Chapter 29

A Cacophony of Ice and Fire

Hot! Why does it have to be so hot?! Kyoko had already stripped off her jacket and carried it beside her as she staggered through the cavern. She was already sweating like crazy. She was tempted to use that Blizzard spell to cool down, but that wouldn't last forever and she'd probably just tire herself out faster. Again, she checked her phone. For whatever reason, she couldn't get into contact with anyone. Because of course.

After they crash-landed, Kyoko found that she was in a dark cave with little lighting. The ship was not nearby, which meant there were some magic shenanigans going on that caused the girls to separate from each other. She held up the phone, using it to light her way, and when she did, she found that the cave was lined with smooth black rock. She figured that she'd need to find her way out of this cave in order to look for the others, so she kept walking. But the further she went along the path, the higher the temperature seemed to rise.

The path she was following hit an incline, steep enough that she needed to start climbing. At first, Kyoko tried to leap up the path, but the soil was loose enough that she slipped and tumbled back to the ground, landing on her back with a grunt.

She had expected their quest to go horribly wrong, but she underestimated how goddamn fast it would happen. Ship probably blown up. No idea where she was other than stuck in a hot cave.

Kyoko gestured, and the red chains appeared in the air, providing her with some handholds from which to climb up. Eventually, she made it to the top, where the path became more level again, and she continued on her journey, but not before pausing again.

What the fuck was she even doing? Trying to save her world? Trying to fight the Heartless? She knew it was futile, so why did she go on? Was she just going through the goddamn motions? For what end? Why not just end it now?

Because the others would be sad. Said a small voice in the back of her head.

What about them though? Mami was a useless worrywart, trying desperately to keep together a group that was clearly never meant to be together. Nagisa was a kid who probably barely understood what was even happening. Sayaka was stuck in delusions of heroism that would inevitably come crashing down around her. And Madoka… Fucking Madoka.

Why did it have to be her? Of course the spoiled rich kid got all the toys. A legendary weapon, unique powers, some stupid Mary Sue pure heart bullshit. And she was probably just like Sayaka, stuck believing some nonsense about heroics and good triumphing over evil. But she had never seen evil. Never seen all the awfulness of the world.

Kyoko snorted. If anyone deserved a Keyblade it was her. She'd lived through all that bullshit, surviving even when the world was trying it's hardest to end her. Starving. Sickness. Nearly freezing to death. Almost getting knifed. Almost getting abducted by a pimp. She had fought off all those and more, and yet, Madoka was the one who gets to be a hero. Well, fuck, she knew the world wasn't fair. But seriously?

As she looked up from her musings, she noticed that there was a light up ahead.

"Finally!" Kyoko rushed forwards. "Time to get out of this goddamn heat and into…"

As she stepped out of the cave, her hopes were let down.

"More heat. Because of course."

Lava. Why was there lava? She appeared to be standing in some sort of volcanic wasteland. The air was dry and foul smelling. The entire area appeared to be mostly lit by the glowing lava flows scattered about. In the distance, active volcanoes belched lava and smoke. Soot and ash formed clouds that covered the sky. Kyoko was amazed she could even breathe the air here.

"Hello?" Kyoko called out. Unfortunately, there was no response. As she expected. She was about to consider her options when her stomach growled loudly.

Kyoko loved food. More than just a necessity for staying alive it was one of the greatest pleasures in life. Food was comforting. She could forget everything she hated about the world for a time, as long as she was eating something. But now she was hungry and had no food. And everyone knew that a hungry Kyoko was extremely dangerous.

Kyoko then heard that watery sound she had come to dread, and turned to see Heartless appearing around her.

Well… almost everyone.

Some were fire themed. Because of course. She really shouldn't be surprised. Flame Cores and Red Nocturnes alongside several Soldiers. She remembered the lessons on the different types of Heartless.

Well… at least I have something to vent on. Kyoko thought as she tossed her jacket onto a nearby rock.

"Blizzard Edge!" Kyoko summoned her spear and wreathed the blade in freezing cold before thrusting towards one of the Heartless. The creature was too slow, and the blade pierced straight through it. The ice immediately extinguished its fires and its life. She then turned, spinning her spear and striking at the next two that attempted to charge her.

Kyoko was then forced to flip out of the way as the Nocturnes let loose with a barrage of Fire spells, avoiding fireballs and jets of flame. Damn it all, it was hot enough already.

She held out her arms and chains formed, weaving together into a large, solid, and sturdy shield over her left arm. She held it between her and barrage of flames, and once the shield held, she then kicked off the ground, ramming into one of the Nocturnes. Before it could react, she leaped off of it, slashing with her spear as she did so, heading towards the next one before it could try to fly away. She slashed with her ice-encrusted spear, destroying it and then came down upon one of the Soldiers. She blocked the claw swipe of another with her shield and then thrust, destroying it.

Kyoko then leapt back from a flying kick and extended her spear into its segmented form. With a flick of her wrist, the weapon lashed out, sweeping across the battlefield, destroying all the remaining Soldiers.

Looking around, and seeing no more Heartless, she breathed a sigh of relief, and dismissed her weapon and shield. As she watched them disperse, she saw the captive hearts emerge from their bodies. They rose into the air, whereupon instead of fading away, they were consumed by darkness. Oh right. Madoka's Keyblade was the only thing that could permanently kill them. Because of course.

So now what? Kyoko sighed as she walked over to the rock her jacket hung from. As she picked it up, she heard a sound she hadn't expected to hear. Her phone ringing. She quickly dug into the pocket and pulled it out, answering it.

"Hello?"

"Hello! Kyoko, is that you?!"

She recognized the voice. "Sayaka?! Yeah, it's me!"

"Oh thank goodness! I've been trying to get in contact with everyone for hours! Finally, somebody picked up! You have no idea-"

"Where are you?" Kyoko interrupted.

"Dunno. There's a bunch of volcanoes here though."

"Same with me." Kyoko said.

"Are you okay? That crash was brutal."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Ran into some Heartless. Not a problem though."

"Same. So how do we get to each other?"

"No clue. No idea how far away we are." Kyoko replied.

"Hmm… I know! I'm going to cast Thunder! Tell me if you can see the flash!"

Kyoko indeed did see the flash of electricity. A fair distance, but not unreachable on foot. Well… she had heading now, at the very least.

"I see it." Kyoko said. "Stay where you are, I'm on my way."

"Then it's a date!" Sayaka said playfully.

Kyoko rolled her eyes as she ended the call. This wasn't a time to play around. It seemed she was the only one who the severity of the situation. Regardless, she took off running in the direction the flash had come from.

Though it thankfully wasn't that far, she still had to contend with the dangerous environment, avoiding vents of volcanic gas and leaping over flows of lava.

Even she had to admit, the increased physical abilities that came with her powers were nice. Running fast, leaping high, increased strength and reaction times. The best part was how natural it all felt. The ease her powers came to her felt as though she was meant to have them. She jumped between rocks, avoiding bursts of lava as she headed towards where the flash came from.

Before long, Sayaka came into view. The blue-haired knight girl seemed to glide from her perch above, like she was some goddamn comic book heroine. She landed on the ground gracefully, flourishing her cape.

"Tada! Good to see you again!"

"So… why are you in your costume?" Kyoko asked.

"Why aren't you in yours?" Sayaka asked.

"Because it's hot as tits out here! I'm wearing less like this. How are you not overheating in that big cape of yours?"

"I thought so too at first, but I'm actually cooler like this. I think the magic in it helps us adapt to the environment. Give it a try."

Kyoko obliged and summoned her costume. Almost immediately she felt better. It was still hot, but at least it was bearable. "Wow."

"Yeah."

The two of them walked in silence for a while, simply taking in the bizarre scenery, before Sayaka finally asked.

"So… any idea where we are?"

"Not a clue."

"Maybe it's Hell!" She said casually.

"No."

"Are you certain?" Sayaka asked. "Lava and volcanoes as far as the eye can see. Fire everywhere. Dark creatures. Looks like Hell to me."

"It's not Hell." Kyoko snarled.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I'd know." Her father had rarely talked about the harsher things that were in the Bible. The Ten plagues. Hell. All the stuff in the Old Testament. All the fucked up shit in the book of Revelations. She supposed he figured people had enough to worry about without having to think about the earth burning up while the sea turns to blood and everyone dies horribly. Probably would have done them some good to get a dose of reality though. She had never stopped believing in God, though her impression of Him had changed for the worse since that happened.

"Sorry…. That was insensitive, wasn't it?"

Kyoko grunted in agreement. Sayaka looked down at the ground, ashamed. It served her right. She had no reason to be so goddamn cheerful in this situation. The two girls continued in silence again for a long while simply walking. Eventually, Sayaka asked.

"So… how are you holding up?"

Kyoko turned towards Sayaka. "How am I holding up? How am I holding up?"

She knew it wouldn't do any good to lose her temper here and now, but the stress she had been feeling up until that point had built up more than she could handle. Her temper spilled over like an overflowing volcano. "It hasn't even been twenty-four hours since we started our quest, and what happens? Our ship gets shot down, everyone's scattered to God only knows where and we have no fucking food!"

Kyoko snarled. "We're trudging through a volcanic wasteland where red hot lava could come raining down on us at any time, we're all alone and we're going to die and nobody will even be able to bury us. So y'know. I'm fine."

Sayaka flinched as though she had been slapped in the face.

Kyoko sighed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She must have gotten something in them.

"Look, it's probably not as bad as it seems." Sayaka started to say. But Kyoko was having none of that.

"How, exactly?" Kyoko bitterly said. "Just believe in ourselves or some such nonsense? Trust in the light and all that sentimental crap?!"

Sayaka snorted. "Look, you may believe otherwise, but none of us are under any illusions that this is gonna be easy. I got the same exposition that you did. All the hell that those people went through. Are still going through. It's kinda obvious that we should help them, right?"

"Sure… so you can pat yourself on the back and tell yourself what a good girl you've been."

"No, because they're in trouble and need our help!" Sayaka shouted. "Because Mitakihara City needs our help! As the survivors, we owe it to them to at least try."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

Sayaka groaned in frustration. "Then why are you even sticking around with us? You never really answered that question, did you?"

Kyoko grunted, but said nothing. She slowed down, letting Sayaka get ahead a bit. She had been wondering for a while now. She had told herself that this was a suicide mission, and her current circumstances would agree with her. But then what to do about that? See some pretty sights before she died?

The survivor in her told her to tell those circumstances to go fuck themselves. She had already endured everything life had hurled at her before, and she'd just do the same here.

The realist in her told her that sooner or later, her luck would run out. She'd run up against something she couldn't overcome. She'd fail and fall, just like everyone else. It was only a matter of time.

The survivor told the realist to quit being a bitch and toughen up. The realist responded with a comment about the survivor's mother. The survivor punched the realist in the face. The realist kicked the survivor in the shins. The survivor tackled the realist, knocking over the table and…

"Oof!" Kyoko was roused from her musings to find that she had bumped into Sayaka, who had paused. "Hey, watch it! Don't just stop suddenly!"

Sayaka however, said nothing.

"Helloooo? You in there?" Kyoko asked.

"There's something coming." Sayaka said, looking up at the sky.

"What do you mean…" Kyoko followed Sayaka's gaze. She then squinted, and rubbed her eyes to make sure they weren't lying to her. Yep… they definitely weren't. "Is that a fucking dragon?"

The loud roar affirmed that yes, that indeed was a fucking dragon. A massive horned reptilian creature wreathed in flames. In place of wings it appeared to have some sort of fire based jet boosters, and as it opened its mouth, a bright glow could be seen that heralded a wave of blazing destruction.

Both girls scattered as the fucking dragon's fire breath came towards them narrowly avoiding incineration. Kyoko immediately summoned a spear, and looked up as the fucking dragon turned in the air, prepared to make another pass.

Dammit, Mami, Nagisa, and Madoka were the ranged ones, and they were nowhere to be seen. Kyoko was a melee combatant, and her spellcasting wasn't as strong as the others. Sayaka was in a similar boat, save for healing spells.

Still, it seemed to be her only option at this moment. As the dragon came towards them again, Kyoko held out her hand, channeling thoughts of stillness and calm. "Blizzard!"

As the same time, she heard Sayaka shout. "Water!"

A shard of ice emerged from her hand, streaking towards the dragon as it approached, simultaneously to Sayaka's ball of water. Sayaka's attack hit first, soaking the dragon, and then Kyoko's ice shard struck, freezing the water before it could evaporate. apparently caused the dragon to react in pain, though it appeared to do little substantive damage. The dragon veered off course however, before turning again, prepared to make a third pass.

Fine then. If she couldn't do much to it from here, then she'd go up there. She crouched, feeling her legs tense up. As the dragon approached, Kyoko jumped.

She rocketed high into the air, above even the flying dragon, and then came streaking towards the creature's head. Her spear expanded in length and size, and Kyoko became a red meteor of fury. With a roar that would rival the dragon's, Kyoko scored a direct hit on the side of its head, tearing its skin open. Unfortunately, she was not quite expecting the dragon's skull to be as hard as it was, and the sudden impact caused her to lose grip of her spear. She tumbled over the dragon's back. Grunting, she conjured another spear and plunged it into the dragon's hide to stop her fall.

The monster roared and jerked its body, but Kyoko held on tight. The dragon attempted to send a pulse of flame across its body, but Kyoko transformed her spear into its segmented form, moving her further away from the dragons body, safely avoiding the flames.

"Ha! You ain't shakin' me off, scaly!" She then retracted the spear, quickly reeling herself into the dragon's body. At the same time she formed a second spear in her other hand and began stabbing into the dragon's body repeatedly upon landing.

The dragon roared in pain and then began spinning in the air. At first, Kyoko held on, but the dragon spun faster and faster, starting to make her dizzy and nauseous. Then, before she could gather her wits about her, the dragon sent a pulse of flame across her body. The fire struck Kyoko head on, and she cried out in pain, letting go of her spear and falling out of the sky, disoriented and in pain. She looked down, and realized that she was going to land in a pool of lava. Because of course.

Suddenly, she felt something collide with her. When she could refocus her vision, she saw Sayaka holding her in her arms, leaping off of the blue platforms she created, steadily headed towards the ground. There, she set Kyoko down and placed her hands on top of her.

"Cure!"

Instantly, Kyoko felt better as most of her burns began to heal.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Kyoko said.

"What were you thinking?!" Sayaka said.

"I was thinking that I'd kick its scaly ass!"

"Well, how'd that work out for you?" Sayaka asked. She turned back to the dragon. Kyoko followed her gaze, examining the creature. Despite the impressiveness of that feat, she hadn't actually incapacitated the dragon, only enraged it.

"So what do you suggest?" Kyoko shot back.

Looking at the flying behemoth, Sayaka raised her sword, and water flowed around it. "How about we bring it down to our level. Follow my lead!"

Then the two girls scattered as the dragon came in for another attack, and then Sayaka leaped into the air, creating platforms as the dragon came back for yet another sweep. Kyoko followed suit, using her newfound jumping ability to match her.

As the dragon approached, Sayaka cast Water, aiming directly at the dragons flame wings. Kyoko got what she was doing and followed suit, casting Blizzard at the other. The wings shorted out, and the dragon roared in shock and confusion as it plummeted to the ground, plowing a long trench.

As the girls landed, the dragon righted itself, turned, and immediately charged towards them, roaring all the while. They leaped out of the way of its claw swipes, and then back into the fray.

Kyoko thrust her spear into the dragons side, and then was forced to back away as a pulse of flame engulfed the beast. It then turned towards her, inhaled and let loose a jet of fire. She leapt to the side and continued running as the dragon swept the fire across the area.

She skidded to a halt as the ground beneath her started crumbling away into a lava pool, then turned back to see the fire steadily growing closer. Again, she crouched and then jumped. Springing high into the air, over the dragon's flames, she then came streaking downwards, striking the dragon in the back. It roared in pain and the fire stream cut off. It sent another pulse of flame down its body, forcing Kyoko to push off of her spear, vaulting off the dragons body while leaving the weapon behind.

She landed near Sayaka who had surrounded herself in her cape. When she emerged, several duplicates of her cutlass surrounded her, which she then hurled towards the dragon. A target as big as that was hard to miss, and each of them struck true, burying themselves deep in its hide.

Again the dragon roared and charged towards them, pouncing like a lion. The girls scattered as it landed and created a shockwave of flame. When the flames abated, Kyoko summoned another spear and charged forwards. However the dragon spun, striking her with its tail and sending her flying, to tumble across the ground.

Elsewhere, she could hear another roar, and then Sayaka crying out in pain. Kyoko grit her teeth and forced herself to her feet. She had cut herself on several sharp rocks when she landed, it seemed, judging from the pain and bloodstains. But she could deal with that later. She turned back to the fighting and saw Sayaka leaping away from the dragon clearly bleeding from a claw gash in her side. The dragon was in hot pursuit, wildly slashing it's claws. Sayaka was attempting to turn it away with Water spells, but the dragon was powering through it, enraged.

Kyoko ran towards the dragon raised her spear, encasing it in ice and cold. "Blizzard Edge!"

She hurled the icy spear at the dragon, impaling the dragon in the side and causing ice to form on it. The dragon roared in agony.

"Gotcha!" Kyoko formed another spear and prepared to close in. Unfortunately, that attack hadn't had as much of an effect as she initially thought. The dragon inhaled, and let loose yet another jet of flame. Kyoko was forced to stop and conjure a chain shield, barely in time to block the flame. Even blocking it, the heat was immense, and double unfortunately, the fire heated up her shield, searing her arm badly.

But she held on despite the pain, steadily pushing forwards, only collapsing to her knees when the flames finally abated. She dismissed the shield, and looked at her ruined arm, burnt to nearly black by the flames and in searing agony.

Too late, she looked back up towards her opponent, seeing the dragon reel back, and then spin. The last thing she saw was the tail approaching her head. Because fuck life.

It was quiet now… Still blazing hot, but… quiet. She also felt good. Eventually, she managed to open her eyes, and saw Sayaka leaning over her.

"Good, you're awake." She said.

"Wha-" Kyoko asked. "What happened?"

She tried to sit up, only for her body to explode in pain.

"Easy! You took some really bad hits. I couldn't heal it all right away."

"What happened." Kyoko asked.

"The dragon knocked you out. Tail slammed you into the dirt." Sayaka said.

"Ugh..."

"The dragon regained it's flight not long after. I had to pick you up, and carry you away to this cave here."

"And so you just ran?! Some hero." Kyoko mocked.

"Okay, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Me? You're the one who ran away! After all that nonsense about heroics, you cut and run like a bitch!"

"What?! Did that tail knock some screws loose or something?" Sayaka shouted. "I wasn't going to just leave you lying there to get killed!"

"It would have probably given you an opening."

Sayaka paused, and then grit her teeth. "Do you have a death wish or something?! What's with all this edgelord bullshit?"

"None of your fuckin' business."

"Well, consider this: why fight the dragon at all? It's not a Heartless. We don't really have anything to gain. It's probably just territorial. It stopped trying to get at us when I brought you into this cave."

"Either that or it just can't fit."

"Same difference, it's gone." Sayaka said.

Kyoko sighed, noticing a strange heat in her throat as she did so. She coughed slightly and felt the unpleasant feeling of that heat running out through her nostrils. "So what now then?"

"Now, you rest. I'll take watch."

"Fuck you, I'm being the night watch." She attempted to move again, only to experience more pain.

"No. I exhausted myself healing your extensive injuries. We'll have to complete the rest tomorrow. I'm the party healer, and I say you need sleep!"

"Fine." Kyoko said, settling in. Her conditions weren't exactly comfortable, lying on a pile of rocks and all. Then she saw Sayaka approach her. She removed her cape and draped it over Kyoko. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. Eventually, she asked. "Sayaka?"

"Yeah..."

"Um… thanks…" Kyoko said awkwardly.

"What was that?" Sayaka asked, grinning.

"You know what I said, stupid." Kyoko said.

"Yeah, well, good night." Sayaka said, leaning against a rock, keeping a watch on the path to the entrance of the cave.

"Yeah… same." Despite her frustrations, she felt incredibly tired. Kyoko blamed the lack of food. They'd have to work on that tomorrow. At the moment, Kyoko drifted off to sleep, wondering how dragon meat tasted.

Thanks to The Name Of Love for beta-reading and idea sounding!

~Dragonexx