1. Prelude: Awakening

Draco: What up, fool, it's Draco. I am the man! My Dissidia mood has been lingering, so I figured I would put it to use.

Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix

* * *

**Prelude: Awakening**

_Fire._

_And raw, unbearable pain._

_He gave a shout as the inferno consumed him, the surge of the flame slamming him into that horrific plate of skulls that sat atop the throne of Discord. With a weak cry, he fell earthward, his sword impaling itself in the arm of the throne as his spine collided with the edge of the seat. He tumbled off, hitting the floor of the battlefield and struggling to rise._

_She hit the floor before him, her claws digging into the earth._

_"What's wrong with you?" Her voice, soft and caring, now seared from her lips like a disappointed parent. "You said you had the strength to protect everyone. Did you forget to leave any of that strength to protect yourself?"_

_He could not respond. His lips would not obey._

_"Get up."_

_His body would not react so that he could obey that command._

_"I said __**get up!**__"_

_Her foot skid across the ground, and another burst of flame ripped across the earth. It erupted as it collided with him, and he was propelled into the air; another inferno engulfed his flesh before her claws grabbed him, searing through his chestplate to grip him by the torso._

_"Why did you do this?" The voice that he had grown to care for, the one who had cared for him in return, now attacked him like discord himself. "I thought you had changed, boy. I thought... you had grown strong."_

_Searing white magic wrapped her body as her grip tightened on his flesh, and he gave a cry of pain._

_"I guess __**I thought wrong!**__"_

_She hurled him earthward, slamming him into the battlefield; and the magic focuses on her arms as she lashed them against each other, blades of light ripping towards him._

"Terra..."

_Edges of pure arcana, from the one that he thought he could truly trust; now those blades tore to cleave his body in two like Catastro's blade._

"TERRA!"

He shot upright, his gaze wide, and for a moment he swore the Void had taken him.

Then he realized that this was not _between_ light and shadow.

"What... am I doing here?"

The Onion Knight received no response - for the battlefield that the war of gods had crafted from the World of Darkness would not reply, in itself.

* * *

Draco: Well, let's see if anyone's going to notice.


	2. World of Darkness: Revelation

Draco: Alright, it has been noticed. I shall continue.

Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix

* * *

**World of Darkness: Revelation**

"What... am I doing here?"

He did not understand. He was sitting in the battlefield that had been crafted from the World of Darkness, between the war of harmony and discord.

_What's going on? We gathered our crystals... Chaos defeated Cosmos... and we defeated Chaos. Then... we were all taken to that hillside... looked like it was near the Sanctuary... and we were sent home._

_Weren't we?_

He tried to rise and found the tail of his hair was caught under something. With an irritated growl, he gripped his hair and turned, intending to pull it out from whatever it was caught on.

Nothing could have prepared him for _the Cloud of Darkness_, lying there on his hair with her tentacles limp at her sides.

A muffled scream tore through his lips as he slammed his hand into his mouth. _What the...? What is_ _**she**__ doing here?_ he asked himself. _Good Bahamur..._ Carefully, he gripped his hair again and set his feet on the crystal surface beneath him. A thin breath passed through his lips; then he gave the strands a fierce tug that drew them from under the Void's body.

No reaction.

That was not of great comfort to Onion Knight. _Think. Cosmos called you one of her wisest warriors, so **think**. You're in the World of Darkness battleground..._ He glanced around. _In its base form... It's just you and the Cloud of Darkness. No traps... no weapons... no other warriors-_

"Wait, TERRA!"

The shout of worry passed from his lips before he could stop it. He slammed his palms to his mouth, but it was too late; a serpentine hissing behind him caused him to turn to see the Cloud of Darkness beginning to stir. Her tentacles glared at him as she rose, setting one hand on the crystal and the other upon her head.

"What is that insatiable noise?" she murmured to herself, raising her gaze away from the young knight. A moment passed, then she glanced around her. "This battleground... this is from the conflict with the gods. What are we...?"

Slowly, Onion stepped back, careful not to let his armour clatter against the stone. The Cloud's tentacles continued to glare at him, but the Cloud herself did not seem to notice his presence. She lifted herself off the ground, her feet remaining inches from the crystal surface as she looked across the pillars, not a word emerging from her. Onion was moving unbearably slow - his sabatons were not exactly quiet unless he was careful - and as he stepped back, the leaves of his helmet brushed one of the lightstreams that lined the battlefield.

A small jolt rippled across the stream.

The Cloud of Darkness noticed it and turned; but the battleground was empty to her.

Her glare raced across the battlefield as, behind the pillars, Onion held his breath as tight as he could. This was _her_ battlefield - how she had yet to notice his presence was a mystery to him, but it was only a matter of time before it happened. Slowly, he pulled his feet from the ground and pulled off his sabatons, setting them into pockets hidden in the folds of cloth that splayed from his waist.

A moment passed; then the faintest of sounds echoed from behind a pillar, and the Cloud turned with a shout as skyward streams of void energy raced towards the pillar - the Long-Range form of her signature Particle Beam. The beams tore one of the pillars open causing its pieces to crumble; but when the dust cleared, the battleground was empty.

Onion was now behind the other end pillar on that side. With some difficulty, he managed to ascend the side of the pillar, hoping that she wouldn't notice him. Slowly, he knelt against the top of the pillar, waiting for her movements that would indicate she was about to act.

His foot slipped, and his greaves collided with the pillar's top. The Cloud reacted to the slight clatter; she turned in place, lashing out with a wave of void - her Wide Angle form Particle Beam. The attack shattered the rest of the pillars on that side; but the source of the noise was unfound still, for the Onion Knight had crossed the air and landed on the stone opposite. She fell silent once more, gritting her teeth against one another as she looked around.

"You who hide here... reveal yourself..." Her voice was dark and - as Onion had feared - almost drawing when she put her power into it. For a second he was tempted to obey; then he snapped himself into focus, setting a hand on the pillar again.

Carefully, he managed to get the stone to vibrate, ever so slightly. His anticipation was spot-on; the Cloud lashed out, rapid spheres of darkness - the Fullisade version Particle Beam - racing from all directions. Swiftly, he pried the sphere from atop the pillar, throwing it towards a shot that came too close for comfort, and let himself tumble into the wreckage of the pillar as it neared the ground.

When the dust settled, the Cloud of Darkness could not see him - for he was buried under rubble.

A low growl emerged from her lips. "This is no longer amusing," she threatened. "You will reveal yourself... or we shall collapse this battleground."

Onion resisted the urge to scoff, gazing between fragments of rubble as the Cloud looked around. _Yeah right. Do it, I dare you._

As though she had heard his challenge, the Cloud of Darkness arced in place and reached one hand hellward, setting her fingertips against the crystal.

A moment passed, then Onion's gaze narrowed. _Why hasn't it shattered?_

"What..." The Cloud pulled her hand away, glancing at it; then she reached down and touched the crystal with her other hand. Another moment's passage; then she raised both hands before her. "What is happening?" She set both sets of fingers against the platform; when the crystal still did not react; Onion only watched as she dove earthward, falling to a kneel and pressing her palms against the crystal. "What... what has happened to us?"

Onion was worried that his opponent was going to start blowing things up any moment; lowering his hand behind a pillar fragment, he formed his sword in hand.

The sound of appearing weapon caused the Cloud of Darkness to turn towards the pile of rubble. A moment of silence; then, to Onion's confusion, she closed her eyes and lifted off the ground once more, slowly turning as she did so.

One hand was raised outward, in no direction in particular, and a sphere of what looked like Particle Beam appeared from nowhere. It passed through the air, drifting slowly across the crystal, and as it began to pick a direction the Cloud raised her other hand. Another like sphere appeared around it, following after the first from higher off the platform. The Cloud's tentacles hissed as she raised one leg, another sphere forming from it.

Onion Knight realized too late that the spheres were approaching him.

"Sh-!"

He lashed out against the rubble, propelling it towards the Cloud of Darkness, and her eyes snapped open as the spheres condensed upon themselves. The young knight had no chance to move before bursts of void erupted from the spheres, and he was sent flying, tumbling nearly off the battleground. He tried to stick his sword in the platform to catch him, but it would not pierce the crystal, and he released it against the stage as his bare palms skid across the jewel surface.

He managed to stop himself with his legs dangling off, but his main body mass on the surface - good, because he promptly released the crystal in pain.

"Ow, ow, ow, burn, burn, _ow_!" With pained breaths, Onion blew on his hands, waving them in the air before he realized that the Cloud of Darkness was glaring right at him.

"Onion Knight..."

"Son of a submariner..."

The Cloud brought her hands close to each other, and a sphere of necrous Void energy focused between her palms as Onion pulled himself up, grabbing his sword from the crystal. Not a moment too soon did he leap towards the other pillars before the attack flew - the Cloud's 0-Form version Particle Beam seared through the air, chasing him with a speed unlike most other tracking magics. He managed to avoid contact before the strike faltered, and braced his blade before him.

"What have you done to us!?" the Cloud of Darkness demanded.

"I should ask you the same!" Onion Knight shouted back.

He shot forward, his blade moving in rapid swipes as he got near. The Cloud managed to evade the flurry before lashing her tentacles towards him, but he quickly hit the ground with a roll and skid away. With a quick movement, he aimed his sword at the Void, and a ring of icy magic circled him briefly before he whirled the weapon in hand, launching a shards of ice towards her. Somehow, the ice managed to connect before the Cloud of Darkness could react, and Onion lashed out against the air as larger frost shots bombarded her from all around.

He didn't give her a chance to react; he quickly grabbed his blade out of the air and shot forward, striking the Cloud with a quick flurry of slashes before rushing her against the crystal and driving his sword through her robe.

This time, his blade pierced the crystal of the battlefield.

He leapt back before the Cloud could strike at him. Her tentacles lashed out at him, but he quickly improvised, stepping around and away from the strikes. He ducked under one that swept at his head, reaching into the cloths from his waist as the other surged towards him - and drawing out a sabaton in each hand.

One was thrown at the serpent to stun it.

The other was thrown as more of a pointed kick, knocking the tentacle to the platform as he leapt forward and slipped his feet into the sabatons.

Then he closed one hand around the other tentacle, whirling around it and dragging it to the ground with his bare hands.

"Why did you bring me here?" he demanded of the Cloud of Darkness. "Tell me, now!"

She tried to rise, but he had pinned her cape nearly at the point where it reached her spine, and she could do little more than raise her head. "We did not..."

"Don't give me that nonsense!" Onion spat. He reached to his hip, drawing a small knife that had mostly been there for decoration, but still bore an edge almost as sharp as that of his sword. "Answer my question!"

The Cloud let her helm fall back. "This battlefield was crafted for the war between harmony and discord. We had nothing to do with it! We swear, on _the Void itself_, that we are not here of our will, nor have we brought you here against yours!"

Onion grit his teeth angrily for a long moment; then he pulled his knife away, driving it back into the ring at his hip before slamming a punch into the tentacle's helm. It fell to the ground alongside the first one as the Cloud jolted in pain; then he stepped forward and forced his sword out of the crystal, letting it vanish as he stepped away. There was a moment of silence; then the Cloud of Darkness rose from the battlefield, turning towards him.

"Your power is wasted with a blade," she chastised. "You would be better off as a Karateka."

"How did I end up here?" Onion demanded, not reacting to the comment. "How did _you_ end up here?"

"We cannot say," the Cloud insisted. There was a moment of silence. "We shall dive to the Void, and see what world this battleground rests in. We will return once we have completed our findings."

Onion narrowed his gaze, glaring at her sideways.

It did not go unnoticed. "You have our word - we will return once we have found some information."

"You better hold up to that," Onion stated firmly.

The Cloud of Darkness nodded; then she bowed her head and closed her eyes as a swirling vortex of darkness consumed her body.

It faded as mist when she had vanished into it.

* * *

Draco: That ended pleasantly.


	3. World of Darkness: Void's Dive

Draco: Nothing snappy here. Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.

* * *

**World of Darkness: Void's Dive**

The Void is tangible, seeping into, out of, and between planes of reality.

So when she felt _trapped_, diving into the emptiness between light and shadow, the Cloud of Darkness knew _something_ was wrong.

To any human senses, the Void would simply be pure emptiness - a loss of perception - no sight, no sound, no scent, nothing to touch, nothing to taste. The Void is maneuvered by _reaching out_ into that emptiness, taking hold of it like the reins of a wyvern and _letting it fly_. In the Void, all things will come to one who allows that wyvern to soar, and she would depart only when she found what she was looking for.

But nothing came. As the Cloud of Darkness sank in, reaching out, she found the reins missing, like the wyvern had come loose and taken off during her leave. It was a _plummet_, not a flight, and when she searched around her for the passing reality, she could not find it. She searched, harder and harder, focused herself towards it.

Nothing...

Nothing...

There!

Her focus turned when she saw something pass by. The tower of that insane harlequin? Or rather, the battlefield discord and harmony had crafted from it. Mismatched material, steam from some twisted hybrid of magic and machine - and a definitive presence of insanity. She tried to reach towards it - but it was a passing image, and the more she tried to approach it, the less _there_ it was.

She was close enough to contact it, just before it truly faded, and attempt she did.

A _crash_.

It was as though the Void had shattered. The image cracked like a fallen glass, and the Cloud of Darkness was _repelled_, the passing image vanishing like a flame had been blown out. Her fall turned into a launch, and she tumbled away, struggling to reach something in that emptiness.

A sudden rush; and her eyes opened.

She was lying on the floor of the World of Darkness battleground, mists of her rift to the void parting from around her. As she raised her gaze, she saw that it had shifted - the battlefield was in its 'far darkness' array, with platforms of crystal joined by strands of white mist, and an endless drop below within which discord and harmony had layered a rift-warping magic that their warriors had referred to as 'banish trap'.

"You should have warned me this place was going to change on me."

The Cloud turned to see the Onion Knight sitting on one of the platforms. He was much different than she had last seen him; he was reclining on the crystal, rather near the edge of the platform - and the battlefield. In one hand was a book, and on the cover was an unfamiliar text - was that the 'Lufenian' language that she had heard of from Garland? In the other was a small tablet, inscribed with the same runes, and sitting on the floor at his right side was another book with a pen sitting between the pages.

After a moment, he set the tablet down and started writing in the book. "I didn't realize we were still in Omega mode," he prompted. "If you knew it was going to change, you could have said something."

"...Omega?" the Cloud of Darkness asked, figuring that she would get the least confusing answer to the least confusing _question_. "Where did that name...?"

"The battlefields only started going out of whack after Cosmos was... out of the picture," Onion replied, picking up the tablet again. "Without harmony to balance it out, discord's running rampant was screwing up the battlefields before it moved on to the terrain outside the gateways. There were a few that weren't acting up, though - the throne room in Pandaemonium, around the Crystal Tower, the Phantom Train, and Zidane's stage - Prima Vista?" He raised his gaze from his book - and then dropped his tablet. "Woah, what the heck...?"

The Cloud gaze down at herself and was surprised to see her body had changed. The markings across her body had balanced out, and turned a bright sky-blue. Her cape had turned brilliant white, and bead loops were wrapped around her thighs and ankles.

"...The Void had no respect for allegiances," she sighed, raising her gaze to Onion Knight once more.

He lowered his gaze to a book, but his eyes were narrowed in thought. "Darkness surrounding a core of light... or light surrounding a core of darkness," he murmured.

"What...?"

"It's nothing," Onion insisted, picking up his pen and writing in his book for a moment. "Anyways, yeah. When the battlefields started acting up, everyone agreed we needed a different classification for them. None of the others came up with good names - Cecil said 'reform' versions, Firion wanted to call them 'wilted', and Cloud brought up something about 'mako'. When no one could agree, they turned to me. I figured, these battlefields are the last things we're going to see before we finish off Chaos, so I called them 'Omega' stages."

A moment's quiet.

"What'd you find?" Onion asked, lowering his book and tablet again.

The questioned returned to mind her dive to the Void. "We... we could not traverse," she murmured. "The Void, it has... _condensed_ upon itself. We passed the harlequin's tower, but our attempt to approach it resulted in our nearly losing ourselves. We... are trapped."

"What?" Onion demanded. "You mean... we're _stuck_ here?"

"It would appear so. What's more... we seem to remain within the gods' battlefield. The other battlefields still seem to be present, and..." She fell quiet once again.

"What?"

"...It seems... the other warriors... remain in the battlegrounds crafted from their homes, as well..."

"WHAT?" Onion shot to his feet, casting the book to the platform. "You mean... we're not the only ones? _Everyone_'s stuck?"

Slowly, the Cloud of Darkness nodded her head.

A moment of silence.

"No... _TERRA!_"

+x+x+x+

"Dance! _DANCE!_"

The mad cackle of Kefka Palazzo echoed across the tower. His target - a young female image wrapped in blue and white - could only shift in place as bolts of lightning danced around her. Trying to dodge was helpless, the voltage only surrounding her further, and no sooner had she come to a stop to wait it out than a bolt of lightning slammed down on her form above, dragging her skyward as Kefka took off.

Triple shots of fire flew from his hands, ricocheting off the edges off the tower and striking the helpless female once more; then he held his hands against one another as a ring of magic that looked like visual static appeared between them.

"Whad'ya think of _this?_"

The circle rose, and orbs of monochrome magic began to fall from it, erupting in spheres of static as his poor target raced away. The ring chased after her, bombarding all around her, and it was only a moment before the attack caught up and dropped a burst of Forsaken Null upon her helm.

A scream of pain tore through her lips as she tumbled out of the air, crashing through pipe and steel until she collided with the base of the tower - and then a surge of Magitek steam flared from the impact, launching her skyward once more.

"Special delivery!"

No sooner had she reached the peak of her flight than Kefka released the magic he had been charging, however briefly - a rapid-burst wave of fire surged from his palms, connecting with her flesh, and she screamed as the flames engulfed her, slamming her into the wall.

Again did steam of Magitek erupt from the connection, sending her flying once more - but her flight was cut short this time, as the harlequin reached forward and grabbed her by the throat.

The impact alone was nearly enough to slay her; that scream that escaped from her lips was broken, strangled, and stained her teeth with blood. She struggled for a moment, choking and crying in torment, and only when she was half an inch from death did he hurl her into the wall once more, blazing orbs of magic pinning her against the steam.

Then he flew right up and whirled into a flip as magic trembled across his spine.

Six wings - two of demon, four of angel - surged from his back.

She could not move before the attack tore through her body, feathers stained with blood as they emerged.

For a breath's pass, everything was still; a moment of destruction halted in time.

Then the image faded, and Kefka whirled in place. The wings vanished as he touched down on the platform, laughing without sanity, and licking his lips of blood that was not truly there - for his opponent had been only crafted of magic, and he enjoyed the thought of being able to do this to her when next he truly encountered her.

+x+x+x+

The quiet roar of wheels on track echoed through the car of the Phantom Train. Terra woke weakly, stiff from sleep, and glanced around. The car were empty - as they had been last time she had woken, and the time before. She had hoped slumber would bring her to the world she _knew_ - but she now chose to give up, knowing it would not help.

She sighed, sitting properly in her seat and holding out a hand as a ball of flame appeared within it.

"I won't call you out for this," she murmured wordlessly to the flame. "It's not your fault. I'm not here because I want to be - and I'm sure you're not away from here because you wanted to be." She closed her eyes. "But if you can... please. Come find me. I want to see you again... I feel so lonely without you." She gazed at the flame again. "And if I can... I'll come find you. I promise you."

She felt strange, speaking to a ball of fire - but her thoughts were on the boy that had striven to protect her.

+x+x+x+

And the Crystal Tower, caught in the center of a maze, was silent without action...

* * *

Draco: Because I'm evil like that.


	4. World of Darkness: Living Arrangements

Draco: Alright, let's see just what we can do with this. Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.

* * *

**World of Darkness: Living Arrangements**

"Give it up..."

The Onion Knight stubbornly refused to hear her words. The battleground had been reverted back to its base form, the pillars restored from their previous clash, and the Cloud of Darkness had locked the arena so that it would not shift form. Onion had been deep in the Lufenian tome, and was currently running his knife against the platform, carving arcane figures into the crystal surface. After a moment, he pulled away and sheathed his knife, pulling the tablet - a 'Rosetta Stone', he had called it - off the book's surface.

"Alright... clear area, induce markings... Position self upon center of markings..." Slowly, he stepped forward, careful not to contact with any of the lines he had carved, and then set his feet on either side of the precise center of the design. "Draw blade, pierce center of markings..." He set the book and tablet down carefully, formed his blade in one hand, and then gripped it in two when it faced the center of the area. Carefully, he lined it up with the center and drove it into the crystal before picking up the two writings again.

The Cloud of Darkness shook her head. "It won't work," she insisted.

"Grip blade, and repeat this incantation until magic begins to work," Onion Knight read aloud. He closed the book down and tossed it off to the side; then carefully aimed the Rosetta Stone at it so it would land safely; then he set his hands on his blade once more and began to speak.

"_Wind and earth and sea and sky  
__Light and heart and love and mind  
__Magic drawn from ancient times  
Carve a path that shall be mine_"

Nothing happened as he spoke, so he continued to repeat the incantation. The Cloud only sighed, setting one hand on her head as he continued to chant. Slowly, Onion's voice became less focused, and more irritated, until finally he gave up and threw his hands in the air.

"This is _not_ working," he muttered, stepping away from the impaled blade without a care for his markings. A moment passed, then he stepped back towards it and set a foot on the hilt, driving it into the crystal. "Earth, roar!"

Quaking stones surged up around the markings before a massive boulder surged out of the ground and sent his blade flying into the air. It vanished before it could collide with anything, and he stepped away again, leaving the crystal blank.

This was his fifth attempt - and his _sixth_ failure.

The Cloud sighed. "Give up," she insisted. "We will not be escaping this battleground any time soon."

"Yeah, I noticed," Onion snapped. He sighed. "If you've locked this place out of the Omega version, can you, like... render the different arenas as their own spaces?"

"Render?"

"You know, suspend them so that they're separate locations," Onion replied.

The question caused her to pause; then the Cloud of Darkness closed her eyes, extending her arms. A whirl of Void energy gathered to either side of the battlefield, and Onion's gaze shifted about as the Cloud turned away and spoke.

"That one will take you to far darkness," she stated, beckoning to the Onion Knight's left. "And that one will take you to near darkness."

A sigh passed through Onion's lips. "I'll be in near darkness if you need me."

He stepped towards the portal, vanishing the moment he touched the spiral of energy.

The Cloud of Darkness narrowed her gaze after him; then a dark smile rose on her expression, and she raised one hand above her helm as the portal vanished.

+x+x+x+

A loud growl caused Terra to snap to attention, raising a hand full of fire.

She stood in position for a moment before it emerged again, and she realized it was her stomach.

_How long has it been? _the Esperkin mused. _I__ didn't even notice the time passing_. The flame vanished as she lowered her hand. "I hope there are some other cars on this train," she murmured to herself, making her way to one end of the vehicle.

Quietly, she set a hand on the door - and to her surprise, it flung open, revealing the front of another car before her. The lack of seal meant that Terra very quickly lost her balance, and she tumbled into the door of the next car. Stunned briefly by the impact, she managed to get that door open as well, and the moment she was inside she quickly closed the door behind her.

She glanced around. It seemed to be a dining car of some sort - there was a table sitting in the middle, with a large, comfy table chair sitting next to it. Cautiously, Terra approached it and sat down in the seat.

A menu was on the table that had decidedly _not been there before_.

Understandably wary, Terra picked up the menu and looked it over. When nothing happened, she carefully opened it up and browsed through the items. Absently, without even thinking about the fact there was nobody to speak to, she called out to the empty train car. "I'll take... the Diamond Island Fish Soup... a Cactuar Salad, and... a glass of Chaos Wave." A moment passed; then she remembered the car, and likely the whole train, was quite empty, and there was nothing around to hear her, and she lowered the menu sheepishly.

Sitting in front of her was a large bowl of soup, a salad in a bowl with Cactuar patterns, and a glass of jet-black brandy.

"Woah!" Terra pulled back in her chair, dropping her menu to the floor. "What the...?" She glanced around. "Who...?"

Nervously, she glanced at the bowl and raised a hand over the food. She drew her magic to her, but her body fell still for a moment as she tried to recall the magic she wanted.

"Um... Libra!"

A ring of magic appeared in the air under her fingers, forming a pattern like a firearm's crosshair. Slowly, she swept the magic over the food, searching for any oddities - poisons, sleeping draughts, unworldly fibers - and when she found none, she let the magic fade.

Her stomach growled once more, and she decided to dig in.

+x+x+x+

Her intentions in trapping the Onion Knight in the 'near darkness' battlefield were to drive him to tears in isolation.

To her surprise, arriving in the battlefield brought the Cloud of Darkness the sight of Onion sitting idly, facing away from her. He seemed to be hunched over something, and with a growl of irritation she realized that he had brought the Lufenian book and his Rosetta Stone with him, and slowly, she hovered over towards the armoured figure at the far wall.

"Calm down, I'm not done yet."

The voice coming from above her brought the Cloud to a halt. She turned towards the source of the voice to find Onion on the upper platform. He was without armour - upon his body was a simple outfit composed of a black shirt with short cobalt sleeves, black shorts with a cobalt line down either side, and his armoured sabatons. Were it not for his hair - short gold spikes across his helm with a long tail down his back - the Cloud of Darkness would not have realized it was him.

"What...?" She turned towards the armoured figure - only to realize there _was_ no figure _within_ the armour. The Onion Knight's armour had been arranged together, empty, and the slightest touch would cause it to collapse into a pile. Turning back to the boy it belonged to, he seemed to be busy arranging something.

"What are you doing?" the Cloud asked.

"Making something worth living in," Onion replied. "If we're stuck here, we might as well get comfy, and I'm gonna fall off if I try and get to sleep either of the others."

His words only made the Cloud of Darkness _more_ curious. She lifted herself higher, gazing onto the platform, to find he was making a sort of bedding for himself. He had managed to carve out pieces of the surrounding crystals and was using them to suspend an expanse of cloth - it appeared to be his cape - a few inches off the ground. There were several layers of cloth under the cape, and resting at one end was a familiar conic figure...

"Is that... the helm of a Sage?" the Cloud asked.

"Yep," Onion replied.

"How...?"

Onion shrugged, raising one hand. With a flare of light, his sword appeared in it; then he brought it near one shoulder, as he had seen Bartz do when awaiting an opponent's attack - and it glowed bright white for a moment. When the light cleared, the weapon was a bright crimson, longer and thinner in the blade. Then he swept it outward - and with another bright glow, it shifted down his grip. He now held a mage's staff with a long gold shaft, with demon-esque wings arced around a jewel for the head.

"We're not bound like we used to be, anymore," Onion mused sadly. "Those bursts that we only got when our forces were charged, we can use them however we want, now. Firion will be covered in his drainer weapons, Cloud and Squall will have their big blue blades, and Golbez will have his dragon on his shoulder." His voice sounded worried, and he lowered his staff as it vanished from his grip.

The Cloud of Darkness noticed. "The Esper girl... her welfare worries you?"

Onion nodded. "She was always worried about that power of hers. When that Trance takes her, her body starts to _burn_. I can't... I'm worried about her. She might be in trouble and I... I can't do a _thing_!"

He angrily drove his knuckles pointedly into the nearest crystal surface, catching the Cloud by surprise. A moment passed; then he gave a shout of pain, pulling his hand away from the wall and jumping back. Pained, he held the fist it against his chest with his other hand, blowing cold air on his knuckles in an attempt to annul the pain.

"I most certainly would _not_ be better off as a Karateka."

+x+x+x+

Terra made her way to the next train car, having had her fill from the self-serving table in the dining car. This one seemed to be living quarters - an arrangement of soft, comfortable beds divided by curtained enclosures. Looking between them, Terra was not entirely surprised to find the car as empty as the last two - but the sight of such comfortable areas made her tired, and she had not got the best sleep in the seats in the first car.

Eagerly, she selected what appeared to be the most comfortable bed in the car and nestled in to sleep.

* * *

Draco: Nothing particularly amusing here. Next chapter we will look into some other battlegrounds, I promise!


	5. Sealed Battlegrounds: Imprisoned Warrior

Draco: Other places, as promised! I have decided upon a name for these collective imprisonments. Chapters spanning multiple areas with none holding any more featured presence, or those which I simply desire to hide the important battlefield, will be preluded with "Sealed Battlegrounds" rather than any specific names.

Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.

* * *

**Sealed Battlegrounds: Imprisoned Warriors**

"Ugh, my head..."

Cecil weakly opened his eyes, finding himself gazing at starry skies. With a groan, he set a hand upon his helm, closing his eyes as he rose to a sitting position. For a moment, he remained still; then he heard a clash of steel and a spark of magic, and he opened his eyes. He was sitting upon the Lunar Subterrane, and as he gazed around he saw he was not alone.

Golbez and Kain stood there - Kain wrapped in shining armour, Golbez with a necrous dragon upon his pauldron - and both of them where braced to fight.

"Wait... stop!"

Cecil's cry caused Kain to freeze with his lance braced to throw. He turned towards Cecil, the Holy Dragoon's crown on his helm gleaming, and Golbez did the same as the Twin Soul knight got to his feet. A moment passed; then Kain's lips arced upward into a smile, and he whirled his spear in hand before driving it into the earth at his feet. Golbez lowered his hands, the Shadow Dragon on his pauldron fading in a mist of darkness as Cecil approached them.

"Glad to see you awake, my friend," Kain prompted. "We were worried you had fallen beyond retrieve."

"Fallen...?" Cecil glanced around at the area again. "What... what has happened? Where are we?"

Golbez sighed. "This battlefield was crafted for the war. Our attempts to exit these grounds have brought no success."

Cecil sighed, scratching his head. "We cannot leave the battleground?"

Kain shook his head. "We can, but there is nothing to find. It's a barren surface - and we are trapped here. For how long, we do not know."

Silence settled in with that grim truth.

+x+x+x+

"Game set!"

Jecht rolled his shoulders as Tidus whooped victoriously. The two star sportsmen and Yuna, stuck in Dream's End with nothing to do, had decided to try and improvise a game of blitzball - considering the arena was based off a blitzball stadium, it was the most logical thing they could do. It was _not_, however, easy - blitzball is an underwater game, and the aquatic suspension had been long dead _before_ the arena was recreated in the gods' conflict. A midair game of blitz was nearly impossible, and neither father nor son was at the top of their game.

That's putting it nicely. The score was two to one - in a midair blitz game, they both sucked. Tidus just sucked less.

"Not bad," Jecht mused.

"Don't even say that," Tidus protested. "That was a pain in the ass."

+x+x+x+

Vaan gave a yawn as he made it back out to the Cannon Superstructure of Sky Fortress Bahamut. He had been touring the airship - both its interior _and _exterior, giving himself several near-death experiences in the process - but the fortress was completely empty. He had been able to find several meal halls, and had happily dug in to sate his hunger.

"Geez," the sky pirate mused. "What's a guy gotta do to find some company around here?" He stretched boredly and gave a sigh. "I guess it _could_ be worse," he mused. "There's food, there's bedding... I mean, at least those manikins aren't swarming the place."

x+x+x+

A gunshot sounded in Orphan's Cradle.

The shot embedded itself in the skull of a Transient Witch, stunning the manikin long enough for it to be cut in half with Odin's arced blades.

Lightning quickly joined the Zantetsuken and braced it at her side in her right hand, glancing around and holding her Blazefire Saber, in firearm mode, raised in her left. The manikins came to her only when she found herself wishing for company - and she had taken notice, using the crystalline figures to train herself both with gun and with blade.

Her gaze panned around the area, looking for an opponent. She sighted a Delusory Dragoon, and with fast movements she turned and hurled Odin's blade towards it. As the weapons flew, Lightning leapt forward, hurling her Blazefire Saber into the air as it shifted to blade mode, and she snatched it out of the air with a rushing dash as the Zantetsuken neared Kain's manikin. With a snap of her fingers, the blades separated into two arcs, and even as the Dragoon tried to slide under the first edge, the second connected, shattering it as an Imaginary Champion appeared beyond where the first blade landed.

Lightning raised her gunblade as the Champion rushed her, clashing the Blazefire Saber against a six... seven-foot nodachi once, twice, thrice. She managed to land one solid blow, stunning the manikin long enough for her to leap over it and grab one of Odin's blades. She lashed out with her left hand, catching the Champion's strike - and though she felt the attack hit her blade far more times than she saw it connect, she managed to guard the manikin's attack long enough to drive her firearm into its holster, grab the other Zantetsuken, and lash out with enough force to send the manikin flying in pieces.

A moment passed for the gunblade wielder to catch her breath.

A surge of red crossed her vision, and her gaze shot around, expecting a Phantasmal Harlequin to be flying around wildly. When no such enemy appeared, she glanced around in confusion - the red was gone.

"I must be out of my mind," she muttered to herself, driving her weapons into the platform beneath her and snapping her fingers. Odin's blades vanished in a flurry of flower petals, and she started to make her way towards the center of the platform.

It happened again - a necrous _pulse_ of crimson, gold, and onyx, and she glanced around, hand on her gunblade. It lasted longer this time, and Lightning watched as she saw an image of what looked like a _massive sword_ overlay the core of Orphan's Cradle. As the image wavered, her vision panned up its blade, and for a moment she saw a _figure in armour_ perched on its hilt; then the image faded, and she was left alone in the Cradle once more.

"I'm _definitely_ out of my mind," she insisted, continuing to walk.

No sooner had her hand parted from her weapon's handle than the image surged again - and this time she saw the armoured figure leap from atop the massive sword. As she watched, he shot down the weapon's blade, his armour not even scratching its edge before he whirled in place, revealing a two-bladed weapon in hand - and then the vision faded.

And Lightning found herself gazing at an judge who acted as executioner.

He stood there at a landing kneel, perched upon the circular pedestal in the center of the Cradle. He was covered in thick steel armour of silver and grey, a black cape flowing from his back. Over his face was a helmet with an arced horn on either side, with black holes covered in one-way material so that he could see, but she could not see him. The weapon in his left hand appeared to be a simple short-staff, with a blade on each end - a longer blade nearer where he gripped it, and a shorter one at the other end. Oddly, the two blades faced in the same direction - did he intend to use it as a spear?

"Who are you?"

The armoured warrior raised his gaze towards her. A moment's passage; then he glanced around, almost confused. "I must have been mistaken," he mused. "I had hoped to land upon Bahamut, not in this... voided ground." He got to his feet. "And you are?"

Lightning drew her weapon, aiming her firearm at the judge. "I asked you first."

The judge got to his feet, holding his dual weapon before him. "I am Archadian Judge Gabranth of Ivalice. Former Warrior of Chaos, I acted as hell's watchdog in the contorted underworld acting as banishment to those warriors discarded from the cycles of war. I hate the gods, and all they stand for - but from my post in hell I saw that both harmony and discord now lay dead on their thrones."

"You can see the world of conflict?" Lightning demanded.

"It is a world of conflict no longer," Gabranth corrected. "The world itself is shattered - all that remains are battlefields, separated from one another by an unholy offspring of the Rift and the gods."

Lightning lowered her firearm. "I did not need that image," she muttered.

The rise and fall of Gabranth's breath now came to a stop, and he lowered his weapons as well. "You should know that is not what I meant," he chastised.

"Look," Lightning corrected, shifting her weapon to blade, "if the battlefields are separated, then how did you land in the Tesseract of Orphan's Cradle?"

"I told you, I came from the underworld joined to the cycles of war," Gabranth corrected. "From there, I could land in any one of these hells. It was only coincidence I connected with yours."

Lightning huffed. "And what do you plan to do, now that you've landed here?"

Gabranth glanced around the Cradle curiously. "Tell me, who are you?"

The gunblade wielder braced her blade at her side. "Lightning Farron, of Cocoon." She couldn't quite pick out when she had recalled the name of her homeworld - was that normal? None of the other warriors in the gods' war had given homeworlds to address them by.

"Farron of Cocoon..." Gabranth mused. "You were the one with no allies of like origin. I recall sighting you..." He huffed, aiming a hand at Lightning. "And you, Farron... do you desire to escape this battleground?"

"Is that a threat?" Lightning demanded.

"If you seek departure from this prison," Gabranth informed her, "I will provide escape. However..." He braced the blade before him. "I _will_ test you - to see if you are worthy of escape - and capable of bracing hell to do it."

Lightning raised her Blazefire Saber towards him. "_That's_ a _threat_," she accused.

"Then stand your ground," Gabranth countered.

His armour began to gleam, and crimson aura emerged as though from under his helm, wrapping his body in energy as he gripped the weapon with both hands, thrusting it towards Farron menacingly.

Lightning retaliated quickly, locking her gunblade against his left-hand weapon.

She did not forsee him prying the shorter blade from its shaft with his right hand, lashing it towards her helm.

_He_ did not forsee_ her_ drawing a second weapon with a surge of Ruin magic, using it to lock his blade.

Lightning grit her teeth, struggling against Gabranth's blades. The Omega Weapon that now lay in her left hand was stronger - and heavier - than her Blazefire Saber, and it was difficult to force him back - particularly with the menacing aura surrounding the judge. With fast movements, she brought one leg up, setting it against his chestplate and using it as support to trigger the Grav-Con Unit clipped to her waist with her foot.

An energy field of gravitational antimatter surrounded Lightning and Gabranth, throwing him off guard. She raised her foot to set on his greave, kicking off his armour as the field started to fade, and he stumbled forward as she kicked from his gauntlets and landed atop the pedestal. She hurled her Blazefire Saber into the air, shifting it to firearm mode as she switched the Omega Weapon to her right hand, and she leveled the weapon on Gabranth as the weapon landed in her left hand.

"This'll be over _quick_."

* * *

Draco: I want to make a lame FFXIII pun and call this a 'Hanging Edge' instead of a 'cliffhanger', but I'll save that for when I've actually _played_ FFXIII and thus actually know what Hanging Edge _is_.

Why, _yes_, the Warriors of Cosmos whose EX Mode was an ultimate weapon equipped _can_ utilize their EX Mode weapons alongside their normal ones. And _no_, transformations and ultimate weapons will _not_ be referred to as 'EX Modes'. EVER. Got it memorized? {axeltap}_  
_

If anyone is willing to provide me with a cover image, please do. My icon just looks stupid as a story cover so I usually get to covers myself, but I tried manipulating the artworks and official artwork always ends up acting like a JPEG when I tried to manipulate it.


	6. Orphan's Cradle: She Who Faces Hell

Draco: {SSBB announcer voice} LIGHTNING! versus; GABRANTH!

This says Orphan's Cradle. That battlefield is where this starts.

Confession. This chapters features a library, and that library books of our world. I acknowledge artistic liberty with this arrangement, please pay it no heed. Also, every title noted in the aforementioned library is of a series I myself enjoy or desire to enjoy.

Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.

* * *

**Orphan's Cradle: She Who Faces Hell**

"Let me see you suffer!"

Lightning leapt away as Gabranth lashed out with a whirlwind storming from his blades - but it was to little effect, as the judge's tornado drew her closer. She skid her feet against the ground, firing at him with her Blazefire Saber, but the judge literally took the blows without flinching before leaping through the hurricane and swinging at her violently.

She shot skyward as the tornado started to fade, swinging her Omega Weapon at Gabranth, but the armoured executioner only beat her weapon away with his right-hand blade and lashed out with his left. Lightning managed to dive under that and leapt away, firing at him again, but she watched as his swords began to glow bright gold. He swiped them forward, sending arcs of horrific energy flying towards her, and only the nimblest of movements allowed her to step between them.

_It's that aura,_ Lightning realized._ He shakes off every hit I throw at him - but that mist around him is putting hell into his armour._ She grit her teeth as Gabranth leapt towards her. _If I can get his armour off somehow, maybe I can get a solid hit on him..._

The judge began to lash out, blades charged with shadow, but Lightning stepped away and around the blows with nearly the speed of Sleipnir, hurling both gunblades skyward. As he nearly landed a blow, Lightning triggered her Grav-Con Unit again, the gravity field throwing the judge out of stance, and with a flurry of rose petals Lightning called the Zantetsuken to hand, lashing out with the blades joined.

No sooner had Gabranth begun to turn than the attack hooked on one of his horns - and the crimson aura that wrapped him began to fade as his executioner's helm was sent flying.

Lightning raised her hands, her Blazefire Saber landing in her left hand in sword mode, and she leveled it on Gabranth menacingly as she caught the Omega Weapon in firearm mode in her right, aiming it at him as well.

Without his helm, Gabranth looked much less menacing. His hair was short and dirty blond, and his eyes were a necrous hazel color. He arced his lips into a snarl, gritting his teeth, and with a warrior's determination he closed the handles of his swords once more, bracing them before him.

"Not so tough without a hat on, are you?" Lightning taunted.

Gabranth aimed the short-blade end of his weapon at Lightning. "I promised you that if you proved yourself worthy of escape, I would provide it," he reminded her. "Will you accept it?"

Lightning narrowed her gaze, not lowering either of her weapons for a moment. Then she sighed, tossing her Blazefire Saber skyward as the Omega Weapon vanished in a surge of Ruin magic. The remaining gunblade landed in her right hand in firearm mode, and she drove the weapon into the holster.

"Show me what you got."

Gabranth gave a sigh of irritation, turning away from her and glancing around Orphan's Cradle. "This area carries no high ground, so I cannot promise you that it will be easy. However..." He stepped towards the center of the Cradle, leaping onto the pedestal in the center. "I believe this should do. Come, step up here."

Wary, Lightning stepped forward, prepared to act instantly should Gabranth turn on her.

"Draw your weapon - whichever you please."

A flurry of rose petals cued the appearance of Zantetsuken in either hand.

Gabranth nodded. "Now set one blade against your heart."

"What?" Lightning braced the blades warily. "Do you-?"

"With the world of the gods shattered, the battlegrounds are untied," Gabranth reprimand. "This rest in particular is far separated from the others. Your only escape from this field is to accept banishment, and then free yourself upon waking in hell. Do you desire to leave?"

Lightning grit her teeth. "Yes..."

"Then set one blade against your heart."

Attempting it with the Zantetsuken proved too difficult - the blades were too long. With an irritated sigh, Lightning impaled the weapons in a _χ_ behind her. She set one hand on either edge and leaned back, testing her weight against Odin's blades; once she was certain they would support her, she lay against it like a sacrifice, and the Omega Weapon appeared in her hand in firearm mode._  
_

"Are you prepared?"

Gabranth's question caused Lightning to turn towards him. "Prepared for what?"

"To fight for your life," Gabranth replied. "If you intend to travel from this battleground, you will have to embrace hell itself. Set that weapon against your heart only if you are willing to take that extreme."

The statement prompted Lightning to pause, gazing at the Omega Weapon in her hand; then her face set, she lay back against the arced blades, her eyes sealed themselves, and she pressed the tip of the gun upon her chest.

Her heart roared, beating with such force she felt the vibrations in her helm.

Then she set one finger against the trigger.

A scream - not unlike that when the Rift had closed - caused her to open her eyes. With a shock, she glanced down to see a scar on the pedestal of Orphan's Cradle - and as it tore further open, she saw an underworld of fire and obsidian within it. Shocked, she set her hands against either of Odin's blades - but Gabranth only watched the scene with a look of contentment on his face.

"You will wake as though before discord himself. Do not fool yourself into believing you know the land in which you wake - hell itself with punish you to indulge in such folly."

He raised one armoured hand and snapped his fingers as though to fade the blades against which Lightning lay.

From the scar roared a flood of obsidian, and a hurricane of fire, and Lightning could only scream as the arms of hell engulfed her.

Gabranth watched without sorrow, his face as expressionless as the helm he usually bore - until hell's grasp had faded, and the Judge Magister looked upon an empty pedestal in Orphan's Cradle.

"Embrace hell, Farron of Cocoon. You will plead to see your goddess again before long."

+x+x+x+

Lightning opened her eyes.

She lay on an arena of brimstone and obsidian, spotted with embers that burned red-hot. Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet - her hands met blades, and she panicked momentarily before she realized the edges beneath her palms were the Zantetsuken.

That did little to quell her panic, however, when she saw _what surrounded her_.

The visions that had surged her view of Orphan's Cradle had come to life before her. She stood on a raised platform above a plain of fire - crimson earth across a land with valleys of flame and springs of inferno. Impaled across that earth were swords - swords so great that not Bahamut nor Brynhildr could lift one, not Alexander nor Hechatonchier could pry one from the earth. Lightning sat there for a moment, hand on Odin's blades, glancing around.

"Wake as though before discord himself," she murmured, echoing the judge's words. "This... is Chaos' stage?"

A moment passed; then she turned around.

The throne sat there - onyx crafted to seat a figure greater than her blades could cut from one side. Behind it rose a plate of obsidian, upon which Lightning saw the empty gazes of a thousand skulls.

The gunblade wielder set a hand upon her mouth. _The throne of Chaos,_ she realized. _Etro herself would weep at that sight..._

She took a moment to collect herself, swallowing heavily. "Focus," she snapped at herself.

Each hand found one of Odin's blades, and Lightning set the two handles against one another before holding them at her side. She reached for her holster, assuring herself that her Blazefire Saber still lay in there before picking up the Omega Weapon and bracing it at her side, keeping it in its firearm form.

"Alright, hell. Do your worst - and we'll work up from there."

+x+x+x+

Terra stepped into the next car of the Phantom Train, having woken from her slumber in the car of living quarters. This seemed to be a library car - a bookshelf covered each wall, and between them one of equal length. Slowly, Terra began to walk between shelves, glancing over them.

_The Lightning Thief..._ she observed, skimming over what appeared to be the same series by their spines. _The Fire Within... Ambition of Oda Nobuna... Sword Art Online... Chibi Vampire... Magic-_ "Wait..." She double-checked the name of that last volume, having misread it - it was spelled bizarrely. "_Magyk_?" she mused. The rest of the series had likewise strange titles: _Flyte, Physik, Queste, Syren, Darke, Fyre._ A curious hum passed her lips, and she proceeded to the next set. _Rosario+Vampire... Kanokon..._

She stopped herself again. There was a marker protruding from the books, and as she drew it out only far enough to read it she saw it read _Works of W.S._ She glanced upon the volumes - these seemed to be standalone titles, rather than series. _Romeo and Juliet... Macbeth... Julius Caesar... Othello..._ She came to a stop at one that read _Hamlet_ on the spine, drawing it from the shelf and gazing over it curiously.

Setting the book under her arm, Terra made her way through the train cars back to the one she had woken in - the one she had come to think of as the 'battle' car, for battle had none seen the others. Taking a seat, she drew the book open and turned a few pages until she found the beginning of the script; then she began to read.

+x+x+x+

Hell was putting it _nicely_.

Lightning did not fade Zantetsuken nor vanish her Omega Weapon as she tried to cross the plain of fire. The manikins she had fought were nothing compared to this - attacking her across the plains of fire were monsters out of a fairy tale. Worms the size of buses; titans wrapped in earth; spirits wrapped in fire and living whirlwinds of water - all these and more attacked her as she tried to fight her way through this land of banishment.

Rarely did breaks in the fighting come, and at one of these Lightning found a small cave of cold marble. She stepped inside, taking the chance to catch her breath. "That executioner wasn't kidding about bracing hell," she muttered to herself. "What's next?"

A scream of shining light emerged from behind her, and she turned to see a wicked shaft of light chasing after her. With fast movements she dove out of the way, setting Odin's blades into the earth ahead of her and landing with a slight skid on both feet as it shot past her.

"That's what I get for daring the universe," she muttered to herself. Turning into the cave and raising Zantetsuken, she demanded, "Who's there!?"

There was a moment of silence; then a figure clad in draconian armour stepped out of the darkness menacingly.

Lightning nearly dropped her gunblade. "Kain...?"

The dragoon stood there before her, with spear in hand - but something about him was different. Half a second passed before Lightning realized what it was - his armour. The surface of Highwind's chestplate was ridged with scales like some unholy serpent, and the horns of his helm looked like the wings of Bahamut. His lance bore a forked tip on one end and wyvern's tail on the other, and his entire figure carried a deep bloodred undertone.

No sooner had these differences registered in her mind than he raised his spear to throw again.

Lightning reacted with such speed that her name was comparison enough; she fired the Omega Weapon at his lance hand, causing him to drop the weapon, then lashed Zantetsuken forward, striking the weapon into the shadows of the cave. Once she had done so, she swung the gunblade earthward, causing it to shift to firearm form before she lashed it against Kain's helmet.

The front edge of his helmet _shattered_, pieces of crystal tumbling away and turning necrous cobalt as the dragoon stepped back to brace himself.

His eyes were voids of silver.

"_Shit!_" Lightning cursed, stepping back as the manikin raised a hand. His lance appeared in it once more, and he lashed it towards Lightning, who caught it on the Omega Weapon. Quickly, she swung Zantetsuken into his shoulder, putting such force into it that it tore the dragoon apart from shoulder to hip - and the manikin shattered, crimson armour and pale skin turning to crystal shards of cobalt and silver.

_So the manikins actually look like _us_, here!?_ Lightning realized, stepping out of the cave quickly. Not a moment too soon; quickly from within emerged another all-too-realistic manikin - Bartz Klauser with hair of silver, garments of black and white, and blank eyes of turquoise blue. With a flash, the axe of Firion appeared in his hand, and he hurled it towards Lightning, who only beat it away with Zantetsuken before firing at him with the Omega Weapon.

To linger and fight would end as badly as it had before; quickly Lightning raced away, hoping for the best, yet preparing for the worst.

+x+x+x+

"King's side... bishop pawn to... F3."

After a long slumber and several offered activities, Onion Knight and the Cloud of Darkness had decided to play chess against one another. They sat on different levels of far darkness, each with a chessboard before them - the Cloud playing White. They were just now beginning their fourth round.

Onion adjusted the white piece appropriately, taking a moment to observe. He quickly shifted his own piece. "King's pawn to E5," he replied.

The Cloud of Darkness replicated the move on her own board, glancing at the board curiously. Quietly, she lifted one piece, then set it down again and moved another. "King's side _knight_ pawn to... G4," she called.

A snicker passed through Onion's lips as he made the move. The Cloud did not quite understand until he responded with his own move. "Queen to H4!" he stated with laughter on his voice.

"What is so terribly funny?" the Cloud asked, making the appropriate move on her board. "We don't see..." She paused as the set the piece down on the board. "Wait, that can't be right... this doesn't... no!"

Onion gave a hearty laugh. "Checkmate!" he cheered, flicking over the White king on his board.

The Cloud of Darkness slammed a fist into her board, shattering it.

This was her _fourth_ loss.

+x+x+x+

Lightning drove her Blazefire Saber into another manikin - Squall Leonhart in a military uniform with eyes of amythest. She had found it far more efficient to fight with a gunblade in either hand, rather than use Odin's blade with the Omega Weapon - she could shift from firearm to blade with either hand, providing more versatility.

The plains had slowly been growing lighter, but that was to phrase it kindly - less earth, more fire. She was fighting on strips of granite no wider than a plank a pirate would walk, and often she had an opponent on either side. That wasn't to even begin the difficulties that arose when lava spumed from around her amidst a fight - pinning her between walls of fire and raining droplets of melted rock upon her and her opponents. Her opponents were unfazed - Lightning was another story. No sooner could she wrap the burns upon her in Cure magic than the too-realistic manikins would attack her.

She came to a stop when she found an area wide enough to rest on, trying to catch her breath. A scream of blade prompted her to turn in place, catching it on the Omega Weapon - it was Cosmos' nameless knight, with eyes flooded aquamarine, armour crimson and jade. She quickly shifted her Blazefire Saber to firearm and set it against his face, firing three shots point-blank; his skull shattered in aqua crystals as his armoured body fell to the ground.

These manikins were bizzare - anything that had been damaged would return to crystal, but the rest of the body would remain untouched. The Warrior's figure before her, the peak of his neck was hued to aquamarine, but the crystalline hue faded by the time his skin disappeared into his armour.

Curious, Lightning set the tip of the Omega Weapon into the crack between knight and armour. Carefully, she angled it away, and to her surprise the chestplate pried off, revealing a jet-black bodysuit beneath. To her amazement, not the armour nor the knight turned to crystal - both remained as they were.

The gunblade wielder set her Blazefire Saber into its holster as she lifted the chestplate from the lifeless manikin, looking it over. Warily, she set the Omega Weapon against it, attempting to cut, and was surprised when it leaved a clear cut across the chestplate without causing it to crystallize.

The sound of rattling chain caused Lightning to drop the plate mail, the Omega Weapon shifting to firearm as she leapt away. Another manikin - Garland in gold and sepia, his blade chained as he lashed it towards her. Without even thinking twice, Lightning formed Zantetsuken in her weak hand, lashing it against his helm - it split in two, shattering as he toppled forward.

Like Cosmos' knight, the rest of his body was untouched.

"I wonder..."

* * *

Draco: I'm going to cut it off there, post it at midnight and see who's awake to review. Hope you enjoy!


	7. Phantom Train: Valkyrie Rise

Draco: Hello, everyone! Hope you had a great Christmas! Me, I'm that gamer nerd who didn't get a single game and _still_ made out like a bandit.

Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.

* * *

**Phantom Train: Valkyrie Rise**

"..._I'll have grounds/More relative than this. The play's the thing/Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king_."

Terra was reclining against the window of the Phantom Train, still reading _Hamlet_ with curiousity. She had taken to reading the script's soliloquies out loud, finding the emotion in each session to be very moving. The roar of wheel on tracks around her had faded to white noise as she read, almost content within this captivity.

She paused as she turned to the next act, trying to visualize the scene - which might explain the delay in her reaction before she realized the Phantom Train was starting to slow.

In a shock, she looked around, confused. The book fell to the floor of the train car, forgotten as Terra lifted herself off the ground. With her Esperkin powers, she was able to generate a faint anti-gravitational field around her body - which probably explained why _Hamlet_ ended up following her as she set her hands and legs against the roof. It didn't take long for the Phantom Train to come to a complete stop, and out the window Terra could see what looked like an otherworldly train station.

A moment passed; then the door clicked, sliding open, and a figure stepped into the train car.

She looked absolutely _stunning_ - her body was wrapped in armour that made Terra think Cosmos had prepared to go to war. A plate of platinum crossed her chest, with golden joints to a platinum collar and a pair of silvery-crimson pauldrons. It was joined by what appeared to be two large chain links to a platinum piece around her waist, from which flowed a skirt that looked as though woven of angel feathers. Her greaves and sabatons were forged of platinum and gold, and beneath it all she wore a black bodysuit that bared her shoulders and her thighs. Around her arm was a shield - one of crimson and platinum with an arcane golden sigil upon an onyx background.

Her hair was a soft rose-petal pink, dancing around her face like a voltic storm.

+x+x+x+

_Earlier..._

Lightning had been fighting for so long, she wasn't quite sure when the scenery began to change.

As the enemies started to thin - the inhuman monsters no more, and the too-real manikins becoming fewer - she realized that she was no longer on the fiery plains of discord. She stood not on fire-burned earth, but rather, her feet nestled upon a thin layer of water, beneath which was a harmonious white surface. She turned back the way she had come - it was far, but she could still see the earth of hell from which she had come.

She blamed her new gear.

From the lifeless bodies of the faux-manikins she had slain, Lightning had crafted for herself armour _befitting_ a warrioress - not completely covering, yet not too revealing. The colour of the armour, she could not explain - as she had crafted, the plates had shifted hue on their own. Even the small half-skirt of feathers had done so - plucked from the wings of an Ultimecia figure in black and beige, the soft feathers had gone from Sorceress shadow to Valkyrie shine. She could not quite explain _why_ she had designed the armour as she had - something had _overtaken_ her as she had forged it, ensuring it did not shame her.

If anyone asked where the undersuit came from, she would aim her weapon at them.

She had not left her weapon be, either. From blades of champions and heroes, soldiers and stalwarts, from staves of despots and spears of dragoons, she had altered the Omega Weapon's figure. It was still a gunblade - she would not attempt a different weapon until absolutely necessary - but in blade form it now much resembled a more traditional two-edged sword, not too unlike that of Cosmos' knight. Shifting it to firearm only pulled either edge back, revealing the barrel of the weapon as the handle angled to fire - a seamless craft that made her Blazefire Saber look old-fashioned in comparison. And just past either edge were letters - letters in a script she was not aware she had known until the writing was there.

She still had her Blazefire Saber. She dared not part with nor alter that.

Taking yet another cue from the Warrior, in her left hand was a shield - a round battle plate befitting a soldier of an ancient legion, with an otherworldly emblem across its surface in gold. Now she saw why the knight always carried with him a sword and shield - a proper defense had much aided her travel through this hell. A blade can only do so much, but a shield stopped most of her opponents' attacks dead-on.

Slowly, she stepped further onto the water's surface that she had approached. As she had started before what Gabranth had called the throne of Chaos, so now she seemed to be approaching Order's Sanctuary. Glancing around for opponents, Lightning found the surface to be much broader than she recalled - normally, she needed take no further than three steps out of the Forsaken Kingdom gateway - one out of the gateway, one to cross the join, one into the Sanctuary - and she would be in sight of Cosmos' throne. But like the plains at the edge of Chaos' madness, so too in hell did Cosmos' sanctuary spread further than it should.

Lightning continued to walk, hoping that she would find Cosmos' throne before long. Silent moments passed before she saw a figure approaching her - another too-real manikin, it appeared. This one was _her_ - though its hair shone silver, and its garments were nearly cast in shadow, the flash was Farron, as she had been when first called to Cosmos' war. With practiced skill, Lightning slowed to a stop, raising the gunblade towards the faux-manikin.

The flash didn't even react.

She raised the weapon slightly, the handle angling as either edge of the weapon pulled back, unsheathing the barrel of her firearm.

Still, her mirror did not respond

Lightning glared at it for a moment, unmoving as it approached; then the sighed irritably, fading the gunblade in a flurry of light. "Well, if you're not going to fight, I'm not going to get in your way," she insisted, stepping past the flash without flinching.

A click, like setting one's finger on a trigger.

The valkyrie spun, raising her shield before her as the flash fired at her. The shot gleamed off, and Lightning's weapon appeared in her hand bladed as she shot forward. Two swipes - one to strike away the weapon, one to stun the flash; then her body _roared_, her vision edging crimson and gold as she arced into a flurry of gunshots and sword swings.

She landed directly behind the flash, arms outstretched; then she rose tall with her shield before her as the mirror shattered into rose crystals.

Turning around once more, she found herself much closer to her goal than she had thought. One, two, three steps - then she could have come from Forsaken Kingdom, for Cosmos' throne was before her once more.

Her gunblade faded again, and she set the shield onto a hook on her backplate that she had designed solely for that purpose as she approached the throne. The area was quiet, and softly she approached the throne of Cosmos. Feeling incredibly awkward, she turned and sat down upon the throne, gazing around.

"Well, I'm _here_," she said to no one. "What now?"

She could try setting her weapon to her heart again, but Lightning had no doubt that it would fire before she was freed - and at point-blank range, she wasn't sure her armour would hold up. She held out her hands, thoughts flowing through her mind, and eventually a flurry of rose petals emerged as Odin's arced blades settled joined into her right hand. Curious, she gazed over the Zantetsuken, pondering.

Then she impaled them into the water before her.

"It's not _freedom_," she protested, "but... I wouldn't exactly call it _hell_, either."

Another moment passed; then she drew her shield from her back, slipped it onto her arm, and leaned back on the throne, gazing towards the soft white clouds above her.

"So empty..." she admitted. "I can't _imagine_ sitting through a cycle or two like he said he did."

For a moment, she could have sworn she saw Cosmos' knight in the clouds - then the image passed, and she was alone again.

A sigh passed through her lips, and she closed her eyes with a soft sadness.

"You know... I guess I wouldn't mind going back to the war."

Nothing happened for a long while - it had felt like forever since she had been in Orphan's Cradle, where she could close her eyes and relax. But after a moment, she _heard_ something - and she opened her eyes.

The clouds were distant, apart in the sky - but they should have been woven into one another.

The sky was blue behind them - but the Sanctuary's sky should have shone white.

The wind was past her - yet the air was supposed to be still.

In a shock, Lightning opened her eyes.

She was sitting on green grass. Before her, past the joined Zantetsuken, was a wall of stone, a pair of great doors nested in the granite. Behind her, as she turned to check, was a great building crafted of pure crystal. The wind blowing through her hair carried all the innocence of youth.

"The Crystal Tower," Lightning murmured. "I'm... out of that hell? And I'm _not_ in Orphan's Cradle..." She turned to the doors, getting to her feet and prying Zantetsuken out of the earth with her empty hand as she approached them.

A moment passed; then she set her left hand against the crack between the doors, forced her shoulder against the door, and forced it open.

One step out of the Crystal Tower, between the doors.

One step to cross an _emptiness_, a join between worlds.

One step into a forest, one that she could not quite recognize.

Now Lightning stood in what seemed to be a train station, surrounded by a phantom-black forest. It was a long platform, of white stone that looked nearly otherworldly, next to train tracks of black steel. Benches of black wood were interspersed across the area, and on either end of the platform was a tall black lamppost, burning bright. Curious, Lightning let Zantestuken vanish in a flurry of rose petals and took a seat on one of the benches.

Silence...

Silence...

Then the roar of train on tracks.

Lightning looked to her right to see a large steam-engine train coming down the tracks. It was already coming quite slowly, compared to the speed of a properly moving train, and as she watched, the transport slowed to a stop.

"The Phantom Train," she mused. "So these battlefields are... connected?"

She got to her feet, hand out to call her gunblade as she pulled one of the doors open.

The train car was empty. How Lightning had managed to make three consecutive battlefields - five if she counted the thrones in hell - without encountering another warrior was beyond her, but she only stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She took a seat, looking out the window as the train started to move again.

She sighed, closing her eyes as she leaned back. "If I don't find someone else in the next place, I'm going to be very pissed off."

She opened her eyes.

And was looking into someone else's.

"Gah!"

"Wah!" Lightning shot to her feet, spinning around as the figure clinging to the roof quickly tumbled off. "Who are-"

She was cut off when a book bounced off her head spine-first, hitting the ground. She grunted lightly, wincing as she set her empty hand upon her helm, before glaring at the figure on the floor. "Who are you?"

It was a girl in red, with soft blonde hair. Her skin was pale, carrying the faintest of pink undertones, and trailing from her back was a long, deep pink cape. A series of coloured sashes were tied around her waist, her legs were wrapped in bright white tights, and everything she wore was covered in floral patterns. As she picked herself off the ground, Lightning saw her eyes were a deep purple colour.

There was a moment of silence.

"I said, _who are you?_" Lightning demanded.

The girl in red didn't respond, only gazing at her shock, with her eyes wide open.

Lightning narrowed her gaze. "Hold on... you're that magic girl from Chaos' side."

_What...?_ The girl's lips moved, but no sound came out.

"The slave that Kefka controlled. The harlequin's puppet. You're the one he called _destruction incarnate!_" She raised her right hand over her head, the gunblade borne of Omega Weapon flaring into her hand in a surge of light, and she aimed it at the mage girl as the blades pulled back, revealing the barrel of the gunblade.

A moment passed.

"You're... the Fleeting Flash..."

Lightning blinked. "What...?"

"One of the manikins that didn't look like a warrior who was still around. You're from one of the old cycles."

"Old cycles?" Lightning grit her teeth. "That clown didn't actually destroy you. You survived to the next one. Didn't you?"

"What...?"

"_DIDN'T YOU!?_"

The girl pulled away. "What are you talking about?" she shouted. "Kefka never touched me! It was the Cloud of Darkness-"

Lightning fired her gunblade, blasting the floor between the mage's ankles as she scrambled back. "Did you see anything under that slavery? Do you remember what you've done? Chaos is nothing compared to a mystic horror like you!"

"I was _fighting_ Chaos!"

The girl's shout brought Lightning to a halt mid-shot. "You...? What?"

A wince crossed the mage's face. "I'm one of _Cosmos'_ warriors! Kefka was _trying_ to control me, but I had to finish him off! I _saw Cosmos die!_"

Lightning pulled back. "How...? Cosmos is a goddess. How could she...?"

"By giving us the crystals, she gave us her power," the girl explained. "That left nothing to protect her when Chaos _wrapped her in fire_. She died in front of me on the plains of discord. I saw it. I..." She winced, holding out her hand.

Sparks of light began to cross her body, gathering before her.

"I couldn't do a thing to help her..."

With a flash, a figure appeared in the girl's hand.

"...even when she helped me."

Lightning's eyes widened. "Is that... a crystal?"

The mage nodded. In her hands was an ovular figure of ruby red and shining black, the two colours arcing against each other in a pattern like fire. "It takes form when you face your real enemy. Yourself. When you overcome your doubt, that's when Cosmos' gift appears."

A moment of quiet passed; then Lightning turned away, tumbling into one of the seats in shock.

"You... What's your name?" Lightning asked.

"I'm Terra. Who are you?"

Lightning's eyes widened. "Terra..." Now the memories were clearer - she _had_ fought Terra, before Cosmos had granted them power, but now she remembered one of her friends speaking of his encounter. "Do you... remember the name Vaan?"

"Who is that?"

A gasp passed through Lightning's lips, her gaze falling. "He's... the Idle Sky Pirate," she explained. "He said he met you. You... don't remember a thing?"

"None of us do," Terra insisted. "Chaos' warriors said only survivors get to remember."

The warrioress only looked away.

"What's your name?" Terra asked.

"...Lightning," she replied.

Terra stepped past her, taking the seat opposite her. "How did you come here?" she asked. "I thought we were trapped."

"I was stuck in Orphan's Cradle," Lightning replied. "I had to go through hell in order to get out. I started at Chaos' throne, and had to cross the plains of discord. When I arrived at Order's Sanctuary, I found myself at the Crystal Tower."

Terra blinked. "Then... how did you come here?"

Lightning looked up to her.

"I went through the doors."

* * *

Draco: I'm going to feel like an ass for saying this, but I'm just going to drop it off there and watch you all squirm. Deepest apologies if Lightning seems out-of-character when compared to _any_ of her characterizations, since I have not played any of the Fabula Nova Crystallis games... but then again, she did go straight through hell.


	8. Sealed Battlegrounds: Otherworlds' Train

Draco: I severely apologize for the delay. In order, I have finished _The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds_, watched Disney's _Frozen_, re-finished _The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword_, held two different conversations about the possibility of _Frozen_ being in Kingdom Hearts III, made it through the first half of Confessions of the Creator in Dissidia 012, and written two or three chapters of Keys and Crosses.

Herald, start bugging me about VI.

Apparently, there's a character limit on chapter titles on the layout. Damn.

Huge-ass artistic license warning: Lightning makes ink out of gunpowder and brandy. I acknowledge the small likelihood of this working and insist that you _NOT_ try this at home. I think it'll blow up.

Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.

* * *

**Sealed Battlegrounds: Train To The Other Worlds**

"I went through the doors."

Lightning's words brought Terra's thoughts grinding to a halt. "The... doors?"

"The ones in that stone arena that surrounds the tower," Lightning explained. "I figured that was a safer bet than-"

"Hold on," Terra insisted, clutching her crystal close to herself. "You meant to tell me that you got here just by... _walking through the doors?_ Just like that?"

Lightning nodded her head slowly. "Just... like that," she replied.

Terra fell back in her seat. "I... I don't believe it. We're not separate. These worlds are connected. _I don't believe it!_" Her eyes went wide, and she looked towards Lightning. "And... was there anyone else there?"

"No one I could see," Lightning replied; then, seeing Terra's worried expression, quickly added, "but there might have been someone hiding on the other side of the tower. I didn't really look that hard."

A broad smile crossed Terra's face, and she winced, a tear of joy trailing her face. "We've got to get out of here." Looking around, she mused, "How do we get this train to stop?"

Lightning shook her head. "I don't know. I just sat down at the station, and it showed up. What do you...?"

Terra made her way to one end of the car and pulled the door open, revealing the join to the next car. Curious, Lightning watched as the mage girl made her way out, closing the door behind her. Fading her gunblade, the valkyrie decided to follow, finding Terra in what appeared to be a dining car with an empty table.

A growl emerged from Lightning's stomach.

The sound caused Terra to chuckle softly. "If you're hungry, just sit down and order," she insisted. "I'm going to keep looking."

She made her way into the next car, leaving Lightning to gaze at the table in confusion.

"Sit down and order...?"

+x+x+x+

Terra made her way through the train cars, excited. Lightning's words about just _walking_ between the Crystal Tower and the Phantom Train had her blood pumping in excitement. If what she said was true, then the Esperkin wasn't as trapped as she thought she was. She could find the others!

_She could find him._

Entering the library car, Terra set her book back on its appropriate shelf, passing the rest of the books without a second glance as she opened the door to the next car. This one much resembled the 'battle' car that Lightning had met her in, but it was much shorter - maybe half the size, length _and_ width - and didn't have seats in it. Terra passed it by without looking too attentively and pulled the next door open.

She nearly stumbled off the train - she had reached the caboose, and there were no other cars present.

Slowly withdrawing back inside, Terra looked around again. There was still nothing in the car, and Terra was confused for a moment before she saw a door sitting in one of the walls. Curious, she pulled it open to find a much smaller compartment with a small table and a book. Curiosity had her, and she approached the book and pulled it open.

_Phantom Train - WORLD B - Sealed Battlegrounds_

_Stops will only occur at destinations where a passenger is waiting.  
_

_If a passenger on board wishes to depart, they must log their name below._

_The train will stop at the next available destination._

Terra was not surprised to find the listing blank. She looked around for a pen - when she found no such thing, she held out a hand, trying to focus her magic. A small inscription arced into place on the paper, and Terra tried her best to make it readable. When she had finished, she was somewhat disappointed - the writing was so condensed that it looked like she had written _Tina_.

_That's what I get for trying to write with magic._ "Close enough," she insisted of herself, making her way back through the train cars.

She found Lightning at the dining car, with a large tray of chocobo wings and a glass of Angel Feathers wine - both nearly empty.

"How many glasses is that?" Terra asked, turning to Lightning.

"One," Lightning replied composedly.

She was sitting half off her seat. Terra crossed her arms.

Lightning rolled her eyes three times before she got it right. "Three," she insisted.

Eyeing an empty bottle behind the leg of the table, Terra raised an eyebrow.

A sigh passed through Lightning's lips. "Six," she admitted.

"That's more like it," Terra mused. "Come on, we'll be getting off shortly. Can you stand?"

Lightning set her hands on the table and pushed herself to her feet without much difficulty. "See?" she insisted. "I can hold my liquor. It's not even that strong."

"It's not about whether you can hold it," Terra insisted, "it's about you not being impaired if someone's waiting at the Crystal Tower. I don't want Cosmos to be upset because I got one of her warriors killed."

"I still don't quite get that," Lightning murmured. "How are you a Warrior of Cosmos? I fought you myself. So did Vaan. You were under that jester's control. How did you get off of Chaos' team?"

Terra shook her head. "I don't know," she insisted. "I can't remember a thing. But... Cosmos is kind. If Kefka really did control me, like you said, then maybe I broke free somehow. Cosmos wouldn't turn me away if I did."

Lightning fell quiet for a moment. "Maybe," she mumbled. "Vaan definitely said something about you. Maybe when I'm sober I'll remember."

The train started to slow, and Terra led Lightning to the battle car again. When the train had stopped, the door slid open, and Terra helped Lightning out the door. When they were both on the platform, the door slid shut behind them, and the girls looked towards the train as it took off, vanishing into the forest.

A somber chuckle passed through Lightning's lips. "There goes our ride," she murmured.

"How do we get back to the Crystal Tower?" Terra asked.

Lightning fell quiet. "When I arrived here, it... kind of felt like getting out of a gateway," she mused. "I came up the steps. Try that."

Terra nodded, leading Lightning to the stairs on the left side of the platform. The Esperkin went first, slowly making her way down the steps until she arrived on forest floor.

One step out of the station.

One step across the join.

One step onto crystal.

Terra came to an abrupt stop. This was _not_ Crystal Tower - the walls were a glowing surface, garnet with veins of amethyst arcing across them. Moreover, it didn't feel solid - as Terra set a hand on one it felt almost like... dried blood.

"Ungh..." The groan caused Terra to turn to see Lightning stepping _out of the wall_. Or rather, as she took a closer look on it, a _false_ wall; setting a hand on it revealed it to fade away only as she touched it - the image was intact aside from where her body would make contact. Lightning herself looked like hell all of a sudden - her expression was one of sickness, and as Terra watched the valkyrie set her empty hand on her mouth as though resisting the urge to vomit.

After a moment, she pulled her hand away and looked around. "Pandaemonium main hall," Lightning murmured.

"Looks like it," Terra mused sadly. Turning back towards the area, she called out, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

There was a clatter of blades and a muffled curse. Terra's eye widened, and she stepped forward, looking around for someone else. She found them before too long - a figure covered in weapons, gripping a cut on his hand, with two knives on the floor before him.

"Firion?" Terra called.

The youth raised his gaze. "Terra?" he mused. "What are... how did you get here?" He looked past her to see Lightning stumbling into view. "And... who's that?"

The observation shocked Lightning sober. "Firion?" she called. "It's me, Lightning. You don't-"

Terra tried to elbow Lightning in the side. The problem was that she was still wrapped in armour, so that only hurt. "Are you alone in here?" she called to Firion.

"Um... how did you get here?" Firion asked.

"Through the door," Lightning prompted, beckoning behind her.

Firion narrowed his gaze. "There's a door?"

Terra shook her head. "More like a false wall. Come on."

+x+x+x+

They led Firion back to the Phantom Forest. Firion seemed incredibly nervous to be around the two of them, but they didn't pay it any heed, instead sitting down on the bench and waiting for the train to arrive.

There was a long moment of silence.

"You still got your rose?"

Lightning's question prompted Firion to start. "What...? How do you know-"

"The wild rose," Lightning prompted. "You always keep it with you, don't you? Do you still have it?"

Terra turned to her. "Lightning, I told you-"

Firion shook his head. "No, I... I still have it." He held out his hand, and a small flash of light emerged around his hand. To Lightning's amazement, the flower she remembered so vividly appeared there, nestling into his hand.

Lightning nodded. "Good... that's good." She turned away.

"How did you know about it?" Firion asked. "I've never-"

"Yeah," Terra interrupted. "You have." She beckoned to the valkyrie. "Lightning... is from one of the past cycles. Before we finished things up. You've met Firion?"

Here she turned to Lightning, who nodded. "You, me, and Cecil - we were travelling together. At one point, I found your rose. It took forever for you to ask me about it. I gave it to you, and you promised me - once you had your memories back, you would let me carry it. I felt a connection to it."

Firion narrowed his gaze. "What do you mean, a connection?"

"Something from my past," Lightning insisted. "Something from my homeworld."

The rumble of train on track caused all of them to look up as the Phantom Train arrived at the station.

Terra rushed in quickly, followed by Firion and a still dizzy Lightning. Once they were inside, the train quickly took off again.

"What was that about?" Lightning asked. "Why did we stop there?"

"I don't know," Terra insisted. "I found a logbook that told me to write my name if I wanted to get off. Here, I'll show you."

Lightning nodded. "Alright."

The two of them took off, rushing to the caboose.

Firion got sidetracked by the diner.

+x+x+x+

"Tina?"

Terra rolled her eyes. "I couldn't find a pen, so I had to write it with magic. It wasn't easy."

Lightning looked over the book again. "This says 'next _available_ destination'," she observed. "Obviously, there's more than one.

At that, she reached to the skirt of her armour and pulled off one of the feathers. Glancing around, she couldn't find an inkwell, so she raised a hand, prompting her gunblade to materialize in gun mode. To Lightning's amazement, she only fiddled with a catch on the back, prompting a bullet shell to tumble out; she quickly shifted the firearm to blade and cut it open, gunpowder spilling out.

Then she reached into the holster still dangling from her waist and drew out a bottle of brandy.

"That was _empty_ and _sitting by the table_," Terra accused.

Lightning only shrugged, letting a drop of the alcohol tumble onto the gunpowder. She stirred it around with the feather for a moment before dipping the tip in and writing her name under Terra's own attempt. "Hopefully this will get us somewhere more friendly."

+x+x+x+

They found themselves in Ultimecia's Castle.

Squall and Ultimecia were in the middle of a fight.

Laguna was sitting nearby, and the three of them stepping inside prompted him to turn. "Hey, Light," he prompted.

"You're not surprised we just walked out of a wall?" Terra asked.

"There's a hole," Laguna replied.

Terra and Firion both turned to find there was, indeed, a huge hole in the wall.

"Anyways," the gunner continued, "I'm not sure why you guys thought walking along empty tracks was a good idea, but I'm glad you-"

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait," Firion insisted. "You've already been to the Phantom Train?"

"Yeah," Laguna prompted. "I'd rather get lost than get stuck. I'm the one who made the hole. There just wasn't any safe way to get through. The train wasn't there." As the sound of magic flaring; "Cover your ears."

The four of them set their hands on their ears as a massive explosion sounded just over their heads.

Terra spoke. "Do... you know me or Firion?" she prompted. At Laguna's strange look, she explained, "We can't remember any of the past cycles. Even if you've met us-"

"I know how it works," Laguna insisted. "I already had that conversation with Squall. Anyways, I can't say I know you," he added, "but I know Firion. Me, him, and Squall were around the Crystal Tower when I gave him the rose."

Firion took a step back.

"Ah, it's not what you think," he assured the liegeman. "We found it growing right next to the tower. You said it had a connection to your memories. So, I let you carry it with you, thinking it would speed up the process. Any luck?"

"I got my crystal," Firion insisted. "Lost the rose a couple times, though."

"Yeah, you were squirming like a Marlboro when Light picked it up," Laguna laughed.

Lightning glanced up to see Squall and Ultimecia still fighting thick. "Should we do something about that?"

Laguna shook his head. "They'll be fine. This is like their eighth round. It's mostly just sparring by now."

Terra shook her head. "I'll be at the station."

+x+x+x+

Laguna decided to join them as they made their way back onto the Phantom Train. He happened to have an actual pen on him, which left Lighting's mess of gunpowder and brandy to be incredibly unnecessary.

"Isn't there a list of stops in this thing?" Laguna asked, leafing through the book.

Terra felt very thoughtless all of a sudden. "I never thought to look," she murmured. "I just thought that it would take me to Crystal Tower. That's where Lightning came out."

"Found one!" Laguna prompted, showing it to Terra.

_Phantom Train - WORLD B - Sealed Battlegrounds  
Stop Listing_

_Crystal Tower  
Pandaemonium - Main Hall  
Castle Ultimecia  
Rift Castle  
Dream's End_

"So, where do we go?" the gunner asked.

Lightning took the book from Laguna. "We stopped at these things in order," she prompted. "I came out of the Crystal Tower, then we stopped at Pandaemonium and picked up Firion, then we stopped at Castle Ultimecia and found you. If we try and stop this thing again, we're going to end up in Rift Castle.

"Why don't we just wait for the stations to pass?" Terra prompted. "If we do that, then we should be able to-"

There was the sound of the wheels skidding on the tracks, prompting the three of them to exchange glances. The made their way through the cars, finding Firion in the battle car as the train came to a stop.

"You guys got us stopped already?" he prompted. "I didn't think-"

"We didn't," Laguna corrected. "I think we've got another passenger."

Terra looked out the window as they approached the station. The new passenger was standing right at the edge of the station, so she didn't get a good look at his face until the door opened.

Laguna grinned. "Hey, Vaan!"

"Laguna!" Vaan stepped onto the train. "Firion? Light!" He glanced over the group before his gaze settled on Terra.

"Wait... _Terra!?_"

Terra blinked. "You're the Idle Sky Pirate," she murmured as the train started to move again. "Have we...?" She turned to Lightning. "You said he's met me, right?"

Vaan was very taken aback by that. "Wha... Terra, it's me," he prompted. "Vaan. Remember? I was helping you get away from Kefka when-"

"I don't..." Terra shook her head. "I don't... remember you. I'm sorry."

The statement prompted Vaan to lower his hands. "You don't...?"

"We can talk more on that later," Lightning insisted. "Which station did you come from?"

Vaan turned to her. "What do you mean? There's only one... isn't there?"

Laguna shook his head. "Light and Terra made that mistake already. Which battlefield were you at before you got here?"

Vann thought a moment. "Let's see... I started on Bahamut, then I ended up on the stadium with Yuna, Jecht, and Tidus. Ah... Got a little lost when I ended up in Planet's Core and the Crystal World, but they got a whole ball team when I showed them how to get there, so I should be fine. Then I came here straight from the stadium."

"The stadium...? Lightning asked. "Oh, you mean Dream's End?"

Laguna raised an empty hand.

Vaan turned. "What?"

"Nothing," the gunner insisted, lowering his hand. "I figured Terra was gonna want my pen."

Both of the others turned to see Terra missing.

+x+x+x+

Terra was literally _flying_ through the train cars, opening them as she approached with her magic. She had managed to snatch Laguna's pen as she passed, and now she landed in the caboose, skidding to a stop and kicking up sparks as she did so.

She pulled open the compartment and stepped inside, finding the book still on the stop listings page. She set the pen down and leafed through the book until she found the passenger log. When she picked up the pen, she was annoyed at herself - she had set it down _right_ on Lightning's pool of gunpower-and-brandy ink. She slicked it off with a sweep of magic and quickly wrote her name on the log._  
_

Maybe her handwriting was just bad; it _still_ looked like it said _Tina_.

+x+x+x+

"So, wait, she's been trying to get back to the Crystal Tower this whole time?"

Vaan's question prompted Lightning to nod. "Ever since I told her that that's where I came out, she's been trying to get this train to stop there. That's how we found out there was more than one stop."

Firion had one of his knives in his hand, and he was twirling it by the blade. "She's probably trying to find Onion Knight," he prompted. "The two were travelling together before, during our cycle. She must trust him. We're trying to get to Crystal Tower."

"Wait, she was with Onion?" Vaan prompted. "At least we still got something in common. And you think he'll be at Crystal Tower?. Aw, man!" He propped his hands behind his head. "I've been hoping to see little bro ever since I found out the arenas were connected."

The door to the next car opened, and everyone turned as Terra literally _flew_ through the door. She arced to a stop and landed on the seat behind Vaan, snapping her fingers; the door closed wordlessly as she leaned back in her seat.

"That was fast," Lightning observed.

"I don't know what's going on with me," Terra admitted, a smile on her face. "I'm just so... _charged_, all of a sudden."

Vaan hummed softly. "You, uh... you know those bursts of power we used to have aren't just bursts anymore, right?"

Terra turned to him. "Huh?"

The sky pirate held out his hand, and a weapon appeared in it - a greatsword of bright crimson, with a sun's design on the hilt.

Laguna raised a hand, and his machine gun appeared in it - covered in a bright golden aura.

Firion flipped his knife in the air - the weapon had turned gold and crimson by the time it landed back in his hand.

Terra's smile fell, and she turned away. "So maybe that's it..."

"What's wrong?" Lightning asked.

"Mine..." Terra shook her head. "Mine isn't... really... _safe_ to use..."

"What do you-"

She was cut off when the wheels of the train grated against the track, and Terra looked out the door to find they had stopped.

* * *

Draco: UGH. I'm going to start hating this cast size after a while. I remember the first fanfic I ever wrote, I killed off like 90% of the characters in the series so I wouldn't have so many to keep track of.


	9. Crystal Tower: Meeting of Warriors

Draco: The Crystal Tower battlefield would have been _so_ much more fitting if it was _inside_ the tower. Then again, I guess they've got enough enclosed spaces in Dissidia already...

Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.

* * *

**Crystal Tower: Meeting of Warriors**

Terra shot from her seat, soaring over everyone else and opening the doors with a snap of her fingers. She paused only to make sure everyone else was getting off from the train. Lightning, Firion, Laguna, Vaan. Once they were all out, she landed at the steps and made her way down, uncertain whether it would work soaring.

One step out of the station.

One step across the join.

One step onto grass.

A broad smile rose on Terra's face; the Crystal Tower was _right there_.

"Onion Knight?" she called. "Hello? Onion Knight!" She looked around, lifting off the ground slightly, before soaring towards the tower's peak. "Hello...?"

Vaan came out through the doors. "Onion!" he echoed. "Little bro? Where you hiding?" Lightning and Laguna emerged behind him, prompting him to turn. "Do me a favour and-"

"He's not here." Terra's voice prompted Vaan to turn as she landed in front of him. "He isn't on this battlefield."

Laguna thought for a moment. "Onion Knight... he was from the same world as the Cloud of Darkness, right?" he asked. "If he's not here, he might be in the World of Darkness battleground."

"But that would mean the Cloud is there, too," Lightning added. Turning to Terra, he prompted, "You think he can stand up to her?"

"I'm sure of it," Terra prompted.

"I'm... not so sure of it," Vaan protested, setting his hands on his head. "He used to spar with everyone. He was usually on the losing end."

Terra shook her head. "He's beat the Cloud of Darkness before. And if the power surges you mentioned really are unlimited, it would be fool's play for him to fend her off."

Laguna looked worried. "But that would mean _she's_ got it unlimited, too. If they can't come to an agreement-"

Lightning raised her gaze. "Wait, _agreement_?" she prompted, turning to Laguna. "What do you mean?"

"Squall and Ultimecia got real cooperative, real fast," the gunner observed. "Their first round was just reflex. After that, I helped them... mellow things out. They've been trading blows just to stay sharp."

"Yeah, that was about how things looked when I got off Bahamut, too," Vaan agreed. "I mean, yeah, Jecht is Tidus' dad, but they weren't the only ones who were calm. Zidane and Kuja were playing cards when I walked into the Crystal World. Sephiroth was sleeping in a pool of energy."

"What about Cloud?" Terra prompted.

"And Tifa?" Laguna prompted.

Vaan looked away. "I think that's why Sephiroth chose to sleep in the energy pool," was all he would say.

Laguna and Terra traded glances, and both shuddered.

"Waitwaitwaitwait _wait_," Lightning prompted. "You mean to tell me that warriors who were enemies with each other in their _homeworlds_ just up and _agreed to stay peaceful_?"

Vaan thought a moment. "Yeah," he admitted, looking towards Lightning.

Lightning glared at him for a moment before turning around, pulling the shield off her arm. "What the hell," she snapped. "I go through an underworld straight off the throne of discord, packed with manikins that actually _look like us_, just to get out of Orphan's Cradle, and everyone else is _joking around with their enemies_ and _walking around between worlds_ like they're on vacation."

Terra turned to her. "Lighting, please..."

"Let's just find that kid," the valkyrie insisted, hooking her shield on her back.

"Wait, _manikins_?" Vaan prompted. "You were fighting _what_ now?"

"It was hell," Lightning insisted. "They were imitations. They were imitations of imitations and they looked like the real things got makeovers. Let's just _find that kid_."

She stepped up to the doors and raised a hand.

A flare of light emerged from it, and she lashed her sword-esque gunblade against the seal between doors - and they _burst open_, swinging wide and revealing what looked like a hub room.

Terra blinked. "What's in there?"

Lightning stepped inside, prompting Terra to follow.

Laguna looked around. "Wait, where'd Firion go?"

"I think he's hanging around the station," Vaan prompted. "You can go check if you want, but I'm going after them. Light looks like she's in a bit of a foul mood, and I wanna see Onion again."

The inside of the Crystal Tower was _much_ larger than the outside, and Terra was in _awe_ of how much magic must have been put into the structure to pull that off. "Amazing," she murmured.

Lightning stopped and looked around for a moment. "I guess..."

The room they were standing in was a massive entry hall, and everything was _pure crystal_. Crystal walls. Crystal floors. There were crystal railings on either side of the crystal stairs. Several crystal pillars rose from the building to the crystal roof far above.

Vaan stepped in and came to an abrupt stop. "What the..." He glanced outside again, then looked up at the roof, then looked outside again. Laguna waved to him before going back through the doors, and Vaan only turned to Terra. "No way."

Terra nodded, a huge smile on her face.

Vaan's own face became a broad grin. "This is..."

"_Magic,_" Terra gasped, looking around again. "I may cry."

"Go ahead, I won't judge."

Lightning only rolled her eyes at them before stepping forward. There was an archway about the size of your average doorway directly across from the door and up the steps, and Lightning only made her way up the stairs and into the arch. Vaan raced after her to find the valkyrie glaring at the crystal design before her.

"Well, hell," she muttered.

She raised her gunblade, switching it to firearm mode, and blasted the pattern, prompting Vaan to wince. "Hey, Light, you think maybe-"

Lightning turned to him. "I don't want to-"

Vaan yelped when she was cut off - by her body _fading into crystal particles_. "Light!"

Terra turned to him. "What happened?"

The sky pirate stepped towards the wall. "I don't know!" he shouted, setting his hands on the wall. "Light just... _shot_ this thing, and suddenly-"

He too was cut off - and Terra only watched as he vanished in a flurry of crystalline light.

"Vaan?" she called.

A moment of quiet; then she looked around worriedly.

_I guess I'm on my own..._

+x+x+x+

"I can't take three steps on this thing before you try and throw a spear at me."

Kain couldn't help but wonder how Lightning had arrived on the Lunar Subterrane, or how Vaan had followed her, or where her Valkyrie-esque attire had come from, or why she was wielding a different gunblade - but he could think about that later.

Right now, the valkyrie was in the middle of chewing him out for a missed Gungnir throw, and she had already struck his helm with the pommel twice.

+x+x+x+

The Crystal Tower wasn't just a lot _wider_ than it looked from the outside; it was also _nine floors high,_ and each floor was as tall as_ the Phantom Train's battle car was long_.

Terra probably could have saved a lot of time by soaring through the tower's maze, but she instead opted to walk, not even bothering to put on any speed. For one thing, she didn't exactly trust herself to not run into something that might take her... _elsewhere_. She had gone through enough of these worlds' mazes - she didn't want to get lost.

Her thoughts were running wild. The battlefield they had assumed to be just a ring and a solid _running ground_ was in fact a massive structure. Were the other battlefields so expansive? How was she going to find her way around? And _what was she going to do if Kefka found her?_

"I kind of wish the Warrior was here around now," she whispered to herself. Cosmos' knight had always been able to lead them through absolute hell, always having a goal in mind, and always keeping them focused when things looked down. Even when they had watched Cosmos burn, the Warrior had been able to raise their spirits - encouraging them with talk of turning the favour back on Chaos.

_I saw Cosmos die!_

Terra winced, remembering her own words to Lightning. She held out her hand, and with a series of magic sparks, her crystal appeared there. "Come on, Terra," she told herself. "Focus. Find Onion Knight, and then we can worry about making maps."

She looked around to find herself in a dark room, lit only by the flame-esque glow of her crystal.

"...I am so lost right now."

+x+x+x+

"Alright, so Kain, Cecil, and Golbez know how to get off the Lunar Subterrane," Vaan mused as he and Lightning made their way back into the Crystal Tower. "What next?"

"Terra's probably already found the kid," Lightning mused. "The World of Darkness should be right up those stairs. Let's go them and-" Vaan's chuckling prompted her to glare at him. "What's so funny?"

Vaan turned to her with a smile. "Come on, a room this big, scaled down to the tower outside? You really think it'll be that easy? I bet five floors, at least."

Lightning rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. Four floors, tops."

"Three thousand gil," Vaan prompted, holding out his hand.

"Six," Lightning countered, closing her hand on his to seal the bet.

+x+x+x+

Terra arrived at the top floor to find herself looking at a set of huge dragon statues. They were each the same - a wyrm clutching the pedestal it stood on, gazing towards the center of the room - but Terra could feel a powerful energy coming from them.

"Incredible," she gasped. "These things are... really powerful. Where..." She turned towards the middle of the room, where a massive mirror lay. "Are they... guarding that?"

She stepped forward, towards the mirror. There was a small, slightly elevated platform before it, and without thinking, Terra stepped up onto it and gazed into the looking glass. "It's not... reflecting," she murmured. "Is it-"

Her voice was cut off when her image appeared without warning in the mirror - and her body went completely still. A horrified gasp passed through her lips - because that was the most sound she could make without moving. She tried to get her body to cooperate, tried to act in any way, but her flesh refused to respond to her mind's commands. Only her eyes would move - shifting left and right, letting her take in all around her and know she couldn't do a _thing._

"One, two, three, four, five six seven eight _nine!_" Vaan's voice prompted Terra to glance in the mirror to see him and Lightning emerging from the previously floors.. "That's nine floors, pay up!"

Lightning reached into her pocket, drawing out several small coins. "Here."

Vaan glared. "You said six thousand gil, Light."

"No," Lightning mused, "_I_ said _six_ gil. _You_ said _three_ thousand."

"You- I- I- How- You- I-!" Vaan tried to protest for about four seconds before he notice Terra suspended before the mirror. "Wait, _Terra!_"

"Aah..." Terra tried to call out to him, but she could give no more than a wordless cry.

Panicking, Vaan rushed forward, dashing past a dragon statue. "Terra, are you-"

Before he could get close enough to touch, he found himself stopped when Lightning grabbed his eyes.

The action startled him enough that it was easy for the valkyrie to bring him to a stop - even with her eyes closed. "Don't even think about it," she insisted. "This mirror is packed full of magic. Terra, did you...?" She turned towards the Esperkin without opening her eyes. "You just looked in it, didn't you?"

"Uh-huh," Terra managed to gasp out.

"Damn," Lightning muttered, looking away. "How are we going to get her out of this thing?"

Vaan tried to pull Lightning's hand off his eyes, to no success. "I think the dragons have got something to do with it," he mused. "If we just moved the statues..."

Lightning dropped him to the ground, turned away from Terra, and call her gunblade to hand. Vaan saw her shift the weapon to firearm and tried to stop her. "Light, don't!"

Too late; Lightning pulled the tigger, aiming at the dragon immediately behind the mirror.

The shot glanced off its wing, ricocheted off the back wall, bounced off the mouth of the next wyrm, and slammed into Terra's shoulder.

A horrifying _scream_ tore through the air, and Vaan and Light both spun to face Terra without thinking. A horrified expression tore over Vaan's face as he saw Terra's body begin to _shift_; a glow obscuring her garments as her skin was wrapped in blazing pink fur. Her hair broke free of its ponytail, the stands illuminating with the same fiery hue as the rest of her body as they expanded and frayed out. Her fingernails sharpened themselves into claws, her shoes vanishing as her feet twisted into monstrous and her face sharpened a thousand edges.

Lightning swore as Terra raised her gaze to the heavens and gave a monstrous screech.

"Holy Cie'th," the valkyrie muttered.

Vaan scrambled to his feet. "Wait, Terra-!"

Terra whirled towards him, launching a flurry of Holy orbs, and Vaan thrust his arm forward as a shield materialized on it. The nigh-impenetrable surface of the Zodiac Escutcheon was able to stop the magic from _harming_ Vaan, but not so much prevent him from stumbling back; Terra's magic carried a lot of force to it, and Vaan's bdoy was not up to withstanding that much energy on his own.

Lightning shifted her gunblade to sword mode.

"Don't!" Vaan shouted - but too late. Terra raised her hand towards Lightning, and shots of Flare began to soar from it, blazing towards the valkyrie at high speed. Lightning raised her arm, only to recall too late that she had attached her shield to her back. The shots slammed into Lightning's side, launching her into one of the wyrm statues, and Terra screeched as she raised her arms above her head, a sphere of magic appearing above her helm and _erupting_ with a flash that rent the statues apart.

When Vaan could see again, Terra was gone.

Lightning pulled herself upright, coughing blood. "What the hell...?"

"What were you thinking?" Vaan asked.

"She transformed," Lightning spat. Then she coughed again, staining her arm red. Circles of light ringed the floor around her as she rose, lashing her hand down as white magic circled her body. "Last time she transformed, she tried to kill me. I wasn't intent on giving her another chance"

Vaan facepalmed. "That transformation of hers is unstable," he reprimanded. "She starts acting on instinct. If you hadn't shifted your sword-"

"What was I supposed to do?" Lightning demanded. "Let her turn on me without defending myself? I don't know about you, but I'm not so intent on going to hell!"

"Then why did you go through it in the first place?"

Vaan's retaliation brought Lightning to a halt. "What...?"

"Oh, so that was a bluff?" Vaan prompted. "Look, I get that you're pissed and tired and you've got a whole new angel motif thing, but you're causing a _lot_ of problems for _everyone_ right now. If you're not gonna stop pointing gunpowder at everyone who looks at you funny, you can go right back to Orphan's Cradle and put yourself to sleep."

"She's a _Warrior of Chaos!_" Lightning shouted.

"So is Jecht!" Vaan shouted back. "You gonna shoot him, too?"

Lightning stopped. "Jecht... what?"

Vaan turned away. "Forget it. I've had enough of you making things difficult."

He stepped towards the mirror, leaving Lightning wondering what the hell had just happened.

+x+x+x+

Terra opened her eyes.

She was in a dark room. The walls, floor, everything was the same arcane crystal as before, but now it was all dark, illuminating the room with shadows that strained Terra's eyes. Confused, she took a step forward, looking around.

She was shocked when she felt the crystal beneath her feet, and heard the clatter of claw on stone. Looking down, she was horrified to see the changes that had overtaken her body - her Trance had completely blotted her out.

"No," she gasped. "No no no no no, no, no, no..." She pulled away, as though she might leave her Esper transformation behind, but she only ended up lifting off the ground, taking a lot of crystal dust with her. "No!" she cried. "Go down! Stop! Don't!" She curled into fetal position, feeling the flames start to race across her body.

"Let it end!" she pleaded. "_Let it end!_"

The power started to blind her, casting her vision in an icy haze.

"_Please!_"

Sparks raced across her arms, and she was shocked when she felt something _solid_ between her hands. Slowly, the _burn_ across her body faded, and she watched as her Esper fur gradually withdrew into her body. The anti-gravity field her magic generated started to recede, gently lowering her to the ground, and she fell still as wisps of light appeared around her skyclad flesh, her garments recreating around her.

A long moment passed; then she lowered her gaze to the crystal that lay in her hands.

"You... You stopped it. Didn't you, Cosmos...?"

She weakly got to her feet, clutching her crystal close to herself. _Where am I?_ she wondered. _It_ **_looks_**_ like the Crystal Tower, but... it's so **dark**._ She glanced around. _Is this... maybe... is this the portal to the World of Darkness?_

The Esperkin swallowed heavily.

"Alright, Onion Knight... Where are you?"

She slowly walked towards a raised platform, with a series of steps before it. Making her way up the steps, she was surprised to find there was another staircase - this one taking about three steps before stopping on a platform large enough to jump off of.

And into the massive, whirling void of darkness below.

+x+x+x+

"King of Coins."

The Cloud of Darkness had given up on chess and had gone through several other time-passing activities with Onion Knight, crafting the pieces from necrous crystals that the World of Darkness was forged of. These included several sports (bad idea in any of the three battlefields), a projectile-accuracy challenge (where does he even hide those shuriken?), quick-draw matches (against falling crystal pillars), and _hide-and-seek_.

And Onion Knight had taken victory _every time_.

In his _normal clothes_.

With _no shoes._

She had eventually resorted to blackjack, which they were now playing in near darkness. The Cloud was playing as dealer, with Onion as the challenger. Having just revealed her first card, she raised the tip of the other one to find a Queen of Cups gazing at her - this was as good as won.

Onion flipped his cards, revealing an Ace of Swords and an Ace of Wands. "Hit me." The Cloud dealt him a card - it was an Ace of Cups. "Hit me," he said again. Ace of Coins. "Hit me." Two of Coins. "Hit me." Two of Wands." Hit me." Two of Cups. "Hit me!" Two of Swords. "Hit me!" Three of Swords. "Hit me!" Three of Coins. "Hit me!"

The Cloud threw the last card at his face, which he snatched out of the air and slammed to the floor.

It was a Three of Wands.

"Twenty-one!" Onion Knight whooped. "Looks like I win!"

An angry growl emerged through the Cloud's lips as she hurled her Queen of Cups to the floor with enough force to stick it in. "I don't know _how_," she snapped at him, "but _somehow_ you're _cheating!_"

Onion got to his feet. "Let me know when you're up for another game," he prompted, making his way towards the exit rift. "And try not to cheat this time. That backfired."

"I wasn't-!"

+x+x+x+

Terra had no idea _when_ she transcended into the World of Darkness battleground. She had opted _not_ to leap from the Crystal Tower, instead choosing to use her powers to slowly float down. But at some point, the void around her was not a whirling portal - it had gone still as she floated through it.

Her feet connected with crystal, and she was surprised to find herself standing atop a flight of stairs. Curious, she began to make her way down, and before long, the void's mist parted from around her, and she saw the battlefield there - gleaming, untouched.

_Empty_.

Terra's heart sank like a rock.

Then a whirl of darkness appeared at one side, and Terra turned to see a familiar young boy in unfamiliar casual garments walking out of it, _backwards_._  
_

"You're just upset because you can't stand losing on your own battlefield," he reprimanded towards the whirl.

The Esperkin was shocked when the _Cloud of Darkness_ floated out of it, one finger pointing at Onion Knight. "No one can be that young and that skilled and still have fortune's blessing!" she snapped.

"Please," Onion insisted, turning away, "you can't-"

He came to a complete stop when he saw Terra standing up several of the stairs.

"...Onion Knight?" she called.

"_Terra?_" Onion gasped.

The Cloud turned towards Terra, confused. "What...?"

A broad smile broke out on Terra's face, and the crystal in her hands vanished as she raced down the last few steps. "Onion!"

"Terra!" Onion cheered, crossing the distance in a rush and leaping to put her arms around Terra. The Esperkin returned he hug softly, shocked that he was here. "Where... how did you _get_ here?" he asked. "I thought that clown-"

"Kefka is on a different battlefield," Terra insisted, "and with any luck he's going to _stay_ there." She pulled away, and Onion dropped down as she looked around. "Where were-"_  
_

She was interrupted by a shout of cheer, and she turned to see she was not alone in finding her way through. Both the Cloud of Darkness and Onion Knight looked up to see Vaan diving towards the battlefield - from his distance, he looked like he was going to hit the bottom of the stairs. Upon seeing the battlefield, he arced into a flip, and Terra and Onion both quickly raced away as a shining green tornado whirling around him, slowing his fall; then he hit the ground with a punch, surging a series of stones from the crystal surface.

"That was _way_ too fun!" he whooped. "Did Lightning show up yet?"

Terra shook her head. "Not yet," she admitted. "How did you guys find the dark room?"

Vaan smirked. "That explosion you made when you transformed smashed the dragon statues," he replied. "That mirror was just a portal between the two - after the statues were gone, it was easy to go in and out."

Onion winced. "Is that... an Idle Sky Pirate?" he asked, turning to the Cloud.

"I believe so," she replied.

"Why do those things always _annoy_ me," he muttered. "If he starts shooting circles around me with that crossbow-"

"Onion?"

Vaan calling his name caused Onion to turn towards him. "Hey, little brother! How've you been making out? Didn't get into too many fights, did you?"

"What...?" Onion stepped away. "Who are _you?_"

Terra saw this was going to go south very quickly. "Um, hold on," she insisted, stepping forward. "How-"

"Sonovabitch!"

Lightning's cry caused everyone to look up to see the valkyrie tumbling towards the stairs. Terra slammed one hand to her mouth to muffle a curse in front of Onion Knight, raising the other to cast a quick Zero Gravity spell to slow her fall. It succeeded, but Lightning almost missed the stairs, grabbing the top one with one hand. Her gunblade faded from the other as she adjusted her grip on the stairs, drawing herself up, and Terra and Vaan rushed up the stairs to help her rise.

"You okay?" Terra asked.

"I most certainly am _not_ okay," Lightning snapped. "What the _hell_? You _blasted_ me back in the Crystal Tower! Damn it, you shouldn't-"

"Lightning, we talked about this!" Vaan reprimanded.

Terra only stepped back down the stairs worriedly. Lightning glared at Vaan for a moment before making her way towards the battleground.

Onion also had a hand on his face, but it wasn't to muffle a curse. "Okay, I _think_ that's a Fleeting Flash," he admitted to the Cloud of Darkness, "but _s__weet Ifirt in Molten Cave_, that _armour-_!"

The Cloud cuffed him in the back of the head, causing him to stumble forward.

Terra decided to step in before things went south. Er. "Um, Onion Knight, Cloud of Darkness, this is Vaan and Lightning. They are from one of the previous cycles... before ours. The one we remember. They remember us, but we don't remember them, so try not to feel _too_ offended if they talk to you. Lightning, Vaan, this is Onion Knight and the Cloud of Darkness."

"You don't remember us?" Vaan mused. "Laguna didn't kick your a- butt _that_ hard, did he? You guys took off halfway through the fight."

"We fought with you?" the Cloud asked. "Or... rather, we fought with this... Laguna?"

Lightning sighed. "You wouldn't happen to have been working with a certain Kefka, would you?"

Vaan facepalmed. "Of course. That creepy clown _would_ do that, wouldn't he."

"Jackass," Lightning muttered at the memory.

"Lightning!" Vaan snapped. "Watch it!"

"His nose is bleeding," Lightning insisted. "A little language isn't going to hurt him."

Terra turned to the boy to see a slight stain of red below his nose. "Onion Knight!"

"It's not bleeding!" Onion insisted.

"Onion..." Terra reprimanded.

"It _isn't_," he assured her. "It _was_, but it-"

"Wait- Wait one moment!" The Cloud of Darkness speaking brought the whole conversation to a halt. "How... _how_ did you get here? You three - Fleeting Flash, the Idle Sky Pirate, and Esper girl - how are you _here?_"

"Everyone keeps calling me the Idle Sky Pirate," Vaan muttered. "It's the _manikin_."

"It's the only thing they remember of us," Lightning reminded him. "Shut it."

Terra realized neither of them was going to speak. "The battlefields, they're connected," she explained. "We can get between them if we know where they join."

"We dove _into the Void_," the Cloud stated. "Our attempts to find a join between the battlefields was met with utter failure."

"That's because they only connect in certain ways," Terra explained. "This place is linked with the Crystal Tower, which connects to the Phantom Train. From there, you can go to, like, six different places - Pandaemonium's main hall, Castle Ultimecia, Rift Castle..."

"And Dream's End," Vaan added.

"And Dream's End," Terra agreed. "I haven't quite figured out how things work from there, but if there's somewhere you want to go..."

"Then you've just got to put together the pieces!"

The cackling mad voice caused everyone to turn in a shock as a necrous figure descended in the battlefield - two wings demon and four wings angel gleaming in the darkness.

"Kefka!"

* * *

Draco: What is _wrong_ with me. I keep leaving you guys to suffer. By the way, I'm considering that high room where the Curse of the Five Wryms is to be a separate floor (albeit a smaller one due to its height in the tower), so that makes nine floors.


	10. World of Darkness: Monster Born of Magic

Draco: Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix

* * *

**World of Darkness: Monster Born of Magic**

"Kefka!"

Terra's cry was all it took for Onion Knight to break into action. He shot forward, his blade appearing in his hand in an instant as he leapt towards the clown with a battle cry.

The clown only rolled his eyes as the little knight neared.

It was stupid fast. One moment Onion was about to swing his blade at Kefka's helm; then next, his sword was caught on one of the demon wings emerging from Palazzo's back. He was stunned for a moment when one of the angel wings rose up and slammed into his face, suspending him as the other lashed down and struck him down the steps.

Terra cried out as Onion hit the platform, and Kefka only laughed maniacally. "Oh, good! You're all here!" he mused. "Perfect."

Vaan raised a hand as his greatsword appeared in it - a long weapon with a waved blade, a sun adorned on one side of the hilt and a moon adorned on the other. "What do you want, clown?" he snapped.

Kefka smirked. "You again," he mused, raising a hand full of purple magic. "I don't think I finished having fun with you, yet."

Terra stepped back when she saw the magic gather into a sphere.

"Let's do something about that."

"Vaan, look out!"

Kefka hurled the sphere forward, causing it to rocket about before surging towards Onion Knight. The little warrior managed to skid back across the ground and leap away as the burst detonated, only to surge towards Lightning next. The valkyrie drew her shield and surged it forward as the attack connected, bouncing away and flying toward Vaan.

He did not react so quickly, and though he tried to raise his greatsword, the attack still sent him flying. Kefka's mad laughter echoed through the battlefield as he leapt into the air, soaring over the group, and landed on the other end of the battlefield.

"Come on! Let's play!"

Onion crossed his arms before him, and a flare of light surrounded his body as his Ninja garb appeared, the cowl closing tight on his helm. His crimson katana appeared in his left hand, and his Onion Sword nestled into his right as he shot forward, his feet racing over the crystal surface. Kefka grinned, clapping his hands together and throwing them apart as three fireballs burst from his palms; each of those fireballs then split into three, all of them weaving towards Onion.

The little knight quickly lashed forward, his swords swinging every which way as they struck the flames apart, and once he was no longer in danger of igniting, he hurled his katana at Kefka and impaled the Onion Sword in one of the nearby pillars, leaping atop it.

Then he drew a shuriken from under his garb.

Kefka had only stopped the katana in place with a shot of ice, and now he looked up to the little knight as he spun the star on one finger. "One little ninja star won't do you any good!" he jeered.

"Just one?"

In a flash, the shuriken was suspended between his palms, and he slid the two against each other - and as he moved, shuriken formed lines following each hand. He arced them around, whirling his palms, until he had a sphere of shuriken in his hand the size of Golbez's chestplate.

Kefka's smile fell.

Onion leapt from his stuck blade, parting his hands - and _the shuriken that was still there_ flew forward, slamming into the sphere - which then burst, each star arcing towards Kefka. The god of destruction panicked and swept his wings before him as the shuriken neared, the bladed stars impaling all across his body as Onion landed before the katana-impaled-in-ice that was a few moments before him. With a flash, he drew the katana from the ice, causing it to burst apart; then he shot forward as the last of the shuriken struck Kefka, who lashed his wings out.

And Onion _drove his sword into Kefka's torso_.

An angry screech emerged from Kefka's lips as he stumbled back, one foot and leg passing over the edge of the crystal. His wings, covered in stars, were not going to lift him, and with a click of his tongue Onion drove a kick into Kefka's other leg; and Kefka screamed as he plummeted into the void below.

Lightning, Vaan, and the Cloud of Darkness had their mouths hanging open as Onion turned towards them. Kicking off the crystal, he leapt up and pulled his Onion Sword from the pillar, landing as his Fuma Garb vanished, leaving him in his black casual garments.

"That wasn't so hard," he mused.

"Holy shit," Lightning spat.

"How did you just..." Vaan couldn't finished.

Terra had a nervous look on her face, prompting Onion to angle his head to one side. "Is something wrong, Terra?"

The Esperkin shook her head. "That won't finish him,"

Onion started. "What? But-"

"Blood! _BLOOD!_"

The little knight spun in a flash as Kefka shot skywards past the ledge, screaming, shuriken raining from his wings. Onion stepped back, raising his sword again as Kefka landed with a _thump_ on the ledge.

"You vicious _brat_!" he spat, scrambling to his feet with his legs going every which ways and his angel wings shedding feathers like crazy. A moment passed as he flapped his wings about, propelling the last few shuriken out of the two demon wings, before he stood tall, gazing down into the void.

Then he spun to Onion Knight with a death glare that could slaughter Ultima, and the warrior's blood ran cold.

"Gyah!" he screeched, slamming one hand to the ground and gripping so hard it started pulling up crystals as he growled.

"You know, you really are a _stupid..._"

His wings were wrapped in a bronze light.

"...**vicious...**"

Three rings of godly light appeared behind him.

"..._arrogant_ **whiny** _half-baked_ **immature** _worthless_..."

He raised on hand - and Terra nearly _screamed_ when she saw the hellious golden glow that appeared in it.

"_**LITTLE BRAT!**_"_**  
**_

He lashed his hand forward, and a patch on the crystal beneath Onion Knights's feet began to _shine gold_ as a beam of fire surged out of _nowhere_, half a pillar's height above him.

"Onion!"

Vaan wasn't even on the ground as he raced towards the attack, his body shining as he shoulder-tackled Onion out of the circle of gold. No sooner had Onion passed the edge of the attack zone than the flames raced down, and Vaan shouted as the flames scorched his legs before his momentum carried him out of range. The two skidded across the crystal as Kefka lifted his body from the battlefield, his wings sweeping downward as the light parted from them.

A grunt of pain from Vaan caused Kefka to turn. He set his hands against the ground, panting for a moment; then he propelled himself from the crystal, turning towards Kefka as a Concurrence circle appeared around his raised arms. Bursts of pressurized water emerged from the circle as his hands pulled out of it, and he slammed them into the crystal surface of the battlefield as the liquid spheres surged into Kefka's head.

The first one caught him off-guard, causing him to connect with the crystal. The second two were suppressed when he raised his wings, but the last one hit him like a _meteor,_ knocking him to the ground.

"Die!" Kefka cried out, raising his hand towards Vaan. "_Die!_"

A burst of magic like video static emerged right the hell out of _nowhere_ as Vaan pulled himself away with his hands. The first one brushed his legs, but didn't leave any lasting damage; the second was avoided when he pulled himself over the edge, holding on by his fingertips, and when the third emerged from the underside of the battlefield, he leapt across his grip before pulling himself back on.

"That's it!" Vaan shouted, raising his hand as his rifle appeared in it - a huge bronze firearm with a wide barrel. "No one hurts my little bro!"

He closed his other hand on the barrel and fired at Kefka, his scorched legs providing enough leverage for him to stay on the platform as Kefka turned. The attack hit him in the chest and sent him flying as Vaan faded the weapon, pulling himself to his feet. He didn't stay up for very long, though, and he quickly hit the ground again as Kefka recovered.

Fortunately, it was at that moment that Lightning moved in. A series of spinning blows from her gunblade caught Kekfa in the back, and as he spun around she shifted it to firearm and blasted him in the face. He lashed out with a row of flaming bursts, but Lightning leapt over him as the flames rocketed past her, firing at his helm before diving in for a slash that slammed him into the ground.

Kefka recovered quickly and grabbed her sword out of her hands, wrapping it in flames as his other hand lashed forward, Lightning raised her shield, but the jester snapped that right off her arm before throwing the burning blade to the ground and lifting her by the neck.

"You're nothing," he spat, a demonic grin on his face as he raised his other hand to strike.

A gathering of energy behind him brought his movements to a halt.

"Perish...!"

The clown spun to see the Cloud of Darkness fire her 0-Form Particle Beam point-blank. Somehow, Lightning was unharmed as the attack tore across Kefka's body, launching him through three pillars and off the battlefield. He recovered quickly and arced into a spin, hurling Ultima orbs towards her, but the Cloud only swept forward as Lightning rose behind her, unleashing a Wide-Angle Particle Beam to surge them away.

Lightning quickly rushed towards Vaan, rings circling her feet as she swept her hand over him. Cure magic circled his legs, and before long he was able to stand. Onion Knight got to his feet, light wrapping him as his Sage robes materialized over him, and he turned his sword in hand as it shifted to become a casting staff.

The three of them turned to Kefka as the Cloud of Darkness cast off her robe, her body tinting deep green as she took a fighting stance.

Kefka rolled his eyes. "Great, now _you're_ with the goody two-shoeses."

"We are not certain what you have done to _us,_" the Cloud admitted, glancing towards Vaan briefly, "but you have done _something_. And until that information is revealed, you are our enemy just as you are theirs."

A sigh from the jester. "Oh, I'm not in the mood."

He raised his hands, and the group of Cosmos' warriors spun as orbs of fire dropped down around them, bouncing off the crystal to fly towards them. A row of flares rocketed towards the Cloud of Darkness, who raised a barrier to stop it; the burst only pierced the guard, and she cried out as the inferno consumed her.

Terra only had time to see Kefka flying towards her before a trigrams of arcane images ringed her, launching projections that slammed into her body and tore a scream from her lips. Kefka quickly formed another set of triangles to stop her from flying too high as he closed a hand around her neck.

"I'll be going now," he taunted of the group as Terra struggled to break free. "I can deal with the rest of you later - I've got places to burn and people to scorch!"

His wings flared out around him, and he took off skyward, leaving the four of them trapped in the World of Darkness.

+x+x+x+

"Let go of me... let me _go!_"

Kefka rolled his eyes at Terra as he stepped out of the Crystal Tower. "Shut it, girlie," he snapped. "You're not going _anywhere_. I've had enough trouble from you running around.

He waltzed through the doors, finding himself at the Phantom Train station. He had got through by simply flying along the tracks, but now the train had arrived, and Firion and Laguna were stepping out. Upon seeing Kefka, the two of them were quick to take fighting stances, Laguna calling his machine gun to hand.

"Watch this..."

Kefka lashed his hand skyward, surging Forsaken energy from the ground between the two warriors. Both of them leapt away, Laguna firing his machine gun at Kefka; the clown only raised one set of wings to catch the shots. Firion hurled his bloodred axe at him, but Kefka simply threw Terra to the ground with enough force to drive her into the pavement, providing him with the freedom of movement to sidestep the blow.

He swung his hand downward, a row of lightning bolts surged out of nowhere, slamming Firion into the Phantom Train's car. As Laguna traded out his machine gun for a much larger weapon that seemed to be a laser cannon, Kefka only thrust one hand forward, launching a row of flaming bursts, and Laguna had to abandon his weapon to leap away.

A howl of laughter ripped from Kefka's throat. "Oh, this is so _easy!_" he taunted. He glanced at the Phantom Train for a moment before hurling another row of flames at it, and the engine _exploded_ as the train tumbled off the tracks.

"Enough..."

Kefka turned to see Terra getting to her feet, her body quaking with energy. As he watched, she raised one arm - and that arm _flared_ with bright pink magic.

"Leave my friends _alone!_"

She lashed her arm forward, launching crescent blades of light at impossible speeds, and Kefka could only chuckle once before the attack slammed into him, sending him flying. He slammed into the guardrails on the platform, tearing them apart as they slowed him only enough for him to fall onto the earth below. A heartier laugh emerged from him as he rose back up, his hands burning with golden light.

"That's more like it!" he cheered. "Come on, babe, more! I wanna see your power! Let it go! Let it run! _Let it burn!_"

He lashed his hand forward, launching Ultima orbs towards her, but Terra only leapt away as the spheres slammed into the bottom of the overturned train car. She landed at the edge of the platform, closing both hands before her as her sword appeared in it.

_Come on,_ she pleaded. _I need it... I need it to **work**..._

Kefka cackled maliciously, dropping Meteors around Terra, but she leapt upward as the fireballs flew towards her, striking them with the edge of her sword. She landed again, closing her eyes.

_Please, just this once... Esper's power, come to me..._

A low growl emerged on Kefka's lips as he shot forward. Ultima orbs, Meteor fireballs, spheres of Forsaken Null - every magic he could conjure formed around him as he surged towards Terra, and a circle of gold appeared on the platform beneath her feet as the rings of the Warring Triad appeared behind his wings.

Terra felt the power come to her, and her eyes snapped open as something on her body began to burn.

"Piercing Cry..."

She lashed her blade earthwards and opened her mouth - and an absolutely monstrous _screech_ tore from her lips, throwing Kefka backwards. Energy surged in her veins as she pointed her blade at Kefka, pink magic flaring along its edge; then she lashed out, edges of magic emerging from the blade as she arced it through seven skyward and earthward strikes.

Kefka pulled himself to his feet in time to see the magic edges flying towards him.

"Oh, for fu-"

Then the attacks connected, and he gave a screech as they tore through him, ripping flaming explosions across his body.

"Gyaaah!" Kefka lifted into the air, writhing this way and that as his body lifted. The wings fading from his back, he whirled towards Terra as his skin faded from monster-god charcoal to pale-painted white. "I'll get you for this!" he screeched.

Then he took off along the tracks, explosions chasing him on his own flesh as he raced away.

The power that had overtaken Terra left her, and she fell to the ground, her sword clattering from her hands. A moment passed before she took notice of Firion and Laguna trying to speak to her; slowly, she raised her gaze to their shocked faces.

"Are you alright?" Laguna prompted. "The freak show took off. You can get up."

"Uh..." Terra stumbled to a half-kneel, half-lay. "What...?"

Firion held out a hand to her. "Kefka. You drove him off," he explained. "Your power... that was incredible. I didn't think you could do that."

"I..." Terra shook her head. "I... can't. That wasn't my magic. That was..." She shook her head, gripping her head.

"That was _completely random._"

+x+x+x+

"Come on!" Onion insisted, racing down the last flight of steps as he and the others arrived at the bottom floor. He was back in his ninja's Fuma Garb, and he had both swords in hand as he charged out of the staircase.

"We're trying," Vaan prompted, wheezing as he, Lightning, and the Cloud of Darkness came out. "Not all of us are ninjas, little bro."

"Ninja has got nothing to do with it!" Onion insisted. "If we don't get to Terra-"

"Terra's fine."

The voice prompted Onion Knight to turn to see three figures stepping into the Crystal Tower. One was Firion, covered in blood weapons as Onion had guessed. The other was what looked like a Transient Gunner, his machine gun over his shoulder.

The other was Terra, supported on Firion's shoulder - and she looked absolutely _drained_.

"What..." Onion raced forward, his Ninja garments fading as Terra slumped off of Firion's grip. "What happened?" he asked, supporting her for himself. "Kefka... what did Kefka do to you?"

Terra opened her eyes weakly, looking at the others.

"He told me to let it burn..."

She winced.

"And I burned him..."

* * *

Draco: That came out very quickly.


	11. Pandaemonium: Jester and Esper

Draco: Chapters taking place in either of the Pandaemonium stages will be preluded with 'Pandaemonium' for the sake of not slaughtering the character limit on chapter titles.

Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.

* * *

**Pandaemonium: Jester and Esper**

"Gyaah!"

Kefka stumbled into Pandaemonium with an angry shout. "That girl won't get away with this!" he muttered. "Thinks she can just run me through with her magic like that... Why, I oughta-"

"What's this?"

The jester spun in place to find Emperor Mateus standing at the wall he had come from. Curiously, he prodded the surface with his staff, watching as it passed through. "Interesting... I thought this battlefield had no exit."

Kefka blew at his hair. "Your _Majesty_," he muttered tauntingly. "What do you want?"

"A way out of this palace," the Emperor explained. "I had found the connection between the main hall and the throne room, but couldn't quite pinpoint the way from the main hall to the other battlefields. Tell me where this leads." Here he turned to face Kefka.

"I don't take orders from _you_," Kefka spat.

The rebuttal prompted the Emperor to raise his staff to Kefka's neck. "Tell me where this leads," he repeated.

Kefka rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right," he mused, turning away.

A surge of darkness emerged behind him, and the floor turned crimson and black as a wall of crystal-esque spikes blocked his way out. He turned back to face Mateus, only for the Emperor to force him right against the spikes with his staff.

His helm was wrapped in darkness, serpentine patterns emerging where his hair should be, and his cape had turned bloody crimson and tattered. Blue flames gathered in his left hand, forming a sphere of deadly hellfire.

"I demanded information from you, and I expect you to provide it." The dark face over his head seemed to be a mask, for nowhere did it move as he spoke. "Now, where does the passage lead?"

A laugh emerged from Kefka. "You actually expect me to let you boss me around?" he mused. "Look, _Mateus_, it's not gonna-"

He was cut off when the Emperor hurled his hellfire; the burst slammed into Kefka's torso, throwing him through the wall of spikes and into the wall. The Emperor tapped his staff to the floor, whereupon a ring of energy spheres surrounded Kefka as he fell off the wall.

"Answer me."

Kefka grinned, another laugh emerging from him. His garments began to melt against his skin as it began to char - the burst of hellfire had provided exactly the kind of provocation his body needed to reclaim his godly form. The girl's light magic argued heavily with his energy - hence the depower when her Riot Blade had struck - but Mateus' hellfire, _that_ only surged power through his body.

"Watch this..."

He raised his hands skyward, and as the ring of energy erupted around him, spheres of fire fell from the roof of hell's palace, bouncing off the earth and slamming into the Emperor before he could react. As he flew into the wall, the Emperor was shocked to see Kefka strut out of the smoke cloud completely unharmed.

And, what's more, empowered with magic befitting the gods.

"Not gonna work!"

+x+x+x+

"How do you even knock over a train to the otherworld, anyway?"

Terra, Onion Knight, Lightning, Firion, Laguna, Vaan, and the Cloud of Darkness had just finished righting the Phantom Train after what had to be at least an hour's work. At Onion Knight's question, Firion only shook his head. "He aimed his fire magic right at the engine. The cars just kind of... followed suit."

Lightning sighed. "How are we gonna get the engine running?"

"I can probably get something going," Laguna insisted. "I'll give it a try. You guys find somewhere to sleep."

"I'm gonna find something to _eat_," Onion corrected. "How am I this hungry all of a sudden?"

The Cloud of Darkness looked away.

Terra noticed, but didn't comment. "Here, come with me," she prompted. "I'll take you to the dining car."

Onion sounded excited at that. "This thing has a wait staff?"

"Not exactly..."

Lightning stepped after them. "I think I'll take one of the beds," she mused.

"These things have beds?" Firion wondered aloud, following her inside.

"I'm in!" Vaan cheered.

The Cloud turned to Laguna. "Will you be needing assistance with the engine?" she asked of the gunner.

"Nah, I'm good," Laguna replied. "Grab a bed, grab a meal, or head back to the tower - I've got it covered in here."

He stepped towards the engine and pulled the door of the nearest car open, closing it behind him.

The Cloud turned away from that car, following the direction that Kefka had gone.

_That jester... what did he do to us in that cycle?_

+x+x+x+

"What a rush!"

Kefka stepped forward, still powered up, as the Emperor tried to rise. His staff had fallen to the ground at his side; amused, Kefka stepped forward and picked it up, hunching down right next to Mateus for the sake of taunting him.

"You actually use this?" he wondered, looking down the staff as though he would actually analyze a casting tool. "Come on, if you're gonna put magic through something, make it capable of hurting when you run out!"

"Give... me _that_!" the Emperor spat, closing his hand on the head of the staff and pulling it out of Kefka's hands. "I won't let you make a fool of me, Palazzo!"

"I'm not," Kefka mused. "I'm just making you feel pissy about your weapon. Now, _this_..."

He lashed his hand forward, magic flaring from his hand and taking the form of a wicked morning star. No sooner had it _started_ to form than Mateus yelled out, leaping away; Kefka only laughed as the illusion weapon dissipated.

"Oh, man, I _really_ got you!" he cheered. "Is big bad _Emperor Mateus_ scared of a clown?"

"Psychotic jester!" the Emperor spat through his mask. "You don't frighten me!"

With a quick movement, he touched the head of his staff to the floor, forming a Thunder Crest between him and Kefka that began to move forward. Amused, Kefka lifted off the ground, his wings of angel shedding a few feathers that tumbled into the edges of the crest. He remained there for a moment, suspended just away from the trap; then he whirled in place and slammed one hand to it, _shattering the trap in but a moment_.

Mateus' energy faded.

"Look, princey," Kefka mused as he leaned back on the air. "I'm not one of your _loyal subjects_, alright? I'm here because this place has got the kind of _power_ I needed to get back into shape! Now that I'm done here, I don't listen to you!"

A glow from beneath him caused the Emperor to look down as a circle of gold lit up beneath him.

"So unless you've got a slave crown hiding somewhere in the fat folds of your robe, _stop gettin' in my way!_"

A surge of golden fire tore out of nowhere half a meter from the roof, and the Emperor could only glance up before it slammed into him. A horrified "UNGAAH!" tore from his lips as his hellious form was engulfed in flames, and Kefka burst into laughter as his Light of Judgement blot the world out.

When it faded, the Emperor of Pandaemonium was only a charred human figure - his hell's helm ashes around him.

"That should keep you busy," he mused, turning around with a broad grin as his wings started to retract onto his body. He grunt slightly as the spikes on the demon wings dug into his back; then he closed his eyes, his lips arcing upward again as his jester's robes formed around him, and the paint gleamed on his face.

There was a slight ruffle from behind him.

Kefka only chuckled, and held out a hand as a sphere of Ultima magic appeared in his palm.

"Be careful..."

He tossed it over his shoulder, stepping away.

A slight reverberation as it clattered against the floor like one of Laguna Loire's grenades.

Then there was a series of arcane explosions, and Mateus had not even the energy to shout before the burst engulfed him.

"That was titillating..."

+x+x+x+

"Aaaah!"

Onion Knight slumped back in his seat in the dining car, having just eaten his fill from the self-serving table. 'His fill' happened to be more than Terra, Lightning, and Firion had eaten combined - one order had not been sufficient to satisfy him - and the Esperkin only chuckled as she watched him rub his eyes tiredly. "When you said this thing 'doesn't exactly' have a wait staff, I thought you meant I was gonna have to cook for myself."

"You enjoyed that, huh?" she prompted.

"Big time," Onion replied.

At that moment, the train lurched, and Onion gave a shout as he tumbled off his seat. Terra herself had to lift off the ground to stop herself from faceplanting, and as she touched down she only looked out the windows - one side of which had been broken by the train's fall. "I guess Laguna got it moving," she mused.

"I guess so," Onion agreed into the carpet. Pulling himself to his feet, he looked towards the windows. "You think we should fix that?"

"Maybe later," Terra replied. "There's none in the bedroom car, we should be fine."

Onion nodded. "Alright. Well, I'm gonna go check on him. I'm not exactly eager to see that Vaan again."

Terra angled her head. "You don't like him?" she mused.

"Every time I used to see an Idle Sky Pirate, they'd start ticking me off," Onion replied as they made their way to the battle car. "They wouldn't even start trying. They'd shoot circles around me with their crossbows, or tap me on the head with their staves just light enough to disorient me, or even run the flat of their swords into my butt. It was _annoying_. None of the others ever had that kind of trouble. Even _Golbez_ thought it was weird. And when we figured out that they were imitations of past warriors, I couldn't help but wonder: if that's the _manikin_..."

"...then what was the real thing doing," Terra murmured. "Back in the cycles you can't remember."

"Yeah," Onion mused. "What about you, Terra?" He sat down on one of the seats had hadn't been smashed into the wall by Kefka's wreck - he managed to find one along the _un_broken windows - and pulled his helmet off as he turned to Terra. "You remember anything about him, yet?"

"No," Terra replied. "I just... get this sense of... _warmth_ from him. Lightning said something about Kefka controlling me. I think he helped me get away from him."

Onion hummed thoughtfully. "Well, he did something right," he mused.

Terra turned to him. "Onion Knight!" she scolded.

"What?"

"You shouldn't be talking about somebody like that!" Terra reprimanded.

"Okay, okay, sorry," Onion insisted, raising his hands defensively.

There was a moment of quiet.

"Onion Knight..."

The little knight turned to her. "What is it?"

"Where does it come from?" Terra asked, turning towards him. "Your title? I mean, it's kind of odd... it's a _vegetable_. It's just.. it just seems..." She was trying to think of a nice way to put it.

He didn't bother. "...It sounds kinda childish?" he admitted.

"Mm-hmm..."

Onion sighed and fell quiet for a moment. Then he held out his hand - and to Terra's surprise, a figure appeared in it; an onion, a literal common onion, as though it had just been pulled from the garden.

"For every kid... an onion symbolizes 'challenge'," the little knight explained. With his thumb, he started to dig part of each layer away as he continued, "It means an obstacle that just doesn't stop. Layer upon layer of... of suffering, tears, trying to end it. And you keep pushing through it, because you figure, there's gotta be something good at the end, right?"

As Terra watched, he angled his thumb in and pushed hard, piercing the center of the produce.

"Then you get to the core," he mused, "the end of the trials - and that's it. There's nothing. No fanfare, no congratulations. No _reward_."

He pulled his thumb out, the scent of the vegetable stinging at his eyes - and sparks of white magic emerged from the air around his symbol, closing the hole he had pierced through it. He held it out to Terra, angling it from side to side as she lowered her gaze.

"Nothing for all your hard work," she murmured.

The little knight raised his other hand with one finger extended, like he had solved a puzzle or answered a question. "But that's when you realize - you don't _need_ a prize," he added. Terra looked up as he flipped the onion into the air with a flick of his wrist, her gaze on the vegetable.

"The trials give you new skills..."

Razor-sharp streaks of wind wrapped around it, slicing the onion into fine slices.

"...new ways to look at things..."

A spark of electricity hit each slice, distorting them as they began to fall apart.

"...new _experiences_ for your trouble."

Flames engulfed the pieces of the onion as the little knight held out his hand, the pieces falling out of the fire and into his palm. A yelp passed through his lips as he tossed the pieces into the air; thinking quickly, he formed his sword in his other hand and held the flat side beneath the onion fragments as they landed upon the blade.

"The challenge... is its _own_ reward."

He turned to Terra and held out his sword carefully as the Esperkin gazed at what lay on it.

"Onion ring?"

* * *

Draco: Okay, yeah, I totally dropped that massive contrast on purpose. I originally _wanted_ to have a big fight scene between Mateus and Kefka, but I realized before I even got around to actually writing this that I can't write a trap master's fight scene. So, when I jumped back to the train, naturally I had to do a two-for-two scene. Sue me.

I'm not even sure if I based that off of a quote from XII I found on the wiki or if it's just woven wholecloth. Probably a little bit of both.


End file.
