Shimmering and glittering ; stars light the sky. They shine and sparkle, night after night, breaching an all encompassing darkness with the comfort of their Light. Suddenly, a star blinks out, and despite expectations, it doesn't come back on. More and more follow the pattern, and what used to be a grand blanket of jewels in the heavens is reduced to a mere handful of dust, getting dimmer every second before vanishing completely altogether. Their once filled positions leaves a greater feeling of emptiness; a tear in the blanket that has only just begun to grow.

' Falling . . . '

How long had she been drifting? Minutes, hours? Spinning with the current, it was only with a sudden shift in her weight that she went right-side up. Suihei's feet touched the ground gently . . . ( and given her small amount of knowledge on science, that was probably a good thing ) as if she hadn't careened from the heavens in the slightest.

She opened her eyes, then ; the Darkness, while all encompassing as it was before, wasn't as scary. A cursory glance around her revealed not a single soul in sight. Not Barret, nor Caius (the jerk that he was) - she was completely and devoid of company. Without guidance, without safety, without the security that she sought so desperately now. Apprehension crashed down on her in an instant, though it wasn't without merit.

A single step forward lit the ground beneath her with a blinding light. Darkness fragmented, lifting itself from a mosaic enraptured her near immediately - for they weren't shards of darkness as she thought, but birds leaving behind a flurry of feathers.

'I'm . . . falling . . . '

The World was dying.

She didn't know how it happened, but the sky was angry - pulsing with darkness that was swallowing everything in its path. It was disconcernting, and Suihei's own lack of care about her fate came only from the worry she felt over her mom. She hadn't come home - there hadn't been a single thing said to her about staying at work late, nor a call home to placate her worries.

She came to a stop in the middle of the road, eyes widening at the countless eyes of gold glimmering in the shadows. "What?" Her shocked exclamation came from these- these Shadows, things that she had thought only to exist in her dreams, taking form before her very eyes. Crawling towards her with such ravenous hunger in their eyes that she subconsciously takes a step back. A twirl on her heel to make an escape revealed that she was surrounded on all ends by the creatures. But that wasn't possible.

The creatures leap forward, claws extended with the intent to rend and tear. Throwing her arms over her head, Suihei could only scream in fear at the coldcoldcold sensation threatening to devour her whole. But then a warmth, akin to a sunny day trickled into her her body- and though her eyes could only see Darkness, there was a sudden flash of light that blew the creatures off of her.

Painfully aware that she wasn't smothered anymore, she took the time to look down at the weighted object in her hand, gazing down to it in wonder.

' Keyblade. . . '

'Maybe . . . Maybe I'm dreaming . . . '

'But if this is all a dream . . . '

A cool drop of water against the bridge of her nose was the first sign that something was wrong. " Mom?! "

'Then why . . . '

" A kid like you shouldn't be carrying around a weapon like that. " A woman's voice called out to her, almost remarkably blunt to the point of being painful. "

It was an insult, thinly veiled as it was. Suihei turns on her heels to confront the owner of the voice, with anger and fatigue creeping onto her face in a burst of emotion. "Who the heck are you, telling me what I can and can't carry around?!" Eyes continued to search, until they found the only other person settled out in the small city. She had woken up in an alleyway of all places, and the stiffness of her neck had, understandably, put her dampened spirits in an even worse state.

Settled against a pole of a lamp, with her arms crossed over her chest was a woman with bright pink hair. When the mysterious female pushed herself off with a languid motion, she also drew forward a peculiar weapon of her own from the holster on her leg. Sharp, jagged, and not unlike a sword, the barrel of the peculiar weapon seemed to be the more threatening thing at hand. "You heard me. I wonder how that weapon picked you, of all people." The rosette almost sounded intrigued for a moment, though it was quickly discarded in favour of a more confrontational approach.

Tongues of flame began to rise along the outstretched blade of the weapon, before it was shot forward with a sharp BANG.

Suihei hardly had the time to dodge, letalone realize what was happening, when a fireball was thrown her way. Only instead scrabbling to her feet and dropping into a loose stance after a few moments of confusion.

' Then why am I alone . . . ? '

' The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes . . . '

Suihei turned on her heel suddenly, in order to investigate, only for her heart to crawl into her throat and stop. That wasn't her shadow, she decided. Because her shadow wouldn't be pulling itself out of the ground, wouldn't be growing to horrifying sizes. She stepped back in alarm, attempting for all but a few moments to call forward the warmth of the blade that felt so right in her hands.

Another step back sent her falling onto her rear, so she did the most logical thng she could think of. Run. Catching a glance of it from over her shoulder, she was able to discern that it's face was covered in a 'mask' of black tendrils that appeared to start at it's head. Hair? That definitely couldn't have been it. Elongated arms ended in claws that she was sure would rend her in half if she so much as got glanced by them, and those eyes.

' But don't be afraid. . . You hold the mightiest weapon of all. . . '

Those piercing yellow eyes are what really got Suihei back onto her feet and running to the other end of the platform as fast as she could. The gaping chasm that awaited her was the only reason she'd been stopped, well and truly. How could she forget that nothing was there? Was she really so stupid as to panic like that?! Thankfully her arms extended to her sides before she slipped off the slope, allowing her to regain her lost balance. Another glance behind her revealed that it hadn't stopped growing, and for a second she felt her breath leave her - apprehension etching itself on her face even as she turned to face her current company. If . . . company could be used for a giant behemoth.

It was . . . gigantic.

Easily dwarfing her, climbing a few stories into nonexistent skies. What kinda weapon could outclass that? And where in the world was she gonna get somethin' like it if she had never seen it in her life?

" You're not alone. . . "

" Gah! " Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Three figures ended up crashing into one another, all from opposite directions, and each with a healthy trail of Heartless running after them. All for different reasons, of course. Each could easily dispose of their respective groups of enemies easily! But with all of them together-

It was with a gruff, peculiar accent that the darkest of the three spoke first- though that was probably because he was wedged between a weird hooded cat that stank of Nothing, and a girl that- ugh, gross. Her touch burned him. "Get y'er foot outta my face before I lop it off. "

" Get your face out of my foot! " Came Suihei's scathing response, eyes narrowing at the threat thrown her way. The audacity of some people, honestly!

The feline, which had ended up at the bottom of the pile but just as quickly twisted itself out with a water-like movement, tossed his arms to the side in order to lighten his descent. " Something, Darkness Spawn- I believe there are more pressing matters- "

" My name is Suihei! Not Something- " The brunette hissed, pushing herself to her feet with shaky knees while her eyes landed on, well- something that was definitely a problem. A piece of armor - or rather, several pieces of armor, bright purple and with that peculiar emblem on its chest, had risen from the three sets of Heartless that had been trailing after them.

" Noxic. " Came the rabbit's gruff, if not begrudging response. Threads of darkness ran along his arms, before an odd weapon formed in his hands. A scythe with a black stave two jagged, intimidating and crimson blades on each end. With a flourish, he hoisted the weapon onto his shoulders- ignoring the look of unease that the girl shot him now that she had the opportunity for a closer look.

" Nyx Noir. " The feline finally responded, arms raising to form 'claws' of transparent, almost ethereal energy in several threads of white and black. Lightning crackled along the edges of the odd constructs of energy.

" I'd say it's awesome to meet you guys. " Suihei joked with an awkward laugh, willing her Keyblade into existence with a few motes of light flourishing in the air following the summoning. " But I think we can save proper introductions until after this, maybe? "

" So don't be afraid. "

" And just what're you supposed to be, huh?! " Noxic gritted out in anger, throwing his arms to the side in an attempt to push the other two away. They were looking at him with thoseeyes. Those untrusting, scared eyes that only served to make him angrier to look at as time went on. The Dark Lagomorph couldn't help but take a step back- defensive until the very end. "Some kinda- some kinda dumb kid that reads self-help books? You don't know nothin' about me! None of you guys do, so you can just sod off-"

His tirade was cut short by Suihei thwacking him at the back of the head in tandem with Nyx, before the brunette drew both of them in for a tight hug. Admittedly, neither Nobody nor Dark Entity were accustomed to such things, causing each to freeze up for all but a few moments. "You're both- idiotas - it shouldn't matter where either of you come from, because-"

Because they were her friends.

And that's all what really mattered.

" You hold the greatest light of them all. . . "

"It's called Ice-Cream." She tells them with a mirthful smile.

They parrot her with an inquisitive, and vaguely annoyed look in turn.

"Yes, Ice-Cream. It's really good, see?"

Following the first time they'd settled down for the treat, she made it a habit of doing so whenever they were in town after stocking up on materials. For one, it became a tiny gesture of care that he looked forward to every time they visited the mishmash of a world lost for refuge. For another, it simply reminded her of home ( though, it'd never be as good as it was from home ) and for the last, it simply seemed to be another peculiar trait of the Something that looked to him for advice.

" And don't forget . . . The closer you get to the light . . . "

" What's th'worst that could happen? " Noxic asked, glancing over to the duo that had . . . maybe grown on him, during their time together. It was surprising, really, to see how fast they were willing to bait one another into mischief.

"We could get caught. " Nyx pointed out, folding his arms over his chest with a slight arch of the brow. Still- maybe he was curious to see how this would turn out. At the worst, he'd just have to tug his friends out of a sticky situation, all because they wanted to pretend to be pirates.

" But we have these awesome outfits ; don't be such a sourpuss, Nyx! " Suihei chimed, punching her fist into her knuckles while stepping forward. The new clothes definitely were something, though. She looked like she was right out of a pirate movie! Heck, even Nyx looked neat- though the shorts and hair were kind of weird. "So! We should definitely see if this- Treasure Planet is a thing, right-"

Whatever her friends were preparing to say was cut off by the sound of a bullet hitting right beside Noxic's head, causing all three of them to slowly turn around to the feline-isque woman staring at the trio with naught but the greatest disdain. "Pirates."

"Still think this is a good idea, Suihei Something?"

"Oh- shut up Nyx."

" The greater your shadow becomes. "

" A failed experiment, a relic of the past, and a kid with a key walk into a bar. . . " The feminine figure, though hooded in a black coat that was cut in a manner that allowed her navel to be exposed, seemed amused at her rather insulting joke to the trio. Arms extended to the side, as a swell of dark energy pulsed along the ground. They all looked so nervous- good. She'd grab onto that uncertainty and crush them. "Wanting to play the hero, when in reality, you're all just novices interfering in matters that don't concern you!"

Her machine whirled to life behind her with a mechanical hiss, causing yet another swell of darkness to expand rapidly and crack the ground beneath all of their feet. The End of the World - such an interesting place. She figured if she managed to set up the Mammon machine here, of all places, her studies would prove lucrative and she'd finally find that treasure that had eluded her for ages! But then . . . then these runts had to get in the way of everything! She couldn't accept it. She wouldn't accept it.

"So. . ." Her gloved hands come up to tug back her hood, revealing cinnamon coloured skin and a set of dangerously yellow eyes. A streak of white framed one of the messier bangs curling along the side of her face, and the woman could've truly been considered beautiful, if not for the cool, calculating, and outright malevolent glint in her eyes. The Earth cracked again- this time beneath the incredible pressure that her machine had been putting out. "Let's see how much all of you are willing to sacrifice." Her finger pointed at Suihei in particular, a grin of wicked glee breaking out on her features.

"Let's see how willing you are to give your Hearts to Darkness!"

' Words aren't the only way to say something... '

' A thousand years . . . a thousand years, since the seven Lights faced off against the thirteen Darknesses, or so the legend says. It was supposed to be a fairy tale, and yet it ends up in the hands of some snot nosed brat? Irony has never been so sweet. '

' I don't know why the Keyblade chose me, but- I do know, that I'm going to put a stop to you! '

' Even if you're scared, you can't let some jerk like this keep you down! She might be right, yeah, the heart can be weak, but it can also be strong! And I've never been the sort to give in without a fight, y'know? So I won't. I won't give up until the very end! '

' It seems like that key isn't the only thing that you've inherited. You have spirit. It reminds me of- '

' I couldn't have done this without you guys- so! Noxic. Nyx. Thank you. Thank you for everything!'

' Be enveloped by the wings of time, Kursed Child! '

Act I ; Hikari

End

When I had originally intended on doing Destati, I'd had this huge story planned out that would've spanned three sagas and some change if I'd managed to build up a following.

Unfortunately my ability to make good stories beyond one-shots is absolute garbage, so I contend with the knowledge that I'm completely adequate enough at doing one-shots and my characterization could do with some work. A lot of work. I shouldn't be typing this while my brain is kind of on the high-rise to derp, though. Maybe. Definitely.

Either way, if interest picks up again, I may begin presenting one shots in anachronic order attached to Act I, and then reveal Act II somewhere along the lines and do the same for that. At least until both have substantial enough substance for backstory things to be relatively clear. These are actually from bits and pieces of one-shots themselves, those preview thingies- but I digress. '^';