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Chapter 9: Dark Briars

Lita and her friends were silent, stunned by such a bizarre demand. “I don’t want to fight if I don’t have to,” the woman said smoothly. “So why don’t you just be good little children and just hand over the girl?”
Lita blinked, caught somewhere between shock and confusion as she stared at the woman standing across from her. She was…She was joking, right? She had to be joking. That was ridiculous!
It would seem not. The strange woman appeared to be completely serious. Frighteningly so, in fact. There was no hint of mischief in her expression. No mirth in her tone. No putting on a show.
Although she lacked a weapon in hand, everything about her posture said that she was ready to fight. The woman stood up straight with her shoulders thrown back, making use of every intimidating inch of her tall, sturdy frame. Hands rested loosely by her sides, long fingers spread like claws. She stood with her feet spread out, so if the woman wanted to spring forward, she perfectly able to. That was a battle stance if Lita had ever seen one.
Yes, all that about not wanting to fight was utter nonsense. This much was fairly obvious. But that wasn’t the biggest problem here. There was one rather large, extremely troubling thing that Lita didn’t understand. “What do you want with Kairi?”
A smirk tugged at the woman’s face and she laughed. “Suspicious? That’s good; you’re smarter than you look.” The amusement quickly fell from her face as she made this rude, scoffing sound. “But I don’t owe you any explanations…Midnight Briar.”
The teens gathered close around each other as the woman stomped her foot against the ground. The sharp snap of her heel echoed loudly in the open, airy fountains. And then a strange thing happened concerning the redhead’s shadow. Although faint at first, it turned murky, and then very dark within seconds until it hardly resembled a shadow at all. Rather, it became some sort of black, vicious liquid flowing across the ground, spreading like an oil slick. Whatever the ooze came in contact with, it quickly started to eat away at. Tearing through solid brick and concrete and filling the air with this awful, noxious smell.
“What the…?” Tala picked up a stone and chucked it into the tar-like substance, yelping when it sucked the rock in and shot it right back at her. “What is this?!”
Lita had a much different response. The girl lurched forward and gagged, throwing her hands over her mouth and nose, desperately trying to block out the horrid smell. Grave dirt and mold. A powerful aroma of wood rot. The scent of gunpowder and something sickly sweet, like spoiled fruit. Lita felt overwhelmed. Dizzy and unsteady on her feet.
“Lita? Hey, Lita!” Solus grabbed her shoulder and shook. “The hell’s wrong with you?”
“D-Darkness,” she choked through stinging tears. “She’s like me an’…M-Me and Riku…!”
“Wait, it’s her nose,” Aria hissed, snatching at the fabric tied to his belt. “Solus, give her your scarf!”
From the looks of it, the others weren’t able to smell what she smelled. Now, that was wonderful for them, but it also told Lita a few helpful things right off the bat. Or, maybe they weren’t exactly helpful. Useful, yes. But mostly…troubling.
This woman was just like her—she could use the power of Darkness. That awful smell reminded her of the first few days when her own powers had begun to manifest. The scent of Darkness had left her ill and out of commission for a week. But unlike Lita, who prepared to limit her use of this power towards amplifying her ability to track down Rifts and Heartless, this Reyna Beatrix seemed more inclined to using it in combat. She absolutely reeked of Darkness. And unlike any other Darkness that Lita had ever seen, this was volatile and corrosive like acid.
Dangerous.
“Give me the girl,” Reyna repeated. “Or I will take her.”
Solus stepped out in front of his twin as she pressed the fringed scarf over her face. With fists clenched tight and fire burning in his eye, he was as tightly wound with tension as a heavy industrial spring. Sparks flew around his ankles when he moved. Lita watched the tips of his fingers turn a bright, molten red right before her eyes. The air around him turned stifling and hot.
“Keep yapping all you want, but I will not be threatened,” he growled. “Some hag comes out of nowhere, releasing Heartless into the city, and then demands that we hand over a Princess of Heart?” Solus threw his hands up in disgust. “Not gonna happen!”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Aria interjected angrily. Holding her sword out, she pointed the blade directly at the woman. “You can spew the same nonsense over and over again, but the second you threaten my town and my people? Lady, you’re toast!”
When a piercing roar tore through the air, the witch went into immediate action. One of the biggest dragons Lita had ever seen swooped down from the waterfalls, breathing a cloud-like stream of white smoke. Heavy, dense patches of frost appeared along the ground wherever its chilly breath hit. The strange woman ducked under its grasping claws as it flew overhead, snatching and tearing at the loose skirt belted around her waist. The creature turned in mid-air, slamming the end of its tail into the Beatrix woman just before she could land both feet back on the ground. As quickly as it could, the dragon craned its neck around and blasted her with an icy breath.
Aria took off into the fight, using an Aero spell to launch herself over the sludge. Twirling through the air, she gracefully landed onto the spraying jets of the fountains. A short-lived Gravity spell pinned the woman in place when she tried to go after the dragon.
“Drayke,” she called, her voice carrying across the courts. “Find Kairi and keep her safe for me! Got it? Watch our princess and back her up!”
The dragon gave a reluctant roar before following her commands. As soon as the creature’s tail disappeared over the south wall, Aria released a relieved sigh. Good. The last thing I need is him rampaging around here.
“Now listen up,” she thundered from her perch on the fountains. “This is going to go one of two ways. Either you take your trashy butt and your Heartless and get out of my town, or you will be thrown out!”
As Aria gave her ultimatum, she held her hand up. Heavy black clouds gathered over the town. The wind picked up. Thunder crashed and lightning split the sky, silhouetting her against blinding bursts of light. There was no rain, but it was the beginnings of a storm nonetheless, and all conjured up with a simple hand gesture.
Biting, freezing wind whipped into a series of twisters all over the fountains, spraying water up into the air as they began to dilute the ooze covering the ground. A strong scent of ozone filled the air, drowning out the overwhelming Darkness.
As a bolt of lightning came down, striking the ground right in front of Reyna Beatrix’s feet, Lita could only assume that Aria was trying to scare her into giving up and leaving. This was a scare tactic. A reasonably effective one, if Lita had to say. Had their roles changed and Lita found herself facing a witch who could swing a massive sword around, command a dragon, and conjure up storms with the flick of a wrist, she’d turn tail and run in a heartbeat.
But not this woman. She was made of much sterner stuff, it would seem. Reyna stood her ground without even batting an eyelash. Even as lightning struck and cracked the stone within two feet of her, she did not flinch. Not even once.
To make matters worse, she yawned widely and then began to stretch her arms out, as if bored. “Are you finished with this pointless posturing? Because I am far from impressed, little girl.”
Reyna held her hand out. A burst of violet light materialized in her palm. After a second, she was holding an enormous, weighty Keyblade of purple and slate-gray metals. Music notes decorated the length of the blade, even forming a jagged set of teeth at the end. The chains clasped to the end of the hilt was reminiscent of a musical score and supported a small, delicate charm in the shape of a harp.
“Crap!” Solus swore loudly. “Another one of you guys?”
“She’s not one of us, you idiot,” Tala snapped, brandishing her own Keyblade in one hand and a long, curved hunting knife in the other. “Just keep her from going after Kairi!”
Right on cue, a barrier came up around the courts. All of the exits, even the open area on top of the walls, had been blocked off by magic. They were all of them stuck inside, trapped in the area. Screaming, Aria jumped down from her perch and brought her sword down on the woman. Reyna brought her Keyblade up to block the attack and used the momentum of her swing to push the witch away. Aria went careening into the basin under the fountain jets.
Spurred on, the others leapt into action. The twins ran on either side of the woman and unleashed a stream of fire, forcing the woman to roll forward. Tala came in to intercept her with a hail of boulders and sticky mud. The mud slowed her down a bit, allowing Lita to come in from behind for a quick combo with her sister.
“Fire Raid!”
“Strike Raid!”
The Keyblades came in from both the front and behind. Reyna was able to block Tala’s using the flat of her own Keyblade, but had been forced to use her other arm to block Lita’s. From the sound of her outraged shriek, Burning Soul had dealt some burn damage before returning to its wielder. Solus swooped in then, picking up one of Tala’s boulders and hurling it at their opponent.
“Geez,” Tala cried, impressed by the ease in which he managed to launch the heavy rock. “You’re stronger than you look, you know that?”
A sly smirk worked its way into the teen’s face. “No. You think? And here I thought I was some scrawny, little wimp!”
“Can we focus please?” Lita grunted, blocking the Keyblade that came whizzing for her brother’s head. That woman could really put some power into her throw! She was glad that her sister and her brother were actually getting along, but now was really not the time!
“Dragon Fire!”
A fireball launched from Burning Soul, leaving a scorching trail of burnt ooze across the surface of Reyna’s field spell. So she could burn this dark substance? Wonderful!
“Hey, you giraffe,” Tala called out. “Do you know any Enhancement magic?”
Aria readily, happily complied. Emerging from the pool on a wave of water, the witch plowed through the battlefield, disrupting an attack Reyna had been about to level out against the twins. She layered defense-boosting and strength-enhancing spells on all of her allies, as well as a Haste spell on slower fighters like Tala and Solus, who had been taking too much damage previously from not being able to avoid their enemy’s attacks.
“You’ll regret attacking my town,” she cried. “Inhabit my blade—Galestorm!!”
The gems set in the hilt of her sword glowed a dazzlingly bright white. Aria put a burst of strength into swinging her claymore, releasing a strong gust of wind that knocked the woman clear off her feet. As soon as she had her up in the air, the witch unleashed a flurry of Blizzard and Thunder spells that kept their adversary staggered, allowing the others to keep the pressure going.
“Lita!” Tala stamped her foot against the ground, summoning another volley of boulders in front of her. “Light ’em up!”
“Got it!”
“I’ll help!” Solus rushed over to assist.
Working together, the twins managed to set fire to all of Tala’s boulders in no time at all. Thus armed, Tala slammed her Keyblade into them and sent the flaming rocks flying into the Beatrix woman and knocked her out of the air. The brunette grinned smugly and cheered as she watched the woman fall into the fountains with a cry of outrage.
“That’s it,” Aria cried. “Keep on her!”
She certainly did, dishing out a remarkable Thunder spell from her sword as Reyna tried to pull herself out from the water. The witch seemed to pull from a bottomless well of energy, casting spell after spell without difficulty. Not only did she devote her spellcasting towards attacking the Beatrix woman, but also to buffing the others as well.
It was a curious thing, Lita observed. Because not only did Aria manage to keep her attacks going with magic, but with physical attacks as well. That sword of hers was a heavy thing, with roughly five feet of blade alone. And yet the witch managed to swing it around with ease; balancing it over her shoulder as she darted in, striking in a wide arc, and then running back out. Getting hit by that sword by itself should have been a problem.
But Reyna was strong. She seemed to soak up any damage dealt to her like a sponge and return it back two-fold. There had to be some sort of magic in play, boosting her defenses. Hitting her with a Keyblade was like punching a mountain barehanded. Try as they might, the teens just couldn’t wear her down, let alone deliver enough damage to knock her out. Lita, who could already feel herself starting to tire out, began to panic as she realized that fact.
This is insane. We can’t stop her!
“Fall!!” Dodging under one of Aria’s swings, Reyna struck the witch in the knee and then plowed right through Tala, knocking the poor girl down with a staggering blow to the chest. Once the brunette was down, she quickly grabbed her by the back of her belt and slung her into Solus, who fumbled as the two hit the ground.
“Rise, my briars!”
The dark ooze that had been trailing her every step sprang to life. A plethora of razor-sharp spines emerged from the Darkness, forcing everyone to scramble back. One of the spikes caught Aria in the leg and Solus had to roll in order to keep himself and a dazed, wheezing Tala from getting skewered. Bellowing once more, Reyna charged after the nearest available target: Lita. Meanwhile, the Darkness open fired on everyone else, pelting them with wave after wave of thorny spines.
“Look out, Lita!”
She parried a blow coming down on her head and used the teeth of her Keyblade to hook Reyna’s and pull her forward. Bending backwards, she flipped and used the toe of her boot to kick the heavy blade away.
“Fireflower!” Pursing her lips together, Lita exhaled a long, steady breath. Small embers bloomed as soon as the hit the air. A flurry of pinkish, petal-like flames hit the Beatrix woman straight on.
She howled vehemently and faltered only slightly, recovering her wits in the amount of time it took for Lita to cancel out her spell and replenish the oxygen in her lungs. Before the girl could begin to defend herself, Reyna had lunged forward. A hand snatched her by the collar and lifted her up off her feet. Lita gasped and struggled to free herself, but the woman’s strong fingers held tight. An iron grip around her throat. An awful burning sensation sunk deep into her skin where those long, painted fingernails dug into her neck.
It burned. Why did it burn?!
More of that black liquid dripped from her hand onto the ground, seeping from under the deep purple lacquer. Was there something in the polish that caused this?
“So the little girl thinks she’s a dragon, does she?” The Beatrix woman sneered, curling her lip. “I’ve faced more than a few dragons in my day, so let me tell you this: you pale in comparison.”
“W-Why…Why do you…need to t-take…Kairi…?” Lita tried to pry those fingers away from her neck. The black ooze seared her skin where it and Reyna’s fingertips touched, burning like an acid. Breathing wasn’t exactly a difficulty; Reyna held her tight enough to keep her in place, but not tight enough to strangle Lita. But between the grip on her throat and the Darkness burning her skin, the situation was hardly preferable.
A spark of irritation flashed in those amber-orange eyes that glowed like lanterns. “I seem to recall saying that I didn’t owe you any answers. However…”
A sly, darkly sinister smile played out across her lips. Lita felt her heart drop down to her stomach. With panic starting to set in, she renewed her efforts to pull free. Screaming. Punching. Driving her knee into the woman’s stomach. But all to no avail. When she tried to blindside her captor with a small fireball to the face, Reyna caught her by the wrist and dug her nails into Lita’s bare wrist.
“Now, now, pretty little doll.” Those nails burned into Lita’s arm and the girl winced from the pain. “If you don’t behave, I’ll have to punish you.”
Lita squirmed and grit her teeth, glaring at the woman. She’d never really been that much of a violent, vindictive person before, but right now she really just wanted to punch this woman in the face.
“Let her go!” Tala demanded from somewhere by the fountains. Lita could hear Aria chanting a breathless rush of indistinguishable words. Her brother was shouting too.
Funnily enough, his rage gave her a surge of strength. Or maybe brave, stupid courage. Pinned the way she was, she couldn’t exactly use her Keyblade to much success. But Lita wouldn’t just dangle there in the enemy’s grip like some damsel in distress.
I’m not some “pretty little doll”. But I AM a dragon!
“Let. Me. GO!!”
A quick breath of air swept in between her teeth. The panic twisting her belly turned to a roiling boil. A volcanic heat. Lita blew a short burst of fire in the woman’s face. Reyna shrieked and released her at once, but as Lita dropped to her feet that massive Keyblade came crashing down on her shoulder, the jagged teeth digging into her arm and pushing her to the ground.
“You…You brat,” Reyna Beatrix seethed, pressing her free hand to her stinging, reddened cheek. Lita’s flames hadn’t been strong enough to deal any serious damage, so the burns were only slight. But they seemed to enrage the woman, who sent a savage kick into Lita’s injured shoulder.
“You brat, you brat, you brat!!!”
Pinned by that pointed heel, Lita reeled as she tried to take account of her injuries. Her shoulder did hurt, but nothing felt broken. Maybe a little bruised. It didn’t seem like that Keyblade’s teeth had torn into her skin, so that was something at least. Her lungs ached from using up most of her breath in that last attack and she felt a little lightheaded as a result.
On the other hand, Reyna—although seriously ticked off and slightly singed—appeared no more worse for wear.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
How were they supposed to stop this woman? Aria’s spell kept her trapped within this area for the time being, but it didn’t feel like they were any closer to defeating her. And how much longer could Aria keep this up? So much spellcasting without rest or restorative items in between. Lita wasn’t the expert, but she knew that no mage had an inexhaustible well of magic to draw on. Soon or later, she would tire out.
Worse yet, they might all tire out.
We’ve got to figure this out quickly…But how?
The weight bearing down on her shoulder increased. Lita groaned, feeling her shoulder blade creaking under the pressure.
“I have to admit, it’s been quite some time since I was able to cut loose like this. Feels like centuries, even.” The woman leaned down, grabbing a handful of Lita’s hair and yanking, dragging her up onto her knees. “I suppose that I’ll have to give the old man my thanks for such an opportunity. Especially when it means thrashing some pathetic Keybearers.”
“You won’t get away with—Augh!”
“Wrong, child.” Reyna gave Lita’s hair a wrenching tug. “Oh, how you couldn’t be more wrong…”
“DON’T TOUCH HER!!!” A murderous cry preceded Solus as he came barreling in, driving his elbow into Reyna’s back and forcing her to release Lita. Grabbing his twin by the waist, he slung her over his shoulder and whirled around, blasting their opponent with fire.
“Don’t touch my sister,” he roared. “I’ll kill you!!”
A great bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking Reyna where she stood. As that was happening, Aria and Tala rushed in from the sides and ran past the woman to take up posts on either side of Solus. They both had their weapons at the ready, prepared for anything that might come their way.
“That’s not going to hold her for long,” Aria said quickly. “We’ve got to take this hag down. ASAP!”
“Don’t suppose that you’ve got any ideas.” Solus adjusted his sister’s weight off her injured shoulder and glared back at Reyna. “Frankly, she’s starting to piss me off. Give me a plan, or I’m going to start tearing limbs off!”
Even though she ought to be repulsed, Tala merely offered up a derisive snort. “Very charming. I’m sure you get all the ladies with that…Huh?”
Ignoring the boy’s scowl directed her way, she broke off in mid-sentence to peek behind him. A look of confusion painted her face. “Hey, Sis? Why’s your bag glowing?”
Now it was Lita’s turn to frown. Her bag? Glowing? What was Tala talking…Oh.
Because her little item bag had been clipped onto the back of her belt, Lita had failed to notice the tiny silver of light peeking out from a corner of the zipper. The zip had pulled loose a little during the battle, allowing for the light that had caught Tala’s eye. Lita shifted her good arm around over her brother’s head and pulled the bag from its clip.
“What in the worlds?”
As it turned out, the glow came from one of the little drawstring pouches—the ones containing her crystals. Only one bag glowed, the one holding the Fire crystal. As Lita shook the stone out into her palm, she noted how warm it felt. Not a painful kind of warmth, like the burn from Reyna’s nails. This was much more pleasant, like curling up in front of a fireplace.
Solus craned his head slightly to see what the commotion was about. His jaw promptly dropped once he caught sight of the glowing gem sitting in his sister’s hand. “That’s…That’s our Dragon Crystal! Lita, how’d you get your hands on that thing?!”
With her twin’s voice shouting loudly in her ear, she flinched and tried to pull away as far as possible. “W-Well, yes! Mother made me take them with me when Aurea fell!”
“You’ve got all of them?!”
The subject of crystals perked a certain witch’s interest. “What’s this about shiny rocks?”
Solus made a clicking sound with his teeth before suddenly passing his sister off to Aria. After giving his jacket a quick adjustment. He grabbed Tala by the hand and rushed back into the fray, calling out behind him, “Help Lita with that thing, Beanpole. We’ll hold her off!”
“Huh?”
“W-Wait, Solus!”
Despite being the only one without a proper weapon, Solus charged in anyway. Armed with only that wooden staff of his, he rushed Reyna as soon as the lightning cleared up, catching most of her strikes and dealing a fair amount of his own. A jab at her ankles. A quick blow to the side of the head. even this impressive maneuver where he acted like he was going to punch her right in the stomach, only to slide in right behind Reyna to deliver a quick strike-and-kick combo to her unguarded back. Lita was impressed by her brother’s ability to juggle armed attacks and physical blows, but alarmed by the ferocity in which he fought.
Solus attacked like a wild animal, frenzied and fierce. A lot of screaming involved. Swearing and cursing and carrying on like a wild boar. Flames ignited around his feet, catching the oozing Darkness around Reyna and combusting almost instantly. He was so caught up in his rage that Tala couldn’t get anywhere near him for fear of getting caught in the crossfire. Lita had never seen her sister so angry about getting relegated to support; she was cursing almost as much as Solus.
“Okay, we’d better hurry before that doofus does something he’s going to regret…” Aria grimaced as she watched him ram into the Beatrix woman, knocking her back into a wall with enough force to splinter the brick. “I’m going to be up to my ears in mortar…Give me that rock of yours, will you?”
Lita was hesitant to comply. Handing over her kingdom’s most precious treasure to a girl she hardly knew didn’t exactly sit well with her. But they really didn’t have any time to waste, did they? Lita sucked it up and passed the crystal over.
Aria held the stone between her forefinger and thumb, peering into the center as she held it up to the light. The witch murmured to herself, low under her breath. Rolling the stone between her hands, Aria said a quick incantation. The light surrounding Lita’s crystal grew brighter for just the briefest of seconds before settling back down.
After a brief period of investigation, she turned to look at Lita with a perplexed expression. “How’d you get your hands on a Dress sphere?”
Dress sphere? Now it was Lita’s turn to be confused. “I beg your pardon?”
“Wait, you didn’t know?” Aria threw her hands up in the air, nearly tossing the crystal in the process. “Never mind, this is great! If you use that little beauty, we might just get an edge in this fight!”
The witch threw herself into a bit of a frenzy, making hasty explanations that Lita could barely keep up with. From what she gathered, Aria suspected that her crystal contained some powerful transformative magic. If Lita could tap into that magic, it might be able to boost her powers enough to give them the victory they needed.
Now that was some fantastic news. But there was only one problem.
“B-But I don’t know how to use it,” she tried to explain. “I’ve tried to figure it out on my own, but nobody taught me how to use them!”
Aria groaned and dropped her head into her hands. “Well that throws a wrench into things…”
Lita’s hopes dropped. “I’m sorry. Is there anything else that we can do?”
The witch frowned, furiously tapping her finger against the side of her forehead. “There’s gotta be something,” she muttered. “Think, think, think! C’mon, Ree…”
…
…
“Watch your back, you idiot!” Tala threw her hand out, hurling her knife at the spikes that came flying at Solus from behind. Her aim stayed true, hitting the spikes from the side. As a result, she achieved a kind of domino effect in midair. All five spikes fell before they could hit their mark.
Solus didn’t so much as nod in her direction. Instead, he kept his attention focused on attacking the Beatrix woman. Go figure. Tala fumed.
You’re welcome, jerk…
How in the worlds was this guy Lita’s brother? She couldn’t believe it. They were like polar opposites. Lita was sweet and caring. She hardly ever lost her temper, unlike this guy. In the few times she’d had the displeasure of being near him, she’d seen him fly off the handle almost every single time. Even now, Tala could barely even keep up with him as he whipped himself into a wild frenzy. He seemed more concerned with crushing this woman into dust than getting anything useful accomplished.
“He’s out of control,” she muttered. “I can’t take on two opponents at once. Not like this.”
She needed a plan. It wasn’t enough to just chase this woman out of Radiant Garden, Tala understood that quite clearly. They needed to get some answers out of her first. There was so many questions coming to mind because of this encounter. So much that she didn’t understand.
The command over not only Darkness, but the Heartless as well. Yet another unfamiliar Keyblade. And the woman had set her sights on capturing Kairi, one of the fabled Princesses of Heart. None of this boded well. Tala could only assume that she had some kind of nefarious plan in mind for all of this, but she had no idea what that could be.
One question did stand out in her mind above all others. Could it be possible that the woman was an agent of that man she’d been told about…That Xehanort person? According to legend, the seven Princesses of Heart were crucial in reaching the fabled Kingdom Hearts. And that was supposed to be the man’s ultimate goal, right?
This couldn’t be a coincidence. No, it was all too suspicious. It all had to be connected. But she needed confirmation. Tala didn’t like all this uncertainty hanging up in the air. She needed to get some concrete answers. Preferably, before her new “brother” ruined any possibility of getting them.
“Touch my sister again and I swear I’ll kill you!” Solus’ scream rang loudly in her ears. Geez, did he know how to yell…
Yes. First things first, she needed to take care of her sister’s irresponsible, out of control twin brother. Sooner rather than later. But nothing too drastic. She just needed to get Solus under control and then she could worry about Reyna. Tala could do that much without breaking a sweat.
Here we go.
Tala twirled her Keyblade, Pride of the Forest, around in her hand as she drew on a little more magic. Although she was nowhere near as good a mage as that ridiculous witch, Tala had an ace up her sleeve in the form of a natural inclination for Earth magic. She could cast powerful Earth spells without experiencing much of an energy drain from it. Casting and manipulating rock and stone was like second nature. Almost as natural as breathing.
“Okay.” Pointing the weapon down, Tala stabbed it into the ground. “Granite Castle!”
A tremor ran along the ground, racing towards the two combatants at remarkable speeds. Solus and Reyna, so absorbed in their battle, failed to notice it until the spell was right on them. Great slabs of gray stone burst through the bricks, sending up a disorienting spray of rubble and debris. Five slabs, all about seven feet tall by five feet wide and about half a foot thick. One of the slabs shot up in front of Reyna, haltering her advance while the other four closed in on Solus. Before the boy could react, they had him trapped inside a granite box.
“What the hell?!” Solus pounded his fists against the wall in front of him. “Let me out!”
Tala ignored his demand. Instead, she ran past and threw a punch of her own at the wall standing in front of the other Keyblade wielder. Her own set of spikes protruded out the other end, firing on Reyna Beatrix. Tala called to the top of the wall and flung herself from the edge.
“Critical Impact!”
She dropped down on the woman, slamming the hilt of her Keyblade into her shoulder and dragging her to the ground. Tala tucked into a roll, using her foot to dig the Keyblade further in as she pushed off.
Turning on her heel, she conjured a lance into her hand and hurled at the woman. Reyna blocked it with her Keyblade as she pulled herself up. The sleeve of her left arm sported a large tear where Pride of the Forest’s teeth had snagged the fabric and ripped. Black liquid ran from a cut in her shoulder, dripping down her arm and onto the ground where it smoked and fizzled on the cobblestones.
Is that stuff coming from inside her body?
Okay, that would have to be something to watch out for. Whatever this gunk was, it had done a number on Lita. Now, maybe that was just her sister reacting negatively to the Darkness that this other woman produced. Or, maybe there was something else in that strange substance that caused the reaction. Whatever the reason, Tala decided to take care and avoid it as much as possible. Her mother had worked enough defensive charms into her clothes to provide some protection, but Tala didn’t want to push her luck.
Keep moving, but conserve energy. Don’t let the black ooze touch her. Oh, and watch out for that huge Keyblade. She had the beginnings of a plan starting to form.
I’m a hunter. Time to go hunting.
The woman charged forward, just as Tala suspected she would. Her fighting style seemed to revolve around running straight at opponents with that weighty Keyblade of hers, using her impressive strength to knock enemies off balance and keep them staggered. Her stamina meant that she could keep up with the swinging and produce a lot of momentum with each strike. But Tala could use that to her advantage!
“Hah!” Reyna swung down. Tala pivoted slightly and leaned away from the strike. As the teeth of her Keyblade sunk into the ground, the brunette pulled herself into a back-ended handstand. Her feet kicked Reyna in the chest, producing a winded grunt from the older woman.
“Quake!” Tala carried through with her handstand, bending back into a sort of flip. As her feet slammed into the hard ground, a cluster of rocky spikes exploded under Reyna. The spikes that came forth pummeled the woman and managed to pin her in place. Reyna Beatrix howled furiously as she strained against Tala’s impromptu trap. The cluster kept her arms and legs spread apart with jagged bits pressing into her back. Tala breathed a sigh of relief once it became clear that she was truly stuck.
“Alright. Now we’re getting somewhere.”
She took a few careful steps forward, keeping in mind to have her Keyblade at the ready. The Beatrix woman still struggled and yanked at her bonds. Watching her reminded Tala of the animals in the forest back home that she would come across, the ones caught in hunter’s traps that fought against all reason and sanity to break free.
“Why did you come here,” she asked. “You keep saying that you’re here for Kairi. But I want to know why?”
The woman refused to answer as Tala repeated her questions. When no answers came, the brunette began to get frustrated. Reyna just glared down at her, seething with rage. But whether that anger came from the pointed stone digging into her skin or because of the fact that she was stuck there, Tala did not know.
“What do you want with Kairi? Who are you working for?” Tala stomped her foot. A rough grinding could be heard as the cluster of rocks drew closer together, pressing tighter against their prisoner. “Answer me!”
But still, the woman would not answer. Tala continued to increase the pressure of her rock formation slowly, bit by bit. The idea wasn’t to crush the woman, but to apply enough of a squeeze on her so she would give in and answer her questions. Interrogation wasn’t exactly her forte, but Tala had to try something.
Come on, all I want is some information!
“Such a brute,” Reyna grunted. Despite the pressure laid on her, she smirked and proceeded to taunt Tala. “Is this what Keyblade wielders are like these days? Brutish, savage inquisitors? How utterly disappointing.”
“So says the woman who unleashed Heartless on innocent townsfolk. You’re trying to egg me on,” Tala pointed out. “I can be a brute if I want to, but you don’t seem any better. So just answer my questions and we can all go on with our lives.”
Maybe if I pull out some of my more intimidating weapons from the Armory, I can get somewhere…But that takes up a lot of energy. It’ll have to be a last ditch option. Darn it. okay, new plan!
The woman laughed this booming cackle. It was an obnoxious, condescending laugh. A hyena’s cry, more than any laugh she’d ever heard. That did annoy Tala just a bit, but she pushed it down for the sake of this mission. First rule of battle: Never let the enemy get under your skin. Tala knew that if the woman could do that, then she would win. And she was not Solus. She refused to let her temper run rampant.
“I just want information,” she said, keeping her voice even. “Surely you can understand that? The Princess of Heart is under my protection. I have the right to know why it is you’re coming after her.”
Not necessarily true, but Tala wasn’t going to let her in on that fact. Besides, she wasn’t just going to let a brute like this woman make off with Kairi without a fight. Not on her watch.
This seemed to amuse Reyna. Thankfully, she didn’t laugh this time.
“Goodness, I suppose you’ve got a point there,” the woman jeered. “I suppose that I can give you this one bit of information. A reward for backing me into a corner…”
Finally!
Tala waited in anticipation and held her hand out, prepared to transform the rocks into a similar cage like the one that held Solus. Once she got the information that she wanted, she’d just need to flick her wrist and then they’d have a prisoner to hand over to Radiant Garden’s Red Wings for further interrogation.
Oh, she loved it when a plan came together. Even if it took going through a couple different idea until one stuck.
Only this time, all it took was a few precious moments for it to all go up in flames.
A wild light sparked in the Beatrix woman’s eerie eyes. Reyna snapped her fingers and suddenly little slimy trails of black ooze ran up all of Tala’s spikes. The Darkness spread out over the surface of the rock and contracted, crushing them into dust. Smirking triumphantly, Reyna landed lightly on her feet and brushed the debris away.
Startled, Tala attempted to scramble backwards, but something caught her leg and she tripped. In trying to wring answers out of Reyna she had failed to notice the small puddle that had formed under their feet. So as she fell back, she saw the sticky, tar-like ooze coiled around her ankle.
Her shoulder injury! Dammit, I walked right into a trap!
She’d been too cocky. The sludge did indeed burn where it seeped in to her clothes. Tala struggled and tried to pry her leg free. But she could pull it out. Desperate, she took up her Keyblade and hacked away. As Reyna closed in on her, more and more Darkness poured over Tala. She choked and gagged as it splashed up over her face and flowed over her arms. It was like quicksand and she couldn’t get out.
Panic clawed at her throat as she struggled in the sludge. Tala could feel her heart pounding against her ribs. It was like she was drowning. Fear ripped into her chest like a wild animal. She could barely move. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t get out. She was stuck and she couldn’t breathe—!!!
I can’t get out. I-I can’t breathe! Somebody, anybody, help!!!
“Tell me, do you enjoy being the fly in my spider’s web?” Reyna laughed and sneered as she stood over the girl. “But oh, that’s right! I have to give you your reward, my little puppy…”
Tala watched, eyes wide with terror, as the woman held her hand out. Instead of calling her Keyblade forth, she pooled Darkness together between her twirling fingers. It swirled and bubbled furiously, like the proverbial witch’s cauldron. Right before Tala’s eyes, it stretched and solidified into a shape she was more familiar with. One that filled her stomach with dread.
Reyna Beatrix stood over the girl with a dark, crystalline spike in hand, glittering like a lance made of black glass. “Your prize, child, is this…” She held the lance high above her head, making her intentions quite clear.
No, no, no!!
“Xehanort sends his regards.”
Tala couldn’t even scream as the lance came down on her. Fear had paralyzed her vocal chords. Her muscles refused to work. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t bring her arms or weapons or magic up to defend herself. Time practically slowed down as she watched the dreaded lance come down.
But something happened. The pain she had expected never came. Instead, a splash of green flashed in front of her eyes. Tala felt something soft press up against her face, blocking any more Darkness from reaching her mouth and nose. A dull thump and a smothered whimper rattled in her ears.
“What?” Reyna’s cry was more like a disgusted snarl.
A sharp gust of incredibly hot wind blew Reyna Beatrix away from Tala. At the same time, the thing covering her face rolled away. The brunette coughed up a mouthful of black sludge and breathed in a greedy gulp of air. She didn’t care if the heat burned her lungs and scorched her throat.
But something settled across her cheeks, tickling her nose. A thick green rope? No, wait. It wasn’t rope. A new wave of dread pooled in her belly. Not a rope. A hair braid.
Fighting against her bonds, she managed to twist her neck to the side enough to spot the long figure lying on the ground. The heart that had been racing away, pounding against her chest, almost stopped then and there.
“A-Aria…?”
The witch lay on her side, facing Tala. Aria shook as she pressed her hand against a spot on her side. Tala caught the glint of a black shard of glass sticking out between her fingers, resting just above Aria’s hip. Red drops dripped out from under her palm and down her belly.
“H-Hey, Shortstuff,” Aria wheezed, managing a strained little smile. “You okay?”
Aria had thrown herself in front of Tala, taking the blow for her. Upon realizing this, a painful lump formed in her throat. Tala’s eyes began to fill with hot, angry tears. “Y-You…You i-i-i-idiot,” she choked. “You idiot! Wh-Why did you d-do that?”
Even though it clearly pained her to do so, Aria laughed. “C’mon, kid. You heard me before. I don’t allow…people in my…town to get hurt…” The witch groaned as she prodded around her injury. Her eyes squeezed shut and she bit her cheek. “Oof…Hey, you two going to just…ugh…stand there? Or are you gonna avenge your poor little witch?”
Two figures moved to stand over the girls. A bright, blinding light forced Tala to look away. It was like staring up at the sun; the light hurt her eyes. But her face felt warm, so much warmer compared to the cold, slimy feel of the Darkness around her.
“Watch over them for me, Aurey,” a voice said. “I’ll deal with Reyna.”
“…Fine. But you’d better win. Don’t make me come bail you out.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Footsteps pounded away from them. Another flash of light forced her to close her eyes as something hot hit the Darkness covering her. The sludge began to melt away and Tala felt an arm slip under her shoulder, pulling her up. Panicking, Tala started to struggle again, lashing out with her fists.
“Easy. Take it easy. I’ve got you, kiddo.”
That’s was…That was Solus’ voice, wasn’t it?
Slowly, gingerly, Tala opened her eyes. The bright light was gone and she could see the figure hanging over her clearly now. It was Solus. He had her leaned up against his shoulder as his other hand melted the gunk away from her legs.
“Aria, you okay?” He looked back for a second at the witch lying down at his side. “’Cause I’m pretty sure your brother and dragon are going to want to kill me because you decided to skewer yourself.”
Aria somehow managed a scoff. “And let the little cutie get turned into a kabob instead? What kind of scoundrel do you take me for?”
“The moronic kind, apparently...” Solus shook his head. “One of these days, you’re going to get yourself killed.” Once he finally managed to get Tala free, he pulled her and Aria away from the battlefield, tucking them away into a little corner.
Not an easy thing. The stupid witch was pretty much useless, with all her long limbs flopping around the place. Granted, she did have a huge chunk of…whatever that crap was in her side. Not like she could really do much to begin with. But dragging her around was like carrying a bag of wet cement.
Or hauling Gladio’s fat butt around…He’d had the displeasure of being stuck doing that before. It was not fun and Solus was positive that his back was still screwed up from it.
Carrying Tala was a bit easier. The kid was pretty small and uninjured, so he could just throw her over his shoulder and hightail it out of there. She didn’t put up any fuss and just went along with it. The entire time, she kept sobbing, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Over and over again with her face pressed into his jacket as she wept.
He wanted to be pissed at her for sticking him in that box. It had taken forever to melt his way out of it. Because of her stupidity, she tried to take on that psycho alone and almost got herself killed in the process. Hell, Aria actually did get hurt because of this brat. If Solus had tried something like that back home, he’d have been in deep trouble for it. That kind of insubordination would have serious consequences with any of his superiors. Ava, Cor, and Nyx would have his head mounted as a wall trophy.
But he really couldn’t stay too made at her. The experience had really shaken her up; he could tell from the way she was crying. The kid was practically bawling into his shoulder. Who was he kidding anyhow? This had been something Prompto and Noct had been teasing him about for years. No matter how tough he acted, he just couldn’t stay mad at crying girls.
I’m such a damn sap…
Once the girls had been situated—including the removal of that glass from Aria’s side and a hastily applied bandage wrapped over the wound—he turned back to watch his sister work.
To think, Lita actually had a temper after all. With all these memories of his little sister flouncing around in poufy dresses and spending most of her time in the stables where the castle kept the horses and hunting dogs, he never would’ve guessed that the shrieking banshee tearing around the arena was actually Lita. She tore after that crazy woman with all the vengeance of a daemon, laying into the woman and blasting her with everything she had.
Using the Dragon crystal had been a good idea after all. Solus had a feeling that Lita might not know how to use it, so getting Aria to help had been a good idea after all. But that being said, seeing the thing in action was something else.
The transformation itself was pretty unexpected. Lita seemed to actually become some kind of Fire elemental, taking on all the attributes of the element itself. Her skin had gone a sort of transparent pink, kind of like actual crystal and produced a soft light. Sweltering waves of heat rolled off her body, causing the black sludge along the ground and puddles of water to evaporate in seconds as she passed by. Lita’s hair had turned into a literal flame, curling around her face and dropping hot embers onto the ground.
Her clothes had changed for some reason, too. Instead of that dark skinsuit, she wore a pair of orange boots and a bunch of silks tied around her waist, laying over a strapless red top and a belted vest. Crimson sleeves trailed down from her arms, shimmering like flames whenever she moved. And the Aurean Fire crystal itself hung from a jeweled belt secured around her waist.
Was this the power of the Elemental crystals? Solus remembered hearing tales of them as a child, but had never seen the things in action before. Not what he expected, but if it could send this hag running, he’d take it.
“Kick her ass, Lita.”
Lita screamed as she chased after Reyna Beatrix, feeling an unbelievable surge of strength running through her. Power from the crystal hanging at her side rushed into her body, fueling her. It was almost as if a volcano had erupted within her. She couldn’t remember a time where she’d felt so powerful. Adrenaline rushes were one thing, but this was something else. She felt so strong. Like she could take on a thousand Heartless all by herself.
A strong sense of rage certainly played into it. At least, that’s what she thought it might be. Lita was unbelievably angry. This woman…No. This monster had tried to hurt her sister. She had tried to drive a weapon of Darkness through Tala’s heart. If not for Aria throwing herself in between them, Tala could’ve been turned into a Heartless, or worse.
She would not forgive her. Lita refused to.
“You won’t get away with this,” she cried. It was an inhuman shriek. One that shook the walls and the broken ground beneath their feet.
Clapping her hands together, Lita summoned a wave of fire from the cracks in the stone under her that surged towards Reyna faster than she could run from it. Lita broke out into a run and leapt through the wall as it kept her pinned down in one place, driving her foot into the woman’s stomach. Reyna fell to the ground, and Lita rolled away as a pool of Darkness sent thorns after her. But she reduced the spikes to a pile of black ash with no more than a wave of her hand.
“You target my friends, hurt my sister,” she accused. “And for what? What are you after?!”
Why? Why all the fighting? Why did she feel it necessary to hurt her opponents in such a way? Why, why, why?! Lita would make her pay for this. For sending Heartless out into the town. For targeting Kairi. For hurting her family and her friends. Lita would make her pay!
Well, she at least had one thing in her favor. The battle was finally starting to get to Reyna Beatrix. After Lita’s attack, she stood up on unsteady feet, pitching forward slightly. Her mouth twitched and she ran a thumb over the corner of her lips, wiping at a smear of blood. Staring at the red stain, she scowled.
“I’d think that would be pretty obvious by now,” she sneered. “My goal is war. War on the Light and on you miserable Keyblade wielders.”
Lita frowned. War on the Light? Now that sounded familiar. “So you are working for Xehanort.”
Reyna bristled and Lita knew immediately that she had touched a nerve. “I work for no one,” she spat. Taking up her Keyblade once more, Reyna sunk into a low fighting stance. Darkness rose up from around her feet into a vaporous, swirling mass. A dense, murky black fog.
She was gearing up towards a powerful attack. Lita tensed and pulled her own blade into a defensive position. Would this form be able to protect herself from whatever the woman had planned? Despite having the ability to manipulate it, Lita wasn’t immune to the Darkness. She had no idea how something this might affect her. If this attack hit her straight on, she ran this risk of losing control. That could wreak havoc. But if she used her own Darkness to counter or protect herself, that might cause more harm than good, too.
Did she have any other options? Her brother and sister were still in the courts. And so was Aria, who had sustained a significant injury in battle. If the Darkness shared between her and Reyna spiraled out of control, they would be in danger. There was also the issue of the Heartless to worry about. With so much Darkness, they’d storm the fountains.
I’ve got to stop her before she releases this attack! Quickly, Lita, think!
She had no real game plan. Lita was a creature of instinct. She wasn’t a planner like Tala, who couldn’t function without some sort of tactical forecast. So the only thing that came to mind was a frontal assault. Hit with a powerful attack, put everything she had into it, and pray that it won the day.
Light of Kingdom Hearts, and the spirits of Aurea, please! Give me strength!
Fire pooled in her belly. Lita took a breath to steady herself as she let that power flow from her into her Keyblade. She had to remember, she was Lita Atropa. A Draconian of Aurea. She was fire itself. And fire was just another kind of light, right? If nothing else, her light would burn away this evil!
As the Darkness started to swell around her blade, Reyna began to charge forward. Lita decided to throw caution to the wind and ran as well, driving as much power into her own Keyblade as she could. Flames licked at her heels. Burning Soul heated in her hands to the point where she felt her palms begin to burn. It hurt, but she ignored that pain.
“End of Light…” Reyna held her Keyblade high over her head, the teeth of the blade pointing up towards the sky. Darkness swirled around the blade, extending it by an extra few feet. Small bolts of lightning arced off the blade.
On the other side of that coin, Lita held her own sword out to the side as she neared her enemy. Thanks to this new form derived from the Fire crystal, she was able to boost the power of her flames by at least five times their normal power. “Blazefire Impact…”
“Fall, Light wielder,” Reyna bellowed. Lita braced herself for whatever may come her way. For the sake of her friends and family, as well as all the other innocent citizens of Radiant Garden, she would endure. She would defeat this woman!
But just as the two were about to cross blades, an object came sailing out of the sky, burrowing deep into the ground. A thick briar of dense vines and foliage exploded from the pool, overflowing and overtaking the fountains within seconds. The women crashed directly into this botanical overflow, unintentionally releasing their attacks. But instead of running amok, both fire and Darkness were absorbed into the thicket of vines and a forceful burst of flower petals exploded outwards instead. Lita went sailing back, slamming into one of the farthest fountain jets and creating a hazy screen of steam when her fire hit the water. Reyna, on the other hand, went flying into a pile of rubble.
“My, my, my,” a smooth voice cooed. “Ladies, please. Beautiful flowers like you shouldn’t push yourselves so hard.”
Lita coughed and sputtered in the cold water. What…What happened?
As she dragged herself out of the water, she watched the briars shrink in on themselves, curling and withering away until they had completely disappeared. It happened fast. Just as quickly as the vines and thorns had appeared, they vanished, leaving nothing but a slim, curved weapon wedged in a pile of rubble.
“H-Huh…?”
A cloud of black smoke appeared next to the weapon and from within it emerged a tall figure shrouded in a black coat. The hood rested down on his shoulders, revealing blue eyes and a shock of long pink hair.
“Pardon me,” the man said as he picked the weapon—a scythe—out of the ground. Leaning the weapon over his shoulder, he turned around to survey the damage. “Well, you caused quite the mess, my dear damask rose. Now then…” Ignoring the fact that he had boldly interrupted a battle, the man picked his way through the debris until he came upon Reyna’s limp body lying half-buried under a pile of rocks.
“What are you doing here,” she panted. “Go away!”
The man ignored her. Instead, he stooped to clear the rubble away. Once he had Reyna uncovered, he picked her up under his arm—something which she protested very, very, loudly—and opened up a Dark Corridor. But before he could drag the woman in, kicking and screaming, he turned back to flash Lita an oddly charming smile. Almost as if he was completely oblivious to the redheaded hellcat thrown over his shoulder.
“My apologies for the inconvenience our dear Keyblade wielder has caused. I assure you, this chaos was not the Organization’s intention. But please, send our regards to my old friends up in the castle, will you?” He nodded his head to her and disappeared into the portal.
Lita sat there on the ground, unsure of how to process that strange interaction and overcome by exhaustion. She was just barely maintaining a hold over her form, but every muscle in her body ached. She felt like she had just run a marathon.
Who in the worlds was that man? Another Organization member?
“What…What’s going on here…?”

Description
Chapter 9: Dark Briars

Lita and her friends were silent, stunned by such a bizarre demand. “I don’t want to fight if I don’t have to,” the woman said smoothly. “So why don’t you just be good little children and just hand over the girl?”
Lita blinked, caught somewhere between shock and confusion as she stared at the woman standing across from her. She was…She was joking, right? She had to be joking. That was ridiculous!
It would seem not. The strange woman appeared to be completely serious. Frighteningly so, in fact. There was no hint of mischief in her expression. No mirth in her tone. No putting on a show.
Although she lacked a weapon in hand, everything about her posture said that she was ready to fight. The woman stood up straight with her shoulders thrown back, making use of every intimidating inch of her tall, sturdy frame. Hands rested loosely by her sides, long fingers spread like claws. She stood with her feet spread out, so if the woman wanted to spring forward, she perfectly able to. That was a battle stance if Lita had ever seen one.
Yes, all that about not wanting to fight was utter nonsense. This much was fairly obvious. But that wasn’t the biggest problem here. There was one rather large, extremely troubling thing that Lita didn’t understand. “What do you want with Kairi?”
A smirk tugged at the woman’s face and she laughed. “Suspicious? That’s good; you’re smarter than you look.” The amusement quickly fell from her face as she made this rude, scoffing sound. “But I don’t owe you any explanations…Midnight Briar.”
The teens gathered close around each other as the woman stomped her foot against the ground. The sharp snap of her heel echoed loudly in the open, airy fountains. And then a strange thing happened concerning the redhead’s shadow. Although faint at first, it turned murky, and then very dark within seconds until it hardly resembled a shadow at all. Rather, it became some sort of black, vicious liquid flowing across the ground, spreading like an oil slick. Whatever the ooze came in contact with, it quickly started to eat away at. Tearing through solid brick and concrete and filling the air with this awful, noxious smell.
“What the…?” Tala picked up a stone and chucked it into the tar-like substance, yelping when it sucked the rock in and shot it right back at her. “What is this?!”
Lita had a much different response. The girl lurched forward and gagged, throwing her hands over her mouth and nose, desperately trying to block out the horrid smell. Grave dirt and mold. A powerful aroma of wood rot. The scent of gunpowder and something sickly sweet, like spoiled fruit. Lita felt overwhelmed. Dizzy and unsteady on her feet.
“Lita? Hey, Lita!” Solus grabbed her shoulder and shook. “The hell’s wrong with you?”
“D-Darkness,” she choked through stinging tears. “She’s like me an’…M-Me and Riku…!”
“Wait, it’s her nose,” Aria hissed, snatching at the fabric tied to his belt. “Solus, give her your scarf!”
From the looks of it, the others weren’t able to smell what she smelled. Now, that was wonderful for them, but it also told Lita a few helpful things right off the bat. Or, maybe they weren’t exactly helpful. Useful, yes. But mostly…troubling.
This woman was just like her—she could use the power of Darkness. That awful smell reminded her of the first few days when her own powers had begun to manifest. The scent of Darkness had left her ill and out of commission for a week. But unlike Lita, who prepared to limit her use of this power towards amplifying her ability to track down Rifts and Heartless, this Reyna Beatrix seemed more inclined to using it in combat. She absolutely reeked of Darkness. And unlike any other Darkness that Lita had ever seen, this was volatile and corrosive like acid.
Dangerous.
“Give me the girl,” Reyna repeated. “Or I will take her.”
Solus stepped out in front of his twin as she pressed the fringed scarf over her face. With fists clenched tight and fire burning in his eye, he was as tightly wound with tension as a heavy industrial spring. Sparks flew around his ankles when he moved. Lita watched the tips of his fingers turn a bright, molten red right before her eyes. The air around him turned stifling and hot.
“Keep yapping all you want, but I will not be threatened,” he growled. “Some hag comes out of nowhere, releasing Heartless into the city, and then demands that we hand over a Princess of Heart?” Solus threw his hands up in disgust. “Not gonna happen!”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Aria interjected angrily. Holding her sword out, she pointed the blade directly at the woman. “You can spew the same nonsense over and over again, but the second you threaten my town and my people? Lady, you’re toast!”
When a piercing roar tore through the air, the witch went into immediate action. One of the biggest dragons Lita had ever seen swooped down from the waterfalls, breathing a cloud-like stream of white smoke. Heavy, dense patches of frost appeared along the ground wherever its chilly breath hit. The strange woman ducked under its grasping claws as it flew overhead, snatching and tearing at the loose skirt belted around her waist. The creature turned in mid-air, slamming the end of its tail into the Beatrix woman just before she could land both feet back on the ground. As quickly as it could, the dragon craned its neck around and blasted her with an icy breath.
Aria took off into the fight, using an Aero spell to launch herself over the sludge. Twirling through the air, she gracefully landed onto the spraying jets of the fountains. A short-lived Gravity spell pinned the woman in place when she tried to go after the dragon.
“Drayke,” she called, her voice carrying across the courts. “Find Kairi and keep her safe for me! Got it? Watch our princess and back her up!”
The dragon gave a reluctant roar before following her commands. As soon as the creature’s tail disappeared over the south wall, Aria released a relieved sigh. Good. The last thing I need is him rampaging around here.
“Now listen up,” she thundered from her perch on the fountains. “This is going to go one of two ways. Either you take your trashy butt and your Heartless and get out of my town, or you will be thrown out!”
As Aria gave her ultimatum, she held her hand up. Heavy black clouds gathered over the town. The wind picked up. Thunder crashed and lightning split the sky, silhouetting her against blinding bursts of light. There was no rain, but it was the beginnings of a storm nonetheless, and all conjured up with a simple hand gesture.
Biting, freezing wind whipped into a series of twisters all over the fountains, spraying water up into the air as they began to dilute the ooze covering the ground. A strong scent of ozone filled the air, drowning out the overwhelming Darkness.
As a bolt of lightning came down, striking the ground right in front of Reyna Beatrix’s feet, Lita could only assume that Aria was trying to scare her into giving up and leaving. This was a scare tactic. A reasonably effective one, if Lita had to say. Had their roles changed and Lita found herself facing a witch who could swing a massive sword around, command a dragon, and conjure up storms with the flick of a wrist, she’d turn tail and run in a heartbeat.
But not this woman. She was made of much sterner stuff, it would seem. Reyna stood her ground without even batting an eyelash. Even as lightning struck and cracked the stone within two feet of her, she did not flinch. Not even once.
To make matters worse, she yawned widely and then began to stretch her arms out, as if bored. “Are you finished with this pointless posturing? Because I am far from impressed, little girl.”
Reyna held her hand out. A burst of violet light materialized in her palm. After a second, she was holding an enormous, weighty Keyblade of purple and slate-gray metals. Music notes decorated the length of the blade, even forming a jagged set of teeth at the end. The chains clasped to the end of the hilt was reminiscent of a musical score and supported a small, delicate charm in the shape of a harp.
“Crap!” Solus swore loudly. “Another one of you guys?”
“She’s not one of us, you idiot,” Tala snapped, brandishing her own Keyblade in one hand and a long, curved hunting knife in the other. “Just keep her from going after Kairi!”
Right on cue, a barrier came up around the courts. All of the exits, even the open area on top of the walls, had been blocked off by magic. They were all of them stuck inside, trapped in the area. Screaming, Aria jumped down from her perch and brought her sword down on the woman. Reyna brought her Keyblade up to block the attack and used the momentum of her swing to push the witch away. Aria went careening into the basin under the fountain jets.
Spurred on, the others leapt into action. The twins ran on either side of the woman and unleashed a stream of fire, forcing the woman to roll forward. Tala came in to intercept her with a hail of boulders and sticky mud. The mud slowed her down a bit, allowing Lita to come in from behind for a quick combo with her sister.
“Fire Raid!”
“Strike Raid!”
The Keyblades came in from both the front and behind. Reyna was able to block Tala’s using the flat of her own Keyblade, but had been forced to use her other arm to block Lita’s. From the sound of her outraged shriek, Burning Soul had dealt some burn damage before returning to its wielder. Solus swooped in then, picking up one of Tala’s boulders and hurling it at their opponent.
“Geez,” Tala cried, impressed by the ease in which he managed to launch the heavy rock. “You’re stronger than you look, you know that?”
A sly smirk worked its way into the teen’s face. “No. You think? And here I thought I was some scrawny, little wimp!”
“Can we focus please?” Lita grunted, blocking the Keyblade that came whizzing for her brother’s head. That woman could really put some power into her throw! She was glad that her sister and her brother were actually getting along, but now was really not the time!
“Dragon Fire!”
A fireball launched from Burning Soul, leaving a scorching trail of burnt ooze across the surface of Reyna’s field spell. So she could burn this dark substance? Wonderful!
“Hey, you giraffe,” Tala called out. “Do you know any Enhancement magic?”
Aria readily, happily complied. Emerging from the pool on a wave of water, the witch plowed through the battlefield, disrupting an attack Reyna had been about to level out against the twins. She layered defense-boosting and strength-enhancing spells on all of her allies, as well as a Haste spell on slower fighters like Tala and Solus, who had been taking too much damage previously from not being able to avoid their enemy’s attacks.
“You’ll regret attacking my town,” she cried. “Inhabit my blade—Galestorm!!”
The gems set in the hilt of her sword glowed a dazzlingly bright white. Aria put a burst of strength into swinging her claymore, releasing a strong gust of wind that knocked the woman clear off her feet. As soon as she had her up in the air, the witch unleashed a flurry of Blizzard and Thunder spells that kept their adversary staggered, allowing the others to keep the pressure going.
“Lita!” Tala stamped her foot against the ground, summoning another volley of boulders in front of her. “Light ’em up!”
“Got it!”
“I’ll help!” Solus rushed over to assist.
Working together, the twins managed to set fire to all of Tala’s boulders in no time at all. Thus armed, Tala slammed her Keyblade into them and sent the flaming rocks flying into the Beatrix woman and knocked her out of the air. The brunette grinned smugly and cheered as she watched the woman fall into the fountains with a cry of outrage.
“That’s it,” Aria cried. “Keep on her!”
She certainly did, dishing out a remarkable Thunder spell from her sword as Reyna tried to pull herself out from the water. The witch seemed to pull from a bottomless well of energy, casting spell after spell without difficulty. Not only did she devote her spellcasting towards attacking the Beatrix woman, but also to buffing the others as well.
It was a curious thing, Lita observed. Because not only did Aria manage to keep her attacks going with magic, but with physical attacks as well. That sword of hers was a heavy thing, with roughly five feet of blade alone. And yet the witch managed to swing it around with ease; balancing it over her shoulder as she darted in, striking in a wide arc, and then running back out. Getting hit by that sword by itself should have been a problem.
But Reyna was strong. She seemed to soak up any damage dealt to her like a sponge and return it back two-fold. There had to be some sort of magic in play, boosting her defenses. Hitting her with a Keyblade was like punching a mountain barehanded. Try as they might, the teens just couldn’t wear her down, let alone deliver enough damage to knock her out. Lita, who could already feel herself starting to tire out, began to panic as she realized that fact.
This is insane. We can’t stop her!
“Fall!!” Dodging under one of Aria’s swings, Reyna struck the witch in the knee and then plowed right through Tala, knocking the poor girl down with a staggering blow to the chest. Once the brunette was down, she quickly grabbed her by the back of her belt and slung her into Solus, who fumbled as the two hit the ground.
“Rise, my briars!”
The dark ooze that had been trailing her every step sprang to life. A plethora of razor-sharp spines emerged from the Darkness, forcing everyone to scramble back. One of the spikes caught Aria in the leg and Solus had to roll in order to keep himself and a dazed, wheezing Tala from getting skewered. Bellowing once more, Reyna charged after the nearest available target: Lita. Meanwhile, the Darkness open fired on everyone else, pelting them with wave after wave of thorny spines.
“Look out, Lita!”
She parried a blow coming down on her head and used the teeth of her Keyblade to hook Reyna’s and pull her forward. Bending backwards, she flipped and used the toe of her boot to kick the heavy blade away.
“Fireflower!” Pursing her lips together, Lita exhaled a long, steady breath. Small embers bloomed as soon as the hit the air. A flurry of pinkish, petal-like flames hit the Beatrix woman straight on.
She howled vehemently and faltered only slightly, recovering her wits in the amount of time it took for Lita to cancel out her spell and replenish the oxygen in her lungs. Before the girl could begin to defend herself, Reyna had lunged forward. A hand snatched her by the collar and lifted her up off her feet. Lita gasped and struggled to free herself, but the woman’s strong fingers held tight. An iron grip around her throat. An awful burning sensation sunk deep into her skin where those long, painted fingernails dug into her neck.
It burned. Why did it burn?!
More of that black liquid dripped from her hand onto the ground, seeping from under the deep purple lacquer. Was there something in the polish that caused this?
“So the little girl thinks she’s a dragon, does she?” The Beatrix woman sneered, curling her lip. “I’ve faced more than a few dragons in my day, so let me tell you this: you pale in comparison.”
“W-Why…Why do you…need to t-take…Kairi…?” Lita tried to pry those fingers away from her neck. The black ooze seared her skin where it and Reyna’s fingertips touched, burning like an acid. Breathing wasn’t exactly a difficulty; Reyna held her tight enough to keep her in place, but not tight enough to strangle Lita. But between the grip on her throat and the Darkness burning her skin, the situation was hardly preferable.
A spark of irritation flashed in those amber-orange eyes that glowed like lanterns. “I seem to recall saying that I didn’t owe you any answers. However…”
A sly, darkly sinister smile played out across her lips. Lita felt her heart drop down to her stomach. With panic starting to set in, she renewed her efforts to pull free. Screaming. Punching. Driving her knee into the woman’s stomach. But all to no avail. When she tried to blindside her captor with a small fireball to the face, Reyna caught her by the wrist and dug her nails into Lita’s bare wrist.
“Now, now, pretty little doll.” Those nails burned into Lita’s arm and the girl winced from the pain. “If you don’t behave, I’ll have to punish you.”
Lita squirmed and grit her teeth, glaring at the woman. She’d never really been that much of a violent, vindictive person before, but right now she really just wanted to punch this woman in the face.
“Let her go!” Tala demanded from somewhere by the fountains. Lita could hear Aria chanting a breathless rush of indistinguishable words. Her brother was shouting too.
Funnily enough, his rage gave her a surge of strength. Or maybe brave, stupid courage. Pinned the way she was, she couldn’t exactly use her Keyblade to much success. But Lita wouldn’t just dangle there in the enemy’s grip like some damsel in distress.
I’m not some “pretty little doll”. But I AM a dragon!
“Let. Me. GO!!”
A quick breath of air swept in between her teeth. The panic twisting her belly turned to a roiling boil. A volcanic heat. Lita blew a short burst of fire in the woman’s face. Reyna shrieked and released her at once, but as Lita dropped to her feet that massive Keyblade came crashing down on her shoulder, the jagged teeth digging into her arm and pushing her to the ground.
“You…You brat,” Reyna Beatrix seethed, pressing her free hand to her stinging, reddened cheek. Lita’s flames hadn’t been strong enough to deal any serious damage, so the burns were only slight. But they seemed to enrage the woman, who sent a savage kick into Lita’s injured shoulder.
“You brat, you brat, you brat!!!”
Pinned by that pointed heel, Lita reeled as she tried to take account of her injuries. Her shoulder did hurt, but nothing felt broken. Maybe a little bruised. It didn’t seem like that Keyblade’s teeth had torn into her skin, so that was something at least. Her lungs ached from using up most of her breath in that last attack and she felt a little lightheaded as a result.
On the other hand, Reyna—although seriously ticked off and slightly singed—appeared no more worse for wear.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
How were they supposed to stop this woman? Aria’s spell kept her trapped within this area for the time being, but it didn’t feel like they were any closer to defeating her. And how much longer could Aria keep this up? So much spellcasting without rest or restorative items in between. Lita wasn’t the expert, but she knew that no mage had an inexhaustible well of magic to draw on. Soon or later, she would tire out.
Worse yet, they might all tire out.
We’ve got to figure this out quickly…But how?
The weight bearing down on her shoulder increased. Lita groaned, feeling her shoulder blade creaking under the pressure.
“I have to admit, it’s been quite some time since I was able to cut loose like this. Feels like centuries, even.” The woman leaned down, grabbing a handful of Lita’s hair and yanking, dragging her up onto her knees. “I suppose that I’ll have to give the old man my thanks for such an opportunity. Especially when it means thrashing some pathetic Keybearers.”
“You won’t get away with—Augh!”
“Wrong, child.” Reyna gave Lita’s hair a wrenching tug. “Oh, how you couldn’t be more wrong…”
“DON’T TOUCH HER!!!” A murderous cry preceded Solus as he came barreling in, driving his elbow into Reyna’s back and forcing her to release Lita. Grabbing his twin by the waist, he slung her over his shoulder and whirled around, blasting their opponent with fire.
“Don’t touch my sister,” he roared. “I’ll kill you!!”
A great bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking Reyna where she stood. As that was happening, Aria and Tala rushed in from the sides and ran past the woman to take up posts on either side of Solus. They both had their weapons at the ready, prepared for anything that might come their way.
“That’s not going to hold her for long,” Aria said quickly. “We’ve got to take this hag down. ASAP!”
“Don’t suppose that you’ve got any ideas.” Solus adjusted his sister’s weight off her injured shoulder and glared back at Reyna. “Frankly, she’s starting to piss me off. Give me a plan, or I’m going to start tearing limbs off!”
Even though she ought to be repulsed, Tala merely offered up a derisive snort. “Very charming. I’m sure you get all the ladies with that…Huh?”
Ignoring the boy’s scowl directed her way, she broke off in mid-sentence to peek behind him. A look of confusion painted her face. “Hey, Sis? Why’s your bag glowing?”
Now it was Lita’s turn to frown. Her bag? Glowing? What was Tala talking…Oh.
Because her little item bag had been clipped onto the back of her belt, Lita had failed to notice the tiny silver of light peeking out from a corner of the zipper. The zip had pulled loose a little during the battle, allowing for the light that had caught Tala’s eye. Lita shifted her good arm around over her brother’s head and pulled the bag from its clip.
“What in the worlds?”
As it turned out, the glow came from one of the little drawstring pouches—the ones containing her crystals. Only one bag glowed, the one holding the Fire crystal. As Lita shook the stone out into her palm, she noted how warm it felt. Not a painful kind of warmth, like the burn from Reyna’s nails. This was much more pleasant, like curling up in front of a fireplace.
Solus craned his head slightly to see what the commotion was about. His jaw promptly dropped once he caught sight of the glowing gem sitting in his sister’s hand. “That’s…That’s our Dragon Crystal! Lita, how’d you get your hands on that thing?!”
With her twin’s voice shouting loudly in her ear, she flinched and tried to pull away as far as possible. “W-Well, yes! Mother made me take them with me when Aurea fell!”
“You’ve got all of them?!”
The subject of crystals perked a certain witch’s interest. “What’s this about shiny rocks?”
Solus made a clicking sound with his teeth before suddenly passing his sister off to Aria. After giving his jacket a quick adjustment. He grabbed Tala by the hand and rushed back into the fray, calling out behind him, “Help Lita with that thing, Beanpole. We’ll hold her off!”
“Huh?”
“W-Wait, Solus!”
Despite being the only one without a proper weapon, Solus charged in anyway. Armed with only that wooden staff of his, he rushed Reyna as soon as the lightning cleared up, catching most of her strikes and dealing a fair amount of his own. A jab at her ankles. A quick blow to the side of the head. even this impressive maneuver where he acted like he was going to punch her right in the stomach, only to slide in right behind Reyna to deliver a quick strike-and-kick combo to her unguarded back. Lita was impressed by her brother’s ability to juggle armed attacks and physical blows, but alarmed by the ferocity in which he fought.
Solus attacked like a wild animal, frenzied and fierce. A lot of screaming involved. Swearing and cursing and carrying on like a wild boar. Flames ignited around his feet, catching the oozing Darkness around Reyna and combusting almost instantly. He was so caught up in his rage that Tala couldn’t get anywhere near him for fear of getting caught in the crossfire. Lita had never seen her sister so angry about getting relegated to support; she was cursing almost as much as Solus.
“Okay, we’d better hurry before that doofus does something he’s going to regret…” Aria grimaced as she watched him ram into the Beatrix woman, knocking her back into a wall with enough force to splinter the brick. “I’m going to be up to my ears in mortar…Give me that rock of yours, will you?”
Lita was hesitant to comply. Handing over her kingdom’s most precious treasure to a girl she hardly knew didn’t exactly sit well with her. But they really didn’t have any time to waste, did they? Lita sucked it up and passed the crystal over.
Aria held the stone between her forefinger and thumb, peering into the center as she held it up to the light. The witch murmured to herself, low under her breath. Rolling the stone between her hands, Aria said a quick incantation. The light surrounding Lita’s crystal grew brighter for just the briefest of seconds before settling back down.
After a brief period of investigation, she turned to look at Lita with a perplexed expression. “How’d you get your hands on a Dress sphere?”
Dress sphere? Now it was Lita’s turn to be confused. “I beg your pardon?”
“Wait, you didn’t know?” Aria threw her hands up in the air, nearly tossing the crystal in the process. “Never mind, this is great! If you use that little beauty, we might just get an edge in this fight!”
The witch threw herself into a bit of a frenzy, making hasty explanations that Lita could barely keep up with. From what she gathered, Aria suspected that her crystal contained some powerful transformative magic. If Lita could tap into that magic, it might be able to boost her powers enough to give them the victory they needed.
Now that was some fantastic news. But there was only one problem.
“B-But I don’t know how to use it,” she tried to explain. “I’ve tried to figure it out on my own, but nobody taught me how to use them!”
Aria groaned and dropped her head into her hands. “Well that throws a wrench into things…”
Lita’s hopes dropped. “I’m sorry. Is there anything else that we can do?”
The witch frowned, furiously tapping her finger against the side of her forehead. “There’s gotta be something,” she muttered. “Think, think, think! C’mon, Ree…”
…
…
“Watch your back, you idiot!” Tala threw her hand out, hurling her knife at the spikes that came flying at Solus from behind. Her aim stayed true, hitting the spikes from the side. As a result, she achieved a kind of domino effect in midair. All five spikes fell before they could hit their mark.
Solus didn’t so much as nod in her direction. Instead, he kept his attention focused on attacking the Beatrix woman. Go figure. Tala fumed.
You’re welcome, jerk…
How in the worlds was this guy Lita’s brother? She couldn’t believe it. They were like polar opposites. Lita was sweet and caring. She hardly ever lost her temper, unlike this guy. In the few times she’d had the displeasure of being near him, she’d seen him fly off the handle almost every single time. Even now, Tala could barely even keep up with him as he whipped himself into a wild frenzy. He seemed more concerned with crushing this woman into dust than getting anything useful accomplished.
“He’s out of control,” she muttered. “I can’t take on two opponents at once. Not like this.”
She needed a plan. It wasn’t enough to just chase this woman out of Radiant Garden, Tala understood that quite clearly. They needed to get some answers out of her first. There was so many questions coming to mind because of this encounter. So much that she didn’t understand.
The command over not only Darkness, but the Heartless as well. Yet another unfamiliar Keyblade. And the woman had set her sights on capturing Kairi, one of the fabled Princesses of Heart. None of this boded well. Tala could only assume that she had some kind of nefarious plan in mind for all of this, but she had no idea what that could be.
One question did stand out in her mind above all others. Could it be possible that the woman was an agent of that man she’d been told about…That Xehanort person? According to legend, the seven Princesses of Heart were crucial in reaching the fabled Kingdom Hearts. And that was supposed to be the man’s ultimate goal, right?
This couldn’t be a coincidence. No, it was all too suspicious. It all had to be connected. But she needed confirmation. Tala didn’t like all this uncertainty hanging up in the air. She needed to get some concrete answers. Preferably, before her new “brother” ruined any possibility of getting them.
“Touch my sister again and I swear I’ll kill you!” Solus’ scream rang loudly in her ears. Geez, did he know how to yell…
Yes. First things first, she needed to take care of her sister’s irresponsible, out of control twin brother. Sooner rather than later. But nothing too drastic. She just needed to get Solus under control and then she could worry about Reyna. Tala could do that much without breaking a sweat.
Here we go.
Tala twirled her Keyblade, Pride of the Forest, around in her hand as she drew on a little more magic. Although she was nowhere near as good a mage as that ridiculous witch, Tala had an ace up her sleeve in the form of a natural inclination for Earth magic. She could cast powerful Earth spells without experiencing much of an energy drain from it. Casting and manipulating rock and stone was like second nature. Almost as natural as breathing.
“Okay.” Pointing the weapon down, Tala stabbed it into the ground. “Granite Castle!”
A tremor ran along the ground, racing towards the two combatants at remarkable speeds. Solus and Reyna, so absorbed in their battle, failed to notice it until the spell was right on them. Great slabs of gray stone burst through the bricks, sending up a disorienting spray of rubble and debris. Five slabs, all about seven feet tall by five feet wide and about half a foot thick. One of the slabs shot up in front of Reyna, haltering her advance while the other four closed in on Solus. Before the boy could react, they had him trapped inside a granite box.
“What the hell?!” Solus pounded his fists against the wall in front of him. “Let me out!”
Tala ignored his demand. Instead, she ran past and threw a punch of her own at the wall standing in front of the other Keyblade wielder. Her own set of spikes protruded out the other end, firing on Reyna Beatrix. Tala called to the top of the wall and flung herself from the edge.
“Critical Impact!”
She dropped down on the woman, slamming the hilt of her Keyblade into her shoulder and dragging her to the ground. Tala tucked into a roll, using her foot to dig the Keyblade further in as she pushed off.
Turning on her heel, she conjured a lance into her hand and hurled at the woman. Reyna blocked it with her Keyblade as she pulled herself up. The sleeve of her left arm sported a large tear where Pride of the Forest’s teeth had snagged the fabric and ripped. Black liquid ran from a cut in her shoulder, dripping down her arm and onto the ground where it smoked and fizzled on the cobblestones.
Is that stuff coming from inside her body?
Okay, that would have to be something to watch out for. Whatever this gunk was, it had done a number on Lita. Now, maybe that was just her sister reacting negatively to the Darkness that this other woman produced. Or, maybe there was something else in that strange substance that caused the reaction. Whatever the reason, Tala decided to take care and avoid it as much as possible. Her mother had worked enough defensive charms into her clothes to provide some protection, but Tala didn’t want to push her luck.
Keep moving, but conserve energy. Don’t let the black ooze touch her. Oh, and watch out for that huge Keyblade. She had the beginnings of a plan starting to form.
I’m a hunter. Time to go hunting.
The woman charged forward, just as Tala suspected she would. Her fighting style seemed to revolve around running straight at opponents with that weighty Keyblade of hers, using her impressive strength to knock enemies off balance and keep them staggered. Her stamina meant that she could keep up with the swinging and produce a lot of momentum with each strike. But Tala could use that to her advantage!
“Hah!” Reyna swung down. Tala pivoted slightly and leaned away from the strike. As the teeth of her Keyblade sunk into the ground, the brunette pulled herself into a back-ended handstand. Her feet kicked Reyna in the chest, producing a winded grunt from the older woman.
“Quake!” Tala carried through with her handstand, bending back into a sort of flip. As her feet slammed into the hard ground, a cluster of rocky spikes exploded under Reyna. The spikes that came forth pummeled the woman and managed to pin her in place. Reyna Beatrix howled furiously as she strained against Tala’s impromptu trap. The cluster kept her arms and legs spread apart with jagged bits pressing into her back. Tala breathed a sigh of relief once it became clear that she was truly stuck.
“Alright. Now we’re getting somewhere.”
She took a few careful steps forward, keeping in mind to have her Keyblade at the ready. The Beatrix woman still struggled and yanked at her bonds. Watching her reminded Tala of the animals in the forest back home that she would come across, the ones caught in hunter’s traps that fought against all reason and sanity to break free.
“Why did you come here,” she asked. “You keep saying that you’re here for Kairi. But I want to know why?”
The woman refused to answer as Tala repeated her questions. When no answers came, the brunette began to get frustrated. Reyna just glared down at her, seething with rage. But whether that anger came from the pointed stone digging into her skin or because of the fact that she was stuck there, Tala did not know.
“What do you want with Kairi? Who are you working for?” Tala stomped her foot. A rough grinding could be heard as the cluster of rocks drew closer together, pressing tighter against their prisoner. “Answer me!”
But still, the woman would not answer. Tala continued to increase the pressure of her rock formation slowly, bit by bit. The idea wasn’t to crush the woman, but to apply enough of a squeeze on her so she would give in and answer her questions. Interrogation wasn’t exactly her forte, but Tala had to try something.
Come on, all I want is some information!
“Such a brute,” Reyna grunted. Despite the pressure laid on her, she smirked and proceeded to taunt Tala. “Is this what Keyblade wielders are like these days? Brutish, savage inquisitors? How utterly disappointing.”
“So says the woman who unleashed Heartless on innocent townsfolk. You’re trying to egg me on,” Tala pointed out. “I can be a brute if I want to, but you don’t seem any better. So just answer my questions and we can all go on with our lives.”
Maybe if I pull out some of my more intimidating weapons from the Armory, I can get somewhere…But that takes up a lot of energy. It’ll have to be a last ditch option. Darn it. okay, new plan!
The woman laughed this booming cackle. It was an obnoxious, condescending laugh. A hyena’s cry, more than any laugh she’d ever heard. That did annoy Tala just a bit, but she pushed it down for the sake of this mission. First rule of battle: Never let the enemy get under your skin. Tala knew that if the woman could do that, then she would win. And she was not Solus. She refused to let her temper run rampant.
“I just want information,” she said, keeping her voice even. “Surely you can understand that? The Princess of Heart is under my protection. I have the right to know why it is you’re coming after her.”
Not necessarily true, but Tala wasn’t going to let her in on that fact. Besides, she wasn’t just going to let a brute like this woman make off with Kairi without a fight. Not on her watch.
This seemed to amuse Reyna. Thankfully, she didn’t laugh this time.
“Goodness, I suppose you’ve got a point there,” the woman jeered. “I suppose that I can give you this one bit of information. A reward for backing me into a corner…”
Finally!
Tala waited in anticipation and held her hand out, prepared to transform the rocks into a similar cage like the one that held Solus. Once she got the information that she wanted, she’d just need to flick her wrist and then they’d have a prisoner to hand over to Radiant Garden’s Red Wings for further interrogation.
Oh, she loved it when a plan came together. Even if it took going through a couple different idea until one stuck.
Only this time, all it took was a few precious moments for it to all go up in flames.
A wild light sparked in the Beatrix woman’s eerie eyes. Reyna snapped her fingers and suddenly little slimy trails of black ooze ran up all of Tala’s spikes. The Darkness spread out over the surface of the rock and contracted, crushing them into dust. Smirking triumphantly, Reyna landed lightly on her feet and brushed the debris away.
Startled, Tala attempted to scramble backwards, but something caught her leg and she tripped. In trying to wring answers out of Reyna she had failed to notice the small puddle that had formed under their feet. So as she fell back, she saw the sticky, tar-like ooze coiled around her ankle.
Her shoulder injury! Dammit, I walked right into a trap!
She’d been too cocky. The sludge did indeed burn where it seeped in to her clothes. Tala struggled and tried to pry her leg free. But she could pull it out. Desperate, she took up her Keyblade and hacked away. As Reyna closed in on her, more and more Darkness poured over Tala. She choked and gagged as it splashed up over her face and flowed over her arms. It was like quicksand and she couldn’t get out.
Panic clawed at her throat as she struggled in the sludge. Tala could feel her heart pounding against her ribs. It was like she was drowning. Fear ripped into her chest like a wild animal. She could barely move. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t get out. She was stuck and she couldn’t breathe—!!!
I can’t get out. I-I can’t breathe! Somebody, anybody, help!!!
“Tell me, do you enjoy being the fly in my spider’s web?” Reyna laughed and sneered as she stood over the girl. “But oh, that’s right! I have to give you your reward, my little puppy…”
Tala watched, eyes wide with terror, as the woman held her hand out. Instead of calling her Keyblade forth, she pooled Darkness together between her twirling fingers. It swirled and bubbled furiously, like the proverbial witch’s cauldron. Right before Tala’s eyes, it stretched and solidified into a shape she was more familiar with. One that filled her stomach with dread.
Reyna Beatrix stood over the girl with a dark, crystalline spike in hand, glittering like a lance made of black glass. “Your prize, child, is this…” She held the lance high above her head, making her intentions quite clear.
No, no, no!!
“Xehanort sends his regards.”
Tala couldn’t even scream as the lance came down on her. Fear had paralyzed her vocal chords. Her muscles refused to work. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t bring her arms or weapons or magic up to defend herself. Time practically slowed down as she watched the dreaded lance come down.
But something happened. The pain she had expected never came. Instead, a splash of green flashed in front of her eyes. Tala felt something soft press up against her face, blocking any more Darkness from reaching her mouth and nose. A dull thump and a smothered whimper rattled in her ears.
“What?” Reyna’s cry was more like a disgusted snarl.
A sharp gust of incredibly hot wind blew Reyna Beatrix away from Tala. At the same time, the thing covering her face rolled away. The brunette coughed up a mouthful of black sludge and breathed in a greedy gulp of air. She didn’t care if the heat burned her lungs and scorched her throat.
But something settled across her cheeks, tickling her nose. A thick green rope? No, wait. It wasn’t rope. A new wave of dread pooled in her belly. Not a rope. A hair braid.
Fighting against her bonds, she managed to twist her neck to the side enough to spot the long figure lying on the ground. The heart that had been racing away, pounding against her chest, almost stopped then and there.
“A-Aria…?”
The witch lay on her side, facing Tala. Aria shook as she pressed her hand against a spot on her side. Tala caught the glint of a black shard of glass sticking out between her fingers, resting just above Aria’s hip. Red drops dripped out from under her palm and down her belly.
“H-Hey, Shortstuff,” Aria wheezed, managing a strained little smile. “You okay?”
Aria had thrown herself in front of Tala, taking the blow for her. Upon realizing this, a painful lump formed in her throat. Tala’s eyes began to fill with hot, angry tears. “Y-You…You i-i-i-idiot,” she choked. “You idiot! Wh-Why did you d-do that?”
Even though it clearly pained her to do so, Aria laughed. “C’mon, kid. You heard me before. I don’t allow…people in my…town to get hurt…” The witch groaned as she prodded around her injury. Her eyes squeezed shut and she bit her cheek. “Oof…Hey, you two going to just…ugh…stand there? Or are you gonna avenge your poor little witch?”
Two figures moved to stand over the girls. A bright, blinding light forced Tala to look away. It was like staring up at the sun; the light hurt her eyes. But her face felt warm, so much warmer compared to the cold, slimy feel of the Darkness around her.
“Watch over them for me, Aurey,” a voice said. “I’ll deal with Reyna.”
“…Fine. But you’d better win. Don’t make me come bail you out.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Footsteps pounded away from them. Another flash of light forced her to close her eyes as something hot hit the Darkness covering her. The sludge began to melt away and Tala felt an arm slip under her shoulder, pulling her up. Panicking, Tala started to struggle again, lashing out with her fists.
“Easy. Take it easy. I’ve got you, kiddo.”
That’s was…That was Solus’ voice, wasn’t it?
Slowly, gingerly, Tala opened her eyes. The bright light was gone and she could see the figure hanging over her clearly now. It was Solus. He had her leaned up against his shoulder as his other hand melted the gunk away from her legs.
“Aria, you okay?” He looked back for a second at the witch lying down at his side. “’Cause I’m pretty sure your brother and dragon are going to want to kill me because you decided to skewer yourself.”
Aria somehow managed a scoff. “And let the little cutie get turned into a kabob instead? What kind of scoundrel do you take me for?”
“The moronic kind, apparently...” Solus shook his head. “One of these days, you’re going to get yourself killed.” Once he finally managed to get Tala free, he pulled her and Aria away from the battlefield, tucking them away into a little corner.
Not an easy thing. The stupid witch was pretty much useless, with all her long limbs flopping around the place. Granted, she did have a huge chunk of…whatever that crap was in her side. Not like she could really do much to begin with. But dragging her around was like carrying a bag of wet cement.
Or hauling Gladio’s fat butt around…He’d had the displeasure of being stuck doing that before. It was not fun and Solus was positive that his back was still screwed up from it.
Carrying Tala was a bit easier. The kid was pretty small and uninjured, so he could just throw her over his shoulder and hightail it out of there. She didn’t put up any fuss and just went along with it. The entire time, she kept sobbing, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Over and over again with her face pressed into his jacket as she wept.
He wanted to be pissed at her for sticking him in that box. It had taken forever to melt his way out of it. Because of her stupidity, she tried to take on that psycho alone and almost got herself killed in the process. Hell, Aria actually did get hurt because of this brat. If Solus had tried something like that back home, he’d have been in deep trouble for it. That kind of insubordination would have serious consequences with any of his superiors. Ava, Cor, and Nyx would have his head mounted as a wall trophy.
But he really couldn’t stay too made at her. The experience had really shaken her up; he could tell from the way she was crying. The kid was practically bawling into his shoulder. Who was he kidding anyhow? This had been something Prompto and Noct had been teasing him about for years. No matter how tough he acted, he just couldn’t stay mad at crying girls.
I’m such a damn sap…
Once the girls had been situated—including the removal of that glass from Aria’s side and a hastily applied bandage wrapped over the wound—he turned back to watch his sister work.
To think, Lita actually had a temper after all. With all these memories of his little sister flouncing around in poufy dresses and spending most of her time in the stables where the castle kept the horses and hunting dogs, he never would’ve guessed that the shrieking banshee tearing around the arena was actually Lita. She tore after that crazy woman with all the vengeance of a daemon, laying into the woman and blasting her with everything she had.
Using the Dragon crystal had been a good idea after all. Solus had a feeling that Lita might not know how to use it, so getting Aria to help had been a good idea after all. But that being said, seeing the thing in action was something else.
The transformation itself was pretty unexpected. Lita seemed to actually become some kind of Fire elemental, taking on all the attributes of the element itself. Her skin had gone a sort of transparent pink, kind of like actual crystal and produced a soft light. Sweltering waves of heat rolled off her body, causing the black sludge along the ground and puddles of water to evaporate in seconds as she passed by. Lita’s hair had turned into a literal flame, curling around her face and dropping hot embers onto the ground.
Her clothes had changed for some reason, too. Instead of that dark skinsuit, she wore a pair of orange boots and a bunch of silks tied around her waist, laying over a strapless red top and a belted vest. Crimson sleeves trailed down from her arms, shimmering like flames whenever she moved. And the Aurean Fire crystal itself hung from a jeweled belt secured around her waist.
Was this the power of the Elemental crystals? Solus remembered hearing tales of them as a child, but had never seen the things in action before. Not what he expected, but if it could send this hag running, he’d take it.
“Kick her ass, Lita.”
Lita screamed as she chased after Reyna Beatrix, feeling an unbelievable surge of strength running through her. Power from the crystal hanging at her side rushed into her body, fueling her. It was almost as if a volcano had erupted within her. She couldn’t remember a time where she’d felt so powerful. Adrenaline rushes were one thing, but this was something else. She felt so strong. Like she could take on a thousand Heartless all by herself.
A strong sense of rage certainly played into it. At least, that’s what she thought it might be. Lita was unbelievably angry. This woman…No. This monster had tried to hurt her sister. She had tried to drive a weapon of Darkness through Tala’s heart. If not for Aria throwing herself in between them, Tala could’ve been turned into a Heartless, or worse.
She would not forgive her. Lita refused to.
“You won’t get away with this,” she cried. It was an inhuman shriek. One that shook the walls and the broken ground beneath their feet.
Clapping her hands together, Lita summoned a wave of fire from the cracks in the stone under her that surged towards Reyna faster than she could run from it. Lita broke out into a run and leapt through the wall as it kept her pinned down in one place, driving her foot into the woman’s stomach. Reyna fell to the ground, and Lita rolled away as a pool of Darkness sent thorns after her. But she reduced the spikes to a pile of black ash with no more than a wave of her hand.
“You target my friends, hurt my sister,” she accused. “And for what? What are you after?!”
Why? Why all the fighting? Why did she feel it necessary to hurt her opponents in such a way? Why, why, why?! Lita would make her pay for this. For sending Heartless out into the town. For targeting Kairi. For hurting her family and her friends. Lita would make her pay!
Well, she at least had one thing in her favor. The battle was finally starting to get to Reyna Beatrix. After Lita’s attack, she stood up on unsteady feet, pitching forward slightly. Her mouth twitched and she ran a thumb over the corner of her lips, wiping at a smear of blood. Staring at the red stain, she scowled.
“I’d think that would be pretty obvious by now,” she sneered. “My goal is war. War on the Light and on you miserable Keyblade wielders.”
Lita frowned. War on the Light? Now that sounded familiar. “So you are working for Xehanort.”
Reyna bristled and Lita knew immediately that she had touched a nerve. “I work for no one,” she spat. Taking up her Keyblade once more, Reyna sunk into a low fighting stance. Darkness rose up from around her feet into a vaporous, swirling mass. A dense, murky black fog.
She was gearing up towards a powerful attack. Lita tensed and pulled her own blade into a defensive position. Would this form be able to protect herself from whatever the woman had planned? Despite having the ability to manipulate it, Lita wasn’t immune to the Darkness. She had no idea how something this might affect her. If this attack hit her straight on, she ran this risk of losing control. That could wreak havoc. But if she used her own Darkness to counter or protect herself, that might cause more harm than good, too.
Did she have any other options? Her brother and sister were still in the courts. And so was Aria, who had sustained a significant injury in battle. If the Darkness shared between her and Reyna spiraled out of control, they would be in danger. There was also the issue of the Heartless to worry about. With so much Darkness, they’d storm the fountains.
I’ve got to stop her before she releases this attack! Quickly, Lita, think!
She had no real game plan. Lita was a creature of instinct. She wasn’t a planner like Tala, who couldn’t function without some sort of tactical forecast. So the only thing that came to mind was a frontal assault. Hit with a powerful attack, put everything she had into it, and pray that it won the day.
Light of Kingdom Hearts, and the spirits of Aurea, please! Give me strength!
Fire pooled in her belly. Lita took a breath to steady herself as she let that power flow from her into her Keyblade. She had to remember, she was Lita Atropa. A Draconian of Aurea. She was fire itself. And fire was just another kind of light, right? If nothing else, her light would burn away this evil!
As the Darkness started to swell around her blade, Reyna began to charge forward. Lita decided to throw caution to the wind and ran as well, driving as much power into her own Keyblade as she could. Flames licked at her heels. Burning Soul heated in her hands to the point where she felt her palms begin to burn. It hurt, but she ignored that pain.
“End of Light…” Reyna held her Keyblade high over her head, the teeth of the blade pointing up towards the sky. Darkness swirled around the blade, extending it by an extra few feet. Small bolts of lightning arced off the blade.
On the other side of that coin, Lita held her own sword out to the side as she neared her enemy. Thanks to this new form derived from the Fire crystal, she was able to boost the power of her flames by at least five times their normal power. “Blazefire Impact…”
“Fall, Light wielder,” Reyna bellowed. Lita braced herself for whatever may come her way. For the sake of her friends and family, as well as all the other innocent citizens of Radiant Garden, she would endure. She would defeat this woman!
But just as the two were about to cross blades, an object came sailing out of the sky, burrowing deep into the ground. A thick briar of dense vines and foliage exploded from the pool, overflowing and overtaking the fountains within seconds. The women crashed directly into this botanical overflow, unintentionally releasing their attacks. But instead of running amok, both fire and Darkness were absorbed into the thicket of vines and a forceful burst of flower petals exploded outwards instead. Lita went sailing back, slamming into one of the farthest fountain jets and creating a hazy screen of steam when her fire hit the water. Reyna, on the other hand, went flying into a pile of rubble.
“My, my, my,” a smooth voice cooed. “Ladies, please. Beautiful flowers like you shouldn’t push yourselves so hard.”
Lita coughed and sputtered in the cold water. What…What happened?
As she dragged herself out of the water, she watched the briars shrink in on themselves, curling and withering away until they had completely disappeared. It happened fast. Just as quickly as the vines and thorns had appeared, they vanished, leaving nothing but a slim, curved weapon wedged in a pile of rubble.
“H-Huh…?”
A cloud of black smoke appeared next to the weapon and from within it emerged a tall figure shrouded in a black coat. The hood rested down on his shoulders, revealing blue eyes and a shock of long pink hair.
“Pardon me,” the man said as he picked the weapon—a scythe—out of the ground. Leaning the weapon over his shoulder, he turned around to survey the damage. “Well, you caused quite the mess, my dear damask rose. Now then…” Ignoring the fact that he had boldly interrupted a battle, the man picked his way through the debris until he came upon Reyna’s limp body lying half-buried under a pile of rocks.
“What are you doing here,” she panted. “Go away!”
The man ignored her. Instead, he stooped to clear the rubble away. Once he had Reyna uncovered, he picked her up under his arm—something which she protested very, very, loudly—and opened up a Dark Corridor. But before he could drag the woman in, kicking and screaming, he turned back to flash Lita an oddly charming smile. Almost as if he was completely oblivious to the redheaded hellcat thrown over his shoulder.
“My apologies for the inconvenience our dear Keyblade wielder has caused. I assure you, this chaos was not the Organization’s intention. But please, send our regards to my old friends up in the castle, will you?” He nodded his head to her and disappeared into the portal.
Lita sat there on the ground, unsure of how to process that strange interaction and overcome by exhaustion. She was just barely maintaining a hold over her form, but every muscle in her body ached. She felt like she had just run a marathon.
Who in the worlds was that man? Another Organization member?
“What…What’s going on here…?”