The Darkest Day

[Secondary Characters]

The Beast had taken a massive amount of damage from battle as is. He was chained down and unable to continue the assualt. However, the final blow would come not from the heroes... but the villains that had turned him into this blood-crazed monster in the first place! When Aeur and Beatrix came crashing down the same way he had with Airnose and her rider, no one expected this to become a whole new fight.

The Beast roared again, wanting to tear limbs, but then an attack that spread across the field came from the black knight, and from the ground came the final blow... a column of ice that pierced right through the beast's chest due to his prone position. It would be accompanied by lightning, searing the wound shut but still the damage was done.

The Beast's roars fell silent... his body losing tension until he fell numb completely. His head rested to the side, his arms slack and his legs no longer kicking. The darkness which had blinded him, making him this horrible monster began to burn off his nearly lifeless form, revealling the much softer, kinder creature he was while under the curse.

No longer a crazed killer, or a rampaging animal... the beast let out a low whine of pain... a haunting reminder that under the fur and horns... he was still human. His eyes began to dialate, his vision getting fuzzy as the world began to lose its light, not from dark power... but because his soul was attempting to escape. Through his lips, only a single word would pass before those eyes would close, perhaps forever. "Belle..." he whispered in a pathetic whisper of desperation...

The rest... is silence.

[General Beatrix]

"That is why..." Beatrix started, pressing her right cheek against the metal chest of Aeur, "I must do this...I will live until you are...satisfied."

She pressed the keyblade forward, the dark knight's armor cracking and, at the touch of its piercing light, shattering; Beatrix drove home the key and twisted, moved in close to Aeur's hear and whispered lightly.

"Pray, don't hate me for this, Agrias...it is what must be done to bring you back to the light...if not for my sake, then for your own, sweet self."

She kicked her leg down for support between Aeur's legs and pulled back Trinity, watching as a mily mist of purple and black darkness burst forth, knocking her back some.

"Nghk!!" Beatrix covered her mouth to keep the miasmic, putrid darkness from infecting her and watched, waited for this redemption to pay off.

[Agrias Oaks]

[glow=purple,2,300]The heartless screamed at the top of its lungs as it met its end, "U-..ugh...hrh..." It rested its head momentarily on Beatrix's shoulder before the burst of dark energy pushed her away. As if in acid, the creature began to melt, and die gruesomely from the light, something within shining out.[/glow]

Once the ooze dissipated into nothing, only the heart floated there, a single thread of light marking the way back to its master at the top tower....

[Abigail Crescentlight]

While the chaos erupted into a full-fledged war beyond the door into that small room and beyond... Abigail sat in the hallway, Agrias' battered body laying next to her with the blonde-haired woman's head seated comfortably on the healer's lap. The slow spell still had a hold, but not for very much longer. Abigail could theoretically cast another after she pulled her final ether from her bag and downed it, but she did not have her staff with her and she knew that even half a second of exposure to the usual flow of time could spell the end for Agrias, as even in that condensed amount, she could see the woman dissolving...

She reached into the time-sphere, and gently stroked the woman's blood-soaked hair. She couldn't cast into it, as the time was different from her mind to her hand. A sigh would escape her as she quietly pleaded with the woman. "Stay with us... don't go just yet..." she prayed. It was so quiet and peaceful here... those battle sounds so far away.

Shantoto made an appearance, but Abigail was more concerned with other things right now. She barely registered it when her hand lifted of its own accord to collect the scroll, which she set beside her for a moment. Her teacher was gone as quickly as she arrived, but she remained, gently stroking the fallen knight's head in a desperate attempt to give her something, anything, to keep her tethered to where she was. Only seconds remained until the spell wore off.

Outside, the battle raged. When final victory finally came in a new way from the history Abigail had been shown... light would fill the area. The heart of Agrias, though fractured and hurt, still shined brilliantly. It would drift along that thin tether to a body that was on the edge of disappearing. Upwards it flew, up the tall tower and into the room where Agrias lay. It came closer, catching Abigail's attention, and prompting her to lift a hand and hold it delicately, amazed by its strength even in this... hell.

"Agrias..." she whispered, smiling softly. "Things have changed so much... and I see now the path that must be taken. I'm sorry... that you and I never had the chance I had hoped. I want to give you something... something I couldn't give you before and now will never get to..." with that, she lifted the glowing crystal heart to her lips and placed a very soft kiss upon its surface. A small heal spell would pass from her to the heart, mending that little crack a bit before Abigail lowered her hand and the shimmering symbol of what's within into the timesphere which disappeared the instant the two halves made contact.

Withdrawing her hand, Abigail watched as the heart sank back into its home... then looked upon the face of Agrias, hoping that she would awaken...

[General Beatrix]

Beatrix watched with horror of the future in store for her and her friends as the heart made its slow, angelic ascent back to the tower they had been thrown from previously; she stood in complete shock of what she had just done, the evil seeming to clear away and the storm stopped.

Rain still poured on this land, and blood still painted the pathways, but the end had come. Beatrix was finished here, and so too was Aeur Grauss; the keyblade in which lay all three of the Sisters of Light's weapons sparkled for a moment, then split, separating into three separate items once more.

The clang, pangs and ding from striking cold, wet stone brought her out of her mind wanderings, and she slowly collected each weapon and moved over to where the Beast lay, unconscious. Kneeling at his side she rested a hand on his large back and kissed his side.

"I release you, and all of your household...I no longer wage war on this castle."

The clouds above separated, revealing hazy streaks of moonlight, and the rain suddenly stopped. She stood up and walked away without watching what had come next; instead she moved back to the castle and found her way up to the lonely tower.

Creeping alongside the right-hand side of the hallway she hesitated just behind the wall turning onto the next branch where awaited Abby and Agrias.

"I am here..." she said, resting her head against the wall, not peeking around to see them. She closed her eye and slumped down into a sitting position, dropping the weapons beside her on the floor.

[Agrias Oaks]

The heart would begin to blend in with its owner's body, weakly, and slowly due to the exhaustion and stress that the two were exposed to. Thankfully, the heal that was casted upon the heart soon spread to the rest of the near dead knight. Some of her fatal injuries began to heal, and the internal bleeding was stopped and mended. Agrias was whole.

The body, in total, was over-exhausted and stressed, and when her eyes would open to find herself in a strange orb that soon popped. she blinked and squinted her eyes. Her dress now a dry brown which smelled of iron from the blood was picked up by her smell, and she groaned in both disgust and uncomfortable soreness. She began to cry a little, all too much for her to comprehend at the moment.

The knight looked about her surroundings, still laying there in a daze, and caught glimpse of a woman with long black hair and bright blur eyes. She whimpered in pain a little, feeling calm and relaxed near this form, but still very confused, "...c-... are thee... Cosmos...?" she sounded weakly, her eyes falling half closed, "...am I... uhn...?" she slurred, and fell asleep.

[serpentoflore]

Sarah had stopped playing the piccolo once Beatrix had won. Her hands came together, uncertain of why something felt wrong. For some reason she was filled the dread of something, but did not think of what it could have been. Looking at the state of the battle, it seemed that the beast was either dead or badly wounded. As for Beatrix and the dark thing that was attacking, it was nowhere to be seen.

Go to the General. That's right, go to the General and see what the next orders were. Still, if she left she would be followed by Vivi and Lexia. That would be counterproductive. Her mind remained confused, beginning to walk back into the castle for some sort of path to follow.

[Lilith]

Lilith slumped to her knees and let the chains uncoil from her arms before letting her body go limp, her arms still sizzled from the acidic poison that the chains were draped in and her gloves were ruined but the fight was over.
she let out a sigh of relief before climbing back to her feet.

the vampire stared over the battle ground, the rain left a stale scent in the air and an unending patter in her ears.
she walked to her allies and a weak smile took the place of her usual grin, she could only say one thing.
"well done..."

[General Beatrix]

This time Beatrix would peak around the corner, the moment she heard Agrias mutter her first words as a reborn whole; Beatrix smiled weakly, her eyes glistening and vision blurring over with tears. She slowly crept into Abby's view and paced over, dropping to her knees at the fallen Holy Knight.

"I am sorry," she said simply, pressing a hand down on Agrias' own, clutching it lovingly and quickly drawing it away, knowing that she did not deserve that comfort...she was responsible for this, for Agrias'...descent.

She slowly glanced upward at the White Mage. "She will be all right..."

[nexus]

Airinose watched as the beast was assaulted with the magic, and watched as the prince laid there motionless. Airinose wished she could do something to help, but she possessed no magic that could help........but she knew who did. "Nexus.....Nexus.......wake up Nexus", Airinose nudged Nexus a bit with her nose.

Nexus felt himself being bumped, but he didn't want to move, he was comfy and tired. He wasn't going to wake up but then he heard a voice call out to him. Slowly Nexus began to open his eyes to a bright light, shadowed by a form in front of him. "Airinose is that you ?" he asked sleepily

Airinose sighed in relief that he was ok, and smiled a bit at him, for reassurance. "Nexus, This prince is hurt, can you help him?" she asked him , but no words left her mouth. she had spoken the way that dragons do , using their mind.

Nexus blinked a couple timed and stared at the dragon "Airinose did you just talk to me?!?, how are you able to talk?" he was astounded, he had never known a dragon could talk, let alone have actual intelligence.

" That's not important right now" she turned her head to the prince on the ground "Nexus, the prince" she reminded him

Nexus nodded,yawned, and began to pull himself up out of Airinose's lap. He sluggishly walked over to were the prince was, holding his still broken left arm. He looked at the chains on his wrists and ankles and wondered what he was doing out here in the first place, "just what did i miss" he asked out loud to know one in particular. Nexus made it over to the prince and slumped down onto his knees, he checked the prince once over, then looked over his shoulder at Airinose. I don;t know what i can do." he said to her but his only reply was a couple head bobs in the princes direction from the dragon.

"Just try Nexus" was all Airinose said

Nexus turned back to the prince and held out his good arm over the Prince's chest "Light, blessed be, come to me, Hear my call, and cast your grace upon one that has fallen."he said as a faint glow of light grew in Nexus's hand , growing brighter and brighter over the Prince. Nexus stared at the light over coming for his has and wondered "My dragon speaks to me, that beast is nowhere to be seen, and the prince is lying almost dead on the ground, whats next? Is that Beatrix lady going to be nice all of the sudden?" he chuckled

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail couldn't suppress a slight giggle when Agrias mistook her for the divine one. She smiled softly, allowing the woman to slowly drift into rejuvinating sleep. A sigh would escape her when Beatrix came up. Looking away, she felt a little hurt knowing what she needed to do. It would take a moment, but when Beatrix pulled her hand away from Agrias', Abigail would shake her head, and reach over to cup both into her own, offering a reassuring smile to the General.

"Yes, she's going to be fine. She's just sleeping now. I had to use some of her mana to help so she'll be tired and maybe a bit sore for a bit..." Abigail said softly, then looked down at the resting Agrias. She had seen the kind of future that lay ahead... and she had to take steps now to prevent it from happening. She glanced once more to Beatrix.

"Don't think that way..." she said softly, then reached into her nice new white-and-red half hoody to pull out a familiar letter. She handed it over to the General with a soft smile. "She needs you now more than ever. The real you this time..." Abigail nodded softly, then started to shift her weight in order to stand. "And this time, I'll be there to help keep you on the path, if you'll accept my help," she added, then scooped up Agrias' lower half lightly. "Speaking of... we need to put her in a nice, warm bed and start freeing the staff who were locked up. Where's Belle?"

[Acteur de la Noir]

Elsewhere, with Sarah Appleton:

As the lonely musician wandered the halls of that forlorn castle, fresh from the dive she'd taken into her own heart, it might have been said by some that she'd never been more akin to Belle than she was, now--a lost maiden alone in an unfamiliar world, in need of a prince to come and lift her from this turbulent situation. And, as fortune would have it, that prince was nigh--though he came in a form most unexpected by many.

To most, the swirling vortex of blackness that materialized before Sarah--that portal from the darkest depths, sending forth a chilling wind that caused all nearby candles to flicker and dim--would have been a sign of danger, not the advent of the proverbial white horse. And, by that very same token, the lanky figure that emerged slowly from the portal--that lanky figure wrapped in a tattered black cape, clad in dusky hues and hiding his face behind a mask with a madcap-yet-sinister leer--would have not been welcomed as a knight, but feared as the villain. All of this would have been especially so if those gifted with the sense of the astral had detected this peculiar figure's aura--even from a glance, it was clear that he was a being born of the darkness.

And yet, to Sarah, this enigmatic-yet-elegant figure who emerged from the portal, with eyes of ghostly yellow that sought out her amethyst pools, was as familiar and welcome as that knight on the white horse. For this was Acteur de la Noir, he who had tended to her after her eventful journey from her home world...

...And, while he was certainly a master of performances, the way in which the mysterious puppeteer approached her--the concern that flickered in those eerie eyes behind that theatrical mask--had a rather prominent streak of authenticity to it.

"A little black bird has told me of your tribulations here, cherie," Acteur said, his voice as ghostly and elegant as ever. "Further, it tells me that you stand poised at a crossroads like no other--a choice that you cannot take back, one that shall dominate who you are, now and forever." With these words, the puppeteer reached out to clasp Sarah's shoulders...and for all their artificial stiffness, those gloved fingers were surprisingly gentle, as though handling a fragile and precious jewel that was easily worth the world. Perhaps Acteur himself wasn't aware of it...perhaps this was something born out of something he'd never expected. But here it was.

"Such a choice musn't be made lightly," said Acteur, his spooky gaze meeting Sarah's as though trying to find the hidden depths in her crystal-violet pools. "Tell me of what has happened, that I might help you along your path."

[Secondary Characters]

And so it was that the Beast, now released from the curse of household along with his servants, would undergo yet another transformation. Where he once went from bloodthirsty monster to injured animal, he now melted from likable creature into the handsome prince that he truly was. But... that didn't change one very important fact.

He was still very badly injured. The heroes did their jobs well, so he was not getting up that easily. He did, however, show signs of life, coughing heavily and breathing in a raspy, gurgling sort of way. He clutched at his chest, counting his lucky stars that the spike had not penetrated anything VITAL. Turning over, he spat blood onto the pavement, still coughing heavily.

"Ss...surgeon... I need a ... surgeon..." he muttered, his hair falling in his face pitifully as he tried his hardest to get up.

[serpentoflore]

Her body tensed at the dark portal, uncertain what would appear. However, the visitor calmed her almost completely. Acteur's presence was the only thing that could make her truly relax. Her eyes seemed to glitter, happy to see him. At first she was uncertain of what to do. Run to him and hug him? He answered it without even reading her thoughts. His touch was something abnormal, but to Sarah it was the most normal and comfortable touch she could feel.

"Follow the dark as your love guides you... but lose yourself."

"Follow the light as your heart tells you... but lose your prince..."

"I saw two paths and two figures." She began, her eyes watering a little. "The one you called Maestro told me that if I went to the darkness I could be with you forever. That strange creature that was talking about notes... he told me that if I chose light I would lose you." Her hands came together, holding in a tight tension. "I don't care about the fact that you may not be a human creature and that... That holding you so close may be wrong." Her hands held even tighter, as if trying to hold back something she didn't understand. "I like you as you are and I can't stand to lose you!" Her eyes closed, tears coming out of them. Her body leaned closer to Acteur, having been stressed much more during the mission than she could admit. After a few moments, her arms were around the puppet again, her head leaning into a wooden shoulder.

[Vivi]

At some point Vivi had turned from Sarah's path to check on Lexia, and when he faced Prince Adam's form, staggering and bloody, he cried out in shock and horror, dashing over and falling to his knees.

"Pr-prince?" he squealed. "MISS ABIGAIL! DOCTOR SAI!"