A/N: Here's Chapter 27 for you, I'm really pleased with how quick I'm churning out these chapters again lol. Please read and hopefully you'll enjoy it :)

With tension considerably lessened between the former Nobodies the atmosphere within the house was far more relaxed. They were still worried, of course. Lyall could show up at any given moment, and they had to be ready when he did. That meant being well-rested and alert. Marluxia had finished seeing to Larxene's injuries and the Savage Nymph was on her feet, working her shoulders and various other muscles to loosen them up. She grinned when she was satisfied.

"You don't make a half-bad doctor, you know." Marluxia just waved off the compliment, casually with a confident smile. She giggled and sat back down next to him. Even back in the Organization their relationship had come easily, and after their reawakening it had been effortless to fall straight back into it. "Maybe you should take it up as a proffession once this is all over." the Savage Nymph added teasingly, throwing a smirk in the Assassin's direction. He had smirked back and the two fell into a light-hearted and playful banter, seemingly having blissfully forgotten the situation, for now.

Similar things went on amongst the rest of them, Demyx and Axel having paired off to chat about anything irrelevent that came to mind. Others elected to stay in the same company as before, sharing witty banter or taking part in slightly more intellectual conversations.

After a few hours Lexaeus had fallen deep into thought, a frown upon his strong features. Taking the hint that he should be left to his musings, Zexion had ventured over towards Vexen to engage in conversation with the Chilly Academic instead. It had been a long time since any of them had truly relaxed and it felt good to just temporarily forget everything in order to simply enjoy one another's company. However Lexaeus was suffering a small inner conflict.

The way things had ended for Agro bothered him deeply. The man had been of great help to them despite what must have been immense personal sacrifice. He had been a strong and humble man, as well as a true warrior. Lexaeus held great respect for him now, despite any earlier suspicions about his motives for helping them. It had hurt his newly-regained heart to end Agro's life like that and the guilt was now niggling away at him, chewing away at the back of his mind. His body had been burned along with all of the others, so there was nothing to bury; however Lexaeus knew he would not feel at peace about Agro's death unless he did something to commemorate the man and his part in everything. It just wouldn't be right to leave things as they were.

Looking up and over towards the Nocturne Lexaeus calmly called and motioned for Demyx to come and join him. He waited patiently as the young blond excused himself from Axel and made his way over with a questioning gaze. "What's up?" he asked, sitting down beside the far larger man.

"It's about Agro." as soon as the name left his lips he could see Demyx's expression sadden and his shoulders sag. "I was thinking ... we should leave a memorial, of sorts, where he fell." he felt another pang in his heart, it was the first time he had voiced anything about this and somehow doing so only rammed the truth of it much closer to home than he would have liked. Still he waited patiently, waiting for Demyx to answer his unspoken request.

Slowly the musician nodded, looking up at Lexaeus with a sad smile. "Yeah... I think he'd appreciate that."

After announcing their intentions, Lexaeus and Demyx had found themselves with a following from the others. Zexion had reasoned that considering the situation, with two significantly powerful Dorchadas likely to appear at any time it wasn't a good idea for anyone to be going out on their own. It was best to stay with the larger group. The sentiment had been appreciated, although there were definitely other reasons that Zexion hadn't brought up. Such things were far too ... sappy for him to willingly voice. However the Nocturne and Hero had seemed to get the message all the same.

The entire affair ended up being incredibly sombre. Using his control over the Earth, Lexaeus had erected a small rocky mound near where Agro's body had lain in his final moments. At a request from Demyx, Xaldin had used his lances to carve words into the surface of the rock.

Here lies Agro
Loving Father and Uncle
Loyal Friend and Protector

Rest in Peace
Brave Bear.

They all stood in respectful silence for a while, Demyx and Lexaeus lowered their heads in remembrance. Eventually the Silent Hero settled a hand on Demyx's shoulder, signalling that it was time for them to leave for now. When their eyes metthe came to a silent understanding that they would come back again and offer their respects properly once everything with Dorchadas was over.

As they were all turning to leave a voice sounded around them. "Be still." the words were spoken softly and calmly however the acoustics amplified the sound and made it echo menacingly around them.

Almost instantly they found themselves blocked by invisible walls around all angles around them. Venemous green eyes peered over them as they pounded at the unseen barriers which prevented them moving away from the spot they were standing in. The Dorchadas was sitting on a large rock formation, hands folded calmly on his lap.

The shouts and threats and general ruckus the former Nobodies were creating seemed to fall on deaf ears. The grey-haired man showed no sign of having heard any of it - ignoring them completely in order to continue his observations. Snarling, Xigbar summoned one of his guns and was about to try and blow his way out of the invisible prison. When the man finally spoke again, it was calm and almost sounded like he was attempting to soothe the Freeshooter. "I would strongly advise against that course of action ... it's far more likely that you'll end up injuring yourself than actually shattering that barrier."

"Isn't your goal to destroy us?" Axel sneered cockily. "If so, why stop him?" he was answered with silence and a hard stare.

"Yes. However that is not the purpose of my visit." he had a low, constantly growling voice. It was also smooth and deliberate. It was hard to imagine that anything unnecessary left those thin lips.

"Then would you be so kind as to enlighten us to your intentions?" Vexen inquired with genuine curiosity. "After all, since we received our hearts that is all your organization has seemed to aspire to. What could your game possibly be this time?"

Once again his eyes scanned over the trapped men and woman, all of whom had now stopped trying to break themselves free. "I haven't come with a game. I'm simply here to talk. I am not delusional, I know no agreements can be made between our two parties and would not demean any of us by trying to come to one. No ... I'm here to talk to one of you in particular." at this those hateful eyes settled upon Lexaeus. Everyone then looked towards the Silent Hero who simply stood, arms folded across his chest defiantly. Waiting for the man to continue. "I assume introductions aren't necessary - however my name is Lyall. I've heard a lot about you, Silent Hero."

"Likewise." Lexaeus responded stiffly. He didn't like this man already, his very presence was already causing unpleasent churning in his stomach.

With an almost painful lack of speed Lyall took his time striding over to Lexaeus. "While she was in my care, my Pup told me about you. You weren't hard to distinguish, after hearing her description." Lyall wasn't as tall as Lexaeus, by a long-shot. However he still managed to look intimidating while narrowing his eyes upward at Lexaeus. The much larger man visibly tensed at his words, dark blue eyes narrowing. "It was almost a relief when I finally released her from my services. Still, her replacement didn't live up to my Pup's legacy.

"I was her master, nobody else's name should have been allowed to pass through her lips. Yet no matter how many times I broke her, the only name she would call was 'Aeleus'." he paused when Lexaeus' fist slammed once more against the invisible barrier, right in front of Lyall's face. However the Higher Up did not flinch. "Does that anger you? What right have you to be angry? She's the one who selfishly held on to the memory of a dead man." While Lyall's voice never lost it's steady calm rhythm and tone his eyes seemed to flash dangerously at his words. "The fault is neither mine nor yours ... Sierra was the one in the wrong in this."

At the name the rest of the Original Six (minus Zexion) shared significant looks of empathy. Vexen could only look towards his old friend with sympathy and pain in his eyes. Until they could get past these barriers there was no way to give the man any comfort. "Shut up!" Lexaeus hissed venemously. "You have no right to speak her name!"

Lyall's lips twitched slightly. "But I think I do. You see, I'm a jealous man and am not one to willingly share anything. Particularly with another man who, at the time, was supposed to be dead. By all rights, the first survivor of that project belonged solely to me. I had to admire her spirit and defiance, still believing you'd come to take her away no matter how many times we told her Aeleus no longer existed." neither man was willing to look away from the other's gaze. "She had no right, no reason and yet she persisted. I had to admire that, I tell you ... I genuinely grieved at her passing. Did you?"

It was a low blow, and to the on-lookers it was obvious that Lyall knew that already when he spoke those words. Lexaeus had no capability to grieve at the time and the events up until now hadn't allowed him any time to. The Silent Hero couldn't hide the look of pain on his face brought on by the ache in his heart, the words had done their job well and had cut him incredibly deeply.

"I didn't think so." Lyall backed away slowly, never taking his eyes off of Lexaeus' barely controlled trembles. "As I said before, we will not fight today. But I'll meet you here at noon tomorrow. Just myself, my partner, and the twelve of you. There's no need to involve the civilians." there was a long, pregnant pause before he adressed Lexaeus again. "Do you hate me? I suppose I can't blame you, Kyndeyrn may have subjected her to the harsh treatments that killed her, but to you I guess it is I who is the real monster behind the loss of her life. Whatever helps you sleep tonight."

Lyall's venemous green eyes scanned over them for one final time. "Until tomorrow, my dear Nobodies."

With those last words Lyall and the barriers disappeared. There was an audible thud as the Silent Hero fell to his knees, fists clenched as he fought to control his breathing and calm himself down. He barely noticed as Demyx knelt beside him, wrapping an arm as far around Lexaeus' shoulders as far as he could. The Nocturne didn't speak, he just tried to convey his support by giving the the closest bicep a light squeaze.

The others gathered silently around them, Zexion standing right beside Lexaeus. He wasn't one to show physical affection, in any form. But he knew Lexaeus well enough to know that his presence was enough to at least provide a tiny amount of comfort. "Come. We should rest before tomorrow." Zexion said, making the effort to soften the tone of his voice, his heart aching for the plight of his best friend. "Don't worry, we'll make sure that man doesn't go unpunished."

A/N: And the drama returns! It took a little longer than I would have liked to actually get started on writing this one. But I needed to actually figure out what I wanted Lyall to look and act like. The same goes for The Mistress. I figured that if I got them both done at the same time it would make things easier for me in the long run. I'm actually feeling really sorry for poor Lexaeus, he can't catch a break when it comes to this, can he?

Anyway, I was very happy with this chapter. I think it is a pretty good link between the last one and the one coming. Of course as you can tell the action starts up again next chapter, so yay mayhem! Unfortunately I don't think this story will last for too much longer, but I do still intend to make a sequel later on. Not two like I originally planned, because I think that would just actually be tedious and a bit too much. Especially considering what my plan for the third story actually was.

All forms of reviews are appreciated, any constructive criticism is especially appreciated. Hope you enjoyed it!

Gael