wrfmlogsarchive | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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."

when darkness turns to light

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