What happens to a cursed girl when she dies? She is free from her torment but is she really? In the afterlife does "God" condemn you for being cursed and send you to the land of untouchables? If my mother is a goddess, why can she not protect me from the suffering I am going to have to endure? The Keyblade is gone, I cannot protect myself. I can feel myself being greedily dragged down by thousands of hands. Mother I have shamed you yet again, crown Sia as the goddess who will take your place. It is supposed to be me, I firmly tell myself. My passive self replies, I am too weak to take the role.

You can still try. I cannot, I have already lost everything. No you have not, you need to wake up! No, stay asleep, being asleep will protect you from the world's imperfections. Sleep will you keep you safe. Mother would not want you sleeping like this. Mother does not truly care for me, she watches her daughters struggle for life like a judge, she pleasures herself to seeing you fight Sia. Do not entertain her. The Keyblade picked you for a reason, you cannot disregard one of the world's most powerful weapons. My blade is broken scrap, how can it do anything to help me now? Father would be disappointed. Father is disappointed even beyond the afterlife. How will you beat the curse if you let go of life so easily? The curse cannot be beaten, it is a part of you. You made promises to people, how can you abandon them? Promises are meant to be broken and that is what my life is-shattered promises.

Shattered promises huh? That is what I am then, promises meant to be broken. Can I die without a struggle knowing this? I promised myself a long time ago that if I ever fell in love with someone, I would remove my hood and show them my true face. It was a naïve idea I had when I thought I could get rid of this curse myself. I would be breaking that early promise along with all the others. Well I am dead now so none of that matters. "You're not dead yet, but you're almost there."

I would be leaving everyone behind: Mizuki and Mia, who are both fighting to preserve the world, Knuckles, who wants to find me and restore the Master Emerald, Sia, my confused and angry sister, and Clancy, who I have yet to find. "It's easy to give up on the things that matter but isn't it harder to fulfill these promises?" It is difficult thinking about all the people I have let down. Dying with so many regrets will guarantee that I will not be with my mother. "Make your decision Keyblade Wielder, Risa, will you fall asleep or regain life?" It is my mother talking to me, trying to save me once more.

My Keyblade is broken because it is a reflection of my heart. It is simply a mirror reminding me of the broken promises I have yet to fulfill, the people I have to protect, the worlds I have to save. Is that the secret behind it? It had to take me dying to finally grasp it? I am too stupid sometimes, if I could laugh, I would. The hands dragging me down release me and I am left dangling in between life and death. I guess I have wasted enough time down here, I should return to Sia. "This will be the last time you arrive here. Next time there won't be a choice." I frantically swim up to the light, my only way out of the vague abyss. Some part of me wants to go into a deep, eternal slumber and other part of me wants to leave this world with all my promises fulfilled. But sleeping is boring, nothing exciting happens while I am asleep.

I open my eyes in the ditch full of water, gasping for air. Pushing against the floor, I swim up while hoping there is still a world left to save. Having my younger half-sister defeat me would be embarrassing would it not? She has the elements on her side that I have yet to understand but I have the Keyblade, a weapon I can finally understand. That is another promise I have to fulfill, learning how to control the elements.

I gasp and hack out the water that filled my lungs once I emerge from the surface. The sky is darker than before but everything is still here, there is still a chance to save everyone. Where is Sia, did she leave already? I sense smoke and fire behind me so I quickly go back underwater, seeing a blast of fire over where my head was. I resurface and pull myself out of the water so I am facing Sia again, who is more furious than earlier. "How can you still be alive?" cries Sia disappointedly. "Why don't you die?"

"You cannot get everything you want in life, sorry," the Keyblade appears in my hand and I lift the blade over my head. She points her fingers at me and a plume of fire shoots out as she screams with fury. The blade splits the beam in half, down the middle, and the fire stops when I hit her across the face. She goes tumbling but hastily picks herself up. I point the Keyblade at her as dirt begins swirling around her hands, solidifying to hard stones. A beam of Light shoots out from the tip but she blocks it with her stone hands. She lunges at me fist first impatiently, she wants to be done with me just as I did earlier. I take the hard hit to my stomach, grasp her rock-hard hand, and zap her with cyan Light from my Keyblade at zero-point range.

"You-you can't beat me with that alone," she forces herself to stand up, her long thick braid and clothes covered in dirt. "You still haven't-guuurg!" I swing at her chest and then get behind her, slashing her from behind. The back of her shirt tears as she bangs into a fallen metal beam. "Unlike you, I do not have time to focus on things I have not grasped yet. But I have to say, I honestly do not understand why you are here Sia," I put my hand on my hip as she turns and lets her blood roll down her nose. Her forehead is blown up with swelling. With enraged eyes like mine, she spits at me. "Don't talk down to me! Just because you're the chosen one doesn't mean-"

"I am asking why you came here and engaged me in a pointless battle," I interrupt her frankly. "If you are smart enough to notice the darkness in the sky, you should see that we do not have time for this."

"Shut up! I'll destroy you Risa!" she plunges her hands into the ground and everything starts to shake. Shit, everything above us will come crashing down if I do not stop her. Vines and spikes jut out from the ground and travel towards me violently. Simultaneously, the water from the ditches rise like snakes and turn into water spouts coming straight at me. She is like a child throwing a tantrum. "Are you that envious of me?" I ask, bringing all her attacks to a sudden halt. Her eyes widen, out of fear or astonishment? "You want to be the Mother's Daughter but why can you not be satisfied with what Mother has given you? This meaningless fight is only exacerbating the world's end."

"You don't know me, I'm meant to destroy! That's all I am, destruction! Born from nature and death, that's what I am," she looks down somberly for a second and then becomes furious. "But you get to be the Keyblade wielder, Mother's favorite. I only have hatred for you." Her assault continues. If I truly am a Daughter of Mother Nature, then I can stop this. She thinks she has it so bad, being rejected and having her hopes crushed, she is free to do whatever she wants. That freedom I crave so badly. The wind stirs up around me and suddenly I am in the center of a vicious tornado that repels her natural assault. "What? You can't do that!" I barely hear Sia with the howling of the ferocious wind. I hold the Keyblade over my head, hoping that this tornado is strong enough to stop Sia. It leaves me and then swirls towards Sia in a random pattern, tearing the vines asunder and wrapping the water around it along with metal beams, cranes, and everything that is left on the construction site.

I see Sia's body swirling in the tornado as she shouts and tries fighting it. Looking up, I see a flash of lightning in the sky directly over my head. I have faith in the Keyblade, the way that boy Seth has faith in his. I lift the blade over my head with both hands and when the lightning comes down, I do not feel my body getting singed. The Keyblade is the lightning rod, I can beat her like this. Lowering the Keyblade, I run a little and try aiming the lightning at the spinning Sia. She evades well in midair but she screams when I get her leg and it quickly travels to the rest of her body. The tornado disappears and she drops to the ground with a loud thud. Gingerly, I move towards her, Keyblade in both hands in case she is not dead. Her body remains perfectly still, her eyes looking at me but not actually looking at me. She groans while getting on all fours and I jump back, she seems ready to fight despite everything. "Risa, is that you?"

A voice I did not want to hear yet. I look to my left to see a dumbfounded Knuckles. I can tell he has a backpack filled with pieces of the Master Emerald like the one Mizuki found. "What are you doing here?" I ask him apprehensively.

"That's what I should be asking you! I thought something happened to you, why didn't you try looking for me?" he asks, apparently hurt.

"This is not the time to be asking such questions Knuckles, you have to get out of here," I persuade, running towards him. Behind me I hear the water stir up and when I turn, I see Sia on her feet and her right hand out. The water juts out at both of us; I face the water and block it with the Keyblade as I am pushed closer to Knuckles. "I can explain everything later. Please-just…run!"

"You need help," he protests fiercely.

"Just…put the-nngh…Master Emerald…back together," I command as I get more soaked. Attacking a bystander is a coward's way out-she is starting to get desperate and irrational. Maybe I can control the water flow and send it back at her. I concentrate hard but I am still being pushed back. "Fine but you better not die here!" Knuckles warns, as he speeds away. Now I do not have to defend anymore; I drop the Keyblade and dash past the aquatic blast towards Sia. That is another promise I cannot break, sorry Sia. Seeing me rush towards her, she brandishes her hands and I can tell the water blast is changing direction. The water plume crashes into me from behind, sending me closer to Sia. The Keyblade reappears in my hand as I prepare for my strike but I see Sia's hand being covered with dirt, hardening every second. She wants this to be over too. I point the Keyblade at her and the tip glows brighter than I have ever seen it shine.

"It ends here!" we both exclaim as her fist meets my chest and the Keyblade shoots a powerful beam of Light at her. The water dies and I fall on my knees, holding my stomach to stop myself from spitting up. Sia drops to the ground without a sound. If that punch was at its full potential, I think I would be dead. I pick my head up to find Sia lying face down on solidifying dirt. Once it hardens into a rock, it lifts her in the air. Gradually she hovers towards the sky without a struggle until she disappears completely. There are hints of orange streaks in the sky not merging with the black covering but distinguishing themselves from the gross darkness. I will not break any of my promises.

J.G.P.

Epilogue time!