Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Key to Darkness ❯ The Key to Darkness ( Chapter 2 )

Moon: Ooops! We forgot the disclaimer in the last part. Yieks!!! Sorry about that folk. Of course we do NOT own them or anything. If we did we wouldn't have to worry about next years tuition -_-...

But to rectify the mistake.... here is our disclaimer!!!

Disclaimer: We, the TwinShades, do not OWN anything that is in any way connected to Weiss Kreuz. The only thing belonging to us are the Original Chara's in our stories since we almost fried our brains making them up. We don't have money so PLEASE don't sue, this is nonprofit work and for entertainment only. Thanks

Daystar and Moonshadow Shade

~*~*~

Day: HELLO EVERYBODY!! WE ARE BAA~ACK

Weiss and Schwarz: Oh joy

Moon: *bonks them all*

Day: *glomps onto Ken* You dun love me anymore??? *puppy eyes*

Ken *sweatdrops* I... I... nev~er said that... *looks around frantic* Some... help guys?

Others: *shake heads and back away*

Moon: *clears throat loudly* ANYWAY! We're here with part 2!! *grins*

Aya: I'm not going to like this.

Day: *whips out a first aid kit*

Everybody: *swallows* What the-...

Moon: *chuckles* good thinking Day, we'll need this today.

Ken: *whimpers*

~*~*~

This day surely proved itself to be one of the worst ones he had had in a long time. It had taken him years to locate the cursed emerald brat of the Kin of Morning's Glory and now that he finally had found him someone had to interfere. And he had been so close.

Eitiene had barely managed to dodge the sudden attack from above. It had actually been to close to a hit for his liking. He flexed his talons and looked up at the attacker, an orange-red gryphon he wasn't familiar with.

--Who are you, fool? Don't you know better than to attack me?--

A mental sneer rung through his head as his opponent landed on the building that had housed his target just moments ago. --What use does a traitor like you have for names? But if you must know, my name is Schuldig, sent by our Lord to see to your execution.--

Eitiene narrowed his eyes. --Do you really think that you could beat me, Schuldig?-- There was a mocking undertone in his voice. --Very well, I'll deal with you before I take the Keystone away from that weak drakeling.--

--I'll show you just how much of an opponent I am you featherbrain.-- Schuldig responded to the challenge and spread his mighty wings. --There is no way that I'll let you have the Keystone. You'll have to go through me first.--

--As you wish.-- was all Eitiene replied before he set into a headlong dive towards Schuldig.

Of course, Schuldig didn't just sit and wait for Eitiene to score the first hit. With a strong push of his hind legs and a few dingbats he took of, quickly gaining altitude. He didn't need to look back to see that Eitiene was following, and he used a wind current to carry him higher into the sky. Soon he believed to be high enough and well out of people's eyesight and he turned to face his opponent.

--Good, I thought you were running from me. I would have thought you to be quite a coward if you had done so.-- Eitiene taunted him, easily keeping himself level with Schuldig.

--You should know better Eitiene. A gryphon never runs from a challenge, our pride would never let us. Now stop this senseless chattering.-- In a blink of an eye Schuldig had charged forward, viciously lashing out at Eitiene. His opponent dodged skillfully and attacked on his own, letting Schuldig know that he wasn't easily defeated.

Soon the battle was in full heat up in the sky while the humans in the city below didn't realize that it was happening right over their heads.

~*~*~

Nagi sat in the passenger seat of Crawford's black Firebird glaring at the Schwarz leader. "I really don't understand you at all. First we try to kill them and now we're leading them to our apartment. Have you gone completely mad?"

"The situation has changed Nagi, you'll understand once I explain it to you." Crawford said, not taking his eyes off the road.

The teen narrowed his eyes. "You said that before you know. So why don't you explain it?"

"It's not time yet."

Nagi growled. "Sometimes you're so annoying you know that?"

Behind them Farfarello chuckled. "Being annoying hurts God."

"No it doesn't!"

"Nagi, let him be. I really don't need a headache, and if you start to argue with Farfarello I'm guaranteed to get one." Crawford said in a voice that allowed no protest.

Nagi was a very powerful and intelligent teenager, sadly he was very strong-headed too. But even he knew when he reached his limits with the stoic leader of Schwarz. Right now was about that time. Huffing his annoyance the dark-haired teen turned around and pointedly glared out of the side window.

~*~*~

"I can't believe it. All this time Schwarz has been living right in front of us. It kinda hurts my pride to see how close they've been all this time without us noticing." Omi said, looking around the enormous living room that belonged to the apartment that Schwarz occupied.

"You wouldn't have noticed any time soon if Crawford hadn't decided to give us away." Nagi snapped, glaring at the four members of Weiss.

Crawford gave Nagi a sharp look. "Will you let it rest Nagi. I told you already there is a very good reason for everything. Don't you think so?" He looked pointedly at Weiss.

It was Aya who nodded. "Indeed there is but I think we should wait for our rescuer before we start explaining. I don't feel like telling the same story over and over again."

Crawford nodded. "True enough. Please, have a seat."

Slowly the four Weiss assassins sat down, all of them were keeping a close eye on Farfarello. The Irish man was currently sitting on the ground in front of the coffee-table, happily skinning a pear with his knife.

"So who or what are we waiting for again?" Nagi asked in an irritated voice.

Before anyone could answer Farfarello chuckled and licked his knife clean. "We are waiting for our feathered telepath to fly back home."

~*~*~

--Scheisse!-- Schuldig yelled, wrenching his wing out of the other's grip. --That hurt, bastard!--

--Deal with it, sparrow!-- answered Eittiene, crowing at the wound.

--Who you calling a sparrow, peacock!--- snarled Schuldig, climbing higher in the air, --You'll pay for that!--

Eitiene was too involved in gloating over a minor injury, he was totally unprepared for Schuldig to slam-dive into him, throwing them both off balance. With the speed for which he was famous for in his native Hort, Schuldig regained his balance and was up in the air again, above Eitiene. This time, however, Eitiene dove out of the way, skimming the clouds beneath him. Schuldig shot straight through the clouds, emerging beneath them.

Using his intuition, Eitiene dove through the clouds, and managed to catch Schuldig's injured wing again, causing the German gryphon to screech in pain. Twisting in the other's fragile grip, Schuldig raked his talons across the slate gryphon's face, creating deep gashes from his right temple, nearly tearing his throat open.

Hissing in pain, Eitiene released his tentative hold on Schuldig's wing, and went into a full out dive, racing away.

--You will pay for that, Sparrow,-- Eittiene shouted, as he sped away, --You cannot protect the Keystone forever, and when I have it, you will be among the first to suffer. That I promise you!--

--Empty promises, peacock! I've heard them before!-- Schuldig answered the threats, before turning to return to the Schwarz apartment.

~*~*~

The room was filled with stunned silence, well almost. Nagi, Yohji and Omi were the ones stunned. Crawford was just grinning to himself and Farfarello was too busy tending to Schuldig's hand which still sported the claw-marks that Eitiene had left behind.

"So let me get this straight," said Nagi rubbing his temples. "You three claim to be mythological creatures in human guise?"

The three nodded solemnly.

"And you really think we are going to believe that!? What do you take us for!? Kindergardeners?"

Schuldig raised his hands defensively, which earned him a disgruntled glare from Farfarello. "Easy Naginster, if you don't calm down you'll pop a vein. And if you don't believe me ask them," the German pointed at Yohji and Omi, "they saw the peacock that attacked their flower shop up close."

"Besides," broke in Ken, "there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your existence."

The silence that followed was deafening, and it took Ken a while to notice that everybody was staring at him, especially his fellow teammates. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Omi blinked. "You.... you just... quoted Shakespeare, Kenken."

Ken shrugged. "So what, we used to hang out all the time. We were really good friends, back in the day."

Yohji rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say Ken, whatever you say."

Ken huffed. "What? You don't believe me? Who do you think helped him come up with Romeo and Juliet?"

"That makes you over 400 years old Ken." Omi said, his voice almost gone.

Ken just nodded.

"Wait a minute," said Aya in disbelief.

"Yeah, that's a bit farfetched, if you ask me," said Yohji, appearing to agree with Aya.

"You wanna tell me Morning's Glory's best scout is THAT YOUNG!"

Yohji almost fell out of his seat. "Aya! You call 400 years YOUNG!? How old are you then, may I ask."

Aya sat up, looking a lot more dignified. "I am 1,682 years as of last month."

Schuldig's laughter filled the room. "Bei den Goettern, you both are still mere fledglings. I used to play with Hercules when we both were still infants."

"And you really think we will believe this bull?" Nagi said, his features unreadable.

"Will you calm down Nagi, I have no intentions of buying yet another coffee table matching this room." Crawford stated pointing at the expensive designer glass table that was visibly quivering under Nagi's pent up anger.

Nagi slammed his hand on the table. "Well, if you seem so fixated on your incredulous stories, prove it." He challenged the three.

They looked at each other questioningly.

"The easiest way to show them is to change right in front of them," Schuldig pondered, "Which means, I'm out, 'cause I'm WAY to big to fit in any of the rooms." he finished with a broad grin.

Ken giggled. "That means, I'm out too."

Omi quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, you're out?"

"The whole reason we're in this mess is that Eitiene cursed me to stay in this human form. This body prevents me from using even the simplest spells, you see, humans are quite ignorant when it comes to magic." Ken explained as if this situation was an everyday occurrence.

"Oh, alright." said Omi, a little overwhelmed by all this information.

Aya sighed. "Looks like it's up to me to prove that we are stating the truth."

Crawford nodded. "This will be best. Nagi, please move the furniture so Aya has space."

Nagi muttered grudgingly but complied anyway, moving the couch and table aside in no time flat.

Farfarello chuckled and looked at the three nonbelievers. "Don't wet your pants children, he won't eat you."

"That's a given," countered Ken, "he isn't much bigger than my Kawasaki Ninja."

As Farfarello and Ken kept arguing Aya stepped in the middle of the room and closed his eyes, changing into his true form for the second time that night. Under the amazed stares of the others his skin turned into a true red and scales formed, covering his whole body. Spine ridges, wings and a tail appeared as his clothes dissolved. The last change was his eyes as they became glowing lavender orbs.

Once again, the room was filled with silence as Omi, Nagi and Yohji stared at the dragon, their jaws ajar. Aya had fully changed into his draconic form and didn't seem to represent anything like the leader of Weiss. But strangely enough this creature still had the feeling of Aya all about him.

"A-Aya-kun?"

--What, Omi?--

Omi's eyes, if possible, went even wider than they had been. "Was that you...but, how can you talk? There's no way...with that jaw structure..."

"Telepathy," said Nagi, flatly, "He's using telepathy. Like Schuldig." The telekinetic turned an accusing glare at his leader. "You knew."

"Yes," said Brad, pushing his glasses up, "of course I knew."

"Argh!" yelled Nagi, frustrated, "You're not making any sense!"

Having made his point, Aya reverted to his human guise, freeing up some space in the room. He turned towards Schuldig, "I suppose we need to explain the rest of the situation?"

"Prolly," agreed the telepath, "although, I must admit I don't know all that much about it. All I know is we were told to keep an eye out for the rogue gryphon, Eitiene." He turned to Aya.

"I know some of it," said Aya, "but my Kin didn't get involved until the Keystone was split in two."

"Keystone?" asked Schuldig, a confused expression on his face.

"That's right," replied Aya, "But even I don't know everything about it."

"But I do!" Ken jumped in, "I know ALL about it!"

"You are such a child!" said Schuldig, rolling his eyes. Ken stuck his tongue out at him.

"Well, if you know, would you mind enlightening the rest of us?" asked Yohji, exasperated.

"Sure, why not?" said Ken, "You see, it all started when Lord Saheal finally pissed off Riallara too much, and she lead a rebellion against him. This all happened before I was born, by the way."

"Don't you mean hatched?" broke in Schuldig.

"Same result. Anyway, Queen Riallara managed to defeat him, taking his throne. Saheal's sister had no ambition for the throne, and was actually one of Riallara's top supporters. She banished him to the High Mountains of the North. He wasn't very appreciative of this fact, and, a couple hundred years later, he attacked again. Only this time, Riallara sealed him inside the Bane Caves, using a Stargem as the key, hopefully sealing him away for good."

"Well, why didn't she just have him killed?" asked Nagi, "I mean, that would make more sense."

"Not necessarily," said Aya, "Saheal is a very, very old, powerful drake, and he would have built many, many protections for himself. It would be a very difficult task, to find all the protections, and to disable them. She'd probably have lost several of her Kin if she had attempted it."

"Besides which, he was originally from our Kin," said Ken, "That just isn't done."

"Alright, so he was sealed away with the Stargem used as the key for the... spell?" Crawford asked bringing the conversation back to its original topic.

Ken nodded. "Yes, that's the reason why the gem is now called the Keystone. If the Dark Kin should get a hold of it, they could use it to free Lord Saheal from his confinement."

"I take it the Dark Kin are what you call Saheal's followers."

"Yes." confirmed Aya.

Omi looked confused. "So, if that stone is so important... how did it get split in half?"

"Well," Ken blushed. "You see, the Dark Kin managed to get the stone into their possession, but before anything could happen I managed to take it from them again. On the way back to my Kin I was attacked by a gryphon-"

"Eitiene." Schuldig stated flatly, flexing his bandaged hand.

"Exactly," confirmed Ken. "Anyway, to make along story short, as we were fighting over the Keystone it split, each of us in possession of one half. Of course he wanted my half as well."

Farfarello tapped the tip of his knife against his chin, looking thoughtful. "And you ended up like this because..."

Ken sighed. "Because I was not powerful enough to fight him and I had to hide. Scouts are not as strong as warriors." He shot a glance at Aya. "Scouts have a disadvantage in battle because of their size. Anyway, I changed form and hid in the midst of a group of human children, thinking myself to be safe for the time being. But Eitiene uttered a curse, trapping me in this body."

"So, what are we going to do now?" Yohji inquired, looking at the three.

"I'd say we get the part of the Keystone that we have already and then try to get the other half back from Eitiene." Schuldig decided looking at Ken.

The young man blushed. "Well.... you see.... there is that tiny problem..."

"Don't tell me you lost it, Ken." Yohji said in a dry voice, knowing his comrade all too well.

"Of course I didn't lose it," Ken exclaimed indignantly, "what kind of an idiot do you think me to be.... wait... don't answer that."

"Then, where is it?" Nagi asked.

"It's right here." Ken explained, tapping on his chest.

Omi blinked. "Can you explain that in English please?"

Ken shook his head. "You saw how Aya's clothes disappeared when he changed?"

Everybody nodded affirmatively.

"Okay then, put two and two together and you have..?"

"Four?" Farfarello quipped up.

Crawford ignored the Irish man. "So in order to get your half of the Keystone back you have to be able to turn back into your drake form?"

"Exactly." Ken grinned.

"And how will you be able to turn back?" Nagi asked.

"That is what I would like to know. You really think this whole mess would still be here if I could have gone back to my Kin?" Ken stated flatly.

"Knowing you? Yes." Yohji interrupted.

"Gee, thanks a lot, Yotan."

Yohji grinned. "No problem at all, Ken-kun."

"Back to the main problem," Crawford called them back to order. "The first thing we have to do then is to find a way to break that curse."

Ken nodded.

Crawford looked at Schuldig. "Looks like this is a job for you."

"Me? What makes you think that?" Schuldig looked puzzled.

Nagi nodded. "Yeah... why him?"

"Because the curse was uttered by gryphon magic, who else, but a gryphon could find a counter spell?" Crawford looked at Schuldig once more.

"For a mere human you're quite a Schlaumeier about magic, do you realize that?" Schuldig asked.

"But he is right, Schuldig." Aya said in Crawford's defense. "Drake magic and gryphon magic are different."

Schuldig sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll go and look for the freaking counter spell, but you better make sure that no one will get a hold of baby-drake over there. I bet by now Eitiene isn't the only one out there, looking for him and the Keystone."

"Who are you calling baby-drake, sparrow." Ken huffed.

"Do you want that cure or not, fledgling?" Schuldig hissed through gritted teeth.

~*~*~

--So,-- began the twilight dragon, --you have found the Keystone?--

--Yes,-- hissed Eitiene, --I already toold you that, didn't I?--

The drake laughed, --Oh, my dear Eitiene, You truly don't understand. Not at all.--

--Makoto,-- hissed the gryphon, --Do not piss me off, or treat me like a feeble-minded fool.--

Makoto laughed, --I have never forgiven you for your idiocy. You needn't have attacked Ken outright. Even if he had returned to the Kin, I could have gotten the Keystone half from him. It wouldn't have been hard. And now, I fear we have more people involved than is necessary. People who will make this task extremely difficult.--

--The emerald is so young. How was I to know how skilled he was?--

--The fact that Riallara trusted him should have been a strong indicator. No matter. We will fix your mistake, and see to it that Lord Saheal is released.-- Makoto looked up at the gryphon. --Leave. Go get those wounds taken care of. We still have a purpose for you.--

Glaring, Eitiene left Makoto alone.

"That was harsh," said a melodic voice, and a beautiful, almost human seeming creature stepped out of the shadows.

--Eitiene is a fool.--

The nightmare laughed, "I don't know about that."

--Lunaria, don't make me laugh.-- Makotto shook his head angrily, --This is not the time.--

--Oh, but laughter is good for the soul,-- the nightmare shifted into her horse form, --Honestly, Maki, you are way too serious. It can't be good for your heart.--

--Lunaria!--

--Well, I've got to do the rounds,-- Luunaria said, trotting away, --toodles!--

Makoto watched her leave and turned around irritated. They didn't have the slightest idea, none of them. Awakening the Dark Lord Saheal was crucial for their plans, and time was slowly running out. They weren't behind schedule... yet. Stretching his wings Makoto retreated to his lair thinking of possible ways to retrieve the Keystone from the once lost scout of his Kin.

~*~*~

--Schuldig! Hi!-- screeched the young, golden gryphon, --It's been so long! Mama! Papa! Helena! Nadia! Sven! Schuldig's back!--

--Nice to see you, too, Marion,-- Schuldig responded, landing next to her, --It's been a while!--

--No....has it?-- she shot back, sarcastically. --Honestly, Schuldig, we were beginning to wonder if you'd dropped off the face of the earth.--

--Nah, just been in Japan for a while.---

--Close enough...who's that?-- Marion asked, noticing Schuldig's passenger for the first time.

--Hmm...This? Oh, this is....um....he's a....friend. That's right, a friend.--

--......right. Care to introduce us, or should I just call him "Schuldig's friend"?-- a new voice interrupted them, and an older, and calmer, gold-toned gryphon broke in.

--Eva, how are you?-- asked Schuldig warmly.

--Busy, as usual, dealing with these three brats,-- she answered patiently, --so, are you going to introduce us?--

--Oh, right, of course,-- said Schuldig. --Farfarello, this is my old friend, Eva of the Lorelei Cliff Hort. Eva, this is Farfarello.--

--Pleased to meet you Farfarello, I think....-- Eva trailed off, because Farfarello had taken out one of his many, many knives, and was currently using it as a toothpick.

"Being impolite hurts God," was all the crazed Irishman said.

--There is one?-- asked the gold gryphon, confused.

Farfarello hopped off of Schuldig's back, and turned to the red gryphon. "I think I like her."

~*~*~

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! I HATE this!" Yohji paced around in Crawford's room trying to get rid of some pent up energy. It had been three days since the German airhead had left with the Irish madman, three days with nothing to do. Crawford and Schuldig had made very sure that they all understood one thing perfectly clear. Weiss was not to leave the apartment under ANY circumstances. This of course meant that Yohji wasn't allowed to go out to the clubs at night either. Three nights without women and alcohol. This was driving him insane.

It didn't help matters that the other three were perfectly calm about it. Nagi and Omi had discovered their mutual love for computers and now spent every waking moment in front of those stupid machines. Yohji swore that one day their eyes would turn squared.

Aya, also, didn't seem to mind their confinement, for he spent all his time either comforting or just talking to Ken. This whole thing just smelled like heavy romance, everyone had noticed that by now. Well, everyone except the two drakes.

And then there was Crawford. He was worse than all of them combined. The unphaseable American spent his entire time awake doing one of two things, reading the newspaper, or working on his freaking laptop. Yohji had a hard time understanding how a person could be so single minded.

Suppressing the urge to slam his forehead into the desk Yohji decided to head for the kitchen and make himself a sandwich. There was one thing he had learned very quick, with Schwarz you had to provide for yourself.

Crawford was on the phone when he entered the kitchen. Ignoring the infuriating leader of Schwarz, Yohji opened the fridge to see what he could raid of it. In the background he could hear Crawford talk.

"Nothing at all?"

A pause.

"I see," Crawford sighed. "Well, keep in touch and call as soon as you find something for us to work with."

Yohji turned around and raised an eyebrow at Crawford. "Schuldig?"

The precog nodded. "Yes. Just calling to tell us that once more the search ended up in nothing. But he believes that the means to counter the curse on Ken are hidden in that library."

"If he thinks so I guess he's right. I mean, he grew up there, didn't he?"

Crawford shrugged. "From what I can gather from him yeah." He headed for the living room. "Oh and Yohji."

The blond Weiss member looked up. "Hmm?"

"Our stove is known for having quite a temper at times, just to let you know."

~*~*~

"Nothing, five days and there is no clue to either what spell Eitiene could have used nor any indication on how to break it." Schuldig growled, frustration having gotten the better of him for a second.

--We haven't even searched the first third of the library yet, Schuldig. We keep looking.-- Marion assured him.

--Not to mention that it is important that we find the spell first. Counter spells can only be determined on what spell is used in the first place.--

--Ever the smartass about magic, right Sven?-- Helena turned her gaze to Schuldig. --I swear, ever since he got accepted to that mage school he's been acting like Merlin himself.--

Schuldig chuckled and skimmed the Index of spells in the 'Gryphon's guide to magical understanding number 5'. He rubbed his forehead. --This is like looking for a needle in a very, very large haystack.--

Next to him Farfarello was sorting out spellbooks, determining their use by skimming the title.

"Magic in Gardening. No." Toss

"Cooking with Magical Spices. No." Toss

"Curses and Counters. I don't think so." Toss

Schuldig's eyes went wide. "Farfie! WAIT!"

The Irishman looked up from his task. "Huh?"

--What book did you just toss behind you?-- Marion asked, eyeing the enormous pile.

--By the first fledgling, if the librarian sees this he'll have our wings for dinner.-- Sven said, looking horrified.

Schuldig ignored Sven's comment. "Farfie, which book was Curses and Counters?"

"The brown one." Farfarello answered, looking intrigued.

--You are aware that all these books are brown right?-- Asked Helena, walking over to the pile.

Schuldig sighed. "Looks like we have no choice but to look for it."

--But, there are about 200 books in that pile.-- Sven exclaimed.

"What do you think is easier, the 200 books in the pile, where we know the one we look for must be somewhere on top, or the thousands of books left in the shelves of which we have no clue what they all are about?" Schuldig asked as he began searching through the pile.

~*~*~

--Bye-bye!-- called Eva and her three children, as Schuldig left the Hort. --Good luck! You beat that bad drake, Schu!--

--Bye,-- replied Schuldig, climbing into the air. Farfarello waved from his spot on Schuldig's back. The book Curses and Counters was secured in Farfie's backpack.

--Take care, Schuldig,-- said Eva privately, --I feel the Dark Forces are gathering more allies. There is great danger ahead for you and your friends.--

--Thanks for the warning, friend,-- answered Schuldig equally as private, --I will be careful.--

~*~*~

Ken was practically jumping up and down in his seat, he was so excited. Schuldig had found the book, and now all they had to do was activate the Counter Spell, and he'd be free again! Then they could take the Keystone back to Morning's Glory and be done with it! Life was good.

Aya smiled to himself, watching Ken wait. The emerald scout was so adorable, the warrior drake couldn't help it. He was acting like a five-year-old waiting for his parents to wake up on Christmas morning so that he could open his presents.

"So our plan of action is to free Ken from his curse, and then go see Queen Riallara? That's it?!" shrieked Nagi after Crawford explained the situation. "Will they even let us in?"

"Sure," chirped Ken, "Riallara's really cool like that. And besides, she likes me, so I'm sure she'll like my friends."

Nagi rolled his eyes, anxious for Schuldig to get their so that they could get the claw-bearing assassin to calm down.

~*~*~

Lunaria raced through the cave at full gallop, desperate to reach Miaka in time. The dark drake needed the warning if they were to have even the slightest chance at victory. The dark cave opened up into a sunny valley, where a dull silver drake was stretched out in the sun.

--Lady Miaka! Lady Miaka, wake up!--

--Lunaria?-- the drake opened one eye, --What is it?--

--Lady Miaka, the gryphon found the cure. The emerald scout will be set free, and you know they're going to go straight to Riallara.--

--What?!-- Miaka hissed, coming to full attention. --If Riallara has even half of the Keystone safe, she'll lock it up so tight we won't even be able to dream of stealing it again. It is only luck that Makoto was able to find out the schedules and bribes last time.--

--And we need both halves to free Saheal,-- said Lunaria softly. --What about Saheal's safeguards? Is there any chance of that gryphon or the scout to find and destroy the safeguards?--

--Not likely,-- hissed the lady dragon. --First they would have to kill me, and in order to kill me, they need to kill Saheal.--

--A double safeguard?-- asked Lunaria.

--Yes. Instead of going through the trouble of creating multiple levels of defense for ourselves, My Lord and I made ourselves each other's safeguards.--

--How is that possible?--

The drake grinned, --There are some secrets a lady never gives away.--

--So what do we do?-- asked the Night Mare, curiously.

--Riallara must not get even half of the Keystone back. A scout, I can defeat, but the Queen of a Kin? Not in my present weakness.-- Miaka pondered, --Tell Makoto to send a delegation of trolls, giants, ogres, and whatever else he can coerce into attacking Morning's Glory.--

--And King Yuuto?-- asked Lunaria, --What of the Star's Rising? They have always been closely allied with Riallara.--

--Before the attack, set up a containment spell to keep the Morning's drakes in, and everyone else out.--

--We're going to hold the Kin hostage?--- asked Lunaria, disbelief evident in her tone.

--Yes,-- confirmed Miaka, confidently, --That is exactly what we are going to do.--

~*~*~

"Yuck," commented Omi calmly, staring into the kitchen where Schuldig and Aya were preparing the potion for the Counter Spell. They had both gotten fed up with Ken's hyper-excitement, and had forbid him from even touching any of the ingredients, and the emerald scout was currently perched on the table, watching with eager eyes for the potions completion.

Next to him, Nagi nodded, "Yes, the smell is awful. I feel sorry for Ken-kun if he has to actually drink this."

"Don't," said Schuldig, from where he was measuring some purple goo stuff that Aya said came from El Dorado. "He was annoying the hell out of us, earlier."

"You know, I'm still here, Schuldig," Ken protested from his spot on the table. "Couldn't you at least wait until I'm out of the room before you start to badmouth me?"

"Well, I kinda thought you'd be used to it by now, fledgling," taunted Schuldig, "I mean, shouldn't your early childhood have taught you to put up with insults?"

"Well, Sparrow, I'm sure you'd be the expert on that, now wouldn't you?"

"Don't call me sparrow, fledgling,"

"Children," said Aya, stopping the verbal fight, "can we at least act our age?"

"NO!" Ken and Schuldig chorused.

Aya rolled his eyes, and went back to dicing the Atlantean Super Violent Seaweed for the potion. "Look, we're almost done. Then, you two will be able to go at each other as much as you want. But we need to get the Keystone half first."

"Okay, okay," said Ken, "I'll stop teasing him."

"And I won't pester him anymore," said Schuldig.

"Well, that's great to hear," said Crawford, passing Nagi and Omi to enter the kitchen. "So, is this potion ready?"

"Yes," answered Aya, "It is. How'd you...no, nevermind."

"It's ready?" squealed Ken, "Give it to me! Give it to me!"

"Calm down, Kenken," admonished Aya, "Let's go to the roof to do this, okay? The book says it must be drunk in the full light of the moon."

"You mean we have to wait for a full moon?" wailed Yohji, joining the group. Farfarello was just a step behind him.

"No," said Schuldig, somewhat condescendingly, "That would be under the light of the full moon. Wording is very important in spells and incantations."

"I see," said Yohji flatly, though it was clear he really didn't.

"Come on!" Ken urged, "Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon! Let's go do this!"

Yohji laughed, "Yeah, we wouldn't want you to get an ulcer."

Ken glared, but didn't say anything, because Aya grabbed up the potion and led them to the door.

"Yeah!" cheered Ken, following right behind him. The others followed a bit more sedately, even though Omi and Yohji couldn't quit grinning. Ken's smile was very infectious.

The group managed to get to the roof with Ken only tripping once. Nagi had thoughtfully brought out a blanked for himself and Omi to sit on.

"This is going to be interesting," Omi whispered. Nagi nodded in response.

"Oh, how cute," teased Yohji, "The little lovebirds whispering sweet nothings."

"Yohji!" exclaimed Omi, blushing furiously. Nagi ducked his head, with a matching blush on his face.

"Shh!" admonished Crawford, seeing that Schuldig was holding the potion and muttering something under his breath.

Schuldig completed the spoken portion of the spell, and passed the cup to Ken. Feeling slightly nervous under the seven pairs of watchful eyes, Ken drank it down in one gulp. There was no movement for nearly a full minute.

"That's it?" asked Yohji, "That's all there is too this?"

"I guess so," answered Crawford. "Kind of anticlimactic, though, isn't it?"

"Yeah, just a bit."

"I suppose it could just take a moment to take effect, right?" asked Omi, "I mean, aspirin can take up to half an hour to have any effect."

Before anyone could respond, there was a hair raising screech from the general location where Ken and Aya were standing. All they could see when they looked, however, was Aya's form rapidly disappearing form in the night sky.

~*~*~

--NO! Not now! Not when I'm finally me again!-- cried Ken, straining his wings in an effort to get to his Kin.

--Ken!-- called Aya from behind him, desperately trying to keep up, --Ken, what is it?--

--My Kin!-- Ken wailed, --The sanctity of my Kin! No!--

--Ogres?!-- Aya took the image from the distraught scout's mind, --Morning's Glory is under attack?-- And disbelief colored his tone.

Ken led them through a sky portal, and the pair emerged above a harsh desert. Before Aya could protest, the desert gave way to clear ocean, and Ken dove, slicing through the water with all the grace of a dolphin or mermaid. Without a second thought, Aya followed him into the underwater caves. Just when Aya was beginning to think he was going to drown, Ken burst into an air pocket.

--Ken?--

--We're almost there, Ayan. Take a deep breath.--

That was all the warning he had, before Ken dove back into the water. Sighing to himself, Aya followed. Ken led him through another series of underwater caverns. Then the current became irresistible, causing Aya to panic a bit.

--Calm down. Go with the current. Only a few more seconds.--

Ken's prediction proved true, as the pair erupted into the open air, coming out of the caverns with a waterfall. Aya took a moment to catch himself, before gliding up to meet Ken. The green drake was climbing to hide in the clouds.

Aya took a moment to examine Morning's Glory. It was rare that a drake was allowed to see more than his or her own Kin, as the dragons tend to be very territorial when it came to outsiders. Ken's Kin appeared to be in a valley, which confused Aya as too why they had to go through the caverns, until the warrior drake realized it was an underground cavern, with the ceiling magiked to allow the sun through. The roof of the Cavern looked like the sky.

The floor of the Cavern was a series of beautiful gardens and grottos, with plants from all over. In the center of the Cavern, where any other Kin would have a stone palace, was a large tree, which looked like a combination of several different types. Instinctively, Aya knew that was the Kin's palace.

--Amazing...--

--Isn't it?-- Aya could hear the grin in Ken's voice. --I've missed it so much.--

Aya shook his head, remembering why they had rushed so fast to get here, --I don't see the ogres.--

--Neither do I,-- replied Ken. --I think we shall need to get closer.--

Aya nodded, and later reflected that it was a good thing they weren't going really fast when they met up with an invisible barrier.

--What the?-- exclaimed Ken, having hit the barrier first.

--Seclusion,-- realized Aya, --Ken, it''s a seclusion spell. We can't get in...and none of them can get out.--

--No...-- breathed Ken, in denial.

--Ken...we can' t do anything for them....it won't do them any good for us to get caught...--

--What! You want me to leave my Kin too a group of ogres?!-- Ken hissed, --Aya, are you insane?--

--No!-- snarled Aya, --But there is no way a group of ogres could find their way here without instructions. Even I didn't know where this Kin was, and I know where most of them are.--

Ken's eye went wide, and blue orbs turned on Aya with such a mixture of fear and denial, that Aya just wanted to pull the younger drake close to him, and protect him under his wing.

--Ken, let's go back...we can talk to the others and make new plans. Maybe even contact Lord Yuuto. He and Queen Riallara have always been close.--

Ken sighed, --You're right, of course. Come on. We can't fight the currents to get out the way we came in. There's an exit just to the left of the waterfall.--

~*~*~

"I don't know what happened," repeated Schuldig for the umpteenth time, "I'm a gryphon, not a dragon. Whatever it was, it was a dragon matter."

"So you just don't care," asked Yohji, enraged.

"I didn't say that!" Schuldig defended himself, "But I have no way to know what set them off! I'm sure they'll tell us when they return. But until then, I'm as in the dark as you are."

"Yohji, leave Schuldig alone," said Omi, with his head bowed, "We're all worried, but fighting amongst ourselves is not going to solve anything."

"Omi's right," added Nagi, "and I think we're all just a bit disappointed. We expected things to go much easier from this point on, and now there's a new unknown in the equation."

Crawford sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Let's all just calm down. There's nothing we can do until they come back." They heard two thuds-one light and one heavy-on the roof, "And my guess is that's them."

Brad's guess proved to be accurate, when the pair of drakes walked in the apartment, looking tired and depressed. Ken flopped into one of the chairs, and Aya sat next to him.

"So..." Yohji looked expectantly at the pair, "what gives?"

"We can't go to Queen Riallara with the Keystone." Aya stated flatly, "Our enemies anticipated our moves, and have the Kin in Seclusion."

"But how did they find it?!" asked Schuldig. "After all, Drake Kins are legendary for being well hidden."

"Our guess? They have someone working on the inside."

"But weren't the Dark Kin formerly from Ken's Kin?" asked Nagi. "Wouldn't they know anyway?"

"No," responded Ken, "after they were banished, Queen Riallara moved the Kin. We aren't all dumb, you know. We pretty much knew that they would try to get in for the Keystone."

"Then what about after the first time they stole it?" the telekinetic asked, still confused.

"That was accomplished through Eitiene."

"But how-?" asked Omi. "I'm confused."

"A diplomatic envoy," answered Schuldig. "They go into the Kins blindfolded and come out blindfolded."

"Oh."

"So now what?" asked Yohji.

"I have no idea." Ken sighed in defeat.

~*~*~

Moon: *slumps back in her chair* Enough for today... my fingers are sore.

Day: Whimp!

Moon: I give you whimp Imoto-chan *tackles*

Day: *scrambles and hides behind Aya* Protect me!

Aya: Why?

Day: `Cuz I said so! And `cuz, if you don't, you won't get to see Ken ever again!

Aya: Moon, SHI-NE!! *attacks*

Moon: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppp!!!!!!!!!! FARFIE!!!!!!!!!!!! *runs off*

Yohji: O_O That was easy...

Day: *laughs* Well, see ya next time folks... hopefully Moon will still be alive to be with us. Tata!