When Darkness Turns to Light

Dynamis Lythos!

Recappy from the Last Chappy: Leaning against the back, the woman was breathing rather heavily. She reached for the wound again to see if it was still bleeding. A little blood was added to what originally had been there, but not a lot; had the hand been clean, there would be less blood than before.

The blue-nette kunoichi noticed the carmine body fluid nevertheless and reached into her kunai pouch as she kneeled. "Oh. . . . Uh, are you hurt?" From it she retrieved an ointment crafted from strong medicinal herbs and offered it. "I'm sorry . . . you were saving me. Please, use it." The woman accepted the capsule. "Um . . . thank you. . . . My name is Hinata."

The woman smiled. "Thank you for the medicine. My name . . . hehe, well, it's actually a little long, so you can just call me 'Cala.'"

Chapter Twenty-six: Dynamis Lythos!

Sora took the stance ingrained in the memory of his muscle, one coming as naturally to him as breath filling lungs. Standing like a batter hovering over home plate and awaiting a pitch, his knees were crouched and he held his Keyblade in both hands. Donald and Goofy were at his flanks; the former holding his staff like a batter "on deck" and the latter with his shield like a catcher's mitt.

The brunette stared directly across the arena to the opposing team, where stood Sai and Krystal. His little boy blues scanned both of them as he mentally reviewed the matches he had seen them participate in. They would be a difficult pair to beat, especially Sai. Krystal he was uncertain about.

His eyes fell on the kunoichi as she took out the shukusen she had been using in earlier matches. Despite how familiar she had appeared to be with them earlier, she seemed much less comfortable holding them now. Her expression was one of the perplexed and inquisitive as she opened them and spent a few moments tampering with the device until she discovered how to expand the blades.

Additional peculiar behavior included how she had acted toward him not long earlier. He had thought they had gotten along just fine based on their first encounter, and just prior to the beginning of the tournament she had wished he, Donald, and Goofy good luck in their matches. Yet in-between fights, after Sai and Krystal had defeated Team Yuffie, she had bumped his shoulder on the way back to the den, seemingly on purpose. She had sneered at him over her shoulder as she walked away.

It unsettled him a little. He did not like being confused, and something fishy was almost definitely going on. What had gotten into Krystal? And Sai. . . . He remembered the passive smile he had given him at the end of his match with Team Yuffie. What was the deal with that guy?

Music began, signaling the match was about to start. Phil waddled to the center of the arena and glanced at both parties. He raised his arm. "Alright boys-and girl-let's keep this clean. Your match starts . . . NOW!" He dropped his arm and waddled out of the battleground.

The translucent boundary walls manifested. Sora's grip on the Keyblade tightened and he shifted his focus to the present. With Donald and Goofy behind him, he charged forward.

[{X♥X}]

My eyes were shut when my crown broke through the surface of the River Styx. Like Cloud had said, I could feel the life being sucked out of me, my chakra spilling into the river around me. It seemed quicker than ever, like blood profusely pouring from an open wound. My body had that mild tingle, a lesser feeling of pins and needles than when I'd tried out the Warp feature in the Gummi to get here.

It was funny. I was floating, but I didn't feel like I was in water. I didn't feel wet. Souls were all around me, brushing against my arms and legs, but unlike those above the surface, these had substance. I felt them and they did not fall apart. I think some of them were pulling a bit of my chakra with them. The ones that did looked a little brighter.