To the right, To the left

We will fight to the death!

To the edge of the earth, It's a brave new world

It's a brave new world, It's a brave new world!

I do believe in the light. Raise your hands into the sky

The fight is done, the war is won. Lift your hands toward the sun

Towards the Sun…

The War is Won…


Katie whirled the χ-blade above her head and slammed the golden crystal blade onto the ground, sending a sonic boom crash into Sephiroth when he attempted to get close to her, Render, and Cloud, knocking him over. "I said…stay away from my boys," she growled.

"Katie…" Cloud asked her, "What are you doing here?"

Katie huffed at him, "I'm making sure that you don't get killed…and good thing I came, huh? As we speak, I'm blocking out Sephiroth's mind control over you."

Render's eyes widened at Katie and they darted at Cloud. He as well looked shocked and confused…and frightened. "Mind…control…?"

"How else did he know Sephiroth was here? And find us in the church? He may have J-Cells but not enough to sense other ones. He may thing he's sensing other's but it's all part of Sephiroth's plan…" Katie lifted the χ-blade off of the ground and got into a fighting stance, her wing letting her hover off of the ground. "Get rid of all of Jenova-Celled persons so he could be the only one to do Jenova's deeds. Even me…" she chuckled and waved her hand. Sephiroth got off of the ground and seemed to be dragged towards them against his will. His eyes widened and raised his sword. Katie clutched her hand and flung it to the side, Sephiroth's sword clattered to the ground. "But you forgot something….Brother…" she rose her hand. Render and Cloud stared in disbelief as they watched Sephiroth get lifted off the ground…without his wing. Katie hissed at him, "I'm just as powerful as you…" With a yell, she threw out her hand. Sephiroth got thrown like a piece of trash. "And then some."

He slowly rose and growled at her. He picked up his sword and pointed at her. "I have to say…I'm surprised you're still alive."

"Nice to see you, too…" Katie spat back. To Cloud and Render, she said over her shoulder, "I know that this is you guys' fight for very, very personal reasons but…you never have to fight alone. Revenge or not, you need my help." She flinched. "Gah, dammit…he's blocking me out from controlling him. Looks like we have to do this the old fashioned way…" she returned to her fighting stance.

Render knew that was true. He knew it all along. 'Because of my need to get revenge…I left my friends in need and I nearly got myself and Cloud killed. I have to fight. To the death…to make things right. To prove that I am strong enough.' He wielded Dark Descent and took the Buster Sword off of his back. He stuck it into the ground and wielded Fenrir. He got into a fighting stance.

Cloud nodded at Katie's words and he readied his Fusion Sword. He lifted it off of the ground and got into a fighting stance, following Render's lead.

Katie smiled and nodded at the two. "Now kick his ass."

"With pleasure…" Render charged at Sephiroth, he threw Fenrir. It erupted into flames as it came closer to Sephiroth. Sephiroth blocked the attack and parried the Keyblade away, making it fly back to him. Cloud's sword blocked the attack, blocking the Keyblade from its own wielder. He charged at Sephiroth. Sephiroth summoned his wing and flew to the side, dodging Cloud. He bumped right into Katie. She swung the χ-blade at him, making him dodge and back away from her with each dodge. Render slowly came in behind Sephiroth, getting into his blind spot as Katie kept him busy with the swipes of warning. With a yell, Render shot a Thundaga spell straight at Sephiroth. Katie suddenly shot away from Sephiroth, leaving him confused. When he turned around, he got hit by the large bolts of lightning produced by Render's Keyblade. He groaned in pain as the electricity went through him. His wing became useless and made him crash into the dirt. He looked up to see Cloud stand over him. Cloud swung his sword down hard at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth rolled away from the sword's edge just in time. He got up and pointed his sword at Render and Cloud, who were closing in on him. He saw Katie fly behind them. He raised his eyebrow when he saw that the χ-blade was glowing with Light and flames of Darkness rose from it.

"Duck!" Katie yelled.

Suddenly, both Light and Darkness burst from its tip and zoomed towards Sephiroth. Render and Cloud hit the dirt, dodging the blast. Sephiroth blocked the attack, the blast going around him. But it was pushing him back. It nearly sent him over the edge. He summoned his wing and flew away from the odd spell before it had a chance to push him off. He landed away from the three. Out of nowhere, Cloud came into the corner of his vision and pulled his Fusion Sword apart, making him have two swords instead of one. He jumped high into the air and came down hard of Sephiroth's defense. Their swords clanked as they blocked and parried both of their blows. Cloud flipped away from Sephiroth and spun on his heel to block Sephiroth's attack. Sephiroth suddenly grabbed Cloud and threw him to the side…over the cliff.

Katie zoomed after Cloud and caught him by the arm, jerking his free fall to a stop and nearly ripping Katie's arm out of her socket. With a grunt she grabbed his other arm to balance the load and flew back up to the. "You okay?"

Cloud nodded. "I'm fine…my arm hurts but…yeah. Thanks."

"Join the club." Katie chuckled. She looked up and she gasped. "Render!" She went to fly towards him but she got bounced away. A barrier blocked her from entering. He was in there with Sephiroth all by himself. She motioned to Cloud. "Help me! We've got to get back to him!" She casted a Gravity spell on him, making him float next to her without going back into a free fall. Cloud nodded and they started to hack away at the barrier.


Render watched in terror to see Cloud get thrown off the peak they were fighting on. He sighed in relief to see Katie go after him. But only lasted for a second. He watched a barrier rise above his head. His eyes widened when he saw Katie bounce off the outside of the barrier, preventing her and Cloud not to come back. He could see her yell something to Cloud and try to get through. His eyes went to Sephiroth. "Did you do this?!"

Sephiroth darkly chuckled, "It's what you wanted, right? A one on one match against me…to avenge your family." He smirked cruelly. "Or…do you not care about you're the vengeance of your pathetic family anymore?"

Render spat at Sephiroth, "My family's not pathetic! You're the pathetic one!" he let his rage take control of him again, despite the promise he made to himself. "You're going to pay…" he lunged at Sephiroth. Sephiroth saw this coming. He flew to the side with ease. He retaliated, stabbing Render in the arm and casting him away. Render charged at Sephiroth again, raising Dark Descent and Fenrir high. Quickly, Render sliced at Sephiroth's side, only to be blocked again. Render lifted his Keyblades off of the Masamune and spun on his foot to slice at his other side, still getting blocked. He parried Sephiroth's block, sending them into a lock, pushing against both of their each other forcefully. Suddenly, Fenrir disappeared. Render stumbled at the loss of defense but still held his all. As fast as he could, he pushed Sephiroth away from him. He flipped away from Sephiroth's attack, sending him to the dormant Buster Sword. He disappeared, leaving a lone feather float in the air.

Render dismissed Dark Descent and grabbed onto the handle of the large broad sword with both hands. He hoisted himself and swung on the handle. He kicked Sephiroth in the mouth as soon as he returned, sending Sephiroth flying backwards. He pulled the sword out of the ground and charged after Sephiroth. Render jumped high into the air and swung the Buster Sword around him before taking it down on Sephiroth. Sephiroth blocked the attack and pushed Render away. Render landed on his feet and tried again. But the repetitive attack wasn't the best idea. Sephiroth's sword went straight threw Render's shoulder. Render screamed at the pain and clutched onto the sword. He got tossed up into the air. Sephiroth flew after him and slammed him back into the ground. Render shakily got up by the help of the Buster Sword's hilt.

Sephiroth was still in the sky, looking down on Render like he was nothing but an ant to him. He smiled evilly. "You see? You're weak. And there is no one here to save you this time…now you will be able to see your stupid family again." He zoomed down back to Render, his Masamune raised high.

Render could hear the muffled yelling of Katie and the rapid banging against the barrier. His eyes snapped up when he heard a familiar voice say to him: "Render, you can do it!"

It was the voice of his sister.

"Don't let him get to you!"

That was the voice of his other, younger sister.

"Don't let him win!"

That was the voice of his father.

"We believe in you."

That made a tear come to his eye. That was the voice of his mother. Their smiling faces flashed before his eyes, one by one. Then they faded to Riku, Roxas, Sora, Katie, Cloud…everyone that was important to him. Right then, he knew the true strength to beat Sephiroth. And it was with him all along.

The last voice…more like presence startled Render. "Go for it. We all got faith in you." That was the voice of Zack Fair…the original owner of the sword in Render's hands.

Render jumped off of the ground with great force, sending him flying into the air and meeting Sephiroth half way. During his climb, he spun the Buster Sword over his head, the blade started to glow blue. He slammed his blade against Sephiroth's sword, making the blue aura burst off his sword and flow to his body. Out of nowhere, his two Keyblades appeared in a white glow. Then what looked like white silhouettes of Katie's, Riku's, Sora, and Roxas' Keyblades appeared around them. Somehow, Render propelled himself off of Sephiroth's sword and higher into the air. He came down fast and hard towards Sephiroth. Sephiroth lifted his sword to block the attack but to his surprise, Render broke right through it. Render's blue outline stayed in suspended animation in front of Sephiroth, a blue blur leaving it. Sephiroth looked around in confusion, not knowing where Render went. He saw a flash of blue go behind him, making him spin around. But nothing was there. Suddenly, Render's Buster Sword crashed into Sephiroth's side. Out of all direction, Render hit Sephiroth dead on at astonishing speed three more times before he appeared high above Sephiroth and zoomed down on him. The blade burst out pure energy at the final hit. Render landed safely on his feet back on the ground and caught the Buster Sword and strapped it onto his back. He dismissed his Keyblades. The barrier came down.

Sephiroth was gone. All there was left was his sword and a blood-soaked feather.


Hey guys! I've been updating this really quick! I'm afraid though that means that the next, and most likely the last, installment of the series is coming closer! And I have a list of possible titles for it and I like for you guys to have a say in it! ^-^ All I can say about the next installment is that it's about the Next Generation of Keyblade Wielders (so like the kids of Katie and Riku, Sora and Kairi, ext.) and let's say that the darkness is back full force which will maybe or maybe not destroy a couple of characters...so here's the list of names!:

The Light of a Darkened Heart: The Next Generation (I don't exactly like this title...)

The Light of a Darkened Heart: Attack on Darkness

The Light of a Darkened Heart: Project Stargate

The Light of a Darkened Heart: Meifu No Yumiya (Translation: The Bow and Arrow from Hell..kinda like this one. xD)

And...I think that's all the ones I know. So...vote! Bye!