Tocsax nodded at Orpheus, his eyes filled with sudden compassion. "Yes, they did. And yes, [i]he[/i] has joined the Thirteen Seekers, leaving only one empty slot." 

Then, turning to Alex, Tocsax would say, "350 thousand of your credits, got it. Would you like them in gold, silver, or actual Chronos Credits? Note though that I have not finished giving the objectives yet; so it is...disconcerting that you guys are already asking for rewards." At Lukas asking for a Knighthood, the Keyblader would say: "You too?!" A sigh. "Very well; I am sure that the Basileus and Bassilisa would be honored to grant you rank and title."

Emperor Michael Sideros smiled at Lukas. "Very well, you will be added among the ranks of the [i]Dynatoi[/i], the Imperial Nobility, and given the rank of [i]Megas Konostaulos[/i]; Grand Constable in your tounge. You get an income equivalent to several million Moogle Munny, which is the new inter-universe currency. You also have prime choice of estates in Hellas and Anatolia, estates with palatial residences already pre-built." He then pursed his lips, actually displeased. "But you get no legal rights over my subjects; our idea of nobility does not work that way."

Empress Maria di Italia nodded as well. "Same for mine. Our subjects are their own people."

She then continued, "But as Queen Regnant of Italy, I offer inclusion among the ranks of my own Kingdom's nobility, a seperate income payable not just in Moogle Munny, but also in gold, silver, platinum and diamonds, estates ranging from the Alpine border to Palermo, and everything short of legal rights over my subjects. But fair warning; the Senates of Rhomanion and Italia will ask that you prove worthy of the honors they pay for. Now, to complete what Tocsax wanted us to convey; the last objectives of the mission." The Empress then turned to her husband, "Dear, can you finally explain what the Princesses of Heart are?"

A nod from the [i]Basileus[/i], as he said, "There are seven women, not necessarily actual princesses, who have hearts of pure Light that cannot be corrupted by the Darkness. This is because these - non-literal - Princesses of Heart are actually the Light Half of the X-Blade, scattered across worlds and timelines. These seven women cannot be turned into Heartless, although they can create Nobodies, and more importantly, they can transform Heartless back into Humans with a touch. Your job is to go to these seven worlds, the seventh of which is a mystery, and find the Princesses of Heart, and then [i]after[/i] those seven worlds, go to the Tomb of Ascot and turn Ascot back into a human."

"All potential help will be given you, including a Gummi Ship of your own, and we ourselves will have a fleet and an army of 30,000 men and women just close by, just in case we encounter Non-Heartless enemies, which Leo and the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness can throw at us -"

"Dear," said Maria, "you haven't explained what exactly the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness are..."

"Oh, right," Michael XIII Sideros said. "Well, the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness, which I think Tocsax mentioned before, are Leo's organization. They're an attempt to artificially create the 'dark half' of the X-Blade and have them attack or fuse with the Seven Princesses of Heart to create the X-Blade anew. They're also all incarnations of Leo, either his past self from another timeline, himself from the present, his Nobody and his Heartless, and people from The Circle that he has possessed. And of course, they're Keyblade Wielders, too; the reason they have not won yet is because they are incomplete."

Maria interrupted once again, "And by that, they are actually [i]twelve[/i] in number; they have not captured their ideal candidate for the thirteenth Seeker." She looked at Tocsax, Orpheus, and then at Zarxe as he discreetly stood in the throne room, before looking at Tocsax again. "If they capture their ideal candidate for the thirteenth Seeker, all might be lost."

[@Rai][@The 42nd Gecko][@Rex][@WXer][@Double][@Gentelmanvaultboy]