AN: Okay sorry this one took a few days longer than usual lol! It was new year and I actually kinda wasn't satisfied with the original draft, something was just bugging me, so I did some more editing and additions here to make it betterer, lol! xD IMO anyways. :D Soo yeah that took a few extra days. 3 But I'm pleased with it now! So enjoy! :)
End of AN!
After making sure Xion was going to be okay - and the others, too - like Aeleus and Ienzo) - Kairi left the castle behind and flew across the city to rejoin the battle.
There were several being waged around the city, she could see now from her high vantage point. Which one should she join?
Which one needed a little extra help?
She knew where she'd left Sora and Riku, but...she couldn't see any giant Heartless over in that direction anymore. So, that had to mean they were good now?
Which meant...
She went right, gliding over the rooftops and dipping low, descending into the streets themselves. She took sharp turns and darted around construction equipment and other large machines, finding herself in the industrial district. She flew down under metal walkways, slipped between two huge pipes - and flew out into a wide open area surrounded by rooftops and other tubes and machines.
Kairi glided to a halt in the air before several armored figures slicing through Heartless - as a silver-haired man teleported and leapt around a giant one. It was, of course, Xehanort: the young one. The time traveler. The jerk from Traverse Town, all those months ago now...almost a year, wasn't it, by this point? As crazy as that was to think about...
Kairi cleared her mind and Heart, gripped her weapon, and darted forward before she could think about it again.
The giant Heartless was some kind of mechanical monstrosity; it had a forward facing head with horns and huge insect-like mandibles, and a long, segmented body behind it comprised of rotating rings of steel. Each ring had spikes sticking out of them, that glowed with red energy. There were four rings per segment - and six separate segments. At the end of the last segment was some kind of huge turbine or engine.
Kairi waved a hand and sent out beams of yellow light to strike the Heartless's face, then flipped up and came down with her Keyblade! Her weapon hit the Heartless with a clunk and a shower of sparks - and she bounced right off it! She flipped back through the air and hit the ground, skidding across it on a bent knee. She whipped her head up to stare at it; it didn't look like she'd done any damage at all!
As she stared at the Heartless, it suddenly arched up, then back down again and...dove into the ground itself! It tunneled down and down, until its whole, lengthy armored body had disappeared into a giant hole of burning stone!
"It's a creature built for defense - it will take far more power than you possess to do it any real harm," came Xehanort's voice, just as she remembered it. Just as insufferable and condescending as she remembered it.
She turned to glower at the man, straightening up and twirling her weapon. "You have no idea how powerful I am! I've gotten stronger since we last met," she retorted, biting. "A lot stronger."
"Feel free to show me, then," the man replied, with a twist of his mouth into an infuriating smirk.
Oh, I WILL! Kairi leapt back twice, to the edge of the construction site, and brought her hand up to clasp it over her chest. She breathed in, breathed out...she reached into her own Heart, searching out the light...the light within the light... Her body began to glow, a heat burning throughout her limbs, her chest...energy swirled around her, fluttering at her hair and clothing...
Get out here...Angel! she thought fiercely - commanding.
A huge beam of light and lightning erupted from out of Kairi, shooting up into the sky and enveloping her!
She felt the searing pain bursting out of her Heart as the orb of light emerged from her chest...but she stayed on her feet this time - unlike in the Realm of Sleep!
She remained standing as the pillar of light dissipated, and the energy orb burst with power and wind in front of her...to form into a familiar, giant woman of light. Over twenty feet tall, slender and thin, made of golden light itself. Her little sleeveless mini dress was the same as before, with the glowing Heart symbols around the hem. Her body, too, was the same as before: she had burning orange symbols and patterns up and down her visible arms and legs - her "skin". Long, clawed fingers held huge, twin energy sickles of burning orange flames, ready to battle again. Her hair hung down her backside, composed of dozens of glowing strands of orange light.
And of course, her most striking feature, in Kairi's opinion, was the same as before, as well: her huge, golden angels wings of pure light, which materialized behind her back and flared out with a swirl of glowing feathers.
"What's-?!" Hermod exclaimed, whirling with wide eyes and fluttering curls of blue.
"It's...light?" Urd breathed, staring in wonder.
"She's so pretty!" Vor exclaimed, her eyes blinking up, wide and glistening.
"What in the World is that?" Xehanort's voice came, in pure shock.
"My answer to your Heartless," Kairi said, sweet and triumphant. She strode around Angel, raising a hand to snap her fingers up at the giantess, gazing up at her. "Okay, girl, listen up: take THAT THING down!" she ordered, turning to sharply jab her finger at the armored Heartless, just as it came rising up out of the ground like some burrowing insect, in shrieking metal and burning stone.
Angel obeyed instantly, rushing forward in a streak of light, passing right through Kairi herself with a gust of hot winds! Angel dematerialized her weapons immediately, reached down, and seized the Heartless by its huge mechanical mandibles! She heaved with her whole body, lifting up into the air...and pulling the Heartless up with her, bit by bit, slowly revealing more and more of its long, segmented form. She rose up with it, higher still, above the rooftops, into open air. Then she began to glow with orange light, flashing and flickering, lightning sparking around her. Her long tendrils of hair rose up and curved around her, long blades forming on the ends of them as they began to pierce the Heartless in the face and head. Angel let out an inhuman shriek, deep and powerful yet still so feminine, as she whirled around sharply in the air and released the giant Heartless!
The Heartless flew through the air, over streets and buildings - and slammed into the inside of the city-wide barrier with a great crash!
Angel's arm rose up, flickering and sputtering - and a huge, long, golden broadsword appeared in her grasp. Her hair tendrils reverted to normal, their ends began to vibrate and glow with golden orbs of light...and then she was unleashing a barrage of orange light beams at the Heartless in mid-air. All of this having taken place in under a second - in the time it had taken Kairi to blink.
Angel's attacks struck the Heartless all across its body in rapid succession, bursts of dark smoke bursting as the armor melted away in patches...
Then the Heartless was falling back down toward the ground again.
It hit somewhere near the outer wall - with a powerful, world-shaking quake and a roar.
Kairi set a hand on her hip as she turned toward Young Xehanort, a grin on her face. "What do you think about that?"
Xehanort blinked at her, for a moment looking totally flabbergasted, still. Then his expression was schooled into neutrality, his eyes narrowing. "I think it's not finished yet." He looked to his friends, gesturing, as he turned and leapt high into the air, soaring over the rooftops.
Kairi kicked off the ground, herself, shooting up high to soar over the buildings as well. She flew toward the scene of battle; Angel was just coming down on the Heartless in a streak of light and crackling lightning, stabbing her giant broadsword into the top of its head!
The Heartless roared and tried to shake her off - but Angel remained. She tore her blade free of her own accord, in a swift and sharp motion, an instant snap of an arm - from down to up. Then, she raised her free hand to the sky, and overhead an array of a dozen more giant swords appeared. Angel swiped her hand down in a flicker of electricity and that unnatural snap-movement of hers...and the giant swords descended like bolts of lightning themselves. They slammed into the Heartless's elongated body with great thunderous booms, energy exploding around them, and shooting up into the sky in their wake!
The Heartless began to glow from the inside out, yellow and orange light shining through swirling dark mist...
Angel bent forward in a blur, leaning her form over the Heartless's body - her hair swirling around her as if she were underwater. She reached down, seized the Heartless's short horns, and tore its head back and up. Her mouth opened wide, stretching and crackling with energy...then her body turned to a burning orange color in its entirety, as she let out a long, continuous screeching noise! The Heartless began to shudder and squirm, breaking apart! Powerful torrents of darkness were flowing up off of it - and finding their way into Angel's gaping maw.
Angel just- sucked it all up, like a vacuum, the Heartless disintegrating from end to front! After a minute, all that was left was the head and face...and then even that was gone in a burst of smoke, that then was devoured by Angel.
Leaving nothing behind now.
Angel straightened up tall, arching her back as she raised her arms before her, twitching and sparking, her hair flicking about like electric cables-
Then, a light flashed out from her, shining blinding white!
Kairi covered her face with an arm, gasping, blinking. When the light faded, she squinted at Angel from afar in shock.
The woman of light was different now! Gone was that little mini dress of hers; she wore golden armor now. She had two new arms sticking out of her shoulders, beneath her normal ones. And above her head was a glowing, rotating...literal halo of light.
Kairi recalled Yen Sid's words of before - about how it was said that these creatures of light could multiply, and gain strength and power through the absorption and purification of darkness. Was that what had happened here? Was Angel...stronger now, from beating and absorbing the darkness of that giant Heartless? But how strong was too strong? What if she got so strong...she wouldn't listen to Kairi anymore? What if...
Kairi shook her head firmly, then darted forward and swooped down to land on the ground before Angel; the giantess turned instantly, sensing her, and looked down on her. The giant sword vanished from her hand as she fell to one knee - waiting on her princess, just like she had last time, after the end of her last battle...
But this battle...
"We're not done yet," Kairi told her. She paused. "Stay close to me, and focus on the Heartless. Nothing and nobody else, you got me?" she said firmly. "The only darkness here that we have to fight are the Heartless! Nothing else matters!"
Angel dipped her head, her defined, sharply feminine face gazing back at Kairi. Her glowing lips parted... "Understood," came her deep, womanly voice (so powerful, so beautiful, so...still a little unnerving - and cause for way too many ethical questions to arise in Kairi's mind).
"Good!" Kairi said. "Then come on! We're going to find more giant Heartless threats to take care of!"
She looked to Xehanort and his friends, gave a vague wave of her hand, then turned and flew off into the air again (grateful to be away from the guy as fast as possible, honestly!). As she soared away, this time, Angel flew up after her; Angel's giant form was matching Kairi's speed and pace exactly and easily, like she was a ghost that weighed nothing at all.
Kairi turned to give the woman of light a small (nervous) smile, before focusing on the city stretched out ahead of her.
Who needed help next?
Flashes of light and sounds of battle came from her left, a few blocks off from the main square...
Kairi saw two familiar figures flip up high into the air - Sora and Riku, together - and...
She shot forward, angling herself down and coming onto the scene!
The sight of the giant Heartless before her actually gave her pause, just because of how- ridiculous it looked. Incredulous! It was a few feet taller than Angel - and just as definitively female! It was a giant Heartless with- curves for days, a cinched waist to absurd degrees, wearing some form-fitting red dress with green gemstones embedded into it. Around the waist, and around the wrists. It had padded shoulders, bell bottom arm sleeves, and a gold metal choker with green gems in it. It also had a gaudy, big green stone ring on one hand. The hand that was holding a long, ridiculously sharp-ended magic staff - with, yeah, a huge emerald set into the top of it! Topping it all off in terms of ridiculousness, was the bushy, black-and-grey tail sticking out behind it. Was that a cat's tail...?
Well, whatever!
You're going down, Lady Heartless!
Kairi landed in the streets, just as Roxas came slashing past the giant Heartless! He came down near her, landing on bent knees. He straightened up and looked at her, giving a small smile. "Hey-" he started. Then he saw Angel. "What-"
"Angel: get her!" Kairi commanded, throwing out her arm to point at the Heartless.
Angel obeyed, flying forward and spreading her four new arms wide; light shined and grew in her palms, and then she was thrusting her arms forth and letting loose a barrage of large orbs of light! They weren't just yellow, but had cores of blue and white, Kairi noted. They struck the Heartless dead on, driving it back into the buildings behind it and pinning it - pummeling it relentlessly!
"Woah! Kairi!" Sora exclaimed, flipping down from the air and racing over to her, with Riku in tow. "Is that one of your- light monster thingies?"
"Yes," Kairi confirmed.
"I thought those things were too dangerous to just let run around like this?" Riku spoke warily. He had a really good reason to be, Kairi acknowledged. "And this one - that light...that power-"
"I know - but I have her under control," Kairi said, reassuring. "She's the only one I...have here."
"Well - I just hope you really know what you're doing here," Riku replied quietly. "If that thing turns into another problem..."
"If she does, I can just call her back - right here," Kairi said firmly, raising a fist and smacking it to her chest. "I did it in the Realm of Sleep - and I did it with the others, before, too!"
Riku frowned, but he nodded. "Alright, Kairi." He paused, frowning even more deeply. "If you're back out here, I'm guessing you didn't beat Ansem for good or anything, though, did you?"
"Is everybody in the castle okay?" Sora said quickly. "Xion was over there, right? And Ansem was headed there. Did he..."
"Ansem got away," Kairi admitted tightly, clenching a fist. "Xion, Ienzo and Aeleus are fine - but...Ansem got away, and- he took Even with him. And Ienzo said...it looks like he also took all of the spare Replicas with him, too. So that's going to be a problem someday, I think-"
A high, echoing shriek filled the air, along with a burst of light.
Kairi turned, in time to see Angel with all four clawed limbs stabbing into the Heartless and lifting it up over her head, orange energy pulsing up her arms and shining out through her hands - through the Heartless's body. The Heartless dropped its staff weapon with a clatter...and then it was shuddering and evaporating in purple flames.
"See? She's fine!" Kairi said, turning back to her friends with a grin. "We've got nothing to worry about, you guys!"
"Awesome!" Sora said, beaming.
"Yeah," Riku nodded, giving a little smile of relief. "Now go find more giant Heartless for her to pummel."
"Sure!" Kairi agreed. She darted forward, giving Riku a hug. Then she hugged Sora. She saw the surprise on their faces. Riku's especially. She just...after seeing Xion like that, down in the castle lab, she- she didn't want to see Sora or Riku that way, either! She turned to Roxas - who stepped back from her with uncertainty. She laughed, gave him a little wave, and ran past him down the street. "Stay safe - Angel: follow me!"
Kairi launched herself up into the air again, rising fast and high - and she was relieved to see Angel come shooting up beside her in a streak of light energy.
I've got this. No problem! Ansem will have to be a problem for another day, though...
Kana raced around the giant Heartless and slashed it across the butt twice. She twirled her swords and stabbed them forward-
The Heartless lifted one of its four legs and slammed it back at her faster than she would have thought it could; it hit her whole torso, a shockwave of purple energy flew out around her, and she flew back wildly down the street. She rolled and flipped- and hit the stone wall of a building!
A gasp flowed from her lips as she fell forward onto her hands and knees. She felt the aching spread through her back. She felt the throbbing in her head. She felt the burning with every breath of air. She felt...
Kana raised a hand to the back of her head - let out a hiss and a laugh as she drew her hand back sharply. She stared down at her fingers, seeing the red...
She grinned to herself as she got to her feet again, picking up her blades. She flourished them and slashed them down at her sides, eyeing the giant Heartless as it turned around to face her again.
A blue, glowing, four-legged monster with flame designs on its body. Two curved horns on its head, curving in toward a big, long cone horn in the middle.
"I like you!" she called out giddily, racing forward with her weapons held behind her. "You're fun!"
Kana swathed her weapons in electricity, flashing them forward and sending out twin streams of blue electricity. Her attacks struck the Heartless's face, staggering it. The lightning flew across its body's surface, enveloping it. She flipped up high, sailing over its head and coming down to land on its back. She slashed and stabbed wildly at the creature, laughing high!
The horns started to glow with energy, red flames shimmering on the end of the middle one-
Kana lunged forward and slashed both weapons straight across the horn, horizontal!
The Heartless roared - the energy sputtered out, and the flames faded.
Kana lit up both her weapons with ice and fire, then went into a furious spin, her blades slashing at those horns multiple times in a second! Energy swirled around her, dizziness took over her body - and she slipped. Her foot slid out beneath her, and she was falling off the side of the large beast before she realized it!
She twisted and hit the ground hard on her side, her mouth crying out with surprise and pain again.
The Heartless turned its head, opened its mouth, and sent a stream of red flames at her in an explosion of light and power!
A blue comet of sparkling energy flew in front of the Heartless to stop in front of Kana, and then a barrier dome of shimmering blue crystal popped up around her! The flames burned all around the barrier, blocking Kana's view of anything else...then the barrier exploded outward, and the flames washed away.
The giant Heartless was turning away from Kana, going to fight two familiar armored figures...and one familiar non-armored woman, of course.
Aqua raced over to Kana, breaking away from the two armored figures of Terra and Ventus. She looked down at Kana, her face - concerned. "Are you okay?" she spoke.
Kana jumped to her feet again, nodding and beaming. "Fine! This Heartless is slow and stupid; it's not much of a challenge."
Aqua shook her head. "Be careful - overconfidence kills. If I hadn't seen you fall like that, you wouldn't be here to say that."
Kana frowned. She glanced away, her face flushing. She drew herself up, twirled her wrists to spin her swords, and surged toward the Heartless in a blast of magic, gliding above the ground!
Aqua flew past her and up into the air on wind magic, twisting and twirling with strands of pink energy around her. She slashed her Keyblade, sending down dozens of strands to slice and dice at the Heartless's body rapidly, all over it.
Kana pulled up short, casting Firaga multiple times in a row, her orbs of fire flying out and curving around the Heartless to hit it on both sides. She felt the warmth and pressure surge in her body in the aftermath, and she raised her blades and let it burst out of her; her body was shrouded in a red and orange aura of light. She lunged forward and started slashing and spinning, creating streaks of flames and explosions!
Aqua came flipping down to land on the Heartless. She raised her Keyblade up, fire swirling around her and flowing into her body. It exploded out of her, and she rose up to hover in the air, as six wide pillars of burning flames formed around her. She drifted forward toward the front of the Heartless, the large fire tornados spinning around her - passing over and around the Heartless's central horn.
The Heartless roared and staggered to the side, shaking its head.
Aqua adjusted her position, staying above it, and flashed her palm down at it; the tornados lowered beneath her and came together into one super cyclone, burning and enveloping the Heartless's whole head and front limbs! This kept up for a few seconds before the cyclone started to fade. As soon as it did, Terra flew across the Heartless's face, leaving a trail of red energy and flower petals behind him. Then, Ventus threw his Keyblade at the Heartless's face immediately after; his weapon, glowing with energy, did several boomerang passes back and forth, cutting into the Heartless repeatedly!
Aqua flipped off the Heartless, landing near Terra and Ven. She nodded to them; Terra spun around and slammed his Keyblade down on the ground, glowing with orange light: a huge mass of glowing magical earth erupted beneath the Heartless, lifting it up off its front legs. Ven and Aqua thrust their Keyblades forward, and a wide tornado of swirling green winds erupted around the Heartless - picking it up off the ground, slowly raising it higher into the air!
"Wooow..." Kana found herself saying, breathy.
Maybe fighting with other people could be its own kind of fun, too? She had enjoyed her time in that digital world with those castle members, and others - Aeleus, Even, Isa...
And she did like Isa...
Kana shook her head, ignoring her new body's strange sensations, and ran forward and leapt up into the air! She formed a magic platform beneath her and quickly jumped off it again, surging higher, her swords held above her head - glowing with ice and fire magicks! She accelerated and thrust her weapons up into the underside of the giant Heartless!
She twisted her body in half, planting her feet on the underside of the monster. Then she tore her weapons free and kicked off again, flipping back down to the ground! Her weapons left long, glowing blue and red trails behind - one burning with fire, the other forming a line of ice.
Aqua, Terra and Ventus all leapt up into the air, soaring above the Heartless. Then, they came back down, slashing at its body as one!
The green winds faded, and the Heartless fell back down in their wake with a crash, its legs splayed around it.
The Heartless let out a roar and raised its head, purple energy and lightning swirling around its horns, a crimson aura of fire lighting up across its body-
Suddenly, a blur of a figure flew at the Heartless from out of a side street (that dark-haired child person from the square); her fist struck the Heartless in the face with a loud yell. Air and dust exploded up and down the streets, a shockwave of energy following in its wake. The nearby houses were blown apart, and the Heartless went flying backwards, rolling wildly until it came to a stop on its backside!
The dust cleared away, revealing the girl. She was stood there in the street, bent forward, one arm hanging down limply. She was breathing loudly, her voice shaking.
"Woah!" Ventus gasped, staring at the girl with wide blue eyes. "Erin? How'd you...?"
That was her name! Right. Erin.
Aqua and Terra were watching the girl, too. Terra looked worried, though, for whatever reason. Aqua was just shocked.
Kana just felt...impressed. She knew she couldn't do anything like that - unfortunately! But how could a little child person be that strong? That definitely wasn't normal, was it?
A blue beam of light came down from the sky, its end sharpening to a glowing point that pierced the helpless monster - and then exploded it from the inside out!
Kana saw a figure with long, shimmering hair of light purple come down to land in the street, holding a Keyblade.
It was that Invi woman!
Kana still felt a little annoyed that so many people were just showing up to steal her fights from her - but she wasn't as annoyed as she could have been...
Maybe there really was something to this whole "working together" thing?
Maleficent waited for Darkness to return to her side - to report on the progress of the battle.
Darkness's report...was not one that pleased Maleficent.
"Oh, these creatures are hopeless..." she lamented, stepping forward on the blue cliffside and grasping her new Keyblade in hand. "Clearly, our enemies are too powerful and intelligent to be done in by mindless beasts and monsters. No, this requires a more - powerful and intellectual touch, itself. I think it's time we took things into our own hands, my friend!"
"You plan to confront them personally? That isn't a smart idea," Darkness stated flatly, her form rippling beside Maleficent.
"Ah, but with your overwhelming strength - the power of true darkness? And...the power of this Keyblade?" Maleficent responded, soft and delicate - a smile on her face. "Together, we should be a match for them, wouldn't you agree?"
Darkness gazed at her in silence for a moment. She looked out to the city, then, down at the Heartless below, stretching out in all directions. A field of blackness and glowing lights. A field of writhing, living darkness...
"Well?" Maleficent prompted, a bit sharply.
Darkness looked at Maleficent. She nodded. "Yes - our powers combined should allow us to contend with any one of them. But two or more, and you will still need to be careful."
"You worry far too much," Maleficent said lightly. "Grant me the power I seek, and I will give you a demonstration that should set your mind at ease."
"Very well."
Darkness rose up and became a formless cloud. She swooped down from the cliffside, gliding over the endless fields of Heartless; as she moved, she weaved and swirled around, becoming a streak of purple. Hundreds of tendrils of dark energy rose up from the Heartless, flowing toward Darkness. She continued like this for a minute more before returning to Maleficent - and flying straight into her chest.
The tendrils of dark energy followed suit; Maleficent gasped, stumbling and raising a hand to her chest...
Purple flames burned along the tendrils of darkness, surging up into Maleficent's core! The Heartless swarms began to evaporate in groups and patches, rising up as purple smoke and particles of light...
Dozens, dozens, more and more and MORE!
Maleficent raised her arms to the skies as the power roared within her, and enveloped her body! She laughed high and giddy as she felt it all!
The dark tendrils of power ceased, disappearing into smoke, after several moments.
Maleficent breathed in, then out, lowering her arms. She gazed down at herself, the flaming purple aura still surrounding her. She grinned widely to herself. Yes...this is it! The true power - the true DARKNESS!
She looked at the Keyblade in her hand, raising it up before her. "If you wish to see these idiots and fools destroyed at last, you will GIVE ME THE POWER to do so - here and now!" Maleficent demanded of the weapon, loudly and clearly.
In an instant, the weapon roared with red flames, rushing down its handle to envelope her arm - and then her entire body! A new aura intermixing with the aura of darkness!
A new power intermixing with Darkness's! Adding to it, multiplying it, to new heights unimaginable!
Maleficent lowered her shaking arm, stretching it out to aim the weapon forth: straight at that city of rats surrounding her castle. She called upon and channeled all of this newfound power...and let it loose across the world, in a huge beam of burning red, orange, and purple energy alike!
Her attack stuck at the front of the barrier, just above the main gates of the city! It burned and flared against it, light and energy casting out in all directions - then it punched through suddenly! Her beam roared across the city, burning through buildings and striking the rocky hillside that the castle sat upon. There was a distant explosion on impact, blowing out a huge hole in the side of the rock face, in a violent flash of red and purple light!
Burning flames began to eat away at the barrier on city's edge, melting it away like acid to expose the city to the world. To the masses of endless darkness that surrounded it.
Maleficent lowered her weapon with a deep breath of hot air, her heart beating quick in her chest. She stepped forward and onto a magical platform of rock, and began to zoom across the landscape toward the city.
It was time to put an end to these irritants, once and for all!
Aqua gasped as the massive beam of energy struck the barrier around the city - as it pushed and fought against it...and then won!
The gigantic beam shot across the city, striking the barren rock face that was once a beautiful green hill of trees and grass, exploding with a flash of violet light and an earthquake that rocked the whole city itself.
Red and orange flames burned the barrier away, leaving the city exposed to what lay beyond.
Aqua quickly turned and ran, leaping up high to the city's outer wall. She stepped up to the stone half-wall, raising her weapon - and she froze.
Her weapon fell to her side as she took in the sight around the city.
Endless...darkness. Writhing, squirming...burning eyes and glowing bodies...flames and power and...
There was no way they could possibly...that anyone could possibly...
A golden light suddenly flashed behind her, causing her to turn sharply.
She saw, from the streets below, a mass of glowing orange chains shoot up high into the sky! The chains separated and arched outward, striking the walls. Light flashed from the chains, and in an instant, a swirling orange barrier was surrounding the city, with images of chains pulsing and swirling across its face!
Aqua gazed down at the source of the chains - the point where they'd emerged - and her jaw dropped open in pure disbelief.
"M-Master...?" she whispered, to herself alone.
There he was, standing in full armor - something she'd only seen once or twice before, when she was little, and then, during examples for how to create and conjure her own...
Aqua stood there for a long minute, even as she saw Ven and Terra race up to the Master to talk to him. Even as that Erin girl, and Invi, went to greet him as well. Even as Kana went to invade his personal space, circling around him and staring at his armor! But Aqua just...
Well, she wanted to just hide up here on this wall forever. She wanted to just...leave, hide, disappear, she wanted-
The Master pulled his helmet off, and he looked up at her. Right up at her.
She saw his face change, his mouth move - mouthing her name: Aqua?
Aqua took in a shaking breath, tightened her grip on the Keyblade of Kana's...and she stepped off the wall, slowly falling down to the ground again with aid of magic. She touched down easily, gently, and she walked forward, her eyes only for that man.
She stopped before him, rigid and silent.
"Aqua..." he breathed. "You came to aid these people as well? I-" He stopped, suddenly, eyeing her up and down. Her gown of blue-black extravagance and torn intricacies. "I see..." he murmured, giving a small smile and a nod. He looked to Terra and Ven, questioning. Terra gave a silent nod in return, answering.
"You don't see anything," Aqua said dismissively, turning away and slashing her weapon to hold at her side, her cheeks burning now.
"No, of course not," Eraqus said, with a glint in his eyes now.
"Aqua's a queen now!"
Aqua whirled, outraged. Furious. "VEN?!"
"W-what? I thought- you said before- I thought the Master already knew...?!" Ven exclaimed, flushing and backing away, raising his hands.
Aqua glared. Hard. Her lips shaking and tight. A growl issued from deep in her throat.
"Don't let her throw me in a dungeon or somethin', Terra!" Ven said, moving behind his friend.
"She wouldn't," Terra said.
"I'm considering it," Aqua shot back.
"That would be an abuse of power," Terra replied.
"Or maybe it's the proper response to someone giving away top secret information to- unwanted parties," Aqua snapped.
"Your coronation was a public event," Terra said evenly - his lips twitching now. Infuriatingly. "You can't possibly call that top secret-"
"Please, Terra, Aqua - don't we all have something more important to focus on at the moment?" Eraqus spoke up, raising a hand.
"Yes," Aqua ground out. "Focus on-"
The city trembled again, as a purple and red light exploded against the chain barrier - and persisted, flashing and flaring on the other side!
Eraqus whirled around, raising his Keyblade with a glowing orange aura. He gritted his teeth, holding it higher still...
The barrier began to crack, glowing pieces falling to the ground...
Then, huge scars and burning lines shot out across it, over the whole city, and it broke apart into twisted fragments and particles of amber on the air!
Eraqus let out a great gasp, slumping forward and lowering his weapon. He heaved deep breaths, sweat falling down his brow. Then he straightened up tall, wiping at his face with the back of an armored glove. "Such power!" he breathed. "What is the enemy we face here today?"
"Maleficent," Aqua bit out shortly, turning and leaping back up onto the wall once more.
But this time, Terra, Ven, and her Master followed her - as did Erin, Kana, and that Invi woman.
Though, speaking of the witch herself...
Aqua gazed out across the open air, seeing Maleficent hovering on a platform of earth - with an ornate, decorated Keyblade of white, red and orange in her grasp, that sparkled and burned with an aura of red flames.
Maleficent looked back at her - right at her. Her eyes widened with recognition. Then, they narrowed. She raised her weapon for a strike, and swept it out across herself horizontally!
Unleashing a massive wave of burning flames onto the city.
If Maleficent was truly this powerful now...what could they do?!
Aqua felt the sheer terror, and panic, and ultimately...pure defeat settle into her Heart again.
The old voice telling her it was pointless to keep fighting, to keep walking - to just give up, sit down, and let them have you.
Let it take you.
The endless, overwhelming...
The air between Aqua and the oncoming wall of hellish flames suddenly warped and shifted - and then a pink light burst in front of her! It grew huge and bright, it was so- so blinding!
Aqua blinked in confusion, staring as a huge wall of...of swirling pink and blue energy formed in front of her, stretching out left and right, and rising up to the sky; this strange wall blocked the wave of fires, the air twisting and bending around the flames strangely.
Puffs of pink smoke burst in the air, one after another - revealing little grey cat-like creatures with capes, hovering with glowing auras of pink light. Some appeared atop the strange pink and blue wall, and others appeared on the actual city wall, flanking Aqua and the others.
All of these little creatures held stubby hands out, swirling with energy.
"Alright! Let them have it!" a voice called out. A firm, loud, boy's voice.
Aqua turned, gazing skyward to see a...boy of silver, messy hair hovering above them - a red scarf fluttering in the winds of power.
He flashed his palm forth, and a white light flashed.
The vast pink and blue wall of translucent energy stretched out bigger still, then it curved at the bottom to cover the ground, and curved at the sides, and began to move forward, scooping up legions of Heartless, in the hundreds, in the thousands! It cleared a huge swathe in the ground, making the ground visible again. The magical wall began to close in on itself on the far side, forming into a giant sphere...
Maleficent vanished out of its way in a flare of dark mist, to Aqua's disappointment.
The giant sphere of pink energy glowed and swirled, and then it exploded with pink light!
All the Heartless inside it were vaporized - and the ones surrounding it were sent flying in all directions, and blasted up into the air! The burning winds whipped at them all, destroying hundreds more stragglers even in its wake!
"Great job, but we're not done yet!" the boy called out - to those little creatures?
The creatures lowered their stubby limbs, turning to nod to each other. Then they began to vanish in pops of smoke. Well, some of them. Others remained on the outer wall. But where were the others going...?
Aqua looked around, and got her answer, when she saw dozens of them popping up all along the rest of the outer wall. They were surrounding the whole city, as best they could, it seemed!
The little creatures flashed with pink auras again, and then they were shooting up into the air atop...massive...translucent clocktowers? They were pink and blue, twin-towered. A bell hanging in the space between. Those bells began to rock, ringing out with great gongs and chimes; with each chime, waves of pink and blue energy pulsed outward, rippling through the air and across the ground, obliterating the Heartless in huge numbers! They rang out again and again, clearing out more and more!
After almost a minute of this, the towers dematerialized - but the Heartless were still around the area in such great numbers!
"Let's go one more time, if you can!" that boy's voice rang out once more.
Aqua stared around her, watching as suddenly blue, glowing...lines, or cables began to appear outside the city. They crossed each other, they dipped low and curved up again, they turned to make sharp bends left or right. There were dozens upon dozens of them, everywhere. Then, she saw the tram cars burst to life, attached to the cables, hanging from below. The trams shot along the cables, following the paths, swinging violently left and right, doing full rotations! They bashed into Heartless, caused great tremors and shockwaves on the ground, and sent the creatures of darkness flying into the air in droves again - where other tram cars came flying by to slam into them, reducing them to black smoke.
"I can hardly believe it..." Invi's voice came, from Aqua's left. Full of shock, and wonder. "Chirithies...?"
Aqua glanced at the woman, then away.
Another puff of smoke appeared - right next to Ven.
Aqua turned, startling.
Ven looked up at her, crouching down to put a hand on the little cat's head. "It's okay, Aqua - she's a friend. Her name's Moon. She's a Chirithy - uh, kinda a long story?"
"I still don't know if I like the name..." the- being said, in a girl's voice, as she raised an arm like the others of her- kind, glowing with energy.
Aqua stared, her mouth falling open. Then she closed it quickly, giving a small smile and a nod. "Okay..." she murmured, deciding to just- go with it for now.
On the outside of the city, the cable cars were disappearing in particles of blue and pink light. The cables themselves evaporated, as well.
In the immediate area, most of the Heartless were...completely gone, now - on all sides of the city.
Though, further out, in the canyons, Aqua could still see legions of waiting dark monsters.
It was almost incredible to Aqua, to see so many Heartless on one world, yet to not see that world fall to darkness itself!
But, of course, Maleficent was the only thing keeping that from happening: because she wanted this world for herself.
The greedy, selfish woman that she was!
Aqua glared across the landscape, until she found the woman in question again.
Maleficent was far back now, and hovering high up in the skies.
If she thought she was untouchable - guess again!
It was time to end this, to end her - like Aqua should have, ten years ago!
She raised her hand, and smacked her palm to-
Her bare arm.
She blinked, looking down at herself.
"Shit," she swore aloud.
A little thud sounded beside her.
She turned, seeing that silver-haired boy touching down on the outer wall.
Ven turned, too - and stared with a pale face and a slack jaw.
"Ephemer?"
Ephemer? The name rang in Aqua's mind. So this was that boy, then? The friend from...the ancient era, and the one who-
The other boy looked back at Ven, his blue eyes shining back...as his face twisted into a wide grin. "Ven...it's been a while, huh?"
"Ephemer..." Invi's voice came.
Ephemer turned away from Ven, looking to the young woman now. His expression shifted for a moment - but then he nodded. "Master invi." A pause. Then- "You don't look at all how I always thought you would. I pictured you as more of a blonde haired type."
Invi blinked at the boy, her cheeks flushing, her lips parting. "I- I'm sorry...?"
Ephemer flashed a small grin. "Anyways - what's going on here now?" he said seriously, looking to Ven. He flickered his gaze over Terra, Aqua - then, for some reason, he lingered on Eraqus, surprise flitted over his features...but then it was gone quickly. "Never mind - I think it speaks for itself," he answered his own question, before anyone could speak. "Looks like we got here just in the nick of time, huh?"
Aqua gave her head a small shake, looking at Ven in amusement. This was definitely a friend of his.