Draco: Nothing snappy here. Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.

World of Darkness: Void's Dive

The Void is tangible, seeping into, out of, and between planes of reality.

So when she felt trapped, diving into the emptiness between light and shadow, the Cloud of Darkness knew something was wrong.

To any human senses, the Void would simply be pure emptiness - a loss of perception - no sight, no sound, no scent, nothing to touch, nothing to taste. The Void is maneuvered by reaching out into that emptiness, taking hold of it like the reins of a wyvern and letting it fly. In the Void, all things will come to one who allows that wyvern to soar, and she would depart only when she found what she was looking for.

But nothing came. As the Cloud of Darkness sank in, reaching out, she found the reins missing, like the wyvern had come loose and taken off during her leave. It was a plummet, not a flight, and when she searched around her for the passing reality, she could not find it. She searched, harder and harder, focused herself towards it.

Nothing...

Nothing...

There!

Her focus turned when she saw something pass by. The tower of that insane harlequin? Or rather, the battlefield discord and harmony had crafted from it. Mismatched material, steam from some twisted hybrid of magic and machine - and a definitive presence of insanity. She tried to reach towards it - but it was a passing image, and the more she tried to approach it, the less there it was.

She was close enough to contact it, just before it truly faded, and attempt she did.

A crash.

It was as though the Void had shattered. The image cracked like a fallen glass, and the Cloud of Darkness was repelled, the passing image vanishing like a flame had been blown out. Her fall turned into a launch, and she tumbled away, struggling to reach something in that emptiness.

A sudden rush; and her eyes opened.

She was lying on the floor of the World of Darkness battleground, mists of her rift to the void parting from around her. As she raised her gaze, she saw that it had shifted - the battlefield was in its 'far darkness' array, with platforms of crystal joined by strands of white mist, and an endless drop below within which discord and harmony had layered a rift-warping magic that their warriors had referred to as 'banish trap'.

"You should have warned me this place was going to change on me."

The Cloud turned to see the Onion Knight sitting on one of the platforms. He was much different than she had last seen him; he was reclining on the crystal, rather near the edge of the platform - and the battlefield. In one hand was a book, and on the cover was an unfamiliar text - was that the 'Lufenian' language that she had heard of from Garland? In the other was a small tablet, inscribed with the same runes, and sitting on the floor at his right side was another book with a pen sitting between the pages.

After a moment, he set the tablet down and started writing in the book. "I didn't realize we were still in Omega mode," he prompted. "If you knew it was going to change, you could have said something."

"...Omega?" the Cloud of Darkness asked, figuring that she would get the least confusing answer to the least confusing question. "Where did that name...?"

"The battlefields only started going out of whack after Cosmos was... out of the picture," Onion replied, picking up the tablet again. "Without harmony to balance it out, discord's running rampant was screwing up the battlefields before it moved on to the terrain outside the gateways. There were a few that weren't acting up, though - the throne room in Pandaemonium, around the Crystal Tower, the Phantom Train, and Zidane's stage - Prima Vista?" He raised his gaze from his book - and then dropped his tablet. "Woah, what the heck...?"

The Cloud gaze down at herself and was surprised to see her body had changed. The markings across her body had balanced out, and turned a bright sky-blue. Her cape had turned brilliant white, and bead loops were wrapped around her thighs and ankles.

"...The Void had no respect for allegiances," she sighed, raising her gaze to Onion Knight once more.

He lowered his gaze to a book, but his eyes were narrowed in thought. "Darkness surrounding a core of light... or light surrounding a core of darkness," he murmured.

"What...?"

"It's nothing," Onion insisted, picking up his pen and writing in his book for a moment. "Anyways, yeah. When the battlefields started acting up, everyone agreed we needed a different classification for them. None of the others came up with good names - Cecil said 'reform' versions, Firion wanted to call them 'wilted', and Cloud brought up something about 'mako'. When no one could agree, they turned to me. I figured, these battlefields are the last things we're going to see before we finish off Chaos, so I called them 'Omega' stages."

A moment's quiet.

"What'd you find?" Onion asked, lowering his book and tablet again.

The questioned returned to mind her dive to the Void. "We... we could not traverse," she murmured. "The Void, it has... condensed upon itself. We passed the harlequin's tower, but our attempt to approach it resulted in our nearly losing ourselves. We... are trapped."

"What?" Onion demanded. "You mean... we're stuck here?"

"It would appear so. What's more... we seem to remain within the gods' battlefield. The other battlefields still seem to be present, and..." She fell quiet once again.

"What?"

"...It seems... the other warriors... remain in the battlegrounds crafted from their homes, as well..."

"WHAT?" Onion shot to his feet, casting the book to the platform. "You mean... we're not the only ones? Everyone's stuck?"

Slowly, the Cloud of Darkness nodded her head.

A moment of silence.

"No... TERRA!"

+x+x+x+

"Dance! DANCE!"

The mad cackle of Kefka Palazzo echoed across the tower. His target - a young female image wrapped in blue and white - could only shift in place as bolts of lightning danced around her. Trying to dodge was helpless, the voltage only surrounding her further, and no sooner had she come to a stop to wait it out than a bolt of lightning slammed down on her form above, dragging her skyward as Kefka took off.

Triple shots of fire flew from his hands, ricocheting off the edges off the tower and striking the helpless female once more; then he held his hands against one another as a ring of magic that looked like visual static appeared between them.

"Whad'ya think of this?"

The circle rose, and orbs of monochrome magic began to fall from it, erupting in spheres of static as his poor target raced away. The ring chased after her, bombarding all around her, and it was only a moment before the attack caught up and dropped a burst of Forsaken Null upon her helm.

A scream of pain tore through her lips as she tumbled out of the air, crashing through pipe and steel until she collided with the base of the tower - and then a surge of Magitek steam flared from the impact, launching her skyward once more.

"Special delivery!"

No sooner had she reached the peak of her flight than Kefka released the magic he had been charging, however briefly - a rapid-burst wave of fire surged from his palms, connecting with her flesh, and she screamed as the flames engulfed her, slamming her into the wall.

Again did steam of Magitek erupt from the connection, sending her flying once more - but her flight was cut short this time, as the harlequin reached forward and grabbed her by the throat.

The impact alone was nearly enough to slay her; that scream that escaped from her lips was broken, strangled, and stained her teeth with blood. She struggled for a moment, choking and crying in torment, and only when she was half an inch from death did he hurl her into the wall once more, blazing orbs of magic pinning her against the steam.

Then he flew right up and whirled into a flip as magic trembled across his spine.

Six wings - two of demon, four of angel - surged from his back.

She could not move before the attack tore through her body, feathers stained with blood as they emerged.

For a breath's pass, everything was still; a moment of destruction halted in time.

Then the image faded, and Kefka whirled in place. The wings vanished as he touched down on the platform, laughing without sanity, and licking his lips of blood that was not truly there - for his opponent had been only crafted of magic, and he enjoyed the thought of being able to do this to her when next he truly encountered her.

+x+x+x+

The quiet roar of wheels on track echoed through the car of the Phantom Train. Terra woke weakly, stiff from sleep, and glanced around. The car were empty - as they had been last time she had woken, and the time before. She had hoped slumber would bring her to the world she knew - but she now chose to give up, knowing it would not help.

She sighed, sitting properly in her seat and holding out a hand as a ball of flame appeared within it.

"I won't call you out for this," she murmured wordlessly to the flame. "It's not your fault. I'm not here because I want to be - and I'm sure you're not away from here because you wanted to be." She closed her eyes. "But if you can... please. Come find me. I want to see you again... I feel so lonely without you." She gazed at the flame again. "And if I can... I'll come find you. I promise you."

She felt strange, speaking to a ball of fire - but her thoughts were on the boy that had striven to protect her.

+x+x+x+

And the Crystal Tower, caught in the center of a maze, was silent without action...

Draco: Because I'm evil like that.