Chapter Text
As Yriax had promised, the restoration of the Water Crystal meant running water, which meant Sora could finally refill his supply of bottles.
Sure, that did nothing for the food, but with any luck they could both get out of here before things got serious. He was getting sick of marshmallows, but short of cooking and eating one of the weird monsters on the way to their next crystal, there wasn't much he could do about that.
The next crystal in mind was the Wind Crystal, apparently. Getting his Aero magic back was enough of an incentive, but the sheer lack of petty arguing was its biggest selling point so far. Sora would've preferred conversation, because trudging through an inky nothing while saying nothing and mostly doing nothing was all sorts of boring, but awkward silence was better than getting yelled at for nothing.
Occasional battles did little to break up the monotony, but Sora had noticed that the monsters had grown tougher and more aggressive since the Water Crystal had been restored. It wasn't just basic things like wolves with paralysing bites, but enormous stone golems that launched rock slides at him, and weird imp ladies that grew wings out of their hips of all places. By sticking to Yriax's rules though, careful play would see him through. Combining Braves with Water magic had him using them like volleys of heat seeking missiles, while Default had him absorbing the hits he needed to, then retaliating when the time was right. Dare he say it, she almost looked satisfied on occasion. With nothing to argue over, little to see, and little to talk about though, Sora had to wonder if he was just looking for things to notice. After all, she only really raised an objection if he did something she didn't like. She'd share information sometimes if pressed, but only if it was vital to their little quest. Anything vaguely resembling personal details or chit chat was sporadic at best, and nonexistent most of the time.
But still, they persisted. Because if they were going to make it out of this world, they had to work together. That was what Yriax had told him. She hadn't exactly been a beacon of honesty since they'd met, but he hadn't heard any better ideas since, so that was the plan, as any idea was better than no idea, and the two remaining crystals were easy goals, visible from a distance. The only real issue was getting there, and between her magical support and his Default combat, this Brave world was theirs for the taking.
...just as long as nothing went wrong.
"Okay, this is the Wind Crystal," Yriax announced, as the mottled yellowish crystal finally drew near. "Or the Thunder Crystal if you'd prefer. All storm-based magic is controlled by this crystal, and if you can defeat the creature that's corrupting it, you can use your Thunder and Tornado spells again."
"Makes sense," Sora nodded. "So what am I fighting?"
"That'll be Chaugmar." Yriax said. "You can see it floating over there."
Sora glanced over, and sure enough, a massive purple sphere was lurking amongst the crystal's depths. He knew better than to underestimate bad guys, but this thing looked like it posed no threat at all. Simply floating in its little nook, it slowly wobbled out and approached, like a wandering cloud. And then it just stood there, as if waiting for Sora to make the first move.
With a squint, Sora could identify some sort of creature within all that purple - was it an energy shield? - but something told him he wouldn't be able to tell what it actually was, even if all the purple stuff wasn't in the way.
"So uh," he frowned. "Usual rules?"
"Actually..." Yriax put a finger to her lip, and Sora's heart leapt. "This one plays by the same rules, so we'll have to be more creative. I take it you can see the monster inside?"
"I can see a monster inside," Sora drew his Keyblade on instinct. "Couldn't tell you what it looked like though. Too much purple."
"Hm, that's fair. Well, all that 'purple' is Chaugmar's shield. It only attacks when it lowers the shield, only that's super powerful. Understand what I'm saying?"
"So I can only hurt it when the shield's down?"
"If you can survive the attacks, yeah."
"Well that's why you're here, right?"
"Well y-yeah, but..."
"It's that powerful?" Sora grimaced. A solemn nod from Yriax told him all he needed to know. "Welp, guess we're trying it anyway. Seeing what happens, eh?"
Flashing blue for Default, Sora held his Keyblade defensively, and watched for Chaugmar's response. Unsurprisingly, it did a whole lot of nothing. Just floating there, or maybe building energy of its own. More likely nothing though, as Sora saw nothing happen.
A cursory lunge had his Keyblade clatter against the purple energy shield, and while it wobbled from the impact, Chaugmar didn't seem at all hurt from the attack. But then it retaliated, surging forwards and engulfing Sora within the energy shield. It was only for a split second, but before Sora could even react, he felt as though his own strength had been drained away, leaving him dizzy and a shade paler than usual.
"Whoa..." He mumbled. "Y-yeah, that's not gonna work. Any ideas, Yriax?"
"Mhmm! Don't let that happen again." Yriax just smiled impishly. "That's a blood sucking attack, and it'll recover strength a lot faster than you can damage it when its shield is up."
"Great." Sora frowned. As always, she could've told him this before, but the learning experience was useful, he supposed. "So avoid that, and don't die when its shield goes down. Love it so far!"
"If you can find a way to damage it, I can keep you alive." Yriax said. "Can I trust you, Sora?"
"Of course." Sora said flatly. After all this time, she was still asking that?
"Are you sure?"
"...yeah."
"Absolutely?"
"Yes..."
"Alright then." Yriax folded her arms. Bathing Sora in a Cura spell, she sighed. "Do you know any attacks or strategies that can pierce defences?"
"I uh. Hrm." Sora took to thought. Over the years, he'd been taught dozens of weird gimmicks by those he'd met on his travels. Of those, not counting the blocked magic attacks, there were a couple that might've fit the bill.
"Sorry Cloud..." He grinned awkwardly, pointing his Keyblade straight forwards like a spear.
"Sorry who?" Yriax muttered noncommittally, before Sora lunged with the Keyblade, jabbing straight into Chaugmar's energy barrier. There were a few sparks of lightning as the Keyblade pierced, but with resistance and increasing pressure, the shield eventually repelled Sora, sending him tumbling back.
"Ugh," he grimaced, rolling his shoulders and working through the strain.
"...well that didn't work," Yriax put her hands on her hips. With a flurry of Cura magic, she grimaced. "Any other bright ideas?"
"Almost had it there," Sora grit his teeth. "Just gotta put a little more oomph into it, that's all."
Chaugmar wobbled patiently as Sora glowed red several times, taking the same stance as before.
"Wait-" Yriax cried, but couldn't stop him from charging again. The Keyblade pierced the magic barrier, again, and lightning crackled on contact, again. But with Sora's increased energy through several Braves, there was a massive 'ping!' as some clashed within Chaugmar. Pink light surged around its energy shield, and the whole thing rippled in response to Sora's advance, recoiling away from the attack.
Sora emerged, covered in some foul smelling goo, but his payment was a massive gash in Chaugmar, just below its massive creepy eye.
It was too soon to celebrate though. The penalty kicked in, and blue lightning wracked Sora's body. Grunting with pain, barely able to keep a hold of his Keyblade, he fell to his knees, unable to move of his own accord. And worse still, Chaugmar's shield started getting brighter.
With purple mist eating away at his vision, Sora forced his gaze upwards to see Yriax's diminutive body floating between him and Chaugmar.
"Yriax...?" He grunted between crackles of lightning. "N-no, you can't."
"Well someone has to, Sora." She huffed, arms spread wide. "And you broke just about every rule there. It's a good thing I'm here to cover for you, huh?!"
"Wait-" It was Sora's turn to be left behind as Yriax concentrated;
"Second Layer!"
Arcing outwards from Yriax, two enormous dark pulses of energy surged. Almost winglike, they covered not only her, but Sora as well, with room to spare. His mind was little more than flashing lights at the time, but something about this just didn't feel... right. Sure, she was saving him here, something she clearly didn't care for, and that was a good thing. But why was the lifesaving attack so... dark?
In any case, Chaugmar's shield exploded, covering them both in a searing pink light. It clashed against Yriax's darkness, roseate lightning on a stormy night, but couldn't even hope to pierce the barrier. Scraping himself off the floor, Sora clutched at his chest to soothe his staccato heartbeat, and Yriax's Second Layer retreated, leaving everyone out in the open once again.
"Let's... not do that again, hm?" She said. "Powerful as I am, Sora, I can only clean up so many mistakes."
Sora raised a twitching Keyblade arm. "...yeah, that's fair. Sorry."
Focusing all the energy he had, he wrenched a foot forward, only for it to buckle at the ankle and send him tumbling again.
"Just forget about this round, Sora. You've missed your chance." Yriax said, the disappointed tang sharp on her tongue. "That'll teach me for trusting someone, hmm?"
"For what it's worth," Sora dragged himself upright again. "It worked. Did you see how much I hurt that thing?"
"Yeah, and you would've been mush if it weren't for me," Yriax folded her arms, as Chaugmar's barrier started regenerating.
"That's been the case anyway." Sora stretched out his limbs, as the last of the twitching finally wormed its way out. "We know what works now, and I just need to Default before I Brave next time."
"Hm," Yriax smiled wryly. "If only someone had been telling you to do that from the start."
"...point taken." Sora scratched his head. It sure did feel weird, being scolded by someone so small. At least Donald and King Mickey were almost the same height as him, but this tiny fairy, despite her size, commanded so much presence. It was... bizarre.
Taking a breath, Sora drew his Keyblade across his body and glowed blue to initiate the Default sequence. Chaugmar surged forward for its bloodsucking attack again, leaving him dizzy and pale, but thanks to the Default, still standing. With every swoop, and every drink of blood, Sora held strong, retaining as much strength as he could to unleash it all in one go with another piercing strike.
Another lunge, and another gaping wound was struck across Chaugmar's body, yet the weird spiky brain thing held strong. Still encased in its shield, yet visibly injured, it had to be getting weaker, surely?
"I don't like that, Sora!" Yriax pouted at him.
"What? I'm just focusing all of my Braves into one attack. It's the only way I can get through that barrier."
"I still don't like it!" Yriax fumed. "This is Default and Brave, not Defend and Boost. Pick a path!"
"Aw c'mon, you said you could trust me!"
"You said I could trust you Sora!"
"But it's the only thing that works!" Sora cried, flashing blue with a Default just in time for Chaugmar's shield to burst yet again. The surge of pink lightning brought him down to one knee, but thanks to Default, wasn't enough to ring alarm bells this time.
"Mrgrgr...!" Yriax pouted, folding her arms and looking the other way. Sora supposed he had to help himself for a few turns then, staggering forward and slashing with his Keyblade. Exposed and defenceless without its shield, Chaugmar just wobbled haplessly as his Keyblade bounced off the spongy mass, but of course he only had a limited time to do this before the shield came back, and things would've been a lot easier if Yriax wasn't being a stubborn child right now.
"Look Yriax, I'm sorry...!" Sora gasped, stumbling to his knees as a flurry of Keyblade attacks gave Chaugmar a beating. Its shield bubbled back into place, and it didn't even look hurt any more, but he had to be making progress. "But sometimes you gotta know when to bend the rules."
"...bend the rules?" She side-eyed him. "You didn't just bend the rules, Sora. You threw the book out the window. How can I protect someone so reckless and rule breaky?!"
"By trusting me." Sora stood up straight. Flashing blue with Default as another bloodsucking attack surged forward, Sora didn't even flinch or break his gaze this time. Bruises thumped their way across his body, and one of his eyes was bloodshot now, but he didn't look away.
"You make it sound so easy..." Yriax sighed, coating him in another burst of Curaga.
"It is, Yriax. Now I know what to do, we'll have this thing beaten in no time. Just you wait."
Yriax just folded her arms, arching a mighty eyebrow. Doubtful though she was, Sora's determination and timing eventually shone through, clinging on through the Energy Burst, attacking relentlessly when Chaugmar was vulnerable, and breaking through defences with his Piercing Strike when he could. Yriax kept him healthy, and despite all her grumpiness, did manage a ghost of a smile as Chaugmar slowly sunk to defeat, exploding in a mass of goop and brains after what must've been the tenth round of coordinated attacks.
"And that's the power of teamwork!" Sora spun his Keyblade around a few times before pivoting it over one shoulder. "Yeah!" He pointed a closed fist at Yriax, who flinched away from it immediately.
"...not gonna bump it?"
"Bump? What's that?" Yriax peered out from between her hands. "You looked like you were about to hit me with it."
"No no, wouldn't dream of it!" Sora cried. "It's uh, it's just a thing we do to celebrate things. You bump your fist against mine..."
"Okayyy?" Yriax frowned, following his actions and pressing a closed fist against his single knuckle.
"Yeah! And then you go 'boooom!' like this, see?" He grinned, parachuting his hand away from her.
"...boooom?" Yriax did the same, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"Yeah, awesome! That's called a fistbump." Sora grinned. "It's what friends do, see?"
"Friend?" Yriax's eyes widened. Something arcane shone beneath their surface for a flickering second, before she divorced that sentiment completely.
"Uh huh. We did good together." Sora said. "Now, let's go pray to a crystal, huh?"
Yriax just watched as he shuffled towards the Yellow Crystal, with a huff and disembodied smile.