Chapter 3
"Kayne!" The young girl cried. She was no more then ten years old, and her best friend was a boy who had arrived on her world just three years before. They warned her and her family of impending doom at the hands of a maniacal sorcerer, the demon king Vecks. Three years ago no one beleived them, and two years ago, it was old news. In six months after his rise to power, Vecks has fed countless worlds in the realm of light to the darkness, bolstering his forces of heartless and nobodies exponentialy.
Septeo, the former commander of the heartless, had lost nearly all of his forces, save Leviathan, who he had restored, to prevent him from following Vecks as well. His personal arsonal of powers had also diminished somewhat, following his recovery from the wounds he had been delt. Really, Eiyuu had been the last to do any real damage to the derranged magic-user.
Today was a tragic day though. Kayne was fighting valiantly to fight back the heartless, and in actuality with him and Aurie alone, they could have destroyed countless heartless and nobodies. However, Vecks was tied to the heartless now. When they were struck down, he could feel it. Heartless were destroyed by the hundreds, but when a large amount of them were destroyed in a single area, it would not take him long to put two and two together. They had to flee!
"C'mon Cydney! We gotta go!" The young boy grabbed the girl, and the two ran off to the 'safe house' a special place they had been told to go to. It was a magical house that no heartless could enter. The two youngsters reached the small house, and turned back for only a moment, to see Kayne and Aurie still battling the army of heartless, but they were doing just fine on their own. Content, they grasped the doorknob and pulled the door open.
They didn't get a chance to scream.
A white husk stretched out and wrapped its arm around the two children, covering their mouths! Several more dusks exited the small house and surrounded the children. They each had a blood red eye-shaped emblem on them, symbolising their allegiance with a small sect of powerful Nobodies under Veck's control. They were used essentialy as a SWAT team.
"Tribute Seven!" The female warrior called. From the sky came a shadow that moved like the wind, landing on the ground and unleashing seven deadly flashes of light with such grace, the Nobodies could not even realize they were feeling pain before they died.
"Auntie Fera!" The boy gasped in fear, and in need of air. The shadowy figured lowered her hood and revealed the very same knight left for dead three years back. Being half homunculus, with the homunculus half dominate at the time, it would take a lot more then even a high level explosion attack to kill her off!
"Looks like I got back in time! Come on, it's not safe here Alex! You and Cydney get to my ship, I am going to go tell your mom and Kayne we're eclpising the world! MOVE!" Alex and Cydney both stood attention and then ran off for the ship. Fera sighed for a moment after she saw they were safley on board.
Breathing in for a moment, she suddenly dashed with insane speed, second to none! She charged through a seemingly endless wave of heartless, several flashed of light following her in her wake, reducing many to mere dust. In mere moment, she had reached the center and found Kayne and Aurie, both standing back to back, surrounded by heart-aching shadows.
"Bout time you showed up! How is the lovley lady of the hour?" Kayne greeted Fera, who smirked and remained poised for battle at the remark.
"Bad news, he's on his way here! Red-Eye Nobodies! There were seven of them in the safe-house! He knows for sure where we are, and if we don't leave soon, where we're going. We have to eclipse the world." Fera stated this plainly, but Kayne and Aurie both understood. "The catch is, however, that one of us needs to stay behind to finish the process. The d@mn nobodies shorted out the auto-eclipse sequence. Someone needs to be swallowed in order for the rest of us to get away."
"Not that it matters anymore." All three froze at these words. They looked into the air, and saw him, the black-crown king.
Vecks.
"I've known where you were hiding for quite some time actually. That d@mn Eiyuu's seal on you however, prevented me from doing anything though. However, I found that while the heartless and I were unable to follow you, the nobodies could! It seems so simple now! Heartless are darkness incarnate, so they are highly vulnerable to light! Nobodies however, don't really exsist; They have no hearts! Darkness and light bounce off them like water off a duck! It's everything else they're vulnerable too." Vecks snapped his fingers, and an army of nobodies appeared, all branded with the red-eye.
The crazed sorcerer laughed slightly, as he saw how much his forces alone out-numbered them, and then considered his own power in the equation. He didn't think it was fair, but he did love his shows.
"Kill them!" He commanded.
Light Arrow Rain! The silent spell was not actually spoken by the mute Aurie. From her finger tips, came not one, nor two, but ten beams of light from each finger! The lights shot out in all directions, puncturing through many many ranks of heartless, dealing devestating amounts of damage! This spell was far above what Vecks thought she could do. What really made him worry, if only just a little, was the fact that she showed only the slightest signs of fatigue.
"Impressive. How about this one then?" Vecks raised his right palm into the air. "Interestingly enough, I found a book of Draconic magics, and among them was this spell that has become a bit of a favorite for me!" His hand combusted and formed a gigantic sphere of white fire. "Mega Flare!" launching the attack at the three warriors the ball of fire shot at them with speed only matching a fireball, but still too fast to dodge!
"Tsunami Breath!" From afar, a torrential blast of water engulfed the Mega Flare, reducing its power and moving it to a farther distance where it was extinguished altogether. All four present looked and saw a shadow appear and then form into the long missing dark warrior Septeo! He looked almost exactly the same, except for a small dagger he had on his belt.
"I thought you guys could use some help, so I decided to volunteer!" The old enemy spoke light heartedly and even seemed friendly under the circumstances.
"Why are you helping us? I thought we would be first on your list after you healed all the way." Kayne remarked to the unforseen new ally. Septeo smirked for a moment at him.
"Well, you thought wrong. This guy is first on my list, you guy didn't even make third! Now, here's how it's gonna go down. You all get through the heartless and activate the eclipse sequence, I'll hold off our dear friend Vecks there, Aurie will help me. Got that?" Septeo barked orders like he was in charge but no one had any other better ideas. "I'm friendly with the darkness, so I'll close the eclipse, then I'll meet up with you all later."
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
"Very well. BREAK!" Kayne 'Sky Hopped' using an altered Nobodie Dragoon trick, he vanished and reappered in the air going up. His wing spread out, and he dive-bombed with tremendous speed, straight for the eastern control panel. On his command, Fera had also kicked off the ground and started a dash, slashing everything in her way into bits without slowing down even a bit.
Holy Light Aura! Again, another silent spell could be heard without being spoken. An impassable aura shone form Aurie and then spread out in all directions, causing no damage, but pushing the heartless back. No matter how powerful they were, they could not pass.
"Idiotic fools! You may hold the heartless at bay, but the Nobodies are not held under such restrictions! Dusks, advance!" Vecks commanded the white husks to attack, when Septero acted first. Drawing his new dagger from his belt, he slashed it across his palm, and then stabbed Aurie's foot, pinning her to the ground! Her concentration faltered for a second, but she insantly understood, and kept the barrier up at full strength.
"Aura of Black Darkness!" Septeo's Rune Blade began to shine with a black luster, and from Aurie, a second aura expanded, this one purplish black, until it reached the size of the white barrier. The two came together, and from the blood on the blade, formed a unity of unmatched power. The Nobodies were destroyed upon touching the barrier, and all the heartless that even so much as got to close, ceased to be. They were surrounded on all sides by golden light that embodied all things. A second aura shone around Aurie as well.
"Not so tough are you now? Even you can't destroy a divinity such as this! You want out, the only way is when I beat you into a pulp!" Septeo's back split open, and two wings of water formed, before hardening into great wings with blue scales. These were the mighty wings of Leviathan himself!
"I need not my shadows and dusks to put you in your place Atlantean!" Vecks dived for the warrior, who met him head on, brining Tide into an upward slash against Vecks, who merely conjured a blade of black steel into his hands. The two blades met each other, and were followed by a deafening screech of metal biting metal.
"Dyne!" Septeo called. His palm produced a prismatic sphere that shone brightly! The sphere collapsed in on its self, and became a shimmering light in his left palm. Placing his plam on Tide's hilt, the shimmer transfered into Tide, causing it the shimmer and glow with the luster and color of the prism!
"The only thing...They will be able to identify you with...Will be the dent in the pavement I make with your desies ridden skull, monster!" Septeo taunted. Both were in mid-air and pushign with all their might when Tide was infused with the spell, and Septeo felt a sudden rush of strength from Leviathan himself! He forced his blade into Vecks', and shattered the half-demon's blade into slivers. Septeo seized his opportunity and followed through with his attack, slicing Vecks clean in half!
Septeo landed a short distance away while Vecks simply landed on the ground with a dull thud. He let loose an ear-splitting screme and slowly rose to his feet, his wound regenerating very, very slowly.
"A magically infused magical blade? Clever attack." Vecks began to chuckle madly, and then outright laugh. "That rune blade of yours is remarkably powerful, I will admit. But I have one thing on it that you can never get from even a bottomless magic book!" Vecks held out his palm, and to Septeo's shock and silent horror, a prismatic sphere sprung to life!
"Blue Magic!" The ball of light collapsed into the tell-tale shimmer, and then sprung to life, forming a prismatic blade! Vecks charged for Septeo swinging the massive weapon! Septeo only just managed to raise Tide, still super-charged with the spell, in order to block the crazed hybrid's attack! Instead of metal on metal, the sound the cried out was very similar to that of a laser being discharged!
"How long can you hold out!? Tide may be have been indestrucable, and it may still be, but I'd bet that infusing it with that spell book has reduced it's durability! Maybe the stress of two high-level spells is just too much for it!?" Vecks taunted Septeo. The dark warrior grunted as he tried to force all of his might into the blade, only to be met with failure.
"N-not a chance you freak!" Septeo put all of his magical ability into Tide, causing it to glow even brighter! Slowly, he began forcing the blade onto Vecks, who merely smiled.
"Well, how about three?" Septeo's strength nearly failed him at these words. Vecks removed his left hand, and conjured, another sphere. The shimmer of light caused his blade to double in strength! He backed away in a fluidic motion, cauing Septeo's blade to hit the ground and not Vecks! The mage raised his blade, a crazed look on his face, and brought it down hard.
There was a sound like a Siren dying, and metal that had been forged was undone. Tide, the legendary blade of Atlantean lore, had not been cut in half; It was outright destroyed. Shattered into billions of pieces. The glowing shards released all of their pent up magic, causing them to flash and glow brightly, before the shimmer left, and all that was left was the hilt in Septeo's hand.
Septeo was speachless. Leviathan was still his gaurdian and friend, but without Tide, the serpents presence was far more distant. The wings he had sprouted just moments ago had melted away, and the Atlantean could only breath heavily as he finally realised his blade which had cut down opponents for centuries, and had augmented his abilities several fold, was gone.
"It is finished." Vecks raised his magical sword above his head, to cut off Septeo's, when a suddenly trembling cought his attention. Turning, he saw the nobodies had fled! The heartless remained, but they had melted together, and were now a single entity, a shadowy blanket that covered all he could see. The barrier vanished, but a slight aura remained, keeping the darkness at bay, but it was slowly creeping in!
There was a deafening roar, and the three looked up to see the Ragnarok 2, built only last year, flying above them! The launch bay doors opened and a light shot out, striking Vecks square in his chest and pinning him to the ground! Kayne jumped out and landed softly in front of Aurie.
"Aurie, we've gotta get out here! If we don't, we'll be swallowed by the darkness!" Kayne grabbed Aurie and was about to jump, when Aurie resisted, and pointed towards the beaten Septeo.
"Leave me! The shadows need to consume me if you are to find safety!" Septeo rose to his feet, and handed the broken hilt to Aurie. "GO!" Calling on all his remaining strength, the dark warrior tossed the two high into the air, cought by the ship! Before the doors cloased, Kayne held out his hand, and his keylance appeared in a flash of light, releasing Vecks from the pin! Vecks regained his sence of reality, and rose to his feet to meet the broken warrior.
"You may dely the inevitable all you want Atlantean, but you shall die here and now!" Vecks held up both hands, and from them he conjured a massive ball of Flame! He launched the projectile at Septeo without even thinking about it! The attack struck Septeo and consumed him in flames, reducing everything around him into Ash.
"Not good enough." Came a solemn voice. Vecks looked, and was amazed at what he saw. There before him stood the Atlantean he should have obliterated! With Tide gone, he was nothing! And yet, here he stood, unaltered!
No, he wasn't unaltered, he was different. He was stronger! He had about him a blue and black aura that welcomed the darkness, his hair had grown longer, and his eyes shone with a radiancey that had been forgotten these past few years. In his hand, he held a new weapon. Composed of gold, it was long a simple, and radiated against the darkness so well, it could be seen for miles.
"My my, what an interesting sword I found." He held the blade up to examine it, and a faint smile crossed his lips. "I was thinking of calling it a Keyblade, what do you think?" Septeo held his golden Keyblade and looked straight at Vecks, smiling wickedly.
"How can you wield a keyblade!?" Vecks demanded, launching spell after spell at him, each of which was drawn into the keyblade, and then vanished.
"Well, I imagine if a dark keyblade can be called from seven princesses of heart, then I would also imagine an equal and oposite keyblade could be called into exsistence from seven dark hearts. Since heartless are darkness, the logic that follows is that when I chose to eclipse myself in darkness, I chose a keyblade!" Septeo charged, and his blade was met with Vecks' own magical one. The two clashed, and Septeo smiled again.
"Of course, the logic is flawed. I commanded the heartless for years and never got one, and you control even more! Maybe the keyblade really does choose its master!" The darkness crept up Septeo's leg and latched onto his back! His blade shattered Vecks', and he unleashed several assaults on the mage.
"You shall not prevail! Elmekia Lance!" Several green lights shot out from Vecks' palms in the shapes of spears, but each one was deflected by Septeo.
"I I don't imagine so. I hae resigned myself to the darkness. My sins must be repaid!" More darkness clung to him, and his Keyblade grew even longer and more powerful. "However, I can cause you some level of grief before I am completley gone!" Septeo flung his keyblade at Vecks, striking him and sending him high into the black sky! Nothing could be seen anymore except the two warriors!
Septeo kicked off the ground and cought his keyblade in mid-air, striking Vecks as he passed him, before beginning his decent back to earth! He hit Vecks hard and forced the mage into the ground, pinning him their with his Keyblade! The darkness began to creep closer, and Septeo knew his time was almost gone. Tightening his grip, runes appeared on the keyblade, similar to the ones that had been on Tide.
"I curse the d@mned sorcerer Vecks! I turn this key and lock to you a spell of safe passage! For seven long years you shall not find the ones who defied you, and for seven long years you shall rain terror. On that seventh year, when the sins of the father and paid for by the son, the enemy of the father shall pass on his legacy to the son, and give him great strength! Such is the profecy I lock onto your wretched soul!" Septeo turned the keyblade hard, and a surge of light came.
"And what do you intend to pay for such a spell!? Your heart?" Vecks grunted. His stomach was bleeding, and the glowing was becoming ever brighter, which seemed to make the shadows even stronger.
"My heart has been claimed already. I offer my soul and my body, as a token! The price shall not be my heart, but this worlds!" Septeo finished turning the keyblade, and the keyhole was opened! The darkness moved into the empty space where the heart of the world should have been, but no longer was it there! The worlds heart was now locked into the keyblade its self! Septeo laughed at Vecks as the dark warriors heart left him, and his body vanished, completing the spell cast on the sorcerer. The keyblade flashed, and then it was gone.
Once again, Vecks was alone in the darkness.
Tell me what you think! There is going to be one more chapter, possibly as much as two, but then that will be it.
And bonus points if you can tell me who my avatar is of and what series this incarnation of him was in.
It was good, Wally. Not nearly as horrifying as your last one, but still good. The only thing that I can really complain about is your use of exclamation points, it makes the chapter seem a little corny.
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Your avatar is Mr. Freeze from Batman: The Animated Series.
Avatar is from Batman Beyond.
Mr.Freeze.
Chapter will be in this Sunday.
Sorry but I've been frantic on time.
Gotta give it to Arc, twas from Batman Beyond.
Favorite Batman Badguy.
Yeah, it wasn't as horrifying, but it wasn't supposed to be. This was supposed to be the first half of a single chapter, but it kind of evolved... Oh well.
I was planning on working Anara in too, but it just didn't happen, so alas. I predict one or two more chapters, possibly one REALLY long one though.
Something to get me on my way.
Brief question: How many guys now and who in our roster?
This is gonna take awhile since it's Eiyuu's exiting chapter.
Good.
Should be a little challenging but hopefully I won't disappoint.
:(
Eiyuu's exiting chapter? But he hasn't been around for a few chapters anyway! Is he going to show up and leave kind of like
"Hi guys!"
"Hi Eiyuu!"
"Bye guys!"
"By-hu wha?"
lol
Working on the Empty Book chapter right now! It's gonna be a dusey!
Actually, he'll be asking for help from you guys and it'll involve everyone.....well at least everyone who's available.
Dang 'ol read mah newest work.
It is teh awesome!
Epilogue to come soon. Very short.