Sakura's POV:

As the calm dream I've been having for awhile now fades out of my consciousness, I frown and roll over, not really ready to wake up yet. Yeah, okay, I know; there's a Galaxy on the line out there that needs saving, but I really don't wanna have to get up. These clouds are soft, and I haven't slept this well in days, and I'm so cozy and warm here...

"Hey, Meta-Not. She's moving now. Can we just wake her up already? The rest of us have been up for hours!" I make a face at Magolor's irritated voice, but am careful to keep it hidden under the blanket I'm curled up in. Have I really been sleeping for hours longer than the guys? Great, just what I need- to come off as the useless, obligatory female team member yet again when we're kinda about to face our darkest hour.

And yet, I still don't wanna get up. Meh.

Sounding like he's already had this conversation four or five times, Meta Knight sighs back at Magolor from somewhere slightly farther away from me than Mags' voice, "I hardly think twenty minutes can count as 'hours,' Magolor. If she's moving, then she'll wake of her own accord soon enough. I would most likely still be asleep if it weren't for your coming over and pushing on Kirby and then myself, panicking over how we've seemed to change locale overnight."

What? 'Changed locale?' Unwillingly, I finally just barely open my eyes, trying to take a look at our surroundings without making my non-sleeping-ness too obvious. Sure enough, we're not by the Dreamspring anymore. It looks like the place we all fell through the clouds at, only there's something weird about the sky. I just can't see it out of the corner of my eye.

Suddenly, Kirby's not-too-distant voice pipes up. "Meta Knight, I don't know where we are now, but I don't think it's where we came into Fancy Free at. The staircase is gone." After thinking or something a second, he adds, "Or maybe Solar just got rid of the staircase and boarded up all the walls and the roof with clouds so we can't get out."

Bandana adds his bit to Kirby's 'scouting' report. "This path doesn't go far in either direction before it splits. How are we supposed to know where to go?"

Meta Knight gives a quiet growl, still somewhere behind me, and I can practically see his eyes narrow- even though I actually can't, obviously. "More, and possibly quite literal, maze-running. That coward... He's so noisy about how he's supposedly unstoppable now, and yet, he's still too frightened of us to face us like any real Star Warrior."

Even though I don't want to, I suddenly give a huge yawn, after which everyone looks over at me. Well, I guess the jig is up now. Sighing, I sit up and pull the blanket I was curled up in around my shoulders like a cape, only to notice that it is indeed a cape. Good ol' Meta Knight being the chivalrous gentleman once again, I see. It makes me smile warmly to myself before I reply to Meta's earlier comment. "He probably is at least somewhat nervous, if only because we keep inexplicably phasing off his radar. First we disappear off the map for a day and blip back up clear on the opposite side of the quadrant we were in, and then we vanish off the face of this dimension again for the better part of a day and, as far as we know, a good chunk of the night. Now that we're back, he's probably going to do everything he can to make sure he doesn't lose track of us again." Sighing quietly as I rub the sleep out of my eyes, I take a good look around myself again. Kirby and Bandana are right, we really are boxed in by clouds on all sides, except for the one path that goes either direction from here. Yeesh... Never thought I'd find myself in a hedge maze made of clouds, assuming that is what this is.

"Good morning, S'kura," Shadow greets me as he sits down next to me and leans against me, curled up in my cape, even though everyone else doesn't do much to acknowledge my presence. That's understandable, taking into account the tense mood currently hanging over everyone. I'm glad that the sweet dreams lasted all night, even though we did leave the Dreamspring behind at some point. At least we have a good rest on our side now, which I'm sure is the number one thing giving everybody a bit of hope at the moment.

Wordlessly, Shadow hands me a small cloth pouch of some dried fruit, which I'm assuming came out of Meta Knight's seemingly-bottomless in-cape rations. Giving him a nod of thanks, I force myself to eat it, even though I've got too many unpleasant butterflies in my stomach. Whether I want it or not, I'm gonna need my energy today.

While Kirby, Bandana, and Magolor start quietly discussing which way 'in the hey' we should go, Meta Knight comes over and places a glove on top of my head without looking right at me. "Did you sleep well, Flower?"

Nodding, I agree quietly as I finish off a piece of dried apricot, "Yeah. Did you?" He nods but doesn't say anything further. A moment later, I eat my last couple of craisins and proceed to offer him his cape back. "Uh, thanks for lending me this once again. And for keeping me warm last night. Assuming that wasn't just a dream, I mean. Because if it was, then I'm just being awkward here, heh."

His eyes weakly glow light green for a second at my stutter-y blushiness, but as he accepts his cape and puts it on, their lighthearted gleam quickly fades. Seeming rather anxious, he pulls the night-blue, gold-trimmed fabric around himself and gazes off down the rather-narrow, dark gray cloudy path. "Onward we must go, it seems, for the good of the whole Galaxy, but I must admit that I am not particularly looking forward to this. I cannot shake a bad feeling that something is going to happen that will render things never the same way again. Truth be told, I rather like things the way they are, for the most part."

Shuddering, I mutter down at the ground, "I know what you mean; I feel it too. Whatever happens, it's not going to be easy or pleasant, that's for sure."

Next to me, Shadow whimpers slightly. "Even you guys are scared, even now that we had sweet dreams and everything? Great... We really are gonna get deaded, aren't we?"

"Not if I can help it," I assure him with a weak teasing grin, and then gently take my cape back from him and put it on. "Well, like Meta said... Onward we must go." Giving the masked knight a glance, I question in what I hope is a somewhat-cheerful manner, "Are you going to say the thing?"

Once again, light green appears in his eyes, but this time, it's only a flicker. "Very well; for you." Clearing his throat, he immediately commandeers the attention of the three guys who are all comically pointing in three different directions and having a heated argument about it. "Come, all of you. Let us fly."

Without question, Kirby snaps his wings out and takes off after Meta Knight, who took flight as soon as he'd finished telling the rest of us to. Suddenly remembering a trick I used to use a lot with Kirby, I spread my wings out and stretch them, and then turn to Shadow with a wink. "How would you like to fly, buddy?"

His eyes widen as a huge, lopsided grin covers his whole face. "I'd love to! Boy, would I! A lot and a lot! B-but how?"

Carefully, I give him a feather. "Copy this; it'll give you the Wing Ability."

Still grinning, he does just that and starts flapping around with his new winged headdress and the wings that he wears on his paws, seeming rather pleased with his new silky feathers that come in various shades of gray. "This is awesome! Do you think my cape wings would look like this, if I had a cape? Or do you think I'd have Meta Knight-y wings? Or maybe dragon wings? Or maybe butterfly wings? Or ladybug wings? Or, or grasshopper wings?" Without waiting for any sort of actual answer, he takes flapping off after Kirby, squealing excitedly the whole way.

Laughing, I wait until Bandana's taken off air-hopping, and then give an annoyed-looking Magolor a faux-sympathetic look. "Who's grounded now, bucko?" I tease, only to have him squint his eyes grumpily at me in return. "I'd offer you a feather too, but, you know... You can't copy abilities and all."

With a sigh, he starts floating as high as he can (which usually doesn't do much for his balance), and starts drifting quickly off after the others. Finally, I take to the air and flap along not far behind him.

Slightly grumpy, he mutters, "Ya ever feel like the one semi-helpless Halcandran in a group of four SWs and one practically-an-SW-minus-a-mouth?"

Shrugging, I retort, "Can't say that I have, but I know what it's like being the one girl surrounded by five guys. Might be a similar situation."

With a grunt, he floats faster and away from me, apparently not having actually wanted an answer. "Looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the cloud," I mutter under my breath with a small roll of my eyes, careful that he doesn't notice. I don't really want to offend anybody today.

Mags quickly catches up so that he's floating just underneath the others, but I hang back a ways from the group, obviously being careful to keep them in sight and not too far away. Someone needs to guard us from the back, after all. From what I can see, it looks like Kirby's got the front of the pack covered, lance out and everything. Following his example, I also draw my weapon and make sure to fly in a 'ready' stance, just in case something would attack out of the clouds without warning.

For about half an hour, we cautiously traverse this cloud maze, Meta Knight serving as our guide even though he, like everyone else currently, can't rely on anything more than instinct to tell him where to go. A couple of times, I would almost swear that we're going in circles if it weren't for the fact that the maze never leads us the same way twice. The oddest part is how we never find any dead ends. While part of me would like to be optimistic and trusting and say that Meta somehow knows where we're going and is taking us the right way, part of me is more worried that this maze is simply so huge that we haven't happened to bump into a dead end yet.

Soon enough, we find our answer- or something resembling an answer, anyway. After forty-five minutes or so of wandering, we come upon a very large, empty, circular area with several paths coming into it at regular intervals around the clearing, almost like hours on a clock. The others stop at the entrance, and I catch up to them a moment later.

"Is this the center, or just a large hole in the maze?..." Meta Knight is quietly musing as I flap into hearing distance. "Should we enter, or backtrack and go another way?" He glances over at Kirby, who's probably the leader in all technicality.

Frowning, Kirby thinks for a long moment, but then nods once. "Might as well go straight across here to that path over there. Too bad the walls run up to the ceiling; if they didn't, we could just fly up and see where we should go."

"That's probably why Solar made it this way, Kirbs," Bandana reminds him, trying to sound big and tough, but still coming off as nervous and worried. Laughing weakly, he thumps his spear against the cloudy floor a couple of times, which really doesn't make anywhere near as much of a thumping noise as usual. "Look on the bright side; if this is the wrong way, then that just means we have more time before we actually have to fight the guy."

Shaking his head, Meta Knight murmurs anxiously, "Unfortunately, that would also mean more time for him to wreak havoc across all of the worlds. Let us hope that this is actually the correct way."

The others take off again, and I wait a moment so that I can continue bringing up the rear. When I enter through the narrow door, though, one of my wings brushes against one of the wall-clouds, making a staticky pop noise that sends a tiny jolt all along all of my feathers. Frowning to myself, I can't help but find that strange. Summer stormy season is over here in Dreamland, and winter rainy season isn't due to start till sometime next month-ish. Besides which, rainy season is usually more downpour than thunderstorm.

While I keep following the others across the clearing (they're almost to the center now), the gears in my mind continue to turn, trying to think of a good explanation. After a minute or so, my thoughts bring up a memory suggestion from when Meta Knight had me study and memorize a basic deck of a hundred or so monster spotter cards way back when I was a Kirby-Dee-in-training.

"Shotzo," I hiss, my bad feeling growing stronger when I notice a few small bolts of lightning zipping across the ceiling in places. If I hadn't been looking for them, I wouldn't have even noticed them, but they confirm my suspicions. Raising my voice, I yell ahead, "Guys, we need to get out of here! There's a-"

Before I can get the monster's name out of my mouth, clouds puff across all twelve of the clearing's entrances just as the other five reach the center, quite effectively sealing us in here. And just as the doors vanish, with a loud crash of thunder, down from the clouds rams a lightning bolt, straight toward the group below.

Without thinking about it, I fluidly turn my wings into a cape and pull it around myself in mid-air, moving quickly between dimensions and reappearing an instant later just above the others, my sword carefully poised to catch the electricity and send it harmlessly into one of the cloudy walls. Thankfully, the spur-of-the-moment plan goes without a hitch, and I gracefully land in the middle of the the other five soon after.

As a large eye surrounded by four small clouds descends from the clouds above, leering down at us in a way that is at once both blank and threatening, I clench my sword tighter and mutter the name I wasn't able to get out a moment ago before everything started unraveling.

"Kracko."

A bass-drumbeat of thunder answers me, as the giant beast gives an angry growl. Oh, I'm sorry, bozo. I didn't realize you didn't like your name; sorry. Not.

Now, I don't know if you've all heard this part of the story or not (I think Meta Knight just assumed most people would know of the prophecies of the Monstrous Lightning somehow), but the Monstrous Lightning was just a really, really big Kracko with a surprisingly-high IQ who had himself so surrounded in electricity that I didn't realize what he was until I sent a laser-Light after him. We've never really talked about it, but I'm guessing that after I left, Kirby was able to get to the thing's eye, its weak spot, and take it down.

She will weaken him, but never destroy him. That was the prophecy that made me a hero, and yet, sometimes I've wondered... Did one lightning monster really warrant a whole new hero? King Dedede could've pretty much just as easily taken my place, as long as Meta was careful to avoid the lightning. Sometimes I wonder if my involvement was just something a programmer started but never finished; something that wasn't really quite meant to happen, an accident. After all, if that was all the Ancients ever intended me to do, then... Well, why?

Pushing the thoughts out of my head that have been bothering me more and more lately, even more so since Geo voiced his agreement with them, I instead join the other five in focusing on the monster above us.

"Plan?" Magolor squeaks in fright as he grabs his trusty (and slightly rusty) wrench out of nowhere once again and grips it hard with both gloves. "Please, plan?"

Before any of the rest of us can answer, Kirby takes command. "Meta Knight, Bandana and Magolor's weapons all conduct electricity, so you guys need to concentrate on attacking the thing whenever it's not busy zapping us. These things always run on timed attack cycles; you guys know that. Memorize what it does, and be careful whenever you attack. Since me and Sakura's weapons are made out of magic glass and magic wood, we'll focus on redirecting lightning bolts and trying to attack the thing even when its guard is up; try to confuse it, that sort of thing. Shadow- you concentrate on staying safe and being the lookout. If the monster targets someone, let 'em know." Glancing over at me, he nods once, gaze steely. For someone who's so lighthearted and innocent, he's never been one to take a fight lightly, and I've always admired that in my little brother. "Let's do this, guys. For Dreamland!"

As soon as he finishes saying that, the monster's blank, bored gaze above us changes to one of malevolence. The thing gives an awful, crackly screech, and sends out several cycling beams of electricity, which all of us scatter out of the way of. As soon as the attack ends a moment later, Bandana, Magolor, and Meta Knight all start attacking it, Meta Knight gracefully stabbing at it with Galaxia, Bandana pulling into a determined Waddle Copter, and Mags floating up as high as he can and proceeding to lob his wrench at it. Luckily for us, the tool hits the thing right in the eye, making it shake and give another screech. Down below, Mags zips over and catches the wrench as it falls. Good; he'll have it again next round.

The Kracko's first reaction to the attack is to build a wall of electricity around itself as a sort of shield. Thankfully, the three guys are able to drop out of the way before any of them get zapped. Since this is a much smaller Kracko than the Monstrous Lightning was, its attacks have a heck of a lot less voltage, and so, one hit won't mean game over. Even so, the less damage any of us take, the better. Sure, I've got healing Light, but the last thing we need is for me to have to use all my energy on healing.

Before the Kracko has a chance to react, me and Kirby fly closer, cautiously sticking our weapons into the electric shield and redirecting the sparking energy away towards the clouds. The more juice we suck out of him, the better. Less energy for him means smaller attacks (and therefore less damage, even if hit) for us.

Angry, the Kracko drops the shield, and all five of us who are actively fighting lunge at the thing. Unfortunately, it lunges down and back at us, plowing right over Magolor in the process and momentarily knocking him off-kilter. As soon as he rights himself, he gives us a thumbs up to let us know he's okay. Just getting run over by a Kracko, especially if you stay airborne the whole time, won't hurt you as badly as being hit by its electrical attacks, but it's still better to stay out of its way whenever it's at all possible.

As the thing swings back up towards me, I wait until it gets close, warp out of its path, and then reappear just over it. With a shout, I plunge my sword down at it and get a good strike in before having to quickly soar out of the way of another beam of energy.

A moment later, the thing throws out a Waddle Doo as its energy level slowly goes down thanks to our attacks. Everybody knows that a Kracko starts out as little more than a teeny little rain cloud. As it gets older, it absorbs Waddle Doos and steals their Beam energy, using it to power themselves. The only way for the poor Waddles to ever get out is if you attack the Kracko- so really, if you've ever felt bad for the Waddle Doos when someone takes down a Kracko, don't. You're honestly doing them a favor.

Typically, the Waddle Doos don't mean anybody any harm, and so whenever you release one, they'll just go running off in fear, attacking randomly and not really targeting you. This time, though, the Waddle Doo proves rather more malevolent. It looks around until it sees Shadow down below, who keeps helpfully calling out to watch out right before the Kracko launches its next wave of attacks. A second later, the Waddle Doo goes racing right towards him, obviously charging up its Eye Beam as it awkwardly runs.

"Shadow! Look out!" I yelp and gracefully flip over and around in mid-air, flapping towards him as fast as I can. Thank goodness, he just drops the Wing Ability and copies the Waddle Doo instead. Glancing up at me from under a light gray double-pom-pommed jester's hat, he assures me, "I'm fine! Help the other guys!"

Nodding, I join the other four in battling the Kracko again. Out of nowhere, the Kracko's eye glares down at Kirby below it, and it drops down through the air, cycling beams all the way. Kirby manages to duck the electricity but does get slammed into, which doesn't look very pleasant at all. He doesn't get knocked clear down to the ground, though, and is able to right himself a moment later, looking even more determined, if anything.

The battle continues for another several minutes as the five of us and the monster continue to exchange blows. Several times, it drops another Waddle Doo, all of which go for Shadow, but the little guy holds his own with his Beam Whip really well. Only once does he get hit, and even then, although he looks a little teary, he just grunts at the monster and lashes back at it with surprising skill for a newbie. Only a few minutes later do I realize that that first Waddle Doo today was his first kill as a warrior. That makes me want to cry, honestly, but I force myself to push it out of my mind and concentrate on attacking the Kracko.

Eventually it hits its second stage and builds a giant barrier of clouds around itself, trying to block its eye from attacks. Even so, we manage to keep holding our own against it. Some rounds, Meta Knight, Mags, and Bandana do their thing, and others, me and Kirbs are the ones dealing the most damage. Lucky for us, none of us ever get hit by the electrical attacks.

Finally, the Kracko starts to pulse, meaning that this battle is almost over. But as I lunge at it when it races up towards me again, it narrows its eye and starts cycling energy beams again. Left without any time to react, I'm caught in the beam, which I'll admit rather hurts. To my credit, though, I manage to cover my mouth with one glove and only let out a whimper. What feels like an eternity later, but is really only a handful of seconds, it finally drops me, thanks to the other guys whaling away on it, and the shock-fest finally ends.

Disoriented and falling, it takes me a second to remember to use my wings. Thankfully, that's enough time for me to keep from hitting the ground. After shaking myself a bit, I offer the other guys a small smile and a nod to let them know I'm okay. But just as Kirby raises his lance for the final blow, the Kracko's eye's expression suddenly goes blank and his stare glazes over, as if he's forgotten where he is right now. Moving jerkily, it shakes the guys off, and then, without looking at me, starts flying toward me. Still a bit off from the zaps, I'm not exactly able to fly to avoid it. I brace for impact, but oddly enough, it never happens. When I open my eyes, I can see that it's wound a beam of energy around my sword.

"What the...?" I mutter in confusion, trying to pull my blade back away from it. Still not looking at me, the almost-defeated Kracko suddenly jerks up towards the ceiling alarmingly fast. "Aw, Shotzo," I hiss, and try to pull my sword away as it carries me up with it, but am not able to. A moment later, the clouds part, and the thing pulls us out of the clearing. Below us, the clouds seal over again, taking the other five out of my sight.

Swallowing in fear, I flap backwards with all my might in an effort to put the brakes on this crazy ride, but I don't actually accomplish anything. Frowning, I wonder why in the heck the Kracko wanted my sword, and was so careful to grab it- and now carry it- without touching me with any of the electricity.

A few minutes later, after taking so many turns through what seems to be a second floor of the maze that I lose all sense of direction and get pretty dizzy, the Kracko flies right through a freezing cold, misty wall, and then just stops. A second later, its eye resumes its earlier enraged expression, and it shakes itself with a loud crash of thunder.

Before it can finish its battle cry, something flies out of the mist that fills the whole room and goes stabbing right through the cloud monster, making it finally vanish with several small explosions. The last Waddle Doo that was powering it falls down free, only to have the same thing that attacked the Kracko pick it up and throw it out of the misty room, off to who-knows-where.

It takes me a moment to realize what the thing is, but when I do, I can't help but shudder in fear. That was, quite obviously, a bright yellow spider's leg.

The long, jointed object vanishes back into the mist, which emits a small amount of Darkness that I'm careful to avoid a moment later. Inside, eight small, glowing eyes open and look out at me. Rather frighteningly, even the two slightly-bigger ones don't look like Star Warrior's eyes anymore. They're all glowing scarlet, without any sort of pupils in them. To tell the truth, they look rather soulless too...

"What are you becoming? Can you even see what you're turning into?" I ask in disgust and fear, maybe even almost pity, but the bozo just ignores me.

"So ye are all finally done running around doing thy ridiculous little errands and disappearing, I take it?" the old smooth, articulate voice that I know far too well greets me pleasantly, sounding alarmingly cheerful, as he steps forward a little bit. He's still mostly hidden by the mist, but now I can see his sharp, cruel grin. "Do ye have any idea how long I've been waiting to play with ye six, my dear?"

Shuddering again, I take a step back without thinking about it, and then immediately mentally curse myself for showing fear. "Oh, don't be ashamed, love," he chortles, as his grin widens. "Fear is a natural emotion. It shows intelligence and self-preservation on thy part. Good show."

Clearing my throat, I force myself to growl, "We wouldn't have had to run around so much if you'd just find some courage and face us yourself. Are we really that threatening, that you have to take us on one at a time?"

Just like in my dream the other day, an invisible wall throws me against the nearest cloudy wall, which, thankfully, really doesn't hurt that bad. "Once again, sweet, it really is foolish to go around insulting someone who has only to wave his hand to end ye," he practically purrs, obviously enjoying himself. "Come now, I know ye are a smart little girl... Don't prove me wrong; I do so hate being wrong."

Grunting, I hold my sword in front of myself in a ready position. "Well, if we're gonna duel here, can we please get on with it?"

Chuckling, he turns away while waving one glove at me dismissively. "Don't make me laugh, dear... Of course I don't want to fight ye. Ye are hardly worth a Kracko's time, much less mine."

Narrowing my eyes, I mutter, "If you don't want to fight me, then let me go. I'll go find my friends."

Shaking his head, he glances back at me for a second in bemusement. "Just because I'm not fighting ye, dear, doesn't mean that this isn't where ye will fall."

"What are you talking about?" I demand with mixed emotions of fear and anger as I clench Cherry Star's hilt tighter, forcing myself to keep my breathing steady. Don't let him scare you, Sakura. This isn't the time to be wimping out.

"Oh, but isn't that what ye do best?" he questions my thoughts, a smirk in his voice. When I don't answer, he goes on, "Ye know what they say about going for the weakest first, correct? Well, one by one, I'm going to take ye little 'heroes' and prove to ye all that there is no such thing as a hero. There are only villains of different degrees, love, I'm afraid. Ladies first, hmm?"

Glaring at him, I narrow my eyes. "I'm not the weakest, so shut up."

"Ye aren't? But ye don't even belong with the others... Miss Dee, sweet, whether ye will ever get it through thy thick head or not, ye are a Random. Just like me, ye were never meant to exist."

Trying to ignore his sharp-as-sword words, I grimace and bark again, "Shut up."

Spinning around, he stalks towards me, the mist following him, as his awful, ravenous grin becomes visible again. "Do ye really think ye will ever belong with the others? In all honesty, they would be far better off without ye-"

"I said shut up!"

"Ye can't really bring them any talent they really need. Who needs thy Light when there are Maxim Tomatoes everywhere? Who needs another swordfighter when they already have Meta Knight? Darling, ye are so very extraneous."

Shaking with anger at his words, I growl again, "Solar, if you don't shut up I'll-"

Laughing derisively, he rolls his eyes at me. "What? Use thy precious little Light magic on me? I must say that I'm really not all that frightened by the prospect. Light is such useless stuff; so very three centuries ago. Now, we both know that ye are an accident."

"No! I'm not!"

"Just a random string of slapped-together code with no true purpose."

Still I try to ignore the insults he's slapping in my face, insults that I've been giving myself for as long as I've had a voice. "That's a lie! All of this is lies!"

He comes ever closer, still grinning at me like I'm something to eat. Knowing this guy and those fangs, I probably am. "Nothing more than a little nobody who wants so desperately to be a somebody."

Voice shaking, I beg, "Please! Stop! Just stop!"

"Worthless, loveless, imperfect, weak, useless... Any or all of the above fit thee to a T. Ye know ye were never supposed to be involved with this story. Ye are nothing more than a glitch, love. Ye don't belong here." Now he's got me back against the cloudy wall... I hate being cornered like this... "Ye try so hard, but ye will never belong here, nor anywhere else. Ye are hardly even purehearted enough to call thyself a hero, what with that whole Dark magic past and everything... Ye call thyself a true warrior, and yet it's so far from the truth. There really is no such thing as a hero, is there, my sweet?"

Turning my face away from him in fear, I offer no defense other than a small whimper and a single swing of my sword, which he just catches in a glove with smirk and then motions for me to sheathe it, which I do. He's right. I'm such a fake. I don't belong here. I've been thinking that off and on for years now, but I've refused to admit it to myself. I've always just wanted a place to belong, but that can't happen, not when you're an accident, an event of random chance, a failure...

Chuckling again, he finally turns to walk away from me, seeming like he's done with me for now. "And above everything else, ye are a coward. Tsk..."

That's the last straw. "Shut up!" I shriek at the top of my lungs as I pull a cloud of Darkness out of the air around me. He pauses but doesn't turn around, obviously not impressed. "You say Light magic won't work, fine. I'll play your game here. I can do your brand of magic too. Show me what you got, jerkface."

Instead of speaking while I start considering which spell to use, preferably something that'll hurt, he just shakes his head. Finally, he just purrs, "And here ye are, proving me right, as I always turn out in the end. Ye really are the weakest one of all. That was practically too easy." Spinning around, he waves his glove once, sending my huge, swirling cloud of Darkness right back at me.

Of course, since the Darkness had no spell to tell it what to do, it's just-plain Darkness. I've been totally surrounded in Darkness only once before, back when we first discovered the stuff. Just like that time, it takes a moment for the effects to really kick in, but when they do, I'm left falling forward onto my gloves and sobbing, my heart aching terribly.

In all honesty, it feels like you're drowning, almost. Every happy thought or memory you've ever had is drained away slowly but surely, leaving you more and more without anything but sorrow, pain, hatred, Darkness.

In amusement, Solar comes over and kicks me sharply once in the side, making me fall down onto my face. "I really was hoping for more of a fight than that, love... Now do ye believe me? There really is no such thing as a hero."

I can only give a quiet cry of heartbreak in reply. He's right. I'm no hero. I've never been a hero. I'm nobody. In all honesty, I don't even know who I really am. Sakura... Is that even my real name? Or am I just an accident who gets pulled from face to face and name to name because the very box that happened to make me doesn't know what to do with me?

Laughing darkly, he turns and walks away. "Leave, fool. Leave and never return." He wanders back into that odd mist, but before he disappears, he turns and grins at me one final time. "I was wrong about one thing, I suppose... There is one place ye belong, and that is all alone. Farewell, Sakura Dee. I highly doubt that we'll ever meet again."

With that, he leaves, leaving me alone with no one there besides the Darkness around me, choking my soul, and my own hateful thoughts.

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闇のPOV:

Extremely pleased, I watch as the silly little power-hungry fool leaves the other pathetic, simpering little soul behind. While it is going to be wonderful to watch that idiot be cut down to size and led to the awful fate I've been priming him for, for centuries now (although his original already met it), I can't stand him... He thinks he's captured me, controlled me, and that I'm his slave... Little does he know that things are exactly the opposite. All his life, I've given him just enough of what he's asked for that he continues doing my bidding for me and waging war on the disgusting Light, and recently, he's very nearly sealed his dreadful fate. And oh, that little 'no such thing as a hero' spiel? All my work, really. All you have to do is tell souls that there's no way they could ever be good enough, and so often, they simply quit trying at all.

He thinks that little spell he cast in the Fountain gave him power... Ha, no. That's the most laughable thing I've ever heard. All he accomplished was giving me sentience, a mind, things that I can use so greatly to my advantage. Of course, in return for his hard work, I gave him a better form, more power... but what a fool he is. Soon, and very soon, I will have no more use of him, and then I will cast him away like the piece of rubbish he is.

As he leaves, I can't help but laugh in my mind to myself at his sad state. He's so choked in me that you can't even see his original soul anymore... Now it is nothing more than a sick, twisted, oozing blob of Darkness, all of the Light that was once there dead and gone.

Letting him fade out of my consciousness (I'm not omnipresent, at least, not yet), I turn my attention back to the other soul. What a pretty shade of flickering, weak pink... It would be so much prettier in dark, dead black, but these things do take time. Faking gentleness, I allow all of me that surrounds her to crowd closer in what feels to her like a caring embrace, but is actually somewhere more along the lines of a boa constrictor going in for the kill.

Making my voice as smooth and friendly as possible (she can't actually hear me, but she gets my message anyhow), I breathe, "How can you let him treat you like that? You're strong, my pet. You're not useless. You could be of so very much use to me. Just let me in; let go of that ridiculous, hateful Light, and I will show you just how great you could become."

Shaking, the soul's physical form shakes her head and clenches her gloves into fists while her soul continues to wildly flicker. Sighing in mild annoyance, I continue, "Come now... You've followed the Light for so long; wasted so much of your life on others, and where has it gotten you? Alone, realizing your pointlessness and worthlessness... The Light has no plan or purpose for you, but I do. With my help, you could realize that purpose. Please, my pet, just let me guide you now... You let me in once, but you so foolishly turned me away. That's all right, I'll still take you under my wing. Please..."

Shuddering, the form falls limp, and the precious little soul quits resisting me. "That's my girl," I chuckle 'lovingly' as I take over and begin to kick the last of the Light out of her heart and mind. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Now... Let's get out of this place, and I will show you where you truly belong." Ah, how easy it is for me to worm my way in through the cracks of a broken heart...

In a last throe of opposition, the last of the Light in her begs her not to give up; tells her to reach for her sword, her Warp Star, anything, but I forcefully shove it out, quite effectively silencing it. "You've lost, fool. She's mine now. Get out and stay out." When the soul does hesitantly reach for her sword, against my wishes, she finds only that now that she's let me in, it does nothing but give her a reprimanding zap.

With a grunt, she stashes it, sheath and all, in her cape, and gets up to go, but not before I give her a little 'gift' just like I gave my other little 'pet' not long ago... That reflection of the masked knight wished so desperately for one who would actually see him as the 'marvel' and 'perfection' he was and is, and so I so easily filled that place in his heart. Even before I knew who I was and became self-aware, I was already there, whispering to him that he really does deserve so much better than what he has. And now that I've told him he's my chosen 'pet'... He's just as lost as the other poor fool.

Noticing my gift, the soul pauses in picking herself up and takes a long look at it before standing up and taking it from the ground. Slowly, she pulls the cursed blade made of concentrated me out of it and nods at it once, determined, before putting it back in its sheath.

If Cherry Star doesn't want me anymore, then I don't want her- it. I don't want it. her thoughts pout in anger and hatred. This thing'll work. I wonder if Solar dropped it. Weighing it in her hand, she thinks as a shadow of a smile passes over her now-gray face (she's gray all over temporarily, having been absolutely soaked in me a moment ago), I like this thing. It feels... powerful. Perfect.

And as I take more and more hold in her soul, slowly but surely choking every little flicker and glow out of her and building myself more and more around and all throughout her heart so she'll never get away, my newest prize leaves the room she is in and goes to leave the other 'heroes' far, far behind.