Well, this will (hopefully) be my final attempt at a rewrite of Darkness and Light. To those who are still waiting for Inner Demons...life happened, though now that I'm (attempting to) writing again it should come out soon. And in the off chance someone reading this is still waiting for Pandora Academy...um...probably not going to happen, sorry.

And yes, I have to be creative with the breaks when perspective changes, because this website hates the usual stuff for that.

Chapter 1:

The Beginning of the End

"The Eternal Balance of the world is gone. By the end of this day a war greater than any other shall ravage the lands. With the fall of this golden paradise the Champion of the Light will be lost to the tides of fate, her destiny forever warped in Darkness. The stalwart Knight shall be forced into play, and he alone will hold the power to tip this war in favor of his Makers or free us from their grip."

-Anonymous, Twilight Town 2005

/ / / /

It was a calm afternoon, a mild breeze blew across the land and the sun was slowly starting to set. The small island was peaceful as a young man walked along the beach lost in thought. The wind picked up his bangs and blew them across his face yet he didn't care to notice. The boy's blue eyes looked out across the waters and slowly rose to the horizon. He longed to travel past that point and see what existed beyond the world he knew. He took a few steps forwards so he stood at the very edge of the water and looked down at his reflection. The mirror of the water showed that he had messy shoulder length crimson hair with bangs that hung over the tops of his dark blue eyes. It also showed a mild tan from living on the tropical island his entire life. It also revealed his dress of choice, a light gray shirt with a dark gray long sleeved over shirt and matching pants.

"The water is almost too calm, as though it were a mirror..." he muttered to himself as he ran his hand through his hair.

Standing he turned to look at the small town he called home. At the edge of the beach he saw his friend, a girl his age. She had slightly shaggy pale blond hair that extended several inches past her shoulders with her bangs swept to the left and dark green eyes with pale skin. She wore a short white sundress that extended a half a foot past her waist and a gray jacket over it. She was somewhat short, only coming to the boy's shoulders in height.

"Yami!" she called out to him waving. "There you are! I was looking for you."

"Why Hikari?" he questioned jokingly. "Is your brother going to feed me to your dog?"

"Thats not funny!" She yelled back at him. "Stop making jokes like that or I'll make Tamashii chase you down again!"

Yami cringed at the thought, the memory of their other friend chasing him halfway across the island still fresh in his mind.

"A girl shouldn't have that much energy or strength, despite being older...she's a freak."

"Whose a freak?" A new voice questioned.

A second girl rounded the corner. She playfully glared at Yami, who paled when he saw her.

"T-Tamashii..." He muttered more to himself.

Tamashii was tall, taller than Yami by a few inches. Her skin had the slightest gray tint to it, as if she had caught a life threatening illness in her youth and had never fully recovered, and dark gray eyes. She had long black hair that blew in the wind with loose bangs that always hung over her left eye. She wore a unique outfit consisting of a black hoodie tank top made of a leather like material with a prominent zipper on the front that extended to just above her abdomen, a pair of short shorts made of the same material, and a pair of black combat boots that extended to her knees.

"Come on you guys, we need to get going, it'll get dark soon." With that Tamashii turned and started walking away, prompting both Yami and Hikari to chase after her.

"Tamashii, wait up!" Hikari gasped as she ran.

"Sorry Blondie, I forgot how frail you are." The older girl called back as she slowed to a stop, then looked over to her male friend. "You, you just don't exercise."

"Ha ha, very funny Tama." He snapped back, knowing she didn't like the nickname.

"Really now Blue Eyes? Going to go with that?" She said as her eye twitched and she cracked her knuckles. "In that case, start running."

"Crap."

/ / / /

"Awaken my Knight. Lead us to the Heart of Hearts..."

Yami snapped awake in his bed. Propping himself up on his elbow he rubbed his head, his body still sore from running the entire length of the island twice over. What concerned him more however was that voice he had heard in his dreams. It was disturbingly familiar, as if it had once sung him to sleep.

"Damn, not again...every night the past month..."

He stumbled out of bed and dressed himself, making sure to remember his pendent this time, a silver crescent moon with a purple gem inlaid on a metal chain, which he put around his neck. Making sure his hair wasn't to much of a mess he ran downstairs and out the door. It was sunday and he was meeting Hikari at the beach. On the way there he noticed the sky was oddly dark, as if something was filtering the sunlight, however he payed it no real mind.

As he neared the shore he caught sight of a woman standing stock still in the road, staring at the sky intently. Slowing down he looked her over. She was an inch or two taller than him with long green hair that extended halfway down her back and dark golden yellow eyes set into a sharp face with a mild tan. She wore a large billowing traveling cloak with a dull red stylized heart on it that caught the what little wind there was and flew around behind her over a simple white long sleeved blouse and black dress pants with black high heels. She seemed to realize he was watching as she turned her head in his direction and smirked before slowly walking away.

"That was...strange..." He muttered as he started walking again.

When he got to the beach Yami noticed it was getting even darker and wondered if it was going to storm. Shrugging to himself he scanned the shoreline and saw a familiar head of hair sitting at the edge of the water. Smiling he ran over to Hikari and sat next to her. At first she didn't notice him giving him the opportunity to take in her appearance. When she realized he was there she blushed slightly and smiled.

"Hey, why did you want to meet me Yami?"

"W-well..." Yami blushed himself, trying to find the words. "I..."

Something caught his eye and he turned his gaze skyward. A black sphere had appeared, eclipsing the sun, tendrils of blackness emerging from it. When the first of the tendrils touched the ground the land dyed black and forms started emerging from it. Confused and afraid Yami stood and tried to put himself between the forms and Hikari, but then he noticed they were forming behind them too.

"Y-yami...w-what is this?" The girl asked, her voice almost to quite to hear.

"I don't know, we need to get out of here!"

Yami grabbed her hand and rushed a small patch that was free of the forms, pulling her behind him. As they slipped out of the forming circle. When they fully formed the living shadows realized their prey was gone and swarmed after them, driven by a purpose neither of the two could grasp. As they ran Yami could have sworn he saw Tamashii running in another direction, however she was gone before he could call out to her.

/ / / /

"Dammit what the hell is going on!"

Tamashii ran through the dark forms, pushing them away, though they seemed to ignore her. Why this was she couldn't fathom, as they pounced on every living thing they passed. Deciding she would question this later she charged forwards looking for the others. Yami could probably fend for himself, but there was no way Hikari could make it on her own. She hoped that the two were together, however on the off chance they weren't she ran towards the girl's house. As she approached she saw the figure of a woman with green hair and slowed to look.

"Its a wonderful day isn't it?" the strange woman asked her.

"W-what? How could- Who are you?"

"Ah yes, I haven't introduced myself have I?" The woman turned to look at Tamashii and bowed. "My name is Ulmia, the Empress of Darkness."

The woman stood straight once more and raised her right arm to point at Tamashii, then snapped. A pool of blackness appeared beneath her, tendrils emerging from it to wrap around her legs. Taken by surprise Tamashii could do nothing to fight back and felt herself get dragged into the darkness.

"I'm surprised you survived. How anyone could survive so long in that place astonishes me. No matter, this time I'll make sure you dissappear."

Tamashii felt the tendrils wrap around her neck and begin to cover her face as she was already halfway into the pool. She reached out in a vain attempt to grab the woman and her eyes were covered as she sank soundlessly into the darkness. As she drifted in the black void she felt a sudden searing pain in her chest. Looking down she saw another pool of black appear on her chest and a spark of light drifted out. As if left her Tamashii's eyes glazed over and drifted closed as she fell into an endless sleep.

/ / / /

Hikari was exhausted. She and Yami had been running across the island for hours trying to escape the black monsters, but they were everywhere. She couldn't breath, but she had to keep running. Gasping in pain she tripped and fell to the ground. Yami noticed and ran over to her, taking position in front of her to try and guard her. She shakily stood up and grabbed his arm for support.

"Y-yami...I don't feel good..."

"Its alright. We're going to make it." There was a fire of fierce determination in his eyes. "I'll make sure at least you make it."

Hikari felt her eyes well up. He was willing to sacrifice himself for her of all people. Taking a deep breath she resolved herself to do the same for him. As the thought entered her mind she felt a warmness radiating in her chest. The gentle feel of it suddenly changed, turning to pain as if something was trying to tear its way out of her. Gasping in pain she grabbed at her chest and saw a swirling light appear over her heart. A small spark emerged from the pool and drifted forward. Looking at it she felt a sudden urge to reach out and grab it. As her hand brushed against it it transformed and took the form of an elegant key the size of a sword.

Its hand guard was a pair of angle wings meeting at the tips to create a closed circle with a silver rod in the center to hold on to, with a metal chain ending in a charm the shape of a single white wing energing from where the tips of the wings met. The blade was white and roughly three feet long with a gentle S curve to it, with another white wing acting at the teeth of the key. Holding the weapon Hikari felt a surge of power flow through her fully revitalizing her and making her feel significantly more powerful than she would have thought possible.

"Wow..." Hikari gasped as she marveled at its beauty.

As she held the blade up, she heard a soft laugh and turned around to see a green haired woman walking towards her. The woman stopped several feet away and laughed again, catching the attention of Yami as well this time. He turned to look and Hikari saw his eyes widen, first at the sight of the blade in her hand, and then at the sight of the green haired woman.

"You!" he yelled at her, seeming to recognize the woman.

"Greetings Yami. You never answered me earlier, that made me sad." She said while fake pouting.

Pointing her right hand at Yami she snapped her fingers, causing a band of black energy to coil around him, trapping him in place. When he opened his mouth to yell she snapped again, extending the band around his head, gagging him. With this done she turned her attention to Hikari and grinned sadistically.

"My my, I never thought I would see that again. I presume she sealed it within you, and then wove a spell to bind it to your will. Never mind, her failsafe failed. You don't even know how to wield it."

The woman snapped her fingers again, opening a portal beneath Hikari.

"You're lucky I still need you little miss Champion." The woman spat out the last word as if it was an insult. "So instead of ripping your heart out like the other one I'll send you to a place where you can't do any harm."

Hikari felt her feet give way as she fell into the void beneath her. When she realized what had happened she saw she was in a large swirling white void. Looking around she saw a figure surrounded by a black haze and instinctively stayed away from it. Skirting the edges of the void for what felt like hours she finally stabbed her blade into the ground and leaned on it. Looking at it she wondered if it actually worked like a key, and in that instant her head split in two. Grabbing her forehead in pain she endured the headache, and when it was over realized she knew about the weapon in her hands. Holding it out she focused and a beam of light shot from the tip and struck the air. Where the beam hit space warped into a glowing hole. Taking a deep breath she walked through into the unknown world beyond it.

/ / / /

"Well now, its just you and me now Yami."

The green haired woman snapped her fingers, freeing Yami. She looked him over, smiling to herself at first, but when she realized she was she composed herself. Walking over to him she looked him over and was pleased with what she saw. Her Knight seemed physically fit for the job, however mentally and spiritually he would need some work.

"I never introduced myself, I apologize. My name is Ulmia." she grinned to herself. "And I have a proposition for you. Join me, and I will let you reunite with that girl."

"You! Is that why you!" Yami glared. "Fine."

"That was easier than expected." Ulmia laughed to herself quitely. "Now then, take my hand."

Yami slowly walked towards her, and hesitantly took her outstretched hand. Once his hand was in hers, she let her Darkness flow into him to awaken his own. She watched as it invaded his body, heart, and soul and smiled. As his blue eyes were stained yellow with the Darkness she broke their contact.

"Well now Yami, you've just become my Knight."

I hope you enjoyed. Constructive Critisism is appreciated.

In case anyone is wondering, my planned schedule for working on stories will be:

Darkness and Light

Deamonic

Inner Demons