"Like I mentioned when we first met, I hold no grudge against any of you," Malvettix explained. "Despite how you have wronged me, I believe we can collaborate together on the same goal." A smirk. "That is, if you're willing to hear me out."

His frowned deepened. R.D. didn't like the direction this conversation was going, this was Malvettix, for crying out loud. The guy who had reduced Matt to incoherency in their first fight, and absolute rage in the second. Despite his better judgment, R.D. narrowed his eyes and said...

"I'm listening."

"The Seven and Ziatoch threaten this world. Ziatoch seeks to move beyond this world once He is finished with it." An uncharacteristc frown. "I do not relish the idea of my destruction at His hands, and with The Seven running rampant across this land as well, my options are limited. I fell to research to try and discover an answer, and I have just happened to find one."

From his coat, a tendril withdrew a withered, leather-bound tome, and propped it open to a certain page before R.D.. "These diagrams depict a fearsome artifact, one that was created through powerful magic from beyond this world. Its primary purpose is to expel any being not of this earth...if we could locate it, we stand a chance of repelling Ziatoch."

Slowly, R.D. lowered his weapon to his side. He could bring it up at any moment in case of a trap, but he didn't feel like Malvettix was baiting him to attack: Ziatoch, NightShade, and the Seven Beasts were certainly as much of a threat to him as they were to everyone else.

The amnesiac teen stepped forwards and carefully picked up the book in his free hand, bringing it closer. The moonlight was a poor choice of writing, but his eyesight had been improving rapidly as he grew stronger, and he could see it well enough to make out the words and diagrams. As he read the page Malvettix pointed out to him, he frowned more and more, his eyes narrowing.

This... this sounds like...

After a moment or two, R.D. had read enough. He handed the book back to the shadowy being; a slight shake in his hand the only betrayal in his neutral, emotionless countenance.

"What... what is that?" he asked quietly.

"It's called 'Lumiya'." His eyes widened-despite R.D.'s stone face, Malvettix took pleasure in how much the diagram offset him. "I believe you're familiar with it."

R.D. took a step back. His hand clenched around the Phase Blade, and his teeth clenched together. Suspicion confirmed, both for him, and most likely for Malvettix as well.

"So, you think Lumiya will give you a chance at surviving out here?" he asked harshly. It did make sense, he would not have survived the battles on this planet without the weapon's aid; it allowed him to survive combat with NightShade not once, but twice.

"Remember, this is within your interests as well." The book sank back into Malvettix's side. "If we were to unlock the full potential of that artifact, Ziatoch would be banished from this world, never to return. And who knows? Perhaps it would be potent enough to expel The Seven, as well."

Now a bit more at ease, his trademark grin began creeping back on his face. "I don't care what happens to those beyond this world, but if my other half truly is dead, then I have no reason to die, and neither do the other innocents of this planet. We may as well pool our strengths toward this end."

R.D. made a sound, one of barely-perceptible frustration. Now he was conflicted: Malvettix, a tried-and-true enemy, was offering him a chance, a possible hope against two very dangerous forces that had a unique interest. Himself, the wielder of Lumiya.

He grit his teeth, staring at Malvettix, green against blue. Could this be a ploy? Or did Malvettix actually mean well? It was true that the shadowy being had a definite reason for wanting him dead, but it could be that Malvettix was reasonable. If he was the opposite of Matt, it'd be possible... Matt did have a tendency to be completely unreasonable at times.

Finally, the boy tore his gaze from Malvettix, looking off to the side. He growled softly. "I'll... think about it."

Edited by RisingDragon on November 5, 2007 at 19:50:02.

"Very well."

As the serpents withered back into the darkness beneath Malvettix, he drew his coat together, concealing his form underneath his neck.

"...but believe me when I say your decision is fairly obvious," he remarked, sinking into his shadow, until he was completely gone.

R.D. stood there for many long moments after Malvettix had left. His mind was reeling with this new information. Lumiya could banish the foreign evil from the planet upon the release of the Seventh Cipher? He was scared. He had always been distantly afraid of the power of the Weapon of Souls, and even more so when he did that botched forced unlocking in Europe, but this was too much. Just what were those idiots at the Isle thinking when they placed this weapon inside of him.

The amnesiac teen slowly lifted a hand up to eye level and pulled the fingerless glove off, and stared at the five symbols that decorated the back of it. Five symbols, five Ciphers. Only two were left to unlock, and ultimate power would be his to control. Did Matt ever feel this way as he grew to understand the terrible power that lay within him when he had possession of the Omega Core?

Quietly he pulled the glove back on, and turned around and slowly retreated to the house. It would not do well to worry his friends at his disappearance; Alasea would surely give him hell for it. As he wandered back, his mind dwelled on what Malvettix had shown him. When he entered the clearing that held Alasea's house, he looked up.

Standing at the edge of the porch was Alasea, clad in only a nightgown and a shawl draped about her shoulders. R.D. blushed, but didn't look away. Alasea was staring at him, her eyes full of concern. He slowly walked towards the house, and the girl stepped down barefoot onto the ground and swiftly made her way in front of him.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly. R.D.'s frown deepened, and he looked off slightly. Alasea patiently waited for an answer; she got one rather quickly.

"Malvettix was here," he explained, and her eyes widened. She looked about, but he said, "He left. Didn't attack me, though he came close to doing so."

"Why did he come here?" she whispered, "I thought he was after Matt, and only Matt. He only attacked the others if they got in their way."

R.D. looked away, and Alasea peered at her face. Suddenly, something came to her. She realized that some things, or more exactly, someones were missing. Why hadn't she realized this before?

"R.D.?" she asked, putting a hand on his arm, "Where's Matt? And Hugo, and Helena? Didn't they come back with you?"

R.D. looked up at her as she touched him, and sighed.

"... it's a long story."

The body of the little girl stirred, rolled over a little to the side. She was asleep, but her sleep wasn´t a restful one. Dreams plagued here, unpleasant dreams, almost nightmarish ones. Why was she dreaming? She hadn't dreamed in a long time. She had hardly felt or sensed anything for a long time. Why then, now, was she dreaming again? What had happened to her, or to the outside world, that allowed her to view visions of things that she didn't want to see, things that a lot of people five times older than her hardly ever got to see in their lives? Her body moved again, rolled to the other side. Muttered words came over her lips, and then she fell silent. The dreams receded, became more peaceful, and slowly she fell into a deeper sleep.

When she would wake, however, the horrific dreams might come back.


~~ The Nightmare Realm, several yards away from the core ~~

Meta frowned as she stared at the strange figure floating around in the liquid pillar before her. It was weird, it was as if the figure was dead and alive at the same time, for some reason. She heard Sin explain some things about the figure, and these sounded even weirder to her than the things she had already heard.

"How come he is weakening then?" She asked. "How can we bring him back?"

She turned to face Sin, a strand of white hair hung across her eyes. "And if we bring him back, what shall he do?"

Meta looked at Sin, a weird look in her eyes. She did not fully understand the meaning of that title "Keeper of the Dark", but it sounded intruiging, powerful, especially now she knew that the current keeper of that title was powerful enough to rob Sin's father from his body, and as she had experienced, oftentimes, the parent was stronger than the child.

She looked back at the suddenly frail-looking figure in the watery pillar, her gaze and expression firm. "I'll do it." She said. "Whatever it means, I'll do it."

R.D. sat down on the edge of the porch, with Alasea following suit. The girl brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly, her eyes still on R.D.. The boy took a few moments to gather his thoughts, wondering the best way to put this.

"After we left you at the Pillar, we traveled north several miles, with me and Matt having a sort of race in the cars. When we decided to stop, Helena went on ahead in a partial dragon form to scout, and Matt, Hugo, and I waited," he started, his mind going back to where things started going downhill for them, "We were attacked. Remember that cloaked guy at Kattelox? Diablo?"

Alasea nodded, giving him her rapt attention. R.D. continued. "Turns out he was a demon. After Matt and I gave him a beating, he showed us his true form and started beating the crap out of us. We did our best, but our best wasn't good enough. We were trapped, with no hope of survival. Then Bahamut appeared," he cut off, sighing, "And attacked Diablo. The two fought briefly, but then during a standoff, Diablo turned his attack onto me. I couldn't do anything, but Bahamut took the blow for me, and died in the process."

Alasea looked away. She remembered feeling Bahamut's death, and the words R.D. spoke in her mind afterwards. R.D., oblivious, went on with his tale. "He gave his power to me," he said, "My eyes changed, and I had that armor you saw me wear. And, as an added bonus, I unlocked the Third Cipher on Lumiya in the process. Diablo never stood a chance, and Matt and I teamed up to destroy him. After we won, we made our way into a city, where we got attacked again," he continued, thinking back to the battle against Wulfe, "The place was just like Khalis. Ing were everywhere. And I think about three of those giant spiders."

"Khalis?" She whispered fearfully, "It's happening here already?" She still had nightmares about Khalis, that world left dead in Ziatoch's unholy wake. The horrific vision of the Dark Dragon that the World Eater had created in her mind stood out clearly.

"Yeah, it is," he said, "We were attacked by someone called Wulfe, some sort of shadow demon. We also made an ally, a man in blue armor called X. Apparently, he was based off a creation of Dr. Light's, you know, Hugo's creator? He helped us a lot in taking care of the Ing while Matt fought off Wulfe. But it got too much; when Matt beat him, all of the Ing in the city came after us at once. After I had destroyed Diablo, I had figured out a way to use the Chaos Emerald... so I used Chaos Control to warp us all the way to Africa.

"There, we saw more of Ziatoch's handiwork," he went on, "A massive thousand-mile-wide crater in the middle of the continent. We found Juno with an army, and we stayed the night before heading out to find the next portal. We were promptly attacked by Malvettix, but we barely managed to send him packing. Matt had figured out a way to prevent Malvettix from making him too afraid to fight... Matt was absolutely furious."

R.D. went on with his tale, telling Alasea briefly on the remainder of their time in Africa, and how they crossed the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe in the pursuit of the next Gateway.

"... and then," R.D. said, his voice turning bitter, "We got to the canyon."

Meta looked at Sin as he spoke, then stared about the place when he told her of the nature of the Nightmare Realms "Dark Balance". "So he's... the realm itself?" She pondered aloud, frowning slightly.

She looked at Sin again, expecting an answer, but she felt that the situation must be dire, as Sin seemed slightly upset, which she could note by him telling her to hurry. "Well then, tell me more about this Keeper of the Dark as we go there." She said.

"Very well then," Meta said to Sin, and she nodded her head. "Let's go."

She took a step forward and entered the tunnel, walking with long passes that did not allow the wasting of time, quickly going into the chamber on the other end.

Meta stared into the pool of black lava after stopping in front of it. Inadvertedly, she took a step back, hesitant to get close to the black, bubbling pool. A disgustful look appeared on her face for a moment. "What is that?" She said. "What are these things here?"

"Well then, let's go." Meta said, and without a second thought, she leapt into the bubbling pool of black lava, ready to meet this enemy. She didn't have the feeling that whatever he, she, or it was, things probably couldn't be any worse than they had been on Earth.

"Canyon?" Alasea asked, cocking her head to the side. R.D. nodded, reaching down and picking up a rock from the grass.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "We were driving through a canyon somewhere in Europe when we were confronted by a pair of demons, Terranox and Xazax." Alasea nodded, having heard Bryant mention the name. "They offered us to come with them and have Lumiya and the Omega Core extracted from me and Matt, and then we'd be free to live out our lives. Naturally, we refused."

R.D. sighed. "In response, they dropped an entire army on us. Over a million monsters." Noting her widened eyes, he nodded, "It was a serious threat. But, like always, we fought to the best of our ability. Eventually we killed Terranox, and Xazax, or so we thought at the time. But then the remaining monsters rushed us, and I decided to get rid of them. I used Chaos Control on Matt and the others, and teleported them to safety. And then, I forced open the Fourth Cipher."

Alasea's eyes widened even more and she gasped. Doing something like that was undoubtedly dangerous; locks on power were meant to be removed at the appropriate time, not forced open on a whim. Wryly R.D. noticed her expression and said, "I know. It was stupid, and I found out the hard way. Lumiya's energy rushed through me and broke open the Fifth Cipher in the process."

R.D. held his hand out and removed the glove. Gently, Alasea took his rough, callused hand in her own hands, touching it gently as she looked at the five symbols etched on the back of it. After a moment, R.D. took his hand back and replaced the glove, continuing with his story.

"The backlash of power was immense. I couldn't contain it all, and I had to let it out. The resulting explosion destroyed every monster present, turned the canyon into a crater, and nearly killed me in the process."

R.D. fell silent for many moments as he relived the terrible battle, and thought back on what had transpired. "My body was a wreck," he finally forced out, "Matt found me and healed me to the best of his ability. When I woke up, I was pretty freaked out about it... I had always taken Lumiya's power for granted; I always had control over it before. Especially compared to how the Core acted for Matt. Losing control like that scared me. I don't want it to happen again... I'm afraid."

She heard his voice breaking up at the end. What had happened truly shook him; she was amazed at the amount of emotion he was showing. During their adventure, R.D. had mostly kept his feelings guarded. Him breaking down like this seemed wrong to Alasea, and she moved over and wrapped both of her arms around him. Gratefully, R.D. leaned into her embrace, and the two stayed there for many long moments before R.D. was able to continue his tale.

Meta gasped and tried to fight off the strange black tentacles that rose up from the pool of black lava she stood in. She had been surprised to find out it wasn't very deep, but the appearance of the tentacles made her suspect that she had been tricked, that she was trapped. They got her however, and when she was about to continue to fight back more strongly, the tentacles disappeared, and she laid her eyes upon a new scene.

Meta looked around. "Great, more pools of lava." She duly noted as she gazed around and noticed the yellow pools that surrounded the black one they stood in.

She looked at Sin, and gave him a nod. "I have no love for this place already. You lead the way, I want this over with as soon as we can have it done." She said, as she stepped forward, out of the pool, only to find her feet sinking a little into the hot, marshy ground. Meta frowned, but said nothing. She shot a gaze at Sin, as if to urge him to continue onwards. She wasn't familiar here, she would follow him.

Meta crawled through the cavehole after Sin. When she reached the end and saw what she saw, she thought she had lost her mind for a moment.

A city?

It was quite unbelievable to her. The inhabitants were also apparantly of a kind she had never before encountered, and she looked around with wide, wonderfilled eyes.

When Sin stopped walking, she nearly bumped into him from behind, so little attention did she pay to where they were going, so much did she pay to gaping at her surroundings.

She looked over Sin's shoulder and took a step to get a better view of what he was looking at. Seeing him talking to one of the strange, stone-and-metal golems, a white, many-armed one, she gave him a weird look, and also gave Sin a similar look.

"Divi-Ket-Sin?" She uttered, slightly surprised. The name sounded exotic to her as she spoke it aloud.