EoS: So, now that Sora has merged with the darkness, what shall happen?

Lauren: Rocks fall, everybody dies.

EoS: Yeah, well, if anybody gets that, I will salute you. Well, let us see...

Amalgam:

EoS: And it's big shit.

RockytheTyranitar:

Lauren: There is no god. There is only the darkness… Muhaha…

Rainbow:

EoS: Please, like I would pull an asspull like that. Yes. Yes I would.

Mr. Brandloyal:

Lauren: Your demons don't equal mine.

Aurore's Moemon Adventure

Chapter 70

"KAHAHAHA!" Sora exclaimed, laughing madly, hitting Mandibuzz in the stomach with her foot, sending her flying across the room. "WHAT'S WRONG, SORA? HOW ON EARTH COULD YOU HAVE LOST SO BADLY? WITH ALL THIS POWER! IF YOU WOULD JUST STOP FIGHTING THE DARKNESS, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE PUSHED TO THE EDGE LIKE THIS!"

"Sora!" Samurott exclaimed, turning to the dark figure that was once her friend.

"You shouldn't look away." Zebstrika said, appearing in front of Samurott. "Next time, I will hit you with full force."

"Get out of my way." Samurott growled.

"I won't do that." Zebstrika said, frowning. "You're going to-"

Suddenly, the water within the river shot up like a snake and lunged at Zebstrika, knocking her into the pool.

"Thanks." Samurott said, nodding to Bluebell.

"Least I can do for saving my life." Bluebell said, smiling, walking towards the pool, her hand out. "You just go save our friend, you hear?"

"Right." Samurott said, nodding.

"WHAT?" Sora exclaimed, laughing, kicking the unconscious Mandibuzz in the stomach, knocking her against the wall. "IS THAT ALL THE POWER YOU HAD? AND YOU THOUGHT THAT YOUR DARKNESS COULD STAND UP TO ME? I AM DARKNESS! I WAS MOLDED BY THE SHADOWS THEMSELVES! YOU COULDN'T POSSIBLY-"

"Hey." Samurott said, staring at Sora, frowning. "Are you going to stand there talking, or are you going to put up a decent fight?"

"What's wrong with Sora?" Sakura asked, staring at Sora in shock, holding her hand over her mouth.

"KAh…" Lulu hacked, holding her stomach with one hand, her other clenched over her mouth as vomit dripped out.

"Her aura…" Lulu coughed out as vomit dripped from her hand. "It's disgusting… So dark and evil… I can't even…"

Lulu's sentence was cut off by a more violent outburst of vomit.

"It's 'Darkness'." Sephiria said, frowning.

"Darkness?" Lulu coughed, looking up.

"Is it like…" Sakura said, frowning. "Reaper?"

"Yes." Sephiria said, nodding. "They are similar. Reaper and Darkness… They possess the same origin. Similar keys, triggers."

"Then could I seal her away?" Sakura asked, hopefully. "Like I did with Reaper?"

"No." Sephiria said, shaking her head. "That is what makes the two different. Reaper is a separate personality entirely, different memories, a different soul. Darkness is something much worse…"

"What is it?" Lulu asked, frowning.

"It's Sora." Sephiria said, frowning. "Corrupted, and possessed by the shadows. Darkness has no will of its own, all it does is twist Sora's feelings into darkness. Darkness is what Sora would become if she lost her ability to reason, and her restraint."

"So then why is she attacking Samurott?" Lilligant asked. "She already defeated the enemies, so why…"

"Right now, Sora can't control herself." Sephiria said, frowning. "Once unleashed, the Darkness isn't so easily sealed away. It will keep driving Sora to violence and destruction, even if she doesn't want to do anything."

"Damn…" Micah said, grinding her teeth. "Looks like I'm going to have to step in then…"

"I wouldn't advise that." Sephiria said, pushing her glasses up her face. "If Sora has no restraint, then the untapped power of darkness flowing out of her body makes her more than your equal. And if I'm not mistaken, those wounds on your body are from fighting the real Sora. If she could injure you then, what could she do to you now?"

"Well, what are we going to do?" Micah exclaimed. "Samurott can't keep fighting Sora forever! I'm the only one who would stand a chance!"

"Is there really nothing we can do?"

"There isn't." Sephiria said, frowning. "Only one person could have calmed Sora down. And he's been stabbed in the stomach."

"Aurore…" Sakura said, kneeling next to Aurore, who was still alive thanks to the demon in his body.

Sakura turned to Sephiria. "He's unconscious, but he's still alive…"

"Why is Aurore so important anyway?" Lulu asked, glaring up at Sephiria.

"Oh, you didn't realize it already?" Sephiria asked, frowning. "I suppose you wouldn't look… Sora loves Aurore far more than anything else. Because of her instruction by the Reinhart Family, she sees Aurore as nothing short of a god. Anything he does is right, anything he says is true. Because of that, she idolizes Aurore to the point where she can't function without him. The last bit of sanity that Sora has right now is her love for Aurore. If Aurore stood up right now and walked over to her, then Darkness would probably become so shaken that Sora would return to the sweet girl she always is."

"So that's it, isn't it?" Sakura asked suddenly, glaring at Sephiria, Sephiria staring back at her.

"Sakura, what are you saying?" Lulu asked, confused.

"Don't you get it?" Sakura asked, laughing. "It's all part of the experiment. Aurore and Sora. Both of them, possessing demons within them that could go off at any minute. However, oops, they each have a little safety net. As long as Sora's around and supportive of Aurore, then he'll always be happy, and no negative emotional responses to trigger Reaper. And as long as Aurore exists to be idolized by Sora, then he can restrain the Darkness that Sora has. Isn't that right?"

"That was the reasoning." Sephiria said, nodding. "Members of the Reinhart Family have always been accompanied by Zorua. The pair can restrain the demon of the other. To insure that the Reaper would not surface, the family manufactured a species known as Zorua, a species that would remain fiercely loyal to the heir."

"Manufactured?" Sakura asked, her fingers slowly curling up.

"However, to insure this loyalty, Darkness was always implanted into the Zorua." Sephiria continued. "It wasn't something that they wanted to do, but to create Sora it was impossible to prevent the darkness from entering her."

"…" Sakura said, nodding.

"SHE ISN'T JUST SOME TOOL YOU CAN USE!" Sakura exclaimed, hitting Sephiria across the face, knocking her glasses to the floor, Sephiria falling back.

"Sakura…" Lulu said, shocked, this being the first time she'd ever seen Sakura truly angry at… anyone. At least not this anger. In fact, the outburst was so massive that every single person in the room turned in shock.

"What do you think Aurore and Sora are?" Sakura asked, standing over Sephiria, tears falling from her eyes as she gritted her teeth. "They're people! They aren't just tools you can use at your whim!"

"…" Sephiria remained silent, slowly picking up her glasses and standing up.

Sephiria placed her glasses back on her face and turned to Lulu.

"In the end… You too were nothing more than a disposable pawn." Sephiria said solemnly. "Would you also like to hit me?"

"Sephiria…" Lulu said, clenching her fist angrily. "In all my life… I've never seen someone who sickened me as much as you do. I've hated you since we first met. A part of me really wants to just hit you at full force. But this isn't the time. If you told this to Aurore, he'd be pretty pissed off… He might even turn into Reaper from sheer rage and slice you to pieces. But before he did that, he'd tell me that this isn't the time to get angry. He'd tell me that I need to save Sora, because he wouldn't be able to."

"…Fine." Sephiria said, nodding. "Then I shall tell you the method of releasing Sora from the Darkness."

"One more thing, Sephiria." Lulu said, frowning. "If Aurore told all that to me… I still wouldn't listen. I'd still want to hit you a few times. But there is one more reason that I'm not going to do that."

Lulu turned and looked at Aurore's crumpled form.

"Whatever your reasons, whatever your motives… You introduced me to Aurore. And for that I am grateful. I'm sure that Sora would feel the same."

EoS: So… What do you think?

Lauren: …