The Way Back

~Kari & Kentaro~

*The flames start retracting. Bahamut ZERO darts out of the fire cloud and rams Kentaro, Kari's shots continuously injuring him. The Jade Rabbit shakes his head and nods.*

Jade Rabbit: <I-I'm sorry, I can't deal with fear very well. I'll try to help from now--incoming!!>

=====
~Crowley~

*They all change directions, heading towards him, but he manages to dodge most of them, and they explode upon hitting the ground. One of them comes darting out of no where into his face. Next thing he knows, someone is standing in front of him. He soon realizes it is Spade, standing turned to him, impaled by the light javelin through the right side of his chest. Blood starts dripping from his mouth as he smirks to Crowley.*

Maxwell: <What?! How did you get in here again?!>

Spade: <That old elf wizard... he's the real deal...>

*Spade falls to his knees, blood flowing from his would. The javelin vanishes, leaving a clean hole on his chest before it floods with blood flowing out both out of his back and chest.*

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

*She goes to the beside table and gets a pair of scissors from the top drawer, handing them to Lucien.*

Crowley: <What the...>

*Crowley gets up and heads to Spade's side.*

Crowley: <I thought you were dead...>

"O...okay!"

*Kentaro grits his teeth and fires, point blank into the dragon.*

Lucien takes the scissors, "Where do you want to sit?"

~Kari & Kentaro~

*Kentaro hits the dragon in the forehead and he steps back. Bahamut ZERO's body glows intensely and he shoots a big ass beam at the trio. The rabbit's crescent gem glows too and a red barrier surrounds them, deflecting the laser into one of the walls. It explodes, dirt caving in through the hole. The Jade Rabbit pants, Bahamut roaring in fury and swinging what is left of his tail at them.*

=====
~Crowley~

Spade: <I'd never defeat you... if I died...>

*He falls forward on his elbows, groaning.*

Spade: <The old man is worn out... this is your...>

*He falls to the ground unconscious in a pool of blood.*

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

*She sits on the edge of the bed.*

Allina: <I wish I could show you around, but I want to leave early to visit Fahren... he helped me find my way after Origin destroyed Sephira.>

"Master Fahren is indeed a wise man" Lucien begins to work evening out and making Allina's haircut more natural and less spur of the moment.

*Crowley gets up and turns to face Maxwell.*

Crowley: <You. I'm going to kill you.>

*Crowley gets into a fighting stance with his sword once again.*

*Kentaro fires at what's left of the tail.*

~Kari & Kentaro~

*The tail breaks into pieces that fall down. Bahamut ZERO roars angrily.*

Bahamut ZERO: <Why are you here?! Why do you have the Garnet pact ring?!>

=====
~Crowley~

Maxwell: <How dare he interfere with the trial after he was kicked out...?>

*Maxwell seems both angry and sad, his exhaustion noticeable in his voice as he stares at Spade. He then shakes it off.*

Maxwell: <My little lie about the future might have been wrecked, but this trial isn't over ... not yet.>

*He dashes down, spinning its platform against Crowley.*

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

*She sits there awkwardly as he cuts her hair.*

[I thought I should move on... but what if I shouldn't...]

Allina: <Thanks, Lucy.>

*A black cat with pinkish red eyes reluctanly walks in through the window, glaring at Lucien menacingly, but widening its eyes in surprise upon seing Allina's hair short. Kee hops onto the bed and seems to accept Lucien's presence, lying down and closing its eyes.*

*Crowley evades the platform and jumps on it, slashing at Maxwell.*

~Crowley~

*He knocks Maxwell off of the platform. His hole body becomes made of pure darkness that drifts away in the wind, the platform disappearing in a flash of light that blinds Crowley momentarily. When he regains his vision, he's in a pitch dark place, Maxwell floating on his platform in front of him, a serene look on his face. He bows forward. Spade is lying unconscious next to Crowley.*

Maxwell: <I congratulate you for being the first in many decades to pass my trial. With your friend's help, but with a friend that'd be willing to do that for you, I'm sure you're worthy of being my Master. I'm sorry for what happened to your friend, I never meant for that to happen, but my shadow is made to attack anyone wishing to form a pact with me without mercy, testing their strenght and honor.>

*He fades out and a silver ring with a black gem appears on Crowley's left ring finger, glowing briefly for absorbing Maxwell. A bright light appears and Crowley sees Fahren, the fat bandit, and the blonde thiefess standing outside the cave through it. Creed too appears there after a little while.*

=====
~Creed~

*Creed is blinded by a flash of light and appears outside the cave next to Fahren, who apparently arrived while he was inside, the fat bandit and the blonde thiefess. Spade and Crowley aren't there.*

Kentaro:<How should we know?>

"No problem Allina" he finishes up and smiles, "What do you think?" Lucien sees the cat enter and eye him before grinning. "You have a fine cat."

---

Creed yawns, "I dozed off... did you pass the trial?" Creed asks Crowley rubbing his eyes before he notices he isn't there. "Oh."

~Kari & Kentaro~

Bahamut ZERO: <You don't look like Yurionians. Are you the ones they sent to form a pact with me? I knew this day would come, but I expected them to send someone worthy of my infitine power!>

Jade Rabbit: <Hey, we destroyed your tail. We be bad ass.>

Bahamut ZERO: <Quiet!>

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

*She goes to the mirror.*

Allina: <Yeah, Kee is great. He used to follow Razz everywhere, they even fought together. It's... it looks great... It'll take me some time to get used to this look.>

*She smiles and walks up to him, pointing to the bed.*

Allina: <You should get some sleep, Lucy. Today was pretty intense.>

Kentaro:<I suppose we are. But if you're looking to lose more pieces...>

"Yeah it was," he yawns, "I'd still rather sleep against the wall but if you insist I will sleep in your bed... its just... awkward."

*Crowley looks at his finger, observing the ring, and then notices that he's outside with everyone else. However, he's shocked when Creed doesn't notice him.*

Crowley: <Ummm... what? I'm right here.>

~Kari & Kentaro~

Bahamut ZERO: <This trial isn't over!>

*He bites at Kari with his huge mouth full of sharp teeth.*

=====
~Crowley & Creed~

*Fahren widens his tiny eyes upon noticing Spade bleeding out on the ground.*

Blonde Thiefess&Fat Bandit: <Spade!!>

Fahren: <Let's get back to my tower at once, we can talk about Maxwell later!>

*The fat bandit picks up Spade on his shoulder and follows Fahren back. It is now the middle of the night, a few hours having gone by while they were in the shrine. A full moon glows high up in the sky.*

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

Allina: <You're awkward. Don't be silly, just rest.>

*She pushes him onto the bed, causing Kee to shriek and jump off, and giggles before walking out.*

Allina: <(Goodnight!)>

*Kari shrieks and runs off while Kentaro shoots at Bahamut ZERO's face.*

"Night" Lucien falls back without resistance as the shadows around his body bend and change from his usual attire to something more fit to sleep in and he passes out content to finally dream.

---

"Master Fahren? Can you save his life?" Creed asks when they return to the tower.

*Crowley follows the group back.*

~Kari & Kentaro~

*One of his eyes is shot through and he speeds up after Kari, attempting to smash her into a wall. Meanwhile, a little red glowing circle appears on the floor around Kentaro and an explosion of energy occurs upwards.*

=====
~Crowley & Creed~

Fahren: <I'll try... it didn't hit the heart, but it still stabbed a lung through and probably broke several ribs. Not just that, he's lost a massive amount of blood.>

*Spade looks extremely pale as Fahren continuously tries to heal him. All sorts of flashes and sparkles emanate from the corner Spade is lying at, Fahren sitting by his side with his long hands in the wound. When the morning comes, Crowley and Creed are woken up early by Fahren nudging them. The bandit and thiefess are still sleeping around, and the rest of the bandit gang has headed back to the hideout.*

Fahren: <I think I've finally managed to completely stop the bleeding. But the chances he survives are still at the very least, slim.>

=====
~Lucien & Allina~

*Allina smiles, peeking in, and proceeds to walk to the next room, Razz's, followed by Kee. It's a room much like her own, with posters of knives and swords on the walls, a blue cat plushie on his bed, and a few books and magazines on a desk. It's pretty tidy, because it is probably cleaned by her parents often. She takes off her clothes and gets in the bed. The next morning, pretty early, Lucy wakes up with the sound of a door being slammed.*

Crowley: <Dammit.... is there anything at all we can do to help him survive?>

*The door flee from the path of the attacks targetting them, Kentaro still firing at the dragon's head.*

Lucien yawns as he's awoken by a door slamming then bolts up quickly changing back into his normal clothing and goes to investigate.

---

"Would it be possible to give him some of someone's lifeforce?"