New story! Woohoo! And if you cry or get mildly feely, that's good. It's what I was going for.
Special thanks to AmorettiElle for reviewing this for me~ Ilysm ; u ;
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Prologue: Zack Fair
"I'm getting real tired of this shit, man." A soldier came in through your door and took off his helmet, then shook his head to give his spiked black hair that "natural" messy look. Parts of his face were bloodied and bruised, and he had scratches on his cheeks, forehead, nose, you name it- but his sparkling blue eyes told you that he would be fine with a few bandages and a week's time.
"Really, Zack? Coming in just because of a few scratches on that pretty little face of yours?" You smirked up at him, placing your phone on your desk beside you.
"Aw, [Name], you think my face is pretty?" Zack placed his hand on his heart and gave you a small smile. "No but seriously, these little shits are getting annoying. They just won't stop bleeding!"
"Come on then, you wuss." You laughed a little and pat the seat next to you, then got up and walked over to your bookshelf (you used it for anything but books, oddly enough) and grabbed your medical kit. "But I hope you didn't mean what you said when you barged in," you said while opening the lid of the box and shuffling its contents around to find what you were looking for. "Because if you stopped doing your job, pretty soon I'd be forced to stop doing mine too."
He smirked at you, and then ruffled your hair as he plopped down into the chair. Throwing his head back and sighing dramatically, he tossed his helmet off to the side and gave you an exasperated look. "But do you know what it's like, [Name], to go into that battlefield every single day and know that no matter what happens to you, you can't die?"
You smiled sadly to yourself while soaking a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide. "I think you forget, my dear Zack, that I share the same curse as you. All of the members of this organization, be them soldier or medic, have been genetically enhanced to be immortal. It's a pain, really."
Sighing again, he brought his head back up and folded his arms over his chest. "It's ridiculous, isn't it? Like, we can't even die if all of our limbs have been dismembered. STELLA would probably just give us prosthetics that have been supercharged and designed to be practically indestructible."
"Hm." You nodded as you got up and hovered over his face, soaked cotton balls in hand. Brushing away the few ebony strands of hair that always fell into his face, you began to dab at his wounds to disinfect them and remove the caked up blood. Zack didn't even flinch or look like what you were doing hurt him at least a little bit. He'd been in this line of work for so long and gotten hurt so many times that he just became numb.
You discarded the bloodied cotton balls and unwrapped one of the bandages, your friend's eyes on you the entire time. You noticed this and gave him a small smile, and he laughed.
"What?" You asked, putting the bandage into place and then rubbing it a few times to make sure it adhered correctly. "Don't laugh at me- I'll put poison on your wounds the next time you come in."
This just made him laugh harder. "No, it's just- remember your first year on the job?"
Grabbing another bandage, you pursed your lips. "Not really, why?"
He shook his head slightly, and you snapped at him to stay still. This time he blew his hair out of his face for you, and you placed the last few bandages across the bridge of his nose and right underneath his left eye. "It's just that... You're so calm now. I think if someone came in with a bullet lodged in his chest right this second, you would be able to stay relaxed throughout the entire procedure."
You threw away the bandage coverings and picked his helmet back up off the floor, then handed it back to him and sat back down. "Your point, Zack? When you've had to do this for almost three years, you tend to get used to seeing the worst possible conditions that a human's body can be in."
"The first year that you had to be a medic for us," he said, trailing off and twirling his helmet in his hands, "you had to treat a soldier that tried to commit suicide. Remember him?"
You stiffened. "Of course I do."
"He was brought in by a few of his fellow troop members- me, Cloud, Leon, and Noct, right?" He started humming while he stared at his reflection in his helmet. "...Yeah, it was us four. Anyway, we brought in-"
"Cloud!" You cut him off at the sight of a certain tall blonde with Mako blue eyes.
"What? No, it was R-"
"What are you going on about, Zack?" Cloud asked blandly, setting his helmet on your bookshelf and giving you a pointed look. "[Name], could you patch me up? My ear's ringing pretty badly."
He turned to the side to show you the ear that was bothering him, and you sighed. "What did you do, Cloud? It's bleeding!"
His eyes widened a little as he seated himself next to Zack. "Oh, so that's why they told us to keep our helmets on or at least plug our ears whenever we threw grenades..."
You facepalmed and opened up your kit again. "You're an idiot, Cloud."
"Hey!" He threw his hands up. "I lost my helmet sometime between getting into close combat with one of the enemies, and get- um..." He cut himself off, and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Nevermind."
You raised an eyebrow while soaking a cotton ball with alcohol. "And what, Cloud?"
"Yeah, Spikes," Zack teased. "How badly did you screw up this time?"
Cloud groaned and tried to facepalm, but you held his hand down and pulled his head back before he got the chance.
"You guys really need to learn to keep your heads still while I'm treating your injuries," you muttered while starting to rub off the blood that trailed from Cloud's down to the nape of his neck.
"Sorry," both the boys said while giving you sheepish looks.
"And um..." Cloud trailed off again. "Well, I kind of took my helmet off in the gummi ship on the way to Traverse Town because it was getting hot and... I may or may not have forgotten to put it back on before I got off."
"Ugh!" You cried and whacked him at the same time Zack did, making Cloud wince.
"You guys are cruel," Cloud whined.
"You're lucky you got away with a burst eardrum!" You yelled at him. "You could've walked in here with half your face blown off!"
"But I didn't." He grinned sheepishly while wagging his finger at you.
"You need a haircut and an attitude check, dude." Zack shook his head disapprovingly.
"You're one to talk!" Cloud snapped. "Remember that time you put on your suit in a rush and forgot to even activate the armor before you stepped onto the battlefield? You came to [Name] in way worse condition than I'm in now!"
You nodded while opening the cap of an antibiotic bottle. "He's right, you know," you told Zack. "It was during your first week of being on the job, and when you came in, you were in shock and I could see the bone of your right arm. Plus, you almost started sobbing when you realized that you would have to tell Lightning that you would need a new suit."
"Shut up!" Zack covered his face with his hands and Cloud was almost dying with laughter.
"Okay," Zack said. "So I messed up during my first week. Cloud here's been doing this for over a year!"
You laughed to yourself as you walked into the next room to grab Cloud a glass of water to help the pills go down. They were bickering pretty loudly, and by the time you got back, Zack had poor Cloud in a headlock.
"BREAK IT UP!" You yelled, and the two boys looked up at you in surprise. They shoved each other away and then took a step away from each other then cleared their throats.
You shoved the pills and glass of water into Cloud's chest and hummed disapprovingly.
"STELLA can turn you two into soldiers," you muttered, sinking back into your chair. "But they can't turn you into men."
"Oh, don't even talk to us about what STELLA can turn us into," Zack groaned, falling backwards and landing on your sofa with a plop. He cleared his throat, and both you and Cloud rolled your eyes.
"We are STELLA," Zack said in his best radio-announcer voice. "We fight to protect our world from the Darkness, and to eliminate them in the other ones! Are you scrawny? Do you have no hope about your future? Join us in our quest to save the worlds! We'll give you the life you've always wanted- the life you've always needed."
He had recited the STELLA advertisement line by line, and you and Cloud were cracking up and leaning onto each other for support.
"Oh God," you breathed, wiping a tear from your eye. "I haven't laughed like that in a long time."
"Come to think of it," Zack said, "none of us have genuinely laughed in months."
"Not since now," Cloud added. "Hey Zack, are you done for the day?"
"Just a sec." Zack pressed a button on his suit to deactivate the armor, and you watched in amazement as the pieces of steel compressed and folded themselves into a piece of armor around his right forearm that was like a gauntlet, except it didn't cover his hand. No matter how many times you watched the soldiers do that, you just couldn't get over the fact that it was fucking amazing.
He reached into his back pocket and brought out his phone, then after looking at it for a few seconds, shook his head.
"Nope. I'm getting deployed with Riku and the Runts to Arendelle in three hours. It's going to be a pain to keep them from getting distracted and running away to go and build a snowman or some shit."
You rolled your eyes when Zack called Cloud's little brothers 'the Runts'. It was kind of a cute term, though, because Roxas and Ven were twins, and they were sort of like mini Clouds, minus the attitude.
"Keep them safe, alright?" Cloud said. "I don't want anything to happen to Roxas... again."
"Hey, that wasn't even on my watch!" Zack fussed. "He did it at night while Noct was taking a bathroom break, the little fucker."
"Hey, hey, don't talk about any of them that way," you chided. "And Roxas is going to be fine. He's almost seventeen, and you know Ven wouldn't let anything happen to him, either."
"Yeah, yeah," Cloud mumbled. "Hey [Name], when does the next troop come back?"
"You mean 'when can I be expecting wounded soldiers to come limping through your door'?" You laughed and glanced at your phone. "Their gummi ship should be landing in about ten minutes. They're coming back from Hollow Bastion."
"Who's in that troop?" Zack asked while absentmindedly picking at one of his bandages.
"Don't do that!" You scolded him. "God, it's like I'm dealing with a pair of toddlers! And I think there's Axel, Vanitas, Leon, Sora, Riku, and maybe Prompto in there. I don't get why STELLA mixes up the troops with every mission, honestly."
"They do that until they find the best team combination," Cloud said. "You know, like the Trumps?"
"Jeez, Cloud," Zack complained. "No one calls them 'the Trumps'."
"I call them that." After you said this, Cloud gave Zack a pointed look, and Zack sighed.
"Whatever. Maybe you two weirdoes call the Tough Twelve 'the Trumps', but no one else does."
"Did you just call them..." Cloud couldn't even finish his sentence.
"...The 'Tough Twelve'?" You were in disbelief.
"God, Zack, that's horrible!" You and Cloud laughed with each other.
"What?" Zack challenged. "There are twelve of them, and they're fucking badass! It makes sense!"
"Yeah, but-" you burst out laughing, and couldn't finish what you were saying.
"What about 'the Trumps', then, huh?" Zack growled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You mean you don't know?" Cloud asked. "They're all named after playing card trumps."
"Yeah, Zack." You stifled a laugh. "I can't believe you're that dense."
"Hey!" Zack cried. "I am not dense."
"Just a little air-headed," Cloud said, imitating Zack's voice and making you laugh.
"Ugh, that's it." Zack stood, putting his helmet back on. "I'm not going to sit here and let you two assholes make fun of me."
"Baby come back, you can blame it all on me!" You stuck your arm out lazily in his direction in a mock attempt to keep him with you and Cloud.
"Don't be a bitch, [Name]." He rolled his eyes at you while attempting to hold back a smirk. "I'm going to go to the cafeteria with the Runts before our mission."
"But you have three hours," you whined. "We were just poking fun!"
"Yeah, Zack," Cloud said. "Why not stay until Sora and the other klutzes walk in?"
"Well, if you want me to stay so badly!" Zack jumped into your laps, and you groaned.
"Zack!!"
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"Alright, Sora." You pat the boy's brown spikes and smiled warmly at him. "Your leg should heal quickly due to the antibacterial gel and gauze I put on it. Plus, your body's been enhanced to heal quicker than the average Joe's."
"Got it, [Name]." He returned your smile. "Do I get a lollipop?"
"...You're sixteen, Sora," you deadpanned.
"So?" He asked you. "I still want a lollipop."
"Just give him the lollipop, [Name]," Riku groaned. He was lying on the sofa on his stomach with a cold pack on his lower back. "He's not going to shut up until he gets what he wants."
"Riku," Sora whined. "That's-"
"So true," you interjected, patting his knee and walking over to your candy jar. "Not to be mean or anything. It's just that you always ask for a lollipop every time you come in."
"Mmhm..." Riku groaned into one of your pillows, holding one of his arms up and forming a thumbs-up.
"I like lollipops, alright?" Sora whined. "And plus, [Name] always has my favorite flavor with her. Right, [Name]?"
You nodded slightly, grabbing a random lollipop from your jar. You held up the lollipop as you turned around to face him. "...You like pineapple, right?"
"[Name]!" Sora fell back onto the examining table and sighed. "You know that I like mango! Man. Go."
You giggled and reached back into your candy jar to grab him a mango-flavored lollipop. "Oh right, I was thinking about Riku's favorite flavor." You smiled and handed each boy his lollipop.
"Don't tell him that," Riku whined, turning his head to the side so you could hear him clearer.
You pat his head. "Sorry."
"Riku, I didn't know you liked to get lollipops from [Name], too!" Sora teased Riku while unwrapping his own lollipop.
You shrugged. "Everyone likes to get something from me. I don't blame you guys for going for the sweets."
"Hey [Name]?" Riku asked.
"Yeah? Is your cold pack getting warm or something?" You got up, prepared to go to your freezer to grab him another one.
"No, it's just... How do you do this every day?"
"Oh." You sat back down, and then scratched your head. "I don't know, I guess I just got used to it."
"Pfft," Sora said, then pulled the lollipop out of his mouth and wagged it at you. "That's what they all say."
"Yeah," Riku said. "You can't just 'get used to' seeing a bunch of your friends come in daily with a shit ton of cuts and bruises and bloodstains all over their bodies. It's just like how all the soldiers don't 'get used to' fighting the war for STELLA every day."
You sighed. "I think that my mindset is that if I'm doing it to help people, and maybe even the worlds, then I need to suck it up and do my best. I'm not the one going on the battlefield and getting beaten up. All I have to do is fix you guys' broken pieces and make sure you're alright."
"You're really a hero; you know that, [Name]?" Sora shook his head. "You're what, nineteen now? That means you've been doing this for three years. You've watched the people you cared about come in through your door in some of the worst conditions possible, and you don't even want to quit your job solely because you want to help people. If I were you, [Name], by now, I'd have gone insane."
"You guys flatter me," you said while smiling lightly at both of them. "But it's no big deal, really. I wouldn't even have this job if not for you soldiers."
Your door opened and in stepped a slender figure, meaning it was most likely a woman soldier. They removed their helmet, and then set it on the examination table next to Sora.
"Speaking of soldiers," Riku mumbled, "hello there, Deuce."
It's rare that one of the Trumps comes here, you thought.
"Hey, Deuce." You smiled at the dark-haired girl. "What brings you here?"
"Just a quick fix," she said, smiling back at you. She deactivated her armor then took off her glove, and held her hand out to you.
You knelt, then gingerly took it in your hands and pressed gently on some areas where the muscle was swollen. "Well, it's-"
"...Is it bad?" It was only when you looked up at her that you realized she was peeking at her wound through the fingers of her other hand. "It's not bad, is it?"
You laughed a little. "No, not at all. There's a few places where your hand is cut due to the impact- I mean, I'm guessing that you smashed your hand or something, and it's a bit swollen and the skin is inflamed, but it's not the worst I've seen. Could you roll up your sleeve a bit so I can see if the damage extended to your wrist?"
"Sure thing, [Name]." She rolled up her sleeve, still keeping her eyes shut.
"Oh, and Deuce?"
"...Yes?" She peeked one eye open.
"You can look; it's really not that bad."
"...Oh God!" Deuce squealed. "That's not bad to you? My hand looks like a raw piece of steak!"
You laughed and grabbed your trusty medical kit. "Well then, you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you."
She bit her lip nervously. "...What?"
You brought out your sutures and scalpel. "I'm gonna have to cut your hand open."
"Oh my God." Her eyes widened, and she leaned onto the examination table for support. "Are you serious?"
"No." You smiled wickedly and put your tools away. "I'll just need to disinfect the open wounds and then have you ice it. By the way, how were you even able to move it earlier?"
"You're mean, [Name]!" Deuce whined. "And oh, alright. I guess I was able to move it because, well... It doesn't hurt at all. I just don't like the sight of my body being all screwed up. I think I can see bone." She shuddered.
You shook your head. "I keep forgetting that you've been doing this for a while. And you're just exaggerating. There's just going to be some slight bruising for about a day or two-"
"Stop!" She squealed, shaking her other hand in your face. "I don't wanna hear it. Just please clean and dress the wounds so I can go."
"Aw, Deuce," Sora said, pouting. "You don't want to stay with us?"
"Yeah, Deuce," Riku said into the pillow, making his voice sound muffled. "Baby, it's cold outside."
Deuce giggled and rolled her eyes. "Riku, it's 60 degrees out there. And Sora, I have training in half an hour. Sorry, but I have to leave anyway."
"That would be considered cold in Agrabah!" Riku turned his head to the side again.
"But Deuce-" Sora whined.
"Nope, don't even try," you cut him off while soaking a few cotton balls with rubbing alcohol. "You should know how important training is."
"If you walk out that door, Deuce," Riku mumbled, "you're saying you value training more than our friendship."
Deuce rolled her eyes as you started to clean her wounds. "I'd choose training with Cater and Cinque over hanging out with you guys any day." She paused. "...Except for you, [Name]. I like you." She smiled down at you, and you smiled back.
"Why thanks, dear," you said, while Riku muttered a "well, fuck you too". You discarded the cotton balls and brought out the gauze. "I like you, too."
"Should I go?" Sora asked sadly. "I don't want to go."
"Why would you think you have to go?" You asked Sora once you were done wrapping Deuce's hand. "You can stay as long as you like-"
"Thanks, [Name]!" He cut you off.
"-as long as you don't have a mission," you continued. "You better as hell not use my 'consent' as an excuse to skip out on being deployed."
"Shit," Sora whined, falling flat on his back on the examination table, making you, Riku, and Deuce laugh.
You stood and put your kit back on your bookshelf, then grabbed the ice pack off of Riku's back.
"Hey!" Riku cried. "Give it back!"
"No," you said, handing the ice pack to Deuce. "You have to go. You're getting deployed to Arendelle with Zack, Roxas, and Ven in an hour."
"But my back hurts!"
"Don't give me that bullshit!" You chided. "You've been a soldier for almost two years; your sensitivity to pain is practically dead."
Riku groaned and sat up, then stood and activated his armor. "You're cruel, [Name]."
"Nah," Deuce said. "She just took it upon herself to keep us in line. Bye [Name], and thanks a ton!" She waved to you, then pointed her finger at Riku and curled it towards her. "You're coming with me, Old Man."
Sora laughed at Riku as he trudged after Deuce out the door, and you gave him a stern look.
"I don't know when you have to be going, but I kind of don't want you here anymore." You grabbed your phone again and plopped onto the sofa. "What time is your mission?"
"2045E," he responded. "I'm excited to be going to Corona again; Rapunzel and Flynn are awesome company!"
"So you have to leave at 1500Z?" You asked him, mentally checking what time zone Corona was in comparison to The World That Never Was. "It's already 1413Z, so shouldn't you get going?"
Sora groaned. "But I'll have to actually get up and walk to the gummi ship. It's so much work!"
You laughed. "Your leg should have already healed enough by now, so get going." You reached over and ruffled his hair. "Who's in your troop?"
"Tifa, Vanitas, Seifer, and Xion," he said, counting on his fingers. "There's not too many of us since Corona's trying to fight off the Darkness by themselves, so we don't have too much work to do on this mission. We're just gonna clear the Marketplace for now and do recon in the Village."
"It's good that some of the worlds are doing that," you mused. "What are the other ones whose citizens are taking our side of the war?"
"Um... 100 Acre Wood, Arendelle, Destiny Islands, Symphony of Sorcery, and Neverland," Sora responded. "Zack, Roxas, and Ven are going to Arendelle, right? They're so lucky! I heard that Queen Elsa and Princess Anna are throwing them a party tonight. The entire kingdom is invited."
"So, all the happy-go-lucky worlds, huh?" You laughed. "And it's alright, Sora. I'm sure you'll get a party thrown for you sometime soon. Just wait your turn!"
He pouted. "How long do I have to wait? It's already been almost a year."
"Zack's been doing this for three years, Sora. He and I got drafted at the same time. He's already considered First Class, so just wait! I'm sure you'll one day become a great soldier like he is."
"Oh, alright." Sora reached for his helmet, which was sitting behind him on your bookshelf. "I should get going. It's- what, 1420Z by now?
You looked at your phone. "Yep. You better go now; I don't want you to be late."
"Bye, [Name]! Thanks for everything." He gave you one last smile before putting his helmet on and walking out your door.
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"Don't do anything to aggravate the wound, alright?" You looked down sternly at the short black haired ninja that was sitting on your sofa and swinging her legs back and forth. "You don't want to reopen it."
"Alright, alright." Yuffie reached out to pat your shoulder with her good arm. "I got it, hun."
You laughed. "Just making sure. You'd be surprised how many people actually need me to remind them that they have a sensitive wound on their bodies that could reopen with the slightest movement."
She laughed, too. "Let me guess- Sora, Axel, Nine, Vanitas, and Prompto?"
"Don't forget Zack," you said, rolling your eyes. "He has just as much experience as I do, and he still doesn't know how to keep his head still while I treat his head wounds, or how to stop picking at the cuts after I'm done dressing them." You shook your head. "It's ridiculous, really."
"Zack's just a little too eager, you know?" Yuffie cocked her head to the side. "I mean, I'm just as hyper as he is- if not more, but he's always so gung-ho about going on another mission. It's kind of adorable."
You smiled. "It is, isn't it? He's like a little puppy."
She laughed, and reached over to grab your candy jar. "That's so true," she said while bringing out a vanilla-flavored Tootsie Roll and examining it. "He's loyal to his friends, loves to go out, and is full of energy. By the way, [Name], this counts as carbs, right?"
You facepalmed. "No, Yuffie, it does not. And yeah, I think I'm going to start calling him that from now on... Zack the puppy, it's got a ring to it."
"Shoot." She dropped it back into your jar and brought out a packet of crackers with peanut butter sandwiched between them. "Lightning put me on an all-carb diet until my next mission, which I have to depart for at 1700Z. I'm going to Olympus, and that world is ridiculous. It's like they give all the members of the Darkness a VIP pass to train with Phil at the Coliseum."
She opened the packet and offered you one, and you politely declined. "It's outrageous how the members of the Darkness dresses like the average citizen. You never really know who's on your side or not. The merchant who sold you an apple during the day could be the one trying to assassinate you while you sleep."
"Yeah," Yuffie said. "I've never seen warfare like this before."
"What time are you coming back?" You asked her. "It's not going to require you to stay overnight, is it?"
She nodded her head sadly. "We're scheduled to leave Olympus at 0725U, so we'll be arriving back here at around 1930Z tomorrow. So yes, my mission's making my troop and I stay there until the next morning."
"That sucks," you said, pouting. "I don't understand why-"
"[Name]?!" A worried voice interrupted you, and your door opened so quickly and with so much force that it swung as far as it could and hit the wall.
In came all three of the Strife brothers, and they all had bloodstains on their armor, but Cloud was the only one with his helmet off and blood on his face.
When you caught sight of the body that they were carrying, you forgot how to breathe.
The damage toll on the body was horrible. The soldier's armor actually had chunks of it missing, and their suit underneath their armor was torn, so you could see the individual cuts on their body. Their left thigh had a gash the length of your forearm on it, and the wound was gaping. Their face was so bloody and damaged that you couldn't even identify who it was. The only thing that gave you a clue was their black hair, but it was so badly matted with blood that you couldn't see how it had originally been styled.
Yuffie wasn't doing much better, as she actually was crying as soon as the three boys placed the person on the examination table.
"G-get me some... Some soaked t-towels." You didn't even know who you were talking to, or if you spoke loud enough for any of them to hear you. You couldn't hear anything above the sound of your heart pounding in your ears.
"Who is it?" You asked, your voice barely above a whisper.
You didn't bother to look up to see if any of the boys had heard your question. You were shaking as you reached for your kit, but completely lost it when Cloud uttered two simple words.
"It's Zack."
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~*~Alistair's Dark Corner~*~
So how'd you like it? :D It's the longest chapter I've ever written, and it's only just the prologue. Oh and if you get confused when reading the times that they give, that's because it's written the military way, which is with a 24-hour clock and the letter of the corresponding time zone at the end. Below is a list of all the worlds and their time zones, just for future reference.
Vocomfo, my lovelies~
A: Traverse Town +1
B: Twilight Town +2
C: Hollow Bastion +3
D: Arendelle +4
E: Corona +5
F: Wonderland +6
G: Neverland +7
H: Port Royal +8
I: 100 Acre Wood +9
K: Land of Dragons +10
L: Space Paranoid (Tron) +11
M: Agrabah +12
N: Atlantica -1
O: Halloween Town -2
P: Destiny Islands -3
Q: Pride Lands -4
R: Beast's Castle -5
S: Timeless River -6
T: La Cite des Cloches -7
U: Olympus -8
V: Prankster's Paradise -9
W: Symphony of Sorcery -10
X: Enchanted Dominion -11
Y: Country of the Musketeers -12
Z: The World That Never Was