A/N: Zaela is one tough nut to crack. Reminds you guys of someone? Or maybe two people as one? To me, it's like a mix of Tifa and Larxene. Well. That's two members of the Shadowmoon down. Now we move on back into the Realm of Darkness.
World: Realm of Darkness
It's been three months since I was in the Realm of Darkness, yet it feels like the events of rescuing Aqua just happened yesterday. As I start walking on the Faithless Abyss, I keep my eyes open, all around. Not cause this world is a Heartless deathtrap, but I'm also keeping my eyes out for Rasputin. He's in this dark realm...somewhere.
"Rasputin." I say. "Where are you...?"
I continue walking. Once I arrive in the lower zone, that's when I start encountering the Heartless. I summon my Keyblade, glaring at the Heartless.
"You insects didn't stop me from saving Aqua! You will not prevent me from putting an end to Rasputin!" I say.
I cut the Heartless down to size. After defeating them, Darkballs appears all around me. I'm surrounded, but that doesn't stop me. I defeat them with a single Quakeja, then I continue on.
I still remember that presence I felt when I encountered Rasputin. The Cold. If I feel it, I know he's close. Very close.
So far, I've wondered around the lower zone. Only encountered some Heartless. No sign of Rasputin or the Shadowmoon. I move on to the middle zone. The area is crawling with Heartless. I use my Fairies Charm to activate the D-link. I fly towards each of the Heartless and strike them down.
Neoshadow's seeps into the ground and try to sneak attack me from below. I air slide to avoid the attacks, then I destroy them with some light and water magic. I defeat the Neoshadow's quickly then continue on ahead. All of the obstacles I triggered during my last visit are still here, thank goodness.
I make my way around this zone. Now, only the Heartless stands in my way. Defeating the Heartless here are easy going, even when I unleash my full power: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust.
After battling the Heartless, I start climbing up the made pathways, climbing and jumping on high places. Harpy Heartless's appears. They are in the air, I see where this is going. If the Heartless think they can outsmart me, they are sadly mistaken.
I blast fire spells and cast Thundaja at the Harpies until they're defeated.
My search for Rasputin is pretty much in vein. He's no where near and I do not feel his cold dark presence. He's further into the darkness. If anything, he's probably in that Chaos Mountain area. That's where we last encountered each other.
I enter the Upper zone of the Realm of Darkness. This time, there's no barrier up. I hope from island to island, making my way to the circular area. Once I arrive there, the barrier appears and endless amounts of Heartless appears.
I grunt in annoyance then summon my Keyblade. "This again?"
I start off with casting Magnega, which casters all of the Heartless, then I cast Chaotic Fusion. The two spells defeats the next three waves of Heartless, since they're nothing but the weak Shadow's. All those kills causes me to enter Star Surge. I cast Thundaja then Quakeja. Just those two spells takes out waves four and five. Now things get tougher when Darkballs starts appearing.
I enter Elemental Mastery, then continue attacking the Heartless. The Darkballs were a mix of an easy hit and a difficult battle. They constantly turn into mists and reappear so close to me, it hurts. I strike them down with Shadow Dash. That destroys them.
"Too slow, creatures!" I say.
The Seventh wave appears. Now it's mostly Darkballs and Neoshadows. I attack them by casting Falling Stars, that wipes out half the enemies, then I enter Twilight's Dawn. I gather the Heartless with Magnega then start attacking ferociously at them. My attacks takes out this wave then the next. When the magnet spell wears off, I cast another Magnega.
At the tenth wave, I reach my full power and unleash Twilights Dawn. That command style takes out the next two waves. Wave thirteen have some Invisibles, they are a tough fight. I subdue them by casting Zero Gravija, then attack them.
This fight goes on for a while. When I got to the final wave, fifteen, it was nothing but Invisible. As if one to five was hard enough, now I have to face dozens of them. Perfect...just perfect.
The Invisibles does some crazy damage to me. The second I get the moment, I gather them with Magnega, then quickly heal myself with Curaga. I do a combo of Firaja, Thundaja then Aeroja to take on the Invisibles, enter Spell Weaver, and then destroy them.
The barrier depletes until it's completely gone. I catch my breath then sigh. "I swear, if that Dark Hide appears in the next area, I'm gonna lose it."
I continue on ahead into the Valley of Darkness. When I arrive, there's no Dark Hide, thank the light, but more Heartless. The waves are pretty big, but nothing as painful as the barrier Heartless I just endured. I attack them in my Spell Weaver strikes, then cast Sparkja. By the time I defeat them, I enter Heaven's Light. The next wave appears, great, there are more waves of Heartless.
Neoshadows and Harpies strike, but I dodge, avoiding the attacks, then I strike them down until I unleash Heaven's Light. That destroys the wave, thank goodness no more appears.
After making through the Valley of Darkness, I go all the way to the Dark Margin. The path that connects all the way to the mountains is still here. That's certainly a surprise. I make my way to the Chaos Mountain. When I arrive, I start going uphill on the trail.
So far, there are no Heartless encountered here. that's strange, even since I do not feel Rasputin nearby. As I move further ahead to the mouth, I get more cautious. When I make it to the top, I jump right inside. The area is still bright from the light I casted to brighten the darkness.
I look around. There's no sign of Rasputin. "Where could he be?"
Rasputin is no where to be found. It's almost like he's no longer in the dark realm. I look ahead, to the other end of the room by the prison room that held Ragnarok in place. In front of that gate is Izu, with his large battle axe planted by his side.
I stand thirty yards away from Izu, looking at him. "So, you've defeated Zaela. Humph...How surprising."
"Why? Cause you thought she would beat me?" I ask.
"Perhaps. My other choice was that she lost but manage to break most of your bones." Izu says.
"She's a toughie, I'll give her that." I say. "She could use a few manners."
Izu nods. "Indeed. Her mouth is like a junkyard. Nothing but trash talk."
I raise an eyebrow hearing that. "Didn't expect you to say that." I cross my arms. "Tell me, is she always like that?"
Izu shook his head. "No. She use to be caring, much like that Aerith friend of yours. But then she lost her home and family to the Heartless." That's gotta be rough. No wonder Zaela is horrible. "Have you ever wondered how it's possible for her to control the Nobodies?"
No, that thought never acquired to me. It probably should have. Only greater Nobodies can command the lesser ones. Zaela is a human, obviously. How did that slip my mind? "No. How?"
"It's because her sister was a Nobody." Izu says. "She cared so deeply for her little sister, Reneal. Then she turned into a Heartless and her Nobody was destroyed by you and Sora."
"Reneal?" I ask.
"You only know her by her Nobody name: Larxene." Izu says.
That completely catches me by surprise. Zaela is the sister of Larxene of Organzation XIII? Then again, it is possible. Zaela is just as aggressive at Larxene.
"And let me guess. She joined the Shadowmoon cause she wants revenge for killing her sister?" I ask.
Izu smirks. "Correct. You sure are a fast learner."
"Glad for you to notice. What I want to know is why are you with the Shadowmoon?" I ask.
"I've hated the LeiShens since I was little. I was once in a proud clan called the Burning Blade. Our goal was to rule all worlds. Your father and his warriors raided my village and destroyed us." Izu says. "You have no idea what it's like for a child to see his home and family burn right before your eyes."
I cross my arms giving him the look that means that I obviously do. "Oh, I don't understand? Did you forget Rasputin took away my home and family sixteen years ago?"
"I am aware. But you still have a home and family. First it was Aqua and her friends, now its your friends in Radiant Garden." Izu says. "Now. Enough talk." Izu grabs his axe then holds it out in front of him, with the weapon enhanced in flames. "I shall burn your rioting flesh!"
I summon my Keyblade. "Come and try."
Izu charges towards me and swings his axe. I duck, avoiding the attack, then I strike him back. Izu stumbles back from the attack. He growls then strikes at me. I parry his attacks then counterattack only to have them dodged. I cast Waterja, only Izu slides back to avoid the attack, then draws his axe back, charging in flare.
"I will burn you into oblivion!" Izu says, doing Lavawave. He slams his axe, unleashing a shockwave of lava in front of him, aiming directly at me.
I dodge right out of the way. "You're gonna have to do better then that." I use the Elsa Charm, activating the D-link. I start by casting Icicle Tundra, holding my Keyblade back over my head then smash it to the ground, sending a rave of icicles towards Izu. Izu didn't take the cold very well. Guessing he's wait against it.
I attack with my freezing strikes, then cast Blizzaja. Izu blocks the Blizzaja by swiping it with his molten axe. Izu raises his axe, channeling black magic. "Behold the power of the Burning Blade!"
Izu vanishes, then four copies of him appears all around. This is surprising. Each of the Izu's spins around at high speed, unleashing countless fiery blade beams. I start dodging the fire beams, until I'm in the center of the copies then I unleash Snownado. The tornado of snow gets rid of the copies, revealing the real Izu.
Izu and I fight each other, his molten swings and my cold strikes. A fusion clash of hot and cold. When we draw our weapons back, he prepares another Lavawave. The second he unleashes it, I leap back and do a Freezing Raid midair. Izu couldn't defend himself or avoid the attack.
Izu growls. "You will burn!" Izu does molten leap, his weapon enhanced in lava then he leaps towards me. I dodge out of the way, then he slams to the ground, unleashing a burst of lava from impact.
When it settles down, I cast freeze, causing him to be frozen in a block of ice. Then I reach my full power and unleash Let It Go. That defeats Izu.
Izu drops his axe, cause causes a loud thud, then he collapses to his knees, a hand on his chest. Izu breaths heavily, a hand on his chest. I approach Izu, looking down at him.
"Tell me. Where is that coward Rasputin hiding?" I say.
Izu looks up at me, groaning. "You...are a fool." He pauses for a moment, then he raises a hand out casting dark magic. I turn to see a small rift open. "Go...dive into...the depths of the blackest abyss." I turn looking back at Izu. "It's bitter cold...embrace...awaits you."
Izu falls back, laying dead, then starts fading away. Even after he's gone, I still look at where he use to be. After having enough, I turn and start walking into the rift.
The portal Izu opened up was certainly strange. It lends me to nowhere but some temporal realm. There's nothing but space and shimmering rays of light. "What is this place?" I ask.
The island I stand on is very large, probably as much as that arena in Chaos Mountain.
When I walk to the center, I stop. Up ahead is another rift portal. I focus on it, the presence I feel is cold and dark. Just like Rasputin. He's in there. I know it.
I take a step forward, only the second I do, I feel something off. My hunch is correct, Nobodies, Heartless and Unversed appears, completely surrounding me. I summon my Keyblade, positioned to fight. "He really wants me dead, doesn't he?" I ask.
I cast Zero Gravija to send them in the air, then I start attacking the creatures. The Nobodies and Heartless that are not under the affects of the gravity spell starts attacking me. My attacks causes them to get hit and stagger. Only few manage to hurt me.
I next gather them with Magnega then crush them with Siegebreaker, my weapon enhanced in earth them slam it to the ground in a giga impact. Then I enter Critical Impact. My brutal attacks kill each enemy I strike, but that doesn't help with my situation. Each Heartless, Nobody or Unversed I slay, more appears.
The magnet spell ends then things get tougher. They come all around me, eventually having me piled. I struggle to move my arm or cast any sorts of magic. Perhaps this is the end.
My vision blacks, until a shimmer of light appears then brightens all the darkness. Next thing I know, I'm back in the mysterious realm, and all of the Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed within ten yards are defeated.
A hand reaches down for me. "You okay?" I'm surprised that someone else is in this empty realm, but when I look up I'm speechless. It's Eraqus.
"Ma...master Eraqus?" I take his hand and he helps me stand. "What are you doing here?"
"I am not. I am only a memorial spirit you created." Eraqus says.
"I'm well aware, but still. What are you doing here?" I say.
"My propose of existence is to protect Ventus while he sleeps in Castle Oblivion. But now he is awake, I have nothing left." Eraqus says.
I'm silent. It's true. I created Eraqus only to protect Ventus while I find a way to bring Aqua out of the darkness. "Look out!" Eraqus swings his Keyblade, I quickly duck and his swing hits the Howling Moon Heartless that leaped towards me. I stand back up, and Eraqus and I are positioned to fight. "Perhaps this isn't a good time for a conversation."
"Agreed." I say.
Eraqus and I fight with all our might against the forces of darkness. I cut them down with my Keyblade while Eraqus supports me from behind. Eraqus is powerful with his light abilities. "The darkness will die!" Eraqus casts as he channels Chains of Faith, chain arrows rain down the sky impaling the ground.
Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed still have use surrounded and more appears in the dead ones place. Eraqus and I performed a powerful twilight spell, Light's Will and Shadow's Blade. Eraqus leaps in the air, I stand beneath him. Eraqus launches dozens of Keyblades, with light chains attached at the end, they impale all over the field. I aim my Keyblade at Eraqus, shooting a dark beam. The Darkness divids, travels through each of the chains, when causes the Keyblades to explode when they reach them.
That takes care most of the enemies, but they quickly reappear.
Eraqus and I are back to back, completely surrounded. "This is not good." I say.
"There are too many of them. We can't defeat them all." Eraqus says.
I look past the enemies, to the rift at the other end. "I need to get to Rasputin."
"Then go." I turn, looking at Eraqus. "I will hold of them."
"But...master Eraqus, you can't-" I quickly become interrupted.
"I must! I can no longer live on in any worlds." Eraqus says. "Patrick...Please, protect my pupils." Eraqus looks down in shame. "And also...tell Ventus and Terra...I am sorry." A tear slides down on Eraqus's eye.
I can see what he means. He feels guilty about trying to destroy Ventus and fighting against Terra. For choosing the path of darkness. All just to stop Xehanort from recreating the Keyblade War. Eraqus does a lightwave, at the direction of the rift, which clears a path.
"Go! NOW!" Eraqus grabs me then pushes me in that direction. I make it all the way to the rift, then Eraqus casts a barrier of light, sealing me in. For his final stand, Eraqus yells and charges directly at the enemies.
When he's close, he strikes the Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed down. I stay back and watch him risk his life out in the dark battle. Berserkers starts assaulting Eraqus from behind. He quickly turns and cuts them down. All at once, the Dusks, Neoshadows and Flood's leaps towards Eraqus. Eraqus starts channeling light energy, getting stronger and stronger by the second. I am surprised by the sight as well.
"FOR THE LIGHT!" Eraqus shouts as he unleashes Ultimate Explosion. The whole island is sealed in a large dome of light then a massive explosion happens.
The island still stands, or floats I should say, but when it all clears, I'm the only on that survived the explosion. That completely shocks me. Eraqus sacrificed himself to protect me. He is not just gone physically, but also spiritually.
Now is not the time to be in remorse. I will not let his sacrifice go in vein.
I stand, turn and head into the dark rift. Whatever forces of darks lays beyond this dark abyss, I will conquer it.
