Aerín yawned loudly. It was way past her bedtime.
"Alright. That's enough for tonight." Wallace said, effectively ending the storytelling.
"But daddy, I want to hear more!" Aerín begged.
"And you will, dear. But you have to go to bed. You're dead tired.
"No I'm not…" Aerín's eyes closed and she fell against her mother. Winona smiled and wrapped an arm around her daughter.
"She looks so different when she's asleep," she murmured, ruffling Aerín's hair in a motherly sort of way.
Ash looked out into the night. "This is just the sort of night Axel makes when he's around. I wonder if he's nearby."
"You might say that," a voice eerily echoed out from directly behind Anabel.
Anabel freaked out. In all her life, no matter who did it, or how many times they did it, she had never gotten used to people sneaking up on her. Especially when she couldn't sense them.
They heard laughter as Axel Nightblazer melted out of the shadows, grinning from ear to ear. "Boy, Anabel. I didn't think that scaring you'd wake up the dead! For that matter, our niece!"
Aerín had been sleeping quite soundly until Anabel screamed. She bolted awake, her hands flashing up to her ears and wincing.
"Aunty, c'mon!" Aerín complained. "My hearing's too sensitive!"
Anabel leaned against a wall, waiting for her heart to stop racing.
"So, I guess you revealed it to her, huh?" Axel asked, his facing growing serious all of a sudden.
"Yeah. We had to. Winona let slip Aeron's name, and she was rather curious. Besides, she's old enough to know." Wallace said, throwing Winona a smug look as he said her name.
"Well, excuse me Mr. Champion!" Winona replied hot-headedly, swatting Wallace on the back of the head.
"Ow!" Wallace yelped. "Okay, okay, I get it!"
"Goooood. I'm glaaaad we understand each other." Winona said in a voice that sent shivers down Wallace's spine. For that matter, everyone who was present. No details will be given, so as to let the readers imagine what it's like. However, to help it a little, think of your mother and picture her being really, really angry at something you did, and talking in a deathly quiet voice that seems to chill the air around you and anything scary you can think of. Yeah, that kind of spine-chilling.
"You know, sometimes you can be as scary as Aerín, Winona." Axel commented.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Aerín asked, annoyed.
"Nothing, nothing. It's just that's it's a beautiful night with a full moon and thousands of stars." Axel said, quickly changing the subject.
Annoyed, Aerín swatted Axel on the back of the head like Winona swatted Wallace. Except, since she was a little girl, she didn't really think too much about what she did, so she hit a bit harder than she intended to.
"OW!!" Axel yelled, clutching the back of his head. "Aerín! Be careful!"
"You're one to talk!" Aerín retorted. "You always ask to get placed into the worst mess ever!"
Axel opened his mouth to say a witty retort, but found that he had none.
Well, well, Axel. Owned by a six year old girl. You should be ashamed. Axel heard Aeron's voice echo through his head. Axel opened his mouth to retort, but closed his mouth. This sort of thing happened a lot. For some reason, Aeron always seemed to by just over their shoulders, and would sometimes throw at them a snippy remark out of nowhere. It was one of the most painful things that his absence had on them. They knew exactly what he would have said in a certain situation, and they would turn to throw a retort at him… and find no one standing there.
Axel sighed and slid his headphones over his ears. He turned up the music a little and then turned back to the others. "So. Ash. Anabel. Why are you two here?"
"Y' know, visits, vacations, that sort of thing." Ash said.
"Ah." Axel nodded thoughtfully. He looked out into the night sky as an Umbreon called out to its mate somewhere in the distance. "So you're going to be staying here for the night?" Both nodded. "Winona, do you mind hosting a third guest?" Winona shook her head. "It all works out then."
Axel got to his feet and looked outside. "It's late. We should go to sleep. We can continue telling Aerín about it in themorning."
"But I'm not tired!" Aerín protested. "See? I can stay awaaaa…zzzzzzz…"
For the second time that night, Aerín fell asleep in the middle of her sentence.
Axel chuckled. "She's so energetic, but she falls asleep real fast," he commented, gently lifting the little six year old girl and carried her upstairs to her room.
Axel placed Aerín in her bed, then looked at the room itself. He exited and quietly closed the door. He flash-stepped to the bottom of the stairs and then went to the others. "She's in bed."
Wallace got up. "Axel, you can sleep in this room. The couch is good enough, right?"
"It'll be fine." Axel confirmed, sitting down in the spot Wallace had just occupied. "I'll be up most of the night, though, just because…" he motioned to the night sky.
No one needed an explanation. Axel's spiritual powers were based on the nighttime sky, and as they were totally unrivaled, he was pretty much the ruler of nighttime. He had immense control over shadow power, but he was a good guy. No doubt about it. He really only used shadow power to spook people, or to perform stealthy operations. He rarely used shadow power to attack, and whenever he did, it was only when necessary.
Axel waved his hand, and he changed a bit. To the other four, his spiritual pressure took on a pleasant feeling. Instead of an iron grip, it was now a comforting hand. Axel sometimes did this sort of thing when he was intent on making sure people slept well. He and other people similar to him were able to change their internal abilities at will. You can guess which ability he took on.
"Sweet dreams, guys." Axel lay back and relaxed, his sapphire blue eyes reflecting the moon.
Winona, Wallace, Ash, and Anabel bid each other good night and went to bed.
Aerín…
Aerín was in a world full of clouds that obscured everything that there was to see. She looked around, searching for the origin of that voice.
Over here, Aerín heard, and turned around.
Where? She wondered.
Right here. Came her answer, and a bunch of the clouds blew away to reveal a tall young man with black hair and emerald green robes. Scattered through his eyes of emerald were golden specks that radiated warmth and undeniable power.
Who are you? Aerín asked.
I believe that you know the answer to that question, young one. The figure replied.
Aerín studied the figure. His hair was a bit shorter and messier, and his clothes were different, but other than that, he looked exactly like Uncle Axel.
Uncle Aeron? Aerín guessed. The figure smiled and nodded.
What is this place? Aerín asked.
This is a world of dreams, Aeron replied, looking around. I may be real in one world, and I may have perished in another, but in this world, anything can exist. He came close and sat down, looking off into the distance. Aerín imitated him, sitting beside him.
They remained silent for a few moments. Then Aerín asked, How did you vanish?
I'd rather not talk about it. Aeron answered. I'd rather that you learned these facts from your parents, Axel, Anabel, and Ash. They are telling you about our tale, I presume, and telling you such facts would only spoil the surprise.
Aerín considered this. Then she asked, Were you really a prankster?
Oh, yes. I played many pranks.Aeron smirked a little as he said this. I once used hair gel to make your aunt Anabel's hair spike up. It was one of the most bizarre, not to mention hilarious, sights I had ever seen. She was quite surprised when she woke up.
Aerín laughed and tried to picture it, and decided that she would try it sometime. What about the photo?
The one on your living room wall? Aerín nodded. Axel and I made a plan to snap a photo of them when they didn't expect it. We were hiking along a trail that day, and I told them to turn around. They did, and to their bewilderment Axel snapped the photo. I had a good laugh out of that one, but I paid dearly for it. He shivered and winced. Your mother's signature one-hit KO super-slap was used that day.
One-hit KO? Aerín asked.
Mm-hm. One-hit KO. Aeron confirmed. Trust me, it's not something you want to feel, not that she would give it to you for breakfast.
Aerín laughed softly, getting the joke. (You know, getting a "taste" of it.) The two remained silent for a bit.
You know, Aerín said, causing Aeron to turn to her. I sort of wanted to meet you, ever since I learned about you.
Since this morning, you mean? Aeron asked, earning him a nod from Aerín. Well, that's natural. I hear about someone important to someone I know, I always want to meet that person just to see what he/she is like. You and I, we're very alike. Although, he added, his face darkening just a little, looking a bit wistful, You've had a lot that I haven't ever had.
Like what? Aerín asked.
For one, people to look up to. Aeron glanced at Aerín's confused face and chuckled. In time, you will understand. Just keep listening to my story.
They stayed silent for a bit. Then Aerín got up. I've got to go, she said, It's almost time for me to wake.
Then go, Aeron said. You have much still to learn.
Aerín gave her uncle a hug, and then jumped up, walking towards the rift between the clouds that just opened up. Before she left, Aerín turned around and asked, Uncle?Are you real, or is this just inside my head?
Aeron smiled. This is almost definitely in your head, Aerín, but why shouldn't it be real?
Axel watched the rising sun, reminiscing about his twin brother.
Axel had met Aeron and had discovered his connection to him about twelve years after their birth. Aeron had always known, of course, being the nerd he was, but Axel hadn't known because Aeron had parted ways with him the same day they had been born.
Axel had been raised by a noble in the floating city of Laputa, and had proved himself to be a powerful warrior, but even as he went through life he could tell that he was different from all of his comrades. He had no idea what that difference was, of course, but it was always there. While most Laputian warriors had Zanpakuto embodying the air element, Axel had discovered his abilities to be about nighttime. The discovery enabled him to use his abilities to their heights, including his power over shadows, which he wasn't too fond of but used on occasion.
Then came the day when Axel met his twin brother. A terrible day, one that Axel hated reviewing, as the only good thing had been the discovery of another almost like him...
Hoenn Region, 46 years after the dawn of time:
Axel flash-stepped next to a man with green robes. "Evening, Typhon."
The man saw him and bowed. "Captain Nightblazer, sir!"
"Don't be so formal. Everything quiet around here?"
"Yes, sir. I haven't seen any Laruinan forces around."
"Good. Be on your guard, though; earth elementals are always sneaky."
"Yes, sir!"
Axel flash-stepped away and reappeared before the general of the Laputian army. "General Torun," he said, bowing.
"Rise, Captain Nightblazer." the general said. "What was the news from our scouts?"
"None of the enemy have been seen yet, although a couple said there was a strange rustling in the brush equivalent to wind blowing through them, except that there's no wind."
"Hmm. That's odd." The general mused. "Well, keep up the good- wait, what was that?"
Axel had heard it too. A brief but alarmingly loud rumble had resounded across the landscape.
"Axel, be on your guard. This smells like a Laruinan trap." Torun said.
Axel sniffed. "I don't smell anything, sir."
Torun groaned. "Not literally smell, it's figurative!" Then he noticed that Axel was smirking and sighed. "Axel, this is no time for jo-!"
He never finished his sentence. At that moment, a column of earth suddenly rose up and engulfed him, giving him no chance to react.
"General!" Axel shouted. Then he whirled away as another large collumn jumped out of the ground to try and swallow him up as well.
Axel dodged several attempts at taking him out, then he pulled up his Zanpakuto. "Bankai!"
Axel's light blue spiritual pressure flared out of him, engulfing him . When the energy cleared up, Axel stood with his spiritual pressure was shaped into a pair of wings on his back. Axel's held two daito, connected with a long silver chain. Axel's robe turned into an armored long-sleeve coat that extended all the way to his ankles. The The armor was decorated with silver patterns
"Doki no Shiruba-Getsu!" Axel shouted, taking off high into the air. All attempts to take him out were in vain; Axel's already high speed was further increased by the release of his Bankai
Axel heard the screams of his comrades being quickly taken out. Axel narrowed his eyes and quickly located as many enemies as he could, and raised his sword, pointing downwards.
"Getsu Taiho!" Axel shouted, focusing his power in the tip of the blade and channeling it in the form of of a thousand sphere's of energy, each one zooming for a different target. The radius of the blast zone was nearly three ri, a very large amount of area..
Axel grimaced as many of his enemies screamed in pain as the attacks struck them. He knew they were his enemies, but it didn't get any easier to endure their screams.
Axel turned as a man in black robes flash-stepped in front of him.
Axel pointed his blade at him. "Throw down your weapon or be destroyed."
The man in black laughed. "Who's going to kill me? You?"
Axel exerted a fraction of his spiritual pressure. He had been keeping his power in check to this point. Then man's eyes widened when he realized just how strong Axel was.
Axel said to him, "Make up your mind. I don't have all day."
As he spoke, Axel was gathering his shadow power into his blade, turning it black. The man noticed this, and was going to run away, but Axel pointed his blade at his head and said, "Dark Void."
A sphere of black energy outlined with a crimson nimbus accelerated towards the man, striking him and instanty rendering hm unconscious.
Axel pointed at him as he fell. Many threads of moonlight wrapped aroubnd the man's limbs, slowing his fall and lowering him gently to the ground.
Axel blew out a sigh of relief. He could kill if necessary, but he prefered to avoid it if he could. Then he flapped his wings a couple of times and then soared off into the bulk of the fight.
When he got there it was clear to see that the Laputian army was at a disadvantage. They were fighting nonstop, and were taking out a foe every few moments. However, their enemies were numerous and attaacked without end. As Axel watched, the Laruinan army poured out of the ground and in endless waves, slowly forcing his comrades backward. That had to change.
Axel gathered his energy in his blades, which began resonating with his light blue spiritual pressure. "Getsuga Tensho!! (Moon-fang Piercer of the heavens)" He shouted, slicing downwards. Twin crescent-shaped waves of light blue energy roared out of his blades and sliced towards a huge cluster of soldiers.
The soldiers looked up barely in time to see the attack coming. They got nailed by Axel's onslaught, smashed into unconsciousness. Their comrades simply took to the air to attack the one who had taken them down.
Axel looked at them and crossed his arms, pointing his index fingers to the same spot. That area was soon occupied by a sphere of blue-white energy, growing bigger every second and emitting intense light.
"Getsu Taiho!!! (Moon Cannon!!)" Axel shouted, unleashing the blast in a massive sphere of his spiritual pressure. The sphere roared at ultra-high speed towards his foes, engulfing them and defeating them without much effort. The effect was sort of like Yusuke Urameshi's reigun from Yuyu Hakusho.
Axel swept his blades in a circle, each one trailing his spiritual pressure, forming a ring of light. Axel held his hand in the middle of it, and it began to spin. Faster and faster it spun, and Axel whipped it up as a soldier came up with a Rock Golem on his side.
"Enjin Getsuga Tensho!!! (Ring Moon-fang piercer of the Heavens)" Axel shouted, hurling the ring of energy, sending it towards the Rock Golem. It was sliced in two, and it crumbled back into the rock it came from.
The man kept going, raising his blade to strike at Axel. Axel casually whipped one blade up, then used the other to smash his foe's own sword out of his hand. The man saw his sword spin out of his hand, and failed to see Axel's foot come up in a kick that connected with, erm, an extremely painful place to get hit in.
Axel winced on the man's behalf as he went plummeting to the ground, foaming at the mouth from the pain. He hadn't actually meant to kick him in the fork of the legs, but it had come out that way. Ah, well, let bygones be bygones. (Easy for him to say, he wasn't the one who got nailed down there!)
Axel turned back to the main battle to see a large amount of soldiers take to the air to combat him. Axel dodged between two slashes, matrix-style dodged another, turned the dodge into a backwards somersault to avoid three more, and then came up slashing, sending a moon-fang rocketing towards his foes, smashing them away.
Axel twirled his blades and rocketed onto the ground, making a little impact crater when he landed. He got up to see that nearly all the soldiers had turned in his direction, and his appearance had made two different reactions: one, the enemy groaned, because his face was quite well known to them. Two, his comrades cheered, because they knew that they had a better chance at winning now.
Axel waved his hand, and a shadow arced up and knocked a hundred swords out of their owners' hands. Axel himself rocketed forward, whirling and slashing like a tornado. Many of his enemies fell before his onslaught, but the wounds they recieved were only enough to put them out of action for a while, not kill.
Axel jumped and clenched his fist. He gathered energy like he was going to use Getsu Taiho, but this time the entire fist glowed instead of just the finger.
Axel pulled back his fist. "Getsu Taiho!!" he shouted, punching forward and unleashing the energy in the form of a wave of a thousand blasts, all fired at the same time.
Axel's foes ran for it. Who wouldn't? You'd run too if you had to compete with Axel's crushing power.
Axel threw one of his swords into the air and grabbed the chain. He began spinning the sword while holding the chain, whirling the sword faster and faster. As he did this, the sword began glowing with spiritual power, imbued with the effects of Getsuga Tensho, but contained within the blade. Axel aimed at a thick cluster of soldiers and released the chain, sending the sword hurtling off in that direction. The chain between the swords lengthened, stretching between the two so that they remained connected.
Axel waited until the sword was almost on top of the soldiers. Then he released the energy in the blade.
The result was an explosion of energy that threw the men in every direction, knocking them into unconsciousness. Axel yanked the sword back, the chain shortening as he did so, and whipped both up in time to block a blast of energy that would've gotten through if Axel had tried blocking it with only one sword.
Axel slashed the blast away with Getsuga Tensho, and quickly blasted the man who fired it at him. The man fell, joining the rest of his comrades who had been felled by Axel.
The next hour was like a blur to Axel. Axel was fighting nonstop, yet every foe he struck down was replaced by at least one more. Axel had not endured any wounds, but he was getting tired. His Bankai was easier to maintain than most, but more than an hour of nonstop fighting, with needing to fight foes with about a tenth of his energy twenty at a time, was really taking its toll on the teenager. Sooner or later, his Bankai would go down, and he would need to fight them without its benifits. It's not that he couldn't do it, it was just that he was hopelessly outnumbered, and he would be exhausted from all his energy being used up just to sustain his Bankai.
Axel's blade slipped in his hand as he attempted to block a strike from a particularily powerful soldier. He watched as his blade clattered to the ground, and his foe's blade came down, too fast for his weary limbs to keep up with...
And a teenager in green robes and an Espeon on his shoulder materialized in front of him, smashing him backwards and easily blocking the strike.
Axel felt his Bankai fade as he skidded back twenty feet, out of the thick of the fighting. He looked up at the one who saved him, who even now had his back turned to him.
"Well, well. I never thought that Laruinans would stoop this low." The teen commented, holding his blade out, obviously challenging them.
The Laruinan army hesitated, then laughed and brandished their Zanpakuto. The teen coolly maintained his stance as they came at him. Axel thought that he would stay still for so long that he would let them cut him in two!
The soldiers got to him, and one took a slice at him...
...and found that his blade passed through him harmlessly. Promptly, the teen's image faded.
"Boy, you guys are thick," they heard. They turned to see the teen standing behind them, his sword braced on his shoulder.
He coolly pointed at them. "Binding spell 75: Gochu Tekkan. (Five-pillar piercing iron) Go! Divine Judgement!!"
His foes laughed. "Divine judgement?! Don't make us laAAAAAAAUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Tons of pillars of iron slammed down from the heavens, pinning them all to the ground. They felt like a judge had smashed his mallet on them, and that the judge was the size of God. (See now? Divine Judgement?)
"Talk about receiving the heavy end of the hammer," the teen commented, whirling his hands, which were glowing with green light. "45th of the Forbidden Spell: Jikanteishi!! (Temporal stasis)"
The men were enveloped in a green light, freezing them in time. The teen then placed his hands over one another, moving them apart and revealing a golden light. "46th of the Forbidden Spell: Kūkanten'i!! (Spatial Displacement)"
The trapped men were enveloped in that light too, and then were totally teleported away. The teen turned and pointed to the others. "Are you going to get out of here, or am I gonna have to beat you out of here?"
They ran for it. They were trained to deal with soldiers, not people who could mess around with space and time.
Axel and the teen watched them go. Then the teen turned to him. "I never thought that I'd run into you in this manner, brother." he commented.
Axel stared. "Hold on, did you say brother?"
The teen nodded. He bowed low. "My name is Aeron Solo. I had to part ways with you shortly after our birth. I am your twin brother, to be precise."
Aeron helped Axel up. "Number one, you shouldn't use your Bankai on such losers when there are much more effective techniques..."
Aeron and Axel talked, argued, got into a fight, got smashed apart by Espeon, and all that stuff that brothers do as they walked into the distance.
Axel heard soft padding on the carpet and turned to see Espeon, Aeron's, padding softly into the living room. "Hey, Espeon."
Morning, Axel. Espeon replied. She jumped onto Axel's chest and sighed, depressed. Axel scratched her behind the ears like Aeron always did while he was still around.
"You miss him, don't you?" Axel asked, still scratching.
Mm-hm. Espeon confirmed, settling down. She enjoyed being scratched behind the ears, but she had sunken so low in mood that she couldn't really be called happy anymore.
Axel sighed. He thought about what the psychic-type was like six years ago, when Espeon had been so different. She had been totally opposite of her current state, seeming young and happy. Happy because of the (not-so) young man who had stood by her side all day and night.
Axel probed the long-dead connection between him and his brother like he always did, just to see if he was alive and just lost to them. But whenever he did this, all he got was silence. Axel sighed and got up about to go prepare some breakfast for himself and Espeon when he suddenly felt an echo across that connection. His surprise was so great that he tripped and planted his face in the floorboards.
Espeon had also felt the echo, and looked up, hope shining in her eyes. An echo was almost nothing compared to the crystal-clear connection they once had to Aeron, but by all rights there should've been absolutely nothing coming from that link. It wasn't much, but it was enough for them to continue hoping.
Axel groaned as he picked himself up from the floor. He looked at the dent in the floor that was shaped like his face. Now how am I going to explain this?
You leave that to me. Espeon jumped off the couch and closed her eyes, and she began to glow with blue energy. The dent also began to glow, and then it inflated, removing all traces that anyone had ever smashed their face into it.
"Phew!" Thanks, Espeon. Your psychic powers sure are handy in times like this. Axel said, preparing to make breakfast.
See, Espeon had special control over her psychic powers. Her focus was fine enough that she could grasp microscopic objects and energy itself to create powerful attacks that she couldn't learn otherwise. This allowed her access to most fire-type moves, most water-type moves, ground-type moves, rock-type moves, electric-type moves, ghost-type moves (for reishi particles were subject to her influence as well), grass-type moves (by subjecting plant life to her will), ice type moves (although she had to use fire-type moves right after to get rid of the heat she drained out of the water), and more. That was why she used Blast Burn earlier, and the best thing was that moves that she used her psychic power to create never failed to hit their target, and they required no (re)charging time. So she could use Solarbeam, Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, Hydro Cannon, and moves like those with impunity.
As Axel cooked, he heard a loud bouncing as Aerín bounded down the stairs. He casually pointed in her direction and said, "Binding Spell 61: Rikujokoro!"
Six bars of light slammed into Aerín's midsection, causing her to freeze in midair and tumble all the way to the bottom. Axel pointed again and said, "Binding Spell 37: Tsuriboshi!!"
A star-shaped net of spirit energy formed and anchored itself to the walls. It caught Aerín on the last bounce, keeping her from hitting the floor.
Axel snapped his fingers and both spells dissipated. Aerín let out a yelp of surprise as she dropped the last foot, landing with a thud on the carpet.
"Good morning, Aerín. How was your night?" Axel asked casually. Aerín came up to him just as casually and gave him her brightest smile. She maintained it long enough for Axel to feel cold sweat form on the back of his neck. Oh, crap, he thought. He had once learned the hard way that Aeron had two kinds of happy.
One: he is your regular definition of happy and seems normal.
Two: he seems almost too happy. Usually, if he is this kind of happy, someone else is about to be very, very sad. Axel was vaguely reminded of this by Aerín's current expression.
"Um...Aerín? I'm sor-"
He never got to finish his sentence. With an ear-splitting crack, Aerín slapped him hard across the face.
It's a one-hit KO!!
Axel fell, out cold from the pain. Aerín threw a brick on his, erm, nuts and cheerfully finished cooking the breakfast that Axel had been making.
Espeon went over and nudged Axel, who was foaming at the mouth. Axel? Are you alright?
Axel's eyes slowly opened. Espeon could see the imprint of a small hand on his face. "...no, Espeon, not at all..." his eyes slowly went closed as Axel's mind shut itself down for repairs.
Espeon sighed. Axel was definitely not Aeron, but he could act just as stupidly as his brother. Not that they were stupid, it's just that they could act really stupid. Oh, well. Sucked for him.
Espeon got up as Aerín called her over to eat. They day was young, and there was much to be done.
