And here we go, three long chapters of dramaaaaa. It took a while but I'm finally up to this and I'm really happy about it :D. Since I didn't have space to let you know which stories to read before this, here they are: The Great Escape (Mia), Preparing for Battle (Mizuki), and Understanding (Risa). Okay just read on readers.
It's a good thing Mizuki found my bo staff before Seth made his move. I could have kept stalling but now it's time to fight back like Risa said. He's not going to walk all over me like he did before, this is it, it's either now or never. "You think this is going to end the same way it did before?" he asks, summoning his dark sword. "No, I'll answer for you. This will be different because I'm a changed man. You don't know what I've done between the last we saw each other and now. Me and this Keyblade have powers that are out of your league Mia."
"It doesn't matter. I'm still going to fight to bring you back," I reply, keeping my eyes focused on him. "I'm not going to let you destroy this world." Friend or not. I lunge at him but he stretches his hand out for me to stop so I listen, keeping my bo staff defensively in front of my face. "What is it?"
"I don't want us to get distracted by everything else, I need to change the scenery." He lifts the black Keyblade to the sky and a Dark energy in the form of a sphere emits from the tip. I watch the sphere quickly augment and then abruptly explode, blowing me back a little. I shield myself from the Dark energy been thrown around everywhere until the wind stops and it quiets down. Lowering my arm, I gasp at the all too familiar environment: bright blue skies being invaded by plumes of smoke and lush tropical trees swaying in the breeze. "Like it?"
"Did you bring us-" I sniff but I can't smell the sea. That means this can't be it, the real Moonlight Town. "An illusion, right?"
"Just so we can focus on only the two of us. That's how it used to be, just us."
"Right, just the two of us-"
Suddenly Seth rushes in front of me with his Keyblade, if I didn't have my bo staff up in front of me, I would've been slashed across the face. His dark eyes gaze into mine as a smile curls on his face when he pushes me harshly. "Let's see if I can finish you off as quickly as I did the last time."
"You won't!" I protest and push him and his Keyblade off me. Both hands on the bo staff, I run at him and aim the weapon at his head. He bends over backwards and then attacks with a horizontal slash. I slam the Keyblade down, stopping his attack short, and I quickly jab him in the face. He trips backward but easily regains his balance. Don't stop Mia, you can't stop now!
I lunge at him again, striking his face with the opening I made. Again and again I keep hitting him, but I can't do this for much longer. I stop and then jab him in the chest but he doesn't jolt back this time. He holds the other end of the bo staff and before he can do anything slick, I pull it back. There's no way I'm that good, he must be letting me hit him on purpose. "Mia. You're still holding back!"
A surge of Darkness engulfs him as he lunges at me. I'm barely deflecting his quick attacks, I'm about to lose my balance. So none of my attacks are working on him? Don't get discouraged, just keep fighting. I side-step to avoid his Keyblade and I swing with all my power at his back. As he leaps up and backflips, he blocks me while midair, grinning at me triumphantly. "As long as you're still holding back I can take you on."
"Seth, why do you want to hurt me so bad? What did I do to you?"
"I knew that behavior of yours earlier was just a sham. You're still the same." When he lands I block his sudden strike but he manages to break the stalemate and push me down. Dirt flies as I'm thrown like a rag doll down the hill I used to walk up to get home. I can never be as fierce as Risa or as smart as Mizuki so why do I pretend? I land face-flat, my fingers still wrapped around my bo staff. I get to my feet, wiping dirt off my face while panting heavily. I'm not gonna stop, I'm going to bring you back. "I'm bringing you back Seth," I shout as I hurry up the hill, losing my balance while doing so. "This is so weird, why can't I-why does it feel like I can't walk up on this?" Seth said it would just be an illusion, I'm still in the city and there are no hills in the city. I raise my bo staff just in time to block Seth's Keyblade; I can see traces of Darkness swimming through his eyes. "What did you do to yourself?"
"I tied up some loose strings so that I can finish you."
"Help," a weak voice whispers.
"Who was that?" I groan worriedly as I briefly look around. It's only me and Seth here so who was that voice?
"Shut up already. I thought you were done," snaps Seth as we separate from another stalemate impatiently. But he isn't talking to me, he's talking to his black sword. While he's distracted I pant wildly while hearing the faint voice again, "Mia…save…me."
"Seth, who is that?" I ask, making him narrow his eyes at me. Then he rushes at me and I block him over my head; he relentlessly strikes for every part of my body. To think, he was someone who I rested on when I was tired. Someone who I could talk to for hours. Someone who made me feel good about myself. Now that's all over.
"Now it's over!" he announces as he steps back and plunges the Keyblade into the ground. A pool of Darkness forms underneath my feet and I jump out of it just before spikes stab me. I look down again and another pool forms. I've got to get out of this mess now. I dodge again, landing yet again into another pool and I run around the slope. Because this place is an illusion, there is no real incline, which is why I've been tripping when I was heading up the hill. I'm still in the city being watched by all these strangers. A blast of Darkness from behind hits me right in the back and I go tumbling down on all fours. The pool forms beneath me and with my strength, I roll to the side just in time.
"Every time you hit me, I'm just going to keep getting up," I stand up yet again and when I face Seth, with the swipe of his Keyblade, violet orbs float in front of him. They instantly unsheathe their spikes and fly towards me like a horde of wasps. I spin the staff in front of me to deflect as much as I can. Some get by me and scratch my arms and my cheeks. I've got to get rid of these, otherwise I can't make a move-oh! I glance down to see a pool forming beneath me. Still spinning with my right hand, but slowing down, I keep running around to avoid the barrage of spikes. More pools form under my feet and I'm still getting scratches from the spikes, although they aren't doing too much, they're just there to distract me from the pools. I have to somehow put a stop to both.
Look at Seth, he's barely breaking a sweat. He can do this all day but I don't have time. I'll put to stop to this right now. The next pool that appears at my feet, I chuck the bo in it and channel my energy. This feels…strange-I wanted to emit light but I emitted something gray instead. Nonetheless, it works, the pool dissipates and when I focus on the spikes Seth's swinging at me, I slash them with the same gray energy, stopping the oncoming attacks. I let out quick breaths, then I run towards Seth with gray energy emitting from the bo staff. He meets it with his Keyblade and air circles us as if our own auras are clashing too. "Still intent on bringing me back?" he asks as we fight to dominate the other. I grimace as I push down on him, barely making him move. When we both strike each other once more, I hear the faint voice once more but it's a bit stronger. "I'm trapped, it's…Deidre!"
"Shut up!" bellows Seth.
"De-Deidre? The thief of hearts? How did you-what did you do to her?" I demand as he curses repeatedly at the Keyblade. He shakes me off and attempts another attack from another angle. I block him, yelling this time, "Seth what did you do to her?" The last time I saw her she was killed by that person wearing a mask with the grappling hook so what is she doing inside his Keyblade?
"What? She was born of the Heartless and was the only person who could become this dark Keyblade," shrugs Seth while holding the Keyblade up. "She was a monster, what does it matter to you?"
"She was still human!" I protest dejectedly. He may be right about her being a monster and being born from the Heartless but she was still a little human. Why else would she beg me for help? Seth chuckles as he points the tip of the blade at me. "You still think I can be saved?" he taunts.
"Of course I do. The real Seth I know is in there somewhere and I won't stop until I get him out and Deidre too," I reply hopefully. "Someone told me you still think I'm your friend deep down. Your heart hasn't been totally engulfed by Darkness." Impulsively he tries buffeting me but my bo staff protects me just in time. Seeing me nearly fall back makes him laugh hysterically. "Why are you laughing?" I catch my breath as I wipe the blood off my cheeks from the scratches.
"Because you're an idiot Mia, you're the stupidest person I've ever met." I squeeze the bo staff so tight I'm afraid I'll make a crack in it. "I'm beyond saving Mia, the power that I've attained can destroy you and everyone else here."
"A lot of power doesn't mean you have to use it to hurt people," I protest with sangfroid. "Please let me help you Seth."
"Mia, I've been to a place you couldn't ever imagine. My master showed me what hell was like, made me suffer just to explain one simple thing to me," he stops smiling and points the tip of the Keyblade at me. "That you are my hell. It's you that's been making me struggle with myself all this time. Master told me that by destroying you, my hell would be over."
"Your master?" I repeat, offended and hurt by what Seth's saying."You mean Korbin? That's who did this to you. Korbin!" Was I that bad of a friend? Did he think this throughout our entire friendship? He seemed like he enjoyed spending time with me, was it all just one big lie? "You shouldn't call my teacher by his first name," he stares at me furiously and then as his Keyblade stays pointed at me, making my heart pound fiercely, Darkness gathers at the tip and shoots a ray at me. There's no deflecting that, but-
"Gah!" It's a direct hit. I fall to the ground on my back, breathing faintly, thankfully it wasn't as strong as it looked. Getting Seth back from the darkness Korbin plunged him into is my only concern, I could care less about my body's wellbeing. Korbin, the man my dad called a brother, the one who hated my mom, and the one who ended up killing both of them. The one who was going to kill me when I was so young. "I'll call him whatever I like! That monster is your teacher?" I cry out while sitting up. His foot slams into me firmly, sending me to bottom of the incline. If I had kept going, I would've been in town by now, how much of Moonlight Town did Seth bother creating? "Do you know what he did to me Seth? My family is gone because of him!" I announce as I sit up slower and more unsteadily. I can't take that much more from him, especially when I'm high-strung like this.
"You don't think I know that?"
"What? You-no." My bo staff falls from my grasp and rolls away from me. "All this time you knew? You knew it and didn't tell me." I bite down on my lip to stop myself from crying. I've shed enough tears for him, tears that he doesn't deserve to see. "You knew that he did this to me?" The Keyblade's tip kisses under my chin and Seth stares down at me, enjoying the tortured look on my face. "You knew that Korbin killed my parents and planned to kill me?!" I scream as tears run down my face. His foot ends up in my face and I'm now face-down in the grass. I feel his other foot in my back, pinning me down. He knew this all this time, he smiled at me, joked with me, made me feel comfortable when he knew this secret. "Seth how could you look at me in the face every day and lie to me-" I end with a loud grunt as his foot digs deeper into my back.
"I didn't know until the night of the storm. But now it's over, it doesn't matter anymore," he replies emotionlessly. Another ray of Darkness at point blank range shoots into my back and my entire body jolts. And another. And another. And another. He's not afraid to be merciless to me so why am I? It's because of that weakness, I'm going to die now. I thought I actually had a chance against him. In that moment when I was talking to Risa, I gained confidence in myself but where was the foundation of that confidence? Like Risa said, he wanted to move on by defeating me. I thought that meant he would hold back and that with a bit of my strength, I could find the light inside him and save him. Do I want to save him anymore? Is he a friend worth saving?
"Answer…at least this," I moan as I cough out blood. "Are we still friends?" The blast comes harder than the others, light flashes before my eyes. My hands unclench and I lose my breath. When I lift my head, I can see my parents in the distance holding each other's hand. The urge to get up and join them grows stronger every second I stare. Seth's words bring me back to the throbbing pain that engulfs me, "My master saved me from the bor…" the words are slurring together. But I should listen to him, I should give him that until I die. "…life…"
"Why-why did you change?" I stammer as I lie here in agony. I try blinking my blurry parents out of focus but they won't go away. No, I can't go, not yet!
J.G.P.