Well, this is it for now.

Riku: "You've sadly lost much of your abilities."

Nope.

Riku: "It's 8 pages."

Yeah, but this isn't the whole chapter.

Narrator: "Then why are you publishing it? Though I don't mind the easy work…"

Simple. I believe I've moved on from the question I was asking to life through this story. Fact is that what I used this for before I don't need anymore. This means that I could either give it up or do something new. I read this exquisite story a while ago, and the idea was a good one. Many short chapters in a small space of time. It works well too.

Acronos: "I've heard of worse. But, if you want to give us up, it's okay."

Maioko: "There's a time and place for everything, you know that."

Yeah, but I've placed too much to give up now. No, I'll complete this story, even if I have to do a short version or give the koan to another author with what I'd envisioned.

Sora: "Koan? What's that?"

Kenshin: "It is a question asked by a master to a student that seems to have no answer readily available. Often times it takes years to answer."

Sora: "Oh. Then what was the koan asked by this story?"

Can't tell you. In fact I don't think anyone besides me needs to know.

Sora: "But the authors-

Will have their own questions in mind while reading or writing this story. They'll answer those for themselves, not mine.

Blasphemy: "You know, it is said that you must let go of a moment for it to be complete."

I'm aware of that. I just figure I'm damned if I don't finish this story before ending it. Hell, I'll publish abridged notes if I have to, but this story will be completed!

Riku: "Calm down there."

Narrator: "I don't think he can be anything but spirited to continue."

Riku: "We're in for a long night…"

./6

./6 (Sorry about all these, but has the most evil formatting….)

However, no such luck as of yet. It's time to check on Maioko!

Standing there for a moment, she waited for it all to sink in.

Maioko" Heh. I've joined these freaks in their fight against Acronos. Finally I can do what I want and not be controlled by that idiot! I am free, and I am dark. Finally, things are looking up. Though, maybe I shouldn't have been... No, I cannot sympathize with my enemy, no matter how well I know them. I will destroy them all for what they've done. Yes, that's it. I will destroy.

... Now what "

She looked around her, taking in what qualified as surroundings. She was standing in what seemed like absolute nothingness, but instead of being on the platforms in Sora's dream, this place felt walled in. It was dark, but not lonely dark, more oppressive. She wandered around, expecting to find a wall, but just kept walking. It was a bit disconcerting to think there was a wall, expect a wall, but find nothing. Getting frustrated, she kicked the floor, and when her foot went up, it tapped the wall.

Maioko"Huh" There was no more wall then, and she took a step forward. She looked from side to side, confused. The she poked forward, wanting to poke the wall. It was there. She blinked several times and came to the conclusion that there was a wall only when there needed to be. She shrugged and began wondering where an exit might be. At that moment she heard footsteps coming her way. Going into ready stance, her kodachi were unsheathed and at ready. As they came closer, she began tensing up...

Zidane"(Yodels) Hey, where are you! Oh, hey Blasphemy, what took you so long...? (Nervous) Oh, hi Maioko. Umm, why are you here? (Shifty eyes)"

Maioko"(Sheathes kodachi) I'm joining you guys."

Zidane"(Blinks in confusion) But... Aren't you with the good guys"

Maioko"Now I am."

Zidane"... Yep, she's crazy. And this coming from me. Oh boy, Blasphemy has some explaining to do. Well, why are you down here"

Maioko"Well, isn't this your hideout"

Zidane"Yeah, but... This is the basement."

Maioko"Oh, okay. Upstairs must be even more evil, right"

Zidane"Umm, no. Follow me." He opened up a portal and they walked through. They appeared in one of the kitchens. Maioko looked confused, and was more so when they went out.

Maioko"But... (Pointing in opposing directions) Wasn't, isn't, shouldn't..."

Zidane"Sigh, you're not seeing this the right way. We're not your standard bad guys, per se. I'm just here because I have nothing better to do, and Blasphemy is here to destroy anything and everything … In short; we're all here for our own reasons, not the whole 'darkness' thing."

Maioko: "(Blinks a few times) Oh. (Shrugs) Even better."

Zidane: "(Smirk/smile) I'll give you the tour." He began showing her the various passages and hallways, selecting a room for her, and all that great stuff. When it began to grow boring, Zidane decided to make a stab at interest.

Zidane: "Hey, you were looking forward to torture stuff, right?"

Maioko: "Yeah, at least something for setting people on fire."

Zidane: "Well, I'll show you the dungeons then." As they teleported down and continued walking, Zidane bantered on about it.

Zidane: "These dungeons came with the place, so don't expect much. Here's the standard torture room, a rack, whips, chains, spikes, you know. (They continue on for a while) Yeah, here's where we actually keep some of the prisoners."

Maioko"A PS2, games, a comfy bed... (Raised eyebrow) Are you sure this is a dungeon"

Zidane"Well, it's what we use. Hey kid."

Sora"(Busy playing a game) Hey Zidane." Maioko continued with Zidane, stopped, did a double take, and ran back.

Maioko"You're Sora"

Sora"(Still concentrating) Yeah, could you wait just a sec, I've just got... Ha! You went down, video game things! Booyah! Huh, do ya need something? Hey, you're new around here"

Maioko"Yeah. I've got to tell Kairi... Oh yeah, not part of the team. Sigh, never mind."

Sora"Huh? Never mind what"

Maioko"Nothing, never mind."

Sora"What"

Maioko"(Vein) Nothing, never mind"

Sora"Whoa"

Maioko"Sigh. Is there anything else"

Zidane"Hmm… Yeah, I suppose." He took them through a portal. It was a dark room again; seemingly similar to the room where the villains of the first Kingdom Hearts had congregated to watch over what was happening. There was a small pedestal in the center, with veins leading out from it along the floor to the walls, with silver liquid within, giving the floor a look of nearly being liquid.

On the pedestal was a large orb, like a moon being held in the branches of a tree. Maioko looked confused and wandered up to it, slightly reverent. She prodded it with a finger, and a picture of Ifrit popped up. He was finishing up a large chunk of meat. After rending the last portion from the bone, he leaned back against what was once a tree-monster, looked at the stars, closed his eyes, and slept, snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Maioko took a step back, shocked at this reaction. She bumped into Zidane on the way back, and for a moment he seemed larger and stronger, more evil. However, it was only a brief second, and his goofy smile reassured her of the predictability of her new ally.

Zidane: "This is where we've been tracking your movements from. It will show you anyone or anything you want. If you have a place you'd like to check up on, use this. Also, since you aren't experienced enough with portals, this should allow you to move freely in the same way just by jumping through. Feel free to check out whatever you want, I'm going." He faded into the shadows and was gone, giving the room a more silent feel.

However, it was in no way oppressive, as the trickling of the quicksilver into the orb made a sound similar to a stream, and occasionally sounded like wind chimes. Maioko looked from side to side, a natural instinct showing her innate discomfort with being there. She then placed one hand on the orb of light and wished to see the layout of the castle. A map appeared there, so detailed in construction that it highlighted shortcut portals already in use, along with demons that wandered the halls looking for vengeance for their fallen masters, and the regulars of the castle as well. Maioko studied it with a sharp countenance, giving special detail to each demon, each hiding point, and every single way around and through the place. Her critical eye found some details that wouldn't have been available to a normal glance-through, such as discrepancies where extra passages might be.

After a few more moments of this, she nodded in acceptance of sufficient memorization. She turned her attention to Earth this time, hoping to see something still alive. Unfortunately there was nothing. A barren wasteland, devoid even of heartless. She sighed, slightly overcome by despair. Yearning for a bit of company, she willed the orb to show the progress of her friends. It came up with multiple images, each occurring at the same and different times, far too much to keep up with. Maioko ceased the orb's production with a wave of her hand and stood back, contemplating who to look after first. Acronos was obviously not on that list yet, merely a whim not to see his face for a while. Upon further retrospection, she decided to locate Tidus, and find out his progress thus far. This is what she saw:

./6

./6

One eye slowly opened, and then another. Everything was blurry, confused and jumbled, but finally fell into place as a strange area. Tidus shook his head to dispel the confusion for a moment, and tried to take in his surroundings. The gummi ship was nowhere in sight, most likely having flung him far away and devoid of any way to contact his fellows.

Picking up the shorter version of Caladbolg, his legendary weapon of the sun, Tidus raised his body from the dirt. He dusted himself off, vaguely aware of a presence lurking in the shadows of the trees surrounding him. He didn't much care, it didn't feel like anything particularly life threatening, so he looked around from his higher viewpoint, and noticed a hill close by. Shrugging, he made his way towards it, and on the way was amazed to find no damage having been done. It was almost a miracle, but he had no broken bones, no burns, not even a bruise to show for the crash. This made him a bit suspicious of the time period he couldn't account for, but kept going, still aware of the presence.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, he looked down into a grassy valley surrounded by sheer cliffs. Pretty, but unlikely to be of any use. Looking the opposing way, he saw smoke curling up into the sky. Smiling at his good fortune, he began walking in that direction. A small portion of him began to wonder why exactly everything was as it was. He was completely undamaged, and totally unafraid of what lay before him. Now, he knew he was the courageous type, but it simply wasn't in his usual character to be absolutely happy despite a negative situation. Thinking for a time, he attributed it to the scroll the Immortal had left. Having followed its instructions had given him a clearer perspective, and sated his need for more power than those around him. It was not so much that he was now the best and didn't need to try anymore, but more that he simply was happy with his state of being, whether it was the best or not. Almost sighing, he shook his head and continued.

Or, he would have, had there not been a monster newly in front of him. Like he'd sensed, it wasn't life threatening or even that strong to begin with. Pulling out Caladbolg, he readied himself in the stance he was most accustomed to, not really needing any fancy techniques other than his usual jump-slash to dispose of this foe.

He jumped forward easily, sinking blade into the sinewy flesh of an arm, and pulled back. It thrashed, sending another clawed appendage to strike at his midsection. He front-flipped over it and cleaved the aforementioned appendage off. Now bleeding profusely, and off balance to boot, it glared at him. Tidus stood there calmly, waiting for it to move, since he was now bored. Actually, he never though he'd get bored of any fight at this rate, but he was bored nevertheless. The creature reared back on its hindquarters, preparing to spring forward in a corkscrew motion to impale Tidus to a tree. He tilted slightly, ready for the attack, ready to dodge and impale the creature into a tree and then deliver a finishing blow.

This series would have commenced, had not a greater beast intruded. A large thing, roughly like a turtle in proportion of chest to everything else, along with the shell, feet like tree stumps, long and clawed arms, and an enormous jaw lined with razor-sharp teeth. It barreled into the first creature, smashing it against another tree with a sickening crack denoting the halving of its spinal cord, and then began tearing into the still-living carcass. Tidus, quite disgusted, began walking away, still eying the predator and prey. Before he could comment to himself about the "glory that was nature", the greater of the two predators turned to him sharply, fire burning in its eyes.

It turned fully towards him, stomping with such force as to make indentations in the earth. Tidus sighed and readied Caladbolg again. He took the opportunity to try and sense his opponent, but nothing came. Slightly confused, he took up a higher grade of stance, wary of some trick this predator might have. It reared back one arm, and had it hitting Tidus before he even saw it coming, or moving at all for that matter. He flew in the direction propelled, but managed to place his feet on the ground and skid to a halt. He slightly rubbed his now sensitive stomach area, and took up a distance attack stance. His goal would be to bounce off the trees and impale the creature's head, ending the battle before any other damage was incurred.

However, the creature placed it hands on the ground and sent out a pulse of energy through the ground. Tidus began his jumping as a consequence, but fell on the second one because the trees he'd been aiming for had fallen already. He rolled backwards, getting ready again, but as soon as he'd gotten up the creature had its fist in his face. He rolled for a few feet, but got back up again. His back to the valley now, he decided to blast the thing with some lightning magic to stop it from attacking again. However, you all know what happens, right? Nada, zilch, nothing.

Now aware that he might be in some danger, Tidus began trying to plot out some course of action. No such luck as it reached out and grabbed him by the throat, and swung him into a tree. It let go and began walking over there at a pace that one really wouldn't expect from something of that size and shape. Tidus groaned in pain, and tried standing up, but much to his dismay found that he was now injured to the point of this being quite difficult. Breathing difficultly, he took a moment to size up the equation.

This thing somehow was too fast to attack with the strategy he'd been using, and its long-range was unstoppable. The best chance would be a close-range assault, but with the size of its mouth, and it ability to bull-rush with such mass, it would be extremely difficult to even try something like that. A better option would be to pretend to be dead and impale it through the throat when possible. He decided on that approach. It lumbered over to him, and seemed to believe his act. Or perhaps not, since it lunged its claws forward, intending to impale him to the tree to make sure he was dead.

Obviously Tidus had to roll away, but as he was moving, that same arm came at him and thwacked him away. He skidded on the ground for a moment, and looked at his aggressor. He began getting up, and then, for just a second, noticed its white eyes. His own widened, this thing was blind? That's why it was able to anticipate so easily, and wasn't fooled at all by the act. He readied Caladbolg in a stance above him. This next move made Caladbolg cut through the air very noisily, but it would continue to do so even if he let go. Tidus just hoped his fists were tough enough.

The creature seemed to raise an eyebrow, as if reading his move, and clapped its hands together to form a blast of sound. Tidus jumped up, and began the attack. Caladbolg whistled loudly in the air, and began falling towards the aggressor. Tidus let go and began aiming for a different segment. However, it somehow knew this as well, and simply hit away sword and boy like swatting a fly. The two landed near each other, and Tidus grabbed his precious blade again. Using it as a crutch, he wondered what could possibly be used to defeat this thing.

Unfortunately, considering that it hadn't revealed any weak point in its attack up until now, Tidus was beginning to doubt his chances. So, taking a cue from anyone in really bad circumstances, he began edging away, until he was flat-out running away as fast as possible. The hulking thing simply couldn't keep up, even with its extendable limbs, so it just gave up on him and went back to the other creature. It found its prey trying to crawl away, barely holding in its organs. Its teeth seemed to almost elongate, prey that lost this much flesh and blood and still lived were the best kind.

On his way down, away from the forest and towards the smoke, Tidus heard a loud crunching and a scream. Cringing, he assumed that the crunch was from a very necessary bone, such as the spine. Nevertheless, he kept on running for a long time, until he finally came upon the source of the smoke. It seemed to be a small village. Wooden houses lined the area, with a central campfire. Several people looked up at him. He was breathing heavily from exertion, and looked quite beaten up. He looked from side to side, and finally his eyes rested on what looked like an inn. He walked in, ignoring the stares. Striding up to the first important person he saw, he got their attention.

Tidus: "How much for a night's stay?"

Person: "… (Raised eyebrow) What exactly do you mean?"

Tidus: "Isn't this an inn?"

Person: "Inns are only in towns."

Tidus: "This isn't?"

Person: "No, only a brief settlement for a few days' duration. You're welcome to find a cot and join us though."

Tidus: "Thanks." He grabbed a dusty old thing, the only one around, and laid it on the floor. Looking back to the person, they tilted their head in the direction of the door. Apologizing, Tidus went outside and found a place to rest and tend to his wounds.

./6

Maioko looked on with mild concern. That thing was pretty tough, and Tidus seemed quite beaten up. Deciding to be nice, (she only needed Acronos dead, not the rest of what once her team), she glanced around for whoever was close to him. Finding Selphie close to the village but going in a different direction, she decided to test the orb's teleport ability. She placed her arm through, saw it near, and pushed Selphie in the direction of the village.

Selphie"Oomph! What... Hey, smoke" She began running towards it, and Maioko retracted her arm. Within a few minutes Selphie reached the village that Tidus had arrived in. Looking from side to side, she spotted Tidus and cried out.

Selphie"(Jumping up and down, waving hand) Tidus, hey Tidus" He looked up in mild confusion, spotted her, and his face lit up.

Tidus"Hey, Selphie! You're alive"

Selphie"Yeah" She ran up to him and began bouncing up and down. He slowly got up, and she noticed his damage.

Selphie"Oww, what happened"

Tidus"A really tough monster."

Selphie"Why haven't you used Cure"

Tidus"Magic doesn't work here, I don't know why."

Selphie"Let me try." She tried to call forth a spell, but it didn't work. Pouting, she Drew a spell from Tidus and cast it immediately, having a very limited effect, but working. She smiled, and then pulled out a materia orb. Pushing in energy, she unleashed the spell, and it worked as well. She grinned happily, and cast Cure upon Tidus.

Tidus"Cool, magic from outside seems to work. I'll get you a cot." Later that evening, Selphie and Tidus' naturally happy personalities made them some friends, and they were all sitting in front of the fire.

Selphie"So, what do you think is gonna happen to us"

Tidus"We'll find our friends, don't worry."

Selphie"..."

Tidus"... (Looks up at the moon) Hey, a crescent moon. Two crescent moons."

Selphie"Really? Wow, there are two. Cool..." Both looked up for a while, and sighed.

The night was silent, no birds, no insects, barely the rustle of grass. This was Tidus' first tip. After sighing while looking at the moon, he heard the silence, even through peoples' speaking. His ears quirked up.

Tidus"Selphie, it's quiet."

Selphie"I guess"

Tidus"No, not the people. Listen, the forest is too quiet. It's silent..."

Selphie"... Yeah, you're right. What's it mean though"

Tidus"(Regarding the forest carefully) Something's coming." At that moment some birds flew out, squawking in fear. Despite all this, the festivities hadn't ended in the village; they were the only ones to observe the silent forest. Tidus began looking for Caladbolg, his sword would be needed. However, nothing immediately came. He waited with his sword at ready for a time, but no great demon attacked. After ten minutes of this, Selphie tugged on his arm.

Selphie"C'mon, nothing's there. Let's have fun."

Tidus"You go ahead, I think I'll wait."

Selphie"(Pouts) You're getting like Auron"

Tidus"(Blinks in confusion, shudders) Okay, fine, I'll go." The two neared the fire and began eating and making merry with everyone else. However, Tidus had been right to believe something coming.

The creature from before was waiting and listening, knowing that the humans were aware and might put up some resistance. It would wait until they slept, then go in and pick out meals calmly. And wait it did, but only another hour or so. The noises ceased and the humans went into their caves. It rose and began walking over. It needed to be fast; there was a second predator that had been invading the territory recently and taking some of its prey. Not many, but it was somehow too fast to keep up with. Upon reaching the boundary of the humans' place, it heard wings and a loud screech. The second predator had arrived. No matter, there were too many for one alone anyway.

It stomped forward and knocked over a canister. This thing began leaking a strange-smelling liquid. The creature shrugged (or at least what counted as one), and swung hard to the right while extending an arm, ripping a gash through the front that counted as a door. It felt a small sting and wondered what it was. Turned out it was a small lamp that broke on the liquid and set it on fire, moving toward the canister. Of course, the interest lasted only a moment as it went inside for a meal, humans didn't hunt themselves, now did they?

Meanwhile, Tidus had woken up when the house was struck. He sat up and looked around. Any remaining bits of sleep were eradicated when he noticed the container of kerosene spilled, and fire about to hit it. He got up and ran toward it as fast as he could, hoping to be able to do something, but was too late as it exploded in front of him. He was flung back several feet, but shook it off. The fire was catching well, considering the wooden structure of the homes.

There was a shrill scream from one house, so he grabbed Caladbolg and started toward it, but was struck down from above. It took a moment to process what had just happened, but he noticed he was flying and had pressure on his shoulders. Wondering what in the bloody hell was going on, he looked up to find a demon gripping him. It had very sharp teeth and grinned down at him. Eyes widening in fear, he did the only thing available to him; he impaled the thing. It roared in pain, and let him go.

Tidus fell several feet, rolled to soften the fall, and came up ready to fight. The demon-thing circled around to get him, and was diving down for him, when it was blasted away by a fire spell. Selphie was behind it and smiled cheerfully to Tidus. He nodded and ran into the building he'd first heard a scream coming from. He ran in, and started making his way through the flames, noticing a bit of a trail of blood leading up the stairs. Following it led him to one room in particular, but as he entered an arm came out and smashed him against the wall.

After opening his eyes, he narrowed them again; it was that creature from before in the forest. He raised Caladbolg and slashed down, but even though he cut through the skin, the moment he lifted it to strike again, the flesh began healing itself like rubber. The creature 'looked' at him in annoyance, and swung him to the opposite side of the house, through the roof. He'd managed to hold on, and wasn't too hurt, so he pried its arm off and took up stance. From the heightened stance, he lowered so as to gain tension and then leaped up into the air and back down onto the creature. Turning its shoulder, it blocked with its shell, but was sent back a bit, close to the wall.

Tidus"(Eyes flash) Got you" Planting the tip of his blade on the ground, he spun around it and delivered a powerful kick to the midsection, sending it through the wall for once. Immediately he jumped through the hole, intending to impale the thing through the stomach, but it smacked him away, hard. He rolled on the ground for a few feet, but came right back up and sprinted over, faster than he had ever before. It swung from the right, the left, a spin wave, but Tidus dodged all three at high speeds and delivered a punch to the face with Caladbolg's spiked hand guard. It flew back into a flaming building and disappeared into the inferno.

Tidus"Yeah" He felt a sudden, sharp pain between his shoulders, and was flung into the dirt, but did a front flip with the momentum. He knew it could only have been the demon, and quickly deciding where it would be, he stuck the blade out to there and felt some resistance as the demon cut itself with a roar of pain. It circled around to come at him again, but was hit with an ice spell and frozen briefly.

Selphie"Hey Tidus"

Tidus"Right" Holding the sword in an almost presenting manner, he waited in stance. Selphie ran and jumped onto the blade, and along with a boost from Tidus, jumped high into the air, up to the demon, where she wrapped the nunchaku around its neck and drove it to the floor. With it still slightly frozen, and her holding down the limbs, she began attempting to suffocate it.

Selphie"I've got it over here"

Tidus nodded and looked over to the building where the other creature had ended up, just in time to slightly dodge the great claw coming at him and only get a scratch instead of being smashed into another flaming wall. He tried to slash at the arm, but it retracted before he had a chance, so he had to begin running over. Right as he came close enough for a slash, it curled up into a spiky ball and began rolling toward him. Unable to stop, he was sent flying into the air, where it immediately caught him and slammed him back down. He coughed a few times, by now hurting pretty seriously, but began to try and get up. However, the creature had no intention of letting him gain the upper hand, and punched him into another wall, leaving a fierce indentation.

Tidus groaned in pain, only one eye opened for the time being, but couldn't manage to pull himself out. Since the creature couldn't see him trying to move, and couldn't hear his minute struggles over the flames, it assumed him no longer a threat and moved on. Tidus grunted slightly and tried to pull himself out, but to no avail, he was quite stuck, and had too little energy to pull himself out. So he was resigned to watching the creature stop in front of a larger building that the flames had left relatively untouched. Reading the sign over the doorway made his eyes widen and he started struggling more fiercely, the one place where all the little children slept.

He saw one little girl come out, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She looked up slowly and saw the creature, waited a moment for it to sink in, and shrieked. The creature grabbed her in its hand, the enormous palm completely encompassing her. It lifted her up slowly, above its now open mouth, and its eyes seemed to shine in response to the new snack. In the lurid light from the blazing hell surrounding, Tidus saw the little girl's face. Her eyes, her hair, the style, she looked exactly like a younger Yuna, (or at least to Tidus through the bad lighting and beating he's endured). His rage reaching levels he'd never even thought about before, power surging through his veins once more, his mind began reciting the words and lesson that the Immortal's scroll dictated for the "Realization".

The Realization is something that true warriors always discover in their own ways. It has no specific way or route to achievement, merely appearing whenever the warrior is ready for it, or, more specifically, asks for it with all of his or her being. However, there are certain things that are similar in all Realizations, a certain core belief or essence that pervades all. Usually the Realization occurs when the very foundation of a person's being is undergoing a test. When this occurs, the warrior is responsible for noticing it, though they are almost always caught up in the moment. The objective of the exercise is to question the question that keeps you going. "What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who (or what) are you doing it for? What makes this moment special?" Once the warrior realizes this, they more or less understand the reason for their existence, and once this is found, it is possible to draw on this wellspring of power in order to do anything the user requires.

Something clicked, or maybe snapped in Tidus, and rage no longer seemed to matter. Hatred was no more, sadness; gone, and everything else besides an intense and strange feeling of love, and an equally immense feeling of unadulterated power simply ceased to exist in the face of this. Energy began flowing into him, and, with an explosion of golden light as though from the brightest of suns, the entire wall shattered like frail glass. The creature's ears perked up at this, fully hearing him. It turned to face him and its eyes widened. In its blindness, it actually saw him, an inferno of golden energy, one with a force of nature, and impossibly powerful.

Tidus"(Voice is deeper, very strange and mildly creepy) Put down the girl. (It doesn't) NOW! "

The creature slightly smiled, sensing an advantage. It was about to play with Tidus' care for its small snack, but found its hand cut off before the thought even finished crossing its mind. The creature screamed in pain and tried to swing at him, but he was already away from it. He placed the girl down and kneeled to her level.

Tidus"(Much nicer and smiling) Now be more careful next time, okay? (She nods quietly, slightly scared) Right, now go to bed, I'm going to make the monster go away now. (She nods again. Tidus smiles and ruffles her hair)" He stood back up and the little girl ran inside.

Caladbolg appeared in his hand, and he pointed it at the creature, which was busy regenerating its hand. It glared at him and stood ready. They stood there, facing one another amongst the flames. The creature was looking and sensing Tidus, trying to feel the full extent of this new strength, while Tidus was finding out exactly what movements it could make, and how strong and fast it was. It was like everything was suddenly an open book to him, and he also knew how to read and use that information. After figuring out everything that could possibly happen, and what had the highest probability of occurring, he smirked and lightly motioned for it to attack.

As a predator, it knew how to do this and bull-rushed him. Not the wisest of choices, so it tripped at one point into a spiky roll. Tidus' eyes glazed over for a second as he noted the situation, waited, and sprung forward and shoved his blade through it, flipped over, pulled the blade out, and smacked it hard away. It slid on the floor, seriously damaged for once, but got back up. Its chances were lowered and it knew that. Tidus was visible to it through his aura, and the bright, almost blinding light made it difficult for the creature, which was used to fighting without sight, to do anything.

It slowly got up and glared at him, defining where their strengths lay. His speed was much higher than before, higher than any other being it had ever encountered, but their strength difference hadn't changed much since the last time it had beaten him. So, if it could draw him into an attack, victory might be possible if it could catch him off guard. They both waited for a time, and then the flames ate away at a wooden pillar and it fell.

Tidus remained in place, absolutely calm, but the creature sent an arm flying at him. When there was literally less than a second left between him and the attack, he moved to the side and zoomed at the creature. He was halfway there even before the hand reached the ground, and the creature looked surprised, even scared. However, the moment its hand touched ground, its eye gained a glint, and it grabbed the earth, and used that leverage point in order to sent itself forward at rapid speeds. This time, it seemed to finally have him! Or not, as Tidus swung, and they ended up on opposing sides to one another.

There was a brief, momentary pause as the wind passed and time stood still in the face of the final strike. Tidus slowly opened his eyes, completely untouched. The creature also opened its eyes, wider than ever before as eight separate slash wounds appeared, each so deep and long that it almost, just barely not, cut the creature in half four different ways. Obviously, blood began gushing forth in a fountain, arteries slit open neatly, but it wasn't dead, merely unable to move from the most intense pain possible.

Tidus: "(Stands up calmly) You'll live for a few more minutes, that's about it. I made sure to cut exactly an inch from death. You'll either die of blood loss or pain, your choice." With that he sheathed Caladbolg and walked away, searching for Selphie. The creature's eyes followed him slowly, it still being unable to move. The last thought it had as permanent darkness closed upon it was of the irony that the sun had blinded it, and the sun now killed it.

Tidus stepped around a bend to feel something moving towards him, darted his eyes to where it was coming from, and jumped aside as the other demon was sent into the building next to him.

Selphie: "Pant, pant, I'm almost done!"

Tidus: "(Regards where the demon landed) I'd say you've got a ways to go." Saying that, the demon literally ripped the building to shreds, roaring and screaming.

Tidus: "Mind if I help?"

Selphie: "(Just a bit frazzled) Sure I guess." He pulled out Caladbolg and looked at the demon, determining where, when, and how it could and would attack. It dashed towards Selphie, obviously too caught up in what it was doing to care about anything else, so Tidus jumped up and attempted to cut it in half. However, he knew it was countering, so he blocked it before he had a chance to finish the maneuver. Changing the direction of flight, he was able to land on a piece of building that wasn't on fire at the time and, using a springing motion, jump forward in attack. He 'saw' its counter from his left, so he readied the sword behind him, kept up the position that was like a torpedo, and grappled its arm, swung around behind it using the force of its own counter, and impaled it through the back. Swinging around his blade, he managed to rip it out while moving in such a way as to get a nice, clean decapitation in. He dropped to the floor, still looking up at the demon that remained in the air. The moment his feet hit ground again, he jumped up to cut it in half the long way, and then on the way down sliced in a quick zigzag, butchering the remains. He landed, along with a bunch of demon parts.

Tidus: "You can burn the parts now."

Selphie: "(Raised eyebrow) Overkill much?"

Tidus: "Not really, it's still alive." And so it was. Selphie shrieked loudly when one of the arms grabbed her foot. Of course, it was instantly set on fire, along with the remaining bits.

Tidus: "That should do it, now if you don't mind…" Summoning up his newly acquired golden aura, he sent it throughout the area, stopping every bit of flame. This, of course, silenced everything, giving things an almost appreciative feel. Again of course, I'm not one to hold respect long, so a tiny wood chip fell from one house, followed by the entire house promptly collapsing. Tidus and Selphie blinked, waited for it to sink in, began chuckling, and then fully laughing. After wiping laughter-induced tears from their eyes, they began assessing the damage. Luckily most people were freshly in bed, and hadn't quite gotten to sleep at the time, so there were only a few instances of death or wounds. These were dealt with by everyone, but towards sunrise, Selphie complained of being a little tired.

Tidus: "C'mon, these people need help!"

Selphie: "Well, I can't help it if I'm human, unlike somebody over here who's been over-doing everything."

Tidus: "Hey! Wait, now that you mention it, the whole "Realization" thing, the monsters, and this, I really should feel somewhat sleepy, but I just don- Zzz… (Promptly falls asleep standing up)"

Selphie: "(Blinks a few times and shrugs) Oh well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." She then used Tidus' shoulder as a pillow and fell asleep herself.

./6

Maioko smiled to herself, those two were so cute sometimes. Now even more curious about the fate of her friends, err, yes, yes they still were her friends, only that one needed to die. Pondering briefly about the other halves of the two wholes, she asked for Yuna and Irvine. The scene shifted to near the gummi ship, but still a distance away, however someone appeared behind her, making her turn around and cease the vision.

Lance"Hey. We've got stuff to do, c'mon."

Maioko"Sigh, alright."

./6

Now, back with Acronos, he opened his eyes to find a mouthful of pillow. Blinking, he decided to get up before he ended up suffocating himself. He twisted himself out of the cocoon that was his blanket, and sat up, stretching. There wasn't any excess light in here, though he expected a sunrise. Shrugging, he got up to go get his computer and look for a bathroom. After dispensing with the morning necessities like a bit of combing, a shower, etc, he got fully dressed in the clothes he'd picked out for the normal outfit the day before. After locating on the map the tutor and princess Mai, he headed over. Once he entered the room, he found them arguing over a clipboard, fighting for it. At this time the clipboard was flung entirely out of the fight, and Acronos grabbed it and looked at it. There was a map on it, with little X's and O's drawn on it. There were many more O's than X's, and the X's were scattered about here and there on the map. Acronos studied the map a bit, determined what and where everything could and would go, and nodded in satisfaction.

Acronos: "Yeah, that's a pretty good strategy."

Tutor: "(Harried and finally away from Mai) Yes, if you mean for us."

Acronos: "Well, if we're the X's, yeah."

Tutor: "WHAT? We're the O markings, how could the rebels possibly win!"

(By the way, whenever Acronos is sticking in the new persona, I'll call him Zero) Zero: "Oh, well if they move here, here, and here… They'll have the terrain advantage, and that'll lead to here, which would give the advantage over this position over in the corner. Of course, the commander in charge would have to move the troops over into these positions in order to try and counter, but that's where these guys over in the back come in. They provide enough of a distraction for the remaining people to charge in. That should about wrap it up."

Tutor: "… Amazing, but… "

Mai: "Well then, what's the solution Mr. Big-shot?"

Zero: "Hmm? Oh, move these troops over to these positions here. That covers the flanks and keeps the others on their toes. You move these guys here through the center, and that should draw out everyone else, trying to attack their flanks. These guys go around and attack them from behind, sandwiching them between each other. Next, you move a lighter group to take these positions over here, giving them the terrain advantage, and surprising the forces over there. Once the opposition is gone, you should have them use long-range weaponry to take out the pockets that'll form in the back. While they do that, you use the soldiers closest to move in and take them out directly. The remainder should move to these points here as rapidly as possible in order to surprise the guys that are coming for the archers. Hmm… I'd also suggest that once they're all gone, you send a large squadron over to these two points here, I don't like how they look. Tell them to look for tunnels."

./6

Well, that'll do for now.

Riku: "That's it?"

Don't worry, I've actually got a lot more ready."

Riku: "You've said that a lot…"

And I mean it this time, I have the rest for now written up, I should be able to create a schedule of some sort…

Auron: "We'll see."