It took forever to get this started but finally I did so here we go

"You're crazy," comments Knuckles when I finally tell him about the message in the fire that has been perpetually haunting me. "That could mean a whole bunch of other things-I think you're thinking too hard."

"What else can it mean?" I ask defensively. He hums thoughtfully and then gives up in an impatient huff. "I don't know, but not that. I didn't know you were so superstitious."

"It has nothing to do with that," I protest. My former housekeeper Miriam was very superstitious, she told me someone had died in our home and was haunting it unless we had moved out. Hidden away under the couch and behind the fireplace were ancient antiques and spell tags that were supposed to drive evil spirits away. I assumed they were fake because they did not help her when she turned into a Heartless. "I saw what I saw and whether you believe it or not does not matter much to me. I am just apprehensive of things to come." Knuckles gives me his favorite countenance, the "I have no idea what that word means so stop using words like it" look. Clancy had that expression too, sometimes-I wonder if after all this time, he is still alive. If he turned into a Heartless like that old woman did, then I think I would lose the rest of my sanity. I sit back against the Master Emerald, watching Knuckles go down the altar steps; how long it will take for me to go back home? How many times have I seen Knuckles walk down the same steps, how many times have I crossed the same streets to get to Erick, how many times have I ended up napping and snoozing after training like I used to do at home? Ah, I can almost taste the sullen wind that used to blow in my village, making the willows' leaves dance in the wind. When will I ever make it back home?

Nighttime descends upon us, the dark cyan sky cloudy yet again. They would be because I have been thinking so much about the message in the fire and when I think about it, it disturbs me. Perhaps Knuckles is right, I am going too deep into this and being a little superstitious. Another night's rest will be enough to eradicate these dreary thoughts. Knuckles is back up the altar steps, taking his sleeping position behind the Master Emerald but seems more earnest than earlier today. "Do you really think bad stuff is gonna start happening?"

"I am not a prophet Knuckles but I think we need to be more careful starting now."

"Master, can I ask you something?" I ask him innocently. Master smiles, gesturing for me to walk with him towards the upper floor. "Those are the first words you've spoken in three days, Pupil. What ails you?"

"Are we…are we still attacking World 75?" I ask tentatively with a breaking voice. I sound so weak and ready to cry at any moment, it's pathetic. Master already got upset when I sobbed over Seth's body and Gineam just watched me like Gineam always does. "Of course we are," we walk up the staircase together. "Just because there is one player out of the game doesn't mean that the game ends. There are other powerful pieces left, like you and Gineam." Anxiously, my eyes fall to the silent steps as one side of my black hair drapes over my shoulder. "You dyed your hair again. If you put the same effort you put into dying your hair every two weeks into using the Darkness bestowed upon you, you'd be just as powerful as Seth." His name almost makes me choke but instead, the stringency in his tone stings my heart and makes my eyes burn. I stop walking with him. "Is that all you wanted to know?"

"Yes Master," I swallow hard to hide the tears.

"Your eyes say something more Pupil."

"I'm sorry-I'm sorry! I won't cry again, I really won't do it this time-"

"It's that weakness that will help you carry out your mission with Gineam." He leaves me suffering in the form of whimpering as I lean on the railing for support. Not only do my breasts really hurt, but I'm crying again-why can't I stop? Seth wouldn't want me to cry this much, maybe if he was alive he would be consoling me.

There is the violet-blue fire, raging after we defeated the Human Heartless, Deidra, who ate the hearts and souls of everyone she encountered, me, Mia, and Mizuki being the exceptions. The fiery letters are so clear, so crystal clear: Darkness is coming for you. I wake up with a cold shiver despite the warmth of sixty-five degree weather. "Knuckles-"

"I know," he replies excitedly to my surprise. At this hour he would be passed out from smashing boulders and taking earlier naps, I wonder why he is up. "Who's there?" When nobody in the darkness says anything, he shouts again, "I'm giving you 'til the count of three to say something and come out. One, two, three!" Stupidly he charges down the steps towards the stranger watching the Master Emerald. Light cerulean and purple flames engulf the stranger's body, illuminating their body. "It is you, the one who murdered Deidra," I whisper as the masked person stares at Knuckles charging towards them; I hastily remove myself from the Master Emerald. Do not stray Risa, a voice warns me internally. Another voice slurs in my head, Darkness is coming.

I recognize the first voice from the first time the Master Emerald spoke to me when Don needed me to find a Chaos Emerald but the second one might have come from this stranger on fire. This voice sounded distorted, too slurred for me to decide if it is a boy or a girl. The intruder on fire looks towards me, hearing my utterance. I summon the broken Keyblade and raise it towards the mysterious, silent intruder. "What are you doing here?" They continue to observe me wordlessly through their blackened helmet. That is when Knuckles' fist hits the stranger hard enough to send them flying over the edge. Still burning as they fall, their head faces me before I can no longer see it; the light from their flames slowly descend with them, brightening the gloomy, thick clouds below. "That ends that," boasts Knuckles, clapping his hands together. "Who was that guy?"

"The one who made the message I told you about," I answer.

"Well good riddance to that," regards Knuckles smugly. I turn toward the Master Emerald and a flame bursts on top of the Master Emerald. The stranger reappears in the fire, unscathed from Knuckles punch or from its fall. "What do you want?" I ask sharply. Knuckles shouts a curse word but the aloof intruder does not move as they remains engulfed in surging flames. "I am only going to ask one more time, what are you doing here?" I warn, standing in my fighting stance with both hands clasped around the hilt of the blue blade. The intruder raises a finger and points right at me like a child who cannot speak. "Me?" The stranger nods. The smell of ash and soot is starting to cloud my senses and sicken me. From their covered fingertips, a string of green fire swirls and abruptly augments to represent a huge flame less than a foot away from me. "Risa, get back!" I obey Knuckles, never taking my eyes off the fire. Cerulean appears in the flames, eventually becoming a choppy but comprehensible image of the sky. Then brown settlements sprout up from new flames and resemble a village missing trees. A light refracts from the flames, making the image that much clearer.

"The Village of Willow, home," I mumble nostalgically. Is this person telling me that they can bring me back to my happy days? Could that person do that? "You can bring me back?" The intruder nods, the image still burning in front of me. Knuckles makes a gruff sound. "I don't believe it-and you shouldn't either! Come on Risa." As I reach out to the image of my home, it vanishes, giving the flame a black, hollow look to it. The stranger steps out from behind the fire, side-stepping it as if intentionally avoiding it, and gestures toward the black flame. "Oh no, there's no way she's gonna fall for your trap. Risa don't be stupid, this guy's tricking you-"

"Is this a trick?" I raise the Keyblade to their face. The flame-covered intruder does not flinch as I bring the snapped tip closer to their face. "Answer me or I will kill you where you stand." The stranger remains taciturn but shakes his head as a reply. Trust them Risa they are telling the truth-no, they singed the message into the ground, they want you to get yourself killed. But they are offering my home to me, the home I have striven to return to these past months. "Will my home be the same as it was before?" the stranger nods again, his hidden eyes on me. Slowly and reluctantly, I bring the Keyblade to my side and straighten my back. "Fine, I will go."

"Risa don'-"

I turn to the angry and hurt Knuckles sternly. "I want to go home, staying on this island was not part of my plan. Thank you for the shelter and I wish you the best of luck." Without hearing what he has to say, I walk into the flame, surprised that the fire is not singeing my skin. If I waited to hear what Knuckles had to say, I would not have had the strength to leave-I would be on Angel Island dreaming of what I used to do before my life was taken away.

J.G.P.