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when darkness turns to light

Who: Everyone who's going to Destiny Islands
What: Another showdown with Maleficent, if we're lucky
Where: Destiny Islands
When: The night of December 13th

'Find me where the stars gazed down on one whose star had fallen after too few nights.' That had been Maleficent's riddle. Mabry had said it was likely a personal reference to Song, and if that was the case, there was only one place that came to mind.

For all that could be said about 'moving on', there were certain things she was never likely to forget. Sitting on this beach alone, while the glow of the sunset faded and the stars came out, with the chill of the surf that soaked her skirt in sharp contrast to the lingering memory of warmth where she'd held him... This was one of those things, and Mabry's words after Maleficent's had brought it back to her in painful detail.

Too few nights indeed.

Now she faced that sunset again, four and a half years later. She was not alone, and she was not here for Xemnas. She fancied no delusions of saving her enemy this time. If there were any goodbyes tonight, they would be of a very different sort.

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Seph jumped back and pulled Aria out of the way before she could react. Of course he wasn't about to try to settle things without a fight after that.

Sword at the ready he attempted fly close enough to strike. He had no idea what Maleficent's current defenses were other than likely involving a great deal of darkness.

Aria was annoyed that he'd pretty much just tossed her on her ass to get her out of the way. She picked herself up quickly enough to yell at him while he was still close enough to hear.

"Seph! Get your ass back down here so I can... aaaargh!" Not listening or already too far to hear, she doesn't know. "Pain in the ass," she muttered. Now she's gonna look to see if anyone was hit.... and perhaps put someone in a bubble. Seph at least was going to get one the next time he got close enough for her to cast it on him.

Well, he hadn't been expecting that. The sad part was that he should have been; he'd been a warrior for a great deal of his life before this one. Still, massive dragons hadn't been on the battlefield.

When the tail swung he'd barely begun to think about casting Barrier, and by the time he'd been knocked flat on his back a few feet away he'd had a dim thought of how useless it would've been anyway.

Jalen winced and rolled to one side, looking up to see Seph in the air, sword out. He wished the man luck, because they were going to need it.

Song did see the attack coming, but not in time to dodge it as Seph had. Instead, she let the tail hit her, absorbing some of the impact with a hastily cast Aero. She'd been waiting for something like this, or she'd not have been able to get the spell off in time.

She hit the ground hard and lost her grip on the spell, but it had done its job. She wasn't so battered as to forget her plan.

Song stayed where she'd fallen, stirring only a little. She looked as if she'd been dazed by the throw, and that was the point. Jalen and Seph could would take the front line now and, with any luck, keep Maleficent's attention. It only had to be long enough for Song to cast one spell.

One spell she had never tried and only had the roughest concept of.

Mabry and her husband had been standing further back, almost out of ranger of the tail. Brendan had managed to dodge it, but Mabry had been struck hard, pushing her backwards--though she kept her feet--and leaving a painful welt on her arm. She did not bother to heal it, but hung back, fearing that her talents would be needed soon enough.

Meanwhile, Brendan charged forward, watching the tail closely, prepared to duck and roll if it swung his way again.

Maleficent's attention was entirely on Seph. The dragon's wide maw snapped at him several times, attempting to catch him between her immense teeth and then swallow him with minimal chewing.

A familiar light appeared from above, growing from a small orb to the more typical size of a portal within seconds. Without any warning, beams shot out from it, lighting up the night sky and lancing straight for the dragon - the tail, maw, wings, eyes, whatever it could reach was a fair target. She landed on her feet, the sound muffled by the noise of battle.

"Sorry to crash the party," she said, eyes scanning their surroundings, "but it kind of hurts, not being invited. Right here." A fist touched her chest, above her heart. Ray grinned. "You'd know all about that, eh, Maleficent?"

Seph dove around her jaws, occasionally only barely dodging(lost some feathers at one point) and striking out whenever he had a chance. He was uncertain about trying to go for a kill. She could very well be toying with them after all. It was a silly thought but, he hoped one of his feathers got in her eye.

He had to back off some when the beams shot out but, as soon as they were gone he was back on the attack.

Aria was considering how she wanted to approach. Carefully obviously. She didn't want Seph to get distracted by getting in trouble.

"Not gonna curse a baby, are you?" Not that there were any babies around to curse at the moment.

Watching the tail she got a bit closer and started casting. Nothing seemed to happen at first then a handful of bubbles started drifting towards the dragon. They grew a bit as they went and sparked a bit. They moved slow but, if Maleficent touched one it should give her a nasty shock. If Aria had put enough power into them anyway. Hopefully no one else would run into them. They were high enough that those that stuck to the ground wouldn't have a problem. At least Seph would know how best to avoid them since he was there when she was working on the spell.

Ray's sudden appearance made Jalen grin. He supposed Amy had something to do with it. Definitely good to have another experienced fighter on their side.

Things were happening faster now, which he was somewhat grateful for. He'd gotten to his feet and drawn his sword, ignoring the dull ache in his side. He'd worry about whether he'd cracked a rib or just bruised himself later. Watching out for Brendan, and Aria's little surprise, he headed for one of the dragon's front legs, intending to get a good stab in.

Her gaze landed on Jalen, grin instantly turning into a glare of fury the likes of which only Ray could muster. When he charged, so did she, but there was one vital difference.

Ray wasn't going after the dragon. No, she was going after Jalen.

With a single Thunder Step, she was ahead of him, looking back over her shoulder. Once he was close enough, she dropped, sweeping a leg at his feet to trip him up before he could go any further.

Song had scurried behind cover during Ray's dramatic entrance, and started casting. The first try was a failure before she even invoked the spell aloud. There simply no build up of power. The magic refused to listen.

She took a deep breath and tried again, focusing. This time the magic stirred. She had been experimenting with the feel of wild magic in the air and how to catch and tame it. It took longer than relying on a set spell to do all the work for you, and in most cases it didn't add enough of a power boost to make it worth while, but for her purposes it was useful, even necessary. This was anything but a set spell. it had to be cast from scratch, and that took precision.

On the third try, she almost put herself under the spell's predecessor, and only just managed to recognize the downward tug of a dream dive and abort it before she fell asleep.

The fourth try was exactly like the second try, and her frustration was getting the better of her. This was not working.

A rumble of a laugh spread from the dragon's throat. "I do apologize for the lack of an invitation. I had hoped the general invitation would reach all interested parties, but it appears I was mistaken. You seem to have made a wise choice."

Then her attention turned back in the direction of Seph, and she began to draw in a deep breath.

Seph was still somewhat aware of what was going on on the ground. When Maleficent started to draw in breath he was left with the choice to doge what he expected was coming or try to attack. As it was he didn't have many long range attacks that he thought would be effective (darkness or fire based attacks didn't seem like the best idea) and he wasn't about to get close enough to try to stab her in the mouth.

Well, there was a sort of energy beam he could do with his sword but, it wasn't an actual ability Sephiroth had outside of a non-Kingdom Hearts related video game and Seph was still working out some bugs. May as well give it a shot though. Half a moment of concentration followed by half a dozen quick slashes sent out five crescent moon shaped beams of energy. A couple were not as strong as he was aiming for and the last slash failed to produce one at all but, if the ones that appeared to come out right seemed to do damage he may try them again.

It might have been a good idea to move himself out of reach after that if there wasn't the chance she'd turn her attention to the people on the ground. He'd have to try to dodge at the last moment if his attack didn't interrupt hers.

Aria made her way closer to Song. Whether to try to help with whatever she seemed to be trying to do or to pull her out of harm's way if something happened while she was concentrating Aria wasn't sure.

Clearly not expecting Ray to trip him up, Jalen went down hard on his back, staring up at her in absolute disbelief. What did she think she was doing?

"Are you insane?"

Because that was a good question to be asking right now. He was lucky to have avoided falling on his sword.

"Amy sent me here! It's not like last time!"

He felt a little like a child, having to defend his presence at this fight. He scrambled to his feet, grabbing his sword. He wasn't going to use it on Ray, but he had a dragon to help deal with, and she wasn't going to stop him.

In the middle of the fight and the chaos and the flashes of magic, there comes another night, more pure than anything else anyone could have conjured. It lights up the horizon in a brief flash of white, silver, and blue, and is followed by a strange silence - the calm before the storm.

And then wind and fire explodes in the center of the island, sending sand and water blasting outwards from the epicenter. The dust hasn't even settled and the light has barely begun to die away when a voice, familiar but different somehow, cries out from the middle of the burning star and a wordless spell lashes out at the dragon, brilliant white vines of light entangling around its form. The darkness retreats away from the immediate area of the shore, coiling away into the sea and sand and sky.

Eventually, the light fades away and the tendrils of pale magic can be traced back to two spinning keyblades - Oblivion and Oathekeeper - floating next to a surprisingly familiar figure. It wouldn't do to call him a boy anymore - he has long since become a young man in the years since the battle against Xemnas and even Calum. It has been several years since he's been a part of this fight, and bringing it crashing back to where it all began clearly doesn't sit well with him.

Or it could be that the fight interrupted college finals.

"Hey guys!" Sora remarks cheerfully, immediately dropping into a fighting crouch. "Could you have picked a time that wasn't so close to Christmas to bring back the darkness? Or you know, when I finished my math final?"

Once the light and the dust begin to clear, the battlefield is shaken by the arrival of a new Darkness...and a new Light, each working in perfect harmony. Those who can sense it will sense that this is as far from another threat as Darkness could get - in fact, it's very familiar to most.

At first, there's only a brief flash of a bright purple aura, rushing once towards the dragon before vanishing. Then, a few seconds later, it repeats. Then it comes again, in a blinding, impossible rush of attacks, before a bright flash erupts in the center of the flurry.

And at the end of it is Riku, recovering from the impressive display almost casually, smirking belatedly in response to Sora's comment.

"It would figure, though. You guys never were great at timing things." he said, moving into a fighting stance and holding Way to Dawn at ready almost as an afterthought.

Following shortly after is the most brilliant of pure Light, warm and comforting and all too familiar as the other two had been. It forms in the distance, like a brightly shining star before shooting straight towards the dragons other side, ice forming where the attack hits.

Kairi drops daintily behind both her boys, Destiny's Oath dropping into a defensive position before quirking a brow at their backs. "Weren't you two just complaining about being stuck inside studying though?" She teases, never once taking her eyes off the scene. "Maybe if we time it right, we can still make it back."

A few of Seph's attacks hit their mark, but Maleficent hardly seemed to notice them. Her attention was on the new arrivals. She did not seem surprised by there arrival, though one could not strictly say that she was pleased. It was simply more power upon the field in a battle that had been coming for a very long time.

She was more than she had been when last she faced the young Keybearer. The Darkness of the Cornerstone that had become her own and the fallen hearts of world's that had strengthened it . . . they had only been the beginning, and when the greatest Darkness of all had come into the stone, it had cracked. All that had been left as a vessel for that power was her. Her allies may have been gone, but the need for them had passed.

She turned towards her three greatest adversaries and breathed out death.

Seph opened a corridor before Maleficent released her attack at the new arrivals. His mostly darkness based attacks would not likely be much use here but, he didn't go far. He wanted to see how well the Key bearers handled the situation and of course he would resume his own attack if he felt they wouldn't end up tripping each other up.

Song was nearly ready to give up her plan and hope the new arrivals could handle it. She was certainly glad they'd got the message, even if they were a little late. And dear Light, the three of them were even more impressive than she'd remembered.

She tensed, preparing to rise and join the fight more directly, but something tugged at her mind. It wasn't right to just give up on her plan, was it? After all, it was her strongest point. What else could she offer that would come close to matching this, provided she could make it work?

With a fresh sense of determination that seemed to come from somewhere else, she settled herself again and tried one more time to cast the spell.

This time, she felt something even before she'd consciously called to the magic. There was a soft touch on the back of her hands, like fingertips, guiding, and she thought it was a cool breath that ruffled the hair around her ear.

'Like so.'

The voice came from inside her head as much as it did from behind her, and she wasn't startled to hear it, though she very well should have been. The tone was gentle and patient, like a good teacher, and through her, the presence summoned and shaped the magic. All Song could do was be dragged along as the spell itself was pulled from her memory and cast with her hands.

"Awakening," she heard herself whisper, and slowly... very slowly.... a blanket of foggy white began to spread from where she knelt.

((I'll give you another round or two...))

"She may have sent you here," Ray said, "but you really should have thought this through a little better."

Grabbing Jalen's wrist an instant before he could charge again, she yanked him back as hard she could. Before he could even think of getting back up, he was pinned to the ground. She looked down at him, shaking her head in dismay.

"Honestly, Jalen. Your wife is pregnant, and you leave her home, alone, with three little kids, just so you can traipse off and fight a stupid dragon in the most idiotic way possible? Is it just me, or is there something slightly wrong with this picture?"

Without giving him a chance to answer, she sighed and dragged Jalen back to his feet by the front of his shirt. A portal opened behind him and Ray shoved him in none too gently. Pausing, she turned back with a smirk at the young Keybearers.

"About time you guys got here," she said teasingly. "You've got this one in the bag, right?"

Apparently, she didn't need or want an answer. She stepped through the Corridor without another word, heading straight back to Rainbow's End.

Amy was sitting on the couch in the living room, cuddling Larkin in her lap (what there was of it), with Eli and Ashlyn snuggled up on either side of her while she read them a story. The kids had started picking up on her nerves shortly after everyone had left, and she'd decided a nice, quiet distraction was a good idea. So, out came the books, and she'd let the kids pick. They'd already gone through Eli's choice, and she was just a few pages into the new book when her son tugged on her sleeve.

"Daddy's home soon?"

Amy bit her lip and turned the page before answering.

"I-"

She stopped abruptly as there was a bright flash of light, followed by a crash as something fell into the Christmas tree. She grabbed Larkin, and both Eli and Ashlyn cried out in surprise, clinging to her. A second later she realized the 'something' was actually a someone, as Jalen staggered away from where he'd fallen out of the Light Corridor into the tree. He was glaring at the still-open portal, no doubt waiting for Ray to step through. Amy simply stared in disbelief. She'd only asked Ray if she wanted to come help her babysit, but this was good too. Really good.

"...Daddy's home."

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when darkness turns to light

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