Auldus Vull walked between trees on a chill, misty morning. This was the Pine Barrens, and though the sun was coming up, it was only just peaking through the branches, and doing nothing to dispel the cold. He was dressed as he ought to be, in a thick woolen coat, with a fur lined neck and hood. His long hair was braided and tied back, neatly but without much care for looks. He stopped walking, but said nothing as more figures emerged from behind trees and out of the mist.

The largest figure, an overwhelmingly tall, barrel chested man, preempted his companions, “Auldus, it doesn’t have to go this way,” his voice was tremulous and beseeching, “It’s not too late, you can put things right still.”

“Max… you know that’s not true,” a much smaller man spoke. His voice was controlled, if barely, and he couldn’t seem to look long into Max’s anguished face.

“No more talk,” a woman spoke up, her voice hard with fury. She was almost as tall as Max, but leaner and fiercer looking. She held her hand before her and called her keyblade. It was simple and deadly looking.

“Valery . . .” the man started, but Auldus had finally spoken as well.

“No more talk,” he echoed, calling his keyblade in turn. It was long and silver finished, with delicate scrollwork and lettering etched halfway up the blade. The rest of the assembled Masters took their cue to arm themselves. Max, looked at his companions miserably and called his own.

Auldus didn’t move from his spot, but simply raised his keyblade, and dropped it down again. Red flashes burst from the trees behind him, sending bolts of light flying at the men and women aligned opposite him. Many of the Masters went down in the first volley. The man in the center of the crowd called up a magic barrier to protect himself and Max, while Valery charged at Auldus, swiping the bolts aside with her keyblade as she ran. She left herself open as she raised her blade above her head to strike, and took a blast to her left side. Her right side kept working, however, and brought a blow down on Auldus. He parried it, and allowed the black armored men emerging from behind him to finish her off with their strange, light emitting weapons. He didn’t look at her as she fell.

The rifles of the troopers couldn’t penetrate the barrier protecting Max and his friend, so Auldus called a magical lightning from the sky. It arched around the barrier, and cracked it, letting the red bolts in to strike the last two masters. With the battle at an early end, Auldus called the troopers to a halt, and bid them return to their vessel. He watched as they left, and when they were gone, he set to work. Most of the Masters had died already, and their keyblades had vanished, but Max and his companion lived, and Auldus rushed to them to perform his experimental spells. In a moment, he had their keyblades in a cage of light, with what looked like miniature suns at its corners. He smiled at it, but his smile slipped off his face as he looked at his old comrades on the ground.

“Fade away, Stefan. Maximus was right, it didn’t have to end like this. I offered you all a place in my kingdom. But that is in the past now. It’s over.”

Stefan glanced at Maximus. Though he had ceased to breath, his keyblade hadn’t given up its physical form. He glowered back up at Auldus, his body shaking with the pain of his death.

“I promise you,” he said, “It’s not over.”

Auldus raised an eyebrow, but didn’t have the chance to stop the flood of incantations that Stefan let out. He raised his hands to ward off the spell, but nothing happened, and when he looked back down, Stefan had indeed faded away. Auldus cast a spell after all, bidding the earth to swallow up the Masters who had been his brothers and sisters once. He would have marked their graves, but none of this would be here by sundown. He moved on.

~~

It is a dream. Or, it should be, the last thing you remember was going to bed, but this feels like the real world. It doesn't look like it, though. Though you can't see sky, there are no walls either. It is just infinite blackness as far as you can see in all directions but down. Down is the floor, a floor of stained glass. It is a circle, divided into wedges. Two of the wedges are dark, but the lit ones depict men and women, robed magnificently and holding strange weapons. You are standing directly on one of these wedges, and you can see others standing on the other glowing sections.

Of the two dark wedges, only one has a person standing on it. Unlike all of the others, the man standing here is the same as the one depicted in the dark slice he stands on. His segment of the glass is dark, but he produces his own ethereal glow. He looks strained as he looks around at you all.

“The darkness is coming. You of strong will are here to resist it.” He lifted one hand, palm up and with the fingers almost clawlike. As he did this, the strange weapons in the glass display rose up, becoming solid and three dimensional. “Will you accept my call? Will you end this unnatural empire?”

Blinking, the Moogle suddenly awoke on her feet; Her wide-eyes and the way she frantically looked around marking her as someone that was taken be surprise. When did she get here? And where even WAS here, anyhow? It was so dark, aside from the odd floor, which had a glow to it that seemed to provide the light she currently used to see. Speaking of the floor, it was more odd than the darkness; With it's depictions of different individuals on each wedge. It reminded her of one of the windows in her home; Except everything on it was completely different. Not to mention this was on the floor. Was that safe? She didn't think so. The glow also hurt her eyes when she looked downwards, so she tried to stop doing that.

"What is this, Kupopo?" Kopori questioned in her light, somewhat high-pitched voice. Eyes meeting with the others, all who stood at around twice her height at the least, she couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated. Her expression remained wide-eyed as she spotted someone in particular; Faira, a girl that was a bit older than Kupori herself. She ran around with some of Sunrise City's hooligans and troublemakers; And lacked discipline, as well as respect! The two tough girls had met on multiple occasions; But the one that started it was when Kupori's partner and best friend Gatta had attempted to stop her and some of her goon friends from causing their mischief; Only for her to smack him down! He put up a fight, of course, but even Kupori had to admit that Faira was strong; When Kupori fought her, the two reached a stalemate; And simply parted ways on that day, as Kupori threatened to smack down every last one of the people in her posse that thought they were hot stuff.

Thankfully after seeing the fight with Faira, none of them were really confident enough to fight. After that day, Kupori kept a close eye on Faira and her friends; She'd even smacked down one or two of them over the span of time leading up to this point. They weren't on good terms, that was for sure; Being a punk was one thing, but hurting her friend was something else entirely; Kupori would beat her, eventually, and show her that the Sunrise Crusaders don't just let hooligans do what they please!

But that was enough thought about Faira; Kupori's blood was starting to boil.

She could feel herself bubbling with irritation as she saw that jackal, a kid her age that went by 'Pink', was here, as well. While he wasn't as much of a brawler as Faira, he didn't know when to quit; She could tell him not to spray something somewhere one day, then find him there the next. Her father always said he wasn't much of a problem, but just the fact he had no sense to listen and continued to do what he wanted anyways annoyed the hell out of Kupori to no end; Ugh! She'd whack him upside the head right now, but it wasn't the time. This was all too weird for her to be in her full-law-woman state of mind.

Not saying anything to make them think she'd register their presence outside of ensuring they stayed out of trouble, Kupori looked to the odd one out; The guy that stood on a wedge of the floor that actually had him on it; And that wedge was darkened, unlike her own. The man didn't seem bad, though. At least, he wasn't doing anything to actually worry Kupori aside from the fact she was in some weird void with nothing in it but a bunch of humes. That wasn't to say she hated humes; Her father was human, and her best friend, as well. She'd probably of been more weirded out if there had been more Moogles; As she never had really spoken to many of her own kind. They weren't exactly the most common thing in Sunrise City; That bothered her, but she never expressed it.

“The darkness is coming. You of strong will are here to resist it.”

"Ku...Po?" Kupori responded, confused. Darkness? What darkness? That sounded oddly evil, and a bit terrifying. Not that Kopori was scared of it, she was more excited than anything. She knew she was strong-willed, as her father had raised her to be that way, so the man's words sort of hit home as oddly real; Even though Kupori had only recalled going to sleep earlier. If this was a dream, it felt way too real. Deciding to solve this mystery, she reached up and grabbed the strand her pom-pom hung from; And gave it a tug, before yelping from the pain as she realized she wasn't in a dream. "Ouchie!"

Snapping out of her own silliness, Kupori was taken by surprise as the awesome looking weapons being wielded by the people in the wedges sprung to life from the glass; One of which was right in front of her. It was kind of like a key; Kupori considered that to be kind of quirky in the design of a weapon, but hey, the teeth looked sharp enough to cut through anything she desired; It would be way more effective than anything she'd ever used before; Except that one time she stole her Father's sword...

"Will you accept my call? Will you end this unnatural empire?”

Kupori stared at the weapon for a moment, confused. "Empire?" She pondered, wondering what this was actually about, now. If anything, it seemed like the man intended for her, and the others-- Faira included, for better or worse-- To take these blades. Key... Blades. Gosh, just saying that was weird; Couldn't she have just gotten a regular sword? Beggars couldn't chose, at least it wasn't a wooden sword; She'd take it and consider it an improvement.

If this was as serious as this guy made it out to be, then it'd be a good idea to take the weapon. Heck, this 'Empire' must've been evil; And she was supposed to stop it! She'd be a hero or something after the fact, right? Was she some sort of cool chosen legendary hero, like in the stories? She couldn't wait to be put into fables; "The Great Hero Kupori"! It had a nice ring to it, in her opinion.

"A Crusader never backs down, kupo!" She said, her strength in her voice as she reached out and grabbed the weapon in front of her. Gripping it felt right... It was too hard to explain it in further detail; She was much too eager and wired up by this point for it to actually matter, anyways. She lifted the weapon upwards, observing it. It was light enough to wield in one hand, but was much longer than her old sword. Convenient!

"If there's justice to be delivered, then I'm your Moogle!"

Eyes wide open; Gale, the Assistant Magi has suddenly found himself in a strange space with inky blackness consuming the outreaches of the light; the light was shining from below the stained glass floor there were a few wedges and there was people standing on them. Gale found himself standing on a lit wedge. None of Gale's books ever talked about this place; so it much simply be a dream but it felt too real, too solid. It made him shiver to think how he arrived to this strange place. Was the floor even safe to walk on? His wedge felt solid under his feet so he can guess that the rest of the glass floor is just as solid; maybe.

"W-where am I?" Gale questioned. He scanned the figures within their wedges and tried to get more details out of them. All but one of the figures were human sized with the sole exception being the young Moogle looking around as confounded as Gale himself is. After a few more seconds of looking at the Moogle he soon recognized who it is; Kupori, a Crusader Recruit. She had a fiery personality with a good heart; what was she doing here? The other person he can recognized was a girl about his age; Faira. A tough trouble maker. Gale knew the two has confronted each other at one point. Gale knew they had a connection, but he only had a weak one to both, if you can even call it that. Why were they here? Are they in trouble? Or something more nefarious?

The strange thing about the Stained glass floor was that it only had one man on it, and that man was standing on the darken wedge but luckily, or unluckily, was that the man let out a glow that let Gale see his features even within the darken wedge. He looked like he was in pain as he looked over the group. Gale wanted to ask the man if he was okay, but his words fell short in his mouth as his shyness made him unable to articulate his words as he stutter incoherently and then silenced himself as he realized he's making a fool out of himself.

“The darkness is coming. You of strong will are here to resist it.”

The man spoke as he raised his hand. Gale tilted his head in befuddlement. The man's words had little context; but the implications were horrifying. "The Darkness is coming...?" Gale repeated with a hint of fear resounding in his voice. But even without context; the words hit Gale in the gut as if his heart fully understood the words but his mind didn't, it was a strange feeling; to knowing something yet not understanding what it means.

While trying to understand the warning; a Key like blade arose from the stained glass floor and rise right into view of Gale shocking him as he let out a gasp as he suddenly noticed the Key like blade. It was a strange Blade, it looked like a giant key, guess it's a Keyblade if he has to give it a name; The Keyblade was long; about as long as half of Gale's body. The handle was a Dark blue and the hand guard surrounding the handle was a lighter blue; attached to the hand guard is a chain with some sort of yellow star charm; The part connecting the blade to the guard was a gold strip; the blade itself is dull and rounded and an almsot blue-white metal, the top had a ball on it; but it was the teeth that intrigued Gale, it was in the shape of a star much like the golden key charm, the other side of the teeth had a blade like shape to it reminiscing of a shooting star. Looking at the Keyblade warmed his heart for some reason; as if seeing a large part of your soul right in front of your eyes. It felt right. But what is he supposed to do with it?

“Will you accept my call? Will you end this unnatural empire?”

Gale looked at the man then back to the Keyblade, confused and unsure on what to say or do. "Call" Gale focused on, trying to make sense of the man's words yet again. The way he phrased the sentence was simple enough and the implications were obvious, stop an evil empire by accepting the Keyblades in front of him. But Gale was worried if these words were really real and not just a figment of his dreaming mind then he would have to fight for an unknown cause and fight an unknown enemies besides a vague title. It made him sick with fear. But yet something inside him, like his very essence screamed for him to fight this Empire; and if he really was one of the few people able to fight this evil than he has no choice.

Before Gale could speak his mind and his choice; Kupori spoke up with strength in her voice and then reached for her own Keyblade. It seem from her expression the Keyblade fit perfectly in her hands, she lifted her sword with ease and inspected the sword. Kurori then added that if justice is to be done she is their Moogle. She was so cool. Gale wished he was as cool and dependable as her, that's why he followe-studied her when they met by chance that one time.

Gale let out a sigh and then finally raised his hand to grab the Keyblade. The Keyblade was light; light enough for even him to swing; all he knew how to do was carry books. The sword fit into his hand like a perfectly sized scroll; one that didn't hurt to hold it all nor too small and easily damaged; it was perfect. Gale placed the Keyblade's blade on his hand and studied it; as he guessed it was dull yet could do lots of damage if he hit anybody with it even with his lack of fighting prowess.

Gale looked from his Keyblade and spoke clearly and with what little courage he had in his timid heart he would fight.

"I may be weak, clumsy, foolish, and shy... But I will fight; as my heart yells for me to do the right thing!"

Half asleep Pink found himself getting hit by a bright light making him jump to life. He took a few looks around gathering his surroundings, but all he saw was darkness around him followed by a bright light coming from below. He also noticed him along with some others were standing on stained glass floor. It showed a nice design but hard to stare at due to the light coming from it.

Pink recognized some of the others like the young Moogle who he would see when running into the Sunrise Crusaders. He stared at the Moogle before waving and giving a smile. Another person he recognized was a girl named Faira who sometimes hung around him when he was causing trouble, for her he smiled and give a thumbs up. What definitely caught Pink's attention was the man standing on a more darkened area of stained glass floor.

“The darkness is coming. You of strong will are here to resist it.”

These words sent shivers down Pink's spine. Maybe it would be better to say something like that in an area that wasn't already surrounded by darkness. Either way this sounded like trouble, even more trouble than Pink would get into. It got him thinking what could be so bad that this man had to bring them to this odd location. While Pink was wondering something started to come out the floor in front of him, it was an oddly shaped object apparently suppose to be a weapon. Looking around Pink saw the others get similar weapons but they all looked different, yet still somehow resembling a key. Key...Blades? was the name Pink came to a conclusion to by looking at the other ones.

"Will you accept my call? Will you end this unnatural empire?”

Pink wanted to see how everyone else would answer and by no surprise the Moogle agreed by giving some talk about justice and what not. Another guy also agreed but it was slightly better than the Moogle's, so Pink took some time while also staring at the Keyblade in front of him. On one hand he could be getting into some trouble he rather not be in, but on the other he doesn't usually back down from trouble. Taking the keyblade into his hand Pink decided he was ready to join this whole shebang.

"Where there's trouble I'm usually there, and this has no exception."

"Good," as the youths took hold of the keyblades, the light in the glass started to fade away, soon leaving them in darkness where only the glow of the apparition remained. "You will harbor the hearts of fallen heroes, and they will shield you from the darkness as you take up their mantles." He was drifting away from them now, "And soon you will shield others in turn. Always look to the light. Don't let it go!"

He was gone, and his audience returned to their natural sleep.

~~

Faira awoke in her bed, rising gradually out of a dream full of broken glass and strange keys. Though many details of her night's dreams faded, the scene on the stained glass floor remained vivid, almost as if it had happened to her when she was awake.

She dressed for the day. Something in her was urging her to go out, and she dressed in her sturdiest clothes, as if she were going to go hiking or climbing. She didn't really know what she meant to do today. Maybe she'd try to go find Pink. She supposed that occured to her because hehad been featured in her dream, and that thought brought her mind to Kupori as well. Suppose they run into each other? Best be prepared, she grabbed her favorite whacking stick as she walked out the door. It was a solid oak rod, which had originally been a flag pole. Faira had pulled the flag down in a bit of high spirited vandalism, and had enjoyed using the pole to cause even more trouble.

It was a strange kind of day, most of the sky was engulfed in thick black clouds, but it didn't smell like rain and not a drop seemed to have fallen.

Kupori's eyes shot open out of the dream, the small Moogle waking up in her human-sized bed that made her almost look like a toddler. What had that dream been about? The girl wasn't sure, but it almost felt too real to have been a dream. Hopping out of bed, Kupori's baby-blue gown slid across the floor as she walked over to her closet; Opening it up with curiosity. The closet was walk-in, and though it held some formal and casual attire, in the middle was Kupori's armor stand. And with it, her wooden sword. While she did own a training sword, Luzzu did not permit her to use it outside of the household; Afraid she may hurt somebody with it if things got too extreme.

She sighed, grabbing the sword and observing it. It wasn't no super-cool magical blade that looked like a key, but it was what she was allowed to use. The girl got dressed in her recruit armor; It wasn't exactly top-notch in the way of defense, but none of the hoodlums had actual armor unless they made it out of random stuff; Hers was the real deal, though still light enough for Kupori to swiftly move in battle. Sadly, with armor on, Kupori lost her ability to fly around. But that was alright with her; she wasn't afraid of heights, but she had no reason to want to fly around; She'd be slower in the air, and easier to hit.

As the girl walked out of her room, she was met with the sight of her partner, Gatta.



"Good morning, Gatta-Kupo!" Kupori said, enthusiastically. Gatta was, by all means, her best friend; They had done everything together growing up; But now, they mostly trained under her father, and went out on patrol to set the other kids straight!

Gatta, an average human male, similar to most of Sunrise City's residents, turned to look at the Moogle with a smile. He was a lot taller than her; He was 5"11', average male height for his age. She was a few feet less, and it was comical for them growing up; Though Gatta had ticked Kupori off a few times during their friendship. "Hey, Kupori! You must be getting lazy: I've been out of my bunk for hours!" He exclaimed, seeming proud of this fact.

Kupori raised an eyebrow at him, smirking. "Oh, kupopo? So tell me about how the others are all awake already, and how you've prevented early-morning crime, kupo." She retorted, taking the hoodlums around here to sleep-in rather than run around early like Gatta did. The guy was energetic though, Kupori gave him that. She wouldn't operate as well as he would with less sleep.

"Uh, Well..." Gatta mumbled, crossing his arms without an answer.

Kupori laughed in response. "That's what I thought, kuu-po!"

"Whatever!" Gatta responded, turning to face the front door. "Now that you're awake, we can start our patrol! And grab something good from the Chocolatte Mart!" He spoke with more motivation after his last sentence; The Chocolatte Mart had everything a kid would want in the way of food; as well as items for the general adventurer! It was one of the hottest spots for Gatta and Kupori, and they always tried going there during their morning rounds.

"I think I have some Munny left over, ku-popo; Maybe I can afford a potion or two." Kupori commented, thoughtfully. That dream... It made her think about Faira and Pink; If they were to meet and possibly fight, and Faira was to land a few hits on her, Kupori would need one of those potions, ASAP. She also needed an extra one for Gatta; That knucklehead.

"We never get into that much trouble, Kupori! You worry too much." Gatta replied with a wave of his hand, marching towards the door. "You ought to come look at the sky! It's full of these crazy clouds! I bet a big storm is coming!"

As Gatta exited the house, Kupori figured he was probably right... But being safe never hurt. That's what her father had said, anyways. And speaking of her father; He wasn't around today. It wasn't unusual for the man to be out on business, but usually he'd stick around to make breakfast! Maybe it was important?

Kupori figured she'd see him later, and followed after Gatta to go on patrol. The duo would begin to make their usual rounds around their area of town; A place where not only they resided, but Faira and Pink as well. Or at least, giving how they all seemed to run into each-other so much, they assumed those kids lived around here. Kupori and Gatta didn't actually know where they lived; They weren't friends or anything. Far from it, for the most part. Pink tended to be kind of friendly regardless of the situation, though; So she let him slide... Most of the time.

Gatta began to make small talk as they walked along, the two seeming to be enjoying themselves. They had no idea what they'd possibly run into; But hey, that was part of the job. Whatever it was, they'd stop it. Or at least try.

The sky made Kupori nervous, however. She'd never seen storm clouds like those before; If they even were storm clouds...

Gale let out a soft groan as he awoken from his sleep, the young Magi got out of his large bed and quickly yet neatly made his bed; he fluffed and neatly organized his large soft pillows, tuck in his large blue-black blanket and sheets; which took a bit of effort since it was such a large bed. During his bed making Gale was deep in thought; mostly trying in vain to decipher his dream and makes sense of it. Gale has read old books about lucid dreaming; a type of dream where the dreamer has control over their actions and thoughts instead of being a mere piece in a story like most dreams. But yet, it still didn't feel like a dream; it felt as real as the pillows in his hands, the floor beneath his feet, the air going into his body, the dream felt as true as the waking world.

Gale let out a sigh as he finished making his bed; dwelling on a dream, no matter how lucid, wouldn't do anything but make himself doubtful of his judgement and choices; but yet there was still a pang of worry as the dream keep coming back to the forefront of his mind, and the worry that he made the right choice if the dream was something more then a flight of fancy carried out by a tired mind and lonely heart. Gale opened his closet and seeing the wide arrange of clothing he could wear for today, all of them were well made and expensive a sign of his wealth; his mother's wealth. Gale picked his usual outfit, for today and quickly changed in front of the large mirror across from the closet. Once he was all done he looked like his normal self if the mirror is telling the truth, which it should. Gale nodded in approval of his outfit and walked out of his room with his head still up in the clouds.

Gale lived in one of the largest houses in Sunrise City, which is a good thing since Gale and his mother owned so many books and ancient keepsakes from a bygone age of magic; but besides its use as storage for old books and items the large house was troublesome. Gale and his mother lived at the highest point in the manor-library so right now he was walking down the twisting and steep stairs of the manor to reach the main floor where the books are kept and the Magi often have their meetings; Gale has often slipped or fell from these stairs, and once dropped an entire pile of books onto himself while falling! It's a hazard! Sometimes Gale wished he lived in a single floor house and didn't need to worry about stairs.

When Gale finally arrived to the main floor, he quickly scanned the area. The ceiling was high up, the walls were lined with bookcases and the floor had high bookshelves that were taller then some people's houses. Gale always loved coming to the main floor, it reminded him of his duty as a Magi, he is a keeper of history and the searcher of Magic, Gale can never give up on his duty as a Magi; but yet the dream made him feel like he won't be able to keep doing his duties if this Unnatural Empire comes to pass and his choice to fight well make him unable to keep being a Magi.

Gale shook his head at the silly idea of worrying about a dream and continued to the meeting area, Gale shouldn't be too late for the weekly Magi Meeting.

But yet when he arrived to the meeting place there wasn't a soul, instead there was but a note sketched by his mother if the handwriting is to believed; it says the meeting will be postpone until tonight. Gale let out a worried noise, it wasn't often that the Magi rescheduled their meeting times; it must be important. Gale debated what would be so terrible that it would cause this, all of it leads to something terrible, but Gale simply shook his head and let out a causal observation "Nah, I'm thinking too much."

Instead of worrying about possibilities, Gale has decided to get something to eat at the The Chocolatte Mart since he hasn't been there in awhile. Maybe chocolate covered ice cream will ease his worry.

With renewed vigor, Gale left his house only to stop in his tracks as he sees the clouds. Inky black, not rainy or overcast, but like the clouds themselves were shadows, but he swallowed his fear and started to make his way to the mart. Hoping his worries are nothing more but an over taxed mind's delusions.

For now Gale put his worries behind him and made his way to the Chcolatte Mart, once he arrived there he noticed Kupori and her friend Gatta. Seeing the Moogle reminded him of his dream. Gale felt a bit of anxiety again but decided to follow her, if only to see what cool things the moogle will do. She was always so cool.

Pink quickly jumped to life in his bed, he looked around his room in disappointment it all being a dream. He really liked his key weapon and wanted to keep it. Now sitting up in his bed he looked out his window to see black clouds filling the air yet it wasn't raining or anything. Pink knew he couldn't let some black clouds keep him from having some fun, so he got out of bed and made his way to his dresser. There he found a fresh new set of clothes. He also found his bag which contained everything he used to write his name and other things on buildings.

"Well rain or no rain, someone still has to keep things exciting around here." Pink said to himself as he excited his room and soon his home. Upon stepping outside Pink wondered where he should start today off at "What about that Chocolatte Mart? Seems like the closets place from here."

Pink quickly hurried over to the Mart and found a nice clean wall. He set his bag down and dug through it finding a brush and already knew what he was gonna put on it. He was gonna gonna recreate the key weapon he saw in his dream. But then he got thinking why stop there just do them all, besides there were only three others and they had simple designs. After finishing his master piece Pink stepped back to admire the key like weapons. He looked around to see if anyone had seen him, but he was in the clear for now.

It was until he spotted the young Moogle and her patrolling partner to which he knew she had to have spotted him already. "Come see this," he called out to the Moogle while also waving his hands in the air.

@Raddum

The patrolling duo marched along towards the Chocolatte Mart without much of an idea of who was following them. Their eyes were forward in search of trouble; They didn't have time to just look around and notice random stuff like someone walking the same way as them. While Gatta covered more ground due to his longer legs, he had to actually keep up with Kupori as she marched along the road, confident as always. Her wooden sword was within a custom sheathe at her side; Seemingly made by Kupori herself. It wasn't anything extreme, but it was something, at least. It made her look a little more official!

As they turned down another path, they were nearly at the mart; And had planned to go straight there, until Gatta spoke up suddenly.

"Look," He said with a somewhat annoyed tone, gesturing ahead as he noticed one of the town's hooligans, Pink. He had a bad habit of painting everywhere, and it ticked Gatta off a bit. "Pink's messing up another wall."

Kupori eyed the boy up ahead, eyes narrowing into a determined glare of annoyance. He didn't know when to quit, did he? "We need to set him straight! Ku-Popo!! Let's go!" She called out, picking up her pace. Gatta, following, couldn't help but notice that Pink was trying to get them to come over by waving at them... To check out his art, if the boy had to guess. Pink wasn't a bad guy; He just painted beyond canvases, and that annoyed the other citizens! It was Gatta's job to set him straight, no matter how many times it was required.

"What're you doing now?" Kupori questioned, not processing the art on the wall right away as she instead focused on Pink.

Pink was eagerly ready to show the Moogle what he painted this time. Usually it was something small and quick with the signature PinkDizaster was here, but this time was different, this time he took somewhat time to make this painting. "Oh I knew you would show up. So I had this weird dream and you and Faira were there and there was this other guy who I've never seen before but that doesn't matter. We were on this weird stained glass floor and we all got these key weapons." Pink paused letting the Moogle take in everything he said. "And so I painted them here, see mines the black and white one, yours is the one with the red thing attached, Faira's is on the far left, and lastly that other guy's is on the far right."

Pink paused again looking up at the sky then looking back at the two Sunrise Crusaders in front of him, "So they're cool right?" he asked openly to the two of them.

"'Key' weapons?" Gatta repeated, taking it all in. Was this guy crazy? Who the heck would use keys as weapons? Observing the vandalism, it surprised him; Gatta had to admit these looked pretty awesome, though keys didn't seem practical as weapons. "I mean, they look cool, Pink, but we still gotta wash it off. Kupori, tell him--"

Gatta paused, noticing Kupori observing the wall. "Uh... Kupori?"

Kupori's eyes were wide as she stood close to the wall, observing the keyblades. Specifically the one she had wielded in her own dream; With red and orange, and the pom pom chain. She took a moment to process it, but soon turned to look at Pink; Her usual irritation was gone, replaced with a face that marked confusion, and shock. "Pink..." She spoke, though completely off from her normal self, as she never actually called him Pink to his face; It was more than even proof she was shocked. "I remember these! I-I had that dream, too! You remember that weird guy that talked about that Unnatural Empire too, right?! K-Ku-- Po!"

Pink was probably as shocked as the young Moogle was when she mentioned the guy who called them all there. He didn't speak for a minute but finally found something to say, "Yeah, and you gave a big spiel about how you'll bring justice wherever it's needed, right?"

At those words, Kupori's face lit up red like her pom-pom, embarrassed due to her realizing someone had actually heard that. "W-Well, yeah! And I meant it, too!" She retorted, and... Meant it. She couldn't go back if all if this crazy stuff was actually real. But they didn't exactly have those key weapons anymore; What were they supposed to do to stop this 'empire', anyways? Where even was it? She was getting confused.

"Alright, you guys have me lost." Gatta admitted, plainly. "Dreams that you both remember? An Unnatural Empire? What even is that? I don't understand this at all."

"I don't know, either, Gatta. But-- Ku-po..." Kupori trailed off momentarily, not knowing anymore than Gatta honestly did. That dream had been so vague, just what the heck were they supposed to be stopping? All she knew was that they needed to look into this further; They needed to find Faira, and that white-haired boy. "Do you know where Faira is? We need to find her, and that white-haired kid, too, Kupo!"

Gatta had simply turned to take a moment out of this conversation; And noticed that, while he wasn't close, there was a white-haired boy a short way's off. "You don't mean that guy staring at us from over there, do you?" He questioned, looking back at Kupori and Pink.

Turning, Kupori gasped. "Th-That's him! Thanks, Gatta!" She said quickly, the little puffball running towards the white-haired boy, leaving Gatta and Pink to themselves.

"I--" Gatta tried to speak, but lost the will to do so. He was just confused beyond what someone ought to be; He was having a hard time putting everything together from their conversation. And now Kupori was running after some other kid. Gatta simply put his hands on his sides, shaking his head as he tried to process it all.

- - -

"Hey, you!" Kupori called out, approaching the white-haired boy at an alarming rate. Her pom-pom bounced behind her and wobbled slightly side-to-side as she approached. Anyone who saw Kupori at first glance wouldn't see anything threatening about her running towards them; But those who were aware of her nature and job as a crusader knew she was tough and generally about business before fun. If the boy knew her good enough to assume she was just trying to talk with him, or got scared of her because he didn't, was entirely up to him. If he could read emotion, he could probably tell in her eyes that she had no anger; Her expression didn't mark someone who'd be after you. If anything, it looked somewhat confused, and perhaps to a trained eye, even scared.

Gale followed the duo into the Mart making sure they don't spot him following them. Luckily it would seem the Crusader duo were too busy looking out for troublemakers which while he is far from one; he might give them the wrong idea by stalki-following them. Suddenly while they were walking in; they spot that Pink the Dizaster putting his usual graffiti on the wall, sadly Gale couldn't see it from where he was; he was a little short sighted, not too much but enough to making seeing small details hard from a distance, but yet the colors of the graffiti seem familiar like he seen it recently. Luckily for Gale his hearing was top notch; a perk of living in the city's library. Gale walked slightly closer to listen to the trio's conversation.

To the shock of the Young Magi it was talk of the dream that he had last night! How?! Dreams aren't supposed to be connected like this! The Sky, The Ground, the stars; those are all connected to everybody, not dreams. This is impossible! Is it? It can't be. They all remember the dream. Well besides Faira but she's not here. But Gale would bet his books on the fact she remembers the dream like the other of her follow dreamers.

While the young Magi's mind was screaming out of fear and confusing; yet it all seemed right like his heart knew it's destiny to have all of their mind's connected like the sun soaked sky they all stand under. Well Inky black sky currently but his comment still stands. But What does it all mean! Does the vow they made in he dream be true? Does the warning of the unnatural Empire be true? Are they meant to fight this unknown adversary! How could the four of them fight an entire Empire?!

Gale was bordering on a panic attack when he heard the high pitched voice of Kupori. It brought him back to reality as he realized that Kupori and Gatta has noticed him, for a second Gale considered running off as he felt his cheeks flush as he realized he must've looked like such a creeper to them. But yet Kupori's expression made him stay in place; albeit his face a light shade of red. Gale followed Kupori enough to understand that she wanted just to talk; Gale remembered how she moves when she's ready to fight a punk or two. Her eyes stood out to the young Magi, like a particular word in a large tomes. It looked confused and if he was being brave, afraid of the meaning behind their collected dream.

Gale swallowed the fear and timidness in his throat and stuttered. "A-always look to the l-light... D-don't let it go... T-that what he said... t-the man in the dream...I was listen in on your guy's conversation." Gale admitted to the small Moogle honestly with a hint of nervousness in his voice. "T-this is an o-omen... o-our shared d-dream... t-the clouds... S-s-something's gonna happen... I-i Just know it..." Gale muttered trying to stay calm as his anxiety is going into hyper drive as a million bad thoughts were sinking him down into what he felt like an endless sea of madness. Gale's blush was gone; instead his features turned pale as the fear of the meaning of the dream was driving him mad.

Gale needed to calm down.

Skidding to a halt, Kupori looked up at the face of the white-haired boy, attempting to speak with him right away, as this was urgent. Though, she didn't even open her mouth before he started talking; Or at least, trying to talk. It was more like blubbering, if she was being honest: The amount of stuttering was literally hurting her mind; She felt a headache coming on, and just tried to make out what he was saying. He had been listening to their conversation, that was clear; as was the fact he knew he had been in that dream as well. So at least she didn't have to ask; But, as he went on, he began freaking out worse and worse. If this kept up, the boy was going to have a heart attack from freaking out so much about this 'omen' he was ranting about. Something had to be done, quick. And as always, if there was a problem, Kupori was your Moogle!

'I've got to help him!' She thought to herself, Crusader instincts kicking in. And not many people knew this, but when the instincts kicked in, it meant trouble for other people. Even with just a wooden sword, Kupori could be extremely scary with enough determination; To the point that, if driven there, she might just knock you out. Or just chase you until your lungs are burning and you finally fall over. For the most part, once she got going, she didn't know when to quit.

Now, while Kupori never had a mother figure, as a young woman herself she had some natural instinct on how to deal with guys; Not romantically, or whatever, but to make them shut up when they started being annoying! She wasn't mad at him in the slightest; In fact, she felt bad; But that wouldn't stop her from applying a tried and proven true method of making people be quiet. In this instance, it was for his own good, before he fainted, or worse, died! She'd have to use her number one tactic that was tied up there with diplomacy:

Violence.

The Moogle unsheathed her wooden sword; eyes narrowing as she held it to her side, one-handed. With a cry of what could only be assumed to be war, Kupori jumped up into the air; Pretty high, too; She managed to jump up to Gale's height and meet him face-to-face. Her eyes, for the moment that the boy would potentially meet with them, seemed entirely focused; Her eyebrows scrunching downwards due to it and making her look battle-ready, compared to how she had moments ago.

"K-Kupori!" Gatta called out from his position, though he was nowhere close enough to actually stop her.

She gripped her wooden sword with both hands and brought it above her head; And with a less than full-power swing, perhaps comparable to a mildly aggressive person sweeping the floor, she brought it down and bonked him right on the head! Direct hit!

Landing like a professional after the comical smack to Gale's skull, she sheathed her wooden sword, eyes closing momentarily. As they opened, Kupori had a very hopeful expression in her eyes; Looking up at the boy with a smile that, combined with her facial expression, made her practically look like an adorable stuffed animal.

"Do you feel better, Ku-popo?" She questioned, expressing concern during the aftermath.

Gale continued blabbering on incoherently about things that his mouth was attempting to say but his mind and words couldn't follow suit instead being strange sputtering noises that broke even more as he tried to spoke. The Young Magi's hands were held tightly as his side and his head was lowered and shaking as he tried more and more to speak normally but instead his anxity made it nearly impossibly even for himself to understand.

Suddenly a high pitch yell broke Gale out of his stupor and Gale raised his head in shock and confused; to his amazement he was eye to eye to the young Moogle Crusader before he could ask how the moogle got so tall he got his answer right away. His head stung slightly and he fell on his backside from the sudden and unexpected direct hit to his head. Gale was in a state of complete befuddlement. When he looked at the Moogle; she had a pleased expression on her stuff toy like face. Gale looked confused as if trying to piece together what just happen as his mind previously was a swamp of miasmic thoughts and fears; now it's a barren space like the spaces between stars. It took a few moments for the Moogle's words to register but once it did he understood them and the meaning of her previous actions.

"Oh! Umm... Yeah... I don't feel as overwhelmed now after that wake up call... My gratitude Kupori." Gale spook and reacted sheepishly at the moogle's words after a few long moments of silence. It was strange to be eye leveled with the moogle, it was like a completely different way of seeing the young moogle; it was like seeing the world from the stars; he only ever seen her from a distance and several heads above her.

Gale sat on the floor contemplatively for a few more seconds before speaking up again this time more calmly and controlled. "So... uh.. umm... So those key... blades...? Um... I'm not sure what to ask..." Gale fumbled around with his words trying to figure out what to say but at least now he's not panicking.

Gale suddenly realized he was still on the ground and he awkwardly gotten up from the ground as he stood up fully, he let out a sheepish chuckle and brought his hand behind his head awkwardly. Gale will never live this whole thing down.

The commotion that Pink had started, while not unnoticed, didn't warrant as much attention in the eyes of the wider public as the strange sky of today. Faira, having not yet arrived to be bewildered by her dreams being painted on the wall next to the candy shop, had made a point to inquire of the city's early birds about it.

She had gathered that the clouds had rolled in from the Pine Barrens outside of town, starting shortly after sunrise. She had started to head that direction when she was confronted with every single person from her dream the night before, gathered in one place. On second reflection, she realized that Gatta had not been there, but that there had been another, stranger sort of person.

Her hand shifted on her whacking stick, but something in her didn't want to fight Kupori. Something in her heart saw her, bizarrely and for the first time, as a friend and comrade. She couldn't make sense of the feeling, and tried to shake it. Glancing around, Faira spotted the painting for the first time. Her hand raised to point at it, and her mouth fell open, but she was uncharacteristically speechless.

Just then, before she could gather her wits, a strange thing happened. Visible above and beyond the painted wall, it was like the opposite of lightning. For a split second, what little light was filtering through the clouds disappeared, and was back just as soon as it had left. The strange darkness had been centralized a little less than a mile away, directly over the Pine Barrens. Promptly following the anti-lightning was anti-thunder. An expanding bubble of soundlessness that passed over not only the unwitting key bearers, but the whole town.

“What was that?” Faira asked in her lowish gravelly voice.

~~

Out in the Pine Barrens, a black bolt reached from the sky, sucking the light out of the forest in bursts. With every strike, shadows pooled on the ground, Darkness hitching a ride on the otherworldly storm. From these pools, small figures rose, moving jerkily as they scented the air with their antennae. They liked the scent they got, and started marching toward town.

Reacting to Gale with a giggle of amusement, Kupori couldn't help but find him to be a funny guy. Though, there were bigger things for them to worry about right now. Specifically that dream. She wasn't used to seeing people at her height; It was a lot better on the neck to not have to look up at his face. Which still looked pretty confused, if not a bit dazed from her strike. But he was clearly not panicking anymore; And that made Kupori a lot more comfortable talking to him.

"Yeah, the keyblades!" Kupori replied loudly, excitement in her voice. "They were so awesome-- But I think we should probably, maybe, think about the other stuff, too." She admitted, looking upwards past his face, at the sky. "Like... What's that Empire anyways? And why did that weird guy call it 'Unnatural'?" She questioned, pausing momentarily, as she slowly turned, eying the sky. "And what the heck is up with the sky--"

"!!!"

Kupori gasped at the sight above the Pine Barrens; A minor grunt or two escaping her as she attempted to speak, but failed horribly. She felt something wash over her; Something that had felt so intense in her heart that it caused her to step back and lightly bump into the white-haired boy's legs. Her heart was racing; Not out of fear, but... Something else. Something had just happened to her heart; Like some sort of switch... She felt fear from the darkness; Not knowing of what it'd bring, but deep within she knew it wasn't good.

Then that black bolt found it's way into the Pine Barrens, from those dark, lightless clouds. "What-- What this this...?" She questioned, eyes expressing her uncertainty.

Beyond her thoughts, however, her eyes focused downwards; She didn't truly register Faira, but instead, registered Gatta running off towards the Pine Barrens. "Gatta!" She shouted, stepping forward away from Gale's legs. "What are you doing?! That's--"

"Master Luzzu could be in trouble!" Gatta shouted back, not slowing down. He had brushed past Pink and was making his way towards the Pine Barrens as quickly as he could; And it was clear he had no intentions of slowing down. It wasn't long before he was out of sight due to a small shop he turned behind in order to try and get there as fast as possible.

"Father?" Kupori spoke, more quiet than usual, mostly to herself, in fact. Only Gale had been close enough to hear her. Considering how much trouble this bolt appeared to be; And how the area around it darkened as if it was midnight, she knew her father would be there attempting to confront this threat. It was in his blood to do so; And it was that very blood that allowed him to teach her to do the same. Determined expression on her face, she bolted off; Her little legs carrying her quickly past the others, who, in this situation, she was ready to defend. Though she had an issue with Faira and Pink, she didn't want either of them badly hurt, or worse. She'd fight off whatever was ahead to the best of her abilities in order to protect them and the rest of the town.

But, she also charged forward for her own reasons. Gatta went ahead of her recklessly; And her father was probably on his way there, as well. She didn't have time to grab her actual sword; But she'd fight anyways: She'd find something once she got to the battle, or if she had to, she'd fight them with the wooden sword she currently unsheathed to wield.

"D-Don't worry, Father! I won't leave you and Gatta to fight alone!"

As Kupori ran through the streets towards the Pine Barrens, she was taken by surprise: Odd puddle-like shadows on the ground, traveling in her direction. She paused, mouth agape as a reaction as she backed up slightly, gripping her sword firmly. Slowly, the small shadowy puddles began to rise, and take form; Into shadowy creatures almost her size. "Wh-What are those...?!" She questioned, eyes widening in shock. She'd never seen such creatures in her life; They were, by all means, terrifying for the small Moogle.

Their heads twitched, pure, bright yellow eyes seemingly focused on Kupori, who was honestly terrified inside.

But she wouldn't back down; These creatures threatened her family; Her home! She wasn't going to allow them to harm anybody, especially not her Father! As one of the shadows lunged forward, brandishing a hand that almost appeared to be claw-like in it's pure black appearance, Kupori hopped to her left to dodge it; Before gripping her sword with both hands and taking her own lunge at the creature with a loud cry; Only for the shadow to sink back into the ground before she landed, causing her to instead hit the hard ground, her sword breaking due to the harsh impact of Kupori's full-powered swing.

Standing up, Kupori nervously looked around: The shadows had sunken back into the ground and circled her; And as they emerged, they all stared in her direction, seeming ready to strike. In all, there were currently five of these shadows. And though Kupori lacked a weapon, she held what was left of her sword with bravery unseen in many people; And prepared to stand her ground, despite the hopelessness of her fighting them off without a weapon being apparent.

'I won't let them hurt anyone!' She thought, teeth clenched as the shadows began to shamble and slowly close in for what appeared to be an easy heart to take.

"Now wait just a minute!" Faira called after Kupori. After a moment's hesitation, she started to move her feet to follow as well. "Damn fool moogle!" she yelled as she ran. She only caught up to her when a cadre of strange, shadowy beings rose up from the ground, stopping Kupori in her tracks. Faira was still closing the gap when it looked like Kupori, her weapon now broken, would be overrun.

There was a sound like a fine silver spoon tapping on a crystal glass, and the broken hilt in her hand was replaced by the very weapon that Pink had pained upon the wall by the Chocolatte Mart.

"Th-that weapon!" Faira cried, stopping now just feet from the circle of Heartless. She looked down at her own hand, half expecting to see her own keyblade, but there was nothing but the stick she had left the house with.

Though Kupori remained brave, it seemed hopeless to her as the Shadows surrounded her; Especially as one of them took the initiative and lunged at her as it had before, and due to not being able to react fast enough to dodge, she simply tried using her arms, and what was left of her sword, to block the blow while closing her eyes, bracing for the creature.

A sudden sound rung inside her head, and she noticed a surprising lack of force hitting her. Her eyes slowly opened, and she saw the Shadow recoiling, flailing about like crazy. A black aura arose from the arm it intended to strike with, and with the creature's reaction, it could only be assumed it was in pain. But why?

It was then Kupori actually noted the weapon in her hands. Eyes studying the keyblade, she was amazed. It was real! Just like before, the weapon felt right in her hand. As if she'd wielded it a hundred times over. Though maybe that was just her sword experience calling to her. "Keyblade..." She muttered, slowly lowering the weapon to her side. Her style was a simple, one-handed style that occasionally involved a two-handed power swing. As if she was intended to wield a shield in the other. Which she was, but Kupori never focused on shield techniques due to finding a shield to be too overburdening. Her father had always disapproved.

The Heartless had, momentarily, hesitated due to the keyblade. And the one that had bounced away was the most open to being attacked, so Kupori took her chance. Dashing forward, Kupori took advantage of her opportunity, gripping the Keyblade with both hands before swinging full-circle on one heel, to hit the Shadow. Her powerful swing tore straight through it; the Shadow's upper-half being cut apart from it's lower half, turning into the same aura that had been coming off the Heartless after touching the keyblade. The bottom half stumbled back a few steps, before it faded as well.

'This thing seems to work really well on these guys.' She mentally noted, turning to face the other Shadows, now panicking due to one of their numbers being cut down. They charged, attempting to swarm Kupori; But, at least for the moment, she could outplay them. Rushing towards one approaching from her left, Kupori took a large leap; Jumping up and over the Shadow and landing hastily on the other side, almost tripping. She stumbled a few steps to get her footing, but soon turned, noticing the Shadows were bunching up now. Fantastic.

It was, at this moment, she had Faira in her view. What was she doing here?! She should've stayed back with the others! ... Damn it, they were probably on their way, too! This was too dangerous for them, especially Pink and that other Kid! At least Faira could defend herself properly! But Kupori didn't have time for that, as these Shadows were still after her.

As they charged forward as a group, Kupori had to quickly find a way to avoid them, and actually land a hit. She easily sidestepped the first one that was being careless, and let it stumbled behind her as she focused on the three that were still approaching. At this point, Kupori was still in the middle of the street, and saw a possible opportunity on the side of the road for a small, light individual like herself. There was a big wooden sign, about her height, sitting by a shop as an advertisement. Kupori rushed to her right, and jumped atop this sign, before leaping off of it to assault the three shadows from the air.

"Take this!" She yelled furiously, unable to connect due to them sinking back into the ground. Unlike the sword, this keyblade didn't even look fazed after it hit the ground. Everything was alright. She pulled it up from the ground to recover her stance, as one of them rose up behind her, leaping at her back.

Even if someone called out to her, it was too late; Kupori only managed to half-turn before being struck by the creature, which causing her to stumble backwards. The purple fabric on her armor had been completely shredded through by that one attack; Leaving three claw marks on it that revealed the leather protective piece underneath somewhat. While her body was fine, she felt the impact; These things didn't play nice.

In her moment of weakness, the three other Shadows charged at her; Leaping and taking advantage of her weakness. Another one that had still been sunk in the ground rose up behind her while she had been stumbling backwards; And it jumped at her, clawing the back of her armor. Kupori cried out as she was hit, the blow knocking her back towards the Shadow in front of her; The back of her armor's fabric now also torn. Gritting her teeth, Kupori used the momentum from the hit to charge forward and take a one-handed swing at the Shadow in front of her, smacking the entity and sending it flying up against the wall of one of the shops, causing it to splatter into nothing more than dark aura that began to rise up into the sky after the impact.

Turning, Kupori braced herself for more. She wasn't doing great, but she was doing a lot better than she would have been without the keyblade. Even though she wasn't focused on it, she could see the darkness slowly approaching, and taking the light. More of these things would come with it, no doubt.

She only hoped her family was safe.

Sonus looked around, seeing nothing but the darkness. He was afraid, until he noticed a few other people. Then the dark man spoke as weapons rose from the ground. It was with a smile and a cackle Sonus grabbed the weapon, whatever it was, and accepted. "I will fight the darkness that took my home."

Sonus awoke on a ship with a frown. Pirates? Stange looking pirates at that. Upon being told to move, he willingly followed, though not without a scowl of distrust to the things he passed. However, as he walked, he heard multiple conversations going on and picked up bits and pieces of information. He then heard something about Heartless.

"What are Heartless?" he asked, stopping to look at the man who mentioned it. "What do they look like?" He had a feeling the name of the creatures of shadows and darkness that attacked and destroyed his home were these Heartless they spoke of. But he couldn't be sure. Are they really called that or are they something different completely?

Pink stood and watched as the young Moogle raced off towards the area where everything bad is happening. He knew the better idea would be to go back home and wait out all this weird stuff. Since everyone already following the Moogle Pink casually walked back to his house thinking to himself that they could handle themselves.

He could see his house and was almost there when a bunch of shadows slid in front of him. Shortly after some shadow like creatures appeared from the ground making Pink take a few steps back. One of the creatures leaped at him but Pink side stepped the creature, and another leaped at him and still he managed to dodge it. Pink kept this up just dodging the creatures not sure what would happen if one hit him. Soon though more shadow creatures started to surround him, Pink target the next one that leaped at him for a punch knocking the creature away from the crowd. This continued on but the shadow creatures seemed to not stop but Pink refused to let a bunch of small shadows beat him.

"Is this all you got? I can do this all day." he called out to the shadow creatures around him which started to back away from him for some reason sinking back into the ground. "Yeah, that's what I thought, run away..." Pink had more to say but there was a light coming from his right side, more particularly his right hand. It started to take shape and then disappear leaving behind the keyblade he was given before. 'So they're scared of this huh?' he thought to himself.

The ground around him rumbled a little and out bursted a tower of the same shadow creatures aimed at Pink who jumped out of the way of its first attack. Before he could even think the creatures came back around, and he tried to block it the best he could with his keyblade. The attack carried him far from his original standing and while it carried him Pink caught a small glimpse of even bigger shadow creatures off in the distant.

When he finally landed Pink was over by the Moogle and Faira. "So how's it over here?" he asked while getting to his feet. "Cool you got your keyblade too, that should help even the odds." he said getting ready to go after that tower of creatures, he has to settle the score.

Gale timidly stood still while Kupori and everybody ran off to the Pines barren his fears were magnified by the worries and fears of everybody else, but he swallowed his fear and decided to follow his internal instinct and check up on his mother and the library, while he wanted to make sure Kupori and her father was safe, but Gale's own worry for his mother and the other Magis outweigh his worry for Kupori and her father, at least the Crusaders were stronger and more battle ready compared to the Magi. Gale started running to the Library.

After a few moments of running he can see the tall roofs of the library and the window to his room. But suddenly pools of inky blackness surrounded the young Magi, as he noticed the darkness he let out a yelp and stopped running to investigate it. But suddenly as he got closer little yellow orbs revealed themselves and suddenly little shadow like creatures shuffled their way to him, Gale couldn't help but let out a gasp as one tried to claw him but he backed up far enough to avoid the razor sharp claws. Gale ran around the shadows using their pained and awkward movements to his advantage, if they didn't resonated darkness he would feel pity for the shadows. But before he could make it to the library, the building was crawling with those creatures it looked like the darkness itself absorbed the library itself, only the very top of the building was left unconsumed. Gale let out a pained sigh and he quickly considered and then abandon his thought of making his way in and seeing if his mother was within. Gale looked up the building and seeing that the last of the building was consumed.

Gale looked down in despair as he considered laying down and letting himself be consumed by his emotions. But he let out a sigh and he said aloud with hope in his voice. "I won't give up. You didn't raise a quitter, mother; I will fight... I will find the others." Suddenly a noise blared in his head and as if his heart glowed, he suddenly felt something within his hands. When he looked down it was his keyblade from his dream. Gale looked at it in befuddlement, it felt as real as in his dream, but Gale gripped it tightly and decided to ran off to look for the others from his dreams. It was his only hope to make sure his mother is safe.

Gale made his way to the Pine barrens only avoiding and jumping over shadows who were clawing at him but he dodge most of the attacks and only got a few cuts and bruises, but they still stung badly as if the shadows itself burn his skin like black fire. But suddenly past the edge of town he sees the dreamers surrounded by the huge puddles of shadows and a tower of shadows barreling towards them. Gale felt dread and fear in his chest but he let out a timid sigh and ran towards the group, batted away any pouncing shadows as they pounced at him with ill intent in a very clumsy and inexperience manner but it kept him unharmed even if his wrist is not used to the force of hitting something; it ached more with each swing.

It was only when he at arms length away did he see their keyblades. Gale was relieved at the sight. He finally spoke up. "I-I'm glad you guys got y-your keyblades... I-I'm not used to fighting... but I have hope!" Now let's see if hope is enough.

Four of the six people from the dream were here now, as darkness surrounded them and threatened to engulf everything they knew. The sky was darkening further, and the hulking figures of shadow that Pink had glimpsed were coming into view over the tops of the trees and buildings that made up their mixed surroundings here on the edge of town.

As the giants of shadow approached, the small, weaker ones that Kupori and Pink had had some success in fighting sank back into their pools. The pools were expanding now, not only covering all of the ground that they could see, but enchroaching on the walls of buildings and the roots and trunks of trees as well.

One of the giants put its claw like hand on the roof of the building between it and the key bearers. It was as if its weight were too much for the new floor of darkness, and the building simply sank into it, gradually disappearing from view.

“That was Mikey Welburne’s house,” Faira said, breathlessly as the very top of the roof vanished under the darkness. The giant advanced, and Faira stepped backward to join the other three, raising her stick even as the rest of the group had the fantastic keyblades to defend herself.

When it's hand came down, groping for the strength of the hearts it saw, Faira was the first to lash out to knock the hand away. As she swung, her stick seemed to transform in a flash of light. Longer, broader, the keyblade from her dreams is what made contact with the hand. It seemed to leak darkness when struck, and the giant withdrew its hand.

“That's right!” She shouted at it, “Sunrise City, sucker!”

For all her bravado, she couldn't help showing her fear as a second giant’s hand suddenly gripped her from behind, it's claws rapping around her. She screamed, and she wasn't sure which one of her friends(she had never called any of them this before now) struck it to make it release her.

She fell to her hands and knees, and found that she couldn't lift any of her limbs, she was sinking into the pool of darkness. Though she couldn't see any light as she fell completely under the surface, she felt a light coming from herself. The darkness surrounded her, and she could feel it trying to get in, but it couldn't penetrate the light coming from inside.