Jax gave a heavy sigh while rubbing his forehead. Espen stood before him with his arms crossed. The older keyblade wielder looked at Jax expectantly, waiting for a reply.

"Why do you need my help? Isn't this a matter you can solve amongst your own union?" Jax asked looking up at Espen with his vivid aqua colored eyes. Espen frowned and rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Normally I'd agree with you. However, you know very well I have a hard time with him. We don't see eye to eye." Espen said. Jax sighed again looking at the ground.

"What have the other lieutenants said?" He asked.

"Kamiko and Takiko have both agreed to keep an eye out for the kid. Adiana told me she was too busy and we should handle our unions on our own." Espen replied calmly. Jax frowned thinking. Though he wasn't fond of Espen, the keyblade wielder he was trying to find wasn't too bad. He also felt equal dislike towards Adiana. Doing something she wouldn't like might annoy her, and then she'd ignore Jax, which would be a good thing.

"Fine. I'll keep an eye out for him and suggest he go find you if I see him." Jax agreed. He waved Espen off. "Now go. I have things I must do." Espen nodded and left.

"Thank you, Jax." He said as he walked down the street. Jax just rolled his eyes as he turned to go the opposite direction. His Chirithy appeared next to him, jumping up on his shoulder to keep up with Jax's movement. Jax gave the dream eater a fond smile.

"What was Espen asking?" Chirithy asked.

"He wants help finding Ephemer," Jax replied. He sighed looking down. "Ephemer is always giving Espen trouble. Then again, he's always giving everyone trouble." Chirithy nodded.

Jax continued on to the fountain square. In the square sitting at the fountain was Kamiko and Takiko. Jax paused for a moment to consider his options. Should he greet them and join their search, or just continue on without them? He sighed deciding to approach them.

He was amazed at the similarities between the two twins, though he really shouldn't have been. Both had strawberry blonde hair, though slightly different shades of color. Kamiko kept hers rather short, while Takiko allowed his to grow to a shaggy length. Both had chocolate brown eyes, though Takiko's were reminiscent of a cats. The feature was not shared by Kamiko. Their biggest difference aside from gender was the colors they wore. Kamiko wore pink and gold while Takiko wore blue and silver.

Kamiko was the first to notice Jax. She straightened up and smiled warmly at him. Jax was struck with the strange thought that she almost looked like she radiated light.

"Hey Jax, Espen ask for your help too?" Kamiko asked. Takiko glanced up at Jax and nodded in greeting. Jax nodded to Takiko in return before turning to Kamiko to answer her question.

"Yes, you two have any luck?" He replied. Kamiko shook her head with a frown.

"Nope, no sign of him." She said. She leaned back thinking. "Maybe he's out on a mission. That would explain why he's nowhere to be found." She speculated.

"Or he's just really good at avoiding Espen." Takiko suggested. Kamiko laughed at her brother's suggestion. Jax snickered a little himself. Jax's Chirithy jumped off his shoulder onto the fountain. It looked into the water with a thoughtful look.

"Wow! This is a rarity!" A familiar voice said. Jax glanced over his shoulder to see Ephemer standing there with a grin on his face. His silver hair was messy as usual. His blue eyes filled with mischief that matched his grin. "Three lieutenants all together. Something big happen?" He asked as he approached the three by the fountain.

"Nothing big has happened, at least not that we know of." Jax replied calmly. He crossed his arms as Ephemer came to a stop next to them.

"Are you sure? The foretellers seem pretty out of it." Ephemer said. He raised his eyebrows in curiosity. Jax rolled his eyes glancing away at his Chirithy. The dream eater had sat down beside Kamiko, watching the scene play out.

"We're sure Ephemer." Takiko said calmly. He shook his head and sighed, thinking of something. He looked up at Ephemer again. "You know Espen is looking for you, right?"  Ephemer laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, is he?" He asked trying to act innocent. It was obvious, of course, that he was not.

"Yes, he's asked us all to help him find you. There's something he needs to settle with you." Jax replied. Ephemer sighed and slouched forward.

"I guess I should probably go find him then, huh?" He said. Kamiko laughed a little.

"Probably. But it can't be that big of a deal. If it were Espen wouldn't have brought it to our attention." Kamiko said encouragingly. Ephemer smiled at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess." He agreed. "Is that the only reason you're all together?" He asked. They all looked at each other and nodded. Ephemer thought this over for a second tapping his chin. "I have a question, that maybe you guys can answer." He announced, placing his hands on his hips.

"What is it?" Kamiko asked curiously. Takiko and Jax both remained silent, waiting for the young keyblade wielder to ask his question.

"Why can't the unions all work together? Why do we have to stay separate?" Ephemer asked. Kamiko opened her mouth to reply but closed it again finding she had no answer. Jax looked taken aback by the sudden question. He had thought it himself before, the only answer he ever got was the master said so. Takiko was the only one to answer.

"The Master of Masters said so, therefore that's what we have," Takiko said. Ephemer didn't look pleased by that answer but shrugged anyway.

"Well, I best be off now. Hope to talk to you guys again." He said cheerfully before running off. Jax watched him leave, still thinking of an answer to Ephemer's question. Takiko frowned, glancing at his sister. Kamiko shook her head with a gentle laugh.

"He's a special one." Kamiko said. Takiko nodded in agreement watching where Ephemer had vanished. Jax sighed and motioned to his Chirithy. The Chirithy jumped up onto his shoulder and sat down. Jax turned away from the twins, off to find a mission.

"I'll see you two around." Jax said as he left waving over his shoulder.

"See ya Jax!" Kamiko called after him. Takiko sighed looking to the sun.

"I have to go too. Invi had something she wanted to talk to me about." Takiko said. Kamiko frowned at her brother but nodded.

"Ok, let me know if it's anything important," Kamiko said. Takiko nodded, leaving the fountain square. Kamiko sighed jumping up. She looked around the square for anything of interest. She took notice of a young girl with mint hair trying to hide by one of the entrances. Kamiko smiled softly and motioned to the girl. "We don't bite, you don't have to hide." She said. The girl squeaked and slowly came out from her hiding place. Kamiko recognized her as the one her and Takiko had been betting on.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to listen in." The girl apologized looking at her feet. Kamiko laughed causing the girl to glance up afraid.

"It's no crime. We were in plain view making no effort to hide our conversation. It would be another story if we were trying to be all secretive and stuff." Kamiko said smiling. The girl gave a faint smile in return. "So, what's your name?" Kamiko asked.

"Uh, Lyra, from the Union Anguis." The girl replied. Kamiko smiled and took a mental note that both she and her brother had bet wrong.

"Well, Lyra it's nice to meet you. I'm Kamiko, from the Union Vulpes." She said holding her hand out to Lyra. Lyra took it and smiled at Kamiko.

"Your name sounds a lot like Takiko," Lyra commented. Kamiko smiled and nodded with a short laugh.

"Must be some rule for naming twins. Gotta have similar names." She said. Lyra looked at her surprised.

"You guys are twins?" Lyra asked. Kamiko nodded in reply. "But you're in different unions." Lyra pointed out. Kamiko shrugged.

"According to Ava we're not the first twins to be separated. But we are the first to still hang out." Kamiko said, smiling at Lyra again. Lyra looked away for a second. Using that time Kamiko looked her over. It was too early to tell if she would make it. But if she did, Kamiko thought she would do great as a dandelion.

"Lyra!" A girls voice called out. Kamiko turned to see a girl with white hair and stunning blue eyes outlined in black. She was wearing a grey tank top with mesh lining the top and black shorts that had several zipped up pockets. She wore black mesh gloves with black material around her wrist and each finger. She had two chain belts, a gold one of many interwoven links that was straight on her hips and a black one with a chain on the left side that hung crooked on her hips. She approached the two cautiously, looking at Kamiko with distrust. "You're not giving her a hard time are you?" The girl asked. Kamiko laughed.

"No, at least I wasn't trying to." She replied.

"Good, if you were I'd have to hurt you." The white-haired girl said calmly. Lyra squeaked in fear.

"Nori! She's a lieutenant!" Lyra said hiding behind her hands. The white-haired girl looked at her shocked.

"What? Of which union?" She asked. Kamiko laughed again.

"I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?" Kamiko asked, addressing the white-haired girl. "I'm Kamiko, lieutenant of the Union Vulpes." She said. The white-haired girl paled, which seemed to be nearly impossible as she was quite pale already.

"Oh, uh. I'm Annora, of the Union Unicornis." She greeted. Kamiko smiled and nodded looking the girl up and down.

"You seem like the type Master Ira would take," Kamiko said simply. She wrapped a strand of hair around her index finger, looking at the two girls in thought. "Do you two meet like this often?" She asked.

"We're going to." Annora answered. Lyra nodded her head in agreement.

"I see, well you better be careful. Not everyone approves of the association amongst unions. They could really give you a lot of grief." Kamiko said.

"Why are there unions anyway? Who's bright idea was it to put these particular keyblade wielders in charge?" Annora asked with a defiant look. Kamiko looked at her in disbelief. She turned to Lyra.

"She's joking, right?" Kamiko asked. Lyra shook her head. Kamiko looked back to Annora and sighed, rubbing her temple. She smiled at Annora softly. "The Master of Masters decided this. He was the foretellers teacher and pretty much controlled this town with his eye that looked into the future. He even created all the Chirithy's."

"Right. That's totally believable." Annora said unconvinced, as she crossed her arms. Kamiko just laughed at her disbelief.

"It's true. When he vanished he gave five of his six apprentices a copy of a book called the book of prophecies. Using the knowledge held in that book the foretellers have led us, each with their own union that valued something different." Kamiko explained. Annora frowned, thinking about what Kamiko had said.

"What happened to the sixth apprentice?" Annora asked.

"He disappeared right along with the Master of Masters." Kamiko replied with a shrug. She turned her back on the two girls and made to leave the square. "Good luck!" She called over her shoulder. "And may your heart be your guiding key!"

Annora watched the Vulpes lieutenant leave then looked back to Lyra. Lyra looked extremely worried, pulling on the hems of the blue dress she wore. She was chewing on her lip nervously as she looked at the ground. Annora put a hand on Lyra's shoulder.

"Hey, it's going to be ok. Who cares what others think?" Annora said gently. Lyra looked up at her with worried blue eyes.

"I don't want to get in trouble Nori." Lyra said. Annora smiled at her determinedly.

"We won't, I promise." She said firmly. "I swore I was never going to abandon you and that's still true. They can't do anything to us for this. There's no rule against having friends in another union." Annora smiled at Lyra again. Lyra frowned looking down.

"The unions don't work together. The Master of Masters said so." Lyra said. Annora shrugged.

"He's not around anymore. Nothing he can do." She insisted. "Come on, let's go gather some lux." Annora said. Lyra smiled at her and nodded.

"Yeah, sure." She agreed.

*<3*

Ephemer gave a heavy sigh dropping down on the edge of the fountain. He looked around the square with a slight frown as he thought. Since his run-in with the three lieutenants he had honestly been looking for Espen, but he had had no luck.

"Ephemer!" A girl called out. Ephemer looked up to see a girl with black hair looking at him with her hands on her hips. She wore a white shirt with a black jacket over top and a black skirt. Her brown eyes narrowed at him.

"Oh, hey Skuld." Ephemer said rubbing the back of his head. She frowned at him.

"Espen's been looking all over for you." Skuld said. Ephemer laughed.

"So everyone's been telling me," Ephemer said. "Oddly enough I've been looking all over for him and can't seem to find him either." He laughed. Skuld rolled her eyes and smiled, sitting down beside him.

"So what have you been up to since you left the party?" Skuld asked offhandedly. Ephemer shrugged leaning back to look at the clear sky.

"The same as always. Collecting lux, looking for answers about everything." He replied. He was silent for a minute, thinking. "You heard about the traitor, right?" He asked quietly. Skuld frowned but nodded.

"Yeah, I have." She said simply, drawing her knees up to her chest. Ephemer glanced at her but looked away again quickly. "I've heard about the foreseen war too." She added. Ephemer nodded, lost in thought.

"What do you think about it? Got any suspects?" Ephemer asked after a bit of silence. Skuld thought before she replied.

"Yup, I have five suspects. And all of them hold the lives of others in their hands too." She replied. Ephemer smirked and nodded in agreement.

"Wanna help me do something about it?" Ephemer asked. Skuld looked at him confused.

"Do something about it?" She repeated. Ephemer nodded, looking at her with a smile. "How? What can we do?" She asked. She let her legs move away from her chest as she leaned forward looking at Ephemer.

"First we're going to gather allies." Ephemer declared standing up and looking down at Skuld. "And then, we're going to find the traitor and stop them in their tracks." He motioned with his arms. Skuld smiled at him and nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." She agreed standing as well.

"I'll let you know when I think of more, and when I find some people," Ephemer said. "Until then, let your heart be your guiding key." He said, placing his hand over his heart. Skuld smiled even more and nodded.

"Yeah." She said. She put a hand on her hip. "Don't forget to go see Espen." She said before leaving. Ephemer gave a heavy sigh looking disappointed.

"Darn, I was hoping she'd forget." He muttered.