A long action packed chapter here just like the last one. I actually had more to add to the end of this chapter but seeing as how long this already was, I'll just be adding that to the next chapter. Without further ado, let's get on with it!


Chapter 40

The Gothic Maiden

"Welcome to our humble abode," Helen introduced proudly as she pulled into the driveway of the Parr house. Luna, Sora and Stephanie (Donald had gone back along with Goofy to the Gummi Ship to see whether Kupopo could make a new shield for the latter) who were completely squashed in the back along with Dash and Violet, struggled to crane their necks to check the window and saw a group of beautiful suburban houses lined up next to each other.

Helen continued, "You can imagine how hard it's been to settle down what with the superpowers and everything. We've had to relocate so many times, but I think now we're finally-"

"Wait a second, something's not right. Honey, you didn't leave the door open on the way out, did you?" Bob asked.

"I'm not an idiot, Bob. Besides if I had, Kari would have made sure to close it," Helen answered. But as she drove closer, a terrified look in her eyes began to form. "What if… Jack Jack!"

As if in sync with each other, Bob and Helen got out of the car at the same time and ran into the house. The kids all followed quickly behind, arrived inside and turned into the kitchen to see Syndrome with the baby in his hands.

"Shh, you'll wake the baby," he whispered only for it to turn into mocking laughter by the end.

"Let him go! This is low, even for you," Luna said. She didn't want to summon her Keyblade in case Syndrome retaliated and did something to Jack Jack.

"Now, come on. Did you really have any expectations for me in the first place?" Syndrome tutted and shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm a caring person. I'm only going to take your child and raise him as my own. I won't leave him alone, not like you left me all those years ago."

Before anyone could somehow hope to convince Syndrome to think otherwise, he blew open the ceiling above them and took off into the blue and orange sky. Sora and the others left the house and looked up to see Syndrome flying towards a jet high up in the sky, clearly waiting for his arrival.

"We won't be able to make it in time, he's too high," Violet shouted. Before anyone could reply or do anything about it, a blade with diamond edges extended into the air like at an incredible speed and cut through the side of one of Syndrome's jet boots.

Syndrome screamed frantically as he was launched into the air against his will, and just managed to grab onto the door of the plane. He let out an awkward laugh and looked down at Jack Jack, still in his arms.

"Ohohoh, almost had me there. But I won't go down that easy- huh?" Before Sora could turn and look at the mystery attacker, another surprise awaited them. The baby in Syndrome's arms suddenly ignited on fire causing Syndrome to bounce him up and down. After catching him a fourth time, the baby's flesh turned instead into complete steel. Under the influence of Jack Jack's changing weight, Syndrome let go off the plane and had to quickly gain back altitude with his remaining boot meanwhile struggling to keep possession of the baby. As he tried to bring Jack Jack tightly to his chest, sharp spikes popped up all around the metallic baby forcing Syndrome to let go.

Helen stretched up and successfully caught the baby. Sora breathed a sigh of relief only to find it unable to escape his mouth upon turning to see Desiree launch her Keyblade upwards once more. This time the blade hit one of the aircraft's engines. The plane veered to the right which just so happened to be where Syndrome was floating. He tried desperately to get out the way but his cape was too close to the engine. The cape snagged onto the propeller and was naturally swallowed in, along with its wearer.

Sora flinched uncomfortably at this and looked to Stephanie to see that Luna had fortunately been covering the young girl's eyes. The sound of a thunderous rupture made Sora look back up to see debris of the plane falling from the sky. The plane had been right above the house so it was obvious where the pieces were going to fall.

Distracted, he failed to notice that a hand had reeled him into a blue field of energy. He looked away from the sky to see Violet holding her hands out in front of herand pieces of junk ricocheting off the barrier she had constructed. Furthermore, the plot of land which had once been a house was now nothing more than a smoking crater.

Violet dropped her hands once she was sure that they were safe and the forcefield disappeared. Sora could just about make out a keyhole that was lying in the newly made crater. Of course it would be there of all places.

"Oops, sorry about the house," Desiree apologized, bowing as low as she could. "I admit, this is not one of the 16,032 ideas I had in mind but as they say, improvisation is best."

"Desiree!" Sora called her name out angrily although it seemed she was pretending not to know who he even was at the moment.

Desiree mustered up her cutest smile to address. "Do not worry. I will pay for the house. If you must know, my family is quite rich. With that said, ta-ta for now!"

With that she turned and took off down the street. Sora wanted to follow her. He really, so much so that he had to look to Luna as a voice of disapproval. As expected, Luna was shaking her head and mouthing "Please, don't" repeatedly. If he was hoping that she could convince him, his heart wasn't listening.

"Sorry… I'll be right back," he assured all of them before disappearing down the road after her. It was revenge and anger that clouded his judgement, and though neither was good, the emotion that took precedent over both of them was confusion. Why him? Why hadn't Yeul mentioned Moira's Crescent to them if she had been living with them before?

Why?

Why?

Why?

If he were to let her run now, he felt there would never be another chance to answer these questions. He soon came to stop at an old building that would have easily portrayed the state of being unoccupied if it hadn't been for the fact that Desiree had entered only a few seconds ago. It was obvious she was baiting him and he was choosing to play right into her hands. He would just have to be careful from here on out.

He went through the front door which had been conveniently left open and walked through the hallway. To his left was a staircase and to his right was a door though closer inspection revealed that this door was locked. Instead, he went straight down the hallway to a second room dead ahead. The room was spacious and yet drearily empty and boring if you ignored the only other person there. Looking down, Sora took in the patterned linoleum floor and was somewhat reminded of the hall he, Luna and Neuge had trained in countless times.

Desiree stood by the room's windows casually inspecting her fingernails with a secretive smile playing on her ruby red lips. The color deeply contrasted with the amount of pale foundation makeup she had on.

Time seemed to stand still as did the two figures with the evening light coming in from the windows to enlarge their shadows. It was like something out of an old spaghetti western that his dad liked to watch, though Sora had never really been able to measure any kind of tension or purpose to have been fully invested in them. This time was different. He was living one of those scenes, and he imagined that those characters on the screen would be feeling the exact same things that he was feeling right now.

"So you really did come. You are either incredibly brave or utterly foolish. Either way, I applause you for taking the initiative, monsieur," Desiree said. She flashed him a quick curtsy and Sora scowled.

"Are you making fun of me?" he asked.

"Non, non, I would not dare!" Desiree's sarcastic tone grated on Sora's nerves, but he remained composed as she continued on. "But of course, you did come for a reason, am I correct?"

"You should know. You've tried to kill me, what was it… three times now?" Sora paused for effect but when he looked at Desiree again her face was unchanging. "Well here I am, you're fourth shot. You can take it, but I want to know a few things first."

"There is nothing to be said," Desiree replied a bit more seriously. "Allow me to recap. I believe I told you that Yeul had told us a prophecy regarding your involvement in the destruction of the world, did I not? That is why you must be taken care off before that havoc can come to pass. While the past is unchanging and fixed, the future remains uncertain."

"That's what I don't get. How do you know killing me will solve the problem? If Yeul's visions are always right then that's the same as saying that the future also can't change."

Desiree looked past Sora as if she were looking into the future herself. "It is true that there is no way to know if the path we take is the correct one, or even whether it will have the desired effect. It is a question that has troubled most of our members for a while. Let me be frank. Half of our members believe it may not be necessary to kill you so much as restrict your movements somehow, monitor you. That, I know you would not like. If there is anything more dangerous than a man who has freedom, it is a man who has lost it for he will desperately try to gain it back at all costs. That was the conclusion I came to. The only option that seemed to have little risk therefore was your death.

"As for why I am pursuing it if it is unlikely to change anything? Because why not? Indeed, the outcome may not change, it may even be worse, but would I be able to live with myself if I did not at least try? A risk may be a scary thing to take but I believe the fear of not doing anything because you were more scared to take the risk is worse. It is a moral dilemma and it is all dependent on what you believe. Obviously we will never see eye to eye because we have different beliefs. I can see things that you cannot and vice versa. And that brings us to today."

Despite the helpful reminder however, Sora still didn't get it. He probably never would. Who could ever possibly understand something so fatuous, something so incoherent, something so outrageous, he just couldn't. Ultimately he couldn't understand because he didn't want to. It was as Desiree had said. He would turn a blind eye from it because the idea seemed unbelievable to him—he was the supposed destroyed of all worlds, it was about the life he would live and the death that could prevent it. There was just no way he could accept it.

Desiree adopted a pitying smile. "Do not worry. It will be over in… a flash, as they say."

But Sora's mind was too distracted, too numb, to comprehend what she was saying and his heart was too brittle. There was a taste in his mouth that he hadn't experienced in a while, not since Abraxas. It was the bitter taste of a despair he was not sure he could climb out of.

Suddenly he felt his hand tingle and a second later the Keyblade appeared in his hands. He hadn't called it so it must have come out on its own. Had it sensed his hesitation? Neuge had told him that their Keyblade were of their own sentient existence, which is to say they had personalities, feeling and even a gender. However, even with the test that Neuge had designed for them to get to know their Keyblade better, he and Luna had both failed to gather any information on their Keyblades.

Riku and Kairi, however, had been different. Riku's current personality meshed with his Keyblade pretty well. The Way to the Dawn Keyblade was calm and cautious, keenly aware of its surroundings. Sora could somehow imagine that if he had used that Keyblade during his 'angsty' period, the clash in personality may have resulted in more disastrous consequences for him.

As for Kairi, her Keyblade seemed to be of the shy and reserved variety. It was the type who preferred the supporting role, something that annoyed Kairi because she preferred to be on the front lines. In addition, Riku and Kairi's genders were the same as their Keyblade's, unlike Neuge's. But now Sora's Keyblade, which had failed to react in any way during his test, was now trying to help him. He wondered if his Keyblade had a stubborn personality.

"You don't want me to give up, huh?" Sora muttered to it. It wasn't like the Kingdom Key was whispering words to him, but he doubted his belief was that far from the truth either.

"Alright then," he said and pointed his Keyblade at Desiree. "Fine, give it your best shot but I don't intend on dying just yet."

"After all that would be an insult. It seems you are not a lost hope after all," Desiree said. She acted without a moment's hesitation and started spinning her Keyblade around in the air, the blade flailing about like a lasso. Her blade had become flimsy and was alternating in length just like before. "You may have figured this out already but my Keyblade is different from yours. The molecules that hold my Keyblade together can break up and form together at will. But let us skip the science, shall we?"

The blade extended forward at rapid speed, but it wasn't quick enough for Sora, who warped to the side of the attack. There was a big difference from the last time they fought (if it could have even been called a fight). Desiree's attacks no longer felt scary. They didn't have that intimidation behind them that had been there before and Sora could strangely enough sense where each attack was going to land before it did. He was making the best of the survival techniques Neuge had taught him. He'd have to find a nice present for her or something when he returned. Desiree launched attack after attack, changing things up each time with the motion of her wrists but Sora jumped over, dodged or parried each attack.

Luna arrived on the scene after sealing the keyhole in the crater, having heard nearby sounds of conflict while searching for Sora's whereabouts. She stepped into the room to see a bunch of blue flashes and whirls from both Desiree's and Sora's Keyblades. Desiree's Keyblade was flung in every single direction at awesome speeds while Sora disappeared and reappeared like a blur through each strike, with the occasional spark going off to tell Luna that Sora had met Desiree's blade with his own.

To give Sora a quick breather and also to announce her presence, Luna put extended her hand and cast a simple Thunder spell on Desiree. The French maid noticed a bolt forming above her head and stopped her offensive to jump away from the attack.

"Luna?" Sora called out to her but Luna maintained her displeased look and started tapping her right foot.

"Sora, that was kind of rude, you know? Running off after our invitees' house was just blown to smithereens and leaving me to seal the keyhole."

Sora looked down and said in an apologetic tone, "You're right."

Luna seemed quite humored by this however and gave a lopsided smile. "You're right, huh? Is that really all you have to say?"

"Sorry, but it was now or never. If I hadn't gone after her now then whe-"

"It's not that," Luna cut him off. "I just figured that after all this time you'd be more open to the idea of doing things together."

"Oh!" Sora suddenly shouted as if he had just been hit by a ton of bricks.

Luna's smile became even and she walked up to him. "We're a team, you and I, and between you and me, I'd say we could take on Bob and Helen any day of the week, don't tell them I said that. So what do you say we give this teamwork thing a try?"

But even with her saying that, as sincere and heart-warming as it truly was, Sora was still not too sure about getting her involved.

"Luna, I don't think I'm treating this like other fights. This one's personal and I might just cross a threshold that I'll never be able to come back from if I do. I don't want you to get involved and cross that threshold too just because of me."

"I knew what this was about the moment you wanted to land in this world," Luna told him. "You think I didn't notice? Of course I did, because I was worried about you, but I also trust you. I believe the Sora I know will do the right thing when it really matters, which is why we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, I'm going to fight by your side and I won't take no for an answer."

"You know I'd never say no after that. Thank you," Sora said and returned her honest smile. So she trusted him to make the right decision… why did that hurt more than any despair the thought of dying could have given him?

"Two against one, huh? Excusez-moi but here I thought you meant to fight me fair and square," Desiree said.

Luna stepped in front of Sora and summoned Dream Seeker. "Well if you're tough enough to pick on Sora when he's alone then two people shouldn't change things much. As they say, don't dish it out if you can't handle it."

Luna kicked off the ground and dashed forward. She took a more direct approach, firing off magic in between her parries. Desiree brought her arms back each time Luna used her magic and managed to absorb most of the spells (primarily the ones that had been aimed accurately) with some sort of drain ability that she had on her Keyblade. Each time Luna pushed forward and tried to get in close, the flail, as if it sensed her movements, reacted in a way that forced her to step back. It was an eternal loop.

"Hey, Sora, this reminds me of something. You remember those thorns that made a wall around Maleficent's tower, right?" Luna asked, moving her hands quickly to parry an attack coming from her right side.

"Yeah… they always grew back so I had to… oh!" Sora grinned at Luna's helpful hint and activated the weakest version of Ars Arcanum that he could pull off in order to conserve energy. He zoomed in like a blue streak and cut through Desiree's blade cleanly, severing a piece from the rest of the Keyblade.

Desiree retracted her Keyblade in surprise and frowned. "How did you-"

"I guess you shouldn't have mentioned that little fact about molecules. It seemed pretty logical to me that distancing the molecules within your Keyblade to change its length and shape would mean you would have to weaken the molecules to do it," Sora explained with a smug grin.

"Oh yeah, or rather I guess it's the forces in between the molecules that would have to weaken," Luna corrected. "I guess I did learn something from science class after all."

"Not your best subject?" Sora said jokingly.

"Not that, just not enough magic," she replied with a quick wink before turning back to Desiree. "I guess all that speed and flashiness was all just to hide your Keyblade's weakness, huh? Well done Sora, I'm impressed."

"Hey, you were the one who gave me the idea in the first place," Sora replied.

"I just wondered what would happen if you used Ars Arcanum. I said nothing about any bonds or molecules," Luna said. "Although if I had gotten a bit more experience fighting her, I would naturally have come to the same conclusion."

"Of course," Sora said in a "sure-you-would-have" tone and Luna repeated his words in much the same way.

"No, not 'of course'." Desiree had begun snickering, and before long it turned into full on maniacal laughter. It was the kind of laughter a person who was trying to convince themselves that they had not yet lost would make. "I am truly sorry, but you thought we were done? Mes amours, Desiree Elegia Skye has not even gotten started. Montmartre, retract!"

It was too fast to have predicted it. Out of nowhere, like a shard of glass, the blade piece that Sora had cut off the rest of the Keyblade flew through the air at the speed of a bullet and sliced open a part of Luna's cheek on its way its owner. There was a second's delay before Luna had registered what had cut her or that she had even been cut in the first place. The blade's broken edge perfectly aligned and reattached with Desiree's Keyblade and she took satisfaction in holding it up and showing it to them.

"Oh, by the way, when I said the molecules could break apart, I did mean completely, which, oops, I guess that means that they can also reattach. I mean, why would I use a weapon that could be broken so easily? If you think Keyblades are that flimsy then you have no right to call yourself a master."

"And here I thought we'd won," said Sora in a monotone voice.

"Then we just need to keep fighting until we've found the weakest weak point." Luna wiped away the blood crawling down her cheek and looked at it in amusement. Even if their victory had been a short one, it had obviously gotten to Desiree and it was still progress. That was good enough.

Desiree lifted her hand up and mixed in physical attacks a barrage of high level magic. Luna and Sora did their best to assist each other in defending and attacking. As Luna jumped over one of the spells, Sora used Aeroga to send her flying forward towards Desiree who parried her away in time. As she made to extend her blade toward Luna, Sora slammed his hands onto the floor and brought up a rock formation in between Luna and the blade.

"Switch!" he told her quickly. Luna nodded and backed away as Sora jumped forward and used Fission Firaga to send the rock flying towards Desiree.

"Flare!" Desiree yelled with her free hand extended. Sora and Luna weren't able to see the blast being fired but the rock was blown in to many tiny pieces which were then scattered across the floor. That the rock hadn't hit its target didn't matter. Sora had used it as a distraction to warp directly in front of Desiree. His opponent raised her Keyblade to block but Sora vaulted over to her other side before swinging. Desiree reacted quickly, swinging the Keyblade (now reverted to its normal size) from under her arms and twisting her body to meet Sora as she did so.

Their Keyblades clashed each time they made to swing, making sharp metallic sounds that echoed throughout the empty room. While she was distracted, Luna leapt forward and began attacking from her exposed side. Desiree gritted her teeth and held up her free hand, creating a shield-shaped barrier to fend of Luna's attacks. The Dream Seeker smashed against the shield repeatedly and was repelled off each time, but cracks were starting to form and Luna doubted Desiree would be able to concentrate on both invasions from either side for much longer.

Desiree must have realized this as well because she soon retaliated with a sudden blast of air that knocked the wind out of Sora and Luna and swept them off their feet. Desiree watched as her two opponents landed on their backs and let out a cry of frustration.

"I refuse to just stand by and allow you to make some sort of mockery out of me. Know that I am no so easily overwhelmed. We Parisians hardly ever are."

"Oh come on, that is such a lie and you know-mmph!" Sora's mouth was covered by Luna's hand before he could finish.

"It is not ours to question, somethings just are, right, Sora?" Luna interrupted quickly.

As soon as Luna dropped her hand, Sora followed up with a quip. "Yeah, if you want to set civilization back a couple hundred years or so."

Desiree, who was clearly getting frustrated that her opponents weren't taking things seriously, blasted an arc of electricity their way. Sora quickly tried to bring up another rock formation to cover them but at the speed the lightning was travelling, it was clear he wouldn't have time. Luna quickly cast a reflect shield around them before the attack could hit. The lightning bounced off with a loud whoosh and smashed through the window glass. Desiree refused to stop at just one and continued to fire off one discharge of electricity after another.

"Luna, you think you can hold that barrier up while moving?" Sora yelled over the whimsical and admittedly pleasant sounds coming from dangerous magic.

"I can try!" The tone of her voice was unsure but she didn't hesitate in moving as soon as she said it.

Lightning flew off in different directions in its attempt to strike through the barrier, managing to bring down some parts of the ceiling. Sora waited until the barrier was halfway to Desiree before sprinting through the barrier at full speed. Desiree directed her blasts towards him but he warped through them quickly, moved in and grabbed her wrist just as she was about to fire off another.

"Au revoir!" Sora bid her playfully before casting Reflect.

Desiree could only watch in horror as her own magic went off and blew up in her hand. A huge explosion occurred, forcing Sora to jump away quickly and watch as smoke engulfed half the room.

"Did we do it?" Luna asked. Before Sora could say anything, a blade extended out of the smoke aimed straight at Sora.

Sora switched the keychain of his Keyblade quickly to Oblivion for its flatter surface and guarded with both hands just in time for the blade to slam into Oblivion with such force that it pushed him back. Sora kept his feet planted firmly on the ground and held onto his Keyblade for dear life.

"You? Beat me? That will not happen! I will win. I have to win!" Desiree yelled. The smoke had cleared to reveal a charred black hand that Desiree was using on top of her dominant hand to hold her Keyblade.

"I can't… hold on much longer…" Sora wheezed out as his back slammed into the wall with a loud thud, and blade seemed keen on going even farther.

"You won't have to."

Sora could barely look up to see Luna jump onto the blade in front of him and run straight up its length like an experienced acrobat travelling a tightrope. Desiree's mouth hung open as Luna drew closer to her. Her mouth soon closed and she began reeling in her blade away from Sora in an effort to stop Luna from using her Keyblade as a bridge, but it was too late.

Luna reached the handle, jumped into the air and then performed an uppercut. The back of her blade slammed into Desiree's chin and lifted her into the air.

Right where I want you, Luna thought with a smirk. She kept the both of them hovered in the air using Aeroga and slammed Dream Seeker into Desiree's sides multiple times before rotating her body and delivering a spinning kick that sent Desiree to the ground.

"Thanks. You saved my skin there," Sora said, still quite shaken by what had happened. Even though the weight had been taken off them, his arms and back were still sore.

Luna smiled and nodded. "I actually didn't think that would work, so… you know… that just happened moment."

But there was someone who was in even more pain than Sora. Desiree lay on the ground hissing and groaning. She placed her uncharred hand over her forehead and rolled about, trying to get up. Sora's smile disappeared and he walked over to her.

Sensing the hatred that had haunted Sora before the fight, Luna moved to hopefully convince him otherwise. "Sora… just leave her. You don't need to bother anymore."

"Just leave her?" Sora spun around to face her. "She's trying to kill me, Luna. She's already tried to poison me and then she deliberately took satisfaction in cutting me up and then healing me just to cut me up again! If I let her go now, who knows what else she'll do. Given the chance she might even try to come after you and the others."

"My… struggle is not with them. I would never go after someone else… someone innocent… just to get at another person. It is why I despise people like Syndrome," said Desiree slowly.

"And why I should believe you?" Sora hissed venomously.

"If you think I'm trying to weasel my way out of this, do not. You are right, I have lost. It is also only natural for you to want revenge so go ahead. I will not fight back. I would rather die with a guilty conscience than live with one."

She had recognized his need. His Keyblade was already over her head, prepared to come down on her like a guillotine… so why was he hesitating?

"Sora, I know you don't want this. Think about it. There's more like her out there. You kill her and what happens then? I know you're not like that."

Sora looked to Luna and took in her worried glance and the cut on her cheek. He wasn't like that? But how could she know when not even he knew?

His hands were quivering, he soon noticed. Shaking violently at that but this time it wasn't because he had expended too much mana. Desiree would have probably also noticed by now. It was now or never then. He would have to act fast before she took advantage. He held his Keyblade tightly with both hands to steady both it and his hands.

He felt someone's soft hands on his own. When he looked their way, he was so surprised to see Stephanie looking up at him that he dropped his Keyblade. The key hit the ground right next to where Desiree was lying, but Sora had hardly heard a sound.

"Please don't do it, Sora. I don't want you to be sad or angry," Stephanie pled with innocent eyes. "Sis and I just want you to be happy. We'll look after you, won't we sis?"

Luna seemed just as smitten by Stephanie's words as Sora and took a while to respond. "Of course we will. Yeah, Stephanie and I will do our best to keep you safe. Remember, our ship-"

"-runs on happy faces… yeah," finished Sora while still looking at Stephanie. It was both funny and amazing how quickly a small girl could make him forget about all the pain and sadness he was feeling. Big things often come in small packages… he guessed whoever said that was right. For that moment he had forgotten all the rage that had taken him and he was happy. Just happy. If he could have it his way he wanted to stay that way until the end, whatever that meant.

His Keyblade must have sensed his feelings because it disappeared on its own. Sora ruffled Stephanie's hair playfully and offered a weak smile to Luna before turning to Desiree.

"You've done a lot of things to me. It's shattered my confidence, made me feel like that person in Yeul's vision. But I'm not. That's not me and I don't want it to be. I just want to be happy and… that might not be possible all the time but if it is possible I'd like to start now so…" Sora proceeded to hold his hand out for her. "I forgive you."

But Desiree gave no sign of taking his hand or even acknowledging that it was there. She stared at him like he was some freak of nature. And continued to stare…

"Oh come on, do I need to explain things in detail? You're free. You can go. I'm offering you a hand up. How many ways can I word it?"

It was not a hand that Desiree moved but rather her mouth. "Why?"

"Why? Does there need to be a reason? I don't know, I guess… I just have some good friends who are there to help me make the right choice. A path paved with gold as they might say. That and, well, I'd say we're even now. You spared me when you could have finished it so I guess I'm doing the same thing. To be fair, I've escaped death twice from you so I figure you must really want me alive despite what you say, or that's what I'd like to believe anyway."

"What are you talking about?" Desiree cried out, getting on her knees and bowing. "There is no point. I'm a sham. I can't go back now after all I've said. I've been shamed. Disgraced. Please just end it and end it quickly!"

"Huh, what are you talking about?" Sora asked in a high-pitched voice. Desiree had taken hold of his hand and was pleading with him over and over to kill her. Her actions honestly made no sense to him and probably would not have to any other sane person.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Sora had managed to wrestle her hand of him and threw her off, watching as she slumped to the ground. Was this the person he had been afraid of this whole time?

"I can't even live up to her name," he heard her whisper. Sora and Luna exchanged quick glances before Sora extended his hand again.

"Desiree, stand up. You haven't shamed anyone, not even yourself. You even gave us a run for our money quite a few times. It was a pretty heated battle, which is why one day, I wouldn't mind fighting you again, no animosity included of course."

Desiree slowly looked up at him with fearful eyes before using her own two hands to stand up rather than accepting Sora's own.

"Though I'll have to let you off with a warning," Sora continued. "I want you to give your friends a message. If any more of you try to come after me again, I can't promise I'll hold back like this time. I will be ready. Got that?"

Desiree brushed off the dust that had settled on her dress and walked over to the shattered window. "You really are a strange person, Keyblade Master. Not like others I have encountered before," she said. She tapped the armor pad on her shoulder and was soon clad fully in armor.

"Uh, that's a good thing, right?" Sora asked.

"Only time will tell." With that, she jumped out of the window and checked to make sure no one was around before transforming her vehicle. She stepped onto the glider and rode upwards into the sky, soon disappearing into a swirling black vortex shape.