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In the half a century the IPRE crew had been running from the Hunger, they had encountered many strange worlds. Some were lively and some were desolate, but they were always unique, and the crew was never sure what they would happen upon next.
So it was not entirely a shock when the Starblaster flew into an unusual planar system. What was unusual was the many different planets that were held in the material plane. Each one seemed to be distinct from the next and stranger still they seemed to be completely isolated from each other.
The crew glued themselves to the ships windows watching as they passed over a world that seemed to be completely covered in jungle. Another world seemed completely tan in color with sand covering most of it and only a single point of light indicating civilization.
There was a single minute of silence as the crew watched each world pass, a rare occurence on the Starblaster, which was disrupted suddenly by Davenport’s voice over the loudspeaker.
“Uh, so, this is a new one for us gang. I’m not sure where to even start with this one.”
Barry tore his eyes away from the passing worlds and spoke up. “Well, the logical thing to do would be to wait for the Light to fall and follow it from there, right?”
“My man, we have at least a day before the light falls. I say we go check out the water world we passed about ten minutes ago.” Barry turned to look at Taako, who was already dressed in a pair of trunks with a sheer pink cover on his top half a pair of shades placed aesthetically on the top of his head. To his right, leaning against the wall was the surfboard Taako had acquired during the cycle on the beach.
“Or,” Magnus’ voice rang out loud and excited. “We could check out that sick coliseum down there. I’d love to get some training in this cycle.”
Lucretia’s voice, although quiet, spoke out and the crew immediately quieted, “I’m going to have to go with Barry on this one, I don’t think we can go exploring without a plan. We can’t lose time for the sake of this world and for our own safety.”
The room broke out it a big discussion each member advocating for either a world or waiting for the light. Merle, to absolutely no one's surprise, and to some of the crews disgust, expressed his interest in the jungle world. Purely for the botanical study of course.
Lup remained suspiciously quiet watching out the window in contemplation. Barry was the first to notice and removed himself from the squabbling group.
“Lup?” Barry said reaching out to touch her shoulder gently, “You wanna get in on the fighting? I think Mags and Merle are about to go at it.”
Lup looked up her eyes a little glaze like she had been somewhere else for a second and then smiled. “Oh yeah, sure, bare.”
She smiled, but Barry could tell there wasn’t any true feeling behind it. He was about to ask what was really going on when the ship’s cabin suddenly became illuminated on the left side. The Light had begun to fall and it was close.
“Hey, uh, Cap’nport, I think the light just fell!” Magnus shouted to the cockpit.
“Yeah, uh, looks like it fell onto one of the worlds on our left. It kinda looks like a uh, well it kind looks like a big field with a tower in the middle of it. These worlds are freakishly small my dudes.” Lup called out, watching as Davenport maneuvered the ship closer.
“Honestly, I feel so attacked right now. This is possibly the worst thing this Light has ever done to me, I never get to do anything fun. It knew and it plotted against me.” Taako pouted turning to head back to his cabin to change, dragging his surfboard behind him.
“Yeah, no, I’m with Taako. This is some horseshit. That world looks totally boring! There were plenty of others to choose from and we get stuck with weird tower thing.” Merle muttered, strapping himself in to the closest chair for landing.
The rest of the group watched as Davenport landed the Starblaster in the field behind the tower far enough away that they hoped it wouldn't draw any unnecessary attention. Merle had offered to stay back on the ship with Davenport, just in case they needed to flee.
Magnus, Lup, Taako, Lucretia, and Barry made their way through the grassy paths and found a stone walkway a distance off from the ominous building. They followed it some ways before they entered an open area that appeared to be the front of the structure.
There were beautiful trimmed hedges and tall, tastefully cut trees that led up to the front door, and standing in front of that door was the strangest trio the crew had ever seen.
“Everyone else is seeing this right? Like I’m not imagining the dog and the duck standing there, yeah?” Taako asked looking back and forth between his companions.
“Thats Donald Duck to you, mister.” A voice that sounded like a blender full of rocks came out of the duck’s mouth.
“Yeah anyone else weirded out that he just talked?” Magnus stated reaching for his grandfather’s blade.
The boy who had been standing in between the two animals took a fighting stance and suddenly a blade appeared in his hand shaped like...a key.
“We don’t want any trouble. If you’re working with the organization you can turn around now.” He shouted in a much younger voice than any of them had expected.
Magnus was the first to respond, the others still confused about the boy and his friends. “Hey, uh, listen, my name’s Magnus, and this here is Taako, Lup, Barry, and Lucretia. I don’t know who this organization is, but we came here looking for something, and we’re hoping you can help us find it.”
The boy hesitated for a second deciding whether or not to trust them. After a tense minute, the boy’s blade disappeared from his hands and a smile appeared on his face. “I’m Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy.”
Donald was apparently the duck, and he looked none to pleased that Sora had dropped his guard. Goofy, the dog like thing, made a noise that sounded like he was choking, before extending his hand. “Gwarsh, it’s nice to meetcha.”
“Yeah, you know on a level from weird to creepy, I’m going to put this one at fuck level alpha. I mean honestly, this is the weirdest goddamn shit we have ever seen, and I made friends with a family of Mongooses.” Taako said in histeria.
“Yeah, you know, I’m with Taako on this one kid. Like, you have a dog and a duck with you. I might need some explanation to that.” Lup echoed Taako.
The boy looked confused and looked from Donald and Goofy, then back to the crew, “Uh, yeah, it's a long story. You guys said you were looking for something?”
“Yeah, the Light of Creation, kid. We saw it fall not too far from here— close to your, uh, tower?” Barry stuttered through his words. He was a little anxious that they had met someone so fast. He had hoped they would have found the Light before having to deal with politics of the land.
“The Light of Creation? Never heard of it,” Donald quacked, tapping his staff against the ground thoughtfully.
“Well, you see, that's not entirely unusual for us to hear. It's a big bright thing that radiates warmth and, um, well, power?” Lucretia stepped forward, opening the journal she had brought to document the exertion. She flipped to the page showing a drawing she had done of the Light in one of their earlier cycles.
The trio leaned in to get a better look. “You know, maybe Master Yen Sid knows something about it,” Goofy said in a drawl, looking at the other two. “Yeah that's what I was thinking. You guys should come with us to the tower and we’ll introduce you to Master Sid.” Sora nodded matter of factly.
“I’m sorry, Ben who?” Magnus whispered to Barry, who rolled his eyes. The group followed along behind the trio who had started walking towards the tower without waiting for confirmation from the crew.
Lup had pushed her way through the confused group, as they walked through the doors into a foyer of the massive tower. There was a spiral staircase that clung to the side of the walls spiraling all the way the tower ending at a single door.
“That's a bit extravagant,” she said to no one in particular.
“Yeah that's Master Sid for you,” she heard Sora chuckle next to her.
They started to climb the staircase. Lucretia in particular studied the walls as the ascended. They were beautiful. Blues and yellows painted in mesmerizing swirls that followed the climb up. There were painted stars that Lucretia could have sworn they moved and sparkled as they continued.
Lup broke the silence when they were half way up. “So, kid, that was a pretty sweet blade i saw you whip out earlier.”
“Oh yeah,” Sora said in an overly cheerful voice. Suddenly, his blade appeared in his hand again. “It's called a keyblade.”
Lup smiled appreciatively. “My dude, you have got to teach me how you do that. Its wicked cool.”
Sora laughed and made his keyblade disappear once more. Behind them, Barry made a noise interjecting into the conversation. “How old are you kid?” he asked.
The climb was silent for awhile, and Lup wondered if Sora was going to answer Barry or not. When they reached the top, he stopped and turned to speak directly to Barry.
“You know, it's been a while since I counted, but I think I’m fifteen.” He smiled and opened the door.
The group had no time to process that bit of information as they entered a room as unique as the planar system they were in. The man sitting behind the desk was even more, so with a long blue robe with yellow stars printed on it and a tall pointy hat to match. He was older, which showed on his face not only by the small wrinkles, but also by the long white pointed beard and stark white eyebrows.
“Man, Merle definitely should have come with us. You two would get along famously.” Magnus mumbled, his eyes wide.
The man stood up and raised his eyebrow at Sora. “Who are your friends?” he asked in a deep, clear, regal voice.
Sora introduced all of them quickly, “They said they were looking for something called the Light of Creation. I was hoping maybe you could help them out.”
“Um, yeah, and maybe put me in touch with your stylist, because they are on top of it, my man,” Taako said eyeing the tall pointed hat.
“I style myself, young elf, a fact I am most proud of, thank you. I am Master Yen Sid, but you may refer to me as Master Sid or simply Master. I have never heard of this Light of Creation, though I am assuming you are referring to the light that fell to my tower just recently.”
The group nodded, hanging on every word the Master said. He seemed to command attention when he spoke whether intentionally or not. His eyes roamed over all of them studying them, collecting data, possibly measuring their worth. It made Barry very anxious.
“Um sir, if you don’t mind we simply would like to acquire the Light and be on our way.” Barry stated his hands folded together worrying at the skin on his nails.
The Master's eyes lightened a bit and gave a kind smile. “Barry Bluejeans there is no need to be anxious. You may take the light if you so wish. It is something that is not of this world, and so should be taken from it by its protectors. If you wish you may stay here for as long as you need and no harm will come to you from within.” He patted Barry’ shoulder reassuringly.
“As for you, Lucretia, I noticed your journal coming in. Would it be wrong of me to assume that it holds dictations of your journey?”
Lucretia shook her head. “No, you’re right.”
“Well, my dear, I would love to hear that story, if you wouldn’t mind indulging an old man. In return, I can share with you some of my own dictations if you’d like.”
Lucretia's eyes went wide, and she nodded excitedly. There was much she could learn from this Master, she could tell.
“Very good. Now, Taako, Magnus, and Lup. Sora and his friends have just come from our training grounds you are more than welcome to use them if you like, I’m sure you can teach these young ones a thing or two.” He winked at all three of them.
“Young ones?” Donald snorted in agitation. “I’ll show you young ones.” With his staff in hand, he stormed out the room. Goofy quickly followed behind him, apologizing for his friends behavior.
“Uh, yeah don’t mind, Donald, he's all quack and no bite. I’ll be out at the training field if you guys need anything.” Sora said cheerfully, before leaving the room as well.
“Ah yeah, training! Now thats what I’m talking about. You knuckleheads can chill if you want. I’m gonna go tone these puppies up!” Magnus boomed, showing off his biceps as he followed Sora out the door.
Taako rolled his eyes and followed after him, but Lup seemed to be staring at the Master.
“Uh, listen, I appreciate your help and all, but just like that you would give us the Light? No fuss, no trial, no checking of our credentials?” Her voice wasn't exactly raised, just suspicious. The team rarely got anything for free.
Master Sid smiled warmly and turned to sit at his desk once again. “Miss Lup, judging by your fellow companions, I am sure you have shared a great deal of hardship. You have come peacefully to me and asked for something to be returned to you. I see no reason to deny you that, and I hope you will see no reason to distrust me.”
Lup thought for a moment and looked at Lucretia who seemed eager to begin trading notes with the old man.
“I just have one question and then I’ll leave our favorite journalist to you. We saw the light fall to your world. It's why we’re here, but we saw many other worlds before yours, each inhabited. That’s not normal for us, my dude. What's that about?” she asked.
The Master chuckled, nodding in understanding. “Yes, I am sure it is strange to outsiders of our universe. I could tell you all you wish to know, but I believe Sora might be able to explain it better than I, and so, I would suggest you pose the same question to our young Keyblade Master.”
Lup didn’t really see how a kid could hold more information than a funky looking wizard, but she shrugged and peaced out, leaving the nerds to talk.
She found Sora right where he said he would be, out on the training ground. It appeared he and Magnus were sparring. Lup had known Magnus for a very long time now, and although she had seen him fight many things, a sixteen year old boy was not one of them. Sora, to his credit, was fast and skilled in combat and gave their big burly Mags a run for his money. He had something Mags did not.
Lup had moved to stand next to Taako, who was watching the sparring match and making quips about their favorite fighter, when a bolt of lightning struck inches from where Magnus had been standing seconds ago. Thankfully, Magnus dodged, but the field became very silent.
Until Taako yelled, “Oh hell yeah, now we’re talking! That was superb my dude, yeah, whoo! What other spells you got? Finally, someone who fucking gets it!”
“Uh, thanks, I think. I know a bunch more, but honestly Donald is better with magic than I am,” Sora said, all too humble to be dealing with Taako.
“Yeah, that's right. You wanna work with magic, you come to me. I am a sorcerer after all.” Donald quacked, not so humble.
Taako leaned over to Lup with a weirded out expression on his face and whispered, “LuLu, if I take lessons from that duck, you’re never going to let me forget it are you?”
“Never ever, Koko.”
Taako sighed dramatically before addressing Donald. “Alright, Mr. Duck, teach me how to quack!”
“Speaking of lessons, Magnus, it was fun fighting with you, but you’re more hands on than I am. Goofy is better at close range combat when it comes to brute force. Maybe you could learn a thing or two?” Sora suggested. Lup could see the beads of sweat on the kids forehead.
“Gwarsh, Sora, that's nice of you to say.” Goofy looked like he was blushing, which was a weird thing to see on an anthropomorphic dog.
“Uh, yeah, I mean, It's a little weird, but I never turn down some quality time with a dog.” Magnus said, as he extended his hand to Goofy, who in extended his paw, and they shook on it.
Lup smiled, finding a nice place on the grass to just watch the boys, as they worked in the weirdest training session she had ever seen. It would be a scene that would become common for the crew in the coming year.
A few minutes passed, and Lup became lost in thought and was startled when she felt someone sit next to her.
“I had a friend back on my world who used to tease me for daydreaming. She used to call me a lazy bum. It startled me awake more than once.” Sora’s voice was filled with nostalgia and loss. It was hard for Lup to hear coming from someone so young.
“Yeah, I’ve been guilty of letting the old mind wander now and again. Though I never had a pretty girl flirt with me over it.” She teased, nudging Sora who started to blush.
“Well, no, I mean, it's not like that Kairi’s just… you know, a friend.” Sora stuttered looking around as if he was worried someone would hear.
Lup laughed, “I’m just joshing you, kid. I have a similar ‘friend’.”
“Is that who you were thinking about a second ago? You seemed really concentrated and serious. I thought something was wrong.” There was true concern in Sora’s voice which surprised Lup, as she had only met this kid five minutes ago.
She sighed, laid back, and stretched. “Nah, I was just thinking about all the worlds we saw coming here. Normally in our, uh, travels we come across one world that's populated, but here is different. We saw twenty or so world's alone and each was different and weird looking, and I’m sure there were more we didn’t see. Master fancy hat told me you might be able to explain some of that to me?”
Lup watched as Sora closed his eyes and a deep crease appeared on his forehead. He was silent for a few more minutes his face going through a range of emotions. Lup liked this side of Sora, she would come to appreciate it in the coming years.
Finally he spoke up, “Well, I’ll try and make it easy to understand. Things can get pretty confusing around here it's hard to keep up with. You see the sky above us? See all the stars starting to appear?” He pointed up at the sky which had now turned a dusk type color. Sure enough, tiny but bright stars began dotting the sky.
Lup was awestruck, of course she had seen stars before, but none like these. Some of them were closed together forming constellations she didn’t know the name of. Others were isolated and dim as if the sky would swallow them whole. There were so many different ones it was overwhelming to look at and Lup swore some of them changed colors.
“Those are the worlds you saw. They’re individual and they aren’t connected, but they are all very important. There is a balance in our world between light and dark. Those worlds help maintain that balance, but sometimes things get out of whack. It’s hard to fight darkness because most of the time it's because there is an absence of light, of hope. Thats where Donald, Goofy, and I come in. We defend those worlds, we keep that balance. I’ve been to so many of them and met so many people, but I know there’s so much more to explore and protect.” He smiled at Lup, who was a little dazed from all the information thrown at her.
Sora chuckled. “Like I said, a little complicated.”
Lup shook her head. “No, no. See, I get that. Makes perfect sense to me. Kinda parallels with what me and the crew do. What I don't understand is how a sixteen year old boy, a duck, and a dog becomes the saviors of the universe.”
“Actually, I was twelve when my world was first destroyed, but it's not just me. There are a bunch of other people helping out too.” Sora stated matter of factly.
“Holy fuck, twelve? You defo should not have been in charge of that blade at twelve!” Lup exclaimed.
Sora made a face. “What about you? You look, what, maybe nineteen? How’s that any different?”
Lup rolled her eyes. “I’m a hundred and five! The youngest one here is Mags, and he was like, what, 23 when our home world was destroyed? So, yeah, I’d say you were a little young to be thrown into saving the world.”
Sora looked at with wide eyes. “Wait, your world was destroyed? How did you guys escape? Was it the Darkness?”
Lup stared at him. “That’s what you’re focused on? I just told you I was a hundred and five year old being, and you wanna know how my world was destroyed?” she teased.
“It’s kind of my job to be focused on that?” He retorted. “So, was it the darkness?”
Lup smirked. “Well…” She thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain her own story.
“I guess you call it that, but we call it the Hunger. It follows us wherever we go, and its hunting for the Light too. If we don't acquire it, the Hunger destroys whatever world we are on. It completely engulfs it. Then it gets stronger.” Lup’s eyes narrowed mostly out of frustration. She was getting tired of running.
“Does that mean...it's going to come here?” Sora looked unsure of himself. “Do we need to tell Master Sid?”
Lup watched as he stood up, and she followed the action. “Hey kid, calm down. I’m sure Lucretia is telling him right now. We have a plan, and because we have the Light, you guys will be fine. Just a little thunderstorm, really.”
Sora seemed to calm down a little and looked up towards the sky, regaining his composure. Lup felt a little bad. She knew they would have to talk about it at some point, but maybe she could have broken it a little bit more delicately to the kid.
Sora’s eyes were closed for a moment, and he let out a long sigh. Then, he smiled. “Alright, what's the plan?”
In the next year, the crew continued to study the light as they had done in every cycle, and this time they had some help from the wise Master Sid. Magnus trained relentlessly with Goofy and got stronger, but learned that he could do more than just attack. Goofy taught Magnus that offense was not always the best play. Defense did it’s own damage to the enemy, and often allowed someone else to get an open shot, Magnus didn’t need to be alone in the fight. He had friends that could take the shots too.
Taako’s training didn’t last very long and descended into him messing with Donald any chance he could. Donald, with his short temper, often played into Taako’s hands unknowingly. Most days his angry screech could be heard all the way to the tower.
Lucretia had barely left the Master’s tower and had a new book in hand every time someone saw her. She seemed to be learning more and more about the energy and flow of every world. She hoped it would help the crew in future planes they appeared in.
Barry and Davenport stayed with the ship, much to Lup’s annoyance. The first truly unique planar system they had been too and they refused to explore it.
Lup was having none of that and practically dragged Sora to his own spacecraft which they called the Gummi Ship. A weird name to be sure, but they called theirs the Starblaster and they really didn’t have much room to talk.
A couple of times Lup was able to drag Taako along with her, they visited a world called Atlantis together. Taako had lost his shit when he saw Donald transform Sora and himself into aquatic species.
“Omigod, Lup, I have to be a mermaid. It’s like my whole life purpose has led to this moment, and I need it!” It hadn’t taken much convincing for Donald to transform them, and they spent the whole day exploring. Later, Lup would remember it as one of her top five moments with her brother.
Magnus came with her once— well, actually, she was dragged by Magnus, to Sora’s ship to visit the coliseum. She had never seen Mags so much in his element before. He immediately signed himself, Lup, and Sora up for a tournament. They swept the competition away with little effort, although the last match gave them a bit of a run for their money.
That was the first time the group encountered the Heartless, and Sora explained to them that the balance he was tasked with keeping depended on him defeating heartless. He said his blade held the true key to defeating them. It unlocked their hearts or something like that.
Lup began to admire the kid with each world they visited. He knew almost everyone, and almost everyone had something to thank him for. Sora was the type of person who kept his optimistic demeanor even in the face of danger, which they found from time to time.
In one specific instance Sora had dropped off Lup and Barry at a place called Radiant Gardens for a nice sightseeing date. They had spent the whole day walking around the newly restored areas of the city and visiting the local shops; it was wonderful.
After a year of exploring so many rich worlds with so many different stories to tell, Lup began to circle back to the original worry she had when they had first come to this plane. With so many worlds, what kind of damage would the Hunger do?
It was two days before the hunger came that the IPRE crew found themselves back in Master Sids office arguing about the best course of action. Master Sid stayed quiet for most of it, although it was a thoughtful quiet with his eyebrows knit together in contemplation.
“We can’t stay here and wait for them. We should all be on the ship ready to go as soon as they get here.” Davenports voice rang out in a commanding tone.
Magnus rolled his eyes. “Listen, we can help minimize the damage of the Hunger, make sure this planar system doesn't have as many casualties.”
“There are too many worlds, Magnus. Some of them are going to get battered more than others, and we don’t have enough people to protect all of them,” Barry stated.
“Barry does have a point, although you are assuming those worlds can not protect themselves, and, from what I understand from Master Sid, they can.”
“Like that vine dude from the jungle planet? I bet he could take down a whole pillar on his own with those muscles of his.” Merle mused.
“Gross, Merle.” Magnus chided.
The room swelled with noise as everyone tried to make themselves heard, and Lup noticed that Sora and his friends had not said anything. Of course she hadn’t either. She knew what her choice was, and that there really wasn’t any debate.
She was staying to fight no matter what.
She was shaken from her thoughts when she heard her brothers voice loud and clear over everyone else. “You know, I kind of want to hear what Lup thinks. Lulu?”
His eyes were fixed on her, as were everyone else's, but she knew what Taako was trying to do. He knew this world was important to her and had seen her excitement continue to grow the year they had been here. He was giving her a chance to speak, and he was saying that he would listen.
“There really isn’t a decision for me, my dudes. I can’t leave. We all have learned so much from this system, and honestly this is the most help we’ve ever gotten from a world's inhabitants. Sora, Donald, and Goofy already protect this world from its own evils and I say we protect them from ours. I know this system won't disappear since we recovered the Light, but we all know it is still going to be a battle.” Lup’s voice was strong.
The room was silent for a minute, everyone looking at one another. Master Sid had a small smile on his face, and Sora gave her a thumbs up.
“Listen, and I’m sure this comes as a surprise to no one, but cha boy is staying if Lup is staying. You will never hear me say this again, but that angry duck wizard taught me a lot, and now I get to teach him a thing or two.” Taaco shrugged nonchalantly.
Magnus agreed and Merle joined in as well, but Davenport stood firm and refused to see reason.
“I’m the captain of this crew. I’m not going to let this mission fail because no one was left to pilot the ship out of here if things turn south.” Davenport folded his arms and leaned against the wall giving his final words on the matter.
Barry cleared his throat, “Well, I guess if we’re going to do this, the logical thing to do would be to centralize the attack. Make it so the Hunger focuses on one area so that damage to the other worlds is minimal.”
Lup smiled at Barry with a big toothy grin. Lucretia seemed at a loss, she wasn’t much of a fighter and often times she was the one who hung back at the ship. Lup could tell though that something was different this time.
“What if we made the Light into a beacon? Magnified it so the Hunger would converge wherever it was? That way we could draw them out into a central location like Barry suggested and those who could fight would distract it long enough for Davenport to get the ship out?”
“Lucretia, you beautiful human, you!” Lup swept her up in a hug with much protest from the journalist herself.
“Okay, that's great, but how do we magnify the Light?” Magnus asked, a little skeptical.
“I believe I can help with that.”
Lup nearly dropped Lucretia she was so startled by the low voice that came from Master Sid.
“Lucretia, if you would be willing to assist me, I believe we can create a spell that magnifies the energy of the light you have found.” He spoke again calmly, but Lup saw the twinkle in his eyes.
Lucretia agreed wholeheartedly. Her and Master Sid left the room to another part of the tower to begin preparations.
“Well I guess that means the rest of us are fighting. I think we should split in pairs, that way during the fight you have someone watching your back.” Sora said cheerfully as if there wasn’t a storm on the horizon.
On the day of the arrival the group was ready. Master Sid and Lucretia had begun to channel some strange energy that allowed the Light of Creation to amplify its power and sure enough within minutes of the sky turning black… The Hunger arrived.
Merle and Barry were paired together a little ways from where the Light was and caught the first pillar and the specters that descended. It wasn’t long before Mangus and Goofy were engaged as well. Taaco and Donald had been their long range fighters and took potshots where they could get them.
Spells of fire and thunder and cries of battle rang in the air. Lup and Sora didn’t have to wait too long to join into the fight as more tendrils descended.
“Alright, kid. You ready?” Lup said, her hands catching fire casting an ominous glow on her face.
Sora’s blade appeared in his hand. “Just try and keep up, wontcha?” He smiled, and both of them dove in.
The team had fought the Hunger before, but it was never this organized and with so much support. They seemed to be holding their own against the menace and distracted them enough that Davenport was able to maneuver out and away from the field taking the Light with him. The beacon Lucretia and Master Side had created dimmed and vanished.
Everything seemed to be going as planned, but then they heard a scream come from Lucretia. Lup turned to look, and saw that Lucretia had been picked up and thrown away from where she had been kneeling and was not moving.
Over behind her where Taako and Donald were she heard a grunt as Taako was hit in the chest by some dark energy. He feel to his knees gasping as the wind had been knocked out of him. It was obvious that the group was straining, but Lup knew that soon the Hunger would leave and so would they.
They just had to hold it off for a little while longer.
“Donald,” Sora shouted. “Can you heal them?”
“Oh, right!” Donald responded and let loose a green light from his staff that fell over Lucretia and Taako.
Taako stood up flexing his hands. “Why didn’t you do that in the first place, little dude?”
Donald just shrugged. “I forget I can do that sometimes.”
Lucretia stood up a little dazed, but she seemed better than a few minutes ago. She dodged the remaining spectres that were around her and shot small lights from her hand to keep them at bay.
Sora threw his Keyblade towards where Lucretia was and managed to knock two enemies down. Then, to Lup’s surprise, it boomeranged back hitting another specter behind Lucretia and landing back into Sora’s hand.
“Alright, alright, I see you, kid. Now, watch this.” With a smirk, Lup’s flames grew in her hand, and she began to spin, shooting off flames as she did so. It was a pyrotechnics show like no other, and Lup couldn't help but laugh.
“Lup!” Magnus shouted. “There are other people here! I like my sideburns without the burns!”
Lup spun to a stop still laughing, and Sora smiled as he threw a blizzard at a tendril that had inched closer to them.
“Lup, I have an idea, but I need you to go help Magnus.” Sora called over the fighting.
Lup nodded and headed towards Magnus who looked just as confused as she was.
“Goofy! Shield!” Sora called loudly.
Goofy, who had been standing next to Magnus, looked up and nodded, running towards Sora and bashing any specters in his way. As he got closer to Sora, he lowered his body and put the shield above his head.
“Gawrsh, be careful, Sora!” He called as the boy began to run towards his friend.
He jumped up onto the shield Goofy was carrying and was launched into the air high above the battlefield. The main tendril, which had been at the center of the confrontation, held steady as Sora dug his blade into it and let gravity take over. He slid down the entirety of this tendril and left a gash from his Keyblade as he did so.
The energy on the field changed as the Hunger became more persistent, apparently enraged by Sora’s actions. The group kept fighting, but they wouldn't be able to last much longer. Worse, there didn't seem to be much end in sight.
“Mags, I can’t keep this up much longer.” Lup mumbled, a gash in her arm beginning to bleed.
“Well, we won't have to much longer. Pretty soon the threads will pull us back to the ship. I’m more worried about the kid.” Mags nodded towards Sora, who was shaking with exhaustion.
The others weren’t holding well either. Donald was too busy healing everyone to help Taako, who was getting overwhelmed by the Hunger. Goofy had launched himself into the middle of a group of the spectres and was barely visible. Merle and Barry stood back to back as one chanted divine spells and the other cast whatever magic he could, but the circle around them was closing fast.
Lucretia and Master Sid were nowhere to be seen and Lup wondered if something had happened to them. She took heart in knowing that if Davenport had made it out it would be okay for the IPRE crew, but that still left the others here. So many thoughts ran through her head and she was being overwhelmed.
She needed to save the crew, she needed to save Sora, she needed to beat the Hunger, Magnus just got hit, where was Lucretia, did Davenport make it away, were they all about to disappear, was Taako okay, how could she help the others.
Then, suddenly, there was silence as the thoughts were pushed out by another presence. It told her to breathe calmly and to trust it, and it would help her in the final push.
She didn’t know where it came from, but it was giving her a sense of relief as if she had some backup power in her now. Some last bit of strength from her reserves, and, suddenly, with the presence inside her mind, she knew what to do.
Lup cut slices of spectres out of her way as she made her way to the middle of the battlefield where Sora stood. She helped destroy the spectres in his immediate area and smiled at him reassuringly.
“Hey, kid, wanna see something cool?” she grinned and then began to glow.
“You might wanna duck for this next part, Sora, it's gonna get a little spicy up in here.”
Sora stared at her dumbfounded. “What?”
Lup’s whole body became covered in flame as she built up energy inside of herself, containing it for as long as she could. The presence in her mind kept her calm and strong, letting her will to win the battle push her strengths as far as they would go.
“I said duck!” This time her voice was booming, amplified by her power and rang across the battlefield for all of her teammates to hear.
Lup hoped they had heard because at that moment she released every ounce of energy she had been holding onto in one great wave of fire. She had no idea where the power was coming from. She hadn’t done anything like this in past cycles. Yet here she was letting her whole being flow into this one attack.
When it was over the tendrils of the Hunger retreated, chasing after the Starblaster which had done one final zip overhead before disappearing.
Lup was on the ground breathing heavily and looking at the once clear sky, and, suddenly, a face popped over hers.
“Lulu, that was sick as hell!” Taako proclaimed, dogpiling on top of her. She winced, but didn't make any attempt to push him off.
The others joined them and finally Magnus pushed Taako off and helped Lup to her feet. “That was pretty cool, Lup.”
“Yeah, how did you do that? It was all woah and then ah and then wow!” Merle proclaimed hands waving in the air.
Lup shook her head. The presence she felt now gone. “I’m not really sure. I just had some extra energy.”
“Ill say.” Donald quacked. The fringes of his tail had darkened. Apparently, he hadn’t ducked quick enough.
“Gwarsh, Miss Lup, that was pretty spectacular.” Goofy laughed, patting her on the back.
“Yes, Miss Lup, that was a great performance.” Master Sid’s voice came from behind her, and she turned to see a smiling Lucretia alongside the Master.
Lup looked at both of them, each smiling in a mischievous way when it clicked. Somehow, the Master and Lucretia had lent her the energy she needed. “That was you!”
Lucretia at least had the dignity to look sheepish, but Master Sid hid everything.
“I believe that it was you, Miss Lup. We simply provided a… nudge.” Master Sid winked at her.
The IPRE crew laughed with their friends and briefly celebrated their victory, but Lup knew soon they would disappear and she wanted to say one last goodbye.
“Hey, Sora!” She called waving to the keyblade master who had just been released from a bear hug by Magnus.
He walked over, rubbing his back. “You know, Magnus could give Hercules a run for his money.”
Lup chuckled and smiled. “I’d love to see that match.”
“Well, maybe you will. I mean, you’re kind of stuck here now right?” Sora asked.
Lup wondered how much time they had left before the threads pulled them away and decided she needed to make this quick.
“Listen, my dude, you are one of the coolest people I have ever met, and you’ve met my brother.” She winked. “But, something's going to happen and I want you to know its not bad, just weird. This was a rarity for us, we don’t normally get to have this with most of the places we visit. I’m never going to forget this, kid.”
Sora’s smile wavered as she talked, and she could tell he was trying to process everything she had said, trying to figure out what she meant. She didn’t get time to explain before she heard a ‘ah, hell!’ from Merle.
They all looked over to see Merle glowing with white tendrils coming from his arms and legs, and they began to unravel, until Merle was gone. It began to happen all over with the others, slowly at first and then faster until Lup saw the tendrils coming from her own hands.
“Lup, what's happening?” Sora said, panicked. Donald and Goofy were at his side immediately both ready to fight whatever enemy was taking away their friends.
Lup smiled sadly. “Its chill, my dude. It happens all the time. We’re all fine, but you can’t fight this. Thanks for a great year, Sora.” She dabbed as she disappeared.
The field was silent and Sora was very confused, and he wasn't the only one. Donald and Goofy were looking around trying to follow where the white strings had taken their friends.
“What just happened?” Donald said.
“Gwarsh, they just disappeared,” Goofy said, rubbing his head in confusion.
Sora didn’t say anything, but stared at the spot where his friend used to be. He felt a tear on his face and touched it, not at all surprised. He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder and turned to see Master Sid wearing a sad smile.
“Be sure to trust what Lup told you, Sora.” he said, before walking back to the tower. Sora had a feeling that Master Sid knew more, but that wasn't anything new.
Sora let the words Lup had told him play over in his head as he stared up at the sky. Goofy came and asked, “You really think they’re alright, Sora?”
It took a moment for Sora to answer, but then he smiled and took the Master’s advice.
“Yeah I think they are.”