Chapter 10

The Dark Realm was much like I remembered it from my dream. Ultimately barren, inky black sky despite the sun, and reeking of death and decay. Only this time, however, instead of being in the canyon I was on top of the cliffs that overlooked it. It surprised me to find a lush forest up here.

The grass and leaves were light blue and seemed to glow with the lack of light, and hundreds of what looked to be fireflies flew listlessly through the trees. The sight was really quite beautiful. It may even have been enough to rival the sunset in Twilight Town.

We all snuck over to the edge of the cliff and peered over the edge. The sight that was laid before me almost made my heart stop. "Shit," Zack uttered as he gazed at the land. The canyon was permeated with a thick darkness that completely blanketed the land. Upon closer inspection, the dark mass was composed of thousands of Akukage.

At the very middle of the conglomeration, there sat a rather extravagant black carriage being pulled by a team of creatures similar to the Akukage. Hovering above either side of the carriage were the two men from before. I could only assume that they were Terra and Ventus.

"Damn," Riku whispered, obviously irritated, "There's far more than I thought there'd be."

"Well what'd you expect?" Zack grunted, "It's Vanitas."

"Regardless," Cloud interjected, "This puts the humans at a much greater risk. Without Roxas, we'll need to be wary of our safety. We can't just charge in."

"This doesn't affect our strategy in the long run," Zack sighed, "Our main priority now is to find and rescue Roxas."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Alright, we'll open a hole in their defenses allowing the humans a safe access point where they'll begin their assault on the Akukage. Once we do that, we'll all track down and destroy our designated targets. The fight will provide enough of a distraction for Cloud to locate and rescue our little friend."

"I'm going with Cloud," I demanded.

The older blonde seemed to contemplate the idea for a moment before nodding. "Alright, you'll come with me."

"Good, so everyone knows what they're doing?" The raven-haired male asked, smirking confidently. Everyone nodded. "Well then let's go!"

"YEAH!" We all shouted in unison, even Zexion looked fired up.

With that each of the Tenshi launched into the sky. Cloud remained on the ground for a moment, "Stay here and help them for a moment. I'll access the situation then come back an get you." The older blonde flew off toward the direction of the carriage.

Zack stopped in mid air in front the mass of Akukage. The raven-haired male thrust his palm forward, causing numerous rock spears to fly out from the ground, crushing and skewering a large majority of the dark creatures. That was our cue to go. We quickly made our way to the path that led down to the canyon, while watching the battle between the Tenshi unfold before us.

A moment after Zack had begun the attack, Terra was immediantly on top of the raven haired male, the two thrashing violently in the air. Thier swords clashed, causing sparks to rain down almost like fireworks. Both Tenshi were pretty evenly matched. Zack's buster sword was about the same size as Terra's large, cleaver like blade, and Terra appeared to be just as large and well toned. The only real difference between the two was that Zack's enourmous, black wings were a bit smaller than Terra's broad, chocolate colored one's. It was obvious that Terra had more experience with arial battles than the raven haired male, the way he was flying circles around him.

Ventus shot through the air like a bullet, ready to assist his comrade. The blonde was quickly cut off, however, by Riku, who slammed into him. This sent Ventus careening into the side of a cliff. The male quickly recovered, and countered by creating a large twister that forced the silverette to retreat momentarily.

Both pairs of Tenshi battled feverously.

Finally it was our time to shine as several Akukage appeared at the opening to the canyon. Demyx leapt forward and began to shoot, almost randomly, into the pack. Gunning most of them down, then quickly jumping back, allowing Sora and I to step in without risk of being shot. His assault had given me enough time to smear the feul on my chakrams and light them on fire. The brunette and I sprinted toward the creatures, slicing them open with percision and accuracy. To anyone watching, it would have looked as though we were just slashing at them randomly, but we were actually aiming for and hitting all of their vital points. Part of our training was to learn were each point was and to be able to hit it, even if we were blindfolded. Zexion hung back, because he only had a limited number of spells and he didn't want to waist them on such a small number of opponents.

When we finally entered the canyon, we were met by a very tired Cloud.

"Vanitas isn't here," the older blonde panted, "but I'm positive Roxas is in that carriage." He knelt down as a sign for me to climb on his back.

I obeyed, then exclaimed, "Let's go!"

The force of the take-off almost knocked me off of Cloud's back, but I regained my composure as we soared higher. Out of nowhere, a large orb of blue fire streaked past us. If it hadn't been for Cloud's quick manuvering, we would've been fried. The attack was a stray blast that Riku had hurled at Ventus, which he, in turn, through back at him. Riku was able to block the attack, but sent it hurling straight at us. The two Tenshi were now clashing swords, creating a voilent storm with powerful wind and black lighting that crashed all around them.

As Cloud and I neared the carriage, the blonde pulled into a nose dive and rocketed toward the ground. He pulled up just in time to avoid colliding with the ground, and landed a few yards away from the vehicle. Almost immediatly as we touched the ground, we were assaulted by a swarm of Akukage. With one fluid movement, Cloud summoned his sword and sheathed it into the ground. The action created several huge pillars of light that erupted from the ground, vaporizing all of the creatures within a hundred feet of us.

"Get going!" the blonde shouted, slashing at the Akukage that hadn't been hit by the blast. I nodded and dashed toward the vehicle. Out of nowhere, the carriage exploded in a huge blast of dark light. The force of the explosion knocked me flat on my back, causing pain to shoot up my spine. I slowly sat up and turned my attention toward the being emerging from the wreckage.

"Roxas!" I shouted and leapt to my feet. I ran toward the blonde, but stopped when I noticed something wasn't right. He stood perfectly still, head hung down against his chest. Two lagre, pitch black wings spread from his back. "Roxas?" I asked nervously, cautiously approaching the blonde. Very slowly, he tilted his head up and opened his eyes. I gasped, horrified at what I saw. His cystal cerulean eyes had been replaced with emotionless, blood red orbs. Dark shadows had formed underneath his eyes. When he looked at me, it felt as though he couldn't see me, like he was looking right trough me.

"Axel, get back!" Cloud commanded. He jumped between me and the little blonde, sword pointed threateningly at Roxas. "Vanitas is controling him. Right now he's very dangerous, it woud be best to keep your distance." Roxas gradually began to stalk toward us, his expression was truely menacing. Cloud thrust his palm forward, creating an enormous pillar of light that engulfed the small blonde. It was instanly dispersed, however, as Roxas countered it with his own dark light. Cloud was thrown back by the force of the blast.

"Cloud!" I called, sprinting to the man's side and maing sure he was okay. Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of malicious laughter.

Vanitas slowly descended from the heavens, landing next to Roxas. "How do you like my new pet?" The dark haired man asked, placing his hand on Roxas's shoulder.

"What have you done to him?!" I growled, threateningly.

The man wrapped his other arm around the blonde's chest. A terrifying smile spread across his face and he stated, amused, "I simply ripped his humanity from his body and turned him into my slave. He can feel no pain, no emotions. He is now nothing more than a killing machine." Roxas showed no emotion and remained frozen in place as Vanitas seductivly ran his tongue up the side of the blonde's face. The sight made my stomach lurch. I could feel the acid in the back of my mouth.

Blinded by rage, I charged the Tenshi. "YOU BASTARD!!!"

Clearly unphased by the attack, Vanitas simply laughed and commanded Roxas, "Kill them, but save the red head for later. I may want him later." Roxas held out his palm, creating a huge blast of light that sent me flying backwards. I cringed in pain, and looked up to see Vanitas throw his head back and laugh manaically before taking off. My head dropped to the ground with a thud, then everything went dark.

(Cloud POV)

Great, Axel's unconcious and now I'll have to fight one of the most powerful Tenshi in the world on my own.

I got to my feet, shakily, and poised my sword defensivly toward Roxas. I was well aware of what the small Tenshi was capable of. We used to fight together before Zack and I left for the human world. I knew that fighting him on my own gave me a very slim chance of survival. The only thing I could do was try and keep him busy for a while, and hope the others could think of something.

I stood my ground as Roxas advanced, but the blonde suddenly vanished. The next thing I knew, there was a searing pain in my left shoulder. Glancing down, I beheld Roxas's white blade sticking out of my chest, stained crimson with my blood. He was so fast, I didn't even see him get behind me. I shrieked in pain as he unsheathed the blade from my chest. Gasping at my wound, I turned to face him, but he had vanished again. Intense pain shot through my stomach as a swift kick was delivered to my abdomen. The kick was immediatly followed by a fist to the face. The force of the blow sent me spiralling to the ground. Quickly recovering, I was met by the sight of Roxas's blade descending rapidly on top of me. I rolled to the side, successfully dodging the blade and pushed myself onto my hands and knees, then launched myself into the sky. Roxas persued me, and sparks flew as our swords clashed.

(Demyx POV)

"Gyaaaaaahhhh!"

I unleashed my full fury on the scary black creatures, that honestly scared me. Never the less, I put on a brave face and charged full force, gun blazing. Zexy and me stood back to back. I heard him chanting spells which were soon followed by a gianormous explosion.

"How ya holdin' up Zexy?!" I called behind me.

"I belive I'm making some progress, and you?!" We had to yell over the sound of the gun shots, the explosions and the growls and snarls of the monsters in order to hear each other.

"Same here!"

Zexion chanted another spell and a huge blast of fire shot through the ground. Pride filled me as I watched Zexion fight. He was mine and no one else's, and it was going to stay that way. I wasn't going to let anyone take him from me, and that included Vanitas and the scary black monsters.

I fired another barrage of bullets into the mass of Akukage. Zexion casted another spell, then turned and smiled tenderly at me. I returned the smile and shouted, "I love you Zexy!"

"I love you too, Dem!"

Suddenly, I was overcome by fear as I watched one of the monsters launch itself at Zexion. His spell had ended, and the Akukage were taking the opportunity to attack him while his back was turned.

"Watch out!" I shouted, pushing my boyfriend out of the way of the incomming fangs and claws. The next thing I knew, there was a searing pain in my chest. Then, everything went black.

(Zexion POV)

"Demyx!" I screamed.

He had shoved me out of the way, leaving himself exposed. The Akukage came down on top of him, slicing his body clean open from the top of his chest to the base of his abdomen. Blood sprayed from the gash and his body fell lifelessly to the ground. I knew he was dead.

The rage and the saddness filled me as I watched my lover get cut down. I grabbed Demyx's gun and charged at the creature. The Akukage saw me advancing and snarled, baring its long, back fangs. Bullets flew from the weapon as I pulled the trigger, instantly killing it. I continued to shoot it in the head, even after it was long dead, my need for revenge far from quenched.

Solmnly, I turned and beheld my fallen lover, tears streaming down my face. He was lying on his back, exposing the gaping wound in his torso. His pale green eyes were still open, capturing the fear and pain he experienced in his last few seconds of life. A lake of blood formed beneath him.

"No...Demyx," I sobbed and fell to my knees.

This can't be happening. Demyx can't die. HE CAN'T LEAVE ME!! How am I supposed to live without him? Why did he push me out of the way?! Why couldn't he just let me get hit by the attack?! Why did he sacrifice himself?! I screamed the questions in my head.

Closing his eyes, I cradled the blonde's head in my arms, sobbing quietly.

My attention was snapped back to reality as I was met by a chorus of various roars and snarls comming from the creatures surrounding us. I gently laid Demyx's head down and grabbed my spell book. I stood next to Demyx's body, poised for battle. In one swift movement, all of the creatures lunged at me.

Demyx, I'll make sure to take down as many of these bastards as possible before I join you. Your death will not be in vain, I promise!

short chapter, I know, I'm sorry

and don't stop reading just because I killed Demyx, I'm going somewhere with this story and I need you to stick with me. I have plans!!!

please review.