A/N: All right, here's the next installment, and I'm sorry it's late! Will Roxas, Axel, Night, and their friends conquer over Sephiroth and Xemnas? Or will they fail? Well, instead of guessing, just read already! Thanks! :D

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story and Night.

Angel, Demon, & Dragon

Chapter 7

The next morning came, and when it did, Riku and I teleported back to heaven to retrieve the angels' battle armor. Riku and I went because we were the only ones capable of becoming invisible in the shadows. We snuck into the armory, past the guards, named Saix and Marluxia, and stole the armor. We stuffed them all into my pack, seeing as it could hold numerous things, no matter the size. Once finished, we teleported back to hell to rejoin the others. Riku handed everyone their battle armor while I pulled out my bottle of armor polish from my pack. I rubbed it in with an old rag, polishing my armor so it wouldn't take damage too easily. Only a direct blow, not a small scratch or something, but a strong blow to my armor could deal me damage now.

Everyone prepared in silence, my angel friends slipping their armor on and allowing their wings to spread wide once it was on. The nice part about their armor was that it was lightweight so it wouldn't drag them down while trying to fly and fight. Reno and the other demons clad themselves in special armor as well, and I noticed it was quite similar to the angels'. I shrugged it off, knowing they would need it, too.

Once everyone was ready, Leon opened a portal to heaven, and we all entered, Reno going through first. I glanced at his hands before he went through, and noticed he didn't have a weapon in his grip. I thought to myself, How is he going to fight Sephiroth? With his bare hands? Unless he's got something up his sleeve…

The others followed after him, Roxas, Axel, and me going next, and then the rest followed in their appropriately coupled pairs. Each member of our group was holding their weapons, except for Demyx and Zexion. Demyx held his sitar with him, and Zexion his lexicon. Roxas held Oathkeeper and Oblivion at his sides, ready to switch between offense and defense. Axel spun his chakrams a bit in his hands, prepared to fight. Sora held Ultima Weapon in his hands, and Riku had Way to Dawn in his hands as well. Cloud had his large sword balanced on his shoulder, and Leon was doing the same with his Gunblade.

Sephiroth was waiting for us when we emerged in the clearing, his own set of fighters ready. Everyone except for Reno tensed upon the sight. The warriors weren't angels, they were ancient soldiers brought back from the dead by Sephiroth. There were hundreds of them, and I knew this would make things difficult. Sephiroth and Reno had a stare down, and the atmosphere was so thick with tension you could cut it with a knife. Finally, Sephiroth spoke.

"So, it's come to this," he said, not sounding regretful in the slightest. The tip of my tail twitched in anticipation. "My best warriors have turned against me for the demons of hell. Why is this?"

"Because you were foolish enough to try to kill your greatest fighters for something that couldn't be prevented," Reno replied coolly. "I have no qualms about it, so I don't understand why you do."

"Because we're natural enemies, and angels and demons have never been together like that!" Sephiroth snapped at the redheaded leader. "Enough talk, now our actions will declare who is right!" Suddenly, the soldiers began to swarm us, and Reno spread his very large, leathery, dark red wings wide, and took off after Sephiroth, who had begun to walk away, flanked by Xemnas, Saix, and Marluxia.

Roxas and Axel immediately went back to back, slashing and hacking at the soldiers. I roared loudly, shaking the ground with the force of it, and released a stream of silver fire from my jaws, burning about a few dozen of the soldiers into nothing. Cloud and Leon were back to back as well, Sora and Riku were using a combination of defensive and offensive moves, and Demyx and Zexion were covering the other. Demyx was fending off soldiers from Zexion as the slate-haired demon read off spells from his lexicon.

After a while, we all took to the air, and I charged up my light magic. Roxas caught on to what I was doing, and he raced over to me, copying my actions. We finished charging, and then smashed our focus points into the ground. Roxas smashed his Keyblades into the ground, and I smashed my claws into the ground. The resulting explosion caused a few hundred of the soldiers to die (again), and we struggled back to our feet, panting. Axel rushed over, and I used some of my light magic to heal the pair of us. We gave him reassuring nods, and then leapt back into the fray.

It felt like hours had passed when all the soldiers were gone. Zexion was shaking slightly, tired out from the excessive use of his magic. Demyx was trembling from the exertion of swinging his sitar around like a club, and he and Zexion leaned against each other for support.

Cloud and Leon were sitting on the ground, breathing hard as they bled from several cuts on their bodies. Roxas and Axel weren't bleeding, but did have a few small cuts and scratches on their arms and legs. Sora and Riku were trying to tend to their own wounds, which seemed a bit severe. I was okay, just worn out from fighting. I scrabbled over the rocks to Zexion to see if he was going to be okay enough to heal the others.

"Zexion, do you need some help healing the others?" I asked. He nodded weakly, and I used some of my healing magic to restore his stamina. Once I finished, he straightened up, helping Demyx to rest against a large rock. I used some of my healing magic on him, too, and his breathing starting to slow and even out. I assured Zexion he was asleep before running back to Roxas and Axel.

"Guys, we need to get to Reno, Sephiroth, Xemnas, and Saix, now," I growled urgently. They nodded, and with one last reassuring call from Zexion letting us know he would be okay to help the others, we took off into the forest, going after the others that had left at the beginning of the fight. We flew through the forest in silence with me leading the way and following the others' scent trail through the forest, all the way to Sephiroth's chambers.

It was a short flight, so we made it to Sephiroth's chamber in no time. We crept through the entrance, remaining silent as we made our way to the depths. Suddenly, a roar of agony sounded from deeper within, and the cave walls shook from the echo and force of it. Small rocks fell from the ceiling, clinking against our armor. Looking at each other, we continued on. Reaching the depths of Sephiroth's chamber, I stopped the two behind me, and we all took in the scene before us.

Reno had a large sword in his grip, and was trading blows with Sephiroth. Xemnas, Saix, and Marluxia were standing on the sidelines, watching, but seeming eager to join. I could literally see Saix twitching from anticipation from where we were. Xemnas's dark silver wings reflected the light from the torches that were lighting up the chamber, and Saix's light blue wings were fluffed up with anxiety. Marluxia's pale pink wings were completely still, as was the rest of his body, except for his breathing.

As we watched, Reno and Sephiroth flew at each other, striking repeatedly, and it looked like Reno was starting to gain some ground on his silver-haired opponent. Once he did, though, Xemnas began to creep up on Reno, circling around to sneak up behind him. I glared at that and started to bristle with rage. Before anyone could stop me, I charged at Xemnas, tackling him in the side and sending him flying into the rock wall. The resounding crash echoed throughout the chamber, and Sephiroth, Saix, Marluxia, and Reno looked in the direction of the smash.

Roxas and Axel took advantage and quickly began to strike at Saix and Marluxia. Roxas went after Saix and Axel after Marluxia. I smirked to myself as I patiently waited for Xemnas to come after me; Axel would have the advantage against Marluxia, seeing as there were lava pits around us, and Marluxia's control over nature wouldn't work here. Saix didn't have access to moonlight, so he was also at a disadvantage.

Saix raised his claymore high above his head, and then swung it down at Roxas. The blonde leapt back, snapping open his wings and crossing his Keyblades in front of him. When he was high enough, he shot forward, Keyblades still crossed in an "X" shape in front of him. His whole body glowed as he gained speed, and then smashed into Saix, creating an explosion. Roxas flew out from the smoke, flaring his white wings wide as he hovered above the collision site. When it cleared, Saix was down on one knee, cut up all over his top half, and he was leaning on his claymore for support. Saix glared heavily at my best friend, baring his fangs.

I switched my focus to Axel to see how he was faring against Marluxia, who was swinging his scythe at the redhead, trying to tire him out. Axel was swiftly fending off each blow with his chakrams, and then used a sneaky tactic I've hardly used: he faked out his pink-haired opponent by pretending to lunge forward, and when Marluxia raised his scythe to block, Axel leapt back and launched a fireball from his chakrams as soon as Marluxia lowered his weapon. Marluxia screamed in agony as the flames overcame him. Axel watched, his weapons raised in a precautionary defense, as Marluxia burned to death. Once the pink-haired angel was dead, I had to quickly return my focus to Xemnas, who had finally emerged from the rock wall where I had smashed him into.

Xemnas stalked out from the rubble, bruised and a bit battered, his glowing red blades out at his sides. I lowered myself slowly to the ground, ready to leap away or launch myself at him if need be. Xemnas quivered with rage as he approached, and when he was about 8 yards away, he stopped. We stared each other down, but then Xemnas vanished, and my silver eyes swiftly darted around as I scanned the entire chamber for the bastard.

Out of nowhere, he reappeared in front of me, his orange eyes blazing with his fury. Before I could dodge, though, he smashed his blade into my side, sending me flying. I recovered in midair before I hit the wall, but couldn't avoid the wall completely. Instead, I used the rocks as a launch pad, rocketing toward Xemnas. I pinned my wings flat against my back as I shot at him and extended my claws out in front of me. I angled my claws into a single, sharpened point, and then spun my body like a drill. As soon as I made contact with Xemnas's chest, I ripped right through his chest and out his back, killing him instantly.

I stopped spinning and stood up straight, looking myself over. I was covered in Xemnas's blood, but it was already dripping off. I conjured an orb of water in my hand and dropped it over my head, rinsing off what blood still remained on me. Shaking my body dry, I looked to Roxas, who was standing over Saix's now dead body, panting hard. Axel stood nearby, leaning against the rock wall and breathing heavily. I shook off my own exhaustion and trotted over to my partner. Axel joined us when I got there, and I began to look Roxas over.

"You okay?" I asked softly as he trembled slightly from overexerting himself. Roxas sank to his knees, still panting, and nodded once. Axel knelt beside his boyfriend, holding him close as he set down his chakrams. Roxas scooted closer to Axel, burying his face in the redhead's chest. I sighed and used some of my energy to restore my friends' health, and they stood up, feeling better. The pair thanked me, and we quickly refocused on Reno and Sephiroth's fight.

Reno was wearing down as Sephiroth continued to rush at him, delivering harsh blows with his long sword. Reno was blocking as quickly as he possibly could, and retaliated where he could, dealing damage to the silver-haired, one-winged angel. Sephiroth had numerous cuts on him, as did Reno, but the redheaded demon was starting to get worn down. I knew he needed help, but I could feel my legs starting to quiver from the effort of trying to remain standing, so I knew I couldn't do much. Roxas raised his Keyblades, and Axel loosely spun his chakrams, so I knew we had to help him, no matter how exhausted we were.

Roxas, Axel, and I glanced at each other, and we silently agreed on a combo that would finish off Sephiroth. Roxas and I launched ourselves into the air while Axel remained on the ground, and the pair of us charged up our light. Axel formed a fireball in his hands, and it began to grow larger, drawing out power from the lava pools around the chamber. Roxas and I focused our light into a point between us, and then we hovered down to be in front of Axel as his huge fireball finished forming.

As soon as we finished aiming at our target, Axel blasted the fireball into our light focal point, and it turned into a flaming, golden phoenix made of fire and light. The phoenix shot at Sephiroth and right before it hit him, he noticed and screamed in terror, for there was no escape. The next sound was an explosion. Smoke filled the entire chamber, and I drew closer to Roxas out of instinct, sensing where he was. The smoke slowly cleared from the area, and when it did, Roxas, Axel, and I looked to see Reno collapsed on the ground, unconscious. We didn't have long to wait until we collapsed from exhaustion, too.

X*X*X*X

When I came to, the first thing I knew was that we were no longer in Sephiroth's chamber. I could feel that I was laying on something soft, and there were voices speaking around me. Keeping my breathing even, I sniffed the air and knew I was safe. I could detect the individual scents of my friends, and I was able to pick out each of their voices from the mix of speech. I slowly opened my eyes, groaning as I did so, for bright light invaded my vision as soon as I opened them. My eyes shut quickly, trying to stop the light from flooding my vision.

"Turn off the light or something, jeez!" I growled, sitting up with my eyes still shut. I heard a click, and the brightness beyond my eyelids faded, so I opened my eyes again. Once I did, I saw Zexion and Demyx in front of me, Zexion rolling his one visible eye while Demyx gave me a sheepish grin. Demyx must have been the one who had the light in my eyes.

I looked around and saw the others, Cloud, Leon, Sora, and Riku sitting in various places in the room, and I realized we were in Roxas and my house in the human world. Everyone was here, except for—wait a minute! Where are Roxas and Axel? And where's Reno?

"Where are Roxas, Axel, and Reno?" I demanded, looking panicked. Cloud answered my question.

"Roxas and Axel are upstairs, sleeping in Roxas's bed, while Reno is resting in the spare bedroom," the older blonde told me. I sighed with relief, visibly relaxing.

"What happened after the explosion?" I asked.

"Well, we heard the explosion, and came running to find you," Sora began. "When we got there, you, Roxas, Axel, and Reno were all passed out, and severely injured."

"We got you back here to patch you all up, and now Roxas, Axel, and Reno are just trying to recover, just as you were," Leon finished. I nodded in understanding.

"I'm gonna go check on Roxas and Axel," I told them, getting to my feet and heading towards the stairs. They each nodded in acknowledgement, and I quickly climbed the stairs, making my way to Roxas's room. I knocked quietly before entering, and carefully approached the bed. I hopped onto the foot board and perched there as I watched my friends sleep. They were sleeping peacefully, but I noticed the bandages on their arms and legs. The muscles in those spots twitched occasionally, showing their slight discomfort even as they slept.

Sighing, I silently jumped onto the floor and tip-toed to the closet, where I pulled out my emergency stash of pain-reducing herbs, and pulled out a couple of them. I heard a bit of whimpering, and I quickly whipped around, staring at my friends in worry. I relaxed, however, when I saw it was just Roxas trying to cuddle into Axel's side while sleeping. I felt bad having to wake them, but I wanted to relieve their pain with the herbs. I gently shook Roxas's shoulder, and he opened his eyes, revealing his sapphire orbs to me.

"Sorry to wake you," I whispered. "I just wanted to give you some herbs for your pain." The blonde nodded groggily as he began to sit up. I hopped onto his lap and handed him half of what I had grabbed, and he ate it, unfazed. I gently shook Axel's shoulder next, but he grunted something about needing more sleep. "I know, but I want to give you some herbs for your pain," I told him. Axel merely opened his emerald eyes, but groaned loudly as he sat up. I handed him the last of the herb, and he ate it, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

"How do you stand that shit?" he grumbled. I laughed lightly in response.

"I know it tastes awful, but it does work," I agreed. "How are you both feeling?"

"Fucking fantastic," Axel said sarcastically, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm good, just tired," Roxas answered. I nodded in approval.

"Good," I said, smiling softly. "I'm just glad this is all over."

"Really?" Axel asked. "How's Reno?"

"He's okay, according to the others. He's just resting in the spare bedroom," I informed them.

"Glad to hear it," the redhead sighed in relief. Roxas cuddled close into Axel's side again, and the redhead rested his chin on top of his blonde's head after kissing his forehead.

"So now what do we do?" Roxas asked quietly from his comfortable position.

"We all just make our own lives," I said wisely. "Nothing will ever be the same, but that doesn't mean we can't make good lives for ourselves. This is our new beginning."

A/N: Okay, I know that ended really abruptly, but I will write an epilogue, I promise! R&R, peeps!