In the quiet cavern cloaked in darkness, a faint green glow illuminated Helios' pale face. His body lay curled near the barrier he'd erected—a barrier that now flickered and cracked. He stirred, groaning softly.
His eyelids fluttered open.
Every nerve in his body screamed. Even moving his fingers felt like a small rebellion against death. His breathing was shallow, ragged.
"...Kurai?" he rasped.
He rolled onto his back, vision swimming, and forced himself to sit upright. Sweat matted his hair to his forehead, and dried blood crusted the corners of his mouth. He closed his eyes, centering himself.
It seems like she'd really found Ursula and has started fighting her alone.
He could feel it. A pulse. A shockwave of darkness and magic had rippled through the world just minutes ago. Even from here, it had rocked the ocean floor like a quake. That kind of power wasn't ambient—it was battle-born.
"Damn it. Those two might end up destroying this god forsaken world at this rate," he muttered.
Gathering the last dregs of his strength, Helios pressed his hand to his chest and murmured the spell.
"...Curaga."
A soft, warm light glowed around him. His wounds sealed partway, enough to ease his agony but not enough to restore vitality. He clenched his teeth and cast it again, hand trembling.
The second wave coursed through him, stronger, more stabilizing. He gasped as strength returned to his limbs. It wasn't much, but it was enough to stand. To move and get to this fight.
He grabbed the edge of the cavern wall and forced himself up.
"She's probably already heavily injured so I'd better hurry," he said aloud, more to silence the growing panic than out of belief.
But the words rang hollow. If there was one thing he knew about Kurai—it was that she wouldn't die quietly. And she certainly wouldn't die quickly. But she also would run or stop until she killed Ursula.
His vision darkened again, and he reached out to steady himself. Although he couldn't see it he still felt cold sweat trickling down his jaw.
Another tremor.
He felt it deep in his chest this time—raw, violent magic tearing the ocean apart. He recognized one side instantly: The trident an ancient weapon only useful in this world.
But the other…
Helios exhaled slowly. His fingers curled into a fist.
He's never felt darkness this deep and powerful before. Even if he own darkness swelled up a hundred time he would still never get close to the amount of dark energy he felt.
That was Kurai.
He opened a corridor of shadow—not one of smooth elegance, but raw and cracked, flickering with unstable energy. The kind of portal that screamed this is a mistake, but still welcomed you in.
He swam through without hesitation.
Elsewhere…
Darkness churned. Blood diluted the ocean in thick, spiraling clouds.
Ursula bled from her arm, her lip, a slash across her shoulder. Her eyes were feral—her fury no longer regal or composed but primitive and unhinged. She still clutched the trident, but its glow had dimmed.
Kurai stood across from her, hunched but unbroken. The Shadow Sovereign hung at her side, jagged and humming, its spiral teeth stained with ichor.
Around them, the trench was no longer recognizable. Coral had been reduced to rubble. The seabed cracked and split in fault lines. Glowing rifts of unstable energy flared in every direction—remnants of their last clash.
Kurai inhaled sharply, holding a hand to her ribs.
"You're bleeding," Ursula sneered.
Kurai wiped her mouth and looked at her blood.
"So are you."
Ursula snarled. "I was chosen! You're nothing but shadow molded into flesh. A mistake that should never have been created!"
Kurai straightened, raising her Keyblade again. "Then you should work hard to erase me while you have the chance."
Moments Earlier – Inside the Maelstrom
It had started simply. With Ursula charging and Kurai countering. Light and darkness colliding like opposing gods. But as the fight progressed, Kurai's movements changed.
They became... familiar.
She feinted right, spun low, slashed up.
Ursula barely blocked in time.
Then Kurai vanished and reappeared mid-spin, launching a trio of spiral discs from her blade's teeth.
Too fast. Ursula couldn't read it anymore.
Kurai's style, once brutal and efficient, now layered in unpredictable counters, feints, and reflexive magic—a dance of adaptation.
The same style Helios used but with a deadly effiecenty as she didn't share his weakness of lack of power to handle long fights.
She'd watched him long enough. Possessed his body, for so long. Studied every twitch of his muscles. Every calculated gamble.
And now, she wielded his art better than even he had.
Back to the Present—
The trident slammed into the ground again.
A ripple surged outward, becoming a massive whirlpool that pulled everything toward Ursula. She hovered at its center, her wounds steaming and sealing with divine magic. Her eyes glowed brighter.
"I am the sea!" she howled. "You think this puny darkness can drown me? I am the abyss that will swallow all!"
Kurai gritted her teeth, struggling against the pull. Her Keyblade sliced anchors of darkness into the seabed to root herself.
"You keep calling yourself the abyss," she spat. "But I've seen the abyss. And it doesn't scream."
She flicked her blade skyward—and the shadows obeyed.
A dome of black sealed the area.
The whirlpool died.
Light vanished.
Only Ursula's eyes glowed now.
"...What did you do?"
Kurai's voice echoed from nowhere. "I simply made an ocean of darkness. The true abyss."
In that pitch-dark sphere, where light and time seemed to halt, Kurai reigned.
She struck from above. Then below. Then from both sides. Ursula couldn't track her, couldn't breathe without doubting the air. Each hit chipped at the divine armor protecting her.
Then—
A deep wound across her waist.
A stab through her side.
A downward slash that nearly took the trident from her grip.
Ursula roared, a sound more creature than queen, and exploded outward—banishing the dome with a surge of holy-light-infused seawater.
Kurai tumbled back, coughing up blood but still holding her stance.
Meanwhile...
Helios emerged at the edge of the trench, the battlefield stretching before him.
His almost buckled immediately for the power coming off thos two.
"Oh, f—" he gasped.
He clung to the coral wall for balance. The sheer pressure of the battlefield crushed down on him like gravity. He could barely breathe.
And then he saw them.
Kurai—darkness incarnate. Ursula—madness and light.
"I shouldn't even be here," he muttered.
He didn't summon his weapon. He didn't leap to aid her. Not yet.
No—he watched.
He studied.
In the end, he knew what he was capable of and that charging in would kill him. For now, he would wait and watch waiting to strike at the opportune moment.
Below…
Kurai panted. "Still standing?" she asked.
Ursula's chest rose and fell heavily. "I'll drag your corpse to the depths."
"Do it. I'll kill you from the afterlife."
They charged.
Clashed.
Again.
And again.
The ocean roared.
The trench cracked further.
Blood stained the current.
Both women stumbled.
And then—
Ursula's eyes went wide. The trident flickered.
Kurai looked up, eyes glowing silver-black.
She knew what was coming.
"Let's finish this," she whispered.