Luculent Reveries

*Sephiroth laughs.*

<What's the matter? Too simple to recognize an illusion when you see it?>

*He walks towards the edge of the balcony, staring down at the entrance.*

<You will go to Zanarkand...you will find me...you may think it's because you want to stop me, but in reality, you are just playing the role I have planned for you. That is the meaning of my dreams. I am the Chosen One. And you? You are nothing but a puppet.>
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*The Dark Possessors fly under 3 of the Aeons of Sin, latching onto their lower abdomens. Those 3 take on a strange glow, becoming slightly larger. The other 3 charge orbs of darkness in their mouthes. Auron runs at one of the non-possessed ones, slashing it & destroying it. A possessed one takes to the sky, firing a barrage of spines at him.*

T"They're Dreameaters, & we have to destroy them!"

*Thiera raises her Keyblade in the air, causing an orb of wind to envelope all 3 of them. The spikes bounce off of the wind surrounding Auron.*
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*Cyan slashes off the Fiendish Foe's tail. It opens its mouth, the Dreameater glyph on its tongue glowing blue, slashing its spear across Celes's chest. Lilith disappears in a puff of darkness & flower petals, reappearing at its other arm & slashing it off. Its wing breaks free of the bindings, but is heavily lacerated.*
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*Euryale swims out of the tower, swimming towards the base of one of the Dreameater's tentacles & stabbing it. If it's connected to the tower, spikes of rock also emerge & stab it.*

*Mimiru slashes at the tentacles.*

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*Taiyo fires another fireball aiming for its open mouth.*

*Raven rushes forward, lunging at a Dream Eater with quick, fluid movement.*

Allina: <You...! I won't let you hurt any more people!>

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*The Dreameater roars loudly, and the towers collapses completely. It squeezes Clee even harder and another of its tentacles grabs Mimiru's anckle, swinging her around*

OOC: Ohohoho.

*It reflexively closes its mouth, causing it to blow off its own head in a massive blast of energy. Its body falls apart into crystal rain.*

Lilith<We should move on.>

Cyan<But what of Lady Celes?>

Lilith<What of her?>

*Lilith starts walking as Nero stands up. Celes slowly rises to her feet.*

Celes<I'm fine...don't worry, Cyan.>
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*Euryale just keeps hacking at the Dreameater.*
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*Raven manages to destroy one of the unpossessed Aeons of Sin. Auron destroys the last one as the 3 possessed ones take to the air & circle them.*
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Sephiroth<You won't "let" me, will you? How do you, a meager puppet, propose to stop me?>

Ramza<Humans do not exist to be the tools of others!>

Sephiroth<You are correct. Humans should not exist at all.>

Tidus<Hey, buddy, what's your problem? Aren't YOU human, too?>

Sephiroth<You ignorant traitor!>

*Sephiroth slashes his sword at Tidus's neck. Of course, being an illusion, it passes through him without harming him, but Tidus still jumps a bit. Sephiroth smirks.*

Sephiroth<I'll be waiting in Zanarkand. I wonder how many will come for me? 6? Or...perhaps 3?>

*Mimiru swings her Keyblade about at the tentacle holding on to her.*

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"And which way is it we're going?"

*The Dreameater lets go of Mimiru and whips Euryale with a tentacle. Its eyes glow brighter staring at her and she feels her throat itchy for a second*

Clegus: <Can't... breathe...>

~The Dreameater has inflicted Silence on Euryale. She is now unable to speak/use magic~
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*She runs to the hologram Sephiroth and stabs at his belly*

Allina: <You destroyed them! The Fayth!>

*Raven keeps his guard up, waiting for them to make their next move.*

*Euryale swims over to Tae, attempting to free him.*
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<Dreams are meant to be shattered. Don't you think you should be more worried about what's happening to your friends?>

*The Sephiroth illusion begins to sink into the floor.*
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*Lilith points her Keyblade at the giant, snoring doorknob. It swings open & they continue into another room. It appears to be constructed from the battlements of a castle, a staircase at the far wall. Cyan, Nero, & Celes stop as Cyan surveys the scene.*

Cyan<This was Doma.>

N"Was that your world?>

Cyan<Something like that.>

L"If you're going to get sentimental, just stay here. I'll kill Kefka myself."

*Lilith has already disappeared up the stairs.*
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*Auron swings at one, but misses. Thiera's Aero wears off, so she recasts it. One of the Aeons of Sins shoulder-slams into Raven, knocking him over. It then hovers in place, charging an orb of gravity at its mouth.*

*Raven quickly gets up, jumps back a bit and throws his Keyblade at the Aeon of Sin.*

*Mimiru swims at the Dreameater's eat throwing her Keyblade at it.*

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*Taiyo goes up the stairs*

*The Keyblade shatters one of its tentacles, and it roars loudly, letting go of Clegus. Gasping for air(?) he slowly floats downwards landing on a building's roof*

Clegus: <...T..Thanks. Phew. Much better.>

*The Dreameater rams Mimiru with its giant helmet-like head*

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Allina: <Damn you!>

*She turns around to the others and starts waving her Keyblade about, drawings circle-like patterns in the air, swining from side to side. The monks turn into pireflies that fly out the door. Valefor, a tad startled, takes flight, staring through the door. She walks past them and pets her beak*

Allina: <Zanarkand, now.>

*The Aeon of Sin & the Dark Possessor are destroyed in one shot. The other 2 land on either end of the bridge, emitting a wave that pushes the group together.*

Auron<We've wasted too much time here as is!>

*He stabs his sword into the ground, tremors killing all of the remaining Dreameaters. Spotting Valefor, he climbs into a boat, gesturing to them to follow.*

Auron<Come. We continue to Zanarkand.>
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*A Dreameater glyph appears in front of Valefor as it ferries them across the continent, quickly turning into a cloud.*
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*The next level appears to be a large, run-down city. There are a lot of dirty, mean-looking men walking around. Nero walks up to one of them.*

N"Hey, did you see a woman with red hair come through there? Oh, wait, nevermind, there she is."

<Nope. And no she isn't. Ain't no women in Zozo. No men, either!>

N"O...kay...."

*Nero walks towards the alleyway Lilith is entering as Cyan & Celes emerge behind Taiyo.*

Cyan<Lady Lilith was correct. The time to grieve has passed. Now is the time to depose that loathesome, honorless dog Kefka.>
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*As it rams Mimiru, Euryale hacks at the base of its helmeted head.*

*Raven's Keyblade disappears as he follows Auron into the boat.*

*Mimiru holds up her hands, her Keyblade returning so she can shield herself.*

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*Taiyo follows them into the alley.*

*The Dreameater being the size of a freaking two story house head alone, Mimiru is slammed into the rocks nearby. Upon being hit, it starts whipping its tentacles about frantically, hitting Euryale repeatedly. It darts away and its body starts glowing green as the water starts spinning in a spiral in front of it, forming a rather big whirpool. Euryale and Clegus, being he closest to it, start getting sucked in, while Mimiru just feels her body slowly floating towards it*

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Allina: <This isn't good at all... Guys, an aerial battle can't be good, what not?>

Tidus<Just go around it.>
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*Euryale swims away from the whirlpool as fast as she can.*
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*Raven, Auron, & Thiera reach an expansive plain of grasslands. Somehow, they've beaten the others there, even though they were flying.*

Auron<Hmph. Sephiroth must be trying to buy time.>

"Why? What does he want?"

Auron<I couldn't say.>
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*The man follows them into the alley with 4 others. 5 more approach them from the other side.*

L"I'm beginning to see why this place was kept in-tact."

N"Think we can take them?"

Celes<We're definitely stronger, but they have the advantage in numbers & terrain...plus, more of them may be coming.>

*Mimiru sticks her Keyblade in the ground and tightens her grip on it.*

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*Taiyo's Keyblade appears in her hands and she waits for someone to attack or say otherwise.*

*Raven remains silent as he goes into a trance, staring at the ground.*

*Despite not being able to pull her in for as long as she's swimming away, it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The Dreameater resumes bashing buildings behind the whirpool Clegus lets himself slowly be pulled in*

Clegus: <Before I go all suicidal on this, do you think an Aero can stop it!?>

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*Valefor circles around the mist*

Allina: <Do the others know where we're going?>

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*Five blazing miniature Keyblades dart from the roof towards the assaulters, and Razz jumps down, landing in between them and the Keybladers and kicking at the guy's belly*

Tidus<Down there!>

*Tidus points to where the others are trekking through the Calm Lands.*
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*Eurayle doesn't say anything because she's silenced & she can't shrug because she's trying to swim.*
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"By the time we get to the top of this tower, we'll have a small army."

*He sinks into the shadows, re-emerging between some of the assaulters & blowing them away in an explosion of darkness. Lilith ensnares one in thorny ropes & Celes blasts another with lightning. Before Cyan can even draw his sword, anyone left standing has fled the scene.*

*Mimiru keeps trying to hold her ground.*

"Just do something, asshole!"

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*Taiyo lets go of her Keyblade and it disappears.*

"That was... something."

Clegus: <Hey! That wasn't very ni--woah!>

*He gets sucked into the whirpool, the water spinning around so fast they stop seing him. A few seconds later, the whirpool disappears in an air blast, leaving nothing but Clegus in it's place, holding his stomache*

Clegus: <I'm going to puke. Underwater.>

???: <Enough of this!>

*The water around the monster starts boiling and circling around it in a way the bubbles seem like they're forming strings. They wrap the monster tightly and it disappears with a growl. The crystal rain drifts along the water until they lose sight of it. Looking down, they see this old merman pointing his Trident at the tower the Dreameater was bashing. He swims to them, a serious look on his face. Ariel's spell wears off*

???: <What is the meaning of this!? Ariel, Euryale?>

Ariel: <Dad, they come from another world! They're here to-->

???: <Another world? You have no business putting such nonsense in my daughter's head. Leave at once.>

Clegus: <Hey, hey-->

Flounder: <B-But your majesty, they're here t-t-to help!>

Triton: <Ariel is obsessed with other worlds enough as it is, we don't need liars around here!>

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*They land in front of them and Allina hops down from Valefor.*

Allina: <Miiiiiissed me?>

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*The Keyknives fly to Razz's hand and coverge in a normal sized Keyblade, which disappears in a flash of light. He glares at Lilith and walks with them*

"They're obviously from another world, though. Look at how terrible their swimming is."
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"Do you--ahh--know each other? ...Or how to get to the next floor of the tower?"
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"What happened in that temple?"

"Go to Hell."

*Mimiru swims back to the group very poorly.*

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*Taiyo leans over to Nero and whispers in his ear*

"(Maybe they're you know, lovers.)"