Kingdom Hearts: The 13th Requiem [PG-13/Not Accepting]

[Phantom Roxas]

"Xelo and Nehryx?" Kreix asked. "Well then, welcome to the fold." Upon hearing the banging on the door, Kreix's smile towards the two new members faded. "Yes, Haxz, that would be most appreciated. Xelo, Nehryx, follow me. Marcos, won't you say hello to our new friends?"

[center]***[/center]

"Balthazar," a man said as he appeared next to Trevor and Ryan, leaning uncomfortably. The man's face was tilted to its side, his eyes and mouth wide open. He stood up straight, wiping his fingerless gloves on his ragged cloak. "…Blake. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

[The Warden]

Haxz made a mock bow before waving to Marcos. A Corridor of Darkness folded over him and he took it to the front door.

[hr]

The front doors of the Castle That Never Was were truly enormous, set in orante white stone and marked with copious copies of the Organization's symbol, which Haxz has crassly called an ampallang. The right door creaked open a little as he approached and he peaked out from the opening, straight onto Lexamus and his Brawlers. Haxz eyed them up and down quickly, before reaching his final conclusion. [font=georgia, serif][size=4]"Sorry, no soliciting. Good day."[/size][/font]

He retreated back from the door and it closed with an echoing bang.

[Kidd Buu]

Xelo followed Kreix and was introduced to the man who was yelling earlier, Marcos. While the other man made a strange portal made of darkness and walked right through it, Haxz was his name if Xelo heard correctly. Not wanting to lose the only lead he had that could save his mother he had to ask Kreix more about Kingdom Hearts. "Kreix can this, Kingdom Hearts bring back my mother?" Even though he didn’t have any emotions he still cared for his mother deeply though he thought he did anyway. Since he didn’t have a heart all of his emotions were faked. “What if she’s already gone? And if she does come back what if she doesn’t accept me without a heart?” He thought to himself.

[ListenToLife]

Lexamus was left standing outside the doors to the Castle for quite some time; it seemed that this 'new organisation' they seemed to want to fold didn't mind tardiness. Not an ideal mindset, if Lexamus did say so himself; though he was hardly one to comment on tardiness while still being free of hypocrisy. But he cared very little about that; more about meeting these new arrivals on his world, and crushing them should they not reach up to his standards.

He sighed as he finally heard someone behind the doors, and the doors themselves began to slowly creak ajar, leaving a small gap through which a head popped out; one with spiked hair and sunglassed - not a combination that Lexamus found ideal for a subordinate. Which is what Lexamus would give the choice of, of course. Subordination, or death. Because he had never found anyone that could be anything close to his equal, and imagined he never would.

The person that popped out seemed to quietly judge Lexamus and his three nobodies, before making a witty statement and withdrawing back into the castle, slamming the door shut behind him. Lexamus, finding it rather amusing, chuckled as he leant against the door, next to Haxz; turning his head slowly to face the fellow nobody. He had seemed to appear from nowhere - no dark corridor, no movement from outside. Merely a quick, two step teleportation. In fact, even his nobodies where looking around themselves, confused, for their master had just disappeared from their ranks. And as such, they were panicking and punching the door, making the entire door move a little and rock on its hinges.

Lexamus, meanwhile, just chuckled to himself before pushing himself off the door and proceeding to walk across the grand entrance hall, away from Haxz. He did pause for a moment after he'd finished revelling in the joke, and turned his head slightly so one eye could fix its gaze upon the Sunglasses wearing Nobody.
"It's not polite to just slam the door upon someone; especially when their business isn't with you." He said, grinning, before turning his head back and beginning to take a few more steps, reading for the man behind him to attack.

[The Warden]

Haxz sighed in annoyance, seems like Lexy was going to be problematic, he bent his back back and prepared a deep inhale, he then slingshotted back to face Lexamus. [font=georgia, serif]"Lexamus, GO AWAY!"[/font]

Haxz was wearing his irritible face, but he could tell that look Lexy had. [font=georgia, serif]"Oh don't give me that look; do you HONESTLY think a humanoid Nobody would escape the gaze of the new Organization forever? Do you think Dusks remain tight lipped about everything? As soon as Kreix GOT HERE the ones that left you told him, and later me, all about you. Hell, I even sent out my own Deadbeats just to catch a glimpse of you, which, lucky for me, they did. But right now we're terribly busy, so, there's the door, kindly use it this time."[/font]

[Mugendramon]

Marcos was waved off and left standing talking to himself, but he didn't mind too much. It was very likely that he'd monologize a lot during his, "new" life as a Nobody. [font=comic sans ms,cursive][i]Living without emotion, but with memories of emotion. Gives you a lot to think about...[/i][/font]

Interrupted by Kreix's words, he promptly ignored them in favour of following Haxz. He seemed like a much lighter fellow than Kreix anyway, and tight-assed people were never Marcos's [i]forte. [/i]But he was gone, through one of those weird portal majyyks. So he headed back the only way he knew wouldn't get lost; the front door.

It seemed now that there were a few Nobodies outside, but that one in particular wanted into the castle. Haxz politely refused, only to have the inquisitor... [font=comic sans ms,cursive][i]Teleported? Did he just appear inside of the doors? ...Why the hell bother knocking? Moreover... that's insanely powerful an ability.[/i][/font]

Marcos then heard this man's name. And that he was a Nobody and all that shizzle.

[font=comic sans ms,cursive]"So you're a Nobody too; I see. You came to join this place, I presume? And you have some neat powers," [/font]he turned to Haxz[font=comic sans ms,cursive], "does that mean we all have some sort of ability? Moreover, how am I supposed to know what mine is? It's not going to come to me just like that, is it?"[/font]

[ListenToLife]

"I was going to say, I dont remember telling you peons my name." Lexamus stated, chuckling slightly at the news that he had traitors in his midst. "Spies, you say? Interesting. But I suppose that'll be dealt with as soon as I'm done with you lot." He sighed and continued walking, pretty much ignoring Haxz again, merely pushing him out of the way calmly as he feet clacked against the stone floor.

"I told you, my business is not with you. I presume that this Kreix fellow is your superior; as such, my business is with him." He stated, calmly strolling past Haxz and instead focussing a little bit of his attention upon the newest lowlife to get in his way. Another humanoid Nobody, and from the slightly vacant and confused expression on his face, a newly formed one.
Which was emphasized by his reaction to Lexamus' appearance.

"Join? Hah, my dear fellow, you must be new around here. I have no intention to join; in fact, should things go a certain way today, my intention will be to crush you all into oblivion." Lexamus said, chuckling; speaking this idea in a bland, indifferent way, as if commenting on the weather. "Of course, hopefully things needn't go that far; for now, I merely have an offer & a warning for Kreix." He adding, moving past Marcos and towards a corridor of darkness he had summoned at the end of the room. "Try to stop me, if you wish. You'll merely delay me a few minutes."

[The Warden]

Haxz rubbed his temples in annoyance. [font=georgia, serif]"Ugh. Great, and I'M the one will will probably get lanced for this at the end of the day."[/font]

He chose to ignore Marcos as he created his own Corridor in order to go after Kreix, no doubt the Superior would be interested in knowing of the intruder.

[hr]

Haxz' Corridor ended back in the Hall of Empty Melodies, where Kreix and the two other Nobodies hadn't strayed from. Haxz was still rubbing his temples as he left the shadows. [font=georgia, serif]"Kreix, we have an issue here. That moron Lexamus is here and he thinks he can take you on. As much as I know you want to get to know these two new members, I felt it our best interest to alert you of him. Seems he means business too, and is intent on 'crushing' us."[/font]

[Mugendramon]

Marcos was pushed aside and ignored with incredible ease. This Lexamus walked on ignoring both Haxz and him. He turned to Haxz, to ask for answers once more, but he had vanished with his fancy teleportation system.

[font=comic sans ms,cursive]"GOD F***ING DAMNIT WILL SOMEBODY TELL ME HOW TO DO THAT?!"[/font] He yelled in annoyance. It was a loud cry, it probably echoed through the entire castle. Marcos began to [i]run his way back[/i] to the hall he had coursed from.[font=comic sans ms,cursive][i] I swear once I can make those shadow portal things I am never walking a single step again. Why can everyone do s*** I have no idea how to? One would think these things come naturally. And what's with the sword? I still can't even wield it and oh wow crap.[/i][/font]

Marcos had looked at the sword. Or at least at what was left of it. The blade wasn't there anymore. It looked more like a dagger now, just the strange symbol and the small handle. He looked back, and noticed there was... a pit of sand? That wasn't there just now when he walked through it. Marcos was confused about that, but he didn't mind. What he DID mind was his weapon being useless now.

[font=comic sans ms,cursive]"SCREW THIS THING, ARGH!"[/font] He threw the little knife at the sand pit. As soon as it touched the sand, the pit became stone once again, leaving the knife slightly stuck in it. [font=comic sans ms,cursive][i]Huh, okay, that's strange.[/i][/font]

He walked up to the dagger to pick it up. He pulled out the sword. [font=comic sans ms,cursive][i]What the f***. I guess these are... my powers? This blade is obviously not ordinary, it has the symbol in this castle and all. But what exactly can I do with this?[/i][/font]

Marcos kept running towards the Hall of Empty Melodies, with a different motivation.

[Love of Ghibli]

Nerhyx decided that it would be best to travel down the rabbit hole with this young Kreix. Quite an odd fellow he was. He somehow demanded respect yet offered kindness in the same gesture. Nerhyx notice how he said the name wrong though but that didn't really matter seeing as he made it up that second. This other man nay Nobody was named Xelo, Nerhyx took a wild shot in the dark and guessed that his original name must have been Leo. As for the Haxz though Nerhyx wasn't really sure on how you would spell "Haxz" let alone what name that stems from. He walked behind Kreix into the corridor of darkness and gave a polite nod to Marcos who was basically doing what he wanted to do himself. As a litany of questions.

On the other side of the darkness Nerhyx didn't recognizes where they were. Which was logical seeing as he has never been inside this castle before, but he didn't have to wait for long because Haxz returned with news of the another nobody and his mischief. Nerhyx was intrigued to see how Kreix would handle this development.

[Phantom Roxas]

"Oh, him?" Kreix said unimpressed with what Haxz told him. "I was wondering which one of us would make the first move. Gosh, I must crush him soon." Kreix stepped forward, and suddenly everything around him, including Haxz, turned completely black and white. Haxz was frozen in place, and Kreix continued though a Corridor of Darkness.

He stood before Lexamus, and resisted at the way he was dressed. He looked like some punk youth, but with the way he was trying to chase Kreix and the others off was like an old man telling people to get off his lawn. Kreix held out his hand, and a weapon materialized before him. It was a pole, with a spiked bottom and at the top was a chain connected to a sickle. Kreix thrust the spike into Lexamus' foot, and the chain snaked around Lexamus' torso, restraining his arms. Kreix grabbed the sickle and held it to Lexamus' neck.

Suddenly, the area returned to normal. Where the sickle flail had pierced Lexamus' foot, ice began to form around it, slowly covering more and more area.

"If you wanted to kill any of us, you could have stood a chance against any of three who still are trying to even grasp what they are now. You might be able to match Haxz's luck, but me? Assuming your significantly longer life as a Nobody gives you any power over me will be the last mistake you ever make. Do we have an understanding, [i]old timer[/i]?"

[ListenToLife]

Lexamus sighed as Haxz ran off, presumably to go whine to his master. Just like a dog to the bone, really. Well, at least the meeting with Kreix would be sooner; especially as the other guy, the newbie, ran off as well, shouting something about wanting to be able to summon the corridors. To not even be able to summon a corridor - that guy really had no clue. Poor little insect; could do with squashing really.

As for the meeting with Kreix, it seemed like the Corridor of Darkness was not needed, for moments before he was about to reach it, Kreix appeared, somehow from nowhere, while managing to 'restrain' him quite easily. Similarly to how Lexamus teleported, though no amount of speed from even himself would be able to restrain someone like that quite so easily. It was as if he'd done in within a fold of time....

"Ahh, you must be the leader of this small gathering. I presume your lackey found you then." Lexamus stated, casually throwing this small talk around quite confidently, as if the sickle pressed against his neck was nothing. He chuckled and locked eyes with this fellow nobody. His eyes were confident and unyielding, expressing no fear at the blades pointed at him.

"With the attitude, I presume he missed the part about the offer, and missed out most of the warning. Rushing straight onto 'Crushing', I reckon." Lexamus added, his voice coming from behind Kreix now. His face smirked as he watched the chains fall from where he had once been, but now he was behind Kreix; albeit unarmed and about 2 metres away. Teleportation was an exceptionally handy ability; even if it could only be done within the users sight.

"He mentioned something about spies; but obviously your information was lacking, or else you would've expected something like that." He said, crouching down to get a better look at his foot. Thanks to their enhanced durability, they were pretty much uninjured. But the attack and the ice that appeared afterwards nearly broke the seal on that foot, and Lexamus didn't want that. Not yet, at any rate.
"What I'm interested in is your abilities. Obviously you have some ice affinity, but that wouldn't allow the way in which you restrained me." Lexamus noted, rather interested in this man in front of him. He wasn't no peon; no, this guy was a major threat. [i]I should've attacked sooner.[/i] He mused, chuckling to himself.

"However, I do not wish to battle...at least, not yet. I brought with me an offer and a warning. A warning to avoid Dark City. It is my territory, as it has been for years. I have no claim nor want for this castle - it's a place of once-was and could've-beens, not something I want to be around. But Dark City is mine. Should you attempt to take it, I would be forced to oppose you. And I am not an enemy you want opposing you." Lexamus threatened, his tone darkening as he spoke. He paused for a moment to let his threat sink in, before continuing with his offer.

"As for the offer, I offer my services. Initially, I had thought challenging you would've been enough. Should you have defeated my sealed self, I would've unwilling offered my support. Now, after that ability you have shown, I am more than willing to ally with you. You are stronger and more powerful than I had initially thought; you have earnt my respect. So long as you stay away from Dark City, I am one of your allies." He stated, the corners of his mouth tilting a little in a slight smirk, before adding, "But be warned; I am no mere peon. Do not take me lightly."

[Super Chaos Sonic]

[quote name='Double C4' timestamp='1356575767' post='6103053']
Walking alongside one of the less-busy streets of Manhattan, Ryan Jameson, a foster child ever since the age of 10, had a lot on his mind. But hey, when doesn't he have a lot on his mind? True, he knows that one line from one of the Lord of The Rings movies that was said by Gandalf (Though its escaping his mind at the moment) about focusing on the present, but ever since his 10th birthday, he can never forget what happened. He remembers it so vividly, he could write an essay at the least, the most being a book, about all of the days that went towards planning for his 10th birthday up until the moment when his door was broken down and his father was shot through the chest without hesitation, his mother getting the same result, and Ryan being knocked out cold and having his life spared. But just seeing what happened to him just brings a bad taste in his mouth. So he might still dwell on this nightmare of the past, but what he has planned ahead for him are currently two things:[list=1]
[*]Find some form of inspiration to create his first novel and start off his possibly fluctuating and random career.

[*]Take advantage of his new interest, Fantasy Games, and head straight for the only store that specializes in it
[/list]
A few minutes later, he finally made it to that out-of-place shop that peaked his interests. "[color=#b22222]'Balthazar Blake's Fantasy Game Shop', huh?[/color]" he asked himself. "[color=#b22222]This should be interesting...[/color]" he said to himself as he moved up to the door. He then began to open the door, and made sure that there was someone at the cashier desk before taking in the scenery inside. He didn't see anybody at the desk, so he walked in and tried to get a better look for any sign of life. "[color=#B22222]Hell-[/color]" he almost called out when he noticed someone else here. [color=#b22222][i]And I thought I'd be the only one calling out for signs of life.[/i][/color] he thought.[color=#b22222] [i]Good thing I'm not alone here.[/i][/color] He then walked up to the other teen in the shop. "[color=#b22222]What's up?[/color] [color=#B22222]Nice to know someone else is interested in this kind of stuff.[/color]" He then stretched his hand, gesturing for a handshake. "[color=#B22222]Name's Ryan. What's yours?[/color]"
[/quote]
[quote name='Phantom Roxas' timestamp='1356586149' post='6103219']
"Balthazar," a man said as he appeared next to Trevor and Ryan, leaning uncomfortably. The man's face was tilted to its side, his eyes and mouth wide open. He stood up straight, wiping his fingerless gloves on his ragged cloak. "…Blake. Anyway, what can I do for you?"
[/quote]

[color=#daa520]"Huh?" [/color]Trevor asked, looking over at the newcomer: Ryan. [color=#daa520]"Oh, nice to meet you Ryan. I'm Trevor, Trevor Masters." [/color]he said with a small smile. [color=#daa520]"Well actually, this is my first time at this place...or any place like this." [/color]He felt this conversation was getting a bit awkward, but heck what was he supposed to do, other than make small talk. Then he felt as if someone was watching them...which someone was.

[i]"Balthazar....Blake."[/i]
[center][i][url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9iYDF2zkFQ]Kingdom Hearts OST - Merlin's Magical House[/url][/i][/center]

Trevor backed up in a freaked out manner, holding his chest a bit. [color=#daa520]"MARY, JOSEPH, AND THE BABY DISCIPLES!!!" [/color]he said, his heart pounding a bit. [color=#daa520]"Would it kill ya to not sneak up on people?" [/color]Trevor cleared his throat a bit and ran his hand through his hair. [color=#daa520]"A-Anyway, I'm Trevor Masters. And what can you do...um not exactly sure what you can help with. I haven't gone to a shop like this one before so, I'm not sure what you have here." [/color]He looked around, seeing a bunch of books and even a few empty jars.

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Ryan nodded at Trevor. "[color=#b22222]First time here, too.[/color]" He began while chuckling.[color=#b22222] [/color]"[color=#b22222]Just started getting interested in this a while ago.[/color]" He then noticed Trevor started to act strange. "[color=#b22222]You alright man? You're acting like you've seen a gh-OOOHH MMMYYY GODD!!![/color]" Ryan then wailed his arms around and stumbled onto his back. "[color=#b22222]Ow...[/color]" he said in slight agony. He then proceeded to stand up and just barely heard Trevor respond to the sudden appearance of this new individual. "[color=#b22222]Yeah, seriously. I don't think either of us will get used to that. But talk about an entrance.[/color]" He then laughed and took a deep breath. "[color=#b22222]So, I take it that you're the owner of this shop. since you called yourself Balthazar Blake, and that it's on the sign outside. Would you care to take us on a tour of your works? My interests in this type of stuff is currently at its peak.[/color]" He then clasped his hands. "[color=#b22222]So, where shall we begin?[/color]"

[Phantom Roxas]

This intruder's arrogance was already wearing out its welcome. "Your fast speed teleportation is impressive. It reminds me of Xigbar. I trust that in your sixty years here, you've at least taken the time to do your research? Knowing someone who could almost be as familiar with them as I am would be a rather interesting bit of discussion. But you asked of my abilities, and I shall comply. Yes, my ice powers were not responsible for your restraints. I suppose that if I were to describe my powers within a single word, it would be 'freezing.' I froze time itself, and I was slowly freezing you. As for your definitions of territory, I'll accept those terms, and I shall ensure that the others uphold them. However, I have an offer for you. If you will not work alongside us, then answer me this: What do you think about Kingdom Hearts?"

[center]***[/center]

"Well," Balthazar said, walking around the store. "Before we begin, if this is your first time here, then there's a little something I ask for people on their first visit." He placed a small box on a counter, and opened it, revealing a small dragon statue.

"This is very special," he told the both of them. "If it likes you, you can keep it. However, there's two of you, and only one dragon. So, who wants to try first?"

[Kidd Buu]

Xelo started reminiscing about the times he had with his mother all the laughs they shared, the smiles they shared, the love they shared. But all that was just a memory now he couldn't feel what he felt then though he remembers how it felt to have feelings. It was liberating to feel affection, forgiveness, hope, pleasure, love. At this point he would even accept the feeling of suffering than nothing at all. Xelo's small daydream was interrupted when Haxz walked through a dark corridor with news of an infiltrator.

Xelo became disappointed seeing how Kreix had to take care of the intruder. It infuriated him honestly, all of his questions unanswered but this thing called Kingdom Hearts seemed to be the answer to everything, though he had no proof Xelo would have to take a leap of faith and trust his new "friends". Since Kreix was gone Haxz, who seemed to be quite ingenious[color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3],[/size][/font][/color] would become the person he went to for answers about Kingdom Hearts. "So Haxz, since Kreix is gone for the time being please inform me about Kingdom Hearts. How is it acquired? It must be a pretty powerful thing if it can bring back our lost ones and give us our hearts back ,but if my assumption is correct nothing of such power goes unguarded. There's no possible way that us nobodies go unchecked, unanswered ,unopposed you're leaving out details Haxz and I'd like to know what these details are so if you would, enlighten me."

[The Warden]

[font=georgia, serif]"Kingdom Hearts is, well, I can only give you the short answer here. Kreix didn't exactly dumb it down when he explained it to me. Basically, Kingdom Hearts is the heart of all worlds, made from all the hearts of everything. If you were ever outside, you would see it as the moon of this world. And, it has the power to give us back our hearts, because, it's like, made of hearts. So, if our Heartless gets destroyed, the Heart it held will return to big ol Kingdom Hearts and then when it's complete, we can unite with it and get our hearts back, if that makes sense. Kreix tells it better, although, much longer."[/font]

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Ryan was confused as to what Balthazar was trying to do. "[color=#b22222]Well, this is something I've never seen before for first-time visitors.[/color]" he said, thinking about this a little bit harder. [i][color=#b22222]Something's not right.[/color][/i] he thought. [i][color=#b22222]What's with the dragon statue, and what does he mean when he said 'If it likes you'? I swear, this makes so little sense, I think I'm going to get a migraine because of this.[/color][/i] But, like the gentleman he is, he looked at Trevor. "[color=#b22222]I'm not selfish, so I'll just let you go first. That's the first thing I can do to start off our friendship.[/color]" He then gestured Trevor to go towards the dragon statue. "[color=#b22222]Go on. Better you to do it first than me, right?[/color]" And, that's about all Ryan could do. Well, that, and to wait for Trevor's response, that is.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

[color=#daa520]"Hehe, yeah...." [/color]Trevor said, chuckling nervously. This place gave him the creeps now, especially with this old dude just popping out of thin air right behind him....creepy. And if the dragon statue likes you? The hell did that mean? But either way, Ryan allowed him to go first to try and mess with this statue. [color=#daa520]"Well I guess I'll give it a try then..." [/color]he said, moving toward the box, as he looked at the still, unmoving statue. He slowly moved his hand to touch it, as he began to think on what this guy was pulling. [color=#daa520][i]If it likes me? He's saying it like its alive or something. [/i][/color]Trevor thought, now having his whole hand on the statue.

[ListenToLife]

To passersby, all they would see was a tuft of neat, grey-ish hair. The rest of the face was hidden from view; being entranced by the book that was held infront of it. And that's all the street roamers would see - a dark brown, leather book; large enough to hide the reader's face from everyone around him, and to concentrate his attention on the pages.

The boy stood at around 5 foot 8 inches, not too short for his age, but not exactly tall. Straight, grey hair covered his head, matching the grey glasses that he wore; giving him a rather bland look. As if to emphasize this impression of uninteresting...-ness, he wore a dull, brown coat over a plain white shirt, with simple black trousers and some boring, brown shoes. A book bag rested on his left hip, the strap circling his right shoulder. It was, obviously, rather empty at this point, for the book that it held was in its owner's hands.

The boys eyes darted occasionally down to his feet, watching under the book for any obstacles or people coming into his way. As he saw a road appearing from under the book, he would immediately turn to the right, continuing along the pavement. Not that he realised this. It happened more by instinct and reflex than intentional thought, for the boy was far more interested in his book. So interested, that without realising, he had circled the block almost 6 times, as he seemed to do every time he read this book. At the moment, he was mesmerized by his most recent page. It was a strange page, with almost no english on it whatsoever. It was in a foreign language, a decorated one that look almost like a magical language - like stories of elves and stuff. Of course, that was merely fantasy.

In the corners of the page, blobs of darkness seemed to spread. The didn't move, naturally, but they seemed to have grown from the previous page. And indeed, looking back at the previous page, the boy could see that these unnerving black marks were growing in size, spreading inwards from the corners. The most unnerving parts were the yellow dots. Numerous yellow dots, peering out of the pages. There were many more on this page than the last, and they all seemed to stare out of the book, at him, the boy. Like...eyes. Of some shadowy creature.

But he had grown to ignore them. All but the first page had housed these black markings, and he had read through hundreds, perhaps thousands of pages. They didn't interest him much; the topics inside the book were what entranced him. Stories of magic, and wonder. Pages listing spells and instructions - which he had of course tried at home, to no avail; he hardly expected it to be real anyway. But it still interested him. As did the most recent page, despite it's lack of english; or any recognisable language, for that matter. He had no inspiration to move on, not until he finished the page.

And as soon as he did that, finish the page, he caught his foot on a dislodged slab in the pavement. Which, inevitably, resulted in him falling flat on his face, and the book went flying out of his hand, and landed dead flat on the pavement about 2 metres in front of him.

Being drawn back to reality, the boy now had the oppurtunity to assess his surroundings, and found this particular street to be quite recognisable. In fact, the book had landed in almost the exact same spot the boy had found it; when he had tripped on it in a similar way to when he fell just then. The shop it had been in front of had interested him at first, but he would've felt the need to return the book then; for he was sure that it had come from the shop. So he had taken it home, promising himself he'd return it once he finished it. But now, looking up at the shop, he had a sudden urge to enter; to satisfy this interesting place. It had changed a bit; the name for one, now reading 'Balthazar Blake's Fantasy Game Shop', where it had previously been 'Arcana Cabana', or something like that.

The boy couldn't resist the temptation to enter the shop, and quickly stuffed the large book into his bag and jogged up the stairs to the door, opening it slowly. He had initially thought he'd be the only one in there, for it seemed like a rather small, unappealing shop. But either there were a few fans of fantasy games, or some people had gotten a similar urge to him, for he seemed to have interrupted some sort of conversation. Two boys roughly his own age were standing around a box being held by a tall man, probably the owner of the store - Balthazar Blake, if the boy had to guess.

"Uh....hi? My....my name's James." He introduced, nervously correcting his glasses. "Are...are you busy? ....I'll just leave." He turned around, walking towards the door again. He hadn't expected others, and didn't do well at socializing. Perhaps he could come back another day; or not at all.


~~~~~~

"Xigbar?" Lexamus chuckled, brushing away what he considered an insult. "To compare me to him would be like comparing a cheetah and a common, household cat. I am far more than him." He stated, raising his eyebrows as Kreix gave him his own offer, though he seemed to have misunderstood what Lexamus had said before.
"Did I not already say I will work with you, so long as you accept that Dark City is my domain?" He wondered, before hearing the question posed. He furrowed his brow and lifted his head up to the ceiling, as if looking at the moon in question.

"That blasted heart up there? I find it a nuisance, like it's taunting me. Everytime I look at it, I want to rid it from the sky." He said, almost angrily, as he looked back towards Kreix. "You cant possibly be thinking of completing where the previous lot left off? That thing is no more than a hollow lie. Give up, is what I say. It's a ghost of the past; a temptation that the last group followed after, and were destroyed for."

[Phantom Roxas]

The wings on the statue fluttered, and for a moment, the statue began to move around Trevor's hand. Balthazar looked at the boy with interest. At last, it seemed, he had found the Prime Merlinean. However, the statue climbed back into the box. Balthazar closed his eyes, and shook his head, disappointed. And yet, something was off.

"Not what I was hoping for," he said. "But it's a start. Let's see if it can work for both of you." He held the statue out to Ryan, when another boy introduced himself. As James started walking towards the opened door, it began to close, and the sound of a lock was heard. "Don't worry, James," Balthazar said without turning to look at him. "I'll talk with you right after this."

[Super Chaos Sonic]

[color=#daa520]"Oh...my...god..." [/color]Trevor said, as the statue dragon came to life, fluttering it wings as it moved around his hand. Then as quickly as life was brought to it...it returned to normal within the box. [color=#daa520][i]D-Did that seriously...just happen?? Did anyone slip something in my breakfast this morning? No...that's not it... [/i][/color]he thought as Balthazar walked toward Ryan. He looked at this hand and then looked over at the two...something wasn't right...this guy wasn't telling them something. [color=#daa520]"Wait a second!!"[/color] At this, Balthazar slowly turned towards Trevor, as Ryan also looked at him.

[center][i][url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hLwk43s3UY]Kingdom Hearts 2 OST ~ Riku[/url][/i][/center]

[color=#daa520]"W-What's going on here? A dragon statue just suddenly comes to life on my hand...then returns to normal." [/color]he began, looking at his hand again. [color=#daa520]"Seriously...what is this place? What is going on here?"[/color]

[Phantom Roxas]

"'Far more than him?'" Kreix repeated. "Well then, why don't you prove it? I want to complete Kingdom Hearts [i]because[/i] the Organization failed to do so. A relic of the past or not, there is something to be gained from completing it. I know more of the past than you could ever hope to imagine." He liked that the Lexamus thought the moon to be taunting him. That could be something to work with. "I do not require Kingdom Hearts for long, after all. Once it is complete, I will use it to bring back those that my friends and I have lost. After that, you are free to do with it as you will. Besides, surely destroying a full target would be more entertaining than something someone else already wrecked."

[center]***[/center]

"There is more to life than you know," Balthazar told Trevor. "For centuries, I have been searching for an important sorcerer. Now, you may not be that sorcerer, but the fact that this ring respond to you at all shows that there [i]is[/i] something special about you. Now Ryan, take the ring."

[Merci]

Somewhere in Manhattan, a girl stood around, wearing a unique blend clothes and having large, orange-colored glasses over her eyes. The overall result was rather cute, plus the miniature pink handbag she carried around over her shoulder. Her name was Viola Makaivar.

Viola looked somewhat lost, even though she lived in the area. However, this was a part of town she had never been part of before. Viola was here trying to either confirm or deny a rumor at her school, that some mysterious 'fantasy game shop' had opened up. Nobody seemed to really know how they knew about it, only that they did know about it, which didn't make much sense to either them or her. So naturally, she had set off to find it, purposely getting herself lost to help...and it wasn't helping.

"Well, isn't this just great!" she said sarcastically, and assumed a puffy face even though nobody was paying attention to her.

Then she suddenly ducked out of the way as some man with a brown cloak almost walked right into her, his attention wholly focused on some large book, his face covered from view apart from dufts of neat, grey-ish hair. So the man was old...and suspicious too. Too suspicious, reading that book. There were far too few books that big, that thick, and it didn't appear to be a very modern or religious book either...neither did the man himself. Nobody wore brown coats nowadays, as far as she knew, which made him even more suspicious.

Grinning at having finally found a 'lead', or at least something to provide her with new inspiration, Viola began to trail behind him, following him. She was a bit nervous and kept her distance though, keeping her footsteps as quiet as possible so as to not attract the attention of the mystery man. Who knows, he might even lead her to that elusive game shop. As she followed, she began to realize that he wasn't a man at all, but a teenager probably around nineteen or so. She also realized that they had just circled the block, and were about to circle it again.

Slightly confused, she picked up the pace despite getting somewhat tired, while he didn't seem to be running out of energy anytime soon. Just what was that book...? She shook her head, refusing to be tempted. Don't talk to strangers after all, right? And what about her two vows?

After having circled it the fourth time, she had gotten tired of this and stopped, before turning around. She waited for only a little while, and then there he was - walking straight towards her. For a short moment, she managed to observe the cover of the large tome the guy was immersing himself into. It was old, dusty, and...mythical. Unless it had been made for roleplaying purposes, which she doubted, it was definitely not an ordinary book. She stood firm, but then the guy sidestepped her, having apparently looked down at her feet and noticed the obstacle.

"H- hey, what's that book about?" Viola called out to him, turning around after a moment of hesitation, but he didn't reply. Either he was horribly deaf or he was simply so immersed that her words didn't manage to make it into his head.

Shaking her head, she continued to follow him once last time around the block, before he suddenly changed direction and went deeper into the areas she had never been into. It seemed as if he had some kind of destination despite going in circles. So she continued to follow him, through the streets and roads, now mostly oblivious to her surroundings just as he was, until finally she was really, really getting tired of this.

Walking past him which he didn't notice, she put her left foot in his path, and watched as her plan worked with flying colors. The guy tripped, resulting in him falling flat with the book flying out a few meters away. Viola giggled slightly, although she did feel guilty as well and was about to help him up and apologize when...she saw the sign.

'Balthazar Blake's Fantasy Game Shop'.

This was it. Instead of helping the guy up, she murmured a silent apology and escaped into a nearby corner while he was still disorientated. Then, she watched as he got up, collected the book, and entered it. She knew it. Yes, yes, yes, she knew it, she just knew it! Once he was inside, she ran out of the corner and positioned herself right in front of the game shop triumphantly, examining it in all its...rather quaint...glory.

Refusing to hesitate, she slammed the door open with perhaps more force than necessary, and looked inside. There, she observed that something wasn't quite right. There were two other large kids, along with that guy from earlier, plus a [i]really[/i] suspicious guy who looked like he had come straight out of an Arthurian tale. Or maybe she was just being a bit too giddy right now, and had to calm down.

"Are you a wizard?" Viola asked the man presumed to be 'Balthazar Blake', rather directly and out of the blue, with a cute smile on her face.

[Mugendramon]

Marcos finally reached the Hall once more. Kreix and Lexamus seemed to be locked in a very tense exchange of words. He was about to race past, but after seeing the looks on their faces, he opted for [i]calmly walking behind Kreix instead.[/i] After clearing them, he ran all the way to Haxz, who seemed to have made a new friend.

Marcos was quick to interrupt Haxz words of dumbdom, and ask about the black circle he had used to transport away from him. [i]Twice.[/i]

[font=comic sans ms,cursive]"Made of hearts blah blah. THE TELEPORTATION MAGIC. What was it? That's seriously useful, and it looks like you and Kreix can use it just fine. I assume it's an inherent ability to Nobodies. How can I use it?"[/font]