Helios dropped from the treeline like a falling star, his boots smming into the blood-stained ground with a burst of wind. The impact kicked up a shockwave that bsted back several Heartless closing in on John and Pocahontas.

  He nded beside them in a crouch, rising slowly, his blue eyes glowing faintly as he looked at John still cradling Pocahontas' limp form.

  “Aqua! Skuld!” Helios barked.

  Both were in mid-battle so they didn’t turn to face him, but they remained alert and were listening.

  “Push back the Heartless and protect the tribesmen and settlers!” he shouted. “I’ll handle these two!”

  Aqua hesitated, eyes flicking to Pocahontas. Skuld gave a sharp nod, darting into the chaos. Aqua cast a wide-bst Waterga to give herself breathing room before charging into the fray beside her.

  The tribesmen were cornered, unarmed, terrified. The settlers were no better, their formations shattered by the Heartless surge. Aqua threw up ice barriers between fleeing vilgers and the attacking shadows. Skuld leapt, cws bzing with wind, sshing through the bck tide in a blur of speed and silver trails.

  Meanwhile, John trembled.

  “She… she stopped breathing,” he whispered.

  “John,” Helios said, gripping his shoulder. “Look at me.”

  John’s eyes rose, wild and dazed.

  “Do you want to save her?” Helios asked, voice razor-sharp. “Would you do anything to protect her?”

  John nodded without hesitation. “Yes. Anything.”

  Just then, Ratcliffe—mad-eyed and frothing with fury—raised a second musket and fired at Helios.

  CRACK.

  The bullet zipped through the air—

  —only to explode against a wall of shimmering ice. Aqua stood at the edge of the clearing, breathing heavily, her scepter switched to its bow form.

  Ratcliffe snarled and thrust his hand to the sky. “Then let me show you what true power looks like! Come forth—Tyrant Tusker!”

  A thundercp shattered the heavens. The ground split, and from a portal of churning shadow emerged the monstrous colossus once defeated—the Tusker, its molten obsidian flesh still scarred, now reforged in cracked dark armor. Its hollow, red eyes fred as it bellowed and charged.

  Aqua turned. “Skuld! I’ll deal with it—clear the field!”

  Without waiting for an answer, she dashed toward the beast. With a twirl of her bow, it split back into the Tidal Scepter, surging with deep oceanic power. She summoned twin spires of ice and smmed them into the Tusker’s legs—just enough to trip the creature mid-charge.

  It stumbled, roaring, as Aqua darted underneath it. She cast a shimmering field of reflective water, bouncing off the surfaces like a dancing comet, unching icicle after icicle into its exposed joints.

  Skuld, meanwhile, became a blur of motion with her Zephyr Talons cutting through the ranks of Heartless. She spun through the air, unching arcing bdes of wind and ripping apart entire waves of enemies in one pass. Each ssh was deliberate, precise, driven by a need to shield the innocents behind her.

  Amid the chaos, Helios stood over Pocahontas’ body.

  He raised Equilibrium, the keybde shimmering as its tip hovered over her heart. “You’ll forgive me right?” he murmured, “this is the only way to keep you safe.”

  With a twist, the bde pulsed and released a shimmering stream of golden magic.

  Pocahontas’ heart shone—soft, brilliant, radiant.

  It floated upward like a star.

  John gasped, tears streaking his face. “What’s happening?! The light—it’s… going out!”

  The light of her heart shimmered beautifully… before it began to dim.

  Unseen to all but Helios, a deep glow stirred inside his chest.

  His light, unlike any other, pulsed greedily—and the glow from Pocahontas’ heart was drawn into him, slowly, quietly.

  His inner light expanded.

  Once a speck beside his vast dormant darkness… now it surged, swelling until it rivaled about half of the darkness. Not yet banced but closer than ever.

  “Don’t worry we’ll protect it,” Helios said. “Her heart is fragile now. Too exposed. I’ll hide it inside yours.”

  He turned to John. “I’ll seal it away in your heart. You’ll carry her until the time is right. Do you trust me?”

  John, overwhelmed, nodded. “Just save her. Please.”

  Helios, smiled as he stepped forward.

  He pced the dim, flickering heart against John’s chest. A golden light spread between them, forming chains of protective magic known to Helios as a connection.

  The heart sank into John’s body.

  The glow faded—but its presence remained.

  Then Helios turned, knelt beside Pocahontas, and whispered an incantation. A Cura spell—strong and clean—bathed her body in a green light, mending the gunshot wound and sealing her physical injuries.

  But her eyes didn’t open.

  Her breathing was steady.

  Her body—still and comatose.

  Helios exhaled and lifted her gently into his arms.

  “She’ll live,” he said to John. “But her heart’s gone… for now. I’ve done emergency treatment, but it’s not complete. I can’t finish it here.”

  “Is she… is she going to be okay?” John asked, his voice breaking.

  “She will be,” Helios said quietly. “Once I destroy Ratcliffe and clear this pce, we’ll help her fully. But until then—get to safety.”

  He handed Pocahontas to John.

  Behind them, the battle roared louder.

  Aqua cshed with the Tusker, spinning high into the air and driving a frozen spike into its neck. Skuld cast a wide spiral of wind that cleared a full dozen Heartless in one blow, carving a path toward the woods for the tribespeople and settlers to flee through.

  Helios turned, Equilibrium glowing brighter than ever.

  He stared down Ratcliffe.

  His voice dropped to a whisper. “Thank you, Ratcliffe you’ve been a big help. Now then… time to clean up.”