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

[Mssr Miles]

Yuuko

The Space-Time Witch was quite happily lounging on her couch-chair once more, waiting for one Vincent Valentine to come back with his payment, and waiting for little Locke to use the Ears to contact her and ask her just who it was he was suppose to be delivering the cursed doll to. Ah, the boy must look adorable in those ears... she really should have made him put them on before she sent him off... Oh well. She’d see him and the ears when he and Reno got back.

“His name is Umehito Nekozawa... And he should be around there somewhere...” The woman stated, as she heard Locke’s little voice calling from the ears. Yuuko looked up as the black haired man she had sent out on his little mission earlier barged through the door to her meeting room, bag of alcohol in hand, which the man deposited near her chair quite gently, despite the angry look in the man’s eye. “Now if you’ll excuse me, it looks like a young man is back with my delivery. Tah tah, Locke! Don’t die!” The ears were removed from her head, and she slid them to her neck.

The woman would have laughed gently to herself, but she thought that she should keep it to herself right at this moment – it would give her no gains to further aggravate the man at this particular moment. She hummed in a bored manner as she made sure that the bottles were, indeed, what she had ordered – and to her delight, she found out that they were. The woman was going to have a great time tonight... and maybe she could even convince Sabin to sit down and have a drink with her – she figured that they needed to celebrate a little, for finding the Keyblade Master and sending him on the right path.

“Payment has been happily received,” Yuuko stated, coming to more of a sitting position, taking a drag of her pipe as she collected her thoughts, wondering just how much information to give the boy, and thus, Maleficent... Though, she had made a deal, so she would have to comply...

“The information that you seek is one and the same, which is why I was pleased to give you the information at such a low price,” she said with a wave at the bottles still at the foot of her chair. “One Reno Valentine – Keyblade Master – is as well as expected after giving up the memories of his family in exchange for one Locke Cole’s life. Locke Cole’s Heart was shattered in the escape of the destruction of Destiny Islands, and needed to be tied to a strong Heart to survive, so he made a wish with me to have this done. Locke, currently one of the Keybearer’s traveling companions, is now in my employ because of another wish, and I have currently sent him and Reno on a mission to Umehito Beach to deliver a package for me.”

Yuuko continued on, starting to speak about a little bit more... private matters concerning the two boys. Vincent’s wish stated that he wanted to know everything about the two, so she would continue on until the man decided that he had had enough with Yuuko... which would most likely be very soon, from the look on the man’s face.

[X Accelerando X]

Vincent's face went through several different shades as Yuuko spoke. With each new revelation, it changed, from going deathly pale at the knowledge that Reno was the chosen Keyblade bearer, to a light flush as he heard that Reno'd given up his memories to save Locke, to a bright red as she began listing off a great deal more then Vincent had asked for...the last bit of information far more then he needed to hear or wished to hear...it being something that enraged him so deeply that all the coor drained from his face, his eyes darkening with pure rage. "That little..." There was no word he could find to fit. Nothing to describe how he felt about Reno, and even more so Locke. Reno had found out about Seifer...and even worse then that, he'd told Locke. That despicable little toad had told Locke! As if it were nothing at all! He would kill him, he would kill him for doing that and then having the audacity to wipe his own memories! That was even worse! He gave up his family, effectively, to save some bottom-feeder that he'd only just met two days ago! How dare he!? Hands clenched into fists, he turned away from Yuuko, deciding then and there that he would not see her ever again. He had finished his mission, and he wanted nothing else to do with this smug witch.

"That is all I needed to know," he hissed over his shoulder. "I will trust your honor to keep certain bits of information..." he shuddered at this, "From reaching anyone else...especially the portion concerning myself and anyone from my high school, if you please." Conjuring a new portal, he departed, returning back to Maleficent's castle, hoping he never had to return to that irksome witch and her vile shop again. Reno had done the unthinkable for someone he wasn't even related to, had effectively spit in the face of his family...of their mother. He gave up the memories of their mother willingly for that Cole brat...He would pay, truly he would pay, as would Locke. He cared very little what happened to Locke, but Vincent was going to make Reno pay by his own hand.

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

Maleficent had called him. But why? He was not a field agent, had never been. He was a guard, nothing more. He'd been working for the woman for several months now, ever since she'd picked him up from the small world of the Blue Planet. He'd been in training as a Dark Knight, and she said that he had potential. And then she set him to work as a castle guard. True he knew the ins and outs of the palace, but beyond some training and becoming a full-fledged dark knight, there was nothing much else that made this job any different then his training in Baron. But now this call...Maybe it meant that he was getting a real assignment? Or perhaps he'd done something wrong? What if he was to be punished? Turned into a Heartless!? He'd heard of such things before, of those who'd failed in their duties being relieved of their hearts. That would be...no, he'd done nothing wrong, not once. He'd always followed orders, to the letter. There was not much room to fail when your orders consisted of 'Stand here and don't move' or 'Patrol this hall'.

So caught in his thoughts, the dark knight very nearly walked into the new recruit, who had reappeared outside of their leader's study door. Jumping back with shock, he gasped slightly, visor falling over his face. "I beg your pardon. I was not paying attention." Vincent, that was his name, if the rumors going around were true. He most certainly looked like one that Maleficent would favor. As he turned his pale face to look back at Cecil, the knight took a step back, a flash of gold in the other's cold gaze sending a chill down his spine. The darkness around this young man was heavy, intimidating to say the least.

As he knocked, Vincent waited silently, the knight behind him silent as well, as Maleficent's voice bid him enter. Opening the door, entering and slamming it shut in Cecil's face very simply. Of course, after Maleficent said that Cecil was supposed to be there as well, Vincent reopened it, ignoring the knight as he entered, giving his report without a single nod in Cecil's direction.

"My lady, Yuuko was most informative. It took some work, and I required the aid of Bols to obtain the payment she required, however, she revealed to me in the end that the Keybearer is currently in her service, working to repay a debt for a wish. His name is Locke Cole, and his companion is...my brother, Reno Valentine." A seamless lie. He would have Reno to himself...no, he didn't want revenge, at least, not entirely. Maleficent had named Reno an enemy, or rather, the Keybearer. "It would appear that Reno's heart was broken somehow, into pieces. As such, Locke is keeping him alive by having Yuuko connect their hearts. He is repaying her for this service by working for her. In addition, my brother has seen fit to use his memories as payment to make himself stronger in an effort to repay Locke for his...deed." If he could buy Reno some time, then maybe, just maybe, he could convince him to switch sides, to not be the Keybearer any longer.

Cecil waited until Vincent had finished reporting before saluting his lady. "My lady, I have come as you requested."

[Mssr Miles]

Maleficent watched the young dark haired man as he spoke, hanging onto each and every word that the young man spoke, and watching for any visible signs of the man lying – especially after the man had mentioned his own brother. So the companion of the Keyblade Master was the brother of her newest recruit, hm? That was... interesting information, and she could probably use this bit of knowledge in the future. If Vincent had connections to the companion, then it would be possible to use the boy as bait to lure the Keybearer in, to destroy or corrupt the Bearer when the time was right. But the broken Heart... Maleficent wasn’t expecting to find this information out so soon. She walked towards the shelf that the shards of Heart were, and she placed a hand over the glass of the container, feeling the feebly pulsing Light emanating from pieces. The boy – Vincent’s brother... This Reno was living with half a Heart, the other half supported by the Keybearer? It... made sense, in theory. If one was able to connect the Heart of a Keybearer, then even when their Heart was stolen, they would still stay in this world – skipping the Heartless stage completely. It was people like this that Maleficent needed to collect...

She would need to have the boy bought in at some point – he might make a good Host.

“Thank you for your report, Vincent. If you’ll wait a moment, I shall give you your next assignment. Then you may go get some well deserved rest.” The woman turned towards the one named Cecil, addressing him directly. “Cecil Harvey... You have been in my employ for several months now, and have done an excellent job of following orders – as such, I would like to send you on a mission outside of the Castle. If you do well on this, you will be rewarded with more missions to further our cause.” She bestowed a small smile on the man, then continued on to say, “It is an easy mission – I must ask for you to bring this man to the Castle.” The woman passed a picture of a young blond man in a blue uniform along to Cecil. “The man’s name is Tamaki Suoh – he will be staying at a place called... Umehito Beach. You will be able to find a map of the area in the Library.” With that, she nodded her head towards the door. “You are dismissed, Cecil.” The man bowed and left the room, the door closing and the man’s footsteps disappearing down the hall before Maleficent tuned towards Vincent.

“Your next mission will be to follow Cecil – secretly, of course – and make sure that this Tamaki Suoh makes it here. He must be alive and he must have his Heart intact, but those are my only conditions.” Maleficent waited, wondering if the boy needed to sleep or not. Sometimes the Darkness raised ones constitution and endurance so that they didn’t need to bother with such things as often – but this was in rare cases. Maleficent still needed to sleep some herself, so she understood the importance of it. As something of an afterthought, the woman said, “You did well today, Vincent. It is not...” a look of disgust passed over her face, “...easy, dealing with that Witch, Yuuko – you have saved me a great deal of trouble... You may go – unless you have any questions?”

[X Accelerando X]

An...assignment? Really? A solo mission out on his own, without anyone else to help? This was just the break that he had been waiting for all along! Even as he departed, Cecil was practically trembling with excitement. The prospects were incredible! And it was an easy assignment too. Just go and get this Tamaki, and bring him back. He was certain that if he asked politely and explained that his lady wished to see him that he'd come along just fine! There was no reason he shouldn't, after all. Maleficent had been nothing but cordial, at least to those who followed orders. He imagined, as he walked towards the library, that she probably wanted to try and recruit him. The young man didn't look the type, but then, many people had said that Cecil wasn't the sort to be a Dark Knight either--Of course, that was different. Cecil had made a promise, that was why. But once one takes up the sword of a Dark Knight it is not something that you can simply divert from again. But, that was alright. He was satisfied, and his promise had been fulfilled. He would press on, as he always had, and he would start with this assignment.

It took an hour to find the right book within the tomes, the atlas being rather large, since it covered all of the various countries of the particular world he was to visit. Finding the locale he was searching for, he made sure to get all the details down. The seaside, with a large imposing cave. It was a private beach, and the house in the picture was vast, so it was safe to assume the owners were wealthy indeed. Well, that was good news; wealthy young people usually had a great amount of free time on their hands. That would mean that he would more then likely be available to return with Cecil to meet with Maleficent. This was working out very well. With that settled, Cecil departed, not realizing that someone had followed along within the same dark path he had taken, slipping into the shadows even as the knight arrived on the beach, a few yards from the house in question.

Cecil's eyes turned upwards as a rumble of thunder shook the nighttime air. "A storm--Better hurry before it turns too ugly."

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

Kyouya had known Tamaki for several years. He knew nearly everything there was to know about him, right down to his shoe size (though, having information on everyone was simply something that Kyouya preferred to have anyway). However, Suoh was a special case, and so he knew his peer on a much deeper level, to the point of understanding his little moods. This was one such mood, but one that Tamaki was not in often. He was obviously irritated at her, and Kyouya had to admit it was almost amusing how oblivious she was to the whole thing, all things considered--especially when Haruhi was usually the first to point out when their 'King' was being particularly dense. The twins, Hikaru and Kaoru had noted the same thing, he could tell, but they hadn't said anything yet, and he knew why; their irritation, the same as Tamaki's and Kyouya's and perhaps even Hunni and Mori's was all directed at her. They were not happy with their newest (and only female) member of their Host Club. But they most certainly couldn't say anything now. Tamaki wasn't the sort of blurt out his feelings like that...at least, not when they were serious. No, he was pouting, and so would probably wait, like he always did, for his 'daughter' to make the first move.

This game was getting interesting. Kyouya pondered for a moment, considering his options. He would need to talk to Haruhi later, and point out what she had done wrong. Nothing too harsh, but most certainly something that she wouldn't forget. Perhaps he should-

At that moment, the sound of rain falling sounded against the window. The twins looked up, Kaoru pointing out boredly, "Ah, look, it's raining. Guess there won't be fireworks tonight..."

The lights flickered a moment, before coming back on in full. The generator had kicked in, meaing the power had probably gone out for the area. Tamaki probably wouldn't appreciate that too greatly, considering their host. They could only hope that there would be no issue with the generator--otherwise, Nekozawa may decide to become a bit friendly, with his favorite target for such behavior being Tamaki, naturally. That and it was difficult to eat while in the dark.

"Excuse me, young master Ohtori," a voice called. Kyouya turned to see a maid curtsying, before speaking. "There are two young men at the door. They said, to quote the elder of the two, 'We're here to give this creepy statute to some Neko-whatzit guy.' I assume that they mean Master Nekozawa, but since the young master is currently occuppied, we thought it best to ask you what we should do. We allowed them entry because of the weather, but frankly, sir, they both seem...shady, especially the younger of the pair."

"Well, you may as well bring them in here," Kyouya replied shrugging, taking a sip of his shark fin soup. "At least then we can keep an eye on them. See what it is they were supposed to deliver too, while you're at it."

"As you wish, sir," the maid nodded, turning and leaving the hall.

"You think they're a couple of punks, Kyouya-senpai?" Hikaru asked, balancing his fork on his finger, obviously as bored as his twin, no longer enjoying watching Tamaki pout at Haruhi while she ate.

"I don't know. It would seem odd to make a deliver at this time of night, but then, this is Nekozawa we're talking about. I would imagine late-night deliveries may be common for him, giving his circumstances."

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

The immensity of the house was almost enough to help Reno forget how soaking wet he was...almost. Just the front hall was huge, let alone what the rest of the place looked like. Of course, it was hard to appreciate that when you were soaked to the bone with rainwater, and the air conditioner in the house was going full blast. Reno looked very much the part of a cat that had just gotten out of a bath, and as he let down his red hair, shaking it out, he wondered vaguely if he'd get in trouble for dripping on the carpet. It's not like they could sit while they waited for the maid to get back either; all of the furniture looked like it was worth more then Reno'd make in three years working at Choco-Burger. "You'd think that maid would have given us a towel or something at least," he muttered to Locke. Reno wasn't one for getting wet. Sure, the beach and all was fine, but stuff like this made him miserable and cranky, and he'd stay that way until he was dry again. "You still got that statue thing Yuuko gave us? I mean, it's all wrapped up, right? What the hell could he want with a cursed statue anyway?"

Reno was half-tempted to touch it, just to see what would happen. He didn't believe in curses. That was just some mumbo-jumbo made to explain bad things that happened to people...but then, he also used to not believe in witches that granted wishes, creatures made out of pure darkness and that giant keys could not only pick their wielder but also knew enough to hate things aligned with the darkness. Maybe it was best to listen to Yuuko this time.

A few minutes later, the maid returned, looking like she'd smelled something nasty, which Reno guessed was probably them. Rain didn't count as a shower, but it's not like they were dirty or something. The family must have been snotty if even the maid was being a snob. "You have been invited by our guests into the dining room. Please follow me."

"Wonder if they pay her to be such a bi-" Reno asked, but was cut off by the sound of thunder smashing overhead. The maid looked back, eyes glowering hard at the red head, and he gave a sheepish shrug. Damn halls making his voice echo...

Pausing at the end of the hall, the maid moved to the side of the double doors, motioning for them to enter.

Reno reached out for one of the handles. What were these guests like? A bunch of stuffy old guys maybe? Maybe some creepy occultists, if this Nekozawa's family was into cursed crap. Turning the handle, Reno opened the door...

[Mssr Miles]

Locke smacked Reno’s arm as soon as the maid had left, who had been eying the two of them rather shiftily. “You couldn’t just lemme talk to her, could you?” Locke whispered rather perturbed at the whole situation. Yuuko had sent them to a new world with nothing more than a name and stupid little cursed-cat statue, and then Reno goes and announces to this maid that was kind enough to answer the door in the middle of a storm that they had a cursed object for ‘Some Neko-whatzit guy’ in a very blasé fashion – who wouldn’t be untrustworthy of that? It sounded almost as ridiculous as a kid that could summon a gigantic key- Oh wait. And to top it all off? Locke was soaking wet and freezing his arse off. It was safe to say he was just a little miserable, his pants covered in wet sand and a slight chill settling into his bones. Juuust perfect.

The boy spied Reno out of the corner of his eye shaking himself off like some sort of wild animal, spraying Locke with little droplets of water. “Oh, yeah. Thanks for that...” Locke muttered a little indignantly. He couldn’t even feel the extra water, he was so wet, but it was the whole principal of the thing... The boy finally took the time to look around the large entrance hall they were in – he had to crane his neck nearly all the way back to see the chandelier that hung above them. This was one fancy place... as he watched the fixture for a moment, he saw the light flicker, then right itself. The power must be doing silly things to the electricity in this house...

Giving his soggy friend a little bit of an exasperated look, the boy dug his hand into his pocket to show the still-wrapped statue. “It’s fine, see? I’m not incompetent or nothin’...” the last words were grumbled as the boy shoved the statue back into his pocket, wondering vaguely if the moisture was going to ruin it or something... he sincerely hoped not, because then he’d have to go tell Yuuko that he had ruined her stupid little cursed statue... Speaking of the statue, Locke stated, “I dunno what kind of curse this thing has, or what anyone would want with it – but Yuuko told us not to touch it, so it can’t be good, right?” Locke’s had never been too superstitious or anything of the sort, probably just a superstitious as an average your average Joe could be, but with his introduction to Miss Yuuko...

His thoughts were interrupted by the maid coming back into the entrance way, a disgusted look on her face... particularly eying Locke, the boy was rather unnerved to see. The hell was her problem...? Locke sighed as she told them to follow her to join some ‘Guests’. Really, he just wanted to see this Nekozawa, give him the creepy little statue, and get the hell out of there... He really didn’t want to socialize with some rich guests while dripping on the floor and a pair of silly looking doll ears around his neck that... Jeeze, he hoped they weren’t that waterlogged... Yuuko would give him hell for it if they were...

Reno had started to state something that was probably not a good idea to finish, and Locke just groaned into his hands, wondering if Reno was going to be like this in every world they were in... Well, maybe just the ones that were going to get soaked in...

The red head opened the door at the maid’s strained order, and Locke gave her a weak smile as the boy followed Reno into the room – though his smile was met by a glare that could probably stop even Vincent in his tracks... Locke had to agree with Reno on one thing – this woman really was a bit of a b***h.

The scene in the room wasn’t really something that he was expecting. Scattered around the room, in various states of relaxation, sat seven of prettiest people he’d seen in a while. Sure, Reno was good looking – it had been the general consensus at school – and Locke figured he had his charms despite his rather short stature, but these people... They were damn right sparkling. It was... probably the creepiest thing that Locke had seen since the Heartless attack Destiny Islands – and even then, that had been a different sort of creepy.

Activity seemed to be placed on hold as the two groups eyed each other, then Locke gained up his courage and stepped foreword before Reno could start rattling off things without even thinking again. “Ah, hello! I’m Locke Cole and this is Reno Valentine – uh, we’re delivery boys for a Miss Yuuko... and, we have a delivery for a... Nekozawa?” Yeah, real smooth there, Locke - real smooth indeed.

The room was silent for a moment, then a short blond boy stood up – someone that was even shorter then Locke, the delivery boy was shocked to see – and walked over in front of Locke and Reno, a large stuffed rabbit clutched in his arms. The little blond boy’s eyes were wide and disarming, and Locke smiled unsurely at the boy’s scrutiny... A voice made a sound of interest from behind the little man with a large rabbit, and Locke saw another blond man peeking over at them with a strange look on his face... almost like he was downtrodden, and had seen someone that would be able to help him out of this awful situation that he was in... The blond man jumped up and rushed to them in no more than three graceful leaps, grabbing one of Locke’s hands up in his own, eyes sparkling as he loomed over the delivery boy.

“A commoner!” he breathed, looking like Christmas had come early this year or something of the sort, though Locke could not understand exactly why... and what did he mean, a commoner? He wasn’t that plain looking, was he?

“Uh...” Locke sent Reno a startled look, then turned back to the entranced man holding his hand.

“You are most welcome here, Commoner Locke Cole, brave traverse of the great unknown! A delivery boy – what a rewardingly common job! Traveling here and there, dropping off packages of unknown – To Paris, Bangladesh, New York! Il est si magnifique! Quelle vie!”

Locke was sure that this man was clinically insane... he really had to be...

While the insane French man carried on about the exotics of the life of a Common Currier, using rather exaggerated body motions though never once letting go of Locke’s hand, which made the boy a little uncomfortable to say the least, the short blond man padded over to Reno to look up at him with his creepily adorable eyes, studying him intently.

Finished with his speech, the French man suddenly slung an arm around Locke’s shoulder, ignoring that it was probably making the man wet himself, and he started pointing around the room at various people, barking out orders, his earlier seemingly depressed mood forgotten. “Mori-senpai, get some towels! Hikaru, Kaoru, get two sets of clothes for these two poor, soaking Commoners! Kyoya, call up the kitchen and get something warm set up! And Honey-senpai!” the man pointed at the small boy that was eying Reno, who looked over at the French man expectantly. “Honey, go take Haruhi out of the room so that these fine, upstanding gentlemen can change!”

Locke saw a flurry of movement, surprised at the shouts of, “Ah”, and “Yes, my lord!” and “Right away, Tama-chan!” that was called around the room. The tall French man then turned back to him, taking a step backwards and stated, “How rude of me – I am Suoh Tamaki! And may I welcome you two with open arms and warm hearts to the Ohtori summer mannor!”

"...thanks?" was all Locke could say. He was just a little overwhelmed...

[X Accelerando X]

Was it natural to be that pretty? Seriously, it couldn't be normal for anyone to look that pretty, except himself, of course. But these guys were something else. Reno could practically see sparkles coming off of them as they turned to look at them, before being ordered off by the blond guy. And that guy...Reno felt a twinge of something in the pit of his stomach as he started pawing at Locke like he was some kind of stuffed animal or something. It was annoying. He was rich, right? Shouldn't he have been all snooty? Why would he want to touch a commoner? Maybe he was just crazy or something, or some brat that lived off his daddy's money? Either way, Reno didn't like him at all. Did he think this friendly act was cute or something? No rich person was like that. And now he was hanging all over Locke like he knew him! Honestly, this guy had no shame either! And Locke...couldn'the see he was making him uncomfortable? Was he so stupid as all that to not even tell? On top of all that, this wasn't even his house. He'd said his name was Tamaki Suoh. Last time he checked, Suoh and Ohtori aren't the same name, so why is he welcoming them in like he owned the place? 'Fine, upstanding gentlemen?'What a crock! He was kissing up, he had to be...Maybe--maybe he was after their delivery? Maybe he was like, some kind of blackmarket guy or something, and wanted to sell the statue!

During his musings, Reno failed to note that his face had taken on a scowl, his body tensed as he stood there dripping on the floor, looking every bit cold and miserable. In fact, he didn't even note the return of the twins, who had come back with two bundles of clothes, eyeing Reno over with a smirk.

"Hey, doesn't he look like someone we know?" the first asked.

"That red hair, the yankee visage, that scowl?" the second replied, nodding.

"Youre referring to Kasanoda, I presume?" the guy with the glasses asked, quirking a brow as he joined them. That got Reno to look up. That guy was..very much like Yuuko. He imagined the two would get along really well. He had the same sort of air of sneakiness, like there was more to him then that smile and all. He also had those kinda sharp eyes. Definitely not a guy to mess around with, that was for sure.

"Dinner will be here shortly," the guy with the glasses nodded, giving a not-so-genuine looking smile. Maybe it was because Reno'd used the same smile a hell of a lot in school, but he could tell the guy wasn't being completely sincere. This Tamaki guy must have been there leader with the way he was ordering everyone around, and if he could get this scary guy to do what he said then deep down, Tamaki must have been one scary b*****d too. "And while we're working on introductions, I am Kyouya Ohtori. Those two who brought you the clothes are the Hitchiin brothers, Hikaru and Kaoru."

"Oh, wait, hold on!" Reno interrupted, shaking his head, pointing towards the guy being escorted out by the short blond kid, his face confused. "Why do you have to send him out? He's a guy, ain't he? Not like he'd see something he hasn't seen before, right? Or is he...?" Reno flicked his wrist, eyebrow quirked, hinting at 'that'. The twins looked at each other and grinned wickedly, before drawing close to each other, much closer then brothers ever should have been.

"What's the matter? Does the notion of love between men...uncomfortable to you?" Hikaru asked, taking Kaoru's chin, looking to Reno.

"Hikaru, you shouldn't tease him like that..." the other twin blushed, looking apologetic, but not pulling away from his sibling.

"Would you rather me spend all my energy teasing you...? Maybe when we go to bed, I should..."

Reno'd had enough of that scene, face burning red as he looked back to Kyouya, knowing they were teasing him. "Rich bastards..." he muttered under his breath, glancing to the clothes the twins had tossed onto the divan after they started clutching at each other. "They for us?"

Kyouya breathed a tiny sigh. Once again, the twins had wonderfully distracted another curious inquirer after they're little secret. He'd have to remember to talk to Tamaki later about being so careless, especially around strangers.

[Mssr Miles]

Locke elbowed Reno in the ribs at the gesture that Reno made and whispered to the red head, “C’mon man – that’s a she... haha, and you call yourself a Valentine?” It was rather entertaining the fact that Reno mistook the girl for a guy... though, she was wearing rather male looking clothes. But still, with Reno’s Casanova tendencies, Locke would have thought he would have been able to spot a girl from fifty feet away... No such luck tonight, he supposed.

The small blond that was escorting the brown haired tomboy from the room stated, “We’ll meet you all for dinner! C’mon, Haruhi!”

“Yes, Honey-senpai...” Turning towards Locke and Reno, the girl stated politely with a small bow, “It was a pleasure to meet you,” before she was led out of the room by Honey.

A towel was deposited on the soaking blond’s head, and Locke looked up to the man the hand was attached to, seeing the black haired man looking down at him with a blank look. Locke gave a soft smile and stated, “Oh! Ah, thank you!” which was answered with a soft nod and an even softer smile, then the black haired man went on to do the same to the red head. Locke started to dry himself off, wringing out his clothes as best he could while still wearing them into the towel, but he was having a bit of a rough time of it. The blond Frenchman, seeing Locke’s dilemma, tromped over and offered him a pile of clothes that the twins had brought into the room, and Locke accepted them, then asked with genuine nervousness, “Ah, are you sure this isn’t a problem? Really, we just need to deliver something, then we can leave and-”

A finger was pressed to his lips, silencing his protests. “Hush! Say no more, brave commoner! These clothes will solidify our friendship in a world gone-“ Locke stopped listening to the man about this point, as the man dragged him towards a screen that was probably used to block the sun during the day, but would work to help him keep his modesty in a room full of men. Of... men who were groping at each other, Locke was a little disturbed to see, as he passed the two redheaded twins right near Reno. The boy threw a look of concern over his shoulder at Reno – what kind of house had they gotten themselves into...?

The French man seemed quite happy to follow Locke behind the screen, and but Locke was quite adamant about his privacy, and finally resorted to pushing Tamaki out of the area of the screen and moving the temporary change room to cover the corner as best as he could so the over excitable blond man couldn’t get in the little area without Locke’s knowledge... The boy quickly stripped, towelling himself off as best he could, and threw the items of clothing on – a orange pair of pants, a kind of yellowish button down top that he rolled up to the elbows to keep his forearms free, a rather nice white belt, a pair of brown sandals... and was that a bandana? Oh yes, it was a bandana! Locke was rather happy, as he tied the matching orange fabric around his head, not really sure to do with the last piece of material... he didn’t need a scarf, right? Wasn’t cold out... He threw the creamy fabric over his shoulder to give back to the people that had kindly offered to keep it for him, and gathered his wet clothes up in the towel, being sure to grab both his dagger and the little statue – which was thankfully still in its covering. It wouldn’t do to have himself be cursed after things were going to well... Well, mostly well. Locke was still a little creeped out about the touchy feely French man...

Speaking of Tamaki, the man had Locke deposit his wet clothes in a basket by the door, and the man stated that someone would be around to wash and dry their clothes, and they should be ready by the next morning – not that Locke really wanted to stay ‘til the next morning, but what was he to say? He’d probably have to make sure that he contacted Yuuko and told her about this new development...

Tamaki called to the twins as he fixed the scarf around Locke’s neck that the boy had not done himself, “Hikaru! Kaouru! Get this Reno boy dressed, would you? We shall meet you in the Dining Room momentarily!” His arm slung around Locke, Tamaki lead the boy out of the room, throwing many questions at the younger man about the specifics of his job – most of which Locke couldn’t tell him since they sounded just a little out there and he had just started the job recently himself... but he tried his best to answer the questions and not looking amazingly uncomfortable as they walked. The boy threw a look over his shoulder at Reno that hopefully told him to hurry – Locke didn’t know how long he could handle being around this friendly, but so very strange French man...

Mori leaned himself against the wall just next to the door outside of the room, silently watching over the men still remaining inside. If the twins got a little over zealous, he’d be there to save this new person from their roaming fingers... He was just that kind of person.

[X Accelerando X]

They had been incredibly kind, especially Tamaki, the one he was supposed to bring back. It was amazing that Maleficent held an interest in him at all, given the circumstances. He didn't have a trace of darkness within him that Cecil could see, and it didn't look like he had any intention of getting any either. When he'd wandered into the house, he'd been caught by that tall one, the one who didn't seem to talk much. After explaining that he was there to see Tamaki, the one named Mori had led him into the dining hall, where the others had been eating seafood. A brief introduction (very brief since Cecil barely had time to get his name out before being swarmed with questions and fantastic statements) was all he had time for, since Tamaki swept everyone out of the room, leaving Cecil to dine alone under the pretence that one such as himself was obviously very shy about eating in front of people, as those in something called 'anime' were want to do when they lookd as Cecil did. And so, to preserve the power of his cosplay, they would not interfere in the slightest in breaking his character. Cecil had no idea what he was talking about, but he surmised as he picked at the food on the table, that they must have confused him for some sort of masquerader of some kind. His armor was unique, since only those of his class could wear such a thing, but even so, it didn't look like a costume...did it?

He continued to eat in silence, pondering this notion vaguely when the hair on the back of his neck stood up. The feeling of being watched fell over him, and he turned, preparing for a fight. No one was present, and the place was well lit. It was not the sort of place for an ambush, though the thought was disturbing none the less. Was he being watched? Perhaps Maleficent was watching him through any number of her scrying abilities? Maybe this was a test simply for his fortitude and ability to withstand something as...interesting and tiring as Tamaki. That was a very good possibility, though the reasoning behind it seemed off. After all, had he not proved his patience time and again with menial patrols? No, this felt different, and he was certain that he didn't like it. Still, since there was no present obvious to him now, he could do nothing but wait. Perhaps it would reveal itself in time. This place was already strange, and the inhabitants were odd, to say the least. Between their liveliness and their beauty, Cecil was certain that there were some other odd characters lurking about within the halls. No threat seemed imminant, so there was no reason to become too paranoid for the time being. Best to focus on the obviously much larger issue at hand.

It was then, as Cecil finished eating and trying to figure out how to settle the whirlwind that was Tamaki Suoh down long enough to explain why he was there in the first place, that the blond man returned, leading in his entourage once more, minus three, along with a new face. This one was very young, though older looking then the youngest blond child in the group, and decked in orange. He seemed just as windswept as Cecil had felt, and the knight felt a twinge of pity for him simply because he understood all too well. This Tamaki fellow certainly was a handful, and how all of his friends managed was beyond him. On top of that, he truly had to wonder what his mistress wanted him for in the first place. He didn't see her handling his glowing and vibrant personality for too long, despite whatever her intentions were, and it was here he felt a twist. Maleficent was not known for her patience (stories circulating amongst the castle saying she once cursed an infant after having been snubbed an invitation to the baby shower), and Tamaki would obviously play upon her last nerve before introductions were finished.

"Ah, Tamaki, sir, I am glad you've returned," the Dark Knight nodded, the face plate lifted to reveal something slightly surprising. He'd worn it down during the course of their introduction, more or less forgetting to remove it simply out of habit. He'd almost always worn it down, especially since the armor itself was fused to his body through the dark magics that forged it in the first place. Beneath the dark metal plate, was revealed a pale face of surprising beauty, almost effeminant, with gray-blue eyes that were far to kind and soft for someone in such dark armament. His voice also was calm, gentle, hardly what you would expect from a dark knight. "I need to speak with you, please, about my business here. If I could only have a moment..."

"So that really works, huh?"

Interrupted, Cecil glanced back to the doors as the three missing members of Tamaki's group emerged, this time escorting another new face. This young man had brilliant red hair, and pointed features not unlike the prodigy that Maleficent had picked up. Brothers, maybe? Or cousins?

"Every time," the twins nodded in unison, one leaning on either side of Reno as they entered. Reno, now garbed in a sort of military style jacket, with a designer tee beneath, and khaki cargo pants seemed suddenly very at ease with the twins. From one mischeif creating Casanova to another, they got along very well, once the twins had explained their ruse. "Girls love the whole 'brotherly love' deal." Reno seemed to ponder that notion as he adjusted the pair of thin goggles perched on the top of his head. He liked them very much, and decided he didn't want to part with them. Pulling away from the twins, he caught up with the captive Locke and pulled around in front of him.

"Hey, you clean up pretty good, Locke. Not too bad at all...even if you kinda doo look like a goldfish with that scarf."

"It's a design from our mother, and you're close," Hikaru pointed out, "It's suppose to look more like koi. Guess we need to tell her about the goldfish look."

"Not that there's anything wrong with that...just glad we had a guinea pig before we gave her the a-okay on it!"

"Cecil, I believe you said you had some business with Tamaki?" Kyouya inquired, seeming to appear out of thin air next to the startled knight. "Might I ask about said business? As vice president, it is my job to sort through anything that may need to be handled by Tamaki, and things that are...better left out of his hands." He adjusted his glasses, the tiniest hint of irritation glinting in his tone and smile. "As you can see, he is easily distracted. So, what is it that you needed to discuss with him?"

[Mssr Miles]

The blond boy, decked out in his new outfit, came to stand in the dining room, being greeted by both Haruhi and Honey, who were sitting at the table, Honey looking like he had been digging into some cake and the brown haired girl, dressed in a pink frilly dress that she looked rather adorable in if Locke said so himself, and finally... A Knight.

Huh.

The boy did a double take, his gaze settling on the man now standing at the table, talking to Tamaki. The face plate was up on the armour, showing a stark difference between the outer and the inner man, but all Locke could wonder was why on earth, or whatever this world was called, was a Knight doing, in full plate mail, sitting casually at a table in a fancy mansion... Locke could only imagine what the maid must have thought of this guy, let alone Locke and Reno. Or maybe... this guy was from this world?

Locke was distracted from his staring when Reno and the two Twins walked into the room, the three red heads seeming like they were much more comfortable with each other then they had been earlier – so much so that the twins were draping themselves over each side of Reno, which Locke figured would make an interesting picture, and he wondered if he could find a camera to bring with them on the next world. Snickering to himself at the campiness of that thought, Locke took in Reno’s appearance, particularly the goggles that Reno seemed to be fiddling with. They actually looked rather good on his head, and he wondered vaguely why on earth these people had goggles just laying around that they could lend people. These people, he swore, so weird. Well, not as weird as having a freaky pretty Black Knight sitting at the table to dine with them or whatever that guy was there for, but still...

Being pulled from Tamaki’s grasp, which he was very thankful of, of course, Locke was now looking directly up at Reno and his calculating stare. The boy fiddled with one of the hems of his scarf under the scrutiny, beaming and blushing, then finally frowning slightly with the compliment and comment dropping out of Reno’s mouth. Locke, he... didn’t look like a fish, did he? He looked down at his clothing, realizing just how brightly-coloured he looked...

Pulling at the scarf a little, with intention of dislodging the garment from its perch around his neck, he was once more accosted and had it fixed around his shoulders artfully. This time it wasn’t by Tamaki, who seemed to be having the beginnings of a conversation with the Dark Knight and half paying attention to the girl eating seafood at his side, it was the tall, dark haired Mori who quickly went to work to fix it, and really... after the man had so kindly taken time to fix the garment, Locke, a great blush across his cheeks, couldn’t try to dislodge it again... it was just something about the air around the dark haired man that made Locke feel like he had been given a great gift... He couldn’t quite put it into words, so the boy just shook his head and sat in the closest chair to him at the moment, which was sitting right next to the Dark Knight.

Awwwkward.

Tamaki looked away from Haruhi, a gigantic pout on his face, tears in his eyes and spied the Otaku who was trying to get his attention once more. “Ah, yes! Dear Knight... What was it – Cecil? What hast thou traversed foreign lands to seek my unyielding advice about?”

“Unyielding... doubtful,” a comment was mumbled from Tamaki’s right, and he looked at the brown haired girl with tears in his eyes.

“Haru-hi~” he whined, “Why are you being so mean to Daddy?”

The snapping of a crab leg was the only response that Tamaki recieved.

[X Accelerando X]

Cecil was taken aback by the sudden change in speech that the blond young man had taken. He was a thespian, to be certain, but the way he kept switching between roles was nearly too much for the knight to keep up with. Kyouya must have noticed, since he appeared (as he was so fond of doing) behind Cecil, giving a quiet explanation. "You'll have to excuse Tamaki. He takes his role as the Host Club's 'King' very seriously. He's usually harmless." A king! That's why Maleficent wanted to see him! Tamaki was a king and therefore, needed, no doubt, for some sort of treaty! It all made perfect sense now! But if he was a king, he'd probably be very busy...but then again, if he was sitting around here eating crab and referring to a young lady that looked nothing like his child as his 'daughter' then perhaps he was something of a silly monarch, and the world was actually rules by this Kyouya fellow? He certainly seemed the type.

"Well, I am here then, your majesty, to speak to you about returning with me to meet my lady, Maleficent. She wishes to have an audience with you about something and I was sent to escort you back," he explained, going down on one knee, head bowed. The twins both looked stunned for a moment, Kyouya throwing them a look. This was going to inflate Tamaki's ego like never before, and with everything going on, and Haruhi in the mood she was in, that would prove to lead to nothing but trouble. Still, what could they do? Cecil was, as Tamaki had declared, their guest, and as such, would be required to indulge his whims. And, if that whim was to refer to Tamaki as some sort of ruler, well, who were they to get in the way of an otaku? What truly concerned Kyouya was this reference of leaving to go meet with some woman. The name itself was unnatural and had a sort of dark meaning to it, and even Kyouya's normally cool demeanor felt a chill run down his spine at the mention. No, that was one appointment Tamaki would not be making. And, if it took some sort of situation involving Haruhi in a bedroom with himself to make him forget all about this Cecil and his task, then so be it. He needed to talk with Haruhi anyway.

"Hey, if the big guy says it looks good, then you better keep it," Reno pointed out with a smirk, putting a heavy hand on Locke's bandanna-ed head. "Doesn't look like the type to take no for an answer. Wonder if he's like, their muscle or something..." He muttered a moment later. The growling of his stomach took him away from his musings, as he was nearly dragged by the twins to the table, Hikaru taking Reno and Kaoru bringing Locke.

"DINNER TIME!" they cheered in unison, before sitting down on either side of the pair. "So, spill it you two, where you from? Messengers, right? So, did you come from Hokaido? Tokyo? You don't look Japanese, but if you're going to be in the area for a while, maybe you could help out with the club? You couldn't be official members since you're not students," Hikaru pointed out as Reno dug into the crab, eating the meat with great relish, the snapping of the shells nearly non-stop. "But you're both pretty good looking. You could do advertising, maybe," Kaoru agreed.

[Mssr Miles]

Locke felt the heavy hand on his head, a slight blush coming to his face. “Yeah, he’s a little.. uh.. well, I dunno. Guess he’s kind of cool, y’know?” He wasn’t quite sure what he meant, because he was still confused about the silent giant, but he had a feeling that if Locke had a big brother.. he would most definitely want him to be like Mori. He was cool and strong and seemed like he was totally in control – sort of like Vincent, just less... bitchy. He eyed Reno out of the corner of his eye for a moment – Reno would make a cool big brother too, he was fun and easy to talk to... Locke couldn’t help but feel a tinge of guilt for Reno giving up his memories of his own big brother – they may not have gotten along that well, but they were still family... It only geared him towards making this delivery soon, so he could go back for another job from Yuuko. He opened his mouth to ask to see if he could see this Nekozawa guy again, when he was interrupted rather abruptly.

One of the twins, he wasn’t sure which one it was, dragged him towards the table. Sitting down between Reno and the twin – the nicer one, was it Kaoru? The two started talking, picking up each other’s conversation easily, and Locke looked between the two of red heads as the spoke, asking questions and wondering out loud of advertising... It made Locke wonder just what kind of ‘Club’ these people were in.

Dinner was a little tense, Locke had to admit to himself, and he ate very little himself even if the food was deliciously prepared. His breakfast, which was only an hour or so before, had been extremely filling. He had to wonder briefly about how the time in this world and the time back at Yuuko’s place seemed to jump. Would it be like this in the other worlds?

“I.. don’t know any of those places...” Locke mentioned with a confused look at the twins – maybe all these weird names were places in this world? “Ah, well... Reno’s from a place called Destiny Isles, and I’m from a place called Balance, so I guess you could call us foreigners... And.. I’m not sure what you want us to do, but we are on a bit of a tight schedule, but.. I suppose we could ask our employer?” If it was just dandy with Yuuko, then who was Locke to refuse a question of help?

Speaking of Yuuko... a small voice called out his name from the earpiece of his strange headphones. “Locke, you’re taking a little too long...”

“Sorry,” he looked apologetically at Kaoru, putting one of the ‘ears’ up to his own right ear, saying, “Ah, yeah, we’re just... We’ve been invited for dinner, because Mister Nekozawa isn’t available right now..”

“Oooh?” he heard over the other end, and he swore he could hear a small chuckle from the other end. “You are not being paid for overtime, let alone lunch breaks, little Locke..”

“A-ahh.. Yeah, I... kind of got that idea...”

A voice Locke didn’t recognize suddenly spoke up right next to his left ear. “Is that Yuuko I hear?”

Locke stopped, looking quickly to his left, eyes widening as he spied a man with dark hair and a hood very close to his face. He yelped a little, and tried to jump backwards, ended up falling over backwards onto Reno’s lap. As he fell, he felt something drop out of his pocket, and he heard the sound of something rolling away under the table.

Oh god, the statue!

--

Tamaki was surprised when Cecil flew down on one knee before him, but as soon as he got over his shock he could barely contain his excitement for being included in the Otaku’s game. It wasn’t every day one could say they were participating in a commoners game of... what was it again? Dungeons and Dragons? Larping? Role playing? Something like that. And he had been branded by this poor Otaku as a King! Oh, he could not disappoint the poor man. He would have to play along to the best of his abilities to be as Kingly as possible – he was sure he could pull this off, he was a Kingly figure anyway.

When he was begged by the Otaku before him, what could he say? Raising himself gracefully from his chair, his back towards Haruhi, he faced the Knight with his best smile, his pearly whites nearly sparkling in the light of the dining room. “I have nothing more that I can do except accept your-“

“...I feel like I’m going to be sick..” a mumble came from behind Tamaki making him stop his sentence short, and he turned to look at the woman he had been arguing with for the majority of the evening. The girl was slumped over in her seat, her face contorted to a distressed look, a small hand over her much too pale lips. Tamaki blanched, not sure what to do for a minute, his panic overriding what was going on at the moment. Haruhi didn’t feel good, she needed help, what should he do?

Thankfully Mori came to their rescue, as Tamaki was standing, half reaching out to the girl with a near hopeless look on his face. The dark haired man scooped the girl up in his arms, holding her gently yet firmly before rushing the girl out of the room through the double doors, the small blond man coming up beside the ‘King’. “Don’t worry about her – Takashi will take good care of her.”

“But..”

“Usa-chan will cheer you up!” A stuffed rabbit was thrust up into his arms, and Tamaki took the floppy rabbit without complaint, glumly sitting back down in his seat, looking at the still mostly full plate of food in front of him.

The man felt something hit his foot, and he got a confused look on his face as he pushed himself backwards in his chair, reaching down to pick up a little statue that had rolled against his foot. What was all this..? The stone statue was freezing cold to the touch, and he was chilled to the bone by it, his heart beating what felt like a million miles an hour. Turning the statue over, he noticed that the little statue looked like a cat with yellow jewelled eyes...

A dual yell made him jump and look up, the blond boy that was his guest and the strange Umehito Nekozawa looking at Tamaki with nearly identical looks of shock.

“...what?” Tamaki asked, still holding the cat statue.

“Uh-fufu..” the hooded man chuckled after getting over his surprise, eying the statue that still stood in the King’s hands. “It looks like you have gotten yourself cursed, Tamaki,” the man stated darkly, the lights in the house suddenly going out. A crackle of lightning flashed outside, illuminating the room, and Tamaki swore he could see the yellow eyed statue smile at him.

[X Accelerando X]

The series of events that happened all at once was almost too quick for Reno to keep up with at first. The call from Yuuko was a bit irritating, to say the least, simply because they were trying to have lunch-dinner—whatever. Geez, didn’t that woman ever stop? Of course, it was because of her that Locke was alive and all, but still, she was a bit of a nag, right? As Locke talked to Yuuko, Reno tried to listen as best he could, wishing Reno would put the ears on again simply because he wanted to see how this group of asylum runaways reacted (and because he just looked so damn funny (and cute) in them). He chewed on a roll as he listened a moment longer, frowning at the mention of no lunch breaks. Maybe he’d ask Sabin to speak with Yuuko about that when they got back? The guy didn’t seem to have much more luck with her, but maybe he could at least reason with her better then Locke and himself. The guy seemed to have a knack for convincing people…but then he also seemed to bend over backwards to please Yuuko.

His thoughts scattered, however, as his lap was suddenly full of Locke, his chair tilting back as he yelped out in surprise. His face burned bright red as he felt the sickening feeling of falling, the chair going out from beneath him. He grabbed onto the table, but only managed to grasp a handful of table cloth. Thankfully, the thing was weighted with food and heavy platters, so it didn’t all come sweeping down on top of him as he fell. He found himself on his rear, looking up at the crazy man in a black robe (sheesh what was with these people?), and a very stunned Locke. He turned to see what his friend was gawking at, but just as he did, the lights went out, and the creepy guy said something about a curse. Bugger… That guy, Tamaki, he couldn’t have touched that statue, right?

There wasn’t much time to find out by asking, as a skittering sound came from the other end of the dining hall. It was a sound that Reno had heard before, and wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon. It was the sound of those little black things from Destiny Isle—the sound of Heartless.

---

“Maleficent was right to send me after him… Vincent muttered, gazing in through the tall window from outside, soaking wet from the storm, but seemingly unfazed by it at all. Unlike his brother, Vincent appreciated the rain, ever since that one day—now was not the time to reminisce. Cecil had taken far longer then needed, and he was being far too delicate. This entire time he had been dining and talking with the target. At first, Vincent had thought maybe he was getting them to lower their guard, but really, it had been two hours, and these were a bunch of kids younger then Vincent and Cecil, and certainly with no real means to fight back. Cecil would have to be cut loose from this operation, and Vincent ponder, as he sent out a small call from the darkness in his heart, if Maleficent would be feeling merciful or not.

Before he had left, she’d granted him a small control over the lesser Heartless, enough to at least create a diversion and snatch Tamaki himself if need be—that need had come, as she’d so wisely foreseen and he was now grateful for that same foresight. And besides, he wanted to see just what the ‘Keybearer’ was capable of doing with what, by Vincent’s standards, was an absolutely ludicrous weapon.

---

What was going on!? The Heartless were swarming! This wasn’t at all what was supposed to happen. Cecil ran through his orders in his mind quickly, and not once did she say anything about using Heartless. She’d made it sound very cordial, as if this was simply to be a meeting with this King. But now this..! “Get behind me, all of you!” Cecil ordered, flipping the face plate of his helmet down, a cloud of darkness forming within his hand, taking the shape of a blood-red and onyx-tinged blade. He rushed forward to meet the onslaught, slashing through two easily, but stopping short as a flash of red sped up beside him.

“You think I’m gonna let you have all the fun?” Reno grinned, spinning the Keyblade in his fingers, hacking at one of the beasties, before twisting and smashing it into another.

“Looks like the otaku may be the real deal,” Hikaru pointed out as he watched alongside his brother, his heart pounding in his chest, his hand clenched around Kaoru’s for support.

“Do you think we should run away?” his twin asked anxiously. “Those things look like they mean business.”

“The bodyguards that accompanied me on this trip are on their way,” Kyouya responded calmly, knowing that someone would need to keep their head in this situation. He was used to odd things, though this was the first time seeing animals like this. “If anything, I would say these must be some of Nekozawa’s pets. They appear to be something that would hold his interest.”

[Mssr Miles]

Locke turned his eyes away from Tamaki, looking down to see exactly what he was on top of... and he was rather surprised to see that he was splayed out on Reno in a bit of a compromising position. Face flushing in embarrassment, he stammered an apology as he scrambled up and off of the red haired man’s lap, looking around in the near-darkness, trying his best to get his bearings in the room. The boy started to stammer an apology, but was cut short when he heard the sound of skittering feet coming their way... What was that? Looking across the room to the noise, he saw it... Saw them... Black shapes against the black of the room, their beady little eyes shining yellow as they stared across the way at them. The boy froze, not too sure what to do...

Before Locke could get hold of his shock, the strange man in armour summoned some sort of sword and stepped before the group, calling for everyone to get back, which apparently didn’t sit too well with Reno, because the man was up and at this strange Cecil’s side before Locke could blink an eye. The two attacked, keeping the Heartless at bay as Locke came to his feet, his hand reaching back towards the knife holster that had been covered by a fold of his shirt so that no one would notice the weapon the boy was carrying, listening absently to the locals talk.

“Ah, if only I had the aptitude to control such lovely creatures of the dark!” Nekozawa was saying, watching the Heartless with a very interested eye, shoving the covered black statue that he had carefully taken from Tamaki into a pocket in his robes.

Locke heard a commotion coming from behind him, at the second door to the dining room, the one side that was not covered in Heartless, and he paused. “Tamaki, no! You can’t go!” Honey was saying, holding onto the Host King’s arm, a pleading look on his face.

“Honey-senpai, Haruhi’s out there! I have to go to her!”

“But Takashi is with her, she will be fine..”

“And if she’s not? I’m going, Honey, and there’s nothing that-“

Locke intervened at this point, walking towards the struggling pair. “If they’re out there alone, we have to help them. Even if Mori’s a good fighter, without a weapon that can hurt the Heartless..” Locke pulled the long knife from its holster, the knowledge and confidence to be able to use the blade properly flowing into his mind a moment later. “I’ll go with you, but only if you promise to stay behind me.”

“Cross my heart, Commoner.”

Nodding, Locke looked at Honey, the twins and the black haired Kyoya, telling them, “When the coast is clear, get to a more easily protected area – we’ll find you.” Nodding to Tamaki, Locke and the King rushed through the door at the opposite side of the room, a final look thrown back at the red head that was fighting for the locals in the room... “Don’t die..” Locke muttered, before the door closed behind him with an audible click.

--

Haruhi turned the light of the bathroom off, coming out into the bedroom proper, where Takashi sat waiting. “Sorry about that, Mori-senpai..” Haruhi stated, wiping her mouth for the final time, wishing she had a breath mint or a toothbrush – something to get the taste of bile and regurgitated crab out of her mouth. It... wasn’t the best taste in the world. The dark haired man just nodded, getting to his feet, and they began heading towards the dining room once more.

The lights suddenly went out, causing the two to stop dead in their tracks, and Haruhi to make a sound of surprise when a crash from ahead of them in the hallway startled the two of them. Eyes in the darkness began appearing, and before the yellow dots could get any closer, Takashi scooped down and picked Haruhi up with one arm, sprinting the opposite way, Haruhi looking over the mans shoulder as they escaped.

“What are those?” Haruhi cried, as she saw more phase through the walls and the ceiling to drop behind them, adding to the chase.

“Trouble,” Takashi stated simply.

--

Locke made a running jump at the nearest Heartless, stabbing the thing through its little black head, the body disappearing in a cloud of black smoke back into the nothingness from whence it came. Raising the blade once more, the attacked the next shadow, and then the next, slowly clearing a path down the hall for himself and Tamaki to run down, stopping every few doors to fight a group of Heartless, with Tamaki sending cheers that were suppose to encourage his way. “Go delivery boy, go!”

“I have a name, y’know!”

“Go delivery boy, Locke, go!”

They had seen no sign of Haruhi or Takashi as they dashed down the hall, and they soon came to a central lobby of sorts, with a high ceiling and windows stretching the majority of the left wall, a stairway to the left. Locke lead the two slowly through the lobby, and strangely... no Heartless attacked...

Odd.

“Keep sharp,” Locke stated over his shoulder at Tamaki, who nodded at him, still keeping a hold on the orange scarf that was wrapped around Locke’s neck – so they didn’t lose each other, the King had proclaimed. The boy didn’t believe him for a minute, of course, but he was fine to let the man hold the bit of fabric.... as long as he didn’t choke him.

Again.

[X Accelerando X]

The moment had come. Locke—leave it to that idiot to run off like that, along with the most important person in his Odin-forsaken world. Vincent wasn’t going to complain, though. It made things that much easier, especially now that Locke and Reno were separated, and the Keyblade was nowhere in sight. How he hated that blade…It was so—there was just no way to describe the disgust he felt when he caught a glimpse of it, the revulsion it conjured, the sensation of the bile rising in his throat as he watched Reno wave it around. And how deftly he hefted it too; that only served to cause this feeling of loathing to quiver with—what? A sense of fear? No, he wasn’t afraid of something that looked so stupid. The Darkness that he held would allow him to crush Reno under his heel, but, for the moment, he need not worry about it. Right now, he needed to focus on getting that fool, Tamaki. Once they were away from here, he could begin planning his next move on making Reno suffer for his betrayal.

Seated upon one of the high rafters of the vestibule, he began to set up the next part of this little plot. The less help the blond buffoon had, the better the chance that Vincent could make this a clean break. But he would need a distraction, which was why this room was so bare of Heartless. Maleficent had explained the concept of melding them together, bending and reshaping to create something much larger, and far more dangerous. The way it appeared, however, was out of his hands, at least for now. It would take time and a great deal of practice before he could hope to make something the way he wanted it to look or behave.

Closing his eyes, he called to the Darkness that was swarming over the world, drawing it forth to seal the doors, keeping anything from getting out—or in. “How fortunate you are such a child, Locke,” he called down, dropping from his perch to the floor just before Locke and Tamaki, landing in a crouch. He rose slowly to his feet, red eyes smoldering with hatred as he stared down at the boy, the tiniest hint of a cruel sneer on his cold lips. “It would seem Cecil has failed in his mission. Yes, Cecil works, or rather worked, alongside myself. As it stands, I do not think he will be welcome upon our return. He may make a better Heartless then he did an actual living being. At least then he’ll be able to follow orders.” His gaze moved to Tamaki, pinning his blue eyes with his own. “And you, you ridiculous fop. You fancy yourself a ladies man, and yet your heart is so broken, how could you ever love anyone other then yourself?” His words lashed out under a frosty, hateful tone. “You are as wretched as Locke. You abandoned your family, and play pretend instead with a group of bourgeoisie. You are a coward for not standing up to the one thing stopping you from taking what belongs to you—you could easily remove that old woman, and yet you do not. You are a coward, as is your father, and your mother. Perhaps it is best you are away from them; maybe you can grow a spine if the apple is plucked away from the tree.”

He did not wait for a response, turning with nothing but a flutter of his cape. “Now, I am afraid this is where our talk ends, along with your life, Locke.” Raising his arms to the ceiling, a rumbling shook the hall as the darkness etched across the floor, collecting in one point, rising up like a geyser to create a funnel of dark energies. Twisting and writhing, it became a whirlwind of black power before exploding, the wind rushing through the room, Vincent’s cape fluttering wildly, and, one couldn’t be certain, but it was almost possible to hear a low, wicked chuckle coming from the man.

Unfurling from the cloud of darkness, a tall, gangly form stretched out long, pointed fingers that seemed to have absolutely no real bone structure. The arms were long, not much wider then the fingers, and attached to a similar torso. A massive, round head balanced on the top, looking about to topple off at any moment. The most notable feature of the creature, the Heartless, was its chest, were it seemed to be flattened like a board, surrounded by a rib cage that clenched closed. Its arms were decorated with a design that looked like a badly tailored tuxedo, right down coat tails dangling from the bottom of its spine. Golden eyes stared down at its prey as the rib cage opened to reveal the Heartless ‘mark’ in its terrible, crimson glory.

“How do you like it?” Vincent asked, staring up at his creation with an almost child like wonder, his voice reducing to a whisper. “I hope to make so many more…How unfortunate that you will not see anything beyond this one, Locke. That cage is for you, and later, Reno. It will reap your hearts and-” He paused, turning and looking over his shoulder. “Ah, yes, I forgot. You barely have one at all, don’t you?” His lips parted into a terrible grin, his eyes going down towards Tamaki’s feet. “Now then, I’ll leave you to your fun. Tamaki and I have a n audience with my employer.”

A dark puddle formed about Tamaki’s feet, clinging claws grasping up, tearing him down into the floor, disappearing within the void as it sealed itself shut, Tamaki, and Vincent, vanishing completely, leaving Locke alone to face the terrible Fancy Cage.

[Mssr Miles]

Locke froze as soon as he heard a very familiar voice, dripping with more malice then he remembered, and his gazed around, trying to pinpoint where the man that the voice was connected to – though he did not have to wait for long. A body hit the floor, golden boots and one similarly shaded gauntlet gleaming in the light of the open area, causing Locke to nearly jump out of his skin, raising his knife to a ready fighting position. Startled, he stepping back a few paces, pushing Tamaki with him, keeping him behind him with his free hand. Vincent... "Vincent, I-" but the boy was cut off as the red cloaked man spoke. Holding his tongue, he let Vincent speak, hoping to get a chance to talk to speak to the man after he was finished.. Locke wanted to try and get through to the man... Something just wasn't quite right with the upperclassman... and it was something deeper then just a simple blame put on Lockes shoulders for Reno's condition - the blond boy was sure of it.

Great.. Now there was two Valentines to fix...

A shocked expression flew across Locke’s face – that Cecil guy was with Vincent? Locke knew that he was weird and all, but... Crap, what the hell had Vincent gotten himself into? And now he was saying that Cecil won’t be welcomed back unless he was a heartless..? But the only way that happened... Locke shivered, his grip increasing on the handle of his dagger. He couldn’t – wouldn’t – let anyone get turned into a Heartless in front of him, even if the person had been in league with some not so socially conscious individuals bent on, well, whatever it was Vincent’s employer was focused on doing.

“Hey, now listen-” Locke called out, sick of hearing Vincent speak down to the man behind him. The boy was just fine if Vincent talked down to Locke himself, he was used to it and probably deserved it just a little when it came to Vincent, but he just couldn’t stand him slamming down others... Tamaki, who had gripped on tightly to his scarf behind him, had gone quiet, a bit of a shocked expression turning to sadness on his face. Locke would have said more, but Vincent had already turned around and continued speaking, only to say goodbye... in a rather disturbing manner.

As soon as the rumbling started, Locke backed further away from the dark haired man, keeping himself between Tamaki and Vincent, his eyes widening at the display. The heck was that guy doing doing? Frigid air blasted away from Vincent and the centre of the room, chilling Locke and Tamaki to the bone. They huddled together, Locke keeping an eye on the gigantic creature that was forming out of whatever Vincent was creating, not even noticing when his scarf blew off from around his neck, still clutched in Tamaki's fists... By now, with all the weird things that Locke had seen between now and Destiny Islands, he was sure that it was very possible for someone to create a gigantic monster out of shadow...

And hoooooly, was that thing gigantic...

The whistling wind suddenly stopped, and Vincent turned to regard the two of them, the monster turning its feral gaze on Locke, causing the boy to shiver more violently than the wind had previously. Eyes widening at Vincent’s comment about his heart, he had to think... Did the black haired man know where the rest of his heart was? Just as Locke was going to ask, he heard a noise from behind him, and he looked over his shoulder in time to see Tamaki disappear into a void of blackness on the floor, clawed hands pulling the man down and away... "Tamaki!" Locke cried, hands slapping down on the floor where the circle of shadow used to be. Crap... the man was gone... Looking back towards Vincent, Locke's physical heart beating a million miles an hour, he caught a glimpse of Vincent disappearing within another void of darkness. Locke was left alone with the monster in the entranceway, with a little knife in-between him and probably a very painful death... So Locke did what he was best at.

He ran for his bloody life.

That is, until he realized that all the entrances and exits were covered with a strange dark energy that refused to let him through any of the doorways or windows... Oooh, not good. Definitely not good. So far, Locke was keeping in front of this strange creature - the giga Heartless - as it barreled forward in unsteady bursts, but the boy knew that his luck with the distance put between them would change if he didn’t turn around and fight this thing... Locke was not looking forward to this... not one bit.

Thankful for the strange knife that knew what it was doing more than he did, Locke stopped his full tilt run on a dime, dashing towards the tall creature, blade leading. Diving between the creatures pole-like legs, his dagger bit deep into the flesh of one of its thighs, a howling screech following the attack. Oh good, Locke had hurt it! Scrambling to his feet, Locke dived to the side as one of its long arms hit the floor where he had been a moment before, cracking the marble quite effectively. Locke did NOT want to be hit with one of those arms. He took off running again, the thing ambling away after him, erratic, but slowly getting more assured of its feet... Locke was able to pull the same trick twice more, faking the monster out, before diving between the things legs and attacking the soft skin, though the thing seemed to be catching on to what the knife wielding blond was doing... Locke looked at the mess that he and he Heartless were making, as it missed him and created crevices in the floor, knocking pillars over, making holes in the walls, knocking over chandeliers...

Pitching to the left as the monster came in to slam Locke with its hand, the fingers suddenly switched direction, knocking the boy’s legs out from under him, Locke’s head smashing into the ground rather sharply, a display of stars splashing across his vision. He kept a death grip on the knife, moving after a moment to try and get away from the gigantic Heartless's hand coming his way... though he was much too slow. The boneless appendages wrapped themselves around his legs, lifting the boy to face level to look upon its prey with interest, the cage-like ribs opening.

“Oh hell no!” Locke cried, lifting himself close enough to the fingers to he could stab the monster with his knife – another unearthly screech slipping past the creatures mouth... and the thing tossed Locke away. The boy flew across the hall, hitting the ground hard, sliding for a full meter before finally coming to a painful, screeching stop. The boy groaned, raising himself as best he could into a sitting position... though it was much too late. Locke scuttled as fast as he could away, his knife held securely in his grip, his back meeting with a pillar, the look on his face turning from fear to near-panic.

The thing’s gigantic hand slapped him hard in the stomach, doubling the boy over as the air was pushed from his lungs. Before he could recover, a couple of the fingers wrapped themselves around his thin throat tightly, successfully cutting off any hope of getting air. He threw a stabbing blow with his knife towards the hand, though his arm was caught mid swing and pounded against the wall until he could not hold the blade any longer... the knife fell to the ground with a dull clang, Locke's free hand trying its best to pry under the crushing appendages. It was no use, though... and that thought became terrifyingly solid in his mind as the long moments passed, no sound except for the small choking sounds coming from Locke as he tried to get free.

He could feel his consciousness slipping from him, panic causing his legs to kick out to try and hit the creature, which only made him use up his precious oxygen faster. One word was stuck in his mind, as his vision began to dim at the edges... one word that Locke hoped would be his salvation.

Reno...