The Nemeses! Or the Nightmares, as Iāve been calling them in the summary. (I literally JUST got done with everyone earning Onyrix so I still have like. the rest of the actual plot to write but HOPEFULLY itāll be done by tomorrow afternoon if Animal Crossing doesnāt consume all my time). Onto them specifically!
Maestro is Nabuās Nightmare, representing most of his feelings on the fact he was born just to marry Aisha and do literally nothing else, and how royal expectations have made him feel like a puppet to her motherās ambitions. Maestro takes on the role of a literal puppeteer, controlling Nabu and several other puppets in fancy clothing to dance for eternity as he feels the strings on his neck get tighter. Heās defeated by Nabu realizing that his purpose in life is just that - to live, to exist, to socialize, and that even if he was only a pawn in royal plays he still has friends and people that love him.
Vertigo represents how Bloom feels about her deeds as Shadow Bloom and all the damage she caused while on that form. Contrasting Bloom, Vertigo has powers over water, and uses them to force Bloom to once again hurt and damage copies of her friends in rock form, positioning her powers in front of Bloomās forced palm and making it feel like sheās doing all of it. Sheās defeated after victim-blaming Bloom, saying that it was her fault for falling for Bertrandās lies and manipulation. This is enough to anger Bloom and pretty much decimate her, while explaining to her that while her actions are her own, being tricked was all on her manipulator.
Banshee mixes Musaās fear of failure, of dissapointing others, and her tendency to repress her feelings. Banshee forces Musa to play horribly at a concert surrounded by all her friends, family and loved ones, making her play faster and faster hurting her arms. Sheās defeated after insulting Aisha, as being the only person dumb enough to not see her for who she really is, and similar to Bloom, Musa snaps, counteracting with everything Aisha has done for her, the ways she has helped her, and how she can still manage to look at Musa for who she is and love her all the same, as well as playing on the positive sides of her negative traits.
Obscura plays on Stellaās old fear of rejection, her childhood fear of darkness, and her true fear of being alone. She forces Stella to relive her Primary school days, summoning all of her childhood bullies to insult her, then her current friends and loved ones. Stella can manage this at start having grown confident in the last years but the cuts start to get deeper and she finally cracks, yelling at everyone to leave her alone. Obscura complies and forces her into a void, where no one will ever be able to reach her, truly alone at last. This actually breaks Stella, as she will take on all the hate of the world as long as sheās not alone - being alone would prove her darkest thoughts right, and she canāt handle that. Obscura is beaten thanks to a subtle influence in Stellaās dream, making up her inner child to console her, and how even if she canāt believe it, she does have people that love her, and even alone, she will always have herself.
Sahara doesnāt prey on any of Floraās current fears but more on childhood trauma - of the one time Flora almost killed her sister as a kid thanks to unstable magic reacting to her anger, causing a slide. Sahara also focuses on Floraās incredibly low-magic fighting style, of how sheās ignored her more offensive magic in favor of healing in fear of doing that again. Sahara has powers over sand and rocks, contrasting Floraās plants. She initially traps Flora by recreating the event little by little, taking on the role of Miele, before revealing herself and attacking her with full force in a way Floraās defensive maneuvers canāt do much. Sheās defeated by Flora finally using her magic offensively, unleashing the full force of her magic and basically destroying Sahara on the spot with branches, trees and petals. (the name Stoney was dumb so Sahara it is)
Soffocara uses Aishaās primary fear, as is one she canāt escape from - her future responsibilites as Queen of Andros and how conflicted she is with that. Her powers are over wind, and uses it against Aisha to force her to figurately and literally choke on her duty as a ruler and the desperate pleas of her citizens, as well as their dissapointment at how theyāre stuck with her. Sheās defeated by Aisha finally accepting her responsibilites as Queen, accepting that thereās no viable way out and that she will try, at least, alongside her need to defend others. (changed the name because I still donāt know what the fuck Sinka was supposed to mean)
Virus doesnāt play with Tecnaās most obvious fears, but does tap into what she considers her worst flaws - her lack of common sense and her forgetfulness. Tecna tends to be very scatterbrained when working on a project, blocking everything else, and is prone to overthinking and underthinking stuff a lot, not pausing to consider consequences.Virus āhacksā Tecna, so to speak, making her forget how to use magic or transform and forcing her to rely on solely her mind and physical abilities, which terrifies her. Tecna is able to beat her after managing to calm herself out and actually pay attention to her surroundings and Virusās actions, managing to undo the hacking and starting to fight physically for the first time in her life.
Lastly, Miroir focuses on Daphneās sense of failure - the fall of Domino as the background for their fight, but also how Daphne feels she has done nothing but cause suffering around her because of her actions and inactions - because she didnāt properly deal with Campana all those years ago, sheās loose once more wrecking havoc, because she placed her trust on Politea the country was frozen for almost two decades, as well as the possibility the only reason she ever contacted Bloom and forced her into the role of Princess was for her to be free and recover her kingdom. She uses Daphneās own reflections to fight, reminding her of all sheās done and how sheās screwed up. Miroir is defeated thanks to Daphne (after managing to defend herself at a sudden attack and with an adrenaline rush) yells back saying that yes, she screwed up, because of her thousands have suffered. But at the end of the day sheās trying to be better, and she had no control on what Politea did or on Campana coming back - those were their decisions, not Daphneās.
