The stage is set, and the curtains have opened! What is in store for our heroes in their final attempt to take down the Commander and her resilient forces once and for all? Will they be able to win and put her back into her senses or fail and doom the Heavens, and the Earth?

We'll see! I also noticed that I accidentally referred to Lea as Axel last chapter. Hopefully I don't make the same mistake in this chapter.

Like usual, I don't own anything except for my OCs. Ruby and Sky belong to RubyDarknessAngel. However, as of my knowledge at the time of posting this, her account is inactive now. At this point of the story, I'm going to have her OCs present until the end of it as initially planned, as I can't just remove them now.

Here's chapter 17!

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Chapter 17: Waves and Blossoms

Naminé and her team were the first to really infiltrate the Silent Sanctuary in hopes of figuring out whom the Commander had imprisoned. Keeping in mind that it was very, very unlikely that the Commander would have captured and put Gods into the jails (and similarly to Melody, who was imprisoned in her realm of the heavens), they had to think of whom was trapped.

Palutena and Viridi had to focus on assisting the main combat groups, leaving Melody to the task of guiding the girls. Not only that, but fortunately, Melody had a better knowledge than most of the Gods considering the layout of the Sanctuary, practically making her tailor made in executing this task.

"I believe the jail cells will be quite difficult to find. She, nor Zia, ever had a use for them. I don't even know why She is doing this and what drove Her." Melody indicated to them, and they understood.

"Alright then. If that's the case, maybe one of her angels knows?" Kairi guessed, and Melody considered such a hypothesis.

"Most likely. Considering that your group is to handle the rescue of the prisoners and defeating at least 3 of the Commander's forces, one of her forces is likely to have the key. I'm unsure who though, but it might be the one located closest to the dungeon."

"Got it." Kairi replied, gladly taking the hint. She and Naminé took initiative to lead, being cautious in knowing that Luna was likely still active, defending the Sanctuary, if this place could even be called such anymore instead of some kind of Fortress.

Ruby decided to bring up a point as they searched around. "Maybe we should think about her forces individually. We don't know about all of them, but for one thing, the Generals won't have the keys. Then I think that one fire-winged girl would be too irresponsible to manage the keys, and the twisted flower one could accidentally lose them somehow."

Xion added onto that comment, her blue eyes seeming quite thoughtful at this time. "Saki would be more of the type to attack instead of guarding, and we don't know about the two mysterious angels we haven't heard about. I think that leaves Yami. But… would Yami be responsible enough to manage keys?"

"Ah, Yami. The angel who is called "the Water Bearer". Surprisingly, despite how she normally is, Yami is more responsible than she looks. And with something like a key, she would guard it closely. I'm starting to sense a presence similarly to Yami's nearby though, so keep your guard." Melody warned them, and the somewhat-small group understood, taking Melody's advice into consideration yet again.

At some point, something off that caught Sky's eye was a hallway that seemed out of place, and they hadn't tried to wander around the fortress too much in case of guards (though there strangely seemed to be none, which had to be intentional), but they hadn't checked there yet. It almost seemed unnatural for it to be like that, and once Sky stopped, the others stopped in confusion. Ruby seemed fairly concerned. "Hey Sky? What's up?"

Sky pointed to the mysterious hallway, and there was uncertainty. "Um… are you sure we should go in there?" Naminé asked her, feeling unsettled.

"It seems like Yami's presence is strongest in that hall. And Yami is very likely the Jail Guard."

Most of them seemed nervous about going in. With no fears, Shiki decided to try and make a better impression and try to lead. "If we want to face Yami and get the key, we'll need to go down that hall. C'mon guys! Let's go!" She ordered, motioning for everyone to follow her down in hopes of finding the Water Bearer.

Cautiously, they followed, staying as close together as they possibly could in this current moment. Suddenly, patterns on the walls began to glow an eerie, yet beautiful and mysterious ocean blue, which was enchanting to look at, and weirdly enough, they heard the sounds of the waves. Sky noticed a double door with shell patterns on it and halted the group yet again, pointing at the strange door.

The other five turned to stare at it. The patterns on the door seemed intricate and very well crafted, giving an air of the ocean. And yet, the sounds of the waves got scarily louder, and Melody warned them to look out, but the six were too late. The doors burst open, water gushing out, but then, it came back in as quickly as it left, sweeping the six into the storm in its wake, and causing them to black out.

When they awoke, they found themselves to be in another room, and not out in the middle of the ocean as expected.

"Ah, so you're awake, huh? I was hoping I didn't have to fight anyone…" That voice… it was Yami! She stood atop a circular platform with rounded stairs going down it.

The girls snapped out of it and got up, shaking off the water and confronting Yami. She played with her aqua blue ponytails for a moment before noticing how they were staring her down, trying to intimidate her. It didn't work as well, as Yami giggled at them before deciding to get serious.

"To be honest… I don't really want to fight you guys. But I, like everyone else, has to defend this place and finish what we've started." Yami explained to them, remaining still before drawing her Aquarius Blade and getting in her battle stance. The girls opposing her did the same, and they began to clash with Yami.

It seemed like this time, Yami wasn't holding back… if she had ever been holding back in the first place. And she wasn't limiting herself to using her water magic either. She was more than willing to fire beams off from her Aquarius Blade and come up and strike.

She also didn't have a distinct attack pattern she was following. She seemed to be coming up with her own strategy and improvising as needed.

And the girls weren't holding back either. They were using their full extent of their powers too in their array. At about halfway, however, Yami decided to use a last resort.

Without any kind of warning, she flooded the room with water up to the girl's thighs, which would slow down their movement, and water cascaded down the steps to Yami like some kind of waterfall. Yami stood perfectly fine, not stumbling and not disrupted by the waves.

However, her magic became more powerful as a result, and she proceeded to begin attacking again, sending waves and waves of water at them. When Sky tried to bring them back at her, she flew up and dodged. Occasionally, she'd flood the room to even greater heights, to the point where she was able to effectively attack underwater with the Aquarius Blade and a mixture of more of her magical prowess as she created some whirlpools and raging tides that would pull them into place that would make them easy targets.

Now, before you ask, "Wait a minute, Yami's an angel. Her wings will get wet if she'll get underwater and she'll sink, won't she?"

And that's the thing. Yami should've had to deal with that.

But that's also what makes the Commander's Forces so special. They basically do their best to embrace their element and fully master it. And by doing so, they practically become one with their element. For some things that they do, it may not make much sense, like with Jade as an example, though by basically mastering their element, they'd practically become the element itself.

Why am I saying this?

Well… while Yami attacked while she was underwater, they couldn't necessarily see her. In fact, she practically blended into the water. And they kind of had to rely on Sky, who could move her back with her water magic and also draw her out.

Though… there was that one platform. As Naminé considered it, the more she realized she was practically failing as the team tactician and she instructed the others to get to the platform. Just as Yami was going to attack again, Shiki barely blocked with Mr. Mew (Shiki uses Mr. Mew as her form of combat because of her Psych in TWEWY) and was able to make him scratch at Yami, who was taken aback as she fell into the water.

They almost electrocuted her… almost. But then again, they were still in water and it would be the absolute worst time to use a Thundaga spell if they did that so they resisted. Instead of fully defeating Yami, like killing her (which was completely unnecessary and extreme), they allowed the water to drain out of the room and reveal Yami, who was crouched onto the floor, wet from the water.

She didn't seem to shiver, though her hair seemed to be dripping with water, and her beautiful aquamarine wings too were damp. They could hear her breathing somewhat heavily from exhaustion. It almost seemed like she was waiting for them to finish her.

But she slowly looked over and saw they weren't moving. "What… what are you doing? Why are you just standing there?" Yami asked, not understanding what they were doing and why.

Then she understood. "Oh. You want the Key. Okay then!"

Water burst from the ground around Yami and then it formed a crystal key shaped like a trident. Yami weakly stood up, taking the key in her fingers and then giving the key to them.

Shortly after though, Yami collapsed. The group surrounded her worriedly. "Hey! Are you alright?" Xion asked.

Yami nodded. "I'm… fine. Keep going on."

Shiki seemed worried. "Well… you seem in a bad condition."

"No, no. Really. I'm just exhausted from our fight. Please, keep going. You have a job to do." Yami insisted, though the group still stood. They helped Yami up to a bench in the room and she went to catching her breath.

She seemed irritated with them though. "You guys really need to keep moving. You need to stop her before it's too late!"

"Huh? Her? As in the Commander? But we aren't the ones who are supposed to fight her." Naminé explained and Yami sighed, gripping onto her ponytail. Her blue eyes seemed dull and agitated.

"…I know. But you have a job in helping defeat her. Please, go!" Yami ordered. They didn't understand why Yami, one of the Commander's own forces, wanted them to stop her, but she was right.

They had to keep going. Yami smiled at them when they finally left and waved goodbye.

Now, the corridor was lit. They unlocked the door to the prison with the Crystal Key Yami gave them before heading into the prison.

XxXxX

While Naminé and the others had gone off to free the prisoners, Zexion and his group had arrived and had been trying to figure out where to find their opponent. Viridi was the one guiding their group, as Palutena had to lend her guidance in helping Pit and his group defeat the Commander's Generals.

"Hmm… I have this feeling you're going to have to fight Roselyynn." Viridi stated, as she tried to help them find her. Lea seemed rather displeased.

"Ugh. Not that crazy pink-head!" He sighed.

"As crazy as she is, that Roselyynn is one of the Commander's elites. Though all of her soldiers are pretty tough, despite how few she has."

"She's not easy to take down either." Neku added, remembering that fight.

"Unfortunately for you, none of them are. It's good you only have to deal with three of her forces, as do Naminé and her group."

Zexion frowned. "Which of her forces do we have to deal with?" He inquired. Viridi thought for a moment, looking at their route.

"Well, considering your path, you'll have to deal with Roselyynn, Saki and Sol. Fortunately though; your group has people who can combat them due to weakness."

"That's a relief." Roxas said, wiping sweat off of his forehead. Viridi sighed, however.

"Except you'll have to deal with Saki pretty quickly. Her chamber is close to Roselyynn's."

"…Oh no. We have to deal with them back to back?" Demyx asked, starting to want to go back and leave.

"If you did, that would be just cold. Fortunately, no, you don't." They sighed in relief again, and then, Viridi found where Roselyynn was on their route. "Fortunately, you're close to Roselyynn's chamber. Be careful though- that flower witch is crafty!"

"Excuse me?!" They heard Roselyynn say to Viridi. "It's not like I CAN'T hear you. Who taught YOU manners?"

Lea rolled his eyes. "Great. Now she's talking."

"Oh whatever. We can finish this when you get here." Roselyynn retaliated before going quiet. They got to a hall and saw that vines were wrapped around the ledges of the walls.

Cautiously, they walked down the hall, and then saw rose-quartz colored double doors carved with rose symbols. They didn't even need to state whose room it was. It was far too obvious to state.

Neku was about to open the door, only for them to slam open on their own and vines wrapped around them (typical Roselyynn), and they were dragged into the darkness of the room without much struggle.

The doors slammed shut behind them. Eventually, the room lit up, firstly revealing Roselyynn. She twirled a rose in her fingers, holding it up to her face. "Why, hello again, boys. How did you like being dragged in here with vines?" She asked, grinning at them.

"Not very much." Zexion answered, and Roselyynn raised an eyebrow at them before huffing.

"Wow. You five have like no sense of humor. Or fun."

"When is it fun to be dragged in a room while tangled up with vines?" Neku questioned Roselyynn, and she thought about it for a moment, twirling the rose again. She sighed.

"…Well, when ya put it that way, it doesn't sound very fun. But whatever. Be happy that they weren't thorned." Then, with a snap, she dismissed the rose and the vines, letting them go, and stretched her wings. The boys got up and got into a fighting stance as Roselyynn flapped up to a window ledge and pulled out her Rose Staff.

She didn't give any warning when she began to attack, though they were ready. And Roselyynn was also able to avoid their attacks from up where she was. At some point, she hopped off her ledge and began to soar around, sniping her opponents and also swooping down and using her flower power (pun and no pun intended).

"How are we going to hit her at this rate?" Demyx asked upon noticing that Roselyynn was making it nearly impossible to attack her. Zexion and the others went quiet, halting their attacks for a moment to analyze her attack pattern.

Roselyynn herself noticed something was weird and went back to her ledge, sitting upon it and crossing her legs. "Hmm? What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"

"…We weren't talking." Neku spat back, causing Roselyynn to shift back in shock from the sass for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"Oh, whatever. You weren't talking or moving. You aren't the ones fighting Jade, so I don't see what the problem is." Upon noticing that Zexion was having issues figuring out how to attack, Lea took things into his own hands and used a Firaga spell to distract Roselyynn, and it did its job when she jumped and fell off the ledge, catching herself into flight to prevent from a nasty fall.

As she was breathing, recovering from the jump scare, Lea hit her in the wing with a Firaga Burst spell, and she fell for the ground, barely saving herself by casting a spell to summon a huge flower to save her fall. She had her back turned, and her wings closed, one of her wings slightly singed from the attack.

She took deep breaths, trying to recover. Except then, they took the opportunity to attack.

Roxas, Neku and Lea took the liberty of starting to attack her with fire-based magic, only for her to immediately retaliate by shooting a Pin Missile like attack, her eyes flashing menacingly. "Just because I'm recovering doesn't mean I can't attack! Maybe you should be using this as an opportunity to heal and strategize!"

The group gave her weird looks. "But doesn't that give you another opportunity to attack?" Demyx asked.

"Look, I'm not THAT ruthless. And be lucky I'm actually giving you this chance. Saki and Sol won't be the same way." Roselyynn snapped.

Lea frowned and objected. "But what if you decide to attack while we're healing?"

She shook her head at them and explained. "I'm not going to attack you while you're healing. I'm only going to attack in this moment if you attack me, okay? Let's have both of our teams have a short moment to rest before going back into the heat of things."

Deciding to at least heed Roselyynn's advice, they cautiously healed and did a quick team recap and changed their strategy before going back into their fighting stances. Roselyynn looked back over at them and asked, "Are ya done?"

They nodded and she turned away from them, sitting up and keeping her back turned. She kept her Rose Staff visible and it began to glow, and they barely avoided her first attack as she began phase 2.

Despite that now, Roselyynn was in the center of the room, she wasn't going to paint a red target on herself that way. "Reflect!" She called, and then set up a shield around her, which she further defended by making the flower close up, appearing in a bud-like shape.

"…And now she's hiding in the flower. Great." Lea said, shaking his head. From the inside, Roselyynn was able to send attacks until they eventually figured out the pattern and were able to break down her shields and directly attack her.

Due to her previous wounds, it was easy to take Roselyynn down, and when they did, she let out a cry of pain and the flower vanished, causing her to fall to the ground and drop her staff.

"…Is she dead?" Demyx asked, getting closer to her. However, Zexion pulled him back to prevent one member of the group from getting seriously injured.

Roselyynn didn't seem to be moving. "…Um, Viridi? Did we kill her?" Roxas asked awkwardly.

The Goddess seemed quiet. "No. She isn't dead. Just knocked out."

"I am NOT knocked out!" Roselyynn snapped back out of the blue. "But here. Let me help…"

They almost objected to Roselyynn only to find that flower petals and the scent of roses drifted through the room briefly before vanishing. She turned to face them, weakly smiling. "I think my aromatherapy worked. Anyway, you should rest up for a moment. Saki's chamber is pretty close by and I don't want you guys getting too hurt before fighting her."

"Why are you helping us? You're one of the Commander's troops." Roxas stated.

Roselyynn narrowed her eyes at them. "I know. But still- I need to help. It's not like I'm not worried about the Commander either," she indicated, looking away. "Most of us know that's she's practically lost it. And if she doesn't come back to her senses soon, all of us will be brought into oblivion. Yume's probably the only one who hasn't gotten the drill yet."

"Huh?" asked the group. Roselyynn coughed for a moment, covering her mouth before looking back at them. "Listen, guys, you need to get going. You may not be the ones fighting the Commander directly, but you hafta help stop her before it's too late."

Roselyynn opened the doors and allowed them to leave. Despite that she was technically the enemy, she was right. They thanked her before leaving as she mumbled, "Good luck…"

-o-o-o-o-

And there's chapter 17. Sorry if it took a while. I've actually had this chapter and the next chapter done for a while, but I forgot to post them.

As seen here, there will be two bosses per chapter. In the next one, as stated, the second combat group will face Saki and the main group will face their first general, Jade.

I have the order down, which is fortunate.

Like usual, please review if you'd like, please don't flame and please tell me how I can improve. I really appreciate it.

I will see you all in the next chapter.

Ciao!