The Farplane~

Sugar: C-close?
*Another rumble, not quite as powerful but clearly closer in source, shakes the ground again. It's clearly coming from within the cave, where gunshots suddenly ring out as well*
Sugar: That must be Yuna... It sounds like they're in trouble!

Mana: *nods determinedly and readies her wand* Let's go!

*As they make their way towards the cave within the mountain, the sounds of crashes and indeed all signs of struggle seem to cease. Sugar jogs forth into the cave, but as she does, her foot loses balance and she trips into the mouth of the cave, which seems to open up into a very deep chasm with no obvious bottom to it. Needless to say, Sugar screams as she plummets into the dark abyss*

Mana: Sugar! *dives in after Sugar and reaches out to catch her*

*Sugar desperately reaches out to grab Mana's hand, though when she finally does grip it, they both seem to drop into [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and in the center of all the madness, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] resides. There only seem to be six hexagons of surface to land on, two of which appear to already be occupied by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], currently fighting [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ferociously, but also obviously tired out.*
Sugar: "I-I've never heard of a fiend this large...!"

Mana: *twirls her wand upwards and around her, sending out rings of pink magic that surround Paine and Yuna, healing and rejuvenating them relatively, before flying backwards and sending blasts of energy at the fiend*

*Yuna and Paine are shocked by their entry, though Paine reacts first*
Paine: Mana! Be careful! Don't get hit!
*The creature reacts very violently and very quickly, swiping out its scythe-like claws at Mana at an incredible speed. Sugar shrieks in Mana's hand and covers her eyes*

Mana: *heeds Paine's word, but with the speed the fiend attacks with, all she can manage is a circular barrier around her and Sugar* Hang on Sugar!

*The fiend's blade shatters right through her barrier as if it weren't even there and strikes the two out of the sky, slamming them both onto one of the hexagons that float around it. Yuna calls out their names in shock and rushes to their sides as Paine mutters something under her breath to summon black liquid from her body*
Yuna: "Mana! Sugar! Are you okay?"

*For reasons unknown to Mana, a sudden fury, fuelled by whatever could possibly make her angry, seems to build up recklessly within her body, as if boiling through her blood and threatening to take her over*

Mana: *struggles to get up as she's distracted by the irrational rage that's bubbling inside of her, making her grit her teeth* D... Damn it...! *clutches her head as her breaths grow more shallow, and she sends a ferocious glare at the fiend as her eyes flicker with a reddish-pink light* Don't you know we have other places to be!? *spears of energy suddenly flicker chaotically around the fiend and start flying towards it quickly in attempt to destroy it*

*The fiend screeches in pain at the energy blasts, though it seems far from defeated, and indeed puts its two bladed arms together in focus*
"Explosive Mines"
*Without warning, three of the hexagons beneath Mana and Sugar, Paine, and Yuna begin to glow a dangerous red colour, flashing white occasionally and promising them nothing positive in the near future. Paine notices this and cancels the black liquids from flowing from her body and quickly dashes to a safe hexagon, with Yuna following suit*
Paine: "The floor! Get out of there Mana! Sugar!"
*The fiend, not giving them a chance to rest, makes another swipe towards Mana with its surprising speed*

Mana: *magically shoves Sugar away from her towards the girls while simultaneously dodging the fiend's attack by dashing upwards just enough to avoid the blade and rush towards the monster head on with magical runes spiraling around her, before they speed up immensely and expand, cutting the monster as she rushes towards it*

*The fiend tries to slash at her, despite not being able to bend its claws that far inward, and wails incredibly loudly as Mana attacks it. Instead of simply staying put and taking the assault like a good monster, however, the fiend breaks the rules and shatters through the hexagons behind it. This proves to be catastrophic, however, as the fiend, free of its restraints, flies far away from Mana very quickly and menacingly, though as a more pressing issue, the hexagons beneath Yuna, Paine, and Sugar also crackle and shatter, opening the much less flightless members to the open void beneath them. The three of them cry out in surprise, and then fear, as they fall*

Mana: *feels her rage trickle an all time high, but the tiny sense she has left allows her to remember the aeons* Valefor, please save them! *calls for Valefor before refocusing on the fiend, raising her wand like a conductor a sudden hurricane of energy whirls around the monster, closing in around it as she attempts to raise the power so that the monster can't move as it's assaulted by gales of energy that slice at its skin mercilessly*

*As she called, Valefore springs down from the heavens, though... she is noticably quiet as she swoops down to capture the women in her empty ribcage. The fiend thrashes and twists inside of the hurricane set forth by the lavender summoner, and in its chaotic fury, several distorted glowing red hexagons scatter all around it in the air, flashing bright white very quickly like a detonator prepared to explode*

Mana: *pulls out a card from her sleeve* This is the end! *activates it, a dark hole appears above the fiend, swallowing some of the hexagons as it pulls the monster into it*

*The fiend claws along the edges of the dark hole, attempting to free itself and drag itself away from the void. This is impeded, however, when the hexagons explode all around it as they are sucked into the hole, ruining its grip on the mortal world and being sucked inside as well, only its remaining shrieks of pain still echoing within the chasm*

Mana: *as the black hole closes around the fiend, she lowers her wand, panting, before letting herself float downwards relatively quickly, only half caring if there's a floor beneath her to fall onto; however, she does spare a passing glance around for her friends*

*With the fiend's utter destruction, the room's violet glow slowly dims and cools into a gentle blue colour. Though nothing obviously solid appears beneath her feet, the blackness eventually gives way to a hard surface that allows her to be seated upon. Her quick analysis, however, reveals a somewhat concerning lack of friends anywhere nearby, along with Valefore being nearly undetectable*
*The room simply feels unnaturally empty*

Mana: *feels extremely exhausted from not only her battle but the rage that had consumed her* I have... a really bad feeling about this... *takes a deep breath* Sugar?! Yuna! Paine!? Where are you guys?! *looks around briefly, before closing her eyes and feeling for a link to the aeons* Valefor? Ifrit? Anyone?

*The eerie darkness is only punctuated around Mana by the sparse blue lights, which dim and brighten very faintly, though with an increasing frequency, until the lights flashing around her become almost strobe-like in nature and blinding. Amidst the blinding flashes comes a familiar, drawling voice, much closer to her ear than comfortable*
Seymour: "And so we meet again, Summoner Mana. I am glad to see you have finally taken my offer, and alone at that."

Mana: *quickly scrambles to her feet, skirting away from what felt to be the source of the voice* I'm not interested in taking any offers of yours, Seymour!

*Seymour chuckles, and does so long enough that it evolves into a full-on laughter in the most disturbing, menacing way possible, reverberating all around Mana and almost echoing inside of her very body*
Seymour: "It has become far too late for you to deny me now. In fact... You have already granted me my first wish."
*As his voice ends, the blinding lights cease, and become an overarching dull luminescence across the darkness, revealing Valefore standing before Mana. She seems so numb and reactionless, watching Mana with a very neutral expression*

Mana: *eyes grow with horror* No...! Valefore! Valefore, wake up! Where is everyone?! Paine, Sugar-- Valefore, where's Yuna?!

Valefore: "...Mana."
*Slowly, small pyreflies begin to surround Valefore and sift into her. A dark purple light creeps around her body like a snake, causing her to break from her passiveness and suddenly flap her wings without flying in a desperate fight against this. The lights perform a hostile takeover, however, and quickly surround her entire body, throwing her into the ground where her body horrifyingly thrashes and tosses, screeching to exorcise the pyreflies from her body. In a few short seconds, however, she goes limp, lying on the floor in a crumpled scarlet heap*