The messenger leading us seemed all too eager to lead us through every twist and turn the palace had to offer, it was really pissing me off, and so was the constant sound of hooves and feet on stone. By the time we arrived at our destination, the entrance to the throne room, a couple of hours later, seriously, why so long?, I was ready to rip his head off, and that's saying something. So when he looked back and saw my face turning from irritation to outright rage, he quickly announced our arrival and ran off as if his life depended on it. On our entry, I noticed Die was here too, though she looked wrecked. Must've been woken up in the middle of a nap or something. I noticed the quizzical looks on both Luna and Celestia's faces. Before they could even ask a question, I said "I don't like being interrupted when I'm either training, or about to start training. I also don't like pointless scenic routes."

Celestia frowned. "That is no excuse to nearly traumatise one of my little ponies, Noctis."

"I didn't even do anything. Did I?"

Ventus chose to make a smart-ass comment. "Well, the look you gave him could make Jason Voorhees run and hide."

I gave him a confused look. "Who?"

"Never mind."

"Alright, may we please get back to the matter at hoof?" Celestia asked. When we nodded in silence, she continued. "Now, this meeting was going to be in regards to what happened last night," She began, and I immediately opened my mouth to interrupt, but I was immediately silenced by Luna, who gave me a glare that said 'Speak now, and you'll regret it for eternity.' Celestia ignored me, and kept going. "But something more urgent has come up."

Clare raised an eyebrow. "What exactly came up?"

Luna took her turn to speak. "About an hour ago, a pegasus named Bright Skies was found at the entrance to Canterlot, severely injured. She was brought to the hospital, but her wounds have been deemed untreatable. When asked what caused such wounds, she claimed that it was a wingless dragon..." She paused as she gauged our reactions. Die yawned, more out of fatigue than anything else. Clare and Ven shared a look, and I just raised an eyebrow.

"So where exactly was this creature spotted anyway?"

Celestia hesitated before answering. "It was seen at the site of the fight you had with your sister and your friends here."

That caught me off-guard. I left the hall without a word, ignoring the calls of the others as I headed for my room to grab one last thing. I found it after a few seconds of searching, and, after making sure I had all the necessary equipment, slung the backpack over my shoulder. Instead of going through the door, I just jumped the window, not wanting to waste time wandering through the halls, preferring to get there quickly and without getting lost in the labyrinth that was the royal palace. My landing could’ve been better though.

“Dammit!” I whisper-yelled, as I clutched my leg, before making quick use of curaga to heal the damage.

“You know, human, you could have saved yourself the pain by just using a door like a normal person.” A familiar voice to my left stated. Who should I see when I turn towards it but Erahaor.

“What’s up? You missing your friend Lumos?” I asked with suspicion. I still didn’t fully trust him after the whole ‘trying to kill me’ thing.

“What makes you say that?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“For one, he’s the only one around here you seem to trust, and he’s not here. If it were me, I’d be missing his company. And second, you wouldn’t talk to me unless it was important to you. I think a missing friend qualifies.” I stated.

“Maybe so, but this is not about Lumos right now. I trust that he can take care of himself. No, this is about what Celestia said in the throne room.” He replied. I just smiled.

“So, you were listening.” I said. He just shrugged in response. “So, you coming with me then?” Once again, just a shrug. “Ok, what happened to actually saying something?”

“Why bother you already know the answer?” He replied with a smirk.

“Fine then, let’s just get going.” I replied, grabbing my bag and tossing him some materia from it. The second they came into contact with him, his flesh started to ripple like a pool of water after a stone is dropped in it, and the materia slowly sunk into his flesh, their soft glow the only signal that they were there.

“I thought you didn’t trust anyone with your orbs, human.”

“Ok, first, quit calling me human. My name is Noctis. And second, if this thing is as strong as I think it will be, we’re gonna need as much of an advantage as we can get.” I replied.

Erahaor’s smirk grew into a cocky grin, “Indeed, human.”

I just shook my head in defeat and motioned for us to scale the wall, much like when he had taken his pot-shot at me.

“Alright, while we’re moving, let me teach you how the materia that are now embedded in your arm work.” I said as we started climbing. “Ok, the materia I gave you are very powerful ones. Thundaga, Firaga Burst, and a summoning materia not even Die knows about. Mainly cause she’d laugh her ass off if she did.” We dropped over the other side of the wall onto a nearby roof and started running towards the city wall.

Erahaor looked at me and waved a hand, signalling me to continue.

“Ok, the summon is called Choco/Mog. Basically, it summons a chocobo, a large bipedal avian, being ridden by a moogle, which is literally a living doll. It has two attacks. Death-Blow, which is basically a suicide run where the chocobo literally explodes on impact, and Fat-Chocobo, which causes an enormous Chocobo to fall on the target.” I explained.

Erahaor gave me a look that basically said ‘What the hell?’

“Trust me, its come in handy when I’ve actually been able to use it.” I replied. “Anyway, Thundaga causes lightning to shoot out of your arm and spread out in a wave pattern, while Firaga Burst summons a giant fireball which explodes into dozens of smaller fireballs that track the target you choose. In other words, you use that, and your opponent has nowhere to run.” At the mention of this, Era’s grin returned, but this time it had a mad glint hidden within.

“Dude, you ok? You look like a pyromaniac with matches and gasoline.” I said. Upon pointing this out, he quickly lost the look, but the mad glint was still in his eye. He punched me on the arm, and I gave him a glare before realising we were at the city limits. We started climbing...
__________________________________________________________________

“No way...” I trailed off, unable to find anything to say about the destruction before me. The entire town had been massacred, and the blood pool made a giant T. All that was left was rubble and corpses. Erahaor took it as well as, if not better than me. He kept up his stoic disposition without fault. I took a deep breath to steel myself, knowing my emotions would only burden me at this point. There would be time to mourn later.

“Come on, we have to keep moving, the destruction continues that way.” Erahaor said.

I nodded, and we started walking, following the trail of destruction left by the monster responsible.

I swear, it’s dead. When I find it, it’s dead.

After a while, we eventually came across another ruined town. This one was intact mostly, some buildings were damaged, and we were starting to think maybe he hadn’t reached this one yet. That was before we saw the bodies. Something was different about these ones though. These ponies looked like they had killed each other, but we couldn’t understand why. Or at least I couldn’t. Erahaor tapped me on the shoulder as I was looking around and said two words.

“Mentality alteration.”

“Wait, you mean their minds were-”

“Exactly.” His face remained unreadable, but his eyes were another story. I could see rage behind them.

“So, do you think whatever did this is still here?” I asked.

“There isn’t a trail leading away from here, so either it left in a less destructive way, or it’s still here. Lets hope its the latter.”

“Same here. This thing’s gonna die.” I said without any emotion, though I could feel my rage building under the surface. Out of nowhere, we started to hear music.

“Hey, you hear that too, right?” I asked.

Erahaor nodded and pointed to a nearby building, and silently motioned to follow as he walked towards it. We entered and started searching the rooms one by one. Eventually we came upon a room with a piano facing away from the door, and that was where we saw it. It’s entire body was enveloped in blood red scales, and its legs were covered in jeans of the same color. It had a full head of hair somehow, which was black, and reached the floor easily. It didn’t seem to notice us as it kept on playing, so Erahaor and I started to approach it from either side as silently as we could. Era drew his bow, and I drew Tsuki no me. Just as it finished the piece, Era let loose an arrow straight towards its neck, and I rushed it with my left arm charged up for a quick blast, only to get knocked back to the door with a swift kick as the thing picked up the arrow, which had just bounced off its scales, and tossed it lazily back to Era. Neither of us moved as we looked from each other to the creature, which was just watching, studying us with eyes as black as tar with a white ‘x’ in the centre. Then, it began to let out a mad cackle, which sounded quite similar to the laugh of a Hyena, before it started.

It dug both of its feet into the ground, and began to swing it’s head like a pendulum while drawing a sword. The force of the movements slowly making him rock from side to side, further and further, until each time he went down to an inch from the earth. Suddenly, one of the time as it went down, it went forward as well, easily reaching Erahaor’s ankle with it’s sword.

“AGH!” He shouted as he stumbled, only to be hit in the other foot by the blade next, the force of the blow causing him to fall over. The creature then released the grip it had on the ground, jumping overhead, blade poised for the kill. I didn’t hesitate, letting my protective-type mindset take the reigns. I threw my blade at it, disorienting it enough for its stab to miss Era’s ear by mere centimetres. Era gave it a punch, trying to force it off him, but with his legs so badly damaged that wouldn’t do much good.

The creature just smiled, and shook its head, as though amused at his antics, before turning to me, and it gave me a grin that could rival Pinkie’s, if not for the teeth being so sharp. It pulled out a strange bladed glove, and ran forward with it on it’s left hand, it’s right still on its sword. I jumped over it and ran towards Era, stopping just in front of him and handing him my Curaga materia. Just like the others, it sunk into his flesh like a stone in a pond, giving off a faint green glow to symbolise its presence.

“Curaga. Most powerful healing materia there is.” I said with no expression. “On your feet soldier, we’ve got work to do.”

Era grunted in response, simply muttering “Curaga” under his breath. The results were immediate. His wounds started to fade, and his face, which was set in a grimace at the start, slowly started to become calm.

The creature was watching this with what seemed to be curiosity in its eyes, before grinning again. It raised its gloved left hand, and slammed it into the floor, making the building collapse almost instantly, we barely had time to make it to the window before the building came down on top of us. As it was, we didn’t see the thing escape it, though I thought better than to count it out just yet. Era seemed to share the thought, nocking an arrow to his bow and aiming in any direction that he could. I got off my butt and went back-to-back with Era so we would have no blind spots.

The ground then began to shake. The remaining buildings collapsed, and the air itself seemed to move in unison with it. The ground right underneath the miniscule space between me and Erahaor exploded as the creature jumped out, slashing at both our backs. This time with a huge, winged axe in his left hand, which barely nicked the back of my neck, Era had been faster to notice, and had somehow escaped unharmed by it.

The creature then leaped toward me, and swung at my neck rapidly, trying to remove my head with each strike. I was barely parrying the blows, when an arrow hit it in its eye. The creature howled in pain, before tearing the arrow out, and its eye regenerated. In a desperate attempt to buy us time, I got back to Era and threw up a spherical barrier around us, one that extended into the ground, so it wouldn’t get us with that same trick again. The problem was that I could only maintain it until I ran out of energy. The creature walked around it, examining it with what looked like careful analogy, before walking right up to it, and placing both its hands on it, trying to tear it apart. Slowly, to my and Era’s horror, the thing began to make a small hole in the shield.

“Dammit. This thing’s tearing the barrier like a piece of tissue paper. We need a plan.”

“No shit.” Era said flatly “Too bad it’s almost through, to make a plan you need time.”

“Then I guess I just have to buy us some.” I said, dispelling the barrier just long enough to slam into the creature, knocking us both to the ground, before recasting it around Era.

The creature smirked, and a light appeared around its hand, forming into the ax it was holding a moment ago, followed by dropping into a stance, staring at me, waiting for me to make the next move. I took a deep breath, and looked to Era, who was glaring at me furiously through the barrier.

“Hey Era, I know you don’t like me, but I need to ask you a favour.” I said calmly. He seemed to hear me, so I continued.

“The technique I’m about to use will force me and the creature into a realm known as the Dark Zone. I probably won’t come back from it, so tell my sister I said goodbye, and tell Luna I’m sorry I didn’t get to take her out on that date I promised her.” I said, smiling even as a single tear rolled down my cheek.

The creature charged me head on with a spear that seemingly came out of nowhere. I moved just enough that it would avoid a vital spot, and let it impale me until it was close enough for me to wrap both my arms around it, pinning it to me. To my surprise, it did the same, as though it knew what was coming.

“DARK ABYSS!” I yelled, releasing every last scrap of the energy stored in the lunar orb.

“NOCTIS!” I turned to see Die, as well as Celestia, Luna, Ven and Clare, running up to us. Die had never seen this technique before, but even so she still knew what it was, and what it meant.

“Hey sis. You doing ok?” I asked, coughing up a small amount of blood.

“YOU IDIOT! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!?”

“The right thing. This thing has to go, and Akumu does too. I’m killing two birds with one stone.” I said, still smiling. The darkness swallowed us up before I could even hear the response.
__________________________________________________________________

That stupid idiot! Why did he do that? Why? Why did he leave me all alone?

I couldn’t stop crying. The second he was gone I just broke down, right there and then. I just dropped to my hands and knees and let the tears flow. Luna had done the same, and Celestia had wrapped her hooves and wings around her, rocking her slowly and trying to comfort her as best she could. I knew she liked him, but it was another thing entirely to see her openly crying for him.

“What was that?” Clare asked with confusion and fear.

“That was my brother sacrificing himself to protect us. The technique is one of the two techniques we discovered that we forbade ourselves from using, due to their destructive potential.” I said, not bothering to look up. “They’re called Dark Abyss and Light’s Judgement. Dark Abyss swallows up anything in range and sticks it into the Dark Zone. Light’s Judgement forces punishment upon the target for every wrong they ever committed. It could probably drive someone insane at full strength.”

I felt something fall on my shoulder, and looked up to see Ven sitting next to me, an expression of near-depression, with a glimmer of hope in it, “If thats what he did, then we need to find Lumos. Now.”

“I don’t think that will be possible.” Celestia said in a calm voice with an undertone of sadness.

“What do you mean?” Clare asked.

“Think about it. Right after Lumos disappeared, this creature showed up. Luna told me that there were two beings with him that were actually a part of his mind. I’m saying that I believe the creature was Lumos.” She replied.

“No,” Clare said, as the hope in Ven’s eyes died slowly, “That...”

“However,” She continued, “There may be another way.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, afraid to get my hopes up.

“Luna, you know that there is somepony who can travel there without restriction.” Celestia said in her usual calm tone. Luna’s eyes widened when she realised who her sister was talking about.

“Tia, you can’t be serious. H-he’s too unpredictable! What if he tries to take over Equestria again!?” She protested.

Ven got a confused look about him, before his eyes widened as well, “You don’t mean... Him, do you?”

“I do, Ventus. While in your world, Discord was a true danger, causing deliberate harm to others, in ours, he never caused so much as a scratch to a single living creature, simply playing pranks, though they got out-of-hoof rather quickly. And when he refused to stop, despite the misery he caused, my sister and I sealed him away. I never forgot our friendship, and I kept hoping one day he would become as he used to be, a kind, carefree spirit, who, although a little random, actually cared about others.” Celestia explained with barely audible tone of hope in her voice.

“So much for plot holes,” Clare muttered under her breath.

“What was that?” Celestia asked in a dangerously sweet voice.

“Nothing! Nothing at all!” Clare said quickly.

“Very well then. Luna, I will need your help to free him.”

“Sister, you know I am against this. It’s a bad idea.”

“Wouldn’t some simple chaos wake him? If an argument could wake him up, I’m sure Lumos’ orbs could do the trick.”

“That was because we were separated from the elements, so their power keeping the seal in place was gradually weakened. As long as Twilight and her friends are their new Bearers, the seal will stay strong, unless Luna and I deliberately undo it.”

“So you’re saying that Discord is the only one who can save my brother?” I asked, standing up and dusting myself off. “Well then, let’s go get him out!” I said.

Luna looked at me as if I was crazy, same with Clare. Celestia gave a small smile at my determined look.

“Um... Die?” Ven said, “I don’t think it could be that simple to overpower the elements,” He turned to Celestia and Luna “Could it?”

“Ventus, the Celestial Orbs were what created the elements in this world, and my sister and I were given our own powers by the Orbs. As such, I think we can handle it.” Celestia smiled.

“Oh... nevermind then.” He said with a sheepish grin.

“Yeah, where was that power when Chrysalis kicked your flank?” Die asked with a smirk.

“Die, if you don’t want to spend some time on the sun, you’ll never speak of that again.”

I just smiled and switched forms, following Celestia and Luna as they flew back to Canterlot...
__________________________________________________________________

It was cold. That was the first thing that came to mind when I entered this place. The second was that I couldn’t sense anything for the most part. I could still see, I think, but all my other senses were useless. I could barely hear my own thoughts. What was getting to me though was the fact that I’d never see Die again. The darkness felt like it was closing in on me as I thought about it, so I did what I usually do when my emotions turn me towards despair. I shut them off completely. The technique was a deliberately weakened variation of the Frozen Heart I’d worked on in secret. Even Die didn’t know about it. I called it the Chilled Heart. All at once, a booming that came from no direction cut through my thoughts.

<Well now, what have we here? The one who brought me with him to this... perfect world. What’s wrong, not handling the darkness well?> The voice said. I couldn’t see it, but I knew it was nearby.

“Where are you? What do you want, Creature? And how exactly are we able to communicate like this? Is it one of the Dark Zone’s hidden rules?” I replied in monotone.

<Phht, no, but it is the reason I am now able to use thought speech, it’s also the reason I’ve now transformed.>

“Transformed? Into what?”

<A being feared on almost every world, a being... known as a ‘Heartless.’>

“Heartless? Interesting name. Now why exactly is that supposed to scare me?”

<Oh, you’ve already met one of my kind, your own heart’s darkness forms him, I believe you call him... Akumu.>

“I see. So Akumu is a heartless? And if that’s true, then does that mean Nightmare was a heartless as well?”

<The nightmare was a much lower ranking heartless than me or Akumu, in fact, she still exists, although I’m surprised that the original personality took back over, that in itself is rare.>

“You know what else is rare?”

<Humans wielding the powers of gods?>

“No, people who can actually fool me. The chilled heart allows me to think without my emotions clouding my logical process, so I can deduce things that others could not. And I know who you are.”

<Well it’s not like I was trying to hide who I was, I was incapable of speech in my old form.>

“True. But still, the way you act is so different to your other self, the real you. So, why exactly are you talking to me, Lumos?”

<I do not go by the name of that one, for he and I are separate now, thanks to this place. I was going by Sanguine before, but now that I’ve changed... I think Umbra is more fitting. What say you?>

“It’s an interesting name, I’ll give you that. Now why don’t you live up to it and be silent so I can speak to Lumos?”

<He already left this world of darkness, a while ago. When we separated, didn’t I already tell you about that? He’s what’s called a Nobody now. An empty husk with no heart.>

“I see. Then where is this, ‘husk’, as you call it. Or do you even know?”

<I don’t actually know, but I know the place he went to would depend on what kind of Nobody he became.>

“Hmm, I think he’d probably become something, unique, even among these Nobodies as you call them. He’s definitely more unique than you are for sure.”

<Ha! That he is, but anyway, here is the thing about nobodies: They have no will of their own. Not if a higher rank exists at the time. Think of the highest rank at a time as... a queen of a beehive. The rest are but drones and workers, slaving away for the one on top.>

“Hmm, well, that’s the thing about Lumos. In the short time that I’ve known him, I’ve learned that he’ll never bow down to anyone. Even as a Nobody, he won’t change. He’s just too stubborn. Now, are you done, or are you going to persist in trying to talk me to death?”

<Do you have a better way to use the time? I could just leave you to slowly grow insane in this world, and then if you ever did escape, you would have-->

“Enough. Or did you not see the lack of emotions in my heart?”

<Fine, just one more thing before I leave: you better hope Lumos has strength beyond the organization.>

“The organization?”

<A group of high par Nobodies, the only ones to ever retain their will after becoming one. They mostly go by ‘Organization 13’>

“Umbra, if you honestly think that Lumos won’t be as strong as them, you’re a-”

<I am him, in a sense, do you forget that? The organization, if they were to get new hearts, could control every world with the flick of a wrist, if they tried.>

“So why exactly are you telling me this? What purpose does it serve? Or are you just spouting lies?”

<Well it’s not like you’ll be leaving this place, nobody escapes the void in one piece, normally two actually, I wonder what you would look like as a Nobody...>

“I’d wield swords, I know that much. Anyway, how are you so knowledgeable about all this?”

<The same way I know of your world: game based off of mindor connections between the world I’m from, and every. other. world. Including this one. If I can find the right passage, I can make it there, and from there... I could go to any place I wanted. Infect whatever hearts I want with beautiful darkness!>

“Yeah, no. That’s not gonna happen. And you already know why.”

<Yeah yeah, save me the ‘light overpowering the darkness’ bullshit. I’m walking proof that it isn’t true. Plus, It’s so cliche.>

“Wrong. You’re not proof of it being false, you’re proof of it being true.”

<Oh? How so? Last I checked, I’m a heartless.>

“Yeah, and you will never leave this place. I beat you, whether you admit it or not. I’m proof that the darkness can be beaten, my sister is proof that it can be beaten, LUNA IS PROOF THAT IT CAN BE BEATEN!” I’d disengaged the chilled heart to allow my emotions to give power to my words.

<Heh, now that’s amusing, then you didn’t notice it I guess, also I can leave any. time. I. wish.>

“That’s where you’re wrong. The dark abyss is a very specific technique. And beings with dark hearts, or no heart at all in your case, are permanently stripped of any ability that would allow them to leave. I never had the ability to leave, so I’m all the company you’re ever going to have.” I smirked.

The voice began to laugh, <If thats the case, then why did this place make me stronger? and why is it I’ve already opened a way out?> It asked smugly.

“You’re lying.” I said.

<This world is different than you think, Lumos has passed through here hundreds, if not thousands of times, this is the dark passageway that connects ALL worlds. I know this place inside out.>

“Yeah, well then I’ll just have to make sure you don’t have the chance to leave!” I shouted, drawing my sword.

<Good luck, and goodbye.> The voice said, fading out.

“NO, I WON’T LET YOU LEAVE!” I roared, letting my own darkness out just long enough for me to figure out his location and charge him, knocking us both onto the ‘ground’, if it could be called such. He glared at me with glowing golden eyes, as he grabbed a gun off of his hip with his gloved hand, and his sword with his other.

<If you wanted to die, all you had to do was ask. I would have just killed you instead of playing with you back on the other world.>

“If you think I’ll die here, you’re sorely mistaken. I have friends, family, that I want to protect, and as long as you’re around, they’re in danger. THERE’S NO WAY I’M GONNA LET YOU THREATEN THEIR SAFETY!”

<Well then, I think we should have a better place to fight than this place. Hmm...> It looked deep in thought, before grinning, and ‘saying’, <I know just the place.> before snapping his fingers, and the scenery changed. We were suddenly on a huge, blue tower, with a stained glass floor in the shape of someone I had never met before, wielding a giant key. Umbra seemed a little confused for a moment at how it looked as well, before shrugging.

<Eh, I didn’t expect it to look like that, but a DtH is a DtH.>

“Enough, are we going to talk, or fight? Hey, why can I hear my voice now?” I asked, confused as to the sudden reacquisition of my hearing.

It grinned, still using its method of talking in my head, <Welcome to what is call a ‘Dive to the Heart,’ though this is just a recreation of what they are like, I didn’t expect it would come out like Sora’s DtH>

“I’d ask who Sora is, but I don’t have time. I’ll just assume that the guy in the mosaic is him. Now, prepare to die.” I said, brandishing Tsuki no me.

The creature grinned, and sank into the floor, before splitting off into multiple pieces around me, as I heard his voice say <You’re a fool, only a keyblade can destroy a heartless, and you’re blade is meant for killing, not destroying.>

“I don’t care. I fight to protect the ones I love. That’s all I need. I’ll protect them, even if it means you and I battle for eternity.” I said calmly.

<Says the being that will only last three days without water.>

“Immortal, remember? I don’t need to eat or drink in order to survive.”

<Oh, right. I guess it would be an eternity then, but before our fight, a small test seems necessary> and the darkness flowed around him, forming some sort of chain-bound creature.

“Is this my opponent? So be it!” I said.

I don’t know what this thing is or what it’s capable of, I can’t afford to underestimate it.

Umbra walked over to the creature he created, and said, whilst breaking the chains <go nuts, my Iron Imprisoner.> It stood up, and held out a cage-shaped hammer, which caught fire.

The creature jumped forward, swinging its now flaming hammer to the side. I jumped back as far as I dared, stopping just short of going over the edge. The creature snapped its fingers, causing a flaming cage to appear around me, lighting me on fire, as the thing then sunk into the ground. I tried breaking it open, but it was too strong for pure physical strength to work, so I tried another tactic. I charged up the Lunar Orb and let the power flow into Tsuki no me. Just as it reached its limit, I stabbed it into the end where the cage met the pole, and the pole shattered, along with a small portion of the cage, just enough for me to climb out. It was right then that I noticed the creature was right between me and it, while still within the ground, and came out in a huge explosion that knocked me into the back of the cage, which repaired itself, much to my annoyance. The creature then caught fire, and began to spin inside the tiny cage, lighting me on fire once more.

This time I didn’t bother wasting time using the sword as a medium. I just let off a quick burst of power straight from the orb itself. Its focus wasn’t to just break the cage. This time, it was going to completely disintegrate it. The creature let out a howl of pain as the blast hit it and changed back into a black mist, which flowed back to Umbra, and absorbed into him.

He let out a slow clap, <Took you long enough.>

“What can I say, I like to put on a show sometimes.” I retorted with a scowl.

<Yes, I guess thats why your hair is on fire?>

I replied with a simple “Blizzard,” dumping a single shard of ice on my head and putting out the flame.

Umbra pulled back out his guns, and his other weapons, before throwing them all off the tower we were on, before turning to face me, his yellow eyes glowing menacingly. He took an odd stance. I placed Tsuki no me on the magnetic disc and took a stance of my own.

“So, you ready?” I said calmly.

<Anytime,> and with that, we began.

I rushed him with a quick right hook, followed by a flying reverse roundhouse kick. With the right hook he bent directly backwards at an impossible angle to avoid, and bent even further at the kick.

<Oh, i forgot to mention, Heartless and Nobodies are VERY flexible.> he said as he let his feet leave the ground in a huge upward kick, forcing me to pedal backwards furiously, though I couldn’t avoid it completely, taking it to the chin and being launched a little into the air. He then ran forward on all fours, and lunged at me with an open hand. That was exactly what I was waiting for.

“Too slow.” I said as I grabbed his arm and threw him even higher than I had gone. He righted himself in the air, and gathered the darkness around him as he dropped, <Dark Bomb>

The explosion shattered a large portion of the glass that made up the floor we were standing on, leaving holes everywhere. I was knocked off the platform, barely managing to grab ahold of the edge before I could plummet into the endless depths of the darkness below. Umbra landed not ten feet from where I was dangling and made his way over slowly, savouring his victory.

<What was that about ‘fight me for eternity?’> He said smugly, he grabbed me by the hair, and held me up.

“I won’t give up. Even if you toss me into the darkness I won’t give up hope. I’ll keep coming back and fighting until I can’t anymore, and even then I’ll keep going.” I replied, slightly afraid, but not enough that it was noticeable.

He smiled, <good answer. Now,> he threw me back into the arena and took his ready stance, <draw your blade.>

“Fine, same to you.” I said, brandishing Tsuki no me and taking deep breaths to calm down.

<I was hoping you would say that.> Two of the bladed gloves from before appeared on his hands.

“So, no holding back?” I asked, charging the Lunar Orb and letting its energy flow into my blade.

He let out a huge spiked grin, <Indeed!> he said before charging, the blades on his gloves crackled with electricity and fire simultaneously. Striking out randomly at me every time he got close enough. On the fifth strike, I jumped over him, and used his body to propel myself into the air, letting loose the energy I had built up in both the blade and the orb.

“I’m sure you know about the fire cross. WELL HERE’S MY VERSION! LUNAR CROSS!” I yelled as I created two trails of lunar energy, which I propelled at Umbra using the energy I had stored in the orb. He didn’t even move as it hit him and exploded in a shower of stardust. When the dust cleared, he was still standing there, with a small cut on his head.

<Is that all?> He asked before jumping at me, his flaming/electric blades aimed at my guts. I threw tsuki no me into the air and twisted my body, just barely avoiding getting disembowelled by the attack. In the short time he wasn’t facing me, I elbowed him on the back of the neck, raising my hand just in time to catch my sword and thrust it through his spine.

Umbra let out a horrible shriek of pain, before smiling, and his flesh began to shift, slowly pulling the blade the rest of the way through, and he stabbed me in the shoulders with his glove-blades. I grunted as they dug into my flesh, and I pulled back before they could reach the bone, but the cuts were still deep.

“I’ll admit I’m impressed. But you’re still nowhere near Lumos’ level.” I taunted, trying to rile him up.

<I would fight at full strength, if you were worth it.> he countered.

He wants me to prove I’m worth it, fine.

“Let me ask you something. Did I ever tell you what kind of summoning materia I possess?” I asked.

<No, but knowing you, its probably a moogle riding a giant chicken or something.>

“Nah, I gave that one to Erahaor. The one I’ve got is a little more, interesting.” I replied, as my right arm started to glow red. “DRAW YOUR BLADE! YOJIMBO!” I yelled.

<Well, If we’re playing the summoning game, I might as well make a different unversed. TRINITY ARMOR!>

At that exact moment, five creatures landed on what was left of the platform. One was humanoid, wearing a long cloak and a hat with a very wide rim, and a red dog dog at his side. The other three were in one shape, making up a giant suit of armor. The two of us stood at opposite ends, on the same side as the ones we’d summoned, Umbra with the armors, and I with Yojimbo and Daigoro.

“So, do you think I could get a freebie this time?” I asked casually as I looked at the samurai. He gave me a look that said ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ I sighed and reached into my pocket, pulling out my wallet. I had no idea how I still had it after everything that had happened, but I was glad I did. I tossed him 500 gil. He just gave me a blank stare, before pocketing the cash and moving to engage the armors.

The armors moved first, its torso spinning and shooting lasers, while its arms and legs remained straight forward, the lasers barely going around Umbra’s head. Yojimbo ducked and weaved through the deadly light show with speed and grace, the kind that takes years of dedication and mastery to attain. Even I couldn’t move that well. As he closed the distance, the lasers started to come close to hitting him a few times, yet they never actually did. By the time they lined up a proper shot, he was upon them, drawing his short sword and slashing just in front of them. For a second, there was nothing. Then, the armors stumbled back as an invisible force slammed into every part of their bodies, slashing through them as if they were made of paper. Yojimbo returned to my side, shooting me a smug look. I replied with a shrug and a quick thumbs-up.

<Its times like this I wished I had the skill at making unversed Vanitas had before becoming part of Sora...>

“Yeah, well I wish you weren’t so ugly, but we can’t always get what we want!”

<Fair enough,> he held out his hand to the side, and a giant key appeared in it. <Lets do this.>

“What, you don’t want to see your creature lose?” I asked.

<What’s there to see? I already know how weak they are, so what’s the point?>

“Fair enough,” I replied, mimicking his words, getting a grin from him, before drawing Tsuki no me again. “Ready to lose?”

His grin grew, <To be quite frank, I want to fight that samurai from a moment ago, he seems like a more worthy opponent to me.>

“Alright, but he’ll only fight if you pay him.” I replied. “And I’m all out of cash.” I concluded, smirking.

<Thats too bad, I guess I have only one option for a good fight left now...>

“Oh? And that would be...”

<Is it not obvious?>

I thought for a moment, and I was surprised by what I thought of. “You’re insane, you know that? You really think I’ll let Akumu out just to let you have a challenge?”

<Hey, everyone is insane, some deny it, some embrace it, i take it as a compliment myself.>

“Ok, then you’re really insane. I don’t really give a damn what others think of me for the most part. And I’m not letting Akumu out.”

His key began to glow black, and he pointed it at me, <You have no choice in the matter, he will be released.>

“Not gonna HAPPEN!” I yelled, preparing to charge him.

The darkness around his key continued to grow, and grow as I prepared. Just as I began, a beam of darkness shot out and hit me in the chest, and I started to feel dizzy, just like the first time Akumu took over.

<It is done, this time he will be separate, and like me, a heartless. You... You might become a Nobody, if you’re lucky.>

My vision started to fail, and I collapsed to the ground, clutching my chest. Just as the darkness was about to claim me, I heard a voice.

‘It is not yet your time, Night Guardian.’

What? Who....

‘You still have friends you wish to protect, do you not?’

Yeah, but what does that have to do with-

‘Then you have a reason to stay, though not without cost.’

What kind of cost?

‘Your sword is bound to you, or to your human body, and it acts as a medium between you and the orb, granting you control over much of your power. However, you must cast both aside if you truly wish to protect those you hold dear to your heart.’

So, it’s either give up my human form and my sword, or give up my heart? No contest. The sword and my old self may be important to me, but if it’s a toss-up between them and protecting my friends? I’ll choose my friends every time. So, are you gonna help me gain the strength to protect them, or what?

‘Very well then.’

The voice faded away, and I saw a flash of pure light, before a presence entered my mind. I could feel it as if it was a part of me, as it pulled me away from the darkness. Then I started to feel as if a part of me was being taken away, not a physical part, but a spiritual part. Then I came to. I was still in front of Umbra, but he was looking at me as if I’d grown a second head. I soon saw why, as standing right beside me, was Akumu, in my body, looking just as shocked as I was. That was when I noticed I was in my pegasus form.

<This is impossible, this... we aren’t in the dark world anymore, how?>

“I don’t know. But the floor changed. Take a look.” I said, pointing to it. The top level of the dive had become a darker shade of blue. The young man’s picture had morphed into one of me in my pegasus form, the small scene of an ocean, clouds and a lone palm tree had changed to resemble Nibelheim to an extent, and the faces in the other circles shifted to show Luna, Die, Celestia, and my human face. Finally, the crowns in the outer rim of the floor had changed into symbols I had never seen before, except for two that I recognised as the symbols within the Celestial Orbs.

<I know, we’re inside a real Dive to the Heart. Yours, it looks like.>

“So this is my Dive to the Heart as you call it? Does that mean we’re actually in my heart or something?” I asked confusedly.

<Pretty much, I’ve never actually seen one up close before, Incredible...>

“Yeah, well you’re gonna think this is even more incredible!” I said, as I let my heart react and bring forth a new weapon for me to fight with.

<That’s... A keyblade... NOPE!> Umbra shouted as he jumped off the pillar and into a dark passage.

I turned to Akumu, who promptly followed Umbra through the passage just before it closed, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

So, is this where it ends? Do I just spend eternity trapped in my own heart?

‘No. This is not the end.’

Oh, it’s you again.

‘Your journey is not over. You still have a task to complete.’

And what is that?

‘You must find the nobodies of your friend Lumos and his other self, Malum before Umbra and Akumu do. Unfortunately, the one known as Mirum has become a heartless rather than a Nobody, and there is little hope for saving him.’

Ok, so I have to save Lumos and Malum, and I also have to beat Umbra, Akumu, save Mirum if I can, and destroy him if I can’t. Does that about sum it up?

‘Yes. It does.’

Well, how am I supposed to do that? I can’t exactly leave this place, can I?

‘That is where you are wrong. You will be released very soon.’

Wait, what?

‘Apologies, but it is time for you to go home to your friends.’

Just like before, the voice and its presence faded from my mind, just as a tear appeared in the darkness above me. A hand, well, more like a paw, shot through and grabbed me, pulling me through to whatever awaited me on the other side...

A/N: I know, I haven’t done ending Notes in a couple of chapters, but that’s cause I had nothing to say. The way this turned out the first time wasn’t exactly, good. Well actually, we erased it cause it was shit compared to this.Trust me, you don’t wanna see what we had before. But if you do, maybe I’ll consider showing it sometime. Then again, maybe not. I’ll leave it up to you to decide. PM me if you do want to see it. No promises though.

Also: “It always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats. What is it?”