---

Deep down in a seemingly endless abyss, there glinted a small shimmer of light. A Heart, whose inner strength waited, ready to be awakened. Suddenly, a pair of eyes belonging the young person sprang open. As if they were awakening from sleep for the first time. And as they did so, the dark ground below their feet gave away. Appearing to fly away in pieces like birds released from a cage. What appeared was a circular platform, atop a pillar that reached down into the endless Darkness. Their eyes would see colors, forming images both strange and familiar. They saw themselves, or occasionally those they were familiar with. Almost like staring at their entire life, their entire being, all depicted in the colorful mosaics.

"So much to do, but so little time..."

A voice, though not exactly heard through their ears. No, they felt the voice, communicating to them within their Hearts.

"...Take your time."

An apparent warning? And yet also reassurance. So real it could be vivid, and yet somehow surreal all at the same time.

"Walk forward..."

The voice now beckoned.

"Can you do it?"

No more was said, as if whatever this was awaiting a response. Only one thing to really do, and that was to walk forward as the voice asked. But upon doing so, something appeared. And not just one something, but three somethings. Stone pedestals, and floating above them were three very distinct objects: A sword, a shield, and a staff. The sword looked sharp, bearing a golden hilt and a mysterious emblem at the center of the pommel. The shield was large, flat on its top and pointed at the bottom. It's black face contained a crimson red border, and within the center there was the red image of the same mysterious emblem. The staff was silver, but with a golden tip attached to a blue, bulbous shape that resembled the emblem seen on and sword and shield.

"Choose."

It seemed the sleeping Heart was to be granted a weapon, giving them the power to fight. Which ever weapon they approached, the warm voice described the power they reached for.

"Power of the Warrior. Courageous strength. A sword of destructive power."
"Power of the Guardian. Invincible resolve. A stalwart shield to protect your friends."
"Power of the Mystic. Inner strength. A wondrous staff of magic and sorcery."

But upon choosing one, the other weapons vanished in a flash of light, and their pedestals sank into the floor. The sleeping Heart had gained the power to fight, as they held the chosen weapon in their hand.

"There will be times you have to fight."

As if on cue, small shadowy shapes appeared to crawly flat along the floor. Soon they emerged into three-dimensional shapes. They appeared to be little feral shadows with yellow beady eyes. There were five in total, and they began closing in. The sleeping Heart now possessed a weapon, and now had to use to defend themselves until all five mysterious shadows were slain.

"The closer you get to the Light, the greater your shadow will become."

This seemed to cause the sleeping Heart's own shadow on the floor to slowly emerge. It grew in size, getting bigger and bigger until it became a hulking version of the previous fight shadows. It's yellow eyes gave a sinister glare as it raised a mighty fist to strike.

"But don't be afraid."

The monster struck the ground, and Darkness oozed from the spot. More of the smaller shadows began to emerge as if acting as soldiers under the command of the large one. Their numbers multiplied, far too overwhelming for even the bravest of souls to stand against. The sleeping Heart began to sink into the growing Darkness.

"And don't forget.
"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

And finally, as the Darkness covered the sleeping Heart completely, the warm voice that had been guiding them said some final words.

"You are the ones, who will open The Door."

---

It was morning. The sleeping youths awoke in their homes, discovering that they had overslept a bit. Perhaps this put them in a rush. Or perhaps it didn't matter to them. But it was long past time to wake up. The first day of the New Dawn Festivities were beginning that day, and they certainly weren't the sort of thing one wanted to miss out on.

As for Twilight Town itself. It was bustling already. The shops had all opened and put up their various signs indicating holiday sales and offers. Even the usually quiet Sandlot had its share of activity. Namely in the form of a young man named Seifer using to practice some of his moves in preparation for the upcoming Struggle Tournament. He was using one of his posse - Vivi - as a sparring partner. Not that Seifer cared that much about having any kind of training partners, but Vivi had apparently insisted on taking part in the Struggle this year and had begged Seifer to help him practice. As always, Rai and Fuu were watching from nearby. These four were known around town, primarily for Seifer's jerkish behavior towards those he deemed as weaklings. They didn't bully anyone outright, but they did jeer and call names, primarily in an effort to goad people into fighting with Seifer to satisfy his ego.

---

Julia's eyes fluttered open, and she had no time to consider the darkness she found herself in before it was dispelled. Images formed under her feet; or rather, they were revealed, having been there, under the darkness the entire time. Stained glass, like a temple or church might have. And it pictured... her. Julia Banks stared back at herself in the glass mosaic. The Julia who stood atop the glass was alone, but the one embedded in the glass was not.

Her brother was there, in glass, as were several people she thought she knew from class, but before she could consider it, a voice rang somewhere between in her head and out loud.

"So much to do, but so little time..."

"Uh," she spoke out loud, not being able to project her voice into that strange liminal space, "Is there?"

"...Take your time."

"With what?" Too confused to be properly afraid, she was already stepping forward when the voice asked her to. Next she was asked to choose between three tools. Without much thought to it, she took the shield. Her hand was reaching to take the wand with it, but it vanished.

"There will be times you have to fight."

"Ah!" Juls looked frantically about at the shadows that rose up. "Fight with just a shield?" Even as she exclaimed about the ridiculousness of the thought, she bashed one of the creatures with the front of the shield. The effect this had heartened her, and she drove the point down on the next one, then brought it up to block the claws of a third. She pushed it back and struck it with the rim of the shield, launching it further and into the next one. With a quick step forward, she struck both of them in quick succession.

"The closer you get to the Light, the greater your shadow will become."

Even as she smote the last creature, an even greater one appeared within her own shadow, and rose tower above her.

"But don't be afraid."

Her mutated shadow drove a fist into the ground, obscuring the stained glass once again, and drawing more of the little creatures up to grab and Julia's ankles. Soon they were pulling her into the renewed darkness, her shield pinned to her side by their oppressive numbers.


"And don't forget.
"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

She let out a final wordless cry at the unfairness of it. She had no weapon, mighty or otherwise. The shield was no longer helping, and she was sinking. Dying.

"You are the ones, who will open The Door."

All was black.

~~~

Julia woke with a start, but quickly lost the thread of her dream as she peered across the room to the clock she kept on the wall. It was late for her liking, and she jumped up and began to dress with a frenzy borne of some anxiety she couldn't quite place.

On her way downstairs for breakfast, she rapped sharply first on Jacob's door, and then, less loudly, on her sister, June's.

She that both of her parents were out, so she set about cooking sausages and eggs in their pristine kitchen.

Eyes opening as though pulled startlingly from a slumber, Zack felt himself plummeting head-first through what seemed an endless abyss of darkness. Panicked, he writhed and spun through the air with his best impression of catlike movement in the effort of correcting his position, hoping that his feet might find ground to land on. His hair began to fly upward, his helpless body feeling the acceleration of its descent into the unknown depths below. Faster and faster, it seemed each shift in his alignment exacerbated the sense of falling, until... Finally! He managed to set his feet below him; he at least stood some chance if he could just land on his feet.

However, just as his body righted itself into a better landing posture, he felt the speed of his dive slow. He was no longer in a perilous free-fall; where he should have reach terminal velocity, a force began to counter his momentum. Rather than slamming in a knee-shattering impact, Zack slowly floated as if struck by a weightlessness. Gently, and beyond relieved, he set down softly upon a barely visible surface of an obscure material. As if activated by the pressing of his feet against it, the surface suddenly lit up with a sudden brightness with no apparent origin.

Now bathed in the ethereal light, Zack could clearly see where, and what, he was standing upon. His eyes widened in disbelief. Firmly beneath his weight was a large, circular space, formed by what felt like a sort of stone, yet glowed similarly to stained glass filtering light. Set upon the surface was a massive scale, mosaic style work of art. Wanting a better view of the imagery, Zack stepped back several paces, faltering to regain balance as his heel landed upon a sudden nothingness. Shocked, he spun about, he peered downward. He let out a harsh gasp at the view... or lack thereof. The structure he was standing on was a sort of tower, or pillar, that spanned downward so far the that darkness surrounded it.

Sighing out relief from this near miss, he turned back to view the mosaic more clearly. Familiar figures: himself and some of his classmates from school, were the focus of the design. Perplexed, he tread curiously toward the center of the pillar.

"So much to do, but so little time..."

A voice broke the eerie silence. Zack, flustered, looked around, drawing his fists in expectation. But there was no one else around.

"...Take your time."

Zack loosened up, and stopped for a second. The voice, he realized, was calling not from somewhere in the darkness, but from somewhere deep within himself. It was clear as his own thoughts, yet not his voice; familiar, yet foreign at the same time.

"Walk forward..."
"Can you do it?"

The voice need not have asked; Zack, without hesitation, set his steps toward the center of the mosaic. Then came a quiver and a quake; it felt like the pillar was shaking. Zack adjusted, finding his balance enough to focus on what was happening before his eyes: three stone pedestals rose from the floor, somehow without breaking through the material of the mosaic. Each was bathed in its own light in addition to that which lit the pillar. Upon all three pedestals where items, weapons of sorts; one was a shield; the other a staff or wand; the third presented a sword. All three weapons bore the same emblem.

"Choose."

On instinct, Zack moved swiftly towards the pedestal bearing the the sword. He clasped it in a ceremonious fashion, as a knight might receive a gift from a king. He brandished the blade before himself, carefully inspecting it. While it hadn't seemed so at first glance, it was quite formidable up close. The blade was sharp, the tip pointed to perfection, the weight balanced and easily handled. Still, he felt a heaviness, though more so in his heart rather than his in arms or shoulders.

"Power of the Warrior. Courageous strength. A sword destructive power."

A duty? Responsibility? he wondered before another rumbling shook him, forcing him to abandon the pedestal. All three pedestals, as cleanly as they had emerged, sunk back into the floor.

"There will be times you have to fight."
"Now?"

A cluster of shadows raced across the mosaic floor, homing in on Zack's position. As they drew closer, they rose from the floor into the forms of five, wild looking creatures, pure black, wide, sinister, yellow eyes. They split from each other, circling Zack like ravens eying their next meal. But Zack, without knowing it, could see clear what he needed to do. He gripped the hilt of his new sword firmly. As the first shadow pounced, he swung the blade up on a diagonal, slicing through the creature as it fell towards him; it's form dissipated into a black, smoke-like substance before vanishing completely.

Zack turned, facing the other four shadows. Another made a leap towards him. Fluidly, he slashed the blade on a horizontal, cutting through it just as easily as the first. The third ran along the ground, sinking into the floor as it moved towards him, and then rising back up, scratching at Zack's leg. Gritting his teeth against the unexpectedly sharp pain, Zack pulled back, and dropped his blade, cutting through the beast.

Two of the creatures now remained, and both, learning from the error of their three packmates, assailed Zack in unison, both running at him from the side. Zack quickly shifted to his left, putting space between himself and the shadow coming from his right, while thrusting the blade through the one on the left. The shadow dispersed, and Zack pulled the sword back, bashing the last shadow down with the pommel of the hilt, knocking it to the ground. The creature, flustered but not defeated, staggered in recovery from the hit. Wasting no time, Zack charged on the monster, driving the tip of the blade through its head.

Feeling victorious for a moment, Zack breathed heavily in search of his breath.

"The closer you get to the Light, the greater your shadow will become."

On cue, another shadow appeared. This one, however, emerged from underneath Zack where he stood. "My shadow?" The shadow grew exponentially, rising from the ground, yellow eyes opening and glaring down upon the young warrior with malice. At least two stories tall, the hulking, muscular beast loomed over Zack and readied itself to strike. "No. No! No!" Zack wailed as the massive fist barreled into him, breaking his feeble attempt to block or parry the strike. He closed his eyes, shamed in the impending, overwhelming defeat.

"But don't be afraid."

Beneath his feet, Zack felt a strange oozy substance forming in a pool. Slowly, he began to sink into the shadows, while lashing out in a fruitless effort to escape.

"And don't forget."

He slashed and thrust as much as his arms could, but each cut his blade made into the shadows mended almost instantly, returning even stronger and ticker than before.

"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

Zack tightened his closed eyes and held his breath as his head fell through the pool. Then, there came a complete silence, and finally, the voice calling one last time.

"You are the ones, who will open The Door."

---------/---------

Zack awoke, his torso bolting up right as his eyes flew open in shock and fear. His face felt cold, and his body numb as he began to come fully awake. His senses, foggy at first, slowly returned to him. He heaved a deep breath, and looked around to confirm that he had indeed woken up. He craned his neck up at a sudden rattling, clanking noise above him. "The trains." He shifted to a seated position, setting his feet on the floor. and sank thoughtfully into the couch cushion. He had fallen asleep in the spot that he and friend often hung out at; "The Usual Spot" as they called it, tucked into a back alley of Twilight Town.

"A dream?" he thought. He stood up, the weight of something upon his lap falling to the floor. He looked down, his train of thought broken. At his feet lay his Struggle Bat; he had been holding it even as he slept. He shook his head, dismissing the dream. He had no time to dwell it. Kneeling down, he grabbed the Struggle Bat, propping it over his shoulder as he headed out into the alley to train.

@Stylobilly

“Hrrm…” Jacob let’s out as he takes in the strange environment he finds himself in. Under his feet, the ground seemed to be much like a giant mosaic. A giant mosaic that apparently contained a large, seemingly sleeping version of himself taking up a large portion of it. Other, familiar visages seemed to appear on the surface, the most prominent being those of his family.

"So much to do, but so little time..."

Breaking from his thoughts, Jacob glanced around as the voice entered his mind. Confusion ran through him as he couldn’t see where it was coming from.

"...Take your time."

Weirdly, at best he could tell… it was coming from inside him. As if speaking through his very heart. A curious feeling, to be sure.

"Walk forward..."
"Can you do it?"

Though an odd question, he felt no reason to go against what the voice had asked of him. With a slow stride forward, he approaches the center of the floor below him. As his foot fell upon the center, three pillars appeared around him. Upon each one held a particular item, which the voice confirmed as his eyes fell on each one.

A sword. A shield. And a staff.

“Choose.”

Hearing this, he takes one more look at each item. Jacob's eyes passed over the sword and shield quickly, but once they landed upon the staff, he found himself locked on the strange rod. Like it called to him the most. He reaches out, and takes the staff into his hands, his eyes catching the other two seeming to vanish with his choice.

"There will be times you have to fight."

As if to make it apparent that time is now, five small beings of shadow rose up out of black like ooze that had appeared on the floor. Instinctively, Jacob moved into a fighting stance with the staff. He held a more cautious stance, waiting for the creatures to make the first move. On cue, one lashes out to try and claw him. Reflexively, he takes a small side step before slamming the staff into the side of the creature’s head. Defeated, Jacob sees the little shadow dissipate in its defeat. Adrenaline pumped through him, as both worry and a bit of excitement filled him. Again and again, the creatures tried to bring him harm. A few times, their claws would scratch into him. But even then, he would return these wounds with a strike of his own. Luckily, he seemed to be made of sterner stuff, as with but a few good hits each, they would fall and disappear into black mist.

"The closer you get to the Light, the greater your shadow will become."

Jacob could only watch as his own shadow seemed to expand, becoming bigger and bigger until it towered over him. It’s yellow eyes glared down at him, as it raised its hulking fist back. Well. That escalated quickly.

"But don't be afraid."

The hulking beast of his shadow slammed into the ground. Dark seemed to spread out from the fist, cascading across the floor all around him. From this darkness, more and more of those smaller ones rose up, surrounding him. To make matters worse, he felt his balance falter as his body began to now sink into the dark abyss below him.

"And don't forget.
"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

And as the darkness was just finishing taking him completely under, he heard one final bit from the mysterious voice in his heart.

"You are the ones who will open The Door."

————————

His eyes shooting open, Jacob finds himself in his room, laying on his bed as the light seeping from the window indicates it’s a dawn of a new day. He raises himself up out of his bed, rubbing his eyes as he thinks upon the dream he awoke from. “What a weird dream. It felt so… real.”

A rasp at his door indicates that his sister is wanting him awake. Likely to inform him breakfast was soon to be ready. Shaking his head, Jacob throws on a set of clothes for himself, as he heads downstairs.

With the smell of sausage and eggs entering his nostrils as he enters the kitchen, he sees Julia busy getting everything together.

“Morning Juls,” he says. He takes out a carton of orange juice from the fridge, before grabbing a couple cups from the cabinet, in case she wants one too. “Did you get enough rest?”

Juls was humming a common festival tune as she shifted sausages around the pan. She was scooping the last of the eggs(scrambled, as that was all she knew how to make) onto a plate when Jacob walked in.

“Morning Juls. Did you get enough rest for the feastivities?”

"I must have," she answered, turning to take the offered cup, "I slept in pretty late. What are we gonna do?" She spoke as if their going together was a foregone conclusion.

Julia scooped up a reasonable share of the eggs and sausage onto a plate for herself, leaving the spatula in the pan for Jacob to help himself as she sat to eat at the table.

@Spectral @Stylobilly

Too slow on the dodge...
Not enough power in the swing...
Gotta commit to thrusts...

"Aaah oof!."

Zack landed, sprawled out on the stone street as he tripped over his own hasty footwork. Quick to react to the fall, he had managed to set his arms down to keep his face from planting; now his arms and hands stung with a scraping pain. Frustrated, he pushed himself back onto his feet, and inspected the damage. "Mhmmm." Light, shallow scars had been left where his arms had slid out against the ground on collision. "Tch. That's no good." He backed up to a nearby wall and seated himself against it to regroup and compose himself. He stared intently at his Struggle Bat laying on the ground in front of him; it almost seemed to share in his disappointment.

Grunting, he looked away, towards a set of steps that led from the alleyway down into the Sandlot where the Struggle Tournament was held. It was also there that Seifer and his gang liked to spend most of their time when they weren't harassing people around town under their self-ascribed authority. Zack's stomach churned. He had had is share of run-ins with Seifer over past few years. He had often been easy picking, as he was frequently on his own, which Seifer's crew gravitated to; they were like wolves stalking straggling does on their hunt. Over the last year it had only gotten worse, as Seifer had been the one who ousted Zack from the previous Struggle Tournament, keeping him from reaching the Finals Tournament. He'd have be all the better this year if he wanted to get them off of his back, and defeating Seifer on a Championship run would be more than enough for that.

Zack sprang back to his feet and picked up his bat again. He shifted into a fighting stance. His stomach churned a second time, this time giving a sharp crescendo into a growl, and finally opening into a full on roar. Zack rubbed his hand against his stomach; if there was one thing he never tried to train through, it was hunger. Breathing out as though let down, he shouldered his weapon, and began walking back into town. After a short trip, he found himself at the home of the Banks family. Jacob and Julia, as well as their other sister, were schoolmates of his, and their family lived relatively comfortably. Though somewhat privileged, they were also reasonably generous to those in rough times.

Having spent the four years prior without a proper home to go to, Zack had been couch surfing for some time before being offered a space with the Banks family; they had an extra room, nothing grand by any means, but it was just enough for Zack and his few possessions. He had lived with them for a little over a year, and they had steadily become the closest thing he had felt to a real family. Hoping he didn't appear too worn out, he approached the door. Figuring it was locked, he gave three knocks, and awaited a response.

@Stylobilly@Wayward

“Well, considering the Struggle tournament is happening soon,” Jacob points out, taking a bite out of a piece of sausage. “Perhaps we should go ahead and see what’s going on at the Sandlot? See what the competition is shaping up to look like,” he throws the idea out there, shrugging. “Do you perhaps have an idea what you want to-“

At that moment, the sound of three knocks rang out from the front door. “Hold that thought,” Jacob says to Julie, as he approaches the front door. Taking a quick look through the peephole, the familiar figure of Zack stands before their door. Backing off, he proceeds to open the door. “Yo, morning Zack,” he greets him. “Come on in, me and Juls are just about finished having a quick breakfast. You’re free to have any thing that’s left, if you haven’t eaten already.”

It was so peaceful here.

Drifting weightlessly in the quiet and the darkness, Droka did something that he often found himself unable to do; relax. It almost felt like swimming, only with the benefit of not having to worry about things like drowning or having his eyes exposed to bright light. Others might have been terrified, but for Droka the darkness had never been something to fear.

For him light was something to be afraid and wary of, a belief that was only partially inspired by the fact that even just brief, accidental contact with his eyes caused him a great deal of pain. When one was exposed in the light, it... forced a shape on you. Made you wear a mask for the sake of the public even as they wore a mask in return. Only in darkness did people truly show who they are, when nobody else can see them.

As a big yawn escaped him and his eyes started to close in order to try get some sleep, something... changed. Before he had just been drifting rather comfortably, but all of a sudden it felt like gravity had lightly grasped him and was pulling him down. Not at an overly fast or worrying rate but at a soft, peaceful sink. Annoyingly it was just enough of a sensation that the idea of actually going to sleep had to be scrapped. With a small grunt, he opened his eyes again and looked... well... down wasn't really the right word, but it was the word that came to mind under the circumstances.

Almost seemingly at random, the decent stopped as his feet touched solid ground of some sort. Before he had a chance to try and uncover the mystery of what it was that he was standing on, the shadows started to shift and transform into birds before his eyes, flying away into the darkness and leaving him standing on...

As he glanced down and discovered that it appeared to some kind of stain glass platform that glowed with light, there was a terrible moment of fear that struck into his heart that the light would be too bright; That it would trigger a painful, horrible episode just by looking at it with the naked eye. Frantically his hands patted down his pockets and clothing, desperately looking for his tinted glasses out of a reflex to provide himself some kind of protection before it was too late. As the moments passed, his movements slowed alongside his pounding heart and his panicked breathing.

It... wasn't bright enough to hurt him. It still took a little while for him to calm down. He still didn't look too closely at the ground through; Just because the glow wasn't bright enough to cause him discomfort at a glance, looking directly at it seemed like a poor idea.

"So much to do, but so little time..."

...And now he was hearing things. Great. "Are we really doing this? I'm really not a fan of the whole disembodied voice thing."

"...Take your time."

"That wasn't an answer to my question!" Droka snapped, looking around to see if he could spy the source of the noise... and failing to see anything. It always bugged him whenever someone was talking at him and not too him. It just seemed rude...

"Walk forward..."
"Can you do it?"

For a moment, he earnestly considered just staying where he was and ignoring the mysterious voice out of spite... but all things considered all that would likely do is just cause more problems then it was worth. Walking forward, Droka jumped in his own skin as the ground started to shake... and three platforms seemed to magically rise out of it. On one rested a sword. On another, a shield... and the third and the one that drew his attention the most, a strange looking staff of some kind.

"Choose."

Droka glanced around the platform again, vainly looking for the speaker before shaking his head and refocusing. The sword was quickly ignored because to be perfectly blunt, he didn't know how to use it properly and thus he was more likely to hurt himself with it then anything else. The shield held a certain appeal to him, but a shield alone seemed... a waste. The strange looking staff however caused him to step towards it, his curiosity peaked.

"Power of the Mystic. Inner strength. A wondrous staff of magic and sorcery."

It was also a solid hunk of wood, making it something he was a bit more comfortable swinging around then a sword. Reaching out and taking it in his hands, Droka found that it seemed to be the perfect size for him to hold properly... even as the platforms and the other items on display disappeared.

"There will be times you have to fight."

"I mean yeah but..." before he could ask what the mystery voice meant by that statement, movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Shadows seemed to be moving all by themselves against the dull light of the glass beneath him... and then one of them seemed to raise out of the floor, taking on a third dimension. Staring at its yellow, glowing eyes, Droka could feel the overwhelming obsession that made up its being; A never ending hunger for something that it desperately wanted but could never claim, driven onward in search of it anyway.

At first, the newly arrived light was seen as a wonderful thing, offering new experiences and pleasures that hadn't been in the peaceful, dark world before. But the light was limited. There was only so much of it to go around. At first people took turns and shared, but soon there were those who refused to step aside and let someone else enjoy it. Greedily, they clung to the light, claiming it as their own and no one else's. People started to fight over it and during the fight they broke the world while shattering the very light that they had been fighting so hard for.

While many fought, some turned away from the war over the light and returned to the comfort of the darkness for protection. Once the war was over, they returned to see the broken shards of both their world and the light... and then decided to work together to repair what they could. Too much was missing and lost to completely repair what things had been before, but from the shattered pieces of the dark world and broken light the children of Darkness remade their former home into something beautiful.

But those who had fraught to claim the light for themselves still remained. Their greed and obsession with the light consumed them, preventing them from enjoying what they had and forever seeking to steal for themselves what should have been shared. Their old forms were twisted into that of beasts, they are cursed to mindlessly search for the remaining light to claim... only to fight over and destroy it again amongst themselves.

His grandmother had told him that bedtime story once and it had always stuck with him due to how it was so... different from the other bedtime stories. Now he understood why...

One of the shadowy figures darted behind him. Panic seizing him, he grappled his new found staff and blindly swung around... and caught the emerging creature right in the side of the head with the strength of the fearful, causing its shadowy head to break as its body faded away. His heart was pounding in his chest, his senses seemed to be sharper then he ever remembered and the world seemed to slow to a crawl around him as the desire to live kicked him into overdrive.

Droka was not a natural fighter, but his shadowy foes weren't either. Despite having an advantage in numbers, they tended to stay back in their... well, flat form and move about, only exposing themselves whenever one of them believed it could get an attack in against his side or back while the others distracted him. This made them predictable and allowed him to whittle down their numbers from the original five down to one surprisingly quickly.

The final creature seemed to disappear completely for a moment... only to suddenly find itself encountering a strike to the head as Droka took a wild guess that the damn thing was trying to get behind him like the others had. As it faded away, Droka found his hands shaking slightly as he breathed heavily, his heart still racing and his senses stretched to their limits as the adrenaline pumped through his veins.

"The closer you get to the Light, the greater your shadow will become."

Jerking his head violently from side to side, Droka looked around panicked as he expected more creatures to appear. But the new contender didn't come from outside of the platform. By the time he noticed that his own shadow had taken on a life of its own and started to materialize into what was honestly a large hulk of a creature, Droka found himself slowly starting to back away from it. This... wasn't something that he could defeat with a hunk of wood... because as much as he hated to say it, the creature growing in front of him was... a part of himself. The envy of those that got to live without fear of the light causing them great pain... the anger about being the one who needed to spend all his time in darkness and shadow because of something he couldn't control. To see how much was there was... humbling in a surprising way.

Droka saw the darkness that was about of... well, his own inner darkness creeping out from the behemoth, quickly consuming the platform as more of the smaller creatures started to appear. He... he wasn't prepared for this. He couldn't fight this!

His backpedal backwards suddenly came to a stop as he found the edge of the platform. Turning his head to look down, he saw the darkness that he had once been happily drifting through before he landed here.

"But don't be afraid."

With only a moment of hesitation, he leaped off the platform and embraced the darkness that had protected him all his life, leaving the fading light of the platform to be consumed.

"And don't forget.
"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."

The fall lasted forever. The fall lasted no time at all. Either way, soon the light of the platform had been left far behind and Droka found himself once again drifting through a comfortable darkness, feeling tired as the stress of combat passed and his body started to relax. The last thing to loosen being the grip on the staff he had chosen. With a soft sigh, his eyes finally closed.

"You are the ones, who will open The Door."

......................................................

With a groan akin to a waking cat, Droka's eyes opened. He was laying in bed, his blanket having been tossed off sometime during the night by his own movements. Still half asleep, he turned his head to have a look at his bedside clock and noticed the time. It was somewhat later then he normally got up on a school day, but that was the benefit of holidays; You didn't get into trouble for doing that sort of thing on a public holiday.

Stretching out and making more feline like noises, he considered the possibility of just rolling over and going back to sleep... before a sigh escaped him. He had things he needed to do and his parents would be annoyed with him if he didn't get them done. Feeling pangs of regret already, he rolled out of bed in order to start the day.

..................................................

Getting changed, having breakfast... it didn't take all that long. Walking by Sandlot on route towards a store he had promised to visit to pick up a few things for his mum while she was at work, he couldn't help but frown as he noticed Seifer of all people. He really didn't want to have to deal with Seifer and his goon squad of all things today, but since he seemed to be busy beating up Vivi odds were good that he could just slip by and be ignored by the bully.

@Spectral @Stylobilly

A moment passed with Zack awaiting the answering of the door, during which he drew his eyes closed, wrapping his mind around a quick succession of thoughts. Hearing the sound the opening door, he opened his eyes, seeing Jacob's face come to view from the other side. "Hey Jacob," Zack said hurriedly, quickly making his way through the entryway and into the kitchen. His stomach rolled and snarled with his eyes falling upon the stovetop from just outside the kitchen. "Hey Juls!" he said, rushing past her without eye contact.

"Haven't eaten yet," he remarked, directing his comment more towards the room than anyone in particular. Grabbing a plate from the cabinet and a fork from a drawer, he helped himself to what was left in the frying pan. A spatula's worth of eggs and two sausages dropped onto his plate. He made an involuntary lick of his tongue around his lips, savoring the meal as though he hadn't eaten in a week. Pulling a bottled orange juice from the refrigerator, he found himself a seat at the table, put a few sprinkles of salt onto his eggs, and took his first bite. His stomach gave another low rumble and started settling.

"That's the ticket," he said. "I crashed down at the Usual Spot last night," continued, now addressing Julia and Jacob. "Got caught up in training; the couch there was fine though. How were your nights?" He opened the orange juice and took a large gulp.

"Hey Zack," Julia called from the table through a mouthful of eggs. She smirked as he added yet more salt to the eggs, "You know I already salted those, right? Dingbat."

She finished her own eggs well ahead of both he and Jacob, owing to not eating as much, and not being interrupted in her feast.

"Eh, I slept okay. I think I had weird dreams, but I don't really remember..." she trailed off as she looked at Zack, her mouth twisting with concentration. She almost thought he had been in the dream, but then again, she thought the same looking at Jacob. Maybe they were both there? But she didn't remember them doing anything, just their faces.

"So... you think you're gonna win this time? Knock Seifer on his butt?"

"You know I already salted those, right? Dingbat."

Zack froze mid-motion as he took another bite, his fork hovering inches from his mouth, a chunk of the extra-salted eggs hanging off of it. "Oh." He shrugged, adding, "I thought it tasted a bit overkill." He lodged the bite into his mouth, and gulped it down without much more thought to it. "A little extra salt never hurt anyone." He took another piece out of his sausages, putting down almost as quickly, and reached for another sip of orange juice.

"Eh, I slept okay. I think I had weird dreams, but I don't really remember..."

Swallowing his juice, Zack glanced sharply at Julia. Her too... he thought, recalling his own dream from earlier. "Weird dreams, huh?" he asked. He paused for a breath, intent on pressing the subject further. However it was then that Julia switched the subject to the upcoming tournament. Scowling, he shrugged again. "Hard to tell. I plan on giving my all. Seifer is as tough as they come. Although I've heard that he's been spending more time training one of his guys; Vivi made it through the preliminaries. Seifer's training might have been slowed down because of that, in which case my chances are a bit better." He shook his head. "At this point I'm really just hoping I don't have to face Seifer in the first round. It'll give me a chance to see what kind of form he's in. If that happens, I could probably pull off an upset."

He took another round out of his meal. "So, what's your plan for the day. I'm figuring I might try to find a sparring partner."

@Stylobilly@Wayward

“Hrrm…. I didn’t really have any plans set in stone today,” Jacob admits, shrugging. “Probably just take a stroll and check what, if anything, is happening around the sandlot. Hopefully, Seifer and his group aren’t harassing someone again,” shaking his head as he thinks on that.

Honestly, he didn’t understand why those other 3 stick with him. What exactly do they see in him anyway? It’s a shame really, that they seem so loyal to a guy like that. Especially the girl, Fuu. Jacob always did think she was kinda cute.

“You know,” Jacob says, his eyes shifting back to Zack. “If you want to try and figure out what form Seifer might be bringing, why not see about taking a peek at his training before the tournament? Wouldn’t that be better than trying to adapt to it the day of?”

@Wayward@Spectral

"What if he sees us and starts something?" Julia asked, taking for granted that they would all three go together. "I guess that would be one way to find a sparring partner.

She took the finished plates and rinsed them in the sink.

"Well, if that's the plan, let's get a move on. And if Seifer's not at the sandlot, maybe you can spar with me or Jakey."

@Spectral @Stylobilly

"Mhmmmm." Zack sat further back in his chair, stroking his chin thoughtfully; Jake's thought was valid. "It would be helpful to check out what kind of training Seifer's been getting in. Plus I could also get a look at how Vivi is coming along. I'd be hitting two birds with one stone that way." He wolfed down the last bit of his breakfast and chugged what was leff of his orange juice. "Yeah. OK. That sounds like plan." He pushed the chair back and jumped to his feet. "We'll hit up the Sandlot and check out the competition. And," he went on, now looking to Julia. "If Seifer tries to start anything with us, we'll deal with that if it happens. I doubt he'll try to pull anything so soon before the tournament though, especially if there's a lot of people at the Sandlot; that'd give him a bad rep around town."

A fire in his eye, and a pep in his step, he hopped from the table back towards the fridge, snagging himself a bottled water, and took off down the hall and out the door, grabbing his Struggle weapon on the along the way.

@Stylobilly@Wayward

"If Seifer tries to start anything with us, we'll deal with that if it happens. I doubt he'll try to pull anything so soon before the tournament though, especially if there's a lot of people at the Sandlot; that'd give him a bad rep around town."

Jacob couldn’t help but raise his brow at this, his head tilting in minor confusion. As finishes up his own breakfast, he watches as Zack, with gusto, quickly disappears down the hallway towards the front door. When he is out of sight, Jacob turns to his sister.

“Seifer doesn’t already have a bad rap around town? That’s news to me,” a snarky grin on his face as he says this. Grabbing the plate Zack left behind, he places it and his own into the sink, before casually heading to the front himself.

"Well, not bad enough to be kicked from the tourney yet, I guess," Julia followed Zack's lead and took a bottle for the road, though she selected apple juice.

She bustled along with the other two, occasionally stopping to peek at shop displays, only to jog to catch back up. She wished she had a little munny left, but had spent all her savings early into the holiday.

When they came to the Sandlot, Juls hid and peered guilelessly around a corner to see what was going on. As predicted, there was Seifer and his crew.

"Ayep," she said, none too quietly, "There they are. Ouch!" she winced as she saw Vivi take a whack to his little hatted head. "Okay, now what?"

One could tell that Seifer had a rather harsh definition for the phrase "training Vivi". Because it looked less like training and more like Seifer using Vivi as a training dummy. Vivi swung when he could, clearly showing a determination to see this through. But Seifer's guard was just too tight and impenetrable for the little guy. Finally, after another failed attack by Vivi, Seifer appeared to start losing his patience and came at Vivi with a hard enough blow to knock him flat onto the ground.

"Come on, Vivi!" Seifer barked, appearing to wait for Vivi to stand back up before making any other moves, "Stop thinking and trying to hit me, and just do it!" he said in what sounded like a taunt, but could also be interpreted as his own brand of sagely combat advice. Meanwhile, Vivi did still get back up on his feet, but did so slowly, likely indicating fatigue settling in. Despite looking tired, Vivi weakly made another lunge for Seifer. But like the previous time, he was side-stepped and knocked face-first onto the Sandlot floor.

Vivi didn't say anything, but did sound like he was whimpering a bit. He wasn't hurt, but he was starting to look pretty disappointed in himself for this showing. Unfortunately for him, Seifer caught it and was finally starting to get angry.

"What did I say at the beginning of all this, Vivi?" he demanded, now even pointing his struggle bat in Vivi's direction in what looked like a threatening gesture, "That you better not whine or complain once we start! Well this looks a lot like whining to me." This time Vivi had only staggered back to his feet before Seifer immediately knocked him back down. This wasn't even training anymore. It was a merciless beatdown, "Come on! If you expect to make it anywhere in the Tournament, then you better start putting up a better fight than this!" that was when Seifer caught a glimpse of Droka in the corner of his eye.

Seifer had targeted Droka once in the past, but he was clearly no fighter and so Seifer stopped bothering with him after a certain point because of this. He had always been more interested in going after people who would fight back and give him a challenge. But that didn't mean he couldn't use Droka as a means of mocking Vivi. Suddenly Seifer pointed a finger over in Droka's direction, "Even four-eyes over there could put up a better fight then you! Now stop whining and actually take this seriously!" after this, he knocked Vivi down once again.

This was about where Zack and the Banks Siblings came in. Like with Droka, Seifer was quick to notice their arrival. He anticipated at least one of them would try to play hero, and decided to nip that in the bud right away, "What do you want, Chicken-Wuss?" he looked back in Zack's direction in particular, "This doesn't concern you!"

---

Making good time in his haste, Zack arrived at the sandlot in time to witness Vivi getting the beatdown from Seifer. As one could have expected, Seifer's definition of "training" was brutal, and his sessions overwhelmingly one-sided rough-ups onto whomever it was he was working with. Zack winced and recoiled as Seifer proceeded to chastise Vivi, calling out the nearby Droka in the process. He went wide-eyed for a second as a dark nostalgia caught up with him.

"What do you want, Chicken-Wuss?"

Zack snapped back into the moment. He then noticed that Jacob and Julia were nearby. He glared sternly at Seifer. He took a striding step forward, tensing his grip on his Struggle bat.

"This doesn't concern you!"

"Must be easy," Zack chided. "To talk so big when you're ragdolling someone half your size."

On just about any other day, Droka would have just left things well enough alone. He had to pick up some stuff for mum, that jerk Seifer had only noticed him in relation to insulting Vivi before hitting 'em again for being in pain... He could have just kept going walking and not only would anyone have been none the wiser, but he would likely have a rather productive day of all things.

But today... something made him stop. While Vivi had stopped hanging out with him in order to follow Seifer around a few years ago, there was still a part of him that held him close as a friend. To listen to that brain rotted brute insult him and beat him down again and again... the natural urge to avoid conflict and the fear of drawing the bully's full ire was being overpowered by a flame that had been sparked by irritation and a desire not to see or hear one of his friends in pain.

Turning around and walking back towards the 'sparring' ring, Droka noticed that some more kids had come and Seifer seemed to be focusing his attention of Zack. That was good. It allowed him to walk up to Vivi freely and offer him a hand up without interference. Wen he spoke there was a softness to his words that were clearly meant for Vivi... but they were said loud enough that everyone nearby would easily be able to hear them. "Hey man. Good endurance training but... maybe you should take a break and we can find you someone who can get past their own ego enough to actually teach someone else how to fight?"

@Double@Stylobilly@Spectral@Wayward

They found a singularly unpleasant scene when the Sandlot came into view. It seemed Zack was ready to pick a fight over Seifer's training regiment for poor little Vivi, and Juls honestly couldn't blame him.

Another boy she knew, Droka, was moving to comfort Vivi. Juls broke into a smile, despite the situation. I knew he was cool! she thought, and moved forward to join him and the strange little boy.

"Yeah!" she said to Vivi, "You're doing really good out here! Don't mind him, he's just... a jerk?"