Hiya, all! This story only has one more chapter to go! I'm sad, but every story has an ending, and at least this one has a sequel! So watch out for that! Read on, readers and reviewers, the newest chapter of Fallen Angel!

Summary: Kurt is a Fallen, an indescribably beautiful race of demon–angels. Kitty is a fledgling priestess with a hidden power. Kitty knows that Kurt isn't her enemy, but can she prove it?

Fallen Angel

24. Defeat the Darkness in Your Heart

Kitty became aware she was floating. She blinked open her eyes but could see nothing, nothing at all. Where was she again?

She recalled her memories. She had jumped through the mirror in the realm of whiteness, where she'd been watching the others fight the Darkness… But what had been the point of leaping through the mirror? And more importantly, where had she come to?

Because she had no idea where she was. Not one clue.

Kurt opened his eyes slowly. He sat up and looked around; the presences of Light and Spirit had vanished—the two orbs of light he'd seen in the sky, perhaps?

He could see that Sparks and Fervior were awake, and Karma was beginning to stir. Yet neither Kitty nor Shade (on the opposite side of the clearing) showed any sign of waking.

"Kitty?" He knelt beside her. He shook her, pinched her, even yelled in her ear, but no response came. Everyone turned to Karma, who said quietly, in an almost confused/awed tone, "She jumped through the mirror…"

"What do you mean she jumped through the mirror? What mirror?" Kurt questioned, glancing back at Kitty.

Karma only shook her head, glancing down at the ground.

Where had Kitty gone?

Kitty wandered through the darkness. "Hello?" Her voice echoed back at her. "…Ello…ello…ello…"

"Where am I?" she mumbled, half to herself, half to anything that happened to be watching and/or listening to her right now.

A second voice floated to her. "…anyone there? Hello?"

Oh good! Kitty thought, Someone else's here!

She ran through the shadows, listening for the sound of the second voice, occasionally yelling back, but she had no idea if the voice's source had heard her at all.

Kitty didn't realize how long she followed the second voice (it sounded familiar…but who could it have been?) but soon, she noticed that the edges of the shadows were drawing back; she was nearing a faint circle of pale white light.

"Hello?" she called nervously, spying a figure in the center. Tentatively Kitty entered the small circle, now understanding that it was a person sitting within the light.

The person did not speak; only lifting their head, and Kitty gasped involuntarily before saying quietly, incredulously, "Shade…?"

Kurt paced around the clearing. Why did it seem like this kept happening? Kitty's soul seemed to have an appetite for wandering, and not sticking where it was supposed to be.

Karma had told them all about what had transpired within the realm she and Kitty had been sent to after contacting the elements. She had told them about the mirror, and had surmised that not only was it a window, but it had brought Kitty's soul back to the clearing, at least. She had explained that Kitty had probably felt something, but had not expected the mirror to give. Now, her soul was somewhere beyond their reach, doing who knows what, and they must wait until she resolved whatever she had gone to do.

Kurt growled. He didn't want to let Kitty face whatever she was confronting alone, but she seemed to keep getting into places where no one, including him, could follow.

But he had to trust Kitty.

Kitty and Shade sat together in the light and talked. First, Kitty asked what this place was, exactly. Shade looked around and shrugged. "No idea. But it seems kinda familiar, but I don't know why."

Kitty wondered how such a place could look familiar to anyone, but she supposed it was something, at least.

"How did you get here?" asked Shade, giving her a curious glance.

"Oh, I…jumped through a mirror," admitted Kitty.

"That's possible?"

"In alternate dimensions, yes, it is," Kitty said firmly, nodding.

Shade shook her head in exasperation. "This is starting to feel like one of our training sessions…"

"Should I take that as a compliment, or an insult?" Kitty asked.

"…Never mind…" muttered Shade, having learned long ago not to bother arguing with Kitty for long—sometimes it ended up not making sense to anyone.

Kitty abandoned the conversation and looked around slowly. A sort of idea was coming to her. She faced Shade. "Didn't you say this place seemed familiar?"

Shade nodded, looking a little confused but complied nonetheless.

"I think I know where we are."

"Where?"

"We're within your heart."

"…What?"

Kurt watched Kitty silently. She had yet to wake up, and he could only hope she was accomplishing what she had set out to do. There was a rustle as Karma appeared next to him.

Kitty's former incarnation spoke quietly. "I understand now where the mirror transported her."

Kurt's ears perked up and he swiveled to meet her clear blue gaze. "And?"

Instead of answering, Karma stood, beckoning to him. "Come."

Confused, yet curious, the blue Fallen trailed behind the first all-elements wielder as she led the way across the clearing, stopping beside the still form of Shade.

Kurt blinked. "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

Karma smiled softly. "You are looking at where Kitty has gone."

"She…went into Shade?"

Karma nodded. "Kitty is attempting to destroy all traces of Darkness within Shade. Whether or not she shall succeed, however…"

The end of her sentence hung in the air. Kurt nodded; there wasn't much he could do…right?

Shade frowned and looked around. "If this is my heart…then why are there so many shadows?"

Kitty glanced outside the circle of light. "My guess is that's what remains of the Darkness. Somehow, we've got to get rid of it."

"How?" Shade questioned. "There's no Light or Spirit to help us out here."

"True…" Kitty sighed.

"What do we do now, then?"

"I…don't know."

Silence pervaded between them, as both tried to come up with a plan.

Kurt sighed. "There has to be something I can do…Kitty…"

Karma watched him off to the side. She hoped he figured out what he had to do. After all…

What was a priestess without her guardian?

Kitty was pacing in circles. "We've got to think of something!"

Shade was looking back and forth between the shadows and the circle of light. She mused, "Maybe we can use the elements…"

"Oh?" Kitty looked over at her curiously.

"We can try being Dark and Light. The two opposite elements will cancel each other out, and we'll be free to go."

Kitty nodded. "Sounds like a plan!"

They sat at opposite sides of the circle of light. Shade was to be Dark, and Kitty would be Light.

"Let's make this work!"

A swirling black-and-white design appeared beneath their feet. Shade's part of the circle became black, while Kitty's turned white.

Even as they began attempting their plan, Kitty realized something: there was simply too much darkness for her to try to cancel it out by herself. She felt like the lone star within a sea of night.

As the blackness threatened to overtake her half of the circle, Kitty called out to the one she trusted the most, even though she knew that he would be unable to hear her:

"Help me, Kurt!"

Kurt stiffened in shock. Had he really just heard Kitty's voice? Calling for him, no less?

"Kitty?" he whispered, half to himself, in order to make sure no one else heard him. He got the feeling no one else could hear him, because at that moment, an orb of white light had appeared before him.

And from that sphere, a voice emanated: "She needs your help, guardian. Go to her!"

For a moment Kurt's vision blurred, and he saw an azure-blue flame hovering before him, then he felt himself crumple to the ground.

And the light swallowed him…

Kitty shut her eyes; she couldn't believe she was about to be swamped by darkness, and more than likely might end up dying. All she could think about was Kurt, and how she had never told him…

Suddenly she felt a familiar warmth blaze next to her, and her eyes opened in shock. Standing next to her was Kurt! Was it her imagination? Kurt grinned that lopsided way of his and she knew it was really him. He held out his hand, and she gratefully took it, feeling her half of the circle light up once more.

As the two powers collided, there was a brief thundering noise; then everything faded into white.

Kitty blinked open her eyes. She sat up, recalling dimly the tall trees she'd seen from the mirror. "We made it…" she murmured, half to herself, half to anyone who happened to be listening.

Kurt was sitting beside her. "We did it," he agreed. "We defeated the Darkness!"

Kitty nodded, smiling in relief.

Everything was good. They were all alive, and the Darkness was gone.

It was over.

And Kitty and her friends had won.

This chapter may have seemed a bit choppy, but that's because it's jumping between standpoints. The orb of light and why it called Kurt 'Guardian will be explained in the last chapter - which is also the next chapter (the epilogue) Please review? I'd like to hit 75 and know I got at least three-quarters of the way to 100!

~ Shadey