18
I am no happy with this one, either.
The Darkness twisted and turned, flowing to and fro.
It called, singing the siren's song, but I'd since grown to ignore that.
My claw raked along nonexistent forms, a light touch on the Darkness doing nothing to disturb it. I could touch it now, and not lose my mind in the process.
Anger, Hate, Revulsion. Calm, Love, Attraction. Raw emotion flowed through the Darkness, passing through my own body, slowly dancing through existence, fading and strengthening with every moment.
Dual sights overlaid my vision; one of the night sky, full of stars and worlds; the other of Darkness, deeper and blacker than the void of space, naught but a tiny glint hidden far within. It might have been terrifying, if it were not welcoming all the same.
Darkness was not Evil. Light was not Good. They simply were.
My claw pushed, and with a sound not unlike cracking glass or ice, a piece of Darkness from the village broke off.
Dual visions returned to one, the infinite black fading away as the night sky of the Elemental Nations became dominant.
The fragment of Darkness I had taken now rested floating above my palm, a minuscule black spot no larger than a marble, wreathed in an aura of purple smoke and green flames.
It took all of a nearly careless flick to throw the orb at a rock. Fire blossomed in the same moment, the emerald green flames quickly crossing the distance and colliding with the hapless rock.
The rock burned, green fire making it a heated and angry orange-red, some parts of it simply becoming molten.
Another lobbed orb of Darkness, and the rock, flames and all, froze.
A third formed, though this one did not leave my grasp.
It was going to have to happen eventually. Merely a postponing of the inevitable.
Briefly, I cursed the lack of ability to sigh.
Then, my claws closed around the orb.
It was an odd taste, like somebody had taken everything I liked, put it all together and created the most delicious meal that could ever exist.
The Darkness, even as little more than fragment, was every bit the Ambrosia that had been promised. I only barely refrained from devouring it whole, instead -Oh so slowly- absorbed it with care, siphoning Darkness away from the orb into my own body, layering Darkness upon Darkness.
I felt my form change, growing the slightest bit bigger, claws becoming the slightest bit sharper, body becoming the slightest bit stronger.
Becoming better.
Then, it was over.
Another orb formed in my claws, but I hesitated in devouring it.
With another mental sigh, I flicked it away. The air sparked, a blue electrical bolt striking the ground, but I ignored it.
If I started to devour the Darkness, then I might never stop. Moderation was key, in order to maintain my own mind, to be more than just another Heartless, ruled by its own instincts.
A Corridor of Darkness opened, and I began to make my way back to the Nara compound.