steam, he’d be able to think it over, but as of right now... he was pissed off enough that he could do serious amounts of damage to the two boys before him. He had to walk away, or he might end up doing more damage then he should.

First things first, though... Seifer hooked the mans shirt tugging him foreward into his waiting fist, the momentum throwing the red head to the ground. Seifer thought he had seen blood, but he really didn’t care if he’d damaged the boy’s face in the slightest since he definitely deserved it. “I don’t know what you saw, or what the ******** is wrong with you, but that is the last time you insinuate that I’m in any way incompetent, Valentine,” Seifer spat down at the man groaning on the ground. The large man saw the little pick pocket drop to his knees beside Reno, and Seifer turned his gaze upon the boy. Locke knew what was going on, he was just a little reluctant to talk about it with Reno around. Well, he’d get him alone then and demand answers out of the boy – Seifer needed to know what was up with Vincent. Knowing that he was alive just didn’t quite cut it for the brawler.

His gaze swept to Edgar – ********, he hated the man for being such an a** and keeping his wallet.. If he could just get that picture, then he could leave here and search for Vincent. “I’m going to go patrol,” he said shortly to the man, anger still clearly pressed into his face, his eyes alight with it. Looking back at the pick pocket, he continued, “And when I get back, you’re going to tell me what the hell is going on, Cole.” He hadn’t used the boys old nick name... he must be getting soft. Turning abruptly, he went to the side of the docks that held his things, throwing on his long white and grey coat before hoisting a single edged blade over his shoulder that Sir Cyan had been teaching him how to use – it proved rather effective against the dark beasties that roamed the abandoned parts of the city’s streets these days.

Maybe he’d just use his fists today, though. Might feel good to punch something to death that wouldn’t get him in trouble with any kind of law enforcement...

--

Locke had watched the exchange between Seifer and Reno with a rather terrified eye, but also an interested one - it seemed like Reno had remembered something of his old life, something to do with Seifer and Vincent.. which Locke thought was kind of odd. Those two were mortal enemies, weren't they? That's what it kind of seemed like, at the very least. Each and every time that Locke had seen the two together, they had been at each other’s throats, yelling or throwing punches... But what Reno had made it sound like, well.. It made it sound like the two had been together in some way. Locke had been shocked, in a happy kind of way at least, when Reno had said he remembered, but as the man looked confused and looked to him to ask what he was speaking of, Locke’s good mood dropped, and completely disappeared as Seifer punched the man and walked off.

Locke watched Seifer go, not wanting to call after him even before he saw him hoist a sword over his shoulder and storm away... The man was scary when he was pissed beyond all recognition, and Locke had been under the same angry stare more times then he would like to count.

By this point, Reno was beginning to sit up, looking not too happy... not that Locke blamed him, getting punched by Seifer was no easy thing to come to terms with. The man was incredibly strong, and when he and his crew had ever caught Locke, he had felt the force of just a few punches... well, it was worse than getting beat on by a group of guys, at least afterwards. Locke turned his attention to Reno, seeing that there was a bit of blood dripping down the man’s chin from a split lip, a bruise darkening on his lower jaw... yeah, that had to hurt. Without thinking what he was doing, Locke’s fingers went over the side of the injury, running his fingers lightly over the flesh of the uninjured part of the lip. It was already swollen a little, and it would probably swell a lot more unless...

“We should get some ice for that,” the boy mumbled, pulling his fingers away and helping Reno to his feet. Looking to the King of Figaro, he gave the man an apologetic smile as he steadied Reno. “That went well, huh? Ah, don’t suppose you have a clean cloth or some ice or something we could--" Locke stopped speaking right then, his gaze wavered and he swayed on his feet. A pained grimace hit his face, and his free hand covered his mouth and lower jaw, right where Seifer had punched the living hell out of Reno... It had felt as if Locke had been punched, felt as if his lip was swollen and growing fatter, like there was blood spilling down his chin from his lips.. but it was a phantom pain, brought on by the connection that Reno and Locke had... Not that Locke knew this – Yuuko had left out this little part of their talk they had...

All the boy knew was that his face throbbed for no reason what so ever, in the same place as Reno's looked like it did, and it was bringing a sting of tears to his eyes... His gaze wondered up to Reno’s, wide and scared looking.. what was happening to him? Did it have something to do with their hearts being connected..?

[X Accelerando X]

Cecil wasn't the nosey sort of person, and guessed that his presence near Seifer may have resulted in something of a foul response akin to what Reno had experienced, but Cecil's heart went out to the troubled young man. He reminded Cecil so much of his own friend, Kain, who he had been forced to leave behind--Kain and Rosa, his two best friends. He longed to see them, to know they were alright. And that must be what this Seifer youth was feeling as well. He had lost his home and from the way he acted, Vincent, despite being a cruel man now, and Maleficent's pet-project, had been important to him in some way. It seemed sad for this youth to be so stripped of someone that meant so much to him at an incredibly important stage of his life. And even now, when he had the chance to learn if Vincent was well, at least alive, then Reno decided to be childish about things and keep him from knowing what he wanted to learn. Perhaps Seifer had been cruel, and that was merely Reno returning the favor, but should not the one with the Keyblade act more--friendly? Determined to catch up and try to allay Seifer's fears, Cecil left after him, giving only a quick, "I will see that he remains out of trouble, your majesty," to Edgar, who was looking more guilty then concerned at the moment as he watched Seifer leave.

Following behind the blond, the knight closed the distance easily, coming up behind him and taking a spot at his side, wishing he could make real eye contact in that moment; how wonderful it would be to finally be rid of this foul armor. "Seifer?" he called, trying to get some acknowledgement in his name at least. His pace kept up with Seifer's easily, his long legs making it easier to keep up. "Seifer, I know you do not know me, but I wish to say I am very sorry for what occurred just now. Reno is young, and slightly impetuous, and while that is no excuse, I ask that you please forgive his rash behavior. He is under a great amount of responsibility and burdened with a terrible weight--and I only add to that," he added quietly to himself, shaking his head. He was a burden to them, and Reno and Locke had far too much to worry about to be playing babysitter to an adult. "But you asked of Vincent, and I would tell you the truth of it all. The truth, however, is unpleasant." His voice dropped hesitantly, not certain if now was a good time to tell of all that happened. "Vincent is alive and well, though he has taken up work for an individual that is less then benign, and the truth is, I fear that--"

"I cannot tolerate a stool pigeon."

Vincent's voice was there, before his form was even present, dropping from the roof in the darkening evening light, his form lean, gaunt and surrounded with a nearly palpable aura of insidious intent. He strode forward, the chimes in the nearby clock tower ringing off the hour of seven o' clock, almost time for the 'show' to begin. "Good to see you have recovered Cecil. Tell me, do you frequently make it a point to run off at the mouth and gossip about others behind their backs?" Cecil flinched away, taking a step back, before realizing that he needed to be strong. He could not allow Vincent to harm Seifer. This youth was not of the darkness, and Vincent was. He had seen what occurred with Tamaki, how ruthless Vincent was in completing whatever task was given him. If nothing else, Seifer would undoubtedly wish to speak with him, and Vincent may remove him were he to get in his way--Seifer said he was patrolling the town, and there was no way that the youth could hold his own against someone like Vincent for very long, regardless of how strong he was by comparison. Physical strength meant little in comparison to the Heartless and the all-consuming Darkness. Walking forward into a slightly aggressive stance before Seifer, he turned his gaze fully to Vincent, body tensing for a fight.

"I will not allow you to harm anyone here--!"

"Be silent, fool, and stand there until I have decided to address you," Vincent ordered, and his voice rang with a low echo, menacing in its tone. Immediately Cecil went silent, his body standing at attention trembling with an effort to break free from the powerful magics that coursed through his armor. Looking to Seifer, Vincent's face softened slightly, very slightly, before regaining the cold air of control. "So, you still live? I suppose your strength is good for something given you lack of--" He stopped, hesitating. There had been a rule that he had set up for himself a very long time ago, one concerning Seifer and a means of insulting him that he had sworn to never use again. His lips pursed in irritation, knowing even now that he couldn't break that rule and go for the lowest blow. Staying where he stood, the youth eyed Seifer over, eyes smoldering with suppressed loathing and something else--regret? "Why did it have to be you, of all people?" he growled angrily, "Even now, you seek to make my life miserable. Are you so--" again he stopped himself from using that word, "How can you be so careless as to force your way into my path, football pig?" His tone rang with a sort of hesitancy, and as he shook his head he knew he couldn't do what needed to be done, not even for Maleficent. Perhaps he could plead with her, or perhaps the Heartless had simply gotten it wrong. There had to be some way of deferring this situation and saving Seifer, as much as Vincent despised him, as much as it ached within his chest to think of his--to think of the blond sulking within the dungeons of his lady's keep.

"I am only going to say this once, Seifer. If I see you again, I will be forced to do something I do not wish to do--I leave you to your fate, and wash my hands of it. If you value your life and freedom you will avoid me at all costs. This is your only warning, Almasy." He hitched on the use of Seifer's last name, versus the usual first name--or the nickname before that. Turning, he felt the same amount of pain he always did whenever he and Seifer ran into each other at school, the same amount of resentment and regret that haunted him in his sleep every time he was in his own house instead of the other place had wanted to be for so very long.

"Just go away. I am fine, as you can see. You need not pretend to be worried about me out of some false or forced sort of manners."

[Mssr Miles]

Seifer heard one of Reno’s little group following, and he sighed disgustedly – why couldn’t he have just been left alone? The reason he left was because he didn’t want to be reduced to beating on a person if he could help it, well, if Locke or Reno could be considered people instead of annoying pieces of grime on the bottom of his boot... As the armoured man came up beside him, rather loudly in all of his layers of armour, Seifer had to wonder why the man was dressed in so much metal, and came to the conclusion that the man must be afraid of getting hurt. Which is the reason he should just leave Seifer be... The man called his name, his voice rather soft, and Seifer ignored the voice, continuing on his way, letting the man talk himself into oblivion if he wanted to – words were empty, anyway.

He sighed slightly as the armoured man began talking about how he should forgive Reno, how he was young and didn’t know what he was saying... Yeah, he really didn’t know what he was saying, Seifer mused internally, wondering briefly at the man’s slightly odd behaviour, but pushing it to the back of his mind – he could get the answer out of Locke later, if he cared enough. Which he did, since Reno was Vincent’s precious baby brother... if something was wrong with the young man, Vincent had a right to know. Seifer found his gaze drawn towards the faceplate of the Dark Knight as the man muttered something that sounded just a little self-loathing. Not that it was any of Seifer’s business, or that he actually cared, but a certain Master of his would have.. and shaking the goody-good intentions of that man was, well.. a hard thing to do. When the man began speaking of Vincent, that caught Seifer’s attention, and his attention was completely on the man as he came to a stop, hanging onto each word as if it were the only thing that mattered.

For Seifer, he guessed it was... he needed to know if Vincent was alright, even if the man still didn’t want to talk to him. As long as Vincent was safe... well. Seifer could live with whatever else was thrown his way.

Vincent was alive. Seifer sighed a little at that – it was good to know that a friend that he had cared about through the majority of his life was still breathing. He hadn’t been caught up in the chaos that had happened on Destiny, and that was a blessing within itself – it was an awful thing to live through, and Seifer had almost wished he hadn’t made it off the island...He had wished it when he had thought Vincent was dead, but a certain blond master of his had pulled him through that, and now that he knew that Vincent still lived... he was thankful. But this Knight was saying that something was wrong with Vincent, that he was with someone that... and then the Knight was interrupted by a voice that Seifer didn’t think he was going to be hearing so soon, if at all.

Seifer nearly sneered with the irony of the comment slipping past Vincent’s lips, but he didn’t say a thing, just watching as the man jumped from the roof of a nearby building, striding foreword, to give an earful to the Knight – Cecil, he guessed he was called.

This Cecil... Seifer shook his head as the man went stock still at Vincent’s command, his hand coming into contact with Cecil’s shoulder as he instead stood in front of the man. “Hello, Vincent,” was all he said before he stood strong against the verbal onslaught. He was used to harsh words coming from Vincent’s mouth, and he just watched the man as Vincent spoke, picking up on the small differences in his stance or in his voice – they told Seifer so much more then Vincent’s words ever could. He saw the hesitation, saw the emotion that was poorly hidden in the man’s eyes... There was something that Vincent was trying to keep from doing, something that he was holding himself back from something...

Running his hand through his hair, he sighed slightly, keeping neutral against the verbal onslaught – noticing that Vincent didn’t even call him stupid once. That fact almost made him smile – almost. After Vincent was finished spewing whatever drabble he wanted to, he planted his feet, his sword readjusted on his shoulder as he scratched just above his right eye where the prominent facial scar started, a little gift from Vincent during one of their numerous fights when they were younger, in a world and a time that seemed so far away. He strode foreword, his hand falling upon Vincent’s shoulder, turning him back around so Vincent would have to look at him. “I’ve been careless enough to let you see me again,” Seifer stated, his face blank besides the small crease of his brow, a small frown on his face. Whatever it was Vincent was suppose to do, Seifer wanted to know, one way or another... was he in trouble, in some way? Seifer wasn’t about to forget about the mountains of issues and harsh words that had been thrown into the chasm that separated the two of them over the years, but through it all... Through it all, he wished more than anything that he could have the chance to make things right between the two of them again, at least enough so they could stand being in the same room together for more than five minutes – it had been physically painful to be in the same classes as Vincent, same for the raven haired man Seifer figured, because the man had transferred into other classes so he wasn’t around Seifer. It stung.. but it also let Seifer concentrate more on what he had to, to get the marks he needed.

“You’re not fine,” Seifer stated, tipping Vincent’s chin upwards to look at the man. Something was different with him... he couldn’t put his finger on it, but even when they were at school, Vincent had remained the same... but now... “Something’s different, and I’m not talking about the new clothes, or how you don’t really care about your appearance anymore. I can’t put my on it, but...” he felt cold – that’s what Seifer felt, but he didn’t want to say that. It sounded stupid and not logical in the slightest, but that was the only thing that stuck in his mind when he thought of it... He was cold and dark. Seifer let his hand slip from Vincent’s chin, coming to rest at his side, his gaze still searching Vincent’s red eyes. “How can I believe you when you say your words so weakly? Cecil back there said something was wrong, even that little pick pocketing puke said there was something wrong with you. Reno didn’t seem to care, though – I wonder why that is...” Seifer’s head turned to the side slightly, the earlier anger that he had directed at Reno nearly forgotten, instead his energies forced towards the man, trying to figure Vincent out... “Are you going to let me know? Or do I have to go back and try and beat it out of your little brother? Already got myself a good punch in already... don’t think anything’s broken, but then again, I don’t know my own strength these days...” Get Vincent pissed enough to try and hurt him, and maybe the guy would talk to him... it was a stupid plan, and Seifer was well aware of it, but he wasn’t about to let this chance to figure out what was happening slip through his fingers.

He couldn’t deal with ignorance anymore – especially when Vincent Valentine was involved..

[X Accelerando X]

Vincent could not bring himself to pull away, nor could he even bring himself to be angry, though part of that was simply from him deciding that whatever pain Reno suffered was well-deserved, so long as it did not actually kill him; that was Vincent's decision to make alone, and no one else's. Seifer was showing concern for him, something he had never would have thought the other would have been able to conjure in Vincent's direction ever again. More over, that same concern was spreading to the look in his eyes, and in his voice, a tenderness that Vincent had--frankly missed for a very long time. It seemed ancient history at this point, but even so, it was Seifer here, really here, actually asking him what was wrong. And Vincent wanted to tell him so badly, to try and protect him more then he was able now, but knowing he couldn't. His gaze softened, and he remained there, not pulling away, nor saying anything for the longest time. Finally, he bowed his head and turned, saying quietly, "Follow me, Seifer. If you wish to know, I want to be alone. There is far too many chances for prying ears and eyes here in the open."

--------------------

Reno pressed the ice pack to his lip, looking very sour as he did so, his eyes trained on Locke the entire time. He wasn't mad at Locke, not at all--he was pissed at Seifer for sure, and doubly so because he'd hurt Locke too. What was more was that he couldn't believe the nerve of Yuuko not telling Locke about the whole, 'Reno's pain was Locke's pain' bit too. He deserved to know, and if he'd know that Yuuko hadn't said anything, he would have told Locke a lot sooner then now--or would he? Well, it wasn't like Locke really had a choice, and he kinda owed Reno anyway, so it wasn't like Locke could really get upset about it, but they had said no secrets between them, right? Did it count as a secret if Reno didn't know it wasn't common knowledge?

"Well, good to see you're tougher then those Heartless Seifer pounds on," Edgar sighed, trying to smile and lighten the mood. That had been pretty ugly, and Edgar would have gone after Seifer if Cecil hadn't. The guy may have been strong, but he was still a bully--just like Reno was; unfortunately, Reno wasn't able to withstand the results of his verbal attack. "And I hate to say it, but you asked for it, talking to him like that. You can't say things and then just expect to get off Scott-free, and frankly, if I had the power to do so, you'd be making it up to Seifer. Since I can't, I can only hope you learned your lesson." He then turned his gaze to Locke, giving him a grimace. "Looks like you're in for a trip, Mr. Locke Cole." Leaving the room, he closed the door behind him, feeling awkward after giving the young man an earful, like he was his father or something. He was probably humiliated enough without having some guy he barely knew telling him off.

As soon as he was gone, Reno pulled the pack away from his mouth, testing the flesh to see if it felt any better--it didn't. Wincing, he pulled his finger away, sliding it across his lip as something occurred to him. He opened his mouth to speak, fully intending on telling Locke about the whole 'connected hearts equals connected pain' thing, but instead, something else came out that he wasn't entirely thinking of ever voicing. "Hey, uh--when you were checking my lip…I mean, I just noticed that you kinda were--" He blushed, trying to figure out just what the hell he was saying. That it had felt kinda nice? That he hadn't minded it? That he wanted to, maybe, feel it again, just one more time? What kinda guy talked like that? He put the pack to his mouth again to stop any more of his words from coming out until he knew what the hell he was saying.

He was quite for a few moments, just thinking, staring at the floor of the small room they had been given to rest up in, the plush carpet all gaudy like something from a casino. Finally, he swallowed and looked up, deciding to change the subject. "Look, I'm sorry about your lip." It had made Locke cry--that just about broke his heart seeing the fear in Locke's eyes then. He didn't want to see that look ever again. "I mean, I should have told you about it sooner, but, I--well, I thought Yuuko'd told you already, so I didn't say anything. And since it doesn't work both ways, I didn't feel it when you got hurt." He sighed, his whole speech muffled by the ice pack until he lowered it again, his lip looking a little better then it had, the blood having stopped flowing by this time. "See, when Yuuko connected our hearts, she told me that since you've got a piece of me helping you, anytime I get hurt, so do you. I thought she only meant form Heartless, but I guess it means anytime I get hurt--I don't even know if it means other kinds of feelings too." He tried to guess whether or not tickling himself would cause Locke to laugh, something that wasn't a bad image all things considered; Reno'd only known him a few days, and he had only laughed a few times, but the red-head already knew he liked his friend's laugh a hell of a lot.

"Anyway, I just--well, I'm sorry you didn't know and had to find out that way. It's a really sucky way to find out." Sliding off his jacket, he looked around the tiny room, trying to figure out what to say before finally settling on something else. "And, about you checking my lip--Not to make a big deal out if it or anything, you know? It's just that you were--well you were--" Damn this was hard. His green eyes tightened a bit as he tried to think of what the hell he was trying to say. "Just so you know, um, well…" He finally looked up, looking Locke straight in the eyes, his stomach tightening and turning knots as he spoke. Why was he so nervous? They were friends, right? "Well, uh--it kinda--well, it was kinda nice--I mean that you were checking it, not that you touching it wasn't--I mean--! Dammit…" he finally gave up, looking away hastily. "Look, I didn't mind it is what I'm trying to say. I'm not weirded out by it or anything, and--" Guys didn't talk like this to other guys, right? Not unless they, well… And Reno had looked at guys before, almost even tried to ask a guy out once--once; you know, just to see if he liked it. Experimenting.

Clearing his throat, he shook his head. "You wanted to go to that circus, right? To talk to that clown? Um--" He blushed again, this time smiling just a little as he looked up at Locke. "You, uh--wanna go to the circus with me? I mean, not as a date or anything--unless you wanted it to call it a date, I guess we could, I wouldn't mind it--Unless you didn't want to--" He was rambling, so he shut his mouth, looking at the ice bag and the remaining pieces of ice floating in the melted water. "I know we're busy an' all, but it seems really important to you to talk to this Kefka guy, so while we're there, we may as well enjoy the show, right?" He forced a smile, his lip throbbing from the heat that was collecting in his cheeks, his heart beating hard enough that it felt like it would pop out of his chest. "And I--would really like it if we could watch it together, Locke."

[Mssr Miles]

Locke sighed shakily he flopped down on a small couch in this little room that looked like it had come right out of a hotel somewhere, at least by the look of the bed and the little table and chairs that Reno was leaning up against, not to mention the door that opened up onto its own little bathroom. Kind of gaudy, but hey, whatever – somewhere to sit was somewhere to sit, right? The boy felt a gaze on him, but he kept his eyes trained on either his shoes, or looking up at King Figaro when he had spoken at him. His lip throbbed something fierce, but as soon as Reno had pressed the ice to his own lip, he had felt something of a cooling numbness cover the heat of the invisible injury that Locke could feel. It was... weird, and Locke just wanted someone to come right out and tell him what was happening to him. It had to be Yuuko’s fault somehow, he knew that, because people don’t naturally feel other people’s pain... maybe it was a part of that Heart connection thing? It was the only thing that Locke could think of, and he was going to ask Reno as soon as the King left the room, because hell, his lip freaking hurt, and he hadn’t even been punched... go figure, huh?

Smiling weakly at Edgar as the King commented on how much of an interesting trip Locke was going to have, his eyes watched the man leave the room, the door swinging closed behind him, before he finally turned his gaze to look at Reno and the guy’s almost creepily intense stare in his direction. He met those eyes straight on with his blues, raising an eyebrow ever so slightly in question. Why Reno been staring at him like no one’s business, why his lip hurt, what the hell that whole Seifer thing was about – they were just some of the questions that Locke had on the tip of his tongue. Reno decided to pull the ice pack away about then, poking at his lip, which caused the red head to wince. Locke didn’t feel any extra pain... not yet, at least. That was a good thing, right? Maybe it meant that whatever had happened, it was a one-time thing? Locke sure hoped so... That was very, very disconcerting, and he didn’t really want to go through that again if he could help it.

Locke frowned as he thought back to when he had checked Reno’s lip earlier – had he done something weird? He didn’t really remember doing anything weird... though, in his defence, that pain that had started was kind of in the foreground of his mind since then, so if he really did something strange, he really couldn’t remember. Eyes widening slightly as he saw redness on Reno’s face, Locke caught onto the idea that yeah, Reno was blushing... The hell had Locke done? During Reno’s silence, Locke winced as the pain on his face increased sharply, his fingers finding his lips again, not able to find any sort of outward injury, his own fingers not able to increase the pain he could feel – it had to be Reno’s then, right? The pain? No matter how illogical and metaphysical that sounded..

The boy pulled his fingers away from his lips after Reno had explained, at least the basics, of what he was experiencing. “Guess that explains some things,” Locke muttered, not believing the nerve of that woman for not telling him what was going on – he could understand that Sabin or Reno would think that something like that was a big deal, so when he had been told the things that had been happening by Yuuko, both of them probably thought that Locke had been told... Which should have been the case – that’s not something that you kept from someone, that was a big deal... He sighed softly, feeling a headache coming on. That Yuuko... she was going to be the death of him one of these days, wasn’t she?

“And yeah, it was kinda a sucky way to find out,” Locke agreed, leaning back on the small couch, eying the double bed sitting in the corner. Was this going to be their room while they helped Edgar? If that was the case, were they going to be sleeping in the same bed...? That made a slight tinge of a blush cover Locke’s cheeks, and he turned his thoughts as far away from that, focusing his eyes on the floor. “But it’s not like I blame you, Reno – you thought that I was told. Might’ve been good to mention it, but I can understand. Maybe next time Yuuko tells something to either one of us, maybe we should talk about it, to make sure we’re both on the same page or something...”

His gaze was caught up by Reno’s, and he found that he couldn’t break away even if he wanted to, which was alright with Locke – the boy had found that he liked to look at Reno’s eyes, no matter how.. weird and kind of creepy that might sound. There was just something about them that he liked. And now he was thinking weird thoughts again – he really needed to stop doing that. As Reno stammered over his words, Locke found himself looking confused, to say the least. The boy had a notion that Seifer might have hit Reno just a little too hard, rattling the red head’s brain a little or something... seriously, Locke hadn’t heard Reno stumble over his words so much since, well, ever. Not like Locke had really known the guy that long, but Locke hadn’t really seen Reno as the stuttering type... But it was kind of cute. Locke blushed a little redder at that thought, pushing it out of his mind as far as he could. Guys thought that kind of stuff about girls, not guys... that was just weird, right? Even if it didn’t feel that weird.. RIGHT. No more thinking into things so much...

Even if Reno was talking about ‘dates’. No, the guy was just rambling, and not talking about what Locke thought he was talking about, because that was crazy, right? Even if Locke kind of thought he wouldn’t mind that in the slightest.

“Well, I wasn’t going to leave you behind, especially if you wanted to come,” Locke said with a small smile that was slowly widening as he absorbed Reno’s words, and how he was still rambling, really, this guy was cuter then anything. “You seemed excited earlier, so I’d like it if you’d go with me to the circus. I would’ve been a little nervous to go alone and all that too, so I’m kinda glad.” The boy thought a moment, about to tell Reno all about why he needed to go see Kefka, when a sudden wave of nervousness overwhelmed him, stealing his voice away. What was he suddenly so nervous for...? He tried to swallow around the anxiety he was feeling, his gaze looking at Reno’s blushing, smiling form – the man had said something about feelings being transferred through this ‘link’ of theirs, right? Was it Reno’s nervousness he was feeling...? Did that mean that Reno was actually asking him what Locke had been scared but thrilled to think about? That was insane, but the butterflies he felt... they told another story. Blushing hotly, Locke pulled his lower lip into his mouth for a moment, before he met Reno’s eyes again, caught up in the green. “I would really like to watch the circus with you too, Reno,” Locke finally said, even if it sounded a little corny, before wincing. “Just, no more smiling – that kinda hurts, y’know?”

There was one more thing that he wanted to talk about with Reno – well, two, but they kind of mixed together, so Locke was counting it as one. Trying to get ahold of the warmth of his cheeks, he looked away from Reno, pulling his lower lip back into his mouth, chewing slightly. “Earlier, when you were talking to Seifer – uh, and I agree with the King, you really did deserve that punch, you were being kind of a jerk, just so you know – but anyway, earlier... You said that you remembered something? Do you still remember it, or..?” Locke looked up hopefully – even if it was something stupid or weird, if Reno remembered something, and was able to keep a hold of it, would that make things a little better for Reno? Locke didn’t even know, but he did know that every memory was precious, especially when they’ve been locked away...

--

Vincent had Seifer at ‘follow me’, and the blond was already walking to Vincent’s side, one of his large hands lightly pushing at the small of Vincent’s back to get him started walking in a direction that would take them to an even quieter section of the city, and the small abandoned gym that he knew to be private – the place he went to if he needed to get away from the world for a little bit. It was safe from Heartless for the most part, none of the dark critters coming into the building that often, and even if they did, Seifer could easily defeat them. “There’s a little building just up that road that’s pretty secure, away from prying eyes, if you wanted to talk there,” Seifer stated as he set his sword into the holster that was built into his jacket, leaving his other hand free.

Seifer’s gaze locked onto the Knight that was still standing nearby, and the blond frowned slightly. Whatever Vincent had done, it hadn’t let the man move in the slightest in the time that Vincent and Seifer had been talking... The Knight had seemed really weary of Vincent, and the blond wondered vaguely what kind of relationship that the two had. Not that it mattered much, it was obviously not a good one... but the guy had run after him to try and make sure he was alright, which was more care than anyone had done since he had gotten to this pit of a city. Making a decision, he turned to look back at Vincent. “When we’re out of the area, d’you think you could let Cecil go? He won’t do anyone any harm. He’s just a guy in a suit of armour, y’know?”

He rubbed the back of his neck slightly, frown deepening slightly. “’Sides, I think he’s traveling with your little brother, and they’ve gone to see this Edgar guy, so... if you needed to talk to him again, I can take you to see him.” Hopefully whatever business that Vincent had with Cecil wasn’t too urgent – hopefully it could wait until after Seifer understood what was going on. He hoped, at the very least...

[X Accelerando X]

He really wasn't sure if he could trust Seifer to handle something of this level of importance. After all, he was asking him to act, which Vincent had never actually seen Seifer do before--the man was honest to a fault, and performing or playing out something that was incredibly important, like this, was not something he was sure the man could do or not on his own. Even so, they did not have much in the way of a choice, and so they would simply have to hope for the best; Kefka was far too distracted being an idiot to notice if Seifer slipped up a little--he hoped. "You must do your best to remain as emotionless as possible," Vincent stated coldly, settling the metal device onto Seifer's head. The plan was simple--use the 'Slave Crown' as Kefka had called it, on Seifer (after having rendered it quite useless through some tinkering), and then bring him back to the mad mage. Seifer maintained his will for the time being, Kefka was none the wiser, and Vincent could bargain with Maleficent to spare him for the time being. Seifer had been very adamant that he would not leave Vincent alone again, something that Vincent both appreciated and despised. He had explained everything to him as simply as he could, stressed the danger he was in, and Seifer, in his way, had made a counter-point, rendering all of Vincent's words simply powerless. It annoyed him completely, because he was still very much angry at Seifer, even if he couldn't remember why. Besides, he had reclaimed Cecil as Maleficent had asked--that had to earn him some credit in her ledger, no?

"More then likely Reno and Locke will be there. That idiot could never keep away from fairs and circuses back home, though I doubt he remembers that now. They also seem to be making it a habit to interfere where they are not wanted." His tone remained cool with every word; eyes frosty, he looked Seifer over, making sure all the pieces of the crown were where they were supposed to be. "And recall that if Kefka tells you to do something, you do it without question. That is how this--thing works. The same applies to those little trolls he keeps as company." He shuddered in revulsion at the thought of those two. There was something wrong with them, more so then Kefka. Inhuman was the best term to describe the eerie Zorn and Thorn. His distaste obvious, he handed Cecil over to them who could not resist an order, though, because that face plate had no bearing on his lips, he could still speak. Kefka had seen to that in an immature yet effective manner by sealing his mouth with some tape. The man was now playing as an enforcer and servant for Kefka, which Vincent was grateful for--it kept him out of Vincent's hair. He'd already reported his capture back to Maleficent, but had neglected to say anything pertaining to Seifer for the moment; he'd save that for later.

"That is really all there is that we can do at this point." Turning, he stalked out of the wagon that had been set up behind the carnival, motioning for Seifer to follow him. "We need to return. If we take too long, Kefka will begin to fuss." Vincent wanted to also report to Maleficent before Kefka claimed the glory for Seifer's capture. "I am still not speaking to you any further, Seifer. Know that this changes nothing between us, and that I am indeed very angry with you. Now go find Kefka. Now."

With that, he left to find a secluded place and hand in his second report to his lady.

=========================

“This. Is. Awesome!”

Rides, booths, tents with freak-shows, this thing had it all! He was glad that the small group they met earlier were not the only ones that would be doing this carnival thing. Sure, all the long-limbed attendants were wearing creepy masks and never talked, and there seemed to be an overriding clown-theme all based around that Kefka guy that Locke wanted to see, but beyond that it was awesome. Maybe it was simply withdraw from not having been to a circus or carnival in a while, or simply the burden of everything being lifted for a small amount of play time, but regardless, he was ready to have some fun—and he was most certainly ready to have fun, especially with Locke. By this time, his lip had stopped swelling, and now there was only a small cut from where it had been busted. This didn’t matter to him really, only because it was small potatoes compared to the fun of the moment. It wasn’t throbbing, so he didn’t have to worry about it bothering Locke either.

“There! That one first!” he grinned, grabbing Locke’s wrist and dragging him towards the largest ride there—a roller coaster called the ‘Havoc Wing’. Once again, creepy as all hell with the way it had the large face of Kefka on the front car looking more demonic then even human, but it was big, fast and looked like it could make a grown man wet his pants. “We get through the toughest one now, makes everything else more enjoyable, right?” Oddly enough, the line wasn’t long, and the people there were—well, looking a bit distant. They didn’t even really react until they were on the ride, and even then, they didn’t scream. Hands in the air and all that, like they were going through the motions, but nothing else. “Hey, what’s with those hats?” Reno whispered, noting that just about everyone had on some souvenir cap—at least the people who were acting weird. They didn’t even take them off as they got on the ride. Finally, their turn came to get on, and Reno was trembling with anticipation, patting the seat next to him for Reno to get on beside him. “Hey, come on! We don’t have a whole lot of time before the circus-thing starts!”

[Mssr Miles]

Reno’s excitement was just a little more than contagious, and Locke couldn’t help but start feeling rather excited to be here, having fun with Reno and just hanging out. The last little while had been just full of work and stress and fear and... all those nasty, negative emotions. So, even though he thought that the clown faces all over everything were really freaky looking, he didn’t let it bother him as much as it might’ve. Reno was here and they were having a great time, so that’s all that mattered at the moment, right? Locke just grinned as he was dragged through the crowds towards the tallest ride, and Locke looked up at the thing a little nervously – that looked really, really high... Not that Locke was freaked out about heights or anything, it had just been a long time since he had been on a rollercoaster, and even longer than one that high.

The boy stood beside Reno in the surprisingly short line as they waited to get onto this ‘Havoc Wing’ ride, eying the strange looking suit the attendant for the ride was wearing, before Reno’s second question caused him to look back towards Reno with a confused look. Hats...? Locke looked around, following Reno’s gaze to the cheap novelty hats that quite a few people were wearing. Locke had seen some of the attendants in white handing them out, and had considered getting one for himself, but he knew he wouldn’t have anywhere to put it when he and Reno got back to Yuuko’s place – Locke didn’t want to mess up the room that Sabin had been nice enough to lend to them. “Dunno,” Locke replied, frowning slightly at the blank looks that covered most of the faces of the ones who were wearing the hats. “They’re kind of goofy looking. Why, you want one?” Locke turned back to grin at the man, seeing that he was already away and climbing onto the rollercoaster. Locke shook his head with a smile still on his face as he moved to quickly follow, taking off his bandana and shoving it into a pocket so he wouldn’t lose it on the ride, before he plopped himself down beside the red head.

It wasn’t long before Reno and Locke were screaming in excitement as they held on for their lives on the coaster, the wind in their faces and all thoughts of the Heartless thrown out of their minds by the time they reached the end of the ride. Reno had looked and Locke, Locke had looked at Reno, and they had both readily agreed to ride this coaster three more times before they had to get off to allow other people on. They got off the other side of the carts laughing their arses off and, Locke feeling a little dizzy from all the spinning and sharp corners, tripped a little, catching himself on the closest thing that was in front of him – Reno’s arm. Straightening himself up, the boy happened to look towards the circus tent, noticing that people were heading towards the largest tent in the area, Locke realized that if they didn’t hurry, they weren’t going to have a very good seat for the circus... and Reno wouldn’t like that. The boy’s hand slipping down to Reno’s hand, he grasped it tightly, calling out, “C’mon, Reno – the circus is going to start!” as he took off in the direction of the tent, pulling Reno behind him.

Locke had an uncanny knack for finding the quickest, easiest path through any sort of situation – something had come as a learned talent, running away from angry people he had nicked things from in busy hallways at school. The boy found himself acting like he would have normally acted when he was surrounded by a group of people, his hands slipping into a few pockets and grabbing whatever was inside, shoving the items into his own and pocketing the items without even thinking about it. It had been the reason his parents had sent him to a foster home over on Destiny Island, why he was shoved into counselling and the like. He was a ‘troubled’ child, as Mister Palazzo had mentioned when he was still a student councillor, one that needed ‘special care’ if he was going to get over his ‘issues’. What could one say? Old habits die hard, as the saying went, and Locke just couldn’t help himself when he was in a crowd. The blond only hit three people, his pockets full after the few pockets he’d slipped into, unconsciously stopping his actions since he’d have no idea where else to put any other nicked items.

They arrived at the tent with about ten minutes to spare before the show started, lucky enough to find a seat at the front near the ring itself. The boy sat himself down in the plastic seat, finally letting go of Reno’s hand since they had no way of getting separated now, looking around with wide, excited eyes. Reno was right, this was going to be awesome...

--

He took the cold stares and the sharp words that were thrown his way in the best way he could have chosen to take them at this particular moment – with a stoic clench of his jaw and an uncaring eye. The scarred man did listen, of course, he never could ignore Vincents words (at least for too long), and considering that his life could possibly be in danger here, he dug the information out of the condescending tone as effectively as he could. Vincent had, after that bit of verbal prodding, had finally told Seifer the basics of what was going on – why Locke and Reno had been acting so strangely, and which mostly explained the reason why Vincent was so pissy. Well, pissier than usual. Seifer now knew he was working for some lady called Maleficent – not a name that Seifer particularly trusted for obvious reasons – and Vincent was running errands for the woman. Odd jobs – dangerous odd jobs, but odd jobs none-the-less. Seifer still didn’t understand as much as he wanted to about the situation, but he knew enough that Vincent had gotten himself pretty deep into something that didn’t quite sit that well with Seifer, and if the blond held even the tiniest lingering feeling for the dark haired man, then he had to stick around and make sure Vincent didn’t end up getting himself killed.

Sighing as Vincent stalked off, and Seifer took a moment to eye the crowd of people that were, in an essence, trapped in this park, going on the rides, buying the food, a farce of enjoying themselves because of these devices that had been placed on their heads. Kefka’s little minions had been giving them out at the entrance to anyone stupid enough to come in, and Seifer pondered if they really had any idea what was going on anymore... and what Kefka had in store for these people and any newcomers that came around. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be all that good.

And if what Vincent said was correct, then the dark haired man’s little brother would be around here somewhere, dragging Locke around behind him... and Reno would probably be blissfully enjoying himself – unless he already had one of those hats on his head. Then he probably wouldn’t be feeling much of anything. Seifer wondered if Vincent was alright with that... Sure, the kid was an idiot, had agreed to forget his family in exchange for saving Locke’s life, as Vincent had explained, but... the kid was still Vincent’s little brother. And family was important in these times, where the Heartless were destroying worlds and stealing hearts...

Vincent was a lucky man, Seifer knew. The man hadn’t been on Destiny when the s**t hit the fan, when the Heartless had come to town and attacked – that much Seifer got without telling the man too much information. It wasn’t like Vincent could bring the World back, and last that Seifer had seen, Vincent’s father had been alive... so the dark haired man didn’t need to know the horrors that had happened the last few days that the island had still been in existence. Hell, Seifer wanted to forget as much as he could... and he wondered vaguely what kind of ‘wish’ he would have to make to this Yuuko that Vincent had mentioned to allow him to forget... Though, that wouldn’t be fair for the people who had fallen under the crushing Heartless attack.

Wouldn’t be fair to his adopted older brother, Zidane... or his mother. Some of the people had gotten away, but... so many had been lost. More than should have ever had been lost. Seifer had done his best, along with Vincent’s father, to move the few survivors to the play island – he had stated that there might be a way off the island from there... Grimoire had pushed Seifer into this dark looking door in one of the small caves of the play island, saying that they would all be right behind him, and after what seemed like forever... Well, here Seifer was.

The blond turned away from the sight of the people going through their pre-programmed motions with a disgusted sound deep in his throat, turning towards the large tent that he would probably find Kefka in. Seifer really would rather not find the man and do what he was told, but Vincent had told him to do as such, and if Seifer wanted to keep near the man, the blond would have to follow orders. Like a good little mind-slave. Uncrossing his arms, he blanked his face as much as he possibly could, before he started on his way towards the main tent. Might as well get this over with he figured, as he fiddled with the silly looking almost-tiara-looking thing that Vincent had placed on his head. It was one of the many novelty hats that they were giving out to make people mindless... but since this one had been tinkered with, it was safe for Seifer to wear.

Entering the back of the large tent, he heard Kefka’s voice screaming out orders at the strange white creatures that made up the majority of the ones making sure the circus and its carnival were running smoothly, before he even spotted the colourful man. Seifer just followed the insane man’s voice until he was standing right behind the man. Seifer just waited, blank look on his face, for the man to turn around and notice him. He would eventually...

[X Accelerando X]

"I want them surrounded, do you hear me!? Not one way out! None! Zip! Nadda! I want every single one of those fools trapped in that tent! And the two brats that Maleficent is tripping over herself to get!? I WANT THEM CAUGHT! Get them before that wretched up-start Valentine does, understand!?"

"Yes, get them quickly!"

"Quickly get them, yes!"

Kefka was raging angry, which was nothing really all that new--but this time it was far more dramatic then he usually was, simply because Vincent was here and had already managed to grab up two of their targets. Even worse, he had already reported it as such, thus meaning that Kefka couldn't sweep in and steal the glory. Not this time. He would capture those two brats and their stupid key if it killed him--or at least if it killed his multitude of cronies. He had a plan, though, and was preparing to launch it even now. Vincent would never see it coming, and his stupid little troll that he picked up would be completely useless!

"Kwahohohoho!" he cackled to himself, looking down to Zorn and Thorn, waving them off. "Go get them ready! We'll nab that Key-brat before he has any idea what is going on!" The twin clowns bowed, rushing off, giggling to themselves as they readied the creation Kefka had cooked up on his own, using the very things that he discovered that he was quite sure not even Maleficent knew about! Oh, she was going to pay dearly when this was all over and he was ruler of all the worlds! Then he'd destroy her! Coming out of his reverie, he turned to see Seifer standing blankly behind him and he sneered, flicking him on the nose. "Oh, look, it's Vincent's little pet troll! Good, I need you to go play the strong man over in the corner! Go put on that costume and get out there~! And make sure your meat-head face is covered up, got it!? There's a mask for you! Put it on and don't take it off, or I'll make sure your flesh is BURNING off your bones before the night is over!" he laughed again, prancing around behind Seifer, fingers twitching excitedly as he seemed to come out of his 'down' and had returned to his usual 'high'. This was going to be soooo much fun!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The circus wasn't the kind that Reno was used to--it was disorganized, in a really bad way, like the person who was directing it just kinda threw their hands up and said, 'What the hell, no one really cares anyway' which (even if he didn't know it) was exactly the case. Still, seeing it all at once had its own kind of chaotic charm. The trapeze artist was amazing, though he wore a mask just like the rest of the people in white. The hair was awfully familiar though, and Reno almost would have guessed it was Vincent if he didn't know any better. The strong man too had his face covered, and was doing some awesome lifting, though the hair was definitely familiar. "Hey, look," he pointed out, nudging Locke. His face scrunched as he tried to get a better look. "Isn't that--is that Seifer? I mean, I can't see his face, but that is definitely his hair. You think he's here on Edgar's orders?"

There were other amazing things too, but Reno had a hard time picking it out, simply because he felt incredibly distracted. Something felt off, it had since they had come into the tent, and his hand twitched slightly, the one that could call up his Keyblade. It wanted to act, but he couldn't see a reason to do so besides this feeling. It was just--just weird that here of all places (apart from the creepy masks, music and all), the Keyblade should want to come out and do some fighting. And then, suddenly, everything seemed to stop. The trapeze artist flipped, dropping and landing on the ground just behind the main platform, where Kefka rose up out of the ground, laughing hysterically. Why did Locke want to see this guy again?

"KWEEHEEHEEHEE~! And now, ladies and gentleman, and Keyblade Brats of all ages! Now it's time for the MAIN ATTRACTION!"

Reno was on his feet in an instant, the Keyblade coming out on its own in his moment of distraction. "The hell does he mean by that?!"

"Ooh! Feisty little boys need to be punished! Don't worry, this party is just beginning! Let's get our two visitors into the grand ring and start this show!" A fierce shove from behind sent him and Locke into the main circle, the crowd cheering wildly for violence as the entire audience seating area suddenly was ringed by a wall of energy, not unlike what Vincent had used during the fight in the manor before hand. The wall firmly in place, Reno looked around as the trapeze artist grabbed onto the bar that he had been lowered to the ground on, being lifted into the air as the ring with the strong man was also ringed in by the same metal spikes. "W'ere gonna have a great match for you! A couple of lion tamers against a few tasty looking lions! And be careful! I want their hearts in one piece!"

Reno gawked as Kefka flew up into the air high above to watch the festivities. "Come on, come on, come on!" he cheered as the floor opened again, and the sound of clicking, like pieces of ceramic being tapped together over and over issued from the hole. Reno's face contorted into a frown into one of simply being weirded out as dolls, at least ten of them, clambered out and around the hole. The floor lifted up with a large metal circle, in the center of which stood Cecil, his dark form stark still, face covered. "Cecil! You traitor!" Reno roared, crouching and readying to strike. "After all the help we tried to give you! How could you do this!?" Cecil said nothing, but simply stood there, which gave Reno pause. The guy was talkative, whether he was a bad guy or not--he would have said something in response, right? Glancing back to Locke, he growled under his breath, "You don't think something's wrong with him, do you? Didn't Yuuko say something about that armor being bad news?"

"WE aRe CALcabrINA! AdorABLE DOLLS! TERRIBLE DOLLS!" The little toys were chanting, dancing and spinning around Cecil in time with each other, chanting a weird sort of song as they did so, their voices fluctuating weirdly, sounding sometimes high, and sometimes deep. That was creepy enough on its own--but the things' eyes were glowing this nasty yellow and their heads always stared towards Reno and Locke, even as their bodies spun around and around. "WE aRe CALcabrINA! AdorABLE DOLLS! TERRIBLE DOLLS! WE accept this OFFERING!"

"What the hell do they--?" But before Reno could finish his sentence, the dolls shimmered, glowing with a pulsating light in unison, before simply--exploding! Exploding into pieces, they hovered in the air a moment, before reforming into one massive glowing sphere just behind Cecil, who had said nothing, nor moved during the entire eerie ritual. The pieces began to take shape after a moment, and soon, it became clear just what they were making. It was like something out of a bad nightmare (as if the dancing dolls with the glowing eyes weren't good old fashion nightmare fuel on their own). It stood at least ten feet tall, taking up all of the tent, a giant doll with a crown and two massive pigtails. Its skin was the same ceramic material as the little ones, and the body was jointed in various places across its arms, legs and torso. It looked around a moment, before finally focusing on the armor before them. Reaching down a massive hand, it scooped up Cecil easily, who did nothing to fight back. ""WE aRe CALcabrINA! YOU will BEcome ONE of US too!" Its chest joints separated for a moment, opening to reveal the dark crevice within. Cecil was promptly tossed inside, and the entrance sealed again.

"Yes! YES! Use that stupid knight as energy! Eat all his delicious darkness! Crush! DESTROY!" Kefka giggled, prancing around in the air, limbs flailing about with excitement! "Take their nasty little hearts! Take them both! And the meat-head! Gobble him up too! Destroy everyone here! KWAHOHOHOHO!" The doll turned its head around, seeking out the easiest target first--Seifer. Stomping forward, it reached its hand out for the man in the cage. Reno started forward, intent on bashing the damn thing to little pieces--Vincent was there first. His mask came off as he dropped down, roaring in pure rage as he did. How dare Kefka try something like this!? Using the trapeze to send himself hurtling downwards towards its head, he gave the thing a solid kick that normally would have knocked its head around, if he had been wearing the Genji boots. He wasn't. Instead, he let out a shocked cry as his hit glanced off, the doll grabbing him clean out of the air, crushing his form in its left hand. Kefka guffawed from above, clapping his hands. "Accident! Accident! Oops, Maleficent, there was an ACCIDENT! Now CRUSH HIM! Turn him into PULP!"

[Mssr Miles]

All in all, Seifer was actually having fun... Until the whole doll thing trying to catch him, and picking up Vincent instead. That bloody dark haired b*****d, trying to protect him when Seifer was fine to protect himself. He had seen the attack coming his way, and he had been ready to wail on the thing... If it would have worked, he had no idea, but it wasn’t worth getting caught for...

“VIN!” Seifer called from his locked off position as he lifted the mask off his face, tossing it away, the slave crown following, deciding that there was no point in keeping up Vincent plan now that this Kefka had supposedly gone traitor. Gripping onto the bars, the metal smooth to the touch, the blond knew that he wouldn’t make it up and over these bars in time to help Vincent away from being crushed to death by the gigantic and rather disturbing doll thing. The blond was still a little disturbed that the thing had swallowed the Knight that had come after him earlier; the one that tried to offer a few concerned words when he could have just let Seifer be. The blond hoped that the Knight was alright, but he knew his first and second priorities were to make sure Vincent was alright, hopefully helping Vincent’s little brother and the red head’s blond friend from getting killed, before he even thought any more about the body of the Knight at the centre of the doll. First things first, of course...

“Reno! Locke!” the blonds’ commanding voice thundered over the commotion, his eyes settled on the large doll’s features with a scowl, looking intimidating even if he was wearing a leopard skin print outfit that hugged tight to his muscled form, covering him to his knees that slung over one of his shoulders. The fabric outlined the majority of his multiple scars, the most recent one that was still healing, triple clawed marks that ran from just above his hip and ending nearly at his knee was covered; the flesh still tender since he had refused to allow the white magic that could heal it nearly completely to be used on it, preferring to keeping the mark as a reminder of what had happened to Destiny and its people. “Distract its attention, left arm. NOW!” The blond hoped they’d listen; if they didn’t, then this battle wasn’t going to turn out very well for them, and someone might very well die. Or lose their heart. Whichever came first.

Seifer needed the doll to be distracted for a few moments while he got himself ready to unleash an attack, and he knew just the one he was going to throw at the freakish creature. He just needed a little bit of time, and a fair amount of concentration, and he couldn’t move. Stepping back a few paces from the bars, closing his eyes to the world around him, he set his feet at shoulder length apart in a strong stance, his head bowed as he started to draw upon the necessary magic for this particular spell.

--

Locke shook his head slightly at the oddness of thinking that Seifer and Vincent were taking part in the circus... that was just crazy talk, and the boy put that out of his mind as much he could, trying to enjoy the strange flow of the Circus. Kefka was acting the strangest that the boy had ever seen him; sure, the guy was plenty strange to begin with, but he had never been this weird. Eccentric? Yes. Odd? Oh very yes. But this crazy? Never had it been this bad, from what Locke had seen. Despite that all, he had enjoyed himself... until he and Reno were pushed rather rudely pushed out of the sitting area and Kefka started flying.

Yeah, that was kind of weird.

But it was all trumped when the dolls appeared... and Locke’s eyes went wide, his mouth falling open in shock. Dolls... Flying, talking dolls... That exploded and then reformed into something bigger, sucking Cecil into its stomach... “What the ******** is that thing...?” Locke demanded once he got his voice back, the only thing he could think of to say, before he gasped as the thing went for Seifer, instead catching up Vincent who had come out of freaking nowhere. Locke was thrown out of his stupor as he heard a booming voice that he had heard quite a few times back on Destiny; one he really, really didn’t like hearing, because it meant that he was in trouble and a certain scarred blond was going to start chasing him, the promise of at least one punch coming his way. The boy looked towards the strong-man that had de-masked himself, revealing that Reno had most certainly been right, that it had been Seifer. The man’s command registered after a moment, and Locke drew his pathetic little knife as he looked back to the doll with a very unsure look; his little pig-sticker against that thing? The boy didn’t know if his blade was even going to work against that doll, but he knew as his gaze was drawn towards Vincent, that he was going to have to give it his best shot.

The boy started foreward, hopping up onto the coloured ring of the central arena, his gaze shooting back to Reno, knowing that the man was going to have a little bit of an issue with what was happening right then; he didn’t know that Vincent was his brother, and he only saw him as an enemy... But that thing had tried to go for Seifer, and Vincent had tried to stop it, so Locke hoped that it would at least show Reno that Vincent was... at least he wasn’t all bad. “Lesser of two evils here, Reno. Just keep that in mind for now, right?” he smiled weakly, before he charged, running full tilt towards the beast. He was going to do his best to try and distract the thing from crushing Vincent long enough for Seifer to do whatever it was he was hoping to do.... and hey, with Reno and his Keyblade, they might just be able to, wouldn’t they?

Locke sure hoped so. Otherwise, they were probably kind of screwed right now; and not in the nice way... and all because he had wanted to come talk to Kefka, who was prancing around on the air, giggling his voice box out. And if that wasn’t disturbing enough, both Seifer and Vincent were dressed in those ridiculously tight outfits...

Before the boy reached the doll, he noticed what looked like a white light starting to shine on the floor beneath Seifer out of the corner of his eye, but that was all he could tell before he reached the doll’s side, launching himself up into the air and slamming into the arm that was holding onto Vincent. His blade glanced off the creature, and he twisted himself slightly, his shoulder slamming into the arm to try and make the thing release the dark haired man, but to no avail; the man was held too tightly. The doll looked down at him as he landed, and Locke ducked just in time to feel the wind from the things arm as it attempted to slap Locke away, probably jarring the body it held in its hand, but it wasn’t like the creature was worrying about that. Calcabrina did have Kefka’s okay to steal all of their Hearts, and Locke didn’t think that the thing was worried about being gentle about it.

Calcabrina, off kilter because of the extra weight in its hand, teetered on one foot as it regained its balance, before turning back towards Locke and charging, its doll-face looking eerily blank as it did so. “Whatever you’re doing, do it quick, Seifer!” the boy screamed at the scarred man as he threw himself out of the way, hitting the ground and rolling a little before he jumped up onto his feet after a moment of disorientation. Looking up, he saw the thing charging again...

“Make it STAY STILL,” Seifer demanded, his face crossed with concentration and frustration, his eyes now opened and locked onto the doll, holding back the energy for the best moment to release it, not wanting to miss the creature and accidently hit Vincent... that was going to be a tricky, but if he could make sure the beast stayed where it was...

Locke spared a look towards the man, disbelieve etched into his face. “How?!”

“Figure it out!” the man replied, clamping his eyes shut tightly again, continuing to gather the energy he would need.

“But I... s**t!” Locke swore, which turned into a yell as he had to dodge the things swung hand once more, noticing that the doll paused and was kind of really slow every time that it had to turn around. Maybe if he... Locke straightened, intending on trying to run around the creature, when he saw the arm reversing direction quite suddenly, coming back towards him. He didn’t even have enough time to throw up his arms in defence as the hand backhanded him, the force of the blow catching him in the stomach, throwing him bodily towards the bars that blocked Seifer off from the rest of the fight. Locke’s back and head hit the bars, the sound of it ringing rather loudly in the air, the force of it vibrating through his form, the blond crumpling limply to the ground.

It was enough for Seifer, though. His had been muttering under his breath the incarnation that would bring forth the power. “O divine spear, run my enemy through...” he whispered, wincing at the sound of a body hitting the bars near him, his eyes locked onto the arm that held Vincent captive, his eyes alight with the powerful offensive spell he was releasing. “Holy Lance!” Last semester of high school he had been enrolled in a white magic class, finishing the required classes that he had needed to for university; Seifer was the first to admit that he wasn’t that well at the healing aspect of things, but he had taking a shine to the offensive spells that the teacher had been able to cram into his brain. The markings of the magic circle stamped themselves temporarily into the dirt of the central circle, a little off center of the beast. Six shards of purely offensive holy energy shot out of the ground around the beast, forming into elongated spears of energy, five slamming towards the shoulder joint that was attached to the arm that held Vincent at different angles, holding the thing in place as the final spear got into position, falling a moment later. The arm holding Vincent clattered to the ground, severed from the rest of the thing’s body.

Seifer didn’t give himself a moment to gloat, instead he began scrambling up the bars, reaching the top by sheer force of will, it seemed, looking down the rather long drop with determination. He’ll just need to get down now... Though, with that cackling clown near the top of these bars... The muscles of Seifer’s legs curled tightly, and he leapt straight at the retarded clown’s back, his arms wrapping around the mans upper body, intending to either take the man down... or to hang on very, very tightly.

--

A tall figure stood on the path directly in the middle of the path that lead to the main tent, looking up at the disturbing looking smile that was plastered onto the banner the hung above the entrance to the circus, a frown crossing the beautifully androgynous features. The form was covered in a fine dark captain’s jacket, trimmed with silky navy material and gold buttons, open to show the stylishly elegant cravat, white blouse and form fitting dark slacks. A single thigh-high booted toe tapped in time with the odd music from within the tent as the figure waited, turning their neatly kept violet mane as a slightly scruffy looking man in trousers, a sleeveless striped shirt and a bandana ran up beside the figure, winded slightly. “What do you make of it?” the well dressed figure asked, nodding around the area, as the scruffy man caught their breath.

“Cap’n, this place is jus’ weird,” the man started, which was a understatement to the décor of the surrounding carnival, shaking his head slightly as he passed the figure a novelty crown. “The guys an’ gals wearin’ these hats? And the others like ‘em here? They’re just mindless. You tell ‘em to do somethin’ and they do it. It’s down righ’ creepy, I’m tellin’ yah…”

Faris Scherwiz, Captain of the Tycoon, nodded curtly, looking over the strange hat with a frown, before tossing it to the side, the man catching it after a fumbled moment. “We’ll save it, give it to that tinkering King, he can figure it out... Any news on our missing crewmen?”

“The good ol’ Doc’s been found, it’s how we figured the weird hat thing was doin’ somethin’ weird to the head. Took the thing off ‘im, and he fell right asleep. Someone’s takin’ ‘im back to the ship ‘til he can wake up.”

“So all that’s left missing is our new blond cabin boy, hm?” Faris’ tenor voice hummed, wondering what possessed the Doctor and the little blond boy to come running this way, when Faris had specifically told them not to go wandering off too far… Sure, the Doctor was a little bit of a head case, but the Captain had thought that between the two refugees their ship had picked up somewhere between Horizon and Garden that they would have at least enough common sense to do what the Captain had told them… At least the new orange haired cabin boy had done as such, and he was the one who brought his concerns foreward to the Captain…

The man scratched the back of his head, looking slightly downtrodden. “Yeah, not a sign of ‘im, I’m ‘fraid. He’s not on th’ grounds, so maybe he’s in tent somewhere…? Sounds like there’s a lot of people in there…”

“Then the tent it is. Have everyone meet here…” Faris threw the coat slightly to the side as a dark look crossed their face, revealing decorated rapier at the figure’s side, before the Captain nodded the man on his way. “Tell them to expect a fight… Dismissed!”

“Yes, Cap’n!” the man nodded, a grin on his adoring face, before he scurried off to round up the rest of the crew. Faris stood before the tent, gaze set on the gleefully-deformed face staring down at all whom would be entering the tent. How unsightly…