Marie spent that afternoon in her bedroom, though she never slept in it she used it as her own personal space to pursue her greatest hobby; tinkering. Her brother stood by watching; a familiar sight, the small Klonian hunched over to her table, working away in hopes of accomplishing something.
"So what are you doing now?" Klonoa asked catching Marie's attention. She brought up a handle; a hilt and said "I'm trying to create a new weapon for myself, one that'll help me fight off darkness more easily..."
She looked down "I want to be able to fight as well, you know? To be on top of things, to get into the action..."
Klonoa laid his hand upon the orb in her lap "But now you also have responsibility, don't forget..."
"I know" she said with a cheerful smile, assembling the last pieces. She lifted the hilt, a blade materializing with her own energy, shimmering in the light.
"I don't know what to call it..." she thought "But the blade concentrates my water energy and changes it to light energy..."
"So it's a 'blade of light' " Klonoa suggested, getting an eager nod.
"Yeah... the blade of light..."

Spirit trained with Sephiroth outdoors "The Gaia Ultima responds to your feelings. The greater your heart, the stronger the sword will become."

Spirit nodded understandingly.

"Also, the sword will adapt to any situation, obvious by its transforming capabilities." Sephiroth then drew his sword, the long blade shining like new "This is my sword, the Masamune. A true swordsman can wield a sword as an extension of their own body, and I'm going to show you how."

As he was ready to demonstrate, the call of Marie interrupted. She stood by the door with the orb and the sword hilt and said "Hey Spirit, I got a new invention!"
Spirit diverted his attention to her with a smile, as she materialized the blade before him.
"I made it special so I can fight the darkness... maybe I can train with you two? I haven't used a sword in awhile..." she scratched the back of her head, forcing a shy smile. Spirit looked to Sephiroph who gave a solemn nod.
"If she's always going to be around you, we best teach her to defend herself a well..." he said, Marie eagerly walking up besides Spirit with her new creation, pocketing the orb.
"But you must remember" Sephiroph continued "Marie, Spirit, you two must protect each other, look out for one another, if you two always work together, you'll get the greatest rewards in the end... now, to begin your training!"

A large, black wing appeared on Sephiroth's back. His outfit gained a red trim, and his sword began to give off a dark purple aura.

"The One Winged Angel... So that's why..." Spirit gazed on in awe.

"This form you see was born of darkness, but, as you can see, my heart is able to sustain that darkness. No power is inherently evil, though darkness remains to be the most unstable." Suddenly, he disappeared in a flash of light. Sephiroth reappeared in front of Spirit, sending him flying from a quick sword swipe.

"That's not fair, he wasn't ready!" Marie shouted.

"Do you think Zeetan will give you the chance to get ready?"

"I guess... not" as she pondered Amidst her thought he came at her as well with blinding speed. Closer and closer, but she soon took notice, her ears twitching in response to the sound of his clothes ruffling in the wind. She managed to use her wings to push her body backwards, holding up her sword to deflect his, using her free arm to materialize a shield. He grinned, backing up a bit, and appearing from her from behind, but found his test blow blocked by Spirit's Ultima.
"It seems you got your first lessons down" he grinned slightly "You're both fast learners, it seems Marie's especially quick to reaction!"
"Thanks" she said with a bow "It's all part of speed and instinct..."

"Don't count me out yet, though, I still have much left to teach." With that, he raised his hand to the air, and Spirit and Marie were sent flying back by a tower of flames "You must never let yourself go off-guard! If your enemy still stands, then they are still a threat!"

Marie caught Spirit in mid-air, drifting down and letting him stand back up.

"The strength you get from eachother is quite powerful, but the forces of evil will try to exploit that bond. Spirit, though I am your guardian, there will be times in which I won't be able to help you, and it is then that you must rely upon your own heart." Spirit looked puzzled, but remained on guard; remembering what happened the last few times "Heart is a uniting force... it amplifies the power of your own heart with others, creating an inner fire that can never be extinguished." Spirit smiled at this, as did Marie.

"The powers of light and heart lay within you, and only you can realize their full potential."

He nodded, helping Marie up to continue with the training that dragged on through the afternoon. The both of them ended up falling back from exhaustion, Sephiroph standing by, staring down at them, expecting them to continue.
"L-let's take a break" Spirit said through the panting, sitting up. His lungs burned, muscles sore, he rubbed sweat from his forehead.
"Oh? But we've only been training for 7 hours" Sephiroph said, Marie muttering "I don't feel so hyper anymore..."
"Well, I guess you two did well for our first session, but they'll only get rougher from here on. In the meantime, you two earned yourself a break!"
"Yay!" Marie threw her arms in the air, letting them fall back down like weights "I think I'mma go to bed now..."

Spirit agreed and quickly took Marie by the hand, leading her inside, taking her to his room. They both curled up on the bed, as usual, and Marie brought the orb out to hold it.

"I think it's getting bigger." Spirit said happily.

"I hope we can defeat Zeetan for good, I want our child to have a life free of darkness." he continued. Marie cuddled around him like a little kitten, looking up into his eyes.

"I know we can make that happen." she said, right before nodding off into a deep slumber. Spirit curled his tail around her like a blanket, then fell asleep himself. They both purred lightly, dreaming of a bright future, free from the evils of Zeetan. The next morning Marie woke up before Spirit, stroking the orb as she stared into it deeply, then gasped a moment. It woke up Spirit, giving her a confused look as she forced a smile.
"The children inside are developing much faster than normal..."
"Children?"
"I have magic sight, I can see past the clouds in the orb... and I saw twins..." she said, scratching the back of her head "What would take a season of energy absorption only took about 10 days... I don't know why..."

"Well, we'll be prepared for when they arrive..." Spirit said with a smile, stroking the glassy exterior. It seemed to glow brighter in response, and he tried to see past the clouds like Marie did.
"I wish I could see them as well..."

At that moment, they both heard someone burst through the front door. They looked out, only to see Samus, a sense of fear about her "It's them! The space pirates are here!"

"Huh?" Spirit and Marie said in unison.

"Off the coast, Ridley's flagship, Chozodia, just landed."

Spirit nodded "We'll come along, there's no telling if they're sided with Zeetan."

Samus shook her head. "They're far too dangerous! The space pirates have all manner of genetically enhanced creatures at their disposal!"

"Samus, we're going! What concerns a friend concerns us!" Marie boldly stated. The bounty hunter gave a reluctant sigh, then turned to them.

"I should know better than to try and stop you two."

"Don't worry" Spirit said "nothing could be more intense than Seph's training!"
"You haven't fought a space pirate yet" Samus said, leading the way to the familiar lookout spot Spirit and Marie would spend many nights at. Hovering by the cliff was a strange space ship, and the three ducked behind a few bushes, wanting the element of surprise.
"So what do we do now?" Marie whispered quietly, kitten nose poking slightly through the leaves.

She suddenly noticed something standing in front of her. It was a lobster-looking creature that stood on two legs, with a pair of beady yellow eyes. All manner of weapons were fused onto its body, including guns on the sides of its claws.

"Intruders located!" it said, charging its lazers. Suddenly, it was blasted away by a mass of concentrated energy. Samus stood with her arm cannon extended, the tip steaming "That's one down, but more are on the way!" She then quickly turned around, pressing a button on the side of her visor "Not good! My Echo Visor is picking up multiple space pirates headed our way!"

Soon they found themselves surrounded, fighting off the hoards. Marie used her new sword to slash through the bionic parts, Spirit doing the same with his ultima and Samus blasting through crowds using her ammunition. But what they did wasn't enough, more and more surrounded them, the fight dragging on until the three warriors were nearly exhausted. Marie forced herself to fight at this point, every muscle sore, every move hurt herself as much as it did the monsters, until a sudden darkness surrounded them on the ground. The darkness consumed the three warriors, and Marie saw Spirit reaching out to her before all vision faded.