: Fragment No. 8 :
Control: Gained or Lost?
Though with much difficulty and pain, Riku had cautiously picked up the younger boy in his arms, bridal-style. He winced a bit, but he was beginning to get used to the burning feeling. Immediately, he sped down the pathway through the deadened woods, back into the town. To all the passersby, he was nothing but a rapid force of wind blowing by. None except for fellow Vampires could spot him rushing through the town, and perhaps the Werewolves could catch onto his scent… along with the half-human.
The silver-haired Vampire looked down at the beautiful little one in his arms; could he truly be called a total-human after having been here… even if it was just one, maybe two, days? He possessed the power to do Magic… and he also possessed the power to control a Keyblade. No… not a Keyblade, but multiple Keyblades! He bit his lip; if Sora were to stay in Halloween Town any longer… not only would he possibly be forgotten from his own World and be forced to stay there… but Sephiroth could get a hold of him.
This fact frightened him the most, like not many things could. He came to a sudden stop in front of Cloud's place, eyeing the broken glass of the window. He carefully entered the building, seeing many things knocked over and broken. His nose twitched, instantly telling him the story.
DarkSide bats. Nasty little things, they were, but useful… Riku could also smell the scent of Vampire Repellant, although, very faint. It wouldn't harm him with how much it'd faded away. Apparently, it hadn't done much against the bats, either, from the looks of things. Shaking his head, he cleaned up a bed that smelt of the one in his grasp and laid him down softly on it.
His body gave a groan of relief from the release of pain; it wasn't an easy task, transporting one of near-pure Light when you yourself had been near-pure Darkness. He watched the sleeping one, his serious look softening significantly.
He looks so peaceful… I wish I could sleep like that… He thought with envy. Reaching out a hand, he was actually about to touch his cheek, but he caught himself. Trying to snap himself out of it, he realized that if he stayed any longer, something might happen. A blackish glow emanated from that outstretched hand as a small, folded piece of paper appeared there. He gently placed it beside the boy and turned around, glancing once more over his shoulder before fading away into a shadow.
"Oh, Squall…"
Huh…? Whose voice is…? Wait…
"Grr… That's Leon."
That's Leon's voice… and… Cloud! But… what're they…? Sora made a confused look as he was slowly beginning to gain consciousness. All he could hear were many groans… and a smacking sound… and heavy breathing.
His brilliant blue eyes snapped open; they must've been in trouble!! He sat up immediately, jumping out of bed and rushing to the door. Slamming it open, the Oathkeeper Keyblade appeared in his hands.
"Cloud! Leon! Are you guys all—" he froze, seeing that Leon had Cloud trapped against the wall with his arms keeping him from escaping. And Cloud didn't seem to be objecting to whatever was going on, "right…?"
The Warlock was blushing brightly, gently pushing the Werewolf away from him, only to receive a quiet growl in return. The blonde cleared his throat.
"Yeah, Sora! We're fine, but what about you? When we got back, we found you passed out on the bed. Rough time out there with Riku?"
"Well…" Sora picked up a hand and scratched at his cheek some; he didn't exactly remember what happened very well. He remembered walking along with Riku… talking and joking around… and then some kind of normal-looking DarkSide came… then nothing. "I don't know, to tell the truth… but oh well, I guess."
"Hey, what's this?"
The two who'd been conversing looked to the Werewolf, only to see him walk out of Sora's room with a folded up piece of paper in hand. On the front, it had the name SORA written in big letters.
"It's from Riku!" Sora gasped, dashing up to his taller friend and snatching it out of his grasp before he could open it. His eyes followed the words quickly, imagining the real person saying them in his head.
"Sora, a few things happened earlier that you probably don't remember… Meet me back in the Woods as soon as you get this message. –Riku"
He grinned slightly, folding it back up and slipping it into his pocket before walking for the door, "He wants me to meet him in the woods right away! I'll see you guys later!" He waved at them over his shoulder before exiting.
The spiky-haired brunette walked back up the pathway to the woods, a pleasant smile on his face, although, it looked more creepy than pleasant thanks to his new Halloween Town look. His brilliant blue eyes wouldn't stay in one place for very long as he looked around everywhere, hoping to see any sign of his Vampiric best friend.
Once he'd reached a familiar dead-end tree, he blinked as he heard the rustling of many leaves… loud and noisy footsteps sounding far away and yet very near. He turned left, and then turned right… looking for the direction they could be coming from.
Suddenly, he heard a loud grunt behind the tree and looked up, only to see a very, very handsome redhead flip over the top of the dead tree and land with a soft thud a few feet away from him. Sora watched with awe as he found himself staring.
The man had long red hair, much like Axel's, but this guy had it tied into a ponytail. He wore a worn-out white shirt with a near-shredded black jacket that hung over him like rags. His long black pants were dirty and torn at the bottom where he wore mud-splashed boots.
And that was only from what Sora could see of the guy from behind. He blushed lightly as he saw the man slowly turn around to look at him. He was immediately met with oceanic eyes, much like Riku's… but the one's eyes seemed to be more blue than green.
The human couldn't remove his gaze from the others, blushing even more visibly when he saw an animal-like smile curl on his face. The redhead turned to approach him, showing that he was holding something in his hands… something that looked like a nice, little Silver Gun. Steam was rising from his skin, however, making Sora wonder if he was a Werewolf or a Vampire. The collar around his neck told him that he was, indeed, a Werewolf.
The man leant forward and pressed the gun into Sora's hands before winking at him and turning around. Again, he began to run off, leaving the confused human there to ponder why he was given the strange-looking weapon.
"I think he came this way!" a feminine voice cried in the distance.
"He did… he did! I can smell him!!" a more aggressive and masculine voice replied, growling like an angry beast.
"Calm down! Stop being so loud or you'll scare him away!" a third voice commanded.
"Yes, Brother…" the other two said in unison.
Sora walked up against the tree and slow peeked around the side of it, only to be met with another pair of oceanic eyes. He let out a silent yelp as he attempted to jump back, but the owner of those eyes had disappeared and reappeared behind him.
"What have we here? A human… with my beloved Velvet Nightmare?" the girlish man spoke smoothly, chuckling gently, "But how ever did you get it…?"
The brunette didn't move once he'd turned to face him, for he had the strange feeling that this guy could be a Vampire. What, with his long, straight silver hair and slit-pupiled oceanic eyes… and a voice much seemingly like an Angel's. He was too beautiful… too smooth… too perfect…
He had to be a Vampire.
Sora opened his mouth to reply, to explain how he acquired the gun so eloquently called the Velvet Nightmare, but the other picked up a leather black-gloved hand and easily snatched it from his grasp.
"Now then… tell me, are you an accomplice of that red-haired Werewolf?" the mystery man asked, narrowing those eyes at him.
"No, I'm not." The human answered, narrowing his visible blue eye back at him.
"How did you get my gun, then? You must be, so tell me the truth. Or else, I might have to use other means of getting you to do so."
"I am telling you the truth! I didn't know that guy! He just gave me the gun and ran off!" he protested, just as determined as before.
"You're lying, Human!!" the Vampire hissed, shoving him back into the tree and opening his mouth to show off his fangs.
Sora just hissed back; as he did so, the other was able to glimpse two tiny little fangs among his teeth, "Get off'a me!!" He picked up his leg and kicked the Vampire away with his black elf-like shoe.
It's just a good thing that Naminé was able to make it look like I had Vampire teeth… he thought before pulling himself away from the tree and jumping to his left. He'd only just dodged a claw-like punch from the other.
"It doesn't make sense… You reek of Human, but you seem to be a Vampire!"
The silver-haired one let out a roar as he charged for him again and tried to send a barrage of his slashes at him. Sora somehow was able to get out of the way of every one of them, his confidence growing every time another one missed. He jumped up into a back flip, only to find that he'd been too slow. A look of alarm came to his face as a smirk curled on the other's lips. The Vampire slashed the pumpkin-shaped patch on Sora's head in two, causing his Halloween Town 'make-up' to disappear.
His eyes were no longer in shadow thanks to the disappearance of the patch, and those fake fangs were gone as well. He now looked just the way he had when he came… save for the Halloween Town clothes.
"Ah haa… So, you are a Human, after all." The Vampire said, licking his pale lips, "Sweet…"
"Hey, Yazoo! You find 'em?" the masculine voice from before cried from somewhere in the words.
"I found something even better, Loz!" the silver-haired one called Yazoo yelled in reply, rushing forward with inhuman speed.
Sora growled, taking a step back as Yazoo leaped into the air, claw-like fingers reaching out to him. Pushing down on the earth, he jumped backward, only to wind up smashing his back against a hard surface, "Aagh!!"
"About time, Loz… What took you so long?" the Vampire asked, standing up straight in his full-body leather outfit.
Strong arms clamped around Sora's arms and upper torso from behind, letting him know that the hard surface he'd landed himself against was the one Yazoo had been calling Loz.
"I had to stay with our big brother for a while, until he found his sense of direction again and let me come on ahead."
"Grr… Lemme go!!" Sora commanded, wiggling and kicking in a feeble attempt to loosen himself and get away from Loz.
"Sorry, no can do. Y'gotta wait for our big brother to get here, and then we'll decide your fate." The huge one explained, looking down at the brunette with the same oceanic hues that Yazoo had. His hair was in a manlier, shorter cut than Yazoo's, but it was still the same dull silver-grey color as the other.
"Must we await our brother, Loz…? I just… really wanna eat him… right now…" the girlish Vampire hissed, his fangs seemingly growing in some length as his eyes began to change from oceanic to crimson red.
"But what if he gets mad…?" Loz asked, making an unsure look.
Since Sora was so close to him, he was able to spot a leather black collar around his captor's neck that matched his full leather outfit (exactly the same outfit as Yazoo). Their attires weren't of the Vampires he knew of; since they wore leather cloaks instead of these jacket-like coats over a leather top and leather pants. They must've been part of some gang or something…
"We won't have to tell him, now, will we? All he knows is that we're after the one who took my precious Velvet Nightmare. That Werewolf who stole it gave it to this Human before hightailing it out of here, so this Human is just a sort of… bystander."
"Well, when you put it that way…"
The human couldn't help feeling a bit frightened as he saw Loz's eyes change to crimson red, as well, and he was still holding onto him. The fear was building up in his Heart, until he watched as the two beings were about to come in to bite him. He bit his lip, shutting his eyes tightly until he felt his fear come up to his throat and cause him to scream.
A bright golden light suddenly began to emanate from the boy, and then it seemed to intensify to the point that it pushed both Loz and Yazoo away from him. He blinked at the sight, looking around his body for the point of which the light was coming from. It was coming from his chest… his Heart.
Sora smiled, feeling that same feeling he'd had every time he could summon the Keyblade. He'd just about brought his hand up to his Heart, when a sudden flash of black intruded on his golden glow. All he could feel was a sharp pain in his side and right arm, and then he was sent flying into that familiar dead tree of his.
Gasping for breath to keep himself from crying out, he looked to his right side with one eye open, only to have both his brilliant blue eyes widen in surprise. He had a long gash in his side and a slightly shorter one on his arm, both with blood seeping out of them and running onto his Halloween Town clothes.
"Hey!! Back off, he's mine!!" Yazoo hissed.
"He's mine, too, Yazoo!!" Loz growled.
Sora looked up weakly to watch them, only to watch as a bright aqua-colored power shot them both into trees of their own. His eyes widened again, but with amazement; such power!
The one with that awesome power looked much like Yazoo… except, instead of long silver-grey hair, he had it around shoulder-length. Similar oceanic eyes were on his face and those familiar full-leather clothes were what he wore, as well.
"Guh… What was that for, Kadaj!?" Yazoo asked, pulling himself out of the tree's trunk and staring at the huge mark his body had made in it.
"Forgive me, Big Brother… It was all Yazoo's fault!" Loz tried to explain; Sora noticed that both his and the Vampire's eyes were no longer crimson.
The newcomer, their big brother Kadaj, held a long twin-bladed sword. The human winced at the sight; that must've been what he used to give him these wounds. Kadaj slowly sheathed his weapon, enjoying the gentle shhhing sound it made, before staring at the victim of all this.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice was stern and unmoving.
The spiky-haired brunette gulped before slowly pulling himself up to stand, with the help of the tree, "My name is Sora… Sora Hikari."
Kadaj raised an eyebrow, "I could have guessed about that 'Hikari' part from what I just saw." He looked from one brother to the other before closing his eyes and letting his bangs fall over his face to conceal his eyes, "Why did you attack him…?"
"He had my Velvet Nightmare!" Yazoo said immediately and was about to continue, when Kadaj interrupted.
"Why did he have it?"
"That Werewolf who took it must've given it to him before running off again." Loz continued, recoiling when he saw his big brother shoot a glare at him.
"Why did you care, Kadaj? He's just a Human—" Yazoo started to say, only to be interrupted again.
"Oh, really? Well, guess what, Yazoo…" Kadaj snapped, anger evident on his face, "I'm just a Human, too! And you two used to be, as well! What is wrong with you?!"
Sora blinked, stunned to find out that Loz and Yazoo's big brother was a human… A normal human being, just like himself. Something else felt wrong, though… like that wasn't the whole story.
Yazoo was taken aback by Kadaj's speech; he looked down in shame, "S-sorry… I guess I… forgot about that."
Kadaj folded his arms, "I suggest you try to keep that in mind next time you want to give into your Vampire Powers. You, too, Loz. Don't let that Werewolf's bite take its toll on you."
"Yes, Brother." Was all Loz could say before finally pulling himself away from the tree.
The oldest of the trio was about to speak to Sora, but then there was an ear-piercing screech in the air. All four of them covered their ears, trying to shield themselves from the awful sound. The only it seemed to have an unusual effect on was the big brother himself. Yazoo and Loz just seemed to pass out, while the leader's eyes seemed to be completely white with blankness.
Sora tried to back up, but all he got was a reminder that he was trapped against a tree with a wound. Kadaj unsheathed the double-bladed sword and charged for him. He turned around and rushed the other way; he was only lucky that Kadaj was human and not a Vampire or a Werewolf like his little brothers.
He winced at the pain in his arm, but he knew that he had to fight if he wanted to get out of his mess. Pulling his hand up to his Heart, he felt the warm golden glow there materialize into the Keyblade he liked to call the Oathkeeper. Instantly spinning around to face his opponent, Sora used one foot to push himself forward and clash his Keyblade with Kadaj's Doubleblade.
"Weren't you just defending me a minute ago? Why are we fighting??" he asked, using all his strength to keep the other from pushing him backward.
"The Master commands it. I must do as the Master commands!!" Kadaj answered, that same aqua power filling his Doubleblade and somehow giving him the power to shoot Sora backward, sending him clear through a tree and making him roll backwards several times in the dusty dirt path before stopping.
Sora lay on his back, panting as he struggled to keep a good grip on his Oathkeeper. Forcing himself to his feet with the help of said-Keyblade, he readied himself for another clash. Kadaj suddenly appeared in front of him, and in the blink of an eye, he'd managed to slash Sora's Keyblade out of his grasp and make it disappear in a flash of golden light.
The young human gasped when he felt Kadaj's leather-covered knee knock the air out of him through his stomach, and then at the feeling of a fist punching his face with such a force that he was sent back a few yards. He picked up his good arm and weakly got up into a semi-sitting position, noting that the right side of his face was numb and that his vision was beginning to blur.
His eyes snapped to his wounded side and arm, only to see a thick trail of red blood following him all the way from the tree he'd been knocked into before when Kadaj first appeared. He coughed, looking back up to watch as his enemy ran toward him with that Doubleblade at the ready.
"STOP!!" a familiar voice cried out.
Sora looked up into the sky, only to see a black blur fall down in front of him. When it began to materialize a person, he half-smiled at the sight of shining platinum-silver hair and the hooded cloak of the Vampires he knew so well.
Riku's hands were held out in front of him, a black power somehow creating a long blue sword with a blade that looked like a red bat wing. His power seemed to be building up at the hilt, where a slitted blue demon-eye absorbed it. When it turned to a glowing red color, the sword grew stronger and enabled its wielder and shoved Kadaj and his Doubleblade back to where his brothers were still unconscious.
He turned around, holding the strange demonic sword over his shoulder as he watched his little human friend, "Sorry that I'm late; kinda had to deal with a renegade Werewo—" He stopped talking when he noticed how beat up his best friend was, "Holy shit! I'm later that I thought!"
Riku bent down and held his hands over Sora's wounded right side before closing his eyes and whispering a spell that sounded like, "Curaga." Almost right away, the wound closed itself and he was able to feel his face again. The young human smiled brightly, looking up at his Vampiric friend and hopping up to giving him a hug.
"Thanks so much, Riku! I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't've come when you did!"
The Vampire laughed good-naturedly, giving the other a short hug back before pulling himself and his friend up to stand. He pulled his new sword over his shoulder again, almost as if showing it off.
"Whoa… Riku, what's that? Is that… is that a Keyblade!?" Sora asked in wonder, his smile getting even brighter, if possible.
Riku smirked, spinning his new weapon, "You bet it is! Naminé was able to fix the muscle in my arm so I could use weapons again. I guess I never told you that I was a Keyblade Master, too, huh?"
"No, you didn't, but that's okay, because now you're one, too! And I'm not by myself! Well… I was never by myself, because Roxas is one, too, but, you know…" the human began ramble about several things having to do with what and who he knew about the Keyblade.
Riku was just content to listen, until he felt a pulsing in his Keyblade. He looked down at it, jumping a bit in surprise. It was still absorbing his Darkness… the longer he held it, the more it'd grow in strength. He was about to make it disappear, when he felt it suddenly try to take control of him. The slitted demon-eye was turning red, forcing Riku's eyes to do the same.
His fangs grew in length as he picked up his hand which held the blade. His eyes were focused on Sora, until he echoed what the Dark blade was telling me to say, "Ssssora…."
Sora blinked, putting his rambling to a halt and looking at his best friend, only to get scared at the hungry look he was giving him, "R-Riku… wh-what're you…?"
"Haaaaa!!" Riku cried, pulling his Keyblade back to try and attack the other.
The human felt the golden power inside of him and released it, making the Vampire let out a shriek. Sora watched as the other dropped his blade, and watched both the glowing of the sword and his friend's eyes turn back to normal. He blinked when he saw Riku fall down to his knees and pant. Bending down beside him, he went as low as he could so he could look up into his friend's hidden face.
"Riku… where did you get that Keyblade?"
The other shrugged, "I don't know… It just sorta… came to me. I didn't know why, because it wasn't the same one I'd used in the past, before my arms were injured. It just did, so I used it." He looked up so he could stare into the brilliant blue eyes of Hikari, "I think that… it just used me."
Sora made a worried look; that wasn't good… How could a blade control its wielder?
"Do you know what it's called?"
Riku nodded, making an equally worried look, "I should have known not to use it… because of its name…" He bit his lip for a moment, turning his oceanic eyes to stare at the blue-and-red Keyblade of the Dark.
"The Souleater."
Emerald's News & Nonsense:
Whooo! I finally got it together and posted the next chapter! IT TOOK MONTHS! It took FOREVER to come up with the right ideas to put this together! I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you will forgive me for putting this on hold for SO long!
I'm still in my Pokémon Phase, but I think I can squeeze a bit of Black Velvet in every once in a while. X3 I promise that I'll do my very best to keep both this story and Blossoming of a Rose going!
