Of course it was natural that Chrono was not so convinced about the fact that she wanted to go back. After all she shared more about the bad times than the good, and perhaps she had not made her plan clear enough. "Chrono, you all die in that time... I died in that time, but when I was a lot younger it seemed. I do not wish to return to the time where I left from. If I can, I am going to return to the time I was training with Master Stamatis, when he attempted to send me home. Then I can inform them of what Torrin will become and maybe we can stop it before it becomes too bad. If not that, then at least I could be there in the initial fight and help stop all this from happening. A gave his life so I could live in that world, and I left when it got hard. I made him a promise when I left, his sacrifice wouldn't be for nothing, I would return and fix things, because right now I am the only one who knows how bad it will get there. How can I leave them, all of you to that fate?" Tinarah tried to explain herself as she took Chrono's hand and got up, supporting herself on him for the walk back towards the mansion. Arriving back, Thallasa mentioned moving on the following day, as well as having aditional healing to offer. At this point Tinarah wouldn't say no to the healing and since the offer wasn't coming from Boreas, perhaps she was brave enough to speak up. That being said she was quickly distracted when she saw Take off to the side, staring a statue, one of the only things that was still standing in one piece it seemed. It was odd, and more than that, having just been a situation of feeling lonely, not wanting anyone else to feel that, Tinarah pushed off her brother. "I am going to talk to Take." She limped over to the boy, forgetting about the extra healing that was being offered that she needed, and forgetting about the issue of not wanting to move to another world yet, not when this one was in such bad shape. "Are you okay?" She asked as she approached Take, her left arm crossed over holding her ribs on the right side. She was favouring her right side but tried to ignore it for the time being. "I didn't really see you all battle, what happened with you? What is so interesting about the statue?" Tinarah tried to ask him, not really sure how to adress this. She didn't know what was wrong, or if something even was wrong. Perhaps he just was tired and zoning out. Perhaps he liked art and the statue was just interesting, but she found it wasn't too often that Take was completely alone, he usually was at least around trying to help someone, and he helped her before, she thought it was time to return the favour.
Master. Like he needed to rub that in her face more. There was many good moments with Beuce, he had saved her life and lost his arm in the process, which now was replaced by a glass on, but apparently he was still a bit of a dick. She didn't want to even turn around and face, but with a hand on her shoulder, he turned her and she was left facing him and Ignis who came up with her keychains in hand, shoving them into her hand. Karina held them tentatively as she looked at the other girl who started speaking to her about not throwing them away so easily. She didn't want to throw them away but she though... she would never let go if she kept holding onto them, and if she wasn't wanted she didn't want to hold on to the pain either. Still she wasn't ready to give them up yet. Karina offered Ignis a nod of thanks as she didn't actually trust her voice at this moment. As Ignis backed off, Beuce faced her again, his next words hit her far harder than she had thought they would. Prove herself? He held his keyblade to her, then the words came. "In your hand, take this key." Karina reached out and took his keyblade in her hand, she had already broken enough at this point, there was no point holding back the tears that were starting to line her eyes. She stared at Beuce as suddenly someone else stepped forward offering her the hilt of their keyblade as well, speaking before she had the chance to take it. "So long as you have the makings... Then through this simple act of taking...." Kaida, she also thought to take part in this, though she almost looked horrified a moment ago when Karina tried to attack Aux. She wasn't quite sure what to make of all this but she smiled at the girl as the next person approached. Kel. He was probably one of the closest things to a friend she had during her time in SoS, between him and Stratos it always made her feel a little better, and he had always challenged her to be better, and get stronger. A friend and rival and now he had also stepped forward to offer the power that she needed when she so desperately needed it. "Its wielder you shall one day be." "And you will find me, friend—." The tears were warm against her face as Stratos walked up. She didn't know what it was about the word friend that finally broke that line of tears that were building. But as she still held Beuce's keyblade she felt an overwhelming feeling that she never felt before and she honestly just wanted to hug the boy at this point, but it wasn't done yet, not as another voice rung out. "No ocean will contain you then..." While her and Luna might not have had the most solid of pasts, and while they might have tried to murder each other at least once each, here they stood, face to face and Karina found there was no anger in her heart towards the girl. Whatever she had been harbouring before that caused her to block the girl out, it was gone and she saw her in almost a new light. The smile she wore, she was almost glowing and the crown... well Karina had not been the only one who had been growing during this time. "No more borders around, or below, or above..." Steel, her past with him was even rockier than her one with Luna. She had not talked to Steel much until she landed in the realm of darkness, and she could still remember the disaster that was. The way that he acted towards her, and she towards him, it was almost strange that he would step up now, but looking in his eyes she didn't see any sort of twisted intent. He wasn't doing this for his own amusement, it was sincere despite everything that they had been through. If even he could forgive her... perhaps it was time to learn to forgive herself. Lastly the first person she met when she came to SoS, one of the first friendly faces after weeks of running approached, but instead of offering her a keyblade like the rest, he held something else in his hand. "So long as you champion the ones you love..." Opening his fist sat a ring as he explained why he had them all made and that he had one made for her as well. Karina let go of Beuce's Keyblade, taking the ring in her hand and slipping it on her finger. "Thank you." Her voice was breaking and barely audible as she looked at everyone and then turned back to Beuce. "Thank you... for stopping me. I don't think I could have ever forgiven myself if I had walked away." She admitted tears streaming down her face. She hated crying around people but she couldn't help it, not when she had a feeling that she never felt before, love and acceptance. With her damaged shattered heart, it was like this was filling some of those cracks. It would be a long time until it was okay, but it was a start. She looked to Ananta silently, not approaching her though. Perhaps it took breaking the stone to ever really change. She had tried when she left, but only by hardening her heart more. When it was completely broken, only then could it be rebuilt. She didn't know what impulse it was, where it came from, but in her teary eyed state she took a step towards Beuce and hugged him. "Thank you... and I am sorry again. I am sorry I caused you to lose an arm, I am sorry I am such a mess and have distracted from the real problems." She knew that they had been trying to deal with another issue when this all started, and she felt a bit bad about it, but she was grateful that they would all just step away from it for her, even if she didn't believe herself to be worth it, they did. That meant everything to her. Stepping back she looked at the group and tried to show them that their efforts were not for nothing as she closed her eyes and summoned Daunting Renewal, for all to see.
As she gnashed out at Ananta, Beuce held firm and Steel tried to tell her to calm down, well more both of them to stop. There was a sense of relief that this wasn't just being pinned all on her, they recognized that Ananta was just as much at fault, but the more Ananta spoke, the more the weight of her words hit Karina. Karina looked up to the still smiling corpse of Hughes, his words still eating at her. The words from the two of them weighted on Karina's chest with a force similar to the force needed to break stone. The only reason that she knew that was because she felt her own heart breaking as Ananta posted to everyone and said that they could never have a relationship. From what she could gather from that it was referring to her and everyone else, she would never fit in, never be accepted. No where, ever. As Karina's heart started to break, she stopped trying to fight and just stopped doing everything. From her side she grabbed a small pouch and threw it at the feet of those around her. Beuce was trying to sooth her with words, assure her that what Ananta was saying was not going for everyone, but she wasn't sure that she was convinced. From the pouch came out a ring holding keychains. They were ordered in the order that she had gotten them, all of them well polished and taken care of compared to everything else on her being. She had not been taken care of herself to her fullest and yet these were perfectly cleaned and cared for, something that she held onto it seemed. "Well I have nothing else left, you guys may as well have those as well." She said in a rather grim, broken tone. "I will take my 'boyfriend' and leave then if that is what you really want. What do I know about the situation anyways, it wasn't like I was there every time he showed up." Karina grumbled, but at this point it wasn't what was bothering her and that was pretty clear as she couldn't even look anyone in the eyes anymore, but still lingered near Beuce. She hadn't realized that she was crying until a tear hit the ground at her feet. Apparently she couldn't even hold on to her dignity. "Thanks for trying Beuce, but clearly I am too much of a lost cause to even try to be here. It seems you guys didn't need our help after all, I will leave before I cause more problems." More than anything she wanted a reason not to go, but she felt like she wasn't wanted here and all her efforts, all her running from herself, then facing her past when Hughes appeared, it was for nothing. "By the way Kaida, that dick wiped blood on your back. Vinegar might help if you clean it soon." It was the last bit of help she could really bother to offer at this point before turning away from the group, reaching for the pouch she just threw them, and instead feeling the empty space at her side, creating a bigger void in Karina.
Things were a little chaotic around her and there wasn't much that Tinarah wanted to say. She didn't know how she could have been of help in any of this, it was better that she just didn't involve herself. While she was trying to avoid everything though her brother came and sat next to her. Always the comforter it seemed. "I'm..." Tinarah had to think for a moment, not just on how she was doing, but what she wanted to tell her brother. She didn't really want to worry him more after all. "I am not well... I am confused and lonely and... I wish I was back." She sounded almost desperate. "I am sorry Chrono. It's just... it is not the same. They were my family and if I could even talk to Stamatis... or Uncle Fost just sort things out here it could be okay, but I can't and it isn't. Every time I try to do something it isn't enough. Every time I try and make friends again I can't, and my head hurts and everything hurts and I thought I was stronger, I thought my extra training had given me an edge, but it hasn't. I still can't keep up with any of you and..." Tinarah sighed. "I thought things were bad when I was terrified to leave my room, but now I can go out but everything I seem to do brings back memories, good, bad, but mostly bad." She admitted. So much for not wanting to worry Chrono, she supposed she just needed to talk, couldn't hold it in any longer. Torrin had commented he was going to deal with the town himself and they needed to go and rest, but Tinarah didn't think anyone staying around alone was a good idea. Torrin might have been strong but if something went wrong, someone should be there. Chrono showed interest in helping too, but Tinarah wasn't sure if that was a good idea. "I don't think we all need to stay, but..." She looked at Torrin. "Despite it all, I want to finish at least one thing I started." She stated as everyone started to get up to go. Tinarah looked over at her brother looking a little embarrassed. "Do you think you could help me up?"
Everything around her froze, she was stuck in time and there was nothing that she could do about it. Karina could still see Aux and was still seething in anger ready to punch him again. She was more than a little annoyed about all this and while she might not have known about what was currently going on, she knew that Aux was bad. She had watched him step in her way many times, cause a lot of pain and a lot of hurt. He was the reason she didn't have a keyblade anymore. He was indirectly the cause of where she was now. As she thought about it more and got more angry, suddenly the world started to move around her again, but she still couldn't fully move, as the voice of a familiar, cocky silver haired man rang in her ears. While she didn't hate him as much as she used to, he was still in his way of getting what she wanted. "If you want my opinion, he has made a mess of everything and deserves everything that is coming to him!" Karina growled as she stared Aux down as he actually said it was okay for her to punch him. She was certainly going to take him up on that offer. Karina pulled against Beuce hard in order to get those punches in, but stopped as Ananta started to speak. Looking towards where Ananta was addressing Arctus she grit her teeth. "He isn't my boyfriend." She wasn't sure what they were and that wasn't really the issue here, Karina was just mad. Get over herself is that what needed to happen? Really? Did she not remember all that Aux had put them through? Karina pulled at Beuce again, this time in the direction of Ananta. "Do you even remember why I didn't accept your apology? Did you listen to a word I said then? You claim I come in here without listening when I was busy dealing with other issues and you couldn't take the time to understand what I was saying straight to your face! I don't care for your apology! I have moved on! So should you! What I can't move on from is how much pain he has caused. How many times he stopped us from doing what we were supposed to do! I don't care what you think of me, if they want to talk, then they can, but I won't listen to another word out of your face. Even try and I guarantee you won't be able to talk for a week!" Karina yelled at Ananta. She thought that she had gotten her anger under control a bit by this point, but as she was quickly finding out, just how far gone she really still was. While her strength was strong, Beuce was still strong enough to hold Karina back, at least while she was in a blind rage. Perhaps if she was concentrating her force instead of just thrashing wildly at Beuce then she could have a chance, but instead she was just angry. Before Ananta spoke up she was possibly willing to listen, but the more Ananta spoke the more angry Karina got, and the more she hated herself. Her nails were digging into her palms, her fists shaking. At this moment, Karina didn't know who she hated more, but there had to be a pretty damn good reason coming for Karina not to murder Aux.
"Nothing. I just. I hate that guy. He knew what buttons to push and how to push them. The funny thing is, it was the smallest, most insignificant thing he said and did that got to me the most, and I hate myself for it." Was it worth even telling Arctus about it? She didn't tend to talk about her problems with anyone, why change now? "How can someone smile in death? Whatever sick pride he took in taunting me, it worked." She didn't know why she was still speaking but at the very least she wasn't going to admit that she felt that she didn't even know how to smile herself. That was a secret that stayed with her. As she spoke with Arctus however she started overhearing conversation, mostly a certain name. "Wait a moment! That is Aux?! I am going to murder him!" Her knuckles were white at her side, not even listening to anything anyone else had to say as she walked straight up to the red haired boy. "So you finally decided to stop hiding behind that damned mask and mocking laugh. Unfortunately for you the strongest haven't lost hope. Whatever you think you might have broken in me that day, I have been through thousand times worse. I will not let you have whatever satisfaction you think you will get out of this." Her fist connected with his face. The last time she saw him, he had thrown her in the realm of darkness, but she had only grown since then. Weapon or not she would not let him walk away this time.
"Gah!" Cerdic cried out as he felt the dark energy of Ria trying to zap at him, like it was sucking the life from him for a brief moment before Alder stepped in to slash at it and free him. Taking a few steps back, Cerdic rubbed his wrist where it had grabbed him. "I am fine. We just need that machine to hurry up." Cerdic grabbed his keyblade with both hands. He hated the idea of being indebted to Alder for saving him, but what could he do? "Thanks, I guess I owe ya!" Cerdic called to Alder before he turned back to Ria. He was pissed now and just wanted her gone. Stepping forward Cerdic took several swings at the mass of darkness that was forming. No more defense, he would push Ria out of this cave if that was what it took to buy the time for the machine to finish booting up fully.
In all honestly, seeing Aria get some patching up, Tinarah thought that it would be nice, but looking at who was offering it. After what just happened with Boreas, how insane he went on Chrys and after she left, after she walked away from the battle and showed no interest in harming them, he scared her more than most. She didn't want to even talk to him, much less have him that near to her. After the quick word from Aria, she turned her attention to others, and getting patched up and Tinarah lowered her eyes again. There was still a crippling feeling of loneliness as everyone was taking care of each other. There was always someone more important, there was always someone more hurt, someone more interesting than her. Wincing she tried to move her knees to her chest. Everything was hurting and it was a struggle to even sit up like that. Her stomach growled and hurt, a pain that was from more than the injuries she sustained. A pounding in her head, just below an old scar only brought bad memories. She tried to ignore the pain, the memories, but with so much around her and nothing she could do it was all she could think about. Touching the hourglass necklace that she wore all she could think of was how she wanted to go back. Trying to make friends was harder than she thought it would be, and while she was lonely with Stamatis and Fost, she was never this lonely with this many people around. She supposed that she wasn't as good as any of them. After five years of training she was pretty much on par with how strong all these people were and they had only been training for a few days, even then she wouldn't call herself on par. She had fallen unconscious once, and even now she was bordering on it again. She was not the strongest, she was not the tankiest, she was okay at healing, but looking around that was not enough to have actually made a difference, two people had died after all. Sure one of them was their enemy, but she didn't wish for anyone to have died. She was unable to protect anyone, people were still hurt and unconscious, they were still all in horrible shape, she as much as anyone else. She didn't want to see anyone else die, but she was quickly learning that she couldn't keep everyone safe and up, not without sacrificing herself to the point of not being able to even stand. As soon as this realm was safe. When she could leave and know that her friends were safe... even if they didn't feel like friends at the time, then she would. She would fulfill her promise to A. She just needed to last a little longer. Torrin spoke about them needing to rest up and then move on, but that didn't seem right, not when she looked at the shape of this world. They had saved it from falling to darkness, yes, but given the condition it was left in, she wouldn't call them safe. At least Take agreed with what she was thinking without her even having to say anything. "I agree...." She started quietly, though she didn't think her opinion even mattered at this point. She wasn't sure if she wanted to speak up even, but it was too late now. "I don't feel right leaving them now." She didn't feel like going into details, she was sure they wouldn't care, Take essentially already said it all anyways. Tinarah hated this feeling of being alone and she knew that she should try harder but the people she wanted to talk to were all so popular, there was always someone better that needed their attention, leaving her behind. She wondered if she could even get herself all the way to Mode's house, but she was going to have to find a way. She couldn't be weak and relying on others forever, it would be no way to find herself a place in this group. If she kept relying on them, she may as well wait at the council's castle. At least there she could sort out what to think about Stamatis and what was going on with that. Speaking of Stamatis, Fost had promised that they would be in touch. He seemed less willing to figure things out than Stamatis, but that said she only knew that Stamatis wanted to make an effort because Gero told her. But she still wanted to hear from Uncle Fost again. She wanted to get to know this version of him. Perhaps it was a pathetic attempt to get her old life back, but she still wanted to try. She couldn't help but wonder how long she should wait for him to call her, or when it was okay to call him again. She had some questions to ask now that she saw these notes. She wanted to know if they truly were about A and what happened with him in this time line. But she also just... she wanted a close relationship again, she wanted to laugh and smile, and it seemed... easier... than trying to insert herself into a place she felt she didn't really belong.
With so much going on around her, Tinarah wasn't quite sure what was going on anymore. Her mind was still thinking over the notes that she had read, meanwhile Qamar was trying to explain why an apology was not needed, and Glyde approached worried about Illiana. While all this was happening, Torrin, Take, Aria, and Master Thalassa returned. Since Qamar went to talk with them, it made it a little more simple to know what she should be dealing with. Looking towards Glyde she followed his gaze to Illiana. "I... I don't think there is much to be done now. I am out of magic, Chrono healed her, Qamar patched her up. I don't know about you, but I don't think I can even stand right now, much less carry someone else." Everything hurt for Tinarah, she had sustained far too much damage at this point. "I don't think we are going too far right now, so it should be fine." Tinarah tried to inform him, turning to see her friends approaching. They didn't seem too much better off than she was. She gave them all a small wave and smile, happy to see that they were all safe, but knowing that now, she felt the need to relax more. Laying back down, Tinarah closed her eyes trying to fight back the pounding head ache, and aching ribs. Having someone thrown on you on top of the scratches and scrapes didn't help much with the pain. There was a hope that someone had some magic left, but looking around, she wouldn't be the first to get the healing, not when there were so many more important people were around. All she could think was "thank god they were alright." Perhaps she needed to say something. Still not feeling up to getting up, Tinarah forced her eyes open and glance back at the group returning, particularily focusing on Aria and Take. "I am glad you made it back, with that blast... I was scared.... I don't want to lose either of you again." She looked to Aria and Take, two people she knew had died in the battle against the man who now stood beside them, someone who had likely protected them. She should thank him, but she still didn't know how. She still couldn't bring herself to thank him, so instead she focused on her friends. Maybe one day she would get better, but not yet.
As Karina walked away, Hughes continued to use his dying breath to taunt her more. The worst thing was that it was working. She hated him for the stupid smile on his face after she struggled to smile herself. She smiled a couple times with Arctus but even that seemed so foreign to her. The fact that he could be dying and still be smiling. No she wouldn't let him see how much it bothered her. She wouldn't turn back to show him her face, give him that last satisfaction before he died. He could suffer and expend all his breath, she wouldn't stop him. She had come to accept that she couldn't do things alone. She didn't care about that anymore, she glanced around at the people that she lead into this battle. None of her old friends or those who followed her here couldn't have done it alone, but since they were all together, they all survived, Hughes couldn't say the same. He went up against them and died, he couldn't do it alone either. Even her father... he had a full army behind him, it was never done alone. The last words that Hughes said stopped Karina though. She couldn't help but stand there a little unsure of what to think of it. She scanned the group, trying to figure out who. Judging by the boy that she had not seen before being held, she couldn't help but think they might have already figured that out. They must have found him after she had left. It was now their issue to deal with she supposed, though she lingered not too far away. That being said without a weapon she could only do so much. Her fists clenched at her side and Karina was trying her best to pretend that his words were not getting to her, but was failing. She was nearly at breaking point and she didn't wish to hit it while standing around all these people. "I agree with Ignis. Aux has been helpful this entire time, there is no reason to start questioning it now. Sure he lost his memories before but he would have attacked or left when he got them back rather than still help up. Perhaps we are jumping to conclusions too fast." That being said, Aislinn didn't want to believe that anyone here would betray them. If there was indeed a traitor in their midst, they had been really missing something, unless it was indeed Aux, but... well that would be too obvious. He was barely trusted in the first place. If they really wanted information, and good information the traitor would be someone that they trusted more.
Around her was still chaos. Chrys had approached but Boreas still seemed ready to attack. Before he could there was a flash of light that had caused Tinarah to shield her eyes, then Chrys and Koa were gone. Tinarah couldn't help but stare at the place that the boy had been. "You know he was the one that took me to him." She whispered now that the conflict was done. She didn't know what to think about it all really at this point. She couldn't understand any of this. That being said she was becoming ever more sure that whatever the Light Chaser and his students were up to, it was not going to end up well, judging by Dentro. As she laid on the ground she saw something out of the corner of her eye land by her. Pushing herself to a seated position she picked up what seemed to be a scrap of paper. Reading it over it didn't make much sense, but it also didn't seem complete. "Hey... no one happened to have found more of these?" Tinarah asked holding up the paper. Luckily enough for her Chrono had, and handed over what he had. Not everything was complete, but it did give a little more context to what she had. Reading it over, Tinarah gasped as she looked up to the others. "These papers... the notes. I think... I recognize the story, I was there." She told them, it sounded odd to say but she was reading them over again. "This sounds... this sounds like exactly what happened after A saved me. His father... then his mother died protecting us, but the chasm spoken of here. He... he fell in and I made it across where I met Uncle Fost." Reading through the next page there was a mention of a Keyblade Master named Fost. "Is this... is this what happened to the real A?" Tinarah pondered out loud. It could be a coincidence, but it seemed too similar. "Chrono, do you mind if I hold on to these?"
Aeira did as Karina asked her to and started to find a way to get Shiro out. Shiro had his own plans though, as he started to pound on the barrier. With interest, Karina watched what he was doing, listening to the conversation. It was quite the interesting thing that was happening in there and without power to do anything against it, all she could do was watch. Finally wind started to expand and burst open, after a lengthy yelling. The barrier burst and Shiro collapsed as Hughes went flying. She didn't need Aeira's permission to head towards them. Ignoring the hurt man that she had been trying to protect, Karina walked over to Arctus. "I am just borrowing this for a moment considering you have failed your mission I had given you." Karina then slipped the sword from Arctus's hand. Stalking over, Karina had a feeling that he was already dead, but Karina needed to just make sure. Taking the sword she stabbed it through the heart of Hughes. "I am done with you. And this." She took her whip blade out and threw it on the lap of Hughes, before turning around and walking away from him, not looking back at the man as she moved back to Arctus handing him back his sword quietly, in a grim manner. Her mind was rather muddled with things of the past. She didn't feel better after killing Hughes, but she felt like she could move on at least, she at least hoped so. And it looked like she was going to be down to punching things for a while, she wasn't taking back that damn whip again. She couldn't, no she wasn't going to hold anything that reminded her of those times, it was stupid for her to have taken it in the first part. With one last set of attacks the giant Darkside finally fell, just in time to hear some loud noise and turn around to see the man who was summoning the heartless on the ground, the girl who brought the extra help standing over him. Meanwhile the loud man was on the ground being tended to by a small girl. This was a little confusing to her, but Aislinn slowly approached and gathered with the others. She was smiling, but a little worried about what was going on now. There was no point in her getting involved at this point, but she could at least watch and be ready if she was indeed needed.
Tinarah will take Esuna and Relfectra
As she spoke, Tinarah could tell that her words weren't getting to either of them. Before things could get much worse the ground shook and Tinarah lost her footing, falling to the ground as she saw another fissure open up near Dentro. Of course something like this would only prove to provoke the boys rage as he went on to make a threat on Qamar's life, followed by her own. It would be so easy to take it right now, she was aware of that fact. There was little strength to fight back at this moment, or even defend herself really. It was game over for her if he had gone for her first, though he seemed content on killing Qamar. Closing her eyes and looking away, Tinarah couldn't bare to watch it anymore. She had done all that she could to keep the girl up and going, but she seemed to not be able to withstand a lot of damage, and Tinarah feared how much more of this she could take. He spoke about destroying everyone with darkness in their hearts as his own darkness filled him. She could only think of someone else who tried similar but the other way around "perhaps by removing your light I can remove that weakness." It had not proven for a very pleasant world. Tinarah knew well enough that having a balance of both was probably the most stable option. That being said Aria was fine and she was all light, but at the same time she seemed to be a target. And if there was only seven people with this true light, then the boy would have to kill everyone but the seven, something that wasn't really possible. Before it could get much worse though the ground shook again, and Tinarah looked up just in time to see Dentro slipping back into the fissure. "A no!" She called out not thinking then realizing what she said. Tears started anew as she no longer saw the man. He might have been threatening to kill her, but this wasn't what Tinarah wanted, she didn't want anyone to die. She just wanted the needless violence to stop. Not even feeling safe to get back to her feet, Tinarah remained on the ground, curled slightly clutching at her stomach. Soon after there was a voice, then Qamar was picking her up. Tinarah wrapped her arms around the girl and held on tight for support as she started to bring her away from the place were she just witnessed the second death in a few minutes. When they stopped for a moment by Boreas, Tinarah looked away. She still wasn't fond of the man and the way he was yelling commands at her earlier still had her a little shaken. She was scared if she spoke to him again he would only yell again. But quickly they moved and and Qamar set Tinarah down by Illiana. "Thank you." She said quietly to the girl before looking up. "And... Sorry. For the way I acted before. I was just.. hurt. I felt like you were trying to get in the way of the conversation I was having with Take and take all the credit. I.... I just get hurt too easily, so don't mind me." Tinarah tried her best to apologize as Qamar tried to bandage up Illiana. If there was only something she could do to help, but there was little left that she had the energy for. Closing her eyes and just trying to relax a little bit, Tinarah realized she had not seen Aria and Take since Torrin took off with them. They had been the two she had become the closest with since returning and she began to worry. Forcing her eyes open again, she looked at her brother, trying to sit up a bit from where she was laying down. "Aria...and Take, where are they?" She didn't care as much for Torrin, though she supposed she should be asking that as well. It was hard still, considering him as an ally and not an enemy. Perhaps it was unfair to him, but it was something she couldn't just change, even if she wanted to. It would at least take time. "Are they alright?" She could only hope that they were safe and on their way back, but time would tell she supposed, she could barely walk enough at this point to go looking herself.
The attacks from the heartless never let up and left Tinarah on her knees, trying to defend herself instead of continuing the fight. There was no way that she could keep fighting like this, but she had no choice, she had to keep it up, keep protecting the people of this town. The ground shook and out of the corner of her eye Tinarah could see something happening in the distance, she couldn't tell exactly what became of it though as she brought her keyblade up to protect herself again. There was only so much longer she could do this before her body would give out entirely. Luckily it stopped though, Tinarah didn't know how but suddenly the heartless were gone, though the two orbs in the sky glowed brighter as her hearing returned but so did a lot more noise. instinctual she covered her ears trying to drown it out. Her head pounded her ears rung, but she could see Dentro not so far away still trying to hurt Qamar after he had killed Adalric. In pain and weak, Tinarah still forced herself to her feet, staggering a bit in their direction now that she could be heard. "Stop it! Both of you please." It was pathetic she knew, but there was no need for this. "You guys say that you are good and just trying to help the worlds? How is killing one of few trying to protect this world helping your case. She says you aren't bad people, but if that was true you should have been helping kill the heartless. If you don't want us to fight you, if you want to do what you believe is right, stop trying to kill the innocent, stop putting petty arguments over the lives of people. This mess could have been dealt with sooner if we all worked together but you refuse and call us the bad ones. It doesn't make sense." Tinarah looked over in the direction of Chrys. "I want to believe you can be good people and are just misguided but this doesn't help." Tinarah found her knees shaking and threatening to collapse under her. She put her keyblade in the ground and leaned on it, her body shaky and weak, her stomach growling, having not been ready for that exertion of energy it took to fight this battle and desperate for something anything. She felt that her body was panicking scared to go back into the state it was recently, but still she forced herself to stand. "And if you want Aria, you won't have her. I won't let you take her, none of us will, so stop wasting your time and leave." She at least tried to reason but it likely wouldn't work, at least not with Dentro, Tinarah only prayed that Chrys was listening and more reasonable.
Well another week over and another challenge ready to be viewed. Before we do that however lets look at the standings after challenge 2. In Fifth place we have @Rat Tied in Third place we have @GarrettFinch and @LadyAzura In Second place we have @Day~Dream And in First place sitting at the top for now is @Mixt Don't lose hope yet though contestants, there are still three more contests that need to be judged, your scores can still change yet. Speaking of more contests, lets get to the next one: Contestant 1: Spoiler Contestant 2: Spoiler Contestant 3: Spoiler As for the other contestants, they didn't get their art in for this round, so will not be considered in this round of judging. One more round to go before we get to see who the final winner is!
"There is no waiting to see who wins. Hughes is going to destroy himself and Shiro with him. Save Shiro damn it! Just do whatever you can! Try! That barrier was going to collapse on them and we can't stop that from happening, Hughes can crush himself to death for all I care, but we have to do something!" Karina turned and yelled at Aeira. She wasn't willing to just watch Shiro die right now. She had to do something. She had to do something useful, since she felt like she hadn't been. Hopefully Arctus was at least doing as he was asked, she would hate to deal with a crying child.
Cocky b*stard. Just because she wasn't able to get the jump on him in the middle of this battle, but he didn't need to talk down to her. Parrying her attack, he managed to kick her in the gut, pushing her back. She was barely able to get back up from that before Adalric came flying at her knocking the wind out of her once more and leaving her hurting. Tinarah tried to push him off a bit getting him away from her, but she collapsed back to the ground as she watched Adalric sprint off. In the distance Dentro was looming over Qamar, and she wasn't looking like she was doing too great. There was nothing she could do to stop Dentro, protect Qamar, or stop Adalric from what he did next. As Dentro went to strike Qamar down, suddenly Adalric was in the way. While she didn't really know the man, it still hurt. She was the one who looked to Qamar to help save Adalric, and now Adalric died to save her. It was stupid, she should have never brought Qamar along. She should have saved her magic and just provided support from afar. As tears came to her eyes, Tinarah near ready to give up on the fight, given how much pain she was in and how she failed, however before she could completely give up, Chrono was there. Taking her brothers hand some warmth of healing washed over her getting her standing at least slightly. She looked at her brother, and she looked ready to cry, but she shook it off. Knowing she had to be more careful, she glanced back at Dentro fighting Qamar, but then looked away towards the heartless. She needed to deal with them and defend herself in whatever way that she could. Nodding to Chrono, Tinarah stepped towards the heartless, doing whatever she could to start killing them, though her movements were sluggish and sore, she did the best she could but even that was not as much as usual. HP: 16/75 AP: 16/52 MP: 4/30 Heartless defeated: 3 Darkballs Heartless Remaining: 70 Darkballs (12AP) 57 Neoshadows (16AP) 28 Yellow Operas (4AP) 15 Red Nocturnes (4AP) 27 Blue Rhapsodies (4AP)
The world was fuzzy and there was a pounding in her head. She couldn't seem to fully come to, until she heard a quiet voice, but as the face came into focus it was panicked. What exactly had happened? Was it safe now? Looking over the girls shoulder, Tinarah discovered that it wasn't safe yet, heartless still swarmed. She couldn't just sit here and do nothing, despite the blurred vision and slight dizziness, that came with just coming too again. Pushing herself to her feet, Tinarah didn't remain down for long, not when there was so much to do still. From this perspective, she could see the fight going on with Adalric, it still wasn't going well. Not able to provide any more support healing, Tinarah started to sort of stagger over towards him. Her steps slow at first, but she knew that she had to help. Fight her way through the heartless on her way there. She didn't want to see anyone else die, even someone that she barely knew. This was wrong, this was so wrong. Heartless blocked her path, but even in her current state, Tinarah pushed through in order to get to helping him. She glanced back at Qamar, while there was no use talking, the way she looked between the fight and Qamar, she hoped was a good sign that she would need the help stopping this. There was no way that she could prevent this all on her own, but she couldn't turn her back on it either. If Qamar insisted on following her, then she would lead the girl into saving the one person who was more likely to be her friend. The one person that Qamar should actually care about here. Soon there was enough of a path cleared that Tinarah found herself standing in front of the battle, looking at Dentro. She readied her keyblade to fight. Boreas told her before to not bother with these battles since her job was the heartless, but she couldn't just let this go on, and she was still dealing with the heartless as she went. If she was lucky she would catch Dentro by surprise as she launched herself at him, trying to catch him behind with a swift set of movement. She might have not had magic left, but at least she was taught how to fight without it. HP: 15/75 AP: 0/52 MP: 3/30 DP: 0/3 Enemies Defeated: 4 Darkball 1 Blue Rhapsodies Heartless Remaining: 10 Shadows (2AP) 90 Darkballs (12AP) 59 Neoshadows (16AP) 44 Yellow Operas (4AP) 44 Red Nocturnes (4AP) 43 Blue Rhapsodies (4AP)
Perhaps curing Qamar and Adalric was a mistake, she should have worried more about herself. She had thought that she was doing fine but as the heartless started jumping on her again, it got overwhelming. She was not able to defend against the heartless forever though. Soon enough she found with her magic running out and her physical strength still on the weak side due to all that had happened in the mirror realm, she was unable to hold her own. The heartless jumped on her knocking her back. She managed to deflect the next attack, but bloodied and beaten, there was no getting back up from it. Before she could get up from that attack a Neoshadow launched itself at her and slashing at at her several times over. The last thing Tinarah remembered was covering her face, trying to protect herself, then the pain before the world went black for her. Hopefully the support that she provided others would get them out of here, she was wrong to refuse the destruction of this world. It wasn't up to her. Who was she to decide the fate of the worlds? She was nobody who never accomplished anything but hiding, running away, and being used. She was wrong to think that now she could be anything else.
