Hey everyone! I'm back with another update! Enjoy!
Spoiler Warning: I recreate a fight that occurs in X[chi].
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.
She hit the ground on her back, scrambling to get away. The creature before her swung its head to find its adversary, who had tripped in the middle of dodging it.
"Nightly!" Aqua called.
"Stay back!" Nightly yelled back from across the field. Her voice drew the attention of the beast, and its red eyes narrowed at the sight of her. "I've got this," she said, more to herself than anyone.
"Nightly!" cried Riku, who had suddenly revealed himself from the brush. He began to run to her.
"Don't you dare!" Nightly screamed at him. The creature, taking an interest in its new challenger, stampeded towards Riku.
Riku stopped as he saw this, summoning his Keyblade to face this new foe. His eyes were drawn to a symbol on the creature's chest. "Huh?" Before he could question further, several colorful stars fell from the sky and exploded onto the Nightmare.
As the Nightmare, infuriated, turned to see what interrupted its charge, Riku saw Nightly, standing, her Keyblade pointed to the Nightmare, a steel gaze turning her happy-go-lucky face deadly serious.
"Eyes on me, Chirithy."
"Chirithy?" Aqua asked, taken back by what she just heard. Riku's and Mickey's expressions matched hers, staring at the Spirit-turned-Nightmare, about to face its best friend.
"Chirithy," Nightly began slowly, not lowering her Keyblade, but her gaze softening, "it's me. It's Nightly, I'm here."
Chirithy responded with a yowl, lunging at Nightly and scratching at her. She cried out in pain, jumping backwards to avoid taking further damage. She splayed her fingers, pulled a medal forward, and threw herself at the Nightmare, seeming to fly across the ground. Aqua recognized the move before it landed: a red beam appearing in Nighty's left hand while her Keyblade took on a red surrounding light. Thirteen hits landed on the Nightmare, Nightly twisting and turning in the air with every swing of the Keyblade.
She flew back, digging her toe into the ground and once again throwing herself at Chirithy, landing a single hit before jumping back to safety. Barely wincing at the two attacks, Chirithy jumped at Nightly, landing another swipe with its foot-long claws.
Nightly stumbled, grunting as she fell on her bottom. She pulled herself back, preparing another string of attacks. "Talk about déjà vu," she muttered to herself. She activated another Special Attack, and launched herself into the air. She threw her wind-coated Keyblade down to the Nightmare. Just as it began to curve upward, she teleported to the opposite side of the Nightmare, caught her Keyblade, and sent it back. Six more times this happened, each time faster until she caught it from the ground and delivered a finishing blow.
Landing at a safe distance, she felt her Special Attack Power had been depleted. She swallowed, charging the Nightmare with four blows. On the fourth, her Keyblade locked with the Nightmare's claws. She looked into the bloodthirsty eyes of her best friend. "Please, Chirithy," she said. "You can fight it. Please, let me help."
Her plea went unconsidered. The Nightmare threw her back, and there to catch her were thorny strings of darkness purple as the Nightmare's fur. Upon contact, they wrapped around Nightly, holding her suspended and immobile. She struggled in the binds, stiffening when the Nightmare rose up with its wings. Turning into a ball of darkness, it hurled itself at Nightly.
Aqua and Riku and Mickey watched the scene unfold in front of them. Landing multiple hits, the Nightmare returned to its original form. The darkness released Nightly, but instead of landing on her feet to keep going, she slowly fell backward, her back arched as she just floated in midair, unconscious.
Aqua put her hand forward; the field that had kept them back during the fight had dispersed. "Come on!" she shouted to the boys, sprinting forward and putting herself between Nightly and the Creature of Darkness. Summoning Master's Defense, she pointed her Keyblade over Nightly and cried, "Heal!"
Green light surrounded the young wielder, and in a small burst of light, she was flipped back onto her feet, fully awake. She summoned Starlight again, preparing to fight. She blinked, realizing Aqua, Riku, and Mickey were all there with her. "Huh? Guys, what are you doing here?"
"Helping you," Riku replied. "And you're not going to tell us 'no' this time."
Nightly tried to think of a protest, but thought better of it. A smile crept its way onto her face. She chuckled. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Mickey replied. His attention settling on the Nightmare, he added, "Let's get your friend back!"
Nightly nodded in response. "Watch out for those dark strings," she advised. "They don't let go until he attacks." She then muttered to herself, "Man, I wish I equipped more defense boosts."
Her comment to herself went unheard. Riku rushed the Nightmare, Mickey at his heels. Riku jumped, slashing down on the Nightmare, pulling its attention to him while Mickey delivered a similar blow to its back. The Nightmare, infuriated, howled into the sky, throwing out its claws in a spinning attack, hitting both wielders multiple times.
Nightly's eyebrows rose and she pointed a half-hearted finger at the Nightmare. "That's new," she squeaked.
"Okay," Aqua said, taking what Nightly said into consideration, "looks like we've made it mad."
"Yep," Nightly replied. She shook her head, clearing it, taking a deep breath, ready to fight again. "Let's go."
"Okay," Aqua readied herself, pulling her Keyblade back as she charged the Creature of Darkness. She fired a blast of ice at the beast, freezing it, but not for long. As she jumped to deliver a downward slash, the Dark Creature broke free from the ice, blocking her as it did so. Connecting with hand instead of head like she planned, Aqua was thrown off balance and away from the Creature. She landed and slid on her side, clutching her shoulder painfully as she sat back up. She looked up to see Riku fire some sort of dark fire attack at the Creature of Darkness, with Mickey running toward her.
"Are ya okay?" he asked. She nodded, pulling herself to her feet.
"Riku, Nightly," she called. "Get back!" The two younger wielders saw her raise her Keyblade and obeyed, just as Aqua activated her Lightbloom Shotlock.
The Nightmare caught sight of its next challenger. Not wanting Aqua to lose her focus, Riku stayed back, but anxiously, at that, when he saw it charging her. Even Mickey instinctively took a couple steps back at the monstrous Nightmare rapidly approaching. He looked to Aqua, blinking when he saw her smiling calmly.
Suddenly, a ring of light surrounded Aqua. She began spinning, starting low to the ground and reaching higher and higher as she went, her dizzying twirls only getting faster and faster. All the while, shots of light fired from all around her, each and every one heading directly for the Nightmare.
By the time she had finished the Shotlock, the Creature of Darkness was stopped in its tracks and had fallen due to the volley of shots that were sent its way. And yet, without a moment's hesitation, the Creature got back up again; though this time, it appeared to be wobbly on its knees.
"Time to end this," Mickey said. Aqua nodded, crying out as all four rushed the Creature of Darkness.
All four jumped in the air, Mickey being the first to shoot back down, landing a blow to the confused Nightmare. Riku followed, his Keyblade coated in a dark fire as he slashed down. Landing on his feet, he threw his Keyblade at the Nightmare in a secondary Fire Raid attack. Aqua dove with Keyblade extended onto the Creature, twisting at a breakneck pace through the air. She rebounded off its head, flipping and landing on her feet, sending an ice attack the Creature's way.
Tired of being hit, the Nightmare threw its head back in a roar. Its eyes landed on Nightly, its original adversary. Nightly hesitated, her original plan of attack leaving her mind. In that single second, the Nightmare jumped into the air, swiping down on Nightly, sending her shooting to the ground. A small cloud of dust floated around where she landed, and her Keyblade disappeared from her hand.
"Nightly!" Riku shouted, seeing the Nightmare beginning to throw itself down to land on her. Before he could act, a cold breeze blew past his shoulder, and a large piece of ice shot toward Nightly, leaving a trail of ice behind it.
Aqua, riding the ice trail, breezed past Riku. She crouched as she approached Nightly, grabbing the barely conscious girl from the path of the Creature of Darkness. She jumped off her ice trail just as the Creature landed, sending an earth-shaking shockwave around it along with a much larger cloud of dust.
Aqua cast a quick healing spell over Nightly, sat up as soon as the words left Aqua's mouth. She scrambled back to her feet, albeit a little clumsily. Aqua caught her as she swayed to the side.
"Hey, take it easy," Aqua said, trying to keep her from once again approaching the Creature. Nightly just shook her head, her eyes focused on Riku and Mickey, currently keeping the Nightmare Chirithy distracted. She splayed her left hand, her Keyblade reappearing in her right.
"Stay here," she said. She gave Aqua a quick smile before running off toward the Nightmare. Aqua reached a hand after her, her words catching in her throat.
She must be up to something, she thought. Deciding to trust Nightly, she hung back, waiting for whatever Nightly had planned.
"Get back!" Riku heard Nightly shout. His head snapped to her, seeing her grab a ball of energy at the center of her five medals. "Move!" she yelled.
"Mickey!" Riku barked. He ran to Mickey, grabbing him as Mickey gave a surprised shout. Making it to the edge of the area, he watched Nightly clap whatever she was holding onto the crosspiece of her Keyblade.
The red, fiery light surrounded her Keyblade. Right in front of the Nightmare, Nightly pointed it to the sky, and with a sharp flick of the wrist, twisted it ninety degrees clockwise. The light shot up to the tip of the Keyblade, bursting in a small red and yellow light. It collapsed on itself, before brilliantly exploding in a white, blinding light. Even with his eyes closed, Riku could see the light take up his vision.
As soon as it came, the light disappeared. His eyes blinking open, tiny fireflies swam in Riku's vision as he could just make out Nightly, crouched with her head covered right where the blast had taken place. The Nightmare, as far as he could see, was nowhere to be found. He put down Mickey just as Nightly popped up from her crouched position.
She threw her head to the sky, a hand following suit. "Chirithy!" she called.
Riku looked up, seeing the Nightmare. But it was...shrinking? Yes, it was. A blanket of light was slowly engulfing the Nightmare, and a small ball of darkness shot away from the beast, floating away into the nothingness.
The once-Nightmare shrank until it was smaller than Mickey. All at once, the light dispersed, and a small creature had appeared in its place. It was cat-like, dark gray fur accenting fur of a lighter shade. Its blue eyes were slits, suggesting they were closed. A pink nose dotted a white patch of fur for its mouth that led down to its belly. As it descended, Riku could see the familiar pink symbol on Chirithy's back.
"A Spirit," Riku said. Mickey looked at him, nodding. He had seen the symbol too.
"So Chirithy's a Dream Eater," Mickey said.
"Yeah," Riku replied, "but...what's a Dream Eater doing outside of a dream? They shouldn't be able to come to reality."
Mickey hummed, coming to the same realization. Turning back to Nightly and Chirithy, they watched as some of the light that dispersed a moment ago settle onto Chirithy's shoulders, and a pink pouch with a white star appeared on its front, while a light yellow cape appeared on its back. Just a foot away from her best friend, Nightly stood on her toes, trying to reach them. Just a little more.
Her fingers brushed their cape, and Chirithy's descent ended in Nightly's embrace. She cradled Chirithy, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. Her breathed hitched in her throat when she saw them open their eyes. Their paws sleepily rubbed their face, and soft moaning escaped their mouth. Blinking, they looked up into the Nightly's waiting gaze. "Nightly...?"
"Hi," she greeted, tears in her voice. She pulled Chirithy into a tight hug, burying her face into their head. Chirithy gave a small gasp of surprise, before settling their paws around Nightly's neck.
"I'm alright, kiddo," they said calmly. "I don't know what happened. I just...I'm sorry, kiddo, please don't cry. Remember? It makes me sad when you're sad."
Nightly giggled, pulling away to look her best friend in the eye. "You don't have to be sorry for anything. And I'm not sad," she added, rubbing away her tears, "I'm happy. I'm so happy." She grinned, a chuckle bubbling from her chest.
A movement caught Chirithy's attention. "Who's that?" they asked.
Nightly turned to where they were looking, seeing Aqua approach the two. Smiling, Nightly introduced her friend. "This is Chirithy," She said, turning so Aqua could see them.
Aqua returned the smile, bending to see Chirithy face-to-face. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Aqua."
"Hi," Chirithy replied.
"Oh, and that's Riku and Mickey," Nightly pointed out, turning so Chirithy could see the other two approaching them.
"Hello," Chirithy greeted. Riku paused, blinked, then returned the greeting with a somewhat strained smile and wave.
Chirithy looked around, noticing where they were. "Uh...where are we?"
"Oh!" Nightly replied, realizing Chirithy may not remember what happened. "We're in the Realm of Darkness. Remember that world we were in last?"
"Um...Enchanted Dominion?" Chirithy guessed.
"Yes," Nightly answered. "Well, while we were there, it fell to darkness, and took the two of us with it."
Chirithy looked thoughtful for a moment. "But I thought...we headed back to Daybreak Town."
Nightly's brow furrowed in thought. "We were about to," she said, "but we didn't get to, because this happened." She gestured around her, indicating the darkness surrounding the world.
"Right, and you were trying to fight the darkness," Chirithy finished. Nightly nodded.
"Now we can go home," Riku said. "We just have to find a way out of here."
"Right," Aqua replied, nodding. She looked to Nightly, who grinned and nodded as well. Chirithy settled into their best friend's arms as the five once again began to traverse the Realm of Darkness, hopeful in the light of their approaching escape.
And that's the next chapter! I meant for this to be out sooner than this, but college, life, and writer's block got in the way. Sorry!
That being said, I'm not sure when I'll be able to get the next chapter out. School is in full swing and I'm gonna have to focus more on school. This story will continue, it just might be about a month before the next chapter is out. Please be patient with me guys!
On another note...I so called it. Didn't I tell you guys I smelt a plot twist?! Although...I didn't expect it to be that. *sniffles*. But like a lot of people are saying, we'll see Strelitzia again. I had an awesome idea and it will be incorporated into this story. Part of that idea: I think Strelitzia is the "goddess" the Player sees at the end of X...
Let me know what y'all think of that!
Well, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Next chapter, Nightly will come face-to-face with just how much time has passed while she was in the Realm of Darkness. Will it be more than she can take, or will it reveal hidden truths? Find out next time!