Angelo: Alright! Finally made it!

Sora: You seem to be in a good mood, Angelo.

Angelo: 'Course I am! Finishing up this story, and I'm playing a regular game of Dungeons & Dragons. It's hard not to be in a good mood! It's been a while since I've played, too. We're doing a Double Campaign - where each player plays two character - and I am playing a Human Cleric of Pelor and a Dragonborn Paladin of the Raven Queen. The rest of our party includes an Elf Ranger, a Deva Invoker of Sehanine, a Shardmind Warlock, and an Elf Runepriest of Erathis.

Sora: And you'll be having us play some D&D in the fic, aren't you?

Angelo: Of course! I'm also proud to present a new feature for my homepage:

Things SirAngelo Has Learned Playing Dungeons & Dragons

#1: Surprise Rounds will eff you up!

#2: Gnomes are shifty little buggers with a stupid high Bluff Skill

#3: Must kill all gnomes

Sora: *writes information down* Never know when this stuff will come in handy...

Anyways, thank you everyone for reading, I hope you enjoy the last little bit. There is a new poll up on the main page, so check that out. Again, reviews aren't just welcomed, they are encouraged. And I look forward to writing more in the future! Take care!

Chapter 48: The End

Dayne's body dropped like a stone, falling headlong into the pit left behind by Cassius the Cosmos, passing through the empty light sourced within it's depths. It was not like falling through air, there was almost no feeling as he permeated the veil. Eventually, the light faded away, and he touched down on solid ground, finding himself within another void filled with heavenly bodies. Clusters of stars and nebulae swirled in the skies above him, space stretching out endlessly, with some kind of glassy material making up the floor, reflecting the dim starlight high above, making it seem as if the ground itself possessed and ethereal glow.

And standing across from Dayne, was Cassius the Cosmos himself, fully repaired from his breakdown moments before.

"I knew you would follow me, Deuce." The Immortal sneered. Dayne paid him no mind, instead summoning his Keyblade and preparing for battle. "Why so temperamental?"

Dayne charged forth, leaping into the air and slashing down with Butterfly Rain. Cassius leisurely avoided the attack, as if Dayne was moving as slow as a tortoise.

"Don't be so hasty to finish me off, fool." He waves his arms to the alien geometries that were their surroundings. "You do know what this place is, don't you?" When Dayne made no response, Cassius continued. "This is the zone that has confined Zirconiade for so long. If Zirconiade ceases to be, so does this zone. So does the Severed Realm I have called home for many years. And need I remind you that Zirconiade and I are one in the same now." Dayne only scoffed at the villain.

"Do you take me for an idiot or something?" Cassius scowled back. "I inferred all of that before I jumped in. I knew that doing this would be the end of me, and I also knew I was the only one who could do this." He chuckled darkly to himself. "If I die, who's going to miss me, right? Anyways...I woke up this morning, fully expecting, fully wanting to die! That may have changed over the course of the day, but the moment I stepped into this pit, I knew I wouldn't be stepping back."

If Cassius was taken aback by this, he did a good job not showing it, instead staring Dayne down through his visor. "And I'm not gonna be afraid of you either," Dayne continued. "Not anymore. Remember how you lost to us five minutes ago? I bet you still can't contain all the energy of that form in your body." He grinned wickedly at the proclamation, but Cassius remained unfazed.

"Yes. That is a problem. However..." A glowing, orange mist began to seep out of Cassius's body, his body shrinking in size as it did. The armour began to dissolve or retract into his body, eventually returning him to the form he was in when he rose out of the pit. Everything below his neck was covered by the featureless, smooth, blue stone-like material, a glowing orb inserted in the middle of his chest, while his head bore remarkable similarities to Cassius the Hell's.

Dayne narrowed his eyes in anticipation. Looks like he leeched off some of his excess power. He's weaker in this form – a lot weaker – but he won't end up getting crippled in this fight. That could be a problem...

"I thought this form would be fitting for our duel." Cassius stretched out his arms and twin katanas materialized in his hands. "A form remarkably similar to my original one; the one you first met all those years ago. I think I shall dub it: Cassius the Perfected."

"You can call yourself whatever you want, it still makes you a parasite." Dayne smiled. He found that analogy of Sora's awful clever, even though it was technically insulting him, too.

"Make all the clever quips you want, it makes no difference." Cassius wheeled his blades around, taking his stance. "I will defeat you, Dayne Rivera. Your corpse will be the first rung on my ladder to Godhood."

"Maybe." Dayne stood with his legs spread wide, left leg held in front of the right one. His Keyblade was gripped in both hands, held off to the side, and parallel with his hip and right leg. "Maybe you won't though. There's a clear difference between the two of us psychologically, Cassius. And that difference will mean the difference in victory and defeat!"

Both long-lived Immortals let their battle cries loose and charged across the bizarre dimension, swords clanging against one another, sounding the beginning of their final duel. One eighty-years in the making.


Meanwhile, crossing back from the Severed Realm into the Realm of Light, The Ark was making the final legs of this journey, ferrying the group of intrepid adventurers and Keybladers back home.

But Kairi was not in the mood for celebrating, as much as she missed some normalcy in life. She was sitting in some random hallway in the ship, sulking to herself, clutching Dayne's longcoat. Kairi didn't exactly know how to feel, to be furious at him for leaving her, or to sink into a terrible sadness because, well, Dayne was gone.

He was gone. She could only remember knowing him for two months, true, but he was her last connection to her past life. Even ignoring the fact that she had lost a friend, there were just so many things that she realized she wanted to ask Dayne, but couldn't now. She barely knew anything about her parents, or her brother, or about the kingdom she know swore she would rule. She felt like a complete idiot.

He Keyblade Spirit's voice rang into her head, loud and clear. You're far too hard on yourself. I mean, sure you spent two months with him and had ample time to ask him these questions. And sure, you knew that he was developing some hearty death-seeker traits. And sure-

She was not in the mood for this right now. Stop talking, Miw. Now.

Uh...yes. Sorr- Miw!

It's what I'm calling you now.

That is not my name. He sounded rather offended.

Yes, but until you tell me wh-

Until you tell me!

Kairi rolled her eyes and continued, undaunted. Until you tell me what your name is, I'm calling you that. It's an acronym for "Man-In-White".

"Miw" coughed, rather sheepishly. Very well. Whatever you wish, Princess.

"Dayne! Don't call me Princess!" A half-second after the fact, she realized what she had said and clapped a hand over her mouth. Dayne was the only one who would call her that and really, really mean it. And he kept calling her that, no matter how many times she told him not to. She suddenly felt even more crestfallen, realizing Dayne would never call her that again...

"So this is where you've been hiding." She looked up to see Sora and Namine standing over her. "Who were you talking to, just now?" Sora asked her, acting so carefree as always. She was very envious of that trait.

Kairi shied away from them, clutching the longcoat tighter. Sora and Namine didn't take the hint and sat right next to her. "Just talking to myself..." She muttered, realizing she wouldn't be getting her way.

"Kairi...I know you're sad about Dayne, but you can't just shut yourself out like this." Namine rested a hand on her shoulder. "No one else is. Sora isn't. Roxas isn't. I'm not."

The forlorn Princess almost lashed out at her new sister. "You didn't know-"

"Dayne was a very light sleeper." Namine cut her off, very slowly and gently, noting the anger in Kairi's voice. "He would only get around four or five hours a night. And Roxas and I would also leave you two at night and come out for some..." She coughed into her hand. "Alone time... We would often talk with Dayne, too. He was our friend as much as yours, and we're all going to miss him a whole lot. But...you can't do this to yourself Kairi."

She looked at her rather sullenly. "Are you saying I shouldn't mourn him?"

"No, you should mourn him. Mourn him as much as you want. But don't let mourning him become your entire life. Remember when Rain died? Remember what Dayne turned into? Don't let yourself turn into that, Kai..."

Kairi didn't respond, instead she looked back down at the longcoat. "Kairi." Sora's voice came softly. She felt her head move against her will, now looking directly at Sora, who was looking back at her with his soft, pure cerulean eyes, his face quiet and calm. "We're going to miss Dayne. Everyone of us. But I don't think this is the end... I don't think Dayne is gone for good."

"What?" She blinked back. Sora smiled and nodded.

"It's just a feeling I have." He said simply. "I mean, this is Dayne we're talking about! Do you really think he'd go down so easily? Just have a little faith in him... I mean, where would we be without it? Without believing in our friends and that they can do the impossible and find their way back to us. Roxas and Namine came back to us. And so did Riku. I did too... I came back to you." He still remembered that moment. Plunging the Keyblade of People's Hearts into his chest, freeing Kairi but (seemingly) damning himself. He never thought he would come back, as all the warmth left his body. Well, all the warmth except a tiny little bit. He had saved Kairi. He could have died there, and that would have been enough for him.

"And, Kairi, also remember you're not alone." The redhead looked to turn at Namine. Her flaxen-haired twin looking a bit embarrassed for whatever reason. "I know you're all ready to become Kairi Ralleone, Crown Princess of the Radiant Garden, Heir to the Ralleone Royal Family Dynasty and all that, but don't forget you have me and...and..." The hint of a smile twitched across her face. "And you have mom and dad, and Erica too. We may not know anything about who you were beforehand, but we're still your family. We still love you, too."

A smile started to break across Kairi's face at long last, as she drew her sister and her boyfriend into a loving hug. "Thank you..." She whispered to them. She had always had a good relationship with her adopted sister, and really missed her when she left for college last fall. She had another one now – a twin – one that wouldn't leave her so easily. She wanted to have the same relationship with Namine that she had with Erica. And Sora... I was an idiot to wait so long to tell him I love him. I won't make that mistake twice. I'm not waiting so long this time... How true that statement was. And Kairi didn't even know it yet...

As Kairi was roused out of her funk, she was being watched by a third party, unknown to the others. Kalyn watched the relative stranger with intense focus, wondering what her story was.

"What you up to?" She turned around, seeing Riku had sneaked up on her. "Spying on Kairi?"

She shrugged. "I guess. She sulks for the easiest reasons...What's her deal anyways?"

"Eh...it's a complicated thing." The two began to walk away from the other three. "Remind me to tell you someday... Oh! That reminds me, have you given any thought to my offer?"

She squinted at him. "'Offer'?" The she remembered. He had asked if she would like to live on the Islands after all this madness. She began to chew on her bottom lip in thought. For the last couple hours, ever since Edward called her out for being such a bitch, her mind had been preoccupied on herself, her life, and what she wanted out of it. Ed and Al had lost their mother, and much of themselves, in a horrific accident, and yet they were good people. She had been asking herself what her damage was.

"I..." She stopped, unable to find her words. Why was it that she always felt so flustered when she talked to Riku? "I keep thinking back to Ivalice. Being stuck in Rabanastre, being harassed by the Imperials day in and day out. Being anchored to that one place, unable to do anything about my fate. Just thinking about it makes me angry, so utterly furious at that place and the position I was left in... The you came. Then I got the Keyblade. I got my Freedom, and I could finally control my own life." She summoned the blue falchion of a Keyblade, admiring it reverently, before turning to Riku and saying, coffee coloured eyes filled with determination. "I don't want to go back to that place. I am tired of being angry all the time. I just want to live."

Riku smiled back at her, causing the Ivalician girl to shy away a bit. "You can do that on the islands...Might get a little boring for you, but least you'll be used to the weather...hehe." Jeez...I sound like Sora.

Dawn sighed in an overly dramatic way. Don't start going all gaga on her, you hear?

Careful so Kalyn wouldn't see him, he rolled his eyes. You have some of the worst timing possible, Dawn...

Part of my charms, Riku-kun!

"So, what is there to do on your home?" She asked, curiously. However inept the islanders were in magic compared to Ivalice, they were leagues ahead in technology.

"Uh...that depends." He wasn't sure how to go about this. They were going to have a few conversations involving social etiquette and modern society. "I mean, we – Sora, Kairi, myself, and probably Roxas and Namine – are gonna be back in school in about a month."

She looked at him startled. "You're all rich enough to afford education?" He looked back at her, confused. "In Rabanastre, only the rich can afford education."

"Well, on the islands, public education is mandated for everyone until they're sixteen."

"You have enough people to tutor all those children?"

Now it was his turn to sigh, exasperated. The idea of a public school building was apparently foreign in Ivalice. This was going to be a long process...


Cassius vanished from sight, and Dayne reflexively back away, holding his Keyblade up. Blood slowly tricked down his body, from his legs, his arms, his shoulders, and his back.

No matter how strong his regeneration was, Dayne couldn't withstand such an assault for much longer. Cassius's speed and dexterity were at a seemingly unmatched level, so much so that Dayne could barely block or dodge an attack before being sliced up. And his speed didn't even factor into Cassius's newest ability: teleportation

In a shocking gambit, one that completely caught Dayne off-guard, Cassius appeared right in front of him, lunging at his head with one of his swords. Dayne narrowly swerved out of the way of the striking blade, the edge dragging across his forehead, drawing more of his blood out. Better that than the alternative, getting his head split open by the katana.

The Immortal leader vanished, only to reappear just as quick, to Dayne's right, with the bleeding Keyblader jumping away just in time to avoid being skewered on twin blades. When Dayne landed from his jump, Cassius was right behind him, raking his swords across laterally across his shoulders. Blood spurted into the air, with Dayne stumbling away in blind pain. Cassius blocked his wild trashing by warping directly in front of him, jamming a katana into and through his gut. Dayne doubled over in pain, blood gushing out of his stomach wound and mouth. Cassius withdrew the now-crimson blade from his foe's body, kicking Dayne away from him, a streak of blood trailing after him.

"Warped Euclidean!" Dayne looked up, expecting another unblockable attack, but instead saw Cassius's entire body turning into a metallic liquid substance – not unlike mercury – and seeping into the ground, with no trace of him to be seen.

Cautiously, Dayne got to his feet, some of his wounds knitting themselves up. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. Speed was the name of the game in this fight; Cassius had to be quick to exhaust Dayne's healing factor, while Dayne had to be just as quick, since Cassius's limitless energy would cause a battle of attrition to swing in his favour. And for a big, burly power fight like Dayne taking on a swift, lighting-fast attacker like Cassius, the odds weren't not looking good for the Master of Lightning.

Unbeknownst to him, a blob of liquid metal was growing from the floor behind Dayne, eventually rising up and taking shape. It looked like Cassius's entire upper body had sprouted from the ground! Before Dayne realized he was being flanked by his enemy, Cassius drove both his katanas into Dayne's back, causing him to scream in pain, arching backward. With his enemy paralysed in pain, Cassius swung his arms overhead, picking Dayne up and flipping him through the air, slamming the blue-haired Guardian onto the ground. Cassius turned back into the liquid metal, flowing away, then rising up, back to his normal form.

Getting back to his feet, much slower this time, Dayne glared at his former leader, breathing heavily after the constant assault. Despite the pain racking his body, he managed to lift up his claymore of a Keyblade, now glowing with red light. "My turn...and I think I'm gonna perform a classic for this one." He swung his blade slowly in a low arc, keeping a constant eye on Cassius. Suddenly, his blade caught on fire. "Prism Chain Arts, Firaga Style: Serpentine Blaze!"

"Telega Rush!"

Cassius vanished from sight, as Dayne unleash a wave of flame from his Keyblade, taking the form of a serpentine dragon. The living flames circled through the air, crashing through to the ground, hitting nothing in it's fiery wake. Blue energy now collected around Butterfly Rain, as Dayne soaked up an aerial slash from Cassius, who warped away again.

"Prism Chain Arts, Blizzaga Style!" He hefted his Keyblade into the air, scales of jewelled ice sprouting over the blade. Cassius appeared to his left. "Diamond Shower!"

The scales burst off the blade with a thunderous crack, raining down all over Dayne. Cassius tried to slash the projectiles away, but several of them bypassed his frantic guard, embedding themselves into his skin and causing him to err away for now, teleporting again.

I've got this... Dayne hopped three steps away. "Prism Chain Arts, Striking Style!" He paused for a moment, waiting, ever patient and wary...just as Cassius appeared right above him, diving downward, swords first! Dayne jumped away again, causing Cassius to smash down, katanas scrabbling across the glassy ground. "Five second's are up! Rocket Lance!" Golden energy surrounded Dayne, as he darted towards Cassius, Keyblade outstretched, feet hovering off the ground. Cassius went to block the attack, crossing his blades over his chest, but Dayne changed attacks at the last moment, raising his Keyblade up over the centre of the guard, driving the Keyblade into this chest, and pushing Cassius backwards.

"Five seconds," Dayne huffed. He felt a little too weak. Too much blood loss already. "That's the time between when you disappear and reappear with that little teleport spam... No more tricks, Cassius."

"Oh, there are still many more tricks." Both katanas were driven into the odd, glassy ground, a wave of green energy rippling from them, spreading over the surface. "Eldritch Geometries!"

Dark, razor sharp metallic spires began to erupt from the area around Dayne, shooting up at odd angles like spears. None of them came close to hitting him, even as spires shot out of spires, but they ended up becoming so tightly clustered together, it leaved very little room for the big man to move.

"Warped Euclidean!"

Through the thicket of dark metal, Dayne saw Cassius shift into his mercurial form, vanishing into the ground again. Before he could even think of manoeuvrings out of the forest of towers, Cassius sprouted out of one of them, slashing almost right through his adversary with a brutal slash. Blood erupted from Dayne's back as he staggered about within the limited space of his prison. The assault was far from over though, as Cassius continued to turn into liquid and reform, raining down a flurry of blows on Dayne, inflicting more and more brutal wounds upon him. One the last strike, Cassius chose to straight up impale Dayne, piercing him through the right side of his chest and nailing him to one of the spires.

"Is this really the best you can do?" Cassius reformed outside of the prison of towers, his katana now shining with sickly green and orange light. "A Keyblade Wielder and an Immortal, and all you can muster is a few meagre flesh wounds?" Dayne made no reply except to groan and struggled against the pinning weapon, feebly. "What a disappointment. What should be the beginning of my glorious ascension is now just a meaningless and annoying struggled." With his sword, Cassius traced the Grecian letter for "Omega", leaving behind a trail of light to show off the character. "Begone. Omega Diffusion!"

Cassius waved his katana, and a rush of green-tinted wind billowed through the alien space, striking against the the prisons of spires, shattering them utterly, before picking up Dayne and the newly made debris and depositing them even farther away from the Immortal leader.

"Guess I don't have much of a choice..." Dayne said wearily, his voice echoing over the patter-patter of blood drops. He pulled out the katana lodged in his body and chucked it across the battlefield, towards Cassius. "Remember when I said that there was a clear difference between the two of us?" He was now standing up, an action that came with much difficulty. "The difference is that you have to hold back, while I don't You think you'll be going back if you win-"

"I know I will be going back when I win!"

Dayne acted like he never heard Cassius's proclamation. "But I know what awaits me, whether I win or lose. I'm not going home. I die after this fight, plain and simple. But I won't go quietly into the night, I'm fighting for everyone else up there. With a monster like you running about, their hopes and dreams lie on me! So I can't afford to hold back in this fight, unlike you. Your delusions are holding you back from your true potential!"

"You mean the Infuse?" Cassius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep." After a moment, Dayne oddly examined his Keyblade, chuckling to himself. "It's funny actually. Ever since I got this, it's as if I can hear all those hearts in my body that I collected from long ago. Wanna know what they're telling me?" He didn't bother waiting for a response. "They're all screaming at me to kick you sorry ass! So I'm gonna oblige them, I'm gonna use up every single last heart that I have, right down to my original, take their prayers and hope and strength and use it to put an end to you once and for all!"

Cassius scoffed. "Use the Infuse until only your heart remains? Don't be a fool, no Immortal has that fine a control over it!"

"Really?" Dayne shut his eyes in concentration. "Well, let's put your theory to the test, shall we?"

All of a sudden, a great rush of energy exploded around Dayne, a great, bright blue flame surrounding and billowing around the reformed Immortal. His eyes shone with the same power, almost blotting out his grey-green irises. Muscles and tendons bulged and tensed up, and the wounds riddling his body seemed to heal quicker than possible. If it weren't for the rips in his clothing and the bloodstains, you could have sworn that Dayne was just starting this fight.

"If you are trying to intimidate me, you fail." Cassius motioned with his free hand, his discarded katana returning to it's master's grip. "I will not be cowed by some empty boast! Telega Rush!"

Cassius vanished, and five seconds later, appeared above Dayne's shoulder, ready to strike. The newly empowered Dayne, however, had different plans. He spun around, blocking the sweeping slash with his Keyblade, before breaking his guard, wheeling his large weapon around and slamming into Cassius's shoulder. The rock-like skin broke under the force of Butterfly Rain, blood bursting out from the crater of a wound, as Cassius was smashed down onto the ground, bouncing off it like a ball.

"Tch..." Cassius groaned as he was sent flying away. He was utterly shocked by this display of power. The strength, the speed, the healing factor... Such a turn around was maddening! "So you've used the Infuse..." Cassius stood back up; Dayne's flame-like aura was still around, overshadowing even the man itself, it was so prominent. "Power is not everything..."

"Open your ears, you deluded moron!" Dayne shouted. "Didn't I tell you what I'm fighting for? Who I'm fighting for?"

"You're convictions are meaningless!"

"They are not!" With Dayne's temper rising, the energy about him flared up, growing brighter and bigger. "I've place all my heart behind those kids, I stake my entire life on them! So believe me when I say it: I would gladly give my life today, to build them all a better tomorrow!"

Again, the aura began to change shape, growing in sheer intensity and magnitude, but the changes were much more drastic than that. The blue flame began to shift, from wild and uncontrolled, to a pure, focused shape. The energy wrapped around his body, growing and pulsing, evolving, sharpening, and transforming, eventually taking the form of a set of large, magnificent butterfly wings jutting out from his back, made of the shimmering energy!

"I am not afraid of you, Dayne Rivera!" Cassius bellowed in challenge, taking a fighting stance. "Come! See what your useless convictions will sow.

Before meeting his opponent in battle, Dayne spoke, his voice almost a whisper against the roar of his wings. "These are my convictions. Take them, and see what they truly are. See who I truly am. This is everything I am. Take it all."

With a violent, sudden burst of movement – so fast it seemingly caused a sonic boom – Dayne charged at Cassius, driving Butterfly Rain down on the unprepared Immortal, stunning him with it's power. "This is my sorrow! This is my rage! This is my fear! This is my joy, my hatred, my love, my weakness, my strength, my life, my death! Take it all, Cassius!" Dayne punctuated every word he uttered with an attack. A brutal hammering smash or a terrible, rending slash, battering Cassius to hell with his violent assault. A downward stab to the thigh, nearly severing the leg in two. Striking his spine with the flat of his blade, throwing Cassius off kilter and away. A two-handed strike to the chest, the blunt blow cracking his stone-like skin. "This is my everything!"

Dayne's declaration was followed by a grand slash, his entire body and weight put behind it, and wave of energy following the slash itself. The blow caused Cassius to fly away from Dayne, his body now covered in cracks and rents, blood trickling across his alien body. His katanas were shattered into pieces, as he landed in a heap, several yards away from Dayne.

Defiant to the bitter end, Cassius tried to get back to his feat, gasping for breath. "I-I shall not let it end this way..."

"You don't have a choice in the matter, Cassius. Something's are beyond our control, and we must except that fact!" All of the energy that had created his wings, began to flow down Dayne's body and into his Keyblade, causing the ancient weapon's blade to be engulfed in a thick blanket of electrical energy. "You're a miserable creature, full or arrogance and greed, with contempt for everything but yourself. I have no pity for you, and wish for you nothing less than the worse punishment than hell has to offer!"

"Save me the speech, hero!" Cassius spat out with the vilest of contempt. "Do not dare pass judgement on me without passing it on yourself! You think you're better than me? Do no make me laugh! You're just like me!"

"I am nothing like you!" Dayne raged back, pointing the electrified Keyblade at Cassius. "I am better than you in every single goddamned way! You know why? Because one I die, people will cry for me! They will remember me! That is true immortality right there, parasite! At the most, you'll be remembered as an annoying footnote in the annals of the Keyblade." Dayne reared his Keyblade back and took a step forward.

"So shut up and die already!"

He lunged forward, swinging his Keyblade with all his might.

"FINISHING MOVE!"

Before the weapon hit the ground, it's payload was unleash. A burst of electrical energy launching forward at insane speeds. Far too fast for Cassius to dodge...

"STORM'S BUTTERFLY!"

The burst collided with Cassius, exploding outward and engulfing Cassius in the blast, taking the form of a large butterfly-shaped bloom of electricity, the alien dimension enlightened by the bright blue sigil!

The blast died down, the dim roar of a storm fading away, leaving only Dayne's heavy breathing as the existing sound. Cassius's entire body was scorched and torn, once again disintegrating, as the Immortal leader was left shocked and confused at his ultimate fate.

"I...am...Immortal!" He managed to croak out. The orb on his chest shattered, before his body crumbled into dust.

Dayne dismissed Butterfly Rain and fell backwards onto his back.

Sure enough, without Cassius and Zirconiade around, this dimension was collapsing. The stars in the sky were blinking out of existence, one by one, the other celestial bodies being likely snuffed out. A deep rumbling sounded throughout the bizarre space, as the glassy floor crumbled away into the void. In the centre of it all, Dayne laid spent and exhausted; even if he had a way back, he would not be able to reach it. Indeed, he had given his everything in that final assault.

And yet, he felt no fear in this. Death was coming for him, and he would not fight or resist. It was about time. He had lived for seventy-eight years after all. Almost seventy-nine.

A long life full of so many memories...many of the best ones he could still see and feel like it was yesterday. All the enemies, the friends, the fights... He remembered his first night after defecting from the Immortals, him and Rain staying in a hotel on some long-forgotten world. The day they discovered the Garden and the day the joined the Guardians. When they were formally introduced to Kairi, a shy little girl frightened by Dayne's size at first. She had tugged on his hair when he first picked her up, saying she thought the colour was pretty. He remembered losing practice duels to Queen Beatrix, and the piles of shit he was fed afterwards, always done as a joke though. He remembered the one night he, Braig, Dilan, Aeleus, and Even went out to a bar. He and Braig got thoroughly plastered and locked Even in a dumpster overnight. And he remembered Rain most of all. The warmth of her body next to his, lying in bed. The feeling of her kisses, and how it felt the first time they made love...

"Yeah... All and all, it was a pretty good life."

And with that, Dayne Rivera the Immortal shut his eyes for the last time, as the darkness consumed him. Last thing her felt, was the sensation of falling.


They disembarked on one of Salm's shorelines, at around eight in the evening, and the sendoff seemed rather abrupt and awkward. Losing an ally never made things any better, no matter what the circumstances.

"I guess this is goodbye, everyone." Alphonse stated.

"For now." Sora turned to Aqua and Terra. "We still have stuff to do, don't we?" Three Keyblade Wielders were still dormant around the universe, and it seemed that there were enemies about. That new Nobody they encountered.

"You do." Aqua said with a sad nod. "We'll return to you in about a month's time. Don't worry about it until then, though. Enjoy your last month of summer." Her weak smile seemed to suggest they were going to need that extra bit of relaxation.

"So, is everyone ready?" Terra turned to the group. The handful of beings not from the Islands look a little noncommittal to leaving, as if they could leave or stay. Kalyn stepped to the front of the group.

"Actually...I was wondering if it would be okay for me to stay here? Not go back to Ivalice..." She put forward the question in a very sheepish and quiet voice, taking most everyone by surprise.

Terra shrugged. "Won't hurt if you do, I guess." He turned to the Islanders. "You're okay with this?"

"Yeah." Said Riku.

"I wonder why..." Roxas muttered, drawing a glare from Riku and Kalyn.

"I'm sure we can find some place for her." Sora offered.

"Alright then. Now if that's all settled – What the heck is that?" The knight pointed up into the sky

Everyone turned about to see what Terra was pointing at: A shooting star was streaking through the evening fall sky, a not too unfamiliar sight for Kairi.

"A shooting star?" Namine raised an eyebrow.

"It couldn't be?" Riku turned to Sora. The two were wearing the same expression. "Could it?"

Kairi didn't wait around for an answer. The redhead bolted away from the group, towards where the star looked like it would land. Everyone else soon followed suite.

"This is the one thing I'm not gonna miss here..." Ed grumbled. "No one gives a solid answer to anything."


With a loud, wet smack, he fell into darkness.

Sensation returned to his body. Touch no longer muted and constrained. Now it was his body that was constrained, moving slowly as he thrashed about in his unknown surroundings. He opened his eyes, but only saw a dark, blurry world. His eyes and nostrils began to burn. He tried screaming, calling out for help, but no sound came. His surroundings rushed down into his throat, burning it just like his eyes. Thrashing even more wildly, he saw a glimmer of light through the distortion, and headed there on instinct...

He surfaced out of the ocean, and took a deep breath, salt water trickling down him as the setting sun beat down on the paradise he had landed in.

"Dayne!"

He reacted at his named being shouted out, looking for the source. On the shore of a nearby island, stood Kairi, and Sora, and Roxas and Namine and everyone else. All of them shared a startled, stunned expression, one which must have been mirrored on Dayne's face.

He didn't know what was happening, how he was back, whether this was the real world or the afterlife. He swam towards the shore and his friends, cutting through the choppy waters, his body apparently not realizing it had just gone through a hellacious battle a few minutes ago. Or was it even minutes? Maybe hours? He didn't care.

He clambered out of the water, his outfit soaked through, but there was not a cut on it or his body. He peeled his soak hair away, it being pasted to the front of his face. This is real... He was indeed standing in front of his friends, who were shocked, but happy nonetheless.

"What happened to your hair?" Sora asked suddenly, causing Dayne to double take. This was the kind of greeting he was getting?

"Oh, that's a nice way to greet me..." Dayne pawed through his wet hair, looking at a handful of soaked strands. "Oh...I see." The steel-blue colour it had always been had darkened a shade or two. The oddest part though was several streaks of new colour. A fringe of spikes on either side of the front of his hair were now the oddest shade of deep crimson. The effect looked quite ridiculous, and everyone chuckled slightly at the sight of the now bi-coloured haired man.

"Um...here." Terra, who himself looked completely lost at this turn of events, offered Dayne a hand in assistance. Strangely, Dayne took it without protest, but was soon left behind. When their hands clasped together, Terra looked positively thunderstruck, backing away from Dayne quickly.

"What is it?"

"You're...you're human." The words left Dayne and everyone there silent, so Terra continued. "I don't know how...but you're not an Immortal anymore. Nothing about you feels like an Immortal. It's just...human."

For the rest of his life, Dayne and everyone he knew would never truly know how he came back to life, or how he was reincarnated as a human. Maybe it was the Keyblade? Maybe it was the fact that he used all of his excess hearts up in his Infuse? Or maybe the Gods just loved him (Dayne always suggested that one jokingly), but they were thankful regardless.

Dayne looked like he was on the verge of tears by the time he stood, sand clinging to wet black leather. Everyone around him were smiling at him, even people he barely knew like the Elrics, Kalyn, Aqua, and King Mickey. It was overwhelming, confusing, but wonderful.

Then, he saw Kairi.

How am I gonna confront her now? She was still holding onto his coat. That look on her face when I left her, I hurt her so bad... She couldn't want me back now. "Kairi, listen, I-"

"Here." She offered him his longcoat back. He looked dumbfounded for a moment, taking the jacket mechanically. "Welcome back to my family's service, Dayne Rivera." She said with a bit of a smile. "If I'm going to rule, I'll need people like you by my side."

That was too much for Dayne. He almost broke down there and then, raising a hand to cover his watering eyes. "Princess..." Wiping away the tears, he flourished his coat around and slid it on over his shoulders. Yeah...This feels right. He smiled back at the young girl. This is my place.

With a wave of her hand, Aqua summoned a shimmering golden portal, signalling this was farewell, for now.

"Take care you guys." Sora gave Donald and Goofy a hug. "Man, it's as if I barely got to see you guys on this trip."

"There's always next time, Sora." Donald assured the Keyblade Wielder.

"Yep." Goofy agreed. "We're far from done. Still plenty more adventures for us to go!"

Donald nodded. "Besides, you're going to be coming back to the Castle in a month. Got to pick up Waltz and everything."

"Guess I am. See you guys sometime in September then!"

"Take care, you two." Riku shook hands with both alchemist brothers. "Good luck on getting your bodies back." Riku and Edward shared a look and a nod. The warrior of Dawn was no stranger with quests of self-redemption.

"We'll try our best, Riku." Alphonse said.

"Yeah. Though it'll be nice getting away from this craziness for a month..." Ed said with a sly grin.

"Oh, come on." Namine broke in. "You enjoyed your time with us. You're gonna miss us!"

The Fullmetal Alchemist waved her off. "Keep telling yourself that, lady..."

"You not going or something?" Dayne said to Kalyn. As the others began to walk to the portal, Dayne noticed that she hadn't moved.

"No... I decided I want to stay here for the time being." Oddly, she lightly place a hand on Riku's shoulder, causing the silver-haired teen to jolt up, arrow straight.

"I see..." The newly reincarnated man said, rubbing his face, giving Riku a sly look. "So it's like that, eh?"

"Like what? He said defensively. "What do you mean?" He was acutely aware that Kalyn was still touching his shoulder.

"Um...Riku?" He turned to look at Sora. "Why is your Keyblade up and out?"

"Huh?" Then he saw it. Dark Before Dawn had indeed appeared in his hand. How? He didn't know. He didn't remember consciously summoning it. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I think we know what it means..." Roxas muttered with a mischievous grin.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Chocobo Hair!"

"Ahem!" Everyone turned to look at Aqua. She and Terra were standing in front of the shimmering portal, with everyone else having left already. "We just wanted to say, while we had the chance, from the bottom of our hearts..."

Both brother and sister crossed their right arms over their chests and bowed at the waist.

"Thank you."

"No problem, guys." Sora smiled back. "I've done this so many times now, it's as natural as breathing or sleeping."

Aqua smiled back at him. "Glad to hear it, Sora. Well, we'll leave you to your summer, then." She checked over her shoulder. "It looks like you're keeping a few people waiting." A distance away from them, the combined families of the Salm natives stood, waiting for their children to finally return to their safe embrace.

"Take care, everyone!" Terra waved at the seven. They all returned farewells, and the two Keyblade Wielders stepped through the portal, which closed itself behind them. Everyone followed their example, leaving themselves, but heading towards their families instead, cheerful at their victory, and deeply wanting to sleep at home, not having to wake up in the morning, only to save the worlds again.

Everyone that is, except Dayne. And Sora.

"Aren't you coming, Dayne?" The hero asked the older man, who stood aloofly alone. He acted like he didn't hear him, staring towards the ocean with cool regard. Doing what he did best, Sora sighed and walked up to the reincarnated human, stretching up.

"W-what are you doing?" Sora's fingers grabbed at Dayne's cheeks and lips, distorting his face into a wide, comedic smile. "Get you're fingers out of my mouth!" He mumbled, wrenching away from Sora.

"C'mon. Smile!" Sora demonstrated to the ex-Immortal. "This ship runs on happy faces!" Dayne gave him a perplexed look. "Now, are you coming with us?"

"I dunno...isn't that a family thing?"

"Family and friends." Sora said. "And don't say something stupid like 'I'm you're friend?' Yes, Dayne. You are. It would be hard not to be after all the crap we've been through. Besides, Kairi would want you to be there, too. Just like she wants me to be there." With a thin smile on his face, Dayne nodded, and the hero and the guardian walked towards the rest of their friends. "Now, we got one month to ourselves, and I don't know about you, but I want to live this summer like it's my last!"

THE END