Fire Emblem 6.5

(Disclaimer: I do not own any of the mentioned characters, nor do I own any part of the Fire Emblem franchise. They and all other surrounding elements are all trademarks, excluding Aura.)

Chapter 2- Aura vs. Jaffar: Fire vs. Darkness

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The light shone steadily through the cracks in the forests. The bushy trees high above the ground bobbed up and down as if they were greeting the sun's gently rays. On the ground, the lush ferns and tulips swayed crazily in an inexplicable wind that was brought with the presence of the cold-hearted killers. Aura smiled and licked his dry lips as he turned around to fully see this new face. Jaffar, still tired by his trip away from home, could only grimace at the site of the boy's unsightly expression.

He slowly rose from the soil..unbalanced and unrested. Even so, he slipped his fingers into the space between his dark green doublet and clutched his two prized Killing Edges. Aiming his right dagger at his acquaintance, he begins to spark a conversation. With an unusually cold voice, he asks him: "Child, what business do you have in a place like this? Go home or else." For moments there was no response. Jaffar speaks again, this time quiet hesitantly. "You're..dangerous..I...I'm not going to fight you."

Aura's smile faded into a frown, almost as if offended by the assumption that he would fight. Yet this was only temporary, as he showed his signature fangs to prepare for an interesting encounter. "My, my. You people have quite bad manners. I ask you a yes or no question, and you so rudely respond to me," he says, sarcastically feigning that he was offended. He continued to speak. "I have no desire to fight. However.." The enigma began to form a fighting stance. Surprisingly, he flung his robe of to reveal his true clothing.

He had an opened overcoat of the same color as the robe. The collars and cuffs, the former being open as well, were a faint gold, and the buttons and links on both were made of a false ivory. The bottom lining of the coat, akin to the robe once more, appeared to be a crossed of genuine gold and mithril. Underneath this was a tight and sleeveless leather black vest that was exposed in all places, excluding the shoulder. Heavy, cotton, timber colored pants with some satchels on each hip were cut off at the knee by brown leather boots that obviously fit tight. With gentle hands, he brushed a few extra strands of hair away from his face and began to form the stance.

Aura crouched to the ground with his right leg forward, twisted to the side so his ankle was out front. As his left leg simply bent for support, his head curved downward in the same direction it was. His right arm stretched out all the way, parallel to his head. As his right arm held the center of both swords, his left middle and index lightly tapped the tip of the bottom blade, fondling it slightly. He was in the perfect position for a leaping attack.

Jaffar, however, stood his ground. He took two steps forward and, with the distance of about 8 feet now, aimed the right blade at his current opponent's head. The two seemed poised for an odd battle, yet the much older He attempted to speak his way out of the situation."You can't be serious. You seem at least 7 years younger than I. However..however. You seem much like me at that age..something about you. I have not the time nor the energy to engage in petty battles. Desist, and we may go our separate ways."

He seemed much older than when he was 16. Other than his removed headwear, very few things changed about his clothing, though . At 25, however, one thing that changed was his face, a slightly shaved red moustache and trimmed beard being the key differences. His hair was also straightened out significantly, reaching to just an inch below the shoulder line.

The attacker, once unsure of attacking, let out a laugh that seemed to span the entire forest. He could think of so many responses to the request that he didn't even think the offer was funny anymore. "Try not to make me laugh so much", Aura whispered, licking the fangs he bared. "You have absolutely no idea how different we are from one another. Jaffar, my...acquaintance..perhaps you should keep your mouth shut like the rest of my kill."

Unlike full-blooded humans, Aura's aging was extremely complex. A demon's year is equivalent to 2 human years. As a demon, he was fifteen. On the other hand, he was thirty, and looked no older than twenty. This still never stopped his instinct. "Already, it seems that words to persuade you are useless," Jaffar regretably uttered. "In that case, yet another man's death will be on my conscience. Rest in peace."

In nothing short of a blur, he hopped on all fours, blades still in hand, and disappear from the scene. Aura grimaced as he saw that his target would be much more complex than the last. Dumbfounded by the random action, he scouted the area for Jaffar, oddly holding his stance. He was shocked as he heard a gust of wind behind him. As he turned around, he saw nothing but a blade slice down on him. The next action would defy the physics set by mankind.

Right before the blade came down, Aura used his left leg to spring away from the slice, remaining in mid-air for a few moments. To counterattack, using only the right hand, he takes the bottom blade to block the Edge from hitting the dirt, while still suspended. He lands on the floor and quickly clutches the blade with both hands to swing down on a stumbling Jaffar, who swiftly takes his left Edge to block the impact, stunned for a little bit due to the vibration. Still, the attacks resume. In the form of the Cross, Jaffar takes his swords to lock Aura's top blade in a stalemate. Aura kicks him away to swing the sword diagonally across his chest. The attack hits, yet Jaffar arched away so only a slight cut could be dealt to the breasts. In a hasty move he throws both of his Edges at his opponent, attempting to distract him.

As he bounces the daggers off, He sneaks from behind just in time to deal a punch in the cheek. He violently attacks a stunned Aura by picking up his Edges, lodging one near the bottom of the stomach, and using the other to slash the battered cheek. Wincing and giving shrill cries of pain, he drops his large katanas to clutch his stomach. "I'd best keep in in there. Wouldn't..agh..won't disturb..the cut." Again in a merciless fashion, Jaffar runs at Aura to remove the lodged dagger in a matter of seconds, causing more screaming and bleeding by a losing fighter. Considering his stamina, Aura dashes toward his nearby sword to point at him, all the meanwhile holding back the flowing blood of the wound. "Dammit..you're better than I gave you credit for. Heh. You..you'll still lose, though." He gives a menacing grin at the opponent who he underestimated, causing him to once more try to convince him to quit the fight.

"You can't go on. Your wounds are too grave. If you don't stop now..surely you'll die." Reluctantly, he refused to give in, wishing to further improve his skills by fighting this seeming unbeatable Challenger. "F-Fool..you talk as though you have a card. L-L-Look behind..you.." Steadily pacing back, obviously distrustful, Jaffar turns back to see what looks like another Aura- perfectly fit, with only a few drop of blood near the stomach and a bruised cheek. As soon as he turns around, the two already gang up on him. Silently, Aura and his look-alike lodge their blades directly through Jaffar, then pulling them out to deliver, to the man in front, a slash to the right collarbone. To the one in back, there was a slice aimed for his left tricep.

He knelled to the ground slowly on both knees, looking above as he saw the red clones hovering over him. He was only in a position to ask questions. "How the hell? Ngh..why..why are there two of you?" "Simple my acquaintance," both seemed to utter. "Because there aren't. It's an illusion. As you know, I have some quick footsteps. All I have to do is run back and forth between two close points in order to generate two or more of me. In reality..I just attacked you four times..not two each. But enough of that. How would you like your death: slow and painful, or quick and painful?"

Jaffar, still kneeling, only grinned at the copies. "Behind..you.." As he faded back into one person, Aura's face goes blank as he realizes that about 8 Killing Edges surrounded his neck. There were indeed 3 copies of Jaffar surrounding Aura."A-an imitation! How?" "You shouldn't reveal your tricks so openly," he said, with a still injure twitch in his left eye. "Now, time to end this." Lowering the edges, the copies form a line in front of Aura. The one in front kicked him so strongly it was about double his height. The second stopped him from falling by knocking the wind out of him with a stomach punch, tossing him to the third, who repeatedly sliced him across his torso with both Edges. Without a sound, before the seemingly defeated character had a chance to fall, he felt a hand land on his right shoulder.

"You said it wasn't over yet. You were so right. Now...the job is finished." Deciding not to kill him, he felt around Aura's shoulder for the socket, quickly popping the bone out of the slot, making it quite ineffective. Without a sound, he thudded to the ground, just barely conscious. He held his defenseless body up by one arm as he heard the footsteps of a victorious Jaffar disappear. "Get back..come back here!"

Jaffar merely ignored him, thinking he could pose no threat in the lighted forest. That was until he heard a menacing breathing. It was hoarse..unsteady..and almost evil. He turned back to see nothing but a black- not even grey smoke appear from his challenger. Except this time..it wasn't his challenger. It was a man completely different from this. A dark creature surfaced from what seemed to be burnt clothes and ashes. In it's place is what seemed like the devil himself. The shirtless creature was slightly shorter than Aura, yet made up for quite a bit of brawniness. The skin was charred black beyond all recognition. gloves covered what could possibly be mutilated hands.

His chest and arms were covered with numerous silver and shiny scars. His hair was nothing but black flame, pointing like spiky hair about 8 inches above the scalp. It seemed to wear large, baggy cotton pants with oversized ebony boots that started from just above the ankle. The right leg was covered by a large dark grey cloth that drooped to the top of the boots. The eyelids were badly scraped, and the eyes were an painful yellow. Worst of all, the once inconspicuous fangs grew to phenomenal proportions, the bottom ones rising to about two inches, the tops to about three. In the palms of his hands, seemingly balancing him was what looked like an giant butcher knife, covered in white bandages to hide the actual weapon. The battle wasn't over. It seemed like it was just beginning.

Jaffar backed away as the monster stepped towards him. His heart felt like it was about to pop out of his chest. He could barely keep a grip on his daggers, and he couldn't help but try to gulp down every lump that surfaced inside of his throat. To test the enemy's strength, he tossed his dagger. His face almost dropped as his prized weapon evaporated before his eyes in a dark mist..almost effortlessly. The creature uttered it's first words in a voice that sounded like a never ending thunder. "Hello, Angel. You killed me. You killed the things that made me like you. Say hello to what I am. Say hello..to the Daemon."

In a flash, the creature was face-to-face with him..in the moment of a heartbeat. It grasped his throat with ease as it saw the hidden fear in his eyes. It played with him by throttling him back and forth with the right hand. The blade still rested comfortably in the left. As it seemed as if all was lost, the creature evaporated much as the way it came, revealing the same Aura who was recently defeated. He let go of a half-unconscious Jaffar and the two of them passed out, drained of all energy to twitch, or even move for that matter. There they would lay until the next morning, when Aura awoke from a long sleep, resting on a tree branch. He looked around frantically for him, injuring his popped arm in the process. He let out an exasperated and injured groan as he could find nothing. "I'm here if you're searching." He looked below his dangling legs to find an equally injured Jaffar, looking above at the boy who searching for him.

Before Aura had time to yell his slew of murderous threats, the pain intensified in supposedly ever part his body was cut. In turn he fell from the tree, just barely being caught by him, who had to drop him because of the pain he experienced as well. Blood began to flow from the corners of Aura's mouth as he attempted to utter some words. "You..you truly are a human. I think I'll like your kind. I guess..this makes us friends?" Jaffar, having no idea what Aura was talking about, gave him a look of disgust as he walked off and left him on the ground.

"Not even close...we're acquaintances.."

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End of Phase 2

(Again, asking for someone to review hears echo Oo Oooo.k. I couldn't help but post this. In contradiction to what I said earlier, I'll post next...whenever. R&R! R...R...R...)