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*miquelet watched as Sora sent her down past the beast's mouth, as he tried to sacrifice himself to let them win... she knew that if he were to die here, he would probably die in the real world as well... she knew there was nothing to do to stop him, that he had made his choice... even so, she hoped there was another way...*

*the darkness watched the two approach, and got ready for a last attack... suddenly, they seperated, with Sora headed straight for it's mouth, while miquelet managed to get under it... miquelet was it's true target, all else was irrelevant... since they were in her mind, it was only with her defeat that the darkness could have a true body of it's own, the whole point of it's attack on her... it whipped it's head downwards, ignoring Sora to try to get miquelet... with her under him, there would be no real chance of escape... what the other did was unimportant... if the darkness managed to kill miquelet, then it had won...*

*miquelet watched the darkness change it's course, as it's mouth turned to lunge towards her... she was prepared for this, but she would have obviously preferred it wouldn't happen... she braced herself, and looked up at Sora, who was just starting to fall from his jump... not into the darkness' mouth, but onto it's back, at the base of it's neck...*
Sora... take the shot... hurry...

*as the sword hits the core, it meets a stiff resistance, but manages to penetrate it, causing a dark beam of energy to lance out... this energy is basically harmless, but not for the darkness... it rears back, and tries to claw at the sword still sticking out of it... it whirls around in pain, conscious thought lost to the blinding agony... slowly, ever so slowly, it tires, and finally crashes on it's face, hitting the ground with a resounding thud... as it lay there, pale splotches spread throughout it's form, and eventually all but it's core faded from existance... it's core was actually a huge gem, which now had a colossal crack running down it's length... energy still poured out, but it didn't seem to be in danger of exploding... miquelet got up, and rushed over to Sora... as the darkness had whirled, he would have been either taken along for the ride, or whipped off at great speeds...*
Sora...? are you alright...?
*miquelet had only taken minor injuries from the darkness' actions, but she didn't know about Sora's condition...*

I'll be fine... I don't know if it's over, though... hold still, alright...?
*miquelet sets her staff down, and holds her hands over Sora... a pale light emits from them, as she casts a healing spell... she isn't nearly as experienced with healing as Anastasia-san, but she has learned enough to be at least somewhat decent... at her current rate of skill, it would only heal about half of Sora's injuries, though... while this is going on, the crack on the core grows wider, as it slowly emits more light...*
there... does that help any...?

*miquelet looks at the core, which almost seems to be beating, like a heart... she can see Sora's sword sticking upright in the ground a short distance from the core, so she walks over to get it... as she approaches the core, the beating seems to increase, but otherwise nothing seems to happen... she brings Sora his sword, and hands it to him...*
I saw your sword over by the core... I don't know what it's doing, though... I'm a little worried...

that sounds like a good idea... shall we...?
*miquelet brandished her staff, and slowly approached the core, waiting for Sora's confirmation before she acted... the core was pulsing now, seeming to be trying to grow, or perhaps regenerate itself... the energy pouring out from the crack seemed darker, if that was possible...*

*miquelet paused a moment, as she thought through what their actions could do... would it be better to leave it, and hope it's harmless, like people sometimes do for cancer, or try to remove it, and hope nothing goes wrong... she watched it while she thought things over... it's pulsing seemed wrong... on every level, something like that shouldn't be where it was... she nodded, and turned to Sora...*
yes, I'm sure... we can't leave it here... it poses too much of a danger...

*seeing Sora raise his sword, miquelet copied him, raising her staff, so they would strike at the same moment... they both brought their weapons down with a resounding crash, and the crack on the core instantly widened greatly... a faint humming could be non-heard, like the sounds that you can feel with your inner ear, but not actually hear... then, the waves of energy amplified, and gushed forth, filling the whole room with pitch blackness... it was impossible to see anything, but the other senses functioned as well as they always had...*