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[ Sora ; Dawn : Core ]



Before the Keyblade could finish channeling the light at its end, the entire chasm surrounding them began to quake, and a powerful shockwave of darkness pulsed out from the seal--so powerful that, not only was the group forced to brace themselves or be flung back a few meters in the air, but the formed keyhole completely dissipated. The Spiran seal's glow grew brighter, colder, and blinding--

--until it shattered entirely with a mighty infernal screech.

When their senses returned, a demonic monstrosity awaited them, protruding from a massive dark corridor where the seal had been--and even then they could see this was not the whole of its body. Perhaps more frightening, the malevolent entity's head was as big as the fighter's themselves.



As it unleashed another blackborn wail, Sora readied his Keyblade, and Dawn got into position farther back, already applying Haste to her allies.


[[ Reference for Anima's size, note the bottom half. ]]

[[ Blackborn Wail : 10 MS

Also, feel free to type up "Previously" portions for your posts, explaining how you reacted to the previous scenes. The only reason I didn't hold off on starting this was to help move along--past interaction is still welcome. ]]

[[Louis? : Core : In Kyla's Head]]

Just around the time that Sora drifted off by himself and the others were walled off from him, there was a glimmer of light next to Kyla that only she could perceive. With a flicker it expanded outward like flames eating away at an ink black tapestry, "You called?" the flames burnt into the shape of a boy who took form within the gap and eventually floated next to Kyla, suspended in the abyss like a ghost. She'd recognize him as the Louis from her dreams, but he had changed dramatically. The normal boy from before, was now covered in short, flame-esk fur, flowing in a phantom wind, its shade shifting along the spectrum of flame(dark orange, green, to blue). At the center of his forehead was a small multicolored jewel, like a polished opal.

As the scene played itself out and Sora continued to plead with the woman, Louis simply floated there listening, his eyes welling up with pity as he bit the inside of his lip and furrowed his eyebrows, "We have to help her..." he whined, "Isn't there something... anything we can do?"

At that moment, the monster appeared. Its very presence dimming the boy's light to a mere match by comparison. He flickered around to right above Kyla's shoulder appearing as a small sprite-sized version of himself, "I'm here for you Kyla, don't give up."

{James : Core}

Previously-
It wasn't much longer that they flew, Sora continuing to chat with Kyla until suddenly what little light they had had in the corridor was lost, surrounding them in pure darkness, only their flaming auras remained before they they to disappeared leaving the corsair feeling chilled, but it wasn't unbearable, though it wasn't pleasant either

Then she appeared and Sora flew towards her. The corsair tried to follow him, to call out to him as he had figured the others would as well only to find that he couldn't, in this darkness it was as if he didn't exist, and nor did the others. Even with his strong sight he couldn't see the others, couldn't hear them either. They were forced to watch as Sora approached the fayth of Anima, Seymour's mother. A fact that the corsair knew all too well though of course Sora had not, solely because the corsair had forgot to mention it when he brought her up. James listened to Anima's story as she explained what had become of Seymour in this universe, slightly different than in FFX but still more than less the same. Sora wanted to save her, of course he did, that much had never changed about the keyblade wielder. The corsair felt nothing but pity for her, all she wanted was to save her son, ultimately what any mother would want. She needed their help and the corsair knew it would not be easy, if not impossible with what Seymour had become now.

As she reached out for Sora the darkness began to take it's hold of her, reaching out for Sora and before anything else could be done she was devoured by it. Her last words echoing though the corsair's ears, if he wasn't formless, his fists would have been clenched.

Then they were back beside Sora, whole once again nothing but the silence and darkness all around them as the seal, their goal had appeared Sora raised his keyblade, preparing to seal it for good...

Then the chasm shook and a blast the likes of which the corsair could not have prepared for assaulted them, the corsair did what he could to brace himself and the keyhole was gone, the darkness that surrounded them became harsher, feeling more oppressive as the seal grew until it shattered and with an infernal screech, one the corsair had never forgotten, Anima appeared. Not all of it's monstrous form though, only the true head the rest of the creature was likely obscured by the darkness. Hopefully they wouldn't have to deal with it as well.

Another dark wall came at them, the corsair braced himself again just as Dawn began to dance, granting him haste for faster movement and Kyla in response to Joe's call cast the Warding Lotus on them.

"Right then! Allons-y!" The corsair yelled as he flew back a bit more, his hexagun raised as he unleashed a Purifying Helix at Anima's head.

[Joe: Core]

Joe couldn't help but recoil from the attack from Anima's eye, but he kept trying to push more and more into attacking the Aeon. He was a front-line man, he needed to keep up the assault and keep the ones behind him safe. Much easier to do when the eye got clouded up by the sand. Though with the wail...

The monk froze, body suddenly going into a slow spiral down as his mind and body seemed to shut off, the wail flicking an off switch...or at least it felt like that. Nothing seemed to be responding, body or mind, to the danger he was suddenly in as he drifted downward...or as down as one could in this arena.

[ Cloud : Disney : Fair Grounds ]

Cloud had been mostly lost in his own thoughts since the end of the ceremony, looking down at the charm he'd been given. Hero? It'd been so long since he'd thought he could have such a title--back before the first fall.

His mood had improved the past couple years, but his outlook, not so much.

When Yuffie came along and snapped him out of his thoughts, he looked toward the girl, and briefly wondered where Aerith and Tifa had gone off to--probably lost in the crowd. He'd see them eventually, to be sure. Something about this town...

"Want ice cream?" he asked, and though his voice sounded as dead as ever, the corner of his mouth seemed to twitch upward, if only for a moment, before he turned away and headed for one of the large booths. "Pretty sure kids aren't supposed to have dessert before dinner, but I figure you've been... decent lately."

The Cornerstone, they'd called it. Yeah. He'd blame that.

[ Cloud : Disney : Fairgrounds ]

Cloud rolled his eyes at her protest as they strolled up to the worlds-famous Disney ice cream booth--or one of many on the fairgrounds, anyway.

"So, how'd it go down there, anyway?" he asked, remembering her avoidance of the ships due to her motion sickness. As she responded, he quietly ordered a simple seasalt popsicle. Scrooge had made him try one, and he hadn't really felt the need to stray ever since. He let her order her own, but paid for both. "In Atlantica, I mean."

[[Louis? : Core : Inside Kyla]]

Flashes and glimmers of light made the fight both blinding and a spectacle to behold. The monstrosity fought back with a subdued vehemence. The sprite zipped around Kyla drawing fading lines of fire in the air. As the wailing commenced, he winced, getting blown back into the pocket of Kyla's shoulder. He shivered, holding his arms and curling into a ball, his flames dimming further till he was a dull, rusty red. As his luminescence waned, he whispered, "So much pain... so much sorrow.. how do you live like this?"

The boy perked up, as though suddenly remembering something important, his fire returning to its previous hue. He scanned the battlefield with his eyes after the wave of screaming had passed. His expression showed a level of desperation and fear as he looked back to his friend, "Kyla, something's wrong! I think that guy's in trouble!" The small boy whipped through the air aggressively pointing to Joe.