A few moments pasted as Marie focused intently, trying to direct her portal to a familiar place in Mobius. As she drifted through space those few moments, she knew that she lost control of where the other end appeared, and knew it could possibly cost her dearly.
"Nya..." she uttered, being pulled by gravity "I can't go back to the entrance, that knight's there, and Matilda" she looked forward "I betcha I won't end up anywhere important anyways..."
Her portal opened within a large dark room, Mobius' moon shining through a single large window which held a balcony on its exterior. Its strength threw her out rather roughly, but she managed to maneuver herself to land safely on her feet. Stumbling through the darkness, Marie touched a soft cloth like fabric while searching for a light switch. As she felt further she was able to tell it was a bed, and there must've been someone in it too. It would be odd for a large lump to naturally form in a bed. Her eyes flickered in the dim light, making out an all too familiar figure. Finally overcoming her daze, backing away, her heart skipped a few beats. She tried to keep the fear under control, forcing down that knot in her throat, looking towards the window, wondering how quietly it could open. Feeling around for a handle that couldn't be found, she debated whether or not she should break the window, and then looked towards the door.
After a moment of thought, Marie decided that the door was her best option. She nodded to herself through the darkness and began to creep towards the other end of the room, being sure not to allow herself to make any cracks in the floor. Just as she reached for the doorknob, Marie heard a loud thud near her head. She leapt away from it in shock, only to get a few more thuds and trip over her own foot.
"I don't know who you are..." a silhouette said, standing up in the bed as Marie looked back "...But considering you've gotten this far you must be pretty good. However, this is where your trip ends."
Her eyes widened, she raised her arm in reaction, enveloping her wrist in the beam sword energy as she batted the figure away. It shifted through the darkness, catching her off guard as she tried to defend herself. Clasping together her hands, the saber energy created a bubble around her body, solidifying into a dome. She cautiously backed away, but the figure stood behind her, placing its foot on the back of the bubble and preventing Marie from retreating any further. It firmly kicked the bubble, making it roll on over with Marie inside of it exposing its bottom and slightly dazing the upside down Klonian. She closed her eyes and braced herself for a sharp blow to her head, waiting for it to be over with so she can attack, but just as she did she heard a click. The room's lights were turned on and her opponent stood at the light switch, dagger in hand.
The child blinked, the sudden change of lighting making her squint. She saw the blurred figure of a tall, dark being as she leapt out past him, leaping over him by using his own head as a platform. Landing on the other side, she materialized her second sword, staring him straight down.
"Just my luck" she thought, shrouding her body in water to conceal her.
"...Oh, it's you Marie." The guy smiled rather deviously "And Here I thought I was going to have a challenge. What brings you here to disturb my slumber...?"
"Kresant" she growled, "I was only here by accident, but it looks like I have no choice but to fight now!" she assumed offensive stance "I might not be the best fighter, but I never run!"
"You're also not the best defender now are you...?" Kresant quickly snatched a throwing dagger from the door and tossed it at Marie's head, knocking her hat off and laughing "...Come on, you'll have to do better than just stand there..."
She reacted quickly, snatching her jester hat, undamaged "No one messes with the head gear!"
Marie came at him with her pair of beam swords, letting a burst of water energy in his eyes, she used this split second to get behind him and let out a strong blast to the back of the head. Quickly retreating, she materialized a barrier of crystals around her, gleaming white with forbidden magic. Kresant stumbled a bit; a blow to the head was no joke.
"You're fast, I'll give you that." his figure shifted and began to fade, holding its previous pose "But not fast enough..."
His voice echoed through his room. He disappeared from sight and all that could be seen by Marie were his white marble walls. The light being reflected from the walls was slightly blinding for Marie, for her eyes hadn't fully adjusted to the light just yet. She blinked to rid her eyes of the blurriness, and just as her lids reopened there he was.
"Sonic Blow!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, hurting her floppy sensitive Klonian ears, but she wouldn't let something that simple stop her. Before her she saw Kresant swinging his weapons impossibly fast at her shield, but not breaking through. She grimaced, her ears twitching violently at the sound; she raised her arm, a few crystals following.
"Wow..." she said "I love forbidden magic. Crystal barrage!"
By her own will of thought her shield became a barrage of projectiles, pelting her enemy by the simple motions of her hand, shattering with a burst upon impact of his skin. This time around, Marie would prove to be his most challenging opponent. Kresant's body fell back, but shifted again. He reappeared to Marie's right, once again shouting "Sonic Blow!" and swinging at her crystals. Slowly wearing away at them, but not entirely breaking through. Just as easily she pelted him with the crystals and he fell. The battle was becoming far too easy for Marie, that is, until he reappeared in front of Marie and to both her sides.
"SONIC BLOW!" the three opponents yelled in unison, critically damaging her barrier. She could feel its protective power draining around her.
"Augh!" she fell to the ground, clutching her ears, but soon surrounded herself with water. It swirled in a massive vortex, moving it towards him, but something was different this time "Sight!" the little flame surrounded herself, as the familiar attack, the sacred infusion, directed itself at him, along with the barrage of crystals to add to the power. It slammed itself into his body, colliding with the wall; it dented and then crumbled as she stepped up. The light of Marie's flame lit the room as it swirled around her body, giving her a perfect view of Kresant as he gasped on his knees. She could see that it made contact, and he was just recovering from the pain of it.
"...I see... you've learned a few new tricks, Marie." he said through his panting, after catching his breath "But these simple tricks won't stop me from defeating you just as I did before."
The assassin stood up, brushing debris from his shoulders and letting out a deep sigh. His head slouched on his shoulders and he gave Marie a vacant stare, his eyes dilated, swiftly running towards her much faster than she'd first expected. Despite being on the other side of his bedroom hall he was within a few inches of Marie in less than a second. Before she could react he already had her arm, flinging her as hard as possible to the other side of the room. Being able to fly, she quickly corrected her balance only to look up at his foot, trained dead at her head and only 4 inches away. The sharp blow simply disoriented her, but still she was astonished.
"Was this his true speed?" she quickly leapt off the ground, regaining balance. She chose that time to half the power of the sacred infusion, reserving her energy in case of a moment like this, and only a few crystals remained.
"This isn't over yet!" she yelled, a beam of light flew from her arm, moving around with her thoughts like a tentacle. Not even Kresant could avoid its speed as it made impact, not only hurting him, but pinning him against the wall. Yet another technique that suddenly came to her. She looked down at her hands, surprising herself as well, as she heard a soft voice lull through her mind "I'm here to help..."
Kresant quickly sliced the arm that pinned him, dropping to the floor and landing smoothly, as if the damage he took didn't affect him. He strafed Marie, grabbing his daggers from the door and tossing them at her head. Each one was blocked by the power she was so forbidden to use, just before they made contact. She stared out confused, her barrier was dwindling in size, yet all the projectiles blocked them from her face. In her daze, she made out a silhouette forming in front of her. A boy who appeared to be in his teen years, a Klonian devoid of color, he wore simply baggy pants, boots, gloves and a loose shirt. His eyes, though a deep red color, appeared to be soft and sensitive as they stared back into hers. The spirit phased across the room, appearing in front of Kresant.
"If you harm her, you shall die an unimaginably painful death!"
"You act as if I have a reason to live, spirit..." Kresant's own life force began to glow "...I've long lost my will. And so will you!"
He began advancing on Marie and the mysterious force that spoke from her body. More beams of light shot out towards his body, attempting to wrap themselves around him again, but failed, each one being cut in half simply by his own dark energy, fading as it grew closer to him. As he walked, the room behind him was engulfed in pure darkness, each step rippling the light on the ground and turning it darker.
"Darkness cancels out the light. May the world be consumed by darkness..."
"NO!" the spirit tried using his light energy to defend his host, but soon found himself fading "Marie!" he regretfully said, rushing at her "I'm so sorry!" In that moment, the silhouette collided with her body merging back into her soul. She gasped, getting up, a glow in her eyes, through deep blue reflected a whitish hew. She stared up at her attacker, a cold stare at him down, saying "Now I get it, you have no purpose; you dwell on darkness because you have nothing else. Do what you want to me, my light will never fade, how I pity you so much, a wretched person doomed to a terrible life."
"Your light has already faded retreated back into your vessel..." Kresant said with an unforgiving stare "Look around you, Marie... Do you see any Light? Do you see even a trace of the light that burns within you?"
She didn't. His power had engulfed the room, and possibly more. Not even the Moonlight shone through the window anymore in his presence "They say that the darkness is afraid of the light... But your light seems to be afraid of me."
"Why should I prove you wrong?" she thought "You say what you want! It's still there, somewhere!" She held up her beam sword, in a last attempt to defend herself, but then thought "No..." she knelt down, taking in a deep breath as she stared at the floor, the last glow remained as she exhaled "I shall stay strong no matter what..."
Marie's feet began to sink into the darkness, pulling her in, engulfing her light in with it. She could see her beam saber fading fast as the darkness rose to her chest and she found herself being glared down upon by Kresant's purple glowing eyes.
"...It's time you returned from whence you came..." he said, grinning evilly "...Nighty Night, Marie..." He rose his foot above her head, allowing her to see his footprint just before it--...
...Marie jumped up from her covers, gasping for air as if she'd been choked. At her bed sat Klonoa and her Grandfather, a sparkle in their eyes as they saw her rise. Klonoa practically leapt forward to glomp Marie, he'd been waiting for her to awaken for the longest time.
"Wh-what happened?" she asked, confused at the sight of her family "Where's Kresant, he was just here!" She panicked slightly, ready to hop out of bed, until she noticed May standing outside the doorway.
"Welcome back, Marie..." May said, smiling brightly. As her sight focused, she could see that May wasn't just there; her body was glowing slightly, in the same way that Marie met her. Her life force seemed much stronger now.
"Back, from where?" she looked up at Klonoa, confused, yet starting to calm down "I was in a great big fight... with the most terrifying power ever..."
"You were out for days Marie. After we found you lying in the forest underneath Sorrow, we thought he'd done something to you."
She threw off the covers, sitting at the side, hugging her brother in relief.
"I was on the greatest adventure..." a red hew emanated in her eyes "and another is soon to come..."