light will guide you home and ignite your bones

[wrfm-mods.livejournal.com]

Who: Anyone interested in helping
What: Ren wants to forcibly resurrect Radiant Garden with the help of various mages, Key Bearers, and friends. Will they succeed?
Where: Disney Castle's throne room
When: Dawn on Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Note: Posting this early so you can dive right into it without having to log the failures.

It was still dark as everyone gathered in the throne room of Disney Castle. They had all received instructions on the way the ritual should go, so they easily found their places: the survivors of Radiant Garden's passing and the other volunteers sat in a circle, ready to lend their strength in an instant, and those immediately involved in the spell work - Ren, Aerith, Leon, Merlin, Yen Sid, the Key Bearers, and the Princesses of Heart - would form a second, smaller circle in the center of the room, surrounding the ten spell components. Hope rang through the hearts of Radiant Garden's citizens, despite the failures they'd already encountered. They would get their world back, and they would keep on trying until they made it happen. There was simply no other option.

So they sat in the circles together, waiting for the sun to start rising and the ritual to begin while discussing with one another just how wonderful it would be to have their world back again. And as they did, they each made an unspoken promise to one another.

They would not lose their world to Darkness again.

Comments

[handsoffmyhat.livejournal.com]

Nodding to the two girls, YenSid turned to address those gathered, his booming voice and commanding frame demanding attention.

"Very well, we shall begin! Merlin and I will start the ritual by sealing the circle and gathering the necessary energy from the surrounding cosmos. Once that is done, it will be the duty of Aerith Gainsborough to forge a connection between that power and the Heart of the World, so that we may give the Heart a form once more. Then, the Keybearers of Destiny must use their strength to see that the connection to the World Heart remains open so that Madam Gainsborough and the Princesses of Heart may forge the power we have gathered into the world itself. Once that task has been accomplished, it will be the task of the Keybearers to reseal the Heart of the World so that it may remain safe from the reach of the Darkness. I must ask you now to steal your wills and strengthen your hearts, for this is a task not to be undertaken without the strongest of convictions. Remember all of you the connection your Hearts share with Radiant Garden and those who have shared their time upon it with you. It is that bond between hearts that possesess the strength to give birth to worlds!"

[hocketypockety.livejournal.com]

Merlin had high hopes for this attempt. The first attempt had not really gone well, though considering the forces they were dealing with, it could certainly have gone a lot worse. A singed beard and nearly non existent eyebrows were positively mild by comparison to the worst possible backfires.

At any rate, it was time to begin. The sealing of the circle had gone fine last time and so went fine this time. The backfire had come with gathering the necessary energy. However, this time, all went to plan and they were ready for the next step.

[holylifestream.livejournal.com]

Right on cue, Aerith fell gracefully to her knees, hands clasped before her as she prayed for her world. Everyone would be praying with her, lending them her power. She had no worries about finding him. This would work.

Radian, she called out, seeking the spirit of the world she loved, spirit of Radiant Garden, spirit of a world that fell to Darkness not once, but twice: hear our plea. Lead us to you, to your Heart, that we may rescue you from suffocating in a realm to which you do not belong. Help us to find your Heart, and let us lead you back to the Realm of Light, to your home. Allow us to resurrect you, and we will uphold our promise to protect you, to save you from being lost again. Come, Radiant Garden, back to where you belong.

As she continued to search for the world's spirit during the prayer, she felt a change occur. She felt, more than saw, a faint glimmer of Light in a sea of Darkness. It flickered out there, all alone, and suddenly Aerith was that Light, drowning in Darkness and yearning for air. Just as quickly, she was herself again, and was reaching a helping hand out toward it, knowing that this was the Heart she'd been looking for.

All at once, she felt Radian's hand take hers, and she had to borrow everyone's strength to pull as hard as she could.

Come on, she prayed. You can make it. Don't give up.

[hyperpsyche.livejournal.com]

As soon as the ritual had begun, Ren opened up the ancient book she had been poring over during the last several weeks to the bookmarked page. Once Yen Sid and Merlin sealed the outer circle, the words on the pages started to glow, shimmering and slowly changing colors as the ritual progressed.

"Good," Ren thought as she kept a careful eye on the book and the proceedings. "So far, everything's going well."

Should the glow start to fade, as it had during previous attempts, it was a sign that something was going wrong. Then again, that spectacular backfire had been preceded by a blinding burst of light from the book just seconds before things went kaboom...

A feeling of warmth and hope flooded Ren's heart as Aerith prayed. This time would be different. This time, they'd make it work, she just knew it!

"Aaand... now!" Ren grinned ecstatically as she pointed to the Keybearers, indicating their cue to begin.

[thirteenth_brat]

That things hadn't exploded this time was a good sign. Roxas stuffed down the little pang of nervousness and doubt that had been gnawing at him. They could do this. They had to, after all the trouble they'd been going to.

He did wonder. If they could retrieve Radiant Garden from the darkness, would they also be able to restore other worlds this way? But that was a question for another time. Focusing on the task at hand was needed.

Holding the connection was so much easier said than done, though. The darkness wasn't letting go easy and trying something as big as a world back from the depths... It would be a disaster if they failed at this point, but it would be worth it if they succeeded.

They couldn't afford not to succeed.

[papoupromise.livejournal.com]

Kairi breathed deeply, unable to stop a slight flicker of worry once again over the ritual. She watched as they began again, a flare of hope appearing as it seemed to work this time and smiled slightly.

Closing her eyes, she focused on her light and brought it forth before turning her focus on Radiant Garden, on Raiden.

Please, she thought Let this work

[le-king.livejournal.com]

Mickey tightened his grip on Darkside as he and the other Key Bearers held the Heart steady for Aerith and the Princesses of Heart. He watched in awe as the book in Ren's hands started to glow even brighter, as Light coalesced around the spell components before them. It was working! They really were going to bring Radiant Garden back!

With that thought in his mind, he steeled himself for what was to come. The girls were doing their job, and he and the other Key Bearers were up next. As they finished, the Keybearers all pointed their Keyblades in unison at the Light that had gathered in the very center of their circle. A moment later, thin lines of that same light shot forth from the blades' tips, and the final step to recreating the world was finished.

[holylifestream.livejournal.com]

Aerith gave a sigh of relief as she felt the world reconnect almost seamlessly. There was a faint thank you whispered on the Light of the spell, conveyed to all those gathered through her connection to Radian, and she spoke for all of them.

Welcome back.

She felt a smile grace her lips, and started to rise to her feet to announce their success. But something felt... off, somehow. The warmth of the magic didn't lessen, and the Light that had gathered actually grew brighter instead of fading. The sensations only intensified, and suddenly there was something else in the mix - something was pulling her. She tried to resist, but it only got stronger. Aerith had only a moment to grasp Ren's hand and ask what was going on before the Light engulfed her and she was gone.

[hyperpsyche.livejournal.com]

It was nearly impossible for Ren to hold back her laugh of pure delight. It had worked! They'd done it! They'd restored Radiant Garden! All of her anxiety was washed away against the Light that surrounded them.

Just as she was about to cut loose and latch onto the nearest person in a victory hug, something sent a chill skittering down Ren's spine. The air still hummed with magical energy, and the words in the book were still glowing as bright as ever.

"This doesn't make sense," she thought as she flipped through the pages. All of them gave off the same aura. "The ritual should be over, so why..." Then Aerith was grabbing her hand and trying to ask her something. Ren instinctively held on just before the words flared a blinding gold...

In less than a blink of an eye, Ren and the book had both vanished along with Aerith.