Catalysis [Sora, Kairi, Axel]

[Prythian]

No sound.

Just a sudden sense of presence, and the silver-robed figure was there, holding his golden sword, which vanished. "I have an urgent need to speak with you, princess. And while those two are distracted, this is the perfect time." Underneath the hood, his eyes glittered. "Not to mention I cannot allow you to get hurt in this fight, nor can I afford to destroy one of the dark merely for this conversation."

A sword of darkness appeared in his hands, and with it he flung darkness around in a circle around them, sealing them in a small 'tower' of darkness, the wall connected to the sword by a single strand of black. "I would advise against attempting to bring your friend back here." The Champion added softly. "Keep your voice down, for his intervention will not go well for him. I have no incentive to keep him from harm."

[Aerith]

Unexpected Encounter

The silver-haired guy was proving to be a handful for Sora, it seemed. All that darkness on the sword worried her, but what worried her even more was the way Sora was being pushed back into the forest. If she was going to help him, she needed to move now before the addition of trees made it more difficult to intervene. She wasn't sure how much she could do; Sora was clearly the more experienced and even he was having some trouble. But she needed to do something.

She took one step and stopped. A man with red hair and a silver robe had abruptly appeared in front of her. Zexion had told her and Sora about the Champion of Darkness wandering around, but she hadn't expected to run into him this soon. And certainly not under these circumstances.

And now, it looked like she didn't have any choice but to oblige his request for a conversation.

Glancing around at the darkness that surrounded her, she held onto her Keyblade. Even if all he wanted to do was talk, she felt better with it in her hand.

Keeping her voice soft, as he had told her to, she asked, "Why do you need to talk to me?"

[Axel]

New Developments

Sora and his opponent seemed to be pretty even for the moment. Kairi was a little inept at fighting but was holding her own, even going so far as to unleash a rather colorful ability against the remaining Heartless.

When the silver-haired guy started pushing Sora in the direction of the trees, Axel finally moved from his spot. There was no reason for Sora to know he was here, and the Flame preferred to keep it that way. The last thing he wanted right now was to be subjected to one of Sora's famous friendship speeches.

In the process of relocating farther out of the way, he happened to notice an odd barrier of darkness that had popped up. And Kairi was nowhere to be found.

Oh? This is interesting...

Unfortunately, he couldn't see what might be going on within the wall, but perhaps he might catch a bit of what was said if he was so lucky. Picking a spot still within the trees but far enough away to avoid attracting the attentions of Sora and his current playmate, Axel leaned against a thick trunk and casually attempted to eavesdrop.

All the while, though, he made sure to keep an eye on Sora.

[Fate]

Always Impetuous

His plan that he made up on the spot was working, his opponent getting back into the woods. It also looked like Kadaj got a hit on him too, at long last. The darkness left his sword, the blades returning to their normal silver color. It didn't really matter to either; the remnant just wanted to test out that ability and see what would happen. It seemed like it gave the kid a better cut than just his normal sword, but he could just be seeing things. Either way, he did like putting darkness into his sword. Sooner or later, he would have to put even more of that darkness into it and see what would happen.

Right now, he had to focus on this guy that he was fighting. Of course, he had completely forgotten about his desire to destroy this world already, his impulsiveness getting the best of him. He'd probably remember later after this kid was dead, if he ever got that far. He was putting up a pretty good fight, their blades locked at the moment. Kadaj pushed back harder against it and then leaped back a few feat. He could care less about the other fighter at the moment and what she was doing; she wasn't interfering, so he didn't care. He looked to his right and saw a tree, which let him make his next move. He dashed to that tree, jumped onto the trunk, and rebounded toward the brunette with his blade extended in an offensive position.

"So, do I get to know who you are before this is all done?" he asked in his typical arrogant manner, "I'll even be so nice and give you mine. Name's Kadaj. Remember it well." He backed off again and then went forward from the right, then the left again. He could talk while he fought just fine, though he often didn't because he felt it was a waste of time. Still, it would be sort of interesting to know who this kid was he supposed.

[Shadow Blade has worn off; cannot be used for three posts]

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[Castle]

Unexpectedly, his attacker jumped onto the side of a tree and rebounded. Sora sidestepped and parried, noticing while he did so that the blade was no longer covered in darkness. That was good, but he still wouldn't want to be hit by it. Throughout this time, the guy, Kadaj, as it turned out, asked him who he was. Sora suddenly remembered Leon mentioning that name during the RGRC meeting. This was one of Maleficent's new henchmen!

Two more attacks came, one from the right and one from the left. He jumped away from one and blocked the other, but knew he would get nowhere fast with just blocking and dodging. He needed to take the offensive.

"The name's Sora!" he snapped, "Got it memorized?"

With that, he charged in, swinging the Keyblade vertically and prepared to follow it up with more strikes if the first one hit.

[Prythian]

"It should be obvious. You are a Princess of Heart." The Champion said, shaking his head. "You are required to break the seal your friend and the King so foolishly placed on the door to darkness. I would not have you recklessly tossing yourself into danger without being aware that should you fall, so do the worlds." He paused, glancing towards where Kadaj and Sora were fighting without being able to see them.

His eyes went back to Kairi's face. "In short, I'm here to convince you of the importance of the Door to Darkness being unsealed. I'm also here to ask you to get the others so this can be done sooner rather than later. One does live on this world, does she not?"

[Aerith]

Dissent

"The Door... to Darkness?" Kairi shook her head. "I can't open that. Sora and King Mickey closed it to keep the worlds safe. When it was open, everything was... wrong." It was hard for her to put it into words. But she didn't want to undo everything Sora and the king had worked toward before.

If she opened the Door, wouldn't all the pain, all the trouble, all the complications have been in vain?

She wished she could at least see Sora right now. Then, she might have felt braver than she was trying to be. "Besides, even if I agree to do this, which I'm not saying I am, I don't know if any of the others would. And all of us are required to open the Door."

[Fate]

You Have Just Made My Day

Sora was his name it seemed. Didn't Maleficent mention a Sora? Oh yeah, yes she did. She went on and about this kid named Sora who defeated her even in her most powerful state, the kid that she risked everything to protect against the Organization, almost fighting alongside him. She hated him of course, but she hated the Organization more. But still, this was the one that everyone knew about back home. This was the supposed legendary Keyblade Master that had defeated the Organization almost all by himself, saved all of the worlds and made them all light again...

Oh this kid was going to get it now. He was responsible for the lack of darkness. This instantly made Kadaj want to kill him. Forget about destroying this world right now; that could wait until way later. If he killed this kid, then that would help them a lot more. That would mean no one could run around saving these worlds again and no one could stand in their way. He would prove to Maleficent that they didn't need some Champion on their side to help destroy the worlds. He would have destroyed Sora. He would be the best there was.

He let the Keyblade hit him, which sent him backwards a bit. He stood at his full height, a feral grin plastered on his face right now. "Oh, I've got it memorized," he said, "Maleficent talked all about you. She couldn't defeat you though, could she?" This was a rhetorical question naturally. "But I can. And I will." He stopped talking now and jumped quickly at Sora with the Souba, attacking from below and then the right, then turning around and attacking from the left. He had to up his game now.

This was going to be fun.

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[Castle]

That confirmed it. Kadaj was definitely working for Maleficent, and it could be easily assumed that she sent him here to attack this world. She was back to causing trouble for everyone again. That figured. Her brief assistance of Sora and his friends a year ago was just that; brief.

The fight quickly resumed. The attacks came with more purpose, and he could guess why. Now that Kadaj knew who he was, he was probably aiming to destroy him on the spot. After all, what villain didn't want to get the Keyblade Master out of the way? Well, he would just have to get in line behind all the others. This was nothing new.

Sora sidestepped the strike from below, blocked the next, and twisted around to parry the other. He then went right in with a horizontal slash. If his opponent was going to step it up a notch, then so was he.

[Prythian]

"I didn't say open. I said unseal." The Champion corrected her. "At the time that it was open, yes, that was wrong, because it was letting out far too much darkness. However, making the door no longer exist was NOT the answer. It existed before that foolish Heartless attempted to open it. Now it no longer does. And the universe is sliding out of control."

He shook his head. "Imagine, if you will, a set of weights perfectly balanced on a fence. They tilt back and forth as people touch them, but never fall. These weights represent the universe, and the ends are the doors. When the Heartless attempted to open the Door to Darkness, it was as if someone was pushing down on one side. When Sora and the King sealed the door, it was as if someone cut off that side. The universe needs both doors to exist. Otherwise, when the weights fall off the fence..." The Champion's voice trailed off.

"I am also aware of the fact that the others, as well as yourself, may refuse. That is why I have come to you. I do not seek unnecessary destruction, death, and harm. I am requesting that you explain to the others what I have explained to you. If you all truly are good... then I hold no doubts as to what decision will be made."

"Oh..." He said, as if in an afterthought. "You're also friends with enough Keybearers, plus the one you have yourself, that removing the seal would be easy. It requires the Princesses to access the door, but the Keyblade need remove its own lock."

[Aerith]

Uncertainty

Kairi considered the Champion's words carefully. So, he wasn't asking them to actually open the Door again, just to make it come back. And this would apparently help restore the balance between light and darkness. Well, that was something she would be more likely to agree to. But if it came down to unleashing all that darkness upon the worlds again, she would refuse.

Something else the Champion said bothered her, or at least struck her as odd. She felt that needed to be addressed first. Radiant Garden had been her homeworld, even if it was little more than fuzzy childhood memories now. "Why did you attack Radiant Garden? That was unnecessary destruction and harm." Her face grew determined, and the fingers of her free hand curled into a loose fist. "I can't trust someone who brought more destruction on my first home." For all she knew, he was just telling her lies to get her to do something bad.

[Fate]

Take It Up a Notch

Just as he started to up his game some more, Sora did too. His first attack was side-stepped, second was blocked and his third parried. Now he was going in for a horizontal attack and Kadaj was not just going to let him get a free shot this time. He blocked the blow with the hilt of his sword, but that was all he was able to do. He held that position for a minute, making a "tch" noise before jumping backwards into a tree. He landed himself on a thick branch and looked down at Sora. That kid would have a tough time following him up here, so perhaps he could use that to his advantage.

He dug his heels into the branch and jumped quickly to the next tree, rebounding off of that one to come down at Sora from above. Once his feet were firmly on the ground, he went from the right and turned around to go from the left again. He was going to have to keep up this fighting mixed with speed for longer than he thought he would. Initially, he didn't think that Sora would be that much of an issue and he could take him out easily. Obviously, there was a reason that Maleficent couldn't defeat him and this is why.

But he wasn't Maleficent. He was faster, stronger, and just overall better. He would have to wait to infuse his sword with darkness just a little bit longer, but once he did, Sora was going to get it. He couldn't avoid, block and parry forever. Part of him did wonder where his sidekick wandered off to. She was letting her boyfriend over here fight Kadaj alone, which wasn't wise. Though, he wasn't about to go find out either.

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[Castle]

Sora was about to leap after Kadaj when he took to the tree, but before he could do that his opponent jumped to another and rebounded from it in a strike from above. The move was unexpected and fast, and though he twisted out of the way and parried, he felt a few hairs get cut from his brunette spikes. More attacks quickly followed. He had to react fast, doing a quick block for the first and jumping away from the second.

The jump took him backward. Just as his feet landed on solid ground, he changed his momentum and jumped forward, going for length rather than height. He swung the Keyblade horizontally again, and when his stance landed, he followed it up with a vertical strike.

It occurred to him that he now had no idea where Kairi was. Was she still outside the forest, or was she somewhere nearby? Were the Heartless still attacking her? He suddenly wanted this fight to end quickly so he could find her. Until then, he would continue to have faith in her. That was all he could do in this situation.

[Prythian]

"I came into this conversation well aware you might take that stance." The Champion acknowledged. "You will notice, however, that on that world I visited no loss of life. I have weakened the light there and strengthened the darkness. Revisit the image of the weights. I am altering the amount they tip as I can."

He paused, and shook his head, worry written all over his face. "Without reducing the light by a lot more, I cannot forever forestall the fate this universe is headed for. And you should be aware that if I am forced to it, I will take those measures. Your friend Sora is one such target should that need arise." His red eyes bored into hers. "I do not play people false."

"...However, you can believe that or not. You can also believe, or not, that I have no choice in what I do, for that is also true. I am merely here to give you facts." There was traces of regret in his face, yet that was overshadowed by what was in his eyes. Pure determination blazed there. He gave the impression of an unstoppable force and an immovable wall all at once.

[Aerith]

Agreement

Kairi paused to think about this. Seeing as she didn't know too much about what was happening outside of Destiny Islands, this was news to her. When she had heard that Radiant Garden had been attacked by this Champion, she had automatically assumed there had been killing involved. If no killing, then what? He had strengthened the darkness by destroying a few buildings? There must have been something else going on.

Was that worry on the Champion's face? Was he not as much of an unfeeling monster as Zexion had implied he might be?

Taking other measures was not a pleasant alternative to her. "Sora? You'd hurt Sora?" Fear for her friend's life crept into her eyes. But if she could prevent that from happening, she would do everything in power.

Her gaze dropped from the Champion's for a moment while she thought, but then she soon looked up at him again. "Okay. I'll try to convince the others."