No…no, no, no…’Zac looked around, dread taking hold as he found himself amidst a familiar scene. Nothing as far as the eye could see, the only solid ground being the floating chunk he and the others stood on. He quickly glanced at them and took mental stock of their injuries. Other than a few cuts and bumps, everyone seemed okay, as far as he could tell. Even his ship was more or less untouched, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. He then slowly turned his attention toward the middle of the floating island, toward the massive Heartless. It was the same one that had appeared when his world vanished, something he always considered a harbinger of the end of a world.
He watched as it knelt on the ground, a sphere of dark energy forming in front of the void in its chest. His keyblade appeared in his hand, almost unbidden, as he shouted, his demeanor completely changed from how easy-going he had seemed earlier in the day,
”Everyone! It’s now or never, get to the ship! I’ll keep this thing busy!”Light appeared around him, taking the form of a ticking clock as he cast Haste on himself before he dashed forward with surprising speed. As the Heartless fired off a volley of dark projectiles from the sphere it had formed, Zac aimed his keyblade and shouted,
”Reflect!” A wall of transparent hexagons formed in front of him just as the projectiles impacted, then shattered, sending them back where they came from.
Morgan was up fairly quickly considering how she had barely been able to move just moments ago. Her eyes had lost their color again though, and her expression was more one of annoyance than fear. She quickly started to walk forward toward the massive creature. She walked right past Zac without a care in the world, simply commenting
"You should know better at this point than to tell this lot to run. They are too stubborn to turn tail and run from something like this. Besides, regardless of whether it is too late, this is their world, their home. You know as well as I do, this is likely the last they'll ever see of it."She held her hand out, and a pillar of ice formed in front of her, only to shatter and reveal the staff that had disappeared earlier.
"It matters not what you tell them, that it's useless to fight, that it's already too late, that they are putting themselves in greater danger by staying to fight." She looked back at the group, saying
"Unless I am mistaken and do not know them as well as I do, they'll fight regardless. At least some of them will."She then turned to the monster of a beast as Zac reflected its attacks back at it, and the dark orbs exploded on its body. The world around her became quiet, and the creature raised up to stand again, and locked eyes with hers.
"Another false King come to claim the throne." As it stared at her for a moment, it clenched its fists and reared its head back to let out a roar as if enraged, though without a mouth, it was more like waves of darkness washing over the area.
"There you go, now you see me..."Lucian staggered upright, gripping his Keyblade as he scanned their surroundings. His heart sank at the sight of the destroyed remains of his home. He hoped his parents made it out in time… All that was left now was the piece of it they were standing on, and whatever this thing is. Lucian held his keyblade tighter. A part of him wanted to take Zac’s advice and run. But a bigger part of him couldn’t just sit back and let the others fight this by themselves.
“Well, what kind of friend would I be if I let you do all the work?” He said with a smirk.
Lucian aimed his Keyblade at the creature’s head.
“Freeze!” A wave of frost shot forward, freezing the creature’s arm mid-swing. Taking the opportunity, Lucian dashed in, slashing at the frozen limb with all his strength. The attack cracked the ice, and caused the creature to stumble.
Alias watched as everyone began to fight. Lucian and Zac with their key swords and Morgan had some kind of ice wand or staff. She was also talking strangely again. He felt useless and weak. His friends were putting their lives on the line and he was just standing there like a goof. He hated it. He was their protector, the King of the Beach, but there was no longer a beach and he had no clue where anyone else was. Was his dad okay?
He tried to call out his own strange key, but once again nothing happened. The voice was silent as well. Perfect. The strange voice was just as useless as him. Undeterred by his lack of a real weapon, Alias reached into his pocket to feel the Paopu Fruit that he picked for Kitsu. It was thankfully still intact. Their destiny wasn't over yet. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and reached for the sword in his waistband. He was not going to let his friends fight alone.
He charged forward, taking advantage of Lucian's latest attack. Alias leapt into the air stabbing his wooden sword into the orb in the center of the dark giant's torso. He didn't pass through this time. Instead it seemed like his sword was being absorbed by the dark orb and it was starting to pull him in with it.
Zac allowed himself a brief moment to be impressed by Morgan’s magical display, followed by Lucian, who had apparently already gotten the hang of his own magic. He was about to rush in to capitalize on Lucian knocking the Heartless off balance when someone, Alias, suddenly rushed past him, wooden sword in hand. The veteran Keyblade Wielder watched as Alias leapt and plunged his sword into the dark orb, only to get stuck. Zac rushed forward and leapt at the Heartless, but instead of striking, he hooked his arm around Alias’ waist and used his strength to hurl him away from the fight and back toward the ship. He leapt away, landing next to Alias, and said,
”If you don’t have a keyblade or magic, stay out of the way. All you’re gonna do is get yourself hurt.” He didn’t like being so blunt, but he knew time was not on their side and the fewer people who put themselves in danger, especially if they couldn’t fight, the better.
He dug the tip of his keyblade into the sand and swung upwards as an orange light engulfed his body. Stones sprung up from the ground, leading up to Darkside’s leg, before a large pillar of stone suddenly erupted from underneath its foot, forcing it off balance once more.
Levi could do little more than watch in a mixture of awe and horror as everything happened, this giant creature combating his friends as the world was torn apart around them. He couldn’t help, he couldn’t fight, and it was all he could do to remain steady on his feet, bleeding and exhausted as he was. He hated this, this complete helplessness. Somewhere deep down, a part of him wanted to follow Alias and go out in a blaze, screaming and swearing at this thing that had taken his home and his family from him. He had no doubts about that fact, the world as he knew it was over. However, Levi was always good at keeping his head in a crisis, and this wasn’t an exception, even though he couldn’t do much. So, despite how much he loathed it, he took the only option that wouldn’t actively inhibit the others; as soon as he could find an opening, he made a dash for the ship.
”... I can’t help them. I’m sorry.”Hoshi had gotten back onto her feet near Levi. The momentary haze lifted, and she took in the horror of her homeworld warped and ruined, and overcast by the blanket of shadow, and the orb still raging like a hurricane overhead. In the middle of the chaos was the familiar hulking form from her recent night terror.
Was it really a night terror? Regardless, the thing was there right that second. And her friends were putting up the fight of their lives to hold it at bay.
The Keyblade flashed back into her hand. She picked up the aluminum bat as Levi made his run for the ship.
“Levi!” she called after him and tossed the bat his way.
“Better this than nothing.” Though something so simple would mean little in battle, it might hold until he could find a better weapon on another world; if nothing else, the bat would be something saved from their home world.
The rush of power returned to her when she turned back to the giant shadow. A sense of understanding dawned upon her; she knew what she could do, and was starting to feel how it worked. With the same burst of speed she had demonstrated she closed into the fray, ripping past Alias and exacting a precision strike into the orb in the creature’s chest. As if willed by her intent, the Keyblade shimmered with light as it connected, cutting through the orb just enough to free the wooden sword. She plunged her hand in and pulled the piece out. She dropped down, and lobbed the sword back to Alias; again, it was better than him not having a weapon at all.
]“Get to the ship!” She yelled to Alias as she ran to Zac.
“That ship can’t go anywhere if you’re not on it.” Alias caught his wooden sword and stared at it. He recalled the words Zac had said. What they were using was called a keyblade. At least it now had an official name. He couldn't even be mad at Zac this time. He was right. With just this wooden sword he was a liability to his friends, but he couldn't just wait on the ship either. Resolute, he shook his head at Hoshi.
“I may not be able to fight right now, but I'm still King of the Beach, what's left of it, and a King doesn't abandon his people. I'm staying until everyone's on board.” Alias sheathed his wooden blade to show that he had no intentions of getting in their way any further.
Morgan all the while, had not yet acted, though the blue on her staff had gotten brighter and brighter as she watched the others face off against the giant. Eventually, she turned her eyes to Lucian, calling to him, before saying
"I have something very important I need you to do."Lucian was panting as he took in all the chaos unfolding around him.
“What is it?” He replied.
Morgan walked up to Lucian, her eyes still colorless and her voice sounding not quite right. Staff in hand, she held her other hand over her own chest.
"Your light shines brightest of all. And so I am trusting you to protect something very special." She seemed to draw light from herself, which after a few moments, formed into what looked like a heart... not the thump thump kind, but more just, something heart shaped. She then reached out to him, and placed her hand on his chest as it disappeared inside him.
"When you escape, seek out an old man of great knowledge. I imagine Zac will know who I mean, so follow his guidance."Without waiting for any sort of assurance from Lucian that he was able or willing to take on this... quest, she turned back to the giant creature and started walking toward him.
"Don't disappoint me little Prince." she said, and continued to approach the enemy.
About this time, a flood of darkness came washing over what was left of the island, as a mass of the smaller creatures everyone had been fighting earlier swarmed toward them.
Stepping past Hoshi and Zac, she planted her staff in the sand, standing between everyone and the creature, and the oncoming tidal wave of darkness.
"Well done, you all did well to hold it back. But your part in this is over, and it's time for you all to leave. This world's time has come, and if you stay any longer, so will yours."Zac glanced between Morgan and Darkside. Part of him didn’t like the idea of leaving anyone behind, especially given how close the world was to being swallowed, but he knew she was right. Besides that, she seemed capable of handling herself.
”Alright. You seem to know what you’re doing, so I’ll leave you to it. Just don’t go dying on us,” he said as he dismissed his keyblade.
Still under the effect of his earlier Haste spell, he sped over to the ship and leapt in as he shouted,
”Last call, everyone! We gotta leave five minutes ago!”Morgan turned her head at the last bit of what Zac had said, simply offering a simple
"You would be surprised how little of me there is left to kill. There is already nobody left." as she started to raise her staff into the air, and everything got cold, very cold. She then spoke to Hoshi while she was still nearby, only saying
"Thank you, for saving us. Now it's my turn."“If you’re sure you’ll be alright…” Hoshi’s reply was reserved and perhaps a little nervous. The person that she heard speaking to her was not like Morgan as she had come to know her. Seeing no point in arguing, she simply nodded, and started running. She first made a beeline to Alias; she wasn’t going anywhere without him.
Lucian felt a strange warmth in his chest where she had placed that light, a sensation both comforting and overwhelming. Whatever burden she had entrusted to him, he didn’t fully understand it, but he knew he couldn’t fail.
The sound of Zac’s voice brought him back to the present. Lucian turned toward the ship and saw the others scrambling to get aboard. He glanced back at Morgan one last time. He felt bad just leaving her there, but he knew she was doing what she had to.
“I won’t let you down. I promise.” And then started running towards the ship. He had a job to do.
Alias watched as the others started for the ship. Levi, Lucian, Zac, and Taivas were now safe. All that was left was him, Hoshi, and Morgan. The trio seemed stubborn and self-sacrificial to the very end. He didn't quite understand what happened between Morgan and Lucian, but he wasn't going to leave her behind to face this alone. The giant creature of darkness was one thing, but the swarm was relentless. Where was his keyblade when he needed it? Alias then recalled the moment where he was able to use Lucian's. He glanced down at the hand Hoshi was wielding her keyblade with. He lifted his head to look into her eyes.
“May I?” He asked softly while reaching for her hand. He wasn't exactly sure if magic was attuned to the person or the keyblade itself, but her bursts of speed seemed to give him confidence in his idea that the keyblade would react the way he wanted it to.
Once her hand was in his he held onto it, almost afraid that if he didn't, she'd be gone like the rest of their world. Her touch warmed him in this freezing battle terrain. He lifted their arms and by extension her Keyblade into the air. Alias recalled the moment he called the lightning down before. His emotions, the sensation of power, and the strange connection he felt to this dark storm. He let out a deep exhale.
“Strike them all.” Showing a strange level of obedience, light shone through the dark clouds above the floating island. In an instant those flashes of light erupted from their clouds striking down the horde of darkness that dared approach Morgan and her friends. The shadows fizzled away, returning to the darkness from whence they came.
Alias fell to his knees, feeling drained once again. The power seemed to still be too much for him. He looked up at Morgan and shouted over the storm.
“Whatever you're gonna do, do it now!”“Alright. Now let’s get ourselves out of here.” As much as she wanted to process what had just happened, the pressing need to get to safety spurred Hoshi to focus on what was in front of her. With any luck there’d be time to unpack everything once they were someplace less Hellish. Her Keyblade vanished, allowing her to haul Alias to his feet.
“If you can still walk, that’ll be helpful.” With Alias’ arm over her shoulder she began to trudge their way to their ride off the crumbling world.
Alias appreciated and accepted Hoshi's help to his feet, but he still had no intentions of leaving Morgan behind. He planted his feet firmly in the sand to stop from moving.
”Not until she's on the ship. She's already lost everything once before. I won't let her face the end of our world alone. You know the rules of abandoning ship. Women and children first and the captain always goes down with it. But I promise you, I won't be taken down into the dark depths.” Alias didn't know why, but he felt like he'd be okay. From his flash of memories earlier and his uncanny ability to control this dark storm he knew he was a survivor.
“We can’t just stand here and watch though. We either get to the ship, or we turn back and face that thing with her. And considering you’re not in much shape to fight right now…” Hoshi dug deep and tugged Alias along with her.
“This is Morgan’s choice, to stay back and give us our chance.”The decision of whether to help Morgan or not, and the ability to even do so was suddenly stripped from everyone. The staff flashed in her hand, and a massive wall of ice formed, running both ways and cutting off the island. This didn't just keep the creature and Morgan separated from the ship, but the flood of smaller creatures crashed into it as well, and turned, swarming toward Morgan.
She knew it wouldn't matter if anyone tried to help her. This thing looked big and important, but the reality was there were infinitely more of these things on the other side. The important thing was to let the ship escape, but she couldn't deny there was some amount of pleasure in what she was about to do. She was finally awake.
She raised a hand just as the swarm converged on her, and snapped her fingers, instantly encasing herself in ice. A moment later, the ice shattered, revealing what seemed like nearly a
completely different person. The smaller creatures didn't just stop, they retreated, moving away from her. She stepped forward, and they moved out of her way, heads down as if trying to avoid her notice.
When next her staff was raised, multiple rings formed above the giant creature, as it reared back and prepared to launch more orbs. This however, only tilted its head back so it could look at the sky, realize it was about to be struck by magic. She just needed to wait for everyone to be safe... or at least, safe enough.
The darkness started to fight back, refusing to yield to the powerful light that was determined to protect this forsaken world. The floating island began to shake, whatever foundation keeping it afloat now becoming unstable. The ground beneath Zac's Gummi Ship began to break apart, giving anyone preparing to board just a little time to hop into security. Then as if they were at the peak of an amusement park ride, the ship and the ground beneath it began to fall to the abyss below.
Alias could barely comprehend all that was happening, from Morgan's magical girl transformation to his friends dropping out of the sky in Zac's ship. Everything was falling apart both literally and metaphorically. He couldn't help but blame himself. He could've tried to grab Morgan and get to the ship so they'd all be safe. Instead he stubbornly waited so he could play the hero. This wasn't a game they'd play on a normal beach day. This was real life and he doomed his friends to their demise. Now there was no way for any of them to leave. He slumped to the ground in despair, his weakness being more mental than physical.
“No… No… They're gone and we're as good as dead and it's all my fault…”Morgana let out a sigh, looking back to see the ship fall. She couldn't do anything for them from here, but she had a feeling they would find a way. She raised a hand, turning her back to the giant creature, and began her dramatic incantation.
"All will fall before its blazing light, for none withstand the unburning fire of..." she snapped her fingers again to unleash the spell she had cooked up all this time.
"Megaflare." This time there was no ice, but rather a massive orb of what looked like fire engulfed the monster, and lit up all that remained of the world. The blast wave likely would have destroyed the islands if the Darkness wasn't already doing so. The magic was beautiful... and horrific, depending on one's point of view. The ice wall hadn't just been to hold back the darkness though, it shattered, and crumbled, but kept Hoshi and Alias safe from the worst of the magic. Morgan however, who now floated high above the ground, faded away with darkness enveloping her.
"Your story is not over yet, 'King' of the beach. I swear... King... what a useless... title..."And then in an instant, the magic faded, leaving nothing, no giant shadow creature, no island, no Morgana.
Alias looked up to witness the flash of light from Morgana's spell before the defeat of the Darkness’ herald and the destruction caused by Morgana's spell sent him cascading through the air. All he could see was darkness before what felt like a vacuum pulled him in. He tried to scramble to reach what was left of the island. To reach Hoshi and their friends, but he couldn't. Suddenly everything went dark around him.
“Damn it!” Hoshi’s head was scrambled. Between the ground collapsing and the massive blast from where the giant shadow had been, she had lost Alias and her way to the ship was now more daunting and impossible. Defying the urge to lay down and fade, she lifted herself up and moved towards the distant ship. If she could muster another burst of speed she could sprint it out.
But when she set herself for the sprint, a hand caught her arm and pulled her back. She tried to fight the person off of her, but fell still as her body caved to fatigue. The person forced her around. They were a taller person, adorned by a long, black, leather coat with the hood drawn up; their face was masked by what seemed like a veil of purest darkness, making it impossible for her to see. The person merely shook their head and jerked her away from the ship.
“You won’t make it.” They spoke with a distorted voice. They raised their free hand, snapping their fingers loudly. A portal, darker than even the veil over their face, opened behind them. “Be strong. Stay alive… We’ll meet again.” The man spun around, carrying Hoshi with him. From seemingly nowhere he manifested a second black coat, and wrapped Hoshi in it. “This will protect you.”
Unable to fight back, and too confused to protest, Hoshi fell through the portal as ‘Blackcoat’ pushed her through. The portal shut as she fell, stealing the final glimpse of her home as she fell through Darkness, and fell unconscious.
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