It's All About Time (Open)

[Ultimecia]

The Ultimecia Castle.
The biggest, most secretive area in the Archipelago. Only those chosen by her could enter or by using the portals that penetrated in her dominions, but the first option was always the safest one, unless that someone had suicidal desires and wished to end up as food for her Guardian Force, Griever.

The night was silent. Not entirely silent, since the Clock of the Tower kept working with it’s constant “Tik Tok” noise. The golden clock was located in the highest tower of her castle, right above her Main Room. It was the sound of Time. Ultimecia fancied that sound more then any classical music, opera or anything of the sorts. For the Mistress of Time, that sound was the sound of victory. The sound of the past, the present and the future. The sound of victory over everything else.

Her Main Room was empty. The pillars rose to the dark sky, filled with dark thundering clouds that made the moon hid, like she was scared of the impending storm that would start at any moment. Even tough the Main Room had an open ceiling, it was protected by magic, allowing the Sorceress to look outside, without feeling the repercussions of the climatic changes. Not that the time in that area suffered major changes, no. It was always dark with thunders tearing the sky apart with their fury, in a true manifestation of Mother’s Nature power (and maybe Ultimecia’s magic).

The Mistress of all Time was sitting on her throne, talons over the golden arms as her red ruby dress seemed to merge with the red velvet of the throne. Considering herself a deity, Ultimecia constructed her throne high above the ground, closer to the ceiling, granting the witch a better view from the sky and from the main door that served as an entrance to that very same room. Even if anyone dared to enter her dominions, to reach that very same room, they would have to face her guardians, hidden in different places of the castle, acting as eternal sentinels, protected by the shadows.

If somehow the visitor managed to survive the ruthless guardians, they would still need to solve the jigsaw puzzles that were somewhere in the castle as well. So far, only Squall and those damn SeeD managed to survive to the Guardians and the traps she laid. They reached her throne room and defied her for a fight. They had won. Even when she was called by Chaos, the God of Discord, she had to fight against him again in a never ending cycle of confrontations, just for amusement of the gods. Cursed Chaos and Cosmos…

But now, the Mistress of Time was back. Sitting in her throne, with her yellow eyes that could make anyone shiver focused on the sky above her head. Time was her ally. Time was hers to manipulate and control according to her most secret desires. All that Ultimecia needed to do was wait. And she was patient. She could afford to wait all the time in world, cause in the end…. She would become time itself.

[Akemi]

Azure eyes seemed to glow in the middle of the darkness around him. The chilling evil around him swirled and whipped around his feet. Akemi had slipped into this strange realm while chasing those black creatures. Holding his arms, the boy began to think this was a bad idea. There was no light, everything engulfed in the darkness. What surprised him was that, he wasn't swallowed by the evil. Why was this? Was he strong? Did it think he was weak? All of this was so strange to him still.

To Akemi, it felt like hours upon hours in that strange realm. Everything was the same in there. The boy stopped sighed a bit to himself. It seemed hopeless. There was no end in sight in this massive realm of black. "Great job Akemi.....Look at the mess you got yourself into now..." The boy told himself as he kicked at the ground a bit. But in the middle of his despair, something changed or rather appeared.

Sounds of thunder echoed through the silent realm. In the distance was a light. It was dim but it was there. The exit had appeared and Akemi was free. Not thinking twice, the boy ran toward the light. Every step made him closer. The sounds of thunder and wind grew louder. The dim light began to glow brighter and soon, an imaged appeared from the source of the light. Akemi stopped in front of the exit, only mere inches from stepping out. He had a feeling that if he stepped through, something bad was going to happen. Everything that had happened until now couldn't be as bad as this feeling he was having. Sucking up his fear, he slowly stepped forward.

A swirling portal appeared in front of the massive doors to the throne room. Out of the whipping darkness, Akemi appeared. His shivering stopped as the darkness that surrounded him faded and was finally out of that dark place. His azure eyes glanced around but were soon glued to the massive doors in front of him. Where was he, a castle or something? The sounds a clock and thunder filled his ears. Clock tower maybe? A new sound was added to the mix as the portal sealed itself and vanished. "Looks like I'm stuck here..."

His feet moved him forward. Soon, he stood in front of the closed doors. Something was behind this door and it had to be big. His feeling appeared again as he placed his hand on the cold door. "You can do this...You can do this..." With that motivation, Akemi began to push the door open. The one of the two chamber doors were a bit hard to open at first. He put his weight into the pushing and got the door open. With a gulp, Akemi began to walk inside not knowing that the owner of this castle was sitting in that very room.

[Ultimecia]

The sound of thunders, one after the other was making Ultimecia feel rather... pleased. That and the constant sound of the clock ticking, in an eternal symphony that never changed, representing the thing she loved the most: Time. Her biggest ally and also her biggest enemy. She had all the time in the world to plan her ‘Time Compression’ spell and yet, deep inside her dark heart, she knew that it was only a matter of time until Squall and those lame SeeD to come and stop her…again.

Since she lost her influence over Seifer, the Time Sorceress lacked a Knight to protect her (not that she needed protection) and to do her bidding. It would make things so much easier if she had someone outside that dark castle, gathering information and making sure that everything went according to plans. Ultimecia did have her allies, like Emperor Mateus or Kefka, but even those two had their own agenda of destruction and domination. They only gathered when they needed each other for something big and destructive… similar to what happened when Chaos summoned them for that eternal battle against the Warriors of Cosmos.

Ultimecia’s line of thinking was suddenly interrupted by a new sound that echoed in the Main Room. Not the thunders, or the Clock. It was the sound of the doors opening, slowly but steady. Her yellow eyes moved to watch at the newcomer. She didn’t sense the presence of Darkness nor Light. It was… something in between. Something neutral. When the boy entered, Ultimecia stayed in her throne, with her chin laying on the back of one of her purple talons, as she evaluated the newcomer. Who dared to enter her domains without her authorization? Did the boy had a death wish?

His energy was… savage. Untamed, incontrollable. Similar to a berserk beast that was kept chained so it wont hurt anyone. How could someone so small release that type of energy? And yet, nor Darkness nor Light. Who was the suicidal boy that dared to enter her domains? Ultimecia pondered for a bit, as her yellow eyes pierced the visitor. If he was a Light Warrior, she would have struck him down on the spot. If he was a Darkness Warrior, she might have greeted him with a smile (maybe). But he wasn’t either.

“Visitor.” Ultimecia said in a low and yet seductive voice “What brings such kreature like yourself into my domains? How did you entered this room?” The left talon tapped on the arm of the throne, like nails against a cupboard. She wasn’t there to play. If he found a way to enter her castle, a way that she did not knew about, Ultimecia would need to make sure that no one else entered her domains the same way.

[Akemi]

The lighting in the room was much more brighter than the room he was in due to the full moon. He covered his eyes as he stepped into the room. As his eyes adjusted to the light, Akemi lowered his arm. Azure eyes glanced up a wonderful room. Everything was detailed as if it was a palace from a dream. Columns of stone that help up the ceiling. Everything had an old civilization feeling to it and was amazing. Everything was open and yet, rain or anything seem to be able to enter the room.

In the center of the room was a throne resting on top of platform. The seat was big and seemed to be made for royalty. Two torches rested on each side of the throne. His eyes looked up as he saw someone sitting there. It was a woman dressed in a long, red velvet like dress. Black wings rest on each side of her and her white hair was fixed to look as if they were horns. His nails were tapping the throne as she called out to him. Oh Crap.

Akemi took a step back as her voice seem to boom throughout the room. It was low but could be heard clearly. But something that she said made him blink a bit. Creature? It was odd how she threw that in there but she most of thought of herself as a goddess or something. "I-I...I came to this place through a dark portal..." he said, "...I didn't mean to come here it's just that this was the only exit in that place..." His heart began to beat a bit faster as he looked up at her. Something about her just scream something bad. Just the way she looked and spoke made him shiver a bit in fear. What did he get himself into now?

[mordred]

Mordred walked out of the Corridor and closed it behind him. He looked around his environs and, by looking out a window, noticed that he arrived at a fairly large castle. As he investigated the room he was in, it appeared to be an art gallery of sorts. Mordred took a few moments to look at the artwork. Underneath the painting was an odd inscription and there was a clock mural on the floor. Upon further inspection, there was another painting that had no inscription. It didn't take long for Mordred to figure out that he was looking at a puzzle and a fairly intricate one at that. However, it also didn't take him long to figure out the answer to the pizzle. The Nobody walked over to the painting and started to work on it. "Vividarium... et intervigilium... et viator..." Mordred muttered under his breath. As the inscription appeared under the painting, the art piece itself changed and Mordred could sense darkness congealing behind him. He sighed and turned, wondering what further delays he'd have to encounter.

As he turned to face the enemy, he found a floating, golden machine. It was enormous, with absurdly large forearms, hands and shoulders, and an almost comically small head, so small that Mordred almost mistook it for being headless. As Mordred adjusted his glasses, the machine spoke. "I AM TRAUMA, MORTAL! FACE MY WRATH AND TREMBLE, IN THE NAME OF SORCERESS ULTIMECIA!" Mordred didn't tremble or even shake. He just stared at the machine with his scarlet eyes and then sighed again, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Well... I suppose introductions have been rendered moot. Although now I am curious about this 'Sorceress Ultimecia...'" Mordred closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. "Ah yes... there are two Hearts in this castle, one of them enshrouded in Darkness. Perhaps she yet lives." Trauma, in the meantime, had generated a couple smaller versions of itself. One of them charged at Mordred, who merely turned his body out of the way of the tiny robot as he mused."MORTAL!" Trauma shouted at the relatively tiny Nobody that stood defiantly before it. "YOU ARE FOOLISH TO FIGHT ME AND DEFY ULTIMECIA! YOU WILL PERISH!" Mordred opened his right hand and Reaper of Light slithered into it. He adjusted his glasses once more and seemed to be trying to stare down the machine. "Puppets like you have long since become useless. You don't even deserve Existence." Mordred said.

----Later----

As Ultimecia herself confronted Akemi, the young man would notice something tumbling through the sky. As it got closer, Akemi, and Ultimecia as well if she looked up, it would appear to be a giant, golden arm, broken off some machine or statue. It landed on the throne room floor and slid across it, gouging out a good section of the floor and nearly missing the red-headed boy. It skidded to a stop beside Akemi, hand closed and pointed towards Ultimecia. After a few moments of silence, the golden fingers creaked and then unclenched, the now broken hand now lying fully on the floor, palm up. On the palm was Mordred, who seemed to be lounging inside the palm, completely indifferent to the entrance he had made and no doubt, the wrath of the Sorceress whose throne room he had just barged into. As he Analyzed the two denizens of the throne room, Mordred tapped Reaper of Light onto the golden palm, making a Tink... Tink... Tink... sound that echoed throughout the chamber.

"Another Warrior of Chaos... Ultimecia." Mordred finally spoke, focusing his scarlet, cold gaze at the Sorceress. "It would seem more of this group appear every day and yet, Kefka ceaselessly looks for more members in his ongoing crusade of Destruction. I wonder what he'll say when I tell him that you live again..." Mordred then turned his gaze at Akemi. "Akemi... ah... an interesting curse that has been laid upon you. Your Heart is practically carved with the words of the curse. Very interesting..." Mordred's face seemed to lie, as he looked rather bored. Mordred then turned his sight upon the sky, looking for Eden as he lounged in his makeshift seat. He was still tapping Reaper of Light on the metallic palm of the giant he had slain. "Ah yes..." Mordred mused, "Your guardian needs repairs, by the way, Ultimecia..."

[Ultimecia]

Before the Time Witch replied to the newcomer, something crashed hard against the floor of the throne room, with a violent “BANG” sound that echoed in the walls, repeating itself time and time again. Ultimecia’s yellow eyes turned gazed upon the golden metal arm that laid on the floor, quickly recognizing it as one of her… “guardians”. Another visitor? First the boy that came barging in through the front door, now this? The Mistress of the Castle wasn’t expecting a single visit, let alone two.

The man that appeared from inside the hand was wearing a dark cloak and glasses, something that Ultimecia had never seen before. At least not that she remembered it. Who was that new person? He emanated strong dark energy from his body, something that Ultimecia hadn’t felt from the times of the Warriors of Chaos. Who was that person? When he spoke, he addressed to her directly, mentioning the fact that she was a Warrior of Chaos and Kefka. That… made the Time Witch raise an eyebrow, particularly interested in how that individual knew those things.

Akemi… So that was the younger boy’s name. Two visitors for the price of one and in the same day. And according to what Akemi said, some… portal opened right inside of her domains, allowing to the boy to come barging in. As for the other one, Ultimecia could feel the anger building inside of her, for the audacity of destroying one of her minions plus wrecking the floor like that. But things were starting to get interesting. The Sorceress decided to tag along, talking to both at the same time.

“You dared to enter my domains without an invitation. I don’t kare about who you are” Her yellow eyes pierced Akemi with a burning and yet controlled fury “and as for you… You seem to be well informed about my participation with Kefka, the God-Klown and the army of Khaos. I won’t obliterate you for that reason alone.”

The Witch tapped her talons in the arm of the chair once again, switching her attention between her two “guests”. What would she do now? The boy was nothing to her, just some random thing that accidentally entered her Castle. He had power alright, but there was something about him that made her turn her attention to the second guest. Dark energy. Powerful no doubt. And he seemed to be well informed about the Warriors of Chaos and Kefka’s new activities.

“And your name is….?” She inquired the man with the glasses.

[Akemi]

The woman was about to speak when there was a loud noise. He looked over to where the source was and a large golden arm flying toward him. The boy crosses his arms over his face as it looked like it was going to hit him. However, it stopped a few feet away from him as he lowered his arms. What in the hell was going on? As the loud echo began to fade, the sounds of something ticking took its place. His arm finally down, he looked toward the arm and noticed a man tapping his weapon against the gold palm. His body was dressed in a black cloak. His glasses shined in the moonlight as he couldn't tell who he was looking at. Who was this guy?

Ultimecia? Was that the ladies name? His azure eyes glanced to Ultimecia and then to the man. His ear listened to his words. Kefka? Crusade of Destruction? What he talking about? Akemi didn't know what he was talking about nor did he understand. His eyes widen as he began to talk to him. He knew his name?! But what got him was he knew about his curse. Was this a bluff? The name was spot on but how? "How do you know my name?...Who are you?... Akemi asked.

His head quickly turned to see Ultimecia's eyes burning with fury and anger. His words shared the same emotion as he knew they were directed towards him. The woman's eyes shifted to the other man. It felt like as if a weight was lifted from his chest. For a minute, the boy thought she was going to kill him. His azure eyes turned to the man in black as Ultimecia asked the same question. Who was this man? How did he know his name and curse? Most of all, why was he here?

[mordred]

Mordred merely seemed indifferent to the rage and confusion brought about by his arrival as he stared up into the sky and kept tapping his weapon against the mechanical hand. Tink... Tink... Tink... When Akemi asked how he knew what he knew, Mordred slowly raised a hand and idly tapped his forehead. "I am aware of a great many things... The Heart is a great repository of knowledge, if one bothers to look hard enough." Mordred then stretched and got up, walking off the hand and hopping down into the ground. As he walked a few steps forward, towards Ultimecia's great throne, he made a slight gesture with his hand. The giant, golden hand floated up off the ground. "'Obliterate me', you say? An idle, baseless and ultimately futile threat. Firstly, if you knew even a small inklink of what I knew, Sorceress, you would not try and erase me or even threaten me with that. Secondly... well, you cannot obliterate what shouldn't technically exist in the first place." Mordred adjusted his glasses again. As he did so, he shot the disembodied arm into the sky and it disappeared out of view of the throne room. Everyone could hear a splash as the arm splashed into the ocean. If he could, he would've felt an immense satisfaction from his statement, if only for the irony of it.

"As for me, I am Mordred, a scientist working to unlock the secrets of the Heart." The Nobody continued. "By either coincidence or fate, my goals have necessitated the need to ally myself with the Warriors of Chaos, led by Kefka, hence why I know of them. They are working ceaselessly to combat the Warriors of Light and destroy them. Personally, I don't and, to be truthful, can't care what they do unless I see it as advantageous to my plans. As of now, their plans would help my own, ergo, our alliance." Mordred sighed and locked eyes with Ultimecia, showing her his own emotionless gaze. "I suppose it is now in the speech where I attempt to recruit you. However, I am an ally, not one of their toadies. Should you wish to join, that is your perogative." At this point, Mordred looked over his shoulder at Akemi.

"As for you... what will you do, I wonder? Join a side... or be destroyed with the rest of the flotsam? Your Heart has potential to either join Light or Dark. Hmm... Well, I suggest you choose quickly, Cursed One. You wear out your welcome too quickly. Will fight the Sorceress or join her? Time will tell, I suppose." And with that, Mordred turned fully towards Akemi and walked past him, towards the door. He didn't intend to leave, since if he wanted to, he could use the Corridor of Darkness. However, he wondered what Ultimecia would do now and if she destroyed Akemi, his Heart would be a powerful new addition to his Eden. He also had a feeling the Sorceress wasn't quite finished with him.

[Ultimecia]

Ultimecia felt the rage burn inside her. Who did this Mordred think he was? He was indeed underestimating the Mistress of that castle. She could deal with him but what he said, might be more advantaging for her to keep him close. She flapped her wings once, with her yellow eyes still piercing both Mordred and Akemi. Two visitors on the same day. She wasn’t expecting such thing. Ultimecia would have been caught off guard if she was someone different but, in that castle she ruled. No one could surpass the Time Witch.

“Your words are wise, Mordred.” Ultimecia said with a grin on her lips “Rejoining with the Warriors of Khaos wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I know how powerful they kan be. Especially with Kefka, the God-Klown leading them.” The witch floated from her throne to the floor, standing in front of Akemi and Mordred. They were both powerful. She couldn’t take them on at the same time. Don’t take her wrong. She was powerful but facing two enemies with the same power level as her, would be quite problematic. And inside of her castle. Ultimecia did not want anything to happen to her beloved castle.

“An ally…” Ultimecia turned her head to Mordred “I kan see you have your own agenda regarding the Warriors of Khaos. But I do not kare of your plans. If you are indeed an ally, I shall join you and the remaining Warriors in their endeavours. Even I have my personal reasons to rejoin with them.” One of her talons pointed to Akemi, her yellow eyes still burning with a silent rage “And you… What is the reason why I should spare your life? Mordred presented me with a great opportunity to put my plans in motion. Tell me a reason to spare your pitiful existence.”

[Akemi]

Akemi blinked a bit at what the man said to him. The Heart is a great repository of knowledge? What did that mean? The boy was a bit confused at this. He never seen the man before and yet, he knew of Akemi and his curse. Could he really have the power to looking to someone's heart and see their past? He's thinking came to a stop when he listened to the man once more. So, his name was Mordred. Apparently, he was a scientist trying to unlock the secrets of the heart. What a strange man this Mordred guy is.

The boy listened to his conversation with Ultimecia. Chaos? Warriors of Light? Kefka? God Clown? Who or what were these thing Mordred was talking about. Did Akemi walk into a middle of a war on this world or something? If so, he had to get out of here if this place was a stronghold for one of theses warriors things Mordred was talking about. His azure eyes looked to the side and saw the woman floating off of her throne. She landed softly in front of the two as a sense of danger began to surge through his body. Fear soon kicked in as his heart began to race. Mordred turned Akemi and began to speak to him. His heart had potential to join either side? Guess that meant he was neutral in all of this. But the last part kind scared him a bit. And what made it worse was when Ulitemcia began to speak to him now.

The power in her voice made his heart beat even faster. He turned and faced her as her yellow eyes seemed with burning with rage toward the boy. "I don't have anything to offer...It would seem that I stumbled upon a war that I am oblivious of. I know nothing about these Warriors of Chaos or Light..." Akemi said. The feeling of fear pumped through his body but if he had to fight, he would try. But if that were to happen, he would have to try to resist the strong feelings his curse would use to gain control over him like before in Halure.

[mordred]

Mordred stopped and looked over his shoulder. It was obvious that he was done here, but he wondered how Akemi would answer the Sorceress's question. As the Nobody expected, the Cursed Swordsman was too fearful to give a straight answer. He didn't need his Analysis to tell him that, as he could practically smell Akemi's fear in the air, like how sharks smell blood in the water. Mordred sighed and turned to the duo. Perhaps he could bring two people instead of just one. "As you can see, Ultimecia, he is much too afraid to give either of us an answer to our questions, even if it would cost him his life. Fear... it is the most hindering of emotions, I find." Mordred began walking towards the duo, almost unearthly slowly, his cloak billowing in the wind as it blew. "It hinders the potential within Heartbearers and robs them of their strength."

Mordred stared into Akemi's azure orbs, his gaze emotionless and piercing. "She has threatened your life and yet you cannot even give a reason for why you should still remain alive? How is this possible? Perhaps, you are a coward, a mouse who is used to cowering in his hole while the predators stalk outside it. Perhaps you have been sheltered from danger your whole life and the concept of your life being threatened is alien to you. Either way, you waste the potential of your powers... of your Heart. You do far more harm by being afraid. But perhaps there is another reason. I believe I know the answer... you are afflicted with a curse after all. I believe they branded you an outcast. A monster or maybe merely a person unworthy of trust. It is not that you are unused to being threatened, but it is more that you are too used to being threatened. To being shunned."

Mordred then thought about something and nodded. "Yes... perhaps you should join the Warriors of Chaos. It is filled to the brim with those cast out and ostracized by the supposed 'heroes'. I am sure you would find a kindred spirit in there. Perhaps you would also find the source of your curse and eliminate it, to become more accepted by everyone. However, it is your choice, Akemi. I will stress, however, that the Warriors of Light will be far less caring about your... abnormality. They have a low tolerance for monsters, after all. But it IS your choice." Mordred took a quick glance at Ultimecia, conveying to her very quickly to try and play along, if she so desired. Mordred then walked off, turning his back to the duo, stopped after a few steps and looked up at the sky again, his arms crossed across his chest.

[Ultimecia]

Ultimecia understood what Mordred was trying to do even before they exchanged a look. That scientist. Her ally in the Warriors of Chaos. The Time Witch had no idea where Kefka found him but that didn’t matter at all. He was cleaver and cunning. Precise and to the point. She could feel his energy. Dark, powerful, mysterious. He was something else entirely and Ultimecia was pleased to have such an ally on her side.

“You heard him.” Ultimecia smirked as she floated close to Akemi, without her feet touching the pristine floor, as she floated in circles around him, flapping her wings occasionally. “You have two choices Akemi. Either you join us, the Warriors of Khaos or you join the Warriors of Light. If you are klever, you will pick the winning side. A place were you would be accepted by who you are.” One of her talons rested in his left shoulder, as Ultimecia got closer to his ear, talking in a soft tone, almost seductive.

“Joining the Warriors of Light, like Mordred said, would bring misfortune to you. They will never accept you for who you truly are.” Another flap of her wings as the Time Witch smirked “You are an outkast. A pariah. Why would you join forces with people that will despise you? Betray you? In the Warriors of Khaos, you would never be betrayed.”

Ultimecia floated away from Akemi, turning her back on him on purpose. Her yellow eyes glowed with a sick pleasure of manipulating the boy. Maybe, just maybe, if Akemi joined forces with them, she would have a new pawn to do her biding. Either that, or been taken out by the dark warriors.
“Join us Akemi. I won’t ask again. And I have serious doubts that Mordred will as well. Kome with us to join the remaining Warriors of Khaos. Be accepted as you truly are.”

Her yellow eyes focused on Akemi one more time. “Or perish on this very spot. We are giving you a choice. Either with us, or against us. What will it be?”

[Akemi]

His heart was beating like a war drum now. Both Ultimecia and Mordred began to focus mainly on him. Mordred was first to address him out of the two. Akemi listened to his words and began to bash him. Weak, coward, and afraid; All these things he was use to and didn't phase him much. But the man surprised him, he didn't bash him like he just did but brought up another reason why he acted like he did to the woman. That he was too used to being threatened like he did because of his curse. What? How did he know? To be honest, it was common sense for someone to know this due to his curse but it was still surprising that he knew so much about the boy.

Akemi began to rub his arm nervously. Join the Warriors of Chaos? This was something that he wasn't use to. Someone offering him to join a group. Back on Halure, he was always to be last or not even picked for anything. This was why he stayed in the forest most of his life. Alone and away from those cruel people. Would they really accept him? But what about the Warriors of Light? Were they bad as Mordred made them seem? The boy jumped a bit as Ultimecia began to talk to him. Just the way she talked and acted sent chills down his spine. As he felt her talon on his shoulder and her word close against his ear, Akemi froze. They offered him a choice but he didn't know what to do. He was in the middle of a war that he knew nothing about but he had to choose something.

"...I...I guess..." Akemi said as he was going to choose but stopped. Something in his gut screamed no. Azure eyes met the woman's as he stopped rubbing his arm. "You speak of accepting me for what I am and how these Warriors of Light won't even glance at me but...I know nothing about this war or whatever conflict that you are facing. Forcing me to choose without knowing anything because you bribe me doesn't help. To be honest, I want nothing to do in this war. I just want to end this stupid curse that was given to me because of a war over power!..." He stopped looked down a bit. "...I just need time before I make a decision as big as this one is...I know you want me to choose but at the moment, I don't know what to choose...sorry." Akemi wasn't one to make rash decisions like this one. He knew join something like this without a good hand was bad. They told him to choose or else but if he had to fight, he would even if he were scared.

[mordred]

Mordred sighed but didn't look behind him at Akemi. What was this child playing at? A Sorceress of great power was threatening his very life in order to goad him into make a choice and here he was wallowing in indecision. "Time is such an... odd concept." Mordred began. "Everyone wants more, more, more and yet we are only given exactly what is needed, no matter what." With a glance to Ultimecia, he added. "There is the odd exception or two, of course." Mordred then turned to Akemi, still that emotionless mask of a face. "Let me reword the Sorceress's choice for you a bit, to help you understand the situation you're in." Mordred walked a bit closer, locking eyes with Akemi. "You can either choose to have many years with the Warriors of Chaos or to have many minutes by choosing against the Warriors of Chaos. Time is not something you can afford, Akemi. And if I remember correctly, we are offering to rid you of your curse. This is a favorable coincidence for you and I suggest you take it."

Mordred then shrugged his shoulders and moved over to the edge of the room, looking out at the landscape. "Of course, we, or at least I, am not asking you to fight our war for us. I am merely involved in these Warriors' war as a matter of convenience. What I would ask is for you to gather information or keep an eye out for strange developments. Nothing more, nothing less. However... as Ultimecia said, I will not ask again. In fact, I'm not going to. In my mind, the decision is up to you. Besides, you are not on my world, in my palace. It is this Sorceress's decision as to whether or not you survive much longer. I personally don't care what happens to you, mainly because I can't, even if I wanted to. Again, asking you to join us is a matter convience. If you say yes, I gain an ally. If no... well, I'm just going to assume you have an escape route from this world, Akemi." While this last statement was said with the same bored indifference, there was enough of a hint of sarcasm in it. Mordred continued to look out at the mountains and waited for Akemi's final answer.

[Emperor Mateus]

Fate is an odd concept that many do not understand or become slaves of. However there are the few that can rule over their own fate and turn it into a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps you could be say fate is an empire waiting for its leader to come and take hold of the reins. Regardless, fate was the keyword. The Emperor had devious plans that regarded not only his own fate, but the very fate of the universe itself. Ever since he got done plotting with that Seymour fellow it started to give him ideas of his own. Not only would he help forward Seymour's goals, but he would use that plot as a distraction for his own desires. Spreading a little Chaos never hurt anyone.. not anyone aligned to his side anyway. For Mateus to go through with his plans he would need to reunite with his old comrades. He never considered them friends nor anything that had any meaning to him, they were all expendable as the Manikins were. Unlike the Manikins they did have their unique talents and at least one had similar goals to himself, such as the Time Witch Ultimecia.

Back during the Thirteenth Cycle of the war against Cosmos he had a plan, a most devious plan. It was to use the Crystal that was embedded in Jecht from the previous Cycle to achieve powers above that of the gods. Ultimecia was quick to join his side, however Sephiroth was stubborn and decided against their offer. It was a shame really, good talent wasted. That's what you get for trying to use cohesion on fallen heroes ...how tragic. Now that got him thinking on how he would be able to regain that status of ascending godhood. With Cosmos and Chaos missing there was no way to make natural Dark Crystals. Since the two Gods hadn't made their appearance yet, that made only one option available...

...Shinryu

It was unknown if Shinryu still continued the purging process, however that was the key source to his plans. To go after what was above the Gods would be the most ingenious plan ever, however they would have to make some type of offering. For now Mateus was still working on that and he would only have to keep up the act shortly so Shinryu would be pleased. Oh how he hated acting like he was a subordinate to anyone! As the Emperor he was destined to rule over all that existed so he would be the one true being. Mateus had a way of dealing with gods, since back on his World he killed two of them to ascend to the power he had now. Although he still lacks the power of his Light Side, which he still needs to go after. Out of the Darkness the Emperor appeared into the room with Ultimecia and two other beings he hadn't known of. If he were to further his goals he would need the assistance of her, which was why he was here. Although with the other two in the room he would have to wait for the right moment to share his most devious plan.

"I see you're entertaining guests, Ultimecia." Spoke the Emperor as he glared over to the other two. His outfit was his traditional Palamecian empirical armor, which was what he got when he became Emperor of Palamecia. "If this was a get together you should have sent me an invitation." Dry humor was one of the Emperor's strong points. The room definitely had a tension to it, perhaps the Sorceress was gathering new recruits? Maybe they were there to ruffle her feathers? No matter what the case it wasn't his concern ...however the more expendables they had the better for the Warriors of Chaos. The one with the red hair looked sickly looking and somewhat tense. As for the other person, he looked like a scholar and perhaps was seeking knowledge. He approached the boy in the red hair, "Now now, you need not be apprehensive. You are blessed by the presence of The Emperor Mateus of Palamecia, consider that a godsend. While I wasn't here for what may have transpired earlier, we are all "friends" here are we not?" He said friends very loosely. For whatever the Time Witch must be planning, he was intrigued now. It probably wouldn't hurt if Mateus helped things along.