It was like a dream...

The young girl was naturally distressed at her current situation, anyone would have been. But in the midst of her confusion, a voice called out. But at the same time, there was no sound. Riyya could understand the words without hearing them spoken. It could be recognized as helpful, friendly. "Don't be afraid. Your light will protect you against the darkness.", the mysterious being sent it's message to the girl. Soon after, a stone pedestal began to rise out of the platform she was standing on. A red shield floating just above it.

"Power sleeps within you...", the voice continued as another stone pedestal rose, a blue Staff floating above the second pedestal. "It will give you strength.", finally, a Sword above a third pedestal that had risen. "Choose well.", A light would direct Riyya's attention to the staff. "The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin.", with that, the light then moved over to the sword. "The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction."

Finally, the beam of light then moves to the shield. "The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all.", the beam of light then focuses onto Riyya herself. "The choice is yours. Take your time.", with that, the being seemed content to wait for the girl to make her choice. This would be the form of her strength, it was a decision to consider carefully, and they had all the time necessary for it to be decided upon correctly...

Even if Riyya might have felt like she didn't have such time.[/i]

"Your path is set.", the being once more spoke to Riyya. The pedestals then began to sink into the platform. "You've chosen the power of the mystic. You've gained the power to fight. Use this power to protect yourself and others.", it continued. A strange, small and shadowy being then began to form in front of her. "There will be times where you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong.", the being declared to the now most likely distressed Riyya. The small creature didn't look the most dangerous...

But it certainly wasn't of a natural world or order. It was a shadow given form, tiny clawed hands and glowing yellow eyes. Eyes which then settled onto Riyya herself, the creature tilted it's head slightly as it leaned down slightly, scraping it's claws against the stained glass floor beneath. "Don't be afraid.", the voice stated one last time. It seemed the only option left was to fight through this odd little creature! The Shadow seemed to be trying to gauge the exact amount of threat that Riyya posed to it.

_________________
Combat has initiated!

Riyya felt a little hesitation, she was not a fighter, much less one against a clearly dangerous being...But the voice reassured her, it filled her with confidence, she HAD to fight, this was something she knew, she approached, ready to attack but a little fearful, she only knew clever tricks, and those weren't exactly spectacular! But...She had to try, she remembered one trick in particular! And threw her weapon in a spin at the heartless several times! A trick she liked to call "strike raid", she was always able to impress with that one! She just hoped it would be enough here.

-Riyya uses [Level 1] Strike raid on the heartless for 175 damage!-

She wasn't sure if her little trick would work, but she was going to try! It'd keep her away from those claws, at the very least, ensuring a level of safety.

She grinned, staring it down as it cower in fear, clearly it was little match for her. She stared it down, and decided it was time to do that once more, to finish it all!

-Riyya used [SK1] All or nothing against the heartless for 175 damage!-

She dived at it as it backed away, giving it little chance to react as she crashed right into it with her blade, likely going straight through the being as they impacted. She'd narrowly manage to land on her feet, sliding across the glass platform and stopping inches from the edge, peering into the darkness below, wondering if falling was a thing that could happen.

That was something she was not willing to test out. Not even once, so she did the smart thing and turned around, hoping to watch the heartless fall from that attack, it was a large impact so she had little doubt it would have been vanquished by it.

Stamina 1/3

The tiny Shadow could hardly maintain it's form after such a vicious attack. As the weapon hits it's mark, the creature's form breaks apart into tiny particles of inky blackness, which then dissipates into the air. Everything fell quiet atop the stained glass platform. Was that the end of all the dangers and the trials? One could certainly hope so! But sadly... That was not to be the case. A dark blob forms atop the glass, and it slowly begins to expand outward. However, it does stop long before being in danger of engulfing Riyya... But what's more concerning...

Is what's rising out of it. A huge being entirely formed of shadow, and a massive hole in the shape of a heart extended to most of it's torso. One thing was for certain; it was far more powerful than that tiny shadow from before. It's brightly glowing yellow eyes cast it gaze towards Riyya, but fortunately the creature seemed to be quite sluggish in it's movements. "Strong rays of Light can make the Darkness grow strong.", the voice from before explained. "But don't be afraid."

A small, glowing circle of light appeared on the ground in front of Riyya. "If you need to recover your strength for the trials ahead... Stand inside of this Light.", it finished. The massive being only continued to watch Riyya for the moment.

_______________________
A Darkside appeared! 1,000 Potential, 400 Willpower
Through the power of the Kingdom Key, a Sanctuary of Light to restore your strength has appeared!

Riyya appeared frightened by the new being ahead of her, if only for a moment, though...The voice that called to her, it was comforting, it eased her fears through no explained method, filling her with the courage she needed to press onward. She stepped calmly into the light, a refreshing feeling of healing washed over her as she felt all of her exhaustion from battle fade away, she felt more prepared now.

She stepped forward from the light, facing down this great creature that stood before her, she wasn't sure how she was to win, but she wouldn't give up, she had to win no matter the cost. The voice, the light, her own weapon...They filled her with hope.


"I won't lose to you!" She called out, and then raised her weapons. "Fire!" Suddenly many balls of flames appeared and circled her, they then shot off towards the dark beast, striking it in the face!

-Riyya used the Fire spell against Darkside for 175 damage!-

The Darkside reels from the pain of the flames hitting directly in it's face, it's massive clawed hands covering the impacted areas for a moment... But it would soon lower it's hands, and glare menacingly at Riyya. It would then raise one hand, and attempt to punch the girl for her efforts. There was one saving grace in that it's movements seemed very unrefined. It was perhaps something that Riyya could use to her advantage, but there was one thing that certainly couldn't be mistaken... Whatever this thing was, it wasn't holding back against her.

Regardless of whether the Heartless had struck it's mark or not, it would then withdraw it's hand and begin to glance around the stained glass platform, as if looking for it's target now. It was an opening...
_________________________
Darkside used Thick Shade (Melee) at Riyya for 150 damage!

Riyya watched as the hand raised overhead, she raise her blade above her, crouching under it as the hand drew in, she stared the beast in the eyes with pure determination as the attack didn't even manage to move her. Instead, the blade glowed as the attack struck, causing the Darkside to reel from it, she'd take her chance and leap up onto it's hand before it could escape!

She ran along it's arm, heading for it's head, then she'd stop, and throw her blade straight at it's face!

-Riyya is using [SK1] Strike Raid against Darkside for another 175 damage!-

2/3 Stamina

3/3 Mana +1 for no spell.

-Riyya blocked Darkside's attack for 140 Willpower! Taking only 10 damage! 1,250 health drops to 1,240!-

Amazingly, it was like the Darkside had just decided to punch it's equivalent of a brick wall. It hardly even placed a scratch on Riyya, and even more surprising still, was the fact that the girl managed to grab onto the beast's claw and run up it's arm. As the creature's eyes finally settle onto her, the weapon she makes use of collides with it's head, and causes the huge Heartless to flinch at the impact. Afterwards, the huge shadowy being begins to topple over, more so from the sheer surprise, and the fact that the damage was now piling up on it.

As it collides against the ground, it is left stunned momentarily, affording Riyya another opportunity to regather her strength... Or otherwise, attempt to attack the beast once more. It likely wouldn't be staying down for long!
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The Darkside takes the damage directly, and topples over, left stunned from the damage!

"This is it!!" Riyya shouts as she manages to keep her balance even as the creature begins to topple over, she leaps into the air before it impacts the ground, staring it right in the eyes she puts her keyblade ahead of her, diving headlong for it's face and impacting as she drops from the air, intent on going right through the Darkside's head with this attack.

"Give me strength!" She shouted just before impact, she put her entire body into this one hopefully final attack, ready to finish this creature once and for all. The light from her blade grew bright, showing her power to the creature of darkness whose time was nearing an end, she didn't know what waited after, but she knew one thing, this attack would have to finish the job, as her hopeful impact occured, she would hop off and land with a small slide across the floor, turning back to look at the results of her effort, hoping she would be rewarded for her efforts with success, she had to win, there was no other choice! "Take that!"

She called out, and spun the keyblade around before resting it on her shoulder.

-Riyya is using [SK1] All or Nothing! Against Darkside for another 175 potential!-

Stamina 1/3

Riyya's assault had proven relentless, and thanks to her quick defensive thinking, she was able to utilize all of the openings to her advantage! The Darkside is struck cleanly on the head a final time, and with it, the massive body begins to break apart into tiny particles of darkness. These particles and the inky blackness now forming on the ground threaten to engulf the girl... But just before it truly took hold over her, a bright ray of light would disperse it all within an instant, leaving the girl safe. "Not yet, there's a few things we must go over..."

The voice from before would call out, and as the light died down, Riyya would find herself standing in Twilight Town, but one that seemed much more lifeless. Instead, there were just three people standing in front of her. All people that she had met before, but they too seemed different somehow.

"What is it that you want the most out of life?", the first would ask.

"What is it that you're so afraid of?", the second would ask.

"What do you treasure most in life?", the third would ask.

With that, things would fall silent once more... It seemed like Riyya was almost done here, she just needed to answer these last questions.

Riyya stared on at her victory, then noticed the darkness spreading at her feet. Though...before action could be taken, the voice interviened, and in this world's place came Twilight Town, her home. She stared on at the people ahead of her.

They all asked questions, curious, and while she recognized them, their personalities didn't match at all, if anything they seemed more like the voice she had heard so many times in this experience. But regardless of the oddity, she still decided to answer these odd questions.

First came the one who asked what she wanted out of life, she thought it over for a minute, and gave an honest answer from her heart. "I'd like to explore, to see new places!"

Second came the one who asked what she was afraid of, she couldn't help but answer honestly. "Losing everything and everyone I care about, that's the scariest thing I can imagine."

Finally came the third, who asked a harder question, but one she still answered honestly to. "..I guess I treasure the memories I have with friends and family the most."

"To explore and see new places... Would it be as fun as you think?", the first would then ask, but seemingly pleased with the answer they received.

"To lose everyone and everything... That would be pretty scary.", the second would state in agreement with Riyya.

"Treasuring the time you've spent with everyone? That's not a bad way to look at things.", the third would comment.

With that, the three people would then vanish into thin air, and the voice would speak once more. "You hold your friends and family dear to your heart, and you want to go on exciting new adventures. Your journey may be a frightening one, but never forget... When your strength alone isn't enough, your friends are there to help you.", with that, another circle of light would appear on the ground. "It's time for you to return. You're not ready to open the door... But it will open, one day.", with that, everything fell silent once more. Rather than a sense of foreboding, Riyya would somehow just know that stepping into that circle of light...

It'd bring her back to her home, and end all of this craziness. Or perhaps, it would be a new beginning.

Riyya gave a nod, whoever these people were...If they were even real, they seemed okay with her answers, but she then everything became empty, only the voice could be "heard". It spoke of her answers...And yet also called to her to rely on her friends. Perhaps it was right in a way.

Regardless, it said something about a door...About how she wasn't ready yet, she didn't really understand, as much as she wanted to. What was this door? "-Wait, but..." She wanted to ask questions, but she willed herself away from it, she thought instead that one day she would know. Perhaps one day soon... with all of this wrapped up, she stepped into the light, and everything faded to white...

(Finished!)