The Darkest Day

[Vivi]

When Sarah nearly fell atop the squat Black Mage while they sped off, he tripped over a small rock and allowed her to crash on his tumbling form. He tilted back his head to check on her while also surveying the chaos. A new combatant had entered the arena.

"Miss...Appleton?"

[Agrias Oaks]

[glow=purple,2,800]The dark knight screeched in pain, and withdrew her burning hand before she could receive more damage. She hissed, looking to the white mage as she passed to tend to the near dead corpse, but her attention was attained by Beatrix once more; The speech the General gave seemed to only make her more angry.

"LIAR!!" Shouted the knight at the top of her lungs, seeming to cry with every move, the metal rusting heavily, and she forced her movements to be quicker, "DECEIVER!!" she cried again.

Aeur growled loudly, a new sound coming... a crunching of bones, and muscles, and without warning, black blades protruded from her gauntlet knuckles. "UgHR-GAAAHH!!!" she screeched once more, before charging at Beatrix with unimaginable speed.

She held her blades together to form an X, and she rushed the woman through the hole the beast did once, now falling with Beatrix from the tallest point in the castle. The small thread still attached to her, and grew longer the farther it went from Agrias.

"HEART BREAKER!!" Growled Aeur, glowing a purplish evil, the demonic voice echoing "QUIVER OVER JUDGEMENT'S GRASP... CRUSHING BLOW!!!"

The black knight thrust her hand forward, and from one of her blades a menacing, glowing turquoise aura thrust from it, targeting the falling General. [/glow]

~~~~~~~~~~

"u-..u...." was able to sound the tired knight, her eyes black and expressionless. She was surrounded by a soft, gold glow... slowly disappearing into what seemed dust.

[General Beatrix]

"Wha--" she cried, interrupted by the sudden charg of Aeur Grauss, and soon they were spiraling down, midair above the courtyards, ready to come crashing down on another battlefield.

And then the Heartless performed a forbidden magic! Crushing Blow!?

Struggling with her back facing the ground while the descended she moved her keyblade forward and held it defensively as the monster attacked. "Protect!" she chanted, bringing up a leg to the keyblade, and kicking off, using the handle and staff-end to tumble in a standing positon.

When they neared the ground she prepared on the blade once more to pounce back for a back roll.

On land she doubled over and held back up her keblade, preparing an attack for the Heartless as she made her entrance into the courtyard.

"Reflect," she intoned, and soon a large, crimson prism of pure energy encircled the general, and she would be free from magical spells.

"What to do..." whispered Beatrix, dashing forward with her blade drawn back. When she reached Aeur she brought it crashing down.

[Agrias Oaks]

[glow=purple,2,800]"DEVIL!" The Heartless Knight cried, as her own attack bounced off the reflective spell surrounding the General. As it shot up against her, she had no choice but to cut through it, taking some damage from the powerful, ancient spell, " GUILTY!! GUILTY!!" she cried, her armor rasping, and sounding against itself, taking the blow lightly before she landed. When she saw the knight move closer, she backed away fast, missing the blade by inches, and found some distance from her before continuing.

"LET HEART SUFFICE, RAGE UNLIMITED.... ABYSMAL BLADE!!!" She growled, and stabbed the ground in front of her, in a cone-shaped area, the point being the sword, the ground began to grow weak, and blow upward in an explosion of earth, consuming the general with it. Chunks of rock began to fly up, whatever bellow them coming to be dangerous!

She removed the blade from the ground, and dashed forward into the horrible field, jumping from rock to stone, making her way closer to Beatrix with a demonic speed, " DOUBLE-CROSSER!" rasped her voice, sounding as rusty as her armor now, "PRETENDER!!" she came closer, and sliced forward.

"GUILTY!" [/glow]

[General Beatrix]

As the Abysmal Blade sent Beatrix flying with the earthly shrapnel she was struck hard with the large, phantom blade, being tossed several feet into the air, coming to meet the flying stones again once more. Battered and bruising she was becoming weak, not unsimilarly to the ground, and Aeur's rush towards her now wasn't making things any easier.

"I know, Agri--grr! I know what I've done!" she cried, smacking away Aeur's blade with her keyblade and kicking downward at the demon. "You've got to stop this madness, for this isn't Agrias Oaks! I'm sorry!"

She landed with a thud when the magical attack from before subsided and doubled over once more, preparing her next strike.

"You will see the light, Holy!" she roared, hoisting up one arm, gathering white, pure energy between her palms and letting loose the attack.

[Agrias Oaks]

[glow=purple,2,800]"CRUSHING BLOW!!" cried Aeur in agonizing pain, launching forward an attack as strong as Holy, both orbs of light and darkness meeting, imploding, and canceling. Still, something seemed to have had a better effect that the blow. When she landed, she seemed somewhat confused, moving in place, as if deciding to attack or not. "Ugh..un...un. NO! GUILTY!"

A notice: She started seeming confused when the words "I'm Sorry" were sounded.

"BURNING MANA," both Beatrix and Aeur began to glow a fiendish purple aura, and this, the General would be familiar to. It was a striking resemblance to White Draw, " INFERNAL STRIKE! " soon, the chestnut haired woman began to feel even weaker than before. Some light, as well as a little darkness, but not all, being absorbed by the Berserker.

Slightly poisoned by the light, Aeur slowed down momentarily, before slowly picking up her speed, sword drawn, and pointed toward Beatrix's chest!

"GRAAHH!![/glow]

[General Beatrix]

When this draining attack struck Beatrix cried out in pain, dropping to her knees; both her free hand and that carrying the Trinity fell hard to each side, the keyblade emitting a scream of its own, followed by the metallic "pang" hitting flagstone.

The rain poured hard on Adam's castle, and blood mingled with stone and water, creaming over the pathways of the interior courtyard with a milky red.

Beatrix, drained of some dark and light, staggered back under Aeur's demonic blade and tumbled to the side, crawled to her feet and clutched at her forehead, praying for a moment of respite. She moved with Aeur for quite a while, as this monster gave no rest between assaults, so she had to come up with something quick. And when that happened, she turned back to the attacking creature and stepped forward, gathering her energy.

Suddenly a thought came to her: Aeur had paused, and greatly slowed her movements at Beatrix' words of redemption...could all the woman wish for be...justice? That is what she would soon grant this Heartless, then...

A combination of both swords, imbued with the light from Abby's staff, would be drawn from the keyblade in Beatrix' next strike. Charging forward, poised for the chest of Aeur Grauss, Beatrix launched her assault, crying out her next spell.

"Expand the piercing light, for Judgement is at hand! Stasis Lightning!" She ran forth, and leaped up into the air, Trinity wielded in both hands and its key tip facing the Heartless; soon a shower of lightning and ice would stream from her blade, a flurry of divine, elemental fury rushing down on the creature's body.

"I love you, Agrias...what light you still carry! And...there's nothing I won't do to help you out of this darkness!"

[Agrias Oaks]

[glow=purple,2,800]" Sword quivers at last resort," sounded the demonic voices coming from the creature's mouth, her body glowing a fearsome crimson and black. The Blood that covered her was expanding to her surroundings, until forming a circle that reached 20 feet away from her- "armor break, with mind already broken..."

If the others did not make it out of this circle, they would be awaken to an electrifying painful shock! Little cracks of lightning already forming over the blood parameters, " My life for their doom..... UNHOLY SACRIFICE!"

The field around the creature came to life, lightning spewing from bellow as it also entrapped Aeur, and Beatrix and anyone within the seals range. The Ice shards would melt with the lightning, and the lightnings merge for a further spread of force. This attack was horrible, and vast... even the black knight getting trapped in it would receive insufferable damage!

The seal broke, and the lightning seized, showing a black knight, with armor glowing from the heat it just absorbed... in obvious pain. Aeur seemed to not care for its life, nor anyone else's for that matter...

"G-...guil... guilty...!" It rasped weakly, looking to where the General was, and walking to her, hand raised as she stood over her, ready to strike down....[/glow]

[serpentoflore]

Sarah's eyes opened up, rain starting to wake her from the strange dream. Her body lifted from Vivi's seeing that Beatrix was currently injured. Moving back, she pulled out the black piccolo, beginning to play it. A tune that an assassin with utmost confidence once played. It would play only to Beatrix, increasing her awareness of Auer's moves. She moved back as far as she could, making it strong enough to work as a sort of haste spell.

[Vivi]

When Sarah awoke Vivi clamored to rise to his feet, only to be struck down with massive amounts of energy emitted from Aeur the Heartless. He was thrown back once more but, after a liftetime of falling, he was quick to his feet.

Raising his staff he called out an ancient seldom sorcery at Aeur, seeing as the Beast was covered. "Break!" He directed the spell to her feet, where if the spell struck it would begin.

[Shantotto]

[glow=teal,2,300]Seeing this turn of events, Shantottos laughter turn to frustration and anger. "Such an accursed, gruesome and in which destruction's desire, and to show up with such extreme haste, I have no business to incur such ire."

Shortly after speaking Shantotto open a new rift, a purplish hue with a green vortex, she had shouted "Retrace" Once open the tarutaru took her leave within the rift.

A few moments later a similar rift had opened in the tower on high, next to Abigail. "There has been a turn of events unforeseen, I have decided to make my presence most unseen. Take this scroll, it will allow only you to make it back to my study. I shall soon make you my inductee." Shanotto no sooner spoke had she again vanished into a "Warp" rift no doubt headed back to her study.

*Off to Castle Oblivion > The Observatory*[/glow]

[General Beatrix]

With all that was happening, Beatrix had a bit of an advantage, being able to see things coming now. She was imbued with the power of haste and just made it slightly out of range when the thundering, crushing powers of the Unholy Sacrifice tore through the general's body.

She went tumbling downward fast, thrown to the ground while clutching the Trinity Keyblade tight. Aeur Grauss came upon her with sword in hand and she whimpered, cradling herself into the ground and tucking her head into her arms.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Agrias!"

[Agrias Oaks]

[glow=purple,2,800]Aeur forced the blade down, and was merely inches away from the woman, until suddenly-- "I'm sorry!" -- these words caused her hand to halt in place, and the sword would not travel further. The darkest knight seemed confused again, and with the other hand, she would try striking, but again-- "I'm Sorry!" -- it halted her once more.

"I'm sorry, Agrias!" cried the General, and the knight backed away, an expression of confusion about her features.

"T-... traitor...?" The knight tilted her head, shaking violently in place, and slicing at the air in front of her. As if... she suddenly could not see her target. Did the visor only allowed her to see those without redemption? She looked about, growling and grunting under her breath. The metal she worse screeched, clanked horribly, and screamed with every move she made.

"D-...deceiver....? .... Guilty...?" [/glow]

[General Beatrix]

She looked up. She wasn't dead... As the dark knight staggered back and her body seized as if having a conflict of personalities fighting for control, the general crawled to her feet and moved forward.

"The light had reared its head...I couldn't bear to follow it, Agrias, but I truly am sorry..."

Aeur was busy thrashing about and Beatrix sped up with Sarah's help and seized her flailing arm and pulled the Heartless close.

"I love you, Agrias and could never...ever think to hurt you willingly...and yet I did; I am a menace, and for that I couldn't redeem myself if I tried, unless I give you the chance to judge me, yourself...how, Agrias, are you going to pass judgment when...you're not you?"

She took Aeur in an embrace and hugged her lovingly, searing white light enveloping the general as she entered trance.

"I am sorry for all that I have done and will make it up to you daily..."

[Agrias Oaks]

[glow=purple,2,800]The visor, and armor, and even swords began to crack, the darkness seething from the warm light. Aeur would flinch and try to move away, unable to make sense of what was happening. If Beatrix saw, Aeur had eyes of a blind woman... those visors were her sight, and she saw only sin... but this was new to the child knight.

She growled a little, trying to hit what was in front of her, not what was holding her. She flailed her arms, trying to hit whatever that was behind Beatrix.

G-..guil..." she paused, the armor deteriorating at random places, the knight of it leaving, and leaving a defenseless heartless behind. Aeur would look about, trying to find Beatrix, seeming to hear her voice, but is unable to see her, or feel her, even at this closeness. "...h-...hurts..." the heartless began to shiver, "..h-..h-hu..hurts...." [/glow]